‘A two-generation workforce issue’: Child care availability impeding economic development

Stakeholders around Western North Carolina recognize the end of COVID-era child care stabilization funding and the broader lack of available child care resources as a multilayered impediment to economic development.

Afterlife: Tentative mill deal provides a peek at what could be next

On May 24, 2023, Canton Mayor Pro Tem Gail Mull sat on a bench in Sorrels Street Park, waiting to hear the shrill shriek of the steam whistle at Pactiv Evergreen’s century-old paper mill at the heart of town blow for the last time. 

Change is coming, and things will change

What happens when the those with the most chips in the game only have a partial stake in it?

In other words, what does a community lose when most of the very large businesses are owned by absentee or corporate entities whose main goal is make money but have little interest in making that place a better place to live?

One year later, Canton displays remarkable progress

The woods are lovely, dark and deep,

But I have promises to keep,

And miles to go before I sleep,

And miles to go before I sleep. 

— Robert Frost, “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” 

Courting disloyalty: New program encourages shoppers to patronize Waynesville businesses

The disloyalty card is here and it’s, in a sense, exactly what it sounds like. 

Ripple effects and recreation: Outdoor Economy Conference tackles range of complex issues

More than 600 people from across the nation converged in Cherokee last week for the fifth annual Outdoor Economy Conference, the nation’s leading economic development conference focused on outdoor recreation. 

Smokies, Parkway visitors spend the most in the NPS, study finds

According to the recently released results of the National Park Service’s newest peer-reviewed visitor spending analysis, in 2022 North Carolina was yet again home to the nation’s two top parks for visitor spending — the Blue Ridge Parkway and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Canton’s outdoor economy growing, with help from state

It’s only been open for about a year, but Canton’s Chestnut Mountain Park has already proven a popular, unique regional outdoor recreational attraction — even though it’s still growing.

DEQ secretary visits Canton

North Carolina economy continues to excel

North Carolina faces many challenges. You and I may disagree with how to rank those challenges, or what to do about them, but we share a belief that our state could be a better place than it is today.

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