In the old days, industry was a value rather than a word synonymous with pollution and fat cats. It meant working diligently to enrich the life of society. The industrious collected and refined natural resources and fabricated them into useful objects worth trading. You knew that.
Today, industry is seen as something that is supposed to “create jobs,” which means supply a paycheck for a number of people. It is not necessary that anything be produced for sale. To stay in business, companies can solicit grant funds.
Haywood Vocational Opportunities recently celebrated receipt of three grants: $480,000 from the NC Rural Development Center, $300,000 from the Golden LEAF Foundation, and an amount not reported in the news from the Cannon Foundation. To reinforce the interdependency of government and industry, politicians showed up for the ribbon cutting. HVO provides jobs for the disabled in a building formerly occupied by Wellco Enterprises. Wellco sold the facility last year after 68 years of operation, management stating it was “no longer economically feasible” to operate in Haywood County.
