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THE RIGHT SPOT
Stanly County is moving into the future while protecting its rural roots. That balance is attracting businesses and residents.
About five years ago, 282 acres along highways U.S. 52 and N.C. 24-27 in Stanly County were no more than a patch of unused dirt. Today, the property includes the Albemarle Business Center, a Class A industrial park. “We have a site ready for development,” says Elizabeth Underwood Kazimir, director of the county economic development commission. “The city of Albemarle has invested over $12 million to prepare the site, the road, the infrastructure. We’re excited. It’s like the gold shining star in the county right now.”
There are more bright spots in this corner of North Carolina. The town of Locust is building an $800,000 park complete with playground and ADA-compliant pathways. “Locust is becoming a hub for young professionals and families, because it’s accessible to Charlotte, but it’s also affordable,” Kazimir says. “It’s not a bedroom community at all. People want to get somewhere where they belong and can be involved in their community, and they have a lot of community events. There is momentum and energy in Locust.”
According to the Charlotte Regional Business Alliance, Stanly County’s population is 64,578, about 1,000 more people than in 2023, and it’s expected to increase to 69,215 by 2030. Many are choosing to live in Locust and other communities in western Stanly County. That’s where subdivisions are sprouting up along routes that share pavement with Mecklenburg County. It’s less than 20 miles from Locust to Interstate 485, which circles the Queen City. “It’s definitely getting closer,” says Jeff Parsons, vice president of academic affairs and chief academic officer at Stanly Community College in Albemarle. “There are a lot of houses being built in Stanly County; it’s hard to drive more than five minutes without seeing houses being built.”
Parsons says location is a key asset for mostly rural Stanly County. “We’re close to Charlotte, but on the other side, we have the Uwharrie National Forest and lakes, so it’s two different experiences,” he says. “It’s like a Goldilocks moment. We’re in just the right spot, really.” Officials are working to ensure Stanly County remains the right spot. Business recruitment is a priority but so is preserving land for agriculture, the county’s top industry. And they’re developing unique assets, too.
IN THE FOREFRONT
Stanly County Airport in New London, north of county seat Albermarle, is one of the state’s 62 general aviation airports. Its 12,000-square-foot terminal, which was built in 2010, has two conference rooms, passenger waiting area with fireplace and wide-screen television. The airport also has rentable hangers, a flight training flight training school and sight-seeing flights. But something different took off there in October, when a ribbing-cutting ceremony opened Phase 1 of North Carolina Emergency Training Center.
NCETC plans were announced in 2017. Gov. Roy Cooper signed a budget four years later that dedicated the first $28 million toward its construction, including a state-of-the-art aircraft rescue and firefighting crash simulator. State Fire Marshall Brian Taylor has been the key player in working with state leaders to bring the project to fruition, says Mark Tyler, chief operating officer of the Office of State Fire Marshall. “He’s been very instrumental in making this happen,” he says. The state has committed $87 million to the project so far.
NCETC provides world-class training for firefighters, law enforcement officers, emergency management personnel and members of the military. The center hosts a variety of courses, including Swift Water Rescue, Aircraft Firefighting, Urban Search and Rescue, Hazardous Materials Response and Fire Investigation Technician. About 275 people attending the opening, when they witnessed demonstrations of aircraft rescue burns, jet fuel burns, and swift water boat and helicopter rescues. “This is a statewide facility for anyone in the fire services and rescue services in the state,” Tyler says. “We’re close to getting water capabilities, and we will have national and international interest.”
The water sector, expected to be complete in January, simulates events emergency workers encounter during floods and hurricanes. “There are three primary components,” Tyler says. “[First is] a self-contained water facility, where there’s a big lake, where all the water is stored, then we have massive pumps that pump it into a swift water channel, like the Whitewater Center. And we have a third component, an urban flood village. We open the water into an urban streetscape, like we’re doing rescue work in a small town. We also have boat operators on the lake who train in various components and an environment where we can simulate flooding like a river.”
NCETC’s Phase 2 is planned, and it will add to the center’s economic impact. Dormitories and a cafeteria will be built across the street from the airport. It’s expected to be complete at the end of the year. “People come from all over the nation to train,” Kazimir says. “The center is gigantic, about double the size of the Whitewater Center in Charlotte, but it isn’t for tourists. It’s just for training.”
