Capital at Play August

Fabs Corte

Classic Car Shows

Cormark International p.18

Leisure & Libation p.57

Western North Carolina's Free Spirit of Enterprise

video intervie ws capital atpl ay. com

Mountains TO FROM THE

Maui e xclusive video intervie w online

Home Grown & Hand Made: Farmers Markets in Western North Carolina p.35 colu m ns

Festival Flair: Success and Growth Strategies p.48

p.76

Kyle Ellison’s Digital Commute [

lo c a l i n d u s t ry

]

Show Me The Money: Cash Flow & Business p.70

Volume VII - Edition VIII complimentary edition

capitalatplay.com

August 2017

2

| August 2017

August 2017 | capitalatplay.com

3

Editor’s Thoughts

I

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t took about 15 seconds of contemplation to realize that a very definite theme runs through the August issue: It’s passion. This might seem fairly consistent with any issue of Capital at Play, given our focus on entrepreneurs, who are by definition passionate about what they do and why they do it. But peer a bit closer, then consider: Our two Featured Capitalist profiles involve a gentleman who relocated all the way from South Africa to Western North Carolina in order to start an exotic woods importing/processing business; and one who manages his Asheville-based stand up paddleboard company while still living in Hawaii, ultimately making multiple cross-continent commutes from Maui to the mountains throughout the year. You can do the geographical math; that’s a lot of physical and emotional—and, let’s face it, financial—commitment on both their parts.

For this issue’s Leisure & Libation report, we take a look at the area’s community of classic car lovers. It almost goes without saying that collectors of pretty much anything demonstrate a deep, abiding passion for their personal objets du désir (ask me sometime about collecting vinyl records). And if we’re talking collecting something as clock-consuming and cost-intensive as an automobile, well… you get my point. These folks aren’t spending their weeknights and weekends at classic car shows with their fellow aficionados because they don’t have anything to do at home.

They’re dedicated, and they want to show everyone just how much time and effort went into that dedication.

And while our Local Industry feature, a roundup of Western North Carolina tailgate and farmers markets, might at first seem to stretch this whole notion a bit, I suspect that if you were to ask the folks who do the actual planting, cultivating, picking, processing, and preparing of the goods they bring to those markets, you’d quickly learn where they stand regarding “passion,” “commitment,” “dedication,” etc.

In 2002 Neil Young released an album entitled Are You Passionate?, and in the title song, he asks, rhetorically, “Are you loving it? Can you ever get enough of it? Is it everything?” By my reckoning, if you apply those questions to something you do in your daily life, whether it’s career related or leisure-time oriented, and you answer, respectively, “yes,” “no,” and “yes,” then you’ve also answered the titular query in the affirmative.

And whether you realize it or not, you’re already ahead in the game of life.

Sincerely, What would you like to frame?

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4

| August 2017

Fred Mills

Transformations begin here and last a lifetime.

Carolina Day School and its predecessor schools have more than 3,600 alumni in 50 states and around the world. The School was established in 1987 by the merger of Asheville Country Day School and St. Genevieve/Gibbons Hall. The high standards of these schools for academic achievement, character development, and service live on in our alumni and at Carolina Day 30 years later. We believe in developing young people for lives of leadership and service to their community. In fact, our mission is to inspire our students to make a meaningful difference in the world.

Apply now for 2017-18. CarolinaDay.org/Apply 828.407.4442

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August 2017 | capitalatplay.com

5

Attorney Tips on Employee Law KEEP DOCUMENTS Keep copies of important documents, such as handbooks/policies, disciplinary actions, etc., at home. You may not have access to them if you are terminated.

Western North Carolina's Free Spirit of Enterprise

publisher

copy editors

Oby Morgan

Dasha O. Morgan, Brenda Murphy

IS THE NON-COMPETE AGREEMENT I SIGNED ENFORCEABLE?

associate publisher

contributing writers & photogr aphers

• It must be supported by valid consideration – did you get something of value for signing the agreement?

managing editor

• The limitations must be reasonable as to scope, duration and geographical extent – the courts have helped define what is reasonable.

John C. Hunter Attorney at Law

Providing experienced employee representation for over 30 years One North Pack Square | Ste 421 Asheville, NC 28801 828.281.1940 | jchlawfirm.com

MY HANDBOOK STATES THAT I AM AN “AT-WILL” EMPLOYEE. WHAT DOES THAT MEAN ?

1. Most employment relationships in NC are ‘”at-will” 2. This means that you can be terminated for any reason as long as it's lawful 3. It is not lawful if the real reason for your termination is prohibited discrimination, a violation of the public policy of the State, or in retaliation for doing something that is protected by certain state or federal laws.

4.There are other exceptions to the “at-will” status.

WHEN SHOULD I CONTACT AN EMPLOYMENT ATTORNEY •You have concerns about how you are being treated in the workplace or whether your termination is lawful.

•You are not being paid your promised wages, including accrued vacation pay after your termination.

•You are being asked to sign an employment contract, a non-compete agreement or a severance agreement.

6

• You have been denied unemployment benefits.

| August 2017

Jeffrey Green Fred Mills

Emily Ballard, Jennifer Fitzgerald, Anthony Harden, Ken Kaplan, Sarah Martin, Melissa Mathews, Jim Murphy, Shawndra Russell

briefs and events editor

Leslee Kulba

gr aphic designer

Bonnie Roberson Intern Garrett Hawkins

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.

gener al advertising inquiries

for editorial inquiries

e-mail advertising@capitalatplay.com or call 828.274.7305

e-mail editor@capitalatplay.com

for subscription information

Roy Brock, David Morgan, Katrina Morgan, Pat Starnes

subscribe online at www.capitalatplay.com or call 828.274.7305

marketing & advertising

Editorial content is selected and produced because of its interest to our readership. Editorial content is not for sale and cannot be bought. Capital at Play is financially sustained by advertisers who find value in exposure alongside our unique content and to the readers who follow it.

This magazine is printed with soy based ink on recycled paper. Please recycle.

Copyright © 2017, Capital At Play, Inc. All rights reserved.

Capital at Play is a trademark of Capital At Play, Inc. Published by Capital At Play, Inc. PO Box 5615, Asheville, NC. 28813

Capital at Play is protec ted through Tr ademar k Regis tr ation in the United States. The content found within this publication does not necessar ily ref lec t the views of Capital At Play, Inc. and its companies. Capital At Play, Inc. and its employees are not liable for any adver tising or editor ial content found in Capital at Play. The ar ticles, photogr aphy, and illus tr ations found in Capital at Play may not be reproduced or used in any fashion without express wr it ten consent by Capital At Play, Inc.

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Capital at Play has partnered with Bclip Productions to bring the pages of each magazine to life, just for you. Featuring a new 60 second video each week, we give you exclusive interviews and insider info on the people, places, and faces of enterprise throughout Western North Carolina. Visit us on social media or at capitalatplay.com to see the latest 60 Seconds at Play.

fabs corte of cormark international ( p.18 )

kyle ellison of wai mauna ( p. 76 )

ryan kelley of ashe ville cit y soccer club (online e xclusive)

le af - burton street onemic studio (onlne e xclusive)

MARKETING AND TRAINING VIDEOS FOR BUSINESS At Bclip we do more than tell your story. Our business-first mentality and combustible creativity set us apart from other video production companies.

It’s our mission to help our customers sell their products, train their staff and entertain customers with video. We strive to eat, sleep and think like the wonderful companies we work with.

www.bclip.com 8

| August 2017

thi s page : WOOD PIECES at Cormark International. photo by Anthony Harden on the cover : K YLE ELLISON working on the beach in Maui. photo courtesy Wai Mauna Asheville SUP Tours

F E AT U R E D vol. vii

18

AGAINST THE GRAIN FABS CORTE

ed. viii

76

FROM THE MOUNTAINS TO MAUI KYLE ELLISON

August 2017 | capitalatplay.com

9

C ON T E N T S

ODBYE STAFFIN AND HE 35 57 R NEW RT TEA a u g u s t 2 017

p.16

LOCAL GIFTS BUYING GUIDE

The Dog Days of Summer

photo courtesy ASAP

l e i s u r e & l i b at i o n

lo c a l i n d u s t r y

Home Grown & Hand Made:

Highway Star

Tailgate and farmers markets in Western North Carolina & comprehensive list

colu m ns

insight

12 W ake Foot Sanctuary Melissa & Brian Long

48 Festival Flair: Success

and Growth Strategies Written by Melissa Mathews

My Daddy Taught Me That Keynon Lake

70 Show Me The Money:

Cash Flow & Business Written by Sarah Martin & Ken Kaplan

p e o p l e at p l ay

88 62nd Annual Grandfather Mountain Highland Games 10

Collecting—and displaying—classic cars in Western North Carolina

| August 2017

briefs

30 Carolina in the West

52 The Old North State 72 National & World News events

90 Summer Daze

Festivals galore, craft shows & more—even an eclipse!

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August 2017 | capitalatplay.com

11

nsight

Skin in the Game Melissa and Brian Long, of Asheville’s Wake Foot Sanctuary, are expanding their unique day spa vision to the franchise milieu.

T

he words “foot” and “sanctuary” might seem to be unlikely pairings. But we are talking Asheville, where “unlikely pairings” is more than a mental exercise—it has become an imprimatur.

So: Wake Foot Sanctuary, formed by Melissa and Brian Long in late 2011, with the sole—pun intended—purpose of giving customers a foot-soaking/pampering experience that would live up to their own high standards of inducing comfort and reducing stress. Located in the historic Grove Arcade, the spa opened its doors in May of 2013.

“Wake Foot Sanctuary is, at its core, born out of a love to serve others and to see that immediate response of enjoyment and satisfaction in people’s faces,” says Melissa. “I have always been a spa junkie, so this simple and unique take on a spa experience​felt right in line with spa trends for shorter duration services, unique offerings, and something that could be enjoyed alone or with friends/loved ones.

“I think we stay true to a very simple model, which is quite uncommon within the larger spa industry. We specialize in luxurious foot soaks with massage services across three core body areas: head, neck, and shoulder; hand and lower arm; and foot and lower leg. No manicures, no pedicures, no facials, no full body massage. People not only love the uniqueness of the communal spa experience, they love that the service offers less time commitment than traditional spa services and they only have to remove socks and shoes to get totally blissed out for an hour!​” This fresh concept for spa-going has been a success, to say the least, in Asheville—so much so, that without making reservations, it is increasingly difficult for weekend walk-ins, and often on weekdays as well. One obvious response for the Longs has been to increase staffing, although as Melissa is quick to note, “Like many service based businesses, staffing is often the greatest challenge. We are in a city with a pretty impressive number of spas per capita, so we are competing with many employers to try to get and retain high quality employees.

Over the years, we have developed a hiring process to procure the best talent.”

And with success comes outside curiosity. Clients, and no doubt other spa owners, took note of Wake’s inroads within the day spa industry, and inquiries about franchising the business followed.

12

MELISSA LONG

BRIAN LONG

photo by Sandra Stambaugh | August 2017

“[People] told us it was because we seemed to be really polished—from branding to our build out,” explains Melissa.

“We also have our own Wake retail apothecary line. In the summer of 2016, we completed a viability study to benchmark ourselves against the leading spa franchises, and the results definitely showed us that we were at a point where we were ready to take that next step into franchising.”

Enter Wake Franchising Systems, and several months of building out legal and internal documentation, plus assembling real estate, architectural, marketing, and sales teams, to support the larger franchise goals. Adds Melissa, “Franchising has also required us to view big picture goals

“It’s very important to us to grow in a sustainable way, so that our franchisees feel that they are supported fully and that we set them up for a very successful future.” about growing our staff, not just in the number of people we are hiring, but in providing training and leadership to promote our staff from within to realize greater responsibility.”

Currently, Wake’s goal is open three to six new franchises by next year, with a long-term target of 30 or more sold by 2021. For the time being, the emphasis will be on the Southeast. “Within a few minutes of launching our newsletter for franchise offering,” recalls Melissa, “we started to field [inquiries], but there have been several that we have had to decline or put on pause due to distance. It’s very important to us to grow in a sustainable way, so that our franchisees feel that they are supported fully and that we set them up for a very successful future. As one of our wise franchise team members told us, ‘It’s not a sprint—it’s a marathon, when you franchise the right way.’

“With a service-based model, our strategy to grow by franchising is to ensure that we are finding the right owners, that possess a great leadership talent, to grow a business with a legacy of service for themselves. An owner-based model helps to ensure that there is more skin in the game and that business execution follows that investment both in time and money. After all, our mission statement is to provide service excellence through a strong leadership culture, and we are lucky to have a core leadership team that we view like our family, who hunger for the success of both Wake Asheville and future Wake Foot Sanctuaries as we do.”

Information about Wake Foot Sanctuary online: www.Wakespa.com

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13

North Carolina Premiere of Internationally Acclaimed Documentary The Memory of Fish

insight

Voice of the Father For Keynon Lake’s My Daddy Taught Me That program, youth are our greatest resource.

A

The Collider, 1 Haywood St., Asheville NC Saturday, September 9, 2017 – 6-9 p.m.

Proceeds Benefit the Thomas R. Karl Internship Program Tickets & Information at thecollider.org/internship-fundraiser

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828-CLIMATE | thecollider.org | info@thecollider.org 14 at press time. *Sponsors

| August 2017

s a kid, Asheville’s Keynon Lake had basketball in his DNA. His father, Bennie, was a professional player with the Harlem Globetrotters from 1968 to 1972, and Keynon, a high school star, would play for both the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and North Carolina Central University, later playing professionally overseas.

But there was more than just sports in Lake’s DNA. His father was also a social worker at the Juvenile Evaluation Center, additionally mentoring sports-inclined youth and emphasizing the need for an education. He told his son about an opening at the Buncombe County Department of Social Services, and it was there that the younger Lake would have the proverbial lightbulb moment: At work he began noticing that kids coming from Child Protective Services were typically being raised by single mothers. The realization was all the more jarring when he considered how fortunate he was to have been raised by a pair of devoted, hard-working parents, both exemplary role models.

“Building real organic relationships with youth is key.”

When Bennie Lake passed away in 2010, Keynon Lake resolved to pay tribute to his father and what he had meant to his family and community, first with an article in the local newspaper, and later in a book, My Daddy Taught Me That.

“As I was writing,” recalls Lake, “it hit me to do something that he would do, which is to help people. I wanted to talk about the biggest issues and problems I was witnessing in our communities and neighborhoods. My social work experience gave me a front row seat at the current state of our communities locally and across the country. Going in and out of homes on a daily basis, I saw this strange, crazy pattern of no men in the home. When positive male role models are not prevalent in the home, or in the lives of the youth, it causes a lasting effect. And there are also many systematic

photo cour tesy My Daddy Taught Me That.

structures intentionally put in place to target and derail our youth. I felt like creating a program that would concentrate on mentoring, education, job skills, creating self-hope, building confidence, and exposing our youth to mindset-changing events and activities that would break the cycles and obstacles they face in their day-to-day lives.”

The lightbulb had flashed on again. And in July of 2012, the program My Daddy Taught Me That was born.

The mission of My Daddy Taught Me That (MDTMT), originally funded directly from Lake’s pocket and now a nonprofit, is straightforward: It is “designed to support the development, uplift, and education of youth and young males [and teach] how to transition from the young teen adolescent time in their lives into responsible young men; focusing on good decision making, accepting responsibility, and being accountable for their actions.”

To that end, Lake and his fellow mentors offer twice-weekly meetings and weekend events, focusing primarily upon ages 12 to 19.

Explains Lake, “What we do differently in our program than other youth mentoring is dedicating the time and exposure for our youth. Building real organic relationships with youth is key.

Teenagers have a tendency to see through all the phony/fake falsehoods and see you for what you are. Our program has been a catalyst and model for many other programs in the Asheville area. We provide an atmosphere where youth can not only feel safe, but also know they are not being judged or looked down on no matter what the situation may be.”

KEYNON L AKE (far right) with some of his students, photo by Go-Diva photography.

He acknowledges there have been hurdles to overcome, including the type most nonprofits struggle with (funding—and there is a waiting list of youth wanting to get into the program), as well as establishing a permanent space or home where youth can have a reliable daily safe haven. But the successes have been joyous ones.

“Where do I start? For one, I am super excited that the youth continue to show up and are eager to learn, grow, and become better. MDTMT has blossomed into an amazing program that is helping almost 50 young men. [There is also] a sister program, My Sistah Taught Me That, working with almost 68 young women.

“What I think I’m most proud about is that we have created one of Asheville’s leading youth programs with little to no major resources or funding. We have been able to accomplish so much with so little.”

Long-term, Lake wants MDTMT to have its own facility, and to eventually expand the program regionally, statewide, even nationwide.

“We know that this program works and is changing the youth that attend. We want to be the organization who leads the country in how to change, teach, train, heal, and advocate for our youth everywhere. To truly give the phrase ‘I believe the children are our future’ true meaning by doing the work, and being diligent and dedicated to seeing the change that we want to see and that so many talk about.”

For more info on the program, a schedule of events, videos and a documentary, and how to donate: www.MyDaddyTaughtMeThat.org.

August 2017 | capitalatplay.com

15

local gifts buying guide

THE

DOG

Days Summer OF

In August the heat is at full blast, but summer is still full of color!

<<

<<

SWEATER SET Leopard print sweater set, great for daytime or evening, anytime of the year. Leo & Ugo, Paris France.( $350 )

YOU’RE SO COOL! Modern style and extreme skill from local artist Lisa Blackburn’s “Spaces Between” series of monoprints. ( $120 unframed; $359 framed as shown ) BlackBird Frame & Art 365 Merrimon Ave, Asheville

FLORAL ARRANGEMENT Hot colors to cool your outdoor festivities.

