Candidate Biography (submitted by candidate):

Personal
I was born and raised in High Point, where I have lived all my life, and plan to raise a family. I have attended Community Bible Church since I was young, and currently attend Summit Community just off Hwy-311.

Education
Graduate of Wesleyan Academy across from Oak Hollow Mall, and graduate of High Point University with B.S. in Finance.

Professional Licenses held include: Series 7 - Securities License, Series 66 - Combined State Law, Life & Health, Insurance License, and Medicare Supplement License

Business
I have worked for Edward Jones Investments since graduating from HPU. I started working in June 2008, was offered my own office in High Point in July 2009, and was able to hire an assistant only 3 months later in October 2009.

Candidate Statement:

The cornerstones of my platform are the diversity of business, lower government spending, the support of FREE enterprise, and leveraging High Point University to create jobs.

For years we have depended on the furniture industry to be the foundation of our local economy, but we shouldn't put our city's fate in the hands of one industry. I believe we need to leverage our central location with regards to the interstate highways, as well as our proximity to the FedEx hub as a means to reduce reliance on one industry. If we strengthen our local economy, furniture will grow stronger as we will be better able to support it.

For a large majority of the last decade we have spent more than we made in the city. This is unacceptable. We need to reduce spending to meet revenues, and if we had planned to spend 3% less than revenue we could have built up a reserve to stimulate the economy during future recessions. The government must be accountable for their poor planning.

I believe that the city government is involved in too many areas of the economy that should be market driven. Government should not be allowed to dictate which developments are allowed and which are not allowed. Competitive forces and private enterprise should decide what is best for the community and city government should stay out of the way as much as possible.

High Point University can provide businesses with the talent they need to grow. Students are available for internships which are a great way for businesses to grow carefully with cost-effective part-time employment.

These principles are the driving forces that can make the City of High Point the great community it once was, but it's going to take careful long-term planning, patience, and a lot of hard work.