Business North Carolina November 2023

VINFAST’S EARLY RIDE NOT ALWAYS SMOOTH

GROWING WITH HAPPY DIRT | BLUM BUILDS ON ITS 100-YEAR REPUTATION | HEALTHIER PANCAKES

COLLEGE LIFE

Our annual Building N.C. feature spotlights new structures shaping the state, including Western Carolina University residence halls.

4 UP FRONT

6 POINT TAKEN

Global TransPark fulfilling promise of becoming aviation and aeronautics hub.

8

POWER LIST INTERVIEW

CEO Joseph Budd tells how he keeps employees engaged while they perform in a tough job.

10 ENERGIZERS

Store sells not only coffee but offers differently abled workers dignity.

12 NC TREND

BNC’s annual CEO Summit honored leaders of thriving Tar Heel businesses; Making pancakes healthier is company’s recipe for success; Will park changes leave city’s history behind; High Point’s efforts to remain vibrant year-round; The year’s coolest products made in North Carolina.

88 GREEN SHOOTS

State lawmakers put $54.9 million into building trails in mostly rural communities.

30 MID-MARKET

FAST 40

A diverse array of firms top the rankings of the state’s fastestgrowing mid-size enterprises.

64 ROUND TABLE: EMPLOYMENT

Remote work, labor shortages and employee safety are just a few of the challenges businesses are facing since the pandemic.

76 COMMUNITY CLOSE UP: JOHNSTON COUNTY

A diverse economy keeps the state’s 11th largest county growing at a fast pace.

COVER STORY

BUILDING N.C.

The 10th annual look at the best new and rehabbed structures that opened in the last year.

BY KEVIN ELLIS

IN FULL BLUM

Century-old Winston-Salem contractor builds business on its portfolio of work.

BY TUCKER MITCHELL

START YOUR ENGINES

VinFast’s path to ride EV market to transform N.C.’s economy not always smooth.

BY MIKE MACMILLAN

PLOWING AHEAD

Happy Dirt helps organic farmers get their produce to grocers and restaurants.

BY CHRIS ROUSH

UP

GOOD TIMES, GREAT OLDIES

The North Carolina Music Hall of Fame 2023 inductions were made last month and Charlotte’s own Fetchin Bones were one of the N.C. music legends honored this year. Back in the ’80s, this band was a force of nature, opening for acts such as R.E.M., the B-52s and the Red Hot Chili Peppers — not that they didn’t have a strong following of their own. I always considered their sound kind of country-punk with a bit of funk. The band, led by vocalist Hope Nicholls, is well-deserving of the recognition.

Reading about this reminded me of a time when I was in high school in 1987, when Fetchin Bones was in its heyday. My high school buddy had an incredible cherry-red 1962 Buick Electra 225. We drove that thing everywhere — in fact, we took our dates to our prom in it. As I recall, when it broke down for the umpteenth time, he didn’t have the bread to pay for repairs, so he had to put it up for sale. The first takers were the band. My friend was (and still is) a music connoisseur, and was well aware of Fetchin Bones’ notoriety. Having them as the buyer was an added value to the price they paid for the car. They painted it purple, and rumor had it the car became their touring vehicle for some time. Every time we cranked up their hit “Stray” at a bonfire at the end of a cul-de-sac in a soon-to-be developed neighborhood on a Friday night, we told the story to anyone who would listen. Good times.

Contact Ben Kinney at bkinney@businessnc.com.

PUBLISHER Ben Kinney bkinney@businessnc.com

EDITOR David Mildenberg dmildenberg@businessnc.com

MANAGING EDITOR Kevin Ellis kellis@businessnc.com

EXECUTIVE EDITOR, DIGITAL Chris Roush croush@businessnc.com

ASSOCIATE EDITORS

Ray Gronberg rgronberg@businessnc.com

Cathy Martin cmartin@businessnc.com

SENIOR CONTRIBUTING EDITOR Edward Martin emartin@businessnc.com

SPECIAL PROJECTS EDITOR Katherine Snow Smith

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Dan Barkin, Uma Bhat, Audrey Knaack, Mike MacMillan, Tucker Mitchell

CREATIVE DIRECTOR Peggy Knaack pknaack@businessnc.com

GRAPHIC DESIGNER Cathy Swaney cswaney@businessnc.com

MARKETING COORDINATOR Jennifer Ware jware@businessnc.com

ADVERTISING SALES

ACCOUNT DIRECTOR

Melanie Weaver Lynch, eastern N.C. 919-855-9380 mweaver@businessnc.com

ACCOUNT MANAGER AND AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT SPECIALIST Scott Leonard, western N.C. 704-996-6426 sleonard@businessnc.com

CIRCULATION: 818-286-3106

EDITORIAL: 704-523-6987

REPRINTS: circulation@businessnc.com

OWNERS

Jack Andrews, Frank Daniels III, Lee Dirks, David Woronoff, in memoriam Frank Daniels Jr.

PUBLISHED BY Old North State Magazines LLC

PRESIDENT David Woronoff BUSINESSNC.COM

POINT TAKEN Dan Barkin

PICKING UP SPEED

Hopes to fulfill the Global TransPark’s promise are looking brighter.

When I came to North Carolina in the mid-1990s, the Global TransPark in Lenoir County was an experiment. e thinking was that manufacturing companies would come to the old Kinston airport and product would be own out. at happened somewhat.

But a bunch of other things have happened. Steadily, the TransPark has become an aviation and aeronautics hub. e pieces are falling into place to make it what it was supposed to be, an engine of economic growth for rural eastern North Carolina.

At one end of the runway, Spirit AeroSystems is manufacturing components for Airbus. At another end, a military contractor, Draken, ies exercises against Air Force and Marine pilots. Another area is dominated by yExclusive, a large charter-jet company. e Navy is overhauling helicopters, and much more work could be coming. Lenoir Community College, which already has a building at the site, is getting ready to build a $25 million aviation training facility.

Many N.C. economic development sites aren’t much more than vacant land. at isn’t the TransPark, which is part of the N.C. Department of Transportation. It has one of the longest runways on the East Coast. It has utilities and roads. It has workforce training in place, growing tenants and solid leadership. And it has a plan for a big chunk — around 500 of its 2,500 acres — on the mostly undeveloped north side of its 11,500-foot runway. at plan got my attention.

PREPARING FOR OPPORTUNITY

Mark Pope is the president of the N.C. Global TransPark Economic Development Region. He leads the team for the TransPark as well as surrounding Lenoir, Wayne and Greene counties. Some of the hard work in economic development is marketing, but a lot is having readyto-build-on, fully permitted sites to show CEOs. It is also about identifying gaps or problems.

e TransPark had done a good job of lling up the south side of the runway, with yExclusive, Spirit and the community college. e opportunity is in the mostly undeveloped north side. Pope needed a

plan for that area, particularly an objective assessment to show national consultants and N.C. o cials.

GTP got a grant from Duke Energy to hire a South Carolina rm, Global Location Strategies, to perform a site assessment. Duke is a leading player in the state’s economic development ecosystem. e study was conducted last summer. “When they came in, we gave them a little shock and awe,” says Pope. “I talked to them for about 45 minutes. Here’s where we’re coming from, here’s where we are and here’s where we want to go. And you can see what they put together. I think it is spot on.”

GLS observed that overall, the TransPark has some signi cant advantages: A er due diligence studies were completed, “no environmental conditions have been identi ed.” ere’s a strong existing utility capacity for “certain types of projects” and the TransPark understands what improvements are needed for larger projects. And there’s access to a skilled, specialized manufacturing workforce.

But GLS also pointed out some fairly obvious needs. e 500-acre site needs better road access that would link up with existing roads on the perimeter of the TransPark. A gas line extension and some water and wastewater improvements could also be needed. None of this was surprising.

Neither was the GLS observation about a problem that the TransPark has little control over — the future Interstate 42.

Mark Pope, president of the N.C. Global TransPark Economic Development Region.

It is better known as U.S. 70, and it runs through the stoplights of Kinston, a few miles from the TransPark, on its way from Raleigh to the port in Morehead City. Slowly, the state has been working on road improvements intended to turn the highway into an interstate, including bypasses around Clayton and Goldsboro. Major work is being done in New Bern and Havelock.

It is a big deal when a highway like U.S. 70 becomes an interstate. A lot of companies looking to open new plants only want to look at sites with interstate access.

e $700 million Kinston bypass is one of the last big projects needed for U.S. 70 to become a full- edged interstate corridor in eastern North Carolina. But it isn’t scheduled for construction yet.

e GLS study noted this. “While the site is near the future I-42, it is currently not within proximity of an interstate and the timeline for completion of the interstate access is unknown. e proximity to interstate access may be a deterrent and/or perceived as a weakness by some investment projects that rely on large truck volumes for transporting inbound raw materials and outbound nished product.

GTP AND THE NAVY

Sometimes, road projects like the Kinston Bypass can get on a faster track with a few breaks. at is where the Navy comes in.

e Navy’s Fleet Readiness Center East is in Havelock at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, about an hour down U.S. 70 from the TransPark. Around 4,000 artisans and engineers overhaul military jets and helicopters at FRC East. It is one of the largest industrial operations in the state. It is also tight on space with the new F-35 next-generation jets arriving.

Two years ago, FRC East moved repairs for the UH-1 helicopter to the TransPark, into a renovated 20-year-old building. e success of that move led to more conversations.

FRC East was also looking to bring in work on the military’s large C-130 planes from a depot in Utah, and looked again to GTP for the space.

Now it looks like that will happen. e state budget includes $350 million to build hangars for the project at GTP and lease them to the Navy as a way to recover the investment. C-130s could arrive in 2026. is would be on GTP acreage near the 500 acres that GLS studied. “ ere’s 600 acres just on that side of the air eld,” says Pope. e C-130 project is “not included in the 500 acres. at’s additional, probably another hundred acres over there, C-130s, where that can be located.” is may lead to hundreds of additional skilled artisan and engineering jobs at the TransPark. For Lenoir Community College

advanced manufacturing and aeronautics students, it would provide another career destination, in addition to the sprawling yExclusive maintenance and repair facilities, Spirit and Draken. It would make the TransPark an increasingly attractive location for suppliers. Pope has plenty of acreage for them, too, on both sides of the runway.

TOUR TIME

In September, Pope and I rode around the TransPark in a pickup truck driven by Rick Barkes, the airport director. It was drizzling and gusty. We started at the old passenger terminal, where the TransPark has its o ces and could become a small business incubator.

As we drove along Taxiway Alpha next to the runway, Barkes was in constant contact with the FAA folks in the tower, letting them know what he was up to. e runway is busy, with Draken and yExclusive jets, and FedEx planes taking o a er maintenance at Mountain Air Cargo. It isn’t uncommon for a huge Antonov cargo plane to arrive to pick up Spirit components destined for an Airbus assembly plant in France.

“ ey’ve been here a couple hundred times over the last three or four years,” says Barkes. “ e cockpit is six stories o the ground.”

We stopped at Draken, in the North Cargo building that was extensively remodeled into a facility suitable for aircra maintenance and repair. Parked outside were A-4s and French Mirages. e nearly two dozen jets are own by retired military ghter pilots against pilots at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base in Goldsboro, MCAS Cherry Point, Shaw Air Force Base in South Carolina and Langley Air Force Base in Virginia. Draken technicians bring aging jets back to life.

Scott Hauber, the lead production supervisor, pointed to a disassembled A-4. “We bought that from a museum in New Zealand. Here’s the back half and here’s the front. e wings are in that crate right there.”

We drove back to the south side of the runway, to the fuel farm construction site, where new tanks will hold 500,000 gallons. e new farm will be able to handle military fueling. Given the TransPark’s mid-East Coast location, its runway and FAA tower make it a convenient place to refuel.

We nished the tour at the community college’s Aerospace and Advanced Manufacturing Center, lled with computer-integrated machines, robot arms, 3-D printers and high tech labs. e new Aviation Center of Excellence should be completed by 2026. Of all the elements at GTP that create a good economic development story to tell, workforce training has the most potential. It also got $30 million from the new state budget for a pilot training center and yExclusive’s headquarters.

For now, Pope faces the challenge of getting the word out. He has sent the GLS report to site consultants nationally, the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina and the N.C. Department of Commerce. He is talking up the Kinston Bypass and Interstate 42 whenever there’s a forum.

My idea would be to bring as many decision-makers as possible down to Kinston and put them in the front seat of Rick Barkes’ truck, with Pope in the back. Give them the tour. ■

Veteran journalist Dan Barkin went to high school in Newton, Massachusetts, arrived in the South for college in 1971 and moved to North Carolina in 1996. He can be reached at dbarkin53@gmail.com.

Kinston Regional Jetport Director Rick Barkes

The Global TransPark is 30 miles south of Greenville.

LIST INTERVIEW

CLEANING UP

Budd Group CEO Joseph Budd joined High Point University President Nido Qubein in the Power List interview, a partnership for discussions with influential leaders. Interview videos are available at www.businessnc.com.

This year marks the 60th anniversary of The Budd Group. Joe Budd leads a familyowned janitorial business in Winston-Salem with 5,000 employees and more than 1,000 clients in 12 states, stretching from Pennsylvania to Georgia. Budd has a bachelor’s degree from High Point University and an MBA from Wake Forest University. An avid pilot, he is board chair of the Corporate Aircraft Association, a trade group promoting general aviation. His company also sponsors Nido Qubein’s show on PBS NC.

This story includes excerpts from Budd’s interview and was edited for clarity.

How did the business start? Was it your dad who started the business?

I’m generation two. My father, Richard Budd, started the company in 1963 after graduating from High Point College back in the day. He started it when I was 1 year old.

What was the business at that time?

In the early 60s, it was selling cleaning supplies and equipment just across North Carolina to schools, colleges, industrial plants, the tobacco industry, hospitals and medical facilities. Now, we do janitorial services, landscaping. We do landscaping maintenance and installation, irrigation. We also do maintenance. And we have a growing business we call “specialty services” which is disinfection, air quality and really anything that our clients want us to do.

I like to say anybody with a large facility. So, industrial, manufacturing, hospitals, schools, colleges, K-12 schools, high-rise office buildings, business parks, homeowners associations, large real estate complexes, corporate campuses.

What is your biggest challenge?

Labor. It’s also our biggest opportunity. We have about 5,000 employees and we are very front-line focused. We have more turnover than a lot of businesses but we have turnover of about 50%, which is about half of our industry standard of 100%.

I don’t know how you sleep well at night?

It’s a big challenge but we really work on our culture. We work on making The Budd Group a great place to work for people who like to serve. We have mobile vans that are wrapped in our logo, and they go out after hours. They go to churches, community events, baseball games, set up the mobile vans and we do recruiting. We are recruiting almost 24/7.

You pay more than minimum wage, right?

We haven’t paid minimum wage in probably 20 years. Our starting pay is about twice minimum wage in most places.

with Nido Qubein at High Point University

It’s got to be very expensive to constantly be in a cycle of replacing current employees?

Every team call that we have starts with a safety moment, and then we talk about retention. We have every leader in our company engaged in how do we retain great employees. We have an app, the Bee Hive, that everybody who has a smartphone can come into contact with me and any leader in our company, and access to safety and training data and anything they want.

Do they call to say, “I love you,” or, “You’ve got to pay me more, dude!”?

I get very few messages about paying me more. What they want is recognition. They want to be a part of a team, and so when they put a picture on the Bee Hive about a front lawn that has been striped and really looks nice, they can put before and after pictures. The power of a “like’’ on our internal social media from me and my leadership team goes a long way to increasing retention

What percent of your overall expenses is related to payroll?

Approximately 80%.

Why has employee turnover become so prevalent?

That’s a really good question. We study our demographics. We have a lot of data in our human capital management system. I think people are transient. Fortunately for North Carolina, we see a lot of people moving in, which has been really great for our economy. And there’s been a little bit of “unsettledness,” whether you work in a facility or work at home and the hybrid models are still being tested.

Do you have to teach your employees what you want them to do?

I have seen over the course of my career that the front-line employees in landscaping, janitorial maintenance are becoming more skilled. The equipment is becoming more technical. They require more training and the burden of that training is on us as the employer. Our clients like Toyota or a medical facility want us to be safe and they want us to be efficient and know our craft at a high level. We can’t just take an employee and put them in there without training. So, we have a large training department that does on-the-job training.

Has your growth been mostly organic or M&A?

The first 20 years were organic. The next 20 had a lot of acquisitions when we were growing outside of the Triad. The last 20 years have been primarily organic.

Why did you stop M&A?

We were pretty good at selling our services ourselves, and we believed that the business that we can develop on our own stays longer than the business we would buy. We have a very high client retention rate and we believe that we can only grow as fast as our leadership, and we like to develop our leaders from within.

What is happening in terms of government regulation affecting your business?

The biggest thing that the government could do for our industry is fix immigration. We need legal immigration. And if our government would tackle that issue in a bipartisan way, and even just go after the low-hanging fruit, it would be a game changer for our economy. It would help control inflation, and it would create opportunities for a lot of people in our country.

What would you say about this to your brother, U.S. Sen. Ted Budd?

What I would say to Ted is, fix DACA, that’s the dreamers. We have a lot of wonderful young people that were brought into this country. That’s a layup. Fix that. And then, also, look at what President Reagan did in the mid-80s. He granted immunity to a lot of the immigrants that were here in our country, and he did it in a way that was a win/win for our country. We need to find a bipartisan way to fix immigration.

Also, our K-12 education system has issues. When you look at the third-grade reading and math scores, that is a real problem in our country. We have to fix reading and math because if you don’t get it by the third grade, it’s really hard to catch up.

Does Ted agree with you?

I think Ted sees these issues. There’s a lot to do.

Let’s go back to your business. Where are your efficiencies of scale?

We do it with training, leadership, equipment and supplies. When my father started this business, we were cleaning at a rate of about 2,000 feet an hour. Today, we clean at rates approaching 8,000 feet an hour. Most facilities are non-smoking today and so that speeds things up. Robotics speeds things up. The way buildings are designed also helps.

What is the hardest building to keep up?

A middle school restroom is probably the hardest to clean.

What about in industry?

Industrial facilities where you have forklifts moving back and forth. You have to be very careful in those. And sites where there’s a lot of dust. That can be carbon in the air. You have to have to be really careful in industrial facilities.

I understand you are a pilot with 9,000 hours, and you fly to visit your facilities.

It’s been a great business tool. It’s quite the time machine. It allows me and our leadership to get to our different offices. Today, we have a plane in Nashville. Tomorrow, there will be one in Indiana and maybe Ohio.

Is business going to be tougher over the next three years?

I think we will have good organic growth. We have a great pipeline of opportunity. The key is to keep your existing business, and so we have to really work hard at that, and continue to focus on our frontline workers, and continue to develop strong leaders. It’s been a great recipe for success.

What is your biggest worry today?

It is probably continuing to recruit, train and retain. And then I worry about the polarization of our politics. It’s unfortunate. There’s a lot we can do together.

I have a great belief in the notion that somebody can come up with an idea, work very hard, take appropriate risks and realign as necessary, deal with various economic conditions, and yet have the grit and the faith and the courage and the tenacity to continue to do that. You and your family have exemplified that to a very high level of excellence. Thank you. ■

PURPOSEFUL JAVA

Selling coffee drives a strong social impact at 321 Coffee stores.

By Uma Bhat

Lindsay Wrege didn’t even drink coffee when she opened a coffee shop with fellow N.C. State University student Michael Evans her freshman year in 2017.

Technically, the “shop” was a folding table they’d rented from the student union. The coffee — which was “sold” to students for free — was brewed in a coffee maker bought from Target.

But it was a start, and coffee was a viable product for Wrege’s ultimate vision: a store that employed individuals with disabilities.

