Lenoir Co.’s Mark Pope Honored

N.C. Economic Developer of the Year

Pictured: Mike Jarman, Lenoir Co. Manager, Bob "Pic" Billingsley, Director of Dev. & Engineering, Sanderson Farms, Mark Pope, Robbie Swinson, Kinston City Council Mbr., Scott Stevens, Kinston City Manager

NCEDA Press Release

David Anderson

Kinston Free Press

Staff Writer

June 22, 2011

Lenoir County Economic Development Director Mark Pope, and his counterpart in Rutherford County, were honored as the state’s economic developers of the year for 2011 recently, but the glory does not belong to just the developer, Pope said.

“To me, it’s a team award,” he said Monday. “I have so many people, so many allies, so many friends that support what I do; I couldn’t do it without them.”

Pope and Rutherford County Economic Development Director Thomas Johnson were recognized as Economic Developers of the Year by the N.C. Economic Developers Association.

“Overwhelming efforts by two of North Carolina’s economic development leaders made it too difficult to select just one honoree this year,” officials with the NCEDA announced Tuesday.

Johnson was selected for the award for his work in bringing “large data center projects” to an area that has been hit hard by the loss of textile manufacturing jobs over the years.

His major projects included Facebook’s announcement it will build its second data center in Rutherford County, creating 300 jobs and spurring an investment of $450 million. CMI Industries also recently established a manufacturing facility there.

The NCEDA said Pope was “critical to bringing new projects to Lenoir County in 2010, gathering the right people and the right resources to provide assistance.”

Those projects included the expansion of MasterBrand and DuPont’s manufacturing efforts, plus the arrival of Precision Shavings Inc., the kick off of the Woodmen Community Center project, and the opening of Spirit AeroSystems’ and Sanderson Farms’ Kinston facilities.

The new businesses have created nearly 3,000 jobs and prompted more than $800 million in investment in Lenoir County.

“Tom Johnson and Mark Pope have worked tirelessly to expand economic development and create jobs in their counties and throughout North Carolina,” NCEDA President Jimmy Smith stated. “This award is a small recognition compared to the impact they have made in their communities and our state.”

Pope has worked for Lenoir County for six years. He came to the county government with 21 years of experience in banking — he had worked for Bank of America and First South Bank as a branch manager, city executive, and with consumer and commercial loans.

Pope said sharing the award with Johnson showed how much economic development is a team effort.

“It’s nice to see Eastern North Carolina and our community recognized,” he said. “To me it feels like something the whole team has earned.”

Kinston and Lenoir County leaders lauded Pope for his achievement on Monday.

“To generate over $800 million is a tremendous step,” said George Graham, chairman of the Lenoir County Board of Commissioners.

Kinston City Manager Scott Stevens described Pope as “the one that waves the flag and represents us when we don’t know we’re being represented.”

David Anderson can be reached at 252-559-1077 or danderson@freedomenc.com.

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