Op-Ed: North Carolina's role in innovation
North Carolina’s role as the innovation state is becoming more apparent with each passing year. Our state’s elected officials, business leaders, academic institutions and technology minds have united to position the Tar Heel State among the most impactful innovation hubs in the nation.
Tech is changing the landscape of our state and helping us grow, attract more people and build a more prosperous economy that will positively impact all of our residents. A report by the NCTech Association found that in 2021, the technology industry “employed over 290,820 people and workers earned about $37 billion in income in the state of North Carolina.” It also reported that the number of tech occupations grew 28% in the last five years, the fourth fastest in the country. And the annual Tech Innovation Index found that 10 metro areas in North Carolina made the list of top 100 overall tech metro areas in the country.
I’m proud that our business community and elected leaders have come together to ensure our state is leading the way and building an economy that will help all of our families have a better quality of life. Their work has helped attract state-of-the-art companies and talented professionals alike who are building a life in our state, breathing a new life into our regional economies and helping our small businesses and main street stores grow.
And the innovations these companies contribute are part of an ecosystem that helps uplift other businesses -- especially small ones. In the past few decades, technology has been transformative for the small business sector. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce found that 87% of small businesses report increased efficiency due to using technology platforms.
For small businesses, especially for ones that only have a few employees, streamlining even the seemingly smallest processes can be a game changer in terms of saving resources or time allowing business to invest in other areas and grow.
But this isn’t all guaranteed, in addition to our state continuing on the path to support this innovation ecosystem we’ve built, our lawmakers at the federal level have to be careful of the growing threat of China. Not only is China working to undermine the U.S. economy through malicious cyber-attacks and stealing our intellectual property, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is coordinated on an approach to become the most important technology producer and economy in the world. China wants to displace America and for the world to rely on their technologies.
That’s why it’s so important America, and states like ours, continue to lead the way in bolstering America’s technology capabilities and innovation outputs. However, right now, there are a number of misguided bills in Congress that could hurt the growth of technology companies and in turn hurt American communities and American jobs. Policymakers have to understand that over regulating America’s tech sector will only disadvantage the people these companies employ directly and the countless other industries and jobs this sector supports.
Our thriving technology and innovation economy could be at risk if Congress passes misguided policies targeting America’s technology sector. And it would mean China could sweep in and take our spot and all the many economic benefits that brings. We cannot allow countries like China to build the technologies and tech companies that will drive the future. I know North Carolina’s Congressional leaders will continue to do their part to protect America and our state’s innovation ecosystem and avoid bills that could hamper a sector that contributes so much to our growth.
Matt Adams is a business and faith community leader in Gastonia, NC.
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