Growing up, many of Wrege’s closest friends at Green Hope Elementary in Cary had disabilities. By the time Wrege was inching toward high school graduation, she began to see a difference in her life trajectory and her friends.

“I got to think about college, and I got to tour N.C. State and I got to think about studying abroad, and do you want a summer internship and all of these next potential steps,” Wrege, 24, says. “But for my friends that had disabilities, that was not their reality.”

One of her friends with a disability had a job in high school. When Wrege offered her kudos, the friend’s response proved memorable: “Thanks, but all they let me do is clean bathrooms.”

The comment showed Wrege that “not only is it really hard for people with disabilities to get jobs, but the jobs that they were sometimes getting weren’t meaningful.”

That was an impetus for what became 321 Coffee, which now

has four Triangle locations and more than 60 employees, most of whom have disabilities. The name represents the third copy of the 21st chromosome of individuals with Down syndrome.

Wrege began studying at N.C. State as a pre-med student. But as the folding table pop-up shop began building traction with the help of Wolfpack alumni, professors and fellowship programs, she began to envision a different future.

“I want to turn this into something, and I want this to be where I really focus my time and attention,” she recalls thinking.

Now, 321 has two more locations on the way — and a 321 storefront that will open on N.C. State’s Centennial Campus early next year marks a full circle for Wrege, Evans and the brand. 321 also has business-to-business partnerships, including a café at Pendo’s Raleigh office.

“I’m just so impressed by how many steps our team has taken and how we have navigated growth,” Wrege says. “We’re still not yet at the scale of Starbucks or Port City Java, but we’re not in the dorm rooms anymore.”

The company started as a nonprofit but re-launched as a for-profit company in 2021, raising $350,000 from friends and family.

Wrege wants 321 to succeed not just as a business, but by showing off the capabilities of employees with disabilities. In 2022, the unemployment rate for persons with a disability was about twice as high as the rate for persons without a disability nationally,

according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and the employment rate for individuals with a disability that year was 21%, versus 19% in 2021.

Coffee is central to 321’s mission because the industry is based around community and conversation. “You never know who’s going to walk in that is a hiring manager at another food or beverage concept or retail space or really any industry,” Wrege says. “I want people to understand why it matters that we employ people with disabilities.”

She also wants people to understand the importance of supply chains and strong ethics, too, and why a cup of coffee might be priced at $3, $4 or even $5.

“Yes, you can get a cup of coffee that’s $1 or $2 some places,” Wrege says. “There’s reasons for [321 Coffee products] being more expensive — part of it is quality, but another part of it is making sure that people throughout your supply chain are paid a strong and fair livable wage.”

Recruiting, training and performance evaluation at 321 also emphasize accessibility, Wrege says. The team has designed job applications to make sure no one feels ineligible for a certain role.

“A lot of times job descriptions ask for a certain number of years of industry experience,” she says. “Is that really necessary? For us, it’s not — I want someone who wants to learn and wants to grow.”

321 Coffee asks applicants about their preferred method of communication, which recognizes that traditional verbal interviews may not work for everyone.

The team also knows that not all employees learn the same way. They created training videos on how to brew espresso, for example, which enables employees to learn at home without distractions. “We want to set our people up to be successful,” Wrege says.

Other businesses can become more mission-driven, she says, by

considering team representation, embracing supplier diversity and making decisions that impact social good.

“Individuals want to be part of a team that matters, and they want to work for a company that isn’t just out here to print money,” Wrege says. “So I think it’s time now for companies — if they want to have top talent — to do right by their people and also show that they are taking care of the world.”

That’s something consumers also look for when choosing where to spend their money, says Ken Bernhardt, who taught marketing at Georgia State University for more than 20 years. The internet and social media have made it easier for consumers to understand how businesses treat their employees, communities and the environment. That’s particularly true for younger consumers who are “forming their buying loyalties” and “taking this kind of information into account,” says Bernhardt.

Wrege has seen that at 321. “So much of our growth and success is credited to the fact that we are mission-driven because it resonates with people, and it brings people together and it makes people want to help.” ■

Co-founders of 321 Coffee Lindsay Wrege and Michael Evans.

TOP GUNS

A gathering of top state executives enabled sharing of wisdom and some tributes.

By David Mildenberg

Business North Carolina’s annual CEO Summit in October honored three leaders of thriving Tar Heel businesses, while providing an informal forum for top executives to share insights with their peers.

In the Enterprise Division, Frank Holding Jr. was named CEO of the Year for his leadership at First Citizens Bancshares. Over the past two years, the Raleigh-based bank has nearly quadrupled in size through the acquisition of CIT Group and the assets and liabilities of the failed Silicon Valley Bank. The deals have helped send First Citizens’ shares soaring during a difficult year for most U.S. banks.

Holding is a third-generation leader of the largest U.S. familyowned U.S. bank. He’s been CEO since 2008 and is a trustee and former chair of Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina.

In the Middle Market Division, Paul Evans of Durham-based Velocity Clinical Research was named CEO of Year. Since leaving

CREDIT: JOHN GESSNER

Frank Holding Jr., First Citizens Bank; Paul Evans, Velocity Clinical Research; and Scott Hoots, QC Kinetix, speak with Dave Mildenberg, Business North Carolina

Frank Hood, Kingsdown; Tom Hoops, New Republic Partners

Tommy Sowers, FlyExclusive

Craig Hagood, House-Autry; Ryan Gladieux, CTI Systems

Keith Wayne, Wayne Brothers; Frank Holding, Jr. and Ruthie Holding, First Citizens

Felicia Woodard, Bank of America; Paul Evans, Velocity Clinical Research; and Ben Kinney, Business North Carolina Doug Blizzard, Catapult; Brian Dumont, YardNique

CEO Summit 2023

industry giant Parexel’s London office in 2018 to move to North Carolina, Evans has led dramatic growth at the clinical trials company, which works with pharma and biotech companies to research new drugs and devices. Velocity ranked No. 543 on the Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing U.S. private companies. About 60 of the company’s 1,700 employees work in the Triangle.

In the Growth Division, judges selected Scott Hoots, the CEO of Charlotte-based QC Kinetix, which is among the nation’s fastest-growing franchise businesses. The company’s 170-plus offices serve people suffering pain by offering alternatives to surgery and medications. A family tragedy during his college days prompted him to start delivering pizzas at Domino’s; he became a regional vice president overseeing 1,500 franchise stores, and later worked for other franchising systems. He joined QC Kinetix in 2020 and has led rapid growth.

During panel discussions, executives shared strategies that had helped propel success. Eric Hobbs, the CEO of Raleigh-based

Technology Associates, explained how he shifted the company’s compensation philosophy in the past few years, implementing profit sharing and a flexible pay structure. The move has reduced turnover and boosted recruiting, he says.

At Raleigh-based Bobbitt Construction, CEO Brian Denisar described how the company has held “signing days” for its interns and new hires. Each is given a jersey from their university, with the pictures posted on social media. The program has raised Bobbitt’s profile among college students interested in construction careers.

Other CEOs who discussed their trials and successes included Charlotte developer David Ravin of Northwood Ravin; Brian DuMont of Raleigh-based YardNique, one of the fastest-growing U.S. landscape services companies; and Van Isley, who built Raleigh-based Professional Builders Supply into a $700 million business before its sale to U.S. LBM in 2021.

The conference also included comments from Jonathan Kozy, a senior macro strategy analyst at Bank of America, who predicted that current interest rate levels may last longer than expected, partly because of a continued strong labor market. Most executives with whom Kozy has conversed say their biggest issue is not finding workers for jobs, “It’s finding good workers who want to show up and work.”

The conference at Pinehurst Resort was sponsored by Bank of America, Brooks Pierce, Catapult Employers Association, FlyExclusive, Rocky Mount Event Center and Ward and Smith. ■

Daniel Eller, Eller Capital Partners; Sam Norris, Bank of America; Felicia Woodard, Bank of America; and Norwood Teague, Business North Carolina

Panel discussion participants include John Anton, Founder Sport Group; John Treece, DMA Industries; Brian Denisar, The Bobbit Group; Eric Hobbs, Technology Associates; and Frank Hood, Kingsdown.

Discussion with Cheryl Richards, Catapult, and Suzanne Allen, Glen Raven.

Charles Baldwin, Brooks Pierce; Anthony Copeland, Brooks Pierce; and Gray McCaskill, Marsh McLennan Agency.

FLAPJACK FANATICS

Blanket aims to make eating pancakes a healthier choice.

By Chris Roush

When Marquita Carter was pregnant in 2012 with her second son, Isaiah, she had health complications that caused her to change her diet. She and her husband, Deven, started looking at ingredients in the food they were consuming. “Everything we were choosing was just for taste,” she says. “We didn’t see the things we could eat” on the labels.

So the couple began making their own food, starting with syrup that didn’t have high-fructose corn syrup or sugar. Pancake batter came next, and they started sharing their concoctions with family members and selling products at Charlotte-area farmers markets in 2017. Customers gobbled them up.

Now, the Carters’ Blanket brand pancake mixes and syrups are for sale in 2,000 stores, including Walmart and Food Lion. Their Charlotte business, Home Food LLC, also makes private-label products for other retailers. Revenue has reached seven figures, and the Carters say the business is profitable.

They’re evaluating additional pancake flavors, as well as a line of protein-based and gluten-free foods. “We want Blanket to be a household name,” Deven says.

Getting their product onto grocery shelves wasn’t easy. Deven worked full time at insurer Allstate while earning an MBA at Wake Forest University. He attended classes on Saturdays while Marquita set up displays at The Market at 7th Street in Charlotte. “It was a scary time,” says Marquita, a former special education teacher. “We didn’t know a lot about the pancake and syrup industry. We just wanted to make good products.”

The couple also had trouble convincing lenders to fund their business. They cashed out a 401(k) plan and a pension for about $30,000 to get the operation up and running. “We had the business plan and forecasts, and we’d exceeded expectations,” she says. “But we couldn’t find a line of credit anywhere.”

By late 2019, Blanket was in a half-dozen local stores. Then COVID hit in early 2020, prompting the closing of farmers markets. The Carters converted their dining room into a studio and started

posting online cooking demonstrations on social media, which led to sales through their website. The online presence caught the attention of Salisbury-based Food Lion, which placed Blanket mixes and syrups into 500 stores.

Deven quit his Allstate job in November 2020 to focus on the startup. “It was a bit of a gamble, but it was a calculated risk,” he says. “I felt competent in our abilities to manage our growth.” Deven is chief operating officer and oversees distribution. Marquita is the CEO and leads product development. They both share the taste testing.

The honey butter pancake mix is the top-selling flavor, followed by buttermilk pancakes and vanilla bean syrup. Other pancake

Deven and Marquita Carter

flavors include sweet potato and chocolate chip, and there’s a vegan version. A three-pack of Blanket flavors costs $21.75 on Amazon. com. Others selling pancake mix in resealable packets include General Mills’ Betty Crocker brand; Tukwila, Wash.-based Krusteaz, a family business; and Park City, Utah-based Kodiak, which is owned by a private-equity company.

The Carters say they’re working on a protein pancake, as well as ready-made batter in a cup. “Our pillars are about nutrition and accessibility,” says Deven.

The company’s growth means more staff is needed. They’d like to hire a chief financial officer, a head of distribution and leaders of other departments. They’re also seeking investors, after relying on organic growth since their launch.

“In the next five years, you’re going to see more flavors and a variety of products,” says Deven. “Blanket is just one of our product lines.” ■

Redevelopment

OUT WITH THE OLD

Charlotte plots a $10 million tribute to its most famous modern leader, erasing an earlier design.

By Audrey Knaack and David Mildenberg

In a year or two, Charlotte’s famed Trade and Tryon street intersection is likely to sport a tribute to Charlotte banker Hugh McColl Jr., directly across from towers where he worked decades building what became the second-largest U.S. bank.

The park’s design is a work in progress, backed by $10 million from individuals and groups. It’s unclear if it will become a glitzy attraction or a tranquil site. It replaces Thomas Polk Park, which opened in 1991 and was demolished this summer at the City Council’s direction. It featured a large waterfall and a tribute to the Revolutionary War-era man most associated with Charlotte’s founding.

A city press release cited the park as “obsolete, with limited gathering space, poor lighting, outdated landscaping, and a hard-to-maintain fountain.” To a degree, Polk Park’s decline mirrors the center city, which has more homeless people, an office vacancy rate topping 20% and increasing crime fears.

McColl Park is a partial response and in line with how Charlotte prizes the new over the historic. This change is fine with Dan Morrill, the city’s best-known preservationist. “History is about today. I have no problem with them renaming the park,” he says.

The retired UNC Charlotte professor never liked Polk Park’s design, despite his esteem for Polk’s importance. The waterfall was too big for the small parcel, and it was bracketed by walls of two imposing towers, he says. “One of those buildings needed to have an opening so you could walk through the park. It just didn’t work.”

Other historians disagree, contending the park deserved better care and historic designation. Charles Birnbaum, CEO of the Washington, D.C.-based Cultural Landscape Foundation, protested the change to city officials, with no apparent impact. “Polk Park was a rare and important public work in Charlotte by a woman artist. (Bulgarianborn landscape architect Angela Danadjieva). The city did a poor job of maintaining Polk Park,” he says. “Even worse was the absence of an honest public review process.”

There was no such process before the city spent $350,000 to eliminate the park, adds Sarah Hardinger, president of the Mecklenburg Historical Association. Local history buffs had no input before Polk Park was eliminated, and she blames the city for not maintaining the park and allowing homeless people to gather there frequently.

Center City Partners, the downtown booster group that McColl, 88, helped organize decades ago, has been mulling how to honor the banker at the site since 2021.

Michael Smith, who leads the partnership, is raising $10 million for the project. Fundraising “is going extremely well. I can’t say more than that,” says Moira Quinn, the group’s spokesperson.

In September, Smith organized a community meeting to introduce McColl Park’s design team and take initial input. Charlotte native Walter Hood, a landscape architecture professor at the University of California, Berkeley, and civil engineers Bolton & Menk, which bought Charlotte’s ColeJenest & Stone firm in 2021, will oversee the project. Hood’s past projects include a garden at the International African American Museum in Charleston, South Carolina, and the Peter Oliver Gallery Memorial in Winston-Salem.

“We believe that community input is crucial in creating an inspired public space that responds to the aspirations of our residents,” Smith said in a release. The city is losing “an architectural treasure,” Hardinger says. “In my 30 years in Charlotte, I don’t recall them tearing down a public site like this without any public input.”

The committee will make the design decisions on the city-owned site with input from Assistant City Manager Phil Reiger, Quinn says. Members include civic leaders and longtime McColl friends, including former Mayor Harvey Gantt, civic leader Cyndee Patterson and Michael Marsicano, the retired CEO of the Foundation For The Carolinas.

Morrill says it’s smart to honor McColl, who he deems as probably the second-most important figure in Charlotte history behind industrialist D.A. Tompkins, who pioneered the region’s textile industry in the late 19th century. While building the megabank, McColl also led many civic initiatives, including developing Charlotte’s robust center city.

Still, Morrill hopes the new park will include at least a minor tribute to Polk, whose detachment helped protect the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia during the Revolutionary War. ■

Hugh McColl Jr.

Economic Development

REARRANGING THE FURNITURE

A mayor, backed by a family foundation and a university chief, ignites a new design for High Point.

By Tucker Mitchell

When Jay Wagner steps down as mayor of High Point this winter, constituents won’t have to think hard to identify his legacy. He started the ball rolling on his hometown’s brand-new uptown.

As mayor since 2017, Wagner presided over construction of Truist Point, the city’s new multi-use ballpark, and the privately funded Congdon Yards development next door. The city pumped almost $70 million into the area, while the Congdon family and other private investors added more than $65 million to the project, called Catalyst.

They dream of a city center filled with small businesses, restaurants, and an assortment of housing and entertainment options. The goal is to provide a memorable downtown gathering place for the growing city of 112,000.

High Point’s downtown is unique, given now that it is swallowed by 11.5 million square feet of furniture showrooms. Many spaces are palatial and breathtaking, but they aren’t very busy outside of two weeks each fall and spring amid the famed furniture markets that attract an estimated 75,000 visitors annually. The rest of the year, downtown is largely somnambulant.

“[The market] put this city on the map,” says Wagner, 56. “But it never made sense that for 48 weeks of the year, we have to wait for the other four. You can have a great place for the people who live and work here, and you can have the market, too. It can be our Super Bowl. It can be the cherry on top.”

The Catalyst project aims to transform High Point’s future. The city’s leaders are “pulling in the same direction,” Wagner says. That hasn’t been the case, historically.

High Point attorney Aaron Clinard, a former law partner of Wagner who helped keep the downtown revitalization drive alive for decades, says the key deterrent to change downtown was city government. Afraid of upsetting furniture market leaders, or the status quo, City Council wouldn’t support changes to spur alternative developments, he says.

That changed 10 years ago when famed urban planner Andres Duany of Miami whipped up interest with a revitalization plan commissioned by city business leaders. Named “Ignite High Point,” Duany’s typically outrageous plan raised the temperature. A key moment came when the council refused to pass a zoning plan that banned new showrooms in the area north of the historic downtown, which was targeted for the Catalyst effort.

Not passing the measure

“really ticked off the people who had contributed some fairly big bucks to bring in Duany, and who saw the importance of creating some kind of a downtown,” says Clinard. “It became obvious to all, right then, that we had to get a new mayor, a new council.”

They got one, with help from a new political action committee driven by Patrick Chapin, the CEO of Business High Point, the city’s chamber of commerce. The pro-growth High Point Political Alliance raised more than $100,000 for the 2017 city races, and backed the winner in every council race. Their favorite, Wagner, won the mayor’s race by 53 votes over Bruce Davis.

The new council promptly created the new zoning district and started efforts for a baseball stadium. High Point University President Nido Qubein agreed to lead a private campaign to raise dollars for amenities associated with the proposed new downtown, then stunned even his biggest admirers by raising the $32 million goal in three weeks. (Since taking his post in 2005, Qubein has overseen the multibillion expansion of his university, building enrollment from 1,400 to 6,000.)

Some of that money went to the Nido and Mariana Qubein Children’s Museum, which is not part of the Catalyst project. But most went for stadium-related projects. Either way, it accelerated the building momentum.

Then, the Congdons entered the picture. David Congdon, who was then CEO of Old Dominion Freight Line, chaired the chamber’s board at the time. He was also looking for how the new Earl and Kitty Congdon Family Foundation, honoring his parents, could make a splash. When Business High Point landed a $1.5 million grant to create a business incubator, he found a cause.

The incubator needed 10,000 square feet. The Catalyst needed more than a ballpark. The Congdons combined the two projects by buying and refurbishing the old 200,000-square Adams Millis hosiery mill next door to the stadium. The foundation’s investment totals nearly $50 million.

Congdon Yards houses business tenants, meeting space, an art gallery, and a 13,000-square foot coffee shop and public meeting space. The Congdon foundation leases the property to Business High Point for $1 a year. Business High Point holds the leases and uses the rental income to fund the entrepreneur center and building operations. The project had positive cash flow in its second year, says Rachel Collins, who succeeded Chapin as the chamber’s CEO in February.

High Point Mayor Jay Wagner

The Congdons have been active in High Point since the early 1960s, notes Megan Oglesby, David Congdon’s niece and the executive director of the foundation. “Our long-standing philanthropic focus is to invest in education, critical community needs and economic development to support stabilization.”

She’s heading up an investor group that is bringing an MLS Next Pro team to High Point. The Carolina Core FC and High Point Rockers baseball team will share the stadium, which is undergoing a $7 million, city-funded upgrade. Truist Point is expected to host about 200 events next year.

“The stadium was never about going crazy over a baseball team,” Wagner says. “It’s about bringing people to an area. It’s about economic development.”

