RALEIGH: Governor Roy Cooper announced today that North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) Secretary Eric Boyette is retiring from state government after 27 years of service. Governor Cooper has appointed Joseph R. “Joey” Hopkins, current NCDOT Chief Operating Officer, to succeed him beginning October 1.

"Secretary Boyette has served North Carolina with distinction during my term as Governor, first as Secretary of the Department of Information Technology and now as Secretary of Transportation, and I’m deeply grateful for his hard work and commitment to the people of our state," said Governor Cooper. "I’m confident that Joey Hopkins will continue this outstanding work as Secretary of the Department of Transportation when he steps into this new role a few weeks from now."

As the Chief Operating Officer of NCDOT Joey oversees the different modes of transportation including the Division of Highways, Rail Division, Division of Aviation, Ferry Division and Integrated Mobility Division. In addition to this he manages Communications, Human Resources, and the Office of Strategic Planning and Programming.

Hopkins has worked at NCDOT for more than 30 years in a variety of capacities, including Deputy Chief Engineer, Division Engineer, Deputy Division Engineer, Division Maintenance Engineer, and Division Operations Engineer, all in Division 5.

He participated as a member of the Department’s Transformation Management Team and was instrumental in developing the Strategic Prioritization Process. This process is the forerunner of the Strategic Mobility Formula – a data driven process currently used to help prioritize transportation projects in North Carolina.

He is a graduate of North Carolina State University.