The Fifth Annual Leadership North Carolina Forum was held on Jan. 26 in Raleigh. The forum is designed to provide information and dialogue on charting our state's future for leaders in business, government, education, and nonprofits from across North Carolina. N.C. Department of Commerce Secretary Keith Crisco introduced Francisco J. Sánchez, under secretary of commerce for international trade, who was the keynote speaker.

During the forum, as part of the economic panel discussion titled "Are We Idle or Moving Forward?," Commerce's Susan Fleetwood, director of the Business and Industry Division, reflected on North Carolina's progress during the Great Recession – its consistently top-ranked business climate, close oversight of financial incentives paid to companies, the thousands of jobs created and billions of dollars in business investment that have flowed into the state, and the growth of workforce training and advanced manufacturing.