PICKING UP SPEED.

• Author: Leccett, Page
• Position: TOWNSQUARE: Mooresville

A CORPORATE RELOCATION AND A WEALTHY BENEFACTOR REV GROWTH IN A CHARLOTTE SUBURB WITH A RACING PEDIGREE.

In mid-September, after Hurricane Florence had churned across the state, President Donald Trump joined business and government officials in assessing the storm damage. At one point, the president turned to Duke Energy CEO Lynn Good. "How is Lake Norman, that area?" he inquired. Assured it was fine, Trump responded, "I love that area. I can't tell you why, but I love that area."

Mooresville residents know why--in 2012, the Trump Organization bought a struggling local golf-course development, investing millions of dollars on improvements. But long before Trump set his sights on the southern Iredell County town, another Manhattan business titan had made a big mark.

The Mack family didn't found Mooresville --farmer John Franklin Moore did that in the 1850s--but the family has had a lasting influence on the town about 25 miles north of Charlotte. Patriarch John Mack emigrated from Lebanon in the early 1900s. His son, Charles, opened John Mack & Sons, a wholesale grocery and general-merchandise store in Mooresville. Charles and his wife, Alice, had six sons, all of whom worked at the store. Their youngest, named John after his grandfather, attended Duke University on a football scholarship, majored in history and clerked at a small brokerage firm during his last year in college.

John Mack, who turns 74 this month, went on to become co-CEO of Zurich-based Credit Suisse Group AG and later CEO and chairman of Morgan Stanley--and one of Mooresville's primary patrons. The Charles Mack Citizen Center, which Mooresville officials call "the jewel of downtown," is named for its benefactor family. They gave $4-5 million in 2002 toward its expansion, according to Stephanie Crisco, the center's director. Residents rent it for weddings and corporate meetings and attend plays, concerts and comedy shows there. The Macks use it for family reunions.

"People look out for each other in a small town," says Mack, who lives in New York, as he recalls his Mooresville childhood. "If my brother and I, God forbid, ran a stop sign, our dad would find out about it. That was the beauty of the place. There was a real sense of community."

With a population of about 38,000, Mooresville today isn't the quiet small town of John Mack's youth. NASCAR, the loudest of all sports, is central to the town's identity. Concord might claim Charlotte Motor Speedway, but...