NC Rising identifies & highlights success stories from our state's rural areas that once thrived on crops such as tobacco & manufacturing jobs such as furniture & textiles, but are now transitioning into a new global economy. Tar Heel Made takes a look at how manufacturers are looking to new markets to find products and services to help revitalize economically distressed areas in the state.

NC Rising identifies & highlights success stories from our state's rural areas that once thrived on crops such as tobacco & manufacturing jobs such as furniture & textiles, but are now transitioning into a new global economy. Tar Heel Grown takes a look at how farmers are looking to new markets to find new crops to help revitalize economically distressed areas in the state.

Alternative Farming

Alternative Farming

Rural Health Care...What's the diagnosis?

Rural Health Care...What's the diagnosis?

Project Description Relocated from California to the small town of Washington, North Carolina, Pacific Seacraft was saved from bankruptcy by a father and son from NC. Stephen Brodie bought the 30-year-old company at an auction in California for only $75,000, hauled the boat molds across the country, and set out to revamp the company along the Pamlico River. To help boost the new industry in the area, the North Carolina Rural Ventures Fund chipped in a loan to help fund the start up. The...

Project Description Relocated from California to the small town of Washington, North Carolina, Pacific Seacraft was saved from bankruptcy by a father and son from NC. Stephen Brodie bought the 30-year-old company at an auction in California for only $75,000, hauled the boat molds across the country, and set out to revamp the company along the Pamlico River. To help boost the new industry in the area, the North Carolina Rural Ventures Fund chipped in a loan to help fund the start up. The...

In 2005, Cherokee County purchased a 25,000 square foot building in order to develop the Cherokee County Center for Applied Technology. A collaboration between Tri-County Community College, Cherokee County, and several industry partners, the facility is now used for classes and short-run manufacturing and houses the college's Machinist Training Program and the Associate Degree program in Machining Technology. The primary goal in developing the center was to provide the community with a...

In 2005, Cherokee County purchased a 25,000 square foot building in order to develop the Cherokee County Center for Applied Technology. A collaboration between Tri-County Community College, Cherokee County, and several industry partners, the facility is now used for classes and short-run manufacturing and houses the college's Machinist Training Program and the Associate Degree program in Machining Technology. The primary goal in developing the center was to provide the community with a...

More often than not, economic development begins with education. This concept is the basis of the 1:1 Laptop Initiative, funded by the Golden LEAF Foundation along with private funding from SAS and the NC General Assembly, which seeks to reform high schools by providing laptop computers to students and teachers in school districts in rural areas of the state. Created as a replicable model, the 1:1 initiative will guide the implementation of the program throughout North Carolina's public...

More often than not, economic development begins with education. This concept is the basis of the 1:1 Laptop Initiative, funded by the Golden LEAF Foundation along with private funding from SAS and the NC General Assembly, which seeks to reform high schools by providing laptop computers to students and teachers in school districts in rural areas of the state. Created as a replicable model, the 1:1 initiative will guide the implementation of the program throughout North Carolina's public...

Many organizations in North Carolina are working to build the State's military economy. These programs work directly with NC-based businesses and federal contractors to secure lucrative federal and military contracts that boost the economies of local and State economies. The NC Advisory Commission of Military Affairs (ACMA) was created by the General Assembly in 2001 to advise both the Governor and the Secretary of Commerce on how to protect NC's existing military infrastructure and to...

Many organizations in North Carolina are working to build the State's military economy. These programs work directly with NC-based businesses and federal contractors to secure lucrative federal and military contracts that boost the economies of local and State economies. The NC Advisory Commission of Military Affairs (ACMA) was created by the General Assembly in 2001 to advise both the Governor and the Secretary of Commerce on how to protect NC's existing military infrastructure and to...

