The growth of the financial and medical industries in the area has contributed to the Triad's attraction.

In fact, the Triad's appeal has brought the nation's largest com¬puter manufacturer to build a new facility here. Dell recently opened a $100 million plant in Forsyth County, which will eventu¬ally add 1,500 jobs to the area. The plant is Dell's largest in the U.S. and, once it reaches full production mode, will manufacture 25 percent of Dell's total volume.

According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Triad offers new and expanding businesses a labor pool of 773,000, representing 20 percent of the state's overall work¬ force. The education and skill level of the labor force is due to the prevalence of outstanding universities, colleges, and technical and community colleges in the area. Another attraction for businesses seeking relocation is that North Carolina is a right-to-work state where labor unions can organize, but workers don't have to join.

The Triad is home to a number of organizations that advance established businesses and launch new ones. The Nussbaum Center for entrepreneurship has recently expanded and hosts over 60 businesses. Seeking to create effec¬tive business leaders, the Center for Creative Leadership is headquartered in Greensboro but has a national and international presence with locations in San Diego, Colorado Springs, Singapore and Brussels.

The Piedmont Triad Research Park is a center for university, business and gov¬ernment research in the area. Its focus on technological development fuels eco¬nomic growth in the fields of information systems, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, medical devices and imaging. The research park, which houses about 665 employees in 33 companies, is currently undergoing an expansion to occupy 180 acres and will be anchored by a new research campus for the Wake Forest University School of Medicine.

Some of the established businesses that are headquartered in the Triad area include Cone Mills, a textiles manu¬facturer; VF Corp, the world's largest apparel manufacturer; and Reynolds American and Lorillard Tobacco, the second- and third-largest tobacco companies in the country.

As the headquarters for BB&T Corporation, Winston-Salem is also the former headquarters of Tachovia Corporation. The presence of Wake Forest University Baptist Hospital also has great economic impact along with Moses Cone Health System and Novant Health; the three health-care systems are the top three employers in the Triad.

Considered the "furniture capital of the world," High Point is a center for the manufacturing, marketing and retail¬ing of furniture. For the past 97 years, High Point has been the host of the International Home Furnishings Market, held twice a year in April and October. The market has an economic impact of more than $1 billion annually, greater than any other single event in North Carolina.

The Triad's prime location also helps make it an economic hub. With four interstates that run through the area, the Triad is easily accessible and within an hour or two from the Raleigh-Durham and Charlotte markets. In fact, more highways converge in the Triad area than in any other area in the state.

Norfolk Southern and CSX Railway offer freight service through most coun¬ties in the region, and Amtrak provides passenger service in Greensboro, Winston-Salem, Burlington and High Point.

The Piedmont Triad International Airport, located on the west side of Greensboro, has seen significant growth over the past few years. The airport offers nonstop flights to 21 cit¬ies including Chicago, Atlanta, Dallas, Detroit, New York, Washington D.C., Houston, Baltimore, Boston, Charlotte, Cincinnati, Memphis, Minneapolis, Newark, Orlando and Philadelphia.

The airport will soon house the FedEx Mid-Atlantic Hub, which is expected to bring 1,500 new jobs to the area and invest $300 million into the area's economy over a 1O-year period.

Whether you're looking to move a family or an entire business, you'll find that the Piedmont Triad is flourishing with excitement and opportunity.