Gerbera Daisies, hypericum berries, and roses. ( Starts at $75 ) Flowers by Larry flowersbylarry.com

<<

<<

Lucy Anne

PINK/GREY CRYSTALS/CZECH GLASS AND BRASS CLOSURE Artist Jan Durand is drawn to color, texture, shape, and sparkle. “I see color all the time…in flowers, frescoes, fabrics, rusty objects, or the bead itself.” ( $220 ) The Gallery at Flat Rock galleryflatrock.com

<< AMETHYST PENDANT

Biltmore Lamp & Shade Gallery biltmorelampandshadegallery.com

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| August 2017

images not shown to size

<<

Buy yourself a present! Gem quality amethyst wrapped in 14-karat gold. ( $3,300 )

HAND WOVEN CLUTCH Light and bright, perfect for your summer night out. ( $38 ) Embellish Asheville embellishasheville.com

<<

MARCO BICEGO NECKLACE Paradise long graduating necklace. ( $4,530 ) Spicer Greene Jewelers spicergreene.com

<<

HALF & HALF RIBBED SCARF

On custom stand by local woodworker Sam Haney. Visit us and see our extensive inventory of new and pre-owned watches at Grove Arcade, Suite 148. ( $3,000 )

Echoview’s Half & Half Ribbed Scarf is made on their solar powered knitting machine from 100% organic supima cotton, and is perfect for lightweight summer layering. ( $34 )

The Watchmaker’s Shop thewatchmakersshop.com

Echoview Fiber Mill echoviewnc.com

<<

<<

TUDOR HERITAGE WATCH

PERFORATED TULIP SNEAKERS

BY ISLE JACOBSON

<<

Available in Sizes 6-11 ( $78 )

<<

MODO PAPER-THIN TITANIUM FRAMES Two (2) pair no/line bifocals with frame. ( $250 )

Scout Boutique 18 Brook St., No.102, Biltmore Village

SHIRTDRESS Meet Murphy - your new favorite shirtdress from Frank & Eileen! Features a figure- flattering seamed waist in washed Italian linen. ( $288 ) Bette Boutique facebook.com/betteboutique

<<

OneWay Eyeglasses eyeglasses-asheville.com

LARGE SHALLOW SERVING BOWL IN BLUE RIDGE Perfect for salads, pastas, vegetable sides, or holding the last of summer’s peaches and plums. Each piece is handmade on a potter’s wheel from 100% North Carolina wild clay. ( $250 ) East Fork Pottery eastforkpottery.com

<<

HANDMADE PICTURE FRAMES

Frame your special events in heirloom folios made in silk and linen and lined with handmade marbled papers. ( $40 ) Azalea Bindery azaleabindery.com

paid advertisement 17 August 2017 | capitalatplay.com

Against

written by shawndr a russell photos by anthony harden

Grain THE

When a successful South African manufacturer decided it was time to think bigger, its eyes turned to Americaâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;and, eventually, to Western North Carolina.

18

| August 2017

video intervie w

capital atpl ay. com

FABS CORTE August 2017 | capitalatplay.com 19

We’re like a

microbrewery for the wood industry.

That’s Cormark International, an importer of exotic woods from all over the world that, since the late ‘90s, has quietly been building a multi-million-dollar operation in Weaverville, as described by owner Fabs Corte.

And with only 12 other noteworthy exotic wood importers in America—and really, only five true competitors that are focused on distributing small batches similar to Cormark—the exotic wood industry may very well follow in the footsteps of craft beer, as consumers shift away from mass market items to higher quality, unique, and better made products in many sectors.

Unlike craft brewers, who often face very limited distribution, Cormark works with about 200 wholesalers and distributors, supplying imported wood to national chains, hardwood lumber stores, and catalog companies. They offer around 70 different wood species, including hard-to-find Zebrawood and Snakewood, but make sure to keep on hand solid quantities of high demand species like Mahogany, Teak, and Rosewood. Corte and company continually seek out new or unusual species to import as well, working with a handful of brokers who help make sure that the saw milling groups they work with are committed to best practices revolving around reforestation and sustainability. Managing such a vast network of suppliers, distributors, and species, as well as 15 employees, is impressive on its own, but perhaps most impressive is Corte’s obvious passion for his work after all these years—especially since the whole company started out as an accident.

Unlikely Beginnings In the early ‘90s, Fabs’ brother, Max, was working for a lumber company in South Africa, but they were in financial trouble and had decided to close down. Max pooled his money and funds from family to purchase the equipment and inventory and streamlined operations from 50 employees down to eight. Within a few years, the company had fully recovered and blossomed into one of the largest molding producers in South Africa, with 120 employees.

Around the same time, Fabs was searching for an internship to complete his architecture degree at Wits University in South Africa.

As Fabs notes, “The problem was, there were no jobs. Everything was changing.”

20

| August 2017

WHOLE LOGS cut into various boards.

That “everything” included the end of apartheid, and the changing political tide meant that jobs for a young, white African were scarce.

With bleak options in his chosen field, Fabs was grateful when his brother asked him to come on board at the manufacturing company. Recalls Fabs, “He said, ‘You must be a laborer before you can be a boss.’” After earning his stripes, Fabs was put in charge of overseeing transportation for a few divisions, like decking and flooring, which quickly morphed into overseeing transportation for the entire company. “We merged all the divisions after about a year,” Fabs explains, “and then we started thinking bigger.”

That bigger thinking led to the brothers deciding they wanted to move to a global location, and at first, they considered Italy and Australia. “We were born in Italy, had spent time there, and knew the language and culture, but owning a business was too bureaucratic. With Australia, the competition from China was just too tough, so we started looking at America.” The brothers already spoke four languages, so that wasn’t a barrier, but they recognized that they couldn’t compete with America’s mass producers, which led to their eventual focus on specialization.

To get their foot in the door in the United States, the Corte brothers decided to open a franchise, and since Max was familiar with hardware stores and lumber, they contacted Ace Hardware. This led to a period of scouting for a franchise location that fit one piece of criteria: location. “We wanted it to be in the Southeast because of the easy flights, immigration August 2017 | capitalatplay.com

21

L AUR A & FABS

laws, and no snow!” Fabs says, laughing. They visited Florida and a few other locations, but their visit to Asheville sealed the deal. “They wooed us at the Grove Park Inn, wining and dining us.” So, in 1997 they purchased Citizens Hardware in North Asheville and kept its name, but the brothers knew that the bigger play was capitalizing on Max’s role as a wood distributor in Africa. “Our dad always told us we shouldn’t work for the man, so it was inevitable we would become entrepreneurs,” Fabs recalls.

After about a year, they launched their second American business, Cormark International, and started small, renting a 3,000-sq.-ft. warehouse space in nearby Weaverville. The goal was to sell products manufactured by Max’s lumber company in South Africa and also source and sell hardwoods from the continent, but when they purchased two containers of cutting boards and lumber, it sat with no sales for several months.

However, within a year they had landed a contract to sell their cutting boards in Frontgate catalog, which focused on luxury home decor and furnishings, and eventually an agency in Atlanta picked up the boards and sold them to kitchen specialty stores, as well as some mom-and-pop retailers throughout the region.

This slow-but-steady progress gave Cormark the stability needed in order to focus on growth. To prepare for the next 22

| August 2017

FILLED TO the ceiling with wood.

stage, Fabs read Guerilla Marketing, a best-seller touted as a book written for small businesses “with big dreams but tiny budgets” and originally published in 1983 by famed business writer Jay Levinson. “I would go to woodworking clubs and give free talks,” says Fabs. “I also went to craft fairs and we started selling direct to craftsman.” Although the direct retail part of the business only generates about three percent of their sales today, Fabs feels it was crucial to opening doors for Cormark, and it helped give the company a footing in the community.

In 2002 Cormark landed its first large wholesale client, while simultaneously looking for more strategies to move inventory and present it in new ways. “We looked at how restaurants operated, slicing and dicing, like using salmon three ways to make a salmon salad, salmon burger, salmon platter. We were fine with serving a la carte, aka small orders, to whoever would buy,” Fabs says. At the time, Cormark only offered about 10-15 wood species, with an eye to expanding their offerings constantly. To help grow their inventory, they also started offering domestic species.

“We felt it was a natural progression of our business plan to offer a full complement of premium grade domestic and exotic hardwoods.”

That same year, Fabs married his wife Laura, a fine arts graduate from the University of North Carolina at Asheville, whom he met when she worked at the family’s Ace Hardware. “We worked a lot together, while I was juggling the store and growing Cormark,” Fabs shares.

Today, Laura manages the books at Cormark, and the couple has an eight-year-old daughter, who often spends a few hours after school at the family business.

Things progressed so well that in 2006 the brothers sold their hardware store, and by 2008 Cormark was finally ready to build its own facility on Reems Creek Road just east of Weaverville. Despite the recession and real estate crisis, they were able to secure a loan through BB&T, and Fabs still works with that same local BB&T. “They were really great to us despite everything that was going on with the economy,” he says. By 2010 their new facility was up and they began incorporating additional domestic species along with foreign species.

In 2013 Cormark earned a Level 2 customs clearance, which meant they could deal in endangered wood species after 14 years of having a Level 1 clearance. “We had to earn it by always being perfect, crossing all ‘T’s and dotting all ‘I’s,” Fabs explains. Then, in 2014, tragedy struck: Fabs’ brother was in a horrific motorcycle accident that left him in a coma and with severe brain trauma. “I was in ‘holy shit’ mode,” Fabs says, “and on his good days, I would scribble notes while he told me about parts of the business that he used to handle.” Yet the groundwork the brothers had laid ultimately paid off, and since 2013, Cormark has enjoyed between eight and fifteen percent growth each August 2017 | capitalatplay.com 23

(ABOVE L TO R) African Black wood, Purple Hear t, & Zebrawood wood pieces

year. Fabs still talks to his brother—who now lives in Montana—almost daily to share a recap of the day, but the future of Cormark sits squarely on his shoulders.

Challenges Being part of an agricultural products industry, Fabs is hyper-aware of the growing battle for land, which pits those in the lumber business not only against each other, but also against any industry that relies on land to source its products. “We constantly look for red flags: prices too low, bad practices, unknowledgeable people,” he says.

Unfortunately, he is also all too familiar with companies cutting down large parcels of land, rendering the area barren and growthless for seasons or even years. “We’ve never understood why people go in and just cut everything to make a quick buck, when they could do things the right way and go back to that land again and again,” Fabs says, shaking his head. (For more information on land clearing, see the May 2013 Capital at Play article on John Fletcher and the Pisgah Hardwood Corporation.)

He has seen greed rear its ugly head in the industry in other ways, too. “Someone who has no idea the value of their trees and what people will pay for exotics will sell what they have for pennies. It’s horrible.” Other times, landowners will discover whole sections of their forests have been cut without payment or permission. These examples of selfishness visibly disgust Fabs, but they seem to also motivate him to help make the industry better and be a source of empowerment for suppliers and their

communities. But he has been on the receiving end of greed, too. He once had a customer inform him that a special tree had fallen and the owner was looking for a buyer. The tree in question turned out to be a famous white oak from the movie The Shawshank Redemption.

“I called him and began some dialogue to find out what he wanted for the tree. His response was $100,000 plus cost of extraction, and then we would have to do all the milling into useable lumber products. After assessing the size and possible volume it would yield, we quickly realized that it was extremely expensive and not economically viable.”

Internally, waste is a battle they fight often, with high quality long cuts or pieces for big projects sometimes resulting in 92 percent waste. Yet by having an open door

“We worked with a missionary from Asheville who was in Papua New Guinea. He started a sawmill and an entire community built up around it.”

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| August 2017

policy with local craftsmen, most of this gets turned into wood jewelry and other small products. These leftovers also become build-your-own cutting board kits and pen blanks for making custom pens.

Still, not all challenges they’ve faced have been negative.

Many years ago, in order to land a contract to buy sacred Pink Ivory wood, Fabs traveled to the southern region of Africa to meet with tribal chiefs. He recalls, “We spent a couple of days following customary protocol, which included drinking sorghum beer. Finally, the chief would ask our reason to visit, and we would ask permission to

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BY THE NUMBERS Cormark works with:

200

Distributors and wholesalers

5

Brokers located throughout the world and working directly with small operations

70

Different types of wood species Cormark sells, from standard domestics to the ultra-rare

15

Number of people Cormark employs

5

Number of exotic wood importers similar to Cormark in the United States

35%

Share of the exotic woods market Cormark currently has

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| August 2017

FABS with an exotic wood plank in the warehouse.

READY TO be turned into a wine stopper.

harvest a tree. A ceremony would follow, as they believe their ancestors’ spirits live in the tree, and this would release them.”

Today, Fabs rarely goes on these types of expeditions, and instead squeezes in trips abroad with his family since he has built up a network of brokers and contacts that serve as his boots on the ground.

Local Impact, Here and Abroad Thankfully, agricultural products business owners like Fabs, who have built a brand on doing things the right way, still exist and continue to make a difference. Cormark’s website and marketing materials emphasize their commitment to sustainability and reforestation, but even more eye-opening are the relationships he has built with ten small operators in Africa and beyond. “We pay for the logs upfront and trust them to deliver the product to us,” he explains. Most of the time this arrangement works well, but a couple of these purveyors have yet to deliver years later, and probably never will. Fabs seems nonplussed by this fact, quickly shifting into a feelgood story: “We worked with a missionary from Asheville who was in Papua New Guinea. He started a sawmill and an entire community built up around it.” Cormark continues to purchase wood from this community, long after the missionary returned home.

At the warehouse, Fabs is committed to promoting work-life balance for his employees. The warehouse operates between 7:30AM to 4:30PM Monday through Thursday, with quitting time typically 2PM on Fridays. “We’re adamant about people not working late or on weekends because family time is important.

We also don’t want people to get burnt out or feel overworked,” he says. Retention is another key focus for Fabs, so he tries to instill a sense of pride and ownership in the company and isn’t August 2017 | capitalatplay.com 27

shy about his desire for them to grow with it. “We aim to hire people who have a passion for what we do; many of our employees are woodworkers at home and have little stashes of wood with their name on it to reserve a piece they want to use one day.” If a new species comes in? “We’re all like kids in a candy store!”

He talks for a moment about the smells of wood (“You can tell if the wood is good—new, fresh—by its smell.”) and how he spends hours each day focused on quality control, evoking an image of a brewmaster sniffing his hops and batches.

The educational component Fabs relied on in the early years when giving talks to woodworking groups remains an important part of giving back, too. Local college groups come through for tours and to learn about the industry, and local craftsman love to come in and browse or show off products they’ve made. “One guy makes guitars and came in barefoot, unannounced, played us one song, and left,” he says, chuckling, “and one couple came in who makes wooden sex toys. We’ve got some interesting characters that come through our doors.” This includes local craftsmen like Ray Jones, David Scott, and Brian Brace, and many more members of the Southern Highland Craft Guild.

Relocating to Asheville also unintentionally started a trend, as other exotic wood importers have followed Cormark’s lead and

started up their own businesses in Western North Carolina—in fact, Fabs says that most of his main competitors operate in the area. This competition means he likes to keep some things close to his chest, including revenue totals and the contacts he has cultivated over nearly thirty years. It also means he can see Cormark thriving for a long time to come.

“There’s a lot I want to do still, lots of ideas we want to pursue,” he says excitedly, sliding his hand over the large, beautiful wood slab table that sits in Cormark’s simple conference room. They obviously keep their operation lean, but it’s evident they’ve outgrown the space already, as stacks of wood occupy every crevice in the warehouse, where they also dry and dimensionalize raw product.

Future for Cormark (and Exotic Woods) Forbes magazine noted recently, in the article “Millennials and Quality: A Search for a Better Everything,” that: “In the world of capitalism, millennials are showing strong preferences for the ‘Buy It For Life’ mentality—that is, they want to buy vehicles, homes, furnishings, appliances, and other items that last a long time or can be serviced by the user to extend its useful life.” Fabs has witnessed this shift firsthand more rapidly in recent years.

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“There’s definitely a changing of the guard happening. Just look at how houses are getting smaller,” he says.

He believes the exotic woods industry is at a fever pitch, which means he’s constantly having to reign the business in and focus on growing strategically, even while others chase rapid growth. “We are on a surfboard on top of the wave; we’ve got to ride it out without crashing,” he says.

To stay on top, it’s more important for Cormark to be

a big investment—more than $250,000—but it’s important that we do it in the future.”

The future also holds the potential for many new species to be discovered. In tracking down its supplies, Cormark typically comes across one or two new species per year and shares these with the Research Forestry Lab in Washington state. “We have to be very careful about using new species because we could harm them,” he explains.

Regardless of what they’ll face in the future, Fabs is confident they ’ve d iversi f ied bet ween industries and states well enough to sustain their growth. “We work with yacht makers, instrument builders, furniture makers, home and commercial builders, car manufacturers, the list goes on...”

In the meantime, he plans to continue enjoying and learning from the regional craft beer industry as well as his new interest: bourbon. “The high-end bourbons, that’s like our industry, too,” he muses.

Quality over quantity, indeed.

To stay on top, it’s more important for Cormark to be known for quality and service over price, and to always take good care of their customer base. known for quality and service over price, and to always take good care of their customer base. It also means innovating and being a good steward of the environment.

In the coming years, they hope to use solar and biofuel to power their operations: “Turning our waste into biofuel is

August 2017 | capitalatplay.com 29

CAROLINA in the

WEST [

news briefs

The WNC of Your Dreams transylvania county

Pilot Cove celebrated its official grand opening June 22. The resort is the product of five friends’ ambition to create the ultimate outdoor destination for Western North Carolina. The setup provides luxury getaway living for people who love to go outside and play in the bugs and mud day after day. Located at the US 276 entrance to Pisgah National Forest, Pilot Cove offers not only access to everything the park has to offer; it has its own picnic areas with grills and campfire rings, plus exclusive trails for hikers and mountain bikes winding through the forest and often hugging mountainsides. Guests stay in any of ten cabins, each sporting contemporary architecture, with a lot of glass and extensive balconies

Luxury homes

& unique mountain properties | August 2017 30

]

for viewing the natural environment.

Studio, one-bedroom, and two-bedroom rentals showcase local art and luxury, custom-made furnishings. Each rental includes a full kitchen slick enough for the end of a house-hunting show, a mudroom, a washer and dryer, over 200 cable channels for a 48-inch flatscreen, and WiFi. Each unit has its own private car parking, and secure bicycle storage and a bike washing station are on premises.

Future plans include constructing more cabins and developing campgrounds and a natural amphitheater with a stage for outdoor concerts and weddings.

Butchered That buncombe county

Casey McKissick, owner of Foothills Meats, has announced plans to open

a butcher bar in West Asheville in September. The place doesn’t have a name yet, but it will be a combination of a traditional butcher shop meat counter, a restaurant, and a bar. The meat counter will be stocked with standards like ground beef, steak, and pork chops.

Other cuts will rotate daily. Staff will be meat specialists and thus able to answer questions and offer cooking suggestions.

Fresh meat will be apportioned to order and wrapped in traditional paper, giving the store a neighborhood butcher ambience McKissick hopes shoppers will integrate into their weekly grocery routines. Similarly, the restaurant menu will be about 70% hamburgers, hot dogs, and fries. The rest will be “more adventurous” items changed up daily. Owen Lane, an acclaimed chef from Nashville, will oversee this part of the business.

The bar will serve beer and cocktails.

The business, going up at the former site of Bandidos on Haywood Road, will be walled with subway tiles, feature butcher block, and have two bars and dining tables built from wood reclaimed from an Ohio bowling alley. While the place is under construction, Foothills Meats will run a hotdog cart in West Asheville and continue vending from its food truck stationed at the High-Wire Brewing Big Top in the South Slope.

There’s a Market buncombe county

Hall Booth Smith, PC, announced the opening of a new office in Asheville. The firm was established in 1989 and now has 14 offices. The Asheville office, its second in North Carolina, will specialize in medical malpractice and construction law. Isaac N. Northrup, Jr., will manage the office. For the last 35 years, his practice has focused on medical malpractice defense, catastrophic and birth injuries, and complex medical matters.

