Working together will boost the east: roads, broadband Internet and other infrastructure would help. So would getting the state to see beyond the Triangle.

• Position: EASTERN ROUND TABLE

Eastern North Carolina must promote itself better--not only around the world but inside the state. But it will take a regional effort to tout far-flung assets such as the North Carolina Global TransPark in Kinston and the state ports in Wilmington and Morehead City. That was one of many opinions expressed during a round table on the region's economy sponsored by Cranfill Sumner & Hartzog LLP, a Raleigh-based law firm. Participants were Frank J. Albetta, a partner in the firm's Wilmington office; John D. Chaffee, CEO of North Carolina's Eastern Region, an economic-development agency that represents 13 counties; Phil Hodges, president of Metrics Inc., a drug researcher in Greenville; Joan Maxwell, president of Regulator Marine Inc., an Edenton boat maker; Rosemary DePaolo, chancellor of UNC Wilmington; and Darlene Waddell, executive director of the TransPark, an industrial park and airport. Arthur O. Murray, BUSINESS NORTH CAROLINA managing editor for special projects, moderated the discussion at the law firm's Wilmington office. Following is a transcript, edited for brevity and clarity.

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What does Eastern North Carolina need most?

Chaffee: As an economic developer, I should say high-end jobs. But really we need a more-cooperative approach to problem solving. We're not competing against our next-door neighbor. We're competing with somebody that's halfway around the world. The way to deal with that is by working cooperatively.

Albetta: A sense of doing things for ourselves and not looking to Raleigh and certainly not looking to Washington. We have to do what we can to enhance the private sector and make opportunities for people here.

Hodges: Roads. We've got to have a four-lane U.S. 17 from Virginia to South Carolina. U.S. 70 is finally getting some attention, but we just don't have enough four-lane highways. Companies don't want to develop away from them.

Waddell: Changing the perception of Eastern North Carolina. That's only going to happen by using the infrastructure that's already here. As an example, the Global TransPark depends upon the Port of Wilmington and the Port of Morehead City as our partners in attracting tenants.

Maxwell: We talk about poverty and the lack of education in the region. But there are some incredible things happening in Eastern North Carolina that we don't effectively communicate, such as the research at the biotechs, the light manufacturing and the TransPark. In Elizabeth City, there is...