Space is becoming an increasingly attractive venue and staging area for the work of companies across the business landscape, which necessitates the manufacture and development of space-bound craft, goods, and more. Let’s take a look at how exactly space manufacturing has become a bigger player across myriad industries today.

The rise in interest and spending for space manufacturing throughout the decade, particularly in North America, has been strongly linked to the defence sector. Demand for space manufacturing has been driven by the desire of countries like the United States and Canada to bolster their defence spending and positioning by creating and launching more satellites and networks. These networks aim to increase surveillance, create secure communications, establish positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT), and more, with the goal of keeping countries secure and on the cutting edge of the latest technologies.

Other developments in the field are more closely tied to the needs of consumers. For instance, the market is seeing an increased focus on direct-to-device (D2D) technology, an ever-evolving practice that would allow unmodified cellular devices on Earth to communicate directly with satellites orbiting the planet without the need for an intermediary (i.e., a cell tower). Names like Starlink, AST SpaceMobile, and Lynk Global are seeking partnerships with wireless carriers to make D2D a viable reality.

Further tied to general technological advancement is the prospect of AI data centres based in space, although this idea is still in the conceptual phase. The construction of data centres to support AI-based technology is a top concern today, but there’s only so much ground to be broken and cooling technology to go around. Orbiting data centres would not only allow these facilities to be built off-planet but could also bring new solutions to the great amount of cooling they require.

In a piece for Science Focus, Jonathan O’Callaghan says that, “The desire for better products—and the fortunes that can come with them—is the driving force behind the emerging in-space manufacturing industry.” O’Callaghan also says that one of the draws of in-space manufacturing is the lack of gravity, which can allow for new ways of manufacturing that could be more successful than those on the planet when freed from Earth-bound physics. This could mean big advancements for areas like pharmaceuticals and computer chips, both of which are in higher demand than ever before.

There are many players of varying size in space manufacturing, perhaps none more famous than Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (more colloquially known as SpaceX). Founded by CEO Elon Musk in 2002, SpaceX has grown to become both a market and thought leader when it comes to outer space, especially given Musk’s grandiose plans in the wake of new development and cash flow in the space manufacturing sector. On August 4, Musk announced that the company plans to build automated factories on the Moon to support its ongoing venture in creating its Starmind brand of AI satellites. These factories are speculated to be powered by Optimus, a humanoid robot created by Musk’s other worldwide brand, Tesla, which is slated to become commercially available by the end of next year.

In a piece for Space.com, Mike Wall reports that SpaceX was valued at $1.77 trillion at its June initial public offering (IPO), and that its revenue for the second quarter of 2026 reached $7.8 billion. In light of the June launch of its Starfall capsule, a craft built to return payloads from orbit to Earth, as well as the company’s plans for a Moon-based factory and its efforts to increase payloads and shorten launch times, SpaceX will likely be a huge player in the industry for the remainder of the decade and beyond.

Beyond the largest players are other medium-to-large manufacturers that are also bringing a lot to the table. One such company is Rocket Lab, an American manufacturer of launch vehicles, spacecraft, and satellite components based in Long Beach, California. The company’s rockets of varying size are commonly used in the industry and sit comfortably in the middle of the market, between more expensive and smaller launch craft. As such, it has had the opportunity to create spacecraft for other industry leaders like Varda Space Industries, with its Pioneer line providing power, communication, and more for Varda’s reentry capsules.

Space is certainly a place where anyone can chase an idea or a fortune, and although American companies tend to dominate the news cycle, Canadian outfits are creating just as much noise. Ontario-based MDA Space inaugurated a high-volume satellite manufacturing facility in Montreal in May of this year as it continues to secure its place among the world’s major satellite manufacturers.

A perhaps unexpected part of Canada that is burgeoning in the space manufacturing sector is the Maritimes, on the country’s East Coast. This is thanks to companies like Maritime Launch Services (MLS), which is developing Spaceport Nova Scotia near Canso, backed by a 10-year, $200 million lease agreement with the federal government through the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA). Once fully developed, Spaceport Nova Scotia will be home to rocket launches on Canada’s East Coast, bringing more traffic and attention to a region often considered sleepier than the centres of Ontario and Quebec.

In September, MLS finalized the terms of its agreement with German company Isar Aerospace to create a dedicated launch complex at Spaceport Nova Scotia. Isar recently achieved the first successful orbital launch by a commercial company from Western European soil (Norway, specifically), and this agreement will help it build a greater foothold in the West. Perched on the Atlantic coast, the spaceport can support both high-inclination and polar trajectories over the ocean, in turn creating a potential route to space for companies interested in bypassing more globalized launch networks.

Developments like these come on the heels of the federal government’s, under Prime Minister Mark Carney, committing $182.6 million over three years in its 2025 budget to increase Canada’s launch capacity. In a piece for Invest Nova Scotia, Jonathan Coles says that Nova Scotia’s growing role in space is aided by the research capabilities of the Dalhousie Space Systems Lab (DSS) at Dalhousie University in Halifax. DSS, in conjunction with MDA and the Canadian Space Agency, was behind LORIS, the first satellite designed, built, and tested in Atlantic Canada, which was later deployed from the International Space Station.

Coles says that Nova Scotia checks a lot of boxes for space-based companies looking to invest in the province—namely, existing launch infrastructure, ready and willing partners that can supply a pipeline of talent, and a cost-effective environment conducive to innovation. As Coles puts it, “[Nova Scotia] has entered a new era of space innovation.”

We may still be far away from classic sci-fi dreams like the flying car, but manufacturing in and around space is no dream. Many companies are taking their operations to the heavens with plans and products that are certainly exciting, both in their novelty and in how they reflect current realities. To paraphrase the great “Macho Man” Randy Savage, when considering the new frontier where innovation and big business are looking to thrive, space is the place.

The post The New Space Race<p class="company">Manufacturing for the Final Frontier</p> appeared first on Manufacturing In Focus.

During an impassioned fireside chat with the Council on Foreign Relations, held on the margins of the United Nations General Assembly late last year, Prime Minister Mark Carney touted the nation as a rock-steady trading partner, firmly stating Canada “has what the world wants.” Barely six months into his tenure as the nation’s 24^th Prime Minister, Carney spoke at a pivotal point in history, with the ongoing war in Ukraine, Middle East conflicts, and a dizzying array of confusing tariffs imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump on Canadian exports like steel, aluminum, and other materials.

Carney cited Canada’s strengths and many valuable resources, including being “an energy superpower in clean and conventional energies,” a leading artificial intelligence (AI) developer, committed to human rights, and “among the top five producers of the most important critical minerals.”

In 2025, Canada’s total minerals and metals exports amounted to $162 billion: 83 percent metals, 12 percent non-metals, and the remaining five percent coal and coke. This represented a four percent increase in total mineral exports. A piece published in Policy magazine titled Building Canada’s Place in the New Critical Minerals Order (July 30, 2026) discussed the urgent need for the country to update its 2022 Critical Minerals Strategy.

Underscoring China’s critical-mineral concentration, the article stressed how much the world changed in just a few years. “Governments are now using export controls, investment screening, tariffs, procurement, stockpiles, and public financing as instruments of economic security,” wrote Vina Nadjibulla, Vice President of Research and Strategy at the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada. Among other areas, Nadjibulla underscored the need for “a renewed North American bargain that protects Canada’s place in U.S. mineral and industrial supply chains,” adding, “Any national strategy must reflect both the depth of Canada’s critical-minerals relationship with the United States and the increasingly differentiated geography of its exports.”

Prior to President Trump’s latest tariff salvos, Canada remained a major exporter of critical minerals to the United States. A country rich in resources, Canada is known worldwide for everything from energy, such as oil reserves, crude bitumen, natural gas and potash, to agricultural products like wheat and canola, and forest and freshwater products. On the mineral side, the nation is renowned as a producer and exporter of critical minerals, including gold, diamonds, aluminum, copper, nickel, iron ore, and the chemical element uranium, often found alongside critical minerals.

According to Natural Resources Canada, Canada exported $49.4 billion CAD in critical minerals in 2025, an increase of three percent from the previous year. Of that total, $28.8 billion CAD went to the United States—about 57 percent of Canada’s critical-minerals exports, down from 63 percent in 2024, when exports to the U.S. totalled $30.7 billion CAD. That share remains substantial, but it is notably below the 71.7 percent of all Canadian goods exports that went to the United States in 2025, meaning Canada’s critical-minerals trade is already more geographically diversified than its merchandise trade overall.

Prior to proclaiming that Canada has “what the world wants,” Carney stated that, “We must build a new era, and in that era, Canada will prosper.” Considering the present state of relations between Canada and the United States, truer words could not have been spoken.

For decades, Canada and the U.S. were, literally, brothers in arms. Akin to family dynamics, relations were not always amicable, but they were never hostile. Siblings squabble, even duke it out occasionally, but forgive and move on. Those days, it seems, are now over. The Trump Administration is fixated on sourcing critical minerals from other nations, including record-breaking amounts of copper from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), rare earth minerals from Greenland, and other minerals from Latin America. Sourcing from these nations, and others, aligns with Project Vault.

Announced in February, Project Vault was described by the Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) as “a supply chain security initiative establishing the U.S. Strategic Critical Minerals Reserve, an independently governed public‑private partnership that will store essential raw materials in facilities across the United States.”

According to EXIM Chairman, John Jovanovic, “Project Vault is designed to support domestic manufacturers from supply shocks, support U.S. production and processing of critical raw materials, and strength[en] America’s critical minerals sector.” Crediting Trump’s leadership, Jovanovic added, “The U.S. Strategic Critical Minerals Reserve will help manufacturers in the United States compete, grow, and lead globally while creating jobs domestically, strengthening our economy, and advancing the national interest.”

Garnering interest from some of the world’s biggest consumers of critical minerals like Boeing, Western Digital, and GE Vernova (and receiving approval for a direct loan of up to $10 billion USD), Project Vault is being touted as enabling U.S. manufacturers to “have stable access to critical raw materials during periods of market disruption,” ensure supply chain security, and reduce America’s “dependence on foreign‑controlled supply chains, strengthening the domestic industrial base, and ensuring uninterrupted access to materials essential for advanced manufacturing and critical technologies.”

The Trump Administration’s “America First” policy essentially aims to make the U.S. self-sufficient, with little to no dependence on other countries, and only the years ahead will reveal how successful this plan truly will be. The plan includes expanding domestic oil, coal, nuclear and natural gas production; importing fewer food products; onshoring manufacturing; investing in America’s AI, technology, transportation, logistics, and other industries (to the tune of $11.3 trillion and counting, according to the White House); and imposing sweeping tariffs.

