In the NewS
FORBES: 4 Steps To Help Grow A Climate-Resilient Workforce
march 7, 2024
“The Industrial Commons is a North Carolina-based leader in the textile circular economy, with a focus on reducing textile waste and promoting environmentally sustainable practices within the industrial sector. The organization helps people start and partner with other companies, while developing skills training. Their support enables frontline workers to learn a broad set of skills that contribute to a “circular” textile economy, one that’s good for workers, businesses, and the environment.”
OPPORTUNITY YOUTH LET THEIR CAREERS TAKE FLIGHT THROUGH THE J.E.T. PROGRAM
FEBRUARY 26, 2024
Work in Burke launched a brand new program in Fall of 2023 called J.E.T. (Jobs, Education, and Training). The J.E.T. Program was designed to help address the needs of Opportunity Youth, defined as young people ages 16-24 not enrolled in school or employed, in Burke County through employment placement assistance, mentorship, and professional development opportunities. As of 2019, 22% of 16-24 year olds in Burke County qualified as Opportunity Youth. This demographic often faces barriers to maintaining employment or seeking postsecondary education and becomes disengaged with their community.
Cedar Mountain Canteen Transitions to Employee Ownership
FEBRUARY 12, 2024
Our friends at Cedar Mountain Canteen, a public house and listening venue in Cedar Mountain, are excited to announce their transition to employee-ownership with support from The Industrial Commons!
TIC Wins U.S. National Science Foundation Regional Innovation Engine Award!
january 26, 2024
The Industrial Commons has been announced as a winner of the inaugural National Science Foundation Regional Innovation Engine Award! Join us and our partners in celebrating this groundbreaking accomplishment for our region and textile sector.
WHKY: Initiative In Burke County Receives $225K Grant
June 20, 2023
According to a news release from the North Carolina Department of Commerce, the two-year implementation grants come from the NCWorks Local Innovation Fund, which Governor Cooper established as part of his NC Job Ready initiative to prepare North Carolina’s workforce for the jobs of today and tomorrow.
Next City: An Appalachian Model For Regenerating Place-Based, Community Wealth
May 9, 2023
Inspired by European cooperatives, North Carolina’s The Industrial Commons is building an inclusive economy that recognizes local workers as stewards of their trade.
CNN Underscored: Smartwool Second Cut review, Hike in socks made from your old socks
April 28, 2023
“Ever heard of a sock made out of old socks? Well, let us introduce you to Smartwool Second Cut, the first “circular sock” that uses old socks to make brand-new ones. Launched just in time for Earth Day, these super-comfy and sustainable socks are made from recycled, previously worn Smartwool socks.”
Press Release: THE INDUSTRIAL COMMONS SUPPORTS EMPLOYEE OWNERSHIP CONVERSION
April 28, 2023
Equinox Woodworks reaches goal, completes transition to a shared ownership business model with support from The Industrial Commons! Equinox Woodworks, a custom home building company located in the Celo Community of Yancey County, has successfully transformed into a worker-owned cooperative. The Industrial Commons (TIC) and their partners guided Equinox as they explored the legal and structural options for their company.
Mithun and team onsite at The Industrial Common’s Innovation Campus in Downtown Morganton, NC. Photo Credit: Franzi Charen
MITHUN CHOSEN TO DESIGN STATE-OF-THE-ART CAMPUS IN DOWNTOWN MORGANTON, NC
JANUARY 10, 2023
The Industrial Commons (TIC) is thrilled to announce the selection of Mithun, as the lead architect for the design and development of the Innovation Campus. Mithun is a multi-disciplinary design firm that was honored in December with the 2023 AIA Architecture Firm Award. The firm will help transform the 27-acre tract of land from a neglected brownfield into a thriving and sustainable hub of manufacturing and community activity.
Morganton News Herald: Coming Full Circle: Art studio wraps up student summer camps, hosts downtown art festival
August 6,2022
The Old School Studio (TOSS) will cap off a summer of art activities and summer camps with an art festival in downtown Morganton on Saturday. The centerpiece of the event will be a display created by Artist in Residence Zak Foster who worked with TOSS campers over the summer.
Morganton News Herald: Work Connections Agencies pilot new program to connect recent graduates with local industry
July 22, 2022
Opportunity youth are defined as the number of young people aged 16-24 who are not working or not in school, according to Sarah Crisp, program coordinator for Work in Burke. While the number of opportunity youth has fallen statewide since it’s 2011 peak, in Burke County, 22.2% of people aged 16-24 still fall into this category versus 11% statewide.
To combat this problem, Work in Burke, Burke County Public Schools, The Industrial Commons and Western Piedmont Community College are collaborating to pilot the Opt-in program.
Shareable: This Southern Appalachian town uses co-ops to build new communities around old industries
June 23, 2022
In the foothills of western North Carolina, the small town of Morganton is home to a growing co-op movement that’s reinvigorating the region’s once-struggling textile and furniture manufacturing industries, and refashioning them around egalitarianism and localism.
Morganton News Herald: TOSS holds community art festival
May 26, 2022
The Old School Studio (TOSS) and Burke County Public Schools hosted a community art festival on Friday, May 20. The festival included arts and crafts projects for children and adults, a food truck and a performance by Freedom High School choirs.
