Such bright spots are hard to come by at a time when the nation’s unemployment rate is stubbornly locked above 9 percent. On Thursday, President Obama presented Congress a $447 billion bill to put Americans back to work, repeatedly urging, “You should pass this jobs plan right away.”
The travails of the financial crisis, punctuated in Charlotte by Wachovia’s near collapse and takeover by Wells Fargo, thumped Charlotte’s finance and insurance sector, which between 2008 and 2010 lost 9 percent of its jobs, a drop to 77,000. Bank of America, the other top-five bank in Charlotte, has moved some of its operations to New York.
And instead of regaining solid footing three years after the crisis, the financial sector is under siege again.
Bank of America rejiggered its management team last week as the giant finance firm grapples with a dwindling share price and new legal liabilities over mortgage deals. Warren Buffett has made a $5 billion investment in the bank. And a restructuring reportedly could cut as many as 40,000 jobs.
Meanwhile, since 2007 Charlotte has announced about 5,600 new energy-related jobs, taking the total to roughly 27,000 at 250 energy-oriented firms, according to economic development officials. About 2,000 energy jobs were added in 2010, with another 765 this year.
It’s not enough to replace finance jobs lost in the recession or to turn around local unemployment, which hangs at 11.2 percent. But local officials say it’s a start, and their bet is long-term. They must, they say, diversify the region’s economy.
Sure, cities such as Houston and Dallas command larger energy sectors, such as gas and oil, but Charlotte officials are unswayed.
“I think we are going to be the energy capital of the country before it’s all over,” Mayor Anthony Foxx said.
The goals, he said, stretch from corporations to consumers. In addition to luring energy firms, the city is expanding recycling, “smart” grid projects and public transit, with plans to add 10 miles of light rail and a commuter line in years to come.
“We’re just as aggressive” as the Texas hubs, said Ronnie Bryant, chief executive of the Charlotte Regional Partnership, an economic development outfit. The region could “be the epicenter of environmentally friendly energy practices,” he said. And instead of focusing on oil and gas, Bryant said, Charlotte could “dominate the market for nuclear engineering.”
In May, Mitsubishi Nuclear announced it would locate its main nuclear engineering office in Charlotte, adding 135 jobs in the next five years. The local Chamber of Commerce estimates that 1,000 of 9,000 engineers in Charlotte work in nuclear energy.
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