Tom Dempsey SylvanSport p.16
Local Industry
The State of Manufacturing 2019 p.37
Western North Carolina's Free Spirit of Enterprise l e i s u r e & l i b at i o n
Unique
colu m ns
Museums
p.57 in Western North Carolina
The Wine Column: Drink Well in 2019 p.70
Progress & Change with East Fork Pottery
p.74
Volume IX - Edition I complimentary edition
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Editor’s Thoughts
H
ere at Capital at Play the staff prides itself for our policy of long-term editorial planning; by this past Thanksgiving, for example, we had already completed outlines for all of the Local Industry and Leisure & Libation features we plan to publish in 2019. Proposed content is certainly subject to change, of course, as newer/timelier stories might appear on our radar at any given point during the year, and we also take pride in our flexibility, in being able to pivot if a topic arises that we feel strongly about enough to want to cover now rather than hold off for a year. There are certain months of each year, however, for which we lock in content on a recurring basis. Each September brings our annual alcohol issue in which we publish a list of all the breweries, wineries, cideries, and distilleries, along with a data-driven report on issues relevant to Western North Carolina’s alcohol industry. For October, we turn our attention to the area music and arts scenes, while in November we put much of our focus on nonprofits. And for pretty much all of this magazine’s existence, the February issue has contained an analysis of some kind or another of the regional real estate industry. In like fashion, every January since 2013, Capital at Play has reported on manufacturing in Western North Carolina, from exhaustive county-by-county lists of all the area manufacturers we can verify are in operation, to in-depth business sector reports designed to essentially “take the local temperature” of the manufacturing milieu, to up-close-and-personal profiles of selected owners/entrepreneurs behind some of our manufacturers. This month is no exception: We have a pair of our Featured Capitalist Revisits, which are updated looks at two previously-profiled companies that have successfully undertaken significant expansions since our original coverage; and an extended report on the current “state of manufacturing,” so to speak, in which a number of significant industry issues are dissected and discussed by area professionals. Did I hear the word “pride”? We are extremely proud of our Annual Manufacturing Report. Consider it our acknowledgment of how invaluable these businesses are to the overall Western North Carolina economy—and our recognition that the region’s manufacturing sector, though markedly different, in 2019, from 100, or 50, or 20, or even 10 years ago, remains squarely planted amid mountain tradition. Peer closely enough, and you just might hear the low rumbling of the gears of history.
Sincerely,
Fred Mills
4
| January 2019
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Information & Inquiries Capital at Play is Western North Carolina’s business lifestyle magazine. It embodies the idea that capitalism thrives with creativity—that work requires an element of play. Exploring everything from local industry to the great outdoors, Capital at Play is inspiration for the modern entrepreneur. In every edition we profile those who take the risk, those who share that risk, and those who support them—telling the untold story of how capitalists are driven by their ideas and passions. We cater to those who see the world with curiosity, wonderment, and a thirst for knowledge. We present information and entertainment that capitalists want, all in one location. We are the free spirit of enterprise.
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Capital at Play has partnered with Bclip Productions to bring the pages of each edition to life, just for you. Featured at Capitalatplay.com and our Facebook page, we give you exclusive interviews and insider info on the people, places, and faces of Capital at Play has partnered with Bclip Productions to bring the pages of each edition to life, just for you. Featuring a new enterprise throughout Western North Carolina. Visit us on social media or at our website to see the latest 60 Seconds at Play.
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At Bclip we do more than tell your story. Our business-first mentality and c creativity set us apart from other video production companies. It’s our mis help our customers sell their products, train their staff, and entertain custo video. We strive to eat, sleep, and think like the wonderful companies we w
on the cover :
EMPLOYEE SAR AH pushes a rack of porcelain jigger molds, at East Fork Pottery. photo by Anthony Harden thi s page :
SPARKS FLY, at SylvanSpor t's new location. photo by Evan Anderson
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F E AT U R E D vol. ix
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STILL ON THE GO TOM DEMPSEY
ed. i
74
PROGRESS & CHANGE ALEX MATISSE, JOHN VIGELAND, & CONNIE MATISSE
January 2019 | capitalatplay.com
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C ON T E N T S j a n u a r y 2 019
photo by Anthony Hardenl
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lo c a l i n d u s t r y
The State of Manufacturing 2019
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in Western North Carolina: a Report
insight
l e i s u r e & l i b at i o n
The Art Of Unique Museum-ing in Western North Carolina
colu m n
12 M organ-Keefe Builders Malcolm Morgan
70 The Wine Column:
Drink Well in 2019 Written by John Kerr
p e o p l e at p l ay
8 8 The 2018 Venture 15 Awards & Venture Asheville Honors
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| January 2019
briefs
30 Carolina in the West 52 The Old North State
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nsight
Sky’s THE Limit Malcolm Morgan, co-founder of luxury home builder Morgan-Keefe Builders, keeps his eye on the prize.
photos cour tesy Morgan-Keefe Builders
V
isit Morgan-Keefe Builders’ website and the first thing you’ll encounter is an elegant-yet-earthy ranch-style house with the words “Live In a Work of Art” overlaid on the photo. Fittingly enough, the slideshow of images that begins does take on the feel of an art display, each gorgeous exterior and intimate interior that appears on your computer screen vying for your attention the same way portraits on the walls of a cosmopolitan gallery draw you towards them. Explore the Arden-based company’s site further and you’ll also learn about the Morgan-Keefe philosophy of full-featured customer service (aka “The MKB Process,”), read numerous testimonials from some extremely appreciative recipients of that customer service, and find details about Morgan-Keefe’s work with The Nature Conservancy and American Forests to support national and international reforestation efforts. (The latter is particularly impressive, given how it’s not too often you’ll hear more than just lip service from builders and developers about being mindful of their work’s effect upon the environment.) Morgan-Keefe Builders is indeed a unique enterprise. It was started in Hendersonville around 1980 by college friends Malcolm Morgan and Kevin Keefe. Morgan, a native North Carolinian, says he got his start in building at an early age, working in various trades on construction projects during high school and, subsequently, while attending UNC-Asheville (where he got his bachelor’s degree in economics, with a minor in psychology). “I also worked with my grandfather, who was a field engineer for a national company,” he remembers. “I guess the building bug just stuck with me!” Apparently so, for as Morgan puts it, teaming with Keefe was the next logical step: “Both Kevin and I had done many smaller building projects for various individuals when we were in college. Enjoying what we were doing led us in the direction of starting our own business. In order to help with the beginning stages, I waited tables at The Market Place restaurant in its beginning years.” 12
| January 2019
MALCOLM MORGAN
Morgan is justifiably proud of not only what he and Keefe have achieved since 1980, but also how they have achieved it. “Over the decades,” he says, “we have assembled a team of skilled professionals and craftspeople who specialize in attention to detail and client service. From site preparation to laying the last tile, each employee is dedicated to the company’s core principles of integrity, quality, and accountability. That means every employee on our team is focused on satisfying every client, every day— unconditionally. “Today, we enjoy a solid reputation for building luxury homes of exceptional quality, extraordinary detail, and excellent client service. We are honored to be a preferred builder for many of
“In order for us to grow, I needed to let go of the actual daily operations and trust the team we built...” the region’s finest architects and private communities and we continue to be committed to providing clients with innovative and proven construction technologies. We also appreciate green building construction and encourage our clients to consider a variety of energy-efficient and environmentally sensitive construction elements in their custom home design.” Every entrepreneur and business owner—small or large—encounters hurdles along the way during their journeys, and Morgan freely admits that his was learning how to step back from the day-to-day work and delegate responsibility. (“In order for us to grow, I needed to let go of the actual daily operations and trust the team we built, who are all so passionate about creating
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insight
photos cour tesy Morgan-Keefe Builders
MALCOLM MORGAN reviewing proper ty being built.
photo by Anthony Harden
artful living for our clients.”) Entrepreneurs also tend to have key moments or occurrences that stand out in their mind as emblematic of their success, and Morgan is also no exception. “It may seem strange, but one of the most significant milestones is a build we did that really defined our process
reminded us that building a home for someone is a very personal experience and communication at every step of the build makes for a happy homeowner! “Other milestones I would say have just been the level of home we have come to be known for. We didn’t start out building million-dollar homes. It just grew over time. People started noticing the level of work we were doing, and the level of homes started to grow. Today, we continue to build truly customized homes that are unique to the site and crafted to the lifestyle of our clients.” Going forward, Morgan says that the company may eventually look at expanding its regional presence and moving into other markets as well. “Additionally, I constantly try to remind myself to think outside the box, and not become complacent when it comes to how we tackle each new project. We try to bring new technology to every monthly staff meeting as the industry is progressing rapidly.”
“I constantly try to remind myself to think outside the box, and not become complacent when it comes to how we tackle each new project.” and our almost fanatic attention to detail. We took on a project for an engineer who was renting a house right beside the lot where we were building. Every day, he would come over and make a punch list of all the items that we needed to work on. Every day. As crazy as that may sound, it was his consistent attention to every aspect of the project that made us appreciate how attention to detail truly can make the difference. Additionally, it 14
| January 2019
To see more of what Morgan does visit his website at www.morgankeefe.com.
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January 2019 | capitalatplay.com
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PATRICK BAILEY TIG welding frame components.
Still on the
written by derek halsey photos by evan anderson
GO
The beloved Brevard-based SylvanSport expands with caution, innovation, and established brand appeal.
16
| January 2019
January 2019 | capitalatplay.com
17
hen Capital at Play last profiled SylvanSport nearly seven years ago, in March 2012, the early story was told of the outdoor gear company’s creation and production of the GO Adventure Camper. The all-in-one recreational vehicle and utility trailer was lightweight yet strong, versatile and innovative, and it is still the company’s best-selling product. As our previous article stated, the GO Adventure Camper had established itself on the market by 2012 and SylvanSport had successfully survived the Great Recession. Indeed, the SylvanSport tale of entrepreneurial success has been one of growth and staying true to the specific niche in the outdoor market that they have brilliantly exploited. Owner and chief product designer Tom Dempsey has chosen to be cautious with the company’s expansion plans. The goal has been to make sure the original products increase their market shares while the company’s brand continues to grow. The last several years have seen SylvanSport staying steady and not recklessly producing new products that fall short of the initial entrepreneurial dream. Now, as 2019 arrives, the SylvanSport story is about to jump into an exciting new chapter, as the Brevard-based company is expanding its manufacturing capabilities while introducing a new camper soon to debut in this new year. On the eve of our visit with Dempsey and SylvanSport, they have just moved into a brand-new, 30,000-sq.-ft. building that will house their manufacturing facility, as well as the business offices and design studios.
*** 18
| January 2019
As Dempsey talks about his company’s experience, he is proud of the fact that you can now buy the GO Adventure Camper and the smaller GO Easy Adventure Gear Trailer at dealers located not only across the United States and Canada, but also with dealers found overseas as well. The key to the design of the original Camper and Trailer is that kayakers, hikers, mountain climbers, road bikers, and more can get off the highway without hauling a super-heavy, cumbersome outfit. With the GO being both a hauling trailer and fold-out camper that can be pulled by a smaller car or SUV, it has proven to be a niche-filler in the highly-competitive sports utility market. At the heart of Dempsey’s stewardship of SylvanSport is innovation and smart business practices. “About 15 years ago, I created a company that bridged the gap between outdoor gear, as in camping, backpacks, and lightweight gear, and the RV industry,” says Dempsey. “Whether you are going out in a half-million-dollar motor home or you’re going to backpack up in the mountains, people call both of those camping, even though they couldn’t be farther apart. We exist in that connective space in-between the two. We like to say that the SylvanSport GO is a piece of technical camping gear that so happens to be easily towable.” He adds there is also an aesthetic side to the GO Adventure Camper that goes along with the functional attributes of the product, explaining, “We wanted the GO to be something that didn’t sit in your yard for 11-and-a-half months out of the year. It has a very utilitarian aspect to it. When we began, we did not start out to be this little niche trailer maker. We started this company to be a global manufacturer of outdoor gear. But, the economy didn’t cooperate with us for a few years.” As success began to come, SylvanSport was lucky enough to have financial backers on the business side of things who agreed with their overall long-term strategy. “We are very fortunate to have some great financial partners here in Western North Carolina and nationally,” says Dempsey. “That means we have the resources to pursue our ambitions, and those are to be a global player in both recreational vehicles
STEVE DREWERY Assembling the lift system winch.
TOM DEMPSEY
January 2019 | capitalatplay.com 19
20
| January 2019
and outdoor gear. We want to bridge that gap. With our new products that we are developing right now, we want to spread more into both the RV industry side of things as well as the outdoor gear world. “Six years ago, we were kind of a one-trick show with the SylvanSport GO. Then, we added the newer and smaller trailer with the GO Easy. Now, we are working on a larger, more amenity-packed camper that is our version of a travel trailer. It will be very technologically cool. It has a kitchen in it. It has two queen-size beds in it. It has a bathroom with a full shower in it, and it all comes in a 15-ft.-long package that can be towed with a Subaru. We are planning to introduce it in late spring of 2019.” Dempsey says that he and his crew began to design the new camper about a year ago: “We have been engineering it and building it for quite a while. Most of the components are out
This bold expansion has been a matter of many pieces coming together for the company in a coordinated effort. for tooling right now. Early in 2019 we will begin to get the first production parts in. We intensely researched the need for this new camper before moving forward. We have about 80 RV dealers right now that carry our products across North America, so first and foremost, we are very in tune with the market, both at the dealer level and the consumer level. Before we sold to dealers, we sold our products directly to consumers, so we really understand our customer.” This bold expansion has been a matter of many pieces coming together for the company in a coordinated effort. SylvanSport is still a privately-owned LLC company with their financial partners having their place on the board, yet no new financiers were brought in for this impressive development. “The expansion from a building standpoint is a true partnership between us, the City of Brevard, Transylvania County, the State of North Carolina, and the Golden Leaf Foundation,” says Dempsey. “This Transylvania Economic Alliance took the lead and we pulled together all of these organizations to create a partnership. Basically, the Transylvania Economic Alliance built this new building and we are the long-term anchor tenant. We finance our part of it through our ownership partner group, but the building itself was financed through the organizations I just mentioned. It is important to note that we are paying for it ultimately by committing to a long-term lease, but
THE 30,000-SQ.-FT. new factory space in Brevard, is ready to create more SylvanSport trailers. January 2019 | capitalatplay.com
21
TIRRELL SCRUGGS Wiring taillights for the GO Easy Adventure Gear trailer.
without the help of those partners, we could not have done it.” With expansion comes growth projections, and Dempsey believes that the future is bright for SylvanSport. But that is not a matter of wishful thinking, as he and his partners have crunched every number they could conceive of and considered every scenario before moving forward. “This is a very ambitious plan, as I consider this to be a second start-up that is even more challenging and demanding than the first one,” he adds. “We are going to transform the company in a good way and build upon what we started 15 years ago. This move will more than double our manufacturing output, and we anticipate adding about 15 to 20 new employees over the next two years.”
*** When it comes to the introduction of contemporary additions to the product line, Dempsey calls on his experiences from his early days in the outdoor gear world. “I started working for the Coleman Company in their RV division in 1989,” he recalls, “so I have been in the outdoor gear business for almost 30 years. We follow the trends, but we also have a lot of connections with other businesses in the space and we benefit from the research of our peer companies. We also do our own direct-toconsumer surveys and we talk with our customers to find out what they need, what they want, and what they wish they had. The great thing about today’s world is that there is so much data available to sift through. With both the Outdoor Industry Association (Outdoorindustry. org) and the RV Industry Association (RVIA.org), they have tremendous amounts of data that we as members have access to. And while that is all great, what that data ultimately does is to validate our ideas.” By way of an example, he cites the reason that SylvanSport is building the bigger camper is because a part of their customer base and target audience is getting a little older and beginning to create families. “What is really interesting is that we are simply replicating the model that the RV industry introduced in the 1950s and 1960s. If you go back to the 1970s, the Coleman pop-up camper was the gateway to the RV industry. A young family would buy one and then outgrow it, and then they would buy a travel trailer. Then, their kids would eventually grow up and move away and they would retire and then buy a motor home. The recipe was progressing through the industry then, and all we did was reset the dial and create an appealing product for today’s younger consumer. Our new product has a modern, very automotive appearance.” Once the idea came about to fill yet another consumer niche with the upcoming larger camper, Dempsey and the 22
| January 2019
DEMPSEY, IN THE new space, where star ting in 2019 they will be building their biggest trailers yet.
folks at SylvanSport then focused their minds on inventing a leading edge recreational vehicle. “The sides of the new camper will be made out of a composite material that we worked to develop with a couple of partner companies,” continues Dempsey. “So, this is an all-composite construction with the roof, the floors, and sides. We set out to kind of break down the barriers between the indoors and the outdoors. So, massive window walls open up in good weather and allow you to spill your living space into the outdoors under cover. The whole kitchen pod can be used indoors or it also slides outdoors, and when it is slid outside, that space becomes a full-sized shower on the inside. You get the best of both worlds. You get a ton of space in a compact package with very little work for the customer to open it up.” While SylvanSport has been successful for many years, there is still a need to expand the knowledge of the brand with more consumers. Dempsey says that one way they have done that has been via a robust online presence for the company at Sylvansport.com. “Even though we have been making the GO Adventure Camper for roughly ten years, most people that see it have never seen it before. So, having more products just adds to the brand awareness by giving more options to the consumer. We are still a small company, so our growth rate is pretty high. As of now, we have sold GO Adventure Campers in countries like Jordan in the Middle East, Peru, New Zealand,
PARKER LILES, ASSEMBLING the side frame for the GO camper.
January 2019 | capitalatplay.com 23
INSTALLING THE LIF T system for the GO camper.
and even by a distributor in South Korea. We also have a bunch of dealers in Europe. We containerize our products here in Brevard and then ship them worldwide through the ports of Savannah, Georgia, Charleston, South Carolina, or Wilmington, North Carolina. Once again, we designed the GO to be a global product from the beginning.” These days, with tariffs being attached onto various metal markets and other products by our government as
to make us a very attractive company, yet our volume is also low enough that it doesn’t necessarily make sense to manufacture our products overseas and then bring them back in. It is physically a large product, so it wouldn’t make any sense to make them in China and then ship them back over. The GO Adventure Camper is still our best seller, and our job is still to let the world know about it.” Just like most businesses in the country, even successful ones, Dempsey and SylvanSport have had their share of obstacles to overcome during the last several years. “Are you kidding me? We have had many bumps in the road over the years,” says Dempsey. “Being an entrepreneur, I always tell people that you have to be an ‘irrational optimist.’ Because, if you are not one, you just can’t get through all of that because there will be bumps in the road every other day. To get through them, I think, you should focus on the end game and you should focus on simplicity. The more complexity that you can boil down to simplicity, the better off you will be. I have always intuitively thought this. But, I have also seen quotes from other, more successful entrepreneurs than me that say, ‘Focus on one thing and do it well.’ We certainly would have liked to expand sooner, but at times the economy didn’t make it easy for us. We had some hard work to do to get to a certain plateau before we could expand. We had to build the foundation to launch off of, so we had to prove our concept a little bit first before we built on it.”
“At our core here at SylvanSport is product design. That is what we do. Our strength is in developing products. In a way, it has been a challenge to be restricted from that while we ramp up our business operations.” new trade deals are being negotiated, some material prices have risen for SylvanSport. Still, they have managed to keep their manufacturing plant here in Western North Carolina, as opposed to moving it overseas, due to what Dempsey describes as having found “a kind of sweet spot” for American manufacturers: “I carefully selected this industry to enter. The volume of our sales is high enough and the sale price of our product is high enough 24
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We know
d ce n va ad manufacturing.
