Choose Cape Fear

A LIVE

WIRE

Chip Mahan’s 9-year-old, Wilmington start-up is now a public company worth $700 million (and its spinout technology unit may soon be worth even more)

HUGE SHIPS ARRIVING AT THE PORT

DOWNTOWN BUSINESSES WILMINGTON’S RELOCATING TO RENAISSANCE THE CAPE FEAR

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SPONSOR WELCOME “C

OMPASS POINTE GOLF Club is a fun and challenging course that offers adjustable play to accommodate all skill levels. Designed

by Rick Robbins, who worked with Jack Nicklaus for many years, and made a name for himself designing course in RICK FERRELL China, the course is interesting and Director of Golf, unique, having five sets of tees, plus a par Compass Pointe 3 tee on every hole. It opened for play Golf Club & Magnolia in June of 2016 and has received rave Greens Golf Course reviews from everyone that has played.

Players are impressed by the conditions, KEN wide fairways, strategically placed bunkers, and green complexes that challenge the short game. In addition to an excellent course, Compass Pointe features practice areas normally found only in championship caliber courses. Players can warm up and practice every aspect of their game. I’m honored to be a part of this great course and facility and look forward to seeing golfers from all over the world and in the surrounding area come out and play time and time again.”

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REATER WILMINGTON BUSINESS JOURNAL’S marketing team produced this special publication with the assistance of our sponsors, advertisers and community partners.

The Business Journal, which has been locally-owned since its creation 17 years ago, informs and brings together our region’s business community with daily email updates, a bi-weekly publication, an annual Book on Business and a range of events. You can learn more and subscribe now at WilmingtonBiz.com.

We hope this special marketing publication and our regular coverage is an invaluable resource for all your business ventures in the Cape Fear region.

Rob Kaiser Publisher, Greater Wilmington Business Journal

F

OR YEARS, OUR LOCAL AREA HAS BEEN known as a great place to visit thanks to our mild climate, beautiful beaches and southern hospitality. We are proud of that history and welcome the visitors who’ve come to love the region. Yet, there’s more to be discovered here — business opportunity abounds.

The Cape Fear Region brings together everything the most enterprising businesses need to succeed. Yes, we’re a great place to play. And, we’re a great place to work.

The four-county region is one of the fastest-growing in the U.S. The infrastructure is continually expanding to meet our needs. We attract and retain an eager and diverse workforce by investing in and offering excellent education and training programs. Residents easily access quality health care, capital, and community service opportunities. And, there’s an abiding commitment to smart, sustained growth.

In this special publication by the Greater Wilmington Business Journal, you’ll find details on our business climate. You’ll read about many of the businesses who have chosen the Cape Fear Region as home—from Fortune 500 companies and entrepreneurs to manufacturing giants and high-tech masterminds. Each chose the region for different reasons, and they all are finding success here.

Explore the Cape Fear Region and all it has to offer as you read this special publication. All of us from Brunswick, Columbus, New Hanover, and Pender counties are thrilled you’re with us, and would be happy to help you discover the opportunity that awaits you.

Always your advocate,

Cape Fear Region Representatives Brunswick County Economic Development Cape Fear Council of Governments Columbus County Economic Development Commission Columbus Jobs Foundation Economic Development Partnership of NC Marine Bio-Technologies Center of Innovation NC Biotech Center – Southeastern Office North Carolina Ports North Carolina’s Southeast Town of Leland Wilmington Business Development Wilmington Chamber of Commerce Wilmington Downtown Inc. Wilmington International Airport

Natalie English CEO, Greater Wilmington Chamber of Commerce

cover photo by Matt Furman

CONTENTS 9 Trend Lines

23 Tech Powerhouses

32 Fish Tale

10 Corporate Homes

27 New Investments

35 Growing Roots

Cape Fear’s Economic Indicators

12

GE-Hitachi, Corning and PPD

12 Big Developments

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23

Witnessing a Downtown Renaissance

Chip Mahan’s Live Oak and nCino

Port Expansion Plan

31 Making Connections

Business Resources in the Cape Fear

Reeling in Acme Smoked Fish

Replanted companies that flourished

Growing Infrastructure? Check.

Access to Capital? Check.

Educated Workforce? Check.

Superior Healthcare? Check.

Quality of Life? Check.

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MELDING INTO Wilmington’s Spirit

W

ILMINGTON’S BUSINESS COMMUNITY IS TOUGH TO DEFINE. An analogy may help: Think about the differences between high school, college and NFL football teams.

Wilmington is the college team.

Players on a high school team have an intense loyalty to their hometown, but they didn’t pick it.

They just grew up there.

NFL players are on teams because of drafts, trades or big contracts. They’ll bask in home team cheers, but they’ll quickly shed one uniform for another when they become free agents.

Players on a college team choose to be there.

Their decisions weren’t mainly financial.

When the players arrive on campus, they form an eclectic group from many places that melds because of their shared fate, good fortune and desire to succeed together.

That’s the spirit of Wilmington’s business community.

It’s a different experience being a newcomer in our region than many other places.

“The people are so damn friendly” is how Wilmington Mayor Bill Saffo summarizes the reaction he consistently hears from newcomers and

visitors.

The reason is likely that today’s local residents were recently the newcomers, and we’re happy to pay forward the assistance we received.

Ask for a show of hands of how many Wilmington natives ROB KAISER are in a typical business Publisher, Greater Wilmington meeting with 20 attendees.

Business Journal Perhaps three hands will go up. More likely it’ll be two or one.

In many communities, it can be a challenge to break into the “who’s who” crowd. In Wilmington, the opposite is often true. Show some smarts, interest and effort, and you’ll quickly be recruited to join multiple boards and other community efforts.

The Wilmington Convention Center coined what I consider the most fitting tagline for our region — “Business Made Casual.”

Whenever I’m asked if somebody can wear something casual to an event, my response is always, “Of course, it’s Wilmington.”

For companies, there’s a wealth of local talent.

It’s become a cliché locally to say, “Wilmington has the country’s best educated wait staff.”

PORT OF Hello, Tomorrow.

Building for tomorrow has always been our goal. Which is why North Carolina Ports is investing more than $120 million in infrastructure improvements to accommodate the ever-changing shipping industry. And why we have one of the only on-terminal cold storage facilities on the East Coast, with 101,000 square feet to store goods and blast freeze imports and exports right on-site. All to better help you succeed.

So start tomorrow today. Give us a call and learn all the ways we’re working for you.

1.800.334.0682 / NCPorts.com

PORT OF PROGRESS

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Many talented people move here for the quality of life and UNCW graduates often don’t want to leave.

Where they’ll work is often a second-level decision, which creates a ready workforce for employers.

Our region has a mix of corporate players like Corning, GE-Hitachi and PPD, recent breakout successes like Live Oak Bank and Castle Branch and many budding entrepreneurial ventures.

A lot of the entrepreneurial activity is happening in downtown Wilmington, which is at a transformational tipping point.

Old buildings previously used by the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad and still stenciled with names like “Diamond Feed Store” have been repurposed.

The modern, 7-year-old Convention Center is the transition point from the historic downtown to the developing northern riverfront with a new marina and concert venue, PPD’s headquarters, apartments and a soon-to-be 6.6-acre park, hotels, restaurants, retail space and offices.

It’s a visible example of how, like our business community, the new melds into what’s already here.

By the way, Wilmington doesn’t have a college football team. But the spirit of one is all around you.

Rob Kaiser is the publisher of Greater Wilmington Business Journal. He can be reached at rkaiser@ wilmingtonbiz.com or (910) 343-8600 x204.

Yep, this place checks out.

Everything you and your business need. All in one very desirable location. So that question about your next expansion or relocation? It’s actually a pretty simple choice after all. Find the answers you’re looking for at ChooseCapeFear.com.

CHOOSECAPEFEAR.com

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If you want to buy or sell a home at the best price and get the best outcome,

TAKE ADVANTAGE of our expertise and hire a Coldwell Banker Sea Coast Advantage REALTOR®.

S

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E

A

C

O

A

S

T

R

E

A

L

T

Y

.

C

O

M

ECONOMIC INDICATORS JANUARY UNEMPLOYMENT NEW HANOVER JANUARY 2017:

ANNUAL AIRPORT PASSENGER TRAFFIC

PENDER JANUARY 2017:

ANNUAL SALES TAX COLLECTION (New Hanover County)

BRUNSWICK JANUARY 2017:

5.1% 5.8% 7.7% DOWN FROM JANUARY 2016:

DOWN FROM JANUARY 2016:

DOWN FROM JANUARY 2016:

5.6%

6.4%

8.0%

SALES TAX COLLECTION 2015 - 16

$192,126,730 UP FROM SALES TAX COLLECTION 2014 - 15 DEPARTURES 2016

ARRIVALS 2016

UP FROM DEPARTURES 2015

UP FROM ARRIVALS 2015

386,034

383,775

$178,907,360

411,399 406,497 Source: N.C. Department of Commerce

Source: Wilmington International Airport

10-YEAR SNAPSHOT RESIDENTIAL BUILDING PERMITS

RESIDENTIAL HOME SALES 10K

Source: N.C. Department of Revenue

(Units Sold)

3K

(Brunswick County)

2K 5K 1K

2007

6000000

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

SNAPSHOT RESIDENTIAL PERMITS

(New Hanover County)

(Pender County) PRERECESSION 2006:

0

2015

$5,886,177

1000000

$5,281,028

4000000

2000000

2007

ANNUAL ROOM OCCUPANCY TAX

5000000

3000000

2013 2014 2015 2016 Source: Cape Fear Realtors

387

2008

2009

2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 Source: Brunswick County Building Inspections Department

VESSEL CALLS PORT OF WILMINGTON CONTAINER

DURING THE RECESSION 2009:

100

11.2%

POSTRECESSION 2016:

419

OTHER SUPPORT (includes tugs and push boats)

28% OTHER FREIGHT

13.4%

DRY BULK

47.5%

*Numbers equal more than 100 because of rounding.

2016 Source: Wilmington CVB

Source: Pender County

Source: U.S. Department of Transportation 2016 report

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“The Wilmington region is really strong on multiple fronts. The labor pool here is really smart and skillful.”

Michele Holbrook plant manager, Corning

PPD headquarters

CAPE FEAR: A Corporate Home

by JOHN MEYER

T

WO OF THE CAPE FEAR REGION’S LARGEST CORPORATE PLAYERS, Corning and General Electric, arrived during a wave of industrial development in the 1960s.

