June 14. Chris Ervin is the new director of business development at  the North Carolina Research Campus in Kannapolis. He will work to bring research to market, invite new business to the NCRC and promote economic development. On the job since May 17, Ervin is meeting with campus leaders to identify the technologies best suited for targeted outreach to industry.

“There is a lot of interest in the game-changing potential of the research at the NCRC,” Ervin said, “making this the right time to focus on moving research through the commercialization process and into the marketplace.”

Ervin brings over 30 years of experience in business management and entrepreneurship that enhances the traditional business development role at the NCRC.

“I’ve worked for a large corporation, for a university, with start-up companies and as an entrepreneur,” Ervin said. “Each of these cultures is represented on the campus, and I have a track record of successfully working with each of them.”

Ervin is a graduate of Catawba College in Salisbury, with degrees in accounting and computer science. He spent 14 years with Duke Energy working his way up from a program and systems analyst to the business planning manager in the company’s merchandising and retail marketing division. He worked for 10 years as an entrepreneurial management consultant. He also owned and operated two small businesses that he later sold to larger companies.

In 1999, Ervin joined the University of North Carolina at Charlotte (UNCC) as the director of entrepreneurship for the Ben Craig Center, a business incubator and accelerator now known as Ventureprise. Between 1999 and 2003, he was part of the team at UNCC credited with the creation of hundreds of high paying jobs in the Charlotte area. Throughout his career, he has coached nearly 100 small- to medium-sized entrepreneurial companies.