Wilmington B iz MAGAZINE
SPARK: ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT & INNOVATION
ILM’S LOWCOST AIRLINES EXPANSION
MANUFACTURING INVESTMENTS FROM ABROAD
STARTUP
STAGE
MEGAN ROWE AND OTHER YOUNG PORT CITY
ENTREPRENEURS FIND THEIR FOOTING
Happenstance Economy The
When it comes to economic development, some of the usual suspects include infrastructure, available workforce, business climate, etc. But now and then, a city gets a major boost or a homegrown success story out of an overlooked resource: fate.
This came up recently while listening to Highland Brewing CEO Leah Wong Ashburn talk about her family’s story and how she stepped into leading the longtime Asheville company.
Wong Ashburn visited Wilmington to speak at the Wilmington Chamber of Commerce’s annual Women’s Professional Development Luncheon. Her father, Oscar Wong, founded Highland Brewing in 1994 in the basement with a buddy.
Now children, circle round, and let me tell you a story about what craft beer was like in the late 1900s. I know it’s hard to believe, but there was a time when the grocery store didn’t include rows and rows of colorful beer can graphics from craft breweries across the country; IPAs didn’t come with thesauruslevel adjectives in their name; and, crazy enough, there weren’t these community meeting spaces called breweries as destinations to hang out with pints and atmosphere. I guess there were still bars, but they had fewer corn-hole boards and food trucks.
Wong built Asheville’s first craft brewery in the city since Prohibition and helped usher in a generation of other local breweries as the industry exploded nationally, earning Asheville the nickname Beer City USA. Today, from its 40-acre property in the mountains, Highland Brewing remains the largest independent, family-owned brewery native to the Southeast as larger, national names have moved into the area such as Sierra Nevada Brewing.
But how did it all start?
Wong was not from Asheville and did not work in the beer industry. The son of Chinese immigrants, he grew up in Jamaica and moved to the U.S. to go to
the University of Notre Dame, after which he began a long career as an engineer.
After selling his engineering firm, he and his wife happened to want to move to the mountains and bought a house in Asheville in 1992. Always a social guy, Leah said, Oscar – who had been a home brewer in college – happened to connect with a local brewer and they started up in the rented basement space.
The rest unfolded from there.
The happenstance origins mixed in with years of hard work, including for Wong Ashburn, who took over as the company’s president in 2015 and CEO in 2018, as they navigated a boom of competitors, a major rebrand, COVID-era limitations and planning for the future.
Fate only gets you so far if you don’t follow up. In our annual Spark Issue, there are plenty of examples of business happening in the Wilmington region as a result of this mix of happenstance and playing the long game. From the long, long-term investment of a new Cape Fear Memorial Bridge (page 73) to the random bad roommates and business class projects that led young entrepreneurs to base their tech startups here (page 43), the next big thing is just waiting to happen.
VICKY JANOWSKI, EDITOR vjanowski@wilmingtonbiz.com
DARIA AMATO
DARIA AMATO is a native New Yorker and School of Visual Arts graduate. Throughout her thirty years of experience, she has photographed a range of editorial, advertising, company branding, and corporate clients in addition to music, fashion, portraiture, weddings, and still life. She photographed the issue’s cover and startup founder profiles (PAGE 43) as well as at Veterans Express for a story about the Cape Fear Memorial Bridge’s impact (PAGE 73).
DAVID W FREDERIKSEN
DAVID W. FREDERIKSEN is a Wilmington-based freelance writer, with a background in marketing and public relations. In 2012 he and others launched the region’s first men’s lifestyle magazine, where he served in a variety of creative and business roles. His most successful launch, however, has always been his wife and three daughters. Frederiksen takes a look at the next chapter for the Cape Fear Memorial Bridge replacement now that federal funding has been committed on PAGE 73.
RANDALL KIRKPATRICK
RANDALL KIRKPATRICK moved from New Jersey to Leland in March 2022 with his wife, a just-retired World History teacher. During his 20 years in the PR field, he also freelance wrote business stories for such outlets as The New York Times, Business Journal of New Jersey and NJ Biz. Kirkpatrick talked with several new entrants to the high-speed fiber internet market on PAGE 68
MALCOLM LITTLE
MALCOLM LITTLE is a portrait, editorial and brand photographer based in Wilmington. Originally from New Jersey, he began my creative journey as a professional dancer and choreographer before picking up a camera in 2021. His main mission is to amplify the stories of the people he works with, collaborating with them to create honest and authentic images. Little photographed CIE director Heather McWhorter (PAGE 60) and WMPO executive director Mike Kozlosky (PAGE 73). malcolmlittlephotography.com and @_malcolmlittle on Instagram
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FOR THE ROAD
Caleb and Emilie Nelson’s company, Backroad Purpose, was born while on the move, but now it’s a Wilmington-based business that converts old school buses into RVs and custom rigs like this Harry Potterinspired Airbnb.
“Our first bus we converted for ourselves in our parents’ driveway,” Caleb Nelson said. “Fast forward years later and we are in a 3,000-square-foot shop with over 15 buses completed and about eight more to come within the next few months.”
Backroad Purpose was one of six companies recognized in the Business Journal’s MADE Awards this year: Backroad Purpose (Arts); Champion Valves (Functional Products); End of Days Distillery (Food & Beverage); HSM Machine Works (Manufacturer); Mirimichi Green Express (Exporter); and Tayloe Gray (Supporter).
Winners will be recognized at the WilmingtonBiz Expo on Oct. 2 (wilmingtonbizexpo. com).
B iz B ites
BEHIND THE NUMBERS | SOUND OFF | THE DIGEST | C-SUITE CONVO
photo by MADELINE GRAY
BEHIND THE NUMBERS
$150M
LIVE OAK EXPANDS AGAIN
OFF TIBURON DRIVE
BY CECE NUNN
LIVE OAK BANK, THE WILMINGTON-headquartered SBA lender, recently got more space.
This summer, Live Oak officials, contractors, Wilmington Mayor Bill Saffo and more gathered in the new structure, Building 4, on Live Oak’s campus off Tiburon Drive to celebrate the facility’s opening.
Representing a total investment of $150 million so far, Live Oak’s compound started with a groundbreaking ceremony for its first building in May 2012.
“On Dec. 31, 2013, six months after we moved into Building 1, we had 141 employees. Today on this campus, we have 708 employees,” said James “Chip” Mahan III, who also serves as chairman of Live Oak.
Between 2013 and 2023, the digital bank’s assets grew from $450 million to $11.2 billion and its capital from $50 million to $1 billion, said Mahan, who founded the bank in 2008.
He expects that growth to continue. For example, the next few years could see the groundbreaking for Building 5. Crews this summer dug behind Live Oak’s buildings to expand an existing pond into a lake to handle water runoff at the growing campus, using the resulting soil to create a pad for Building 5.
And the bank is “constantly recruiting” new employees, Mahan said.
“We’re always looking for great revenue producers. Well, great revenue producers create a waterfall effect, so if I hire another 15 lending officers then I need 15 underwriters and 15 closers,” he said. “We’re always trying to find the best of the best to generate the top-line revenues throughout the country and continue to do what we’ve done in the past about having more verticals.”
HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS NURSES
32.8 (PER 10,000 POPULATION)
152.8
PHYSICIANS
ROAD * CONDITIONS
MEDIOCRE
BUILDING INVESTMENT IN LIVE OAK BANK CAMPUS SINCE 2012 TOP EXPORT DESTINATIONS (JUNE)
Live Oak’s latest building was designed with employee needs and wants in mind, officials said. The architecture firm was LS3P, and the general contractor was a joint venture between Monteith Construction and Swinerton, a national construction firm.
The newest building has four stories and 67,000 square feet. It is threaded through with Cisco technology and was built using mass timber – a kind of compressed, sustainable wood that’s been trending overseas and making its way into U.S. construction.
$6.9 MILLION
$72.4M
KINDOM $58M
$50.1M
Sources: N.C. Institute for Public Health, TRIP, Fed Reserve Bank, OEC
SOUND OFF investing in the future of
TECH TALENT
BY TECH TALENT COLLABORATIVE
THE N.C. STATE OF TECHNOLOGY 2023 INDUSTRY REPORT HIGHLIGHTS AN IMPRESSIVE STATISTIC: NEARLY 400,000 WORKERS ARE EMPLOYED IN TECH OCCUPATIONS ACROSS THE STATE. Yet only 32% of these professionals work at tech companies. The rest are distributed across various industries, underlining a crucial point – the need for welltrained tech talent is universal.
Locally, the Wilmington Chamber of Commerce’s Career Coast survey revealed that 77% of employers surveyed intend to grow their business in the next three years. This jumps to 95% of employers in IT, software and analytics. Despite this promising outlook, workforce shortages persist, and too many residents remain in low-wage jobs. Investing in local talent is not just a necessity; it’s a smart return on investment.
Developing homegrown talent reduces dependence on expensive external hiring and remote workers who might not contribute to our local economy. The Tech Talent Collaborative, a consortium of industry leaders and community organizations, is at the forefront of this mission. By implementing Talent Pipeline Management (TPM) strategies, the collaborative aims to align local talent supply with the demands of regional employers.
TPM borrows from supply chain
JOHN LEATH LISA GROAT KATE
GILLESPIE
management to ensure that training programs produce graduates who meet the specific needs of employers. This employer-led approach supports aligned training programs and encourages investments in program capacity, student recruitment and persistence.
About two dozen employers are engaged with the collaborative, which convenes monthly to assess and refine strategies. Strengthening employer alignment with existing education and training pathways at institutions like UNCW and Cape Fear Community College is key. Equally important is encouraging public and private support for new pathways, such as those developed by Stiegler EdTech. The goal is to reskill and upskill Wilmington’s existing talent pool, enabling them to take advantage of high-wage roles with area employers.
In 2023, our efforts were bolstered by the city of Wilmington’s $2.5 million investment from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds to foster high-skilled tech talent locally. With this support, Stiegler EdTech launched its first Wilmington-based Careers in Technology Apprentice -
ship Cohort (CTAC) in May. This 24week paid training initiative received over 800 applications for just 35 seats, providing participants with a $17,000 stipend and a curriculum tailored to local employer needs. Employers face no risks or costs beyond hiring commitments and offering a starting salary of at least $55,000. In Charlotte, CTAC boasts a 95% graduation and job placement rate, with over 190 graduates stepping into high-wage tech roles, most without any prior tech experience.
This success story demonstrates the power of collaborative efforts in creating pathways to tech careers across industries. It’s important to note that tech needs are not reserved for the tech industry alone; all industries require increased tech expertise across their organizations.
