 
Eastern North Carolina: Open for Business (cover) The Northeast Global TransPark Region The Southeast Resource Guide Request Information North Carolina Dept. of Commerce |
The Global TransPark Region
The regional economic development organization, the Global TransPark Development Commission, is led by Executive Director Thompson H. (Tom) Greenwood. "The quality of life is good here," he says. "It's a good place to raise a family."
"This was a tremendous team effort involving the Global TransPark Commission, Edgecombe County commissioners, the Dept. of Commerce, the Carolinas Gateway Partnership and others," exclaims Oppie N. Jordan, vice president, Edgecombe County Economic Development. "In fact, the Global TransPark Commission loaned our county money to buy the site."
The project began with a call from Deloitte & Touche Fantus consultant Jim Schriner, who indicated that an anonymous client needed 200 to 300 acres (81 to 122 hectares) of land for a facility that would create some 800 jobs.
Local development officials jumped on the opportunity, working through the weekend to get their proposal ready. "By Tuesday morning, we had letters of commitment in their hands," Jordan says.
U.S. Highway 64 is an interstate-quality route, and the QVC site is only six miles (10 km.) from Interstate 95. So the site was ideal, and special incentives made the county's offer even more attractive. But those weren't the most crucial factors.
"It's all about the people when we make a decision to come to a community," says Tom Downs, QVC executive vice president of operations.
Not far away, Wachovia has found the Greenville area (urban pop. 65,000) to be a wise choice for its Dealer Service Center. The bank's Dealer Financial Services Division was created in 1945 to provide financing for auto purchases, and it's now a $5 billion line of business for Wachovia, serving 2,800 auto dealers in the Southeastern United States.
"The bank has had a major presence in Eastern North Carolina for years. At one point, we had 21 full-service offices in North Carolina to support the business," says Senior Vice President Robert E. Earnhardt. "But a few years ago, we saw the need to consolidate the operations. We were faced with increasing competition, including low rates."
Wachovia began its consolidation into Greenville in 1993 with 210 people. Earnhardt relocated from Winston- Salem in 1996, and the company soon began building a 120,000-sq.-ft. (11,100-sq.-m.) facility in suburban Winterville. Employment has jumped to 550, and payroll has more than doubled.
"Had we elected to stay the way we were, we probably would not be in business today," Earnhardt ventures. "This was a strategic move we had to make, and our expenses have been greatly reduced. The success we've enjoyed is due to the support of the community and the people here. It's been a great, great success story for us."
Greenville's large student population has been a particularly good match for Wachovia's work-force requirements. "We use a lot of temporary, peak-time and part-time help, so the college, community college, and a great high school program help us tremendously," Earnhardt says. "About 25 to 30 percent of our employees work part time."
Greenville's East Carolina University alone has about 18,000 students. "And when you consider all the schools here, Greenville has the equivalent of about 25,000 full-time students," says John D. Chaffee, executive director of the Pitt County Development Commission.
In Craven County, German industrial concern Robert Bosch has operated power tool manufacturing facilities since 1980. The company bought a 140,000-sq.-ft. (13,500-sq.-m.) building site previously owned by a competitor -- Stanley Power Tools. Bosch has expanded by building two additional buildings on the site.
"Bosch needed to get a complete line of tools -- both industrial and consumer -- to compete in the overall market in the USA," explains Charles "Chuck" Dale, Manager, Human Resources. "At that time, we were not a dominant player in the U.S. market, but Bosch was No. 1 in the worldwide market. Today we are No. 2 in the U.S. market, and still No. 1 in the worldwide market. We chose this site mainly because of the product line from Stanley and the area work force."
A few years ago, Bosch began downsizing its North Carolina power tool operation. But a recent strategic move from the home base in Germany has given the facility a new lease on life. "The company decided to build appliances in the United States," Dale explains. "It looked in other states and North Carolina before choosing to build them here at this facility as BSH Home Appliance Corp., part of the Bosch-Siemens Home Appliance Group. The appliance business will take over the work force we have here, and the Power Tool Division will move to other places. It's a win-win for both the power tool group and the appliance group. We expect to grow significantly here, and we're up to over 550 associates."
