NC Justice Center: 9 eastern counties face 20% or higher poverty levels

By: Arthur Mondale | WNCT-On Your Side
Published: December 01, 2009

More proof the remnants of the recession will linger for while. The North Carolina Justice Center released a snapshot of employment, poverty, income and health coverage in each county in our state- and many are right here in the east.
18 counties have poverty levels above 20%. They county list includes; Martin, Pitt, Wilson, Duplin, Edgecombe, Halifax, Hertford, Northampton, and Lenoir counties. This leaves the question, what are lawmakers doing about it?
With a quarter of people living in Lenoir County in poverty county officials say that's a real eye opener. And proves a decade of outsourcing can't be reversed in a few years, even with a promising aerospace industry.
"About 8,000 jobs just in Lenoir County went with the textile industry--so when you have all your eggs in one basket it's kind of hard to recoup from that,” said Lenoir Co. economic development exec. director Mark Pope. “What we've learned from that is diversification."
But Pope says thanks to 2009 initiatives like STEM which will provide high-schoolers with internships and apprenticeships in math, engineering and science technology-driven fields, things are moving forward even if slower than expected. Pope adds, "We're going to move forward as their company's grow and as they're stood up--we're going to get there and these numbers will be changed."
Pitt County a major education and medical hub in the east also tops the list of poorest counties in the state. County commissioner Melvin McLawhorn says the county has a tremendous challenge with job infrastructure and the task of attracting a wider array of industries saying two of the counties largest employers—PCMH and East Carolina University--only employ roughly 12,300 workers.
The state's overall poverty rate is 14.6%. 1.3 million North Carolinians live in poverty.