From business to nonprofits to culture

Gov.-elect Beverly Perdue picked a Greensboro businesswoman and political fundraiser to run the state Department of Cultural Resources.

Linda Carlisle left the office-supply business that she and her husband started, and devoted herself to civic and nonprofit activities. The department she will lead is charged with coordinating and administrating cultural events and the arts across the state.

But Perdue and Carlisle emphasized the role the arts can play in attracting business and creating jobs.

"I look forward with the governor and my fellow secretaries in helping to grow jobs in North Carolina," Carlisle said, adding that nearly 4 percent of jobs in the state are related to the arts.

Carlisle, 58, left a job as a bank vice president in 1979 to start an office supply firm with her husband. The company, Copier Consultants, grew to more than $35 million in sales by 1989, when she sold it. Carlisle remained president after the sale and retired in 1997 to devote her time to civic causes.

She helped the Girl Scouts' Triad Council raise $7 million for a new campus. She was a co-chairwoman of the UNC-Greensboro Students First Capital Campaign, which surpassed its $100 million goal a year early.

In 2001, Gov. Mike Easley appointed Carlisle to the UNCG board of trustees. In 2005, Easley made her one of the first members of the commission that oversees the state lottery.

An internal Easley campaign document from 2000 shows that Carlisle and three others led the effort to raise $500,000 from Guilford County for Easley. Carlisle raised money for Perdue in her bid for governor.