IN THE CLASSROOM
Stanly Community College’s newest asset, the 31,600-square-foot Trades Facility, opened in October. “It’s exclusively for trades and revolutionary for our economic development efforts,” Kazimir says. “Not only can we show companies the building, but we can build a curriculum for them. We’re at a definite advantage over some other places in the state, because there’s talk like there will be a workforce deficit that will hit when our trade forces retire in the next five years, and we’re trying to get ahead of that.”
Named the Brown Building in honor of longtime SCC contributor Richard Lane Brown, the $12 million investment expands SCC’s programs in electrical line work, welding, mechatronics engineering, heavy equipment operations, computer-integrated machining, and air-conditioning, heating and refrigeration. Its new programs include plumbing, electric systems technology and building construction technology.
While many employment sectors are drifting toward artificial intelligence, Parsons says the hands-on skills taught in the Brown Building are timeless. It now has about 150 students, a third of whom are Career and College Promise high school students. “We have an employer advisory board, and one of the things we’ve encouraged all our programs to do is ask, ‘How do you see AI changing the workforce? How are your entry-level employees going to be different three, five years into the future?’” he says. “And we re-evaluate the skills we’re teaching and the skills they need. At the same time, parallel to that is for our students to leave here with a sense of reality and critical thinking and the ability to communicate. We need to incorporate reliability and dependability into the curriculum, because those are the students who will be successful.”
Parsons says AI won’t be the boss. “I think AI will change some jobs, but there’s an aspect of creativity that AI can’t do,” he says. “AI may take care of some repetitive tasks, but that means the skill level has to go up. For example, AI might help an HVAC worker troubleshoot, but they still have to verify what AI says. That level of critical thinking will have to go up, because AI does make mistakes. We work very closely with the [Stanly County] Economic Development Commission and oftentimes have a seat at the table when companies are having a look at the city. We also have meetings in our new facility. And it’s been very beneficial.”
When business officials tour the Brown Building, they find that “skilled trades” isn’t the same visual as in the past. “We’ve been very excited with the reaction,” Parsons says. “It’s a great facility to change the narrative of what skilled trades looks like. It’s not dirty and nasty. The equipment we have is top-notch. So is the faculty. You can have great buildings and great equipment, but unless you have a great staff, you don’t accomplish much.”
Parsons also emphasizes SCC’s Small Business Center. “It helps aspiring entrepreneurs with tasks like writing a business plan and finding resources for marketing, whatever they need to get started,” he says. “So, we encourage our trade students, like those who may want to run their own HVAC company or their own heavy equipment and grading company … to take advantage of the Small Business Center and get some experience.”
Misenheimer-based Pfeiffer University opened a Charlotte campus in 1977 and a Raleigh-Durham campus in 2004. It is a private liberal arts institution affiliated with the United Methodist Church and accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges. In 2020, it opened its $18 million Center for Health Sciences in Albemarle, where students study in the Master of Physician Assistant Studies and Master of Science in Occupational Therapy programs. “Pfeiffer’s presence is promoting expansion of the health science field in downtown Albemarle,” Kazimir says. “Also, we’re seeing a lot more foot traffic and vibrancy. Every time I’m in a coffee shop, there are young people in there studying or mingling.”
In October, while other in-state four-year schools were considering a 3% tuition increase for in-state undergraduate students, Pfeiffer announced itwould not raise its tuition. It said the move “underscores Pfeiffer’s enduring commitment to accessibility, affordability and high-quality education.”
Pfeiffer University President Scott Bullard says holding the line on tuition made sense. “We believe that a transformative, personalized education should remain within reach for every student,” he said in a news release. “By holding undergraduate tuition, fees and room rates steady for 2026-27, we are investing in our students’ futures and reaffirming our promise to keep Pfeiffer affordable without compromising excellence.”
IN DEMAND
Downtown Albemarle has been reinvented. No longer a stagnant textile town, it’s an emerging place for education, retail and affordable living. “Since the Health Sciences Center opened, downtown Albemarle has shifted from a quiet business district to a place with more life after hours,” says Lindsey Almond, the city’s economic development director. “Students, faculty and new residents are walking the sidewalks; monthly or weekly events draw people into the evening; the mix of uses is shifting toward ‘live-work-play’ rather than just 9-to-5. The adaptive reuse of historic buildings like the Albemarle Hotel and Lowder Hardware brings residents and demand for retail/restaurants.”
