Investing in Our Future: a Sustainable Economy

Alfred Whitesides, Jr., Vice President of Mountain 1st Bank.  Photo: Urban News.

by Sarah Williams

Amiable, talkative, and intelligent are some of the words that can be used to describe Alfred Whitesides, Jr.

Alfred is the son of Mr. Alfred Whitesides, Sr. and Mrs. Magnolia Whitesides. He was born in Asheville, and during his younger years lived in Stumptown. He attended St. Anthony’s Catholic School from first to eighth grade, and was then enrolled in Asheville City Schools.

He was a member of ASCORE (Asheville Student Committee for Racial
Equality) throughout his high school years at Stephens-Lee High School.
After graduation, he attended North Carolina College, which is now
North Carolina Central University, from which he graduated in 1969.

Alfred has been a banker for many years, and now is the vice
president of Mountain 1st Bank. Alfred believes that we, the citizens
of the United States, have been living in a state of instant
gratification. Charge cards and credit have been too much a part of our
lives. Today, many Americans are struggling to pay the bills that they
created by using credit cards and credit so freely. Many of us never
imagined that the economy would ever go into a free fall.

Many countries have invested in this country, because we have
the strongest, most stable government. As a country, though, we have
borrowed from other countries, especially China, and the bills have
come due — just as they have for many individuals living in this
country.

Although this country is struggling, Alfred believes that things
will work out for us, and we might be stronger because of our present
efforts. We are learning to live and survive in a global economy. We,
like other countries, are not self-contained and must build positive
relationships with the world.

Locally, Asheville is a service-based economy. Tourism is one of
our major services that keep our economy afloat. Many of the members of
our community are retired. We can not depend, economically, on retirees
supporting tourism in helping us to maintain a strong economy forever.
We must attract new businesses.

Looking toward the future, we must invest in developing our most
valuable resource, our children. Schools are set up to prepare our
children for college. That is a noble effort, but not all our children
will attend college, therefore, we must train young people in many
different arenas. Service jobs such as: plumbing, brick masonry, and
green jobs will be available in the future, but are we training some of
the students today to be able to compete for these jobs? This we need
to look into further.