Tim Sweeney, CEO of Cary-based video game maker Epic Games, now has a net worth of $7.4 billion, surpassing SAS leader Jim Goodnight as the richest person in North Carolina. Goodnight has an estimated net worth of $6.5 billion. Earlier this week, Epic announced it had raised $1 billion.

The $50 million soccer-specific renovations to Charlotte’s Bank of America Stadium, which include high-definition LED video boards and a new club seating area, are expected to be completed next spring in preparation for the 2022 debut of MLS team Charlotte Football Club. Tickets for the inaugural Charlotte FC season are on sale now.

Ohio-based EnviroFlight is building a 30,000-square-foot headquarters and research and development center in Apex that is expected to employ 30 to 40 people. A groundbreaking for the $9 million center, located in Apex’s new industrial and business park Cash Corporate Center, is set for this month. The facility is expected to be operational early next year. The agricultural-technologies company turns insects into food for animals and fertilizer for crops.

Some of North Carolina’s most prominent CEOs want the state to expand pre-kindergarten enrollment and invest more money in training educators on how to teach reading to young students. The leaders from eight of North Carolina’s largest companies did not comment if they would support raising taxes to help fund their recommendations, which come as politicians and educators are trying to figure out how to to deal with the impact of the COVID pandemic.

Duck Donuts, which emerged from North Carolina’s Outer Banks, has been sold to a private equity firm. NewSpring Franchise announced that it acquired the Pennsylvania-based brand with an assist from Free Fenix, a Charlotte firm that bills itself as a “hybrid venture company.” Duck Donuts has more than 100 locations across the U.S., including at least 21 in North Carolina.

A five-acre, mixed-use residential complex, which would be four stories high near Crabtree Valley Mall with 250 units, is receiving pushback from numerous Raleigh residents. They have dubbed the project, planned at the intersection of Philcrest Dive and Lead Mine Road, “Lead Mine Tower.” In March, the Raleigh Planning Commission voted to recommend the project. The Raleigh City Council will review the vote on May 4.

Giorgios Bakatsias, one of the Southeast’s most acclaimed restaurateurs, will introduce his new concept, called East End Bistrot, to $30 million adaptive reuse project East End Market in Raleigh. The new restaurant will have a romantic bistro-style atmosphere with gardens and will join other restaurants, shops and office spaces that are replacing an existing 67,400-square-foot warehouse in the neighborhood just east of Five Points. East End Bristrot will be Bakatsias’ 12th restaurant in the Triangle.

Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center’s $450 million care tower in Winston-Salem is expected to be completed by the end of 2025. It will include an upgraded emergency department, state-of-the-art operating rooms, enhanced adult intensive care units and an additional roof-top helipad. In March, the health care provider announced plans for a $30 million outpatient children’s center in the Triad, along with a second medical school campus in Charlotte scheduled for 2024.

Wilmington local brewer TRU Colors received an undisclosed equity investment from Chicago-based Molson Coors, which will help the N.C. business accelerate its growth. It will involve distribution of TRU Colors’ new brew this summer. The Wilmington company led by George Taylor has about 65 employees, including 50 gang members, as part of a commitment to curb violence and promote community unity. Molson Coors will also advise the brewery on marketing and other strategies.

Bank of America profit more than doubled to $7.56 billion, or 86 cents per share, in the first quarter and beat Wall Street estimates of 66 cents. The Charlotte-based company released reserves of $2.7 billion that  it had set aside to cover potential coronavirus loan losses.

 Durham-based BioCryst Pharmaceuticals pharmaceutical is set to receive a $15 million payment from its Japanese partner after receiving approval for an oral drug intended to treat a swelling disorder. The  Japanese National Health Insurance System approved the addition of the company’s Orladeyo to its price list.  Torii Pharmaceutical of Japan partnered with BioCryst in November 2019 in a $44 million deal.

Clayton-based home builder Riverwild received approval from town officials for a 726-residence community in the fast-growing Johnston County city. It’s on nearly 300 acres on the eastern edge of Riverwood Golf Club. Plans call for 432 single-family lots, 74 townhome lots and 220 apartments. Reid Smith is CEO of Riverwild.

Davidson, the affluent college town in north Mecklenburg County, did not lose any local businesses because of the impact of the pandemic, according to local town officials. Business owners increased their social media presence, while restaurants shifted to offer more pick-up and outdoor dining service.

Lotus Bakeries is seeking $1.2 million from Alamance County to expand its manufacturing facility in Mebane. Plans call for 86 new jobs with an average salary of $43,510. The county government has previously provided two rounds of incentives totaling nearly $1.8 million. The Alamance county board will hold a public hearing on April 19 to discuss the expansion.

Partners in Progress, the economic development organization of Moore County, recruited Natalie Dean Hawkins as executive director. Hawkins has served as the assistant village manager of Pinehurst since 2005 and resided in Moore County since 1995. She will succeed Pat Corso, who is stepping down in May.

Stephanie Elliot, a 45-year-old from Fayetteville, has been accused of using fake names and business to secure government contracts for services ranging from military supplies to prison food without delivering the goods specified in the orders. Federal prosecutors argue that Elliot has instead used the money from the contracts for vacations and personal shopping. Elliot has been indicted on 26 counts of wire fraud and has secured $2.2 million over more than a decade of fraud, prosecutors allege.

