UNC-TV invites WNC residents to participate in the North Carolina Rising topical town hall meeting from the campus of Western Carolina University — to discuss the state’s changing economic landscape.

This meeting will be held Wednesday, October 28, at the Hoey Auditorium (Central Drive).  Participants are asked to arrive at Hoey Auditorium no later than 7:30 PM. This town hall event will be broadcast live, at 8 PM, on UNC-TV.

Register today to join the live, town hall audience at http://www.unctv.org/ncrising/townhalls.html or to submit a question to our panelists, says Jen Jones, web editor for UNC-TV. UNC-TV also encourages you to join the statewide conversation online. Or join UNC-TV’s community on Facebook, (http://www.facebook.unctv) and Twitter (http://www.twitter.com/unctv) to post your thoughts, inquiries and opinions on the state of North Carolina Rising.

Below is the rest of Jones’ email explaining the event:
Moderated by UNC-TV’s Director of Production, Shannon Vickery, the event will feature an interactive dialogue among expert panelists, representing local leadership in education, policy and industry, and viewers like you. Experts scheduled to participate, include: Western Carolina University Chancellor Dr. John Bardo; Dr. Laura Leatherwood, Executive Director of Continuing and Adult Education at Haywood Community College; President & CEO of AdvantageWest Economic Development Group, Scott Hamilton; Dr. Ronald Johnson, Dean of the College of Business at Western Carolina University; and Ray Rose, Vice President of Hotel, Food and Beverage Engineering at Harrah’s Cherokee Casino and Hotel and a member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee. Topics for discussion will include tourism, casino expansion, advanced manufacturing and craft industries.

“UNC-TV is excited about conducting these regional town hall meetings.  For more than a year, UNC-TV has focused on the challenges and opportunities rural communities are experiencing as the state’s economy continues to change,” says Vickery. “In this final part of the North Carolina Rising project, we are looking forward to hearing from state and community leaders and North Carolina residents about the economic trends they are seeing first hand in communities across the state. I invite all North Carolinians to get involved in this very important conversation.”

Additional North Carolina Rising television town halls occur at the following locations:
· UNC-Pembroke, taping Tuesday, October 13, at 8 PM (for air October 14, at 8 PM)
· Catawba County, broadcast live Wednesday, November 4, at 8 PM
· East Carolina University, broadcast live Wednesday, November 18, at 8 PM

UNC-TV also encourages you to join the statewide conversation online. Visit the North Carolina Rising website (http://www.unctv.org/ncrising) to share your comments, questions and details about your own economic development projects. Or join our community on Facebook, (http://www.facebook.unctv) and Twitter (http://www.twitter.com/unctv) to post your thoughts, inquiries and opinions on the state of North Carolina Rising.

UNC-TV’s North Carolina Rising project is funded by the Golden LEAF Foundation, a nonprofit corporation created in 1999 to receive one-half of the funds coming to North Carolina from a master settlement agreement with cigarette manufacturers. In turn, the Foundation is helping North Carolinians make the transition from a tobacco-dependent economy through grants and investments that will positively affect the long-term economic advancement of the state. Golden LEAF gives priority in its grantmaking to tobacco-dependent and economically distressed counties.

For more information about these shows and other programming on UNC-TV’s family of stations, visit http://www.unctv.org. A unique partnership of public investment and private support makes UNC-TV’s programming possible. As North Carolina’s only statewide television network, UNC-TV remains committed to producing and broadcasting programs for and about North Carolina, making it the state’s most important source of information about North Carolina.