New Joe Biden ads showcase Rocky Mount businesses, including first black female brewery owner in U.S.

ROCKY MOUNT, N.C. (WTVD) -- A pair of Rocky Mount business leaders are featured prominently in two new campaign ads for democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden.

In one of the ads Kimberly Clayton is highlighted as the founder of The Bath Place, a custom soap shop. The ad praises Kimberly for shifting her business model to make hand sanitizer after COVID-19 was ruled a pandemic.

"I changed my entire business," Clayton said. "I had to figure out how to continue to pay my bills and feed my entire family."

The other ad features Celeste Beatty, founder of Harlem Brewing Company. Beatty is the first Black woman in the nation to own a beer company. Celeste shares the struggles of running a business during COVID-19, saying her operation "lost 70% of their sales just like that" and her business was not awarded any relief loans.

"That's part of being an entrepreneur," Beatty said. "You wake up every day determined just to keep going."

The ads debut on Wednesday, the same day Biden is scheduled to speak at a black economic summit in Charlotte.

Meanwhile, President Donald Trump continues his focus on North Carolina through multiple campaign stops in the state.

Trump has held more than a dozen rallies in North Carolina since the campaign began, and he will return for yet another Thursday in Charlotte. He and his team have said winning North Carolina again in 2020 is a vital part of their re-election strategy.

Polls have Trump and Biden neck and neck going into the final month of the election.