Charlotte Ranked As The 19th Fastest Growing City for 2018

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Charlotte Ranked As The 19th Fastest Growing City for 2018

Forbes magazine just released their Top 25 Fastest Growing Cities of 2018 list – the Charlotte region came in at #19.

According to the report, they used “growth of population, employment, wages and economic output” as well as home price growth as a proxy for wealth to determine their overall ranking.

Charlotte was ranked just behind Colorado Springs (#18) and just ahead of Fort Lauderdale (#20).

Here are Charlotte’s numbers for 2018 (along with each corresponding ranking), according to Forbes;

19. Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia-NC-SC Metropolitan Statistical Area

Population growth 2017: 2.04% (11)
Projected population growth 2018: 2.07% (11)
Job growth 2017: 2.41% (23)
Projected job growth 2018: 1.74% (39)
Gross Metro Product growth 2017: 2.51% (48)
Projected GMP growth 2018: 4.20% (24)
Wage growth 2017: 4.84% (17)
Projected wage growth 2018: 5.88% (23)
Home price growth 2017: 8.88% (21)
Projected home price growth 2018: 3.79% (40)
Rank 2017: 19

While our population, wage growth, and GMP are both expected to rise at a higher rate this year, our job growth and home price growth are both expected to be lower than they were last year.

What do you think our city could do to improve?

How do you think we can grow in a healthier way?

NC Gun Maker Remington – The Oldest in America – Just Filed For Bankruptcy

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NC Gun Maker Remington – The Oldest in America – Just Filed For Bankruptcy

America’s oldest gunmaker, Remington Arms, headquartered in Madison, NC, has just filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy in federal court.

This past February, we reported that Remington had reached a deal with its creditors to continue operating while seeking bankruptcy protection. The papers were officially filed yesterday afternoon in the bankruptcy court of the district of Delaware, records show.

The gun maker has been pummeled by recent lawsuits tied to the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre, and falling sales from recent political policies.

A lawsuit claimed the company had some degree of responsibility for the shooting after producing and marketing the Bushmaster AR-15-style rifle that was used. They have since won the legal battle and have been cleared of any responsibility over the shooting, but not without significant damage from their investors and buyers.

The Trump administration has also been bad news for the company. After significantly looser gun regulations have passed and vocal support for the NRA has continued, fear-motivated gun buying (as was common during the Obama administration) has all but dried up.

Donald Trump even became the first sitting president to publically address the National Rifle Association in over 30 years. During his address last Spring, he told NRA members, “You have a true friend and champion in the White House.”

Firearm background checks, which have historically been a good measure of gun sales, rose steadily under the Obama administration, then began to fall off sharply when the current administration took office;

 

Remington‘s biggest American rival, Colt, also went through bankruptcy reorganization in 2015, and this isn’t “the first time Remington has been in financial trouble; it probably won’t be the last,” the president of the Independent Firearm Owners Association, Richard Feldman, told Bloomberg News. Feldman also sees hope on the horizon with the midterm elections: “I suspect that if the Democrats make a resurgence this November, gun company stocks will come roaring back with them.”

Thousands Rally in Uptown Charlotte For ‘March For Our Lives’

Steve
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Thousands Rally in Uptown Charlotte For ‘March For Our Lives’

Yesterday morning, thousands of Charlotteans gathered in solidarity with over a million other people at 800 other rallys around the country, all marching against gun violence in schools (there were an estimated 800,000 people in the Washington, D.C. rally alone).

The movement, called “March For Our Lives”, was inspired by the Florida students who fought for their lives during a school shooting in February.

According to their website, “The mission and focus of March For Our Lives is to demand that a comprehensive and effective bill be immediately brought before Congress to address these gun issues. No special interest group, no political agenda is more critical than timely passage of legislation to effectively address the gun violence issues that are rampant in our country.”

Roughly 3,000 students, parents, and concerned citizens gathered in First Ward Park in Uptown Charlotte starting at 11am to hear from former Sandy Hook Elementary students and other speakers;

A post shared by Kurt Wiesenberger (@kweezen) on

#imwiththem #enoughisenough #charlottemarchforourlives

A post shared by Michelle Gallimore (@dessertfirst) on

At noon, the crowd began to march down North Caldwell Street to 3rd Street, chanting a promise to vote out pro-gun politicians as rain fell on their signs.

Cloudy sleety rainy #marchforourlives #momsdemandaction #everytown #gunsense

A post shared by Chris Clark (@chrisclark5000) on

When the march arrived in Marshall Park, there were several other speakers and closing statements before everyone was dispursed at roughly 1pm;

Rally!

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#neveragain #marchforourlives

A post shared by Erinn (@ehayes1183) on

There were other local marches yesterday in Rock Hill, Mooresville and Hickory.

Mecklenburg Voted To Pay $32 Million To Renovate Historic Memorial Stadium

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Mecklenburg Voted To Pay $32 Million To Renovate Historic Memorial Stadium

This past week, Mecklenburg County commissioners voted to approve a new $32 million project to rebuild Memorial Stadium in Charlotte’s Elizabeth Neighborhood and bring the Charlotte Independence Soccer team back to the Uptown area.

