My six degrees of Kevin Bacon? Glad you asked (at least for the purposes of this letter). Kevin Bacon directed and starred in Loverboy, which starred Sandra Bullock, who was the main character in 28 Days that filmed in Black Mountain with my buddy working on set in lighting. Boom – Bacon’s Law in three steps. To be fair, if it wasn’t for our clos ...

The Wilmington region has all the ingredients necessary for continued economic development successes and growth in the biotechnology/life sciences industry sector.   THE INGREDIENTS 1) Industry Partners and Jobs – With the long-standing local strengths in the clinical research and contract manufacturing industries, as well as recent investment announcements o ...

The state of the housing market both nationally and locally continues to dominate the economic conversation. While most individuals are better off financially than they were pre-pandemic, the significant increase in interest rates coupled with the significant migration we witnessed over the past few years has made owning a home more challenging. Economists largely ag ...

As the Wilmington area’s population continues to expand, new entertainment and recreational venues are emerging to address the increasing demand for activities-based developments. From indoor skydiving to arcades drawing adults, several new projects have recently opened or are under construction now. Strikes LLC, for example, will begin developing a 40,800-squa ...

When Lannin Braddock, COO of The Braddock Group, a real estate company she co-founded with her husband, Michael, in 2019, heard about the development happening in the Soda Pop District of downtown Wilmington, she knew she wanted to be involved. Michael, originally from Wilmington, had previously shown Braddock this part of the city. Braddock kept her eye on the prize fo ...

Part of downtown Wilmington’s revitalization story has been hammered home over several decades, one board at a time. Work on the Riverwalk along the Cape Fear River started more than 40 years ago. Initially a project to help rebrand downtown Wilmington, over the years the wooden pathway spread out from its nucleus at the foot of Market Street. Now spanning 1.75 ...

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Mary Ellen Rogers doesn’t understand why anyone would abuse a pelican. “Pelicans are not like hawks,” said Rogers, founder of Sea Biscuit Wildlife Shelter in Oak Island. “They’re just big goofy birds.” But someone has maimed and killed brown pelicans over the years, to the point where Sea Biscuit Wildlife Shelter offered a $10,000 ...

Six years after restoration work started, officials held a dedication ceremony in march in Navassa for Reaves Chapel – one of the oldest African American buildings in Southeastern North Carolina. The Civil War-era church was built along the banks of the Cape Fear River by people who had formerly been slaves at Cedar Hill Plantation. They, along with former slaves ...