Hickory, a Legacy Community

I have looked at several articles that fall within the time-frame of the past decade relating to our (Hickory) area’s Economic Development reality. The content summary related to cities that have experienced a similar plight to our community is pretty voluminous. We are not alone. These Cities/Metropolitan areas that have had a similar experience are called “Legacy Cities.” Legacy cities are older, industrial urban areas that have experienced significant population and job loss, resulting in high residential vacancy and diminished service capacity and resources.

Below are nine wide-ranging strategies that legacy cities need to adopt in order to move forward economically in the 21^st Century. Along with these strategies, I have highlighted and related my personal opinion, giving suggestions as to how these strategies fit within Hickory’s economic and cultural reality.

Legacy - (Noun) - anything handed down from the past, as from an ancestor or predecessor.

               (Adjective) - of or relating to old or outdated computer hardware, software, or data  

                                     that, while still functional, does not work well with up-to-date systems.

• Rebuild the central core. – combination of density and a walkable, urban texture with proximity to major institutions and employers creates significant opportunities for regeneration driven by residential redevelopment. This is likely to lead to other economic development opportunities. Have we not already invested huge amounts of capital in our city’s core? Are we making the right investments in City Center infrastructure?

• Sustain viable neighborhoods through targeted investments. - Legacy cities contain many viable residential neighborhoods. While some of those areas have gained renewed vitality in recent years, many others have shown signs of physical deterioration and market decline. Sustaining these areas and building their attractiveness as neighborhoods of choice in their regions are critical tasks for legacy cities. In Hickory, we have created a system of Neighborhood Associations to empower, mostly historical, neighborhoods within the City's governmental hierarchy. 

We need to help these neighborhood's be more autonomous and make decisions for themselves even within the City's structure. Let's help these associations achieve 501-c3 non-profit status to raise monies to help do things in their neighborhoods. With their new status, associations would be eligible to apply for state and federal grants - in their own name - as well as various state and national foundations that offer funding. But, perhaps the most unique funding opportunity is right within the neighborhood itself. Local businesses located in or adjacent to these neighborhoods would have a new way of giving back to the communities they serve. These businesses could now make tax-deductible investments in the local communities and help to directly meet the needs of their neighbors.

• Repurpose vacant land for new activities. - The large inventory of vacant land and buildings in legacy cities is a valuable asset, and should be seen as such by local officials and their partners. By repurposing it for new uses, such land can become the springboard for building new quality places. Along the lines of reducing and re-using or recycling: How much vacant property/buildings are available? Is there a current suitable purpose for the property? What is its strategic value?

If there is an overabundance of property available, but currently little demand (now or for the foreseeable future), then it is best to demolish unneeded structures and clear land.  The most effective way to reduce the inventory of unneeded buildings is to not create more buildings until the current inventory is reduced -- doing this will help to maintain (and increase) the value of existing viable structures.

What is the value of repurposing a building and will the pay-off outweigh the costs in the long run. Versus building a new structure, which process will lead to the greatest pay-off for all parties involved?

All parties involved equal the property owner, adjacent property owners, and the larger community (which may be providing economic incentives).

• Use assets to build competitive advantages. – What are the economic and cultural assets of our community? We need to do a full audit of the properties and resources within the community to figure our what is working and what is not working. This is a key to developing a plan moving forward.

• Re-establish the central economic role of the city. – Cities should focus on building export-oriented economies linked to the regional, national, and global networks, not only to build wealth and generate financial multipliers within the city, but to further their engagement with their regions in ways that will ultimately break down urban/suburban barriers and lead to greater regional integration. What is the Brand of the Community? What is its mission? What is its purpose? What is the "Vision" of what we want to be.

• Use economic growth to increase community and resident well-being -- Who needs help in the community? What areas need the most uplifting? What would you say are the most important areas of town that need to be addressed? What are the most important issues that need to be addressed? Economically? Culturally?

• Build stronger local governance capacity and partnerships -- How can we help government better understand the needs of the community? Governance is leadership and leadership must formulate intentional strategies to unlock the potential of a city’s assets to bring about sustainable regeneration. You have to communicate with the people of the community and get them to buy-in and leadership must work to have understanding and trust as the community moves forward. “Strategic Incrementalism” begins with leaders sharing a vision of the city’s future and then making incremental, tactical decisions that will transform the status quo, while avoiding grandiose and unrealistic plans.

