In 2008, racing team owner and engineering whiz Gene Haas and NASCAR racing legend Tony Stewart came together to form what would become one of the world’s most formidable racing organizations with Stewart-Haas Racing.
The company needed a state-of-the-art facility to recruit talent that included sports celebrities and all the other various talent it takes to build a race team, and Kannapolis could deliver.
Through the years, their success has led them to add more cars and even expand to become America’s first Formula 1 race team. Mike Verlander, Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing is quick to note that racing is a technology-based industry now, and the area is rich with talent. The development of the City and its downtown revitalization is just one thing that helps attract those skilled employees.
“The area has such a racing heritage—there’s a lot of talent. But the central location and the development of the downtown by the City of Kannapolis is helping our organization attract some of the best talent,” says Mike.
When Covid-19 hit and racing stopped, Stewart-Haas didn’t sit back. They mobilized to help the country and the world. They partnered with Novant Health (a Kannapolis connection made through the city) and used their now-stopped manufacturing facilities to build ICU webcam carts so doctors could interface with patients safely, after they became backordered globally with the start of the pandemic. The city helped get the organization essential worker status.
Mr. Haas also worked with Kannapolis with a company he formed called Zipline, to help set up a drone airport on a parcel of their property, so there could be contactless medical supply drops of PPE to Novant.
“The city is very pro-business and is tremendously interested in working with you, but also doing it in a flexible and nimble fashion. Those are just two real world examples. We really love where we are located and have great rapport with the city and the county. We’re proud to stay here and grow.”
It’s a winning location.
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