North Carolina is one of the few states offering a unique, comprehensive environment for biotechnology firms where entrepreneurs can take an idea conceived in a laboratory, refine the product, produce and test it through the clinical trial phases and manufacture and distribute to global markets.

According to Ernst & Young, North Carolina has the third largest biotechnology industry in the nation with nearly 400 bioscience companies, contract research organizations and device and life science-related companies. More than 46,000 highly skilled workers, including some 5,000 biotechnology-related scientists and researchers are employed by this sector.  Among the state’s largest biotech and pharmaceutical firms are GlaxoSmithKline, Merck, Bayer, Biogen IDEC, Diosynth, Novo Nordisk, Wyeth and Baxter.

To help meet the industry’s ongoing need for trained professionals, we have created the country’s first comprehensive biotechnology training program that partners industry, government and academia through the North Carolina Biomanufacturing and Pharmaceutical Training Consortium.

For more information, download the  North Carolina Biotechnology, Pharmaceutical and Life Sciences Brochure.

Banking and finance comprise one of North Carolina’s largest economic sectors, employing nearly 200,000 workers.  Operations span the full range of mortgage and insurance centers, headquarters, back-office environments, global business centers and customer service centers.

Our banking and finance operations have earned these distinctions:

• The second largest financial center in the nation.

• Headquarters for three of the nation’s 10 largest banks: Bank of America and Wachovia in Charlotte and BB&T in Winston-Salem.

• Home to one of the largest family-controlled banks: Raleigh-based First Citizens.

• Home to several foreign banks including the Royal Bank of Canada operating as RBC Centura.

More than 250 financial service companies are located in the Charlotte region alone.  Among those with major operations in the state are CitiFinanicial, GE Capital, Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, Allstate, MetLife, State Farms and Travelers, Kemper, Liberty Mutual and many more.

Credit Suisse First Boston’s Global Business Center, located in the Research Triangle Park, houses global support staff, including securities operations and information technology positions.  Fidelity Investments plans to invest $100 million to expand and diversify its current operations in Research Triangle Park.

Nearly 200 customer service centers support consumer, financial, insurance, telecommunications and other organizations statewide.

More than 550 U.S. and international companies in North Carolina provide a solid base for manufacturing materials, equipment, parts and molds. Our innovative and growing polymers industry stakes claims to:

• The seventh largest plastics manufacturing state in the nation for shipments.

• The eighth largest in plastics industry employment in the nation.

• Plastic and rubber is third largest export industry in North Carolina.

• Chemicals is sixth largest export industry in the state.

Alcatel, Americhem DuPont, GE-Polymerland, INVISTA, Kimberly Clark, Owens-Illinois, Southeastern Container, Southern Film Extruders and Wellman are among the state’s largest plastic, rubber and chemical related facilities.

Our state programs meet workforce needs ranging from plastics technicians to chemical engineers.  Opportunities span engineering, chemistry and related degree programs offered at the state’s colleges and universities, to specialized plastics training programs with the North Carolina Community College System including:

• N.C. Community College Plastics Curriculum Standards
• The Materials Testing Lab at Isothermal Community College
• The Polymers Center of Excellence 
• The Plastics Injection Molding Training Program at Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College

For more information, download the  North Carolina Plastics, Rubber, and Related Chemicals Industry Brochure.

North Carolina is a major center for telecommunications, networking and software development with 2,300 IT companies employing more than 200,000 highly skilled workers.

North Carolina has been recognized for being:

• #1 producer of fiber optic cable in the world.
• 10^th best state for using digital technology.
• Home to the top five telecommunication centers in the world.
• Home to approximately 15% of the nation’s networking engineers.
• The creator of over 15% of the world’s visual technologies.
• Recipient of 6,719 recent patents granted to 228 North Carolina companies, universities and individuals in our state – almost double the national average.

IBM has its largest IT presence in the world in North Carolina.  Cisco's second largest campus is in Research Triangle Park, and Microsoft's second largest domestic presence is in Charlotte. Other major players that have been drawn by North Carolina’s knowledge workers are:

• Cree
• CipherOptics
• Dell
• Google
• Lenovo
• Peopleclick
• Red Hat
• RF MicroDevices
• SAS

Specialized resources provide an atmosphere for innovation including:

• Nine research universities with three excellent engineering schools.
• The North Carolina Technology Association dedicated to growing and strengthening the IT industry.
• The Charlotte Research Institute located on the UNC-Charlotte Campus.
• The North Carolina Council for Entrepreneurial Development founded to stimulate the creation and growth of high impact companies.

