‘Charlotte is going to be tested like it’s never been tested before’

Posted on 30 Sep 2008 by Justin Ruckman

“Charlotte, once billed as the New New South, rode a wave of banking mergers for the better part of two decades, reaping financial muscle, a steady flow of new jobs and trinkets such as NBA and NFL franchises. Now the party’s not only over, the hangover is roaring.

Or, as state Sen. Malcolm Graham puts it, ‘Charlotte is going to be tested like it’s never been tested before.’ (…)

All those cranes uptown now look more like wrecking balls. Résumés cascade through cyberspace like a ticker-tape parade. Mayor Pat McCrory says the Wachovia scenario lingered in his mind for years because every city faces corporate misery at some point. (…)

If there is a positive in this, it’s that an oft-stated need for looking beyond the usual suspects will, by necessity, become reality.”

Read more by Erik Spanberg at the Charlotte Business Journal.