HomeMy WebLinkAboutDrakes Landing-FunderburkeTo: The Harnett County Board of Adjustments 8 -19 -2014
This letter is written in support of issuing a business permit for Drake Landing located near
Chalybeate Springs in Harnett County, North Carolina. Through the years, I have watched them grow,
change and adapt to try to be good citizens in their community while meeting the expectations of their
loyal customers and friends who have hobbies involving shooting sports or hunting. Since the sporting
clay course opened, I am one of those customers, friends, and club members that have traveled from
Duplin County to Harnett County to participate in the activity of shooting sporting clays.
Sporting clays is a national and international clay target program with the National Sporting
Clays Association (NSCA) headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. There are 34 state associations including
one here in North Carolina. North Carolina has 1175 competitors who shoot at registered target
tournaments every week. There will be approximately 400,000 targets registered by shooters in this
state in 2014. There will be 3 to 4 times that many targets shot each year just for fun and entertainment
as well as practice. Drake Landing is very much a part of this growing sport.
I generally do not come to Drake Landing alone. Because I am a nutritionist in the livestock
industry, most of the time I am meeting people involved in some aspect of the animal industry including:
agribusiness, university professors and deans, as well as production systems. These individuals travel
from Raleigh, Rose Hill, Warsaw, Clinton and many other locations to meet and shoot sporting clays
while at Drake Landing. They are all professional people who have chosen sporting clays as a hobby, and
Harnett county as a destination for participating in that hobby.
Two years ago, I started a non - profit named Targeting Excellence, Inc. for the purpose of raising
scholarship funds for students in agriculture pursuing careers working in food animal production. One
of our first events was held at Drake Landing with more than 100 people attending. As a result of that
event, Targeting Excellence is awarding $25,000 to students attending NC State University as well as
some attending community colleges. Dan Andrews and the employees at Drake Landing were very
instrumental in making that event a success.
Every time I go to Drake Landing I spend money in Harnett County. Not only do I spend money
at Drake Landing, I often buy gas at the Pure station in Chalybeate Springs or at the Hess station in
Angier. I also buy food in Angier and sometimes in Lillington. When I invite others to join me at Drake
Landing, they too spend money in Harnett County. If Drake Landing does not continue to operate,
others and I will find another club, but it will not be in Harnett County. I hope, for the good of the
county and the sporting clay industry in North Carolina that the Board of Adjustments will vote in favor
of issuing a new business permit to Drake Landing.
Sincerely,
David Funderburke, PhD
COO - Cape Fear Consulting, LLC
President — Targeting Excellence, Inc.
Vice President —Sporting Clay Association of North Carolina