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Tuesday, February 11, 2025

Business Handbook: Insights on navigating change from 11 leaders

Profiles were written by: Pete M. Anderson, Kevin Ellis and David Mildenberg


 

Click here to view the full PDF.

Decades of talk about the importance of empowering minority-owned businesses has led to limited success. The gap between black small business optimism is up. Unemployment is low. Inflation remains sticky, but rates have stayed below 3% since July. People aren’t talking as much about the pandemic, although concerns about Hurricane Helene recovery for western North Carolina are top of mind.

Where 2024 had a contentious election, 2025 brings about a new, yet familiar, president. North Carolina’s new governor spent the past eight years as the state’s attorney general. The Democrat will be working with a Republican majority in the General Assembly, but one lacking the veto-proof power of a supermajority.

The past few years have been good for North Carolina in economic growth, with above-average job growth helping make it one of the fastest-growing states, especially around large metro areas. Randolph County will soon reap the rewards of past job announcements as the $13.9 billion Toyota battery manufacturing site is expected to begin production and head toward the expected 5,100 jobs it will create. Visitors are also discovering what makes North Carolina such a great place to live as visitor spending has set records two consecutive years.

To give a snapshot of the state’s economy, Business North Carolina selected statistics for 11 key industry sectors and asked a diverse group of leaders to share perspectives on important trends. The general consensus is that while economic prosperity should continue, there are challenges to navigate.

Scroll down or click on each of the 11 key industries below to view stats and Q&As:

Agriculture | Angie Maier | Raleigh | Valley View Insights
Banking | Harry Davis | Boone | Appalachian State University & N. C. Bankers Association
Biotech and Lifesciences | Doug Edgeton | Durham | NCBiotech
Construction
| George Wang | Greenville | East Carolina University
Energy
| Joe Brannan | Raleigh | North Carolina Electric Cooperatives
Healthcare | Kody Kinsley | Raleigh | (former) N.C. Department of Health and Human Services 
Higher Education | Paul Friga | Chapel Hill | UNC Chapel Hill Kenan-Flagler Business School
Legal | Patricia Timmons-Goodson | Durham | N.C. Central School of Law
Money Management
| David Butler | Buies Creek | Campbell University
Transportation
| Joe Milazzo II | Raleigh | Regional Transportation Alliance
Tourism
| Vic Isley | Asheville | Buncombe County Tourism Development Authority


Agriculture
ANGIE MAIER
Principal
Valley View Insights
Raleigh

Farm aid   ____________________________________________________________________________________________________

North Carolina’s growing population has reduced the state’s farmland. How is the state handling this?

We are quickly headed for a crisis. Having more funding for the preservation of farmland is always needed, but we cannot just rely on payments for land conservation. Preserving farmland is not just keeping productive land from being developed. It also includes protecting the viability of farmland so that it is not adversely affected by growth upstream.

For North Carolina to remain a strong agricultural state while also being one of the fastest-growing states in the country, we will need to be decisive about what smart growth looks like over the next five to 10 years. Developing reasonable policies to protect farmland will require some crucial conversations with stakeholders including homebuilders, commercial real estate developers, local government leaders and the agricultural community.

Over the last year, I have been a part of NC Ag Leads, a strategic planning initiative for the North Carolina agriculture industry. Sponsored by the Golden LEAF Foundation and the
NC Chamber Foundation, with support from the N.C. Farm Bureau and Google, NC Ag Leads has engaged with more than 400 individuals in the agriculture community to identify areas of focus for a strategic plan focused on the longevity of farms and agribusinesses.

Harmonizing land and resource use, such as farmland preservation, was one of the six major areas of focus for NC Ag Leads. The group that worked on this topic has developed some innovative approaches to tackling this problem that includes augmenting the state’s existing Streamflow Rehabilitation Assistance Program to increase stream rehabilitation projects and reduce flooding across North Carolina’s waterways. Another recommendation is for a new program that would provide direct payments to landowners who enroll in “Enhanced Voluntary Agricultural Districts” conservation agreements for farmland preservation. Unlike permanent conservation easements, these agreements would incentivize farmland preservation in a shorter term to stabilize land use in areas that are seeing significant population growth.

Finally, we need a better understanding of what farmland is critically under threat and needs to be kept in production. Not all farmland is equally important in terms of productivity.

Fewer farmers feed more people. Yet, net farm income is forecast to decrease by 6.3% to  $9.5 billion in 2024, from the previous year according to the USDA. Are we seeing a similar trend in North Carolina?

N.C. farmers are not insulated from these national trends. Consumers are paying more for groceries, but that does not mean that farmers are getting paid more for what they produce. Input costs are up, on-farm labor regulations and pay continue to increase, the threat of tariffs looms large and there is no shortage of costly regulations with which farmers must comply. But North Carolina has a geographic advantage. Our ports provide us with the opportunity to further streamline N.C. products by having more value-added production facilities.

In 2023, the General Assembly created a new economic incentive fund called the NC Agricultural Manufacturing and Processing Initiative to encourage the expansion of food manufacturing capacity to better utilize the commodities being produced here. If there is a market, farmers will survive.

Strengthening farmer support systems was also one of the six major focus areas of the N.C. Ag Leads strategic planning initiative. I was co-leader of this group, which contemplated how to ensure that farmers have the support needed to remain both viable and profitable. It became clear that the N.C. Cooperative Extension Service, backed by the state’s two land-grant universities, NC State and N.C. A&T State University, gives our farmers a competitive advantage.

To be able to deliver the services needed by our farmers, Cooperative Extension needs to revise the way that county agriculture extension agents are placed to better reflect what agricultural commodities are being produced in individual counties and areas of the state. In addition to adopting a more efficient and effective staffing model, our group determined that Cooperative Extension needs more funding from the General Assembly. Funding has not recovered since deep cuts were made to the program in 2012.

How does North Carolina convince young people to study agriculture in college?

In the words of British television personality Jeremy Clarkson, “to be a farmer, you need to be a vet, an untangler of red tape, an agronomist, a mechanic, a gambler, a weather forecaster, a salesman, a laborer, an accountant, a midwife, a tractor driver, a tree surgeon and an insomniac.”

But those are just some of the hats worn by the men and women who spend their days on the farm. So much more happens before the earth is plowed and any seed is sown. The field of agriculture is vast, fertile and diverse, all puns intended. The career paths are endless and involve much more than what a young person might expect of a job in agriculture.

Changing the narrative for young people and their families about what a career in agriculture looks like is no easy task. It will require a collaboration between agribusiness, high school teachers and guidance counselors, and our community colleges and universities. Farming becomes more sophisticated by the day. We need to make sure we are recruiting and training the kind of workforce that will be needed in the next five, 10 or even 20 years.

Livestock, dairy and poultry account for almost 75% of North Carolina’s farm cash receipts. That  leads to a lot of manure. What is the industry doing to be good neighbors?

N.C. swine and dairy farms have some of the nation’s most stringent regulations. Hog farms with 250 or more animals and dairy farms with 100 or more animals must operate under a lengthy permit that is 18 pages long with more than 70 different conditions. It dictates how much manure can be applied to a growing crop, and what kind of crop and under what weather conditions that manure can be applied (not when it is precipitating or windy or when a tropical storm or hurricane is approaching), how the manure must be stored, and even what a farmer must do with a bale of hay cut from a field fertilized with manure. The records that farmers must keep to operate under their permits are extensive. Those records are reviewed annually during an on-farm inspection by state regulators.

It is important to remember that manure is valuable. When a farmer can utilize manure as a fertilizer, it reduces or eliminates the need for petroleum-based synthetic fertilizers. But the real value of manure is just beginning to be realized. There are exciting innovations happening in North Carolina that are changing the way that farmers are monetizing manure.

