Records reveal how Charlotte wooed and landed $1 billion corporate expansion over SC
Newly released records show how Charlotte and state officials pitched the city to a health insurance giant to land one of the largest economic development projects in recent state history.
In early July, St. Louis-based Centene Corp. announced it would spend $1 billion to establish an East Coast headquarters in Charlotte’s University area, bringing at least 3,237 jobs in the coming years. The CEO has said the move could eventually create as many as 6,000 jobs.
The state, city and county lured the company with as much as $450 million in taxpayer incentives over 39 years.
Through a public records request, the Observer obtained over a thousand pages of emails and documents from the North Carolina Department of Commerce dating back to April detailing how state and local officials pitched the Fortune 500 company.
The documents show Charlotte faced serious competition from neighboring York County, S.C., which was offering the company $920 million in incentives. Centene was looking at Fort Mill, S.C.,’s Southbridge Business Park, a development on the former Charlotte Knights stadium property.
Tampa, Fla., Charlotte’s other main competitor for the project, was offering the firm over $50 million. Centene recently acquired Tampa-based WellCare Health Plans.
Centene has not publicly said why it declined to take the other states’ offers. But CEO Michael Neidorff previously said the Charlotte campus will allow the company to continue its growth.
In a pitch made to the company, state and local officials in North Carolina cited Charlotte’s expanding technology sector, rapid population growth, transportation infrastructure and airport. They also cited the fact that the state has the lowest corporate income tax rate in the U.S., at 2.5%.
In a May email to Centene representatives, Charlotte Assistant Economic Development Director Fran West called the company’s expansion an “amazing opportunity” for the city.
According to West’s email, the city would provide its incentives in four phases, with the company hitting job creation and average salary targets at each step.
“We will be working hard on this project in the following few weeks on a variety of fronts; incentives, traffic and proactive ways we a can meet your aggressive construction schedule,” West said in another email in May.
Centene, which ranked at No. 42 on the Fortune 500 list this year, is the largest Medicaid managed care organization in the country.
Jobs, construction
Centene also predicted that the construction of its campus would create nearly 6,250 jobs between 2020 and 2032.
The documents also reveal the company and its affiliates have existing operations in Charlotte, on South Tryon Street in South End, David Taylor Drive in the University area across from where it will build its campus, and near the intersection of Monroe Road and Sardis Road North.
Centene expects to start hiring in January 2023, according to the documents. The average salary for the Centene positions is $100,089.
The company has said it expects to break ground on the first phase as soon as next month. City real estate records show Centene filed a permit with the city last week.
This story was originally published July 28, 2020 at 6:00 AM with the headline "Records reveal how Charlotte wooed and landed $1 billion corporate expansion over SC."
