Greater Wilmington Business Journal - May 21 Issue

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Index Banking & Finance ................................ 5 Health Care ........................................6-7 Economic Development.......................... 8

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The List ................................................24 Business of Life.............................. 26-27

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rom using artificial intelligence to predict sales to capitalizing on a seafood staple, this year’s Coastal Entrepreneur Awards winners run the gamut. While vastly different, what the 11 companies and organizations do have in common is being chosen by a panel of judges as CEA category winners. Their wins

SOS LIFE SCIENCES CORP were based on whether they are entrepreneurial and of those deemed entrepreneurial, which organizations were most likely to be financially successful (or for nonprofits, have the most impact). Read more about the process and the winners inside this issue.

Full CEA details, page 9

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| FROM WILMINGTONBIZ.COM | This is a sampling of stories from the Business Journal’s Daily Update.

Subscribe at wilmingtonbiz.com.

Local car dealer sells property, retires (April 29) Longtime Wilmington car dealer Bruce Cavenaugh recently sold his Market Street property to national firm DriveTime and is retiring from the business.

Cavenaugh, a Wilmington native who will be 70 in August, started selling cars in the Port City in 1973, he said, starting his own business in 1990.

At its peak around 2006, Cavenaugh’s business had 105 employees but was down to just four at the end of April as they prepared the 4,400-square-foot building on the Market Street property for its new owners to take over. All the cars Cavenaugh had have been sold.

DriveTime, a used car seller based in Arizona, is expected to add 11,000 square feet to the existing building at 6321 Market St., said Kevin Jankunas, director of real estate for DriveTime, which has 127 dealerships across the U.S. Company officials are looking

at a potential August or September opening.

Aerospace manufacturer in midst of growth (April 26) The recent acquisition of New Jersey-based Air Marine and Airlift Hydraulics by MA Group will grow a Brunswick County manufacturer of landing gear components for the aviation and aerospace industry.

HSM Machine Works, a division of the Italy-based Magnaghi Aeronautica Group (MA Group), anticipates it will add about 10 people over the next few years and expand its portfolio following MA Group’s purchase of Air Marine and Airlift Hydraulics earlier this spring, said James Flock, general manager of the local operation.

The financial details of the acquisition were not disclosed, he said.

The recently acquired company “will be absorbed into the New York facility first and then gradually transfer some work down here [in Brunswick County],” Flock said.

“We will be expanding our capabilities,” he said. “We will be adding some things that we don't currently do over here now, items such as

assembly and testing.”

Hospital getting go-ahead for new facility (April 22) NHRMC is expanding its footprint on the northern side of New Hanover County.

New Hanover Regional Medical Center, a part of Novant Health, is being granted a certificate of need (CON) to build a new 66-bed acute care hospital in Scotts Hill, according to a recent announcement.

Construction of the $210 million facility is expected to begin in 2022, with an opening around 2024, a news release stated.

According to the release, the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services had previously denied the application due to some technical clarifications but agreed to approve it after NHRMC filed an appeal “establishing the compelling need for the hospital to serve the growing population in that area.”

The new acute care hospital will be on the site with the NHRMC Emergency Department-North, an existing free-standing emergency department and surgical center.

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TOP-READ STORIES ONLINE Here are the most popular stories for April 26 - May 1 from the Business Journal’s website.

1. Chef Dean Neff’s Seabird restaurant set to fly this week 2. L ongtime car dealer Bruce Cavenaugh sells Market St. property, retires 3. L ewis Farms continues the berry business 4. V irginia-based engineering firm opens Wilmington office 5. L ocal favorite gets new name, menu 6. C ommercial real estate award winners announced 7. L ocal aerospace manufacturer to grow with recent acquisition 8. Developer plans food hall, music venue in downtown Wilmington 9. Two Wilmington startups recognized

by NC IDEA 10. C leaning and restoration franchise owner expands territory To read more, go to wilmingtonbiz.com

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Greater Wilmington Business Journal

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| BANKING & FINANCE |

P

Digital alerts aim to avoid overdrafts

NC customers now have more power over their checking accounts.

The bank, which has five branches in the Wilmington market, has announced Low Cash Mode for its customers who use the bank’s JENNY digital Virtual Wallet bank account and money management program.

“Low Cash Mode digital offering … is expected to help Virtual Wallet customers avoid overdraft fees through unprecedented account transparency and control to manage through low-cash moments or mistimed payments,” the Pittsburgh-based financial institution announced last month in a news release. While some customers already have access to it, PNC expects the program to launch nationwide in June and July.

Simply put, the new patent-pending tech offering lets customers know when a pending payment will cause an overdraft.

Customers can choose to pause the payment until sufficient funds are in the account, or go ahead with the payment and incur an overdraft fee.

It’s an improvement from the standard bank approach to automatically covering an overdraft but charging a fee, according to Jim Hansen, PNC regional president for Eastern Carolinas.

Hansen Low Cash Mode is part of Virtual Wallet’s Spend (checking) account and gives customers the ability to prioritize by determining whether certain debits (checks and ACH transactions) are processed that otherwise might result in overdrafts, rather than the common industry practice of the bank making the decision. Real-time alerts let customers know when their balance is low and – if it is negative – Low Cash Mode provides a grace period of at least 24 hours to prevent or address overdrafts before fees are charged.

“It’s something we’ve been talking

CALLISON

about for some time and had the technology to do,” Hansen said.

“COVID in particular has increased the growth of digital banking: 79% of our consumer transactions are now digital.”

Hansen added that PNC is also in the midst of regulatory oversight related to its planned acquisition of Houston-based BBVA USA Bancshares Inc. and its U.S. banking subsidiary BBVA USA. “That pushed us to get this product capability in our clients’ hands,” he said. “While overdraft protection offered across the industry today allows critical payments to be processed, overdraft fees are a systemic frustration that drives dissatisfaction for all customers regardless of their financial situation.”

PNC expects to help its customers avoid about $125 million to $150 million in overdraft fees annually, the release stated. In a pilot involving nearly 20,000 customers, Low Cash Mode saved participants more than 60% in overdraft fees, according to the release.

PNC’s full year 2021 revenue outlook anticipated this fee reduction, and as a result is not impacted by this change, the release further stated.

“PNC is fortunate to have a diversified revenue stream. We’ve been developing this product and forecasting our revenue numbers for the year,” Hansen said. “We are forecasting a $125 million to $150 million drop per year as a result of Low Cash Mode. We’re not significantly impacted by this and, long term, we think it will grow our client base.

Moreover, we believe we believe they will be very happy clients.”

Live Oak reports lower losses than expected During Live Oak Bancshares’ first-quarter earnings call in late April, officials announced that their actual losses as a result of the COVID-19-related economic downturn were far less than anticipated.

Chairman and CEO James “Chip” Mahan said that Chief Credit Officer Steve Smits had predicted the bank’s losses from loan writeoffs could top $100 million. The bank identified and isolated six of its lending verticals at greatest risk for economic impact – they came to be known as the COVID 6 – and gave special attention to those, including

making numerous site visits.

The COVID 6 industries are entertainment centers, hotels, wine and craft beverages, educational services, fitness centers and quick-service restaurants.

“I was probably in the $34 million loss expectation in the early days, but today, we’ve taken $11.6 million in charges related to COVID. However, $9.8 million of that was related to our hotel markdown,” Smits said during the call. “So if you exclude the hotels, we’ve charged off $1.7 million in loans that are directly a result of COVID stress. And of that, $1.2 million was in the COVID 6 industries and only $600,000 has been in the non-COVID industry.

“I do think it’s important to note, however, that we’ve already reserved an additional $5 million on top of that for loans that were impacted by COVID. They may ultimately turn into charge-offs, but we’re working very closely with them,” Smits continued. “We’ve also reserved another $10.8 million for loans that are experiencing some level of stress due to COVID, but I’m pretty cautiously optimistic as they are trending favorably today, so the expectation is we can avoid losses on most of this.”

Smits acknowledged that businesses are “not completely out of the woods” and that the bank does need to be prepared for “potential surprises,” but he said that current information leads him to believe that charge-offs for the remainder of 2021 will be more reflective of preCOVID levels.

“We continue to work with borrowers still experiencing stress due to COVID, but at the same time, we’re seeing a notable gain in credit quality across the rest of our portfolio,” he added. “Many businesses are actually stronger today than they were pre-COVID and that’s thanks in large part to the government programs.”

Mahan noted that two of the COVID 6 industries – restaurants and wine and craft beverage – may get assistance from the $28 million Restaurant Revitalization Fund that is being administered by the Small Business Administration.

Smits said that most of Live Oak’s quick-service restaurant borrowers have fared well during the pandemic, thanks to delivery and drive-through models. But while those businesses may not even need a Restaurant Revitalization grant,

the bank’s wine and craft borrowers could receive critical help from the fund.

“This program can be very meaningful to really our smallest breweries who have historically relied pretty heavily on on-site sales in taprooms, for example,” Smits said.

Fintech firm Apiture partners with Zelle Financial technology firm Apiture has inked an alliance with Zelle, the largest bank-sponsored person-to-person payments service in the United States. The new partnership, announced in a late April news release, will incorporate the Zelle feature into the firm’s Apiture Xpress platform.

Zelle offers a secure and easy way to send and receive money directly between bank accounts in the U.S., typically within minutes, between enrolled users, the release stated, adding, “By using an email address or U.S. mobile number, customers can send, request and receive money or split the cost of bills with those they know and trust, regardless of where they bank in the U.S.” The new partnership will result in an enhanced experience for customers of banks and credit unions that use Apiture Xpress, Apiture’s Chief Operating Officer Chris Cox said.

Currently hundreds of financial institutions and financial technology partners use Apiture Xpress.

“We saw an effortless synergy between Apiture and Zelle [that complements] Apiture’s mission to empower financial institutions to accelerate their digital transformation.

It’s part of our effort to ensure that our clients have all the capabilities they need to serve their customers,” Cox said. “Zelle provides them with an option that allows their customers to receive and send money to and from other people. Zelle will be inside the mobile banking [solution].”

Cox said that Zelle is not yet coupled with the company’s Apiture Open platform, which primarily serves larger financial institutions, but he expects it will be.

Wilmington-based Apiture, a joint venture between Live Oak Bancshares and Atlanta-based First Data, was established in 2017 and now employs 233 people at its local headquarters and its Austin, Texas, offices.

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| HEALTH CARE |

Vaccination ‘passports’ come into focus

BY NEIL COTIAUX astleBranch, the Wilmington-based consumer reporting agency, touts its status as “one of the first companies in the world” to issue a COVID-19 vaccination ID card.

The digital pass, which provides proof of vaccination to third parties, allows someone to enter a business, school, concert, sporting event or other site that may require such certification.

CastleBranch’s “passport” is one of a growing number of pandemic-driven certification cards entering the marketplace. They are expected to become more commonplace as government, health care and business leaders pursue new ways to boost the number of individuals getting vaccinated while reigniting the economy and returning society to more normal conditions.

Officials at CastleBranch and its competitors have high hopes for the digital cards, which federal and state officials stress are not compulsory.

C

But with the passports still in infancy – CastleBranch launched its on Jan. 14 – it remains to be seen how many businesses and individuals will use them.

A number of vaccine verification apps have been developed since CastleBranch’s version, but pushback over privacy concerns and government agencies overstepping authority have slowed a more rapid adoption.

Still, organizations ranging from universities to employers have started discussing their use. European officials in late April began announcing that they would start easing travel restrictions on Americans, a plan based on coming up with systems for verifying proof of vaccinations.

Nearly a third of North Carolinians are fully vaccinated, according to the state’s COVID-19 dashboard, qualifying them for a passport.

At CastleBranch, interested individuals typically begin the process using a scanned version of the signed paper card they received at the vaccination site, which the company says,

IMAGES C/O CASTLEBRANCH

Certification card: Wilmington-based CastleBranch in January launched a vaccination ID card product.

“can be easily forged, destroyed or lost.”

The firm’s employees then get to work confirming the vaccine manufacturer, the dates doses were administered and verifying the user’s identity “consistent with state and federal privacy laws,” a company

overview states.

The card contains tools such as microtext and holographic film to deter fraud as well as “physical identifiers” such as the cardholder’s height, with CastleBranch promising that private data “will never be shared or collected in a database and distributed to third parties” by the company.

The passport is the size of a driver’s license and is paired with a unique access code that, when the cardholder grants permission, can electronically verify the individual’s identity, vaccination status, and be used to view validated primary-source vaccine documents. The cost of the passport is $19.95.

Competition in the vaccine-verification space is growing. Companies including Microsoft and Salesforce are taking a joint approach to encrypting vaccination records and are coordinating their efforts with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. For its part, Walmart will provide customers with digital access to personal health data “be-

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| HEALTH CARE | ginning with” proof of vaccination if done at its pharmacies.