With Trump’s goal of a self-sufficient America, the question remains: where does this leave Canada’s resource sector, especially critical minerals? Responding to questions about the ongoing trade war, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Tim Hodgson recently said: “I don’t get mad, I get even.” The question was directed at the Minister during a ground-breaking ceremony for BC Hydro’s North Coast Transmission Line. Scheduled to be operational by 2032, the new line would double the province’s electricity capacity, add fibre optic cable, and expand or upgrade substations. One of the greatest benefits is set to be additional, much-needed electricity for critical mineral mines and liquefied natural gas (LNG) shipments.

“Nothing would make me happier than when the United States asks us for more electricity to say, ‘You know what, we’ve got a lot of mines we need to develop in northern British Columbia,’” Hodgson said in a deliberate swipe at the current U.S. administration. Translation: Canada has what the world wants, and we’re going to speed up development of our resources sector here at home. Good luck.

For the U.S. President, or the head of any other nation for that matter, underestimating Canada’s mineral-rich resources sector is a foolish game. Fourth in the world (after Russia, the U.S., and Saudi Arabia), Canada’s resources are not only abundant but also varied. The country is a leader not just in precious metals but also in rock salt, limestone, gypsum, and potash. A critical fertilizer component, potash recently made the Trump Administration’s hit list of things not to buy from Canada (the planet’s biggest potash producer, at 15 million metric tons annually) any longer. Instead, Trump said the U.S. would source potash from Belarus. The plan is poorly thought out and deeply flawed, for several reasons.

Although not a war zone, Belarus is considered a co-aggressor in Putin’s war on Ukraine by allowing Russian forces use of its airfields, territory, and communication systems, along with human rights violations. This alone means supply chains could be broken at any time. Second, there are the obvious logistical challenges, and costs, of bringing tons of potash from Eastern Europe to the U.S. Third, and most obvious, Belarus is the fourth-largest potash producer, at six million metric tons every year. The United States consumes that amount annually, and it is impossible for Belarus to contractually guarantee all its potash is shipped to America.

With thousands of mines and quarries nationwide, Canada remains a top producer of potash, palladium, titanium concentrate, niobium, and other critical minerals. These products, and others, are increasingly important to today’s manufacturing, in everything from life-saving medical devices to smartphones.

At 200 metric tons produced every year, Canada is the fourth-highest gold-producing country. One of the most precious metals, gold is in skyrocketing demand worldwide. Apart from being a tremendous investment in today’s unsteady economic times, gold is critical to aerospace and defence (satellite components), medical technology (pacemaker wires), and cancer treatment, and it is widely used in the printed circuit boards found in cars and computers.

For Canada’s critical minerals sector, the ongoing trade conflict with the U.S. is an opportunity. With Trump’s stance on tariffs and ‘America First’ unlikely to change, Canada can leverage its bargaining power. For decades, Canada has remained the biggest single-country supplier of minerals and rare earth elements to America, providing the U.S. with almost 80 percent of its potash and 60 to 75 percent of its aluminum. Manufacturing cannot happen without Canada’s minerals.

A final aspect to consider is diversification beyond the U.S. to other markets. For example, the federal government recently created a webpage on “Benefits and opportunities for the Canadian mineral and chemical sector under the Canada-Indonesia Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA).” Indonesia remains one of the largest consumers of fertilizers and industrial chemicals.

In 2024, Canada exported about $493 million in plastics, chemicals, and rubber products, “with a focus on potassium-based fertilizers and pharmaceutical raw materials,” according to the government. “The CEPA offers a strategic advantage for Canadian suppliers looking to increase their presence in Indonesia.” And with Canada exporting almost $53.5 million in minerals and metals to Indonesia as of 2024, “The CEPA presents new opportunities for Canadian firms to expand their sales of iron ore, processed minerals, and critical metals.” And as an additional incentive, Canada’s reputation for eco-friendly industrial chemicals and mining practices is well-known, and important as the planet shifts toward greener alternatives.

Canada has “what the world wants.” Now the country needs to make other nations aware of that fact.

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In the United States, it is reported that an estimated 2.1 million skilled trades openings across 135 core professions are posted each year, but a talent gap of 1.3 million persists, meaning that for every single person completing a relevant training program, three new openings are posted.

Driven by retirement and attrition, and decades of discourse that promoted a degree over hands-on work and the removal of hands-on learning from classrooms, the renewed push to promote careers in the trades is reactionary at best and will take years to produce the necessary results. According to research by JLL, by 2030, 2.1 million skilled trades positions could remain chronically unfilled, the economic losses from which could reach $1 trillion annually, which means action needs to be taken, and taken swiftly, if a turnaround is possible.

And, if you ask Dr. Temple Grandin what needs to change, it has everything to do with updating education, attitudes, and approaches to embrace different ways of thinking.

Thinking differently
Sometimes the best way to solve a problem is to think about it from a different perspective, which is exactly how Dr. Temple Grandin approaches her work and the world.

Many people are unaware that there are three distinct cognitive styles of processing information (visual, verbal, and pattern) and while most people use a combination of these to interact with the world, as all three are important to the function of our market and society, some individuals experience one or another in a more dominant sense.

Visual thinkers or object visualizers like Dr. Grandin have an innate capacity to solve problems. Using images or diagrams to organize, comprehend, and communicate thoughts and ideas, they often notice fine details that others might miss. Visual thinkers make great diagnosticians, artists, mechanical designers, architects, and similar, excelling in roles that require spatial recall, though they may struggle with abstract concepts like higher mathematics or long-form essay writing, skills that are heavily weighted in academics.

Despite the odds being against her as a person on the spectrum in the 1950s, Dr. Grandin did not let her diagnosis stand in the way of becoming a world-renowned scientist, animal behaviorist, autism advocate, and award-winning author. At a time when children with disabilities were institutionalized, Temple was engaged and empowered to find her place in the world.

Non-verbal until the age of three and a half, she has been a professor of animal science at Colorado State University since 1990, served as an industry consultant, and tours the world addressing auditoriums of people who pay to hear her insights; remarkably, through this work she has revolutionized animal handling practices to create a more humane world for animals and people alike.

This was not without struggle. Dr. Grandin has noted that she faced more barriers in industry as a woman than she did as someone on the spectrum, but believes she would not have the same success in today’s standardized educational system.

“I don’t think I could pass an algebra test today but I know how to do all my practical math like find the volume of a tank, figure out the square footage of the cattle pens, and things of those sorts, and I think education has really gotten off-kilter with some of this stuff,” says the woman who couldn’t become a veterinarian because of higher math requirements but educates future veterinarians today.

Barred access
For visual thinkers like Dr. Grandin, the very systems that are meant to educate can also be the source of barriers to access to career paths that would suit their capabilities and interests. Hiring practices, too, can bar access for many.

While Dr. Grandin was able to build a portfolio of drawings to sell herself and her skills in the market, online applications and AI screening tools paired with more stringent educational and job requirements make it much more difficult to break through into a career, especially if you are neurodivergent.

“I’m very concerned that our visual thinkers—the ones that I call the clever engineers, really good with mechanical—we’re screening them out and we’re screening out all the best diagnostic people,” she says of the higher math requirements.

Dr. Grandin notes that there are two parts to engineering: the mathematical engineers and what she refers to as “the clever engineers who tend to be the mechanical geniuses that just figure out how to make something or make something work,” she explains. “I can remember when I worked out in industry, the ‘weird’ guy in the shop who could fix anything, definitely was autistic, but we don’t have that guy anymore, and we need them. We need the weird guy in the shop.” Traditional educational and career pathways, however, have changed, as have attitudes and liabilities, which limits how far some people can go.

True diversity, equity, and inclusion
As employers and education systems have worked to integrate policies around diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), in many ways they have failed to address the systemic barriers that prevent full and equal participation in learning environments and the workforce, particularly for those on the spectrum. In Dr. Grandin’s opinion, changes need to be instituted earlier to ensure that children, both neurodiverse and neurotypical, are exposed to more at a younger age, which begins in the home. Children are taught to build with blocks but seldom graduate to hand tools, which leads to a concerning loss of skills. Dr. Grandin has encountered some students who have never even used a ruler.

“We need to get these hands-on things back into the schools and we need to do it at younger ages. I realize we can’t take an eight-year-old on a construction site, but there are places where they can watch safely,” she explains, from which they can still be engaged and inspired.

Dr. Grandin was given responsibility at an early age and encourages parents to do the same with their children, be it a dog walking job or selling candy for charity. She encourages kids to get off the computer and get outside doing something with their hands where they can build social skills as well. And, acknowledging that access to formal therapies can be limited or costly, Dr. Grandin suggests parents do something similar and call it by a different name: riding clubs as equine therapy, intergenerational experiences at seniors’ residences, church groups—they all have a role to play.

“I think a lot of parents get too much into the Autism box. I think that’s a very big problem,” explains Dr. Grandin, which can limit the possibilities for children. Moving past this requires a great deal of advocacy and understanding the rights of the child to help them find a place to fit in the economy based on their unique interests and abilities.

Advocating for change
For Melanie McIntyre McGregor, RN, BScN, a registered nurse, mother, and advocate who completed Orton-Gillingham classroom training to support her child with dyslexia when the educational system could not, “Access often depends on parents who know how to navigate the system,” noting that this in itself creates inequity.

The role of educators is to meet children where they are, but with limited funding and strained resources, many children with special needs tend to slip through the cracks.

“One of the most difficult realizations has been seeing how much time, money, and energy families spend fighting for services that research has already shown are effective,” McGregor shares. “Parents shouldn’t have to become investigators, educators, legal researchers, advocates, and fundraisers simply to ensure their child learns to read or receives an appropriate education,” she says.

“Foundational literacy, writing, communication, and numeracy will always matter. Those are essential life skills. But beyond those foundations, I believe education should spend far more time helping students discover who they are, how they learn best, what they’re passionate about, and how those strengths can contribute to their communities.”

Says McGregor, “Imagine if schools invested as much energy into identifying children’s strengths as they do identifying their weaknesses. Imagine if every child left school believing they had something valuable to contribute,” beyond test scores that emphasize memorization over critical thinking skills.

And, if a child isn’t learning, try teaching in a different way. For McGregor, accommodations are important, but “they should never replace effective instruction.”

Similarly, if a child is accustomed to receiving accommodations throughout their educational journey, it is reasonable to expect those accommodations to continue through their professional careers, though much of the support available ceases to exist once an individual turns 18.

When it comes to accommodations, employers who hire individuals on the spectrum must be aware of their limitations, but also their strengths. Dr. Grandin notes that they will likely pour themselves into their jobs for the right employer and the right environment and will become superior performers, but a few things need to happen first. They must be insulated from social situations that may lead to breakdown and be guided by what Dr. Grandin refers to as on-the-job “pilot’s checklists” that break down the various tasks chronologically using simple to understand language and steps which are repeatable, referenceable, and can set individuals up for career success (rather than simply being given oral instructions).

