That conclusion is not immediately clear from looking at the data of the last 20 years.
Even as the population has increased from roughly 141,700 people in 2000 to nearly 160,000 now, the total workforce has fallen.
In 2000, there were nearly 101,900 people employed across all industries in the county, according to state data for the second quarter of that year.
The workforce has still not reached its turn-of-the-century peak. The closest it got was when the total number employed surpassed 89,000 in 2019 before falling to roughly 78,200 under the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic this year.
Taylor Dellinger, a data analyst at the Western Piedmont Council of Governments, said the drop is a testament to both the severity of the 2000s recessions in the area and the increasing age of the population.
Manufacturing & Textile Innovation Network created hickoryrecord.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from hickoryrecord.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
December 15, 2020
DALLAS, N.C. December 15, 2020 Through a partnership with Catawba Valley Community College’s Manufacturing Solutions Center (MSC) and Gaston College’s Textile Technology Center (TTC) comes the birth of the Manufacturing & Textile Innovation Network (MTIN).
The partnership of these two centers is a vision of Dr. Garrett Hinshaw, president of Catawba Valley Community College and Dr. John Hauser, president of Gaston College. Both leaders see the MTIN as an opportunity for their respective colleges to work together to develop a regional workforce focused on advanced materials and textile testing development.
“This partnership is a model demonstration of how regional community colleges can leverage their assets to create value within a region’s economy,” said CVCC President Dr. Garrett Hinshaw. “Catawba Valley Community College and Gaston College are creating additional partnership opportunities for the future that will strengthen the workforce and pr