Could Stone Brewing choose Charlotte for East Coast brewery?

Hold onto your frosted mugs, beer lovers. Local economic development officials are lobbying to make Charlotte the site for California-based Stone Brewing Co.'s new East Coast brewery. Stone is the maker of such popular (and colorfully titled) beers as "Arrogant Bastard Ale" and the "Sublimely Self-Righteous Black IPA. The Charlotte Regional Partnership has launched a web site and a social media campaign (#StoneGoToCUSA) to tout several sites around the region, from Rowan to Lincoln to Gaston, as well as several in Mecklenburg.

Local Stone lovers haven't been sitting on the sidelines. They've launched a Facebook site that's gotten more than 1,100 "likes" in hopes of showing the brewery that Charlotte should be its new East Coast home.

There is competition, however. Escondido, Calif.-based Stone is the 10th largest craft brewer in the nation and the biggest in southern California. According to this story, other communities from around the Carolinas, including Myrtle Beach, Wilmington, Asheville, Greensboro and Florence, S.C. are all in pursuit of the plant, which could bring an estimated 370 jobs with wages ranging from $12 to $48 an hour. Capital expenditures for the new brewery are projected to exceed $20 million for the initial phase of the brewer's business plan, with revenue projected to exceed $100 million by the fourth year, according to Sam Boykin, spokesman for the partnership.

The company is looking to pick a site and begin construction this year. Asked how many other communities have replied to the brewer's request for proposals, company spokeswoman Sabrina LoPiccolo declined to divulge a number. However, she added: "We definitely have seen quite a bit of interest and are pleased with the amount of proposals we've received."

According to the partnership, hundreds of other communities east of the Mississippi River have expressed interest. "It will take a special site to meet their requirements," Boykin wrote in an email, "and we're confident the Charlotte region is well-suited in terms of infrastructure, location and population density."

Charlotte job recruiters pitching region's energy sector in Tokyo

A delegation from the Charlotte Regional Partnership is in Tokyo this week, trying to convince more Japanese companies to expand or relocate operations to the region. During an invitation-only event slated for today at the U.S. Embassy, they plan to promote Charlotte's growing energy sector with a presentation titled: "The Carolinas: America's Top New Energy Center -- What You Need to Know." Scheduled to help make the presentation were David Swenson, a senior vice president with the partnership, Mark Fecteau, CEO of Westinghouse-Japan and K&L Gates attorney Ryan Dwyer.

David Swenson (right) of the Charlotte Regional Partnership joined Leland Gaskins of the N.C. Department of Commerce in promoting the Carolinas at the World Smart Energy Week renewable energy trade show in Tokyo Tuesday.

The Charlotte region already has nearly 100 Japanese-owned companies, but the partnership wants to see more. Charlotte officials talked up battery technology, smart-grid development and other promising clusters of the region's energy sector. Also at the meeting: officials from the N.C. Department of Commerce, the S.C. Department of Commerce, the U.S. Commercial Service, the Japan-U.S. Business Council, and the Japan/Tokyo Chamber of Commerce.

The group's trip wraps up at week's end.

Chinese TV report: Charlotte is new corporate mecca

Charlotte's apparently making a name for itself in Chinese business circles. We received fairly dramatic evidence of that recently when a Chinese yarn manufacturer announced plans to open a big factory in Lancaster County and employ 500 people.

Now comes this TV news report from China Central Television, a state TV broadcasting company in mainland China, that digs into the growing trend of Chinese firms setting up shop in Charlotte, and in the Carolinas more generally. The folks at the Charlotte Regional Partnership posted it on their site with good reason. It's virtually an ad for the business-friendly reception firms can get in Charlotte and the Carolinas.

With Chinese labor costs rising and American power costs sinking, experts say we can expect to see more Chinese firms setting up shop in the near future.

Charlotte economic developer: Boeing's a 'long shot'

Speaking to a gathering of corporate real estate professionals today, one of the region's top job recruiters said Charlotte is a "long shot" to win the emerging national bidding war for Boeing's planned 777X aircraft manufacturing plant.

Ronnie Bryant, CEO of the Charlotte Regional Partnership, made the comment during a speech at the City Club uptown to the Carolinas chapter of CoreNet Global, a professional group with chapters around the world. Bryant, whose group markets the 16-county Charlotte region to outside companies, said the Queen City is extremely competitive in recruiting jobs in many industries, including aerospace.

But referring to the quest to land the Boeing plant, he said: "I think it's a long shot for this market." Asked for elaboration after the event ended, Bryant told the Observer he didn't know if Charlotte and North Carolina would be able to match the kind of incentives other competitors are offering.

Charlotte is among more than a dozen cities and states submitting bids to win the plant and thousands of good-paying jobs that would come with it. Washington state, already home to a large Boeing presence, has offered an $8.7 billion incentives package to keep the new jobs there. "That's a big number," Bryant said. "We've never approved anything like that."

Gov. Pat McCrory and Commerce Secretary Sharon Decker have declined to talk about the project. Bryant said his group isn't involved. "I don't see it," he said, referring to the chances of Charlotte getting the plant. "But maybe someone sees something I don't see."