Regional Business Reports

Greensboro
Lease Signing Brings FedEx Closer to Takeoff
F. Hudnall Christopher Jr., chairman of the Piedmont Triad Airport Authority, calls the signing this fall of a lease agreement between the authority and FedEx “a momentous day for both the airport and the Triad.” The two parties sealed their deal to build the Mid-Atlantic cargo hub at Piedmont Triad International Airport after the authority voted 6-0 to approve the 25-year deal.

It’s been a long process for everyone. FedEx picked PTI in April 1998 as the site of a regional sorting hub that would primarily be used to move cargo through the eastern United States. “This project has received exhaustive public scrutiny for more than four years,” Christopher says. “I cannot remember a project that received more coverage in the press or that was debated in more public forums than this one.”

Legal action still looms on the horizon. “Our timetable has yet to be determined because there are some variables out there such as pending legal action that have to be resolved and some permits that are still outstanding,” says Pam Roberson, a senior communications specialist for FedEx. “But this is a very significant step in the process — the airport authority approving the lease — of moving this project forward.”

The lease specifies that the airport will build a 9,000-foot runway, clear and grade the 170-acre site for the new hub and relocate a section of nearby Bryan Boulevard. According to Christopher, that will cost about $200 million and will be provided by the FAA, the North Carolina Department of Transportation and the airport authority. Total spending for the entire project, including $300 million from FedEx, will exceed $500 million.

The FAA has projected that the facility will generate more than 16,000 new jobs either directly or indirectly in the next 16 years and that the economic impact of the hub will be $7.5 billion.

And what’s the latest projection from FedEx for when the hub will in operation? “The lease states that we have to have the facility up and running by June 2009,” Roberson says. “We are saying sometime after 2006. We just don’t have a specific start time yet.” -- Jim Buice


Salisbury
Old Manufacturing Plant Grabs a Concrete Future
In the midst of a tough economy for manufacturers, Rowan County has managed to sell its largest vacant industrial building and welcome a new industry that may grow to 100 employees. Superior Walls Systems, an Oxford, N.C.-based maker of pre-cast concrete wall panels, is moving its headquarters to Rowan County and opening a $2 million plant. Superior Walls Systems was on track to start production by Nov. 1 in the former Federal-Mogul Corp. building near Salisbury. Superior will begin operations with 15 employees.

“They are not a large employer but in today’s economy any new business announcement is a good announcement,” says Randy Harrell, executive director of the Salisbury-Rowan Economic Development Commission.

The 107,000-square-foot building on U.S. 29/601 at the airport will allow Superior to nearly triple the size of its production facilities. The company’s existing plant in Oxford will remain open. The deal takes one of Rowan’s largest vacant industrial buildings off the market, says Harrell. Federal-Mogul closed in December 2000 after laying off its 180 employees.  -- Laura Williams-Tracy


RTP
Ingram's GSK Retirement Weakens Park's Clout
Robert Ingram, the No. 2 executive at GlaxoSmithKline and perhaps the most visible pharmaceutical industry leader in the Triangle, is retiring at the end of this year. He turns 60 this month, the mandatory retirement age for GSK executives.

Ingram, the former CEO of London-based Glaxo Wellcome, was named COO and president of worldwide pharmaceutical operations after Glaxo merged with SmithKline Beecham nearly two years ago. David Stout, now president of the U.S. pharmaceuticals business, will replace Ingram as president of worldwide pharmaceuticals. Ingram will continue to work with the company as part-time vice chairman and special adviser.

“I think Bob is one of the most outstanding pharmaceutical executives in the United States,” John Plachetka, chief executive of Durham pharmaceutical company Pozen, told the News & Observer of Raleigh. “He is so well known and well respected — not just in our industry but in Washington.”

Unlike Ingram, whose office is in RTP, Stout, 48, will move to Philadelphia when he assumes control. Stout hails from the SmithKline Beecham side of the business and was based in Philadelphia before being named to his current position in January 2001.

Stout’s successor as head of the U.S. pharmaceuticals business will be Christopher Viehbacher. The current president of pharmaceuticals in Europe, Viehbacher will move from Paris to RTP. The COO’s position being vacated by Ingram won’t be filled at present.