Le a rn mo re a t
B 26LU E R I D G E . E D U | January 2019
With Dempsey, the engineering side of his personality encourages him to ‘work through the problem.’ Innovation requires patience, research, and hard work—and patience, research, and hard work produces innovation. “Two steps forward and one step back is very much a part of the equation at times,” says Dempsey. “At our core here at SylvanSport is product design. That is what we do. Our strength is in developing products. In a way, it has been a challenge to be restricted from that while we ramp up our business operations. One of the things that we are extremely grateful for, and we are very fortunate to have, is that we have been able to attract a really good team. Our talent here in this building, from our operations leadership to our sales leadership to our engineering, marketing, business, and financial side—we have some really great people working here.”
*** As many people who reside in this beautiful part of the planet known as Western North Carolina know, it is much easier to live in these mountains if you can support yourself with a good job. Dempsey is well aware of this fact of life and is happy to be able to make his business work amongst the Frasier firs, the snow-capped mountaintops, and summertime greenery of the region.
“I consciously chose to locate this company in Brevard because it appealed to my lifestyle and my family’s lifestyle,” says Dempsey. “In the outdoor industry, there are a lot of people that have that same desire, so we are fortunate to be able to attract talent to this area. Fifteen years ago, my wife said, ‘I’ll move anywhere in the country, if you will just get a job.’ [laughs] We picked this community to raise our kids in, so I ought to be smart enough to figure out a way to make a living here. It is a ‘make your own job’ kind of place.” One result of building up the successful SylvanSport brand is the GO Adventure Camper Rally that was held a year and a half ago. At the rally, hundreds of GO owners showed up to camp together and have some fun. Happy customers tend to help a brand grow. “We had about 300 people come to our first GO Rally in the summer of 2017,” says Dempsey. “It was awesome, and everyone had a great time. The band Town Mountain played for us, and we love those guys and we’d love to have them back for another
THOSE HAND BUILT touches, really ref lect the quality. January 2019 | capitalatplay.com 27
rally. It happened at a farm on the Transylvania County and Henderson County border. It was crazy because our customers are such evangelists for our products. We have
“Lobbying for the [North Carolina Outdoor Industry Office] was actually quite easy. The reason that I say that is because it’s one of those rare subjects that can be bipartisan in nature.” an owner’s group online and if anyone posts anything at all questionable or negative, our owners will rally around and answer the question or defend it far more than we could ever do. It is an amazing community. We set out to deliver a very high-quality product that was truly valuable.”
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At the heart of manufacturing a utilitarian product is awareness of the state of the world in which it is produced. As we all know right now, the times they are changing, yet again. The current social dynamic is unique, to say the least. In light of that, SylvanSport wants to be more than just an enterprise along for the ride. Instead, the company desires to be relevant. “My belief is that the days of ‘one dimensional products’ are over—as in, the making of products that people can only use for one specific purpose,” says Dempsey. “Especially in today’s world, where shared ownership and the whole uber-type mentality cause people to think, ‘I’m not going to buy this because I can find it when I need it.’ If you are going to manufacture something right now, it better be a really good product because to convince someone to actually buy it, it has to have enough value. It needs to exceed something that they would occasionally borrow or rent. The satisfying part of all of this is when your customers are truly happy about what they have purchased and they don’t regret it.” One way that Dempsey has given back to the region has been to be instrumental in the creation of the Recreation
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Recruitment Director position in the new North Carolina Outdoor Industry Office. “The office was established in 2017 by the North Carolina legislature,” says Dempsey. “We also created an organization that functions as a board for this office called the North Carolina Outdoor Recreation Coalition, and I am the chairperson of that entity. This office is about bringing some attention to the rest of the world about our natural beauty. There are already nearly 40 companies making outdoor gear in North Carolina, and there are 260,000 jobs in the state related to outdoor recreation.” Once the idea was hatched to create the North Carolina Outdoor Industry Office, it was off to the state capital of Raleigh for Dempsey and other business leaders to talk with the dulyelected politicians. “Lobbying for the creation of this office was actually quite easy. The reason that I say that is because it’s one of those rare subjects that can be bipartisan in nature. How many opportunities do you have in today’s world to have both Democrats and Republicans agreeing on something? We had really strong agreement on both sides. It is just a sensible thing to do, because in North Carolina we have more outdoor assets than any other state east of the Rockies. So, not telling the
world about all of that is leaving a lot of opportunity on the table. This is a spectacular state.” Dempsey is well aware of how blessed he is to be raising his family in this wonderful part of the country, while providing jobs for enthusiastic, like-minded people who have a true love for the natural world around us. “The one thing that keeps me going is gratitude,” summarizes Dempsey. “Every morning I drive from Cedar Mountain down here to Brevard through the most beautiful scenery. The views and the skies and the mountains are different every single day, and I feel like the luckiest guy on the planet. To be able to do that and then come in here and be able to pursue something that is fun and is what I love and that also brings joy to people: It’s amazing. This area is an interesting blend of appreciation for the natural beauty that we’ve got and the realities of paying the bills. I love employing people. Bringing opportunity to people that appreciate it and want to take advantage of it is very satisfying.”
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CAROLINA in the
WEST [
news briefs
Parking Boon(e) watauga county
To address years of frustration, the Town of Boone is considering partnering with Appalachian State University (ASU) for parking. The town was tapped out, the only space it owned being too small to justify building a garage large enough to handle demand. The town could have purchased a lot, but a more fiscally-responsible tack would be to share costs for a lot that could be used by the university and downtown businesses. The town is looking for enough space for 182 cars, and the ASU master plan calls for building a deck next to Peacock Hall, where the school of business is located. The town will contract with an architect or parking consultant to optimize the size of the deck, and then a joint planning meeting will be convened. The effort is
]
being shepherded by the University of North Carolina School of Government’s Development Finance Initiative Program, which helps communities with financing and real-estate expertise for transformative projects. If Boone can build a deck at the university, it will be able to expand town hall into the adjacent parking area and bring public meetings back downtown.
artists through various media. David Holt’s State of Music premiered in 2015 on North Carolina Public Television; now it is distributed by PBS to 450 affiliates in 170 markets in 47 states. Holt performed with Doc Watson in his early years, and now, having mastered ten acoustic instruments, his extended discography of folk recordings and hosted programs include several Grammy and Emmy nominations and awards. He now hosts live performances of top performers celebrating traditional Southern Appalachian music in program episodes that include song and story. The third season will begin airing in December and feature six performers in venues in North Carolina and Tennessee. The television series itself was nominated for an Emmy.
Saving the Campus The Gift of Music henderson county
The Perry N. Rudnick Endowment Fund of the Community Foundation of Henderson County awarded the Will and Deni McIntyre Foundation $15,000 to sponsor the fourth season of David Holt’s State of Music. The foundation was established in 2009 to promote
buncombe county
A-B Tech’s board of directors unanimously approved keeping the school’s Enka campus open. The campus is home to, among other programs, the Craft Beverage Institute of the Southeast, the Small Business Center, the North Carolina BioNetwork, Blue Ridge Food Ventures, and the Western Women’s Business Center. Existing programming
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was deemed valuable for the local economy, and replacement costs for labs and production facilities were deemed prohibitive. Closure has been in the rumor mill following an announced $1.7 million budget shortfall in 2015. The financial woes have been linked to a $2 million transfer of funds from sales tax revenues originally earmarked for the college to the county’s general fund the year before. That and other transfers occurred under a former county administration that wanted to sell the campus and is now, for other reasons, under ongoing federal investigation. At press time, a request from the school for an accounting for a total of $15 million in diverted sales tax revenues remains unanswered by the county.
Sage Counsel watauga county
Startup High Country (SHC) received a $100,000 grant from the NC IDEA Foundation. Funds will go toward Velocity Labs, the accelerator SHC launched in September, and support six cohorts for a twelve-week program over the next three years. The program serves early-stage, high-growth companies by connecting investors and entrepreneurs. Jeffrey Scott, director of the accelerator, says
participants will learn that businesses are temporary organizations with a mission to solve a problem. Since businesses, don’t typically form for one-and-done action, an organization’s processes must be repeatable, scalable, and profitable. People considering going into business should ask not only who they want to help, but whether the effort is worth the millions of dollars and years they will spend building a company. SHC partners with the Watauga Economic Development Coalition and local software company ECRS to create more high-paying tech jobs in the Boone and Blowing Rock areas. SHC formed the area’s first angel investor group, the High Country Impact Fund, and regularly holds Silicon Hollar events for networking.
B-Dazzled transylvania county
Gaia Herbs has attained B Corporation certification. The distinction, offered by B Lab, allows corporations to rewrite their organizational documents to task board members with pursuing purpose as well as profit. B Corporations are designated for scoring enough points in categories measuring equity, economic justice, meaningful employment, community
carolina in the west
building, and environmental stewardship. Gaia’s Sustainability and Social Impact Manager Alison Czeczuga said the certification was just the first step in a journey to continually improve the company’s B Impact Score. Gaia began with a conscious goal of selling natural products to promote wellness. Since 1997 the company has been growing herbs on a 350-acre Certified Organic farm where methods of cultivating healthy plants are intended to improve soil, air, and water quality. More recently, Gaia launched a tracking system to document the history of the individual plants it sells, and it became a Certified Living Wage Employer. Gaia joins the ranks of about 2,600 B Corporations worldwide.
Gaming the Business watauga county
The Blowing Rock-based Powell Group announced a new season for its Indie Games Business channel on Twitch. Host and Powell Group founder Jay Powell has 20 years’ experience in licensing and has worked with big companies like Disney, Nickelodeon, and National Geographic. While the business end of the gaming industry is second-nature to him, he has found it wanting among developers,
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carolina in the west
large and small. He observed people can go to school to learn how to code and design, but until the IG Business channel came along, nobody was helping with the business side of the industry. Twitch airs 40 episodes twice weekly on the channel. Programs feature experts on such topics as finding a publisher, finding places to sell, community management, marketing, industry trends, and legal tips. With a collective 100 years’ experience in “all facets of the video game industry,” the Powell Group tracks over 500 game publishers and over 4,000 developers.
Lost & Found avery county
Doug Hundley recently reported the identification of three new, old apples. He is working on the Avery Apple Project, an attempt to locate and preserve heirloom apples planted in the area by early European settlers. One apple, a suspected true Pound, was brought to him for identification by Michael Edminston. It was growing on an old tree that belonged to his grandfather. After evaluating the apple’s coloring, size, shape, flavor, season, and suitability for various purposes, and conducting an extensive search, Hundley concluded the tree came from a strain cultivated in Northeastern Alabama and peddled in Western North Carolina in the 1920s. The second, from Burbank, Tennessee, and presented by Shelton Holland, appears to be a true Roxbury Russet. More research is required, but Hundley said this apple, better than any other prospects he has seen to date, matches research on what the Pilgrims found and grafted in 1640. Thirdly, Chris Eswine of Montezuma identified a Junaluska on a tree planted in 1915. The Junaluska tree, according to tradition, was so beloved by the Cherokee chief of that name, he refused to sell his land to the government until he was paid an extra $50 for the tree. The variety was believed to have been extinct since around 1800. 32
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Unleashing Potential wilkes county
The family of Robert L. Strickland announced a gift to Wilkes Community College (WCC) in the amount of $1.1 million to support career coaching in every public high school in Wilkes, Ashe, and Alleghany counties. Robert and Betty Strickland had been in negotiations with the college since July, and Robert died in September. The North Carolina State Board of Community Colleges had granted WCC 50% of what was needed to hire four career coaches, but the Stricklands wanted a coach in all six high schools. Before the gift, the high schools had 13 guidance counselors serving 4,600 students. “Mr. Strickland believed in the potential of every person and the intentional pursuit of success,” said WCC’s President Dr. Jeff Cox. The announcement was made in the spirit of Thanksgiving and timed to reach people in the season of giving. Strickland was an executive with Lowe’s, a former state representative, and an inaugural member of the Wilkes Community College Board of Trustees.
A Walk in the FOREst watauga county
Chetola Resort has opened the first disc golf course with public access in Watauga County. While disc golf is typically played with 18 baskets, known as holes, this course, designed by INNOVA Disk Golf, has nine holes located near the condominiums and another three off Chetola Drive. Taking up five acres of the 87-acre resort, the course is placed in challenging deep woods with creeks and duck ponds as water traps. The course is free to guests who are overnighting at Chetola and available to others for a $5 fee. Green time is also being offered to groups wanting to host tournaments or fundraisers. Discs are extra and may be purchased or rented from the resort. Chetola’s wellness director, Gary Woolard, said the idea of a disc golf course was appealing when he was
looking for year-round, active entertainment for guests. Although Frisbees have been immensely popular for decades, even spawning Ultimate Frisbee leagues, disc golf is a relatively more recent sport that is accessible to people in a wide range of ages and fitness levels, and it can be played in an hour or so.
Venture-ing buncombe county
In early December Venture Asheville, the well-known entrepreneurship initiative of the Asheville-Buncombe Economic Development Coalition, hosted the inaugural Venture 15 Awards & Venture Asheville Honors. (See our People At Play photo gallery in this issue.) The intention was to rank and recognize the “15 fastest-growing Asheville area startups [and] the area’s outstanding entrepreneurs.” The victor at the event, which took place at Isis Music Hall in West Asheville, was Elite HRV, whose compound annual growth rate quadrupled those of others in the pack at 210.5%; the company tracks heart variability rate through apps and sensors. Close behind was Ginger’s Revenge, whose specialty is alcoholic ginger beer (they also have a tasting room in the River Arts District), at 196.9%. And alumni of the Capital at Play back pages were prominent on the top 15 list, too—among them were Plum Print, No Evil Foods, Security Camera Warehouse, RISC Networks, Hi-Wire Brewing, and Poppy Handcrafted Popcorn (whose founder, Ginger Frank, was named Entrepreneur of the Year).
Granted Time & Space buncombe county
The Center for Craft announced that, with a $975,000 grant from the Buncombe County Tourism Development Authority, it has reached 90% of its fundraising goal for a capital expansion. The Center for Craft, running 17 years under the umbrella of the University of North
Carolina System, now operates as an independent 501(c)(3) out of a century-old building in downtown Asheville. Four years after moving in, the center launched a campaign to raise funds for a 7,000-sq.-ft. expansion for more gallery, classroom, coworking, office, and event space. With a facility already recognized as a Statewide Arts Resource by the North Carolina Arts Council, board members hope the expansion will grow the center into a National Craft Innovation Hub to host events like the recent Shared Ground symposium in New York City. Now, in the public phase of the fundraising campaign, known as Building a Future for Craft, donors meeting deadlines and dollar thresholds can have their names commemorated on a plaque or a tile installation by regional artist Ian Henderson.
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Medicinal Herbs swain county
Great Smoky Mountains National Park is moving forward with an agreement that would allow the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI) to harvest some of its sochan strictly for medicinal purposes. The two parties have been in negotiations for years over harvesting the plant, which, while enjoyed in salads for its wealth of vitamins and minerals, is used in traditional medicine as a salve, anti-inflammatory, decongestant, blood cleanser, and general tonic. Public input was solicited in December over a 34-page agreement following a Finding of No Significant I mp a c t i n t he E nv i r o n me nt a l Assessment of a proposal designed to “establish a management framework for sustainable collection.” As-is, the agreement would define the gathering season as March 1 through May 31 and authorize the issuing of permits to 36 EBCI members each year for gathering sprigs up to 12-inches long. The number of gatherers was selected, “based on an estimate of interested participants and administrative and sustainability considerations.” EBCI
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carolina in the west
Principal Chief Richard G. Sneed encouraged all tribal members to weigh-in with public comment.
Shedding Light henderson county
Pending financial disclosures and regulatory approval, the General Electric plant in East Flat Rock could be sold. For 60 years, the factory has been a mainstay for good-paying jobs. In recent years, the plant was part of the division branded “Current, powered by GE.” Launched as a $1 billion startup subsidiary in 2015, the division underwent several mission restructurings, including spinoffs and intra-organizational mergers, all related to lighting and mostly associated with smart LED lighting. As early as 2017, Current was known to be one of the non-core functions GE was considering selling. Then, in early November this year, GE announced it had found a buyer in American Industrial Partners, a New York-based private equity firm. In 30 years of business, American Industrial has invested $42 billion in 90 transactions. Its specialty is turning mid-size corporations into more profitable ventures. The Henderson County Chamber of Commerce and the Partnership for Economic Development knew that
negotiations had been underway for about a year.
for the ban, remarked, “Private enterprise and the people that thrive in a capitalist system don’t wait for government. They make innovation when it happens as soon as it happens, and it’s up to government to catch up.”
Bird Droppings buncombe county
A shev i l le Cit y C ou nci l u na n imously approved a ban on e-scooters. Transportation Director Ken Putnam explained the city had been contracting with a consultant to develop an ordinance for regulating docked bikeshares when the concept of dockless bikes hit the ground running. Then, the city caught wind of shared e-scooter businesses becoming all the rage. The city had no sooner decided to move forward with including the scooters in the rideshare ordinance than Bird dropped 200 scooters on Asheville streets. The business strategy, following the old adage that it’s easier to ask forgiveness than permission, gives people a chance to experience the product itself before scare tactics could build prejudice. City workers were tasked with rounding up all the bikes, and Bird agreed to wait for the city to pass an ordinance, only to break its word with a second scooter drop two days later. During public comment, Jeff Kaplan of Venture Asheville cautioned members of council they were being regressive by not moving with technological change. Councilman Keith Young, while voting
Taking out the Trash haywood county
Things are changing for a trash co-op in downtown Waynesville. Several businesses on Wall Street had been sharing a trash and recycling dumpster until recently, when several new restaurants and bars got in on the game and people were having to stack bags on top of or beside the dumpster. The trash co-op was a service provided by the Downtown Waynesville Association, which considers too much trash, like too little parking, a symptom of success. While researching whether a private hauler would be able to provide more frequent pickups more economically, it was discovered the town had been emptying the dumpster for free; users were assuming the pickup was included with their quarterly dues to the downtown association. In conclusion, the town agreed to make four weekly pickups instead of two. The new service will cost $1,000 a month, and the town is determining who will use the service and estimating what volumes they
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will contribute in order to divvy out fair assessments. While businesses will be paying for the dumpsters, co-op members not using the town’s curbside pickups will now be exempt from that billing.
Need for Internet Speed polk county
Leadership in Polk County is waiting to hear back from Verizon. Results of an online survey intended to gather information from customers experiencing ongoing issues with their wireless service were forwarded to individuals in Verizon’s engineering department, who assured the county they would review them. Responses from 506 customers were collected, mostly via Facebook, and assembled in map form. The two worst areas were in Lake Lanier and between Columbus and Mill Spring. Getting wireless to rural, mountain areas has long been difficult due to the cost-recovery prospects of investing in extra infrastructure to ensure coverage in sparsely-populated topographies full of signal obstructions. The county undertook the survey to address a high volume of citizen complaints received for years. In 2016 Polk County worked with the North Carolina Department
of Commerce to create a broadband committee to conduct a similar survey. The county is also waiting to hear back from providers interested in servicing some of the more troublesome areas. (See “Weaving A Web,” in our March 2018 issue, about internet issues and service in Western North Carolina.)
minute, installing LED runway lights that can be controlled by pilots, and replacing the airport’s DSL with highspeed internet from one of his companies. And that’s just a start. The opportunity to oversee airport operations opened when Neil Hoppe and Peggy Milton, who had been managing the airport for 20 years, decided to retire.
