Wake County Economic Development March Recap

New & Expanding Companies:  

Brueprint Brewing Company | Apex | Brewery | New

Brueprint Brewing Company, a brewery, is planning to open this spring on Perry Road. The brewery will be Apex's first handcrafted brewery and will feature a tap room.

Draft Line Brewing | Fuquay-Varina | Brewery | New

Draft Line Brewing, a micro-brewery, is planning to open a brewery and tap room in May of 2014. The brewers brought on an investor who contributed $450,000 for the facility and the brewing system, which will allow 30 barrels, or 930 gallons of beer, to be brewed at once.

Geomagic | Cary | Software/IT | New

Geomagic, a provider of 3D printing centric design-to-manufacturing solutions, is relocating to the Weston 1 Building in Cary from its Morrisville location. The company currently employs 60 people. Its range of solutions includes 3D printers, print materials, and cloud sourced on-demand custom parts for professionals and consumers.

GlaxoSmithKline | Zebulon | Biotech/Pharma | Expanding

GlaxoSmithKline, a pharmaceutical, biologics, vaccines, and consumer healthcare company, is planning to hire 60 to 75 people to meet production needs at its Zebulon facility. This facility is one of two manufacturing sites in North America for the company, which also packages and produces 20 different brands and products, including drugs such as Potiga, Valtrex, and Lamictal.

I-Cubed | Raleigh | Software/IT | Expanding

I-Cubed, an enterprise technology solution provider, is expanding its headquarters at NC State University's Centennial Campus by at least 25 employees this year. The company is located at the Venture II building on Centennial Campus and now has more than 120 employees. It also gained another 4,300 square feet in its latest expansion, with an additional 5,600 square feet to be added over the next 18 months. I-Cubed is a leading solutions provider in the areas of product lifecycle management consulting, Web experience management, and managed services.

Lenovo | RTP | Software/IT | Expanding

Lenovo, a multinational technology company, is planning to relocate its employees to the former corporate campus of Sony Ericsson in Research Triangle Park. Lenovo will occupy both office buildings on the old Ericsson campus, totaling 450,000 square feet, and plans to build an additional 30,000 square feet of office space. The company is making the move to accommodate its planned buy of IBM's Research Triangle Park-based low-end server unit. The $2.3 billion buy will double Lenovo's headcount of 2,200 housed at the firm's North American headquarters in Morrisville.

Longistics | Raleigh | Logistics | Expanding

Longistics, a full-service provider of global logistics solutions, has announced that it will hire 60 professional truck drivers to support its addition of 30 over-the-road teams by the spring of 2014. Longistics provides trucking, warehousing, and Foreign Trade Zone management operations. Focused on service, safety, and security, the company is a certified ISO 9001:2008 provider, offering a highly specialized "Imperial Fleet" of skilled professional drivers.

Nickelpoint Brewing Co. | Raleigh | Brewery | New

Nickelpoint Brewing Co., a brewery, is scheduled to open in June 2014 at 506 Pershing Road in Raleigh. Nickelpoint Brewing Co. plans to locate its craft brewery in the Five Points neighborhood of Raleigh and will offer classic European style ales.

Professional Builders Supply | Morrisville | Distribution | Expanding

Professional Builders Supply, a provider of home building materials, is opening a new 50,000-square-foot distribution facility near Raleigh-Durham International Airport in Morrisville. The distribution facility will focus on just windows and doors for its clientele of local, regional, and national home building companies.

Workday | Raleigh | Software/IT | Expanding

Workday, a business software company, is planning to hire eight employees this year and move into a new office space in the TrustAtlantic Bank building across from Crabtree Valley Mall. Workday provides human resources and financial software that is cloud-based. 

New and Expanding Announcements by Cluster: 

Since the beginning of 2014, Wake County has had 24 new and expanding announcements. Of those announcements, 16 (67 percent) are in Wake County Economic Development's cluster industries.  

Marketing Initiatives:    

Wake County Delegation Participates in South by Southwest

Wake County Economic Development, in partnership with the City of Raleigh and HQ Raleigh, participated in the annual South by Southwest Interactive Festival and Tradeshow in Austin, Texas, March 7 - 14. The purpose of the trip was to promote entrepreneurship, quality of place, and the overall brand of the city of Raleigh. The delegation included Raleigh Mayor Nancy McFarlane; James Sauls, economic development manager for the city of Raleigh; Michael Haley, project manager for Wake County Economic Development; Jason Widen, executive director/co-founder of HQ Raleigh; and Derrick Minor, innovation and entrepreneurship manager for the city of Raleigh. Justin Miller, entrepreneur and founder/CEO of the No. 1 wedding app, WedPics, also travelled to Austin with the group as the Raleigh Ambassador. WCED, in partnership with the city of Raleigh and HQ Raleigh, sponsored an exhibition booth at the Interactive Trade show to connect with that audience and promote Raleigh as a top destination for talent and entrepreneurship. In addition to networking, SXSW provides an opportunity to gain insights from industry professionals on key trends, which enables WCED and its partners to identify possible areas of opportunity and strength in our region. The delegation was also able to glean insights from festival attendees on the perception of Raleigh and the region externally. The team found that Raleigh has earned a very good reputation among the participants at SXSW. Most identified Raleigh, and the broader Triangle, as a hub for higher education, job opportunities, innovative companies, and a growing entrepreneurial scene.

Recent Rankings:  

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

• #1 City for Online Customer Satisfaction in the Apartment Industry  (Raleigh, NC) J Turner Research

• #3 Fastest Growing City (Raleigh, NC) U.S. Census Bureau

• #5 Fastest Growing Retirement Place (Raleigh-Cary, NC) Nerd Wallet

• #7 Best Regional Airport in North America (Raleigh-Durham International Airport) Skytrax

• #8 Up-and-Coming School (North Carolina State University) U.S. News & World Report

• #8 Top U.S. Biopharma Cluster (Raleigh-Durham, NC) Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News

• #9 Market for First-Time Home Buyers (Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill, NC) Realtor.com

• #10 City for Biotech Investing (Raleigh-Durham, NC) Fierce Biotech

• #10 Least Expensive City for Beer Drinkers (Raleigh, NC) Nerd Wallet

• #9 Market for First-Time Home Buyers (Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill, NC) Realtor.com

• #11 Best City to Find a Job (Raleigh, NC) Wallet Hub  

Year-to-date Metrics:

Since Jan. 1, 2014, Wake County Economic Development has had 16 new projects and 11 site visits. Wake County has had 24 announcements of companies moving or expanding to the area, creating 924 jobs and investing more than $15 million.

Wake County Labor Market Statistics: