SHORING UP NORTH CAROLINA'S BEACHES: As residents and visitors descend on North Carolina's beaches this summer, a local PNC Bank leader provides an inside look at what the preservation of our state's treasured coast entails.

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This is the twentieth in a series of informative monthly articles for North Carolina businesses from PNC in collaboration with BUSINESS NORTH CAROLINA magazine.

Casey Turner vividly recalls the first time he witnessed the dramatic impact of an in-progress N.C. beach nourishment project. "As I looked toward the horizon, there was a clear dividing line between the existing beach and the nourished beach," he says. "To my left was 50 feet of sand. To my right was just ocean." It was a stunning visual that brought into focus the necessary work that Turner, managing director of PNC Bank's Public Finance group in the Carolinas, and his team facilitate to help restore N.C. beaches--a critically important fixture in the state's multibillion-dollar tourism industry.

According to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, beach nourishment is designed to protect people and property from the effects of hurricanes and coastal storms by widening a beach and advancing the shoreline seaward. "Beach nourishment represents a necessary investment in the future of North Carolina's coastal communities and economy," says Turner.

North Carolina's coastline is among the most nourished in the country, having received more than 160 million cubic yards of sand since the first N.C. beach nourishment project more than 80 years ago, according to data from the National Beach Nourishment Database.

Dare County's beaches are among those slated for beach restoration this year to replace sand lost during 2019's Hurricane Dorian. The replenishment of sand along more than 20 miles of shoreline will create a more effective buffer between the ocean and N.C. Highway 12, while resulting in a wider recreational beach and additional habitat for wildlife. Sand will be pumped ashore from an offshore dredge, with just 1,000 feet of beachfront directly impacted at any given time to minimize disruption to beach visitors. It's a process repeated every 5-6 years to preserve the beautiful yet fragile beaches of the Outer Banks.

Turner and his PNC Bank business partners, including Brian Miller, a Raleigh-based credit product specialist, have led PNC Bank's financing of no fewer than 20 beach nourishment projects spanning the N.C. coast, from Duck to Holden Beach, during the past eight years. And while the work facilitated by the Public Finance team extends far beyond the scope of beach nourishment, the output from these projects is among the most palpable applications, particularly in the summer...