In New York, state officials working with IBM have launched the Excelsior Pass in a pilot program that confirms vaccinations and negative test results.

Mandy Cohen, secretary of North Carolina’s Department of Health and Human Services, said at a recent news conference that she is lining up vendors to do something similar.

“We just want to be able to make sure that people can access their own information about that vaccine for whatever purpose they may need,” she said.

As passports proliferate, their pros and cons are under scrutiny.

In North Carolina, where employers can legally require employees to be vaccinated with only a couple of exceptions, management seems largely content to simply encourage employees to get inoculated, according to Catapult, a statewide human resources consultancy.

That’s the approach being taken at Acme Smoked Fish. Neither the 295 employees at its processing plant in Pender County nor workers at its Brooklyn, New York, headquar-

ters are required to show proof of vaccination, said Adam Caslow, the company’s co-CEO. While Acme is “strongly recommending” that employees get vaccinated and is informally tracking its “internal immunity,” the company’s position on vaccination passports is “we don’t have an opinion,” Caslow said.

Recommended safety protocols have “worked for us tremendously,” he added.

Requiring customers and employees to show proof of vaccination is also off the menu at LM Restaurants, the parent firm of Bluewater Waterfront Grill, Carolina Ale House, Hops Supply Company and Oceanic.

“We are not requiring vaccination for our employees … it is not a condition of employment. The same philosophy will extend to our guests,” said Katherine Goldfaden, senior director of brands. “Masks, frequent cleaning and social distancing has proven to work in restaurants making them a safe place for team members and guests alike.”

At Wrightsville Beach Brewery, owner Jud Watkins makes no bones

about wanting to avoid controversy.

“It has been a challenging 12-14 months for the restaurant industry, and the last thing we want to deal with right now is another policy that divides the public,” Watkins said. “If you’re comfortable eating inside, we will gladly welcome you; if you aren’t, we have ample outdoor seating and curbside pickup as an option.”

At Wilmington International Airport, director Julie Wilsey said it would be up to Washington to make the first move.

“Until the TSA [Transportation Security Administration] recognizes the vaccine passport, we continue to rely on wearing masks and social distancing,” she said.

Of special interest to concertgoers is whether Live Nation will require proof of vaccination for ticketholders entering Wilmington’s North Waterfront Park (just renamed Riverfront Park), the public-private entertainment complex that Live Nation will manage that is scheduled to be completed this summer.

Live Nation will discuss with local officials how the health and safety of performing artists and fans should be addressed as the grand opening

draws closer.

The arrival of vaccination passports has also raised some equity issues, including possible lack of access to certain business services and events that members of minority and low-income communities might confront due to a lag in vaccinations, the cost of smartphones or both.

As those issues get debated, individuals who are disinclined to adopt digital proof of vaccination might consider laminating the paper card they receive.

Lamination is free at Office Depot and Staples. At present, though, it is unclear whether confirmation of any booster shots that may be required would be added to the original signed card or a supplementary one.

Caslow, co-CEO of Acme Smoked Fish, has staked out a middle ground of proof.

“I’m going to a Mets game tonight,” he said recently. “I’ve got a picture of my [hard] card on my phone, I’ve got my ID and I will show them my ID matched with my card and I think that will be good enough,” Caslow said.

High-tech or paper, he said, “Just go ahead and get vaccinated.”

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| ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT |

PPD influences regional economy

T

he growth Wilmington-headquartered PPD Inc. has experienced in the Port City is an economic driver for the region, local economic development leaders say.

On top of the global contract research organization’s large tax base in New Hanover County and its 1,800 local employees, it can also lay claim to having a big CHRISTINA HALEY role in spawning the region’s clinical research organization (CRO) cluster.

“Without PPD’s visionary leadership and long-term commitment to the Wilmington area, we might not have seen such a substantial CRO industry cluster develop here and in North Carolina,” said Randall Johnson, executive director of the Southeastern Office of the N.C. Biotechnology Center.

“We’re fortunate these companies and people thrive in our community, and we expect this industry to remain strong and continue growing in our region for decades to come,” he said.

In April, Massachusetts-based Thermo Fisher Scientific announced that it would purchase PPD for $17.4 billion. With the deal pending regulatory approvals, company officials have not released details about plans in Wilmington.

Johnson said that while the potential impacts of the acquisition on the region remain unclear, if the deal is completed, there may be some change in PPD’s local operation and workforce in the short term. It could also have the potential to grow activity and employment in the long term, he said.

PPD’s acquisition continues a consolidation trend that is being seen in the industry, with deals such as LabCorp’s acquisition of Covance in 2015 and, this year, ICON’s pending $12 billion purchase of PRA Health Sciences, Johnson said.

“From my understanding, Thermo Fisher and PPD do not intend the acquisition to gain significant efficiencies through merging workforces; instead, the companies appear to be focused on accelerating growth by offering more comprehensive services, creating more streamlined communications and linkages between components of the clinical trial process, and expanding existing

O’NEAL

PHOTO C/O PPD

Looming presence: In April, Massachusetts-based Thermo Fisher Scientific announced that it would purchase Wilmington-based PPD for $17.4 billion. PPD, a contract research organization, helped spur the growth of other CRO companies and jobs locally as it expanded over the years.

and potential customer connections for greater business opportunities,” Johnson said. “The company will continue to need our local clinical research professionals to reach those laudable goals.”

Wilmington Business Development, an economic development organization focusing on Wilmington and New Hanover and Pender counties, keeps up with PPD, as it does with many of the area’s corporate entities, said Scott Satterfield, CEO of WBD. About the recent deal, Satterfield said, “We’re in close touch with [PPD], and look forward to adding value to PPD and Thermo Fisher as they unite and craft strategies to meet what we anticipate will be some very ambitious business objectives.”

Satterfield attributes the success of PPD in Wilmington to boosting the region’s overall reputation as “fertile entrepreneurial grounds,” setting the stage for companies like nCino, Live Oak Bank and CastleBranch, he said.

“PPD also lent credibility to our status as a headquarters contender, helping pave the way for GE Nuclear’s [headquarters] arrival here in the early 2000s,” he added.

WBD officials remain hopeful PPD will retain its influential position as a flagship company in the region, Satterfield said, adding that Thermo Fisher, with operations across North Carolina, has done much for those communities it has invested in.

“It definitely has its eye on North Carolina’s life sciences industry in a major way, and that’s all based on talent and workforce,” Satterfield said. “North Carolina’s life sciences economy is one of the great economic development success stories of the last 35 years, and PPD fueled Greater Wilmington’s participation in that emergence.”

Port of Wilmington sees new monthly records Recent figures indicate a boost in activity at the Port of Wilmington in March with new monthly records in container and intermodal rail moves.

“It was a really strong month across all sectors. There were a combination of factors that led to the growth,” said Brian Clark, executive director of N.C. Ports. “We did have a surge of vessels that were impact-

ed elsewhere that arrived during the month. And we are seeing growth across many different sectors of cargo, but particularly in the refrigerated containers ... both import and export.”

There were a total of 18,782 container moves through the Port of Wilmington in March, up from the previous record of 17,114 moves in March 2018. The port, in its refrigerated container cargo in March, saw a record of 1,686 moves and an increase from the previous record set back in April 2020 with 1,459 moves.

N.C. Ports completed its $14 million refrigerated container yard expansion last spring, growing the Port of Wilmington’s capacity to handle refrigerated cargo. The ability to handle more cargo on the refrigerated container side of the ports’ business has been an ongoing piece of its capital plans.

Trade to the port has been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but has seen some recovery, Clark said.

“The north-south cargo, so the Latin American services we have that call the port, have definitely rebounded. They were impacted last year by COVID as well as hurricanes that shut down certain locations where we see cargo coming from,” Clark said.

“So that north-south trade has been very strong. We’ve also seen the European trade grow significantly over the last several months.”

Activity with Queen City Express, an intermodal rail service operated by Jacksonville, Florida-based CSX, also picked up in March. The month saw 989 containers moved, an increase from the previous record of 784 containers moved in August 2020.

The Queen City Express carries cargo by rail between the Port of Wilmington and the Charlotte Inland Port. The rail service was established in the summer of 2017, bringing back an intermodal rail component to the port after more than 30 years.

There were more than 33,800 TEUs (20-foot equivalent units) that went through the Port of Wilmington in March.

“As we look into the rest of the year’s forecast, we do have a very positive outlook. We’re cautiously optimistic on the last quarter of the year that we will finish ahead of our budget and our plan for the year,” Clark said. “We do take it as a very positive sign.”

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May 7 - 20, 2021

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PRODUCED BY

PRESENTING SPONSORS

Meet this year’s CEA winners W

ho would you invest $100,000 in?

That’s one of the pieces of advice we give our Coastal Entrepreneur Award judges each year when they’re faced with the task of making their picks. Who shows high-growth potential?

Who is making a name for themselves and cutting through the noise? Who, out of these stacks and stacks of nominations, do you see as entrepreneurial?

Our panel of outside judges deliberated and picked the 11 category winners in this year’s CEA process.

The winning companies represent fields ranging from tech startups to manufacturing to retail.

This year, the Business Journal added a category recognizing minority-owned businesses for Janowski the judges to consider.

The nominations, submitted to the Greater Wilmington Business Journal from company employees, directors, clients and in some cases just outside admirers, represent a cross-section of the region’s business community.

The awards are a joint effort between the University of North Carolina Wilmington’s Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIE) and the Business Journal to identify and recognize fast-growing organizations and businesses with the potential to make a significant impact on the region.

You can read more about the companies that rose to the top of their categories this year on the following pages.

One of them will be named the 2021 Coastal Entrepreneur of the Year. Keep an eye out on our website (WilmingtonBiz. com) and social media channels for the announcement of this year’s event to name the overall winner.

One thing that hasn’t changed over the years in the awards program is the Stanley Cup of Southeastern North Carolina entrepreneurship – the CEA surfboard.

This year’s Coastal Entrepreneur of the Year adopts the wooden surfboard – custom made by local nonprofit and former category winner Kids Making It – to proudly display at its office for the next year after it’s been passed down from a long line of successful companies that also have earned the title.

So jump in, find out this year’s category winners and send them a note of congrats.

Vicky Janowski, editor Greater Wilmington Business Journal vjanowski@WilmingtonBiz.com (910) 343-8600, ext. 208 On Twitter: @vickyjanowski

JUDGING THE APPLICANTS The Coastal Entrepreneur Awards (CEA) is run by the Greater Wilmington Business Journal and the UNCW Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship.

CEA’s goal is to shine a spotlight on upand-coming companies, helping them make connections in the community as well as showcase the region’s entrepreneurial activity.

The competition involves two rounds of judging in which the applicants are judged on two criteria: Is the organization entrepreneurial? Of those that are entrepreneurial, which organization is most likely to be financially successful? For nonprofits, the standard is which is likely to have the most impact.

First, all the applications are evaluated by representatives of area business groups and the competition’s sponsors to determine the category winners. During the second round of evaluations with more detailed information, the judges select the Coastal Entrepreneur of the Year.

CATEGORY SPONSORS

The judges were: MICHAEL BARRON, Quality Chemical Laboratories LLC CHAKEMA CLINTON-QUINTANA, Live Oak Bank JERRY COLEMAN, CFCC’s Small Business Center DIANE DURANCE, UNCW CIE DANA FISHER, North Brunswick Chamber of Commerce JUSTIN HUMPHRIES, The Humphries Law Firm RANDALL JOHNSON, N.C. Biotechnology Center Southeastern office HARRY KIOKO, Canapi Ventures CLAY MCLEAN, Live Oak Bank HEATHER MCWHORTER, SBTDC TAMMY PROCTOR, Pender County Government SARA RALEIGH, SCORE Cape Fear APRIL SCOTT, Brunswick Community College’s Small Business Center JC SMITH, Live Oak Bank ARWYN SMITH, Burgaw Area Chamber of Commerce JEFFREY STITES, Southport-Oak Island Area Chamber of Commerce JASON WHEELER, Pathfinder Wealth Consulting ADRIAN WILSON, CloudWyze

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Meeting needs in Pender County

BY CECE NUNN andy Harris didn’t plan on becoming the volunteer executive director of Pender County Christian Services.

But Harris, whose husband is a minister, started volunteering at PCCS about 23 years ago after an accident sidelined her from her career as a medical office manager.

“I was called to this. This is not a job,” she said. “This is a mission. … when you’re called by the Lord, you don’t tell him what you’re going to do or not do. He tells you what you’re going to do. My heart is to help people in need.”

PCCS is a multi-faceted nonprofit organization catering to people in need in Pender County. In addition to providing food, clothing and furniture, it also serves as a referral agency and a disaster response organization; prepares individuals for a working environment; offers case management for those in need; operates the local Emergency Food Assistance Program, a federal program; and often helps supplement families in need with their electric bills, prescriptions and rent, said Barbara Hardin, PCCS Board of Directors chair and media representative.

