Capital at Play January 2018 by Capital at Play Magazine

Liam Hoffman

Selina Delangre

Hoffman Blacksmithing p.16

Celtic Sea Salt p.56

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Dinerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Choice: How to Get the Most from a Wine List p.48 Above & Beyond: Accommodating Breastfeeding Employees p.68 Taking Care of Your Employees p.86

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da s h a m o rg a n

m a n ag i n g e d ito r

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Fred recently celebrated his two-year anniversary as the Capital at Play editor, the culmination of what he describes as a three-decade-plus “accidental career” in journalism with numerous national publications, having originally set out to study law and criminal justice at UNCChapel Hill. He enjoys playing basketball with his teenage son Eli, hiking and gardening with his wife Allison, tossing the squeaky ball with his dog Sammy, and spinning vintage vinyl on his equally vintage Thorens turntable.

Dasha is an Asheville native. From 1999 to 2016 she was the Designer Notebook and Collections Editor for Rug News and Design, and this position took her to major markets. She attended Sweet Briar College, graduated from UNCChapel Hill, then moved to Boston. There she worked with Katya of Sweden and Samuel Roberts. After 2016 she became a freelance writer for Capital at Play and other publications.

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Leslee received a B.S. in theoretical math from Lyman Briggs College at Michigan State University. In lieu of grad school, she answered an “emergency” call for STEM instructors and taught mostly math and physics in high schools and junior colleges. Her favorite job was myth-busting for a small amateur science publication. Now, she works as a domestic.

b r e n da m u r p h y copy e ditor

Brenda, a graduate of UNC-Asheville and Mars Hill College and another Asheville native, has worked for Capital at Play for almost five years. Besides her freelance work as one of our copy editors, her love of grammar, words, and books led her to teaching English, currently for Madison County Schools. Brenda and her husband, Todd, reside in Weaverville with their two teenage sons. She loves concerts, reading (of course), and running.

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thi s page : SPARKS FLY in the shop with Liam Hoffman photo by Anthony Harden

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F E AT U R E D vol. viii

FORGING HIS FUTURE IN FLAMES LIAM HOFFMAN

ed. i

IN PURSUIT OF SALT SELINA DELANGRE

THE CUTTING EDGE

CARL CHRISTIAN RADINGER

January 2018 | capitalatplay.com

C ON T E N T S j a n u a r y 2 018

OLD A XE BL ADES in Liam Hoffman's blacksmith shop. photo by Anthony Harden

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

Man·u·fac·ture:

The annual Capital at Play list of manufacturers in Western North Carolina

colu m ns

48 Diner’s Choice: How to

Get the Most from a Wine List Written by John Kerr

68 Above & Beyond:

Accommodating Breastfeeding Employees

Employees

Written by Katherine Morosani

| January 2018

Sallie Varnadore: AlphaTech Inc

Jerrad Swann: Colton Mattress

Janice Moore & Joseph Moon: Avadim Technologies

Robert Tate: Putsch & Company, Inc.

briefs

28 Carolina in the West

p e o p l e at p l ay

88 Hatch This! Weekend

52 The Old North State 72 National & World News

events

90 Cuddle by the fireplace?

Take a polar plunge? The dawn of a new year should be all about fun…

Written by Casey Hite

86 Taking Care of Your

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Those Who Make It F

or seven years now, we’ve been publishing our annual manufacturing edition in January. In 2017 we previewed this exclusive section in order to give local manufacturers the opportunity to showcase the kind of quality folks they employ, as well as provide the local business community a

— | January 2018

peek into the kind of high-caliber operations taking place in their own back yard. Part HR initiative and part community outreach, listen to these makers, these manufacturers, and these people share a little about why they work where they work, and make what they make.

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Those Who Make It

COMPANY: Avadim Technologies EMPLOYEES: 135 YEAR FOUNDED: 2006 OWNER(S): Investor Owned PRIMARY PRODUCT(S): Theraworx, Combat One, PHUEL WHAT IS THE MOST SATISFACTORY THING YOU ENJOY ABOUT YOUR JOB? Getting orders out the door and knowing that our product is saving lives every day. WHAT IS THE MOST DIFFICULT PART OF YOUR JOB? Time management related to balancing order expectations with equipment downtime, employee absences, and other unexpected delays. WHAT WAS THE FIRST MACHINE YOU EVER WORKED ON? I started as a production operator. I worked on the wet out lines including bagging, sealing, and boxing product. 81

thompson street asheville, nc

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COMPANY: Putsch & Company, Inc. EMPLOYEES: 50 YEAR FOUNDED: 1975 OWNER(S): Carl Christian Radinger PRIMARY PRODUCT(S): Manufacturer of panel processing machines, machinery for agriculture, biofuels, filtration, and separation. WHAT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING TO YOU ABOUT THE PRODUCT YOU MAKE? Our customers require precision using machines that can handle large production capability in a compact design. Putsch has been able to meet these specific demands. WHAT DO YOU LIKE MOST ABOUT THE COMPANY YOU WORK FOR? The capabilities of our small Asheville group, about 50 people, extend into making machinery for sugar, agriculture, biofuels, filtration, and glass, keeping my job interesting. WHAT ABOUT YOUR JOB GIVES YOU THE MOST PLEASURE? Going to work knowing that I am spending the day with colleagues whose company I actually enjoy, while representing a professionally well-built product line.

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Those Who Make It

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COMPANY: AlphaTech Inc EMPLOYEES: 45 YEAR FOUNDED: 1999 OWNER(S): Al Worley PRIMARY PRODUCT(S): Contract Manufacturing, Tool & Die, Small Scale Automation HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN WORKING AT THIS COMPANY? I have been working at AlphaTech Inc. for 12 years. Through extensive on the job training, I learned to program, set up, and run multiple CNC lathe machines. WHAT ABOUT YOUR JOB GIVES YOU THE MOST PLEASURE? I find it rewarding to receive a blueprint and figure out the best way to program and run the part correctly to see it come to life. WHAT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING TO YOU ABOUT MAKING THE PRODUCT YOU MAKE? It is most important for the part to be 100% dimensionally correct, to look like a good quality part, and to work for the customer’s needs. 388

| January 2018

WHAT DO YOU LIKE MOST ABOUT THE COMPANY YOU WORK FOR? AlphaTech Inc. has been my work family for 12 years. The owners and management appreciate the work I do, and my coworkers are always willing to help each other. DO YOU HAVE A SAY-SO IN DECISIONS THAT AFFECT YOUR WORK?

I personally program, set up, and run the CNC lathe machines, from start to finish. I decide what needs to be done to run the parts according to the blueprint dimensions. DO YOU FEEL CHALLENGED BY THE WORK YOU DO? Tight tolerances are always a challenge, but it is rewarding to successfully make difficult parts to the correct tolerances.

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COMPANY: Colton Mattress EMPLOYEES: 6 YEAR FOUNDED: 2009 OWNER(S): Mike Emerson PRIMARY PRODUCT(S): Mattresses HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN AT THE COMPANY? I have been here five years. I started sweeping floors and building box springs. Now it’s even more fun because I get to meet so many people from different walks of life. WHAT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING TO YOU ABOUT THE PRODUCT YOU MAKE? The excellent quality of components; it makes you puff your chest out at the end of the day and sleep good at night. WHAT GIVES YOU THE MOST PLEASURE? When a customer comes back in and talks about how we changed their life. 848

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j e rr a d s wa n n m a n ag e r co lto n m at tr e s s

COMPANY: Avadim Technologies EMPLOYEES: 135 YEAR FOUNDED: 2006 OWNER(S): Investor Owned PRIMARY PRODUCT(S): Theraworx, Combat One, PHUEL WHAT ABOUT YOUR JOB GIVES YOU THE MOST PLEASURE? Knowing I work for a company that improves the quality of life for countless people every day. WHAT IS THE MOST DIFFICULT PART OF YOUR JOB? Helping my coworkers and family understand how graphic design is more than magically making things pretty: It is purposeful planning and problem-solving using visual design elements and principles. WHAT DO YOU LIKE MOST ABOUT THE COMPANY YOU WORK FOR? What I like most about Avadim is that it’s a team of individuals who truly care about the health and well-being of people around the globe. Not only does Avadim care about people, but we are actively developing innovative therapies to meet the unmet needs in global healthcare.

jos e ph moon g r a p h i c d e s i g n e r at ava d i m tec h n o log i e s i n c .

