RALEIGH –Randall Johnson, executive director of the NC Biotechnology Center Southeastern office, has been named president of the North Carolina Economic Development Association (NCEDA) for the 2020-2021 term.

The 54-year-old association elected Johnson by unanimous vote at its first-ever virtual membership meeting on June 11.

NCEDA is one of the state’s leading membership organization for economic development practitioners, and their public and private allies and educational partners.

Johnson graduated cum laude from Wake Forest University with an undergraduate concentration in psychology, and holds an MBA from the Babcock Graduate School of Management at Wake Forest University.

He serves on volunteer boards in the region and state, including Past Chairman of the Southeastern Economic Development Commission, Wilmington Rotary Club, and the Advisory Committee for Biotechnology in Southeastern North Carolina, which he helped found. Additionally, Randall is a graduate of Leadership North Carolina Class XV.

WRAL TechWire’s Chantal Allam had the chance to catch up with him. Here’s what he had to say:

  • What will be your main focus when your term starts on July 1?

NCEDA has benefited from the leadership of a long line of great presidents and board members, combined with the strong engagement from NCEDA members, and we’ve been pretty aggressive in recent years at enhancing the ways we serve the economic development community in North Carolina.  First, we’ll continue to strengthen our long-standing professional development programs and our legislative advocacy efforts, as well as our newer initiatives such as our Research Committee and Emerging Executives Initiative. We’ve pivoted to a virtual model to offer professional development topics related to recovery, including digital infrastructure, and workforce readiness and talent development (e.g., MyFutureNC), as well as tactical training and re-training for displaced workers.

In addition, we’ll launch new ways to benefit economic developers and strengthen our profession, including with the recently established NCEDA Foundation to enhance our service and support to young professionals across the state and to economic developers in rural communities.
Our sole focus is providing exceptional value and benefit to NCEDA’s members and partners by offering high-quality professional development, hosting network-building gatherings (whether in-person or virtual), and serving as the voice for the economic development community through our legislative advocacy efforts.

  • What’s your view on the ground at the moment in North Carolina? How has economic development in the state faired during this time?

While the damaging impacts of COVID-19 in North Carolina can’t be overstated, especially in rural areas and in the tourism, hospitality, and entertainment sectors, we can point to a few bright spots across the state.  I/T, finance, real estate, and construction have fared better than most, but there is concern about the aerospace and automotive components manufacturing industries, and it’s worth watching potential declines in government employment due to falling tax revenues.

One of the most obvious areas of growth and opportunity in the state is the life sciences sector and the existing companies working on coronavirus prevention, testing, and treatment, as well as the recent announcements by Grail and Grifols. We’ve also continued to see major economic development announcements in other sectors in North Carolina, including one of the largest job creation projects in NC history with the Centene announcement in Charlotte, which used the first Transformative JDIG here for investments of over $1 billion.

While we still have a long way to go for full recovery, these announcements are not anomalies but are part of a trajectory our state is on, with the leadership of the NC Department of Commerce, EDPNC, and local and state developers, toward greater economic development successes here.

  • How will NCEDA seek even more economic growth, despite the on-going pandemic? 

NCEDA’s members and partners are the point of the spear in hitting North Carolina’s targets for economic resilience and growth. We will continue to enhance their skills and strengthen their ability to grow jobs here through our professional development programming and by continuing to advocate for a policy environment that encourages economic development activity to flourish across the state.

Recently, NCEDA has been hosting webinars for economic developers on timely topics such as reworking strategic plans in light of the pandemic and refocusing on business retention and expansion (BRE) to help existing businesses thrive and grow.  NCEDA also worked with partners to support the legislature’s recent extension of the performance-based, self-funding Job Development Investment Grant (JDIG), which now enjoys bicameral, bipartisan support in the legislature.

All the assets and amenities NC enjoyed prior to the pandemic will remain after the pandemic recedes: Strategic location, modern infrastructure, ready product, unbeatable workforce, appealing quality of life.  We will work with members to focus on improving their professional skills and on targeting re-shaped supply chains, and promoting North Carolina’s access to growing consumer markets, excellent healthcare resources, and life science assets.

  • Reports suggest that people want to flee big metros like NY, Chicago and LA in response to this pandemic. Where does that place the Triangle in the mix of things? Do we stand to benefit? 

With the strong business community and the wide-ranging but always extraordinary quality of life across North Carolina, the entire state stands to benefit from the movement of professionals away from densely populated mega-cities to our state, including to the rural areas and exurban towns and cities that are ready with broadband, a diverse housing stock, and quality healthcare amenities. Considering the unique mix of amenities in the Triangle and some of the business sectors that are strong here, including life sciences and technology, the Triangle stands to gain tremendously from the exodus of professionals from other parts of the world to North Carolina.

  • What advice do you have for Triangle businesses who are struggling to stay afloat at this time? Where can they seek support?

My advice for businesses in the Triangle and across the state is to learn about, connect with, and tap into the broad range of support programs by reaching out to local economic development organizations which are equipped to help connect firms to available programs and resources—e.g., community college small business centers and SBTDCs and other university-based business resources. EDPNC‘s BLNC small-business hotline has also been a valuable resource and can help navigate the range of beneficial programs and organizations across the state.

NC Biotech exec Randall Johnson is named new president of NCEDA