(Part 5 in a Series)
In 1964, the North Carolina State Ports Authority acquired a large chunk of Radio Island in Morehead City for future development.
Port officials have been waiting, waiting, waiting for the right opportunity to come along.
In February 2024 – some 60 years later – the Ports Authority published a plan to proceed with a project described as a “Multi-Use Terminal” for Radio Island. Details were contained in the State Record of Decision (ROD) document. The price tag was listed as $250-285 million.
As background, Radio Island was created in the 1930s by “spoils” – the sand, silt, soil and organic matter that is removed from the bottom of waterways during dredging, which is a process that clears channels for navigation.
A U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ dredging project at the Morehead City port in 1936 increased the channel depth to 30 feet.
The man-made, 253-acre island is situated between the mainland municipalities of Morehead City and Beaufort.
Originally known as Inlet Island, it was renamed Radio Island after the Carteret Broadcasting Co. built a radio tower for station WMBL there in 1947.
Today, the Ports Authority owns about 200 acres on the west side of Radio Island, and the bulk of this property remains undeveloped.
The main port terminal on the Morehead City mainland sits on about 128 acres, and officials say it is operating at nearly 100% warehouse capacity, so Radio Island is perceived as the best alternative for any expansion of port operations.
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According to the ROD document published more than two years ago, the Multi-Use Terminal was envisioned to support manufacturing operations associated with the offshore wind energy and the automotive industries…adding a minimum of 150 jobs.
Plans include creation of a 60-acre wind energy laydown area and construction of a 300,000-square-foot manufacturing/office facility.
To serve automotive customers, Radio Island would also be the site of a 40-acre asphalt parking lot to accommodate the storage of 4,000 imported finished vehicles as well as a 100,000-square-foot combination automotive warehouse/office.
Additional project components included modifying the existing pier to accommodate roll-on/roll-off (Ro-Ro) vessel operations, construction of a 1,600-foot berthing facility to accommodate larger or multiple vessels, new rail spurs and sidings for car carrier vehicles.
Here is a collection of photos of Ro-Ro ship activities from other ports, to provide a point of reference:
During the past two years, there’s been a lot of turmoil within the industries that were targeted by the Ports Authority. Much of this can be attributed to the changing of the guard in the White House in Washington, D.C.
In review, North Carolina has invested heavily in two mega-site automotive projects.
One is the Toyota electric vehicle battery plant near Liberty in Randolph County. North Carolina granted the company a $435 million economic development incentives package.
The new Toyota facility was formally dedicated on Nov. 13, 2025. Toyota executives said the $13.9 billion investment will create more than 5,100 jobs to produce lithium-ion batteries for hybrids and electric vehicles (EVs).
North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein participated in the dedication ceremonies.
With 14 battery production lines, the plant is viewed as “a cornerstone of Toyota’s North American production.”
The Toyota logo has three ovals. “The overlapping inner ovals exhibit the mutual, trustful and beneficial relationship between the customer and company.”
“Moreover, the overlapping ovals form a stylized ‘T’ for the first letter of Toyota, and the outer oval represents the brand’s global presence.”
Meanwhile, VinFast Auto Ltd., a Vietnamese automaker, was recruited by North Carolina, with the state coughing up nearly $1.2 million in economic development incentives, to build a $4 billion electric vehicle assembly and battery manufacturing plant near Moncure in Chatham County.
It was initially forecast to potentially employ about 7,500 people.
However, this project has had rough sledding from the get-go. Construction has been delayed several times, and the target date for the plant opening has been pushed back to 2028.
Company officials say they’ve prioritized expansions in India and Indonesia, deferring large-scale entry into U.S. and European markets.
Complicating matters is the fact that VinFast consistently struggles to turn a profit, according to Reuters. This is causing a lot of anguish for economic developers in North Carolina.
Most recently, Ray Gronberg of Business North Carolina magazine reported on March 16, 2026, that VinFast has reduced its employment forecast to about 1,400 jobs.
“That’s 81% lower than previous expectations of 7,500 jobs, reflecting a more sober outlook for EVs now than four years ago,” Gronberg wrote.
The company reported a $3.9 billion net loss for the 2025 calendar year, according to Gronberg.
Terms of its agreement with the State of North Carolina require VinFast to start construction by July of this year.
“In addition to state incentives, legislators also allotted $450 million to pay for related infrastructure,” Gronberg wrote. “The state has deployed part of that money to pay for site prep, roads, and water and sewer upgrades, reasoning that if the EV factory falls through, a fully prepared industrial ‘mega-site’ will remain.”
“Demand for EVs in the U.S. has declined sharply after the elimination of the $7,500 federal tax credit on Sept 30, 2025. Many automakers are pulling back on EV investments or shifting to hybrid models combining gas-combustion and electric powertrains,” Gronberg said.
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