Charlotte Tech News

[KJHburg]

Charlotte tech job growth in volume and percentage growth is ranked both at #10 in the country and ahead of some larger tech centers.

Check it out here the report by Dice.

https://www.dice.com/recruiting/ebooks/dice-tech-job-report-explore/locations.html#Locations-Overview

[KJHburg]

The Fintech and InsurTech startup program has 13 companies participating from all over the world here in Charlotte.  And some decide to stay or open an office in the QC afterwards.  Especially some of these companies already based in the southeast.

https://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/inno/stories/news/2022/09/12/revtech-labs-cohort-fintech-accelerator-program.html

[KJHburg]

story about Atom Power which Axios says you probably not heard of but if you have followed this thread it has mentioned a good bit.

https://charlotte.axios.com/308530/meet-one-of-the-splashiest-tech-companies-in-the-charlotte-area-you-mayve-never-heard-of/

[KJHburg]

Good news Arrival finally produced a vehicle in one of their microfactories.

https://wraltechwire.com/2022/09/30/arrivals-first-electric-van-comes-off-the-production-line/

[KJHburg]

about the Fintech industry in Charlotte from 2 leaders.

https://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/inno/stories/news/2022/09/30/fintech-future-financial-technology-lending-tree.html

good quote:

""Between 2010-21, the number of local employees in tech fields had doubled, according to data presented at the event by the Charlotte Regional Business Alliance. Charlotte has about 50,000 or more workers in tech. The Charlotte region is a top-five market in the U.S. in terms of talent growth, which has grown 22% over the last five years, the data showed. “Just continue to be a great city where people want to live and be that supportive nurturing community,” Lebda said. “Just make sure it’s an attractive city that people want to come to. I think that's it.” ""

[KJHburg]

this is great news for our burgeoning tech community.

https://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/inno/stories/news/2022/10/07/per-scholas-nonprofit-technology-training-courses.html

[KJHburg]

Lucid Drones signs nationwide deal with Sunbelt Rentals which will offer their washing drones for rent nationwide.

https://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/inno/stories/news/2022/10/24/lucid-drone-technologies-partners-sunbelt-rentals.html

 

[KJHburg]

From CBRE top 30 Tech Markets reports and Charlotte comes in #10 in recent growth.      https://www.cbre.com/insights/reports/tech-30-2022

Rank Market
Current Period  
2020 & 2021
Previous Period
2018 & 2019
High-Tech
2020 & 2021
Office-Using (less high-tech)
2020 & 2021
1 Vancouver 44.2% 29.6% 28,300 12,500
2 Toronto 37.0% 16.5% 60,400 47,800
3 Austin 25.0% 22.9% 15,718 44,347
4 Seattle 18.6% 21.9% 37,563 18,482
5 Montreal 15.8% -2.5% 13,700 44,700
6 Denver 14.2% 14.2% 11,483 10,970
7 Raleigh-Durham 13.3% 6.2% 5,433 16,552
8 Atlanta 13.0% 11.4% 11,833 -2,734
9 New York 12.8% 18.4% 16,457 -82,610
10 Charlotte 12.1% 8.8% 3,223 9,551        first figure is growth in 2020/2021 and growth in the 2 years prior to that.  3rd figure is the raw number of new tech jobs last figure is total office jobs growth excluding tech.

11 Salt Lake City 12.0% 10.0% 6,874 16,997
12 Dallas/Ft. Worth 11.9% 16.4% 13,731 54,629
13 Phoenix 8.4% 8.7% 9,734 9,064
14 Pittsburgh 7.0% 3.6% 1,611 -10,754
15 Indianapolis 6.6% 4.6% 1,822 3,225
16 Philadelphia 6.3% 2.8% 2,876 -19,628
17 Nashville 5.5% 12.0% 920 3,813

[KJHburg]

NC added tech jobs at the 4th fastest rate in the USA after some big states like Texas, Florida and California according to CompTIA in 2021 the height of the pandemic.

https://wraltechwire.com/2022/11/25/nc-adds-tech-jobs-businesses-at-one-of-fastest-rates-in-us-study-shows/

https://www.cyberstates.org/#interactiveMap?geoid=0__usa

In total tech jobs we are #11 in country but gaining fast on Georgia.  NC having multiple tech hubs really helps our state.   Charlotte, Raleigh Durham and even Wilmington is burgeoning tech hub. 

