Thrive in North Carolina
An Innovative Future
North Carolina’s economy is undergoing a breathtaking transformation. Its foundation of agriculture and traditional manufacturing industries is giving way to the technology industries of the new millennium.
Industry in North Carolina
Over the past century, North Carolina has grown to become a national leader in manufacturing and financial services. The state’s legacy industries — apparel/textiles, tobacco and furniture – now account for less than one-tenth of the state’s economic output. However, North Carolina remains the largest textile employer in the United States. The relatively new industries of technology, pharmaceuticals, banking, food processing and vehicle parts (the new “Big Five”) are over twice that share of state output. While traditional manufacturing has faded, new manufacturing in technology, instruments, machinery and motor parts has found an important place in 21st century North Carolina.
Finance, technology and research
Charlotte, North Carolina’s largest city, is now the second largest banking center in the United States (after New York), and is home to Bank of America and Wells Fargo subsidiary, Wachovia. The Charlotte metro area is also home to nine other Fortune 500 companies. BB&T (Branch Banking & Trust), one of America’s largest banks, was founded in Wilson, N.C. in 1872. Today, BB&T’s headquarters is in Winston-Salem, although some operations still take place in Wilson.
The information and biotechnology industries have been steadily on the rise since the creation of the Research Triangle Park (RTP) in the 1950s. Located between Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill, it is a globally prominent research center home to over 170 companies and federal agencies and is the largest and oldest continuously operating research and science park in the United States. Anchored by University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Duke University (Durham), and North Carolina State (Raleigh), the park’s proximity to these research universities has no doubt helped to fuel growth.
North Carolina consistently ranks in the top five states for bioscience development. More than 500 bioscience companies are headquartered or have operations in North Carolina, employing 58,000 people, according to the North Carolina Biotechnology Center. Some of the world’s largest pharmaceutical firms have a presence in the state, including GlaxoSmithKline, BASF Plant Science, Bayer CropScience, Biogen Idec, Medicago, Merck, Novartis, Novo Nordisk, Syngenta. In just ten years, the state has invested over a billion US dollars in university research and facilities, worker training, incentives and infrastructure.
Film
North Carolina’s film studios are located in Shelby, Raleigh, Durham, Charlotte, Asheville, Wilmington, and Winston-Salem. Some of the best-known films and television shows filmed in the state include: Being There, Blue Velvet, Bull Durham, Glory, The Color Purple, Cabin Fever, Cape Fear, Children of the Corn, The Crow, Dawson’s Creek, Dirty Dancing, Evil Dead 2, The Fugitive, The Green Mile, Hannibal, The Last of the Mohicans, Nell, One Tree Hill, Patch Adams, Shallow Hal, Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, Leatherheads, Nights in Rodanthe and 28 Days. EUE Screen Gems Studios in Wilmington has one of the largest special effects water tank facilities in North America.
Visit North Carolina
Tourism destinations in the state include amusement parks, golf, wineries, mountains, beaches, meetings and conventions, and sports venues. Canada is a major economic force in the state’s tourism business, with more than 379,000 overnight visits and over US$123 million in spending in 2010. North Carolina ranks 14th in total Canadian visitation of the 50 U.S. states plus the District of Columbia. For travel information go to www.visitnc.com or www.qc.visitnc.com.
North Carolina’s Target Growth Industries
• Life Sciences
• Aviation/Aerospace
• Green Energy
• Defense
State Incentives and Development
It’s not just innovation and an enterprising spirit that attract new investment. The state offers a menu of incentives to new industries. Among them: job-development grants; tax credits for job creation, investment in business property, research and development, renewable energy property costs and ports usage; deferment, reduction, and/or elimination of import duties; employee recruitment and screening services; customized workforce training; industrial-revenue bond financing (up to US$10 million); business energy loans; help with infrastructure development; highway improvements and rail-spur assistance; and local community programs.
State policy stresses a hospitable business climate with low costs of living, construction, utilities and health insurance all helping to make North Carolina conducive to business. Site Selection magazine has ranked North Carolina first for business climate in the U.S. in nine of the past ten years.
