CHARLOTTE – Wachovia Corp. (NYSE: WB) today announced that many current SouthTrust retail customers will see new checking, savings, money market and other deposit accounts starting March 7 as part of the merger with Wachovia.

CHARLOTTE – Further demonstrating its commitment to the retirement business, Wachovia Retirement Services today announced that it is expanding its services to emerging businesses with 401(k) plan assets ranging from $500,000 to $3 million.

CHARLOTTE – Wachovia Corp. (NYSE: WB) has reported record fourth quarter 2004 net income of $1.45 billion, or 95 cents per share, compared with $1.1 billion, or 83 cents per share, in the fourth quarter of 2003.

BEDMINSTER, N.J. – Verizon Wireless announced today that it has signed a definitive agreement with Urban Comm-North Carolina to purchase PCS spectrum licenses from Urban Comm-North Carolina in 10 North Carolina markets for $68.5 million. The purchase is expected to close around mid-year.

WAKE FOREST – Sprint announced today an agreement to offer exclusive TigerWoods.com mobile content to its Sprint PCS Vision customers. The two-year deal makes Sprint the sole provider of TigerWoods.com content for mobile phones in the United States.

SPRING LAKE – Sprint (NYSE: FON) announced today that it has signed an agreement with Anderson Creek Partners, LP to bring state-of-the-art telecommunications and video services utilizing fiber-to-the-home technology to each home in Anderson Creek Club, a 1,700-acre master-planned community.

ROCKINGHAM – One hundred and eighty parcels of land in Richmond County were recently sold at public auction for
approximately $217,000.

FAYETTEVILLE – US Airways will again offer regional jet service at Fayetteville Regional Airport when the airline starts flying seven daily trips March 6 using 50- and 70-passenger jets and only one flight using a turboprop.

SANFORD – The Pantry, Inc. (Nasdaq: PTRY), the leading independently operated convenience store chain in the southeastern United States, today announced financial results for its first fiscal quarter ended Dec. 30, 2004.

FAYETTEVILLE – The North Carolina Military Business Center and Fayetteville Technical Community College today announced the selection of AngelouEconomics of Austin, Texas, to provide the defense industries Gap Analysis study for the NCMBC.

FAYETTEVILLE – Methodist College has been awarded a $550,000 challenge grant from The Kresge Foundation toward an addition to its Science Building, which will consist of state-of-the-art laboratories for biology and chemistry.

RALEIGH – State Commerce Secretary Jim Fain announced that Sanford R. Jordan, Jr., former vice president for economic development at Progress Energy, is the North Carolina Department of Commerce’s director of business recruitment.

SANFORD – Bobby Russell, human resources manager for Biolex Inc. in Pittsboro, has been elected president of the Central Carolina Society for Human Resource Management for this year.

GREENSBORO –Furniture manufacturers in the United States have permanently lost the ability to compete globally based on price and quality and to survive must act quickly and boldly using the competitive advantages that still remain, according to a report issued by Anderson Bauman Tourtellot Vos & Company, a turnaround management firm, and ALTMA Group.

ASHEBORO – FNB Corp. (NASDAQ: FNBN), the holding company for First National Bank and Trust Company and Dover Mortgage Company, today announced its financial results for the fourth quarter of 2004.

RALEIGH – First Citizens BancShares Inc. (Nasdaq: FCNCA), which has a large presence in the Sandhills, reports earnings for the year ending Dec. 31 of $74.8 million, compared to $75.2 million for 2003, a reduction of $344,000 or 0.5 percent, according to Lewis R. Holding, chairman of the board.

FAYETTEVILLE – The Fayetteville City Council has endorsed the proposal for the Festival Park Plaza building, a $5.8 million mixed-use project that is expected to create 45 new jobs and increase the city and Cumberland County’s tax base by more than $5 million.

PINEHURST – Gov. Mike Easley will serve as honorary chair of the 2005 U.S. Open at Pinehurst, resort officials announced today.

CARY – Crescent Financial Corporation (Nasdaq: CRFN), parent company of Crescent State Bank, today announced unaudited net income for the year ended Dec. 31, 2004, of $2,333,000, reflecting an increase of 41 percent over net income of $1,655,000 for the year ended Dec. 31, 2003.

SPRING LAKE – Sprint (NYSE: FON) announced today that it has signed an agreement with Anderson Creek Partners, LP to bring state-of-the-art telecommunications and video services utilizing fiber-to-the-home technology to each home in Anderson Creek Club, a 1,700-acre master-planned community.

RALEIGH – North Carolina community colleges return significantly more money to the state’s economy and to students’ pockets than they take out, according to an independent study released today.

SANFORD – Coastal Federal Credit Union, which has a strong presence in the Triangle, will enter the Sandhills market tomorrow when it officially opens its newest branch in the Northview Crossing Shopping Center on Hawkins Avenue.

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK – Pharmaceutical companies spend an average of 30 percent of the clinical trial timeline recruiting patients to participate in their studies, making it the highest ranked area where the industry can accelerate clinical trials.

MOCKSVILLE -- Bank of the Carolinas (OTC Bulletin Board: BCAR) announced that it has completed the sale of 835,811 shares of its common stock at a price of $13.25 per share.

GREENSBORO – Carolina Bank Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq: CLBH) announced it had achieved a banking milestone at the end of the fourth quarter last year. As of Dec. 31, 2004, the company has assets in excess of $311 million.

FAYETTEVILLE – Advanced Internet Technologies has taken the first step toward going public by choosing Bank of America as its financing partner.

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK – The Council for Entrepreneurial Development today announced a series of bi-weekly lunchtime workshops to meet the start-up needs of current and potential entrepreneurs.

WINSTON-SALEM – BB&T Corporation (NYSE: BBT) reported today earnings for the fourth quarter and the full year 2004. For the fourth quarter, net income totaled $416.9 million, or 75 cents per diluted share, compared with $305.0 million, or 55 cents per diluted share, earned during the fourth quarter of 2003.