Site Selection Magazine has again recognized the Charlotte Regional Business Alliance with a Mac Conway Award for Economic Development Excellence.
The Mac Conway Awards go to the top 20 regional economic development groups in the United States each year. This year, the Charlotte Region was recognized for its well-known financial services sector and several major industrial projects. The magazine highlighted Daimler Truck Financial Services, Jabil, Inc., Riverstone Logistics, Scout Motors, Shandong Head Group, and Toromont Industries as featured projects, showing that Gaston County and York County are making major contributions to the region’s recent growth.
In the region’s most recent growth report, the CLT Alliance shared that announced jobs and capital investment in Q1 2026 nearly doubled compared to Q1 2025. And of the 33 Fortune 1000 companies headquartered across the Carolinas, 19 are in the bi-state Charlotte Region.
In January, Charlotte topped the 2025 Power City Index, a ranking that tracks the stock market performance of top employers across 36 major U.S. metropolitan areas. The Queen City surpassed Silicon Valley and the Washington, D.C. metro area, which placed second and third, respectively.
Sustainability Rankings
Site Selection also released its Sustainability Rankings, which showed the Charlotte Metro ranked at No. 6, up three spots from last year.
Within the state rankings, North Carolina landed at No. 5.
Site Selection’s Sustainability Rankings look at LEED-certified buildings, green incentives, cleantech-friendly projects, and building performance data, then cross-reference that with which high-CSR companies are investing the most in new facilities.
Mecklenburg named best county
Between January 2025 and March 2026, Mecklenburg County ranked No. 14 among all U.S. counties by its total projects.
Mecklenburg County was one of three North Carolina counties to make the list.
Last month, North Carolina took home the prestigious Platinum Shovel Award for the third time in four years, an award that also showcases its excellence in economic development. The state’s headline project was JetZero, a California-based blended-wing aircraft developer adding a $4.7 billion manufacturing facility in Greensboro and expected to create more than 14,500 jobs. But two Charlotte-area announcements shared the recognition as the state’s projects of the year: Scout Motors and Jabil.
South Carolina earned a Silver Shovel Award for its transformer manufacturing, electrification, and a broadening industrial base.
