A Publication of the Randolph County Economic Development Corporation
August 2025
NC Folk Festival adds VIP experience
The North Carolina Folk Festival is a free, three-day celebration of music, food, and cultural storytelling. But behind the tents and sound stages, it’s a high-wire act.
In this year’s case, it is a production that costs $1.5 million to pull off, with over 35 different local and international artists and 18 different music genres.
To try to cover the costs to make it all happen, organizers are trying something new this year for the festival that runs from Sept. 12-14 in downtown Greensboro.
For the first time since the festival settled in Greensboro in 2018, the Folk Festival is offering a paid VIP experience. The early bird is priced at $325 for a weekend pass or between $100 and $200 for day access. The regular price is $375.
The VIP package includes shaded seating at every stage, air-conditioned lounges, complimentary snacks and drinks, clean bathrooms, and limited beer and cocktail offerings.
Each week of the month we will celebrate and honor our industrial businesses that contribute to our economy and community development. Randolph County Economic Development understands your importance to our success as a county and believes business is integral to building a place we all want to live and call home.
Jim Melvin-Former Mayor of Greensboro and Head of The Bryan Foundation-Passes at 91
“Jim Melvin was definitely a giant in our community, with our PGA TOUR event and in our entire state. Jim was as influential, in a very positive way, as anybody else I know of in North Carolina certainly over the last 50 years. What he meant to the Wyndham Championship over the years, probably something more like 60 years, has been staggering, and he continued to be influential even up to this year's tournament."
While Melvin was often called "Mr. Greensboro" by colleagues and observers alike, he leveraged his influence across the Triad.
“He did monumental things for the cities and towns throughout our region," Brazil said. "If you think about some of the things he was truly responsible for, it would include the baseball stadium in downtown in Greensboro. He was helpful to Dr. Qubein (president of High Point University) and the city of High Point with their baseball stadium. And Toyota Battery is first and foremost in my mind."
From Army sniper to Toyota exec: Stewart leads massive NC battery factory expansion!
While he’s only been president of Toyota Battery Manufacturing North Carolina since May, Don Stewart is no stranger to the company or the massive factory slated to create 5,100 jobs in the next few years.
A resident of Apex, Stewart in May took the helm of the operation, a planned $13.9 billion investment, after working 28 years with Toyota, including three years alongside recently retired president Sean Suggs.
With 2,000 hired so far, the factory at the end of June shipped its first products, and now Stewart will lead the ramp up of various lines to power future Toyota and Lexus hybrid-electric, plug-in hybrid electric, and battery electric vehicles.
Local News and Announcements
High Point University is Booming:
High Point University President Nido Qubein paused during remarks to more than 1,200 faculty and staff yesterday, taking a piece of paper from a colleague reporting The Princeton Review’s just-released annual rankings of U.S. colleges.
For the second year in a row, the Methodist-affiliated university in High Point ranked as America’s best-run college. It came in 24th in the category of colleges most loved by their students. “That’s no good; we need to be No. 1,” Qubein said.
As North Carolina’s longest-serving college president at 21 years, Qubein urged his colleagues to do better and congratulated them for High Point’s achievements as other higher education institutions have struggled, and some have failed.
Imports to North Carolina rise, but tariffed industries see decline:
According to data from the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina (EDPNC), imports to North Carolina have increased by 40% overall since May 2025; however, industries with tariffs already enacted show a clear decrease in imports.
The import increase across the board is “driven mainly by firms front-loading shipments in anticipation of potential Trump administration tariffs,” Joseph Harris, fiscal policy analyst for the John Locke Foundation, told the Carolina Journal.
“A 25% tariff on autos and auto parts has led to a decline in vehicle and parts imports from $3.1 billion to $2.6 billion,” said Harris.
A mainstay of Asheboro Mall since 2008 will remain at its location. Gorilla Pizza will continue to serve its customers while undergoing extensive renovations.
Rasha Elslkawy, owner of Gorilla Pizza, said in a text message, “Gorilla Pizza is staying! Our current hours are Tuesday-Saturday, 11 a.m.-8:30 p.m., Sunday 12-6 p.m. (Closed Mondays).”
It was reported in early July that Elslkawy was considering closing her restaurant after a series of challenges, including water leaks and a faulty exhaust hood. The shop also is in need of renovations.
Chowdhury takes helm at Joint School of Nanoscience and Nanoengineering:
Chowdhury, who also will serve as professor of nanoengineering at JSNN, is the founding director of the Division of Energy, Matter and Systems at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. From 2018 to 2022, he was associate dean for Research and Innovation, New Program Development and Faculty Affairs at UMKC’s School of Computing and Engineering.
He said that his prior experiences serving on an academic side of research led him to wanting to pursue a dean position and that he saw a lot of growth opportunity at JSNN which made him attracted to the role.
In a wide-ranging discussion of Randolph Community College expansion plans, a word that kept coming up was “need.” As in “Our job is to be where they need it.” “Whatever the community needs.” “Get feedback from students and respond to their needs.” “Be able to meet needs.”
Sitting around the table talking to media representatives on Aug. 13 were RCC president Dr. Shah Ardalan, vice president of Learning and Workforce Development Dr. Lisa Johnson and executive vice president and CFO/COO Dr. Richard Weldon.
In 1950, two sisters-in-law opened a new florist shop. That business — Burge Flower Shop — has survived 75 years and remains an Asheboro success story.
Current owner Michael Trogdon is sharing that success by awarding a $75 gift card each day, which started Aug. 1 and will continue until Sept. 20. Visit the Burge Flower Shop Facebook page to apply for a gift card that is good until Dec. 31.
Trogdon said Anita Burge and Ethel Burge, who were married to brothers, started the florist shop at 419 S. Fayetteville St., on the corner of Wainman Avenue.
U.S. reciprocal tariffs took effect for dozens of countries on Aug. 7, after their implementation was postponed multiple times to allow for more time for trade negotiations.
Only a handful of nations have struck deals with the Trump administration to lower their originally threatened reciprocal tariff rate, leaving many to wonder how these heightened levies, with rates as high as 41%, will impact businesses and the economy.
“The administration has made clear that tariffs are a weapon of choice for a wide variety of actions,” from reshoring, to improving national security, to putting political pressure on other nations and countering unfair trade practices, says John Lash, group vice president of product strategy at supply chain software platform e2open.
Randolph job market remains healthy
Randolph County’s unemployment rate changed little in June from levels that have held for the past year.
The rate was 3.9% in June, up from 3.6% in May but unchanged from the unemployment level in June of last year, the N.C. Department of Commerce reported Wednesday.
The rate remains in a range that normally reflects a healthy local job market.
In June, Randolph County had a labor force of 66,715 people, with 2,605 listed as unemployed.
Statewide, unemployment rates increased in 92 counties from May to June, decreased in four and remained unchanged in four, the N.C Department of Commerce reported.
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