Longtime Wake commissioner to lead western NC recovery efforts

Longtime Wake County commissioner and current board chairman Matt Calabria will lead the Stein administration's Helene recovery efforts in western North Carolina. Gov. Josh Stein announced the appointment Tuesday.

WRAL News first reported last Friday that Calabria confirmed he would step down from his elected office to take a job with the new governor's administration.

Stein issued an executive order last week creating the Governor's Recovery Office for Western North Carolina, or GROW-NC. Calabria will be program director. Joining him will be two western North Carolina natives and state government veterans, Emily Williamson Gangi and Eliza Edwards.

Stein also announced that Stephanie McGarrah will serve as deputy commerce secretary for the division of community revitalization, another Helene recovery program Stein created last week to target economic recovery needs. He also tapped Jonathan Krebs, a nationally recognized disaster recovery expert, as advisor for the recovery efforts.