Ingram, who began his pharmaceutical career as a sales rep, has earned praise for being an effective advocate for GSK and the industry in Washington, and he also has developed a relationship with President Bush and his family. At a black-tie GOP fund-raiser held in Washington in June that netted about $30 million, Ingram was called upon to offer the presidential toast. In recognition of Ingram’s Washington clout, he will remain GSK’s representative on the board of the industry trade group, Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers’ Association, following his retirement.   — Kevin Brafford


Winston-Salem
CVB Finds a New Home Inside an Old Cotton Mill
When the Winston-Salem Convention and Visitors Bureau started looking for a place to relocate, the former Darryl’s restaurant at historic Brookstown Mill seemed a natural fit. “We decided on the location primarily because it made terrific sense,” says Robert McCoy, president of the Winston-Salem CVB. “The historic nature of the former mill building really speaks to our mission. Moreover, it speaks to the essence of Winston-Salem — solid, steeped in history and heritage, built by the wealthy as a southern Mecca for the arts and the spinoff benefits for local citizens that their fortunes created in terms of manufacturing, banking, (and) agriculture.”

The refurbished mid-19th century cotton mill will be ready this month as the CVB prepares to join the Winston-Salem Visitors Center under the same roof. The two groups have been operating in separate locations since 1990.

The old cotton mill has been vacant since 2000 when Darryl’s closed. The new location for the merged units and 26 employees is just a few blocks south of downtown near Business I-40 and Old Salem. The historic 71-room Brookstown Inn is in the same complex.

“The building’s location is key to our commitment,” says McCoy, who added he expects about 10,000 visitors to come through annually. He says the Visitors Center will be on the main level of the three-level structure, which retains the old boiler in the middle of the old main dining room at Darryl’s. “It provides a strong focal point,” McCoy says.

The considerable wall space will feature rotating student art exhibitions from university art departments, and a professional photo exhibit is planned. A retail shop, including an ice cream parlor, also is in the works.    — Jim Buice


Charlotte
SouthPark Finishes Makeover Just in Time for the Holidays
SouthPark, a mall that serves as Charlotte’s premier shopping destination, has the equivalent of a fancy new holiday sweater to show off in time for the biggest shopping season of the year.  The initial phase of the mall’s planned $100 million expansion and renovation is ready for the holiday rush. Already the mall’s interior has been refurbished and several new tenant spaces, including new restaurants, will be ready.

Belk Inc. celebrated the official reopening of its flagship store at SouthPark in October with the unveiling of a $34 million renovation and expansion. The south Charlotte store is now 329,000 square feet, making it the largest of the 215 stores in the Belk chain. The expansion made it possible to expand merchandise offerings in nearly every department.

Two new national restaurants are planned for SouthPark’s redesigned mall entrance: The Cheesecake Factory will open in 11,000 square feet early this month, and Maggiano’s Little Italy will open in 18,000 square feet in the spring. New spaces for A Sharper Image, Water Water Everywhere and Starbucks will open soon.

The mall’s growth will continue through next year. By March 2004, Nordstrom’s is expected to open its new 140,000-square-foot store, and another yet-to-be-named major tenant is negotiating with the mall, says SouthPark general manager Randy Thomas.

Another 100,000 square feet of smaller shop space and mall offices is also under construction. That new wing will start to open by November of next year.         

Many in the department store industry are approaching the holiday shopping season with trepidation as consumer confidence has fallen to decade-old lows and department stores continue to lose ground to big-box discount stores. And the holiday shopping season — the time between Thanksgiving and Dec. 25 — contains one fewer weekend than last year.

But mall officials are optimistic. “I certainly can see and hear from our merchants that as we clean up from the construction that sales have been stronger,” says Thomas.   — Laura Williams-Tracy


Raleigh
Lawyer Makes Reform Top Priority as ABA President
As if he didn’t already have plenty to do, Kilpatrick Stockton attorney A.P. Carlton Jr. has assumed the reins of a one-year presidency of the American Bar Association — only the second North Carolinian to ever lead the ABA. Carlton, a Greensboro native who’s a partner in Kilpatrick Stockton’s Raleigh office, has been active in the ABA for more than two decades, holding a series of  leadership positions, including chairman of the policy-making ABA House of Delegates.

