The Good News Report

[navigator319]

Red Ventures buying Bankrate.com 

http://www.cnbc.com/2017/07/03/bankrate-to-be-acquired-by-red-ventures-for-about-1-point-4-billion-in-cash.html

[KJHburg]

NC is the best state to start a small business according to this study. SC not so much as it comes in at 48th. http://www.bizjournals.com/triad/news/2017/07/03/calling-all-entrepreneurs-north-carolina-is-the.html?ana=e_me_set1&s=newsletter&ed=2017-07-03&u=oAaDx%2B74FoP4qOJ%2By4AU6dhJPpc&t=1499085824&j=78489281

[KJHburg]

No surprise to us who live and work here but Charlotte economy is one of the 5 fastest growing in the country of the larger metros. Yes faster than Atlanta, Dallas, San Fran etc. http://headlightdata.com/fastest-growing-large-metro-economies/  This is economic growth not just population. 

[urbanlover568]

8 hours ago, KJHburg said:

No surprise to us who live and work here but Charlotte economy is one of the 5 fastest growing in the country of the larger metros. Yes faster than Atlanta, Dallas, San Fran etc. http://headlightdata.com/fastest-growing-large-metro-economies/  This is economic growth not just population. 

I know this is OT, but I used to live in Grand Rapids about 10-15 years ago and back then it was a dump with no hope. Could buy a house there almost for free. Now it's the fastest growing. Shows how quickly a area can turn around!!

[KJHburg]

This is not Charlotte but it is huge for the state. Infosys bringing 2000 jobs to Wake County. A prosperous NC makes Charlotte even more so.Plus this highlights how NC is a great state for tech. 

 http://www.bizjournals.com/triangle/news/2017/07/06/infosys-to-bring-2-000-jobs-to-wake-county.html?ana=e_trig_bn&u=oAaDx%2B74FoP4qOJ%2By4AU6dhJPpc&t=1499348918&j=78505701

[atlrvr]

Ugh....I felt pretty confident Charlotte would win those jobs.  I thought our talent base was actually deeper on this slice of IT jobs. 

[Dale]

I'm back with CPI Security. And some days it seems that half the prospects I meet are IT.

[CLT704]

I feel like we haven't had a major "economic announcement", or whatever they are called, for a while now. The last one I can think of is Sealed Air, and that was 3 years ago. 

[KJHburg]

18 minutes ago, CLT704 said:

I feel like we haven't had a major "economic announcement", or whatever they are called, for a while now. The last one I can think of is Sealed Air, and that was 3 years ago. 

This is the biggest announcement  this year in Charlotte 550 jobs with AXA  https://edpnc.com/axa-insurers-18m-expansion-will-add-550-jobs-nearly-double-charlotte-workforce/  Wells and Bank of America are adding 100s of jobs here but you will not get a formal announcement for many reasons. Amazon added 1000 jobs at their new Old Dowd Rd facility last year but again not announced or touted. Our job market is growing strongly one of the fastest in the country look at a post I did yesterday. 

Edited July 6, 2017 by KJHburg

[CLT704]

31 minutes ago, KJHburg said:

This is the biggest announcement  this year in Charlotte 550 jobs with AXA  https://edpnc.com/axa-insurers-18m-expansion-will-add-550-jobs-nearly-double-charlotte-workforce/  Wells and Bank of America are adding 100s of jobs here but you will not get a formal announcement for many reasons. Amazon added 1000 jobs at their new Old Dowd Rd facility last year but again not announced or touted. Our job market is growing strongly one of the fastest in the country look at a post I did yesterday. 

I'm talking about the ones that get incentives, and are announced by the Governor like AXA (yeah I forgot that).  

[Niner National]

Scott Stone (nc GA representative) posted in Facebook about the infosys jobs. He said expect many more big announcements in coming months.

 

Hopefully he's serious and it isn't just political cheerleading.

[Nick2]

We have the biggest job announcements. We are doing great. Best jobs in the country. The announcements will be yuge. 