Others, including a Verizon Wireless call center, pharmaceutical research firms like PPD and Alcami and the background screening company CastleBranch, are more recent arrivals.

All of them have a strong technical focus.

Corning and GE were both recruited in 1966, part of the effort to replace hundreds of Page 10

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railroad jobs that left Wilmington six years earlier.

Available land, a strong work force and the Port of Wilmington contributed to these companies’ decisions to locate here, and their plants have evolved along with new product lines.

PPD is an example of a homegrown corporation.

Launched in 1985 as a one-person consulting firm

by Fred Eshelman, PPD is now a multi-billion dollar operation with 18,500 employees in 47 countries.

Its downtown Wilmington headquarters has 1,500 employees.

Learn more about Corning, GE and PPD’s ties to the Cape Fear region:

Corning

Corning’s North College Road plant originally employed 250 people making electronic resistors.

Corning executives said they chose Wilmington from more than 100 competitors because of its “resourceful and intelligent people,” “community atmosphere and cultural advantages,” and “talented leadership,” according to a 1966 edition of the Wilmington Morning Star newspaper that’s still displayed at the facility.

A decade later, Corning converted the plant to manufacture its new optical fiber for telecommunications. Today, optical fiber

GE headquarters

contributes almost a third of Corning’s annual revenue, or around $3 billion. The company doesn’t comment on how many people currently work at the facility.

“The Wilmington region is really strong on multiple fronts,” plant manager Michele Holbrook said. “The labor pool here is really smart and skillful,” helping Corning meet a commitment to hire locally. UNC-Wilmington and Cape Fear Community College graduates are an important part of Corning’s workforce. And the Port of Wilmington and good highways are necessary to ship the plant’s output.

Corning’s community involvement focuses on STEM education: science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Strengthening K-12 education, Holbrook said, is vital to preparing future hightech workers. A partnership with middle schools encourages students to pursue science and engineering.

Wilmington is “a very vibrant environment,” in Holbrook’s view. “It helps me not just recruit, but also retain good employees.” Highly trained, highly skilled employees aren’t bound to one place,

she said. That means Wilmington’s many assets, such as outdoor recreation, the university and “an entrepreneurial atmosphere” are important to Corning’s success.

General Electric

GE built its plant on Castle Hayne Road while the nuclear power industry was growing. When it opened in 1969, it produced nuclear fuel and reactor parts. The company evaluated more than 100 cities for certain factors, including training facilities, workforce, education system and a positive attitude toward industry. GE hired more than 500 local employees and imported 150 more from other company sites.

By the late 1970s, the fuel-manufacturing operation was thriving, but demand for new reactors had ended. GE passed the reactor-parts space to its aviation division, which converted it to make jet engine parts. In 2003, GE moved its nuclear division’s headquarters to Wilmington from California. In 2007, GE Hitachi Nuclear

Corning headquarters

Energy was created.

GE Hitachi and GE Aviation’s 3,000 employees are involved in the community. Every year they volunteer more than 6,000 hours mentoring STEM students and supporting charities, and donate more than $400,000 to United Way of the Cape Fear Area’s annual campaign.

PPD

As PPD thrived, the coastal area’s attractions have helped the company recruit nationally and retain good employees, said Ed Murray, PPD’s vice president of human resources.

He cited assets such as a college town’s cultural benefits and the “wide range of living choices here” from downtown and rural spreads to beaches and gated communities.

Wilmington’s airport “serves us well,” Murray said, connecting with customers and branch offices worldwide. Interstate 40 is helpful, he added, “because of our adjacency to the Triangle area, just two hours away,” home to another large PPD office.

Being downtown has been good for the company’s culture, Murray said. Early on, Eshelman “really liked the vibe of having his business in a downtown environment.” After outgrowing its downtown space and scattering to suburban offices, PPD came back downtown in 2007. “We didn’t put an elaborate restaurant or cafeteria in our space, by design,” Murray said, encouraging employees to get out of the office at lunchtime.

“I think our employees are delighted to be downtown.”

PPD, he added, is recognized for supporting its home community, both through “targeted philanthropy” and employees who are encouraged to do volunteer work.

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A DOWNTOWN Renaissance

by JOHN MEYER

D

OWNTOWN WILMINGTON IS BEGINNING TO EXPERIENCE A NEW WAVE OF GROWTH, different in both scale and kind from what had made the area both attractive and popular in earlier years.

Downtown’s remarkable turnaround in the late twentieth century was mostly driven by small-scale projects. Typical were rehabilitations of historic buildings, new restaurants, stores and nightclubs,

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and the occasional new “in-fill” structure. Big public investments included a department-storeto-library conversion, and expanding the historic Thalian Hall theater.

More recently, while that sort of development continues, the major action has been in downtown’s once-neglected north end. Former industrial sites and low-value commercial properties have become a blank slate for ambitious entrepreneurs and

local governments.

A catalyst was the long-awaited Wilmington Convention Center, which opened in late 2010.

Then, financed by bond issues, Cape Fear Community College opened its

250,000-square-foot Union Station building in 2013 on North Front Street, and the Wilson Center, the dramatic new performing arts building, opened in 2015 on North Third Street.

Last year, voters approved a bond issue to develop a large northern riverfront park.

The head of downtown’s economic development agency calls the park the city’s “front yard.” The Wilson Center’s architect described its soaring lobby as the city’s “front porch.” And the spot where North Third Street meets highways from out of town has been called Wilmington’s “front door.” Downtown, both old and new, is presenting Wilmington’s best front to the world.

An entirely new streetscape of apartments, condos and offices lines once-desolate North Third Street. PPD’s headquarters tower on North Front, an anchor for northern downtown since 2007, is now being surrounded by new developments.

A vast ex-industrial tract is being turned into a marina, restaurants, entertainment stage, multifamily housing, offices and hotels.

The developer working on this project, Chuck Schoninger, said the former Almont Shipping Co. property quickly caught his eye. Bracketed by the Convention Center, PPD, and the CFCC campus, the site seemed full of “mixed-use” possibilities.

“We just followed the landscape of what PPD did for us,” Schoninger explained, creating sleek new uses completely unrelated to what had gone before.

As capital started to loosen up after the recession, Schoninger formed partnerships with investors and builders. A first step was to dredge out what is now Port City Marina, between Hanover and Harnett streets. Where freighters once unloaded, yachts and other pleasure craft now dock.

A pier with the skeleton of a band shell, soon to be roofed and partly enclosed, will be a venue for concerts. Schoninger predicts a range of shows, with admissions from $10 to $50, can draw audiences of all kinds to the site and its new restaurants, Blackfinn Ameripub and Vida Mexican Kitchen y Cantina.

The city’s planned new park, just to the north, will also include a permanent concert stage.

It would house such events as Azalea Festival concerts, accommodating big audiences.

Schoninger predicts people visiting the park and strolling the Riverwalk will find his waterfront restaurants to be welcome amenities.

Just inland from the marina and the planned 325-apartment complex Pier 33, the 10-story Hotel Indigo is expected to break ground this spring. Next steps, on parcels Schoninger owns in the shadow of PPD, are a proposed office tower and a second hotel. Another 150 condo units are proposed overlooking the Convention Center.

“Downtown is in the midst of a major transition,” said Ed Wolverton, executive director of Wilmington Downtown, Inc. That publicprivate partnership began 40 years ago, during downtown’s lowest ebb, to “revitalize” the old central business district.

Several key choices in prior decades set the stage for this transition, Wolverton said, including “some strategic decisions made by local government.” Notably, the city built the long-awaited Convention Center, extended the Riverwalk, and is rebuilding older stretches of that

“It’s a dynamic environment that has anything (businesses) need.”

Ed Wolverton executive director, Wilmington Downtown Inc.

(ABOVE) Cape Fear Community College’s Wilson Performing Arts Center, which opened in 2015, includes a 1,600-seat auditorium and a sprawling lobby.

River Place is a 12-story mixed-use building featuring retail space, condos and apartments planned for Water Street.

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popular promenade. The new waterfront park will take shape soon, thanks to voters. The city also invested in major improvements to Front and Third streets, burying overhead wires and improving “streetscaping.”

While the city was working on the Convention Center, PPD Inc. built a $110 million “anchor” for downtown’s northern end. That put 1,500 well-educated, wellcompensated employees downtown every day, providing new customers for shops, restaurants and attractions.

More potential customers are moving into big new residential developments.

The two-year-old City Block apartments are fully occupied, just as the waterfront Sawmill Point complex is opening for tenants, Wolverton noted. When it is fully rented, he expects the proposed Pier 33 and River Place complexes to be finished and accepting tenants.

Those “24-hour users,” as Wolverton called them, keep streets busy. Hundreds of new downtown residents will also be “a built-in customer base for shops and ames oodnight, who has purchased several downtown buildings in recent years, sees potential in turning vacant spaces into offices. restaurants and attractions,” some in mixed(BELOW) A new par in northern downtown ilmington will include a permanent concert stage that can accommodate large crowds. use space below apartments. Downtown is experiencing an “explosion of the craft expected to break ground this spring. Hotel Indigo, location makes excellent business sense, George beer industry,” with five microbreweries 125 rooms in 10 stories, will be on Schoninger’s Taylor Jr. said. “A lot of the team lives downtown,” operating and a sixth on the way. “We’re seeing property opposite the Convention Center, and the he noted, adding that downtown’s cultural appeal a vast improvement to our night life,” with more six-story, 125-room Aloft Hotel will be built onto the is a “recruiting base” to attract technical talent. places appealing to “foodie” culture. Likewise, nearby Coastline Conference Center.

At least one Looking around at refinished original heart-pine home-grown demand for groceries and household other hotel project is in planning stages, at a site floors, wooden beams and open-plan work spaces, needs is driving consumer-focused retail growth on between PPD and the new park.

George Jr. commented, “I love the exposed bricks.” blocks once dominated by tourist-oriented shops.

Meanwhile, in downtown’s older, established George III jumped in, “I like buildings with That’s not to say visitors won’t still be important. end, growing technology companies are making character.

And the food downtown is wonderful.”

Economic development experts have argued, as an impact.

Three members of one entrepreneurial He said having a range of culturally edgy Wolverton said, that “tourism could be a bigger family – George Taylor, Jr. and his sons, George III businesses nearby, such as bars and tattoo shops, economic driver than it was.” Meeting and driving and Kurt – are developing several technology startappeals to the sorts of workers Untappd recruits. that demand are hundreds of new hotel rooms. ups in a renovated building on South Front Street.

