The first-ever Carolina Core Real Estate Summit will be held Sept. 13 from 1 to 4 p.m. at the Wicker Civic & Conference Center in Sanford. The summit is hosted by 12 local REALTOR® associations from across the NC Core.

The Carolina Core brand was announced in 2018 by the Piedmont Triad Partnership. What many considered to be an audacious goal was set then for job creation — 50,000 office/industrial jobs to be created in the Carolina Core by 2038. That goal is well on its way to being surpassed. In only four years, more than 35,500 office/industrial jobs have already been announced.

“This meeting is open to everyone interested in learning more about the Carolina Core,” said Zan Monroe, CEO of Longleaf Pine REALTORS®, Inc. “We invite commercial and residential realtors, business leaders, economic developers, government officials, builders, investors and the media to join us.”

The Carolina Core region is a 120-mile stretch of central North Carolina along U.S Highway 421 stretching from Interstate 77 to Interstate 95.
The keynote speaker at the summit will be Christopher Chung, CEO of the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina. He will speak on “The importance of regionalism, what it takes for the Carolina Core, or any region, to work well in economic development.”

The summit aims to inform leaders in real estate, in other business sectors and in government positions about the recent economic development successes and to understand what is needed to prepare for the region’s short-term and long-term future.

“Economic growth creates jobs, housing needs, and development potential, and it helps everyone in the area prosper,” said Mike Barr, CEO of the Greensboro Regional REALTORS® Association and the Greensboro REALTORS® Commercial Alliance.

Robert Van Geons, the President of the Fayetteville Cumberland County Economic Development Corporation, is scheduled to speak about the use of a grant that helps retiring soldiers from Fort Bragg enter the regional workforce.

Other presenters at the summit will address the importance of regional approaches to economic development. Those speakers include the chairman of the Randolph County Board of Commissioners, the former mayor of Sanford, the former mayor of Greensboro and the president of the North Carolina Association of REALTORS®.

Mike Fox, president and CEO of the Piedmont Triad Partnership, said, “The Carolina Core has proven itself to be North Carolina’s third economic engine along with our adjacent neighbors in the Research Triangle and metro Charlotte regions. A big reason for the Carolina Core’s recent impressive economic development announcements has been an unprecedented amount of cooperation across county and city lines.”

The Carolina Core is a thriving region in central North Carolina. The region’s counties include Alamance, Caswell, Chatham, Cumberland, Davidson, Davie, Forsyth, Guilford, Harnett, Lee, Montgomery, Moore, Randolph, Rockingham, Stokes, Surry and Yadkin. The largest cities in the Carolina Core are Greensboro, Winston-Salem, Fayetteville, High Point, Burlington, Thomasville, Asheboro, Sanford, Kernersville, Clemmons, Lexington, Mebane and Pinehurst.

Wicker Civic & Conference Center is located at 1801 Nash Street in Sanford. To register for the event, go to: https://nccarolinacoresummit.com.

The Carolina Core Real Estate Summit is hosted by 12 real estate associations: North Carolina Association of REALTORS®; Longleaf Pine REALTORS®, Inc.; Greensboro Regional REALTORS® Association; High Point Regional Association of REALTORS®; Mid-Carolina Regional Association of REALTORS®; Orange-Chatham Association of REALTORS®; Winston-Salem Regional Association of REALTORS®; Johnston County Association of REALTORS®; Durham Regional Association of REALTORS®; Raleigh Regional Association of REALTORS®; Triangle Commercial Association of REALTORS®; and the North Carolina chapter of CCIM.