Regional Business Reports

Triad
Census Bureau Proposes a Jawbreaker of a Name
For years Greensboro, Winston-Salem and High Point have invested millions of dollars to put the “tri” in Triad and build awareness of the region. But now some new calculations by the U.S. Census Bureau threatens to undo all that work by slapping a new name on the region. How does the “Greensboro-Winston-Salem-Burlington Core Based Statistical Area” sound to you?

Not only would the possible new name eliminate the image of three close, large cities situated in a triangle, it would also seem to kill off the seventh largest city in the state — High Point.

Actually, the Census Bureau never has used “Piedmont Triad” in its statistics. The official Metropolitan Statistical Area designation of the Triad is “Greensboro-Winston-Salem-High Point” and includes Burlington although it is not listed in the name.

Having a region designated an MSA always has been important to economic developers because many site selection consultants and corporations depend on Census data about MSAs to assemble lists of communities as possible sites for expansions and relocations.

The Census Bureau is embarking on what it considers a more detailed analysis of communities using the information it expects to gather from the 2000 census. Until now the Census Bureau concentrated on communities of 50,000 people. Starting with the next census, however, it will pay more attention to “settlement clusters” — towns as small as 10,000 people — to learn how their residents depend on larger, nearby cities.

Of particular interest to the Census Bureau will be job commuting patterns, which will help determine the boundaries of the larger “core.” If at least 15 percent of the residents commute to another county to work, that shows the other county might be a dominant cluster. For example, Burlington might deserve to be part of the name of the redesignated MSA because it's in another county.

High Point business leaders worry that the Census Bureau is considering using just the largest city in each county as the name for that core. That means that High Point, which the Census Bureau considers to be part of Guilford County although it also reaches into Davidson, Randolph and Forsyth, would not be specifically mentioned in the statistics. Because High Point is smaller than Guilford's largest city, Greensboro, it would be counted as part of Greensboro's core.

“Right now it is in the form of a recommendation from a committee so it is not set in stone,” says Kevin Johnson, president of the High Point Economic Development Corp. “Our concern is that when site selection consultants, real estate executives and people moving into the area want to find out information about High Point . . . on the Internet. Those search engines will send them to the Census Bureau and they won't be able to find the seventh largest city in the state. We have 80,000 people, the largest home furnishings market in the world and contribute $250 million to the economy of the state and we won't show up on the map.”

It also aggravates Triad business leaders that the Census Bureau seems so casual about its plan. The Northwest Piedmont Triad Council of Governments in Greensboro discovered the proposed rules at the end of October, which allowed only a few weeks for public comment.

“It seems like they were trying to simplify the process, but it is hard to simplify any federal program,” says Anne Edwards, director of information and data services for the Piedmont Triad Council of Governments. “What makes this difficult to predict is that they don't have the commuting data and the population data to decide if regions need to be combined. They need those two statistics and they have neither right now so we think it will be at least 2003 before any of this would take place.”

The bureau's new calculating methods could mean that smaller counties will be more readily attached to metro areas. Because Stokes, Davie and Yadkin counties do not have cities of at least 10,000, they likely have commuting patterns showing that 25 percent of their residents commute into Forsyth County, they will probably be lumped in as a part of Winston-Salem's core.

Rockingham County will likely be considered part of Greensboro's core. Burlington will have the best of both worlds as it will be a city onto itself, plus it has large numbers of people commuting into Guilford County. And because it's in another county, it will also get its name included in the official name.

High Point is being supported by neighbors in its fight for recognition. All of the region's congressmen and senators have been contacted and all have registered their protests with the Census Bureau.

Gayle Anderson, president of the Winston-Salem Chamber, says, “We have spent the last decade creating the region and we don't think it is appropriate for the federal government to come in and change what makes sense for the region. We have made our comments known in support of keeping the Triad together. It is our understanding that this proposal will not go forward until after the census is taken, and we feel that our congressmen and senators know that the commuting patterns will show that the Triad is a region.”

If the Census Bureau refuses to negotiate on the High Point issue, it would create a new problem for how to market the region. “The Straight Line” — Winston-Salem, Greensboro and Burlington all sit next to I-40 — just doesn't have the same ring. —Clint Johnson

Concord
Biggest Industrial Investment in State History Made by Corning
North Carolina's reputation as a center of fiber optics manufacturing was burnished last month with Corning's decision to make the largest business investment in the state's history — $650 million to expand its facilities in Wilmington and Concord.

“This is a defining moment for North Carolina's telecommunications industry,” Gov. Jim Hunt said. “Corning's expansion of its North Carolina facilities is a tribute to the quality of our state's workers and to our state's status as a leader in optical fiber production and can only lead to future growth and high-quality jobs.”

