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North Carolina has plenty of advantages

As companies from across the country and globe continue to choose North Carolina, existing businesses are also upping their investments in Tar Heel facilities. In the past year, Wolfspeed has decided to spend $5 billion to build the world’s largest silicon carbide factory in Chatham County. Siemens Mobility is spending $220 million on a passenger railcar plant in Davidson County. And since announcing initial plans in 2021 to spend $1.3 billion on an electric battery plant in Liberty near High Point, Toyota has increased its expected investment to $5.9 billion. The state is a standout because of its talent pool, workforce education, infrastructure, relocation incentives, quality of life and access — by rail, road, air and water. These are among the attributes that led CNBC to dub North Carolina “America’s Top State For Business” for the second consecutive year in 2023.

I gained an even better understanding of my native state’s business climate over the past year as Business North Carolina’s special projects editor. Part of my job focuses on monthly round tables, which assemble leaders in different economic sectors to discuss trends, advances and challenges. Topics in 2023 included biotechnology, education, agriculture, commercial real estate, manufacturing and sustainability. While the experiences of participants vary each month, there are similar takeaways. The state’s colleges came up at almost every round table. For example, NC A&T State University in Greensboro is partnering with Wolfspeed, which is building a new research and development facility on the university’s campus. Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College offered custom fast-track training for Pratt & Whitney’s new turbine airfoil manufacturing plant in Asheville.

North Carolina is far from immune to the nationwide labor shortage, but several round table discussions highlighted ways employers are reaching different talent pools. Caterpillar, which operates in Wake, Lee and Johnston counties, is offering specialized training to neurodiverse employees. Ketchie in Concord has a high school internship for its machine shop. Other common concerns include interest rates and the effects of remote work on city centers. But no matter the round table topic, participants agreed North Carolina is well positioned to weather challenges as the third-fastest growing state, always scoring high in rankings of places to live, retire or vacation. One round table participant called us “a much luckier place.” The following pages explain why.

— Katherine Snow Smith, project editor