Lydia Thomas  Program Manager, UNCW CIE Lydia Thomas is the recently hired program manager of the University of North Carolina Wilmington’s Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Thomas creates programs for startups. Some examples, she said, are Idea Test Lab, Wilmington Founder’s Roundtable and the Ocean Innovation Conference.  Thomas i ...

Jack Fleming Owner, Socialry Marketing & Scourz Jack Fleming heads up Socialry Marketing, a social media management company. “Scourz has formed from our time on social media,” he said. “It’s a real-time sales lead search and notification service.” Fleming also serves as lead organizer for 1 Million Cups Wilmington, a weekly entrepreneu ...

Brooke Rudd-Gaglie Vice President, Director and Practicing Broker, Margaret Rudd & Associates Inc. Realtors Margaret Rudd & Associates Inc. Realtors is a family-owned and operated real estate firm that opened on March 17, 1981.  “We are a full-service property management department that oversees both long- and short-term rentals as well as a ful ...

Lisa Leath Chief People Officer, Vantaca Vantaca provides software for the community management industry (think HOA managers). Leath oversees human resources, shapes company culture, drives employee engagement and develops talent management strategies that attract, retain and develop talent. Leath also started this month as the Wilmington Chamber of Commerce’s bo ...

Steven Hill Vice president, Talent Pipeline Development Wilmington Chamber of Commerce Hill was named the chamber’s vice president of talent pipeline development in September. He is tasked with helping to bolster the region’s health care workforce through programming and initiatives.   Technology use for communication and education: “Ema ...

Will Baird CEO/Co-founder Boreas Monitoring Solutions Baird’s company is a fertility lab monitoring startup. The Wilmington-based company is a biotech research firm that patented a weight-based system for monitoring liquid nitrogen tanks, commonly used with in vitro fertilization. Favorite apps: Slack – communication with teams; HubSpot – commun ...

Jane Tague SVP, Marketing,  Apiture Tague leads marketing for Wilmington-based Apiture, which provides digital banking solutions to banks and credit unions throughout the U.S. With employees around the country, the most common tech tool Tague uses is Zoom. Online reading habits: “I like the variety in my Apple newsfeed – news, health, food, travel, ...

Holden Bierman  Founder and CEO, Coastal Cool Bierman created his Coastal Cool apparel company using recycled fabrics, breezy materials and tropical styles to make swimwear and ready-to-wear beachwear collections.  The teen entrepreneur says he uses technology daily at the core of his lifestyle brand business. “My industry is e-commerce. I built an aut ...

Heather Wilson Executive Director, Cameron Art Museum Wilson took over as head of Cameron Art Museum this summer. She said her focus is on “community engagement, especially on accessibility (reducing barriers to access), inclusivity and collaboration through partnerships while focusing on presenting the highest quality modern and contemporary art in Southeastern No ...

Demia Avery Podcast Host/Owner, Whatchu’ Doin’ Wilmington Avery describes her podcast as “designed to highlight the positive people, places and things in our beautiful city of Wilmington.” She regularly reads WILMA and the Greater Wilmington Business Journal “for both pleasure and business.” “I love the stories about the women ...