The new plan calls for a complete overhaul the historic stadium and adjoining Independence Park, which will allow the county to sign a long-term leases with the Independence and the Hounds (lacrosse), and set up the stadium to host frequent concerts, festivals, high school football games, soccer exhibitions; and bring additional amateur sporting events to the city.

The Charlotte Hounds are currently the only professional sports team using the facility now that the Independence are playing at the Matthews Sportsplex. Since moving, however, the Independence has seen a slow decline of both fans and revenue – a move back into a renovated stadium in the heart of the city will undoubtedly bring back many of their fans.

The county plans on recouping their money with the following cost recovery items for both the Charlotte Independence and the Hounds;

  • Annual Fee: $185,000 per year (3% annual cost escalation)
  • Per Game Charge: $8,800 per game (up to 30 games); Card Rate (less 10%) above 30 games
  • County Revenue Share: 15% of Tenant Parking, Net Concessions, Naming Rights, Permanent Advertising
  • Capital Contribution: $3 per ticket package

Mecklenburg County plans to contribute $3 million this year to start the renovation project, and they will contribute the remaining $29 million over the next 3 years, with an estimated completion date in 2021.

Charlotte’s Joedance Film Festival Just Opened Their 2018 Call For Entries

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Charlotte’s Joedance Film Festival Just Opened Their 2018 Call For Entries

Charlotte’s own Joedance Film Festival has officially opened the call for film entries for the 2018 Festival. Deadline for submission is June 1, 2018.

The Joedance Film Festival honors the late Joe Restaino to raise awareness and funds at Atrium Health’s Levine Children’s Hospital for rare pediatric cancer research, specifically sarcomas, blastomas and brain tumors. Joedance is also committed to raising awareness of the local film industry by showcasing local films. The family chose a film festival to honor their son because of his love of movies. To date, Joedance has raised more than $150,000 for Atrium Health’s Levine Children’s Hospital in eight years, including $25,000 in 2017.

Joedance ushers in the new era in 2018 with a larger venue and new event management consultant, giving Joedance an opportunity to double attendance, increase contribution to Atrium Health’s Levine Children’s Hospital, and ensure the organization’s future and legacy.

The 9th Annual Joedance Film Festival will be held Friday-Saturday, August 3-4, 2018 (8-11 p.m.) at Charlotte Ballet, 701 N. Tryon St., beginning a new partnership with the Charlotte cultural gem. The new venue offers Joedance both indoor and outdoor-tented seating, more than doubling the 2017 capacity of to 350.

“Charlotte Ballet is pleased to be partnering with Joedance for the first time,” said Doug Singleton, Charlotte Ballet’s Executive Director. “We take pride in supporting creativity, local artists and the diversity of the arts community in Charlotte. Being able to keep the event in Uptown as a nod to the amazing history of Joedance makes this partnership even more ideal.”

Joedance has now contracted with Third Rock Events to manage the Film Festival and move beyond a mostly volunteer Festival operation. One of Third Rock’s specialties is non-profit event turnkey management.

Said Shawn Cosner, Founder and President of Third Rock Events: “For the past eight seasons Joedance has created an outstanding film festival in the Queen City and has been a part of great advances in cancer research. We are honored to have been selected to work along the dynamic Joedance team and are looking forward to the festival growth, and one day seeing a cure for cancer.”

Joedance Film Festival annually showcases short and feature-length films. Eligible filmmakers have to:

*reside in Charlotte;

*be originally from Charlotte

or

*be connected to Charlotte (films, cast or crew)

To submit a film, follow the link, https://joedance.org/film-submissions/.

New Study Reveals the Most Likeable CEOs in Charlotte

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New Study Reveals the Most Likeable CEOs in Charlotte

duke buying piedmontOwler, a pioneer in crowd sourced information that’s building the world’s largest database of company and executive information, has just released its first report on CEO Likeability.

Owler’s analysis, which parsed thousands of CEO reviews from site users, uncovers what people truly think of CEOs in Charlotte and throughout the country. This comes at a time where there’s more transparency and accountability in the corner office than ever. Whether it’s through social media, the news, or executive review websites such as Owler, the nation’s top executives can’t seem to escape public scrutiny.

The top 3 CEOs in Charlotte include Curtiss-Wright’s David C. Adams, Sealed Air’s Jerome A. Peribere, and Duke Energy’s Lynn J. Good. With an average score of 66.7/100, Charlotte ranked #24 in the country for most-liked CEOs in Owler’s Top 30 Cities list, suggesting that Charlotte CEOs are not as well-liked as many other peer CEOs around the country.

Here is a link to the full results for Charlotte.

Thousands Signed Up For Tomorrow Morning’s March For Our Lives Rally

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Thousands Signed Up For Tomorrow Morning’s March For Our Lives Rally

Over half-a-million students are now signed up to march tomorrow in cities around the country to protest gun violence and demand stricter legislation.

The movement, which is now being called “March For Our Lives”, was inspired by the Florida students who fought for their lives during a school shooting in February.

