Christopher Chung, the Chief Executive Officer of the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina, was the keynote speaker of the 2016 Henderson-Vance Chamber on Commerce banquet held on Thursday, February 4th. Chung is a graduate of The Ohio State University, and previously served as the President and CEO of the Missouri Partnership from late 2007 until 2014.
Chung opened by saying, “The organization that we represent does a number of things that are important for any state when it comes to economic development. I have been in economic development for a number of years now, and by my count now, it’s almost two decades. I have dedicated my entire professional life to the field of economic development. First, in Ohio where I’m from, and then for seven years in Missouri, and as of January of last year, here in North Carolina.”
It was easy to tell that Chung has the experience to help the State of North Carolina grow in the coming years.
Chung went on to say that there are five items that the State of North Carolina has in action when it comes to bringing in outside money to push the economy forward. “The most high profile job that we do is business recruitment,” said Chung. Chung also went on to say, “We are trying to position North Carolina as the ideal location for a growing, expanding or relocating business decides to go next. It’s that straight forward.”
New business recruitment is vital, however, Chung and the rest of the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina understand that they must also take care of current businesses in the state.
Chung addressed the subject, “These are the companies that have already chosen to create jobs here. These are the companies that have already chosen to make an investment in North Carolina.”
Chung went on to talk about international trade, small business counseling, and travel and tourism.
Chung ended his address with a call to action, and told the banquet attendees, “We can only do so much at the state level. The State of North Carolina, and the hundred counties that make it up, that’s the product that we’re out there marketing and selling on a daily basis, and we can get companies or tourists or customers from overseas markets interested in North Carolina as a place to do business or a place to visit, but we ultimately depend on strong partnerships with the local communities that we team up with. As interested as a company can get in North Carolina, ultimately if they’re going to come here they have to drill down to a specific county, they have to drill down to a specific community. So we absolutely rely on strong partnerships with those local communities that we work with everyday.”
If you would like to contact Christopher Chung you can call his office in Cary at 919-447-7788. You can also email him at christopher.chung@edpnc.com.