2018 sailed smoothly for much of the Wilmington economy for a while, with home sales rising and the addition of infrastructure at the port and airport.   But when September rolled around, Hurricane Florence became the biggest story of the year, wreaking havoc on the Cape Fear region by pouring more than 30 inches of rain on some areas. Floods destroyed homes and roa ...

It could have been a lot worse. But it was bad enough. Hurricane Florence made landfall near Wrightsville Beach on the morning of Sept. 14 as a Category 1 hurricane, with the eye crossing the New Hanover County beach town around 7:15 a.m., according to a National Weather Service report on the storm. The report stated that the storm, which had strengthened to a Cat ...

The year saw significant investments in transportation projects around the area, including at the port, airport and major roadways. The Wilmington International Airport (ILM) started construction of its terminal expansion project in late 2018. There are three parts to the construction plan, the first of which is taking place to ILM’s TSA baggage screening area. Fu ...

GenX remained a widely-discussed topic in 2018, which is ending with the first proposed settlement in a legal case against the company tied to the chemical found in the Cape Fear River. In late-November the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality announced that the Southern Environmental Law Center, on behalf of Cape Fear River Watch and the state agency, signed a prop ...

New jobs and investment came to the Wilmington area or are in the works because of a series of industrial announcements this year. For example, Charlotte-based National Gypsum Co. restarted operations at its 46-acre site on Sunnyvale Drive in Wilmington on Nov. 15. The company has employed 45 people, 16 who previously worked at the plant before it shut down in 2009. ...

Vertex Railcar Corp.’s four-year journey in Wilmington appeared to be over as news hit of its pending closure by the rail car manufacturer’s major Chinese investors. “All indications are the company will be out of here by the end of the year,” John Merritt of Dram Tree Consulting, who had been working with the firm, said in October. At the tim ...

Wilmington-based GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy is among a group of General Electric Corp.’s Power divisions that were part of a split announced this year. During a third-quarter earnings call in late October, GE Chairman and CEO Larry Culp announced changes to GE’s Power division, which consisted of a spilt into two divisions: GE Gas Power and GE Power Portfolio ...

Five members of the local business community discussed a variety of topics Tuesday at the Greater Wilmington Business Journal’s Power Breakfast. The final event of the Power Breakfast series for the year, the speakers delivered TED-style talks on expanding economic opportunities, veteran-ready businesses, water quality, inclusion and the evolution of health care. ...

GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy has announced its intent to acquire Columbia, South Carolina-based REI Nuclear LLC, a decommissioning technology and tooling design firm, according to a news release Monday. The acquisition, the details of which were not disclosed, is expected to contain REI Nuclear’s business and certain assets. The sale, subject to ongoing dis ...

The Wilmington International Airport could soon release bids to find a firm that will help evaluate its growing parking needs. Since adding United Airlines, the airport's third carrier in April, ILM has seen an increase of paying vehicles at its parking lots throughout 2018, said Granseur Dick, ILM’s planning and development director. During the New Hanover ...