BUSINESS HIGH POINT HOSTS STATE OF THE CITY

The City of High Point was heavily featured during the State of the City Luncheon hosted by Business High Point – Chamber of Commerce at the High Point University Nido and Mariana Qubein Arena and Conference Center. During the event, High Point Mayor Jay Wagner gave his annual State of the City address, City Manager Tasha Logan Ford and Economic Development Corporation Director Sandy Dunbeck participated in a panel discussion, and finally, the Chamber presented Mayor Wagner with the Chamber Hero Award.

During his speech, Wagner highlighted the City’s economic development, downtown revitalization and a general outlook shift.

“The thing I’m most proud of is High Point’s change in attitude over the last six years,” Wagner said. “Six years ago, the motto could have been, ‘That will never happen here.’ Today, our attitude is, ‘What are we going to do next?’”

He also addressed the importance of raising High Point’s profile as a world art and design capital.

“It’s time we really started trumpeting High Point’s position in the world alongside Paris, Milan, New York and others to designers and creatives around the world,” Wagner said.

“This means embracing art and design by emphasizing public art in our downtown when streetscaping is done. It means crafting a new public art policy for new development in High Point. It means more art and design events like the recent Main in Color Festival. It means giving space, both literally and figuratively, for artists to create.”

The mayor finished his speech by recognizing City employees for their work.

“Every day, there are 1,400 City employees who are doing everything behind the scenes to help make High Point work. They deserve our appreciation. They do a great, great job, so I want to thank them for all they do.”

During the panel discussion, Logan Ford and Dunbeck joined Tammy Nagem, president and CEO of the High Point Market Authority, and Dr. Whitney Oakley, superintendent of Guilford County Schools, to answer questions submitted by community members.

At the end of the event, the Chamber presented Mayor Wagner with its annual Chamber Hero Award. Wagner was selected not only for his leadership as mayor but for championing many community initiatives and being a strong supporter of the organization for over 20 years.