 Hello and welcome to CityView, where we give you an inside view of the City of Columbia. I'm your host, Alicia Yutzi. In our top story, Mayor Steve Benjamin kicked off this year's annual Drills and Skills Registration Period for the upcoming free summer camp. I believe first of all, the importance of this type of program, the initial message is that your community cares about you and we believe in you, that we're willing to invest in you. We've emphasized and continue to invest in efforts that encourage healthy living in the city. They recognize it's not just about sports, it's about what you put in yourself. It's about growing your own food. It's about eating healthy and living longer, happier, healthy lives together with the people that you love. Columbia was recently the designated host city for the annual South Carolina Fire Rescue Conference. This conference is hosted by the South Carolina Firefighters Association. Not only did city officials speak and greet firefighters to our fine city, but also state officials as well as some other local dignitaries. It is indeed our honor to welcome you here to Columbia and to host this conference. We do not take it lightly that you all have decided to move your conference here to the capital city, your capital city, and I think you'll have an amazing time here. Everyone genuinely wants the best and wants to pull in the same direction to make sure that you all as firefighters, and I hope and pray that it's the same in your communities, that we can get out of your way. We have to get the resources to you and we understand the high stakes that you all face every day, the sacrifices that you make, so we don't take that lightly. And I don't think our people, the strength of our people is any more demonstrated by the firefighters, by law enforcement, by military tradition and our first responders. That in my estimation is that it makes up the backbone of our strength in South Carolina. That's the backbone of our future prosperity. Without that, without public safety, we don't have anything. We can't do anything else. As we close this story, we would like to extend congratulations to our very own fire chief, Aubrey D. Jenkins. He was sworn in as the second vice president for the South Carolina State Firefighters Association. And speaking of firefighters, we would like to extend a welcome to 15 new firefighters who recently graduated and will now join the Columbia Richland Fire Department. Firefighters are normally recognized as heroes. Well, recently, our chief firefighter, chief Aubrey D. Jenkins, honored two local citizens as heroes. Heroes don't always come in uniforms. They're everyday people and they do Heroic Acts. And we're here to recognize a couple of people just so Heroic Acts. On last Saturday, Alex Jackson and Danielle Brown saved the life of a four-year-old Chance Chapman last Saturday. They were at a pool party. Mr. Jackson noticed a child floating face down in a pool. They cleared the child's airway, the DCPR. Fire and medical crews got there and today the child's OK. The city's Office of Business Opportunities recently hosted a business symposium. The symposium focused on how to get capital for your business. One of the main objectives is to talk about and remember articulation and positioning. You know, articulate your product, your services that you provide. Make sure that you position yourself not only with other people that are doing business, but also with the bankers. And you let them know where you are. You let them know about the heart and soul of your business. So what you do, the city has a number of great opportunities for you to partner with us in different product and service delivery. We have a number of opportunities, especially for our DBEs, to participate in the procurement process, our programs, our mentor protege programs, our CDBE program, our local business enterprise program. All of those programs are geared to keeping our small businesses thriving. And since we are talking about business, the Office of Business Opportunities also hosted a ribbon cutting for S&A Seafood, which is a new business in the North Columbia area. It's a wonderful day in the neighborhood. Won't you agree? Yes. It's a wonderful day in the neighborhood. I want to thank Ms. Jenkins for being here and with S&A Seafood. You could have been anywhere else in Columbia or South Columbia. Thank you for being here. And North Columbia, as Melissa stated, it's a wonderful place. As it always been, when you look at the fact that we have I-20, I-277, Columbia College, CIU, Lutheran Seminary, Pepsi, Cromers, Pell Metal, and 30,000 residents that are homeless. So you've got a lot of people to feed. And North Columbia continues its business boom with the ribbon cutting ceremony for Cromers, which is also located in the North Main area along the North Main corridor. On behalf of Mayor Benjamin and the members of City Council, I want to let you know that our interest, our appreciation in your coming here is sincere. And you have a history of commitment. You have a history of providing good service and exceptional products. And so that's what makes this a good day. That is what helps us to keep the grease on the tracks, and that is that things are moving, people are coming, and they're following you. The City of Columbia is honored to have been recognized among 20 finalists from across the nation for the All-America City process. I couldn't be more proud that the City of Columbia, South Carolina, was named a finalist. I can say that I'm not surprised because we have so much to offer. We are an inclusive city, equitable in the resources and our service delivery, and those of course are two themes this year of the All-American City competition. So I feel very honored and proud that everything that we presented thus far was well received and we made it all the way to Denver, Colorado to compete. While in attendance at the National Conference for the All-America City process, the City of Columbia also participated in a civic fair where various cities and communities shared information about their best practices. I'm here representing the Great City of Columbia, but to have our friends from just across the border in Kershaw County and our friends from the whole country down in Mount Pleasant. There's a really good, strong, vibrant South Carolina presence here surrounded by cities and communities from all across the country. Folks who are just committed to getting the job done, there's a wonderful spirit in the air that's just downright edifying. And in closing, we must also give a shout-out and a congratulatory announcement for the Public and Media Relations Team for the City of Columbia. While attending the conference out of 20 finalist cities, Columbia was named among the top three for their use of social media during the All-America City process. Every year, the City of Columbia partners with the Columbia Urban League to sponsor a summer youth employment program. Formerly, it was known as SWELP. However, this year, the program is now called STEP for the Science Technology Enrichment Program. In terms of getting a little more insight into what really goes on, it's not just that front cover. You get to see the inner workings of how everything's done, the good and the bad. You have interest high, but you've got to see what you don't like about it and to see if you really want to pursue it. And I think this gives that opportunity to really put your passion where you want to go. Well, everyone is trying to find ways to stay cool this summer in famously hot Columbia. Not only do we have the city pools that are open and splash pads, but now Parks and Recreation has also initiated misting stations at various locations throughout the city. Well, that wraps up this edition of CityView. We appreciate you watching, and we urge you to stay tuned to CityTV for all the latest in city information and events. You can also visit our website at columbiasc.net, and of course, follow us on our social media platforms, especially Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. And remember, we are Columbia.