Carlton already is hard at work on his main initiatives in leading the organization, which boasts of more than 400,000 lawyers nationwide: judicial independence and election reform. “The only constituency a judge has is the due process of law, the rule of law,” says Carlton. “They’re not there to represent political parties or business interests, and I want to lead the ABA in efforts to protect that responsibility for judges.”

At 54, Carlton already has had a distinguished career in corporate law, yet he still looks forward to the challenge of leading the ABA while remaining a practicing attorney. “I’ll be busy,” he says, “but it would be awful for the ABA to have a president who didn’t practice law.”   — Ellen Musante-Saba


Johnston County
County Creates a Training Center to Supply Life Sciences Workers
Most communities are aware of the close linkage between a supply of well-skilled workers and future prosperity, and Johnston County is doing something about it. The county’s board of commissioners recently voted unanimously to approve a funding measure that will drive the construction of state-of-the-art workforce development center.

The facility, which will cost between $3 million and $4 million, will likely be built on a 28-acre site in Clayton currently owned by Novo Nordisk, a Danish biopharmaceutical firm whose local insulin production plant employs 350. The company is one of three life sciences firms in the county that have requested help from state and local leaders in improving the pipeline of skilled workers.

“We see the training center cutting three months off the process of providing rudimentary training for new hires,” explains John Pratt, Novo’s vice president of operations, who says the process of getting new employees ready to work currently takes as long as nine months.

“This as a unique partnership between education and the business community” says Jim Causby, superintendent of Johnston County Public Schools, who envisions the center playing a key role in new curricular options for local students interested in biopharma careers. The site will also be home to “BioWorks,” an existing 128-hour community college certification, as well as required courses leading to Johnston Community College’s associate’s degrees in pre-chemistry and related disciplines. Discussions are under way with officials at N.C. State University and N.C. A&T University to offer the last two years of a B.S. program in chemistry.

The project, which had quietly been in the planning stages for nearly a year, will rely on a USDA loan, which the county will service. County officials are hopeful that grant funds from philanthropic groups and government agencies will augment their resources.  

“We have to get kids excited about these jobs,” says Linwood Parker, chairman of the Johnston County Economic Development Advisory Board, which led a contingent of leaders from business, government and education to the commission to make the request. An array of local industries will benefit from the skills center, Parker says, including agri-business, travel and tourism, retail, health services and construction. But its central focus will be on supporting life sciences firms. Besides Novo Nordick, Bayer Corporation and Fresenius Kabi, a German maker of critical care products, also have extensive operations in Clayton. -- Lawrence Bivins


Kannapolis
Developer Envisions Shops, Condos for Historic Textile Mill
A Rowan County developer has eyes on salvaging an abandoned mill that was a life-long workplace for many in the community.  Light Investments Inc. plans to renovate at least portions of the massive 700,000-square-foot Plant 4 that was closed by Pillowtex in July 2001. Margaret Rabon, president of Light Investments, says the historic property could have a new life as street-level shops, offices, restaurants and upper-level apartments with 16-foot ceilings and hardwood floors. He has reached an agreement with Pillowtex to purchase the property and close by the end of the year.

Rabon says development will proceed slowly as she and other investors gauge the market for commercial and residential property in downtown Kannapolis. And whether the entire structure is redeveloped will depend on the market, she says. Preliminary information suggests that the building could qualify for membership among the National Register of Historic Places and thus qualify for tax credits. On the other hand, the massive size of the building may make an entire makeover unfeasible financially.

Kannapolis assistant city manager Mike Legg says  Light Investments’ ideas are exactly the type of development the city would like to promote in its downtown. But he says downtown needs a more consistent presence of people who live or work downtown to complement the already steady stream of shoppers. “Our downtown is still struggling with what its niche is,” says Legg.

Legg says Light Investments’ proposal is the first to come about by developers that doesn’t include demolishing the building.   — Laura Williams-Tracy


Wilmington
Cape Fear Coast Rates High in 'Golfability' Index
Myrtle Beach it’s not, which is just fine with Wilmington and the Cape Fear Coast when it comes to offering great courses for residents and visitors to play golf. Apparently it’s fine, too, with Golf Digest. When the monthly magazine set out to find areas in the United States that rate high in “golfability,” they judged Wilmington and its nearby coastal area to be the eighth “Best Little Golf Town in America.”

