|
Foreign work drives local industry |
|
|
|
Tuesday, 05 December 2006 |
by DYLAN CLAYTON
News Reporter
by STEPHANIE BETANCUR
Intern Online Reporter
As the holiday season gets closer, a Christmas tree tops nearly every car in Boone.
The Christmas tree industry has deep roots in Boone and the surrounding areas.
 Active Image | Bryan Tarnowski | The Appalachian
Teddy T. Towner III, a sophomore history and secondary education major, cuts down a Christmas tree for a customer at Circle C Farms located directly off Bamboo Road.
|
Foreign workers comprise an increasing amount of the labor force for this industry.
Harry Yates, owner of Yates Christmas Tree Farms, employees several foreign workers.
“It’s very common for foreign workers to be the labor force. In my case, it’s through the H-2A program,” Yates said.
The H-2A program is a temporary work visa, issued by the federal government for non-immigrant foreigners working in agriculture.
Yates said many of his employees send money home, which, for many, is Mexico.
This is true for one of Yates’ employees, Santos Padilla.
Padilla, from Sentispac, Mexico, decided to come to the United States for economic reasons.
“I have a wife and four kids which I couldn’t support economically with a job in Mexico. They pay too little,” Padilla said.
He said his responsibilities on the farm include cultivating, fertilizing, trimming and cutting Christmas trees.
Padilla,
like many other guest workers, returns home to Mexico every Christmas.
He will return for work in the United States March 1.
The North Carolina Christmas Tree Association, which is located in Boone, deals with tree growers across the state.
NCCTA
Executive Director Linda H. Gragg said there are about 10,000 workers
brought into North Carolina through the H-2A program.
About 1,000 of those workers are employed in the Christmas tree industry.
“North
Carolina is No. 2 in the nation in the number of trees harvested,”
Gragg said. “Oregon is No. 1. We’re selling probably in the area of 4
to 4.5 million trees this year wholesale.”
“The whole state takes in about $110 [million] to $120 million dollars annually,” she said.
Recently,
a vote in the U.S. House of Representatives recognized the economic
contributions of the live Christmas tree industry as well as the
historical importance of the Christmas tree to traditional family
values, according to a press release from the office of congresswoman
Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.).
“I am
very pleased to see the House of Representatives pass this legislation
to recognize the live Christmas tree industry,” Foxx said in the press
release. “The use of live Christmas trees goes back to 1850 and has
become a staple of American tradition for the Christmas holiday.”
Trackback(0)
 |
News 
TrackBack URI for this entry
Show/Hide comments
