Improving Business in the Wilmington Region

I-140 Completion Spells Opportunity for Professional Builders Supply

Some employees of Professional Builders Supply weren’t happy when an NC DOT project prompted the company to vacate its longtime location on Military Cutoff Road. “It was convenient for some of our people,” says Troy Wilkerson, Wilmington Market President for the company, which supplies residential construction products across Brunswick, New Hanover, Onslow and Pender counties. “But ultimately, we’ve ended up with a new, bigger facility and logistically it’s going to work out for the better,” says Wilkerson.

The company’s new location sits on 10 acres at U.S. 421 near the intersection with I-140. McKinley Building Corp constructed the 50,000-square-foot facility, with PBS completing its move there last November. The site enables the company to reach its customers more conveniently. “I-140 will definitely help us,” Wilkerson says. “Logistics is a huge part of what we do.”

PBS is among the first companies to move to the community. Others are expected to follow as municipal water and wastewater service is completed there. PBS is using a well, pump and retaining tank for its facility. The company, whose headquarters is in Morrisville, N.C., employs 55 people at its Wilmington location. “We’re a $40 to $50 million operation,” Wilkerson says. PBS’s relocation comes at a time when residential construction activity in the region is showing strength. “The market is not what it was prior to 2008, but it’s still very robust,” he says. “We feel good about the market in general over the next three to five years.”