Economic Development - Expansions and Relocations

[Madison Parkitect]

Wow, that seems like a really great company! Love to see businesses like that invest in Charlotte, and 1,000 jobs is nothing to sneeze at. That's a good get for the city.

[kickazzz2000]

On 9/20/2019 at 7:52 AM, SydneyCarton said:

Dallas has some advantages over Charlotte (e.g., much better  museums, two nice zoos, more upscale shopping, milder winters, etc.).

However,  Charlotte is a much better place to live in my opinion.   Traffic is  better in Charlotte, and it’s closer to nice beaches and mountains.    Charlotte also is much greener than Dallas, which, in many respects, is a dust bowl.   Lastly,  while Texas has no state income taxes, the local property taxes are VERY high.

I think that Charlotte trumps Dallas or Atlanta every time.  I quite like Atlanta, but I wouldn’t want to drive from Roswell or Alpharetta to the Perimeter each day, let alone to downtown.  That commute would make Waxhaw to Uptown via Providence Road seem like a walk in the park.

Hopefully, Sherwin Williams will agree and will build a new HQ in Uptown, thereby adding another jewel to the Queen’s crown.

Charlotte’s relative proximity to Cleveland versus Dallas or Atlanta is also a big selling point, since S-W employees will want to drive back to Ohio sometimes to see family that remain in the Buckeye State.   Charlotte is 200 miles closer than Atlanta, and road trips from Dallas aren’t viable.

Have you ever been to Dallas?  It is certainly no Charlotte in terms of greenery, but dust bowl?  You may have been in El Paso or Odessa and thought you were in Dallas.

But i'll take a Charlotte winter over a North Texas grey dull 38 degree every day winter any time.

DFW is a FORMIDABLE competitor for any economic project.  

*SOURCE:  I spend up to two weeks a month in DFW and Texoma/North Texas.  

Edited September 24, 2019 by kickazzz2000

[kickazzz2000]

On 9/20/2019 at 10:13 PM, KJHburg said:

from a subscriber article in the Triangle Biz Journal about Chris Chung head of the Economic Development Partnership of NC showing his schedule (through a public release) it is interesting to see a glimpse of how some of these big Econ Development projects come to be.   And these Redacted meetings and call are with prospects for the state.  Very interesting...    (this is just some of what this article mentioned)  

""Project Cameo, which the schedule shows was the subject of several exhaustive calls and meetings, ended up being the 1,600-job project hardware giant Lowes announced for Mooresville in June of 2019. Some didn’t have the results hoped for by officials, including those surrounding the state’s efforts to reel in USDA research agencies. Others – including a series of meetings with mystery companies in France – have not yet panned out one way or the other, at least publicly.

January 8: In Las Vegas. lodging at Treasure Island for the CES, he fits in a conference call with Kyle Sanders at Senator Thom Tillis’ office. At 5 p.m., he has a meeting – but the other occupant is redacted. Fits in other redacted meetings Jan. 9 and 10 while in Las Vegas. Hops a United Flight back to RDU Jan. 11.

Feb. 26: Chung has lunch with Wall Street Journal journalist John Carreyrou. Then he hops a flight to Charlotte via America Airlines for a redacted meeting.

March 4: Chung flies to Southwest Florida International Airport (with a stopover in Charlotte) via American Airlines. Heads to Naples, Florida where he stays at the Naples Beach Hotel & Resort. The following day he attends the Plastics News Executive Forum and has lunch with undisclosed participants, as well as two additional redacted agenda items. He’s back to the airport March 6.

April 11: Chung meets with Ward Nye, CEO of Martin Marietta. The meeting is immediately followed by a lunch whose participants are redacted. He then travels to Charlotte where he stays at the Hampton Inn Uptown for meetings, returns to Raleigh April 12.

April 26: In Cullowhee, he speaks at the Western NC Automotive & Aerospace Summit before traveling back to Raleigh and hitching an American Airlines flight to New York City, where he stays at the Hilton Times Square.

