2015
MECKLENBURG COUNTY Economic Development Annual Report (January — December)
In This Issue
State & County Context ‐ 2 Department Informa on ‐ 3 Announcements ‐ 4 Industries ‐ 5 Events & A rac ons ‐ 6
Trevor M. Fuller, Chairman Mecklenburg Board of County Commissioners LETTER FROM THE CHAIRMAN 2015 was an exciting and dynamic year for Mecklenburg County, as economic activity and development reached near record levels. More than 30 construction cranes were active across the County in the last month of the year. These cranes represent a broad‐based economic recovery in Mecklenburg: office towers, new manufacturing facilities, hotels, apartments, and condominiums. In fact, 25,000 jobs were added to the economy in the Mecklenburg County in 2015, leading to an unemployment rate in December 2015 of 4.8%, a rate equal to the national average and lower than the state average of 5.3%. These economic indicators are promising, but challenges remain. According to a Harvard study released in 2015, Mecklenburg County ranked 99th out of the 100 largest counties in the U.S. in one key indicator: economic mobility. This means that together we must use our economic momentum to make opportunity a reality for all citizens of Mecklenburg County, ensuring access to jobs and the American Dream. To help meet this goal, Mecklenburg County has developed a multi‐prong strategy, and hired a new Economic Development Department Director and additional staff to tackle these issues directly. The newly energized department will work to strengthen the County by focusing on five key areas: ¨ Business Attraction & Retention ¨ Commercial & Neighborhood Redevelopment ¨ Small Business & Entrepreneurial Support
¨ Workforce Development ¨ Tourism
With these efforts, a new era of leadership in economic development has opened in Mecklenburg County, one that will harness the growth of today to secure a bright future for all citizens. I hope you will find the information contained in this report to be informative, and that it will help us continue to measure future success.
2015 COUNTY RANKINGS FOR ECONOMIC WELL‐BEING The North Carolina Department of Commerce annually ranks the States 100 Coun es based on economic well‐being and assigns each a Tier designa on. * Mecklenburg County added 25,000 jobs in 2015, one of the highest totals on record. * By December 2015, the County unemployment rate stood at 4.8%, the lowest since April 2008 and less than half of the peak rate of 11.5% in 2010. * The office vacancy rate of 9% remains well below historic averages, resul ng in the ground breaking for several specula ve office towers throughout the County. Manufacturing and flex space experienced similar strength with a 10% vacancy.
Tier 1 = The 40 most economically distressed Coun es Tier 2 = The next 40 Intermediate Tier 3 = The last 20 are the least distressed This Tier system is incorporated into various state programs to encourage economic ac vity in the less prosperous areas of the state. County Tiers are calculated using four factors: Average unemployment rate Median household income Percentage growth in popula on Adjusted property tax base per capita Mecklenburg County is the 3rd least distressed County in North Carolina in 2015, remaining the same as last year.
* The Mecklenburg area apartment market con nues to be one of the strongest in the south east with 12,300 units under construc on and 13,500 more planned and a low vacancy rate of 5.7%. Average home prices in the County rose 3.7% in 2015. Source: NC Department of Commerce
FIRST WARD PARK ‐ Grand Opening Held: April 23, 2015 2
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2015 COUNTY ANNOUNCEMENTS The Business Investment Program (BIP) seeks to encourage the crea on, reten on and/or expansion of new or exis ng businesses and jobs in Mecklenburg County. The program provides grants to companies based upon the amount of property tax generated by the private business investment. The following announcements detail companies that were approved for investment grants from the County during calendar year 2015. Albemarle Corpora on will be reloca ng its corporate headquarters to Charlo e in 2016. Project Details: $12 Million in Capital Investment 120 new jobs created $169,425 projected annual salary Dimensional Fund Advisors announced that its East Coast Regional Headquarters will be built in Charlo e’s Historic South End. Project Details: $98 Million in Capital Investment 316 new jobs created $40,000 projected annual salary Frito‐Lay announced that it will be developing a new Mega‐facility in Charlo e. Project Details: $80 Million in Capital Investment 35 new jobs created $52,000 projected annual salary Nutec Group announced that it will be developing a new advanced manufacturing facility in the Town of Huntersville. Project Details: $12.5 Million in Capital Investment 40 new jobs created $40,400 projected annual salary Red Ventures announced that it will be expanding its Mecklenburg County Opera ons. Project Details: $5 Million in Capital Investment 500 new jobs created $48,93 projected annual salary TTI Floor Care announced that it will open a Center of Excellence for Marke ng and Innova on in Charlo e. Project Details: $5 Million in Capital Investment 200 new jobs created $103,618 projected annual salary
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PARKS & RECREATION A strong Park System is a quality of life factor that helps a ract businesses to Mecklenburg County. It also helps drive Tourism and Conven on visits which provide jobs and opportuni es for residents. Mecklenburg County Park and Recrea on con nues to successfully host a wide variety of amateur sports and special events. Each year thousands of people visit Mecklenburg County to experience the beauty of our parks or to par cipate in specific events and special programs. In the FY14 county resident survey, it was found our residents paid 11.7 million visits to our parks, nature pre serves, and greenways. This number would NOT include any non‐resident guests (likely a few more million, based on the number of spor ng/athle c events and special events we host in the parks – ex: Fes val in the Park at Freedom Park).
