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GoldenLeaf Project

The GoldenLeaf Foundation uses tobacco settlement $ to support educational, outreach and economic projects in the tobacco regions of North Carolina.

New 2014 GoldenLEAF Foundation Grant Project-“Economic Growth for Rural Wood Shops Via Sales to Retail Stores”-GoldenLEAF Project #FY-13-105

This project involves working with small woodworking shops in the fifty westernmost counties in North Carolina to develop products that can be sold on the wholesale market to retail stores selling furniture and home furnishings. The goal is to increase the number of wood shops, the growth of sales and profitability of our existing woodoworking shops.

Project focus areas:

1-Research retail stores for furniture and home furnishings in Western North Carolina-who they are, where they are, what they are now buying, who are the contact persons at each store.

2-Assist wood shops to develop products that work within their abilities that retail stores would consider buying.

3-Locate vendors of materials and supplies that will work with small shops to offer needed materials.

4-Provide contact information between the woodworking shops, retail stores and material vendors to increase the level of networking for sales.

The Golden LEAF Foundation of North Carolina is a sponsor of economic benefit activities across North Carolina that supports the growth of local businesses.  This project works in the western fifty counties directly with wood shops and factories to develop wooden products for the wholesale furniture manufacturing industry from January 2014 to June 2015. Retail buyers will be also be included in the project that will offer connections to the wood shops.

This project is sponsored by the Golden LEAF Foundation to promote a wide economic boost to the North Carolina economy by working with hundreds of wood shops to market locally made wood products to the state’s retail stores selling furniture and home furnishings    

Two websites are set up to serve the needs of these three business sectors.  These websites have limited access to each of these groups:

  1. Wood shops-will have access to information about the retail stores and for North Carolina vendors of lumber, plywood and supplies
  2. Retail stores-will have access to information about the wood shops and factories
  3. Vendors-will have access to infomation about the wood shops and factories