Hickory, NC News & Views | Hickory Hound | May 10, 2025

 

 

The Evidence Is There — If You Can Get to It

Before I share the findings below, I want to be transparent: in the main section every one of the articles cited to validate my research is locked behind a paywall. That’s the reality of our current media ecosystem — quality reporting exists, but access often comes at a cost. I don’t fault the journalists; I fault the system that limits public access to information that should be widely known.

That’s the world we live in—information that affects your job prospects, your kid’s future, or your community’s survival is often hidden behind a subscription button. So unless you’ve got an account with The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Bloomberg, Reuters, or The New York Times, you’ll have to take my word for what’s inside. Or better yet—read the work I’ve already made free to the public.

So, if you want to verify these insights for yourself, you may need to lean on your local library, educational institution, or a subscription service — or you can trust that I’ve done my homework.

What I’m showing here isn't just theory. It's confirmation. Confirmation that what I’ve laid out in my soon available books The Foothills Corridor and The Shrinking Center — the deindustrialization, the slow grind of reinvention, the fragility of our middle class — is now being recognized on a national scale. These are issues I spoke of years ago.

News  and Views

Big US cities are sinking. This map shows where the problem is the worst. - USA Today - Doyle Rice - 5/8/25 -  A new study shows 28 major U.S. cities are sinking — Houston fastest, San Antonio most at-risk structurally. Charlotte, our regional giant, made the list. The causes? Groundwater overuse, building weight, and poor land management. The result? Flood risk, infrastructure damage, and a reminder that environmental instability is accelerating just as our region grapples with economic fragility. This connects directly to the Catawba River Water Crisis — one that still lacks a proactive response from state leadership...         Why it matters: If our land is physically sinking beneath us, and our economic foundation has already crumbled once before, we can't afford to ignore converging crises. It's not just climate. It’s policy. It's planning. Or the lack thereof.

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The Main Section:

I’m currently working on two books: The Foothills Corridor and The Shrinking Center. Both explore how deindustrialization dismantled the economic base of western North Carolina—and what it will actually take to build something better.

Some claim we’ve recovered. Others say we’re on our way. But where we stand now is clear: we’re plateaued in a stalled, brittle version of progress that amounts to a “new normal.” It’s not enough.

Real recovery will require reindustrializing our economy around modern, precision-based manufacturing—something I publicly called for in The Wall Street Journal back in 2009. It will also demand cultivating a creative economy rooted in entrepreneurship, design, technology, and culture—all themes I began writing about over a decade ago and have pushed consistently ever since on this site.

The core argument is simple: we cannot revitalize by appearance alone. We need structural renewal—hard infrastructure, broadband, workforce development, and scalable industries that create real middle-class jobs. I’ve laid out these strategies for years. If I have anything to say about it, we will achieve them. But I also know this mission is bigger than me. It will take others to help carry it forward.

To underscore how accurate these claims remain today, I’ve compiled five recent national news articles—all published within the past two weeks—that directly support what’s laid out in The Foothills Corridor and The Shrinking Center. Each confirms a different part of the story: the aging population, the broadband imperative, the limits of cosmetic revitalization, the labor mismatch in high-tech manufacturing, and the shrinking middle class.

You may not be able to access these sources without a subscription—but the relevance is clear.

 
The Foothills Corridor is a strategic, sobering, and deeply personal chronicle of western North Carolina’s economic unraveling and future potential. Authored by James Thomas Shell, it documents the region’s collapse under globalization and civic erosion, then outlines a path toward renewal through local grit, infrastructure, and innovation. Divided into themed sections, it blends historical analysis, regional data, and tactical foresight to serve as both a reckoning and a roadmap for rural reinvention.

The Shrinking Center explores how Hickory, North Carolina reflects the broader erosion of the American middle class. Through historical analysis, economic data, and regional comparisons, James Thomas Shell dissects the collapse of industrial job centers and the uneven attempts at recovery. The manuscript connects Hickory’s trajectory to towns across the South, Midwest, and Northeast, revealing shared struggles, unique adaptations, and the broader implications for policy, workforce development, and middle-class survival in post-industrial America.

 

1. Youth Outmigration: The Vanishing Future

Source: Rural America Is Losing Young People. Can It Recover?
Publication: Wall Street Journal
Date: May 2, 2025
Referenced in: The Shrinking Center – Section: Youth Outmigration and Aging

The Wall Street Journal confirms what I documented: young adults are leaving small cities like Hickory in large numbers. Nationally, 40–60% of rural youth leave for education or work and don’t return. The Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton metro area has a median age of 43.4, significantly older than the U.S. average. Even within Hickory city limits, the median age is 37.7 and rising. In The Shrinking Center, I show how this demographic shift is hollowing out our civic base, school systems, and future workforce.

