Commerce

Anchored by leading technology firms, government and world-class universities and medical centers, the area's economy has performed exceptionally well. Significant increases in employment, earnings, personal income and retail sales are projected over the next 15 years.

The region's growing high-technology community includes such companies as IBM, SAS Institute, Cisco Systems, NetApp, Red Hat, EMC Corporation and Credit Suisse First Boston. In addition to high-tech, the region is consistently ranked in the top three in the U.S. with concentration in life science companies. Some of these companies include GlaxoSmithKline, Biogen Idec, BASF, Merck & Co., Novo Nordisk, Novozymes, and Wyeth. Research Triangle Park and North Carolina State University's Centennial Campus in Raleigh support innovation through R&D and technology transfer among the region's companies and research universities (including Duke University and The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill).

The area has fared relatively well during the Late-2000s recession ranked as the strongest region in North Carolina by the Brookings Institution and among the top 40 in the country. The change in unemployment during 2008 to 2009 was 4.6% and home prices was 2%. The Greensboro metropolitan area was listed among the second weakest and the Charlotte area among the middle in the country.

Major employers American Airlines BASF Bayer The Body Shop Burt's Bees Cisco Systems Credit Suisse Group Duke University Durham Public Schools DuPont Eaton Fidelity Investments Environmental Protection Agency General Electric GlaxoSmithKline IBM LabCorp Lenovo Netapp North Carolina State Government (including the University of North Carolina system) Pfizer (Pfizer Poultry Health) Progress Energy Qualcomm Quintiles Red Hat Research Triangle Institute SAS Institute Sony Ericsson Syngenta Teleflex Medical Toyota United States Forest Service Verizon Wake County Public School System Major hospitals and medical centers Duke University Medical Center Patient Rapid Transit monorail train in Durham. North Carolina Memorial and Children's hospitals in Chapel Hill. Durham VA Medical Center in Durham.

The Research Triangle region is served by the following hospitals and medical centers:

Hospitals of the Duke University Health System Duke Ambulatory Surgery Center (Durham) Duke Children's Hospital and Health Center (Durham) Duke Raleigh Hospital (formerly Raleigh Community Hospital) Duke University Medical Center (Durham) Duke Regional Hospital (formerly Durham Regional Hospital) Person Memorial Hospital (Roxboro) Hospitals of the UNC Health Care system Chatham Hospital (Siler City) North Carolina Cancer Hospital (Chapel Hill) North Carolina Children's Hospital (Chapel Hill) North Carolina Memorial Hospital (Chapel Hill) North Carolina Neurosciences Hospital (Chapel Hill) North Carolina Women's Hospital (Chapel Hill) Rex Hospital (Raleigh) Johnston Medical Center (Smithfield) Hospitals of the WakeMed system WakeMed Raleigh Campus (formerly Wake Memorial Hospital and Wake Medical Center) WakeMed Cary Hospital (formerly Western Wake Medical Center) Other hospitals and medical centers Central Regional Hospital,(Butner) Dorothea Dix Hospital (Raleigh) Durham VA Medical Center (Durham) Franklin Regional Medical Center (Louisburg) Harnett Health System (Dunn) Betsy Johnson Regional Hospital Angier Medical Services Good Hope Hospital Betsy Johnson Cancer Research Clinic