Toyota
announces new $8 billion investment in NC battery plant, 3,000 additional jobs—News and Observer
“Toyota announced Tuesday morning that it is investing an additional $8 billion to its under-construction North Carolina battery
plant, adding an additional 3,000 new jobs. The company said its total investment in the Randolph County facility will now reach $13.9 billion. The number of new jobs expected to be created now totals 5,000. It said it is adding eight battery production lines
to the six the company had previously planned. In December 2021, Toyota first announced plans for a major North Carolina battery plant on a 1,800-acre megasite about 20 miles southeast of Greensboro near the town of Liberty. The initial promise was to create
1,750 jobs and invest $1.29 billion at the site. “It just continues to grow based on what we believe in the next five to 10 years we are going to need for the customer,” said Toyota Battery Manufacturing North Carolina President Sean Suggs during a press conference
at the Liberty site. The facility will manufacture three types of lithium-ion batteries: for hybrid, plug-in and all-electric vehicles. Toyota plans to ship its first batteries from the site in January 2025. They will be used in a three-seat SUV manufactured
in Kentucky.”
Wake
Tech and Elizabeth City State University partner to attract students to “unmanned aircraft systems” – WRAL News
“The demand for "unmanned aircraft systems", also known as "UAS" or "drones", is growing and that could mean more job opportunities.
Wake Technical Community College’s Dr. Scott Ralls signed a partnership with Elizabeth City State University’s chancellor Kerrie Dixon to prepare students for careers in fields like Aviation and Public Safety. The partnership includes working with public schools,
especially in eastern Wake County at the new Wake Tech East campus in Wendell. Elizabeth City State is the only university in the state offering an aviation education program. Chancellor Kerrie Dixon said, "Our collaboration allows us to develop opportunities
for Wake Tech graduates to continue their education at ECSU by pursuing a degree in unmanned aircraft systems." The new campus, which officially opens in 2024, will include a drone simulation lab. Graduates of the program will face a booming drone-based delivery
system which includes transporting medical supplies.”
Economist:
Latest NC employment news triggers warning signal—WRAL
“Overall, the September labor market report for North Carolina was positive, but there are some warning signals. On the plus
side, over 10,000 non-farm jobs were added, the labor force grew by 18,000, the labor force participation rate edged up to 60.9%, and several sectors experienced robust job growth, particularly trade/transportation/utilities, education/health, and professional
services. But there were three negative signs. The 10,000 job gain was 60% lower than the gains in August. In manufacturing, 900 jobs were lost, and leisure/hospitality employment was down by 1600. Changes in the manufacturing sector tend to lead changes in
the overall economy, and the loss in leisure/hospitality jobs is a major shift from the sector’s big gains in recent months. Last, although the unemployment rate remained relatively low at 3.4%, it was up from August’s 3.3%, and the total number of unemployed
workers rose by 3100.”
Another
UNC System school announces free tuition program for students – WUNC
“UNC Asheville has announced that it is providing free tuition for some incoming North Carolina students. Under its Access Asheville
program, the school will cover tuition and fees for in-state students whose family income is $80,000 or less…The school says the financial aid program will save students $7,461 per year. The school’s total cost of attendance for in-state students is about
$24,856. Access Asheville will be open to incoming first-year and transfer students in fall 2024. It is the second school in the UNC System to launch a program like this. The first was UNC-Chapel Hill, which made the announcement in July shortly after the
U.S. Supreme Court overturned affirmative action.”
NC
is awarding companies significantly fewer incentives this year. How come? News and Observer
“As 2023 begins to wind down, North Carolina is on pace to award fewer major economic incentives than it has in years to help
grow and recruit companies. Since Jan. 1, the North Carolina Department of Commerce has approved job development investment grants, known as JDIGs, to nine businesses, including a Finnish producer of electric vehicle chargers, the German company Siemens Mobility,
and Auction Direct USA. Yet this year’s total is poised to fall well below the grant levels the state gave in 2022 (28), 2021 (32), 2020 (27), and 2019 (28). In fact, North Carolina hasn’t awarded fewer than 20 JDIGs in a year since 2016, according to an Oct.
1 Commerce Department report. The last time the state issued under 12 JDIGs in a year — its current 2023 pace — was 2005.”
NC
trend: Canton looks for a new role after the shuttering of its landmark paper mill – BusinessNC
“The silence is back, this time for good… Now, North Carolina manufacturing experts, historians, Reynolds and others who’ve lived
their lives here read more than lost jobs and death of a local industry into the quiet that descended on Canton in May when the Pactiv Evergreen paper mill closed, this time permanently. About 1,050 jobs with annual salaries averaging more than $80,000 were
lost, along with an estimated $2 million in annual local tax and utility revenue… About 150 miles to the east, the experience of Kannapolis gives Canton hope that dead mill towns can revive… Kannapolis has bounced back strongly, benefitting from its proximity
to Charlotte. In 2005, it landed the public-private N.C. Research Campus, developed by California investor David Murdock and backed by $23 million in annual lease payments from UNC System campuses. It’s an inspiration for dead mill towns… The mill’s loss stings,
but Canton’s mayor remains hopeful. “After this place is cleaned up, we’ll be an economic super site,” Smathers says. “We have gas, rail, and the interstate between here and Asheville.” That proximity, speculates Salamido and others, could find Canton a bustling
bedroom community to Asheville.”
