Department of Commerce

Perdue toughens e-mail policy

bniolet — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 17:14:02 -0400

Gov. Beverly Perdue today toughened a policy for keeping state government e-mail that was left by former Gov. Mike Easley.

Perdue's order strips away some wiggle room state employees may have had to delete e-mail messages that they determined were not related to public business. Now employees must keep all messages for 24 hours so they can be archived every day. Employees can delete spam messages they receive. Easley's order, which Perdue rescinded, allowed employees to decide which messages were related to public business.

"Only when the doors of government are open wide, and the sun truly shines in, can we be sure that our government by the people is working for the people," Perdue said in a news release.

Perdue's order is similar to an order signed by Easley in the waning days of his administration. Several news organizations, including The News & Observer and The Charlotte Observer had sued Easley over e-mail retention.

Perdue also signed an order requiring the Department of Commerce to report the names of consultants involved in economic development projects that benefit from state incentive programs.

Update: Perdue's e-mail order also creates a searchable backup system, a spokeswoman said. Most messages would be kept for 10 years.

State gets most of jet money

markjohnson — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 11:27:08 -0400

North Carolina got most of its quarter-million-dollar deposit back after cancelling the order for a new state jet last fall.

Department of Commerce officials on Tuesday received a refund check of $230,625. The state made a $250,000 deposit last year on a $9 million Cessna Citation Encore+. Then-Gov. Mike Easley scrubbed the deal in October, after news media inquiries at a time when Easley was trimming state agency budgets by 3 percent.

The state lost $4,375 as an e-procurement charge and Cessna docked them $15,000 for "sales expenses," according to Commerce Department spokeswoman Kathy Neal.

The Commerce Department, whose mission includes recruiting new businesses to move to the state, uses state aircraft to take corporate executives around to potential sites in the state where the companies could set up shop.

Document(s):
cessna_check.pdf

Harrell eyeing Commerce Dept. job

markjohnson — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 11:42:33 -0500

Rep. Jim Harrell lost his bid for re-election but may keep a Raleigh work address. He's in the mix for an assistant secretary's post at the Department of Commerce.

Harrell, a Surry County Democrat, said the transition team for Gov.-elect Beverly Perdue has not interviewed him, but he sidestepped whether he was making a pitch for the job.

"I'm always looking for a way to help North Carolina's economic development," said Harrell, a three-term lawmaker who was defeated by Republican Sarah Stevens in the swing district.

As a legislator he helped push legislation creating incentives for movie production in the state and another bill that updated other tax incentives for new businesses.

Harrell was touted as a likely candidate for lieutenant governor three years ago, but his role as a loyal ally to then-House Speaker Jim Black likely fouled that up. A federal grand jury called Harrell as a witness during the investigation that led to Black's plea and imprisonment on curruption charges.

Harrell also received widespread snickering over his support for the efforts to create the Sparta Teapot Museum in his district. Black earmarked $400,000 in state money for the project, which would house a famous collection from a California benefactor. U.S. Senators Richard Burr and Elizabeth Dole and U.S. Rep. Virginia Foxx, all Republicans, secured $500,000 in federal funds for the museum.

Plans have since been scaled back and shifted away from housing the entire teapot collection.

Butterfield bill battles bedbugs

bniolet — Mon, 19 May 2008 13:59:32 -0400

Rep. G. K. Butterfield has bed bugs on his mind.

The Wilson Democrat has sponsored the "Don’t Let the Bed Bugs Bite Act of 2008," which would establish a grant program so states can establish inspection, prevention and eradication of the blood sucking pests. States would have to require the inspection of at least 20 percent of its hotel rooms.

"Unfortunately, it’s not a joke," Butterfield said in a news release. "Fifty years after being virtually eliminated, bed bugs are back all across the country."

Butterfield's news release said there are numerous news reports indicating that bed bugs are showing up in some of the county’s finest hotels like the Ramada Plaza in San Francisco, the five-star Westin resort in Hollywood, Florida, and the Regency Inn and Suites in New York City.

The funds would come from within the existing U.S. Department of Commerce’s existing budget.

Butterfield said eliminating bed bugs from hotels is important because it can be the source of a home infestation.

State business recruiters sweat the details

bniolet — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 16:14:33 -0400

Sassicaia is among the world's best wines, lush with earthy textures from an area in Tuscany.

It costs about $200 a bottle and is a favorite of Richard T. Santulli, chief executive of private airline NetJets. A state business recruiter made a point to find that out before a December dinner for him, Jonathan B. Cox reports.

