Economic Development - Expansions and Relocations

[turbocraig]

Great news.  Is this the same announcement that was “1.5” months out from that deleted post back in August?  Or is there another bigger one still coming?

[QCxpat]

Here's the link to the Charlotte Business Ledger's story about Microsoft's expansion in the Arrowood Business Park.

Excerpt:  "The juggernaut of Charlotte tech job creation is rolling on this morning, with Microsoft planning to create 430 high-paying jobs and spending $23M to expand its campus in southwest Charlotte.  “This investment underscores our continued commitment to enhancing the quality of life and creating economic opportunity for the entire region,” said Reggie Isaac, director of Microsoft’s Charlotte campus, at an uptown news conference this morning.  The jobs would have average salaries of $98,000 a year."  ...  "Charlotte’s economy expands at a rapid clip, new numbers from the Charlotte Regional Business Alliance show that Charlotte is on pace to bypass Raleigh-Durham in the number of tech jobs.  It could happen as early as this year and shows how some of the notions about the composition of our economy might be getting outdated." ...  "Charlotte tech employment has surged by 34% in the last five years, and the region is on track to surpass the Raleigh area in tech jobs.  If you’re keeping score at home, the recent big tech announcements include:

• AvidXchange: 1,200 new employees in a second HQ building at its Music Factory campus.

• Lowe’s: 2,000 workers in a tech hub located in a 23-story South End tower.

• LendingTree: Plans to create more than 400 jobs in the next five years and is building new HQ in South End.

• Better.com: Says it’s hiring 1,000 workers in five years."

LInk:  https://charlotteledger.substack.com/

In addition, here's a link to the AP's story with a few more tidbits from this morning announcement, with Governor Roy Cooper, at the Charlotte Regional Business Alliance in Uptown Charlotte. 

"Microsoft Expanding in North Carolina, will Hire Hundreds" - AP News

"Microsoft Corp. is expanding its North Carolina footprint by hiring new workers to build out its engineering and quantum computing businesses. The software maker and Gov. Roy Cooper announced on Friday that the $23 million expansion in Charlotte aims to create 430 new jobs by 2023.  The Redmond, Washington-based company could receive $8.5 million in state incentives over time if its meets job-creation and investment goals.  A state panel awarded an incentives deal to Microsoft minutes before Microsoft executives and Gov. Cooper unveiled the expansion at a Charlotte event.  The state Commerce Department says North Carolina won out over competing offers from Irving, Texas (Dallas metro) and Fargo, North Dakota."

Link:  https://apnews.com/bb831a59fada4c1eb93dc18190cc6a6c

Photo of Microsoft office at 8055 Microsoft Way, Charlotte, NC 28273, by Jim Gallagher on Foursquare

Edited October 25, 2019 by QCxpat
add photo credit

[SoDoSoPa]

There’s still plenty of space at the two buildings on Microsoft Way for an extra 400 people or so. Merck was leasing space for a while on campus, but moved out this year.


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[Cadi40]

Is there still a bigger fish coming?

[EllAyyDub]

24 minutes ago, Cadi40 said:

Is there still a bigger fish coming?

 

[XRZ.ME]

Searched Microsoft career site. The most frequent word for Charlotte is support. Would be better if M$ bring true development work to Charlotte.




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[lancer22]

50 minutes ago, Cadi40 said:

Is there still a bigger fish coming?

oh yea, although most people think Microsoft is a bigger name

 

[turbocraig]

18 minutes ago, lancer22 said:

oh yea, although most people think Microsoft is a bigger name

 

Thanks for answering.  Any idea of timing on that one?  Was that the deleted text mention from a couple months ago, or was that a reference to this MS deal?

[CLT2014]

1 hour ago, XRZ.ME said:

Searched Microsoft career site. The most frequent word for Charlotte is support. Would be better if M$ bring true development work to Charlotte.

