The race to rebuild American industrial capacity is creating opportunity — and complexity — at a pace most regulatory and permitting environments weren’t built to handle.
Manufacturing has reemerged as a strategic national priority. Federal investment, reshoring pressure and supply-chain vulnerability have accelerated demand for domestic production capacity in semiconductors, battery technology, aerospace, advanced manufacturing and critical industrial inputs. The competition to attract and retain that investment is intensifying at every level of government.
That momentum is running into real constraints. Major projects are increasingly shaped by whether power is available, permits can move, workers can be found and water systems can support new demand. Those conditions affect where projects land and how quickly they can move from announcement to production.
The trade environment is adding another layer of uncertainty. Tariffs, export controls, domestic-content requirements and shifting import conditions are creating cost and supply-chain pressures before the broader policy picture has stabilized. The companies moving most effectively are not waiting for certainty — they’re engaging early.
Vertex helps manufacturers, developers and investors manage the public-sector issues that shape industrial projects and operating facilities — from approvals and infrastructure commitments to compliance expectations and stakeholder dynamics that can affect a facility long after it opens.
North Carolina Spotlight
- Spruce Pine’s ultra-high-purity quartz deposits are critical to the global semiconductor supply-chain — and Hurricane Helene’s disruption put supply chain concentration risk and the protection of critical industrial assets into sharp national focus.
- North Carolina’s experience with VinFast underscores a harder reality of major manufacturing recruitment: announced investment does not always become operational capacity. The state’s May 2026 lawsuit tied to the Chatham County EV and battery facility shows how missed timelines, incentive exposure, taxpayer protection, and site-control strategy can shape whether major projects move from announcement to production.
- North Carolina’s manufacturing sector shed 7,200 jobs in 2025 — the largest loss of any major industry in the state — even as major capital investments continue arriving. That divergence is reshaping how governments approach workforce development, incentive structure, and the long-term economic returns of large manufacturing projects.
Specialty Areas
- Manufacturing policy, industrial base, and coalition engagement — including federal, state, and local legislative engagement on manufacturing policy, industrial base strategy, workforce legislation, regulatory reform, economic development priorities, national manufacturing associations, standards organizations, federal research bodies, and related industry groups such as NAM, NACFAM, ASTM, ANSI, and NIST.
- AI and advanced manufacturing technology policy — including smart factories, industrial automation, industrial IoT, robotics, machine vision, digital twins, and federal and state regulatory frameworks affecting advanced production systems.
- Funding, incentives, and industrial policy strategy — including the CHIPS Act, IRA, IIJA, domestic production programs, North Carolina’s Job Development Investment Grant, One North Carolina Fund, local infrastructure support, and related federal, state, and local programs.
- Incentive compliance, performance reporting, and clawback risk — including job creation commitments, wage thresholds, capital investment milestones, grant reporting, audit exposure, and long-term compliance obligations tied to state and local economic development awards.
- Industrial site development, transportation, and infrastructure — including zoning, entitlements, land use, easements, rights-of-way, site-access infrastructure, rail and port connectivity, transportation impacts, and community considerations.
- Permitting, agency engagement, and environmental requirements — including NEPA and SEPA review, Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act permitting, NCDEQ Title V operating permits, NPDES compliance, TSCA considerations, RCRA hazardous waste management, CERCLA Superfund considerations, greenhouse gas and carbon reporting, and related federal and state requirements.
- Industrial energy, utilities, and resource constraints — including power availability, water access, utility coordination, large-load tariff considerations, utility rate cases, grid interconnection, transmission planning, onsite generation, power reliability, and grid infrastructure coordination.
- Trade, domestic-content, and federal procurement strategy — including tariffs, Buy American, Trade Agreements Act requirements, FAR and DFARS considerations, Berry Amendment compliance, EAR and ITAR export-control issues, covered technology restrictions, NDAA Sections 889 and 5949 compliance, and defense manufacturing policy.
- Foreign investment, facility location, and national security risk — including CFIUS review, foreign ownership, control, or influence risk, proximity to sensitive sites, supply-chain exposure, and national-security considerations affecting manufacturing investment and site selection.
- Operational technology and industrial cybersecurity policy — including industrial control systems, OT/IT convergence, CISA critical manufacturing engagement, cyber incident reporting, supply-chain cyber risk, and manufacturing security requirements.
- Industrial safety, chemical risk, and emergency preparedness — including OSHA Process Safety Management, EPA Risk Management Program requirements, hazardous materials considerations, emergency response coordination, community risk communication, and facility conditions that can affect permitting, operations, and public trust.
Relevant Regulatory & Government Bodies
Federal
- Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS)
- Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS)
- Economic Development Administration (EDA)
- Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC)
- General Services Administration (GSA)
- National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
- U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC)
- U.S. Department of Defense (DoD)
- U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)
- U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS)
- U.S. Department of State (DOS)
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
- U.S. Senate & House Armed Services, Energy, Commerce, Ways and Means, and Appropriations Committees
North Carolina
- Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina (EDPNC)
- Local Governments, Planning Boards, Municipal Utility Authorities, and Economic Development Authorities
- North Carolina Department of Commerce (NCDOC)
- North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (NCDEQ)
- North Carolina Environmental Management Commission
- North Carolina General Assembly (NCGA)
- North Carolina Office of State Budget and Management (OSBM)
- North Carolina Utilities Commission (NCUC)