“Looking ahead, the collaborative’s ongoing efforts to refine and track demand planning, facilitate regular surveys, and develop solutions will continue to strengthen our talent pipeline,” said co-chair Lisa Leath. “The city of Wilmington’s investment in bringing Stiegler EdTech to our region must be matched by employers’ commitment to hire, retain, and invest in local talent.”
To continue this momentum, we call on area employers to join us. Expanding capacity and buy-in for successful education and training programs, while exploring new opportunities for rapid upskilling and reskilling, is essential for sustained progress.
Participation in the collaborative
means engaging in demand planning, assessing and reassessing hiring needs, and thinking creatively about recruiting local talent for high-wage jobs. The Tech Talent Collaborative is instrumental in shaping training and education programs and facilitating job placements for program graduates.
“By working together, we can build a vibrant tech community that supports economic growth, provides opportunities for local residents, and positions Wilmington as a leading hub for tech talent,” Leath said. “My involvement with the Tech Talent Collaborative is a testament to my dedication to this vision and my belief in the transformative power of collaboration and innovation in talent strategies.”
Together, we can build the next generation of workforce right here in Wilmington. Join us!
To learn more about the collaborative or to join us, contact Cape Fear Collective at info@ capefearcollective.org.
The Tech Talent Collaborative co-chairs who authored this op-ed are John Gillespie, chief technology officer of MegaCorp Logistics; Kate Groat, director of corporate philanthropy at Live Oak Bank; and Lisa Leath, chief people officer at Vantaca.
SPARK IDEAS
EDITOR'S NOTE: The Greater Wilmington Business Journal and WilmingtonBiz Magazine publish a regular series of op-eds about ideas for sparking economic growth in the region. If you have a column topic to be considered, email editor@wilmingtonbiz.com.
CROWD SOURCING
REACTIONS, OPINIONS AND QUOTABLES FROM OUR ONLINE SOUNDING BOARDS
COMMENTS
ON PICKLEBALL, GOLF PROPOSED FOR HOLLY TREE RACQUET CLUB
“THIS IS PERFECT FOR THE AREA … Residents in Westchester should love the value increase if this goes through! Exciting!! The tennis courts are super tired lol! Glad to see the updates this will see lots of new member interest and any tennis players can convert or go to Empie Park. The courts are super nice and plentiful.” – JAMIE ALEXANDER JORDAN
”PLS GIVE ME MORE UNIQUE restaurants instead of this.”-JOSHUA ROJAS
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”COMMENTS DIDN'T DISAPPOINT. Y'all will complain about literally everything. This article seems that the property isn't changing or deleting anything, just expanding. Someone on here complaining that we have lost all of these activities as options for entertainment and sport, and then also complains about an investor coming in to expand... wait for it... entertainment and sport.” - CHRIS BERLIN
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“THANKS TO THIS SUPPORT, WE WERE ABLE TO LAUNCH OUR PROGRAM designed to grow the crew base, break down barriers and open doors for aspiring film and television professionals,” Hamilton said, noting the program’s emphasis on increasing the number of minorities and women in film crews. “Our program provides hands-on training on professional sets, mentorship opportunities and specialized training tailored to various aspects of production.”
SOUND OFF
In the Economic development MIX
WHERE SHOULD DOLLARS BE ALLOCATED WHEN THINKING ABOUT ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT?
Economic development takes a lot of forms these days ranging from the attraction and retention of large employers to the encouragement of entrepreneurship and growth of small businesses. Recently, that has even shifted towards highlighting quality of life to attract and retain high-skilled individuals who themselves can be force multipliers.
The economic landscape in North Carolina, like much of the rest of the country, is such that the vast majority of businesses employ fewer than 50 individuals, but the majority of individuals work at large firms.
In fact, private employment in North Carolina, as of the first quarter of 2024, exceeded 4 million individuals with 44% of those individuals employed at firms with fewer than 50 employees and the other 56% working in larger firms.
Looking at the picture from an establishment perspective provides a very different lens, as 96% of all establishments have fewer than 50 employees.
This emphasizes that it is important to allocate resources to both large businesses as they support the economy through employing a large number of
MOUHCINE
GUETTABI
individuals but also smaller ones as the majority of companies are small and not only do they employ almost half of all employees, but they also tend to be owned by local residents and tend to therefore keep dollars circulating at the local level.
An examination of what happened between 2019 and 2023 confirms the importance of both large and small businesses and the different conclusions one reaches depending on which measure we examine.
Between the first quarters of 2019 and 2023, 98% of all the establishment growth and 47% of all employment growth occurred in firms with fewer than 50 individuals. Furthermore, wages at the smallest firms – fewer than five individuals – grew at a much faster rate (31.8%) than at the largest –more than 1,000 employees – firms where the growth was only 19.1%.
Importantly, this picture is consistent throughout the state as small businesses – those with fewer than 50 employees – as a share of all businesses exceed 90% in every county across the state, with a low of 92.2% in Northampton County and a high of 99% in Hyde County.
In the three-county region of New Hanover, Brunswick and
Pender, those shares, as of 2022, stood at 96.3%, 95.9% and 97.7%, respectively.
Another dimension of variation that is important to consider when making decisions about the allocation of the scarce resources devoted to local economic development is across industries.
In New Hanover County, for example, 98.5% of the professional, scientific and technical services business had fewer than 50 employees while that share is only 75% in the agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting sector.
Taken together, it is clear that local economies depend on large businesses, small ones and entrepreneurs who all play important and complementary roles in employing individuals, innovating and circulating dollars. This means economic development efforts need to take into account the sector of interest, its contribution to the area and future growth prospects.
Lastly, while large firms may garner considerable attention and headlines in newspapers, smaller firms are important to regional economies and are therefore equally deserving of assistance and attention given their importance in fueling local economic engines.
Mouhcine Guettabi is a regional economist with UNCW’s Swain Center and an associate professor of economics at UNCW’s Cameron School of Business.
DIGEST
NHC VISITORS SPEND MORE THAN $1B
Tourist spending in New Hanover County added up to more than $1 billion last year, according to a recent study.
Domestic and international visitors to and within the county spent more than $1.1 billion in 2023, an increase of 5.9% from 2022 spending, a news release from the Wilmington and Beaches Convention and Visitors Bureau stated.
According to the release, New Hanover County ranks 8th in visitor spending among North Carolina’s 100 counties. Tourism employment in New Hanover County increased to 6,790 in 2023, up from 6,676 in 2022.
The data comes from an annual study commissioned by Visit North Carolina, a unit of the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina.
“The Wilmington and Beaches CVB is pleased to announce that visitor spending in New Hanover County once again set a new
benchmark in 2023, besting last year’s first time to exceed the $1 billion mark,” stated Kim Hufham, president and CEO of the New Hanover County Tourism Development Authority, in the release.
Additional highlights from the 2023 study:
• Total payroll generated by the tourism industry in New Hanover County was $278.9 million.
• State tax revenue generated in New Hanover County totaled $37 million through state sales and excise taxes, and taxes on personal and corporate income. About $40.3 million in local taxes were generated from sales and property tax revenue from travel-generated and travelsupported businesses.
• Travel-generated state and local tax revenues saved each New Hanover County resident an estimated $323.85.
Statewide, visitor spending in 2023 rose 6.9% to reach a record $35.6 billion in North Carolina.
NCINO SET TO SPONSOR MUSEUM THEATER
Wilmington-headquartered company nCino is sponsoring the digital dome theater planned for the new Cape Fear Museum. Museum officials refer to what will essentially be a planetarium as a “digital dome theater” because, in addition to astronomy, the nCino-sponsored space will offer 360-degree immersive experiences related to marine biology, environmental science and history at the museum’s new downtown facility.
The new Cape Fear Museum is under construction as part of Project Grace on Grace Street, and the digital theater is expected to be 1,000 square feet with room to seat 60.
nCino, a cloud-based banking software firm, is committing to a $160,000, 10-year sponsorship.
Number of city of Wilmington departments that have moved into Skyline Center
C - SUITE CONVO
SET DRESSING
BY CECE NUNN
ROCKY POINTBASED
FILMWERKS BUILDS
TEMPORARY AND SEMI-PERMANENT STRUCTURES FOR THE BROADCAST, EVENTS AND ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRIES.
Michael Satrazemis, a longtime Wilmington resident, founded Filmwerks over two decades ago after recognizing “the need for whisper-quiet generators in the entertainment/broadcast industry,” said BJ Singh, new CEO of Filmwerks.
Satrazemis, chairman and former CEO of Filmwerks, also identified the need for temporary broadcast structures for premier sporting events, which led to Filmwerks launching a structures division, Singh said.
Filmwerks continued to service the power and structures industry until its partial acquisition by Seaport Capital in 2018. Filmwerks eventually spun off its power division, which Sunbelt acquired. It continues to operate in Wilmington as Sunbelt Filmwerks, while the structures division continues to operate as Filmwerks,
BJ SINGH CEO FILMWERKS
with more than 70 employees.
Before joining Filmwerks, Singh served as the president and a board member of ETP North America, one of the largest audio-visual providers in North America. ETP acquired EVENTEQ in 2015, a company Singh founded in 2007.
Before founding EVENTEQ, Singh was a sales and marketing executive at various software firms and eventually co-founded a software firm acquired in 2006. After the acquisition, Singh made his hobby into a business, and EVENTEQ was born.
Singh writes a blog, deservingleadership.com , to outline his leadership philosophy. Singh recently answered questions about his company
and industry for WilmingtonBiz Magazine.
HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE THE MISSION OF FILMWERKS?
“Our mission is to foster trusting client relationships by creating memorable experiences for audiences through creativity, dedication and an unwavering pursuit of quality.”
WHAT IS FILMWERKS WORKING ON IN SEPTEMBER?
“Filmwerks will provide broadcast structures and mobile stages for the US Open in New York, F1 in Las Vegas (Grand Prix), Amazon Thursday Night Football, Fox (Sports) Big Noon Kickoff and other significant events in September. Filmwerks provides broadcast structures to broadcasters annually, including ABC, CBS, Amazon, Fox, ESPN, South Florida Motorsports and the US Open.”
AS THE NEW CEO, WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS TO DRIVE THE FUTURE OF FILMWERKS?
“We just finished restructuring to position Filmwerks for growth. We intend to expand into the broadcast structures space and into new markets, including live entertainment, brand activations, exhibits, semi-permanent attractions and others.”
YOU’VE SAID YOU’D LIKE FILMWERKS TO ENGAGE MORE WITH THE COMMUNITY. WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY THAT?
“It is imperative to me that Filmwerks engages with the community as a good corporate citizen and employer of choice. We are beginning conversations with local educational institutions to provide internships, scholarships and employment opportunities.”