N.C. hog farms are producing renewable natural gas by covering lagoons to capture methane gas. That gas is refined and then injected into the natural gas pipeline. This reduces greenhouse gas emissions, prevents flooding and minimizes odors. Dairy farms in our state are now beginning to add this technology to their farms as well. There are also efforts underway to transform swine manure into a dried, pelletized product that can be commercially sold. Farmers work hard every day to be good neighbors and minimize their impact on their communities by continuous improvement and innovation. agriculture extension agents are placed to better reflect what agricultural commodities are being produced in individual


Banking
HARRY DAVIS
Professor of Finance
Appalachian State University, Boone

Economist, North Carolina Bankers Association

Less home cooking  __________________________________________________________________________________

What is your view of the state’s banking industry?

The number of banks based in our state has declined markedly. Most of that has to do with mergers in which larger banks have bought smaller ones. Because of their size, they can provide services for capital markets and investment banking that gives them another way to make money and help them grow.

In the last 10 years, we have gone down to about 36 state-chartered banks, but there are still about 90 banks that compete in North Carolina. There has been a tremendous influx of banks that want to compete here because of our strong economy.

Pittsburgh-based First National Bank buying Yadkin Bank is a good example of an out-of-state bank that wanted to get to North Carolina.

What has been lost is the smaller banks in the $200 million to $2 billion or $3 billion range.

Now most of the competition is between banks of $10 billion to $30 billion versus the much larger banks.

Do community banks have a future?

They can survive and thrive because they are close to their customers. They also give a great deal back, and they know the small business community.


They make their money making commercial loans and mortgage loans.

But the question is why do we have fewer small community banks? The answer may surprise you. It’s because of succession. When you have three or four people on a senior management team all getting to their 60s, who is going to take over the bank? The investment bankers notice that and say, “Why don’t you sell to Bank A, B or C?” And they
often do.

You get a dividend for selling, and it is much easier to get out rather than putting together new management teams.

There are exceptions in North Carolina such as North State Bank of Raleigh, HomeTrust of Asheville and LifeStore Bank of West Jefferson. It’s just that the number has gotten much smaller.

The ones that have remained have recognized that there has to be a succession plan. You need a middle management group in their 40s and 50s.

Uwharrie Bank is another community bank that has put together a next generation to lead the bank. They will be around for a long time.

Starting a bank has become a rarity, it seems.

We don’t start banks anymore. There are only two or three new banks starting up in the U.S. every year now. There used to be about five a year in North Carolina in the 1980s and 1990s. Now, the total number of community banks keeps going down. Unless we have a new way of starting up banks, we’re going to keep seeing them go down.

I helped start a lot of new banks. But it’s now become so expensive and the regulations are so great. Years ago, the IT person didn’t have to be much of an expert. Now, he has to be an expert. That person can be very expensive. There’s also a tougher regulatory environment, with the government piling on more regulations.

But I haven’t really seen a pushback from anyone in the General Assembly or Congress.

Have regulations become onerous?

We clearly need regulations to make sure our banks are safe and sound. The trick is how much is required to do just that. Some administrations have been more likely to trust bankers to do the right thing. Others have really tried to collar banks.

Many North Carolina banks started because of the model of relatively new banks being bought out at a premium stock price. That became more difficult when regulators raised the capital requirements to start a new bank.

Twenty years ago, a bank could start after raising $6 million or $8 million. Now, it takes $20 million or $30 million. That can be very challenging.

Do you think access to credit is a problem for our state’s businesses?

The banks are out there and willing to do business. First Citizens, Truist, Bank of America, Wells Fargo and the community banks love to lend money. There are plenty of credit opportunities.

North Carolina is a unique banking state. There’s no better leadership than what we have. Bank of America, First Union and BB&T were going national before others thought about it. We have had a very innovative group of leaders.

Hugh McColl did what very few bankers in the U.S. were able to do. The Holding family at First Citizens doubled the size of their bank in one transaction by buying the assets of Silicon Valley Bank. Ed Broadwell was the CEO of Clyde S&L. He turned that rural savings
and loan into HomeTrust Bank.

How will a change in leadership in Washington, D.C., affect the banking industry?

The first Trump Administration appointed people to the SEC and FDIC who were much more likely to be friendly to banks than the people they replaced. That will happen again this time. That’s why the day after the election, bank stock prices went up like crazy. The market clearly believes the regulatory environment will be much kinder and more sensible.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will be reined in, and the agencies that have written regulations at a phenomenal pace will also be reined in. There will be more sensible regulations that come into place.

An example are the Basel 3 rules that will raise the capital requirements for the biggest banks. Trump will never allow that to become law. It is dead in this country.

The more you raise them, the harder it is to provide a good return. Regulators want lots of capital, while many CEOs and boards are willing to take more risks. It’s a tug of war.

Are your students enthusiastic about banking careers?

We had more students interested in banking before the Great Recession. That took the wind out of the sails of the industry and fewer wanted to enter the business.


Now in the last five or six years, it has turned around. We have a very healthy program at Appalachian State. The students are as sharp as ever, and the number applying keeps going up. They are motivated, smart and interested.

We have three endowment professorships in banking at App State: the North Carolina Bankers Association Professorship, the Harry Davis Distinguished Professorship and the Alfred Adams Professorship. We have great leadership at the University and the industry has been very supportive.

How has Hurricane Helene affected the industry in the region?

I know western North Carolina banks that are deferring payments to people who have lost everything. Banks don’t want to foreclose on anything. They want people to succeed, because that’s how a
bank succeeds.


Biotech + Life Sciences
DOUG EDGETON
President, CEO
NCBiotech
Durham

Biotech benefits  _______________________________________________________________________________________

The life sciences industry has been a key growth source for our state. Do you see that continuing over the next decade? Why?

I believe the life sciences in North Carolina will continue to grow throughout the coming decade. Two of the major factors that underpin that growth continue to be strong:
our great research universities and community colleges across the state, and the business-friendly environment created by our municipal county and state leaders. Our universities provide research horsepower and innovation, and our community colleges provide workforce development expertise. The cooperation and collaboration of our government leaders and business community continue to make North Carolina one of the most attractive places in which to expand or locate a life sciences company. Other reasons why the life sciences will continue to be a key growth source for North Carolina are the continuing global demand for new therapies and the need for multiple supply chains. We found during the pandemic that the world cannot depend on single suppliers of anything, particularly vaccines and other drugs, and that this country cannot solely depend on overseas suppliers for our domestic needs. We have many other qualities in our favor, but these are key.

What is the environment for capital raising for N.C. biotech companies? Is there more available capital from the state and Southeast?

The finance centers in the Northeast and Bay Area remain the dominant forces in capital raising. That said, we’re starting to see more funds and firms spring up in the Southeast and even in North Carolina. The environment in 2024 was a bit less challenging than it was in 2023, yet still down from its frothy heights two or three years ago. At NCBiotech, we are proud of the fact that since 2021 we have helped to attract $4 billion of investment for early-stage companies statewide.

The N.C. biotech sector has long had a mix of small and large companies. Are you seeing growth in both sectors?

Yes, we saw that mix continue in 2024. However, we also saw several large biopharma companies with already sizable footprints in the state decide to increase their investments and expand here, including leading companies such as Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies, Novo Nordisk and Amgen. And we’ve seen several large companies make plans to come to North Carolina. Examples include Kyowa Kirin, Reckitt, Nipro, Johnson & Johnson and Schott Pharma. I don’t believe that it’s more challenging for smaller companies. As most venture capitalists will tell you, all good ideas will find money. And we’re starting to see funding for smaller companies loosening up.

