Check this out for a second. Imagine Willow introduced one of her female friends to the family, right? And recently this female friend just had like two family members die. This female friend is just starting to deal with fame because the female friend is an actress and she's working through drug addiction. She just got diagnosed with a sickness. She's working through that. She's working through childhood trauma. She was abused as a kid sexually. The female friend is about 23 years old and Will takes it upon himself to take that female friend under his wing only to later find out years later because the female friend did an interview that her and Will were in a relationship. Right. How would the public look at a 50-something-year-old Will Smith? That nigga would be at the bottom of the prison. He is a predator. He used her. He took advantage of her. This and that, but because August is a man and Jada is a five-foot-nothing woman, they're like, oh, it was a consensual relationship and they're grown and they could do whatever they want. And that's the part that bothers me because if the optics were switched, this would not go to weight. Will wouldn't have a red table to talk at. You know what I mean? I'll say this. A lot of people have mentioned the fact that this red table talk was started and it was started and correct me if I'm wrong, but it was started with her, Willow, and I believe it was her mom. And the reason as to why they started was because they wanted to bring things to the table that they can essentially move past and heal from. And I think that a lot of people kind of looked at Jada as somewhat of an expert of things, but I don't necessarily feel like you can be an expert at things like that. I feel like you're more of an advocate. I feel like sometimes Jada may have portrayed herself as an expert in helping people get through these things when she's kind of going through these things herself. So Right.  Yeah. And then, you know, he came on the red table to essentially, you know, exonerate himself.  Right. Right. So for a situation like this, and I think the part that's the most interesting, if August never said anything, none of this would, Jada wouldn't have brought it up. Right. If August didn't say anything, none of this would have come to the light. Now, there was a tweet that I saw that really stood out to me. The tweet said, there's something to be said about how new age spiritual enlightened candle and chakra holes always weaponize this spirituality to evade accountability and frame their toxicity as healing. Very interesting. Interesting. So do you feel like her saying that she was going through a state of healing and it was such a joy to heal someone? Do you feel like that's more of her way of making an excuse for her actions? Throughout this whole thing, what I've realized is that it was never about August. It was never about August. August was, he was a casualty. It was about herself. It was about healing herself.  And she took on, you got a thing, her kids are grown. Right. You know, not only is she suffering from, you know, whatever she was suffering from, she's probably an empty nest as well.  So like it was about her and her ego. It was never about him. She just like she said, she told us what it was. She said, I wanted to feel good. I was broken. I hadn't felt good in such a long time. What one of the quotes that we see a lot on Instagram and Facebook and 99% of the time when I see this, it's women posting it goes something like healing spirits attract broken people. Have you seen that before? I have not. Yeah. Healing spirits attract broken people. And I've always hated that quote. Yeah, that's, that's, that's something man.  Healing spirits don't attract broken people. Broken people attract broken people. Misery needs company. Right. But if you are able to change the paradigm and think of yourself as a healing spirit, then you could put the responsibility of what you got yourself into on the other person or something else as opposed to taking accountability for your choices, for your state of mind, and for how you move through the world.    So for me, man, it's she, she, she's a predator. I want us to really call a spade a spade. She is a predator. If you, if you, because you have to think too, like the part we're missing is that Will Smith, Will Smith is low key, like a motivational speaker, bro. Like, yeah, it's a ton of like little videos of Will Smith talking about like the universe. Yeah, that nigga is like a, I don't know if he, if he goes on tour to speak, but like that nigga is on the level of like Bob Proctor. He speaks a lot of good stuff, man. I know I listen to a lot of this stuff in the morning. For sure. And I remember there was one thing he said, I think he was being interviewed or something. And I think somebody asked him like, how do you make your wife happy? Because a lot of people look up to their relationship. And he said, it's not my responsibility to make somebody else happy. He said something along the lines of, I can only share in their happiness, but they have to find happiness for themselves. Oh, damn. So now think about that. What he said in this context, than that to, to, to think, that was probably 10 years ago. The past 10 years, Jada still hasn't found happiness for himself because you have to think in the interview, he kept saying, I was done with you. I was done with you. I was done with you. What does that make you believe?  Right. Like he was tired of it.  He did, she did something before this whole August thing in the first place. And the part that I think broke him the most is who it was. It wasn't even the fact that she cheated. It was who she cheated with. Somebody that he took it. Jada is 21 years older than August. I've seen her, bro. There are a lot of signs that point to Jada being some type of narcissist. Like if you, if you look at number one, she was raised by a single mother, a single mother who's still pretty sexy.  So it's safe to assume that Jada grew up thinking that man are just a tool. Interesting. There was a quote on Facebook. Somebody said, it's crazy because Will has been chasing after his wife ever since Tupac. Will has been chasing Jada since Tupac. And she's just been a little, a couple of steps ahead of him. You almost got me. You almost got me. Now look at their kids.   She's writing letters to Tupac, even though she never met the nigga. You know what I mean? And if you look at how Will was raised, Will was raised by a military man.  What's Jada's doing? Interesting.