CAN YOU SHARE SOME TRENDS YOU’VE SEEN IN THE SPORTING EVENT BROADCAST INDUSTRY?
“1. The rise of streamline platforms in addition to the traditionally dominant linear video platforms – including TV and cable.
2. On-demand content because today’s consumers want to consume content on the date, time and format of their choosing.”
WHAT KINDS OF TECHNOLOGY DO YOU SEE AFFECTING FILMWERKS’ INDUSTRY IN THE NEAR FUTURE AND BEYOND?
“We continue to see a strong demand in upgraded, broadcast-quality finishes on our structures, a larger focus on incorporating AV technology into structures and new ideas around better audience engagement in this age of constant digital distraction.”
HOW WOULD YOU SUMMARIZE YOUR LEADERSHIP PHILOSOPHY?
“My leadership philosophy is that to lead, you must be willing to serve. And to truly ‘serve’ is to consistently exercise emotional intelligence to positively engage the emotions of those around you. If every interaction with those around you leaves them feeling positively engaged, even in the toughest of circumstances, then you have inherently served them and that makes you deserving of being a leader.”
FUNDING FORWARD
BY VICKY JANOWSKI | PHOTO BY MADELINE GRAY
In August, the New Hanover Community Endowment’s board announced that it had selected Dan Winslow as the fund’s next president and CEO after a national search. Winslow, who most recently led the Boston-based New England Legal Foundation, starts in the new role Oct. 1. He will head up the $1 billion-plus community endowment created from the sale of New Hanover Regional Medical Center to Novant Health in 2021.
Why were you interested in pursuing the job?
“This is a unique opportunity to affect meaningful change. A lot of times people can have good ideas or good initiatives, but they lack the finances to see it through.
The New Hanover Community Endowment creates an exceptional opportunity for the citizens of New Hanover County to directly benefit from the resources that the endowment can infuse into the community in the four pillars (which are education, health and social equity, public safety, and community development).”
What do you think you’ll bring to it, with your perspectives and past experiences?
“I bring a very broad perspective and a history of public service, as well as I’m a business executive and a nonprofit executive and basically an organizational, transformational organizational leader in every role that I’ve had.
I didn’t just have interesting roles, I actually accomplished something in each of the roles that I had that was meaningful and impactful. So, for example, when I was a judge, I invented a new way to schedule jury trials that allowed people to have jury trials almost all the time on the first scheduled date, which was revolutionary. …
When I was the governor’s (Mitt Romney in Massachusetts) chief legal counsel in the recession following 9/11 I was able to do a whole bunch of things, resolving the Democratic National Committee’s, the risk of a labor strike by the police department at the time of the DNC convention; helping to get a new runway built at Logan Airport so flights wouldn’t be delayed.
… We also had the Big Dig being completed at that time, and the city of Boston laid claim to the land that was going to be freed up above the tunnel, as did Mass Turnpike Authority, as did the state, and we actually created a trust to allow each of the parties who had an interest to shape this, what’s now called the Greenway, into a beautiful linear garden and public park that’s probably better than any one of the entities ever could have done by themselves.
And it’s an interesting parallel here to the Community Endowment, where different interests are involved, and they’ve banded together to create something that might be better than the sum of the parts.”
What do you say to some of the criticism that’s been raised or concerns that have been raised about your background, that while it’s extensive, it’s not as much time in philanthropic endowment management as some of the other fields you’ve worked in?
“Well, first of all, I embrace low expectations because it makes it easier to beat them. But I’ve had extensive experience as a nonprofit executive, which by definition, puts me at the table of philanthropic efforts.
So, it’s true, I’ve not worked in-house at one or two philanthropies, but I’ve been exposed to the inner workings of dozens of philanthropies, and I’ve seen best practices and what works or what does not work from the perspective of the nonprofit, which I think is a very valuable perspective to take into this role because we don’t want to have nonprofits invest an undue amount of time if they don’t have a credible chance of winning funding.
We want to make sure that there’s a proportionality. … We do something that’s strategic, big picture, long term, we have to make sure there’s a proportionality to it.”
In Massachusetts, you’ve previously held political office, as a state representative, and run for office, in the Republican primary for a special U.S. Senate seat election. What role do you think politics should and should not play in spearheading the endowment and working with its governing board?
“To level set, maybe 10% of my career has been in politics; the other 90% has been in business, nonprofit, public service (and) not in politics. But the answer is, there should be no involvement. We’re a nonpartisan organization – absolutely have no fear or favor based on partisanship. We are a community resource for the entirety of New Hanover County, regardless of what walk of life or political stripe people have.”
Do you have any other goals, overall ideas, for the position coming into it?
“In terms of vision, my first effort is to listen for the first 90 days that I’m there. I want to meet with as many people in the community. … I truly welcome the opportunity to meet with community organizations, leaders and just folks in the neighborhoods that want to make an investment of improving the life where they live. And I think it’s important to be accessible and transparent. …
What I said to the board when I was applying for the job – and I don’t want to get too far ahead of the listening board because my views will be shaped by a lot of the input that I get – but I do think there’s movement among foundations like this of being more than a passive piggy bank to instead be a catalyst for positive change and to really take the role of a civic leader and leadership in the community.
Not just funding things that come to us, which are great, but harnessing the power of ideas.”
CHECKING-IN
CUISINE
BY MEGHAN CORBETT
BY MEGAN DEITZ
CHEF NATE SIMS CATERS TO HOTEL GUESTS AND LOCALS ALIKE
As Wilmington continues to grow at a rapid rate, competition in the hotel industry is growing, as well. While some might consider hotels only an option for out-oftowners, many are focusing their attention on attracting locals with destination restaurants catering to both hotel guests as well as the public.
For example, Arrive hotel on South 2nd Street in downtown Wilmington offers DramYard, boasting “Southern coastal flavors with a global twist using locally sourced ingredients in its intimate and thoughtfully designed dining room.”
There is Steam at the Embassy Suites by Hilton on the Wilmington riverfront that focuses on “seasonal, American cuisine using locally sourced ingredients.”
On Wrightsville Beach, East at the Blockade Runner offers waterfront dining with fresh local seafood, produce from its own garden and other local purveyors.
Coming soon is a new Tapestry-branded hotel by Hilton, which will be known as Hotel Lela on Market Street, with
new restaurant, Paloma’s, offering breakfast and dinner, with menus inspired by Latin flavors.
Board & Barrel has been catering to local diners and hotel guests since it opened in 2018 inside Hotel Ballast in downtown Wilmington.
The indoor/outdoor riverfront restaurant also houses a bourbon bar including its own private-label bourbon.
Nate Sims is Board & Barrel’s executive chef.
“I have always had a passion for cooking even as a kid,” Sims said. “I love transforming ingredients into something artfully tasty, not only in appearance but in taste, as well. Finding those flavors that hit so gently on the palate and give an ‘Um, what is that?’ is what I work towards with every menu item.”
A hotel-based restaurant can require some education for diners.
“One thing that has always surprised me here in this setting is that most people’s perception is that they cannot eat at the Board & Barrel without being a hotel guest,” he said. “They absolutely can come in for a drink, a bite to eat or evening out. We work to market our restaurant so that people know they can come and enjoy what we have to offer.”
Sims’ favorites on the menu include his crab cake packed with jumbo lump crab; a barbecue salmon dish because of the way the barbecue sauce plays with the richness of the
PHOTOS
salmon; and the shrimp and grits, which is always a crowd-pleaser.
“I have a country club/business club background and spent almost 25 years in that setting,” Sims said. “This is my first position in a ‘non-club’ of the restaurant business. Some of the things with the club section is that you get to know the families and members more personally, their preferences and what they want before they ask.”
At the hotel, the outreach is similar for guests staying multiple nights.
“It’s the personal service that we love to do. In a traditional setting, that’s hard to do. You can give great service at a restaurant, but you really do not get a chance to know them – what their likes are or how to suggest a feature for the night that you know they might be interested in,” Sims said. “We get a lot of repeat business – conferences and families that come back throughout the year – so we know them and remember them.”
Additionally, due to the nature of hotels catering to visitors in the area, amenities are typically close by such as water views and access, shopping and outdoor entertainment that can add to a night out for both hotel guests as well as locals looking for a place for a date night or meeting.
A hotel restaurant is an added challenge for a chef as it allows for all types of customers.
Sims gets to serve local residents who can become regulars and come to know them as he used to know his guests in the club. At the same time, he can meet new challenges with one-time hotel guests and those in town for business.
“When a guest is in for multiple days, we know we are going to have them come in and eat,” Sims said. “We have to capture their attention on the first seating. I try to offer a menu that will cover a multitude of interests in cuisine. We have seafood, steaks, sandwiches, shareable bites, vegetarian options and light fare to cover anyone’s interest in dining.”
For more restaurant news, sign up for the weekly Feast Unwrapped email newsletter. Subscribe at FeastWilmington.com.
WILMINGTON LURES LOW-COST CARRIERS AS THE REGION’S DEMAND SOARS FOR MORE ROUTES
BY CECE NUNN | ILLUSTRATION BY MARK WEBER
AVELO AIRLINES SWOOPED INTO TOWN BECAUSE WILMINGTON LOOKED LIKE A GOOD COASTAL GAMBLE.
An ultra-low-cost carrier hatched in 2018 in Texas, Avelo launched its first-ever flight in 2021 in California, taking off from Wilmington International Airport (ILM) for the first time in June 2022.
Low-cost carriers have been around for decades. According to multiple economic analyses, airline industry deregulation accelerated the trend and led to widespread growth from 1990 to 2020.
Avelo was the first discount carrier to give ILM a shot.
“A couple of years ago, as we were evaluating future opportunities from our (New Haven, Connecticut) base, we had added many of the large Florida cities already, and so we were looking to expand into nonFlorida markets,” said Trevor Yealy, Avelo’s head of commercial. “The usual suspects come to mind – Myrtle Beach and Charleston and Nashville and Chicago – places like that. But we received some interesting data on both population growth in Wilmington, as well as second homeownership in Wilmington that seemed to indicate that, hey, there’s an
opportunity here that you know others might not be as focused on.”
Initially, some might have viewed Avelo’s Wilmington flight path skeptically. But “it’s been a tremendous market for us, and we’ve grown it from what was originally just New Haven to anywhere from six to eight cities from Wilmington during different points of the year. It’s been a very good station for us piggybacking off that local growth, population growth in and around Wilmington itself, as well as second-home ownership and higher and higher visitation.”
Sun Country Airlines, which started in Minneapolis in 1982, soon followed Avelo into the Port City. Sun Country’s first flight at ILM took place in June 2023.
