MOREHEAD CITY – In the coming months, Trip Ticket reports will go paperless for fish dealers who purchase large quantities of finfish from fishermen.

A new N.C. Marine Fisheries Commission rule requires fish dealers that report annual average landings of greater than 50,000 pounds of finfish for three consecutive calendar years to report landings electronically.

It is one of a slate of new Marine Fisheries Commission rules pertaining to various issues that will go into effect June 1 for coastal North Carolina fishing waters.

RALEIGH – North Carolina’s seasonally adjusted April unemployment rate decreased to 8.9 percent from March’s revised rate of 9.2 percent. The national rate fell to 7.5 percent from March’s 7.6 percent.

North Carolina’s April 2013 unemployment rate was 0.5 of a percentage point lower than a year ago. The number of people employed decreased 4,188 over the month to 4,303,113, and increased 35,026 over the year. The number of people unemployed fell 15,259 over the month to 419,287, and declined 21,843 over the year.

SOUTHPORT — According to an email newsletter distributed by the N.C. Department of Commerce Division of Tourism, Film & Sports Development, last March’s N.C. Governor’s Conference on Tourism in Wilmington led to a Boston Globe article featuring the Town of Southport.

BOLIVIA, N.C. – The recently-formed Brunswick County Small Business Advisory Commission is hosting a public forum for members of the business community to offer insight into ways the county can become a better place to do business.  The forum is set for 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, June 4, 2013 at the Brunswick County Association of REALTORS® building at 101 Stone Chimney Place in Supply.  Members of the business community are invited to share specific issues and challenges they have faced and offer insight into ways the county can solve those issues.

MORRISVILLE, N.C. — Shoddy customer service, redundant questions, disconnected processes and long waits are causing customers to leave brands in droves, according to a new survey commissioned by Redwood Software*, the global provider of Enterprise Process Automation^TM.  The results emphasize that it’s the “little-big problems” that customer-facing companies should be concerned about—the things that may seem inconsequential up front, but build up over time to dramatically change the relationship a customer has with a once-favorite brand.

RALEIGH — The 2012 North Carolina Visitor Profile, which includes a wealth of demographic and spending data, is now available on the N.C. Division of Tourism, Film & Sports Development’s website at no cost.

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. – The Combat Ready Clamp made history Friday when it received new critical indications from the FDA making it the first device of its kind approved to treat unmanageable amputations and pelvic wounds not addressable with standard limb tourniquets.

The Combat Ready Clamp is a vise-like tourniquet now approved for use on all five anatomical junctions where life-threatening hemorrhage can occur in the result of such actions as roadside and terrorist bombings.

RALEIGH — N.C. House Speaker Thom Tillis has re-appointed Rep. Susi Hamilton (D-New Hanover) to the N.C. Travel & Tourism Board.

Additionally, Speaker Tillis appointed the following members to the board:

• Rep. Pat McElraft of Carteret County, vice-chair of the House Appropriations Committee and chair of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Natural and Economic Resources in addition to a real estate broker and technical sales representative
• Chris Valauri of the Valauri Group in Raleigh

According to a recent poll by Rasmussen Reports, voters continue to believe President Obama is friendlier toward big business than small business.  The poll found that 25% of likely voters think the president’s policies are too friendly to big business, up from 19% in late February. Twenty-eight percent (28%) say the president’s policies are too hostile to big business, while 31% believe they’re about right.  Seventeen percent (17%) are not sure.

MOREHEAD CITY – The Shrimp Fishery Management Plan Advisory Committee to the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries will meet at 6 p.m., May 15 at the Craven County Agricultural Extension Building, 300 Industrial Drive, New Bern.

A meeting agenda is below.

For more information, contact division biologist supervisor Trish Murphey at 252-808-8091 or Trish.Murphey@ncdenr.gov or biologist Chris Stewart at 910-796-7370 or Chris.Stewart@ncdenr.gov . You may also contact the Marine Fisheries Commission office at 252-808-8022.

NOAA Fisheries requests public comments on the proposed rule to implement Regulatory Amendment 18 to the Fishery Management Plan for the Snapper-Grouper Fishery of the South Atlantic Region (Regulatory Amendment 18). The South Atlantic Fishery Management Council approved Regulatory Amendment 18 for review by the Secretary of Commerce in March 2013, and the proposed rule will be published in the Federal Register on May 8, 2013.

SUPPLY, N.C. — Brunswick Electric Membership Corporation is awarding two local students Touchstone Energy Sports Camp scholarships to summer basketball camps at two of the state’s largest college campuses.

