Economic Development - Expansions and Relocations

[atlrvr]

Well, I'm not going to pretend to be an expert on Aviation industry talent.  I assumed we would be competitive for the Aviation HQ based on thinking Collins Aerospace headquarters in Charlotte would have been considered a large talent source, combined with a fair amount of manufacturing and smaller suppliers based in the Charlotte and Greensboro metros.

That said, I still believe GE leadership hasn't but that much thought into it, until they further refine business plans and think about executive leadership for each new company.

[CLT @❤️]

If not here where would this go? Does this project have its own thread? 
 

https://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/news/2021/11/10/city-county-weighing-med-school-incentives.html

[SouthEndCLT811]

11 minutes ago, CLT @ said:

If not here where would this go? Does this project have its own thread? 
 

https://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/news/2021/11/10/city-county-weighing-med-school-incentives.html

Someone watched a few too many Katie Porter videos..  Seriously though they better give the same treatment when Tepper comes calling.  IMO if there's a no-brainer for our community to invest in, this is certainly near the top of the list

 

[TGIBridays]

40 minutes ago, CLT @ said:

If not here where would this go? Does this project have its own thread? 
 

https://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/news/2021/11/10/city-county-weighing-med-school-incentives.html

Here's the Med school thread. 

https://www.urbanplanet.org/forums/topic/120661-atriumwake-forest-school-of-medicine/

 

[navigator319]

Got to love local city boards. Only thing worse is HOA lowlifes.

[CarolinaDaydreamin]

4 hours ago, SouthEndCLT811 said:

Someone watched a few too many Katie Porter videos..  Seriously though they better give the same treatment when Tepper comes calling.  IMO if there's a no-brainer for our community to invest in, this is certainly near the top of the list

 

I think Katie Porter would quickly identify the benefit LOL

[KJHburg]

The ACC office relocation of course makes sense for Charlotte from Greensboro.   They maybe getting their biggest job announcement soon themeselves.  As someone who wants all of NC to  prosper I really hope this is the Toyota Battery plant.  

Here is my 2 posts and quote from the Triad Biz Journal.

1.  Well this is interesting in the new NC Budget there is a large sum for the Greensboro Randolph county megasite.  Maybe something big brewing?  I know there has been a lot of dashed hopes with this site but I truly believe something will happen on this site that will be transformative for the Triad region. 

from NC Business email this morning:

Today's number: $338 million
That’s how much money in the state budget bill is directed to a major “economic development project” at the state’s megasite in Randolph County. Details on how the money would be used – transportation improvements, site preparation, wetlands mitigation and more – are spelled out in the bill.

So is the amount of investment involved: It’s a manufacturer that could initially bring at least $1 billion in investment and 1,750-plus jobs, but it’s a company that might also increase that investment within three year to at least $3 billion and 3,875 jobs.

The budget doesn’t, however, name the company. Is it the long-sought auto manufacturing plant? Stay tuned: It’ll likely remain a state secret until the deal is finalized.

2.  

Could be the Toyota battery plant and of course Toyota knows this site well as it was the runner up for the new assembly plant that went to Huntsville AL   This could be Greensboro and Randoph County's time as being the bridesmaid many times but this time possibly the bride!  With many Japanese companies in the Triad I think it is a great fit and so many interstate highways come through the Triad  too  40. 85, 73, 74, 840, 985 etc.   Honda with HondaJet and their own engine plant in Alamance and many other Japanese companies nearby. 

From the Triad Biz Journal today

""However, investment and job creation figures contained in the budget bill dovetail with an Oct. 18 announcement by Toyota Motor Corp. that it was seeking to build a $1.29 billion electric vehicle battery manufacturing facility in partnership with an affiliated company, which would employ 1,750. That announcement also suggested an eventual total investment of $3.4 billion, according to the Wall Street Journal.  The budget bill reads: “(the) qualifying project is a project for which the agreement requires that the business invest at least one billion dollars in private funds and create at least 1,750 eligible positions …”  Further, the bill describes a second phase as follows: “That a business, upon exercising an option in the agreement during the first 36 months of the agreement term to expand the project, increase the investment of private funds to at least three billion dollars and increase job creation to at least 3,875 eligible positions.”  That Toyota may choose the Greensboro-Randolph Megasite is conceivable in that the company is intimately familiar with the site. ""

Greensboro-Randolph Megasite - Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina (edpnc.com)

executive housing nearby in Greensboro of course.  