• Increase the ties between legacy cities and their regions -- The cities within our Metropolitan area have to take a bigger role in our economic development. Hickory is the Hub and the largest city in our Metropolitan area. Hickory has to get on a path towards growth in population as well as economy and work in partnership with Morganton and Lenoir to build synergistic hubs of industry within the realities of the modern economy. We have to pull in the same direction and we also have to work within the framework of the larger cities that are experiencing growth within our region (Charlotte, Asheville, Winston-Salem).

• Rethink state and federal policy toward legacy cities. – We can’t control this, but we must promote how State and Federal policies have negatively impacted our area and work through our Congressional and State Representatives to change certain policies and to help create legislation that can help us to transition to the realities of the modern economy.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 A couple of publications helped me in the presentation of the information above

Reinventing America’s Legacy Cities: Strategies for Cities Losing Population - The American Assembly - Columbia University - March 2011 

Regenerating America's Legacy Cities -  Lincoln Institute of Land Policy - Alan Mallach and Lavea Brachman - 2013

Hickory, Creativity, and the Killa C's of Economic Regeneration

The Hound is back: Eight years ago I wrote a series of articles about where Hickory stood economically at the end of the 21^st Century’s first decade. I spoke to many people who found relevance in the issues that I discussed at that time. We are living in a transitional age, a period transitioning out of the old industrial age and into an age of productivity that relies upon information technology and knowledge at its core. The old economy of industrial cities, like Hickory, was operated through top down management. The new, Knowledge Economy, depends upon individual empowerment. It has been a difficult transition for our community, but there are signs of a desire to change all around us.

Years removed from the decade of economic turmoil we experienced related to the international trade agreements and the 2008 Financial Crisis, we have moved passed the feelings of loss and abandonment. Most people have realized that life goes on and they figured out how to survive, while others are no longer with us, and then there are the young folks that don’t know any different. The young folks think the way that things are now is the way they have always been.

What our area went through economically has been life altering for many of our citizens. They have never gotten back to the levels of prosperity that they experienced through much of the 1980s and 1990s. There is a frustration related to the different world we live in today. People have come to accept the reality of a constantly changing world, what they don’t understand is Hickory’s position and status in that ever changing world.

Most people in the workforce understand that we are part of a new global reality. We have come to grips with the realization that our old job base, Manufacturing, as we knew it, is not coming back, but that does not mean that goods aren’t going to be produced.  Hickory, and the surrounding area, has lost half of the industrial jobs from the peak of around 30 years ago. However, manufacturing is still an important part of our economy and more prevalent than in most other communities in the nation.

I think most people have come to grips with the reality that careers are no longer determined by specific and redundant tasks. In order to make money, individuals have to be better-rounded, adaptable, experienced in fundamental skills, and have the ability to multi-task. Most of the people I know have changed jobs over the past decade and many have changed jobs multiple times and some have seen a complete change of career. It’s an ever changing employment reality in the 21^st Century. You aren’t allowed to get comfortable.

Richard Florida, who I have discussed previously on this site, developed philosophy about the new economy in his book The Rise of the Creative Class. He wrote, “The key to economic growth lies not just in the ability to attract the creative class, but to translate that underlying advantage into creative economic outcomes in the form of new ideas, new high-tech businesses and regional growth.”

The Hickory area has struggled to move towards this new economic paradigm, but those who have chosen to stay understand the new reality and they have adapted the best they can. We have many creative individuals in our community. We just have to find more outlets for them to express themselves and to find avenues for them to benefit from their creativity.

This is the beginning of an update of my series from eight years ago Time to put the Puzzle together. In looking at where we were and comparing it to now, we can see that our community has evolved, but more because it has been forced to and not because it chose to. There is still a division between Old Hickory and New Hickory.

Yes, I know that many do not like the term “Old Hickory.” I have never meant harm in saying that. Tell me, how else am I supposed to define it?

Like I said eight years ago, and I will reiterate today, this city has a lot going for it and with focus it can get back to growth, but we have to be honest about where we stand and willing to change the direction of this city to take advantage of its resources. We have lost many of our best and brightest young people and the numbers bear that out. While the middle-aged and elderly populations have grown substantially in the area, since 2000, the 18 to 45 age bracket has lost population drastically.

I said at the time, that it reminded me of a church that doesn't add younger members. It is sure to fail. The not so funny thing is that it has evolved to where many of the churches in our area are experiencing this very problem at this present time.

Hickory has only grown by 400 people in the past six years and the Metropolitan area has lost population. We have wasted time in not taking a hard core approach to turning this situation around. The writing is on the wall. The future viability of Hickory is at stake!