And unlike many suburban locations, the streets Most important may be the 186-room Embassy Untappd is, in George Taylor III’s words, “The are lively at night, an asset for people who often Suites going up next to the Convention Center.

Facebook of beer, ” an application that connects work late.

This will aid recruiting of major conventions, which craft beer enthusiasts with each other, and with the Two-thirds of the staffs were hired locally, but want accommodations and meeting rooms on the microbreweries and tap rooms where those brews most of the tech talent came from elsewhere. same site. are sold.

A spinoff of a parent company called Downtown’s amenities – and relatively low real In downtown’s core, along Grace Street, two new Next Glass, it has 5.3 million users and over 5,000 estate costs – have been a big draw. A software hotels opened during the past two years. Two others, business customers. engineer recruited from Hong Kong told the Taylors a stone’s throw from the Convention Center, are Developing and he could have taken jobs in New York City or marketing the software San Francisco, but with stratospheric living costs keeps 65 employees busy. and professional anonymity. Here, he expects to That number is expected make a big difference in his company, and to live to grow. The company a great lifestyle for not much money. “He said our occupies two stories (and place was the coolest office he’d ever worked in,” a rooftop terrace) and will George III said. expand into the building’s That validates their landlord’s ambition to freshly updated ground create a technology hub along South Front Street. floor.

James Goodnight, a Research Triangle-based The other company is entrepreneur, is counting on downtown’s appeal, Kurt’s project, called Jomo, and space rates a fraction of those in New York, an app to help people Los Angeles and other tech hubs, to attract exactly with similar interests make that kind of talent. In the same block, buildings spontaneous connections at 1 and 9 S. Front St. will soon be available for and plan events. Both the Taylors to expand into as growth demands. enterprises moved into Businesses like theirs, George III said, need a their space at 21 S. Front “critical mass” of other tech people nearby to St. in early 2016. The consult. So attracting more tech companies will CHOOSECAPEFEAR.com

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95

make it even easier to recruit ambitious young workers. They, in turn, will be an asset for future technology entrepreneurs.

The millennial generation, Wolverton observed, are “drawn to something that gives them an authentic experience.” Diverse downtowns with carefully restored old buildings meet that standard. But imaginatively conceived new buildings are also vital.

A key player in downtown’s recent growth is LS3P Architects, which incorporates the former Boney Architects firm. Chris Boney, part of his family’s third generation of architects, sees great potential in the north end.

A design imperative, Boney said, is retaining “the spirit of place” on sites stripped bare during urban renewal in the 1960s. The Convention Center, for example, includes elements referring to the city’s maritime heritage. CFCC’s Union Station was designed to be a bridge between old and new, a direct reference to the city’s railroad history. The design echoes the Atlantic Coast Line buildings that once dominated that end of town. A highceilinged lobby is like the former “grand terminal.”

The Wilson Center, with its prominent glass façade along North Third Street, is meant to welcome people entering the city from the Holmes Bridge or MLK Parkway. “It’s the front porch for Wilmington,” Boney said. The soaring columns recall an old Southern verandah, and through the transparent front wall, “You could see a little of the life that goes on inside.”

LS3P designed its new home, the building developed by Brian Eckel with GHK Cape Fear Development and Cape Fear Commercial. It replaced an obsolete bank building from the early 1970s.

Alongside his new Class A office space in downtown’s heart, Eckel foresees mixed-use “in-fill” projects and “an explosion of residential.” This will include the proposed River Place, replacing a waterfront parking deck from the 1960s.

The most likely targets for redevelopment?

Surface parking lots. One brake on development, though, is construction costs, which have risen 35 percent in the past few years. “You’re going to have to see some slowdown in prices before we see a whole lot of infill,” Eckel said.

In spite of such complications, “It’s an exciting time for downtown,” Eckel said. “There’s opportunities here.”

Clark Hipp is an architect, builder and developer with an office on North Front Street. He has designed new structures on empty sites, such as the 720 N. Third St. office tower in the early 2000s, but has also extensively renovated existing buildings. A striking recent example is 216 N. Front St., an art gallery and museum in a century-old building a few doors from his own office called Expo 216.

Downtown’s benefits, Hipp said, include the street grid, which accommodates vehicles while “calming” traffic; the “human scale” that makes walking convenient and pleasant; and being able to live and work in the same neighborhood. “I’ve walked to work for 28 years,” he said. “That’s a wonderful lifestyle, to not be car-dependent.”

More businesses are deciding to locate downtown.

“It’s a dynamic environment that has anything they need,” Wolverton said. “It’s the region’s economic engine, its commercial, entertainment and cultural center.”

why

Cape Fear?

STEVEN SCHNITZLER

CEO, Port City Java portcityjava.com Year established: 1995 Number of employees: 175 Company description: We are Wilmington’s hometown coffee shop. We bake daily and roast all of our own coffees right here in town.

When moved here 22 years ago, it was for the beaches, the downtown, the weather and the opportunity to open our own business in a climate that gave us a chance to succeed. Twenty-eight cafes, a roasting and warehouse operation, bakery and corporate office late, I would say we are hitting that mark.

Wilmington has proven to be a tremendous launching pad for our brand, and proves that what can make it here, can make it in other cities, as well.

Wilmington has it all - great higher education, art, culture, food, recreation and a tremendous sense of community. I like that we have a diverse economy here.

AMY GRANT

Owner/Manager, Art in Bloom Gallery aibgallery.com Year established: 2015 Number of employees: 1 Company description: Historic downtown Wilmington gallery that exhibits and sells original art by a diverse group of global and local artists

(ABOVE) The BB&T building opened in 2015 as the first Class A office space downtown since 2009.

(LEFT) Apartment complex Pier 33, planned along the north end, is near the restaurants and event space centered around Port City Marina (right).

While living in the Philadelphia area, I searched for seven years for a location to open a gallery closer to family and in a warmer climate, with a culturally diverse and strong customer base. I visited many places in the southeast, and Wilmington stood out for its thriving arts community, climate, affordability, supportive government and business community.

The arts are a major component of Wilmington’s economic and cultural development. In turn, the investment in economic and cultural development over the past 50 years has made it possible for Wilmington to experience a renaissance.

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Mark Allebach -Business & Tax -Mergers & Acquisitions -Wills, Trusts, & Estate Planning

Frances Y. Trask (Of counsel) -Real Estate Transactions & Development

Amanda K. Miars -Wills, Trusts, Estate Planning & Estate Administration -Business Law

Andrea “Andi” M. Van Trigt -Real Estate Transactions & Development - Agribusiness - Litigation

VISIT US AT WWW.MURCHISONTAYLOR.COM Wilmington's Law Firm since 1955 for Business Law, Mergers & Acquisitions, Litigation, Health Care, Employment, Real Estate Transactions and Estate Planning.

16 N. Fifth Ave. Wilmington, NC 28401 910-763-2426

Page 18

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creates … DYNAMIC EVENTS

INNOVATIVE COMPANIES

The Coalition is a collaboration of organizations for small businesses and entrepreneurs in the Wilmington region.

GREAT WORKPLACES

THE WILMINGTON REGION IS A THRIVING ECOSYSTEM TO CREATE AND GROW COMPANIES. Numerous organizations that work with small businesses and entrepreneurs recently formed The Coalition, which hosts Dynamic Events like Cucalorus Connect, works with Innovative Companies like SeaTox Research (whose founder, Jennifer McCall, is above) and creates Great Workplaces like tekMountain.

Learn more about Coalition initiatives inside this special section.

THE COALITION MEMBERS

CHOOSECAPEFEAR.com

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CREATING AN ECOSYSTEM FOR BIOTECH BUSINESSES

CO-WORKING SPACES SPROUTING IN THE REGION

A

W

T THE END OF AN UNASSUMING TREE-LINED ROAD OFF A mostly residential area of Masonboro Loop in Wilmington, you’ll find one of the most advanced biotechnology centers on the east

coast.

Within CREST Research Park, operated by UNC-Wilmington, scientists, aquaculturists, entrepreneurs and faculty are working on studies, cultivation and products with potential to make waves on a global scale.

The collaborative public-private relationship at CREST is certainly intentional. It’s a place where start-ups and established firms alike can come together to work alongside approximately 80 researchers from Marine Biology in North Carolina (MARBIONC) and UNCW’s Center for Marine Science.

That connection has apparently paid off.

Earlier this year, UNCW and MARBIONC were included in the top tier of a competitive $250 million funding pool by the National Institute for Innovation in Manufacturing Biopharmaceuticals to develop biopharmaceutical manufacturing here in the United States. The inclusion will certainly assist with research opportunities, but it will also continue CREST’s goal of driving

Research technician Chris Helak begins the first phase of extracting toxins from marine algae cultures at UNCW’s CREST Research Park.

economic development.

The facility already works with local companies like Alcami, which develops and manufactures pharmaceuticals, on processes that involve aquatic life and IKA Works, which makes laboratory equipment.

And MARBIONC played a major role in the development of a drug used to treat cystic fibrosis through its research into a strain of algae whose neurotoxins counteract the “Red Tide”-causing varieties.

CREST also hosts the lab space for research and development entrepreneurs like Jennifer McCall, whose company, SeaTox Research Inc., began in another UNCW venture—the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship. The company is developing a streamlined process for testing toxins in shellfish. SeaTox recently began selling a prototype testing kit to the general public.

SeaTox also provides contract research services to local businesses using its expertise in microbiology and cell biology.

In addition to MARBIONC’s nearly 70,000 square foot research and leasable lab space—a combination aimed at moving ideas from the lab to the marketplace—CREST houses the Center for Marine Science, which is training students in a variety of related industries, and a shellfish research hatchery.

Jennifer McCall’s shellfish toxin-testing company, SeaTox Research Inc., is located on the CREST campus and opened with the help of UNCW’s Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation (CIE).

CUCALORUS CONNECTS FILMMAKERS AND ENTREPRENEURS

I Patrons of the “VR Lounge” experience the latest in virtual reality headsets for phones during last year’s Cucalorus Connect tech and business conference.

Page 20

CHOOSECAPEFEAR.com

T WAS A WILLINGNESS TO TAKE CHANCES THAT LED DAN BRAWLEY to create the now long-running Wilmington-based annual film festival, Cucalorus.