thompson street asheville, nc

www. avadimtechnologies .com

28803 / 877-677-2723

January 2018 | capitalatplay.com

| January 2018

Liam Hoffman, at only 21 years of age, is a gifted, award-winning blacksmith for the 21st century. written by derek halsey

photos by anthony harden January 2018 | capitalatplay.com

Pulling off onto the street leading to Liam Hoffman’s blacksmith shop, the road bends upward, as many side roads do in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Western North Carolina. Hoffman lives near Newland, North Carolina, a town of about 700 people located at 3,600 feet elevation, in one of seven counties that make up the region known as the High Country. His small wood building contains walls lined with all of the tools needed to be a blacksmith, including the proverbial 300-pound anvils. The concept of the anvil as a tool dates back over 5,000 years to the Bronze Age, when both the tools and the anvils were made out of bronze. Iron, however, is much harder than bronze. Iron was naturally found in meteorites that humans 18

| January 2018

pulled out of the ground and used as makeshift anvils. About 1,500 years ago, however, humans discovered how to make iron on their own, and what is known as the modern-day anvil began to take shape. Hoffman’s anvils are of the classic mold, with their “horns” (cone shaped projections used for bending pieces that have been forged), “faces” (the flat top of an anvil), “throats” (to allow sufficient room under the horns to work), and “pritchels” (small round holes used for punching holes in the pieces). As I walk into his shop, Hoffman is working on a new sword while heat-treating several axe heads. His hands and forearms are muscled up, reflecting day after day of pounding molten pieces of metal and grabbing red-hot axe heads out of a 1,500-degree oven with giant tongs. The sword is made in the style of the Egyptian khopesh design, which first appeared on battlefields over 5,000 years ago. Also known as the “sickle sword,” due to its curved nature, it was a valuable weapon and tool for the foot soldier in ancient times. Hoffman’s unique version of the khopesh is both beautiful and functional. He has taken the historically accurate mold of the khopesh sword and put his own spin on it—which is a big part of what makes his work unique and in demand. The metal Hoffman is using to make the khopesh sword is called “Damascus steel,” a combination of two different kinds of steel, which gives it an unusual and impressive pattern. A friend of his made the Damascus steel, and Hoffman will turn

LIAM HOFFMAN outside his shop. January 2018 | capitalatplay.com 19

it into a fine-looking piece probably selling in the $3,000 to $5,000 range. “These are the handles that I made for the sword,” says Hoffman, as he begins to attach them to the khopesh. “They are made of Gaboon Ebony wood and mother-of-pearl inlays. There is no buyer yet. I don’t sell these swords until I finish them. I’ll put a teaser up on my website. It is too much of a hassle to take pre-orders for these kinds of projects. I’ll take orders on axe heads, but nothing custom-made. Everything I sell is online. I don’t have a local business front.” Hoffman does not need to run a physical storefront. The blade-buying world is literally watching his website and Facebook page on a daily, an hourly, and, sometimes, a by-theminute basis. “There are not a lot of people here that would buy my work, so I use the internet because I can reach a lot more people,” says Hoffman. “If somebody wants to come by and see the shop, I usually let them. I’ve been doing this for almost nine years, and I started showing my work on Instagram and Facebook and posted regularly. Over time, the business built up. I post pictures every day, sneak peeks and stuff like that, and I found out that people are more inclined to buy a piece if they can see it being made. It is hard to sell something if you keep it in the dark until it’s done and all of a sudden put it up online. People like to see it made.” 20

| January 2018

HOFFMAN'S TRIED and true anvil.

HOFFMAN'S BR AND is marked on all of his pieces.

DAMASCUS STEEL

*** As Hoffman applies the handle to the distinctive and exquisite-looking sword, he outlines the process of pricing such a hand-made item. “I make all kinds of knifes and swords and tools, as I like anything that is a tool or has a blade on it. If it interests me, I’ll make it. I have put about 60 hours of work into this khopesh sword, and my friend who made the Damascus steel has 30 hours into it. So, there are almost 100 hours going into that piece, plus the material costs, including about $100 for the mother-of-pearl, $30 for the ebony wood, about $100 for the steel in it, and about $400 for propane. The materials cost really isn’t that high compared to what we get out of it, but with these projects, it is all about the labor put into it. These pieces are really time-intensive.” Axe heads, however, are made a lot quicker, and Hoffman considers them his production product. They are still made by hand at a very high quality craftsmanship, as opposed to some of the lesser-quality brands that are made overseas. Outside of Hoffman’s shop is a pallet stacked with two-inch thick, rectangleshaped ingots of metal. These heavy chunks of steel will be heated up until red hot and shaped by Hoffman the old school way, with various hammers while holding the smoldering ingot on his anvil. In his studio I watch him put on his safety gear and briefly open the 1,500-degree oven where the formed axe heads are being heat treated. He quickly uses his metal tongs to remove them and a sudden burst of flame erupts as he eases the pieces into a special mix of cooling oils. Here is the reason why Hoffman does not require a storefront: After he posts pictures of this custom-made process online, the products usually sell anywhere from days after they are posted, to just a few hours, to sometimes even mere minutes after the finished piece is presented to the potential customers. As for his axe heads, a couple of years ago there was a ten-month waiting period for purchases. Then Hoffman found himself on national television after being accepted into the high-end blacksmith competition known as the Forged in Fire show, which is hosted by the History Channel. In each episode of the reality show, four “bladesmiths” compete by recreating a classic blade of some type from the past or present. At one point during Hoffman’s 2016 episode, each blade made by the contestants was put through its paces with strength and sharpness tests. For this contest, they were asked to make a Nepalese Kora sword, a wide-ended sword that wasn’t much good for stabbing, yet was brutal and lethal when used with a downward stroke. Hoffman won his episode of Forged in Fire, the youngest to ever do so, at 19 years of age. January 2018 | capitalatplay.com

| January 2018

“They film the show in a rough section of Brooklyn, New York,” says Hoffman. “I was there for about four days, and then they flew me back to Brooklyn for the final round, and flew me back again for the judging of the final piece. I won $10,000. The person I went up against in the final round was a master blacksmith, which made it really difficult for me. But I won because my sword was more historically accurate and it worked better during the tests. They used it to chop some sandbags, which was kind of dumb. But then they chopped a bison skull in half and then chopped a sheep carcass in half. The coolest thing was the bison skull, splitting it down the center. It was pretty crazy.”

“The metal work just stuck, and I kept doing it and got better at it and decided that I wanted to do it for a living.” As a result of the national TV exposure, the waiting list for his axe heads jumped almost immediately to two years, even though he forges about 20 axes a week and makes the hickory wood handles from scratch. As the word about his quality work increased, he had to get rid of the waiting list for axes altogether as the demand kept growing.

*** What is impressive about this success story is that Hoffman is only 21 years old. “When I was on summer break during 8th grade, there was nothing to do, so I just started beating on some metal,” says Hoffman. “I had always done arts and crafts, just messing around, but nothing ever stuck. The metal work just stuck, and I kept doing it and got better at it and decided that I wanted to do it for a living.” The artistic craft side of his upbringing came from Hoffman’s mother, while his work ethic side came from his father, who spent years as a farmer. His parents separated when he was young, yet the two different influences still shape his unique approach to his craft. Currently, his work buildings exist on his father’s land. He has purchased a ten-acre plot near Boone, however, that will someday be the new home of Hoffman Blacksmithing. On the front page of Hoffman’s website, hoffmanblacksmithing. com, there is the quote by the writer and artist Elbert Hubbard (1856-1915) that says, “One machine can do the work of 50 ordinary men. No machine can do the work of one extraordinary man.” Hoffman did not attend blacksmith classes. Nor did he have a mentor, per se. While honing a craft that is over 5,000 years old, he basically taught himself how to do it. A lot of his questions were January 2018 | capitalatplay.com 23

HAND SHARPENING knives to be sent to customers.

answered by tutorials on YouTube and in various books. “While there are some things you can only learn in person, you can teach yourself online and eventually get to the point where you can make a living at it,” Hoffman explains. “I’ve never taken a formal class. Now, I know a lot of guys that are really good at blacksmithing, and I will chat with them and learn everything I need to learn in the process. When you are starting out, the stuff you make will break or will look like crap. The first small anvil I acquired was given to me by a neighbor, but it was teeny. The first big anvil that I bought, I found on eBay for about $600, which was cheap. I met the guy in Asheville and bought it. Nowadays, the price of anvils has shot up to $4 a pound, and that is a 300-pound anvil. I got it for $2 a pound.” By the time Hoffman was a senior in high school, he was already working about 35 hours a week and making over $25,000 a year by forging and selling knives and axes. But he was doing it in a very small building. He kept growing, however, by adding on to the building and by buying more of the tools needed to take the business to the next level. 24

| January 2018

“Then I appeared on Forged in Fire, which aired in September of 2016,” he continues, “and for the last six months my demand has grown exponentially. The Egyptian khopesh sword is more for show. You will probably never use it. But axes are tools and a lot of people use them for camping and more, especially the small hatchets. It is for folks [who] do not want to buy an axe overseas, and the ones that I make often become an heirloom. So I get people that want one just to hang on the wall; I get people that camp with them; and I also make firefighter axes. I make wood-splitting axes and wood-carving axes. Everything usually sells in minutes. My custom work will appear on my website and usually last from five seconds to a day. The axes will go in seconds.”

