Business

A Charlotte-based bank started by former Bank of America executives is being sold. Capital Bank will become part First Horizon of Memphis, Tennessee, in a $2.2 billion-dollar deal announced Thursday morning.

An independent report’s findings have spurred Wells Fargo to claw back an additional $75 million in compensation from two executives over the banks’ use of fake customer accounts. But the investigation also shows the scandal goes much deeper and has gone on for far longer than previously known.

Business leaders in the region's immigrant communities say President Trump's tougher line on immigration is having a chilling effect on businesses and the broader economy. Fear and uncertainty are keeping some shoppers home and threatening to dampen investment in immigrant businesses - one of the fastest growing parts of the economy.

Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan sees a lot of optimism over the U.S. economy following the election of President Donald Trump. But at a Charlotte World Affairs Council lunch Wednesday, he said North Carolina continues to lose out because of House Bill 2, the 2016 law that limits protections for LGBT people.

Corning Inc. says strong demand for optical fiber and cable is bringing another expansion in North Carolina. The company said Monday it will spend $176 million in Catawba and Cabarrus counties and create 410 jobs over the next two years.   

Manufacturers are waiting to see if President Donald Trump follows through on threats to slap new import fees on U.S. companies with factories in Mexico. That includes Charlotte-based Nucor, the largest U.S. steelmaker, which says it’s moving ahead with a plant in central Mexico.  

Eastway Drive  winds through Charlotte, N.C. for miles. At one end, the road is dotted with modest apartments, laundromats, and small retail complexes. 

The eastern part of the city is mixed-income, but with pockets of deep poverty, explained Brenda Tindal, a historian with the Levine Museum of the New South. The Grier Heights neighborhood, for example, has a median income of less than $17,000. 

Businesses around Charlotte saw sales drop during last week's protests over the shooting death of Keith Scott. But now that a curfew has been lifted and the weekend is approaching, they're hoping for a rebound.

Violence during the first night of protests uptown last Wednesday left some hotels, stores and restaurants, including those around the EpiCentre, with broken windows and other physical damage.

But the week of protests also scared away customers, causing financial damage that most are still recovering from.  

Allegiant Air will add non-stop service from Concord Regional Airport to New Orleans this fall. It will be the discount carrier's first destination outside Florida from the airport east of Charlotte.  

The main purpose of the Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) is simple – provide loans to foreign entities, so they can buy American-made goods.  These loans, in essence, are a way to make American exports more affordable and more competitive.  Since 1945, the bank has operated as an independent agency, created and funded by Congress.

Charlotte will get its first direct intermodal rail connection to the port of Wilmington this fall, when CSX begins the Queen City Express. The service announced this week puts Wilmington in competition with Charleston and other ports that serve Charlotte.