Triangle lands record $1.9B in business projects

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. – Believe it or not, Triangle, the region is still drawing new businesses, corporate expansions and jobs. So many, in fact, that Charles Hayes, chief executive officer of the Research Triangle Regional Partnership didn’t believe the latest data.

“It shocked me,” Hayes said of the 2009 report prepared by his staff in an interview with Local Tech Wire and WRAL.com. “In fact, I asked them to do it again because I didn’t believe them!”

The numbers are fact, not fiction, and are a record:

• $1.9 billion in new projects or expansions in the Triangle proper and surrounding counties

• More than 10,000 jobs.

The total in project dollars broke the investment/expansion record of $1.4 billion announced projects in 2008. The jobs announcements exceeded the 6,000 announced in 2008 and the 8,600 disclosed in 2007.

All the good news came despite a global recession and a soaring unemployment rate in North Carolina that’s well above the national average.

“It’s amazing, isn’t it,” Hayes asked.

Of course, he noted, announcements don’t always mean foundations, plants and jobs since “Companies change their minds."

But Hayes, whose group champions the region's economic development, also pointed out that “the news here is we have a lot of growth in the pipeline” and the same is true for 2010. Prospects are very good with he and his staff working on scores of potential deals.

“Right now we have 45 active projects that represent $1.4 billion of new investments if they all were to locate here, and they won’t,” he said. “But this could be another 10,000 jobs.

“Again, we have a good pipeline.”

Why in such a dire economic climate? Hayes admits asking himself the same thing but then he points out several reasons.

“2009 was one of the worst years, and the recession is certainly the worst since the great Depression,” he said, “but I don’t think we live in the real world.”

He cited such factors of 44 percent of residents have college degrees, the economic climate overall with high-tech and life science firms in abundance, the region’s unverisities, the climate and quality of life.

In other words, the triangle remains a hot place to be.

Hayes will deliver a more in-depth report at the regional partnership’s annual briefing on May 27.

Some of the highlights that the group compiled for a newsletter being delivered Friday include:

• EMC Corporation, Durham County, $280 million new investment, 290 jobs.

• Talecris Biotherapeutics, Johnston County, $269 million expansion, 259 jobs.

• SAS, Wake County, $70 million expansion.

• Shalag Industries, Granville County, $17 million new investment, 72 jobs.

• Deutsche Bank Global Technology, Wake County, $6.7 million new investment, 319 jobs.

• North American Aerodynamics Inc., Person County, $900,000 expansion, 375 jobs.

Hayes pointed out that a big portion of the $1.9 billion figure is a $700 million plan by Duke’s medical system for a massive expansion. “That is coming from an existing business, but they didn’t announce it the year before and the numbers are the numbers,” he explained. “That [Duke news] shows the strength of your existing fabric of business and also shows the strength of the region in the healthcare industry.

“With UNC hospitals, WakeMed and others, we are a health Mecca.”

And overall, the region’s economic health is substantially better than many other parts of the country – well, make that the world.

And more............

Cary Start up to Provide Wireless Service to Super Bowl

CARY, N.C. - Founded less than a year ago, Cary-based Signal Share will provide a wireless Internet connection to the crowds attending Super Bowl XLIV in Miami next month.

Partners Allen Cook and Joe Costanzo met last summer while trying to set up a wireless Internet system at a Toronto music festival. Although the festival was canceled, the pair forged ahead with an idea to bring free, ad-supported Wi-Fi to public events and formed Signal Share.

The company debuted at September's NFL Kickoff in Pittsburgh, and it also provided Wi-Fi access at two North Carolina State University football games and the U2 concert at Carter-Finley Stadium last fall.

Tailgaters took notice, Costanzo said.

"You can stream videos (and) stream music. All those things are now available from the back of your car," he said.

With a few Wi-Fi transmitters, Signal Share will allow the tens of thousands of people at the Super Bowl who have laptops or smart phones to get online more easily. Putting all that Internet traffic on a separate network also means cell phones will work better in the big crowd, the partners said.

The Signal Share system also will let sponsors get a close look at what fans want from the Web, he said.

In a world where everyone's looking for a Wi-Fi hot spot, Cook said the company offers a valuable service.

"We can typically offer speeds much better than a 3G network at its best, which makes for a better user experience," he said.

With several successful events under their belt, the partners say business is taking off. They plan to bring their service to more Atlantic Coast Conference football games next fall.

