 First and foremost, give an honor to God, who is the head of my life, to House Majority Whip, James C. Cliburn, Representative Leon Howard, Mayor Daniel Rickman, City of Columbia, Councilpersons, Reverend Ed McDowell, do we have any other City Councilpersons here? Ms. Herbert and Taylor, to our County Councilpersons Council, Lady Yvonne McBride, do we have anyone else from County Council? To the neighborhood representatives, my business partners and investors, families and friends, good morning! We've come today to officially dedicate this space and to open 34 new businesses here in Columbia. We pause to offer prayer of thanksgiving for every person and every experience that has made this moment possible. Our hope is that Palmetto Place will bring a new energy, a new light to this area of Columbia and will become a hub of activities where people will enjoy excellent services. At this time, I welcome my friend and my brother, Reverend Edward McDowell, Councilman District 3 for invocation. Gracious and eternal Father, for the rich blessings you've bestowed upon each of us this beautiful day you've graced us with your presence and with purpose and intent. Lord we come to this place today, a dream coming alive, out of vacant buildings have come the resurgence of new possibilities. And Lord for that each of us ought to say thank you. You've afforded us through the developer, Brother Gary and other members to make this place a hub of possibilities. You've given potential and new life to Tunat Road and I thank you, Lord, that every ounce of potential on Tunat Road continues to expand the outreach and yet the ministries of this city of ours. Bless us, undergird us and yet continue to fortify us with your grace and mercy. Bless this building and those who dwell therein, that this may not only be a place of employment, but a place of possibilities. We ask it, we claim it in your name and every heart said, amen. On a day like today, when we celebrate the enhanced ability of the economic growth of our community, it is a real pleasure to have our esteemed Congressman, Congressman James C. Clyburn, to bring an open message to us today and to share in this moment with us. I've known Congressman Clyburn for well over 35 plus years and have watched him every step of the way to have our backs. As he worked to build the brand and expand the footprint of South Carolina through his nation, we've watched him work for affordable health care, affordable housing, jobs and economic development opportunities, a passionate supporter of historic preservation and restoration programs which has benefited many of our historically black colleges and universities, and his support for access to broadband for all. Congressman Clyburn has steadfastly worked for the people of South Carolina across racial lines, political lines, for citizens in both the rural and urban communities of our great state. I welcome him here this morning to set the stage for this exciting venture and to share his historic perspective and vision of the future for small businesses as we cut the ribbon of the first of many did this venture along the two-notch road corridor in our community which are designed to improve the quality of life for all Columbia residents. Congressman Clyburn. And thanks to all of you for being here too. This distinguished guest here on the platform, let me say a couple of things about this venture. My late wife and I came to Columbia right out of South Carolina State back in 19, I guess it was 61, and we moved then to Farrell Road. We went to Columbia, went to Charleston from Columbia some six or seven months later. And when we returned in 1965, we returned to this neighborhood over on McFadden Street. And there we lived for a while and of course went back to Charleston where we took over the neighborhood youth core and new careers programs. Designed to give people a chance on life and a chance on professional development. That lasted for a year and we decided to come back to Columbia. And this time we moved out into what we now call Greenview and have been here ever since. Now, as many of you know, I grew up in a post-nature. My father was a pastor in the Church of God, now Clement Road here in Columbia, but most of you don't remember. It was Pendleton Street, Church of God, now where the university has pretty much taken over. And throughout all of that, throughout all of that, I remember a certain passage of scripture that I think about almost every time I participate in a venture like this. It is the book of Hebrew, the 11th chapter of the very first verse, third, faith, the substance of things so forth, and the evidence of things unseen. I approach projects like this one, my service with that in mind, the substance of things so forth, the evidence, seeing what if we maintain faith, faith in our own human intelligence, faith in those with whom we interact, faith in what is laid out in the preamble of the Constitution of the United States, where it says, in the border, to create a more perfect union, an admission that this country is not perfect, an admission that we should always be in pursuit of perfection. And the part of that pursuit is making sure that everybody that subscribes to the greatness of this country have that greatness possible for them. That's why you see, about every other year, Bill Bowles going all up with me saying what my mantra is, to make this country's greatness accessible and affordable for all of its citizens. You don't have to ask what you're about. If it's education, we want to be accessible and affordable. Healthcare, accessible and affordable, housing accessible and affordable, whatever it is that you want. I hear people talking all the time, well, what y'all want? That's what we want. To make everything in this country accessible and affordable. And be sure to shop for groceries right here when I was over at 1919 McFadden Street. I saw this whole development fade away. And when I ran for Secretary of State back in 1978, my headquarters right next to the post office in this building. So I come here today to join all of you in renewing a long-term commitment not just to this community, but to this site itself. Faith. The substance of things so far. The evidence. The things unseen. You may not see it today, but I have faith that you will in a not too distant future. Godspeed. Just to add a little bit more. I was born and raised in this community. My family, my mother and father got married. I was born on McAllister Street a