S

NONPROFIT | PENDER COUNTY CHRISTIAN SERVICES SANDY HARRIS, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR | YEAR FOUNDED: 1982 | EMPLOYEES: 3 PHOTO BY ARIS HARDING

“PCCS also works with area churches to provide backpacks for school-age children that are at risk of going hungry on weekends. PCCS is a partner with the Pender Long Term Recovery Group and is working diligently on the Unmet Needs Committee to identify those that are in need of assistance,” Hardin said. “Great strides were made in 2020 to provide more nutritional supplements to the elderly and cancer patients in need.

Ensure and Glucerna are provided to

these clients, as well as incontinence supplies.”

Hardin said in 2020, PCCS served more than 23,000 families and 53,444 individuals with food and clothing.

“PCCS has actually seen a major upward trend in the past several years for the need to assist with food and supplemental needs,” Hardin said. “In addition to those who lost their homes and businesses, many have lost their jobs or have had their hours cut.”

Because of the increase in need and the growth of PCCS, the agency has already filled a 2018 addition at its current facility at 210 W. Fremont St. in Burgaw.

As a result, Harris is in the process of a capital campaign and the search for property to hold a 20,000-squarefoot structure.

When it comes to funding sources, Harris said one of her favorite phrases is “unity through community.”

“We have a tight-knit community here of businesses, churches and individuals that support Pender County Christian Services and have for many years,” she said.

She said the agency also gets grants from foundations and donations from individuals outside Pender County. Harris said PCCS also has relationships with other nonprofit organizations to help meet the need for services.

In the end, Harris said she is “privileged and honored to serve the citizens of Pender County. It has helped me grow tremendously with my relationships and partnerships and I’ve met a lot of fine people. The joy of what I do is getting to tell my story and getting to let people know what we do.”

Gym app does some of the lifting

BY TERESA MCLAMB

W

hile it sounds like a simple idea, it’s one that isn’t widely available: go to the gym on your schedule any time of day or night when it works for your life.

But it is at the heart of Hybrid Athlete Foundation’s app, which allows that convenience for the athlete and security for the facility owner.

President and founder Albert Steed explained that the app came from years of working in software development while actively engaging in various athletic pursuits.

Steed, who earned a management information systems degree at UNCW, worked in tech support, IT development, clinical IT development and then computer information.

While in his last position, he founded a small gym, and six months later a software company, True IP Solutions.

When the gym Steed and his friends belonged to was sold, he and his wife started a gym in 1,200 square feet.

“We thought maybe 20 people would come; 50 showed up,” he said.

INTERNET-RELATED | HYBRID ATHLETE FOUNDATION ALBERT STEED, PRESIDENT & FOUNDER | YEAR FOUNDED: 2016 | EMPLOYEES: 4 PHOTO BY ARIS HARDING

They expanded to 4,000 square feet and ran the business for almost three years before selling it.

It was there they implemented a keycard access control system. Interest from other gym owners intrigued him, so work began on the app.

“Everything is tailored for the gym owners. That’s the biggest driver,” Steed said.

Through the app, the owner can verify that the member signs a waiver, agrees to the club rules, is up to

date on dues, etc. Owners can know in real time who is in the facility.

Wilmington clients include CrossFit Carolina Beach, CrossFit Wilmington, FitMo Fitness and Training and Essential CrossFit. “From an insurance perspective, when you use a keycard, you have to have phones and a lanyard. [The insurance company] doesn’t know if you have a functioning phone. With our app, they know you have a cell phone. Insurance agencies love that

because they know there’s a phone nearby to make a call if they get hurt. We have an endorsement from one of the largest fitness insurers in our country,” Steed said.

They worked together to produce a best practice guide for 24/7 access gyms to be safe and compliant, he said.

Since startup, the company has expanded into almost 250 gyms in eight English-speaking countries including Canada and Australia, Steed said.

The technology is built such that it can work anywhere in the world with a bit of customization for the local language.

It is designed to integrate with the top six gym management systems, which allows owners to use both systems for more complete control of their businesses. The design allows Steed’s system to be a value-added partner rather than a competitor, he said.

Steed said, “The fun thing about Hybrid is that it was started in Wilmington. I’m a UNCW grad; two of the other partners, brothers Matt and Paul Murray, are UNCW grads.

The other partner, Phillip Tabor, is in Raleigh and handles the sales side.”

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Page 11

An inclusive space for startups

BY JENNY CALLISON nvisioned by husband-andwife team Girard and Tracey Newkirk, Genesis Block provides business development services that support small business owners, entrepreneurs and early-stage startups. Its mission is to build an entrepreneur class in Wilmington that is inclusive of everyone, while having a special focus on ventures led by minorities and women.

“The company has a vision to become the anchor organization for minority- and women-owned business services and economic development in Southeastern North Carolina,” Girard Newkirk said. “Genesis Block combines coworking, meeting and event spaces with educational programs and technology to create dynamic service offerings for small business owners.”

Three “Cs” form the basis for Genesis Block’s culture. The company emphasizes “community” connections to engage its clients with their environment and enhance the community as a whole. It promotes “collaboration” over competition as a way to strengthen the entire entrepreneur class. And it aims to foster an

E

PROFESSIONAL SERVICES | GENESIS BLOCK | GIRARD NEWKIRK, CEO & TRACEY NEWKIRK, PRESIDENT | YEAR FOUNDED: 2019 | EMPLOYEES: 3

PHOTO BY MICHAEL CLINE SPENCER

environment that encourages “creativity.”

Since its founding, Genesis Block has gained a number of tenants and clients, as well as funding. For example, in December, Genesis Block received $50,000 as one of eight recipients in the state of an N.C. Black Entrepreneurship Council ECOSYSTEM grant. Early this year, New Hanover County officials agreed to award the company $25,000 in economic development funds.

Even during a year-plus of

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COVID-19 restrictions, the company has formed partnerships to represent and advocate for the interests of small businesses in the area. Those partners include ResilNC, Cape Fear Collective, NC IDEA, CastleBranch and New Hanover County.

It also collaborated with Cucalorus and University of North Carolina Wilmington’s Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship on this year’s 10x10 Challenge, a pairing of startups and filmmakers to produce short promotional videos.

In January, Genesis Block launched the area’s first Minority Accelerator and has seen it blossom in the first quarter. Nearly 90 firms applied to be part of it.

Genesis Block now has 47 community members, 38 companies in its business community and 15 sponsorship partners. Black-owned businesses compose 68% of its clients and tenants, while women-owned businesses represent 71%. Genesis Block has offered 23 small business workshops in the first quarter, with more than 350 people attending. The Newkirks also launched the Genesis List, a directory of area Black-owned businesses.

Girard Newkirk himself is an entrepreneur. His tech venture, KWHCoin, seeks to combine renewable energy and blockchain technology to provide off-the-grid energy to customers all over the world. In 2019, KWHCoin was a Coastal Entrepreneur Award winner in the Emerging Company category.

Tracey Newkirk is a business consultant and co-founder of the African American Business Council, which is allied with the Wilmington Chamber of Commerce.

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Topsail Steamer continues to gather steam

BY JENNY CALLISON nspired by her experiences of summer seafood cookouts on the Jersey Shore when she was growing up, Danielle Mahon decided to share the experience of a low country boil with folks in coastal North Carolina.

Soon after she and her family moved to the state, she developed her signature offering – seasoned, readyto-cook seafood in a metal pot – and opened a location in Topsail Island in 2017. Since then she has opened a store in Wrightsville Beach as well as two in her native New Jersey: one in Ocean City and one in Long Island Beach.

Topsail Steamer’s seafood comes from local sources whenever possible, according to Mahon.

“Any ingredient that is available in the local market, we will source there,” she said. “In North Carolina, we get local shrimp, oysters and clams. In New Jersey, we can get local scallops, clams and oysters. ” Customers can choose from a variety of ingredients and seasonings for their boil, order online or by phone and arrange a time to pick up their order. The business model made for an easy transition once COVID hit.

I

RETAIL & HOSPITALITY | TOPSAIL STEAMER DANIELLE MAHON, FOUNDER | YEAR FOUNDED: 2017 | EMPLOYEES: 25 PHOTO BY TERAH WILSON

Even before then, Mahon had begun exploring ways to ship their product, having experienced the impact Hurricane Florence had in 2018.

The company, she said, secured a resilience recovery loan from Thread Capital after the hurricane.

“It allowed us to prepare for the next catastrophe that would negatively impact our business. How would we ship our product to customers who could not get to us? We were thinking ‘natural disaster.’”

After studying options for 18 months, in January 2020 Topsail Steamer applied to Goldbelly, a national food delivery service, and was accepted by the company. Through Goldbelly, Topsail Steamer now ships its pots to all 50 states.

“The timing was pretty serendipitous; we wound up getting completely ready [to offer shipping] at the beginning of March 2020. With the pandemic, we saw demand rise at all four of our locations and across the

country,” she said.

That demand is driving plans to open stores in Sea Isle City, New Jersey, and Bethany Beach, Delaware, this summer. Mahon said her team continues to look at more markets in North Carolina and farther south along the Atlantic coast.

“We knew we were successful from our first couple of stores and saw substantial growth during the pandemic,” she said. “More people were seeking us out over the past year because of circumstances – restaurants were closed and people were staying home. But now we see lots of celebrations and gifting and vacations.

The local beach towns are completely booked right now: We’re seeing that in North Carolina and New Jersey, so we’re looking ahead at our busiest season.”

Danielle Mahon’s son Jimmy Mahon in the company’s CEA nomination credits his mother for setting the entrepreneurial pace, and adventurous spirit, of the enterprise.

“Danielle’s energy,” he wrote, “drives our Steam Team to bring the coastal experience to our customers every day, which means we treat people like family, connect our work to our community – and have fun!”

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Page 13

SeaTox sees an ocean of potential

BY SCOTT NUNN overing nearly three quarters of Earth’s surface, the ocean is one of the planet’s most valuable natural resources. Although it’s already the primary food source for 3.5 billion people, scientists believe the ocean could supply six times more food than it does today.

And that bounty goes beyond food.

Pharmaceutical companies increasingly are looking to the oceans for the development of new drugs.

Whether as a vital source of food or a new, life-saving drug, the ocean has the potential to “improve global health and well-being,” a goal that drives Wilmington’s SeaTox Research Inc., a small company with an oceansize vision.

Based at UNCW’s CREST Research Park, in Myrtle Grove along the Intracoastal Waterway, SeaTox focuses on two main areas – drug discovery and development of natural products into new bioactives, and developing faster, easier-to-use testing for toxins that can contaminate commercial seafood.

The firm, founded in 2013 by wifeand-husband biologists Jennifer and Sam McCall, also provides contract research services.

C

BIOTECHNOLOGY | SEATOX RESEARCH INC. JENNIFER AND SAM MCALL, FOUNDERS | YEAR FOUNDED: 2013 | EMPLOYEES: 3 PHOTO BY ARIS HARDING

“We really want to take technologies and take them to where they can be of benefit to mankind,” Sam McCall said recently.

As part of its consulting work, SeaTox also helps other researchers who want to turn a discovery or idea into a usable product or service.

That includes practical issues such as grant writing, finding investors and navigating the complex world of regulation and intellectual property protection.

It’s an important and familiar service in Wilmington’s entrepreneur world but, in this case, it’s catered specifically to marine-science products and services.

“There are a lot of really, really bright people that have amazing ideas, particularly here in Wilmington,” Sam McCall said. “Scientists are amazing experts on their technology. They know everything about it. They’ve spent years developing it.

They’ve spent years studying every-

thing surrounding it, but they may not necessarily know how to commercialize it.

“We partner with people and we look at these ideas and say, all right, if we can drive this small amount of data that will make this idea more attractive, because then maybe you can get a grant, and if we take this grant and build up a larger portfolio of data, then maybe you can get an investor. And once you’ve gotten that investor, maybe you can build out the portfolio.”

Like most entrepreneurs, the McCalls are developing products and services that fill needs in the marketplace.

SeaTox’s research so far has resulted in three commercial – albeit highly specialized – products: three types of test kits that can easily and quickly identify toxins in certain marine life. The primary customers are agencies that manage marine fisheries.

“There are lots of off-ramps and on-ramps along the way to true commercialization,” Sam McCall said.

“And to have that vision, in addition to having the scientific vision, it really helps to put those two pieces together to be successful.”

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Greater Wilmington Business Journal

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Adding AI to sales forecasts

BY JOHANNA CANO

W

hen it comes to running a business, one important aspect is sales forecasting, which can help owners and leaders predict their revenue to plan for employee pay, operating expenses, buying more inventory and attracting investors.

Accurately forecasting sales, however, is easier said than done, according to Phil Everhart, who founded SmartFox Technologies as a solution to this issue.

