April 2002

New NCCBI leader Hyler
pledges renewed emphasis
on pro-business advocacy

Jim Hyler of Raleigh, the vice chairman and COO of First Citizens BancShares Inc. and First Citizens Bank, was installed March 20 as the new chairman of NCCBI during what was generally perceived as one of the most successful annual meetings in recent years. During his dinner remarks, Hyler said he will work to strengthen NCCBI’s business advocacy, on delivering member services and in leading NCCBI’s campaign for legislative session limits.

”I believe the primary focus of our organization in the coming year should be to promote our state’s business interests and to serve as a strong advocate for business – particularly in the North Carolina legislature and in Washington,” Hyler told an estimated 700 people attending the dinner portion of the 60^th annual meeting. He accepted the gavel from outgoing chairman Gordon Myers of Asheville, the Ingles Markets executive.

Hyler should be well positioned to achieve his goals because over the coming year he also will command a second bully pulpit. He recently was appointed by Gov. Mike Easley as chairman of the Governor’s Government Efficiency Commission which has been charged with recommending ways the state can deliver services more efficiently.

A 1970 graduate of Virginia Tech, Hyler served as First Citizens’ CFO for eight years. He was named president of First Citizens in 1988, the position he held until 1993 when he was named to his current position.

Hyler is very active in community affairs and serves as chairman of the Rex Healthcare Board of Trustees. He is also chairman of the President’s Council for the 2005 U.S. Open Golf Championship, to be held in Pinehurst, an effort he also led during the 2001 event at Pinehurst. Hyler is involved in numerous other organizations, ranging from the Carolina Bankers Association to the Boys & Girls Clubs of America.

“Jim takes over at a critical time for North Carolina,” said Myers, Hyler’s predecessor at NCCBI.  “But I think his financial acumen, experience in banking and active involvement the community are just what we need, and I wish him well.”

Sue Cole of Greensboro (left), the president of U.S. Trust Co. of North Carolina, became first vice chair of NCCBI and is in line to become the first female leader of the state’s largest business organization after Hyler’s term ends. Bill Coley of Charlotte, group president of Duke Power Co., was elected second vice chair of the organization and will lead this year’s membership campaign.

Before joining U.S. Trust in 1987, Cole was a senior vice president of North Carolina National Bank. A 1972 graduate of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, where she serves as a trustee, Cole is active in many civic and community groups in the Triad.

Coley (left), who also will serve this year as chairman of the Charlotte Chamber of Commerce, is a graduate of Georgia Tech who has spent his entire career with Duke Power. He is a director of several businesses, including CT Communications, SouthTrust Corp., NovantHealth and the Electric Power Research institute.

An estimated 950 people attended the annual meeting luncheon and heard a keynote speech by Wachovia Corp. President and CEO G. Kennedy Thompson. More than 700 attended the dinner and enjoyed the roundtable discussion by the state’s four living former governors.

Horace Johnson of Raleigh (left), the managing partner of the Raleigh practice of Ernst & Young L.L.P, will serve another year as treasurer of NCCBI.  With 30 years experience in public accounting and consulting, he has served numerous clients, publicly and privately owned, in industries including manufacturing, mining and technology. He also serves several international companies. Even though he is responsible for the Raleigh practice, he is active as a client service partner.

Hyler named three new members to the association’s Executive Committee and re-appointed two others. The Executive Committee is the polity-making body that governs NCCBI under delegated authority from the full Board of Directors. Hyler appointed James L. (Jerry) Cook of Sara Lee Branded Apparel in Winston-Salem, Ralph K. Shelton of Southeast Fuels Co. in Greensboro, and E. Stephen Stroud of Carolantic Realty in Raleigh. Hyler re-appointed David P. Huskins of Ridgetop Associates in Linville Falls and Stephen P. Miller of The Biltmore Co. in Asheville.