Bridging the gap in skills and society
Certainly, there are individuals on the profound end of the spectrum who are not able to fulfill the requirements of jobs, particularly the skilled trades, but there are many more who are being screened out because of test results or the inability to learn in a standardized environment, though they have the skills and capacities so sorely needed in the market.

By systematically barring entry to these positions, many of the best and brightest minds are being eliminated from roles where they can shine. The loss of economic benefit therein cannot be ignored either, as many of these roles come with high wages and a sense of pride in workmanship, enabling these individuals to add tremendous value to the economy and to their own lives.

Espousing equality and operating with equity are two different things, and at the end of the day we need to do better to engage the entirety of the workforce. This can only be done if we start at an earlier age, reintroducing hands-on learning in the classroom and rethinking how we view those on the spectrum, especially at a time when addressing the skilled labour gap is so critical.

This article was inspired by An Evening With Temple Grandin hosted by the Algoma Autism Foundation (AAF) in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. A big thank you goes out to AAF and like organizations, including Future Horizons, for their work to reshape discourse around, and improve outcomes for, those who are on the spectrum, their families, and their carers. Different, not less.

The post Visualizing Change in Workforce Development<p class="company">In Conversation With Dr. Temple Grandin</p> appeared first on Manufacturing In Focus.

NCEDA’s roots go back to a core mission of supporting the professionals working to bring jobs and investment to North Carolina. What began as an industrial development group has today grown into a full-fledged professional association supporting economic developers across every corner of the state.

“We’re actually 60 years old this year,” President, André Lennon says. “We celebrated in spring 2026. The association started as an industrial development group with the purpose of supporting economic developers in the state of North Carolina in recruiting industry to this state, helping bring jobs to the state, and supporting our citizens.”

That founding purpose has scaled dramatically. Today NCEDA counts nearly 1,000 members, a mix of economic development practitioners and ally members, professionals who support practitioners through site readiness work and other services that fuel business growth.

The organization itself runs lean. As a not-for-profit membership association, NCEDA is governed by a volunteer Board and led by a three-person staff. “NCEDA is a membership association of economic developers from across the state of North Carolina,” Vice President, Clark Duncan, explains.

The board draws its strength from geographic and professional diversity, helping NCEDA understand and advocate for the differing needs of urban, suburban, and rural communities across the state.

Ask NCEDA’s leadership what’s fueling North Carolina’s economic momentum, and several sectors consistently rise to the top: aviation and aerospace, automotive manufacturing, biotechnology, technology, and data all remain strong performers.

“What’s exciting is that they’re pretty consistent across the state of North Carolina,” Duncan tells us. “We are a state that continues to see a lot of growth and investment in aviation and aerospace, and automotive manufacturing. Biotechnology remains dominant, as does technology and data.” He adds one more sector to the list—food and beverage—which he describes as a consistently strong performer for the state.

For a state routinely ranked among the best places in the country to do business, the reasons go beyond any single factor. Geography plays a foundational role, according to Lennon, who points to the state’s position in the Southeast and on the East Coast as an advantage that simply can’t be replicated.

“North Carolina has been very competitive over the past decade, and our geography is one of our competitive advantages that you can’t make up,” he says. “We have some quality of life advantages that assist us, but also the business climate is one of our strong competitive advantages as well. There’s a tax structure that’s set up that supports and incentivizes business investment.”

Duncan builds on this point, emphasizing the role NCEDA plays in sustaining a favorable long-term cost of doing business through relationships with legislative leaders. “Working with our legislative leaders, reminding them of the importance of having a long-term cost of doing business that’s favorable for companies,” is central to the association’s work, he says.

He also points to infrastructure investment, adding that the state’s interstate and highway network is a major asset, giving companies an efficient way to move products to customers. That, paired with a tax structure designed to let companies reinvest in themselves and in North Carolina over time, rounds out the state’s competitive edge.

The team also highlights a critical piece of the competitiveness puzzle: state investment in project-ready sites. Preparing properties in advance through due diligence and infrastructure investment can reduce risk and shorten speed-to-market for companies evaluating North Carolina. “There’s a lot of investment coming from the state to intentionally help and spur economic development all across North Carolina,” Duncan says, “and that makes for a big competitive advantage, along with our workforce solutions.”

While the North Carolina Department of Commerce and local governments administer most formal incentives and grants, NCEDA’s role is less about the dollars and more about the connective tissue between them. Lennon describes the association as a bridge linking the state’s many resources into a coherent, collaborative whole.

“We want our most rural counties to be as successful as our most urban,” says Lennon. “An association such as ours that represents the entirety of the state really thinks about how we share resources, how we advocate across all of our diverse members, so that we can come together to support project wins in all parts of the state.”

NCEDA connects its members to partner organizations such as the North Carolina Railroad and the Golden LEAF Foundation, which support site readiness and infrastructure funding. “Our association, being a member trade association, is the connector,” Lennon says. “We’re helping provide professional development opportunities on how to apply for those grants where they’re best administered.”

Workforce development runs through nearly every conversation about North Carolina’s competitiveness. NCEDA advocates for workforce policies and investments that respond to employers’ needs while also helping develop the next generation of economic development professionals.

“North Carolina has been a real leader in investing in education and workforce development, which is necessary for effective economic growth in any state,” Lennon says. Through its Foundation, NCEDA supports the next generation of economic development professionals by providing professional development scholarships, internships, and other opportunities that encourage new talent to enter the field.

The connection between workforce policy and successful business recruitment can be seen in Rockingham County’s recent recruitment of TSEA Energia, a Brazilian manufacturer establishing its first U.S. manufacturing facility in the county. TSEA places a strong emphasis on apprenticeships and developing its workforce through hands-on learning—exactly the type of employer need that has shaped NCEDA’s advocacy for greater state investment in apprenticeships, community college programs, and other work-based learning opportunities.

“When we advocate for workforce funding, it’s because we hear directly from companies about what they need to be successful,” says Leigh Cockram, Director of Economic Development and Tourism for Rockingham County. “TSEA is a great example. Apprenticeships are an important part of their workforce model, and our community college and workforce partners are working with the company to help build that pipeline here. At the same time, the state has increasingly recognized the need to invest in apprenticeships and other work-based learning opportunities. That alignment between what employers need and where we invest our workforce resources is critical if North Carolina wants to continue winning projects and, more importantly, help those companies succeed after they get here.”

Through its partnership with the NCEDA Foundation, NCEDA’s flagship talent initiative, Career Trek, introduces promising undergraduate and graduate students to the wide range of career opportunities in economic development. “We’re working to attract and inspire the next generation of economic development leaders,” Lennon says. “Career Trek gives students firsthand exposure to the profession and encourages them to pursue careers where they can help strengthen the economies of all 100 counties across North Carolina.”

That long-term investment extends to mentorship within the profession itself, pairing younger economic developers with senior colleagues to build institutional knowledge and a shared sense of purpose.

Indeed, NCEDA’s programming reflects an intentional effort to support members at every career stage. Alongside Career Trek, the association runs an Emerging Executives group for early-career professionals, offering programming tailored to those just beginning in the field. A mentorship initiative pairs senior members with early-career professionals to encourage knowledge sharing across generations. And the Practitioners Workshop, now in its third year, rounds out the offering for members further along in their careers.

“We have a representative each year on our board who provides insight into their perspective and the key ideas they want to hear at our conferences and other meeting content throughout the year,” Lennon says of the Emerging Executives group.

Duncan echoes the sentiment, framing NCEDA as a professional home regardless of where a member is in their career or where they’re based in the state. “This organization is the place where, no matter where you are in your career, we’re here for each other; it doesn’t matter where you are in the state, your age, or your demographic,” Duncan says.

One of NCEDA’s most consistent contributions is its legislative advocacy, which channels feedback from economic developers across the state’s 100 counties to lawmakers in Raleigh. That work depends on both strong relationships and NCEDA’s credibility as a statewide voice for the profession. “We have a great relationship with lobbyists and advocates in Raleigh, but we also take the time to understand and know our legislators and make sure they’re aware of what we need,” Cockram says.

NCEDA has consistently advocated for greater and more predictable state investment in site readiness, including due diligence and infrastructure needed to make properties more competitive for projects. “It’s really important that we also maintain a level of prestige and respect from our legislators, so they know that when we’re coming to them, it’s for something that’s truly needed statewide,” Cockram says, “not specific or self-serving for any one sector of our membership.”

Looking ahead, the competitiveness challenge is broader than any single program: North Carolina must continue aligning policy and investment around the full economic development ecosystem—project-ready sites, infrastructure, utilities and energy, workforce and education, housing, transportation, speed-to-market, and a predictable business climate. One area of ongoing advocacy is expanding funding for project-ready sites, where speed to market has become a critical competitive factor.

“We’ve seen additional funding for site readiness, whether that’s due diligence studies for industrial sites or other infrastructure improvements to have these sites ready for projects when they’re relocating to our state,” Lennon shares.

Ultimately, he credits the association’s success to something less tangible than funding or sector strength, and that is collaboration. “Organizations like NCEDA really set the state of North Carolina apart in the very competitive economic development landscape in the United States,” he says. “You have to have great land, products, and sites. You have to have a highly skilled and adaptable workforce. But really, the magic is in collaboration and how you pull together teams across universities, industry, and government to support economic growth. That remains a key priority for NCEDA.”

After 60 years, NCEDA’s next challenge is not simply to celebrate North Carolina’s success, but to help sustain it. With nearly 1,000 members and a statewide network of practitioners and partners, the association is positioned to help ensure that the policies, investments, and collaboration that made North Carolina competitive continue evolving for the next generation of projects and communities.

The post Keeping North Carolina Competitive for 60 Years<p class="company">North Carolina Economic Development Association (NCEDA)</p> appeared first on Manufacturing In Focus.

The formation of Iredell EDC through the consolidation of existing economic development organizations serving North and South Iredell created a unified strategy focused on jobs, investment, workforce development, and long-term community success.

Eight years later, the results speak for themselves.

Iredell EDC has helped generate more than $3 billion in investment, support over 150 new and expanding projects, and facilitate the creation of more than 6,000 jobs throughout the county. More importantly, it has helped position Iredell County among North Carolina’s most dynamic economies, ranking among the state’s leaders in population growth and average wages.

