A little about myself…..
Came from humble upbringings down in the coalfields of Southwest VA near Honaker and had the pleasure of being raised by my father, William, since retired UMWA coal miner, and my mother, Cathy, since retired school teacher from Tazewell County.
Grew up helping around the Blankenship farm in Tazewell county for most of my younger years putting up hay by pitch fork and wagon, tending to my grandparents’ cattle and other farm animals of course and the fun life of growing and harvesting tobacco. This is where it was instilled in me to work hard and how having a positive work ethic will get you places in your career, something that I hold true to this day, now in my 51 years…..
My parents wanted me to go on to college and earn a degree in which I attended mother’s Alma Mater, Clinch Valley College (now UVA at Wise) and earned my Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and a concentrated minor in Economics in 1994.
After previously working a few years with Roses Stores, Inc., I immediately fell into their management program and was sent to Princeton in 1995 to help run/operate the Princeton store and shortly at their Chatham, VA location as Store manager. Absolutely fell in love with Princeton and Mercer County and here is where I will be laid to rest as I later established roots with my beautiful wife, Gaye, and our son Blake, who is currently a sophomore in Princeton Senior HS and has already been an Eagle Scout when he was 14!! (Proud father moment 😀)
From there I spent a few years learning retail management and public skills with Roses, Inc., and was later called to be the area’s very first bank branch manager inside our Kroger with a new One Valley Bank branch opportunity in 1998. That started many years of banking, finance, investment and lending experience which came to help later in life when the City of Princeton gave me another great opportunity.
As my resume will show, as an individual who had the pleasure of being a branch manager, financial services officer and lastly an Investment Representative earning my Series 7, 6 & 63 brokerage licenses was some of my best accomplishments.
From there, opportunities kept coming so I traveled out of state to fill in for a short while as an Assistant Vice-President over the railroad division with Cleco in Lebanon, VA when the call came to come back home and proudly serve the citizens of Princeton as a Professional Firefighter/EMT in 2008.
This is what taught me compassion, sacrifice, being a team member and caring for our communities to really come to light with the City. I was blessed to serve 6 years in that role when I was presented with the opportunity to serve as the city’s Chief Financial Officer due to my previous extensive work background and proving myself already.
I took over that role in 2014 and served another 6 years learning about the ins and outs of what it takes to operate a sizable municipality from the public funds standpoint and how to financially operate a non-state agency which has GREATLY prepared me for the task ahead as hopefully our next county commissioner. I moved down the hall in 2020 to take over as our current Director of Human Resources and still work hard even today.
What motivated me to run? Several local leaders and acquaintances reached out to me to consider a bid to run when word got out that our incumbent, Gene Buckner, was not seeking re-election.
Having spent nearly 29 years building relationships, both professional and service related, there was so much outpouring of support once word got out that I was interested and knowing that our citizens wanted me for commissioner is what got me where I am today.
The common statement I heard loud and clear, “We want someone in there who has actual Public funds experience and can move the county forward with what’s coming down the road.” That was my motivation that I’m being called upon to continue to serve our citizens not only the City of Princeton but now our citizens in our beloved county.
Issues facing Mercer County? Issues that we are facing on a grand scale that I would love to see addressed and fixed is our current infrastructure.
“Rome wasn’t built in a day” is the old saying but we need to continue investing in our infrastructure to ensure our citizens have access to clean water/sewer, broadband, housing, etc. There are so many grants out there if you know where to look and with expertise much can be accomplished along with being fiscally responsible and dedicate funding towards those goals.
I’m very pro-business and how you attract and retain good paying jobs is having access to great infrastructure as larger companies are looking for expansion and growth. Our children need to feel that they can stay in Mercer County and raise their families just like many of us!
What makes me stand out from the rest of the candidates? Real world experience ranging from over 29 years of Retail, Banking, Investments, Civil and Public Service. No other candidate can attest to over a decade of being a First Responder, all the years dealing with Public funds and similar industries helping to manage and run a sizable municipality which greatly prepares you for the task ahead of being one of three county commissioners managing a county.
Anything else voters should know? Gladly served for over 5 years as a volunteer firefighter with Green Valley/Glenwood VFD in the early 2000’s protecting our communities, gladly served later to become a Bear Den leader for Cub Scouts and ultimately as Assistant scoutmaster and later Scoutmaster with Troop 1 in Princeton in which I proudly serve today.
When I can I also serve in our BSA Mountain Dominion district as Chairman. Current BSA lifeguard, Princeton Rotarian and a member of the Spanishburg Ruritan club.
As you can see, I firmly believe in giving back to our communities and preparing our youth for life by giving direction, positive instruction, a great moral compass and willingness to help one another.
Proud that I have endorsements of the Professional Firefighters of Princeton, Local 466 and Professional Firefighters of Bluefield, Local 347. Can find me on Facebook at www.facebook.com/BBFMCC