The Rising Stars – The next generation of leaders who are already making waves (limited to those 35 years old and younger)
Webster Burrier IV
Director of Wealth Management, Dominion Wealth Management
Webster Burrier runs the day-to-day operations of his firm and is involved in the trading and management of client investment portfolios and the financial planning process.
He acts as a liaison between his clients and their other professional advisers, such as accountants, estate attorneys and real estate agents. His responsibilities also include working closely with Dominion’s marketing and technology departments to make sure all systems are integrated.
Why he’s a Rising Star:
Burrier has created an in-depth technology suite that works with Dominion’s business model to make wealth management services more accessible to people, especially younger clients.
Community service: Burrier is a committee chair with the Wilmington Walk to End Alzheimer’s and a volunteer with Access Wilmington. He serves on the Step-Up Wilmington’s Young Professionals board and volunteers with the Plastic Ocean Project.
Jarett Gattison
Director, Community Boys & Girls Club
Jarett Gattison in 2019 joined the Community Boys & Girls Club of Wilmington, where he serves as director, overseeing all operations. The role is full circle for Gattison, who was originally a member of the club while growing up in Wilmington. Before being named director, Gattison worked at Communities in Schools as a student support specialist at Williston Middle School for three years.
Why he’s a Rising Star:
In his role at the Boys & Girls Club, Gattison brought back the summer youth employment program, which had been dormant for several years. The program hires teens between the ages of 14 and 18 and provides them with workforce development skills as junior staff members.
He also helped create the Aria Paris Teen Basketball League, which launched during the pandemic when school sports were paused. The program helped get students active and also provided an opportunity for skilled players to get filmed and seen by college coaches. Two students participating in the league during its inaugural season secured athletic scholarships.
The Boys & Girls Club facility on Nixon Street has been renovated from top to bottom under Gattison’s watch.
Number of employees: 12
Taylor Kash
Manager of OSP Engineering GIS/CAD, ATMC
Less than two years after joining ATMC as a GIS analyst, Taylor Kash became the leader and manager of the communication cooperative’s GIS (geographic information system) team. He developed and designed the database used by employees to view company plant data, ATMC’s first step toward advancing its process of collecting and reviewing key data vital for the cooperative’s growth.
Why he’s a Rising Star:
In acquainting ATMC’s employees with the new GIS mapping system, Kash and his team have seen how GIS can be used in a variety of departments to increase efficiency and have redesigned workflows to better suit the GIS system.
Kash helped ATMC land $42 million in grant funds that are being used to develop 1,150 miles of broadband service in the company’s service area. This digital infrastructure will provide essential internet access to more than 16,500 underserved addresses in rural Pender, Duplin, Brunswick, Columbus and Robeson counties.
Information access: Kash says it’s essential for everyone to have a reliable internet connection. Once these projects are complete, families and small businesses in these rural communities will be connected to the information highway that has bypassed them until now, enabling them to benefit from online resources.
Hayley Luckadoo
Marketing Coach & Motivational Speaker, Luckadoo Media Co.
As a sole proprietor, Hayley Luckadoo coaches clients, speaks to audiences, records podcast episodes and creates content and resources to help other entrepreneurs grow their businesses.
Why she’s a Rising Star:
The “Media” in Luckadoo’s company name reflects her interest in and mastery of multiple media channels. She has been featured in outlets such as Medium, Fox, NBC, Foundr and more than 40 podcasts. Her podcast is called Females on Fire.
Besides appearing in media outlets, she coaches small businesses on how to increase their impact and sales through social media, she speaks and blogs on motivational topics, and she’s working on a book to encourage women to step out of their “boxes” and find their path.
“When you’re motivating other people to change and leave their own stamp on the world, the possibility for impact is endless,” Luckadoo said.
Lauren McKenzie
Executive Director, Cape Fear Habitat for Humanity
Lauren McKenzie, who was promoted from her position as Cape Fear Habitat’s director of finance and operations to ED last spring, sees her primary responsibility as leading the staff to create a thriving community where everyone has the opportunity to live in a sustainable and affordable home.
Why she’s a Rising Star:
McKenzie has developed financial opportunities that allow the organization to help more people: CFHH will soon serve its 500th family. She rebooted the Women Build program and developed a natural disaster program.
In 2020, McKenzie created the organization’s five-year strategic plan.
She plans to make CFHH more sustainable by fostering more relationships with large corporations as well as with individuals, small businesses and faith-based organizations. She also aims to enlarge the organization’s volunteer base, expand its ReStore presence and establish a campus she envisions as “a center for innovation, education and empowerment.”
She serves on the boards of the New Hanover Disaster Coalition and Habitat NC as well as being active in the Cape Fear Housing Coalition, WILMA Leadership Institute and the Pender Long-Term Recovery Group.
Jhaniqua Palmer
Outreach Director, YWCA Lower Cape Fear
Jhaniqua Palmer’s responsibilities include overseeing YWCA’s Advocacy & Racial Justice programming, the Grandparent Support Network and YWCA’s New Choices Economic Empowerment program, which has three programs to help women with entrepreneurship, job skills and financial literacy.
Why she’s a Rising Star:
During the racial unrest in the summer of 2020, local businesses began contacting the YWCA Lower Cape Fear asking for diversity training programs. In addition to providing those resources, Palmer helped spearhead the organization’s series of monthly conversations about race and diversity. She said she and her colleagues are passionate about helping companies bridge gaps, hold difficult conversations and create an atmosphere that allows individuals to be themselves.
