North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper is in Germany this week to discuss investment opportunities and job creation with business leaders from the state’s second largest source of direct investment.
Cooper is recruiting overseas dollars to open manufacturing facilities and create jobs back home, the Governor’s Office said in a statement.
“We know our strategy of recruiting foreign direct investment from companies around the world creates great paying jobs and puts money in the pockets of North Carolina families,” Cooper said.
On Monday and Tuesday, Cooper met with representatives of several German-based companies, including tech giant Siemens, the Bavarian Industry Association, Bavarian Minister of Economic Affairs Hubert Aiwanger and German Minister for European Affairs and International Relations Eric Beisswenger.
“We’ve had monumental success attracting companies abroad, most notably from Japan, and I’m excited to be able to strengthen our economic ties and build relationships for our state with companies in Western Europe,” Cooper said. “Ensuring a globally diverse business presence in North Carolina will open new markets and benefit our economy for decades to come.”
North Carolina Department of Commerce Chief of Staff Marqueta Welton joined Cooper on the trip. The pair and other state Representatives toured facilities in Perlach, a borough of Munich in southern Germany, where he was shown innovations in electrification, automation and electric vehicle technologies.
The North Carolina delegation included Cooper and wife Kristin Cooper, along with other officials from the Office of the Governor, North Carolina Department of Commerce and the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina. North Carolina leaders plan to meet with representatives of 20 companies as well as regional trade associations and senior government officials, Cooper’s Office said.
At least 1,700 foreign companies operating in North Carolina support 303,600 jobs, the Governor’s Office said. More than 550 companies have announced new projects in the past 10 years totaling $36 billion in capital investment and creating 59,000 jobs.
Germany is the second-largest source of foreign direct investment in North Carolina behind Japan, with Switzerland and France the fifth- and 12th-largest, respectively.
“As a sister campus to ours here in Wendell, NC, the innovation hub is a great representation of how we are driving technological progress and fostering collaboration both in North Carolina and abroad,” said Brian Dula, Regional CEO of the Electrification and Automation business at Siemens Smart Infrastructure USA.
“Siemens is proud to be a part of the North Carolina community, contributing to economic growth and job creation as one of the state’s leading employers.”
Siemens established a facility in Wendell in the early 1980s that was expanded to 272,000 square feet in 2019. The company’s Distribution Systems business unit is headquartered there. It now also serves as a manufacturing and research hub for the new SICHARGE UC electric vehicle charging technologies for heavy-duty electrified fleets.
Japanese companies like Honda and Toyota already have manufacturing footprints in North Carolina, which continues to draw business from Asia. Earlier this year, two Japanese electric vehicle battery manufacturers announced a combined $60 million investment in Liberty, North Carolina, according to the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina.
The new partnership intends to create 133 new jobs at a new electric vehicle (EV) battery manufacturing facility in Liberty. FTBC is investing $60 million in the project which will manufacture and sell prismatic aluminum cell cases and cell covers with discharge valves to meet the increasing demand for automotive and EV batteries.
Cooper will remain in regular contact with cabinet secretaries and staff in North Carolina and continue to direct state business throughout the trip.
