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June 4 - 17, 2021
wilmingtonbiz.com
Greater Wilmington Business Journal
| ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT |
Apple news could bear local fruit
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pple Inc. and its location in the Triangle could have ripple effects in Southeastern North Carolina, said Ted Abernathy, managing partner of Economic Leadership LLC. There are several areas that Apple and its announcement of a company location in Wake County could impact the Cape CHRISTINA HALEY Fear region, including its supply chains and overall workforce, he said. Apple in April announced plans to invest over $1 billion in North Carolina and bring in at least 3,000 new jobs. The company will put a new campus and engineering hub in the Research Triangle area, according to an Apple news release. The investment will create jobs in machine learning, artificial intelligence, software engineering and “other cutting-edge fields,” Apple officials said in the release. But the business sparked by this economic development announcement also has potential to bring people and new supply chains to the area, Abernathy said. “Apple will have a pretty dense supply chain around it. And that supply chain will probably be looking for locations that are slightly more affordable and with good transportation links … and Southeastern North Carolina qualifies for both of those things,” Abernathy said. “It’s just under two hours from Wilmington back up to the Apple site. So, that puts all of Southeastern North Carolina in a targeted area to build those supply chains.” “Post-pandemic, the supply chains in America are reshoring, and they are getting both more redundant and closer to their host. So that’s the most obvious thing,” he added. The Wilmington area’s “at-port model” to help build business and jobs around the Port of Wilmington is also an aid in luring those supply chains to the region. He said the port and its local interstate infrastructure matter in terms of gaining those networks for the Cape Fear. “The infrastructure is key. I think Apple is less likely to generate the need for refrigeration or something like that, but certainly, there’s component parts from all over the
O’NEAL
PHOTO C/O APPLE INC.
Ripple effect: Apple Inc. announced in April that it would invest in a location in Wake County and bring in at least 3,000 jobs.
world, and depending on what they will ultimately do at the site, when companies like that locate to a place they tend to locate multiple things nearby and overtime because of management structures,” Abernathy said. “So, I think that the infrastructure that we have in Southeastern North Carolina will play a big role in whether or not they grow their footprint in the state.” For companies like Apple – for which remote working will be more likely – housing options may also spread into Southeastern North Carolina for its workforce. The Wilmington area, because of its proximity to the beach and Raleigh, could be a draw for Apple workers – even though that could make it more difficult for locally based tech companies to compete for knowledge workers.. “I think you will see a lot of workers choose to live in different parts of eastern North Carolina all the way down to the coast because they can. And that will create more housing and more growth there,” Abernathy said. Wilmington could also continue its growth as a technology business hub with Apple’s location to the state, he said. “It’s probably one of the faster-growing areas of the state. This helps brand the state as a place
for technology and that helps all the areas that are already home to technology companies to continue to be able to market and attract new companies,” Abernathy said. The Apple announcement was a national story and signaled North Carolina as a place for technology companies, he said, and more of such companies may follow suit in making the state and Wilmington region their home. Abernathy said, “They won’t all need to be in Raleigh or Charlotte, they will choose places around the state that have a good business climate, good infrastructure and most importantly, where they can get employees.”
ILM air travel picks up pace as fliers return April’s passenger travel at the Wilmington International Airport saw an increase of 1,481% from last April, when air travel plummeted in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. A total of 60,100 people traveled through ILM in April, up from nearly 3,800 last April, according to figures released by the airport. There were just over 28,800 passengers who departed from the airport in April – a month that saw
1,800 people flying out in April 2020. In arriving travelers, there were nearly 31,300 passengers in April, compared to nearly 2,000 passengers in the same month last year. While the numbers are recovering the volumes continue to lag from prepandemic activity. In April 2019, 44,200 travelers arrived at the airport, and 45,300 departed for the month. In addition to ILM’s regular flights, Delta Air Lines’ nonstop flight to LaGuardia Airport (LGA) returned in May, along with American Airlines’ nonstop flight to Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD). “ILM continues to see improvements with passengers – which is facilitated by an increase in seats and destinations than last year,” ILM airport director Wilsey said. “We are trending favorably as our leisure travelers and inbound tourism heads into the summer. The airlines know this trend.” For the June and July months, as the peak leisure travel season hits, ILM will have nonstop flights to LGA and Boston Logan International Airport (BOS) through American Airlines. United Airlines is anticipated to add a third, Washington-Dulles International Airport (IAD) flight, which includes an early morning flight for travelers connecting to other destinations. And Delta will continue the LGA nonstop those months, Wilsey said. “Passengers have lots of options for their summer vacation. Like many organizations, we are busy with customers and continue to look for new employees to fill our ranks,” Wilsey added. “Our CARES funding has been dedicated to paying employees and their benefits. It is challenging to provide high-quality customer service when we are short of staff.” Last year, ILM was earmarked for $19.8 million in federal funding through the CARES Act that the airport is using for continuing operations and replace lost revenue. ILM’s parking revenue also continues to improve each month, Wilsey said, adding that April’s parking revenue was 19% more than in March. “Overall things are generally positive,” she said, “with leisure and business travelers returning post-vaccination.”
