Economic Development - Expansions and Relocations

[cltbwimob]

On 4/29/2021 at 2:50 PM, KJHburg said:

Sizable local manufacturer expansion Doosan the Korean company up in Statesville maybe adding 250 jobs and 500K to the plant.  

They make and own the Bobcat brand,  make lots of products like portable lighting, generators etc.

Bobcat parent company linked to major expansion project in Statesville - Charlotte Business Journal (bizjournals.com)

Doosan Portable Power North America

I didn’t realize this until yesterday, but Bobcat just recently reintroduced their compact tractor line in 2019 after having previously halted production.  I also found out that they assemble those tractors at the Statesville plant, which before the reintroduction of the tractor line, was used to build auxiliary construction equipment such as light towers, compressors, and generators (note: they still build these items at the plant).

The expansion is purportedly related to their grounds maintenance division, which includes the compact tractor line and will include up to 500k square feet of foot print expansion, but only ~200 new jobs.

All this leads me to believe that (1) Bobcat’s compact tractor line (part II) is performing well, so well that they need dedicated space to build the tractors as opposed to building them in a plant dedicated to some other type of production. (2) The low jobs number relative to the massive footprint expansion is because some employees in the current plant who are assembling tractors would be moved over to the new facility in addition the ~200 new hires (the current plant has almost 400 employees I believe).  (3) That Statesville is probably the most likely candidate for expansion, but shouldn’t rest on its laurels because there are 2 other candidate locations as well which means that Statesville may lose some of the employees currently dedicated to tractor production in the existing plant if it goes elsewhere.

Just some reading of the tea leaves.

Here is Bobcat’s website for their production facilities...they have a picture of a compact tractor on the assembly line in Statesville:

https://www.bobcat.com/company-info/about/locations

Edit: if tractor production stays local, I know what kind of tractor I’ll be purchasing when I finally make my move to the country.

Edited May 3, 2021 by cltbwimob

[tozmervo]

Does Bobcat use "right to repair" standards? I know John Deere has become enemy #1 for making their products un-repairable. 

[slipperypete]

1 hour ago, tozmervo said:

Does Bobcat use "right to repair" standards? I know John Deere has become enemy #1 for making their products un-repairable. 

They're members of AEM (as is John Deere), which is participating in the "Coalition Opposed to Illegal Tampering" - one of the big industry groups opposing R2R. So at least indirectly they are anti-R2R.

[Matthew.Brendan]

Oh how America has fallen. We went from proudly "built for a lifetime" quality to this greedy garbage. God bless Capitalism, eh comrade? /offtopic

[KJHburg]

Doosan did announce today they were expanding their Statesville plant by 538,000 sq ft and 250 new jobs.  Read about it here  $70 M expansion.   Great news as an auto parts manufacturer in Mooresville is closing up after 3 years but did not have this many employees as this expansion. 

Doosan Bobcat to invest $70 million to add jobs, expand manufacturing operations in Statesville | Local News | statesville.com

[KJHburg]

Here is the press release from Iredell County about the big Doosan expansion.  

Doosan Bobcat to invest $70 million to add jobs and expand manufacturing operations in Statesville, N.C. | Iredell EDC

[KJHburg]

another manufacturing company coming to Iredell County on top of the Doosan expansion. 

""Jeld-Wen Holding Inc. (NYSE: JELD) has plans to create up to 235 jobs for a new Iredell County facility in Statesville. The company plans to make a total investment of nearly $7.9 million in the new facility over the next four years. The facility is expected to open on July 1, Jeld-Wen announced. It will be at least 100,000 square feet, according to state documents.""

Window and door manufacturer Jeld-Wen adding 235-job facility in Statesville - Charlotte Business Journal (bizjournals.com)

[KJHburg]

Sounds like USAA giant financial and insurance company is opening a Charlotte office.  I think their CFO is from Charlotte working at several of our major banks.   28 job openings now and I have heard rumors for 100s of employees.

from the Biz Journal

USAA CEO: Financial services company to open facility in Charlotte - Charlotte Business Journal (bizjournals.com)

""Sources say the San Antonio-based Fortune 100 company is adding an office in Charlotte, a move talked about in a recent interview by the San Antonio Business Journal, a sister publication of the Charlotte Business Journal. The company provides financial services, including insurance, for members of the military and their families.  When asked about the company's physical footprint, President and CEO Wayne Peacock in that interview briefly mentioned a new operation in Charlotte.  "We will continue to look at new opportunities to access talent more broadly because there’s clearly a war for talent," Peacock said. "And (we recently) announced that we’ll open one of those facilities in Charlotte, North Carolina, as an example."  No additional information was given about Charlotte specifically. Peacock said USAA will probably have more talent hubs across the county, and total square footage and footprint is still being determined.""