Among the many faces behind the Catalyst, most point to Wagner as the critical piece. He’s a graduate of UNC Chapel Hill with a law degree from N.C. Central University. He was a banker and teacher before he practiced law.

“You’d never have brought all this together, or kept it moving, with sharp elbows,” says Collins. “I think the mayor has used his elbows the right way. He has an uncanny ability to listen to people and say the right thing at the right time, and really is quite a visionary. And then when dollars are involved you have to be pragmatic, and he is that, too. It’s fair to say the Catalyst wouldn’t be here without him.”

The city of High Point’s spending on the downtown project, including repaying a stadium construction loan, is largely funded through a 490-acre special financing district, created in 2016. Since then, the district’s tax value has increased by 37%, or $250 million, to $934 million.

That growth exceeded an expected $100 million gain in 10 years.

“So, half the time, more than twice the amount,” says Chapin, the former Business High Point leader.

Continued growth seems likely. High Point-based Peters Development has assembled 14 parcels with a tax value of $8.3 million within a few blocks of the stadium, Congdon Yards and the Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist’s 351-bed High Point Medical Center. Peters CEO Dr. Lenny Peters is founder of Bethany Medical, a chain of physician practices in the Triad.

City leaders say developers from Charlotte and Raleigh have made inquiries in recent months. For now, the city is under contract with Maryland-based Elliot Sidewalk, as the project’s master developer. Elliott developed the Stock & Grain Food Hall, an entertainment/food court just outside of the stadium.

The city’s role will grow, too. The City Council recently authorized the purchase of a nearby building on a 1-acre lot, where it may build a new city hall and a parking deck. That would add several hundred employees and 10,000 monthly visitors to the area.

Wagner expects his successor to help continue the momentum. Among the four mayoral candidates, city council members Victor Jones and Cyril Jefferson are the clear favorites. Both have been solid Catalyst supporters.

“I don’t see a push to undo anything we’re doing,” says Wagner, who announced in October that he will run for Congress. “The momentum is on our side. Now, this isn’t going to happen tomorrow. This kind of thing takes 20 years, maybe more. But you can see now it’s going to happen. I’m looking forward to living to see it.” ■

By Kevin Ellis

TCOOL CATS

he NC Chamber’s annual quest to find the “Coolest Thing Made in North Carolina” concluded with two winners: a product that can make the difference between life or death and another that assists manufacturers of everything from plastic chairs to race car molds.

More than 45,000 votes were tabulated in the annual contest, which drew 130 nominations. The winning companies were Troutman-based C.R. Onsrud, which has about 200 employees; and Burlington’s Fjord, which employs seven.

STREP

Fjord’s Static Rope Edge Protectors, also known as STREP, keeps static lines from chafing on sharp edges or abrasive surfaces. Think about first responders working on a rope rescue team, technicians who use rope to access their work or rock climbers.

“STREP products are ‘cool’ in that they protect more than just rope, they keep the rope from chafing, thus keeping people using them safe where a cut rope means certain death,” Fjord President Michael Ratigan says.

Fjord’s primary product is Chafe-Pro, which was designed primarily for the U.S. Coast Guard and Navy more than 20 years ago to protect mooring and towing lines from chafe abrasion. Private boaters, supertankers and aircraft carriers now use Chafe-Pro. Offerings of STREP include wraparound style rope protection and mats that are laid down over an edge.

STREP has products to protect tightrope walkers at the Eiffel Tower and contestants on TV shows like “Amazing Race” and “Running Wild with Bear Grylls.” The products are also used to protect centuries-old facades throughout Europe as workers hang from ropes to do repairs or cleanings. Chafe-Pro was invented in 1991, while STREP was launched in the fall of 2021.

THE QUBE

C.R. Onsrud’s Q-Series 5-Axis computer-controlled machine – also known as the Qube – helps manufacturers including Boeing, Goodyear and Steinway & Son with high-speed machining of advanced materials.

Computer controls direct the industrial machine to cut, drill, mill and saw materials for manufacturers who then make everything from race car molds to complex satellite components to foam Statues of Liberty. As a five-axis machine, it can cut plastic, carbon fiber, aluminum, woods and other materials from all directions without repositioning.

“These machines can create patterns that are so intricate and require such precision that they cannot even be created manually,” says Jennifer Kaufman, a technical writer for C.R. Onsrud. “Because of this, and their amazingly high speeds, manufacturers are pretty much only limited by their imagination.”

Oscar Onsrud founded his Onsrud Machine Works company in Chicago in 1915, making routers that were widely used in aviation, defense, furniture and many other industries. Onsrud’s grandson, Charles, established C.R. Onsrud in Iredell County in 1976 to be closer to the furniture industry. The company started making CNC machines in 1994, and they continue to be designed, fabricated, assembled and shipped from Troutman. Family members continue to lead the business.

The NC Chamber launched its “coolest thing” competition in 2020 to honor North Carolina manufacturers and highlight industry careers. The state’s manufacturing industry is the largest in the Southeast with about 475,000 workers.

Deerfield, Ill.-based Baxter is the presenting sponsor of the online competition, and Business North Carolina is media partner. The Fortune 500 company has a plant in Marion that produces intravenous and peritoneal dialysis solutions, empty containers and parts for other Baxter facilities. ■

CHARLOTTE

CHARLOTTE

Je Brown, CEO of Detroit-based Ally Financial since 2015, plans to leave in January to become president of Hendrick Automotive Group. Hendrick is owned by Rick Hendrick and is the largest privately held U.S. automotive retail group with nearly 11,000 employees and 131 retail franchises in 13 states. Annual revenues top $11 billion.

Duke Energy Progress implemented rate increases for N.C. customers. With the new rates, which have been approved by the N.C. Utilities Commission, the typical residential customer using 1,000 kilowatthours per month will see an increase of $8.04, from $144.12 to $152.16 per month, followed by additional increases.

More than 2,100 volunteers took part in the weeklong Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter Work Project for Habitat for Humanity. e workers worked on 23 homes in a west Charlotte area with a homeownership rate of 26%, less than half the rate of Mecklenburg County. Country music superstars Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood spent the week at the project.

Elon University plans to open a part-time law school for about 35 students at its new regional education center. e Alamance County-based university awaits formal accreditation from the American Bar Association, but has operated a law school in Greensboro since 2006 that now has more than 400 students. Law classes in Charlotte will take place at night.

chemicals manufacturing company for violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Albemarle self-reported the misconduct.

Smith eld Foods plans to close its porkprocessing plant Dec. 8 and lay o 107 people. e Virginia-based company will transfer production to its Bladen County facility. Smith eld employs more than 10,000 people in North Carolina.

Feastables, the snack company created by YouTube star MrBeast, will be the o cial jersey patch partner of the Charlotte Hornets. Feastables’ logo will appear on Hornets uniforms, including its sister G League team, the Greensboro Swarm. MrBeast, whose formal name is Jimmy Donaldson, 25, is a Greenville native.

Meridian Waste Florida, a business unit of Meridian Waste, started residential collection for the city of Jacksonville, Florida. e contract represents the rst time the city has granted two residential contracts to one single hauler. e rm says 116 new employees were hired.

ousands of Bank of America workers received a pay raise when the banking giant

Albemarle agreed to pay $218 million to resolve federal investigations into allegations it bribed government o cials in multiple foreign countries. e U.S. Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission were investigating the specialty

CHARLOTTE

raised its hourly minimum wage for U.S. workers to $23. e move is part of its plan to pay its U.S. employees at least $25 an hour by 2025. e bank has increased its minimum hourly wage by almost $14 per hour since 2010.

A federal grand jury indicted a Charlotte behavioral health services provider on 16 Medicaid and COVID-19 fraud charges. e indictment alleges Ashley Nicole Cross used her company, Odyssey Health Group, to commit health care fraud and collect Paycheck Protection Program money using false claims.

Palmetto, a tech company that connects homeowners with roo op solar installers, relocated its headquarters from Charleston, South Carolina, to a 200-person o ce here.

CONCORD

Shoe Show founder Robert Tucker, who opened his rst store in 1960 in Kannapolis, died at age 86. Shoe Show is a $1 billion-plus business with more than 1,100 stores in 47 states. His daughter, Lisa, has led the company since 2018.

Krispy Kreme named Josh Charlesworth as CEO, succeeding Michael Tatters eld, who has held the role since 2017. e company has seen annual revenue growth from $550 million in 2016 to an expected $1.6 billion this year. Tatters eld moved the company’s headquarters from Winston-Salem to Charlotte four years ago, and will remain a director and senior adviser.

NC TREND ›››

HICKORY

Alicia Paxson, the widow of a man who died a er driving his car o a collapsed bridge in Catawba County, led a lawsuit in Wake County that names Google, its parent company, Alphabet, and others as defendants. e lawsuit alleges Philip Paxson was following directions from Google Maps when his Jeep Gladiator plunged into a creek, leading to his death in September 2022. e bridge had collapsed nine years prior, but was never repaired despite requests from multiple people.

KANNAPOLIS

Atlanta-based Chick- l-A will invest $58 million in a new distribution center that will employ 85 workers. e 120,000-square-foot distribution center will serve about 100 restaurants in the Charlotte region and will open in the third quarter next year. It’s being built at the former site of the Kannapolis minor league baseball team, which now plays at a downtown stadium.

KINGS MOUNTAIN

House Speaker Tim Moore, who said over the summer that he won’t run for another term as speaker, isn’t running for another term in the state House, either. e Republican speaker said that he will nish his term through the end of 2024.

Charlotte-based Albemarle and Caterpillar signed an agreement to work together at the lithium mine site that is expected to be reopened as early as late 2026. In September, the Department of Defense awarded the Charlotte company $90 million to support expansion of domestic mining of lithium, a key source for the battery supply chain.

Charlotte-based Coats American is laying o 51 workers. e layo s are expected to occur in late November and will be permanent. e parent Coats Group, which makes yarns, threads and zippers, is based in Great Britain. e company cut 41 jobs at its McAdenville facility in Gaston County earlier this year. In November 2022, the manufacturer cut 51 jobs, shuttering its Hendersonville plant.

SALISBURY

Gildan Yarns is laying o 258 workers and closing a plant in Salisbury on Dec. 8. Employees are being o ered the opportunity to transfer to other area operations in Salisbury and Mocksville. e company has 550 workers in the county. Last year, the Montreal-based company closed its distribution center in Mebane and laid o 128 employees.

EAST

BOLIVIA

Brunswick County plans to buy 539 acres in the county’s northwestern corner. e land, which is expected to draw new employers, will cost the county about $35,000 per acre, or about $18.8 million. e county hopes the land will draw new companies and jobs.

BURGAW

e Pender County Board of Commissioners transferred ownership of Pender Medical Center to Novant Health. In lieu of a cash payment, Novant has agreed to spend $50 million on improvements to the facility over the next decade.

LUMBERTON

Kayser-Roth will lay o 126 workers at a plant that makes pantyhose and tights, citing increased costs and fewer women wearing pantyhose and tights. KayserRoth has owned the manufacturing plant since the late 1970s, producing No Nonsense and Hue brands. A distribution center will remain at the site.

FAYETTEVILLE

e Methodist University Cape Fear Valley Health School of Medicine received a $1 million gi from longtime donor and Fayetteville auto dealer Norwood Bryan Jr. e school expects to have its rst class of students in 2026.

WHITEVILLE

IT services company Provalus will invest $500,000 to create 92 jobs in Columbus County. The company will work out of a 20,000-square-foot downtown building.

ROCKY MOUNT

Pfizer restarted the majority of its manufacturing lines two months after its facility was damaged by a July 19 tornado. Full production is expected by the end of the year. Established in 1968, the site has more than 3,000 full-time employees and contractors and produces almost 50 medicines, about 25% of Pfizer’s injectables used in U.S. hospitals.

WILMINGTON

The EUE/Screen Gems Studios complex in Wilmington, a hub of film and television production for nearly four decades, was sold to Cinespace Studios. Cinespace also acquired the EUE/Screen Gems complex in Atlanta. Terms weren’t disclosed. The studios were built by film producer Dino DeLaurentiis in 1984.

PolyQuest acquired Lake City, South Carolina-based Baker Transportation. The new entity will be named Baker Transportation. PolyQuest is a privately held resin distributor that also has facilities in Darlington and Florence in South Carolina; and Farmingdale, New York.

TRIAD

GREENSBORO

Chancellor Harold Martin Sr., 71, of North Carolina A&T State University will retire in June. He is the first alum to lead NC A&T and has served as chancellor for the past 14 years. He previously led WinstonSalem State University and held key UNC System posts.

Apexanalytix, a Greensboro provider of supply chain risk management software and services, acquired Darkbeam, a Londonbased cybersecurity business. Terms were not disclosed. Apexanalytix is also known by the Apex brand.

LEXINGTON

Steel producer Nucor is partnering with Helion to develop a 500-megawatt nuclear fusion power plant. Nucor committed to investing $35 million in Helion to accelerate fusion deployment. The two companies aim to begin operations here by 2030.

PILOT MOUNTAIN

Jolo Brands, which operates Jolo Winery and Vineyards, agreed to buy the RayLen Vineyards and Winery properties in Mocksville. A late November closing is expected. Jolo is keeping the RayLen brand name and will manage operations.

John-Richard, a luxury home furnishings and décor supplier, is relocating the company’s corporate headquarters and centralized distribution facility to a new 236,000-square-foot facility. The company has operated in Mississippi since 1980.

WINSTON-SALEM

Majority ownership of Cook & Boardman Group, a distributor of doors, frames and security systems, is being sold to Los Angeles private equity company Platinum Equity. Terms were not disclosed. Cook & Boardman employs 1,400 people.

Novant Health reduced its workforce by 160 positions, mainly administrators and managers. The healthcare company employs 36,000.

A federal lawsuit that alleged T.W. Garner Food Co. deliberately deceives consumers because its Texas Pete products are not made in the Lone Star state was dismissed. Texas Pete products have been made here since 1929.

TRIANGLE

CARY

Epic Games, which operates the Fortnite franchise, is laying off 16% of its workforce, or more than 800 people. The company also said it would divest Bandcamp, which is joining Songtradr, a music marketplace company supporting artists.

CHAPEL HILL

Dr. Shelly Earp will step down next June as director of the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center. Earp has served as UNC Lineberger’s director since 2018. She had also led the center from 1997-2014. She will remain a professor of cancer research, medicine and pharmacology.

UNC Health plans to build a $2 billionplus children’s hospital in the Triangle area within the next decade that will have hundreds of beds and employ thousands of workers. A child and adolescent psychiatric hospital, including at least 100 beds, would be included in the project.

DURHAM

City employees will receive bonuses ranging from $500 to $5,000, following a strike by sanitation workers. Employees who make less than $42,480 will receive $5,000. Others will receive $3,750, $2,500, $2,000 and $500 bonuses, depending on their salaries. Part-time employees will receive $1,000.

Rho, a contract research organization for the pharmaceutical industry, cut jobs, the company confirmed to the Triangle Business Journal. Rho declined to comment on the layoffs, but said it has 450 full-time employees globally.

NC TREND ›››

MORRISVILLE

Syneos was acquired by Elliott Investment Management, Patient Square Capital and Veritas Capital for about $7.1 billion, including outstanding debt. The company offers clinical and commercial services and has 29,000 employees globally. Michelle Keefe, who had been CEO for 18 months, was replaced by Colin Shannon, the former CEO of Raleigh-based PRA Health Sciences.

RALEIGH

North Carolina Healthcare Association CEO Stephen Lawler will retire at the end of 2024. He has been the association’s leader since July 2017 and is only the fourth professional CEO in the group’s history. A national search committee will work to attract his successor.

North Carolina’s Education Lottery exceeded $1 billion in annual net earnings for the first time, buoyed by record sales from multistate jackpot drawings. Net proceeds fund school construction and repairs, the N.C. Pre-K Program, college scholarships and salaries for noninstructional support personnel and school transportation.

The Fresh International Market opened. There are nine locations of the Asian grocery store group nationally. Bowen Kou founded the business in Michigan in 2011.

Members of the State Employees’ Credit Union of North Carolina elected dissident members to the board of directors at the annual meeting. The vote ousts three current SECU directors from the 11-member board of the second-largest credit union in the U.S. They are: Michael Clements, Barbara Perkins and Chuck Stone. The three defeated directors were veteran state government officials Alice Garland, Jo Anne Sanford and Thomas Parrish.

Omni Hotels and Resorts plans a 27-story, 550-room hotel downtown near the convention center. The hotel, expected to open in 2027, will occupy a square city block.

Captrust Financial Advisors received an undisclosed investment from private-equity firm Carlyle Group. The transaction valued Captrust at $3.7 billion, which is about triple the amount from 2020 when Chicagobased GTCR bought a 25% stake. It has $832 billion of assets under management and 1,500 employees and 85 offices.

WEST

ASHEVILLE

Popular hummus brand Roots began selling its equipment and leasing its plant as part of its closing. Roots and its owner, James Matthew Parris, were ordered in June to pay a creditor more than $2.6 million for uncollected debt.

Synth giant Moog Music laid off 30 workers at its headquarters just months after it was acquired by the audio

equipment company inMusic. Bob Moog founded the business almost 50 years ago, with its equipment used by the Rolling Stones, the Beatles and others.

Ten doctors and physicians’ assistants with Carolina Spine and Neurosurgery Center have rejoined Mission Health after their practice was acquired by another healthcare group. They remained active at Mission Hospital, and are now affiliated with the HCA Healthcare-owned system, says Carolina Spine President Dr. Richard Lytle.

CANDLER

Mission Hospital’s application for a $29 million standing emergency room near Candler was approved by the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services. This is the second time a Certificate of Need for the Candler ER has been approved, after being rejected previously.

MORGANTON

The Appalachian Regional Commission awarded a $10 million grant to The Industrial Commons, a nonprofit in western North Carolina, to build a 40,000-square-foot textile manufacturing center in Burke County. This project is a collaboration between North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee for economic development in southern Appalachia. The project will include $60 million in private investment and is expected to create 85 jobs, including 31 in North Carolina

NORTH WILKESBORO

The NASCAR Cup Series All-Star Race will remain at North Wilkesboro Speedway in 2024 after this year’s event attracted a capacity crowd. The exhibition race is planned for May 19, one week before the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The historic Wilkes County venue hosted more than 90 Cup races before it closed in 1996. ■

Forty fast-growing North Carolina middle-market companies were celebrated for their entrepreneurial spirit and strong revenue growth. The 2023 North Carolina Mid-Market Fast 40 is sponsored by Business North Carolina, Cherry Bekaert, Regions Bank and Ward and Smith. The 13th annual Fast 40 program honored representatives of the companies at the Grandover Resort in Greensboro.

MID-MARKET FAST 40 ROUND TABLE

WHAT DOES IT TAKE?

Earning a spot on the North Carolina Mid-Market Fast 40 list takes hard work, especially during challenging economic times. Leaders of four representative companies gathered recently at High Point University to discuss their growth and some critical challenges. ey were joined by veteran N.C. banker ad Walton and Raleigh attorney Lee Hodge.

Photography by John Gessner

The following round table discussion was moderated by Business North Carolina editor Dave Mildenberg. It was edited for brevity and clarity.

PANELISTS

Geoff Foster

CEO & president

Core Technology Molding

Lee Hodge

attorney Ward & Smith P.A.

Zeb Hadley

CEO & president National Coatings.

Robert Scott vice president

Atlantic Forklift Services

Fred Snow

chief operating officer

DMA Industries

Thad Walton senior vice president commercial banking leader Regions Bank

CONGRATULATIONS FOR BEING A PART OF THE FAST 40. LET’S START WITH INTRODUCTIONS OF YOURSELF AND YOUR COMPANY.

