In addition to its strong agricultural industry, North Carolina is the second largest in animal processing and manufacturing and is home to Tyson, Campbell's and Smithfield. With a population of 10.5 million and 10 cities with more than 100,000 residents in communities that stretch more than 300 miles from the ocean to the mountains, North Carolina is home to a variety of stable, successful, growing business sectors committed to innovation. This is thanks to a diverse, trained and well-educated workforce, low tax rates and easy access to transportation and logistics channels through road, rail, air and sea connections to the region and the world. The aerospace and defense industries tend to work in partnership, so the state is in an exceptional position due to the presence of important military facilities such as the Marine Corps base, the Lejeune base camp, the Fort Bragg-Pope military airfield and the Seymour Johnson Air Force base.
North Carolina is also a base for industrial innovation, as it is home to North Carolina's Global TransPark in Kinston. The industrial air park has an 11,000 foot runway and meets the manufacturing and logistics needs of the aerospace and defense industries. These companies are supported by numerous research centers and professional programs that promote innovation in the automotive industry through development and testing. More than 178 million customers are a day's drive away from North Carolina. This privileged location on the east coast is further enhanced by easy access to road, rail and maritime transport connections with the rest of the region, the country and internationally.
North Carolina is the second-largest food and beverage processing state, with about 1,000 such companies in the industry including Campbell's, Butterball, Smithfield and Sierra Nevada. The following year, a 35-member working group was created to take advantage of business opportunities related to food and agriculture. This group was comprised of experts in agribusiness, food processing and packaging, as well as economic development. Small start-ups and information technology superpowers such as Google, IBM and Cisco are among the companies that call North Carolina home. They cite business advantages such as low taxes, an active business environment and significant investments in research and capital funding. Organizations such as the North Carolina Technology Association (NC Tech) advocate for innovation and facilitate professional connections by bringing together leaders from industry, government and education.
NC Tech has more than 700 members representing more than 200,000 employees. In both biotechnological and pharmaceutical manufacturing, according to the total number of employees Bayer, BASF, LabCorp and Novo Nordisk do business in North Carolina. They are supported by numerous industry partners such as the North Carolina Research Campus in Kannapolis. The 350-acre scientific community campus focuses on collaborative research and product development in health and nutrition in collaboration with eight universities. North Carolina's long history as a furniture manufacturing center continues into the 21st century with more than 600 wood and wood products stores residing in the state.
Well-known names such as Ethan Allen, Ashley Furniture, Lexington Home Brands and Sealy are all based here. According to the North Carolina Department of Commerce, the state has the largest furniture industry in the country comprising 3,000 stores and more than 35,000 employees giving North Carolina a concentration of furniture manufacturing activity that is more than three times the national average. More than 300,000 people work in financial services industry in North Carolina for companies such as Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Fidelity Investments, Lending Tree and Credit Suisse. Around 250,000 professionals work in industries related to tourism or outdoor recreation in North Carolina - that's equivalent to approximately 1 in 45 North Carolina residents having a direct job in tourism.
Other leading industries in North Carolina include auto manufacturing which employs 388,000 people. The state is home to more than 160 manufacturers of cars trucks and heavy equipment such as Honda which has established its plant in Haw River while Volvo and Meritor have many plants in different parts of the state. North Carolina is also home to vibrant aerospace aviation and defense industries with more than 180 companies that manufacture aerospace components including Boeing which has a plant in New Bern Cessna which has a plant in Greensboro while Lockheed Martin has a plant in Raleigh More than 9 500 people work in a variety of highly qualified positions at North Carolina aerospace manufacturing companies. Biotechnology pharmaceuticals life sciences are other major industries in North Carolina with top companies including LapCorp Novo Nordisk Pfizer Information communication technology is another important industry with some of its leading brands being Google Microsoft Apple Facebook Flextronics IBM Cisco among others.
Responsibilities in regulatory service areas that cover different aspects of agriculture manufacturing are overseen by the North Carolina Department of Agriculture Consumer Services Over past century North Carolina has grown become national leader agriculture financial services manufacturing The state's industrial production mainly textiles chemicals electrical equipment paper pulp paper products ranked eighth country early 1990s The textile industry once one pillars state's economy been losing jobs producers Latin America Asia past 25 years although state remains largest textile employer United States. In recent years another major industry Carolina furniture production also been seriously affected shift jobs Asia especially China North Carolina work-at-will state meaning private sector employees can fired without notice reason The state's tourist destinations include amusement parks golf courses wineries beaches mountains sports facilities North Carolina's...
