Two New Trustees Join McDowell Tech Board
Mr. Phil Tate, President of Tate’s Insurance and Financial Services, Inc., has joined the McDowell Technical Community College Board of Trustees to fill the seat left vacant following the death of the late Mr. John Roach. Tate was appointed to become a trustee by the McDowell County School Board, where he also served three terms as an elected member of the board.
Tate follows Darren Waugh in his appointment to the board last fall. Waugh is a Certified Public Accountant with Gabler Molis & Company, PA in Marion. Waugh was appointed by the McDowell County Board of Commissioners.
Tate was born in Atlanta, Georgia but grew up in Marion and graduated from Marion High School, where he was Senior Class President. After receiving his Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science and Industrial Relations from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1972, he received a scholarship to attend the School for Mutual Agents at Oberlin College in Ohio. From 1968 to 1969, Tate was also a U.S.... Navy Midshipman while studying at UNC-CH.
Although Tate has worked in insurance and financial services all of his adult life, he is also a licensed real estate broker (inactive) and attended Campbell University School of Law in 2003 and Western Carolina University School of Public Affairs in 2004. A lifelong learner, Tate also enrolled in classes at McDowell Tech beginning in 2006 and achieved certification in Emergency Medical Technician-Basic and EMT Dispatch, as well as CPR and Incident Management. He is an FCC-licensed Extra-Class Ham Radio Operator and a member of the Amateur Radio Emergency Services.
Professionally, Tate is a member of the National Association of Independent Insurance Agents, the Carolina’s Association of Independent Insurance Agents, and the North Carolina School Board Association.
In 2001, Tate was named Rotarian of the Year by the McDowell Rotary Club and Citizen of the Month by the Marion City Council. He is a member of First United Methodist Church, where he is Past Treasurer, Lay Speaker and Sunday School Teacher. He currently serves as Trustee Chairman of the Marion District of the United Methodist Church and a board member of Givens Estates in Asheville, NC, as well as President and former Treasurer of McDowell Rotary Club.
Tate has served on the board of directors of the Marion Branch of Wachovia Bank and is Treasurer of the McDowell Amateur Radio Association.
Tate and his wife Kay have one adult daughter, Karen Lloyd, who lives in Asheville with her husband and son, Tate.
Waugh holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Corporate Finance and Accounting from Western Carolina University, where he also graduated with a Master of Accountancy degree.
Waugh’s accounting firm, Gabler Molis & Company is a regional firm with offices in Asheville, Brevard, Hendersonville, and Marion. In addition to taxes and general accounting, Waugh does bookkeeping, write-up, payroll, financial statement audits, small business consulting, forensic accounting and not-for-profit work. His Marion office is located at 27 West Henderson Street.
Mr. Waugh is a member of the NC Association of Certified Public Accountants and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. He is currently serving as treasurer for McDowell County Relay for Life.
His wife, Kendall Kelley Waugh, is a guidance counselor at McDowell High School. They have two daughters, Reagan, 7, and MacKenzie, 4. They are expecting a third child in May, predicted to be a boy.
The Waughs live in Glenwood.