 

I sure hope Greensboro  and Randolph County gets this new plant as it will be good for all of NC.    Guilford County is NC's 3rd largest county after Wake and Meck but growing slower than the 2 big ones.  Housing is so affordable there too compared to the Triangle and Charlotte metros too.   Keep an eye on this!  How this could affect Charlotte and CLT?  Maybe the long sought after nonstop to Japan. 

Edited November 18, 2021 by KJHburg

[atlrvr]

https://www.bbcmag.com/breaking-news/brightspeed-announces-brand-and-broadband-rollout-plans

Can someone decipher this?

Edit: After reading it again, looks like Apollo (giant private equity firm) is buying the rural fiber optic business from Lumen (a public company) and then through the gift of tax payer generosity via Biden infrastructure plan, make a metric f***ton of money by having the gubamint pay to expand the infrastructure for them.   Presumably they spin the whole thing off into a new public company in 5-7 years.

And Charlotte will be where the HQ is.

[Rufus]

18 hours ago, atlrvr said:

https://www.bbcmag.com/breaking-news/brightspeed-announces-brand-and-broadband-rollout-plans

Can someone decipher this?

Edit: After reading it again, looks like Apollo (giant private equity firm) is buying the rural fiber optic business from Lumen (a public company) and then through the gift of tax payer generosity via Biden infrastructure plan, make a metric f***ton of money by having the gubamint pay to expand the infrastructure for them.   Presumably they spin the whole thing off into a new public company in 5-7 years.

And Charlotte will be where the HQ is.

Sorry to be so dense, but Lumen (the $20+ billion dollar company) is not moving to CLT -- but rather, the optic fiber business being purchased by Apollo is moving here, right? Any speculation on the size of the company? Are we talking F500 potential? 

[RANYC]

1 hour ago, Rufus said:

Sorry to be so dense, but Lumen (the $20+ billion dollar company) is not moving to CLT -- but rather, the optic fiber business being purchased by Apollo is moving here, right? Any speculation on the size of the company? Are we talking F500 potential? 

According to the release, Apollo Global purchased a bundle of internet-related assets from Lumen for about $7.5 billion, and is turning that bundle of assets into a newly-launching private company called Brightspeed.  This new private company will target the digitally underserved in like 20 states with internet-related products and services, and so its strategy will be substantially helped along by the recent Infrastructure Bill that includes a ton of funding for extending high-speed internet access to underserved/rural communities.  Brightspeed will be headquartered in Charlotte.  On LinkedIn, Brightspeed's CEO is based in NYC...perhaps he's relocating here or perhaps not and others on the management team will be here...all unclear.   Also unclear is what this new company's headcount will aim to be and how many of the headcount will be in Charlotte.  Won't be Fortune 500 because it will be a private company...not publicly-traded for the time being...just a portfolio company within Apollo Global's private equity investment program.

There's nothing I've seen to indicate that Lumen is coming to Charlotte.  Wildly speculating minds might try to see a link between a buyer's decision to take a $7.5 billion chunk of Lumen legacy assets, form them into a new company and place that company's management team in Charlotte and Lumen's own real estate strategy for its other lines of business remaining under its control, but I've seen no evidence of that.

Had no idea a company as big as Lumen was set amidst the swamps of Louisiana.  I think a relocation to Charlotte might serve them well.  Perhaps the Apollo transaction was the catalyst Lumen needed to revisit its real estate footprint:).

Edited November 30, 2021 by RANYC

[KJHburg]

Lumen is the old Century Telephone or CenturyLink  I think and it is based in Monroe, Louisiana I have seen their HQ there.   They specialized in providing telecommunications in more rural areas of the country but all over the country.  Sounds like this spinoff will be HQed in Charlotte which is great. 

[KJHburg]

in other state news the Greensboro area could be on the verge of 2 huge manufacturing plants.  The much discussed Megasite deal SE of the city which may be Toyota Panasonic battery plant and now a huge aviation expansion or new company near the PTI airport.  (near the existing HondaJet plant)

'Game-changer' could bring at least 1,750 jobs to Piedmont Triad International Airport | Business Local | greensboro.com

this could be great month for NC and there are still companies lurking around Charlotte for major expansions and or relocations.  

Thought it was interesting that the CEO of Centene will be speaking at the Charlotte Chamber wonder if he has any news of a headquarters variety?  Don't know but I do think Centene's HQ will end up here sooner or later.  

