Powered by an economy that has hit its stride, and turbocharged by a long track record of innovation, North Carolina is America’s Top State for Business in 2022, according to a new study by CNBC.
The Tar Heel State has always been a contender in CNBC’s annual competitiveness rankings, rarely finishing outside the top 10 since the study began in 2007. The state finished a close second last year. But 2022 is the first year it has been able to climb to the top.
What made the difference this year? For one thing, state leaders keep managing to put aside their very deep political divisions to boost business and the economy.
When Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper signed a deal in March with Vietnamese electric vehicle manufacturer VinFast to build a $2 billion factory in the state, State Senate President Phil Berger and House Speaker Tim Moore, both Republicans, were close at hand. The three had worked together, across party lines, to craft a $1.2 billion incentive package sealing the deal.
“VinFast’s commitment to North Carolina solidifies our position as a global leader for fostering innovation and supporting businesses,” Berger said that day.
It was not the first time the trio had worked together to craft a transformative deal. Last year, Apple announced it would build its first East Coast hub in the state’s Research Triangle region in exchange for as much as $846 million in incentives.
“This is what happens when we work together. This is what happens when people with different viewpoints, different thought processes, come together,” Moore said at the event announcing that deal in April 2021.
“We had a tough election in 2020,” Cooper said that day. “They tried to get rid of me, I tried to get rid of them. We ended up the same way we were. And I think we looked at each other and said, ‘This is what the people of North Carolina have voted for. We’ve got to work together to get positive outcomes for our state.’”
Sure enough, last fall, Cooper and the General Assembly finally came together to pass a two-year state budget — the first comprehensive spending plan since Cooper took office in 2017. This month, Democrats and Republicans came together again on adjustments for the budget’s second year, which the governor signed into law on Monday. And the two sides announced that they are close to a deal on expanding Medicaid, a bone of contention for as long as Cooper has been in office.
“Divided government is working in North Carolina,” wrote Alexander H. Jones in the blog Politics North Carolina in April, citing the incentive and budget deals as evidence. “Cooper and the Republicans have worked together hand-in-glove.”
Indeed, North Carolina’s solid finances are the cornerstone of the nation’s top Economy as measured by the CNBC study. The state’s credit rating is pristine; its fiscal balance is sound. Economic growth, at 6.7% last year, and job growth at 3.6% were among the strongest in the nation, according to government statistics.
But that is just the beginning of North Carolina’s strength.
The state ranks No. 2, behind only California, for Access to Capital. Having the nation’s second- and sixth-largest banks based in Charlotte (Bank of America and Truist Financial, respectively) provides a home field advantage of sorts. But North Carolina companies also attracted some $3.5 billion in venture capital investments last year, the sixth highest in the country, according to the National Venture Capital Association. And state grant and loan programs for business have gotten new life under the state’s bipartisan truce.
In Technology and Innovation, the home of the famed Research Triangle Park finishes at No. 5. North Carolina institutions are among the leading recipients of National Science Foundation and National Institutes of Health research funding, and the state ranks high for cryptocurrency mining, a new factor in this year’s rankings.
And North Carolina ranks No. 12 for Workforce. That is a key attribute for NASCAR driver and NBC Sports analyst Dale Earnhardt Jr., who is also a small business owner employing 140 people at Mooresville-based JR Motorsports.
“It’s easy for us to get some of the most talented people to work for our business,” he said. “We can’t win without great people. North Carolina gives us that opportunity.”
CNBC is outlining more of North Carolina’s competitive advantages, as well as opportunities for improvement. To read more about that, plus see the full rankings, and learn which states are hoping to reclaim the top spot next year, click here.