What are the key obstacles, in general, for the state’s biotech industry? Labor availability? Regulations?

We don’t focus on obstacles. Rather, we focus on opportunities! On the regulation front, we are grateful to partner with local and county officials, plus the General Assembly, to help reduce or eliminate any r≠≠egulatory barriers that might exist for further investment from life sciences companies. Generally, these companies look for a highly skilled workforce, affordable business operating costs, with easy access to transportation hubs such as airports, highways and ports. We have all that here.

A common question life sciences companies have is if they will find enough talent once they locate their facilities here. Since winning the U.S. Economic Development Administration’s Build Back Better Regional Challenge grant of $25 million in 2022, we have worked with the community college system, the state’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Historically American Indian universities and other local community organizations to expand the capacity of existing biomanufacturing training programs and add new ones. We worked with life sciences companies to expand an apprenticeship program. We also made a dedicated effort to inform people across the state, particularly in underserved and distressed communities and to historically excluded populations, that these training programs exist and that college degrees aren’t necessary to get started in a life sciences manufacturing career. We are already seeing the success of those efforts.

Could you share examples of how the sector is promoting its importance and influence in our state?

We create and take part in many events and other programs throughout the year, all of which help promote the life sciences. We have a limited budget, of course, but we participate in numerous trade shows and conferences, including the big annual ones such as BIO and BIO-Europe. Typically at these events, we partner with other economic development organizations like NCLifeSci, EDPNC (Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina) and other county or regional economic development partners to demonstrate North Carolina’s many advantages and meet with companies to educate them on the strengths and business advantages of being part of our life sciences community. Also, when the state goes on trade missions to other countries, representatives from NCBiotech go along to help recruit life sciences companies.

In the state, we hold or participate in numerous events that shine a spotlight on in-state companies. Our biennial Triad BioNight was in June in Greensboro and featured the winners of our NC Biotech Venture Challenge, a statewide pitch competition for the most innovative of North Carolina’s life sciences startups.

2024 was extra special for NCBiotech because it was our 40th anniversary. Through the support of sponsors, we held a celebration event in September that was attended by approximately 550 people and highlighted the accomplishments of North Carolina’s life sciences sector and our organization since 1984. The evening included amazing recollections from leaders throughout North Carolina who helped us along the way. We even had some truly heartwarming stories told by people whose lives were made better by therapies that were manufactured locally or by training that led to a new career in the life sciences.

How are the state’s higher education institutions stepping up to support the industry? What are some prime examples?

Our larger universities, including UNC Chapel Hill, NC State and Duke, continue to produce top-level research and groundbreaking technologies for which they have become well-known around the world.

Earlier this year, U.S. National Science Foundation announced that one of its first-ever NSF Regional Innovation Engines would be the Piedmont Triad Regenerative Medicine Engine, which is led by the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine (WFIRM, part of Wake Forest University School of Medicine) and includes Forsyth Technical Community College, North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University, the RegenMed Development Organization, and Winston Salem State University.

UNC Charlotte’s CIPHER (Center for Computational Excellence to Predict Health and Environmental Risks) Research Center focuses on genomics and computing technologies as applied to microbiology, biological and human diversity, and health.

Another notable development this year was at NC State, which welcomed a $30 million award from the Bezos Earth Fund to create the Bezos Center for Sustainable Protein there. That center of excellence will be a biomanufacturing hub for dietary proteins that are environmentally friendly, healthy, tasty and affordable.

Our community college system and our HBCUs/HAIUs have been excellent partners in helping prepare people across the state for life sciences careers. They have become essential builders of our talent pipeline for the biotech companies that are locating or expanding here in North Carolina.


Construction
GEORGE WANG
Gregory Poole Distinguished Professor
Chair, Department of Construction Management
East Carolina University, Greenville

Structure stature  ______________________________________________________________________________________

What is the state of construction in North Carolina?

The construction industry in North Carolina has demonstrated resilience. However, supply chain disruptions, high material costs and labor shortages remain challenges.

The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis notes North Carolina’s GDP grew 8.2% in 2023, reaching approximately $788 billion. Based on the average of the last three years, construction will account for 4.5% of the state’s GDP in 2024, translating to around $35.46 billion.

North Carolina has about 23,000 construction firms, according to the Associated General Contractors of America. The state ranks as the sixth-largest construction employer nationwide, with 173,640 employees, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

North Carolina’s population is expected to grow to 11.7 million residents by 2030 and become the seventh-most populous state. New business registrations, which set records in 2024, will fuel demand for residential and commercial construction.

Under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, North Carolina will receive about $7.8 billion over five years (2022–2026) for federal highway and bridge funding. An additional $2.6 billion is designated for bridge replacements, public transportation, electric vehicle charging networks and water infrastructure improvements.

How can the industry deal with its challenges?

1. Partner with high schools, community colleges and universities offering construction management programs to address workforce gaps; develop apprenticeship and training programs to attract and retain skilled labor; improve benefits and wages.

2. Mitigate supply chain disruptions by diversifying suppliers, particularly for critical items such as electrical components and HVAC equipment.

3. Embrace technology, including drones and AI-driven robotics, to improve efficiency and reduce costs. Recent advancements include autonomous excavators, robotic machinery for bricklaying and steel assembly tasks and prefabrication techniques.

4. Adopt prefabrication and modular construction methods to improve project timelines and reduce waste. Focus on lean construction, resilience, recycling and risk management techniques.

What are the state’s colleges doing to provide a well-trained workforce?

Four-year construction management programs exist at Appalachian State, East Carolina, N.C. A&T, UNC Charlotte and Western Carolina. Some community colleges also offer degrees in construction management technology. These programs collectively nurture the future construction professionals and workforce for the industry in North Carolina and beyond.

ECU established its construction management program in 1984 and has produced about 3,950 graduates. A notable feature of the program is the Caterpillar and Gregory Poole High Bay Lab, established in 2007, which enhances students’ hands-on learning. The program emphasizes real-world exposure.

Are changes needed to occur to keep N.C. construction workers safe?

Construction remains a hazardous industry, largely due to the “Fatal Four” causes of fatalities: falls, struck-by incidents, caught-in/between accidents and electrocutions. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, construction accounts for nearly 20% of workplace fatalities. The North Carolina construction industry has consistently recorded the highest number of workplace deaths over the past 14 years, with more than 250 fatalities since 2009. In 2021, the state reported a construction workplace fatality rate of 11.5 deaths per 100,000 workers — higher than the average across 43 states.

In a multilingual workforce, addressing communication barriers is essential. Providing bilingual safety training and signage in languages such as English and Spanish can significantly prevent accidents.

How does the state’s housing shortage affect the construction industry?

Affordable housing has not kept pace with the state’s growing population. As of November 2024, the average home value rose to $325,800 (a 2% increase over the past year), while the number of homes sold declined by 2.5%. Compounding the issue, North Carolina has a shortage of nearly 196,000 affordable rental units for its 326,751 extremely low-income households. Many families spend over half their income on housing.

To address this crisis, the construction industry requires targeted support in several critical areas:

Financial incentives

  •   Grants, tax breaks or low-interest loans to developers building affordable units.
  •   Property tax credits for mixed-income and affordable housing projects.
  •   Public and private collaboration with developers to share costs and risks for
      large-scale housing projects.

