If you’re looking to do business in North Carolina, it’s time to head to North Carolina. If you’re already here – we’ve got some great news. According to Site Selection’s rankings of best climates for business, North Carolina has tied Georgia for the number one spot in 2020 based on its culture of “certainty and predictability.”
In order to win this ranking, 50% was based on a survey of corporate real-estate executives and 50% came from an index of seven criteria using data in the Conway Projects database with a data cutoff of 2019.
This is North Carolina’s first time in seven years to stand alongside Georgia as a top contender. Since 2015, North Carolina has taken the runner-up spot every year behind Georgia. Until 2020 – that is.
Site Selection’s editor-in-chief Mark Arend said, “North Carolina is a consistently strong performer in this ranking and has demonstrated once again that it has the business-climate attributes it takes to reach first place.”
Because capital investment decisions are long term, the pandemic didn’t play a large role in the rankings, but it was kept in mind when looking at how businesses have recovered and sustained themselves throughout the year.
Minor setbacks in North Carolina came back in 2016 when House Bill 2 (HB2) was introduced, being known foremost for requiring transgender people to use restrooms, locker rooms and showers at schools and government buildings corresponding to the sex on their birth certificates, rather than the gender with which they identify. As a result, many corporations chose to pull out of economic-development projects or completely eliminate North Carolina from consideration in the first place. Thanks to the Cooper Administration repealing HB2, North Carolina has catapulted itself back into a state of stability and predictability.
North Carolina’s Research Triangle Park (RTP) continues to attract the types of businesses that want to establish headquarters in the Raleigh-Durham area, and that’s not expected to slow down. Known as the second university research park of its kind in America, it has become one of the top sites for commercialized technology. Since then, many cities have replicated the RTP’s model as a result of its incredible successes benefiting the local communities, attracting more businesses, and pushing the needle for innovation.
Because of RTP, the growth of average incomes across the Triangle has continued to boom. By attracting businesses of similar technological, healthcare, education, and scientific fields to RTP, this has resulted in a more educated population. More educated people lead to higher salaries.
With all of the successes in the business sector of North Carolina, it only makes sense for the housing sector to follow suit. If you think it’s a good time to establish roots in the Triangle area, make sure to check our website to see all of the amazing communities with new homes for sale right now.
There’s no greater time than now to invest in Triangle real estate.
By Kendra Stowe