What is going on everybody? It's Stas here. Good morning. Welcome back to another video. So in today's video, we're going to be talking about very quickly a couple of stocks and ETFs that I'm personally looking to trade here this morning on the 21st of March in 2019. But before we talk about these, let's hop here to the Safari tab very quickly and see what the US stock market futures are doing right now. So the S&P currently with about 30 minutes left to the market open to the bell is down about $9.25 down about 0.33%. The NASDAQ composite guys is also read here down about $28.75 down about 0.4% and the Dow Jones industrial average is down $82 right now down nearly 0.3, 0.32% on the day. So the futures right now are pointing to us opening red here and potentially selling off further. So let's hop over here to think or swim very quickly. And before we talk about Facebook, let's look at this SPX chart. So we saw the futures are down for the S&P 500, they're down about 8 to 10 points right now. So what is that going to look like here at the market open?  It's going to look something similar like that, right? If we do end up opening up at these levels where we're down about 8 to 9 to 10 points in the SPX, we're going to be trending below this support here, which was a resistance, we broke above it, held it as a new support for a couple of days here. And now if we open up down 10 points, we're going to end up trending below that and that could be the start of the sell-off here, that retracement in the overall markets that we've been talking about here over the past couple of videos. And if you guys don't recall what I'm saying here, well, over the past couple of months in 2019, the markets have been on fire and every time we've pushed to a higher high, we've seen a flat line and then a little retracement, whether it be 1 to 3%. This last one that we got here was about 3%, right? We saw the flat line, then the pullback. And now we saw the flat line a couple of days ago, maybe today we flat line as well. It's not a 100% guarantee that we're going to sell off aggressively today, but let's say we flat line again today, you know, what I'm going to be looking for is that start of a sell-off, the break below this support. But again, if the futures do open up down 10 points or if the markets do open up down 10 points, 15 points, whatever, we're already going to be heading in that direction, which is going to lead me to believe that today is going to be that sell-off day. So that is just to clear things up in the air right now, guys, with what the markets are looking like overall here. Now let's just hop back to Facebook, which is one of the stocks that I'm watching today for a potential trade. So Facebook, ticker symbol, FB. This has been in the news a lot over the past couple of weeks here. We all know the executives leaving, Instagram executives leaving, WhatsApp people leaving, a lot, a lot of news coverage for Facebook, right? The data, the New Zealand massacre being live streamed throughout a bunch of social media sites. This is something that Facebook has been dealing with heads on here, and the stock price has taken a hit from 172 at this resistance a couple of weeks ago, really about a week or two ago, all the way down to about 158 to 159, where we successfully held the support here on this horizontal channel. And yesterday, we saw us pop up to about $165, which leads me to believe that the confirmation, or rather the support, was confirmed here, and we're headed back up to that $170 resistance. So Facebook is one I'm watching here to see, are we going to potentially pull back, which it does seem like we're looking like we are here, pre-market hours, if we pull back to about $164 flat maybe, or rather $164, $50, $164, maybe even $163.50, that could open up a nice little dip buy so we can get in at a better point and then ride it up to the resistance at this point, which is going to be the 50 SMA. And then if we break that, the $170 will be the next price target, or actually about $168 right here, would be the next price target, and then up to about $170. And I apologize guys, I do have a little bit of a runny nose right now, but I still have to get this video out for you guys, and I do want to tell you guys what I'm looking at this morning. So Facebook, that is what I'm looking at, one of the stocks, another one that's forming a very similar pattern as yesterday is crude oil here, and it might be a bit too late right now to hop in and by the time, you know, the markets do open, this one might be running up already, so I'd be waiting for another pullback. But like I said in yesterday's mornings video, I talked about how we sold off, and this is a very similar thing that happened yesterday. Remember, we sold off yesterday, heading to the market open roughly, and then we started to pop up, heading it to the market open, and that's where I ended up hopping into UWT, and yesterday, and yesterday's morning, right. And now we're seeing something very similar, we're selling off, and now we're starting to fly up past the resistance points over the past couple of hours, which was the 50 and the 180 simple moving averages. So the fact that we're showing this reversal gives me, honestly, the confirmation that we're heading back up to about $60.30. So ideally here, I would love to see a little pullback before market opens so we can get into UWT, which is the bull ETF here that trades based upon crude oil, whenever crude oil is going up, UWT is going up as well. So that's one I'm watching in terms of ETFs here, natural gas is finally looking, it's finally looking like we're heading into the 270s right now, which is a very good sign to play D gas guys, D gas is a bear ETF, it goes up in price whenever natural gas is selling off.  