April 28: After a redacted meeting in the city the day before, he travels to the NextGen Talks conference in Brooklyn, attends another redacted meeting, and checks into Brooklyn’s William Vale Hotel.

April 30: After daily panels, speeches and another redacted meeting, he flies back to RDU via American Airlines.

May 1: Chung travels to Kannapolis via Amtrak to speak at the Cabarrus County 2019 Tourism Summit event in Concord. He returns to Cary the same day.

June 14: Hops a flight to Paris via a stop over in Charlotte, checks into the Hotel Villa Des Ternes for the Paris Air Show. While in Paris, Chung attends several meetings with companies – presumably in aerospace - many of which had names that were redacted from the records

July 26: Chung travels back to Columbus, Ohio for a series of redacted meetings. ""

 

and this goes on and on through July 31.  He earned a lot of Hilton Honors points!  He rides the train to Charlotte a good bit! and I bet many of these Redacted meetings and calls will lead to announcements.  I find all this very interesting as I once interned at an economic development agency in NC.  There is a lot of secrecy, fake names, staying at non descript hotels etc.  

https://www.bizjournals.com/triangle/news/2019/09/20/from-red-hat-to-boeing-edpncs-chris-chung-has-been.html

How many of us can list this as our dream job? #raiseshand

[SydneyCarton]

33 minutes ago, kickazzz2000 said:

Have you ever been to Dallas?  It is certainly no Charlotte in terms of greenery, but dust bowl?  You may have been in El Paso or Odessa and thought you were in Dallas.

But i'll take a Charlotte winter over a North Texas grey dull 38 degree every day winter any time.

DFW is a FORMIDABLE competitor for any economic project.  

*SOURCE:  I spend up to two weeks a month in DFW and Texoma/North Texas.  

I've been there many times.

P.S.: Most winter days, Dallas is about ten degrees warmer than Charlotte (sometimes more).

Edited September 24, 2019 by SydneyCarton

[KJHburg]

Chime a fast growing call center operator is leasing 75,000 sq ft in Innovation Park in the University Research Park for its up to 1000 employees.

https://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/news/2019/09/24/georgia-company-to-open-charlotte-call-center.html

[KJHburg]

from a Triangle Biz Journal article about RDU airport has this nugget about a major paint company looking for a new home:

""And there are a lot of big fish. John Boyd, a site selection expert out of New Jersey, points to one such fish as paint manufacturer Sherwin-Williams, which has publicly disclosed its own search for a new headquarters. Boyd notes that one of the drivers behind its interest in possibly leaving Cleveland is "the lack of air service." And he says the timing for J.D. Power's rankings release "couldn't be better for North Carolina."  “I expect this [ranking] to help catapult Raleigh-Durham into the discussion,” Boyd says, pointing to other likely contenders for Sherwin-Williams as Dallas, Atlanta and Charlotte. “[Airports] are a critical site selection variable… especially for the types of headquarters and regional headquarters Raleigh-Durham is increasingly competing for.”

 

here is the article https://www.bizjournals.com/triangle/news/2019/09/25/rdus-ranking-upgrade-could-help-the-triangle-lure.html

[lancer22]

26 minutes ago, KJHburg said:

from a Triangle Biz Journal article about RDU airport has this nugget about a major paint company looking for a new home:

""And there are a lot of big fish. John Boyd, a site selection expert out of New Jersey, points to one such fish as paint manufacturer Sherwin-Williams, which has publicly disclosed its own search for a new headquarters. Boyd notes that one of the drivers behind its interest in possibly leaving Cleveland is "the lack of air service." And he says the timing for J.D. Power's rankings release "couldn't be better for North Carolina."  “I expect this [ranking] to help catapult Raleigh-Durham into the discussion,” Boyd says, pointing to other likely contenders for Sherwin-Williams as Dallas, Atlanta and Charlotte. “[Airports] are a critical site selection variable… especially for the types of headquarters and regional headquarters Raleigh-Durham is increasingly competing for.”