He is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, a board member of the North Carolina Association of Defense Attorneys, and an emeritus member of the North Carolina Board of Law Examiners. He has tried over 75 medical malpractice suits to jury verdict, and he is the exclusive representative for clients of the state’s major medical malpractice insurance carrier. Partner Elizabeth McConnell specializes in medical malpractice, professional malpractice, ethics, aging services, insurance coverage, and products liability. Representing physicians, hospitals, and nursing home and general liability clientele, she has extensive experience litigating complex medical issues and is routinely consulted on matters of risk and liability. Associate

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the old north state

national & world

Adam Peoples specializes in general litigation, medical malpractice defense, and construction law. He worked on several federal cases while clerking for the Honorable Martin Reidinger in the US District Court for the Western District of North Carolina.

With This Ring I Thee Wed jackson & swain counties

Enterprising couple Ruth McCoy and Timothy Taylor had an idea for making extra money on the side. They partnered with Ofir Marsiano and Golan Perez, who recruited non-citizens wanting, for whatever reason, to expedite their immigration process. McCoy and Taylor, in turn, recruited citizens the non-citizens could wed. The citizens were paid $1,500 to get married in ceremonies that took place in Sevier, Tennessee. Following the ceremonies, the non-citizens would apply to change their immigration status, and McCoy and Taylor would serve as their sponsors. For that, they received roughly another $1,500 per client, and they appeared to make even more money navigating further stages of the process. The only problem was, what

carolina in the west

they were doing is illegal. In June seven of twelve participants were rounded up by the Federal Bureau of Investigation on charges of marriage fraud and/ or conspiracy to commit marriage fraud. United States Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina Jill Westmoreland Rose said the marriages are deemed a sham because “there’s no affection or love… it’s solely a business transaction.” Depending on the individual charges, the participants could face 10 to 25 years in prison. At presstime they had been released on bond, with arraignment hearings scheduled for later.

You See This Sky, This Sky’s in Love with You yancey county

June 1 was the grand opening of the Bare Dark Sky Observatory at Mayland Community College’s Earth to Sky Park in Burnsville. It is named after Warren and Larissa Bare, two of the project’s most significant donors. The observatory features a Newtonian telescope with a 34-inch mirror, making it the largest reflecting scope open to the public in the region. Sir Isaac Newton built the first telescope of this kind to view

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carolina in the west

celestial objects without the chromatic aberration characteristic of refracting scopes. This one is nicknamed the Sam Scope in memory of Samuel Phillips, whose family donated the funds needed to build it. The concave mirror was crafted by Lockwood Custom Optics, and the body was built by Starstructure Telescopes, which specializes in metal instrumentation capable of withstanding extremes in weather. The Sam Scope is strong enough for viewing the jet stream and Saturn’s rings. A smaller telescope, also on premises, is adequate for routine viewing of planets and the Moon. The whole observatory was funded through $600,000 in private donations and grants. Members of the public may buy advance-only tickets for two-hour sessions led by skilled staff, and groups of up to 20 may rent the facility for up to four hours at a time.

Guests must shuttle up to the location, which has received recognition from the International Dark-Sky Association for its lack of light trespass.

Not the Only Big Land Sale Downtown buncombe county

A Georgia-based company has purchased 15 properties in downtown Asheville for $28.3 million. The buildings include the Jackson Building, the city’s first skyscraper, opened in 1924 and still holding the world record as the tallest building on the smallest lot. The adjacent, attached buildings spanning the western portion of Pack Square Park, featuring the ornate 8-story Westall Building, formerly home of Blue Ridge Savings Bank, are also included; as are two buildings to the south, on Biltmore Avenue, long the home of Marble Slab Creamery; a block of buildings on the southwest corner of Biltmore and Patton avenues, featuring Bomba and Salsas; and three other tracts. A long-term lease was entered into for the parking garage just south 32

| August 2017

Writerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Bistro

of Marble Slab and the appurtenant retail properties along Eagle Street. The buyer goes by the name of Pack Square Property Management, a limited liability company registered in Delaware, but with the parent company Wicker Park Capital Management, based in Georgia.

The latter has invested over $6.7 billion in real estate deals across the country, with recent transactions being residential and retail investments of the same scale as the Asheville deal. The sellers are a group of seven investors who bought the property for $15 million in 2004. They were reportedly looking for a buyer who could bankroll more upkeep for historic preservation.

Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a Nice Place to Visit jackson county

The Cashiers Area Chamber of Commerce is trying to unravel a knot of problems that are far worse in Cashiers than in most of Western North Carolina.

Atop a remote plateau, the tourist town is open for business only about six to nine months a year. The difficult topography and relative isolation have combined to make Cashiers a haven for wealthy retirees seeking second homes. So, businesses like inns and restaurants are stuck trying to staff low-wage, seasonal positions when, with few exceptions, the nearest affordable housing is 10 windy, two-lane miles away in Highlands, or 28 in Brevard, necessitating reliable transportation.

High Hampton Inn and Country Club uses the J1 visa program to fill over 130 summer positions. Those hires typically have completed a four-year degree program in a field like international travel or tourism management. But lower-wage dishwashers, housekeepers, and room attendants are difficult to find. Some venues hire college kids, but they can only work three months. Others, like Marina McDonaldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Randevu Restaurant, cooperate with employee-sharing agreements, whereby managers coordinate

schedules for people who want to work two jobs. The chamber is getting more proactive about sparking recruitment initiatives. It is also trying to build interest in possibly time-sharing or subleasing student housing at Western Carolina University, twenty miles away, and having employers pool to pay for a commuter shuttle.

In Vitro Chemistry buncombe county

Mother Earth Produce is expanding.

Co-owners Graham and Andrea Duvall began their delivery service in 2012 to give people who have to shop off-hours access to local, fresh food while supporting local growers and processors.

Working out of a warehouse in South Asheville, the business grew to include 25 suppliers and 400 customers in North and South Carolina. The new 3,000-sq.-ft. facility, with potential for increasing deliveries to 15,000 a week, is located in a West Asheville 30-acre sustainable business hub known as Smith Mill Works. The location has several vintage glass greenhouses that were used to grow food during World War II. After the war, it was used as a nursery, and then it was abandoned to the weeds for 14 years before Michael Klatt rediscovered it in 2015. He was seeking a place for his mushroom business, Asheville Fungi, and when he saw the plot, he thought it would be a nice place to mix a lot of similarly-minded businesses to try to realize new synergies. Sunburst Chef & Farmer now operates out of one of the greenhouses and supplies Mother Earth Produce with 600-700 heads of lettuce a week. Graham Duvall believes it will be essential to co-create up and down the supply chain if local producers are going to be able to compete with economies of scale.

August 2017 | capitalatplay.com

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local industry

Make a food connectionâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;and perhaps even a friend connection as wellâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; at the many Western North Carolina tailgate and farmers markets.

Home Grown

& Hand

photo courtesy ASAP

Made

written by jennifer fitzger ald August 2017 | capitalatplay.com

35

local industry

photo courtesy Jackson County Farmers Market

CREASMAN FARMS Raspberries, photo courtesy ASAP

UCCULENT STR AW BERR IES, VINE -R IPE tomatoes, fresh cut flowers, artisan cheeses— these are just a small sampling of the variety of offerings at local farmer and tailgate markets across Western North Carolina. The region is blessed with a bountiful selection of markets where farmers are ready, willing, and able to talk with customers about their products—what they are, how they were grown, and even how to prepare them when you take them home. A visit to the market is a smorgasbord of color, texture, and taste.

“We have a wonderful mix of markets across the region,” says Molly Nicholie, Program Director - Local Food Campaign for ASAP (Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project). “Five days a week there is a different market available just in Buncombe County alone.”

Nicholie explains ASAP’s mission—helping keep family farmers farming and connecting them with local markets to sell their products. ASAP produces an annual Local Food Guide, which includes a detailed listing of all the markets in the region and helps local markets and in establishing markets.

ASAP stresses that our choices matter when we buy local by keeping value in the local community; building community 36

| August 2017

resilience; strengthening community ties; creating the food system that we want; and celebrating our character and heritage.

Some of the local tailgate markets now accept SNAP (the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) EBT (Electronic Benefits Transfer) cards with the goal of making fresh foods accessible.

At the Market

On the day of each market around Western North Carolina, you will find both organizers and vendors getting an early start. “Organizers start early around sunrise setting up signs, raising our giant ‘Farm to Market Today’ flag, and getting the site ready for vendors,” says Rob Elliot, with the Fairview Tailgate Market. “About 15-20 vendors show up around 8:15 and start setting up tents and tables. We have local musicians who play a variety of music as well. Customers pass through from 9AM until 1PM. Fairview is a rural community, so there are a lot of good old friends that visit with each other, as well as new connections made.”

A good market has not only produce, but also meats, cheeses, breads, and eggs, plus craft vendors. Variety is key with unusual

TEN MILE FARM Rainbow caulif lower, photo courtesy ASAP

EAST ASHEVILLE FARMERS Market, photo by Jennifer Fitzgerald

produce such as nettles, Romanesco broccoli, and watermelon radishes you just don’t find at your local grocery. Most markets strive to have a balance of primarily farmers with some crafters.

Fees to sell at the market vary from as low as $5 per week up to $30 per week. A flat rate for the entire season is also available for vendors at most markets.

The East Asheville Tailgate Market, located in the parking lot of Groce United Methodist Church on Tunnel Road, has between 20 and 30 vendors at market each week.

“It’s a little different each week because of day vendors who join some markets and full-time vendor schedule conflicts, but we try to keep a variety of products available every market,” says Hanna Zalesky, with the East Asheville Tailgate Market.

“We estimate that about 300 people come through each week.”

“We see both returning and more new customers each year,” says Lisa McBride, market manager at the Jackson County Tailgate Market. “Each market is different, depending on what is going on in town, what the weather is like, how many vendors we have.”

Each vendor has an interesting background and story to tell.

When visiting a market, make sure you take time to chat with the vendors—and sample some of their products if possible.

Nikki Wright, of Mrs. B’s Homestyle Eatery, is one of these vendors you’ll find at the East Asheville Tailgate Market. She sells mini coconut and pecan pies, caramel sauce, and mini red velvet cheesecake bites.

“The business is named after my mom, Brenda, who is the best cook that I know,” says Wright. “My mom grew up on a farm with 15 siblings. We were fortunate enough to have a garden and be friends with a farmer who would provide us with fresh meat, eggs, and vegetables. My mom passed down several recipes to me, including the coconut pie that I sell at the markets. Whenever I have a question about food, I always call my mom.”

Dotting Your ‘I’s; Crossing Your ‘T’s

Tailgate market vendors must complete an application form and be approved to participate in local markets. Local tailgate market organizers are looking for a good mix of vendors, no resellers, with some even having geographic restrictions.

Farmers may work with ASAP to obtain Appalachian Grown™ Certification, which signifies that their farm products are grown or raised in Western North Carolina and the Southern August 2017 | capitalatplay.com 37

local industry

Appalachian Mountains. In addition, farmers may also apply for organic certification through the USDA for their products.

Other restrictions apply to prepared goods, such as the Eat Pique products that chef Mike Vitelli brings to the East Asheville Tailgate Market each week. His line of honey pickled mustard seed condiment spreads features varieties such as Bopp’n Beet and Habanero Heat.

“I produce an acidified food, so I was required to take a two-part course offered by North Carolina State University (NCSU) on safe practices involved in production of acidified foods,” says Vitelli. “When I received my certificate, I then had to submit my recipe process for each of my products to NCSU, with a sample for testing. They then provided me with a process authority letter breaking down best practices for production. I also must produce my product in a commercial kitchen. We are lucky to have many shared use kitchen options in this area of the state. I produce at the community kitchen located in Tryon.”

WNC Farmers Market

Tucked away on Brevard Road, on the western end of Asheville near I-40, the WNC Farmers Market is one of four regional farmers markets owned by the State of North Carolina and operated by the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. Open seven days a week, year-round, it consists of five open-air truck sheds for farmers and dealers, with one shed designated for certified farmers selling direct to the consumer. The market has a small dealers building and two large wholesale buildings, which offer produce year-round to grocery stores, restaurants, institutions, and roadside markets. The retail section of the market, on your right as you drive in, offers a

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| August 2017

photo by Jennifer Fitzgerald

MARKET BOUNT Y, photo courtesy ASAP

variety of products—fresh produce, honey, jams, crafts, and much more.

Bill Teague and his business partner, Les Meinhart, are owners of Teague’s Country Corner, located in the retail section. Their offerings include Amish butter, locally produced sausage from Alexander Farms, honey and sorghum molasses, chow chow, pickles, salsa, knives, baskets made in Africa, roasted and boiled peanuts, over 100 flavors of jelly/jams, and both traditional and unique

The WNC Farmers Market is unique from many of the local tailgate markets in that it is also a tourist destination.

TEN MILE Farm’s Booth photo courtesy ASAP

produce, much of which comes from the wholesale section of the WNC Farmers Market.

“If I see the odd and unusual vegetable down there, I’ll get it,” says Meinhart. Customer favorites are gold beets, eight ball zucchinis, and cubanelle peppers.

Since 1998, Teague has worked to develop a mix of products to offer his customers that are both high quality and in demand. He wants his customers to “find the product that you are looking for and the quality that you are looking for—we try and buy the best produce that we can find,” he says.

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local industry

photo courtesy ASAP

The WNC Farmers Market is unique from many of the local tailgate markets in that it is also a tourist destination. It is not unusual to see visitors unloading from tour buses to spend time shopping in the retail area. Gloria Jacobs and her niece, Tina Dupree, both from Columbia, South Carolina, stopped by on their way to Gatlinburg, Tennessee.

“We love to come by here,” says Jacobs. “We just get whatever looks good. We bought carrots, tomatoes, and special made sauces. We usually buy apples and take some home to family and friends.”

Jacobs says she likes to shop at the WNC Farmers Market because “it’s fresh—it doesn’t pass through so many hands.

Here, it is fresher, and fresher is always better.”

Baby, It’s Cold Outside

Don’t be dismayed when fall rolls into winter—there are still tailgate markets to shop. Winter markets have exploded recently, with four already in Buncombe County. Farmers are extending the season by using greenhouses, offering storage crops, or growing through the winter.

“People are really getting creative with their growing practices, and season extension is one of the exciting things that is going on in the region,” says Nicholie.

Tailgate Growth

photo by Jennifer Fitzgerald

photo courtesy Jackson County Farmers Market

40

ASAP shares the latest data available from the 2012 Census of Agriculture, where in Western North Carolina direct sales by farmers to consumers increased 69 percent between 2007 to 2012. For the rest of the state, there was a decrease of three percent; for the United States, there was an eight percent increase.

These figures are a testament of the importance of farmers in the region and the population’s desire to buy the freshest produce available.

“We have smaller mountain farmers that have more adaptability to market demands than some of the larger farms,” says Nicholie. “If there is a consumer demand for mixed produce, they have a little more ability to shift their production on a smaller scale than some of the bigger farms that have customized equipment.”

While some local grocers and restaurants offer products from local farmers, shopping at a farmers or tailgate market allows the consumer to connect with their food and meet the folks who grew it.

“People like to shop at tailgate markets because of the friendly atmosphere and so they can meet face to face with their farmer,” says Eric Christianson of Pisgah Gourmet.

“You only need a doctor or a policeman a few times in your life, but you need a farmer three times per day.” From his space at the East Asheville Tailgate Market he offers samples of mushroom tea and is happy to talk to customers about the

| August 2017

photo by Jennifer Fitzgerald

THE

Market Boom

Here are some notable facts and figures regarding farmers/tailgate markets in Western North Carolina (some of Tennessee is included) according to ASAP (Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project).

For additional info, go to the ASAP website at

290% Tailgate market growth percentage in the region since just 2002. ASAP’s first Local Food Guide included 32 tailgates.

This year, 125 Appalachian Grown markets are listed in ASAP’s online guide.

asapconnections.org/research/writings/2012-census-agriculture-documents-local-food-growth-wnc/ to view census data from ASAP; the report is from the 2012 Census of Agriculture and represents the most recent official data available.

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127

Appalachian Grown tailgate markets currently accepting SNAP/EBT.

Appalachian Grown certified farms offering CSA shares that listed in this year’s ASAP online guide, up from just 12 in 2002.

WNC FARMERS MARKET, photo by Jennifer Fitzgerald

66 The number of grocery listings in ASAP’s online guide that are committed to selling local food, up from just 7 in 2002.

122 Appalachian Grown u-pick farms listed in the online guide, up from a total of 37 in 2004.

207

79

The newest number of roadside stands listed in the ASAP online guide, up from only 16 in 2005.

217 Appalachian Grown partner restaurants currently listed in the ASAP online guide.

The number of listings for lodging in the online guide today, 65 of which are farms.

942 Farms currently Appalachian Grown certified, up from 117 in 2007, the first full year of the ASAP program.

August 2017 | capitalatplay.com 41

Plan for co lle

local industry

ge products he offers, which include Oyster and Lion’s Mane mushrooms and herbal/ mushroom tinctures.

“With the recent attention that has been brought to factory farming, pesticides, and GMOs, there are more and more people who are looking for quality food that is oftentimes grown on a much smaller level,” says Casey McCully, market manager at the Haywood County Tailgate Market. “In the same way, there are more and more people who are seeing this gap in food availability and are willing to devote themselves to providing this service to their community.

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“We sell at the market because we believe in the importance of eating and buying local goods, building community, and following our passion to live a more sustainable lifestyle.”

“Farmers markets create a great place for farmers and consumers to ‘speed date.’ If a consumer is looking for grass fed beef, free range eggs, organic vegetables, or even a certain price point, they can go booth to booth talking to the actual producers of their food to find the right match for them. It creates a great sense of community. Rather than going to a grocery store (even one that sells local, sustainable foods and crafts) and having an impersonal encounter, at the farmers market you can associate a face with the person who raised your vegetables or gathered your eggs. When your cattle farmer knows you by name and saves your favorite cut for you, it

photo courtesy ASAP

assures you that this person is really doing everything in their ability to create the best product for you.”

Fairview Tailgate Market’s Elliot explains that many vendors use markets as a place to make a personal connection with customers. Many vendors are just starting out and do not have the financial means for a store front, so markets allow them to get their businesses going.

Katie Rosenberger, of Sprouting Life Homestead in East Asheville, says, “We sell at the market because we believe in the importance of eating and buying local goods, building community, and following our passion to live a more sustainable lifestyle. We are selling produce, tie dye, upcycled art, and flowers. All our produce and flowers are grown without the use of chemicals, and most of the art we sell is repurposed and recycled. We think people like to shop at local markets because they want to know where their food is coming from and who grew it. They appreciate handmade and homegrown. We look forward to meeting people from our community, developing relationships, and contributing to healthy eating in Western North Carolina.”

Local tailgate markets not only offer quality products, but oftentimes entertainment and an opportunity for the

community to gather. Neighbors stop to chat and vendors come to know their regular customers by name.

“They are lively, community events where people can interact with their neighbors and interact with the folks that produce the food or crafts they are buying,” says Elliot. “I think they are so popular because of the social nature of them. Our market was established to support the School Health Advisory initiatives of Fairview Elementary School. Primarily, our market helps better integrate local farmers and producers with our school community by hosting the market on school grounds.”

“In a world where we are becoming more and more disconnected on personal levels in almost everything else, the market provides us with a glimpse of the way things used to be,” adds East Asheville Tailgate Market’s Vitelli. “It gives you a sense of community, and that goes for both the customer and the vendor.”

