State of Retirement Readiness in Coastal North Carolina
Where local workers stand today and what employers can do about it.
34.2257° N · 77.9447° W / Now welcoming founding employers
Local businesses. Local leaders. Stronger retirement outcomes.
The Cape Fear Collective is Wilmington's employer retirement and workforce leadership community. We help local businesses offer better retirement benefits through shared resources and transparency, and we bring their leaders together to learn, connect and grow.
Pooled Employer 401(k) PlanQuarterly breakfast forumsAnnual workforce research
More than a 401(k) plan
A community of Cape Fear employers building stronger businesses together
Retirement plans are complicated, and most small and mid-sized employers run theirs alone. The Collective pairs a professionally managed plan with the people, education and insight that help you attract, retain and support your team.
Local
Built for the Cape Fear region
Designed for Wilmington-area businesses, with networking and education focused on our market.
Collective
Institutional resources, local scale
Small and mid-sized employers pool together for access to retirement resources usually reserved for large companies.
Education
Learn from people who do the work
Quarterly leadership forums plus practical retirement and fiduciary education for owners and HR teams.
Community impact
Stronger employers, stronger region
Helping local businesses compete for talent and helping their employees build long-term wealth.
How the plan works
One professionally managed plan, many local employers
A Pooled Employer Plan (PEP) lets unrelated businesses join a single 401(k). A Pooled Plan Provider takes on much of the administrative and fiduciary work you would otherwise carry yourself.
You keep control of the decisions that shape your benefits. The Collective handles the heavy lifting.
The Collective handles PEP
- Named fiduciary and plan administrator duties through the Pooled Plan Provider
- Investment lineup selection and monitoring
- Plan document, annual filing and testing
- Recordkeeping and participant education
Your business decides YOU
- Whether to join, and monitoring the provider over time
- Eligibility, match and profit-sharing design
- Sending payroll contributions on time
- How you introduce the plan to your people
Responsibilities vary by plan. Final allocation of duties is set out in the plan documents and service agreements.
Cape Fear Leadership Forum
Breakfast with the region's business leaders, four times a year
Open to owners, HR leaders and finance executives across the Cape Fear region. Topics come from what local employers are dealing with right now.
7:30 AMNetworking and breakfast
KeynoteA featured speaker on the quarter's topic
PanelLocal HR and business leaders on what's working in our market
9:00 AMOpen Q&A, then back to your day
Recruiting and Retaining Talent Through Better Benefits
How benefits shape hiring and turnover in a tight coastal labor market.
Fiduciary Risk and Plan Governance
What plan sponsors are responsible for, and how to reduce exposure.
Financial Wellness and Employee Productivity
The link between financial stress, focus and performance at work.
Who it's for
For the people who own the benefits decision
Business owners
Offer a competitive 401(k) without building a retirement plan department, and join a network of peers who are growing here too.
HR leaders
Give employees a benefit they value, get help with education and enrollment, and compare notes with other Cape Fear HR teams.
CFOs, CEOs and COOs
Reduce plan complexity and fiduciary workload, and get regional workforce data you can plan around.
INDUSTRIES
ManufacturingConstructionProfessional servicesHealthcareHospitality
Annual research
The Cape Fear Workforce & Retirement Readiness Report
Each year we survey local employers and release the findings at a major business breakfast. Participating companies receive the full report and can benchmark against regional peers.
- TOPIC 1Retirement benefits
- TOPIC 2Recruiting challenges
- TOPIC 3Workforce retention
- TOPIC 4Financial wellness
Get started
Join Wilmington employers building better retirement outcomes
It's free to join and there's no obligation to switch plans. Sign up to get our monthly email and Forum invitations, and talk with a local advisor whenever you're ready.
- Tell us about your businessHeadcount, industry and whether you have a plan today.
- Review your optionsWe walk through plan design, costs and what changes for your team.
- Join the communityGet your invitation to the next Leadership Forum, whether or not you join the plan.
Join the Movement
- The Cape Fear Collective UpdateOur monthly email with local business news and retirement education.
- Leadership Forum invitationsFirst notice for each quarterly breakfast.
- A plan conversation, when you want oneA local advisor reviews your current plan.