Ah, That’s Better
The Center of Attention
macon county
transylvania county
Drake Enterprises has taken over management of the Macon County Airport. Run by Phil Drake, Drake Enterprises is a conglomeration of about 20 businesses, situated mostly in and around Franklin, that include a software developer, a bookstore, a printing press, internet services, a center for the performing arts, and more. The latest airport expansion, in fact, was made largely to accommodate the many business flights Drake makes around the country. Drake said he entered the management contract because he used the airport enough to know how to make it more functional, and he felt he could afford to make investments the county couldn’t justify with public dollars. Doing business as Macon Air, some of Drake’s first investments were keeping the fields mowed, acquiring and deploying fuel trucks that can pump 200 gallons per
The Sylvan Valley Industrial Center opened to great fanfare as luminaries and members of the public converged in what now looks like a hollow warehouse to celebrate. The center is a 60,750-sq.-ft. big box for manufacturing tenants. It was built with $1 million from the Golden LEAF Foundation, $200,000 from state earmarks, and $3.7 million from Transylvania County. In addition, the land for the building was donated by the City of Brevard, and the county picked up the bill for $405,000 in stormwater improvements. Currently, the building only has one tenant, SylvanSport. Sylvan will occupy 30,000 square feet, and founder and CEO Tom Dempsey said the larger workspace will accommodate the manufacture of about a dozen new, more complex trailers. (See our story on SylvanSport, p.16 in this issue.)
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photo by Anthony Harden
local industry
The State OF
Manufacturing 2 19 If Western North Carolina is to be economically successful in the future, the key will be in finding the right talent—and talent that is not only trained for, but committed to, that future. written by jennifer fitzger ald
January 2019 | capitalatplay.com 37
local industry
T
here are more than 10,000 manufacturers in the state of North Carolina—well over 3,000 of them located in Western North Carolina, where manufacturing accounts for $5.7 billion annually, or 21% of our area’s overall economic output—each making a different product and employing a unique workforce. Each business also has its own unique story regarding how it fits into the larger manufacturing picture.
*** One such story perhaps emblematic of our area is Henderson County’s SELEE Corporation, which has longstanding roots in Western North Carolina and plans on continuing its legacy in the mountains. Founded in 1974 in St. Louis, Missouri, as a part of Consolidated Aluminum, the Hendersonville headquarters opened in 1979. In addition to that headquarters, they also have manufacturing facilities in Xiaogan, China, and Gilberts, Illinois. SELEE employs 140 in Hendersonville and 220 worldwide. SELEE pioneered the use of ceramic foam in metal filtration technology. Ceramic foam is basically foam that has been impregnated with a ceramic slurry material, baked or fired, and the finished product is ceramic foam. SELEE Corporation invented the first ceramic foam filter. It is used for molten metal filtration, allowing customers to “clean” their metal and reduce their scrap. “Our filters are used in metals for the aerospace industry, auto industry, beverage can industry, consumer products industry, and building products industry,” says SELEE Corporation President Watt Jackson. “Along with ceramic foam filters, we supply a variety of metal filtration equipment and we are now making 3D printed filters here in Hendersonville.” Like any successful company, SELEE has evolved over the years to ensure continued growth. “We continue to invest in new technology and methods to better serve the growing needs of our customers,” continues Jackson. “Of course, expansion to China was a big step for us—but it’s such a strong industrial market, so it makes business-sense for us to be there and grow there. China’s growing population will continue to demand products that require metal filtration. “We are and have always been the industry leader, so maintaining that position can be challenging, especially when there are more competitors now. So, our goal is to continue to be the innovator that everyone is chasing.” 38
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Having just been named MountainTrue’s Green Business of the Year for Western North Carolina, SELEE has, according to Jackson, a goal of being 100% sustainable by 2025—meaning zero waste to the local land field. “We fit the WNC business model in that we help our customers with their quality, reduce their impact on the environment, and we make the safest ceramic filter in the industry—for which we have received numerous awards as well. And we are part of the N.C. Department of Labor Carolina Star Program, having recently been recognized and visited by Cherie Berry, N.C. Commissioner of Labor.” Jackson adds that they choose to keep their headquarters in Western North Carolina because it’s their home and they have a great stable workforce here. SELEE Corporation’s marketing theme is “NEXT,” so, they will continue to invest in Research & Development to stay ahead of competitors in markets they serve. They will always challenge themselves to keep thinking of that NEXT “big thing” that can serve their customers.
A Look Back Steve Woody has seen many changes in the manufacturing scene in Western North Carolina. As a lifelong resident of Asheville and CEO and Director of Avadim Health, Inc. (profiled in the April 2017 issue of this magazine), he is not sure if we will ever return to the days when textiles and furniture dominated our region. He does, however, see technology companies and MedTech companies like Avadim that are efficient in their manufacturing operations and need high skilled talent which are fueling a healthy and growing manufacturing segment in all parts of North Carolina. But before we take a look at the current state of manufacturing in Western North Carolina, let’s take a look back. The earliest manufacturers to be found in North Carolina were a few textile mills prior to the Civil War. The real beginning of the industry did not occur until the 1880s when mill villages were built to house employees and form communities. This growth was part of the “cotton mill campaign” that equated the idea of southern progress with industrialization. “This was aided by the expansive growth of the railroads, which allowed for easy transport of cotton and manufactured goods,” says Rebecca Williams, co-founder of Serpent Child Productions, which is currently working on Blanket Town, a documentary film about the rise and fall of the Beacon Blanket Mill in Swannanoa,
$35
North Carolina’s Manufactured Good Exports, in Billions of Dollars 2000- 2017
$30 $25 $20 $15 $10 $5 $0
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
2012 2013
2014 2015 2016
2017
Graph rebuilt from: Center for Manufacturing Research, North Carolina Export Facts
its influence on the people who worked there, and its national and global context. (See sidebar, p. 40) “In 1879,” Williams explains, “the railroad was completed that linked eastern and western North Carolina. Construction of textile mills and towns often followed the railway tracks. “One of the historians who speaks in the film talks about how in North Carolina, by the turn of the century everyone in the South wanted to hop on the mill-building bandwagon. There was this new technology that was changing not only how things were made but also how everyone lived, and they wanted a piece of it. He compared it to the beginnings of the internet or dot.com boom. Often these mills were started with the financial backing of middle class professionals—bankers, lawyers, merchants—and were set up in small towns.” Williams says the other thing that contributed to the expansion of the textile industry in the South was the rise of organized labor in New England. Established mills, like Beacon, were experiencing labor unrest and strikes. By moving to the South, they could avoid that. Also, if a mill used southern cotton, they were closer to the raw materials and they didn’t have to pay people as much as they did in New England. The Owen family bought Beacon Manufacturing Company in 1904 and started production in New
Bedford, Massachusetts, in 1905. They started making blankets in Swannanoa in 1925, while maintaining the plant in New England. They closed out the New Bedford plant and moved all their operations to Swannanoa by the mid-‘30s. Anne Chesky Smith, director of the Swannanoa Valley Museum & History Center, shares that by 1923, North Carolina had overtaken Massachusetts as the largest textile producer in the United States due to the state’s mild climate, cheap labor, raw materials, and plentiful electricity. After the Depression, almost 25% of North Carolinians were unemployed. Textile mills were an attractive option for many as they offered steady wages, mill housing, and credit at the company store. “I think part of the importance of a manufacturing base, like textiles, is how it creates a kind of economic eco-system,” says Williams. “It can support smaller businesses, like shuttle manufacturers, that were located here to make the shuttles for the mill’s looms. And of course, you can look at Swannanoa’s history and see how Beacon and its mill villages (which were typical in southern mill towns) gave rise to grocery stores, clothing stores, restaurants, etc. that served the thousands of people who worked there. When the industry closes down, those smaller businesses can’t survive, and often the small towns that sprung up around them, dry up. January 2019 | capitalatplay.com 39
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photo courtesy SELEE Corporation
BEACON ON FILM Blanket Town: The Rise and Fall of An American Mill Town is a documentary film about the rise and fall of the Beacon Blanket Mill in Swannanoa, its influence on the people who worked there, and its national and global context. The film is in the final editing stages and has recently picked up a sponsorship by The Center for Independent Documentary, out of Boston, as well as a grant from The Black Mountain-Swannanoa Valley Endowment Fund. Serpent Child Productions is still raising money for finishing funds to help pay for things like sound mixing and color correction. Once complete, they plan to submit the film to film festivals, a regional PBS station, and, of course, have a local screening. To support the film's completion people can make a tax deductible donation through The Center for Independent Documentary or via the Blanket Town website. They can also catch up on the latest info about the film and all things Beacon on Facebook. And for additional reading about Beacon: In our January 2017 issue, Capital at Play reported on its history, as well as the people who essentially brought it back to life in the last few years as Beacon Linens, “Relighting A Local Beacon.” photo courtesy Swannanoa Valley Museum and History Center and Serpent Child Productions
40
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“For Swannanoa, Beacon also supplied steady employment to generations of workers, with the chance to move up through the ranks of the mill, without a college degree or even a high school education. I’ve spoken to quite a few people who dropped out of school as early as the ninth grade, worked at Beacon, got their GED, and ended up in supervisory positions where they said they made ‘good money’—enough to buy a home, a car, and put their kids through college. So, you could learn new skills on the job and be rewarded for your hard work. And I don’t think those kinds of opportunities exist anymore for folks without higher education. With the rise of the ‘gig economy’ the chances of steady employment, where you work for one employer for 20-30 years, with benefits, is also a thing of the past.” Textiles employment in North Carolina reached a high point in 1973, apparel in 1984, and furniture in 1988. Between these peak years and 1991, these three industry groups together lost over 112,000 jobs. By 1974, trade agreements were being negotiated to try to stop the flow of textile imports into the United States. But still, between 1974-84 textile trade imports to the United States tripled. It was a slow and steady decline for several decades. Many believe the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) contributed to these subsequent job losses since 1991. The rise of the WTO (World Trade Organization), the gradual phase-out of the multi-fiber agreement, which had put limits on the amounts of exports developing countries could export to developing countries, the passage of NAFTA, the rise of mega-retailers like Walmart that demanded low prices, the high cost of modernizing old factories—all contributed to the loss of textile jobs in our state. United States clothing brands and textile manufacturers left North Carolina for China, India, Bangladesh, Mexico, and Central America, where they could make the same goods with cheaper labor. “Basically, we had NAFTA and globalization hit in the late ‘80s at the same time,” says Avadim’s Woody. “In our MedTech sector we had almost 15 firms here—within a few years we were down to two or three. For me, personally, we were trying to compete with China-produced devices, but ultimately, like most companies, we had no choice but to have our products produced over in China. None of us had a choice—either go overseas or
photo courtesy A-B Tech
were gone, and so were the profits. I had to close it down and sold the equipment for 10 cents on the dollar to Pakistani companies. To make it worse, while we were working, we were paying duty on imported fabric of 11.3%; we only paid 6.8% on complete sheet sets, packaged and ready to sell. [In other words] there was a 4.5% disadvantage to buying fabric and creating jobs here in the USA. What a broken system.”
The Current State
PHIL COE & Levi Gardner learning at A-B Tech
to Mexico or lose market share. To make it worse, the Chinese government was willing to subsidize products at levels that were putting our domestic firms out of business. It was no big deal for them to subsidize for two or three years which we, as domestic suppliers, could not withstand and they knew that very well. Our region was particularly at risk because two of the labor- and environmentalintense industries were textiles and furniture. So obviously, that double hit had a drastic impact on our region.” Beacon actually stayed very competitive through the 1990s and was quite successful in a declining industry. But when China was admitted to the WTO in 2000 as a developing country, American textiles really couldn’t compete. Tedd Smith and Steve Hutcherson of Beacon Linens—the firm they started a few years ago after securing the rights to the Beacon name (see our profile in the January 2017 issue)—agree that NAFTA started the decline of manufacturing in Western North Carolina, but the WTO dealt the killer punch. “Had the playing field been level,” says Smith, “USA manufacturers could have competed favorably. That was not the case.” Hutcherson elaborates upon what American manufacturers were up against, describing what he experienced at the time. “I had opened a cut and sew facility in Greenville, South Carolina, making sheets and pillowcases. We spent almost $3 million on state-of-the-art automated machinery. With a little over 100 workers we were making about 10,000 sheet sets per week… and making a profit. [But] in one day the quotas
Fa st-for ward to present day, where the manufacturing sector is healthy once again and growing in all parts of North Carolina. “We have seen a steady increase in the number of jobs and the number of manufacturing companies calling North Carolina home each year,” says North Carolina Commerce Secretary Anthony Copeland. “In the past two years, the following Western North Carolina manufacturing companies have announced expansions—Baxter Healthcare, GE Aviation, Greenworks Tools, Haakon Industries, Icone Technologies, and numerous other companies that represent products in aviation and agribusiness to pharmaceutical and automotive.”
“Programs like the partnership between GE Aviation and A-B Tech to provide customized training... in response to their employment needs, are doing an excellent job training workers.” Copeland cites the number one reason for consistent growth in manufacturing in Western North Carolina as well as the state: the availability of a talented and trainable workforce. Various state, regional, and local programs and partnerships, including work-based learning opportunities and hands-on training, are succeeding in preparing North Carolinians for the manufacturing jobs of today and the future. “Programs like the partnership between GE Aviation and A-B Tech to provide customized training and the Furniture Academy in Catawba County that was created by various local furniture makers January 2019 | capitalatplay.com 41
local industry
TOP 10 INDUSTRY SECTORS That Led Manufacturing Employment Growth
Over The Past Five Years In The Asheville Metro Area (Buncombe, Henderson, Haywood, Madison)
2013 - 2018 % Change
167%
BEVERAGE MANUFACTURING
23%
32%
MOTOR VEHICLE PARTS MANUFACTURING
51%
MEDICAL EQUIPMENT AND SUPPLIES MANUFACTURING
29% 41%
89%
RUBBER PRODUCT MANUFACTURING
PRINTING AND RELATED SUPPORT ACTIVITIES FABRIC MILLS
VENTILATION, HEATING, AIR-CONDITIONING, AND COMMERCIAL REFRIGERATION EQUIPMENT MANUFACTURING
Training, Training, and More Training Our region is fortunate to have the resource of A-B Tech’s Economic & Workforce Development Department and Advanced Manufacturing Center. A primary focus of the Department (within the Economic & Workforce Development Division) is to work directly with local manufacturers to provide employee training. “The main way we do this is local administration of the state’s Customized Training Program,” says Director Kevin Kimrey. “The Customized Training Program is funded annually by the North Carolina Legislature, and exists to provide funding and | January 2019
38% 5%
AEROSPACE PRODUCT AND PARTS MANUFACTURING PLASTICS PRODUCT MANUFACTURING
Source: Provided by Economic Development Coalition for Asheville-Buncombe County
in response to their employment needs, are doing an excellent job training workers,” says Copeland. “We’ve got six Certified Career Pathways programs in manufacturing that are exposing middle and high school students to the variety of job opportunities in manufacturing and what curriculum to follow to help them prepare for those jobs.”
42
102%
HOUSEHOLD AND INSTITUTIONAL FURNITURE AND KITCHEN CABINET MANUFACTURING
resources to train workers in several industry sectors, including manufacturing. We currently have 10 active training projects (three-year duration for each) with GE Aviation, Avadim Health, BorgWarner Turbo, Eaton, Linamar, New Belgium Brewing, PECO, Nexus Technologies, Reich, and White Labs. “But we also do training for practically every local manufacturer—Advanced Superabrasives, Arcadia Beverage, AvL Technologies, Baldor, Jacob Holm, MB Haynes, Medical Action Industries, Emerson, National Wiper Alliance, PLI, TE Connectivity, Kearfott, Thermo Fisher, Tutco, for example. And we do training for emerging manufacturers such as No Evil Foods, Riverbend Malt House, Wicked Weed, French Broad Chocolate Factory, Hemp Magik, and will be working with the new Canadian manufacturer that just announced that it is coming to Asheville—Haakon.” Over the last five years, through the Customized Training Program there has been training for 4,071 local employees, serving 113 different companies, and expending $1.2 million in state funds to do the training.
North Carolina’s Regional SECTIONS OF INDUSTRY
chart courtesy The Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina -edpnc.com
The Advanced Manufacturing Center is a huge part of the operation, and all types of training is held there—job-specific, safety, continuous improvement and leadership, core industry skills, business support, and bio-manufacturing. “But we also ‘take the show on the road’ quite a bit and do a lot of training at manufacturing sites,” says Kimrey. “The Advanced Manufacturing Center will soon expand both in space and training scope. Our center will house a full-scale machine shop, automation/mechatronics space (including robotics), industrial maintenance, electro-mechanical assembly, sanitary welding (to serve the food and beverage manufacturing industry), and metal fabrication, all with state-of-the-art equipment.” The Division of Economic & Work force Development /Continuing Education provides short-term training, usually in six months or less, including one-day courses to allow someone to add skills or learn new interests easily. “We offer classes in all areas of our local economy including health care, manufacturing, technology, hospitality, education, human
services, and emergency services, to name a few,” says Vice President of Economic and Workforce Development/Continuing Education Shelley White. “Many of our programs lead to nationally or state aligned certifications; our programs do not lead to traditional degrees or diplomas—although some of our programs in advanced manufacturing and emergency services allow students to earn credit towards a degree from their successful completion of non-credit course.”
Wanted: Skill Sets & Degrees In 2019, what are manufacturers looking for when hiring? According to Kimrey, certain skill sets are obviously needed for specific job functions, but many skill sets are universal—soft skills, things like good communication skills, teamwork, the ability to avert or resolve conflicts, and basic technical skills or basic computer skills. Engineering degrees are needed everywhere, and not just four-year degrees. Two-year engineering degrees are needed, as well.
January 2019 | capitalatplay.com 43
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“Probably the biggest thing that has changed is technology and automation—manufacturing is increasingly advancing its processes,” says Kimrey. “It is taking fewer people to do a lot of manufacturing, but it is requiring more advanced skills and knowledge, setup knowledge, troubleshooting skills. I tell everyone that it would be a good idea to get some level of college education—four-year degrees aren’t always necessary, but community college education, either degrees or short-term training, are becoming increasingly necessary.” Different than in the past when there was a need for a large number of employees for each manufacturer, now the region is seeing high skilled employers with a need for fewer employees. “The upside is the jobs are higher skilled and demand a higher pay, but there are fewer jobs than before,” explains Josh Carpenter, regional industry manager for the Western Region for the Economic
organizations. Carpenter’s organization, EDPNC, has a recruitment function along with a business development function that is geared specifically for lead generation and project management. In addition, Carolina West and the Mountain West Partnership are both a consortium of county level economic developers working together to promote the recruitment and retention of industry. Remember that estimated 3,000 regional manufacturers mentioned the beginning of this article? If you factor in several additional counties adjacent to our 18-county Western North Carolina, the number ticks even higher. Observes Carpenter, “Based on Dun and Bradstreet data, there are 3,635 manufacturers in the Western and Northwestern Prosperity Zones. This is data that our research team was able to find.” (View a map of those zones on p.43) The Mountain Area Workforce Development Board, part of the Land of Sky Regional Council, is another
“Our region has had the lowest unemployment rate in North Carolina for 42 consecutive months. The Asheville MSA has the second lowest unemployment rate at 2.5% of any MSA in the Southeast.” Developmental Partnership of North Carolina (EDPNC). “What is appearing more often than not are smaller firms with high levels of automation. Our strongest manufacturing sectors are in advanced manufacturing in general. This includes automotive, aerospace, electronics, medical devices, and a few others. In terms of weakest, I would say we need to improve in food production. I think we could be stronger with food production with improvements in logistics infrastructure.” Carpenter shares that since 2010, the number of aerospace and automotive jobs have grown— aerospace jobs have increased 68% and automotive jobs have increased by 16%, with a location quotient of 1.12 in aerospace jobs and 1.55 in automotive jobs. This means in terms of those types of jobs we are higher than the national average and are differentiated in that regard.