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Killa C’s of Economic Regeneration - The Killer C’s can be Killa if you implement them and a Killer if you don’t.

Change - We must transform from the industrial economy to post industrial realities. Manufacturing and top-down control systems led to massive production and growth in society. Our society’s necessities were managed through the process of industrialization; including government, energy, education, food, healthcare, and the entire corporate process through increases in economies of scale, maximizing revenues, and reducing costs; thus maximizing profit to the fullest extent possible. The Industrialization process was never going to be sustainable. Because resources are not infinite and perpetual, unlimited growth is not realistic. The new economy is based upon information and knowledge, but this doesn’t mean the end of production. People will have the same needs in life, those necessities are just evolving.

Economic evolution in the 21^st Century has brought us to the reality of the necessity of certain constraints on modern development, such as minimizing energy use (or creating alternative sources of energy), minimizing/eliminating waste (pollution), and maximizing the health and wellness of people.

Every facet of the economy is being redeveloped with information technology and knowledge at its core. Solutions that have, and will, emerge in the knowledge economy operate very differently than old industrial models. The industrial economy was based on top down management of processes and resources. Today, cooperation and collaboration towards innovation and creativity have become a necessity in the production of goods and services.

The new age production economy (Knowledge Economy) has created tension with people vested in the Old Industrial Economy. The Old School economy is rooted in corporatism and large scale solutions. The reality of modern technology offers us the possibilities of homestead and neighborhood (local) based microsolutions, such as energy networks. An example is food, where we have seen industrialized, large-scale, subsidized production of basic foods, like corn and soy, versus a developing, smaller-scale, localized production of food on microfarms and distribution through their networks.

Though there will always be tension in an evolving society, this economic evolution is changing how things get done and constantly creating new opportunities to innovate products. 

Creativity – the ability to transcend traditional ideas, rules, patterns, relationships, or the like, and to create meaningful new ideas, forms, methods, interpretations, etc.; originality, progressiveness, or imagination. 

Capital - Consists of anything that can enhance a person's power to perform economically useful work.  There are five types of sustainable capital from where we derive the goods and services we need to improve the quality of our lives. Those 5 types of capital are Natural, Human, Social, Manufactured, and Financial capital. As a community, we need to identify our capital resources and assess what we can we do to be relevant within that framework of reality?

Capturing & Captivating the marketplace – We want to gain a grasp of the marketplace by understanding our place within market realities, which will give us a better position of strength. Then we can utilize that information to exert our influence over prospective investors in our community by gaining their attention/interest in what we have to offer.

Coordination & Cooperation – Legacy (Old Industrial) communities must forge new partnerships with their counties, neighboring communities, their State, the federal government, and other economic entities aligning their efforts both vertically and horizontally.

Consolidation – Efficiency needs to become a priority in reducing redundancies of process and maximizing the allocation of scarce resources.

Care - (Maintaining/Sustaining) taking care of the capital and infrastructure we have, while evolving towards new realities, efficiently utilizing scarce resources. What good does it do to obtain new capital or build out new infrastructure, if other infrastructure falls into disrepair? This would be a misallocation of scarce resources.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

I have added a Donation button to this site. It takes a lot of time and energy to write this material. Any contribution will be kindly appreciated. This isn't a career move or anything. If I get any money, I can assure you that I would use the money to write more and enhance the purpose and the mission of The Hickory Hound. Thank You. Peace Out.

HDR Letter to the Editor: 'Time to come together on economic development'

Jerry Willard was my Economic and Government teacher when I was in 9th grade (1980-81) at Newton-Conover Junior High School. A great mentor and role model to many in this community through the years.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hickory Daily Record Letter to the Editor: ‘Time to come together on economic development’ - (August 16. 2017)

Some years ago, I wrote a letter to the community through this forum to help us remember a founding principle of Catawba County’s birth and economic development.

I highlighted the entrepreneurial spirit of our founders who found conditions, resources, and the strong work ethic which made our region grow and prosper.

While I have seen and heard much in my time as an educator (now teaching in year 47) about economic development, I have yet to see a real plan that taps into that entrepreneurial spirit that made this area a great place to live.

As a component of a new plan, I advocate marketing to the nation and the world, “Young folks with great ideas for start-ups, we have buildings and plans to grow new businesses, provide you incentives, and a commitment to foster the Catawba Valley entrepreneurial spirit. Come on in.”