So we talked about over the past couple of videos how natural gas has been in this horizontal pattern, and we confirmed the resistance rejection here back on the 19th of March two days ago. And from there, we've been trending down to about 280 right now. So what am I going to be waiting for, for the full on confirmation to play D gas? Well, I'm going to be waiting for the break below 277. This has been a support over the past couple of weeks, starting off on the 26th of February, back during this stretch of a couple of days here from the 11th to the 13th of March, back here on the 18th of March, we confirm the bounce. And now I'm thinking we're going to be headed to this level either for a break below, which would be a bearish move, or we're going to bounce here and slowly start to fill up to the resistance of this horizontal pattern in order to keep this horizontal pattern intact. So there's a couple of different things here. But I do think eventually we're going to end up falling down below this level, because this time period we're in right now, typically D gas does better, right? In the winter, you know, natural gas is bullish, but now that we're getting out of the winter, you know, D gas tends to do a little bit better, which is why I think we're going to end up running down below this support level. But again, I could be 100% wrong, you have to do your own research. So natural gas, D gas, that's what I'm watching this morning, as well as UWT and crude oil, very similar to what I've been watching here over the past couple of trading days as well as Facebook. Let's take a look very quickly at MU, MU Micron. This is one that's worth watching in my opinion as well. We saw the big hike up yesterday after market hours after they did report their earnings. Let's take a look at their earnings very quickly. I'm sure there is a little bit of news here. We see some price targets, you know, being raised on Micron, which is very, very good. Stock price raised to $64 from $55 at JP Morgan, $60 from $65, okay, that was a price cut there. We saw this, this analyst company, they raised the $49 from $45. So typically, people, you know, people like investors, traders like when analysts do raise price targets, that is a very good thing. And for those of you guys that don't know about their earnings, I'm trying to find it here, but I don't want to keep this video too long. They did beat on revenue and they did beat on EPS, but I'm pretty sure they guided a bit lower here over the next quarter or two. That's just me subphrasing what I would I remember off the top of my head. If you want to look more into Micron's earnings report, go ahead and do that research, I'm not going to be talking about that in this video. But I do think it is worth watching here for a potential run, especially since the pattern is honestly looking like a nice reversal pattern here to the upside, right? So Micron could end up being a pretty good swing trade here. We just have to see if it ends up breaking $43 this resistance here to go and make a higher high. I think that's very, very possible here in terms of in terms of Micron's stock. So let me just really quickly briefly talk about these marijuana stocks and see if they made any moves here. CGC, not really any moves here quite yet pre-market hours. I want to see the break ultimately above $48 in CGC. ACBRR cannabis, I want to see a further pullback here. But the fact that we're consolidating here in the pre-market hours, that leads me to believe that we could be doing something like this where we consolidated a bit then popped, consolidated a bit then popped, consolidated a bit after a little pullback. We could either pop here or sell off a bit more, which is what I want to happen so I can get in. But if we do see signs of popping up here, I might get in early in the market and then ride it with a tight stop loss. We have to see what ends up happening. So that's what I'm watching here. A couple of stocks in ETFs, ACB, CGC, the cannabis companies, of course, they are very, very hot. They can, excuse me, they can fly up 10% in a day. They can go down 10% in a day. Natural gas, UGAS, DGAS, CL, crude oil, UWT, DWT, Facebook, and TVIX, guys. How can I forget? TVIX, very quickly, this is an ETF that goes up when the markets are selling off. So let's say today we do aggressively sell off in the SPX, the Dow, the NASDAQ. This is going to be one to watch. TVIX does very well during market sell off. So I'm watching TVIX, guys, and all of those different stocks in ETFs that I just told you guys about. So I hope you guys enjoyed this morning video. If you did, feel free to hit that like button, subscribe to the channel. If you're new, drop a comment. Let me know what you guys are trading. I would love to know. Hope you all do very well today. I'll catch you all in the Discord group chat. Again, that's linked down below as well, 100% free. See you there.


