Sand dollars: tourism is the biggest industry on the North Carolina coast, but efforts are underway to develop other ventures.

• Position: COASTAL CAROLINA

North Carolina's coast has been a destination for more than 400 years. Its natural resources first drew people such as fishermen and boat builders, who laid the foundations of industries still there. Then tourism became the attraction, vacation spending providing income for restaurateurs and innkeepers. Today visitors bring sand pails and lunch buckets as the coasts business climate diversifies. Proposed cold storage at Port of Wilmington and realigned foreign trade zones will help companies and agribusinesses ship goods to global markets. A harsher than average winter is helping the tourism industry, which is expanding the local economy and converting some visitors to permanent...