Is NC still seeking Apple? After 8 months, 'no change' in project's status

It's been eight months since Apple announced it would locate a second campus in Austin, Texas, shocking North Carolina officials actively recruiting the tech company for a rumored expansion in Research Triangle Park.

Posted 6:35 p.m. Aug 13, 2019 — Updated 8:35 p.m. Aug 13, 2019

Tyler Dukes

, investigative reporter

RALEIGH, N.C. — It's been eight months since Apple announced it would locate a second campus in Austin, Texas, shocking North Carolina officials actively recruiting the tech company for a rumored expansion in Research Triangle Park.

Yet, state and county officials have maintained their silence over their efforts to land a deal with the tech giant, and they continue to refuse to disclose any records related to the recruitment process, which could commit millions of dollars in tax withholdings to one of the world's most profitable corporations.

Long after Apple picks Texas, NC officials silent on recruitment efforts

In June, WRAL News reported that the state Department of Commerce still considered the quest for Apple – known internally by its codename, "Project Bear" – an "active" recruitment project. That determination, commerce officials said, allowed them to withhold documents requested by WRAL and other news organizations under North Carolina's public records law.

A company's announcement that it will relocate or expand in a specific location normally makes many of those records public.

But Commerce spokesman David Rhoades told WRAL in June that state officials consider Apple's Austin announcement separate from the ongoing recruitment effort in North Carolina.

Reached by email Tuesday, Rhoades said "there’s no change in status to report at this time."

Open government advocates have called state's position a "dangerous precedent," fearing that officials are abusing existing exemptions in state law to prevent public disclosure indefinitely.

Despite that concern, the clock has continued to run on the Apple project: the company announced nearly two years ago – back in January 2018 – that it was pursuing an expansion in the U.S. that would create 20,000 jobs over the next five years.

Apple officials did not respond to requests for comment Tuesday.

In an email Tuesday, Wake County spokeswoman Dara Demi refused to provide any records about what the county may be offering the company for locating operations there, saying the release of such information "could harm negotiations between the company and the state."

"Wake County is not the lead entity in the recruitment of Project Bear," Demi said. "The State of North Carolina has instructed us that the recruitment is still an active project."

Sadie Weiner, Gov. Roy Cooper's chief spokeswoman, did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday. Cooper's office oversees the commerce department and its recruitment efforts in the state.

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