Built alongside the runway at Wilmington International Airport, Frontier Scientific Solutions’ 530,000-square-foot North American headquarters building serves as a hub for the company’s pharmaceutical logistics operations.
Frontier Scientific, which provides temperature-controlled storage and transportation for the life sciences sector, announced its plans for the new facility in November 2024. The company began moving in this summer, according to Frontier CEO Steve Uebele, and so far, has invested $200 million in the site.
Frontier’s headquarters building is one example of a recent project expected to bring significant investment or job creation to the Wilmington region.
Frontier Scientific Solutions
STATUS: First phase complete | $200 MILLION INVESTMENT
Frontier employs just under 50 people at its Wilmington facility, according to Uebele, and expects to hire additional employees through the end of this year and into 2027 as operations grow at the new facility.
The company operates three weekly flights from ILM to Shannon Airport in Ireland. There, Frontier has an approximately 70,000-square-foot facility that serves as its headquarters for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, creating a “strategic connection between two growing life-sciences regions on either side of the Atlantic,” Uebele wrote in an email to the Business Journal. More growth could be in the future for the Wilmington facility, which was developed with future expansion in mind. The company has the ability to grow the current facility and access to additional property that could accommodate approximately 1.1 million to 1.5 million additional square feet of pharmaceutical-grade facilities, according to Uebele.
Amazon
STATUS: Nearing completion | 1,100+ jobs on the way
Two Amazon facilities are preparing to open this fall near the New Hanover-Pender county line. Built on the site of the former BASF vitamin plant, the robotics fulfillment center encompasses more than 3 million square feet across the building’s four-and-a-half floors and is expected to create more than 1,000 full-time jobs. The nearby delivery station facility in Pender Commerce Park could create more than 100 full-time positions.
Hiring began this summer for the facilities, and both are on track to open before the holidays, according to company officials. Specialized robots work alongside humans in the fulfillment center to sort, pick and pack customer orders, company officials have said. At the same time, the delivery station will serve as a local hub for last-mile package delivery.
The projects represent a major investment from Amazon in the Wilmington area and could have spillover impacts across the region, according to regional economist and UNCW professor Mouhcine Guettabi.
Amazon’s local footprint could help draw other employers to the region, including firms that support Amazon’s supply chain. Amazon’s presence could also put pressure on other local sectors to raise wages amid the new competition for workers, Guettabi said.
GE Vernova
STATUS: Investment ongoing | $50 million investment | 250+ jobs added since 2022
GE Vernova Hitachi Nuclear Energy announced in October 2022 plans to add 485 employees to its Castle Hayne campus over the next five years. Since late 2022, the company has added more than 250 people, according to spokesman Jon Allen.
GE Vernova announced a $50 million investment in the local facility last year aimed at enhancing safety, quality and productivity and launching its next-generation nuclear fuel design, a component of the company’s BWRX-300 small modular reactor. The investment also aimed to expand automation at the plant, which has manufactured nuclear fuel since 1968.
“This growth reflects increasing activity across our business from construction of the BWRX-300 small modular reactor in Canada to opportunities we are advancing in the U.S. and Europe, as well as continued demand for our fuels and services to support the existing global reactor fleet,” Allen wrote in an email to the Business Journal.
Also in 2022, the company lauded an upcoming $200 million Natrium Fuel Facility. Global Nuclear Fuel-Americas, a GE-led joint venture, and TerraPower announced plans to build the facility, which would be jointly funded by TerraPower and the U.S. Department of Energy.
Although initially slated to start construction in 2023, the company is still working with stakeholders to “align technical, regulatory and construction readiness activities before establishing a firm construction start timeline” for the project, according to Allen.
Epsilon Advanced Materials
STATUS: In development | Potential $650 million investment, 500 jobs
India-based graphite manufacturer Epsilon Advanced Materials is working toward finalizing plans for its proposed Brunswick County facility, according to Bill Early, executive director of Brunswick Business & Industry Development.
Epsilon officials are tentatively on track to break ground on the project in early 2028, Early added. Epsilon officials did not respond to questions about the project’s status and timeline in August.
In 2023, Epsilon officials announced plans to build a 1.5-million-square-foot facility – a $650 million investment expected to create 500 jobs – in Brunswick County’s Mid-Atlantic Industrial Rail Park. Once set to break ground in early 2026, officials said in January they needed to get additional “regulatory clarity” before finalizing the project’s timeline.
Early said the company is currently working through a multi-year qualification process for the new plant, which customers require. Graphite manufactured at the local plant is expected to be used in lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles, and, Early said, company officials see an opportunity to serve a growing data storage sector.
Epsilon is eligible for up to $3.4 million in state Job Development Investment Grant (JDIG) funding over 12 years. The grant remains active, but no payments have been made so far, according to Department of Commerce officials. Epsilon’s first grant year is 2026, with the firm’s first annual report due next year. The company has until December 2028 to meet its job targets.
