He was also the founder and former chairman of the board of Plastic Packaging, Inc., a manufacturing company with plants in Hickory and Forest City.

Through Future Forward, Ballenger led the effort to secure funding to create the North Carolina Center for Engineering Technologies in Hickory.

In 1990, he and his wife Donna founded the Ballenger Foundation to continue their longtime charitable work in Central America.

They established several medical clinics in high-poverty locations, sponsored an orphanage, sent school furniture and textbooks and delivered loads of other relief supplies.

A Comprehensive Guide to Constituent Service, his benchmark publication, is still updated for each new Congress and used to train new congressional staff members.

As a member of the North Carolina Senate and former Minority Leader, he introduced the government in the Sunshine Act of 1976, which was enacted into law.

He was active in many community organizations, including the Community Ridge Day Care Center in Hickory (co-founder); Greater Hickory United Fund (Chairman); Western Piedmont Council of Governments (Board Chairman); Greater Hickory Chamber of Commerce (Director); the North Carolina School of the Arts (Sustaining Member); the North Carolina Symphony (Patron) and the North Carolina Arts Society (Patron).

He also volunteered as a lay reader for the Episcopal Diocese of Western North Carolina, traveling to lead services in parishes without rectors.