Recent Relocations & Expansions

Classic Graphics, a graphics communications company with facilities in Charlotte and Morrisville, is moving to 8335 IBM Drive, Innovation Park, the former IBM complex near Harris Blvd. and I-85. The company will expand their Charlotte footprint by almost 70 percent to 180,000 square feet and expects to be fully operational in their new space March 2011.

Sompo Japan Insurance Company of America, a leading provider of insurance services and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sompo Japan Insurance of Tokyo, has announced the relocation of its New York operations to Charlotte, North Carolina.

Davidson Chocolate Co., a family-owned, full service chocolate shop will open a second store in Dilworth. Located at 1235 A East Boulevard, in Kenilworth Commons, the East Blvd Harris Teeter shopping center, the company plans to open their doors the last week in August. The original Davidson Chocolate Co. is located in Davidson, NC.

Ameritrust, a Charlotte-based mortgage finance company, announced today plans to add 70 jobs during the remainder of 2010. 

North Carolina Secretary of Commerce, Keith Crisco, announced today that Citco Fund Services will create 258 new jobs over the next five years and invest $3 million in their new office which will be located in Charlotte’s center city. Citco Fund Services, part of the Citco Group of Companies, is the world’s largest hedge fund administrator. With 16 existing strategic centers globally, the new Charlotte office will mark the company’s most recent growth.

The American Red Cross, a charitable humanitarian aid organization that supplies nearly half of the nation's blood, announced today that it will create 440 jobs in their new Charlotte telerecruitment center.  These positions will work with donors to make and confirm appointments for blood and blood product donation.  Each year, the Red Cross collects 6.5 million units of blood from 4 million donors nationwide, and these collections result in 9.5 million blood products.

HC Yu and Associates (HCYU), a professional consulting engineering corporation headquartered in Richmond, VA, has opened a Charlotte office in the University City area.

Colorado Springs, Colo. —  The Charlotte Chamber of Commerce was honored by Site Selection Magazine today as one of the Top 10 Economic Development Groups in the nation. Senior Vice President of Economic Development Jeff Edge accepted the award this afternoon at the Industrial Asset Management Council’s Spring 2010 Professional Forum at The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Anderson Group America, a member of Taiwan’s Anderson Group, will relocate U.S. corporate headquarters from Cordage Street to a 48,760 sq.ft building at 10710 Southern Loop Boulevard in southwest Charlotte. The company will add 25 jobs within the coming year.

Linet, a global leader in the design and manufacture of high-tech hospital beds, has opened U.S. headquarters, marketing, sales and technical service operations in Charlotte.

Todaytec LLC, a Chinese manufacturer, will relocate its thermal transfer bar code ribbon converting and distribution facility to Charlotte. Due to a rapid increase in demand from OEM and channel partners throughtout the USA, Canada and Mexico, the company expects to double its facility and hire up to 50 employees within three years. 

Specialty chemicals manufacturer Clariant has announced that its Pigments and Additives business units will move from Rhode Island to Charlotte. As a result 50 new full-time positions will be added at the company’s North American headquarters on 4000 Monroe Road.

North Carolina Governor Beverly Perdue announced today that Hewitt Associates will expand its Charlotte operations, adding 463 new jobs at an average salary of $43,600.

ProFlowers, a leading online merchant of flowers, has opened their new Charlotte distribution center. The 12-year-old company provides over 150 varieties of fresh cut flowers to millions of satisfied customers throughout the United States.

North Carolina Governor Beverly Perdue announced today that Siemens Energy, Inc. will expand its Charlotte operations establishing a Gas Turbine Center on its Westinghouse Boulevard campus.

Fifth Third Bank announced today that it is moving its North Carolina headquarters to 201 North Tryon Street in Uptown Charlotte in June of this year. After the move, the building will be named the “Fifth Third Center.”

Save-A-Lot Food Stores, the nation’s leading hard discount grocery chain, has opened a Charlotte location that will add 25 new jobs.

Turman Commercial Painters, the West Coast’s largest commercial painting contractor, announced today plans to expand East Coast hub operations in Charlotte.

Design Visionaries Inc., a Silicon Valley based design and forensic engineering firm, has opened an office in Charlotte. The office will allow Design Visionaries to better serve its clients in Charlotte and surrounding region and function as a hub for southeast expansion.

