Controller's Biography
In June 2001, Governor Michael F. Easley nominated Robert L. Powell for the position of North Carolina State Controller. The nomination was unanimously approved by the North Carolina General Assembly and Powell assumed his responsibilities as the fourth Controller in North Carolina history on July 1, 2001. This position began after 28 years of service with North Carolina State Government, 24 of which were in the Office of State Budget and Management.
Powell, a native of Oxford, North Carolina, is the son of James B. and Mittie Belle Riggan Powell. He is the second of four children and all four, Robert, Jimmy, Bill and Mittie Belle, attended public school in Oxford, where Robert graduated from J. F. Webb High School in 1967. While in high school, Powell was an athlete in basketball and track and field, serving as co-captain of the basketball team during his senior year at Webb High School. He was also President of the J.F. Webb High School Class of 1967.
After graduation, Powell attended Atlantic Christian College (now Barton College) in Wilson, North Carolina and graduated in 1971 with a B.S. degree in Business Administration. He is a member of the Delta Sigma Phi fraternity and served as President of the Delta Iota Chapter his senior year in college. Following graduation, he was employed as a Right of Way agent with the North Carolina Department of Transportation where he served from 1971-1973.
In 1973, Powell moved to Raleigh where he accepted a position as Corporate Tax Auditor with the North Carolina Department of Revenue. In 1977, he transferred to the North Carolina Office of State Budget and Management, beginning as a Budget Analyst in the Education Section and then moving into the Capital Improvements/ Budget Administration Section. This provided the opportunity for Powell to work directly with then Governor James B. Hunt, Jr. and the Advisory Budget Commission, which provided direct input into State budget development and execution. During this time, Powell was chosen as one of two North Carolina State employees to attend the Federal Executive Institute in Charlottesville, Virginia. He also completed the Duke University Public Managers Program in 1982.
After leaving State government for a short period to become Director of Fiscal and Economic Affairs for the North Carolina Citizens for Business and Industry, Powell returned to the Office of State Budget and Management. In 1985, he was promoted to Budget Administrator for Capital Improvements, Salary Control and Budget Administration. His responsibilities also included issues related to state employee health care, federal funds, debt financing, budget manual development, and statewide publications. During this tenure, Powell was involved with developing major statewide legislation. These initiatives included the execution of statewide water and sewer grants; bond programs for higher education facilities; construction of more than 12,000 new inmate beds in the Prison Facilities Development Program; and economic recovery funding for natural disasters such as Hurricanes Hugo, Fran and Floyd. In 1992, under the second term of Governor James G. Martin, Powell was promoted to Deputy State Budget Officer, a position he held until becoming State Controller. In his career, Powell has worked under the administrations of five different Governors crossing political parties.
Powell has been active in his career with the National Association of State Budget Officers where he served in a variety of roles on the Executive Board. He served as President of the organization in 2000-01 and has been conferred with Lifetime Membership as a result of his service. In 1994, Governor James B. Hunt, Jr. awarded Powell with the Order of the Long Leaf Pine for a career of service to the State and for his service on behalf of information technology in North Carolina. As State Controller, Powell serves on the following committees:
- Chair of the Statewide Business Infrastructure Program, a legislative directed program to provide the state leadership with a business systems blueprint for the next generation of state fiscal managers.
- Chair of the Dispute Resolution Committee, a legislative appointment to serve in any instance where the State Chief Information Officer has denied or suspended the approval of an information technology project, or has denied an agency's request for deviation pursuant to G.S. 147-33.84, the agency may request this committee's review of the State Chief Information Officer's decision.
- Member of the Debt Affordability Advisory Committee, a statutory appointed committee charged with advising the Governor and the General Assembly on the estimated debt capacity of the state and undertaking the annual debt affordability study.
- Member of the North Carolina Deferred Compensation Committee, a gubernatorial appointed committee.
- Member of the Executive Branch Ethics Committee with the purpose of recommending to the Governor any beneficial changes to existing executive orders, regulations and practices regarding ethical conduct within the executive branch of state government
- Chair of the 2006-2007 State Employees Combined Campaign, which provides State employees with the opportunity to support hundreds of state and local programs through their charitable giving.
- Chair of the Council of Internal Auditing, established by the General Assembly in 2007 to strengthen and monitor internal auditing by State agencies.
Powell is 58 years old and he and his wife Terry have a combined family of four daughters, four sons-in-law and four grandchildren - Scott and Leslee Budd and son Oscar, Robin and Hunter Honeycutt, Kelly and Mike Guyre and children Brayden and Savannah, and Marci and Dave Chermak and son Stephen. Robert and Terry enjoy many outside activities such as golf, tennis, the beach and gardening.