REGIONALREPORT Eastern
What’s on deck for Wilmington?
A bid to bring minor-league baseball to the banks of the Cape Fear River in downtown Wilmington struck out with voters in November, when they rejected the use of public money to build a $37 million stadium for an Atlanta Braves affiliate. Business groups such as Wilmington Downtown Inc. and the Wilmington Chamber of Commerce supported the stadium, saying it would help bring restaurants, hotels, retail stores and other businesses to the northern riverfront. The outcome sends city officials and business leaders to the bullpen for this stretch of the city, which has seen sparse development in recent years.
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Briefs
GREENVILLE — Mayne Pharma Group will acquire specialty-pharmaceuticals company Metrics for $105 million. The Australia-based drugmaker could pay up to $15 million more depending on Metrics’ financial performance for the year that ends in June 2013. It will become a wholly owned subsidiary.
WILMINGTON — Frozen-yogurt chain The Fuzzy Peach signed franchise agreements to add shops in Shallotte and Jacksonville, as well as Rock Hill, Fort Mill and Lake Wylie, S.C. The expansion will give it about 15 locations. It also wants to open stores in Raleigh, Fayetteville, Charlotte, Winston-Salem and Greensboro.
RAEFORD — Unilever will expand its plant here, investing nearly $30 million and adding 21 to its statewide workforce of 320 within three years. The London-based company makes personal-care products, and its Raeford plant makes deodorant. Average annual wage will be $32,965, higher than Hoke County’s average of $24,648.
WILMINGTON — Battleship North Carolina, a decommissioned World War II ship that serves as a monument here, reported its best annual attendance in 10 years, with 216,438 paid visitors for the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30.
WILMINGTON — NBC picked up a full season of episodes for locally filmed Revolution, a Warner Bros. Television sci-fi series based in a post-apocalyptic future. The show employs about 125 full-time workers.