 

here is the article https://www.bizjournals.com/triangle/news/2019/09/25/rdus-ranking-upgrade-could-help-the-triangle-lure.html

Very cute of Raleigh to think they can get a non-STEM HQ relocation

 

[jtmonk]

12 minutes ago, lancer22 said:

Very cute of Raleigh to think they can get a non-STEM HQ relocation

 

LOL I mean they did get Advance Auto Parts to move their headquarters there last year and they're a fortune 500 company. 

[lancer22]

1 minute ago, jtmonk said:

LOL I mean they did get Advance Auto Parts to move their headquarters there last year and they're a fortune 500 company. 

wonder if they had to do it at gunpoint

[Windsurfer]

20 minutes ago, jtmonk said:

LOL I mean they did get Advance Auto Parts to move their headquarters there last year and they're a fortune 500 company. 

That had to do with having recently bought Car Quest . CQ had a regional headquarters there. 

As far as SW, they did recently purchase Valspar, which has a regional location here already....

[KJHburg]

if you read the quotes I took from that story it says it helps Raleigh Durham.  If and it is a big if Sherwin Williams moves out of Cleveland metro I do think Charlotte will be considered over Raleigh due to our air hub.   However Raleigh specifically downtown Raleigh got a great insurance company HQ last year Arch Capital 365 jobs  paying  100K  taking 104,000 sq ft in the new Dillon tower in downtown.   They considered Atlanta but Charlotte was not mentioned in that relo.    Charlotte and Raleigh compete sometimes but more times than not they are not in direct competition.  Not to mention Policygenius.com that is adding 400 jobs in downtown Durham.   There is plenty of business expansions and relocation to help all of NC's cities.  I think it is great that NC has 2 fast growing metro areas that are on every list of great places to do business. 

[lancer22]

8 minutes ago, KJHburg said:

if you read the quotes I took from that story it says it helps Raleigh Durham.  If and it is a big if Sherwin Williams moves out of Cleveland metro I do think Charlotte will be considered over Raleigh due to our air hub.   However Raleigh specifically downtown Raleigh got a great insurance company HQ last year Arch Capital 365 jobs  paying  100K  taking 104,000 sq ft in the new Dillon tower in downtown.   They considered Atlanta but Charlotte was not mentioned in that relo.    Charlotte and Raleigh compete sometimes but more times than not they are not in direct competition.  Not to mention Policygenius.com that is adding 400 jobs in downtown Durham.   There is plenty of business expansions and relocation to help all of NC's cities.  I think it is great that NC has 2 fast growing metro areas that are on every list of great places to do business. 

I know. I just like messing with the 90s strip mall capital of the world, Raleigh (NC).

 

[SydneyCarton]

Having lived in Charlotte and now the Triangle, I’ve observed that scientific and tech-oriented jobs bypass Charlotte for the Triangle.  I much prefer the QC to the Triangle, but the latter is way more of an intellectual powerhouse.   (Durham alone is like a mini-Cambridge, Massachusetts.) Therefore, if Google, for example, sought an NC presence, they’d likely pick the Triangle (unless it were for finance or marketing jobs).

If Sherwin Williams seeks engineers, they’d probably pick Raleigh over Charlotte.   That being said, I’d rather see them go to Charlotte and build a new tower Uptown.

Also, while I prefer Charlotte, I think that for families, the quality of life is better in Chapel Hill at least since the schools are way better than CMS, and Duke and UNC offer much better cultural options than anything I found in the QC.

Edited September 26, 2019 by SydneyCarton

[SydneyCarton]

2 hours ago, KJHburg said:

if you read the quotes I took from that story it says it helps Raleigh Durham.  If and it is a big if Sherwin Williams moves out of Cleveland metro I do think Charlotte will be considered over Raleigh due to our air hub.   However Raleigh specifically downtown Raleigh got a great insurance company HQ last year Arch Capital 365 jobs  paying  100K  taking 104,000 sq ft in the new Dillon tower in downtown.   They considered Atlanta but Charlotte was not mentioned in that relo.    Charlotte and Raleigh compete sometimes but more times than not they are not in direct competition.  Not to mention Policygenius.com that is adding 400 jobs in downtown Durham.   There is plenty of business expansions and relocation to help all of NC's cities.  I think it is great that NC has 2 fast growing metro areas that are on every list of great places to do business. 

