A company in Davidson is relocating 7 miles away after the city of Mooresville and Iredell County commissioners approved $138,000 in economic incentives.

Liburdi Dimetrics produces high-tech precision welding equipment. Its equipment is used in the manufacturing of products in the medical, nuclear power and automotive industries.

It employs 80 people in Davidson. By the end of the year, Liburdi officials expect them to be working at an 86,000 square-foot-building in Mooresville the company is in the process of purchasing.

A Charlotte-based sales and marketing company is moving its headquarters and growing its workforce to 1,000 at a location 3 miles away in Lancaster County, South Carolina. WFAE's Simone Orendain reports.

Red Ventures says it was running out of space and looked at sites in Charlotte, Georgia and South Carolina. In the end, Lancaster County, South Carolina with its incentive package, won out.

Charlotte mayoral candidates Anthony Foxx and John Lassiter talked economic development and transportation Wednesday night in a debate hosted by WFAE and Queens University. Their biggest difference of opinion came over financing a proposed streetcar running through central Charlotte.
Both put creating jobs at the top of their to-do lists. But that's a tall order for anyone in city government.

If you're a fan of This American Life, then you're probably familiar with the work of journalist Sarah Vowell. She contributed to the program for 12 years.

She'll be at a book store in Raleigh this evening. Still, WFAE's Greg Collard was given an opportunity to talk to Vowell in advance of her visit. He learned that she's more focused on books these days, and not just her own.

Sarah Vowell is no longer a regular contributor to This American Life. These days, she's more focused on books, and she's written several.