Public funding and support

  •   Increase funding through programs like HUD and state-specific housing initiatives.
  •   Establish land banks to repurpose underutilized properties for housing development.
  •   Allocate public funds to directly build or subsidize affordable housing projects.
  • Regulatory reforms
  •   Simplify and expedite the permitting process to reduce delays.
  •   Revise zoning laws to allow higher-density developments such as multifamily housing      and mixed-use projects.
  •  Reduce parking requirements to cut construction costs and maximize land use.

Workforce development

  •   Invest in vocational training and apprenticeships for trades such as carpentry, plumbing
      and electrical work.
  •   Provide housing subsidies or relocation assistance to attract and retain workers.
  •   Support policies to employ skilled immigrant labor to address workforce shortages.

Infrastructure investment

  •   Build water, sewage and power infrastructure to support housing developments.
  •   Improve transit networks near housing to increase accessibility and desirability.

Innovation in construction

  •   Promote modular and prefab construction techniques to lower costs and accelerate          timelines.

Community and stakeholder engagement

  •   Reward municipalities that adopt housing-friendly policies such as density bonuses and    inclusionary zoning.
  •   Involve community stakeholders in planning to minimize opposition (NIMBYism)
      and foster support.
  •   Include affordable housing safeguards like rent controls to prevent displacement.

How could the mass deportation of illegal immigrants, a priority for President Donald Trump, affect construction?

An estimated 325,000 individuals may be eligible for deportation in North Carolina. This could lead to labor shortages, increased project delays and higher costs. Small and medium-sized construction companies, which often depend on immigrant labor for cost-effective operations, would be most affected.

Over time, the situation could serve as a catalyst for reform and modernization in the industry.

Encouraging companies to utilize existing visa programs such as the H-2B visa, which allows temporary foreign workers to fill labor shortages. The current cap of 66,000 H-2B visas per fiscal year, divided between two halves of the year, must be increased.

Introducing a specialized visa program tailored for construction workers, like those in Canada and Australia, could create a sustainable labor pipeline. Extending the duration and easing the renewability of such visas would also benefit employers and workers.

While mass deportations pose immediate challenges, they offer an opportunity for the construction industry to transform. By adopting innovative technologies, reforming visa policies and tapping into alternative talent sources, the industry can overcome these hurdles and position itself for sustainable growth.


Energy
JOE BRANNAN
CEO
North Carolina’s Electric Cooperatives
Raleigh

Transition time  __________________________________________________________________________________________

What challenges does the industry face as power generators transition away from fossil fuels?

The greatest risk the industry currently faces is that energy demand is on track to outpace supply, which puts electric reliability at risk. Across the state and the entire country, the demand for power is growing, and at the same time, many plants powered by fossil fuels are being retired. This tipping of the scales is concerning.

As a country, we are adding new generation from renewable energy resources, and that’s important,
but that generation isn’t always available. Renewable energy resources are highly weather-dependent, and because of the variability of their performance, they have to be backed up by firm-generating resources, which include nuclear and fossil-fuel generation capacity.

Natural gas is and will continue to be critical to the energy transition in North Carolina because it is affordable, highly reliable and can be dispatched in real time to meet demand. These characteristics make it a strong complement to renewable energy resources and necessary to support future growth of renewables in our state.

NCEMC’s portfolio is now 54% weighted toward nuclear generation. Will that be even higher 10 years from now?

Nuclear generation is the workhorse of our generation fleet, providing affordable and steady generation 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It checks a lot of boxes in that it
is safe, reliable, affordable and creates zero emissions.

Nuclear generation, as we know it today, is challenging to site and takes a long time to build, which makes forecasting its future role difficult. We will, however, be monitoring advancements in emerging nuclear energy technologies to determine if and when there’s a place for new nuclear generation to serve co-op members
and communities.

While these technologies grow, it will be critical to expand natural gas generation to make sure North Carolina’s homes, businesses and the economy can maintain the benefits of reliable and affordable electricity. 

How are N.C. utility organizations collaborating to ensure a reliable grid?

The opportunities for utility collaboration continue to change and grow through the industry transition. The electric grid was built and expanded over many decades to accommodate large, central station generation and accompanying transmission and distribution infrastructure. Electricity was considered to flow across the grid in one direction, “downstream” to homes and businesses. Only recently has generation been integrated at the distribution system level, dramatically changing the operation of the grid and impacting grid reliability.

Now, there are technologies, capabilities and generation assets, dispersed across distribution systems, and more are being added every day. Think about utility-scale solar, home solar, microgrids and utility scale batteries. Each of these resources has a primary purpose at the site of installation, but they also have upstream impact that can help or hurt reliability.

As a network of electric cooperatives, our goal is for the impact of these distributed energy resources to always enhance grid reliability. Resource visibility and coordination are fundamental requirements of achieving this goal.

We developed a capability called the Distribution Operator that monitors, aggregates and deploys energy resources on distribution grids, providing visibility and coordination with other grid operators. This coordination supports the precise balance of electric supply and demand, which is essential for reliability. Beyond reliability, the Distribution Operator provides cost efficiencies because it can mitigate the need for capital-intensive infrastructure builds.

Are the cooperaties’ efforts in solar power showing strong promise?

Electric co-ops have provided practical solar energy solutions for more than a decade. We got our start with community solar back in 2014, installing the first community solar farms in the state, making solar an option for members whose home or financial circumstances presented challenges.

Now, we have 20 community solar installations at 11 co-ops across the state, as well as 13 solar storage sites and 341 megawatts of utility scale solar and renewables connected to cooperative distribution grids.

We paired solar and storage together to capture the sustainability benefits of solar, while also positively contributing to the reliability of the grid by dispatching the stored solar power when demand for electricity is highest.

Across the network of North Carolina’s 26 electric cooperatives, we share a vision called Brighter Future. This vision sets us on a path to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 while also upholding our members’ priorities of receiving reliable and affordable electricity. Solar energy is a part of this path, and we are balancing it with the flexibility of on-demand resources like batteries and natural gas to make sure we can uphold our commitment to members.

What key lessons are the cooperatives’ learning from its experience with Hurricane Helene?

Our state’s geographic and cultural diversity is met by the diversity of severe weather events that impact the state. Unfortunately, severe weather and power outages go hand-in-hand, and North Carolina’s electric cooperatives are always prepared.

However, the severity of damage to homes, communities and infrastructure was inextricably linked to the geographic characteristics of Helene’s hardest-hit areas. Cooperatives were able to apply the same fundamentals from tropical weather events in eastern North Carolina to the rugged, mountainous terrain of western North Carolina, but the geographical characteristics created an unprecedented level of damage requiring restoration efforts of the same magnitude.

In spite of the challenges brought by this historic storm, one of the greatest strengths of electric cooperatives is the power of the network. Almost immediately, central and eastern North Carolina co-ops moved west to help crews in the hardest-hit areas. In fact, crews from Cape Hatteras Electric Cooperative — a barrier island as far east as you can go — were among the first to deploy. They were joined by every single electric cooperative across our state. Twenty-six co-ops providing line crews, operations support, warehouse and dispatch personnel, as well as materials and vehicles, all worked together during this historic storm.

Every storm presents its own unique and challenging circumstances, and Helene dealt more than expected, but electric cooperatives will always show up for each other and the members they serve.


Healthcare
KODY KINSLEY
Former Secretary,
N.C. Department of Health and Human Services
Raleigh

Plain and simple  _______________________________________________________________________________________

What have been your main priorities as DHHS secretary?

If you were to ask any North Carolinian sitting at home with his family, they would say what they want from their healthcare system is to be plain and simple. It just feels like it is too hard to navigate, too hard to get the outcomes you want. It often doesn’t make sense. You have insurance and you are still paying something. It has all of these complexities. It is like a puzzle.

