UPWARD MOBILITY: North Carolina's transportation industry is expanding adapting preparing to keep the states economy moving forward.

• Author: Kinney, Ben
• Position: TRANSPORTATION ROUND TABLE

MANY INDUSTRIES KEEP NORTH CAROLINA'S ECONOMY ROLLING ALONG, BUT NONE AS LITERALLY AS TRANSPORTATION. A diverse network of roads, rails, airports and ports has been one of the state's strongest assets for about a century. But while the industry's mission remains the same, its path is changing. Business North Carolina recently assembled a panel of industry experts to discuss the opportunities up for grabs and challenges that must be stared down.

HOW IS THE STATE'S GROWING ECONOMY AFFECTING THE TRANSPORTATION INDUSTRY?

YALE The state's economy is good, which means more people are working and fewer are training for jobs. The transportation industry, especially the aviation sector, is growing. [Cary-based] Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina Inc. reported that the state's aerospace products and parts manufacturing sector grew 76% from 2007 to 2016, the second fastest in the country. That creates demand for GTCC's programs, some more than others. Seats in our aviation maintenance programs are always filled. But that's not the case in our aviation management and career pilot program. It should be: [Chicago-based] Boeing Corp. reported that 640,000 new pilots will be needed worldwide over the next two decades. Overall, our aviation programs are strong. Our students are in demand, some before graduation. Many are working part time for She companies where they also are interning. We could double the number of graduates, and they all would find jobs. That's the demand. The reality is, there aren't enough seats in our programs or the people to fill them.

HOLLOWELL We're a privately held short-line railroad that operates about 150 miles of track from downtown Charlotte to Gulf, a little town in Chatham County. We interchange with [Norfolk, Va.-based] Norfolk Southern Corp. at both terminals and have a separate subdivision that starts at Star, travels through Candor and Pinehurst and ends in Aberdeen, where we interchange with [Jacksonville, Fla.-based] CSX Corp. A few years ago, we felt fortunate because we were maintaining our level of service and keeping the commitments that we made to customers while other companies were downsizing or losing business. We've seen some organic growth within our customer base over the past two-and-a-half years.

BAKER PTI's dual mission is unique among airports. First, it's the state's third-busiest commercial airport behind Charlotte Douglas International and Raleigh-Durham International. Passenger traffic was up about 7.5% in August over the year prior. About 5,000 people work at 50 companies--including [Memphis, Tenn.-based] FedEx Corp.--at the airport. They add about $2 billion each year to the economy. We're developing about 1,000 acres directly across from the airport, a project that has been underway for more...