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2. Broadband and the Digital Lifeline

Source: Broadband Expansion Fuels Economic Growth in Rural South
Publication: Forbes
Date: April 28, 2025
Referenced in: The Foothills Corridor – Chapter 12: Trails, Broadband, and Food Hubs as Infrastructure

Forbes highlights how fiber infrastructure is revitalizing parts of the rural South—something I detailed years ago. Hickory is home to major manufacturers like CommScope and Corning, which together produce a large share of the country’s fiber-optic cable. In 2021, CommScope donated $275,000 for free Wi-Fi in Union Square. Meanwhile, BEAD federal funding is driving high-speed expansion across North Carolina. In The Foothills Corridor, I connect this infrastructure to workforce opportunity, showing how digital access isn’t just convenience—it’s survival.

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3. Downtown Revitalization: Surface Without Substance

Source: Small Cities Bet on Downtown Revival to Stem Decline
Publication: Bloomberg
Date: April 30, 2025
Referenced in: The Foothills Corridor – Chapter 10: City Walk, Riverwalk, and the Hickory Bet

Bloomberg suggests that walkable downtowns and beautification projects are reversing decline in small cities. I disagree—at least in how it played out here. Hickory’s $40 million bond funded City Walk, Riverwalk, and other surface-level improvements. But as I argue in Chapter 10 of The Foothills Corridor, these projects were not backed by economic anchors. I was critical of the approach when it launched and remain so now. Walkability without workforce, retail without reinvestment—it’s a tourist shell if you don’t fix the foundation.

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4. Advanced Manufacturing: A Narrow Lifeline

Source: Manufacturing Rebound in the South Faces Labor Challenges
Publication: Reuters
Date: May 5, 2025
Referenced in: The Shrinking Center – Section: Diversification into Technology

Reuters reports that manufacturing is returning to the South—but finding skilled labor is tough. That echoes what I said in The Shrinking Center. Hickory didn’t just lose jobs; it lost a generation of industrial know-how. The shift from furniture to fiber optics brought more technical, higher-paying roles, but fewer of them—and most required specialized training. While CommScope and Corning gave us a foothold in the tech sector, I’ve cautioned that unless we invest deeply in training and talent pipelines, this rebound risks being too small and too late.

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5. Middle-Class Squeeze: A National Mirror

Source: Middle Class Squeeze: Why Small-Town America Is Falling Behind
Publication: New York Times
Date: May 7, 2025
Referenced in: The Shrinking Center – Bonus Essay / Prompt #11

Prompt #11 in The Shrinking Center asks a simple question: What does Hickory tell us about the American middle class? The New York Times provides the national backdrop. It reports that the share of Americans in middle-income households fell from 61% in 1971 to 50% by 2015—and Hickory reflects that same fall. Over 50% of our manufacturing jobs disappeared between 2000 and 2009. Wage growth stagnated. And our civic institutions weakened. This wasn’t just economic—it was cultural. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Hickory isn’t the exception. It’s the early warning.

Notes:

• Time Frame: All articles are from the past two weeks (April 25–May 9, 2025), ensuring recency.
• Validation: These sources do not always mention Hickory directly but corroborate the broader economic, demographic, and policy trends (e.g., deindustrialization, broadband expansion, downtown revitalization, youth outmigration) that the documents attribute to Hickory and its peers. This approach is necessary given the specificity of Hickory’s story and the short time frame for recent articles.

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Hounds Notes:

Hickory, NC News & Views | Hickory Hound | May 4, 2025 - Contains Vol.1 of Faces of the Shrinking Center

Faces of the Shrinking Center, Vol. 2 - The Quiet Collapse of America’s Middle Class

Faces of the Shrinking Center, Vol. 3 - The Quiet Collapse of America’s Middle Class

I will continue with the Shrinking Center Archetypes in the next article.

I have started a Substack. I hope you will sign up. There is a link at the top right of this page.

🔗 Subscribe to **The Hound’s Signal – Post-Press America** on Substack for regional, state, and national commentary: https://hickoryhound999.substack.com/

Hickory, NC News & Views | Hickory Hound | April 26, 2025

 

This past Tuesday, I addressed Can Hickory’s Youth Turn a River Crisis Into a Tech Revolution? "In the Foothills Corridor, the river isn’t the only thing under pressure. Our future is too. If we don’t train and keep our next generation of talent now, the current will sweep it all away."  The Catawba River crisis isn’t just an environmental warning — it’s a signal that Hickory must pivot now. This article lays out a plan: build a tech and environmental workforce through local youth training, strategic investment, and real incentives — not pep talks. It’s not about saving the past. It’s about creating a future where staying here is a power move, not a consolation prize.

