Finance, medicine and high technology have all grown tremendously in Winston-Salem over the past few years, with the service sector surpassing traditional tobacco and textile manufacturing as the city's largest employer. The city is home to numerous major companies that were once small businesses that successfully took risks. Entrepreneur magazine consistently ranks the Piedmont Triad area as one of the nation's best large metropolitan areas for small business.

In downtown Winston-Salem, the Piedmont Triad Research Park has attracted a significant concentration of research and technology-related companies. High-technology companies are attracted to the park due to the potential for interaction with area educational institutions and other high-tech businesses within a world-class research environment.

In August 2002, plans were announced to pursue a major expansion of the Piedmont Triad Research Park in downtown Winston-Salem. The newly expanded park is anchored by a new research campus for Wake Forest University School of Medicine, which brings a significant addition to North Carolina’s "Biotechnology Corridor."

The park will grow to approximately 230 acres over the next 25 to 30 years, offering 5.7 million square feet of lab and office space. Major economic benefits are projected to include more than 27,000 new jobs, around $5 million in annual property tax revenues, and over $2.5 billion in total economic impact for the entire region.

The new research campus will be used for fundamental as well as clinical research and eventually educational purposes. It will be available for a variety of uses, including additional research centers (both academic and private) technology startup companies,laboratory operations, retail businesses and restaurants.

Targacept’s headquarters are located in the heart of the current Piedmont Triad Research Park at One Technology Place.