“We’re continuously looking at what markets are successful for us, where our customers may want to go from MinneapolisSt. Paul,” said Wendy Burt, Sun Country’s senior director of communications. “And we know our customers quite well because they are really vacation and leisure travelers. In the winter, our travelers like to head south and go to warm-weather destinations. In the summer, we fly many more routes that are kind of east to west.”
Sun Country had been serving other East Coast destinations at or near the beach, including Savannah, Charleston and Myrtle
Beach, and “those have been very popular destinations,” Burt said. “So, this was another beachy destination that appeals to our customers.”
PRICE POINTS
Over the past 10 to 15 years, about 80% of the domestic flight seats have belonged to four airlines – American, Delta, United and Southwest, Yealy said.
“These airlines have gotten bigger and bigger, and costs have grown higher and higher, and they’ve got to figure out how to manage their cost structures,” he said. “What it’s ultimately led to is a reduction in service in a number of places across the country, and what that’s opened up are opportunities for low-cost airlines and ultra-lowcost airlines like ourselves and Sun Country and Allegiant and Spirit and Frontier to start entering more markets.”
A check of ticket prices in September showed one adult would have to pay $558 to American Airlines for a round-trip ticket to Hartford, Connecticut, if traveling Sept. 14-17. An Avelo flight to Hartford using the same scenario cost $56, not including baggage fees and the price of choosing one’s seat.
Breeze Airways will become ILM’s third discount carrier in 2025.
Breeze is scheduled to begin offering four nonstop routes at ILM in February, officials announced in August. The destinations routes connect to Hartford, Connecticut; Orlando, Florida; Fort Myers, Florida; and Providence, Rhode Island.
Entrepreneur David Neeleman (also the founder of JetBlue Airways) started Breeze Airways, headquartered in Cottonwood Heights, Utah, in 2021. According to its website, Breeze operates a fleet of Airbus A220-300 aircraft “with a focus on providing efficient and affordable flights between
secondary airports, bypassing hubs for shorter travel times.”
“We’ve had a lot of success in the Carolinas, both North and South Carolina,” said Max Barrus, vice president of planning and revenue for Breeze Airways. “One of our first cities was Charleston, South Carolina, and we’ve seen tremendous growth.”
Barrus said Breeze started service in New Bern a few months ago. “That’s gone really well. We have also expanded service to Raleigh tremendously since we started operating there (in 2023) and seen a ton of success there, so we’re really excited to be able to expand and grow.”
He said Breeze officials see “a lot of unserved markets for Wilmington that we’re really interested in.”
Breeze has three of the same destinations from ILM as Avelo Airlines. Avelo, which already had an existing Orlando route, announced July 24 that it would launch nonstop flights from Wilmington to Fort Myers and Hartford.
Marking its second anniversary at ILM in June, Avelo announced in a news release that it has “achieved industry-leading reliability at ILM. When excluding weather-related cancellations outside Avelo’s control, the airline achieved a 99.3% completion rate, meaning the airline canceled less than 0.7% of flights at ILM since fruition.”
CATCHING AIR
The goal of attracting a low-cost carrier to ILM fueled Jeff Bourk’s desire to take the job as airport director in 2022.
“We didn’t have a low-cost carrier here before I started … I started making phone calls before I even took the job to find out if airlines like Sun Country and Avelo and Breeze and others would be interested in this market,” Bourk
ILM LOW-COST CARRIER DESTINATIONS
With the recent addition of Breeze Airways, Wilmington International Airport now has three low-cost carriers in additional to flights on legacy airlines Delta, American and United. Here are the connections offered by discount carriers at ILM.
HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT
CONNECTICUT AVELO AIRLINES
PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND BREEZE
MINNEAPOLIS-SAINT PAUL SUN COUNTRY AIRLINES (SEASONAL) *ALSO SERVED BY DELTA
ORLANDO, FLORIDA
TAMPA, FLORIDA
FORT LAUDERDALE, FLORIDA
AVELO AIRLINES
HEADQUARTERED: NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT
DESTINATIONS: 52 IN THE U.S.
ILM INTRODUCTION: JUNE 2022
NO. OF ILM ROUTES : 8
BREEZE AIRWAYS
HEADQUARTERED: SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH
DESTINATIONS: 56 IN 29 STATES
ILM INTRODUCTION : SCHEDULED TO START IN FEBRUARY
NO. OF ILM ROUTES: 4 SCHEDULED
SUN COUNTRY AIRLINES
HEADQUARTERED: MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA
DESTINATIONS: 50 IN THE U.S., MEXICO, CANADA AND THE CARIBBEAN
ILM INTRODUCTION: JUNE 2023
NO. OF ILM ROUTES : 1
said.
He said during his own research, he “saw that there was definitely the data to support it. Erin has been working on it as well, and certainly we knew that there was a demand and a market for it,” he said, referring to Erin McNally, ILM’s marketing, air service development and PR manager.
Incentives also play a part.
“We also started right away working on putting together incentive packages with our community partners, like the (Wilmington and Beaches Convention and Visitors Bureau) to be able to help with destination marketing when the new carrier comes in,” Bourk said.
Agencies and New Hanover County kick in funds to entice new carriers.
Bourk, McNally and other ILM employees working on air service development aim “to put together the best business case that we can to get them to put that asset here instead of somewhere else … We work to tell them the reason why this market is better than another market,” Bourk said, adding, “And there’s all kinds of reasons, right? Wilmington is one of the fastest-growing places in general. We have been No. 1 for inbound moves year after year. We have a strong business community. We have a relatively high income per capita, so people have disposable income to travel. All of those types of things are things that we put on the table for the airlines to digest.”
ILM officials also touch base with the airport’s legacy carriers – United, Delta and American Airlines.
“That’s part of air service
development, too, is to meet with them to look at where the best opportunities are for them to grow and try to convince them of that as well,” Bourk said. “And there are several examples of that in the last few years as well (including) Delta to Minneapolis, American to Miami, Delta to Boston.”
New flights spring from which areas have the most business and leisure ties to Wilmington. Although a traveler can get there from here, Bourk said Denver is one example of a top unserved market.
“What that means is we have more people from our area going to Denver than most other places right now with our existing air service. We have service to Denver every day, but you have to make a connection through Atlanta or through Charlotte or through Philly or some other city,” he said.
But the demand exists for a nonstop route, he said. If ILM gained that route, “demand would go up, and fares may come down,” Bourk said.
Officials with discount carriers have open minds about whether or not they might offer even more destinations from ILM.
In the two years since Avelo began servicing ILM, the airline’s growth in Wilmington, North Carolina, has been “pretty remarkable,” Yealy said.
That could mean additional flights for ILM.
“As long as it continues performing and customers continue showing up for it, we’re always looking for opportunities to do more everywhere,” Yealy said. “Wilmington is no exception to that.”
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TRENDS TO WATCH
Alook at Wilmington’s economic development trends in 2024 shows a focus on ways to increase industry workforces and identify the infrastructure the region needs to continue to grow. The area’s fintech firms racked up accolades, while commercial real estate brokers have kept tabs on the need for more office space for growing and new-toWilmington businesses.
1
SECTOR PROTECTORS
Key players in multiple Wilmington industries have come together to boost their workforces in recent years.
For two years, the Tech Talent Collaborative has labored to build up Wilmington’s skilled tech workforce. The collaborative is hosted by Cape Fear Collective and is co-chaired by John Gillespie of MegaCorp Logistics, Kate Groat of Live Oak Bank and Lisa Leath of Vantaca (read more about the collaborative’s mission in an opinion article on page 18). More than a dozen Wilmington tech employers comprise the rest of the group.
Cape Fear Manufacturing Partnership, born from the Cape Fear Council of Government’s Cape Fear Workforce Development Board, started in 2020. The group includes more than 40 manufacturing industry partners.
The Supply Chain and Logistics Council was formed in 2024 to focus on Wilmington’s growing port and other logistics companies that call the region home, said Megan Mullins, the chief marketing and engagement officer at the Wilmington Chamber of Commerce.
Tech companies in Wilmington, particularly in the fintech sector, have been earning national kudos and celebrating growth.
Cloud banking software firm nCino landed on a list of the world’s top 250 fintech companies, one of 25 selected for the list’s Banking Solutions category.
Compiled by CNBC and market research firm Statista, the list highlights top fintech companies based on key performance indicators. nCino, founded in 2011, offers a cloud-based platform that streamlines back- and front-end processes for commercial, small business and consumer lending at regional and community banks.
For the quarter that ended July 31, nCino reported total revenues of $132.4 million, a 13% increase from the second quarter of 2024. Of that total, $113.9 million came from subscription revenues, which increased 14% year over year.
nCino spun off from another Wilmington-headquartered company, Live Oak Bank, an onlineonly SBA lender that celebrated the completion of another building at its midtown Wilmington campus this year (read more about it on page 17).
HOOKED UP
In the quest to achieve one of its economic development goals, New Hanover County leaders approved two construction contracts in August. The contracts cover the first phase of a project bringing water and sewer lines to the county’s northern sector.
In partnership with Cape Fear Public Utility Authority (CFPUA), New Hanover County plans to install 8 miles of new water mains and 10 miles of wastewater mains as part of its Last Frontier Project. The effort aims to accommodate increasing growth and development in the northern part of the county.
“The addition of this infrastructure dovetails with existing CFPUA projects in the same area, which will result in the ability to develop the surrounding acreage for both residential and commercial purposes,” Eric Credle, the county’s CFO, told New Hanover County commissioners. “We expect this project will provide significant economic benefits to the county, including long-term growth, inflating growth of the tax base, as well as additional housing opportunities.”
WAREHOUSE WHERE? 4
Demand for industrial space continues in Wilmington, with some developers creating more projects.
An example: Chris Norvell, a principal with investment firm Edgewater Ventures, spoke in July 2024 about his company’s plans for two new buildings and infrastructure at Wilmington Trade Center, an industrial park along U.S. 421.
The two buildings will each bring 152,880 square feet of warehousing and manufacturing space to the site. A proposed road extension and utility improvements will lay the groundwork for future growth, Norvell said. Once the park’s third building is around 50% to 60% leased, Norvell said he plans to break ground on Building 4.
“I’ve got a bunch of prospects and people we want to sign leases with, but I don’t have enough space,” he said in July. “So, we want to make sure we’re not behind the 8 ball.”
5
SPACE CASE
Likely a result of its strong, existing small-business community, the Wilmington area is recording some of the lowest office vacancy rates in the country, according to market researchers.
A report from CoStar, a commercial real estate information company, showed an office vacancy rate of about 1.4% for Wilmington in the second quarter of 2024.
