< PreviousADVERTISEMENT NORTH CAROLINA IS RAIL READY FOR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT T he North Carolina Railroad Company (NCRR) has helped lay the foundation for North Carolina’s growth by connecting regions, supporting commerce and fostering opportunities for the past 176 years. NCRR’s corridor stretches 317 miles from the Port of Morehead City to Charlotte — an essential conduit to global and domestic markets. NCRR’s unique model as a state-owned private company, keeps North Carolina moving at the speed of business, while allowing the company to make strategic investments of its private capital throughout the state with several economic development programs . Invest in What’s Next Working with companies, site selectors, and state and local economic developers, the NCRR Invests program helped secure more than 20 new or expanded manufacturing facilities by funding rail-related improvements. NCRR awarded approximately $19 million leading to more than 14,400 new jobs since the program began eight years ago. Recent grants include Siemens Energy, Innovative Construction Group and Pennsylvania Transformer Technology. Promoting rail use and prioritizing collaborative partnerships through NCRR Invests advances North Carolina’s competitiveness. Pipeline of Build Ready Sites Site availability is another key piece of keeping our state competitive and why North Carolina is a perennial candidate for the top state for business. The Build Ready Sites program provides funding for land clearing, grading and utility extensions for industrial rail sites. Since the program’s inception in 2021, NCRR has awarded more than $9 million in private grants to 17 counties across North Carolina. The total pipeline of prepped rail-served sites covers 3,500 acres at the ready for future industrial development. Earlier this year, Anson County received funding to clear and grade the 78-acre Atlantic Gateway Logistics Park. In Guilford County, a grant will help extend water and sewer service to the 115-acre Southeast 85 PowerPlex site. Randolph County will use grant funds for water and sewer improvements on a 67-acre property identified for industrial rail development. The Build Ready Sites program recently expanded to two application cycles per year, spring and fall, to turn potential into real opportunity for rail-dependent industry looking to locate in North Carolina. The Promise of Brownfields NCRR’s Brownfields Program helps seed the redevelopment of inactive indus- trial sites. These sites often have key infrastructure in place, making them a prime, yet sometimes overlooked, site selection opportunity. The hurdles can be real, especially when it comes to cleanup. However, the program can be a catalyst for local governments and economic developers to recognize the potential of dormant industrial sites in their community. Jackson County in western North Carolina and the Town of Spencer in Rowan County are the first recipients in this new program. Small Grants with Big Impact The Microgrant Program helps communities across North Carolina take the first step toward site readiness for any industrial recruitment, not just those that are rail-served. Designed for early-stage investment needs, this program funds due diligence studies that can be cost prohibitive for smaller counties and local developers. With awards of up to $50,000 per grant, the Microgrant Program removes a key barrier to growth. Since awarding the first grant in September 2024, NCRR has provided over $1 million in Microgrants to communities across North Carolina. For NCRR, small grants make a big impact. The Microgrant Program expands how NCRR approaches economic development at some of its earliest stages, focusing on readiness and long-term results. It is Nice to Have Options Finally, speed to market is critical for businesses, and site control is a key factor in meeting that demand. NCRR’s new Options Program assists local governments and economic development organizations in securing land to expand sites available for future industrial rail development. By creating a pipeline that helps connect smaller communities to larger economic development programs, the North Carolina Railroad Company is a catalyst for North Carolina’s economy. The North Carolina Railroad Company provides a wide range of private economic investment to connect industries and people to opportunity. OPTIONS PROGRAM: Assists local government and economic development organizations (EDOs) to secure land and expand the pipeline of sites available for future industrial development. MICROGRANT PROGRAM: Funds industrial (rail or non-rail-served) site identification due diligence studies to help communities prepare properties for future investment. BROWNFIELDS PROGRAM: Helps prepare former industrial sites for redevelopment by funding additional site readiness work, it complements the Build Ready Sites Program. BUILD READY SITES: Assists in the development and marketing of rail sites across NC, attracting