Charlotte is a business location for 306 Fortune 500 companies,including nine corporate headquarters: Bank of America, Duke Energy, Family Dollar, Goodrich, Lowe’s, Nucor Corporation, Sonic Automotive, SPX and Wachovia Corporation. The 15-county Charlotte region is home to 617 foreign-owned firms, representing nearly 70% of the foreign-owned firms in North Carolina.

Charlotte is the nation’s second largest banking center (only New York is bigger), with more than $1 trillion in banking assets. Other important industries in the Charlotte area include insurance, distribution, health care, manufacturing and a wide range of service industries.

Charlotte is the home of the NBA’s Charlotte Bobcats, the NFL’s Carolina Panthers and the WNBA’s Charlotte Sting. The Charlotte Knights are a Triple-A affiliate of the Cleveland Indians, and the Charlotte Checkers are part of the East Coast Hockey League. If you’re a NASCAR fan, the Lowe’s Motor Speedway is just north of Charlotte, in Concord. And, of course, we cheer on our home team, the UNC Charlotte 49ers.

Residents of the Charlotte region also enjoy a variety of arts and cultural resources, including the Mint Museums, the North Carolina Blumenthal Performing Arts Center and Discovery Place. Charlotte-Mecklenburg’s Arts & Science Council is the second-largest arts oversight group in the country.

Charlotte is located in the Piedmont of North Carolina. Our climate is mild and sunny. The beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains are a two-hour car ride away, and the fabulous Atlantic beaches of North and South Carolina are about 3 ½ hours away. Some of the world’s best golf courses are within in few hours of Charlotte.