Clara Elizabeth Tyson of Leland Middle School will attend the N.C. State Women’s Basketball Camp, and D’Kwanshe Stanley of Shallotte Middle School will attend the Roy Williams Carolina Basketball Camp, both on full scholarships from BEMC.  Clara is the daughter of Beth Tyson. D’Kwanshe is the son of LaChella and Joseph Stanley.

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Union-backed shareholder activism has failed to increase shareholder value, according to a new report released last week by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The report, produced by Navigant Consulting, examined all proxy proposals “key-voted” by the AFL-CIO from 2009-2012 and was introduced during a forum on union shareholder activism.

“Unions and their allies are among the most prolific shareholder activists, but the key question is whether this produces any benefit for shareholders,” said Lisa A. Rickard, president of the Chamber’s Workforce Freedom Initiative.  “This report demonstrates that the answer is ‘no’ and shows that politicizing the boardroom hurts the millions of individuals who rely on these investments for retirement.”

RALEIGH, N.C. – Governor Pat McCrory is proclaiming May 4-12, 2013, as Tourism Week in North Carolina, joining destinations across the state to celebrate travel and tourism as a record-breaking industry that is vital to the economic stability and growth of the state. North Carolina ranks as the sixth most visited state in the country.

WILMINGTON, N.C. — Maersk Line is adding port calls in Panama and Costa Rica to its weekly South Atlantic Express (SAE), currently connecting the Port of Wilmington with Central America. Shippers and receivers using Wilmington can now directly access Manzanillo, Panama and Puerto Moin, Costa Rica, in addition to Puerto Cortes, Honduras and Santo Tomas, Guatemala in northern Central America.

RESTON, VA – comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, today released data from the comScore MobiLens service, reporting key trends in the U.S. smartphone industry during the three month average period ending March 2013. Apple ranked as the top smartphone manufacturer with 39 percent OEM market share, while Google Android led as the #1 smartphone platform with 52 percent platform market share.

Smartphone OEM Market Share

WILMINGTON, N.C. — Deborah J. Brasic, MSN, FNP-BC, has joined Lower Cape Fear Hospice & LifeCareCenter as a nurse practitioner in Pender and New Hanover counties.

In this position, Brasic, of Wilmington, provides hospice and palliative care to patients with advanced illness. She is responsible for using expert skills in history taking, physical examination, initiation and interpretation of tests, analysis of data, and the implementation and daily re-evaluation of the plan of care for patients.

SHALLOTTE, N.C. — Lyle Ray King, President of ATMC, has announced that Randy Hardee of Sunset Beach has been appointed to the cooperative’s Board of Directors to serve the remainder of Malcolm Grissett’s term. Mr. Grissett recently retired after 12 years of service.  Mr. Hardee will represent District 2.

A native of Brunswick County, Mr. Hardee is a 1971graduate of Shallotte High School.  In his career, he has been involved in the founding and operation of several successful small businesses, including Randy’s Meat Center.  He is currently the Operations Manager for Smart Air Technology.

RALEIGH, NC – April 11, 2013 – NC Beautiful, a provider of environmental education and beautification opportunities that elevate the quality of life of North Carolinians, has announced this year’s recipients of the organization’s environmental education grants. Eighteen schools were awarded Windows of Opportunity Grants that are available to certified, full-time K-12 teachers in the state of North Carolina.  Several teachers in the Cape Fear region were on the list.

WILMINGTON, N.C. — Area business leaders will gather on Friday, April 19 from 12:00-1:30 at the Wilmington Convention Center at the 146^th Annual Meeting of the Wilmington Chamber of Commerce, to hear from Jay Garner, a leader and innovator in economic development.  He will discuss the characteristics that successful communities in North America have in common as they work to advance their economic vitality.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Chamber of Commerce today praised a decision by the U.S. Supreme Court that limits the global business community’s liability under the Alien Tort Statue (ATS). In its ruling in the case Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum (available here) the Court rejected a scheme by class action trial lawyers to use the ATS as a means of holding global companies liable for alleged violations of international law. The purpose of the ATS, when enacted more than 200 years ago, was to provide non-U.S. nationals access to federal courts for a small number of international claims.

RALEIGH – Lew Ebert, president and CEO of the North Carolina Chamber, a nonpartisan business advocacy organization, has announced that the organization recognized David Hoyle, former N.C. Secretary of Revenue, with its Distinguished Public Service Award and Wendell H. Murphy, previous chairman and CEO of Murphy Family Farms, with its Award for Distinguished Citizenship.  The awards were presented and accepted by each individual in front of an audience of more than 600 business leaders at the North Carolina Chamber’s 71st Annual Meeting on March 27 in Greensboro, N.C.