High Point Discovered

Scotty and Hannah talk to Amber Williamson and Hannah Ray about High Point being named an All-American City.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Welcome to Carolina. Cares Is ScottiBlaisdell and Hannah Tyler and familiar faces.
Amber Williamson is here and Hannah Raythey're from high Point discovered. Welcome back.
Thank you for having us. Thisis our first time to have you
guys in there, new fresh facilities. But now we're neighbors here in high
Point. Yeah, we're so excitedto have you guys next door. This
is such an exciting area to bein and having iHeart here makes it all

(00:22):
the better and it's really an excitingplace to be according to people that judge
these things. As a matter offact, Hannah, talk about this.
Yes, So the city of highPoint just had an amazing honor bestowed upon
it, the All America City Award. Tell us more about it, man,
that's crazy. Yes, So theCity of high Point is now one

(00:43):
of ten communities that has been bestowedthis prestigious designation. It means that we're
doing some pretty awesome things. Sohow does someone win an award like that?
So the award is actually granted bythe National Civic League. So they
come up with a theme every yearthat they present to the nation and they
ask cities based on your population,your budget, how are you accomplishing that

(01:07):
ideal in your community? So thisyear the theme that they presented was engaging
community voices in the democratic process.Yep. So we worked with we were
approached by the City of high Pointto help them kind of be the creative
storyteller for that theme in our city. So we picked three different projects that
we got to share about. Ifeel like before we go into those,

(01:30):
and I know Hannah asked some goodquestions about that, let's talk about what
high Point Discovered is in and ofitself. So high Point Discovered, plainly
put is a storytelling organization. Weare a nonprofit that truly is here to
promote all the good that's happening inour community. Let there be no question
what's going on in high Point ifyou have any of those finance at high

(01:51):
Point Discovered and that's right on theinterwebs. Yes, I do have to
point out because of high Point Discoveredas an office, we discovered our favorite
Mediterranean restaurant, yes and Odes ohyes, yes, because they're like,
let's go check this out. Theydid an article on You're not you guys
are our hero because when we weredown the street from that place, it

(02:12):
was a weekly thing. Is youknow all the food connected high Point discovered?
So yes, ODIs is the bomb. I do want a quick follow
up on the theme. In ademocratic process, I know that means so
much more than just oh, wegot people to come out and vote this
year. Can you elaborate a littlebit on that. Yeah, definitely,
I mean it did. It didmean that we had an amazing voter turnout.
We elected one of the most diverscity councils I think in high Points

(02:35):
history. But democratic process also involvesjust having a voice in solving the community
issues, and it's not just theleaders at the top, it's actually the
community members doing that work. Sowe selected three different projects, not led
entirely by the city, they wereled by independent nonprofits and other groups in
the community to say, how didwe engage not just the people who are

(02:57):
making the change, but the peoplewho will be affected by that, and
how do we hear their voice aboutwhat their needs are, their goals,
their dreams, and their stories.Well, I know one of those was
I had to do with food,and we've talked a lot about that with
various people that have come in becausethis was considered a food desert at one
point. So talk about I guessnumber one on the three things that you

(03:19):
did. Yes. So we arevery fortunate to have a lot of people
that are problem solvers and one ofthose organizations is the Greater high Point Food
Alliance and we were number one infood hardship in the nation. Wow,
not something you really want to benumber one at. But with that being
said, it was a rallying cryfor so many passionate people to come together.

(03:40):
So Carl Virling, their executive director, and their steering committee, which
was a bunch of diverse and collectivevoices that are touched by that issue every
day, came together and created thisorganization that really is that round robin.
It's like, we want to solvethis problem, how we're going to do
it, and how we're going tomake an impact. So that's where we
have our urban community gardens that aresprowling up and answering that problem. We've

(04:06):
moved from number one to number fourteen. So we needed to showcase exactly the
power of fervent people that have apassion to really make fervent change in their
community. And the Greater high PointFee Alliance was one of those dynamic organizations.
I am just curious, how doyou narrow it down to those three
things? Because this is such anoverwhelming thing to specify. So there were

(04:29):
a couple of parameters. A lotof the impact for these programs had to
be within the last five years,and so they could have been initiated prior
to that. Been the last fiveyears, what progress was made, and
so we looked at that. Wealso looked at what do we have tangible
results from Because there's a lot ofgreat work happening and some of the work
is still in the oven. Thesewere projects that were a little bit more

(04:49):
baked that we could really go tothe public and if there were communities that
have similar issues, they can askus how we've done it, and we
can come back with that best practiceyou mentioned democratic bringing people together, everybody
having a voice. That's a perfectexample of that because this didn't happen with
one person doing something. This happenedwith multiple people saying here's what I can

