Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government in 1996 did a case study on “North Carolina and the Battle for Business.” One item that stuck out to me in the online archive for the case study was a Charlotte Observer editorial that considered the state’s educational system, AAA bond rating, and good roads and water systems as incentives before noting the “modest financial incentives” offered by the Hunt administration. The editorial writer also complimented the efficiency of North Carolina’s incentives:
The Industrial Recruitment Competitive Fund [since renamed the One North Carolina Fund], set up by the General Assembly in 1993, is North Carolina’s only cash incentive. It has brought nearly 10,000 new jobs and more than $1 billion in investment to North Carolina. Over a three-year period, the General Assembly’s investment of $12 million in the fund has helped 55 companies create new jobs. That is compared to an $86 million incentive package provided by Virginia to Motorola.
We’ve come a long way, baby.
UPDATE 9/7: corrected the name of the school
