Moving to Raleigh, North Carolina, has emerged as one of the top destinations for companies looking to expand or relocate. Major global corporations from a diverse range of industries are choosing to call Raleigh home.
Why are companies moving to Raleigh? The Research Triangle region offers a rare blend of advantages for business growth. Raleigh checks all the boxes for CEOs looking to gain a competitive edge, from infrastructure to economic growth to a skilled workforce and thriving tech hub.
In this article, we’ll look at some of the significant companies opting to move core operations or entire headquarters to Raleigh. We’ll also explore why Raleigh is becoming a preferred location for today’s leading companies.
Companies Moving to Raleigh
Some of the largest companies in the world are relocating their businesses to Raleigh. From Apple bringing over 3,000 high-paying jobs to British bank Barclays moving its Americas headquarters, Raleigh is attracting heavy investment across industries:
Apple
Apple is one of the top companies moving to North Carolina. The global tech titan Apple is investing over $1 billion to construct a new cutting-edge campus in Research Triangle Park, which will house various divisions focusing on emerging technologies.
As one of the best tech companies in Raleigh NC, the new hub will employ 3,000 high-skilled workers spanning machine learning engineers, artificial intelligence researchers, augmented reality developers, software architects, and other critical roles in building breakthrough innovations.
Apple offers an excellent relocation package, making it favorable for employees to relocate with the company. Apple selected Raleigh due to the region’s deep talent pool in software development and hardware engineering.
Propharma
Propharma is a global pharmaceutical company headquartered in Raleigh, providing customized solutions for drug manufacturers. The company relocated its headquarters from New Jersey to Durham County, allowing Propharma to tap into the Triangle’s thriving biopharma ecosystem and life sciences talent pipeline.
The company’s new 60,000-square-foot headquarters facility will house over 704 workers. Propharma selected Raleigh after North Carolina offered an attractive incentives package, including tax breaks valued at over $12 million over 12 years.
Wolfspeed
The semiconductor manufacturer Wolfspeed, a leader in silicon carbide technology, plans to invest $5 billion over eight years to construct a mega-materials production facility in Chatham County.
The factory will directly employ over 1,800 workers to meet the booming demand for energy-efficient chip solutions. Wolfspeed chose North Carolina due to the region’s electronics manufacturing base and world-class engineering talent from nearby universities developing next-generation power devices.
Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies
Fujifilm’s biopharmaceutical manufacturing subsidiary, Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies, or FDB, chose Raleigh to construct a large-scale bioproduction facility to produce gene therapies and viral vaccines.
The $2 billion flexible manufacturing site in Research Triangle Park will eventually house 725 bioprocess engineers, manufacturing experts, and lab technicians, expanding FDB’s capacity to serve clinical partners. FDB selected Raleigh due to local talent’s expertise in upstream and downstream bioprocessing.
Barclays US Consumer Bank
The British banking giant Barclays is relocating its entire Americas operations, including corporate functions and 1,500 high-paying jobs, to a newly constructed 30-acre North Hills campus in Raleigh featuring an Innovation and Technology Center.
Barclays selected Raleigh to tap into the region’s financial solid services talent pipeline and as its strategic hub for the US consumer market. The move centralizes leadership teams and critical support staff under one dynamic location designed to accelerate collaboration.
Energizer Holdings
After considering options nationwide, the battery manufacturing giant Energizer Holdings selected Apex, a Raleigh suburb, as the site for its new corporate headquarters. Energizer plans to relocate around 75 top executives from its St. Louis headquarters to Wake County.
Energizer chose North Carolina due to its strong talent networks, quality of life, and cultural fit. The company will also leverage proximity to Research Triangle Park and regional universities to tap into battery-related R&D.
Lowe’s
The home improvement retail leader Lowe’s opened an impressive global tech hub called Lowe’s Tech Hub in bustling South End Raleigh, cementing the city’s status as an emerging East Coast hub for corporate IT and digital innovation centers.
The state-of-the-art facility houses over 2,000 technology workers building next-generation e-commerce tools, supply chain systems, and omnichannel retail solutions. Lowe’s selected Raleigh due to the region’s strong tech talent pipeline and growth trajectory.
Bandwidth
The homegrown unicorn Bandwidth continues scaling its global workforce from its Raleigh headquarters following a successful IPO in 2017.
The cloud communications platform provider cites Raleigh’s rich access to affordable tech talent as a major factor, allowing it to compete for top candidates as it adds hundreds more software engineers and telecom experts to meet demand.
Bayer Crop Science
The German life sciences leader Bayer is expanding its presence in Research Triangle Park by opening an innovation center focused on developing enhanced seed technologies.
