Economic Development - Expansions and Relocations

[KJHburg]

NC is tied with Georgia in the #1 SPOT for best business climate in the nation with the industry leading publication Site Selection for 2020.  

https://edpnc.com/site-selection-ranks-north-carolina-as-top-state-business-climate-for-2020/

first time tie for the states

https://siteselection.com/issues/2020/nov/2020-business-climate-rankings-cover.cfm#gsc.tab=0

and if NC had a bigger port we would #1 for a long time.  Savannah is just an economic powerhouse.  

[Rufus]

14 minutes ago, KJHburg said:

and if NC had a bigger port we would #1 for a long time.  Savannah is just an economic powerhouse.  

This is what is even more impressive. NC has a moderately-sized, fast-growing port in Wilmington, and they continue to support its aggressive expansion. But we are in such a good climate without a major port. Once Wilmington crosses the line to a large port, who knows what benefits this state will see. I do know that one of the advantages of the port is the ability to quickly off-load and transport goods. With a state as interconnected as NC, that is bound to pay off in spades. 

[KJHburg]

I agree Wilmington is growing and they just had the largest container ship to ever call on the east coast docked their recently on its way up the coast.  the Ports of NC are very important especially for manufacturing.   If NC exported all its goods through NC ports we could be a powerhouse but we ship a lot through Charleston, Norfolk and yes even through Savannah. 

But this ranking is very good and important to recruitment efforts for sure. 

[kermit]

1 minute ago, Rufus said:

This is what is even more impressive. NC has a moderately-sized, fast-growing port in Wilmington, and they continue to support its aggressive expansion. But we are in such a good climate without a major port. Once Wilmington crosses the line to a large port, who knows what benefits this state will see. I do know that one of the advantages of the port is the ability to quickly off-load and transport goods. With a state as interconnected as NC, that is bound to pay off in spades. 

Rail connections to Wilmington are part of what hurts it. They can yank containers off ships fast, but intermoadal trains can take a half a day to snake through town. It also does not help that only CSX serves the port (and town), so not only is rail slow but freight rates are not particularly competitive. Every other port on the east coast has rail service from more than one RR. The state is thinking about a new bridge across the Cape Fear which could include rail. The proposed improvements would cost billions but they would (probably) make same day rail service to Charlotte feasible. Still doesn't solve the absence of competition problem though. 

Wilmington is also going to suffer from high costs to keep the river dredged to post-panamax depth and the long trip around the shoals (its about 34 miles from FP Tower to the docks). Both problems would have been solved with the Southport terminal, but NIMBYs killed that dead.

[KJHburg]

^^^ I agree Savannah has 2 class 1 railroads CSX and NS and they have a huge railyard.  I have seen their railyard and it quite impressive.   Charleston built a container port with zero rail connections the Mt Pleasant terminal on the Wando which is just crazy in my book.  the rest of Charleston is served by rail but not the Wando terminal.  

check out the connections in Savannah.   anything bought in the southeast imported likely came through Savannah.    But NC needs to continue to improve the NC ports for the sake of the NC industry and manufacturing.  

https://gaports.com/rail/

[KJHburg]

In NC the last couple years 66% of the prospects coming through the state were manufacturing or assembly and majority looking for existing buildings as opposed to raw land.  

Interesting read from the Biz Journal

https://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/news/2020/11/05/edpnc-real-estate-economic-development.html

manufacturing is strong in the region and distribution is stronger closer in to the city.  

[SydneyCarton]

On 11/2/2020 at 1:26 PM, KJHburg said:

^^^ I agree Savannah has 2 class 1 railroads CSX and NS and they have a huge railyard.  I have seen their railyard and it quite impressive.   Charleston built a container port with zero rail connections the Mt Pleasant terminal on the Wando which is just crazy in my book.  the rest of Charleston is served by rail but not the Wando terminal.  

check out the connections in Savannah.   anything bought in the southeast imported likely came through Savannah.    But NC needs to continue to improve the NC ports for the sake of the NC industry and manufacturing.  

https://gaports.com/rail/

Savannah is also more accessible to I-95 which runs from Maine to Miami.

Edited November 6, 2020 by SydneyCarton

[Blue_Devil]

Arrival has filled to go public as a SPAC.  Valuation to be 5.6 Billion to start. I knew about the buses, but not their direct competition in Electric Vans which is huge. 

 

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/11/18/uk-electric-vehicle-maker-arrival-is-going-public-via-spac.html

[kermit]

Wow, from a half a medical school (UNC-Atrium) , to a full one (WFU-Atrium, which killed off the UNC-Atrium partnership) , now to 1.5 medical schools in town (UNC-Novant announced a Charlotte med school partnership with few details). How big a deal this is is mostly dependent on how much UNC invests in the Charlotte school, I suspect this is a half-hearted med school partnership strategy.

http://click.bizjournals.com/HU002en08so5lY40xFW00SP
 

 

Edited November 20, 2020 by kermit

[KJHburg]

^^I just saw this about UNC wanting some kind of medical school presence here in Charlotte.  I say too little too late.   UNC system which I am proud graduate of 2 institutions should have done this years ago but they rebuffed Atrium then.    But come on down UNC but I am betting on Wake Forest Atrium med school. 

