RALEIGH – Meeting with delegations from other countries only accounts for about  one-percent of NC Secretary of State Elaine F. Marshall’s official duties.  The Charlotte Business Journal last week honored all those years of dedicated effort when it presented Secretary Marshall with its 2017 Pillar International Trade Lifetime Achievement Award.

Remarking on her two decades representing North Carolina’s interests to international trade delegations, Secretary Marshall noted that respect is a key ingredient. “Foreign officials coming here to discuss bringing their operations to our State don’t just want to haggle over numbers,” says Secretary Marshall. “They expect you to sit down to a meal and have a real conversation. They want you to show that you understand their culture and that you want to learn more. They want to feel befriended and respected. Great business relationships grow from the place of mutual respect.”

That theory of mutual respect has benefited North Carolina’s bottom line greatly, with global exports growing by roughly $1 billion a year over the past 10 years.

Secretary Marshall, who is often the highest-ranking state government official in the room in meetings with international trade delegations, understands her role in bringing international trade to North Carolina. “When a delegation wants to take a photo with the local and state officials in a meeting, I know that photograph has importance,” Marshall says. “That will prove to the leaders back in their home country that they gained the ear – and the respect – of high-ranking officials here in North Carolina. That photograph means something very tangible in trade negotiations.”