After 35 years there in various roles, Rountree Collett retired from Bernhardt Furniture Company as Chief Operating Officer.  He managed teams responsible for corporate finance and treasury management, and served on the retirement plan committee, including choosing and monitoring investment vehicles for plan participants.  He continues to serve on Bernhardt’s board of directors as well as on the board and investment committee of the Bernhardt Furniture Foundation.  He also serves on the board of the Library Foundation of Burke County.  He served 12 years as a board member of the Community Foundation of Burke County.  Rountree grew up in Morganton and graduated from UNC Chapel Hill, and from the graduate Law and Business Schools at the University of Michigan.  He and his wife Ellen (a founding member of the Burke Women’s Fund) live in Morganton, where they raised their three children.