Sharon Allred Decker (born 1957) is an American businesswoman and political figure who served as

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

Secretary of

Commerce Commerce is the large-scale organized system of activities, functions, procedures and institutions directly and indirectly related to the exchange (buying and selling) of goods and services among two or more parties within local, regional, nation ...

under the McCrory Administration. In that role, she was also a member of the

North Carolina Cabinet The North Carolina Cabinet is the group of unelected heads of the executive departments of the Government of North Carolina. It is separate and distinct from the North Carolina Council of State, the members of which are elected statewide, and wh ...

Business career

Decker graduated

summa cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sou ...

from the

University of North Carolina at Greensboro The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG or UNC Greensboro) is a public research university in Greensboro, North Carolina. It is part of the University of North Carolina system. UNCG, like all members of the UNC system, is a stand-al ...

. From 1980 to 1997, Decker served at

Duke Energy Duke Energy Corporation is an American electric power and natural gas holding company headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. Overview Based in Charlotte, North Carolina, Duke Energy owns 58,200 megawatts of base-load and peak generation in ...

Corporation (formerly known as Duke Power Company) as Corporate Vice President. Her 18 years tenure with the energy provider included working in areas from marketing and community relations to customer service. She helped establish the creation of Duke Energy's 24-hour customer service center. In later years, Decker was the founding president of The Lynnwood Foundation, served on the Charlotte Chamber of Commerce and was president of the Doncaster division of Tanner Companies.Secretary of Commerce Sharon Allred Decker
/ref> She was the Charlotte "Woman of the Year" in 1998. Decker is also a lay pastor in the

Presbyterian Church Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

. She and her husband, Bob, have four children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Decker, Sharon 1957 births Living people American business executives State cabinet secretaries of North Carolina