By Monica Chen
mchen@heraldsun.com; 419-6636
DURHAM -- Employment in the 13-county area of the Research Triangle Regional Partnership fell by 46,435 in 2009 and layoffs climbed to 9,000.
"The recession finally caught up to us," said RTRP President Charles Hayes at RTRP's annual breakfast on Thursday. "This was a big hit. There is no way to sugar coat it. But we are not giving up. We believe those things that differentiate us also position us to win."
On a positive note for 2009, RTRP reported the region a record $1.9 billion in investment announcements from companies to expand or relocate within the region, with the possibility to create more than 10,000 new jobs.
Among those companies that announced investments in 2009 were EMC Corp., planning a $280 million new data center in Durham, and IEM, an international risk management company that's moving its headquarters to Durham and is planning to create 430 jobs in the next six years.
Economic developers are also working with 58 companies to find a location in the region, Hayes said, with the potential to bring another $2.7 billion in investment and 13,000 jobs to the region.
Hayes touted the region's innovation, higher education institutions, and the talent and diversity of its work force, reminding the assembled business leaders at the breakfast that the region is one of those driving the U.S.'s competitiveness on the global market.
The region is also still growing at a brisk pace, adding 60,000 people in 2009. Wage growth was minimal, growing by just 1.2 percent in 2009, and new construction slowed.
The partnership had launched a new five-year plan for 2009-14 with a renewed goal of creating 100,000 new jobs by July 2014, following the success of the five-year plan for 2003-08, during which the original goal of creating 100,000 jobs was exceeded by 10.2 percent.
RTRP is a public-private partnership with a 56-member board of directors comprised of representatives from each of the 13 counties. The board advises and oversees RTRP initiatives. County economic developers meets monthly to plan and implement strategic marketing efforts.
In 2010, RTRP plans to develop more community college and university partnerships for the targeted clusters, align regional and county economic development strategies, improve and promote Pre-K-12 education and implement recommendations from the Reality Check conferences for improving transit, town centers and green space.
Andrea Bazan, president of Triangle Community Foundation, also announced the "1% Giving Challenge" on Thursday morning, asking businesses to contribute at least 1 percent to local nonprofits that contribute to the area's quality of life.
