Starting, expanding, or relocating a business comes with a lot of questions. The new Guilford County Economic Development Alliance (GCEDA) website was designed to make finding answers a whole lot easier.

Built to serve businesses starting, expanding, or relocating in Guilford County, the site consolidates incentives, workforce tools, higher education connections, and available properties. If you’re interested in learning more about what this new resource hub has to offer, review ur guide to the site.

What Is the GCEDA?

The Guilford County Economic Development Alliance is a partnership between the Greensboro Chamber of Commerce, High Point Economic Development, and local governments working together to support business growth across Guilford County.

The new GCEDA website reflects a shared commitment to making Guilford County easier to navigate for businesses looking to invest and grow. By bringing information about sites, workforce, education, and incentives together in one place, the site gives companies a clearer starting point and direct access to the resources that can help move projects forward.

What Is Greensboro-Highpoint.com?

Greensboro-highpoint.com is the newly launched website of the Guilford County Economic Development Alliance, serving as the primary online resource for businesses looking to start, expand, or relocate in Guilford County.

The site is organized around four core areas: financial incentives, higher education connections, workforce and talent resources, and a searchable inventory of available buildings and sites. Whether you’re evaluating the region for the first time or ready to make a move, it’s designed to help you find the right resource and contact without having to hunt across multiple offices or websites.

4 Reasons the New GCEDA Site Matters for Business Owners in Greensboro

1. Financial Incentives for You: Real Money on the Table

The GCEDA offers access to two major state-level incentive programs, both for businesses setting up or expanding in Greensboro:

• Job Development Investment Grant (JDIG): A discretionary, performance-based state grant that pays cash directly to qualifying companies for creating jobs and investing capital in North Carolina. Since awards are competitive and not automatic, it’s worth connecting with GCEDA early to understand whether your project may qualify.
• One North Carolina Fund (OneNC): A discretionary state grant that comes into play when Guilford County is competing against other regions to land or keep your project. Awards are allocated to local governments, which then apply them as part of an incentive package, and require a local government match. Factors include job creation, capital investment, location, and regional economic impact.

Keep in mind that local incentives are tied to specific criteria like job creation, capital investment, and targeted geographic zones within Guilford County. Reach out to GCEDA before you finalize your location or hiring plans so you can structure decisions to qualify.

2. Workforce & Talent: The Resource Most Businesses Overlook Until It’s Too Late

Hiring is the number-one challenge for most growing businesses. The Greensboro-High Point region’s talent pipeline is one of the strongest in the Southeast, and the numbers back that up:

• More than 101 people relocate to the Greensboro-High Point region every day
• The regional labor force tops 737,000 workers, with a population of more than 1.5 million within a 45-minute drive
• The region ranks second in North Carolina for manufacturing employment, with more than 96,000 manufacturing workers
• More than 143,000 workers commute into Guilford County from surrounding counties daily

Most of these resources exist whether or not you know about them. The difference is whether you find them in time. The GCEDA’s Workforce & Talent page pulls the region’s labor market data, available workforce programs, and direct connections to GuilfordWorks and state-funded training into one place.

Two resources in particular are worth knowing before you post your next job listing:

• GuilfordWorks (part of the NCWorks system): Serves more than 67,500 individuals annually through nine regional career centers. For employers, that means no-cost access to custom recruitment strategies, hiring events, interview space, and skills assessments.
• State-funded customized training: North Carolina provides employer training programs for companies creating jobs or adopting new technology. Programs can launch in as little as two to six weeks and take place at your facility or a partner campus.

3. Higher Education: 20 Colleges Within Reach

One reason Greensboro’s talent pipeline stays full is simple: there are 20 colleges and universities nearby, with 8 located directly in the Greensboro–High Point area.

Local colleges include UNC Greensboro, NC A&T State University, High Point University, Wake Forest University, Elon University, and Guilford Technical Community College, among others. More than 100,000 college students are enrolled locally, and over 24,000 degrees and certificates are awarded every year.

For business owners, that’s a recruiting advantage. The Workforce & Talent page outlines specific programs that connect employers directly to that student population, including internship and co-op pathways, targeted recruitment through university networks, academic and research partnerships, and employer-aligned pipeline development.

There’s also support for youth and adult apprenticeships, on-the-job training, and B2B introductions for businesses looking to build relationships with institutional partners.

4. Finding the Right Buildings & Sites

Finding physical space is one of the first headaches for any new or growing business. GCEDA maintains a searchable inventory of shovel-ready sites and move-in-ready commercial and industrial spaces across Greensboro and Guilford County.

North Carolina has been named America’s Top State for Business by CNBC three of the last four years and ranks seventh in the country for best state economy according to U.S. News & World Report. Part of that reputation is built on having business-ready infrastructure. The Greensboro–High Point region sits at the center of the state, with strong interstate connectivity and proximity to major markets along the East Coast.

Whether you need a small commercial space, a large industrial facility, or raw land to develop, the GCEDA’s Buildings & Sites portal is the starting point.

How to Actually Use These Resources

Before you sign a lease, post a job listing, or commit capital, visit the GCEDA’s Business Resources section, which is organized around incentives, infrastructure, workforce, and business climate. The team can help you structure plans to qualify for programs you might otherwise miss.

It’s also worth exploring the Buildings & Sites tool before hiring a commercial real estate agent. The searchable inventory of available properties across Guilford County includes shovel-ready sites and move-in-ready spaces that you may not find through traditional channels.

Guilford County: A Burgeoning Business Community

The GCEDA exists to make sure businesses in Greensboro and High Point aren’t leaving opportunity on the table. The new site puts everything in one place so you can connect with the people and resources that can help your business grow.

Explore the new GCEDA website at greensboro-highpoint.com to learn more about the resources available to businesses across Guilford County.