U.S. Sen. Richard Burr (foreground) and Alleghany Republican Party Chairman Joe Jones attend a recent economic summit in Sparta.

Burr visits; holds economic summit with officials

Local officials met with Senator Richard Burr Feb. 16 as he held an economic summit at the Blue Ridge Business Development Center. Topics touched on included business, education, and health care.

Representatives from local boards, as well as the hospital attended the event. Among those who met Burr last week were Alleghany Memorial Hospital CEO Ralph Castillo, County Manager Don Adams, Commission Chair Ken Richardson, Sparta Mayor John Miller, Town Councilman Robert Andrews, Alleghany County Schools Superintendent Jeff Cox, School Board Vice Chair Betsy Dillon, as well as Commissioner Doug Murphy, Wilkes Community College Alleghany Campus Director Jayne Phipps-Boger; Jack Cahn, chief of staff at AMH; Joe Jones, chair of the Alleghany Republican Party, and BDC Program Coordinator Hunter Tompkins.

Business

"Everybody's got to find that niche of the 21st century economy that fits geographically and fits with the population basis you've got," Burr told those present. "We haven't been able to accomplish that everywhere in North Carolina, but the great news is we've got the nucleus in the state that every company that is looking for a new site in this country, North Carolina's number one, number two, number three on their list. It's a matter of turning this economy around to a point where private capital begins to take a risk in plant placement and plant expansion….

When you've got is probably anemic growth… that directly affects manufacturing." He noted 70 percent of what is manufactured here in the United States is sold outside of the country.

"We're very much in the export business," Burr continued. "Export is probably the single most important thing to the health of the U.S. economy. But exports are dependent on strong economies outside the United States. You're beginning to see how bad the economy is in Europe as you begin to hear about Greece and Portugal and Spain, soon to be Italy. Their debt, relative to the size of their economy, is unsustainable. And the economies of these countries are beginning to suffocate."

He also spoke of the huge and growing U.S. debt. He remarked, "I don't know how much more debt we can take on and still believe that you can service that debt."

In terms of the job front in the state in the last 10 years, Burr pointed out, "We had the largest expansion of employment in North Carolina in the history of our state. It far outpaced our ability to populate those jobs so we've had this huge influx of population from other states to North Carolina because of the job opportunities. Regionally, they have great impact. They didn't have great impact on every community across the state including Alleghany County…" Burr noted he is of the opinion Alleghany County has the right infrastructure to attract new employers to the area. He then recalled a tale of his younger days when he asked why three businesses-R.J. Reynolds, Hanes and Wachovia-dominated Winston-Salem.

"The answer I was given was the leadership of the city for 50 years was always a combination of people from Hanes, (R.J.) Reynolds and Wachovia. They dominated banking, they dominated textiles; they dominated tobacco. They didn't want anybody competing for their workforce. They wanted their workforce to remain loyal to them and if they didn't have people moving in, they didn't have people picking off good employees.