210 North Person Street
Raleigh, NC 27601
Fetzer Strategic Partners
Appointed by the Board of Governors
July 1, 2015 to June 30, 2019
Tom Fetzer, President of Fetzer Strategic Partners is a former Mayor of Raleigh and past Chairman of the North Carolina Republican Party.
Fetzer Strategic Partners is a Raleigh based firm specializing in Government Relations, Public and Media Relations, Survey Research and Crisis Management. Its clients include: Duke Energy, Reynolds American (RJR), Waste Industries, Martin Marietta Materials, Nationwide Insurance, Wake Med Health and Hospitals, PepsiCo and Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina.
The North Carolina Center for Public Policy Research recently ranked Tom Fetzer as the 2nd most effective lobbyist in North Carolina, based on a survey of legislators, the media and other lobbyists. This is the highest ranking ever recorded by a new lobbyist in the history of NCCPPR’s survey.
In 2010 as Chairman of the North Carolina Republican Party, Tom Fetzer spearheaded the effort that led to the election of Republican majorities in both Chambers of the North Carolina General Assembly for the first time since 1870. No state in America had gone longer without Republican majorities in both the House and Senate.
In 1993 in an election hailed by the Wall Street Journal “the most impressive reform victory of the year,” Tom Fetzer became the first Republican and youngest Mayor in the history of the City of Raleigh. During his tenure, Raleigh was named #1 city in America for Business by Fortune Magazine and #1 City in America to live by Money Magazine.
After serving 3 terms as Mayor, Fetzer was awarded a Teaching Fellowship at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
Following his experience at Cambridge, Fetzer was appointed Chief Executive of the United States Tennis Association in White Plains, New York. In that capacity, he was responsible for all programming not related to professional tennis (US Open, Davis Cup, Fed Cup, etc.). At the UTSA, Tom Fetzer directed tennis programs, fueled by a 60 million dollar annual budget that touched communities throughout the United States served by hundreds of thousands of volunteers.
Tom Fetzer also has extensive experience in North Carolina state government, having served in key positions during the administration of Governor Jim Martin. He served as Chief Deputy Secretary of the Department of Transportation where he was responsible for a 1.5 billion dollar budget and 10,000 employees. He also served as Assistant Secretary of the Department of Environment, Health and Natural Resources.
Fetzer also has worked extensively in the private sector, principally in the area of real estate development.
Tom Fetzer has served on the Board of Directors of the Greater Raleigh Chamber of Commerce, The Boys and Girls Club, The John Locke Foundation and the YMCA. He currently serves on the Board of North State Bank and the Board of Directors of the Wilmington Chamber of Commerce.
Fetzer is a recipient of the Order of the Long Leaf Pine, the highest civilian honor a Governor can bestow upon a North Carolina citizen.
A graduate of Wake Forest University, Fetzer and his wife reside in Wilmington, North Carolina, and have five children.