News & Rankings

Economic Development July Recap

Featured Project 

 

Merz North America | Raleigh | Biotech/Pharma | New

Merz North America, a global pharmaceutical company, is establishing its headquarters in Raleigh and will employ 250 workers. The company has executed a lease at 6501 Six Forks Road for 60,000 square feet, which will be custom-built to meet the company's needs today and for future growth. Merz North America is a specialty healthcare company that develops and commercializes innovative, high-quality treatment solutions in aesthetics, dermatology, and neurosciences in the U.S. and Canada.

To learn more about Merz North America's expansion in Raleigh, read the full story.

New & Expanding Companies 


Boss Key Productions | Raleigh | Interactive Digital 

Media/Gaming | New

Boss Key Productions, a video company, is opening an office in Raleigh and plans to hire 20 employees. The company will focus on online titles-specifically "multiplayer interactive" games. Cliff Bleszinski, who previously designed the "Gears of War" franchise, is starting the company.

 

Charles Schwab | Raleigh | Financial Services | Expanding

Charles Schwab, a financial services firm, is expanding into a new 5,200-square-foot building at 4313 Glenwood Ave. The new office building will be in place of the Shell gas station in front of Crabtree Valley Mall and will be completed in April 2015.

 

DreamQuest Productions | Cary | Film | New

DreamQuest Productions, a film production company, recently moved to Cary from Los Angeles. The company specializes in filming indigenous cultures, hostile territories, remote locations, and developing nations.

 

Equity Resources, Inc. | Raleigh | Financial Services | New

Equity Resources Inc., a mortgage lending company, opened its first North Carolina office at 1330 St. Mary's St. in Raleigh. The office will have seven loan officers and is led by Southeast Area Manager Tony Anderson. Equity Resources provides experienced, centralized processing, marketing, and underwriting experienced in FHA, USDA, VA, and conventional financing.

 

Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton | Raleigh | Law | Expanding

Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton, a law firm, announced the addition of two new associates and a partner to the firm's Raleigh office in the Litigation Department. The new staff members will serve on the Complex Business, Class Action, Appellate & Product Reliability Team and Labor & Employment Team.

 

Medfirst Medical Center | Raleigh | Healthcare | New

Medfirst Medical Center, an urgent care facility, opened in Raleigh on South Wilmington Street. It is the first to open in downtown Raleigh and is already considering expansion. MedFirst specializes in urgent care, occupational medicine, and travel medicine.

 

Netsertive | Morrisville | Software/IT | Expanding

Netsertive, a marketing technology company, plans to hire 60 new employees in 2014 and will have 200 total employees by the end of 2014. The positions are in account management, sales, and engineering. The company has a unique cloud-based Digital Marketing Engine.

 

SpringHill Suites | Cary | Hospitality | New

SpringHill Suites, a hotel, opened in July at 1128 Ledsome Lane off Walnut Street in Cary. The hotel will be owned and managed by CMC Corp. of Cary, which also manages seven other hotels in the Triangle and in Wilmington. The hotel will operate as a Marriott franchise with suite rooms that have separate living, working, and sleeping spaces.

 

Statera | Raleigh | Software/IT | New

Statera, an IT services provider, is opening a new location in Raleigh. The company is a technology-consulting firm that helps clients build, integrate, and implement cloud-based solutions. It offers IT staffing, consulting, project management, and business process outsourcing.

 

Teague Campbell Dennis & Gorham, LLP | Raleigh | Law | Expanding

Teague Campbell Dennis & Gorham, LLP, a law firm, has added four new employees in the past year and plans to hire three additional attorneys in August. The firm practices civil litigation, employment law, administrative law, and workers' compensation law.

 

The Mayton Inn | Cary | Hospitality | New

The Mayton Inn, a boutique hotel, is opening in late spring 2015 at 301 S. Academy St. in downtown Cary. The top two floors will consist of 33 spacious rooms and 11 deluxe suites, and the lower level will boast more than 13,000 square feet with a library, full bar, restaurant, event spaces, and meeting rooms.