*** These days, Hoffman offers weeklong one-on-one classes for folks from around the world who want to learn the art of blacksmithing. He has had students come to the High Country

A SHIELD Hoffman made in high school hangs in his shop.

mountains from as far away as Australia. While he will go to the occasional trade show, usually just the annual Blade Show held every June in Atlanta (it is billed as “the world’s largest knife show”), there is little point in attending most events like that because Hoffman could better spend his time in his shop filling orders. As for the historical side to the blacksmithing tradition, Hoffman is well-versed in the tools of the 1700s, and fascinated by how the humans of thousands of years ago figured out how to melt and make things out of soft copper, learned how to smelt iron, and discovered that brass is made by mixing copper and zinc, while bronze is made by mixing copper and tin. He chalks all of those earlier advances up to the same processes that worked for him—trial and error; hard work and dedication—and pushed him to be the best at his craft. With blacksmithing his chosen profession, Hoffman now has three employees that work for him, including a fulltime person and others who take care of emails, shipping,

leather-working, invoicing, and helping in the shop. He has a high-tech camera on a tall tripod in his shop at all times, ready to give potential customers some photographs of his works in progress via his website and social media. As a young entrepreneur who has found his passion in an art form half a millennium old, he harnesses the power of the modern digital world to market and sell his work. Hoffman, incidentally, is adding “author” to his resume. Shortly after Christmas he published a book titled Forged: A Guide to Becoming a Blacksmith, which he’s distributing through Amazon. He says that it came about after he noticed a pattern of constant questions about blacksmithing being asked of him online, so he began compiling notes and writing the book a little at a time in order to answer the questions. “The main focus of my book is to help people become a blacksmith from the ground up in a straightforward, and expeditious manner. I provide information regarding which tools are essential, which are luxury, how much they cost, where to get them, how long it will take to get them, and what January 2018 | capitalatplay.com 25

A XE HANDLES

COOLING DOWN a worked piece of iron.

you can expect different shop budgets to do for you in terms of quantity and quality of output in product. “The second half of my book addresses a topic that isn’t discussed in other blacksmithing books, and that is how to teach yourself. In the modern world we can no longer apprentice

simple steak knife. And even though he is just 21 years old, yet has experienced worldwide success, that first sell remains special to him. At the same time, he is not one to rest on his laurels, as his creative side is always in motion, always looking for a new way to hammer some red hot piece of metal into something fresh and new. “I am constantly trying to come up with different things,” says Hoffman. “Usually, when I make something unique, I just wing it. When I’m starting to make something new and I’m forging, I wing it and see what happens. Now, I [also] have a couple of knives that I make over and over again that are my design that you can order, when I open my waiting list back up.” As Hoffman moves forward with an expanded business and fresh designs, plus a forging reputation that continues to grow,

“When I’m starting to make something new and I’m forging, I wing it and see what happens.” under a master blacksmith for a decade without pay, and so most of us resort to self-teaching. There are tips and tricks for doing this efficiently and effectively to make sure you excel on the learning curve, and I talk about that in depth.” Reflecting on his beginnings, Hoffman says he is still friends with the customer who bought the first piece he ever sold, a 26

| January 2018

the creative vision that got him to this point is what he hopes will get him to the next level. At the heart of that vision is a curiosity-driven mind, the aforementioned—and uniquely human—process known as trial and error, plus a lasting, remarkably intense work ethic.

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January 2018 | capitalatplay.com 27

CAROLINA in the

WEST [

news briefs

Certified & Remunerated rutherford county

Pangaea Plants received a $10,000 check as its reward for being selected as America’s Best Farm Startup in the American Farm Bureau’s 2018 Rural Entrepreneurship Challenge. The company was selected from among applicants from 47 states in a contest seeking to recognize diverse and emerging trends. Founder Gabriel Noard grows, processes, and packages herbs, supplements, and teas for retail. His business is the only medicinal herb grower and packager to be Biodynamic Certified by Demeter USA, a nonprofit advocate for agricultural practices that promote harmonious life cycles for a healthy planet. In the near future, Noard hopes to begin offering a training and certification course for career-minded growers. It will provide an

| January 2018

]

in-depth mix of tradition and science and cover topics like growing, healthy eating, food safety law, laboratory skills, and accounting and marketing. It will further connect students with agricultural service organizations like the state’s Cooperative Extension, the Organic Growers School, the Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project, and Mountain BizWorks.

Taking a Gamble haywood county

Video gambling has been playing a game of cat and mouse with the state for years. Each time the state outlaws the games, the industry invents a creative workaround. Most recently, Nudge City opened a video gaming parlor in Waynesville. It looks like any other casino, with dim lights and comfortable chairs at

gaming stations. Its sign is even a takeoff on the famous Las Vegas logo. The difference is, its videos are games of skill, so they don’t quite fall under the ban on games of chance. Owner Tami Nicholson received a permit of occupancy from the town and opened shop. Now, the town is saying Nicholson had been misleading on her application, listing the business as “retail.” The planning board had decided legal types of gaming parlors are only suitable for districts designated for heavy commercial use. They argue if Nicholson wants to stay open, she can relocate to one of three districts, but Nicholson says that would be too expensive. Her attorney, Mark Melrose, says the town should be welcoming of establishments that draw business and pay taxes.

Riveting buncombe county

Dave Steel, a family-owned steel fabricator, began making beams for bridges in Asheville before the Great Depression and before the days of hydraulic punches and cranes. Its first major project was the construction of the American Enka plant in 1932. Now it has announced another family-owned business, Walters Group, has purchased a minority interest in the

company. Whereas Dave Steel specializes in the precision design and manufacturing of structural steel, Walters Group is a full-service steel company that also delivers and erects steel frames. Walters Group runs three plants in Ontario, and the merger will give it a physical presence in the United States, plus opportunities to collaborate on Dave Steel projects. Dave Steel will benefit by being able to offer customers full-service in-house. Both companies will benefit from shared resources and economies of scale; namely, buying power and the competitive edge this can create. The merger will also help with successorship planning. Dave Steel will continue to operate as a separate organization under its current president, Jeffrey Dave.

Guitars Solve Everything buncombe county

Weaverville-based Dream Guitars has stepped up to help hurricane victims in Puerto Rico. Paul Heumiller runs a guitar shop as a labor of love. He and virtuoso Martin Simpson wanted to buy and sell fine guitars from the best luthiers all over the world. The finely and uniquely crafted instruments in their collection retail for thousands and tens of thousands

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of dollars. They have since begun refurbishing them as well. Heumiller describes Dream Guitar employees as caring about the world; he personally teaches yoga in prisons in his downtime. The idea of auctioning guitars for charity began when Dream Guitars helped David Wilcox auction a Rainsong guitar for Hurricane Harvey relief. In the devastating wake of Hurricane María, the folks at Dream Guitars auctioned two of their own. It caught on, and, as Heumiller describes it, “cool people are now offering us guitars” from all over the world. To date, Dream Guitars has auctioned a White Rose guitar by Canadian guitar builder Linda Manzer, a Martin D-28, a Kiwi from New Zealand luthier Laurie Williams, a Grand Auditorium from Leo Posch, and a Charis Dream Series SJ guitar. Donating 25% of proceeds, they’ve raised $6,124 for Puerto Rico’s first lady’s United for Puerto Rico fund. They’ve also raised $2,250 for the California Fire Foundation through the auction of a 1986 Somogyi Mod D Brazilian/Sitka guitar.

Gold Stars, Green Earth watauga county

Appalachian State University (ASU) received hig h rank ings again in

carolina in the west

the Association for Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education’s Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System (STARS), a tool for gauging the relative degree to which institutions of higher learning are implementing planet-friendly initiatives. Rankings were prepared in 18 categories from data submitted by 828 participating institutions. ASU placed first among institutions awarding at least 50 master’s degrees and fewer than 20 doctoral degrees each year. The school scored 38.22 of 40 points in academic categories, 20 of 20 points in campus engagement, and 16 of 18 in research. ASU offers 228 undergraduate and 82 graduate courses on sustainability-related topics, and an additional 876 courses addressing sustainability but not as their focus. It furthermore has hosted the Appalachian Energy Summit since 2011, and as a result, the 17 University of North Carolina system campuses have saved $499 million in utility costs. The college is now working toward eliminating all trips to the landfill with a focus on purchasing practices. ASU also received high scores for building operations, maintenance, design, and indoor air quality. For this and more, ASU will retain its STARS Gold status, which it shares with 104 other schools.