Governor Beverly Perdue announced today in a Charlotte press conference that Celgard, LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Polypore International, Inc. (NYSE: PPO), and one of the largest suppliers to the lithium battery industry, will add 289 jobs and invest a total of $91 million in expanded and new infrastructure in Mecklenburg and Cabarrus counties over the next five years.

Southside Constructors, Inc. (SCI) is pleased to announce the relocation of its corporate headquarters from Belmont to Charlotte, bringing 44 jobs to the area. Jobs include civil engineers, construction managers, accountants, administrative, marketing and real estate professionals.

North Carolina Governor Beverly Perdue announced today that Husqvarna will consolidate its North American corporate headquarters in Charlotte. 

Governor Beverly Perdue announced today that Zenta will expand its presence in Charlotte with plans to add 1,000 jobs over the next five years.

Governor Beverly Perdue announced today that Electrolux will consolidate its North American corporate headquarters in Charlotte.  The consolidation will encompass most Electrolux U.S. entities.

Geosyntec Consultants, an Atlanta-based consulting and engineering firm specializing in environmental issues, natural resources and civil infrastructure, has opened an office in downtown Charlotte at 401 North Tryon Street.

Critical Systems, a full service life safety and security company has opened a sales and service office in the Charlotte Commerce Center located at 4201 - J Stuart Andrew Blvd. The company provides inspections and service for fire alarm systems and installation of security systems for commercial buildings.

SouthEnd Home Improvement, a sister company of SouthEnd Exteriors, has opened an office at 101 Freeland Lane in Historic SouthEnd. The company specializes in home renovations and additions, remodeling, screened porches, decks, siding and windows in addition to many other types of home remodeling and improvement.

Turman Commercial Painters, the West Coast’s largest commercial painting contractor, has established an office in Charlotte to expand its coverage of the Eastern United States.  The company recently leased flex space in Fordham Park on Griffith Road near the Tyvola Road exit of I-77.

Governor Beverly Perdue announced today that Premier Inc. will relocate its corporate headquarters from San Diego to Charlotte.  Premier, the largest healthcare alliance in the country, currently employs 750 in Charlotte and encompasses a network of more than 2,200 member hospitals.

Argix Direct, a logistics solution and services provider to the retail industry, has opened a new Charlotte distribution center at 1805 Center Park Drive. The privately held company has over 25 years of retail service.

Minneapolis-based U.S. Bancorp has leased an additional 10,000 sq. ft. in downtown Charlotte’s Hearst Tower and will build a bond trading floor for its new high-grade, fixed income business.

Governor Beverly Perdue announced today that CoaLogix Inc., through its subsidiary SCR-Tech LLC, will establish a second manufacturing and R+D facility in Charlotte. CoaLogix is a leading provider of selective catalytic reduction (SCR) services and catalyst regeneration, a technology used by power generation facilities to reduce nitrous oxide emissions.

Teknek, a world leader in the manufacture of equipment and solutions for the contact sheet and web cleaning sectors, has chosen Charlotte for its U.S. headquarters and operations base. 

Husqvarna Group, the world’s largest manufacturer of chain saws, lawn mowers and gas powered trimmers and blowers, has chosen Charlotte as headquarters for North and Latin America Sales and Service.

NouvEON has expanded its national energy and utility practice for delivering integrated and innovative solutions, which enable energy and utilities companies to implement change more efficiently. NouvEON is expanding its practice to continue working with a broad spectrum of energy and utility clients, solving complex business challenges they face in this growing and increasingly complex business landscape.

Priism Group, a provider of warehouse and complete supply chain services, has expanded operations to Charlotte.

Biotage, a Swedish manufacturer of instruments and consumables used in life science research, is relocating its U.S. headquarters from Charlottesville, VA to Charlotte.

AGL Networks, a dark fiber network provider, has entered the Charlotte market with a new 92-mile backbone network scheduled for completion in December. AGL Networks provides last-mile fiber connectivity between telecommunications service providers and business customers. The company is a division of AGL Resources, an Atlanta-based energy services company.

GAI Consultants has opened a Charlotte office to bring its diversified engineering services to the Carolinas and surrounding states. The new office, which supplements GAI’s southeastern region, will initially focus on environmental and energy projects. GAI will also offer specialized capabilities in sustainability and greenhouse gas consulting services.

