The Good News Report

[ah59396]

It still makes no sense. They are in a county with a rising unemployment rate, a similar cost of living, an existing manufacturing base and training programs, as a major manufacturer they have a lot of political pull there where as in Charlotte they would just be another corporate player. The base business advantages just aren't there, unless they will be shifting a lot of manufacturing work to the area. I don't see the labor advantages of shifting their manufacturing from Oregon to here. There are shipping advantages but those mostly fall on the custom order side.

 

I think he's saying if Jeld-wen moved here, it'd be great for Charlotte.

[Miesian Corners]

It still makes no sense. They are in a county with a rising unemployment rate, a similar cost of living, an existing manufacturing base and training programs, as a major manufacturer they have a lot of political pull there where as in Charlotte they would just be another corporate player. The base business advantages just aren't there, unless they will be shifting a lot of manufacturing work to the area. I don't see the labor advantages of shifting their manufacturing from Oregon to here. There are shipping advantages but those mostly fall on the custom order side.

The two biggest sellers of Jeld-Wen products are Home Depot (HQ'd a brief car trip or plane ride away in Atlanta) and Lowe's (a 25 minute drive north of uptown).  Coupled with their global workforce and our large hub for the largest airline in the world, it makes a lot of sense.  

Edited March 18, 2014 by Miesian Corners

[cltbwimob]

A couple of things to add here. Pacific Coast Feather will be hiring for it's new (mattress pad) factory which will employ 110.

Bigger still is that the CRP is making a push to bring a Stone Brewing Company plant which will include a Brewery as well as packaging and distribution, and a hospitality component. CRP is organizing a social media campaign, so I encourage all, both beer enthusiasts or otherwise, to show support. Details are in the Bizjournal article.

Edited March 18, 2014 by cltbwimob

[CLTProductions]

A couple of things to add here. Pacific Coast Feather will be hiring for it's new (mattress pad) factory which will employ 110.

Bigger still is that the CRP is making a push to bring a Stone Brewing Company plant which will include a Brewery as well as packaging and distribution, and a hospitality component. CRP is organizing a social media campaign, so I encourage all, both beer enthusiasts or otherwise, to show support. Details are in the Bizjournal article.

Said article: http://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/blog/outside_the_loop/2014/03/partnership-making-recruitment-pitch-for-20m-stone.html

[cltbwimob]

Said article: http://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/blog/outside_the_loop/2014/03/partnership-making-recruitment-pitch-for-20m-stone.html

Another article...Could include 370 jobs

http://cltdevelopment.blogspot.com/2014/03/could-stone-brewing-co-choose-charlotte.html

[birky]

pleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleaseplease

[ScottCLT]

A couple of things to add here. Pacific Coast Feather will be hiring for it's new (mattress pad) factory which will employ 110.

The products from this company are top-notch. I have some of their bed pillows and they are the most comfortable I've ever had. They sell to major hotel brands like Starwood, Marriott, etc. So when you lay down on a bed in a nice hotel room and love the down comforter and pillows, and you see that you can purchase the hotel's "own" collection for your home, do yourself a favor and just buy them from Pacific Down and save 30% (or get them at Tuesday Morning for $30/pillow like I did!).

[navigator319]

Charlotte made the front page of Yahoo... nice skyline pic too

 

Best cities for high pay and low cost of living... Charlotte #1

 

http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/top-best-most/stretching-your-money--the-best-cities-for-high-pay-and-low-expenses-195126305.html

 

 

[ssh214]

Thought to post this here... NBA commissioner Adam Silver is coming to Charlotte tomorrow. Maybe something to do with the new investments to the arena and finally getting an All Star game in Charlotte??? We'll find out tomorrow.

[cltbwimob]

Whoa...Never heard of them, so hopefully this company is viable, but 2200 jobs is awesome.

 

http://www.wsoctv.com/news/news/local/internet-marketing-company-bring-2000-jobs-charlot/nfLd5/

[CLTProductions]

Wow that is awesome!!! Wonder where they will put all those people, if only we had a couple floors of a new office tow......oh wait

 

In all seriousness, out of curiosity, how many workers/jobs could fit on a floor of a building like Duke or B of A corporate center?

