Triad Business Notes

[winston's finest]

I really hope Winston gets this new facility because we can use the jobs, as I am sure every city can. But with the incentives and already prepped business parks such as Union Cross I think we would have a good chance of getting Caterpillar. Plus I think Winston is probably more interesting of a place to live than Alabama and SC possible locations.

[krazeeboi]

Plus I think Winston is probably more interesting of a place to live than Alabama and SC possible locations.

Even though the Triad is a little larger than the Upstate, they have roughly the same amenities and so forth. Montgomery is a decidedly smaller place with less to offer.

[cityboi]

Also those other places don't have a FedEx hub and they dont have the transportation network that the Triad has.

[krazeeboi]

Also those other places don't have a FedEx hub and they dont have the transportation network that the Triad has.

Not sure about Montgomery, but the Upstate has a pretty decent transportation network and having Southwest Airlines coming there will be an advantage. Each region certainly has its advantages to tout, but as I stated, this will probably come down to incentives above all else.

[cityboi]

Mebane is in the running for a major Microsoft Data Center. Looks like North Carolina is becoming a hot spot for Data Centers. In May, American Express decided to build a $600 million data center near Greensboro and Apple and Google showed interest in the state for their data centers. If Mebane is selected, It will be Microsoft's first major presence in the Triad.

http://www.news-record.com/content/2010/07/01/article/microsoft_coming_to_alamance

[krazeeboi]

Not sure about Montgomery, but the Upstate has a pretty decent transportation network and having Southwest Airlines coming there will be an advantage. Each region certainly has its advantages to tout, but as I stated, this will probably come down to incentives above all else.

And as if on cue, the city of Winston-Salem has joined forces with Forsyth County in creating a combined offer of $23.4 million to Caterpillar. The city is offering $9.57 million in incentives over 10 years, with payments beginning at the end of the first year of operations. The county is offering $6.4 million in incentives over 10 years. Both city and county are offering $3.75 million upfront toward buying the 100-acre site next to the Dell Inc. computer-assembly plant off Union Cross Road. In return, Caterpillar would create at least 392 full-time or full-time equivalent jobs at what would be an 850,000-square-foot plant, according to the city. There also would be 118 contract workers. The average annual wage would be $36,725, or $17.66 an hour.

[twincity]

Last night, Forsyth County unanimously approved incentives worth $10.15 million to lure Caterpillar to W-S. The city will vote this coming Monday on a $13.35 million incentive package.

You can view the site plan of "Project Camo" posted on the city's website:

http://www.cityofws.org/Assets/CityOfWS/Documents/Planning/Zoning/ZoningCases/July2010/w3072.pdf

[cityboi]

Caterpillar selects Winston-Salem!!

Great news! more jobs come to the Piedmont Triad! Forsyth Tech was a big reason the company selected Winston-Salem.

read more here

http://www.digtriad.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=145924&catid=57

Edited July 30, 2010 by cityboi

[cityboi]

The Triad may become a hot spot for Data Centers. Tuesday, the Greensboro city council will vote on one of the biggest economic deals in Guilford County's history with a planned American Express data center. Greensboro City Council will vote to annex te data center site within the city limits. Data Centers may not sound as exciting as a Honda Jet Factory or a Dell plant but they are just as lucrative and the jobs are high paying tech jobs. The Triad has a large fiber-optic network and power grid to support a lot of Data Centers and in fact one of the main fiber optic line between Washington DC and Atlanta runs under South Elm Street in downtown Greensboro. While data centers may not contribute much at all for downtown office development they do attract hundreds of high paying jobs. But since downtown Greensboro is wired so well, you just never know. In fact the Guilford Buildig is probabally the most wired building in the Triad and there is already a small data center in that building. Data centers come in clusters and North Carolina is second in the world when it comes to data centers. Only Iceland tops North Carolina. Microsoft is considering a data center on the eastern edge of the Triad in Mebane as well. Other North Carolina data center projects include Google, Apple, IBM and T5 (T-Mobile and E-Trade).