[SydneyCarton]

I'd love to see Charlotte lure the PNC HQ from Pittsburgh.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/pnc-will-be-regional-no-more-11605557197

[videtur quam contuor]

I spoke with a doctor a few weeks ago who is with Novant. He will be moving soon into their new building on Hawthorne. He gave me some inside information. Hospitals/medical centers and the now-rare community oncology clinic have an arrangement with pharmaceutical companies and device manufacturers that allow them to purchase drugs, etc. at a (e. g.) 40% discount from list price and then charge list. The drugs and devices administered at hospitals and hospital affiliate offices are some of the most expensive of drugs. These profits are major drivers of the expansion of such hospitals. Rules coming soon will allow cancer drugs, among the most expensive and lucrative of drugs for manufacturer and provider, to be covered under this arrangement if the hospital is an NCI (National Cancer Institute) designee. Atrium is not such a designee. Wake Forest is, thus the drive for a connection. This may also relate to the announcement today about UNC-Presbyterian link. 

[CLT>]

1 hour ago, kermit said:

Wow, from a half a medical school, to a full one, now to 1.5 medical schools in town. How big a deal this is is mostly dependent on how much UNC invests in the Charlotte school, I suspect this is a half-hearted med school partnership strategy (between UNC and Novant).

http://click.bizjournals.com/HU002en08so5lY40xFW00SP
 

 

It looks like this is the exact same relationship UNC currently has with Atrium, just moving it to Presby. No real net change for Charlotte.

[KJHburg]

FedEx reportedly leasing 640,000 sq ft in Metrolina Business Park in north Charlotte.  That is huge for them here as they do have FedEx Ground facilities in Concord.

 

Sources: FedEx to lease more than 640K square feet at Metrolina Park in Charlotte - Charlotte Business Journal (bizjournals.com)

Warehouses are getting bigger and bigger here in Charlotte the largest distribution center in the Carolinas.   Not sure this is the econ dev announcement or not today. 

[KJHburg]

new headquarters of Arrival British electric vehicle maker in Southend.  They leased the whole building.

Today. 

[Blue_Devil]

12 hours ago, KJHburg said:

new headquarters of Arrival British electric vehicle maker in Southend.  They leased the whole building.

Today. 

Their IPO has gone very very well.

[SydneyCarton]

31 minutes ago, Blue_Devil said:

Their IPO has gone very very well.

Did they list in NY or London?  If the former, they may eventually make Charlotte the global HQ since Britain’s international prospects have plunged.

[DMann]

what is the trading symbol, ARVL?

 

[Blue_Devil]

9 minutes ago, DMann said:

what is the trading symbol, ARVL?

 

Currently it is CIIC, they did it through a SPAC (Venture Capital). Its different from a traditional IPO, kind of an IPO merger, where the SPAC mergers with the privately held company, making them public. So I believe the ticker will change some time in Q1 2021 to something like ARVL, but right now it is CIIC. 

[SydneyCarton]

I just looked it up.  It will list on the NASDAQ.   New York now totally dominates western financial markets, as London is no longer a competitor.   Maybe one day, it will be the Charlotte Stock Exchange.

Edited December 11, 2020 by SydneyCarton

[Blue_Devil]

17 minutes ago, SydneyCarton said:

I just looked it up.  It will list on the NASDAQ.   New York now totally dominates western financial markets, as London is no longer a competitor.   Maybe one day, it will be the Charlotte Stock Exchange.

Well the company they did the SPAC merger with was a US holding company

[SydneyCarton]

1 hour ago, Blue_Devil said:

Well the company they did the SPAC merger with was a US holding company

But clearly the intent was to list in NY.  NY dominates the SPAC trend.  I read an articles in the FT and The Economist that the LSE is trying to catch that wave but with no succes.

[Blue_Devil]

4 minutes ago, SydneyCarton said:

But clearly the intent was to list in NY.  NY dominates the SPAC trend.  I read an articles in the FT and The Economist that the LSE is trying to catch that wave but with no succes.

You are not wrong. 

[kermit]

It would mean very little in terms of employment, but this mention of ACC league office relocation (from Greensboro) was in the N+O story on the new commissioner today:

Quote

The ACC continues to wrestle with the balance between what made it great and what it must become to remain great, as it will forever. The decision Phillips will have whether to leave the conference office in Greensboro or move to a more cosmopolitan market like Charlotte, Atlanta or Washington will epitomize that debate.

Honestly both Atlanta (its way too SEC) and DC (just not Southern enough, plus too many reminders of the Terps) seem like a poor fit for this office. Greensboro just has too few flight options for it to be viable for a league with teams from Miami to Boston. Charlotte has also become something of a college football central place (despite our lack of a power 5 team) thanks to the ESPN offices, the associated ACC network, the "bowls" and Paul Finebaum living here.  With a little effort, Charlotte could become a really nice sports media cluster.

https://www.charlotteobserver.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/luke-decock/article247828500.html

Edited December 14, 2020 by kermit

[Blue_Devil]

Having the ACC in SouthEnd would be pretty neat.