[CLT2014]

1 hour ago, KJHburg said:

NC added tech jobs at the 4th fastest rate in the USA after some big states like Texas, Florida and California according to CompTIA in 2021 the height of the pandemic.

https://wraltechwire.com/2022/11/25/nc-adds-tech-jobs-businesses-at-one-of-fastest-rates-in-us-study-shows/

https://www.cyberstates.org/#interactiveMap?geoid=0__usa

In total tech jobs we are #11 in country but gaining fast on Georgia.  NC having multiple tech hubs really helps our state.   Charlotte, Raleigh Durham and even Wilmington is burgeoning tech hub. 

It will be interesting to see what states fair the best during this tech downturn for 2022... and which states have the majority of the layoffs. 

[KJHburg]

6 hours ago, CLT2014 said:

It will be interesting to see what states fair the best during this tech downturn for 2022... and which states have the majority of the layoffs. 

My thoughts are since most of our tech employees are with smaller companies we will not be affected as bad.  Google employs some here as does Apple but they pale in comparisons with homegrown companies both in Charlotte and Raleigh Durham.  Microsoft may have already laid off some people in NC as they have operations in both CLT and RTP.  Cisco is trimming people too and they employ several thousand in RTP.  

[KJHburg]

Tech layoffs not affecting NC as much as we are more diversified. 

(also NC has very limited social media tech employment)

https://wraltechwire.com/2022/11/30/layoffs-surge-in-tech-but-not-in-diversified-north-carolina-so-far/

[KJHburg]

Story about Credit Karma's office in Ballantyne and they have met all their job goals and now have 600 people here. 

"""Personal finance company Credit Karma opened its new East Coast technology hub housed in Ballantyne in April. The seven-floor space at 13146 Ballantyne Corporate Place was integral to the company’s pledge to add 600 jobs here by 2026 through a $13 million investment. Credit Karma has exceeded that goal with more than 600 employees based in Charlotte as of December.

It had about 450 workers when the new office initially opened in the spring.  

The company’s Charlotte office is responsible for building products such as Credit Karma Money, product and engineering teams, talent, marketing and member support. The fintech firm aims to roll out new products in 2023. 

Credit Karma, based in Oakland, California, opened a Charlotte office in 2016. It quickly ran out of space in the Calhoun Building in Ballantyne Corporate Park.

Moving into the new office allowed Credit Karma to fulfill its goal of re-creating its Bay Area startup workplace, said Ashleigh Anderson, vice president of talent acquisition at Credit Karma. It has sufficient space for conference rooms and soft seating. Each employee has a personal workspace. Features include an in-house coffee bar, on-site music room, game area, prayer and meditation rooms, wellness rooms, library and local artwork.""

https://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/news/2022/12/16/cbjs-no-20-story-of-2022.html

[J-Rob]

This seems like it could be significant as Charlotte gains momentum in healthcare, healthtech and life sciences. It looks like LeanTaaS is down in the Pineville area. It would be cool for companies like this to eventually cluster in Midtown around the Pearl Innovation District.

https://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/inno/stories/news/2023/01/11/health-tech-firm-leantaas-acquires-hospital-iq.html?cx_testId=40&cx_testVariant=cx_23&cx_artPos=1#cxrecs_s

[atlrvr]

I usually like to dump on Chicago for terrible policies driving business from the city, but this seems pro-business, led at least in part by the City govt and mayor.

Edit: Posting this because Charlotte should replicate this effort, IMO.

Quote

Chicago Seeks to Lure Foreign Workers Laid Off by Tech Giants

• More than 35 firms in the region are hiring H-1B visa holders
• City says being open to immigrants is a competitive advantage

By Isis Almeida

(Bloomberg) -- 

Chicago is looking to attract a myriad of foreign workers laid off by technology giants as companies in the city and its suburbs seek to lure top talent and fill thousands of open positions.

More than 35 firms in the Chicago region are willing to hire workers on H-1B visas, given to foreign employees in specialty occupations such as software engineering. The companies have teamed up with the city and P33, a nonprofit organization founded by former Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker, to build a website that debuts on Wednesday with more than 900 jobs listed. 

