Outlet profile

Business North Carolina

North Carolina regional business press, center/pro-business

Owned byOwned by Old North State Magazines, part of The Pilot Media Group (Southern Pines, N.C.). The owners include publisher David Woronoff, Jack Andrews, Frank Daniels III and Lee Dirks, along with the late Frank Daniels Jr. The Pilot Media Group also publishes PineStraw, O.Henry, SouthPark and Walter. The About page lists Ben Kinney as publisher.

FundingMainly advertising and sponsorships, plus print subscriptions and paid events and lists (such as its recurring business rankings). Financial details are not public.

On the administrationmostly neutral

Background

The magazine was founded in 1981 by Ray Shaw, then president of Dow Jones, and his sons Kirk and Whitney. David Kinney led it for nearly three decades, first as an employee of News & Observer Publishing and later as a majority owner. Under him it moved from a traditional business-magazine approach to a more eclectic and aggressive style. In 2015 it became part of Old North State Magazines, owned by North Carolina media and business figures, including members of the Daniels family, who were long associated with The News & Observer. It sits alongside regional lifestyle magazines in the same group. Its core content is feature profiles, industry coverage and annual lists and rankings of state companies and executives. Like most regional business publications, it relies on advertisers and a local business readership, which tends to produce a boosterish, pro-economic-development tone. My searches did not turn up specific 2026 Business North Carolina articles on Trump administration policy, so the 'mostly neutral' assessment rests on its general editorial character, not on a review of its recent political coverage. I could not verify the details of any notable controversies.

Sources

Profile compiled 2026-10-10; refreshed when ownership, funding, or the administration changes.

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