Tom Looney is an optimist.

He thinks Wilmington could become North Carolina’s economic identity with smart policy, a focus on innovation and entrepreneurship and protecting the region’s coast.

Looney rose to the top of the fast-paced technology sector working for legends like Steve Jobs and global tech giants such as Oracle and Microsoft, but it wasn’t until he was diagnosed with multiple system atrophy, or MSA, a rare nervous system disorder, that he started to focus on his hometown. The disease left him searching for a better future for his two sons.

Looney sat down with the Greater Wilmington Business Journal to talk about economic development, his optimism for Wilmington’s future and his fight against MSA.
 
GWBJ: What brought you to Wilmington?
TL: “I moved to Wilmington in June 2000 after buying a house here in December 1999. I had a mom and dad living here, and two sisters. We just came up with the idea of having the boys grow up here along the coast and for us we liked the warm weather.
I took a year off and that was filled up with taking my kids to school, visiting with my mom and dad every day and just enjoying the area. A year after 9/11 occurred, I was ready to go back to work.
We started Next Channel Partners. We worked a couple of years and surprisingly Microsoft became our biggest customers. [His company eventually merged with Microsoft].
I got sick in December 2007 at a Homeland Security event. I was diagnosed with multiple system atrophy.”

GWBJ:  What was your mental state when you got the diagnosis? What were you thinking?
TL: “There were hints I had something going wrong. Because it is fatal disease with a bad prognosis, they don’t tell you months in advance what they think you might have. In the case of MSA, it is 100 percent terminal. The prognosis is single-digit years. Hopefully that is going to keep improving as people like others and myself try and defy the prognosis by being very proactive in our treatment regimes.”

GWBJ:  This diagnosis must have really changed your world.
TL: “It’s life altering. The first process was to accept the diagnosis and defy the prognosis. In my case, at the end of the day, we are all a little greedy for a little more time.
So, I had two relatively young boys at the time. Now they are both in college. Of course, when I was diagnosed I was saying I want to see them both graduate high school. Now, I want to see them both graduate college, and I hope I keep moving that goal line further. I want to go to their weddings and dance.”

GWBJ:  If you’re not diagnosed, you probably don’t get involved locally.
TL: “That’s right.”

GWBJ:  So in some ways, the diagnosis spurned you to look closer to home. Do you think it motivated you?
TL: “I think that my urgency to make a contribution was a way for my boys to see what I did as a businessperson and also there are so many of us that want this to be a place where if our kids choose to come back after college or come back after they are 30 years old [they] have all the opportunities here that you have all over the world. I want them to have that opportunity.”

GWBJ: With some in the community, you’ve earned a reputation as an iconoclast. Are you misunderstood?
TL: “I actually think a small minority of people has perpetuated that image. I know where I stood with the last couple of [UNCW] chancellors. I know where I stood with politicians and certainly with business people.
The Greater Wilmington Business Journal asked readers to vote for five people to come and speak at its five-year anniversary of its Power Breakfast. I was one of the five that was selected. I was the leading vote getter. I don’t think enemies of Tom or people with a negative image of me would have let that happen if I didn’t have a positive image with the vast majority of people here.”

GWBJ:  You’ve made enough money. You live comfortably, but you’re still engaged.  Why?
TL: “You and I were talking earlier about the special use permit. The narrative that has come up in Wilmington over the last year is it is anti-business and we need to roll it back. I say that is the most ridiculous thing that I’ve ever heard.
There is a great body of literature on economic development that speaks to low-road development versus high road development.
Low-road development is about cheap labor, cheap land and no regulations. High-road development is driven by quality of place, an educated workforce and a culture of innovation and creativity. Eventually there is such a density of those workers we actually draw companies looking for that.
Twenty-first century economic development is really centered at the university, not at cheap land at the edge of the county. If we were going to be successful in advance manufacturing, which I am very appreciative of, those new facilities won’t want to be in some outpost out on the edge of the county away from everything because those workers are all high-end workers with extensive skills and education...
Wilmington would be wise to strengthen the SUP so that we attract the elite advanced manufacturing projects that will drive the American economy and not low-end, low-road development for cheap labor and be careless about the environmental image of this place, which is so important.”

GWBJ:  I feel like you’re an optimist and you have an optimistic view of Wilmington’s future.
TL: “Maybe to a fault because when we talked about my diagnosis earlier I took it as an opportunity to reflect back. Man, I’ve been very lucky and fortunate in my life, and so to have something bad happen sort of seems okay.
That is just kind of giving something to the other side of the balance sheet.
Of course, I’d love to be around for a lot more years, and apparently I am destined to be. But every day I get up, I have a deeper appreciation and interest in doing something I love.”
 

In Their Words

Tom Looney says one of his greatest accomplishments was acting as a mentor at the Cameron Executive Network at University of North Carolina Wilmington’s Cameron School of Business.

“When the Cameron Executive Network started in 2001, I was asked to be one of the first 18 mentors for about 40 or 50 kids,” Looney said. “That is one of my proudest things. After I stopped formally taking mentees, I’ve had many kids approach me to be their mentor informally. I’ve enjoyed that over the years.”

Here some of Looney’s mentees talk about their mentor. (Comments were edited for space.)
 
“I first met Tom in 2012 as I was beginning to build out the business plan for my company, WaterPlay USA. At the time, Wilmington severely lacked mentoring programs for early stage startups. Tom helped put together another small group of local investors to listen to my companies pitch. From there Tom and a few of the individuals joined the first round of investment. The No. 1 thing I see with Tom is that he does not ‘follow others.’ Tom is one to fully educate himself on a topic, and vocalize his opinion/convictions – whether popular or not. … Tom is a big-picture guy. He sees further ‘down the road’ than most and is helpful in guiding the path towards the end goal.”
-Will Smith, WaterPlay USA CEO and founder
 
“I was a member of the inaugural class of the Cameron Executive Network (CEN) at UNCW’s Cameron School of Business in 2001. After meeting Tom in person, I recognized immediately he was a star. Even though we weren’t paired together through the CEN, I didn’t want to miss an opportunity to engage him. I essentially cold called him and asked if I could buy him dinner while picking his brain and he kindly obliged. Our first taco dinner blossomed into a 13-year friendship. Tom’s a visionary, plain and simple. He has a way of making otherwise difficult decisions easy by boiling a situation down to what is truly important. As a 34-year-old entrepreneur, I now find myself sharing insights with young business leaders that came directly from Tom. The bottom line is that very few people have the experience, motivation and vision that Tom has. He can see things before they’re happening, and connect the dots in a way that no one else I know can. It’s no surprise that he beating the odds of P-MSA. He’s going to succeed – and has – at everything he touches.”
-Kevin Barefoot, Winthrop Intelligence director of sales and marketing
 
“My first engagement with Tom was in the UNCW business school mentorship program in 2002-2003. I’ve benefitted from his unwavering encouragement to me and the great example he sets as a ‘fighter’. When it comes to advice, his biggest influences on me have included his challenge to always strive for innovation. And also to ‘fight the right fight.’”
-Stephan Caldwell, Green Circle NC co-founder