In a new deal involving a state college-based student rental company, Copper Beech Townhome Communities is being acquired by Campus Crest Communities.

The first phase of a 36-month process has already been completed. Campus Crest has paid $261 million for a 48 percent share of Copper Beech. Campus Crest will buy the remaining 52-precent of Copper Beech over the next three years.

Campus Crest is the nation’s fourth biggest student rental company. It’s buying the fifth largest in Copper Beech, which owns 37 properties spread across the country. Copper Beech Founder and CEO Jack McWhirter describes the deal as, “the biggest acquisition that has ever occurred—by far—in the student rental business.”

Campus Crest (which operates as The Grove) will eventually control nearly 40,000 beds in student housing. That will easily make Campus Crest the second largest company in the business.

Although Copper Beech will maintain its own management of day-to-day operations during the 36-month acquisition period, the CEO of Campus Crest, Ted Rollins, has placed himself on the two-seat Copper Beech board of directors, and major decisions require unanimous consent of the board.

Campus Crest Communities recently attended the 5th Annual InterFace Student Housing Conference, a national conference and networking event for all facets of the on- and off-campus student housing industry. Ted W. Rollins, Co-Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer, was a participant on the Buy-Sell-Hold panel. Also, in conjunction with the Interface Conference, the Company is providing an update on its portfolio leasing status for the 2013/2014 academic year.

Campus Crest Communities, Inc. (NYSE:CCG) is a leading developer, builder, owner and manager of high-quality, purpose-built student housing properties located close to campuses in targeted U.S. markets. The Company is a self-managed, self-administered and vertically-integrated real estate investment trust which operates all of its properties under The Grove brand.

Campus Crest Communities owns interests in 33 student housing properties containing approximately 6,324 apartment units and 17,064 beds and boasts the youngest standardized portfolio in the industry. Since its inception, the Company has focused on customer service, privacy, on-site amenities and its proprietary residence life programs to provide college students across the U.S. with a higher quality of living.

Additional information can be found on the Company’s website at http://www.campuscrest.com.

The children at SOS Children’s Village in Barrett Town, St James now have another reason to play outside.

Just recently, they received a new playground donated by United States (US)-based Campus Crest Communities, Inc. The company was co-founded by Ted W. Rollins, son of the late American businessman and entrepreneur John W. Rollins. John, together with Dr Harland Hastings, Johnny Cash and Professor Heinz Simonitsch, founded SOS Children’s Villages Jamaica in 1970.

A leading owner and operator of student housing properties located across the US, Campus Crest shares a historical link with SOS Children’s Villages Jamaica. Ted Rollins, who serves as Campus Crest’s CEO, always admired his father’s philanthropic endeavors and passion for helping the underprivileged children of Jamaica. Having spent a great deal of his childhood on the island, he witnessed first-hand the positive impact SOS Children’s Villages had on the community. With the passing of his father, Rollins vowed to carry on his legacy by supporting the organization through volunteerism and charitable contributions.

Recently, Rollins arrived in Jamaica to give back to the village that helped shape his future and that of so many other youths. He was joined by his brother Michael, niece Catherine, 11 of his Campus Crest colleagues, and Andrew Johnson, from the nursery at Rose Hall Developments.

Rollins worked side-by-side with SOS Villagers to construct a new 3,200-square foot playground. A few hours, some teamwork and 2,500 bags of rubber mulch later, the sound of clanging hammers and wrenches was replaced by children’s laughter as the playground was complete.

Corporate generosity is not new to Campus Crest. The company also provides housing to Horatio Alger scholars who chose to attend universities where Campus Crest operates student housing communities. The Horatio Alger Association, another worthwhile cause championed by Ted and The Rollins Family, is an organization devoted to honoring the achievements of outstanding individuals who have succeeded in spite of adversity.

Several of SOS Village children have been recognized as Horatio Alger scholars, including Suny Maritime Engineer Markham Laird and Biochemist Dr Steven Bahado-Singh.

Ted Rollins, CEO of Campus Crest, received his BSBA from the Citadel and his MBA from the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University.

The Fuqua School of Business is named for J.B. Fuqua, born in 1918 and raised by his grandparents on a tobacco farm in Prince Edward County, Virginia. Fuqua began his relationship with Duke University as a teenage student, when he borrowed books by mail from the Duke library. Fuqua never went to college.

Among his many accomplishments, he is best known as the founder and chairman of Fuqua Industries, Inc., an Atlanta-based Fortune 500 company. The small brick manufacturing company grew to become a multi-billion-dollar conglomerate of business holdings. Fuqua’s cumulative giving to Duke totaled nearly $40 million, establishing him as one of Duke’s largest individual benefactors.

Since its founding, The Fuqua School of Business has established itself as a leading educator and supplier of future business leaders at all levels around the globe. The school earned this leadership position with the help of corporate partners who derive value from their relationships with Fuqua.