Tapping into our large financial and insurance labor pool not to mention technology. 

[Blue_Devil]

19 minutes ago, KJHburg said:

Sounds like USAA giant financial and insurance company is opening a Charlotte office.  I think their CFO is from Charlotte working at several of our major banks.   28 job openings now and I have heard rumors for 100s of employees.

from the Biz Journal

USAA CEO: Financial services company to open facility in Charlotte - Charlotte Business Journal (bizjournals.com)

""Sources say the San Antonio-based Fortune 100 company is adding an office in Charlotte, a move talked about in a recent interview by the San Antonio Business Journal, a sister publication of the Charlotte Business Journal. The company provides financial services, including insurance, for members of the military and their families.  When asked about the company's physical footprint, President and CEO Wayne Peacock in that interview briefly mentioned a new operation in Charlotte.  "We will continue to look at new opportunities to access talent more broadly because there’s clearly a war for talent," Peacock said. "And (we recently) announced that we’ll open one of those facilities in Charlotte, North Carolina, as an example."  No additional information was given about Charlotte specifically. Peacock said USAA will probably have more talent hubs across the county, and total square footage and footprint is still being determined.""

Tapping into our large financial and insurance labor pool not to mention technology. 

Any guesses where the office location will be? I know the article no idea, but what does USAA look for generally? 

[atlrvr]

They are suburban in every other city.  Maybe the new Ballantyne building?  

That said, it's a new CEO, and like KJ mentions, the CFO previously worked for BofA and Wachovia, and part of what they will be doing in Charlotte is technology evolution, so there's a decent chance they'd look for something Uptown/South End.

[Blue_Devil]

Just now, atlrvr said:

They are suburban in every other city.  Maybe the new Ballantyne building?  

That said, it's a new CEO, and like KJ mentions, the CFO previously worked for BofA and Wachovia, and part of what they will be doing in Charlotte is technology evolution, so there's a decent chance they'd look for something Uptown/South End.

I hope that is it. I like Ballantyne, but I like the growing concentration to our Uptown/SouthEnd area.

[InTheYear2000]

8 minutes ago, Blue_Devil said:

Any guesses where the office location will be? I know the article no idea, but what does USAA look for generally? 

 

Every one of their current spaces except for the tech/design office in Austin are in suburban settings. I can see a them taking a few floors or a mid-rise in a place like Ballantyne.

https://www.usaajobs.com/locations

[Blue_Devil]

4 minutes ago, InTheYear2000 said:

 

Every one of their current spaces except for the tech/design office in Austin are in suburban settings. I can see a them taking a few floors or a mid-rise in a place like Ballantyne.

https://www.usaajobs.com/locations

I would say we are more like Austin in the sense of the roles they ar elooking for

[KJHburg]

Insurance companies are somewhat cheap so I say University area or Ballantyne.   But maybe somewhere like FreeMore or Camp North End.

[InTheYear2000]

15 hours ago, Blue_Devil said:

I would say we are more like Austin in the sense of the roles they are looking for

I wouldn't. My read is that the openings are primarily audit roles and Austin is a "hip" office for the notoriously fussy UX and Dev hires. As a veteran of the Risk and Audit space I'd love to be lumped in with the "sexy" roles but we're often relegated to the traditional, less "creative" spaces. Which is a shame because I would also like a ping pong table and beanbag chairs.

With all of that said, I hope they take a different approach in Charlotte. I know people who have turned down roles at the stagecoach and others that would have moved them from Uptown to South Charlotte. A shiny office may help in the fight for talent. 

[Blue_Devil]

48 minutes ago, InTheYear2000 said:

I wouldn't. My read is that the openings are primarily audit roles and Austin is a "hip" office for the notoriously fussy UX and Dev hires. As a veteran of the Risk and Audit space I'd love to be lumped in with the "sexy" roles but we're often relegated to the traditional, less "creative" spaces. Which is a shame because I would also like a ping pong table and beanbag chairs.

With all of that said, I hope they take a different approach in Charlotte. I know people who have turned down roles at the stagecoach and others that would have moved them from Uptown to South Charlotte. A shiny office may help in the fight for talent. 

Yah, that is what they are hiring now, but this from the article is what caught me: "More and more banking skills, more and more deep insurance skills, technology, design, data and analytics are all many of the emerging skills that are required to run a large financial institution, especially one that is moving into the digital economy as USAA is."

