Every year, tens of thousands of buyers, wholesalers, designers and manufacturers descend on High Point, North Carolina, for its iconic furniture market.

For the first time since World War II, High Point did not host the spring event.

Although North Carolina is poised to be one of the first states to reopen, the small businesses that make up the rest of High Point’s economy likely won’t recover until furniture manufacturers do.

Like other small towns across America, High Point faces a unique and treacherous recovery because its economy relies heavily on a single industry.

READ MORE AT ISSUE NUMBER ONE