So what we’ve done at the department over the last eight years, and particularly over the last three years when I’ve been in this seat, is to honor that fundamental wish to just be plain and simple.

Step one was to engage. The health system requires insurance, and we knew we had to get more people insured. Medicaid expansion has been a phenomenal tool to do that. We have more than 614,000 newly insured people with relatively good benefits. Physical, mental, vision, and pharmacy benefits and co-pays that don’t cost more than $4. That’s life-changing for a lot of folks.

Step two is how do we pay more for what drives healthcare. About 80% of what drives health is what happens outside the doctor’s office. So Medicaid in North Carolina is leading the charge. We are doing more than private insurance and any other example by putting money into food and transportation, so your health insurance dollars are going to the inputs that drive health and help poor people.

We’ve seen our Healthy Opportunities pilot program cut emergency department trips and hospital visitations, leading to a savings of $85 per month.

If there is an insurance company that could save $85 a month per member, and you let me spend some of this money on food and transportation, that would be pretty enticing. We are paving a path for a lot of other insurers to follow.

Last but not least, there’s a big investment in mental health, a part of our system that has been forgotten for so long because of the feeling it was a moral failure issue. But if people have uncontrolled mental health issues, then we have higher costs for other chronic diseases, homelessness and jail expenses that the entire state has to bear. It makes sense to put investment in mental health because it lowers the cost on the social services side.

In the last three years, we have put a number of major changes in place that put us on a fundamentally different path for the next several decades. We just need to continue that trajectory.

How did you arrive at that $85 savings?

Almost three years ago, we started the Healthy Opportunities pilot to allow us to pay for food and transportation. We’ve done pilots in 33 counties across the state. Two years in, through April 2024, we found roughly 20,000 pilot participants with hundreds of thousands of services provided. Surveys showed their needs were being met. The number of ED visits and hospitalizations were down with some statistical significance.

If you add the total cost of the program and subtract what we have saved on hospitalization, we were saving $85 a month per person over two years. In insurance dollars, that’s huge. That is so promising that the federal government has approved it to take the program statewide. We need to work with the General Assembly to get the money to get this off the ground.

Why did North Carolina agree to cover weight-loss drugs?

Unlike other states, we decided to cover the weight-loss drugs as part of the State Health Plan. We did that because we spent a billion dollars a year on Medicaid for obesity-related diseases. If  N.C. can shave a couple percent off that, the weight-loss drugs start to pay for themselves.

I think competition will help drive down those costs. In the meantime,
I’m foolish not to try to start to get those savings. In the long haul, by curbing chronic disease and helping people age in place at home we will be better off.

Are you worried about provider shortages?

It’s a pretty uneven problem. Our provider networks have absorbed 614,000 new Medicaid expansion beneficiaries with billions of dollars in claims paid, millions of prescriptions filled, hundreds of millions of dollars in dental services. And nobody has told me from that population that they haven’t been able to get in.

I do not discount that in certain communities there is a struggle to receive care. This is a legacy of a state that has had a 10% to 12% uninsured rate. That was our selling pitch with our Medicaid expansion push.

Particularly in rural communities, if you were a business selling bicycles, and 30% and 40% of your potential customers didn’t have money for bicycles, how did you stay in business? That’s why we’ve seen a lot of providers not moving to rural counties, and why we’ve seen almost a dozen rural hospitals close in the past decade. Medicaid expansion is a fundamental shift to get the fundamentals right to make this better in some of those spaces.

What are key issues ahead for N.C. public health?

The next opportunity to rise to the moment is rural health. Our rural health system of care is driven by two things. One is Hill-Burton hospitals that were built in the early 1900s, community hospitals that are coming due in their aging and investments. But they are deeply tied to the fabric of these communities. They are usually the largest employer. People often associate the existence of a hospital with the presence of health. But sick care is not the same as healthcare. Health promotion and really reducing our dependence on hospitals is the direction we have to be headed.

The second thing that drives public health is the centralization and market pressures that have created a lot of consolidation in the last few years. North Carolina is uniquely positioned with Medicaid expansion and our population growth, diversity and geography to really write a new chapter in what rural health should look like.

It should look like rural centers of care that provide urgent care, maybe only an emergency room and a helipad and community-based workers going door to door to do in-home healthcare.

North Carolina is aging rapidly. We’re growing in retirees as much as we are growing in families. The current model of caring for people as they get older is very dependent on facility-based care.

But we want to reduce the dependence on some of these facilities. That goes back to how do we reduce chronic diseases, and get diabetes and heart disease under control. We want to help people age with grace age in place with their families and communities. Fighting loneliness is another big goal.

Last, I think a big focus area is going to be child welfare. We are one of nine states that has a decentralized child-welfare system, meaning ours is state-supervised and county-run. We have a misalignment of who is the responsible person. We’re seeing growing numbers of kids getting stuck in emergency departments and sleeping in DSS offices, and kids who end up in juvenile justice because they’ve had such a rough childhood experience.

We need more investment for our children. We’ve spent nearly a
billion dollars in the last couple of years, but there’s going to need to be more there.

When you look at the amount of money that the state puts in the child welfare system, we are one of the lowest per capita in the country.


Higher Education
Paul Friga
Clinical Associate Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship,
UNC Chapel Hill Kenan-Flagler Business School Consultant,
Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges

Period of change  _______________________________________________________________________________________

What’s the challenge of getting college graduates ready to start careers?

There was a time when colleges would say, ‘We know what to teach you. We want to teach you how to think. We, on our own, will set all your curriculum.’

Over time, there’s been more connection and relevance to the real world. The rise of business schools and STEM programs, all of those are efforts to get more connections to the real world. They were always around, but they’re growing and that’s because society has said, ‘Yes, we need smart people, who can think and communicate, but we also need to get them working.’

Businesses are looking for some evidence of a student’s ability to jump into a career. At Chapel Hill, students start with two years of general education then go to a particular college program. There we train them with exercises, skills, tools and experiences that help them hit the ground running.

How do students keep up in a fast-paced world?

The New World is all about technology. AI is going to be a huge disruptor, and we’re just starting to see how that’s going to work its way through. Students need the skill to be able to ask the right question, to take a stab at things then refine and dig deeper, check the validity and search for new trends.

Things that historically have been done by people will be done by technology, but you have to elevate the skills of people graduating to leverage that. AI is disrupting what we teach and how we teach. The question for educators is how do we integrate AI better so our students are ready to employ AI tools to better society.

What is a key challenge facing higher education?

Institutions have quite a few headwinds pushing for change, even more than in the past. And institutions, much like individuals, will not change unless there’s a tremendous amount of pressure on them to do so. Why would they change if things are working out for the faculty and students and ultimately for employers, who are hiring the graduates?

One of the forces really pushing institutions to do things differently is the “enrollment cliff” where there’s going to be a 10% to 15% drop in the number of high school graduates over the next eight to 10 years. That’s just because fewer children were born 18 to 20 years ago coming out of the Great Recession. That’s a dramatic decrease in the traditional demand for higher education.

There are also estimates that the number of seats available now is 15% to 20% oversupplied for the current level of demand from high school graduates and adults coming back into higher education. So we’re starting with a period of oversupply. Now we’re going to have a decrease in the number of traditional students coming into it, so that’s going to put pressure on certain segments of higher education that are extremely dependent on enrollments to make their ends meet.

Your top 50 to 100 universities in the country are going to be just fine, but it’s the small private colleges and the regional public universities that are so dependent on enrollment because they don’t have the huge endowments and continual supply for their product. You’re going to see a lot of pressure and competition for the students who are coming in, and financial challenges for the institutions that are losing enrollment.

