Newsletters March 2021 A Record Breaking Year in 2020, new hire, and a retirement after 33 Years. READ NOW April 2021 Renovating a local library, expanding MDI, and setting the first City Walk Arch. READ NOW May 2021 Coming to a close, wrapping up Preston Ridge and Crate and Barrel projects READ NOW June 2021 Coming together after a year apart! READ NOW July 2021 Aviation Walk, Hickory High Bathrooms, and much more! READ NOW August 2021 Updates across the board! READ NOW September 2021 Moving in at Preston Ridge Commercial Building! READ NOW Press Releases NEILL PUTS LIQUID ASSETS TO WORK, ALLOWS SKI CHAMPIONS TO GROW BY MARJO RANKIN May 10, 2021 Ed Neill started building ski lakes in Catawba County in the 1980s, back when the slalom bug bit him hard. It’s not likely he was looking to the 2020s back then, but his lake projects are thriving in North Carolina and Florida, and two of his grandchildren are among the beneficiaries. Grandson Charlie Ross of Winter Garden, Florida, made his professional skiing debut on May 1. At the ridiculously young age of 15. And weighing in at 128 pounds. Charlie didn’t make the podium that weekend at the Swiss Pro Slalom in Clermont, Florida, but he did break the Canadian Under-17 record when he scored one buoy at 41 feet off the 75-foot tow rope. At that length, the rope is a good six feet short of reaching the buoys he’s skiing around, meaning Charlie is getting his ski around the buoy but the rest of his body is stretched out parallel to the water as he reaches toward the boat, which is unmercifully ripping along at 36 mph. It’s a lot. Charlie scored 4½ buoys at 39½ feet off the rope in the first round of the Swiss Pro, and to run the complete pass of 6 at 39½ before finishing with 1 at 41 in the second round --well, that just doesn’t happen to 15-year-olds. And it doesn’t happen to 15-year-olds skiing in their first pro tournament -- a perfect breeding ground for nerves. Charlie finished an impressive 14th out of 23 of the world’s best slalom skiers. “He achieved a level more than 10 years ahead of the curve where some of the finest pros have done,” says Charlie’s dad, Drew Ross, a retired pro skier and Canadian champion who is one of Charlie’s coaches. “Many never get to this level.” Charlie and older sister Neilly, who have dual U.S. and Canadian citizenship, have grown up skiing on a lake developed by Grandpa Ed Neill. Neilly, a sophomore at Rollins College, has multiple national and world ski titles and records, and Charlie is on his way to more of the same. They’re the third generation of serious skiers in the family, as Ed and his son Clay Neill have also won national championships in slalom. Ed, owner and CEO of Neill Grading and Construction in Hickory, recognized early on what was needed to succeed at such a high level. “It’s hard to train on public water,” Ed says, noting boat traffic makes finding smooth water for skiing impossible. “Private lakes are a necessity.” So he builds them. He’s built three in Catawba County, two in Iredell County and the two in Florida where his daughter Leigh Ross and Drew are raising their skiing dynamos. “Ed recognized that day-in and day-out training isn’t good enough,” Drew says. “But day-in and day-out training to compete is essential. Skiing has gone the way of being totally dependent on having the best facilities to attain the best results. Ours is arguably among the very top ski sites in the world.” “It’s like tennis and golf -- academy-like programs where the coach and facility are not compromised. They’re optimized. That’s where you get optimal results. Ed saw that trend in the 80s when he developed Little Mountain Lakes (in Newton). He saw the need for a good climate as well and he developed the lakes in Florida.” Winter Garden Water Ski at Drew Ross Ski Academy operates on one of the two lakes at Isles of Lake Hancock. Charlie is coached by Andrew Bergman in addition to Drew, and Drew points out that “Ed’s put a lot of time into Charlie as well. It makes a difference to have people with a full lifetime of experience helping you. You get to bypass a lot of the pitfalls families of young athletes experience.” Back home in Hickory, Ed is still hard at work building ponds and lakes, with the never-ending support of his wife, Rita. He’s working on another ski lake in the county now -- setting a course for more champions of the water. -30- NEILL GRADING AND CONSTRUCTION CO. INC. LICENSE #7539 3050 First Ave Ct SE Hickory, NC 28602 Mailing Address: PO Box 3916 Hickory, NC 28603 Monday - Friday: 7 am - 5 pm Phone: (828) 324-6774 Fax: (828) 324-9632 Email: info@neillinc.com NEWSLETTERSOUR PARTNERSCONTACT USFAQ