From left: M&F Bank president James Sills, NC Chamber president and CEO Gary Salamido, and NC Bankers Association president Peter Gwaltney speak on a panel on Jan. 14, 2025 in Durham. (Photo: Galen Bacharier/NC Newsline)
DURHAM — The leader of the North Carolina Chamber had plenty to brag about as he spoke to members at a lunchtime event last week.
The Tar Heel State has continued to see its population and economy grow, attracting major players in key industries. It boasts a standout higher education landscape, keeping new workers in-state for electric vehicle and pharmaceutical manufacturing. And the Chamber even had news of its own — a revamped health care plan for small business members, launching next year.
“We are fortunate in this state,” Gary Salamido, the president and CEO of the NC Chamber, said at the group’s annual economic forecast forum.
But challenges remain — and in the coming weeks, a new state legislative session and presidential administration give North Carolina’s top business leaders the chance to offer new input.
Hurricane Helene, and its destruction in the mountains, left a hub of tourism and business in pieces. And it aggravated a state housing market that is already growing more expensive and facing shortages.
In Washington, the incoming Trump administration is priming industries for government deregulation and mass deportations of undocumented migrants — both of which would have major implications for the economy and workforce.
“North Carolina is in an interesting place,” Salamido told NC Newsline in an interview. “Right now, we have an ability to influence national legislation because of our rise to prominence. So how do we use that? How do we leverage that for thoughtful, middle-of-the-road policies that make that work?”
Immigration and the workforce
Business leaders are preparing for a sea change on immigration policy, with the Trump administration pledging mass deportations of undocumented people throughout the U.S.
Such a move could have major impacts on the workforce, Salamido said. He said businesses and leaders would be talking to North Carolina’s congressional delegation, urging them to find a path that ensures both security and a steady flow of workers.
“There’s just not as many people as there are work right now in a growing state, in a growing country,” he said. “So we have to do both.”
“And we’re having discussions on both sides of the aisle about, how do we secure the border, and how do we put in place a way for people to come in legally and make sure that we know how to do that? I think we can do both, and I think we’re going to see more interest in that than we have previously.”
Helene recovery and aid for businesses
One issue on which officials of all political stripes and from an array of industries agree is that over the coming months, rebuilding western North Carolina is the government’s number one priority.
Salamido referred to Helene as “North Carolina’s (Hurricane) Katrina” — an existential threat to a regional economy, which will need years of investment and attention to recover.
The devil, as always, is in the details. But early signs from Gov. Josh Stein’s new administration — waiving key regulations and hiring on staff to focus on relief — have business leaders optimistic.
“I’m encouraged by what Gov. Stein has already done with his executive orders, the individuals he’s brought in to advise us,” said Peter Gwaltney, president and CEO of the North Carolina Bankers Association. “We’ll be in the middle of that, helping inform that process.”
Jonathan Krebs, Stein’s advisor on western North Carolina, earned particular praise from Gwaltney as he addressed the Chamber and affiliates last week.
“He’s bringing to us all the experience, all the mistakes made, all the lessons learned to help us to do this the right way,” Gwaltney said. “I’m encouraged by that.”
The new House Speaker, Rep. Destin Hall (R-Caldwell), also earned high marks.
“We’re encouraged, because we’ve worked with him before as Rules chairman,” Salamido said. “What’s nice is you’ve got a real lens into western North Carolina, too, because he lives real close out there.”
When the legislature begins work in earnest later this month, it will again turn its attention to state aid for Helene.
Key to that debate is how to help small businesses. But lawmakers disagree on how to do it. Democrats have urged for grant programs — getting money out the door quickly to save a region that’s normally bustling with tourists in the fall.
Republicans in control have opted instead for loan programs — a more cautious step, but one that Democrats have said isn’t suitable to help many businesses.
Salamido said there was room in the conversation for both policies.
“Small businesses are kind of already leveraged out, right?” he said. “They already have the loans in place. So we’ve got to be creative and thoughtful about making both of those products available — looking at the individual, where they are, and that means both, right? One size isn’t going to fit this time.”
The General Assembly has passed three rounds of aid — the latest also being the most controversial, as it most prominently shifted the levers of executive power in state government.
Republican leaders have signaled they will address a new relief bill soon.
“It’s going to require some patience,” Gwaltney said. “Katrina took close to a decade. We need to be ready for a long slog, unfortunately.”
Housing regulations and needs
Helene’s devastation in the mountains exacerbates what industry experts say is an increasingly fraught statewide housing market.
A survey of North Carolina’s housing supply from NC REALTORS and the NC Chamber, to be released next month, found that the median list price in the state had ballooned to $419,000. That’s up from $251,000 in 2020.
Just nine counties had a median list price of $200,000 or less. And the state’s overall availability rate was less than 1%.
“This issue spans all income levels and housing types, including rentals,” said Andrea Bushnell, CEO of NC REALTORS.
Policymakers need to address the issue quickly, she said — before continued state growth worsens the current housing gap. That means reducing or lowering parking requirements, allowing mixed-use developments, and rejecting “the narrative that growth harms neighborhoods.”
Salamido said housing, along with child care, topped the list of the Chamber’s legislative priorities this year.