May Newsletter
A Note from the Director:
Dear Friends,
Last month, I noted the 2010 Census confirms North Carolina as more urbanized, more diverse, and growing. Additional Census numbers released last week paint an even clearer picture of North Carolina’s citizens and its communities.
North Carolina – like the rest of the nation – is aging. The number of people who are 55 and older has surged by 40 percent in the state since 2000, taking our median age to 37.4 years old. That news isn’t particularly surprising. Across the nation more than 10,000 Baby Boomers reach retirement age each day! That rate is expected to stay consistent for the next nineteen years as our nation continues to gray.
In three mountain counties the median age is near 50: Clay 49.6, Polk 49.1, and Transylvania 48.8. North Carolina’s youngest counties are Onslow 25.7, Watauga 28.4, and Hoke 30.9.
Behind these outliers lie averages that are more telling. In our five fastest growing counties (Wake, Forsyth, Durham, Mecklenburg, and Guilford), the median age is 35 years old. However, in the counties that have lost population in the last decade (Lenior, Jones, Hyde, Halifax, Washington, and Martin), the median age is 42.7 years old. That’s a 28% difference.
Clearly our cities have qualities that appeal to young people, and their sheer size alone offer choices unavailable in less populated areas. Attractive features include a diverse set of job opportunities that are often higher paying. According to the IRS, per capita income in fast-growing Wake County is $78,160, while North Carolina’s shrinking counties average per capita income of $39,830.
The numbers above raise all sorts of questions for the future of our state: How will we develop a workforce to replace those aging out of the job market, and also offer productive opportunities for an older population? How do we build our cities to meet increased demand, yet still support our rural areas? How will we balance the paradoxical needs for services for aging people and places with those required to invest adequately in our youth?
In the months ahead, IEI will bring together groups of people from all over the state to better understand challenges before us and offer options for addressing them. I will turn to you, no doubt, for guidance.
Anita
Despite the most recent economic downturn, the healthcare industry still experienced job growth — and was one of only a handful of industries to do so. According to the NC Health Professions Data System, from 1999-2009 there was a 3 percent growth in North Carolina jobs, and 46 percent were healthcare jobs. Because health service jobs are less vulnerable to outsourcing and economic recession, job growth in this sector is likely to continue, driven by demographic changes, population growth, and insurance expansion. Therefore, it is critical North Carolina and its local communities develop, plan and implement innovative workforce and economic development strategies to expand this important sector.
For this reason, IEI is holding a series of community health forums across the state to address strategies to growing the state’s healthcare workforce. The first in the four-part series, was held last week in Western NC in Lake Junaluska. More than 30 health professionals, educators, economic developers, and other community members gathered to discuss Western NC’s healthcare workforce, including some of the current barriers to growing a workforce capable of meeting the increased demand for health services in our state. Some barriers that were mentioned include faculty recruitment and retention, lack of collaboration among the healthcare industry, a system focused on sick care, not wellness and prevention, and students’ lack of preparedness for health educational programs. Participants heard from speakers and panelists from the area and were asked to develop strategies to overcoming barriers. These barriers, as well as identified opportunities, will be folded into IEI’s larger Healthcare Innovation program of work as a working group of stakeholders will come together to develop strategies to remove these barriers at the state level, paving the way for more supportive systems for innovating healthcare in the state.
If you missed the first community forum, you still have a chance to get involved! There will be three additional community forums held across the state, and they are free and open to the public. Registration is now open for the Southern NC community forum being held June 10 at Robeson Community College. Others are schedule for June 21 in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg area and June 27 in Eastern NC. If you are interested in attending one of these, please contact Sarah Langer at sarah_langer@ncsu.edu.
A report released today by IEI and Duke University’s Center on Globalization, Governance & Competitiveness, touts North Carolina as having one of the highest capacities for smart grid innovation in the country. Defined as the transformation of the electric power system into an “energy internet,” smart grid allows utilities and customers to share information in real time.
With its already existing firms, Tier I research universities, specialized research and development centers, and supportive government and nonprofit agencies, the Research Triangle Region puts North Carolina on the map as a smart grid hotspot. This supportive smart grid infrastructure will be an important selling point for regional economic developers as they lure new firms, jobs, and associated opportunities to our region and state.
The research team conducted an analysis that focused specifically on core smart grid firms and relevant assets in North Carolina, and specifically the 13-county Research Triangle Region. Their research found that the Research Triangle has nearly 60 smart grid firms ranging from power multinationals (ABB, GE, Siemens) and IT titans (Cisco, IBM), to energy giants (Honeywell, Johnson Controls), and small specialty ventures (GRIDiant, Plotwatt), collectively employing an estimated 3,000 local people.
The Center’s research was funded by North Carolina State University’s Institute for Emerging Issues (IEI) faculty fellows program, and was prepared for the Research Triangle Regional Partnership.
China has been an economic bogeyman for North Carolina but new census figures from that country suggest growing opportunities for our state. New figures from the recently released Chinese census point to a significant shift in Chinese demographics. Read more →