Recruitment (Pt. 1) A key responsibility of bringing new manufacturers to the region falls to local economic development 44
| January 2019
that oversees a single, comprehensive strategic plan for a four-county area by identifying workforce development issues and the needs of local businesses. Nathan Ramsey, director of the Mountain Area Workforce Development Board, states that manufacturing employment has increased about 4,000 jobs since the Great Recession. With an average wage exceeding $53,000 per year (plus benefits), the direct wages paid to manufacturing employees in our region is over $1.2 billion annually. “There are about 1,000 manufacturing job openings right now in the region, and manufacturing employers, like employers in all sectors, are struggling to meet their talent needs in a tight labor market,” says Ramsey. “Our region has had the lowest unemployment rate in North Carolina for 42 consecutive months. The Asheville MSA has the second lowest unemployment rate at 2.5% of any MSA in the Southeast (behind the Charlottesville, Virginia, MSA and Crestview-Fort Walton BeachDestin, Florida, MSA, which are both at 2.4%).” The Mountain Area Workforce Development Board has helped create, with manufacturing
employer leadership and partnerships with educators, economic developers, and workforce partners, an Advanced Manufacturing Career Pathway (MountainAreaCareers.org), which has been certified by the NCWorks Commission. The board provides funding for training for career pathways in Advanced Manufacturing to eligible individuals pursuant to the Workforce Innovation & Opportunity Act (WIOA). Advanced Manufacturing is one of the board’s five target sectors, along with Healthcare, Hospitality & Tourism, Skilled Trades/ Construction, and Tech/IT. “The Advanced Manufacturing sector has been one of the leading sectors driving job growth in our local economy,” says Ramsey. “It is also one of our region’s higher paying sectors, along with Healthcare. Meeting the workforce needs for this sector is critical so our local manufacturing firms can thrive.” The Economic Development Coalition (EDC) for Asheville-Buncombe County is a partnership of the Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce, Buncombe County, and the City of Asheville, along with over 85 investors in the AVL 5x5 Strategy for Job Creation. “5x5” is their five-year plan focused on five highwage industry sectors that will further diversify the regional economy and leverage the historical strengths of the Asheville workforce—Advanced Manufacturing, Science and Technology, Healthcare, Entrepreneurship, and Talent Development. “The EDC partners with all manufacturers in Buncombe County—from local startups like French Broad Chocolate to multinationals like Borg Warner Turbo,” says Clark S. Duncan, executive director and senior vice president of the EDC. “Our programs focus on expansion, workforce development, and sustainability initiatives that build a strong foundation for continued growth and high-quality job creation. “Long-standing partnerships with Asheville and Buncombe County schools bring both teachers and students into manufacturing facilities on a regular basis to better understand the diverse career opportunities for our next generation. These kind of engagements are incredibly important to building a pipeline of next-generation talent for the Asheville Metro economy. “To that end, we recently launched NEXT AVL—a customized mentorship program in partnership with UNC-Asheville and Western Carolina University focused on retaining our rising workforce among the region’s 184,000 college and university students. Additionally, our E3 Sustainability Council will soon
mark its 10-year anniversary and continues to bring together cross-functional representatives of the Buncombe County manufacturing community for best practices in workforce development, logistics, process, and energy efficiency.” Duncan notes a trend among local manufacturers continuing to invest, expand, and diversify their holdings in Asheville, based on the strength of the workforce and ease of recruiting talent and young families to the region. This is surprising, he says, in the face of such a tight labor market nationally and reassuring that local employers have the confidence to grow.
Manufacturers in North Carolina account for Employing
10.5% of the workforce
In 2016 the average annual compensation of North Carolina manufacturing employees was
$68,975
Source: Center for Manufacturing Research, North Carolina Manufacturing Facts
“Avadim Technologies, for example, was courted by several states but instead committed in 2016 to grow their headquarters by over 550 new jobs in Asheville based on the talent of our residents, the strength of local educational partnerships, and the amenities of the community.”
Recruitment (Pt. 2) In Henderson County, manufacturing headcount has steadily increased to approximately 5,300, with average wages around $53,000 annually. Brittany Brady, president of the Henderson County Partnership for Economic Development (HCPED), proposes that as BMW came to Upstate South Carolina, Henderson County has enjoyed the success of automotive suppliers. “We like to think of ourselves as the Automotive Supplier Capital of the World,” she notes. “From that, we have seen sectors within the industry grow and spin off including polymers, metals, and even non-wovens. Food and Beverage continues to grow and diversify.” HCPED has an active recruitment strategy, meeting with companies, consultants, and attending trade shows and meetings, and working closely with Carolina West, as well as the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina. January 2019 | capitalatplay.com 45
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photos courtesy Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce
“Our organization is just as focused, if not more focused on the retention of industry as we are on recruitment,” says Brady. “There are 133 manufacturers in Henderson County and we continually conduct meetings to take the temperature on any opportunities or threats that they may be experiencing. It is our desire as an office to focus on removing any hurdles so that they can focus on creating their product. We have also facilitated neighborhood meetings and other industry specific events to help build connections within the manufacturing community. We are proud of our collaborations with Blue Ridge Community College and Henderson County Public Schools that are building a workforce pipeline. “It is fascinating to observe local companies dream into the future on how they need to invest for decades to come. Specifically in regards to automation, companies in our region are on the cutting edge with R&D for what will be. These changes have steadily taken place. How companies invest in machinery and equipment has changed with staffing in mind. Manufacturing has become cleaner year over year. The sector as a whole has become a more desirable industry where people work smarter, environments are more high tech, and the culture is something exciting to be a part of.” 46
| January 2019
Brady describes Henderson County as having one foot in manufacturing and one foot in the mountains —the per fect work / life balance. Henderson County specifically collaborates to remove any hurdles for industries setting up. “We have a history of manufacturing here, which translates into a skilled workforce and training resources, and tried and true methods. We can’t deny we have a tremendous quality of place. With a positive in-migration that outpaces the state, we have something special and we are proud of it.”
Recruitment (Pt. 3) In Yancey County the Economic Development Commission works closely with the local community college system, Mayland Community College, and with the local public school system to help develop programs that can train individuals for the skills required in today’s manufacturing jobs. “We have a robust incentive policy as well, but in today’s business climate, I daresay incentives, though important, are less important than whether we can provide the skilled labor required by companies seeking to grow and expand,” says Jamie L. McMahan, Yancey County Planning and Economic Development director. “I have the
The North Carolina
privilege of serving as the first chair of a new regional partnership to work toward this goal in the Yancey, Mitchell, and Avery Counties called the Tri-County Business Advisory Council, which brings together leaders from local industry, education, and economic development sectors to work to develop a plan to ensure that we continue to develop programs that will keep our workforce trained for whatever the future of manufacturing in Western North Carolina may hold. “In Yancey County we have seen a common denominator with industries who remained in our county through the downturn in the manufacturing economy, and with newer industries that we have recruited in more recent years. That common denominator is the ability to train our workforce to understand the technological changes in manufacturing. In my opinion, the industries that have grown here have less to do with any one particular sector of business either returning or emerging, but rather more to do with companies of all sorts seeking out a workforce that can meet the technical skills that advanced manufacturing now requires.” McMahan cites technology as having a significant change in local manufacturing: “This might be a bit of a tongue-in-cheek response, but I would say that the changes in manufacturing over the past 10 years, five years, and 12 months are technology, technology, technology. If you consider the rapidity with which technology now evolves, in the last 12 months there has probably been as much innovation as there was in the previous decade. That is why educating our people to adapt as quickly is important. STEM education, coupled with knowledge of mechatronics, robotics, and computer aided design is imperative in today’s business world.”
Recruitment (Pt. 4) As a staffing provider in the region, Express Employment Professionals partners with hundreds of employers in Western North Carolina throughout the year, and a large percentage of their clients operate in the manufacturing space. Their team of recruiters identifies, screens, and onboards talent for
DATA DASHBOARD Edward Lopez, professor of economics at Western Carolina University, offered the following data on economic and manufacturing activity in the state and our region via the University’s new NCDataDashboard.org project. THE NORTH CAROLINA economy as a whole (Gross Domestic Product in 2016) is about
$520 Billion,
and the Western North Carolina share of that is $27.1 billion or 5% of the state economy. AS ELSEWHERE, BOTH THE state and the region experienced a large decline of economic activity during the 2008-2010 Great Recession. TODAY, AS MEASURED BY DOLLAR VALUE OF OUTPUT: Manufacturing is the leading sector in North Carolina,
Manufacturing growth has been much faster in the WNC counties,
or 19.8% of state output, and also in the western counties ($5.7 billion, or 21.0% of WNC output).
since Great Recession, than it has been statewide (22.7% over the last decade).
$103 Billion, Manufacturing is also the fastest growing sector in WNC over the last decade.
As of 2016,
Buncombe, Haywood, and Swain counties matched pre-Great Recession levels.
39% growth Total compensation to manufacturing workers has
increased 21%
over than same period. This is happening as the number of jobs in manufacturing has declined. So, there are fewer jobs, but they are paying more per job.
In Buncombe County one area of particularly rapid growth has been in the Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services sector. With output of almost $650 million, this area of the local economy has growth by almost 70% from its 2010 level. We see similar rebounds in the Finance and Insurance, Retail Trade, and Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation sectors. Meanwhile the Construction sector and Transpor tation and Warehousing sector have not yet returned to their pre-Great Recession levels, but remain on trend to do so. January 2019 | capitalatplay.com 47
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Some Recent Facts About Manufacturing In North Carolina Manufacturing Employment in NC: In 2017 manufacturing accounted for
Productivity in North Carolina is
of the total private industry employment in the state.
than in the nation.
13% (or 467,442)
North Carolina’s manufacturing employment is
the 8th LARGEST
among the 50 states and is the largest in the Southeast. In 2017 there were
10,274 Manufacturing establishments in the state.
42% BETTER
Source: U.S. Census, 2016, Annual Survey of Manufacturers (ASM), Value Added/Payroll
Economic Multiplier: Every $1.00 spent on manufacturing means
$1.82
for North Carolina’s economy.
Source: BLS & NC QCEW
Source: IMPLAN
North Carolina Gross Domestic Product from Manufacturing (2018Q2):
North Carolina Manufacturing Exports:
Manufacturing industries generated
$105.5 Billion
in GDP in the state.
Manufacturing GDP is
21% of North Carolina’s Total private sector GDP.
In the Nation, North Carolina has the
6th Largest GDP.
In 2017 manufacturing goods accounted for
$30.8 Billion (or 95%)
of the state’s total exports ($32.6 billion). Top manufacturing exports include:
Chemicals ($8.4 B) Transportation Equipment ($4.4 B) Machinery ($3.6 B) Computer & Electronic Products ($2.2 B) Textiles and Fabrics ($1.9 B)
Source: BEA
Source: WISERTrade
Manufacturing Wage:
Manufacturing Employment Growth
In 2017 the average weekly wage for manufacturing industry was
$1,122.53, 22%
higher than non-manufacturing industries. Source: QCEW
48
Manufacturing Labor Productivity:
| January 2019
Projections for 2014 - 2024
North Carolina: 0.7% Western North Carolina: 4.2% Source: NC Industry Employment Projections
Provided by the North Carolina Department of Commerce
these companies in entry- and mid-level roles. Over the past 18 months Express contractors completed 791 assignments, and they have onboarded over 412 people into permanent and career positions. The average entry level manufacturing wage for the companies they support has grown 18.2% in the past two years. “Manufacturing is strong in Western North Carolina,” says Meredith Campbell, co-owner and chief joy facilitator of Express Employment Professionals. “Most of our clients have experienced significant growth in 2018 and anticipate continued growth in 2019. A common challenge we hear is identifying and retaining the right local people to join their team. A strong partnership with local colleges and training programs has given some of our manufacturing clients a leg up when recruiting talent and cultivating their workforce. We’re excited about the leadership and emphasis on workforce development happening in our community from organizations such as Mountain Area Workforce Development, Economic Development Coalition, Western North Carolina Human Resource Association, and strong community colleges such as A-B Tech Community College, Blue Ridge Community College, and Haywood Community College.” The Express Employment Professionals team of recruiters has seen an increase in the demand for entry level and experienced machine operators. The loudest call comes from manufacturers on the search for maintenance technicians. This is a position that often requires mechanical and electrical aptitude, as well as experience in order to keep machines running correctly, quickly, and safely. “I don’t think one can ever say a region has too many jobs,” says Campbell. “A healthy economy offers a variety of jobs that require a variety of experiences, training, and education. It’s common knowledge that Western North Carolina’s average wages are lower than the state of North Carolina’s average wages. Combined with a continued increase in the cost of housing, employees and employers have to make intentional choices at acceptable wages to attract and retain talent. There’s no doubt that the mountains have an impact on workforce attraction, but they don’t put food on the table or pay medical bills. A focus on higher skilled jobs is a win for all, but employers and our community must not forget the great value entry-level and lower-skilled positions have. Wages need to continue to rise for these positions as well.”
At recruiting and staffing agency Aerotek, Garrett Greene, Business Development managerEngineering and Manufacturing, has recently seen a surplus of light industrial roles in our area. He shares that as automation continues to evolve the manufacturing industry, we will soon see a rise in technical roles such as programmers, set-up technicians, and automation control technicians. “With $6.2 trillion in annual revenue, business is booming across the manufacturing industry today, fueled by a strong economy and steady demand for products,” says Greene. “However, one of the most significant challenges facing manufacturers today is the industry’s historically low unemployment rate, which hit 3.8% in July 2018. To be competitive, companies are raising pay scales. Rising demand and short supply in skilled trades means that manufacturers have to offer competitive wages. With the unemployment rate being so low, there are several populations that are crucial to maintaining manufacturing’s ongoing production capacity— women, military veterans, and the future generation of workers.” Manufacturers are facing the toughest recruitment environment in decades. With roughly 21,300 workers, the manufacturing industry employs more people in Asheville’s metropolitan area than it has at any point in the past decade, data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics shows. “Manufacturing growth in other parts of North Carolina and the bordering states has also continued to further opportunity for growth in our area,” says Greene. “For example, new manufacturing sites for companies, such as Boeing or ZF Lemforder in South Carolina, can create a positive ripple effect and help attract suppliers to set up shop in WNC as they will position themselves for delivery within a reasonable shipping radius. Many of the larger manufactures prefer their top suppliers to be close in proximity to help mitigate risk and monitor quality procedures. “In addition to manufacturing companies in the Automotive, Aerospace/Defense, and Med Device industries, Western North Carolina is continuing to see a rise in breweries and outdoor recreation products. Breweries are the second fastest growing industry for job opportunities in Western North Carolina with a 16% increase over last year.”
So… Why Western North Carolina? The obvious question becomes, why do manufacturers choose to locate in our region? Perhaps one obvious answer is the quality of life January 2019 | capitalatplay.com 49
local industry
PEPSI DELIVERS
that the area offers, leading to a positive tool for recruitment and retention of employees. In addition, the location within the Southeast is attractive to manufacturers. “We are within a one-day trucking drive of 80% of the U.S. population,” says the EDPNC’s Carpenter. “Within one day’s truck drive or 300 miles of WNC, there are over 6,000 auto and aerospace manufacturing firms.” There is also, he adds, a lower cost of labor and doing business: “This is due to a lot of factors, but North Carolina
“The data show that companies are willing to match those high skills with high pay. This is a big part of the overall economic trend in WNC, as elsewhere.” has a history of skilled workforce development that helps to reduce the cost of workforce training for companies, and in turn they have a lower cost of doing business.” And, of course, there are the partnerships throughout the area that work in tandem to bring good things together in the manufacturing segment. “The partnership of A-B Tech continues to be a differentiator for Asheville and Buncombe County businesses,” says Duncan, of the EDC. “As North Carolina’s first community college, Buncombe County is positioned to offer new and existing industry world-class customized training programs. A great example is the Craft Beverage Institute of the Southeast that was launched by A-B Tech to support New Belgium Brewing, but today supplies graduates to every craft brewery in Western North Carolina.”
A GREAT PLACE TO WORK! 50
| January 2019
*** There you have it—a look at the state of manufacturing in Western North Carolina and its importance to our region. While the value of the segment might be overlooked by some, make no mistake—it is a critical part of the local economy. “It is sometimes overlooked how important manufacturing is to the WNC economy,” says Edward Lopez, professor of economics at Western Carolina University. (See sidebar, p. 47, on the university’s North Carolina Data Dashboard economic activity project.) “Fewer manufacturing jobs is what gets headlines. But as the data show, with far fewer workers, WNC manufacturers have been producing a lot more value. Manufacturing in WNC is globally competitive, and it’s
tempting to think that manufacturing jobs simply go where labor costs are the lowest. But these are also increasingly highskilled jobs, and companies want to locate near a high-skilled workforce. And the data show that companies are willing to match those high skills with high pay. This is a big part of the overall economic trend in WNC, as elsewhere.” Avadim’s Woody sums it up well when as he says, “To be successful in the future, we are focused on finding the right talent that wakes up committed to our vision and will protect the culture. That’s why we stayed in WNC because of the work ethic and the quality of people here—they will assure we remain innovative, which will be the key to our future success.”
HELPING OTHERS
Path To Success Nathan Ramsey, director of the Mountain Area Workforce Development Board, offered the following suggestions for anyone interested in finding out more about careers in manufacturing in Western North Carolina: I ENCOURAGE YOU TO VISIT MountainAreaCareers.org to some of the career pathways available in our region including the Advanced Manufac tur ing sec tor (mountainareacareers.org/advanced-manufacturing/). We profile about ten individuals in Buncombe, Henderson, Madison, and Tr ansylvania Counties wor king in the manufacturing sector with Mountain Area Careers. TR ANSYLVANIA COUNTY ALLIANCE has recently released their “Did You Know?” campaign to highlight the impor tance of manufacturing jobs in their community: transylvaniaalliance.com/news/article/alliance-launch-videostorytelling-series-role-of-manufacturing-in-transylv.
LOOKS GOOD ON YOU Ev er y t ime y o u d o n a t e a n i t e m o r s ho p in o ur s t o re s you ’ re s up p o r t ing p ro g r am s t h a t h e l p lo c al p eo p le fi nd em pl oym e n t and ac hiev e fi nanc i a l se c u r i t y. P ro v id ing ho p e, o ppor t u n i t y, and jo b s s inc e 1 9 2 6 .