“In 2019, a study from a notable company called Inside Sales Lab was performed on 270,912 closed-won opportunities making up over $18.1 billion in closed sales revenue from many companies involved,” Everhart said. “Sales forecasts were wrong 72% of the time outside of 90 days of closure and 47% of the time within 90 days of closure.”

The reason why forecasts are usually inaccurate is that sales representatives often log in subjective forecasts based on emotion rather than objective data points, including previous data such as accomplishments and milestones, Everhart said.

Having previous experience in the

EMERGING COMPANY | SMARTFOX TECHNOLOGIES PHIL EVERHART, FOUNDER & PRESIDENT | YEAR FOUNDED: 2019 | EMPLOYEES: 1 PHOTO BY MICHAEL CLINE SPENCER

field as a sales manager, Everhart knew many of the pain points in sales forecasting, and as a response, created the SmartFox Technologies application SmartFox Prime, a business forecast management system that uses artificial intelligence (AI) with the goal of making predictions more accurate.

The application is available within Salesforce, a cloud-based customer relationship management (CRM) company, under a software-as-a-ser-

Tell me what happened.

vice model where users can pay per month.

“The SmartFox Prime further provides specific functionality such as SmartFox Prime’s algorithms and calculations, which define the way the application makes recommendations and forecasts suggestions for sales representatives to utilize,” Everhart said.

Being on the Salesforce platform gives SmartFox the opportunity to grow alongside the growing CRM.

In addition, technologies like AI are being used more by businesses.

“Artificial intelligence in business is now one of the biggest topics in the business world especially due to the effects of COVID-19,” Everhart said. “Based on research performed

by Salesforce, AI is the top growth area for sales teams – its adoption is forecasted to grow 139% over the next three years.”

In a previous interview, Everhart, who currently works with five advisers, said he hopes to hire a development team and sales representatives.

The company also has the goal of having at least 500 users by the end of 2021.

Another growth strategy for the startup has been to establish a public relations effort, including working with PR firm AuthorityTech, to grow awareness of the use of AI in businesses as well as its product.

“We’re writing monthly articles for Salesforce, talking about behavior science and forecasting using AI,” Everhart said. “We wrote one recently and they put us on the front page of their ecosystem. So that’s how we’re getting the word out on how our product can fix these issues.”

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Page 15

Restaurant owners cook up big plans

BY JESSICA MAURER It’s been said that the road to success is always under construction, and the saying rings true for the McDuffie family.

James and Myra McDuffie opened MeMa’s Chick’n’ & Ribs in Burgaw in 2017, serving up classic Southern cuisine and smoked meats prepared from family recipes passed down from James’ mother, Mary, also known as MeMa. The restaurant and catering service quickly gained a loyal following locally, and thanks to billboards on Interstate-40, has become a stopping point for many travelers from out of town. There is a world map on the wall at MeMa’s where people from every state and continent have pinned where they are from.

Myra and James often share with visitors historic maps of Burgaw and Moores Creek National Battlefield to encourage them to stay a while.

Just two years after opening, the McDuffies purchased land along N.C. 53 in Pender County, with the intent of creating a multi-million-dollar shopping center that would house MeMa’s new location as well as additional retail outlets. Plans for the new location include three event

that provides business development services for minority-owned businesses (see page 11). Now through a partnership with Genesis Block, Folla Capital and Hipp Architecture & Development, they are back on track to meet their goals through a new crowdfunding campaign.

While the details of the investment plan are still being finalized, Myra McDuffie said she expects those details to be released to the public within the next 30 days. Anyone interested in supporting the project will be able to contribute with a set return on their investment.

MEMA’S CHICK’N’ & RIBS | MINORITY-OWNED BUSINESS “Essentially the community will be MYRA MCDUFFIE, CO-OWNER| YEAR FOUNDED: 2017 | EMPLOYEES: 5 buying shares of the business,” Myra PHOTO BY ERIN COSTA McDuffie said. “We want the community to help us build this for the spaces, an outdoor dining area, a pandemic. community so that we can all stand commissary kitchen and manufacturThe McDuffies launched a Goback and see what we’ve brought to ing facility for the company’s signaFundMe campaign last summer to Burgaw.” ture barbecue sauce and a retail store raise money for their efforts, and Once the funding campaign goes featuring MeMa’s and other locally despite bringing in nearly $200,000 live, there will be a 45-day window made products.

by November, they were still far short Connecting resources to | fund ideas | create for investments.

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Vantaca fills HOA industry need

BY SCOTT NUNN ilmington’s best-known startup and another upand-comer have similar beginnings: Both were created after established companies needed better industry-specific software systems.

Not satisfied with what was available on the market, both Live Oak Bank’s Chip Mahan and Community Association Management Services’ (CAMS) David Sweyer set out to develop their own systems.

As they brought in software developers, both realized their products could be valuable to others. Sweyer faced the same dilemma at CAMS, which manages communities for homeowners associations.

“The HOA industry did not have a software solution that met the needs for our company, so we decided to develop our own,” Sweyer told the Greater Wilmington Business Journal in 2019.

He brought in David Gunn and Will Warner to help develop the software, and the team quickly realized there was a similar need industrywide.

“We made several peer companies aware we were developing our solu-

W

TECHNOLOGY | VANTACA BEN CURRIN, CEO| YEAR FOUNDED: 2017 | EMPLOYEES: 100 PHOTO BY MICHAEL CLINE SPENCER

tion, and they expressed interest in purchasing [it],” Sweyer said.

Vantaca was launched in 2017 and its platform is now used by 130 organizations, including management companies and HOAs representing 2 million individual homes.

Members of Vantaca’s early “skunkworks” team all had worked in the HOA industry.

“The folks who were saying ‘these are the requirements for the system’ were all people who had worked in

the industry,” said Ben Currin, Vantaca’s CEO. “Those were, you know, the director of accounting from CAMS, the chief operating officer at CAMS, a few other folks who really had their hands all the way in the industry.”

Currin believes that close connections to the industry it serves, as well as the company’s ability to meet specific needs of clients, are a vital part of its success. (It’s grown to 100 employees and expects to add up to

40 more by the end of the year.)

Currin, a Wilmington native and former Naval officer, said entrepreneurs can make the mistake of putting the cart before the horse.

“I think there are a lot of technology companies out there who have a really interesting solution … and they’re looking for a problem to solve,” Currin said. “We saw a problem that was very real and built a solution to very specifically address that problem.”

At its core, Currin said, Vantaca’s platform is a product that can handle relatively complex accounting tasks and also serve as a customer relationship tool. When asked about the possibility of retooling the software for other industries, Currin didn’t dismiss the idea. He quickly noted, however, that plenty of opportunity remains in the HOA industry.

He also wants to ensure Vantaca never becomes complacent, failing to evolve with the needs of its customers.

“We’re just kind of scratching the surface of the addressable market for the industry,” Currin said. “And we’d really like to keep dialing in the solution for our industry.”

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Company rolls into communications

BY CHRISTINA HALEY O’NEAL

N

athanael Conway, CEO of Wilmington-based Blue Roll LLC, is working on branching out his production company into the communications world.

Conway has jumped on board with a nonprofit organization that will help gear his move for the next phase of Blue Roll.

Conway in 2018 started Blue Roll, a business that creates video for branding, marketing and awareness, providing local Black-owned businesses with marketing content. The company has grown since, working with larger local organizations and nonprofits.

Blue Roll has been creating visual, audio and text content for social media and does social media consulting for organizations.

Now he aims to not only take Blue Roll into communications but also work on projects outside of the Wilmington area.

“We’re moving from local and just deliverables to macro, almost nationwide, but with a high-level comms strategy,” Conway said.

Blue Roll continues with a number of local projects, including work with

FILM| BLUE ROLL LLC

NATHANAEL CONWAY, CEO | YEAR FOUNDED: 2018 | EMPLOYEES: 3 PHOTO BY ARIS HARDING

several Black-owned barbershops and the Northside Food Co-op project, which aims to bring a grocery store to Wilmington’s Northside neighborhood.

Earlier this year, Conway was hired as an employee with Washington, D.C.-based ProInspire, a nonprofit organization.

His work with ProInspire focuses on racial equity and leadership development, facilitating conversations and initiatives with social impact

leaders across organizations, he said.

Conway is leading those efforts with organizations such as The Kresge Foundation, LIFT Inc., WestEd, Fund the People and the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation.

Conway directly supports the nonprofit by assessing, directing and implementing company communications to facilitate discussions in diversity, inclusion and equity, he said.

He is also designing and creating

digital content about how other organizations and philanthropic entities can get involved and “break through social media noise,” he said.

While Conway is working with ProInspire, he plans to maintain his outside business with Blue Roll.

Locally, Blue Roll has had a chance to test out some of this development in the communications space with organizations such as the YWCA Lower Cape Fear and New Hanover Regional Medical Center, he said.

With the YWCA, Blue Roll helped with digital and social media consulting and created video content. For NHRMC, Blue Roll created video, graphics and pictures and conducted social media and advertising consulting.

“A lot of people who do communications deliver on strategy and not on deliverables … so, moving into communication strategies and the overall high-level idea with an extreme expertise of those deliverables, that’s where we’re getting involved,” Conway said. “I foresee Blue Roll pivoting into communications strategy and continuing to specialize in video production.”

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May 7 - 20, 2021

Page 19

Tech firm tackles opioid crisis

BY JOHANNA CANO efore the COVID-19 pandemic dominated health care headlines, the opioid epidemic had been, and still is, at the center of concerns for many communities in the U.S. One Wilmington startup is leading efforts in the region to help treat the disease by using data and technology to assist Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT) rehab centers.

OpiAID is a life science company building a digital platform that takes data from wearables and electronic medical records to provide personalized plans and improve the outcomes for those in treatment for addiction.

The startup’s solution is delivered through a cloud-based, software-asa-service (SaaS) product that, according to its website, improves “clinical outcomes and client retention as we gather and analyze the data used as the basis of the SaaS product that will scale to serve the entire MAT focused market.”

The company was launched in 2018 by CEO David Reeser and Stan Trofimchuk (though Trofimchuck is no longer involved in day-to-day operations) and has grown since, now having 13 employees.

B

HEALTH CARE | OPIAID DAVID REESER, CEO | YEAR FOUNDED: 2018 | EMPLOYEES: 13 PHOTO BY MICHAEL CLINE SPENCER

Last year, the startup received a $276,000 federal grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) as well as $55,000 from the NIH Innovation Corps (I-Corps) program.

In February, the company received $74,500 in a state grant from the One North Carolina Small Business Program, aimed at helping small companies develop new and innovative technologies.

Reeser said these grants helped the company with research and the

development of a commercialization strategy for the product, as well as with job creation.

Currently, OpiAID is looking toward a software launch in June and is working on research with Coastal Horizons Center, a local addiction treatment facility.

“We are actively executing NIH-funded research today at Coastal Horizons,” Reeser said. “We are pre-revenue at the moment, outside of the $406,000 we have raised

through non-dilutive grants.”

When starting the company in 2018, the startup’s founders wanted to apply technology to see how they can help solve a pressing community problem.

“We thought to ourselves, ‘How can we use technology, specifically artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning in a way that wasn’t scary and in fact improve the human condition?’” Reeser said in a 2019 interview. “The desire to start the company was wanting to help our neighbors or anyone struggling with opioid abuse.”

This year and in 2022, Reeser hopes to continue advancing the company toward more research and grants.

“I plan to have a successful pilot so that we can publish our results in early fall of this year. We will have an additional 10 clinics online before the end of 2021,” Reeser said. “OpiAID will also apply for a Helping to End Addiction Long-term Initiative (or NIH HEAL Initiative) this summer and a Phase II of the NIH Small Business Innovation Research program by January 2022. Our non-dilutive grants funds will be around $3 million over the next 12 months.”

Company expands diabetes products

BY CHRISTINA HALEY O’NEAL

P

amela Heyward has dedicated an entire company to developing treatment solutions for those suffering from diabetes.

Incorporated in 2016, her business, SOS Life Sciences Corp., is working on wider distribution of its two current products while also pursuing a new product.

Heyward, a mother of four children, her two oldest with Type 1 diabetes, launched the company based on a need to bring better solutions to market for treating the condition.

“I watched [my children] suffer from terrifying low-blood sugar episodes, like near death, and they would turn to using candy because they didn’t like glucose tabs,” she said. “Definitely, necessity is the mother of invention, and I just decided that I was going to spend many years developing the perfected form of glucose and delivery to raise blood sugars quickly without spiking.”

Heyward has already developed two Glucose SOS products – one for people and one for pets – that are currently on the market.

Advocate Glucose SOS is a

MANUFACTURING & DISTRIBUTION | SOS LIFE SCIENCES CORP. PAMELA HEYWARD, FOUNDER & PRESIDENT | YEAR FOUNDED: 2016 | EMPLOYEES: 1 PHOTO BY MICHAEL CLINE SPENCER

fast-absorbing, 100% natural, pure glucose powder offering people rapid blood glucose recovery, according to Heyward.