2015 * Total Parks & Special Event Visita ons: 7,785,505 * Program Par cipants: 212,886 * Recrea on, Nature & Senior Centers Visita ons: 905,959 * Total Nature Preserves Visita ons: 950,564 * Total # of Athle c Sports Par cipants (163): 844,675 * Total # of Indoor Pool Visita ons: 94,114
LUESA ‐ CODE ENFORCEMENT Residen al and Commercial Building permits are leading indicators of the health of the economy. Since Spring 2011, Land Use & Environmental Services Agency’s building permits and inspec on requests have been on a steady rise and now are approaching pre‐recession levels.
M/W/SBE 2015 Annual Report The County nego ated Minority, Women and Small Business Enterprise Program (M/W/SBE) par cipa on in 12 major projects and one public – private Partnership. Con nue to develop and improve vendor management system as a result of organiza on‐wide Collabora on and financial contribu on. The (M/W/SBE) Program has con nued to increase the number of Community Outreach engagements (eight) by crea ng sustainable programs and strategies to ensure the con nued development of small business. List of Projects Aqua c Center Ma hews Sportsplex – Phase II Historic Holly Bend Flat Branch Greenway Campbell Creek Greenway Irwin Creek Greenway Toby Creek Greenway McAlpine Greenway Morrison Library Department of Social Services ‐ Food Service TH 4 Street Parking Deck Walker Ferry Waterline Improvement –
Source: LUESA ‐ Code Enforcement
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2015 CHAMBER OF COMMERCE ACTIVITY (Publicly announced projects) New or Reten on / Expansion
Type of Business
New Jobs
Headquarters
120
$
12,900,000
Reloca on
Financial Services
316
$
105,000,000
New
Food Manufacturing
35
$
74,000,000
Expansion
*Nutec Group
Manufacturing
61
$
19,200,000
New
*Red Ventures
Market & Sales
500
$
5,000,000
Expansion
*TTI Floor Care
Professional Services
200
$
5,000,000
New
Industry
‐
Not available
Expansion
All Green Recycling
Electronics Recycling
20
Not available
Reloca on
Alliance Consul ng Engineers
Professional Services
15
Not available
Expansion
Associate Staffing
Professional Services
40
Not available
Expansion
Bihl & Wiedemann
Industry
‐
Not available
Expansion
Manufacturing/Customer Service
117
STEM Summer Camps
40
Not available
Expansion
Industry
‐
Not available
Expansion
Professional Services
5
Not available
New
Construc on
20
Not available
Expansion
Grund
Industry
‐
Not available
Expansion
IML Robo cs
Industry
‐
Not available
Expansion
Interna onal Manufacturer
Industry
61
JetStar Express
Logis cs/Distribu on
‐
Not available
Reloca on
McMillan Pazdan Smith Architecture
Professional Services
6
Not available
Expansion
Office
‐
Not available
Expansion
Model Car World
Industry
‐
Not available
Expansion
Oakridge Staffing
Professional Services
5
Not available
Expansion
Health Care Clinics
60+
Professional Services
14
Not available
Expansion
Sani zed AG
Office
3
Not available
Expansion
Texas Global Investment Firm
Office
300
Not available
New
Truliant Federal Credit Union
Financial Services
120
Vossloh AG
Rail Infrastructure
30
Company *Albemarle Corpora on *Dimensional Fund Advisors *Frito‐Lay
Actemium
Coca‐Cola Bo ling Company Discover Technology FunderMax GamEffec ve Golden Sands General Contractors
MemoryC.com
Our Health Preston Partners & Orion
TOTAL
Investment
$
$
$
$
3,007 $
8,100,000
19,200,000
25,000,000
11,000,000 Not available
Expansion
New
Expansion
Expansion Reloca on
265,200,000
*County Projects 5