Take some time this summer to visit a local market. You will walk away with not only delicious fresh products, but also with a sense of contentment—in your food, your farmers, and your community.

August 2017 | capitalatplay.com 43

local industry

Western North Carolina FARMERS MARKETS Avery 1. Avery County Farmers Market Banner Elk, NC (Lawn in front of the Banner Elk Elementary School.)

THURS: April 1 - October 7 4 - 7PM

Buncombe

westashevilletailgatemarket.com TUES: April 4 - November 21 3:30 - 6:30 PM 6. WNC Farmers Market Asheville NC (Brevard Rd) ncagr.gov/markets/facilities/ markets/asheville EVERY: Open Year-round 8 AM - 6PM

2. Black Mountain Winter Market Black Mountain, NC (At Roots & Fruits. ) blackmountainwintermarket.com SAT: End of November - April 11 AM - 2 PM

7. YMCA Indoor Winter Market Asheville, NC (The fellowship hall of Crosspoint Community Church.) ymcawnc.org SAT: January - March 10 AM- 12:30 PM

3. Fairview Farmers Market Fairview, NC (Fairview Elementary School parking lot.) fairviewfarmersmarket.org SAT: May 16 - October 16 9 AM - noon

8. YMCA Indoor Winter Tailgate Market- Fletcher Arden, NC (Inside the Fletcher YMCA.) ymcawnc.org SAT: January - March 9 AM- noon

4. Weaverville Tailgate Market Weaverville, NC (On the hill overlooking Lake Louise, behind the yellow Community Center on Weaverville Hwy.) weavervilletailgate.org WED: April 12 - December 20 2:30 - 6:30 PM

9. Gan Shan Market Asheville NC (In parking lot.) ganshanstation.com SAT: June - October 9 AM - 2 PM

5. West Asheville Tailgate Market Asheville, NC (In the parking lot of Grace Baptist Church.)

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10.Asheville City Market Asheville, NC (On North Market St) asapconnections.org/citymarket SAT: Year-round 8 AM - noon: April - October; 10 AM - noon: January - March

11. Asheville City Market – South Biltmore Park Town Square Asheville NC asapconnections.org/citymarket WED: April - October Noon - 4 PM 12. Black Mountain Tailgate Market Black Mountain, NC (Behind First Baptist Church of Black Mountain.) blackmountainmarket.org SAT: May 6 -November 18 9 AM- noon 13. East Asheville Tailgate Market Asheville NC (Groce Methodist Church lot.) eastashevilletailgatemarket.com FRI: May 5 - September 29 3 - 6 PM 14. French Broad Food Co-op Wednesday Tailgate Market Asheville, NC frenchbroadfood.coop/ movement-center/wednesday-farmers-market/ WED: April 19 - November 22 2 - 6 PM 15. North Asheville Tailgate Market (UNC-Asheville Campus) northashevilletailgatemarket.com SAT: April 1 - November 18 8 AM - noon 16. Oakley Farmers Market Asheville NC (The Meadow at Highland

Brewing Company.) oakleyfarmersmarket.com THURS: May 4 - September 28 3:30 – 6:30 PM 17. River Arts District Farmers Market Asheville, NC (In field next to All Souls Pizza.) radfarmersmarket.com WED: May 3 - November 22 2 - 6 PM

Cherokee 18. Andrews Farmers Market Andrews, NC (At Hall Memorial Park.)

SAT: June - October 8 AM - noon 19. Cedar Valley Farmers Market Murphy, NC (Located at the old L&N Depot.) murphyfarmersmarket@gmail. com SAT: April - October 9 AM - 1 PM

Clay 20. Brasstown’s Farmers Market Brasstown, NC (Across the street from the Shops of Brasstown.)

WED: April 26 - October 25 9 AM - 1 PM

21. Hayesville Farmers Market Hayesville NC (on the square) FRI: May 5 - September 22 2 - 6 PM

Graham 22. Graham County Farmers Market Robbinsville, NC (In the Graham County Health Department parking lot.)

828-479-8871 SAT: July 8 - October 7 9 AM - noon

Haywood 23. Haywood’s Historic Farmers Market Waynesville, NC (In the parking lot of HART Theater.) waynesvillefarmersmarket.com WED & SAT: Mid-April thru September; October & November Times Vary in different months 24. Original Waynesville Tailgate Market (Legion Dr) Waynesville, NC 828-456-1830 WED & SAT: May 6 - October 28 8 AM - noon

Henderson 25. Flat Rock Farmers Market Flat Rock, NC (Behind the shops along Little Rainbow Row.) 845-430-8003 THURS: May 4 - October 26 3 - 6 PM

26. Henderson County Curb Market Hendersonville, NC (Across from the old courthouse in Hendersonville.) curbmarket.com TUES, THURS, & SAT: Year-round: 8 AM - 2 PM 27. Henderson County Tailgate Market Hendersonville, NC (Parking lot at 100 N. King St.) hendersoncountytailgatemarket. com SAT: April 1 - October 28 8 AM- noon 28. Mills River Farmers Market Mills River, NC (In the parking lot of Mills River School.)

828-891-3332 SAT: May 6 - October 28 8 AM - noon

v isi t o u r AWARD WINNING

CAFE

WNC Farmers Market OPEN DAILY

Apples, Tomatoes, Fall Squash, Peppers, Cucumbers, Mums, Pumpkins, Sweet Potatoes, along with all the local cheese, wines, homemade fudge, jams, jellies, fresh eggs, hand crafted gifts and more available at the Market.

The Ice Cream/Deli Shop is now open with homemade ice cream available!

570 Brevard Road, Asheville, NC www.wncfarmersmarket.org

Jackson 29. Jackson County Farmers Market Sylva, NC (Next to the Bridge Park Pavilion.) jacksoncountyfarmersmarket.org SAT: April 1 - October 28 9 AM - noon 30. Jackson County Winter Farmers Market Sylva, NC (Located in The Community Table building.) jacksoncountyfarmersmarket.org SAT: November - March 10 AM- 1 PM 31. ‘Whee Market Cullowhee, NC (At The Village of Forest Hill.) cullowheemarket@gmail.com TUES: April 4 - October 31 4 - 7 PM

61 Weaver Blvd, Weaverville, NC 28787 ✆828.645.8811 1888 Hendersonville Rd, Asheville, NC 28803 ✆828.676.0047 3340 Boylston Hwy, Mills River, NC 28759 ✆828.891.4545 812 Merrimon Ave, Asheville, NC 28804 ✆828.505.3672 August 2017 | capitalatplay.com 45

local industry

Macon 32. Franklin Farmers Tailgate Market Franklin, NC (E. Palmer St.) 828-349-2049 SAT: April - October; Winter market : November - March 8 AM - noon

Madison 33. Madison County Farmers & Artisans Market Mars Hill, NC (By the Mars Hill University Campus.) marshillmarket@yahoo.com SAT: April 1 - December 16 9 AM - 2 PM 34. Sundays on the Island Marshall, NC (Blannahassett Island) steverice@hotmail.com SUN: April 1 - October 21 Noon - 4 PM

McDowell 35. Historic Marion Tailgate Market Marion, NC (The municipal parking lot.) hometownmarion.com TUES & SAT: May 2 - December 12 Tue. 3 - 6 PM; Sat. 9 AM - noon

Mitchell 36. The Parkway Farmers Market Spruce Pine, NC (Near the Blue Ridge Parkway.) mitchellgrown.com SAT: May 1 - October 15 10 AM - 2 PM 37. Spruce Pine Farmers Market Spruce Pine, NC (Lot of The Pizza Shop and Dry County Brewing Company.)

828-688-3538 WED: May - October 2 - 5 PM 46

| August 2017

38. Spruce Pine Farmers Market Indoor Winter Market Spruce Pine, NC (Inside The Pizza Shop at Dry County Brewing Company.)

828-688-3538 SAT: December - April First Saturday of the Month noon - 4 PM 39. Bakersville Main Street Farmers Market Bakersville, NC (Laurel Way) bakersville.com/mainstreetfarmersmarket/ SAT: May 6 - October 28 9 AM - noon

Polk 40. Columbus Tailgate Market Columbus NC growrural.org SAT: April 8 - November 18 (Winter market runs Dec.March at The Columbus United Methodist Church.)

8 AM - noon 41. Saluda Tailgate Market Saluda, NC (West Main St.) saludatailgate.com FRI: May 5 - October 27 4:30 - 6:30 PM 42. Tryon Tailgate Market Tryon, NC (Harmon Field) growrural.org/farmersmarkets WED: May 3 - November 1 9 AM - noon

Rutherford 43. Rutherford County Farmers Market Forest City NC (Depot St) rutherfordcountync.gov/ farmersmarket SAT: April 15 October 28 8 AM - noon

Swain 44. Swain County Farmers Market Bryson City, NC (At the Old Nelli Wiggins Barn.) swain.ces.ncsu.edu/2014/05/ swain-county-farmers-market FRI: May 5 - October 27 9 AM - 1 PM

Transylvania 45. Transylvania Farmers Market Brevard, NC (Parking lot behind Comporium.) transylvaniafarmersmarket. com SAT: Year-round May - Nov : 8 AM - noon; Dec - April: 10 AM - noon)

47. Watauga County Farmers Market Boone, NC (Horn in the West parking lot.) wataugacountyfarmersmarket.org SAT: May 6 November 25 8 AM - noon

Yancey 48. Yancey County Farmers Market Burnsville, NC (In the Town Center.) yanceycountyfarmersmarket. com SAT: April 22 December 16 8:30 AM - 12:30 PM 49. Micaville Farmers Market Burnsville, NC (Behind the Micaville Presbyterian Church.)

828-675-5014 TUES 2:30 - 6:30 PM

Watauga 46. Blowing Rock Farmers Market Blowing Rock, NC (On the corner of Main St and Park Ave.) blowingrock.com/calendar/ farmersmarket THURS: May 25 October 12 4 - 6 PM

August 2017 | capitalatplay.com 47

column

Festival Flair

E

Planning a large, festival-style event? Make sure you have the proper growth strategies in place first.

M

melissa mathews

is media strategist for AudienceNEXT: Media Strategies for Your Business Growth.

48

V E N A N AWA R D - W I N N I N G F I N E

wine has humble beginnings. Simple grapes are cultivated in a vineyard, picked at just the right time, then crafted lovingly into a beverage, which is then packaged and promoted, so that in time many will come to savor its intoxicating delights, spread the word, and come back for more. And so it goes with a festival.

From its humble beginnings, the Asheville Wine and Food Festival was just a group of friends gathered down by the river, celebrating all that’s great in the food and drink world. Fast-forward to this year’s event (August 18-19), and the festival is set to be bigger, brighter, and more pleasing to the palate than ever before. Featuring top regional chefs, mixologists, and fine brewers, along with numerous vendors, the festival promises delectable dishes, fine wines, and more than a few spellbinding tips. Now, more than four thousand attendees are expected (That’s a lot of friends!), along with multiple vendors, and a wide variety of exciting attractions.

Attendees + Vendors = Profits. Simple as that.

Fringe Benefits Festivals such as the Asheville Wine and Food Festival, the Craft Fair of the Southern Highlands, and even BaconFest, all provide community-wide benefits in addition to profits. The most obvious, immediate advantage is a boost to local businesses.

Patrons need places to stay, places to eat, gasoline, and incidentals galore. The economic benefits can be significant. Less tangible—but very cool—is the feeling of community when local people, products, and services form the heart and soul of the festival. Showcasing the local community invokes “hometown pride,” giving way to both | August 2017

social and economic benefits. Finally, festivals have educational benefits—whether that’s learning about a new cuisine, experiencing a new genre of music, or appreciating a forgotten craftsmanship.

Service with a Smile Since the festival’s official launch in 2009, the number of attendees and vendors have steadily increased to the point that it’s drawn serious attention from surrounding culinary cities, such as New Orleans, Charleston, and Atlanta. A number of new events were added to the menu (including SWEET, an elegant, dessert-orientated evening, and ELIXIR, a mixologist competition), and to promote such expansion, it was imperative to continue to please existing attendees and vendors, while attracting new ones suitable to the concept’s evolution. Both the attendees and the vendors are your patrons, so keeping them happy and feeling valued means they’ll not only return, but also spread the word.

Who wouldn’t come back to an event where they experienced an incredible time or a something that benefited their business? And let’s face it, people talk—whether it’s face-to-face, or via social media channels such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

Word gets around, and the more valued your patrons feel, the more they’ll relate that to others, so even more people will come to know about your event.

M One of the best ways to get people feeling valued—and talking—is through scheduled social media campaigns.

Vendors can market their products, and attendees’ involvement with those vendors helps build excitement. For example, a free ticket giveaway extends reach, along with getting your audience very excited. Discounts on food and wine have similar effects. They create positive feelings, too.

WARM DAYS COOL NIGHTS BEAUTIFUL SIGHTS

A Recipe for Success Three things to ask yourself: Do you really know who your patrons are? Are your patrons who you want them to be? Will you be able to feed your patrons’ needs so they feel happy and valued? Know your demographic. An ideal patron is ready, willing, and able to invest. They spend money, spread a positive message, and return for more the following year.

ONCE YOU KNOW WHO YOUR IDEAL PATRONS ARE, RESEARCH THE DEMOGR APHICS TO SEE WHAT THOSE PATRONS WOULD PERCEIVE AS VALUE. In addition to your patrons, there are four additional practical ‘P’s you’ll want to stir into the mix when creating a successful festival: Providing the right product is paramount. There’s little point in producing an amazing festival concept if you’re getting word out to the wrong people. For instance, you wouldn’t attract many people to the table by promoting a rap music festival to the sixty-five and older crowd. Adding mixology to the wine festival a few years ago addressed a youthful trend in the region. With the implementation of feasibility study findings, ELIXIR evolved to include two more festival days—AMUSE and ESSENCE—before becoming its own Asheville Cocktail Week in the springtime.

Having your product right is great, but you’ll also need to get your pricing right. Once you know who your ideal patrons are, research the demographics to see what those patrons would perceive as value. Can your ideal attendees afford to sink their teeth into the festival? Can your advertisers afford to sponsor it? Creating competitive pricing can be a lot on your plate when you’re trying to support growth, but it’s possible.

Since Asheville Cocktail Week took place three months prior to the Grand Tasting, discounts were applied for early bird tickets to the latter. Not only did this jump-start ticket sales, it also made attendees feel appreciated for their continued patronage and created additional value for them.

The placement of your festival—in terms of advertising (to attendees) and sponsorships (on behalf of vendors, exhibitors,

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etc.)—calls for careful consideration, but your loyal participants to show steady growth, while Nielsen data showed people were should be served their “just desserts” first. The opportunity nearly three times as likely to remember Instagram sponsored to sponsor your event and achieve beneficial branding adds to posts rather than other forms of online advertising. Meanwhile, their feeling of being valued. Likewise, the quantity and quality desktop and mobile ads on Facebook have more than eight times of the vendors and/or sponsors creates a greater feeling of value higher click-through rates than alternative web ads. for attendees. Cooking up feelings of That bei ng sa id, socia l med ia happiness and value keeps your patrons marketing can be a difficult concept coming back year after year, hungry for for some to swallow, let alone leverage more, and gets the word out organically. effectively to increase patron numbers— WATCHING TRENDS Then there’s physical placement. whether they’re advertisers or attendees.

IS ALSO RELEVANT Staging an event in an indoor venue, Appropriate content, scheduling, and tag TO SUCCESS, AS IT with space reserved for seating, attracts performance all demand coordination.

CAN PREVENT YOUR a different group than tents and benches You can hire a social media specialist, al fresco—which tends to attract younger but finding the right person can be FESTIVAL FROM crowds. Making new friends while keeping challenging.

You could try managing the GROWING STALE. the old is how a festival expands, as it’s campaign yourself, but that can end up beneficial marketing to a broadening being a costly marketing mistake, as well audience, but you mustn’t forget catering as an exercise in hair-pulling frustration. to your loyal patrons. Does your marketing message reflect that?

However, there are courses available online specifically Have you made room at the table for repeat visitors? addressing these issues, alleviating both the challenge of Finally, your festival needs promotion, and right now social employing a social media marketer, and the task of trying to media is king. Digest this: In 2016 promoted Tweet engagements figure it out yourself. Promoting a festival is a whole different on Twitter were up 91 percent over previous years and continue ball game in terms of social media marketing, as it involves

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things like real-time tweets, crowd building, scheduled blogs, etc. These courses teach you how to implement social media strategies with understanding, so you can oversee your own successful festival campaign. Reputable places like the National Institute of Social Media (NISMonline.org) provide both introductory and advanced courses where you can learn how social media really works, and how to make it work specifically for your festival. In most cases, these online courses are a good idea, whether you’re overseeing a social media specialist or implementing strategy on your own.

Was it a Crowd Pleaser?

Gauging the success of your festival is a good performance indicator for future festivals. Did your sponsorships and ticket sales result in profit? Was it beneficial for your vendors?

Appealing to your supporters’ tastes is key to creating a successful festival. Feedback from attendees via social media is another way to gauge success. Did the right people come?

Were they from the anticipated demographic? Did they fully appreciate the event? Collecting and evaluating comments left on social media platforms provides invaluable information for organizers, since the insights blatantly reveal what needs to

change and what should stay the same, to make your next festival even more amazing.

Watching trends is also relevant to success, as it can prevent your festival from growing stale. A revival of handmade goods in the area and appreciation of the palate has shifted the SWEET event to the more inclusive SWEET & SAVORY—an elevated evening after the Grand Tasting that promotes scrumptious delectables and unique handmade items from nearby communities.

The ticket sales portal, Eventbrite, is a great source of trend information. Recently, it revealed that 80 percent of people surveyed use technology during and after an event—which is great for organic growth—and an intoxicating 99 percent of millennials recommend food and wine after a festival—which is great for your vendors.

Remember, creating feelings of happiness and being valued leads to returning patrons. Happiness gives way to positive memories that leave people’s mouths watering for more, and feelings of being valued lead to loyalty.

See you at the festival!

Full details and schedule of the 2017 Asheville Wine & Food Festival at AshevilleWineAndFood.com

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August 2017 | capitalatplay.com

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THE OLD

NORTH

STATE [

news briefs

GenX Toxic; What About Millennials? fayetteville

Following an expose in the Wilmington Star News, media outlets were swarming with articles about GenX. GenX is a chemical used to manufacture Teflon.

It replaced perfluorooctanoic acid when that chemical was found to correlate highly with high cholesterol, ulcerative colitis, thyroid disease, testicular cancer, kidney cancer, and pregnancy-induced hypertension. Since the compounds were similar, the newspaper raised alarms.

GenX has been found in Cape Fear River tests since 2012, but Chemours, the chemical company accused of dumping it, claims they installed abatement systems in 2013. Furthermore, the chemical is not currently regulated by the EPA. Literature

]

published by Chemours describes GenX as having a “favorable toxicological profile” with “very rapid bioelimination.”