The latest investment will raise Corning's stake in North Carolina to more than $2 billion and, with its recent acquisition of Siecor, give it more than 6,000 Tar Heel workers. That places the company among North Carolina 10 largest employers. The company also announced a $100 million expansion of its facilities in Australia; together, the moves will increase the company's capacity by more than 50 percent.

Corning will invest about $100 million and hire 70 additional workers to expand the manufacturing capacity of its Wilmington plant. The Concord plant, the company's newest and most efficient plant since its opening in 1999, will see its capacity more than doubled

“As an industry leader we recognize that we must continue to invest in our manufacturing capabilities by expanding and enhancing our technologies in this area,” Corning President and COO John W. Loose said. “Our Concord plant will utilize the latest generation of Corning manufacturing technology throughout its operations.”

Charlotte
GM's Call Center Promotes Job Diversity 
General Motors didn't have to call OnStar to locate Charlotte for the 1,000-employee telephone center it will open this spring to help stranded motorists, like the rattlesnake-menaced couple it shows on television. In the last two years, the world's largest company had already come to town in a big way.

But even if it hadn't, the automaker could have followed the beaten path of 30 other corporations creating the city's fastest growing new industry.

By year end, recruiters say Charlotte call centers will employ more than 10,000 workers, from MetLife Corp.'s cozy 40-employee center to those of Sprint Corp., with 1,350, and Microsoft Corp., whose 1,230 are moving into a new headquarters complex that will eventually be as large as a shopping mall. Their numbers will increase proportionately, says Kevin Shea, manager.

“This,” says Justin Hunt, the economic developer who helped lure some of the newcomers, “is how companies are increasingly doing business.”

GM's creation of the satellite-linked OnStar call center in Charlotte follows its 1998 decision to locate Saturn Corp.'s retail subsidiary, which runs 44 dealerships in 13 states, in the city. Then, in August, it opened an eight-acre parts distribution center with 167 employees.

Chet Huber, OnStar general manager, says geographic location was key. Charlotte is the first OnStar site not in Michigan, and in addition to “the skilled workforce and positive operating environment,” the service faces less chance of snow and ice disrupting power just when the million subscribers that OnStar expects to have by the end of this year need it most.

The way OnStar works, subscribers, with their cars constantly tracked by global positioning satellites, are linked by wireless communications to the call center, where answerers can do everything from summoning an ambulance to locating the closest automated teller machine.

Gov. Jim Hunt, in announcing the OnStar center, added that General Motors also sought a strong workforce. “Our citizens are eager for high-tech jobs with a future,” he added. “It's a great match.”

Behind the glitter of the announcement, however, was a trend that warms the hearts of Charlotte elected officials and business leaders. Long nervous about the city's high concentration of jobs in banking, they see the call-center industry as eggs in a different basket.

A year ago, the Charlotte Chamber, where Justin Hunt is vice president for economic development, had organized a lengthy planning process that called for employment diversification, better technology education and efforts to lure information technological jobs and manufacturing.

The call-center boom has accelerated since then with new centers by Sprint, expansions by stock brokerage DLJ Direct and Duke Energy Corp., and the announcement by TIAA-CREF Inc., the world's largest pension fund, that it will build a $100 million, 1,000-employee service center near UNC Charlotte.

Justin Hunt notes that not all call centers are created equal. Few if any of Charlotte's are outgoing centers, in which telemarketers make unsolicited sales calls. Most, including DLJ Direct and The Vanguard Group, are for incoming service calls from customers and many require college degrees. The average TIAA-CREF salary is $33,000.

“Almost 100 percent of what we're getting are higher-end inbound centers that require people skills, computer skills and understanding products,” says Hunt. “They're jobs with a future.” — Edward Martin

Charlotte
College Degree Program Inflames Firefighters Hopes
Tar Heel firefighters whose career ladder once stopped short because educational opportunities did too now have another chance because community and four-year colleges are getting another crack at showing off their teamwork.

“The problem,” says Luther Fincher, Charlotte fire chief, “was that, although we have 7,000 graduates of associate-degree fire programs at the community colleges, we were still hiring more and more of our fire chiefs from out of state.”

The solution is a new bachelor's degree program at UNC Charlotte that offers firefighters the four-year degree police officers and public administrators have long found necessary to rise in their professions.

Now in its second semester, the program can accommodate up to 70 students per class year on the UNCC campus. This fall the class will become available at all 16 state universities via distance learning.

“There's been more and more pressure on paid departments not to promote to chief without a four-year degree,” adds Jeff Kimble, a firefighter and assistant professor who runs the program. “The closest programs were at the University of Maryland and Eastern Kentucky University, so firefighters resorted to things like public administration degrees.” Or, they languished in the ranks.

