Hickory Sun

A North Carolina business owner sent a letter to Gov. Roy Cooper asking the state's top executive to take more assertive steps in reopening the economy as the state tries to recover from COVID-19

"In North Carolina, we have traded away positive economic and welfare outcomes for a largely undefined best possible healthcare outcome," Ed Weisger Jr. wrote in a letter published in Business North Carolina, who is the president and CEO of Charlotte-based Carolina Tractor and Equipment. "I would be foolish to assert that sheltering in place was not the correct trade-off for the past 6 weeks, given the dire healthcare capacity predictions. Now that we have achieved our original goal of flattening the curve and avoided an overrun of our hospitals, we must move to a more balanced approach to managing this trade-off."

The letter follows the pleas by state-based business leaders to the governor to reopen more sectors of the economy. The letter asks the governor to take more assertive steps in reopening North Carolina's economy. 

Business North Carolina reported that Carolina Tractor and Equipment employs 1,500 workers. The company is an official dealer for Caterpillar heavy equipment.

Rep. Jay Adams for North Carolina House wrote a Facebook post heaping praise on the "outstanding letter."

"Outstanding letter! This is a message from a true executive. (I do hope someone is available to explain it to the Governor). The truth of the matter is the Governor is capitalizing on a crisis as Democrats traditionally do. The Legislature can’t intervene presently but the people of North Carolina should equip us to avoid this sort of mismanagement in the future. Remember in November," Adams wrote.