To be sure, North Carolina and Charlotte have had their share of recent successes. The city's population is growing, apartment construction is at an all-time high, and new office towers are under construction uptown and in SouthPark. Last year, Charlotte lured Sealed Air Corp., maker of Bubble Wrap, to Charlotte, along with almost 1,300 jobs. Sealed Air, a Fortune 500 company, is set to receive about $43 million worth of incentives.