Linux software giant Red Hat will be staying in Wake County, and adding hundreds of jobs. Laura Leslie reports.
Red Hat CEO Jim Whitehurst says his company has settled on Wake County for its new corporate headquarters. The company will add 540 jobs over the next 5 years, in return for state and local incentives totaling around 18 million dollars.
Governor Bev Perdue donned a red hat for today’s announcement. She says North Carolina was up against Texas and Massachusetts in a bidding war for Red Hat.
"This has been an aggressive, aggressive competition. It’s one that I got personally involved in. I did everything but cook him a home cooked meal. I want you to know that."
Perdue says the deal highlights the importance of incentives. Some state lawmakers have said they’d like to scale them back. But CEO Jim Whitehurst says Red Hat would not have stayed in North Carolina without them.