Russ Britton started his sustainable landscape products company with a star-studded partnership and plans to continue to grow his locally based firm through additional business relationships with industry leaders.   Britton left the life of working as a broker to begin Eco Express LLC, an erosion control and ground stabilization contracting company, in 2003.   ...

Next week, representatives of a downtown Wilmington startup will head for Silicon Valley to make their case before a sophisticated audience.   KWIPPED, a business-to-business equipment rental and leasing online marketplace launched in 2015, was invited to participate in the competition, to be held on the main stage of the Silicon Valley Open Doors Top International ...

Live Oak Bank's James "Chip" Mahan was named Entrepreneur of the Decade during the Greater Wilmington Business Journal’s 10th-anniversary Coastal Entrepreneur Awards (CEA) ceremony Wednesday night. Mahan, chairman and CEO of Live Oak, presented the keynote speech during the dinner event, attended by 500 people at the University of North Carolina Wilm ...

North Carolina has a new equity crowdfunding platform to help power its progress. FundingStack, the state’s first registered funding portal, is now live.   The portal enables N.C. startups and growing small businesses to raise up to $2 million by presenting equity offerings through the online platform to both lower net-worth and more well-heeled investors. Int ...

BRAND ASSURANCE COMPANY: Brand Assurance aims  to help apartment complexes keep residents happy and maintain good management. YEAR FOUNDED: 2015 EMPLOYEES: 4 UPDATE: “Since we started, we have not lost a single customer, and we have added new customers,” founder Jim Kittridge said. Brand Assurance collects feedback from apartment complex residents and ...

CAPE FEAR CLINIC COMPANY: Cape Fear Clinic, a nonprofit corporation, was founded as the Tileston Health Clinic Inc. and provides health care to those in the region who would otherwise not have access.  YEAR FOUNDED: 1991  EMPLOYEES: 13 UPDATE: “Our adult vaccination program, which leveraged an initial $1,000 grant from the Downtown Wilmington Rotary clu ...

CAVANAUGH & ASSOCIATES COMPANY: Cavanaugh & Associates P.A. aims to cultivate stewardship of natural resources through innovation, improving the efficient use of water resources and the harvesting of valuable products from wasted organics (bioenergy).  YEAR FOUNDED: 1995  EMPLOYEES: 13  UPDATE: “Cavanaugh & Associates just completed a r ...

Each year, area chambers of commerce honor select companies as part of the Coastal Entrepreneur Awards. The following are picks by area chambers for companies that stand out.   BURGAW AREA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE: Mojo Musical Supply, which also operates under the name Mojotone and is owned by Michael McWhorter, “has continued to invest in our community on so many ...

ATLANTIC BIOTECHNOLOGY  COMPANY: Atlantic Biotechnology cultures zooplankton for larval feeds.   YEAR FOUNDED: 2016  EMPLOYEES: 5   UPDATE: “When Atlantic Biotechnology received the CEA award in 2016, it was still a very new company…our first store began carrying our products a few weeks prior. Now, Atlantic Biotechnology products can b ...

For anyone looking from the outside in, the world of entrepreneurship seems to be a whole lot about fun and success. TV shows and movies such as Silicon Valley, Shark Tank and The Social Network give off the vibe that the world of startups and venture capital is just, well, really cool. Entrepreneurs who have reached the top of the business mountain – people li ...