(05:12):
do, and here's what I cando exactly. Passion meeting purpose. Yeah,
okay, let's talk about number twoon the list. Then what was
the second thing that you made inyour presentation? So the second thing that
we included was the Thrive high Pointinitiative, which is an initiative of Business
High Point Chamber of Commerce that supportsminority and female entrepreneurs in making sure that

(05:35):
they have everything they need to launcha business, to scale a business,
to provide investment capital for their business, just in general, to have a
really wrap around ground of equity forthem to start so that their business can
be just as successful and just asimpactful as any other business that previously maybe

(05:56):
had you know, a leg upin the world. And raising that groundwork
of equity for business owners. Iam curious, what is our business growth
r like? Did you have anumber where in the last five years x
amount of new businesses started because ofthese initiatives? So I believe that there
are over three hundred over five hundredAmber who said, over five hundred Thrive

(06:19):
members. So that means people whoeither had a business already or had a
business idea that have joined to kindof get that launched. And then Amber
you can speak to the microgrants thatthey've awarded. Right. So in addition
to of course the programmatic solutions thatthey provide to these businesses, Drive is
also investing capital and so if thereare businesses that, again had they're in

(06:42):
existence, but man if I justhad one thousand, five ten thousand dollars,
I would be able to scale mybusiness exponentially. And so today I
believe they've given out over one hundredand fifty thousand dollars through Thrive grants and
that's just in the last two years. Wow, what kind of businesses are
we talking about? Do you haveany examples of those? Yeah, they

(07:03):
run the gambit of logistics, clothing, food businesses. One of my favorite
stories that we highlighted in our previousmagazine is actually high Point Fashion Week,
which is an incredible addition to theWell I'm just finding out about this,
like when is the next one?Are we going? And we're sitting in
front row? Yeah so yes,so false. So they partner with high

(07:26):
Point Market so they actually do theirshowroom and their fashion shows in showrooms art
galleries. They did one of theAmerican Home Furnishings Hall of Fame that was
just phenomenally like this high level,beautiful, avant garde Vogue fashion show,
and the folks that started that werepart of Leadership high Point, which is
another business high Point initiative and Thriveand so there's an amazing story of one

(07:48):
of the co founders of that,Giovanni Hood. He said, you know,
I had this vision for so long, and until someone from Thrive really
said I can see it too,was I able to bring it to fruition
right. And now this brings fashiondesigners and models and everyone connected to the
fashion industry to high Point multiple timesa year. So it's those kinds of

(08:09):
things that don't just it's not justthe kind of business that we would always
think about. It's giving people theopportunity to create entirely new movements of art,
creativity and entrepreneurship in the city.Is there a way someone can contact
Thrive right now to get more information? Yes, So if you go to
Business high Point BHP chamber dot orgyou would be able to find Thrives information

(08:30):
and online you can submit a requestto set a meeting and even just join
Thrive as a whole. Wow.By the way, we're talking to Amber
and Hannah from high Point discovered theywere instrumental in this proclamation of high Point
being a all America city, allAmerican city. What are some things that
you think high Point is known for? Now, what's changing because for a

(08:52):
while it was the food desert,it was a place of hardship. But
it seems that's not the vibe thatI'm getting right now. That's right.
So I think the vibe is thathigh Point is a place with endless possibility.
So we're in such a special placethat if you just come to the
table, if you make your voiceknown, you will be plugged in.
You will get the resources you need. There are so many people that come

(09:15):
from different areas and they truly say, I've never felt as welcome as I
have in high Point. And againI'm a plug Congnan Yards next door.
I feel like that's the and evenStock and Grain, the adult student centers
of Ore. You know, youcome and you have a place where you
can truly meet your neighbor. Andwhen you meet your neighbor, you expand
the possibilities of what our community canbecome. And I should say this leads

(09:39):
right into the next point, whichwas the high Point City rebrand. Yes,
yeah, so what is the rebrand? What is the direction that you're
headed or we're headed now that we'repart of this community in high Point.
Yeah? Absolutely, I mean Ithink when we hear the word rebrand.
We often immediately think logos and colorschemes, right, but the city hadn't

(10:00):
done enough a full rebrand in yearsand and what they wanted was a lot
more than just logo and color scheme. Yes, you're going to see that,
You're going to see our you know, great flag that's flying right now
over True's Point. You're going tosee those great h dot logos right that
give us something to kind of visuallyrally around. But it was so much
more than that. It was actuallycreating a comprehensive story that we can all

(10:24):
as high Pointers collectively tell about whowe are. And so they established this
idea that there's four things that makehigh Point high Point, and that is
that high Point is the center ofdesign, high Point is a movement of
makers, high Point is inspiring creatives, and high Point is kind and inclusive.
And when we look at those things, they're not just pillars that you

(10:46):
know. Some branding agency came upwith They held activation summits all over this
city where they would actually take whiteboardsand surveys and go out to people in
literally like every part of high Pointfrom South high Point on the way to
North high Point and they would askthem these questions, what do you see
high Point as? What do youlove about high Point? What do you
hate about high Point? What doyou want to change about high Point?

