The department is headed by the Secretary of Commerce, who is appointed by the Governor of North Carolina.

The department also connects local communities with grants and funding sources to attract new business to North Carolina.

The department also staffs and receives policy guidance from: the North Carolina Board of Science, Technology, and Innovation; the NCWorks Commission; and the Rural Infrastructure Authority.

[1][2] The North Carolina Department of Commerce was created in 1971 by the North Carolina State Government Reorganization Act, specifically General Statute 143B, Article 10, Paragraph 143B-427:[1][2][3][4] The Reorganization Act was part of an effort to reduce the number of state organizations and improve efficiency in government.

In its early history, the Department was simply an administrative umbrella providing support for a number of different regulatory agencies, each of which exercised its authority independently.