••• SPONSORED SECTION •••
Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina
has driven the state’s business recruitment efforts
for a decade. A public-private effort, its regional
and local partnerships have found success from
the coast to the mountains.
Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina was created in 2014, launching a public-private effort to lead the state’s business recruitment and development efforts. It has celebrated plenty of successes since, from Toyota’s $14 billion electric vehicle battery factory in Randolph County, which will create 5,100 jobs, to Pratt & Whitney’s $935 million turbine airfoil factory in Buncombe County that will employ 1,200 people. Count all the others, and EDPNC has had a hand in $67 billion in capital investment, 178,000 jobs and $10 billion in exports.
EDPNC Executive Director Chris Chung arrived in 2015 to helm the new organization, which was spun from N.C. Department of Commerce. He was no stranger to EDPNC’s mission, previously serving a similar role in Missouri. But these waters were uncharted. “I think some people were doubtful that this new model would bring the purported advantages, and I’m proud that we’ve given them confidence that this was the right approach,” he says.
EDPNC’s funding has mostly come from the state. Chung says the private sector, including utilities, businesses, industries and staffing agencies, has contributed about $14 million. “All these private sector companies have provided money, because they believe not just in our mission of improving economic well-being for the state but in the way we are approaching that mission,” he says. “And to me that’s a big vote of confidence.”
Support has come in other forms. Chung says EDPNC’s many partners include economic developers, communities, chambers of commerce and tourism boosters. All help push the partnership’s mission forward. “While the results are great, success also means how you hold yourself out as an organization and as a partner and as a resource to the different groups, whether that’s our local communities, elected officials or the business community,” he says. Together they’re creating and promoting economic opportunities across the state, from the mountains to the coast.
WILSON COUNTY LOGS SUCCESSES
Last year was big for Wilson County. Five economic development projects were announced, and their investments totaled more than $2.7 billion, says Jennifer Lantz, Wilson Economic Development Council executive director. Topping the list was Johnson & Johnson, which is investing $2 billion in a factory that will make biologic medicines for oncology, immunology and neuroscience. Construction has started at Wilson County Corporate Park, she says.
Joining Johnson & Johnson is Reckitt Benckiser Health, which will make the over-the-counter drug Mucinex in Wilson. And Idexx Laboratories announced it will make veterinary test kits, SCHOTT Pharma will produce syringes and Neopac will expand its production of tubes, which have medical and cosmetic applications. The five announcements pledge to create more than 1,400 jobs.
The announcements are the fruits from years of labor by city and county officials. “We’ve been working for decades to provide the right infrastructure, not just roads and electricity and water and sewer but also fiber with our Greenlight system,” Lantz says. “Both the city and county have developed their own versions of rideshare programs called Ride and Arrive.”
Lantz says Wilson County counts more than 100 manufacturers. They represent a variety of industry sectors, though last year’s announcements were all within life sciences. “We already had a life sciences cluster here, and that helped attract these five companies to locate here or expand their footprint,” she says.
CATAWBA COUNTY REBOUNDS
Head west from Wilson County, and you’ll find Catawba County. Scott Millar is president of the county’s economic development corporation, and he’s seen ups and downs over the last three decades. While furniture and textile manufacturing has contracted since their heyday in the 1990s, some companies continue, including Hickory-based Sherrill’s Furniture, a family-owned manufacturer since 1945. “We had lost 45,000 jobs by 2002, when we thought our manufacturing base was rock solid,” he says. “We had to look toward diversification.”
Catawba has rebounded, with nearly 425 manufacturers, including auto-part makers and food processors. Manufacturers employ more than
30% of the county’s workforce. Corning Optical and CommScope together employ more than 2,000 workers. Corning is the county’s second-largest employer, trailing only Catawba Valley Medical Center.
A growing concentration of data centers adds diversification, too. Apple started the movement in 2009, when it built one in Maiden. It has grown from a single server building to a 500,000-square-foot compound during the past 15 years. It brings more than jobs and notoriety. There’s tax dollars, too. “Apple has helped Maiden bring in money to build a
new community center, new police and fire stations, and a new City Hall,” Millar says.
Apple announced it was investing $1 billion in North Carolina – including $448 million at its Maiden data center – in 2021. It announced $500 billion worth of expansions in nine states, including North Carolina data centers, in February. Those will roll out over the next four years and focus on artificial intelligence, silicon engineering and workforce skills development. Analysts predict Apple’s total investment in North Carolina could exceed $5 billion over the next decade.
Microsoft entered the scene in 2022, when it announced it was investing at least $1 billion in Catawba County over 10 years for the phased development of four data centers, Millar says. “We believe Microsoft’s investment will have a similar, if not more, impact on our county than Apple,” he says.
OPPORTUNITY GROWS IN NORTH CAROLINA’S SOUTHEAST
North Carolina’s Southeast Regional Economic Development Partnership represents 20 counties. “We cover a fifth of the state,” says Joe Melvin, its vice president. “Each county has its own economic development commission, and we work on their behalf.” The group celebrated its 30th anniversary last year. “In 1994, we were one of the original regional economic development commissions the General Assembly set up,” he says. “And 10 years ago, we transitioned to a public-private nonprofit organization.”