Making the financial situation worse is economic pressures, cost of operations, inflation, all of that is making things harder. North Carolina won’t be hit as hard in part because of its population growth. In the Midwest and Northeast, they are not only dealing with population shifts going down, but also students wanting to go to different locations for higher education.

I’m not saying smaller colleges all need to lay off employees. Some will need to adjust their business model based on the number of students they have. I think we’ll see some consolidations. They must have a positive operating margin.

If small colleges and universities just cut, they’ll end up in a spiral. They have to transform and transformation doesn’t mean just cutting. It means cut in some areas but grow in others. They have to offer programs, in demand by students, not just programs they’ve traditionally officered or that faculty want to offer.

What happens to the smaller colleges given the declining student head counts?

If there’s a decrease in demand, a big corporation might say, ‘All right, 10% slash, we’re going to cut our personnel costs.’ That’s not so easy in higher education. Part of that is because of their inert nature. It also takes two or three years of lower enrollment to feel those things through.

We’re going to need to see some right-sizing taking place. We’ll probably see some consolidations. Industries would consolidate operations to deal with the fact they have an oversupply and there would be some exits. There are tremendous exit barriers in place in higher education. Alumni don’t want to see their institutions go under; communities don’t want to see their institutions go under.

Every institution, autonomously created, has to build all these costs up independently. If you don’t have enough students coming through, you can’t have enough infrastructure to have a good offering. Sixty percent or more of your costs is personnel and that’s expensive. So you’re going to see some consolidations and some exits, particularly of those institutions with fewer than 1,000 students.

You’re also going to see more collaborations. A small college can’t afford to invest in a new school of data science and society for AI. That would just be too expensive. I think you’ll see an increase in a private system affiliation.

Is there a way to take politics out of higher education?

You don’t ever want it to be someone vs. someone else. If
you have different groups, you need to have discussions about what’s important, how do you define success then see how those discussions align with that particular institution. And you need to be transparent.


Legal
PATRICIA TIMMONS-GOODSON
Dean
N.C. Central University School of Law
Durham

Practice ready  ___________________________________________________________________________________________

How do you help make the university’s law school distinctive?

We strive to make sure that it is an inviting and energetic community. We want to make sure students and faculty feel as if they belong and they are invested. We celebrated our 85th anniversary in 2024, after being created by the legislature in 1939.

At the time, African-American students were barred from admission at UNC Chapel Hill. Following a U.S. Supreme Court opinion that said states must have an option for African-Americans to attend a state-supported law school, our legislature quickly came into session and created one.

From that time, we have created an environment, a school, a place where we’d want to make sure that folks felt valued and included.

We have tried to continue that tradition and that history. We ask ourselves how we are doing and are we accepting of differences such that folks feel comfortable expressing their views?

We don’t have to all agree and rarely do, but we have worked very hard to foster a community that is accepting.

Has it been a challenge to get resources for the school?

Yes, the law school struggled to get adequate resources. One can look at the budget and the appropriations from the legislature compared with UNC Chapel Hill, and you can look at the tier system that is set up.

We’re a Tier 3 school, which sets ranges for the amount of salaries and everything. Resources have long been a challenge for this law school and many other HBCU professional schools. [Michael Bloomberg gave $600 million in August] to four HBCU medical schools, and they cited the inequities and insufficient financial resources. There are several law schools within 200 miles of North Carolina Central’s law school, and we’re all after the same thing, quality faculty and students. It is very difficult at times to recruit based on the constraints that we have regarding salaries and resources.

The school has a fascinating history.

It has an amazing history. You have a lot of proud alumni and influential alumni. No institution survives for 85 years unless they’re doing something right. One of the things that the law school has done right is we have stepped forward and at appropriate times made the kinds of adjustments in our legal education so that we remain relevant.

For example, you will often hear that our school produces practice-ready lawyers. That goes back to our history, the founders and early faculty. Folks argued the graduates of this law school had to be ready when they left here, because they were not likely to find firms that would take them in and mentor them. There weren’t many black lawyers out there.

So you have to be competent in handling the affairs of others. We continue to produce practice-ready lawyers. One way that we do it is our legal clinics. They afford our students an opportunity to handle legal matters under the supervision of licensed attorneys.

That’s one of the ways that legal education has shifted. Once upon a time, there was more theory taught in law school. We do that now, but we make sure there’s a practical component.

What’s your goal in terms of students and faculty?

I want the strongest, the most engaged faculty that you can find. I want the most energized and the hungriest students that want to make a difference. They are looking to become the leaders in their communities. In many respects, that’s what we have been able to do in the past. Do you realize that one out of every five state judges in North Carolina is a graduate of North Carolina Central’s law school? That tells me that the law school indeed has done the work that it carved out for it. The students who come here are often committed to public service.

Unfortunately, I don’t believe that we’ve done a very good job of telling our story. We also have a large percentage of students that are first-generation lawyers. We have transformed the lives of the graduates and their families.

How did you pick Chapel Hill as your law school?

I completed public high school in Cumberland County. When I looked around to go to college. UNC Chapel Hill had a program called Project Uplift that was designed to introduce minority students to the university. My guidance counselor came to me and said they were trying to attract minority students and that she thought I would like it. I fell in love with Chapel Hill, and I did my four undergraduate years there, and then three years at the
law school.

I did the seven years consecutively, but I would advise students to take that gap year. Do something for that year to just broaden your perspective and give you a chance to breathe a little bit.

Do you have a wide range of ages at the school?

We were the first law school in the state to have an evening law school program, and the students tend to be older. It’s not uncommon to have folks in their 30s and 40s in law school.

Is legal training a launching board for many other pursuits?

You have identified the versatility of the law degree first and foremost. I believe that it teaches you the law, a legal education that will allow you to move in so many directions. That’s why you see lawyers as the head of corporations and higher educational institutions, along with being lawyers and judges. There’s just so much that you can do.

What is your view on the increased politicization of our court system?

Our courts perhaps have not pushed back as much as I’d like to see against the perception that the courts are just another bunch of politicians. I don’t think that’s the truth. There appears to be more politics around. But judicial independence is prized. We’ve got to have the rule of law and the judicial independence that allows our decision-makers to decide the issues before them. That’s what accounts for the prosperity and stability in our nation.

I’m concerned if people begin to see the judiciary as just another group of politicians. The courts have to be able to peacefully resolve disputes. The history that I read says that we worked hard to get to that point. The confidence of the people in the courts, that’s where the power comes from. I am frankly concerned that we are losing that.

As a judge, what percentage of your decisions would have had any political basis?

The majority of the appellate opinions when I came along were unanimous. There’s only about 15% where there was any disagreement. But I believe our citizens are bringing to the court more political and contentious issues. So the courts don’t have any choice but to handle what comes to them. 

Is access to the courts an important issue?

It’s a fact that legal representation is so expensive. Even the middle class has been priced out. There are a number of counties in North Carolina where there are not enough lawyers to handle the cases. That’s a real issue here in North Carolina in what are called legal deserts. Folks want to live and work in larger cities, so the lawyers in these smaller communities are aging and not being replaced in many cases.


Money Management
David Butler
Assistant Professor of Business, Trust & Wealth Management
Lundy-Fetterman School of Business, Campbell University
Buies Creek

Trust issues  _______________________________________________________________________________________________

Do you think Americans are doing a good job of saving for retirement?

They’re doing a better job of it. A Fed study in 2023 said that most Americans were doing better as far as retirement savings go. Of course, that’s been helped by the market. But the onus for retirement is now mostly on yourself as opposed to the old-fashioned pension plan. The number of those plans has gone down considerably over the last several years.

Is that a positive trend?

