North Carolina’s Electric Cooperatives recently named Ryan Nance as Director of Economic Development. In this newly created role, Nance will focus on site identification and readiness, marketing and key accounts, and project intelligence and development, as well as building and sustaining relationships with site selection consultants and other activities that support the economic development efforts of local electric cooperatives.
Nance is an experienced business development and recruiting professional with demonstrated success in managing a diverse range of site selection projects including headquarters relocation, research and development centers, distribution logistics and heavy industrial operations. He most recently served as Director of Business Development for the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina where he led efforts to proactively identify and cultivate new business prospects considering the state of North Carolina for new investment.
A native of Robeson County, Nance graduated from N.C. State University’s Poole College of Management and also holds a Master of Business Administration from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He has previous ties to electric cooperatives: his first job out of college was at Appalachian State University’s Energy Center working on an economic development cluster initiative led by Lenoir-based Blue Ridge Energy, and his first full-time economic development role was with an organization co-founded by Lumbee River, an electric cooperative headquartered in Pembroke.
“Our state’s electric cooperatives are already involved in economic development efforts across North Carolina, and my goal is to help support the work that is already under way and foster new opportunities for the people, businesses and communities we serve,” Nance said. “We recognize that rural North Carolina has tremendous untapped potential, and we’re actively recruiting new prospects and working to make our service areas ready for investment.”
As the not-for-profit, member-owned electric utilities for our state’s rural communities, North Carolina’s electric cooperatives are uniquely positioned to not only provide power, but also strengthen the areas they serve through economic development efforts. We currently offer a wide array of support for businesses seeking to locate or expand in our state, and are a national leader in channeling funds from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Economic Development Loan and Grant (REDLG) program to rural North Carolina. We also invest in education, workforce development and innovative energy solutions that help create economic opportunity and improve overall quality of life in the 93 counties we serve.
Learn more about our economic development efforts in the In the Community section of our website.