While the need was obvious and the idea had the backing of the North Carolina fire chiefs and firefighters associations, getting the program took a while. The initial push began five years ago by Concord's Randy Holloway, then president of the chiefs association, but budget priorities stalled it. Fincher, current president, championed the cause too, and last year, the General Assembly came up with $590,000 to launch it.

In the interim, the community colleges and University of North Carolina System stepped up cooperative efforts, with two-year schools adopting curriculums and a semester system parallel to that of the four-year universities.

That means, adds Roger Brown, associate provost at UNCC, graduates of basic fire suppression and prevention programs at community colleges in Mecklenburg, Alamance, Durham, Wilson, Onslow, Cleveland, Guilford and Gaston counties will be able to transfer directly to the university-level program. Buncombe will begin a program this fall.

“People come in with years of experience and dedicated to making fire service their career,” adds Kimble. “This will open new doors and avenues they've never had before.” —Edward Martin


Elizabeth City
A Small Bank Gets Big Quick by Seizing New Opportunities
The way Ben Berry sees it, there's demand for a new multistate bank serving the largest metropolitan area between, he notes, Washington and Atlanta. With recent additions of his second and third branches — two more will join them this summer — the market seems to agree.

Are we talking about Raleigh? Charlotte?

Neither. Gateway Bank & Trust Co. of Elizabeth City capitalizes on the fact that northeast North Carolina is both geographically linked to the sprawling Tidewater area of Virginia, giving it a statistical-area population of 1.5 million, and economically bound to a diverse region where customers range from Tar Heel peanut farmers to Newport News ship builders, Virginia Beach entrepreneurs and Outer Banks tourism industries.

“We're proud of what we've been able to do,” says Berry, president and CEO. He's a Hertford native who began his banking career with Peoples Bank as a management trainee in 1974, rising to northeast regional director in Elizabeth City before launching Gateway.

That was in March 1998, and by July of that year the state banking commission had approved Gateway's business plan, requiring it to raise $5.5 million from investors before starting. “Even before our hearing,” says Berry, “we raised $11 million in less than three weeks.”

Bankers credit that in part to Gateway's broad market. Virginians bought 42 percent of its initial stock, and the bank will open two branches on their side of the state line by July. Its focus on mid-sized distributors and similar businesses was a factor, too, along with varied offerings from loans and deposits to insurance, brokerage and financial planning services — Berry created Gateway Investment Services to handle that — and Internet banking for business and retail customers.

But the region's inherent strength shouldn't be overlooked. “Things are booming there, and the economy is outstanding,” notes Thad Woodard, president of the N.C. Bankers Association.

Gateway got some breaks on timing, too. For one thing, it was created when interest rates were low, making banks hot investments. Consolidation of larger banks was leaving a niche for community and regional banks. “People want more personalized service,” says Berry. And, one consolidation in particular — that of Centura Banks of Rocky Mount and Triangle Bancorp of Raleigh — left branches in Roper and Plymouth on the market. Gateway acquired them in February, boosting total assets to about $80 million.

Ahead? Berry sees a bright future. “We want to be a major regional community bank,” he says, adding that Gateway's online services appeal to a new generation of business and retail customers who want to pay bills, monitor account balances and conduct other transactions electronically. “We want them to have the alternative, but we'll also welcome them in our lobbies. Our goal is to grow, but never so big that we can't provide personal attention.” — Edward Martin

Raleigh
Snow Storm Cost Businesses $164 Million a Day
While February's snow and ice have long been melted, the economic and environmental impact of the record-breaking winter storm may be felt across the state for months to come, according to researchers at N.C. State University.

Consumer economist Mike Walden estimates that the storm cost North Carolina businesses about $164 million a day in lost sales and economic activity. Hardest hit were businesses that sell perishable goods or those that are event-oriented, like restaurants and movie theaters. Businesses selling durable goods, such as furniture and appliances, suffered some sales slumps but will likely rebound.

“If you were planning on buying a television, you may have postponed the purchase, but chances are you'll still buy one,” Walden says. “But if you missed going out to dinner last week, you're probably not going to go out twice to make up for it.”

Water quality could take a serious hit from fertilizer sold as “snow melt” making its way into lakes and streams. “All the nitrogen and phosphorus could make its way into our rivers and cause increased algal blooms, fish kills and other water quality problems,” says Jo Ann Burkholder, a professor of aquatic botany and marine sciences. Also, increased amounts of sediment carried in the runoff from melting snow could harm water quality, although the extent of the damage won't be known for months.

On the other hand, agriculture is in fairly good shape, despite 10 or more inches of snow. Charles Moore, an agricultural and resource economist, explained that most crops have already been harvested and that the wheat that's in fields now should be able to withstand the cold and snow. The harsh weather may actually have helped farmers some by killing off a few species of pests, although many helpful insects have also been affected.