While the data is certainly meaningful, the real successes are the relationships and collaborations that have formed the underpinning upon which everything else rests. “The greatest accomplishment of Iredell EDC over the last eight years isn’t measured solely in jobs created or dollars invested,” says Jeff Cernuto, Chairman, Iredell County Economic Development Corporation Board of Directors. “It’s measured in the relationships we’ve built and the partnerships we’ve strengthened. Our municipalities, educational institutions, businesses, investors, and community organizations have demonstrated that when Iredell County works together, we all succeed together. Economic development is a team sport, and our collective commitment to a shared vision has made us stronger than any one community could be on its own.”

Driving growth through new and expanding business announcements
One of the clearest measures of economic development success is the ability to attract investment while supporting the growth of existing industries. Since its formation, Iredell EDC has worked closely with businesses, developers, utilities, municipalities, and state partners to help companies establish, expand, and reinvest in Iredell County.

The impact extends far beyond the numbers. New investments generate quality jobs, expand local tax revenues, strengthen infrastructure, and create opportunities for families throughout the community. At the same time, existing industry has remained a central focus of Iredell EDC’s strategy.

Nationally, most new job creation comes from companies already located within a community. Recognizing this reality, Iredell EDC has invested heavily in business retention and expansion efforts through executive visits, industry councils, workforce assistance, and company outreach. By maintaining strong relationships with employers and responding quickly to challenges, the organization has helped local businesses continue growing and investing in Iredell County.

Accuma Corporation, a leader in the manufacture of energy storage components for the battery industry, is just one example of Iredell EDC’s commitment to existing industry. Chris Totherow, Sales Manager for Accuma Corporation, shares, “Iredell EDC has been an invaluable partner to Accuma, providing support that extends far beyond traditional economic development services. Their team has helped us address operational challenges, connect with key local resources for facility improvements, and identify opportunities for future growth and market expansion. The relationships they have facilitated and the practical solutions they have provided have created measurable value for our business. Their responsiveness, hands-on approach, and commitment to our long-term success have made them a trusted extension of our team and an important contributor to Accuma’s continued growth.”

Product development: preparing Iredell County for opportunity
While business announcements generate headlines, successful economic development begins long before a company selects a location.

A critical component of Iredell EDC’s work has been product development, which includes the sites, buildings, infrastructure, utilities, and transportation assets needed to compete for investment. Without market-ready locations, communities struggle to attract new employers or support expanding industries.

Over the last eight years, Iredell EDC has worked closely with local governments, utility providers, property owners, developers, and regional partners to strengthen Iredell County’s inventory of competitive sites and industrial assets. These efforts have included site assessments, infrastructure planning, transportation improvements, utility coordination, and support for industrial development projects.

As industrial demand accelerated throughout the Charlotte region, Iredell County was positioned to capitalize on new opportunities, and during this period, Iredell EDC helped support the development of 17 new industrial parks and sites, representing an industrial pipeline of approximately 15 million square feet. Ryan Beadle, Vice President of Development for Jackson-Shaw, shares his experience: “Iredell EDC has been a true partner on LKN Crossing from day one—through annexation, rezoning, and entitlements, they were responsive at every step and knew how to get to yes. In my experience, that is what separates counties that talk about growth from counties that land it. Jackson-Shaw is proud to be bringing 885,000 square feet of Class A industrial space to the I-77 corridor in Mooresville, and Iredell County made that an easy decision.”

The organization has also leveraged external resources to improve site readiness. In 2025, Iredell EDC secured a Golden LEAF grant supporting road improvements at Mooresville Business Park East. More recently, Iredell County had two sites selected to participate in Duke Energy’s Site Readiness Program. These investments help ensure Iredell County remains competitive for future business recruitment and expansion opportunities.

Creating a talent pipeline through Iredell Ready
If product development creates places for businesses to grow, workforce development ensures they have the talent needed to succeed.

Perhaps no initiative better demonstrates Iredell EDC’s commitment to innovation and collaboration than Iredell Ready, a countywide workforce initiative created to connect education and employment while addressing long-term talent needs.

Launched through a partnership investment of approximately $750,000, Iredell Ready was designed to create a unified workforce strategy that brings together employers, school districts, higher education institutions, workforce agencies, nonprofit organizations, and local governments around a common mission: preparing residents for meaningful careers while helping employers build a skilled workforce.

Rather than functioning as a single program, Iredell Ready serves as a countywide framework that aligns workforce efforts and creates career pathways from education to employment.

The results have been significant, with more than 150 businesses and community organizations participating in Iredell Ready initiatives. Career fairs, industry tours, internships, apprenticeships, classroom engagement, and work-based learning opportunities have helped thousands of students and job seekers gain exposure to careers available right here in Iredell County.

The initiative has also garnered recognition far beyond county lines. Iredell Ready received an Award of Excellence from the International Economic Development Council, highlighting its innovative and collaborative approach to workforce development.

Most importantly, Iredell Ready has transformed how workforce development is viewed locally. Workforce readiness is no longer considered the responsibility of any one institution. Instead, employers, educators, workforce partners, government agencies, and community organizations work together to build a stronger talent pipeline for future generations.

Advancing educational attainment and economic mobility
The success of Iredell Ready has helped fuel another significant achievement: advancing educational attainment across the county.

As North Carolina’s economy becomes increasingly skills-based, communities must create pathways that help residents earn credentials, certifications, and degrees aligned with workforce demands. Educational attainment is directly tied to workforce competitiveness, income growth, economic mobility, and business attraction.

Through strong partnerships among education, workforce, and economic development leaders, Iredell County has made measurable progress in preparing students for careers available in the local and regional economy. Participation in Career & College Promise programs has expanded, allowing more students to earn college credit while still in high school. Enrollment growth at Mitchell Community College and increased engagement in career-connected learning opportunities further demonstrate the county’s commitment to workforce readiness.

These accomplishments have been recognized at the state level. In 2026, MyFutureNC selected Iredell Ready to participate in its Attainment NC Cohort, providing $200,000 in grant funding to support continued expansion of workforce and attainment initiatives.

This recognition reflects the success of a community-wide effort to connect education and industry while ensuring residents have access to quality career opportunities. As employers continue seeking workers with specialized skills and credentials, these attainment initiatives help prepare students and job seekers for long-term success.

“North Carolina’s 2 Million by 2030 goal is state-led but it will only be achieved through local action and cross-sector collaboration,” states The Honorable John Fraley, Chairman, myFutureNC. “Programs like Iredell Ready connect students, families, educators, and employers to ensure every individual has a pathway to a meaningful credential, a rewarding career, and long-term economic mobility. When we invest in educational attainment and workforce readiness locally, we not only transform individual lives—we strengthen the future of our community, region, and state.”

The power of regional and statewide partnerships
A defining characteristic of Iredell EDC’s success has been its understanding that economic development extends beyond county boundaries.

Many of the organization’s accomplishments have been made possible through strong relationships with regional and statewide partners committed to economic growth, workforce development, and community advancement.

The partnership with the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina (EDPNC) has helped connect Iredell County to business recruitment opportunities from across the nation and internationally. Through collaboration on project leads, site selection efforts, and marketing initiatives, Iredell County has expanded its visibility and competitiveness. “As a key partner for EDPNC, Iredell County brings great value to North Carolina,” says Abbie Currens, Business Recruitment Manager for EDPNC. “New companies considering the region find an established manufacturing industry, strong industrial workforce, logistics advantages with the I-40/I-77 intersection, and significant utility access across a wide range of sites and product. Additionally, their economic development team brings a depth of knowledge, open spirit, and willingness to adapt to each company’s unique needs that is appreciated by both EDPNC and its clients.”

Workforce and talent development efforts have been strengthened through collaboration with the Centralina Regional Council, which has recognized Iredell Ready as a model for workforce collaboration and supported efforts that align education and workforce priorities throughout the region.

In addition, participation in the North Carolina Economic Development Association (NCEDA) allows Iredell EDC to engage with economic development professionals across the state, share best practices, advocate for economic development priorities, and bring innovative ideas back to the community.

Together, these partnerships have expanded resources, strengthened collaboration, and amplified Iredell County’s ability to compete for investment and opportunity.

Collaboration as the foundation of success
While investment figures, workforce milestones, and development projects are important measures of success, Iredell EDC’s greatest accomplishment over the past eight years has been creating a culture of collaboration.

From its beginning, the organization was founded on the belief that communities are stronger when they work together. That philosophy continues to guide partnerships among municipalities, school districts, higher education institutions, employers, workforce organizations, nonprofit agencies, investors, and economic development partners throughout the county.

The success of Iredell Ready, the county’s attainment initiatives, major business announcements, product development investments, and infrastructure projects all share one common thread: collaboration.

As Iredell EDC celebrates eight years of service, it can point to impressive accomplishments in investment, workforce development, educational attainment, product development, and business growth. More importantly, it has established a framework for continued success.

The story of Iredell EDC is ultimately a story about partnership. By bringing together business, education, government, and community leadership around a shared vision, Iredell County has created a stronger economy, expanded opportunity for residents, and positioned itself for a prosperous future.

The post Eight Years of Impact: How Iredell EDC Helped Transform Economic Development in Iredell County<p class="company">Iredell Economic Development Corporation</p> appeared first on Manufacturing In Focus.

“We have a rich history that dates back to 1760 that makes itself apparent just by walking downtown and through our historic district. Hosting one of two original Town Commons in the United States, you can walk seven blocks from our Riverfront Park to the Town Common and feel right at home.”

One of Tarboro’s greatest strengths is the ability to maintain a genuine small-town sense of community, agrees Troy R. Lewis, Town Manager.

“People know their neighbors, local businesses know their customers, and there’s still a strong connection between our residents, our schools, our churches, our businesses, and local government,” Lewis says. “That creates a quality of life that is increasingly difficult to find. For residents, it means being part of a community where people are invested in one another.”

Tarboro’s economic history has long been tied to transportation and trade, developing along the Tar River and becoming an important river port during the 18th and 19th centuries. In many ways, transportation helped create Tarboro.

“Tarboro has a long history of trade dating back to colonial times when we utilized the river for trade,” says Mayo. “We were the furthest upriver port on the Tar-Roanoke River. With the advent of rail, the decline of river trade began and caused a greater shift to trade by rail.”

Today, a rail line that runs through town serves the town’s industries, with all rail capabilities greatly augmented in 2021 with the opening of CSX’s Carolina Connector Intermodal Terminal, allowing for goods to leave the town and make it to an inland port less than 20 miles away to be easily and speedily transferred to trucks or shipped by rail to the ports of Savannah, Norfolk, Wilmington, and Morehead City.

The Carolina Connector, located locally in Edgecombe County, allows containers to be transferred efficiently between trucks and trains. The facility was designed to improve connections to domestic and international markets and North Carolina’s ports. “For industry, that is a tremendous advantage. A manufacturer does not just look at the cost of land or a building anymore; they look at the entire supply chain,” Lewis adds. “They want to know how quickly raw materials can arrive and how efficiently finished products can reach customers and ports.”