Corporate partners are provided with premier opportunities to recruit from among the nation’s top MBA graduates, to sponsor Executive MBA programs, to collaborate with our faculty in areas of research and customized corporate education, to partner with students in enriching the MBA experience, and to gain visibility through support of institutional programs and capital projects.

Ted Rollins, CEO of Campus Crest, is lead director, member of the audit committee and chairman of the governance committee of Fortegra Financial Corporation (NYSE: FRF), a leading insurance services company.

The Fortegra legacy began over 30 years ago when N.G. Houston III founded Life of the South in a small town in south central Georgia. From the late 70′s to 2007 Mr. Houston, Ned Hamil and Loyd Shaw led the development of the Southeast’s most well respected credit insurer.

Also, during that time they had relocated the company’s headquarters to the current location of Jacksonville, FL. In 2007, the company was recapitalized and renamed Fortegra Financial Corporation.  The name “Fortegra” was chosen because it represents fortitude and integrity. These are the values that have been instilled in the company and continue to be a focus of the Fortegra brand today.

Since 2007, Fortegra has grown into a leader in the insurance services sector. The company is recognized as a leader in revenue enhancement programs with our credit insurance, service contracts and warranty products.

Since 2003, Fortegra has evolved into a multifaceted insurance holding company because of the leadership position created through diversifying operations into a worldwide insurance products and services company. Its expertise in niche markets complimented by modern technologies has resulted in successful revenue and profit enrichment solutions for all of its clients.

Fortegra is constantly pursuing growth opportunities by providing new and innovative revenue and profit enhancement products to clients that allow them to generate incremental revenue per transaction while reducing costs; expanding its client base in existing markets through its direct sales force; entering new markets through geographic expansion in the U.S. and pursuing strategic acquisitions of complementary businesses within each segment to expand service offerings, access new markets and expand the client base.

The Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officers of Toll Brothers (NYSE: TOL), and the Chief Executive Officers of Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: ALNY) and Trex Co., Inc. (NYSE: TREX) are among the corporate executives named as the recipients of the thirteenth annual “E-3 Awards, ” presented by Emerald Asset Management at the Twentieth Annual Emerald Groundhog Day Investment Forum. The Forum was held in Philadelphia on February 7, 2013.

As a recipient of the award in 2012, Ted Rollins, CEO of Campus Crest Communities, congratulates this year’s winners.

Through an intensive multi-faceted process, Emerald’s team of research analysts and portfolio managers identify corporate leaders who have demonstrated a creative “outside the box” approach to corporate achievement; an entrepreneurial approach that maximizes human initiative; a corporate culture that promotes personal and corporate excellence; a demonstrated record of accomplishment: creating jobs, stimulating growth, and enhancing shareholder value; and an ability to effectively identify and adapt cutting-edge technologies and processes.

Rollins and Campus Crest co-founder Mike Hartnett, chief investment officer, received the 2012 “Green Company Executive Award” at the twelfth annual Emerald, Entrepreneurial and Excellence (E-3) awards ceremony hosted by Emerald Asset Management. Campus Crest was recognized for its commitment to sustainable building practices.

In a partnership with SolarCity, Campus Crest Communities is installing nearly 10,000 solar panels on its student housing communities in Greeley, Colorado; Flagstaff, Arizona; and Las Cruces, New Mexico. When complete, the initiative will provide more than 2.3 million kilowatt-hours of renewable power annually and offset electricity consumption by approximately 50 percent.

SolarCity is a national leader in clean energy products and services.

“We will eliminate over 80 million pounds of annual carbon dioxide emissions, the equivalent of taking approximately 7,000 cars off the road for a year,” said Ted Rollins, CEO of Campus Crest Communities.

“Sustainable living is central to our company philosophy and business practices, and we are pleased to find that our residents are equally as passionate about the concept.”

The company is proactively shifting consumption towards clean energy to be a leader in regenerative practices.

Using renewable sources will limit carbon emissions and reduce overall energy costs providing residents with cleaner, more energy efficient housing.

These projects reflect Campus Crest’s commitment to sustainability and making a positive environmental, social, and economic impact on the communities in which it owns and operates student housing developments. To help drive this initiative, the company is partnering with The Institute for the Built Environment (IBE) at Colorado State University, a multidisciplinary institute whose mission is to foster stewardship and sustainability of natural and built environments, and the Center for Living Environments and Regeneration (CLEAR), a 501c(3) non-profit organization focused on global regeneration (www.clearrevolution.org).

“Campus Crest is showing future generations there are better energy options available by giving students access to renewable power,” said Toby Corey, Chief Revenue Officer at SolarCity. “It’s possible for many housing developers to pay less for solar electricity than they pay for utility power and pass on the benefits of clean power to their tenants—SolarCity has completed more than 100 solar projects for housing developments in the U.S.”