Zenta, a world-class knowledge and business outsourcing company, has expanded to a new location in Charlotte and expects to hire 500 employees by the end of 2009. (Today’s Charlotte Business Journal print issue refers to 400 new positions. Zenta revised its hiring projections after the press deadline.)

McVeigh & Mangum Engineering, Inc., a leading provider of architectural engineering services, has expanded its southeast regional coverage to include a presence in Charlotte. The firm has 18 years of experience offering Structural, Mechanical, Electrical, Plumbing, Fire Protection, Technology, LEED and Commissioning design services to the Architecture/Engineer/Contractor communities. 

NaviSite, a leading provider of cloud enabled enterprise hosting and application management services, has added a 16th data center to its US and UK network. The Charlotte data center, located a few miles from Charlotte Douglas International Airport, will serve new and existing customers in the southeastern U.S.

Imperial Security Services, Inc. has created an expansion office in Charlotte, and added 35 employees.

Tolt Service Group, a leading provider of managed services for IT equipment, has relocated its corporate headquarters from Tempe, Arizona to Charlotte. The move follows Tolt's decision in 2007 to establish a regional repair and distribution center in NorthPark off Reames Road between exits 16 and 18 on I-77 North.

SBT Partners, a managed services integrator, has opened a south Charlotte office. The company works with small business owners to help them plan their information technology growth through outsourced services, avoiding large capital investments that small companies can find difficult to handle.

Teupen Maschinenbau GmbH of Germany has selected Charlotte for its North American headquarters, service and spare parts operations. Newly formed Teupen USA, Inc. recently leased a 10,000 sq. ft. industrial building at 10701 Southern Loop Boulevard in southwest Charlotte. The company will launch operations with 10 employees and expects headcount to grow to 20 in the next 18 to 24 months.

Governor Beverly Perdue announced today that the Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America (NACA) will create 1,014 jobs in east Charlotte. NACA, a national nonprofit home ownership advocate, will immediately hire 550 mortgage loan counselors to expand its Home Save and Purchase operations. The remainder of announced jobs will be created over five years.

Albert’s Organics, a division of United Natural Foods, will open theirnew Charlotte distribution center in mid September. The 27-year-oldcompany is the largest certified organic distribution center of freshproduce in the U.S.

Diagnostic Devices, Inc., a Charlotte-based medical device company, will add 100 jobs within the next two years. Since 2006, the company has grown from just a few employees to 50. DDI has also experienced rapid revenue growth from $2 million in 2006 to a projected $30 million in 2009.

At a press conference today in Charlotte, NC, Governor Beverly Perdue announced that Siemens Energy Inc., an international supplier of a complete spectrum of products, services and solutions for the generation, transmission and distribution of power, will create 226 new jobs and invest $50 million to expand its Charlotte operations over the next five years.

During a press conference today in Charlotte, N.C., Secretary of Commerce, Keith Crisco, announced that Toshiba America Nuclear Energy Corporation, a new U.S. subsidiary of Toshiba established in January 2008, in Falls Church, V.A. will create 194 jobs in Charlotte over the next five years. The newly-formed national Project Management and Engineering Center in Charlotte will function as a base for Toshiba’s nuclear power business in the U.S. The company projects a capital investment of $2.8 million in the Charlotte office.

Huber Technology, Inc., a leading provider of wastewater treatment and filtration equipment, has expanded its U.S. headquarters, engineering and service operations.  The company recently leased an additional 10,200 sq. ft. of flex space in NorthCross Business Campus, Huntersville.  The transaction more than triples Huber’s footprint in the park and accommodates growing demand for warehouse space and project management offices.

Governor Beverly Perdue announced today in a Charlotte press conference that GMAC Financial Services, a bank holding company, will add 200 jobs over the next two years to its Charlotte corporate center.  The company projects a capital investment of $16.4 million in the Charlotte office.

Bull Engineered Products, a Charlotte-based industrial designer and plastic injection molder, has expanded its production footprint in southwest Charlotte. The company partners with a growing number of OEMs to design, manufacture and assemble high precision parts for the automotive, medical, industrial and sporting goods industries.

SmoothWall Ltd., a UK-based internet security firm, has opened its US headquarters in Charlotte. The company recently leased space in SouthPark executive suites operated by Regus and now has two full-time employees.

LESER LLC has opened a 7,500 square foot distribution center with assembly and testing facilities in Texland Commerce Center in southwest Charlotte.