THE TRIAD CATCHES UP.

Greensboro lawyer Mike Fox joined High Point University President Nido Qubein in the Power List interview, a partnership for discussions with some of the state's most influential leaders. Interview videos are available at www.businessnc.com.

Mike Fox is a triple-play threat in state civic affairs. The partner at the Tuggle Duggins law firm has chaired the N.C. Transportation Board since 2017. In 2021, he became president of the Piedmont Triad/Carolina Core economic development group.

The graduate of Appalachian State University also has a law degree from UNC Chapel Hill. His wife, Angela Bullard Fox, is an elected District Court judge.

They have seven teenage and young adult children.

This story includes excerpts from Fox's interview and was edited for clarity.

Why is North Carolina suddenly so attractive to everybody?

The rest of the world is finding out what we've known here in North Carolina for a long time. It's a great place to locate your business. It's a great place to raise your family. And it's a great place to vacation. We've finally gotten the word out and we've got an incredible business climate as well as a lot of advantages in infrastructure, not just roads, bridges and rail, but also electricity, water, sewer. All of those things make it attractive for a business to come here.

What do DOT board members talk about?

Our board is about policy, so we're looking at setting the policies for our state, and we're looking a decade out. If we're thinking about what's happening today, then we've missed the boat. We look at the projects that will be needed in the next decade. How do we get those built? Equally important is there's going to be a huge change in how we fund transportation and infrastructure over the next decade because our traditional source is the motor fuels tax, which you pay every time you put gasoline in your vehicle at the pump.

What about high-speed rail?

There's a lot of federal money going toward rail, and improving the infrastructure. Notably for North Carolina, there are two things that happened--one in North Carolina and one in Virginia--that are key. In North Carolina, the [CSX-owned] S-Line will create a new line from Richmond directly to Raleigh along an old track. The other is money that was appropriated to repair a bridge across the Potomac River in Washington, D.C. That has been a bottleneck for the entire East Coast.

What makes North Carolina attractive for business?

Our tax rate is relatively low. We've...