companies constructing manufacturing plants without having to wait for land improvements. NCRR INVESTS: Funds the engineering, design, and construction costs associated with freight rail infrastructure for companies considering a location or expansion in North Carolina.196 SEPTEMBER 2025 SITE SELECTION dark. When the raging fl oodwaters fi nally receded, an eerie quiet settled over the mountains as people struggled to come to grips with the powerful and unprecedented storm’s aftermath. Helene cut a long and winding path through Florida, Georgia, the Carolinas, Tennessee and Virginia, but it reserved its greatest wrath for the western North Carolina mountains. What transpired over one weekend in September of wasn’t fully realized until rescue workers and other fi rst responders started going door to door on a Monday morning. Choking back tears, Henderson County Commission Chairwoman Rebecca McCall recounted the moments of sheer devastation. “ e day after, every road was blocked,” she says. “I live in Flat Rock, and I could not get to my parents because of all the trees, fl oods and washed-out bridges. It came down, literally, to neighbors helping neighbors.” It was not until day two that people learned that . million residents in western North Carolina had lost power. “It was impossible to get to Asheville from Hendersonville,” says McCall. “ e Interstate was closed because it was either fl ooded or covered with debris.” What happened next was nothing short of miraculous. “Every county employee came to work on Monday and many worked through the weekend,” McCall says. “ e storm fi rst hit us on a ursday night and Friday morning. Friday was the fi rst day we woke up to it.” Two fronts pinned Helene down and held it in place over Henderson County while the tropical storm dumped inches of rain on the county of , people. “ e storm would not leave,” says McCall. “It just sat there for hours and hours.” A storm three times the size of Hurricane Katrina brought devastation the likes of which had never been witnessed before in western North Carolina. According to meteorologist Ben Noll, approximately . times more moisture was transported to western North Carolina than had occurred in any prior recorded event in the region. A ,-year event was considered to be . inches of rainfall. Helene dumped nearly twice that amount — a record . inches — on this highly mountainous terrain. Loss of life came quickly and suddenly, as people perished in Buncombe County (the Asheville area) and people died in nearby Henderson County. A total of counties in western North Carolina lost at least one BY THE NUMBERS NORTH CAROLINA Higher Ed. R&D Expenditure in $000s: 4,153,027 Number of NCRCs: 685,413 | Percent Improved 2023–24: 7.53% Business Tax Climate Rank Change 2024–2025: -3 Industrial power cost per kWh: $7.15 Total Rev. as Share of Total Expenses, FY 2008-22: 107.40% 2024 Workers’ Comp Index Rate: 1.16 Selected Top Projects by Capital Investment COMPANY CITY INVESTMENT $M Jetzero Greensboro 4,700 Whitefi ber HPC Madison 1,000 Genentech Holly Springs 700 Greentech Holly Springs 700 Jabil Rowan Cnty. 500 Source: Conway Projects Database Before and after shots of Asheville Thermoform Plastics in Fletcher, North Carolina. Image courtesy of Asheville Thermoform Plastics198 SEPTEMBER 2025 SITE SELECTION ““ A billion here, a billion there, and pretty soon it begins to add up to real money,” goes the saying. What does that make $2 billion here and $10 billion there? Those are the values of capital investment projects in North Carolina announced in recent weeks by Biogen and Amazon Web Services (AWS), respectively. And that’s on top of at least $10 billion both companies already have invested in the state. What’s more, aerospace company JetZero is investing $4.7 billion at Piedmont Triad International Airport in Greensboro where it will build its Z4 all-wing airplane, as was reported in the July issue of Site Selection. Biogen in July said it will invest $2 billion to expand its operations in Research Triangle Park, where it has two campuses and operates its largest manufacturing facility. With $10 billion already invested in the state, the company says in a statement the upcoming investment will fuel the continued advancement of Biogen’s late-stage clinical pipeline. AWS picked Richmond County, east of Charlotte, for its $10 billion project to expand its data center infrastructure to support AI and cloud computing technologies. The company says it’s expected to create at least 500 new high-skilled jobs while supporting thousands of other jobs in the Amazon Web Services (AWS) data center supply chain. Building for the Future “Generative AI is driving increased demand for advanced cloud infrastructure and compute power, and our investment will support the future of AI from AWS data centers in the Tar Heel State,” says an AWS statement. “This deployment of cutting-edge cloud computing infrastructure will strengthen North Carolina’s position as an innovation hub.” Perhaps