Editing Wilkes County, North Carolina (section)

==Economy==
Despite its rural character and relatively small population, Wilkes County has been the birthplace of numerous large industries.  [[Lowe's]], the second-largest chain of home-improvement stores in the nation (after [[Home Depot|The Home Depot]]) was started in Wilkes County in 1946. Until 2003, Lowe's had its corporate headquarters in Wilkes County, but the company has since relocated most of its corporate functions to [[Mooresville, North Carolina]], a fast-growing suburb of [[Charlotte, North Carolina|Charlotte]]. However, Lowe's large office in Wilkesboro still houses many corporate departments, and Lowe's remains the county's second-largest employer.<ref name="wilkesedc.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.wilkesedc.com/business-data/largest-employers/|title=Largest Employers {{!}} Wilkes Economic Development Corporation|website=www.wilkesedc.com|language=en-US|access-date=March 18, 2018}}</ref> A telecommunications firm, Carolina West Wireless, was started in Wilkesboro in 1991 and is also headquartered in the county.

Other industries which started in Wilkes County are [[Lowes Foods]] (now headquartered in [[Winston-Salem, North Carolina|Winston-Salem]]) and The Northwestern Bank, which was once North Carolina's fourth-largest banking chain until it was merged with [[First Union]] Bank in 1986. The Carolina Mirror Company in North Wilkesboro, founded in the 1930s, was for many years the largest mirror factory in America. Today Gardner Glass Products Inc. still produces mirrors in North Wilkesboro. Holly Farms, in Wilkesboro, was the largest poultry producer in the Southeastern United States until it was bought by [[Tyson Foods]] in 1989. Wilkes County remains one of the largest producers of poultry in the Eastern United States, and many of the county's farmers are poultry farmers for Tyson Foods. Tyson is the largest employer in Wilkes.<ref name="wilkesedc.com"/>

Like many rural areas in North Carolina, Wilkes County has suffered since 2000 from the closing of nearly all of its textile and furniture factories, which formed a major part of its economic base.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/26/us/feeling-let-down-and-left-behind-with-little-hope-for-better.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160525100031/http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/26/us/feeling-let-down-and-left-behind-with-little-hope-for-better.html | archive-date=May 25, 2016 | title=Feeling Let Down and Left Behind, with Little Hope for Better | newspaper=The New York Times | date=May 25, 2016 | last1=Fausset | first1=Richard }}</ref> Most of these factories have moved to low-wage locations in Latin America and Asia, especially China and Vietnam. According to ''Stateline'', the number of Wilkes County residents employed in manufacturing dropped from 8,548 in 2000 to approximately 4,000 as of 2015, a reduction of over 53%.<ref name="pewtrusts.org">{{cite web|url=http://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/blogs/stateline/2016/01/22/fewer-manufacturing-jobs-housing-bust-haunt-many-us-counties|title=Fewer Manufacturing Jobs, Housing Bust Haunt Many U.S. Counties|website=www.pewtrusts.org|access-date=March 18, 2018}}</ref> From 2000 to 2014, the median household income in Wilkes declined by over 30%.<ref name="pewtrusts.org"/> However, from 2014 to 2017 the median household income increased by nearly 22%, and in 2017 Wilkes was ranked 47th out of 100 counties for "economic distress" by the North Carolina Department of Commerce.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.journalpatriot.com/news/median-income-up/article_933707c4-e4c3-11e7-9cf5-87ac58320dea.html|title=State's tier report shows improvements in Wilkes: Median income up|last=Hubbard|first=Jule|date=December 19, 2017|work=journalpatriot|access-date=March 18, 2018}}</ref>

===Wine region===
Wilkes County is part of the [[Yadkin Valley AVA]], an [[American Viticultural Area]]. Wines made from grapes grown in Wilkes County may use the [[appellation]] Yadkin Valley on their labels. With the decline of tobacco farming, some Wilkes County farmers have switched to wine-making, and have hired experts from Europe and California for assistance. As a result, wine-making is growing in popularity in both Wilkes and surrounding counties.

In May of each year, Wilkes county celebrates the new wine industry with the ''Shine to Wine Festival'', held in downtown North Wilkesboro.