I call on leaders to make sure all stake holders have been included in the development and implementation of plans, and that all plans, especially those which have promised results from bond funding can be assessed for effectiveness?

I feel we spend way too much time and money putting lipstick on pigs to attract the “big companies” rather than truly developing economic foundations.

It’s time to focus on growing the culture and environment that made this a great place to live in the first place. It takes work, transparency, and a great plan to enhance a culture.

We have a vibrant university in town, we have solid and well-focused public schools, we have growing and niche based private and parochial schools. We have a great place to live; but we don’t have a sound, researched-based economic development plan.

This is not a factor of not caring. We care, and our leaders care. I feel we just don’t have the knowledge, research, and models to make us more aware and more successful.

You know, Greenville, S.C. didn’t just happen. They had a highly sophisticated and transparent plan based on consensus goals with metrics for measuring success.

If this county and region has financial resources to support economic growth, it’s time to make sure those resources are part of a sound plan. A house built on lipstick and sand might make us feel pretty and that we are at the beach, but we know the results of such foundations; the Good Book tells us the same thing.

It’s time to come together on economic development with a little Christ-like humility on a plan that is researched-based, and that works for all of our citizens.

It’s time for our citizens to ask some hard questions about economic development.

Jerry Willard

Hickory

Letter to the Editor: We've been selling. People aren't buying.

Below is my Letter to the Editor that was in Tuesday's (August 1, 2017) Hickory Daily Record - My mother encapsulated the thought about Hickory's 2017 Mayoral election when she told me, 'I read all of those press releases. It's like the same person wrote them.' I'm not here to cast aspersions about this issue. You can go read articles and threads from this website. It is all about the true, real Economic Development plan that this community has been in desperate need of for a long, long time.

• *Hickory - The Fixing Hickory Series
• *Hickory - Time to put the Puzzle together
• *Problems and Solutions 2012
• HoundVision on YouTube
• New Media Bibliography
• Platform for a 21st Century Hickory
• References to where we are today
• The Reaffirmation of Independence

At tonight's City Council meeting City Manager Warren Wood talked about the creation of a plan for Long Term Economic Development. Essentially, there is going to be a new chain of command and accountability. God, I hope so, but this is about the people we elect more than the paid professionals. I'm on board with Warren, because I think he is open-minded about possibilities. 

For far too long, we've put the cart before the horse. Somebody in a position of authority would get a wild hair up their (#youknowwhere) and decide to run with it. That's the absolutely 100% wrong way to do things. Democracy can be uncomfortable, but when you get people of diverse circumstances to come together and hash out issues, then you come up with the best ideas, you get everyone to buy-in and pull in the same direction. It makes for a happier community even when circumstances are less than ideal. When you dictate policy through a top-down authoritative chain of command, then people feel #miserable.

Like Warren pointed out tonight, we have some real opportunities and possibilities for Economic Development. This will not happen unless the elected leadership and the people who vote for them understand that we can't afford to continue with the S.O.S.O. (Same Ole Same Ole)... and folks we are still on the path of the same ole same ole, no matter what they say.

Like I've said, I don't pretend to have all the answers. I don't think any one person does. I am willing to listen and I hope others will afford an open mind. If anyone wants to send me an e-mail about what they think would be a good idea, then please do so -- hickoryhound@gmail.com 

I had another good friend pass away this week. Richard Garrison, a news reporter with WMNC in Morganton passed away due to complications from Diabetes. Richard would sit beside me at Council meetings and he was one of the people I spent hours speaking with. I will miss him greatly. He actually worked with my grandmother at WIRC radio back in the 1980s. She ran the swap shop at that time and it was one of Richard's first jobs in radio. We had a special bond because of that. Richard loved politics and he knew all kinds of stuff and he loved informing me about happenings around the area, the State, and basically everywhere. I called him Rickee, he'd laugh cause no one else called him that. Peace Be With You Rickee. You are now immortal.

Below is my letter.

-----------------------------------------------------------

Election season is upon us and in Hickory we see four contenders for Mayor. We've read press releases in this paper about why they are running, those reasons sound as if the same person wrote the summaries. They all tell us about job creation, attracting population, and building out infrastructure.

These candidates tell us that our economic problems have been related to issues with "Branding", our "Message", Marketing and "Selling" our community. Personally. I don't think our issues relate to all of that as much as what is the Substance of our message.

This community deserves specifics about each candidate's "Economic Development Plans" and their "Vision" moving forward. What are the objectives of their plan? How would they strategically implement it? Will they pledge to transparency and accountability measures? How will they work towards community buy-in? What will they define as success?

