Call me stupidly optimistic but irrespective of the Apple decision the local tech scene is going to keep crushing it. Other cities like Charlotte and Winston-Salem are also seeing great growth in tech (Fintech and Biotech, respectively) which is good for the state and will help alleviate all these legislative issues we’re tiptoeing around.
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neither of those towns are experiencing anywhere near the tech growth we are. Only Winston has a ‘real research university’ to help drive this. Apple on the other hand, we accelerate this “cruising’ to a transformational level, unlike anything we’ve seen in the last 3+ decades. To have a 'brand” of one of the FANG stocks put up a large shop in your city ‘legitimizes’ you unlike one of the 'dinosaurs" (IBM, Cisco, SAS…) Raleigh has always been one of the 6 or so ‘legit’ tech hubs in America BUT we’ve always been ‘behind’ the others like Boston, DC, Austin, Denver, and obviously Silicon Valley. Apple and/or Amazon opening up shop changes that dynamic in a way not even comparable to the ‘steady pace’ we see today.
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It’s funny how Cisco is called a dinosaur; it’s not even 35 years old.
I won’t dispute most of what you said because you’re definitely right. Though, you might be surprised that Wake and UNCC are both Research II (the second highest rank, only UNC, Duke and State are Research I in NC). I didn’t mean to make it a comparison, just to point out that NC is changing and there’s reason to be optimistic that tech growth in places like CLT and W-S will make the state a better place.
Don’t get me wrong, I definitely hope Apple chooses the Triangle (and kind of think it would preclude Amazon if it did) but this isn’t some kind of make-or-break thing for us. Like I said, I’m very optimistic about NC and the Triangle’s future (I’m also still in my 20s so maybe it’s naivete) .
We must change out the GOP Legislature before the census is complete in 2020-21 or they will gerrymand for another TEN years. We must return NC back to its reality, not a laboratory for extremist right wing governance. We are not this. Help us Apple.
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Further points that could have been delaying the announcement: Bigger issues looming with trade war concerns with China or waiting on the ballot turnout in November (on voter ID)
“When the wind of change blows, some people build walls, others build windmills.”
Hard to believe how the republican legislation is risking our chances in arguably the most important year for site selections for NC and RDU in return for shortsighted political gains.
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It can be argued that Trump’s tax changes have caused companies, particularly Apple, to bring back off shore billions back to the USA. And that re-investment is part of why this new Apple campus may come to a place like NC.
Also repubs vs dems… it’s a complex issue where the ‘bathroom law’ can upset progressive sensibilities, but overall the republican-run states often have better business climates. Like NC. Look at the powerful liberal states - CA, NY, NJ. All are losing population and business… to republican states like TX, GA, and NC. You’ve got a number of issues at play like social progressiveness vs how taxes and regulation are handled and businesses are treated.
And it seems that just being GOP is not a negative when you look at all the places businesses are fleeing (Amazon running from Seattle, Silicon Valley biz moving to TX, and NY operations moving to southeast states). Recently AllianceBernstein from NYC announced moving 1000 people to a new tower in Nashville, a heavy Red state. It’s a growing trend. So yes, there can be blow back from some of these ‘bathroom laws’ but more likely the better business environment in GOP run states like NC, SC, GA, FL, TX, etc are why they are seeing some of the highest growth in the country.
I’ve got my fingers crossed for the Apple campus as I’m right off 540 and I think all housing is kicking up a good 5 to 10% from a mega project like this showing up (as it starts hitting the 5000 employee mark possibly in 5 years).
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An article from TBJ indicates that the Apple project is still pretty likely, but that parties concerned are still finalizing the details about their expansion, thus the delay in announcing it. It points to the possibility of Apple taking temporary space in Cary and possibly Raleigh.
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You might want to read today’s TBJ article. For those that want to ignore, downplay, or disregard the serious concerns and adverse impact the current NC legislature, dominated by right-wing social conservatives is having on economic development, take a look at today’s article if you felt all the Apply hype just went quiet…for reasons unrelated to the NC GOP actions.