Creating & Sharing SPICES • TEAS • FLAVORED SUGARS SALTS • CUSTOM BLENDS • GIFTS January 2018 | capitalatplay.com 29

carolina in the west

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Businesses in the Lumberyard Arts District in Brevard hosted a block party and invited the public. Maps and a schedule of events were available at all businesses. Attractions included music, televised college sports, drinks, and hors d’oeuvres. Many working artists were on-hand giving demonstrations. Wheelhouse Builders gave passersby a chance to make their own timber pegs while a timber-frame structure was being hoisted inside. An artist painted, a woodworker turned, a fish fly-tyer tied, and amazing stuff sat around to be admired. Cycling enthusiasts enjoyed fellowship and networking on a group ride sponsored by Squatch Bikes & Brews. Some shops didn’t need any extra flavor to intrigue visitors. The Haen Gallery frequently refreshes its display of international selections in 14,000 square feet of show space, and Area 22 Guitars, in addition to being a recording studio, sells and showcases boutique guitars. Food trucks from Amazing Pizza Company, Butter & Blooms, and Wild Indigo Catering managed the pop-up food court. The event was billed as a celebration of a year of incredible growth.

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From Trees & About Trees ashe county

West Jefferson nurseryman Doug Munroe has published his first book, The Trees of Ashe County, North Carolina. It’s a glossy, 259-page book, with 165 color photographs of trees and their leaves. It provides physical descriptions of common, rare, and extinct species and their role in the ecosystem. Ashe County is a mixed hardwood forest, receiving 40-60 inches of rainfall a year. Altitudes range from mountains nearly a mile above sea level to valleys formed

Economics for a Kinder, Greener World buncombe county

Faculty at Warren Wilson College (W WC) have approved a proposal from new professor Alfredo Rosete to launch a degree program in economics. Although WWC didn’t offer the degree, Rosete says he was attracted to WWC because of the level of student engagement in meaningful activities and the college’s emphasis on sustainability and social justice. Rosete said an angle people often miss is that economics is “about figuring out how we can make a better world.” Rosete envisions his degree program would introduce students to theory and teach analytical and quantitative skills. Students would have a choice between two concentrations. One, with a focus on business, would teach things like strategic thinking, how to interpret market signals, and people skills for the office. The other, with a political focus, would touch on philosophy and political science and consider forces that inform public policy. Since the WWC experience is based

Mountain Angels watauga county

The High Country now has its first angel investment fund. Spearheaded by Chris Grasinger, the High Country Impact Fund resulted from collaboration among the Appalachian Regional Commission, a state and federal economic development partnership headquartered in Washington, DC; Ascent Business Network, a nonprofit specializing in training entrepreneurs based in Boone; Mountain BizWorks, a nonprofit lending, investing in, and mentoring small businesses in Western North Carolina; RAIN Source Capital Management, an angel investor group out of Minneapolis, Minnesota; and Startup High Country, an organization providing counseling and capital to tech startups in Boone. The fund has been initially capitalized with $500,000, and the member investors who manage it plan to award $35,000-$100,000 in seed capital to early-stage businesses with high potential for generating meaningful, high-paying jobs in the High Country and industrial-strength returns for investors. Members will provide mentoring to startups to establish a solid foundation, and secondary investments may be made when it makes sense to investors. Based in Boone, the fund will serve startups in Watauga, Wilkes, Ashe, and Avery counties and Johnson County, Tennessee.

EILEEN FISHER

on applied learning, degree candidates would serve on teams as business consultants. Graduates should be prepared to continue in academia or to pursue careers in advocacy, leadership, or entrepreneurship. Rosete’s program, is still in the formative stages, and it is yet to be approved by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.

CELEBRATING 21 YEARS!

by one of the oldest river systems in the world. Charlotte-born Munroe acted on his lifelong passion, buying a 35-acre farm in Western North Carolina in 1976 when he was just 25 years old. He started a robust ornamental tree nursery, which continues to thrive, and just a few years ago, he began making his own maple syrup as a hobby. Now with 450 taps, that, too, is a successful business, Waterfall Farm. One of the few commercial syrup operations in the Southeast, it has been featured in local publications and the New York Times. The book includes special angles on the nursery business, sugaring for maple syrup, and the history of heritage apple trees. Published by McFarland & Company, the book launched with a signing at the Florence Thomas Art School in downtown West Jefferson

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local industry

Man•u•fac•ture

verb: to make, produce, mass-produce, build, construct, assemble, put together, create, fabricate, turn out, process, or engineer (something) on a large scale using machinery (see: ambiguous...)

s has become our annual custom, the Capital at Play Local Industry report for the January issue is a list of manufacturers that exist in our 18 counties of Western North Carolina. It has turned out to be a valuable resource, to say the least. As we have previously noted, “There are many organizations providing useful lists, either as a public service (as the many we spoke with do) or for sale. We found that while these lists are relatively accurate at a local level, there were more discrepancies as the area of interest becomes larger.” So the idea was to: (a) independently verify, through good old-fashioned research, as much of the information as possible that was supplied to us; (b) subsequently compile a comprehensive master list, broken down by county, with the names of regional manufacturers along with the type(s) of products they create; and (c) additionally maintain it as an online database that could be updated throughout the year. But what, exactly, is “manufacturing”? No doubt the term instantly brings to mind a sprawling factory floor, machines lining the sides and aisles, and sweat-drenched employees manning those machines and operating forklifts to move the goods being produced from one end of the room to the other. To a degree, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (and the North American Industry Classification System) similarly describes the Manufacturing sector: “Establishments engaged in the mechanical, physical, or chemical transformation of materials, substances, or components into new products. Establishments in the Manufacturing sector are often described as plants, factories, or mills, and characteristically use power-driven machines and materials-handling equipment.” But the description then broadens to include “establishments that transform materials or substances into new products by hand or in the worker's home, and those engaged in selling to the general public products made on the same premises from which they are sold, such as bakeries, candy stores, and custom tailors, may also be included in this sector. Manufacturing establishments may process materials or may contract with other establishments to process their materials for them. Both types of establishments are included in manufacturing.” So there does remain a degree of ambiguity in any such investigation—for example, for our purposes, breweries, wineries, and distilleries are also considered manufacturers—and your comments and corrections since our list was originally published have been greatly appreciated. To view the online version, go to CapitalatPlay.com/resources. If you see a listing for a company that has closed, or know of something we’ve overlooked, please email us at editor@ capitalatplay.com. We value your opinion. 32

| January 2018

KEY

Business Name (Known date

established in Western North Carolina) Description of product Employees FT: Full-time PT: Part-time Otherwise, numbers represent a range.

Avery Addco Manufacturing Company Auto Sway Bars

Banner Elk Winery Winery Employees FT: 4

Banner’s Cabinets Incorporated

Custom Cabinetry & Doors

Blind Squirrel Brewery Brewery Employees FT: 25 PT: 5

Carolina Swaybar Auto Sway Bars

Flat Top Brewing Co. Brewery Employees FT: 4 PT: 3

Grandfather Vineyard & Winery Winery Employees FT: 3 PT: 3

Ability Prosthetics & Orthotics, Inc. (1994)

Appalachian Technology, LLC (2001)

Accurate Technology, Inc. (ATI) (1989)

Appalachian Tool & Machine, Inc. (1990)

Surgical Appliances & Supplies Employees: 10 -19

Instruments and Related Products Employees: 5- 9

Adams Products (1935)

Concrete Blocks & Bricks Employees: 20 -49

Addison Farms Vineyard Winery Employees PT: 5

Advantage Printing (1981) Commercial Printing Employees: 10 -19

Aeroflow Health Care

Medical Equipment & Supplies Employees: 20-49

Air-Vent Exteriors, Inc. (1984) Canvas & Related Products Mills Employees: 20 -49

Allegra Print & Imaging (1986)

Commercial Lithographic Printing Employees: 5-9

Alliance-Carolina Tool and Mold Corp. (1964)

Linville Falls Winery

Industrial Molds Employees: 10-19

Vance Toe River Lodge

Alliance-Carolina Tool and Mold Corp. (Plastics Division) (1983)

Winery Employees FT: 2 PT: 5 Winery

Buncombe A & M Tool - M Division, Inc. (1980) Industrial Molds Employees: 20-49

A Stitch-N-Time (1964)

Plastics Products Employees: 50-99

AMC, Inc., Steel Division (1984) Fabricated Structural Metal Employees: 10-19

AMCOR (1965)

Plastics Products Employees: 50- 99

Embroidery Shop Employees: 5-9

American Backcountry

A-B Emblem - A Division of Conrad Industries, Inc. (1963)

Andy Oxy Co., Inc. (1946)

Embroidered Emblems & Patches Employees: 50-99

Apparel

Industrial Gas Employees: 20- 49

Apothecary Beverage Co. (2017) Gin

Electronic Locks Employees: 20- 49

Machine Shops Employees: 20- 49

Arcadia Dairy Farms, Inc. (1940)

Fruit & Vegetable Canning: Bottlers Employees: 20- 49

Archetype Brewing Brewery

Asheville Citizen-Times (1870) Newspaper Employees: 100-199

Asheville Distilling Co. Distillery Employees FT: 5 PT: 2

Asheville Hose & Equipment (1981)

Rubber & Plastics Hose & Belting Employees: 10-19

Asheville Metal Finishing, Inc., Div. of TLF, Inc. (1983)

Electroplating, Plating, Polishing, Anodizing & Coloring Employees: 10-19

Asheville Paint & Powder Coat, Inc., Div. of TLF, Inc. (1992) Metal Coating, Engraving & Allied Services Employees: 20-49

Asheville Pizza & Brewing Company (1995) Breweries Employees: 100-199

Asheville Rubber & Gasket Co., Inc.

