It was a busy, productive, and exciting week at the Triangle East Chamber.

On Tuesday we celebrated the creativity and innovation of the educators working in the Johnston County Public Schools at our Flame for Learning celebration. Through a rigorous process we were able to narrow down the list of outstanding educators to 20 semi finalists who were recognized at the dinner. The winning teacher was Jennifer Beninate of Four Oaks Elementary. She will now represent Johnston County Public Schools in the North Carolina Teacher of the Year Competition.

Legendary Carolina Panthers player Mike Minter was the guest speaker. Now head coach at Campbell University, Coach Minter spoke of the important role educators play in helping students reach their goals.

The Chamber also attended the Smithfield Budget meeting. We thanked the town for their past partnership with the Chamber and spoke about upcoming projects we would like to bring to our members. We are grateful for the support of our elected officials.

Our team joined with local businesses and officials at the Corridors of Opportunity sponsored by the Triangle Business Journal. The panel discussion focused on the opportunities and challenges of being North Carolina’s fastest growing county. Much of the discussion focused on preserving the characteristics of the county that make it unique while allowing for growth.

The challenges of growth were also discussed as our Chamber president attended the North Carolina Infrastructure Summit. Planes, Trains, and Automobiles was a hit movie, but also the topic of conversation. Thrown into the discussion was the importance of North Carolina’s ports, the future of electric vehicles, and the importance of broadband in infrastructure discussions. The biggest hurdle facing infrastructure discussions is financing the projects. There was a clear desire for the state to be a partner with business. There were many examples provided where the state worked with business leaders to provide infrastructure so that businesses could grow in the state. The Triangle East Chamber will continue to be an engaged partner in infrastructure discussions.

Finally we celebrated the ribbon cutting of Jernigan Furniture in Smithfield. We had many  members join us as we welcomed our newest business to town. This family owned business started in Goldsboro and has expanded to Smithfield. Their slogan is “A sense of family, a sense of home.” We definitely experienced that in the store!