Greensboro also seems to attract some great businesses.  The Honda Aircraft Corp is a big deal.

[Nick2]

13 minutes ago, SydneyCarton said:

Greensboro also seems to attract some great businesses.  The Honda Aircraft Corp is a big deal.

Don't forget the home grown companies too, like wrangler.

Edited September 25, 2019 by Nick2

[SydneyCarton]

2 hours ago, Nick2 said:

Don't forget the home grown companies too, like wrangler.

 

2 hours ago, Nick2 said:

Don't forget the home grown companies too, like wrangler.

I thought that Wrangler was based in Winston.  I’m pretty sure that some big clothing company is based in W-S.

The bottom line is that there’s a lot of big business in NC.

 

[KJHburg]

1 minute ago, SydneyCarton said:

 

I thought that Wrangler was based in Winston.  I’m pretty sure that some big clothing company is based in W-S.

The bottom line is that there’s a lot of big business in NC.

 

Hanes is based in Winston and Wrangler is owned by Kontoor Brands spun off from VF and they also own Lee Jeans. Kontoor is based in Greensboro.  

 

[SydneyCarton]

13 hours ago, KJHburg said:

Hanes is based in Winston and Wrangler is owned by Kontoor Brands spun off from VF and they also own Lee Jeans. Kontoor is based in Greensboro.  

 

That's right.  I remembered that some big brand was based there.  I just couldn't recall which one.

[KJHburg]

interesting read from the Triangle Biz Journal about Xerox locating a 600 job center of excellence in Cary next to Raleigh.  Reason it is interesting other states and cities offered a LOT more than NC but Cary still won out.   

Xerox, according to what it told North Carolina officials, could get bigger incentives packages to locate elsewhere – and not just in New York.

How much Xerox estimated it could get if it located to one of the five other finalist cities:

Rochester, New York: Up to $130 million in total incentives
Norwalk, Connecticut: Up to $12 million in total incentives
Austin: Up to $30 million in total incentives
Dallas: Up to $30 million in total incentives
Minneapolis: Up to $30 million in total incentives

North Carolina wound up offering decidedly less, a $12 million incentives package. But Xerox told state officials it wasn’t just about incentives. The company wanted to save $30 million in annual operating costs.  “Each state has job incentives and Xerox is currently going through the process to determine the benefits they would achieve by creating jobs in the various states,” the company noted in July. “The company anticipates making a final decision shortly after being informed of North Carolina’s offer.”

Talent appeared to be the driver behind its growing interest in North Carolina. Xerox told the state it wanted to implement a “formal College Recruitment program,” focusing on recruiting new graduates. And it planned to establish a partnership with Wake County to create “formal training programs.”  On Aug. 13, North Carolina inked the win. Xerox announced it would be building a new center in Cary, creating 600 jobs. The $18.4 million investment in Wake County was approved for a Job Development Investment Grant worth up to $12.3 million over 12 years.

Seems amount of incentives is of course not always the reason a location is chosen.  And I am sure how to attract people was another reason while Texas cities are fast growing the other 3 cities not so much.   You have to love NC open government that we get to see these discussions at least after the fact.  Some states don't release this information.   This is why NC including Charlotte will continue to be attractive to companies thinking of relocating.  And the 4th Quarter is coming! 

[SydneyCarton]

13 hours ago, KJHburg said:

interesting read from the Triangle Biz Journal about Xerox locating a 600 job center of excellence in Cary next to Raleigh.  Reason it is interesting other states and cities offered a LOT more than NC but Cary still won out.   

Xerox, according to what it told North Carolina officials, could get bigger incentives packages to locate elsewhere – and not just in New York.

