HICKORY, N.C. — One of the largest employers in Hickory announced Tuesday morning it is moving its corporate headquarters out of Catawba County.
Corning announced it is moving its 2.7 billion Optical Communications Global Headquarters to Mecklenburg County by 2018.
"We want our employees to know that our goal is for 100 percent of our headquarter employees to make this transition to the new building with us,” Isolde Karro, with Corning, said.
For the last year, people across Hickory have encouraged the company to stay put in Catawba County with a Facebook page named Hickory Corning Proud.
Corning began looking for a new location nearly two years ago because of the outdated building in Hickory.
The company said in a news released that the new location will provide:
- Centralized access to Corning's multiple facilities across North Carolina.
- Advantaged access to transportation for customers, suppliers, business partners and thousands of employees.
- Increased access to the specialized talent needed to support future growth into new areas and technologies.
The company said its headquarters in Hickory is outdated and in need of repairs. The new location will be more centralized, closer to Charlotte Douglas and allow the company to attract more people with specialized talents.
Hickory Mayor Rudy Wright believes the move is not a good one for current Corning workers.
"Compacting all of our citizens more and more into fewer and larger cities is best for the quality of life,” Wright said.
In downtown Hickory, some businesses are concerned about the impact on the local economy that struggled to recover from the recession.
"Corning has been here for a long time and they are well established in Hickory. They're customers of mine. They're children go to school here. They have homes here. So it is disappointing,” Alice Guy at Hickory Wine Shoppe said.
Read more top trending stories on wsoctv.com:
- Gastonia teen killed after being pulled into wood chipper
- Officer comforts partner in fallen police horse's final moments
- Guilty plea: Mother starved kids, beat them for saying they were hungry
- CMPD: Woman may have been kidnapped after shooting
- Police: Teens shot girl in arm with pellet gun at Concord Mills
- Great white shark washes ashore at Wrightsville Beach
WSOC
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/LH3JSJEF3VBLRJLJQESEAG34AM.png)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/RLWUO5NO2RGQHCPCQWCV75RR6Q.jpeg)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/6H2DVQ2EGVF5BD3MZQF2K54KIA.jpeg)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/V66CPZK7MZD3VIETADLIFKOHS4.jpeg)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/7WQYQ6GSHVCQFL45SWW3ANDEYE.png)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/JSLON7HYM5FEBBETMIFIKT423Y.png)