This is the flag of the United States Army, an emblem new to the service, but old for the many pages of history it represents. From its standard fly the streamers recalling many of the nation's gravest hours, times of suffering and triumph, of sacrifice and valor. Woven in the texture of this flag is the battle history of the Army. It is testament and monument to the courageous spirit of America. Stone cannot encompass spirit, nor can memory truly be frozen in the shrines that many wrecked. But in granite and marble, in field stone and clay, we find the symbols of our desire to preserve what is enduringly valuable in our lives and in our honored history. The American soldier is so honored and has always been. In this tomb of the unknown, on a green slope in Arlington Cemetery, the bodies of three heroes lie buried. The unknown soldier of World War I and the recently interred unidentified heroes of World War II in Korea. Symbols of all heroes who fell in the wars of the nation's maturity. Village squares and public grounds, their memory and the memory of all their brothers in arms before them are enshrined in a chain of tribute that reaches back across the developing story of the nation itself. Its recognition of its manifest destiny to be strong enough to support freedom beyond its own shores. The wild opening of its western territories. The tragic strife of the Civil War which tested its ability to stand as a union. The painful years of its early growth. Back to the beginning, to the men who began building that history, the nation's history. And with it the history of the army which has fought to preserve the nation's integrity and indeed its very life. These were the first, these embattled farmers as the poet Emerson called them, the Minutemen, who stood at Concord Bridge and fired the shot heard round the world. The American army was born. Brought to life by angry militiamen who turned back a British raid on the supply stores in Massachusetts Colonnade and drove the red-coated troops of the king in a rout back to Boston. They began their great adventure as a group of individuals, united at first only by something intangible in the already emerging American spirit. A sense of the importance of independence. They came down from their farms and out of their shops to take up arms with the idea only of standing up for their rights against a domination which had become more oppressive with the years. Fate gave them a leader and under him they built a unity and arms of fighting force in which they could wage their growing rebellion with a hope of victory. The Continental Congress gave their struggle a direction that was breathtaking in its audacity and sweeping in its vision of man's rights. And now the soldier of the revolution was fighting for more than a vaguely felt idea. He was fighting for the creation of a new and free nation under handicaps only dimly understood by the 20th century American mind. But to the glory of his own wondrous age and the survival of freedom for all the ages that would do him honor he endured. Through black defeats and incredible hardships he endured and went on to shape the victories at Trenton and Saratoga.  Because of his own beliefs simple and clean and the rightness of his cause the American army held together in its infancy. And for the first time in the history of the new world the quality of patriotism became part of a soldier's queen. The young nation which the soldier had won with his blood flourished gave it a base on which its hard-bought freedom for its people could grow. The acquisition of vast new lands gave it the opportunity to expand physically. But before the country was 30 years old war came again. The conflict with the British this time was over British interference with the rights of American seamen. The army's most illustrious victory was won at New Orleans when it drove the invading British back into the sea. Although this war of 1812 was primarily a naval one the country learned its need for a professional standing army. Posterity inherited a national anthem when a young American named Francis Scott Key was moved to make his tribute to the unconquerable Star-Spangled Banner. When after the British shelling of Fort McHenry he saw the flag still flying. Lone Star State of Texas prepared the preface to the next chapter in America's history. A Mexican possession Texas won its independence after a long and bloody struggle during which a band of 187 Americans met death and heroic fame in their brave but doomed defense of the Alamo. When Texas became a part of the United States after its independence trouble between the United States and Mexico began to broil and finally erupted into war. The acquisition of new territories which the soldier won in the war with Mexico the nation was growing in strength and productivity but with development had come also internal tensions in the young citadel of self-government tensions which finally exploded and brought down in ruins the dream of peaceful union. Most tragic of all wars that of brother against brother was forced upon the nation. The Confederate soldier had behind him the unified effort of a culture that was actually a way of life. He had as well a superb military organization backing him but more than these he had the hot and defiant pride of the rebels with the rebels formidable confidence that his will shall prevail. A Confederate poet wrote the world shall behold in many a distant port another flag unfurled and from the rapidity with which the southerner began chalking up victories he looked as if it might happen but with the magnificence that did him high credit and in the end it was not so much his spirit as the resources of his army that failed him. In performance the Union army suffered at first from an overconfidence and a lack of unity but in the crucible of combat these were corrected. Mid-war the Union soldier emerged as one of the most effective fighters in the history of warfare. The Civil War has many distinctions in the annals of arms. It was the first modern war. It was a war of sweeping movement. It was a war of mass fire. Spectacular plans were brilliantly executed. Its campaigns are still studied as classics of combat. A war that America ever fought cuts so deeply into the nation's heart. Figures