The Industrial Commons breaks ground on Innovation Campus

Ground was ceremonially broken late Thursday afternoon for the first building to be constructed on The Industrial Commons (TIC) new Innovation Campus, on East Fleming Drive in Morganton.

The 28-acre site was previously home to Drexel Furniture Plants 3&5, but will now be the location for The Accelerator, a 43,000-square-foot facility designed to house small and midsize firms working in textile and furniture manufacturing.

A sizable crowd of TIC staff, state, and local business and political leaders, and interested local residents gathered under a large tent on the site, set up to shield the gathering from the wrath of a fierce June sun, which was rapidly obscured by the dark clouds of an approaching thunderstorm.

The keynote speaker for the ceremony was Gayle Manchin, federal co-chair of the Appalachian Regional Commission and the wife of former West Virginia Gov. and U.S. Se. Joe Manchin.

Also speaking were TIC co-executive directors Molly Hemstreet and Sara Chester, and Erin Kizer, TIC’s senior director of infrastructure, all of whom have helped shepherd a project that was years in the planning toward fruition.

Completion of The Accelerator is targeted for some time in 2027. The new building will also serve as a hub for skilled trades education and home to the N.C. Textile Innovation and Sustainability Engine.

Thursday’s ceremony also served as a recognition of the 10th anniversary of TIC, which was begun in 2015 by Hemstreet and Chester.

In her remarks, Hemstreet likened the growth of The Industrial Commons organization to the construction of a building.

TIC’s foundation, she said, “rests on hope, believing that the future can be better, believing in people, and giving them the confidence to believe in themselves.”

TIC’s walls, she went on, “are made of hard work and sacrifice, as we celebrate our triumphs and work through our failures.”

Finally, she noted, “The roof is made of creativity and joyful problem solving, as we work toward a future we may never see.”

Chester, in explaining the genesis of TIC, said the organization was grounded in the knowledge that “this community had been through some hard times, but still had so much to offer.”

She and Hemstreet also recognized, she remembered, that, “We knew nothing about textiles or furniture, but we surrounded ourselves with plenty of people who did.”

“We are revising an industry from being linear to circular,” she said. “An industry where absolutely nothing goes to waste.”

And just as the industry will be circular, Chester said, so too will the community. “We look not to cycles of poverty,” she said, “but to cycles of education and of success.”

In her remarks, Machin spoke of how honored she was to be a partner in an ongoing success story.

“Our priorities,” she said, “must continue to be education, workforce training, and career support. It’s not about programs, it’s about people.”

In addition to The Accelerator, the Innovation Campus is expected to eventually grow to include the main offices for The Industrial Commons, creative art space, and worker training and education facilities.

The on-campus buildings will be surrounded by nearly 8 acres of public parks, with outdoor gathering areas, walking trails, and gardens.

Plans also call for the eventual construction of worker housing near the site so that employees can live within walking distance of their jobs.

The Accelerator is being designed by Mithun, recipient of the 2023 American Institute of Architects’ Architectural Firm Award and will feature mass timber construction.

This means using an engineered wood method in construction that is as strong as steel but with significantly less carbon impact, TIC officials said.

In addition, hardwood trees salvaged from the aftermath of Hurricane Helene will be used throughout the Innovation Campus in custom finishes, including furniture, casework, and countertops.