Bob Greczyn, the former CEO of Blue Cross, has a new career: owning and operating a Mellow Mushroom franchise in Cary.

The Cary outpost of the popular Southeastern pizza chain will open Monday, Sept. 26. It is located at 4300 NW Cary Parkway, near the intersection with High House Road.

Greczyn, who is opening the restaurant with his 24-year-old son, Will, is a big fan of the Mellow Mushroom. "I love the concept and the brand," he says. They expect to be open for lunch and dinner daily, starting at 11 a.m. to about midnight.

What's different about the Cary location is the interior artwork; it's all on the ceiling. It's "mellowy" versions of works of the masters, Greczyn says.

For more information, go to www.mellowmushroom.com/cary or www.facebook.com/MellowMushroomCary
 

Robert J. Greczyn Jr. continues to beef up his resume in retirement.

The former CEO of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina will join the board of Raleigh-based LipoScience. The company is developing blood tests that use nuclear magnetic resonance technology. Its main product is a test to check bad cholesterol levels.

"LipoScience is leading the way in innovative new approaches for the management of cardiovascular disease," Greczyn said in a prepared statement.

LipoScience, led by CEO Richard Brajer, is a private company that doesn't disclose much information about its business, including how many employees it has or any financial results.

Blue Cross and Blue Shield gave small raises to its top executives in 2009, even as profit fell at the state's largest insurer.

Robert J. Greczyn Jr., who retired as CEO on Feb. 1, received total compensation of $4.08 million, the nonprofit reported in its annual report with the N.C. Department of Insurance. That was about 2 percent more than a year earlier.

James B. "Brad" Wilson, left, who took over the top spot last month, earned $1.82 million in 2009, also about a 2 percent raise.

To some extent, the figures are old news. Wilson likely received a significant raise for his new role as CEO, a total that Blue Cross won't have to report until next year. And Greczyn probably received a retirement package from the company, but no details were disclosed in the regulatory filing.

Blue Cross has come under fire from critics who say the insurer has too much market power and too much freedom to raise premiums. Those critics also point to top executives' salaries as excessive when an increasing number of consumers can't afford health coverage.

Blue Cross says that its executive pay is fair and comparable to other insurers its size. The Chapel Hill-based company employs about 4,600 people and has 3.7 million members.

The top executive at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina has set a date for his last day.

Bob Greczyn, who has run the state's largest health insurer for more than a decade, told employees today that he will retire on Feb. 1. Greczyn announced in October that he planned to retire next year, but had not said exactly when.

"I will leave BCBSNC on Feb. 1 with full confidence that ours is a company that is weathering the economic storms and remains solid and stable," Greczyn wrote in an internal blog post.

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina has promoted one of its top executives to president, putting him in line to succeed CEO Bob Greczyn, who plans to retire next year.

The board of the state's largest health insurer over the weekend approved naming chief operating officer J. Bradley Wilson to the president spot. Greczyn will remain CEO, but has indicated he will step down in 2010.

Wilson, 56, is a lawyer who joined Blue Cross in 1995 after serving as general counsel for Gov. Jim Hunt. Wilson, who holds degrees from Appalachian State, Wake Forest and Duke universities, also is on the University of North Carolina board of governors.

Greczyn, 58, has been CEO and president for 11 years. The health insurer covers more than 3.7 million members, including as administrator for the state employees' health plan.

The board of trustees at East Carolina University has a new chairman.

He is David Brody, a Kinston developer and philanthropist. Brody succeeds Bob Greczyn, president and CEO of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina.

The new vice chairman is Robert V. Lucas, a Selma attorney and former chair of the North Carolina Fisheries Commission. The board secretary is David Redwine of Ocean Isle Beach, a former chair of the N.C. House Appropriations Committee.

Brody, who had served two years as vice chair of the board, is a former chair of the Pitt County Memorial Hospital Board of Trustees and is a member of the family for whom the Brody School of Medicine at ECU is named.

The State Legislature is reviewing names to elect to the UNC system Board of Governors today, and there's some controversy brewing over in Raleigh.

A couple of the candidates have some folk clucking over potential conflicts of interest. One in particular is Bob Greczyn, who runs Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina. Another is Paul Fulton, the outspoken UNC Chapel Hill trustee.

The N&O's Under the Dome blog has the story here.

In a separate post, Dome reports that the state House has selected a slate of candidates to vote on in April. Here are those details.