Open Source: Apple RTP campus is ‘really slow rolling,’ Wake official says
I’m Brian Gordon, tech reporter for The News & Observer, and this is Open Source, a weekly newsletter on business, labor and technology in North Carolina.
When is Apple building its $552 million campus in Research Triangle Park?
For now, the world’s most valuable tech company leases offices on MetLife’s technology campus in Cary, but some time in the future, it has committed to employ at least 3,000 people at a 1-million-square-foot campus on the Wake County side of the park.
Apple is known to. be secretive, and the company didn’t respond to questions about its RTP campus progress. But this week, a Wake County official familiar with the project told me they’ve been surprised how unhurried Apple and its representatives have been.
“It’s really slow rolling on the applicant side,” they said. “I thought it would be much further along.”
Apple announced its RTP campus in April 2021, but no construction has begun. For comparison, Apple announced a new $1 billion campus in Austin, Texas in December 2018 and broke ground on that site less than a year later.
This spring, Wake County received a commercial use application which displayed Apple’s plan to erect a 73-foot-tall building with 324,000 square feet of office space at the site.
For insights into Apple’s Triangle timeline, it might be instructive to look at the company’s incentive agreement with North Carolina.
The deal spells out the minimum number of jobs Apple must create in Wake County to remain eligible for economic incentives. By the end of this year, it has to have added at least 126 local jobs. This obligation rises to 378 total jobs next year, 990 in 2025, and ultimately at least 2,700 new positions overall by the end of 2032.
While its hiring commitments are more immediate, Apple has a longer runway to abide by another part of its incentive agreement: investments. According to the deal, Apple must spend at least around $500 million on a Wake County campus by the end of 2031.
The Research Triangle currently has ample open office space. Apple should be able to retain a temporary home as its local workforce grows. It’s campus might go at a different pace.
Onto the rest of this week’s news:
Pfizer employee discusses layoff expectations
Speaking of companies that aren’t giving more information, Pfizer has declined to share new details around the closing of its two Triangle facilities. The affected sites are a manufacturing facility in Durham and a research and development site near Morrisville.
On Thursday, I spoke to an impacted local Pfizer employee about the upcoming layoffs.
“The expectation is that the work will be winding down by the end of the year,” the employee, who works at the Morrisville office, said. “It’s a great bunch of people here. So, people are sad that will be all going in different directions but we’re all grateful for the time we have gotten to work with each other and work on amazing technologies.”
The employee said their site mostly focused on developing gene therapies.
Pfizer has declined to say how many people work at its Morrisville and Durham locations, but the employee estimated there are approximately 150 workers between the two sites. Companies must file what’s known as a WARN Notice at least 60 days before shutting a plant with more than 50 employees.
Last month, Pfizer cited lower-than-expected COVID-19 vaccine revenue as a factor driving companywide cuts. It said affected employees will be able to apply for internal company positions, but the employee in Morrisville said “there’s just not a lot internally that’s open right now.”
They noted other companies in the area also seem to be scaling back their budgets.
“We just have to deal with the reality of what the job market looks like right now in pharma and biotech,” they said.
Short Stuff: Epic vs. Google has been interesting
WeWork is bankrupt. But its coworking spaces in Charlotte, Durham, and Raleigh remain open for now.
Fujifilm is making progress on its giant $2 billion drug manufacturing plant in Holly Springs. The photography-turned-health care company said it’s already hired 190 full-time employees at the site.
VinFast has made improvements to its electric SUV, according to VinFast.
Some pretty juicy news coming out of the Epic Games v. Google antitrust trial, which kicked off Monday. Google tried to pay Cary’s Epic Games to keep Fortnite on the Google Play Store. The Epic Games Store isn’t profitable. And Google cuts special app revenue sharing deals with companies like Spotify. A jury, not judge, will be deciding this one. Check out The Verge’s live coverage of the proceedings.
North Carolina’s business recruitment organization has opened an office in Taiwan. It’s the ninth foreign office for Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina, joining Canada, Mexico, Japan, Singapore, Dubai, Germany, Poland, and Belgium.
Starbucks employees filed to unionize a Durham store last week. The location is the Renaissance at Southpoint. Starbucks union efforts have been successful nationwide but less so in North Carolina.
The Diversity Movement, a Raleigh based firm that guides organizations on their diversity, equity, and inclusion cultures, has been acquired.
Boom Supersonic, the supersonic jet company building a big assembly plant in Greensboro, told me it expects to fly its XB-1 jet this year.
National Tech Happenings
ChatGPT exceeds 100 million weekly users.
More on WeWork’s rise and fall — and what comes next for the prominent coworking provider.
Twitter, now X, is worth less than half of what Elon Musk paid for it last fall.
Thanks for reading! See you in seven years:
Open Source
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