Economic Development April Recap

Cary is consistently ranked among the top places in the country to live and work. It has continuously built upon its assets, taking advantage of its unique location in the Triangle, to create a nationally recognized community of excellence. Regardless of what qualities you are looking for, CARY'S GOT IT.  Read more >

Since the beginning of 2015,19 companies have announced relocations or expansions in Wake County. This accounts for the creation of 290 new jobs and investments of more than $16 million. Of those announcements, 10 (53 percent) are in Wake County Economic Development's cluster industries.

Project Metrics Since January 2015 

Since Jan. 1, 2015, Wake County Economic Development has received 26 new projects from companies considering relocations or expansions in Wake County. These projects would total 7,844 new jobs and more than $2.8 billion of investment if each were to successfully locate in Wake County. WCED has also hosted nine client visits to the area. Currently, Wake County Economic Development is working on 40 active projects. These projects would total 8,375 new jobs and more than $2.9 billion of investment if each were to decide to locate in Wake County.

Business Attraction & Target Industry Clusters

Wake County Economic Development Hosts Economic Development Forum 
The Economic Development Forum highlights the growing attraction of Wake County and the Triangle as a major center for business, and explores current trends in the world of economic development. At this year's Forum, Steven Pedigo, director of research for the Creative Class Group and director of New York University's Initiative for Creativity and Innovation in Cities, shared why place drives innovation and offered a framework for how Raleigh, Wake County, and the Triangle can sustain an engaged and creative economy. To read our blog post highlighting key takeaways from the forum, click here. To download Pedigo's presentation, click here.

Wake County Economic Development Hosts French Delegations 
Wake County Economic Development partnered with the Research Triangle Cleantech Cluster to host two clean technology-focused delegations from France in April. WCED worked with several partners including the Research Triangle Cleantech Cluster, the Durham Chamber of Commerce, and the Research Triangle Park to host a delegation from the Cote d'Azur region of southern France. Much like the Research Triangle region, the Cote d'Azur region, encompassing Nice and other parts of southern France, focuses on clean technology and IT innovation. The group of company executives, city officials, and economic developers were in our market to learn more about the Research Triangle region and to identify potential partnership opportunities. This was the third time representatives from the Cote d'Azur, WCED, and the Research Triangle Cleantech Cluster had met to discuss business and partnership opportunities.

Wake County Economic Development also participated in a meeting with a delegation from France's electric transmission system agency. This delegation was interested in learning more about the smart grid innovations that were taking place in the Research Triangle region. "Having these two delegations in such short order is another great example of the global perception of our region has as a leader in clean technology innovation and convergence of cleantech and information technology," said Michael Haley, director of Business Recruitment and Expansion at WCED.

Wake County Economic Development Participates in the Inter-City Visit & Leadership Conference 
Adrienne Cole participated in the Greater Raleigh Chamber's annual Inter-City Visit & Leadership Conference held in Austin, Texas. More than 150 business leaders participated in this year's trip. Austin and Raleigh parallel each other in many ways. The trip allowed the local business community to benchmark our community against other markets and have pertinent and influential conversations about challenges and successes in the areas of economic development, transit and transportation, downtown growth, and innovation.

Wake County Economic Development Launches Site Assessment Program
WCED has launched a site assessment program in response to the need among local communities for assistance with product development. As part of the program, WCED issued a request for information in February for sites within the county that are 11 acres or larger. Since that time, thousands of acres of property have been evaluated by our team using a site assessment tool which gives sites a score based on transportation, utilities and site characteristics. On May 13th, we will officially launch this program with a presentation to our municipal partners, utility providers and investors.

Talent Attraction & Development

WCED Presents at NC State University 
Jennifer Bosser and Morgan Servie presented to NC State University's Public Relations Campaigns undergraduate class on April 21 about the Work in the Triangle talent attraction campaign that launched in 2012 and WCED's national media and storytelling campaign that is currently underway.

National Campus Leadership Council 
Wake County Economic Development and Capital Area Workforce Development Board partnered with the National Campus Leadership Council to host a Student and Business Leaders Roundtable Discussion with student body leaders from local universities, workforce development and economic development organizations, and business leaders. The discussion centered on the hiring challenges employers in the Triangle face, where there are skills gaps, and solutions to address these challenges.

Marketing & Public Relations

National Media Campaign Features Local Innovation
As a result of WCED, the City of Raleigh Office of Economic Development and the Research Triangle Cleantech Cluster's cleantech press tour, three additional articles were published in April:

Fiber-optic ribbon cables: Factors you can't afford to ignore - The story features the three tier-one research universities located in the Research Triangle, including NCSU, Duke, and UNC, and highlights the Research Triangle as being a leader in technology innovation.

Save millions on data centers, thanks to a power usage breakthrough - The article highlights a power usage research breakthrough sponsored by Semiconductor Research Corporation in the Research Triangle Park.

 

SAS's headquarters are LEED platinum green from the green roof to the solar farm - The story features 10 slides on the many unique, green elements of SAS's campus, and showcases some great photos and messages about SAS's Cary headquarters.

Datanami: "Schools Get a Leg Up on Terrorists with Big Data"
Datanami is among the most influential communications channels in the big data community. The news portal provides information and analysis on emerging trends and solutions related to big data and covers cutting-edge technologies and their effect upon business, industry, government, and research. Their story spotlights Raleigh, Wake County, and the Triangle as a startup and data analytics hub by featuring Raleigh-based PredictifyMe. The article outlines the need to protect children from school bombings in Pakistan and how PredictifyMe has partnered with the United Nations to provide predictive analytics that will help detect school bombings before they occur:

"More than 20 years after establishing a foothold in the mountainous region of the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, the Taliban is still a force to be reckoned with. That's particularly evident when it comes to educating children, which the Islamic extremist group fervently opposes. Over the past five years, there have been more than 10,000 attacks on Pakistani schools, including the destruction of 1,000 of those schools. Most of the attacks were conducted by the Taliban, which killed 132 schoolchildren in the December 2014 massacre at the Army Public School in Peshawar. It is the deadliest attack in Pakistan's history. While we're still a long way from seeing the Taliban driven from the region, it's clear that authorities needed to do something to protect the children. So, in March, the United Nations announced plans to address the issue through the new Pakistan Safe Schools initiative. A key element of that initiative is the data and analytics technology that Raleigh, North Carolina-based PredictifyMe will bring to bear on the problem."

For a full list of rankings, please download the Raleigh/Wake County Rankings Flyer.

• #1 Mid-Sized American City of the Future 
  (Raleigh, NC)  Financial Times | April 2015 

• #2 City Creating the Most Technology Jobs in 2015 
  (Raleigh, NC) Forbes | April 2015

• #3 Community in the U.S. for Overall Well-Being 
  (Raleigh, NC) Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index | April 2015 

• #6 Small American City of the Future 
  (Cary, NC) Financial Times | April 2015 

• #9 City Leading to Job Creation in the U.S. 
  (Raleigh, NC) Gallup Daily | April 2015 

Labor Force & Employment

 Since February 2014, Wake County's labor force has increased by 23,787 and employment has increased by 25,823. This represents growth of 4.8 percent and 5.4 percent, respectively. The number of those unemployed----displayed in the graph above as the differential of labor force and employment----has fallen by 8.1 percent.  

Unemployment Rate

Wake County's unemployment rate (the proportion of those unemployed relative to the labor force) has fallen from 5 percent in January 2014 to 4.4 percent in January 2015. This represents a 0.6 percent decrease.