Guide to Research Triangle Park

Welcome to the All My Sons of Raleigh Moving Guide to Research Triangle Park! Research Triangle Park retains the motto as “The Future of Great Ideas”. Interested in moving to RTP areas including Cary, Apex, Raleigh or Durham? Contact All My Sons of Raleigh for moving services in the RTP area. Research Triangle Park is one of the oldest and largest science parks in the U.S. RTP, as it is known, is located partially in Wake County, with the majority of its parameters within Durham County. The area is considered part of the Raleigh-Durham-Cary combined statistical area.

RTP was created in 1959. RTP was “founded by a committee of government, university and business leaders as a model for research, innovation, and economic development”. The area is a home for researchers, educators and businesses within a close proximity that are able to benefit from joint efforts. The Park is located on a 7,000 acre plot in a pine forest, of which 630 acres have been developed as corporate office space. RTP has drawn comparisons to Silicon Valley. The Park houses over 170 companies with 42,000 full-time tech workers and more than 10,000 contracted employees. Companies range from start-ups to Fortune 100 development companies to university research institutes.

The concept for RTP was formed in the 1950s because North Carolina's per capita income was among the lowest in the nation. The state did not have retention among the graduates of local colleges and universities. Graduates of the state's universities left the state for employment and did not return. Individuals including Robert Hanes, the President of Wachovia Bank and Trust Company; Romeo Guest, a building contractor in Greensboro; Carey Bostian, the North Carolina State Chancellor; and Luther Hodges, Governor of North Carolina urged the assembly of a research park that could attract corporations around the nations to take advantage of the area's intellectual assets. Joined by the three area universities, the Research Triangle Development Council was formed. The Council opted to make the initiative a private effort, rather than a government or state sponsored effort, in order to move more quickly. The Park was envisioned “to encourage and promote the establishment of industrial research laboratories and other facilities in North Carolina primarily in, but not limited to, the geographical area or triangle formed by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, North Carolina State College of Agriculture and Engineering of the University of North Carolina at Raleigh, and Duke University at Durham.” The end goal was “to increase opportunities of the citizens of this state for employment and to increase the per capita income of the citizens of the state.” RTP initially fought against image perceptions due to its southern location, as traditionally, research industries and facilities were found in the northeast and in California. The Committee assembled parcels of land to make up the Park and purchased land for $1.5 million.

RTP is able to capitalize upon its geographic location, drawing upon the higher learning institutes of UNC Chapel Hill, Duke University and NC State University, which provide a consistent supply of scientists, engineers, managers and technicians. The area now has a high-technology research and development Park that has made significant economic contributions to the state of North Carolina. The fastest growing research and science park in the U.S., RTP's residents include Pulitzer and Nobel prize winners. RTP has a population of 1.3 million, with 3 million people within a 60-mile radius of RTP. The average salary among workers of RTP is $56,000, 45% higher than the national average.

The organizations that make up RTP include corporations within the information systems, communications technology, biotechnology and life sciences, and environmental sciences fields. There are also a number of U.S. federal agencies that exist within the Park. The area has companies with 11,000 employees and more, as well as smaller start-up corporations with few employees. Regardless of size, there are many space options within the Park to accommodate all tech businesses. RTP is home to companies including: BASF, Bayer, Bekaert, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Cisco Systems, Credit Suisse, DuPont, the Environmental Protection Agency, Fidelity Investments, General Electric, GlaxoSmithKline, IBM, Merck, SAS Institute, Sony Ericsson, the United States Forest Service, Verizon and Wyeth.

Research Triangle Park has produced products like the UPC (Universal Product Cod) and 3-D ultrasound technology. Additionally, the Park was the location that has discovered Taxol, the anti-cancer drug, as well as AZT, a drug used to fight HIV-AIDS. RTP is managed by the Research Triangle Foundation of North Carolina, a non-profit organization. The Foundation manages the Park and develops regulations to protect the environment of Park.