The initiative is the first of its kind and could bolster Chicago’s ambition of becoming a technology hub. It will also help companies, including Caterpillar Inc., Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc., credit reporting agency TransUnion and ticket resale firm Vivid Seats Inc., to fill the more than 400,000 vacancies open in Illinois.

...

 

The idea to help out foreign workers first came up when Brad Henderson, CEO of P33, attended a dinner held by the American India Foundation late last year. “The chatter of the room was the real worries that their community was feeling around the H-1B visa issues and the large amounts of layoffs,” he recalls.

Together with World Business Chicago, an economic development organization that counts Mayor Lori Lightfoot as its chair, Henderson started talking to CEOs, lawyers and human resources specialists to figure out whether there was something that could be done. 

The city’s leading civic organizations such as the Commercial Club of Chicago, the Executives’ Club of Chicago, the Chicago Chamber of Commerce and 1871, a nonprofit small business incubator founded by Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, a brother of Penny Pritzker, also joined in.

 

[kayman]

On 1/25/2023 at 10:19 AM, atlrvr said:

I usually like to dump on Chicago for terrible policies driving business from the city, but this seems pro-business, led at least in part by the City govt and mayor.

Edit: Posting this because Charlotte should replicate this effort, IMO.

 

That's smart af.  Charlotte should be doing something similar with its growing tech and biotech sector (thanks to the Wake Forest School of Medicine, Eli Lilly, and IRCAD).  We ought to be the gateway to tech for the Carolinas because there are going to a boatload of opportunities coming from these things.

[KJHburg]

the state of NC tech industry is great and growing fast in fact 4th fastest growing in the country

https://www.ncstir.com/

 lots of good data as you can imagine in here

 

Areas where NC ranks among Top 15 states:
• Percentage of Women in Tech Industry  #2 in the country 
• Average In-State Tuition Cost
• Median Annual Earnings Adjusted for Purchasing Power
• Percent Change in STEM Education Program Completions
• State Spending Per Student for Higher Education
• Start-Ups from Universities
• Tech Industry Employment Growth
• Completed STEM Education Programs per 1,000 Enrolled Students
• Tech Licenses & Options Executed from Universities
• Venture Capital Invested Per $1 Million of GSP
• Avg. Annual Wage for IT Sector Employees with Purchasing Power
• Start-up Early Job Creation Rate and Survival Rate
• Tech Occupations Growth
• Business Opening vs Closing Rate
• Avg. Annual Wage for Tech Sector Employees with Purchasing Power
• Total R&D as % of GSP
• Business Performed R&D as a % of Private Industry Output
• Tech Industry – IT (Tech Core) Employment Growth
• SBIR/STTR Funding per $1 Million GSP
• Higher Education R&D in Science & Engineering Fields as a % of GSP

top 10 tech jobs average wage in NC

http://www.ncstir.com/tech-report/tech-occupations/top-10-occupations/

Across the state, major metro areas have been leading the tech industry growth. Mecklenburg, Wake, and Durham counties account for about 57 percent of the tech industry in North Carolina. While tech industry jobs are still very strong in the urban centers of the state, jobs have spread to many areas of North Carolina.

Key summary of NC tech industry

https://www.nctech.org/_files/_pdf/resources/NCSTIR-KeyFindings-2023-web.pdf

[KJHburg]

this would be great for the Charlotte tech scene to have a semiconductor plant in the region.

York County to consider final approval on incentives for $443M semiconductor-related project - Charlotte Business Journal (bizjournals.com)

""It appears York County might be close to landing a major economic development project that could include $443.2 million in investment and the creation of 405 jobs in Rock Hill, according to county documents.

York County Council is scheduled to hold a public hearing on Feb. 6 where it will consider the third reading of an ordinance on incentives for the development, which has the code name of Project Tullamore, county documents show.

In the council agenda packet released today, the company is identified as Pallidus Inc., which plans to manufacture "semiconductors and related devices," documents state.

Pallidus was launched in 2015 and makes a silicon carbide solution for “power semiconductor and other markets,” according to its website. It is headquartered in Albany, New York.""

