Economic Development - Expansions and Relocations

[Blue_Devil]

1 hour ago, kermit said:

Orlando... lol...

https://www.charlotteobserver.com/sports/college/article260422882.html

ESPN has a massive presence there because Disney

[CLT2014]

7 hours ago, Blue_Devil said:

ESPN has a massive presence there because Disney

I don't think ESPN has major production studios or corporate facilities in Orlando. They just have the ESPN Wide World of Sports, which is operated by Disney Parks division and just uses the ESPN name. Employees there fall in the Disney Parks group. ESPN does have an innovation lab at the sport park. The main office in Florida for ESPN is in Miami.

Charlotte makes more sense as an ESPN tie given the ACC Network is based here. Otherwise the key decision makers for ESPN are based in Bristol and Burbank.

Edited April 15, 2022 by CLT2014

[RANYC]

Wonder if this "Don't Say Gay" law generates any blow-back and influences the final decision?

[SouthEndCLT811]

5 minutes ago, RANYC said:

Wonder if this "Don't Say Gay" law generates any blow-back and influences the final decision?

That bit was in the Observer article.  It pointed out the ACC moved every event out of NC when HB2 went into effect.  And to Orlando ironically in the case of the football championship. 

[KJHburg]

This ACC relocation is not going to Orlando and it is between Charlotte and staying put.   Has nothing to do with new laws in Florida or anything. 

Honestly we need to be working with bigger fish and opportunities than the ACC HQ we are talking 50 jobs.   How many people know the headquarters of every sports conference?   I more interested in ACC tournaments and events here in Charlotte.   Yes 50 jobs is good but other cities are getting Nike technology offices like Atlanta, an investment hedge fund to Nashville.  

[deleted account]

41 minutes ago, KJHburg said:

This ACC relocation is not going to Orlando and it is between Charlotte and staying put.   Has nothing to do with new laws in Florida or anything. 

Honestly we need to be working with bigger fish and opportunities than the ACC HQ we are talking 50 jobs.   How many people know the headquarters of every sports conference?   I more interested in ACC tournaments and events here in Charlotte.   Yes 50 jobs is good but other cities are getting Nike technology offices like Atlanta, an investment hedge fund to Nashville.  

I agree with your second point (though having the headquarters here makes it more likely we'll get the basketball tournament more frequently and that the football championship stays here...though it didn't help with the CIAA obviously). 

I disagree that it's between us and Greensboro. It is definitely, 100℅ leaving Greensboro. I also think Orlando is very unlikely, unless prominent staff members/leaders want to live there. That's a wildcard no one is considering. Charlotte clearly makes the most sense otherwise. 

Edited April 15, 2022 by JBS

[tozmervo]

IIRC, there are several major sports organizations with headquarters in and around the Orlando area.

[kermit]

2 hours ago, tozmervo said:

IIRC, there are several major sports organizations with headquarters in and around the Orlando area.

I am sure Orlando is a fine place for such things (I guess). I dismissed it because a Florida location would really go against the grain of 70+ years of ACC history and culture. 

The SEC hasn’t been around as long but imagine the SEC moving its HQ to St. Louis, or Dallas — neither of those two things is -ever- gonna happen. Its the same with Florida and the ACC. The original ACC teams  (meaning Clemson, Tobacco Road (incl NCSU and WFU) and UVA) are still driving this bus.

Edited April 15, 2022 by kermit

[deleted account]

4 minutes ago, kermit said:

I am sure Orlando is a fine place for such things (I guess). I dismissed it because a Florida location would really go against the grain of 70+ years of ACC history and culture. 

The SEC hasn’t been around as long but imagine the SEC moving its HQ to St. Louis, or Dallas — neither of those two things is -ever- gonna happen. Its the same with Florida and the ACC. The original ACC teams  (meaning Clemson, Tobacco Road and UVA) are still driving the bus.

I can totally imagine the SEC headquartered in Dallas (especially with Texas and Oklahoma joining A&M in the conference). St Louis...no.

[rancenc]

Article about the recent Interface I-85 Industrial Corridor  conference this week in Charlotte and the need for additional housing, especially geared towards blue collar workers.

https://rebusinessonline.com/i-85-corridor-markets-see-explosion-of-industrial-development-but-interface-panelists-wonder-if-housing-will-follow/

[DonkeyKong]

I feel like it has been a while since we had any sizable relo or expansion announcement.  

[KJHburg]

25 minutes ago, DonkeyKong said:

I feel like it has been a while since we had any sizable relo or expansion announcement.  

we have had a complete turnover it seems of new employees at the regional business alliance on the recruiting front.   Not sure if this has anything to do with it but we you lose key employees and start over it might have.  However the surrounding counties like Cabarrus and Iredell have been very successful here of late.  I was not aware of this until I read some of the recent emails from the Alliance. 

https://charlotteregion.com/blog/2022/04/13/clt-alliance-blog/meet-karen-davison-director-of-business-recruitment-at-the-clt-alliance/

https://charlotteregion.com/blog/2022/04/05/clt-alliance-blog/meet-eduardo-venegas-business-recruitment-manager-at-the-clt-alliance/

even the new lead is fairly new to the office Mr Danny Chavez lead business recruiter. 

 

[CarolinaDaydreamin]

6 hours ago, JBS said:

I can totally imagine the SEC headquartered in Dallas (especially with Texas and Oklahoma joining A&M in the conference). St Louis...no.