“The Residences at the Albemarle Hotel provide modern apartment living right in the heart of downtown, drawing new residents into the core and helping catalyze nearby retail and restaurants,” Almond says. “The building was redeveloped by Anchor & Pillar with 29 upscale apartments and a gorgeous restaurant-commercial space on the first floor. Like the Residences, [the Lowder building] is another key downtown conversion repurposed into high-end apartments with ground-floor commercial/retail — increasing the resident base downtown and adding demand for restaurants and stores after business hours.”
Downtown has a new Courthouse Plaza gathering spot, and an annual $90,000 Downtown Catalyst Grant, now in its fourth year, supports local downtown businesses with funds released up-front not as reimbursements. “The Catalyst Grant funds help make downtown more attractive and active, while the business park, Albemarle Business Center, is a regionally competitive site with large lot sizes, major infrastructure, proximity to Charlotte, ready utilities and a city that controls the site and is curating its tenant base.”
There’s baseball, too. “Three years ago, the city was ecstatic to announce that we were adding a collegiate wood-bat baseball team that is based in downtown Albemarle, the Uwharrie Wampus Cats,” Almond says. “From a downtown-vitality standpoint, having regular summer games, fireworks nights, such as on Independence Day, and associated events brings folks downtown in the evening, supporting bars, restaurants, retail and activity beyond the 9-to-5 day.” The team will be one of the six founding members of the Blue Ridge League this season.
IN THE FIELDS
The N.C. County Extension counts 649 farms in Stanly County. They cover 109,164 acres, which is 43.1% of the county. Most county farms, 299 of them, are in the 10- to 49-acre range, followed by 220 at 50 acres to 179 acres. Thirty-one are more than 1,000 acres.
Stanly County farms bring in their fair share of revenue, starting with what’s grown and raised. The market value of products sold in 2022 was more than $91 million; the net cash farm income was nearly $29 million. Top crops and livestock included cotton, wheat, cattle and turkeys.
Farming supports jobs in insurance, financing, equipment, marketing, food preparation and chemical distribution, in addition to farm labor, says County Extension Director Molly Alexi. “Farming is considered the county’s No. 1 industry and a vital economic driver, with top agricultural products including soybeans and chickens. The sector’s influence extends to the community by maintaining open space, preserving the county’s rural character and fostering a supportive local economy.”
Kazimir sees a priority in balancing rural and urban and land reserved for farms. “People elsewhere are losing farms, and that’s something we don’t want to ever happen to us,” she says. “What’s unique about us is we want to blend agriculture and businesses and grow the agriculture industry in our county as we grow. It’s our core identity. Agriculture is 100% now and forever will be our largest business in the county and the most-valued. We don’t ever want to get away from that.”
IN MANY ITINERARIES
Eastern Stanly County has 10,000 acres of lakes, Morrow Mountain State Park and Uwharrie National Forest, campgrounds and fishing holes, vineyards, golf courses, bike trails, parks and urban farms. All feed a flourishing tourism industry. VisitNC reports that visitors spent nearly $116 million in Stanly County in 2024; that’s $8 million more than the previous year. Of the state’s 100 counties, Stanly moved from 52nd to 50th in tourism spending in 2024.
Tourism is a group effort. “Visit Stanly, the Stanly County Convention and Visitors Bureau, partners with 10 municipalities, Stanly County and area attractions to promote visitors to come enjoy all the great activities and events held in each corner of the county,” says Kasey Brooks, director of Stanly County Convention and Visitors Bureau. “Visit Stanly works closely with the chamber of Commerce, Morrow Mountain State Park, hotels and attractions to encourage visitors to support the local businesses while in the county.”
Brooks says wedding venues, sporting events, restaurants, wineries, breweries, concerts and antique shops add to the list of visitor attractions. “Visit Stanly will continue to work to encourage visitors to come to Stanly County to enjoy our great natural beauty and perhaps stay a few days,” she says. ■
— Kathy Blake is a writer from eastern North Carolina.
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