Business and Industry
North Carolina, with its unique combination of environments and terrain, has been a leader in a variety of industries from colonial times to modern day. First, in shipping, logging, and cotton and tobacco exports, by the mid-19th century, North Carolina was blazing a trail in the development of the textiles and furniture industries until manufacturing in those areas moved abroad in the 1980s and 1990s. Today, some of the top institutions of higher learning are assembled in the Research Triangle and Triad. In fact, North Carolina has become a hub for the biomedical and information technology fields, with more than 100 R&D companies and federal research facilities located in the Triangle, and 14 Fortune 500 companies throughout the state (2010).
Table of Contents
African American Owned Businesses
Agriculture
- Agriculture overview
- Agricultural Economy of Antebellum Life
- Agriculture During the Great Depression
- Live at Home Program (Governor O. Max Gardner)
- Farm and factory struggles in the 1920s
- All Agriculture-related entries
- Agriculture Organizations
- Tobacco
- Tobacco overview
- Industrialization
- Tools of the Trade
- All Tobacco articles
Economy
Mines and mineral resources
Inventions
- Overview (Tar Heel Junior Historian)
- Overview (Encyclopedia of North Carolina)
- Gatling Gun
- Headache Powder
- Kicking Machine
- Women Inventors
- All Science, technology, and innovations articles
Manufacturing
- Farm and factory struggles in the 1920s
- General
- Overview
- Manufacturing - Productivity
- Manufacturing - Early History
- Manufacturing - Declines in Traditional Industries
- Manufacturing Specialization
- Manufacturing - Implications of Industrial Changes
- Manufacturing - Job Losses
- Manufacturing - Factory Closings - 2003-2006
- Manufacturing - Future Outlook
- Furniture
- Furniture industry overview
- Furniture industry - Colonial Era to the Civil War
- Furniture industry - Industrial Age
- Furniture industry - Modern Furniture Industry
- Furniture industry - Companies
- References and resources
- Indian Cabinetmakers in Piedmont North Carolina
- Textile Industry
- Textile industry overview
- Child Labor
- Mill Villages
- Childhood in Textile Mill Villages
- Life in Textile Mill Villages
- Strike of 1934
- All Textile industry articles
Transportation
- Overview
- Part I: Introduction
- Part II: Highway use
- Part III: Public transportation
- Part IV: Highway conditions
- Part V: Water transportation
- Part VI: Air and rail travel
- Part VII: Projected future innovations
- History
- Improvements in transportation: Post-American Revolution to the Civil War
- Transportation History Overview
- Transportation improvements in the 1920s
- Airlines
- Piedmont Airlines
- Wheeler Airlines
- Automobiles
- Automobiles overview
- Steam-powered cars
- All Automobile articles
- Aviation
- Overview: 1873-2003
- Blimps
- Copters & Gliders
- Space Flight
- All Aviation articles
- Aviation Pioneers
- Lindbergh's Influence
- Wright Brothers
- Railroads
- Railroads overview
- Railroads carried wounded soldiers
- All Railroad articles
- Roads & Highways
- Highways overview
- Blue Ridge Parkway
- All Roads articles
- Waterways
- Steamboating in Eastern North Carolina
- All Inland water transportation articles
North Carolina Fortune 1000 Companies (2010):
| Company Name | City | State | Gender of Executive | Number of Employees | Industry |
| Alliance One Intl Inc | Morrisville | NC | Male | 50 to 99 | Cigar Cigarette & Tobacco Dealers-Whls |
| American Tire Distr Holdings | Huntersville | NC | Male | 100 to 249 | Tire-Dealers-Retail |
| Bank Of America Corp | Charlotte | NC | Male | 5000 to 9999 | Holding Companies (Bank) |
| BB&T Corp | Winston Salem | NC | Male | 100 to 249 | Holding Companies (Bank) |
| Belk Inc | Charlotte | NC | Male | 500 to 999 | Department Stores |
| Carlisle Co Inc | Charlotte | NC | Male | 20 to 49 | Rubber-Mfrs Supplies (Mfrs) |
| Comm Scope Inc | Hickory | NC | Male | 100 to 249 | Communications Equipment NEC (Mfrs) |
| Dex One Corp | Cary | NC | Male | 500 to 999 | Yellow Pages-Publishers (Mfrs) |
| Duke Energy Corp | Charlotte | NC | Male | 1000 to 4999 | Electric Companies |
| Family Dollar Stores Inc | Matthews | NC | Male | 1000 to 4999 | Variety Stores |
| Goodrich Corp | Charlotte | NC | Male | 100 to 249 | Aircraft Components-Manufacturers |
| Hanesbrands Inc | Winston Salem | NC | Male | 1000 to 4999 | Textile Mills (Mfrs) |
| Ingles Markets Inc | Black Mountain | NC | Male | 100 to 249 | Grocers-Retail |
| Laboratory Corp-Amer Holdings | Burlington | NC | Male | 1000 to 4999 | Laboratories-Medical |
| Lorillard Inc | Greensboro | NC | Male | 250 to 499 | Cigarettes (Mfrs) |
| Lowe's Co Inc | Mooresville | NC | Male | 1000 to 4999 | Home Centers |
| Martin Marietta Materials Inc | Raleigh | NC | Male | 100 to 249 | Construction-Sand & Gravel |
| Nucor Corp | Charlotte | NC | Male | 50 to 99 | Steel Mills (Mfrs) |
| Pantry Inc | Cary | NC | Male | 500 to 999 | Convenience Stores |
| Piedmont Natural Gas Co Inc | Charlotte | NC | Male | 250 to 499 | Gas-Natural |
| Progress Energy Inc | Raleigh | NC | Male | 1000 to 4999 | Utilities-Holding Companies |
| Reynolds American Inc | Winston Salem | NC | Female | 100 to 249 | Cigar Cigarette & Tobacco-Manufacturers |
| Ruddick Corp | Charlotte | NC | Male | 10 to 19 | Grocers-Retail |
| Sonic Automotive Inc | Charlotte | NC | Male | 100 to 249 | Automobile Dealers-New Cars |
| SPX Corp | Charlotte | NC | Male | 100 to 249 | Manufacturers Distrs & Indl Products |
| VF Corp | Greensboro | NC | Male | 100 to 249 | Clothing-Wholesale |
Image Credits:
Hine, Lewis Wickes, 1874-1940, Detail from "Girls running warping machines in Loray mill, Gastonia, N.C. Many boys and girls much younger. Boss carefully avoided them, and when I tried to get a photo which would include a mite of a boy working at a machine, he was quickly swept out of range. 'He isn't working here, just came in to help a little.' Location: Gastonia, North Carolina," November 1908. Photo ID# LOT 7479, v. 1, no. 0246 [P&P] . From the records of the National Child Labor Committee (U.S.), Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA.
2 June 2010
