CAPE FEAR RIVER WATCH
ORGANIZATION: Cape Fear River Watch is a grassroots environmental non-profit group with a mission to protect and improve the water quality of the Cape Fear River Basin through education, advocacy and action.
YEAR FOUNDED: 1994
EMPLOYEES: 7
UPDATE: The organization has grown steadily, more than doubling in membership since 2013, with a budget that has also grown significantly. “We have increased our staff from 4 to 7 as well as moving from part-time employees to full time. Our advocacy campaigns have been very successful and we have made considerable headway on our fishery restoration projects in Bladen County.” That’s in addition to being awarded numerous grants and partnering with Keep New Hanover County Beautiful to increase its capacity to hold watershed cleanups.
PHOTO: Kemp Burdette, Cape Fear Riverkeeper

COASTAL LADIES CARDING, DBA PINK TRASH
COMPANY: Coastal Ladies Carting Inc., dba Pink Trash provides recycling, trash collection, roll-off dumpsters and waste management services throughout Wilmington and eastern North Carolina.
YEAR FOUNDED: 2011
EMPLOYEES: 62
UPDATE: The company has grown annual revenues from about $2.5 million in 2013 to $9 million in 2017, expecting to exceed $10 million this year. “The company’s local workforce increased from 15 employees in 2013 to 63 employees and expanded our service coverage area to include Carteret, Onslow, Pender, New Hanover and Brunswick Counties, with satellite facilities in Carteret and Jacksonville.”
TOP TIPS: LEAD BY EXAMPLE AND NEVER FEAR YOUR COMPETITION; TAKE CARE OF YOUR EMPLOYEES AND YOUR CUSTOMERS; AND FOCUS ON SAFETY, WORKING HARD, WORKING SMART AND BEING EFFICIENT AND EFFECTIVE.
​PHOTO: Kelly Buffalino, owner, and Michelle Inman, busines partner

COMMON SENSE FILMS
COMPANY: Common Sense Films develops, finances, produces and distributes non-fiction programs for a worldwide audience.
YEAR FOUNDED: 2004
EMPLOYEES: 2 UPDATE: After CFS received its Coastal Entrepreneur Award in 2013, it formed a partnership with Tobin Geatz of Seahawk Innovation and Jock Brandis of the Full Belly Project to create Replan It Inc. “to complete production of the documentary series RePlan It and bring the program to a mass audience. RePlan It spotlights humanitarian and inventor Jock Brandis, founder of the Full Belly Project, as he ventures into the world of global sustainable development on the heels of his breakthrough invention, The Universal Nut Sheller. . . RePlan It has documented Full Belly Project’s growth over the last decade.”
PHOTO: Rob Hill, founder

FREAKER USA
COMPANY: Freaker USA makes beverage insulators, socks and other products.
YEAR FOUNDED: 2011
UPDATE: The company started with a Kickstarter campaign in 2011, which raised $62,770 with the help of 2,416 backers, according to the firm’s website. Freaker USA returned to Kickstarter in 2015 to launch a line of American-made socks. Freaker Feet raised $255,264 with the help of 4,948 backers, the website states. “Fast forward to present day, and you’ll find that Freaker USA is a thriving little company filled with joyous little bunny workers headquartered in an old One Tree Hill set in Wilmington, North Carolina,” the website says.
PHOTO: Zach Crain (center), president, and Freaker team in 2013

PLAYERSPACE
COMPANY: PLAYERSPACE Inc. is a registration, program management and communication enterprise software system. The company also won a CEA award in 2017.
YEAR FOUNDED: 2006
EMPLOYEES: 8
UPDATE: “Product expansion, market penetration, and new distribution partners have helped pave the way to revenue and profit growth. PLAYERSPACE won the overall 2017 CEA and has also been recognized as the national leader in program management software for YMCAs.” Its product line also includes swim lessons, gymnastics lessons, volunteer management as well as a comprehensive day and resident camp platform.
BIGGEST CHALLENGE: “Staying focused. The software market that services the recreational and amateur sports industry is expected to exceed $7 billion in revenue by the year 2021. That amount of money creates many opportunities and intense competition. Staying focused on PLAYERSPACE’s core business while major players … have emerged as competitors is increasingly complex.”

GO2 LLC
COMPANY: GO2 LLC was a medical device company.
YEAR FOUNDED: 2010
UPDATE: GO2, which is no longer in operation, at one point specialized in manufacturing its CV2 product, a non-invasive, low-resistance medical device that aimed to help increase blood flow and reduce pain and swelling in the lower extremities of the body.
PHOTO: Jim Hundley Jr., who was CEO

MODOC RESEARCH SERVICES
COMPANY: Modoc Research Services is a contract service organization in the pharmaceutical industry specializing in clinical trial processes, documentation and compliance.
YEAR FOUNDED: 2005
EMPLOYEES: 5, plus a national network of contractors
UPDATE: “Since being part of the 2013 class of winners, Modoc has expanded our client base to include two additional Top 5 pharma companies along with several mid-size pharma and biotech companies located in the U.S., Europe and Asia Pacific,” said Julienne Orr, president and CEO of Modoc. She said the firm’s core service offerings have also expanded.
PHOTO: Julienne B. Orr, president and CEO

MONARCARES
COMPANY: Monarcares offers a web-based application with tools for family caregivers and professional geriatric care managers.
YEAR FOUNDED: 2010
UPDATE: The company, founded by Robert and Charlotte Rosenberg, is still headquartered in Wilmington and continues to be in operation today, according to the firm’s website.
PHOTO: Robert Rosenberg, president

ORBITA CORPORATION
COMPANY: Orbita Corp., a manufacturer of watch winders
YEAR FOUNDED: 1997
EMPLOYEES: 15
UPDATE: Founder Charles Agnoff passed away in Florida in 2016, but the company continues to operate in Wilmington today. Agnoff started Interroll Company, a conveyor components firm he launched in New York that he Wilmington in the late 1980s. He sold Interroll in 1995 to officially retire. Orbita was inspired by Agnoff’s purchase of a gold watch for his wife, Evelyn. Agnoff’s son-in-law, Mark Lampkin, is the chief financial officer. The company’s website says it is the leading producer and provider of premium watch winders in the world.
PHOTO: Charles Agnoff

THE REAL TOOTH FAIRIES.COM
COMPANY: The Real Tooth Fairies is an entertainment company for families based on the Tooth Fairy. “The company mission is to create entertaining and enriching media and products to fill the Tooth Fairy rite of passage with magical child wonder. The Tooth Fairy world is designed to inspire and empower kids” with numerous activities, said founders Howie and Marley Bollinger in a recent email.
YEAR FOUNDED: 2011
UPDATE: “Over 28 million kids from 200 countries have visited the Tooth Fairy digital platforms where kids get matched to one of six different Tooth Fairies and begin a special friendship with their Tooth Fairy. These Tooth Fairies celebrate and affirm what’s unique and special about each child while kids explore the Tooth Fairy world with uniquely personalized enrichment activities.”
PHOTO: Howie and Marley Bollinger, founders 2013