With that same spirit of experimentation, Brawley—working with local gamechangers CloudWyze, tekMountain and UNC-Wilmington’s Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIE), as well as city officials—launched Cucalorus Connect, a first-of-its-kind emerging business conference and showcase, in 2015.

Modeled after South by Southwest in Austin, Texas, Cucalorus Connect was inspired in part by the evolving downtown landscape—particularly in the northern end, where hotels, restaurants and apartments continue to be built

HEN PAUL BARON WAS GETTING HIS COMPANY, WEBTEL Marketing, off the ground several years ago, he turned to UNC-Wilmington’s Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship.

Not only did the university-anchored business hub provide a space to work, Baron said, it also afforded him the “unexpected encounters” he certainly couldn’t have found within a home office or traditional workplace setting.

Baron is not alone.

In what is a growing trend in major cities across the United States, an increasing number of entrepreneurs are turning to co-working spaces and incubators to get their napkin-stage ideas off the ground.

A bit ahead of the curve, the CIE opened as the region’s largest sponsor of training, events and networking for the entrepreneurial community in 2010.

CIE’s co-working space offers members everything from free Wi-fi to weekly workshops and opportunities for mentorship.

“As a member, you benefit from the brand—in this case, UNCW—that creates the space, the ethos it aspires to and the people it attracts,” Baron noted.

Background screening company CastleBranch opened tekMountain, a technology incubator and accelerator, on the third floor of its Wilmington headquarters in 2014 to provide a creative environment for entrepreneurs and tech-based startups. The space—designed for flexibility—allows for groups and individuals to work and hold meetings.

And earlier this year, downtown’s latest co-working space, GrowILM, opened in the booming northern Brooklyn Arts District. The private space is owned by Adrienne Vendetti and Stephanie Vendetti, sisters, authors and owners of the “How to Be a Redhead” brand. The idea for the “anti-cubical” office space—bar-top tables, online portals and living room-style seating— was inspired from the support they found as fledgling business owners.

“Before Wilmington, we were in Boston and New York City. As entrepreneurs, or for anyone who works from home, it can be very isolating. You want the community feel, and people need human interaction—it’s healthy,” Adrienne Vendetti said.

along the waterfront—and incubators like tekMountain and the CIE that have helped shape the Cape Fear region as a supportive scene for start-ups.

In its first year, Connect, now held annually in November alongside Cucalorus Film Festival, collectively drew 17,000 people from around the globe. Those numbers grew to nearly 18,000 last year, as founding partners continue to be actively involved in the conference.

The CIE, for example, is both a sponsor and a key participant. Laura BrogdonPrimavera, Manager of Programs and Operations, has championed Cucalorus Connect from the very beginning and engages other CIE staff and UNCW students in this annual effort. She plans and participates in many of the panels, TED-style talks, documentaries and workshop programs during the five-day event.

The aim is simple—to provide a platform for aspiring entrepreneurs and a setting in which innovators and business leaders can network and share ideas.

Among the more unique offerings are the 10 x 10 Challenge, which pairs start-ups and filmmakers to create a promo video in just a few days, and Port City Pitches, a chance for start-ups to earn initial funding to introduce their ideas into the marketplace.

The 2017 Cucalorus Film Festival and Connect conference will be held from Nov. 8–12 at various venues in downtown Wilmington.

Co-working spaces, like this one at the CIE, are a growing trend for the networking and mentorship opportunities they offer.

Downtown is already home to maker-space Elite Innovations, a product-development firm that helps entrepreneurs turn concepts into prototypes.

While free coffee and internet access are nice perks, Baron believes the best amenities co-working spaces offer are support and collaboration.

“The unexpected encounters that are difficult to recreate in traditional office settings provide nearly immeasurable amounts of value for new businesses,” he said.

“The knowledge and experience of your peers and small, informal interactions around the Michael printer can spark new ideas or offer solutions McWhorter, to your customer or business problems.”

CEO, Mojotone

Andrew Williams, owner of makerspace Elite Innovations.

Inspired by Wilmington’s strong start-up community, Cucalorus founder Dan Brawley, (standing, left) launched Cucalorus Connect in 2015.

CHOOSECAPEFEAR.com

Page 21

CREATING AN ECOSYSTEM FOR BIOTECH BUSINESSES

CO-WORKING SPACES SPROUTING IN THE REGION

A

W

T THE END OF AN UNASSUMING TREE-LINED ROAD OFF A mostly residential area of Masonboro Loop in Wilmington, you’ll find one of the most advanced biotechnology centers on the east

coast.

Within CREST Research Park, operated by UNC-Wilmington, scientists, aquaculturists, entrepreneurs and faculty are working on studies, cultivation and products with potential to make waves on a global scale.

The collaborative public-private relationship at CREST is certainly intentional. It’s a place where start-ups and established firms alike can come together to work alongside approximately 80 researchers from Marine Biology in North Carolina (MARBIONC) and UNCW’s Center for Marine Science.

That connection has apparently paid off.

Earlier this year, UNCW and MARBIONC were included in the top tier of a competitive $250 million funding pool by the National Institute for Innovation in Manufacturing Biopharmaceuticals to develop biopharmaceutical manufacturing here in the United States. The inclusion will certainly assist with research opportunities, but it will also continue CREST’s goal of driving

Research technician Chris Helak begins the first phase of extracting toxins from marine algae cultures at UNCW’s CREST Research Park.

economic development.

The facility already works with local companies like Alcami, which develops and manufactures pharmaceuticals, on processes that involve aquatic life and IKA Works, which makes laboratory equipment.

And MARBIONC played a major role in the development of a drug used to treat cystic fibrosis through its research into a strain of algae whose neurotoxins counteract the “Red Tide”-causing varieties.

CREST also hosts the lab space for research and development entrepreneurs like Jennifer McCall, whose company, SeaTox Research Inc., began in another UNCW venture—the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship. The company is developing a streamlined process for testing toxins in shellfish. SeaTox recently began selling a prototype testing kit to the general public.

SeaTox also provides contract research services to local businesses using its expertise in microbiology and cell biology.

In addition to MARBIONC’s nearly 70,000 square foot research and leasable lab space—a combination aimed at moving ideas from the lab to the marketplace—CREST houses the Center for Marine Science, which is training students in a variety of related industries, and a shellfish research hatchery.

Jennifer McCall’s shellfish toxin-testing company, SeaTox Research Inc., is located on the CREST campus and opened with the help of UNCW’s Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation (CIE).

CUCALORUS CONNECTS FILMMAKERS AND ENTREPRENEURS

I Patrons of the “VR Lounge” experience the latest in virtual reality headsets for phones during last year’s Cucalorus Connect tech and business conference.

Page 20

CHOOSECAPEFEAR.com

T WAS A WILLINGNESS TO TAKE CHANCES THAT LED DAN BRAWLEY to create the now long-running Wilmington-based annual film festival, Cucalorus.

With that same spirit of experimentation, Brawley—working with local gamechangers CloudWyze, tekMountain and UNC-Wilmington’s Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIE), as well as city officials—launched Cucalorus Connect, a first-of-its-kind emerging business conference and showcase, in 2015.

Modeled after South by Southwest in Austin, Texas, Cucalorus Connect was inspired in part by the evolving downtown landscape—particularly in the northern end, where hotels, restaurants and apartments continue to be built

HEN PAUL BARON WAS GETTING HIS COMPANY, WEBTEL Marketing, off the ground several years ago, he turned to UNC-Wilmington’s Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship.

Not only did the university-anchored business hub provide a space to work, Baron said, it also afforded him the “unexpected encounters” he certainly couldn’t have found within a home office or traditional workplace setting.

Baron is not alone.

In what is a growing trend in major cities across the United States, an increasing number of entrepreneurs are turning to co-working spaces and incubators to get their napkin-stage ideas off the ground.

A bit ahead of the curve, the CIE opened as the region’s largest sponsor of training, events and networking for the entrepreneurial community in 2010.

CIE’s co-working space offers members everything from free Wi-fi to weekly workshops and opportunities for mentorship.

“As a member, you benefit from the brand—in this case, UNCW—that creates the space, the ethos it aspires to and the people it attracts,” Baron noted.

Background screening company CastleBranch opened tekMountain, a technology incubator and accelerator, on the third floor of its Wilmington headquarters in 2014 to provide a creative environment for entrepreneurs and tech-based startups. The space—designed for flexibility—allows for groups and individuals to work and hold meetings.

And earlier this year, downtown’s latest co-working space, GrowILM, opened in the booming northern Brooklyn Arts District. The private space is owned by Adrienne Vendetti and Stephanie Vendetti, sisters, authors and owners of the “How to Be a Redhead” brand. The idea for the “anti-cubical” office space—bar-top tables, online portals and living room-style seating— was inspired from the support they found as fledgling business owners.

“Before Wilmington, we were in Boston and New York City. As entrepreneurs, or for anyone who works from home, it can be very isolating. You want the community feel, and people need human interaction—it’s healthy,” Adrienne Vendetti said.

along the waterfront—and incubators like tekMountain and the CIE that have helped shape the Cape Fear region as a supportive scene for start-ups.

In its first year, Connect, now held annually in November alongside Cucalorus Film Festival, collectively drew 17,000 people from around the globe. Those numbers grew to nearly 18,000 last year, as founding partners continue to be actively involved in the conference.

The CIE, for example, is both a sponsor and a key participant. Laura BrogdonPrimavera, Manager of Programs and Operations, has championed Cucalorus Connect from the very beginning and engages other CIE staff and UNCW students in this annual effort. She plans and participates in many of the panels, TED-style talks, documentaries and workshop programs during the five-day event.

The aim is simple—to provide a platform for aspiring entrepreneurs and a setting in which innovators and business leaders can network and share ideas.

Among the more unique offerings are the 10 x 10 Challenge, which pairs start-ups and filmmakers to create a promo video in just a few days, and Port City Pitches, a chance for start-ups to earn initial funding to introduce their ideas into the marketplace.

The 2017 Cucalorus Film Festival and Connect conference will be held from Nov. 8–12 at various venues in downtown Wilmington.

Co-working spaces, like this one at the CIE, are a growing trend for the networking and mentorship opportunities they offer.

Downtown is already home to maker-space Elite Innovations, a product-development firm that helps entrepreneurs turn concepts into prototypes.

While free coffee and internet access are nice perks, Baron believes the best amenities co-working spaces offer are support and collaboration.

