00:00Thank you very much. It is exciting to be here and to be part of this great event and a few things that I've learned just in sitting here. One quick story. Todd does a lot of business. If you don't know him, I encourage you to look at what all he has been able to create.
00:21There's almost nothing going on in central Arkansas that he doesn't have a hand in. And I don't say this as a negative, but this is actually the first business announcement that he's had that he's invited me to.
00:37But like I said, I don't say that as a negative, but it shows how special this is to him and how much he believes in this project, how much he believes in this company, and more importantly, how much he believes in you.
00:51Justin, and he does not invest in things that he doesn't know can and will be successful. And so when he called, I knew it was something I wanted to be part of because he has what you might consider the Midas touch these days. And at the end of the day, I will bet on a couple farm boys from Arkansas any day of the week over just about any other type of leader to take over and run a company.
01:18Because I know that they will not quit until they see it reach its full potential and until they build something that is truly successful and meaningful.
01:29And so Todd, thank you for what you're doing here in the state of Arkansas and for letting me be part of this event. Maybe if I do an okay job, I'll get to come back for another one.
01:39Because I know that this is, you're only just getting started here. But something else that I've noticed, I have the opportunity to participate in a lot of these events. And frankly, just in the last couple of weeks, we have done several jobs announcement events.
01:56And that's a great thing for our state, something I'm really proud of. Very few of them start with the prayer, start with bringing their pastor up. And I think that says a lot about you.
02:08One of the things I loved was not only that you had your pastor as the lead of this event, it shows where your heart is, who you are at your core.
02:17You were able to name off dozens of people sitting around this room without ever looking at a note. It shows that you are not just the head of this company, that you are invested personally.
02:31I mean, that's not something you see every day. And so really honored and proud that I get to be here and celebrate what I think is a great achievement.
02:39I also have been sitting here thinking of what event I might want to mention that I too would like to attend in front of you.
02:48Because clearly, if you bring it up based on their pastor's story, you may or may not spend all night waiting out of the rain for tickets.
02:55I was going to go with like Dolly Parton would be really cool to see before the end.
03:01But I'm picking up on a basketball theme. So I'm going to think about it a little more.
03:05I'll come back to you on what we may all want to go to. But in all seriousness, you have really created something special.
03:11And I'm honored to be here and appreciate the kind introduction.
03:15I want to say a big thank you to our team at AEDC.
03:19Much like you, none of the things that happened in our state and all of the great jobs announcements that we've been able to make
03:26and the growth and economic development that we have had in our state happens by just what I'm able to do.
03:34But because I'm surrounded by the incredible team, Hugh McDonald and Clint O'Neill and the local partnership that we have here in North Little Rock,
03:42I think I saw the mayor somewhere. There he is.
03:44He does a great job leading the city of North Little Rock, and he's also a lot of fun.
03:50And so, Mayor, great to see you and appreciate all of your leadership.
03:54And a big thank you to Conveyor Technologies.
03:58I know that your success is because you have built that great team and so grateful for the continued commitment that you have and that you've shown.
04:08You know, I get to spend a lot of time with people that are business leaders around the state, men and women who have built amazing companies.
04:15And I love the theme that I've heard about being Arkansas proud already here this morning.
04:21Several months ago, a good friend of mine, Scott Ford, who knows a little something about building a great business here in Arkansas, shared a story with me.
04:29He said that he was talking to one of his colleagues that he ran into on the street in New York during a business trip.
04:37They struck up a conversation, and the man asked him why, after all of his success in business, he was still living in a place like Arkansas.
04:47And Scott responded to him, and I absolutely love this quote, and I think it is so true.
04:51He said, I hope that before your days are finished, you'll realize that you too could have lived in Arkansas all of these years.
04:58And I think that is such a great testament and such a great theme of what we see taking place here this morning.
05:05There's something in the water in the natural state.
05:08It doesn't matter if it's advanced manufacturing like what you're doing here, retail, banking, agriculture.
05:14If you crack a door for an ambitious Arkansan, they're going to fling it open and run right through.
05:19And that's exactly what people like Todd and Justin do every single day.
05:23Three decades ago, Justin realized that Americans weren't really building drum motors anymore.
05:29And his big idea wasn't to keep buying cheap ones from overseas like everyone else was doing, but to build them here and to do it better than anybody else.
05:38And that's exactly what we see behind us today.
05:41We're lucky that he's from central Arkansas because that meant that this region was a perfect place for him to set up shop.
05:47And we're especially lucky that our region is connected by road, by river, rail, and runway to the entire rest of the country,
05:56helping conveyor technology grow into the major company that it is today.
06:01But most important of all is business culture.
06:04And that's something that you've seen on display all morning already.
06:08It's reflected in the speakers who came before me.
06:11They're not just building a great business.
06:13They're great people, and they're creating an environment where businesses of all kinds can thrive and a culture where people actually want to work.
06:23In state government, that's the kind of flywheel effect that we want.
06:27That's why we've cut taxes by 20% in two years, because more money in Arkansans' pockets means more spending, more growth, and more jobs.
06:35It's why we focus so heavily on education and workforce, because better curriculum and better teachers mean better students and better employees.
06:45And it's why we're helping and investing in businesses like conveyor technology by expanding our electric grid, cutting red tape,
06:53and because a strong industrial base means a strong economy.
06:57And working and focusing on the type of culture that we recognize and that we praise and we celebrate is something that we really want to lean into here in the state of Arkansas.
07:09It's very evident that you have created and built something really special.
07:13We're proud that we get to play a small part in it.
07:15We look forward to seeing this business continue to grow and expand and to do that right here in Arkansas.
07:22Thank you so much for what you're doing.
07:23And thank you for what you've built.
07:25More importantly, thank you for who you are and the way you represent our great state.
07:28Thanks for letting me be here.