“It’s really the supply issue more than the demand issue from my perspective, just the lack of inventory in the market,” said Lindsey Hess, senior vice president at Wilmington-based real estate firm Cape Fear Commercial. “And we lack new supply coming online.”
A report by analytics firm Flatworld Solutions shows Wilmington having the lowest office vacancy rate in the country at nearly 1.5% in the first quarter of this year, with Savannah (No. 2), Myrtle Beach (No. 3), Hickory (No. 4) and Asheville (No. 5) rounding out the top five.
WHERE BEGAN IT ALL
YOUNG COMPANY FOUNDERS SHARE INSIGHTS ABOUT THEIR BUSINESSES AND THE WILMINGTON STARTUP SCENE
PHOTOS BY DARIA AMATO
THE STARTUP CULTURE IN WILMINGTON CONTINUES TO GROW AS MORE ENTREPRENEURS DISCOVER AND WANT TO BE IMMERSED IN THE AREA’S QUALITY OF LIFE. WHILE CHALLENGES REMAIN, SUCH AS THE NEED TO ATTRACT MORE CAPITAL TO THE COAST TO HELP LOCAL STARTUPS
THRIVE AND POTENTIALLY STAY IN THE PORT CITY, EARLY ENTREPRENEURS SAY THEY’VE FOUND A WELCOMING ATMOSPHERE AND IMPORTANT RESOURCES. THE FOLLOWING ARE THE STORIES OF THREE WILMINGTON STARTUP FOUNDERS, IN THEIR OWN WORDS.
DOSE INNOVATION OF
IN 2020, AJ TRELEASE STARTED CAREHOME, A MEDICATION MANAGEMENT TOOL FOR SENIORS AND CAREGIVERS. TRELEASE ALSO GRADUATED THAT YEAR FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT WITH BACHELOR’S DEGREES IN BUSINESS MANAGEMENT AND SPORTS MANAGEMENT. THE 26-YEAR-OLD SAID CAREHOME’S MISSION IS TO “EMPOWER SENIORS AND CAREGIVERS WITH A MORE INDEPENDENT AND SUSTAINABLE LIFESTYLE THROUGH ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY. BY ENSURING
PRECISE MEDICATION MANAGEMENT AND OFFERING PROACTIVE EMERGENCY SOLUTIONS, WE PROVIDE DAILY REASSURANCE TO FAMILIES AND LOVED ONES.”
FIRST JOB EVER: “Delivering pizzas for a local restaurant in my hometown of Oxford, Connecticut. I did this for about three years, starting when I first got my driver’s license.”
INSPIRATION: “CareHome started as a passion project during COVID, stemming from a business class project idea at UConn to help seniors retain a high level of independence. My grandma, Graciela – which is actually the name of our device – takes 13 medications per day using one of those weekly pill strip containers. I noticed how this method of medication intake was not userfriendly, nor did it account for those with memory loss and/or arthritis, which are both common deficiencies in older adults.
There was also no way to know if she took the right ones, at what times, or if she missed any dosages.
This led me to start researching the larger effect of medication mismanagement, and I was shocked at how commonplace it has become for us to not have a sure way of knowing if our loved ones take the right medications at the right times. Of course, there are many other issues we try and reduce, such as high caregiver turnover, poor work-life balance, poor communication technology, etc.”
THOUGHTS ON WILMINGTON’S STARTUP ENVIRONMENT: “I don’t
think I’ve ever been immersed in such a helpful, connected environment. Every person I have connected with has introduced me to others they feel could help me and CareHome succeed, whether that be in the form of customer discovery, device feedback, business plan help or grant/ pitch/investor funding opportunities.
I constantly fill my schedule with networking events and individual meetings with interested parties, all thanks to resources like this, UNCW’s CIE, Cape Fear Community College, SBTDC and so many more.”
WHERE
DO YOU HOPE YOUR COMPANY
WILL BE IN A YEAR? FIVE YEARS?
“We are hoping to be in the doors of several assisted living facilities within a year. We have been moving fast lately: improving our prototype, receiving grant funding, developing relationships, etc. We hope to build on this momentum and deliver our device to hundreds of seniors in the Wilmington area before scaling to other cities and states. Another goal of ours is to expand our team, bringing in passionate people with new perspectives is, in my opinion, the deciding factor on whether a startup can morph into a revenue-generating business.
When I close my eyes and envision five years down the road, I imagine a fully dedicated team of
10-plus part of our revenue-generating company. I imagine being partnered with hundreds of assisted living and home health care agencies in the Southeast, with more on the way in other regions of the U.S. It excites me even writing about it.”
A DVICE FOR OTHER STAR TUPS: “Keep going. I’ve applied to dozens and dozens of grants and pitch competitions and only heard back from a couple. I never let this deter me from continuing to work on building CareHome.
I’ve always had a problem with rejection, but I’ve learned it comes with the territory of trying to build something like this. I’d rather say ‘too bad’ than ‘what if’ when it’s all said and done. If it doesn’t work, fine – I’ll know I gave it my full effort and went down swinging.”
WHAT ELSE DO YOU WANT PEOPLE TO KNOW ABOUT YOU AND YOUR COMPANY? “CareHome builds smart medication management devices for seniors, marketed toward those in assisted living and home healthcare agencies. Our Graciela devices, named after my grandmother, dispense pills and liquid at custom times throughout each day. If the cup is not picked up or if it’s not placed back in the system, both within a preset time frame, a notification is sent to the emergency contact on file.”
GET GOOD TO THE STUFF
UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA WILMINGTON GRADUATE MEGAN
ROWE, 26, AND HER BROTHER DUSTIN BUILT AN ALGORITHM AND WEBSITE IN 2023 THAT COMPILES EVENTS AND SMALL BUSINESSES INTO CATEGORIES: EVENTS, ACTIVITIES, RESTAURANTS, KIDFRIENDLY ESTABLISHMENTS AND MORE.
Their company, Check What’s Good, also founded by Mahmud Ahsan, secured about $100,000 in seed funding from two Wrightsville Beach-based private investors. Rowe has degrees in public health and international studies.
FIRST JOB EVER: “I worked at a country club!”
INSPIRATION: “My entire life, I’ve been inspired by people who put something out into the world that enhances the lives of others. I wanted to be one of those people and began solving a problem that my friends and I personally experienced.
I saw a need for a centralized platform to highlight local events and businesses. From working in the community, I knew that most small business owners open their doors out of passion. They end up becoming a mix of HR, custodians, customer service representatives, graphic designers and more.
Being able to harness the power of AI and take the burden of marketing off their plate, allows them to focus on building a great business while we help
handle getting the word out about their events and business. Checkwhatsgood.com bridges the gap for everyone. Local businesses can focus on their passion, our platform helps them reach new customers, and users like me can discover all the hidden gems our community has to offer.”
THOUGHTS
ON WILMINGTON’S STARTUP ENVIRONMENT: “It’s a really cool place to start off and grow. There seems to be a shared sentiment among a lot of people that a rising tide raises all of the boats. People are championing for each other’s businesses left and right.
Not only do I appreciate that mentality as being a young entrepreneur, but it’s catching the eye of business professionals in the surrounding cities.”
WHERE
DO YOU
HOPE
YOUR COMPANY WILL BE
IN A YEAR? FIVE
YEARS? “In one year, we hope to be in three new cities and continue to thrive in Wilmington. In five years, we want to be the undisputed go-to platform for planning things to do.”
ADVICE FOR OTHER STARTUPS: “It’s
okay if your product isn’t perfect; just put it out there. We were pushed out of the nest a lot sooner than we were comfortable with while launching our website, but it’s the best thing that could have happened.
Getting early user feedback and learning what people love is the best way to steer a company rather than waiting for a product to be ‘perfect.’ It feels really vulnerable, but that’s part of being a founder. We’ve found that our audience connects with this vulnerability, and the fact that we have real humans running the company has built a lot of trust.”
WHAT ELSE DO YOU WANT PEOPLE TO KNOW ABOUT YOU AND YOUR COMPANY? “My brother and I co-founded this company, and it’s been an incredible journey collaborating on our shared vision. Our complementary skills have been invaluable, and we’re excited to continue growing and improving. We have big plans for the future, including enhanced user experiences, more data, and richer content. We’re just getting started.”
S MAKE ROOM SOME
YDNEY ROUGHAN, CEO AND FOUNDER OF ROWMUE
INC., GOT THE IDEA FOR HER BUSINESS WHEN SHE WAS A JUNIOR AT THE UNIVERSITY OF SAN DIEGO, WHERE SHE EARNED A DEGREE IN SUPPLY MANAGEMENT. THE 23-YEAROLD’S COMPANY HELPS PEOPLE WITH THE DIFFICULT TASK OF FINDING COMPATIBLE ROOMMATES.
FIRST JOB EVER: “I started working at my parents’ company TAP Series when I was 7 years old. I would test courses, do bill reconciliation, payroll – let’s just say I was pretty good at using QuickBooks at 7.”
INSPIRATION: “When I was in college, I had the stereotypical bad roommate situation and was so confused about where I went wrong. The more I talked to people about my experience, the more I realized that almost everyone I knew who had found a roommate through Facebook or other housing sites had a similar experience.
It made me wonder, why is this such a common problem, and how can it be fixed?
After searching online, I realized it wasn’t about people being good or bad; it was about not having enough time to get to know each other before moving in. I also found out that nothing existed to help with this age-old problem. That’s when the idea for Rowmue popped into my head.”
THOUGHTS ON WILMINGTON’S
STARTUP ENVIRONMEN T: “I think Wilmington has one of the best startup environments of any city in the United States. We owe a lot of that to the people who run the CIE center and the other business owners who support and guide new founders.”
WHERE DO YOU HOPE YOUR COMPANY WILL BE IN A YEAR? FIVE YEARS? “Over the next year, Rowmue will be expanding to other cities across the United States. We’ll be rolling out new features, like our compatibility rating system, that align with Rowmue’s mission of building a world where bad roommates don’t exist. We’ll keep innovating to make sure future roommates never have to worry about whether they’ll be compatible with the person they share a home with.”
ADVICE FOR OTHER STARTUPS: “Knowing that no one knows what they’re doing at the beginning is key. When I started Rowmue, I had no idea where to even begin with developing an app. All I knew
was that Rowmue was meant to be a mobile app, and I had $500 in my savings. So, I read every article I could find and searched every website to find a coder who believed in the idea enough to help me build it.
I spent 12-16 hours every day learning everything I could, trying over and over until something worked. Be willing to fall, but also be willing to learn from it and try again.”
