CONTRIBUTED

Sharon Allred Decker, newly appointed secretary of the N.C. Department of Commerce, will be the keynote speaker for the Moore County Chamber of Commerce annual meeting and banquet Jan. 31 at the Carolina Hotel in Pinehurst.

Gov. Pat McCrory appointed Decker to the Cabinet position earlier this month. She brings more than 30 years of experience in business and commerce to the position, a news release said.

After graduating summa cum laude from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Decker spent more than 17 years with Duke Power Co., now Duke Energy. She began with the company in consumer services and moved through the ranks to become the youngest and first female vice president in Duke Power’s history, the release said. Her work at Duke Power led to the creation of its 24-hour customer service center, an organization that still serves as a model for the industry.

Decker left Duke Power as chief communications officer to become the founding president of the Lynnwood Foundation, which was created to restore the Duke Mansion in Charlotte as a conference center, and to begin the William States Lee Leadership Institute.

While at Lynnwood in 1998, she also served as the chair of the Charlotte Chamber and was named Charlotte Woman of the Year. She moved to Rutherfordton in 1999 to serve as president of the Doncaster division of Tanner Cos.

The Chamber annual meeting and banquet will include the passing of the gavel, recognition of immediate past chairman Dick Higginbotham, recognition of outgoing board members, and an overview of the Chamber’s accomplishments in 2012 and its goals for 2013.