The North Carolina Port at Morehead City is the county's most visible industry. Situated on the east end of Morehead City, the 116-acre main facility is just four miles from the open sea. The port includes much of Radio Island, the body of land on the southeast side of the Morehead City-Beaufort high-rise bridge. With a 45-foot deep entrance channel and equally deep bulk berths, the Morehead terminal can accommodate the biggest ships in the industry. Its turning basin is one of the deepest in any East Coast port.

Established in 1945, the Port of Morehead offers a foreign trade zone and direct rail service through Norfolk Southern Corporation. It is one of two state-owned ports; the other is in Wilmington. In 1997 the General Assembly appropriated $8 million for capital improvements to the port, including a new, state-of-the-art bulk warehouse for fertilizers and a 300,000 square foot berthing facility on Radio Island.

Driving along the highway, you will probably notice the mountains of wood chips piled high in the port. The chips are brought to Morehead City on trucks and train cars by Weyerhaeuser and Canal Wood Corporation. These hardwood chips, used for the production of fine quality paper, have been exported to Japan since 1989. However, early in 1997 the port opened a new wood-chip storage facility capable of handling soft wood chips. The soft chips are "commercial thinnings" of pine timber owned by Weyerhaeuser. This new facility increases the port's wood-chip storage capacity by 50 percent and means an additional six ships and an additional $500,000 a year in revenue for the port.

Several other important customers rely on the port too. PCS Phosphate (Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan) exports phosphate-based materials throughout the world and utilizes the Intracoastal Waterway to barge these materials to the port from the company's mine in Aurora, North Carolina. In terms of tonnage, PCS is the port's largest single user. Two years ago, a new customer -- Waterman Steamship Co. -- chose the Morehead Port as its East Coast load center. Waterman is a barge line running to and from the Far East. It's best known for importing rubber for Goodyear. Locally, much of the rubber is taken to the two North Carolina plants -- one in Fayetteville and one in Reidsville. Morehead Port is also the place of embarkation and debarkation for the Second Division of the U.S. Marine Corps at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.

Atlantic Veneer Corporation in Beaufort is the largest manufacturer of hardwood veneers in North America. With manufacturing facilities on three continents, the company produces lumber, plywood and edge banding. It exports about half of its products. Atlantic Veneer also operates a local retail outlet, which is an important source of lumber and hardwoods for boat builders and the area's active cabinet-making trade. With more than 500 area employees, this corporation is the county's largest manufacturing employer.

Veneer Technologies, a sister corporation to Atlantic Veneer, has operated a plant in Newport since 1993. It makes three main products: face veneers, flexible-sheet veneers and edge banding. Veneer Technologies employs over 100 people and sells its products throughout the U.S. and all over the world.

Hankison International is a manufacturer of compressed-air dryers and filters, which are used in a variety of industries, such as furniture finishing and painting. In 1995 the company substantially expanded its plant located in Newport on N.C. 24. The company has operated in Carteret County for 20 years and currently employs 170 people. Several new positions were created in 1997 because of the success of Hankison's new filtration and refrigerated air-dryer product lines.

Bally Refrigerated Boxes Inc. is one of the Crystal Coast's newest manufacturing firms. Located off U.S. 70 in Morehead City, Bally makes walk-in refrigerated units, coolers and freezers. Bally can manufacture custom cooler units ranging from six to 28 feet high. Its freezers are designed to be stacked to create coolers as much as 100 feet high and as big as a football field. Hospitals, restaurant chains, restaurant equipment dealers and refrigeration wholesalers comprise most of Bally's customers and about 40 percent of its business is exported. In 1996 the company added 42,000 square feet to its plant to serve as a warehouse and shipping area to help meet shipping demands. The company employs more than 200 people.

Several apparel companies have their headquarters on the Crystal Coast. Cross Creek Apparel in Newport make Cross Creek Apparel and Russell Athletic Wear. Creative Outlet Inc., a family-owned and -operated firm in Morehead City, makes all kinds of apparel for the healthcare industry -- hospital gowns, scrubs, bed sheets, pajamas -- that are sold all over the nation. Creative Outlet also has retail stores in Morehead, Kinston and Fayetteville. Cross Creek employs 250 people and Creative Outlet has about 90 employees.

Of Carteret County's 90,000 acres of farmland, 44,000 acres make up Open Grounds Farm. The farm tills about 35,000 of these acres and it's one of the largest farms east of the Mississippi River. Open Grounds produces corn and wheat for the poultry- and hog-feed industries, soybeans for in-state processing plants and cotton for North Carolina gin mills. Owned by an Italian company, the farm stretches from Merrimon Road outside Beaufort east to U.S. 70 near Sea level. You can get a look at the farm by checking in at the main gate. Permission to enter is most often granted, although visits are not recommended on Sundays or during busy planting or harvesting times.

Beaufort Fisheries at the east end of Front Street opened in 1934 and is called the oldest existing industry in the area. Where once there were many, this is now the only menhaden plant operating in the state. Menhaden, an oily, high-protein fish, are caught by company vessels and brought to the docks along Taylor's Creek to be processed into fish meal, oil and solubles. Fish meal is used as a protein component in many animal feeds. Fish oil is used in margarine, cosmetics and paints. Fish solubles are high-protein by-products also used in the feed market. During processing, a unique smell can travel through the seaside town. Locals, particularly the older folks who remember when fish plants were the biggest businesses in town, call it "the smell of money." Annual production at Beaufort Fisheries is estimated at 10,000 tons of meal and 300,000 to 450,000 gallons of oil. Today the company has about 75 employees and operates three Menhaden boats.

Parker Marine Enterprises Inc. specializes in the construction of fiberglass fishing and pleasure boats. The company plant is located on N.C. 101 outside Beaufort. Boats are sold through authorized dealers. Parker has about 80 employees.

Another boat-building enterprise is Jarrett Bay Boat Works Inc. Last year was a year of big demand for this Down East business, which was founded in 1986. It specializes in custom-built sport fishing boats and yachts, and its most popular models are in the mid-50-foot range. The company is located in Marshallberg and employs 65 people.

There are also a number of large seafood dealers in the county. Two of the largest are Luther Smith & Son Inc. and Clayton Fulcher Seafood. Both of these family-owned and -operated businesses operate from fish houses in the Down East community of Atlantic. Smith, which has been in business since 1940, plies several steel-hulled trawlers in waters up and down the East Coast and has a second fish house in Beaufort. Fulcher buys seafood directly from independent commercial fishermen; it also owns a fish house on Harkers Island.

Aquaculture and mariculture are exciting new forms of agriculture being promoted by the state. This production provides a dependable, year-round supply of seafood for wholesale and retail markets. Carolina Cultured Shellfish is one of the region's largest aquaculture operations and has facilities on Harkers Island. Most of the aquaculture businesses in Carteret County are small and family owned. Read our Close-up in this chapter to find out more on soft-shell crab mariculture.