Walter N. Hobbs is president of Loftin & Co. Mr. Hobbs joined the printing firm in 1974, focuses on the company's sales and public relations efforts. He also shares responsibility for administration, decision-making and long-range planning with Mr. Bill Loftin Jr., vice president and chief operating officer.

A veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps, Mr. Hobbs served in Vietnam from 1967 to 1968. A 1971 graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a bachelor's degree in history and cultural anthropology, he worked as installment lending manager at First Citizens Bank in Chapel Hill before joining Loftin & Company.

Mr. Hobbs has served on the board of directors of the Printing Industry of the Carolinas, an industry trade group; he also was assistant secretary-treasurer and a member of PICA's executive committee. He is a member and former president of the Gastonia Rotary Club, a member of the board of directors of the Gaston County Heart Society and a volunteer for the Gaston County Literacy Council. He is a member of St. Mark's Episcopal Church in Gastonia, where he has been a vestryman and Sunday school teacher.