The map below depicts the expanding marine trades industry cluster in Eastern North Carolina. With our presence on the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway, multiple shipyards, and a host of boatbuilders in the region, Onslow County’s coastal location is of interest to national and international boatbuilders. While some might regard this cluster, or regional concentration of boatbuilders, as introducing unwelcome competition, the opposite is typically true.

Clusters attract valuable resources—trained and skilled employees, supply chains, innovation, and private capital investment.