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The state of North Carolina is comprised of 532 incorporated municipalities (which include cities, towns and villages) and is broken up into 100 counties.  North Carolina is located in the Southeastern part of the country.  The state’s nicknames are the “Old North State”, which speaks to its history, yet its most common nickname is “the Tar Heel State”. North Carolina was the 12^th state to join the union, but in 1861, North Carolina became on the second state to secede the union. Several years later in 1868 North Carolina rejoined the United States.  Neighboring states and borders include Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south and Tennessee to the west.

 

While the state ranks 28^th largest in size amongst the 50 states, its population ranks 9^th most populous of those same 50 states.  Charlotte is the largest city in the state with Raleigh (also the state capital), Durham, Winston-Salem, Fayetteville, Cary, Wilmington, High Point and Concord rounding out the top 10 largest cities in North Carolina.  Since 2010, Holly Ridge has put itself on the map; as it has been the fastest growing citing within North Carolina.  In 2021, the estimated population of North Carolina exceeds 10.5 million.  Key Industries in North Carolina includes:

• Aerospace & Defense
• Automotive, Truck & Heavy Machinery
• Biotechnology & Pharmaceuticals
• Business & Financial Services
• Corporate Headquarters
• Energy
• Food Processing & Manufacturing
• Furniture
• Information Technology
• Plastic & Chemicals
• Textiles
• Tourism

 

Aerospace & Defense

• North Carolina still is leading the way in Aerospace, defense and security; the following companies make their North Carolina home

-UTC Aerospace Systems

-Lockheed Martin

-GE Aviation

-Honda Jet

 

Automotive, Truck & Heavy Machinery

• Looming the 10^th largest automotive sector employment in the U.S., N.C. is home to the following companies:

-Bridgestone

-Caterpillar

-Daimler Trucks

-Freightliner

 

Biotechnology & Pharmaceuticals

• Home to the largest research park in the U.S. as well as three Tier 1 research universities
• Attracted a lineup of top companies solidifying its strong footprint in the Biotechnology and pharmaceuticals space to include:

-GlaxoSmithKline

-Merck

-Novo Nordisk

 

Business & Financial Services

• North Carolina is the 3^rd largest financial center in the country; companies that make NC what it is includes:

-Wells Fargo

-Microsoft

-Bank of America

-AT&T

 

Corporate Headquarters

• 14 of the Fortune 500 companies make their home in the state of North Carolina
• 26 of the Fortune 1000 companies make their home in the state of North Carolina

 

Energy

• Across the U.S., North Carolina ranks accordingly in the Energy sector:

-2^nd in Turbine manufacturing

-3^rd in fossil fuel power generation

-5^th in semiconductor manufacturing

 

Food Processing & Manufacturing

• North Carolina leads the pack and heralded as the second largest in animal processing and manufacturing make NC home includes:

-Campbell’s

-Smithfield

-Tyson

 

Furniture

• North Carolina is heralded as the “Furniture Capital of the World” and is home to the following:

-World’s largest furniture store to include the world’s largest furniture manufacturer

-World’s largest furnishing sector trade shows

 

Information Technology

• America’s 2^nd fastest growing Information Technology industry as a result of major tech companies such as:

-Cisco

-Google

-SAS

 

Plastic & Chemicals

• North Carolina is home to the 5^th largest plastic and chemicals workforce in America mainly because of companies with international creditability such as:

-PPG

-DuPont

-Dow

 

Textiles

• America’s largest textile mill industry to include the likes of such companies:

-Hanes

-Kimberly-Clark

 

Tourism

• North Carolina is one of the top 10 most visited states across the country

 

Note: North Carolina is the 5^th leading semiconductor manufacturing in America.