FOSTER: I’m Geoff Foster, CEO at Core Technology Molding. This is our 18th year in business. We do plastic injection molding in Greensboro. We’re 65% biological/ pharmaceutical with Merck, Pfizer and Eli Lilly on the vaccine side. In the automotive sector, we’re Tier One (level of supplying OEMs) with BMW, Volvo, and Mack Trucks. We just got awarded a contract with Toyota last week. We operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Last year we worked 356 days. It’s actually not enough. So we’re in an expansion project right now. We’re building and adding on to the building.

WALTON: I’m Thad Walton with Regions Bank. I lead our commercial banking teams. We have seven bankers in Charlotte and two in Raleigh, and then a host of teams around them in both of those cities.

SNOW: I’m Fred Snow, chief operating officer at DMA. We’re an automotive business as well, mainly focused on the aftermarket, where our main product categories are shocks and struts and complete strut assemblies. Our main customers are O’Reilly Auto Parts, AutoZone, big box retailers, and others players in that industry who sell to mechanics to fix cars. We’re located in the Tabor City area, right on the North Carolina-South Carolina border, down by the beach. We have nine warehouses and a lot of auto parts that we supply around the country.

SCOTT: I’m Robert Scott, vice president and part- owner of Atlantic Forklift Services. We started the company in 2013. I have a tale of two careers. I spent 10 years in educational software, and then started a forklift company. We’ve grown considerably and just celebrated our 10-year anniversary. We have three locations in North and South Carolina, and I hope we’ll have three more locations within the next 18 months.

HADLEY: I’m Zeb Hadley. I attended N.C. State University and started a power washing and painting business back in my junior year of college. I went door to door. From that we’ve

transformed into a multi-state commercial and industrial painting company. e corporate headquarters is in Raleigh. We’ve got o ces in Boise, Idaho; Denver, Colorado; and believe it or not, Big Sky, Montana. We’re nationwide. I think we just led taxes in 38 states. We’ve taken the small town approach. We go from market to market, usually on the coattails of a general contractor. As they grow, we grow with them.

HOW DID YOU END UP IN BIG SKY, MONTANA?

HADLEY: ere’s a [Colorado Springs, Colorado-based] construction company called G.E. Johnson that went to Big Sky in 2016 to build condos. Since then we’ve done every major project in Yellowstone Club, Spanish Peaks, and the Big Sky Resort along with Moonlight Basin. It has really spread our wings. Condos are about $1 million per square foot, so a 2,400 square foot condo is $24 million. We thrive in niche markets when people don’t want to (work) in certain places. We’ve bought houses and rented houses and transferred and relocated people. It’s a hard project because of the constraints to get there. Our guys drive about an hour each way to work and back home.

HODGE: I’m Lee Hodge, an attorney with Ward & Smith. We have ve o ces across North Carolina, from Wilmington to Asheville. We’re a midsized, full-service law rm. I’m a corporate and M&A attorney. ings have been rockin’ and rollin’ even though the national news you hear is that the M&A world is slow. Well, it’s slow compared to last year when it was red-hot.

THAD, PLEASE SHARE YOUR VIEWS ON BUSINESS CONDITIONS SINCE YOU HAVE A BROAD VIEW MANY INDUSTRIES.

WALTON: In the news, you hear how in ation is trending and interest rates are signi cantly higher than they were 24 months ago. But if you look at the historical interest rate map, we’re about where interest rates have been for many, many years. We had a 10-year low when money was cheap. e money that came into the system and into the market covered a lot of ine ciencies. Now money is getting to be as expensive as it has historically been. People are looking

to be more e cient and they’re cleaning up some of those excesses a little bit. Our job in banking is to try to use the past to predict the future from a risk and return standpoint. Certainly there are some unknowns out there, but I think in North Carolina speci cally, and a lot of the Southeast, we’re really insulated from a lot of the issues. In the Northeast and some places out West, you’re seeing more challenges in the o ce real estate market and they’re having broader economic challenges as well.

ROBERT, WHAT ARE YOU SEEING?

SCOTT: I also think we’re pretty insulated from a lot of things here, too. e projections in North Carolina for us this year indicate it’s going to be a record year. Our market is one of the top ve in the nation. ere’s a lot of building here and a lot of major accounts. I don’t see any slowing down right now. Our company has tried to be a whole warehouse solution provider. We service docks and doors, forkli s, sweepers, scrubbers, scissor li s, any type of material handling equipment.

ZEB, HOW DOES NORTH CAROLINA COMPARE WITH YOUR OTHER MARKETS?

HADLEY: We quantify our future work based on the backlog of what we have. Right now, in North Carolina, our backlog is about $11 million. e next largest, believe it or not, is Big Sky at about $8 million. Denver is about $6 million. We’ve seen explosive growth in North Carolina. I think our average backlog is around $4 million to $5 million. I really don’t see anything slowing down. Apple’s campus is coming and the Toyota battery plant. We just nished up the world headquarters for Bandwidth in Raleigh. It seems like this year is on turbo-speed, but I think next year we’re going to see a decline. Not us (speci cally), we’re typically 12 months out, but we’re seeing lower opportunities for middle market construction projects with costs from $20 million to $150 million. ose are getting pushed down the road, but these large projects, they’re going to continue on for us. I think we’re going to have a strong ‘24, and probably a little bit of a dip in ‘25, ‘26.

LET’S HIT OUR AUTO EXPERTS HERE. GEOFF, HOW DO YOU VIEW THE MARKET?

FOSTER: We are intentionally 30% automotive and I don’t want to go above that, but it’s getting hard not to with so many opportunities. I call North Carolina the Detroit of the South. I get calls all day about taking work from a Detroit molder whose business is 95% with the Big ree in Detroit, (who were facing a United Auto Workers strike at press time.) Volvo, BMW, Mercedes want their [mold work] done here.

I feel very insulated here in North Carolina on the automotive side. But the even bigger industry here is the biological pharmaceuticals with Merck, P zer and Eli Lilly. Lilly is building a multibillion dollar plant in Concord. Merck has been a customer in Durham and Wilson. P zer is in Rocky Mount. e 300% growth we’re seeing is for vaccines. We’re not even doing COVID. [Core Technology’s injection molding is used for] products used to treat the chicken pox, measles, mumps, rubella. I do feel like it’s recession proof. e HPV vaccine, none of us probably took that, but our kids or grandkids take it. We’re doing HPV every day and now we’re sending it to other countries. We ship to 150 countries. We have two clean rooms. So the type of manufacturing we saw or our parents saw, that’s not what we’re doing. We’re able to hire young people who don’t want to get dirty. ey want to be in a clean room. ey want to have the air blowing on them and not get dirty or sweat. With that controlled environment, it’s easier for us to get good employees.

FRED, DMA HAS HAD REMARKABLE GROWTH. WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO ATTRACT PEOPLE?

SNOW: Our growth has more than doubled in the last ve years. It’s growing more than 20% annually right now. In my short nine months here, we’ve added over 40 people, and we’re looking for about a dozen right now. We’re in an area where people want to move to. We just onboarded a new product manager moving from Detroit. It was very tough (to hire) warehouse workers and production line workers but in the last three or four months, we’re getting a lot more resumes.

THE PRICE OF NEW CARS HAS SOARED, HOW DOES THAT IMPACT DMA?

SNOW: e cost is going up exponentially, partially because of in ation but also because of the amount of technology in cars. ere are more and more electronics. [DMA CEO] John Treece and I were in D.C. last week lobbying for a bill that came to committee yesterday. We’re focusing on "the right to repair." As cars get more complex, there’s also more data your car generates. Technicians need that information to properly x them, but the OEMs are holding on to that info. It makes it harder and harder for independent shops to repair those cars. Dealers usually cost 36% more for a repair than the a ermarket. In some of the rural areas, you don’t have a dealership close by, so this creates an accessibility factor and a cost factor. If you’re lower income and rural, it takes away your choice. If the OEMs have their way and continue to restrict access to that information. at’s going to drive up the cost of car ownership even more.

LEE, THE TRIANGLE HAS THE REPUTATION AS ONE OF HOTTEST MARKETS IN THE U.S. WHAT’S YOUR TAKE ON THE ECONOMY?

HODGE: From a macro perspective, North Carolina is just a great place to do business. We’ve got a great regulatory climate, a great tax climate. You can see the bar graphs on the national news about the population in ows across the Southeast, and North Carolina has been a big bene ciary of that. It’s feeding the labor pool. Our clients are able to attract people with great skill sets who are looking to move from New York, D.C., New Jersey (and other areas) down to a much cheaper cost of living and better quality of life. North Carolina has always had a strong education system, so we’re turning out our own citizens and people who are coming to the state for education.

AS FOR M&A, ARE INTEREST RATES HAMMERING BUSINESS VALUATIONS.

HODGE: Hammer is a strong word, but you’ve de nitely seen a tick down in valuations. Private equity has plenty of cash on the sidelines. Now, their deals are going to be leveraged, so the cost of capital is impacting valuation. eir models are getting

a little tighter. But there’s still a lot of activity, and still plenty of cash they want to put to work. I think, to Thad’s point, people are adjusting to this new normal where money’s not free anymore. But the deal is still worth doing. We’re still seeing plenty of deals that are getting done.

A KEY TO A STRONG COMPANY IS ATTRACTING TALENTED EMPLOYEES. WHAT ARE SOME PRACTICES THAT REALLY WORK IN TERMS OF HIRING AND RETENTION?

HADLEY: Last year we decided to offer 95% employer paid health insurance. It may seem silly, but we actually offer 100% employer paid pet insurance for up to two pets through Nationwide. We have a 5% 401K match. We’ve instituted a $10,000 talent bonus, which includes two $5,000 payments spread over the first year of employment.

SNOW: We’re trying to utilize our networks and people we know to bring in strong employees. We’re also utilizing recruiters and are linked up with one that’s very specific to the industry. We’ve worked with local universities to attend their job fairs and have hired some young talent.

FOSTER: We’re offering healthcare and paying about 85%. We’re trying to offset the cost for medical, dental, and vision. We’re offering a 401(k), with 4% match. Last year we started profit sharing, employees get 10% of the profits of the company. That’s something that’s really gotten the retention rate high and turnover low. Every year we do an annual trip with all the employees. We went to Cabo in July. Last year it was Jamaica. They look forward to this trip and some of them bring their spouse or their significant other. I’ve been an adjunct professor at North Carolina A&T State University for 18 years. so I get to cherry pick the best engineers. We’re now doing projects with High Point University and UNC Greensboro business schools.

HADLEY: We’re getting more resumes but for the quality hires, it’s really difficult. We’re circumventing the trade schools and community colleges, and we’re actually doing more high school job fairs, because these are Gen Z people and they need a definite path. They’re so much different than millennials, Gen X and the boomers because they’re growing up in a

digital world. They need to have instant gratification and they also need a clear path. So at these job fairs, we can say: "This is where you’ll be on day one. This is what you’ll make and if you do all the right steps, A, B, C, and D, in five years you’ll be here" A lot of these kids like that. The last 40-plus years, America has instilled success that’s derived from a college education. You see a guy on the street in a three-piece suit, you assume he’s successful, and that the guy covered in dust, drywall mud, he’s not successful. But that guy might be driving a $100,000 pickup truck.

SCOTT: We jumped up in the past two years on our insurance payments and jumped up on our 401(k) match as well. We’re going to local community colleges and school districts. Cabarrus County, for example, has a great technical program. They’re allowing us to come in and talk about what Atlantic Forklift Services does. Schools are pushing people to go to college, but college is not for everybody. We have several technicians who went to N.C. State and got a fouryear degree in electrical engineering. Now they’re coming to us saying, "I want to work with my hands. This is what I like to do. I want gratification."

SNOW: A key also for retention is also leading your people the right way. Like when you’re scaling a company and you’re growing exponentially, one of the biggest things that we’re trying to do is make sure that if a customer calls and has a problem, we all get around the table and we solve it. We’re quick to respond. When you grow from a small company to a big one, it’s instilling that in all your employees. Part of that’s hiring the right ones, but a huge part is how you train them.

We just did a 15-year anniversary cruise, and took 130 people on a Caribbean cruise. It was fantastic. We have multiple warehouses, so a lot of people aren’t working in person together. The cruise brought people together who might only have talked on the phone or never met. Getting everyone to have the right documentation to leave the country, though, was not fun. John (Treece) had to make a call to a congressman to get somebody on the boat because their birth certificate with the little footprints on it that came from the hospital was not an official one with an official seal. Somehow by a miracle, he got a real birth certificate in a couple hours and got them on the boat. ■

10 YEARS OF QUALITY SERVICE

Atlantic Forkli Services, LLC has found success in a crowded material handling market by providing ‘noticeably best’ customer service. Now entering its 10th year in business and continuing to increase market share, Atlantic Forkli Services, alongside manufacturing partner Doosan, has big plans for 2024 and beyond.

In early 2023, the iconic Bobcat brand well-known for its compact equipment, announced that the Doosan Industrial Vehicle material handling products will be rebranded under the Bobcat portfolio. e rebranded Bobcat forkli s were displayed at key global trade shows in 2023 and Atlantic Forkli Services expects to

start delivering the rebranded products in January 2024.

“We believe combining the strong Doosan brand with the Bobcat portfolio is going to help us provide even better solutions for our customers and our dealership,” said Keith Driscoll, Atlantic Forkli Services President.

Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina with branches in Greenville and Columbia, South Carolina, Atlantic Forkli Services has positioned itself as an industry leader that has seen double digit year over year revenue and pro tability growth since opening its doors in 2013.

Atlantic Forkli Services has grown its equipment, service, parts and rental business

by branding itself as a ‘full warehouse solution partner’. eir experienced sales and service teams work together to diagnose, repair and maintain forkli s, scissor li s, conveyors, sweepers, scrubbers, dock doors, racking and mezzanines, and other warehouse items used by customers. e goal is to increase e ciency and productivity to maximize uptime for customers, thus deepening the partnership in a market that has many other well-known service and equipment providers.

Atlantic Forkli Services has been recognized as one of Doosan Bobcat’s top dealers in equipment sales, service and parts for the last 7 years and is a proud three-time winner of the Mid-Market Fast 40.

TBy Kevin Ellis

his marks the 10th year that Business North Carolina has saluted the most important new buildings that opened in the past year across the state. The decade has been highlighted by billions of dollars of investment in office towers and multifamily projects in the central business districts in Raleigh and Charlotte; extensive hospital and university expansions across the state; large pharmaceutical projects in Durham and Johnston counties; and innovative renovations of historic structures in Durham, High Point, Winston-Salem and many other cities. This year’s report cites seven category winners and five honorable mentions that span many industries. The buildings were selected by the BNC editorial team with input from representatives of the state’s construction and architecture industries. The projects had to be completed between July 1, 2022, and June 30, 2023, to qualify.

DUKE ENERGY PLAZA

CHARLOTTE

Developer: Childress Klein Charlotte

Contractor: Batson-Cook Construction (Atlanta)

Architects: TVS Design (Atlanta)

Cost: N/A ($346.7 million tax value)

Size: Building about 1 million square feet; parking garage/ dock 500,000 square feet

Childress Klein and Maryland-based CGA Capital paid $27.5 million in 2019 for an asphalt parking lot on two acres in downtown Charlotte. The 40-story Duke Energy Plaza now stands on that property, the fifth-tallest tower in the city at 629 feet. Nearly 1,000 people worked on the building during its three-year construction period, according to Duke.

The first of about 3,500 employees started moving into the building in January and the final group moved in Oct. 2. Most don’t come in five days a week because of hybrid work schedules, says company spokesperson Madison McDonald. A seven-level parking garage with 1,100 spaces and loading dock supports the building, while its 25,000 square feet of retail space will host locally owned restaurants. Two spots opening next year will be run by famed local chefs Joe and Katy Kindred: Albertine, a fine dining restaurant, and Milkbread, an all-day café and coffee shop.

Duke is the sole office tenant in the building, which has a tax valuation of $346.7 million.

At its completion, the Duke Energy Plaza was the second-tallest building in the world to utilize a precast concrete-tube frame design that covers long spans and supports heavy loads, according to general contractor Batson-Cook.

The new tower is enabling the energy giant to cut its office footprint from approximately 2.5 million square feet in uptown Charlotte to 1 million square feet. The company expects savings of as much as $90 million over the next five years. Duke is exiting two nearby properties on South Tryon Street and offices at Piedmont Town Center in the SouthPark neighborhood. Two developers bought two older Duke buildings in the downtown area.

Three public art installations are part of the design. There are two illuminated sculptures and a mural outside. Inside, a ceilingsuspended sculpture and complementary motion graphic animations are displayed along a nearly 60-foot-long audio-visual wall.

PUBLIC PROJECT

WESTERN CAROLINA UNIVERSITY RESIDENCE HALLS

CULLOWHEE

Developer: Western Carolina University

Contractor: Vannoy Construction (Jefferson)

Architects: Hanbury Evans Wright Vlattas (Rochester, New York)

Cost: $83.3 million

Size: Three residence halls, 230,079 square feet

Western Carolina University added three freshmen residence halls featuring 932 beds, mountain lodgingstyle community rooms and outdoor spaces with re pits and designated hammock areas. WCU named them Water Rock, Black Rock and Shining Rock, a nod to its mountain stewardship role since its 1889 inception. Each name represents a peak in the nearby Smokies, Plott Balsams and Blue Ridge mountains.

Unique lobby replaces and themes of forest, water and mountains o er di erent vibes for similar buildings. Leading construction for Vannoy were senior project manager TJ Hollars, eld engineer Nick Kiser (now a superintendent) and superintendents Stephen Stickle and Brian Teaster. All four are WCU graduates. e buildings come as WCU has reported slightly lower enrollment over the last three years a er peaking at 12,243 students in 2020. is fall, enrollment was 11,628, virtually unchanged from a year ago. e university had its third-largest freshman class this fall with 2,082 students, an 8.8% increase from last fall.

To make room, WCU demolished the Scott and Walker residence halls, which were built in 1969 and 1972, respectively.

THE EAST TOWER AT THE CARDINAL AT NORTH HILLS

RALEIGH

Developer: Kisco Senior Living (Carlsbad, California) and Welltower (Toledo, Ohio)

Contractor: Clancy & Theys (Raleigh)

Architect: THW Design (Atlanta)

Cost: $153.9 million

Size: 18 stories, 425,638 square feet

Raleigh’s popularity for retirement living is enabling the success of The Cardinal at North Hills, which has doubled in size after its launch in 2017. The new East Tower features 191 apartments – 151 for independent living and 40 assisted living –and mostly one- and two-bedroom options with large balconies for seniors seeking a “five-star” residence.

A 1,000-square-foot, one-bedroom for a single resident starts at $6,100 a month, while penthouse apartments rent for twice as much. Occupancy is more than 60% in the new construction and there are more than 400 apartments in the community. Large windows offer natural light and sweeping city views at the tower, which architects from THW Design describe as a “prominent silhouette” in north Raleigh’s skyline. The Cardinal’s proximity to North Hills’ many restaurants and shops are a key attraction.

Natural finishes and materials, including a two-story living green wall in the lobby, emphasize access to the outdoors. Amenities include chef-prepared meals in multiple dining venues, two fitness centers, beauty salon and an indoor saltwater pool. The veranda of the 35,000-square-foot clubhouse overlooks the courtyard and garden.

Kisco Senior Living owns other senior living developments in Cary, Greensboro and Raleigh. The East Tower expansion is a joint venture with Welltower, a healthcare real estate investment company.

