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The Bad News Report


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8 hours ago, kermit said:

It might be, but if the site selection guys are saying it then, true or not, its a problem.

I would have to agree.  These consultants are very instrumental in advising corporate decision makers in where to locate facilities and offices.  The incentives comment is very worrisome since that is a huge factor in whether a company locates an operation in an area.  

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9 hours ago, AirNostrumMAD said:

Garbage. 

Im not just saying that because I’m from CLT. I think lacking culture and Identity and being a conservative place that shuts down at 5 describes the vast majority of American cities. 

 

And those cities might be poor choices as well. I have to say the little bit of the article we see quoted matches my impressions (as someone who recently moved here and can still see the warts).

What I would like to know is why the council makes trips around the country to benchmark against other cities yet appears to develop no change in course as a result? And how much of that is the result of the straight jacket the ncga has locked cities in?

Could Denver, as an example, even happen in NC given our overlords - I don't think so...

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and here is the CBJ analysis of the State's image in ED circles. Its also not good per the article:

Quote

With the lowest corporate income tax in the country at 3%, businesses looking to relocate, expand or start up gravitate toward North Carolina. But a respected business climate ranking released this summer warns the state could lose its competitive edge if it doesn’t address the sacrifice made for those low taxes.

Last month, North Carolina dropped four spots on CNBC’s Top States for Business 2018, from No. 5 in 2017 to No. 9. The reasoning? “A great workforce has businesses sticking with the Tar Heel State, but underfunded schools are infringing on success,” the business news network wrote. It wasn’t the first time the CNBC ranking knocked the state’s education funding. In 2015, North Carolina was depicted as suffering because it “lags in education.” The year before that, a terse admonishment — “must address education” — was prescribed for the state to sustain growth.  

The evidence in this article is quite a bit thinner than the Charlotte focused one (it only really looks at one Site Selection survey), but CBJ suggest that this CNBC ranking is a blinking yellow light for continued ED.

https://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/news/2018/08/23/how-north-carolina-is-not-making-the-grade.html

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7 minutes ago, Miesian Corners said:

So we have the ninth biggest airport in the country, yet we're "unknown"? Shouldn't site selection gurus have a better grasp of geography?

Right, but 9th busiest by traffic means most of those gurus only see Charlotte from through the window at Charlotte Douglas.  Aren't we like 23rd in O&D? 

 

I think how Charlotte is perceived isn't necessarily fair, but that the perception absolutely matters and needs to be addressed by city leaders.  There is also a lot of truth to it, which hurts.  From an education standpoint, I always felt I landed somewhere in the "maybe slightly above average" category in Charlotte.  I feel like an ignorant troglodyte out here in Seattle.  That said, criticism is a good thing and needs to be accepted and developed.  Reacting by telling these consultant groups they are wrong and their report is "garbage" is probably not the best approach.  Need to prove em wrong with action.

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In 2017, the Charlotte MSA had 69 corporate facility investments. There are three cities that would be the model of corporate relocations: Chicago (402 projects), Houston (196), and Dallas (192). These cities dominate. DFW and Houston are known as business cities, and the numbers speak for themselves.

Where do our peers rank?

Minneapolis: 42

Austin: 51

Nashville: 35

San Antonio: 32

Denver: 36

Salt Lake:10

San Diego: 32

https://siteselection.com/issues/2018/mar/top-metros-2017-repeat-defenders.cfm

Edited by CLT2014
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1 hour ago, Miesian Corners said:

Agreed, but the "unknown" label is bogus. At least it should be if your job is site analysis. My job is to help a large financial company make the right decisions about their brick and mortar locations in 38 states. I'm on an airplane or rental car every day I'm working. I find it difficult to believe no one knows we exist when 50 million people connect through the airport every year. 

I'm not arguing about educational attainment or number of tech workers. My point is that if your job is site selection, you probably should have a better grasp of geography than the average Joe. I don't know of many cities with populations of 850,000 I'd single out as being "sleepy". 

To be fair, it says leadership is unknown.  I doubt they are referring to Charlotte as some geographic oddity like Bielefeld (which doesn’t exist).  But more so from a cultural and economic sense.  Like, what is Charlotte known for nationally?  

We know what Charlotte is known for, but what sticks out to people in say, Minneapolis or Colorado Springs when you say Charlotte?  Nice place to live?  NASCAR?  Banking?  Can Newton?!  I don’t know.  Everyone where I am lumps Charlotte in as flyover, which really surprised me a bit.

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Seriously, a lot of people especially further west still confuse Charlotte, Charlottesville, and Charleston. That was my experience when I worked in Denver and currently at a conference in Minneapolis. People are like “safe trip back to Virginia!” or “good luck in SC!” when I’ve told them I work in Charlotte. 

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From June 2018 NC takes home Gold Shovel award from Area Development Magazine

https://edpnc.com/north-carolina-takes-home-gold-economic-development-success/

May 2018 Site Selection Magazine NC takes the Prosperity Cup for 2018    https://edpnc.com/north-carolina-tops-list-competitive-state-new-corporate-facilities/

May 2018 Chief Executive Magazine ranks NC #3 best state for business  https://edpnc.com/chief-executive-magazine-300-ceos-rank-n-c-no-3-state-business/

I don't know who this unknown consultant is and what he is talking about.  Can NC improve?  Yes especially in K-12 education area but our community colleges and Universities are world renown for training our workforce.  Also we are a state attracting highly educated people too and many states are losing in that area.   Sleepy? compared to where? 

