South Raleigh News

On July 11, 2024, CNBC named North Carolina the second-best state for business, marking the fifth consecutive year it has ranked in the top three. The state's strong workforce, robust economy, and favorable business environment have been credited for this achievement. North Carolina was third in 2019, second in 2021, and first in both 2022 and 2023.

"Investing in our people makes our continued success possible," said Governor Roy Cooper. "Thanks to our highly-skilled workforce built by our strong public schools and thriving economy with major investments from companies across all sectors, North Carolina continues to be a top destination for business."

"CNBC again ranking North Carolina as one of the top states for business in the nation is a testament to our state’s competitive advantages," said N.C. Commerce Secretary Machelle Baker Sanders. "Successful states stay laser-focused on improving their education systems, upgrading their infrastructure, and paying attention to critical quality of life issues like childcare. I’m confident we’ll continue to do the work that’s required to bring economic prosperity to all North Carolinians."

"North Carolina continues to be a powerhouse for business," stated Gene McLaurin, chair of the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina’s (EDPNC) Board of Directors. "Thanks to strong collaboration between Governor Cooper, the North Carolina Department of Commerce, EDPNC and other public and private partnerships, we are bolstering North Carolina’s economy to make sure companies continue to grow and thrive in our state."

The CNBC study evaluates 128 metrics across ten categories of competitiveness. North Carolina ranked third in workforce metrics and scored highly in economy, business friendliness, education, and access to capital categories.

Since taking office in 2017, Governor Cooper has overseen announcements of over 115,300 jobs and promised capital investments totaling $53.45 billion from major corporations such as Apple, Toyota, Wolfspeed, FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies USA Inc., and Boom Supersonic.

Governor Cooper has focused on economic development initiatives aimed at securing significant investments and well-paying jobs for North Carolinians. In May 2024, he led a delegation on an economic development trip through Europe meeting with companies and government officials in France, Germany, and Switzerland. This October will see North Carolina hosting the Southeast U.S./Japan Association's annual joint meeting aimed at fostering foreign direct investment from Japanese firms while strengthening export ties with Japan.

In May 2021 Governor Cooper launched the Longleaf Commitment Community College Grants Program providing recent high school graduates from low- or middle-income families with federal and state grants covering tuition at any of the state's community colleges. In July 2018 he introduced the Finish Line Grants Program designed to assist community college students facing financial emergencies complete their training.

Governor Cooper declared 2024 as The Year of Public Schools advocating meaningful legislative investments into public education rather than funding private school vouchers. His FY24-25 budget proposal includes an 8.5% teacher pay raise along with over $1 billion investment into public schools while placing a moratorium on taxpayer-funded private school vouchers.

December 2023 marked Medicaid expansion implementation extending healthcare coverage to over 600 thousand individuals bringing billions in federal dollars into North Carolina's healthcare system.

Despite these achievements CNBC highlighted areas needing improvement specifically within its Quality-of-Life category which encompasses childcare affordability availability reproductive healthcare rights voting rights among others; here NC received a D+ grade highlighting critical areas requiring further investment particularly around early childhood education support.

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