TBJ: UAE consul general visits, takes a look at the Triangle

There always seems to be something happening in the Triangle, but Biz perked up July 23 when a tweet from the Research Triangle Regional Partnership zipped by.

Turns out, the RTRP and the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina were hosting the His Excellency Majid Al-Suwaidi, the United Arab Emirates’ Consul General who is based in New York.

RTRP Executive Director Ryan Combs says the UAE delegation visited SAS, RTI International and Centennial Campus at N.C. State University and other places and met with N.C. State Chancellor Randy Woodson as well.

Combs says North Carolina exports to the UAE total $176 million.

“He wanted to use his opportunity here to better grasp the business and university eco-system we have here,” Combs says.

“The Counsel General also discussed potential opportunities for Triangle-based companies to access capital from UAE-based investors.”

The largest city in the Persian Gulf state of UAE is Dubai.

If you want tech talent, the Triangle is a place to be

We’re accustomed to seeing the Triangle at the top of lists, but with the Amazon and Apple decisions looming, a new list on places for tech talent drew the interest of Biz.

CBRE’s annual “Scoring Tech Talent Report” ranked the top of 50 markets in the U.S. and Canada when it comes to both attracting and growing tech talent. And the Triangle landed at No. 8. That’s a good sign for the market as tech companies are increasingly looking for spots where they can find strong employees.

“Strong economic conditions and tightening labor markets are constraining tech talent job growth and increasing costs,” said Colin Yasukochi, director of research and analysis for CBRE in the San Francisco Bay Area. “This has accelerated the expansion of tech talent pools across the U.S. to meet this demand, starting with increased numbers of tech degree graduates. Accordingly, demand for commercial real estate in large and previously underutilized regions is on the rise from both startups and established companies.”