WSTB

I find it curious that the Richmond Times Dispatch broke the story and not the News & Record. How could such a story of such local impact get by them.

It is increasingly likely that the ACC moves their HQ outside of Greensboro. It sounds like Charlotte is the favorite site to land the HQ, and that the airport is a defining factor.

WSBornNBred, once again the airport is a major factor....surprise, surprise! "Access to a large hub airport with effective accessibility to and from all ACC member schools" and "Among the cities mentioned as possible candidates are Charlotte, Raleigh, Atlanta, New York, Boston and Washington".

Looks like the "Piedmont Triad Region" has scored the Toyota Battery Factory for the Greensboro/Randolph mega site. The recently approved state budget includes $388 million for infrastructure improvements at the site for a project that has an estimated new job creation of 1750 and over a $1 billion in investments which aligns to Toyota's press release announcing their intention to construct this factory and have it up and running by 2025. This is the site that Jim Melvin of the Bryan Foundation and others shoehorned into the most furtherest eastern reaches of the Triad region which is no more than 15/20 miles from a previously approved mega site. All the while there was an opportunity to pull together a similarly sized site that had been previously identified in Davidson County, which by coincidence would have been more centrally located to the greater percentage of the PT population base.

I was surprised to learn that 25% of Toyota's sales already come from electrified vehicles. They anticipate that percentage will increase to nearly 70% by 2030.

That would be great news for the Triad and would give the region a much needed shot in the arm. I hope it comes to fruition. Little ol' Liberty will explode. I know it's 45 miles from Winston, but that is close enough where some people will commute, and countless more will live on the outskirts of Forsyth/Guilford/Randolph Co. and come to Winston on the weekends to drink beer at our breweries, eat at our restaurants, and shop at our stores.

It sounds like there is an imminent announcement regarding a large aircraft manufacturer selecting a site near PTI. They are expected to employ 1,750 with an average wage of $60K. Will be great news for the Triad!

Sorry, I posted this in the wrong place. Update to the TBJ article from this afternoon - Rep. Donny Lambeth, R-Forsyth County: “I believe there will be an announcement soon,” he told Triad Business Journal on Tuesday.“Soon” could come as early as next Tuesday, following the next scheduled meeting of the Economic Investment Committee of the North Carolina Department of Commerce. The EIC approves all JDIG appropriations".

Great news for Greensboro and according to Greensboro there is no Triad.

W-SJ: A major and previously undisclosed economic-development project involving an airplane manufacturer, Piedmont Triad International Airport and potentially 1,750 jobs has been fast-tracked by the N.C. General Assembly.

The state House and Senate approved Monday by wide bipartisan margins House Bill 334, a technical correction bill for the state budget.

Bill sponsors added language that would appropriate $106.75 million in Job Development Investment Grant funds for fiscal 2021-22 to "a high-yield project for an airplane manufacturer."


The project has been identified as "Project Thunderbird" by Rep. Donny Lambeth, R-Forsyth.

Looks like Emerald City to the east made another list,....this one not so good.

https://edition.thestreet.com/s/worst-c ... 94ca714520

A huge new housing development related to the Toyota plant has been announced. It will be in McLeansville (just south of "Replacements LTD). "A Triangle real estate development company (GreenHawk Corporation of Raleigh) has purchased 173.5 acres in the Triad for a future residential community zoned for 630 housing units. GreenHawk said it intends to begin work on the site in the third quarter. The company's plan calls for multiple lot sizes and "product types."

Someone spoke about the ACC Headquarters in another thread, so I thought I would ask into it. The commissioner does a lot of traveling to different ACC schools and this isn't easy from Greensboro, but would be from Charlotte's top-10 airport. He also wants to hold more events in the central office for all ACC schools. This explains the airport part of the requirement. It has been reported that Orlando and Charlotte are the finalists, but first they must vote on moving the headquarters. This is why Greensboro is shown as a "third finalist" in news stories. They will vote yes or no to move the headquarters and if they vote yes (as expected by the sources), they will vote on Charlotte or Orlando. The ACC doesn't have the big TV contracts other conferences have and is very focused on ways to generate more money. This can be done in Charlotte, which is believed to be the choice? However, if they seek incentives to pay for it... they need a "competing" "out-of-state" location for some incentives in North Carolina, so enter Orlando. I guess we'll know next week what their plans are, but everyone I asked said Charlotte has this and Charlotte could be important to the survival of the conference? This is why the corporate presence in the winning city is important, to generate money to make up for low contracts elsewhere. More than likely, this chance to bring more money to the schools and save the conference will be the argument to move the headquarters.

The financial side was interesting and something I didn't know. This was the first time I've heard of this move as "for the survival of the conference?" Has anyone else heard this? Big events at the headquarters for all ACC schools should make this more than just an average office. With talk centering around hotels in Charlotte, I'm guessing that is for those events? It was worded as if the events would be held in the new office, but I would think they would prefer to hold something like that at a nice hotel? Again, I guess we should know more next week?

I would be shocked if the ACC is still around, in its current fashion, in 10 years. This article does a great job at breaking down the challenges it faces:

https://accsports.com/acc-news/acc-expa ... 15723b14e6

There really only needs to be one domino to fall - Clemson or UNC leaving, for instance, would be the deathblow for the conference.

Yeah the ACC is doomed in its current format. I don't see how it can survive, which is bad for Wake Forest because they won't be a chosen school in a realignment scenario. The idea that the ACC can make up the revenue gap through corporate contracts by moving is so ridiculous I can't believe people actually parrot that nonsense. The move is about one thing and one thing only - the new commissioner doesn't want to live in Greensboro. The SEC is the biggest conference from a revenue standpoint and it sits in Birmingham. The idea the ACC needs to be in Charlotte or that being there would fix anything is a joke.

Agreed. Wake's primary issue is that it is such a small school and has a tiny alumni-base (relatively speaking). For that matter, Duke may run into similar issues if they are not able to maintain their basketball excellence in the post-K era. Duke has an unbelievable basketball brand, but it is a small, private school without much football success. It will be telling if the brand is able to maintain its excellence in the years (and decades) to come.

UNC, Clemson, FSU, Miami, etc. will likely look towards the Big 10 and/or SEC once it is financially beneficial to do so.

I'll also say this - Greensboro is absolutely facing the same issues Winston has here. PTI airport isn't ideal, the lack of other corporate executives, etc. I will lose all respect for the ACC if they move to Charlotte, because if they were headquartered here instead of Greensboro, it would be the same story.