Attendees from Blowing Rock:
-
Charles Hardin: President Blowing Rock Chamber of Commerce
-
Jim McDowell: Chair of Community, Government, and
Education Committee
-
Tony Rand: former State Senator and committee member
-
Linda Gilleland: VP and Agency Mgr., Greystone Insurance and
committee member
-
Pam Vines: Owner/Broker Jenkins Realty and committee
member
Purpose of trip:
Participate in Western NC Chambers
Raleigh Legislative Visit 2018
Tuesday, June 6
Political Strategist Debate moderated by Joe
Stewart
-
Republican and
Democrat strategist perspective of political landscape and election 2018
potential.
New Outdoor Industry Office update and
introduction to Director David Knight
-
North Carolina’s Outdoor Recreation Economy generates $19.2
billion in consumer spending and supports 192,000 jobs according to the 2012 Outdoor Recreation Economy Report.
Updated statistics will be unveiled on Wednesday, July 26, at Outdoor
Retailer Summer Market.
The new position which is similar
to those in Utah, Colorado and Washington, is funded in the state budget
beginning in January 2018.
NC Chamber Presentation
-
Meaghan Lewis is the Government Affairs Manager and presented
workforce and education initiatives and funding
-
Cole Hughes is the political director and provided an overview of
political initiatives, campaign support and engagement for senators and reps
with strong job support records.
-
Gary Salamido is the VP of Government Affairs and provided
additional insight into “Build NC” concept, education bond, skills education
and employment, and overall condition of NC as it relates to workforce supply
and demand.
Legislative Reception
-
Members of the NC Senate and House were invited and attended a
reception with our delegation. Hosted by
Mission Health. Jonathan and Deanna were
not able to attend due to legislative meetings, but they joined us for
dinner. We took advantage of the
opportunity to meet and greet other chamber executives and attendees.
Dinner Meeting with Deanna Ballard
and Jonathan Jordan
-
Discussed issues in Blowing Rock that require addition funding,
including
o
Glen Burney Trail
o
American Legion and Park upfit (VaTech Proposal)
o
Sunset upfit
o
Broadband access
Wednesday, June 6
Overview of Department of Public
Instruction with State Superintendent Mark Johnson
-
Mark provided an overview of his impressive education experience
and election to office.
-
Provided his goals of improving the education system, testing,
efforts to streamline and reduce burdens on parents, and literacy focus.
-
Adaptive Learning focus.
-
Discussed the new emphasis on skills that lead to careers that do
not require a four-year college/university education.
-
Initiatives to get funding dollars into the system that have been
sitting idle.
Meeting with Health and Human
Services, Deputy Sec. of HHS Mark Benton, and Interim Director of Mental Health
Kody Kinsley.
-
HHS has approximately 36 agencies and 14K employees
-
Initiative to pull together physical and behavioral health
-
Address the adverse (early) childhood experiences and impact on
education
-
Overview of opioids addiction and community’s efforts to address
individuals
-
Provided insight on how chambers and their members can help:
o
Enact strong workplace safety strategies, drug policies and drug
panel testing,
o
Training to spot first signs of drug abuse
o
Treat substance abuse as a disease
o
Become a champion in our communities
Meeting with Appalachian Regional Commission,
Olivia Collier ARC Program Manager, and Wesley Barker ARC Community Development
Planner.
-
Olivia provided
an overview of the ARC’s role and engagements in our immediate area:
o
$300k for the
pump station at Chestnut Ridge
o
$2.5M for access
road
o
$300K for
Doughton Park on the Blue Ridge Parkway
o
$9200 for
Broadband Access on Sunset Drive (which she had to fight for)
-
Introduced Wesley
Barker and his role as Community Development.
He is available to help us with strategic plans and grant requests.
-
We discussed
local needs for funding:
o
Glen Burney Trail
(not in their area)
o
Utility and power
line relocation for Main St. and Sunset Dr.
o
BB access for
remote areas to promote additional educational opportunities and access.
Following our meetings, Tony Rand, former
State Senator for over 20 years and Senate Majority Leader, service on The
Parole Commission, and currently serving on the Lottery Commission, and a member of The Blowing Rock Chamber of
Commerce, and serves on the Community, Government, and Education Committee,
provided a tour of the Senate and House Chambers, where many people stopped us
and recognized him……….Thanks Tony!
Submitted by Jim McDowell
June 8, 2018
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