Edited March 26, 2014 by Jayvee

[tozmervo]

A reasonable estimate is to assume about 100 SF per worker, but there are a lot of caveats that can send that number up or down depending on the design. (100 SF/person is what the building code assumes for standard office space.) So for a 25,000 SF floor plate, 250 people, and so on.

[Niner National]

For an internet making company, their website is crappy. 

 

I do internet marketing for a living. Just reading through their website they seem like a pretty sketchy company honestly.

 

Sounds like these are work from home positions. Job requirements are a high speed internet connection and a phone. You get a 1099 from them, so these jobs are sales contractor positions. This is basically a big affiliate program and not actual jobs.

 

Their website is 117,000 pages and almost all of them are spun content. These guys represent the worst of the worst in the internet marketing. There are a lot of SEO companies out there that are really spammy/scammy, but these guys might take the cake.

 

If you're wondering what I mean by spun content, visit this link:  http://local.escalateinternet.com/seo-services/

 

From there, there is just a list of HUNDREDS of cities. There are 104 pages with hundreds of cities on each page, so tens of thousands of cities....all spun content. They list a few dozen services, all set up the same. This is how you create 117,000 pages in a very short period of time.

 

These kind of companies come and go all the time. They seem really big, but in reality, they probably have a dozen or less full time employees.

Edited March 26, 2014 by Niner National

[cltbwimob]

More jobs...

 

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2014/03/25/4795331/new-rock-hill-business-to-create.html#.UzMBE4WCWSo

[ssh214]

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2014/03/28/4802391/bmw-plans-1-billion-expansion.html#.UzbKdiiJnuc

 

I guess this is good for the Charlotte area... BMW is going to be investing $1B dollars in their factory and going to add over 800 more employees.

[DMann]

April 1, 2014

Thinkgate Moves Corporate Headquarters to Uptown,

Plans to Hire 120 Employees

Thinkgate, a leading technology and software provider for education agencies, announced today that it has moved its corporate headquarters from Atlanta to South Tryon Square located at 201 S. Tryon St. in uptown Charlotte. Thinkgate currently has more than 70 full-time employees and dozens of contractors who will occupy the 21,210-square-foot space.

Thinkgate plans to hire between 75 and 120 new employees in its Charlotte office over the next three years. The positions will include mid to executive level, and salaries will range from $50,000 to $200,000 per year. The new headquarters will centralize all Thinkgate operations, including the client experience, project management, technology and deployment, sales and marketing, and accounting functions.

“After outgrowing our corporate headquarters in Atlanta and our Operations Center in Huntersville, N.C., it made sense to consolidate locations. Charlotte appealed to us due to its excellent quality of life and skilled workforce,” said Eric Waynick, Thinkgate chief executive officer. “In addition to centralizing our operations to improve communication and efficiency, this relocation will put us in the heart of Charlotte’s bourgeoning technology community. Ultimately, a centrally located office and close proximity to other technology companies will allow us to better serve our clients.”

A pioneer in advancing education through technology, Thinkgate was founded in 2004 and employed just 12 people in 2012. In 2013, the company more than doubled its workforce and is now consolidating operations and relocating its headquarters as it plans for future growth in the Queen City.

Thinkgate was recognized last year as a leading American job creator by Inc. Magazine’s Hire Power Awards. The company currently supports more than 500 K-12 education agencies and 3 million students nationwide, and provides statewide solutions in four states.

“In Charlotte’s Center City, Thinkgate will enjoy the best access to our region’s talent, full transit offerings for their associates, and easy access to our professional sports, entertainment and hospitality amenities,” said Michael Smith, president and CEO of Charlotte Center City Partners.

For the official company release, click here. For information on job postings, visit thinkgate.net/about-us/careers.

Chad Hagerman with Newmark Grubb Night Frank represented Thinkgate in the real estate transaction. Tom FitzGerald and Charles Jonas with JLL represented the landlord.

 

 

[ssh214]

 

Thinkgate Moves Corporate Headquarters to Uptown,

Plans to Hire 120 Employees

 

All job announcements are great, this is fantastic news. I like the range in salaries. 

[atlrvr]

I agree that this is a really great announcement for a variety of reasons.

 

Well paying jobs.

High growth company.

Tech related.

Diversified industry.

Uptown.