The product is in most major retail stores in the United States, including Harris Teeter. Next, Heyward has her sights set on bringing her product into Walgreens, a move she anticipates late this year.

The glucose powders are distributed internationally in the United Kingdom and Australia, Heyward

said, adding that the company is also looking into distribution in Canada and the Middle East.

For the pet version of the diabetic treatment product line, Heyward said SOS Life Sciences is currently in the process of rebranding.

Glucose SOS for pets has been distributed at veterinarian offices and through Chewy.com. Heyward also aims to get the product into PetSmart and Walmart in the future.

The Glucose SOS powder is manu-

factured in Brevard, North Carolina, while the pet version of the product is manufactured in New Jersey. SOS has contracted with these manufacturers to produce the products.

Heyward has also developed a glucose tablet melt, which is being readied for manufacture and distribution, she said.

“I wanted to keep going … I also wanted to cannibalize the tablet market,” Heyward said. “I’ve actually signed a license agreement with the largest distributor of glucose tablets in the world.”

Heyward developed thu concept more than two years ago and is now working on getting the product lined up for the United States market.

Manufacturing for the tablet could begin this spring at a facility in Illinois, she said.

“This third [product] is really more proprietary. It has never been manufactured. And the manufacturer had to buy additional equipment just to ensure that they could manufacture it, and they did,” Heyward said. “So, there’s a lot of skin in the game and a lot of belief from two big powerhouses that this product is going to go viral.”

Page 20

May 7 - 20, 2021

wilmingtonbiz.com

Greater Wilmington Business Journal

CHAMBER OF COMMERCE WINNERS

A

s part of the Coastal Entrepreneur Awards program, area chambers of commerce also share their top business and organization picks.

BRUNSWICK COUNTY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE: The Shallotte-based chamber chose Atlantic Telephone Membership Corporation (ATMC), a nonprofit cooperative that provides phone, high-speed internet, cable TV, business communications and security services. “ATMC is a company focused on diversity of the region. Internet is vital to the daily operation of schools, industry and private sector initiatives driving business to our region. ATMC has made their nonprofit mission inclusiveness through technologies and a leader in the future of our region.”

JOIN US MAY 20

for an info session.

VentureSouth is one of the largest early-stage investment firms in the U.S., comprised of 300 members who have invested more than $50 million in 75+ companies.

MAKE MONEY. HAVE FUN. DO GOOD. www.venturesouth.vc.

2:30 - 4:30 p.m.

Waterman’s Brewing, 1610 Pavilion Place WILMINGTON

Register online:

venturesouth.vc/events

BURGAW AREA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE: “Brown Dog Coffee has been a staple of the community for quite some time now. Established in 2004, Brown Dog Coffee Company is located in the Historic District of Downtown Burgaw. They are an independent coffeehouse that roasts the coffees they serve. Offering a traditional coffeehouse experience to people who appreciate quality coffee and espresso, Brown Dog also has an online menu and offers takeout with quality baked goods as well. … It is a place for people from all walks of life to connect, relax and revive.”

GREATER TOPSAIL AREA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE: “Anne Bilderback of Fractured Prune spent most of her life in nursing … but when she moved to Surf City, she forged a new path.

In March of 2016, Anne opened up a franchise location of Fractured Prune Doughnuts to run with her husband and two of her children.

Now in her sixth season, Fractured Prune is a staple for vacationers and locals alike. While she never saw herself as being an entrepreneur, she is taking on her next entrepreneurial challenge by opening up Sunrise Bagel Co. next to Fractured Prune this summer.”

NORTH BRUNSWICK CHAMBER OF COMMERCE: “Waste Partners LLC is a locally-owned dumpster rental company in Leland, founded in early 2017. The husband-and-wife team saw potential in a rapidly growing

area where a need for good customer service would be appreciated. Sam is also a U.S. Army veteran. He was deployed multiple times to combat zones during his career. From roofing shingles to yard debris, they can haul off any material allowable by law. They remove leftover furniture and debris from a rental house or a foreclosure prior to your new tenant moving in. If you are interested in a garage cleanup, they will come by and take whatever you are looking to get rid of. … Waste Partners has a vision to bring local, reliable and honest waste removal service to the area.”

SOUTHPORT-OAK ISLAND AREA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE: “The Southport-Oak Island Chamber of Commerce awarded its 2019/2020 Small Business of the Year to Island Spas and Pools. Island Spas and Pools is a full-service hot tub and swim spa sales center and offers maintenance services for pools, swim spas and hot tubs. They serve commercial and residential customers throughout the Carolina Coast. Island Spas and Pools LLC demonstrates what it means to give credit to their team and customers for helping them grow their business by almost 500%. … They make a point of showing their appreciation to their team by providing extensive training, providing barbecue dinners to the team and their families and sponsoring charitable events.”

WILMINGTON CHAMBER OF COMMERCE: “Cape Fear Solar Systems is currently ranked as the No. 1 installer in Southeastern North Carolina by Solar Power World.

Established in 2007, the company has designed and installed nearly 2,500 solar systems to date. Cape Fear Solar’s pride is in its team, providing the highest quality of craftsmanship, products and material. Additionally, customers receive unlimited postinstallation support. Cape Fear Solar offers turnkey energy systems such as photovoltaic (solar electric) panels, home batteries and electric vehicle charging stations for residential and commercial customers. Brands installed by Cape Fear Solar include LG, SunPower, Tesla, Generac, EnPhase, ChargePoint and more.”

Greater Wilmington Business Journal

wilmingtonbiz.com

May 7 - 20, 2021

Page 21

| REAL ESTATE | Cargo District’s popularity continues

BY CECE NUNN ilmington’s Cargo District continues to grow as companies join the area and others expand within it.

Transcend Bookkeeping & Finance outgrew its space at Coworx in the Cargo District, moving across the street to another district building in Suite 201 at 1607 Queen St. Business partners and Transcend founders Jenna May and Thomas Bruin have watched as the Cargo District has also grown over the past couple years they’ve been there.

New businesses have been joining the district, an area that incorporates cargo containers into some of its buildings and includes parts of Queen, Castle, 15th, 16th and 17th streets.

“We’re a fairly new business ourselves so seeing that growth among the community has been invigorating,” May said. “It’s a lot of fun to have all these new people in the area.

We get to collaborate a lot with all the other local businesses and see each other in passing.”

Bruin said they’re excited to see how the Cargo District continues to grow as their firm also grows; they have a team of seven and were anticipating adding an eighth employee.

“We moved from [coworking space] Coworx into our own office across the street and we actually just spoke with Leslie this morning, and as our team grows which we continue to grow we’re working with them to go into new spaces that are able to accommodate us,” Bruin said, referring to Cargo District developer Leslie Smith.

Bruin added, “I think people want to be involved with what is happening here. There’s a certain energy that exists here.”

May said the restaurant-and-bar scene in the district, which includes

W

“

I think people want to be involved with what is happening here. There’s a certain energy that exists here.”

Thomas Bruin co-founder, Transcend Bookkeeping & Finance

PHOTO BY T.J. DRECHSEL

Sold sign: A New York investor recently bought apartments made from shipping containers in Wilmington’s Cargo District.

End of Days Distillery at 1815 Castle St., has been another advantage.

“On Fridays, we like to go out and have a drink together, so it gives a little bit of team bonding,” May said.

The district also includes The Outpost, with Outpost Coffee Co., Alcove Beer Garden and Mess Hall.

Sam Myer, owner of custom screen-printing business Wahoo Screen Graphix, is located at 707 S. 16th St. in a building called DesignWorx, which has nearly a dozen other tenants.

Myer came to the area in 2015, before it was widely known as the Cargo District.

“I think it’s wonderful,” Myer said of the district development. “It’s really helped the neighborhood quite a bit.”

And it’s gotten the attention of investors.

A New York investor recently bought portions of the Cargo District, and the sellers are using the funds to further develop and expand the district.

Cargo District Rentals LLC, managed by another limited liability company at 520 Madison Ave. in New York City, bought Square 2, the nine apartments made from cargo containers on Container Park Lane off 16th Street.

The buyer, represented by Dome-

nico Grillo of Keller Williams, paid $1.4 million, according to property tax records.

The entity also paid $630,000 for 1608 Queen St., the property that houses Coworx.

Broker Christian Cardamone, who owns property management firm Aloha Wilmington Real Estate, was the seller of 1608 Queen St. and represented Cargo District developer Smith in the sale of the live-andwork apartments.

Smith said he’s “going to turn around and reinvest the money into the area, so we purchased some more property around it that will allow us to expand the Cargo District into a couple more restaurants and possibly some other venues.”

Modern Urban Development LLC, Smith’s entity, now owns the buildings at 615 and 619 S. 17th St. and 620 and 624 S. 17th St., which will soon be home to the new CheeseSmith restaurant.

In April, Modern Urban Development also bought 708 S. 17th St., a building that dates back to 1945, tax records show.

“All these old commercial buildings that are around in disrepair, we’re going to take them and fix them,” Smith said. “That will pull people to the neighborhood.”

Smith owns the Quonset hut

at 1815 Castle St., where End of Days Distillery is located, as well as the Quonset hut at 614 S. 16th St., among other properties.

Cardamone, who manages Smith’s Cargo District properties, owns DesignWorx at 707 S. 16th St., housed in what was previously a warehouse that extends from 17th Street to 16th Street.

“That has 12 tenants, and they’re all small business entrepreneurs,” Cardamone said. “We’ve got a great list of innovators in that building that all have really small spaces, and they do a ton of business out of there.”

With numerous office, retail and restaurant tenants, the Cargo District has grown from Smith’s vision into a thriving reality.

Cardomone said, “It was a really quiet place for a long time, and now there’s a lot of viability there.”

Smith said demolition is not in his plans.

“I have no intention of tearing anything down, only to restore what’s there and bring some new life to it and make it something that’s usable to the entire community,” he said.

As for the future use of containers in the district, Smith said, “We will try to continue the theme of incorporating containers for every project that we’re part of.”

Page 22

May 7 - 20, 2021

Greater Wilmington Business Journal

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| BIZ LEADS | 219 Station Road, Suite 202 Wilmington, NC 28405 (910) 343-8600 Fax: (910) 343-8660 wilmingtonbiz.com PUBLISHER Rob Kaiser rkaiser@wilmingtonbiz.com PRESIDENT Robert Preville rpreville@wilmingtonbiz.com EDITOR Vicky Janowski vjanowski@wilmingtonbiz.com ASSISTANT EDITOR Cece Nunn cnunn@wilmingtonbiz.com REPORTERS Johanna Cano jcano@wilmingtonbiz.com Christina Haley O’Neal chaley@wilmingtonbiz.com VICE PRESIDENT OF SALES Maggi Apel mapel@wilmingtonbiz.com SENIOR ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE Craig Snow csnow@wilmingtonbiz.com ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES Courtney Barden cbarden@wilmingtonbiz.com Marian Welsh KEN mwelsh@wilmingtonbiz.com

LITTLE

Reader’s Guide BizLeads is a collection of information gathered from greater Wilmington courthouses, state government offices and informational websites. These listings are intended to help the business community find new customers and stay on top of happenings with current customers, vendors and competitors.

New Corporations lists firms that were recently incorporated in the state of North Carolina. All information is gathered from the North Carolina Secretary of State website. Addresses listed may not be the actual address of the business.

NEW CORPS April 8 - 28 1019 MARKET ST LLC 1512 Eastbourne Drive Wilmington 28411 Agent: Daron Yemini 254 FRONT LLC 254 N Front Street 4th Floor Wilmington 28401 Agent: L Allen Ross 2664 SCOTTS HILL LLC 10280 US Highway 17 North Wilmington 28411 Agent: Joseph H Stilwell Jr

OFFICE & AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT MANAGER Sandy Johnson sjohnson@wilmingtonbiz.com

2R CONSTRUCTION LLC 4800 Maple Ave - Unit 9 Wilmington 28403 Agent: Erika Edith Rosales Rodriguez

CONTENT MARKETING COORDINATOR Morgan Mattox mmattox@wilmingtonbiz.com

3SUNS PROPERTIES LLC 5414 Andover Road Wilmington 28403 Agent: Sean Weber

EVENTS DIRECTOR Elizabeth Stelzenmuller events@wilmingtonbiz.com CONTRIBUTING DESIGNER Suzi Drake art@wilmingtonbiz.com DESIGN/MEDIA COORDINATOR Molly Jacques production@wilmingtonbiz.com CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Jenny Callison, David Frederiksen, Kyle Hanlin, Jessica Maurer, Laura Moore FOUNDER Joy Allen SUBSCRIPTIONS To subscribe to the Greater Wilmington Business Journal, call (910) 343-8600 x201 or visit wilmingtonbiz.com.

