Capitol Corner February 2021

Centralina has experienced much success in engaging with Congressional offices and advocating for regional priorities through our federal relations work with Leslie Mozingo and Strategics Consulting. To extend this momentum into the organization’s intergovernmental activities at the state level, Centralina launched a new initiative called Raleigh Relations last fall. This effort is designed to expand our engagement with the state government by:

• Building relationships with state legislators and agencies 
• Supporting solutions to the common challenges impacting COGs across the state through continued involvement in the North Carolina Association of Regional Councils of Government 
• Raising awareness of issues specific to the Centralina region    

Raleigh Relations’ current focus is on relationship building. Recognizing that state policymakers are allies and champions who play a key role in our region’s success, Centralina staff is working with EQV Strategic, a public policy consulting firm, on outreach to the 39 members of the General Assembly who represent our region. This outreach included mailing post-election informational packets to each legislator re-introducing the organization as Centralina Regional Council and meeting virtually with individual legislators to brief them on Centralina’s work, specifically the CONNECT Beyond regional mobility initiative. 

Additionally, we are strengthening our existing relationships with state offices and agencies, including the Office of the Governor and the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, both of which have been valuable resources for COVID-19 response and relief information. We are also continuing to strengthen relationships with statewide partners such as the North Carolina League of Municipalities and the North Carolina Association of County Commissioners, both of which provided an informative 2021 state legislative outlook at our Centralina Regional Managers group meeting in January.   

We look forward to increased state level engagement through Raleigh Relations and will keep our members updated as these efforts progress. 

For more information about Raleigh Relations, contact Kelly Weston at kweston@centralina.org.