HENDERSON COUNTY PARTNERSHIP for Economic Development has developed the “Made in Henderson County” initiative (gohendersoncountync.org), which is a par tner ship bet ween the Par tner ship, Blue Ridge Community College, and Henderson County Schools to highlight the manufacturing career oppor tunities available in Henderson County. 100% Local | 100% Nonprofit | goodwillnwnc.org January 2019 | capitalatplay.com
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THE OLD
NORTH
STATE [
news briefs
Amazonia kernersville
Going to press, no official announcement has been made, but investigative reporters are sure Kernersville will be getting an Amazon fulfillment center. In May, site plans, with the Amazon logo appearing on signs in renderings, entered the local design review process. Then, in June, Amazon affiliate Seefried Properties purchased property near the Kernersville FedEx warehouse for $11.2 million. A building permit was issued in August with no timeline for completion, but grading is underway. Most recently, the town’s planning board approved plans for rezoning the property from General Industrial to General Business. In minutes from that meeting, the parcel in question was referred to as the “Amazon Property,” and mention was
]
made of the “Future Amazon Facility.” Even so, official word from the town is that the tenant has not been finalized. The tenant, however, is expected to create office and warehouse jobs, support nearby business, and handle a workflow schedule similar to that of FedEx.
collaborating on freeware projects, such as the development of enterprise versions of Linux and Kubernetes. The acquisition, however, featured work on the hybrid cloud; which provides interoperability between a private, on-location cloud and a public, third-party cloud. Work with the hybrid cloud will now account for $19 billion of IBM’s business. Headquartered in Raleigh, Red Hat grew to enjoy a multinational presence, employing 12,600. IBM agreed to pay $34 billion, cash, for the acquisition of all shares at $190 each. Red Hat CEO Jim Whitehurst, who will continue to lead the company as a division of IBM, promised minimal changes to operations.
Powering Down IBM Eats This Hat raleigh
IBM is acquiring Red Hat in what the latter billed as, “the largest software transaction in history.” Red Hat is best-known as a distributor of enterprise-grade, open-source software; but it has acquired several products through mergers and acquisitions, and it continues to participate in many development projects. For two decades, Red Hat and IBM have been
charlotte
A n announced early retirement program offered by Duke Energy will be extended to more departments. In October, Duke offered incentives for voluntary severance to employees in its nuclear and IT departments. The incentives are now available to employees in the company’s legal, human resources, and power generation operations. While Duke will not say how many people its payroll targets will affect, it is
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understood that layoffs would follow if an insufficient number volunteer for the buyout. Duke says the terminations are not motivated by downsizing, but rather the utility’s commitment to providing safe, sufficient, and reliable energy at the lowest cost. Duke announced $100 million in cost-cutting measures last year after letting 900 employees go in 2016. Even so, Duke increased residential rates in August to compensate for added investments in cleaner and more modern technology. In addition to winding down all its coal-fired power plants in North Carolina over the next 30 years, Duke canceled plans for two new nuclear facilities last year.
Chicken Out
manufacturer of cell-based flu vaccines. Traditional flu vaccines use viruses grown in chicken eggs, but that method of cultivation has been found to result in shots better-suited for chickens than humans. Cell-based vaccines, instead, grow cultures of mammal cells for viruses to infect so corresponding antigens may be found for strains with more appropriate resistances. In a recent study, Seqirus’ Flucelvax was determined to be 36.2% more effective than egg-based viruses. Even though Seqirus’ Holly Springs plant manufactured 21 million vaccines for the 2017-2018 flu season, the flu continues to cause somewhere in the neighborhood of 650,000 deaths worldwide each year.
holly springs
Making Eyes
Among the luminaries gathered to celebrate a $140 million expansion of the Seqirus manufacturing facility was United States Senator Richard Burr, co-author of legislation establishing the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Author ity. The expansion, as well as an FDA-approved process improvement, will help Seqirus bring vaccine adaptations to market faster. Seqirus is the world’s largest
According to CEO A r yeh Batt, Precise Bio will soon be ready to test 3D-bioprinted corneas in humans. Precise Bio, a startup founded by several professors from the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine, is developing processes for manufacturing tissue implants using laser printers to lay down layers of cells and biocompatible materials. The cornea lends itself well for
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the technology because it is naturally layered with different types of cells. It also contains neither nerves nor blood veins, and it requires no invasive procedures for access and monitoring. Laser printers are used because they destroy fewer cells than inkjets or micro-extrusion setups. Pressure is applied to pop a bubble of cells to leave a film on a slide or petri dish, and the process is repeated with different materials for each successive layer. The cells then incubate 10-14 days to form strong bonds. Precise Bio already pioneered implantation of 3D-bioprinted corneas in test animals. An estimated 10 million people go blind each year for want of access to corneal transplants. Batt hopes one day his printers will be a must-have for ophthalmology offices.
Hoarding Crypto charlotte
Jason Davis created Hoard to build trust in cryptocurrency. Davis cultivated an interest in studying blockchain technology while working as a former user experience designer for Wells Fargo. He found the average person is not willing to tackle the steep learning curve with existing risks, which include inadequate security, liquidity delays, and the possibility of
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irrevocably losing a fortune after miskeying one digit. Davis finds user hesitancy analogous to that frightening people from using ARPANET, the precursor to the user-friendly internet. By way of contrast, there is nothing to figure out about depositing and withdrawing money from a bank. Hoard is designed to take the learning curve out of peer-to-peer crypto, so anybody can privately and near-instantaneously exchange anything, anywhere. Hoard users can interact in euros, dollars, or crypto without a blockchain wallet, and they don’t incur user fees. All they need is a Hoard username, an email address, or a phone number. Under development is a seamless protocol for exchange between blockchains.
Bureaucratic Treatment of Bureaucracy durham
The City of Durham, in partnership with Duke University, convened a group of forty in an effort to make administrative forms more user-friendly. Terms describing the existing forms included, “convoluted,” “bureaucratic,” “lengthy,” and “too difficult.” Attendees of the launch of what has become known as (Re)Form Durham included designers, government employees, and average citizens. Behavioral science experts were also brought on board to address psychological problems people experience with the forms, like misperception and confusion. In the first step, the attendees were assigned the task of developing an improved prototype of each of four forms: the small business certification program application, the yard waste pickup application, the request for vital records, and a request for public park improvements. In the second iteration, civil servants who process the forms will add their input to the prototypes. Lastly, the old and new forms will be evaluated to determine which ones are best. A similar initiative recently completed in Detroit carved 80% out of an application
for public benefits that before asked 1,000 questions in 40 pages.
Dollars Don’t Fall From Trees matthews
Back in 2015, Dollar Tree purchased Family Dollar. Then, two months ago, Dollar Tree announced it would be closing the Family Dollar Headquarters in Matthews to consolidate administrative functions in a 510,000-sq.-ft. office tower in Chesapeake, Virginia, that will employ 1,900. Of the 900 jobs remaining in Matthews, 200 positions were cut. As the remaining positions will be phased out by summer, the remaining employees were offered jobs in Chesapeake, but only 210 accepted the offer. Dollar Tree, therefore, will be hiring to fill 500 positions. Dollar Tree expects to spend $40-$49 million on consolidation costs, which include relocation, outplacement ser vices, and one-time severance benefits for employees. Consolidating headquarters alone cost $2.3 million last quarter. Additional restructuring will include the closing of underperforming stores, the opening of new locations, and the renovation of over 1,000 stores next year. Dollar Tree reported $281.8 million in net earnings last quarter.
True Daily Double charlotte
Elementary school art teacher John Morgan had a dream of marketing his pimento cheese recipe, but he had neither the time nor the money. Then, he won some money on the popular television game show Jeopardy and invested it in a 30-quart mixer. He sold out quickly. Four years later, Morgan employs seven full-time workers. He, his wife, his mother and father, and his best friend from childhood fill thousands of 10-ounce tubs of Queen Charlotte’s Pimento Cheese Royale a week. It now
comes in four flavors: original, jalapeño, blue cheese, and bacon. Each batch is handcrafted using Carolina favorites like Duke mayonnaise, Mt. Olive pickles, and Texas Pete hot sauce. The product has less mayonnaise than the average pimento spread, and it is gluten-free with no preservatives added. The spread is sold at 142 Food Lion stores, 58 Harris Teeters, and 80 specialty stores; it is served at over 30 area restaurants, and Morgan also ships.
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Smithfield Foods has teamed with Dominion Energy to launch Align Renewable Natural Gas. Both companies intend to invest $250 million, each, in a program they plan to build out over the next ten years. The idea is to reduce greenhouse gases by converting hog waste to natural gas through anaerobic digestion. The process first reduces atmospheric methane by collecting the hog feces and secondly improves air quality because natural gas releases about half as much greenhouse gas as coal. The effort is further geologically stabilizing, as it will also offset some demand for fracking. The effort will pilot in four counties in North Carolina, Virginia, and Utah, where there are clusters of Smithfield farmers who will enter into long-term supplier contracts for the fuel. Governor Roy Cooper praised the program for its potential to help the state reach greenhouse gas reduction targets. Detractors argue the contract does nothing to encourage the global population to eat lower on the food chain.
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leisure & libation
1915 FORD MODEL T at the Antique Car Museum in Grovewood Village. photo by Tim Barnwell
The Art of
Unique
Museum-ing written by jim murphy
From mermaids, monkeys, and Marilyn; to pinball perfectionists, radio revelers, and feline fetishists—if there’s an object of affection out there, somebody has definitely erected a public shrine to it. January 2019 | capitalatplay.com 57
leisure & libation
Pinball Museum photos by Anthony Harden
T.C . DIBELL A
F
rom kayaking and rafting to mountain biking and hiking, Western North Carolina enjoys a wealth of adventures in our great outdoors—over the years this magazine has extensively covered such joys and much more. But those in the know understand there is an equally abundant variety of attractions confined to our great indoors. 58
| January 2019
Our mountain area boasts a wealth of museums that cover topics ranging from chocolate to college, from graffiti to cats. And when cabin fever strikes, or simply an urge to wander through rooms filled with unique visuals not automatically available via computer screen, an excursion to one of the area’s many museums can provide a reliable escape and feed the imagination.
“You Gotta Hit The Flipper” One of the most popular museums in our region stretches the museum concept to its audio/visual limit: The Asheville Pinball Museum, which might properly add, “and Game Room” to its title. The venue is usually crowded to capacity with players of all ages testing their pinball skills with flippers and body English to run up astronomical scores while avoiding the fatal “Tilt.” Visitors don’t have to bring a pocket full of quarters. Entrance is free for those who want to treat the place as a classic museum—look all you want, but don’t touch—and the price to play is $15 for unlimited games on the 40 pinball machines and classic video games. The room regularly reaches its firedepartment capacity, especially on weekends. At those times, only paying players are admitted.
On a recent blustery Saturday, a line of parents and children fought off a nasty wind waiting for the doors to open. For Debby Alphin of Asheville, it was a family affair. She was there with her daughter, son-in-law, and grandchildren. “This is the number-one attraction,” she said. “We tried yesterday and didn’t realize how crowded it would be. There was a three-hour wait, so we’re back here this morning.” T.C. DiBella, the creator of the museum, suggests that anyone who simply wants to see the machines should come on a weekday when the place is less likely to be filled to capacity. The museum is so popular that, last year, DiBella opened a second location in Hendersonville. The machines themselves present dazzling displays of circuslike graphics with names like Cyclone, Batman, Spiderman, Star Wars, and the Bally Wizard. With lights flashing, bells ringing, and flippers pounding, the room is a far cry from anyone’s idea of a quiet, stately place where you tip-toe around admiring old art and speaking in hushed tones. The players quickly lose themselves in the spectacle. At one machine a father and his four-year-old son were engrossed with the careening ball, which fell unmolested out of play. “You gotta hit the flipper,” Dad said, with a grin. His son, more familiar with video games than these old-fashioned pinball contraptions, pulled the trigger for another ball and held his hands ready on the flipper buttons. A separate room offers more friendly diversions for the younger set: classic video games. DiBella explains that the video game phenomenon is so new, a “classic” is anything made before 1990. Here, players can exercise their reflexes with such oldies as PacMan, Centipede, and Donkey Kong. DiBella developed his interest in pinball only a few years ago when he bought a machine “as a birthday present to myself.” As his interest grew, he eventually acquired two more machines. His breakthrough came soon after. “I had a party at my house, and everyone was fascinated with them,” he says. “And one of my guests sent me a link to the Seattle pinball museum, and a light went off, and I said, ‘If you put that in Asheville, it would be huge.’ And then I said, ‘Why shouldn’t I put one in Asheville?’ That was back in 2013.” Once it opened, the museum quickly took off—to the surprise of DiBella. “I had no idea it would be this successful,” he says. He quit his job teaching middle school science and turned himself into a pinball entrepreneur. Pinball has become an all-consuming career, and for his own enjoyment, it has grown from a pastime to a passion. “Whenever we get a new machine, we keep in the back for awhile so I can play it.” (The Pinball Museum was also featured in the March 2017 issue of this magazine: “Ready Player One”.)
photo by Jesse Kitt courtesy BMCM&AC
photo by Michael Oppenheim courtesy BMCM&AC
Raise A Toast To Bucky Fuller A more conventional—if no less inspiring—museum experience awaits on College Street in downtown Asheville. Black Mountain College Museum and Arts Center is dedicated to an institution that existed for only 24 years, but represented a Camelot moment of 20th Century arts and imagination. photo by Michael Oppenheim January 2019 | capitalatplay.com 59 courtesy BMCM&AC
THE CHOCOLATE MUSEUM includes tasting and learning.
leisure & libation
A roster of teachers and students who populated Black Mountain College during its heyday reads like a Who’s-Who of American creativity: Merce Cunningham (choreographer), John Cage (composer), Robert Rauschenberg and Ben Shahn (artists), Arthur Penn (film director), Buckminster Fuller (architect)—to name just a few of the notables who gathered in nearby Black Mountain to stretch the boundaries of their creativity while teaching a curriculum that centered on the arts. The college was born during the Great Depression in 1933. It continued throughout World War II and into the McCarthy era. It finally closed its doors when funding dried up in 1957. It was by no means a standard fouryear institution offering degrees in the usual academic specialties. The curriculum had no course requirements, no grades—and no degrees. Students decided when they
During its short life, the college had such an impact on arts in America that the museum would eventually be created to recognize the history of the college. would graduate and receive a purely ceremonial diploma to acknowledge their “graduation.” Within its malleable structure, though, the college promoted fresh thought and avant-garde experimentation. It was on the Black Mountain campus that Buckminster Fuller created his first large-scale geodesic dome and Merce Cunningham formed the company that would go on to essentially define modern dance. It also coined the term “Happening” as a noun. Beginning in 1952, John Cage produced theatrical events at the college, combining music, film, poetry, and whatever other elements Cage cared to include. He called his productions “musical happenings,” launching a term that grew into vogue several decades later. During its short life, the college had such an impact on arts in America that the museum would eventually be created to recognize the history of the college with art exhibitions, publications, and educational programs. Community engagement manager Kate Averett explains the origin of the museum, saying, “In 1993, an advocate of the college, Mary Holden, founded the museum to celebrate the history of Black Mountain College as a forerunner in progressive interdisciplinary education. She continues to 60
photos by Nate Webster Of Arca Design | January 2019
be involved via long distance because she now lives in Paris.” Averett adds that much like the college, the museum’s goal “is to provide a gathering point for people from a variety of backgrounds to interact through art and ideas.” Over its 25-year span, the museum has hosted more than 200,000 visitors. Last year it moved to a new, more expansive location at 120 College St. in Asheville. In addition to its continuing exhibits about the college, the museum’s current exhibition features the paintings of Jacob Lawrence, who taught at the college in 1946. Lawrence is a wellknown African-American painter who specialized in depicting African-American life. His paintings hang in the Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. (The Lawrence exhibit runs through January 12.) And beginning in February, a featured exhibit will explore the politics of Black Mountain College. Against a tumultuous political background, the college drew scrutiny and controversy as an incubator of unconventional ideas. The multimedia exhibit will include FBI files and other documents.
Count Chocula Would Approve From the artistic pursuits of an experimental college, our museum tour takes a sharp turn to the gastronomic pleasures of—chocolate. The French Broad Chocolate Company, recently profiled in the pages of this very magazine (“Like A Box of Chocolates,”
March 2018), have opened their new factory on Riverside Drive which incorporates a three-faceted museum experience. Owners Daniel and Jael Rattigan wanted a space that could not only produce their products, but could also educate visitors to the story of chocolate. According to Jael, the first phase of the experience is production of the confections: “People can walk through and learn about the different pieces of equipment and see the chocolate being made in front of their eyes. That’s why we have all those big windows looking into the production area and signage telling the people what the machines are doing.” Beyond production is a display of vintage documents and illustrations dating back to 1750 explaining the history of chocolate. The display continues into the present, showing French Broad’s connection to its cacao growers in Central America. And tours include a classroom presentation explaining the process from cacao plant to finished product. The historic documents are on loan from a collector, and Jael says they plan to change them every six months or so. As for the concept of marrying their production facility to an educational experience, “We have grown to see our marketing as storytelling,” she says. “The idea of creating a space that was experiential and educational was in the plan since we conceived of this facility.” The original French Broad Chocolate Lounge opened in downtown Asheville in 2008, and Jael says their success has been “beyond our wildest dreams. For sure. The dream has been evolving for 12 years.” January 2019 | capitalatplay.com 61
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photos by Anthony Harden
A ROOM OF radios, at the Asheville Radio Museum.
Radio Could Still Kill The Video Star The radio has been evolving for about ten times that long. And the Asheville Radio Museum has been tracking that evolution since 2001. The museum fills a small room on the A-B Tech Asheville campus, with floor-to-ceiling shelves of radios, both broadcast and ham, along with tubes, an early phonograph, a working Morse code key, framed paintings, news clippings, prints, cartoons, and assorted paraphernalia. During our visit, museum President Steve Carter cranked up a 1902 Edison Standard Phonograph, with a large horn speaker. He pointed out that there was no electricity involved in producing the sound, which came out of the horn as a raspy, scratchy vocal arrangement of a song called, “Everybody Wiggle Waggle.” One of the displays is a variety of radio tubes, which Carter said often confuse people. “Sometimes we ask visitors, ‘What are these?’ And people under 40 don’t know. They answer, ‘Light bulbs?’” The tubes seem to be historic anomalies, but Steve says they are still manufactured in Europe and Asia. And, although they can be hard to find in this solid-state age, “There’s a place in New York that has a huge stock of old tubes. It’s a warehouse with racks up to the ceiling with nothing but tubes.” And the museum actually has its own stash of the aging rarities. “We 62
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have boxes of old tubes,” he noted, to replace ones that wear out. Nowadays, museums tend to focus on what’s new and what’s still to come. But Carter said the radio museum is trying to cross that bridge. “All of us really like this old stuff, and we think there’s quite a bit of value in maintaining the history. At the same time, we have some of the latest technology to demonstrate what radio waves look like. So, we can show people the science of it.” Many of the “old stuff” exhibits feature familiar brand names, such as Zenith, Bendix, or Edison, but one bulky model on display draws particular attention. Showing no fewer than five dials across the front of a black case, Carter identified it as a Neutrodyne Broadcast Radio Receiver dating from the 1920s—it had been a popular model in rural areas because it could receive stations from cities as far away as Boston or Dallas. Ed. Note: The museum is closed in January except by special request.