HEALTHCARE PROJECT

FIRSTHEALTH CANCER CENTER PINEHURST

Developer: FirstHealth of the Carolinas

Contractor: Brasfield & Gorrie (Birmingham, Alabama)

Architects: CPL (Rochester, New York)

Cost: $68 million

Size: Four stories, 120,000 square feet

FirstHealth of the Carolinas, a not-for-pro t serving 15 central N.C. counties, opened a cancer center at Moore Regional Hospital guided by the principle that cancer is survivable. e center brings outpatient cancer care under one roof, an improvement over having patients travel to separate buildings for treatments. e center houses palliative care services, research and clinical trials and support services for patients. Features include a fourth- oor wellness center with a yoga room and exercise equipment to help patients build stamina while undergoing radiation and chemotherapy. A garden gives patients an outdoor space to heal, connect and relax.

e Foundation of FirstHealth raised $30 million of the $68 million project cost. Radiation oncologist Dr. Sushma Patel and Pinehurst Surgical Clinic surgeon Dr. Raymond Washington serve as co-medical directors. Architect rm CPL received an International Interior Design Association Healthcare Design award for the project.

RENOVATION PROJECT

CHRONICLE MILL

BELMONT

Developer: Armada Hoffler (Virginia Beach, Virginia)

Contractor: Armada Hoffler Construction (Virginia Beach, Virginia)

Architects: BB+M (Charlotte)

Cost: $55 million

Size: 140,700 square feet

Chronicle Mill opened in 1901, becoming Belmont’s first textile mill. By the 1930s, more than 20 mills followed, spiraling Belmont’s population from 145 at the turn of the century to more than 4,000. Chronicle Mill produced its last skein of yarn in 2010 after operating for more than a century. In 2013, John and Jennnifer Church, who own Centra Properties, bought the shuttered mill and would partner six years later with Armada Hoffler. Today, the Chronicle Mill has been reborn near downtown into one- and two-bedroom loft apartments with exposed brick walls, original maple hardwood ceilings and timber beams. The first tenants arrived in October 2022. Rent ranges from $1,300 for a 460-square-foot studio to more than $3,500 with lots of price points in between. There is also 9,000 square feet of commercial space and the Mill Collective, a public coworking space.

A fourth floor of apartments was added to the former three-story mill, for a total of 95 units. A second, five-story building with 143 units was added to the 7-acre lot. A swimming pool, along with a bocce court, divides the two buildings.

Chronicle Mill was named after native son and Revolutionary War hero Maj. William Chronicle, who was killed at the pivotal Battle of Kings Mountain in 1780. Textile titan R.L. Stowe Sr. and his brother, Samuel Pickney Stowe, founded Stowe Spinning, which became Chronicle Mill, and helped start a family empire.

INDUSTRIAL PROJECT

DOOSAN BOBCAT

Developer: Doosan Bobcat

Contractor: Omega Construction (Winston-Salem)

Architects: Shultz & Associates Architects (Fargo, North Dakota)

Cost: $70 million

Size: 600,000 square feet

Doosan Bobcat made Statesville its largest manufacturing facility in North America with a 600,000-square-foot expansion last year, bringing its footprint to more than 1 million square feet on a 150-acre campus. Doosan Group of Korea is among the world’s largest heavy equipment manufacturers. Doosan Bobcat’s U.S. headquarters are in West Fargo, North Dakota.

Growth in Statesville includes a 425,000-square-foot warehouse, 76,500 square feet for manufacturing and 78,000 square feet for storage, pre-assembly and equipment testing. Construction began in July 2021, when the N.C. plant employed around 400 workers. More than 900 people work there now, says spokesperson Nadine Erckenbrack. e expansion allowed Bobcat to shi production of a minitrack loader from its North Dakota plant to Iredell County, growing its grounds maintenance equipment production, which includes compact tractors. Bobcat expects to shi production of another frontend loader from North Dakota to Statesville by early 2024, which will allow the Midwest plant to focus on making excavators, Erckenbrack says. e Statesville location also produces portable power products such as generators, light towers and air compressors. Bobcat has had a facility in Statesville since 2008.

MCCREARY FOOTBALL COMPLEX

WINSTON-SALEM

Developer: Wake Forest University

Contractor: Whiting-Turner (Baltimore)

Architect: Walter Robbs (Winston-Salem)

Cost: $38 million

Size: 60,000 square feet

Wake Forest University has among the smallest enrollments of any member of a Power 5 athletic conference, but it wants to be a strong competitor. Over the past eight years, it has spent more than $100 million on its football facilities. The latest piece, the McCreary Football Complex, includes locker space for 130 student-athletes, a dining area for as many as 200 people, athletic training and equipment rooms. Extras include hot or cold plunge pool areas, billiards and ping pong tables and a barber shop.

The McCreary Football Complex replaces the Mark C. Pruitt Football Center’s Peahead Walker Football Locker Room built in 1988. It connects to the McCreary Football Field House, which is the Deacons’ 80,000-square-foot indoor practice facility that opened in 2016. Peahead Walker coached Wake Forest from 1937 to 1950, and is tied with Jim Grobe (2001-2013) as the winningest coach in school history.

About 700 donors contributed to the locker room project. About $20 million came from Bob McCreary, a Caldwell County native who played at Wake Forest from 1958 to 1960. Overall, he’s given about $55 million to the university, following the success of his McCreary Modern furniture company, which employs about 975 employees at six plants in Catawba and Caldwell counties, says President and COO Rick Coffey. McCreary is chairman, while his son, Robert, is CEO.

CAROMONT REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER TOWER

GASTONIA

Developer: CaroMont Health

Contractor: Robins & Morton (Birmingham, Alabama)

Architects: McMillan Pazdan Smith (Spartanburg, South Carolina)

Cost: $130 million

Size: Four floors, 176,811 square feet

The Gastonia healthcare authority is investing $350 million in projects, including this tower that added four oors to a 50-year-old hospital. e move added 41 beds, giving it 476 total. CaroMont is building a 66-bed hospital in Belmont that is expected to open next fall.

HONORABLE MENTIONS

DAVID L. CONLAN CENTER

CHARLOTTE

Developer: Atrium Health

Contractor: DPR Construction and Rodgers Builders (Redwood City, California, and Charlotte, respectively)

Architects: NBBJ Design (Seattle)

Cost: $100 million

Size: 152,204 square feet

The ve-story rehabilitation replaces a structure constructed in 1950. It features 72 patient rooms, private treatment spaces, a therapy garden and 16,000 square feet of inpatient and outpatient therapy space. Conlan was a partner of real estate investor Howard “Smoky” Bissell, who developed Ballantyne Corporate Park in south Charlotte. Bissell and his wife, Margaret, gave the center $30 million in honor of Conlan. Atrium, which is part of the third-largest U.S. nonpro t hospital operator, is building an adjacent 12-story, 448-bed medical tower, scheduled to open in spring 2027.

HONORABLE MENTIONS

THE LINE CHARLOTTE

Developer: Portman Holdings (Atlanta)

Contractor: DPR Construction (Redwood City, California)

Architects: Gensler (San Francisco)

Cost: N/A

Size: 320,000 square feet

Portman purchased 1.8 acres next to the Queen City’s light rail line for $12.7 million in 2018. It replaced a single-story office space with a 16-story building that has about 28,000 square feet of retail space, 285,000 square feet of office space, and six floors of parking. Its darker steel and exposed concrete is a nod to the South End’s industrial roots. Foundry Commercial reported 52% of the office space had been leased by late September.

Sycamore Brewing, which relocated from next door, takes up one-fourth of the retail space. Atlanta-based neighborhood market Savi Provisions opened in July. In September, restaurateur Jon Dressler opened Chapter Six, which serves western Mediterranean dishes. Portman Holdings remains a partner, but sold the property to Dallasbased CBRE Investment Management for $206 million in June 2022.

PUBLIC STEAM PLANT

CULLOWHEE

Developer: Western Carolina University

Contractor: The Christman Co. (Lansing, Michigan)

Architects: Burns & McDonnell (Kansas City, Missouri)

Cost: $33 million

Size: Two stories, 17,300 square feet

Western Carolina University replaced its steam plant, built in 1924 and initially fueled by coal, with a modern operation that is powered by natural gas. e steam plant heats buildings and provides hot water. e new plant has its own smokestack, but the design keeps the original version as a historical nod. e plant’s original steam whistle, once used to signal the start and end of a workday, is being installed in the new plant.

HONORABLE MENTIONS

SENIOR LIVING WHITESTONE

GREENSBORO

Developer: Whitestone

Contractor: Blum Construction (Winston-Salem)

Architects: SFCS Architects (Charlotte)

Cost: $75 million

In Guilford County, more than 16% of the population has reached their senior years, a number certain to increase as baby boomers age. Whitestone, which was the rst fraternal home started by the Masonic and Eastern Star communities in 1912, is responding by adding 67 independent living residences in one- and two-bedroom options. e Care and Wellness Center renovations include a rehabilitation gym, courtyard and enhanced salon and spa. e nal phase of the expansion is adding 24 more residences, plus 12 memory care suites. Whitestone is managed by Des Moines, Iowa-based Life Care Services, which oversees more than 140 senior living communities.

AN EXPENSIVE U-TURN

The most expensive, and perhaps most important building to open in North Carolina in the past year sits empty, a victim of swi changes in the economy and at a giant company.

Centene, a Fortune 500 business with 70,000 employees, spent more than $700 million on the 800,000-square foot o ce at Charlotte’s University Research Park. Based in a St. Louis suburb, Centene is the nation’s largest Medicaid managed-care insurance company, serving 13 million people.

It was a prize project for former CEO Michael Neidor , who took Centene public in 2001 when it had $327 million in revenue. Last year they took in $145 billion.

Neidor , 79, had expressed displeasure with St. Louis’s mounting crime rate and wanted to capitalize on Centene’s $17 billion acquisition of Tampa, Florida-based WellCare Health Plans in 2019.

So a year later, he ordered up an East Coast headquarters and picked Charlotte, lured by $450 million in potential state and local incentives. Clayco, which built Centene’s large campus in Clayton, Missouri, was hired as the contractor, with a design by LS3P of Charleston, South Carolina. Plans called for an opening in late 2022.

e “new campus paves the way for the next generation of o ces focused on top-tier recruiting, retention, and agile operations,” LS3P noted on its website. e complex includes a cafe, tness facilities and more than 5,000 parking spaces. Plans called for about 3,200 workers initially at the site, which is adjacent to retirement investment company’s TIAA o ces that employ 5,000.

As the building emerged, however, some Centene investors criticized the company’s nancial performance as it faced multistate

charges of Medicaid-related fraud. In late 2021, six directors were replaced, and Neidor agreed to retire as CEO within a year. en, in early 2022, he got sick and took medical leave. In April 2022, Neidor died from an infection. His successor was Sarah London, 41, who had joined Centene two years earlier to lead its digital strategy. She didn’t share Neidor ’s vision for the Charlotte complex.

In August 2022, shortly before the Charlotte site was ready to open, Centene told Gov. Roy Cooper it was quitting the project. Overall, it was cutting its national real estate footprint by 70%. It wrote o several hundred million dollars for the building.

Empty o ce buildings aren’t rare in 2023, of course. In Austin, Texas, three new, large downtown towers with more than 1.5 million square feet have no occupants. Google and Facebook owner Meta had planned to occupy most of two of those buildings but changed direction.

But Centene’s investment is unprecedented for a failed project in North Carolina, real estate experts say. Now, Cushman & Wake eld is marketing the former Centene building, hoping to lure a large company seeking greener pastures.

IN FULL BLUM

A century-old Winston-Salem contractor picks up its pace.

By Tucker Mitchell

Winston-Salem-based Frank L. Blum Construction has survived a world war, a global pandemic, 17 recessions, and four leadership changes. Making it to 100 years in business this year is something to celebrate.

CEO and President Mike Lancaster enjoyed the stroll down Memory Lane, digging through old photos and blueprints that are now mostly yellow. But most of his time is spent looking forward.

ere’s always the next job to win and complete, a new foundation to be poured so that the company’s future remains as solid as its past.

“Being that old, 100 years, it’s just a mark of a real commitment to quality,” says Lancaster, a Blum employee since interning with the company as an N.C. State University freshman 24 years ago. “You get that perspective when you’re a 100-year-old company. We all know in this business that you never build the perfect building.”

Lancaster, 42, obviously never knew Frank Blum, whose death following a heart attack in 1954 nearly ended the company’s story. “But everything I’ve learned is that he was like that,” he says. “He valued good people, just like we do, and he strived for quality. at’s the way every generation (of Blum leadership) has looked at it. I want my kids to walk into the Kaleideum [children’s museum that Blum is building in Winston-Salem] with their kids, or even their grandkids, and see that it’s stood the test of time. I think we’d all like to see that happen with this company, too.”

e company bought some security more than a decade ago with a carefully planned transition that brought Lancaster — then, just in his 20s — and the next generation of company executives to the fore. By giving that group an equity stake, a strategy turning into a Blum tradition, the company staved o selling to an outsider, and, at the same time, launched a new era in the company’s history. Since Lancaster was named president in 2014 and CEO in 2018, Blum

has gone from the leading construction management rm in Winston-Salem, to one of the 10 largest in North Carolina, with revenue topping $405 million last year. Its 255 employees are spread across o ces in Charlotte, Raleigh, Asheville, Greensboro and the company’s new headquarters building near Winston-Salem’s Lawrence Joel Coliseum, which Blum built in 1989.

at’s a far cry from the company Lancaster joined in the early 2000s. Back then, Blum had fewer than 60 employees and it was “a real accomplishment to get someone to go to Greensboro to look at something,” he recalls. “We were a Winston-Salem company.”

e Lexington native pooh-poohs the growth to a degree, noting that 20 years of in ation would have turned $40 million into a “pretty big number all by itself.” Growth at the pace of in ation would be around $170 million, so Lancaster and company have managed to double that production in two decades. Not bad for a period that included the Great Recession and COVID-19.

Milton Rhodes Center for the Arts in Winston-Salem

Blum is the contractor for Winston-Salem’s new Kaleideum museum opening next year.

“That growth is not something that happens without Mike, without the next generation,” says Drew Hancock, Blum’s president from 1983 to 2014. “All the planning that went into the transition has paid off, I think. We could see that there was a lot of talent in the fourth generation, Mike and those guys. Because we began planning so long ago, we were able to put those dogs into the woods and let them hunt.”

Lancaster, the former intern, emerged as the leader of the pack. He’s just the fourth president in the company’s history. Hancock succeeded his father, Jim, who was thrown into the breach following Frank Blum’s untimely death.

Hancock says the day he announced Lancaster would be the next leader “there were hats thrown in the air” at Blum. The young engineer was a popular choice, says Hancock, because he was a natural team-builder and because of his unusual ability “to listen and understand others at a deep level.

“When you do that it creates this great bond of trust,” says Hancock, who is on the advisory board of Wake Forest University’s Center for Private Business. “In our business, in a lot of businesses, that’s gold.”

ON TO RICHMOND?

With most of North Carolina covered, Lancaster says Blum’s next horizon lies across state lines. The company has completed a handful of projects in Virginia, including Primland Resort, where they created luxury treehouses and golf chalets, and a 300,000-square-foot office renovation for Truist Financial in Richmond.

Blum will have an out-of-state office within the next decade, probably sooner. “We’re going to keep growing,” says Lancaster. “It wouldn’t be our style to say we’re done. But I think we’ll keep moving the way we move as we grew across the state. If you think about it in terms of concentric circles, that’s kind of the way we’ve operated. You draw a big one, an hour and hour and half to the west, and to the east, from the Triad. And then you continue to add to the circles. That’s what feels right to us, to grow but also to maintain our brand.”

Blum’s circles could be geographic, or they could be defined by sectors. The company has a strong presence in higher education, healthcare and senior living. Projects in those areas helped it expand across North Carolina. Senior living work in Greensboro and Winston-Salem opened doors in Durham and Raleigh. Building the McCreary Tower at Wake Forest University’s football stadium caught the eye of a visiting architect who was working on a project at the Dean Smith Center at UNC Chapel Hill. Blum worked on that project, which led to more business on that campus and at N.C. State.

“We think it’s better to go and plant a flag on the back of a strong project,” says Lancaster. “These companies that sort of look on a map and say, ‘Oh man it really looks like this place is really going to be doing some stuff, let’s pack our suitcase and go — and let me just say, there are plenty of companies bringing suitcases to North Carolina right now — that’s a tough road, to prove yourself in a new place ... But if there’s a hospital in Greenville, South Carolina, that’s curious about Blum, all they have to do is look to their neighbors to the North. (Blum has completed healthcare projects in Morganton and Hendersonville and is about to start a renovation project at HCA Healthcare’s Mission Health in Asheville). That just seems like a lot simpler way to do it.”

CULTURE OF THE RUB

The company has, so far, managed to export its culture to new parts of North Carolina by moving homegrown talent out of the corporate office and into regional leadership posts. The company has also stayed in touch with its roots by re-establishing some “self-performance” divisions within the company.

Blum has about 40 employees tasked with actually laying brick or putting up drywall. Blum is something of an outlier, in that regard, among large construction management firms. But Lancaster says it can help “drive schedule by giving us some resources we control at critical times. If you can get a project enclosed, that’s a major step. Our self-perform groups can help us get that done.”

The company probably had more employees in the 1950s than it does now, Lancaster notes. “We had terrazzo machines and concrete machines in the warehouse. We had people in all the trades,” he says. “We did it all. But the industry went from generalist to more specialists. Now, the pendulum is swinging back a little bit. It helps us do certain things, and I think it helps us stay rooted. We’ve still got people who can do it with their hands. I kind of like that.”

Lancaster isn’t one of them. He hasn’t been involved in the “blocking and tackling” of a project in years. Most of his time is spent managing people and worrying about attracting tomorrow’s employees. It’s a challenge to recruit young engineers willing to tackle construction’s long hours and the culture of the “rub,” industry slang for points of friction and contention that dot every big project.

“Finding talent is one of the toughest … well, it’s the toughest problem we face,” says Lancaster. “Construction is not for everyone. It is hard work.”

But for those bitten by the bug — guys like Mike Lancaster there is nothing like it.

“I’m still fascinated by building something, seeing the pieces and parts that go into each project, how they’re vastly different but then figuring a way to make it work out,” he says. “Not everybody sees that, but there are plenty who still do. That’s who we want. It’s a people business, and it always will be, I think.”

BLUM LEADERSHIP

MARK DUNNAGAN executive vice president for project development

MIKE LANCASTER president & CEO

CHRIS WHITE executive vice president for project development

MIKE POWERS executive vice president for operations

WILL SMELCER executive vice president for operations

BILL BALL chief financial officer

Start your engines

VinFast promises to transform North Carolina’s economy as the electric-vehicle market expands. It won’t be easy.

By Mike MacMillan

It’s not always easy being on the front lines of the green revolution, nor is it cheap. ree recent electric-vehicle entrants, Lucian, Rivian and Fisker Automotive, have struggled to crank out vehicles and make money, losing a combined $10 billion in 2022.

Even Tesla, the dominant force in the EV world, was le for dead more than once during its early years, having posted negative cash ow for 13 quarters in a row. Would-be EV truckmaker Nikola is in a category of its own, with founder Trevor Milton awaiting sentencing a er being convicted of securities and wire fraud for pumping up an electric truck that didn’t exist.

“Building cars at scale for pro t is one of the hardest things in the world to do,” says Paul Waatti, an analyst with AutoPaci c, an automotive research rm in Detroit.

Now there’s VinFast, the Vietnamese automaker setting up shop on 1,800 acres in Chatham County near Moncure. Founded in 2017, the company has invested more than $9 billion to crack the global EV business. ere’s a lot riding on the success of this new project, for the company, county and the state. e latter groups have pledged about $1.2 billion over 30 years or so, representing the biggest economic incentive package in North Carolina history. In return, VinFast promises to spend about $2 billion in the project’s rst phase, then another $2 billion down the road. e company expects to eventually employ 7,500 people and to produce as many as 150,000 electric vehicles annually. Annual salaries are slated to average about $51,000.

