By Rebeccah Waff Cope
The population size of the Town of Holly Springs is now five times what it was in 2000, with over 42,000 residents. This number is expected to grow to 52,000 +/- by 2025. The Town’s commercial enterprises are growing too, especially in life sciences developments. As NC biotechnology writer Barry Teeter wrote in a January 5, 2022, article, Holly Springs is “transforming from a tiny commuter town to one of North Carolina’s largest hubs for commercial biomanufacturing.” As Bill Bullock, senior vice president of economic development and statewide operations for the North Carolina Biotechnology Center, put it in a January 12, 2022, video released by the Town of Holly Springs, “A sleepy bedroom community has become a global manufacturing hub.”
The mayor of Holly Springs, Sean Mayefskie, recently said, “The world’s leading companies keep choosing Holly Springs to grow their businesses.” He noted that this kind of “seismic shift in the economy comes from a commitment at every level of government.” This growth was encouraged through a collaborative effort. Mayor Mayefskie noted on March 7, 2022, that the Town had the “most amazing partners” who believed in their mission from the beginning and who “put millions toward expanding utilities,” specifically in the Friendship Innovation Park, which sits along US 1 just a mile south of the I-540 interchange. (https://www.hollyspringsnc.gov/1010/Friendship-Innovation-Park)
In a recent interview with Suburban Living magazine, Irena Krstanovic, the Town of Holly Springs’ economic development director, explained that the Town identified biomanufacturing as a target industry and spent the last two decades taking proactive steps to attract life sciences companies to Holly Springs. The Town knew that their goals aligned with their partners on the county and state levels and with top-notch universities, and if they all worked together they could create a home for innovative companies like Novartis, now called Seqirus, FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies, Amgen and others. “Companies coming to town would not be an island,” she said. “Because of the regional attributes, they would be part of a larger ecosystem.” She went on to say that these collaborations represent “not just jobs and investments. We are getting partners for life who care about the community and its quality of life. They want to sell ‘lifestyle’ and the Town does too.”
Ms. Krstanovic mentioned that these companies employ a wide range of skilled labor and “want to build where talent already exists in the community.” Holly Springs is attractive because of its proximity to three tier-one universities (among other educational institutions) and one of the best community college systems in the country, including Wake Technical Community College (https://www.waketech.edu/), which she called “a jewel.” These life sciences companies are interested in “building a pipeline of skilled people, starting in middle school.” Ms. Krstanovic noted that a collaboration is underway to bring commercial grade labs to Holly Springs High School, so students can gain biomanufacturing experience.
Wake County Commissioner Sig Hutchinson noted in 2021 that “Wake County can provide the highly skilled workforce that life sciences companies need to remain competitive.” He said that Wake County has been able to attract top talent by making significant investments in education, transit, parks, greenways, and the arts to “create a quality of life for our residents that’s second to none.”
One of the most important factors for these companies, according to Ms. Krstanovic, is “speed to market” and flexible building designs is one aspect that has helped them easily and quickly adapt to each business’s needs. The speculative developments underway are versatile in design. For example, The Yield by Charlotte-based developer Crescent Communities is a “200-acre life science campus focusing on biomanufacturing, office, and lab spaces, with retail amenities.” On its website (https://www.theyieldnc.com/), The Yield is identified as a place “where science and real estate collide.”
Located at the intersection of Green Oaks Parkway and Holly Springs-New Hill Road, the Yield’s design offers single-tenant, multi-tenant or multi-story lab and office spaces with room to expand to fit evolving needs. Launched this past February, the first phase of The Yield will offer 250,000+ square feet for a future business.
The Yield is adjacent to two major biomanufacturing sites—the world’s largest flu vaccine manufacturer, Seqirus (https://www.seqirus.com/), and FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies’ planned $2 billion monoclonal antibody plant, the world’s largest of its kind (https://fujifilmdiosynth.com/). A few miles down the road, within Friendship Innovation Park, Amgen is building a $550 million biologics manufacturing plant (https://www.amgen.com/). Mr. Bullock mentioned Amgen as a “flagship company around which the entire global biotechnology industry has been built. Their new presence in North Carolina is a milestone in our life sciences history. The fact that they chose Holly Springs is no surprise, given the ecosystem the community has built, and it solidifies the town’s position as a leader in biomanufacturing.”
The Town of Holly Springs’ future growth in the area of life sciences and biomanufacturing looks bright, especially considering that additional commercial land has been set aside for new facilities of this nature. More growth of this kind is expected to occur in the coming years. Holly Springs has much in its favor, having been named one the best places to live in NC by Forbes in 2017-2019 and one of the best cities in NC to get a job by Site Selection Magazine in 2020. It’s also been named the 5th best place in NC to raise a family, the safest city in NC for six years in a row and was ranked in the top ten places in NC with the most affordable housing.
Downtown Holly Springs received a “Great Main Street in the Making” award and has been recognized as having the best farmers market in NC. The downtown area is experiencing dynamic growth with over 100,000 square feet of retail, office, and restaurant space having been added in the last two years. In September 2020, the Town Council adopted an updated “Downtown Investment Grant Policy” to stimulate downtown development and show their support of the small business community.
Surrounding downtown, and throughout the town, the Town is managing 300 acres of open space; 12.8 miles of open paths and greenways; a 54-acre lake with trails, rentals and fishing; recreational fields; and golf courses. Plus, there’s the cultural center and theater; a community library (part of a world-class library system); and Ting Stadium, a 1,682-seat baseball stadium, which hosted the National Club Baseball Association three years in a row and is home to the Holly Springs Salamanders collegiate baseball team. There is so much happening!
In a recent community survey, 98% of respondents said Holly Springs is a great place to live. Cassie Hack, the Town’s communications and marketing director, told Suburban Living magazine that other communities are always asking what the secret is to the town’s success. “Everyone who lives here understands that it is truly the people who make Holly Springs great—from your friendly neighbors, to the non-profit groups that lend a hand to others in need, to the smart people who planned the best way to grow the Town’s economy while preserving its charm. Who wouldn’t want to live and work in a community where its people are the greatest resource of all?”