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4907 WEYBRIDGE LANE REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT LLC 4907 Weybridge Lane Wilmington 28409 Agent: John Michael Beezley 505 SPARTANBURG AVENUE TOWNHOMES OWNERS ASSOCIATION INC. 609A Piner Rd Unit 116 Wilmington 28409 Agent: James Cerniglia 6009 MARKET STREET PROPERTY OWNERS’ ASSOCIATION INC. 6009 Market Street Wilmington 28405 Agent: Kemp P Burpeau 8489 BOYZ LLC 2011 Elk Road SW Ste 2 Supply 28462 Agent: Deborah B Ballas A & M FINE CARPENTRY LLC 6509 Greenville Loop Rd Trlr 168 Wilmington 28409 Agent: Marvin E Padilla Escalante

A DAY AT TIFFANY’S L.L.C. 26 Old Johnson Rd NE Bolivia 28422 Agent: Tiffany Nicole Johnson ACE REMODELING SERVICES LLC 121 Amberleigh Drive Apt 110 Wilmington 28411 Agent: Aaron Davis ADVANTAGE MULTISERVICES LLC 509 Cobblestone Drive Ste. 201 Wilmington 28405 Agent: Alexander L Allen AFFORDABLE ELEVATOR LLC 149 Van Eden Rd Watha 28478 Agent: Nina C Cartwright AILERON ENDEAVORS L.L.C. 3605 Wilshire Blvd Wilmington 28403 Agent: Brian Michael Whiteside AMEN CREATIVE CREATIONS LLC 5755 Bennett Village Place Unit 304 Wilmington 28409 Agent: Quajii Harrison ANALYTICAL ESSENTIALS CONSULTING LLC 564 Foxfield Ct Wilmington 28411 Agent: Kimberly Ann Lupo ARISA MIDORI YOON LLC 21 Henderson Street West Unit A Wrightsville Beach 28480 Agent: Arisa Yoon AZALEA REAL ESTATE DEVELOPMENT LLC 413 Marsh Oaks Drive Wilmington 28411 Agent: Stephanie M Murphy BABA’S BAGELS LLC 5118 Barcroft Lake Dr Leland 28451 Agent: James C Porch BACK BLOCKZ APPAREL LLC 6341 Greenville Loop Rd

Wilmington 28409 Agent: Garlan J. Robinson BAMBOOM LLC 1212 Marstellar St Wilmington 28401 Agent: Philip Polito BAYSHORE INSURANCE GROUP LLC 135 Bayshore Drive Wilmington 28411 Agent: Caleb Dexter Evans BBB SERVICES LLC 10280 US Highway 17N Wilmington 28411 Agent: Joseph H. Stilwell Jr. BCAR SERVICES CORP. 5051 Main St Ste 5 Shallotte 28470 Agent: Cynthia Walsh BEACH AND BEYOND REAL ESTATE LLC 4637 Manchester Dr. Wilmington 28405 Agent: Joey Randy Mayo Jr. BEACHSIDE COMMONS OWNERS ASSOCIATION 14223-A NC Hwy 50 Surf City 28445 Agent: Mohamad Afify BEARDED OAK BUILDERS LLC 3737 Stormy Gale Place Castle Hayne 28429 Agent: Daniel O’malley BEELYTICAL SERVICES LLC 636 Lanvale Hills Circle Leland 28451 Agent: Melissa Ann FLoyd BELLA ROSA PROPERTIES LLC 54 Stonegate Circle Hampstead 28443 Agent: John Raymond Aluise BEST SELF COACHING LLC 273 Loder Avenue Wilmington 28409 Agent: Sandra Brannin BIG FORK HOLDINGS LLC 1213 Culbreth Drive Wilmington 28405 Agent: Donna M. Cote BIRCHWOOD ACRES LLC 6505 Birchwood Ln NW Ocean Isle Beach 28469 Agent: Nicholas Wayne Todd BLACK DIAMOND DYNASTY LLC 622 Bunting Drive Wilmington 28403 Agent: Diana Howard BLACK WATER WELDING LLC 3969 Penderlea Hwy Willard 28478 Agent: Sawyer E Wolf BLACKBRIAR HOLDINGS LLC 3414 Wrightsville Ave Wilmington 28403 Agent: Jill L. Peters

Kaess BLADIMIR SIDING LLC 336 Sabra Dr. Wilmington 28405 Agent: Alan Bladimir Mejia BLUE HILL CREEK LLC 304 Harlandale Drive Wilmington 28411 Agent: Bernard Rollins

CARPENTRY INC 125 Leyland Way Hampstead 28443 Agent: William Burnash C. MOORE INVESTING LLC 441 Darlington Ave Apt 206 Wilmington 28403-1366 Agent: Cameron T Moore

Blue Post Properties L.L.C. 413 Chablis Way Wilmington 28411 Agent: Isaiah Buhr

C.O.A.P COMMUNITY OUTREACH ANGEL PROJECT LLC 512 White Oak DR. Hampstead 28443 Agent: Sharna Balogun

BMK REP CONSULTING LLC 485 Irish Way Hampstead 28443 Agent: Brian Michael Kean

C.P.A PAINTING SERVICES & MORE LLC 2902 Cooper Ct Wilmington 28405 Agent: Camilo Paz Arriaga

BONEY DECOR SOLUTIONS LLC 8 Cedar Island Wilmington 28409 Agent: Mary Boney Denison

CAPE FEAR COLLECTIVE CAPITAL LLC 3916 Oleander Drive #7746 Wilmington 28403 Agent: Collective Impact in New Hanover County Inc.

BRANCH ENTERPRISES OF THE CAROLINAS LLC 330 NE 59th. Street Oak Island 28465 Agent: John Dixie Branch BRASIL CLEANING SERVICE LLC 4641 Ballast Dr Wilmington 28405 Agent: Angela Martins BRILLIANT GIRLS LINK UP LLC 4116 Pine Brush Dr NE Leland 28451 Agent: Lira Kirby BRITTANY BOOKER LLC 3921 Executive Park Blvd Suite C Southport 28461 Agent: Clouser Law BRITTANY DEARMAN DOULA LLC 1220 Maple Tree Drive Apt 103 Leland 28451 Agent: Brittany Leighann Dearman BRLL LLC 510 Peninsula Dr Carolina Beach 28428 Agent: Robert Bramhall

CAPE FEAR COLLECTIVE VENTURES LLC 3916 Oleander Drive #7746 Wilmington 28403 Agent: Collective Impact in New Hanover County Inc. CAPE FEAR FIREARMS ACADEMY LLC 1236 Lillibridge Drive Leland 28451 Agent: Jason Gaver CAPE FEAR INSPECTIONS LLC 8604 Plantation Landing Drive Wilmington 28411 Agent: Michael Higgs Sr CAPPS MOBILE MECHANIC SERVICE LLC 3972 Old Ocean Hwy Ste C Bolivia 28422 Agent: Laura Baez CARE 2 SHARE INC 701 Mountclair Drive Wilmington 28403 Agent: Michelle Mitchell

BROOKLYN ARTS REALTY LLC 703 B N 4th St Wilmington 28401 Agent: Joseph David Byrnes

CAROLINA BLUE STAR REAL ESTATE AND CONSTRUCTION SERVICES L.L.C. 9241 Parker Trail NE Leland 28451 Agent: Shawn Vincent

BUFFALO BILLING LLC 485 Irish Way Hampstead 28443 Agent: Brian Michael Kean

CAROLINA CABINET BUILDERS LLC 290 Koolabrew Dr Calabash 28467 Agent: James E Smith

BULLDOG HAULERS INC. 7407 Anaca Point Rd. Wilmington 28411 Agent: Dustin B Peterson

CAROLINA COAST INDUSTRIES LLC 208A Bridgeview Ct Surf City 28445 Agent: Jonathan Daniel Findley

BUNTINGS BAKED BLESSINGS LLC 143 Raye Drive Wilmington 28412 Agent: Lesha Bunting BURNASH CUSTOM

CAROLINA FARMS LLC 297 E Rolling Meadows Rd Hampstead 28443 Agent: Philip S. Miller

CAROLINA FLATS FISHING LLC 126 Center Dr Hampstead 28443 Agent: Adam Wayne Wallace CASTERELLA LLC 834 Fort Fisher Blvd N. Kure Beach 28449 Agent: Jeffrey R. Casterella CATIE LAUREN LLC 256 Meeks Creek Drive Rocky Point 28457 Agent: Bridget Anne Wortman CHARCUTERIE CHIC ILM LLC 7301 Pamlico Ct Wilmington 28411 Agent: Amanda Medina CHUCKY’S CATERING LLC 152 North Front St #502 Wilmington 28401 Agent: Terri D Barnhill CINEMA SISTERS INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 213 N 2nd Street Wilmington 28401 Agent: Tricia Delp Ireland CJMK ENTERPRISES LLC 1481 Millbrook Dr SW Ocean Isle Beach 28469 Agent: Chris Guthrie CLAIRVOYANCE LLC 518 Spencer Farlow Dr. Carolina Beach 28428 Agent: Lee Revis CNK REAL ESTATE LLC 86 E Conolly CT. Hampstead 28443 Agent: Christopher Hilsman COASTAL 5K LLC 1213 Culbreth Drive Wilmington 28405 Agent: Russell Johnson COASTAL CAROLINA CONNECTION LLC 210 Small Dove Court Wilmington 28412 Agent: Wendy T Knott COASTAL CONSULTING SERVICES LLC 201 N Front St Ste 912 Wilmington 28401 Agent: William Alexander Wright COASTAL FLOORING SPECIALISTS LLC 1029 Jacksons Ridge Court Wilmington 28411 Agent: Fredis Esmery Gonzalez Rodriguez COASTAL HERALD LLC 4660 East Coast Lane Shallotte 28470 Agent: Sarah Lynn Herald COASTAL PLANT RENTALS INC. 13 Myrtle Ct Wrightsville Beach 28480 Agent: Samuel N Hilker COASTAL SPRAY FOAM SOLUTIONS LLC

Greater Wilmington Business Journal

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May 7 - 20, 2021

Page 23

| BIZ LEADS | 4630 White St Apt 207 Shallotte 28470 Agent: Juan C Corona

Calabashn 28467 Agent: Melissa Anne Daily

COASTAL STATES AGENCY LLC 7199 Beach Dr. SW Suite 1 Ocean Isle Beach 28469 Agent: Allen Wade Williams

DAKACOME HOLDINGS L.L.C. 1213 Culbreth Dr Ste 137 Wilmington 28405 Agent: Daniel J Dunn

COASTLINE HOMES LLC 5710 Oleander Dr Unit 101 Wilmington 28403 Agent: Paul J Kelly COLORGUARD PAINT LLC 1401 N Lake Park Blvd #28 Carolina Beach 28428 Agent: Lisa Norris CPC CONTRACTING LLC 235 Hogan Ct Wilmington 28412 Agent: Jose Bonilla CPN LELAND LLC. 1520 River Road SE Winnabow 28479 Agent: Deanna M. King CREATIVE ADULT RELIGIOUS EDUCATION INC. 6421 Saxon Meadow Dr. Leland 28451 Agent: Michael Carotta CREEK NATION LLC 4818 Franklin Ave Wilmington 28403 Agent: Thomas Beavers CROSSFIRE FENCE & RAILING LLC 153 Farm Lake Rd. Calabash 28467 Agent: Aaron Michael Crovitz

DANCING OAKS CB LLC 1029 N Lake Park Blvd Carolina Beach 28428 Agent: Coastal Accounting & Tax LLC DANZ FOR FITNESS LLC 118 Fairytale Lane Surf City 28445 Agent: Sean Devinny DATACONDUIT LLC 5611 Wrightsville Ave Wilmington 28403 Agent: Kyle Kramer

ECO HEATING AND AIR LLC 1701 J.E.L. Wade Dr. Wilmington 28401 Agent: Jason D. Ruegg EDSON HOME IMPROVEMENT LLC 344 Shipyard Blvd Wilmington 28412 Agent: Kim Lynds EIGHTEEN EIGHTEEN LLC 3638 Metting Rd Wilmington 28403 Agent: Jyeir Melvin

DEBROS LLC 5921 Rowsgate Lane Wilmington 28411 Agent: Nicholas DiNapoli DECK’D OUT LLC 4110 Jennys Ln SW Shallotte 28470 Agent: Michelle Lee Hamilton

EMPOWERING LIFE SOLUTIONS LLC 201 River Gate lane Wilmington 28412 Agent: Andre D. Moore

DECKED OUT COASTLINE LLC 6986 Pinecliff Drive Leland 28451 Agent: Curtis Xavier White

EUPHRATES MEDICAL STAFFING L.L.C 2160 Meadowood Road Southport 28461 Agent: Hope Denise Hall

DEEP BLUE SERVICES LLC 414 S Anderson Blvd Topsail Beach 28445 Agent: Michael Preston Freeman

