2009-2010
North Carolina Now will highlight community success stories within the following "Featured Projects." In the summer of 2009, the NC Rising series concluded with an hour-long documentary and a series of topical town hall meetings
As the last remaining fish house in Ocracoke was on the verge of closing, a group of dedicated commercial fishermen banded together to form the Ocracoke Working Waterman's Association (OWWA) in order to buy the fish house and begin to grow it into a small business.
Hookerton is working hard to reinvent itself and use its small-town charm to draw visitors and residents to the area. And, with a $113,000 grant from the North Carolina Rural Economic Development Center, Hookerton is finally beginning to see some progress.
The ecologically rich land and ideal, temperate climate of Scotland Neck has made it the perfect home for the Sylvan Heights Waterfowl Breeding Center for many years. Run by the Lubbock family for 40 years, the center has more than 2,500 birds and 170 species, making it home to the largest captive waterfowl population in North America.
Gaming has long been associated with the economy of tribal reservation areas, but one community is focusing on tourism as a way to preserve their heritage, and draw visitors in order to grow their economy. The goal is to keep more money in Cherokee and subsidize that income so the town can make it through the off-season each year from October to May, when very few tourists travel to Western NC.
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.
HandMade in America focuses on maintaining and enhancing western North Carolina's quality of life and broadening its economic opportunity by utilizing the existing craft culture in the region and providing a major support system for craftspeople and the craft industry.
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 promote new economic opportunities for the state.
The 1:1 Laptop Initiative, funded by the Golden LEAF Foundation along with private funding from SAS and the NC General Assembly, seeks to reform high schools by providing laptop computers to students and teachers in school districts in rural areas of the state.
The Cherokee County Center for Applied Technology, a collaboration between Tri-County Community College, Cherokee County, and several industry partners, provides facilities for classes and short-run manufacturing and houses the college's Machinist Training Program and the Associate Degree program in Machining Technology.
The Rural Center created the fund as part of a larger effort to boost entrepreneurship in North Carolina. The Rural Center and its partners, including the University of North Carolina System, provide companies with targeted technical assistance to manage their long-term growth. For a business to be eligible to receive funding, it must demonstrate growth potential and prove that the owner would not be able to receive financing from traditional sources.
The Brody School of Medicine acts as an economic engine for the eastern North Carolina and the entire state contributing an estimated 14 billion dollar impact. The medical school, heart center and dental school at ECU have significantly changed primary care in the area, in terms of both availability and quality, and will continue to reform rural health care over the next 50 years.
Many efforts in NC are now aimed toward helping growers improve their business enterprises and produce safe, fresh, quality produce for North Carolina markets and beyond. "Value-added" farming involves more that just producing organic foods, it includes working wit a knowledge of safety plans and risk management issues related to growing and selling fresh produce and way to improve marketing and production on a local level.