Data storage firm 45Drives recently announced that the 2025 Creators Summit, will be held Sept. 8-12 in Wilmington, and the company will launch a new product at the event.

"In a major milestone for the company's continued North American expansion, this year's summit will be held in the United States for the first time – and will be the most expansive and community-driven edition to date," according to a news release.

Canadian company Protocase and its subsidiary 45Drives hosted an open house in March at its first Wilmington-area production facility. The 11,000-square-foot facility off U.S. 421 assembles data storage and computer servers for 45Drives. Protocase, a Nova Scotia-based rapid manufacturing firm, announced last year that it had selected Wilmington for its first U.S. expansion.

The decision to host the summit in Wilmington, where 45Drives is currently expanding its corporate offices, U.S. assembly operations and manufacturing capacity, "underscores the company's deepening commitment to the region as a strategic hub for innovation, customer success and talent development," the summit release stated.

According to the release, this year's summit has an expanded scope and includes a weeklong program spread across multiple venues, dual-track workshop programming and the global launch of 45Studio, a new product division from 45Drives purpose-built for creative professionals.

"The Creators Summit reflects what 45Drives has always stood for – powerful, open systems designed in partnership with the communities that use them," stated Doug Milburn, president and co-founder of 45Drives, in the release. "This year, with the launch of 45Studio and our growing footprint in the U.S., we're building a platform not just for open hardware, but for the future of creative and enterprise computing itself."

45Studio aims to be used by those employed in fields such as film and TV, music production, game development, animation, design and VFX.

Throughout the summit week, events will take place across 45Drives' new North Carolina facilities, as well as partner venues throughout Wilmington. More information and registration details are available online.

According to the release, "There will be activation and integration with a host of key community partners and stakeholders such as UNCW and Cape Fear Community College, with faculty and students participating in public programming, workshops and technology showcases. A full list of event partners will be announced in the coming weeks."