The Good News Report

[cltbwimob]

^

Despite the physical shortcomings of the airport (ie limited retail, outdated monitors, etc) CLT is truly a jewel in the Queen City's crown. It is perhaps the most prized jewel of all...in my opinion even more prized than our banking status. I read somewhere that the airport was either directly or indirectly responsible for approx. 100,000 jobs in the area...yes 100 thousand!

Also, I read on Airliners.net that Doug Parker has told PHL if they keep moving other airlines into the int'l concourse, US Airways will just expand it's international service from CLT instead. I don't know how old the A.net poster's info was, but if it's true, it's great news for the city.

Edited September 19, 2009 by cltbwimob

[JayGee]

^

Despite the physical shortcomings of the airport (ie limited retail, outdated monitors, etc) CLT is truly a jewel in the Queen City's crown. It is perhaps the most prized jewel of all...in my opinion even more prized than our banking status. I read somewhere that the airport was either directly or indirectly responsible for approx. 100,000 jobs in the area...yes 100 thousand!

Also, I read on Airliners.net that Doug Parker has told PHL if they keep moving other airlines into the int'l concourse, US Airways will just expand it's international service from CLT instead. I don't know how old the A.net poster's info was, but if it's true, it's great news for the city.

When you consider the advantages of CLT over PHL, primarily weather (especially in the winter) and congestion, its hard to believe CLT is not in a good position competing against PHL.

[cltbwimob]

The CRP monday memo states that Westinghouse Electric which currently employs 80 in Charlotte will grow to 100 by the end of the month and will hire 300 by 2014. Also, don't know if anyone read earlier in the forum, but Westinghouse may move their HQ from PA to Charlotte.

So let's see...Our "Energy Hub" city may be coming to fruition. So far the main players are Duke Energy, Shaw Power Group, Westinghouse, Areva, and Siemens. Any others I forgot to mention?

Also a hurricane home safety lab is going into Chester County. Although not many jobs are expected, the attention that the lab would bring to the area would be great. I read that both Discovery Channel and the Weather Channel are interested in the tests that are to take place at the facility.

Edited September 22, 2009 by cltbwimob

[nashbill]

Nice as it would be for Westinghouse to move the HQ to Charlotte, I kind of doubt it. They are in the process of moving into their new digs in Cranberry Twp outside of Pittsburgh.

[rockhilljames]

Also a hurricane home safety lab is going into Chester County. Although not many jobs are expected, the attention that the lab would bring to the area would be great. I read that both Discovery Channel and the Weather Channel are interested in the tests that are to take place at the facility.

Oddly enough, I spoke to a friend of mine last night who will be doing the slab work on this project. $1million for the slab contract alone. The wind tunnel will be state of the art and the complex is supposed to be huge. Kind of an under-the-radar-kind of project...

[kickazzz2000]

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/breaking/story/966831.html

US Bancorp adding about 70 jobs in Corporate Banking to Charlotte. Using a makeshift trading floor in Heart Tower for the moment, with plans to build one out.

Cited Charlottes talent pool specifically as a reason to concentrate here.

[Eastwestrob]

When you consider the advantages of CLT over PHL, primarily weather (especially in the winter) and congestion, its hard to believe CLT is not in a good position competing against PHL.

Not trying to step on anybody's toes with this ....but PHL is by far the worst airport to fly through at anytime of the year as far delays go.

[atlrvr]

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/breaking/story/966831.html

US Bancorp adding about 70 jobs in Corporate Banking to Charlotte. Using a makeshift trading floor in Heart Tower for the moment, with plans to build one out.

Cited Charlottes talent pool specifically as a reason to concentrate here.

Interestingly, I don't believe US Bancorp has many if any investment bankers in NY. It will be interesting to see if they do add additional IB business units (as the article implied) what else will be based in Charlotte. It would be a big boost if the did equity capital markets (stocks) in Charlotte, as even Wachovia based most of this in NY and BofA certainly has 99.9% in NY in not 100%.

Speaking of Inv. Banks, Wachovia/Wells is rapidly growing a couple of their capital markets groups in Charlotte. Some they trimmed too far last spring, and others are actually growing larger than they were pre-merger.

Also, Sagent Advisors (an technology industry investment bank) which recently opened in Charlotte, will be making its permanent home at Hearst Tower.

Lazard Middle Market (a boutique investment bank focusing on assisting medium sized companies) is moving from 400 N Tryon to Carillon. I think they were sub-leasing before and Carillon is their permanent home.

Jeffries, a middle-market investment bank that opened in Charlotte a couple of years ago, has rehired a group of bankers that it previously layed off.

[aceboogie]

These updates are good. You can see how the unemployment is dropping. All we need now is to keep up the entrprenurial work.

[cltbwimob]

Two good bits of news today for the Charlotte area

1. The housing market in the area seems to be recovering. There was an article in the O about housing prices increasing for a 4th month this year. Also sales rose slightly from June to July

2. Universal Fiber Systems, owner of Premiere Fibers Inc. plant, is looking to add 20 jobs in Anson County and convert an existing yarn spinning line at it's Premiere Fibers Plant into a performance fabrics line for the military.

3. Texas Roadhouse is looking to add at least 100 positions at a Matthews location.

While most of these are small announcements, it is a bit of good news to hear more people hiring.

BTW...Michael Smith, leader of Charlotte Center City Partners, said that they are making a trip to NY to tout Charlotte as a great place to locate an HQ. Who wants to guess at which financial groups they might be meeting...maybe Morgan Stanley?

[atlrvr]

Time Warner Cable would be a good candidate. Also, TIAA-CREF is focusing much of their new growth in Charlotte, and somewhat shrinking the NYC presence (even though it is their HQ).

