Plentiful parking: industrial parks across North Carolina offer unique assets, creating custom fits for relocating and expanding companies.

• Position: SPONSORED SECTION: SPECIAL REPORT: INDUSTRIAL PARKS

Brunswick County covers about 1,050 square miles of southeastern North Carolina. Its landscape was rural--covered with cattle farms, little brick houses and quiet coastal fishing havens--in 2000, when 73,000 people called it home. The county's largest town, Leland, had a population of 1,900, while the county seat, Bolivia, had only 143.

One decade later, Brunswick's population swelled to about 107,000. The growth didn't change some things: The speed limit in Bolivia remained 35 mph, and cattle still grazed. But in Leland, whose population grew to 13,500, U.S. 74 filled with traffic and much of the surrounding land was developed, including Leland Industrial Park. It is 630 acres of economic potential that's best described with real estate's magic word: location. Wilmingon International Airport is about 8 to 10 miles away, and the park is located within the Foreign Trade Zone. Existing infrastructure including water and sewer make it a good strategic location for manufacturing. And land in Brunswick County is more plentiful and less expensive than in adjacent New Hanover County.

Leland caught Bill Ciccone's attention. He started MicroSolv Technology Corp., which manufactures tools for medical, forensic and biological laboratories, in 1992. He is moving the business from its hometown of Eatontown, N.J., to an 11,000-square-foot building in Leland this month. "We thought about this for about eight years and did a lot of research, looked at a lot of demographics. We did an analysis of several locations around the country, and Leland came up to me as the best because of the lower real-estate costs. It's ideal also because of the roads and the proximity to Wilmington and the beaches and things like that. Our employees make a good salary, but they struggle to make ends meet. We're moving the company so our employees could thrive, not just survive."

There are industrial parks of differing size, location and assets across the state. That variety ensures companies, no matter their industry, can find a place that fits their relocation or expansion needs. Location helps Ronnie Goswick attract businesses to Franklin County, a stone's throw northeast of Raleigh. As the county's economic-development commission director, he sees opportunity in the county's five industrial parks: Louisburg Industrial Park, Triangle North Franklin, Youngsville Commerce Center, Youngsville Industrial Park and NC 96 Industrial. "We're primed and ready to go," he says. "Our...