Winston Salem

Why Winston-Salem?


Winston-Salem is at the center of the Piedmont Triad Region, a top-40 MSA with over 1.6 million people and a workforce in excess of 820,000. Healthcare is Forsyth County’s largest employment sector with approximately 18% of workers at, or affiliated with, the two major hospitals and the Wake Forest University School of Medicine. Manufacturing continues to be a viable economic sector, employing 9% of the workforce.

Affordability

  • Winston-Salem’s cost of living is 12% lower than the national average.
  • Given the city’s tremendous health care resources, it is an attractive place to live for retirees.
  • The concentration of higher education, advanced manufacturing, healthcare, and data services makes Winston-Salem an attractive place for young people.

Location

  • Located in the heart of North Carolina, Winston-Salem lies within reach of 5 major Interstates, 1-40, 73, 74, 77, and 85.
  • Just over an hour to the North Carolina Mountains and within 4 hours of beaches, the city is perfectly located for quick weekend getaways.
  • Part of the Piedmont Triad, Winston-Salem is within a 30 minute drive to both Greensboro and High Point, NC.

Economic Development

  • The Winston-Salem Metropolitan area is now the 81st largest in the country, supporting a local workforce exceeding 800,000.
  • The top industry sectors in Winston-Salem include Health Care & Social Assistance, Professional & Business Services, and Educational Services.
  • Major private employers in Forsyth County include Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center, Novant Health, Reynolds American, Inc., Hanesbrands Inc., BB&T, Wachovia/Wells Fargo, Wake Forest University, AT&T, Lowes Foods, Pepsi Bottling Ventures, GMAC Insurance, Caterpillar, Liberty Hardware and Deere-Hitachi Construction Machinery.
  • Wake Forest Innovation Quarter is a unique campus-style development in downtown Winston-Salem. This world-class research environment is a collaborative effort between academia, government and the private sector, with developable sites to accommodate up to 300,000 square feet of lab and R&D buildings.
  • Winston-Salem has a large number of resources for higher education, including Forsyth Technical Community College, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem State University, UNC School of the Arts, and Salem College.

Infrastructure

  • WinstonNet is a high-speed fiber-optic communication system that links the schools, libraries, city and county government, medical centers, the Wake Forest Innovation Quarter, and local industry.
  • Winston-Salem lies just west of the major Internet Backbone that traverses the eastern United States.
  • The Piedmont Triad is located at the intersection of the two most traveled interstates in the nation – I-85 and I-40, with Interstates I-77 and I-95 well within reach.
  • The region has one of the largest concentrations of trucking companies on the East Coast.
  • Piedmont Triad International Airport, located less than 30 minutes away, services over half a million passengers every year.
  • FedEx operates a Mid-Atlantic Air Hub at the Piedmont Triad International Airport and a FedEx Ground facility a few miles away, providing strategic overnight delivery services and a competitive advantage for local companies. Both UPS Ground and FedEx maintain regional sorting hubs here with collective sorting capabilities of over 100,000 packages an hour.
  • Local freight service is provided by Norfolk Southern and CSX.
  • Major deep water ports such as Wilmington and Morehead City are within 3.5 hours.

Additional Resources

Winston-Salem Convention & Visitors Bureau | www.visitwinstonsalem.com 
Greater Winston-Salem Chamber of Commerce | www.winstonsalem.com 
City of Winston-Salem | www.cityofws.org
Piedmont Triad Partnership | www.piedmonttriadnc.com
Downtown Winston-Salem Partnership www.dwsp.org
Wake Forrest Innovation Quarter | www.innovationquarter.com