Vol. 35 No. 2, February - February 2015
Index
- State of Technology 2015 Industry Report & Tech Directory.
- Turning a page: BNC says bye to its old editor and hello to new ownership.
- Old school with the education reforms passed the last several years, the state is on the right track for improvement in reading and math test scores.
- Big fish, small pond: New CEO of small-business lender favors hometown over Manhattan.
- Making a haul: online advertising tows growth of Kernersville manufacturer.
- Organizing principal: a Charlotte techie creates a site that helps groups get their act together.
- Vitalsigns.
- Hitting the sweet spot: North Carolina's diversified economy is picking up steam, though a panel of state leaders finds the divide between urban and rural fortunes perplexing.
- Cruise control: North Carolina has welcomed Lyft and Uber as taxi competitors, but the joy ride might be over.
- Getting schooled.
- Fayetteville--Cumberland County commissioners voted against holding a public hearing on incentives for Laurel, Miss.-based Sanderson Farms to build a $94 million chicken-processing plant that would have created about 1,000 jobs.
- Roanoke Rapids--Duke Energy Renewables, a unit of Charlotte-based Duke Energy, acquired a 20-megawatt solar project from Charlotte-based Geenex and China-based ET Solar Energy for an undisclosed amount.
- Washington--First South Bancorp bought nine Bank of America branches in eastern North Carolina for an undisclosed amount.
- Wilmington--Gov. Pat McCrory appointed Tom Adams chairman of the N.C. State Ports Authority.
- Wilson--Douglas Searcy will become the 12th president of Barton College on July 1.
- Wilson--McCall Farms will close its sweet-potato processing plant, idling all 64 workers by March 5.
- Business class.
- Cary--Alimentation Couche-Tard will acquire The Pantry for $1.7 billion, including debt.
- Cary--Christopher Chung became CEO of the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina on Jan. 12.
- Durham--Scioderm raised $20 million in a financing led by San Francisco-based Redmile Group.
- Raleigh--Salix Pharmaceuticals CEO Carolyn Logan, 65, planned to retire Jan. 30 after 12 years at the post.
- Raleigh--UNC Health Care affiliate Rex Healthcare named Steve Burriss interim president, replacing David Strong, who is leaving to lead Orlando Health, an eight-hospital system based in Florida.
- Civil disobedience.
- Greensboro--Stan Kelly became interim president and CEO of the Piedmont Triad Partnership, replacing David Powell, who is returning to the private sector.
- Greensboro--The Fresh Market named Sean Crane interim chief executive officer after President and CEO Craig Carlock resigned.
- Winston-Salem--Gvest Capital and Trinvest acquired the 20-story, 240,000-square-foot BB&T Financial Center from Oak Brook, Ill.-based Inland Private Capital for $60 million.
- Winston-Salem--Reynolds American subsidiary R.J. Reynolds Tobacco will donate its 124-acre Whitaker Park manufacturing campus to a local nonprofit.
- Bananas split.
- Bessemer City--Israel-based Tosaf Group will open its first U.S. manufacturing plant here, investing $13.1 million over three years.
- Charlotte--CommunityOne Bancorp completed a private stock offering of $25 million, priced at $10.56 per share.
- Salisbury--Agility Fuel Systems will invest $7.5 million in a regional headquarters and production plant here, creating 149 jobs over three years.
- Spreading its limbs.
- Statesville--Homestar will move its North American headquarters here, adding 120 jobs to its existing 40 by year-end and investing $7 million in its local plant.
- Asheville--Frank Scorpiniti became CEO of Earth Fare, a natural-foods supermarket chain.
- Asheville--Hi-Wire Brewing will invest $1.6 million in a new brewery and will add 15 jobs to its existing seven.
- Asheville--White Labs will create 65 jobs and invest $8.1 million over five years in a 26,000-square-foot fermentation lab here.
- Black Mountain--Ingles Markets reported its 50th consecutive year of sales growth in fiscal 2014.
- Marion--Mission Health named Bob Bednarek interim president of 65-bed McDowell Hospital.
- Mountain jam.
- Rapid ascent: forward-thinking North Carolinians put the state in position to capitalize on the growing airplane-manufacturing industry.
- Staffing up: many of North Carolina's largest employers added workers in 2014.
- Peddle to the metal: Gene Haas is betting a billion bucks that his F1 team will win Grand Prix races and a worldwide market for his machine tools.
- Body builder: plowing through its rivals, Dunn's Godwin family welds success in customizing commercial trucks.
- Bricks&Mortar: places where business happens.