There was little federal guidance when Maysville’s water supply tested positive for dangerous ‘forever chemicals’ in 2019. So town officials acted on their own. Soon after Schumata Brown was named town manager of Maysville, N.C. in 2016, he visited many of the town’s...
Growing EV industry could boost opportunities in rural NC
North Carolina has become a leader in the electric vehicle industry. With billions of dollars in investments from companies like Toyota and VinFast, the state is poised to see thousands of jobs created. In 2018, Governor Roy Cooper signed an executive order...
Meet the woman running for NC Ag commissioner to empower rural residents
North Carolina Commissioner of Agriculture candidate Sarah Taber plans to revive the state’s agricultural economy through common-sense business practices, infrastructure, and improvement of farm labor, all things that resonate with her rural constituents.
Rural NC communities get grant funding to address healthcare, infrastructure issues
The North Carolina Rural Infrastructure Authority (RIA) this month gave the greenlight to fund eight projects in communities across North Carolina, providing $1.5 million dollars to support a variety of projects and help create 270 jobs. “These funds make strategic...
Democrats increase their focus on NC’s once neglected rural areas
A national organization is providing grants to 17 rural counties to help Democrats pay for voter outreach that could help tip local and national races in this closest of swing states.
A new child tax credit could pass this month. Here’s what it would do for low-income families.
During the pandemic, Democrats changed the child tax credit and cut childhood poverty in half. Now there’s new hope for making those changes permanent, but there are skeptics.
Rural hospitals, nursing schools, and mental health support: How NC will spend its $1.7 billion Medicaid bonus
North Carolina expanded Medicaid last year in part because President Biden’s 2021 American Rescue Plan offered a financial incentive that will have equally huge effects on rural healthcare services.
Leo Williams: How a ‘country boy’ from eastern NC came to lead one of NC’s fastest-growing cities
Leo Williams is an up-and-coming political leader with a deep background in education. We talked to him about being the mayor of his adopted city, and the pressures of leading in tumultuous times.
NC farmers can’t repair their own equipment. It affects us all.
Imagine purchasing equipment that is critical to the success of your business that costs you tens, if not over a hundred thousand dollars, but you’re not allowed to make repairs on the equipment yourself. That is the reality that farmers in North Carolina and across...
This group has a plan to ensure NC’s Black rural voters are better represented
New Rural Project helped elect several candidates in 2023 by listening to rural voters who sat out in 2020.