How much Xerox estimated it could get if it located to one of the five other finalist cities:

Rochester, New York: Up to $130 million in total incentives
Norwalk, Connecticut: Up to $12 million in total incentives
Austin: Up to $30 million in total incentives
Dallas: Up to $30 million in total incentives
Minneapolis: Up to $30 million in total incentives

North Carolina wound up offering decidedly less, a $12 million incentives package. But Xerox told state officials it wasn’t just about incentives. The company wanted to save $30 million in annual operating costs.  “Each state has job incentives and Xerox is currently going through the process to determine the benefits they would achieve by creating jobs in the various states,” the company noted in July. “The company anticipates making a final decision shortly after being informed of North Carolina’s offer.”

Talent appeared to be the driver behind its growing interest in North Carolina. Xerox told the state it wanted to implement a “formal College Recruitment program,” focusing on recruiting new graduates. And it planned to establish a partnership with Wake County to create “formal training programs.”  On Aug. 13, North Carolina inked the win. Xerox announced it would be building a new center in Cary, creating 600 jobs. The $18.4 million investment in Wake County was approved for a Job Development Investment Grant worth up to $12.3 million over 12 years.

Seems amount of incentives is of course not always the reason a location is chosen.  And I am sure how to attract people was another reason while Texas cities are fast growing the other 3 cities not so much.   You have to love NC open government that we get to see these discussions at least after the fact.  Some states don't release this information.   This is why NC including Charlotte will continue to be attractive to companies thinking of relocating.  And the 4th Quarter is coming! 

Xerox is currently based in Stamford, Connecticut, which is a suburb of NYC.  I could see them moving their whole HQ to NC if they received enough money.  The typical worker's $125-$150k salary would stretch much further in NC.

[KJHburg]

This is National Manufacturing Week and here are some stats from NC tweeted out 

N.C. Commerce (@NCCommerce) tweeted at 4:37 PM on Fri, Oct 04, 2019: #DYK: For every $1 spent on #manufacturing means $1.82 for #NorthCarolina's economy? With an #economy as large as Sweden, manufacturing accounts for 19% of NC's total economy. That's $104.9 billion towards our GDP! #MFGDay19 #MFGDay #MFG

Governor Roy Cooper (@NC_Governor) tweeted at 10:56 AM on Fri, Oct 04, 2019: North Carolina has the largest manufacturing industry in the Southeast and the fifth largest manufacturing economy in the whole country. #ManufacturingWeekNC

[U_R_]

13 hours ago, KJHburg said:

This is National Manufacturing Week and here are some stats from NC tweeted out 

N.C. Commerce (@NCCommerce) tweeted at 4:37 PM on Fri, Oct 04, 2019: #DYK: For every $1 spent on #manufacturing means $1.82 for #NorthCarolina's economy? With an #economy as large as Sweden, manufacturing accounts for 19% of NC's total economy. That's $104.9 billion towards our GDP! #MFGDay19 #MFGDay #MFG

Governor Roy Cooper (@NC_Governor) tweeted at 10:56 AM on Fri, Oct 04, 2019: North Carolina has the largest manufacturing industry in the Southeast and the fifth largest manufacturing economy in the whole country. #ManufacturingWeekNC

I checked the Georgia Chamber website and it said that manufacturing accounts for around 61 billion of Georgia's economic output. Kudos to NC for being able to snag some great manufacturing. 

[SydneyCarton]

I suspect that South Carolina is the manufacturing powerhouse in the South.

[KJHburg]

2 hours ago, SydneyCarton said:

I suspect that South Carolina is the manufacturing powerhouse in the South.

Hmm no not as big as NC South Carolina has as many exports as NC though due to their BMW and Boeing and Sprinter plants but NC has much more manufacturing.    NC is the #2 food processing state in the country too!

https://edpnc.com/industries/food-processing-manufacturing/

[J-Rob]

Is the potential mid-October economic development announcement still a thing?   I know a few people alluded there was something in the works, one of which might be announced mid-October, but seems like I haven't heard this mentioned in a month or so.  Has anyone heard when potential announcements might happen, or if any potential big announcements have materialized?