[KJHburg]

Charlotte tech salaries are some of the fastest growing in Charlotte.  Notice the average tech worker earns more here in Charlotte than in LA, Austin,  Raleigh which for the former 2 have higher housing costs than Charlotte does.  I would be recruiting workers out of Southern California though given their much higher cost of living yet salaries the same or less.

https://www.bizjournals.com/inno/stories/inno-insights/2023/03/08/tech-salaries-by-city.html

And some of the big tech markets like Silicon Valley while their salaries are much higher than Charlotte still not enough to make up for housing costs.  

[CLT2014]

1 hour ago, KJHburg said:

Charlotte tech salaries are some of the fastest growing in Charlotte.  Notice the average tech worker earns more here in Charlotte than in LA, Austin,  Raleigh which for the former 2 have higher housing costs than Charlotte does.  I would be recruiting workers out of Southern California though given their much higher cost of living yet salaries the same or less.

https://www.bizjournals.com/inno/stories/inno-insights/2023/03/08/tech-salaries-by-city.html

And some of the big tech markets like Silicon Valley while their salaries are much higher than Charlotte still not enough to make up for housing costs.  

The Phoenix market ranked #1 in growth and has the strongest value prop for recruiting Southern California tech workers. The weather is hotter in the summer, but is still dry like inland SoCal residents are accustomed to versus our humidity. Unlike our winters, it doesn't get cold or very wet in Phoenix (something else SoCal residents are not accustomed to). Phoenix has stronger cultural ties to So Cal and for transplants that are leaving family and friends, it is just a short 1 hour flight or 5 hour drive to visit versus a 5 hour flight / 3 time zone change. I've definitely seen more ex-SoCal residents like myself make it out here, but we are definitely a minority on the transplant side versus inner-South transplants, Northeast, and Midwest.  If you grew up out west, the distance alone can just be hard if you still have ties out there. 

The value prop is real though on the expense side here. SoCal tech salaries aren't high enough to make up for starter homes starting around $1 million. Everything seemed more manageable until throwing kids in the mix and then life in SoCal gets hard if you don't inherit property or make $300,000+. 

Edited March 9, 2023 by CLT2014

[DCMetroRaleigh]

22 hours ago, CLT2014 said:

The Phoenix market ranked #1 in growth and has the strongest value prop for recruiting Southern California tech workers. The weather is hotter in the summer, but is still dry like inland SoCal residents are accustomed to versus our humidity. Unlike our winters, it doesn't get cold or very wet in Phoenix (something else SoCal residents are not accustomed to). Phoenix has stronger cultural ties to So Cal and for transplants that are leaving family and friends, it is just a short 1 hour flight or 5 hour drive to visit versus a 5 hour flight / 3 time zone change. I've definitely seen more ex-SoCal residents like myself make it out here, but we are definitely a minority on the transplant side versus inner-South transplants, Northeast, and Midwest.  If you grew up out west, the distance alone can just be hard if you still have ties out there. 

The value prop is real though on the expense side here. SoCal tech salaries aren't high enough to make up for starter homes starting around $1 million. Everything seemed more manageable until throwing kids in the mix and then life in SoCal gets hard if you don't inherit property or make $300,000+. 

Phoenix heat is other worldly, not only in intensity but calendar duration. 115 degrees of dry heat is still a hellscape

[Matthew.Brendan]

but green lawns and golf courses because of course! what water crisis?

[kayman]

I still believe Charlotte Regional Business Alliance (CRBA) can and ought to continue to step up its recruitment of tech companies from software/app development, Fintech, and biotech sectors to the Metro Charlotte area.  I don't see why if the area can compete to bring more tech industries to the region. As the NC Economic Development Partnership is only sturring major economic development around tech to the Triangle versus here, so I say CRBA should go for major tech recruitment head-on.

Edited March 10, 2023 by kayman

[KJHburg]

Interesting new startup based here in Charlotte.

https://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/inno/stories/profiles/2023/04/11/startup-mansion-group-grows-real-estate-investors.html

https://www.mansionlife.com/

[KJHburg]

Fintech in Charlotte gets $24.6 M in Series B financing.  Expanding in Ballantyne area with a new larger office.  

https://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/inno/stories/news/2023/04/13/tech-driven-broker-tradier-closes-246m-series-b.html?

https://tradier.com/