Forum sponsored by the Wake Forest Area Chamber of Commerce, and the good news came as a result of the Gadberry Group’s listing the town as one of 2009’s most notable high-growth areas across the nation.
            Wake Forest Economic Development, housed in and staffed by the chamber and funded by the town, has had 17 leads for possible new industries recently, Chamber President Marla Akridge said. Of those 17, she said, nine were industrial, high-end technology companies, several already in North Carolina. “A couple we went after on our own.” The town is on the short list for four. There were also seven service companies, four of which found the town because of the Gadberry listing. And, Akridge said, the chamber has helped secure a small business loan for a veteran who wanted to move his business from another nearby town.
            After Akridge, Jeff Schappe, the chief investment officer for BB&T Asset Management Inc., looked at the national and state finance and business picture.
            “We are in a recovery mode, and it’s not going to be fast because of the severity of the downturn,” Schappe said. Government investment will taper off, people will save more, and business will lead the recovery.
            He estimated unemployment is actually close to 17 percent although consumers have begun spending, albeit tepidly, and saving at about 5 percent whereas it was close to zero in the recent past.
            “The banking system is not in freefall. TARP worked. It helped boost confidence in the banking system.
            “Housing is trundling along – this area is a lot better – but there is a huge wave of [future] foreclosures out there, just not as bad here as in other areas. I think the housing market will remain sluggish.”
            One reason for overall market sluggishness, Schappe said, is that “the current regulatory environment is very uncertain. The market hates uncertainty.”
            He also said a weaker dollar has helped the U.S. “It helps our imports, makes us more competitive. It helps reduce the deficit. Our economy is healthier and has better prospects than Europe.”
            Schappe likes industrial stocks because, he said, “infrastructure spending is going to be kicking in.”     
            The first speaker for the annual forum that attracted 200 business people was Robin Spinks, a site selection consultant, who got a fast windshield tour through town that morning.
            The site selection process, particularly for a large company, is all designed for the benefit of the company, and a town may never know a company is considering them, even visiting surreptitiously.
            Spinks said the selection is always very site specific and “seventy to eighty percent of companies want an existing building, but it can’t be an obsolete building.”
            Companies outside the region and the state usually begin the process through the state Department of Commerce or, sometimes, the Research Triangle Regional Partnership. In Wake County, the designated group for economic development is the Greater Raleigh Chamber of Commerce. “You have very little opportunity to brand yourself outside this region. You need to work very closely with the existing [economic development] groups so everyone knows what you have.
            “If you don’t have anything for sale, you are not in business,” Spinks said, and closed by saying: “Be prepared. There are a lot of companies out there. They may be looking at you and you don’t know it.”