WHAT ELSE DO YOU WANT PEOPLE TO KNOW ABOUT YOU AND YOUR COMPANY? “There’s no other roommate service that prioritizes compatibility first and foremost. I created Rowmue because, like you, I was tired of meeting roommates through Facebook and dealing with the stress that comes with finding the right one. Rowmue is built by a roommate, for roommates. It’s designed to cut down the time it takes to really get to know someone and make sure you’re picking the best roommate possible. It’s like having a mutual friend say, ‘Hey, you two would enjoy living together.’”
MEAN BUSINESS
UNIQUE POWERFUL INSPIRING
As Wilmington continues to become a hot spot for entrepreneurship and growth, WilmingtonBiz Magazine is celebrating the women in this region who are taking on their roles and businesses with strength, innovation, and passion. This marketing section highlights the Wilmington area women who have created businesses, built practices, and WO
WENDY MAYO Express Employment
YOUR WORD OF THE YEAR? Unstoppable
WHERE CAN WE FIND YOU OUTSIDE OF WORK?
At my farm with my husband, boys and animals enjoying all things outdoors.
WHAT IS SOMETHING SURPRISING ABOUT YOUR COMPANY?
Most people don’t know Express generated revenue of $4.1 billion in 2023, employing 492,000 associates across 862 global franchise locations.
BEST THING ABOUT YOUR JOB?
I take pride in knowing my team and I are difference-makers and positively impact lives by helping people find jobs.
PROUDEST WORK MOMENT?
Finding new purpose in my work and my life after the profound loss of my 12-year-old son to cancer.
@wendy_anderson7529 Wendy.Mayo@ExpressPros.com ExpressPros.com Wilmington: 910.392.2300 Raleigh: 919.788.9575
ALEXANDRA LYSIK Cavik Insurance
YOUR WORD OF THE YEAR? Growth
WHERE CAN WE FIND YOU OUTSIDE OF WORK?
Hanging out with my dogs, Charlie & Rosie, going out on the boat, gardening, reading or traveling.
WHAT IS SOMETHING SURPRISING ABOUT YOUR COMPANY?
We can combine your personal and commercial insurance under one agency.
BEST THING ABOUT YOUR JOB?
I have the best staff, hands down. Without them, I could not do what we do at Cavik Insurance.
PROUDEST WORK MOMENT?
We were just awarded Wilmington Magazine’s 2024 Best Insurance Agency
@beforehavoccallcavik Alexandra@CavikInsurance.com CavikInsurance.com 910.722.3225
WOMEN IN THE FIELD
Monteith Construction Corp.
info@monteithco.com monteithco.com
From left to right: Alana Dos Santos, Christine DuBree, Julliane De Souza, Kiley Barr
YOUR WORD OF THE YEAR? Grit
WHAT MAKES YOUR COMPANY A GREAT PLACE TO WORK FOR WOMEN?
Monteith Construction offers a supportive, inclusive environment with growth opportunities, leadership roles, and a strong commitment to diversity.
WHAT IS YOUR COMPANY'S GREATEST ACCOMPLISHMENT?
Monteith Construction's greatest accomplishment is transitioning to an ESOP, making the company 100% employee-owned, fostering growth and team success.
WHAT IS UNIQUE ABOUT THIS GROUP OF WOMEN?
Each of these women plays a crucial role in both the office and field, helping drive Monteith Construction's success.
HOLLY SEGUR
Lead Intuitively
@hollysegur
HollySegur.com
Holly@HollySegur.com
607.333.6376
YOUR WORD OF THE YEAR? Connection
WHERE CAN WE FIND YOU OUTSIDE OF WORK? At the gym, or in my studio creating something!
WHAT IS SOMETHING SURPRISING ABOUT YOUR COMPANY?
I also coach soldiers retiring from the Special Forces. Even they share our professional vulnerabilities.
BEST THING ABOUT YOUR JOB?
Helping women embody their power. It's always there, it just gets pushed aside. A lot. PROUDEST WORK MOMENT?
When clients do something scary, and realize how fierce they really are.
ADRIENNE MOORE, ERIN CHITWOOD, MELINDA WILLIAMS, & SHARON MURPHY
James E. Moore Insurance Agency
YOUR WORD OF THE YEAR? Professionalism
WHAT MAKES YOUR COMPANY A GREAT PLACE TO WORK FOR WOMEN?
We provide an uplifting environment where each person is valued, and professional development is encouraged.
WHAT IS YOUR COMPANY'S GREATEST ACCOMPLISHMENT?
Over the past 70 Years, we consistently challenge ourselves to evolve and grow. We also love having multigenerational customers!
WHAT IS UNIQUE ABOUT THIS GROUP OF WOMEN?
We truly appreciate each other as individuals and the insights that a multigenerational workforce provides.
Amoore@JamesEMoore.com JamesEMoore.com 910.256.5333
DIANE HACK
Highland Roofing Company
YOUR WORD OF THE YEAR? Patience
WHERE CAN WE FIND YOU OUTSIDE OF WORK? Wherever my family is, immediate or extended.
WHAT IS SOMETHING SURPRISING ABOUT YOUR COMPANY?
How fast the growth has been over the past few years under new ownership and how relatively smooth the process has been.
BEST THING ABOUT YOUR JOB?
The work-life balance, the relationships with coworkers, the relaxed atmosphere, and being appreciated for my everyday efforts.
PROUDEST WORK MOMENT?
Watching my team work together, tirelessly, through a recent ERP change all while keeping up with everyday responsibilities.
Dhack@HighlandRoofingCompany.com HighlandRoofingCompany.com 910.798.0155
BARD ANDRADES
YOUR WORD OF THE YEAR? Excellence
WHAT MAKES YOUR COMPANY
A GREAT PLACE TO WORK FOR WOMEN?
We value empowerment, mentorship, a family-first and supportive environment, and an intentional focus on our community.
WHAT IS YOUR COMPANY'S GREATEST ACCOMPLISHMENT?
Winning Best Cleaning Company by Wilmington Magazine for four consecutive years: 2021, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024.
Three Best Rated Top 3 Awards with excellency.
Quality Business Award 2023 - The Best Office Cleaning Service in Wilmington.
Best of the Cape Fear by WECTV6 2024 .
Best Home Cleaning Service by Viewers Choice Awards WWAYTV3 2024
WHAT IS UNIQUE ABOUT THIS GROUP OF WOMEN?
This group of women is the most dedicated, empowered, and highly trained team I've had the pleasure to work with. They put family first and are committed to community service and excellence to the highest level!
CHRISTINE BURROWS PB-CB
YOUR WORD OF THE YEAR? Serving WHERE CAN WE FIND YOU OUTSIDE OF WORK? On the pickleball court WHAT IS SOMETHING SURPRISING ABOUT YOUR COMPANY?
PBCB stands for PickleBall Corporate (team) Building AND our initials (Peter and Christine Burrows)
BEST THING ABOUT YOUR JOB? I get to play for a living.
PROUDEST WORK MOMENT?
When our first client, Wilmington Media + Marketing, told us they now call their morning standup meeting “Paddles Up” after practicing readiness on the pickleball court. Women Who Mean Business are highlighted every Spring in WILMA Magazine and Fall in WilmingtonBiz Magazine. Reach out to learn more! Is
@pickleballteambuilding Christine@PB-CB.com PB-CB.com 301.806.1284
JENNIFER KRANER
RILEIGH WILKINS
Big Sky Design and Big Sky Shop + Studio.
@bigskydesign @bigskyshopandstudio Info@BigSkyDesignOnline.com BigSkyDesignOnline.com 910.793.3992
YOUR WORD OF THE YEAR? Limitless!
WHAT MAKES YOUR COMPANY A GREAT PLACE TO WORK FOR WOMEN? Women uplift women! As a woman-owned + operated business, we foster a supportive, empowering environment where every voice is valued.
WHAT IS YOUR COMPANY'S GREATEST ACCOMPLISHMENT?
Establishing ourselves as a go-to for impactful residential and commercial interior design in our community.
WHAT IS UNIQUE ABOUT THIS GROUP OF WOMEN? Our team's diverse set of creative skills + experiences combine to create exceptional designs for each and every one of our clients.
POSSIBILITIES SEA OF
BY CECE NUNN | PHOTO BY MALCOLM LITTLE
HEAD OF UNCW’S ENTREPRENEURSHIP CENTER WORKS TO MAKE CONNECTIONS FOR STARTUPS AND THE COAST
In early September, the director of UNCW’s Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship and her team were swimming waist-deep in the blue economy.
Heather McWhorter, who has led the university’s CIE since 2022, said Sept. 5, “Right now, our life is the Ocean Innovation Conference and all the details associated with that.”
The conference, which, as of press time, was set for Sept. 17, explores efforts to protect the ocean while sustainably boosting the economy and increasing innovation around the coast’s ecosystem.
McWhorter said she secured a sponsorship for this year’s conference that allows the CIE to offer the event virtually, “which is a big deal” because those who can’t attend the conference in person can still benefit from the event.
“Last year, we had people as far away as Australia wanting to participate virtually,” she said.
With the conference and other efforts, McWhorter continues the work of a blue economy initiative started by volunteers and her predecessor, Diane Durance.
Coordinating the conference and CIE’s blue economy efforts is just part of McWhorter’s duties.
“We’re hopping over here,” she said of CIE’s day-to-day atmosphere.
McWhorter, who brought a
background in engineering and a stint as the head of the University of North Carolina Wilmington’s Small Business and Technology Development Center to her latest role, said one of her main tasks is to connect entrepreneurs to the area’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.
“This wave of entrepreneurship since the pandemic hasn’t died down,” McWhorter said. “Entrepreneurship continues to be at an all-time high.”
The CIE offers space for startups to rent, a coworking office, meeting rooms and event space. The center also provides programming, such as 1 Million Cups Wilmington, an educational and inspirational event for existing and would-be entrepreneurs held at 9 a.m. Wednesdays.
“We have rolled out a lot of purposeful programs to address the needs of entrepreneurs and gaps in programming in our region. Another example is the preaccelerator program that we rolled out called Idea Test Lab, which we received funding from Wells Fargo to do,” McWhorter said. “We ran a cohort for women and then a cohort for blue tech and climate tech.”
McWhorter, who has a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering and a master’s in energy and mineral engineering from Penn State University, said her engineering background has helped her form processes, jumpstart initiatives and understand the latest research.
To keep track of the everchanging startup landscape, McWhorter said she taps into national thought leaders – for
example, she participates in a monthly chat with other university economic development and entrepreneurial officials to share best practices.
“If we have a challenge, we delve into that,” McWhorter said.
