The cover story for the June 17 Greater Wilmington Business Journal issue focuses on training and the workforce pipeline for the area’s manufacturing sector.

North Carolina, like many other states, faces a severe shortage of manufacturing workers as companies bring their operations back to the United States. The N.C. Department of Commerce estimates that the state will need nearly 500,000 more manufacturing workers by 2028 – almost 7,500 in the Wilmington area alone.

Officials working on that topic join us for today’s BizTalk. We’ll speak with Cape Fear Community College officials on training initiatives as well as local manufacturers about what they’re seeing in the market and how they’re planning for future needs.

Jon Barber, General Manager, JCC Outdoor Products Inc.-Wilmington Grill
Wilmington-based JCC Outdoor Products makes products for outdoor use out of heavy-duty stainless steel, including fire pits and tables. The company manufactures the Wilmington Grill line, which distributes nationally. Jon Barber’s family purchased the Wilmington Grill brand in 2011.

Erin Easton, Workforce Training Coordinator, CFCC
In her role at CFCC, Erin Easton implements, markets and coordinates workforce training. She partners with the local community organizations, K-12 schools and businesses to determine needs and viable training. Before this role, Easton spent 12 years in career college administration and worked as the business engagement manager at the Cape Fear Workforce Development Board and formed the Cape Fear Manufacturing Partnership, a group of area manufacturing executives that started meeting in 2020.

James Flock, General Manager, Blair-HSM
Jim Flock has lived and worked in the Wilmington area for seven years. He is the general manager of HSM Machine Works, a growing aerospace manufacturer, a member of the Cape Fear Workforce Development Board and the member of the Cape Fear Manufacturing Partnership.

WilmingtonBiz Talk is a weekly interview program on Facebook Live, which is rebroadcast on YouTube and numerous podcasting platforms. The Business Journal newsroom selects guests based on current events so our community can hear directly from newsmakers.

Memorial Day weekend has historically marked the unofficial start of summer tourism season for Southeastern North Carolina.

But like many things, the pandemic has changed business as usual.

On today’s BizTalk, the head of the area’s tourism efforts talks about what’s changed for the “on-season” and previews what to expect for this summer. Challenges remain from available labor to higher gas prices. What will that mean for the businesses that are prepping for a new wave of travelers?

Kim Hufham, president and CEO of the Wilmington and Beaches CVB, joins BizTalk to go over some of those topics as well as other hospitality trends heading into the summer.

Kim Hufham
President & CEO, Wilmington and Beaches Convention and Visitors Bureau
Kim Hufham heads up the Wilmington and Beaches Convention & Visitors Bureau, where she has worked for 30 years. She led the bureau through the pandemic that initially devastated the tourism industry and advocated for the reopening of venues to attract visitors, overseeing three distinct marketing campaigns.

WilmingtonBiz Talk is a weekly interview program on Facebook Live, which is rebroadcast on YouTube and numerous podcasting platforms. The Business Journal newsroom selects guests based on current events so our community can hear directly from newsmakers.

The developers of a long-discussed mixed-use project in Southport joined BizTalk on May 19 to give an update on their plans.

In 2020, Bald Head Island Limited and East West Partners proposed a nearly 400-acre, $565-million development dubbed Project Indigo. Plans call for single-family homes, apartments, townhomes, duplexes and commercial space.

It would add onto the existing Indigo Plantation neighborhood and marina in Southport.

Earlier this year, the developers submitted a master plan and rezoning request to the city’s planning board, which is slated to meet June 16 to make its recommendation about the project. The board’s recommendation then goes to the city’s board of aldermen to weigh in on the plans, which also call for the city to annex the property that’s currently outside city lines.

Meet our Guests:

Chad Paul, CEO, Bald Head Island Limited LLC-Mitchell Family Corp
Chad Paul leads the entity that is the principal developer and resort operator of Bald Head Island, an island resort that’s 3 miles off the southern coast of Southport. Paul also currently serves as managing partner of Harbor Island Partners LLC, a private equity firm headquartered in Wilmington since 2000.

Roger Perry, Founder & President, East West Partners
Roger Perry heads up Chapel Hill-based East West Partners, which describes itself as having developed more residential real estate than anyone in North Carolina since its founding in 1983. East West developed River Place in downtown Wilmington.

WilmingtonBiz Talk is a weekly interview program on Facebook Live, which is rebroadcast on YouTube and numerous podcasting platforms. The Business Journal newsroom selects guests based on current events so our community can hear directly from newsmakers.

The Wilmington region is seeing a growing number of companies significantly expand or move into our area. On June 2, we will talk with local business leaders about how our region is becoming a more fertile place to cultivate companies, future opportunities and their business growth stories.

Meet the panel:

• Carolyn Aubitz, National Talent Acquisition Manager at MegaCorp Logistics
• Ben Currin, CEO at Vantaca
• Natalie English, President & CEO of Wilmington Chamber of Commerce
• Danielle Mahon, Founder & President of Topsail Steamer

The Power Breakfast series is a quarterly gathering of the business community and other community leaders to talk about issues of interest to our region. Each breakfast features a panel discussion or individual speaker focusing on topics of interest to local companies.

A federal agency has provisionally awarded the rights to plan two wind farms off Southeastern North Carolina’s coast to two companies that offered $315 million.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM)’s auction happened Wednesday for two lease areas in the Wilmington East Wind Energy Area, totaling nearly 110,100 acres. One lease provisionally sold for $160 million to TotalEnergies Renewables USA, and the other lease went for $155 million to Duke Energy Renewables Wind.