 

Xylem | Garner | Smart Grid | Expanding

Xylem, a global water technology company, is relocating and expanding its Garner office. The company has moved into a 10,000 combined square feet of office and shop space located at 300 Sigma Drive in Garner. Xylem enables customers to transport, treat, test, and efficiently use water in public utility, residential, and commercial building services, industrial, and agricultural settings.

Wake Forest - Wake County Municipality Highlight  

 

Wake Forest is located just northeast of Raleigh in the northern portion of the Research Triangle Region. With a population of more than 35,000, the community has a small town feel, but with big city industry. From defense and wireless technologies to engineering and education, major employers thriving in this forward-thinking community include CenturyLink, The Body Shop, Ultra Electronics - 3 Phoenix, and PowerSecure. Wake Forest is also the proud home to the Wireless Research Center of NC, the only center of its kind in the country. This nonprofit center is a unique combination of specialized testing facilities, business incubation, and intellectual property guidance that offers a safe and trusted environment for invention and development of wireless technologies. Read more >

New & Expanding Announcements by Cluster Since January 2014  

  

Since the beginning of 2014, Wake County has had 59 new and expanding announcements. Of those announcements, 37 (63 percent) are in Wake County Economic Development's cluster industries. 

Recent News & Events   

 

Raleigh Touted as a Design Hub 

A recent article by City Lab, formerly Atlantic Cities, gave a nice nod to Raleigh as one of America's leading design cities. Richard Florida, co-founder and editor at large, worked with occupational data provided by labor market data and research firm EMSI to study the design sector nationally and identify major geographic clusters and locations. 

 

Raleigh gets a mention for its high concentration of architects, which is higher than both New York City and Los Angeles. Although the fashion design industry is still concentrated in New York, several Raleigh companies are making big names for themselves in the fashion scene across the nation, including Raleigh Denim, Holly Aiken, and Lumina Clothing. This upsurge in the local design industry has not gone unnoticed. Companies, organizations, and individuals are mobilizing to embrace this emerging cluster, raise awareness, and encourage collaboration. In September, Hopscotch Music Festival, in partnership with Raleigh-based design and community-building firm New Kind, will present the inaugural Hopscotch Design Festival, which will gather distinguished national talent and notable local contributors to share ideas and foster conversation about how design is shaping the future. 

 

The design sector in Raleigh is flourishing, with tech, fashion, graphic design, and planning companies all being innovative. With Raleigh and the Triangle being ranked among the top places for the creative class, it seems only fitting then that our design cluster begins to receive national recognition.

Recent Rankings  

 

 For a full list of rankings, please download the Raleigh/Wake County Rankings Flyer.

Wake County Labor Market Statistics  

 

 
June
2013
June
2014
Year to Date
Change
Labor Force
498,970 
506,660
+ 7,690 
Employed
465,049 
480,706
+ 15,657
Unemployed
33,921
25,954
- 7,967
 
Unemployment Rate
6.8%

5.1%
- 1.7% 
Year-to-date Metrics:

  Jan. 1 ---  July 31, 2014

 New Projects
59
 Site Visits 
22
 New &
 Expanding
 Announcements
59
 Jobs
2,913
 Investment
$347,450,000
Since Jan. 1, 2014, Wake County Economic Development has had 59 new projects and 22 site visits. Wake County has had 59 announcements of companies moving or expanding to the area, creating 2,913 jobs and investing more than $347 million.
 

 

Upcoming Events

 

Greater Raleigh Chamber of Commerce Annual Meeting

September 16

 

The 126th Annual Meeting will feature Ian Bremmer, expert on global politics and risk management and president of the Eurasia Group.

 

Raleigh MAIN Event

September

 

The Raleigh M.A.I.N. Event, an Innovate Raleigh initiative, celebrates a month of music, art, innovation and NOISE.

Comments

There are no comments yet.

Leave a Comment