The election calendar is heating up with primaries quickly approaching and U.S. Rep. Gresham Barrett (R-South Carolina Third Congressional District) is taking full advantage of the time he has left to get his message out in his bid for the Republican nomination for governor.

Barrett was in Union on Thursday for two meet-and-greet events at Arthur State Bank and Gene’s Fine Food as part of a several-stop tour of the Upstate that ended in Greenville later that evening.

“It’s time to get out and see as many people as I can,” Barrett said. “We’re in Union County today to meet people and let them know what we’re doing. Union is an important county in South Carolina.”

Barrett is currently serving his fourth term in the U.S. House of Representatives. He has previously served in the South Carolina House of Representatives and is a former business owner.

He met with a small group of people gathered at Gene’s shortly after 9:30 a.m. Thursday, including Broad River Energy Cooperative representatives CEO Richard Baines and Norris Fowler who also attended the function representing Union Oil Mill and Fowken Farm. Barrett also had the opportunity to meet some other local residents and a few of the employees at the diner but unfortunately Gene himself wasn’t available to be there.

“But tell him I’ll come back and have a hamburger with him,” the Congressman said before he left the restaurant to head for Spartanburg.

Barrett is running for governor on the Republican ticket to put South Carolina back to work.

“It’s all about jobs,” he said Thursday morning. “And nobody knows that better than Union County.”

Barrett will achieve that goal, if elected, by tapping into energy — that includes his support of the nuclear energy industry and the unused natural gas resources off the coast of the state.

He said Union County, specifically, is strategically located when it comes to nuclear power because of its location between two nuclear reactor sites in neighboring counties.

The Congressman said nuclear power is a $25 billion industry that would bring real jobs and real growth to South Carolina. He would expand the use of nuclear energy in the state to decrease dependence on foreign oil and create jobs.

There currently are four billion cubic feet of untapped natural gas deposits off the shores of the state Barrett says could create 2,200 jobs and generate $250 million per year for South Carolina if they were opened for use. As governor, he would appropriate that additional revenue to be split between improving the state’s infrastructure, assisting law enforcement agencies and putting back into the energy industry.

Barrett’s platform also includes more than energy.

He wants to provide comprehensive tax reform that lowers taxes, simplifies the tax code and encourages economic development in South Carolina. Barrett also sees the value in education and as governor he would require every child to read at or above third-grade level before moving on to fourth grade.

“To do that, we have got to make sure the dollars are there,” he said.

He also will ensure law enforcement officers have the training and authority to enforce federal immigration laws.

Barrett said his business experience sets him apart from the other candidates vying for the Republican nomination. He said if he had one prerequisite for any elected official it would be prior business experience.

“When you understand what you do on a daily basis in a business and the bottom line, I think it makes you a better legislator,” Barrett said.

If the people of South Carolina give him the nod, that’s the type of experience — along with 14 years of legislative experience and his service to the country as a former Executive Officer for the Multiple Rocket Launch System in the U.S. Army — he plans to bring to the governor’s office.