The Good News Report

[cltbwimob]

I'm surprised no one mentioned that red ventures plans to add another 1000 workers, and wind stream is adding 100 new hires in Matthews.

[Sabaidee]

I'm surprised no one mentioned that red ventures plans to add another 1000 workers, and wind stream is adding 100 new hires in Matthews.

Because Red Ventures always have a job fair with their horrible retention rate, although I'm sure not all of their new positions are sales, but still that company has a horrible reputation.

[ah59396]

Because Red Ventures always have a job fair with their horrible retention rate, although I'm sure not all of their new positions are sales, but still that company has a horrible reputation.

I'm not intending to specifically call you out, but I can't stand that sentiment. If the job is one that pays your bills and provides you with health insurance, shouldn't it just be a positive? The fact is, there aren't a lot of great "entry level sales" jobs out there, regardless of the company. Trust me, I did it for years.

I have far too many colleagues I went to high school and college with who are "too good" for this type of a job and would rather stay unemployed and wait for their upper level marketing job with Apple. When the unemployment rate is 9.6%, you take what you can get and go from there.

[Bikeguy]

^ agree.

[Sabaidee]

I'm not intending to specifically call you out, but I can't stand that sentiment. If the job is one that pays your bills and provides you with health insurance, shouldn't it just be a positive? The fact is, there aren't a lot of great "entry level sales" jobs out there, regardless of the company. Trust me, I did it for years.

I have far too many colleagues I went to high school and college with who are "too good" for this type of a job and would rather stay unemployed and wait for their upper level marketing job with Apple. When the unemployment rate is 9.6%, you take what you can get and go from there.

I know where you coming from, but personally I do have friends from college who works there. One loves it b/c she actually has a corporate position, while the one in sales, well she hates it and that's the one with horrible retention rate and those in sales feel like it's hell there due to management and the workplace environment.

[ah59396]

I know where you coming from, but personally I do have friends from college who works there. One loves it b/c she actually has a corporate position, while the one in sales, well she hates it and that's the one with horrible retention rate and those in sales feel like it's hell there due to management and the workplace environment.

I don't doubt it. Entry level, outside sales are really really tough. If it were easy everyone would do it because the money can be great if you can hold on for the first couple years. But you've got to be willing to sacrifice a lot of your time to be good. And the stress can be a lot for most. I'm glad I'm at a point now where I don't have to do it anymore, but I'm also glad I did it. Gives me some solid perspective.

[Niner National]

I'm not intending to specifically call you out, but I can't stand that sentiment. If the job is one that pays your bills and provides you with health insurance, shouldn't it just be a positive? The fact is, there aren't a lot of great "entry level sales" jobs out there, regardless of the company. Trust me, I did it for years.

I have far too many colleagues I went to high school and college with who are "too good" for this type of a job and would rather stay unemployed and wait for their upper level marketing job with Apple. When the unemployment rate is 9.6%, you take what you can get and go from there.

Red Venture's brings a lot of people to the Charlotte area with these job fairs and the jobs that come from them.

Sounds great, but when the retention rate there is below 50% for sales, that dumps a lot of unemployed people back into the pool of workers in Charlotte that weren't here before.

[cltbwimob]

300+ jobs potentially to Lincoln county-

http://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/blog/morning-edition/2012/09/lincoln-county-offers-incentives-for.html

400+ full time jobs (600 + part time and seasonal) potentially coming to York county-

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2012/09/17/3538215/york-county-pledges-incentives.html

Distribution center planned for South Charlotte

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2012/09/14/3523966/firm-plans-distribution-center.html

[kermit]

File under speculative:

The CBJ is reporting that Jeld-Wen windows is exploring corp HQ relocation to Charlotte (they are currently in Klamath Falls OR).

http://www.bizjourna...u&ed=2012-09-19

This would be "up to" 100 jobs in 30,000 sqft of office space. The state of Oregon is currently working on an incentives package to keep them.

While this sounds like a relatively small footprint they do appear to be good corporate citizens in Oregon (they purchased naming rights on the recently remodled soccer stadium in Portland for example).

EDIT: corrected HQ location

Edited September 19, 2012 by kermit

[atlrvr]

It sounds pretty certain. Reading Oregon news, there have been good-bye parties for senior executives who have said they were moving to Charlotte.

