{"id":685,"date":"2026-05-21T14:36:43","date_gmt":"2026-05-21T14:36:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=685"},"modified":"2026-05-21T14:36:43","modified_gmt":"2026-05-21T14:36:43","slug":"how-chapel-hill-will-use-parking-to-keep-a-homegrown-robotics-company-downtown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=685","title":{"rendered":"How Chapel Hill will use parking to keep a homegrown robotics company downtown"},"content":{"rendered":"

AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.<\/p>\n

Read our AI Policy.<\/a><\/p>\n

A business incentive approved Wednesday night \u2014 Chapel Hill\u2019s third since January \u2014 again leveraged the town\u2019s newest parking deck to keep a local company growing downtown.<\/p>\n

Read more The Carolina Hurricanes are back in a conference final. Is it \u2018win now or never\u2019?<\/a><\/p>\n

The council approved the incentive 9-0, giving Blue Sky Robotics Inc.<\/u><\/a> up to 30 parking spaces worth about $261,000 and a $57,000 cash grant over five annual payments.<\/p>\n

As an advanced robotics and precision software company working with health care, logistics, manufacturing and hospitality users, Blue Sky has high-growth opportunities, said David Putnam, the town\u2019s economic development director.<\/p>\n

The company\u2019s new headquarters in the Innovate Carolina Junction building at 136 E. Rosemary St. could mark a $1.55 million-plus investment, he said. The building is across the street from the town\u2019s East Rosemary parking deck, which opened in 2024 and has generated lower parking revenues than expected.<\/p>\n

\u201cChapel Hill is the right choice for our business and for our employees,\u201d company founder Steven King said in a news release. \u201cIt\u2019s a place where innovation is a part of the culture, and it has the space that we need to grow. Our team is incredibly excited about what\u2019s ahead \u2014 and truly thankful for the Town\u2019s support.\u201d<\/p>\n

Blue Sky could hire 152 full-time employees over the next five years, at an average wage of more than $77,303 a year. At least 106 of those jobs must pay $70,442 or more, in line with the county\u2019s average private sector wage, according to a staff report.<\/p>\n

The deal could mean more than $2 million in property tax revenues and parking fees for the town in the next decade, Putnam said.<\/p>\n

King, also the company\u2019s chief innovations officer, started Blue Sky in 2023 through Launch Chapel Hill\u2019s Powered by KPMG program, \u201can AI-enabled, next-generation accelerator model.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more 6 bears killed within 2 weeks as home break-ins rise in one NC county, state says<\/a><\/p>\n

He\u2019s also the UNC-Chapel Hill\u2019s Reese Felts Jr. Distinguished Professor of Emerging Technologies and an award-winning journalist, with a master\u2019s degree in computer science.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re on the third cohort of [Powered by KPMG], and so we\u2019re really excited to see these sorts of investments from you all, and partnerships are being fruitful and have rapid turnarounds on return on investment to the town,\u201d Putnam said.<\/p>\n

At least three other cities \u2014 two in Texas and Greenville, South Carolina \u2014 also showed interest in Blue Sky, he said.<\/p>\n

Before the vote, Town Council member Elizabeth Sharp noted the company already hired away an employee from her family\u2019s restaurants. That person recently graduated from UNC with a computer science degree, she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe wish we could keep him, but it is a great opportunity for him, and I love that it means that one of our UNC graduates [stays] in town,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The Blue Sky Robotics incentive is the third parking incentive for economic development approved this year. The others are:<\/p>\n

Read more Walls that will hold up I-40 through Pigeon River Gorge begin to take shape<\/a><\/p>\n

This story was originally published May 21, 2026 at 8:32 AM.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The town's third parking incentive this year gives Blue Sky Robotics credits and funding to expand downtown at Innovate Carolina Junction, boosting local tax revenue and jobs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":684,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-685","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-read-todays-edition"],"yoast_head":"\nHow Chapel Hill will use parking to keep a homegrown robotics company downtown - Durham Moving Hub<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=685\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How Chapel Hill will use parking to keep a homegrown robotics company downtown - 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