http://www.myfox8.com/wghp-story-datacenters-100812,0,2238437.story

http://www.news-record.com/content/2010/05/20/article/amex_coming_to_eastern_guilford

Edited August 14, 2010 by cityboi

[cityboi]

Aviation university could be in the works for Greensboro. With the growing number of aviation companies moving to Greensboro, a college is needed to train workers. The university would help attract even more companies in the aviation sector.

http://triad.bizjournals.com/triad/stories/2010/10/04/daily31.html

[cityboi]

Pepsi to locate call center in Winston-Salem.....Since Pepsi has already invested in Winston with a facility on the east side of town, it would be great to see the corporate headquarters relocate there since Pepsi was founded in North Carolina. Pepsi could move into the old RJR building. Atlanta has Coca Cola and Winston-Salem could have Pepsi hey you just never know.....

http://www.wxii12.com/money/25565839/detail.html

Edited October 29, 2010 by cityboi

[cityboi]

Will Google select Greensboro as a test city for its high speed internet? 1,100 cities across the country filled out applications to land Google with some cities doing outrageous things to get Google's attention. According to a national independent market report, compiled in the spring by Steketee Greiner Co., (an Internet marketing and research company) Greensboro ranks in the top 10 nationwide for landing this network. Cities with populations between 50,000 and 500,000 qualify. There are a number a factors as to why Greensboro is a strong contender including the number of colleges and universities in the city. The Google data center in North Carolina could also help Greensboro's chances. If Greensboro lands this the city will have the fastest internet speeds in the country.

http://www.news-record.com/content/2010/11/09/article/cities_eagerly_await_google_s_site_choice

Edited November 10, 2010 by cityboi

[Jones_]

You're at the top of a list Greensboro

[cityboi]

Greensboro based Market America to acquire shop.com. Market America sells products through representatives and the internet world-wide. The national convention is held in Greensboro every year and the goal of Market America is to compete head to head with Amazon .com

http://www.news-record.com/content/2010/12/15/article/market_america_to_acquire_shopcom

Edited December 15, 2010 by cityboi

[cityboi]

PGA Carolinas will move from Myrtle Beach to Greensboro.

The organization was actually founded in Greensboro in 1923

http://www.news-record.com/content/2011/03/16/article/pga_carolinas_section_will_move_to_greensboro

http://carolinas.pga.com/index.cfm?menu=641

Edited March 16, 2011 by cityboi

[cityboi]

Volvo expands in Greensboro

http://www.myfox8.com/news/wghp-story-volvo-8-million-greensboro-110527,0,7134419.story

[cityboi]

Greensboro city council will hold a special meeting in regards to a "business opportunity" next Tuesday. A release sent out by the city says the meeting has been called "to discuss matters relating to business location or expansion in Greensboro." Hopefully its something big. We need some really good news. The small expansions are great But i'd like to see Greensboro land another big fish.

http://www.news-record.com/content/2011/06/02/article/city_council_to_hold_special_meeting_on_business_opportunity

Edited June 2, 2011 by cityboi

[cityboi]

local bloggers are speculating on what the "business opportunity" may be.

GrowGreen Power looking at Greensboro?

Two days ago, GrowGreen Power announced that it is looking for a location in the Piedmont region of North Carolina in which to locate a 300-worker GrowGreen center, a 50 acre greenhouse combined with a 37 megawatt "co-generation power plant." It will be their first such project in the United States.

Today, Greensboro Mayor Bill Knight announced a special closed session of city council for June 7 to discuss "matters related to business location or expansion in Greensboro." Related? Greensboro may get a little more greener. Greensboro does make good sense for this project. Besides having "green" in the city's name, Greensboro has an agricultural program at North Carolina A&T State University. Also the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture will have offices and facilities at Gateway University Research Park. This project is a very exciting concept. Providing produce for the community while at the same time providing green power for the area. Since going green is the wave of the future, I think its best for Greensboro to strive to become the greenest city in the country. We already have the greenest hotel in America.