Independent tests, however, found the chemical to resist removal by conventional water filtration methods. Civic leaders got onboard with a campaign to require Chemours to stop using the chemical until the EPA can make conclusive determinations about its toxicity.

Chemours agreed to pay for the testing.

preparing to file a New Drug Application for TOPOFENTM, a topical treatment for migraines. Recently completed phase 2a trials indicated the drug would be a safe and effective alternative to products now on the market. TOPOFENTM is a proprietary blend with the active ingredient ketoprofen, a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) used widely in the treatment of pain, inflammation, and fever. It is applied to areas to the face near trigeminal nerve branches, where it sinks in quickly and effectively.

The trigeminal nerve is believed to release the neuropeptides that induce the inflammation responsible for migraines, which currently affect at least 37 million Americans. The topical application works around side effects of orally-administered NSAIDs; for example, NSAID-induced digestive tract ulcers result in over 100,000 hospitalizations and thousands of deaths a year in the United States.

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Pinnacle Financial Partners announced a merger with Bank of North Carolina Bancorp (BNC). The all-stock transaction, which closed June 16, was valued at $1.9

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billion. Pinnacle was founded in 2000 in Nashville, Tennessee, and grew to become the second-largest bank holding company in the state, with $11.7 billion in assets in 50 offices. The new bank, which should transition fully under the Pinnacle brand by fall, will have over $20 billion in total assets in 126 branches in North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, and Tennessee.

Pinnacle attributed the speedy closing, which took less than five months, to a shared community bank culture, support from shareholders, and strong relationships cultivated with regulators. A lawsuit by shareholder Andrew Giles, claiming BNC had not disclosed enough numbers for shareholders to verify they were getting a good price for the merger, was settled out of court when the requested data was presented. Pinnacle will retain a 60% interest; BNC, 36%; and private investors will make up the difference.

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Morkos Youssef, owner of the bar and restaurant Brewmasters, hired an artist friend, Dave Matthews, to paint a mural on the side of his business. It took Matthews 60 days to complete the

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carolina in the west

national & world

intricate collection of colorful cartoons of pop icons, local features, and restaurant paraphernalia. Youssef said of thousands of comments on it, the overwhelming majority were in favor. It was something pedestrians could stop and study, like a hidden picture game, and it gave passersby the impression the city was supportive of the arts. Wilson’s zoning administrator, Rodger Lentz, said there was nothing wrong with having a mural on the side of the building. The problem was, the artist had spelled the name of the business big and bold in the negative space, and putting a business’ name on a wall is advertising. The side of the building is 12’x85’, and the city code caps signage at 250-sq.-ft. Regardless of how fun the mural is, Lentz intends to ensure the city’s ordinances are applied fairly and consistently. Youssef has appealed to the city’s board of adjustment for a variance.

A hearing is yet to be scheduled.

Hub Logistics

the old north state

Choice TerminalsTM allow businesses without railroad spurs to take advantage of train service. They are equipped to transfer bulk goods between trains and trucks, with loading systems, weighing scales, and even warehouses. The latter allow manufacturers to work around minimum order requirements, take advantage of bulk pricing, and store goods for just-in-time shipping. The facility will help many businesses pad their triple bottom line, as trains tend to have lower costs and carbon footprints than long-haul trucks. The Sanford facility links to Norfolk Southern and CSX lines, giving users access to the entire North American rail system. Owens Corning is one manufacturer that intends to use the facility. It will make the Choice TerminalsTM a hub for suppliers, who will ship to the warehouses in bulk. Then, single trucks can pull inventory to stock each manufacturing facility with the resources it needs in one shipment.

sanford

Leave the Canning to Us

The Atlantic and Western Railway, a subsidiary of Gennesee & Wyoming, Inc., has opened a 6-acre Choice TerminalTM to serve the Raleigh-Durham area.

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the old north state

hangar, has its own brews, including Hot Rod Red and Hog Wild IPA; but with over 4,000 craft brewers in the United States, founder Mark Doble deemed the market saturating. In pursuit of a way to remain relevant, he started brewing other brewers’ recipes and canning and cartoning them. Doble stopped using bottles long ago. He exports a lot, so he prefers the light-weight, air-tight, unbreakable, light-protective nature of cans. As business increased, company leadership decided to bypass an intermediate, mid-size factory stage, as they saw no point in installing everything just to rip it out in a few years. So, they purchased a high-speed canning line.

The main feature is the Lanzara shrinksleeve labeler from Axon. Only 20% of Aviator’s current labeling is sleeves, but Doble foresees that amount doubling by the end of the year. Reasons include the precision printing of the labeler that makes products “pop,” and avoidance of nuisance minimum order requirements.

The shrink-sleeve labels cost 6-8 cents each and can be turned out at 250-400 a minute, depending on can size.

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298-6500

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Duke Energy has filed a request with the North Carolina Utilities Commission for rate hikes that would give subsidiary Duke Energy Progress an additional $477 million a year. Duke Energy Progress has not raised rates since 2012. The utility’s request of 14% for households and 9% for businesses was approved by the utilities commission, but cut to an average of 5% by the state Supreme Court. Duke is now asking for what would amount to an average 14.9% average increase, with a typical residential rate increasing 16.7%, or $17.80 a month. Additional revenues would help pay for an $11 billion investment the company is making in converting plants to source natural gas and renewables over the next 10 years,

$25 billion it is spending upgrading transmission systems to accept input from renewable generators and ward off cyberattacks, and $5.1 billion needed to remediate coal ash ponds. Duke’s other North Carolina subsidiary, Duke Energy Carolinas, will likely request its rate increase later in the year.

Portion Control mount holly

Tracy Groves is finally opening Doughlicious Yummy’s. It’s a dream she’s had for a long time. She was a nursing student and a volleyball instructor, and she worked with her husband in a barbecue restaurant they owned. Then she got pregnant and started craving cookie dough, but she couldn’t eat it so she reformulated recipes until she could. Now Doughlicious Yummy’s sells nine flavors of the successful recipe in cups or fresh waffle cones, with thirty toppings from which to choose. To mix things up and keep the shop family-friendly with something for everybody, Groves also offers gelato fit for Wolfgang Puck’s restaurants.

Her daughters are now old enough to help in the business when they’re not in school; they even assisted with creating some of the flavors. According to reviews, the faux-dough is so rich and satisfying that customers have to take a doggy bag.

Perhaps most impressive, though, is the sandbox filled with over 125 pounds of sprinkles, a concept inspired by the Ice Cream Museum of California.

Outsourcing Ownership winston-salem

A Turkish textile company, HPFabrics, Inc., plans to reopen a closed textile factory in Winston-Salem. Microfibre, Inc., a manufacturer of flocked fabrics employing 125, closed in January 2016. HPFabrics will receive $250,000 in One North Carolina tax incentives plus a match of $125,000 from the Winston-Salem city council. In return

2018 JAGUAR XE

ARE YOU READY TO RULE THE ROADS? 2018 JAGUAR XE ARE YOU READY TO RULE THE ROADS? the company’s president, Rafet Tukek, said the company would provide 260 jobs in 3 years, and 390 in 7, with an average wage of $30,000 plus benefits.

The incentive is lower than most for companies promising similar numbers of jobs created, likely because wages fall short of the area median, $33,153. The overall project would invest $4 million in the local economy, with $1.1 million being spent in the first two years. Tukek noted this would be one of the first direct investments a Turkish company had made in large-scale manufacturing in the United States, and he said the facility would go a long way toward strengthening trade between the two countries. If successful, HPFabrics will resume Microfibre’s work in the flocking industry.

Local Attorney Scores Top NC Post asheville

Jacqueline D. Grant, a partner and litigator with Roberts & Stevens, PA, was named president-elect of the North Carolina Bar Association (NCBA). She was elected by acclamation at the NCBA Annual Meeting, hosted in Asheville.

Grant will serve a year as president-elect, under current president Caryn Coppedge McNeill of Raleigh, before being installed at the next meeting, which will be held June 23, 2018. Since obtaining her law degree in 1995, Grant has been practicing with Roberts & Stevens. She has served on the NCBA Board of Governors, on its Medico-Legal Liaison Committee, as chair of its Delivery of Legal Services Committee, and as co-chair for its Awards and Recognitions Committee.

In 2016 she received the NCBA Citizen Lawyer Award for community service on several local boards and commissions, including those for Habitat for Humanity, Big Brothers/Big Sisters, and the YMCA and YWCA. Grant will be the NCBA’s 124th president. The NCBA has a statewide membership of over 20,000 lawyers, paralegals, and law students.

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Experienced orthopedic care So you can put your best game forward At Mission Orthopedics, our team of experienced specialists in orthopedic and surgical care work together to provide patient-centered, collaborative care for patients of western North Carolina and beyond. We offer the latest procedures, techniques and treatments in comprehensive care for a wide variety of orthopedic needs, including elbow, hand, hip, knee, joint, shoulder, and sports medicine injuries.

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leisure & libation

Highway STAR

Collecting and displaying classic cars in Western North Carolina are no mere exercises in nostalgiaâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re physical embodiments of deep-rooted passion. written by jim murphy

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photos by anthony harden

August 2017 | capitalatplay.com 57

PHOTOS TAKEN June 3 at the 6th Annual Er win Lions Club BBQ/Bluegrass Festival & Car Show. Special thanks to Jerr y Mears.

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| August 2017

leisure & libation

YOUR CAR IS:

A) An expensive but necessary evil that gets you where you want to go;

B) Both an indispensable accessory and a pleasure to drive; or

I

C) A fascinating feat of engineering and an object of magnificent design.

f you answered (C), you might be a candidate to join the ranks of proud Western North Carolina hobbyists who display their shiny classics at the outdoor car shows that pop up in dozens of locations throughout the summer.

But whatever your answer, whatever your relationship with your car, you might enjoy strolling among the old classics at the shows and chatting with the owners—who are willing, even eager, to talk about cars: their car, your car, any car on the lot.

The shows present a staggering assortment of vintage transportation. Ford Thunderbird, Chevrolet Bel-Air, Cadillac Eldorado—think of an old (or even not so old) model car, and you’re likely to find at least one of them on loving display, with the happy owner sitting in a nearby canvas folding chair and ready to talk. Some of the models at the shows not only recall a simpler time, but they also rest quietly in automotive history. Discontinued brands and models such as the Nash Rambler, Oldsmobile Rocket 88, Pontiac, Packard, or Studebaker sit side-by-side with a Model A Ford or a DeLorean.

For all their diversity, one thing the cars have in common is their gleaming finish. These babies are pampered! The paint jobs appear to be multiple coats of gleaming, vivid color showing not a trace of a blemish, not even a fingerprint. Most of the cars have hoods and trunks open to display newcar showroom appearance, which unintentionally reveals something about those owners sitting there behind the tail fins. To them, the car is not a mere hobby; it is a passion.

At a recent show, Jack Oakes, of Asheville, summed up the experience of many classic car owners. “I’ve been doing this all my life,” he said, standing by his 1955 Chevrolet Bel-Air. “I just had a love for old cars—ever since I was a kid.”

His lifelong love affair is echoed across the range of cars and their owners, who cluster in groups to chat about—what else?—the cars they once had or have now or hope to have some day soon. If you happen to have an old photo of that car you once owned and loved, bring it along. The guys will be happy to reminisce with you, and they might even tell you something you didn’t know about your car.

Every car has a story.

The shows run from casual, weekly get-togethers featuring as few as 20 cars in the parking lot of a fast food emporium, to multi-state extravaganzas that fill a municipal park, rec center, or even the Western North Carolina Agricultural Center, with as many as 400 classics.

Hot Rod Heart One of those mega-shows has become a classic in its own right. Now in its 34th year, The Moonshine Run takes over most of a city park in Newport, Tennessee, a little over an hour west of Asheville near the Tennessee-North Carolina border. This year, the show included 385 cars. The show is a headliner on any car buff’s calendar, but its name is, at best, inappropriate. Moonshine Run: The cars don’t run anywhere; they just sit under the protection of bountiful shade trees. And if there’s any moonshine around, it’s well hidden. But in a nod to the name, a display at the main entrance includes a genuine moonshine still in the bed of an old pickup truck. Other displays include commercial pop-up tents selling jewelry, classic car insurance, and parts, such as carburetors, ignition systems, jacks, and radiator caps.

On the main display field, a ’55 Chevy sits alongside a ’53 Cadillac just down the lane from a August 2017 | capitalatplay.com 59

leisure & libation

LOCAL INSTITUTE NOW OFFERING STEM CELL THERAPY

“In time, it’s our hope that this truly amazing therapy will eliminate the need for drugs and surgery.”

- Dr. Andrew Wells, DC.

Superior Healthcare is now offering state-of-the-art stem cell therapy at its Asheville and Hendersonville locations. For more information on this amazing regenerative treatment, call (828) 575-6244.

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Superior Healthcare | SuperiorHealthcareAsheville.com August 2017 38 Westgate |Pkwy, Asheville NC 28806

60

flame painted purple-and-pink ’48 Chevy. A banjo plays in the background, just loud enough to add an extra touch of country to the atmosphere.

Some of the owners add their own dimension to that country atmosphere. Jimmy Bishop, of Leicester, is a farmer who is showing a yellow 1956 Ford F100 pickup. “I ain’t no mechanic,” he drawls. “But I always have to work on the cussed tractor.” He laughs at his predicament as the topic turns to money. “A lot,” he says, agreeing that he has more than $50,000 invested in his truck. And there is more. “I’ve got several old trucks—three trucks, two cars. I like piddlin’ with ‘em.” He says his farm keeps him from doing as many shows as he might like. “I don’t get to but eight or ten a year.

The best part of all this is goin’ to the shows and talkin’ to the people.”

Many of the owners have several vehicles, and they agree that the hobby is costly in terms of both money and time.

“Oh Lord, this one was five years, seven days a week,” says Jimmy Wooten of Asheville, nodding toward his red 1949

The classics are meticulously restored to their original condition and blessed by the Antique Automobile Club of America.

Chevy Fleetline. His thought quickly turns to another of his cars. “The Corvair, I pulled the engine, transmission, and rear end four times in two months.” Jimmy’s workshop is in the basement of his house. “I’ve got more money in the basement than I do the upper part of my house,” he says, and his cronies nod their agreement.

Jack Oakes says he “just had a love for old cars, ever since I was a kid. I love to tinker with them.” He has his ’55 Bel-Air on display at the Moonshine show. He has added “power brakes, steering air, all the comforts of a new car.” But no rear-view video camera? He picks up the facetious tone of the question. “Rear view camera? You throw your arm over the seat, turn your head as far as you can.” He laughs. “And if you hit something, blame your wife.”

The owners seem to agree on most of their experiences, particularly when it comes to describing the best part of their hobby.

Jack Oakes: “Driving it down the road, and everyone looking at it, giving the thumbs up.”

Jimmy Bishop: “Goin’ to the shows and talking to the people.”

THE QUESTION IS: Whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s under the hood?

August 2017 | capitalatplay.com 61

Still Cruisin’

leisure & libation

Many local antique car clubs sponsor shows throughout Western North Carolina and the surrounding region.

Events not on these selected lists may be found on the websites or Facebook pages of the clubs themselves.

(We have included a list of the more active clubs on p. 67.)

CAR EVENTS AUGUST 4 & 18 Carolina Mountain Car Club Hendersonville, NC Music On Main, 201 South Main Street, 5-9PM AUGUST 11 & 12 Vintage Street Rodders Maggie Valley, NC Smokin Rods at Maggie Valley Fairground, US19, 8-4PM AUGUST 12 Land of the Sky Shrine Club Swannanoa, NC Car, Truck, & Motorcycle Show, 39 Spring Cove Road, 9AM-3PM AUGUST 19 Cardinal Cruise-In Brevard, NC 344 South Broad Street, 4-8PM Shadow of the Mountains Show & Shine Newport, TN City Park, 240 Smith Street, 8-4PM SEPTEMBER 4 Apple Festival Parade Hendersonville, NC Downtown, 2:30PM 62

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SEPTEMBER 10 Heatherwood Cruise-In and BBQ Hendersonville, NC at the Heatherwood Subdivision, US176 Noon till OCTOBER 7 Farm City Days Hendersonville, NC 100 Jackson Park Antique and modern farm equipment, 10AM-4PM OCTOBER 7 Foothills Mopar Club Spartanburg, SC Open Car Show at Spartanburg Community College, 107 Community College Drive, 9AM-3PM (organizers suggest to bring a side dish or dessert and a beverage at the BBQ)

OCTOBER 19-21 Fall Harvest Days Fletcher, NC WNC Ag Center antique tractors and more OCTOBER 28 Spirit of the Smokies Car Show Dillsboro, NC on Front Street

ONGOING CRUISE-INS ASHEVILLE, NC Cruise-In at the Blossman 170 Sweeten Creek Road May-October, 4th Friday each month: 5-9PM

SPRUCE PINE, NC City Drive-In, 670 Oak Avenue, April-September, every 2nd & 4th Saturday night: 6PM

Cars & Coffee at Frostbite Ice Cream 1475 Patton Avenue 3rd Saturday each month: 8-10AM

ELIZABETHTON, TN Downtown Elizabethton, April-October, each Saturday: 5-9PM

COLUMBUS, NC Cruise-In Stearns Park January-December, 1st Saturday each month: 1-4PM FRANKLIN, NC Cruise-In @ Sonic Drive-In 77 Sawmill Village Lane, AprilOctober, each Friday: 5-9PM HENDERSONVILLE, NC Streets of Indian Lake 300 Indian Lake Boulevard, April-October every Friday night: 6-9PM Cars & Coffee at World of Clothing 2nd Saturday each month: 8-11AM OLD FORT, NC Hardees 307 Catawba Avenue 3rd Saturday each month

GREER, SC Chick-fil-A, Dill Creek 379 W Wade Hampton Boulevard 1st Saturday each month: His Vineyard 656 Arlington Road 2nd Saturday each month GREENVILLE, SC Show & CruiseIn at Harbor Inn Seafood 321 Haywood Road 2nd Sunday each month

You can also consult Garagistry.com for a list of events throughout North and South Carolina: Blog.garagistry. com/2017/04/north-carolina-carshows-and-events.html

Jimmy Wooten: “This car goes downtown, and I guess within a block there’s seven or eight people stopping me to take a picture, and the people who give the thumbs up. That’s the best part.”

One Piece at a Time At first glance antique automobiles would seem to be a man’s world, but wives are often partners in the pursuit.

A show at the Weaverville Steak n’ Shake on Tuesday evenings might well be called Couples Night, with wives sitting alongside their husbands and happy to talk about their cars. Kathy Chilton of Marshall points to the ’79 Pinto her husband, Edward, had restored. “We just ride it for fun,” she says. “He’s been working on it for over a year, constantly doing something to it. He also put together a kit car, a replica of a ’29 Mercedes. I helped him.

I made the top for the Mercedes and helped him put the carpet and seats in. I helped him take the alternator off.

I enjoy it.”

Carol and Gilbert Karn of Leicester are sitting in an adjacent slot, facing their 1930 Model A Ford. It is, she notes, her car: “I actually wanted a pickup, but he brought this home for me.” They each have a burger on their laps, dinner at the car show. “I like driving it,” she says.