If developed, the areas could generate up to 1.3 gigawatts, enough to power half a million homes, according to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.

In February, BOEM tentatively awarded six leases at New York Bight, luring the highest offshore lease bids on record, with the companies bidding a combined $4.37 billion for 488,000 acres, or roughly $8,900 an acre.

Joining today’s BizTalk to discuss the leases and what happens next is Katharine Kollins, president of the Southeastern Wind Coalition, a nonprofit that advocates for renewable wind energy.

Our Guest:
Katharine Kollins, Southeastern Wind Coalition President 
In her current role, Katharine Kollins manages Southeastern Wind Coalition’s programming across 11 states to promote land-based, offshore and imported wind power. She previously worked in finance for Boston-based developer First Wind, consulting with Vestas R&D to formulate a federal grant funding strategy, and a role as business development manager for The Wind Alliance.

WilmingtonBiz Talk is a weekly interview program on Facebook Live, which is rebroadcast on YouTube and numerous podcasting platforms. The Business Journal newsroom selects guests based on current events so our community can hear directly from newsmakers.

Hurricane season officially starts June 1 (and runs through Nov. 30), and emergency officials are preparing in Southeastern North Carolina.

Joining BizTalk today is Anna McRay, assistant emergency management director for New Hanover County. McRay will talk about looking ahead for this year’s season as well as issues area residents and businesses should be thinking about before a major storm arrives.

Anna McRay, NHC Assistant Emergency Management Director
Anna McRay is responsible for supporting New Hanover County’s emergency management team and is the primary point of contact for training and exercise resources as well as overall plan management for the county. She previously worked with the Virginia Department of Emergency Management and served as emergency manager for Henrico County, Virginia, before joining the New Hanover County in 2019.

WilmingtonBiz Talk is a weekly interview program on Facebook Live, which is rebroadcast on YouTube and numerous podcasting platforms. The Business Journal newsroom selects guests based on current events so our community can hear directly from newsmakers.

New Hanover County recently released a review of the county’s economic development climate. The analysis by Greenfield Development Co. is the first formal look for the county since the Garner report in 2014.

To talk about what the review focused on and what county officials took away from it for future goals, Jennifer Rigby, the county’s chief strategy officer, joins today’s BizTalk.

Jennifer Rigby, New Hanover County Chief Strategy Officer 
Jennifer Rigby was promoted to New Hanover County’s chief strategy officer role in June 2020 after serving nearly four years as the county’s policy and strategy coordinator. She began working for New Hanover County in 2013 as senior planner and project manager for the county’s first comprehensive plan.

WilmingtonBiz Talk is a weekly interview program on Facebook Live, which is rebroadcast on YouTube and numerous podcasting platforms. The Business Journal newsroom selects guests based on current events so our community can hear directly from newsmakers.

Following up on last week’s BizTalk with developers of the proposed Battleship Point project across from downtown Wilmington, two groups weigh in about their thoughts on developing the waterfront property.

Kemp Burdette, of Cape Fear River Watch, and Travis Gilbert, of Historic Wilmington Foundation, have raised concerns about the project ranging from questions of environmental impacts to potential damage to the area’s cultural, historical and archeological legacy.

While planners and elected officials from both Leland and New Hanover County sort out who will take up the property – an attempt to ask Leland to annex the land is on pause, developers said on last week’s BizTalk – more discussions are expected about the future for the river’s west bank.

Panel: 
Kemp Burdette, Riverkeeper, Cape Fear River Watch
Travis Gilbert, Executive Director, Historic Wilmington Foundation 

WilmingtonBiz Talk is a weekly interview program on Facebook Live, which is rebroadcast on YouTube and numerous podcasting platforms. The Business Journal newsroom selects guests based on current events so our community can hear directly from newsmakers.

This year, residents and officials have been focusing on the future of former industrial land along the Cape Fear and Northeast Cape Fear rivers.

On Point Peter, a jut of land across from downtown Wilmington, the partners in KJF Development Group hope to build tall towers with condos, apartments and commercial space, aiming to create an iconic project called Battleship Point. Their plans have met with opposition by some who fear environmental and cultural impacts.

Meanwhile, KFJ is pursuing a possible annexation by the town of Leland.

On Thursday’s BizTalk, KFJ partners James Lea III and Kirk Pugh discuss the status of the project and address some of the questions and concerns they’ve been hearing over the past several months.

WilmingtonBiz Talk is a weekly interview program on Facebook Live, which is rebroadcast on YouTube and numerous podcasting platforms. The Business Journal newsroom selects guests based on current events so our community can hear directly from newsmakers.

On today’s BizTalk, we’re talking about the latest issues around cybersecurity, particularly what businesses should be weighing.

The Biden Administration warned of the potential for cyberattacks from Russia because of the escalation of attacks in Ukraine.

Joining us today are two cybersecurity experts – Ulku Clark, professor and director of UNCW’s Center for Cyber Defense Education, and Geoff Stoker, assistant professor who teaches on cybersecurity.

Jeremy Tomlin, owner of Enfuse Technology Solutions, also joins us to talk about what small-and mid-size businesses should be doing to protect themselves from cybersecurity threats.

WilmingtonBiz Talk is a weekly interview program on Facebook Live, which is rebroadcast on YouTube and numerous podcasting platforms. The Business Journal newsroom selects guests based on current events so our community can hear directly from newsmakers.