CSM CHARLOTTE LLC 3877 US Highway 421 N Unit 110 Wilmington 28401 Agent: Jonathan King CSM SOUTH LLC 3877 US Highway 421 N Unit 110 Wilmington 28401 Agent: Jonathan King

DOGFACE BRANDS LLC 6940 Malpass Corner Rd Currie 28435 Agent: Jermaine Morris

CSM SOUTH RALEIGH LLC 3877 US Highway 421 N Unit 110 Wilmington 28401 Agent: Jonathan King

DOGWOOD TRAINING SOLUTIONS LLC 2318 Oakley Road Castle Hayne 28429 Agent: Katherine Marie Burton

CSM WILMINGTON LLC 3877 US Highway 421 N Unit 110 Wilmington 28401 Agent: Jonathan King

DONOVAN CONTRACTING LLC 240 Bull Street Wilmington 28403 Agent: Paul R Donovan

CSW2MAINE LLC 575 Military Cutoff Rd. Ste. 106 Wilmington 28405 Agent: Jennifer D. Scott

DRAWN ARCHERY INC. 1908 Eastwood Rd Wilmington 28403 Agent: Kenneth Reig

DAILY AUTOMOTIVE SALES & SERVICES LLC 10200 Ocean Highway West

DUCK BREWING COMPANY LLC 121 Dan Owen Dr. Hampstead 28443 Agent: Andrew James Bormann

EMMAUS CONSULTING LLC 5 Cedar Island Wilmington 28409 Agent: Marco A. Mejia

DO NOT DISTURB CLOTHING L.L.C. 4516 Still Meadow Dr Apt 107 Wilmington 28412 Agent: Keeara Jones

D. COX TRUCKING INC. 2248 Harbor Ridge Drive SE Bolivia 28422 Agent: David London Cox Sr

Agent: Jose Efrain Duarte

DTR CLEARING & EQUIPMENT RENTALS LLC 1800 Eastwood Road #234 Wilmington 28403 Agent: Robert Trask DUARTE BROTHERS LANDSCAPING & CONSTRUCTION LLC 5233 Castle Hayne Rd Castle Hayne 28429

FAIRFIELD BRANDS LLC 103 Sable Oak Circle Holden Beach 28462 Agent: Lenny J Fairfield FLAWLESS INST. LLC 2620 Northchase Pkwy Apt C 106 Wilmington 28405 Agent: Andiel Peralta FLAWLESS VISIONS LLC. 717 Emory Street Wilmington 28405 Agent: Crystal McClammy FMO MEDIA LLC 4731 Waves Pointe Wilmington 28412 Agent: Jamie Alfalla FUERST FUTURES INC. 108 Great Pine Court Wilmington 28411 Agent: Edward Charles Fuerst II FULFORD CONSTRUCTION GROUP LLC 6606 Lyonia Court Wilmington 28411 Agent: Fulford Christina GADSDEN SERVICES LLC 9506 Huckabee Dr NE Leland 28451 Agent: Thomas F Gadsden GAUSE & SON’S TRUCKING LLC 1142 Hidden Creek Dr Leland 28451 Agent: Antonio Lamar Gause GAYLOR OUTDOOR SERVICES LLC 111 E Fremont Street

Burgaw 28425 Agent: Robert H. Corbett GENESIS BUILDERS NC CORPORATION 702 Pine Cone Dr. Winnabow 28479 Agent: Julian Resendez GERALDS GIRL TRANSPORTING LLC 320 Chestnut St #102 Wilmington 28401 Agent: Samantha Speaker

194 Englewood Ct Bolivia 28422 Agent: James Hobbs HOBBS LAWN SERVICE LLC 200 Wagon Wheel Way Wilmington 28411 Agent: Justin Hobbs HOLDEN TWELVE LLC 149 Scotch Bonnet Drive Supply 28462 Agent: Catherine Page Dyer

GET IT DONE HOME SERVICES LLC 1122 Jordan Lake Ct Leland 28451 Agent: Virginia Lee King

HONG & W INC 3413 Wilshire Blvd Apt 202 Wilmington 28403 Agent: Hong Guang Yu

GOLF BARN LLC 4028 Barnes Bluff Dr. Southport 28461 Agent: Edwin Burnett

HOODLEY LAND HOLDINGS LLC 14775 US Hwy 17 N Hampstead 28443 Agent: Joseph J Smith III

GOOD OL’ BOYS OF THE CAROLINAS INC. 2240 Copperhead Rd NW Longwood 28452 Agent: Tyler Scott Sherfinski GRECO ROMAN LLC 1804 Bungalow Row Wilmington 28409 Agent: Dorothy J. Papadakos GREEN FOR ALL INC 702 Pine Cone Drive Winnabow 28479 Agent: Julian Resendez GREENLIGHT PROJECTS LLC 2808 Lyndon Avenue Wilmington 28405 Agent: Shannon Sullins GUTTADAURO GROUP LLC 4624 Crawdad Court Wilmington 28405 Agent: Adam D Guttadauro HADI’S HEATING AND AIR LLC 1701 J.E.L. Wade Drive Wilmington 28401 Agent: Jason D. Ruegg HAMILTON BUSH HOGGING AND GRADING COMPANY LLC 257 Old Town Creek Road NE Leland 28451 Agent: Ricky Alan Hamilton Jr HEADY’S LLC 1731 Harbor Drive Ocean Isle Beach 28469 Agent: Thomas Henry Davis HERON POINTE AT BRUNSWICK FOREST HOMEOWNERS’ ASSOCIATION INC. 131 Racine Drive Wilmington 28403 Agent: Leslie Banks HINES LAWN CARE LLC 568 Eden Dr SW Supply 28462 Agent: William Russell Hines HOBBS AND SONS TRUCKING LLC

HORIZON VIRTUAL EMPLOYMENT SOLUTIONS LLC 1288 Porters Lane Rd Rocky Point 28457 Agent: Sheila Henderson HOTLINE PROPERTY SERVICES LLC. 218 Navaho Trail Wilmington 28409 Agent: Kenneth Austin Asmuth HOWARD TOWING AND WRECKER LLC 253 Peiffer Avenue Wilmington 28409 Agent: Judy A. Howard HUMANITARIAN PARTNERSHIPS INITIATIVE 413 Northern Blvd Wilmington 28401 Agent: Buckley Hubbard HUNTS UNDERGROUND SERVICES LLC 9183 Bald Eagle Drive NE Leland 28451 Agent: Austin Hunt HV DISTRIBUTIONS LLC 740 William Gurganus Road Maple Hill28454 Agent: Ian M Houston HVNS TALENT LLC 206 Causeway Dr #621

Wrightsville Beach 28480 Agent: Rhianna Van Burren

JD HOLDINGS NSHIT LLC 4617 Main St. Shallotte 28470 Agent: Joshua Phanco

ILMPIRE HOLDINGS INC. 8044 Bald Eagle Lane Wilmington 28411 Agent: Elizabeth Downing

JHJ QOZF LLC 203 CHANNEL DR N Wrightsville Beach 28480 Agent: Jay Hester Jenkins

INDIGO BIRD LLC 2827 Midway Road SE Ste 106 Bolivia 28422 Agent: Beverley E. Robertson INLET PARTNERS HOLDINGS INC. 7304 Cotesworth Drive Wilmington 28405 Agent: Kyle Dore INTEGRAL HEALTH NC LLC 1010 Nutt Street Wilmington 28401 Agent: Monica Mikolajczyk

JIM WEBB CONSULTING LLC 412 N. 14th Street Wilmington 28401 Agent: Katherine Wolf Webb JOHNNY MARGARITA LLC 411 Lakeview Drive Hampstead 28443 Agent: John Frederick Hernly JSPOETICS HAIR BRAIDING LLC 4906 Canetuck Rd Wilmington 28411 Agent: Lacoya Mears

INTEGRITY HOME SERVICE ILM LLC 2618 Alamance Court Wilmington 28411 Agent: James Michael Anthony

JT COOK CONSTRUCTION LLC 1604 Royal Pine Ct. Leland 28451 Agent: Brad Andrew Cook

J & J 2021 PROPERTIES LLC 2892 John T. Holden Rd SW Supply 28462 Agent: Julie Holden

JUENEASJOURNEYLLC 329 Greendale Drive Wilmington 28405 Agent: LaTia juenea Thomas

J & J COASTAL CONSTRUCTION LLC 4800 Maple Ave Lot 8 Wilmington 28403 Agent: Javier Barrios Perez J. THOMAS VENTURES LLC 4579 Old Towne Street Wilmington 28412 Agent: Jonathan Thomas JBARLOW BUILD LLC 2030 Eastwood Road Suite 5 Wilmington 28403 Agent: Jeffrey D. Barlow JC MORGAN COMPANY PROPERTY MANAGEMENT LLC 1904 Eastwood Road Wilmington 28403 Agent: Jack C Morgan III

K&Z SERVICES INC. 1791 St Patricks Ct SE Bolivia 28422 Agent: Kristin Gettleman KATRA MASSAGE THERAPY LLC 1174 Turlington Avenue Leland 28451 Agent: Karen Trama KAYLA’S KONES LLC 812 Castle Street Wilmington 28401 Agent: Nikishiea N McKnight

KENALI INC. 385 Saltaire Drive Calabash 28467 Agent: Kenneth Staunches KEY STOCK LLC 3318 Winston Blvd Apt 101 Wilmington 28403 Agent: Markyes Jones KFLS PROPERTIES LLC 3656 Windy Point Road SW Supply 28462 Agent: Kimber Leigh Sneed KIDZ ZONE INFLATABLES LLC 2306 Monroe Street Wilmington 28401 Agent: Carl J Scott KINGDOM POWER APPAREL LLC. 1330 Clancy Dr Ne Leland 28451 Agent: Shane Earl Warrington KJ SOLUTIONS INC. 1430 Commonwealth Drive Ste 302 Wilmington 28403 Agent: Vontre Howe KJB DISTRIBUTION INC 908 Seven Oaks Drive Wilmington 28411 Agent: Kimberly Perry KOOL KARRIERS LLC 332 Pike Creek Rd. Burgaw 28425 Agent: Michael Anthony Armstrong KRAKEN DESIGNS LLC 328 Loder Avenue Wilmington 28409 Agent: Shelley Hemsworth KRISTIN ROSER LLC 433 Albemarle Road Wilmington 28405 Agent: Kristin Roser

KCMG CONSULTING LLC 412 Yucca Lane Wilmington 28412 Agent: Mike Guenther

KUNI MILA DESIGNS LLC 3103 Ellis Ct Wilmington 28405 Agent: Edison Norman

KEE TO FREEDOM LLC 140 Hampton Ct Hampstead 28443 Agent: Kristin E. Erickson

LACE SOFTWARE LLC 7514 Whitney Dr Wilmington 28411 Agent: Garrett Wade

Page 24

May 7 - 20, 2021

Greater Wilmington Business Journal

wilmingtonbiz.com

| THE LIST |

Credit Unions

Ranked by number of local members RANK

COMPANY ADDRESS

PHONE EMAIL WEBSITE

TOP LOCAL OFFICIAL/ YEAR CHARTERED

NO. OF LOCAL MEMBERS

NO. LOCAL OFFICES

NO. OF NATIONAL MEMBERS

793-5596 info@ncsecu.org www.ncsecu.org

83,370

11

2,547,942

$47,376,088,322

Dusty Adams Lisa Smith, Senior Vice Presidents 1937

NATIONWIDE ASSETS

1

State Employees' Credit Union 210 Racine Drive Wilmington, NC 28403

2

Corning Credit Union 3705 Federal Park Drive Wilmington, NC 28412

(800) 677-8506 mailus@corningfcu.org www.corningcu.org

31,898

5

122,354

$1,811,668,000

Robin Davis VP, Market Operations 1936

3

Excite Credit Union 237 Racine Drive Wilmington, NC 28403

(800) 232-8669 rdecrescente@alliancecu.org www.alliancecu.org

18,734

2

41,788

$624,175,711

Richard DeCrescente Vice President, Retail Experience NC 1952

4

Local Government Federal Credit Union 8075 Market St. Wilmington, NC 28411

681-0299 info@lgfcu.org www.lgfcu.org

13,458

11

370,521

$2,846,656,462

Maurice Smith President and CEO 1983

5

Riegelwood Federal Credit Union* 183 John Riegel Road Riegelwood, NC 28456

(910) 655-2274 info@revfcu.com www.revfcu.com

12,333

2

12,333

$101,641,969

Jason Lee President 1955

6

Sharonview Federal Credit Union 3212 Oleander Drive Wilmington, NC 28403

(800) 462-4421 fsc@sharonview.org www.sharonview.org

5,279

1

94,527

$1,624,184,699

Gregory Olmstead Branch Manager 1955

7

Self-Help Credit Union 307 S. College Road Wilmington, NC 28403

791-0140 chase.faircloth@selfhelp.org www.self-help.org

4,700

1

86,923

$1,280,395,687

Melody McBroom Chase Faircloth Regional Director Branch Manager 1979

8

Piedmont Advantage Credit Union 3815 Park Ave. Wilmington, NC 28403

800 433-7228 info@pacu.com www.pacu.com

3,625

1

38,990

$406,823,963

Lisa Kinney Branch Manager 1949

Asset and national member information is from the National Credit Union Administration Data Summary. Local membership numbers are from voluntary survey answers. *Riegelwood FCU merged with REV FCU in April 2021. Asset and member numbers are from before merger.

