North Carolinas 2025: A Year of Mixed Fortunes in Business and TechNorth Carolina experienced a busy year in 2025, with significant developments in business and technology. The state added population and made headlines with a futuristic jet company, but data centers became a hot topic of community debate. Well explore some of the key questions and answers from the past year, from battery manufacturing to major tech investments.Lithium battery projects saw a mixed bag of results. Slower electric vehicle adoption impacted some plans, but Toyota shipped its first car batteries from Randolph County this spring, and Green New Energy Materials installed machinery for its battery component factory. However, Epsilon Advanced Materials delayed its plant launch until 2028 due to market conditions.The states biggest jobs headline of 2024, a $1.4 billion sodium-ion battery facility from Natron Energy, unfortunately folded in early September due to falling lithium prices. IBM removed the word diversity from its annual report and changed policies related to executive pay following legal challenges.Apple likely met its initial hiring goals for its Research Triangle Park campus, despite requesting a four-year delay on its timelines. Microsoft kept its data center plans in Person County under wraps, even from local officials. The Amazon unionization effort in Garner failed, but organizers are now focusing on Durham.North Carolina reclaimed its top spot in the CNBC Top States for Business rankings, scoring well in economy and workforce. Governor Josh Stein actively recruited Japanese companies, seeing great opportunity there, though enthusiasm for electric vehicle battery projects has somewhat dimmed since his predecessors term.

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