1 00:00:32,490 --> 00:00:45,410 I'm so proud to be standing before you. As the representative for House District 24, I'm here today in my office in 2 00:00:45,410 --> 00:00:51,890 We're going to be sharing with you from time to time things that we're working on here at the Legislature and Raleigh, 3 00:00:52,130 --> 00:00:56,130 but also some important things that are happening back home in our district. 4 00:00:57,130 --> 00:01:03,550 One of the committees that I'm proud to be on is the Commerce and Economic Development Committee for the North Carolina House. 5 00:01:04,310 --> 00:01:11,910 Let me tell you, our district is the talk of the state, with the major business and industry that's coming to our community, 6 00:01:11,910 --> 00:01:17,510 folks all across North Carolina have taken notice. And one of the things that I tell them all 7 00:01:17,510 --> 00:01:23,830 the time is that Wilson County and Nash County both are open for business. We want to make 8 00:01:23,830 --> 00:01:30,230 sure that we have the right environment that invites business that we that I tell them all the time. 9 00:01:30,350 --> 00:01:36,210 We have some of the best support systems and best workforce you can ask for. So we're continuing 10 00:01:36,210 --> 00:01:41,050 to try to attract those businesses and make sure they know that we've got to spot for them. 11 00:01:41,050 --> 00:01:47,570 As you may have heard, we are celebrating Johnson and Johnson coming to the city of Wilson. 12 00:01:48,090 --> 00:01:52,990 I would tell you there have been so many community leaders that have come before me that have 13 00:01:52,990 --> 00:01:59,090 worked so hard to set the conditions to have a major corporation like that coming to bring 14 00:01:59,090 --> 00:02:04,070 over 400 jobs that are high paying and high skilled jobs. 15 00:02:04,570 --> 00:02:09,610 And I'm just proud to be a part of the team to make sure that we partner together, that we make 16 00:02:09,610 --> 00:02:15,490 are comfortable here in Wilson and at we take care of business so that they know we are the best place 17 00:02:15,490 --> 00:02:20,250 to do business in the state. We're also doing all that we can to make sure we're looking after 18 00:02:20,250 --> 00:02:25,210 our small businesses and our local businesses. One of the things that I saw in the campaign 19 00:02:25,210 --> 00:02:30,790 shows that while we are so glad to have folks coming in, it's a priority to make sure we don't 20 00:02:30,790 --> 00:02:35,650 forget the folks that have already been here, the folks that have been building in this community 21 00:02:35,650 --> 00:02:39,950 and that they know their business is just as important as any other. 22 00:02:40,370 --> 00:02:44,630 So I'm going to be looking forward to visiting businesses around our community to listen to 23 00:02:44,630 --> 00:02:49,930 what your needs are to see how we can partner together because I firmly believe that small 24 00:02:49,930 --> 00:02:54,390 businesses is the backbone of communities like ours and we're going to make sure you're not 25 00:02:54,390 --> 00:03:00,550 forgotten. We're also focusing on some agricultural needs that we have in Wilson County in 26 00:03:00,550 --> 00:03:08,090 what Carolina. We all know how pivotal agriculture is to our state and how important it is to 27 00:03:08,090 --> 00:03:13,990 the local economy that we have. So I've been proud to be partnered with the North Carolina 28 00:03:13,990 --> 00:03:18,870 Farm Bureau and our Wilson County Farm Bureau to make sure that we are pushing forward 29 00:03:18,870 --> 00:03:25,650 legislation that supports our agricultural needs. That includes the hurricane disaster relief bill 30 00:03:25,650 --> 00:03:32,190 that not only is the first step in making sure that we are taking care of the victims out 31 00:03:32,190 --> 00:03:38,350 West for hurricane healing, but also taking care of victims from past hurricanes that happened a 32 00:03:38,350 --> 00:03:43,570 few years ago in eastern part of our state because we know that we can't afford for eastern 33 00:03:43,570 --> 00:03:48,730 North Carolina to be left behind. So we're going to continue collaborating with our partners and 34 00:03:48,730 --> 00:03:54,370 make sure that folks know that agriculture is number one for us in this state. 35 00:03:55,650 --> 00:04:00,270 Another one of the committees that I'm proud to be a part of is the Appropriations Committee. 36 00:04:00,830 --> 00:04:05,750 We're going to make sure that we are looking at how North Carolina spends its dollars 37 00:04:05,750 --> 00:04:11,430 and making sure that we do all that we can to meet the fundamental needs of our community. 38 00:04:12,070 --> 00:04:15,150 One of the things that I mentioned when I was on the campaign trail is that, 39 00:04:15,150 --> 00:04:21,010 we've got to invest in our fundamentals, making sure that we are not using wasteful spending, 40 00:04:21,170 --> 00:04:25,890 but one of the things that we're doing is funding the things most critical to our community, 41 00:04:26,290 --> 00:04:32,090 looking at law enforcement, education, making sure that we have money that set aside to support 42 00:04:32,090 --> 00:04:38,230 our businesses, making sure that Wilson County and Nash County are taking care of and that we 43 00:04:38,230 --> 00:04:43,110 don't have folks that are left by the wayside. So I'm going to be working hard to work with our 44 00:04:43,110 --> 00:04:48,830 community leaders and our partners to do all that we can to get what we need back home.