GrowGreen Power:

“North Carolina is an ideal spot for us,” said Bradley Nixon, Principal and CEO of GrowGreen Power. “GrowGreen Power Inc. is committed to integrating state-of-the-art growing and renewable energy systems that deliver both fresh produce and sustainable power to local communities. North Carolina has a rich agricultural heritage, quality workforce and access to regional produce distribution and energy markets. Those factors combined with the support we’ve received from state leaders and its communities make North Carolina an excellent location for us to launch our first project in the United States.”

"For more than a year, GrowGreen Power’s developers, architects, and engineers have been scouring the U.S. for the best possible location to build their unique project called a GrowGreen center. Each project provides communities with fresh food and renewable energy by combining a hydroponic greenhouse with a solar thermal / biomass power plant. The $250 million North Carolina project integrates a 50-acre greenhouse with a 37-megawatt (MW) co-generation power plant."

http://www.growgreenpower.com/PR_31MAY11.html

http://roch101.blogspot.com/2011/06/growgreen-power-looking-at-greensboro.html

UPDATE:Greensboro appears to be getting this power plant

http://www2.nccommerce.com/eclipsfiles/22786.pdf

Edited June 3, 2011 by cityboi

[Euphorius]

I didn't see Greensboro mentioned anywhere in that press release. It just says they are considering several 500-600 acre sites across the Piedmont. The Piedmont includes all of the big 3 metro areas in the state.

[cityboi]

I didn't see Greensboro mentioned anywhere in that press release. It just says they are considering several 500-600 acre sites across the Piedmont. The Piedmont includes all of the big 3 metro areas in the state.

click on the pdf link in my last post. It says GrowGreen is looking at the Triad. It can't be a coincidence with the timing of this "special" meeting with Greensboro city council. The subject is about a business opportunity/business location in Greensboro. GrowGreen made this announcement 2 days ago. So far nobody has heard of any other Triad city having special meetings about a business coming to the area.

Edited June 3, 2011 by cityboi

[Euphorius]

Sorry, I was looking for mention of Greensboro or The Triad in the actual article. I just realized it was only in the title of the article, which I didn't look at before, and wasn't mentioned in the article on the growgreenpower.com site or the articles from the Charlotte Business Journal and MSNBC. Kudos to the Triad if they score this project.

Edited June 3, 2011 by Euphorius

[cityboi]

Sorry, I was looking for mention of Greensboro or The Triad in the actual article. I just realized it was only in the title of the article, which I didn't look at before, and wasn't mentioned in the article on the growgreenpower.com site or the articles from the Charlotte Business Journal and MSNBC. Kudos to the Triad if they score this project.

well i'm gonna pause and step back a little. We will find out for certain soon enough. Everyone on the local blogs are saying the special city council meeting next Tuesday about a business/opportunity coming to Greensboro is related to growgreen. The announcement of the secret meeting came two days after growgreen said they want to build this power plant in the piedmont and we do know from news articles is that the grogreen plant will locate in the Triad.

[cityboi]

Greensboro based VF Corp, whose brands include Wrangler, Nautica and North Face is buying Timberland for $2.2 billion. VF Corp is Greensboro's only Fortune 500 company.

http://www.news-record.com/content/2011/06/13/article/vf_corp_buying_timberland_brand_for_22_billion

[cityboi]

looks like Winston-Salem's BB&T came very close to buying out RBC (US). PNC Financial Services Group Inc. based in Pittsburgh will buy Raleigh based RBC. The buyout will created the 5th largest bank in the United States. According to the article, BB&T was in the hunt for Raleigh based RBC but lost the bid.

http://www.myfox8.com/news/wghp-story-pnc-rbc-us-110620,0,4491923.story

http://www.newsobserver.com/2011/06/20/1285941/pnc-likely-buyer-of-rbc-bank.html

Edited June 20, 2011 by cityboi

[krazeeboi]

Would have been nice to have kept those assets in state, but oh well.