Who would you invest $100,000 in? That’s one of the pieces of advice we give our Coastal Entrepreneur Award judges each year when they’re faced with the task of making their picks. Who shows high-growth potential? Who is making a name for themselves and cutting through the noise? Who, out of these stacks and stacks of nominations, do you see as entreprene ...

Early-stage venture Isosceles Pharmaceuticals is working on developing non-opioid pain relief alternatives to opium-derived drugs such as Oxycodone. Working with a group of medical doctors and pharmaceutical Ph.D.s, the young company wants to formulate products that will be effective in treating post-operative acute pain safely, using synthetic cannabidiol manufactured und ...

NourishNC aims to raise about $1.5 million to ren­ovate and outfit its future office and warehouse space in Wilm­ington.   The award-winning local nonprofit organization purchased the building and the 2 acres it sits on off Market Street late last year for $700,000, NourishNC Executive Director Steve McCrossan said.   Although the organization waited ...

Being able to spend the last moments with your beloved animal at home is important, not just for the owner, but more importantly the pets. It avoids the natural anxiety of a hospital for the pets and allows everyone to go through a very emotional and sad experience in the most comfortable setting.”   So begins the Coastal Entrepreneur Award nomination of docto ...

So, you want a 70-inch TV streaming the latest content with theater-quality sound, music should be able to play in every room and the lights turn on when you disarm your security system and off when you leave the house. And everything should work by speaking into the air.   And NO WIRES. No one wants to see wires.   Weekend warrior, in the interest of domesti ...

When Mark Pool was 13 years old, he and his brother decided to build a log cabin, even assembling a rainwater collection system connected to an indoor faucet.   Fast forward to his adult years, and now Pool is celebrating his 35th year in the plumbing industry. But, more than that, he celebrates being an innovator.   In 2005, after two decades of operating hi ...

As someone with 15 years of experience in human resources, both as a leader and consultant, Lisa Leath realized the importance of employer and employee communication as a way to build rapport and discuss goals.   But every Human Resource Information System platform, which uses software to complete human resource tasks, that she tried out throughout her career was ov ...

As a core lab manager at New Hanover Regional Medical Center, Jeremy Sikorski was overwhelmed by the use of paper logs in laboratories.   The logs are used every day to track maintenance and quality control tests. And often, many laboratories got cited for missing logs and incomplete data.   Sikeroski wanted to find a better way to log lab data, so he approac ...

Just a few months in to operat­ing their distillery in downtown Wilmington, End of Days Distillery founders Shane and Beth Faulkner found themselves produc­ing an unexpected product: hand sanitizer.   The rapid spread of the corona­virus had people around the world scrambling to stock up on cleaning supplies, soap and sanitizer, and be­fore long it w ...

A big break in the journey of Lighthouse Films came when the owners went to summer camp. Actually, several summer camps.   The film production company, headquartered in downtown Wilmington, is owned by Brad Walker, a director and cinematographer, and Andrea Walker, who has a background in education.   These days, their camp work is only 15% of their business, ...