few blocks over from here. I'm TNC Johnson High School, Debbie Imperial Middle School. And my father started the business in 1955, which is currently being operated by my brother. And now 66 years old. I'm proud of this project. I remember as a middle school student at Debbie Imperial Middle School, my father would have me ride my bicycle over to make a bank deposit at South Carolina National Bank, which is now Enterprise. And at that time, there was very little traffic. The community was safe. He could give me a bank bag and ask to go make a deposit. Where very much money, Charles, probably $50 or $100. But I could go back in the 60s and 70s and make a bank deposit for the business. And so as the current was indicated, I remember roses 5 and 10, big star, just to name a few things. This is the development that we saw fade away. But I am proud today to be a part of the grand opening of Pailment of the Place. Even to the extent that I ask my Deputy Research Director for the South Carolina House of Representatives, Medical Affairs Committee, Ms. Ava Brumfield, to be here today. She is present here. I'd like to recognize her as well as our security details here today to see this project. We intend to be part of this project. I have assigned Ms. Ava to this project to navigate and help business people in this area through any issue that we may have as it relates to the state. And so we've got a cover. We've got the federal, we've got the state, we've got the city and county all on board to make this project, to help make this project a success. I just again want to say thank everyone that involved, look forward to us working together to renew the life and the strength of this project just as it was many years ago. Thank you so much. So it's a great day in the city of Columbia. I'm very excited to be here as we celebrate 34 new businesses. This is probably one of the few times that we'll ever have such a big grand opening with what an excitement that is happening here in Columbia. I think what's more exciting about it all is that out of the 34 businesses here, 27 of them are women owned businesses. And that's something to celebrate in South Carolina. You know, sometimes we're last in a lot of things, but we're in the top five for the most women owned businesses in the state. And I think that's something to celebrate. As a father of two daughters, this is what I want them to see is that whatever they put their mind to, they can achieve. And I think this is a great testimony. I want to thank Mr. Gary for spearheading this with his partners. This is the beginning. This is the catalyst of revitalization of a corridor to our city. And we need to celebrate it every day. And I want to thank the congressman and everybody else for all their support. And let's continue to uplift these businesses, let's support them and let's do everything we can as a community to keep growing. Thank you. Today is a wonderful day for this community, for the city and Richland County. I'm Yvonne McRide and I'm your county councilwoman for this district. And it is my honor on behalf of Richland County Council to join the others in saying thank you to Mr. Gary and the 35 businesses that are here today. I think that this is a momentous day that we should never forget. I remember I grew up in this community too. And I love this area. In fact, I love this area so much I still live here. And I can remember how excited I was when my family and I would go shopping at this very plaza. It was then known as Midland Shopping Center, which tells my favorite store, Roses. I think it was called Roses 5 and 10. And it went, a dollar went a long way. And I got lots of toys and candy. In fact, I was in candy heaven here. There were other businesses as mentioned. However, today I'm still excited about the type of businesses that have moved into what is now known as Pimenta Place. Pimenta Place is the path to a one stop shop for total wellness. That wellness will meet the needs for not only this community, but for the city and the county and the yard. It will meet the needs from beauty to physical and mental health. And all of these things and more can be filled and will be fulfilled right here at Pimenta Place. We must help these businesses build capacity and remain sustainable, which in turn builds a better and stronger community city and county. And yes, Congressman Clyburn, I remember when you ran for our Secretary of State, because I was right there with you, right here coming and going all over. And much success has come because now he's our congressman. And so I thank you all again, Mr. Garrett. I thank you for your vision, you and your partners, and for making this for what we will see in the future and beginning now a vibrant community again. Thank you all for coming. It's so good to see so many of you in the audience that I know. And so we must get the word out to others. We must support these businesses and other small and minority businesses. So I can't say thank you enough for giving me the opportunity to be here and for looking for a wonderful revitalization of this area. Thanks. At this time, I'd just like to introduce two of my partners here, Chris Cashman, Bernice Mellon. Our other part, Ed, is in Connecticut. And I think we may have a few of our investors here. I thought I saw Julius Thomas Jr. over here. But I just want to thank them for the confidence that they placed in me to take the lead on this development because this was an evolving development. You know, we started out with climate control storage. And as the story goes, she's counseling. They all been one of the other properties and they needed space. And she came over here and said, I like the space. This was back in July. We closed in June of last year. And right after that, the tower was looking at a property we had on Forest Drive. And she said, this is not large enough. I said, let me show you something. So I showed her this. She said, I have two sisters that want something. I stuck the sign out here. Mr. Hammack and Mr. Prince, they were going to the post office. They said, you've got some office space in there. I said, yeah. He said, we'll take all these office on this quarter. I said, Chris, something is happening here. And then my nephew, who was a photographer, looked at some space and he brought a friend of his. She said, I'm doing studios out in the Northeast. I want some studio space. So she opened seven studios and by the end of the first week all of them were full. So she said, I