The University of North Carolina Board of Governors elected Phil Drake, chief executive officer of Drake Enterprises, and Kenny Messer, an executive with Milliken Corp., to four-year terms on the Western Carolina University Board of Trustees.

A native of Franklin, Drake began developing tax software in 1977. His companies now employ more than 500 people in businesses that include accounting, retail, software, dining, theater, golf, printing, Internet service, family entertainment, construction and fiber optics.

Messer is global business director of specialty chemical and packaging at Milliken & Co. in Spartanburg, S.C. A 1986 graduate of WCU, he is a past president and member of both the WCU Alumni Association Board of Directors and the Catamount Club Board of Directors.

Drake and Messer will fill vacancies created by the departure of Joan MacNeill and former N.C. Sen. Steve Metcalf.