Website Overview

Overview

This website presents and analyzes up-to-date information on seven of North Carolina's key industries, including: banking, biotechnology, furniture, hog farming, information technology, textiles & apparel, and tobacco. Each of the seven industries has information that falls under the following sections:

1. Overview: This section contains basic information about the given industry within North Carolina.
   
   
2. Tables: Tables for each industry include: top employers by number of employees, changes in employment, number of locations, average annual wages, and layoffs. Additional Google Map and Google Earth applications are available to see the locations of the top employers.
   
   
3. Maps: This section includes maps of the changes in employment and the number of locations in North Carolina between 1996 and 2006.
   
   
4. Value Chains: See the value chain overview for more detailed information on how to use the value chains.
   From the value chain you are able to click on the Google Map icons to open an interactive map in a new screen of the locations in North Carolina within that portion of the value chain. You are able to click on the companies to find out more information on each company.
   
   
5. Corporations: This section provides profiles on some of the leading companies in the given industry in North Carolina.
   
   
6. Workers and Jobs: This section contains information on the changes in employment and wages in the industry as well as the advantages of North Carolina as a hub for this industry.
   
   
7. Public Policy: This section provides information on the role of local public policy in North Carolina to the given industry.
   
   
8. Resources: This section includes the resources referenced throughout the industry section.

Frequently Asked Questions

What sources were used to compile the information for the Maps, Tables, and Value Chain sections for each of the seven industries?

For all of the Tables (except the Table 1 for each industry) and all of the maps within the Maps section,  data was collected from the North Carolina Employment Security Commission (NCESC). NCESC collects data at the industry-level based on North American Industrial Classification codes (NAIC). In the value chains, the aggregate information for each industry is also from NCESC. More information on the NCESC can be found at: www.ncesc.com.

The information for the Table 1’s, the Google maps  of the Table 1 companies and value chains, and the Google Earth files was collected from ReferenceUSA .  ReferenceUSA is an Internet-based reference service from the Library Division of infoUSA, a provider of business and consumer information products, database marketing services and Internet marketing solutions. The ReferenceUSA database contains detailed information at the establishment level on more than 14 million U.S. businesses. NAIC codes were also used to identify the firms for each industry from the ReferenceUSA dataset. For more information on ReferenceUSA please see: www.referenceusa.com.

What are NAIC codes?

The United States Bureau of Labor Statistics uses the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) to identify industries. The NAICS was developed jointly with Canada and Mexico to enable comparable statistics among the three North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) countries. NAICS is a production-oriented classification system for business establishments (defined as a single physical location at which economic activity occurs) in which economic units that use like processes to produce goods or services are grouped together. This system was implemented in 1997 to replace the 1987 Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) system. The SIC system, developed in the 1930s, was the first attempt to establish a classification system that would allow for uniformity and comparability of data collected and published by all national and state government agencies, trade associations, and research organizations (www.census.gov).

NAICS is a six-digit system designed so that the industrial coverage is progressively narrower with the successive additional digits, with six-digits as the standard. The broadest level of classification is contained in the first two digits that determine the sector an establishment falls within. Twenty sectors are included in the NAICS, of which 16 are service-based and four are production-based. The next level of aggregation (three digits) determines the sub-sector and the fourth level corresponds to the industry group. It is not until one reaches the fifth digit that an industry is actually determined and with the sixth digit the U.S. industry is defined. See below for a breakdown of Broadwoven Fabric Mills, NAIC code 313210.

Sample Breakdown of NAICS

Which NAICS codes were used to represent each industry?

The following NAIC code were used to create the ReferenceUSA  database of companies for each industry:

Banking*:
522: Credit intermediation
523: Securities and commodities intermediation
525: Funds, trusts, and other financial vehicles

*Only establishments over 100 employees were tallied for this table. Number of branches is included to provide relative sizes of banks, but employees of these branches are not tallied.

Biotechnology:
325411 Medicinal and Botanical Mfg
325412: Pharmaceutical Preparation Mfg
325414: Other Biological Product Mfg

Information Technology:
334: Computer & Electronic Product Mfg
5112: Software Publishers
517: Telecommunications
518: Internet Service Providers
5415: Computer System Design and Related Services

Furniture:
337: Furniture and Related Product Mfg

Textiles and Apparel:
313: Textile Mills
314: Textile Product Mills
315: Apparel Mfg

Tobacco*:
11191: Tobacco Farms
3122: All Tobacco Mfg

Hog Farming*:
1122: Hog Farming
311611: Animal Slaughtering
311612: Meat Processed from Carcasses
311613: Rendering and Meat Byproduct Processing

*ReferenceUSA does not collect complete information on agricultural industries resulting in a limited number of companies to represent Tobacco and Hog Farms.

How were the Table 1's created?

Each of the seven industries included in the website has a listing of the Top 10 to 50 firms based on employment for all locations owned by the same firm within North Carolina. This information was created by combing all of firm’s locations (headquarters, branch plants and subsidiaries) in North Carolina and combining their employment and sales figures. The listing is based on the firms with the largest number of employees within North Carolina.

How was each Table 1 Google Map and Google Earth file created?

Below each of the Table 1’s is a map that includes the headquarters (if it is located in North Carolina) or the largest facility (by employment) within the state. The color of each location corresponds to the color in the value chain each firm is primarily engaged in. By clicking on the icon for each location, you will get more information regarding this location in North Carolina. 

How were the Top 5 companies placed into the value chains?

For the Top 5 companies in each of the Table 1's, all of the NAICS codes (up to five) for each location were collected. This data was matched to the value chain boxes to create the highlighted boxes for each firm. It is quite possible that a firm also engages in other parts of the value chain; however these parts o f chain may occur in other states or parts of the World, or NAICS codes may not capture all of the activities. Since NAICS codes were originally created to capture manufacturing activities, services tend to be underrepresented.

What is a value chain?

A value chain describes the full range of activities that firms and workers carry out to bring a product from its conception to its end use and beyond. This includes activities such as design, production, marketing, distribution and support to the final consumer. The activities that comprise a value chain can be contained within a single firm or divided among different firms. Value chain activities can produce goods or services, and can be contained within a single geographical location or spread over wider areas. (For additional background on the origins and extensive research associated with this concept, see the Duke-hosted website, www.globalvaluechains.org).

How  do the NAICS codes relate to the value chains?

NAICS codes were identified for each of the stages in the supply chain, and in some industries, for the supporting industries and services as well. The 20 broad, two-digit sectors of the NAICS can be viewed as the broad underpinnings of value chains, such as raw materials (agriculture and mining), processing and final product manufacturing (construction and manufacturing), then wholesale, retail, service, and supporting industries (design, government, business services, etc).  Whereas the NAICS helps us to identify the discrete elements of a value chain, the system is not specific to any particular value chain. Therefore some NAICS codes include companies that are not solely working in the value chain pictured, and may also contribute to other industries’ value chains.

Who should I contact to provide feedback on the website?

Please visit our Contact Us page to provide suggestions, questions, and comments on the North Carolina in the Global Economy website.

For more information on the NCGE website, view the article
"North Carolina in the Global Economy: A Value Chain Perspective on the State's Leading Industries"
published in the Journal of Textile & Apparel Management, Fall 2007.