Trade & Investment Relationship with Canada
The Canada-North Carolina relationship is very strong, as Canada is the number one trading partner and ranked fourth in terms of foreign investment. The US$5.4 billion exported in 2010 to Canada from North Carolina annually works out to over US$1 million of trade per hour. Bilateral trade between North Carolina and Canada in 2009 reached $7 billion. Canada remained the state’s largest international destination, purchasing more of the state’s exports than the next two largest trading partners (China and Mexico) combined. Twenty-two percent of North Carolina’s exports went to Canada in 2010.
Medical, ophthalmic and orthopedic supplies represented North Carolina’s largest export sector to Canada in 2009, with the Tar Heel state selling US$254 million worth. Computers accounted for another US$183 million in state exports; with sales of motor vehicle parts, medicine and plastics, North Carolina’s other leading export sectors. Medicine was the state’s leading import sector from Canada.
Over 100 Canadian businesses employ more than 10,000 people at 624 locations in North Carolina, including Magna International, Linamar, Nortel Networks, and Gildan Activewear.
World-Class Workforce
North Carolina is a right to work state, with a unionization rate of 3.2% that is the lowest in the nation. North Carolina offers low unemployment insurance tax rates, while providing some of the highest benefits. With an available manufacturing work force of over 500,000, North Carolina’s workforce is one of best in the nation and the largest in the southeast.
Thriving in North Carolina
The economic future depends on helping existing workers adapt to a changing workplace. North Carolina long ago launched an industrial-education program with the goal of providing North Carolina business and industry with a world-class workforce and a competitive advantage.
The state boasts the third largest community college system in the country, which is recognized nationally for its customized workforce training program. Its 58 schools provide high-quality training and services that give North Carolina’s businesses and industries a competitive advantage. Each year over 800,000 students enroll in the state’s community colleges, which are within a 30-minute drive of 99 percent of the state’s population.
As for traditional four-year schools, there are 36 private institutions in addition to the 16-campus University of North Carolina system. Through these institutions, every region of the state is afforded outstanding educational opportunities, cultural resources and business support. Degrees are concentrated in business, management and the social and life sciences. The state also has strong numbers in communications, education, engineering, health professions, psychology and public affairs. Along with four medical schools, three engineering schools, one veterinary and one dental school, some of the nation’s leading graduate programs are offered through the state’s universities and colleges.
Prime Location
North Carolina’s central location on the Mid-Atlantic seaboard and its excellent transportation network provide businesses with a strategic advantage in receiving and shipping goods and services. Within a 700-mile radius of the state are more than 170 million American and Canadian consumers, an area that accounts for 70% of the nation’s industrial base and 60% of U.S. retail sales.
Four international airports supply a global gateway, and 11 other regional airports buttress the state’s air network. The coastline features major deep-water ports in Wilmington and Morehead City with modern intermodal terminals.
North Carolina’s 78,000-mile state highway system is the nation’s largest state-maintained network. And the state has about 3,200 miles of interstate rail, providing single-carrier access to 22 states.
Population Centers
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, an estimated 9.5 million people call North Carolina home. Here are the state’s five largest cities ranked by population (2006 U.S. Census estimates):
Charlotte 630,478
Raleigh 356,321
Greensboro 236,865
Durham 209,009
Winston-Salem 196,990
Explore North Carolina
North Carolina’s appeal starts with its distinctive landscape. From the top of the lush green mountains of western North Carolina, visitors can survey the highest peaks east of the Rocky Mountains, which offer a wide range of recreational possibilities.
The rolling hills of the Piedmont heartland are home to the state’s major urban and agricultural centers, including Charlotte. The “Piedmont Triad” of Winston-Salem, Greensboro, and High Point has a long history as a manufacturing base for the state. “The Triangle” of Raleigh (the state capital), Durham, and Chapel Hill has earned a worldwide reputation as one of the nation’s leading centers of innovation.
Traveling eastward, you reach the coast and North Carolina’s picturesque shoreline. The state has nearly 300 miles of beaches. The inviting Outer Banks barrier islands frame inland sounds that serve as nurseries for marine life and as recreational waterway.
Please visit the North Carolina Department of Commerce’s website www.ThriveNC.com.
Russ Sawchuk, Director
North Carolina Canadian Office
13A Princess Street
Mississauga, ON L5M 1Z8
Tel: 905 826 6000
Fax: 905 826 6009
ncco@on.aibn.com
E-mail Russ Sawchuk for more information
