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Gov. Bev Perdue is rounding up advice on picking a new chief of staff from, among others: Norris Tolson, CEO of the NC Biotechnology Center who often serves as Perdue's Mr. Fixit; Ken Eudy, CEO of Capital Strategies public relations and lobbying firm and Hilda Pinnix-Ragland, a Progress Energy executive and chair of the state community colleges board.

Chief of Staff Zach Ambrose announced last month he was leaving after one year of Perdue's administration, though he served the same role when she was lieutenant governor. Perdue's poll numbers remain lackluster and her administration has endured grousing, inside and out, about how well the machinery has operated. Her communications director left in December, and she brought in a new senior adviser, Pearse Edwards, last fall to try and help the governor's office operate more smoothly.

 Now to the speculation! Among those mentioned in state government circles as potential chiefs of staff are: Tolson; Leslie Coman, executive vice president at CapStrat; former House Majority Leader Phil Baddour and Secretary of Administration Britt Cobb.

The old Jim Hunt crowd gathered in Raleigh on Friday for the groundbreaking of the library that will bear the former governor's name and for lunch at the Park Alumni Center at N.C. State University, Rob Christensen reports.

The crowd included a who's who from Hunt's 16 years as governor, including Jim Phillips, former chairman of the UNC Board of Governors; former state Supreme Court Chief Justice Burley Mitchell; Norris Tolson, a transportation secretary under Hunt; former Ambassador Jeanette Hyde; Hunt's former spokeman and strategist Gary Pearce; former Human Resources secretary Lucy Bode; former Cultural Resources secretary Betty McCain; former aide Ed Turlington, and former state Democratic chairwoman Barbara Allen.

Just to name a few. 

And what would a gathering of politicians be without a little fund raising? 

At the lunch, Hunt announced a $20 million fund raising campaign to help cover some of the costs of the library that will also serve as headquarters for the Institute for Emerging Issues, the think tank Hunt created.

"This is a marvelous opportunity," Hunt said. "It really is."

A House committee Monday evening approved a new and unfamiliar funding mechanism to help small life science companies expand or open shop in North Carolina.

The bill would create the nonprofit N.C. Life Science Development Corp. that would use private money to make loans to, for example, pharmeceutical or medical device companies looking to expand or open new operations that would produce commercially-viable products.

What concerned some lawmakers was that the state is on the hook to investors if the companies default.

More after the jump.

Former state government official Norris Tolson was appointed today to serve on the N.C. State University Board of Trustees, replacing McQueen Campbell.

Gov. Beverly Perdue announced the appointment of Tolson, and in a statement said he would "focus on immediate priorities for the university, students and faculty, while he also pushes N.C. State boldly into the future. He is a great addition to a marvelous university – N.C. State."

Tolson, 69, is president and CEO of the N.C. Biotechnology Center. He is a former state secretary of both commerce and transportation under former Gov. Jim Hunt. He was secretary of revenue under former Gov. Mike Easley and served two terms in the state House.

"I am pleased to be asked to serve my university as a trustee," Tolson, an NCSU alumnus, said in a statement. "NCSU has helped shape my life and I am delighted to give something back."

Tolson will fill the vacancy created by the resignation of Campbell, former trustee chairman and Easley friend, who stepped down under pressure in the midst of state and federal investigations of Easley.

Gov. Beverly Perdue named the rest of a budget-cutting panel. 

The five appointees include Dan Gerlach, a former budget adviser to former Gov. Mike Easley who now runs the Golden LEAF Foundation, and Norma Houston, a former chief of staff to Senate leader Marc Basnight, the Associated Press reports.

Other new members include former Glaxo chief executive Charlie Sanders, the first chairman of the state lottery commission; IBM executive Curtis Clark; and N.C. Central department chairman Ron Penny.

Earlier this month, Perdue named former Cabinet member Norris Tolson and Hilda Pinnix-Ragland to head the committee.