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2 hours ago, CLTranspo said:

Seriously, a lot of people especially further west still confuse Charlotte, Charlottesville, and Charleston. That was my experience when I worked in Denver and currently at a conference in Minneapolis. People are like “safe trip back to Virginia!” or “good luck in SC!” when I’ve told them I work in Charlotte. 

I know plenty of people in the south who couldn’t tell you which state Minneapolis, Detroit, and plenty of other large cities nor could they distinguish at all Portland from Seattle and most people from the south seem to stumble on where Philadelphia but could absolutely recognize Pittsburgh. 

 

People in the south seem to have never even heard of San Jose, CA. Lots of people have no idea which state Chicago is in. Or probably thinks Chicago is a state. 

 

the only state that people I meet from all regions seems to know their cities is Texas. I don’t think anyone would second guess where Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, El Paso, Austin or Armarillo are located.

 

Americans in general are just dumb about geography.  I feel like Philadelphia isn’t a thing in people’s minds, especially compared to Pittsburg which seems much, much more well known. 

I love traveling and geography so I just roll me eyes people has never even heard of, never would guess even if you had a list of cities names and told them to pick which city is the capital of the giant country above the USA.

Edited by AirNostrumMAD
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2 hours ago, ah59396 said:

It’s a bit of a shock.  People just have no clue.  I’ll be like “yeah, Charlotte!  You know, the Hornets?  The Panthers?  Franklin Graham?!?”  And they’ll be like “ohhh, I’ve always wanted to go to Charleston, it’s so pretty on the ocean”.

what.  The.  Hell.

We all know geography is not a strong suit of the American people. 

 

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People are dumb; rather talk to dogs.....

True facts, when I liked in England their average  person knew more or had more knowledge of US geography and history than the average American.  Although they gauge their knowledge of the US as how far from NYC you are.  But generally tey were pretty knowledgeable.    We are too obsessed with sranding out and being "the one that" and that is what perplexes citizens of other countries.  Not cheerleading just giving true life experience on the subject.  Funny thing, I told someone I was thinking of retiring to the mountains near Asheville and they said, where is that Colorado.......ugh I just turned and walked away.  

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19 hours ago, ah59396 said:

Right, but 9th busiest by traffic means most of those gurus only see Charlotte from through the window at Charlotte Douglas.  Aren't we like 23rd in O&D? 

 

I think how Charlotte is perceived isn't necessarily fair, but that the perception absolutely matters and needs to be addressed by city leaders.  There is also a lot of truth to it, which hurts.  From an education standpoint, I always felt I landed somewhere in the "maybe slightly above average" category in Charlotte.  I feel like an ignorant troglodyte out here in Seattle.  That said, criticism is a good thing and needs to be accepted and developed.  Reacting by telling these consultant groups they are wrong and their report is "garbage" is probably not the best approach.  Need to prove em wrong with action.

 

To be quite clear, I meant the culture and vanilla part is garbage. 

 

Education is a valid point.

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21 hours ago, ah59396 said:

It’s a bit of a shock.  People just have no clue.  I’ll be like “yeah, Charlotte!  You know, the Hornets?  The Panthers?  Franklin Graham?!?”  And they’ll be like “ohhh, I’ve always wanted to go to Charleston, it’s so pretty on the ocean”.

what.  The.  Hell.

I think you should probably stop feeling like a troglodyte and start feeling like a giant among men. They sound like idiots to me.

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While not directly Charlotte related, Apple appears to be very concerned about the actions of the NCGA and is reluctant to commit to NC because of their actions. The TBJ reports:

Quote

At least two sources familiar with Apple's interest in the Triangle say the electronics giant is worried about North Carolina lawmakers meddling with constitutional amendments for political influence.

 https://www.bizjournals.com/triangle/news/2018/08/24/apple-may-be-concerned-about-nc-legislative.html

To be fair I am not a subscriber so what is quoted above is the only portion of the article I can see.

I post this here because the actions of the NCGA are likely to impact Charlotte in the same way as they appear to be impacting the Triangle at the moment.

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I can assure you Amazon HQ2 and Apple's new campus will both be in USA and one  the latter more than likely in NC.  Just wait Apple already has a $1 BILLION investment in this state in their sprawling data center in Maiden and also owns this very interesting plot in Brunswick County on the coast.

http://www.starnewsonline.com/news/20180824/conservation-fund-continues-to-manage-apples-forest

 

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1 hour ago, KJHburg said:

I can assure you Amazon HQ2 and Apple's new campus will both be in USA and one  the latter more than likely in NC.  Just wait Apple already has a $1 BILLION investment in this state in their sprawling data center in Maiden and also owns this very interesting plot in Brunswick County on the coast.

http://www.starnewsonline.com/news/20180824/conservation-fund-continues-to-manage-apples-forest

 

Really? Seems like Apple put the breaks on RTP. And Amazon and Apple's construction costs in the united states will be more expensive than Canada.  I would be careful with absolutes there. Canada could very well be the winners for both HQ's.... 

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1 minute ago, mpretori said:

Really? Seems like Apple put the breaks on RTP. And Amazon and Apple's construction costs in the united states will be more expensive than Canada.  I would be careful with absolutes there. Canada could very well be the winners for both HQ's.... 

One word: Taxes both will be in USA trust me.  There is no serious talk of Toronto for HQ2 now. 

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