Having that intermodal capability in the immediate region gives Tarboro and Edgecombe County a logistical advantage that many rural communities simply don’t have. There’s also a very strong industrial location within Tarboro itself at the Tarboro Commerce Center, a park that is home to Astemo, Prudential Stainless & Alloys, Piedmont Natural Gas, and Amazon, along with approximately 45 acres of pad-ready industrial property remain available for development. The Commerce Center is adjacent to U.S. 64, the future I-87 corridor, and is served by town water, sewer, and electric utilities. The Carolina Connector is within a short drive, giving Tarboro an immediately available site for companies that may not require the scale of the Kingsboro Business Park—rated by consulting firm Jones Lang LaSalle as the only shovel-ready and competitive megasite in the state of North Carolina—but still want excellent infrastructure and access to multiple modes of transportation.

“Kingsboro is one of the most important economic development assets in our region because one of the biggest factors in industrial recruitment today is speed to market,” Lewis explains. “Companies considering major investments don’t necessarily have several years to assemble property, extend infrastructure, complete environmental studies, and work through all of the other issues associated with developing a large industrial site. They want to know that a community has done its homework and is ready to move.”

That is where Kingsboro distinguishes itself, he adds. The Kingsboro Business Park is a CSX-served industrial site between Tarboro and Rocky Mount with infrastructure including water, sewer, electricity, natural gas, and telecommunications. Significant due diligence on the site has already been completed, and the site has highway, rail, and intermodal access.

For Tarboro, landing a major employer at Kingsboro would have impacts well beyond the site itself. It can create employment opportunities, increase demand for housing, support restaurants and retailers, create opportunities for suppliers and contractors, and strengthen the tax base throughout the region. Like many small communities, one of Tarboro’s biggest challenges is maintaining and replacing aging infrastructure while keeping services affordable for residents—water, sewer, electricity, roads, stormwater, parks, and public facilities all require continued investment. Construction costs have increased substantially, so communities must be increasingly strategic about how they prioritize projects and leverage state, federal, and grant funding.

“Housing is another significant challenge and one that is increasingly connected to our economic development efforts,” Lewis shares. “Tarboro has seen tremendous growth through infill development in recent years, which has been very positive for the community. However, a recent housing assessment identified a significant need for additional housing. We need to continue improving and expanding our housing stock at a variety of price points.” As the town continues to recruit businesses and industries and create new employment opportunities, having quality housing available for the people who will fill those jobs becomes an important part of the overall economic development strategy.

The greatest challenge is the perception of workforce availability, adds the Mayor. “Our workforce is here and very close around us, but this is a constant talking point around the tables of development. We draw a workforce from 11 counties here in Tarboro. If there is work to be had, there will be people to work those jobs.”

He explains that the Town of Tarboro is continually able to keep taxes, electricity, water, and sewer rates lower than any other community in proximity to it.

“One of our accomplishments has been continuing to invest rather than simply maintaining the status quo,” adds Lewis. “We have made significant public investments in our downtown and riverfront, including improvements designed to better connect Main Street with the Tar River.”

Those public investments complement significant private investment that has occurred downtown through projects such as Taps on Main, Granville Lofts, Riverview Lofts, the former Cherry Inn property, and other historic rehabilitation projects.

“I’m proud that we continue to look beyond individual projects and think about what Tarboro should be 10, 20, or 30 years from now,” says Lewis. “The challenge for a community like ours is to pursue progress without losing our identity. We have been successful in recognizing that historic preservation, quality of life, housing, infrastructure, and economic development can support one another rather than compete with one another.”

The town’s economic development in particular has been impressive, and the past two years have seen a number of developments, creating significant jobs and investment: from Amazon, a $15 million investment and 100 jobs; from Prudential Stainless & Alloy, a $10 million investment with 30 jobs; expansions including that of LS Cable & System, a $50 million investment and 85 jobs; Astemo’s $44 million investment with 52 jobs; and Madem-Moorecraft’s $2 million investment, bringing 37 jobs. “$96 million—or approximately 80 percent of this investment—has come from existing industries, highlighting that Tarboro is a great place for business and industry to be successful,” says Lewis.

Tarboro is also currently making “very active headway” into finding more developable land to establish a new industrial park. The town has seen a massive boom in housing supply, expanding the housing stock by around 300 units in the past few years, with over 300 more currently on the books to be constructed.

“We’re also currently placing a great amount of attention into revitalizing the downtown,” Mayo adds. “This includes a bulkhead at Riverfront Park, revitalizing the Courthouse Square, and currently, using grants to help businesses downtown revitalize their storefronts.”

The town also plans to continue improving and expanding its housing stock; a good example is a recently approved 191-unit single-family and multifamily subdivision.

Another major milestone is continuing to improve recreational facilities and public spaces and move forward with projects such as a new farmers market.

“Those may seem like smaller projects when compared with a megasite, but quality-of-life investments are increasingly part of economic development,” Lewis says. “When companies recruit employees, those employees want good parks, recreation, restaurants, housing, events, and attractive public spaces.”

Ultimately, the milestones he wants to see are sustainable growth, additional jobs, new housing, continued downtown investment, additional industrial development, and a stronger tax base, while Tarboro remains recognizably Tarboro.

As for special events and activities, the town has many to share, including its “huge” football culture. “Our Tarboro High School Vikings have won 10 state championships, and the people of our town are very proud of our school and team,” says the Mayor.

The town also hosts a great number of events downtown throughout the year, including a summer concert series, a bluegrass festival at Riverfront Park, carriage rides at Christmas, pop-up markets, and pickleball courts on the Town Common; there are an endless number of events for all interests in Tarboro, and the Christmas season in particular is a special time, with the Christmas Parade and the Downtown Christmas Crawl along with numerous other community activities, while the year begins with the New Year’s Ball Drop. As the weather warms, events such as SpringFest, Blue Ribbon Kids Day, and Happening on the Common bring residents and visitors together on the historic Town Common. The Tarborough Faire is a free, family-friendly Renaissance Faire, while the Downtown Summer Music Series provides live music and another reason for people to come downtown, visit local businesses, and spend time together.

“These events are very different from one another, and that variety says something about Tarboro,” Lewis says. “There are opportunities for families, music lovers, history enthusiasts, outdoor recreation, and people who simply enjoy getting together with their neighbors.”

The Tar River itself provides opportunities for fishing, boating, and paddling, and parks and recreational facilities provide year-round activities. “Taken together, these festivals, sports, traditions, and community gatherings are more than entertainment; they’re part of what creates a sense of place,” says Lewis.

The goal, he stresses, is not to become something different simply for the sake of growth, but to promote economic development and new investment while also preserving the qualities that make people want to live, work, and raise a family in Tarboro in the first place. “That really gets back to what makes Tarboro special,” he says. “We have a remarkable history, but we’re not interested in simply being a historic town that looks backward. We want to use that history and our sense of community as the foundation for what comes next.”

Tarboro can offer a company sophisticated infrastructure, rail and intermodal access, and proximity to major markets, while still offering employees the quality of life and personal connections of a small town. “That combination of historic character, community, quality of life, and modern economic opportunity is the story we want to continue telling about Tarboro.”

The post A Sense of Place<p class="company">Town of Tarboro, North Carolina</p> appeared first on Manufacturing In Focus.

This year marks 20 years since that transition, and the organization is marking the milestone by reflecting on how its mission has evolved, growing from a Chamber committee into a dedicated economic development engine that now supports more than 130 manufacturers across the county.

“We became our own entity laser-focused on job creation—the creation and the retention of quality jobs in Henderson County,” says President and CEO, Brittany Brady. She explains that doing so helps to offset taxes and expenses for the county’s residents, a dynamic that has shaped HCPED’s priorities from the start. “We’ve always been focused on strong job creation and strong capital investment because it offsets taxes and expenses for our citizens,” she says. “Having that strong tax base is important, and obviously, having great jobs for our citizens is important.”

Over the past 20 years, though, HCPED’s role in the community has broadened well beyond chasing individual projects. Brady describes the organization today as a strategic development partner, one that has built out more robust workforce programming and product development efforts alongside its traditional recruitment work.

Remarkably, all of this is accomplished by a lean team. HCPED typically employs between three and four people. “We are small and mighty,” Brady says of her staff.

HCPED operates as a 501(c)(6) entity and describes itself as a public-private partnership. Elected officials and public bodies fund much of its work, effectively contracting HCPED to recruit and retain quality jobs on the county’s behalf. Private investors also contribute, having recognized the return that comes when new industry moves to town. “When industry comes to town, it benefits everyone,” Brady says, “and so they have invested in the work that we do.”

Balancing those public and private interests, she says, comes down to listening to what public partners find important and to what the industry itself needs. “It’s listening to what our public partners find important, what industry sectors are a good fit for our community, how they’re developing their land code and where we can work with them,” Brady explains. “The other element is understanding what industry needs, understanding if there’s an opportunity to become more business-friendly, if there are opportunities to collaborate.”

That approach, Brady says, has paid off in an unexpected way by helping both public officials and private companies better understand why economic development matters in the first place.

Part of what sets Henderson County apart, believes Brady, is the strength of its relationships with elected officials, relationships HCPED has worked deliberately to build. “They have bought into economic development, and that isn’t by chance. That is us really working with them, having meetings, educating them again on the importance of manufacturing investment in our community and how great manufacturing is—it’s really clean jobs, great jobs, strong investment.” The result is a business-friendly environment where companies know they can pick up the phone and get the answers they need. “They feel welcome here,” she says.

HCPED’s work is overwhelmingly concentrated in one sector. Roughly 95 percent of its office’s focus is on advanced manufacturing, and its location plays directly into that specialty. Henderson County sits south of Asheville, North Carolina and north of Greenville, South Carolina, a position that lends itself naturally to transportation components manufacturing. “We can serve the automotive industry in upstate South Carolina and even further south, as well as the growing aviation and aerospace cluster that has been established in western North Carolina,” Brady says.

Beyond transportation, the county’s industry base spans several sectors shaped by its mountain setting and its growing population. Outdoor products manufacturing, healthcare and healthcare manufacturing, food and beverage manufacturing, general machining, advanced materials, and professional and technical services all feature prominently. “More and more people want to live in western North Carolina, and those headquarters-type jobs and technical jobs are finding their way to the mountains as well,” Brady says.

When it comes to the investors HCPED is actively courting, the target list mirrors its existing strengths in aerospace, automotive, outdoor products, healthcare products, food and beverage, machinery, advanced materials, and professional and technical services.

