Tag: economic development
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North Carolina Population Growth and Household Income: What the State’s Innovation Report Shows
North Carolina’s population grew 39.2% from 2000 to 2025, the 8th fastest rate in the country, and most of that growth is in a small number of metro counties. Median household income is 91% of the U.S. average and rising faster than it. We look at what the state’s 2026 innovation report shows, and where…
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1,885 Announced Jobs in Wilson County, and 411 Housing Permits
Johnson & Johnson will build a second manufacturing facility in Wilson County, adding up to 500 jobs to the 420 it committed in October 2024. That makes five large manufacturing announcements in the county since March 2024, 1,885 jobs between them. Wilson authorized 411 new private housing units by building permit last year, down from…
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Capital Group’s 600 Uptown Charlotte Jobs and the Workforce Housing Demand That Follows
Capital Group leased 196,940 square feet at One Independence Center in Uptown Charlotte, the largest office lease signed in the metro in the second quarter of 2026, for an East Coast hub of 600 jobs averaging $194,141. Twelve days later SMBC Group announced 2,000 more Charlotte jobs. The workforce housing and daily-needs retail demand that…
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Amazon and Corning Bring 1,000 Manufacturing Jobs to North Carolina
Amazon and Corning have struck a multibillion-dollar agreement to make the fiber-optic cable that runs Amazon’s data centers — and it’s adding 1,000 advanced manufacturing jobs at Corning’s North Carolina plants, most of them around Hickory. For real estate investors, the story isn’t the cable. It’s where 1,000 new workers will live, and what steady…
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North Carolina’s Corporate Tax Just Dropped to 2%
On January 1, 2026, North Carolina’s corporate income tax dropped from 2.25% to 2.0% — the next step in a statutory phase-out scheduled to reach 0% by 2030. The rate is real. The path is contested. Here’s why the recruiting machine the rate keeps feeding matters more for NC housing and retail demand than the…
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Lumentum to Add 400 Manufacturing Jobs at Its New Greensboro Plant
Lumentum Holdings (NASDAQ: LITE) will establish its largest U.S. manufacturing facility in Greensboro — a 240,000-square-foot indium-phosphide laser plant on Piedmont Triad Parkway. The retrofit is underway, production ramps mid-2028, and the project will preserve and create more than 400 advanced manufacturing jobs. Here’s why Lumentum’s announcement is another multi-year leg for Triad workforce-housing demand.
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Market Appreciation vs. Forced Appreciation: Two Ways Real Estate Grows in Value
One of the more compelling aspects of real estate as an investment is that property values can grow in more than one way. Some appreciation happens naturally, driven by the broader market. Some are created deliberately, through the work of a skilled operator. Understanding the difference helps passive investors appreciate what they’re actually investing in…
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FUJIFILM and J&J Lock in Long-Term Biomanufacturing Growth in Holly Springs
This is another clear economic development win for North Carolina—and it builds directly on momentum already underway. Rather than a new, standalone announcement, FUJIFILM’s Holly Springs milestone cements a long-term biomanufacturing anchor that was already signaled by Johnson & Johnson’s prior commitment. Capacity, demand, and duration are now aligned. Below is the short version of…
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1,000 New Jobs at the Crossroads: How Vulcan’s Benson Project Strengthens the I-40/I-95 Growth Engine
Benson just landed one of the most significant advanced-manufacturing projects in North Carolina this decade. Vulcan Elements’ decision to build a nearly $1 billion rare-earth magnet facility—and create 1,000 new jobs—cements the I-40/I-95 interchange as one of the state’s strongest growth corridors. For a region already experiencing rapid population gains, this announcement accelerates the long-term…
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Fintech Expansion Fuels Charlotte’s Growth — SoFi Adds 225 High-Paying Jobs
SoFi Technologies, a leading digital finance platform, has announced plans to expand its Charlotte operations, adding 225 new jobs with an average salary of $108,000. The company will invest $3 million in the project, supported by a Job Development Investment Grant (JDIG) approved by the state’s Economic Investment Committee. Over the next twelve years, the…