An upstart, Denver-based airplane maker called Boom Supersonic is in negotiations with state officials to secure the site at Greensboro’s Piedmont Triad International Airport for a manufacturing facility to produce its new Overture jet. The 205-foot passenger plane can travel at more than 1,300 mph — faster than the speed of sound and twice the speed of today’s fastest airliners.

Cary-based Epic Games has filed a request with the city for a permit to demolish the entire structure, which is around 1 million square feet, with the exception of the Belk department store. A rezoning request to amend Cary’s Official Zoning Map includes a preliminary proposal for 2.7 million square feet designated for office use, as well as space for commercial use and 200 hotel rooms.

Gov. Roy Cooper announced that America’s largest grocery retailer will build a high-tech customer fulfillment center in Cabarrus County and create nearly 700 jobs over five years to support a logistics facility that will be established in the City of Concord. The Kroger Co. serves customers across a family of stores like Kroger, Harris Teeter, Ralphs, and Fred Meyer.

If recently approved reforms took effect immediately, North Carolina would jump from No. 10 to No. 5 in the Tax Foundation’s state business tax climate rankings, according to the foundation’s latest assessment. The personal income tax rate is scheduled to decline from the current 5.25% to 4.99% in 2022, while in 2025 the state’s 2.5% corporate income tax rate will be trimmed to 2.25%.

NCOR is a leader in the product destruction and de-packaging subsegment of organic waste materials. Parent company American Complete Organics Recycling has commited to invest $6 million over five years including the hiring of 43 fulltime jobs in Scotland County.

The new biennium budget makes historic investments in the state’s outdoor recreation including more than $500 million in funding for parks, trails, and conservation projects. State industry leaders are applauding the General Assembly and the Governor’s office for their commitment to North Carolina’s fastest-growing sector.

Fingerpaint’s acquisition of MedThink — which empowers healthcare providers through medical communications built on a foundation of science, strategy, and innovation — adds to the company’s suite of capabilities through two distinct divisions, MedThink SciCom and MedThink Communications. Scott Goudy, president of MedThink, will continue to lead day-to-day operations.

To help consumers stop porch pirates from ruining the holiday season, Better Business Bureau serving Eastern North Carolina is offering a variety of suggestions. Among BBB’s tips are to: track your packages, be available for delivery, request a signature, personalize delivery, use your credit card and insure valuable items.

Veteran Winston-Salem executive Stan Parker will succeed Robert Boles as president of the Winston Starts business incubator on Jan. 1. Parker will be the group’s fourth leader in less than two years. Boles became permanent president in July 2020. Winston-Salem auto dealer Don Flow chairs the Winston Starts board. Parker has worked in executive jobs at Hanesbrands, Krispy Kreme, and GMAC insurance, while also leading startups.

Angie Vincent-Hamacher was announced as Atrium Health’s new chairwoman of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Hospital Authority Board of Commissioners on Tuesday. The historic move marks Vincent-Hamacher as the first woman of color to lead the board, replacing Edward J. Brown III, who led the board since 2013. She is an attorney with Robinson Bradshaw and has served as a member of the board since 2014.

Professional Builders Supply, one of the state’s largest suppliers of building materials, has been acquired by Illinois company US LBM. Professional Builders Supply, based in Morrisville, will continue to operate under its own name. The company has 12 locations across North and South Carolina with 685 employees. Financial details of the acquisition were not disclosed. 

The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to weigh in on a case arguing Atrium Health had outgrown its status as a “local” government subdivision. The designation allows for statutory immunity against antitrust damages despite it being a multibillion-dollar hospital in several states. 

Charlotte plans an $11.5 million pedestrian bridge over the Interstate 277 urban loop, marking an effort to connect the South End and downtown districts. The bridge will be 16 feet wide and feature two 40-foot structural arches that light up at night. Construction will start in 2023 and finish in 2025, two years later than previously planned because of cost, design and traffic concerns. State, local and private sources are paying the bill.

The Wake County school board voted unanimously Tuesday night to provide raises for all employees this year in hopes of solving staff shortages in the school system. The plan raises the minimum salary for school support staff to $15 an hour and could mean raises of up to 43% for its lowest paid workers. The money will come from the school’s funds and savings. 

Raleigh real estate firm Highwoods Properties has sold its headquarters and the building next to it to investor Dean Debnam in a $35 million deal. Neither party agreed to comment on the deal, but a deed for the sale was dated for Dec. 2. Highwoods Properties built Smoketree Tower, the office building it operates out of, in 1984 and created 151,114 square feet of office space across 11 stories. 

Stonemont Financial Group has closed on the land for a new warehouse and distribution facility in Lumberton for Elkay, a manufacturer of sinks, faucets and drinking fountains. Construction will be completed next year on the 387,302-square-foot building, which will anchor a new industrial park located at the intersection of U.S. 74 and Interstate 95.

