Hickory, NC News & Views | September 21, 2025 | Hickory Hound

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https://thehickoryhound.blogspot.com/2025/09/hickory-nc-news-views-september-21-2025.html

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📘 Title:
Two Years in the Foothills: A Structural Record of Power, Policy, and Consequence (Sept 2023–Sept 2025)

🔗 Link:https://thehickoryhound.blogspot.com/2025/09/hickory-nc-news-views-september-21-2025.html

📝 Summary:
This feature tracks how global shocks, U.S. policy, and North Carolina’s investment wave translated into real conditions across the Foothills Corridor. It pairs dated indicators—rates, prices, projects, and storms—with local realities: housing stress, hospital strain, and uneven growth. The result is a clear civic map of what changed, what didn’t, and what that means for Hickory and its neighbors.

🔍 Key Topics Covered:
• Global trade, war, and energy realignment
• AI/semiconductor policy and data-center buildout
• Federal rates, mortgages, and housing affordability
• North Carolina mega-projects (AWS, Roche/Genentech, Jabil)
• Hurricane Helene’s regional aftermath and displacement
• Rural healthcare fragility and workforce shortages
• Foothills housing, wages, and labor-export dynamics
• The “Gear Effect”: international → national → state → local

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#HickoryNC #CatawbaCounty #FoothillsCorridor #WesternNC #NorthCarolina
#TheHickoryHound #TheHoundsSignal #ShellCooperative
#CivicPlanning #RegionalEconomics #IndustrialPolicy #AIInfrastructure
#HousingCrisis #RuralHealthcare #DisasterRecovery #HurricaneHelene
#DataCenters #CHIPSAct #PublicInterest Journalism