I think besides Morgan Stanley, there is a decent chance in seeing AmEx moving some jobs to Charlotte, but that is just speculating.

As opposed to HQ's, I'd prefer they target getting additional offices of some of the larger boutique financial firms (Investment Banks, Institutional Asset Managers, and Private Equity firms)

I also offer that most NYers have a dim view of Charlotte. The way to get a corporate HQ to move here isn't to say "Hey, Charlotte is a great place for a HQ", but rather, "Charlotte would be more than welcome to offer our skilled workforce for any business component that is experiencing growth or you are seeking ways to reduce cost." Small steps.....

[cltbwimob]

^

I would like to see some more financial services HQs in Charlotte like TIAA-CREF, Morgan Stanley, and GMAC to help re-solidify our role as a financial services hub, and I would like to see maybe something like Westinghouse and Shaw (The whole Shaw group) to relocate to the city and help Duke in establishing our energy hub. These are probably more wishful thinking than anything. I guess one good side of adding divisions rather than corporate HQs in Charlotte is that it doesn't necessarily send shockwaves through the community when a merger/buyout takes place like the WF/Wachovia merger. To be fair to WF though, layoffs have not been nearly what was expected.

I do agree with your idea of more boutique financial services firms coming here. Anything we can get...that's why I post when even the smallest of job announcements take place because every little bit helps. I am ready for 4-5% unemployment again. Actually 0 unemployment would be great but that will never happen.

On a side note regarding Fortune 500 HQs, I expect the next Fortune 500 companies in Charlotte will be homegrown. I hope that Ruddick and Belk will break through soon as numbers 9&10 on our F500 list. I think Ruddick right now is number 555 and Belk is number 613 on the Fortune 1000 list. I think last year Belk was 570...probably dropped due to revenue slipping in the recession.

Edited September 30, 2009 by cltbwimob

[HopHead]

Adding more financial services jobs are well and good, but we need to be more focused on more diversification. I actually have a friend that works for TIAA-CREF and he's made the same comments about how they are putting a lot more jobs here than in NYC. So, I won't complain too much about that either... I think the direction we are headed with the Energy jobs is great. I like the thought of adding Time Warner Cable as an HQ (despite my gripes with their service). It does seem to make some sense... Anyone know how many employees they have at their current HQ in NY?

[atlrvr]

Transactis, a electronic funds transfer technology developer, has relocated their HQ to Charlotte, from suburban DC (Bethesda). They have about 20-30 employees. They stated that they chose Charlotte because of the concentration of banking professionals, and I also believe Wells Fargo uses their technology for bill-pay.

I heard more rumblings that TIAA-CREF could move their HQ to Charlotte from NY in the next couple of years. I believe they are a Fortune 100 company so that would be big. Originally they planned 5 buildings at their Univ. Research Park campus, and have only built 2. I have heard that they are considering 2 more in the relatively near time frame. Their are currently about 2,600 employees there. Full build-out was originally designed to allow for 9,000 employees, though I'm not sure they would ever need THAT much space.

GMAC is hiring ahead of schedule, and my guessing is that they will easily surpass the 460 total jobs in Charlotte that was announced. They planned on hiring 200 new corporate jobs by the end of 2010, and are already over 150 in just 6 months or so.

Also, Morgan Stanley has a couple of retail banking sector jobs in Charlotte posted, so it looks like that may start to pick up soon. I had heard they were negotiating incentives before making a bigger announcement/hiring push, but I don't know where that stands.

[RiverwoodCLT]

If TIAA-CREF moved their HQ here, that would be big. If would help our pain of losing Wachovia.

[lewy2000]

Husqvarna, which recently named Charlotte as their North American headquarters, has already outgrown their Statesville Rd. location and are looking to expand/relocate to a bigger building. Most of their new hires were transfers from the Augusta location, fyi.

[HopHead]

TIAA-CREF move would be big for sure... I actually have a buddy that works for them and he has indicated on several occasions that they are moving a bunch of jobs to Charlotte. Any chance some of these jobs would be uptown? Or are they confined to the University area?

[hokiehigh]

I think they are all in the University. My only concern with TWC or TIAA CREF moving the HQ to Charlotte is that I think they would keep the NYC address for prestige. I could see most of the lower paying jobs coming here, while having upper management in NYC.

There is still movement in HQ relocations during the recession. I was in VA last week and my friend said Northern VA recently landed four new HQ's from other states. I think it was Volkswagon NA, Hilton Hotel Group, SAIC and CSC. The last two make sense b/c of the focus on government, but Volkswagon and Hilton helps diversify its economy. I wish we could land something similar!

[cltbwimob]

Red Ventures is moving their HQ to Lancaster county (the bad news). The good news is that they are going to hire about 700+ more jobs to bring their total employment to 1000 including the 250 tthat they already employ. Overall, this is definitely good for the Charlotte region.

[krazeeboi]

I suppose we should really call the Lancaster panhandle "Ballantyne South."

[JayGee]

Siemens broke ground today.

From CBJ

[cltbwimob]

Legrand along with their partner Insource, will be setting up their East Coast Distribution facility in Fort Mill. The center will bring 185 jobs.

[HopHead]

The N.C. Commerce Department plans to make a "major" job announcement in Charlotte this afternoon... It's being made at Lakepointe Corporate Center, near the airport... Anyone have guesses on who this could be??

[uptownliving]

Premeir HQ announcement?

[HopHead]

Premier, Inc will move their HQ from San Diego to Charlotte. It will add 300 new jobs in Charlotte as a result. They will lease all 10 floors of the Boyle Building in Ballantyne...

I think atlrvr called this one