Dom Lerario and Parker Poe Consulting's Sven Gerzer were quoted in The Charlotte Observer about what makes Charlotte such an attractive city for international businesses and how leaders are pitching the region to those businesses.

"We promote Charlotte and the broader Southeast so people consider moving here," Dom told the publication. "Maybe they don’t come for a year or two but they’ve heard about Charlotte. They tell other people about it. It’s about getting the word out and flying the flag so that people don’t think of the usual suspects when they are deciding to expand in the U.S."

"It’s very important that the region or the area you are in has enough to offer for people no matter where they’re from," Sven said. "We’ve got the big international airport. It’s a growing city. We’ve got a workforce with a lot of skills here. Cost is a lot lower. Charlotte checks a lot of boxes."

The article also focused on Charlotte’s strong pipeline for people entering the workforce and the need from international businesses for people in technical positions such as electrical assembly technicians. That pipeline is supported by apprenticeship programs.

"The local economic development organizations work with the North Carolina community colleges and help them develop training programs so that maybe if the workforce isn’t there, they can still figure out a way to come up with a program to train people," Dom said.

Dom and Sven are both members of Parker Poe’s Business Expansion + Location Solutions (BELS) Team, which advises international and domestic companies seeking to locate, expand, or restructure operations throughout the United States. In this collaborative model, experienced consultants provide data-driven location analysis, working alongside attorneys advising on legal strategy, to create a seamless and proven structure for successful expansion projects — with the added benefit of saving companies time and money.

Subscribers can read the full article here: Charlotte is a Magnet for Foreign Businesses. How are Leaders Pitching the Region?

The Charlotte Observer is the leading newspaper in the Charlotte region.