Cabarrus County bounces back from tough times.

• Author: Burnette, Kristen
• Position: Special Advertising Section: Regional Focus

July was hard on Cabarrus County. Textile-maker Pillowtex shut down, idling 5,500 statewide--3,300 in Kannapolis and Concord, Cabarrus' largest towns. But county leaders want everyone to know that while they may be hurting, they're still pressing forward.

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When Pillowtex went bust, Cabarrus, like counties across the state, already was feeling the squeeze from the ongoing decline in traditional manufacturing, particularly textiles. "It has severely impacted our area," says Cabarrus Economic Development President Maurice Ewing. "But it won't last forever, and right now, we are highly motivated as a result of it." That motivation is shown in part by Cabarrus Economic Development's aggressive marketing. "We knew we would have to do something to diversify our economy," he says. "When the downturn occurred, fewer opportunities surfaced, and we felt the need to go out and dig a lot harder. Before, the business just came to us, but after the downturn, things dried up."

The county's response is based on two economic-development studies completed within the past three years. Ewing has his sights set on several new targets, including automotive, food preparation, generic pharmaceuticals, financial services, plastics, nonwoven fabrics, call centers and warehousing and distribution. He expects to have a couple of major announcements within the coming months.

Cabarrus Economic Development also is working to coordinate recruiting with the state and the Charlotte Regional Partnership, a nonprofit marketing and industry-hunting group representing 12 North Carolina counties surrounding the Queen City. "We have expanded our marketing activity drastically in the past 18 months and expect to increase it even more," Ewing says. "It may take a couple of years to sort things out, but we're working hard to minimize the impact on the local economy." As bad as the Pillowtex closing is, he says, it shouldn't be the only thing people think about when they consider Cabarrus. "Unfortunately, when something of this magnitude occurs, people tend to focus on the negative and forget about recent accomplishments."

Cabarrus Economic Development is working with other organizations to make sure those accomplishments don't stay overlooked. For example, after the first two quarters of 2003, the number of jobs created and the amount of investment were ahead of 2002. "We have to let folks know that Cabarrus County is still a great place to be, with positive...