Nine years ago, a New York Times front-page headline dubbed Wilkes County as “let down and left behind.” A poster child for the opioid crisis and tough economic times after factory closures and the departure of Lowe’s headquarters, Wilkes County’s median household income fell more than 30 percent between 2000 and 2014, the nation’s second-highest loss.
Today, Wilkes County tells a much different story thanks to a coalition of individuals and organizations working together to build a better community.
Finding Success with Music, Wine and NASCAR
An estimated 80,000 music lovers assembled at April’s MerleFest, which featured more than 100 performers. The annual event founded in 1988 honors Eddy Merle Watson – the son of internationally renowned folk musician Doc Watson – and is regarded by some as the largest and most prestigious roots music festival in the world. The festival has a $16 million economic impact on the county and raises over $500,000 a year for the Wilkes Community College Foundation. Headliners this year included The Avett Brothers, The War and Treaty, and Bonnie Raitt.
Additionally, Wilkes County wineries draw year-round crowds, including events such as weddings and bachelorette parties. With close to a dozen wineries in the county, Wilkesboro Tourism Development Authority Director Thomas Salley estimated they attract more than 125,000 visitors a year.
Three years ago, NASCAR started hosting its annual All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro Speedway, which had sat largely silent since 1996. An estimated 65,000 race fans, up from 50,000 last year, came out for the six-day event in May.
While the All-Star Race is a big win, a regular season or playoff race that awards points to drivers would bring in more fans. “I feel like a points race or a playoff race is highly likely,” said Salley, a graduate of the Rural Center’s Rural Economic Development Institute.
Community Collaboration is a Driver of Economic Growth
Constant collaboration between businesses, government, churches, nonprofits, Wilkes Community College, and individual go-getters have all played a big role in the area’s economic resurgence.
“[Wilkes County] was the poster child for economic development and now it’s the poster child of proactive community collaboration,” says Zach Barricklow, associate vice president for strategy and rural innovation for the N.C. Community College System, an NC Rural Center board member and former Wilkes Community College vice president.
Wilkes Community College Helps Accelerate Local Success
Wilkes Community College (WCC), which serves students from Ashe and Alleghany counties too, is a partner in many of the county’s success stories.
In 2018, it established a strategic plan to double its student completion rate. To meet that goal, the college researched why students were dropping out.
“We found out nonacademic barriers constitute as much of the reason as academic barriers,” said WCC President Mike Rodgers. “We put together an emergency student fund (with proceeds from MerleFest) to pay for car repairs, rent, utilities, and childcare. Some students are just an alternator breakdown away from having to quit school.”
In the fall of 2026, WCC will start a Learn and Earn program for engineering technology, which enables students to work a few days a week and take classes on the remaining days.
“We will build the curriculum around a common set of objectives,” Rodgers said. “When you make sure your programs align with skills the employers need, the students win, the employer wins and the community wins.”
Examples of Recent Growth in Wilkes County
- Wilkes Community College doubled its graduation rate between 2018 and 2021.
- Provalus, an information technology outsourcing firm, is investing more than $1 million to open a facility that will employ 150 employees making an average annual salary of $45,852.
- Since 2015, 83 participants have received funds from the Economic Development Council’s Entrepreneur Grant Program.
- Wilkes Recovery Revolution, a nonprofit dedicated to substance abuse recovery, has seen such success that its programs are used as models in over 30 states.
- When PlayWorks Early Care & Learning Center faced eviction, the community rallied behind one of its only 5-star child-care centers. Grants plus donations ranging from $50 to $250,000 funded renovations of unused space at Wilkesboro United Methodist Church. The new space opened in March with room for 88 children, almost double PlayWorks’ former capacity.