Business and community leaders across Sampson county gathered at the Sampson County Expo Center to be briefed on the current state of the US economy and predictions about the economic future.
Hosted by the Clinton- Sampson Chamber of Commerce and Sampson County Economic Development, guests were treated to breakfast and speaker Dr. Michael Walden presented his research about economic factors driving the economy following the COVID-19 pandemic.
Walden is a William Neal Reynolds Distinguished Professor and Extension Economist at North Carolina State University and a member of the Graduate Economics faculty with The Poole College of Management. Dr. Walden retired at the end of March 2021 and is now a Professor Emeritus.
During his address Walden addressed the “Big 3 Issues”: The labor market, inflation and the current recession.
According to Walden, factors affecting the labor force boil down to slow population growth, an aging population and a decline of the elderly in the labor force.
However it was also found that Many workers used time during the pandemic to improve their skills and move to higher paying positions, which led into Walden’s prediction that technology will be the go to work force for low wage positions by the middle of the century.
“There was a lot of support going to people who weren't working. So people had support, and you might think, well, a lot of people just said, ‘Oh, I'll play around on the video games, whatever.’ Actually, a lot of people didn't do that. But an amazingly high percentage. It's been estimated that 20% of people, particularly young people, didn't do that. Instead, what they did is they said to themselves, ‘I'm going to use this time, this free time that I have to upgrade my skills, because I don't want me to go back to that job,’ shared Walden.
Walden concluded the speech by highlighting future tech based companies coming into the state such as Vinfast, Wolfspeed and the Toyota battery factory coming to NC.
To keep up to date with the next event on economic developments, you can visit https://www.clintonsampsonchamber.org/ or www.sampsonedc.com.
At center, Chancellor Darrell T. Allison and Juanette Council, Ed.D., vice chancellor for student affairs, cut the ribbon to celebrate the grand reopening of Fayetteville State University's newly renovated Spaulding Building, joined by campus leaders
FCEDC has officially moved its staff and operations to 611 W. Russell St. The 35,800- square-foot center was previously home to Homemakers Furniture and Interiors. Renovations began in the fall of 2025 and are expected to be completed in the next six to eight months. Currently, FCEDC staff are working within an open 7,500-square-foot floor plan as initial improvements progress.
Inset: Systel’s first corporate headquarters was a small rental house turned office on Fort Bragg Road in Fayetteville in 1981. Large photo: The company’s new corporate headquarters reflects years of growth into a multi-million dollar company that pr
