a message from President & CEO, Gary J. Salamido
As we reflect on 2024, it is with immense pride that I present the NC Chamber’s 2024 Annual Report. This year has been one of significant progress and perseverance, marked by successes that strengthen our state’s position as a leader for business and private-sector job growth.
The wins in this report represent a strategic effort, led by your NC Chamber and NC Chamber Foundation, to advance North Carolina’s competitive position on the national and global stage. From driving demand driven solutions to workforce challenges, to making small business health care more accessible and advocating for a science-based approach to environmental regulations, the NC Chamber has continued to ensure that North Carolina remains a top destination for private-sector jobs.
The NC Chamber Foundation exceeded its fundraising goal for the NC Leads strategic plan, securing $7.68 million to support its plan for the state’s long-term economic future, while making significant progress in addressing critical workforce challenges, improving infrastructure, and delivering measurable results that further strengthen the state’s leading business climate.
Your NC Chamber Political Program was instrumental in holding lawmakers accountable and electing champions for business this year, and the NC Chamber Legal Institute continued to be a vital voice in defending and advancing North Carolina's legal climate. Together, these efforts contribute to our shared mission of fostering a competitive, pro-business environment.
These victories reflect the dedication of North Carolina’s business community and the NC Chamber team, and the willingness of elected officials to make courageous decisions in support of business growth.
In 2024, we also pursued new opportunities to extend our advocacy beyond the state level, engaging with stakeholders on Capitol Hill and building international ties to foster foreign direct investment. By strengthening relationships with global partners, we are ensuring that North Carolina remains competitive at home and on the world stage.
The successes highlighted in this report are only possible through the strength of our membership. Your continued engagement, guidance, and support empower us to lead the charge for a prosperous future for all North Carolinians. The NC Chamber is strong because of your commitment to our shared vision.
Looking ahead, we are invigorated by the momentum we’ve built together and remain committed to continued courageous work on behalf of North Carolina’s business community. There is still hard work to be done, together we will ensure our state remains a top place to work, live, and do business.
Thank you for your ongoing support and dedication. I look forward to the opportunities ahead and the continued success we will achieve together.
Our Vision
Establish and maintain North Carolina as a national leader for private sector job growth, making North Carolina a top state in which to work and live.
Our Mission
To research, develop, advocate, and communicate for solutions and policies that produce a nationally competitive business climate in North Carolina.
Research & Develop
Convening, collaborating, and researching to inform long-term policy.
Your state chamber is structured with a bias for action. The NC Chamber Foundation provides a future-focused, long-term plan for the state’s economic future.
In 2024, the NC Chamber Foundation successfully funded its five-year NC Leads strategic plan. $7.68 million has been secured to support the plan, exceeding the organization's $7.5 million goal.
NC Leads’ data-based policy recommendations will secure a thriving future for our state and enhance the quality of life and creation of wealth for all North Carolinians through its three pillars of work: Education and Talent Supply, Infrastructure and Growth, and Business Climate.
In 2024, the NC Chamber Foundation:
- Measured the economic impact of lack of access to high quality and reliable child care as a state partner on the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation’s Untapped Potential in North Carolina report.
- Made significant strides in tackling the health care workforce shortage statewide via the NC Health Talent Alliance, which is 18 months ahead of its goal in achieving statewide coverage with nine pilot programs across the state (five of which are moving into the solutions phase), and surveyed 1,000 health care facilities and 80 health education programs on health care talent supply and demand to inform and develop targeted solutions.
- Hosted a Career Readiness Talent Pipeline Management Academy® in North Carolina training 40 community college professionals and strategic partners in order to better generate employment outcomes for adult students of color and other opportunity populations.
- Launched a new toolkit, developed in partnership with the N.C. Department of Public Instruction, to help employers and industry partners navigate the K-12 public education system.
- Formed a Water Resources & Infrastructure Task Force of cross-industry experts to identify key issues, prioritize needs, and propose solutions to address North Carolina’s water infrastructure challenges.
- Completed phase one and proceeded to phase two of the NC Ag Leads strategic planning initiative, which the Foundation is leading in partnership with the Golden LEAF Foundation, North Carolina Farm Bureau, and Google to chart a course that strengthens North Carolina’s position as a leader for agriculture and agribusiness in the United States.