Special Dies & Tool Die Sets, Jigs & Fixtures Employees: 10-19

Astral Buoyancy Company (2003) Life Preservers Employees: 10-19

Atlas Precision Mold, Inc. (1974) Machine Shops Employees: 20-49

Atlas Precision, Inc. Tooling Division (1979) Special Dies & Tool Die Sets, Jigs & Fixtures Employees: 20-49

Autronic Plastics Inc. API South (1998)

Custom Injection Molding Employees: 20-49

Avadim Technologies

Medical Hygiene Product Employees: 135

Avail, a Flextronics Medical Company (1995) Plastics Products Employees: 50-99

AvL Technologies, Inc. (1994)

Mobile Satellite Antenna Systems Employees: 100-199

B & H Environmental & Sheet Metal Contractors Inc. (1976) Sheet Metal Work Employees: 5-9

Baity’s Precision Machining, Inc. (1985) Machine Shops Employees: 10-19

Balcrank Corporation (1982) General Purpose Machinery Employees: 20-49

Baldor Electric Company (1979) Mechanical Power Transmission Equipment Employees: 100-199

Balls Machine & Manufacturing Co., Inc. (1976) Solar Array Stands

Basofil Fibers, LLC (2002) Cellulosic Organic Fibers Employees: 10-19

Bee & Bramble Fine Meads Winery Employees FT: 1

Ben’s Brewery

Brewery Employees FT: 2 PT: 1

Bhramari Brewhouse Brewery Employees FT: 3 PT: 3

January 2018 | capitalatplay.com

local industry

Biltmore Estate Winery (1983)

Burial Beer

Biltmore Iron & Metal Company, Inc. (1948)

C & H Tooling, Inc.(1981)

Wineries Employees: 200-299

Recyclable Material/ Scrap Metal Processing Employees: 10-19

BlackBird Frame & Art (2002)

Brewery Employees FT: 9 PT: 8 Machine Shops Employees: 20-49

Carolina Knife Company, Inc. (1977)

Frames

Hand & Edge Tools Employees: 20-49

Black Mountain Ciderworks

Carolina Metals, Inc. (1985)

Cidery Employees FT: 2 PT: 1

Aircraft Engine & Engine Parts Employees: 20-49

Black Mountain Machine & Fabrication, Inc. (1985)

Carolina Ready Mix & Builders Supply, Inc. (2007)

Blue Mountain Pizza and Brewpub

Carolina StoneWorks (1894)

Machine Shops Employees: 20-49

Ready-Mix Concrete Employees: 20-49

Cut Stone & Stone Products Employees: 10-19

Brewery Employees FT: 1 PT: 1

Blue Ridge Biofuels (2005) Organic Chemicals Employees: 5-9

Blue Ridge Bracket Company/ Just Rock It (2009)

Catawba Brewing Co.

Brewery Employees FT: 20 PT: 20

Celtic Ocean International, Inc./Grain & Salt Society (1968)

Brackets

Food Products Employees: 20-49

Blue Ridge Brittle Co.(2013)

City Bakery & Café (2001)

Peanut, Pecan, & Jalapeno Brittle

Blue Ridge Chair Works Furniture

Clark Communications (1976)

Blue Ridge Converting (1935) Nonwoven Fabric Mills Employees: 10-19

Commercial Printing Employees: 20-49

Colton Mattress (2009) Custom Mattresses Employees: 6

Blue Ridge Printing Company, Inc. (1974)

Commercial Lithographic Printing Employees: 10-19

BorgWarner Turbo Systems (1981) Motor Vehicle Parts Employees: 500-749

Colbond, Inc. (1995)

Artificial and Synthetic Fibers and Filaments Employees: 200-299

Crawford Sign Company (1952)

BP Solutions Group, Inc. (1925) Commercial Printing Employees: 20-49

Signs Employees: 5 -9

Creative Woodcrafters, Inc. (1976)

Braiform (1996)

Commercial & Residential cabinets Employees: 5 -9

Plastics Products Employees: 100 -199

Brisco, Inc. (1966)

Cross Canvas Company, Inc. (1986)

Commercial & Service Industry Machinery Employees: 20-49

Retail Bakers Employees: 20-49

Textile Bag Mills Employees: 20-49 | January 2018

Cormark International

Exotic wood importer/processing

Custom Packaging, LP (1970)

Corrugated & Solid Fiber Boxes Employees: 50-99

Dalton Distillery

Distillery Employees FT: 3 PT: 2

The Daniels Group (1948)

Commercial Printing & Marketing Employees: 20-49

Dave Steel Company, Inc. (1929) Fabricated Structural Metal Employees: 50-99

DC Creasman Manufacturer of Fine Jewelry Inc. (1979) Jewelry Employees: 5 -9

Deltec Homes, Inc. (1968)

Prefabricated Wood Buildings Employees: 50-99

Eagles Nest Outfitters Parachute Hammocks & Outdoor Accessories

Eaton Corporation Electrical Division (1977) Motors & Generators Employees: 750-999

Eaton Corporation - Electrical Division - Avery’s Creek (1977) Motors & Generators Employees: 200-299

Echoview Farms & Industries (2005) Textile Mills Employees: 5-9

Eda Rhyne Distillery

FASTSIGNS (1995) Signs Employees: 10-19

Fed Ex Kinko’s Office & Print Center

Commercial Lithographic Printing Employees: 20-49

Flint Group (1941)

Textile Machinery Employees: 300-399

FLS Energy, Inc. (2006)

Sustainable Energy Systems Employees: 50 -99

Forest Millwork, Inc. (1991)

Millwork (Including Flooring) Employees: 20-49

Frame It to a “T” Frames

French Broad Brewing Company (1998) Brewery Employees: FT: 5 PT: 9

French Broad Chocolates (2008) Chocolate, Confectionary Made From Cacao Beans Employees: 20-49

Frugal Framer Inc. (1975) Frames Employees: 5-9

Funkatorium (see Wicked Weed)

Brewery

GE Aviation (1949)

Aircraft Engines & Parts Employees: 300 -399

Gennett Lumber Company, Inc. (1901)

Distillery

Millwork (Including Flooring ) Employees: 5-9

Electrolux Major Appliances of North America (1987)

Ginger’s Revenge

Major Appliances Employees: 100-199

Fahrenheit Brewing Brewery

Farnam Custom Products, Inc. (1981) Industrial Process Furnaces & Ovens Employees: 50-99

Brewery

Golf Associates Score Card Company/GA Printing (1970) Commercial Lithographic & Digital Printing Employees: 20-49

Goodwill Industries of North Carolina Inc. (1968) Various Manufacturing Employees: 100-199

Goworx

Accessories For GoPro’s HERO ® Camera

Great Eastern Sun Trading Company (1981)

Natural/Organic Food Distributor Employees: 10-19

Green Man Brewing Company (2003)

I Play, Inc. (1982)

Infants’ Cut & Sew Apparel Employees: 50- 99

ImageSmith Communications (1983)

Commercial Lithographic Printing Employees: 10-19

Industries for the Blind (1936)

King Bio, Inc.(1989)

Pharmaceutical Preparation Employees: 50-99

Krispy Kreme Doughnut Corp. (1982) Doughnuts Employees: 20-49

Metalcraft Manufacturing Corp. (1969) Precision Turned Products Employees:5-9

Milkco, Inc. (1982)

Fluid Milks Employees: 200-299

Kwik Copy Printing (1984)

Mills Manufacturing Corp. (1952)

Laser Precision Cutting, Inc. (1989)

Moog Music, Inc. (1978)

Brewery Employees: 5-9

Textile & Fabric Finishing (except Broadwoven Fabric) Mills Employees: 100-199

Goddess Ghee (2014)

Industry Nine Componentry

Ghee in Multiple Flavors

Bicycle Wheels

Plate Work Employees: 5-9

Grove Stone & Sand Company (1924)

Injection Technology Corp. (ITECH) (1987)

Lenscrafters (1997)

Moss Sign Company (1994)

Cut Stone & Stone Products Employees: 50-99

Plastics Products Employees: 100-199

Groves Printing Company, Inc. (1960)

Ism, Inc. (1983)

Lentz Cabinets & Associates, LLC (1989)

Mountain Glass Arts Inc.

