NCPED is strategically and uniquely positioned to work collaboratively with local and state development officials, and it has cultivated close relationships with leaders across the state.  Key contacts in business, government and the academic community participate in regional programs operating in the NCPED orbit.  It has also established close working relationships with economic development officials at the federal level and with philanthropic institutions such as North Carolina’s Golden LEAF.  Through this extensive network, NCPED has tapped a rich vein of expertise and experience on behalf of economic and industrial development in North Carolina.

Each quarter, the chairmen of each regional partnership, who comprise NCPED’s board of directors, join partnership chief executives and top officials from the North Carolina Department of Commerce (DOC) in charting unified strategies for attracting new investment and high-wage jobs to every corner of the state.  Included at these meetings are decisions about operational structures, communications and coordination, marketing opportunities and resource sharing. The seven regional partnership executives and key DOC officials convene monthly at the tactical level, discussing common problems and developing solutions, offering advice, sharing best practices and formulating policy recommendations to meet a broad range of economic and business challenges. NCPED also provides a venue for communication and planning among marketing, technology and research managers of the partnerships and DOC.