in blue and gray who stood against each other on a succession of battlefields whose names are now part of our heritage created images that would never be far from the American mind. Their shadows locked in mortal combat on the dusty fields of a century ago are the sentinels of a nation's conscience telling over and over for every succeeding age how dearly bought is the unity which makes this nation one and indivisible. And it was the soldier from the north who prevailed. His industrial power was superior. His supply of manpower widened. And in the perspective of history his heroic sacrifice gave us the Union forever. With the guns of the Civil War still the nation could turn its attention once more to the great challenge of its physical expansion. The settling of the lands that lay beyond the Mississippi. Pioneer America was on the move. But the challenge brought its own enemy. The Indian who had resisted the white man's settlement of the new continent from the beginning had grown bold and powerful in the years the country was absorbed in its struggle for the Union. Now he was able to show in fear strength his opposition to this extension into the buffalo hunting grounds. To the soldier fell the harsh task of bringing safety to the great west. 300,000 Indians roamed the plains. The army at its peak numbered scarcely more than 2,500. From the Rio Grande to Canada from the Mississippi to the Pacific the soldier was the arm of the national authority. Nation after nation of Indian tribes he fought to make it secure. A brother to danger. Enduring the grim life of the frontier. Dying his lonely death on a stretch of parched prairie beyond the site and even at times beyond the interest of the civilization he served. He did more than his duty. One general officer wrote in tribute to this soldier of the west. He did more than his duty. And in the doing he wrote a page of glory which will be read and thrilled to so long as men prize courage. Finally at the end of the flaming 19th century the west was secure. From sea to sea the American nation now stretched strong and free and vital yielded steadily to the peaceful tools of production. But fires were burning beyond the national borders which would sear into history's new page the next mission for the U.S. soldier. That mission took him away from his own land in the summer of 1898 across the water to Cuba which was fighting for its independence from Spanish domination. The Spanish-American war was a short one. The soldier handled himself well. He was the soldier of that war chiefly for his most significant and decisive battle. His dashing charge up San Juan Hill and nearby El Cone on the approach to Santiago on the first day of July. In this war brought the Philippines, Puerto Rico and Guam as well as Cuba into U.S. possession and the United States would forever after be involved in the affairs of the world at large. The next involvement for the soldier was in his own hemisphere a punitive expedition into Mexico in 1916 in pursuit of Pancho Villa the Mexican bandit who had destroyed American life and property on the border. In the perspective of history it was a minor campaign but it was important to American self-interest and self-respect and it prepared the Army for the most challenging test it had ever had. Saw more than two million Americans in arms. The dough boy went into the war that gave him his first experience with Europe's geography cocky and idealistic. He sang as he marched through the dust of the ruined French villages and the weary and bleeding continent took new hope from his confidence and his exuberance for men mature quickly under fire but the spirit and the effectiveness with which he fought earned for him a high place in the respect of all the nations of the Earth.  Through the Holocaust of Contignier, Chateau Thierry, Bella Wood, the mark came to an end. It was truly ready for peace. Certainly the veteran of that war hoped he had brought about a world that would be free of war forever after. For peace however, was soon to be doomed by events taking place in other parts of the world.  The threat of conflict burst into shattering reality. War of a dimension the world had never seen was introduced. Before it was ever involved, America began preparing its men. The long conversion from citizen to serviceman began. Sometimes it seemed like a hopeless task. Almost before they knew it, America's sons were soldiers. Their training for war however began under conditions something less than realistic. It was still possible to believe that America could remain untouched and war still seemed remote. And now America was committed with its every resource to seeing the grim war to its bitter end. And its job would be the soldier's job. Some of the sad and heart-twisting qualities of war never changed. And some changed enormously. World War II had almost the entire globe at its battlefield. It brought new dimensions to the experience of combat. The soldier fought everywhere. And he went into battle every way he could get there. Through the air, over the seas, he had a hundred beaches large and small in the vast world of the Pacific, fought his way through jungle hells whose names the world had never heard before. And on the other side of the globe, he inched his perilous way through the breeding fields of Europe. He fought in villages where his fathers had fought before him. In towns grown old in peace. In cities which for centuries had stored the flower of man's western culture. Extruction lay in the wake of every victory won. The blood of heroes colored every mile of biting weariness and aching loneliness lay behind every statistic of success. But through city after city, the victorious soldier pushed on. And the jubilation of the people was his reward. On the other side of every liberated city lay the war again. Another battle to win. Another mile or another twenty to travel. Another day to fight. Through three and a half years of holocaust, the soldier moved in an agonizing but relentless march, pushing back the encroachments of aggression until the enemy finally lay crushed and defeated. How jubilant was the taste of victory. How sweet the rewards of peace. Poosed and suffering worlds stirred again to the triumphant strains of victory. For the soldier, it was the