I think it's only appropriate that, as we tour the rambling countrysides of Virginia, I've had Faulkner on the brain. Many of the conversations that we've had here about the future -- whether with healthcare executives in Roanoke or artisans in Floyd -- have been bound up in the recriminations, judgements and grievances of bygone eras. This was perhaps most true in our discussion with Beth Macy about her upcoming book, Factory Man.
Macy tells the story of John Bassett, a third-generation furniture maker, and his efforts to keep the tradition of furniture making alive in Southside. John Bassett's grandfather founded the town of Bassett after the Civil War, and the family continues to dominate the sleepy hamlet of just over one thousand residents today. Bassett was a true company town -- hospitals, schools, housing, and transportation were all bankrolled by the furniture company. Thousands of people came to Bassett in its heyday to work in furniture factories and chase middle-class dreams. The tradition began to die when manufacturing fled for foreign shores in the latter half of the century.
In Macy's telling, the company town of Bassett would not have been possible were it not for the tradition of paternalism established by the region's earliest settlers -- plantation owners who made their money in the tobacco and cotton market long before being replaced by textile and manufacturing barons. In a way, plantations were the first company towns, self-sufficient operations wholly-owned by one family. The cultural mores established then continue to shape towns like Bassett today, and will influence the choices they make in the future. When so much of successful economic development depends on innovation and entrepeneurial spirit, will the family-dominated towns be able to adapt?
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