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How NC Mountain Communities became a Hotbed of Glassmaking

We often hear about "industry clusters" as a driver of economic development – groups of interdependent businesses in the automotive sector, health care, wood products, manufacturing, etc. But rarely do we think about smaller clusters, of local foods, music or, in this example, art glass. In this report from the Daily Yonder, author Stuart Rosenfeld describes how the Toe River Valley of Appalachian North Carolina have become a "world-class rural glass art cluster" which "includes almost 60 glass artists, suppliers, educational programs, art galleries, studio tours, and an incubator for art glass enterprises." While the area has recently begun promoting the art glass cluster as a tourism attraction, the article asks an even more important question:   Can a micro-cluster be a catalyst for a rural region’s economy? Art glass in the Toe River Valley has all of the attributes of a cluster: a concentration of  enterprises; a social infrastructure;  suppliers;  education; and innovation. (The innovation is both in the form and design of the products but also in the technologies of the furnaces and tools.)     But the real power of this particular cluster is that it’s embedded in a much larger art cluster that includes artists in many other mediums, which leads to many new applications and art forms that mix glass with other mediums.     For example, local home builders and interior decorators are using glass art and other crafts as architectural elements in their work.   More importantly, the art glass cluster contributes...

Appalachian Schoolkids Learn Entrepreneurship Skills by Starting Their Own Businesses...

We've always felt that one of the keys to revitalizing and diversifying Appalachia's economy is entrepreneurship, so it was great to see an article in Business Lexington about program to help schoolkids start their own businesses. Just like we want kids to start early on math, science and reading, thinking entrepreneurially also needs to start young. Funded by the Appalachian Regional Commission and run by the University of Kentucky, the program gives teams of kids $15 in seed money and helps them with planning, market research and implementation. If successful, the kids return the seed money but keep the rest for themselves. And it's made an impact:  Wells [a middle-school social studies teacher] said the students really liked the hands-on aspect of the program and “learned a lot by doing” while also learning responsibility and how to collaborate with other students.   Denham noted that while all students could benefit from E-Discovery Challenge, it is especially important to understand that ARC funds education projects that will benefit students in the most economically distressed counties where many schools don’t have the opportunities that some of the more “affluent” counties do.   “This is giving these students and schools the chance to shine and show their talent, and they are amazing,” she said. Read the full article here. ...

Crooked Road Builds Music Economy

From the always-excellent reporters at Making Connections News comes this story about how Southwest Virginia is building up its economy around its musical mountain heritage: All Appalachians know our region is rich in music – but this doesn't always translate in to money for local residents.  Yet the Crooked Road, southwestern Virginia’s heritage music trail, is working to change that. In recent years, through careful planning focused on local culture and decision making, this project has helped the region’s traditional music become an economic asset – for the people and place it comes from. To listen to the story, click here. ...

WV Non-Profit Wins Big Federal Grant for Local Foods

Good news for West Virginia's local food economy from the Charleston Daily Mail: the Natural Capital Investment Fund was recently awarded a sizable grant from the federal Rural Jobs Accelerator Challenge Grant. Their project, called the Value Chain Cluster Initiative, focuses on supporting all parts of the local food system in 17 West Virginia counties. This could mean big things for West Virginia's farmers and food entrepreneurs. From the article:  A separate January study by Downstream Strategies of Morgantown suggested the state could create more than 1,700 jobs if all West Virginians bought and consumed local produce during the growing season. Other jobs would likely be created in related industries the initiative targets, such as processing kitchens, slaughterhouses and distribution companies. There has never been such great opportunity for local food producers, said Tom McConnell, leader of the West Virginia Small Farm Center at WVU Extension Servicek. "Local food can make a better life for the farmers, but it can also increase the job opportunities for communities that stand up and get involved by adding value, performing the marketing and trucking and all of those things," he said. "One county school system in West Virginia spent $1.5 million on food, providing the equivalent of 57 full time jobs," McConnell said. "Now, will those be here or someplace else? That's for us to decide."...