“The unexpected encounters that are difficult to recreate in traditional office settings provide nearly immeasurable amounts of value for new businesses,” he said.

“The knowledge and experience of your peers and small, informal interactions around the Michael printer can spark new ideas or offer solutions McWhorter, to your customer or business problems.”

CEO, Mojotone

Andrew Williams, owner of makerspace Elite Innovations.

Inspired by Wilmington’s strong start-up community, Cucalorus founder Dan Brawley, (standing, left) launched Cucalorus Connect in 2015.

CHOOSECAPEFEAR.com

Page 21

The Coalition is a collaboration of organizations for small businesses and entrepreneurs in the Wilmington region.

Jenna Curry Founder, Port City Young Professionals 45 mins

Quick question: Where can a business or entrepreneur in the Wilmington region go for assistance, collaboration and inspiration?

Mike Hunter, Emilyanne Atkinson and 721 others At UNCW’s Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, you can join a ground swell of activity and meet back-of-the-napkin to investor-ready entrepreneurs sharing connections, space, opportunities, advice and support. Learn more at uncw.edu/cie.

Like · Reply · 454 · 39 mins Cape Fear Community College’s Small Business Center offers small business counseling, seminars and other resources to companies in New Hanover and Pender counties.

Visit us at cfcc.edu/sbc.

Jenna Curry Thank you! These are exactly the type of services business owners entrepreneurs can benefit from. And business counseling? Sign me up!

Like · Reply · 5 · 30 mins tekMountain is Southeast North Carolina’s premier entrepreneurial incubator, accelerator and co-work space. Check us out at tekmountain.com.

The U.S. Small Business Administration delivers millions of loan, loan guarantees and other assistance to small businesses. Learn more at sba.gov.

Brunswick Community College’s Small Business Center does everything CFCC’s SBC does, but in a much more relaxed way because we serve Brunswick County! Proceed leisurely to brunswickcc.edu/continuing-education/small-business-center.

Jenna Curry Great! People in the County need so much help too! So glad to know this is an option for my contacts in Brunswick County.

Like · Reply · 7 · 26 mins At Small Business and Technology Development Center (SBTDC), experienced business professionals work with small and medium-sized businesses on improving performance, access to capital and many other issues. Register now at www.sbtdc.org.

The North Carolina Military Business Center connects North Carolina firms to current government contracting opportunities. Learn more at ncmbc.us.

Jenna Curry That’s so helpful! All this great info in one place. I know several companies that will be able to take advantage of this service.

Like · Reply · 11 · 20 mins More than 30 mentors at SCORE provide their real world experience at no cost to business owners.

Connect with us at capefear.score.org.

Check out The Coalition Calendar each month in the Business Journal and each Monday in the Business Journal’s “Week Ahead” emails.

Page 22

CHOOSECAPEFEAR.com

TECH POWERHOUSES

by the Beach

by JOHN MEYER

L

IVE OAK BANK IS A CLASSIC WILMINGTON BUSINESS STORY — ON STEROIDS. A successful executive relocates to the Cape Fear region for its quality of life and could easily retire, but he isn’t enamored with the idea of spending his remaining days chasing around a golf ball.

Instead, a company is born.

Here’s where the storyline diverges from the usual path. Most executives create a lifestyle business that also allows them to boat, golf, travel and pursue other leisurely interests. But Chip Mahan isn’t like most executives.

The 65-year-old Mahan, who created the first Internet-only bank more than 20 years ago, is seemingly always in motion, sketching out strategies on a whiteboard, leading discussions with groups of millennial employees or flying out of Air Wilmington on one of his company’s three private planes.

Mahan does not have small ideas.

The innovations that launched Live Oak started Along with business partner Lee Williams, with insights about seemingly innocuous loan Mahan started Live Oak Bank in 2008 with the idea programs run by the Small Business Administration of creating a bank without branches by leveraging (SBA). cloud-based technology and expertise in targeted Mahan’s team noted that making SBA loans is industries, starting with veterinarians. Today, Live far more profitable than conventional retail banking Oak is a public company worth more than $700 million and with more than 400 employees.

In 2012, Live Oak spun off its technology arm into a separate company called nCino. The company has since raised tens of millions of dollars from venture capital groups and other investors and grown to 280 employees. Many think this spinout business will eventually be worth more than its parent company.

Along the way, Mahan and the firms’ other executives discovered the Cape Fear region is a fertile ground to grow technology companies.

They note the combination of quality of life, affordability and employee loyalty makes the region an idyllic place to innovate.

Co-founder Chip Mahan, seen here at a Women to Watch “It’s the best of all worlds,” Mahan said. “It’s our event, houses his growing local company in two modern and airy buildings, above, in a wooded area of midtown Wilmington. little bit of heaven here.”

CHOOSECAPEFEAR.com

Page 23

why

Cape Fear?

ANGIE GREENE GRAY

CEO and Producer, G2 Music Group, LLC g2musicgroup.org Year established: 2016 Number of employees: 6 Company description: Indie artist record label producing positive and uplifting music As a native of the Port City, I’ve always enjoyed the quietness that is Wilmington, while loving the growth we’re experiencing as a city. I’m looking forward to giving back the best I can in our city, especially with our youth.

There are so many talented musicians in this area, which really helps when seeking out new talent for the label. And plenty of people from other areas - Nashville, Atlanta, New York, etc. - love to come to the beach and collaborate.

I like being so close to friends and family and seeing how much the Cape Fear area has changed over my 41 years on this Earth. I believe Wilmington is just getting started and can’t wait to see where things are in the next five to 10 years.

ROY ARCHAMBAULT Owner, Dry Corp and DryCASE drycorp.com drycase.com Year established: 2000 (DryCorp); 2007 (DryCASE) Number of employees: 25 Company description: Company description: Dry Corp manufactures vacuum-sealed waterproof sleeves for casts, bandages, prosthetics, Ostomies and PICC lines. DryCASE makes waterproof casings for phones, tablets and other electronic devices, as well as waterproof backpacks, coolers and sporting goods.

My wife and I found Wrightsville Beach while going cross country in 1982. We lived in various places, but always desired to live and work here. It was one of the best decisions we ever made. We raise our three children here. What a great place to live and work!

I love having UNCW so close by. The university has given us a chance to hire interns and employees and, through guest lecturers, engage in great dialogue and inquisitive questions.

Page 24

CHOOSECAPEFEAR.com

Led by CEO Pierre Naudé, nCino was previously the technology arm of Live Oak Bank.

(OPPOSITE) nCino has grown to nearly 300 employees and has 130 corporate customers.

– and doesn’t require the immense overhead of branches, drive-in windows and ATMs. They studied publicly available data to learn which businesses are most credit-worthy. The answer? “Veterinarians have a great payment record,” Mahan noted.

Live Oak started with a deep dive into the animal care industry, hiring experts in running veterinary practices, flying to clients to help them implement best practices and visiting veterinary schools to build relationships with future veterinarians who would soon need loans to build their businesses.

One by one, the bank added to the industries it serves: funeral homes, chicken farms, independent pharmacies, wineries and more.

Live Oak employs experts on each of the industries it serves. This strategy made it the nation’s second-largest SBA lender in 2016, when its loan production hit $1.5 billion.

To reach that point, though, the bank had to contend with an ocean of data. Making a single SBA loan generates 148 documents, Mahan said.

As a national lender with just one branch, Live Oak couldn’t rely on paper and emails. This led the bank to build its own cloud-based software solution.

Soon it became obvious that this software would be useful to other banks.

But a bank couldn’t easily sell software to competitors. So in 2012, Live Oak spun off that piece of its business. “Encino” is Spanish for the live oak tree. After dropping the initial “e,” the company became nCino.

“We don’t take ourselves too seriously,” nCino CEO Pierre Naudé said, “but we take our business seriously.” After just five years, he said, it has 130 corporate customers and is making a distinct impact on its chosen community.

“If we keep on this trajectory,” Naudé said, “we can change the employment landscape of Wilmington. We can create an ecosystem of technology companies,” much as another

Wilmington-based corporation, PPD, has spawned dozens of other pharmaceutical research companies.

It has its first international client and is opening a branch in London. “The software can scale from the smallest to the largest bank,” Naudé said.

Users range from small community banks to some as big as SunTrust, with $200 billion in assets. For all that growth, though, the company is happy to remain where it began, in Wilmington.

Early on, management calculated how Wilmington real estate’s modest cost basis – “a fraction of the cost in big cities,” Naudé said – plus quality of life and low turnover produced far more value than any benefits those big cities might have offered.

At one point, nCino weighed Wilmington against Atlanta as its permanent home. “There isn’t a large technology industry here,” Naudé acknowledged, but employee turnover is 25 percent or worse at similar companies in Atlanta. Without Atlanta’s stressinducing congestion or high costs, employees in Wilmington tend to stay on the job longer.

Hiring the “first nucleus” of qualified employees was easy, Naudé said. He found good people in Wilmington, underemployed for their skill levels.

But the challenge of attracting people from Raleigh, Charlotte or Charleston led to a decision to take recruiting away from human resources and make it a marketing function. “You treat recruitment like you do sales to banks.”

The company’s sales pitch to talented tech or sales people focuses on the lifestyle they can enjoy. “This is still a technology career path, second to none,” Naudé said, “but without the traffic of the big cities,” and with affordable housing, pleasant climate, and significant cultural and recreational advantages. nCino offers its staff free stand-up paddleboard or surfing lessons at Wrightsville Beach, convenient to its Mayfaire location. A significant contingent of employees bicycle to work.

“If we keep on this trajectory, we can change the employment landscape of Wilmington. We can create an ecosystem of technology companies.”

Pierre Naudé CEO, nCino “To me, there’s been absolutely no negatives” to operating here, Naudé said.

Mahan echoed that sentiment. He has no trouble attracting top talent to Live Oak Bank.

Unlike Silicon Valley, where everyone seems to be looking to jump ship to the next big thing, employees in Wilmington tend to stay put.

“It’s a mighty friendly place,” Mahan said. “It’s a great place to raise a family.”

He contrasted hellish traffic in Atlanta and Chicago with Wilmington, where a bad day might involve waiting through two traffic-light cycles.

Live Oak’s headquarters occupies two airy, lightfilled buildings on a wooded campus off Shipyard Boulevard. A third building is planned.

At nCino, Wilmington’s lifestyle and living costs are just half of the recruiting pitch. The second part is about the company itself. As Naudé put it, “What is the kind of culture and the kind of company that will attract the kind of people you want to work

for you?” Watchwords are speed, independence, respect and empowerment. “We really live that culture,” which appeals to younger job prospects, he said.

