Getting a grip on closely held companies.

• Position: Chief executive officers of North Carolina's 100 largest private companies

77 S. John King

Sunox Inc.

Manufacturer and distributor of industrial and welding gases and supplies. 76, married 56 years, five children. Left school in seventh grade and worked various jobs, including truck driver. Struck out on his own in 1955 with his own truck, peddling oxygen and welding supplies. Son James, 54, is president and COO and Andrew, 46, runs Blytheville, S.C., production plant. "Give employees the right to fail," he says. Here's how CEOs of the state's largest private companies wound up minding their own businesses.

The first in-depth look at senior management of the state's largest private companies reveals the vitality of family businesses in North Carolina.

Founders or their heirs run 76 of the companies on the North Carolina 100. In fact, founders are CEOs of 31 of the companies, including four of the 10 largest. Most of the other companies on the list, prepared by Arthur Andersen & Co. for BUSINESS NORTH CAROLINA, are family-owned with outside managers as CEOs.

For the first time in the nine years that the accounting firm has compiled the list, we asked for biographical information about the companies' chief executives. Despite their success and influence, private-company CEOs operate in relative obscurity compared with their public-company peers. Fortunately, most responded enthusiastically, providing information used in the 100 biographies that follow.

After sending questionnaires to more than 1,000 companies, Arthur Andersen ranked the largest by their 1992 revenues. To qualify, companies must be based in North Carolina -- not be a subsidiary or division -- and have fewer than 500 shareholders. Those engaged primarily in retail, real estate or financial services are not eligible. Participation is strictly voluntary.

Four Tar Heel companies listed on Forbes' 1992 list of the nation's 400 largest private companies -- retailer Belk Stores Services and mega-auto-dealer Hendrick Management Co., both of Charlotte, and food distributors MBM Inc. of Rocky Mount and Alex Lee Inc. of Hickory -- are not on the North Carolina 100.

The absence of last year's No. 1 company, Cone Mills Corp. of Greensboro, which went public, made room at the top for Klaussner Furniture Industries. The Asheboro-based maker of upholstered furniture was No. 4 last year and No. 8 in 1991. The big climbers included vehicle-parts distributor General Parts Inc. of Raleigh, which moved from seventh to third, and Boddie-Noell Enterprises, a Rocky Mount-based restaurant operator, which jumped from 10th to fifth.

Total revenues for the North Carolina 100 declined for the second consecutive year, from $11.67 billion to $11.29 billion, largely due to the departure of Cone Mills, which had $705.4 million in revenues last year. But total employment was up 13%, to 108,595.

The 15 new entrants this year were led by No. 21 Neil Realty Co., a Kinston-based business that owns the Britthaven nursing-home chain and employs 5,400.

1 J.B. Davis

Klaussner Furniture Industries Inc.

Furniture manufacturer. 48, married, two children. In 1970, after college at East Carolina and teaching for three years, entered sales with Stuart Furniture Co. in hometown of Asheboro. Became CEO in 1980, a year after Hans Klaussner, a German with furniture holdings in several countries, acquired the company. Klaussner has plants in California, Indiana and Iowa, but about half its 5,000 employees work in Guilford and Randolph counties. It makes sofas, recliners and office furniture.

2 Theodore M. Fowler Jr.

Golden Corral Corp.

Family restaurants. 44, married 22 years, two children. Blythe, Calif., native earned a bachelor's in psychology from Abilene (Texas) Christian College. Joined Golden Corral in 1977 as an area supervisor; became president in 1982 and CEO in 1989. Biggest achievement: "successful repositioning of our concept" from steakhouse to a diverse menu and up-to-date decor. Toughest decision: "organization reduction" during the change. Raleigh-based Golden Corral owns 317 restaurants and has 105 franchised operations in 38 states. Enjoys fly fishing and hunting.

3 O. Temple Sloan Jr.

General Parts Inc.

Replacement-parts distributor for autos, trucks and agricultural equipment. 54, married 34 years, three children. Duke graduate. Likes to hunt and fish. Also an officer of Highwoods Properties Inc., a Raleigh real-estate development and management company. Last year, merged Raleigh company he founded 32 years ago with Marshfield, Wis.-based Northern Industries, boosting employment to 3,500 and distribution centers to 18 in the Southeast and Midwest.

4 W. Duke Kimbrell

Parkdale Mills Inc.

Manufacturer of cotton and cotton/synthetic blended yarns. 68, married 37 years, three children. Gastonia native and N.C. State graduate. Started working at Parkdale Mills, founded in 1918, during high school. When he became CEO in 1961, company had 200 employees and $11 million in sales; now it has nearly 3,000 workers at 18 plants and sales topping $400 million. With two others, bought company from 100 investors in 1982. Hobbies: work, golf. One of only four recipients of Sam Slater Textile Award from the American Textile Manufacturers Institute. Son-in-law Anderson Warlick is president.