“We get out and do things together. I bought him a ’37 Chevy for our 50th anniversary last September.”

At any of the car shows, you will find some cars that are truly original “classics,” but most fall into the category of “street rods,” beautifully restored, often by the owner, but including creative paint jobs and add-ons that were never available back when the car was new—such conveniences as AM-FM radio, tape deck, air-conditioning, and other features that we now take for granted.

By contra st, the cla ssic s are meticulously restored to their original condition and blessed by the Antique Automobile Club of America. The club’s

Skyland Automotive, Inc.

255 Smoky Park Hwy, Asheville, NC 28806• 828-667-5213 www.skylandmercedesbenz.com August 2017 | capitalatplay.com 63

leisure & libation

Official Judging Guidelines require cars to be in “the same state as the dealer could have prepared the vehicle for delivery to the customer,” deducting points for such irregularities as Phillips head screws on a pre-1935 model, power steering pre-1951, or tinted glass on a pre-1950 Buick.

Whatever the category, restoration does not come cheap.

A 1936 Packard at the Moonshine Run showed a “For Sale” sign in the window, listing such features as Bluetooth stereo, power windows, power locks, and power seats, along with several other selling points. The price? $95,000. Yes, that is not a typo: $95,000.

That price would not surprise Bill Beal, a professional restorer in Hendersonville. “Our average restoration starts at $50,000,” he says. “I tell customers, ‘It’s going to take longer than you think and it’s going to cost more than you think.’ And you’re not the exception.” He sits back at his desk in a tiny office, with two friendly dogs sprawled on the floor and warms to his topic. “There are so many unforeseen things when you take a car apart, and the more you take it apart, the more complex the puzzle becomes. So there’s no way to say up front what it will cost.” But he says many of the cars arrive with a personal story, making them special to their owners. “Most of my customers have a history with the vehicle they’re restoring: ‘My Mom had this 72 Mustang; I learned to drive in it.’ That’s the kind of story I hear.”

Beal & Co. has been restoring cars since 1987, and Bill is surprisingly forthcoming in describing how his business got started. “I was a drunk and crashed a lot of cars, and I had to fix them. I totaled 18 cars in a year. When I sobered up, people knew I could work on cars, and I started getting work.”

He’s gotten a lot of work since 1987, and he scans through hundreds of computer files showing before-and-after pictures of his restorations. “When a car comes in, we take pictures.

You have to have some kind of document to show what you’re starting with.” He has moved to a room at the top of a steep metal staircase. One wall is lined with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves holding a library’s worth of parts catalogs alongside stacks of overflowing blue plastic bins.

Back downstairs, his workspace on this day shows a restored Jeep that is ready to go. He points out some of the work.

“New interior, redid the top, pulled the gaskets, things like that.” It could be the centerpiece in any showroom. Sitting nearby is a skeleton of a car that is unrecognizable as any specific brand or model. “This is a ’72 Mustang,” he says. “The floor pan was rusted out. We had to go in and cut it all out.” The replacement, a brand new pan about six or seven feet long by five feet wide, sits in a carton, waiting to be installed.

Looking at his current work and his computer files of past projects, and hearing his $50,000 average price, it’s easy to conclude that he’s operating that proverbial gold mine. He shakes his head at the thought. “My profit margin is not what you think,” he says. “My overhead is really high. I’ve got a lot of expensive tools. But we’re not going to compromise our integrity on a job, because what it comes down to is the bitterness of poor quality far outlasts a cheap price. It has to be good quality. It has to be done right.”

Outside his shop, a sprinkling of old cars gathers dust along the edges of his lot: a couple of Mustangs, a Corvette, an Edsel, and his prized possession, a 1932 Ford V8 bus in bright yellow paint. He climbs aboard and explains, “I needed something that I can take the kids in and we can have fun.” He has seven children, and anything smaller than the bus might make for some unpleasant hours on the

“We’re not going to compromise our integrity on a job... It has to be good quality.

It has to be done right.”

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FAMILIES ENJOY going to car shows together.

road. “I’d been looking for a bus for a year. I want to make it more drivable, so I’m putting in better brakes, changing the drive train, stuff like that.” He takes a long pause and says to no one in particular, maybe just to himself, “When I’m done, I don’t want my legacy to be, ‘Dad spent all this time working on cars, but never spent time with me.’ I had to find a balance where cars weren’t the most important thing in my life.”

But cars are certainly important. “I have a pretty bad car addiction,” he says. “If I was independently wealthy, I’d still be down here building a car. So it’s like breathing. It’s second nature. You’re not going to become a millionaire doing this, so you better love what you’re doing.”

That passion does not extend to car shows. Sitting in the back of his bus, he shakes his head. “When I go to a car show, a lot of times 80 percent of the cars, maybe 90 percent of them, are not what I would consider a good quality job, so it doesn’t do a lot for me. So it’s not fun to go to a car show.”

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Crazy ‘Bout An Automobile But for visitors less discerning than Bill Beal, car shows are, indeed, fun. At the biweekly “Music on Main” Friday night show in downtown Hendersonville, a live band adds to the entertainment. Monte Sims, president of the Carolina Mountain Car Club (formerly the Hendersonville Antique Car Club) that sponsors the show, estimates that between the cars and musical event, attendance has reached as high as eight to ten thousand people. “We’ve been doing this event for 15 to 20 years,” he says, “and it’s become an institution.”

It’s also good for local business. The bartender at a nearby restaurant summed it up: “Show nights are always busy. It helps a lot.” The combination of nearby restaurants, a rock concert, and a couple of hundred fancy old cars brings out everyone from car buffs to people with only the most casual interest. A cross section of visitors illustrates their range of interest.

A 30-something couple: “We had dinner, walked down, heard the music, and saw the cars. Cool.”

Middle-age man snapping pictures of a 1958 Austin Healy: “I’m reliving my youth here. Been driving an SUV for the last 20 years. Now I’m looking for a sports car.”

Man in his mid-20s: “I’ve got a 1961 Impala bubble top.”

His girlfriend: “My father was a mechanic so I grew up around old cars [and] I enjoy seeing them here.”

Woman with a group of friends: “I’m just along for the ride.”

Woman with a puppy on a leash: “For the music and the festivities. I love looking at the cars, but I wouldn’t say I came for the cars.”

Man pushing a baby carriage: “I came because it’s a fun thing to do.”

One car was attracting attention over a “For Sale” sign on the windshield. A powder blue 1955 Thunderbird convertible looking hot and sexy carried a price of $49,000. Sitting at the curb behind the vehicle, a man in his mid-40s was fielding questions. Why are you selling? “It’s my mother’s car. She can’t drive it anymore.” Every car has a story. On a brighter note, the wife of one exhibitor recalled, “We dated for five years before we got married. He had a ‘65 GTO.” She nods at their car, “And that’s what we have now, a ’65 GTO.” She shared a quiet grin with her husband. Every car has a story.

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Cadillac Ranch Most of the outdoor shows are sponsored by local car clubs between April and October, and they all offer the caution, “Weather permitting.” No sunshine, no show. But there is one classic car venue where the show goes on, rain or shine, weekday or weekend, from April through December. The Antique Car Museum at Grovewood Village in Asheville has only 20 cars (plus a fire engine and four horse-drawn vehicles), but every one of them is a classic in its own right. 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. * The 1950 British MG TD has leather straps to buckle down the bonnet (translation for Americans: the hood). * The 1915 Model T Ford has a crank starter hanging beneath the radiator grill. * The 1916 Willys Overland Touring car had wood spoke wheels. * Fuel for the Model T was sold only in drugstores.

* The 1926 Cadillac limousine had a back-seat phone for the passenger to speak to the chauffeur. (Perhaps the earliest version of distracted driving.) 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.

Museum manager Tom Anders says they logged 26,000 visitors last year. And the question he hears most often: “Is the ‘57 Caddy for sale?” He politely declines to sell it—even for $200K. He says the museum was established in 1966 by Harry Bloomberg, an early Asheville Cadillac dealer. The cars were all part of his collection. The museum is free, but they do accept donations.

Visitors snap pictures and talk about their own car experiences. Melissa Flynn of Bedford, Pennsylvania, breaks into a grin when she reveals that the family’s 2008 Mustang GT has “been in the garage for two years.” She agrees with her husband, Kris, that they’d be happy to have any of the cars here.

He summed up the museum as “fantastic.”

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Monica and Lee Swanson, visiting from Minnesota, say they’re not real car enthusiasts, but she admits, “We’d like to get a classic.” The two of them share a grin as she continues. “But we have to wait for our kids to be on their way.” Lee tries to describe his reaction to the museum: “[It’s] just the history,” he says, “seeing what was, where we’ve come from, and the beauty of the cars.”

Slow Ride

fastback version with fins, before they changed the body.”)

There is social history here, along with personal memories of good times in years gone by. The cars eventually evoke a nostalgia that rides in the passenger seat of that old convertible you always wanted but never owned.

The visitor begins to appreciate the evolution of design that marks the different automotive eras. Even the least interested observer can soon identify, if not the year of a particular model, at least the era.

Yes, many of the cars are beautiful, but after a while, after seeing a couple of hundred cars, the visitor begins to appreciate the evolution of design that marks the different automotive eras.

Even the least interested observer can soon identify, if not the year of a particular model, at least the era. The Model A Ford from the 1920s, the bulky Buicks and Packards of the late ‘40s and early ‘50s, giving way to the tail-fin era of the later 1950s, and on and on. (The editor of this very publication wistfully notes that he used to own a 1961 Plymouth Valiant—“the cool

It was Jack Oakes at the Moonshine Run who put words to the underlying attraction: “You can’t go back to the ‘50s and ‘60s. This is the closest you’re ever going to get—right here.”

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column

Show Me The Money

Why reliable cash flow projections are important for any business.

O

S

sar ah martin

is a Partner and KEN KAPLAN is CEO/Managing Partner at Ashevilleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Kaplan CFO Solutions, LLC.

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N E OF T H E MO S T I M P ORTA N T

tasks of managing your business is making sure you have enough money to pay vendors and employees. Cash flow analysis and projections are the vital tasks that will help manage your cash outlays and cash inf lows, making sure your business operations continue uninterrupted.

Having a profitable business is great, but profit and cash are not the same.

A profitable business without cash could become insolvent. Depending on your business size and industry, weekly or even daily cash flow analysis is a must.

The best part of a cash flow projection may be the scariest part. Why? Because it gives an early warning sign and enables the business to make critical changes to ward off the impending shortfall. While working with a solar development company recently, the weekly cash flow report we used was far more important than the monthly financial statements that we generated, because the cash flow report told us what was going to happen. Compare that to the monthly financial statement, which was a summary of what had already happened.

The cash flow report enabled us to figure out what vendors we should call in advance to advise when they would get paid. It showed us how far along we needed to be in construction so that we could properly draw on our construction line to cover overhead costs. And sometimes, it showed us that we had to wait several months to start a new project in order to get cash flow aligned properly.

So these early warning signs are critical, especially in the early years of a new business, because the entrepreneur must develop credibility. He or

| August 2017

she must earn the trust of customers, suppliers, employees, and bankers.

In another instance one distribution client we had was very adept at the cash flow report. She used it to set a goal for her receivables collection team and her sales team, as well as to better time inventory purchases. This particular business imports product from overseas, and payments to suppliers cannot be delayed, so those inventory purchases had to be very precise.

What do we do if we have a situation where a payment is coming due, but do not have sufficient cash? We will need to borrow funds against a credit line to pay those bills; however, this shortfall can only be determined by having a reliable cash flow analysis and projections. Knowing the gap in advance allows us to make an arrangement with our bank or creditor before the payments are due.

Conversely, asking for a loan or line of credit too late will be evidence of bad cash management and will likely result in rejection. Of course, there are other options besides drawing on a credit line to be able to afford that next big payment.

***

How do we prepare a cash flow projection? We start by creating a spreadsheet that projects cash over

S a thirteen-week period; thus, thirteen columns. We analyze the accounts receivable to learn how much of a typical month’s sales is paid in the month of sale, the first month after sale, the second month after sale, etc. For example, I can look at a certain medical supply company and calculate that on average, 15 percent of sales are collected in the month of sale, 45 percent are collected in the first month after sale, 20 percent are collected in the second month after sale, and the balance (minus a write off percentage) is collected in the third month after sale. These percentages vary significantly from business to business.

The next step is to project inventory needs. Inventory needs are a function of sales forecast and inventory turn.

Typically, in a thirteen week forecast, we already know the amount of purchase orders outstanding and when we expect that product to arrive. So the cash outlay is a function of the dollar amount of inventory that we will receive and the payment terms we have with our vendors.

Next, we need to list our operating expenses such as sales and marketing, payroll, rent, and other predictable operating expenses. Yes, we also include a line for miscellaneous expenses that are difficult to forecast.

Finally, we have to include lease payments and debt service. These are the easiest to project because they are constant from month to month.

Now it is time to sum every column and include the overage or shortage from the previous week. When a given week’s cash balance is negative, it’s time to take a deep breath and smile, because we now know about a problem in advance and can figure out how to resolve it. Maybe we delay the delivery of a purchase order from a vendor. Maybe we look at a large customer order and talk to the customer about placing a deposit. Maybe we ask our banker (four weeks in advance) to increase the credit line and now we can show him when we think we can pay off the balance completely.

Our distribution client discussed above got so good at this, that she turned the thirteen-week cash forecast

into a 52 week forecast! You can imagine that it made her feel much more comfortable about finally taking money out of the business for some important personal reason.

Perhaps the best thing about preparing this is, once we do it the first time, we simply add a week every time the current week ends. So it becomes a rolling forecast.

What are the difficulties in this approach? Clearly, the ability to forecast sales and collections. Using a spreadsheet, we can insert a variety of different projections and see the effect that good or bad sales would have

THE CASH FLOW PROJECTION IS A TOOL WE USE TO HELP BUSINESS OWNERS DE-STRESS AND BE PROACTIVE. on the ending cash balance. While it might sound counterintuitive, sales above your projection can have a short term negative effect on cash flow. This happens if the time it takes to collect on those sales is very long or—even worse—very unpredictable. We call this a “good problem” to have because banks and vendors are usually more supportive when our sales exceed our projections.

***

The cash flow projection is a tool we use to help business owners de-stress and be proactive. It is easier to understand than standard financial statements because it only considers Cash-In and Cash-Out. Still, standard financial statements are also important because they can tell us, in quantifiable terms, about what happened last month, last quarter, or last year.

If you want to run your business like a “tight ship,” the cash f low projection is certainly an arrow to have in your quiver.

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UPDATES FOR

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NATIONAL WORLD [

]

news briefs

Race to the Bottom vancouver, canada

Nautilus Minerals plans to launch Solwara-1, the first deep-sea mining project, within the next two years. A mother ship, measuring about 750 by 130 feet, will release three huge robots to crawl the ocean floor, 15 miles off the coast of Papua New Guinea, and up to two miles deep, in search of minerals. The robots will lift ore from the surface and pipe it back to the mother ship for transport by smaller boats to the Tongling Nonferrous Metals Group Holding Company in China. If all goes as expected, through the course of the three-year operation, 2.5 million metric tons of ore, worth about $1.5 billion, will be extracted. The ocean floor is rich in ore high in mineral content needed for today’s technology, like tellurium for solar panels and lithium for batteries. It

can be scooped without removing trees or mountain tops, but a lot of effort is being made to mitigate against chemical, noise, and light pollution. Proposals go so far as plans for relocating and resettling species.

contribute about 40% of the IOC’s revenues. The IOC is forging new deals with Bridgestone, Toyota, Alibaba, and Intel; but no plans have been announced for a successor in the fast-food business. No reasons were given for the split, though McDonald’s, like many other sponsors, experienced issues with suppliers during the 2014 Sochi Games; and it was scarcely allowed a presence within the 2016 Olympic gates in Rio de Janeiro, forcing typical lines to be 100 customers long. McDonald’s will remain a sponsor through the 2018 Olympics, to be held in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

It’s So Easy Being Green

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The International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced it would be terminating its sponsorship deal with McDonald’s.

McDonald’s has been sponsoring the Olympics since 1976, and in 2012 it signed a contract extension worth an estimated $200 million that should have expired in three years. It had been a top-tier sponsor, and as such, it had permission to use the Olympic rings in advertising. Top-tier sponsors

The Ford Motor Company is partnering with Motivate to build the second-largest bike share network in the United States, the largest being in New York City. GoBike will rent a fleet of 7,000 bicycles in San Francisco and in the Bay Area from Oakland to San Jose. Trips will cost $3, with monthly and annual passes available.

Payments may be made with local mass transit Clipper commuter cards already used by millions. Ford is footing the bill,

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while Motivate will handle everything else, from designing and building the bike stations, handling all city permits, and designing the mobile app for locating and unlocking the bikes, to operating the system once it is complete. Based in New York, Motivate has set up bike-share networks in nine cities. Ford is interested in the project as a means of extrapolating future trends in transportation. Last year, the company invested in Chariot, a shortroute, on-demand commuter service, also in the Bay Area.

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HubSpot is holding a contest, offering $100,000 to the entrepreneur who shares the most disruptive business idea.

To apply, participants must pitch their service or product in 25 words or fewer on HubSpot’s Facebook page. Senior Director of Global Marketing Ryan Bonnici expects at least 25,000 entrants.

The entries will be weeded down to the best thousand or so, which will be vetted to ensure compliance with rules governing the application process. A panel of CEOs, with representatives from firms

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national & world

including Netflix and Harvard Business School, will then select the winner sometime in mid-August. The winner gets the cash plus mentoring from panel members. Despite appearances, the contest is trade, not charity. HubSpot is in the business of inbound marketing, the concept of creating content people actually care enough about to be drawn to businesses, instead of selling. The contest is an example of how this works, and thus promotion.

bank accounts. The proposal added fuel to an ongoing controversy about what is calculated to be about $50 billion in government subsidies for the Middle East Three: Qatar, Emirates, and Etihad Airways. In a recent letter to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, American companies complained the subsidies allow the Three “to operate without concern for turning a profit [and] therefore focus entirely on stripping market share and driving out competition.”

How Subsidy Works

Legislated Technology Shift

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Qatar Airways CEO Akbar al-Baker approached American Airlines CEO Doug Parker at an industry conference in Mexico with a proposal to purchase 10% of his company. The next thing industry analysts knew, Qatar had moved forward with plans, notifying the appropriate federal antitrust agencies. The deal, which would start with acquiring 4.75% of American’s stock, worth about $1.1 billion, was described as an investment, with no interest in controlling operations.

The investment betrayed what Middle Eastern airlines have been denying, that Qatar Airways, and others, have more resources than what is listed in their

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The United States Department of Energy (DOE) has mandated pumps bought or sold in the United States for pool and spa filtration systems, whether commercial or residential, will have to be variable-speed. The decision, codified in “Energy Conservation Standards for Dedicated-Purpose Pool Pumps,” and effective July 18, 2021, was arrived at by a committee composed of manufacturers, utility companies, and advocates for green energy. Gary Fernstrom, a consultant who worked with the committee, shared, “The DOE decided that the

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incremental cost of the variable-speed pump is now low enough that there shouldn’t be anybody who ought not to want one…” The standards don’t rule out single-speed motors; they just set minimums beyond their capabilities.

