Wow- what an amazing "American Made Story"! 

Dr. Mitchell 'Mick'  Zais has quite the background of service and experience.

Growing up in a military family, Mick attended 10 public schools in 12 years. 

Mick earned a Bachelor of Science in engineering from West Point, a Master of Science and a doctorate in social psychology and organizational behavior from the University of Washington, and a Master of Arts in military history from the School for Advanced Military Studies at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. He did post-doctoral studies in national security affairs at the National Defense University in Washington, D.C.

During his military career, Mick served as deputy commanding general at Fort Riley, Kansas, and as an assistant professor at West Point. 
During 31 years as an Army infantryman, paratrooper, and ranger, he served in Vietnam, Korea, Panama, and Kuwait. He was a social aide in the Nixon White House; at West Point, he taught organizational behavior, leadership, and management consulting; and in the Pentagon, he was Chief of War Plans. His military awards and decorations include the Distinguished Service Medal, the Defense Superior Service Medal, the Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star, the Meritorious Service Medal, the Air Medal, the Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal, the Humanitarian Service Medal, the Ranger, Airborne, and Combat Infantryman's badges, and the South Carolina Meritorious Service Medal.

Zais most recently served as deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of Education. He was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on May 16, 2018, after being nominated by President Donald J. Trump on Oct. 5, 2017. Prior to serving in the Trump White House, he ran for and was elected South Carolina’s 17th State Superintendent of Education, the second Republican to hold that office.  

Dr. Zais also served for 10 years as president of Newberry College, a private institution founded before the Civil War. While at Newberry, Mick served as chairman of the presidents' councils of both the South Carolina Independent Colleges and Universities and the South Atlantic Athletic Conference. He was also a member of the board of directors for the Foundation for Independent Higher Education, the Lutheran Education Conference of North America, the South Carolina Tuition Grants Commission, the South Carolina Commission on Higher Education, and the Southern Regional Education Board. 

Dr. Zais is currently continuing his service as a Senior Fellow in the Center for Education Opportunity at AFPI during these critical years in American History. 

An ardent philatelist, Zais has been married for 42 years to Susan. They have two adult children. His son is a cyber security professional and sergeant in the South Carolina National Guard. His daughter, the former Miss South Carolina USA, is a full-time mom. Zais and Susan have six grandchildren between the ages of three and 10.

Charlie Brown

Precision Plumbing

CEO, CCO, AFC

Charlie entered the plumbing industry as an apprentice in 1977. He became a licensed Journeyman in 1980 and shortly thereafter received his Master Plumbing license and organized Precision Plumbing in 1981. At that time the business was one man and a truck focusing on repair work. Today it is a multimillion-dollar business with more than 250 employees. Charlie served as CEO and Chief Culture Officer of the firm until his retirement in 2021. He has served on the board of the North Carolina Plumbing Heating and Cooling Contractor’s Association and the Charlotte Chapter of the American Sub-Contractors Association. Charlie goals were to seek new ideas and innovation in the construction industry while fulfilling God’s purpose with the people and businesses he has been entrusted with.  

Personal (family, ministries and civic organizations)

Charlie is married with three boys and six grandchildren. He was a member of C-12 for 15 years, (A Christian CEO Executive Board). He is an ordained deacon and serves at Mercy Church in Monroe, NC. He is currently serving on boards for “The King’s Kitchen” and the “Charlotte Mecklenburg Dream Center”.  He served several years with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes by serving as a Board Member for them. He is very much involved in volunteer work and is active in both local and foreign missions work. He feels that the workplace is one of the greatest places to bless people and help them find fulfillment. Charlie enjoys mentoring young men and women and spends several days a month meeting with a number of them to help them through life.

Wow, it was an honor to sit down with a real life Andy Griffith!!! Tune in to hear from the legendary Eddie Cathey. 

Sheriff Eddie Cathey has been in law enforcement for more than 45 years. He grew up in western North Carolina but has lived all around the state during his years with the Highway Patrol. Sheriff Cathey graduated from Pisgah High School in 1967. He worked at construction and at the Enka nylon plant until being inducted into the United States Army in 1969.  He completed basic training at Ft. Bragg and was assigned to the military police training at Fort Gordon, Georgia.  After training he was assigned to Korea at a Nuclear Hercules missile site on the Yellow Sea. While there he was given secret clearance to work inside the missile site. He was later promoted to the section director for the attack dog section responsible for security for the sight.

Sheriff Cathey was honorably discharged after his tour of duty and returned home to the textile plant where he soon decided to pursue a career in law enforcement at the Canton Police Department.

After eleven months he applied and was accepted by the Highway Patrol. In August of 1974 he was assigned to Union County as his first duty station. He was selected to be in the first class of sniper trained Highway Patrolmen in the State and was selected under Governor Martin to be in the first class trained under the secret service training for executive security.  In 1985 he was promoted to Line Sergeant and assigned to Scotland, Hoke, and Richmond counties. He later transferred to Henderson, Polk, and Transylvania counties. In 1989 he was promoted to First Sergeant and assigned to Roanoke Rapids supervising Halifax and North Hampton counties until being transferred back to Union County in 1991 where he remained as the First Sergeant over Union and Anson Counties until his retirement on September 30, 2000.

During his career he transported and was responsible for the security of such dignitaries as President Gerald Ford, Senator Robert Dole, West Virginia Governor Nelson Rockefeller, Jr.; North Carolina Governors’ James Holshouser, Jim Hunt and Jim Martin, United States Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, United States Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, The Dalai Lama, numerous heads of state and dignitaries and last but not least, Elvis Presley and Mick Jaggar.

He was elected Sheriff of Union County and was sworn in on December 1, 2002.

Sheriff Cathey has been quoted as saying that becoming Sheriff has been one of the best decisions he has ever made and hasn't found anything about the job that he does not like.