North Carolina officials are recruiting aerospace and defense manufacturers to the state, while Governor Josh Stein has announced a new statewide advisory council to bolster the state as a premier location for defense research and innovation. Meanwhile, the state is also dealing with the potential opening of a federal immigration processing center in North Carolina, and the collapse of a major economic development project with VinFast, a Vietnamese electric vehicle manufacturer. [... more]

The Vietnamese electric vehicle maker VinFast continues to struggle with a timeline on getting its factory in Chatham County completed, despite initial plans to open in 2023. The company's focus has shifted to Asia, with a groundbreaking on an EV assembly plant in Indonesia and expansion in India and the Philippines. Meanwhile, the Asheville City Council has agreed to eliminate race-based commission criteria for the Human Relations Commission, a move that has been met with both praise and criticism. In other news, the North Carolina State Board of Elections has rejected Sunday voting in two counties ahead of municipal elections, and the state is investing hundreds of millions of dollars in infrastructure for a VinFast factory that may not be built. [... more]