On May 3, Fuquay-Varina’s Chamber of Commerce held a recognition ceremony for our congressman, Representative George Holding. He has served two of North Carolina’s congressional districts for a total of more than 6 years. Brince Manning, a manager of the Southeastern Region for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, came up from Atlanta to present the award. Dozens of community business and government leaders packed the room. Since the Chamber of Commerce funded the event, it provided an excellent occasion for our national representative to speak face-to-face with local business leaders. The award is based on voting records, which means the Chamber does not fund such meetings for those opposed to its priorities, but does fund them for nearly half of our elected national office holders.
Highlights of the occasion were short speeches, especially by Mayor Byrne and Representative Holding,, plus one-on-one conversations. The Mayor recounted how Representative Holding’s dad is the one who hired him and sent him to work 47 years ago. He also emphasized his dad’s love of our community and added that son George is similarly at home here in Fuquay-Varina. The Mayor concluded his remarks with appreciation for the work that Representative Holding does for all our businesses, especially small businesses. He goes out of his way to make sure that local businesses get the best from our government and that keeps our economy vital.
Representative Holding had much praise for our Mayor, claiming he was the “real politician” in the room and that he had taken away most of his speech already. That left a little extra time to tell how much he enjoys small town North Carolina. Here, you can misbehave, grow up, and still get elected to Congress. In Washington, his focus is on helping capital formation and small business thrive, especially through deregulation. He offered that the United Kingdom and the United States are the only countries left with an entrepreneurial focus, and that small economies can outdo much larger ones. He cited that Edinburg, Scotland is the second largest financial system in Europe, and the third best location for startups is Israel. He worries about government getting in the way of the people with ideas going out and making those ideas live—like Bob Barker did—and having the courage to act on an idea and build something for the community. In the end, he encouraged people to contact his office if they need anything from the federal government, such as help with IRS, VA, or Social Security Administration. He ended by expressing gratitude for the award and for the opportunity to be in Fuquay-Varina.
After the speeches, I asked a number of those attending whether they had ever contacted the congressman’s office for help. One person was grateful for his personal efforts on part of a family member. Another had contacted his office numerous times to express gratitude for his help especially with contacts for getting things done. Fuquay-Varina’s success in achieving federal transportation grants is noteworthy in this regard.
The congressman even took a few moments to talk with me, a new face in the room. I got a chance to mention my concerns about Artificial Intelligence’s impact on meaningful human work and to ask him my favorite question about what he would like to say to everyone in our community. His answer surely resonates with most of our readers. “You have a beautiful community to live in. Remember to leave it better for the next generation.”