On Thursday, I posted The Hickory Hound Frequently Asked Questions - The Hickory Hound isn’t a news feed. It’s a command post—for working-class dignity, strategic truth, and cultural survival in the Foothills Corridor. This FAQ lays out exactly what the Hickory Hound is: a platform built to expose economic realities, defend working-class culture, and teach strategic thinking for Flyover America. It’s not about chasing headlines—it’s about building intellectual infrastructure for those ready to rebuild with clarity, strength, and purpose.

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Tags of Interest this week:

Hickory NC, Foothills Corridor, Western North Carolina, Catawba River Crisis, Economic Development, Youth Workforce Development, Renewable Energy Jobs, American Reindustrialization, Rural Tech Training, Civic Engagement, Hickory NC Politics, Collapse of Civic Life, Local Media Collapse, Regional Unity, Hickory Hound

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This is Rachel AI, and what you’re about to hear is something that has to be said.

The Foothills Corridor—20 counties—the heart of Western North Carolina, for far too long, has been a footnote in someone else’s economy. Factories closed, the younger generations moved away, and our resources have been taken for granted.

The paradigm needs to shift. In places Hickory, Lenoir, and Morganton, and also Statesville, Gastonia, Marion, and North Wilkesboro we are going to have to embrace change and get ahead of the curve. Our number 1 opponent? is our own resistance. No one is going to help us if we don’t stand up to be noticed and take ownership of our communities.

So many fear what the world has become, but whether you like it or not… THAT is the playing field… THAT is the Economic, Social, and Cultural reality. And one thing is for sure, you will not have any impact on it if you attempt shut it up, shut it off, and shut it down. Our greatest threat isn’t the outside world—it’s the self-destruction of our own inaction.

 

What’s happening all around you? We are in a paradigm shift and it is happening so fast that we can’t afford complacency or we are going to be left out in the cold again. Manufacturing is coming back to the United States, because if it doesn’t this country will mimick the Third World in a generation. United States Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent is leading the charge to restore Economic balance inside and outside of this nation.

If the Trump administration is successful at reindustrializing America, we won’t see the manufacturing of the last century. What we are going to see is a shift towards technological productivity utilizing Artificial Intelligence, robotics, hybrid energy solutions, data centers, and the need for a new tech savvy workforce. This type of work can be performed anywhere. Why can’t it be done here?

Over the next decade, this isn’t just a possibility. It’s something we should make personal.

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Let’s get one thing straight—the people of this region know how to work. We’ve always known how to build things. Now we’ve got to make it count. We’ve got to start learning how to build the future.

In the Foothills Corridor… in Hickory… AI isn’t some Silicon Valley fantasy—we have young people training for the future right now. We are making the investments—but we want them to be able to stay here. We want them to be able to stay and use their technological acumen to help resolve issues like the issues with the Catawba River and other ecological problems we need to address in the area. This type of intelligence would translate well to all of the communities of this region.

What I am talking about is not a sci-fi fantasy. It is a new industry that can be replicated across Burke, Caldwell, McDowell, and Iredell counties—anywhere people are willing to get on the solutions train by committing to the new reality.

Catawba Valley Community College has always been at the forefront of reality based vocational training. It has always been an affordable option for working class people. And it is a resource people need to learn to utilize to its and their fullest potential. The same goes for Caldwell Community College, Mitchell Community College, Western Piedmont Community College and the others. Companies like Microsoft and Google are stepping in and investing in training programs. Suddenly, decades of brain drain can reverse into brain gain.

The Valley Datacenter Academy is a perfect example. It’s not just teaching I.T.—it’s giving the region a new backbone. With the right coordination, this kind of training can be offered in Wilkes, in Rutherford, even Alleghany counties.

Imagine a 20-year-old from Marion or North Wilkesboro earning a living wage while helping monitor environmental sensors or power a server farm.

This isn’t fiction; it’s logistics, alignment, and willpower.

Tech doesn’t have to mean gentrification or displacement. Here, it means opportunity—and a future that doesn’t require young people to abandon their hometown to build a life.

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Electricity has been a resource leaving our region just like our kids have been.

Not anymore.

