Partnership tries "C" for two.

• Position: Triad

Their first meeting came in 2007 as part of what would turn out to be one of the Triad's darker moments. David Powell met Don Kirkman when the Piedmont Triad Partnership, the 12-county economic-development partnership that Kirkman headed, was recruiting Columbus, Ohio-based Skybus Airlines Inc. to the regional airport outside Greensboro.

Powell was representing NetJets Inc., which like Skybus operated out of Port Columbus International Airport. The thinking was that whatever affected the discount airline would affect NetJets, the seller of fractional ownership of business aircraft owned by Berkshire Hathaway, uber-investor Warren Buffett's holding company. Powell, NetJets vice president of corporate and public affairs, and other Columbus executives wanted to evaluate Skybus' potential hub. "That was my first interaction with Don," says the man who recently replaced him as the partnership's CEO. "He was professional and provided all the information we needed."

Skybus chose Piedmont Triad International Airport for its hub, a great recruiting coup for the region. A year later, the airline folded, and the airport has struggled to recruit another discount carrier, leading to steep reductions in passengers. Though that project didn't turn out as planned, the Piedmont Triad Partnership is counting on a new collaboration of Powell and Kirkman to take the region to new heights.

Effective Aug. 23, Powell became chief executive of the partnership, the nonprofit that markets the region. Reporting to him is Kirkman, now chief operating officer after 10 years in the top job. The change resulted from a merger earlier this year of the partnership's board of directors and the executive committee of Piedmont Triad Leadership Group, a group of executives that included BB&T CEO Kelly King (cover story, June). King, who led a drive to raise more than $7 million for recruiting, became chairman of the new board.

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Soon afterward, the organization announced it was seeking a new chief executive--while retaining Kirkman to run day-to-day operations--and hired a headhunter to find someone with both corporate and economic-development experience. "Our idea was that the CEO would need to spend 40% of his time traveling around the country and world, promoting the region and attracting companies considering this area for relocation, another 40% in this region spending time with donors and sponsors, being a fundraiser, and about 20% in transaction...