One of the most interesting innovations in North Carolina in recent years has been NCInnovation’s effort to commercialize more research outside the Triangle.
Equally interesting are squabbles over the organization.
Raleigh business consultant Chuck Fuller and former Truist CEO Kelly King spent several years developing NCInnovation. They raised $25 million in private funds and hired policy pro Bennet Waters as CEO.
In a 2023 op/ed, King said, “NCInnovation’s model can prove a game-changer, especially for rural North Carolina. I believe this effort will substantially improve the balanced socioeconomic development of our state, which will dramatically improve the future for our kids and grandkids.”
At the time, lawmakers were considering shifting $1.4 billion in state reserves to the new entity, which would spend investment returns for promising research ventures. That was trimmed to a $500 million allotment over two years, backed by N.C. Senate leader Phil Berger.
In May, NCInnovation approved $13.6 million for 17 projects at UNC System campuses from Wilmington to Asheville. Appalachian State University Professor Zachary Russell is using AI and robots to identify parasites in livestock. At UNC Pembroke, Professor Ben Bahr is developing a therapeutic compound to treat Alzheimer’s disease.
NCInnovation director Deanna Ballard, a former GOP state senator who chairs the program committee, says those grants reflect an impressive start. She’s a big advocate.
That’s the meat of the story. The exciting stuff is the conflict between the NCInnovation board leadership, including King, Sanford developer Kirk Bradley and former Waste Industries CEO Ven Poole, and Art Pope, the Raleigh CEO, philanthropist and champion of conservative causes. Appointed by former House Speaker Tim Moore to the group’s board in 2023, Pope hit the ground running, asking questions about spending and accounting practices. He also developed a testy relationship with CEO Waters.
Pope and King are used to winning. Pope runs one of the largest privately held discount chains in the U.S. King worked at Truist/BB&T for 49 years, including 13 as CEO. Over the years, BB&T’s board included Tar Heel legends James Maynard and Nido Qubein, and disputes remained private. No one disputed that King or his predecessor, John Allison, were in charge.
Pope’s distrust of NCInnovation rattled King and other board members. They formed a special committee and spent $1 million of the private seed money to investigate the dissident director’s complaints. Much of that went to K&L Gates, and its partner Robert Higdon, a former U.S. attorney who led the probe. An estimated $698,000 of staff time was also spent on the matter by the group, which employs about 20.
In August, the committee concluded that 16 of 17 specific complaints by Pope were “completely unsubstantiated.” The other one had been fixed. King suggested that board members not interested in promoting NCInnovation should quit.
Don’t expect that resignation letter. Pope says he didn’t receive due process; that he stands by his concerns; he was shocked by the Higdon report’s expense; and that House Speaker Destin Hall remains in his corner.
Asking questions in good faith is a director’s responsibility, Pope adds. Waters is the one quitting, likely in early 2026, he said in August.
“I have done nothing wrong,” Pope says. “If a majority can silence dissidents by kicking them off a board, that’s a red flag about the organization.”
A final note: NCInnovation’s existence hung in the balance in mid-September. Some Raleigh lawmakers want to claw back the $500 million to help pay for Hurricane Helene relief and other priorities. It’s a pawn in the state budget fight between Senate and House leaders.
King isn’t giving up. “The people of North Carolina are too damn good to let something this good die,” he told WRAL.
David Mildenberg is editor of Business North Carolina. Reach him at dmildenberg@businessnc.com.