In 2008, the nation plunged into the deepest recession since the Great Depression. Many businesses went belly-up. Others were forced to make deep cuts in operating expenses and lay off employees.

But in North Carolina three homegrown tech companies defied those trends: Cree, Red Hat and SAS. As other companies cut back, those three companies grew, expanded operations and hired more employees. Each one of them managed to accumulate more than a billion dollars in cash reserves by the end of 2010.

A new WRAL documentary “Tar Heel Titans” examines the success of these three North Carolina companies. In interviews with each company’s CEO, employees and customers, the documentary goes behind the scenes to find out the secrets to their success.

The documentary looks at Cree’s innovations in LED lighting, Red Hat’s role in the world of open source software and SAS’s leadership in the development of analytical software for businesses and government applications. The documentary also looks at what the success of these three companies means for our state’s economic future.

“Tar Heel Titans” is hosted by WRAL News anchor Gerald Owens. It aired March 3 at 7 p.m.

See WRAL's Gerald Owens' complete interviews with Tar Heel Titans' CEOs here.

See WRAL Tech Wire's company profiles for Cree, Red Hat and SAS.