The board of directors of state-funded research grant organization NCInnovation will hear research grant proposals from seven state universities, including the University of North Carolina Wilmington, for its pilot funding round on May 14.  The group’s board will hear and approve grants for six to eight research projects, dolling out the first ...

The University of North Carolina Wilmington is launching a new bachelor’s degree program aimed squarely at adults who want to boost or pivot their careers. A public session earlier this month introduced the Workforce Learning and Development degree program, which developers say meets important needs in the Cape Fear region and across North Carolina.   “I ...

Gene Smith’s tenure as Brunswick Community College’s president, which began in January 2019, culminated decades as a teacher, department head, dean and top administrator.  He touched most of the bases in the educational playing field. Many might have also guessed that coming from a family of farmers and educators, his journey to assuming such a leadersh ...

A North Carolina organization is using $500 million to rescue university research innovations from “the valley of death.”   Innovations that don't make it out of the research and development (R&D) phase often fail in the "valley of death" — the period after the product is developed but before it's on the market. Projects in th ...

Not everyone has the courage to make a major career transition and relocate across the country. But Yolanda Pollard isn’t everyone.   Pollard traded in her 30-year career working with corporate leaders on strategic communication to serve as the new director of the Swain Center for Executive Education and Economic Development. The Swain Center, part of th ...

The Swain Center at the University of North Carolina Wilmington has a new director. The university has selected Yolanda Pollard to head up the center, which specializes in executive education and economic development. Pollard began her role on July 10, according to a news release issued Tuesday by the university. The center’s last permanent director, Richard Wa ...

Crews began gutting the first floor of the former Bank of America building earlier this month to make way for the property’s new operator, Cape Fear Community College. The renovated space will allow CFCC to expand its nursing and other allied health programs.  By early next year, the first floor of the downtown building – with floor-to-ceiling windows f ...

The Girls Leadership Academy of Wilmington (GLOW), an all-girls public charter school, this week announced the completion of its latest sustainability initiative – the installation of a 300.3-kW solar system. According to a news release, the initiative is one of the largest solar systems in New Hanover County and the largest on a scho ...

In just five years, Cape Fear Community College has transformed and expanded its short-term workforce development programming designed to get quickly students into the local workforce.  “It was totally different,” said John Downing, the college’s vice president of economic and workforce development. “We didn’t have a lot of short-term ...

Economic development is surging in Wilmington, but it will be unsustainable without connecting to a strong education system. Simultaneously, our students cannot see themselves staying close to home after high school graduation to meet local workforce needs without the business community’s support and involvement in our schools. Fortunately, we have an engaged busi ...