We have expanded the scope and added a partner.

We joined with The Charlotte Observer, our sister paper, to evaluate publicly traded businesses based in North Carolina and South Carolina. In years past, the section we called "The N&O 100" and "The N&O Portfolio" looked only at those with headquarters in the Old North State.

The Carolinas 100 provides a more robust perspective on the businesses in our region and shows how companies in the two states, which often compete to win new jobs, stack up. We considered 131 companies to arrive at the top 100.

Standard & Poor's, a private research firm, provided the list of companies, revenue, profit, market value, stock and location information, pulled from regulatory filings. Reporters from the two newspapers collected employment data.

The section was prepared under the direction of staff writer Jonathan B. Cox and edited by Mary Cornatzer, Business editor, and Alan M. Wolf, assistant Business editor. It was designed by Adelaide Nash and copy edited by Sheon Ladson.

Online producer Bob Brueckner created the interactive database at newsobserver.com (search for "Carolinas100").

If you have comments on this section or suggestions for next year, contact Mary Cornatzer at mary.cornatzer@ newsobserver.com or (919) 829-4755.