1. NC STEP Leadership Team
St. Paul’s NC
North Carolina’s Southeast
Economic Development Partnership
2. CHARACTERISTICS OF A DYNAMIC
REGION
1.12 M Population > 12% growth since 2000 > 545,000 In Workforce
3. INDUSTRY CLUSTER DEVELOPMENT
“Our mission is to provide
strong economic
development leadership in
southeastern North Carolina
through innovative marketing
and collaborative regional
initiatives that will create new
jobs, generate capital
investment, and secure new
business locations.”
Since 1996…
•8,637 industry jobs created
•$908M private investment
•105 industry locations
5. NCSE KEY REGIONAL ASSETS
•NC Port at Wilmington
•Fort Bragg & military presence
•Transportation/distribution access
•Agricultural base
•Diversified manufacturing/industry base
•3 State Universities & 2 private colleges
•8 Community Colleges
•I-40, I-95, and I-74
•2 International Airports
•3 Municipal Airports with uncontrolled airspace
6. REGIONAL ECONOMIC CHALLENGES
• Port competitiveness & modernization
• Workforce skills improvement
• Global competition in business recruitment
• Funding for economic development
• Defense funding reductions & sequestration
12. REGIONAL WORKFORCE
• Industry is more efficient than ever before -- employs fewer, but
increasingly better paying jobs
• Overall, regional workforce is somewhat under-skilled in some
areas to be fully competitive in the global economy
• 60% - 70% of jobs in region in next decade will not require
traditional four year degree but will require more than a HS
diploma
• Aligning skills investments with labor market realities is critical
• 6.1% of workforce is knowledge jobs and projected to grow 12%
by 2018
13. REGIONAL EMPLOYMENT
• 2011 Regional Employment: 545,400
(Includes: self-employment, private, and public sector)
• 2006- 2011 Employment Growth: 3%
• 2011-2016 Employment Growth (projected): 9%
(50,298 new jobs injected into the regional economy)
15. ECONOMIC GROWTH OPPORTUNITIES
• Agriculture & food processing • Exporting
• Distribution • Health care services & facility
expansion
• Re-shoring of manufacturing
back to U.S. • Advanced Manufacturing
• Small business development • Defense sustainability and
defense firm growth
• Existing industry growth and
sustainability
16. CONTACT INFORMATION
North Carolina’s Southeast
707 West Broad Street
Elizabethtown, NC 28337
www.ncse.org
(800) 787-1333 / (910) 862-8511
Steve Yost - Director
stevey@ncse.org
Joe Melvin - Director of Business Development
joem@ncse.org
Bart Richardson- Marketing Research Manager
bartr@ncse.org
