|
Message from
the President:
Recently I've had the chance to speak in front of a few business groups and share my perspectives on our region and what PTP needs to be doing to move us forward. A sobering presentation in January by my friend Ted Abernathy of the Southern Growth Policies Board emphasized the difficult economic environment. From 2000 to 2010, our region lost 46% of our manufacturing jobs. In total, we have lost nearly 90,000 jobs in this region, performing more poorly than most of the state.
While the traditional program of regional marketing for business development and recruitment will continue to be an important role for the Triad's economic development
community, I have a different vision for the impact of the PTP.
We will be focusing on just a few catalytic projects which have the potential to be a game changer. The one that has gotten the most press recently is our work to identify a 'mega-site' for a significant manufacturing project such as an auto or aviation manufacturing plant. A study by UNGC economics professor Donald Jud which reports that a 2,000-employee auto plant in the Triad would produce nearly 7,000 net new jobs for the region and nearly 10,000 for the state.
As reported in the Greensboro News & Record, the PTP is working with regional organizations to evaluate sites across the region and hope to identify the most promising site by the end of the year. We have received some attention from the press on this topic in the Business Journal and on local News14. There was also coverage of a new non-profit exploring the development potential for a new 'mega park' in Montgomery County.
In summary, we are going through some economic challenges, but we have a great regional team in place to move forward. In addition to marketing, PTP will continue to push for truly catalytic projects which can position the Triad for significant economic opportunities.
 |
|
New & Expanding Firms
Click on the links below to read more about recently announced new and expanding firms:
|
|
Follow us on these social media sites!
  
|
|
|
|
| Building on Momentum
Our local communities have had a number of job announcements since our last newsletter, and you can read about them here. Some improvements in the national economy are also happening locally and we are incrementally building back some of the employment we lost, though there is still a long way to go.
Let's start with the three announcements that warranted a visit from Governor Perdue to the Triad:
- Solstas Lab Partners, a leading medical and diagnostic laboratory, announced expansion of its operations in High Point. The company plans to create as many as 500 jobs and invest about $11.6 million dollar over five years to gain maximum benefits from performance-based incentives approved by Guilford County and the City of High Point.
- Burlington Technologies Inc., a manufacturer of specialty textiles, announced expansion of its facility in Alamance County. The company plans to create 110 jobs and invest $725,000 over the next three years in Burlington.
- LF USA, a multinational consumer goods export and logistics group, announced that they have opened an office in Greensboro. LF USA is a subsidiary of Hong Kong-headquartered Li & Fung Limited.
Additional announcements are listed at left.
|
Competitive Outlook 2012
On January 30th, there was a joint board meeting of PTP, the Greensboro Partnership, the High Point Partners and the Winston-Salem Alliance for a luncheon presentation titled "Regional Economic Competitiveness Outlook 2012" by Ted Abernathy of the Southern Growth Policies Board.
Generally, North Carolina ranked neither at the top, nor the bottom according to most economic indicators. While our unemployment remains high, NC GDP growth has been strong. As we know, the Triad's job losses have been driven by a major transformation in manufacturing, but activity in the past ten months shows some reason for optimism.
Ted's conclusions were that while the past years of economic restructuring hit the Triad particularly hard, future strategies and investments-like those undertaken by our economic development and education sectors-will impact the region positively. One key to our success will be specialization. Focusing investment and training in certain industry sectors will create a competitive advantage and point of differentiation.
 Ted's talk was followed by a panel discussion of the presentation which included Carole Bruce of the Greensboro Partnership, Don Flow of the Winston-Salem Alliance, and Maurice Hull of High Point Partners. Each explored their reaction and agreed that there is reason for optimism if we remain committed to a unified approach across the region, a business-friendly climate, and educational goals that prepare a workforce for high quality jobs
|
| Quick Hits
Events:
- March 28th - PTP Board of Directors meeting
- April 23-25 - Special Legislative Session
Announcements:- North Carolina rose to fourth place on Site Selection magazine's annual Governor's Cup that measures the number of new and expanding corporate facilities during the past year.
- GTCC to lead management of the NC Center for Global Logistics
PTP In The News |
|
|
|
|