Ask Brady what she shows prospective investors first, and location tops the list. Henderson County sits on Interstate 26, within a day’s drive of most major East Coast markets, and benefits from connectivity to Interstates 40, 81, 77, and 85. “That is huge because we have this opportunity to get along the Eastern Seaboard.”

The county is also just an hour from an inland port, with access to multiple deep-water ports across North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. Several of its premier industrial sites sit minutes from Asheville Regional Airport, and Charlotte International Airport is less than two hours away. “There’s just an abundance of location advantages to being here in Henderson County,” Brady says, noting how critical that combination becomes for companies looking to shorten supply chains and diversify freight options.

For companies weighing where to land, HCPED points to its Economic Development Assistance Grant, a performance-based incentive tied directly to job creation, wages, and capital investment. Companies that qualify can recoup a percentage of their ad valorem taxes on both real and personal property. “Our program is pretty aggressive, and we go up to 120 percent of those ad valorem taxes based on jobs, wages, and investment,” Brady says. Companies that bring high job counts, strong wages, and substantial investment stand to see that full 120 percent return through the performance-based grant, a significant draw for manufacturers evaluating sites across the region.

Beyond recruitment and retention, HCPED has invested heavily in workforce development through its Made in Henderson County program, launched in 2012 to introduce local students to manufacturing careers.

The program began with a video, then expanded to include facility tours, educator visits, classroom presentations, and eventually a children’s book. Brady describes it as a cradle-to-career pipeline. Elementary school students in Henderson County Public Schools receive a picture book about local manufacturing. Middle schoolers go on plant tours. By high school, students are encouraged to consider an apprenticeship program run in partnership with Blue Ridge Community College, or to pursue manufacturing-focused training at the college directly.

“We know that many of these students do want to go to a traditional four-year university, and so for those students who are seeking a four-year degree, we do want to remind them that they can come back to Henderson County and there are great jobs,” Brady says.

Local manufacturers function almost like small cities in themselves, employing far more than production-line workers. “Whether you have an engineering degree, an HR degree, a marketing degree, or anything in between, there’s a good chance that a manufacturer in Henderson County will have a good job opportunity for you,” she says.

The children’s book at the center of the program, titled You Can Make It, grew out of Brady’s own experience as a parent. As the mother of two school-age children, she has seen firsthand how important reading is, both at home and in the school system. “Students are always finding new facts and new stories from reading. And as a parent, helping a child read, you’re also learning these things,” she says.

That observation became the seed for a book aimed specifically at first-grade students in Henderson County Public Schools, designed so children and their parents could learn about manufacturing together. “We want students to know that you can make it. You can be successful in your hometown, and you can make products here through manufacturing. And for those parents who are reading the book, you too can make it. You can also make products here in Henderson County,” says Brady.

Asked about HCPED’s priorities for the next three to five years, Brady points to a 101-acre tract adjacent to Asheville Regional Airport known as Ferncliff Industrial Park, purchased jointly by Henderson County and HCPED a couple of years ago.

“These 101 acres and its location by the airport, its proximity to Interstate 26, make it a prime manufacturing site,” Brady says. The site requires LEED certification, supporting clean manufacturing operations, and its direct access to the airport runway is a rarity in western North Carolina and across the state more broadly.

“We would love to capture aerospace manufacturing there at Ferncliff Park,” Brady shares. “That would be a win for us personally as an organization, but also for our community and as the state, getting back to our roots as being first in flight.”

For HCPED, the relationship with a new manufacturer doesn’t end once a deal closes. Brady describes a hands-on approach that begins the moment a company begins its site search and continues long after it opens its doors. “When a company comes to Henderson County, we’re with them 100 percent of the way. When they’re starting their search, we want to make sure that we’re finding the right location for them and removing any hurdles that are with them in that startup phase. But also once they get established, we stay with them.”

HCPED positions itself as a connector within the broader community, linking companies to the local leaders, partners, and resources they need to put down roots. “We like to say we’re a jack of all trades, where we know so many different people in the community and we’ll connect you with those leaders,” Brady says.

As a membership-based organization, HCPED also hosts a range of events for its investors and for the broader manufacturing community, alongside a members-only portal that lets manufacturers connect with one another. Regular retention visits help HCPED’s small team stay attuned to what existing companies need, whether that means help securing a grant, expanding infrastructure, connecting with another manufacturer, or linking up with a utility partner.

With its next chapter centered on aerospace ambitions at Ferncliff Industrial Park and a workforce pipeline already reaching the county’s youngest residents, HCPED’s message to prospective manufacturers is straightforward. As Brady puts it, Henderson County is open for business.

The post Small and Mighty: Turning Geography into Growth for Western North Carolina Manufacturers<p class="company">Henderson County Partnership for Economic Development (HCPED)</p> appeared first on Manufacturing In Focus.

In addition to several thriving unincorporated communities, including Cashiers, Cullowhee, and Whittier, the county is also home to four incorporated towns—Dillsboro, Sylva, Webster, and Forest Hills—and more than 185 recognized summits, 200 rivers and streams, stunning scenery, unmatched outdoor activity, and a beautiful setting for cultural and economic interaction.

Home to approximately 45,000 residents, Jackson County has experienced significant population growth, increasing by approximately 36 percent since 2000.

“Our goal is to build a more diverse economy in Jackson County, one that creates new opportunities for businesses to grow and for our residents to build meaningful careers close to home,” says Tiffany Henry, Director of Economic Development.

Central to that strategy is the Jackson County Business Campus, a roughly 42-acre former industrial property off Skyland Drive. The project represents Jackson County’s first intentionally developed business and industrial campus, creating new opportunities for business expansion, recruitment, and economic diversification. The property was also selected for the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina’s (EDPNC) SelectSite program, recognizing its potential for industrial development. “Sites like this are extremely rare and difficult to find, especially in the mountains,” says Henry.

A relatively flat site, it is fully rail-served and will provide the county with something it has never had before. “It’s a place where we can proactively recruit businesses rather than waiting for an appropriate property to become available,” Henry says. “We’re focusing on right-sized businesses and industries that fit Jackson County, particularly manufacturing,” she explains. “We want to create opportunities for existing businesses and attract new employers that can provide quality, higher-wage careers for our residents.”

The county has entered into an economic development agreement with The Ruddell Group as its private development partner, with the goal of constructing buildings that will create much-needed, market-ready industrial space.

The development is also expected to attract a range of businesses and industries to the area. “The Ruddell Group primarily targets advanced manufacturing, assembly, specialty logistics, and B2B companies,” says The Ruddell Group’s founder, Dean Taitz. “That could be HVAC that needs 20,000 square feet or a custom cabinet manufacturer; we’ve seen it all, and those clients really like the product we put out.”

Taitz is eager to see development move forward and hopes to secure an early tenant, helping build momentum for the campus.

“It would be a huge win, providing great momentum for the area,” he says. “It’s a testament to how, when local government and private developers come together, we can achieve a whole lot more being on the same team. It’s also a very interesting concept, especially in real estate development. I’ve got to commend Jackson County for being on the cutting edge.”

“An important part of this project is that the county is retaining a portion of the property for a proposed workforce training center in partnership with Southwestern Community College,” Henry explains. “That creates a unique opportunity to bring business and workforce training together on the same campus. Our vision is to connect employers with the talent and training resources they need while creating new career pathways for our residents.”

Taitz also sees the site’s relatively flat terrain and existing rail access as significant advantages in a region where industrial development can be so challenging. “To find that in Western North Carolina is a huge incentive in itself,” Taitz says. “If you need to be in Western North Carolina and need a 50,000-square-foot building, this is one of the only rail-served sites that we could build it on easily and cost-effectively.”

“It’s an incentive to the right kind of people who know how tough it is,” he adds. “If you want to serve the area, be close, and reap all the benefits there, this is a site you can fit your business on.”

With access to both Western Carolina University and Southwestern Community College, Jackson County is well positioned to connect businesses with workforce training and education resources.

“We have an interesting mix right here,” says Henry. “Having this workforce training center on this property will allow us the opportunity to provide hands-on training space for programs such as construction, electrical, plumbing, or other advanced trades needed in this space, and we hope it will respond to the needs of future employers.”

It will also help set Jackson County apart, drawing in both business and employees. “I’ve never worked on a project where we can train all the employers’ workers across the railroad,” adds Taitz. “They’re basically on the same site, which is really powerful.”

Of course, with extra jobs and employment comes the often-challenging task of providing adequate, affordable housing, an issue discussed nationwide and one that Jackson County is tackling head-on. “I’m excited that we’re not just studying these problems anymore; we’re putting projects on the ground,” says Henry. “In Jackson County, we’ve been working on a multi-partner development bringing workforce homeownership, workforce rental housing, and affordable senior housing.”

Webster Village is a collaborative housing initiative bringing together Jackson County, Mountain Projects, Western Carolina University, and Givens Communities. The development will include workforce homeownership opportunities, workforce rental housing, and affordable senior housing, addressing several different housing needs within the community. Jackson County has helped coordinate the partnership and secure funding for the infrastructure necessary to support the development. The Givens affordable senior housing component is scheduled to break ground December 8, with completion anticipated in 2028.

“We’re moving beyond studying the housing challenges and taking real steps to create more housing opportunities in Jackson County,” Henry explains. “We’re a small rural county, and that makes it really challenging. I’ve never felt like I could really, honestly recruit a business until we addressed some of these fundamental things: housing, childcare, broadband, and workforce training.”

Those are precisely the issues she has been working on diligently for the past five years, with housing in particular well on its way. “We’re also doing some significant work in the childcare space with a project we’re really excited about called Webster ChildPlex. It’s an innovative shared-facility model designed to help independent childcare providers open and operate their own classrooms while sharing common spaces and resources.”

A county-owned space being developed around a shared facility model to expand childcare capacity and support providers, the ChildPlex is akin to a “childcare incubator,” providing licensed classrooms, support, and resources needed to start a classroom while incubating and growing into a center model.

“We’re not trying to simply move childcare providers from one location to another,” says Henry. “We want to create opportunities for more providers to enter the market and expand the number of childcare slots available to families. For me, this is about more than childcare. It’s about removing barriers for working families and strengthening the foundation of our local economy.”

It’s certainly a vital one, along with the need for broadband. Broadband infrastructure is being actively deployed across the county, with close to 95 percent of address points either served or funded for broadband service.

With training, education, and housing all making headway, Jackson County boasts a multitude of other advantages, including stunning outdoor spaces to draw residents, tourists, and businesses alike. “Our quality of life is probably one of our greatest competitive advantages because we don’t have to convince people that Jackson County is a great place to live,” Henry says. “From fishing and hiking to public lands wedged in between the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the Blue Ridge Parkway, visitors and residents love it because we have a lot of those assets right here at our back door.”