According to Dale, Bosch has only good things to say about its experiences in North Carolina. "We have had some very good partnerships with the government and the community college. For example, we needed an expansion of Highway 55, and the state Dept. of Transportation was able to handle that for us."
In fact, the firm is considering turning its Craven County facilities into a home appliances park, which would involve building new factories to produce cooking appliances, and perhaps laundry and other products as well.
In Kinston, home of the Global TransPark, a 525,000-sq.-ft. (48,800-sq.-m.) former tobacco plant was just the ticket for MasterBrand Cabinets, which needed a large facility.
“Our key location factors were labor availability, labor quality (including a strong work ethic), a large building that we could get into quickly, the education system -- especially training -- and the community overall,” says Dr. Bill Fortney, general manager of the Kinston plant. MasterBrands was assisted in its site search by consulting firm The Walker Companies.
MasterBrands offers customers a wide range of cabinets, everything from read-to-assemble products to semi-custom cabinets used in very expensive homes. The firm also sells directly to large builders.
“They’ve made a showcase out of the facility,” says Ronald D. Baker, executive director of the Lenoir County Economic Development Dept. “We’re now bringing a rail spur to the site.”
Fortney says the Kinston work force has learned quickly. “We hope to go to a second shift soon, and we’d like to eventually add a laminating operation.”
Baker, who’s led Lenoir County’s development efforts for the past 16 years, says the area’s ample labor availability is strengthened by the tremendous military presence in Eastern North Carolina at Fort Bragg (see sidebar article), Pope Air Force Base and Camp Lejeune. “If you can keep a tank or a helicopter running, you’re the kind of skilled worker today’s employers are looking for,” he explains.
The North Carolina Global TransPark is a unique multimodal business center designed to support manufacturing, distribution, agribusiness and transportation-related companies. The site will fully integrate air, rail, road and nearby ocean transportation capabilities to serve the logistics requirements of industrial and distribution tenants.
In other words, if your expansion plans call for a new facility in the U.S. East or Southeast in which multimodal transportation access is crucial, you’ll want to investigate the TransPark, which promises to become a standout site in the not-too-distant future.
“Business leaders I meet with from around the world get excited when we start talking about putting manufacturers right on the runway and giving them links to the interstates, ports and rail lines and linking everything together in . . . a seamless environment,” says Gov. James B. Hunt, chairman of the Global TransPark Authority. “They know this is the direction the world is headed, and they know they need the kind of infrastructure the Global TransPark will offer.”
The state studied the feasibility of the Global TransPark and invested in the concept, reports retired U.S. Coast Guard Rear Admiral Paul E. Busick, president and executive director of the Global TransPark Authority. “It was estimated that eight years after completion of the TransPark, some 55,000 jobs would be created in and around the site,” he says. “Other studies have since supported the validity of that estimate.”
Final environmental permits are in place for the TransPark, which might eventually cover as many as 15,000 acres (6,075 hectares). “But we have the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers permit to develop 5,775 acres (2,339 hectares) immediately,” Busick says. “That much land is ready today.”
New roads are being built all around the TransPark, some of them interstate quality, at a cost of US$104 million. “We’ll have a fast four-lane highway to the port at Morehead City,” Busick says. The TransPark also features two sources of electrical power and redundant fiber optics.
A $6 million Education and Training Center recently opened, which was developed and geared specifically for industry. But officials say it will also be the top facility in the region, if not the state, for distance learning.
©2000 Conway Data, Inc. All rights reserved. SiteNet data is from many sources and is not warranted to be accurate or current.
|
A few miles south is the Global TransPark Region, a 13-county area anchored by the North Carolina Global TransPark, a multimodal site in Kinston with tremendous potential (see sidebar article).
Key infrastructure improvements are under way at the site, which includes the former Kinston Regional Jetport. “The runway is currently 8,600 ft. (2,621 m.),” Busick reports. “It’s the longest in Eastern North Carolina. We are currently expanding it to at least 10,600 ft. (3,231 m.), and it might be as long as 11,500 ft. (3,505 m.). Work will be completed in about 18 months.”