Phil Hodges

When Phil Hodges isn't hunting or fishing near his Pitt County hometown of Bear Grass, he's on the trail of amino acids research as the president of Metrics, Inc., a busy contract pharmaceutical development laboratory he founded in Greenville, North Carolina.

Hodges has guided the company's growth from a start-up analytical development laboratory with 4 employees in 1994 to one of the country's premier pharmaceutical laboratories with over 230 employees to date.

Hodges is just as dedicated outside the lab, often coaching recreational baseball and basketball, and volunteering with the Boy Scouts. This outdoorsman knows he doesn't have to go far from home to realize that professional fulfillment and personal fun in Pitt County are a result of good chemistry.

"I enjoy all kinds of outdoor recreation. I'm a football fan who loves the Pirates. So many opportunities are here. Being able to enjoy these things, along with that eastern North Carolina sense of opportunity, is why I live here."