NCSE Overview
"Our mission is to provide strong economic development leadership in southeastern North Carolina through innovative marketing and collaborative regional initiatives that will create new jobs, generate capital investment, and secure new business locations."
Southeastern North Carolina is a growing, dynamic eleven-county region located midpoint on the east coast. Our region possesses a diverse economic base buoyed by advanced manufacturing, tourism, defense, distribution, agri-business, small business, film, and entrepreneurs. The MSAs of Wilmington and Fayetteville are vibrant metro areas that anchor the region with their unique mixture of business and quality of place, and all of our communities provide a competitive business climate for different types of industries and businesses that require a quality workforce and superb transportation network.
North Carolina’s Southeast provides confidential technical assistance to companies interested in exploring the Southeast Region as a business destination. We assist with all aspects of site evaluation, including identifying buildings and sites, incentives and financial assistance, workforce, demographic data, and coordination with state and local officials. We are a state commission formed by the State of North Carolina to provide economic development planning and marketing for the region.
Key Regional Assets:
- International Port at Wilmington
- Fort Bragg – largest military installation on the east coast
- Internationally recognized cities of Fayetteville and Wilmington
- Three public universities and two private universities
- Eight community colleges
- Strong agricultural base – three counties ranked in top ten nationally as best counties in which to farm
- Three interstate highways
- Acclaimed tourism and cultural assets, including beaches, golf, history, and outdoor sports