Governor Cooper Announces Appointments to Boards and Commissions

Yesterday, Governor Roy Cooper announced he will be making 32 executive nominations and appointments to 14 different boards, councils, and commissions including the North Carolina Board of Transportation, the NCWorks Commission and the Environmental Management Commission.

“These nominees and appointees will do important work for the people of North Carolina and I’m grateful for their service,” said Governor Cooper.

Gov. Cooper has nominated three current members to new seats and two new members to serve on the North Carolina Board of Transportation:

• Thomas Taft, Jr. of Greenville as a representative of the Second Transportation Division. Taft currently serves as a Principal at Taft Family Ventures. He also serves on the Greenville Board of Adjustments and the Board of Directors of the ECU Medical and Health Sciences Foundation.
• Michael K. Alford of Jacksonville as a representative of the Third Transportation Division. Alford is the owner and operator of Marine Chevrolet Cadillac in Jacksonville. Alford serves on the board of the National Automobile Dealers association and has chaired the North Carolina’s Eastern Region’s Military Growth Task Force.
• Grady Hunt of Pembroke as a representative of the Sixth Transportation Division. Hunt has practiced government, education and real estate law for more than twenty-five years. Hunt is currently a named partner at the law firm of Locklear, Jacobs, Hunt & Brooks Attorneys at Law.
• Landon G. Zimmer of Wilmington as an at-large member representing State Ports and Aviation. Zimmer is responsible for project development, market selection, general corporate administration, and strategic planning as the in-house counsel for the Zimmer Development Company. Zimmer also serves on the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission and the Bald Head Island Transportation Authority Board of Trustees.  
• General Hugh R. Overholt of New Bern as an at-large member representing rural areas. Overholt currently is a Government Relations Attorney at Ward and Smith, PA. A retired Major General of the U.S. Army, his practice encompasses federal and state government affairs.

Gov. Cooper has appointed the following individuals to the North Carolina Credit Union Commission:

• Chris Dillon of Raleigh as a public member. Dillon is an Assistant County Manager for Wake County. Prior to this position, he served as the Intergovernmental Relations Manager for Wake County and as the Director of Governmental Affairs for the Wildlife Resources Commission.
• Caleb Malcolm of Hope Mills as a public member. Malcolm is the Vice President of Information Technology for the Lumbee River Electric Membership Corporation. He is a retired Lieutenant Colonel of the United States Air Force.

Gov. Cooper has appointed the following individuals to the Historic Bath Commission:

• Leesa Payton Jones of Washington as an at-large member. Jones is a former teacher who is a co-founder/co-director of the Washington Waterfront Underground Railroad Museum. Jones is a member of the Executive Board of the Washington Harbor District Alliance.
• Surry P. Everett of Bath as an at-large member. Everett retired from the United States as a Lieutenant Colonel and then went worked as a project and program manager for LAN & WAN Networks. Everett has served as the President & Chair of Historic Bath Foundation, Inc., and has been a member of the Historic Bath Commission since 2009.
• Jerry M. Waters of Bath as an at-large member. Waters has served on several non-profit boards and is currently the President of the Historic Bath Foundation Board of Directors.
• Eugene L. Roberts of Bath as an at-large member. Roberts was the national and managing editor of The New York Times, and the executive editor of The Philadelphia Inquirer. Roberts also was a journalism professor at the University of Maryland. .

Gov. Cooper has appointed the following individual to the NCWorks Commission:

• Brock Ashburn of Asheville as a business representative. Ashburn is the Vice President Operations at Highland Brewing Company. Additionally, he works on many design-build projects as a licensed civil engineer and licensed general contractor.

Gov. Cooper has appointed the following individuals to the North Carolina Holocaust Council:

• Steve Mostofsky of Greensboro as an at-large member. Mostofsky is the President and CEO of TTI Global Resources, which specializes in the sale of hosiery and apparel. Mostofsky has also served as the Director of Sourcing for Sara Lee Hosiery.
• Zohara Boyd of Hays as an at-large member. Boyd is a Polish Holocaust survivor and a co-founder of Appalachian State University’s Center for Judaic, Holocaust, and Peace Studies. She taught Early American Literature at the University from 1977 until her retirement in 2008.
• Nancy Brenner of Greensboro as an at-large member. Brenner is an independent fund-raising professional working in the Greensboro/Winston-Salem Area. Brenner is a past president of the Board of Trustees for the Greensboro Jewish Federation.
• Ronna Zimmer of Wilmington as an at-large member. Zimmer is currently serving as the President of the Board of Trustees for the Thalian Hall Center for the Performing Arts. She also serves on the UNC-Wilmington Board of Visitors.
• Rick Rosenburg of Chapel Hill as an at-large member. Rosenburg has been a business owner and entrepreneur for over 35 years. He serves as Chairman of the Board at The Hill Center in Durham.
• Ellen Fischer of Greensboro as an at-large member. Fischer is a published children’s book author and former educator. She is the author of If an Armadillo Went to a Restaurant and If an Elephant Went to School.

