Independent. Informative. Intelligent.

Economic Development

Chamber water report calls for regional planning

North Carolina’s water-resources planning has considerable strengths, but to keep it a plus factor in the state’s business-recruiting wars, officials need to bolster it, a new report from the NC Chamber contends. Among other things, planners need better data and to make it more widely available. That’s a problem because...

By Ray Gronberg

November 19, 2025

The Rise Cos. exiting hemp business

A prominent N.C. hemp business is on the block, in part because of new federal legislation that drastically tightens the amount of THC hemp-derived products can contain. The Rise Cos. CEO Harry Smith said the investment firm will sell or close its hemp business, Asterra Labs, by the end of...

By Ray Gronberg

November 18, 2025

NCSU seeks OK for semiconductor degree

UNC’s Board of Governors meets this week to address a docket that includes an NC State proposal to launch a new master’s degree in wide-bandgap semiconductors. Campus officials at State say they expect the program to ramp up over time, with a target of serving 26 students in its fifth...

By Ray Gronberg

November 17, 2025

Scout HQ decision sparking criticism in S.C.

One state’s business-recruiting win is another’s nascent political issue, judging from reaction of a South Carolina gubernatorial candidate. U.S. Rep. Ralph Norman, R-5th, took to Twitter recently to complain about “crony capitalism” after Scout Motors announced that it would place its corporate headquarters in Charlotte. The Volkswagen EV startup is...

By Ray Gronberg

November 17, 2025

New Congress, new Lumbee bill

The late-hours attempt to push federal recognition of the Lumbee through the 118th Congress in December having come up short, it’s try, try again for North Carolina’s delegation in the 119th Congress. U.S. Sens. Thom Tillis and Ted Budd and eight House members from North Carolina are again introducing the...

By Ray Gronberg

January 17, 2025

Charlotte, upstream communities at odds over the Catawba

There’s a water-rights battle shaping up in the Catawba River basin that may generate a push for legislative intervention during this year’s long session of the General Assembly. Charlotte’s water system is preparing to ask the state Environmental Management Commission to nearly double the maximum amount of water it can...

By Ray Gronberg

January 17, 2025

Wanted: the definition of “surrounding”

North Carolina’s Supreme Court handed down a decision in a charter-school case last week that could have implications for how the majority handles other land-use disputes. Ruling for a company called Schooldev East, the court’s 5-2 Republican majority found that officials in Wake Forest overstepped back in 2020 when it...

By Ray Gronberg

December 18, 2024

State lands furniture and wire makers

State recruiters on Tuesday rolled out two more incentive packages that they hope will between them facilitate the creation of at least 583 new jobs and $244.6 million in new corporate investment. One of deals targets a furniture factory that a Lithuanian company, SBA Home, proposes to build in Mocksville....

By Ray Gronberg

December 18, 2024

Pless still undecided on SB 382 veto override

Rep. Mark Pless, R-Haywood, one of the GOP mountain-county dissenters from last month’s House vote on Senate Bill 382, reiterated this week that’s he’s going to wait until the last minute to decide whether or not he’ll vote to override Gov. Roy Cooper’s veto of the bill. “I guess I’ll...

By Ray Gronberg

December 10, 2024

Sasser to NCInnovation

Outgoing Rep. Wayne Sasser, R-Stanly, will be joining the board of NCInnovation via an appointments bill legislators passed just before the Thanksgiving holiday. Sasser will become one of the House’s four appointees to the board. The Albemarle pharmacist, 74, replaces Beth Friedrich, a former aide to outgoing Speaker Tim Moore...

By Ray Gronberg

December 4, 2024

Randolph County falls in updated county tier rankings

The state Commerce Department’s annual update of county tier rankings of economic distress is out, and as always, there are a number of moves up and down the list. Two of the 18 tier changes struck us as particularly notable: Randolph County’s slide to Tier 1 (the 40 most-distressed counties)...

By Ray Gronberg

December 4, 2024