Charlotte companies slip south of border.

• Author: Maley, Frank
• Position: Business enterprises relocation

Charlotte recruiters know well the warm feeling of slipping their hands into pockets of other cities and pulling out corporate headquarters, offices or factories. But lately, they've been reminded too often how awful it feels to have their own pockets picked. And to make matters worse, the beneficiaries have been the city's economic-development partners.

In February, Sharonview Federal Credit Union opened its new home in Lancaster County, S.C., just over the state line from where it was founded in 1955. Since November 2004, at least four other Queen City companies have announced similar moves. "There has been some talk that the South Carolina counties are actively recruiting up here in North Carolina, which we do not believe is the case," says Angie Lawry, vice president of community relations for the Charlotte Regional Partnership, an economic-development group for 12 counties in North Carolina and four in South Carolina.

The Inspiration Network, a Charlotte-based Christian broadcaster, plans to move, taking at least 250 jobs, to Lancaster County in 2008. South Carolina officials were helpful but didn't initiate contact, says John Roos, the network's vice president of corporate communications and research. What attracted it was 93 acres of reasonably priced land five miles from the interstate loop around Charlotte. State incentives merely sweetened the deal, Roos says. Charlotte has a hard time competing because cheap land is scarce and it can offer incentives only for additional hires, while South...