RAEFORD – Unilever United States will invest $10.6 million over the next three years to expand its operations here while adding 25 new jobs.

RALEIGH – For the third year in a row, Progress Energy has been named to the Dow Jones Sustainability North America Index, which lists companies that lead their industries in sustainability – a business approach for managing economic, environmental and social issues.

RALEIGH – Site Selection magazine has named Progress Energy (NYSE: PGN) as a Top Utility for Economic Development for 2006.

WASHINGTON – North Carolina now has 878,411 jobs tied directly to international trade, according to research from Business Roundtable, a Washington, D.C.-based association of 160 chief executive officers of leading U.S. companies.

MOUNT GILEAD – McRae Industries, Inc. (Pink Sheets: MRINA) has declared a dividend of .0825 cents per share on the company’s Class A Common Stock, payable on Sept. 28 to shareholders of record on Sept. 14.

ASHEBORO – FNB United Corp. (NASDAQ: FNBN), parent of CommunityONE Bank, announced continued progress in its integration of recent acquisitions United Financial, Inc., and Integrity Financial, Inc.

ASHEBORO – FNB United Corp. (NASDAQ: FNBN), the holding company for CommunityONE Bank, N.A., today announced that its Board of Directors declared its quarterly cash dividend of 15 cents per share, to be paid Oct. 25, to shareholders of record Oct. 4.

SANFORD – Central Carolina Community College held a groundbreaking ceremony today for its West Harnett Center campus, an 8,500-square-foot facility that is being built on a 15-acre site in the Western Harnett Industrial Park.