Polykemi AB, a Swedish manufacturer of plastic compounds, will build its first U.S. production facility in the Gastonia Technology Park. The facility is estimated to cost $11.8 million and bring 22 new jobs with an average annual salary of $59,132. The company will receive a performance-based grant of $50,000 from the One North Carolina Fund and a matching grant from the local government if job and capital targets are met.

Cary’s Epic Games completed a $1 billion funding round that valued the company at $28.7 billion, compared with a valuation of about $18 billion last July. Among the dozen-plus investors was Sony, which has now put $450 million into the company controlled by CEO Tim Sweeney. Epic will use the investment to accelerate its Fornite, Rocket League and Falls Guy projects.

According to a confidential document, Bernhard Capital Partners’s proposal to manage Fayetteville’s water, sewer and electric utilities could provide more than $750 million to the city through a 30-year concession agreement, according to a document obtained by The Raleigh News & Observer.  It refers to a 30-year concession agreement between the Baton Rouge, La.-based private equity firm and the state’s sixth-biggest city. Bernhard Capital’s Jeff Jenkins says that the $750 million figure is outdated and probably understated.

Pipeline Plastics Holdings plans to open a new production facility in Fair Bluff, creating 44  jobs. The pressure-pipe manufacturer will invest $4.6 million in the Columbus County facility.  Fair Bluff suffered heavy flooding damage during Hurricane Florence.

The Charlotte Area Transit System is looking to partner with Duke Energy to put 18 electric buses on the road by 2022 in a pilot program. CATS has committed to buying six buses for $7.4 million, while . buying another 12 buses at an average price of $900,000 would cost $10.8 million. Councilor Julie Eiselt says she expects federal subsidies to cover 80% of the project’s cost.

North Carolina firearms purchases have risen, partly due to federal stimulus payments, according to an analysis of FBI data by the Charlotte Observer. The agency performed more background checks on N.C. gun buyers in March than previous months.

Secmation, a fast-growing cybersecurity company in Research Triangle Park, is partnering with the N.C. State University Department of Computer Science and the Secure Computing Institute’s Cybersecurity Initiative to expand research and education programs for cybersecurity professionals.

Fayetteville City Council approved nearly $600,000 for the new Segra Stadium, part of a downtown redevelopment effort that includes a parking deck, hotel and offices. The stadium, which is being built by Michigan-based construction company Barton Malow, was originally estimated to cost $33 million, but is now valued at $41.3 million.

The YMCA of Greater Charlotte received $18 million from billionaire philanthropist MacKenzie Scott to help address poverty, health disparities and economic mobility. Scott, the ex-wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, announced the gift last year, but the YMCA didn’t disclose the amount until recently. More than a dozen other N.C. institutions received money from Scott, including $45 million for N.C. A&T State University and $30 million for Winston-Salem State University.

Berry Global is investing $70 million in expanding its Benson plant, a project that will add 63 new jobs. The company produces plastic packaging and nonwoven fabrics, including disinfectant wipes. It has operated in Benson since the 1960s and is the town’s largest employer. The new jobs will pay $15,000 above the Johnston County average.

Platinum Corral, Golden Corral’s second largest franchisee, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization and is closing 16 of its 28 locations. The Jacksonville-based company owns franchisees of the buffet restaurant chain in several states. The bankruptcy lists debts at nearly $50 million. Raleigh-based Golden Corral is the nation’s largest buffet operator.

New Jersey-based Gusmer Enterprises plans to invest $38 million in a new 135,000-square-foot plant at Trivium Corporate Center in Hickory and add 73 jobs over the next few years. The average salary will be about $44,000. The company makes liquid filtration and fermentation products for beer, wine and other industries.

Artificial intelligence startup Pryon was named as one of 100 of the world’s most promising AI companies out of 6,000 applicants, according to market research company. They were the only North Carolina company to make the list. The company was founded in 2017 and released its first product, a natural language processing platform, in February. Former IBM manager Igor Jablokov, a UNC Charlotte MBA graduate, is the company’s CEO.

MyComputerCareer, a Raleigh-based IT training school,  plans a 20-acre development that may add more than 200 jobs in Holly Springs. Plans call for office and retail space, apartments and a 1,000-seat performing arts center. Raleigh’s Capital Associates and affordable housing developer DHIC are leading the project, which won town council approval.

Amazon has confirmed its plans for three new facilities in the Charlotte area. The company will open two delivery stations in Charlotte and a fulfillment center in Pineville later this year. The latter location at Carolina Logistics Park is being developed by Beacon Partners and is expected to employ hundreds of people in a space of more than 1 million square feet.

Forestry management company Active Energy Group’s Lumberton wood pellet burning plant is set to begin operations in the coming week. The facility, called Active Energy Renewable Power, will be the base of the United Kingdom-based company’s biomass processing operations. Active Energy says that their product, CoalSwitch, reduces CO2 emissions by replacing coal with wood. Environmentalists criticize the use of lumber to create energy.