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Microsoft's Engineering department is extremely concentrated in Seattle area. Redmond has 1,640 openings in engineering, Bellevue has 300 and then the next stateside location is all the way down at only 47 openings in Reston, VA and Sunnyvale, CA each.

Edited October 25, 2019 by CLT2014

[SydneyCarton]

Bringing jobs to NC makes sense.  Raising a family in Seattle on $95,000 is Impossible.

Hopefully, many more jobs will come here.

Edited October 25, 2019 by SydneyCarton

[KJHburg]

my 2 friends who work at Microsoft "support" both make more than 200K here in Charlotte.   I know  not all jobs there pay that much but their current average salary is fairly high at that site.  This is a great win for Charlotte and ye of little faith the 4th quarter is just started rolling.   More a coming! I so excited I might have to buy myself 4 dozen Krispy Kreme doughnuts oh yeah I already did that  this morning to take to the coast. 

Edited October 25, 2019 by KJHburg

[Madison Parkitect]

1 hour ago, lancer22 said:

oh yea, although most people think Microsoft is a bigger name

 

So a company less well-known than Microsoft but bringing a higher jobs number... smells like an HQ. I'm trying to think of companies that are big enough where moving an HQ here would be a major win but are less well-known than Microsoft...

[CLT2014]

17 minutes ago, Madison Parkitect said:

So a company less well-known than Microsoft but bringing a higher jobs number... smells like an HQ. I'm trying to think of companies that are big enough where moving an HQ here would be a major win but are less well-known than Microsoft...

Manufacturing, Business to Business, Chemical, Industrial, et... company Fortune 500 HQ's could bring tons of high paying jobs, but be less well known since they might not be consumer facing brands. 

Edited October 25, 2019 by CLT2014

[Madison Parkitect]

1 hour ago, CLT2014 said:

Manufacturing, Business to Business, Chemical, Industrial, et... company Fortune 500 HQ's could bring tons of high paying jobs, but be less well known since they might not be consumer facing brands. 

Definitely true. We can rule out tech, obviously, because there's nobody in that space bigger than Microsoft. Keep giving us hints, @lancer22!

[Rufus]

https://www.bizjournals.com/triangle/news/2019/10/25/this-2-8b-firm-could-be-the-triangles-next-public.html?iana=hpmvp_trig_news_headline

While this is in the Triangle Biz Journal, the call transcript referenced in the article also mentions Charlotte as the possible HQ city for NewCo, a company that will be split off from Fortive. Fortive is a F500 (#422) company based in Everett, Washington. NewCo would be $2.8b in revenue, so just outside of F500, but def within F1000 territory. They say they have a location in mind, but have only mentioned Charlotte and the Triangle as details to that answer. I'm sure this isn't the company that has been referenced by other posters, but this is exciting to see so much interest. 

[KJHburg]

Microsoft is indeed expanding also in the Dallas suburb of Las Colinas in Irving.  Las Colinas is 12,000 acre Ballantyne on super steroids development.  Golf, housing, 20 Million sq ft of office space, light rail with DART, on freeways.  Adding 550 jobs there.

https://www.bizjournals.com/dallas/news/2019/10/25/microsoft-irving-texas.html

I remember when Amazon chose DC and Nashville the latter being 5000 jobs and there was this woe is me here in Charlotte.  Yet we have attracted 5000 tech jobs more spread out in several companies that in my opinion is a lot better.  Microsoft 430 jobs today,  LendingTree  436 jobs       AvidXchange  1200 jobs      Lowes 2000 jobs   MUFG and several smaller tech expansions.   You can throw in Better.com as well 

Anyway this is a great win for Charlotte today and we are just getting started for this quarter.  

oh I was around when Microsoft first opened here and there were exactly zero incentives at least for the 1000 jobs they created here and they were first over by the old Coliseum in now Water Ridge office park. 