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No, that cannot be argued. So don’t argue it.
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It’s apparently not all bad news as some want us to think…
This source is The Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina which is trying to sell the state for exactly those and other projects. Quoted rankings make sense too but happened before the power struggle became so apparent in the NC legislation.
Anyway fingers crossed Apple comes here 
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There is always a power struggle when two different parties control the Governor and the North Carolina General Assembly. And it occurs in many other states in similar situations. But my only point is that we must not weigh only what some view as bad without also taking into consideration the apparent good things that are also happening.
What we are witnessing in North Carolina is NOT 'normal politics. I was born and bred in this State. I lived abroad for a short period of time. What the NC GOP has done, is attempting to do, and wants to do is NOT normal politics. We are heading in a direction of destroying a checks & balances system and 3 branches of government (a hallmark of American democracy). You need to really read what they are attempting to do with these ‘constitutional amendments’ before you discount this to ‘normal politics’. I was a Republican my entire life…until recently when I realized the apparent attempt by the NC legislature to take NC back to 1861. If you disagree, name 1, just 1 incident in North Carolina history where multiple companies refused expansion projects because of a single piece of legislation? You won’t find one. In one fail swoop, they ran off PayPal, DeutcheBank, CreditSuisse, even our own ACC tournament…just to name a few.
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I don’t think that the ‘ghost of the bathroom bill’ is a problem anymore. Hopefully this issue will remain old news.
And none of those companies mentioned were even looking at downtown Raleigh anyway.
But Apple coming to RTP or Amazon to downtown Raleigh is going to be about incentives (how much does an Triangle region need given it already is strong in many of the factors like 3 super colleges, east coast time zone, halfway between NYC/Miami, etc, and coolness factor/desirability, and similar criteria. I was reading more on the Infosys article on TBJ about their 2,000 person expansion in Raleigh. And many expansions downtown. (occupancy in DTR is in the high ninety %)… The whole area is just short of fully booming. And I think this strong growth momentum coupled with it’s strong advantages is why Raleigh was listed by Amazon in the latest batch of contenders. I think the politics will have less impact and the business strengths will continue to attract desirable growth in the Triangle area.
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Except that the idea of NC being a Republican led state is a rather new development in the overall history of NC’s economic expansion.
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As is mentioned above, I don’t think the delay has as much to do with politics as it does with scrutinizing the incentives offered and comparing them to those offered by competing cities. Usually the last, best final offer isn’t the last, best final offer.
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I know for a fact that the ‘bathroom bill’ is still an issue with economic recruiters in NC. It’s left a bad impression on progressive companies, particularly on the west coast. Governor Cooper was able to at least get rid of “HB2” in its old form, however the GOP was unwilling to completely throw out HB2 so they left some legacy discriminatory bill in place (which I’m guessing a lot of you are not aware of). Further, in my discussions its not just the bathroom bill that is creating hesitation and challenges for NC economic recruiters. While yes, there are other conservative states (Texas, South Carolina) very few of those have gone to the extremes that the NC GOP has done. Both of those states (as well as others) dropped their stupid bathroom bills when they saw what happened in NC. These people that I have spoken to are not just Democrats for the record. So yes, incentives will play a part but if our incentives are equal to say Texas but Texas doesn’t seem to have a legislature that feels the need to constantly move to ideological extremes as ours does, it DOES MATTER. You are kidding yourselves if you think Apple and Amazon won’t factor this. I’m not saying they won’t come. Frankly I’m hoping they will simply say “we can ignore these crazy idiots and go elsewhere OR we can still come to Raleigh and help effect positive, progressive change in NC”…
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Even with such Poor Bus Transit that the Triangle has now. It would mean Extended Bus Services and longer Hours of bus service including weekend service on all GoRaleigh/GoTriangle Buses.
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