Growing the Information Technology Sector in Carrboro, NC: Recommendations and Suggested Strategies
Creators: name: Barnes, Matthew
Publisher: name: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill University Libraries
Year: 2002

description: The town of Carrboro lies in the Raleigh-Durham metropolitan region, which ranks as the fourth largest high-tech economy according to the Progressive Policy Institute in their New Economy Index, which looks at several factors including high-tech jobs, degrees awarded in high-tech fields, and Internet domain names (2001). Carrboro town leaders want to know what they can do to encourage economic growth in the information technology (IT) sector, a subset of the high-tech economy. This study utilizes a variety of methods to examine the location behavior of IT firms, local IT business needs and issues, and strategies and IT issues in towns similar to Carrboro. The methods include a review of current literature, interviews with local IT companies, and interviews with city officials and IT companies in several towns that serve as case studies. The quality of life of an area is very important to IT firms, as evidenced in interviews with IT firms and reading the literature. Carrboro has the quality of life that many IT companies are looking for. The downtown is compact and has many entertainment options. Carrboro is a small town void of most big city problems such as traffic gridlock and a high cost of living, yet it has a cosmopolitan feel. The most important input for an IT business is the highly skilled labor that develops ideas and products. Competition for a highly skilled and highly mobile workforce compels IT firms to locate in places that are desirable to their employees. The human capital of an area is more important to an IT firm than any financial incentive. Even if companies do not hire university graduates, the presence of a highly educated workforce is important to IT firms. Downtown Carrboro, however has an acute shortage of office space. Also, relationships between IT firms and landlords in Carrboro are strained. Some landlords do not understand the special needs of IT businesses. Interaction between IT firms in Carrboro and between IT firms and developers and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) is limited. As Carrboro attempts to double the commercial tax base over the next 20 years, it has to take steps today to ensure that future growth is managed properly. Carrboro is blessed with an excellent mix of amenities that give it a high quality of life and needs to sell this to potential IT firms. However, the very amenities that make Carrboro an attractive community today will be diminished if growth is not planned for. The fiber-optic line under Weaver Street, which is currently underutilized, needs to be marketed as an advantage for potential IT firms. Town leaders should step into the role of facilitator and educator, and act as a clearinghouse of information for local business conditions and contacts. Finally, Carrboro needs to encourage the construction of more class A office space downtown. Renting office space to IT companies is more risky than renting to traditional businesses but Carrboro is fortunate to have a potential third party solution to this problem.