TOP PROJECTS.

• Position: NC ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

North Carolina's reputation as a jobs magnet keeps rocking along: It was first in Site Selection magazine's 2018 Prosperity Cup ranking of most competitive business states and first in Forbes' best-states-for-business listing. Just missing a trifecta. the state settled for third in CEO magazine's rankings.

The kudos reflect investment decisions that show up on Business NORTH CAROLINA'S annual list of the biggest projects announced during the year ending May 31. It's based on projected job-creation goals with information provided by state and local economic developers and the companies. Actual hiring will vary, as business plans change, some for the better and others not so much. About two-thirds of the projects include state incentives.

Half of this year's list includes projects occurring outside Durham. Mecklenburg and Wake counties. That's refreshing news for state officials, who want less-populated areas also to benefit from the strengthening economy.

ONE

ALLSTATE INSURANCE

NORTHBROOK, ILL.

NEW JOBS: 2,250

COUNTY: MECKLENBURG

PROJECTED INVESTMENT: $22.6M

N.C. INCENTIVES: $17.9M

Allstate joins Axa and Brighthouse Financial among insurance companies recently adding jobs in the Charlotte region. The expansion of an operations center, announced in August, will more than double its regional employment of about 1,400. With 2017 revenue of $38.5 billion, Allstate is the largest publicly held U.S. personal-lines insurer--most of its business is in home and auto insurance.

TWO

INFOSYS

BANGALORE, INDIA

NEW JOBS: 2,000

COUNTY: WAKE

PROJECTED INVESTMENT: $8.7M

N.C. INCENTIVES: $22.4M

In June, the technology-services and consulting company tapped IBM's former digital commerce leader Deverre Lierman to lead its Triangle operation, which will include software developers, analysts and other positions. The Raleigh expansion is part of Infosys' plan to hire 10,000 workers at four U.S. technology and innovation hubs--others are in Indianapolis, Hartford, Conn., and Providence, R.I.

THREE

TRIANGLE TYRE

SHANDONG PROVINCE, CHINA

NEW JOBS: 800

COUNTY: EDGECOMBE

PROJECTED INVESTMENT: $580M

N.C. INCENTIVES: $36.1M

Gov. Roy Cooper called it the largest manufacturing investment ever in rural North Carolina when the project was announced in December. Site work began in the spring for a plant at the Kingsboro megasite that will eventually produce 6 million tires a year. The plant will initially make tires for passenger vehicles; a second phase will add a facility for making commercial tires. The average annual wage will be $56,450, 73% higher than Edgecombe's average of $32,600. Triangle Tyre also considered Georgia's Laurens County for the plant.

FOUR

CHARTER COMMUNICATIONS

STAMFORD, CONN.

NEW JOBS: 655

COUNTY: MECKLENBURG

PROJECTED INVESTMENT: $6.6M

N.C. INCENTIVES: NONE

Charter's May 2016 acquisition of Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks, with a reported value of about $67 billion, has led to a shuffling of its workforce in Charlotte, where thousands of employees (the company declined to provide specific figures) work in finance, human resources, customer service and other departments. In fall 2016, Charter reported 258 layoffs in its local accounting and finance division. The recent 2017 expansion "involved multiple...