Dave Davis is competitive. And when North Carolina lost the Mercedes-Benz U.S. headquarters to Georgia in 2018, he dug in. Davis, director of development at Concord-based Fortius Capital Partners, and colleague J. Harris Morrison III, Fortius’ founder, decided to take advantage of the potential for growth they saw in North Carolina. “I hate to use a sports metaphor, but I know that when I lose something, it makes me attack it with a lot more velocity,” Davis said. “I’ll be a lot better prepared when the next opportunity comes around.” National developers are identifying Charlotte’s nearby counties as welcoming sites for manufacturing development hubs.
Rowan County, 45 minutes outside Charlotte, has 22 million square feet of speculative property to prepare for incoming business. Neighboring Iredell County announced 11 million square feet in the past two years. What are being referred to as “mega projects” or developments with more than $1 billion in investment, are on the rise, according to site selection experts. For instance, pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly is investing $1 billion in a Cabarrus County facility to manufacture obesity, diabetes and Alzheimer’s drugs.
Site selection experts and developers agree that North Carolina has a reputation as a business-friendly state. But with this added growth comes growing pains in infrastructure. Companies are trying to simplify their supply chains post-pandemic, Davis said. He is seeing production returning to U.S. soil, increasing demand for manufacturing facilities. The Carolinas have available land and a skilled labor force, he said, which is attractive for manufacturers. But the availability of land does not mean a ready-to-build industrial site. Developers have to provide adequate infrastructure for utilities.
THE COST OF TALENT
Availability of land in a rural area needs to be balanced with the labor force. But labor does not have to come from inside the county. Iredell County, for example, is surrounded by nine counties, Iredell County EDC President & CEO Jenn Bosser said, so the jobs coming into the area can be filled by those inside and out of Iredell. The skilled and semi-skilled labor force in the area provides a large and available labor pool, according to Williams. His firm developed Statesville Commerce Center, two speculative properties in Iredell County totaling 630,000 square feet.
Across the state line in Chester County, South Carolina, Global Location Strategies facilitated the $1.3 billion, 300-job deal with the Charlotte-based lithium battery manufacturer Albemarle Corp. in Richburg. Caldwell said the key to success is a small number of jobs so the county has enough of a population to fill them. “For a rural county that is a huge win,” she said, “probably even bigger than a $1.3 billion project with 1,000 jobs because there’s not 1,000 employees that are sitting on the sidelines waiting to be employed.”
PORTS, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES
Between North Carolina’s rail system, highway network and access to ports, the state gives companies options when deciding how to export products. Highways come up a lot when talking about site selection. The Statesville development was chosen because of its proximity to Interstate 77, Williams said. Rodney Crider, CEO of Rowan County’s economic development office, said his county’s development is largely the result of the widening of Interstate 85. The I-85 corridor is the cornerstone of Davis’ business. “The easiest way to move goods in a short distance is truck traffic,” Davis said. Ports are the next necessity when it comes to exports. Davis said North Carolina has close access to three of the four strongest ports on the East Coast — Norfolk, Virginia, Savannah, Georgia, and Charleston. The largest port on the East Coast is the ports of New York and New Jersey. Another method of transportation that may be making a comeback is rail.
Read more about how the ring counties are keeping up with growth, infrastructure demands, and the increasing importance of speculative properties, in the Charlotte Observer.