Since most golfers consider value and quality essential, Golf Digest factored in things such as the number of public courses per capita, number of total courses per capita, number of public courses per avid player, and average quality/value rating. It also took into consideration weather conditions in order to factor in the number of perfect golf days.

“With more than 50 public courses within an hour’s drive of Wilmington, the Cape Fear Coast is a golfer’s paradise,” says Judith Grizzel, president and CEO of the Cape Fear Coast Convention & Visitors Bureau. “This recognition reaffirms what our visitors and residents already know — that beautiful beaches, a historic riverfront town, a subtropical climate and quality golf courses at affordable prices help make (this area) a wonderful place to live, work and visit.”

Other cities in North Carolina that made the top 50 are Goldsboro (No. 24); Greensboro-Winston Salem (No. 25); and Jacksonville (No. 26). -- Kevin Brafford



Raleigh
Progress Energy Sells NCNG, Drops CP&L Name in Rebranding
Progress Energy is selling its N.C. Natural Gas subsidiary to Piedmont Natural Gas of Charlotte for about $425 million in cash. The sale will allow the parent corporation of CP&L to pay down debt and focus on its primary business of generating electricity. “Since our acquisition of NCNG in 1999, the industry landscape, and the opportunities for retail competition that existed then, have changed dramatically,” says Progress Energy CEO Bill Cavanaugh.

The utility had hoped to diversify into natural gas as energy deregulation proceeded, Cavanaugh says. But deregulation slowed at about the same time as the company’s $5.3 billion purchase of Florida Progress expanded its electricity business. “The divestiture of our natural gas distributor is a response to these changes,” Cavanaugh says.

Piedmont, which has 454,000 customers in North Carolina, will add NCNG’s 176,000 customers in Eastern North Carolina. The acquisition is expected to close by the middle of next year.

The sale came one day after Progress Energy announced its two major electric utility companies, CP&L and Florida Power, will be re-named Progress Energy effective Jan. 1. The re-brand for CP&L and Florida Power will be phased in over two years.

Customers will not see the names on their electric bill change until March 2003, but they began seeing the Progress Energy name on company facilities this fall. “Our utility company names no longer communicate the scope of this company, and we want to be identified by one single name that represents the standard of quality services we provide to our customers across the Southeast.”

Progress Ventures and Progress Fuels, Progress Energy’s non-regulated subsidiaries, will also be called Progress Energy. The names of the subsidiary companies that make up Progress Fuels will not change at this time. Progress Energy’s other subsidiaries — NCNG, Progress Rail and Progress Telecom — will remain unchanged for now.    — Kevin Brafford



Statewide
N.C. Again Judged to Have Nation's Best Business Climate
For the second year in a row, North Carolina has been judged by Site Selection magazine, considered the bible of corporation relocation executives, to have the nation’s best business climate. The rankings were included in the magazine’s November issue.

North Carolina retained the top spot in the poll largely because it came in third in the magazine’s annual survey of corporate real estate executives, which determines what states they consider to be the most pro-business. That survey alone makes up 50 percent of the total rankings.

States also are ranked based on the number of new factories and industrial facilities that each attracted. This is separated by total new and expanded corporate facilities for 2001; total new and expanded facilities for 1999 through 2001; total new and expanded facilities per one million residents for 1999 through 2001; and total new and expanded facilities per 1,000 square miles.

North Carolina ranked no higher than sixth in the number of new plants, but its top business climate ranking pushed it to the top. Conversely, Michigan ranked No. 1 in each of the four categories on new plants, but site selection executives put it 12th in business climate, which pushed the state down to second overall, behind North Carolina.

The magazine says site selection executives it interviewed were impressed that the North Carolina General Assembly had passed the Economic Stimulus and Job Creation Act. The legislation allows selected companies that create new jobs to receive cash rebates of up to 75 percent of the state income tax paid by workers in those new jobs. The magazine also cited enactment by the legislature of an extension of the carry-forward period for installments of the R&D tax credit from five to 15 years. Also contributing to North Carolina’s top ranking was the certified site program, which accelerates project start-up time, reduces out-of-pocket expenses for companies initiating projects and fosters a pro-business environment.  -- Steve Tuttle

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