Press Releases

The North Carolina Department of Commerce approved 10 grant requests totaling more than $14 million through the Rural ReadySites program, Commerce Secretary Anthony M. Copeland announced today. 

The North Carolina Rural Infrastructure Authority (RIA) approved 23 grant requests totaling $17,021,540, N.C. Commerce Secretary Anthony M. Copeland announced today.

The state’s seasonally adjusted May unemployment rate was 4.3 percent, decreasing 0.1 of a percentage point from April’s revised rate.  The national rate decreased 0.1 of a percentage point to 3.8 percent.

The Government Performance Lab (GPL) at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University announced today that North Carolina will benefit from the assistance of a government performance expert, at no cost to taxpayers.

North Carolina has received Area Development magazine’s 2018 Gold Shovel Award, recognizing the state’s success in winning high-impact economic development projects last year. In 2017, North Carolina experienced one of its best years for new job recruitment in over a decade.

The North Carolina Neighborhood Revitalization Program (NC Neighborhood) has awarded a total of $7.5 million in grants to 10 localities.

With Governor Roy Cooper in attendance, the NCWorks Commission met on May 23 to approve new Career Pathways, certify Career Centers and celebrate local innovations in workforce development.

Unemployment rates (not seasonally adjusted) decreased all 100 of North Carolina’s counties in April.  Hyde County had the highest unemployment rate at 7.9 percent, while Buncombe County had the lowest at 2.8 percent.  All 15 of the state’s metro areas experienced rate decreases.

AveXis, Inc., a clinical-stage gene therapy company developing treatments for rare and life-threatening neurological diseases, will locate a new manufacturing center in Durham County creating 200 jobs, Governor Roy Cooper announced today.

The Unites States Treasury certified 252 areas in the state as official North Carolina Opportunity Zones on May 18, potentially opening a new source of investment capital for regions of the state that need it the most.  In April, the state recommended all of these areas for federal considera