On Thursday, May 5th, The Research Triangle Foundation Board of Directors met and voted to call for the repeal of North Carolina House Bill 2. RTF’s statement on HB2 is as follows:
The Research Triangle Foundation of North Carolina has a mission to support education and create jobs. For almost 60 years the Foundation has done so as the steward of the Research Triangle Park, a place where individuals from all walks of life–from industry, government and university–come together to invent and innovate for a better future.
North Carolina House Bill 2 directly impacts RTF’s mission. In light of the United States Department of Justice declaring HB2 to be in violation of the Civil Rights Act, our state now stands to lose millions of dollars necessary to support our public universities. Overall, HB2 has negatively impacted our reputation as a business friendly state with a great quality of life that is welcoming to all. Therefore, the Board of the Research Triangle Foundation strongly opposes HB2.
RTF Chairman of the Board, Smedes York says, “We stand with RTP companies in opposing HB2. This law makes it very hard for us to compete with other global centers of innovation. It also makes it difficult for our University partners to comply with federal non-discrimination laws.”