Archive for the 'Government Issues' Category
The U.S. Small Business Administraion has named Wake Technical Community College the North Carolina Small Business Resource Partner of the Year.
The award reflects Wake Tech’s outstanding support for small businesses in Wake county, where the school operates three small business and entrepreneurial centers. The centers provide classes, workshops and individual counseling to small business owners at little or no cost.
According to documents filed by the North Carolina Unitilities Commission, Progress Energy has recently won approval for a proposed energy efficiency program.
The program applies to residential lighting and will provide incentives for customers to buy energy efficient lighting products, such as compact flourescent light bulbs. Progress Energy plans to provide incentives to cooperating retailers, who will pass on some of the savings to their customers.
The utility company is required to provide further information to the commission within 10 days, and will include more detail about discounts for customers. Progress Energy is based in Raleigh, North Carolina.
The average rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages fell back below 5 percent last week, according the weekly rate report from Freddie Mac.
The average rate dropped to 4.98 percent, from 5.03 percent the previous week. One year ago, 30-year mortgages averaged 6.20 percent.
15-year fixed-rate mortgages also fell to an average of 4.4 percent this week, again besting one-year adjustable-rate mortgages, which currently average 4.47 percent
Freddie Mac attributes the reductions to strong refinancing activity in the first three quarters of this year.
A new study by Fortune Small Business magazine and the Kauffman Foundation ranks the Raleigh-Cary metropolitan area #3 among the nation’s largest metro areas.
The study’s profile of Raleigh-Cary cites the area’s high standard of living and well-educated employee base. In addition, housing is more affordable compared with competing regions in the technology market.
The Research Triangle Park, and the presence of three major research universities — North Carolina State, North Carolina and Duke — also strengthened the ranking, representing public and private assets having global influence.
The three largest universities in North Carolina’s Research Triangle Area excel in the ‘Great Schools, Great Prices’ category in U.S. News & World Report’s latest annual ranking of ‘America’s Best Colleges.’ The category ranks schools based on their academic quality compared to the total cost after a student receives grants and financial aid based on need. Nationally, Duke was ranked No. 9, while UNC was 14th and NCSU was 21st. Among public universities, UNC was No. 1 and NCSU was No. 3.
Kiplinger.com, owned by the Washington-based personal finance publication, has conferred “favorite destination” status on North Carolina and 26 other states. The designation cites winning states as being the most tax-friendly places for retirees on pensions and Social Security.
Contributing to the favorable rating are North Carolina’s exclusion of Social Security payments from state income tax liability; a $4,000 ceiling on taxes for local government and pensions;, up to $2,000 exemption for private pensions; exemptions for prescription drugs and medical equipment; and a limit on property taxes for homeowners ages 65 and up to 4% of income.
Raleigh, North Carolina’s capitol city, has been proving its commitment to downtown revitalization for many years now, making the area more attractive than ever to citizens and visitors seeking dining, entertainment, convention facilities, shopping and public transportation. With the addition of amenities such as the new convention center, City Market dining and retail spaces, auto-friendly Fayetteville Street (the main thoroughfare), a new city bus terminal, and new parking facilities, to name just a few, “downtown” has become a destination of choice for business and pleasure.
In July, a new project called City Plaza was begun, as heralded by the unveiling of four 55-foot stainless-steel light towers built at the south end of Fayetteville Street. City Plaza, scheduled for completion in October 2009, is designed to host everything from a restful retreat for tired feet, to concerts and other public events. In addition, four glass enclosed pavilions will be built on the plaza to showcase an array of retail shops and eateries.
Contributing to the appeal of the plaza will be a motion-sensitive water fountain some describe as a miniature version of the famous waterworks at the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas. Several other art projects are planned, which include interactive LED panels displaying an array of pre-programmed images, and pedestals for an annually rotating schedule of sculptures.
For more information visit the Raleigh web site…
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has cleared an important hurdle in its efforts to establish a satellite campus. This week, after ten months of negotiations and almost twenty years since planning began, the UNC-CH Board of Trustees and the Town Council of Chapel Hill reached agreement concerning development of Carolina North. The new site is intended to facilitate the expansion of the law school, classroom and research facilities, student and faculty housing, and other university activities.
While the development agreement is bound by state law to a twenty year window, it is expected to protect 700 acres in Chapel Hill and Carrboro from changes that could adversely affect traffic and recreation in the area far into the future. Over the next fifty years, the university plans to build about 8 million square feet on 228 acres, while protecting 300 acres from development permanently.
The space left behind by the tobacco industry in downtown Durham, North Carolina has lately been some of the most desirable commercial real estate in the Research Triangle area. According to Karnes Research, while office vacancy Triangle-wide rose to a four-year high of 15.4% at the end of March, downtown Durham has seen vacancy drop significantly from 16.1% in Q1 ‘08 to 10.8% in Q1 ‘09. Over the past several years, the City of Durham has invested at least $1.2 billion in infrastructure and amenities such as parking decks, a new performing arts center, transportation depots, a central park and street improvements. The city has also offered incentives to companies considering a move to Durham. The outlook for success is becoming brighter all the time as development of the historic district continues to draw commitments from the business community.
Case in point, today The American Tobacco District became the new home of The Law Offices of James Scott Farrin. The firm is moving 100 employees from Imperial Center, near Reasearch Triangle Park, to Durham’s Diamond View II office building. The new location is close to many of the city’s downtown attractions, and is just beyond the outfield wall at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park. The office’s proximity to the Durham County courthouse, as well as dining and leisure activities in the renovated historic district, provides a strategic advantage in attracting and entertaining the company’s clients.
Another recent arrival to downtown Durham is Burt’s Bees, a maker of natural beauty products. The company doubled its foot print last month by moving from Keystone Park, near RTP, to 61,040 square feet at the American Tobacco Historic District. In a more gradual move, Duke University has been expanding it’s center-city presence by 68%, filling 200,000 square feet of office space over the past 18 months.
The Raleigh News & Observer reports today that the state legislature is very close to offering Apple Computer the right incentives to open an East Coast operations hub in North Carolina. The bill, which has passed the senate and is one vote short in the house at this time, offers a generous tax structure intended to compete strongly with Virginia, also a candidate for Apple’s business.
According to the N&O report, the company’s hub would serve as a data center, where services such as the iTunes music store and the iPhone application store would be based. When it opens, about 50 Apple employees will man the site, along with an estimated 250 contractors. The N&O adds that, “The facility could grow to employ more as its mission expands.”
Proponents of the incentives bill are willing to extend the tax deal to Apple because it is a major company, and they see the seeds of long term growth for the company and ongoing benefits to the North Carolina economy. However, some oppose the plan, concerned that many businesses already operating here lack the advantages the state’s economic development programs provide to newcomers. In this case, the language in the bill applies the new tax structure to Apple alone, a benefit not broadly enough scoped for some lawmakers and business leaders.
House minority leader Rep.Skip Stam wonders if the incentives factor into Apple’s decision at all, as North Carolina is already regarded as one of the most desirable locations in the country for high tech super-companies. The biggest names in computers, energy, pharmaceuticals and biotech call North Carolina home, and include IBM, Progress Energy, Duke Energy and GlaxoSmithKline to name a few. Four major universities also contribute to the state’s brain trust and work force, with N.C. State University in Raleigh, The University of North Carolina based at Chapel Hill, Duke University in Durham, and Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem.