For the past 25 years, North Carolina’s once-vibrant furniture industry has been dwindling. Factories have moved abroad and thousands of jobs have been lost. But now, things might be turning around. As countries like China develop a higher standard of living, it's no longer cheaper for companies to move there. Some businesses are finding it cheaper to operate in the U.S. where, conveniently, there already are empty factories and a trained workforce. The new trend is called "insourcing." Ashley Furniture has already selected a 640-acre site in Davie County, NC to set up shop. It has the potential to create more than 1,100 new jobs. Host Frank Stasio will be joined by reporter Justin Catanoso; and Robert Evans, a recent graduate from Guilford Technical Community College, to discuss the return of the furniture industry in NC.
Longtime NPR correspondent Frank Stasio was named permanent host of The State of Things in June 2006. A native of Buffalo, Frank has been in radio since the age of 19. He began his public radio career at WOI in Ames, Iowa, where he was a magazine show anchor and the station's News Director.
Shawn Wen joined the staff of The State of Things in March 2012 and served as associate producer until February 2014.