At a late July groundbreaking, Gov. Roy Cooper addressed a crowd of around 250 people, including VinFast global CEO Le i u uy, U.S. manufacturing CEO Van Anh Nguyen, and Vietnam’s U.S. Ambassador, Nguyen Quoc Dzung. As bulldozers prowled in the background

and a drone hovered overhead, Cooper noted that North Carolina has pursued automakers for decades. VinFast will be transformative, he said, “leading an army of clean energy companies coming to our state.”

While VinFast is in the vanguard, it’s not alone; Toyota is investing $3.8 billion in a battery plant 40 miles east in Randolph County.

ere’s hope that the two will jointly attract a legion of suppliers. If realized, the add-on bene ts of that emergent ecosystem could be substantial.

Chatham’s central role

For Chatham County, VinFast is one of two massive new projects that jointly place North Carolina at the epicenter of the hoped-for U.S. manufacturing revival. Durham-based Wolfspeed is building a $5 billion plant nearby to manufacture silicon carbide wafers, which will be turned into semiconductors at other company sites. Customers include Tesla, GM and Lucid. at facility may have a payroll of about 1,800, paying an average of nearly $78,000 per year, according to the company.

Sanford-based Central Carolina Community College is a big bene ciary, receiving as much as $38 million to help provide customized training for future VinFast employees.

“We are the rst line of connection with VinFast as they think about building a workforce that will help them be successful,” says

Margaret Robertson, the college’s vice president for workforce development. “If you’re coming out of high school and know VinFast is hiring, this (program) is going to give you those baseline skills” to get employed.

While the state is new to automobile manufacturing, it has a workforce with core skills that are transferable, Robertson says. ese include experience with industrial systems, electrical engineering, and electronics. A presumed commuting radius of about 50 minutes puts the plant within reach of Durham, Raleigh, and a host of other towns across 18 counties. e region also hopes to attract individuals leaving the military who want to stay in the state.

“People from Chatham County and beyond can have the opportunity to receive free training and start their careers at VinFast, making EVs that will improve our environment and accelerate the revolution of the global automotive industry,” says Van Ahn, who is overseeing construction of the plant from her o ce in Raleigh. Central Carolina will “help prepare the future workforce, when our VinFast factory starts production.”

Kirk Bradley, whose Sanford-based Lee-Moore Capital developed the site where VinFast is building, says, “At the end of the day, there’s nothing like an [original equipment manufacturer] to create jobs and opportunity. I’m very hopeful that VinFast will produce a great car and get the market share they need to be successful.”

VinFast Auto CEO Le Thi Thu Thuy attended the company's groundbreaking ceremony in Chatham County in July, joining Gov. Roy Cooper. While VinFast is reporting mounting issues, she and company owner Pham Nhat Vuong say it may be profitable by 2025.

Getting past 'Yikes'

e EV market is supported by massive subsidies and public policy mojo directed toward creating an electri ed future. On paper, it looks promising. But the spate of mostly good news has been tempered by generally abysmal reviews for VinFast’s rst batch of vehicles to reach the U.S. Industry publication InsideEV used a word rarely seen in the car reviewing circles: “Yikes.” Many of the company’s rst iteration were recalled in May due to a problem with the car’s display screen.

“For any of the foreign makers who are now household names (in the U.S.), the build up to that success was extremely long and very expensive” says AutoPaci c’s Waatti. “Volkswagen, Toyota, Hyundai, Kia, it took decades to build brand equity and consumer trust. VinFast is o to a rocky start, but that doesn’t mean we should give up on them.”

at VinFast has a car in the U.S. at all is impressive, notes Reese Counts, vehicle test editor at Edmunds. But current models have problems that can’t be xed on the assembly line, he says. ese include suspension tuning that makes the vehicles di cult to handle, and less than impressive battery range. “ e biggest issue they need to work on is overall drivability,” he says. “It’s not a good car to drive compared to every other EV out there.”

VinFast’s challenges are not unusual. “ ere are a lot of precedents for what needs to be done,” says Srini Rajagopalan, managing director and practice leader in automotive advisory and analytics at J.D. Power. “It took (Korean manufacturer) Kia some 20- years to achieve top quality ratings. If they (VinFast) can take that play book and run with it, maybe accelerate it a little,” they have a good chance to succeed.

VinFast has moved quickly to address the issues agged by reviewers, says Van Anh. “Our product engineering teams immediately started reviewing and working on improving the reported issues. e recently updated versions of the so ware have addressed the majority of de ned issues. We want to emphasize that deployment speed and solid resources to quickly match customer expectations are VinFast's core strengths.”

Tesla is a poster child for a struggling EV company made good. But its launch came with more of an open eld than today’s market. Elon Musk’s Austin, Texas-based company now has a 60% share of U.S. EV sales, and has helped create an established, growing market that should bene t VinVast.

“EV sales made up nearly 8% of all retail sales this year and have been at 8.5% the last couple of months, up from 6% last year,” says Rajagopalan. “ e biggest two segments are in the premium space where Tesla is. e third-biggest segment is compact SUVs, with 12% of all EV sales. at’s where VinFast competes.

Paper value

VinFast is an automotive upstart, having been founded 80 years a er Kiichiro Toyoda founded Toyota. A unit of Vietnam’s Vingroup, it sold about 7,400 EVs in 2022, mostly in Vietnam. Even with its U.S. plant years from opening, growth is accelerating. In the third quarter, the company said it delivered about 10,000 EVs, compared to just 153 vehicles for the same period last year. e net loss for the period was $622.9 million, up 33.7% from the third quarter in 2022.

Getting going

2017 Year that VinFast launched in Vietnam.

2025 Projected opening of N.C. factory.

50,000 Projected VinFast global sales in 2023.

150,000 Expected annual vehicle production in N.C.

$51,000 Expected average salaries in N.C.

$15 billion VinFast's market value on Oct. 17.

Earlier this spring, VinFast led for an initial public o ering, hoping to raise about $2 billion. at deal was pulled as market demand for new issues dried up. It then agreed to be acquired by a New York Stock Exchange-listed special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) called Black Spade.

Trading began on Aug. 15 with shares jumping 68% to about $37, leaving VinFast with a market capitalization of about $86 billion, nearly as much as Ford and GM combined. Its volatility soared in following days, with the stock topping $87 in late August, putting its market cap behind only Tesla among global carmakers.

By early October, shares fell below $10, leaving the company with a market value of about $18 billion. e volatility re ected both investor enthusiasm in the EV sector and VinFast's modest oat; founder Vuong and allied interests control about 99% of the shares, with only about 17 million of the roughly 2 billion shares outstanding available to trade. Vuong is o en called Vietnam’s richest person because of his stakes in hotels, real estate and other ventures, most notably VinFast.

e SPAC deal itself brought scant additional funding. About 80% of investors cashed out in July, ahead of the merger, leaving the nancing vehicle with just $28.5 million in working capital, down from about $170 million previously. (Some of those who sold surely had sellers’ remorse, at least temporarily.) But the listing gives VinFast access to U.S. capital markets, which will doubtless come in handy.

Even at the severely diminished market cap, VinFast could still issue shares to raise capital. at cash could be used to support operations, expand into new markets and create incentives for buyers. Parent Vingroup is standing behind the company, too. In its latest earnings release VinFast said that it “expects to receive up to $1.2 billion or more in grants from Vingroup, the chairman, and two key shareholders over the next six months.”

Quality and range

Building a manufacturing plant is one thing, selling the cars is another. Vuong said in May that the company hopes to sell as many as 50,000 vehicles this year. Those are being made in Vietnam, while the first U.S.-made SUVs are scheduled to roll off the Chatham County assembly line in 2025. The VF7, VF8 and VF9 models will be made here, with the latter two designed by Italy’s famed Pininfarina, whose portfolio includes Ferraris and Maseratis. Where the content is sourced, particularly the batteries, will determine if the cars qualify for the full $7,500 federal credit offered to buyers of U.S.-built EVs. VinFast is obligated to sell its cars in North Carolina through franchise auto dealers, but no contracts have been signed.

“Setting up in the U.S is a good first step for selling in the U.S.,” says J.D. Power’s Rajagopalan. “If they are eligible for the Inflation Reduction Act (credits), that brings the pricing down automatically. They just need to keep focusing on the quality and on the range.”

J.D. Power studies show “the top 10 reasons people don’t want to consider EVs all have to do with the range, the pricing and the reliability,” he adds. “They have to get those three things right. There are enough success stories in the market. It can be done. You just have to make sure you have a better option than your competitors. You have to make sure the value proposition for the customer is a no-brainer.”

VinFast’s pricing is broadly in line with its competitors, with the VF8 starting at $46,000 and the VF9 at $83,000. (The VF7 price has not been released.) But the range lags industry leader Tesla. Analysts are impressed by the VinFast warranty, which ranges from seven years and 100,000 miles to 10 years and 125,000 miles and includes vehicle batteries, according to its website.

The company’s challenge is to make its cars stand out in a

While VinFast talks about selling electric vehicles in 2025, Charlotte auto dealer Steve Magowan is racking up sales of a startup brand at his unusual Queen City dealership.

Magowan, 78, has owned Charlotte’s University Volvo dealership since 1978, with partners Michael Spinks and Greg Cole. They opened a showroom this summer for Polestar, an EV brand designed in Sweden and built in China. The dealership has sold more than 300 cars over the last year, Magowan says. Polestar expects to deliver as many as 70,000 vehicles globally, compared with 51,500 last year.

The 2,400-square foot showroom across from Charlotte’s SouthPark Mall is the only Polestar branch between Atlanta and Washington, D.C.

crowded field with that Rajagopalan calls “showroom delight.” Two or three generations of vehicles may be necessary to achieve that marker, he says.

VinFast has shown that it can move fast, and that is clearly an advantage in the auto industry. “It’s a long transition, and VinFast is hitting the market at the bottom of the hockey stick,” says AutoPacific’s Waatti. “They can pivot quicker than a legacy OEM.”

Meanwhile, the state’s contribution to VinFast is big, but the bill doesn’t come due all at once. The infrastructure improvements are first, valued at $450 million. Chatham County is pitching in another $400 million over the 30-year period. The $38 million for training will be drawn down as individuals complete their programs and enter the workforce. If things go as planned, the Vietnamese company will contribute about $71 billion to the N.C. economy over the next three decades, according to state estimates.

Capturing the project’s excitement, Vietnam’s ambassador told the crowd at groundbreaking, “I believe that you all share with me the hope that in the near future, VinFast EVs produced in North Carolina, will be rolling out on roads across the United States and playing their part in keeping the U.S. clean and livable.”

Whether or not VinFast succeeds, the site will remain. “So far as the state’s investment, they (VinFast) won’t collect $800 million unless they perform and the $400 million in infrastructure will be there for another company,” says Tony Copeland, senior economic development and corporate strategist at Brooks Pierce in Raleigh, and a former North Carolina Secretary of Commerce.

The task facing VinFast is a formidable one, but it would be a mistake to underestimate them, adds Bradley. “They have a track record of success going back to the founder’s (Vuong) first company. Like everybody they’re about figuring out how to do it. They don’t seem like quitters to me.” ■

Polestar is 48% owned by Volvo, which is part of China’s Geely Auto group. It has sold hybrids and all-electric vehicles since 2019. Sales should accelerate next year because of the company’s plans to assembling vehicles at's Volvo plant near Charleston, South Carolina.

Buyers of Polestars prefer a different EV than the market leader Tesla, says Spinks, who joined University Volvo in 1986. The Polestar 2 lists for $50,000 to $57,000 and competes against electric rivals such as the Tesla Model 3, BMWi4 and Hyundai Ioniq. The Polestar 4 is expected to go on sale early next year with a starting price of $85,000, the company said in October.

Polestar wanted a Charlotte location because of increasing demand for EVs, the region’s growth and North Carolina’s commitment to spend $109 million on charging stations, says Greg Hembrough, president of Polestar North America. He praises Magowan's longstanding success in Charlotte.

Early in his career, rhe former science teacher chose a dealership service technician job that paid twice as much as a potential university research post. He eventually became an owner, preferring a single-store focus rather than building a chain, His passions include working on sports cars at his Rowan County garage. His son, Andy, owns Durham’s Geer Street Garden restaurant.

Plowing ahead

A revitalized Durham produce wholesaler aims to make organic farmers healthy.

By Chris Roush

Happy Dirt has gotten serious about helping smaller organic farms compete with corporate farming.

e Durham-based fruit and vegetable reseller, which is owned by 16 farmers around the state, has expanded its produce buying with farms as far away as California and Pennsylvania to make its o erings more appealing to food retailers. It changed its name from the staid “Eastern Carolina Organics” and began using bright colors on its boxes to build brand-name recognition.

Additional management has been hired to improve operations, and new sales e orts around food delivery and restaurant chefs have started. e additional pro ts accruing to its smaller farmers are churning into land purchases and upgraded farm equipment.

e result: Happy Dirt revenue has increased by double digits each year since 2019 and is projected to hit $22 million this year. e company now works with 140 di erent farms, up from a dozen in its rst two years. It's now selling to nearly 400 customers.

Last year, 62% of the produce that Happy Dirt sold came from North Carolina farmers, and 88% from farms in the Southeast. “We wanted to rock the produce industry world,” says CEO Sandi Kronick. “We were stuck in not stepping up to the plate the way our markets and sta wanted. We had to get bold.”

Happy Dirt buys produce from the farmers based on market pricing, then sells to retail grocers and other customers. e farmers don't pay a fee and appreciate that another party is handling the logistics of regular delivery. Happy Dirt makes money by slightly marking up the produce.

To be sure, organic growing remains a small part of farming, with $11.2 billion in sales nationwide in 2021, according to the latest available data. at is roughly equivalent to total North Carolina farming revenue for one year.

Happy Dirt has peers in the state, such as Fresh List of Charlotte and Feast Down East in Burgaw. But most are nonpro ts and not showing similar growth.

Organic sales rose 13% countrywide in 2021, while the number of organic farms increased 5%. e growth stems from conventional farmers wanting to make more money and di erentiate themselves.

Government statistics con rm that organic farming results in higher sales. More than half of the state’s 45,100 farms produce less than $10,000 in annual revenue, compared with only 6% of the state’s organic farms. More than 38% of the organically certi ed 335 farms have $500,000-plus in annual revenue, compared with 11% of all N.C. farms.

Oxford farmer Randall Watkins’s revenue has soared more than 1,800% in the past four years working with Happy Dirt.

e 100-acre Watkins Farm, started as a tobacco grower in 1955, now harvests organic Covington and Garnet sweet potatoes.

e third-generation farm makes more money because organic vegetables have a higher pro t margin, Watkins says. He’s bought a packing line, a bagger, a sizer and a tractor-trailer.

On this day, Watkins, 38, and his workers have packed 800, 40-pound cases of sweet potatoes, and his tractor-trailer is headed south to Happy Dirt, which will then sell them to Whole Foods, Sweet Greens and other groceries. “We would not be connected with the customers we have now without Happy Dirt,” says Watkins.

It’s hard to convince some farmers to switch from traditional

farming, but Kronick says Happy Dirt is getting traction. Hiring Randall Diers as president and chief operating o cer in August 2017 helped.

Diers grew up on a Wisconsin dairy farm, later owning a Massage Envy franchise and founding a video-game operation, GameFrog. He was looking for a new venture when he noticed the increasing popularity of organic produce at groceries. As he wrote a business plan, he discovered Kronick and Eastern Carolina Organics.

Kronick realized she needed help. e farmers on the company’s board didn’t want to be involved in oversight and governance, but they “wanted to continue to grow,” she says.

“And it was very easy for me to tell you what was broken. I knew I was not managing well. Randall was perfect for the job. I need help in terms of scaling my passion into an e cient operation.

“He’s a natural at helping people be accountable for their jobs, and how to work on contracts.”

Diers overhauled operations and the name was changed in 2019 with an assist from Raleigh’s e Republik ad agency. Working with its farmers, the company chose Happy Dirt and bright colors — think lime green and sky blue — on the boxes. Farming superheroes such as the Worker Bee and the Love Bug adorn the packaging and the walls in the company’s east Durham headquarters and warehouse.

Randall Watkins is an Oxford farmer working with Happy Dirt.

Happy Dirt founder Sandi Kronick was joined by Randall Diers, president, in 2017.

“We wouldn’t have done that without our farmers and one of our truck drivers at the table,” says Kronick.

Food retailers have noticed. Approximately 55% of what Happy Dirt sells is bought by chains, while about a quarter goes to independent grocers. e top ve sellers are sweet potatoes, greens, squash, cucumbers and broccoli.

e company is also selling to home delivery operations, and a link on its website allows restaurant chefs to place orders. Happy Dirt is moving tenants out of its warehouse because it needs the space.

Last year, Matthews-based Harris Teeter started buying from Happy Dirt for some Triangle-area locations. Since then, the Kroger-owned chain has expanded its Happy Dirt buying into other North Carolina markets. “It has to be at the right pace to support the local business,” says Karin Humanik, senior director of produce merchandising at Harris Teeter. “ at’s one way that we can serve the community.”

Diers and Kronick are now thinking about out-of-state expansion, eyeballing smaller farms in the Midwest and the South. Says Diers: “ ere isn’t any reason why this model can’t work all over.”

ey can point to plenty of success stories, mostly with farms that cover fewer than 500 acres. Randy Massey, owner of M&M

Plant Farms in Elon, has seen his revenue more than double in the past four years.

“With farmers, it’s kind of a badge of honor here that we will always be committed to them,” says Kronick. “We are trying to bring more people into farming and improve the planet and do no harm.”

LESS PRESSURE

Herbie Cottle grows about 30 di erent crops at his 400-acre farm in Duplin County. Revenue has increased by 66% since Happy Dirt’s name change, and he’s bought 60 more acres for his farm, which has been in his family for generations. His greatgrandfather, a former logger, started o by growing strawberries. Cottle owns equity and is a board member.

Cottle switched to organic farming, starting in 2007, because it di erentiated his farm from the huge growers in Georgia and Florida. “In the conventional market, you have to do a lot of volume, and your pro t margin is very small,” he says. “I didn’t want to get into that rat race. Plus, the organics are de nitely better for your soil.”

About 40% of what Cottle grows, including kale, mustard, sweet corn, beets and rutabagas, is sold through Happy Dirt. “ ey take the pressure o me,” he says. “I don’t have to spend

Herbie Cottle in his corn and kale fields. Seasonal pumpkins in the Happy Dirt warehouse.

hours and hours on the phone with buyers. I can focus on growing the crops, which is what I like to do.”

Growing organics is more expensive because farms use more labor. Herbicides can’t be used to eliminate weeds, so they’re pulled by hand. But he notes the higher prices he gets for his crops. “Squash can be quite lucrative.”

Cottle also has helped improve Happy Dirt’s relationship with farmers, a voice that conventional farmers rarely have. Originally, the company would send him an order in the morning and expect a delivery by the afternoon. “If you don’t know until 7 o’clock where to put the guys in the field, you’re behind the eight-ball,” he says. “It was really unrealistic.” Now, he and other farmers get orders a day or two in advance.

Cottle also talked Happy Dirt into decreasing the time between when orders are placed and farmers are paid, and putting farm brands on the boxes, which helps build an identity with the grocers. Kornick invited Cottle to help interview applicants for a sales manager post, providing his first exposure to an essential business endeavor. “I’ve never sat in a job interview in my life,” he told Kronick.

