For nearly a century, Winston-Salem, N.C. was a major hub of tobacco manufacturing. It was home to the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, which employed nearly 30,000 of the city’s residents at the height of its operations in the late 1950s. But as the decades wore on, Winston-Salem’s economy began to falter. Years of medical research about the dangers of smoking had taken its toll on the tobacco industry, and the city’s traditional manufacturing base began to dissipate. By the end of the 1980s, Winston-Salem had lost close to 10,000 jobs across multiple sectors, while R.J. Reynolds downsized the majority of its local workforce by 1989.
“Everything had been going so well,” says Gayle Anderson, former president and CEO of the Winston-Salem Chamber of Commerce. “We really didn’t feel the need to import any businesses or import talent.”
But they don’t call Winston-Salem the City of Arts and Innovation for nothing.
Since the late ’80s, Winston-Salem has revolutionized its stagnant economy with support from local business, educational institutions and emerging artists. In 1992, the Chamber of Commerce teamed up with nearby Wake Forest University to begin renovating the abandoned R.J. Reynolds factories in its downtown district, now a thriving research and business park. Dubbed the Innovation Quarter, it is a 330-acre space that employs 3,700 people and houses 170 companies and five academic institutions.
There’s been a rebirth of the city’s arts community, too. Spearheaded by local developers like John Bryan, the city’s once-vacant downtown transformed into a cornucopia of artisan shops, restaurants, breweries and even a Muay Thai studio.
Despite these positive developments, Winston-Salem isn’t without its troubles. A 2017 study by Winston-Salem State University found the city and surrounding Forsyth County ranked third-to-last out of a total of 2,478 U.S. counties in terms of economic mobility, and many of the residents most directly impacted by a lack of economic opportunity are African-American. This inspired Goler Community Development Corporation, a local urban real-estate nonprofit, to get involved, helping ensure all residents enjoy a share of the city’s recent success.
“When you concentrate poverty on a particular part of town, you’re not going to have great outcomes,” says Michael Suggs, president of Goler CDC. “In order to have a sustainable community, you need these different incomes together.”
Watch the full documentary above to see how Winston-Salem rallied its citizens to shape the future of its economy.
Tag: Winston-Salem
This Woman’s Brother Didn’t Receive the Care He Deserved, So Now She’s Working to Help Other Veterans
One North Carolina woman is proving that sometimes no one can look out for you the way a sister can.
Ciat Shabazz’s brother Harry Smith served in the Marines from 1972 to 1975, and when he came home, he expected for the Veterans Affairs (VA) medical service to help him take care of his health. In 2005, he began to suffer stomach pain and a number of other alarming symptoms. Despite repeated visits to the W.G. Hefner VA Medical Center in Salisbury, North Carolina, doctors didn’t take his concerns seriously and sent him home with painkillers or antibiotics instead of ordering an x-ray or colonoscopy.
Finally in 2006, Shabazz took her brother to Forsyth Medical Center in Winston-Salem, where doctors diagnosed him with a stomach tumor. His health had diminished during the year he didn’t receive treatment, and two years later, he died.
Shabazz turned her grief into a mission by forming the nonprofit Harry’s Veteran Community Outreach Services, through which she helps vets with their battles with the VA in addition to a variety of other services. On the nonprofit’s website is a link to click: “How can Harry help me?”
Shabazz’s office is always buzzing with phone calls and visitors, and her file cabinets overflow with the paperwork that she’s helping veterans complete. Recently, two Vietnam vets whose claims had been denied by the V.A. came to see her for help in filing appeals. “It looks to me that their records clearly indicate that their injuries are service-related,” Shabazz told Scott Sexton of the Winston-Salem Journal. “The appeals process can take up to two years. It looks as if the VA is dealing with its backlog by just denying the claims and moving them into appeals.” Her hunch may be right: In March 2013, the VA reported a backlog of 611,000 cases, according to Sexton.
Shabazz will help these veterans and all the others who come to her as a way of honoring the memory of her brother. “My brother died because the VA failed to diagnose and treat him in a timely manner,” she said. “As a result of that, I’m in pain. I feel the men and women who served this country deserve to be treated fairly and be compensated for injuries sustained during the time they served our country.”
With Ciat Shabazz on their side, many more veterans are likely to get a fair shake.
MORE: Her Husband Fought Overseas. Now She’s Fighting for Him.