This year, McWhorter attended the International Business Innovation Association conference in San Antonio, Texas, where she received accreditation for entrepreneurship center management.
“It was wonderful to meet everyone and learn from other communities what they’re doing, what we can bring back here and incorporate into what we’re doing,” McWhorter said.
As of Sept. 5, UNCW’s CIE was one of four finalists in a University Economic Development Association awards competition, recognized specifically for the work the UNCW CIE has done in helping with programming and supporting the blue economy. That work has been “inspiring the community to take action and create change in a meaningful way for them, and particularly, of course, through entrepreneurship,” McWhorter said.
Specific program examples include a free, self-paced online course for people who want to become oyster growers and make a living at it. The program, Propel, “offers participants in the shellfish mariculture industry a business incubator curriculum and process to assist growers through the stages of business launch and growth,” according to UNCW’s website.
Earlier this year, the CIE hosted EcoInnovate Weekend
PROFILE
for startups and incorporated reverse pitches – where a problem is presented to a group, and they work on a way to solve it.
To promote the work of the CIE universitywide, the center recently held a scavenger hunt, complete with stickers and treasure maps, for new UNCW students to learn ways they can participate in entrepreneurship efforts at the school.
Continuing to encourage student entrepreneurship is one of McWhorter’s goals for the CIE’s future.
“We have this captive audience of 18,000 students, and we know that 65% to 80% of this generation wants to start a business someday,” she said. “I’d be doing a disservice to the world if I wasn’t out there doing scavenger hunts and having fun with them, to just expose them to meeting entrepreneurs, to having fun in this space, to connecting them to 1 Million Cups.”
McWhorter outlined another goal.
“With our love for the ocean, I really believe that we have the potential to be a blue innovation hub and to see a lot more blue tech startups working on problems and opportunities associated with living at the coast, with sustainable aquaculture and with climate,” she said. “It’s starting to happen already, and I want to see more of that because I think a lot of the news that you see related to those topics are downers, and it doesn’t have to be like that. You can be part of a solution.”
Heather McWhorter was part of last year’s WilmingtonBiz 100 as a Connector. This year’s group will be highlighted in the December issue of WilmingtonBiz Magazine.
OUTSIDE MONEY
INTERNATIONAL MANUFACTURING
INVESTMENT ZEROS IN ON THE REGION
BY EMMA DILL | PHOTOS BY MADELINE GRAY
IN THE PAST YEAR, SEVERAL MANUFACTURERS WITH INTERNATIONAL TIES HAVE ANNOUNCED PLANS TO EXPAND THEIR REACH INTO THE WILMINGTON AREA.
These announcements offer just a snapshot of the foreign direct investment that’s coming to the Cape Fear region –investments that offer the potential to draw in more new business, according to Scott Satterfield, CEO of the local economic development organization Wilmington Business Development.
Foreign direct investment is an investment made by a foreign company or individual in the United States, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce.
“We’ve had a strong run of (foreign direct investment) in recent years and see it as more of a secular than cyclical trend,” Satterfield said.
He points to the GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy campus in Castle Hayne as a “big piece” of the region’s foreign direct investment story. Satterfield noted that the company is a “highly globalized” joint venture that’s had a presence in the Wilmington area for more than 50 years.
More recently, in 2022, the company announced a major investment in its Wilmington-area plant, pledging to add 485 new jobs and invest $85 million for a new fuel facility.
Since then, a string of other foreign direct investment announcements has followed.
For example, Kesseböhmer, a German company that processes metal for retail racks and kitchen storage products, broke ground last September on a $30 million facility just north of downtown Wilmington on U.S. 421.
The 93,000-square-foot building will operate as the company’s North American headquarters and a warehouse and distribution hub. Last year’s groundbreaking marked the company’s expansion in Wilmington – the firm has had a presence here since 2007.
Shanghai-headquartered Wisdom Playgrounds, a commercial playground manufacturer, recently leased about 70,000 square feet of industrial space in Navassa for a distribution center that will serve the East Coast and Midwest.
Wisdom Playgrounds started out leasing about 13,000 square feet of space along U.S. 421 four years ago but realized the company needed more room to grow, said Kim Haemker, Wisdom Playgrounds’ chief operations officer.
Wisdom Playgrounds has a presence in 27 countries and is one of a handful of commercial playground manufacturers in the U.S. market, according to Haemker.
And last October brought the largest potential foreign direct investment in recent memory when Epsilon Advanced Materials, an India-based company that makes graphite for electric vehicle batteries, announced its plans to bring a
massive $650 million manufacturing plant to Brunswick County.
The plant, which would be the company’s first in the U.S., plans to hire 500 workers.
Epsilon’s plans have spurred investment in Brunswick County’s Mid-Atlantic Industrial Rail Park, including new water and sewer infrastructure and a 1-million-gallon elevated water tank.
Bill Early, executive director of economic development group Brunswick Business and Industry Development, told the Business Journal that Epsilon’s commitment would “raise the profile” of Brunswick County and has the potential to draw new foreign and domestic businesses,
especially those in the electric vehicle industry, to the area.
“I believe it certainly will help build the foundation for other similar companies to consider Brunswick County,” Early said.
Early said this summer that Epsilon is working to finalize its site plan and engineering for the plant and secure required permits.
Just a month after Epsilon’s announcement, last fall SANY America, the U.S. division of a Chinabased heavy equipment manufacturer, announced plans to establish a warehousing and distribution hub near Wilmington’s port.
Pender Commerce Park felt the impact of foreign direct investment
recently too, according to Satterfield. Maersk Global, a transportation company headquartered in Denmark, moved its Performance Team thirdparty logistics company, through a partnership with RL Cold, into more than 300,000 square feet of cold storage space at Pender Commerce Park earlier this year.
Next door, Polyhose, an Indiabased maker of industrial hoses and fittings, announced plans to double the size of its existing 52,500-squarefoot facility in the commerce park.
The latest announcement of foreign direct investment came this spring when Protocase Inc., a Canadian rapid manufacturing and prototyping firm that serves the
Employee at Shanghai-headquartered Wisdom Playground’s warehouse in Navassa
Brian Smoot, director of SANY America’s cranes division, with a SANY crane at the company’s new facility in Wilmington.
aerospace and defense industries, chose Wilmington for its first expansion into the U.S.
Protocase established an office in downtown Wilmington this summer and is eyeing plans for a manufacturing facility that could employ around 400 people within five years.
So, what’s drawing all of these foreign-based firms to Wilmington?
Company officials often point to the Cape Fear region’s central location on the East Coast and the area’s transportation infrastructure, including Wilmington’s port and the major highways and rail lines that crisscross the region.
SANY America officials, for example, recently said the company decided to bring its warehousing and distribution hub to Wilmington because of its easy access to a port and central location on the East Coast – factors officials say will help speed up the distribution of parts within the company’s dealer network.
The company has signed a seven-year lease for a roughly 532,000-square-foot facility formerly occupied by Vertex Railcar Corp. and Terex Cranes.
“Foreign firms appreciate our location,” Satterfield said.
Being in the Eastern Time Zone means Wilmington shares “several hours of the business day with Europe and much of the Middle East,” Satterfield said – a plus for foreignbased firms operating across several countries.
Its location puts companies within a “two-day drive of a huge swath of the U.S. consumer base,” according to Satterfield. The port also plays a significant role in connecting companies with raw materials and broader markets.
Protocase officials, for example, looked at several locations across the U.S. before landing on Wilmington. The company initially looked at the Western U.S. but decided the region would be too far from Protocase’s existing facility in Nova Scotia.
Officials also considered the Northeast and Midwest but didn’t feel the business climate was a good fit, so they looked more closely at the Southeast. Protocase officials ultimately narrowed it down to Savannah, Charleston and Wilmington before selecting the Port City.
They were drawn to the area because of its coastal location and “business-friendly environment,” which includes favorable tax rates and attitudes toward business and development, said Doug Milburn, the company’s co-founder and vice president.
For Polyhose, it was support from local economic development groups and the availability of a “ready-tobuild site” that initially drew the company to the Wilmington area in 2019, according to Polyhose President Mo Millwala.
The Wilmington location serves as Polyhose’s headquarters for the Americas and is the foundation for the growth of its North American business, according to Millwala. Over the past five years, the company has invested $8 million to $10 million in the area.
Foreign direct investment not only builds up Wilmington’s economy, but
Wisdom Playgrounds, a commercial playground manufacturer, recently leased industrial space for a distribution center.
it also appeals to U.S. companies that want to do business globally, according to Satterfield.
Although global geopolitics make it difficult to determine exactly how foreign direct investment trends will play out, Satterfield believes the region’s recent track record attracting foreign-based businesses could make the area more attractive as a business destination for other companies –both domestic and foreign.
Satterfield expects the investment trends in the Wilmington area to continue, especially with the uptick in reshoring that’s followed the COVID-19 pandemic.
As foreign-based companies continue to see growth in the Wilmington area, Satterfield said they spread the word about Wilmington to their networks of partners, suppliers and buyers.
“With greater Wilmington being a prominent part of their success story, we get talked about all over the world,” he said. “Execs have credibility amongst their peers, which is impossible to overstate. They have been very generous in their praise of our region, and we expect that to continue.”
A CLEAR
VISION
FIBER OPTICS COMPANIES COMING TO WILMINGTON
BY RANDALL KIRKPATRICK | PHOTOS BY LOGAN BURKE
Wilmington, as well as dozens of cities, towns and regions in North Carolina – and thousands nationally – is experiencing an intense, competitive growth phase when it comes to their internet connections.
Fast-growing fiber optic companies
Metronet, Lumos Fiber and Google Fiber are actively planning and beginning to install fiber optic across the city. Legacy companies Spectrum and AT&T have already established a business and technology footprint.
Brunswick County-based Focus Broadband is working to expand access in a number of more rural counties outside of New Hanover County.
The catalyst for growth in Wilmington arises from the surge in a handful of business and personal needs. Those include ubiquitous remote entrepreneurial businesses; customer service-focused extensions of larger companies with robust needs; and health and medical companies with data or graphicintensive communications. Plus, there's a multitude of household uses that push those needs to the max.
Metronet workers install fiber optic cable in the Masonboro area in September (opposite page).
It all starts with construction, as in moving into Wilmington’s neighborhoods.
“We’ve had unwavering support from the city in our ambitious construction plans,” said Telly Whitfield, Metronet’s government affairs director. “And we’re all in, as shown by our $30 million investment in the community; studies have shown that fiber optic can translate into an increase in property tax values.”
Construction entailing fiber-optic cable
”
You can make the case for fiber optic for every type of business, especially but not limited to health care. It could be a small dentist office looking to upload images or an accounting firm sending secure files or a radiologist needing the higher quality that fiber optic affords.