The draft site plan for the TIC Innovation Campus, created by Nelson, Byrd, Woltz, Landscape Architects, NVERSE Architects, and Baumgartner Urban Systems Strategy
TIC received a $500,000 EPA Grant to assist with the creation of our 30-acre Innovation Campus!
May 22, 2022
The site, once fully developed, will create 170 new jobs and $22M in annual economic impact. Scott Mulwee, Chairman of the Burke County Board of Commissioners, shares, “The re-development of this property will provide a significant boost to the growth of our community.” Morganton’s Mayor Ronnie Thompson says, “The City of Morganton is excited about the expansion of the Industrial Commons. Their work will have a positive impact on Morganton and the State of North Carolina for many generations.”
Forbes: 400,000 Pairs Of Old Socks Will Be Spun Into Recycled Yarn For Material Return, Smartwool Project
May 12, 2022
“Material Return was founded in 2015 and began operations in 2019, with an aim to keep industrial textile waste out of the landfill. The nonprofit says it uses a patent-pending process that recycles “circularly,” turning all of the textile waste into textile products. The socks are ground into a fiber, then spun into a yarn for use by Smartwool.”
Where to Next?: how to build a better future for manufacturing workers
May 2, 2022
“At The Industrial Commons, we’re based in a region of North Carolina where one in every three people work in manufacturing—so we’re thinking about the future of work for manufacturing workers. We’re launching and incubating new manufacturing jobs with an emphasis on equity, environmental sustainability, and community wealth by building worker-owned social enterprises. We are reimagining the future of work, so workers have the opportunity to grow as people within the workplace and be supported in their career.
Ownership Matters: What We Saw in Morganton; Restakis in Depth; the EO Transfers Funding Hole
April 19, 2022
Four Ways to Look at The Industrial Commons
As an emerging regional economic ecosystem and supply chain
As an experiment in the green and circular economy
As a connected group of liberatory and humanizing workplaces
As a vision of a future social economy
WRAL: COVID-19 and the workplace: How the pandemic has changed employment
March 8, 2022
"The companies that use this moment to embrace the future of work are really the ones that are going to be successful over the next generation," said Chester. "The companies that try to just go back to the way things were before COVID are probably not going to be as successful. I hope companies use this moment to rethink the way that we're doing things."
Co-ops are one approach to economic solidarity
March 8, 2022
The Industrial Commons promotes a “just, green, inclusive, community-led regional economy” in Morganton, North Carolina. Multiple cooperatives and employee-owned companies with more than 1,100 worker-owners are building on the history of textile production in the area.
Diversity on Tour: Program highlights diverse history of Burke County
February 16, 2022
Since its inception, Hometown Walkabout has hosted cohorts from UNC Health Blue Ridge, three North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics groups (including one of students), and a group of community leaders. Led by Dr. Leslie McKesson, The Industrial Commons diversity, equity, and inclusion facilitator, and Tea Yang, values and culture manager, participants are guided through a series of cultural stops where they hear from individual speakers and engage in dialogue about diversity. They then cap the program off by creating an art piece inspired by their Hometown Walkabout experience.
aspen institute: JOB QUALITY FELLOW, CLASS OF 2022-23, ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITIES PROGRAM
February, 2022
Sara Chester selected for Job Quality Fellowship!
Cultivating a Worker-Powered Cooperative Ecosystem in Western NC
January 25, 2022
A Conversation with The Industrial Commons’ Molly Hemstreet about our cooperative ecosystem.
webinar #1: “Building capacities for enhanced productivity in the co-operative sector in Italy”
December 2021
Learning from thriving regional co-operative ecosystems!
Commentary: Small Towns Making It Work
OCTOBER 4, 2021
“It’s not just about attracting existing employers. It’s also about giving people the tools to become employers themselves.”
Governing: 5 ways TO GET HUMAN-INFRASTRUCTURE INITIATIVES RIGHT
OCTOBER 31, 2021
“....an area’s traditional industries can be rejuvenated through mutually supporting strategies for workforce development and economic development that span jurisdictional boundaries.”
Be Your Own Boss: More Co-Op Businesses Are Returning Workers’ Power
SEPTEMBER 6, 2021
“Worker cooperatives can be part of the solution in building the working class and the middle class in this country.”
Dogwood Health Trust Provides Capacity and Operating Support to The Industrial Commons
September 8, 2021
The Industrial Commons is honored to be a recipient of a grant from the Dogwood Health Trust in their Economic Opportunity profile. The Dogwood Health Trust is investing in models like ours that break cycles of poverty, root wealth locally and support the long-term health and wellbeing of our communities.
Material Return is Growing!
Wall Street Journal: Far From Washington, Americans Are Finding Solutions
December 12, 2020
We were honored to be included in an article by Gerald Seib about community and grassroots responses to COVID. It highlighted the resilience of our model and how the immense effort provided an important focus for our organization and allies during a very difficult year. Our Co-Executive Director Molly Hemstreet said it best in the article, “It gave people an incredible sense of purpose.”