[csweet]

14 hours ago, KJHburg said:

a huge aviation expansion or new company near the PTI airport.  (near the existing HondaJet plant)

'Game-changer' could bring at least 1,750 jobs to Piedmont Triad International Airport | Business Local | greensboro.com

 

Great news for PTI, but I wish CLT could land some airside manufacturing growth. 

[kermit]

On 12/1/2021 at 10:53 AM, csweet said:

Great news for PTI, but I wish CLT could land some airside manufacturing growth. 

Would be nice, but I suspect the economic benefits of increased pax throughput are far higher than any freight movements in Charlotte. The hub is probably more responsible for knowledge-industry growth in Charlotte than anything else.

Edited December 3, 2021 by kermit

[CLT2014]

1 hour ago, kermit said:

Would be nice, but I suspect the economic benefits of increased pax throughput are far higher than any freight movements in Charlotte. The hub is probably more responsible for our knowledge-industry growth than any other factor.

Agree. 

A large hub airport like CLT is not as appealing as PTI for aircraft manufacturing. Take HondaJet for example... they roll the plane off the assembly line and the customer is ready to do their acceptance flight. They taxi out to a nearly empty runway with no delays and are in the air within minutes, enter uncrowded airspace to do the test flight, and return to PTI to sign the paperwork to accept the plane.

If that was at CLT and you roll the plane out at 12PM for the acceptance flight.... you end up in a taxi line of 20 American Airlines planes awaiting takeoff and you are constantly de-prioritized in the taxi lineup cause you don't have a schedule to maintain, getting put behind more and more AA flights. 30 valuable minutes roll by that you would have been in the air at PTI.... you then takeoff and are in extremely crowded airspace during hub operations so have to burn more fuel during the acceptance flight following the highways in the sky that come out of CLT and do a huge loop to line up in the arrivals path for CLT in crowded airspace, again behind 20 AA flights. Weather then turns bad, so HondaJet gets put in a holding pattern so AA flights can land and try to make up time so passengers don't miss connections... Your test flight ends up being 3 hours instead of 1 hour, et.... 

In addition, being at a big hub makes pressure testing the aircraft much more challenging. At PTI, they can run different tests easily and hold up the runway because there aren't many flights behind them. At CLT, you can't mess around because right behind you are 40 others planes. 

PTI is much easier logistically for the manufacturer and their customers to not compete with the commercial airlines.

Edited December 1, 2021 by CLT2014

[ArchiCLT]

2 hours ago, csweet said:

Great news for PTI, but I wish CLT could land some airside manufacturing growth. 

My firm (WGM Design) is working on a couple aerospace-related projects in the Charlotte area. Collins Aerospace is in the middle of an 18,000 SF renovation to their Monroe facility, and TAG Aero is going into a 40,000 SF building in Rock Hill.

https://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/news/2021/07/14/collins-aerospace-monroe-expansion-investment.html

There are several aerospace companies here. They just stay under the radar. *pun intended*

[csweet]

3 hours ago, CLT2014 said:

Agree. 

A large hub airport like CLT is not as appealing as PTI for aircraft manufacturing. Take HondaJet for example... they roll the plane off the assembly line and the customer is ready to do their acceptance flight. They taxi out to a nearly empty runway with no delays and are in the air within minutes, enter uncrowded airspace to do the test flight, and return to PTI to sign the paperwork to accept the plane.

If that was at CLT and you roll the plane out at 12PM for the acceptance flight.... you end up in a taxi line of 20 American Airlines planes awaiting takeoff and you are constantly de-prioritized in the taxi lineup cause you don't have a schedule to maintain, getting put behind more and more AA flights. 30 valuable minutes roll by that you would have been in the air at PTI.... you then takeoff and are in extremely crowded airspace during hub operations so have to burn more fuel during the acceptance flight following the highways in the sky that come out of CLT and do a huge loop to line up in the arrivals path for CLT in crowded airspace, again behind 20 AA flights. Weather then turns bad, so HondaJet gets put in a holding pattern so AA flights can land and try to make up time so passengers don't miss connections... Your test flight ends up being 3 hours instead of 1 hour, et.... 

In addition, being at a big hub makes pressure testing the aircraft much more challenging. At PTI, they can run different tests easily and hold up the runway because there aren't many flights behind them. At CLT, you can't mess around because right behind you are 40 others planes. 

