The parking sign outside the meeting Monday morning called it the "Burr-Bowles Summit" but it could just have easily called it a "love fest."

Republican Sen. Richard Burr and the man he defeated in 2004, Democrat Erskine Bowles, now president of the University of North Carolina, were the stars of the North Carolina Economic Development Summit, Rob Christensen reports.

"I've had a chance to work with this guy for four full years and nobody works harder or smarter for North Carolina than Richard Burr does," Bowles told about 200 people at N.C. Central University. "His focus on this state is truly unbelievable."

In introducing Bowles, Burr said: "Erskine Bowles is the best president of the university system we had the pleasure of having."

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There will be plenty of talk in the Triangle about health care in the coming days.

The N.C. Chamber is hosting a conference on health care on Wednesday, Sept. 30, featuring Ron Brownstein, political director for Atlantic Media Co. and a former political columnist for The Los Angeles Times.

Among those taking part in panel discussions at the Sheraton Imperial in Durham will be Bob Greczyn, president and CEO of Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina, Grace Terrell, president and CEO of Cornerstone Healthcare, and and Paul Wiles, president of Novant Health.

On Tuesday, Sept. 29, N.C. Policy Watch is bringing in Wendell Potter, a former health care insurance industry executive who is critical of industry efforts to block health care reform. He will speak at the Marbles Kids Museum at lunch time.

While he won't just be talking about only health care, journalist Michael Barone is expected to dissect the agenda of President Barack Obama for the John Locke Foundation at a lunch on Wednesday, Oct. 7, at the North Raleigh Hilton.

Barone is a contributor for Fox News and a senior political writer for the Washington Examiner.

With his health-care proposal hitting turbulence, President Barack Obama singled out the insurance industry at his town hall meeting in Raleigh on Wednesday.

Obama said at Raleigh's Broughton High School that his plan would prevent insurance companies from denying coverage because of pre-existing conditions or doubling people's premiums over the next decade.

Bob Greczyn, CEO of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina, the state's largest insurer, was quick to react.

"It was disappointing that President Obama used so much of his time in North Carolina bashing insurance companies," Greczyn said in a statement. "We don't believe a government-run plan is necessary to achieve the reform Americans need."

Bill Atkinson, president and CEO of WakeMed cut short a vacation to hear Obama speak.

"I personally support what he has got on the table," Atkinson said. "Most people are worried about change. He is up against some well-entrenched special interests, including my own industry."

Tom Fetzer, chairman of the state Republican Party said the president's plan wouldn't work.

"There are many ways to cut the cost of health care without encouraging the complete overhaul and making government a competitor with the private sector," Fetzer said.

Many who left the town hall meeting Wednesday said they still had questions about the plans working their way through Congress.

But it was at least nice to hear about the plan directly, said Sundaw Miller, 42, who runs the Adara Spa across the street from Broughton High School.

Miller said she hears her clients talk daily about their fears about what would happen with health care.

"It was nice to hear from the horse's mouth what he plans to accomplish," Miller said.

State employees and community activists are planning to protest a health care conference Friday morning.

The State Employees Association of North Carolina will be on the west side of 400 S. Salisbury St. on Friday at 9 a.m. to protest a meeting between health care lobbyists and Triangle CEOs, including Bob Greczyn of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina.

The group will be calling for health care reform and a public option to make it more affordable.

"SEANC is demanding that Blue Cross put North Carolina citizens first instead of fighting a public health care option that will provide affordability, choice and competition to Blue Cross' 72.5 percent market share in North Carolina," SEANC stated in a press release.

The rally comes on the heels of another protest by SEANC last week outside of Blue Cross's corporate offices in Durham.

Update: SEANC has sent out a corrected press release, noting that the event will be at the Sheraton Hotel on Salisbury Street in Raleigh.

The Greater Raleigh Chamber of Commerce is adding its voice to the great health care debate of 2009.

The Chamber will hold a Health Care Forum at 8 a.m. on July 24 at WakeMed Raleigh Campus, Rob Christensen reports.