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DOWNTOWN DAVIDSON & LAKE NORMAN MECKLENBURG BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS Trevor M. Fuller ‐ (D), At Large, Chairman Dumont Clarke ‐ (D), District 4, Vice Chairman Pat Cotham ‐ (D), At Large Ella B. Scarborough ‐ (D), At Large
OUR SERVICES Mecklenburg County’s Economic Development efforts consists primarily of the following: Managing the Business Investment Program
(BIP) Leveraging public‐private partnerships to
advance economic development projects Suppor ng and opera ng the Minority,
Women’s and Small Business Enterprise (MWSBE) Program Suppor ng a rigorous Parks and Recrea on
Department that contributes to economic growth Mecklenburg County Economic Development Office 600 East Fourth Street Charlo e NC 28202 T: 980‐314‐2941
Jim Pucke ‐ (R), District 1 Vilma Leake ‐ (D), District 2 George Dunlap ‐ (D), District 3 Ma hew Ridenhour ‐ (R), District 5 Bill James ‐ (R), District 6
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT PARTNERS Center City Partners Central Piedmont Community College Charlo e Chamber of Commerce Charlo e Regional Partnership Charlo e Regional Visitors Authority City of Charlo e Lake Norman Chamber of Commerce Lake Norman Regional Economic Development Corpora on North Carolina Department of Commerce Town of Cornelius Town of Davidson Town of Huntersville Town of Ma hews Town of Mint Hill Town of Pineville University City Partners Visit Lake Norman
Website: hƩp://charmeck.org/mecklenburg/county/edo
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COUNTY SUPPORTED EVENTS AND ATTRACTIONS ACC CHAMPIONSHIP The Atlan c Conference Championship is an annual college football game featuring champion of the Coastal Division and the champion of the Atlan c Division.
A endance: Hotel Rooms: Direct Spending: Total Economic Impact: County Taxes Collected from Direct Spending:
74,514 32,766 $16.70 Million $32.40 Million $961,000
Source: Charlo e Regional Visitors Authority
BELK BOWL The Belk Bowl is an annual college football bowl game played at the Bank of America Stadium. Established in 2002, the bowl currently features a match up between the Atlan c Coast Conference (ACC) and the Southeastern Conference (SEC)
A endance: Hotel Rooms: Direct Spending: Total Economic Impact: County Taxes Collected from Direct Spending:
46,423 13,718 $8.40 Million $16.30 Million $421,000
Source: Charlo e Regional Visitors Authority
CIAA BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT The 2015 Tournament marked the tenth consecu ve year that the Charlo e‐ Mecklenburg community has hosted the annual Central Intercollegiate Athle c Associa on Tournament, where men’s and women’s basketball teams from 12 historically black colleges and universi es compete for their conference championship. Hundreds of thousands a end the tournament and func ons during this even ul week.
A endance (Daily Average): Hotel Rooms: Direct Spending: Total Economic Impact: County Taxes Collected from Direct Spending:
25,000 33,895 $55.60 Million $32.20 Million $2.1 Million
Source: Charlo e Regional Visitors Authority
CULTURAL ART FACILITIES Mecklenburg County provides funding for local cultural facili es efforts that support several non‐profit organiza ons whose primary mission is to provide residents access to arts, science, history and/or heritage. Annual A endance: ******* (July 2014 ‐ June 2015) Bechtler Museum of Modern Art: Discovery Place ‐ Uptown: Discovery Place ‐ Nature Museum: Discovery Place ‐ Huntersville: Harvey B. Gan Center: Knight Theatre: Mint Museum: Blumenthal Performing Arts:
32,421 459,100 69,100 164,000 34,104 97,975 132,980 315,068
Source: Arts & Science Council
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