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TRU COLORS GETS MAJOR PNC INVESTMENT
NEW PORT COMPLEX IMPROVES SOUTH GATE The Port of Wilmington officially opened its new South Gate Container Complex after months of beta testing new systems and processes. The $26 million project began three years ago. It reconfigured the port’s previous container gate layout used by truckers, increasing the outbound lanes from three to six and inbound lanes from four to seven. Several new technologies are incorporated in the new complex, including weigh-inmotion scales, scanning devices and other features intended to reduce turnaround times. The new facility modernizes and enhances the port’s truckbound efficiency, said N.C. State Ports Authority COO Doug Vogt. “All improvements to the container gate complex … enables NC Ports to not only meet the demand of increased container volume at the Port of Wilmington
but continue to improve on the best trucker turn-times on the East Coast,” Vogt wrote in an email. “In addition, these improvements enhance the level of service we provide to our trucking community and local port-user community.” For a single container, the port’s truck turnaround time as of December was about 20 minutes, according to port documents. Congestion at the gate was identified as a key constraint to the port’s growth in its strategic master plan in 2016, which prompted the planning and construction of the new facility. In August, the first phase of the project was completed, with port personnel implementing new technologies at the old truck gate complex. This included a new terminal operating system, Navis N4, used at more than 140 container terminals across the globe.
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PNC Bank is pouring investment into a Wilmington-based beer company that employs active gang members. The infusion of $9.25 million from PNC Bank is helpingto transform an old textile factory into TRU Colors’ headquarters and brewery. “The financing, which includes a $6 million equity investment and a $3.25 million secured line of credit, augments the growth of the startup, which launched its first commercial product in 2021 and aspires to distribute nationwide,” company officials said in March. Located at 715 Greenfield St., the TRU Colors facility houses the company’s brewery, which has the capacity to produce more than 1 million cases of beer annually. “This financing,” said Jim Hansen, PNC regional president for Eastern Carolinas, “contributes to the revitalization and stabilization of a low- and moderate-income neighborhood, while enriching Wilmington’s dynamic startup community.”
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NEW JOBS PROPOSED BY FOUR CO M PA N I E S A P P R O V E D F O R $ 2 . 6 MILLION IN INCENTIVES FROM THE C I T Y O F W I L M I N GTO N A N D N E W H A N O V E R CO U N T Y
