Paul Beard CEO, Crown Center Fayetteville.

• Author: Parry, Amanda
• Position: Entertainment - Crown Center Fayetteville

Though Fayetteville native Paul Beard retired from the entertainment industry at the ripe old age of 18-his parents owned the local speedway, and he grew up selling tickets and concessions--he couldn't stay away. Two decades later, he was back in the business, running technical operations for the Crown Center, an entertainment complex in his hometown. In March, after 12 years of working both the technical and administrative sides, he was named CEO. "I guess I should have known I'd end up back in entertainment," Beard, 53, says. "You could say it's in my blood."

At 18, he began work on a degree in television broadcasting at Central Carolina Community College in Sanford, but a car accident damaged tendons in his arms so badly he needed three months of physical therapy to use his hands again. He went to work as an air-conditioning technician and became an electrician, hooking up electrical systems for schools, shopping centers and churches in Virginia and the Carolinas. In 1996, the Crown Center recruited him for his ability with ice: It needed help creating a rink for the local hockey team. Starting as an event manager, he became operations manager, director of operations and chief operating officer...