It's been a turbulent year for RTI International, a research nonprofit that is one of the region's largest employers but has had to significantly reduce headcount due to federal funding changes by the Trump administration.

• But the company, which was the first tenant in Research Triangle Park, continues to invest in its future — breaking ground on a new research space Tuesday it hopes will attract more private contracts.

Why it matters: RTI's new Pilot Xcelerator lab is a $14 million bet on commercial growth despite a brutal year of layoffs driven by cuts to federal contracts. The investment could spark new hiring, too.

• The new facility — which tests the scalability of new energy technologies — will be the 12th active building or lab space on its sprawling, 180-acre campus in the heart of Research Triangle Park.

Between the lines: RTI's layoffs have been driven by the elimination of U.S. Agency for International Development and many other federal contracts by the Trump administration.

• The company has had to lay off more than a third of its global workforce this year, including more than 400 in North Carolina, where it had nearly 2,000 workers.
• Now, the company is hoping to pivot toward more commercial contracts for growth.

What they're saying: "We have been very clear this is a catalyst moment for us. This is not a hunker down, wait it out moment at all," Tim Gabel, RTI International's CEO, told Axios. "We've got money to invest in smart ways. We're pivoted to the future. We're not trying to go back."

Zoom in: RTI's new lab space will be used to test the scalability of promising energy technologies piloted in labs. Think of it like Phase 2 clinical trials for new forms of fuel or other energy sources.

• Two areas it has already seen some traction in are with companies testing out more sustainable forms of jet fuel from companies like Aether Fuels and Lydian Labs, or different ways to fuel the creation of fertilizer, which requires large amounts of energy.
• "We've traditionally depended on the Department of Energy as the early funder for a lot of the innovation" RTI works on, Gabel said. "But this really is going to be targeting more of the commercial market."

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Those for-sale signs in your neighborhood might be staying up longer.

• Homes in North Carolina spent a median of 53 days on the market before going under contract in August, according to new Redfin data.

Zoom in: Things are a little better in the Triangle, where the population continues to surge.

• The median for-sale home in Wake County sat on the market for 33 days in September, up 78% from last year, according to Doorify MLS.
• In Durham County, it was 30 days, up 58% from last year. In Orange County, it was 37 days, up 121%.

The big picture: Homes are generally selling faster in the Midwest and Northeast and slower in the South — another sign that America is seemingly split between two housing markets.

Catch up quick: In the Midwest and Northeast, shortages of available homes and less new construction are keeping prices firm.

• Meanwhile, in southern areas where homebuilders have been busy adding supply, prices are softening and buyers are gaining negotiating power.

Reality check: For many, homebuying still feels out of reach.

• "Homebuyers are spooked by high home prices, high mortgage rates and economic uncertainty, and now sellers are spooked because buyers are spooked," Redfin senior economist Asad Khan said in an August report.

What we're watching: Some sellers are pulling listings or staying put rather than cutting prices.

🌳 Wake County will postpone work on the Buffalo Creek Preserve and Green Hills County Park in favor of other park projects, as money from 2018's $120 million park bond falls short. (News & Observer 🔒)

🗳️ Cecil Brockman, the swing-vote Democrat accused of sex crimes, faces an uncertain future in the N.C. House. (Carolina Public Press)

🐶 A Chapel Hill dog started a house fire by chewing through a lithium-ion battery. (WRAL)

🌀 Former Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper and Republican Michael Whatley, who sits on Trump's FEMA Review Council, are trying to paint each other as failing to help the recovery from Hurricane Helene in their race for U.S. Senate. (WUNC)

• Both Cooper and Whatley have dueling ads about each other's hurricane response, and the state Democratic Party has launched a new website tying Whatley to FEMA's struggles.

College basketball season is almost upon us, and it looks to be another fun one in North Carolina, and several local schools are ranked preseason.

Driving the news: The first AP Top 25 polls for women's and men's NCAA basketball came out this week.

Zoom in: The Triangle's flagship universities all have ranked teams.

• Duke: No. 7 women's and No. 6 men's.
• UNC-Chapel Hill: No. 11 women's and No. 25 men's.
• N.C. State: No. 9 women's (and barely edged out by the Tar Heels in the men's field).

Flashback: Last year, all three schools reached at least the Sweet 16 in the women's tournament, and Duke made the men's Final Four.

The intrigue: Duke University's women's program was in the spotlight last month when head coach Kara Lawson was named head coach of the USA women's national team.

• She'll coach at the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.

What's next: Regular season games start in early November.