Western North Carolina Looks to Speed TBED in 'Future Forward' Plan

After months of analyzing data and hundreds of interviews, organizers of western North Carolina's Future Forward economic development strategy only await the study's approval by local governments. Future Forward is aimed at improving economic development conditions for 12 counties in the Western Piedmont and Mountains of North Carolina located in the 10th and 11th Congressional Districts — Alexander, Burke, Caldwell, Catawba, Iredell, Lincoln, Rutherford, Avery, Mitchell, Watauga, Wilkes and McDowell counties.

Specifically requiring approval are the study's final recommendations, which fall into three broad categories:

• Education and Workforce Training. The study proposes that the western North Carolina region conduct a campaign to increase the value people place on education and increase the number of people with education beyond high school; establish a Learning and Innovation Network that provides programs and facilities to build technology-based economic development (TBED) across the region; and, promote development of a technology park associated with the Learning and Innovation Network to increase employment in better paying jobs, increase productivity and competitiveness of new and existing businesses.
• Jobs for the New Economy. The study proposes the region conduct a market research study to identify businesses and industries, as well as key industrial clusters, with the highest chance to grow and prosper. It also suggests developing an improved system for matching people to jobs across the region.
• Collaborative Regional Projects. Finally, the study proposes the region create a network of regional organizations to increase the number of collaborative projects and increase the pool of funds for regional action.

Along with consultants and staff from Hickory's Western Piedmont Council of Governments, the 21-member Future Forward Leadership Committee that organized the study is composed of citizens from each of the aforementioned counties. More than 150 people were interviewed and 10 community workshops that drew almost 400 people were held.

The need for Future Forward partly is found in the research findings in a separate study commissioned by the leadership committee. The findings revealed manufacturing employment in the 12-county western North Carolina region peaked in 1994 with 149,000 jobs but fell by 25,000 jobs before the current recession. Some of the region's industry clusters – textiles, apparel and furniture among them – were said to be at-risk while others were not. Clusters said to be "large and growing modestly" include construction materials, metalworking and industrial machinery, motor vehicle manufacturing technologies, primary nonferrous metals, and chemicals and plastics. Other "emerging" small clusters also were named.

Conceived in late 2002, Future Forward is supported by a $320,000 grant from the federal Economic Development Administration and an $80,000 commitment from a N.C. Community Development Block Grant. It is one of four comprehensive economic development strategy projects currently underway in North Carolina. Committee members hope to adopt the final plan early this fall, following a series of meetings with officials from each of the region's 12 counties.

For more information on Future Forward or the economic situation analysis, visit http://www.future-forward.net.