The “Carolina Core” – an economic development brand-name for an area in central North Carolina containing four megasites – is now using a billboard campaign to get the word out about the strengths and assets of the area.
The billboard advertising effort was launched this week in an attempt to highlight the “economic momentum and competitive strengths” of the region.
According to Carolina Core officials, the marketing campaign – the beginning of which was announced in a press release on Thursday, Nov. 14 – will continue through March 2020.
Area commuters will see two large billboards on I-40 between Greensboro and Winston-Salem as well as 10 billboards on secondary highways and other roads throughout the Carolina Core region.
The Piedmont Triad Partnership, the principal architect of the co-branding effort, is hoping that business leaders across the country will start to take notice of the Carolina Core name and area, which includes two new Guilford County megasites.
Stan Kelly, the president and CEO of the Partnership, said this week that central North Carolina has a lot to offer businesses and manufacturing industry players.
“We have major competitive advantages in the Carolina Core that set us apart from other regions across the country, from our robust workforce to the ease of living, both employers and employees love it here,” Kelly stated in the press release. “Economic momentum is building in the Carolina Core and now is the time to share the good news and many advantages of living, learning and doing business here in the Core.”
According to Kelly, there’s been a lot happening in the Carolina Core area over the last year, with more than 10,000 new jobs announced and over 27,000 college degrees and other educational and business credentials handed out.
Additionally, Kelly said, the region is home to more than 200 aerospace companies, and employers have a robust workforce of more than 2 million workers to pull from in this region. These facts, along with others, are the focus of the new billboard campaign.
According to the Partnership and other Carolina Core backers, the campaign comes at a time when the Carolina Core movement is gaining strength.
“This was further validated by data presented by Economic Leadership LLC’s Ted Abernathy at the recent State of the Region event,” the press release states. “The report indicated that economically, the region is performing at or above our peers, and is performing better than it has in the near past. Since 2010, the region has added more than 58,000 net new jobs.”
The Carolina Core is the corridor running from Yadkinville in the west to Dunn in the east that includes four megasites that together offer about 7,500 acres of land for advanced manufacturing sites and other industrial or mixed-use sites.
The region also contains 30 colleges and universities.
