Business & Industry

Brief History

When IBM announced in the early 1960s it would relocate to a then nearly-empty Research Triangle Park, Cary began the transformation from a small, quiet village to a thriving , world-class place to do business. It has been a carefully planned process. The vision of Cary leaders in the late 1960s is today's reality. Planned unit developments that formed the foundation of Cary's growth in the 1970s and 1980s offer business and industry tasteful, campus-like settings and the assurance that capital investments here are protected through a comprehensive growth plan.

Economic Development

Cary has positioned itself as a prime location for business growth and development. Anchored by a number of large companies, including the SAS Institue, IBM, and Buehler Products, the Town prospered during the last national recession with unemployment rates not exceeding 3% for a given month since 1990. From 1990 to 1995, Cary's employment growth out paced labor force growth, suggesting that employment expanded faster than growth of the working age population.

Unemployment Rate -- Annual Average 1990 to 1998
	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998
U.S.	5.50%	6.70%	7.40%	6.80%	6.10%	5.60%	N/A	N/A	N/A
North Carolina	4.10%	5.80%	5.90%	4.90%	4.40%	4.30%	4.30%	N/A	N/A
Raleigh-Durham- Chapel Hill MSA	2.28%	3.09%	4.00%	3.40%	3.00%	2.70%	2.30%	N/A	N/A
Wake County	2.70%	3.40%	3.60%	3.40%	3.00%	2.40%	2.10%	N/A	N/A
Cary	1.48%	2.53%	2.60%	2.40%	2.10%	1.70%	1.60%	1.50%	1.40%

An Appealing Place To Do Business

The close proximity to Research Triangle Park, the region's major universities and Raleigh-Durham International Airport make Cary particularly appealing to businesses from across the country and around the world. The make-up of Cary's industrial community, then, frequently reflects the surroundings in the Triangle: computer software and technology, pharmaceuticals, medical equipment, communications, transportation, environmental research, high-tech manufacturing. Today, major employers include such world-renowned companies as IBM, SAS Institute, Holiday Inn, Austin Quality Foods, Buehler Products, Union Carbide Corporation, and Oxford University Press. In all, Cary has a long list of major employers who have workforces from about 10 to over 1,600 people. And they keep coming. Last year alone, 25 major companies chose Cary as the place where they wanted to do business.

Highly Skilled Workforce

Cary's industrial community is also reflective of the highly skilled work force that is available. Nearly 95 percent of Cary residents 18 and over hold a high school diploma, and of adults 25 and over, almost half hold four-year college degrees or better. Cary has caught the attention of the national press, from U.S. News and World Report to Money Magazine to The Wall Street Journal, which said 'Cary represents a remarkable case study in suburban emergence.'

A Strong Pro-Business Attitude

The commercial and industrial parks that are the business address from many of Cary's major employers have played a huge role in industrial growth, largely because they can provide what prospective companies want and need: quiet, professional settings with exceptional design standards, a mix of solid public and private infrastructure, convenient, accessible location, and the amenities and excellent quality of life offered by Cary in general. In a concerted effort to have business and industrial growth balance, Cary has a strong pro-business attitude. City government carefully maintains the comprehensive growth plan, and it works to be readily responsive to business concerns. It is also keenly aware of the contributions that businesses make to the Cary community. After all, Cary knows how to do business.