No detail was too small as the state tried to woo the Ohio company to the Triangle and gain as many as 3,000 jobs.

Records made public by the state Department of Commerce chronicle an eight-month courtship with meticulous planning — down to instructions for the governor on making small talk — that involved some of the Triangle's top business leaders.

The files illustrate the intensity of the race between the states in corporate recruitment and show how personal connections as much as financial incentives can shape decisions.

North Carolina did not lure NetJets, which in March announced expansion in Columbus, Ohio.

Meetings were highly structured. Gov. Mike Easley got instructions on exactly how to charm executives on a visit. From 2:05 to 2:15 p.m., the governor was to "lead informal, get acquainted Session, with focus on Mansion's holiday decorations & your woodworking." The whole memo is below.

Document(s):
easley memo.pdf

Easley dedicates biotech center

ryanteaguebeckwith — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 11:31:32 -0400

Gov. Mike Easley dedicated a new biotech facility at Centennial Campus.

The 82,500-square-foot facility will provide hands-on training for college students with commercial-grade biopharmaceutical equipment.

Easley said the goal was to provide "every child in every community" with the opportunity to earn more money in the growing biotech industry.

"We are opening the door of opportunity to thousands and hundreds of thousands of North Carolinians across this state to be able to participate in a growing industry," he said.

Students will be able to earn degrees in biomanufacturing sciences.

The training center is a partnership between N.C. State, the state community college system, the Department of Commerce and the Golden LEAF Foundation, which provides grants from the state's tobacco settlement.

Easley noted North Carolina is behind only California and Massachusetts in biotech funding.

"I just want the governator out there to know that we are hot on his trail," he joked.

What is the JDIG program?

ryanteaguebeckwith — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 15:41:18 -0400

Answer:

The Job Development Investment Grant program gives annual cash grants to businesses that relocate or expand in North Carolina.

The program was signed into law by Gov. Mike Easley on Oct. 31, 2002, and became effective Jan. 1, 2003. It has been amended in 2003 and 2006.

Between 2004 and 2007, the committee promised more than $200 million in grants to companies such as Google, GlaxoSmithKline and Dell Computer, in exchange for pledges of more than 20,000 jobs.

The grants are paid over as many as a dozen years. Companies must meet specific hiring and other criteria each year before the grant is given. By law, a business can create as few as 10 new jobs to qualify, but typically it's at least 100.

The grants are approved by Economic Investment Committee, a five-member panel.

The governor appoints three people on committee: The secretaries of the state departments of Commerce and Revenue and the director of the Office of State Budget and Management. The other two are appointed by the Speaker of the House and the president pro tem of the Senate.

The committee decides on grants in closed-door sessions, though the final approval is done in an open meeting and the public can weigh in before each payment is made.

Eight Ball: 7-for-9

ryanteaguebeckwith — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 17:21:38 -0400

The Eight Ball picks up two points, and a contender moves into the running.

Earlier this afternoon, the magic toy from Target correctly agreed with The Raleigh Soup that Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue's chief of staff, Zach Ambrose, would become her campaign manager, and that N.C. Department of Commerce official Don Hobart would replace Ambrose.

In a release sent not long afterward, Perdue's office confirmed both.

Ambrose has already stepped down from his position as chief of staff, which paid $110,970 a year.

Hobart, a native of Johnson County, has worked for then Attorney General Mike Easley, U.S. Rep. David Price and former Gov. Jim Hunt. He'll start Sept. 24.

The current standings: Eight Ball 7-for-9; Raleigh Soup 2-for-2; N.C. Spin 1-for-3; TechJournal South, N.C. Policy Watch, Speaker Joe Hackney and the Whiteville News Reporter 1-for-1.

Former secretaries back alternative

ryanteaguebeckwith — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 16:18:57 -0400

Four former secretaries of the state Department of Commerce have endorsed Gov. Mike Easley's alternative incentives plan.

In a letter today to the governor and the legislature, Lauch Faircloth, Jim Broyhill, Norris Tolson and Rick Carlisle write that they think the state should offer broader incentives to help companies invest in North Carolina.

The legislation had been targeted to help the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. and other tire companies. But the four former secretaries backed Easley's complaint that it is too narrowly focused.

"We believe that while HB 1761 is addressed to a very real economic development issue, legislation to address this issue should encompass other companies in similar situations while establishing reasonable performance standards," they write.

In closing, they urge Easley and the legislature to "work together to craft alternative legislation."

Full text of the letter after the jump.