What You Need to Know:
- Building relationships locally and beyond is most valuable when those efforts continue long after a facility opens, not just during the pre-launch phase.
- Manufacturing growth across the Carolinas is creating real opportunity — and raising understandable community questions. Companies that acknowledge both are better positioned to earn lasting credibility.
- Manufacturers that become part of their communities in a real way — as employers, neighbors, and civic participants — are better positioned to withstand criticism, secure future permits, and retain talent.
Picture this: The announcement goes out. Your company’s name is in the headlines, the economic development officials are celebrating, and the promise of new jobs has the region buzzing. It’s an exciting moment, and it’s also the moment your stakeholder engagement work truly begins.
From announcement through permitting, construction, hiring, and grand opening, the communications demands are relentless. Companies typically rise to meet them. But once the ribbon is cut and regular operations begin, many go quiet –– just when the community is watching most closely to see what kind of neighbor you’ll actually be.
The real test of stakeholder engagement isn’t the launch. It’s everything that comes after.
When Engagement Breaks Down
We see it often – companies invest heavily in communications around an announcement, then again around a grand opening, but go quiet during the long stretch between and after. And we understand why. Getting a facility built demands constant attention: land acquisition, permits and approvals, construction, workforce planning, testing, and commissioning. It’s easy to treat communications as a sprint you run twice. But your community isn’t experiencing your project in two chapters. They’re living alongside it, and watching how you show up throughout.
These scenarios are becoming more common as the Carolinas are in the middle of a manufacturing boom. North Carolina alone announced nearly $23 billion in overall project investments in 2025 — led by EVs and batteries, pharmaceutical manufacturing, and aerospace – spread across 47 of our 100 counties, many of them rural. Meanwhile, South Carolina reported $9.12 billion in capital investment and more than 8,100 new jobs — together representing more than $32 billion in new investment across the two states.
That is good news. It is also the kind of growth people can feel.
A new or expanding facility may raise questions about traffic, water use, housing, schools, infrastructure, emergency services or environmental safeguards. Those concerns do not mean a community is anti-growth. More often, they mean people are trying to understand how growth will affect the place they call home.
Take water use, for example. A manufacturer may communicate clearly during an announcement about jobs, investment, and construction, but once operations begin, residents may have new questions about local water supply, safeguards, and accountability. If the company has gone quiet, those questions can quickly become suspicion. If the company stayed engaged with local officials, utilities, civic leaders, and neighbors, it built trusted channels to explain the facts, hear concerns, and address issues before they become opposition.
Why Companies Need Long-Term Partnerships
This is why showing up consistently to your stakeholders – relational engagement – is not a communications tactic, it’s a business strategy. The manufacturers we work with pursue it for four key reasons:
- Talent. The competition for skilled manufacturing workers is real. Companies that are known and trusted in their communities have an advantage in attracting and retaining the people they need. Becoming an employer of choice starts with being a good neighbor.
- Brand and Trust. Consumers and partners pay attention to where products come from and how companies operate. Being a trusted corporate citizen reinforces the credibility of your brand beyond your facility’s fence line.
- Future Access. Manufacturing companies often return to state and local governments for additional incentives, permits, and regulatory support. The goodwill built through consistent community engagement is the currency that makes those conversations easier.
- Protection. Major manufacturers are frequent targets of criticism from environmental groups and activist organizations, particularly as regulatory environments shift. Companies with deep roots in their communities – neighbors who know them, local leaders who trust them – are far better positioned to withstand those challenges.
When the Real Work Begins
Investing in relationships doesn’t stop once your project is operational. It’s about creating, building, and continuously reinforcing those relationships with all your stakeholders. A relational engagement strategy treats your community as part of your operational strategy, not just a short-term communications audience while you’re getting off the ground.
The companies that get this right don’t just break ground on new facilities. They embed themselves in their communities, becoming not just new and exciting additions, but integral parts of the region’s economic fabric.
As you think about your long-term presence in the Carolinas, ask yourself: Does your stakeholder engagement plan extend beyond the launch? Do you have community advocates who will stand beside you when the news isn’t good? And are you prepared to communicate clearly and confidently when a difficult business decision requires it? E&V Strategic Communications helps manufacturers across North and South Carolina build stakeholder engagement strategies that earn trust before it is needed — and hold up when pressure arrives.