Job tussle between states carries on

The Tar Heels and the Gators don't have much of an on-field rivalry in sports, but a battle between the respective states rages in economic development.

North Carolina has scored big in the recession, especially in luring manufacturing and boat building jobs out of Florida. Only late last month, for instance, Donzi Marine announced plans to close a Manatee County boat plant with 40 employees and transfer the work to North Carolina.

But Florida scored the latest victory Dec. 3 when Venice-based PGT Industries announced it would bring hundreds of jobs to Florida previously held in North Carolina, including 300 by the middle of next year. The announcement is part of the window-and-door manufacturer's consolidation strategy.

PGT President and CEO Rod Hershberger says the move will go a long way toward making the company, which cut more than 1,100 jobs in the recession, more efficient and competitive. The publicly traded firm will also receive $600,000 in performance-based subsidies from Sarasota County if it adds 400 local positions over the next five years.

Florida's gain, however, will sting in North Carolina. Local papers in North Carolina lamented the loss of nearly 500 jobs due to PGT closing its plant in Salisbury, north of Charlotte. The loss is magnified even greater considering PGT moved to Salisbury in 2006 after county officials there wooed the company from another Tar Heel county, according to the Triad Business Journal.

Meanwhile, the move did little to jolt PGT's middling share price. Shares mostly stayed in the $2.20-$2.30 range after the announcement, a slight rise from the low $2 a share it traded for in late October and early November.