These are coupled with vibrant small-town downtowns and communities that have their own unique identities. “You get all of the benefits of a rural community that is vibrant, and there’s a lot going on in it.”

The county also boasts a strong cultural heritage, with approximately 10 percent or more of its residents identifying as Native American, predominantly of Cherokee descent. The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, one of three federally recognized Cherokee tribes in the United States, is headquartered on the Qualla Boundary, which includes lands in Jackson and Swain counties.

Special events abound in Jackson County with Mountain Heritage Day, Greening Up the Mountains festival, and numerous community holiday events that bring a tremendous amount of art, music, and Appalachian cultural heritage to the region. Whittier Heritage Grounds sat largely vacant and is transforming into a community and event space that can host anything from festivals and markets to agricultural and youth events. “Plans for the property include a 48,000-square-foot open-air pavilion that will expand opportunities for community celebrations, agricultural events, festivals, and other activities,” Henry adds.

“It’s a unique project. Economic development in rural North Carolina looks very different than it does in our more urban neighborhoods, and this project is one of those.”

Henry has a close affinity for the county she has never left, growing up there and having attended both Southwestern and Western. “Jackson County has always been a place where I want to live, and I want people to want to live, and I’m invested in it because I know how special it is,” she says. “Our work now is making sure it’s a place where more people can build a career, raise a family, and create a future affordably. We’ve got to work on all of these different things so they can stay here.”

This also means increasingly looking at economic development as an ecosystem, she stresses. “We can’t talk about recruiting an employer without talking about where the employees are going to live and whether they can find childcare, access broadband, how we’re going to train the workforce—we’re trying to handle all of those collectively. That’s one element of our economic development strategy.”

Photos courtesy of Jackson County TDA

The post Connected Through Community: Bringing Business, People, and Training Together<p class="company">Jackson County, North Carolina</p> appeared first on Manufacturing In Focus.

RCEDC is a nonprofit organization with a clear mandate in supporting the industries already rooted in the community while attracting new manufacturers to the county. It’s a mission with real stakes. Manufacturing accounts for roughly 25 percent of all jobs in Randolph County, making it a cornerstone of the local economy and a driving force behind the county’s long-term planning.

“We really focus on the industrial sector, and that is supporting the industry that is already based in our community as well as the attraction of new industry to Randolph County,” says Kevin Franklin, President of RCEDC. “It’s an important part of our local economy. We want to keep that healthy and thriving and make sure we’ve got plenty of opportunities for our residents.”

That dual focus of supporting existing employers while pursuing new investment shapes nearly everything RCEDC does, from its incentive structure to its day-to-day outreach. It’s an approach built on the understanding that economic development isn’t just about landing headline-grabbing announcements, but about sustaining the businesses already contributing to the tax base and employing local residents.

Randolph County’s industrial base spans a wide range of sectors—automotive, aerospace, plastics, food and beverage, metals, furniture, and textiles among them—but one sector is generating more momentum than any other right now. “The automotive sector is big, with Toyota batteries in production now in our community,” says Franklin.

Toyota announced its investment in the county in 2021, and the ramp-up has been substantial ever since. The company has committed to more than 5,000 jobs, with roughly 3,000 already on site. That growth is ongoing, and according to Franklin, it’s having a positive impact community-wide.

The scale of the investment is significant not only for the jobs it creates directly, but for the ripple effects it generates throughout the local economy, from suppliers seeking proximity to the plant, to service industries supporting a growing workforce, to the broader signal it sends to other manufacturers considering the region. A project of this magnitude tends to validate a community’s readiness in the eyes of other site selectors, and Franklin and his team are clearly aware of the opportunity that presents.

The Toyota battery plant sits on the Greensboro-Randolph Megasite, an approximately 1,800-acre property that Toyota owns outright, alongside with a handful of on-site suppliers. The megasite was central to landing the deal in the first place. “That was a pretty big pitch,” Franklin says of the site’s role in the negotiations.

Megasites of this scale are rare, and they typically take years of coordinated planning among state and local agencies to prepare for a project of Toyota’s size. Having land ready for an operation with this footprint was a critical piece of the puzzle and it’s part of the reason RCEDC continues to emphasize site readiness as a priority for future growth.

Ask Franklin what draws manufacturers to Randolph County specifically, and a few themes emerge quickly: workforce, quality of life, and a long manufacturing heritage that has left the region with a strong labor pool.

“I think they’re coming for the workforce. I think they’re coming for quality of life as well,” he says. “And because we have such a high concentration of manufacturing, we’ve got a high manufacturing quotient for many of the sectors that we’re bringing in. So that means there are resources, there are suppliers, and there’s workforce.”

That manufacturing quotient, a measure of how concentrated an industry is in a given area relative to the national average, matters to companies evaluating where to locate or expand. A high quotient signals an established ecosystem of workers who already understand plant environments and production schedules, and a regional identity tied to industrial work. For companies weighing the risks of standing up a new facility, that kind of ecosystem can meaningfully reduce ramp-up time.

Location plays a significant role too. Randolph County sits centrally within North Carolina and along the East Coast more broadly, with direct access to interstates 73, 74, 85, and future I-685. The county is also within reach of I-95 and I-77. “It’s really quite a convergence from a transportation standpoint,” Franklin says. For manufacturers, that convergence translates directly into logistical efficiency, meaning shorter shipping times to both suppliers and customers and easier access for the workforce commuting from surrounding counties.

Rail infrastructure adds another layer of advantage, with Norfolk Southern operating multiple lines through the county. “Not every community has rail access,” Franklin says, “so that provides some unique opportunities as well.”

For heavier manufacturing operations, or those moving significant volumes of raw materials and finished goods, rail access can be a deciding factor that highway infrastructure alone can’t replace. It’s a differentiator RCEDC leans on when pitching the county to industries with rail-dependent supply chains, such as automotive and metals manufacturers.

Despite its many strengths, Franklin is candid about the challenges RCEDC faces when it comes to available real estate. As a legacy textile, furniture, and tobacco community, Randolph County has a substantial inventory of older industrial buildings but many weren’t built with today’s manufacturing operations in mind. “We do sometimes struggle with availability of ready-to-go sites and suitable buildings,” he says. “For example, the ceiling heights typically are not what our manufacturing operations today are looking for.”

This is a challenge familiar to many legacy manufacturing regions across the country. Buildings constructed decades ago for textile mills or furniture production were rarely designed with the clear-height requirements or automation infrastructure that modern manufacturers now expect. Retrofitting older stock can be costly, and in some cases, it’s more economical for a company to build new than to adapt an existing structure.

On the site development side, the picture is mixed. Some properties are closer to shovel-ready than others, and Franklin tells us the county doesn’t currently have a fully prepared shovel-ready site on offer, though that could change quickly with the right end user. Indeed, site readiness has become a decisive factor for many manufacturers, particularly those on compressed timelines, and communities without shovel-ready inventory can find themselves excluded from consideration before negotiations even begin. RCEDC recognizes this gap and is prepared to move quickly to close it when the right opportunity presents itself.

The workforce remains one of RCEDC’s central priorities, and its partnership with Randolph Community College plays a key role in addressing it. “We have a great partnership with Randolph Community College, and of course North Carolina is known for its customized industrial training program,” which gives the county a strong tool for preparing workers to meet the specific needs of incoming manufacturers. “We are talking with the community college on a weekly basis,” says Franklin.

That weekly communication points to a working relationship built on a continuous feedback loop between the organization recruiting employers and the institution responsible for preparing the workforce those employers will hire from. When a new company signs on, RCEDC and the community college can move quickly to design training that matches the operation’s specific needs, rather than relying on generic programs that may not translate directly to the plant floor.

Randolph Community College can help train the local workforce, but of course wages and workplace culture remain firmly in each company’s hands. “What we can’t control is culture and wages,” Franklin says. “The companies that are really focused on providing the right type of environment for their employees and paying them fairly generally don’t have trouble finding the right kind of applicants.” RCEDC can help build the pipeline, but it’s ultimately up to individual employers to make the jobs at the end of that pipeline attractive enough to fill.

For manufacturers considering Randolph County, RCEDC offers a structured set of incentives designed to support both new entrants and companies already established there. Performance-based cash incentives, typically structured over a five-year window, form the backbone of the offering. RCEDC calculates anticipated new taxable revenue from a company’s operations and negotiates a portion of that back to the business over time.

“We also work closely with the state of North Carolina for grants and incentives at the state level,” Franklin says. “Some of those require matches from the local governments, and we participate in those.”

For companies eyeing vacant buildings that need upfitting, RCEDC has had success securing state grant dollars to support renovations, administered on a per-job basis. Training support is available as well, through customized grants developed in partnership with the community college. “We can put a plan together through the community college to help with that training even over a three-year period,” says Franklin.

This layered approach to incentives gives RCEDC multiple levers to pull depending on a company’s specific circumstances. Rather than offering a single, one-size-fits-all package, the organization tailors its support to the size and needs of each business, whether that’s a multinational automaker or a small manufacturer looking to expand its footprint.

RCEDC’s support doesn’t stop once a company sets up operations. The organization’s existing industry program, built around outreach and ongoing connections to resources, is one of its most important functions. “Let’s get the new company here and then continue to support them through our existing industry programs,” Franklin says.

That ongoing relationship is, in many ways, the quieter half of RCEDC’s work. Recruitment announcements generate headlines, but retention and expansion, keeping existing employers satisfied and growing, often matter more to a region’s long-term economic health.

On the smaller end of the scale, the City of Asheboro has recently introduced small business grants aimed at companies that may not qualify for larger state-level programs. “When they fall in that gap, if they’re growing, adding jobs, adding tax base, there’s an opportunity to capture some incentive dollars, grant dollars on a much smaller scale,” Franklin explains. That gap-filling function matters for a community like Randolph County, where not every employer is a Toyota-scale operation. Smaller manufacturers and family-owned businesses make up a meaningful share of the local economy, and ensuring they have access to growth capital, even in modest amounts, helps keep that segment of the industrial base healthy.

RCEDC sees the county’s manufacturing base continuing to shift toward higher-skill, higher-automation operations over the next five years, with particular opportunity in metals, plastics, and additional automotive-related industries. “We’re definitely moving in the advanced manufacturing direction—more automation, more highly skilled workers—which is beneficial because that means they’re receiving higher pay and better benefits,” Franklin says.

This trajectory mirrors a broader pattern playing out across manufacturing hubs nationally as automation reshapes the skills required on the plant floor and pushes wages upward for workers equipped to operate and maintain increasingly sophisticated equipment. For Randolph County, positioning itself at the front of that shift could prove to be a defining factor in the type of investment the region attracts over the next decade.