[HopHead]

File this under the "wait and see" category. Fox Network is closing in on a large deal to extend their broadcast rights with Major League Baseball (this would be in the Billions of dollars). Part of the deal is to convert Charlotte-based SPEED network, which is currently a motor-sports only network, to Fox Sports One. Essentially, this network would compete with ESPN with MLB baseball and other sports. The network would show MLB regular season games and playoff games (not the World Series though). Nothing set in stone, but this could be a coupe for Charlotte is this network takes off and they keep the operations here. ESPN's college network, ESPNU, is already based in Charlotte (Ballantyne).

NY Times link: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/20/sports/baseball/fox-closes-in-on-new-baseball-deal.html?_r=0

Edited September 20, 2012 by wend28

[cltbwimob]

Chalk the 400 + jobs announcement up to another successful sniping attempt by SC.

I wish that SC politicians would pursue companies from elsewhere and try to make the overall jobs picture for the area better rather than just undercutting Charlotte.

[krazeeboi]

Chalk the 400 + jobs announcement up to another successful sniping attempt by SC.

I wish that SC politicians would pursue companies from elsewhere and try to make the overall jobs picture for the area better rather than just undercutting Charlotte.

It's part of the game. Charlotte has poached companies from other NC cities in case you haven't noticed.

Plus a lot of companies have voluntarily moved across the border for lower taxes and more incentives while still having access to the Charlotte-area workforce (e.g., Continental Tire, Red Ventures, etc.).

[jednc]

Chalk the 400 + jobs announcement up to another successful sniping attempt by SC.

I wish that SC politicians would pursue companies from elsewhere and try to make the overall jobs picture for the area better rather than just undercutting Charlotte.

Agreed. Pulling jobs from just a few miles away does nothing for the region while York Co (and Lancaster) very much benefit from being part of the region. Let's face it, without the proximity to Charlotte those two counties have, there would be little to nothing there. It would be nice if they gave back at least as much as they get from being part of the Charlotte region.

[krazeeboi]

Agreed. Pulling jobs from just a few miles away does nothing for the region while York Co (and Lancaster) very much benefit from being part of the region. Let's face it, without the proximity to Charlotte those two counties have, there would be little to nothing there. It would be nice if they gave back at least as much as they get from being part of the Charlotte region.

Actually, this move may have helped the region, as those jobs might have left the area altogether instead of just 10 miles south; better to be on the other side of the line but still in the metro than somewhere else completely.. And there would be little to nothing in any of the surrounding NC counties either. At least York County does have Winthrop and Lake Wylie. And again, in many instances, companies voluntarily jump the border and SC just adds incentives to sweeten the pot. In this case, it looks like Shutterfly just likes to bounce around according to whoever's dangling the most incentives in front of them, so like I said, at least they didn't leave the region altogether. Now economically and from a state perspective, this is net neutral for the region but I think it's a net negative for SC; more than likely, there aren't going to be substantially more SC'ers working there as a result of this move and SC will just wind up subsidizing jobs for NC'ers. SC needs to be more like NC and be more discriminating when it comes to the use of incentives.

But how do you suggest they they "give back at least as much as they get"? How do you even quantify or legislate that?

[cltbwimob]

Chalk the 400 + jobs announcement up to another successful sniping attempt by SC.

I wish that SC politicians would pursue companies from elsewhere and try to make the overall jobs picture for the area better rather than just undercutting Charlotte.

It's part of the game. Charlotte has poached companies from other NC cities in case you haven't noticed.

Plus a lot of companies have voluntarily moved across the border for lower taxes and more incentives while still having access to the Charlotte-area workforce (e.g., Continental Tire, Red Ventures, etc.).

I did not realize these were 400 jobs in addition to the 250 that are already employed in Charlotte; I do not mind that type of move because it does help the regions unemployment picture overall. However, to my point (yes I have noticed that Charlotte has poached jobs from other parts of the state) I do think it's a little ridiculous when SC throws hundreds of thousands of dollars at a company just to move it across the border with no net job gains. In those cases it's likely that most, if not all, employees of said company stay the same, and it ends up providing no benefit to any portion of the region whereas that money could have gone to relocating a company from another region...However that was not the case this time or when Red Ventures moved.

