Roy Rochlin
In Greenville, North Carolina, Jimmy "MrBeast" Donaldson has capitalized on a home court advantage by running his multimillion-dollar operations out of the mid-sized city where he came of age.
In addition to being less expensive than Los Angeles, Donaldson has emerged as a kind of local hero, forging alliances with business owners, East Carolina University (Greenville is a college town through and through), and even the mayor.
PJ Connelly, Greenville's mayor, is 38 years old and a former pitcher for the Los Angeles Angels. He has been in office since 2017.
He and Donaldson hold monthly calls about local shoots or any other projects that may involve city resources, he told Insider. This includes a massive turkey drive at the local fairgrounds last Thanksgiving, which was staffed by the Greenville Police Department and the Pitt County Sheriff's Department to ensure safety and minimize traffic disruption.
Connelly told Insider that team Beast is currently looking to buy up more real estate around town for office and studio space, which would mark a continued boon for Greenville.
"He brings people here, he shoots videos here, he employs people here, and those dollars that he's paying out in wages stay in our community," Connelly said. "They're being spent in our local restaurants, our local retail locations, they're buying houses, or they're renting in our community."
And Connelly isn't the only politician to extol Donaldson's virtues on social media.
Donaldson's local congressman, Rep. Greg Murphy, has never met the YouTuber, but has touted his charity work on Twitter.
Murphy told Insider he's proud of the "homegrown son" – with some slight caveats.
"As long as he stays within the law and he does stunts that are safe and provides charity work, we're all behind him and his business model and wish him the best success in the world," Murphy said.