I believe that the candidate that can articulate the above is the person who could help bring businesses here.

Honestly, we don't have a sales problem in our community. Look at the decision makers in our community. They are all salespeople. They sell Insurance, Financial Services, Real Estate, Furniture, Hotel Rooms, etc. I'm not here to dismiss the capabilities of a good salesperson, but maybe we need to take a look at the other side of the Economic Equation.

In economics, the other side of the sales equation is demand. We live in a growing State. Since 2000, Charlotte's population has grown by more than 50%, Raleigh up 65%,  Asheville up 30%, Wilmington up 55%.

In that time, Hickory's population is up by 8% and virtually nothing since 2010. For more than a decade, we've been working on branding, messages, and marketing. We've been spending a lot of public money on such initiatives. We've been selling. People aren't buying.

I understand that people want a positive message, but I think we really need a serious message. We don't need a "Me Too" message. We need a Mayor who understands the demand side of the equation. What do people and businesses want?

Catch Phrases and Buzzwords might make for comfort, but it isn't going to bring in big business or the masses. The future Mayor will have a choice to make. Is he going to go along for the ride or is he going to drive. I'm interested to find out.

HDR Letter to the Editor Letter to the Editor - Dr. Ralph Griffith has legitimate concerns

Below is my Letter to the Editor that was in Sunday's (July 9, 2017) Hickory Daily Record - They entitled the article "City needs to consider recent bond projects debate"... I wrote the letter because of some of the false premises that I read related to Dr. Griffith's resignation from the Bond Commission. The Bond vote passed and I am not going to belabor a three year old issue, but I believe that there is still room for discussion about the "Economic Development Plan" side of the story. We still need to look at it's objectives, the strategic implementation, the need for constant (re)evaluation of the plan, transparency, accountability measures, community buy-in, and the pay off - what will we define as success?.

I don't pretend to have all the answers and I don't think any one person does. I also don't think people locked within a Daytight Compartment, that becomes an echo chamber, can come up with a plan that will be truly successful. Anyone can say something is successful, but will it be organically successful? Will it feel successful to most of the people of Hickory?

What you need is to bring people from all backgrounds, cultural and economic, together where the thought is that no ideas are considered bad and/or looked down upon. Everyone has something to contribute in a real community. You shouldn't determine outcomes before you begin strategic processes. You shouldn't rig processes. You should use an open-minded, open-ended discussion of ideas to move forward with a strategic process that develops a plan through consensus, not dictates, that genuinely benefits the community (the entity) as a whole.

-----------------------------------------------------------

10 years ago, I was permitted to write a guest column, in this newspaper, about my view of the economic plight of this community. At that time, some of my statements were construed as a little less than congenial. Last week, I read how Professor Ralph Griffith, had resigned from the Bond Commission, because he did not agree with its progress and direction. It seems that Dr. Griffith is now being misconstrued as a rabble-rouser, because he isn't "All-In" on the message of the power structure that controls the City of Hickory.

Over this past week, I have listened and spoken with Dr. Griffith. I did not know him before, but I will tell you that he isn't a trouble maker. He has actually studied and taught Entrepreneurship and Economics and his goal is to help people in this community, where he lives and works. Personally, I have a degree in Finance from UNC-Wilmington and I have 30+ years of working experience in one of the few growing sectors of business in this community. I understand where he is coming from. We should look at the real, big picture.

Years ago, I was at the forefront of telling this community about its losses, including the loss of younger people. Initially, I was ignored, now much of what I spoke of has become commonly accepted.

What's the deal? I truly believe in order for our community to move forward towards viable economic growth, citizens need to demand a strategic plan to accompany the Bond Projects. This should have been in place prior to the referendum, instead of the "If you build it, they will come" trek that we have been taken down. City leaders talk about Greenville, South Carolina as a model to follow. First, Greenville got BMW, which led to all of their community development efforts. Greenville then developed a solid plan that is transparent and has accountability measures. That is what this community needs.

A narrative has been created that the "Bond Projects" are a done deal. The Bond Ordinance, as voted upon, specifically outlines "Other Projects." As much as some people may not like it, the ordinance allows for dialog on "Other Projects." Before we dive completely into the deep end, we may want to rethink our objectives in the $40 million bond issuance that this community is going to be on the hook for.

