Phil Kirk Marks His 10th Anniversary as NCCBI President

By Steve Tuttle

One thing Phil Kirk can't joke about any longer is his inability to hold a job for very long. This month marks Kirk's tenth anniversary as president and secretary of NCCBI and publisher of the North Carolina magazine — by far the longest period of time he's worked at one place during a 32-year career that's taken him from Salisbury to Raleigh to Washington and back to Raleigh again.

“I guess you could say that I've finally discovered what I want to be when I grow up,” he chuckles.

Kirk, who at the time was working as chief of staff to Gov. Jim Martin, came to NCCBI in December 1989 at a time when the venerable trade association was in the midst of a painful transition. Ivie Clayton, the former Revenue secretary who directed the association for 14 and a half years, had retired. Clayton's successor, Tom Graves, departed about three years later after it became apparent that the job wasn't a good fit for him or the association.

With those internal disruptions and a natural changing of the guard in the business community, NCCBI had suffered a loss of focus and momentum. Membership had plummeted from 1,650 to 1,122 and the association's finances were in turmoil. The NCCBI Board of Directors needed a leader who was a jack of all trades, someone who could solve both management and political problems. Kirk seemed a natural for the job.

“When I was hired I was urged to get the organization more visible, more proactive, to help us become more influential in the General Assembly and to get our membership back up,” he says. “I think we've accomplished that and we're on the road to more progress in all those areas.”

Born Nov. 24, 1944, in Salisbury, Kirk attended Catawba College while working part-time as a reporter for the Salisbury Post. He earned a bachelor of arts degree in English and took a job teaching English and journalism in the local schools. After three years in the classroom, Kirk, who had been active for many years in local GOP circles (he was North Carolina Teenage Republican of the Year and North Carolina Young Republican of the Year), ran for and was elected to the state Senate representing Rowan County. At the time he was the youngest person ever elected to the Senate.

Kirk was re-elected to the General Assembly in 1972 from a new district composed of Rowan, Davie and Davidson counties but soon was attracted to the state's dynamic new governor, Jim Holshouser, who had just been elected the first Republican governor since Reconstruction. Kirk served as Holshouser's administrative assistant from 1973-75 and then as secretary of Human Resources in 1976.

When Holshouser left office Kirk took a job with a large nursing home operator but he soon felt the tug of politics again. Congressman Jim Broyhill of Lenoir asked Kirk to come to Washington as his administrative assistant, a position Kirk held from 1978-84. During those years in Washington Broyhill became Kirk's mentor and a guiding influence in his life.

Republican Jim Martin was elected governor of North Carolina in 1984 and Kirk was offered the opportunity to come home from Washington to head up the new governor's transition team. Two months later Gov. Martin named Kirk his secretary of Human Resources, where he served until 1987. Martin then pulled Kirk into his inner circle as his chief of staff, the position he was in when NCCBI called.

“NCCBI was in serious financial difficulty 10 years ago, and we're still not in great financial shape but at least we're not in debt,” Kirk says in looking back over the last decade. “That's my biggest disappointment — that we're still concerned about our financial condition.

“Our membership and revenues have grown tremendously, but so too have the services we provide our members. We're doing a lot more now in terms of our legislative activities, our committee meetings and other services to members. But all of that costs money.

“It's amazing to me that we still have the same number of people on staff (13) as we did 10 years ago even though we have increased our level of activity and services tremendously. We have a talented and dedicated staff, and I often say it takes a lot of people to make me look good,” Kirk jokes.

While finances and a few other issues continue to concern Kirk, he can count many successes during his tenure. NCCBI undeniably has regained its preeminent position as among the most influential voices in the public policy arena. In the General Assembly NCCBI is regarded as among the most powerful lobbying organizations and Kirk himself is ranked among the capital's top five lobbyists.

Over the past decade NCCBI has racked up dozens of legislative victories, too many to mention here. Among the most notable ones are the successful reforms to the state's workers' compensation system, reductions in the corporate income tax rates, reductions in unemployment insurance rates and enactment of the Bill Lee Act, the state's premier economic development tool.

But Kirk undoubtedly counts the series of reforms to the state's public school system as NCCBI's greatest achievement on his watch. NCCBI led the successful campaign in 1997 to pass $1.8 billion in education bonds and played a vital role in the passage of the Excellent Schools Act, which is raising teacher salaries to the national average, and the ABCs of Education law, which decentralized the administration of public schools and refocused classroom teaching on the core subjects of reading, math and writing.

Gov. Jim Hunt recognized Kirk's status as a leading voice for better schools when he appointed Kirk as chairman of the State Board of Education in September, 1997. Nationwide, he is the only head of a state chamber of commerce to also lead the public school system.

In addition to leading NCCBI and the State Board of Education, Kirk also serves on about three dozen boards and commissions, many of them education related. He's often asked how he finds the time to maintain such a hectic pace.

“I don't require much sleep,” is his succinct response. “If I get six hours a night that's plenty. I'm a morning person and I write a lot of notes and leave a lot of messages on voice mail in the early mornings. And I have a lot of capable, hard-working people on both staffs (at NCCBI and the seven people working for the State Board of Education).”

“I'm fairly well-organized,” he adds. “I've learned to delegate better. I still micromanage too much and I'm trying to get away from that.”

Kirk is married to the former Margaret Simmons of Newport and he's the father of four daughters; Angela Carole, 30, Wendi Kirk Hamilton, 28, Ashlee Simmons, 15, and Allison Cress, 14. He recently became a grandfather.

“I have a very understanding family that's used to my being away a lot,” he says. “I try to make up for that; we have season tickets to the North Carolina Theater, to N.C. State football and basketball games and to the N.C. Symphony Pops Concert series, and that forces me to go and take the family.”

A State fan, Kirk and his family were the guests of NCCBI Chairman Phil Phillips at Ericcson Stadium in Charlotte for last month's State-Carolina football game. A slave to his appointment book, Kirk says “I've had to learn that it's important for me to schedule leisure activities with my family.”

Looking ahead, Kirk says he has some goals in life but has learned to take one day at a time. “Nothing in my life has ever been well planned in advance. I've never planned any other career move. Assuming I have good health, I would like to stay at NCCBI another 10 or 15 years.”

He does have some specific goals. “Keeping on the cutting edge of technology will continue to be a challenge for us. Because of excellent staff people, we have an excellent Web site, but the challenge of the expense will be tough.

“Getting us on a sounder financial footing is my primary goal right now. Increasing our membership and influence are challenges that never will be totally met.”

Sitting back in his office chair momentarily while he consults his appointment book to see where he must be next, Kirk concluded by saying, “I don't ever expect to be bored in this job.”

COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL. This article first appeared in the December 1999 issue of North Carolina Magazine.

Steve Tuttle can be reached at stuttle@nccbi.org or by calling 919-836-1411.