This project asks whether a modest amount of value-added wood processing can occur closer to existing inventory and local demand in North Carolina — and whether doing so would create new local value or simply shift value and burden among existing businesses and workers.

Students will not begin from a blank slate. The project provides two existing bodies of work as its starting point: published North Carolina research on the forest-products economy, secondary wood manufacturing, and industry geography; and a detailed public research and simulation architecture developed by 3D Solutions LLC that proposes one way project information could be resolved before material moves and bounded operations could be performed closer to demand.

The student research question sits between those two bodies of work. The technical architecture exists, but its economic and community assumptions have not been established. Students will investigate whether the proposed model could strengthen independent lumberyards and other local businesses, support greater useful use of wood, create accessible workforce pathways, and broaden participation in value-added activity — including potential opportunities for women, minorities, jobseekers, and small businesses — or whether the evidence suggests that benefits would instead be limited, displaced, or outweighed by new burdens.

Field research will focus on independent lumberyards and other relevant North Carolina stakeholders. Students will build from supplied research and a draft lumberyard interview instrument to examine where value-added work currently leaves local businesses, what existing assets may be underused, what barriers would affect participation, and what economic or operational conditions would make a small local capability worth testing.

The workforce component will also examine an existing woodworking skills and credential framework already recognized in North Carolina as a possible reference point for identifying skills, training pathways, and barriers to participation.

This is an exploratory research project, not a request to validate a technology or advocate for increased wood consumption. A well-supported negative finding is as useful as a positive one.

Learners will extend an existing body of published North Carolina research into a present-day applied study of localized value creation, workforce participation, and sustainable use of wood.

The project will begin with supplied research on North Carolina's forest-products economy, the geography and operating conditions of secondary wood manufacturing, and existing woodworking skill standards. Students will connect that evidence base to current stakeholder research with independent lumberyards, workforce and educational organizations, workers and jobseekers, and other relevant community participants.

The principal outcome will be an evidence-based assessment of whether modern project information and a modest increment of distributed processing capability could allow more useful economic activity to occur closer to existing materials and local demand without requiring small businesses to become factories. The assessment should examine not only potential economic and material benefits, but also barriers to participation, workforce accessibility, sustainability implications, and whether opportunities could be made meaningfully accessible to women, minorities, jobseekers, and smaller local businesses.

Learners should distinguish value creation from value displacement and identify unintended burdens or conditions that could make the proposed approach impractical. The objective is not to validate a predetermined solution; negative and mixed findings are equally useful.

Deliverables:

1. Evidence and environmental scan connecting the supplied North Carolina research to the present-day research question.
2. Stakeholder map identifying businesses, workforce participants, educational and community institutions, potential beneficiaries, participation barriers, and possible unintended burdens.
3. Stakeholder discovery summary synthesizing interviews and identifying recurring needs, constraints, and opportunities.
4. Workforce and equitable-participation analysis examining existing skill pathways and barriers to broader participation in value-added work.
5. Sustainability and local-value framework for assessing material utilization, local economic retention, distributed infrastructure, and relevant tradeoffs.
6. Final report and presentation identifying what the evidence supports, what remains unresolved, and the most defensible next steps for further research or a bounded real-world test.

Proposed Plan:

1. Team Setup: 2-3 students working on tasks.
2. Timeline: Two (2-week) sprints over the 6-week period.

Project deliverables can be augmented based on students' skills and interests as it relates to the company's needs.

Skills Seeking:

value creation

displacement (fluid)

advocacy

economics

operations

research

Details

In a city defined by banking towers where cash is king, it is the hidden Cache that empowers our streets. Charlotte currently possesses a vast inventory of economic value—independent talent and small businesses—that remains unmapped and underutilized. The Cacheconomy is a groundbreaking initiative to turn these "hidden stores" into Verified Assets. We are looking for ambitious UNC Charlotte students to work behind the scenes to help build the infrastructure that makes information a new currency in the Queen City.

