By: Charles Romans
Carter County Times
There are a number of new possibilities on the horizon for Grayson. But one that really has the community excited, Grayson Area Chamber of Commerce coordinator Mike Nelson noted while discussing them with chamber members, was the new restaurant, Yummy Express, coming to Grayson.
“We have been working with each other for quite some time,” Nelson told the chamber. “It actually started at Memory Days last year. And he has had his food truck with us the last couple of years. And his truck is always one that has a line of people waiting to get their food because he does such a great job. So, I wanted to introduce him and let him tell you all about it.”
Yummy Express owner Jiun Zheng introduced himself to the chamber and talked of his plans for the new restaurant in Grayson, which will be open on US 60 in the building that was occupied previously by Red’s Place.
“Most people know I have the food truck Hibachi Express,” Zheng told the chamber. “We did really well here, which is why when we got the chance, we jumped at it to open in Grayson.”
“We thought it would be a smaller project,” Zheng said of getting the location ready to open. “But unfortunately, it has been about three months.”
Zheng said that during the time leading up to the restaurant opening he continually gets messages, and said he really appreciates the community checking up on him.
“The good news is that yesterday we passed the final inspection on electrical and only need one small cap on the plumbing.”
The balance of what needs to be completed before opening, he said, was some painting and a final overall cleaning.
“We are going to be open really soon and have high hopes to see everyone from the community there when we do.”
The chamber also welcomed state senator Robin Webb and state representative Patrick Flannery as guest speakers at the August meeting, with the lawmakers discussing the process of how things progress in the State Legislature. Flannery began by welcoming Webb back after a recent injury had sidelined her. Webb, in typical fashion, shrugged off the injury and said she was glad to be back at work. Webb did explain some of the particulars of her accident, and said she had been at Vanderbilt under “the best of care” since June due to a rodeo accident.
“We did just complete our budget session,” Webb said, returning to discussing the legislature. “And it’s always more fun when you have more money.”
Webb said they were able to get more money for roads but said that it was highly competitive to secure those funds. Webb said they tried to secure more funds but were forced to “whittle it down to a more realistic amount.”
Webb said that it was an often-hard fight to secure funding in such a competitive area and that some of the funding secured was at the eleventh hour, so to speak, but overall, the session was productive and yielded positive results for our area.
“There was a lot of ‘horse trading,’ so the horse business did help me there,” Webb joked.
Leverage and the ability to build relationships, as well as leadership, helped with negotiations in the legislature, Webb told the chamber.
“And I’d like to think that Patrick and I are good at that. And we have a lot of trust among colleagues.”
Flannery agreed with Webb on the importance of building relationships with other legislators, and added that he and Webb worked well together even before Webb changed political parties.
“We fought more as lawyers than as legislators,” Flannery joked.
“The dynamics between representatives and senators might not always be the best,” Flannery continued. “But I do think Robin and I are a good team. And you see that in the results. Both in this session and in the last six years.”
Flannery pointed out to the chamber that in this session alone there was over $50 million in funding for bridge repair in Carter County and substantial vocational school funding. Flannery also mentioned that the City of Grayson had received over $400,000 toward the purchase of a new fire truck, and the City of Olive Hill received funding to help with their water department.
“It is a competitive process, but I believe we have fared fairly well over the last few years,” Flannery said.
Much of the reason behind that success, he said, was the ability of legislators to work together to achieve a common goal.
Contact the writer at charles@cartercountytimes.com