Tag THIS Stretching the definition of “museum” allows us to visit an outdoor array of art and graffiti on Riverside Drive in the Asheville arts district. The display is an outgrowth of a project that celebrated local muralist
STEVE CARTER
GRAFFITI MUSEUM work in the River Arts District
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leisure & libation
Queue Up! > >asheville
pinball museum
1 Battle Square, 1B, Asheville, NC 28801 828-776-5671 ashevillepinball.com
> >bl ack
mountain college
museum
120 College St., Asheville, NC 28801 828-350-8484 blackmountancollege.org
> >asheville
r adio museum
A-B Tech, 315 Elm Building, 283 Victoria Rd., Asheville, NC 28801 504-256-5796 avlradiomuseum.org
> >french
broad chocol ate
museum
821 Riverside Dr., Suite 199, Asheville, NC 28801 frenchbroadchocolates.com
> >antique
car museum at grovewood vill age
111 Grovewood Rd., Asheville, NC 28804 828-253-7651 grovewood.com/antique-car-museum
> >american
museum of the
house cat
4704 US-441, Sylva, NC 28779 828-476-9376 catman2.org
> >museum
OTHERS:
> >smoky
> >the
aluminum tree and aesthetically challenged seasonal ornament museum & research center
Transylvania Heritage Museum 189 West Main St., Brevard, NC 28712 transylvaniaheritage.org/content/aluminum-christmas-tree-museum
> >nc
western archives
176 Riceville Rd., Asheville, NC 28805 828-296-7230 archives.ncdcr.gov
> >wnc
589 Tsali Blvd., Cherokee, NC 28719 828-497-3481 cherokeemuseum.org | January 2019
mountains tr ains
museum
air museum
1340 E Gilbert St., Hendersonville, NC 28793 828-698-2482 westernnorthcarolinaairmuseum.com
> >fly
fishing museum of the southern appal achians
210 Main St., Bryson City, NC 28713 828-488-3681 flyfishingmuseum.org
> >appal achian
pinball
museum
538 N Main St., Hendersonville, NC 28792 828-702-9277 visithendersonvillenc.org/businesses/appalachian-pinball-museum
> >wheels of the cherokee
indian
64
Before bundling up for a trip to a museum, it would be wise to call or check out its website for directions, hours, and admission charge (when applicable; many of these are free to visit). Here is a listing of some of our favorite Western North Carolina museums, starting with the ones featured in our story and then including some other spots of interest.
through time tr ansportation museum
(rare motorcycles, with related exhibits) 2 Vintage Ln., Maggie Valley, NC 28751 828-926-6266 wheelsthroughtime.com
100 Greenlee St., Bryson City, NC 28713 828-488-5200 gsmr.com/smoky-mountain-trains-museum
> >joshua
warren ’ s asheville mystery museum
Basement of the Masonic Temple 80 Broadway St., Asheville, NC 28801 828-318-8579 ashevillemystery.com
> >bob
moog foundation minimoogseum
The Orange Peel 101 Biltmore Ave., Asheville, NC 28801 moogmusic.com
> >swannanoa
valley museum
223 W State St., Black Mountain, NC 28711 828-669-9566 history.swannanoavalleymuseum.org
> >smith - mcdowell museum
(historic
house museum)
283 Victoria Rd., Asheville, NC 28801 wnchistory.org
> >thomas
wolfe memorial
52 N. Market St., Asheville, NC 28801 wolfememorial.com
> >asheville
museum of
science
43 Patton Ave., Asheville, NC 28801 828-254-7162 ashevillescience.org
> >wnc
military history museum
21 E. Main St., Brevard, NC 28712 828-884-2141 wncmilitaryhistorymuseum.com/
JACQUELINE OLIVER works on a mural.
Ian Wilkinson developed several years ago. He had a contract to remove graffiti from a downtown building, and after the offensive tags were covered up, he invited graffiti artists to work on the same wall. He then wrote a contract with the city saying the tags comprised a sanctioned mural and it was no
The project turns old industrial walls into public art, and it gives real meaning to the term “graffiti artist.” longer simply graffiti. “We made a graffiti production where artists could work in broad daylight and spend time on it to make it really good.” That eventually led to a project on the Asheville wastepaper warehouse in the River Arts District. “We used 60 artists— half of them graffiti writers, some muralists and some street artists,” notes Wilkinson, proudly. “Their wall was 22 thousand square feet. We divided it into sections and set them loose. Everyone was elated to be working on the wall together.” Along with murals and graffiti in other parts of the district, the Riverside display juxtaposes primitive, untrained talent with sophisticated artwork. The project turns old industrial walls into public art, and it gives real meaning to the term “graffiti artist.” On a chilly winter day, the best way to visit the graffiti and murals is from the cozy confines of your car. January 2019 | capitalatplay.com 65
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photos by Tim Barnwell
1928 PONTIAC SEDAN
Cruisin’ To The Oldies And as long as you’re already in the car, cruise over to Grove Park, where you can check out some cars that are, well, museum pieces. Literally. The Antique Car Museum, located in Grovewood Village behind the Grove Park Inn, features 20 classic cars and four horse-drawn vehicles, from a 1913 Ford Model T to a ’59 Edsel. Each of the vehicles is not only a perfect example of automotive design in its era, it is also a revealing glimpse into that moment in history when the car first hit the road. Examples to notice: — The 1950 MG TD has leather straps to buckle down the hood. — The 1915 Model T Ford has a crank starter hanging beneath the radiator grill. — The 1916 Willys Overland Touring car has wood spoke wheels. — The 1926 Cadillac limousine has a back-seat phone for the passenger to speak to the chauffeur. Back in ’26, before the market crash, the limo sold for $4,566. — The 1957 Cadillac Brougham was custom-made. Between ’57 and ’60, only 904 vehicles were produced. The Brougham had a stainless-steel roof and sold for $13,500. Nowadays, it is valued at around $200,000. 66
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Museum manager Tom Anders says they logged 26,000 visitors last year. And the question he hears most often? “Is the “1957 Caddy for sale?” He politely declines to sell it—even for 200K. He says the museum was established in 1966 by Harry Blomberg, an early Asheville Cadillac dealer. The cars were all part of his private collection. The museum is free, but they do accept donations. On this day, visitors snap pictures and talk about their own car experiences. Rose Pearson of Atlanta and her son, Lyndon, were fascinated by the Model T Ford. “It’s amazing,” she said. “Because our granddaddy had an old T model, and I was telling him about the night he tried to crank it and it wouldn’t start.” Lyndon agrees that the museum was “amazing,” adding, “I think I want at least one of them.” Anita Hawkey of Greensboro said, “I love it. My husband especially loves it.” Does she drive an old classic? “I have an 18-year old Toyota.” Not quite a classic, but if she could pick one from the museum? “I love that little one up front, the MG.” In response to the same question, her husband, Gary, scanned the room and shook his head. “It would be hard to pick,” he said. Ed. Note: The Antique Car Museum is closed for the winter, but it will reopen in April. Make sure you inquire about the museum’s status among area ghost-hunters when you do visit, incidentally.
Deeper Roots Back in your non-classic car, you can point yourself westward, taking I-40 to the town of Cherokee, where the Museum of the Cherokee Indian illustrates 13,000 years of tribal history. To many outsiders, the name Cherokee brings up the “trail of tears” relocation from the tribe’s North Carolina home to the Oklahoma territory in 1838. But the museum reveals much more, going back thousands of years before and twohundred years after the relocation. During a recent tour, Bo Taylor, executive director, points out early hunting weapons in the collection, dating from centuries before the bow and arrow. He walks through the prehistory exhibits to the Mississippian period, when “agriculture really starts to grow.” The advancement of agriculture allowed the tribes to settle in particular areas rather than continue moving in search of food. This period, beginning around 3500 BC, also saw the rise of the mound culture. As part of their settlements the tribes would build mounds as much as 100 feet tall to serve as temples, burial places, and other ceremonial functions. “The mound culture extends all the way from meso-America to the Ohio Valley,” says Taylor. “And we were right in the middle of things.”
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The mound era “was kind of the epitome of our culture, setting the stage for the next part …” He is talking as he moves on to the next display: “…which was contact.” Contact. The arrival of European explorers marked a radical turn in the Cherokee culture and fortunes. Taylor points to a display of Indians meeting white settlers. “Smallpox killed more Indians than any guns,” he says, as he moves on through the recent centuries of the tribe’s history. The museum opened in 1952 in a small log cabin, and since then it has expanded to a spacious multimedia exhibit hall that hosts more than 80,000 visitors each year. In a capsule of both the tribe’s history and the museum’s mission, Bo Taylor sums up: “To me the museum is kind of a testimony of our resilience. We’re doing the best to tell our story. We’re still here and we still have a story to tell.”
CHEROKEE FRIEND Mike Crowe Jr., showing off artifacts in the collections room.
“Like Little Children In Fur Coats”: A Purr-fect Finale The Cherokee story falls into the category of history, but our next stop inhabits a far different category: Call it fantasy. Occupying two rooms in an antique mall in the town of Sylva is the American Museum of… wait for it…the House Cat. Museum founder Dr. Harold Sims presents highlights from his 30-year collection of feline imagery in a cat-ucopia of rare and unusual items. He estimates there are between 6,000 and 7,000 items on display, and he plans to move to a larger building to accommodate all the other pieces that he can’t fit in his current space. But even in these crammed quarters, there is plenty to see. Covering the walls are cat drawings, engravings, paintings, and prints—some signed by the legendary likes of Pablo Picasso, Peter Max, and Andy Warhol. A maze of glass-front display shelves holds a selection of cat teapots, cat salt-andpepper shakers, cat andirons, a cat boot scraper, and cat music boxes. “People come in here, they’re blown away with what they see,” he says. “They can’t believe it’s been done.” The little Sylva exhibit, it turns out, is one of nine worldwide museums dedicated to the cat. And it contains some specialty items that are, indeed, museum quality. A full-size carousel cat dating to 1923 comes from the company established by master carver Gustav Dentzel. It is the centerpiece of a major display that includes a remotecontrolled alley cat rising from inside a trash can. An Egyptian cat amulet dates back to 1000 BC, while a litter of kitty automatons is far more recent, dating only to the 1800s. Fenton glass cats, Steiff plush cats, plastic cats, wood cats, tin cats, cat clocks, cat music boxes—if an object can be rendered in cat form, chances are it’s here. The museum even has a pinball machine named “Bad Cats.” 68
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LEARNING TO shoot a Blowgun
VISITORS FROM GHANA with Cherokee Royalty, in front of the Museum
photos by Dawn Arneach/ Museum of the Cherokee Indian
photos cour tesy Jackson County TDA/DiscoverJacksonNC .com
THE CAT MUSEUM is full of fun, and historical cats.
Dr. Sims takes his fondness for cats back to his youth and the farm cats that kept the family chicken barn free of mice and rats. His recollections ramble through a series of cats in his adult life: Buzzie, Marco, Sookie, and a few others, until he reaches his present brood of seven house cats—plus another 80 he cares for in a no-kill shelter that he established in 1996. “Over the past 12 years we have placed more than 3,000 cats [with adoptive families[,” he says.
*** The word “museum” carries the connotation of quiet spaces where venerable old items are on display for appreciative patrons. But going back at least as far as the 1840s, when PT Barnum opened his American Museum, the exhibits have ranged from the unrestrained to the downright rowdy. Barnum promoted Siamese twins, dancing bears, and the Feejee
“I got started collecting when I bought a cat calendar for $10, and I always liked museums as a kid, so I thought I’d like to have a cat museum.” But a cat museum is a long way from a no-kill shelter. What inspired Dr. Sims to begin collecting and then to open his exhibition space? “I got started collecting when I bought a cat calendar for $10,” he says. “And I always liked museums as a kid, so I thought I’d like to have a cat museum.” His philosophy of cats is summed up in a carved wood sign that hangs on a wall: Cats are like little children in fur coats.
mermaid, a monkey’s body with a fish tail. Ripley’s Believe It Or Not Museum followed with exhibits such as shrunken heads and two-headed animals. And Madame Tussauds Wax Museum features lifelike and life-size wax sculptures of everyone from ET to Marilyn Monroe and Elvis. Our museums in Western North Carolina take up the challenge offering both educational and recreational venues for whatever your taste, whatever your interest. And they can be great escapes on cold, rainy days. January 2019 | capitalatplay.com 69
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Drink Well in 2019
A guide to the absolute best wine values in Asheville.
W
E LI V E IN A GOLDEN AGE . Never before in histor y have we had access to so much good wine. Recent advances, combined with ancient techniques honed over millennia, permit just about any vintner who truly cares to produce a solid bottle. But there is a paradox in this bounty.
J
john kerr
is the co-owner of Metro Wines located on Charlotte Street in downtown Asheville.
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Despite the recent flood in quality, disparity in the price of wine has never been greater. If you’re wondering how this can be, remember Mark Twain’s adage about buying land—they’re not making it any more. With the number of the world’s affluent growing, competition for the goods they prize heats up. A single bottle of wine from the most famous vineyards in Burgundy and Napa now sells for thousands. Even half-billionaire Johnny Depp couldn’t keep up with his wine bill, at $30,000 a month. Despair not. Your wine shop is filled with plenty of great wines that won’t break the bank. Even the most famous wine regions have a value or two. But the absolute best values often remain hidden within the flood of wine. Much like the last scene in the movie Raiders of the Lost Ark, you’re going to need a little help to rout them out. There are several paths you can take to snag a few bargains. The most labor-intensive approach is following the reviews of wine critics. Most of these
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are in magazines like Wine Spectator, but several are found only on the internet. First, you’ve got to find a critic whose taste aligns with yours. Much like movie critics, most have some bias. Robert Parker (RobertParker.com) rates big, bold wines the highest, whereas Vinous (Vinous.com), from wine critic Antonio Galloni, praises European style wines. Find the one that likes what you like and devote your time following their monthly recommendations. There is a downside to critics’ reviews. Nearly all of them focus their scores on wines that are widely available. If their wines weren’t in all major United States wine markets, their devotees would get frustrated seeking wines they can’t buy. For this reason, gems produced by the smallest producers are never revealed. And many vintners who eschew wine scoring simply don’t ship bottles to the critics for review. Because these wines are unknown, they often have the lowest prices. A simpler way is to find a wine importer with wines you like. Importers build their reputations
J by offering wines with a particular style and quality level. Kermit Lynch is world famous for finding the best European values. But there are others less known who are meticulous in their selections such as Rosenthal, T. Edwards, Vintage 59, Porto Vino, and Jose Pastor. You’ll see their names on the back label. Find one with a palate similar to yours, and the only decision you have left is the price of tonight’s bottle. The last path I’ll offer is the local wine shop. Wine shop staff drink so you don’t have to. To find the gems among the rubble, they sample hundreds of wines a month. Only the best make it to the shelves. They know the great values in the shop. All you have to do is ask. A wine shop value offshoot is the closeout wine. Closeouts come in two styles: one good, and one potentially not so good. “Not so good” is the wine that cannot sell because it’s overpriced or of low quality. These are only bargains if they happen to be a wine you like. Do your homework before you buy.
WINE SHOP STAFF DRINK SO YOU DON’ T HAVE TO. TO FIND THE GEMS AMONG THE RUBBLE, THEY SAMPLE HUNDREDS OF WINES A MONTH. The good bargains are generally wines overbought by the distributor. At the beginning of each new vintage the buyer has to decide how much to buy. The goal is to sell it all before the next vintage is released. Often, they will have a few cases left, but sometimes it can be thousands of bottles. Distributors sell these odd lot wines at bargain prices to wine shops. It’s then the wine shop’s decision whether to pass the savings on to you. When they do, it’s time to stock up. Hopefully, these tips add a few tools to your arsenal. And to help your search, I’m concluding our discussion with a few of the best values we ran across in 2018. I’m defining “value” as not necessarily a low-cost wine, but one with quality that far exceeds its price. This issue our focus is nearly all red. I’ll cover whites another time.
Donnas Valle d’Aosta Rosé ‘Larmes du Paradis $25 Valle d’Aosta is the home of Alpine vineyards surrounded by snow-capped peaks like the Matterhorn and Mont Blanc. The vintners have taken one of Italy’s best-loved wines and turned it on its head. Nebbiolo is the revered grape of Barolo. These vintners essentially make Barolo into a rosé. Such care goes into this wine that they only make it in the best vintages. So occasionally you have to wait a couple of
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years to get it. This year’s rosé is already sold out. But experts view 2018 as a stellar vintage. Leave a little room in your cellar and stock up in June.
IF YOU HAD TOLD ME TWO YEARS AGO THAT I WOULD BE R AVING ABOUT A WINE FROM MEXICO, I WOULD HAVE SAID YOU WERE CR AZY.
Caprili Sangiovese Toscana $12 Brunello stands next to Barolo as one of the two reigning wines of Italy. It’s regarded as one of the world’s best wines because of soil, location, and the grape. The Grosso clone is considered to be the most elegant and nuanced form of the Sangiovese grape. But the vines must be 40 years old or more to reveal their true expression. CAPJan19
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What happens to the grapes for the first 40 years? Often, they’re used in making Rosso Montalcino at about $30 a bottle. But occasionally they’re bottled and sold as-is while the vines await their 40th birthday. Caprili is the same elegant clone from the same vineyards and made by the same Brunello vintner. It’s reminiscent of the Brunello experience at 20 percent of the price. Serve this wine and bring your Tuesday pizza night to a whole new level.
Ancient Peaks Zinfandel and Cabernet Sauvignon $20 Many of us discovered central California when it debuted as the backdrop for the wine-themed film Sideways. Although the reputation for this wine region has grown, it still plays second fiddle to Napa and other northern wine regions. For this reason, bargains abound. Cabernet from famous central coast wineries like Justin run $30 to $80 a bottle. But these two unknown reds cost far less. They are rich but not quite jammy. And the fossil studded limestone soil adds a complexity not otherwise found in bold wines.
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fun and FLOUNCY!
Historic Biltmore Village • One All Souls Crescent Asheville, NC • 828.505.8140 • www.shoppalmvillage.com www.facebook.com/Palm.Village.Asheville
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Miura Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot Noir $30 Miura is one of the few wineries owned by a Master Sommelier. In 1995 MS Kemiji shifted his passion from the table to the vineyard and now makes some of the best wines in both Europe and the United States. Miura single vineyard Pinots are expensive. But Kemiji makes this one well-priced bottle for restaurants and the lucky few who discover it. The wine is approachable now, yet retains the complexity and elegance of his other wines. You’ll enjoy luscious and full-bodied fruit that oozes with strawberry, raspberry, and a hint of earth. You’d have to spend about $50 elsewhere to get a Pinot of this quality.
The Pundit Syrah $20 I’m always surprised at the number of people who pass on Syrah. It has the richness of Cabernet but without the tannins. These attributes make it ideal for barbeque, game, and other red meat dishes. Although unloved, many vintners continue to produce this wine, seemingly willing to wait until more of us discover it. Impatient Chateau Ste. Michelle is determined to show the world just how good a Syrah can be. This mega winery
enlisted acclaimed Rhone vintner Michel Gassier to make a truly exceptional wine from one of its best vineyards. The Pundit is actually a blend, with about 10 percent from three grapes that add to both the high notes and the depth of this wine. You’ll experience raspberry and juicy blueberry with hints of tobacco and game. All this is wrapped within a rich, deep, and smooth texture. Skeptics take note. There is an exception to every rule—this is the Syrah hater’s Syrah.
