In the heart of a revitalization effort, villagers are finding new economic opportunities close to home. On August 25th, villager Wei Li was skillfully assembling decorative parts at the Suxing Craft production workshop in Weimiao Village, Qingtuan Town, Guoyang County, with a smile on her face. "Earning money at my doorstep means I can both make a living and take care of my family," she said. The spacious 1,700-square-meter standard workshop, filled with the hum of machinery and orderly workers, was, just six months ago, a deserted and dilapidated primary school campus that had been locked and unused for years.
Driven by the need to tackle the shortage of students and integrate educational resources, the local village committee began actively seeking investment and encouraging entrepreneurial returnees to utilize the dormant asset. This March, they successfully introduced Jinhua Suxun Crafts Co., Ltd., which transformed the idle school buildings into a production facility, turning "sleeping assets" into a source of industrial vitality. According to workshop manager Sun Liping, "Since production started, orders have been full, with an expected annual output value exceeding 3 million yuan. The facility provides over 30 stable jobs, prioritizing employment for women who need to stay at home and local residents who cannot work elsewhere." The enterprise specializes in manufacturing festive gifts for European and American markets, party accessories, and children's educational toys, which are now exported overseas.
Inside the workshop, workers are busy with tasks such as assembling, pasting, and packaging, producing delicate items like magic wands, crowns, and decorative pieces. The piece-rate system encourages higher productivity; skilled workers can process up to 3,000 pieces a day, earning a monthly income of around 4,500 yuan. Villager Shao Shiying echoed the sentiment of many: "This is more secure than working away from home, and I get to be with my family." The project not only benefits the workers but also adds 30,000 yuan annually to the village's collective income, achieving a win-win situation for both enriching villagers and strengthening the village. Company head Wu Zengfei revealed that, encouraged by the favorable local business environment, they plan to invest an additional 2 million yuan to purchase automated equipment like injection molding machines and vacuum coating machines. This will establish a standardized production line capable of producing 3 to 5 million units annually, upgrading operations from manual processing to automated and refined manufacturing.
This model of revitalizing idle school buildings to empower rural industry is gaining traction across Qingtuan Town. In Fengwei Village, the foundation work for a mugwort deep-processing project at the former Muge Primary School site is complete. "Once the steel structure materials arrive, the factory will be up in no time," said Village Party Secretary Feng Jie confidently. With a total investment of 500,000 yuan, the project is expected to start production within a month and aims to set a benchmark for mugwort processing in the town. Qingtuan Town is also deepening its under-forest economy, achieving full-scale planting of mugwort in 20 villages and communities, covering over 1,000 mu. This expansion adds an average of 20,000 to 40,000 yuan to each village's collective income annually. To address the previous limitation of "growing without processing," the town continues to attract investment to establish a full deep-processing chain. Once operational, this new project will create over 30 additional jobs and add 30,000 yuan to the village's collective income each year, delivering a "triple bonus" of industrial growth, increased collective revenue, and higher villager earnings.
Looking ahead, Wang Zheng, Deputy Party Secretary of Qingtuan Town, outlined the future strategy: "We will persist in tapping into the value of idle assets, leveraging our local resource strengths for precise investment attraction. Our goal is to bring more 'sleeping assets' to life, cultivate additional growth industries, broaden income channels for residents, strengthen the village-level collective economy, and inject sustained momentum into rural revitalization and high-quality economic development."
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