Despite a slowing economy, Charlotte’s business community continued to grow in the first quarter, according to a report released Tuesday from the Charlotte Chamber.
There were 282 new businesses or expansions announced in the first quarter of this year, and those firms will create 3,010 new jobs, the report said.
That’s slightly fewer than in the first quarter of 2007, when 286 new businesses or expansions were announced, creating about 3,070 jobs.
This year’s numbers are up from 224 new or expanded businesses in the first quarter of 2006 and 251 in the first quarter of 2005.
Charlotte Chamber researchers attribute the trend to Charlotte’s growing commercial development and healthcare industries.
From: CHARLOTTE OBSERVER – KIRSTEN VALLE