The so-called Budget Reform and Accountability Commission will propose ways to cut state spending for the legislature to accept or reject.

Gov. Beverly Perdue has named the co-chairs of her budget reform panel.

Hilda Pinnix-Ragland and Norris Tolson will lead the Budget Reform and Accountability Commission, an outside commission that will recommend ways to cut state spending. 

Perdue said she wants the commission to conduct "a detailed review" of the current state budget to look for inefficient spending and come up with suggested cuts and consolidations.

"I expect my BRAC team to root out wasteful and unnecessary spending, hold government accountable for its appropriations and help ensure taxpayers are not funding ineffective or unsuccessful programs," Perdue said in a statement.

Pinnix-Ragland is chairwoman of the State Board of Community Colleges and holds an MBA in accounting. Tolson is president and CEO of the N.C. Biotechnology Center and previously served as secretary of commerce, transportation and revenue.

Both served on Perdue's gubernatorial transition team.

* Charlotte Observer columnist Jack Betts says North Carolina "has long been under-represented" in the Fourth Circuit because of partisan differences.

* Biofuels Center of North Carolina names W. Steven Burke as president, longtime political insider Norris Tolson as chairman of the board.

* N.C. Policy Watch's Adam Linker can't find a copy of State Health Plan head Jack Walker's doctoral thesis in ProQuest/UMI database.

* Democratic pollster Tom Jensen and Greensboro columnist Doug Clark agree that Rep. Heath Shuler's decision not to run for Senate is a good thing.

Gov.-elect Beverly Perdue has stressed she will break from Gov. Mike Easley.

Still, the newly elected Democrat hasn't entirely escaped the shadow of her two-term predecessor. Several of her appointees so far have ties to Easley.

In order of most closely tied to least:

Britt Cobb: Perdue's secretary of Administration held the same job under Easley, who also appointed him commissioner of agriculture. 

Linda Wheeler Hayes: Perdue's secretary of Juvenile Justice chaired the Governor's Crime Commission for Easley and was one of his fundraisers in 2000.

Eddie Speas: Perdue's general counsel worked for Easley during the eight years he was attorney general. Easley later appointed him lottery commissioner.

Reuben Young: Perdue's secretary of Crime Control served as deputy legal counsel and chief legal counsel for Easley's two terms as governor.

Lanier Cansler: Perdue's secretary of Health and Human Services served as deputy secretary under Easley, although he was directly hired by Secretary Carmen Hooker Odom.

Gene Conti: Perdue's secretary of Transportation served as chief deputy secretary under Easley, who asked him to leave because of a conflict of interest.

In addition, Perdue transition team had ties to Easley: Don Hobart worked as legal counsel to Easley when he was attorney general, Norris Tolson was Easley's Revenue secretary, Hilda Pinnix-Ragland was appointed to the state community college board by Easley, and Howard Lee served as Easley's budget and education adviser and was appointed to two boards by Easley.

Still, many of Perdue's key appointees have no ties to Easley, including at least half her Cabinet.

The Commerce Secretary is one of the most important Cabinet positions.

As the head of the N.C. Department of Commerce, the appointee of the governor works to recruit and retain major employers, negotiate corporate incentives and boost state tourism.

As such, it's been a fairly high profile position. Past secretaries include some heavyweight political figures such as future U.S. Sen. Lauch Faircloth, former U.S. Sen. Jim Broyhill and longtime political insider (and one-time would-be gubernatorial candidate) Norris Tolson.

But it wasn't always this way.

The Commerce department was created in 1971 under the administration of Gov. Bob Scott mostly as an umbrella for pre-existing regulatory agencies on such pedestrian subjects as alcohol, banking, cemeteries and, of all things, milk.

Under Gov. Jim Hunt's administration in 1977, it was reconstituted to focus on expanding and recruiting new business and managing the state's economic development efforts as well as its energy resources.

Between 1989 and 1993, the state agency was even briefly named the Department of Economic and Community Development.

Previously: Five appointments to watch