“Transylvania officials consider economic development,” reads a headline in the Hendersonville Times-News. Translated, that means the county shall pursue a “visioning process.” Reasons given include:

  • The county “is at a critical juncture in its history.”
  • It is “in a pivot-point moment..”
  • It can “choose to move forward economically or be left behind.”
  • “Individuals were going in a whole lot of [counterproductive] directions.”
  • The closing of three manufacturing plants cost the county over 4000 jobs over a decade ago.
  • Home construction slowed during the recession.
  • County unemployment remains double-digit.
  • People have left the county in order to find work.
  • Schools have lost enrollment-based state and federal funding.