Will the Triad land an automaker? Ask this man

A top executive for the state's job creation entity is trying to lure automakers to North Carolina.

Chris Chung heads the newly created Economic Development partnership, which is mix of public and private groups contracted to be the marketing arm of the N.C. Department of Commerce.

Once the CEO of the Missouri Partnership, his job now is to sell North Carolina to new industries and help jump- start the state's economy.

He tells the Triad Business Journal's Kristin Zachary that securing an auto maker would have a major economic impact on the state and a community for decades to come.

“If you're an automaker, you're coming in and you're talking about conservatively 2,000 new jobs after full build out. And that's not counting additional phase expansions, which would happen down the road as it has with other automakers,” says Chung.

Two of the four known “megasites” that could host an autoplant are located in or near the Triad  — an 1,800-acre site near Siler City and a 1,300 acre site in Randolph County.

Volvo recently announced it scrapped North Carolina from its list of potential locations to build a $500 million auto manufacturing plant.

The Business Report on 88.5 WFDD is a partnership with the Triad Business Journal. You'll find Kristin Zachary's stories and more breaking business news at Triad.Bizjournals.com.

Justin Catanoso is director of the Journalism program at Wake Forest University and a regular contributor to 88.5 WFDD.