- Provided $50,000 in grant funding to five chambers of commerce in western North Carolina following Hurricane Helene.
Advocate
Advocating for the policies that move the state forward - in the legislature, with the regulators, and in the courts.
In the 2023 – 2024 Legislative Biennium, 18 pro-business policy measures became law with Chamber support and zero Chamber-opposed, anti-business bills became law.
Top Legislative Wins
- Making a Small Business Health Care Product Viable: Chamber-led legislation to broaden the type of organization that is eligible to offer a health insurance product to its members is expected to pass this year, giving business owners with 2 to 50 employees the opportunity to grow their business while providing high-quality benefits to their employees. This is a major win for small businesses across the state and will be a top priority for the NC Chamber in the year to come as we collaborate with local chambers to connect small businesses with this new resource.
- Child Care – Removing a Barrier to Work: Leveraging the research of the NC Chamber Foundation, the Chamber made the case that child care is a part of the state’s infrastructure that undergirds labor force participation and economic development, leading to rigorous conversations with legislators, child care stakeholders, and the philanthropic community to seek sustainable solutions in support of the child care industry and its workforce. The NC Chamber taking up this issue was lauded by many organizations as the linchpin to moving policy.
- Business Court Appointment – Advancing North Carolina’s Business and Legal Climate: Your NC Chamber Legal Institute and Government Affairs teams coordinated and led the efforts to advance Charlotte Attorney Todd Brown’s nomination to the NC Business Court. Brown was sworn in this fall as a Special Judge to the NC Business Court. As part of our commitment to advancing policies that will enable North Carolina to reestablish a top-10 legal climate, we are proud to support the appointment of exceptional Business Court jurists who often decide cases of critical importance to the state’s business community.
- PFAS – Advocating for a Science-Based Approach to Regulations: As environmental regulations threatened to significantly hamper manufacturing in the state, the NC Chamber worked to educate regulators on the issue and provided science-based evidence of what is realistic, bringing stakeholders together towards a more workable solution.
NC BUSINESS PLAYBOOK: Protecting Our Status as a Top State for Business
The NC Chamber convened 13 organizations representing the aligned business community to develop the North Carolina Business Playbook, a commitment and plan of action to protect North Carolina’s status as a top state in the country to do business.
The Business Playbook identifies five key focus areas for advancing the business and legal climate in North Carolina:
- Protect Our Legal Climate
- Maintain Right-to-Work Status
- Keep Taxes Low and Fair
- Prioritize Workforce Development
- Invest in North Carolina’s Infrastructure
Engaging on Capitol Hill
2024 brought new opportunities to engage at the federal level and to represent you, North Carolina's business community, at home and on Capitol Hill.
- Sent 3 letters to North Carolina’s Congressional delegation and federal leaders.
- Signed onto 11 federal letters with aligned industry partners.
NC Chamber President and CEO Testifies in U.S. Senate Subcommittee
NC Chamber President and CEO Gary Salamido testified in front of the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation’s Subcommittee on Tourism, Trade, and Export Promotion at a hearing on the importance of rural businesses to local economies and the need to ensure they have the tools to compete globally.
FOSTERING OPPORTUNITIES FOR FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT IN NORTH CAROLINA
As North Carolina continues to be recognized as a top state for business, other countries are taking notice. The NC Chamber has positioned itself to serve as a facilitator for chambers of commerce and business associations internationally to build relationships in our state with the goal of, ultimately, increasing investment in people and communities across North Carolina.
In 2024, the NC Chamber engaged with groups representing economies across the globe, including:
- Abu Dhabi
- Colombia
- Liverpool
- Northern Ireland, in which the Northern Ireland Chamber of Commerce and Industry and NC Chamber signed a Memorandum of Understanding, marking the start of a new relationship with both parties committing to work together to promote international trade, investment, and cooperation.
HOLDING LEGISLATORS ACCOUNTABLE DURING THE 2023 – 2024 LEGISLATIVE BIENNIUM
The NC Chamber political program identified 110 Jobs Champions – legislators who voted with our agenda more than 80 percent of the time – in our annual How They Voted publication.