It’s a positive from the standpoint that people realize they have to save more for retirement. Social Security is not going to be the answer for most people. It is going to be a supplement for everybody theoretically, yes. But I’m hoping that most people start their own planning, whether it’s an IRA or participating in their 401(k) plan.

Young people are the group that lags behind a little bit to get started, and that’s one of the things I try to impress on my students. You need to start now. You’re not even graduating from college yet, but you need to start saving for retirement. They say, well, I need all my money for paying bills. I tell them they need to develop a philosophy that ‘you need to pay yourself first.’ Because if you don’t, it’s not going to get paid.

If you are in that 25 to 35 age group, you need to be saving 10% to 13% of your income, including the employer match that you might get for a 401(k). As you get older, that goes up. If you wait until you are age 45 before you start saving for retirement, then you’re looking at having to save 25% up to 35%, just to catch up.

The stock market has had a strong run for the past 10 years. How much of an impact has that had on retirement savings?

I always try to emphasize that it’s not about beating the market for most clients. It’s about investing so that once you’re comfortable, you sleep well at night and the investments you have are on track to meet your long-term financial planning goals. Investments are a tool, and they’re part of an overall planning process that we like to advocate. Saying, “I’m going to beat the market” is not a really long-term survival strategy.

There are some people that might be able to do it, but the average investor probably won’t.

Have the industry and regulators struck a good balance on investor protection?

There’s been a major push from regulators to get more transparency into the system. I think FINRA (Financial Industry Regulatory Authority) does a good job. I can’t speak to the SEC, but I think the transparency has gotten better.


We’re dealing with investors now that are more educated, whether they’re self-taught or had formal education. More than any other generation in history, everything’s at the fingertips, on the devices they carry around in their hands or on their laptops. We’re dealing with a much more conscious investor.

There’s tons of information out there on how to start investing. There’s so much investor help now, from a technology standpoint. Even if you are not very knowledgeable, you can get help from these programs and apps to start a portfolio.

Why do you think FINRA is effective?

In my experience, they’re very conscious about trying to make sure that the firms that they regulate abide by the rules. Now, having said that, there are a lot of rules to follow. I read an article recently that said that financial firms have to spend 41% of their time on compliance issues. That’s a lot.

In an industry as big as this, you’re always going to have issues at some point now. I always advise people using a regular brokerage firm and planning to get a broker to use BrokerCheck at finra.org  Do a little research on the person you are dealing with.

Do you think North Carolina has done a good job of regulating the trust industry?

I can only speak to the banking commission. I think they do a really fine job. They regulate both some very large banks (Truist and First Citizens) and some very small ones.

How is technology affecting the trust industry?

The industry is struggling with a lot of legacy systems out there that have to get moved over the next two or three years to sort of catch up with certain things. AI is certainly changing the way we do things. While it’s still in its infancy, it is going to go a long way toward the personalization that has been a big challenge for the industry. There are aspects of AI that may be able to analyze things that maybe someone sitting down just talking to somebody may not pick up on.

Will the personal touch in wealth management continue to matter?

Yes, I think it will. From the perspective of high-net worth individuals, the trust industry is still a people business. There are a lot of things that some people won’t accept a computer’s idea of what they think it should do. They still want a person’s point of view. That still is going to be important for a certain level of clients. 

For the younger generations, it’s not as much of a personal business. They don’t necessarily want to interact in person, but they still want a seamless way of doing their business without having to go through someone. But in the trust industry, clients want to know they can get hold of somebody if there’s an issue. 

The trust industry is very much alive and well. The industry is going to have the largest generational transfer of wealth. There are going to be families that are going to struggle with that, and that’s why we have a business and an industry.

People of modest means need financial planning help as much or more than folks with big net worths. How does the industry make that work?

There’s so many things that are online. I’m not advocating this, but there are certain estate planning documents available online, without having to go through a lot of others.

People wanted advice in 2008, 2009 and 2010, when everything went south. It happens every time there’s a financial crisis. People realize, maybe I need to talk to somebody who’s got a little more expertise in this than I have.

Any other key topics affecting wealth managers today?

For 2025, I think the new administration is probably going to make the tax cuts to the 2017 act permanent. If those provisions expire, it could cost a lot of people a lot of money, so I think we need to keep an eye on that. The personal side really doesn’t get a lot of benefit, compared with the corporations, so it would be nice to do something for them.


Transportation
JOE MILAZZO II
Executive Director
Regional Transportation Alliance
Raleigh

Full speed ahead  ______________________________________________________________________________________

What do congested roads cost in time and dollars?

Congestion creates havoc. From the standpoint of business, it is both the constrained travel flow at certain times of day and the uncertainty due to unexpected jams that are the biggest issues, as they impact scheduling, productivity and revenue potential. The specific impacts on business — time and money — depend on where and when particular delays occur in a region, along with how well you can schedule around them and the costs of doing so.

Are things getting better or worse?

Traffic is generally getting heavier post-pandemic, to the extent that it is more spread out over the day, which lessens its impact somewhat. When North Carolina makes strategic investments along critical transportation corridors things do get noticeably better. The I-85 widening northeast of Charlotte, the improvements to I-40 in southeastern Wake and northwestern Johnston counties and the steady completion of the 540 turnpike in the Triangle and the Winston-Salem northern beltway are all recent examples
of this.

What are the obstacles to a good transportation plan in North Carolina?

The two biggest challenges we have, and these are not unique to North Carolina, are financial and time. The financial side involves both revenue and expenses. While funding has been growing, it is insufficient and unstable; meanwhile, construction costs have increased significantly over the past several years, even more than general inflation. Also, projects frequently take too long to move to construction.

What needs to happen with mass transportation in the Triangle?

We are seeking to develop a multipronged system of BRT (bus rapid transit, or as we in the business community often refer to it, “Buses Resembling Trains”) along several corridors; developing transit priority infrastructure and BRT linkages along our freeways and major roadways; and expanding our intercity rail network in a purposeful, scalable fashion. There is an active study on Freeway, Arterial, Street and Tactical (FAST) transit (letsgetmoving.org/FAST) that is being spearheaded by the regional business community and managed by N.C. Department of Transportation — this will hopefully jumpstart our region’s efforts to make our primary roadways “transit ready.”

Does North Carolina still earn the status of the “Good Roads State?”

The Department of Transportation has remained focused on building and maintaining the system we need for our growing population as well supporting commerce in all 100 counties and recovering from Helene and other storms. We will need increasingly resilient statewide funding sources to preserve and expand our network; our organization has been elevating an access user-fee approach as a framework to do this.

Editor’s note: An access user fee applies a consistent fee to all registered vehicles, regardless of annual usage, and is a method to replace the state gas tax. It also involves raising the fees for electric vehicles ($214.50 per year) and plug-in hybrid vehicles ($107.25 per year) to what the owner of a typical gasoline-powered vehicle pays in gas taxes in a year ($252 per year or about $21 a month). 

Will North Carolina embrace electric vehicles? What obstacles need to be overcome?

Our business leadership organization has launched a member recognition initiative for those companies that are supporting electrification in transportation by removing barriers or facilitating use. For North Carolina as a whole, my sense is that there are two key priorities: Getting Level 2 chargers in homes and residences and investing in grid capacity and resilience.

Getting Level 2 chargers into homes and residences will ensure that electric vehicles become a viable and convenient option for most trips. Duke Energy already has a charger installation credit program that is very helpful for this. Grid and capacity investments are the strategic investments needed, particularly given the increasing demands on electricity overall.

Is high-speed rail, such as Charlotte to Atlanta or Raleigh to Washington, D.C., a pipe dream?