Live Oak’s culture is similar. “You want to create that atmosphere where you have the right folks,” Mahan said, “and the right business model.”

Advancement opportunities, excellent benefits and a wide range of perks all help. Examples include fully paid health insurance, an in-house gym with personal trainers, and a dog park. Live Oak has topped American Banker magazine’s “Best Banks to Work For” list for three consecutive years.

While both companies recruit out of town, they also hire plenty of UNCW computer science and business majors – about 200 at last count, Mahan said.

For the foreseeable future, nCino won’t emulate Live Oak by building its own headquarters. Its current leased space can absorb up to 600 people. Naudé said the company doesn’t want to be distracted by the challenges of design and construction.

Mahan is upbeat about both companies’ continued growth in Wilmington. “It’s the greatest thing in the world.”

Naudé agreed. “This is just a beginning. The best is yet to come.”

YOUR GO-TO REAL ESTATE EXPERTS IN THE CAPE FEAR REGION

(910) 777-2200 CHOOSECAPEFEAR.com

Page 25

CRAIGE & FOX TEAM

I

n the literary world, some of the most notable characters are those who actually come as part of a pair.

Sherlock Holmes had Dr. Watson.

Atticus had Scout.

Calvin had Hobbes.

There’s a reason such duos are deeply relatable, instantly recognizable and just roll right off the tongue, even for those who have never perused the volumes in which they are contained – though each character would stand out alone, they’re stronger and more memorable when they stand together.

That’s fiction, of course, but the sentiment behind such famous bonds is one to which Wilmington attorneys Lawrence Craige and Noel Fox can certainly relate, particularly since it was literature, in part, that helped formed their long-lasting connection and law firm partnership more than a decade ago.

What began with a simple, but important question – “Who is your

favorite writer?” – has since grown into a successful law firm built on shared respect and combined knowledge that ultimately benefit the clients Craige & Fox, PLLC serves.

“I take much pride in how we work together,” Fox said of Craige.

The feeling is mutual.

“We have each other’s backs and in turn, we have our clients’ backs,” Craige noted.

The foundation of their partnership is trust, loyalty and integrity – the kinds of qualities Craige was looking for in a job candidate when he found himself one day 13 years ago sitting across from Fox, who was not yet fresh out of law school.

From Craige’s perspective, the interview – at another Wilmington law firm where he was working at the time – went swimmingly. In Fox, he saw the “character, intelligence, and grace” he values above high marks and class rankings, which Fox also happened to have.

She was, he said, the clear choice for

the position.

Fox had an altogether different point of view. Prepped for the typical interview questions, she was thrown off guard when Craige, a former English teacher, put her on the spot by inquiring who she likes to read and why. She cited a rather depressing poem, which she fretted over all the way home and tried to further explain in a hand-written thank you note.

More than a humorous anecdote, that first meeting is a good glimpse into the pair’s winning dynamic.

“We complement each other, and that has allowed us to do good work for our clients,” Fox said.

It also explains why, less than a year into her first job as an attorney, Fox didn’t hesitate to join Craige when he struck out to form his own practice.

Surely and inevitably, Fox became a partner in less than three years and Craige & Fox, PLLC is born.

And it certainly points to the success the firm has found as it has grown and

evolved.

For Craige and Fox, their differences are as important as their similarities.

The two have often their own unique way of seeing things, but armed with the confidence to be open and honest, their outlooks are assets, rather than oppositional.

One is more garrulous and affable, the other, a bit more subdued and straight-faced. Craige is a NC State Bar Board Certified Specialist in Elder Law and Certified Elder Law Attorney, while Fox, attorney for the Cape Fear Public Transportation Authority and the towns of Holden Beach and Carolina Beach, focuses on Municipal law and Estate Administration.

But each comes armed with clever wit, a tenacious drive and dedication to the craft. The strongest connection they share, perhaps, is that they both found their way into the field of law from other careers with a clear purpose: to make a difference in people’s lives.

Craige left the classroom and Fox set aside notions that she would become an outdoor educator.

“We are different attorneys who make a difference,” Craige said. “You can’t do this job unless you sincerely want to help people.”

What that means for clients, specifically, is ethical, experienced legal professionals – including attorneys Ashley Michael, Jennifer Marshall Roden and Harrison Freedland – who are accessible to and efficient for their clients.

“We want each client to feel like he or she is our only client,” Fox said.

“We see the legal problems and issues with every case, but we also see and listen to the people behind those legal problems and issues,” Craige added.

United in their mission to be fair and effective, the Craige and Fox partnership, along with their team, strive to provide clients with both compassion and dedication, from drafting a will or administering an estate, to representing clients facing domestic matters or zoning law issues.

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NEW INVESTMENTS

A Game Changer for Port

by FRITTS CAUSBY

P

ORT CITY’S NAMESAKE IS EXPANDING. The Port of Wilmington is getting significant upgrades as part of a $120 million investment by North Carolina Ports to increase the speed and efficiency of loading and unloading vessels.

Wilmington’s port stretches across 284 acres off Burnett Boulevard. Linking North Carolina directly to Asia, Europe and Latin America, the port is a vital economic center for the region.

Currently, the Port of Wilmington moves around 300,000 Twenty Foot Equivalent Units (TEUs) each year, with more than four million tons of general cargo.

A TEU is equal to a standard 20 by 8 foot shipping container. It is a common unit of measurement to judge the capacity of a container ship.

“As we continue to invest in new infrastructure and innovations over the next few years, the expectation and the goal is to double our container business,” said Cliff Pyron, spokesman for North Carolina Ports. “Our five-year strategic plan calls for us to move over 600,000 TEUs and significantly expand the business of our general cargo terminals.”

Doubling the capacity of any business is an ambitious goal. Considering North Carolina Ports currently supports more than 76,700 jobs for the

state and more than $700 million in annual tax revenues, as well as an estimated $14 billion in economic contributions associated with the movement of goods, the impact would be substantial if the business at the port were to double.

The expansion of the Port of Wilmington is viewed as a key to accomplishing that goal.

A multi-pronged approach is being applied to meet new industry standards put in place by the expansion of the Panama Canal, and to increase the speed and efficiency that the port can load and unload vessels. To accommodate what are known as “Post-Panamax” container ships, which can CHOOSECAPEFEAR.com

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be longer than 1,200 feet, the Port of Wilmington widened the turning basin in the channel of the Cape Fear River last summer to increase the turning radius to 1,400 feet. This allows the giant vessels to make what is essentially a three-point turn in the river to call on the Port of Wilmington.

As a result of this added capability, the port can accommodate vessels up to 10,000 TEUs. Work is already underway on a project to expand and improve multiple berths. A study is also being conducted to determine the feasibility of further enhancing the Cape Fear River. And two “New Panamax” cranes with a combined value of $27.4 million are expected to arrive in mid-2018.

The port is hoping the new container services will bring more agricultural exports through the brand-new, 100,000 square foot cold storage facility. Port of Wilmington Cold Storage is a refrigerated warehouse operation with approximately 11,000 pallet positions. The facility offers a broad range of services, including freezing, cooling, storage, shipping and receiving. Officials at the port believe combining the new container services with the cold storage facility will add synergy, giving farmers in the Southeast a chance to grow their export business to Asia.

“This is the first cold storage facility located on a port in North Carolina and one of the first of its

ur five year strategic plan calls for us to significantly expand the business of our general cargo terminals.

Cliff Pyron spokesman, North Carolina Ports

The shipping world is on notice. Last summer the record for largest ship was broken when a vessel more than 1,100 feet long and 150 feet wide visited Wilmington. Because of these advancements, container carriers will bring more services to the port this spring.

A new partnership with ZIM Integrated Shipping will commence in June, providing access to South China, Southeast Asia and India. “The ZIM service will support legacy apparel, furniture and hardware industries throughout the Carolinas,” said Paul J. Cozza, North Carolina Ports’ executive director.

“It’s a unique offering that shows our commitment to provide reliable and flexible shipping solutions.”

Another new partnership set to begin soon is with The Alliance, which includes container carriers NYK Group, “K” Line, MOL, Yang Ming and Hapag-Lloyd. This will bring some of the largest vessels to ever visit the Carolinas to the port on a consistent basis, as well as provide direct access to the markets of Qingdao, Ningbo, Shanghai and Busan. Since the North Asia service will traverse the expanded Panama Canal on its way to the East Coast, officials at the port think this will decrease transit times and encourage the use of more efficient, modern ships.

“These new services help further establish the port as a major gateway,” said Chief Commercial Officer Greg Fennell. “We’re excited to welcome these new carriers, and for the return of “K” Line and Yang Ming.” The port was home to Yang Ming for over 35 years and “K” Line has a long history there as well. They left the port last fall as a result of the collapse of then partner Hanjin, a major container carrier.

“We are truly the port of competitive advantage.

The capital investments in our infrastructure continue to drive the decisions of these container carriers,” said Tom Adams, chairman of the Board of Directors for the North Carolina Ports Authority.

kind in the nation,” said Chuck Schoninger, CEO of USA InvestCo, which developed the facility.

“We recognized there was a valuable need for this, since our state is number one in sweet potatoes, number two in pork and number three in turkey production nationwide. It just didn’t make sense there wasn’t a cold storage facility here.”

Another recent development that could expand port traffic is the introduction of intermodal rail service. Cozza notes the service will play a significant role in the port’s future, particularly with these two projects: Queen City Express - This is a new service that will operate between Charlotte and Wilmington on the existing CSX rail network. With the capability to double stack containers, it is expected this new shuttle service will reduce the costs associated with moving goods to the Queen City.

Carolina Connector - This is a $270 million intermodal rail terminal that CSX is building in Rocky Mount. It will serve as a transportation hub that the port will have direct, daily access to upon completion. Officials at CSX believe the new rail terminal will be a practical solution for reducing logistics costs and minimizing the environmental impact of transporting freight.

As the word implies, “intermodal” refers to the movement of freight in multiple forms of transportation. Being able to move containers directly from the port and over the rail to major distribution hubs takes a lot of trucks off the road. In fact, recent estimates found putting one intermodal train into use can remove as many as 280 trucks from the road.

“Implementing new rail service is friendly to the environment as well as business owners,” notes Cozza. “It has the potential to drive down costs, reduce air pollution, improve safety, and decrease wear and tear on the highways.”

why

Cape Fear?

