Wake County Economic Development Project Receives 2009 SPACE Award for Economic Development

Raleigh, NC, March 18, 2009 --(PR.com)-- Ken Atkins, executive director for Wake County Economic Development (WCED) (www.raleigh-wake.org), has announced that Siemens Medical Solutions (SMS) USA Expansion received the Triangle Business Journal’s SPACE Award for Economic Development in the Existing Industry category. This award honors a company that is expanding its operations to the Triangle, creating new jobs and investing in the region. SMS announced in 2008 that it would invest $60 million to expand its Wake County operations and create a training and services headquarters at its Cary campus. The company anticipates that it will add 300 jobs in Cary, with the average salary expected to be $73,000 a year. SMS, which already employs 678 people in Cary, had considered moving all of its new and existing jobs to its headquarters in Malvern, Pa. before making this announcement.

Local economic development partners who assisted in the deal include:

James Sauls, project manager, Wake County Economic Development
Sandy Jordan, economic development director, Cary Chamber of Commerce
Bernard Torain, existing industry specialist, North Carolina Department of Commerce

Triangle Business Journal’s SPACE Awards honor the region’s most prominent economic development projects, most innovative commercial real estate developers and largest real estate transactions for the previous year. All 2009 SPACE Award honorees were recognized at Triangle Business Journal’s SPACE Awards event held on Jan. 29 at the North Ridge Country Club. Attendees included the top commercial real estate executives, economic development officials and service industry executives, as well as Triangle community leaders.

“Siemens Medical Solutions has played an important role in North Carolina’s health care industry,” said Atkins. “I am confident that the company’s decision to expand its Wake County operations will have an incredible impact on our community.”

About Wake County Economic Development:
Wake County Economic Development (WCED), a program of the Greater Raleigh Chamber of Commerce, is the primary economic development organization for Wake County and its 12 municipalities. WCED hosts clients evaluating Wake County for possible facility locations each year and facilitates dozens of corporate expansions, resulting in new jobs and capital investment for Raleigh and Wake County. Services available to companies that are considering relocating or expanding in Wake County include economic and demographic research, site and building inventory searches, visitation itineraries, community tours, corporate executive and employee briefings, employee relocation assistance, and post-relocation services. In both 2002 and 2003, Site Selection magazine recognized WCED as one of the top ten economic development organizations in the United States. For more information about WCED, please visit www.raleigh-wake.org.

Patty Briguglio
MMI Associates, Inc.
(919) 233-6600
patty@mmimarketing.com
PR Firms Raleigh, NC
Real Estate PR

###