RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK – Machelle Baker Sanders launched her tenure as North Carolina’s secretary of commerce with a tour of the First Flight Venture Center – a growing hub for new and emerging life science and technology companies – in RTP on Monday. And she saluted the state’s entrepreneurial community as a source for growth going forward.
“Innovation and new ideas are the rocket fuel of the North Carolina economy,” Sanders said after a ceremony. “As a biotechnology executive, I’ve witnessed the significant impact that entrepreneurial innovation has on our state. We must welcome everyone to contribute and then act with deliberate intention to nurture and support those ideas, especially those high-impact companies that solve global issues.”
Sanders was named by Gov. Roy Cooper to replace Tony Copeland who recently stepped down.
As the Department of Commerce noted, Sanders assumed the job on the first day of Women’s History Month and a day after Black History Month came to a close. She is the first woman to lead the Commerce department.
Sanders also visited Hanger6, a prototyping facility at the Center, and NALA Systems, a female-owned startup.
NC’s new Department of Commerce leader is veteran life science exec, NCSU grad
