North Carolina Free Enterprise Foundation
The North Carolina Free Enterprise Foundation is a research organization provides non-partisan analysis of the political landscape and its impact on North Carolina’s business environment. 1 The organization says it provides political research to North Carolina’s business community to promote the free enterprise system and foster a positive business climate in the state. 2
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James Arthur “Art” Pope, the chairman of the right-of-center John William Pope Foundation, is a former board member of the North Carolina Free Enterprise Foundation. 2
Background
The North Carolina Free Enterprise Foundation is a conservative-leaning research organization that seeks to provide non-partisan analysis of the political landscape and its impact on North Carolina’s business environment. 1
The North Carolina Free Enterprise Foundation says it aims to increase awareness of the value of a free enterprise and competitive markets because, in its view, such markets result in innovation, lower costs, better products and enhancement of economic efficiency and vitality, human freedom, and welfare. 3
The foundation says it empowers business leaders in the state to operate their companies freely and efficiently by equipping them with critical political information, and real-time data to ensure minimal government interference. 4
The North Carolina Free Enterprise Foundation is the successor group to N.C. Free, a defunct group founded to give business leaders political research and analysis. 2
Research on Campaigns and Politics
The North Carolina Free Enterprise Foundation issues annual Legislative Business Ratings of state lawmakers. The group says the ratings are “indispensable scorecard that rigorously evaluates state lawmakers’ alignment with free enterprise principles.” The rating system has what it says is an “objective component” with 67 percent weight that evaluates votes on free enterprise legislation; a “subjective component” with 33 percent weight that surveys free enterprise leaders about lawmakers; with less than one percent based on bill sponsorship of what it considers pro- or anti-free enterprise legislation. 5
The foundation tracks candidates filing for state elections, collects candidates’ questionnaires, aggregates news about state candidates from other sources, and provides brief updates on political advertising campaigns. 6
The foundation also analyzes campaign spending, voting trends, and other political information. 2
The foundation and the North Carolina State Board of Elections teamed to improve transparency with the state’s campaign finance data. The board of elections already stored campaign finance data, but lacked the ability to provide historical patterns to show who was spending on campaigns and how it might influence political decisions. The campaign finance data included digital records and scanned PDFs that required manual transcription. The data also reportedly had inconsistencies and inaccuracies because of manual entry errors. The two groups used artificial intelligence to help modernize the records. 7
Leadership
As of 2025, Alex Baltzegar was the executive director of the North Carolina Free Enterprise Foundation. Baltzegar has managed and worked on more than a dozen campaigns, including U.S. congressional, statewide, and state legislative races. He is a former staffer in both the North Carolina Senate and state House of Representatives. He is also a former political reporter for the Carolina Journal. 4
As of 2025, Isabelle Powell was the director of partnerships and engagement for the North Carolina Free Enterprise Foundation. She has been a member of boards of directors at the National Association of Manufacturers, the Manufacturing Institute, and the Better Business Bureau. 4
As of 2025, members of the North Carolina Free Enterprise Foundation board of directors included Mike Rusher of the Results Company; Grant Brooks of SAS; Jerry Bowen of Comerica Bank; Robin Perkins of Frontier Spinning, Inc.; Michael McKnight of Ogletree Deakin; D. Bowen Heath of McGuireWoods; Ryan Minto of Duke Energy; Ralph Strayhorn of New Republic Bank; Cindy Morgan of Spectrum Reach; E.C. Sykes of Aslan Ventures; William Brown of Brown & Wood; and Chuck Fuller of the Results Company. 4
James Arthur “Art” Pope, the chairman of the John William Pope Foundation, is a former board member of the North Carolina Free Enterprise Foundation. 2
Financial Statistics
Total Assets
Total Revenue
Total Expenses
| Year | Total Assets | Total Revenue | Total Expenses | Filing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | $226,106 | $516,165 | $424,892 | View |
| 2023 | $87,193 | $293,201 | $265,099 | View |
| 2022 | $120,068 | $273,278 | $365,531 | View |
| 2021 | $113,714 | $368,778 | $314,025 | View |
| 2020 | $47,169 | $211,625 | $258,530 | View |
| 2019 | $93,048 | $198,677 | $193,670 | View |
Prior year filings: 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011
Revenue Detail
Expenses Detail
Grant Activity
All-time grants received statistics from Candid dataset:
- Total Grant Value: $956,295
- Number of Grants: 62
- Number of Funders: 15
Selection of highest value grants received from the last seven years: