Some corporate origin stories are misdirections. A startup struggles for years before its big breakthrough. That was not SAS Institute. The Triangle software company spun out of NC State with a unique financial bedrock that has defined its past 50 years: www.newsobserver.com/news/busines...

Toured North Carolina’s largest tobacco campus and left thinking about a rotting foot and how the state balances the harms its economically valuable “golden leaf” has caused: amp.newsobserver.com/news/busines...

A developer is challenging Chatham County's recent data center moratorium, arguing... 1. The moratorium is unlawful. 2. Even if it is legal, their 750 MW(!) data center proposal southwest of Raleigh should be exempt from the 1-year permitting pause: www.newsobserver.com/news/busines...

Arrive for the pun headline, stay for the detailed breakdown of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s historic fraud charges against Durham-based American Efficient. Did AE profit from a creature approach or, as one law professor put it, “pure chicanery”? www.newsobserver.com/news/busines...

Rather than say it will eventually go public, Cary's SAS Institute now says it wants to be IPO-ready to give its 83-year-old owner succession options. So it felt time to explore what those other options are: www.newsobserver.com/news/busines...

A downtown Durham company headed by the husband of a state senator has been charged with “brazen” fraud by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. American Efficient refutes the government’s findings: amp.newsobserver.com/news/busines...

How some of the top H-1B worker employers in North Carolina have shifted their approach to this foreign worker program after Trump administration set $100,000 fee on visa applicants not already living in US:

North Carolina will have hyperscale data centers from five of the world’s 10 most valuable companies, if confirmed projects from Amazon and Microsoft go forward. Last week, Gov Stein questioned whether NC should continue offering data center operators sales tax exemptions:

North Carolina has jumped ahead of Georgia for the nation’s 2nd most Dollar Generals. The discount chain has expanded considerably statewide since the Great Recession, with 1,150 locations today:

I promise to eat my hat (faded navy blue Durham Bulls cap) if VinFast makes cars in North Carolina by 2028: www.newsobserver.com/news/busines...

A Cary video game company cofounded by best-selling novelist Tom Clancy will stop making games as its parent company seeks to reverse flouncing finances. More than 100 Red Storm Entertainment employees are expected to be laid off: www.newsobserver.com/news/busines...

“This is where I wanted to serve, right here at home. But these are not ordinary times.” - former North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper accepting the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate at a party event in Raleigh.

Just in: former NC Gov. Roy Cooper DID NOT wear a necktie tonight in Raleigh when accepting the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate. www.newsobserver.com/news/local/a...

Just in: Waymo confirms it will start driving vehicles (with human drivers) around Uptown Charlotte to prepare for future autonomous service. "Our fleet and driving area will expand gradually over time," a Waymo spokesperson said. www.charlotteobserver.com/news/busines...

Breaking, though not shocking: Microsoft has confirmed it plans to build a new data center in North Carolina's Person County, on 1,350 acres the company purchased for around $27 million in October 2024. www.newsobserver.com/news/busines...

With a legal challenge this month, the operator of Family Fare halted Durham’s rezoning effort: www.newsobserver.com/herald-sun/d...

The final provision tucked into a 131-page disaster relief bill has North Carolina local governments feeling stuck on how to zone their communities. Get to know down-zoning and why it matters to statewide data center debates: amp-newsobserver-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/amp.news...

Four months removed from bankruptcy, the North Carolina chipmaker has new plans and a massive dormant factory.

Since 2021, more than 16,000 NY residents have moved to the Triangle's three main counties, adding to the local presence of people from the land of lake effect snow, Garbage Plates, wings, and the Buffalo Bills: amp-newsobserver-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/amp.news...

New records: Nearly all of MrBeast's upcoming Beast Games Season 2 shot in Eastern NC, where MrBeast/Jimmy Donaldson grew up and remains based. To award a Beast production crew $15 million in incentives, NC first had to update its grant rules: amp-newsobserver-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/amp.news...

News scoop in downtown Durham: Meta did not renew its office lease this summer at American Tobacco Campus. The tech company previously committed to hire 100 engineers at this site. www.newsobserver.com/news/busines...

RTP scientists fired for signing a petition criticizing EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin challenge terminations. They've appealed to the U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board, saying their free speech rights were violated. (Via @skyoutbriout.bsky.social) www.newsobserver.com/news/politic... #ncpol

Wednesday was a big auto day for North Carolina, with two events from two very different car companies. Toyota marked the opening of its promised $13.9 billion battery plant. Later in Charlotte, revived Scout Motors announced it would open a 1,200-worker HQ: www.newsobserver.com/news/busines...

Between established Toyota and revived Scout Motors, the Tar Heel State celebrated major car developments this week.

Toyota began producing hybrid car batteries months ago at its new Liberty, NC plant, but on Wednesday, the company invited workers and government officials to celebrate the launch of its promised 5,000-worker-plus Piedmont facility. www.newsobserver.com/news/busines...

