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Senators, ships and a Campbell prof

North Carolina’s resident maritime-history expert, Campbell University professor Sal Mercogliano, urged members of a U.S. Senate subcommittee to get behind legislation that could revitalize America’s shipbuilding industry. The so-called SHIPS Act, he said, promises “the vision and framework needed to rebuild our shipbuilding base, re-establish a robust [U.S.-flagged] merchant fleet...

By Ray Gronberg

October 31, 2025

Pension talks

The unfunded liability of the primary retirement fund for state employees rose to about $12 billion by the end of 2024, about a 7.3% increase from the year before. For fiscal 2026-27, this keeps the Teachers’ and State Employees’ Retirement System on track to ask legislators to support the fund...

By Ray Gronberg

October 31, 2025

Charlotte housing: moving on up (in price)

My boss, Dave Mildenberg, reports that an annual assessment of the Charlotte area’s housing market shows that supply is catching up with demand, prices are moderating, but finding affordable homes remains a major challenge. And the region’s growth is off the charts. For the seventh year, UNC Charlotte’s Childress Klein...

By Welcome

October 30, 2025

Paying for roads

The fact that so much of the revenue the Division of Motor Vehicles brings in goes to financing the work of its parent organization is flummoxing legislators as much as it does auditors. DMV is under the N.C. Department of Transportation’s umbrella, and according to State Auditor Dave Boliek’s aides,...

By Ray Gronberg

October 30, 2025

NC FREE’s rankings

The latest N.C. FreeEnterprise Foundation legislative scorecard is out, and if you’ve seen Republicans tweeting this week about their showing on it, well, there’s a reason. In the Senate, the chamber’s 30 Republicans held down the top 30 slots in the ranking, with Senate leader Phil Berger appearing in the...

By Ray Gronberg

October 29, 2025

A trophy for Henderson County

Recruiters have used a $6.1 million package of state and local incentives to convince a Michigan-based car-parts market to build a new factory in Henderson County. BorgWarner is pledging in return to invest $74.9 million in the project and create at least 193 new jobs by 2028. The 220,000-square-foot facility...

By Ray Gronberg

October 29, 2025

Cash and credit unions

Advocates for the state’s credit unions are speaking up in favor of a new bill in Congress that would loosen some of the existing reporting rules that federal prosecutors use to fight money laundering. Sponsored among others by South Carolina U.S. Sen. Tim Scott, the proposed “STREAMLINE Act” would raise the...

By Ray Gronberg

October 29, 2025

Stein in Tokyo

Gov. Josh Stein and two of the state’s top business recruiters are in Tokyo this week for the latest Southeast U.S./Japan conference. Beyond the governor, North Carolina’s delegation includes Commerce Secretary Lee Lilley and Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina CEO Chris Chung. “From electric vehicles to aerospace, from advanced...

By Ray Gronberg

October 28, 2025

Power places

Retail electricity prices in North Carolina have declined slightly over the past five years in inflation-adjusted terms, but not as much as they have in our next-door neighbors, a new study says. Researchers at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory say average inflation-adjusted prices here dropped by a tenth of a...

By Ray Gronberg

October 28, 2025

Distribution centers in Burlington and Greensboro

There have been a couple of major incentive deals announced in recent days, the larger of the two being one in Burlington and Guilford County that’s promising to bring 505 jobs with it. Ahold Delhaize, the Netherlands-based parent of Food Lion, is promising an $860 million investment toward a new...

By Ray Gronberg

October 27, 2025

Legal aid

House members are pressing the N.C. State Bar to put tighter controls on which groups get funding from a grant program it administers. Legislators earlier this year passed a law forbidding the bar’s “IOLTA” program from issuing grants for the entirety of fiscal 2025-26. The group normally funds organizations like...

By Ray Gronberg

October 24, 2025

NC Ports update

The State Ports Authority incurred a $6.3 million operating loss in fiscal 2024-25, according to financial statements released Wednesday by State Auditor Dave Boliek’s office. But the authority nonetheless improved its overall net position by $51.2 million over its showing from the year before. That came thanks in no small...

By Ray Gronberg

October 23, 2025

Brockman update

House leaders are in the process of putting together a select committee to ponder the legislative future of Rep. Cecil Brockman, D-Guilford, who faces criminal charges accusing him of statutory sexual assault. Brockman, 41, has faced calls for his resignation from both sides of the aisle since the allegations against...

By Ray Gronberg

October 22, 2025

Justices shield Kinston fuel company

State Supreme Court justices have tried to resolve a dispute about the control of a Kinston-based fuel supplier in a way that keeps its doors open. Their 6-0 decision found that a 1998 shareholder buyout agreement between the owners of Cherry Oil — now Cherry Energy — offers a way...

By Ray Gronberg

October 22, 2025

Blockchain and “stablecoin” enterprises

N.C. House members have begun preparing for a future round of legislation they hope will make North Carolina an even bigger center than it already is for blockchain and “stablecoin” enterprises. The chamber’s new Select Committee on Blockchain and Digital Assets held its first meeting on Monday, hearing from a...

By Ray Gronberg

October 22, 2025