B6 January 17, 2019
The Chronicle
Congress
from page B5
first time that the Congressional Black Caucus will ever
have over 50 members.
Bass, 65, served as the former Speaker of the
California House and was the first African-American
woman ever to hold that position.
“Honored to have been sworn in as 26th Chair of the
Congressional Black Caucus today.
“We will fight fiercely against hate. We will not retreat
and allow our past victories to be erased,” wrote
Chairwoman Bass on Twitter, Jan. 3, the first day of the
116th Congress.
“I am proud to witness the ceremonial swearing-in of
the largest @OfficialCBC in history. With 55 members
and ©RepKarenBass serving as their chairwoman, the
Congressional Black Caucus is stronger than ever,” wrote
Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez.
The presidency of Donald Trump will greatly shape
the agenda of the Congressional Black Caucus over the
next two years.
Just as Rep. Richmond witnessed, there will be many
issues that will arise out of nowhere in the news simply
because the Trump Administration has decided to roll
back so much of what was completed during the eight
years President Barack Obama was in The White House.
But there is one huge difference: The CBC will have
what was referred to at the ceremonial swearing in as “the
big five.” They are the five chairmen and
chairwomen who will serve over what many CBC mem
bers hope are Trump’s last two years in office. They are
Reps. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), Elijah Cummings (D-
Md.), Bobby Scott (D-Va.), Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-
Triad Airbnb Hosts Earned $7.3
Million in 2018
SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE
GREENSBORO,
- Airbnb, the world’s leading community driven hospital
ity company, announced today that its Triad-area host
community earned a combined $7.3 million in supple
mental income while welcoming approximately 65,000
guest arrivals to the region in 2018.
This comes as North Carolinians increasingly
embrace the home-sharing platform as an opportunity to
earn supplemental income and make ends meet. There are
now over 14,000 North Carolina residents who share their
2018 Total Host Income
2013 Total Guest Arrivals
Guilford
$3.5 million
29,000
$2.3 million
20,000
Surry
$567,000
6,400
Alamance
$416,000
5,000
Randolph
$136,000
1,500
Davidson
$112,000
650
This table shows the amounts earned in the Airbnb industry by Forsyth and surrounding counties.
Submitted photo
The new CBC features nine new members of the U.S. House bringing the group to a total of 55. The 116th
Congress will be the first time that the Congressional Black Caucus will ever have over 50 members.
Texas) and Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.).
Three of the five chairs will head committees that are
certain to play an investigatory role over the Trump
Administration. Rep. Cummings, who will chair the
Committee on Government Oversight, has already sig
naled that his committee will subpoena over the Trump
Administration policy of children being separated from
their parents and detained at the U.S ./Mexico border.
Chairwoman Waters, who will lead the House
homes as Airbnb hosts, with Triad-area hosts typically
earning about $4,700 annually in supplemental income.
Yet, statewide data indicates that Airbnb and its host
community appear to be complementing — rather than
competing with - the North Carolina hotel
industry. According to the most recent state-commis
sioned lodging report, North Carolina hotels are experi
encing explosive growth in overall occupancy, revenue
and prices — in parallel with short-term rental growth.
This suggests that Airbnb is opening up the region to a
new slice of prospective tourists by catering to travelers
less able to afford hotels, those who desire to stay in
Financial Services Committee, has signaled she will push
against Wall Street and in favor of consumer protections
regarding investment and financial products.
Lauren Victoria Burke is an independent journalist
and writer for NNPA as well as a political analyst and
strategist as Principal of Win Digital Media LLC. She
may be contacted at LBurke007@gmail.com and on twit
ter at @LVBurke
neighborhoods or cities that lack hotels, and families who
prefer to be together under one roof.
In addition to the new income going into the pockets
of North Carolina Airbnb hosts, the state is generating
new revenue through a tax agreement with the North
Carolina Department of Revenue announced in 2015. The
agreement allows Airbnb to collect and remit both the
state sales tax as well as local city/county taxes on behalf
of hosts and remit the revenue directly to DOR.
Airbnb also launched Experiences throughout North
Carolina in 2018, offering handcrafted activities led by
local experts in cities like Charlotte, Asheville and
Raleigh. Airbnb Experiences is creating new economic
opportunities for North Carolina residents by allowing
them to unlock their talents and interests and make money
from them, catering to the hundreds of millions of people
that use Airbnb’s platform to discover unique and authen
tic travel experiences. Experiences is expected to expand
further in North Carolina in 2019, and the Experiences
currently available can be found here.
What follows is an overview of 2018 guest arrivals
and total host income, broken down by counties within
the Triad region*** with over $100,000 in host income
for the year.
Submitted photo
Smith Reynolds Airport
contributes $801 million, 3,585
jobs to local economy
SPECIAL TO THE
CHRONICLE
Smith Reynolds
Airport has an $801 mil
lion impact on the local
economy and supports
3,585 jobs according to a
new report from the N.C.
Department of
Transportation’s Aviation
Division.
Submitted photo
According to a report. Smith Reynolds Airport provides an $801 million impact on the local economy.
The “North Carolina:
The State of Aviation”
report shows the economic
impact of the state’s 72
publicly-owned airports
and their related aviation
and aerospace assets. The
report was created as a
guide for aviation invest
ment and to help with
recruiting aviation and
aerospace businesses.
The report said Smith
Reynolds, a county-owned
and operated airport locat
ed on North Liberty Street,
created the most jobs and
economic impact among
the state’s 62 general avia
tion public airports, which
don't offer commercial
service. The report also
found Smith Reynolds con
tributes $226 million in
personal income and $28.4
million in state and local
tax revenue. The airport is
used for corporate aircraft,
air charter services, general
aviation and air cargo. Its
tenants include Signature
Flight Support, Signature
TECHNICAir, Piedmont
Flight Training, Piedmont
Propulsion Systems and
North State Aviation,
which does aircraft mainte
nance, repair and overhaul
(MRO).
Airport Director Mark
Davidson said the airport
plays a major role in the
local economy that’s rec
ognized by local leaders
like the Winston-Salem
Chamber of Commerce,
which recently commis
sioned a study to leverage
it for business develop
ment. He said many private
and public entities are tak
ing strides to invest in its
infrastructure.
“Over the next five
years, over $70 million in
capital investment has been
planned for the airport
including $16 million for
the Forsyth Tech Aviation
Center, which should start
construction later this
year,” said Davidson. “The
proximity of the airport to
the Innovation Quarter is
also an opportunity and the
recent establishment of the
Smith Reynolds Airport
Board will allow leaders to
focus on economic devel
opment. The airport is
positioned for growth and
will remain an economic
force in the community."
The report found that
the state’s public airports
contribute more than $52
billion to the state’s econo
my and $2.2 billion in state
and local tax revenues.
They also support 307,000
jobs that provide $12.6 bil
lion in personal income.
“Our network of 72
public airports, and the avi
ation and aerospace assets
that rely on them, help
move our economy for
ward by creating jobs, sup
porting business growth
and connecting people and
companies to markets
around the globe,” said
Bobby Walston, director of
NCDOT’s Division of
Aviation.