Following 10 year anniversary, EDPNC continues to aim for economic growth in the state

As one of the fastest growing states in the country, developing a strong economy to sustain the growth has been important for North Carolina. 

N.C. has been ranked one of the top states to do business for five years in a row. In 2024, the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina announced 17,586 new jobs, $16.1 billion and 166 reported projects statewide, according to the Economic Development Activity Report.

The EDPNC seeks to improve the economic well-being and quality of life for all North Carolinians, according to the partnership’s mission statement. 

In December, the EDPNC celebrated its 10th anniversary. 

The EDPNC is a private nonprofit, Orange County Economic Development Director Steve Brantley said. Denise Desatnick, the organization's vice president of marketing and research, said it's structured like a public-private partnership. 

Previously, EDPNC functions were performed by the State Department of Commerce, she said. But, former N.C. Gov. Pat McCrory's administration believed that it would be more efficient to privatize industrial recruiting out of the North Carolina Department of Commerce, Brantley said. 

“The thought was that if we apply some of those private sector principles to this public function, that we would be able to be more facile, more competitive, and really bring a different sales and marketing type of orientation to the business of economic development,” Desatnick said.

The EDPNC shares their mission with the State Department of Commerce because of their partnership, Desatnick said. 

“It's about creating opportunity in the form of economic investment and new jobs and general prosperity in the state to improve the lives of North Carolinians as a whole,” Desatnick said.

The EDPNC has been successful in both export promotion and trade and tourism, and has fueled many jobs which contribute to the state's economy, Brantley said. In Orange County, the EDPNC works with the Chapel Hill Orange County Visitor’s Center, he said. 

“So [the EDPNC is] trying to dovetail what the EDPNC does from a tourism standpoint statewide with the Chapel Hill, Carrboro, Hillsborough and Orange County Tourism goals and the program,” Brantley said.

Brantley said what EDPNC does most often, though, is recruiting for businesses and large industries. 

Well, a health care startup company located on Franklin Street engaged with EDPNC in 2019, the startup's Chief Financial Officer Jared Sokolsky said.

Sokolsky said he started working with EDPNC to figure out a location for his business headquarters, which is how it ended up in Chapel Hill. 

"It was a combination of taking advantage of tax incentives that are offered by the state government," he said. "But I think importantly for us, it was also bringing together not only the state incentives that that are used to spur development here in North Carolina, but also at a local level."

While helping companies grow enough to export products creates jobs in communities, it can also attract businesses to expand in North Carolina, Desatnick said. 

“It creates more jobs, creates more opportunity within a community,” Desatnick said. “And it also helps to diversify and help the economy in those communities become healthier. And the economic impact of these projects supports the tax base; it will support schools and public services and infrastructure improvements.”

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