RCEDC operates with a small but dedicated team, with three full-time staff members and one part-time. Kevin Franklin leads the organization, with Crystal Gettys serving as Business Recruitment Director, focused on bringing new business to the county and working with property owners to bring new products onto the market. David Hursey serves as Existing Industry Director, interfacing daily with local industry to ensure companies have the resources and connections they need to thrive. Malynda Shumaker, working part-time, manages the organization’s financial operations.

Such a lean structure means each team member wears multiple hats, and it speaks to the level of coordination required to run an organization responsible for both landing large-scale investments and maintaining relationships with the county’s smaller, established manufacturers.

With a strong industrial base and a clear strategy for workforce development and incentive support, Randolph County—and the RCEDC team guiding its growth—is positioning itself for a new era of advanced manufacturing.

The post Built to Grow<p class="company">Randolph County, North Carolina</p> appeared first on Manufacturing In Focus.

Located within the Charlotte metropolitan region, Monroe has established its own identity as a center for manufacturing, industry, and employment. Companies benefit from access to the greater Charlotte market while operating in a community with an established industrial base; transportation connectivity through I-485, U.S. 74, and the Monroe Expressway; Charlotte Monroe Executive Airport; and the infrastructure necessary to support business growth.

“One of Monroe’s greatest advantages is our ability to work directly with companies as they navigate the development process,” says Campo. “The city is a one-stop development shop including planning and zoning, permitting, engineering, fire, and stormwater. Monroe also owns and operates its electric, water, sewer, and natural gas systems.”

While Monroe maintains an average 10-day turnaround standard for complete commercial permit submissions, speed alone does not define good economic development. It’s also about having access to people who will answer questions, identify potential obstacles, and work toward solutions.

“That is the Office of Economic Development’s opportunity to serve,” Campo stresses. “When a prospect comes to Monroe, we want to understand the entire project, not simply how many acres or square feet the company needs. We want to understand its utility requirements, transportation needs, workforce, investment, timeline, and plans for future growth. That allows us to ask a much more important question: What does this company need to be successful here?”

Answering that question requires partnership, and Economic Development strives to connect businesses with the right resources, whether bringing city departments together around a development issue, connecting an employer with South Piedmont Community College and the Centralina Workforce Development Board, or helping a company become part of the broader business community through organizations such as the Union County Chamber of Commerce.

“We place that same emphasis on our existing industries,” says Campo. “A project announcement is important, but it’s only the beginning of the relationship. The true measure of a business environment comes in the years that follow as companies hire employees, invest in equipment, expand production, and respond to changes in their industries.”

SEECO (Southern Electrical Equipment Company) is one example of a recent successful partnership that came about when its existing footprint became a constraint on its growth in Charlotte and in Indian Trail. “We knew we needed more space, but we didn’t want to just move into another building and find ourselves having the same conversation again in five years,” says Advisory Board Member, Christie Panto. “We wanted to make a decision that would give SEECO room to grow for the next 10, 20, and 30 years.”

The opportunity in Monroe allowed SEECO to consolidate operations into one much larger facility, with both the land and flexibility to improve the way people, operations, inventory, and equipment work together. “The Monroe facility gave us approximately 109,000 square feet in a new facility that we could make work for our operation, rather than trying to make an older, more expensive building work around us,” Panto says. “We wanted room to expand, and we wanted opportunities nearby that could support additional growth down the road.” Monroe made sense for practical reasons: the cost, the facility, the land, and the opportunity to grow.

Monroe was also a reasonable geographic compromise, offering a location with good access to major roads for those who wanted to commute while also being a community where employees could choose to live if they wanted to relocate closer to work with good schools and overall affordability.

Working with local officials and economic-development partners was nothing but positive and productive, Panto adds. “It was one of the nicest surprises of the whole experience. We had great cooperation from the City of Monroe, Union County, the Chamber, and our local education and workforce development partners,” she says. “There was a genuine interest in understanding what we were trying to accomplish and figuring out how everyone could help make it happen. We found a partnership with this community that understood the importance of growing manufacturing. When one of us succeeds, we all do.”

While SEECO came to Monroe because the business case made sense, what they found was so much more. “We didn’t necessarily anticipate how much we would appreciate the community itself,” Panto says. “Don’t underestimate the value of finding a community that actually wants you there.”

While SEECO is a new partnership, MacLean Power Systems’ (MPS) Monroe Operation—previously known as ITEC, a manufacturer of instrument transformers essential to the modern electrical grid—has been a proud part of the local community for more than 20 years. “Monroe is where we have built our team, expanded our capabilities, invested in our operation, and created opportunities for employees to create rewarding, long-term careers,” says Greggie Mull, Human Resources Manager. “Our growth has brought increased investment in machinery and equipment, employee development, and workforce training. We have also gained additional training resources through our partnership with South Piedmont Community College.”

MacLean Power Systems’ workforce includes employees from diverse backgrounds and a broad workforce that includes people from the Charlotte area, Lancaster and Pageland in South Carolina, and other surrounding communities, an important strength of its operation. Additionally, the Monroe Expressway has improved transportation routes for shipping products and made it easier to reach potential employees across the region, important connections for a company committed to operating, investing, and hiring in Monroe for the long term.

As the Monroe operation has grown, connection to the community has grown with it, Mull adds. “While many local residents still know us as ITEC, we are proud to be part of MacLean Power Systems and remain committed to investing in Monroe and the surrounding region.”

MacLean Power Systems relies on local talent to manufacture products and values partnerships with organizations such as South Piedmont Community College, which helps develop the next generation of skilled manufacturing professionals. Continued collaboration among employers, educational institutions, economic development organizations, and other community partners will help Monroe remain a place where manufacturers can invest, grow, and succeed.

“For our Monroe operation, modern manufacturing requires continued investment in technology, stronger and more efficient processes, and increased opportunities for employees to develop their skills,” says Mull. “Local education and workforce-training partners are an important part of that continued progress.”

That partnership between education and manufacturing plays a key role in Monroe. In fact, South Piedmont Community College views its manufacturers as true partners in workforce development, working directly with local employers to understand workforce needs, identify skill gaps, and respond with the right training solutions—from curriculum programs and short-term credentials to customized training.

“We also support manufacturing apprenticeships and help employers strengthen their recruitment and talent pipelines,” says South Piedmont Community College President, Dr. Stacy Waters-Bailey. “We are committed to being a trusted, reliable partner to our manufacturing industry.”

As speed and responsiveness are critical in today’s economy, South Piedmont Community College works directly with employers to quickly develop customized workforce solutions that address their specific needs. In many cases, this means moving from identifying a workforce challenge to launching training within days.

“Our goal is to remove barriers for our local manufacturing partners and help them respond quickly to changing business demands,” says Waters-Bailey. “Our employers have a direct voice in shaping what we do. Through advisory committees, employer surveys, and ongoing conversations with industry, we listen closely to what businesses are seeing and experiencing.” This feedback helps to continually refine programs so graduates are prepared for the jobs and technology that employers need today and will need tomorrow, benefiting not only employers but also students, as they can be assured that they are receiving industry-relevant training at South Piedmont Community College.

To that end, the college works hand-in-hand with industry to deliver both credit and short-term, non-credit programs that provide students with the technical expertise, practical experience, and durable skills area employers value, says Waters-Bailey. “Our goal is straightforward: to ensure our students are ready to contribute, grow, and lead in the workforce.”

When it comes to the independent business-community voice, the Union County Chamber of Commerce champions business growth throughout Monroe and Union County through advocacy, economic development, and collaboration, striving to maintain the region’s momentum by strengthening relationships between businesses and partners in government and education.

“Monroe’s diverse industry base makes this work easier by creating opportunities for talented individuals in nearly any industry imaginable,” says President and CEO, Clayton Whitson. “The Monroe area is unique in that business, government, nonprofit, and education partners collaborate with a goal of mutual success.” That collaborative spirit, coupled with the geography that places the Chamber in proximity to a major metro, access to ports and rail, and an ever-growing workforce base, gives companies a real strategic advantage in the marketplace.

The Chamber places a large emphasis on relationships with businesses, Whitson adds. As new businesses enter the market, the Chamber connects with the community in a variety of ways, particularly with the existing business network through Chamber programming. “We tailor our programming to continually provide content that will address areas of ongoing need for our employers, such as environmental health and safety or workforce development,” he explains. “Getting professionals connected to these groups provides peer support for current and future needs and strengthens ties to the community.” The Chamber then communicates needs and opportunities to community partners involved with business retention and expansion efforts.

“North Carolina has always had a business-friendly reputation, and that doesn’t happen by accident,” Whitson says. “The Chamber’s advocacy and public policy work with governmental units at every level to ensure we’re creating an environment where our companies can thrive and continue to provide economic opportunities for our friends and neighbors. Our businesses understand this value and actively provide feedback to guide our public policy work.”

Finally, working to establish that Monroe has access to a regional workforce system, not merely the labor force contained within the city limits, the Centralina Workforce Development Board understands that workforce development starts by understanding exactly what an employer needs and then connecting that employer to the appropriate resources.

As labor markets cross municipal boundaries, workforce professionals can engage companies during recruitment as well as after they locate, and employer needs—occupations, skills, wages, recruitment timelines, and training—should drive the workforce response. “The Centralina WDB and its local NCWorks Career Center in Monroe provide talent recruitment and retention services for employers and career advising, training, and placement services for career seekers,” says David Hollars, Executive Director, Centralina Workforce Development Board. “We work with local partners in developing a regional talent pipeline through the MonroeWorks initiative with the city.”

The Centralina WDB is also actively involved in Our Future in UNiSON—addressing career pathway development and increasing the number of individuals with post-secondary degrees, certificates, and certifications—and with Union JobReady and the Chamber’s Workforce Development Committee in developing strong career guidance, knowledge, and work-based learning opportunities for students in the local middle and high schools.

“These companies and organizations demonstrate different parts of our partnership,” says Campo, adding that SEECO offers the perspective of a manufacturer that recently chose Monroe, while MacLean Power Systems provides the perspective of an employer with approximately two decades of area experience. “Our Chamber, workforce, and education partners demonstrate the network that supports businesses before and after a location decision.”

For Monroe Economic Development, the responsibility does not end when a company selects a site or opens its doors, she adds. “We want to be there for the next expansion, the next workforce challenge, and the next opportunity. We want businesses to choose Monroe, and to have every reason to choose Monroe again when it’s time to make their next investment.”

The post Where Business Location Becomes Business Partnership<p class="company">City of Monroe, North Carolina</p> appeared first on Manufacturing In Focus.