North Carolina’s German immigrant community is thriving thanks to billions of dollars in investment from Germany
Across the Atlantic, residents of a little-known state are raising steins in German beer halls, enjoying bratwurst and schnitzel in Bavarian restaurants and working for big companies like Siemens and Schott Pharma. They have a surprisingly large German immigrant population to thank.
North Carolina, an east coast state with a rather attractive six-hour time difference from mainland Western Europe, has long been an attractive destination for businesses from Europe and elsewhere. But it has seen renewed interest from Germany in recent years.
Significant German companies almost triple their investment in the United States last year. The $15.7 billion outlay was the result of Germany’s sluggish domestic economy, incentives from Joe Biden’s Deflation Act and a shift in Germany’s longstanding trade relationship with China amid geopolitical tensions and an economic slowdown there.
Much of it flowed to North Carolina, where German giants like Siemens, Daimler trucksand Schott Pharma have invested hundreds of millions of dollars in recent years. Some 109 German companies have invested more than $2 billion in North Carolina over the past decade.
Even the NFL team Carolina Panthers, based in North Carolina’s capital city of Charlotte, will join the partnership when they play the New York Giants in Munich in November, turning longstanding business relationships into cultural ones.
North Carolina’s 2.5% corporate tax will be eliminated entirely by 2030, attracting foreign businesses to the state.
But Anders Victor, director of business development at the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina (EDPNC), points out that the relationship dates back to the 1700s when German settlers migrated south from Philadelphia and resolved in state
“We have had a centuries-long relationship with the German expatriates and now this relationship manifests itself in a very organized and passionate community,” says Victor.
North Carolina’s 2.5% corporate tax will be eliminated entirely by 2030, attracting foreign businesses to the state.
But behind that growing direct investment lies the drive of expatriate Germans and their descendants who bring a unique twist to the state’s workforce. More than 15,400 Germans have immigrated to the state since 2017.
Siemens has helped inspire a thriving apprenticeship program in North Carolina that has increasingly popular across the United States as the value proposition of a college degree declines. State colleges and universities also provide German companies with a highly skilled local workforce in the life sciences sector.
Outside perceptions favored German immigration to North Carolina.
‘Heaven’
Hans Hilgenstock moved to North Carolina in 2004 after moving from San Diego. Originally planned as a short-term move, he quickly fell in love with the state and its large German immigrant community.
Hilgenstock lived a nomadic life before settling in North Carolina. He grew up in parts of Germany before moving to the United States in 2001.
“I moved here thinking I was going to go back to heaven. [San Diego]and I stay because this is paradise, and not just paradise, because everything is perfect. I have everything before me.”
Hilgenstock says he speaks about 80 percent English and 20 percent German on a daily basis. He works as a logistics salesman during the day and interacts with the German- and English-speaking communities in his spare time.
There are a number of traditional German restaurants and beer halls in the state. Hundreds of people will flock to these beer halls on Fridays at 4 p.m., a sign that the traditional European approach to work-life balance is making its mark in the United States.
“You could take this to Germany, where it would be crowded,” Hilgenstock said of North Carolina’s beer halls.
Hilgenstock’s children even attended Deutsche Schule Charlotte, the only German-language school in the state.
In the business world, Hilgenstock noticed a bigger difference that took the average German a while to get used to. One was the meeting culture.
With German companies, calls are limited to 30 minutes and focused on transactions.
“You can talk about price, you can talk about cost, you can talk about product, you can talk about service, whatever it is, you can talk about it.
“In America, I know when I have the same one-on-one meeting, I block out two hours because it could go on for two hours. You talk about the kids, the family. You get to know the person, and it’s not so focused on the sale.”
‘The president made a mistake’
Since 2016, the US political environment has become increasingly toxic as three different Democratic candidates have run against Republican candidate and former President Donald Trump.
Trump’s re-election as President has left Americans scrambling to make alternative plans for where they might live after November 6.
A record number of wealthy and ultra-high net worth individuals in the United States are applying for second passports as a safety net against the prospect of civil unrest caused by the US political situation, with many looking to countries across the Atlantic.
European visa and second passport experts have started notice a mutation in surveys from Americans last year. Some said Luck The prospect of a second Trump term forced them to look for real estate in Spain and Portugal.
Montreal-based immigration experts Moving2Canada say inquiries from Americans about moving north triple after the disastrous debate between President Joe Biden and Trump.
When Hilgenstock first moved to the United States in 2001, he believed that the outcome of an election had little impact on people’s day-to-day lives. That has gradually changed over the past few decades.
“With Obama, that was the first time I saw in the media, people questioning the president, questioning: ‘Is he black? Is he white? Is he Muslim?’ It was crazy. Then we have a former president. Very controversial, doesn’t care about allies, did some good things, some not so good,” Hilgenstock said.
He spoke to a German couple who decided to cancel plans to move to the United States because of concerns about the possibility of Trump becoming president.
“They don’t want to live here with a bad president.”
Hilgenstock said foreign companies in the United States are also concerned about their investments. They are rushing to finalize investments in the state, fearful of reports of significant import tariffs being imposed by the new Trump administration.
State elections are also approaching, with a new governor to be elected in North Carolina in November.
“Whatever happens at the federal level impacts all 50 states at once and can impact a lot of people around the world,” said Anders of EDPNC.
“As a state, we have a relatively moderate record and history, and I don’t think I can envision major changes in how the state governs itself based on our state elections.
Hilgenstock wanted Americans to get passports and explore more of the world. Meanwhile, he wanted Germans to realize that their roots were not as tied to their country as they thought and explore work opportunities elsewhere.
A new wave of young Germans could help attract more foreigners to his North Carolina “paradise.”