- 32 Senate Jobs Champions
- 78 House Jobs Champions
- 14 Bills Scored in the 2023 – 2024 Legislative Biennium
Electing Champions for Business
Ahead of the 2024 election, the NC Chamber released its 2024 Election Business Issue Guide outlining key issues to consider when assessing a candidate's business-friendliness and their support for growth, job creation, and opportunities for all North Carolinians.
The NC Chamber also endorsed six Jobs Champion candidates who were victorious in very competitive races.
The NC Chamber PAC supported 34 candidates, most of whom were successful in their races.
Protecting THE FUTURE OF North Carolina Agriculture
The NC Chamber launched a grassroots campaign to protect, promote, and revitalize North Carolina’s farming legacy by advocating for farmers’ rights, reducing and right-sizing government regulation, and ensuring a thriving future for agriculture in the state.
In 2024, Our Ag Future voter education efforts across North Carolina
- Secured 1.135 million digital ad impressions
- Delivered 350,000 mailers to households across the state
- Garnered 839,500 earned media impressions
- Earned 2.7 million impressions weekly through physical outreach via billboards and education at the North Carolina State Fair
Protecting North Carolina’s Legal Climate
Advocating also happens in the courts. The NC Chamber Legal Institute was active in a number of cases this year, representing your interests regarding the enforceability of an arbitration clause under North Carolina law, application of tax law as written, COVID-immunity statutes, and more. The Legal Institute has also been instrumental in the Chamber’s efforts to establish a ban on third-party litigation investment in our state.
In 2024, the NC Chamber Legal Institute:
- Stood up for the business community via 5 amicus briefs.
- Published 7 Legal Sidebars taking a detailed look at important court cases and other legal matters impacting North Carolina’s business community
All done on behalf of you, North Carolina’s business community.
More than 700 businesses of nearly every industry and size from nearly every county in North Carolina belong to our statewide chamber of commerce. Our work would not be possible without our members’ continued investment in a shared vision to protect and strengthen the world-class business climate that exists here in North Carolina. In 2024,
- 50 new members joined the NC Chamber
- 22 different industries were represented in our membership
- 90% of members kept their membership active
- 800+ representatives of member companies attended a member engagement event
- 1000+ companies were contacted for membership conversations
This year we significantly increased our opportunities to engage with you, our members.
- 19 member-exclusive roundtables and convenings
- 18 company tours
- 4 Manufacturing Council convenings
- 1 Infrastructure and Supply Chain Council launched
Communicate
Amplifying the voices of North Carolina businesses.
To keep you connected to issues and events that impact your business and make the public and elected officials aware of the business community’s priorities, this year the NC Chamber:
- Earned more than 400 media mentions elevating, supporting, or defending the NC business community.
- Featured news from more than 129 members in our weekly Business Matters newsletter and elevated its social media presence with 2,000 posts earning a total of more than 1.4 million impressions.
- Showcased an NC Chamber record-setting 145 manufacturers in the annual Coolest Thing Made in NC contest
- Highlighted more than 9 manufacturing facilities on our NC Manufacturing Tour, both educating tomorrow’s talent and the general public about the importance of the industry.
- Hosted nearly 6,000 attendees across 39 events for North Carolina’s business community, earning an average 96% satisfaction rating.
- Elevated more than 52 NC Chamber members as speakers and thought leaders through our annual events and webinars.
- Provided more than 340 sponsorship and branding opportunities for members through annual conferences and webinars.
Hurricane Helene Support
Following the devastating impacts of Hurricane Helene, the NC Chamber developed a Hurricane Helene Resource Guide with resources for those affected, as well as ways people and businesses can help, and positive news stories from the recovery efforts.
The NC Chamber also established a coalition of 40 local chambers who are championing initiatives to restore and revitalize North Carolina’s economy, ensuring that businesses can rebuild and provide opportunities for people to earn a living.
To support chambers and chamber foundations that have created business recovery initiatives, the NC Chamber Foundation provided $50,000 in grant funding to five chambers of commerce in western North Carolina.
About the NC Chamber
The NC Chamber works to research, develop, advocate, and communicate for solutions and policies that produce a nationally competitive business climate in North Carolina. For more information, visit ncchamber.com.
® NC Chamber 2024 Annual Report.