CHARLOTTE – Wachovia Bank scored higher than its banking industry peers for the fourth consecutive year in the University of Michigan Business School’s American Customer Satisfaction Index.

CHARLOTTE – More than one-quarter of consumers may be overly optimistic about how well they are planning and saving for retirement, according to a Wachovia Retirement Fitness study.

CHARLOTTE – Wachovia Securities has announced plans to combine its Equity Capital Markets and Equity Linked Products units into a newly formed Equity Division, positioning the firm to accelerate the growth and profitability of one of its core corporate and investment banking businesses.

CHARLOTTE – Wachovia Corporation (NYSE: WB) today announced that its board of directors approved the company’s regular quarterly cash dividend on its common stock of 46 cents per share.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The Victory Junction Gang Camp, which is located in Randolph County, got off to a strong start at Daytona today, receiving a donation of $250,000 from NASCAR Nextel Cup driver Jason Leffler and a matching donation from Leffler’s new sponsor, FedEx.

SANFORD – The Pantry, Inc. (Nasdaq: PTRY), the leading independently operated convenience store chain in the southeastern U.S., today announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire D & D Oil Co., Inc., of Rome, Ga., which operates 53 convenience stores under the Cowboys banner.

SANFORD – The Sixth Circuit of the United States Court of Appeals, responding to a request by Lexmark International, Inc. for a re-hearing in its case against Static Control Components, ruled against the Lexington, Ky.-based company.

DUNN – New Century Bancorp (OTC Bulletin Board: NCBC), the holding company for New Century Bank and New Century Bank of Fayetteville, reported net income for the year ended Dec. 31, 2004, of $2.1 million, compared to $906,000 for the same period in 2003, with most of the income growth coming in the fourth quarter of 2004.

FAYETTEVILLE – The North Carolina Military Business Center has selected CMT Solutions of Fayetteville to provide staff for its Business Assistance Office.

RALEIGH – Secretary Jim Fain announced today that the N.C. Department of Commerce has become a sponsor of an initiative to promote hydrogen fuel-powered railway technology.

CHARLOTTE – FirstHealth Moore Regional Hospital in Pinehurst is one of four hospitals in North Carolina ranked among the Top 5 percent in the nation, according to Business North Carolina magazine’s annual ratings of the top hospitals in the state.

DUNN – Trustees of the Duke Endowment have recently awarded a grant of $17,592 to Betsy Johnson Regional’s Children’s Health Asthma Management Program.

FAYETTEVILLE – The Downtown Development Corporation has released the findings of several studies on the economic impacts that would be generated by the proposed mixed-use urban project in the 300 Block of Hay Street in downtown Fayetteville.

RALEIGH – Speaker Pro Tempore Richard Morgan has announced a $177,300 grant to improve the quality of dental care in Moore, Montgomery and Hoke counties for disadvantaged children and increase by 50 percent the number of patients who can visit the FirstHealth Dental Care Center in Southern Pines each year.

CHARLOTTE – Cingular Wireless, the country’s largest wireless provider, announced that it installed more than 200 new cell sites throughout North and South Carolina in 2004 as part of a $190 million commitment to expand the coverage and enhance the performance for customers using its ALLOVER network.

WINSTON-SALEM – In the midst of a budget shortfall, Gov. Mike Easley has suggested that the North Carolina legislature impose a “significant” increase in the smoker-paid state cigarette excise tax.

CHARLOTTE -- For the third consecutive quarter, economic recovery in the Carolinas commercial construction industry continued on a steady course.

RALEIGH, N.C. – Capital Bank Corporation (Nasdaq: CBKN), the parent company of Capital Bank, has reported that its annual 2004 earnings were $5,311,000, compared to $994,000 for the year ended Dec. 31, 2003.

RALEIGH – The North Carolina Rural Economic Development Center today announced the final round of funding from the state’s 1998 Clean Water Bonds – an $800 million infrastructure package crafted by state leaders to create jobs and clean up the environment in rural and distressed areas of North Carolina.

PITTSBORO – Biolex, Inc., a privately held protein therapeutics company, today announced the signing of a new agreement with Medarex, Inc., an antibody therapeutics company, to create a commercial line for an undisclosed Medarex monoclonal antibody using the Biolex LEX System.

WINSTON-SALEM – The board of directors of BB&T Corporation (NYSE: BBT) today declared the 2005 second quarter dividend of 35 cents per share, a 9.4 percent increase over the 32 cents paid in the second quarter of 2004.