Toyota Motor North America plans to invest $1.29 billion and add 1,750 jobs at a battery making plant at the Greensboro Randolph Megasite in north Randolph County, the Japanese automaker confirmed after weeks of speculation. Production is expected to start in 2025. State and local leaders are offering Toyota economic development incentives valued at more than $435 million. 

.American Airlines CEO Doug Parker is stepping down March 31. He will be succeeded by President Robert Isom. Parker became CEO of America West in 2001 and engineered mergers with US Airways and American Airlines. It’s the dominant carrier at Charlotte Douglas International Airport.

Durham-based ServiceTrade announced Monday it closed on $85 million in new capital, more than double the amount the company has raised since launch nine years ago. The software company plans to expand its product innovations, which allows technicians and commercial service contractors to coordinate with customers and work remotely. 

Electrical vehicle manufacturer Arrival plans a battery making plant in Charlotte that’s expected to create 150 jobs. The British company will invest $11.5 million into the plant, which will be its fourth location in the Charlotte area.

Phil Harvey, the founder of the adult entertainment store Adam & Eve, died last Thursday in his Maryland home. The 83-year-old started Adam & Eve in Hillsborough as part of his graduate thesis UNC-Chapel Hill’s School of Global Public Health. He was also the founder of DKT International, a nonprofit focused on contraception availability and HIV/AIDS education. 

Durham’s PARC design lab has been acquired by Boston-based Shepley Bulfinch, an architecture firm with four other offices throughout the U.S. and 150 employees. The move means representation in a key market for Shepley Bulfinch and growth for PARC design lab, which has three employees. Financials of the deal were not disclosed. 

Details are emerging about Toronto-based Oxford Properties Group’s $138 million purchase of an office campus in Research Triangle Park in November. The campus was 86% leased at the time of purchase, and includes 429,758 square feet of office space across five buildings. There’s also 18 acres of vacant land that could be developed down the road.  

The Wilmington-based banking software company reported $70 million in total revenue for the third quarter last week, a 29% increase from a year earlier. The company’s CFO David Rudow chalked up increasing operating losses to costs of global expansion. 

High Point’s vTv Therapeutics, a biopharma company specializing in drug development, announced Monday it will lay off 65% of its 61-person workforce. The move is part of a strategy to focus on clinical trials for a drug targeting Type 1 diabetes. 

Furniture company will invest $2.9 million to open a new custom upholstery production facility in Conover, creating 90 new jobs. Founded in Catawba County in 1945, the high-end furniture manufacturer will add a fifth production facility, and 140,000SF, to its roster of upholstery and woodworking plants.

Matt Kane, the former CEO of Durham firm Precision BioSciences, is now leading Tune Therapeutics. Tune Therapeutics’ C-suite also includes Charles Gersbach, the John W. Strohbehn distinguished professor of biomedical engineering at Duke University, as co-founder and chief scientific officer. The new biotech was launched with $40 million in new funding and a leadership team peppered with veterans of Seattle cell therapy biotechs.

Queen City native Lauren Harbury and her Feminist Goods Co. brand are now a part of Madewell’s Hometown Heroes collective, which features 68 small businesses from 23 states. Feminist Goods Co. was founded in 2015 and is known for accessories, coffee mugs, hats and clothing with cheeky or uplifting sayings.

As part of the budget for the fiscal years ending in 2022 and 2023, Winston-Salem’s Smith Reynolds Airport won a $23 million appropriation for improvements from the N.C. General Assembly. An additional $5 million was earmarked for a drone program that will be based at the airport.

Wilmington financial technology firm Apiture announced that it has partnered with Alacriti, a fintech company that develops new ways for customers of credit unions and banks to make loan payments across a variety of channels and methods. Apiture also scored a high ranking in Javelin’s 2021 Digital Banking Platform Vendor Scorecard.

The 21-story Wells Fargo Tower in downtown Greensboro was acquired in an auction by three LLCs headed by commercial real estate managing giant Argentic. The 324,405-square-foot building is home to the corporate headquarters of The Fresh Market and Bell Partners and was last owned by California-based Hertz Investment Group, which defaulted earlier this year.

As the U.S. has seen an uptick in organized retail theft, North Carolina authorities are contending with a wave of smash-and-grab robberies including thieves who stole tens of thousands of dollars’ worth of handbags from a store in Cary. “These are organized crime rings,” said North Carolina Retail Merchants Association President Andy Ellen.

The iconic Carolina Hotel, which opened in 1901, is renovating its guest rooms, lobby and an outside area. Work on the rooms will be done in three stages in order to limit the impact on guests. The upgrades come in preparation for the 2024 U.S. Open, which will be contested on Pinehurst Resort’s No. 2 Course.

