N.C. Secretary of Commerce J. Keith Crisco today announced that Henry McKoy, chairman and CEO of Fourth-Sector Financial, a North Carolina-based financial services corporation focused on the green and sustainability sectors, is Commerce’s new assistant secretary for community development.
“We are very pleased to have Henry McKoy join our Commerce team,” Crisco said. “Governor Perdue has made community economic development and the green business sector two of her top priorities. Assistant Secretary McKoy’s experience in these important areas and his strong leadership skills make him the ideal person for this job.”
McKoy spent more than 15 years in corporate finance, banking and technology for Central Carolina Bank, National Commerce Financial and SunTrust. He also has extensive community experience and has worked with more than 100 non-profits since 1993. He founded the non-profit think tank, OneVoice Institute of Business and Entrepreneurship (OneVIBE) in 1999, which he still chairs, to focus on the connections between social innovation and entrepreneurship.
“I am very excited to join the Commerce team,” said McKoy. “North Carolina’s communities, especially our less prosperous ones, are working hard during overcome these difficult economic times, and need as much support and assistance as we are able to provide them. I look forward to working with the talented staff of Commerce’s Division of Community Assistance to do so.”
McKoy has served as a member of the state’s Economic Development Board, charged with developing a strategic economic development plan for North Carolina. He has previously sat on or chaired other boards across North Carolina and the U.S. related to sustainability, community development, business and education, including EmPOWERment Inc, the Responsible Endowment Coalition, SJF Ventures Advisory Services and the N.C. Council on Economic Education.
McKoy will oversee Commerce’s community development programs, which provide the state’s less prosperous communities with resources and services to help them plan for growth, encourage economic development and address community needs. Services include:
· Providing maximum support to small businesses in designated smaller and less prosperous towns through Governor Perdue’s new Main Street Solutions program;
· Revitalizing downtowns and smaller communities through existing Main Street, Small Town Main Street and 21st Century Communities programs;
· Upgrading infrastructure, fostering entrepreneurship and providing housing and other opportunities through administration of the federal Community Development Block Grants program, the state’s Industrial Development Fund and the North Carolina office of the Appalachian Regional Commission; and
· Tapping into the local workforce development programs and assisting communities with recruitment, retention and expansion of new and existing companies.
McKoy graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a B.S. in Business Administration and has pursued graduate studies in Environmental Management and Policy at Duke University.