proud end of a long and arduous road, remote places where he had traveled. From all the scattered battlefields, he returned home again to find a soldier's welcome. He returned to the life he had left as citizen soldiers for generations before him had done. And because the world he had preserved seemed at last so ready for peace, he turned his pursuits to peaceful things. But despite man's bright hope, aggression had not yet been eliminated from the world. The fragile peace was suddenly shattered. The communist-led North Korean army plunged across the line which separated it from free South Korea. Oh, once again, the soldier was on foreign soil, making his soldier's way through the kind of troubles which had always beset his brothers. Being the soldier's fight, the kind of fight on which victory and every war behind him had depended, added new names to the honor roll of heroes. It added new listings to the roster of once unfamiliar places, which would forever after be part of the nation's history. Taishan, Seoul, Old Baldy, Port Jop Hill, and it added another page of valor to the soldier's record. And like all wars, the cost was high, for bravery is not cheap, nor are any of the qualities which give a man what it takes to stand and fight, beliefs for which men will fight. They range from faith in a nation which strives under God to achieve its destiny, from a capacity for honor that springs perhaps from something fundamental in man's spirit, from these all across the broad range of human experience. Through eight generations and a dozen wars, the individual American within reach of the enemy's cannon has searched for his personal identity with the massive forces of history which have made him and his rifle the agents of the national interest. And because he has in his own way, in his own time found his answer, his nation has found in every succeeding test a victor's strength and a shield for peace in the modern army of today. He has fought well this soldier of America's heritage. He won a nation, built it, and defended it against every threat to destroy it. And his most enduring monument is that nation itself.


Good morning everyone. My name is Calvin Chip Jackson and I am a member of Richmond County Council and I chair the Economic Development Committee of Richmond County Council and I'd like to welcome you all here this morning. This is a very exciting day and I believe that in years to come we'll look back on today in my opinion as a milestone in terms of a shift in the direction of our city, our county, and our business partners and developers and others in our community in terms of moving us forward in a significant way. So I want to thank each of you for being here and for your and for your presence. About 13 years ago we had a tax law that was passed and it probably had some unintended consequences that we are still talking about today and as a result of that, a few years after that, Richmond County Council decided to create an Office of Economic Development very specifically to address the issues and the problems preventing the kind of economic growth and development in our county that we all expected. I'm so excited to want to introduce our Deputy Director of our Office of Economic Development, Tiffany Harrison who's here and to acknowledge the in the absence Mr. Jeff Rubel who's the director of that office. Tiffany and Jeff work tirelessly with the County Council and with our Economic Development Committee over the years to make sure that those things which have been seen as impediments to the kind of growth and development in our community were being eliminated and that the decisions that people businesses were making to literally move right across the river would be things that they will no longer decide upon because they would recognize the opportunity to be able to dwell and operate successfully in our very own county. And so our goal has been to create a system that no longer stifles growth and development but encourages opportunities for real estate and commercial development within the confines of the city of Columbia as well as our county. And so with that I am happy to be able to make you aware today that the Economic Development Committee along with County Council in partnership with the city has spent the last year working on such a policy. Policy that will ensure that's desired to ensure that those economic barriers that are referenced a moment ago will be removed and eliminated and especially for the kind of economic growth and development that we want to see happen. Those development opportunities that are $30 million or more. And so that we are allowing them the kind of incentives that will motivate them and inspire them to build, dwell and operate right here in Rixon County. In my opinion the result of this effort will not only be measured by the amount of growth of real estate development that we experienced but it also must be measured by those new businesses and apartments and homes and contractors and office spaces that are employing citizens of Rixon County. All of the citizens of Rixon County who have an opportunity to be a part of that makeup. Today is a culmination of a lot of hard work by the Economic Development Committee of Rixon County Council and the City Council over the past year. Some felt that we probably should have done this faster or sooner but the answer from the committee that chair was that we want to make sure not that we were worried about pace or haste but that we were worried about equity and fairness and not only that but that we had a policy that in fact would allow not only those businesses that are ready to go now to be approved and incentivized to do work here but that we had a policy that would be sound for those businesses who not yet even applied and some of them may not have even been established in the years to come. So as a result of that I'm very proud to to let you know today that we are excited about where we have what we have presented and what we have gotten passed by County Council and City Council. At this time I'm going to ask my colleague from the city the honorable Mr. Meek Isaac Devine the mayor for Tim of City Council to come up and bring some remarks. Thank you very much. It is indeed an honor and privilege to be here and thank you