Moving Honeywell to Charlotte is ‘one of the best decisions we’ve ever made,’ CEO says
Nearly three years to the day after announcing its move to Charlotte, electronics manufacturer Honeywell celebrated the grand opening of its uptown headquarters Wednesday.
The 23-story tower on S. Mint Street has the capacity for about 1,300 employees and features a rooftop terrace, a gym and an up-close view of the Panthers stadium.
Honeywell announced it would move its global headquarters from New Jersey to Charlotte in late 2018, lured in part by $87 million worth of state and local incentives. The company pledged to bring 750 jobs to the area by 2024.
The Fortune 100 company now has nearly 1,000 employees at its headquarters here, CEO Darius Adamczyk said, including many local hires. The company has approximately 110,000 employees worldwide.
Adamczyk remains bullish on Charlotte. Moving the firm’s headquarters here was “probably one of the best decisions we ever made,” he said. “The reality of being here is even better than (local leaders) portrayed.
“It’s a great place to live, it’s a great place for talent and the hospitality is second to none,” he told the Observer. “(Charlotte) is a thriving city, it’s doing well economically — It’s hard to pick just one thing.”
Mayor Vi Lyles and Gov. Roy Cooper, as well as several members of the Charlotte City Council and N.C. state legislature, were also in attendance at Wednesday’s opening, hosted in the “town hall” event space on the buildings’ 14th floor.
“When we recruit companies to come to Charlotte, it is a lot of hard work,” Lyles said. “But when (Honeywell) chose Charlotte, I knew it was the right fit for both of us.”
Honeywell is just one of a number of big names that Charlotte has attracted in recent years, Cooper noted, citing local expansions from companies like Truist, Credit Karma and Red Bull and Rauch.
“This is a day to celebrate a lot of things,” the governor said. “We are so glad to have this Fortune 100 company headquartered right here in Charlotte.”
Next steps for Honeywell
Honeywell started bringing employees back to the office beginning in August and recently welcomed all Charlotte workers back on a hybrid schedule. The company is requiring that all employees in its U.S. offices receive the coronavirus vaccine.
The company plans to continue creating jobs in Charlotte, Adamczyk said, adding that even another local building might be possible.
“Our next big step here would be to expand... fill up this headquarters and hopefully build another one,” he said.
Honeywell’s products range from airplane equipment to industrial chemicals and home security systems.
It’s a “different kind of company” for banking-focused Charlotte, Adamczyk told the Observer in 2019. The tech giant’s biggest business is in the aerospace industry, but touches many different markets, including industrial warehouses, commercial buildings and oil refineries.
The company reported $32.6 billion in revenue last year, and is ranked No. 94 on the Fortune 500 list.
This story was originally published December 1, 2021 at 1:55 PM.
