The prospect of a snazzy new convention center in Raleigh may or may not have influenced the recent surge of new business investment in the Triangle. It couldn't have hurt. But such are the region's economic strengths that even in the midst of a nationwide slump, companies continue to bet on this area as a bright spot amid the gloom.

That confidence in an area anchored by universities, state government and high-tech industry has been on display this summer. According to the Research Triangle Regional Partnership, additional investments exceeding $1 billion have been undertaken by new and expanding businesses hereabouts.

All the fresh capital on the table should generate nearly 1,700 new jobs, the partnership said. And these are the kind of jobs that any community craves -- in fields such as manufacturing, biotechnology and health care.

Four corporate headquarters have moved to the Triangle over the summer, helping lead the new investment wave. At the same time, joblessness has risen. Layoffs in some sectors play a part in that. But a rising number of job-hunters also is taken as a sign of the region's lure among people coming from less-fortunate locales. Success in the economic development arena breeds success, and the Triangle benefits as well from good schools, shopping, cultural activities and other totems of livability.

North Carolina, divided as always between prosperous metro regions and its struggling rural counties and small towns, can hope that the Triangle's ongoing boom brings more widespread uplift. Certainly the state's reputation as a good place to do business is bolstered when companies decide to make a stand here during tough economic times. For those who make the decisions about how the Triangle's communities will cope with their popularity -- the popularity that keeps companies investing and new residents flocking here, with the attendant risks of overcrowding -- the stakes are high. Want to have a convention and talk it over?

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