[mindcrime]

There's no question that A1 gave NC a black eye, and it does hurt. How much it hurts is a different question. My perception, having lived in NC my entire life, and having worked in the RTP area for 12 years, is that talent isn't the major holdup here. There is a ton of talent here, at least on a transitional basis, by virtue of the fact that people come here to attend NCSU, UNC and Duke (all 3 are very well respected and regarded schools) and because IBM, Cisco, GSK, and a pile of other companies have large presences here. The big challenge, talent wise, is to keep the folks who are graduating from UNC, NCSU, Duke, etc., here, instead of moving off to $WHEREVER. Not easy, but - believe it or not - NC has a lot going for it, A1 aside.