need more space. I said, Chris, we need to rethink the storage thing. And here we are. We have a diaper dispenser where folks can come get diapers at discount. We have a commissary kitchen that's going to be coming in where if most of you know about food trucks, most of the food trucks around Columbia are operating illegally. They're supposed to be operating out of a certified DH kitchen where we will have one. And we thank you for all the support that you've given us thus far. I also have to thank former Counselor Lady Tamika Isaac that was instrumental in helping us get some things done. And I'd also like to thank my counselor, I'm Ed McDowell and Counselor Person Yvonne McBride. So it's a group effort. And as Representative Howell said, we got federal. We got state. We got city and county. And all of them got COVID money. So yeah, all that up. We should have some money. And this time I'd like to introduce Ms. Melissa Lender, the director of City of Columbia Office of Business Opportunity followed by Ms. Erica Wade, who's the manager of Ration County Office of Small Business. I just want to take this time to thank all of you for being here. Our businesses, where are our businesses at? Business owners, raise your hands. Thank you for choosing Columbia as your home for your business. We thank you, Mr. Gary, for your investment that you made into this community that you continue to make into the community. It did not just start here. We know that. And we're happy that you're looking back and you're making this community. You're revitalizing it. You're investing. Your partners are investing. But our businesses are also investing. The Office of Business Opportunities, we're committed to supporting small minority and women-owned businesses. So yes, you will have support through the City of Columbia, through our mayor, through our councilman, but also through this office. We're dedicated to helping you build capacity. We help you with marketing, training, technical assistance, and we also help you with brand openings because we're excited to celebrate you as a business owner, but we're also excited about the investment that you're making yourselves and in our community. Thank you so much. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. My name is Erica Wade. I'm the manager for the Office of Small Business Opportunity at Richland County. And I just want to say thank you to Mr. Gary and to all the partners. Thank you to our members here for supporting Mr. Gary and to our business owners. This is for you. As the manager for the Office of Small Business Opportunity and to also you business owners that may be out there, we want to let you know that we're here to support you. We're here for you. We have services where we advocate for you, the small, local minority businesses in Richland County. We offer services such as capacity building like Miss Melissa. We also partner with the City of Columbia. We have advocacy. We also do capacity building. We do one-on-one small business services. So if you need the one-on-one counseling, we got you. We also have goal settings where we set goals in our contract so that you, our small, local and minority businesses, can have opportunities at Richland County. So we want to encourage you to utilize the services that we have available to you. You're right around the corner. I want to recognize your staff that's here. So in the end, if anybody wants to reach out to our small, local business on our OSBO staff, raise your hand please. Thank you. And we also have our county administrator, Mr. Brown. We have our ACA on staff. I mean, on hand, Mr. Jensen and some other county administrators that's here. So that shows you that we are here fullheartedly waiting to support you all. But before I take my seat, I want to ask Mr. Gary and his partners to move over to the Google. We have an exciting reveal that we want to show you guys. As Ms. Knight-Bride talked about earlier, in the space behind us, this is like she said, this is a one-stop shop where you can get your mental, your beauty, your support, your physical needs met. But Mr. Gary realized there was still one thing that was missing. Knowing that this is a food desert, Mr. Gary had an opportunity to meet with Reverend Maloney and through their collaboration, something beautiful was birthed. As you know, this is a food desert. So ladies and gentlemen, you are the first to know this. We want to reveal to you that the Edgewood Two Nuts community will be bringing to the Palmetto Plaza the Edgewood Fresh Community Market IGA grocery store groceries. I want to bring Mr. Gary. I just want to say congratulations, Mr. Gary, for bringing this. I think it was Congressman Clyburn that said he used the grocery shop in this area. Now we're bringing it back. I'm the Founding CEO of Fresh Communities. Fresh is an acronym that stands for Facilitating Restoration for Equitable and Sustainable Health in Communities. So when I met Mr. Gary and saw this awesome brainchild that he has put together and is leading the process, I knew that this is where we wanted to be. Literally we met him about a month and a half ago and I commissioned my people to go ahead and do the feasibility studies. It is very much in line with a profitable business that can be held here. Believe me, I've taken name for everybody who said they want to help us. But we are excited because this fits facilitating restoration for equitable and sustainable, healthy communities. That is the fresh market. Our first store will open in Greenville, Florida, the home of Ray Charles. Our second store will all open in Dawson, Georgia. And then of course we will have our flagship store in Waycross. But it looks like Columbia just jumped in the middle of all of that. And we're going to try our best to get this open within the next six to 12 months here in Columbia, South Carolina. So thank you so very much. We're excited about coming. We're excited about being here. God bless. I'm a preacher so I'm going to sit down. This is the shortest sermon you'll ever hear. Amen. Also, just like to give a special thanks to the seven persons who have put this together. The City of Columbia County Counsel, my dear sister of like the past 50-some-night years, I'm Dennis Warshall. And just everybody, just want to give thanks to everyone. And also our property manager, Kim from McCoy is. So if I left anyone out, please forgive me. At this time we'll ask the congressman, the mayor, all these folks on this side. One, two, three.