[KJHburg]

Here is what the CEO of USAA said about offices in general  I would count this company as one that will continue to have big offices 

""But I think the other thing we’re starting to learn and understand more as well are the implications of everyone being isolated or being separated. And I think what we’ve come to understand is that there’s a new reality that will be a combination of the flexibility to work from anywhere, but also the need and the opportunity to come together as humans and be in the same space — how we work together to build and sustain culture, or even in some respects how we work together to drive innovation and change in a way that maybe doesn’t happen quite so effectively on a Zoom or some type of virtual screen.  And then one of the things that I’m really questioning and really trying to get the answer to is this sense of mentorship and development, especially for some of our younger teammates. I recall [during] so much of my career the kind of organic or happenstance encounters — meeting in the hallway — where you get to replay what happened and learn about how to do it better next time. And I think that we’ve probably missed a bit of that in the last year or so being separate. And I think it’ll be really important for us to blend the work distributed and the work together, and kind of harmonize that as a new way of working as we move past Covid and into whatever the next normal is.""

and what he specifically said about Charlotte:

""So the physical footprint will be configured differently. We will continue to look at new opportunities to access talent more broadly because there’s clearly a war for talent. And [we recently] announced that we’ll open one of those facilities in Charlotte, North Carolina, as an example.""

USAA does have an office in downtown San Antonio they opened a few years away  from their huge campus in NW San Antonio suburbs.  

[HopHead]

Something to keep an eye on with Centene building their massive east coast campus in Charlotte: https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/centene-ceo-again-threatens-to-leave-missouri-this-time-over-medicaid-expansion/article_3cb90f39-60d3-5196-a972-c5bbcf4c6f76.html

Centene (Fortune 42) is the largest provider Medicaid in the country and Missouri recently voted against Medicaid expansion. CEO is obviously not happy about that. 

[Blue_Devil]

7 minutes ago, HopHead said:

Something to keep an eye on with Centene building their massive east coast campus in Charlotte: https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/centene-ceo-again-threatens-to-leave-missouri-this-time-over-medicaid-expansion/article_3cb90f39-60d3-5196-a972-c5bbcf4c6f76.html

Centene (Fortune 42) is the largest provider Medicaid in the country and Missouri recently voted against Medicaid expansion. CEO is obviously not happy about that. 

I know I gave an update about Centene moving its HQ here, but I'll be honest, that source went cold on me. 

[KJHburg]

In terms of Centene I do think there is a possibility then will move their HQ here but only after their building is complete.  There are a lot of reasons they are dissatisfied with the St Louis area but I think any such announcement would be after they have their offices here and it could be a quiet switch over.  

[midtownclt]

I'm sure they would love to have Medicaid expanded as they are one of the largest (if not the largest) processors for state Medicaid programs.

More Medicaid means more $$$$ in their pockets.   Look at this company's history in regards to suits by states AG.

THEY WILL NOT BE GOING TO OHIO OR MISSISSIPPI ANYTIME SOON - 2 states that are investigating them for overcharging millions.

Not sure they would be the best of corporations that we want to call CLT home - though some would love to Wells here too I guess.

[KJHburg]

For a company that has not formerly announced a Charlotte office other than the CEO mentioning it they have 31 jobs posted in Charlotte.  Many are cross posted in other office locations but these jobs are in Charlotte's wheelhouse for sure.

audit, compliance,  various banking roles as USAA has a huge bank component to it in addition to their huge insurance business. 

Search our Job Opportunities at USAA (usaajobs.com)

but not more than MUFG Union Bank part of the huge Japanese bank that has 104 job postings here and is growing like crazy.

Search our Job Opportunities at Mufg Union Bank, National Association (mufgamericas.com)

Edited May 23, 2021 by KJHburg

[KJHburg]

Maybe some job announcements this week as I keep seeing this everywhere on socia media.  I know of a company with an financial operation that might be expanding and maybe about USAA and Varo Bank making their announcements official.  I guess we will see.  Seems someone is excited at CRBA.   (weatherwise it is getting hotter and more humid so I know that are not talking about that LOL) 

Charlotte Regional Business Alliance

 

Queen City, there’s an amazing week coming your way!

[KJHburg]

Well there is this....  Hmm I hope someone Guards my Van because I love the USA-A because I don't want to lose any of my Varo Money.   I guess we shall see who it is....

Inbox: City of Charlotte holding economic development announcement at 12:30pm on Tuesday. Will be broadcast on city's Facebook and YouTube pages

 

Edited May 24, 2021 by KJHburg

[Blue_Devil]

6 minutes ago, KJHburg said:

Well there is this....  Hmm I hope someone Guards my Van because I love the USA-A because I don't want to lose any of my Varo Money.   I guess we shall see who it is....

Inbox: City of Charlotte holding economic development announcement at 12:30pm on Tuesday. Will be broadcast on city's Facebook and YouTube pages

 

Big moves from any of those companies would be great, but we know they are already happening. Here is hoping we get a surprise.