TRUST BUILDER

Kronick is an unlikely choice as an N.C. agriculture change agent. The Long Island, New York native graduated from Ohio’s Oberlin College with a degree in environmental studies, without taking any business classes. She wrote a request to the Carolina Farm Stewardship Organization and received a $48,000 grant in 2004. She then talked to growers at farmers markets and farmers

growing tobacco for Oxford-based Santa Fe Natural Tobacco at its annual meeting. The Fair and Equitable Tobacco Reform Act, which paid tobacco farmers to grow alternate crops, had just passed Congress.

“Not local, not a farmer, a woman,” remembers Kronick. “I knew how little to expect in terms of trust.” Her strategy was to convince them to grow other crops when it wasn’t tobacco season. “They had labor and equipment and this gap in the tobacco season. Their labor was hanging around without much to do.”

In the first year, starting with more than a dozen farms, she sold about $240,000 worth of collards, kale and other vegetables. Sales more than doubled during the following year. Early on, a Whole Foods in Morrisville gave her access to docks, and workers taught her how to use a pallet jack and a forklift.

The first customer was Carrboro-based Weaver Street Market, a co-op that now has four locations and a commissary. “It’s a huge benefit for us because we’re able to source so much local produce from one source without having to buy direct from multiple farms, which is complex and time-consuming,” says Carolyn Twesten, who has been the co-op’s produce merchandiser for 21 years. About 75% of Weaver Street’s produce is organic, and 18% comes from local farmers.

Twesten appreciates how Happy Dirt has expanded its farm base. “If I say, ‘I’d really like to buy from this farm in California,’ they have been able to make that happen.”

That’s the kind of geographic expansion that Happy Dirt believes is its future.

Locations of Happy Dirt's farmer-partners across North Carolina.

MEETING WORKPLACE CHALLENGES

Almost a year since COVID-19 was declared to be no longer a health emergency, employers are still figuring out best practices and pivoting to meet the challenges that came about from the pandemic. They are also addressing work issues unrelated to COVID. Remote work, employee shortages, retention and workplace safety require continually evolving solutions. Leaders from a variety of employment sectors gathered recently to discuss workplace challenges and how they are meeting them.

Photography by Bryan Regan

Doug Blizzard vice president, Catapult Employers Association

Steve Lawler president and ceo, North Carolina Health Care Association

Kenny Locklear assistant vice president. Robeson Community College

Brooks Pierce, Catapult, Gallagher, Tony Pustizzi, NC Healthcare Association, and Robeson Community College sponsored the discussion. It was moderated by Chris Roush, executive editor at Business North Carolina. It was edited for brevity and clarity.

PLEASE INTRODUCE YOURSELF AND SHARE WHAT YOU THINK IS THE NO. 1 WORKPLACE ISSUE.

WOODY: I’m Skip Woody, the area executive vice president with Gallagher. We’re a global risk management company. I think maintaining culture is the No. 1 issue right now.

PUSTIZZI: My name is Tony Pustizzi. I’m a retired police chief, the owner of Four Star Strategies and also a partner for North Carolina Safe Haven Defense. With my background, the biggest

concern these days is security and safety of the employees and the visitors of your buildings.

THALLER-MORAN: I’m Jessi ThallerMoran. I’m a partner at Brooks Pierce law firm. I would say the biggest challenge we see clients facing right now is the patchwork of federal, state and local laws that are not only evolving at all times, but oftentimes in conflict with one another.

LAWLER: I’m Steve Lawler, president and CEO of the North Carolina Health Care Association. All of the things that you mentioned are important right now. For hospitals and health systems, it’s pipeline.

BLIZZARD: I’m Doug Blizzard, chief solutions officer for Catapult. We’re an employer association of 2,000 member companies and we do human resources consulting for them. Retention is the biggest issue right now.

LOCKLEAR: I’m Kenny Locklear, an assistant vice president at Robeson Community College. What we see in our area is that attrition rates are horrible. We see folks coming in to take classes and then they decide it’s not for them or it’s too hard for them.

I WANT TO GO BACK TO WHAT SKIP SAID IN TERMS OF CULTURE.

HOW DO YOU CHANGE THE CULTURE IN AN

ORGANIZATION?

WOODY: A few things can throw it off. Leadership is the most important aspect of creating the right culture. I know that we’ve all heard that expression, “walk the walk, talk the talk.” I think leadership has to do that. If your culture is about being kind to one another, recognizing each other for their unique gifts and talents they bring to the workplace, I think the top of the organization needs to make that part of something they measure and consistently focus on trying to make certain understanding where they belong and how they fit in.

Tony Pustizzi

owner , Four Star Strategies, North Carolina partner, Safe Haven Defense, workplace violence preparedness consulting

Jessi Thaller-Moran partner, Brooks Pierce employment law and litigation attorney

Skip Woody area executive vice president, Gallagher global risk management

SEVERAL OF YOU MENTIONED THAT RETENTION AND KEEPING PEOPLE EMPLOYED IS KEY. HOW IMPORTANT IS CULTURE TO THAT?

WOODY: It’s critical, and it happens one conversation at a time. It’s not a plaque on the wall or a training program. That’s where I think many companies miss it. They might have set their agenda and vision values, but they don’t live it every day. So it’s hard for employees to (become invested) when what they see every day is not what they read on the wall. That’s a recipe for turnover.

LAWLER: In healthcare, it’s practicing what you preach. One of the things about healthcare is it’s super complex with a lot of moving parts. The most important thing about the entire field is that sacred space between a patient and a provider. From an administrative perspective, if what we’re saying is that’s the most important piece, we need to build everything behind that to make sure it supports it. And, it’s visible leadership, reinforcing those traits and those attributes that we hold dear.

BLIZZARD: The workplace today is a lot different than it was 20 years ago,

and culture today has to align with that or you’re gonna have a problem, whatever industry you’re in. We have a member who has 16 work shifts right now. Sixteen. They did that because turnover was 20%. They designed a shift to line up with (many employees’ needs.) For example: “You’re a single parent who needs to work these hours. Oh, you want to work just Friday and Saturday, here’s your shift.” This company now has waiting lists for jobs. It’s hard to administer, and the back end is tough, but it allowed them to brand those shifts to a different kind of employee now and they’d gone from high turnover and delayed production lines and supply chain issues to now having waiting lists for most of their jobs. I’m seeing more employers do that. But from most employers we hear: “We can’t do that. We’re not going to do that.” They struggled to identify with a different kind of workplace.”

HOW MUCH HAS COVID AND WORKING REMOTELY AFFECTED CULTURE AND RETENTION?

LOCKLEAR: Within our organization, COVID actually has helped retention because we moved from a straight face-

to-face world to a remote world very quickly. We saw the value in that. So a lot of our instructors are now teaching online classes. A lot of the classes that were required face-to-face have changed gears to an online platform. That has helped with our retention.

LAWLER: From a healthcare perspective, for the majority of the workforce, remote working is not an option. Through the pandemic we saw a significant shift of individuals who are at the bedside, especially those who were a little older, or those that were new in the workforce just leave (their healthcare position.) A lot of young, talented folks moved into the traveler pool, which created pressures from a cost perspective on workforce for folks who aren’t involved in direct patient care. A lot of hospitals and health systems moved these people to remote or hybrid scenarios. That did a few things. It helped with retention, allowed them to attract new talent and those organizations that were leasing space for back office staff, they were able to shed some of that additional cost. What we’re seeing now in healthcare is a significant number of people left because it was hard. Because of the economy and because we’re not dealing with a hospital full of COVID patients, people are starting to come back now.

WOODY: Some of those remote traveling nurses want a steady job now?

LAWLER: What a lot of hospitals do, just like any other business, with a temporary worker, that’s an opportunity to convert them from being a traveler to being a fulltime employee. You make them feel as a member of the team.

WOODY: I don’t think any of us were very practiced at the remote work environment. We all walked into it, trying to figure it out. I think we’re also all at the spot where we recognize that this is going to stay this way. Some amount of remote work is needed. If I said that we’re 100% in the office all the time, I would have a much smaller pool of people to draw from and I couldn’t run my business. But I think remote work is the enemy of good culture. I think we’re figuring out how you can continue to foster that culture and make people (working remotely) feel appreciated, recognized, wanted and connected.

THALLER-MORAN: Everyone’s talking about the challenges of remote work. We have a workforce that’s now used to this flexibility. There are challenges with having employees in different jurisdictions. If you have an employee in Atlanta and you’re a Raleigh-based business, well, what laws apply to that Atlanta employee? Are you doing their tax withholdings correctly if they’ve set up their own home workstation? What safeguards do you have in place to make sure they’re not giving themselves an issue that will require a chiropractor in the future? Are they logging onto Starbucks’ public WiFi and downloading all of your trade secrets where someone can steal them? It’s certainly an ongoing challenge. As an employer, we have an obligation to provide a safe workplace and that can mean different things under different circumstances. We are getting far fewer questions than we were a year or two ago about things like COVID vaccinations. I think we’re seeing that shift that everyone else has talked about from not just remote work, but

maybe different dialogues around what employees are actually looking for from their employers. From a legal risk standpoint, what we often find is that an employee who feels seen and feels appreciated, is in turn not only less likely to leave, but less likely to find ways that they’ve been legally wronged. This is one big outgrowth of COVID and it will be a long time before we see where the chips fall.

BLIZZARD: We lost some good employees, because initially we wanted to get everyone back to the office and we were not going to guarantee work could be virtual. We lost some good people to some national consulting firms out there. That was a lesson for us. We definitely are seeing there’s still a disconnect between what employees want and what owners will allow. A lot of CEOs are still saying: “I want you back in the office and if you don’t like it, go somewhere else.”

THALLER-MORAN: I’ll throw in one more wild card, which is child care. I

think that’s a much more front-loaded conversation than it was before the pandemic. Part of why we’re seeing employees get bolder about asking for flexible work arrangements is because there is more awareness than there previously was about child care challenges in the U.S.

WHAT ARE THE BIG SAFETY ISSUES AROUND EMPLOYMENT?

PUSTIZZI: Everything that was just mentioned applies now to law enforcement. If you’ve got a department that has good culture, for the most part, they’re still staffed. If you have a department that doesn’t have a stable culture, those officers have moved on. A lot of officers have left because of COVID and a lot of the social injustice stuff that came out. They cannot work remotely. They have to work hours that nobody else wants to work — Sundays, holidays, weekends. So now we see a tremendous loss in the number of officers throughout this country. That is going to substantially impact businesses in terms

of response times (to emergencies.) Not only do you have the concern of staff who have a beef or are upset about being terminated, now they are being told to come back to work in an environment that they don’t want to be in. This affects overall security. There have been over 500 mass shootings (four or more people in this country) so far this year. Those are not just in schools, they are in malls, universities, etc. The concern I have is I want to make sure that the business owners are aware that response times are going to be lacking in a lot of cases, unfortunately. That means that we have to do whatever we can to protect our businesses as much as possible, because the officers will come but it’s going to take them longer to get there.

LAWLER: Good point. Workplace safety is probably the second biggest priority after the workforce perspective. Hospitals and health systems, after the prison system, have the second highest incidence of workplace violence. Primarily, (violence) is not staff against staff. We’re taking care of patients and families and visitors at a difficult time, a time of high stress. With the political

and national tenor right now, things that would have been unacceptable or things that people would not have done in the past, they’re doing them today. Hospitals are all putting in metal detectors. We’re doing risk assessments for every hospital to see their risk level and then taking action (to reduce risk.) That’s another big investment. We talked about the importance of retention, people feeling safe, and feeling that their employer has measures in place to keep them safe helps with retention. Patient and visitor safety are a priority as well.

BLIZZARD: We do 180,000 background checks a year. We’re seeing state after state after state put a lot of restrictions on what (employers) can and cannot do. It would not shock me if five years down the road, it was illegal to do a background check. There are a lot of restrictions now on what you can ask (employees or prospective employees) for various reasons. As an employer, you have a responsibility to provide a safe work environment. One key way you do that is to verify you’re hiring the person someone says they are.

THALLER-MORAN: The corollary of that is we’re seeing a lot of states and municipalities enacting legislation that prohibits private enterprises from restricting firearms on the premises. If you can’t control who’s coming in the door with a gun, there’s a lot of patchwork.

LOCKLEAR: We’re now back to response times, For us, it’s a budget problem. The (security officers) that work for us, they can go elsewhere, and work in a shopping mall and make (much more) money now because of the response times. We’re in competition now. We’re having to raise our pay, which affects our bottom line. We’re seeing that on college campuses across North Carolina. Our students have to be safe, too.

PUSTIZZI: We’re going to see a lot more hiring of specialty security units to staff major businesses. They will be on premise, armed and ready to take out a threat because of the (increased) response times (from police.)

HOW HARD IS IT TODAY TO RECRUIT POTENTIAL WORKERS

GIVEN THE LOW UNEMPLOYMENT RATE NOT JUST IN NORTH CAROLINA, BUT NATIONWIDE?

WOODY: I think a lot of companies have taken a step back and tried to re-evaluate what they’re doing because all that happened with pay. When you end up having to pay every new person, maybe more money than you’re paying a more senior person, you end up with some wage compression, which creates other problems. Businesses knowingly did it because they were desperate to

find people. Then sometimes they found the people who cared the most about money, they didn’t stick around. There was no sense of connectedness. I’m not sure those people were the best people, but we had to have them in order to get the job done. So understanding your pay is really important and making certain you adhere to that compensation strategy, that’s a big step in the right direction. I think most employees want to feel: “I’m paid fairly. I need a little time off. I need some leave.” A lot of companies have focused on adding additional holidays, more paid time off, and personal days. We also need a new way to help new parents connect with their children and also manage that new responsibility in their life. And we need to protect employees from risk. That could be a security risk, but also the risk of death, disability and the high cost of health care. They need that whole package.

HOW DO COMMUNITY COLLEGES FIT INTO TRAINING THE NEXT GENERATION OF WORKERS?

LOCKLEAR: We use professional

development a lot. We’re going through leadership seminars to help grow leaders within our organization. Maybe a math teacher doesn’t want to teach their whole career, but they want to move up to an assistant vice president position or maybe a dean position or even the president. We have the discussion and ask how they feel about where they fit within our organization and their aspirations. We’re trying to grow as leaders.

LAWLER: I’m really encouraged about the future of healthcare in North Carolina. We’ve got some of the best universities and teaching programs that are training young men and women to be nurses, doctors and allied health professionals. We’ve got great community colleges that really are the cornerstone of health care, especially in small communities. I’ve run a hospital where my entire nursing staff was community-college trained nurses. I think our future really depends on how we’re connecting to young people. We talk to them about purpose, about how

healthcare has a purpose and calling that if you want to make a difference. It’s really important to connect to a young man or a young woman in middle school like great athletic programs do. Those coaches are sitting down with parents and grandparents and saying: “If you come here, here’s what we’re going to do for you.” I think (for employers) it’s the same approach, connecting with young people and saying: “You can have an amazing career in healthcare. We’re going to help you navigate through the process. And we’re going to pay for you to go to school. You can stay in your community and be a leader and set an example for others and you’re going to make good money. You’re going to be one of those people that becomes a role model.”

ARE THERE BUSINESSES AND ORGANIZATIONS GOING INTO MIDDLE SCHOOLS AND HIGH SCHOOLS?

LAWLER: We have a handful of hospitals and health systems that are

partnering with school systems and investing in their STEM programs and teacher education and teacher support to build that pipeline.

THALLER-MORAN: This generation entering the workforce is what I call “education by TikTok.” This generation that we’re all trying to recruit into the workforce has much stronger ideas of what they’re looking for in employment coming from a lot more sources than their best buddies in high school. I don’t know if the answer is for us all to get on TikTok or something. It’s an information source that wasn’t there before.

LOCKLEAR: We do go into the school systems to plant those seeds. We started

going into high schools and we evolved to middle schools, and now we’re in elementary schools. We found that we really need to reach them in second or third grade. Ten years ago that was unheard of. This year, six (Robeson Community College) counselors will go out into the school systems.

LAWLER: Another opportunity for North Carolina is we’ve got the third-largest military density in the country. These are people that are highly skilled. They know how to work with teams, they know about leadership. It’s a goldmine for us to be able to spend time at the military bases and start recruiting people because only 17% of the people who serve actually retire. I think, as a state you know, we have to continue to look for ways to fast track education and certificates for those people that are serving.

I’D

LIKE TO END WITH A SOLUTION FROM EVERYBODY ON HOW WE’RE GOING TO SOLVE WORKPLACE ISSUES. WE’VE COME UP WITH ONE SOLUTION OF GETTING INTO THE SCHOOLS EARLIER. WHAT ARE SOME OTHER SOLUTIONS?

BLIZZARD: I think it starts with viewing talent now as a scarce resource. Think of all we’ve been through, whether it’s a shortage of materials or something else, when some part of a company’s process becomes scarce, they’ll move heaven and earth to solve it. (The workforce shortage) is still seen by a lot of people as a societal problem or a human resources problem. I think more companies will view talent as what’s now scarce. It requires the entire leadership team to be doing all the things we’ve talked about and that’s the

solution. Once you get that mindset shift, you will then do what needs to be done.

LAWLER: I’d say expand the pool. I think we have to change the definition of who is a potential good employee and who’s trainable. In many cases, the bar is so high for kids to get into college. We’re seeing folks who have high aptitude and a great attitude, but they may not have high academic scores. They are the ones who get into the workforce and are just crushing it. So I think expanding the pool, changing the definition of who we’re looking for definitely makes an impact on the pipeline (of employees) opportunity.

PUSTIZZI: I would say, just like we see nationally, parents right now are concerned when they drop their children off at school, which should never be the case. We talked about the issue before with child care. But when your children are old enough to go to school, parents still worry about (safety at school.) I think there are things businesses can do to ensure a safety net at each business to make sure that their employees feel safe.

THALLER-MORAN: I’ll say, moving with deliberation. I’m coming from the perspective of legal compliance, as we’re making these pivots to hire new talent and as we’re revamping our policies to keep people engaged in the workplace. Make sure that that’s done with some kind of system and some kind of thought and ideally, maybe talking to a lawyer, so there’s not a lot of cleanup that has to happen on the back end. Because employees are a lot happier when you add perks than when you have to circle back and take them back. ■

Since 1951, UNC Health Johnston has grown alongside our rapidly expanding community. What began as a single hospital has expanded into a fully integrated health care delivery system serving the greater Johnston County community. By providing education and care to all who need it, our team of more than 2,300 employees works every day toward our mission of improving the health of the people in our community.

To increase access to expert care close to home, our teams have multiple locations and means to reach the Johnston County community. Our two hospitals, based in Smithfield and Clayton, offer a wide variety of services, including emergency care, behavioral health and hospice care as well as general and robotassisted surgery, imaging, and specialties such as cardiology, orthopedics and urology.

For community members in need of outpatient care, Johnston Medical Mall offers easy access to a variety of services including oncology, wound care and cardiopulmonary rehabilitation, and primary-care practices. The mall is anchored by HealthQuest Fitness & Wellness Center. For those in need of family, primary and special care providers, our partners at UNC Physicians Network have added more than 20 providers to our network. Our team and partners at UNC Rex have worked together to increase providers in areas such as radiation oncology, heart and vascular, gastroenterology and general surgery, as well as physician coverage that includes hospitalists and specialists.

Tip: The “Find the Doc” tool on our website can help you connect with a provider.

Through our WellnessWorks corporate outreach program, we offer employees flu shots, health screenings and nutritional education programs on site at local businesses.

And for our neighbors on the go, our Mobile Outreach Unit, funded by the Johnston Health Foundation and Duke Endowment, offers free health screenings and tele-health clinics. Our mobile unit is also a part of project CATCH (Community Access for Teen and Child Behavioral Health) and is an access point for virtual behavioral health and psychiatric services to children and adolescents.