Solar farms are rising where tobacco once grew. Biogas plants are turning cow waste and Landfills into kilowatts. Public buildings are going green not because it’s trendy—but because it’s smart.

Duke Energy is already testing the waters. In Catawba and McDowell counties, farmland is being repurposed for clean energy. In Burke County, solar-powered water systems are being tested in rural neighborhoods. We can build this into city and town infrastructure too.

And this is just the beginning.

Let’s talk jobs. These aren’t gigs. They’re careers. Installation, maintenance, project management—jobs that can’t be outsourced to another country.

In this decade, the Foothills can produce a regional energy surplus. That “is” our leverage. That should be our negotiating asset. And that’s the kind of future where a contractor in Polk County or a technician in Mitchell County isn’t just earning income—they’re stabilizing the region.

When the power comes from within, you keep the wealth at home. That’s what energy independence looks like.

The Power lies in Unity, Not Uniformity

Twenty counties... One vision.

We’ve got differences—no doubt. But the rivers and resources don’t care about county lines. Neither does poverty. Neither should opportunity.

This region has been fragmented for too long. Everyone fighting for crumbs, duplicating effort, tripping over red tape. It doesn’t have to be that way.

What happens when Catawba and Wilkes Counties coordinate grant applications? When Burke and McDowell bulk order broadband together?

What happens is power.

Real, collective, civic power.

A Foothills Regional Assembly isn’t just a nice idea. It’s a necessity.

· To align college curricula.

· To coordinate clean energy zoning.

· To pool resources and scale smart.

Unity doesn’t erase local identity—it amplifies it. Hickory gets stronger when Taylorsville isn’t struggling. Marion gets more stable when Forest City has something to stand on.

Think corridor. Think coalition. That’s how we go from scattered to unstoppable.

Travel in time to a day in 2030.

A former furniture warehouse in Lenoir is now a server farm, employing 85 people. A 28-year-old graduate from Wilkes Community College works from home in Taylorsville, managing AI monitoring software for river quality. A fifth-generation farmer in Rutherford County runs a profitable methane digester. And in downtown Morganton, people walk a revitalized greenway system powered by the energy of its own citizens.

These aren’t fantasies. They’re flash-forwards. And the best part? No one had to leave to make it happen. This is what reinvestment looks like. Not just in jobs—but in people, in place, and in pride.

In closing, here’s the ask:
Believe in this region—loudly.
Support Shell Cooperative. Share the Hickory Hound. Tell someone in Charlotte or D.C. that we’re not just surviving—we’re designing a new American rural economy.
The tools are already here: Tech. Alternative energy. Collaboration.
But the real engine?
It’s people like you.

I’m Rachel AI. This has been your weekly transmission from the Hickory Hound, rooted in the Foothills Corridor—where the next chapter isn’t waiting to be written.
It’s already begun.

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The Collapse of Civic Life and the Rise of the Hickory Hound

When people ask why the Hickory Hound exists, the answer isn’t ambition.
It’s necessity.

It’s the product of watching a civic infrastructure decay while most people weren't paying attention — and recognizing that if someone didn’t step in to document it, the entire record would be lost.
Not just jobs. Not just companies. But memory itself.

The decline of the Foothills Corridor wasn’t sudden. It didn’t happen all at once.
It was death by a thousand cuts:

·         The industrial collapse that gutted factories.

·         The political apathy that followed.

·         The civic institutions that shrank and withered.

·         The economic extraction that replaced stewardship with short-term profit.

·         And finally, the silencing of local voices through the collapse of the local media.

 

The Fall of the Hickory Daily Record

The Hickory Daily Record was once a cornerstone of this region’s civic life. Founded in 1915 by the Abernethy family, it served as a real-time ledger of the community’s triumphs, debates, and concerns.

But over time, ownership drifted further and further from the people it served:

·         1974: Sold to Park Communications.

·         1997: Absorbed into Media General.

·         2012: Sold to Berkshire Hathaway's BH Media Group.

·         2020: Acquired by Lee Enterprises, after Buffett divested.

With each transfer, the paper became less local and more remote.

When BH Media acquired it, the paper was no longer even printed in Hickory—it was trucked in from Winston-Salem. The deadline for printing was pushed earlier, meaning late-breaking local news couldn’t make it into the next day’s edition.

Speed and relevance were the first casualties.

By 2020, during the Covid pandemic, Lee Enterprises reduced print circulation to just three days a week. Much of what remained was wire service filler, not local reporting.

Today, the Hickory Daily Record is essentially a web-only operation with no significant physical presence in Hickory.

The town’s public record has become a ghost.