Commercial Lithographic Printing Employees: 5-9

H&H Distillery

Distillery Employees FT: 2 PT: 3

Habitat Brewing Company Brewery Employees FT: 2 PT: 2

Harrison Construction (1965) Asphalt Paving Mixture & Block Employees: 100 -199

Hi-Wire Brewing

Brewery Employees FT: 21 PT: 7

Highland Brewing, Inc. (1994) Brewery Employees: 50-99

Highwater Clays, Inc. (1980)

Sheet Metal Work Employees: 20-49

Iwanna USA LLC (1976)

Jacob Holm Industries (Americas), Inc. (2004)

Lightheart Gear

Nonwoven Fabric Mills Employees: 50-99

Jewels That Dance (1983)

Agriculture, Construction and Mining Machinery Employees: 50-99

Precious Metal Jewelry Employees: 5-9

Just Ducky Originals/ Children’s (1980)

Infants’ Cut & Sew Apparel Employees: 20-49

Journeys (2004)

Soaps, Lip Balms, Lotions, Bath Salts, Candles

Karen’s Spice Kitchen (2016)

Hillman Beer

Hoya of Asheville (1986) Eyeglasses Employees: 5-9

Brewery

Tents & Outdoor Apparel

Karpen Steel Custom Doors & Frames (1977)

Distillery Employees FT: 3

Wood Kitchen Cabinets & Countertops Employees: 20-49

Lexington Avenue Brewery

Blended Spice Packets

Howling Moon Distillery

Eyeglasses Employees: 5-9

Newspapers & Printing Employees: 50-99

Lead Pencil & Art Goods Employees: 20-49 Brewery Employees FT: 8 PT: 4

Commercial Printing

Metal Window & Door Employees: 20-49

Kearfott Guidance & Navigation Corp. (1955) Electronic Components Employees: 400-499

Keen Impressions, Inc. (1991)

Commercial Lithographic Printing Employees: 10-19

Linamar Corporation (2011)

Lookout Brewing

Brewery Employees FT: 4 PT: 3

M B Marketing & Manufacturing (1984)

GM Restoration Car Parts Employees: 5-9

Make Noise Co. (2012)

Electronic Gear & Synthesizers

Textile Product Mills Employees:100-199 Musical Instruments Employees: 50-99 Signs Employees: 10-19

Pressed & Blown Glass & Glassware Employees: 10-19

Mountain Marble & Granite, Inc. (1994)

Cut Stone & Stone Products Employees: 10-19

National Wiper Alliance, Inc. (1996)

Nonwoven Fabric Mills Employees: 100-199

New Belgium Brewing Company Brewery Employees: 133

Nexus Technologies, Inc. (1997)

Electronic Engineering & Design Employees: 20-49

Noble Cider

Cidery Employees FT: 6 PT: 3

Normac, Inc. (1967)

Marine Systems, Inc. (1982)

Machine Tools (Metal Cutting Types) Employees: 20-49

Mathis Electronics (1980)

Nova Enterprises - Nova Kitchen & Bath (1978)

Plastic Products Employees: 10-19

Printed Circuit Assembly (Electronic Assembly) Employees: 10-19

Medical Action Industries, Inc. (1981)

Surgical Appliances & Supplies Employees: 300-399

Cut Stone & Stone Products Employees: 50-99

Nypro Asheville (1988) Plastics Products Employees: 300-399

Oak & Grist Distilling Co. Distillery

January 2018 | capitalatplay.com

local industry

Ohio Electric Motors, Inc. (1979) Motors & Generators Employees: 50-99

Oliver Business Products (1969) Commercial Printing Employees: 10-19

Pet Dairy (1950)

Milk & Ice Cream Employees: 20-49

PGC, Inc Parameter Generation & Control, Inc. (1977)

Rightline Gear

Automotive Accessories

Riverbend Malt House (2011) Locally Soured Craft Malt Employees FT: 9

Temperature Instruments & Related Products Employees: 20-49

Road King Trailers, Inc. (2002)

Pisgah Brewing Co.

Roots Hummus (2006)

Open Brewing

Brewery Employees FT: 10 PT: 6

Hummus Employees FT: 34 PT: 2

Optical Cable Corporation (1990)

Plasticard-Locktech International (1988)

ST& F Precision Technologies & Tools (1992)

One World Brewery Brewery Employees FT: 13 PT: 2 Brewery

Boat Trailers Employees: 20-49

Electronic Connectors Employees: 50-99

Plastics Products Employees: 300-399

Hand & Edge Tools Employees: 10-19

Orthopedic Appliance Company, Inc. (1960)

PolyLINKS, Inc. (1996)

Samson Corp. (1993)

Surgical Appliances & Supplies Employees: 10-19

Port City Amplification (2005) Guitar Amplifiers & Effects Pedals

OTS Corp. (1990)

Surgical Appliances & Supplies Employees: 20-49

Oyster House Brewing Co. Brewery Employees FT: 15 PT: 3

Palmer Wahl Temperature Instruments (1836) Temperature Instruments & Related Products Employees: 20-49

Parts & Systems Company, Inc. - PASCO (1987) Textile Machinery Employees: 5-9

Precision Products of Asheville, Inc. (1960)

Machine Shops Employees: 20-49

Precision Products Performance Center, Inc. (1985)

Lawn & Garden Tractor & Home Lawn & Garden Equip. Employees: 20-49

Pentair Valves & Controls (1982) Industrial Valves Employees: 100-199

Speed Changers & Industrial High-Speed Drive & Gears Employees: 20-49

Perfection Tool Die & Mold (1987)

Special Die & Tool Die Set, Jig & Fixtures Employees: 5-9

Commercial Screen Printing Employees: 10-19

Sew Link (1991)

Apparel & Home DĂŠcor

Shecology (2014)

Soap Nuts & Laundry Pills

Promatic Automation, Inc. (2000)

SimpleShot Shooting Sports

Factory Automation Equipment Employees: 10-19 Plastic Injection Molding & Engineering Employees FT: 10-19

Ramsey Group, Inc. (1989) Soap & Other Detergent Employees: 5-9 Cutlery and Flatware (Except Precious) Employees: 5-9

Reich LLC (2010)

Transmissions & Parts, Automotive, Truck & Bus Employees: 100-199

Renaissance Glass, Inc. (1976) Glass Products (Made of Purchased Glass) Employees FT: 10 PT: 19 | January 2018

Screenprinting, Inc. (1994)

Silver-Line Plastics Corp. (1962)

Randall King Knives Inc. (2003)

Perfection Gear, Inc. (1983)

General Purpose Machinery (Merchant Wholesalers) Employees: 20-49

Motor Vehicle Transmission & Power Train Parts Employees: 20-49

R & D Plastics, Inc (1979)

Peco, Inc. (1973)

Plastics Products Employees: 20-49

Plastic Pipe & Pipe Fitting Employees: 100-199 Slingshots

Skyland Prosthetics & Orthotics, Inc. (1979)

Surgical Appliances & Supplies Employees: 10-19

Smithway, Inc. (1980) Truck Trailers Employees: 20-49

Smokey Mountain Lumber, Inc. (1977)

Millwork (including Flooring) Employees: 5-9

Smoky Mountain Machining, Inc. (1978) CNC Machine Shop Employees: 50-99

Solarnomics (1976) Machine Shops Employees: 10-19

Southeastern Container, Inc. (1982) Plastic Bottles Employees: 100-199

Southern Concrete Materials, Inc. (1958) Ready-Mix Concrete Employees: 200-299

Spego, Inc. (1991)

Metalworking Machinery Employees: 5-9

Signarama. (2011) Signs, Banners, Displays Springs Global (1972)

Nonwoven Fabric Mills Employees: 50-99

Stahlsac Inc. (1978)

Textile Bags & Canvas Employees: 10-19

Stampco Metal Products, Inc. (1969) Metal Stamping Employees: 10-19

Stephens Upholstery Company, Inc. (1972)