North Carolina is central to a great U.S. obesity drug race. Competition between Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk has affected 1000s of jobs between Charlotte and Raleigh. I visited the companies’ Triangle sites to learn how their drugs are made — and who's winning. www.newsobserver.com/news/busines...

IBM confirms it will move most Red Hat back-office staff (finance, legal, HR, accounting, and some supporting IT) into the parent company early next year. www.newsobserver.com/news/busines...

A new drive to unionize four Amazon facilities in Durham begins after labor advocates lost an election earlier this year near Raleigh. “We didn’t lose, we learned,” one union leader said. www.newsobserver.com/news/busines...

Vulcan Elements enters $1.4 billion partnership to pay for its first major commercial facility and challenge Chinese industry dominance.

One of my favorite stories. Happy Halloween! 📚👻 www.citizen-times.com/story/news/l...

While Amazon commits to create 500+ jobs at a future data center in Richmond County, the company's incentive agreement with the local government allows Amazon to only hire 50 full-time workers there to receive its property tax breaks: www.newsobserver.com/news/busines...

How fast has Nvidia reached an unprecedented $5 trillion valuation? These are all stories I’ve written in the past 2.5 years:

“Everybody’s here.” Original Queer Eye cast member/TV personality Carson Kressley gave me an interview yesterday at High Point, NC’s famed biannual furniture market.

Many foresee a dire future for entry-level white-collar work.

JD Vance officiated at his wedding. Now, Kyle Walsh is the director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences after atypical hiring process. www.newsobserver.com/news/busines...

Duke University professor, JD Vance friend named director of NIH’s RTP office. Staff and former directors say Kyle Walsh's appointment as NIEHS director bypassed standard nationwide search process.(Via @skyoutbriout.bsky.social) www.newsobserver.com/news/busines... #ncpol

In an N&O interview, the developer behind the New Hill Digital Campus near Apex defended his data center project against residents' noise, energy, environmental concerns. The fight unfolding in Wake County is one more common as U.S. data center demand surges. www.newsobserver.com/news/busines...

If you pass an internet cafe with black out windows in Raleigh or Durham, there's a good chance it's an electronic gaming hall. Their operations violate NC law, from slot machines to sweepstakes terminals. I played them, lost and won, and wrote about it: www.newsobserver.com/news/busines...

Thief ignored cash in register and took only Pokémon cards at Raleigh’s Hidden Block Games, one of three local stores to have Pokémon cards targeted in recent overnight break-ins. The largest U.S. printer of Pokémon cards also happens to be in the Triangle: amp.newsobserver.com/news/busines...

Under federal law, employers must give workers 60 days' warning before certain mass layoffs. But as contractors, Amazon delivery drivers can fall into a loophole where they get much less warning — including no warning at all. www.newsobserver.com/news/busines...

Saw my first severed leg and learned how a Triangle transplant maker custom 3D prints ankles, knees, hips and shoulders: www.newsobserver.com/news/busines...

Say goodbye to Wolfspeed, and say hello to Wolfspeed. Shares of the Durham, NC semiconductor supplier appeared to have ballooned 1,700% earlier this week, but the reality explains the new state of this newly non-bankrupt company. www.newsobserver.com/news/busines...

The town of Carrboro and Duke Energy met in a downtown Raleigh courtroom this week to debate whether the town can sue over Duke's approach to climate change: www.newsobserver.com/news/busines...

Research Triangle Park is a few votes from its 50-year plan to remake the Triangle. This week, Durham County Commissioner Nida Allam said she supports an effort to bring housing and transportation to the park. www.newsobserver.com/news/busines...

Is the future of military drones being designed next to a Burt's Bees factory in Morrisville? www.newsobserver.com/news/busines...

New: NC Gov. Josh Stein just launched a new advisory council about AI. More about what that means for taxpayers, jobs, and an AI reg reform bill coming next #ncga session. #ncpol www.newsobserver.com/news/politic...

Breaking: The sodium-ion battery startup Natron Energy will cease operating on Wednesday, Sept. 3. It was only last summer that Natron committed to build a $1.4 billion/1,000-worker manufacturing plant in North Carolina's Edgecombe County. www.newsobserver.com/news/busines...

The weekly Open Source business newsletter from @skyoutbriout.bsky.social is always an entertaining read. Particularly this week as he reports from Waffle House ahead of National Waffle Day. (And I learned NC is behind only Georgia and Florida in the number of Waffle Houses.)

Doctors at @uncchapelhill.bsky.social and @duke-university.bsky.social didn’t mince words this week about US Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr’s decision to cancel millions in contracts and grants for vaccine research. @skyoutbriout.bsky.social has details.

Fun story from @skyoutbriout.bsky.social on Cooper, Stein and the disappearing necktie. I wonder how quickly ties would disappear from the #ncga if leadership relaxes the dress code for sessions www.newsobserver.com/news/local/a... #ncpol