Interview: Becky Anderson/Founder, HandMade In America HandMade in America was founded in 1993 with a belief that economic revitalization wasn’t necessarily tied to luring "modern" industry to the region but in making known the hidden heritage and craftspeople that are so vitally a part of western North Carolina. Since then, HandMade has evolved into a nationally recognized, multidimensional institution that has sparked initiatives and creative collaborations in education, small town...

Interview: Desmond Suarez & Ronno Cooke HandMade in America was founded in 1993 with a belief that economic revitalization wasn’t necessarily tied to luring "modern" industry to the region but in making known the hidden heritage and craftspeople that are so vitally a part of western North Carolina. Since then, HandMade has evolved into a nationally recognized, multidimensional institution that has sparked initiatives and creative collaborations in education, small town revitalization and...

HandMade in America was founded in 1993 with a belief that economic revitalization wasn’t necessarily tied to luring "modern" industry to the region but in making known the hidden heritage and craftspeople that are so vitally a part of western North Carolina. Since then, HandMade has evolved into a nationally recognized, multidimensional institution that has sparked initiatives and creative collaborations in education, small town revitalization and community development, economic development,...

The mission of Pocosin Arts impacts educational, social, environmental, and economic development issues all at once. It’s this approach that set Pocosin apart and what caught the attention of organizations, such as The North Carolina Rural Center for Economic Development, to fund the project. When Feather Phillips was developing the concept behind Pocosin in the early 1990s, this idea of interdisciplinary planning was not the norm. But interdisciplinary studies and problem solving, such as...

Feather Phillips, founder and executive director, Pocosin Arts Feather Phillips founded Pocosin Arts Center in 1994. Originally from northeastern Pennsylvania, Phillips began her career working in public television in Boston. In the late 1960s, after realizing that the city life was not for her, she moved to Martha’s Vineyard, where, she creatde her life around a sense of place rather than around a career. In 1972, Phillips boarded a boat and sailed south, ending up in Wilmington, NC, where...

Travel west through the North Carolina mountains on Highway 74 and you’ll enter the Qualla Boundary, the 100 square mile home of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. You’re welcome there. In fact, the Tribe is hoping you’ll stop by. This community is betting on more than gaming to grow the local economy. They’re counting on tourism. Doug Cole is a Strategic Planner for the Eastern Band of Cherokee. He says, “Right now Cherokee is at a transition point for development.” Cole adds,...

Travel west through the North Carolina mountains on Highway 74 and you’ll enter the Qualla Boundary, the 100 square mile home of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. You’re welcome there. In fact, the Tribe is hoping you’ll stop by. This community is betting on more than gaming to grow the local economy. They’re counting on tourism. Doug Cole is a Strategic Planner for the Eastern Band of Cherokee. He says, “Right now Cherokee is at a transition point for development.” Cole adds,...

There are many things that lure people to a destination. In Halifax County, it’s the birds that have visitors flocking to the area. The Sylvan Heights Waterfowl Park and Eco-Center boasts it has the largest waterfowl collection in the world. With colors so vibrant and sound so unique, it would be easy for visitors to imagine they’re in some exotic location. But, Sylvan Heights’ nine acre facility is in Scotland Neck, North Carolina. The park is home to more than 1000 birds, 170 different...

There are many things that lure people to a destination. In Halifax County, it’s the birds that have visitors flocking to the area. The Sylvan Heights Waterfowl Park and Eco-Center boasts it has the largest waterfowl collection in the world. With colors so vibrant and sound so unique, it would be easy for visitors to imagine they’re in some exotic location. But, Sylvan Heights’ nine acre facility is in Scotland Neck, North Carolina. The park is home to more than 1000 birds, 170 different...

An old ABC store is transformed into a doctor’s office. A dilapidated storefront is brought back to life. In a special North Carolina Now series, entitled North Carolina Rising, UNC-TV shows you how one rural community in Greene County is trying to reinvent itself and lure new residents to come see what Hookerton has to offer. As part of an ongoing year-long series, North Carolina Now will highlight success stories like this one happening in North Carolina’s rural communities. In the summer...