Edited October 25, 2019 by KJHburg

[atlrvr]

1 hour ago, Rufus said:

https://www.bizjournals.com/triangle/news/2019/10/25/this-2-8b-firm-could-be-the-triangles-next-public.html?iana=hpmvp_trig_news_headline

While this is in the Triangle Biz Journal, the call transcript referenced in the article also mentions Charlotte as the possible HQ city for NewCo, a company that will be split off from Fortive. Fortive is a F500 (#422) company based in Everett, Washington. NewCo would be $2.8b in revenue, so just outside of F500, but def within F1000 territory. They say they have a location in mind, but have only mentioned Charlotte and the Triangle as details to that answer. I'm sure this isn't the company that has been referenced by other posters, but this is exciting to see so much interest. 

I think this is a reporter reading the transcript and not listening to the call.  The CEO was correcting himself.  He said Charlotte first, but meant Raleigh, and was just correcting himself.

[urbanlover568]

4 hours ago, CLT2014 said:

Microsoft's Engineering department is extremely concentrated in Seattle area. Redmond has 1,640 openings in engineering, Bellevue has 300 and then the next stateside location is all the way down at only 47 openings in Reston, VA and Sunnyvale, CA each.

They are busy constructing their new mega-campus with connection to the light-rail.  

[SydneyCarton]

Hopefully, JPMC will consider Charlotte.  They could easily build a 700’ tower in Uptown, and in light of the 1,500’ tower they’re building in N.Y., they’d build Something iconic.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-10-28/jpmorgan-weighs-shifting-thousands-of-jobs-out-of-new-york-area?srnd=premium

[Desert Power]

2 hours ago, SydneyCarton said:

Hopefully, JPMC will consider Charlotte.  They could easily build a 700’ tower in Uptown, and in light of the 1,500’ tower they’re building in N.Y., they’d build Something iconic.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-10-28/jpmorgan-weighs-shifting-thousands-of-jobs-out-of-new-york-area?srnd=premium

A lot of companies (including BofA) are concentrating a lot of technology type of jobs in Plano.

[SydneyCarton]

44 minutes ago, Desert Power said:

A lot of companies (including BofA) are concentrating a lot of technology type of jobs in Plano.

Plano (and DFW, in general) is a huge banking hub, particularly for mortgage servicing.   JP Morgan also has a big mortgage servicing group in Columbus, which I believe came from Bank One.  

That being said, given Charlotte's role as a banking hub, it would be nice if NC gives massive incentives to get the jobs in the Tar Heel State.  Since JPMC is spending several billion on its new tower in NY, I could easily see them building a new tallest in Charlotte.

Edited October 28, 2019 by SydneyCarton

[Matthew.Brendan]

5 hours ago, SydneyCarton said:

Hopefully, JPMC will consider Charlotte.  They could easily build a 700’ tower in Uptown, and in light of the 1,500’ tower they’re building in N.Y., they’d build Something iconic.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-10-28/jpmorgan-weighs-shifting-thousands-of-jobs-out-of-new-york-area?srnd=premium

Charlotte is not even mentioned once in that article?

[KJHburg]

just heard on radio Statifyd an upstart Charlotte tech firm is adding 200 jobs and a new office in FreeMoreWest area of Charlotte. More details once I can find them.   YET another Charlotte tech success story! 

[KJHburg]

Here is the story about the expansion relocation to Thrift Road in FreeMore area over near Nobles and adding 200 jobs!   A Charlotte and UNC Charlotte tech startup success story!  

https://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/news/2019/10/31/data-analytics-company-to-add-200-jobs-move-to.html

[KJHburg]

What makes up the NC state economy?  Our economy is slightly larger than Sweden's.  The new biggest contributor is FIRE  Finance Insurance and Real estate.  A huge chunk is located in Mecklenburg, but also in large nodes in Winston and Greensboro and in Raleigh.  Even Wilmington is home to the Live Oak Bank a business lending firm.  2nd is manufacturing which is scattered all over the state but lots in the Piedmont.  Information (tech) is the fastest growing segment led by both Charlotte and Raleigh Durham

https://www.nccommerce.com/blog/2019/11/04/nc-annual-economic-report-gross-domestic-product