Economic Development February Recap

New & Expanding Companies:

Phononic Devices | Manufacturing | Expanding
Phononic Devices, a small Raleigh startup that makes miniature electric heat pumps, has scored $10 million in venture capital to create prototypes of its product for demonstration to potential customers. Phononic Devices has 10 employees at its Centennial Campus offices and plans to hire up to 20 scientists and engineers in the next 18 months.

Salix Pharmaceuticals | Pharmaceuticals/Biotech | Expanding
Salix Pharmaceuticals is moving its headquarters to north Raleigh. Salix has signed an 11-year lease for the 126,926-square-foot Colonnade II office building. Salix will also occupy 26,000 square feet in a second Colonnade building. The value of the two Colonnade leases is about $36 million. The company expects to relocate this fall.

TyraTech | Pharmaceuticals/Biotech | New
TyraTech, a Florida company that develops pesticides and products to fight internal parasites, is relocating its headquarters to Morrisville, bringing 105 jobs to Wake County. Some of those positions are expected to be filled by existing employees moving from Florida. The company said that it is expanding and expects to begin posting open positions in the Triangle in late March.

Trade Shows & Recruitment:

• Wake County Economic Development Project Manager Wesley Fricks traveled to Las Vegas to attend the annual convention of NAI Global Feb. 7 – 11. This event affords WCED the opportunity to connect with NAI's global network of real estate brokers, developers, and site selection consultants and remind them why Wake County is "Smarter All Around."

• Wake County Economic Development Executive Director Ken Atkins and Project Manager Wayne Watkins spent Feb. 14 visiting Fort Bragg as guests of the 82nd Airborne Division. The visit was designed to demonstrate the airlift and deployment capabilities of the 82nd and included a day-long tour of the key base components that make these capabilities possible. The WCED team was treated to a behind-the-scenes look at the complex preparations that go into making a successful airborne deployment possible, from vehicle packing and loading to personnel pre-jump rehearsals.

• Jennifer Bosser, assistant executive director for Wake County Economic Development, exhibited at the Medical Design and Manufacturing West Show in Anaheim, Calif. Feb. 7 – 11. MD&M West is the world's largest event for medical design and manufacturing. A delegation of seven representatives from the Triangle region participated in the show, including NC State University, ibiliti, Community Workforce Solutions, Research Triangle Regional Partnership, and Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP.

• Wake County Economic Development sponsored and exhibited at the Council for Entrepreneurial Development's Biotech Conference Feb. 21 – 22 at the Raleigh Convention Center. The annual Biotech/Life Science Conference unites the Southeast's life science community and includes world-class speakers, a variety of panels on industry topics and trends, and networking opportunities with life science leaders.

• Wake County Economic Development and Raleigh Economic Development have established a new partnership with TACQUIRE to integrate a new building and sites function into their respective websites. This new feature enables companies seeking real estate to access the TACQUIRE database to search for property directly from the two websites.

• Wake County Economic Development, in partnership with Raleigh Economic Development and the Downtown Raleigh Alliance, has added "Downtown Raleigh" as an additional submarket to Executive Pulse, the county's database tracking system that stores information on existing industry visits and prospect activity.

• Wake County Economic Development has established a new subscription to the www.locationadvisors.net, created by Development Counsellors International. The subscription provides Wake County and its municipalities access to site selection consultants, top real estate brokers, and executives from incentive advisory firms. This subscription gives Wake County the most up to date and accurate information for contacting and communicating with site location decision makers.

Recent Accolades:
For a full list of accolades please visit www.raleigh-wake.org.
• #9 Best Value in Public Universities (North Carolina State University) Princeton Review
• #2 Biggest Brain Magnet in U.S. (Raleigh-Cary, NC) Forbes.com
• #4 Metro in 10-Year Job Growth (Raleigh-Cary, NC) BusinessFirst


Activity Comparison:



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Wake County