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But Wilmington isn't a busy East Coast port like Charleston and Savannah, which is also an impediment when it comes to NC landing big manufacturing developments.
But it is a viable port, which is something Greensboro doesn't have.
Lets be real here...the folks in NC didn't even offer up its best option. It was selling Greensboro and Rocky Mount to Volvo...where else, Liberty? Against a Charleston SC suburb?
That was a no brainer.
A year or so ago, NC politicians were pushing a Leland area site for a Tire Plant that SC got...I believe near Florence, along I-95. Push for the tire plant in Rocky Mount and the Volvo plant in Leland, not the other way around.
Who's making these decisions at the Department of Commerce?
No site close to the port of Wilmington is suitable. None have a good combination of road & rail access. The best option IMO is somewhere between Charlotte &Wilmington but the infrastucture is not place & the state is unwilling to make auto companies a offer they can't refuse
That's because of the State of NC long standing unwillingness to deal with the rail issues from Wilmington.
Charlotte gets its gas from the Gulf instead of the tanks sitting on the banks of the Cape Fear River? Why? Because they would have to drive it to Charlotte in trucks because of a lack on infrastructure...
Its 714 miles to New Orleans from Charlotte...its 198 miles to Wilmington from Charlotte...more than a 1/3 less.
Road construction is moving even slower between Charlotte and Wilmington....and there is still, amazingly enough...not even a rest area along the trip.
And you wonder why NC doesn't get this stuff. It needs to invest in its Port access and infrastructure. As we can see it affects the entire state.
The elephant in the room is that NC didn’t get this because of bickering in the legislature over rural versus urban interests. Incentives legislation can’t get passed because legislators are trying to include language requiring development be pushed to rural areas. And the same folks have successfully manipulated Raleigh into investing in “megasites” in rural areas only. Meanwhile a lot of these plants are located in very urban “suburbs” in other states. But our legislators wouldn’t dare support one of these plants going near one of our urban areas. You can’t make people live where they don’t want to live, and you can’t make businesses do business where they don’t want to. The rural agenda is going to kill this state.
But it is a viable port, which is something Greensboro doesn't have.
Neither does the Upstate of SC (BMW)...or West Point, GA (Kia)...or Chattanooga (VW)...or Montgomery (Hyundai)...or Tuscaloosa (Mercedes)...etc etc. But all of those sites have decent access to busy, fast-growing ports with good infrastructure, which Wilmington is not. There's a reason why the port of Charleston is Charlotte's most utilized port.
And then there's also the issue with incentives in NC and the lack of a closing fund.
Otherwise the Triad is well-suited for large-scale manufacturing developments.
....There's a reason why the port of Charleston is Charlotte's most utilized port..
Because it is closer to Charlotte. No other reason than that.
Even if there was a direct interstate between CLT and Wilmington, businesses would still use Charleston for that reason. Charlotte has been shipping stuff through Charleston pretty much since it was founded and they used the Catawba, Wateree and Santee rivers and barges to move stuff between the two cities.
Because it is closer to Charlotte. No other reason than that.
Even if there was a direct interstate between CLT and Wilmington, businesses would still use Charleston for that reason. Charlotte has been shipping stuff through Charleston pretty much since it was founded and they used the Catawba, Wateree and Santee rivers and barges to move stuff between the two cities.
The difference is about 15 minutes, so I don't think thats such a huge factor. More likely factor is that Charleston is a much bigger, busier port, with far more shipping options, and is capable of handling larger ships.
In airport terms, Charleston's port is like Charlotte's airport, Wilmington's is like Greensboro's.
Unlike the BMW plant in Greer, the location of the Volvo plant guarantees that there will be no spillover into NC.
Not true. Several auto suppliers in NC like GKN driveline are likely to supply this plant & I'm sure parts will be shipped thru CLT like BMW. Wouldn't surprise me if most of their supply chain is within the Carolinas
The difference is about 15 minutes, so I don't think thats such a huge factor. More likely factor is that Charleston is a much bigger, busier port, with far more shipping options, and is capable of handling larger ships.
Precisely. Wilmington and Charleston are practically the same distance from Charlotte, but there's direct interstate (and railroad I believe) access to Charleston's port which is the bigger and busier of the two, capable of handling much higher volume.
Precisely. Wilmington and Charleston are practically the same distance from Charlotte, but there's direct interstate (and railroad I believe) access to Charleston's port which is the bigger and busier of the two, capable of handling much higher volume.
Charlotte has interstate grade rail connections(CSX&NS) to Charleston,Savannah & Norfolk while CSX connects to Wilmington
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