[nik12]

12 hours ago, KJHburg said:

This is the biggest announcement  this year in Charlotte 550 jobs with AXA  https://edpnc.com/axa-insurers-18m-expansion-will-add-550-jobs-nearly-double-charlotte-workforce/  Wells and Bank of America are adding 100s of jobs here but you will not get a formal announcement for many reasons. Amazon added 1000 jobs at their new Old Dowd Rd facility last year but again not announced or touted. Our job market is growing strongly one of the fastest in the country look at a post I did yesterday. 

I think this was a very significant announcement for a few reasons.  First, it adds AXA US to Brighthouse, TIAA, and SCOR US on the list of significant annuity and life (re)insurance companies with largest employment hubs in Charlotte (plus Wells' reinsurance operations are here too).  Second, a few days after this announcement, AXA announced that it is looking to spin-off AXA US into a separate entity (similar to the Brighthouse spin-off by MetLife), which could possibly give Charlotte a shot at getting a new HQ designation down the road.  Third, these jobs are across all operations, such as finance, accounting, legal, IT, HR, customer service, which adds a lot of depth to the insurance industry talent in the city. 

As far a quiet expansions go, I've heard that Allstate and Hartford have been expanding here in Charlotte too.

These things have cumulative effects, and I would love to see Charlotte become known as an insurance capital in addition to a banking capital.   

 

[J-Rob]

When you think private equity you might think NYC or Silicon Valley, but it is cool to see some stories about Charlotte private equity.  This is more fun to read about than Charlotte companies being snatched up by out-of-state firms, à la Belk.  Side note:  I used to love Backyard Burgers back in college.

 

https://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/news/2017/07/10/charlotte-private-equity-firm-adds-burgers-to.html

https://www.backyardburgers.com

[nik12]

6 hours ago, J-Rob said:

When you think private equity you might think NYC or Silicon Valley, but it is cool to see some stories about Charlotte private equity.  This is more fun to read about than Charlotte companies being snatched up by out-of-state firms, à la Belk.  Side note:  I used to love Backyard Burgers back in college.

 

https://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/news/2017/07/10/charlotte-private-equity-firm-adds-burgers-to.html

https://www.backyardburgers.com

Very cool, thanks for sharing.  Good to see Charlotte has a private equity scene.  

[navigator319]

No change from last year we stayed at #5.  If it wasn't for education cuts and inclusiveness could be at the top of the list.

http://www.cnbc.com/2017/07/11/north-carolina-is-no-5-in-americas-top-states-for-business.html 

[CarolinaDaydreamin]

Yesterday at the MLB All Star game press conference, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred listed Montreal and Charlotte as the front runners for MLB expansion. Probably a decade away but certainly puts us in good position if the Rays move or next round of expansion teams. 

[ssh214]

1 hour ago, CarolinaDaydreamin said:

Yesterday at the MLB All Star game press conference, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred listed Montreal and Charlotte as the front runners for MLB expansion. Probably a decade away but certainly puts us in good position if the Rays move or next round of expansion teams. 

I wonder how the Knights feel about this...

Nevermind found the answer myself...

“It’s always a compliment when Charlotte is noticed as a potential MLB city, however we still contend, as does Commissioner Rob Manfred, that this is years away. We are thrilled that our team has led the country in Minor League Baseball attendance for three straight years, and intend on continuing that tradition for many years to come,” the Knights said in a statement to the Observer.

Edited July 11, 2017 by saamh

[CarolinaDaydreamin]

10 hours ago, saamh said:

I wonder how the Knights feel about this...

Nevermind found the answer myself...

“It’s always a compliment when Charlotte is noticed as a potential MLB city, however we still contend, as does Commissioner Rob Manfred, that this is years away. We are thrilled that our team has led the country in Minor League Baseball attendance for three straight years, and intend on continuing that tradition for many years to come,” the Knights said in a statement to the Observer.

The team is probably still 5-10 years away but it is a promising thought that we are a short list. I want a team pretty badly. 

