News-Record.com

Tuesday's lead editorial.

In the highly competitive job-creation game, you win a few and you lose a few. But most of the time, the Triad and North Carolina are squarely in the winner's circle.

National rankings released last week by SiteSelection magazine show hard work is paying off in plant expansions, business recruitment and hundreds of new jobs.

According to the magazine's Web site, in 2007 North Carolina ranked fourth nationwide in new or expanded capital projects. In the "small metro" category (200,000 to 1 million population), Greensboro-High Point came out on top just as in 2006. For areas with fewer than 50,000 residents, nearby Thomasville-Lexington led the pack, edging out Mooresville-Statesville.

The only downer in an otherwise positive picture was Greensboro-based RF Micro Devices' decision to put on hold construction at a local plant and instead add 300 jobs at a British subsidiary.

Those high-paying jobs originally were earmarked for Greensboro. As part of a plant-expansion package, the company had negotiated tax breaks of $4.5 million from the state and $1.2 million from the city. Guilford County commissioners, on the other hand, declined, saying locally based RF Micro wasn't about to relocate.

If the upgrade does happen within five years, the company still could cash in. Local and state incentives wisely are linked to job creation.
A stumbling economy may force businesses everywhere to reassess and put well-intended plans on hold. If that occurs, local governments can redirect the money to corporate customers ready to make a move. Either way, area workers will get a boost.

In a global economy, luring new business is a two-way street. Thomasville recruiters told SiteSelection they often get overseas inquiries and several foreign-based firms already have located in Davidson County.

Yet it isn't always a fair trade-off. Jobs coming into this country may not be as good as those departing. Displaced textile and furniture workers can attest to that danger.
Nonetheless, the SiteSelection rankings will draw renewed focus on the Triad and state's favorable business climate. A friendly tax structure, worker retraining, university research and a good transportation network all bode well for the future.

Competition, however, will be intense and the stakes high. According to SiteSelection, states like Michigan and Ohio, hard hit by losses in the auto industry, are more aggressively wooing new jobs.

Even so, North Carolina's enviable string of successes based on solid selling points should help keep the winning streak alive.