When a town's industrial base changes, uncertainty can be part of it

Change can definitely be a lot to take in, especially when it involves something as large as a municipality.

When a municipality shifts from mainly one industry to another, the transition and uncertainty can be stressful.

This was something I experienced in multiple places I lived, even the larger ones.

Everyone checks out the unemployment numbers at some point. You want to know how your county is doing. Or, maybe you want to see who has the best or worst rate.

I can remember when it was part of my job. No, I didn’t work for the state. No, I’m not going to talk more about the time I was laid off during the 2008 recession.

It was years before that, and I was working for a weekly newspaper in my native county. The county had a really high unemployment rate since mills were closing and those jobs we’re not getting replaced. This was a heavy textile area.

It was so bad that I was talking to the area director for one of the state’s sitting U.S. senators. I went to his news conference at the local community college. I also made the larger nearby metro newspaper. I’m sitting with the newspaper’s camera around my neck and looking down at my notebook and likely scribbling notes. My handwriting borders on illegible in these settings. I was wearing a shirt and tie given the occasion.

So, when a federal politician makes an appearance in your town because of high unemployment, it is high. There’s no question.

My job still existed although it was certainly a little strange going about town chronicling the town’s faltering economy. I felt like I was a cops reporter going to a scene of a murder.

That feeling was real years later. I was a reporter for a paper near to my undergraduate alma mater. It’s certainly startling to get a phone call while grocery shopping, putting the items back and going to my car to unfurl a map across the hood. Then pulling out and heading for a rural spot across the county. Thankfully, it’s hard to miss the scene of such a horrendous act if you’re in the neighborhood.

Has the county rebounded? I have no clue if the transition has been successful.

Most similar or smaller counties seem to want to transition to tourism, which is a less steady approach. I’ve seen several small counties in the mountains that went this way. There are more restaurants and small businesses. This is not a bad thing, just an observation.

Going to a small, out-of-the-way place with a quirky downtown to leisurely sip a cup of coffee and read or complete a task. There’s nothing better. Then getting a meal from that restaurant or brewery that’s just up the road. Those are always fun things.

When I worked in the aforementioned small town near my college alma mater, it had shifted to more hospitality and tourism. One pleasant surprise was the coffee shop that opened since it was within walking distance from the office there.

Change can be hard and uncertain, but there can be little glimmers of hope along the way.