Durham, located in Durham County, North Carolina, also known as the “bull city” or the “city of medicine,” is a growing metropolis of a population of about 250,000 in the city proper with another quarter million people living in the four-county Durham-Chapel Hill Metropolitan Area. Durham and Chapel’s Growth Domestic Product (GDP) in fiscal year 2013 was close to $42 billion out of the state combined metro GDP that was closer to $410 billion. Durham is home to market leading companies – Cisco, IBM, Lenovo, Glaxo Smith Kline, Fidelity, RedHat, Cree, Qunitiles, Credit Suisse, American Tobacco and RTI International – located in the vertices Research Triangle area and is home to the Research Triangle Park. As a leading medical, research, educational and development market in the United States; Durham is also home to Duke University, Duke Medical Center, Duke Law School, and North Carolina Central University. Durham’s Key Location Objectives (KLO) are in education, research and development, manufacturing, engineering and technology, and financial services. It is a core city between Raleigh, Chapel Hill and surrounding areas. The estimated total public and private investment for downtown Durham in 2012 was about $1.2 billion that included projects for development and the performing arts. The Research Triangle Park is home to over 190 fortune 500 and 100 companies with diversified portfolios employing 50,000 workers and 10,000 contractors with nearly three fourths of all new jobs being created in the State of North Carolina. The median household income is $45,000 – $50,000. The low cost of living, climate and quality of life makes Durham a leading city for business investments and a skilled labor force.

Greensboro, located in Guilford, County, North Carolina, the State’s third largest city and a part of the Piedmont (Winston-Salem, Greensboro, High Point) Metropolitan area. It has a population of about 300,000 people. Greensboro’s Growth Domestic Product (GDP) in fiscal year 2013 was close to $40 billion out of the state’s combined metro GDP that was closer to $410 billion. Some of the market leading companies in Greensboro are Honda Aircraft, Volvo Trucks, International Textile Group, and Lincoln Financial. Greensboro’s Key Location Objectives (KLO), are in textiles, tobacco, and furniture. People travel from all around the world to purchase these types of commodities from manufacturers in Greensboro. Greensboro. Greensboro is also an educational, and medical research facility home to the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and North Carolina A&T University. There is strong growth in trade and transportation, professional business, manufacturing, education and healthcare sectors of the Greensboro marketplace.

Raleigh, located in Wake, County, North Carolina, also known as the “Oak City,” is the State’s capital and second largest city with a population of about 2,100,000 people. It is also a part of the Triangle area of Durham, and Chapel Hill. Raleigh’s Growth Domestic Product (GDP) in fiscal year 2013 was close to $70 billion out of the state’s combined metro GDP that was closer to $410 billion. Some of the leading market research companies in Raleigh are SAS Institute, located in the suburb of Cary, NC, the Carolina Hurricanes, BB&T Insurance Services, First Citizens Bank, Red Hat, North Carolina Symphony, Carolina Ballet and Capital Broadcasting Company. Raleigh’s Key Location Objectives (KLO), are in state government, the arts, banking and financial services, technology and pharmaceuticals. Raleigh, is also home to a key educational, research and development, and engineering institutions – North Carolina State University, Peace College, and Shaw University. The unemployment rate in Raleigh is around 4.5%, and the sales tax is about 6.75%. The median income is 50,000 – $55,000. Some of the leading economic growth sectors are in management, public administration, law, business and finance, engineering, and computer science.