Open Source: The fastest-growing employer in the Triangle might just be Fidelity

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.

Fidelity Investments opened its first North Carolina location in 1992 with a seven-person office near Duke University’s main campus.

Its first major local headcount bump came in 2006 when the financial services firm received state incentives to build a 268-acre campus in Research Triangle Park and hire 2,000 employees. Then throughout 2021, Fidelity added 2,500 positions to its RTP site as online banking services surged during the pandemic.

Within the past two-and-a-half years, the Boston-based company has grown its North Carolina staff by another 50% to around 8,300 total workers. Most are based at the RTP campus. According to a North Carolina Department of Commerce database , Fidelity is today Durham County’s second biggest employer after only Duke University.

In an email to the N&O, Fidelity’s head of talent, Kirsten Kuykendoll, said approximately half the company’s North Carolina employees hold technologist roles “representing almost every technology business unit in the company” including “digital platforms and emerging technology.” She credited “Fidelity’s strong business results in recent years” for the workforce investments.

A privately owned company, Fidelity would not say what percent of its North Carolina staff are based in RTP, though it acknowledged most work in the Triangle.

As you’ll read below, a lot of our reporting goes tracking the North Carolina jobs projects that may or may not achieve lofty initial promises. VinFast. Boom Supersonic. Apple.

But the Triangle is also defined by companies that are here. And as much as any other, Fidelity is here.

VinFast won’t open until 2028 (or possibly...)

Imagine the state wanted to buy your property to build a road connecting a major highway to a future factory site. Regardless of how you might feel about that, now picture that promised factory keeps getting delayed. By a year. Then three years. And the unproven company committed to opening the factory doesn’t seem to view it as a current priority.

If you had decided to sell your property after negotiating, you might feel one type of way. But what if the government had acquired your land against your wishes through eminent domain?

That is what has occurred around the promised VinFast electric vehicle site in southeastern Chatham County . To date, the North Carolina Department of Transportation has purchased four houses in the vicinity through negotiations and obtained another two businesses and a church through eminent domain.

Last week, VinFast announced it wouldn’t open its Chatham factory until 2028 as it focuses on projects in Asia. Its 1,765-acre site southwest of Raleigh will remain flat and empty for some time.

So far, North Carolina has paid out $95.7 million toward the VinFast project. This includes $51.7 million that reimbursed VinFast its site preparation costs. North Carolina has the right to claw back this upfront site cost reimbursement if VinFast defaults on its economic incentive deal. I wonder how straightforward the clawback process actually is, but can cross that bridge if we come to it.

The state Department of Transportation has spent $28.4 million around the site. And the department said this week it is continuing to negotiate with other surrounding property owners to acquire more land.

If VinFast never builds on the site, the state may still value improving the road between the land and U.S. 1 to entice a future occupant (or occupants.) But property owners who have pushed against giving up their land for the project may find cold comfort in any long-term plan.

Clearing my cache

• HI-CHEW is a chewy, fruity, individually wrapped Japanese candy that’s getting increasingly popular in the United States. Locally, it’s produced at a factory on the Orange County side of Mebane, and the company behind the brand plans to build a second facility next door, promising more jobs and candy.
• Unlike U.S. presidential candidates, board directors for most S&P 500 companies have ages at which they must step aside. But several major North Carolina employers — Cisco , Bank of America , Wells Fargo , and Truist among them — have in recent years relaxed their retirement rules . This trend has resulted in older boards. Are are these boards more experienced or, perhaps, more complacent? Or both?

• The medical device company Nipro Medical Corporation announced plans to invest $397.8 million and create 232 jobs at a future plant in Greenville. It would be the company’s first in North America.

National Tech Happenings

• Meta is exploring a 5% stake in the Ray-Ban maker EssilorLuxottica to grow its smart glasses partnership.
• A handful of tech billionaires, including Elon Musk , are backing the Trump/Vance ticket in dollars and words. PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel previously donated $15 million to support J.D. Vance’s Ohio Senate campaign.
• U.S. online sales hit a record $14.2 billion during Amazon’s 48-hour Prime Day event this week. Amazon said Prime Day 2024 was its most successful ever, though the company didn’t share its figures.

Thanks for reading!