Governor McCrory Announces Appointments | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Press Release:

    Raleigh, NC  -  The Office of Governor Pat McCrory announced the following appointments today:

    North Carolina Coastal Resources Commission

    Frank Gorham (New Hanover County) - Gorham fills the coastal property owner or experience in land development seat. He will serve as chairman of the Commission. Gorham is currently the owner of Sandstone Properties LLC. He earned a J.D. from the University of New Mexico School of Law. Gorham is active in numerous charities and public service. He will serve a two-year term.

    Greg Lewis (Carteret County) - Lewis fills the second seat for a coastal property owner or person experienced in land development. He is the chairman of the Carteret County Commissioners. He serves on several boards in Carteret County including Allies for Cherry Point's Tomorrow, the Economic Development Council, Military Growth Task Force and Public Water Access Committee. He will serve a one-year term.

    Bill Naumann (Craven County) - Naumann fills the seat requiring experience in engineering or a marine-related science. He is the president of Transformation Venture Capital in New Bern, North Carolina. He served as the chairman of Hatteras Yachts Inc. He was the president/CEO of Hatteras Yacht prior to serving as chairman. He received his B.S. in civil engineering from Purdue University and an MBA in finance from the University of Chicago. He will serve a two-year term.

    Neal Andrew (New Hanover County) - Andrew fills the second seat requiring experience in engineering or a marine-related science. He is the president of Andrew Consulting Engineers. Prior to founding his own firm, he worked for his father's engineering firm, Andrew & Kuske. He received a B.S. in civil engineering from N.C. State and a M.S. in civil engineering from Georgia Tech. He will serve a one-year term.

    Suzanne Dorsey (Brunswick County) - Dorsey fills the seat requiring experience in coastal related business. She is the executive director of Bald Head Island Conservancy & Smith Island Land Trust. Also, she serves as a marine sciences adjunct professor at UNC-Wilmington. Dorsey has published numerous reports and written in several journals regarding marine science. She received her B.A. from Drew University, her M.S. from the University of Maryland and her Ph.D. from SUNY at Stony Brook in coastal oceanography. She will serve a two-year term.

    Benjamin Simmons Jr. (Hyde County) - Simmons fills the seat requiring experience in coastal agriculture. He is a member of the Hyde County Recreation Committee. Simmons owns farmland in Hyde and Tyrell counties and produces corn, cotton, soybeans, wheat and sorghum. He is the founder and owner of Dare to Hyde Outdoor Adventures. He will serve a two-year term.

    The Honorable Renee Cahoon (Dare County) - Cahoon fills the seat requiring experience in local government within the coastal area. She is self-employed in the family-owned Cahoon's Market and Cottages in Nags Head. She was mayor of Nags Head from 1991 through 2000 and was elected mayor once more from 2005 to 2009. Cahoon has also served on the North Carolina Coastal Resources Commission since 2002. She received her A.S. from Louisburg College. She will serve a one-year term.

    Bob Emory (Craven County) - Emory fills the seat requiring experience in coastal forestry. He is the environmental manager at Weyerhauser's Southern Timberlands Operations. As the environmental manager, he is in charge of making sure that millions of acres of forests in 10 different states are being managed responsibly and in a sustainable manner. In 2000, Emory received an EPA award - The Environmental Merit Award for the work Weyerhaeuser has done at 20 sites in North Carolina. Emory has served on the Coastal Resources Commission since 1994. He will serve a one-year term.

    Lee Wynns (Bertie County) - Wynns fills the seat requiring experience in commercial fishing. He is retired as the president/operator of Perry-Wynns Fish Company, Inc. He is the former mayor of Colerain, North Carolina and has served as both a member and chairman on the local Board of Education. This is his 11th year serving as a Coastal Resources commissioner. He graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill with a B.S. in secondary education and a master's degree in administration. He will serve a one-year term.

    Cahoon, Emory, and Wynns continue to serve on the Coastal Resources Commission in their same capacity.

    The Commission is responsible for preparing and adopting rules that establish guidelines for development in the 20 coastal counties.


    Contact: Crystal Feldman
      govpress@nc.gov