RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) – For the second year in a row, CNBC ranked North Carolina the number one state in the country for business on Tuesday.
The state ranked highest in the nation for its workforce and also was near the top of the list in areas such as the economy, technology and innovation as well as education.
“When I talk to CEOs of businesses that I am recruiting, they tell us that one of the reasons they want to come to North Carolina is because of the workforce,” Gov. Roy Cooper (D) told CBS 17 on Tuesday. “All of those reasons coupled with our quality of life, our infrastructure that we have been working to improve, puts us in a position as being the best place for business.”
North Carolina has seen a series of major economic development announcements in recent years, including plans by chip manufacturer Wolfspeed expanding operations in Siler City and Vietnamese electric vehicle maker VinFast building its first U.S. manufacturing facility in Chatham County.
That followed previous announcements by Apple to build a campus in Research Triangle Park and by Toyota to build an electric vehicle battery plant in Randolph County.
North Carolina Commerce Sec. Machelle Baker Sanders noted last year there was about $19.3 billion in investments and nearly 29,000 jobs.
“All of those things are significant successes. And, I think they are mainly due to the fact that we have the workforce that is well-trained, that we have the infrastructure and certainly a business friendly environment helps to round out that package,” said Cooper.
Republicans, who have controlled the General Assembly for more than a decade, credited their decisions to reduce taxes and regulations.
“I think the proof is in the pudding. If you look at where our state is in terms of its economy, in terms of fiscal policy, no one can dispute the fact that it has been the General Assembly driving the train all these years,” said House Speaker Tim Moore (R-Cleveland).
CNBC looks at 86 metrics in ten different categories in determining its rankings.
The state scored lowest in the category of “life, health and inclusion,” ranking 38th in the country. That factored in the state’s new abortion law which took effect at the beginning of this month and restricts abortions after 12 weeks of pregnancy.
Gov. Cooper said he’s concerned that pending legislation impacting LGBTQ rights and public schools could impact the state’s ability to attract business in the future.
He recently vetoed a series of bills that would restrict the ability of medical professionals to perform gender transition procedures on minors, block transgender athletes from playing on women’s sports teams and require schools to notify parents if a child changes the name or pronouns they use at school.
The N.C. House could hold votes this week on whether to override the veto.
Cooper also recently declared a state of emergency surrounding public education. While the emergency has no legal impact, he’s tried to call attention to efforts by the legislature to expand the state’s private school voucher program known as the Opportunity Scholarship. All families would be eligible for the program regardless of income.
“I’m concerned that if all of these bills become law, that it will put us in a position where we might lose this ranking,” said Cooper.
Speaker Moore was dismissive of that concern.
“A good friend of mine said, you can’t take politics out of politics. I get that. I disagree with his assessment of where the General Assembly is,” he said. “What we ought to really be doing at this time is taking the opportunity to really talk about the great things North Carolina has done, is doing and is going to continue to do.”
