Today being Labor Day , the September meeting of the Greene County Republican Party was moved to a week earlier last Monday, August 31st.
State Representative David Hawk, Weston Brown and Sally Causey all spoke those in attendance.
DAVID HAWK UPDATES TOURISM NUMBERS
Hawk told the gathering “Tennessee’s tourism industry brings 32.5 billion dollars into the state of Tennessee on a yearly basis, which is more than it was last year, which is more than it was a year before, more than it was the year before, and we are growing.
We are the fastest growing state in terms of tourism visitors in the country right now. We continue to be top five in terms of growth in population. We are growing by the tens of thousands here in Northeast Tennessee. So the people are moving in. The direct tourism visitor impact for Greene County. The snapshot for the 2025 year was $120.5 million. That saves you from having the increased taxes to the tune of roughly $400 a year to individual taxpayers. So what we’re seeing through all these people wanting to come to Tennessee is lightening the tax burden on our citizens.
The fact is people are wanting to come here. We are one of the top 10 fastest growing states for businesses to come here and relocate. When you look at all the folks moving from New England and the financial investments arena, they’re coming to Tennessee to operate their businesses. So it’s an incredible opportunity, and we can see an incredible growth.”
STATEWIDE TOURISM HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE 2025 DATA INCLUDE:
* $32.5 billion in direct visitor spending
* 150 million annual visits to Tennessee
* $89 million in visitor spending each day
* $1,178 in average annual state & local tax savings per Tennessee household
BROWN ANNOUNCES PLANS FOR YOUNG REPUBLICANS GROUP
“It’s an honor to be here with each of you. My name is Western Brown, and I’ve had the opportunity this past year to serve as the Tennessee FFA State President. During my time serving as Tennessee FFA State President, I had several opportunities to travel to almost all 95 counties in the state, and with each county that I was in, I met with a lot of farmers, a lot of industry leaders, a lot of public servants and policymakers. Since December, I’ve had the opportunity to be a district staffer for Congressman John Rose in his Cookeville District Office as I complete my studies at Tennessee Tech University. So I’ve had the opportunity to talk with a lot of the policymakers in that area as well, from the state legislature to the county commissioners in that area, to the county mayors, city council members, all of these people, and I still find that Greene County is number one out of the whole state. And I’m not saying that because I’m biased to Greene County. I’m proud to be a fifth generation Greene Countian myself, but it just remains true with everywhere that I go. And I credit that to the people that we have here, our leadership, our public service, our policymakers, our county commissioners, our elected officials. And when we look at those guys we see a common trend, they’re part of this party right here. And so often when I’m visiting other parts of the state even sometimes at home I often times hear, you know your generation’s really gonna have to work hard to pay a mortgage or to fix the issues that we have going on, you’re gonna be in a tough space.
As I’m thinking about it as a 19 year old, I’m like how can we go ahead and get the ball rolling and working on this now? And the only thing that comes to my mind is the next generation getting them maybe a leg up in that issue.
So, therefore, I would like to start a Greene County Young Republicans group. I think that this would be a fantastic way to get the younger generation involved, and it’s not just 18 to 20 year old. It goes from 18 to 40. And what this program does is it essentially allows for the younger generation to understand more about our party values, the fundamentals that make us who we are, help out with GOP campaigns across the state. It allows us to understand the government and what our forefathers said for us to do, instead of what we so often hear on the news from crazy people, there was this thread in this insane letter. But it gives the younger generation the opportunity for when it is time for them to maybe take over those leadership positions, they’re going to be in a better mindset or have more knowledge. They gonna have the ability to do so. So therefore, I would love to have your all support, maybe financially, as far as getting people involved with this.”
Greene County Republican Party Chair Tom Bible said he will work with Brown in developing the group as the local chapter would be a wing of the local Republican Party.
CAUSEY GIVES FOOD BANK UPDATE
Sally Causey is the new Community and Fundraising Coordinator for the Greeneville/Greene County Community Ministries Food Bank. Causey was the keynote speaker for the Republican Party meeting.
Reminding the gathering “assisting our neighbors is what we’re called to do” Causey said the Food Bank is about so much more than food. “In June and July, we spent $2,691 helping folks with their water bills. We spent $37,228 helping folks with electricity bills. We spent $41,173 with rent and mortgage payments. And so where does all this money come from? Because we’re all struggling to raise money, I could tell you that there are many, many generous donors in Greene County and some have come to us with large amounts of money. But we also received lots of small donations, and they all add up together. We also get money from the electric company,” a portion of which is given to the wood ministry to support their efforts in providing heat for those in need.
The Food Bank is located at 107 North Cutler Street in Greeneville. For more information, phone (423) 638-1667.
NEW PARTY TREASURER
As we told you last week, the meeting was being held during the same hour swearing in ceremonies were being held at the Greene County Administration Center for the Mayor and Road Superintendent. And while new Road Superintendent Mark Britton was with his wife Leslie alongside him for the swearing in, Greene County Republican Party Chair Tom Bible announced Leslie Britton has been named treasurer of that group. The party Executive Committee named her to that position after Alan Marsh stepped down.
NEXT MEETING OF THE GREENE COUNTY REPUBLICAN PARTY
The next meeting of the Republican Party will be Monday, October 5 at 6:00 pm at 540 East Andrew Johnson Highway next to the former China Buffet. The meeting will be held in the lower level on the backside of the building with parking available.
AMERICAN FIRST FEDERATED WOMEN
The September meeting of the America First Federated Women will be Monday, September 14 from at 5:30 PM at VFW Post 1990 on Harlan Street. A meal will be served at 5:00 PM for $15. Sheriff David Beverly will be the guest speaker. All Republicans, women and men, are invited.
REPUBLICAN WOMEN
There will be no September meeting of the Greene County Republican Women. Instead the annual free Barbeque Picnic is Thursday, September 10th from 5-7 pm at Tusculum Park behind Doak School.