Mission:

This project aims to move Charlotte beyond economic "estimation" based on outdated or inaccurate digital footprints—what we call digital ghosts—toward Ground Truth. We are developing the Vault, a high-speed utility that transforms messy, raw data into a secure, accessible, and verified economic index. Your role is essential in adding verified businesses to the Vault.

Deliverables

Project Scope

• Ground Truth Auditing: Perform high-fidelity data scrubbing to remove duplicates and "digital ghosts" from raw city datasets.
• Dataset Integration: Research and execute methods to merge disparate raw datasets into a single, cohesive Ecosystem Index.
• Validation & Verification: Manually validate hidden business data points to ensure the Inventory is accurate and inclusive.

Deliverables

• The Cleaned Index: A high-fidelity, validated dataset of neighborhood businesses, ready for integration into the Vault.

Pattern Detection Audit: A report identifying previous gaps and connections that traditional algorithms missed.

1. Team Setup: 3-4 students working on tasks.
2. Timeline: Two (2-week) sprints over the 6-week period.

Mentorship

Students will receive hands-on support and mentorship, including:

• Domain Expertise: Training in urban economic models and secure data governance.
• Professional Tools: Access to the Cache Vault and other data tools.
• The Navigator Method: Specialized training in the human-led "Ground Truth" methodology that identifies gaps algorithms miss.

Regular meetings: Scheduled check-ins to discuss progress, address challenges, and provide feedback.

Advocations, in partnership with Case Western Reserve University’s Law School, aims to protect transition-aged youth from the "Age 18 Redetermination Cliff." Currently, the Social Security Administration (SSA) re-evaluates childhood Supplemental Security Income (SSI) beneficiaries at age 18 using stricter adult disability criteria. This process has a 40% failure rate, frequently removing youth with non-visible disabilities like Autism and ADHD who lack the medical evidence to prove they cannot work.

The Data: A Pipeline to Prison
Youth removed from SSI are twice as likely to commit crimes to replace lost benefits than find steady employment, with these effects lasting over two decades. SSI removal leads to a 60% increase in the annual likelihood of incarceration, with even higher rates for women.

Research Link: Does Welfare Prevent Crime? The Criminal Justice Outcomes of Youth Removed from SSI, 137 Q.J. Econ. 2263 (2022).

Project Overview & Student Goals

We are seeking UNC Charlotte students who are passionate about social justice, law, and disability inclusion to join our project. The initiative focuses on proactively identifying youth receiving Supplemental Security Income (SSI) before their age 18 re-determination. This timely intervention will immediately connect them with free services and legal protections. Our goal is to enable at-risk youth to maintain their SSI payments and Medicaid benefits until age 22. By extending these critical benefits for four years, we aim to prevent income-generating crime and significantly change lives.

Student Responsibilities

• Stakeholder Identification: Review existing community partner lists (schools, foster care, medical offices) to establish direct connections with youth receiving SSI.
• Out-of-the-box Outreach: Uncover new leads—local churches, community centers, and transition coordinators—to vet opportunities for engagement with eligible families.
• Engagement Strategy: Develop a stakeholder strategy tailored to the unique needs of those with non-visible disabilities and their guardians.

Deliverables

• Key Contact Report: A detailed report of identified contacts and updated info for existing leads in CRM.
• Stakeholder Engagement Strategy: A document outlining methods for converting leads into active referrals and outreach protocols.

Educational Toolkits: Tangible materials (flyers, digital guides) used to explain the "cliff”, appeal rights, and options.

1. Team Setup: 3-4 students working on tasks.
2. Timeline: Two (2-week) sprints over the 6-week period.

Mentorship

Expert Perspective: 
Sharing our deep understanding of the industry to help guide the project’s direction.

Skill Development: 
Equipping students with the technical "know-how" and methodologies they need.

Active Mentorship: 
Rolling up our sleeves to provide real-time guidance and support on project tasks.

Enablement Tools: 
Ensuring everyone has the resources and technology to work efficiently.

Ongoing Alignment: 
Meeting regularly to stay connected, celebrate wins, and tackle hurdles together.