[nik12]

14 hours ago, CarolinaDaydreamin said:

Yesterday at the MLB All Star game press conference, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred listed Montreal and Charlotte as the front runners for MLB expansion. Probably a decade away but certainly puts us in good position if the Rays move or next round of expansion teams. 

Oh snap

[Matthew.Brendan]

I'll take $13 tickets over $40-60 or whatever MLB seats cost these days. I think along with a fantastic park Uptown that's a huge factor in why the Knights are leading in attendance. 

[videtur quam contuor]

Charlotte is within the broadcast zone for four teams, Atlanta, Washington, Baltimore (?) and Cincinnati (!!??). Each of those owners would expect a major payment for loss of broadcast zone and the Charlotte Zone would be reduced or split accordingly. This makes the cost of owning a new team dramatically more than just the buy-in. Montreal has only Toronto to adjust with and that is much more easily done and also is a non-US decision. DC and Baltimore are STILL fighting about this from 10+ years ago. Plus the Orioles owner owns the majority of the DC broadcast entity. Expect that cost to occur here also. In other words, adding a team anywhere would cost man millions more than the buy in, perhaps billion.

[teeg]

^ looking at it in the other direction, if Tampa were to move, would the Marlins have to pay for exclusive rights to north and west Florida?   Also, I'm wondering if value of the rights to Charlotte for Atlanta, Baltimore, Washington and Cincinnati would be lower than normal because no team has the city to itself.  If it's not clear, I have absolutely no idea how this would work, but find it very interesting for some reason.

[Squid7085]

1 hour ago, tarhoosier said:

Charlotte is within the broadcast zone for four teams, Atlanta, Washington, Baltimore (?) and Cincinnati (!!??). Each of those owners would expect a major payment for loss of broadcast zone and the Charlotte Zone would be reduced or split accordingly. This makes the cost of owning a new team dramatically more than just the buy-in. Montreal has only Toronto to adjust with and that is much more easily done and also is a non-US decision. DC and Baltimore are STILL fighting about this from 10+ years ago. Plus the Orioles owner owns the majority of the DC broadcast entity. Expect that cost to occur here also. In other words, adding a team anywhere would cost man millions more than the buy in, perhaps billion.

I think it is a load of crap that it is that way to begin with. It should only be Atlanta. Washington is such a new team in DC by comparison, it amazes me they gave them Charlotte, and Baltimore/Cincinnati is laughable. I guess I am mostly annoyed, as I am not a fan of any of those team, so it is just that many more games that get blacked out for me on MLB.tv.

Any Charlotte team should only have to deal with Atlanta, the other teams should be happy they ever got to share the broadcast zone. Atlanta is the only team that has really created a "local team" following here. With that said, having the blessing of the MLB heads like that can't hurt. If the MLB wants to be in Charlotte, they will make it work for whoever may be the prospective owner.

Edited July 12, 2017 by Squid7085

[CarolinaDaydreamin]

1 hour ago, tarhoosier said:

Charlotte is within the broadcast zone for four teams, Atlanta, Washington, Baltimore (?) and Cincinnati (!!??). Each of those owners would expect a major payment for loss of broadcast zone and the Charlotte Zone would be reduced or split accordingly. This makes the cost of owning a new team dramatically more than just the buy-in. Montreal has only Toronto to adjust with and that is much more easily done and also is a non-US decision. DC and Baltimore are STILL fighting about this from 10+ years ago. Plus the Orioles owner owns the majority of the DC broadcast entity. Expect that cost to occur here also. In other words, adding a team anywhere would cost man millions more than the buy in, perhaps billion.

No they are only in the extended viewing areas. We aren't part of any TV market. 

 

1 hour ago, Squid7085 said:

I think it is a load of crap that it is that way to begin with. It should only be Atlanta. Washington is such a new team in DC by comparison, it amazes me they gave them Charlotte, and Baltimore/Cincinnati is laughable. I guess I am mostly annoyed, as I am not a fan of any of those team, so it is just that many more games that get blacked out for me on MLB.tv.

So you'd be more annoyed by not being able to see a few out of area teams than you don't care about than your hometown having a team. Interesting take...