According to the National Association of Realtors, Jacksonville and Fayetteville have an unusually low supply of available homes for sale relative to demand, ranking among the top five nationally by that measure. Jacksonville and Fayetteville have pending sales-to-active supply ratios of 5:1 and 4.6:1, respectively. Any ratio above 1 means that on any given day, demand is higher than available supply. Greenville also ranks in the top ten nationally with a ratio of 3.8.

CorVista Health has closed a $65 million Series C round. Jointly based in Cary and Toronto, Ontario, the company formerly known as Analytics 4 Life plans to use the funds to fuel the development and commercialization of its non-invasive diagnostic system to assess for heart disease. The new funding brings the total amount raised to nearly $100 million.

Greensboro-based managed-service provider Dynamic Quest acquired Alabama’s IT 4 the Planet. Financial details were not disclosed. Founded by chief executive Javier Gomez in 2000, Dynamic offers information technology and cloud services to enterprises and businesses, and has satellite offices in Winston-Salem, Cary, Atlanta, and Clark, Philippines.

Greensboro’s Wet’n Wild Emerald Pointe is reopening on May 29 after the longest closure in the water park’s 36-year history because of the pandemic. The park says it is hiring as many as 600 seasonal workers. It is owned by Palace Entertainment, which operates 21 venues in 10 states.

Charlotte-based computer software company Levvel was acquired by Endava, a London-based tech-services provider. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed. There will be no reduction in workforce, and local leaders will remain in place.

ROI Industries, which operates as ROI Machinery & Automation, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, estimating its assets at approximately $377,000. The specialty manufacturer attributed the situation to “historical debts and the impact of the COVID pandemic.” The company was founded by Schmalz veteran Kevin Saylor in 2006.

Mayor Vi Lyles says Queen City business leaders are willing to foot half the tab for an economic development study to help determine how best to route a proposed light-rail line through downtown Charlotte. The Silver Line would span 26 miles east to west and is one of the cornerstone projects in a proposed transit and mobility expansion estimated to cost $8 billion to $12 billion.

American Emergency Vehicles has centralized its operations and manufacturing to a single, 35-acre campus in Jefferson. The new complex will allow expansion and increase production capacity. The company estimates that it builds nearly one quarter of all ambulances available on the market.

Syngenta saw $23.1 billion in sales in 2020, a 5% increase from the year prior. In March, the company announced that its 650 jobs and $70 million payroll will remain at its U.S. headquarters in Greensboro and included plans to overhaul its facilities just off Interstate 85.

Raleigh developer HM Partners and Charlotte developer Beacon Partners have announced plans for Beacon Commerce Park in Garner, across the street from the Amazon distribution center, calling for more than 670,000 square feet of industrial space in two phases. The first phase is expected to begin in the next few weeks, and the second phase will start next year.

Incentives have been approved for four manufacturers — Blum, Husky Rack & Wire, Unox, and Spantek Expanded Metal — that are investing millions of dollars to enhance their operations in Lincoln County. Three of the manufacturers will receive county incentive grants spanning five years. The fourth manufacturer received a seven-year grant.

Duke Energy’s Green Source Advantage in North Carolina continues its success at helping large energy users expand solar energy. Wells Fargo is the latest customer, joining the city of Charlotte, Duke University and Bank of America, among other previous users. Wells Fargo will purchase more than 58 megawatts of solar capacity from the Blackburn Solar project in Catawba County; the plant will be developed, owned and operated by a subsidiary of NextEra Energy Resources and is expected to come online in 2022, offsetting about 50% of the bank’s energy usage in N.C.

As its merger with Sentara Health grows closer, Cone Health named Mandy Eaton as chief operating officer and Marlon Priest as chief clinical officer. Eaton will oversee the day-to-day operations of Cone Health and its 13,000 employees, while Priest will be responsible for clinical operations that saw more than 840,000 patient visits last year. The merger, expected to be completed by mid-2021, will create an organization of 17 hospitals and $11 billion in assets.

Asheville-based health-technology company EliteHRV raised $4.5 million. The company, which started in 2017, utilizes a web-based platform that provides heart rate variability metrics and other health insights to users. It plans to use the funds to deploy new technology.

The 4,000-square-foot, six-bedroom oceanfront home on Wilmington’s South Lumina Avenue sold for a record $6 million in March, the area’s most prolific month ever for luxury sales. The region’s most expensive home sale record was broken twice near the end of 2020.

After 15 years of planning, a group of longtime Raleigh developers and real estate firms is moving ahead with plans for a new residential community on Oberlin Road. Grubb Ventures, Williams Realty & Building Co. and Clancy & Theys Construction announced makeover plans for Budleigh East, on the site of the existing Country Club Homes community. Plans for the 20-acre site include 23 single-family homes, 73 townhomes and condominiums, 14 cottages, a four-story apartment building and a retirement community.

Charlotte-based Bank of America says the $1 trillion pledge is the industry’s largest environmental financial commitment to date. The initiative focuses on a variety of efforts including low-carbon energy, energy efficiency, transportation, water conservation, and land use and waste. Since launching the initiative in 2007, BofA has put more than $200 billion into climate-related efforts.