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Area Development - Site Selection, Facility Planning and Workforce Development

Lowe’s Chooses Charlotte, North Carolina, for Global Technology Center

06/28/2019
Lowe’s will locate a major new Global Technology Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. The company plans to create more than 1,600 jobs.

“We’re excited to stand up our new global technology center here in North Carolina to continue to drive our company’s growth,” said Marvin R. Ellison, Lowe’s President & CEO, who joined the company in July 2018.

“Locating our new facility in the heart of Charlotte, the state’s largest metropolitan area, will enable Lowe’s to attract top technology talent and foster collaboration with our teams in our nearby Mooresville headquarters. This team will create technology solutions that will accelerate our commitment to becoming a best-in-class, omni-channel retailer and strengthen our associate and customer experiences,” he said.

In conjunction with selecting North Carolina, Ellison announced Lowe’s intention to locate its new global technology center in Charlotte’s South End. Set to open in late 2021, a 357,000-square-foot facility will be located in a new 23-story tower, branded with Lowe’s, in the bustling neighborhood immediately south of uptown Charlotte.

“For nearly 75 years, Lowe’s roots in North Carolina have run deep, growing from one small hardware store into a Fortune 50 home improvement retailer,” said North Carolina Commerce Secretary Anthony M. Copeland. “Their story exemplifies North Carolina’s strengths as a business location and demonstrates how our state provides everything a company might need, no matter the stage of growth or level of skill sought.”

“Lowe’s is expanding in a way that will take technology to new heights and this company knows its home state can provide the highly trained workforce it needs,” Governor Roy Cooper said. “We are committed to ensuring workers have the right skills to encourage companies to grow their footprint in our state with confidence.”

In addition to its $153 million capital investment in the project, Lowe’s will add a variety of technology positions, including software and infrastructure engineers, data scientists, analysts, architects, User Experience (UX) and User Interface (UI) professionals, and technologists with Artificial Intelligence and machine learning engineering experience.

The North Carolina Department of Commerce and the Economic Development Partnership of N.C. led the state’s support for the company’s expansion.Lowe’s technology center expansion in Mecklenburg County will be facilitated, in part, by a Job Development Investment Grant and a grant from the One North Carolina Fund.

A performance-based grant of $2 million from the One North Carolina Fund will also support the project. The One NC Fund provides financial assistance to local governments to help attract economic investment and to create jobs. Like with the state’s JDIG grants, companies receiving OneNC grants must meet job creation and capital investment targets to qualify for payment. All One NC grants require a matching grant from local governments and the state award is contingent upon that condition being met.

The JDIG was approved by the state’s Economic Investment Committee. Over the course of the 12-year term of this grant, the project will grow the state’s economy by an estimated $6.3 billion. Using a formula that takes into account the new tax revenues generated by the 1,612 new jobs, the JDIG agreement authorizes the potential reimbursement to the company of up to $54,090,750, paid over 12 years. State payments only occur following performance verification by the departments of Commerce and Revenue that the company has met its incremental job creation and investment targets.

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