“A win for one is a win for all” – The origin story of the Carolina Core

Thank you for joining us this Saturday morning.

Today, we’re looking back in time to bring you the story of the resurgence of the Piedmont Triad Partnership (PTP) and the Carolina Core in Central North Carolina. Stan Kelly, former Chairman and President of the PTP, recently spoke about the organization’s impact on economic development across the state.

For those unfamiliar, the Carolina Core is an economic development initiative that highlights the potential for advanced manufacturing projects in Central North Carolina. Since its inception, the Carolina Core has attracted major manufacturing companies that have committed billions to projects in North Carolina, including Boom Supersonic, VinFast, Wolfspeed, and Toyota.

Today, we provide a firsthand look at how PTP put North Carolina on the map for advanced manufacturing and where the organization is headed in the future.

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In the 1950s, the Triad region was booming. Textiles, tobacco, and furniture powered the region’s economy, bringing prosperity to many working-class households. However, by the 1990s, this success began to fade as an economic malaise took hold, largely brought on by the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

By the early 2000s, the true consequences of NAFTA became clear. “No end in sight to N.C. job losses,” read a representative News & Observer headline from 2002. Manufacturing jobs were cut in half between 1993 and 2010, many of them in the Triad.

In 2016, PTP appointed Stan Kelly as its new leader. Kelly already had a successful career as the President of Wachovia Wealth Management and Wells Fargo Carolina’s community banking division. Soon after, significant changes began to take shape in North Carolina.

In 2017, under Kelly’s leadership, PTP brought together several dozen business leaders to develop a new grand strategy for economic development in North Carolina. Out of those efforts, the Central Advanced Manufacturing Corridor—later known as the Carolina Core—was born.

Instead of cities and megasites competing against one another, Kelly shifted the focus toward the success of the entire region. If a new employer establishes operations in Greensboro, there’s a strong chance that employees will live and shop in Winston-Salem. If a major manufacturer selects a megasite in Chatham County, other manufacturers may flock to High Point or Burlington to take advantage of updated infrastructure. A rising tide lifts all boats, and greater economic development in the region benefits every Triad community.

Here’s a look back at an early draft of the presentation explaining the key elements of the Carolina Core initiative:

The project suffered an early blow in 2018 when Toyota decided to build a new factory in Huntsville, Alabama, instead of Greensboro. That loss pushed stakeholders to reevaluate their strategy and focus on how to improve for the future. Kelly says he had to encourage business leaders to “keep swinging” and realize that the only way to win big economic development projects was with 100% buy-in across the board.

As stakeholders analyzed what went wrong with the first Toyota factory bid, it became clear that North Carolina needed to collectively promote its advanced manufacturing capabilities across Central North Carolina to complement the economic drivers of finance in Charlotte and technology in Raleigh.

An oft-repeated phrase echoed throughout email trails, conversations, and presentations: “A win for one is a win for all.”

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With a team and vision established, PTP began marketing the Carolina Core with great success.

In 2019, leaders across the Triad declared they were “all in” on the Carolina Core project—an incredible sign of regional unity driven by the PTP. At this time, the Carolina Core’s efforts had attracted over 8,500 jobs, but that was just the beginning. Between 2021 and 2022, the Core achieved a record number of economic development announcements totaling over $15.5 billion in economic impact. These totals were nearly matched in 2023 when Toyota announced plans to increase its investment in the Liberty Battery Plant by $8 billion, bringing the total estimated capital to $13.9 billion.

Within six years, from the initial presentation to the end of 2023, the Carolina Core attracted over $24 billion in capital investments, transforming the region into an advanced manufacturing hub.

Key Players
The Carolina Core required a team to turn a vision into reality. While there are hundreds of notable contributors, here are some key figures who were instrumental in fulfilling that vision:

Former Greensboro mayor Jim Melvin emerged as a pivotal player in providing vision and support for the PTP and the Carolina Core. As the longest-serving mayor of Greensboro, Melvin led efforts to boost development, including the Greensboro Coliseum and Elon Law School. He also championed the Greensboro-Randolph megasite, a critical fixture of the Carolina Core. Kelly credits his leadership and support as a crucial catalyst for the project’s initial spark and ongoing success.

No project of this scale could succeed without substantial support from public officials. PTP received broad backing from state leadership, including Speaker Tim Moore and Governor Roy Cooper. However, one leader from the Triad ensured that state government did its best to drive economic development across the region—Senate Leader Phil Berger. Sen. Berger played a pivotal role in aligning infrastructure, incentive packages, workforce development, and other state-driven economic initiatives to ensure the Carolina Core’s growth.

Additionally, several private enterprise leaders were essential to the Core’s success:

• Bobby Long of Piedmont Capital Partners engaged stakeholders across the Triad.
• Nido Qubein of High Point University connected High Point officials to the Core’s efforts.
• Don Flow of Flow Automotive Companies brought in leaders from Winston-Salem and beyond.
• Allen Gant of Glen Raven in Burlington united Alamance stakeholders under the region’s grand vision.
• Kirk Bradley of Lee-Moore Capital extended the project’s reach from Sanford to Fayetteville, doubling the corridor’s scope.
• Tim Booras spearheaded the Chatham-Siler City Advanced Manufacturing Site with private investments, holding 1,350 acres of prime megasite space even after Wolfspeed’s significant announcement.
• Chuck Fuller, CEO of The Results Company, summarized the collective sentiment best: “One leader that truly stands out in this whole project is Stan Kelly. Without his leadership moving the ball forward every day, the project would not have been completed or reached where it is today.” Fuller continued, “People respond to leaders with big dreams and grand visions. Stan Kelly provided that dream for the Triad to unite behind and push forward to success.”

Transition of Leadership
When it was time for Kelly to pass the torch to PTP’s next leader, one candidate rose above the rest: Mike Fox. A Tuggle Duggins lawyer and Chairman of the North Carolina Board of Transportation since 2017, Fox continues Kelly’s work with the Carolina Core.

Fox’s expertise in transportation and infrastructure informs his drive to develop world-class assets in the Carolina Core. He notes that North Carolina’s road and rail systems are attractive features for corporations seeking regional or national hubs.

Fox highlights how the state is becoming a hub for various transportation manufacturing industries, including electric vehicles, supersonic jets, passenger rail cars, and semiconductors. For example, Boom Supersonic aims for its Overture passenger airliner to travel at Mach 1.7, reducing travel time to Europe by several hours.

North Carolina’s competitive edge lies in its access to top engineering talent, a benefit of the state’s investments in public and private universities. Both Kelly and Fox credit these investments with providing companies an unparalleled talent pool.

Looking Ahead
Fox doesn’t see the Carolina Core slowing down anytime soon. The region currently has nearly 8,000 acres ready for development, including a 900-acre plot at the Piedmont Triad International Airport. Fox notes that there is even more acreage under development across the corridor than is currently accounted for.

As a testament to the organization’s success, the Carolina Core doubled its initial job creation goal to 100,000 new jobs by 2038. Based on current trends, they plan to surpass that number. As Kelly said, “It’s unbelievable that we put together a strategy with a lot of capability behind it, and it actually came true. 100% of our dream actually happened.” Yet Kelly quickly added, “But there’s much more to come. We’re only at the top of the second inning.”

We couldn’t agree more.