According to their website, “The mission and focus of March For Our Lives is to demand that a comprehensive and effective bill be immediately brought before Congress to address these gun issues. No special interest group, no political agenda is more critical than timely passage of legislation to effectively address the gun violence issues that are rampant in our country.”

There are currently over 800 marches planned for tomorrow, including a scheduled rally in Uptown Charlotte. The event will start at 11 am in First Ward Park. Speakers will include two former Sandy Hook Elementary students who were inside the school when gunfire broke out in 2012.

The ridesharing company Lyft has even offered to give free rides to and from the rally in Charlotte.

To get a free ride;

  • Claim your spot by RSVPing to the rally at www.marchforourlives.com/events.
  • Ride codes will sent out to those who have RSVP’d through www.marchforourlives.com/events.
  • Ride codes will also be available at www.lyft.com/MFOL starting Saturday morning.
  • Once you have received a code, enter it in the ‘promos’ tab of your Lyft app.
  • For the code to work, you must enter the official March for Our Lives rallypoint as your destination.
  • You can find rallypoint details in your app once you enter your code in the ‘promos’ tab.

UNCC Student Released on Bond After Threatening to Shoot Up The School

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UNCC Student Released on Bond After Threatening to Shoot Up The School

UNCC campus police are now on the alert for a student who made threats to ‘shoot the university up’ and who was recently released from police custody.

Earlier this month, 20-year-old Matthew Recoy Saavedra, a student at UNCC, went to a doctor in King, NC to talk about his mental health issues and was noted in saying “he could not wait to buy a gun and shoot the university up,” according to the Charlotte Observer.

This past week, Saavedra was charged with a felony for making a false report concerning mass violence on education property.

Police used a search warrant to raid his off-campus apartment, where they found a campus emergency response guide opened to the active shooter response and evacuation pages on his wall and searches for school shootings and videos about death on his computer.

UNC Charlotte Police took out a warrant and Sheriff’s deputies in Forsyth county arrested him this past Tuesday. Less than 24 hours later, Saavedra’s mother helped him post his $12,000 bond and he is reportedly now with family in Forsyth County.

Since his warrant and arrest, Saavedra has been banned from coming onto the UNCC campus.

Developer Just Broke Ground On Massive New Midtown Greenway Project

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Developer Just Broke Ground On Massive New Midtown Greenway Project

Concord_Regional_AirportThe Charlotte Regional Realtor Association is one step closer to moving into a gleaming new development in the heart of Midtown.

Pappas Properties just broke ground on the first phase of their massive new mixed-use development, which includes the new 58,000 sq. ft. CRRA building, new parking, and greenway features.

The new building is expected to be completed by March of 2019 and will replace the current decades-old CRRA building;

via Pappas Properties
via Pappas Properties

The development will also include a 175,000-square-foot retail, hotel and residential building, a 168,000-square-foot office building, and a “greenway-style trail” through Pearle Street Park to connect Little Sugar Greenway to center city.

What do you think of the new development?

Zagat Ranked Charlotte As One Of America’s Best Food Cities – Beating Charleston and Atlanta

Steve
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Zagat Ranked Charlotte As One Of America’s Best Food Cities – Beating Charleston and Atlanta
Grilled Catfish from Zada Janes
Grilled Catfish from Zada Janes

The Queen City was recently ranked as one of the best food cities in America by Zagat, topping regional favorites like Charleston (#11) and Atlanta (#10), as well as global heavy-hitters like NYC (#21) and San Francisco (#20).

Charlotte landed at the #9 spot, largely due to several critically acclaimed new openings in 2016, including; O-Ku, Yafo Kitchen, and Stoke.

Zagat compiled the list by assessing the number of unique new openings, award recognitions, and national media attention, then asked some of the nation’s top food critiques to weigh in on which locales they thought were the most exciting.

Here is Zagat’s reasoning for why Charlotte is now the 9th best food city in America:

“Once known only as a sports-centric center of commerce, Charlotte has emerged as the new destination for adventurous, landscape-driven cuisine. There’s no shortage of up-and-coming chefs, like Chris Coleman, whose wood-fired oven at Stoke is churning out stellar plates like salt- roasted oysters and charred octopus with Virginia chorizo; or Michael Chanthavong, who just brought over his Asian-meets-Southern spot, O-Ku (with a killer uni pasta). Charlotte has also become popular among established industry vets looking to find the next big hospitality market: Corkbuzz, the accessible wine bar from New York, just opened in the city (helmed by Master Sommelier Laura Maniec), as did Yafo Kitchen, a bold Middle Eastern spot with a menu developed by Einat Admony of New York gems like Taim and Balaboosta. Even Wolfgang Puck couldn’t resist the opportunity to land in Charlotte, entrusting longtime mentee Stephen Schmitt to oversee the kitchen at his brand-new concept, WP Kitchen + Bar, which serves crowd pleasers like linguini diavolo and turkey Bolognese. With dozens more openings anticipated for next year — and plenty of other chefs making the move to Charlotte from big cities like San Francisco and New York — this burgeoning dining scene is only just getting started.”

Do agree with Zagat’s assessment?

Comment below with your thoughts about Charlotte’s food scene. 

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