so much to Chairman Livingston. Chairman of the committee Jackson and Ms. Tratio. Thank you so much for your leadership and partnership on this initiative. Thank you so much for being here and this is really exciting as Chip Jackson mentioned earlier we have been working in tandem with the County to make sure that we were not only being able to pass something that will be effective for development tool for our community but also something that we all can stand behind defend and know and look back 10 five years from now 10 years from now and say this was the day that we not only enhance what we have locally but we change the trajectory trajectory on where we're going through our partnership the City of Columbia and Richland County are working together to address the challenges to our property taxes that have withheld commercial development opportunities in our city in our County. We are the home we are home to the most diverse highly educated young and growing population in the United States. However our citizens and visitors have come to expect and have an increasing appetite for more affordable residential opportunities increased variety of hotel and other extended stay amenities and more availability of restaurant and retail options. But because the challenges that Councilman Jackson mentioned we know that we have a demand for it but it's not always economically feasible. Our community is vibrant and with a thriving art scene walkable districts our riverfront and our entrepreneurship strong entrepreneurship and long term economic stability. We know that we are on the cusp of great things and so we know that looking at our vacancy rates and our leasing residential options and our commercial options that the demand is there. But now we need a program that will help couple with that demand help us see the development as our colleague Councilman Rickman says will put cranes in the sky. So today this program is a step towards stimulating the development of new projects exciting projects projects that not only will bring economic growth and development but that will also bring jobs and that will make everyone look at the Columbia and Richland region as an opportunity to bring their business and their quality of life to the next level. By creating new development opportunities on vacant and underutilized properties we can create density and new quality of life offerings for Columbia and Richland County and generate additional tax revenues even after the 50 percent abatement. The mayor and council and chairman Livingston will talk about the details of the program but I'm here to tell you that as the members of city council we have talked long and hard about what we can do and we have looked forward to working with the county on lots of things. This is just the first of many projects that we're able to work together on to really show not only is Columbia and Richland County the place for people to live work and do business but also an opportunity for us to show that not only can government and private business work together to create economic growth and development but that our residents will certainly see a increase in the quality of life. So thank you so much for being here and thank you to our representatives on the county for partnering with us on this and we look forward to partnering with you on more efforts. And it is my pleasure to introduce the amazing mayor of the city of Columbia Mayor Steve Benjamin. It's the first time to meet because they've called me amazing y'all so I'm going to the is the exciting day to be here to be here with so many of you that we worked with for such a long time on building this city that we all know and love. We've been doing it together and this represents a significant step forward and opportunity for us to continue to move the Midlands to where we know it to be. I'm excited to be here on behalf of the people of Columbia today because this recognizes a landmark joint effort with our county and I can't tell you how excited I am about the leadership provided by Chairman Livingston, Chairman Jackson, Councilman Terasio and the rest and the rest of County Council. You know this is not a state of 150 cities. This is a state of 46 counties. Most of the tools for economic development rest at the county and having a strong healthy relationship that we've been able to develop here to try and catalyze the type of development that we want to see here in the Midlands and Columbia and Richland County. It's so, so important. So this is us joining forces to get more cranes in the sky across this city. Some of you know the story. I've had lunch with some of you in the past week, spent time over the years with many of you talking about the things that make this this city unique. We are the home of our state capital for the entire country. We are the home of Fort Jackson. Victory starts here. We train the majority of the men and women and the greatest fighting force the world's ever seen for the US Army right here in Columbia, South Carolina. We're home to a Carnegie Research One University in the University of South Carolina and several other colleges, universities, two historically black colleges in the heart of our downtown, a wonderful health care infrastructure. All those wonderful contributors contributing billions to our local economy, but none of them on the tax rolls, which means that the disproportionate share of that burden tends to fall on our businesses and the ability for great businesses, great economic development opportunities to perform in cash flow, the way that we need them to to be successful here has been inhibited. So this day working with our friends at the county to facilitate the types of development that we want to see here in the city of Ukraine's in the sky is a big day. So collaborating to jumpstart the type of development we want to see. We're seeing some great trends in coordinate smart asset. Columbia is one of the few cities in the country over the last two years. We've been in the top five where millennials are choosing to come and live. Our community is vibrant with a thriving art scene, walkable districts, a thriving and beautiful riverfront where 10 of my mayor's fellows will be kayaking later today without me I might add. Strong entrepreneurship and long-term