5 B. Mayo Boddie Sr.

Boddie-Noell Enterprises Inc.

Hardee's franchisee. 63, married 42 years, three children. After two years at Chapel Hill, tried various jobs before opening one of the first Hardee's restaurants. "A firm but fair" management style and "ability to get along with people" enabled him to build Rocky Mount-based company into nation's second-largest Hardee's franchisee, with 334 outlets. Hunts and fishes. Making his middle son, Bill, 38, president in 1990 was toughest decision. He and brother Nick, 65, remain active in business, along with Mayo's three sons and Nick's two sons-in-law.

6 James H. Goodnight

SAS Institute Inc.

Software developer. 50, married, three children. Wilmington native formed SAS in 1976 after four years of teaching at N.C. State, where he received a Ph.D. in statistics. Cary-based company vowed last fall to add 1,000 jobs to 2,500 it had companywide. Software, developed to analyze agricultural data, is used at more than 25,000 business, education and government sites. SAS reinvests 35% of revenue in R&D, more than double industry average. Staff turnover is 3%, vs. 24% for industry.

7 William B. Halstead

Halstead Industries Inc.

Copper-tubing manufacturer. "Frankly, I like the area" is reason he gave in 1985 for opening sales office for Pennsylvania-based family business in downtown Greensboro. Another factor: proximity to Pine Hall plant in Stokes County. Later moved headquarters to Gate City and opened R&D center there. Closed unionized, 430-employee plant near Pittsburgh in '90, moving production to nonunion Pine Hall and Arkansas plants.

8 J.M. Carstarphen

Pharr Yarns Inc.

Synthetic-yarn manufacturer. 60, married 38 years, three children. Tarboro native and Carolina graduate. Became CEO 13 years ago. His father-in-law, W.J. Pharr, whom he cites as a mentor, and R.L. and Daniel Stowe bought a McAdenville cotton-spinning mill in 1939. The company now has more than 4,000 employees, 11 plants and subsidiaries in California, Georgia and the Netherlands. Hobbies: golf, boating.

9 Annabelle L. Fetterman

The Lundy Packing Co.

Pork processor. 72, married 45 years, 45 years, two children (both Lundy employees). Moved to Clinton in 1949 from Berwick, Pa., with parents, husband and brother to start a hog-processing plant. High-school graduate, started as office manager in 1949, has been CEO for five-and-a-half years. Strongest influence: her late father. Biggest accomplishment: emulating him in pushing farmers to breed leaner hogs. Lundy slaughters 8,000 daily. "Our efforts have helped make North Carolina sixth in the nation and Sampson County No. 1 in the nation in raising pigs." Past president of American Camellia Society.

10 George T. Lewis Jr.

Cogentrix Inc.

Owner/operator of cogeneration power plants. 65, married 45 years, three children. Born in Brooklyn, has degrees from Syracuse University and NYU Law School. Hatched idea working for Boston-based engineering consultant Charles T. Main. When Main said no, set up shop in Charlotte in 1983, leasing Duke Power Co. engineers. He and three sons own the stock. Son James, 29, is active in day-to-day operations. In addition to owning and operating 10 U.S. plants, Cogentrix is expanding into Latin America, Caribbean and Far East.

11 F.J. "Sonny" Faison Jr.

Carroll's Foods Inc.

Pork and turkey producer. 58, married 28 years, three sons. Born in Clinton, where he still lives, has bachelor's from Wake Forest. Joined Warsaw-based Carroll's in 1974 as controller. Named president/CEO in 1983. Enjoys attending sports events: "All and any -- the Final Four, World Series, Kentucky Derby, Super Bowl." Toughest decision: "to move Carroll's from a commodity business into the food industry." Bought 13% stake in Virginia-based Smithfield Foods. Management style: "to get the smartest, most-talented people in Carroll's and give them a free hand."

12 E. Marvin Johnson

House of Raeford Farms Inc.

Poultry processor, 66, married 43 years, three children. Mother ("Miz Sue") inspired him to raise turkeys as a teenager. After high school and merchant marine, started hatchery, built feed mill, went into processing. Bought Raeford plant in 1962. Toughest decision: buying out three partners in 1976. Golfs, hunts and fishes. Used "personal tenacity, fortitude and common sense" to increase Rose Hill-based company's sales more than 300% in past decade. Three plants in Carolinas, one in Michigan. Recently built nation's largest feed mill.

13 Marshall Y. Cooper Jr.

Harriet & Henderson Yarns Inc.

Textile manufacturer. 52, married 25 years, one child. A third-generation CEO, he succeeded his father in '76. A UNC graduate in business administration, first job was with First & Merchants Bank in Richmond, Va. One of nation's...