Reupholstery & Furniture Repair Employees: 5-9

Stepps Stone Work, Inc./J.R. Stone Sales, Inc. (1976) Cut Stone & Stone Products Employees: 10-19

Stuart Nye Hand Wrought Jewelry (1933) Precious Metal Jewelry Employees: 5-9

Swaygo Gear (2001)

Backpacks & Caving Gear

Sweeten Creek Brewing Brewery Employees FT: 3 PT: 6

T Precision Machining, Inc. (1999) Machine Shops Employees: 20-49

T-Fab & Precision Machining, Inc., Div. of TLF, Inc. (1998) Machine Shops Employees: 50-99

TE Connectivity (1980)

Relay & Industrial Control Employees: 200-299

Terra Forma Outdoor Solutions

Self-Adjusting Outdoor Chair

The Chocolate Fetish, LLC (1986)

Vulcan Materials Company - Mideast Division (1964) Cut Stone & Stone Products Employees: 20-49

W. P. Hickman Company (1975)

Confectionery Mfg. from Purchased Chocolate Employees: 10-19

Sheet Metal Work Employees: 50-99

The Old Wood Company (2007) Hand-built Wood Furniture

Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc. (1981)

Air-Conditioning, Refrigeration, & Warm Air Heating Equipment Employees: 500-749

Thirsty Monk (3 locations) Brewery Employees FT: 30 PT: 16

Threshold Provisions Food Products

TransEco Energy Corp. (2006) Energy Development & Conservation Employees: 10-19

Trident Micro Systems (1996) Wireless Communications Equipment Employees: 20-49

Turgua Farmstead Brewery Brewery

Turnamics, Inc. (1969)

Precision Turned Products Employees: 20-49

Twin Leaf Brewery

Cidery Employees FT: 10 PT: 6

Vertique, Inc. (1997)

Conveyor & Conveying Equipment Employees: 50-99

Cherokee Brewery Employees FT: 1

Wedge Brewing Co.

Andrews Truss, Inc.

Brewery Employees FT: 3 PT: 28

Roof & Floor Trusses

Welding Unlimited (1995)

Winery

Ornamental Iron & Steel Rails Employees: 20-49

West Asheville Standup Paddle Boarding (WASUP) Standup Paddle Boards

Whistle Hop Brewing Co. Brewery Employees FT: 2 PT: 2

White Labs

Yeast & Brewery

Wicked Weed Brewing (includes Funkatorium)

Calaboose Cellars Cherokee Cellars Winery Winery Employees FT: 2

Cherokee Scout, Inc

Newspapers & Printing

Creative Sportswear, Inc

Embroidery & Screen Printing

Hoppy Trout Brewing Co. (2016) Brewery

Industrial Opportunities Inc.

Brewery Employees: 200-299

Non-profit organization serving adults with disabilities from Cherokee, Clay, & Graham Counties.

Wilbert Vault. Co. (1966)

Lidseen of North Carolina Inc.

Burial Caskets Employees: 20-49

Williams Plating Company, Inc. (1982)

Wishbone Tiny Homes (2011)

Urban Orchard Cider Company

Brewery

Andrews Brewing Co.

U.S. Gear Tools - Division of U.S. Group, Inc. (1971)

Brewery Employees: 7

Zillicoah Beer Co. (2017)

Waterproof Bags & Outdoor Products

Electroplating, Plating, Polishing, Anodizing & Coloring Employees: 10-19

Upcountry Brewing

Brewery

Watershed Dry Bags

Brewery Employees FT: 2 PT: 4

Hand & Edge Tools Employees: 20-49

Zebulon Artisan Ales

Home Construction

WNC Pallet & Forest Products Company, Inc. (1959) Wood Containers & Pallets Employees: 20-49

Contract Manufacturing. Punch Presses - Blanking thru Deep Drawing. Plasma Cutting, with Blowing & Assembly. Production work only.

MGM Brakes

Brakes & Electronic Brake Monitoring Systems

Moog Components Group (1951) Motion Control Technology

Nottely River Valley Vineyards Winery Employees PT: 2

Woogie Foods (2015)

Snap-On Power Tools, Inc.

Wright Machine & Tool Company, Inc. (1970)

Team Industries Inc (1967)

Dipping Mustard Sauce

Machine Shop Employees: 20-49

York Label, Inc. (1984) Commercial Printer Employees: 20-49

Shop Equipment & Automotive Diagnostic Tools Precision Machining, Gear Manufacturing

Valley River Brewing Brewery Employees FT: 4 PT: 4

Valley River Vineyards Winery

Clay Advance Digital Cable Wire, Cable, & Plastics Employees: 50-99

BC Machining

Contract Manufacturing, Machining of Metal Parts

Buckhorn Lumber & Wood Products

Wood Products Employees: Less than 50

Coleman Cable, Inc.

Wire & Cable Products Employees: 50-99

Eagle Fork Vineyards Winery Employees:3

Lidseen of North Carolina Contract Manufacturing, Machining

Premium Knife Supply

Knife Manufacturing, Metals

Graham Oak Valley Hardwoods, Inc. (2009)

Hardwoods Employees: 25

Wehrloom Honey & Meadery (2015)

Mead, Honey & Natural Body Products Employees: 4

Haywood Alltec Corporation (1991)

Lightning Protection Equipment Employees: 20-49

Bearwaters Brewing Co. Brewery Employees FT: 4 PT: 2

Boojum Brewing (2 locations) Brewery Employees FT: 10 PT: 25

Canton Hardwood Company (1950)

Hardwood Dimension & Flooring Employees: 20-49 January 2018 | capitalatplay.com 37

local industry

Consolidated Metco Inc.

Sonoco

Automated Design Inc. (1985)

Elevated Mountain Distilling Co.

The Print Haus Inc. (1982)

Barnes 4WD (2006)

WNC Paving Company (1960)

Barry CallebautHendersonville (1987)

Commercial Vehicle Components

Distillery Employees FT: 10 PT: 25

Evergreen Packaging (1908)

Paper Mills (Except Newsprint) Employees: 1000-2999

Evergreen Packaging (Extrusion Mill) (1999)

Plastics, Foil & Coated Paper Bags Employees: 200-299

Frog Level Brewing Co. Brewery Employees FT: 2 PT: 2

Giles Chemical, A Division of Premier Magnesia, LLC (1950)

Inorganic Chemicals - Epsom Salts Employees: 50-99

Haywood Vocational Opportunities (1972)

Surgical & Medical Products Employees: 300-399

Holston Environmental Services, Inc (1977) Petroleum Lubricating Oil & Grease Employees: 5-9

Signs; Commercial Printing Employees: 10-19 Asphalt Paving Mixture & Block Mfg. Employees: 50-99

Henderson A & M Tool, Inc. (1980) Special Die & Tool, Die Set, Jig, & Fixtures Employees: 10-19

Air Chek, Inc. (1990)

Measuring & Controlling Devices Employees: 5-9

All Juice Food & Beverage, LLC (2002) Food Products Employees: 20-49

AlphaTech, Inc. (1999) Machine Shops Employees: 45

American Cable & Rigging Supply, Inc. (1987)

Mountaineer Publishing Inc.(1887) Newspapers & Printing Employees: 20-49

Lifting Products & Materials Employees: 5-9

American Pride, Inc. (2003)

Mrs. B's Homestyle Eatery (2017) Pies & Lasagna

Oaks Unlimited, Inc. (1982)

Kiln Dried Hardwood Lumber Employees: 20-49

Patti Boo, Inc. (1978) Screen Printed & Embroidered Apparel Employees: 5-9

Medicine cabinets, mirrors, frames Employees: 20-49

American Quality Foods/ Dover Foods (1994) Flour Mixes & Doughs Employees: 20-49

Appalachian Ridge Artisan Hard Cider (2017) Hard Cider

Powell Wholesale Lumber Company (2002) Cut Stock, Resawing Lumber & Planing Employees: 20-49

Asheville Thermoform Plastics, Inc. (ATP) (1986) Plastic Thermoforming Employees: 5-9

Roc-N-Soc Manufacturing (1990) Nonupholstered Wood Household Furniture Employees: 10-19

Packaging Products

| January 2018

Atlas Bolt & Screw Company Div. of Marmon Group, Inc. (1991) Nonferrous DieCasting Foundries Employees: 5-9

Machining Manufacturer

4 -Wheel Drive Parts

Chocolate & Cocoa Producers

Basic Brewing (2016) Brewery Employees FT: 2 PT: 2

Belmont Equipment & Technologies (1995) EDM

Betech, Inc. (1991)

