Corporate Relocations and Expansions

For decades, Smith Anderson lawyers have assisted corporate clients relocating to and expanding within North Carolina. This assistance ranges from helping clients obtain the full benefit of state and local financial incentives to navigating the complexities of regulatory, zoning, tax and land use restrictions.

Smith Anderson is a leader in this field, with considerable experience working with state legislators and economic development officials to implement business investment tools such as the North Carolina Job Development Investment Grant program and the One North Carolina Fund. We have broad experience working with state agency officials while representing our clients seeking economic development incentives. Smith Anderson maintains a daily presence in the legislative and regulatory arenas, where we effectively advocate positions of importance to our clients. We maintain close ties to state and local agency officials who are instrumental in the economic development and business recruitment process. The firm regularly counsels clients in tax and corporate planning to obtain the maximum benefits available for corporate relocation and expansion projects.

Primary Services:

• Site Identification and Acquisition
  
• Financing
  
• Environmental Permitting and Regulation
  
• Land Use and Zoning
  
• Business Immigration Issues
  
• Incentives Negotiation
• Tax Analysis and Planning
  
• Legislative and Regulatory Advocacy
  
• Construction and Engineering Service Contracts
  
• Labor and Human Resources
  
• International and Cross-Border Transaction

Additional Services:
The Corporate Relocations and Expansions practice group includes specialists in government relations, real estate, tax, international, environmental and corporate law. When appropriate, the Corporate Relocations and Expansions practice group also directs clients to the other substantial resources of Smith Anderson, including the Construction, Employment and Commercial law groups.

Our Clients:
Our clients include local, regional, national and multinational corporations, and emerging businesses including multinational manufacturing, banking, electronics, biotech, pharmaceutical, telecommunications and contract research firms. In recent years, members of the Corporate Relocations and Expansions practice group have assisted numerous corporate clients in connection with significant corporate relocations and expansions analysis. Our group also has been a leader in negotiating Job Development Investment Grant incentives on behalf of corporate clients. The firm regularly interacts and negotiates with North Carolina Department of Commerce economic development personnel, and similar officials at the local agency level.

Our Lawyers:
The Smith Anderson Corporate Relocations and Expansions team is multi-dimensional and combines many years of legislative, regulatory and commercial law experience. Our lawyers are well connected in the local business community and state and local government circles, and can provide invaluable counsel to our clients on sensitive non-legal issues relating to their local operations. Members of our firm have served as top advisors in statewide political campaigns for both Democrats and Republicans, including candidates for executive, legislative, and judicial branch offices. Team members also belong to various industry and economic development-oriented organizations, including the North Carolina Economic Development Association, the Friends of North Carolina , the North Carolina Citizens for Business and Industry, and the Governor's Business Council . The team includes one of North Carolina's top-ranked lobbyists, a former counsel to the United States Export-Import Bank, a former counsel to the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources, an attorney having practiced corporate law throughout Europe and Japan, and an attorney with prior in-house corporate experience as the former president and chief executive officer of Burroughs Wellcome Co.