No. 1 among its peers. The reasons for North Carolina's success are many and varied. For starters, the state has one of the country's most highly regarded industry training programs. It has the Southeast's largest manufacturing labor force and one of the country's friendliest labor climates. Labor is abundant in the region, and wage rates are usually a little lower.
Union membership is low.
The communities throughout the area are pro-business and aggressive, and they offer pretty good incentives to companies coming in. They've found the region an inviting place to do business. Those organizations work closely with the state Dept. of Commerce and their local communities to help prospective firms evaluate location opportunities and assist existing companies with expansion plans. To help readers gauge Eastern North Carolina's business environment, Site Selection interviewed numerous corporate executives across the region. Those business leaders, all of whom were involved in a recent decision to establish a new facility, tell much the same story.