[This transcript was generated automatically from audio using AI and hasn't been reviewed by a person -- it can contain mistakes, including plausible-sounding sentences that were never actually said. Treat it as a starting point, not a verbatim record.]

[0:32] I'm so proud to be standing before you. As the representative for House District 24, I'm here today in my office in
[0:45] We're going to be sharing with you from time to time things that we're working on here at the Legislature and Raleigh,
[0:52] but also some important things that are happening back home in our district.
[0:57] One of the committees that I'm proud to be on is the Commerce and Economic Development Committee for the North Carolina House.
[1:04] Let me tell you, our district is the talk of the state, with the major business and industry that's coming to our community,
[1:11] folks all across North Carolina have taken notice. And one of the things that I tell them all
[1:17] the time is that Wilson County and Nash County both are open for business. We want to make
[1:23] sure that we have the right environment that invites business that we that I tell them all the time.
[1:30] We have some of the best support systems and best workforce you can ask for. So we're continuing
[1:36] to try to attract those businesses and make sure they know that we've got to spot for them.
[1:41] As you may have heard, we are celebrating Johnson and Johnson coming to the city of Wilson.
[1:48] I would tell you there have been so many community leaders that have come before me that have
[1:52] worked so hard to set the conditions to have a major corporation like that coming to bring
[1:59] over 400 jobs that are high paying and high skilled jobs.
[2:04] And I'm just proud to be a part of the team to make sure that we partner together, that we make
[2:09] are comfortable here in Wilson and at we take care of business so that they know we are the best place
[2:15] to do business in the state. We're also doing all that we can to make sure we're looking after
[2:20] our small businesses and our local businesses. One of the things that I saw in the campaign
[2:25] shows that while we are so glad to have folks coming in, it's a priority to make sure we don't
[2:30] forget the folks that have already been here, the folks that have been building in this community
[2:35] and that they know their business is just as important as any other.
[2:40] So I'm going to be looking forward to visiting businesses around our community to listen to
[2:44] what your needs are to see how we can partner together because I firmly believe that small
[2:49] businesses is the backbone of communities like ours and we're going to make sure you're not
[2:54] forgotten. We're also focusing on some agricultural needs that we have in Wilson County in
[3:00] what Carolina. We all know how pivotal agriculture is to our state and how important it is to
[3:08] the local economy that we have. So I've been proud to be partnered with the North Carolina
[3:13] Farm Bureau and our Wilson County Farm Bureau to make sure that we are pushing forward
[3:18] legislation that supports our agricultural needs. That includes the hurricane disaster relief bill
[3:25] that not only is the first step in making sure that we are taking care of the victims out
[3:32] West for hurricane healing, but also taking care of victims from past hurricanes that happened a
[3:38] few years ago in eastern part of our state because we know that we can't afford for eastern
[3:43] North Carolina to be left behind. So we're going to continue collaborating with our partners and
[3:48] make sure that folks know that agriculture is number one for us in this state.
[3:55] Another one of the committees that I'm proud to be a part of is the Appropriations Committee.
[4:00] We're going to make sure that we are looking at how North Carolina spends its dollars
[4:05] and making sure that we do all that we can to meet the fundamental needs of our community.
[4:12] One of the things that I mentioned when I was on the campaign trail is that,
[4:15] we've got to invest in our fundamentals, making sure that we are not using wasteful spending,
[4:21] but one of the things that we're doing is funding the things most critical to our community,
[4:26] looking at law enforcement, education, making sure that we have money that set aside to support
[4:32] our businesses, making sure that Wilson County and Nash County are taking care of and that we
[4:38] don't have folks that are left by the wayside. So I'm going to be working hard to work with our
[4:43] community leaders and our partners to do all that we can to get what we need back home.