PTI is much easier logistically for the manufacturer and their customers to not compete with the commercial airlines.

Thanks for this, you make great points. 

[kermit]

Economic development consultants are steering firms away from Atlanta due to government instability related to the Buckhead separatist movement. It will take more than a year for the succession of Buckhead to shake out, hopefully this is an opportunity (along with Texas power grid failures) our ED folks are jumping on:

Quote

The Buckhead cityhood movement could hurt Atlanta’s chances to lure new companies, possibly slowing momentum the tech sector is providing to the local economy, according to two national site selection experts.  

The top considerations for a corporation opening a major hub in a city are access to a strong labor pool and operating costs. But division within the government can make negotiating economic development difficult.

Instability could turn businesses away from Atlanta, the experts said.

https://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/news/2021/11/29/buckhead-cityhood-site-selection-experts.html

Edited December 2, 2021 by kermit

[KJHburg]

Yes the fact we have a hub of passenger jets 700 flights or so at CLT would deter a large aviation manufacturer here.  However if they Greensboro area gets both of those large investments it will benefit Charlotte in other ways.  Maybe we can get more nonstop international flights or companies that want to supply to these large manufacturers.  and yes Union County does have a burgeoing aviation industry that supplies Boeing in Charleston.  

[kayman]

23 hours ago, kermit said:

Economic development consultants are steering firms away from Atlanta due to government instability related to the Buckhead separatist movement. It will take more than a year for the succession of Buckhead to shake out, hopefully this is an opportunity (along with Texas power grid failures) our ED folks are jumping on:

https://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/news/2021/11/29/buckhead-cityhood-site-selection-experts.html

I believe that Atlanta governmental instability it will result in more economic growth for Charlotte.  Charlotte is already on the upswing economically over Atlanta with the recent merger HQ and regional offices relocations coming here. Atlanta has been long overplaying its hand against Charlotte. 

[CarolinaDaydreamin]

23 hours ago, kermit said:

Economic development consultants are steering firms away from Atlanta due to government instability related to the Buckhead separatist movement. It will take more than a year for the succession of Buckhead to shake out, hopefully this is an opportunity (along with Texas power grid failures) our ED folks are jumping on:

https://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/news/2021/11/29/buckhead-cityhood-site-selection-experts.html

Sounds dead as of the new mayoral election this week.

[kayman]

4 hours ago, CarolinaDaydreamin said:

Sounds dead as of the new mayoral election this week.

Not likely as the Georgia General Assembly to seem to be pushing the bill through

[Richhamleigh, DC]

On 11/30/2021 at 8:34 PM, KJHburg said:

in other state news the Greensboro area could be on the verge of 2 huge manufacturing plants.  The much discussed Megasite deal SE of the city which may be Toyota Panasonic battery plant and now a huge aviation expansion or new company near the PTI airport.  (near the existing HondaJet plant)

'Game-changer' could bring at least 1,750 jobs to Piedmont Triad International Airport | Business Local | greensboro.com

this could be great month for NC and there are still companies lurking around Charlotte for major expansions and or relocations.  

Thought it was interesting that the CEO of Centene will be speaking at the Charlotte Chamber wonder if he has any news of a headquarters variety?  Don't know but I do think Centene's HQ will end up here sooner or later.  

...but, the national media won't run any stories on our incredible years attracting new HQ and businesses...if we were Texas or Tennessee or even GA, they'd be all over it.  Whine...

[TGIBridays]

Charlotte and Arrival announce a high voltage battery assembly plant off Yorkmount Road. $11.5 million investment that will create 150 new jobs. (Source: Joe Bruno Tweet)  Good to see Arrival investing more in Charlotte.  Can't wait to see their UPS vans and hopefully some of their buses on the roads.

 

Edit:  I found the arrival announcement, so I'll link that here too. https://arrival.com/us/en/news/arrival-announces-high-voltage-battery-module-assembly-plant-in-charlotte-nc

Edited December 6, 2021 by TGIBridays
Added official announcement link

[stw52]

43 minutes ago, TGIBridays said:

Charlotte and Arrival announce a high voltage battery assembly plant off Yorkmount Road. $11.5 million investment that will create 150 new jobs. (Source: Joe Bruno Tweet)  Good to see Arrival investing more in Charlotte.  Can't wait to see their UPS vans and hopefully some of their buses on the roads.

Isn't there a second battery announcement today... south of Greensboro?