HP is for Happy Place: State of the City

By Phillip | July 25, 2018

State of the City. What is that you say? It’s the annual city event put together by Business High Point, their members, our community leaders, elected officials, and sponsors. It was a packed house at High Point Country Club with over 400 in attendance. Yep, over 400.

High Point Mayor Jay Wagner delivered the keynote address and we thought everyone in our community should have the opportunity to hear his vision for our future. So, if you weren’t able to attend – or even if you did and you want to hear it again – check it out below.

One of the other moments that really moved us was the address from sponsor Northstate Telecommunications CEO Royster Tucker, III. Leading up to introducing Mayor Wagner, he shared his thoughts on High Point becoming BOLD. He went on to say “At the root of becoming great again…is boldness.” Royster, we agree – and we salute you for your bold address.

And friends, trust us when we say you should read this:

High Point. Thank you for becoming bold!

Good afternoon everyone. Or I prefer to say good afternoon NEW High Point.

I am Royster Tucker III.

I have the absolute honor to serve as the CEO of that 123-year-old icon of this city – NorthState.

And yes, thank you High Point for being our partner across the many decades.

And now, thank you NEW High Point, for giving NorthState and all of us, our businesses, our families an exciting and real platform for our future. A bona fide path for our return to greatness.

While there are many major things hitting right now – the stadium, the Rockers, HP365, downtown development…. cranes in downtown…who would have ever thought…. expansion of the market, (thank you IMC for your investment in our return to greatness) the ongoing growth of HPU, (thank you HPU for your ongoing investments in our return to greatness,) and more to come –

To me these are all fascinating and nearly unbelievable outcomes of what I see as the greatest story there is to be told about High Point to date….

The greatest story to be told about High Point is that High Point is us…. the business community, the city leaders, we have become bold. You know, looking at all the great turn-arounds, transformations revitalizations of cities, businesses, universities. athletic teams and the like…

AT THE ROOT OF TRANSFORMATION, BECOMING GREAT AGAIN… IS BOLDNESS.

You can have vision… and we have had plenty of visions here— some better than others —

But a vison means nothing if you are not bold enough to make it reality.

Now that is a simple, often stated concept — but a rare occurrence.

NEW HIGH POINT. THANK YOU FOR BECOMING BOLD

It appears to me that we got our bold on with the merger of the High Point Partners and the Chamber and the creation of Business High Point a short 3 years ago.

And while we look back at this as perhaps a no-brainer…. something that should have happened a long time ago – if you knew the lay of the land, if you knew the history…that was a bold step for High Point. It’s was one of those “you had to be in the room things” It was a big deal.

Business High Point quickly became the stalwart for the business community serving as a place for these bold thinking business leaders to “belong to” and hang out together.

Early on the voices of Dr. Quebin and other bold thinkers and high achievers rang through Business High Point… BIG STEPS… BOLD… Business High Point quickly developed power from the edges with new participants.

New minds.

Fresh energy.

And with that……. the business community and the large stakeholders in the city… collectively and with alignment could now say – not only what needs to happen…. but this is what is going to happen.

And with that – High Point became BOLD.

The roster of bold minds can be found in the leaders of our Vision Investors, our new city leadership team and the leadership team of Business High Point.

I certainly Thank you for your BOLDNESS –

And now….. the other great story that I see taking shape, is that of the community. The citizens of High Point, the small business community, the nay-sayers, the fence sitters, all the fashions that make up this city, are beginning to see that the only way we are going to return to greatness… is by being BOLD.

You can see it and feel it. It’s an awakening. It’s like, “Holy Rockers” just to get started on becoming great again, we have to raise millions of dollars and tear up half the downtown.

And now you can all hear the roar — Hey, what else can we BOLDLY do to move us faster towards returning to greatness.

It is our new breath. We are a city aligning around boldness.

So, thank you NEW High Point for BOLDNESS.

Now, NEW High Point. We are at the best place we have been in a long time. There is much to be done. Please. Please. Do not forget what got us here.

Let’s continue to be BOLD.

It’s a great time to be a citizen of High Point.