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The NC Selectsite Readiness Program – which has already helped attract hundreds of new jobs and billions of dollars of investment to the state – is expanding with five new locations.
The five new locations, all located in western North Carolina, will now receive funds as they seek to attract advanced manufacturers as tenants. The five new locations are:
- Alexander County Rail Sites in Hiddenite (Alexander County)
- Great Meadows in Morganton (Burke County)
- Project Shift in Sylva (Jackson County)
- Mitchell Business Park in Spruce Pine (Mitchell County)
- ECMD in Wilkesboro (Wilkes County)
“The NC Selectsite Readiness Program has already proven its value by helping communities across North Carolina compete for and win high-quality, good-paying jobs,” said Christopher Chung, CEO of the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina. “Adding these five sites strengthens our inventory of development-ready properties and will help accelerate economic recovery of western North Carolina.”
The North Carolina General Assembly enacted the NC Selectsite Readiness Program during the 2023-24 legislative budget as a complement to the Megasites Readiness Program, a program focused on readying properties greater than 1,000 acres for industry tenants. The Selectsite Readiness Program focuses on smaller properties, some of which are under 100 acres, that are still capable of attracting advanced manufacturing companies and new jobs to communities across North Carolina.
Originally, 15 locations were selected for the NC Selectsite Readiness Program, meaning the local economic development agencies which oversee the sites were granted funds to aid in the process of readying the site for a prospective tenant.
To date, the program has expended nearly all the funds the General Assembly originally allocated to this effort, highlighting the continued need to assist communities across North Carolina prepare sites for economic development success. Funds allocated to local economic development authorities went toward improvements such as site due diligence studies, public infrastructure improvements, and site preparedness.
In the first few years of its life, the NC Selectsite Readiness Program has experienced tremendous success. For example, in June 2024 Amazon Web Services announced it was investing a record-breaking $10 billion in Richmond County to establish a new high-tech cloud computing and artificial intelligence innovation campus. The site in Richmond County was one of the 15 original sites of the NC Selectsite Readiness Program.
The five new locations are all concentrated in western North Carolina as the area recovers from the devastating effects of Hurricane Helene in September 2024.
To learn more about the NC Selectsite Readiness Program, read a study about the expansion of the program here.
About the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina
The Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina (EDPNC) is a private nonprofit corporation that serves as North Carolina’s statewide economic development organization. Governed by an 18-member board of business and industry leaders from across the state, the EDPNC focuses on business and job recruitment, existing industry support, international trade, tourism and film marketing. The EDPNC, which operates under contract with the North Carolina Department of Commerce, works closely with public- and private-sector partners at the state, regional and local levels. To learn more, visit www.edpnc.com.
Media contact
Evan Hoopfer
Senior Communications Manager
984.351.4936
NC Selectsite Readiness Program contact
Garrett Wyckoff
Product Development Program Manager
919.447.7743