Kinston gets in the spirit plus plucks a poultry plant.

• Position: Eastern

The specter of a sluggish national economy might not seem as scary as before in Kinston. Not only did civic leaders exorcise some demons recently by luring airplane-parts maker Spirit AeroSystems--and more than 1,000 jobs -- to the much-ma-ligned Global TransPark, they successfully wooed Sanderson Farms, a poultry processor that will employ 1,600. Together, Wichita, Kan.-based Spirit and Laurel, Miss.-based Sanderson will add $2 million a year in taxes and user...