2022 For’Em On The Hill

Community Conversations with the For’Em On The Hill aired live on 97.9 The Hill December 5-9. Catch re-airs Saturday and Sunday mornings on 97.9 The Hill, from 7-9 am through January 1st. (except Sunday December 25th.) Or listen to all forum panels online below.

Sponsored by Chapel Hill Downtown Partnership, Grubb Properties, Industrious, Innovate Carolina, Orange County Arts Commission, Orange County Economic Development, UNC Athletics and UNC Health, this year’s forum programming continued a tradition of timely and informative conversations centered on the issues that impact our community.

The annual forum is a chance to hear constructive discourse from lawmakers, educators, health professionals and local leaders as look to the year ahead. Live from the studios of 97.9 The Hill, the For ‘Em On The Hill covers 10 topics over 10 hours – with conversations ranging from health and wellbeing to tourism, climate and sustainability, education, athletics, and more.

The list of topics, and participants, for 2022 can be found below, along with quotes from each panel and a link to listen to the full discussion.

MONDAY, DEC. 5

Climate and Sustainability, 4-5 p.m.

Ashley Ward (Senior Policy Associate, Duke University)
Renée Price (Board Chair, Orange County Board of County Commissioners)
Mike Piehler (Director, UNC Institute for the Environment)

“I hope not. I mean the aspiration is as quickly as we can. What we say now and what I say to everyone is, we gave a timeline. For pretty good reasons it failed. So rather than provide a timeline with such uncertainty, I just provide progress every year. Here’s what we did, here was the effect, here’s where we hope to be. I hope that will be the case in five years for sure.” — Mike Piehler, Director, UNC Institute for the Environment

The Arts, 5-6 p.m.

Katie Murray (Director, Orange County Arts Commission)
Alison Friedman (Executive and Artistic Director, UNC Carolina Performing Arts)
Jenny Shultz-Thomas (Executive Director, The ArtsCenter)

“After so much time with screens that are disembodied, it’s incredible, not just to be in person as an audience, but any kind of artwork that involves you getting up and going someplace. So walking through a neighborhood to look at the murals, going to participate, getting up and dancing — anything that makes you physically reconnect with everything that is outside of the square of your zoom screen is absolutely vital.” — Alison Friedman, Executive and Artistic Director for Carolina Performing Arts

TUESDAY, DEC. 6

Chatham County, 4-5 p.m.

Randy Voller (Publisher, Chatham County Line)
Karen Howard (Board Chair, Board of Chatham County Commissioners)
Vanessa Jenkins (MIRM, Executive Vice President, Preston Development Company)

“A lot of us that are serving in local government, it’s because we wanted to have a voice in that process, right? We recognize that the growth is going to happen and we want to be involved in the conversations around affordable housing. And while it’s a critical need, it has to be balanced with protecting our environment.” — Karen Howard, Chair of the Chatham County Commissioners

K-12 Education, 5-6 p.m.

Tim Gibson (Executive Director of Elementary Schools, Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools)
Kevin Smith (Chief Public Information Officer, Orange County Schools)
Amy King (Teacher, Chatham Central High School)

“I think that the more teachers can back up and let students just go with it, the more you are just in awe and inspired by them. The students can do so much more if we just let them run with it. And I think that freedom and those choices that came out of the pandemic, because we realized that we don’t have to do things a certain way anymore.” — Amy King, Teacher at Chatham Central High School

WEDNESDAY, DEC. 7

Higher Education, 4-5 p.m.

Kevin Guskiewicz (Chancellor, University of North Carolina)
Mimi Chapman (Chair of the Faculty, University of North Carolina)
J.B. Buxton (President, Durham Technical Community College)

“We’re having to some deeper digging in thinking about how we support faculty.” -JB Buxton

“There are real consequences that came about because of the pandemic, and those consequences aren’t going to go away.” -Mimi Chapman

“It’s about making sure that we’re bringing in a diverse group of students who can thrive at Carolina.” -Kevin Guskiewicz

“A great education doesn’t end when you get your diploma.” -Mimi Chapman

“We are ground zero for economic immobility in this country…we see ourselves as responsible for changing that reality.” -JB Buxton

Employment, 5-6 p.m.

Ingrid Jones (System Manager, Culture and Engagement at UNC Health)
Caraina Garris (Center Manager, NCWorks/Skills Development Career Center of Orange County)
Katie Loovis (Vice President of External Affairs, Chamber for a Greater Chapel Hill-Carrboro)

“In Orange County, we have 10,000 more jobs than workers.” – Katie Loovis

“Housing is a major pain point for employers…it’s getting harder and harder for a lot of our employers to be able to recruit and retain workers, but if those workers could find affordable housing here in Orange County, they would be more inclined to work here.” – Katie Loovis

“Even though the unemployment rate is low, we still have a lot of people who are unemployed and need assistance and resources.” – Caraina Garris

THURSDAY, DEC. 8

Downtown Chapel Hill/ Tourism, 4-5 p.m.

Matt Gladdek (Executive Director, Chapel Hill Downtown Partnership)
Laurie Paolicelli (Executive Director, Chapel Hill Orange County Visitors Bureau)
Sheryl Waddell (Director, Innovate Carolina)

“By and large, we have to change. The future is all we have. We can still honor the past, and I know the councils — both Carrboro and Chapel Hill — are working hard to figure out the best way [to do that]. But we’ve got to prepare for the future, and we’re in the hands of some very smart people doing that.” — Laurie Paolicelli, Chapel Hill/Orange County Visitors Bureau

College Athletics, 5-6 p.m.

Deborah Stroman (Director, Carolina Sport Business Club)
Graham Boone (Executive Director, Heels4Life)

“Looking today, we can see that the money that has been allocated out, the money athletes have been making, the deals, the contracts…it has had zero effect on the profits and marketing deals being done on the other side — NCAA, individual colleges or even pro sports. People have stated this can work, and it is working. What we’ll get to [in this panel] is the ugly side, and there is a lot of ugly to it. But looking at it from an indirect perspective, justice has been served in the sense that athletes can now take advantage of their name, image and likeness and make some dollars.” — Dr. Deborah Stroman

FRIDAY, DEC. 9

Women’s Health, 4-5 p.m.

Dr. Wendy Brewster (Director, UNC Center for Women’s Health Research)
Dr. Erica Pettigrew (Medical Director, Orange County Health Department)
Dr. Julia Riddle (Psychiatrist, UNC School of Medicine)

“We can no longer turn our heads away from the fact that things are not equal for everyone… this is not something that we can ignore, this is shameful to ignore.” – Wendy Brewster

“The Dobbs decision doesn’t just touch abortion care – what we’re seeing in other states is really, really scary.” – Erica Pettigrew

Economic Development, 5-6 p.m.

Ryan Stewart (Managing Director, Trinsic Residential Group)
David Poland (Area Manager, Industrious)
Sharon Hill (Advisory Board Chair, Orange County Economic Development)

“We announced that we’re coming to Chapel Hill and we had companies from all over the country saying ‘we want to go there, we want an office there.'” – David Poland

“People want to have their own business but don’t know where to get started…our mission now is to help them become successful.” – Sharon Hill

“We had six projects to commence in 2023 – we’ll probably end up doing one or two of those, with the others pushed to 2024.” – Ryan Stewart