Our award-winning team is dedicated to making sure you get the care you need and the compassion you deserve. Over the past several years, our teams have received numerous national awards in patient safety,  heart attack treatment and coronary intervention. UNC Health Johnston is here to provide expert care, close to home - in person at one of our many locations, on the road with our mobile unit or virtually through our tele-health services.

Tommy Williams President and CEO UNC Health Johnston

Novo Nordisk is adding to its already considerable presence in Clayton. The Danish company has purchased 104 acres for $6.8 million adjacent to its huge complex, where two plants currently reside.

SIDE HUSTLE

Johnston County shares a border with Wake County. Its accelerated, diverse growth is making it a player to watch.

Fueled by upswings in manufacturing, new highway construction, multiple education programs and a prosperous agriculture presence, Johnston County is the state’s fastest-growing county.

Clayton, the state’s fastest-growing city and a major player in the pharmaceutical industry, gains five residents per day, according to the Census Bureau. Its population increased 277% from 2000 to 2020.

Smithfield, the county seat and home of Johnston Community College, is 30 miles from Raleigh and a draw for shopping, music, theater and food festivals.

With 234,778 residents, Johnston is the 11th-largest county in North Carolina. Census data shows population overall rose 28% from 2010 to 2020, and 8.7% from 2020 to July 2022, pushing it on a course to make it fifth behind Wake, Mecklenburg, Guilford and Forsyth.

“Johnston is a very diverse county, and when you get along the Wake border, places like Clayton and Cleveland Township, you have a lot of subdivisions and commercial development, pharmaceutical operations, that kind of thing,” says county Extension Director Bryant Spivey. “Then the antithesis of that is a community like Bentonville in the southeastern part of the county, where it’s mostly rural and agrarian in that area. So, there’s a lot of variety.”

Interstate 95 cuts through the center of the county. On its west side, 11 foreignbased manufacturing and medical companies have set up shop.

Novo Nordisk, one of the county’s largest employers and a manufacturer of medicines to fight diabetes and other chronic diseases, has had facilities in Clayton since the1990s.

In June, BioRealty of California announced plans to invest $27 million there for a three-building biosciences

park on 67 acres, starting with a 100,000-square-foot shell building.

And in February, Charlotte-based commercial real estate and investment firm Johnston Flex announced a $20 million commitment to build 42 West Business Park in Clayton with a 125,000-square-foot space near I-40 and the future I-42 interchange.

Global healthcare company Grifols Therapeutics’ Clayton manufacturing facility is Johnston’s third-largest employer, at 1,000-plus.

Caterpillar, the world’s leading manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines and diesel-electric locomotives, employs nearly 500 in Clayton and partners with Johnston Community College for a preapprenticeship program that prepares high school students for manufacturing assembly jobs. Pre-apprentices move into registered apprenticeship jobs and train

32 hours per week while pursuing an associate degree in applied engineering at Johnston Community College.

“Apprenticeship programs are good for businesses because it creates a pipeline of talent for the businesses,” Vic Baluis, Caterpillar’s Clayton facility manager, says in a release. “We get an opportunity to work with these apprentices and provide them the necessary training and awareness of the business processes that we want them to have.”

East of I-95 are 249,000 acres of forestland and 220,000 acres of cropland and pastures, according to local government statistics. Soybeans, corn and tobacco – the top three crops statewide – are grown there, with tobacco accounting for $35 million in gross income on 2,400 farms.

“A lot of that is exported, about 60%,” Spivey says. “We grow the best in the world, and it’s goes to premium brands in China, the European Union and Japan.”

Chris Johnson, director of Johnston County Economic Development, says the county’s mixed bag has one vital ingredient.

“There are six cylinders that work together for our economic engine to run,” Johnson says. “That’s small business, manufacturing, medical, home building, travel and tourism and agriculture. And the fuel to make that run is the education system.”

Classwork

This fall, Johnston Community College enrolled its largest-ever freshman class at 4,803 students, a 10% increase from 2022. Programs such as JoCo Works, BioWork and Early College Academy segue to career options and workforce training.

“Johnston Community College values our partnerships in the region and we look forward to more collaborations in the near future,” says Johnston Community College

Johnston Community College, Johnston County Schools, Novo Nordisk and Grifols team up to offer BioWork certification to high school juniors and seniors.

President Dr. Vern Lindquist. “The heart of what we do is providing access to quality education, which strengthens us all.”

“The passing of a recent, voterapproved $177 million public school bond referendum and the full funding of the school board's requested budget proves the value our county places on education," says County Commission Chair Butch Lawter. “The board further affirmed those values by establishing the Johnston Community College Commissioners Promise Program, which is now providing tuition assistance to eligible students graduating from Johnston County Public Schools. The county also received its first Triple-A bond rating from Standards & Poor’s and Moody's on a recent $30 million school bond sale.”

Early College Academy, a five-year school in which graduates receive a high school diploma and two-year associate degree, opened in 2008 as a partnership between Johnston County Schools and Johnston Community College and is funded by the N.C. Department of Public Instruction. The Academy is by application only and, according to websites, “represents a unique combination of public school and community college collaboration. It is a high school of choice where students are expected to take college classes in addition to high school core courses. Students are expected to continue their education at a four-year college upon graduation. Students eligible to apply for Early College admissions will

successfully complete their eighth-grade year, will be registering for ninth grade at a Johnston County high school and will reside within the Johnston County Schools attendance area. This non-traditional school is specifically for students who have the ability to be high achievers, are capable of doing honors work and can meet high academic standards. Special consideration is given to first-generation college students and under-served students.”

BioWork is a 136-hour, non-credit continuing education path toward entry-level positions as a process technician, according to Johnston Community College. It’s popular with Novo Nordisk and Grifols, which also send employees to the Workforce Development Center in Clayton.

The Center offers specific biopharmaceutical training for local companies in partnership with Johnston County Economic Development, public schools and local pharma industries. According to a Johnston Community College release, “the purpose of the Workforce Development Center is to create an education and training center to support local industries by offering

learning opportunities from elementary through post-secondary in science and biotech, and other areas of economic influence within the county. Currently, the college offers the AAS Bioprocess Technology degree program. The BioWork certificate and other skill training programs are also offered at the Workforce Development Center along with small business seminars and customized corporate and industry courses.”

“It’s all truly a public-private partnership, a collaboration between the economic development office, the county commission, the college and all our biotechnology and pharma companies,” Johnson says. The 30,000-squarefoot center underwent $1.3 million in renovations in 2018.

“When it was built, it had classrooms to the left and right and was more suited to reading of books and traditional lectures. But it’s a completely renovated workspace. You walk in, and it’s just like walking into a pharmaceutical environment. We’re proud of that. You can take that certificate over to Novo Nordisk or Grifols and potentially have a $50,000 to $60,00 income.

“There’s also welding, HVAC, electronics and other fields. We’re hoping to show that you’re always going to continue to learn, and you don’t have to go the four-year route.”

Road work

When the complete 540 highway project is finished, possibly next year, and I-40 is widened from four to eight lanes and U.S. 70 becomes I-42, Johnston will be one of few N.C. counties with three interstates.

Eventually, I-42 will be a 137-mile interstate from Raleigh to Morehead City.

“There really are two transportation projects that are critical,” Johnson says. “The 540 southern loop (on the southeast side of Raleigh) and the widening of I-40 out of Raleigh. The 540 loop will make Johnston County a little closer to Raleigh and other universities. Everyone will be 15 minutes closer to everyone.”

As roadwork merges the two counties’ borders, “The construction of new highways linking Clayton to Wake County strategically positions us to attract businesses and foster economic growth, benefiting both residents and our town's status as an innovation hub,” says Clayton Town Manager Rich Cappola. “As we look to the future, the expansion of the interstate system, including Interstate 42, and the completion of the 540 loop around Raleigh will enhance accessibility and connectivity, bringing more job opportunities and economic growth to our area.”

Highways also will have a residential impact.

“Johnston already is a commuter county,” Johnson says. “We have in our most recent report about 110,000residents/workers in our labor shed, but 65 to 70% leave every day to work elsewhere. So, it’s an opportunity to be closer to Raleigh and other urban corridors where big announcements like Wolfspeed, VinFast and other suppliers and manufacturers and ancillary industries can be supported as well.

“Obviously, the residential will be

The Clayton Bypass (U.S. 70) is a new 10.7-mile, four-lane divided freeway from I-40 to U.S. 70 in Johnston and Wake counties.

attractive, and if we do our job well enough to recruit industries, it will create a denser workforce to where individuals would rather work in their home county. We could be well over 300,000 residents in five years.”

House work

The Johnston-Wake border could gain thousands of residents on the Johnston side by mid-2024.

The Copper District multi-use development of about 300 condominiums and other housing options, plus restaurants, retail and a hotel, billed as “the Triangle’s new front door,” will be at the crossroads of the new I-40/I-540 and Future I-42 connector just outside Clayton. The 300 acres of former farmland, the Penny Farm owned by the local family since the 1930s, will have office space, outdoor dining and a gathering spot called Farmhouse Park.

“The growth that we are experiencing in Clayton has been truly remarkable. We are fortunate to have master-planned housing communities such as Ashcroft, River Mews and Carolina Overlook in the works, which reflect the growing appeal of Clayton as a desirable place to call home,” Cappola says. “The Copper District along N.C. 42 West, in particular, is a game-changing addition, offering an integrated live-work-play environment reminiscent of Raleigh's North Hills as our western gateway into town.

“We're excited about our ongoing commercial and industrial investments, including the Biome biopharma industrial park. These developments not only provide much-needed housing options and retail conveniences but also offer new job opportunities that contribute to our town's diversity and vibrancy.”

Also under construction: The Waterfront District at Flowers Plantation near N.C. 42 adjacent to Clayton is projected to be ready for residents in midto late 2024 and will include restaurants, a hotel and housing options including 312 apartments and about 315 townhomes, according to a WRAL report.

“From my perspective as town manager, I see a wide range of opportunities on the horizon. Opportunities for residents to enjoy diverse live-work-play options, for newcomers to establish roots in Clayton, for active community members to embrace expanded recreational opportunities and for job seekers to find fulfilling careers right here in our town,” Cappola says.

“We need to be going with rooftops and bringing in industry so people don’t have to drive to Wake County,” Lawter says. “At the same time, agriculture is still a growing industry that we have to maintain in the county despite the billions in pharmaceuticals. We have to preserve our farmland.

“The Board of Commissioners has purposefully moved toward an emphasis on quality residential developments. The move to conditional zoning has helped add a better quality of life for residents in communities that are now more focused on promoting walkability, open space and parks. The Copper District in Clayton and the Eastfield development

in Selma tie into our ongoing commitment to the preservation of farmland and open space.”

Working the land

Johnston’s east side supports field crops (tobacco, corn, soybeans), fruits and vegetable fields, livestock farms, agritourism and flower greenhouses.

The county’s 10,000 acres of sweet potatoes gross more than $16 million annually for growers.

“We have a lot of other vegetables, but there are agronomic crops as well,” Spivey says, “as well as nurseries and sod farms with businesses that are serving the growing population in the county with landscaping and that kind of thing.

“In addition, we have a growing agritourism sector in the county for folks who seek to visit farms and purchase products from their local farms, whether it be fresh fruits or vegetables. Some people just come to visit.”

Spivey emphasizes that there is more to farming, and owning a farm, than planting and harvesting crops, or raising livestock.

Aerial view of Clayton, the largest town in Johnston County.

“The community college does a tremendous amount of specific training programs that are not necessarily toward a degree, like QuickBooks, so they can upgrade their skills,” he says. “There’s a wide range of things there and at N.C. State, like an agribusiness degree, or a degree in agronomy or horticulture. You can study animal science, or soil science. There is good training around here for our farms. And the extension office does training for farmworkers.”

Spivey says he lives on a rural road

near several farms. In an article for the Johnston County Visitors Bureau about the N.C. Cooperative Extension, and the tasks facing farm owners and workers, he wrote: “They often fulfill multiple roles of equipment operation, basic farm duties, machinery repairs, truck driving, secretarial or administrative work or even as a foreman for the seasonal workers. Depending on the size and scope of the farm there could be zero to 20, or even more, full-time workers.” And, “When you consider the wage rate,

housing, transportation, and fees, labor is expensive on farms and represents a significant portion of total production cost. Farmers do everything possible to make labor as efficient and easy as possible to minimize costs and keep their workers in good health.”

USDA statistics in 2019 that summarized percentages of full- and part-time jobs in agricultural and food sectors said direct, on-farm employment nationwide accounted for 2.6 million jobs, or 1.3% of U.S. employment.

“Farmers are the salt of the earth, dedicated to the work of feeding people and growing commodities that people need,” he says. “So, when you boil it down, 1.3% of the population is doing the farm work; 1.3% of the population is working to feed us, and this is a profession on which we all depend.”

“Preservation of farmland and open space are integral parts of the Land Use Plan,” Lawter says. “Farms are still the largest economic engine in Johnston County, even with the billions invested in our robust manufacturing industries. We believe both industries are not mutually exclusive and that the county can continue to thrive and be a major economic driver for farming and manufacturing.”

Banks Miniature Horse Farm creates an atmosphere where animals are admired and respected.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF JOHNSTON COUNTY VISITORS BUREAU AND NOVO NORDISK

Novo Nordisk's administration building at its API facility under construction in Clayton.

Making it all work

In November 2020, Johnston County Economic Development released a 16-page report titled “Is the Triangle Ready to Grow with JoCo?” that looked in-depth at:

•Education (the Workforce Development Center, community college and public schools);

•Business recruitment (Grifols, Novo Nordisk, fueling giant OPW and Dollar General, which invested $13 million for a 320,000-square-foot storage facility in Clayton);

•Transportation ($2 billion in local funds dedicated to improving transit including light rail, commuter rail and bus rapid transit; rail use; public transit; and proximity to ports); and

•Housing (Flowers Plantation’s 3,000 acres, 40 neighborhoods and 8,000 homes in Clayton; Portofino’s nature trails and homesites up to 5 acres; and several other mixed-use and 55+ communities).

The EDC adopted its Envision Johnston Comprehensive Land Use Plan in August 2023, which chronicles steering committee meetings, four public forums and four online surveys that netted more than 3,000 responses.

Themes of the 58-page document include recreation (trails, nature preserves), green space (conservation of open space and natural resources), agriculture, housing (affordability, density, etc.), growth impacts and management and provision of infrastructure services.

“The plan was developed through an exhaustive public engagement process, where public input was maintained through online surveys, public forums, and various meetings over the course of 18 months,” Lawter says. “The first components of the plan are already being addressed with the county currently prioritizing land development codes and an update to our comprehensive transportation plan to be implemented in the near future.

“There are plenty of challenges that Johnston County faces, especially because

of our size and the current level of growth we're experiencing. Infrastructure will always be a priority as we diligently plan ahead for the continued growth in our region," Lawter says, “A new wastewater treatment facility is projected to be operational in the third quarter of 2024. The county already has a project under design to expand the new plant, and the expansion will be bid in mid-2024. In addition, we have an existing project under construction to add capacity at the water treatment plant. In order to meet long-term water demands, we have a new water supply source and a water treatment plant planned to be operational by 2030.”

What’s next?

“In the next five years, Clayton and Johnston County will continue to evolve as thriving communities,” Cappola says. “Our long-range strategic plans prioritize a balance between development and preservation, upholding our unique identity as a close-knit town while promoting economic growth and environmental sustainability.

“Anticipating strong population growth, driven by the interest in new residential development opportunities, we foresee expanded commercial growth and the addition of new retail and

With multiple maps, charts and diagrams, the Land Use Plan acknowledges county goals of:

Preservation of farmland, the rural landscape, natural, historic and cultural sites

recreational offerings. This growth will bolster our workforce, supporting existing and emerging industries.”

“The Board of Commissioners,” Lawter says, “understands that infrastructure planning is a big part of what we do and planning for future growth and sustainability will always be a critical part of our mission.”

Johnson says the county’s future will have more young families, more retirees, more commuters and a need for more schools, as Wake County becomes closer.

“We see a ton of new families, but we also see grandparents. The market is changing daily,” he says. “I think the different pockets are being addressed, and the needs are being met. The (November 2020) report has a picture of a small kid wearing big, grown-up clothes. In five years, those clothes will fit nicer and be less baggy. We want to provide the services of the larger communities, but maintain the climate and culture people love. We’re not that far.” ■

Kathy Blake is a writer from eastern North Carolina.

Fiscally efficient growth with less tax burden

A diverse economy supported by a skilled workforce

Housing variety (price, product, location)

Necessary infrastructure

Utility services

Coordination between developers and county offices (local, regional, state)

Improved emergency response

Implementing a shared county vision

Envision Johnston 2040 comprehensive plan

GREEN SHOOTS Revitalizing rural N.C.

HAPPY TRAILS

Outdoor enthusiasts praise support from state lawmakers.

BY KEVIN ELLIS

North Carolina’s spending plan for the next two years includes $54.9 million to advance trails and greenways in mostly rural areas across the Tar Heel State. at’s just what those who pushed for the Year of the Trail in North Carolina campaign wanted, says Palmer McIntyre, coordinator for the Great Trails State Coalition.

“We want to be able to see a lot more trail infrastructure come online across our state,” she adds. Dozens of state organizations, nonpro ts and businesses — including N.C. State Parks, VisitNC and State Employees’ Credit Union — supported the Year of the Trail campaign.

e coalition helped organize trail events and celebrations this year across the state with tieins for local governments and businesses.

People spend $28 billion annually on outdoor recreation in North Carolina, according to the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina. Tourism related to trails, including hiking, biking, equine or paddling, also sustains more than 160,000 North Carolina jobs, Year of the Trail organizers say.

Trail supporters contend that North Carolina lags behind other states in direct

funding for projects. Most past trail funding came from federal dollars administered by local authorities. Smaller communities o en didn’t receive that money, says McIntyre, who works for the Greensboro-based Piedmont Land Conservancy.

“Small towns are at a disadvantage because in order to access federal funds, small cities have to put in a 20% match. A lot of them can’t a ord that,” she says.

e state’s spending plan for trails is divided three ways:

Allocates $25 million over two years into the Great Trails State Program. is competitive grant program, administered by the N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources, provides money for trail development and o ers poorer counties a way to get money to access federal grants.

Directs $24.9 million to 12 trail and greenway projects across the state.

Puts $5 million into a Complete the Trail Fund, which targets trails that cross county lines in the state’s trail system. e fund is marking its 50th anniversary this year.

“It is a boost to tourism,” says McIntyre, “but it’s also a quality of life issue and making our communities just a better place to live.” ■

PROJECTS THAT WILL SHARE IN THE $24.9 MILLION FOR SPECIFIC TRAIL AND GREENWAY PROJECTS ACROSS THE STATE

$12 million to Conserving Carolina to fund development of an almost 20-mile Ecusta Trail between Hendersonville and Brevard.

$4 million to the Columbus Jobs Foundation in Columbus County for a walkway and trail project.

$2.5 million to Camp Grier G5 Trail Collective for trail construction and related improvements at the Grandfather Ranger District of Pisgah National Forest.

$2 million to Shelby in Cleveland County for a Rails to Trails project.

$2 million to Blowing Rock in Watauga County for the Middle Fork Greenway.

$1 million to Cleveland County Water for the Stagecoach Greenway Recreation Trail.

$535,000 to the Burke River Trail Association, which covers parts of Burke County.

$315,000 to Princeton in Johnston County for capital projects and trail construction.

$250,000 to West Jefferson in Ashe County for a public hiking trail on Paddy Mountain.

$200,000 to the Friends of the Overmountain Victory Trail, which covers 225 miles in North Carolina related to the Revolutionary War.

$125,000 to McAdenville for the Carolina Thread Trail.

$40,000 to the Dan River Basin Association for improvements or equipment at the Chinqua-Penn Walking Trail in Reidsville.