Corona del Valle Tempranillo Nebbiolo $54 If you had told me two years ago that I would be raving about a wine from Mexico, I would have said you were crazy. Those that have had the luck to stumble upon this wine enter a rarified world. One convert is the sommelier at Napa Valley’s French Laundry restaurant who featured it on his wine list for a considerable time. If this were a Napa Cabernet Sauvignon it would sell for at least $100. The vintner is a 20+ year veteran of Napa’s wine scene, who produced wines for Stag’s Leap. This wine has the power and complexity of a fine Napa Cab along with an unexpected lift from its pretty fruit. Expect ripe plums and blackberries combined with notes of spices, black pepper, and cedar.
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January 2019 | capitalatplay.com 73
EAST FORK EMPLOYEE Sarah pushes a rack of porcelain jigger molds in their new space.
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Alex Matisse, Connie Matisse, and John Vigeland on East Fork Pottery’s remarkable evolution—and the company’s recent relocation from Marshall to Asheville.
Progress & Change written by emily gl aser
|
photos by anthony harden
January 2019 | capitalatplay.com 75
A
lex Matisse was posed the question, “How do you take a traditional craft and adapt it into a modern, scalable model?” His answer? “By changing everything.” Such is East Fork Pottery’s approach to most things these days. The manufacturer—co-owned by Alex, his wife Connie, and Alex’s longtime friend (and fellow artist), John Vigeland—has evolved so much since our last visit less than three years ago that, if it weren’t for that definitively Blue Ridge name, it would be nigh-on unrecognizable. In January of 2016, Capital at Play profiled a four-person craft operation with a litany of romantic, pastoral trappings like dirt roads and forgotten barns and an archetypal pup—a passion project painstakingly handcrafted in the hills of Marshall, North Carolina. Founder Alex’s ambitions were humble (a forklift, perhaps a retail space in Asheville), and their production modest, some 7,500 pots that year. Since then, they’ve changed, well, just about everything. A team of 40 now creates, markets, and ships the brand’s quintessentially minimalist dinnerware from a sprawling warehouse on the outskirts of Asheville’s Biltmore Village. Though East Fork’s craft remains rooted in centuries-old tradition, their production facilities and offices are a beacon of modernity: Ladies in culottes and berets carry boxes of clinking pottery to-and-fro through airy white hallways; bespectacled millennials in Canadian tuxedos lean across desk dividers to point at their neighbor’s glowing Mac screens; and everyone—some lipsticked, others clay-spattered—gathers along the length of a 30-foot dining table for lunch, prepared by a rotating cadre of employees from different departments in the on-site commercial kitchen. Here, in a setting seemingly more befitting of a New York City high-rise than an Appalachian factory, East Fork continues its trajectory of compounded growth. In 2018 they created approximately 70,000 pieces of pottery; this year, they’ll make some 200,000. At 14,500-sq.-ft. in size, the new factory itself is far larger than their old facilities, but already too small for the thriving company: They have plans to move their inventory warehouse, shipping department, and clay making to an auxiliary location by the second quarter of 2019. According to projections and predictions, this is only the beginning. Though they currently remain an LLC, East Fork will undertake B-Corp certification this year, and Alex anticipates production will reach 360,000 in 2020. As their production grows, so will everything else, including their ranks (they plan to
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THIS CLAY WILL be fired and then used to test the modulus of rupture. This test will help develope clay body more durable while retaining its quality and character.
JOHN VIGELAND & ALEX MATISSE.
increase to between 50 and 55 employees this year), their retail locations (at press time, they were stocking the shelves of their new Atlanta shop), and their aspirations. Already, the company’s intentions are growing as quickly as their headquarters, as ambitious as they are numerous: Building a digitally native startup, adapting apprenticeship to a commercial model, and inspiring a generation of politicallyactive manufacturers; but most of all, crafting a legacy brand and the next great American dinnerware manufacturing company.
MOLDING So many of we Appalachian transplants move to these mountains in search of idealized tranquility, fingers crossed that it will foster our artistic florescence, and that the trees and creeks and crimson rhododendrons will nurture creative inclinations squelched by urbanism and entrepreneurship. Which is why many of you readers are probably thumbing forward with dumbfounded bewilderment, spurred by the simple question, “Why?” Why trade the idyllic fancy of nearly every Ashevillian artist—an isolated, arcadian studio—for the ambitious, demanding venture the pottery manufacturer represents today?
Though endearingly whimsical, firing pots amongst the trees in Marshall was not without its limitations—in fact, it was largely defined by them. “I think that was one of my dissatisfactions with making pots at the end of a dirt road,” says Vigeland. “Even though that was a very charming life, and very pleasant in its own right, one thing that it didn’t really do was ask us to engage in the wider world.” He continues, his cadenced recollection of the former expression of East Fork peppered with adjectives like “cloistered” and “monastic” that sound romantic in theory, but in reality, contributed to the group’s growing sense of discontent. It was a simple life, and a beautiful one, but inherently finite and frustratingly set apart. All of the company’s stakeholders, particularly Alex, experienced the subconscious, persistently gnawing nudge that East Fork could be something more. “We thought that we were doing something special from the beginning,” explains Alex. “And the thing that we thought was special was the making of the stuff and the dedication to the process.” As he speaks, he’s balancing daughter Lucia on his lap. She grasps a slice of apple in her sticky toddler fingers, plucked from the East Fork dish before her. “The times I was most excited [in Marshall] was when there was change and I was either exploring something new or working out a new idea, so I think it was January 2019 | capitalatplay.com 77
just a matter of time. I wasn’t going to be happy doing that for the rest of my life,” he adds, of East Fork’s more agrarian beginnings. Not only was their original, handcrafted model personally unfulfilling, it was also stifling their potential to contribute to and help evolve the art of pottery that they loved so deeply: “I think John and I both had this kind of notion of wanting to add to the tradition that we were from, and this [expansion] was our way of doing that.” Call it fate or fortune, or maybe just diligence and tenacity, but as the Matisses and Vigeland felt increasingly stymied by their mom-and-pop approach to pottery, the market ripened to accommodate and augment their something more. They followed closely the innovative trajectory of digitally native startups—companies like Warby Parker and Casper—and began to consider how their own model could evolve similarly. They witnessed the transformation of Instagram from an impulsive app into a fastidious branding and marketing platform. They passed around article after article profiling the contemporary resurgence of ceramics in Brooklyn and New York City. And with the addition of the gas Blaauw kiln (which they’d recently installed when we profiled them in 2016), there came a subtle shift in the appearance of East Fork’s wares, defined by a line of chunky pottery, speckled by North Carolina clay’s iron, and finished with muted, matte glazes.
As East Fork’s aesthetic evolved, or rather devolved, into simpler forms, the potters noted a marked shift in their buyers. “Back when we made pots in the old way, our demographic was so niche: It was really only white men and women who had been collecting pottery their whole lives, ages 55 to 75. That was the only people we sold pottery to.
“Alex and I were very passionately in love with this traditional folk pottery and were really going down a hole on it and pursuing that for the sake of the thing, and then that got married to Connie’s external awareness and her love of the world.”
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That’s who any potter in this area sold pottery to,” Connie says, and her lips, painted a neon pink, part wide with an honest smile. “When we started paring down the work and started making it simpler, we started noticing younger people in the Asheville area, younger couples in their thirties… starting to collect [East Fork pottery] over time. So, we knew that the more we simplified things and made them
CONNIE MATISSE
JOHN VIGELAND
ALEX MATISSE
more contemporary, that we suddenly had access to this huge [group] of people that we hadn’t had access to before.” In shifting their focus from the artistic to the everyday and by vesting their talent in functional mugs and bowls rather than fragile, oft-impractical curio, they realized they could broaden their audience to include not just collectors, but the everyman (and everywoman). Whereas most of their contemporaries’ design anomalous pots to appeal to a narrow audience of regional folk pottery enthusiasts, East Fork could instead design simple forms that appealed to almost everyone, essentially turning the traditional craft funnel on its head. They could make art accessible by adapting it to the everyday and offering it at a price point that didn’t make millennials balk, all while maintaining their dedication to craft. Spurred by all these factors, the expansion of East Fork began in 2015. Though certainly intentional, all three owners argue, separately and doggedly, that the decision to expand and the process of doing so was largely organic. “It’s not that we sat down five years ago and surveyed the landscape and decided that there was a market to exploit,” Vigeland explains, slowly and carefully articulating his syllables. “But, rather, Alex and I were very passionately in love with this traditional folk pottery and were really going down a hole on it and pursuing January 2019 | capitalatplay.com 79
that for the sake of the thing, and then that got married to Connie’s external awareness and her love of the world.” He pauses. “But then, at the same time, it’s like we see the value in what we’re doing, and we do think it’s deserving of a wider audience.” They’ve expanded to reach that wider audience with equal parts break-neck, button-popping speed and methodical celerity.
FIRING Connie Matisse smiles and theatrically huffs at the mention of the word “startup,” bemoaning her husband’s frequent implementation of the word—but in truth, it’s not an inaccurate label for the company. Though in the late aughts we tended to associate the word with tech-y endeavors funded by venture capitalists and headed by quirky, contentious founders, a startup is, by its simplest definition, a company designed to scale quickly, which East Fork, particularly in recent years, is. Connie’s rejection of the epithet hails from the many ways in which the company diverges from the prototypical path of most direct-to-consumer startups. The other guys don’t have to deal with quality control, for example, or navigate the relationships between production and sales and marketing. But Connie does admit that, in some advantageous ways, East Fork echoes its startup cohorts: “I think that the reason that Alex likes to include us in that [startup] conversation is that… we’ve learned a lot of really valuable lessons on what not to do by watching startups grow and tank.” As any savvy startup entrepreneur knows, there are dozens of intricate, intertwined steps in an expansion, the first and arguably most decisive of which is a simple one: money, a topic which Capital at Play examined in great detail in the August 2018 issue (see “Creditworthiness, Collateral, and Capital”). It is in this aspect that the company’s divergence from most startups is epitomized, as East Fork’s capital, unlike the more popular ranks under the appellation, excludes venture capitalist funding. It’s a decision spurred both by practicality— as a craft manufacturer, they simply can’t escalate production at the rate demanded by venture capitalists—and stubborn independence—the desire to retain a voice and aesthetic all their own. In order to achieve their intentions of rapid expansion, East Fork turned instead to angel investors, one from Asheville, the others from Charlotte, New York City, Toronto, and similarly bustling metropolises. “To grow at the speed that we wanted to grow at, we knew we needed to move relatively quickly, and to do that required a significant amount of capital,” explains Alex who, as CEO, has taken on the responsibilities of investor relations. Because their backers were already familiar with East Fork, their relationships (and trust) evolved naturally, garnering the company some significant funding: They raised $1.8M in equity, the first tranche in about eight months, the rest in an extension over the course of three months or so. Of 80
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MADISON COUNTY NATIVE, Olive Shealy, makes plates on the RAM press.
course, the realities of business are about balance, and the company also took on an additional $700,000 in debt in order to pursue the expansion. Despite his lack of formal business education, it’s clear that Alex has developed the acumen inherent to his position. “The question a founder must ask before they contemplate going after an equity investment is, ‘To what scale does their vision support [it?]’ Unless that scale will offer meaningful return on investment, most investors will shy away,” he says, when asked of advice he’d offer local other entrepreneurs embarking on a path of expansion. “One should also be able to show significant early traction, and then have a clear financial model of what the next three years will look like. It is expected that those models will change, but what an investor is looking for is to know that you are asking the right questions, that your horizon is large enough, and that you have a realistic sense of what it will take to get you where you need to go.” That’s exactly what Alex could offer his investors: At the current pace, East Fork’s revenue is projected to grow by 300 percent in the next two years. As with all startups, once their capital was secured, the obstacles facing the expanding business didn’t dwindle, but multiplied. Perhaps most obvious was the matter of physical expansion. The Marshall property was wholly unsuited for their projected production, inaccessible by 18-wheeler and likely necessitating a long commute for anyone they were to bring on board. They moved operations piecemeal, first expanding to a small workshop behind Madison Natural Foods in Marshall, then to the basement of Del Vecchios Pizza (where grease from the traps dripped onto the floor), until, by the summer of 2017, the company and its swelling ranks were spread across some three locations. So, in 2017, they leased the 14,500-sq.-ft. factory, which formerly housed an Asheville plumbing supply manufacturer, they now call home. In the fall of 2018, they moved all operations (excepting their retail storefront—more on that in a moment) under one roof, officially assuming the descriptor of a “vertically integrated business.” In their transition to their new factory, East Fork also resolved another looming hindrance to expansion: the addition of more machinery to accommodate swelling production demands. Though the mold for each design is still worked by hand and each glaze designed and mixed in-house by Connie and their glaze chemist, increasing production to a national level necessitated a departure from wholly hand-crafted wares—and more machinery. In 2016 clay was worked by two pug mills, and each pot was molded by hand on a wheel, then fired in the single Blaauw gas-burning kiln. Now, with 11,500 square feet devoted wholly to production, the number of machines in their arsenal has increased to include a second Blaauw, this one with twice the firing capacity (they expect to add a third by 2020), additional wheels and pug mills, dryers, and, to shape the pottery, Jigger Jolley machines that hearken back to the outset of the Industrial Revolution and new-fangled RAM presses—oh, and that forklift. January 2019 | capitalatplay.com
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A JIGGER THAT WAS RECENTLY purchased. There were only 6 of these machines ever made.
MASTER MOLD Maker Jesse Reinerth smooths a plaster form.
Like many digitally native startups, East Fork also shouldered the ostensibly antiquated retail model of a brick-and-mortar storefront as part of their expansion. “Our product, it really makes a difference if you see it and touch it,” Connie says. Their first of such ventures, a tidy, sunlit storefront on downtown Asheville’s Lexington Avenue, stands as testament to the profitability of such a model for East Fork. Connie notes that despite the somewhat antithetical product fit (tourists often traipse in on their hunt for Asheville branded merch), the shop does well and has become a “beloved store in town,” selling East Fork’s pottery as well as a curated selection of knick-knacks and baubles. As this issue was about to go to print, East Fork was hurriedly stocking the shelves of their second store, this one in the more cosmopolitan city of Atlanta, the first of what could be several satellite locations. Though they plan to halt expansion in 2019, Alex and Connie both anticipate opening additional brickand-mortar locations in 2020, perhaps in Brooklyn (where East Fork’s sales already exceed those of their home base of Asheville), or a Midwestern metropolis where millennials reign, like Minneapolis or Chicago. As important as space and money and machinery and everything tangible are for East Fork’s expansion, it would all 82
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be for naught if not for the people behind the brand. Their team has more than doubled every year since our last profile, from four in 2016, to 19 in 2017, and then 40 in 2018, excluding the founders themselves. What was then a collective of artists (though Alex has always rebuffed that ascription) is now a wellrounded assemblage of crafters and computer geeks, a veritable spectrum of employees befitting the most start-up of startups. When the dinner—ahem, lunch bell rings, the in-house photographer rubs elbows with the mold maker, the accountant passes plates (East Fork’s, of course) to the forming lead, and the brand manager talks shop with the graphic designer. With all those new employees, the founders have realized the importance of defining their missions and values. “All the things that were very much unspoken truths when it was just us working together, now those things need to be defined in a very clear way,” Alex points out. That’s why they’re bringing on a “Head of Culture” to help implement and shepherd that mission, and to “make sure the things we’re saying to the world are happening internally.” The dilation of the team also naturally behooved a shift in the roles of the founders. Unlike most entrepreneurs, however, the leaders of East Fork don’t bemoan the relinquishing of their original roles, but genuinely revel in their new ones. Alex has
SARAH MELOSH lines an Egg Vase with glaze. Items are "liner glazed" to make their walls water impermeable.
taken on the title of CEO and a bevy of behind-the-scenes, bigpicture responsibilities. “Alex can really be the unsung hero of this company, because no one at East Fork even knows what he does,” Connie laughs. Alex himself stumbles through his list of
“We have the added benefit of actually having a real story to tell— we don’t have to try to manufacture some fake brand-y story.” tasks, which include sourcing new machines, talent acquisition, and investor relations. As CFO and COO, Vigeland’s duties are largely operational and numerical: financial planning, budgeting reports, forecasting— the “spreadsheet-y stuff,” as he describes it. “Trying to figure out how to organize this group to try to do the thing that we’re trying to do, without getting too bureaucratic, but also keeping
everyone’s sanity and keeping us being efficient,” Vigeland describes his role, then raises his eyebrows behind club master frames and laughs as if to say, “Easy, right?” And then there’s Chief Creative Officer Connie. Alex rattles off her responsibilities, largely everything customer-facing: designs, glaze colors, branding, marketing, social media. He pauses, then adds, “She’s like the secret sauce of East Fork.” Her laundry list of roles and palpable passion for and commitment to the company make it all the more surprising that her role at East Fork is one Connie was initially hesitant to undertake. She’d envisioned a career in editorial, but eventually realized she could apply those aspirations instead to her thenboyfriend’s company. “It really was admitting to myself that East Fork was going to be better if I joined it, and I actually could do the thing I wanted to do if I did it through the platform of East Fork,” she offers, with unabashed self-awareness. Once Connie bound herself wholeheartedly to the company, she in many ways became the company. Through astute branding and an authentic approach to social media and customer engagement, she’s cultivated a brand that, as predicted, appeals to an increasingly broad range of customers, nay, fans. Her overhaul of the East Fork brand was, as mentioned, largely organic. “I didn’t ever come at it from a brand perspective,” January 2019 | capitalatplay.com 83
THEN & NOW
East Fork Potter has grown with baffling multiplicity since Capital at Play first profiled the founders in 2016. The proof is in the numbers.
EMPLOYEES
ANNUAL PRODUCTION
APPROXIMATE ANNUAL POUNDS OF CLAY
MACHINES
THEN:
NOW:
4
40 500, 000
7,500
40,000 200, 000 4 or 5 wheels, 2 pug mills, and the Blaauw
5 or so wheels, 3 pug mills, 2 RAM presses, 6 jiggers, 2 kilns, 1 forklift, &
various other smaller machines 84
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MOLD TEAM MEMBER Matt Rudolph in the mold shop; these molds are used to make several forms.
she explains. “I came at it from a ‘girlfriend of this guy who had a pottery business’. So, it’s always been off the cuff, very honest, very direct,’” Connie is describing the voice and brand she’s developed over the past few years. “We have the added benefit of actually having a real story to tell—we don’t have to try to manufacture some fake brand-y story. So many of those startups follow the same exact formula of startup language: We need our narrative, we need radical transparency and authenticity, and they are just kind of plugging it in. But ours isn’t made up—it is there, and I just have to show it.” And so East Fork’s story, told in Connie’s voice, has become their brand. Though largely fortuitous, the shift in East Fork’s messaging and branding, spurred by Connie, was also a calculated departure from what existed. “Our fonts and our newsletter and our voice was kind of in that ‘makers movement,’ craft-y, beard oil, beard comb sort of vibe,” Connie says of the original branding; one can almost trace her visceral shudder. “It was so not my personality whatsoever, so when I [decided], ‘Alright I’m gonna do this,’ it really did change pretty dramatically.” Today, the marketing is less craft, more chic. In their photography, the products seem simultaneously sumptuous and prosaic: The Matisses’ daughter, Vita, slurps messily from a bowl in one image; in another, hands sensually
crack open a pomegranate, seeds spilling across crimson-colored plates. Though the messaging is adapted to different platforms, it’s all in the spirit of effortless minimalism, often delivered with a wry wink and Connie’s nowsignature candor. It’s a voice that thrives most heartily on Instagram, where Connie connects directly with a specific audience (most of them women ages 27 to 37 with children) in tones they recognize as their own: a little irreverent, sometimes outspoken, and always legit. It’s also on Instagram that Connie successfully accomplishes the unthinkable in hosting political commentary that doesn’t descend into blind bickering or trolling. Unlike most businesses, which skirt political opinions for fear of ostracizing customers, Connie and East Fork uphold their values with equanimity. “We speak to a customer who is socially-minded and understands that where they spend their money affects something in a much more holistic way,” she proffers, when asked of her decision to speak politically and confidently. “I think there needs to be a wave of businesses coming out and realizing that all of this is connected, and you cannot be doing business in this country without being connected to politics.” In fact, Connie even notes that some customers have declared that East Fork was instrumental in shifting their own political stance. January 2019 | capitalatplay.com 85
Between traditional advertising, their newsletter, different social media platforms, and brand partnerships, Connie has created an East Fork biome that cultivates an everexpanding and increasingly broad audience of customers. “What Connie and her team do so well is sort of creating
that further raises the question, “How did they find their Instagram?” Through an influencer partnership, or after eating off their wares at the Montford? Through their newsletter, or through that profile in Fast Company? “The fact is that we are selling a lot of pottery—our demand is greatly outpacing our production ability,” Connie laughs and shrugs, “so we’re doing something right!”
