One of House Speaker Joe Hackney's two senior policy advisors has a new job with the N.C. Biotechnology Center.
Mike Wilkins will lead the center's new Statewide Operations and Economic Development Division, which is tasked with growing the biotechnology industry across the state. He is a former three-term state House member from Roxboro who later became former Speaker Jim Black's chief of staff, Dan Kane reports.
As a senior vice president, Wilkins, 62, will oversee the center's five regional offices, five regional biotechnology advisory committees and worldwide economic development activities. His salary was not disclosed in a news release from the center. Barry Teater, a center spokesman, would only say that the salary is between $116,549 and $171,393.
A spokesman for Hackney said he does not have immediate plans to fill Wilkins' position, which paid roughly $145,000 a year.
More after the jump.
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"Mike's work as a county commissioner, a legislator, an assistant commerce secretary, a utility commissioner and a senior staffer for two House Speakers all tied him in some way to improving the economy of this state," said Hackney, an Orange County Democrat. "His knowledge of budget and finance is unparalleled and, combined with his ability to work with businesses, makes this new opportunity a perfect fit for him."
The center is a private non-profit created by the state to support the biotechnology industry.
Barry Teater, a spokesman for the center, declined to give Wilkins' new salary, saying he wanted to respect employees' privacy. Teater said Wilkins salary was between $116,549 to $171,393.
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