Concord City Council on Thursday night unanimously approved $744,000 in tax reimbursements for Cadillac F1 to open an engine factory just up the street from Charlotte Motor Speedway, WSOC reported.

• The $85 million facility will create up to 350 jobs, per the Observer. The roles — which range from manufacturing to engineering to research and development — will have an average annual pay of $100,000 to $125,000.

Why it matters: The Formula 1 team's decision to plant its flag in NASCAR country is a testament to the region's deep-rooted racing culture and base of highly skilled jobs.

Details: Construction on the new engine facility at 4295 Defender Way could begin this spring and finish in early 2027, the Observer reported.

• In the interim, Cadillac will temporarily operate from the General Motors facility at 4540 Fortune Way NW.

Flashback: Formula 1 announced an agreement back in November with General Motors to bring GM/Cadillac as the 11th team to Formula 1 starting in 2026, the Observer reported.

The big picture: Formula 1 has seen its popularity in America surge over the last few years, thanks in part to Netflix docuseries "Drive to Survive," Axios' Mimi Montgomery reported.

✈️ Charlotte Douglas International Airport contributed $40 billion to the economies of North and South Carolina in 2023, according to a new study conducted by the Institute for Transportation Research and Education at North Carolina State University. (CLT)

• CLT saw 53.45 million passengers in 2023 and supported 184,400 jobs, per the report.

💰 Equitable Financial Life Insurance Co. in Charlotte and pharma company BestCo in Mooresville both failed to meet the requirements for receiving certain financial incentives from the state. (Observer)

🛍️ Nordstrom Rack will open a new 25,000-square-foot store in the Sycamore Commons shopping center off Independence Boulevard in Matthews on March 27. (🔒 Charlotte Ledger)

⚽️ Carolina Ascent FC, Charlotte's professional women's soccer team, will have all of its road games televised by Cox Media Group's TV 64 (WAXN-TV) and its Spanish language station, Telemundo Charlotte. (🔒 CBJ)

• The channels will show a combined seven matches beginning March 8.

🏆 LaToya Evans, owner of LEPR Agency in Charlotte, is one of six industry professionals who will be inducted into the North Carolina Journalism Hall of Fame in April. LEPR is one of the largest independent Black-owned PR firms in the U.S. (UNC)

If you're on the hunt for a new job, here are 13 to get you started.

• Senior Accountant at Northwood Ravin.
• Accounting Coordinator at Charlotte Country Club.
• Staff Accountant at Charlotte Country Club.
• Director of Development and Communications at Rebuilding Together of Greater Charlotte.
• Director of Marketing and Communications at Classroom Central.
• Accommodations Specialist at The National Board of Examiners in Optometry.
• Video Production Specialist at Gardner-Webb University.
• Social Media Specialist at Laura Park Designs.
• Enrollment Specialist at Bold Music Lessons.
• Sales Manager at Custom Sock Lab.
• Vice President of Culture and Performance - Charlotte Corporate at Northwood Ravin.
• Director of Construction at Rebuilding Together of Greater Charlotte.
• CLT Alliance Foundation Sr. Program Manager at Charlotte Regional Business Alliance.

Want more opportunities? Check out all openings on our Job Board.

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"This is seismic ... I cannot overstate that."

— Colin Duckett, vice dean for basic and preclinical science at the Duke University School of Medicine

The Trump administration's proposed cuts to the National Institute of Health have academic research institutions such as UNC Chapel Hill and Duke on edge, as Axios and the News & Observer reported last week.

Catch up quick: The administration wants to cap "indirect" grant payments, which cover grantees' facilities and administrative costs, at a flat 15% rate, down from an average of 28%.

• This is far below what universities like Duke (61.5%) and UNC-Chapel Hill (55%) — both top-15 recipients of NIH funding, per the N&O — currently have.

Zoom in: Duckett used the analogy of building a car to explain indirect payments. The direct portion of an NIH grant is the amount that funds specific research — think of that as the car components.

• The assembly line — including building maintenance, lab space and equipment, regulatory compliance, etc. — therefore comes from indirect payments. Without this factory and assembly process, no car exists, the N&O noted.

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