VinFast’s 7,500-job promise in North Carolina could have a trickle down effect in the entrepreneurial sector, experts say.
Tuesday, shortly after the Vietnamese electric carmaker confirmed already-reported plans to bring an automotive assembly line to Chatham County, TBJ checked in with entrepreneurial experts and investors who say VinFast - the biggest economic development win in state history - could be a catalyst for even more innovation in the Triangle.
Thom Ruhe, president and CEO of private entrepreneurship foundation NC IDEA, predicts entrepreneurial activity in the supply chain.
“There are going to literally be thousands of suppliers that are going to need to come together to support such a massive manufacturing effort,” Ruhe said. “There’s going to be technology that has yet to be invented that will ultimately make it to the vehicles that will roll off of the North Carolina assembly line,” he said.
Ruhe said he wouldn’t be surprised if “a couple of professors tinkering away in a garage” or a “manufacturer in Hickory” fill a niche for VinFast.
“It bodes well for the future of North Carolina that we know how to make stuff here,” he said.
Lister Delgado, managing partner of Durham’s IDEA Fund Partners, said the 7,500 jobs tied to the project are unlikely to be competition for startups – as most of the Triangle’s entrepreneurs are recruiting tech workers in areas such as software and engineering. He said VinFast is likely to bring an influx of people, which will eventually expand the talent pool startups are pulling from.
But he sees the big benefit as one of branding. “It starts to put the name of the area in the minds of people who are moving,” he said.
Jason Caplain, cofounder of Durham’s Bull City Partners, said it adds another element of diversity to the job pool. For years, he heard concern from people considering a move – if the job that brought them to the Triangle didn’t work out, were there other local options?
“We’re starting to make that happen,” he said.
David Gardner, founder of Cofounders Capital in Cary, said the firm could also present opportunities for startups as a customer.
“More companies mean more customers and a rising tide for the entire area,” he said.
VinFast picked the state over a competing location in Savannah, Georgia.