that’s why global manufacturer Jabil picked Rowan County, just northeast of Charlotte, as the site for a new advanced manufacturing facility that it says will support cloud and AI data center infrastructure customers. The project is expected to bring nearly 1,200 new jobs and approximately $500 million in capital investment over the next several years. The facility in the Granite Industrial Park will be Jabil’s fourth in North Carolina. “Demand for complex AI hardware, advanced networking and innovative cooling solutions is only accelerating,” said Jabil’s Matt Crowley, executive vice president, Global Business Units, in a release. “We’re proud to expand our presence in North Carolina and scale our capabilities to better support the growing needs of Jabil’s data center customers.” Also expanding in North Carolina are investors in the state’s fi nancial services industry, much of which is clustered in Charlotte. Citigroup Technology is investing $16 million to open a technology hub in the Queen City that is forecast to create about 500 jobs. RTTNews reported in March that Citigroup is streamlining its IT operations by reducing contractors and suppliers and growing its internal technology workforce from 48,000 in 2024 to 50,000. Also in Charlotte, California-based AssetMark, a wealth management platform for fi nancial advisors, says it will invest $10 million and create 252 jobs at a new East Coast Hub. “Charlotte’s place as one of the nation’s top fi nancial centers grows stronger today with the addition of an innovative company like AssetMark,” said Commerce Secretary Lee Lilley at the July announcement. “Fintech companies are especially drawn to North Carolina’s deep pool of IT talent and tailored training programs, which provide an ideal foundation for accelerating their growth in the state.” — Mark Arend BIG BUCKS GROW AN AI AND CLOUD COMPUTING CLUSTER Home to a growing fi nancial services sector, Charlotte is seeing data center infrastructure expand on the region’s periphery. Image courtesy of Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority, charlottesgotalot.comresident to the storm. By September 27, the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) had issued a warning to residents that all roads in western North Carolina should be considered closed and unusable. The National Guard was immediately deployed to the region. Floodwaters caused a massive mudslide that washed out an entire section of Interstate 40 at the Tennessee- North Carolina border. The Pigeon Forge River rose to its highest mark in recorded history. Henderson County Manager John Mitchell remembers it vividly: “Downed trees blocked everything,” he says. “The flooding got much worse. Trees brought power lines down with them.” Entire Towns Swept Away Brittany Brady, president and CEO of the Henderson County Partnership for Economic Development, says that some of the hardest-hit areas in the county were those around the French Broad River, Mills River and Fletcher. “This storm was very impactful for the Town of Fletcher and the manufacturers there,” she says. “About $40 million in damage was done in just one industrial park alone. Equipment was damaged and lost as the Fletcher Business Park took a direct hit.” Commercial businesses in Hendersonville did too. Floodwaters overran the Fresh Market, Harris Teeter and McDonald’s on the south side of town. The dam on Lake Summit in nearby Tuxedo and Zirconia failed, releasing huge water flow from the Green River and swamping homes, businesses and camps throughout the area. Other nearby towns absorbed their worst flooding disaster ever. Asheville’s Biltmore Village was submerged for a month. The Black Mountains got deluged. The scenic little towns of Chimney Rock, Montreat and Swannanoa were essentially washed away. A good chunk of the village of Chimney Rock ended up in Lake Lure. “Everyone lost something,” says Brady. “Our topography is just different. There are many people who are still suffering.” Mitchell adds that “the Deep River Valley was hit the hardest. Bat Cave and Green River were hit hard. The river through Chimney Rock at its peak was three times its normal width. Many properties there were completely washed away.” The Fruitland, Horseshoe and Hot Springs areas also sustained major damage. What ultimately saved the day, says Brady, was “the leadership in our county. They moved forward faster than anyone else. I went to the county manager and 108$59.6 asked him to run a distribution center. The county stepped up immediately and did whatever we needed them to do. We did not get a handout. We just worked really hard, and we worked together.” A total of 1,500 major structures in Henderson County were destroyed. The tax base in the county suffered about a 2% loss. Mitchell estimates that the county spent about $100 million on its storm response and cleanup. “We could only do that because we had a very robust surplus of 12% of our budget,” he says. “The state only requires 8%, so we were better