STEVE TETRAULT

Co-founder, GigSalad gigsalad.com Year established: 2005 Number of employees: 28 Company description: A marketplace for booking bands, musicians, entertainers, speakers and services for events across the U.S. and Canada.

We have benefitted from sharing ideas with other like-minded startups and entrepreneurs. It’s great that there’s a thriving entrepreneurial community here. We have also been well-served by UNCW and Cape Fear Community College, whose graduates have found their way to GigSalad.

A business associate urged me to check out Wilmington. I immediately fell in love with the area. The reasons I chose the Cape Fear region are all quality of life-related: lower real estate costs; easier access to the ocean; warmer weather; and a generally friendlier attitude.

I love the balance of work-life opportunities that the region offers. Wilmington has an amazing downtown area, some of the best beaches I’ve been to on the east coast, and rural communities are just minutes away.

ELLIE CRAIG

Marketing, sales and public relations, Front Street Brewery frontstreetbrewery.com Year established: 1995 Number of employees: 90 Company description: Wilmington’s original brewery and restaurant, serving locally handcrafted beer, made-from-scratch food and North Carolina’s largest whiskey selection.

Our owner, Tom Harris, took particular interest in our building and its location in the heart of downtown. The revitalization of downtown over the last 20 years has been exciting to see.

At the time, we were the only brewpub in southeastern N.C. Now, with the growth of the craft beer industry in the Cape Fear, the sub-culture that has developed and the camaraderie among other breweries is leading to a craft beer tourism movement here in the Port City. We are thrilled to see so many new breweries in the area.

I love the southern hospitality! Wilmington also has such a vibrant cultural mix of art, music, theater and business.

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BUSINESS RESOURCES ECONOMIC DRIVERS

Insider Tip

BRUNSWICK COUNTY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT Top official: Michael Hargett, director brunswicked.com (910) 253-2025 COLUMBUS COUNTY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION Top official: Gary Lanier columbusedc.com (910) 640-6608 COLUMBUS JOBS FOUNDATION Top official: Rick Edwards columbusjobsfoundation.org (910) 640-6608 NORTH CAROLINA BIOTECHNOLOGY CENTER Top official: Randall Johnson, executive director, SE office ncbiotech.org (919) 541-9366

Insider Tip JONATHAN BARFIELD, JR. New Hanover County Commissioner FAVORITE LOCAL PLACE TO: HAVE BREAKFAST: White Front Breakfast House, 1518 Market St. HEAR LIVE MUSIC: Airlie Gardens’ Summer Concert Series, 300 Airlie Rd. HAVE DINNER: The George, 128 S. Water St.

NORTH CAROLINA’S SOUTHEAST Top official: Steve Yost, president ncse.org (910) 862-8511 PORT OF WILMINGTON Top official: Paul Cozza, CEO of N.C. State Ports Authority ncports.com (910) 763-1621 THE ARTS COUNCIL OF WILMINGTON & NHC Top official: Rhonda Bellamy, executive director artscouncilofwilmington.org (910) 343-0998

JULIE WILSEY Director, Wilmington International Airport FAVORITE LOCAL PLACE TO: HAVE DINNER: Provision Company, 130 Yacht Basin Drive in Southport RELAX: Strolling Airlie Gardens, 300 Airlie Road DRINK A BEER: Front Street Brewery, 9 N. Front St. WILMINGTON AND BEACHES CONVENTION & VISITORS BUREAU Top official: Kim Hufham, president and CEO wilmingtonandbeaches.com (910) 341-4030 WILMINGTON BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT Top official: Scott Satterfield, CEO wilmingtonbusinessdevelopment. com (910) 763-8414 WILMINGTON CHAMBER OF COMMERCE Top official: Natalie English, CEO wilmingtonchamber.org (910) 762-2611 WILMINGTON DOWNTOWN INC. Top official: Ed Wolverton, president and CEO wilmingtondowntown.com (910) 763-7349 WILMINGTON INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT Top official: Julie Wilsey, director flyilm.com (910) 341-4333 WILMINGTON REGIONAL FILM COMMISSION, INC. Top official: Johnny Griffin, director wilmingtonfilm.com (910) 343-3456

EDUCATION BRUNSWICK COMMUNITY COLLEGE WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT Top official: Velva Jenkins, VP for workforce development brunswickcc.edu/aboutcontinuing-education/ (910) 755-7308

CAPE FEAR COMMUNITY COLLEGE WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT cfcc.edu/workforce (910) 362-7881 GREATER WILMINGTON BUSINESS JOURNAL Top official: Rob Kaiser, publisher wilmingtonbiz.com (910) 343-8600 OSHER LIFELONG LEARNING INSTITUTE AT UNCW Top official: Shelley Morse, director uncw.edu/olli (910) 962-2770 SWAIN CENTER AT UNCW Top official: Laura Gail Lunsford, director uncw.edu/swain (910) 962-2728 UNCW CAMERON SCHOOL OF BUSINESS Top official: Robert Burrus, dean csb.uncw.edu (910) 962-3777 UNCW CREST RESEARCH PARK/MARBIONC Top official: Daniel Baden, executive principal uncw.edu/crest (910) 962-2330

Insider Tip DR. JOSÉ V. SARTARELLI Chancellor, UNC-Wilmington FAVORITE LOCAL PLACE TO: HEAR LIVE MUSIC: UNCW’s Kenan Auditorium, 610 S. College Road HOLD A BUSINESS LUNCH: PT’s Grille (across from UNCW campus), 4544 Fountain Drive HAVE DINNER: Osteria Cicchetti (OC), 1125-K Militray Cutoff Rd.

SMALL BUSINESS SUPPORT

BRUNSWICK COMMUNITY COLLEGE SMALL BUSINESS CENTER Top official: April Scott, director brunswickcc.edu/continuingeducation/small-business-center (910) 755-7306

CAPE FEAR COMMUNITY COLLEGE SMALL BUSINESS CENTER Top official: Jerry Coleman, director cfcc.edu/sbc (910) 362-7216 N.C. MILITARY BUSINESS CENTER Top official: Scott Dorney, executive director ncmbc.us (910) 678-0190

Insider Tip KIM BANKSTON GM of Human Resources GE Hitachi FAVORITE LOCAL PLACE TO: BE ACTIVE: Walking trail at Hugh MacRae Park, 314 Pine Grove Dr. HOLD A BUSINESS LUNCH: Elijah’s, Downtown Riverwalk, 2 Ann St. GET CULTURE: Traveling exhibits at Wilmington’s museums

SMALL BUSINESS TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT CENTER AT UNCW Top official: Janis Mueller, interim regional director sbtdc.org/offices/uncw (910) 962-3744 TEKMOUNTAIN Top official: Sean Ahlun, director tekmountain.com (888) 846-7747 UNCW CENTER FOR INNOVATION AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP Top official: Diane Durance, director uncw.edu/cie (910) 962-2206 U.S. SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION Top official: Don Spry, senior area manager sba.gov (910) 815-3188 WILMINGTON SCORE Top official: James Poppe, chairman wilmingtonscore.org (910) 452-5395

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LANDING A Huge Fish

by JOHN MEYER

W

HEN BROOKLYN, N.Y.-BASED Acme Smoked Fish needed to expand, it initially looked at 11 locations.

The Cape Fear region wasn’t on the list.

That changed when Charlotte-based Duke Energy learned about Acme’s search in early 2013. “They had not looked at anything south of Virginia,” said John Nelms, Duke’s senior economic development manager in the region.

Nelms’ team proposed several North Carolina sites, from which Pender Commerce Park on U.S. 421 “rose to the top.” The local businessdevelopment agency, Wilmington Business Development, quickly got involved, as did Pender County and the state Department of Commerce.

“We flew down and looked at the site” when it was just a sandy expanse of pine trees, said Richard Nordt, who led the search, building and opening of Acme’s new facility. “The more we explored the locations, Wilmington was starting to make the best sense.”

Acme produces a range of seafood specialties, including smoked salmon and pickled herring.

Criteria for a new production facility included being near a seaport — Acme imports its raw materials —and an airport. “When the owners first came down from New York,” Nelms said, “the proximity of ILM airport was another plus.” The chief rival site’s airport is more than an hour’s drive away.

The choice narrowed to the Pender site and Southampton, Va. Virginia looked good economically, Nordt said, but Wilmington offered advantages not easily reduced to numbers.

Those included transportation and the local labor market. Cape Fear Community College offered a “partnership and relationship” to help Acme educate its work force, Nordt said. “That was Page 32

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pretty important. Paramount.”

Training may have clinched the deal, said Scott Satterfield, WBD’s chief executive. “Nobody does a better job” of worker training than CFCC, he added.

A CFCC delegation visited Acme’s Brooklyn plant to study its operations. In 2014, the college set up a pre-employment program to help fill 85 openings. From 1,500 applications, Nordt said, it reviewed 800. The idea, he said, was “finding people who want to work with us,” with the necessary mental habits and work ethic. CFCC also customized training in leadership and food safety, and offered a certification course for skills specific to food processing. Applicants who passed moved to the front of the hiring line.

Those collaborations conclude this year, according to Mark Council, now a CFCC dean, who helped create Acme’s training program.

Such customized training, through the community college system, is a vital part of the state’s industrial recruiting efforts, he said.

Wilmington Business Development was another essential partner. WBD “really held our hands through the process,” Nordt said.

CFCC’s training and WBD’s ability to actively involve key players “separated us from quite a few of the candidates,” Satterfield said. One example was bringing the state secretary of commerce to an early meeting.

While the site is just on Pender’s side of the county line with New Hanover, jurisdictional boundaries blurred as agencies worked together on the entire region’s behalf.

A team from WBD traveled to New York to make the final pitch. Acme chose the Pender site in August 2013. Ground was broken in October, and the 100,000 square-foot plant opened in February 2015. It is now the largest smoked salmon facility in the U.S. WBD helped Acme find grants and loans, Nordt said. The state awarded a Job Development Investment Grant, which sets hiring and investment targets. Over 12 years, that grant could be worth up to $975,000. Four-County Electric Membership Corp. made a $2 million, zero-interest loan to help Acme buy equipment. A private grant from the Golden LEAF Foundation helped develop the park’s infrastructure.

Infrastructure was crucial to Acme’s tight timeline. Roads, utilities and a wastewater treatment plant had to be built from scratch.

