IBM rooting for continued growth in the Triangle

"I like to draw an analogy of this area to being a high school student," said Tim Humphrey, IBM's senior state executive for North Carolina. "I was never the popular kid in high school (and) now when I look at this area, when I look at Research Triangle Park, we are the popular kid now. People want to be here, so it's exciting."

Humphrey went to NC State and has been with IBM since 1997, so he's well positioned to take phone calls from companies interested in the Triangle.

"There's lots of inquiries from people who want to know what the area is like, from people who want to source talent here," he said.

IBM is no longer the direct competitor to Apple it once was, when it was developing desktop computers. The companies now, largely, work together to create technology.

"Apple, as a matter of fact, is a great partner of ours. We do a lot of work with Apple to bring the power of apps to enterprise because apps have to work on Apple (products) and we do a lot of that work," said Humphrey.

One quick walk around the IBM campus proves his point -- many IBM employees now use Apple computers. There is no doubt a great deal of enthusiasm for how the area could grow if Apple does end up building a campus in the Triangle.

"If they were to come, I think it would bring more talent. I think any issues that we see whether it be transit or affordable housing are things that we have to overcome."

Apple, which became the first company in the world to be valued at more than $1 trillion this week, reported its quarterly earnings Tuesday and gave no hint on where or when it plans to build its new campus. Sources have told WRAL that the Triangle is the leading candidate, though other media reports have said Northern Virginia has the edge.

Amazon, which has held a far more public search for its new headquarters, has named 20 finalist cities, a list that includes the Triangle. Amazon is expected to whittle that list down to five in the next few weeks.