At a time when companies are clamoring for workers while trying to navigate a treacherous economy, no state is meeting their needs more effectively than North Carolina. The Tar Heel State is America’s Top State for Business in CNBC’s annual competitiveness study.
It is the second consecutive year at the top for North Carolina — a rare feat in the CNBC study, which launched in 2007. Business and the economy in the state have been on a tear since the pandemic, and the state has scarcely looked back.
In 2023 alone, the state has amassed a trophy case full of economic development wins, ranging from a $130 million investment by Bosch to expand its power tool manufacturing facility in Lincolnton, to a $458 million biomanufacturing facility to be built in Greensboro by cellular therapeutics company ProKidney, and even a $58 million turkey production facility in Goldsboro by poultry breeder Select Genetics.
The projects come on top of major wins last year, including Vietnamese electric vehicle manufacturer VinFast announcing it will build its first North American plant in the state, and Durham-based semiconductor materials manufacturer Wolfspeed expanding its operations there.
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper walks to the podium to address the crowd during President Joe Biden’s visit to Wolfspeed, a semiconductor manufacturer, in Durham, North Carolina, March 28, 2023.
Melissa Sue Gerrits | Getty Images News | Getty Images
Last month, Apple filed applications to begin work on its $1 billion facility in the famed Research Triangle Park announced in 2021, with 700,000 square feet of office space in its initial phase. It is Apple’s first hub on the East Coast.
A common thread through all the projects is people.
“Our talented, educated workers are the foundation of our economic success,” said Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat, in his state of the state address in March.
The numbers bear that out. North Carolina ranks first in the all-important Workforce category of CNBC’s study. In…
Read the full article here
Leave a Reply