The nonprofit’s 28-acre Innovation Campus is taking shape on the former site of Drexel Furniture Plants 3 and 5, where generations of Burke County residents once worked. The first phase centers on the Accelerator Building, which will provide incubation space for emerging manufacturing businesses. Long-term plans also call for workforce training and education facilities, creative arts space and nearly eight acres of public parks, trails, gardens and outdoor gathering areas.

That community-centered approach extends beyond construction. The goal is to create physical infrastructure that can help locally rooted manufacturers survive and grow over the long term. The Accelerator Building will provide manufacturing space for businesses getting started, while the larger site leaves room for successful companies to expand without having to relocate.

“Our real goal is that some of the initial smaller businesses that are getting started here will have room to expand and grow at the same site, so you don't need to leave if you are successful,” Kizer said.

For manufacturers, control over real estate can be especially consequential. Unlike businesses that can relocate relatively easily, manufacturers may have hundreds of thousands of dollars invested in machinery and building infrastructure. Electrical systems, plumbing and other improvements can be designed specifically around that equipment. Moving can mean dismantling machinery and stopping production for months.

“For American manufacturing to be competitive, that's not volatility you can [work with],” Kizer said. “Manufacturing is working on margins that are not huge. A business cannot weather a multi-month shutdown. So this idea that you can just pick them up [and move them to] a cheaper space is not tenable.”

The Industrial Commons is trying to offer businesses longer-term predictability, including rents that can remain more affordable than what tenants might encounter on the private market. That approach reflects a broader goal of creating businesses and jobs that remain rooted in the region for generations.

“We're trying to create businesses that we hope will last generations,” Kizer said. “We want to create opportunities that are going to be here for a very long time, but if you can only make financial predictions for five years, that's tough.”

For The Industrial Commons, this project builds directly on a mission that began when the organization formed in 2010.  

“Our primary philosophy is that we want to help the creation and sustainment of these locally-rooted businesses,” said Erin Kizer, chief operations officer for The Industrial Commons. “Historically, in our region, manufacturing has been controlled by outside entities who make decisions that ultimately affect our community in a very impactful way. So we want to ensure that those decisions being made about [our community are made] by folks who actually live within it.”

The location of the Innovation Campus gives that mission particular resonance. Drexel Heritage Furniture was a major employer in the region, and the company operated on the site for roughly a century. Production ended in the mid-2000s, and a fire destroyed the vacant factory in 2009. The land then remained vacant for more than a decade.

Before The Industrial Commons could build something new there, it had to address what the old industrial use had left behind. The property qualified as a brownfield and federal funding from the Environmental Protection Agency helped the organization clean up the property, including the removal of a very large underground fuel tank.

Sustainability and resilience have also shaped the design of The Innovation Campus. The Industrial Commons used principles from the Living Building Challenge to guide portions of its planning, although it does not intend to pursue formal certification. Plans include a solar array, and Kizer said Hurricane Helene reinforced the importance of thinking about how the campus could become more self-sufficient.

The campus is also being designed around the experience of the people who will work there. The Accelerator Building will use mass timber, with windows and skylights intended to bring natural light into spaces that could otherwise resemble more traditional industrial facilities.

“We [were] really thoughtful with our design team,” said Kizer. “The inside's going to be full of this really warm wood. There's skylights so people can actually see outside. These little things have a pretty significant effect on the lives of folks who are in these buildings all day.”

The project represents a significant undertaking for a nonprofit. The Appalachian Regional Commission provided a $10 million grant toward construction of the Accelerator Building, while the larger financing strategy has drawn on public funding, private philanthropy and other sources.

Kizer said the complexity and expense illustrate why nonprofit involvement was important.

“I think we were the right community-based partner to take this on because our goal is to get it cleaned up and put it back into good use for the community, as opposed to trying to make money off of this,” Kizer said.

For Kizer, the project offers not only an opportunity to strengthen manufacturing in Morganton, but a potential example for other communities trying to reclaim former industrial properties and put them back to productive use.

“I think other people can do it, too,” Kizer said. “I hope we serve as inspiration that you don't have to take the simplest, quickest path. It's been hard, but it's been worth doing, and we think it's going to be a huge value to our community over time.”

Learn more at TheIndustrialCommons.org/innovation-campus.