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PITT CREW
Economic developers, educators and community leaders each play a role in driving Greenville and Pitt County’s successes. Residents are also winners.
Boviet Solar CEO and General Manager Zhaochun “Jimmy” Xie and his team visited 60 sites across nine states, searching for the perfect place for their solar-panel factory. They found it in Greenville, spending $294 million for an existing building and 34 acres. Their commitment kicked off a busy 2024 for Pitt County.
Japan-based healthcare and medical device manufacturer Nipro Medical’s July announcement detailed its first North American factory, a $397.8 million investment. Its 550,000-square-foot plant, which is being built on a 130-acre site in Greenville, should open this year and employ 232 people. They include engineers, production workers, and administrative and management personnel; their average annual wage will be $56,147.
A $100,000 building reuse grant from the N.C. Rural Infrastructure Authority helped Atlantic Emergency Solutions, a provider of metal fabrication and maintenance for emergency vehicles, expand in Falkland. Detergent manufacturer UNX-Christeyns added 21 jobs with an average annual wage of $59,857, which is more than the county’s 2025 average of $56,187, according to N.C. Department of Commerce, and made a $10.5 million capital investment in Greenville. That also is where Attindas Hygiene Partners announced an expansion that will create 25 jobs with an average annual wage of $56,746 and more than $25 million in capital investment during the next five years.
Landing large investments from manufacturers requires a group effort. Pitt County economic developers, educators and community leaders work together, and their successes are seen and felt by residents. “It has been exciting to work with our newly announced companies as they build and ramp up operations,” says Pitt County Economic Development Director Kelly Andrews. “In 2026, we are reimagining our business retention and expansion efforts. Our existing industries, the new and the long-standing, the small and the large, have varied and complex needs. It is critical that we develop programming and mechanisms to support their continued growth.”
DELIVERING WORKFORCE
Josh Lewis is president and CEO of economic booster Greenville Eastern North Carolina Alliance. “Pitt County and Greenville punch well above their weight, meaning population, in foundational and philanthropic support from our passionate and supportive citizens,” he says. “When deciding to invest hundreds of millions of dollars, if not billions, in a community, a company’s diligence process is extensive and thorough. On the surface, site selection seems easy to discuss, yet these decisions are quite complex, nuanced and analytical. Most counties have community colleges and training programs, but what makes Pitt Community College different is the local investments, design and outputs.”
Boviet’s Xie listed a major reason for the Vietnam-based company selecting Pitt County was the availability of workforce development through Pitt Community College in Winterville and East Carolina University in Greenville. Customized training through PCC already is helping Boviet reach its goal of hiring more than 900 people in Greenville; more than 200 employees were on board as of December. It’s just one effort by PCC to develop a workforce that supports recent investments by companies.
Customized workforce development requires dedication. “I always encourage folks to drive through PCC’s campus to see the quality of the facilities the community has invested in, but the real differentiator is the programs delivered inside the buildings,” Lewis says. “Customized training initiatives require long-term partnerships and investments, and our educational partners develop programs that equip these companies with the skills they need. If you ask any of the new or existing industries we have assisted, they will tell you that the comfort level they reached regarding confidence in institutions was critical to their decision-making process.”
Todd Edwards chairs the board of directors for NC East Alliance. It represents Pitt and 28 other counties in economic development matters.
He says workforce development is at the heart of the group’s work. “We are working to ensure that our local industries and businesses are all growing well and not hindered by lack of skilled workforce or any other foundational resources that they may need,” he says. “I think we have all the pieces and partners in place that do just that.”
Those pieces include a pathway for high school students to earn a degree. PCC’s Bulldog Promise Scholarship program enables them to continue at PCC after graduation. They can earn an associate degree without spending a penny on tuition if they meet dual enrollment eligibility qualifications such as curriculum credits and GPA. The program served 218 students last year. That was the most since the 51 who enrolled in its first year, 2021.
STRENGTHENING EDUCATION
Lewis serves on Pitt County Educational Foundation’s board and chairs its development committee, which enhances services provided to county schools by the community. The Foundation’s annual holiday event in November, for example, generated about $150,000 for student scholarships and educational activities. But the group’s work isn’t seasonal. While it may not be as conspicuous as other similar endeavors, he says it also follows a mandate of achieving “a healthy equilibrium between high-quality education and the investment needed to achieve it in our public education system.”
The Foundation’s Teacher Executive Institute helps teachers learn management techniques and leadership skills through interactions with Pitt County businesses. “For students to achieve successful outcomes, we need to ensure quality teachers and professionals, provide adequate experiences and exposure, increase parent engagement and inspire high standards,” Lewis says. “The Foundation focuses on supplementing and supporting its public schools with philanthropic resources that direct funding to classroom grants for students and teachers that support educational projects. Additionally, we manage and award scholarships, organize engagement between teachers and industry to improve educators’ knowledge base and help increase engagement between parents and teachers by revitalizing PTOs/PTAs and encouraging parents to get involved. While society should have high expectations for our public education systems, successful outcomes do not happen in a vacuum; we must support all of these focus areas while also addressing each student’s basic needs.”
