North Carolina’s commerce secretary to leave Gov. Cooper’s team in early 2021
Tony Copeland, who has served as the head of the N.C. Department of Commerce since 2017, will depart from state government next month, Gov. Roy Cooper announced.
His last day at Commerce, the agency that leads economic development in the state and runs programs like unemployment insurance, will be Jan. 31.
“Four years ago, we assembled one of the strongest cabinets in the history of North Carolina,” Cooper said in a statement. “I appreciate Tony Copeland’s willingness to join my cabinet and use his excellent skills and experience to help our state grow jobs and boost important programs like job training.”
‘A natural time for transition’
Cooper added that the start of a new term is “a natural time for transition,” and that he remains focused on the state’s economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic.
A native of Hertford, in rural Eastern North Carolina, Copeland was considered a familiar face in North Carolina economic development circles when he was selected for the job four years ago.
He had previously served as assistant secretary of commerce and helped start the telecommunications company BTI.
“I am proud of the accomplishments we have made together, including support for the state’s businesses, workers and communities during this historic pandemic,” Copeland said in a statement. “We’ve worked to bring stability to the economic development process and implemented innovative solutions to ensure North Carolina’s workforce is ready to embrace the emerging opportunities ahead.”
Commerce said Copeland was not available for an interview.
Under Copeland’s leadership, the state recruited nearly 80,000 potential jobs via the use of incentives. That included massive recruitments like health insurance giant Centene, which plans to add more than 3,000 jobs in Charlotte, and persuading Advance Auto Parts to move its headquarters to Raleigh.
It still remains to be seen how many of the recruited jobs will end up being created, as announced projects historically under deliver on promised jobs, according to a 2019 WRAL report. The state doesn’t pay incentives to companies until they meet hiring goals.
Tech incentives
Over the past four years, the state’s Job Development Investment Grant program gave incentives to many of the state’s most promising tech startups, like Raleigh-based Pendo and Charlotte-based AvidXChange.
It also continually extended incentives to companies working in the promising, but experimental, field of gene therapy.
To land new jobs, Copeland had to navigate split responsibilities with with the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina, a public-private partnership created under the administration of Gov. Pat McCrory. The creation of EDPNC, funded by public and private sources, took away many marketing and recruitment responsibilities from Commerce.
That meant throughout Copeland’s time at Commerce, EDPNC led much of the state’s initial recruitment of companies while Commerce handled negotiations around incentives.
At the time of Copeland’s appointment, Cooper was skeptical of the arrangement’s future. But Cooper has kept the state’s contract with the organization.
Christopher Chung, CEO of EDPNC, said his organization has been grateful for a good relationship with Copeland.
“(W)e’re honored to have worked alongside him over the past four years on numerous economic development wins that will benefit this state for generations to come,” Chung said in an email. “We look forward to hopefully working with him in his future endeavors, as well as to continuing the strong collaboration we enjoy with our colleagues at the Commerce Department.”
During his tenure, the state was also in contention for several blockbuster corporate expansions. But the state has still struggled to land an auto manufacturer or the headquarters of a West Coast tech giant, losing out in quests for new jobs from Amazon, Apple and Toyota.
For much of the past year, Commerce has been focused squarely on the fallout surrounding the coronavirus pandemic.
In the early months of the pandemic, the state’s Department of Employment Security, a part of Commerce, struggled to fill unemployment claims as its systems became overwhelmed by more than a million unemployment claims.
The struggle eventually led to a leadership shuffle within Commerce, after Cooper appointed former lawmaker Pryor Gibson to replace Lockhart Taylor’s position heading up unemployment insurance.
In its release announcing Copeland’s departure, the governor’s office also touted the creation of Finish line grants for college students.
The program helps provide financial support to students who come close to finishing a degree or credential but hit an unexpected financial roadblock, like major car repairs or medical bills. The program has helped hundreds of students since 2018, The News & Observer reported.
Using federal money, the state offers these grants to students who are more than halfway to finishing their education. The grants have helped hundreds since 2018.
“My tenure as Secretary of Commerce during the last four years has been the greatest honor of my career, and I am grateful to the Governor for the opportunity to lead and serve the people of North Carolina,” Copeland said.
This story was produced with financial support from a coalition of partners led by Innovate Raleigh as part of an independent journalism fellowship program. The N&O maintains full editorial control of the work. Learn more; go to bit.ly/newsinnovate
This story was originally published December 14, 2020 at 12:37 PM.