Gov. Cooper has appointed the following individual to the North Carolina Environmental Management Commission:

• Shannon Arata of Durham as a member with special training in freshwater, estuarine, marine biological or ecological sciences. Arata is a Staff Attorney at the Duke University Environmental Law & Policy Clinic. Previously, she worked as a legal intern for the North Carolina Conservation Network and the Southern Environmental Law Center.

Gov. Cooper has appointed the following individual to the North Carolina Marriage and Family Therapy Licensure Board:

• Connie Harris of Mars Hill as a Public Member. Harris is the Director of the Madison County Department of Social Services. Previously, she worked at the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services in the Division of Aging and Adult Services.

Gov. Cooper has appointed the following individual to the North Carolina Radiation Protection Commission:

• Larry Haynes of Maiden as an employee of one of the licensed public utilities involved in the generation of power by atomic energy. Haynes is the Nuclear Fleet Scientific Services Manager at Duke Energy Corporation. Haynes has also served previously as an Airborne Weather Observer for the US Air Force.

Gov. Cooper has appointed the following individuals to the Supplemental Retirement Board of Trustees:

• Lorraine Johnson of Apex as a member with experience in finance and investments. Johnson is the President of Triangle Financial Advisors. She is also a Registered Representative and Investment Advisory Representative at Royal Alliance Associates, Inc.
• Steve Beam of Charlotte as a member with experience in finance and investments. Beam is a partner in Beam Strategic Consulting Group, LLC. Previously, he was a financial advisor with Merrill Lynch.
• Nigel Long of Charlotte as a member with experience in finance and investments. Long is the founder and Senior Managing Director of Trade Street Advisors, LLC. He is also the founder and President of The Dilworth Companies, Inc., a private investment firm.

Gov. Cooper has appointed the following individuals to the USS North Carolina Battleship Commission:

• Charles A. Alston of Washington, D.C. as an at-large member. Alston is senior vice president and director of public affairs at MSL. A Greensboro native, he was reporter and editor at the Greensboro News & Record from 1979-1988.
• Donald E. Britt of Wilmington as vice chair. He is an attorney and a past president and current member of the Historic Wilmington Foundation and Wilmington Rotary Club.

Gov. Cooper has appointed the following individuals to the North Carolina State Historical Records Advisory Board:

•  Drew Reisinger of Asheville as an at-large member. Reisinger currently is the Register of Deeds of Buncombe County.  He is active with the North Carolina Association of Register of Deeds.
• Erin Lawrimore of High Point as an at-large member. Lawrimore has served as the University Archivist in the Martha Blakeney Hodges Special Collections and University Archives at UNC- Greensboro since June 2011. She worked previously at North Carolina State University and the University of Tennessee.
•  Sharon A. Davis of Durham as an at-large member. Davis currently serves as the Register of Deeds of Durham County. She is active in the North Carolina Association of Register of Deeds and the International Association of Clerks, Recorders, Elected Officials and Treasurers.

Gov. Cooper has appointed the following individual to the North Carolina State Building Commission:

• Zena Howard of Cary as a licensed architect nominated by American Institute of Architects. Howard is a Principal and Managing Director of the North Carolina practice of Perkins & Will. Howard is known for her success leading projects including the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C.

Gov. Cooper has appointed the following individual to the McDowell Technical Community College Board of Trustees:

• W. Ray McKesson of Marion as an at-large member. McKesson has been heavily involved at McDowell Tech since the mid-1970s, serving as Chief Financial Officer and Vice President for Finance and Administration, among other positions.  McKesson as also worked as a Social Worker in the McDowell County Department of Social Services.

Gov. Cooper has appointed the following individual to the Wilkes Community College Board of Trustees:

• Connie S. Cox of North Wilkesboro as an at-large member. Cox, a Wilkes County native, comes from a long line of educators in the county. Cox spent two decades in the San Francisco Bay area where she built her own food distribution company before returning to North Carolina.