It is further expected Energy Star will have to raise its standards to remain relevant. The mandate is unlikely to change anything for large commercial operations, which are already regulated.

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The Kellogg Company began implementing plans announced February to close 39 distribution centers. It will now ship its products to retailers’ warehouses instead of their stores. To date, 30 centers have closed, cutting 4,499 positions. The move is not unlike that taken by the Coca-Cola Company last year. It is attributed to “the Amazon effect” taking more and more business away from brick-and-mortar retailers. Shrinking breakfast cereal sales are also a motivator. Year-over-year, first-quarter sales were down 4.1%.

Former employees are now threatening a class-action lawsuit, asking injunctive relief and compensatory damages and claiming the company is guilty of “unjust enrichment” and “breach of contract.” Kellogg’s says the move is logistically more efficient and effective, and the company expects to realize savings of $600-$700 million by 2019.

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Steve Scarince, representing the United States Secret Service, spoke about upgrading to Europay, MasterCard, and Visa cards at the Gilbarco Veeder-Root 2017 Retail Technology Conference.

Businesses in the United States have been so slow to adapt to EMV, or chip cards, deadlines for transition have been

pushed back. At first, convenience stores were supposed to fully convert by October 1, 2015, with pay at the pump granted two additional years. The penalty for noncompliance was that businesses that didn’t upgrade would be financially liable for fraud against magnetic-stripe cards. While convenience store owners have now been given until October 1, 2020, to convert, Scarince said operations in areas prone to fraud could be billed for chargebacks before then. To date, about 44% of businesses have made the change. Scarince noted that even though people are finding ways to scam chip cards, since Canada converted to chips, credit card fraud has spilled into the United States.

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Sisun Lee quit his job as a staff product manager at Tesla to pursue his passion. It started when he traveled to South Korea and partied with friends who introduced him to a cure for hangovers. He decided he wanted to import the formula for distribution in the United States, but its manufacturers were not interested. Better at research than negotiation, Lee set out to reverse-engineer an antidote himself. He studied the work of University of Southern California researcher Dr. Jing Liang, and discovered hangovers are the result of consuming more alcohol than the liver can process.

Acetaldehyde, a toxin, builds, causing inflammation and headaches. Dihydromyricetin, naturally occurring in Asian raisin trees, breaks down acetaldehyde. Lee developed his own formulation, using only food supplements, to treat “all of the lingering effects of alcohol.” He tested it so hard, he gained 15 pounds. He has a waiting list, and will launch an Indiegogo campaign July 5.

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Computer engineer Esther Nduagu started a new business, Houston Mermaids. The startup hosts parties for little girls who want to rent mermaid tails while getting swimming lessons. It began because her daughter kept pestering her for a mermaid tail. Nduagu went online and found a large mermaid industry, but very little for youth; in fact, most of the mermaids were working in New York or Las Vegas. So, Nduagu had the idea to recruit a couple of professional mermaids to lead parties for little girls in Houston. The business launched with a party on her daughter Ngozi’s eighth birthday. In addition to swimming lessons, the girls learn how to apply mermaid makeup. The two mermaids also perform for weddings, charity events, and corporate outings. The mermaids can party anywhere there’s a pool, with lifeguards.

Future plans include getting a portable tank.

August 2017 | capitalatplay.com 75

Kyle Ellison wanted to transplant his lifelong passion for coastal water pursuits to the lakes and rivers of Western North Carolina, and a stand up paddleboard maverick was born.

photo cour tesy Wai Mauna Asheville SUP Tours

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video intervie w

capital atpl ay. com

From

THE

Mountains TO

Maui

written by emily ball ard

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photos by anthony harden

August 2017 | capitalatplay.com 77

he French Broad River winds its way through the Appalachian Mountains, flowing through Western North Carolina and Tennessee counties, enhancing national forests in its path, and making its way through downtown Asheville. This particular stretch of the river looks slightly different than the rest of its natural habitat, especially in the heat of summer, as it is occupied by locals, tourists, and outdoor enthusiasts itching to enjoy both relaxation and adventure by way of tubing, kayaking, canoeing, and the newest addition to the world of river watersports, stand up paddleboarding (SUP).

While the emergence of SUP as a popular sport really hit its stride in the early 2000s, it is just now starting to make its mark as an activity to be enjoyed on the rivers and lakes of mountain towns like Asheville. Kyle Ellison witnessed the exponential growth of the SUP culture at its source in Hawaii, and feeling that he missed a real opportunity to capitalize on this activity that he is so passionate about in its early days, he is bringing his knowledge and experience to a town that welcomes new adventures via his business, Wai Mauna Asheville SUP Tours.

Wai Mauna translates as “fresh water in the mountains” from Hawaiian. The pronunciation of Wai Mauna is (phonetically), “Y” (as in the letter) and then “Mao” (as in the Chinese leader) and then “nuh”… so: Y-Mao-nuh.

What is perhaps most unique about the structure of the Wai Mauna business is the fact that Kyle runs and operates it from his residence 5,000 miles away in Maui, Hawaii. He has travelled the world and has an impressive portfolio of wild experiences and adventurous jobs, and with a wife and two young kids living in Maui, he now spends his days travelling back and forth between the island and Western North Carolina, blending a coastal lifestyle with the mountains, and growing a successful business that operates in a digital atmosphere, but functions in a physical capacity on the river.

Island Roots Kyle was born in St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands, and his family moved to Maui when he was five years old. The coastal island culture runs through his veins and has inevitably shaped his outlook and steered his path toward a life on the water. His entire adult life has been spent working in watersports tourism.

In Hawaii and his travels around the globe, Kyle has been a scuba instructor, dive master, and catamaran captain, and he 78

| August 2017

PADDLEBOARDS ready to go out on the river

K YLE ELLISON

has led whale watch and snorkel charters. He has been a sea kayak guide in Alaska and a boat captain on Lake Tahoe.

His pursuits led him around the world, and everywhere he went the water was calling him.

“I consider myself very fortunate,” Kyle says. “My wife and I were able to travel heavily all through our twenties. We would do seasonal work in Hawaii, work for seven months, save up money, and travel for four months, spend it all and then come back and work again.”

In addition to watersports, Kyle also became a travel writer.

His assignments took him to places most people only dream of, such as trekking in Nepal for two weeks, summiting Kilimanjaro, exploring a safari in South Africa. Although he jokes that maybe they travelled a little too heavily and are paying for it now, he recalls these experiences with modesty and a deep appreciation for a life well lived.

“My wife and I have lived out of a van in New Zealand for three months where we didn’t know where we would be sleeping that night,” he recalls. “And we have never been happier in our life.”

When Kyle and his wife were expecting their first child, the couple found themselves itching for something different, as well as a place with a more reasonable cost of living. Being surrounded by thousands of miles of ocean may sound like a August 2017 | capitalatplay.com 79

dream to many, but Kyle explains that island fever is a real thing. In their typical adventurous spirit, at seven months pregnant, the couple left Maui and, upon landing on the mainland, set off on a cross country road trip to relocate to the (comparatively) small town of Asheville. Having visited family in this outdoorsy town, they felt drawn to take the risk and try something new. At the time, it seemed the perfect place for Kyle to pursue his freelance writing and for his wife to work in the booming wedding industry of Western North Carolina.

A New Beginning In the cold months of January 2015, Kyle found himself in his new town with few connections, no concrete employment,

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and a growing family. He started evaluating his surroundings to get a feel for what Asheville had to offer, or what it might be lacking that could be an opportunity for him. He found that the freelance writing was a bit too solitary. He missed the water and he missed interacting with people.

A snowstorm had blown six inches of snow into town, yet despite the frigid temperatures, Kyle decided to escape to do some thinking in the best place he knew how—the water. With a borrowed paddleboard and a wet suit, he set off to explore the serene currents of the French Broad River. “It was just total silence and absolutely beautiful, and I was just out there clearing my head and thinking,” he remembers.

It was in this moment of liberating isolation that Kyle found some clarity. He realized he needed to somehow merge his coastal background and love of the water with his new mountain

surroundings. He noticed that a couple of places were renting paddleboard gear, but there was an untapped market and a niche that seemed serendipitous.

Kyle equates it to a writer having an editor: Sometimes you need a second set of eyes to realize what is missing. There was already a strong river culture here, and an interest in water sports and paddling in general, but having the coastal perspective on his side, he sensed some opportunities were falling through the cracks.

For instance, he was shocked to find that no other companies were offering rentals before 10AM or after 5PM. Although he recognized that the kayak river culture depended on the warmer part of the day heating up the water, Kyle was used to ocean customs that leaned toward sunrise and sunset as the nicest parts of the day.

Compelled to cast a wider net to a burgeoning industry, Kyle

plunged head first into this new endeavor. It was the end of March when he bought the first boards. It took about three months to get everything in order. He developed a business plan and obtained a loan from Asheville Savings Bank. Startup costs were relatively low, but it was necessary to purchase the gear, van, and trailer.

Choosing the Wai Mauna name was a gamble for Kyle.

He wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t sure how a Hawaiian name would fare in the mountains of Western North Carolina, but considering the sport originated in Hawaii, and that was where he was from, he felt it lent some authenticity. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Memorial Day we opened up with a grand total of four people,â&#x20AC;? Kyle recalls with amusement. This is quite the contrast to Memorial Day this year that attracted over 70 people despite pesky weather conditions.

August 2017 | capitalatplay.com

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One Man Show The business has experienced remarkable growth over the past couple of years, and Kyle, more than anyone, can appreciate the somewhat bumpy road to get there.

The early days of Wai Mauna Asheville SUP Tours looked quite a bit different than the organized rental and guide company of today.

With only one van in the beginning, Kyle enlisted the help of his wife and their newborn son. First, Kyle would meet the guests at the takeout spot in the River Arts District where

up the baby and drive the shuttle down river to the take-out spot to meet Kyle when his group got off of the river.

Of course, this plan left lots of room for error. Occasionally, Kyle’s wife was unavailable to perform shuttle duty. On these days, Kyle would conduct business as usual. That is, in the eyes of his guests. In reality, he would meet his customers and drive them up river on schedule to conduct his usual paddle guide.

The end point is where it got tricky.

“I would say goodbye to the guests, walk them to their car, lie to them and say, ‘I’ve got my shuttle guy on his way…’ then I would get on the phone and call Asheville Taxi.”

“The business exists in a digital space with the exception that we meet you and then take you paddling down the river.” they would be leaving their cars. He would then drive them up the river in the van to the put-in location on Hominy Creek.

After unloading the van and getting situated, Kyle and his guests would get on the river for their guided paddle. In the meantime, Kyle’s wife would walk from their home in West Asheville, with the baby in tow, to the park where the van was located. With the car seat already in the van, she would load 82

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After the guests were out of sight, he would discreetly hide the boards behind a bush, take the taxi to the van, and come back to retrieve the gear. It was a risky façade. “Everyone does what they got to do. You have to start somewhere,” he remembers, amused by the humble beginnings.

Kyle admits that there wasn’t much in the way of profit on those first runs, and anything they did make went right back

Your Outsourced Accounting Solution into the business. But the learning curve and persistence paid off. Wai Mauna now has two vans, 25 boards, five employees, a six-person paddle board raft, and an extensive collection of gear. With summer in full swing, business is booming.

Long Distance Business “The business exists in a digital space with the exception that we meet you and then take you paddling down the river,” says Kyle.

This may seem contradictory, but it is surprisingly easier than one may think. Wai Mauna does not have an actual physical location. They operate in a virtual office, utilizing Square, Google Drive, spreadsheets, and an online reservations app. This allows Kyle to monitor and manage the business from anywhere, which is a good thing, because Kyle and his family have moved back to Hawaii as their permanent residence.

Since both Kyle and his wife relied on seasonal work, winters in Asheville got extremely quiet. They love the outdoor opportunities that Asheville provides, and the community aspect of a growing town, but they felt that there was just something missing.

“My entire life I have lived somewhere that I can see out to the horizon. Even when I lived in Tahoe, you are on this lake where you can look out at the horizon. Being here in Asheville, it is beautiful, but unless I go hike out to Black Balsam, Craggy, or get up on a ridgeline somewhere, you are not looking out. We are down in a river valley,” Kyle explains.

“I tell people that I am a bit of a square peg in a round hole in Asheville. There is still a piece of it that fits, but we just do things a little differently.”

Different for Kyle means flying back and forth from Hawaii to Asheville multiple times during their season that runs from April until Halloween. This is the first year that he will be “commuting” across oceans and he anticipates being in Asheville roughly six weeks over the summer.

He also feels that not having an actual storefront has been one of the best business decisions he has made, for while he cannot capitalize on the retail side of the business (such as sales of gear, apparel, and other products), he is able to keep overhead costs down by saving on rent, fire insurance, and flood insurance. Additionally, as the River Arts District is experiencing expansion and construction, Wai Mauna is essentially unaffected. There is a high likelihood that new construction will affect where Kyle and his guides take out of the river, but the beauty of a mobile office is that they can move to another part of the river with little disruption to operations.

Kyle refers to his van as a “paddleboard food truck.” This flexibility is essential for a business that is at the mercy of many unknown factors. Changes to the river, inclement weather, and last minute reservations keep Kyle and his team on their toes. Having the ability to operate from anywhere prevents lost revenue. If someone calls to make a reservation and the

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PADDLEBOARDS are a great help keeping the river clean.

guides are all on the river or unavailable, it gets forwarded directly to Kyle’s phone. From there, he can check availability and enter the reservation to be transmitted back to his guides in Asheville. The guests have no idea that they are talking to someone in Hawaii. Kyle can literally run the business from his phone, anywhere in the world he might be.

Of course, there are some inevitable drawbacks to being so far away from your business. Even though revenue and numbers have seen significant growth, with growth comes additional costs. Hiring more guides drives up labor costs, and travelling back and forth from Hawaii is certainly not cheap. In a town and industry that sees significant sales based on word-of-mouth, having an ocean between you and your potential customers can be problematic.

“The biggest challenge managing it from Hawaii is not logistically. It is that I’m not on the ground to hustle and network. I can’t expect my guides to go to Chamber meetings and do small talk over cocktails. I try to do that as much as I can when I am here, but I would say that the biggest barrier is just the physical face-to-face presence.”

Perks of the Job Kyle is not shy about his passion for paddleboarding, and this is the same expectation he has for his guides. He requires each of his tour guides to have their paddleboard certification from the American Canoe Association. This is not a typical nine-to-five job, and he wants all of his guides to truly love what they do.

For this reason, he is happy to cover 50 percent of the cost for any guide who wants to pursue further professional development, including additional certifications, race fees, or private clinics. Kyle also provides incentives. This year he has set a goal for the number of paddlers the business brings in, and although it will be a stretch to reach, if achieved, he will fly all five of his guides to Hawaii to paddle for a week.

“I want my guides to be actively racing, I want them to be out there becoming better paddlers. We are the only company in town that the staff actively stand up paddles. On their day off, they will go paddle; on their half-day off, they will go paddle. I like to think that I provide a work environment where people are happy to work.”

Sustainability Kyle’s natural affinity towards water and nature has manifested itself in an ongoing meaningful cause when it comes to the health and clean-up of our natural resources. His passion for promoting a sustainable environment began in Hawaii with his leadership of reef clean-ups.

“It is hard for me to explain something that seems like it should just come so naturally to people. You take care of the place you live. You take care of the place around you,” he says, a glint of genuine intention in his eyes.

This has easily transferred to his life and business here in Asheville. “We are so blessed with these natural resources here in Asheville that it can only better and behoove the community to take care of it.”

He explains that this can be achieved through organized river clean-ups and educating people on the harmful practices of August 2017 | capitalatplay.com 85

throwing tires, garbage, waste, and coal ash into our rivers.

Kyle is always willing to lend his boards to people who are doing river clean ups and jokes that you would be surprised by how many tires can fit on a paddleboard (see photo on previous spread).

“I try to share any information to make people aware.

The number one thing is educating people about what they can do in their daily life to help the river health,” Kyle says. He explains that there are basic things people can do to make a difference for future generations, such as avoiding unnecessary plastic bags or plastic utensils, and utilizing reusable water bottles.

On a larger level, he wants to educate the community about t he h i g h p ol lut a nt e f fe c t o f sedimentation runoff, and how to better control sediment, erosion, and storm drain runoff.

“I feel like maybe for decades and generations it wasn’t commonplace thinking, and hopefully over the course of the [next] generation our children will grow up and say, ‘Did you know back in the day people used plastic bags that would end up in the river or people threw their tires in the river?’”

“People are paddleboarding; they are doing these formerly coastal pursuits in the mountains. It is that kind of Venn diagram of mountain town, coastal life, and you exist in that little crossover” Wai Mauna Asheville SUP has joined in a corporate sponsorship with the local nonprofit organization RiverLink in an effort to further the restoration of the French Broad Watershed. For every paddler that books a tour with one of Wai Mauna’s guides, the business donates $5 directly to RiverLink.

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The Next Step While the efforts to promote environmental sustainability continue, Kyle looks toward the future of his business. He has always felt that he missed the boat on the original coastal SUP phenomenon, and now he has been able to propel the second wave of this trend as it is introduced into the river culture in a fusion of coastal lifestyle and mountain living.

“People are paddleboarding; they are doing these formerly coastal pursuits in the mountains. It is that kind of Venn diagram of mountain town, coastal life, and you exist in that little crossover,” says Kyle.

His business philosophy is safety first, and customer service close behind, and his mission is to create an experience that people will value, remember, and hopefully continue in the future.

And it is for this reason that Kyle has modeled his business a little different than his competitors. Wai Mauna is the only company in the area that offers guided tours, and it is also the only company that offers sunrise and sunset tours. It also offers private lessons, and paddleboard delivery and pickup is an option for those who want to rent boards for their own self-guided tour, but don’t necessarily want (or have the ability) to strap them to the top

of their vehicles and carry them on vacation. Wai Mauna’s newest product is the six-person stand up paddleboard, ideal for families or company team building retreats.

If Kyle is thinking big picture for the future of his business, he envisions expanding into other mountain towns and dreams of introducing this service nationally to areas that have yet to embrace this water sport. First, he plans to finetune the business in Asheville, but as the business continues to grow and generate interest, he sees no reason it couldn’t be replicated elsewhere.

“The whole reason I do this is… we love stand up paddleboarding, and we love simply sharing that with people and getting more people interested in the sport,” says Kyle. “If that means that they are going out and buying boards from my competitors, I couldn’t be happier because it means that they are getting into something that we really enjoy doing.

“I don’t see this as just a rental business or a way to make income off of tourists. We are so fortunate to work in this beautiful outdoor place and introduce people to things that we love. And we are so fortunate to do it every day.”

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August 2017 | capitalatplay.com 87

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1. Mr. & Mrs. Glen Ross hosting a formal dinner at their campsite.

