So where did all those new jobs we’ve gained in the Triangle region come from?

Metrics reported at theState of the Research Triangle Region event Thursday identifies industry clusters producing the growth (80 percent came from clusters the Shape of Things to Come regional strategy targeted in 2009.

Since the mid-2009 launch of strategy, Advanced Medical Care has led all target industry clusters in new investment – accounting for $1.6 billion in announced wealth.

Pervasive Computing – companies weaving information technologies into nearly every aspect of life and work – accounted for the region’s most job-intensive target cluster since mid-2009, creating employment for 6,310 workers. That total includes 400 jobs at SAS. Others growing include Citrix, Red Hat, Bandwidth and more.

Overall, nearly every county in the region has seen activity from the cluster’s 299 expansion and relocation announcements.

Operations related to Biological Agents and Infectious Diseases have drawn $1.14 billion in capital investment since mid-2009 from Novartis, Merck and others.

Highlights from the past year included:

• An expansion by Spuntech, an Israeli manufacturer of non-woven textiles, in Roxboro valued at $40 million;
• An announcement by Denmark’s Novozymes that it will build a $36 million R&D center in Wake County while also undertaking a $31 million expansion at its longtime North American headquarters in Franklin County;
• A $102 million expansion in Johnston County by Novo Nordisk, the world’s largest insulin producer;
• The selection of Harnett County by furniture retailer Rooms-to-Go for a $40 million showroom and distribution center;
• Plans by automotive transmission manufacturer AW North Carolina, a unit of Japan’s AISIN AW CO., LTD., to invest $135 million at plants in Durham and Granville counties;
• A $12 million expansion at auto components maker Keihin Carolina System Technology, a unit of Japan’s Keihin Group, in Edgecombe County;
• A $48 million investment by Japan-based Morinaga America Foods at a new 90-employee facility in Mebane;
• Plans by Italy’s Nutkao, a maker of nut butters, to build a $17 production facility in Nash County, the company’s first-ever U.S. location;
• A commitment by the U.S. Government, announced in a January visit to the region by President Obama, that N.C. State University would lead a $146 million university consortium aimed at commercializing wide bandgap technologies; and
• The re-opening of the remodeled Terminal One at RDU International Airport.

– Reported by Allan Maurer