来源：《Business North Carolina》 | 作者：Peter Taylor | 2020年2月1日
2007年，吴娟来到被称为“女王之城”的北卡罗来纳州夏洛特，就读北卡大学夏洛特分校的数理金融硕士学位。当时，她确信这只是一个“临时的家”。吴娟成长于中国西部的大城市成都——大熊猫的故乡之一。她笑着说：“我的家乡也是熊猫的家乡。”
她回忆起毕业后的第一次求职面试，对方问她是否计划留在夏洛特。“我当时说，‘不会的，我要尽快搬走。’”她笑着回忆。
在亚特兰大生活了一年后，某种情感让吴娟重新回到了北卡。“我真的很想念夏洛特。”她说，“即使在经济低迷时期，夏洛特仍在快速发展。亚特兰大也在成长，但速度远不如这里。而且，我在这里结交了很多好朋友，那时轻轨扩建项目刚获批，我看到更多机会在夏洛特。”
虽然她的职业起点在金融行业，但最终选择追随父亲的脚步——一位在中国从事商业地产开发的企业家——在夏洛特创立自己的房地产项目。2012年，她在先后就职于富国银行证券和Wachovia证券后，成立了总部位于夏洛特的磐远控股公司（Panorama Holdings）。
“我之前接触的金融资产大多与房地产相关，比如商业和住宅项目。这段经历让我深刻理解了不同资产类型及市场运作机制。”吴娟解释道。
自那以来，全景控股已成为夏洛特增长最快的地产开发商之一，目前项目储备面积超过300万平方英尺，涵盖住宅公寓、办公楼与酒店。
2019年，磐远控股启动了两大重点项目：
- Lumeo公寓：投资5700万美元，拥有314套住宅，位于轻轨大学大道站旁，设有盐水泳池、阳光露台及宠物SPA。
- 磐远大厦（Panorama Tower）：位于Ballantyne Village，楼高14层，集办公、餐饮与酒店于一体，将成为市中心以外夏洛特最高建筑之一，酒店品牌为万豪AC酒店。
吴娟表示，Ballantyne项目充满挑战：“地块很小，只有0.7英亩，我们只能往高处发展。如何在有限空间内融合酒店、办公与餐饮，是个难题，但过程非常有趣。”
除了地产事业，吴娟还积极参与社区与商界活动。她是大学城发展联盟（University City Partnership）董事会成员，并活跃于夏洛特女性地产协会（Commercial Real Estate Women Charlotte）。
吴娟的另一项重要使命，是促进中美商贸交流。她创立了北美华人商会（North America Chinese Chamber of Commerce），与美国商务部及美国驻华使馆合作，吸引并引导国际投资。
她还创立了美国经济发展联盟（American Alliance for Economic Development），为使用EB-5投资移民项目的投资人提供支持。该项目通过外国资本投入、创造美国本地就业的方式，为投资者提供绿卡机会。
“这是一个很好的项目，能吸引外资并创造就业，”吴娟说，“但现在积压严重，等待期超过30年。”
她补充道：“我们成立这个机构，是为了确保这些投资者得到公平对待。”
Power 100 2020: Jane Wu
When Jane Wu moved to Charlotte in 2007 to pursue her master’s degree in mathematical finance at UNC Charlotte, she thought it was only a temporary stop. Wu grew up in Chengdu, one of western China’s largest cities and home to the country’s famous giant pandas. “My hometown is the panda bears’ hometown as well,” she says.
She recalls that in her first job interview after graduation, she was asked if she planned to stay in Charlotte. “I said, ‘Nah. I’m moving out as soon as I can,’” she says, laughing.
After living in Atlanta for a year, something drew Wu back to North Carolina.
“I really missed Charlotte,” Wu says. “Even during the downturn, Charlotte was expanding fast. Atlanta was growing too, but not at the same speed. I had so many amazing friends here. Plus, that was around the time the light rail extension got funded. I saw more opportunities in Charlotte.”
Though she had been working in finance, she decided to follow in her father’s footsteps — a commercial real estate developer in China — and start her own business in the Queen City. She founded Panorama Holdings in 2012 after stints at Wells Fargo Securities and Wachovia Securities.
“All of the underlying assets I worked with were real estate related, like commercial and residential properties,” Wu says. “That experience really helped me understand different asset classes and market drivers.”
Since then, Wu says, Panorama has become one of the city’s fastest-growing developers, with over 3 million square feet of projects in the pipeline, including apartment complexes, offices, and hotels.
In 2019, Panorama broke ground on two major projects:
- Lumeo Apartments, a $57 million, 314-unit luxury complex near the University City Boulevard light rail station, featuring a saltwater pool, sundeck, and pet spa.
- Panorama Tower, a 14-story mixed-use development in Ballantyne Village, which will include an AC Hotel by Marriott, rooftop restaurant, office space, and expanded parking.
“The Ballantyne project was really challenging,” Wu says. “It’s a very tight site—only seven-tenths of an acre—so we had to go tall. Figuring out how to fit a hotel, offices, and restaurant in that space was tough but fun.”
Beyond real estate, Wu is deeply involved in civic and business life. She serves on the University City Partnership board and is active in Commercial Real Estate Women Charlotte.
Another key mission for Wu is bridging business ties between the United States and China. She founded the North America Chinese Chamber of Commerce, working with the U.S. Department of Commerce and the U.S. Embassy in China to attract and guide international investment.
Wu also founded the American Alliance for Economic Development, which supports investors who participate in the EB-5 visa program, a U.S. initiative allowing foreign investors to obtain green cards by funding job-creating projects.
“It was a very good program to attract foreign investment and create jobs,” Wu says. “But now it faces huge backlogs—over 30 years of waiting.”
“We founded this organization because we believe investors should be treated fairly,” she says.
— Reporting by Taylor Wanbaugh, Business North Carolina