Hot shots.

• Author: Silverman, Alan
• Position: North Carolina's economic development officials

They aim to please, but these days it's harder to hit the bull's eye. Here's how a dozen of the state's top industry hunters bring home the big trophies.

There was a time when recruiting big companies was a lot like hunting big game, with local economic developers riding off to the Rust Belt to bag corporate trophies.

But the days of the buffalo hunt are over. "The emphasis has switched, primarily because there are fewer buffaloes out there," says Rosemary Wyche, an analyst with the N.C. Department of Commerce. Developers are spending more time at home, focusing on existing industries to increase their yield of jobs and tax revenues. In 1991, expansion investment outpaced new-industry investment by more than three to one. In 1992, expansions from existing facilities accounted for 23,906 new jobs, while new industries created 9,845. In 1993, the state logged 118 new manufacturing plants and 258 expansions.

The change has given rise to a new breed of economic developer. "You've got to understand tax issues, legal issues, business and environmental issues as well," says George Watts Carr III, director of the Commerce Department's Business/Industry Development Division. Economic developers have had to become one-man bands, especially in small and midsized cities, where so much depends on a single individual. The team captain must be conversant with sophisticated data-base management, land-use planning, marketing strategies and even a little psychology.

To identify the top industry hunters in a field in which much of the activity occurs behind the scenes, BUSINESS NORTH CAROLINA enlisted the help of more than 40 economic developers across the state. In all, more than 60 names were bandied about, some more frequently than others. In the end, 12 stood out. They represent professional developers as well as members of private industry, and no two share the same recipe for success.

Part of the reason for the change in strategy is that competition grows more fierce every year. After ranking No. 1 in 1990 and '91 and tying at No. 2 in '92, North Carolina fell to third place, behind Ohio and Texas, in both new plants and plant expansions in 1993. "It used to be, if you had a client come in, he'd spend a whole week with you in order to make a decision," Kinston economic developer Ron Baker says. "Now, he gets off a corporate Lear jet with his clipboard and an M.B.A. from one of these fancy schools and says, 'You've got two hours to tell me why I need to be here.' This business ain't like sellin' cars. There ain't no 'be-backs.'"

Nevertheless, North Carolina's economic developers are still proving themselves tough competitors. For the three years that ended in 1993, the state ranked No. 1 in new manufacturing plants, with 375 announced.

In large cities such as Charlotte, Greensboro and Raleigh, staffs of specialists coordinate the effort, and the quarterback is not nearly as important as the team. And, in this the age of partnerships, the teamwork of several offices belonging to a regional organization may be as important as that of any one leader. "The idea of the partnership is what is really going to transform economic development here in North Carolina," Commerce Secretary Dave Phillips asserts.

These well-staffed, well-financed organizations win a lot of games, getting people such as Greensboro's Marc Bush, Charlotte's Terry Orell, Durham's Thomas White and Raleigh's William "Al" Poe into the newspapers regularly. Their names might seem conspicuously absent from our list, but BUSINESS NORTH CAROLINA wanted to highlight the efforts of some lesser-known players.

As Larry Jones, past president of the North Carolina Economic Developers Association, puts it, "Eighty percent of the development we talk about happens to be centered around the large metropolitan areas. But there is so much more activity going on outside those areas that never gets recognized."

Ken Atkins

President, Catawba County Economic Development Corp.

In his career, Ken Atkins, 45, has sold everything from life insurance to medical supplies. Since 1982, when he became executive director of the county's Industrial Development Committee, he has sold 29 new manufacturers on Catawba County. (That committee merged with another agency to form the EDC in July 1993.) His efforts have landed $197.5 million in investments and 2,561 new jobs. That's on top of 60 local expansions, creating 3,828 jobs.

In 1991, when Catawba was wooing the corporate headquarters of Alcatel, a French-owned fiber-optic-cable manufacturer, Atkins organized the efforts of local government, Duke Power Co., Council of Government members and the Department of Commerce. "Ken was able to orchestrate everyone's efforts and bring them all together," says Scott Millar, vice president for the Catawba County EDC. Originally projected to be $45 million, Alcatel's investment now is closer to $85 million. Four other fiber-optic-cable manufacturers have entered or expanded in Catawba County during the last 10 years. The largest is Siecor, a partnership between Germany's Siemens AG and Corning Inc. of New York that employs 1,500 in the county.

Another of Atkins' successes is Conover West Business Park. The city and state have invested about $1.8 million in the park's infrastructure. "The idea was to get the sites ready to go so that when an industry looks at this area most of the questions are already answered," says Conover City Manager Rick Beasley. Within the last year, Conover West has landed Hickory Printing Group's $20 million plant, a 200,000-square-foot Boyles Furniture distribution facility and a manufacturing plant for Oldham United States Saw. "That's the kind of success we're having because Ken had the foresight to anticipate the changing environment and get us ready," Beasley says.

Ron Baker

Executive director, Lenoir County...