Duke Energy customers will see slightly higher bills starting this month as the utility pays off debts from costly hurricane and other storm damage from 2018 and 2019. But the bill increase will be smaller than it could have been, because Duke is for the first time using a new financing tool approved by the state legislature in 2019. Duke announced Thursday that its North Carolina customers will save $300 million from what would have been a $1.6 billion total cost to pay for damage to the power grid.

During a Thursday speech at Charlotte Area Transit System’s garage and electric vehicle hub in South End, Vice President Kamala Harris promoted a newly-approved infrastructure spending plan that will bring billions to North Carolina. She also sought support for the administration’s next big priority: its $1.85 billion social policy bill.

Robin N. Coger, who is currently the dean of the College of Engineering and professor of mechanical engineering at North Carolina A&T State University, was selected by Chancellor Philip G. Rogers after a competitive search and will join ECU in July. The UNC System veteran will also hold an academic appointment as professor in the College of Engineering and Technology.

The Raleigh startup, which was founded with a $19 million seed financing round led by the RD Fund, announced it would open its third preclinical trial. Opus also received seed funding from the Manning Family Foundation and Bios Partners. The foundation’s mission is to advance the treatments and cures for blinding retinal diseases.

The Durham startup, which was founded in 2018 by a group of Duke University students, says its former chief operating officer, Gerald Gallagher, altered a stock agreement that could be worth thousands of dollars. LivingLab developed an online platform to match property owners with professionals seeking roommates.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services sent violation notices to at least eight hospitals and health systems in the state warning that they are required to post detailed price information for hundreds of services. The health care price transparency rule was written during former President Trump’s administration and affirmed by President Biden.

The app geared toward booking gigs in the hospitality industry recently made a soft launch in Asheville, allowing employers to post single shifts for last-minute openings. GigPro enlists restaurants, bars, hotels, catering companies, farms, cleaning services, resorts and other businesses.

The new state budget adjusts the financial qualifications TV and film projects must meet in order to receive financial incentives from the state. In 2021, the productions filming in the state are estimated to create more than 25,000 job opportunities.

Ken Halanych brings research and grant strengths to the University of North Carolina Wilmington’s Center for Marine Science. The new executive director came to UNCW from Auburn University, where he was the Stewart Schneller Endowed Chair and Alumni professor of biology.

Allegiant Air CEO Maury Gallagher is the new majority owner of Richard Petty Motorsports, a NASCAR racing team. Iconic driver Richard Petty has had a minority stake since 2010 with Andrew Murstein and Medallion Financial holding majority interest. Gallagher Motorsports has fielded five trucks in the NASCAR circuit and is moving to the Cup Series in 2022 with driver Ty Dillon.

The bank ended a court-ordered receivership imposed in August, as efforts to resolve an $85 million debt incurred when CIM Group bought the EpiCentre in 2014 failed. The mixed-use, uptown entertainment center currently is 69.4% vacant, slightly worse than the 63.3% vacancy rate reported in August.

Novant Health reported that Carl Armato, chief executive and president of the health system, received a 7.4% increase in salary during fiscal 2020 to $1.74 million. His incentive pay increased 6.2% to $1.54 million. Total compensation for Armato, who took over as Novant’s top executive in January 2012, was down 1.9% to $4.06 million.

Professional Builders Supply already serves the area from its Wilmington location, but the new location will help them be more responsive to Brunswick County customers. The company said the area’s growth in population and housing developments are what attracts companies to Brunswick County.

A portfolio of manufactured homes in in Oxford, Franklinton and Youngsville sold for $7.45 million, according to real estate firm Marcus & Millichap, which helped facilitate the deal. The buyer, Charlotte-based Manufactured Housing Properties Inc., shares an address with real estate investment company Gvest Capital.

After raising nearly $2.24 million in equity funding in 2020, Reveal Mobile has raised $591,555 in debt financing and could raise a total of $1.5 million in the round. The company, which launched in 2015, provides two products that use geo-fencing to enable advertisers to reach target customers based on location data.

In just the past few months, major “instant buying” companies have moved into new communities like Asheville, Fayetteville and the Piedmont, providing a simpler alternative to the typical home-selling rigmarole. As more North Carolinians are giving “iBuying” a shot, some believe the trend will drastically change the way homes are sold.

Stonemont Financial Group has closed on the land for a new build-to-suit warehouse and distribution facility for Elkay in Lumberton. A manufacturer of sinks, faucets, bottle filling stations and drinking fountains, Elkay is a 101-year-old, family-owned company based out of the Chicago metro area, with 28 manufacturing and operating facilities located across the country and internationally.