[49er]

It's kind of an insult too when you consider that they're only there because of OUR airport.

[carolinagarnet]

SC is pretty aggressive these days in terms of attracting business through incentives. For them it makes sense to pull companies with names, particularly tech and life science companies, in order to further sell the merits of the state. They may be subsidizing NC jobs (though some of the employees at the NC office might already live in SC), but they are improving their marketing pitch.

[Urbanity]

I don't want to further derail this topic, so I hope what I am saying here contributes to the sens of context re what just happened with SC and Good News.

Being from NYC this stuff happened all the time with Jersey (mainly Jersey city) courting NYC jobs and companies. The situation was even worse in NY as Jersey City is on the PATH line (basically the subway) that connects directly to Downtown and Midtown so for many companies it is a no brainer.

I don't have an issue per se (broadly speaking) with the poaching as someone already mentioned it is something Charlotte has greatly benefited from itself; however my understanding is that there is a larger rumbling of the issue with the Charlotte Regional Partnership (aka Charlotte USA) which as part of its very structure makes it a promoter of not just Charlotte but the greater Charlotte region which actively recruits for and promotes the 16 counties of the Charlotte region.

What we have to understand is that Charlotte is not an island nor will it survive well if it has an siege mentality. Yes - there needs to be active recruitment and retention of offices and jobs to the city itself, but it also has to understand that a strong region is as important to a city's vitality as its own strength alone.

Hopefully the affordability of the just-outside Charlotte city area is something that helps attract and retain companies to the region versus them flying the coup for other States.

[cltbwimob]

Odyssey Logistics is adding 100 jobs in Charlotte

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2012/09/25/3555945/logistics-company-to-add-100-charlotte.html

[krazeeboi]

I did not realize these were 400 jobs in addition to the 250 that are already employed in Charlotte; I do not mind that type of move because it does help the regions unemployment picture overall. However, to my point (yes I have noticed that Charlotte has poached jobs from other parts of the state) I do think it's a little ridiculous when SC throws hundreds of thousands of dollars at a company just to move it across the border with no net job gains. In those cases it's likely that most, if not all, employees of said company stay the same, and it ends up providing no benefit to any portion of the region whereas that money could have gone to relocating a company from another region...However that was not the case this time or when Red Ventures moved.

I agree that if no net jobs are being created, throwing inordinate amounts of incentives at such companies is unwarranted. I'm not sure if I can think of an instance where that was the case, even though it's probably happened at least once or twice.

It's kind of an insult too when you consider that they're only there because of OUR airport.

So the airport only belongs to the city of Charlotte? Or just the NC part of the metro? The SC side of the metro is good enough to include in population stats and other regional metrics, but when it comes to the regional asset that is the airport, it doesn't get to claim that?

[ah59396]

We aren't the only city in the US that sits on a state border. This is a common complaint. I'd rather a company move 30 miles south to lower taxes than leave NC/SC altogether. I think having a connecting work friendly state actually enhances Charlotte as a whole. Plus I don't believe SC is actively poaching companies in the NC part of the Metrolina.

[carolinagarnet]

We aren't the only city in the US that sits on a state border. This is a common complaint. I'd rather a company move 30 miles south to lower taxes than leave NC/SC altogether. I think having a connecting work friendly state actually enhances Charlotte as a whole. Plus I don't believe SC is actively poaching companies in the NC part of the Metrolina.

Right, the success of the Charlotte region means the whole region, not just the NC side. South Carolina contributes to the attractiveness of the area by providing options for low cost housing, labor, gas, etc. That is a definite selling point for companies we are trying to draw.

[HopHead]

I thought this was the "Good News Report" thread? Not the "Fight over what state benefits from what" thread?

[krazeeboi]

We aren't the only city in the US that sits on a state border. This is a common complaint. I'd rather a company move 30 miles south to lower taxes than leave NC/SC altogether. I think having a connecting work friendly state actually enhances Charlotte as a whole. Plus I don't believe SC is actively poaching companies in the NC part of the Metrolina.

Right, the success of the Charlotte region means the whole region, not just the NC side. South Carolina contributes to the attractiveness of the area by providing options for low cost housing, labor, gas, etc. That is a definite selling point for companies we are trying to draw.

I'm glad some people get it.