The new SeedGrowth facility represents a $14 million investment that will house scientists and plant biologists working closely alongside North Carolina State University researchers. Bayer chose RTP due to its proximity to one of the world’s largest agriscience and plant science PhDs concentrations.
Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina
As one of the largest companies in Raleigh NC, Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina (BCBSNC) is centralizing 3,000 employees from across its statewide footprint into a new downtown Raleigh tower.
The 20-story facility will house client-facing teams, IT staff, actuaries, population health experts, and critical roles. BCBSNC selected Raleigh to tap into the region’s emerging healthcare ecosystems and talent networks focused on next-generation care delivery.
Raleigh: The Research Triangle Park Capital
Raleigh is the capital and largest city in the Research Triangle region, often simply called the “Triangle.” The Triangle refers to Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill – three cities connected by world-renowned research universities and an unrivaled concentration of high-tech Raleigh based companies.
The Research Triangle Park encompasses a sprawling 7,000-acre campus founded in 1959, positioning itself as the “capital of innovation” in North Carolina. Over 275 companies currently occupy research, office, and lab space within the Park, including IBM, Cisco, Biogen, Bayer, and dozens more giants continually commercializing cutting-edge technologies.
Beyond the Park, companies spanning sectors have flocked to set up shop or relocate to Raleigh and surrounding Wake County, cementing Raleigh’s status as the economic engine and nucleus of the broader Triangle ecosystem.
Why Is Raleigh a Top Choice For CEOs?
What is luring major companies spanning advanced manufacturing, financial services, technology, and pharmaceuticals to invest billions in Raleigh? The region offers key advantages that next-generation companies need to maintain an edge in competitive global markets.
Infrastructure
Raleigh’s superb location boasts modern highways, railways, and accessibility to Raleigh-Durham International Airport – one of the largest airports in the country – which provides companies with smooth supply chains and distribution channels and ease of domestic and international business travel access.
Job Competition
The steady pipeline of talent emerging from Research Triangle Park and access to skilled graduates from nearby Duke University, UNC Chapel Hill, North Carolina State, and 12 other respected universities and colleges gives companies the confidence they can continually attract qualified candidates for competitive engineering and data science positions.
Economic Growth
Raleigh continues to experience explosive population and job growth that is substantially outpacing national averages. Being located in a region with strong economic momentum and stability spanning the past few decades makes Raleigh an appealing long-term home for executives planning for future expansion.
Skilled Workforce
Relatedly, Raleigh’s exceptionally dense concentration of PhDs, scientists, engineers, and STEM experts makes it easier for companies to tap into the specialized skill sets critical for innovation in the 21st-century economy, from machine learning to life sciences.
Advanced Raleigh Tech Hub
Spurred by the Research Triangle Park, Raleigh now consistently ranks as one of the nation’s fastest emerging technology and advanced R&D hubs. The expertise emerging in fields from biotech and pharmaceuticals to clean energy, intelligent mobility, semiconductors, and software reflects the future-focused industries flocking to call Raleigh home.
Business Friendly Policies
North Carolina continues incentivizing business investment by keeping corporate taxes among the lowest nationwide. State and local leaders also dangle attractive tax incentives for major job creators selecting Raleigh for investment. These relatively business-friendly regulatory policies appeal to companies’ bottom lines.
Low Cost of Living
Despite the explosive economic success, the greater Raleigh region has retained an affordable cost of living compared to other bustling corporate centers. As a result, companies can stretch wages to recruit talent who will enjoy an exceptional standard of living in Raleigh.
Quality of Life
Raleigh continues to earn among the highest scores nationwide for overall quality of life rankings thanks to an outdoor-loving, vibrant culture, thriving dining and brewery scene, and wealth of arts and entertainment options.
Executives from these top companies in Raleigh recognize that the region’s energy and amenities make recruiting passionate talent-seeking work-life balance more manageable.
Innovative Ecosystem
The combination of world-class research universities like Duke and UNC pumping out entrepreneurial graduates and abundant tech startups across sectors from gaming to cleantech fosters a collaborative innovation network that larger corporations can tap into.
Conclusion
Today’s leading companies moving to Raleigh chose the Research Triangle region because it is one of the nation’s premier destinations for substantial business investment.
With competitive infrastructure, the country’s highest concentration of science and tech experts, a pipeline of skilled university talent, overall economic dynamism and affordability, and research parks cultivating tomorrow’s innovations, Raleigh offers an ideal launchpad for enterprises positioning themselves for enduring success.
At ARC Relocation, we can help with moving your company to Raleigh. Contact us today for a consultation.