prepared than most. We also have a well-funded capital projects budget. We rose to the challenge of the event — the largest natural disaster in the history of North Carolina.” The state will be dealing with the repercussions of Helene for years to come. State government estimates that road repair projects in Henderson people died and billion in damages occurred due to Hurricane Helene from September 25-27 in western North Carolina. Source: North Carolina Governor’s Report on Helene, December 2024202 SEPTEMBER 2025 SITE SELECTION County alone will cost more than $ billion. Statewide, the estimate is north of $ billion. Federal funds are projected to cover around % of those costs. While fi ve people remain missing and other losses are still being counted, the region is moving forward and showing signs of growth, says Mitchell. “Our sales tax numbers are still on an upward trajectory of .% this year. We are showing % growth in hotel and motel tax receipts and a % increase in our tax base.” e Harris Teeter and McDonald’s just reopened; and Fresh Market will soon reopen after a complete remodel. “Henderson County is open for business,” says Mitchell. “ e county has embarked on a community rebuilding plan for Bat Cave and the area around it. Our working goal is for that community to be even better than it was before the storm.” A Blueprint for Recovery Brady says that is also the goal for Hendersonville. “ e North Carolina Railroad Company gave us a grant to bring in a consultant to write a business recovery plan for the county,” she says. “We hired VisionFirst Advisors out of Florida. ey have done a fantastic job in developing a master plan to lead us on a road to recovery.” ough relatively small in population, Henderson County has been a regular producer of corporate facility expansion projects over the past decade. According to the Conway Projects Database, corporate facility investment deals have landed in the county since the start of , bringing $ million in new capital investment and more than , new jobs with them. Notable projects during that time include a $ million factory investment by GF LINAMAR in Mills River in ; a $ million electronics plant investment by Smartrac Technology Fletcher Inc. in Fletcher in ; and a $. million warehouse and manufacturing space investment by TAGEOS in Fletcher in . Over the past three years, a total of We rose to the challenge of the event — the largest natural disaster in the history of North Carolina.” — John Mitchell , Henderson County Manager We rose to the challenge of SITE SELECTION SEPTEMBER 2025 203 five facility deals have been announced in Henderson County. The largest of these was a 200-job metals plant investment by Emtelle USA Inc. in Fletcher. Earlier this year, Manna Food Bank announced a $7 million food and beverage warehouse investment in Mills River. With Fletcher and Mills River absorbing the brunt of Helene’s wrath, rebuilding the heavily damaged infrastructure in those communities will be at the top of the list of priorities moving forward, say county officials. Brady, McCall and Mitchell all emphasized that the county would not even be in a position to rebuild had it not been for the volunteer help that poured in from around the country last year when the county needed it most. “Volunteers came from all over to distribute supplies to flood victims and displaced residents,” says Mitchell. “EMS workers from Alaska came and helped us run a 157,000-square-foot distribution facility that was set up to give out relief supplies. The generosity of people from other areas of the country made recovery possible.” He singled out the work of the Volunteer Fire Department. “They were the real heroes,” he says. “A lot of them went door to door and checked on every house and every single person. They saved many lives.” Brady echoes that and adds: “Because of the hard work of so many people, we are open for business again in Hendersonville and Henderson County; and we are open for tourism. I think that in so many ways, we have come so very far in the last year and we have so much to be thankful for.” A recent visit to Hendersonville confirmed this progress. I spent a week there in late June and saw visible signs of recovery everywhere: a packed auditorium at the Flat Rock Playhouse to see “Beautiful: The Carole King Musical,” a completely full restaurant at Arbella’s for brunch on Main Street, bustling crowds and cash registers at Mast General Store, and hardly any open spaces left for parking on Main Street for dinner at The Purple Onion in downtown Saluda. It’s only been one year since Helene, but the people of western North Carolina have already shown us who the real heroes are: the hardworking residents who wasted no time rebuilding homes, factories, streets, parks, schools, warehouses, stores, restaurants, playgrounds, community centers and more. As record-setting through-hiker Jennifer Pharr Davis can attest, life is not about what you leave behind. It’s about the path ahead. Next >