Thread: Dying Asheboro Gets NC Dpt. of Commerce Appointed From City

Crisco named N.C. Secretary of Commerce

By Chip Womick -- Staff Writer

http://www.courier-tribune.com/articles ... ws/en1.txt

[quote]ASHEBORO — Keith Crisco, a longtime Asheboro businessman and current member of the Asheboro City Council, was introduced at a press conference in Raleigh Monday as N.C. Governor-Elect Beverly Perdue’s pick to be state commerce secretary.

Crisco begins work next week as head of a department with 297 full-time employees — a group that includes five assistant secretaries and three executive directors — and an operating budget of $137 million. Crisco said Monday that when federal dollars and programs are factored in, there are about 400 employees and a budget of some $600 million under the umbrella of the N.C. Department of Commerce.

The commerce secretary oversees an array of divisions, including business and trade development, community development, workforce development and tourism, film and sports. The state commerce department has numerous offices at home and a number abroad, including in Mexico City, Frankfurt, Germany, and a newly opened bureau in Shanghai, China.

“Elastic people work under tension, but this is a new kind of tension,â€

It sounds like our new gov. and our new commerce secretary need to be watched very carefully.