"(We'll do) big events, big concerts. If there's over 30,000 people, expect to start seeing Signal Share," Costanzo said.

David Price, speaking today at the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Chamber of Commerce 2009 Annual Meeting announced that NC is to get $545M for high-speed rail to improve the rail between Raleigh and Charlotte.

The money will go towards upgrading the tracks, increasing the speeds up to 90 mph (still slower than Europe but an improvement for sure!) and doubling the number of round trips.

In addition to that award, President Obama plans to announce $25 improvements from Raleigh to Richmond!  For those of us that travel to the Charlotte or DC areas, this will provide an excellent alternative to the hectic drive!

For more details go to:

http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/6903052/

When I meet with buyers looking for a home, my first visit with them will include some counseling about the types of properties available for sale in our area. 

1. Traditional resales
2. New home construction
3. Short Sales

I will explain the process with each type of sale.  When we cover short sales, I'll go over my list of questions that I will ask any listing agent prior to showing a short sale listing and explain the reasons for each question and I'll obtain the buyers approval to eliminate Short Sale listings based on my findings so we're not wasting time. 

I will tell you that buyers agree 100% of the time.  Buyers do not want to sit around waiting on a short sale that's not going to close and loose the opportunity to find one that will.

Here are a few questions I ask any short sale listing agent (and another reason why listing agents should be responding to inquiries in a timely manner.  If they don't respond...I don't show).

1. Do you have any offers?
2. Have you submitted any offers to the lender(s)?
3. How many offers will you be submitting to the lender(s)? If it's more than one, the interview is over and I'm moving on to the next property.
4. Have you prequalified the seller and do they have a hardship?
5. Have you reviewed their financials and do they have an income shortfall?
6. Have you verified the parties on the Title and Deed?
7. What stage of foreclosure is the property in?
8. How many lenders are involved?

The answers to these questions will determine whether or not we'll look at the property. Some of the answers will give me an idea of how long the process will take and depending on how long my buyer is willing to wait, whether or not we'll look at the property. 

The answers will also be a very good indicator of whether or not the listing agent knows what he/she is doing.  I'm willing to help a listing agent along, if certain criteria are met, but if the agent has not done their homework, they've just flunked my interview and we're moving on.

Kiplingers Review Finds UNC Chapel Hill & NC State in Top 10 of the 100 best values in public colleges and universities......

The economy may be recovering, but the effects of the recession continue to buffet the nation’s public colleges and universities. State governments, coping with shrunken tax revenues and an overwhelming demand for services, have cut funding for higher education. Universities that once relied on the income from fat endowments have yet to recoup multimillion-dollar losses to their portfolios. Families continue to apply for financial aid in record numbers. Meanwhile, enrollment at state institutions has spiked as more students go public and more people overall seek college degrees.

The schools in our top 100 best values in public colleges and universities -- led by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for overall value and by Binghamton University (SUNY) for out-of-state value -- continue to deliver strong academics at reasonable prices, in many cases by offering the same or more financial aid as in previous years. But no one can say that it has been easy.

UNC -- still the one

Chapel Hill, a consistent winner of Kiplinger’s top honors, maintains its lofty spot in our tables in part for its ability to attract and keep highflying students. Three-fourths or more of its incoming freshmen scored higher than 600 on both the verbal and math portions of their SATs, and almost all -- 96.5% -- stay on after freshman year. This year, Chapel Hill fielded more than 23,000 applications and admitted about 7,400, giving it a competitive 32% admission rate. Almost 20% of the admitted students were the first in their families to attend college.

Besides boasting top students, an outstanding faculty and a historic campus, Chapel Hill enjoys one big advantage over many other public schools: strong state support for financial aid. “Our aid money from the state has grown significantly over the past few years,” says Ort. Although funding was trimmed a bit in the current academic year, she says, “we were still in an improved spot over the previous year.” That support has enabled UNC to protect its financial-aid budget and to maintain its policy of minimizing or eliminating loans from the financial-aid packages for families with need.

Still, financial-aid applications at Chapel Hill jumped 17% this year over last year’s number, which rose 13% over the previous year. Despite the demand, UNC plans to meet the need of every student who walks through its doors, says Thorp. “We’re not going to back away from our traditions in financial aid.”

NC State Moves up from 12 to #10 Position!

And to continue with excellent local public Universities, NC State has grabbed the #10 position!  Outstanding public education, excellent medical care, moderate climate as well as cost of living, makes The Triangle Area a Great Place to call Home!