Chapel Hill Comics at 412 West Franklin Street is moving a few doors east, into a bigger space at 316 W. Franklin Street.

The new space was formerly occupied by the Paint the Earth ceramic studio. The comic book shop plans to complete the move in August.

Downtown group will hold meeting

The Friends of the Downtown will hold its monthly meeting on July 31 at 10 a.m. at the Franklin Hotel, 311 W. Franklin Street.

Parking is available behind the hotel. Attendees should get a tag for their cars from the front desk.

The Friends of the Downtown holds its regular meetings on the last Thursday of each month with speakers sharing knowledge on many aspects of downtown Chapel Hill. Meetings are open to the public.

Firm initiates 'Green Fridays'

Koroberi, Inc. (www.koroberi.com), a Chapel Hill-based marketing firm, has launched a new summer program designed to reduce commuting time and costs while maintaining client service and workplace productivity.

The summer program, dubbed "Green Fridays" by the staff, offers employees every other Friday off through Labor Day.

Employees are required to work one extra hour every day, and are divided into teams to ensure full coverage and client service on every business day.

Bruce Olive, chief operating officer of Koroberi, said the move was designed to ease the impact of gas prices on employees and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by lessening the amount of driving done by employees.

Sales manager joins agency

Betty Matekovich has joined the Phil Crisp Nationwide Insurance office in Chapel Hill.

She will be the office's commercial lines sales manager handling all of North Carolina and South Carolina.

Creative director will judge awards

Bob Kochuk, creative director at the Chapel Hill-based Jennings advertising and public relations firm, has been chosen to judge the International Davey Awards for the third consecutive year.

The Davey is sanctioned by the International Academy of Visual Arts and honors the finest small marketing firms and advertising agencies in the world.

Kochuk, who has been with Jennings for 7 years, has judged numerous advertising competitions. He has served on the judging panel for the prestigious Telly Awards, the premier award honoring outstanding local, regional, and cable TV commercials and programs, as well as video and film productions. Kochuk has also judged ADDY Awards competitions in Charleston, S.C., and Milwaukee.

The annual International Davey Awards honors the achievements of the "Creative Davids" who derive their strength from big ideas, rather than big budgets. The Davey is the leading awards competition specifically for smaller agencies, where firms compete with their peers to win the recognition. For information see www.daveyawards.com.

CHHS grad heads New York agency

Chapel Hill native Ben Sturner, a former standout tennis player at Chapel Hill High School, is now in the sports marketing and entertainment brand awareness industry as the founder and CEO of Leverage Agency, a multi-million dollar business based in New York City.

Leverage Agency helps clients with naming rights and cooperative sponsorships, grassroots promotional campaigns, strategic brand and product sponsorships, product placement and integration, television and media applications and other needs. Leverage's clients include Jimmy Kimmel Live, Reebok International, KFC and Southwest Airlines.