(11:07):
And when they compiled all this information, those are the things that rose to
the surface, and so it givesus as a community as high Pointers a
story to tell to ourselves and aboutourselves to the outside world. And I
love those points you brought up.I feel like as high Point grows,
and sometimes cities in general, whenthey grow, it's let's bulldous down the

(11:28):
old and we'll build a new building. But you're really I mean, the
building we're in right now historic,Let's renovate it, Let's keep the charm,
but update it a little bit.That was really intentional, too hand,
like the way that they chose centerof design. You know, they
were saying, you know, we'reso known as the home furnishings capital of
the world right that it can feellike other things about high Point get overshadowed
by that. But they were reallyclear, we're not trying to lower that

(11:52):
identity. We're trying to raise everythingup to that identity. And we're trying
to empower every high Pointer to knoweven if you're not a firm designer or
a furniture maker, You're still adesigner and a maker, right. You
guys design and make all of thewonderful audio visual stuff that we experience all
the time. Right, there's acoffee barista, Deban who's making this artful

(12:13):
coffee that you drink. So howdo we as a community take ownership over
the fact that we're all creative makersin our own right. I never thought
of it that way, and Ilove it right now. I feel like
we're doing more than we thought wewere yes deep here, So now I
know you guys have the pulse onall things high point. I hate to
have you here and not ask becausewe're always looking for that new place to

(12:33):
check out. Are there some hotand happening places that do restaurant or coffee
place? Is there someplace that immediatelycomes to mind that maybe is not getting
enough love right now? One thatcomes to mind immediately is Joybar Coffee,
so eighty three custom Coffee, whichwe love right there on Main Street.
Owned previously by Justin Stabb. Therewas this great partnership transaction between him and

(12:56):
the mcdowells, who now owned JoybarCoffee are you know, changing that location
slightly. All the great things abouteighty three still in place, and they
just open a new location up onEastchester towards Palladium, which I was pumped
about because there's no like small localcoffee basically from like downtown area all the

(13:16):
way up to like maybe like CoreCoffee up in the North high Point area.
So it's great. And they alsoare going to be employing individuals who
have different developmental or physical disabilities toactually create this beautifully you know, equitable
work environment. And again that's ademocratic process in place. They are asking

(13:37):
people in that community, what doyou need to have a great work environment.
So Joybar Coffee absolutely a big hit, very good anything you want to
throw in the mix there. Thereare so many of our friends that one.
I just love when people take arisk on entrepreneurship because it makes our
community better. I will say Sutherlands, which it opened a couple Have you

(13:58):
ever been in souther No, tellus more. We are right down the
street. Okay, you know,halfy hour and Sutherlands done. So let's
go now let's Stardy Bye finishes up. So Sutherlands is a renovated what used
to be an old pizza hut onNorth Maine and they've transformed it into a
cigar lounge and bar right, Idrive by it and the other day I

(14:22):
saw it, I'm like, well, that was an old pizza hut.
They definitely changed up quite yet.Yes, it doesn't look like inside.
They've made a beautiful space for communitymembers to connect. And so you know,
I'm not like I've tried smoking cigarsonce and again, I don't have
the long to work it sounds right, yeah, But as far as like

(14:43):
the ambiance and again the vibe,like, we love places that bring this
unique flavor to our community, andI think that they've done a great job
at that. And if you havean idea for something to bring into high
Point, now that's a great timeto make that move. Yes, it's
a very welcoming place to be andobviously it is an All America and city.
Let's run through those three things again. You got the Greater high Point

(15:05):
Food Alliance, you had the Thrivehigh Point, and now this incredible high
Point city rebrand that's going on.Vibrant is the word that comes to my
mind. Yes, and I thinkit all ties back to one of our
core values at high Point discovered,which is pride of place. With each
of these programs that have been mentioned, everything going on and high Point we

(15:26):
want to instill. High Point isa thriving community, a growing community,
and a community where you can create. Let's get that website one more time
in case folks want to contact youguys. Yes, so highpointdiscovered dot org.
That's Amber Williamson, Hannah Ray,high Point discovered. Thanks for being
on Carolina Cares today. Thank youScotty and Hannah