Palmer has enjoyed collaborating with a growing number of other area organizations to find and develop resources YWCA clients need to thrive.
Plugging in: Palmer’s impact isn’t limited to what she does through the YWCA. She’s involved with a cornucopia of issues and efforts: everything from racial justice to her Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority to UNCW’s Gender Studies & Research Center to the Senior Resource Center’s Master Aging Plan.
Robert Parker
Senior Project Manager, Cape Fear Solar Systems
In his position with CFSS, Robert Parker oversees day-to-day operations, identifies and hires new skilled workers and fosters the development of the company’s existing employees. He also works with business owners to design and install solar systems that save them money and meet environmental goals.
Why he’s a Rising Star:
Parker helped Cape Fear Solar Systems grow to become the No. 1 solar installer in Southeastern North Carolina. He designed and managed the installation of Wilmington’s largest solar arrays for Coastal Beverage Co., Live Oak Bank and Trinity Landing, a new retirement community off Masonboro Loop Road.
While the company is still working with Trinity Landing developer WM Jordan on that comprehensive design and installation project, the company has dozens of residential solar projects scheduled for completion before the end of 2021. Other commercial projects are in the works as well, according to Parker.
Lean and green: Parker says that Cape Fear Solar Systems provides cleanly produced electricity for home and business operations that also saves its customers significant money on monthly expenses.
McKay Siegel
Partner, East West Partners
Carolina Beach resident McKay Siegel leads major development projects in Wilmington for his Chapel Hill-based firm.
Why he’s a Rising Star:
Recently promoted to the position of partner, Siegel has helped add to the evolution of downtown Wilmington in recent years through East West projects. Those projects include River Place, a 13-story development that brought 171 residential units and 32,000 square feet of retail to the heart of downtown, and coworking space Common Desk, which is bringing existing and new companies to Wilmington. Common Desk required the total overhaul of the building at 226 N. Front St.
“McKay’s very high standard of excellence was on full display in the renovation of 226 Front Street …. McKay, while immersed in the construction of River Place, took the lead on 226, seizing the opportunity to be a creative problem solver, while respecting the building’s history and architecture,” said Roger Perry, president and founder of East West Partners.
Pending projects: Developments planned in the area that Siegel is leading include The Range at Oleander, which could include 339 apartments, 14,000 square feet of retail and 10% workforce housing on Oleander Drive in Wilmington; the Northern Gateway project, a more-than-$90 million development that could add high-rise apartments and grocery, hotel, retail and office space to downtown; and Project Indigo, a nearly 400-acre development near Southport.
Barnes Sutton
Director of Planning & Development, Navassa
As planning chief of the northern Brunswick County town of Navassa, Barnes Sutton is in charge of the comprehensive community planning and implementation of responsibilities regarding urban design, historic preservation, community revitalization and development, the area’s greenway, urban forestry and multimodal transportation.
Why he’s a Rising Star:
Sutton is the planning leader in a town poised for major growth. Recently, his focus has been on ecotourism and climate resiliency. “The project has been to identify substantial wetlands, swamp forests and riparian buffers within or near the Special Flood Hazard Area that are in conservation as well as identifying adjacent parcels of land that can be added to the conservation portfolio,” Sutton said. “This effort will create a corridor that allows for natural mechanisms for reducing storm surge, recharging groundwater and creating a diverse habitat while also allowing for the installation of nature trails and water access points for ecotourists to recreate, thereby enriching both experiences.”
He has also been assisting with the Resilient Coastal Communities Program to address barriers such as limited capacity, economic constraints and social inequities through developing a portfolio of planned and prioritized projects leading towards shovel-readiness or implementation.
Other roles include coordinating the development of a Comprehensive Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan and managing Navassa’s enrollment in the Community Rating System Program that will discount flood insurance premiums for residents and businesses.
Additional role: As Floodplain and Stormwater Manager, Sutton verifies compliance for floodplain development; manages the Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) program; and researches and prepares flood determinations and elevation certificates.
Cierra Washington
Strategic Partnership Coordinator, Northside Food Cooperative
Cierra Washington forges new partnerships for the Northside Food Cooperative as well as planning and conducting community engagement events. She also manages the organization’s marketing and communication efforts.
Why she’s a Rising Star:
Washington works to bring more healthy options to Wilmington’s Northside food desert. She helped start Frankie’s Outdoor Market in the Northside community to improve residents’ access to fresh food before a grocery store can be developed.
Her other food-related initiatives include creating a community garden next to the Hemenway Community Center where Voyage youth participants can learn about growing their own food; facilitating the Southeastern NC Health Educators Network; and piloting a project that provides funding and applied learning opportunities for students seeking a degree in a health-related field.
And, working through the Northside Food Cooperative and its growing number of partners, she’s determined to bring a grocery store to the neighborhood.
History note: “Prior to 1898, the Northside of Wilmington was a thriving Black community, home to over 50 food-related businesses,” Washington said. “After the 1898 coup, most of those Black-owned businesses disappeared. About 35 years ago, the only grocery store in the Northside closed down.”
Read more about the 2021 WilmingtonBiz 100 honorees by clicking here.
