Pat Koballa ended 32 years as an executive general manager with Stevenson Automotive Group to begin his new journey as an owner of the Stevenson Kia franchise.   His dealership is called Pat Koballa’s Coastal Kia at 6103 Market St.   Koballa, known for his longevity in the local car sales business and long-running Stevenson radio commercials, said he de ...

Young participants of UNCW's Youth Entrepreneurship Program will get to learn about the home construction industry because of a new partnership with the Wilmington-Cape Fear Home Builders Association. The program is a partnership of the Cameron School of Business and the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship.  Program director Cheryl Sutton said in ...

It's not all about the beer at Ironclad Brewery. The brewery/tap room and regular host of events recently expanded into a new business segment: venture capital. Ironclad Brewery, 115 N. 2nd St. in downtown Wilmington, has operated its brewery/tap room and event venue business since 2014, with 33 percent year-over-year revenue growth and projections for continued ...

Black’s Tire Service Inc. has experienced years of changing markets and the emergence of e-commerce giants like Amazon, which promise to deliver almost everything, including tires, to people’s doors.   Black’s Tire did not succumb, however, to these emerging markets.   Starting with just one location in Whiteville in 1929, Black’s Tire ...

NATIONAL SPINNING CO.240 Spinning Road, Whiteville   Top local official: Rudy Ballance, plant manager Number of employees: 250 in Whiteville, 375 total in North Carolina Year founded: This location was established in 1960, and the company began in 1921. Company description: Jim Booterbaugh, CEO: National Spinning is the leading U.S. spinner of acrylic, ...

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 ...