[atlrvr]

Gene Haas of Stewart-Haas racing (NASCAR team and owner of an industrial tool company) is close to being award a F1 racing team for the 2015 season.  Bernie Ecclestone has verbally said he will allow the Haas team.  The 2nd hurdle is getting FIA approval, which hopefully will be coming in the next few weeks.  Hopefully this is more successfuly than the failed USF1 team.

 

For those that don't follow the sport, no F1 team is based in the United States (all are based in Europe), so this would be a big deal for the sport.  They would be headquartered in Cabarrus County. 

[Matthew.Brendan]

That's great. F1 is the real deal. NASCAR doesn't even compare....

[MilZ]

Gene Haas of Stewart-Haas racing (NASCAR team and owner of an industrial tool company) is close to being award a F1 racing team for the 2015 season.  Bernie Ecclestone has verbally said he will allow the Haas team.  The 2nd hurdle is getting FIA approval, which hopefully will be coming in the next few weeks.  Hopefully this is more successfuly than the failed USF1 team.

 

For those that don't follow the sport, no F1 team is based in the United States (all are based in Europe), so this would be a big deal for the sport.  They would be headquartered in Cabarrus County.

That would be amazing! I still watch F1 but have had no one team to cheer for since Michael Shumacher retired. I haven't cared about NASCAR since I was a kid but may give it a chance at some point later this year thanks to the new format.

[15895]

http://m.bizjournals.com/charlotte/blog/morning-edition/2014/04/bmw-poised-to-decide-on-second-north-american.html

Please! I would love a BMW plant in Jerryville!

Our proximity to Charleston and Greenville, our intermodal hub at the airport, our large labor pool, & North Carolina incentives seem like we'd at least warrant a look?

Edited April 9, 2014 by AirNostrumMAD

[Niner National]

Is this something that the phillips plant could be retro-fitted for or do auto factories pretty much need to be custom built from the ground up?

Edited April 9, 2014 by Niner National

[kermit]

custom built from the ground up?

 

yes.

 

I suspect that BMW will request an incentives package well in excess of $150,000 per job (Volkswagen got that in Chattanooga in 2010). The 'new and improved' NC DOC will need to have its act together -- it was clear that they did not with the Boeing search (e.g. three different proposals).

 

Locations within 200 miles of the Greer facility will be attractive since they will allow them to leverage their existing supplier network. However an Upstate site _might_ create wage  pressure and skill shortages for both factories in the short term so eliminate that as a possibility. The union / legislative issues VW dealt with in Chattanooga will make Tennessee is a no go. BMW is very happy with the workforce training provided (at state expense) in the SC community college system so the option of direct export from a Charleston or Savannah area site is likely to be on their radar. Wilmington is not an option (IMO) as it lacks a roll-on roll-off terminal and has workforce issues.

 

Jerryville is a genuinely intriguing possibility. West Charlotte offers one of the stronger labor pools for auto assembly in the South and the transportation network is decent. Charlotte is ideally positioned for truck delivery to east coast dealers and longer distance (and higher volume) moves can be handled by rail.  The tail track at the southern end of the intermodal terminal can be extended or sidings can be built off the NS main north of the airport. BMW could then load directly to rail for shipment to Charleston or Savannah as well as the west coast. However Charleston or Savannah would be better positioned on the rail / port interface. 

Edited April 9, 2014 by kermit

[cltbwimob]

Auto plants typically need to be built from the ground up, although retrofits can happen. A company like Tesla could potentially use the old PM site because of their smaller production capacity. A BMW factory would need to be optimized to churn out as many vehicles as possible and would require a space designed specifically to meet their needs.

A possibility in the Charlotte area for such a plant would be the I-77 mega site in Chester county. The site is 1150 acres with approximately 250 additional acres to be used if necessary. It is a McCallum Sweeney certified site unlike the Chatham County, NC site which really has a ways to go. As far as infrastructure goes, it has direct access to 2 exits on I-77 and 8000ft of frontage, and it has direct access to the L&C which connects to both CSX and NS just a few miles from the site.

As Kermit noted, the workforce in Charlotte would be a natural fit. We have 3 Freightliner plants, 2 of which are final assembly, and a plethora of supplier facilities. Additionally, much of the brain trust in the automotive racing industry resides in Charlotte.

I personally would like to see a plant at the I-77 mega site.

Edited April 9, 2014 by cltbwimob