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On the campaign trail
Boyd for governor
Duane Sherrill photo Gubernatorial candidate Randy Boyd made a bus stop in Smithville this past week during his 95-county whirlwind tour of the state leading up to the Republican Primary this August. Boyd told supporters in attendance that his business sense will be valuable in leading the state. He also noted that the opioid crisis is a growing threat that needs to be fought tooth and nail.

"I started my first company at 23 and it failed immediately,” Boyd told the crowd of supporters at the county complex during his bus stop in Smithville this past week. “You learn more from your failures than your successes.”

Boyd noted his next business proved to be spot on, leading him to become a successful entrepreneur, business, and philanthropic leader. Boyd is the founder and chairman of Radio Systems Corporation, which is headquartered in Knoxville. He first started out of the back of his van. The company today produces over 4,600 pet products under brand names such as Invisible Fence, PetSafe and SportDOG, with more than 700 employees and annual revenues of $400 million.

“You actually want a governor who has run something before. I can bring that experience,” Boyd said. “It’s important the next governor has made a payroll before. Understands how hard that can be.”

Boyd said his experience as an entrepreneur positions him to serve as governor. “By definition an entrepreneur has to be innovative and has to be disruptive. I believe Tennessee government needs innovation and disruption.”

Boyd noted his does have governmental experience. He previously served in Governor Bill Haslam’s cabinet as the state Commissioner of Economic and Community Development, and earlier while serving as the Governor’s Special Advisor on Higher Education was the architect of the state’s Drive to 55 workforce development initiative, and the tnAchieves and Tennessee Promise scholarship programs to help more young people go to technical or community college tuition-free.
Along with touting his experience as a business leader and in helping shape programs in the state, Boyd said he has a vision on how to combat the opioid issue that is spreading throughout Tennessee and the nation.

“It’s decimating our state,” Boyd said of the opioid crisis. “We have to declare war.”

Boyd pointed out that Tennessee has the most prescriptions, per capita, than any state in the country. “Twice the average than the rest of the country,” he explained. “Minnesota has the same population but we prescribe ten times more pill per person than they do. There’s no reason for it.”

Boyd added that incarceration isn’t necessarily the best course of action. Instead, he believes treatment could pay dividends by returning addicts back into the workforce, clean from their addiction.

For more information about Randy Boyd and his campaign for Governor, please visit RandyBoyd.com --or like him on Facebook at RandyBoydTN, or follow him on Twitter @RandyBoyd. Highlights of Boyd’s address at the county complex can be found by going to the multimedia section of www.smithvillereview.com.