DEREK KELLY, Lumos Fiber’s vice president of market development ”
installation began on June 28, with the first customers slated to receive service beginning this fall. Significant impacts on both residential customers (up to 5 gigabits per second) and businesses (up to 10 gigabits per second) are planned.
“It’s a two-year construction plan, neighborhood by neighborhood, and in terms of starting service we release as we go,” Whitfield said.
“We communicate in both old-school ways like signage and door hangers, and through an 800 customer service number and online options.”
Whitfield emphasizes the bigger fiber optic advantage by citing the region’s robust health systems’ highvolume use of telemedicine and electronic records submissions.
“This is just one example,” he said, “of how fiber optics works more powerfully versus the issues of coaxial cable during high-usage times. We just don’t have the lag time issue.”
Derek Kelly, Lumos Fiber’s vice president of market development, echoes Whitfield’s analysis.
“You can make the case for fiber optic for every type of business,
especially but not limited to health care,” he said. “It could be a small dentist office looking to upload images or an accounting firm sending secure files or a radiologist needing the higher quality that fiber optic affords.
“Practitioners, even smaller offices, are moving much records info to cloud applications, so having that seamless upload speed is super important,” Kelly added. “And think of the advantage of a patient being able to have a virtual visit with a doctor versus an expensive ambulance trip to a hospital.”
In February, Lumos announced a $56 million project to install high-speed fiber optic cable in New Hanover County.
“Fiber will set Wilmington up for the next 50 years,” Kelly said. “For residential customers, we are offering speeds up to 5 gig in and out of the home. People in Wilmington are starting to grasp how important upload speed is and understanding the difference between cable and fiber. They see the benefit of the shortterm disruption for the long-term benefit. It may be hard to imagine what future applications will use a
5-gig connection, but the installation will enable future technologies like improved cameras and remote work.”
Lumos Fiber has a key marketing message on its website that conveys its community-focused business and expansion philosophy.
“It’s about more than streaming your favorite show or sending photos. It helps fuel economic growth and attract businesses and the workforce they require,” the website states. “And beyond that, fiber internet access increases housing values and spurs community development.”
Google Fiber, a large, looming presence, is another new company player in town.
The company has a presence in 20 cities nationwide. This spring, the city of Wilmington approved an agreement paving the way for GFiber to bring its network to its first coastal Carolina metro.
Construction is slated to start in the city in the fourth quarter, with the first service expected to begin in mid-2025.
“Wilmington is a wonderful city, a fast-growing center for entrepreneurial businesses and technology,” said Jess George, Google Fiber’s east region head of governmental affairs. “And we believe we can help the residents be better connected. Whether it’s online schooling, new businesses, gaming … just the everyday, multidevice household aspect that can be overlooked.
“We’re also convinced that customers have been undeserved, overcharged. Fundamentally, we want to drive up speeds and drive down costs.”
The practical application of “future-proofing” its network and products is a driving principle, George said.
Looking at just one area – gaming – it’s obvious that keeping up with its massive data intensiveness and complex online interactions is a necessity.
Future-proofing is actually an idea common to any fiber optic company worth its salt and one that the city’s new entrants into the competition appear ready for.
(THE
BRIDGE) PROVIDES A CRITICAL TRANSPORTATION LINK FOR NOT ONLY THE MOVEMENT OF PEOPLE, BUT ALSO GOODS AND COMMERCE.
MIKE KOZLOSKY executive director of the WMPO
connected to commerce
Cape Fear Memorial Bridge: a crucial part of economic infrastructure
BY DAVID W. FREDERIKSEN | PHOTOS BY MALCOLM LITTLE & DARIA AMATO
THE YEAR WAS 1969 – RICHARD NIXON WAS PRESIDENT, MILK COST $1.10 AND THE NEW YORK JETS WERE SUPER BOWL CHAMPS – WHEN CREWS COMPLETED THE STEEL, 3,000-FOOT-LONG CAPE FEAR MEMORIAL BRIDGE, OPENING WILMINGTON AND THE REGION NOT ONLY TO THE WIDER WORLD BUT ALSO ITS DOLLARS.
“(The bridge) provides a critical transportation link for not only the movement of people, but also goods and commerce,” said Mike Kozlosky, executive director of the Wilmington Urban Area Metropolitan Planning Organization, or WMPO.
A federally designated planning agency, the 13-board-member WMPO “facilitates a cooperative, comprehensive and continuing transportation planning process that serves as the basis for the expenditure of all federal transportation funds in the area for streets,
highways, bridges, public transit, and bicycle and pedestrian facilities,” according to its website.
Kozlosky pointed to a 2022 study by N.C. State University’s Institute for Transportation Research and Education (ITRE) that found North Carolina ports contribute approximately $16.1 billion annually to the state’s economy, with $14.8 billion attributed to the Port of Wilmington and $1.3 billion attributed to the Port of Morehead City. In addition, the ports contribute directly and indirectly to 88,200 jobs across North Carolina and $660 million annually in state taxes.
“The majority of this economic activity stems from the Port of Wilmington,” linking it to the Mid-Atlantic Industrial Rail Park and Industrial Logistics Park, both in Brunswick County, and the U.S. 421 corridor, Kozlosky said. “In addition, there are a significant number of employees coming to work from Brunswick County, and the bridge supports this employment.”
At 284 acres with nine berths and seven container cranes, the Port of Wilmington moves hundreds of thousands of containers
and more than 3 million short tons (a unit of weight equivalent to 2,000 pounds) of general cargo every year, according to its website, making it the top port in the Tar Heel state and one of the most productive ports in North America.
“The Port of Wilmington has experienced tremendous growth over the last 10 years, and the Cape Fear Memorial Bridge is an integral part of that growth story… (It) is a crucial piece of our region’s supply chain, not just connecting New Hanover and Brunswick counties, but helping to connect our state to global markets as well,” said a spokesperson with North Carolina Ports. “And every week, several thousand truck drivers use the Cape Fear Memorial Bridge to move those goods to and from the port.”
the port.
Some of those drivers work for Wilmington-based Veterans Express, a motor carrier company owned by Gary Winstead, former CEO of A.R.C. Transit, which was acquired in 2020 by Pennsylvania-based firm The Evans Network of Companies.
“When you consider that the Port of Wilmington is an economic engine, not just for Southeastern North Carolina, but for the entire state, that bridge becomes a critical link to getting traffic in and out of the port,” said Winstead, who firmly favors a new bridge.
For Winstead, one of the arguments for bridge replacement as it relates to the region’s continued economic growth came amid last spring’s $7.1 million bridge preservation project, which saw round-the-clock lane closures and delays significantly impacting port traffic.
“At the end of the day, the bridge being closed for repairs earlier this year gave us a little bit of insight as to how important that bridge really is to our future economic growth,” he said.
Winstead said that a replacement bridge would “allow the port to expand
and grow with an increase in traffic.”
Last January, WMPO board members voted 8-5 to consider several options, including tolls, to help defray the cost of bridge replacement, believing, in part, that including a toll as a possibility would boost the bridge project’s score in the State Transportation Improvement Program (STIP).
The program identifies and prioritizes construction and funding schedules for statewide projects over a 10-year period. The higher the score, the greater the priority of the project
Gary Winstead, owner of Veteran Express trucking company, shown at its yard near
and the more funding possible. If they were used, tolls could be set between $1 and $2, according to the NCDOT.
For Brunswick County resident and Leland mayor Brenda Bozeman, the thought of a new bridge that comes with a toll is daunting.
“The Cape Fear Memorial Bridge is critically important to the citizens of Leland,” she said. “If the bridge were to be replaced with a toll bridge, it would be a significant hardship for our residents who use it daily to get to work, doctor’s appointments, the hospital and more.”
She said her town is “home to many working families and seniors on fixed incomes who are all taxpayers of the state of North Carolina. Just like anyone else in this state, we have a right to free and accessible transportation routes. To put the cost of this bridge – one that will be used by people from all over the state and country – primarily on the backs of the residents of Brunswick and New Hanover counties is just wrong.”
Winstead also discourages a toll: “It would be my fervent hope that we wouldn’t have to go down that road,” he said.
Still, a toll remains a possibility.
“The project was scored as both a tolled and non-tolled option with the tolled option scoring high enough in the Statewide Tier to receive $85 million in funding,” Kozlosky said.
He clarified that the submittal was for scoring purposes only, and the WMPO board would have to approve any actual tolls.
In July, the U.S. Department of Transportation awarded $242 million to help cover the cost of replacing the Cape Fear Memorial Bridge, or roughly half of the current estimated cost of the $485 million project. Funding came in the form of a grant through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), which seeks to support federal public transportation programs, among other public initiatives.
“The award of this grant is
OTHER PORT CITIES' BRIDGES
TALMADGE MEMORIAL BRIDGE
Savannah, Georgia, over the Savannah River Height: 185 feet
Year completed: 1991
Cost: $71M; Officials plan to spend at least $189M to raise it another 20 feet.
tremendous news for the replacement of the Cape Fear Memorial Bridge and is the largest transportation grant award that I am aware of in the Wilmington region,” Kozlosky said. “A new bridge will provide additional capacity with six lanes with a wide shoulder, as well as a multi-use path
ARTHUR RAVENEL JR. BRIDGE
Charleston, South Carolina, over the Cooper River Height: 186 feet
Year completed: 2005
Cost: At least $644M
for bicyclists and pedestrians to walk or bike across the bridge.”
Port officials described the federal grant as “transformational” and critical to “help ensure that port users will continue to have efficient access to the Port of Wilmington, and to global trade, for decades to come,” said a NC
SOUTH NORFOLK JORDAN BRIDGE
Location: Norfolk, Virginia, over the Elizabeth River Height: 145 feet
Year completed: 2012
Cost: $142M
Ports spokesperson. “A new bridge will strengthen Southeastern North Carolina’s inland transportation access and long-term highway connectivity, which in turn better serves our port users and makes Southeastern North Carolina a more attractive place to do business.”
DOGGY PADDLING
Sept. 22 might have marked the official end of summer, but the annual Pooch Plunge earlier in the month ushered in the dog days of summer’s end. This year’s Pooch Plunge at Robert Strange Pool on South 10th Street saw about 300 canines splashing over five days to mark the seasonal closing of the city’s pools. “The Pooch Plunge was started by the city of Wilmington, and when the YMCA began managing the city pools, we understood right away the impact of the Pooch Plunge,” said Josh Gravette, Nir Family YMCA’s executive director. “It is such a fun way for our community to come together and have fun with our beloved canine friends.”
PHOTO