Then you don't understand the internal SEC politics. BAMA, UGA, Auburn and Florida are much more influential in the conference than any other school (besides maybe LSU, who also wouldn't want that advantage to Texas) and would never let Dallas overtake the Birmingham/Atlanta axis of power. SEC schools are going to make sure Texas doesn't try to run things like they do in the Big 12.

[deleted account]

51 minutes ago, CarolinaDaydreamin said:

Then you don't understand the internal SEC politics. BAMA, UGA, Auburn and Florida are much more influential in the conference than any other school (besides maybe LSU, who also wouldn't want that advantage to Texas) and would never let Dallas overtake the Birmingham/Atlanta axis of power. SEC schools are going to make sure Texas doesn't try to run things like they do in the Big 12.

Lol: https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.dawgsports.com/platform/amp/2021/8/1/22603990/new-look-sec-should-also-mean-a-move-out-of-birmingham

Edited April 15, 2022 by JBS

[kermit]

Edited April 16, 2022 by kermit

[CarolinaDaydreamin]

On 4/15/2022 at 7:25 PM, JBS said:

Lol: https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.dawgsports.com/platform/amp/2021/8/1/22603990/new-look-sec-should-also-mean-a-move-out-of-birmingham

I mean I'm a UGA grad and you can't take that article seriously. 

[deleted account]

1 hour ago, CarolinaDaydreamin said:

I mean I'm a UGA grad and you can't take that article seriously. 

Agree. I take it about as seriously as I do the opinions of two random people on Urban Planet. 

[kayman]

ACC is going to Charlotte, period.

[KJHburg]

Cabarrus County EDC does great communication about new businesses and how incentives work.

[Richhamleigh, DC]

On 4/13/2022 at 11:03 AM, JeanClt said:

I agree. I only mentioned that because there is GREATER apathy in the older generations. They tend to not like change. As we get older we want consistency and little change and I suppose that is part aging (not everyone but many). We are also creatures of habit so the movement has to start somewhere in breaking the fossil fuels and sprawling habit and over generations better habits overall could be passed down to younger generations.

It may also be that older people are wiser.  Younger people tend to impulsive.  They have time to make mistakes.  

[JRCLT]

It may also be that older people are wiser.  Younger people tend to impulsive.  They have time to make mistakes.  

Wouldn’t say that exactly… but yes that may be so in some cases. Wisdom is not a quality many people have regardless of their age.

[atlrvr]

https://www.designworldonline.com/siemens-opens-technology-hub-in-charlotte-nc-for-additive-manufacturing/

^^^ always nice to see R&D jobs

[krazeeboi]

On 4/15/2022 at 8:39 AM, KJHburg said:

This ACC relocation is not going to Orlando and it is between Charlotte and staying put.   Has nothing to do with new laws in Florida or anything. 

Honestly we need to be working with bigger fish and opportunities than the ACC HQ we are talking 50 jobs.   How many people know the headquarters of every sports conference?   I more interested in ACC tournaments and events here in Charlotte.   Yes 50 jobs is good but other cities are getting Nike technology offices like Atlanta, an investment hedge fund to Nashville.  

I think Charlotte/Mecklenburg County has more than demonstrated its capability to successful juggle multiple potential eco-devo deals simultaneously. I haven't read anything that has indicated that local economic officials had been giving the ACC HQ relocation opportunity an excessive amount of its time and attention to the extent that it imperiled bigger and better potential deals. 

[KJHburg]

I guess I was speaking of the complete employee turnover at the Charlotte Regional Business Alliance since last fall.  Everyone in that group from the top to the bottom has changed. 

New executive at Charlotte Regional Business Alliance says time is now for reinvigorated recruiting effort - Charlotte Business Journal (bizjournals.com)

"""Danny Chavez, hired last October as chief business recruitment officer, vowed during a recent interview at CLT Alliance headquarters to complete an overhaul of the organization’s economic development process and strategy later this year.  Chavez’s early moves include successfully lobbying to expand the economic development group to eight people from six while adopting what he described as a “consultative” approach to help the city of Charlotte, Mecklenburg County, and 14 surrounding counties bring in more companies and jobs.   CLT Alliance promotes the area to site-selection firms and others, generates business leads for county and city economic development groups, and works with counties and cities in some cases as a liaison in negotiations with prospects. ""

[kermit]

12 hours ago, KJHburg said:

I guess I was speaking of the complete employee turnover at the Charlotte Regional Business Alliance since last fall.  Everyone in that group from the top to the bottom has changed. 

New executive at Charlotte Regional Business Alliance says time is now for reinvigorated recruiting effort - Charlotte Business Journal (bizjournals.com)

"""Danny Chavez, hired last October as chief business recruitment officer, vowed during a recent interview at CLT Alliance headquarters to complete an overhaul of the organization’s economic development process and strategy later this year.  Chavez’s early moves include successfully lobbying to expand the economic development group to eight people from six while adopting what he described as a “consultative” approach to help the city of Charlotte, Mecklenburg County, and 14 surrounding counties bring in more companies and jobs.   CLT Alliance promotes the area to site-selection firms and others, generates business leads for county and city economic development groups, and works with counties and cities in some cases as a liaison in negotiations with prospects. ""

^ They have paid most employees really badly for more than 20 years (and ED is a well compensated field). Now that folks have -lots- of better paying alternatives they are seeing a ton of churn. Its not good news since continuity matters (a bunch) in ED, and the membership dollars that fund the “chamber” are going down. We are about to see the downside of our, mostly privately funded, ED structure.

Edited April 24, 2022 by kermit