The Good News Report

[CLT2014]

11 minutes ago, KJHburg said:

200 more jobs with Jeld-Wen worlds largest window maker based in Charlotte with new corporate campus is southwest Charlotte details sketchy right now. But more new jobs. http://charlotte.global/index.php?src=news&submenu=News&srctype=detail&category=Economic Development News&refno=1431

Awesome expansion and a good investment in the manufacturing section of Charlotte. Average salary of $75,000 is solid too. 

Unfortunately sounds like they will be leaving Uptown / Ally Financial building as a result of the new HQ campus which will add some vacancy, but the space will likely get absorbed.

[KJHburg]

I think they have a floor in the Ally Building and floor in the Carillon, I am betting Ally Bank will take over the floor in their building for I hear they are growing.  Yes very good news again for Charlotte. 

[KJHburg]

NC is chosen #2 best state for business by the Site Selection Magazine the bible for relocation consultants .  Only after Georgia http://siteselection.com/issues/2016/nov/cover.cfm

[KJHburg]

Without much fanfare industrial and warehouse space continues to be gobbled up in the Charlotte area. Here is the latest Cushman Wakefield report http://www.cushmanwakefield.us/en/research-and-insight/unitedstates/charlotte-industrial-snapshot/  and note BIC Corporation's new 78,000 sq ft lease. This is addition to their existing warehouse space in Charlotte. Basically every or almost every BIC pen sold in the USA comes through Charlotte. (Amazon's huge 500,000 sq ft lease happened earlier in the year and they are ramping that space up now) Warehouse space is underway all over the region and though they create jobs it flies under the radar of most people but is BIG business in this area. 

[KJHburg]

Charlotte has added on average 32 jobs everyday for the last decade and in pure numbers puts this region in the top 20 of US metros. It is truly incredible and other metros in the state some are not so lucky. http://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/news/2016/11/09/metro-charlotte-added-30-plus-jobs-each-day-over.html?ana=RSS%26s%3Darticle_search&utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

[KJHburg]

Silicon Valley based healthcare benefits company announces new Charlotte office with 23 jobs initially. http://charlottechamber.com/news/2016/11/09/top-stories/california-based-health-benefits-platform-company-expands-to-charlotte/#.WCR2ikQXktM.twitter

[J-Rob]

KJHburg, this site has been kind of dead of development discussion that last three or four days, so thanks for keeping the good news rolling.

[KJHburg]

I mentioned this a couple of days ago but I did not realize BIC's footprint in Charlotte was that big and undoubtedly there are new jobs. I can see how the Charlotte region adds on average 32 jobs a day. http://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/news/2016/11/10/bic-corp-expands-queen-city-footprint.html?ana=RSS%26s%3Darticle_search&utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter   663,000 sq ft of warehouse space for pens, markers, razors is a LOT of that product! 

[KJHburg]

More new jobs in the Charlotte region and a strong region means a strong vibrant Charlotte city. 

50 new manufacturing jobs in Statesville http://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/news/2016/11/10/amesburytruth-to-build-38m-statesville-plant-add.html?ana=RSS%26s%3Darticle_search&utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

175 new financial jobs in Fort Mill with OneMain http://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/news/2016/11/10/finance-company-to-expand-add-175-jobs-in-fort.html?ana=RSS%26s%3Darticle_search&utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter   This is interesting to me they took over the old Citibank building there I think. Someone mentioned Citibank might be looking for space uptown. Any insight about this.   Anyway keeping up with the average of 32 jobs a day for the region! 

[atlrvr]

OneMain is the old CitiFinancial consumer lending operation (think 13% interest rate for someone who finances their new HVAC system or water heater).  The sold and merged their business with Springleaf Financial which was previously American General.

Long story short, they are in the same building as Citigroup, because most of the existing employees used to be part of Citigroup, but this is now a separate stand-alone company.

Theses new jobs are call-center job, loan process and debt collection job,

[KJHburg]

Does this mean Citigroup and their operations in this area needs a new home or they pretty small here? Seems like Charlotte would be a great place to get some experienced bankers at a cheaper rate than NYC.  

[CLT2014]

The Jeld Wen headquarters expansion will officially be located in Ayrsley after they move from the Ally Building, up against 485 by the Embassy Suites. The project went from spec to build to suit. Jeld Wen is taking 120,000 square feet. I'm excited for the job announcement and understand why they picked the manufacturing corridor, but it would have been awesome if they could have taken 120k off one of the new buildings Uptown. 

http://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/news/2016/11/17/jeld-wen-bringing-200-jobs-new-headquarters-to.html

[Matthew.Brendan]

That is terrific! Random thought (perhaps for the other thread):

How close does the train come to Ayrsley a) presently b) planned ?

[Guest]

13 minutes ago, Matthew.Brendan said:

That is terrific! Random thought (perhaps for the other thread):

How close does the train come to Ayrsley a) presently b) planned ?

3 or 4 miles and there are no plans to extend the Light Rail on the south side at this time.

[kickazzz2000]

That 49 S Tryon corridor could really use it.  What a damn mess

[ChessieCat]

13 hours ago, kickazzz2000 said:

That 49 S Tryon corridor could really use it.  What a damn mess

If only the original Blue Line had been extended over I-485 to Pineville.  A spur line could have parralled the NS R-line industrial spur that goes from South Blvd to South Tryon along Westinghouse Blvd.  In fact that spur goes as far west as Steele Creek and Shopton to the Siemens plant.  Opportunity lost...

[KJHburg]

130 new jobs and 100 of them are manufacturing at Synder Lance plant expansion. http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/business/biz-columns-blogs/development/article116703118.html?utm_content=buffer69621&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer  Manufacturing jobs are important for our area. 