Small projects can make a big impact for North Carolina’s Southeast, whose focus is small cities and towns scattered across a largely rural region. More than half of the region is economically distressed; N.C. Department of Commerce counts 11 Tier One counties. “For some of our communities, quite honestly, a 40-job, $8 million project moves the needle pretty significantly,” Melvin says.
Melvin says recent job announcements have brought opportunity to the region. Five companies announced investments in Lumberton, Fayetteville, Wilmington and Raeford in February. They’ll create nearly 1,000 jobs. And more should be on the way. North Carolina’s Southeast received an appropriation of $5 million in 2021. It invited member counties to apply for project funding. He says each received $262,000 to identify sites, develop shell buildings and infrastructure and perform due diligence. The money has been put to good use. “We’ve worked with them on 22 projects,” he says.
Two of North Carolina’s five megasites — International Logistics Park and Mid-Atlantic Industrial Rail Park — are in the region. The state’s Selectsite Readiness Program, completed about six months ago, identified other sites of 1,000 acres or less statewide. “As we’re thinking about our product development initiatives, we are leveraging and layering additional funding set aside for megasite and Selectsite programs,” Melvin says. “And our region is so diverse, we must be nimble in understanding the differences and the nuances of each of those communities and counties and help them achieve what is maximum value.”
WORKFORCE IS A FOCUS
The vibrant economy in North Carolina, which business news channel CNBC ranked the top state for business in 2022 and 2023, and second in 2024, is ripe for new relocating and expanding businesses. But all that potential creates challenges, including a workforce shortage. U.S. Chamber of Commerce says there were only 55 available workers for each 100 available jobs in the state in 2023.
Wilson Community College is building a $30 million biologics training center. It’s scheduled to open next summer and help meet the workforce needs of last year’s announcements, including Johnson & Johnson. “That’s one piece of our long-term workforce preparedness strategy,” Lantz says. “A second piece is the BioWork program, developed by the North Carolina Biotechnology Center. And we partner with them on our life sciences projects.” BioWork, which teaches the technical skills needed for a career in biopharma manufacturing, was added to the Wilson County high school curriculum this year.
The addition of high-wage jobs in Wilson County is expected to catch the attention of workers hungry for an income boost. “If you draw a big circle around Wilson, a 45-mile radius would attract workers seeking higher salaries for jobs in the life science sector,” Lantz says. “For other industries, that radius is probably about 30 miles.”
Millar says Catawba County attracts people because of its quality of life and “cool factor.” The county passed a $45 million matching bond referendum in 2014, funding miles of pedestrian and cycling trails along with housing units throughout Hickory. The county’s proximity to the mountains and big-city amenities in Charlotte attracts residents looking for a balanced lifestyle.
When it comes to workforce training, Catawba Valley Community College is leading the way. It has developed an academy approach to education through its state-of-the-art Workforce Solutions Complex, where it teaches in demand advanced manufacturing and technology skills. Millar makes it the first stop on economic development tours of the county.
Melvin says filling job mandates in largely rural southeastern North Carolina can be challenging. “These mega projects sound great when you announce $1.2 billion in investment and 1,200 jobs,” he says. “But if we’re going to be real, there are many communities that can’t find 1,200 people to fill those jobs, and many can’t find people to fill 500 jobs. Many communities in the region max out at 100 or 150 jobs.”
Melvin cautions against attracting large projects that need so many employees that they cannibalize the local workforce. “It is a delicate dance for local economic developers to keep their current employment base staffed while furthering their mission of finding the next opportunity to add to the tax base,” he says.
MOVING FORWARD
Chung has served under three governors – Pat McCrory, Roy Cooper and Josh Stein – and three presidents – Barack Obama, Donald Trump and Joe Biden. He says it’s still too early to tell which direction Trump’s second term industrial policies will take. But any company that comes out of those industrial policies will need new locations, giving North Carolina targets to woo. “It’s hard to predict the future, and that’s what makes economic development a fascinating business at times,” he says. “There is no guarantee that tomorrow will look like today, and that’s what keeps us on our toes.”
While Chung acknowledges federal policy changes may create some headwinds, he’s learned that North Carolina can adjust by localizing production and changing directions. “Does creating a tailwind balance or cancel the headwinds?” he says. “It’s hard to say, but as a rule, we have seen some of that upside potential in the past.”
Chung says the country focused on electric vehicles and clean energy through the Inflation Reduction Act over the last five years, and factories for the former and federal efforts for the latter happened in North Carolina. And he says there was a big bipartisan push for semiconductor funding, research and development through the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022. “That legislation drove a lot of activity by companies that needed to have a manufacturing or production presence in the United States,” he says.
North Carolina’s future is bright, Chung says. While the new federal administration brings some uncertainty, the state is well-positioned to adjust in a changing environment. The state’s reputation boosts economic development efforts. “And I don’t take for granted a single dollar of what we have raised over the past 10 years, but at the same time, I know that those dollars represent a vote of confidence,” he says. “If we weren’t getting results or doing it in a way that fostered goodwill and a strong reputation, I don’t think we would be receiving that kind of financial support.” ■
— Teri Saylor is a freelance writer from Raleigh.