Across the country, more business leaders are taking a hard look at where they operate and realizing that high costs, heavy regulation, and limited room for growth are holding them back.
Brunswick County has emerged as one of the most attractive destinations for companies looking to expand or move from high-tax, high-regulation states. With a combination of low business costs, robust infrastructure, a skilled workforce, and an unbeatable quality of life, Brunswick County offers a rare opportunity to build your future in a place where business and lifestyle thrive side by side.
A Climate Built for Business
North Carolina is already one of the most business-friendly states in the nation. The corporate tax rate — the lowest in the country at 2.5% — is on track to be 0% by 2029, making it even more competitive for companies that value long-term financial stability and growth.
That’s one reason CNBC ranked North Carolina #1 in its “Top States for Business”, while Site Selection Magazine named it #2 in the nation for Business Climate. For companies leaving high-cost states such as New York, California, or Texas, those numbers tell a clear story: North Carolina provides the conditions that businesses need to succeed.
Brunswick County, located on the southeastern coast, combines these advantages with local leadership focused on helping businesses start, expand, or relocate efficiently. The Brunswick Business & Industry Development (BBID) team works side by side with companies to ensure a smooth transition, from finding land and navigating permits to connecting with workforce programs and community resources.
The Infrastructure Question? Brunswick Has Answers
Let’s be honest, when a company starts seriously looking at relocation, the first thing anyone pulls up is a map. Can we get product in and out? How far are we from our markets? Where is the nearest airport?
Brunswick County has been answering those questions for a while now, and the answers are good.
You’re a short drive from the Port of Wilmington, which has been growing fast and still manages to avoid the bottlenecks that plague bigger ports up and down the coast. For freight on rails, CSX connects you straight into the Southeast. Need to drive to local markets? Highways 17, 74/76, and 87 will get your trucks to Charlotte, Raleigh, or Atlanta without much drama. Wilmington International Airport handles commercial flights, there are regional options for private, and if you need a major hub, you’re a few hours out at most.
What doesn’t come up as often but probably should is everything underneath the surface. Brunswick County has put serious money into water and sewer infrastructure, broadband, and land availability. That’s the boring stuff, but it’s what actually determines whether your operation runs well five years in or whether you’re constantly fighting capacity issues.
Wherever you’re coming from, and whatever you’re building — a headquarters, a distribution center, a production facility — the bones are here.
The People Are Here, and More Are Coming
Talent is usually the wildcard in any relocation decision. Brunswick County is in a good spot on that front, and it’s getting better.
The regional workforce runs over 200,000 people, and the population has been growing steadily: not just retirees, but working professionals who are choosing this area because of what it offers outside of the office too. That matters when you’re trying to hire and retain people over the long haul.
UNC Wilmington and Brunswick Community College are both close by, but more than that, they are actively involved in building pipelines for the industries coming into the area. Advanced manufacturing, logistics, healthcare, tech, and renewable energy; these aren’t afterthoughts in the curriculum. If you need workers trained to a specific standard, there are real programs to make that happen.
BBID also works directly with state and regional workforce development programs, which means if you’re relocating, you’re not starting from scratch. There are people whose job it is to help you get the workforce you need.
The short version: the workforce is here, it’s growing, and there’s genuine infrastructure behind it, not just a talking point in a brochure.
A Place People Don’t Mind Moving To
When companies relocate, the hardest part is often convincing key employees to come with them.
Brunswick County makes that conversation easier. It offers coastal access, welcoming neighborhoods, and a slower pace without feeling disconnected. You can leave the office and be near the water in minutes. You can own a home without stretching your wallet beyond reason. You can spend less time in traffic and more time doing literally anything else.
For many teams, that balance is hard to find elsewhere, and harder to leave once they’ve experienced it.
Space to Build. People Who Help You Do It.
Finding the right site is usually where relocations get complicated. You need acreage, you need utilities already in the ground, you need zoning that won’t fight you, and you need room to expand three years from now when things are going better than expected. That combination is genuinely hard to find.
Brunswick has it. The industrial megasites here were built with large operations in mind — manufacturing, logistics, tech campuses — and they’re not rough land that needs a decade of prep work. You can actually build on them, which sounds like a low bar until you’ve spent six months trying to find a site somewhere else.
The Right Move at the Right Time
Relocating a business is a major decision, one that depends on finding the right mix of cost efficiency, workforce, infrastructure, and quality of life. Brunswick County offers that mix and more.
With a pro-business tax climate, world-class logistics, an expanding labor force, and a coastal lifestyle that employees love, it’s no wonder that more companies are choosing to call Brunswick home.
If your business is ready to escape the costs and constraints of your current location, there’s never been a better time to bid on Brunswick.
Start, expand, or relocate your business today. Contact Brunswick BID and build your future on the coast of North Carolina.