The Industrial Commons has made a name for itself within the realm of worker-owned and circular manufacturing initiatives in the United States; we knew it was a place we had to visit to get some insights into their success.
We arrived in Morganton, NC on a hot summer morning just in time to join our tour of the The Industrial Commons’ main building. We had expected a walk around a noisy factory floor, but we were met instead with a packed itinerary of briefings on a lineup of different operations that fall under The Industrial Commons’ umbrella. We heard about murals and training programs and worker ownership schemes, and it was soon clear that there was even more going on here than we had imagined.
Photo credit: ReImagine Appalachia
The Industrial Commons can be thought of as a circular pie of activity, split roughly in half between manufacturing and community engagement operations. Throughout the day we saw that this balance between manufacturing and community action is what accounts for The Industrial Commons’ wide-reaching success.
The Industrial Commons incorporates collaboration, reuse, and empowerment into everything it does. On the manufacturing floor (a large warehouse space rented by The Industrial Commons and shared amongst members) an array of machines and work tables stand ready to combat fiber waste. Piles of old socks and scrap fabric two and three times our height towered above us. This is The Industrial Commons’ Material Exchange where fiber is collected from a 150 mile radius of Morganton and repurposed into new products like yarn, insulation (no gloves needed to handle!), and their line of recycled-wool socks made in collaboration with Smartwool.
Photo credits: ReImagine Appalachia
Member companies of The Industrial Commons consist mainly of small and medium-sized textile manufacturers. Aside from sharing the space, they also share book-keeping services and access to larger contracts such as the mask order they fulfilled for the state of NC during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Photo credit: ReImagine Appalachia
The Industrial Commons is deeply rooted in Morganton, and it aims to serve as a source of revitalization for the community, building local wealth instead of funneling profits elsewhere. There is a sense of pride around Morganton in the rich history of the textile industry there and the new jobs that are coming back after being lost to overseas producers. Part of the pride stems from The Industrial Commons’ employee ownership model, which demonstrates a commitment to the community and an invitation to everyone to get involved.
Past the Material Exchange floor and the industrial sewing training room, we walked into a summer camp held in a classroom space, in which students learn about reuse through art. Later we learned about the “Community Walk About” program designed to spark conversation and understanding between the diverse cultural and racial groups that make up Morganton. When we left The Industrial Commons that day, we got to see for ourselves the beautiful murals of local figures scattered around town, which were created through communal painting days.
Along with everything The Industrial Commons is already doing, development continues. Work is currently underway to expand their operations into a new Innovation Campus through a $10 million ARC ARISE grant. Phase I of this project is a 40,000 square-foot facility that breathes new life into a brownfield site once home to a furniture factory. Ultimately, the Industrial Commons’ goal is to redevelop 27.87 acres complete with a downtown campus with incubation spaces for up-and-coming manufacturing and circular manufacturing businesses, office, art spaces, educational and worker training facilities, and eight acres of public parks featuring outdoor gathering spaces and garden areas. With the help of lead architect, Mithun, the Innovation Campus is embracing the Living Building Challenge certification, one of the most challenging and forward-thinking green building standards, aligning with core values in regenerative circularity and sustainability. To learn more about the Innovation Campus Vision Plan, click here.
Photo credit: Square Space
The Campus is slated to retain 530 jobs and create more than 80 new jobs, train hundreds of individuals in advanced and circular manufacturing, strengthen a textile supply chain, and connect local entrepreneurs across state lines.
Photo credit: ReImagine Appalachia
So, how can The Industrial Commons success be recreated elsewhere? The answer to this question does not have a simple answer, but it has to do with building on unique regional strengths, honoring history, envisioning the future, building empowerment, and cultivating trust; trust in partners, in the community, and in the process of embracing a new way of manufacturing. Our trip to The Industrial Commons showed us that it’s not just something magic in the water of Morganton. Through building on partnerships and working towards shared benefits for workers and the community, the principles held at the Industrial Commons could inspire a surge of responsible, circular manufacturing in other communities, throughout the region and eventually across the whole country.
Photo credits: ReImagine Appalachia