State Ends Relias $5.4M Cary Job Incentive After AI, Remote Work Shortfall

North Carolina’s Economic Investment Committee voted March 3, 2026 to terminate a Job Development Investment Grant tied to Relias, canceling up to $5.4 million in future incentive payments after the company reported creating 352 jobs through the end of 2024 while falling short of a 2016 pledge tied to Cary. The committee ended the Relias award as part of a package of roughly half-a-dozen incentive terminations for companies that missed hiring goals or failed to file required reports.

The 2016 JDIG agreement promised up to or more than 450 jobs in Cary; state records and company filings cited by committee staff show Relias reported 352 jobs through 2024 and the company employed about 670 people total at the end of 2024. The projected local economic impact tied to the expansion had been roughly $39 million, a figure now unrealized if the job targets remain unmet.

Sources differ on the exact shortfall. If the target is 450 jobs, the arithmetic gap is 98 positions; a separate state statement noted the company’s 352 jobs figure was "about 71 jobs short of its target for that year," indicating a different contractual target or a phased performance schedule. The committee did not release the full JDIG contract text at the meeting, and staff cited the company’s failure to meet award hiring targets or to supply required performance data as the basis for termination.

Relias has framed part of the shift in hiring outcomes around technological change. Relias’s 2025 report, in a company release on BusinessWire, noted that "many health organizations see AI as a way to improve operational efficiency, while also exposing readiness gaps that highlight the need for retraining." The company did not provide an immediate comment when contacted, and “a company representative didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.”

The committee’s action also included terminations for other firms that missed reporting or hiring obligations. Officials canceled incentives worth up to $2.4 million for Advanced Medicine Partners, a project announced in 2021 that had pledged 200 jobs and a $125 million investment in Durham County and was projected to generate more than $279 million in economic activity; that company did not receive any payments under its agreement after failing to file a required 2024 annual report. Commerce officials also canceled up to $2.2 million for JELD‑WEN’s 2021 expansion in Statesville; JELD‑WEN had received about $74,000 under its 12-year grant but will not receive future payments because it cannot meet the hiring targets set out in the agreement.

The committee’s vote ends future JDIG payments tied to the Relias 2016 pledge and requires state records to be updated to reflect performance and payment status. The termination highlights a policy tension for North Carolina’s incentive program: performance-based grants are anchored to hiring schedules set years earlier even as employers adopt AI tools and remote work models that change local headcount. Committee staff indicated state performance reports will be revised to reflect the terminations, and the Department of Commerce will hold the record of which awards are closed and which remain active.