A Well-Connected County
Wilson County, whose population nears 90,000 residents, is only an hour’s drive to RDU International Airport, which means residents and businesses can access metropolitan areas easily. It’s also home to almost one hundred manufacturers, a large agri-business presence, growing businesses, and an array of local attractions.
Wilson County Data
Major Employers
Noteworthy Characteristics
Life sciences is an industry that excels in Wilson County. Among the bio-pharma companies with major operations in the area are Fresenius Kabi, Merck, Purdue and Sandoz. Together they employ more than 1,000 workers.
Original home of the Branch Banking Company, known today as BB&T, one of the largest banks in the southeastern U.S., which maintains a 2,000-person workforce in Wilson County.
Approximately 22% of the county’s well-trained workforce is employed in manufacturing – its most job-rich sector.
Presence of established industrial giants such as Bridgestone/Firestone, packaging solutions leader Ardagh Group, and United Technologies Aerospace Systems, a provider of fire detection and suppression equipment for defense and commercial aircraft.
A $35 million fiber optic network available to all residents and businesses, the first-of-its-kind system in NC, was installed in the city of Wilson and accommodates connections of up to a Gigabit per second.
Productive soils account for much of North Carolina’s production of sweet potatoes, flue-cured tobacco, and ornamental plants.
Available Sites
Infrastructure and Accessibility
Both CSX and Norfolk-Southern provide mainline rail service through Wilson County.
The presence of I-95, I-795 and interstate-quality U.S. Highway 264/future I-587 puts companies within quick reach of workers, suppliers, customers, and business partners around the East Coast.
With an abundant water and natural gas supply, the county can serve any size industrial client.
North Carolina’s Global TransPark is only 35 miles south, and deep-water ports in Charleston, Norfolk, Morehead City, and Wilmington are two to four hours away.
Wilson Community College offers college-transfer, technical, and lifelong learning programs that meet the needs of students and employers, and the Wilson Academy of Applied Technology supplies a steady stream of workers.
Barton College, a fully accredited liberal arts college founded in 1902, enrolls about 1,200 students across business, behavioral science, nursing, and other curricula.
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Connect with Wilson County
Interested in learning more about Wilson County? Click to connect with their economic development team.