“...it feels like the object of our creative energies is this business that is growing and becoming more and more complex and more creatively demanding.” an ecosystem that both drives the narrative and acquires the customers that we’re trying to acquire. And each part is kind of integral to that ecosystem,” Vigeland explains. It’s impossible to track the customer acquisition cost inherent to this ecosystem; though they can track that Instagram is the highest driver of traffic to the website,
GLAZING
There’s often a paradoxical effect of change: a newfound appreciation for the preexisting entity. “It almost feels like a developmental stage, like in adolescence where you get to a stage where you start getting invited to the fun parties, but then you realize that’s not actually who you are,” Vigeland says, of their growth, garnering a laugh and a nod from Alex. The founders tender the names of recent clients and collaborators—household names like Stumptown Coffee and Google—with surprisingly passive apathy, not because they’re not proud of their accomplishments, but because they’ve realized that the client who matters most is East Fork itself.
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At East Fork, they’ve changed a lot, but not quite everything. The modern, minimalist forms that currently sell out licketysplit, for example, maintain elements of Alex’s earliest renditions, like the rims, which carry forth the same thickthumbed edges as those fired in the wood kiln years ago. And the trust that Connie, Alex, and Vigeland have in each other—a hallmark of both their outset and their evolution— also remains unchanged. Then there’s the tradition from which their modern art hails. East Fork retains its ties to that network with unrelenting, if revolutionary, dedication. Though they sold the old Marshall property, it’s still in the hands of a ceramic artist, and while the wood kiln was disassembled, it was done so by local potters who will in turn use those bricks in their own kilns. And while East Fork’s apprentices won’t spend their days kneading spinning clay as John and Alex did, and their “masters” before them, the founders remain dedicated to their roles as mentors. “I think I have internalized that [role],” says Vigeland, “and culturally, it feels like it’s on us now to create a space with East Fork where people can come, and it’s a safe place for people to grow and become.” Despite its many changes, East Fork remains many things, chief of which is “creative.” Though they have to contend with
frequent assumptions to the contrary, the evolution of their personal creativity within their business (rather than the abandonment or replacement of it) is one Vigeland and the Matisses defend unequivocally. East Fork does not so much grapple with the implications of turning an art into an expansive business model as they do champion them. “There isn’t necessarily a sense of loss over this creative outlet, but rather, to me, it feels like the object of our creative energies is this business that is growing and becoming more and more complex and more creatively demanding,” argues Vigeland, his lanky form backlit by the floor-to-ceiling windows behind him, which expose the conference room to East Fork’s office thoroughfare. As he speaks to the inherent creativity of their burgeoning business model, it’s exemplified by the employees who traipse by: Some carry clay mugs and plates, others cherubic babies, but all share the same air of artistry and contented smile. Here, in the increasingly metropolic curves of Asheville’s mountains and on a foundation of tradition, East Fork isn’t just changing nearly everything—they’re delighting in the process of doing so.
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People Play at
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1. Winners of the Venture 15 and Venture Asheville Honors, including the who's-who of Asheville entrepreneurs and the 15 fastest growing regional startups
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2. Patrick Fitzsimmons & J Hackett 3. (L-R)Hannah Sizemore, Melody Kennedy, & Evans Prater 4. Aaron Johnson & Avery White
5. Genna & Clark Harris 6. Hank Marshall, John Kelley, & Julie Corey 7 . Ted & Flori Pate
Venture 15 Awards & Venture Asheville Honors Isis Music Hall | Asheville, NC | December 6, 2018 Photos by Anthony Harden/Alt Media Pros 8
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8. (L-R) Bill Jones, Jill Jones, & Emma Siplone 9. Oby Morgan 10. Noah Wilson & Anthony Thomas 11. Sara Stender & Eddie Delaney
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12. (L-R) Kimberly Hall, Megan Robinson, Tory Grieves, & Cristina Hall-Ackley 13. Meghan Bausone & Jon Jones 14. Ben Anken
15. Cedric Clyburn & Sarah Moses 16. Trevor Loharbeer, Audrey Reynolds, & Jeremy Littlejohn
January 2019 | capitalatplay.com 89
events
january
EVENTS january 3
January Professional Development Event
4:30-5:30PM Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce 36 Montford Ave, Asheville, NC Kevan Frazier, executive director for WCU’s programs at Biltmore Park, will help those suffering anxiety about networking. This is a free “practical workshop about how to work a room and leave feeling accomplished and not smarmy.”
> ypasheville.org january 5
Abbey Road Live! 4 & 8PM Orange Peel
101 Biltmore Ave Asheville, NC
january 8
Bring the kids for the beloved Beatles tribute band’s matinee show and encourage them to do plenty of twisting and shouting. Then return in the evening for a very special performance in honor of the 50th anniversary of the legendary White Album, and be prepared to do the helter skelter.
>Tickets: $8-$20 > 828-308-1837 > theorangepeel.net
Foundations Business Planning Class 6-9PM
Mountain BizWorks Training Room 153 South Lexington Ave, Asheville, NC Lewis Lankford teaches this class for entrepreneurs. Participants will take stock of resources and develop a business plan for launch or growth. This class meets Tuesdays, except January 29, for seven weeks. Lisa Zahiya will teach the same concepts to another cohort starting January 16.
> Registration: $375 > 828-253-2834 > mountainbizworks.org
january 6
Perspectives: The Sandburg Story Slam 2-4PM
Blue Ridge Community College Auditorium 180 Campus Dr, Hendersonville, NC
january 8
To commemorate the birthday of Carl Sandburg, finalists will have five minutes to tell their own stories associated with the theme, “Dreams.”
> 828-693-4178 > nps.gov/carl
Introduction to Screenwriting 6:30-9:30PM
Asheville School of Film 45 S. French Broad Ave, Asheville, NC Screenwriter Andrew Shearer offers an eight-week introduction to the fundamentals of his craft. The course teaches
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everything from basic script formatting to creating compelling characters and constructing well-crafted screens. Students will leave with a completed, original short script.
>Tuition: $575 > 844-285-3456 > ashevilleschooloffilm.com
& Other Myths
> 828-771-6047 > ashevillefarmstead.org
2-5PM & 7-10PM Diana Wortham Theatre 18 Biltmore Ave, Asheville, NC
january 13
Seven acclaimed acrobats perform amazing feats raw, without the special effects. Backed by music, this show will have you questioning the laws of physics.
>Tickets: $20 - $60 > 828-257-4530 > dwtheatre.com
january 11 & 12
“Stories, Songs, and Spoons!”
7-8:30PM Habitat Tavern and Commons 174 Broadway, Asheville, NC
january 12
Two local buskers, David Joe Millercoached storyteller Abby the Spoon Lady and one-man band Chris Rodrigues, will give back-to-back performances. The duo’s videos have been viewed over 200 million times.
January’s Family Discovery Day: Winter
10AM-12PM Asheville Farmstead School 218 Morgan Cove Rd, Candler, NC
Those at the farmstead say winter is a brown and down time only for those who do not know where to look, and “there is no such thing as bad weather, only inappropriate clothing choices.” Each free event provides forest exploration and craft designed to inspire lifelong learning. Preregistration is required to Fast, ensure supplies.
your complete >Tickets: Advance $16, Door $19 > 828-808-1150 your complete > davidjoemiller.com Fabric center
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4-5:30PM Unitarian Universalist Church of Asheville 1 Edwin Place, Asheville, NC
As part of the 66th Asheville Chamber Music Series, the lively Parisian pianists will interpret Schumann’s “Piano Trio in F major, Op. 80”; Mieczyslaw Weinberg’s “Piano Trio, Op. 24”; and Ravel’s “Piano Trio in A minor.”
>Tickets: $40 > 828-575-7427 > ashevillechambermusic.org january 14
Food For Life Classes
5:30-7:30PM Asheville Gynecology & Wellness 11 Crispin Court, E-106, Asheville, NC Classes on a plant-based approach to eating will be held across five weeks on consecutive Mondays in Gerber Village.
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Dr. Vicky Scott will conduct the classes and demonstrate healthful methods of food prep aimed at reducing risk of diabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol.
> Registration: $125 > 828-585-6655 > tiny.cc/v3pk1y january 15
Jon Spencer & the Hitmakers
8PM The Grey Eagle 185 Clingman Ave, Asheville, Nc Hipsters may know him from his Jon Spencer Blues Explosion hit, “Bellbottoms,” featured in the film Baby Driver. But the garage-punk maestro has been slamming hard for three decades now, from Pussy Galore to JSBE to Boss Hog, and now his raucous R&B revue in support of new solo album Spencer Sings the Hits. Opener for this all-ages show is Asheville psych/punk purveyors Uncle Kurtis.
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>Tickets: $17-$20 > 828-232-5800 > thegreyeagle.com january 15 -17
Leadership through Emotional Intelligence 8:30AM-5PM Mindspring Consulting 966 Tunnel Rd, Asheville, NC
“Our definition of emotional intelligence is the degree to which you can direct the flow, energy, and intention of your emotional machinery at will, regardless of the circumstances.” Hands-on workshops in the three-day program promise to make participants better leaders, followers, and all-around people.
> Registration: $1,495 > 828-298-2488 > wellspringasheville.com january 17
Paddle-n-Plant with MountainTrue
10AM-4PM Locations are pending weather and river conditions. MountainTrue needs help planting live stakes on the river banks to prevent sedimentation. This event will service rivers in Transylvania and Henderson counties; work assignments will be emailed 1-2 days in advance. Boats are provided; participants should dress appropriately for wading.
> 828-258-8737 > mountaintrue.org january 17
Museum Talk: Devorah Chocolate
6-7PM Blowing Rock Art & History Museum 159 Chestnut St, Blowing Rock, NC Meagan Brown, founder and chief chocolate maker of Devorah Chocolate, will give a hands-on demonstration of her art. Tasting allowed.
> Admission: $5 > 828-295-9099 > blowingrockmuseum.org january 18
Symphony Talk
3-5PM Reuter Center, UNC-Asheville 1 University Heights, Asheville, NC Daniel Meyer has moved on, but the free talks continue. This month, conductor
Ward Stare and cello soloist Daniel Kaler will discuss Offenbach, SaintSaëns, Poulenc, and Berlioz.
> 828-251-6140 > olliasheville.com
– february 22 Drawing Discourse january 18
9AM-5PM Warren Wilson College 701 Warren Wilson Rd, Swannanoa, NC The best of the 10th annual international juried exhibition will be on display at a change of venue due to construction at UNC-Asheville. Claire Gilman of the Drawing Center in NYC will lecture on contemporary drawing from 5-6 opening night, and a panel will discuss the interrelationship of fine art, new media, and craft from 10-11 the next day.
Custom pools and spas. We create unique backyard environments 1200-C Hendersonville Rd. Asheville, NC • 828-277-8041 • waterworkswnc.com Swim Spas by American Whirlpool.
> unca.edu/events-and-news/events/ january 18
Science Pub: The World Food Challenge
5:30-7PM The Collider 1 Haywood St, Asheville, NC
Feeding the world continues to be a management problem: Ample resources are not getting to those in need. Near 2050, when the world population is expected to approach 10 billion, scientists believe there will be worse problems if planning and innovation don’t take off soon.
> 828-254-6283 > thecollider.org january 19
Asheville Symphony: Saint Saëns Cello Concert 8-10PM US Cellular Center
Your source for Hearth & Patio needs 264 Biltmore Ave. Asheville, NC | 828.252.2789
January 2019 | capitalatplay.com 93
or email Callie: cdavis@fourseasonscfl.org Four Seasons is a non-profit palliative and hospice care events Every Moment provider in Western North Carolina, deeply committed to serving the community through fulfilling its mission C o m p a s s i o n f o rMatters. L i f e FourSeasonsCFL.org of Co-Creating The Care Experience. 87 Haywood St, Asheville, NC
Cellist Daniel Kaler and soprano Laura Strickling join the symphony to perform selections by Offenbach, Saint-Saëns, Poulenc, and Berlioz.
>Tickets: Adult $24-$69, Youth $15-$43 > 828-254-7046 > ashevillesymphony.org
Four Seasons helps you to make the most of your moments and feel better doing it.
Call to learn more. (866) 466.9734
– 27 Asheville Restaurant Week january 21
Various Locations, Asheville, NC
Over 25 local restaurants will be rolling out special menus and pricing, in addition to their regular menus, all week long. Reservations are “strongly recommended,” advise the organizers, and don’t forget to save room in your budget for generous tipping of all those overworked servers.
> exploreasheville.com/restaurant-week Care Navigation, Home Care, Palliative Care, Hospice Care, Bereavement Support, Clinical Research
january 22
An Entrepreneur’s Guide to Bridging the Digital Divide
3-6PM AB-Tech Small Business Center 1459 Sand Hill Rd, Candler, NC
The course is primarily geared toward baby boomers who need help keeping up with the Internet. Topics include automating daily tasks, inbox management, blogging, the Cloud, CMS, and more.
> Free, but preregistration is required. > 828-271-4786 > ncsbc.net january 22
We Shall Overcome
8-11PM Diana Wortham Theatre 18 Biltmore Ave, Asheville, NC Damien Sneed, who has worked with the likes of Aretha Franklin and Stevie Wonder, will celebrate the late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. with musical traditions and the spoken word. Sneed brings his classical, jazz, opera, and musical theather training to what is sure to be an inspiring event.
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>Tickets: $20 - $60 > 828-257-4530 > dwtheatre.com january 24
“Sisters In Words” Authors Reading/ Discussion 6:30PM Lenoir-Rhyne University 36 Montford Ave, Asheville, NC
“Sisters in Words: Fiction, Nonfiction, and the Creative Process” is presented by Lenoir-Rhyne University in Asheville’s Thomas Wolfe Center for Narrative and the Yale Association of Western North Carolina. Sisters Elizabeth Kostova and Victoria Johnson will read from The Shadow Land and American Eden, respectively. Afterwards, Lenoir-Rhyne’s Laura Hope-Gill will conduct a discussion and Q&A session, and books will be available for purchase and signing.
> Free, with refreshments. > 828-407-4263 > lr.edu january 24 -27
Blowing Rock Winterfest
Downtown Blowing Rock, Park Ave near Main St, Blowing Rock, NC
Events include Hands-On Ice Carving, a K9 Keg Pull, the Rotary Charity Chili Challenge, and, of course, the Polar Plunge at Chetola Resort. The WinterFeast, Winter Tastings, and WinterFashion Show are all ticketed, but many other events are free.
> 828-295-7851 > blowingrockwinterfest.com january 26
The Asheville Hot Chocolate Races Isaac Dickson Elementary School 125 Hill St, Asheville, NC
Celebrating their 12th year of running, this race has something for everyone. There’s a 10K and a 5K for the big kids, and a 1K and a Marshmallow Dash for the tots. Runners compete for swag. Proceeds benefit the Isaac Dickson Elementary PTO. After the race, all runners win by getting January 2019 | capitalatplay.com 95
events
a cup of French Broad Chocolate’s hot chocolate.
> 828-883-8380 > hotchocolate10k.com january 26
Are You Ready to Start a Small Business?
9AM-12PM AB-Tech Small Business Center 1459 Sand Hill Rd, Candler, NC
Asheville SCORE says you can build it, but if you want them to come, you should submit your idea to a viability test, identify and connect with customers, and have sufficient funding for growth and rainy days. The free workshop will show you how.
> 828-271-4786 > asheville.score.org january 27
Return to the Bassooniverse
3-4:30 PM Biltmore United Methodist Church 376 Hendersonville Rd, Asheville, NC
“Adventures in Music for Four Bassoons”: The four chamber performers will be Rosalind Buda, Jennifer Anderson, Susan Cohen, and Will Peebles.
> Donations: Welcome > 828-254-7123 > panharmonia.org january 30
Getting Ready for Tax Season Spring 2019
11:30AM-1PM
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Lenoir Rhyne, Asheville Campus 36 Montford Ave, Asheville, NC Mark Goodson, CPA will show how to organize relevant documents, provide fact-checking on what can be deducted, help with the selection of an appropriate accounting system, make audit preparation a cinch, and advise when extensions may be in order. Goodson lives, eats, and breathes taxes and encourages questions at his free seminar.
> 828-271-4786 > asheville.score.org january 31
Zlatomir Fung, Cellist
8-10PM Tryon Fine Arts Center 34 Melrose Ave, Tryon, NC
T he awa rd -w i n n i n g ch i ld - pro d igy-turned-Juilliard student will do his best to reach concert goers intellectually, emotionally, and spiritually. Studying music since he was 3 years old, Fung has recieved many awards and acknowledgments. Most recently first prize in the Schoenfeld International String Competition.
>Tickets: Concert Series $110 > 828-859-8322 > tryonarts.org
> 828-271-4786 > asheville.score.org february 1-3
Classic Rock-n-Roll Weekend
Omni Grove Park Inn 290 Macon Avenue, Asheville, NC Cover bands send you back to an era when music was still... accessible, but that doesn’t mean you get to trash the rooms. This is a stayover event, so call for rates.
> 800-438-5800 > omnihotels.com february 2
Balms & Salves Workshop 2-4PM Honey & the Hive 23 Merrimon Ave, Weaverville, NC
At what was formerly Wild Mountain Bees, this workshop will send you home with your own tin of DIY salve.
> Registration: $30 > 828-484-9466 > honeyandthehivenc.com
january 31
Starting a Better Business
10AM-12PM AB-Tech Small Business Center 1459 Sand Hill Rd, Candler, NC
In addition to learning the basics and getting to ask a lot of questions, attendees will be given a wealth of materials, including a copy of the SBTDC Business Startup and Resource Guide and several planning documents. Free, but preregistration is required.
If your organization has any local press releases for our briefs section, or events that you would like to see here, feel free to email us at events@capitalatplay.com. Please submit your event at least six weeks in advance.
FEBRUARY 2 & 3, 2019 ASHEVILLE NORTH CAROLINA WNC AG CENTER DAVIS ARENA
Be inspired and experience first-hand the newest products and latest trends for helping maintain or improve the look, feel, and efficiency of your new or current home at the 10th Annual Build & Remodel Expo!
Building • Remodeling • Outdoor Living • Kitchen & Bath Education • The Playhouse Showdown and More Produced by:
Sponsored by:
Learn More at January 2019 www.BuildandRemodelAsheville.com
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