For more information, download the  North Carolina Information and Communication Technologies Brochure.

With more than 1,000 auto industry companies and major commercial truck assembly operations, we rank among the nation’s largest auto parts manufacturers with major sectors in:

• Trucks, buses and heavy equipment – more than 60 companies.
• Aftermarket – at least 190 companies.
• Racing and motorsports – a $45 billion industry in the state
• Original equipment manufacturers – more than 160 companies.

North Carolina’s auto workers perform a variety of jobs for major manufacturers:

• Assemble school and transit buses for Thomas Built Buses.
• Manufacture heavy duty trucks for Freightliner, a subsidiary of DaimlerChrysler.
• Build transmissions for AW North Carolina Inc.
• Produce construction machinery for Caterpillar.
• Make suspension components for ZF Lemforder.
• Assemble small engines for lawn mowers and power equipment for Honda Power Equipment Manufacturing.
• Manufacture power train equipment for Getrag Corp.
• Design high-performance race vehicles for NASCAR championship winners.

NASCAR and its Research and Development Center call our state home as well as 90% of the NASCAR teams who have their operations here. North Carolina also created and funded the non-profit Advanced Vehicle Research Center in Garysburg in 2006 to provide a modern automotive testing facility for use in the design, development, testing and certification of advanced vehicle technologies, sub-systems and components. Our other industry and higher education partnerships with area universities and community colleges address industrial needs through applied research and development, consulting, specialized worker training, manufacturing certification programs, and automotive curricula. 

For more information, download the  North Carolina Automotive Brochure.

Textile manufacturers in North Carolina have emerged as high-tech innovators and established the state as a world leader in nonwoven textiles with engineered fabrics produced through sophisticated processes.

Our growing center for textile manufacturers has garnered these accolades:

• Home to over 1,500 textile complex facilities employing over 180,000 people with a $2.8 billion payroll.

• 185 of these companies are headquartered in North Carolina.

• Over $35 billion in annual revenues.

• 144 new or expanded textile operations since 2003.

• #1 textile mill employer in the nation.

• #4 apparel producer in the nation.

• #1 nonwoven roll goods producer in the nation.

• #1 yarn producer in the nation with many of the world’s largest companies.

• Home to 4 of the top 5 suppliers of home textiles.

Some 35 nonwoven manufacturing firms are located in the state with nearly $3 billion in annual sales. German-owned Freudenberg, the world’s largest producer of nonwovens has a large plant that produces its Novolon product line, which was first developed at N.C. State University. Other newcomers include Japan’s Livedo Corp., Jacob Holm Industries of Switzerland and two Israeli firms: N.R. Spuntech Industries and AFG Wipes.  Start-ups like 3Tex that license technology from universities are also common.

We offer resources to support future growth and expansion such as:

• The American Association of Textile Chemists and Colorists, the world's leading not-for-profit professional association for the textile design, materials, processing, and testing industries.
• The Association of Nonwoven Fabrics Industry (INDA) promoting the growth and profitability of the nonwovens/engineered fabrics industry.
• The College of Textiles at N.C. State University, recognized as the world leader in textile education, research and industry support.
• Cotton Inc. dedicated to improving and expanding markets for cotton.
• The Hosiery Technology Center assisting companies with research and development projects.
• The Institute of Textile Technology at N.C. State University educating graduate students in the theory and practice of textile technology, carrying out research in the field, and providing a center of information to keep the industry abreast of international developments in textiles.
• The 58-campus N.C. Community College System's customized training programs.
• The Nonwovens Cooperative Research Center at N.C. State University devoted to advancing the knowledge in nonwoven technologies.
• The Textile/Clothing Technology Corporation ([TC]2) operating a short-cycle apparel and related sewn products production facility in Cary, N.C. that serves as a demonstration center for leading edge technologies and a research facility for emerging technologies and business processes in the industry.
• Textile Extension Education Services at N.C. State University with short courses ranging from Basic Textiles to Six Sigma.
• The Textile Protection and Comfort Center at N.C. State University incorporating a comprehensive infrastructure of equipment and personnel to address the need for integrated research on all aspects of the protection and comfort of clothing. 
• The Textile Technology Center with testing, product prototyping and sample production services.

For more information, download the  North Carolina Textile, Apparel, Hosiery, and Textile Machinery Brochure.  You can also visit www.TextileConnect.com.