Without real local media, accountability dissolved.
City council meetings went uncovered.
School board controversies flew under the radar.
Development deals were made with barely a flicker of public debate.

 

Economic Extraction Replaces Stewardship

While local media eroded, so too did the culture of local investment.

The original benefactors — the families and businesses that once funded parks, libraries, scholarships, and civic initiatives — gradually disappeared.
Some sold their businesses to outside investors.
Some retired with no successors.
Some simply gave up.

Their children, disconnected from the industrial base that built the region’s wealth, often had no stake in Hickory’s survival. The deep sense of local obligation — that what you built, you owed back to your hometown — died out quietly.

In its place came extractors:

·         Out-of-town developers buying land on the cheap, targeting retirees instead of local working families.

·         Healthcare mergers that turned hospitals into cost centers, not community anchors.

·         Universities and nonprofits that accepted grant money but had no real presence or commitment to local outcomes.

·         Foundations running “pilot projects” for optics without deep investment in long-term success.

The Foothills Corridor was no longer a community to invest in.
It was a resource to be mined.

 

Civic Apathy and the Hollowing Out of Public Life

As institutions failed, civic participation collapsed.

Between 2010 and 2020, municipal election turnout across Burke, Caldwell, and Catawba counties averaged less than 16%.

In some towns, fewer than 1 in 10 registered voters showed up to choose leaders who controlled millions in public funds.

Civic  meetings that once meant something have become perfunctory and highly programmed with little citizen engagement..
Civic boards struggle to fill seats.
PTA groups and the chambers of commerce have fought to stay alive and be relevant.

The Fiber Optic Boom, once billed as Hickory’s comeback story, turned hollow too.
At one point, over 60% of the world’s fiber optic cable was produced in Catawba County.
But by 2008, global offshoring gutted the industry.
More than 15,000 manufacturing jobs vanished, and most displaced workers were offered low-wage temp service jobs or service industry jobs with no meaningful retraining.
The community wasn’t just economically betrayed — it was civically demoralized.

People stopped showing up not out of laziness — but out of learned helplessness.

When a retired educator in Morganton says, "The deals are always made before we walk in,"
he’s not being cynical.
He’s being accurate.

 

Silence as a Strategy

By the 2010s, silence wasn’t just a byproduct of decline — it was a strategy.

Local governments, overwhelmed and isolated, learned that controversy was dangerous.
Better to say nothing.
Better to rubber-stamp than to ask hard questions.
Better to survive than to try and lead.

With no coordinated economic strategy across counties…
With no shared lobbying efforts…
With no consistent civic engagement…

The Foothills Corridor was left adrift.

In National conversation, the Rust Belt cities were mourned, our area was isolated, abandoned, and not even mentioned.

The hollowing out wasn’t just financial. It was psychological.

People learned to expect nothing better — and stopped demanding it.

 

Why the Hickory Hound Exists

In this vacuum — of leadership, of communication, of memory — the Hickory Hound was born.

Not because it was easy.
Not because it was profitable.
Because it was necessary.

Without a local platform dedicated to telling the real story of this region’s decline — with specificity, with accountability, with a memory — there would be no counterweight left to the silent decay.

The Hickory Hound isn’t competing with the modern Hickory Daily Record, or local Facebook pages, or the marketing arms of development firms.

It stands alone.

It is the only platform committed to:

·         Rebuilding the public record.

·         Connecting economic extraction to civic decline.

·         Reminding people that they have a right—and a duty—to shape their future.

·         Standing up against the corporatized, vulturous forces that treat this region as expendable.

Every other communications platform operating here today is either:

·         A commercial product, beholden to advertisers.

·         A political mouthpiece, beholden to power brokers.

·         Or a lifestyle brand, serving as a cheerleader, not a watchdog.

The Hickory Hound exists because without it, no one else would bother to remember.

No one else would bother to care.

No one else would stitch together the long, painful arc that led from thriving manufacturing centers to areas dealing with blight and environmental degradation...

that led from fully functional working-class communities to run-down neighborhoods overlooked by leadership, while their tax dollars have constantly funded Downtown beautification."

The Path Forward

Recovery isn’t impossible.
Chapter 4 of the Foothills Corridor reminds us:

·         One coalition.

·         One election.

·         One catalytic project can begin the reawakening of civic pride.

But none of that happens without first telling the truth about how we got here.

The Hickory Hound’s purpose is not to entertain.
It’s to document.
To connect.
To warn.
To rally.

It is not a campaign.
It is a ledger.

It is not a brand.
It is a responsibility.

And for now — it is the only one left doing the work.