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A ROUNDUP OF RECENT NEWS

PHOTO BY MICHAEL CLINE SPENCER

MOLSON COORS INVESTS IN TRU COLORS BREWERY

Wilmington startup TRU Colors has partnered with national beverage company Molson Coors, which has made an equity investment in the local brewery to accelerate its growth.

The amount of the investment from Chicago-based Molson Coors Beverage Co. was not disclosed.

The partnership, however, will also involve the distribution of TRU Colors’ new brew.

TRU Colors plans to distribute its beer across North Carolina this summer and later this year in Virginia, with plans to expand nationally in about two years of launching the brewery operation, said George Taylor, chairman and CEO of TRU Colors.

TRU Colors looked at several “significant brewery partners” but chose Molson Coors because of its commitment to diversity, inclusion and social justice, Taylor said. TRU Colors is a for-profit brewery that hires Wilmington gang members and those involved in the gang community to help combat street violence.

The brewery will be distributing its beer exclusively through Molson Coors’ network of distributors, Taylor said.

“They’re one of the top two or three players in the world, certainly in the U.S. And so, when you partner with someone like MolsonCoors and you begin speaking with large grocery chains or venue chains it gives us a leg up in helping share the message and share why our beer is important,” Taylor said. “So from a distribution standpoint, it really makes a big difference to have Molson partnering with us.” - Christina Haley O’Neal

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PHOTO BY MASTER1305

SPORTS PARK NETS $1.3M SPONSORSHIP

Cloud banking firm nCino is paying $1.3 million for the long-term sponsorship of a Wilmington sports park.

The nCino Sports Park is expected to draw tens of thousands of parents and players when it opens.

The complex is expected to hold 11 fields, including an artificial turf field. Seven fields already exist as part of the Cape Fear Regional Soccer Park, which will be incorporated into nCino Sports Park.

The new park, on 65 acres at 205 Sutton Steam Plant Road, is part of the 2016 voterapproved parks bond, which allocated $10 million for the project.

Wilmington Hammerheads Youth Soccer donated the land, and the park is expected to be complete by the fall of 2022. - Cece Nunn

$19

MILLION

Cost of the Port

of Wilmington’s refrigerated container yard

expansion.

$221 MILLION

Total cost of N.C. Ports’ capital improvement plan, which includes the yard expansion.