Went by Amazon's new 500,000 sq ft Fulfillment center near the airport. It appears to be open as they were cars and still some contractors on site. This is probably the biggest job announcement not announced this year in Charlotte. I would estimate 500-750 jobs based on their Sortation center in Concord which is less than half the size. With Amazon Prime Air flying into Charlotte and this new warehouse it good news on the jobs front and customer front for this area. Too often we talk about what we didn't get in a business or relocation but not what we have or did get. Happy Thanksgiving Charlotte I for one am very thankful I live here with our faults and all. 

Edited November 23, 2016 by KJHburg

[Old Carolinian]

While it's good that Amazon has created 500 to 700 jobs, we shouldn't forget that the wage for a warehouse worker at Amazon is approximately $12 an hour or $24,000 per year if the job is full-time.  But, another positive:  Amazon wages are $2, maybe $3, more per hour than a workers earn at a Wal-Mart

[cjd5050]

11 hours ago, Old Carolinian said:

While it's good that Amazon has created 500 to 700 jobs, we shouldn't forget that the wage for a warehouse worker at Amazon is approximately $12 an hour or $24,000 per year if the job is full-time.  But, another positive:  Amazon wages are $2, maybe $3, more per hour than a workers earn at a Wal-Mart

It is a low skill job.  What kind of compensation do you expect for someone walking around a warehouse and putting items in boxes off a list all day?

As for the pay, the job offers great benefits for the whole family.  Many people are finding that crappy health insurance costs thousands....

[15895]

Those people needs jobs too. Great addition 

[KJHburg]

Many employed I am sure will be going to school full time like at CPCC or maybe even UNC Charlotte. This might be a stepping stone job for them. We need JOBS of all payscales in Charlotte not everyone can be forensic financial accountant or software engineer. And out of 500 plus jobs or however many they end up having their will be quite a few managers, IT people keeping the place running. Not all $10-15 a hour jobs. These jobs posted here dont sound like min wage and they keep updating this site quite a bit https://www.amazon.jobs/en/locations/charlotte-northcarolina?base_query=&loc_query=&job_count=4&result_limit=10&sort=relevant&location[]=charlotte-northcarolina&cache  I would rather see people working they waiting on checks! 

[QCxpat]

On 11/23/2016 at 3:00 PM, KJHburg said:

Happy Thanksgiving Charlotte I for one am very thankful I live here with our faults and all. 

God bless you KJHburg!  A lot of us are real proud of you too.  Thanks for your inspiring pics and posts!

[kermit]

I don't think that anyone here will dispute that new jobs  are a plus for workers in the region. However it also seems clear that jobs that pay less than half of our median household income make our region worse off statistically. While statistics might be irrelevant to workers already here, decreasing numbers will certainly reduce the desire of skilled people to move here while decreasing unemployment will attract a larger number of unskilled workes.

Charlotte is an affluent city. Given that, not all new jobs are 'good news'.

Edited November 26, 2016 by kermit

[GeauxCLT]

All jobs are good jobs. The fewer unemployed, the higher wages will get on the low end of the spectrum. Thanks KJHburg for all the great news you share here. 

[cltbwimob]

8 hours ago, kermit said:

I don't think that anyone here will dispute that new jobs  are a plus for workers in the region. However it also seems clear that jobs that pay less than half of our median household income make our region worse off statistically. While statistics might be irrelevant to workers already here, decreasing numbers will certainly reduce the desire of skilled people to move here while decreasing unemployment will attract a larger number of unskilled workes.

Charlotte is an affluent city. Given that, not all new jobs are 'good news'.

A couple of points here:

1.  I suspect many of the people who are or will be employed at Amazon are/were likely unemployed or underemployed already.  If that is the case, the Amazon jobs may apply upward pressure to metropolitan area wages, not downward pressure as you have suggested.  Think about this, if the type of individuals employed at the warehouse have zero or minimum wage income to begin with, a $11-$12/hour wage will reduce the amount of downward pressure on metropolitan area wages applied by those individuals.  As a result,  metrowide household income would tend to increase.

2.  Regardless of the direction of pressure on median wages, the amount of change will not be large at all and will presumably be statistically insignificant.  In a metro area with the number of employed individuals somewhere close to 1 million, even if all 500-700 Amazon employees were paid minimum wage, it would not create a measurable change in median wage for the area.  So for those who would be less attracted to Charlotte because of [hypothetically] depressed wages, this warehouse will only produce imperceptible changes in household incomes.

3. The Amazon operation is part of the airport's plan to position itself as an e-commerce and logistics/distribution hub, so it is part of a larger economic vision.  Furthermore, since this warehouse is ostensibly part of the Amazon Prime Air network, and CLT is one of only 9 or 10 cities to have Amazon Prime Air service, this is a great strategic/marketing win.

4.  Young professionals (I.e. "skilled" individuals) are absolutely nuts about Amazon.  As such, it's likely, if anything, that those young professionals would be more attracted to Charlotte because it increases the chances we see other Amazon products in the area.

5.  As far as I know, this was not government incentive driven, so there is no real opportunity cost here from a government services standpoint.  

We need blue-collar jobs just like we need white-collar jobs.  We are already a very white-collar heavy town and have a considerable amount of baggage because of it-remember the story about a year ago that listed Charlotte as the least economically mobile major city in the US?  We have to create economic opportunity for people at all points along the income continuum if we are to be truly successful as a city.  Everyone from the unemployed, unskilled, and uneducated to those who hold PhDs, MDs, and JDs must feel that opportunity abounds in Charlotte.

 

Edited November 27, 2016 by cltbwimob