From extraction to regeneration: place-based development in Appalachia with Steven Baumgartner

For decades, communities across Appalachia have watched jobs disappear, resources drain, and local wealth flow outward. But in Morganton, North Carolina, a nonprofit called The Industrial Commons has been quietly rewriting that story — building cooperative businesses, training workers, and keeping wealth rooted in place through circular textile manufacturing and community-owned enterprise.In this episode, host Kate Gasparro sits down with Steven Baumgartner, founder of Baumgartner Urban Systems Strategy (BUSS), to explore how place-based, values-driven urban development can transform even the most disinvested communities. Drawing on two decades of experience at global firms, Steven brings a systems thinker's lens to one of the most compelling sustainable city development stories in the country.Together, Kate and Steven unpack what it really means to translate a mission into a place, why decentralized sustainable infrastructure outperforms the heavy systems we've relied on for generations, and how the circular economy model pioneered by The Industrial Commons offers a replicable blueprint for equitable, regenerative development.Resources:This Southern Appalachian town uses co-ops to build new communities around old industries (resilience)An Appalachian Model for Regenerating Place-Based, Community Wealth (Next City)How Corporate Greed Keep Appalachia Underdeveloped (Columbia Political Review)New industries, new jobs needed to boost Burke economy (The Paper)The Industrial Commons breaks ground on transformative Innovation Campus (eTextile Communications)The loss of manufacturing once devastated Morganton. Now, it's witnessing a revival (The Charlotte Observer)Send us Fan MailThanks for listening to Building Better Cities! If you'd like to stay connected, don't forget to Subscribe and Follow. You can find all our archived newsletters and podcasts right here. Want to get in touch? Just email the team at [email protected].