North Carolina is well-positioned for strong future economic growth, said Democratic Gov. Josh Stein, after a record year in job announcements — over 33,000 new positions and nearly $23 billion in overall project investments.
Stein said the news builds upon the state’s recognition as the best state in the US for business three times in the past four years, with the latest recognition coming this past July. He also mentioned during a press conference on Wednesday that North Carolina is the third-fastest-growing state in the country.
The governor noted that the state made significant progress in the aerospace, biotech, advanced manufacturing, and electric vehicle sectors, with 16,000 jobs promised in the Triad, 8,000 jobs in the Greater Charlotte area, 4,000 jobs in the Triangle, more than 1,000 jobs in the east, more than 1000 jobs in the Sandhills, and more than 1,000 jobs in the western part of the state.
Among the companies noted was Jet Zero, which promises to create more than 14,500 jobs and invest $4 billion in Guilford County at the Piedmont Triad International Airport, the largest single job project ever announced in the state’s history. Additionally, Scout Motors is relocating its corporate headquarters to Charlotte, bringing 1,200 jobs. Last month, Vulcan Elements announced that it will establish the largest rare earth magnet factory outside of China in Benson, creating 1,000 jobs and investing nearly $1 billion.
In addition, GE Aerospace announced last week that it would expand its site in West Jefferson in Ashe County, creating 44 new jobs and investing $53 million.
Toyota’s first North American electric battery manufacturing plant in Liberty in Randolph County, which opened last month, spans 1,850 acresm and is Toyota’s largest investment in the United States at nearly $14 billion, was also mentioned.
The plant currently has more than 2,500 workers, but the plans are to hire a total of 5,100 employees.
The governor also emphasized that 5,000 jobs have been promised to rural areas of the state, along with $12.5 billion in investments. The Rural Infrastructure Authority has awarded more than $26 million to build up rural economies, especially in western North Carolina, following Hurricane Helene.
“Small businesses are the beating heart of their communities, but 86% of impacted businesses from Hurricane Helene are still earning at or below the pre-storm levels,” Stein said. “We have to keep supporting their recovery. The Small Business Infrastructure Grant Program has enabled local governments to rebuild their downtowns so that locals and tourists can return to those downtown businesses. Whether it’s restoring sidewalks or building sewer systems, these grants help small businesses reopen their doors and serve their customers across the state.”
Nearly $250 million in Broadband Recovery Grants has also been awarded, and the North Carolina Main Street Program has supported economic development and historic preservation in small towns.
Many of the promised jobs come with incentives from the state, including Job Development Investment Grants (JDIG), which do not have a great success rate on businesses following through on their promises to the state. But, as Stein noted, the state doesn’t give the money up front.
“The key thing is when we do incentive packages, the state doesn’t outlay money to the companies unless the companies meet their goals, their investment goals, and their job goals,” he said. “If they don’t, then they don’t get the incentive. Sometimes, we will make an investment in infrastructure to improve a site which the state owns, or the county owns, or the community college owns, so that if, for whatever reason, it doesn’t work out with that one company, that asset remains and remains an attractive inducement to the next company to come down the pike.”
“It’s interesting that Stein addresses the process for what happens when these incentivized projects don’t meet their goals,” said Brian Balfour, senior vice president of research for the John Locke Foundation. “Locke research has found that fewer than half of the promised jobs ever materialize in programs like JDIG. And the clawback provision is not a ‘no harm, no foul’ situation.
Balfour said some of the projects clear out sites that end up sitting abandoned, while others are only partially finished.
“These failed projects nevertheless divert scarce resources like land, steel, cement, and labor from other uses that could have been profitable,” he told CJ. “The result is a more stagnant economy.”
EV interest declines but stein still “bullish” on hybrids
One area of interest that has fallen off is the interest in electric vehicles across the US and in North Carolina. This includes companies like VinFast, the Vietnamese electric vehicle maker, which has delayed opening its proposed factory in Moncure, Chatham County, until 2028. The company reported $910.85 million in losses in the third quarter of this year.
Still, Stein said he is still “bullish” on electric plug-in hybrids.
“Clearly, the market has dipped a little bit; the demand isn’t quite as high as what initial expectations were,” he said. “There’s a great deal of hostility out of the federal government, which makes it a less attractive place for companies to invest. But we were just in Charlotte two weeks ago announcing Scout Motors 1200 job facility headquarters that they’re going to put in downtown Charlotte, and we were, this same day in Randolph County when the first hybrid battery from Toyota went off the line to go into a car being manufactured somewhere else. So, it is happening, and it will continue to happen. It just may not be happening at the same speed that we thought two years ago.”
Tourism and the film industry also growing
Tourism was also noted to be experiencing an upswing, particularly in western North Carolina, which officials at the press conference attributed in part to the Rediscover the Unforgettable campaign, including TV commercials, that have been running. They said they hope another year of the campaign will help get the area back to where it was before Helene, and even better.
Total tourism data for 2025 won’t be available until after the beginning of 2026.
The film industry also appears to be experiencing somewhat of a comeback with a strong workforce in Wilmington and Charlotte, according to officials.
