Dan Forest, right, the Republican candidate for lieutenant governor, speaks Monday with Watauga County resident Sterling McDiarmid at a meet-and-greet at Hollar & Greene Produce Company.

Forest, a Raleigh architect on his first run for statewide office, visited Boone as part of a tour on jobs and the economy. Forest said high fuel prices and taxes were hurting businesses’ ability to create jobs.

“You have to innovate much faster than you ever would have before,” Forest said.

Forest, a son of retiring U.S. Rep. Sue Myrick of Charlotte, is running against Democrat Linda Coleman, the former North Carolina state personnel director.

For more information on Forest's campaign, visit http://www.danforest.com.

For more information on Coleman's campaign, visit http://www.lindacoleman.org.