James Thomas Shell

Peace of Mind Devotion

I was placed in charge of delivering a devotion to my Church Council last Sunday and here it is. I know I haven't been writing. Just haven't felt the need, had the energy, or the calling. I would like to say that I am sorry about Mayor Wright. Prayers to him and especially his family. I hate that anyone loses their Peace of Mind to that extent. It's certainly been a tough couple of years. Peace and Blessings as we all move forward together through life.

Peace of Mind Devotion

“So then faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God.” Romans 10:17 (NKJV)

I have a hard time with my career. I love cooking, but I don't really like doing it to earn bucks, because I don't get to cook what I want. I'm a Hessian. I'm a hired gun. My skills aren't used to cook for connoisseurs of fine food. I'm cooking for eaters and eaters don't often care about Escoffier or the five Mother Sauces or cooking techniques or the timing involved in getting food just right. Dey Hongry and they want it right now.

As a chef, I have to be both a scientist and an artist. Heck, some people even expect me to be their nutritionist. I have to be creative, yet structured. I take my job seriously, because it is my career, but sometimes I just want to let go. It can be very frustrating and these days, because of current economic conditions it isn't very rewarding and me having a background in Finance, not having financial success equates to not being successful.

I don't sleep well, because I worry about how I might have messed up that night, said something bad or that might be misconstrued in the Heat of the Moment, performed below my personal expectations, which in my mind can be conjured up to be perfection, which we all know is impossible, but isn't that what is sold to us by our society -- "Mission Perfection" which is "Mission Impossible".

I am talking about stress. I worry, because I'm not sleeping and between Friday at 3pm to Sunday at 10pm, I'm going to be working 29 of those 56 hours. And I've got to keep chugging along, because I have to keep paying my bills and meeting my obligations. So I worry past tense, present tense, and future tense.

Philippians 4:6 says “ Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.” I try not to worry, but it creeps in. It's just part of my nature. But, I do pray and I do want and need God. That is why I'm here. I probably wouldn't be here, if I didn't have those worries. I want to be a good person.

Worry is part of our human nature. It is the consequence of our imperfect world brought about by ourselves and our surroundings dating back to original sin. We are the product of all of that and we carry it forward.

Our imperfect human nature always displays what it is to be separated from God. That divide usually appears in the emotions of fear and anxiety.

As a child of God, we are called to be faithful and devoted to God, not fearful and anxious towards ourselves. Personally, I have always believed that everything happens for a reason, not necessarily because of some form of predestination, but because of the lessons of life we all must learn and go through to create the synergies that make the whole of this world greater than the sum of its parts.

You remember Schleprock from the Flintstones. He always walked around with a cloud over his head. At times, I've been guilty of that. What if we all walk around like Schleprock, with clouds over our heads. We all face challenges. That is the reality of this world. We have a choice. God gives us that choice. The world isn't perfect. I do not say that we can make everyone positive, but the world isn't going to be perfectly negative either.

You might not understand this, but we are all farmers in this world. We plant seeds (ideas, actions, and mindsets). Our ideas, actions, and mindsets germinate, grow, and bear fruit. Does a plant bear one fruit? Think about that tree and all of the fruit it bears.

We can take our personal lessons, as individuals, and have wowsy, wowsy, woo-woo negative attitudes and if we affect change in that manner, then we are going to grow a dark world filled with exponential negativity or we can sow our seeds as problem solvers and have a can do spirit and reap a harvest of exponential positivity.

Where do our fears and anxieties come from? Generally they come from the unknown. In our mind, we create our own monsters. We conjure up those monsters from uncertainty and unknowns. Left to our own devices, we can turn an ant into a dragon.

How do we turn away from that? How do we tame that beast that our mind can become? Reach for certainty. Reach for the known. We know that God loves us. How many times are we told this in the Bible. Trust in God and know that he loves you. Think about God, when you are lonely in this world and think it is you versus the world. Your Faith can push back your anxiety and your fear. Fear will always be there, but you need to learn how to tame it -- to control it.

God has a plan for us. We can't see the future and we don't know what our harvest will bring, but I do believe we understand God's plan.

Remember Philippians 4 verse 6
Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.

Philippians 4: 7-10 goes on to tell us
7 Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. 8 And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. 9 Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you.

Remember that God will always be with us!

Warren Wood will be new Hickory City Manager

Warren Wood, former Hickory Assistant City Manager, will assume the position of Hickory City Manager on April 10, 2017. Warren, as many of you know is a Hickory Native. He has been the City Manager of Waxhaw, NC for the past couple of years after leaving the Assistant City Manager position he had held in Hickory.