NCEDA Career Achievement Award

NCEDA presents an annual award to the individual who best exemplifies leadership in the state’s economic development efforts. The North Carolina Career Achievement award is given in recognition of the winner’s contributions to expansions and projects completed during the previous calendar year.

Our Current Honoree

David Spratley
Director of Economic Development
Nexsen Pruet

NCEDA recognized David Spratley with its 2022 Career Achievement Award.

David Spratley joined the Nexsen Pruet Law Firm as Director of Economic Development in June 2022 and has served North Carolina’s economic development community for many years.

David most recently served as the Senior Assistant Secretary of Finance for the NC Department of Commerce, and prior to that served as Vice President of Business Recruitment for the EDPNC from 2014 – 2019. Before joining the EDPNC team, David worked for the NC Department of Commerce in the Commerce Finance Center and in the Business Recruitment Division.

The depth of David’s impact on the North Carolina economic development ecosystem is immense. His work, usually behind the scenes, is largely invisible to the average economic developer and even, perhaps, taken for granted by those that have entered this industry in the last decade. However, there is not one other individual active in his or her career that has had their hands on the success of so many economic development projects in North Carolina.

Working through various administrations over the years, David has his thumbprint on policies and practices that continue to benefit the State. He has been the chief architect behind many of North Carolina’s incentives tools during his tenure at the NC Department of Commerce and the EDPNC. His legacy will be long-lasting and far-reaching. Not only will there be a historical record of hundreds of thousands of jobs created and billions of private dollars invested, but the policies he developed have set a foundation that will pay dividends long into the future.

Previous Honorees:

2019: Tony Copeland (former Secretary, NC Department of Commerce)