Tolson to lead biotech center

Revenue secretary will step down Friday to take helm of state-funded group that aims to attract biotech jobs

E. Norris Tolson will take the lead at the N.C. Biotechnology Center with one goal in mind: Creating new jobs in every corner of the state.

The board of the state-funded, nonprofit organization named Tolson as president and chief executive Tuesday.

Officials considered about two dozen applicants before approving Tolson, who has been interim CEO since January, chairwoman Sue Cole said.

Tolson, 67, said he plans to work with scientists, investors and entrepreneurs statewide, getting them on course to more than double the number of biotech-related jobs in North Carolina, to about 125,000 over the next 15 years.

"I'm a bottom-line focused guy," said Tolson, who will step down Friday as North Carolina's secretary of revenue, a position he has held since 2001. Creating jobs based on science developed at the state's universities gives taxpayers a return on their investment, he said.

Tolson's job creation target is based on a plan released in 2004 by a committee that Gov. Mike Easley appointed. Tolson is a former DuPont executive and state lawmaker who has earned a reputation as a fix-it guy, running the state's commerce, transportation and revenue departments over the past decade.

He co-wrote the 2004 biotech plan, which relies on the surging industry to help revitalize North Carolina's economy.

Initiatives proposed in the plan include tax credits and incentives to recruit companies, investment grants and money for university research, totaling more than $390 million over five years.

Tolson is superbly suited to set the pace at the biotech center, said former Gov. Jim Hunt, who co-led Easley's committee.

"We need somebody who's a bulldog pushing this big plan," said Hunt, who has known Tolson for more than 40 years.

"Norris is a pusher," he said. "And he's a hard, hard worker. He learned that from topping tobacco, like I did."

Tolson will start his job at the biotech center Monday.

The organization, based in Research Triangle Park, operates on a $17 million annual budget. It has been credited with helping North Carolina to become a top-ranked U.S. biotech hot spot, by promoting the industry's interests, providing financial support, pursuing new companies for the state and more.

As the third president and CEO since the biotech center was established in 1984, Tolson succeeds Leslie Alexandre, who stepped down in March.

Tolson's annual salary at the biotech center will be $225,000, about 6 percent more than Alexandre's and about double what he made as secretary of revenue.

Tolson is currently vice chairman of the biotech center's board, which he joined in 2000.

In the past three years, the biotech center has expanded, setting up five offices across the state to promote the strengths of different parts of the state, Cole said.

North Carolina's biotech industry is centered in the Triangle, which is a hub of drug research. A massive research campus under construction in Kannapolis will focus on nutrition. Scientists in the Triad have made headlines in regenerative medicine. Marine biology and natural products bookend the state along the coast and in the mountains, and biofuels could add a new segment for the state.

"With each of these, we have tremendous opportunities," Cole said.

Tolson received a bachelor's degree in crop science and agribusiness from N.C. State University. He started making his mark in state politics in 1994 by winning the seat of former Speaker of the House Joe Mavretic.

In 1997, Hunt picked Tolson to be commerce secretary, a role Tolson used to help make North Carolina more friendly to corporate investment. Two years later, he took on the job of overhauling the Department of Transportation, which had been racked by conflict-of-interest scandals.

Tolson resigned after 18 months to run for governor. Easley, the winner of that election, turned to Tolson to straighten out the state's budget mess, naming him head of revenue in 2001.

Tolson's last day in Easley's cabinet will be Friday. Tolson said he has no intention of slowing down anytime soon. "I like to see things done," he said.

(News researcher Denise Jones contributed to this report.)