economic stability. We have long knowledge of pent up demand for hotels, retail businesses, workforce housing, office space and parking, expanded convention center in this beautiful facility that Bill and his team have stewarded the last several years he and Sammy and the crew here. So in response our two governments have come together on a measured and responsive solution. We're grateful to be working alongside again Richland County Council in this critical endeavor and this new program is going to stimulate the type of commercial development that we want to see and lead to new investments in public infrastructure here in Columbia and Richland County. The program is going to focus on projects that exceed 30 million dollars in investment. Taxable investment incorporated a component of public infrastructure as part of the project. The program is going to reward investors who build public infrastructure. It includes structured parking to roadways, pedestrian crossings and other real property improvements that benefit the general public. The incentive is capped and though the chairman is going to talk more about this capped at 50 percent are the company's tax payments and there's a renewable limit of ten years on the incentive. It's important to recognize that even with the 50 percent tax repayment that taxes will be paid for each project represent a significant increase over what's been generated on bacon or probably it's a fallow for a number of years. It's a it's a it's a big deal and we believe a significant step forward. So thank you all each and every one of you for being here. We're with the policy makers you guys are the deal makers.  It's our job to create the environment for capital investment to land but be treated well and to watch it grow. We need you all to continue to bring us the great deals to make this community as vibrant as we know we want it to be. So thank you all for being here. It's my pleasure to introduce the incredible chairman of county council. Paul has been not just a steady hand at Richland County but across this region as a as a consummate a public sector leader and we're thankful for his leadership. Chairman Paul Livingston. On behalf of the mayor and city council members my colleagues. I'm Thracio. I'm Mr. Jackson and others constituent of Richland County businessmen business women friends. Let me say welcome and thank you on behalf of Richland County council. You know this is indeed a great moment for our community. And it's general about partnership and collaboration. Some of you all may recall when I seek the championship for county council this year. One of my primary goes was to engage in more partnerships across our region. You may recall I wrote along up there reference that point. This is an indication of that. Just one indication of that. And keep in mind what we're about here today is we're talking about a policy. A criteria to grow our economy. Improve our infrastructure. To create a fair and competitive opportunity. For commercial development in our community. Why to simply improve the quality of life. For our citizens throughout Richland County. You know in our county we have huge portions of land. That have been sitting vacant for a long time. Creating blight in our community. Generating low on no tax revenue for our communities. We public servants are often told to operate like a business. Well. I think this policy allows us to operate like a business. You know when business of inventory. Pals up. Stacks on the shelves and so forth. Where how is it overcrowded. What do they do. You know they reduce the prices around a sale right. So that's kind of what we're doing here with our proposal. We created an opportunity. For it to be feasible. For those businesses to operate. In our community. You know for too long. They've they've been made to major sites. For example like the client property. Both street them out all ball park. For 20 and 30 years some of those profits have been vacant. We got to do something to make a difference. And we can. You know often complain about why aren't we you know generating the kind of revenue and development as being built and chosen around and so forth. It's because of these kind of obstacles that have been us doing that. We have to change that. We're going to make a difference. You know when I think back. My early years on on the kitchen kind of council. The difference was when we collaborate and work together. You know this facility we are now would not be here. Had we not collaborate and work together. We wouldn't have this. It were renowned zoo. We did not work together and collaborate. We wouldn't have our river lines. I can go on and on about the opportunities that we miss. When we choose not to partner and collaborate. We must do that. We will do that. And we'll continue to do it on a large scale. You know we have the offering the offerings to be a great community. Some of the things Mayor Benjamin mentioned about all our universities you know Fort Jackson our rivers and things up to connection. Let's let's benefit from those things. County council working with the city to take these steps to propel our community forward together. We're taking measured responsive steps to do so. All of us leaders at the city and the county believe that this new program will lead to new investments in public infrastructure which we all want. All of us are ready to welcome the new development. That has been constrained and waiting for a long time. If you're considering a project reach out to our development teams in the city of the county we are ready to work with you to make our region the best region it could possibly. I want to again thank you for coming and understand the significance of this great event. At this time we this was in the program. We will be around for media questions individual questions but again thank you so much for coming and thank you for your commitment to our community. Hey there Mayor Steve Benjamin here thanks for watching this video make sure you give it a like right below the video and don't forget to subscribe. Also while you're here be sure to check out one of our other videos or follow on our social media platforms. Thanks again and remember we are Columbia.


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