How did you start 2020? Did you make New Year’s resolutions? Was it to get in shape or organize your finances? How about updating your Zoom background or learning how to bake sourdough bread? No, not so much? This might not be the year any of us expected, but it’s the one we have. In similar fashion, this isn’t quite the 2020 in Biz package we at ...

Flying into Wilm­ington for the first time in 2007, I kept wait­ing to see a break in the trees.   The plane had already started de­scending before some buildings came into view. We landed a few minutes later without seeing many signs of commerce.   For someone in search of a vibrant business community, it wasn’t a prom­ising start. &nb ...

“Twenty twenty, a year of plenty …”   Let’s just count that as a miss when trying to forecast the future. Okay, that quip was uttered in response to a playful jab, “lean and mean in 2019” over lunch, but I certainly didn’t see the chaos of 2020 coming.   All prognostications should be taken with a grain of salt. None ...

On some issues, Southeastern North Carolina has seen dramatic changes in the past two decades. Developments changed the landscape; new employers set up shop. But the area also has weathered ups and downs. A recession and now pandemic have strained some sectors, while other years saw leaps of growth. Here’s an overview of the region since 2000 and some clues looking a ...

Twenty years ago, a major development was on its way to where cows used to graze.   That’s why Wayne Clark led efforts to create the city’s first mixed-use ordinance in 1999, because of the possibility of new development replacing nearly 400 acres of farmland on Military Cutoff Road in New Hanover County.   City officials at the time didn’t ...

Real estate in the Wilmington area is big business, from the sale of houses as more people desire to live here, to parts of town where commercial real estate has been booming in recent years.   The fact that real estate firms like Nest Realty (pictured) want to be along or near Military Cutoff and Eastwood Roads shows how influential that submarket – with its ...

While Wilmington’s growth over the past 20 years has been very exciting, I expect the next two decades to be even more compelling.   On the national stage, Wilmington has emerged as a best-in-class community with a vibrant history, cultural base and exceptional quality of life. As a segment of our country’s population transitions away from dense urban ar ...

“Int’l Paper scales back 10,000-acre plan” – July 2000 Two decades ago, it looked like Brunswick County would soon grow by 10,000 dwellings in one development.   International Paper owned nearly 5,000 acres in northern Brunswick, and the county’s planning board approved an IP plan that included 10,000 residential units and a lengthy li ...

Launching its second initial public offering in its 35-year history, Wilmington-based PPD Inc. in February debuted on the Nasdaq, raising more than $1.6 billion.   The milestone in PPD’s journey builds on the growth the global contract research organization has experienced since its beginnings as a one-person firm in Maryland in 1985 to setting roots in the Po ...

As the Cape Fear region’s population swelled in recent decades so did health care services.   Physician and clinic numbers increased even as consolidation changed the area’s medical makeup.   NHRMC became the region’s largest employer and might soon join forces with Novant Health, depending on the outcome of an upcoming vote about the co ...