Among those participating in a panel discussion will be Jack Bailey, senior vice president, of GlaxoSmithKline, Bob Greczyn, president and CEO, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina; Bob Seligson, executive vice president and CEO, North Carolina Medical Society; and Hugh Tilson, senior vice president, North Carolina Hospital Association.

The forum comes as numerous groups have been mobilizing as Congressional debate reaches a pivotal point on President Barack Obama’s proposals to reform health care.

The state Senate is scheduled to vote today to elect eight members of the UNC Board of Governors, the policymaking body for the state's university system.

But some big names on the slate apparently are causing heartburn about potential conflicts of interest.

Among the candidates: Bob Greczyn of Cary, CEO of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina, and Paul Fulton, a UNC-Chapel Hill trustee from Winston-Salem.

Fulton, a former business school dean at UNC-CH's Kenan-Flagler Business School, is an organizer of Citizens for Higher Education, a big-spending political action committee that pushes issues for the UNC-CH campus. That group has at times clashed with the UNC system leaders.

Greczyn, chairman of the East Carolina trustees, runs the company behind the state health plan. That doesn't sit well with some, reports Dan Kane.

Ardis Watkins, a lobbyist for the State Employees Association of North Carolina, said lawmakers should reject Greczyn's nomination because Blue Cross has a no-bid contract to handle claims for the State Health Plan, which provides health insurance for 667,000 state employees, teachers and retirees. The contract terms could pay the health insurer roughly $120 million a year.

"The 16 universities are a big chunk of state government, and I don't think (Blue Cross) needs to be on the board of a customer of which they have a big contract," she said.

Update: Just before the vote this afternoon, Greczyn withdrew his nomination, along with three others — James, Smith and Williams — leaving the Senate to vote for eight candidates for eight seats.

More after the jump

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David Young, a Democratic candidate for treasurer, raised more than $60,000 at fundraiser Wednesday at the home of former Ambassador Jeanette and Wallace Hyde in Raleigh.

Among those who attended were Wake County Commissioner Betty Lou Ward, philanthropist Ann Goodnight; Blue Cross/Blue Shield CEO Bob Greczyn; former Lt. Gov. Bob Jordan; former Glaxo chairman Charlie Sanders; former state Democratic chair Wayne McDevitt; former Texas oilman Walter Davis, and Raleigh real estate executives Steve Stroud and Roddy Jones.

Young, a Buncombe County commissioner, raised the money in the home town of two his opponents — Raleigh attorney Michael Weisel and state Sen. Janet Cowell. They are seeking to succeed incumbent Richard Moore, who is running for governor.

State Sen. Walter Dalton raised more than $100,000 in Raleigh Wednesday night in his race for lieutenant governor.

The event, held at the home of Wallace and Jeanette Hyde, a former U.S. ambassador, showed Dalton's support among the Democratic establishment, Rob Christensen reports.

The event included glowing comment from Senate boss Marc Basnight, who called Dalton "a forward thinking leader."

Among the sponsors were Sen. Vernon Malone, Progress Energy CEO Bill Johnson, Red Hat CEO Matthew Szulik, BlueCross/BlueShield CEO Bob Greczyn, former Lt. Gov. Bob Jordan, UNC benefactor Walter Davis, former N&O publisher Frank Daniels Jr., former Glaxo CEOs Bob Ingram and Charlie Sanders, and former state Democratic chairs Tom Hendrickson and Betty McCain and Barbara Allen.

The other Democrats running for lieutenant governor are Durham lawyer Hampton Dellinger, Winston-Salem Councilman Dan Besse, and Canton Mayor Pat Smathers.

Bob Greczyn, president and CEO of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina, was elected today as chairman of the East Carolina University Board of Trustees.

Also elected at the board’s meeting on the Greenville campus were Kinston developer and philanthropist David Brody as vice chairman and Margaret Ward, a Burlington civic leader, as secretary, reports Jane Stancill.

All three officers will serve one-year terms.