2. Torchlight Ceremony, Calling of the Clansâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;Jay Parks, disabled

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combat veteran, Clan Logan.

3. Hondo Sommers of High Point.

4.Senior Drum Major Michael Burke.

5. Bear Race winners Amanda Lopiccolo of Boone & Johnny Crain of Blowing Rock taking a victory lap.

6. Bill Coburn of Windy Knoll Farms with one of his Scottish Border Collies herding sheep.

62nd Annual Grandfather Mountain Highland Games July 6-9, 2017 Photos by James J. Shafferâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; jjshafferphotography.com

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7. Athlete Amanda Ford tossing the caber.

8. Marathon winner Caleb Masland of Boone.

9. Highland wrestlingâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;Clan Mackay versus Clan Ross.

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10. EJ Jones of Asheville, bagpiper and Celtic music jam event director.

11. Several generations of the Clan Macneil Association of America.

12. Competing in the Sword Dance.

13. Bear Race runners rounding Forrest Gump Curve on Grandfather Mountain.

August 2017 | capitalatplay.com 89

events

august

EVENTS august 1- 6

33rd Annual Grassy Creek Mineral and Gem Show

10AM-6PM Parkway Fire and Rescue Show Field 136 Majestic View, Spruce Pine, NC

Sixty vendors from around the world will show off gems, fossils, and other eye candy, lapidary equipment, and finished jewelry. The show is a fundraiser for Parkway Fire and Rescue.

> 828-765-5519 > grassycreekgemshow.org august 1 – september 2

Tie Up, Draw Down 10AM-6PM The Center for Craft, Creativity and Design 67 Broadway St, Asheville, NC Weaving is not as easy as it looks. It’s 90% perspiration, with “designing,

winding, measuring, looping, counting, dyeing, knotting, setting tension.”

Some crafters intentionally mess with the setup for different looks. Fourteen contemporary artisans will explore experimentation with the behind-thecurtain part of weaving.

> 828-785-1357 > craftcreativitydesign.org august 2 - 6

Summer Lights 9-10:45PM

The North Carolina Arboretum 100 Frederick Law Olmsted Way, Asheville, NC They have Winter Lights, so why not have Summer Lights? The debut of what is hoped to become an annual thing will feature a light show, synchronized to music by the Western North Carolina Symphony. Patterns of color will flash onto the trees, it being an arboretum, after all. Tickets must be purchased in advance and include the price of parking.

>Tickets: Adult $18, Child (5-11) $12, Infant FREE

> 828-665-2492 x 204 > ncarboretum.org

august 3 -13

Motown Summer Nights

7:30PM (Thu), 8PM (Fri, Sat), 2PM (Sat, Sun) Flat Rock Playhouse Downtown 125 South Main St, Hendersonville, NC This is nothing but sweet soul music with that Motown sound. It will take you back to an era when music put you in a good mood. Think Smoky Robinson, Diana Ross and the Supremes, The Jackson 5, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Gladys Knight, The Temptations, and Four Tops.

>Tickets: $30 > 828-693-0731 > flatrockplayhouse.org august 3 - 5

Mountain Dance & Folk Festival 5:30PM Each Day

340 Victoria Road ,Asheville, NC This beloved annual tradition (How annual? Like, since the 1920s, when Bascom Lamar Lunsford founded it.) and celebration of all things bluegrass and old-time mountain music moves from Diana Wortham to A-B Tech this

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year. Boasting such talent as David Holt & Josh Goforth, Laura Boosinger, Br yan Sutton, Roger Howell, and Bobby Hicks, this is the realest real deal all month.

>Tickets: Adult $22, Children $12, Students $15 > 828-258-6101 > folkheritage.org

august 4 – september 2 Jim Barrie’s Peter Pan

august 5 - 6 Carolina Craft Show

7:30-10PM Hazel Robinson Amphitheatre 92 Gay St, Asheville, NC

august 4

Not only are the Montford Park Players still North Carolina’s longest running Shakespeare festival, they’re going to be premiering this Shakespeare classic.

Wait, what? The kids’ll love it, and so will you.

5-8PM The Center for Craft, Creativity and Design 67 Broadway, Asheville, NC

august 5 - 6

Craft City Workshop

Printmaker Jessica White will teach how to make letterpress notebooks.

White recently gave a workshop at the John C. Campbell Folk School. So, if you missed her, this is your chance to learn how to set, ink, and roll. Craft City Workshops give people a chance to learn DIY from expert makers outside, in a festival atmosphere.

> Craft kits if desired: $5-$10 each > 828-785-1357 > cccdnow.org

> 828-254-5146 > montfordparkplayers.org

This show is not like the others. Along with jewelry and household accents, this show will have dolls, goat-milk soaps, essential oils, wine racks, pet accessories, and knives.

> Admission: $3 > 828-384-8100 > wncagcenter.org

Village Art & Craft Fair

august 9 -12 Laugh Your Asheville Off

10AM-7PM (Sat), 12-5PM (Sun) Cathedral of All Souls Biltmore Village, Asheville, NC

Come one, come all, come rain or shine, to ye olde Historic Biltmore Village and check out the wares of 120 exhibitors offering the type of high quality arts and crafts the Village shops are also known for. The free, juried event is a 4-decadelong, storied tradition.

> 828-274-2831 > newmorninggallerync.com

10AM-5PM Virginia C. Boone Building, Western North Carolina Agricultural Center 1301 Fanning Bridge Rd, Fletcher, NC

8PM Various venues, downtown Asheville The Asheville Comedy Festival, the Southeast’s largest comedy festival, celebrates 11 years with standup comedians from all around the world, including Rich Vos, Tammy Pescatelli, and M ike Yard. Events w il l take place at Highland Brewing on 8/9, Diana Wortham Theatre 8/10-12, and Southern Kitchen & Bar each night

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August 2017 | capitalatplay.com 91

events

for Disclaimer Lounge late shows at 10:30PM.

> $20 (evening). $10 (late night) > Ashevillecomedyfestival.com august 11-12

Burlesque! Burlesque!

Burlesque!

9PM The Grey Eagle 185 Clingman Ave, Asheville, NC A three-day striptease showcase featuring three variations of this classic art form, subtitled “Geektastic: A Burlesque Revue.” The headlining performer will be Franki Markstone. A good night for hiring a babysitter, eh?

> Admission: $15-$18 > 828-232-5800 > thegreyeagle.com august 11-13

August Fine Art and Master Crafts Festival

1-5PM (Fri), 10AM-5PM (Sat), 10AM-4PM (Sun) Historic Banner Elk Elementary School 185 Azalea Circle, Banner Elk, NC The Aver y Cou nt y Cha mber of Commerce announces Part II of last month’s festival. The event, with the beautiful backdrop of summer trees and mountains, celebrates work of local and international artists. Organizers use the word “eclectic.”

> 828-898-5605 > averycounty.com august 11

Asian Youth Orchestra with Sarah Chang

7:30PM Porter Center, Brevard College One Brevard College Dr, Brevard NC

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A strings lover’s night out. The youth constitute one of the world’s acclaimed orchestras; Chang is virtuoso. She first performed with the New York Philharmonic and the Philadelphia orchestras at age 9. She went on to graduate from Julliard, and she’s been scoring solo gigs with major orchestras since.

>Tickets: $35-$55 > 828-862-2105 > brevardmusic.org august 12

Shagging at the Blowing Rock

1-7PM The Blowing Rock 432 Rock Rd, Blowing Rock, NC

Scheduled are some names to take you back: The Tams, The Magnificents Band, Eric and the Chill Tones, and The Original Drifters. General park admission may be deducted from the price of event tickets.

>Tickets: Adult $55, Child (0-12) $10 > 828-295-4812 > theblowingrock.com august 12 -13

The 40th Annual Sourwood Festival

9AM-8PM (Sat), 9AM-5PM (Sun) Downtown Black Mountain, NC

The free Sourwood Festival is family-friendly and alcohol-free. Over 200 vendors will display arts and crafts and have food ranging from high-cholesterol fair-fare to vegetarian selections.

But the stars of the show are the honey bees. They’ll be showing how it’s done.

And sourwood blossoms smell so good.

Over 30,000 people are expected.

> 828-669-1407 > sourwoodfestival.com

august 13

Love Is a Rose— Celebrating the Music of Torch Singer, Linda Ronstadt 7PM Veh Stage, Tryon Fine Arts Center 34 Melrose Ave, Tryon, NC Paula Hanke and Peggy Ratusz both considered Linda Ronstadt an influence in their singing, so when they heard she was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, they put together a tribute covering her songs from three decades.

>Tickets: $22 > 828-859-8322 > tryonarts.org august 17

The Moth: True Stories Told Live 7PM The Mothlight 701 Haywood Rd, Asheville NC

See our May issue for a look at the area storytelling scene, of which this monthly Moth storySLAM series is essential. Then plan out your own 5-minute story for it!

> 828-252-5433 > themothlight.com august 18 -19 The Asheville Wine & Food Festival 12-5PM (Fri), 11AM-7PM (Sat) Downtown Asheville

Eight renowned chefs who bring the flavors of the world to Asheville will be making art for you to sample. Grand Tastings will take place from 12-5PM Friday and 11AM-4PM Saturday in Pack Square Park; Saturday’s Sweet & Savory desserts and alcoholic beverages will August 2017 | capitalatplay.com 93

events

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>Tickets: $45-$140 > 828-239-9400 > ashevillewineandfood.com august 18

Nicole Atkins

8PM Altamont Theatre 18 Church St, Asheville NC A Jersey girl with the proverbial big voice, singer-songwriter Atkins has risen steadily through the indie-rock ranks to where she routinely can pack much larger venues than this one, so the evening will be a rare treat. She’s been compared to everyone from Lee Hazelwood to Candi Staton to Carole King.

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>Tickets: $12-$15 > 828-782-3334 > thealtamonttheatre.com august 18

Lyle Lovett and His Large Band

7:30PM Whittington-Pfohl Auditorium, Brevard Music Center 349 Andante Lane, Brevard, NC This icon has many fans, and he still fixes his hair the same way. For newbies, he plays “a distinct fusion of country, swing, jazz, folk, gospel, and blues.”

>Tickets: $25-$125 > 828-862-2105 > brevardmusic.org august 18 – september The Producers

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7:30PM (Thu-Sat), 2:30PM (Sun) Asheville Community Theatre 35 Walnut St, Asheville NC

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Two producers need money, so they come up with a scam that is misunderstood. To say any more would blow the plot. The production is based on a book

by Mel Brooks and Thomas Meehan, with music by Brooks and Jerry Crouch.

Opening night tickets are $100 each and include a preshow party that begins at 6PM.

>Tickets: Adult $25-$30, Child (0-17) $15 > 828-234-1320 > ashevilletheatre.org

august 19 - 20

3rd Annual River Valley Blues Festival

12PM (Sat) – 10PM (Sun) Salvage Station 468 Riverside Dr, Asheville, NC

There will be two days of food, beer, and local and big-time blues acts. Saturday night’s headliner will be Janiva Magness; Sunday’s, Grady Champion.

Blueshound will emcee. You could be one of 2,000 there.

>Tickets: Single Day $25, Weekend $40. > 828-407-0521 > salvagestation.com

august 21

Rock the Eclipse in Black Mountain 2:38-4:01PM Downtown Black Mountain, NC

If you can’t get directly under the umbra of the first solar eclipse visible in the contiguous United States in 38 years, which is easier now, thanks to GPS; you can enjoy a 98.9% blackout with friends in Black Mountain. In fact, the warm-up acts begin two days in advance. In the event of rain, attendees will get to watch the livestream from NASA inside.

> 828-669-2300 > visitblackmountain.net august 23

Durand Jones & the Indications

8:30PM The Mothlight 701 Haywood Rd, Asheville, NC Not long ago the Bayou-born funk-soul artist took those favorable comparisons to Charles Bradley and Lee Fields to the bank with his self-titled debut on the estimable Colemine label. Critics swooned, and so shall ye.

> Admission: $10-$12 > 828-252-5433 > themothlight.com

– september 3 Music of the Night: The Songs of Andrew Lloyd Webber

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august 25

2PM (Wed, Thu, Sat, Sun), 7:30PM (Wed, Thu), 8PM (Fri, Sat) Flat Rock Playhouse Mainstage 2661 Greenville Hwy, Flat Rock NC Webber wrote the scores for musical classics including Evita, Cats, and Phantom of the Opera. “Music of the Night” was one of them.

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>Tickets: $15-$50 > 828-693-0731 > flatrockplayhouse.org august 25 - 26

Jam in the Trees

7PM (Fri) – 11:55PM (Sat) Pisgah Brewing Company 150 Eastside Dr, Black Mountain, NC Once again, great sounds and flavors are promised. A lot of accomplished musicians will provide a variety of

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August 2017 | capitalatplay.com 95

events

music, with more acts being added as we speak. Names include The Infamous Stringdusters, Larry Keel, Acoustic Syndicate, Cicada Rhythm, and Zoe & Cloyd.

LOCAL BEERS ON TAP OVER 50 TEQUILAS FRESH JUICE MARGARITAS

- historic biltmore village (828)505-7682 call ahead for preffered seating OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK CATERING AND PRIVATE DINING AVAILABLE

> 828-669-0190 > jaminthetrees.com august 26

Moscow Meets Manhattan—Dueling Pianos Plus

7:30PM Diana Wortham Theatre 18 Biltmore Ave, Asheville, NC Award winning pianist/vocalist—and Russian born—Katherine Alexandra has a classical/pop/jazz/ethnic folk showdown with American Brian Gurl.

Think ragtime, Rachmaninoff, Billy Joel, Broadway, Victor Borge, and gypsy music, abetted by Asheville’s own Eliot Wadopian on bass and Byron Hedgepeth on drums.

>Tickets: Regular: $35, Students & balcony: $25 > 828-257-4530 > dwtheatre.com the free spirit of enterprise

september 1- 4

North Carolina Apple Festival

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| August 2017

september 2

5th Annual World Masterwork Series 7PM Diana Wortham Theatre 2 South Pack Square, Asheville, NC On the program are Johannes Brahms, Johann Sebastian Bach, Ludwig van Beethoven, and then back to Bach.

Proceeds benefit local performing artists.

>Tickets: $36 > 828-257-4530 > hendersonvillesymphony.org september 2

Fungifest 2017

9AM-5PM Bryson and Kittredge building, Warren Wilson College, Swannanoa, NC Calling all ‘shroom-heads for a day of vending and workshops. You can look at a huge collection or BYO for identification. There certainly are enough scary-looking mushrooms out there these days. Classes and walks cost extra.

> Admission: Adult $10, Student $5, Child/WWC Student (0-5) FREE > 828-236-3817 > ashevillemushroomclub.com

10AM-8PM (Fri-Sun) 10AM-4PM (Mon) Main Street Hendersonville, NC Labor Day Weekend is the time Hendersonville celebrates apples because Henderson County produces over 65% of the apples grown in the state. You can buy them by the bushel, or buy them by the singletons. Or you can buy apple products or arts and crafts. The show concludes with the tail of the parade.

> 828-697-4557 > ncapplefestival.org

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.

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FINEST QUALITY HANDCRAFTED MATTRESSES MADE IN ASHEVILLE

H

andcrafted in Asheville, mattresses by Colton Mattress Factory at 848 Hendersonville Road offer unmatched durability, uncompromising comfort and orthopedic support. Artisan craftsmanship that incorporates the latest in mattress technology with age-old handcrafting techniques makes for the most comfortable night’s sleep you’ve had in years.

Business owner Mike Emerson has been in the mattress business for 35 years. At 13, he started working for a small mattress company in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, sweeping floors and helping with deliveries. At the age of 20, the owner retired and Emerson bought the company. Over the next 10 years, Emerson expanded the business to 20 stores in 5 midwestern states with over a hundred employees, Emerson still owns half the company and it is still in operation today. Emerson was semi-retired and living in Asheville, feeling bored, and decided to start another mattress factory and named it after his son, Colton.

People here in Asheville really like buying high quality products that are locally made.

Emerson says, “Business has been strong and we can hardly keep up with demand.” He said, “A lot of customers that come into our store are frustrated with the quality of nonflip brand-name mattresses that they have purchased recently that didn’t last as long as they expected. So many products today are made to wear out fairly quickly so you have to replace them. Colton makes mattresses the old-fashioned way so they last longer.”

Asheville’s headquarters for adjustable beds, Colton Mattress can build the bed that is perfect for you. It makes beds with infinite mattress positions that include head and foot massage. Create your own adjustments to relieve back pain, improve circulation, and sleep deeply. Any mattress

Colton Mattress builds can be turned into an adjustable bed.

Want a super-firm mattress, a super-soft mattress or something in between? Colton Mattress can create the precise firmness you desire. It sells a lot of beds made with latex, a natural material that naturally inhibits dust mites, mold and mildew. Derived from the tropical rubber tree, latex instantaneously conforms to the shape of your body, relieving pressure points for an uninterrupted sleep. Talalay latex used by Colton reduces high-pressure areas that shut off capillary blood flow and cause you to toss and turn all night.

Mattresses made from Cooling Gel Memory Foam conform to the body, relieve pressure points and aid circulation. Choices range from pillowy soft to body-contouring firm.

The Cooling Gel Memory Foam provides additional support and a cooler sleeping surface.

Memory foam mattresses virtually eliminate motion transfer. (you won’t feel your sleep partner move). Emerson stated, “We offer a 30-day comfort guarantee because we want you to love your new mattress.”

When you purchase a new mattress from Colton they will donate your old mattress to people in need if it is still sleepable.

There are 25 different models to choose from at the showroom. Visit with Mike Emerson or Rick Reed and they will help you select the perfect mattress for you.

Colton sells directly to the consumer, eliminating distributors and retail stores, to keep prices competitive with national brands. Colton has mattresses for every budget, prices range from $110- $5000. Colton is committed to manufacturing and selling the highest-quality mattresses and when you buy direct from the factory you save 10-50% every day. Colton builds and stocks a wide selection of mattress types and sizes.

COLTON MATTRESS SPECIALIZES IN 4 TYPES OF MATTRESSES • 2-sided mattresses that can be flipped over

(97% of mattresses sold today by the national brand companies are 1-sided mattress that don’t last nearly as long as the 2-sided ones built in years past).

• Natural Latex Foam Mattresses • Cooling Gel Memory Foam Mattresses • Adjustable beds that the head and foot can be elevated for maximum comfort.

848 HENDERSONVILLE ROAD | ASHEVILLE (BILTMORE FOREST), NC 28803 | 828-299-4445 | WWW.COLTONMATTRESS.COM STORE HOURS: MONDAY-FRIDAY 10AM-6PM, SATURDAY 10AM-5PM, CLOSED SUNDAY —

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- R ESERVE C USTOM S UITS -

DISTINGUISH YOURSELF. C U S T O M L O O K . P E R S O N A L I Z E D F I T. Made in the USA

ASHEVILLE: Historic Biltmore Village 9 Kitchin Place 828-274-2630

STORE HOURS: Mon. - Fri. 9:30am-7pm Sat. 9:30am-6pm Sun. 12pm-5pm

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