North Carolina Rising is a year-long project by UNC-TV, funded by the Golden LEAF Foundation. The project has examined “success stories” of rural NC communities that were once dependent on agriculture but are now transitioning to other areas of economic development. There have been 12 segments that have aired over the past year that have highlighted various rural economic development projects, with the aim of showcasing the diversity of such projects. The project is culminating over the next 2 months with 4 town hall meetings during which panelists (leaders from education, industry, and policy) will answer questions from the audience and online, with the focus on examining economic opportunities and struggles for rural regions of NC and what implications those struggles and opportunities have in relation to the entire state.
The town hall meetings will air at 8 pm on UNC-TV on the following Wednesdays – October 14 (UNC-Pembroke town hall), October 28 (WCU town hall), November 4 (Catawba County town hall), and November 18 (ECU town hall).
Click here for information on the featured projects. Click here for the town hall meetings.