Novartis Recruitment Earns Industry Recognition 5/11/07

Novartis' recruitment to Holly Springs has been named one of the “Top Deals in North America” in 2006 by a national trade publication for executives who decide where businesses locate.

Site Selection magazine based its Top 20 list on factors including capital investment, the number and value of jobs, and regional impact. The magazine also considered the creativity and speed of the deal, plus the intensity of competition, in deciding which projects to cite.

“Chronicling major multinational corporate site selection affords us a glimpse into some of the most competitive companies on the planet,” wrote Adam Bruns, Site Selection's managing editor. “As our project case studies and interviews throughout the year bear out, the territories that seek their investments also know how to compete at a high level.”

Jenny Mizelle, the Town's Economic Development director, said recognition of Holly Springs' competitiveness is valuable national exposure for its business recruitment efforts.

“We knew Novartis was a big project,” she said Friday. “But this quantifies the significance of the project for an audience of corporate executives in industry and real estate.”

The flu vaccine manufacturing facility that Novartis is building in Holly Springs Business Park will provide at least 350 jobs with a first-phase investment of approximately $300 million. Completion of construction is expected late next year or early in 2009.

Land sales in the business park are up recently, Mizelle said. Publicity generated by Novartis and by the Wal-Mart under construction on N.C. 55 Bypass are likely factors, she said.

“Who knows what other corporate executive is saying, ‘If Novartis chose Holly Springs, maybe I should take a look, too,' " Mizelle added.

Gov. Mike Easley's announcement last July that pharmaceutical giant Novartis would build a flu vaccine manufacturing facility in Holly Springs Business Park capped an intensive two-year effort by Town officials with state and county assistance. The hard-fought competition involved several states.

The incentives package included $8.3 million from Holly Springs to buy and clear the 167-acre site. The Town has also committed approximately $11 million in public infrastructure improvements, including road construction and utility improvements.

A month after the Novartis announcement, Fidelity Investments unveiled plans for a $100 million expansion in Research Triangle Park that will create 2,000 jobs. Site Selection Magazine placed Fidelity's RTP deal among the Top 10 in North America last year.

Ron Starner, the magazine's director of publications and general manager of Site Selection publisher Conway Data, said the most competitive organizations share several characteristics.

“They provide market access to expanding companies, strong logistics support networks, highly qualified and abundant labor pools, competitive business costs and good old fashioned ingenuity to get deals done," he said.

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