The Raleigh to Wake Forest segment of the northern corridor from the Triangle to Richmond, Virginia, is already under construction, thanks to the largest federal grant N.C. DOT has ever received in any mode of transportation ($1.1 billion.) We have a few daily intercity trains between Raleigh and Charlotte, with some having less than three hours of travel time, and 30-minute travel time between Raleigh and Durham. We are grateful to N.C. DOT Rail Division and their partners, including the N.C. Railroad Company, Norfolk Southern, CSX Transportation and Amtrak.

Our business group been focused for two decades on improving intercity passenger rail from Charlotte to the Piedmont Triad to the metropolitan Triangle (including Durham, Cary, Raleigh and a future RTP station) and on to Richmond and Washington, D.C.‚— and doing so in a way that is complementary to our freight rail system in North Carolina.

Air travel, continues to recover and expand since the pandemic, provides a host of benefits to our state. What investments do we need to make to ensure success for North Carolina?

Charlotte Douglas International Airport is one of the most important economic drivers in the state. Fast-growing Raleigh-Durham International Airport is the largest airport in the eastern half of North Carolina with a catchment area that extends into southern Virginia.

Commercial airports across the state provide vital connectivity and positive economic development impacts, and the General Assembly has recognized this with strong state investments in airport infrastructure. These airports will continue to require investments from several funding sources, in both landside and airside infrastructure, to maintain a quality air travel experience and to ensure that they can serve as economic catalysts for their respective regions.

What are some difference-makers happening?

First, the expanded use of tolling can focus revenues on regionally critical corridors to accelerate freeway improvements along those routes. We already have seen successes in tolling in the Triangle and Charlotte and that must expand, particularly in our metropolitan areas. The N.C. Turnpike Authority has been an essential champion for effective multimodal mobility in our region and state and their best work is
yet to come.

Second, bicycle lanes, protected intersections, greenway corridors and the availability of
e-bikes are expanding across the state, and those can create new transportation options for shorter-length trips, catalyze complementary real estate and spur improvements to overall health.

Finally, the transportation construction cost curve simply needs to come down. While there is no easy answer, I sense that a combination of innovation, reprioritization, reimagining solutions, transparency, leadership and a continued sense of urgency will be needed to
accomplish this.


Travel + Tourism
VIC ISLEY
CEO
Explore Asheville
Buncombe County Tourism Development Authority

Visitors welcome  _______________________________________________________________________________________

Why does North Carolina keep winning visitors?

The state’s success in attracting visitors is rooted in its diverse offerings: mountains to the west, coastal beaches in the east, and both small towns and vibrant cities in between, combined with a strategic focus on marketing and storytelling that highlights local culture, natural beauty and unique experiences.

How does western North Carolina recover from Helene?

The lingering perception is that all of Asheville, western North Carolina and the entire state were severely impacted by the hurricane. That is projected to dampen visits this year.

Explore Asheville, Visit NC and neighboring destination marketing organizations are working diligently to amplify accurate messaging about the region’s reopening and revival. Partnerships with key allies such as Biltmore, Allegiant Airlines and Visit NC are also helping rebuild trust and attract visitors.

Beyond bringing visitors back, these initiatives are helping restore livelihoods, support local businesses and sustain the cultural and natural assets that define our community. The partnerships reflect the strength of our shared vision for Asheville’s recovery and growth, ensuring our message resonates deeply and broadly as we reopen with optimism and purpose.

The lack of housing supply was an issue for many communities, including Asheville before Helene. Now more than ever, our community needs to focus on smart, dense infill development, and city leaders need to revise restrictive and antiquated zoning laws that haven’t been updated since 1997.

How does the travel industry attract young people to build careers?

Travel and hospitality employed more than 29,000 workers in the Asheville area in 2023 and wages topped $1 billion for area residents.

Universities, such as Appalachian State, Western Carolina and North Carolina Central University offer strong hospitality programs that connect students to the industry, which offers countless opportunities for upward career advancement and leadership.

Explore Asheville launched a workforce development initiative to work with area high school students and open their eyes to careers in travel and hospitality. Interested in math? There are revenue management positions in hotels and airlines. Interested in marketing? There are marketing, PR and social media jobs in destinations and attractions.

Many of our board members who are executives had frontline entry positions as their first job. Sharing real life career stories, experiences and pathways is so important.

You have worked in coastal areas and now the mountains. What makes them different?Seasonality often plays a role in areas whose identities are linked to natural assets and attractors such as beaches and mountains. What’s been so challenging and rewarding over the years working on behalf of various communities is getting beyond assets and into the attitude or culture of a place and its people.

Shining a spotlight on the distinct DNA of a community and mapping that to potential audiences is when the magic happens. I’ve been fascinated by the paradox of Asheville — it’s a deeply rooted place in Appalachia that has drawn an ever-evolving creative culture.

Why is travel and tourism important beyond the industry itself?

Travel and hospitality support our neighbors’ livelihoods and the economic well-being of our communities. Travel and hospitality brings in net new dollars to our cities, towns, counties and the state. Think about it this way, as residents, when we spend money in town, that same dollar just circulates from one business or worker to another. When a visitor comes into the state or into a town, that is net new revenue to support wages, businesses and taxes for our communities to run.

If it weren’t for visitor spending in Buncombe County, each household would have to pay an additional $2,600 in annual taxes. (Each North Carolina household saved $518 on average in state and local taxes as a direct result of visitor spending in the state. Savings per capita averaged $239, according to state figures.)

Tourism fuels local economies by supporting small businesses, artists and cultural institutions. We know that 70% of visitor spending takes place in a wide variety of businesses outside of lodging. Beyond its direct impact on hospitality businesses, tourism touches a variety of sectors like transportation, agriculture and manufacturing, while also fostering a sense of community pride and belonging.

A vibrant tourism economy preserves natural and cultural assets, which make up the soul and character of the community, for future generations.

What’s an immediate Helene-related need for tourism in western North Carolina?

Right now, we need the support of our friends throughout the state to come for a visit and spend some money on our delicious food and beverage scene, take in some live music, shop in art galleries and stay overnight. It will be the most enjoyable sacrifice you’ll make to help sustain our creative community through spring.

Businesses can consider booking a meeting or conference in Asheville. Aside from personally visiting, folks can buy from more than 700 area creators and makers from the Love Asheville from Afar section on ExploreAsheville.com.

The area businesses need more emergency grants from state and federal resources to sustain them through the recovery period which preserves jobs, community character, and economic vitality. FEMA reports that 40% of small businesses never reopen following a disaster like the one we experienced. That’s why just two weeks after the hurricane, Explore Asheville launched the Always Asheville Fund, a small business grant that has so far raised more than $1.3 million in financial support to local travel and hospitality businesses. Much more assistance is needed. As you are able and so inclined, consider contributing to the fund.

Can you share a story of a sector of the industry that turned around a challenge?

From the very early hours of Helene, the heart of hospitality has been on full display. Asheville tourism and hospitality businesses faced immense obstacles during Hurricane Helene, including the loss of potable water. With little staff, electricity or water, hotel owners and operators opened their doors to local first responders, displaced residents as well as emergency workers, who answered the call from around the country.

A particularly inspiring response to the disaster has been the number of businesses downtown that have offered to share their spaces with other businesses and artists displaced by flooding. In November, the River Arts District Association hosted RAD Fest, an event that provided critical exposure and revenue to artists and makers in the neighborhood.

2025 Business Handbook Sponsors

Cargo Transporters  •  Chetola Reort  •  Dogwood State Bank
Pinehurst Resort  •  Salem Leasing  •  United Healthcare

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