Greater Wilmington Business Journal

wilmingtonbiz.com

| ACHIEVERS | Send information about company hires, promotions or awards to editor@wilmingtonbiz.com

Dosher appoints manager of therapy services SCOTT PASSINGHAM has been named manager of therapy services at Dosher Memorial Hospital.

In his new role, Passingham will oversee all physical therapy, occupational therapy and speech services at Passingham Dosher.

He has been part of the hospital’s therapy team since 2006.

“Scott has been an asset to the Dosher Therapy Department for the last fifteen years,” said Dosher CEO and CMO Brad Hilaman. “I have every confidence that he will provide insights and innovation to the Therapy Team that will enable this area of our organization to evolve in ways that can meet the changing needs of our patients.”

Passingham earned a master’s degree in physical therapy from East Carolina University.

Chamber hires BrogdonPrimavera for its team The Wilmington Chamber of Commerce added LAURA BROGDON-PRIMAVERA to its team.

Brogdon-Primavera joined the chamber as its new director of programs and initiatives. She will report Brogdondirectly to chamber Primavera president and CEO Natalie English.

Brogdon-Primavera’s job responsibilities include managing all Wilmington Chamber of Commerce’s events, the chamber’s councils and the Leadership Wilmington program.

Brogdon-Primavera, who started in her new role May 3, was most recently manager of programs and operations at the University of North Carolina Wilmington’s Center of Innovation and Entrepreneurship.

She completed the Wilmington Chamber of Commerce’s Leadership Wilmington program in May. Brogdon-Primavera received a bachelor’s degree in hospitality and tourism management from Appalachian State University and a master’s degree in education from the UNCW.

Spell joins Beach & Barn Beach & Barn has hired COREY SPELL. Spell will serve as assistant creative director of the Wilmington-based designer and distributor of various apparel.

At Beach & Barn, Spell is responsible for hat and tee-shirt product development, seasonal Spell workbook coordination, as well as general management responsibilities.

Spell completed International Business coursework at the University of Wollongong in Australia. She graduated from the University of North Carolina Wilmington this past fall.

May 7 - 20, 2021

Since 1975

Commercial Construction

Innovation

Seacoast Wealth promotes Gibson to vice president KNOX GIBSON has been promoted to a new role at Seacoast Wealth Management.

Gibson was promoted to vice president of the company, announced Stephen Gaskins, founder and CEO of Seacoast Wealth Gibson Management.

“Knox has been with Seacoast for almost four years and interned with us for two summers while earning his Trust and Wealth Management degree and MBA from Campbell University,” Gaskins said in the release.

“He has done an excellent job and we are pleased to recognize him again for his hard work and dedication.”

McAndrews named development specialist The Dosher Memorial Hospital Foundation has welcomed TONI MCANDREWS as the new foundation development specialist.

McAndrews has an extensive background in fundraising, event planning McAndrews and marketing and public relations with several nonprofit agencies in North Carolina and Florida.

McAndrews will work closely with Lynda Stanley, president of Dosher Memorial Hospital and the Dosher Foundation, and the Dosher Foundation Board, in event planning and additional fundraising initiatives.

Page 25

910.350.0554

chambliss-rabil.com

Page 26

May 7 - 20, 2021

Greater Wilmington Business Journal

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WHAT DOES COMMITMENT TO MORE AFFORDABLE CARE LOOK LIKE? RESTAURANT ROUNDUP

BUSINESS OF LIFE

This is a sampling of stories from the Business Journal’s weekly Restaurant Roundup email.

Subscribe at wilmingtonbiz.com.

Dean Neff’s Seabird opens in downtown Wilmington

SAVING MEMBERS

IN PREMIUMS OVER THE PAST THREE YEARS

1

Making health care more affordable means following through for our members.

That’s why we’ve reduced premiums, expanded value-based care, and committed more than $800 million to help North Carolinians get the care and support they need through this pandemic.2 Every day, we’re working to ensure our members have access to better, simpler, more affordable care.

BlueCrossNC.com/Transform

WE RESOLVE. TO TRANSFORM HEALTH CARE. 1 Internal Data January 2021 2 Internal Data April 2021 ® Marks of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. U37816C, 4/2021

PURSUE YOUR CAREER IN INSURANCE

INSURANCE PRE-LICENSING AT CAPE FEAR COMMUNITY COLLEGE

Courses in Property and Casualty and Life, Accident, Sickness, and Health Classes meet the Department of Insurance Pre-Licensing course requirements

Register today!

bit.ly/cfcc-ewd-insurance

910.362.7677

Chef Dean Neff recently opened his new restaurant, Seabird, in downtown Wilmington.

At the corner of Front and Market streets, Seabird began in the fall of 2019 when Neff leased the ground floor of 1 S. Front St., a building owned by developer James Goodnight.

From the start, Neff had a wish list for the layout of the restaurant: an open kitchen, a chef’s table, a separate bar area and a private dining room.

It was Neff’s intention from the start to create a restaurant that would be open all day, not just for dinner. To start, Seabird will offer a coffee program featuring Counter Culture Coffee, eventually incorporating a small breakfast menu, followed by lunch and perhaps a latenight menu as well.

Seabird’s menu will primarily be an homage to seasonal seafood.

The opening menu offered both baked and raw North Carolina oysters, including a Stone’s Bay oyster from Neff’s friend Matt Schwab of Hold Fast Oyster Co., which will be exclusive to Seabird.

One of Neff’s personal favorites, the catfish and oyster pie, was inspired by a trip to London.

“One of the things I really enjoy about cooking is finding concepts from different places or times and adjusting them according to seasonality and place,” Neff said.

Local favorite restaurant gets new name, menu online and face-to-face options

A longtime favorite restaurant for fresh seafood, Boca Bay has been rebranded by Urban Food Group as Soundside Seafood & Raw Bar. Kevin Jennings, who owns Urban Food Group with his wife, Stacey, said they have thought about changing the name of the restaurant for some time now. The Raleigh-based company purchased Boca Bay, as well as Brasserie du Soleil and Osteria Cicchetti, from Circa Restaurant Group in January 2019.

The restaurant reopened to the public recently, having undergone what Kevin Jennings described as a significant refresh. He said the menu

at Soundside will include several Boca Bay favorites, as well as new items, with a focus on locally sourced seafood.

Detour Deli & Cafe comes to the end of the road Detour Deli & Cafe owner Allister Snyder has closed the doors to the sandwich shop after about six years in business.

The announcement made via Facebook recently was met with great sadness by many of the deli’s loyal customers.

“I have some sad news, Detour Deli is closing its doors,” the announcement stated. “Shane, who has been with us since nearly the beginning, has decided to move on. We could hire and train new people, but I have had the desire to do something new myself and don’t want hire with the intention of it being only temporarily. We made it through the last year, because of everyone that has supported us and we are extremely grateful. Thank you! If there are any updates we will post them on our social media sites. Thanks, again, it has been a great pleasure serving everyone!”

The deli, located on the north side of the Brooklyn Arts District at 510½ Red Cross St., was a favorite of many in the area for its hearty gourmet sandwiches, which included everything from clubs to hoagies, tortas and po’boys.

Shug’s Sweet Shoppe sweetens Monkey Junction Scott and Josh Williams, the father-and-son owners of Cape Fear Restaurant Equipment, both have a self-described sweet tooth, leading them to their latest family venture, Shug’s Sweet Shoppe, which opened in April in Monkey Junction.

Growing up, Scott Williams always called his sister Monica “Shug” and he wanted to honor her in the naming of the shop. Police Lt. Monica Carey of Clayton was killed in the line of duty in 2001. “‘Hey Shug’ is just a friendly, hospitable Southern greeting,” Scott Williams said.

Shug’s main focus will be filled croissants, a baked good that has seen a rise in popularity in recent years.

The shop will also carry cinnamon rolls, brownies, cookies, muffins and cakes, as well as sugar-free, gluten-free and keto options.

-Jessica Maurer

Greater Wilmington Business Journal

wilmingtonbiz.com

May 7 - 20, 2021

Page 27

| BUSINESS OF LIFE | Wilson Center springs back to life

BY LAURA MOORE

M

ore than a year after closing its doors to the public due to a worldwide pandemic, Cape Fear Community College’s Wilson Center welcomed guests back for a performance last month.

“The energy was amazing. It was electric. There was just so much joy, with everyone just so happy walking in and getting to see a performance,” Shane Fernando, CFCC’s vice president of advancement and the arts, said. “The enthusiasm, if you closed your eyes, you would think it was a full house. The spirit of the house was remarkable.”

Opera House Theatre Co. performed for a socially-distanced 393 people in the 1,500-plus capacity venue. Working with smaller community theater organizations allows the Wilson Center to invite the public in for events while adhering to the guidelines set forth by the CDC and state mandates.

“It is tiny for us, and not viable for a touring program, but quite viable for a community organization such as Opera House where we are able to get an audience to the scale they are used to doing and we are able to provide it safely,” Fernando said.

Roughly 25 percent of its capacity is currently available for ticketing.

Seating is set up in pods based on historical data of traditional sales.

Fernando said that the venue was forced to let go close to 200 staff members when it shut down last year, so these smaller events allow for staff members to slowly come back on board.

The impacts of the theater industry are wide and far-reaching. From cobblers to tailors to dry cleaners to restaurant owners, many business owners feel the effects when a theater is closed.

“From tiny to large-scale venues, theaters have a huge impact on their communities. Sadly, we are the first to shut down and the last to open, and there are so many businesses that we affect and a wide variety of vendors,” Fernando said. “So many folks with so many small businesses are ready for us to be back.”

The Wilson Center celebrated its five-year anniversary while closed for the pandemic in October, but it provided an opportunity to re-evaluate its operations, Fernando said.

“We took the time to look at our

PHOTO BY MICHAEL CLINE SPENCER

Turning the lights back on: Shane Fernando, CFCC’s vice president of advancement and the arts, says the Wilson Center venue is slowly reopening with small events, with the goal of a full reopening this fall.

staffing model, our organizational model and our program model based on the five years of data we had available,” he said.

Considering it “almost doubled its revenue each year,” the economic impact on the tourism industry is obvious.

In its first year alone, 30,000 people from out of town came to see shows at the Wilson Center, Fernando said.

“It is a ripple effect of empty seats at this facility. This is a revenue stream for these businesses, and the effect is palpable,” he said. “A handful of businesses shut down because we weren’t open. They told me that.”

That is a responsibility Fernando said he does not take lightly as he works to take the necessary steps to have touring theater companies make their return to the Wilson Center.

Roughly 60 shows from national touring companies had to be rescheduled and are currently awaiting dates. Only a few shows were lost altogether, including Broadway touring companies that “collapsed” due to the pandemic shutdowns.

Managing the rescheduling of these tours has been “a weird type

of game since it is every story of venues across the world,” Fernando said. Rescheduled dates have been the safety net of theaters across the country, “but it’s like a Rubik’s Cube” in terms of the complexity of finding dates that work with events for touring companies that are managing rescheduling with venues all throughout the United States.

“On a good year, it’s complicated enough in terms of finding a date, but now it is 10 times more complex,” Fernando said.

The target date for full reopening is late fall.

“The shows are not canceled. We are in the process of rescheduling them, and the show will still happen.

It is on our books. Your seat is still good. Your ticket is still good. Once we can safely get the tour here, the show will still happen,” Fernando said.

Backstage protocols are even more complicated than public areas in terms of managing crews and performers, many of whom are working in close quarters, said Fernando, who added, “We are extra cautious of who works where.”

The conversation of safety proto-

cols is still happening at a national level, and guidelines are still being prepared.

“We are doing everything and the kitchen sink,” Fernando said.

“The priority is how we continue the mission of the department of this college and continue to find ways to bring in revenue, which means rethinking everything we do.”

Currently, the center is following CDC and state guidelines of social distancing, capacity limitations and sanitation procedures; in addition, its ventilation system ensures safe air flow.

“We are blessed at this facility that our air handling exceeds what is recommended for indoor ventilation, so we are in a good place there as far as the quality of air moving in and out,” Fernando said.

He said he wants the public to feel comfortable knowing they are doing everything to keep the community healthy and confident.

“The protocols are in place.

When you are comfortable coming back, we’re ready to keep you safe,” Fernando said. “It’s on us to move forward.”

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