Acme had to meet performance goals. Pender County committed to the wastewater plant only after being assured Acme would invest $30 million and create 125 jobs, a $4 million payroll.

That qualified the county for $9 million in federal funding. “Acme was the catalyst,” Williams said.

As it turned out, the Pender plant now employs 140 people, exceeding Acme’s commitments.

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And the views in this expansive home will take your breath away. Relax or entertain while overlooking Landfall’s Dye Course hole #2 on beautiful Dye Lake! It’s just gorgeous! The private master suite shares this view, located on the 2nd floor. Master bathroom area has separate his and her bathrooms and walk-in closets. There’s also a spacious home office, Laundry Room, full bar, Breakfast Room and Formal Dining area. The trim and details go on and on, such as marble tile in the Foyer, crown molding throughout. You must see this beautiful home to fully appreciate it.

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RELOCATED AND

Flourishing

by FRITTS CAUSBY

T

HE CAPE FEAR REGION’S DRAW FOR BUSINESS OWNERS IS OBVIOUS — sandy beaches, a lively riverfront, a temperate climate and affordable housing.

What isn’t immediately apparent is the region’s business advantages, including an educated workforce, an engaged university and community college, and a welcoming community of experienced business people from a range of

places, backgrounds and industries.

Below are the stories of three business owners who moved existing companies into the Cape Fear region.

Mojotone Michael McWhorter, CEO of Mojotone, likes to say his company is “North Carolina born and bred.”

Yet Mojo, which builds and sells amplifiers, guitar pickups and vintage music supply parts, didn’t stay in one part of the state. The company was born in Winston-Salem in 2000, but McWhorter and his business partner decided to move it closer to the coast in 2005.

In choosing a new location, they wanted to find a place that allowed them to achieve their goals and vision for the future, both professionally and personally.

“We were drawn to coastal North Carolina for the lifestyle,” said McWhorter, who relocated the business to Burgaw in rural Pender County.

He added that the community’s passion for the arts and proximity to a major university were also deciding factors. “We knew the talent pool coming out of UNCW would be critical to the continued growth of our business. Burgaw simply met all the criteria we knew would be essential for a successful relocation.”

Mojo’s production facility includes a unique amp room, the scene of numerous brainstorming sessions and guitar battles. It’s a place where rows of amplifiers — some built by Mojo, some not — line the walls, waiting to be tested.

In addition to the numbers and the black-and-white realities that guide many business decisions, McWhorter has found some of Burgaw’s more intangible qualities to have a stronger resonance.

“The overwhelming support of the town has become the proverbial ‘cherry on top’ to what was initially just a good business decision,” he said. “Burgaw has become our home and the people have become our family. This is the prevailing reason why we chose to continue growing our business here, as we expand to a new location to accommodate for growth.”

During the past 12 years, Mojo has grown significantly. Mojo had a staff of less than 10 when it relocated and projects having a staff of more than 55 employees by the end of the year.

Mojo is currently remodeling a 40,000 square foot facility, which it hopes to move into in the summer of 2017. “We look forward to another ten years of mutual growth and contribution to the town that has been such a vital part of our success,” McWhorter said.

Queensboro.com Fred Meyers started The Queensboro Shirt Company (now Queensboro.com) as a college student in New York City the late 1970s, and dedicated himself to it full time after earning his MBA in 1983.

Queensboro made history back then as the first company ever to offer custom logo shirts, hats, bags and other apparel to anyone with their own CHOOSECAPEFEAR.com

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VETERAN OWNED

“Wilmington is just so much more manageable as a place to live, work and raise a family, all at the same time.”

Fred Meyers president/CEO, Queensboro.com

logo. Coming of age in the era of the Lacoste “alligator” shirt, Meyers thought, “Wouldn’t it be great if a person was able to get that same great quality shirt with whatever logo or design he or she wanted on it?”

In 1995, as the textile industry in the South was breathing its last breath, Meyers decided to move to the region to “escape from New York” and get closer to his suppliers.

Savannah and Charleston were on the short list, but Wilmington had it all.

“Savannah has a great riverfront and Charleston has some decent beaches, but the first time I drove into Wilmington it just felt right. Wilmington is just so much more manageable as a place to live, work and raise a family, all at the same time,” said Meyers, who raised five children in the area.

Meyers has seen a significant increase in the level of talent and sophistication of the workforce in the region.

“When we first came here in 1995, it was pretty tough to find any local technology or marketing expertise,” said Meyers, who built his first website soon after moving to Wilmington and has been exclusively marketing his products online for the past 20 years. “In that regard, things in Wilmington have really changed. The growing sophistication and quality of the workforce in Wilmington over the past 20 years is a big part of why our business has grown by almost 400 percent since moving to Wilmington in 1995.”

The company has grown from 25 to more than 125 employees.

“Part of my personal challenge has been evolving from the mindset of an reactive innovator and entrepreneur to that of a proactive manager and leader,” added Meyers. “This is how Wilmington has impacted me as a business owner.

Between the University, the beach culture, the historic downtown arts community and the film industry, we have lots of ideas bumping into each other here. The “secret sauce” of Wilmington, though, is the overall environment really gives us the time and space to think and reflect on all of it.

This is why Wilmington is such a great place to run a business, and why it has such great potential as a creative business center.”

Queensboro now offers a full array of apparel and promotional products, from t-shirts, polos and backpacks, to coffee mugs, sunglasses and golf accessories.

The company’s more than 100,000 square foot, six-building complex, which is located in a former necktie factory off Marstellar Street in the quickly evolving warehouse district, is a vast open office environment with numerous ways for employees to connect, including a ping-pong table, corn hole boards and an indoor basketball hoop.

There’s also an employee trivia game designed to help the staff get to know each other.

Meyers’ future plans include adding a full-size coffee shop at the facility that will be open to the

public.

“We aren’t trying to replace Port City Java or anything like that,” he noted. “The goal is just to give our employees a place to socialize and relax, where they can collaborate and share ideas about new ways to solve problems, innovate and move the company forward while mixing with the community a little more.”

CastleBranch Brett Martin launched his background screening company in Chapel Hill in 1997, but five years later he decided to move it to Wilmington. Thirty-two of his company’s 35 employees moved with him.

Today, the company, CastleBranch, has nearly 400 employees in two modern office buildings near Mayfaire, along with a 20,000 square-foot business incubator and accelerator called tekMountain on the top floor of their most recent building.

“Technology enables us to conduct business from anywhere, and Wilmington was an easy choice for us,” Martin said. “It’s proven to still be a perfect fit 20 years later. Our families have grown up here, our business continues to thrive, and we’re proud to call Southeastern North Carolina our home.”

A key to CastleBranch’s success was the talent coming out of UNC-Wilmington and other schools CHOOSECAPEFEAR.com

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in the region and state.

“With 57 percent of the CastleBranch workforce coming from the UNC system, the results are undeniable,” Martin said.

The Cape Fear region, he added, has created an economic engine with the partnerships between businesses and higher education.

“Great universities, community colleges and innovative business partners create their own shared destinies,” Martin noted. “Developing the talent pipeline is a responsibility. It requires meaningful university, community college and business partnerships to shape the workforce of tomorrow and create pathways to professional success and stability.”

Recognizing the importance of innovation, and realizing his business would continue to have a need to find and retain top tech talent, Martin launched tekMountain in 2014.

“Everything here was designed to foster collaboration and the sharing of ideas,” said Sean Ahlum, tekMountain’s director of business development.

The facility provides small businesses and budding entrepreneurs with a turnkey office

environment and a variety of support services.

“We traveled around the country and toured the most innovative business incubators that we could find to get ideas,” Ahlum said, pointing out the large conference room on the first floor and the office game room, which is filled with ping pong tables, Skee ball arcade games, corn hole, surfboards and bean bag chairs for napping.

“Every now and then we take a field trip to the beach to give people a chance to learn to surf. A lot of us are avid surfers,” he says, opening the door to the on-site brewery, the site of a weekly happy hour.

“Lots of business incubators have kegerators. We brew our own,” Ahlum joked.

“Brett really challenged us to think outside the box with this.”

Moving upstairs, Brett Martin Ahlum noted the coCEO, working space and the CastleBranch different types of offices that are available, along with the conference rooms, “phone booths” and large open spaces, which offer comfortable chairs, movable walls and flexible seating arrangements. The facility is filled with natural light as a result of the high ceilings and floor-to-ceiling glass windows.

Most of the walls are glass and many of the executive offices have roll-up garage doors with glass insets. “This is our take on the open-door policy,” Ahlum explains. He points out that it’s a key advantage for entrepreneurs and business owners who work at tekMountain – having access to mentorship and advisory services from the leadership team at CastleBranch.

“The opportunity to bounce ideas off fellow business owners, gain feedback from mentors and then modify a product or service is positively impactful in numerous ways,” notes Ahlum.

“Entrepreneurship and new businesses are the lubricant that drives the economy forward, which is why we’ve worked so hard to make this a place where anyone would love to be. It’s not just about sharing ideas or recruiting top talent, it’s also about making sure the top people want to stay once they’re here.”

why

Cape Fear?

DUANE HIXON

CEO, N2 Publishing n2pub.com Year established: 2004 Number of employees: 250 Company description: We create custom publications for large neighborhoods across the country, with content by, for and about the residents.

This region has a lot of resources to help businesses grow, but without the uptight atmosphere people may expect from a thriving, business-driven area. Take a walk downtown and note how many local businesses there are versus national chains. I believe that emphasis on local is very different from other cities. As a business, it’s really important to us that we have the support of our local community, and that support has created a responsibility for us where we want to invest back into our community.

Wilmington is a great city to attract and retain talented team members. The area has a rapidly growing business culture without compromising the small-town feel that makes people want to build a life here.

GREG LOVETTE CEO, RadixBay radixbay.com Year established: 2013 Number of employees: 45 Company description: RadixBay delivers worldclass business IT consulting and solutions using an innovative new approach.

If I had to name one thing, I would say the people - friendly, outgoing, hard-working. But it’s more than one thing. The city - from its sophisticated arts and restaurant scene to UNCW to its business culture – offers everything.

RadixBay selected the region due to multiple factors: the interest and support of community and state leaders; a strong rural-based talent pool; the cooperative spirit of community colleges and universities; and an enthusiasm for challenging work.

The RadixBay center is also near several military bases, which aids our recruitment of veterans. These talent pools allow us to identify and train aspiring IT professionals and centrally manage them remotely.

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