East Carolina University counts almost 27,000 students, making it one of the state university system’s largest schools. Its Brody School of Medicine is among the top 10% nationally in graduating physicians who enter primary care, practice in rural communities or serve those with a health professional shortage. It’s expanding, too. Its 195,000 square foot Center for Medical Education Building, financed with $265 million from the state, is expected to open next year. State-of-the-art classrooms, labs and technology will fill its seven floors and train more doctors.
ECU was awarded Research 1 status in February 2025, placing it among 5% of institutions nationwide that do the most research. “[The designation] is the result of years of growth in external funding, groundbreaking discoveries, preparing doctoral students for careers in higher education and industry, and interdisciplinary collaborations that address critical challenges in healthcare, technology, education and beyond,” according to a university news release.
ECU’s research community includes more than 420 funded faculty members and 546 graduate students, all engaged in a range of research, according to the news release. The Coastal Studies program, for example, recently secured more than $1 million in grants for work that’s intended to help strengthen coastal ecosystem resilience.
ECU provided $8.9 million in funding to graduate students for research in 2024. It supports faculty projects, too. Carlyle Rogers directs its Office of Licensing and Commercialization and is behind its Innovation Academy, which helps faculty take innovative prototypes to market. A lack of planning, customer understanding or commercialization strategy often derailed that process. “By blending mentorship, customer-discovery exercises and funding strategy support, the Innovation Academy helps turn academic or early-stage research into viable products and services that can strengthen the economic fabric of eastern North Carolina,” he says.
Innovation Academy participants engage in interactive workshops and mentoring gatherings during five sessions. It has supported 12 participants, resulting in patent, trademark and copyright filings, the launch of three new businesses and the development of five prototypes currently being beta-tested by customers. “While these outcomes are significant, the most meaningful impact has been the growing awareness among faculty of how research-based solutions can drive real change across our region and beyond,” Rogers says.
BUILDING COMMUNITIES
Greenville’s Uptown District is filled with restaurants, stores and performing arts venues. It regularly hosts festivals. Nature preserves and recreational opportunities along the Tar River underscore its nickname, Emerald City. But unlike the fictional Land of Oz capital, its reality is rooted in Pitt County’s growing economy, family friendly small towns and a cost of living that’s more than 10% below the national average. “Pitt County has so much to offer as a community,” Andrews says. “That reaches beyond Greenville to our other nine municipalities. We have amazing places with unique downtowns, cool events and thriving businesses. Together, we are Pitt County — the hub of the east for healthcare, education, retail, recreation and cultural experiences.”
Each Pitt County municipality is unique. Ayden’s authentic barbecue and annual Collard Festival earned it the nickname Crossroads of Barbecue & Collards. Farmville, which is home to colorful murals, art galleries, antiques and glassblowing shows at ECU GlasStation, oozes Southern charm. Grifton’s love of nature is on full display at North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences and annual Shad Festival. Grimesland’s 1790-era Grimesland Plantation is on the National Register of Historic Places. In Fountain, the general store on Main Street hosts musicians and poets. And Bethel has a Carolina Country Fresh Farm & Market.
While they may be different, these communities share a common goal. “Pitt County and its 10 municipalities work collaboratively and cooperatively and have built a synergy that is advancing our communities exponentially,” says Pitt County Manager Janis Gallagher. “Whether that be partnerships on projects to promote affordable housing, grants for downtown revitalization, collaboration on transportation initiatives or the development of Pitt Stop in Bethel — a multispecialty public health clinic in Bethel’s renovated police station — Pitt County’s municipalities are thriving.”
Gallagher says Pitt County is a special place. “[It’s] defined by its people and sense of community and driven by innovation and opportunity,” she says. “We value tradition and rural agriculture while leveraging technology and embracing economic growth in industry sectors, including biopharma, clean energy and advanced manufacturing. We boast our tech creatives, serving as home to MrBeast, while nurturing opportunities to decompress in the outdoors at our many parks and trails or on the water.” Jimmy Donaldson, whose nickname is MrBeast, operates a video production business in Pitt County that creates some of the internet’s most popular programming.
MAINTAINING MOMENTUM
Gallagher is bullish on Pitt County’s future. “Over the next five years,” she says, “I envision transformational growth in infrastructure and economic development with the pursuit of Pitt County’s megasite in the northern part of the county; continued partnerships between the county, Pitt County Schools, Pitt Community College and East Carolina University to strengthen educational opportunities and meet the needs for workforce development; while at the same time focusing on arts, recreation and cultural opportunities to elevate the quality of life and warm vibe here in the east.”
Greenville ENC Alliance shares that vision. “I would say community marketing and promotion work hand-in-glove with our industry recruitment, so the marketing aspect of what we do is likely the most significant part of our scope of work, because it also drives our talent marketing and recruitment initiatives and supports our partners and municipalities,” Lewis says. “Marketing and promotion are also critical to our efforts to improve our position in the multitude of community rankings that influence the decisions of both industry and individuals. … our organization strives to be a primary catalyst for progress in our economic development focus areas. We want to continue to be a trusted partner where these initiatives are launched and supported by our community and investors. … We want to continue to be recognized among the best economic development organizations in the country for how we help our community achieve its goals and aspirations in the decades to come.” ■
— Kathy Blake is a writer from eastern North Carolina.
For 40 years, sharing the stories of North Carolina's dynamic business community.