Amid the throng of 140,000 trade exhibitors and shoppers at the show in the spring of 2019, a team of North Carolina industrial recruiters sought out Pratt & Whitney representatives and had a moment to chat. Word had gotten out that a major net engine maker was looking to site a major new plant, and the economic development team from the Tar Heel state knew that landing the company would be big.
It was more of a ‘fit and feel’ situation, as much art as science,” Chris Chung, president of the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina and a leader of the recruiting team in Paris, said in an interview. “We seek out potential industries and meet with their executives. We didn’t know then exactly what they wanted.