22-04-2025
Gov. Josh Stein outlines vision for North Carolina in State of the Economy speech in Winston-Salem
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (WGHP) — Gov. Josh Stein laid out the roadmap for economic growth across North Carolina in his State of the Economy address on Tuesday.
Stein delivered the keynote address at the event, hosted by, at the Benton Convention Center in Winston-Salem.
$65.9 billion budget for 2025-27 passes NC Senate, heads now to the House
'North Carolina has to be a state where people with families can afford to live, raise their children and work,' Stein said. 'When we talk about our cost of living, we have to address the economic uncertainty resulting from the federal government's activities of recent weeks. In particular, I expect a number of you may share my concerns about the recent tariff announcements and the impact they are already having on business owners and consumers.'
Stein says investing in various areas of the education system is key to our economic growth. He says economic growth starts with investing in education through more funding for community colleges, establishing apprenticeship programs, training and retaining our homegrown students, and lowering the cost of childcare so we can keep parents in the workforce.
Mark Owens, the president of Greater Winston-Salem Incorporated, says , a local workforce development program, helped students who wanted to drop out of high school land on pathways to colleges and internships. The program is a collaboration by Greater Winston-Salem, Inc., Forsyth Technical Community College, Goodwill Industries of Northwest NC, Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools and Forsyth County.
'To really focus on students in their junior and senior year of high school, to get ready for the workforce with the employability credential,' Owens said. 'We also support Gov. Stein and his universal pre-k initiative to try to make sure that there is high-quality, low-cost, affordable childcare for all people in our community.'
Stein says it is his goal to make North Carolina the number one state in the southeast for teacher pay. He also mentioned the child care tax credit in his budget proposal, which includes an increase in salaries for childcare providers and expansion of K-12 education and summer enrichment programs.
Earlier in the morning, Stein visited Winston-Salem State University for a news conference announcing a $2 million grant from the supporting WSSU's nursing program. The funds will go towards scholarships, student success efforts and emergency funding.
'There's two important variables to make sure that we have enough nurses to meet the needs of our people,' Stein said. 'One is to make sure that we're training enough, and that's what this grant will primarily do. It will help Winston-Salem State make itself more attractive and bring more people into the profession, but, once they're there, we have to keep them. We have to make sure that the pay and the environment, the work conditions are successful for nurses to want to stay in the profession, because it's a very challenging position.'
After the news conference, Stein and others in attendance toured the .
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
