Jan. 5. For the second time in three years, Business Facilities magazine has recognized North Carolina as “State of the Year” for the record number of investments in the state and jobs created.

Last year Gov. Roy Cooper announced a record number of over 28,300 jobs and CNBC ranked North Carolina as the top state in the country to do business. The governor also made significant investments focused on strengthening the state’s workforce while leading the transition toward a clean energy economy.

BestCo and Sherwin Williams announced new investments in Iredell County last year worth billions of dollars, creating 394 jobs at BestCo and nearly 200 at Sherwin Williams.

“We’ll continue to invest in our talented workforce, transition to a clean energy economy and bring more good-paying jobs to every corner of the state,” Cooper said.

State economic developers at the North Carolina Department of Commerce and the Economic Development Partnership for North Carolina said job and investment totals exceeded records set in 2021.