Machines for HVAC Sheet Metal Employees: 20-49

Byers Precision Fabricators (1940) Sheet Metal Work Employees: 20-49

Candy Cakes Bath Bakery Bath & Body Products

Cane Creek Cycling Components, Inc. (1975)

Motorcycle, Bicycle & Parts Employees: 20-49

Carbo-Cut Inc. (1990)

Machining Manufacturer

Carolina Concrete Designs (1980) Concrete Products Employees: 10-19

Carolina Sewn (2002)

BIG Adventures (2012)

Manufacturer and wholesaler of bags & leather products

Black Star Line Brewing (2017)

City Bakery (2016)

Brewery

Baker

Blue Ghost Brewing Company

Coats North America (1951)

Brewery Employees FT: 2 PT: 2

Thread Mills Employees: 50-99

Blue Ridge Metals Corp. (1988)

Comax Industries (1987)

Motor Vehicle Steering & Suspension Components Employees: 100-199

Plastic Fabrication

Bold Rock Hard Cider (2015) Cidery

Industrial Manufacturing & Fabrication

Boondocks Manufacturing, Inc. (1972)

Continental Automotive Systems (1997)

BorgWarner Thermal Systems (Fletcher Plant) (1978)

Country Marble, Inc. (2005)

Bromley Plastics Corp. (1992)

Crothers Plastics Manufacturing (2008)

Brotherstone Granite LLC (2005)

Current, Powered By GE (1955)

Brunner & Lay

Dampp-Chaser Electronics Corp. (1950)

Prefabricated Wood Buildings Employees: 5-9

Gasoline Engine & Engine Parts Employees: 200-299 Plastic Fabrication Countertops

Pneumatic & Hydraulic Tool Accessories Employees FT: 10

Burntshirt Vineyards Winery Employees FT: 10

Congruent Concepts & Solutions LLC (2014)

Motor Vehicle Metal Stamping Employees: 750 -999 Cut Stone & Stone Products Employees: 20-49

Plastic Fabrication

LED lighting systems

Electric Housewares & Household Fans Employees: 20-49

Daystar Machining Technologies, Inc. (1999) Machine Shops Employees: 20-49

Delta Machining & Design, Inc. (1988) Machine Shops Employees: 5-9

Demmel Inc. (2016)

Automotive sillplates & emblems

Diamond Brand Gear Company (1939)

Canvas & Related Products Mills Employees: 50-99

Elkamet Inc. (2006)

Plastics & Polymer Materials Employees: 50-99

Etowah Valley Equipment (1985) Parts for Car Washes

Fiberglass & Plastics (1983) Plastic Fabrication

Fieldco Machining (1988)

Greenleaf Corporation (1981) Cutting Tool & Machine Tool Accessories Employees: 10-19

Green River Picklers (2012)

Pickled peppers, beet, beans and pickles

Hardin Company (1960) Pillow inserts, Duvets & Foam cut to size Employees: 20-49

Haynes Wire Company (1975)

Nonwoven Fabric Mills Employees: 200-299

Kingsway Ready Mix Concrete (1989)

Mills River Millworks (2005)

Moulding Products

Mimiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Mountain Mixes (2014) Bread Baking Mixes (add beer)

Minute Man Products, Inc. (1965)

Ready Mix Concrete Employees: 10-19

Misc. Metal Products Employees: 20-49

Konkos Cabinets (2005)

Mona Lisa Food Products, Inc. (1993)

Custom-made Cabinets

Kyocera Industrial Ceramics (1986)

Food Products Supplier Employees: 20-49

Wire Drawing Employees: 50-99

Ceramic Components Employees: 200-299

Mountain Machine Inc. (1986)

Heartland Harps & Music (1984)

Kyocera Precision Tools Inc. (2014)

Mountain Showcase Group, Inc. (1996)

Harps

Tools

Hedrick Industries - Green River Quarry (1993)

Lassonde Pappas & Company Inc. (1965)

Stone

Highland Tool & Gauge, Inc. (1971)

Machine Shops Employees: 5-9

Special Die & Tool Die Set, Jig & Fixtures Employees: 10-19

Flat Rock Ciderworks

Hill Precision & Tool LLC (2015)

Hard Cider Employees FT: 1 PT: 2

Kimberly-Clark Corp. (Berkley Mills Division) (1924)

Tool & Die Makers

Juices, Teas, Lemonades, Enhanced Waters & Cranberry Sauces

Leisure Craft, Inc. (1979) Showcase, Partition, Shelving & Lockers Employees: 50-99

Levi Industrial Group, Inc. (1995)

Cabinet Maker

Wood Kitchen Cabinets & Countertops Employees: 10-19

MRM Engraving (2002) Engraving

MTI Medical Cables LLC (1995) Custom Wire & Cable Assemblies for Healthcare Industry Multi-Packaging Solutions LTD (1959) Packaging Products

Machine Shops Employees: 5-9

Nash Welding (1962)

Imoco Inc. (1964)

Manual Woodworkers & Weavers, Inc. (1932)

National Wood Products (1968)

Sheet Metal/Fabrication Shop

Broadwoven Fabric Mills Employees: 100-199

Wood Containers & Pallets Employees: 5-9

Non-Chemical Water Conditioning Systems

Industrial Chemical Co. (2010)

Max Tec, Inc. (1983)

Norafin (Americas) Inc. (2012)

Framing Supplies Inc. (1972)

International Tela-Com of Asheville, Inc. (1969)

Flat Rock Tool & Mold (1971) Premier Injection & Carbide Compaction Mold Supplier

Fluidyne International LLC (1978)

Framing Supplies

GB Industries (1990) Rubber Gloves Employees: 9

GE Lighting Systems, Inc. (1955) Electric Lighting Fixtures Employees: 500-749

GF Linamar (2016)

Machining Manufacturer

Green Machine & Tool (1986) CNC Machining

Honeycommcore LLC (2009) Aluminum honeycomb cores

Commodity & Special Chemicals

Security cameras and gates Employees: 5-9

Jackson Steel, Inc. (1952)

Ornamental & Architectural Metal Products Employees: 20-49

Jade Systems (2006)

Ornamental Nursery Products

Kiln Drying Systems and Components, Inc. (1992) Industrial Machinery Employees: 10-19

Design & Fabrication of Nonwoven Converting Equipment

McFarlan Bakery (1930) Commercial Bakeries Employees: 10-19

Medical Cable Specialist - MTI (1991)

Surgical & Medical Instruments Employees: 20-49

Meritor, Inc. (1982)

Automotive Products Employees: 400- 499

Welding

Engineered Fabrics

North American Trade (2015) Unprimed Centerfire Ammunition Brass Cases

Northern Crescent Iron (2009) Professional Blacksmiths

Ohlins USA (1997)

Automotive suspension systems

Old Castle Industrial Minerals-Fletcher (1948)

Microtech Knives (1994) Knives

Ground or Treated Mineral & Earth Employees: 10-19

Mills River Brewery

Oracle Paper Group (2007)

Brewery Employees PT: 4

January 2018 | capitalatplay.com 39

local industry

Outrider USA (2009)

SELEE Corp. (1979)

Ox Paper Tube & Core (1981) 100 % Recycled Paper

Sew Co. (2010)

Electric Adventure Vehicles

Tubes & Cores

Parts Unlimited (1996) Equipment Parts

Pepsi-Cola Bottling CO. (2004) Drinks

Nonclay Refractory Manufacturing Employees: 100-199 Sewn product development, cutting and sewing services

Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. (1980) Brewery Employees: 200-299

Skyline Plastic Systems, Inc. (1990)

PMA Tools (2006)

Injection Molding Employees: 10-19

Portable Welding Service Inc. (1978)

Smart Products (2016)

Automotive Glass Accessories

Check Valves & Pumps

Welding

SMARTRAC NV (2004)

Precision Label Inc. (2002) Custom Rolls, Sheet, & Digital Labels

Southern Agricultural Insecticides (1960)

Precision Tool Dye Mold, Inc. (1986)

Precision Turned Product Employees: 10-19

Printpack, Inc. (1989)

Pesticide & Other Agricultural Chemicals Employees: 20-49

Southern Appalachian Brewery (2011) Brewery Employees FT: 2 PT: 9

Packaging

Prince Manufacturing (1999) Metal Coating & Engraving Employees: 50-99

Putsch and Company, Inc. (1975) Technology for Sugar, Glass, Root Vegetable, Panel Processing Industries Employees: 50

Quality Rubber Manufacturing (1988)

Fabricated Rubber Products

Raumedic (2016)

Polymer Components for Medical & Pharmaceutical Industries Employees: 50-99

ResinArt East, Inc. (1995) Flexible Molding Employees: 20-49

Southern Concrete Materials, Inc. (1984) Concrete Products

Stag’s Head Brewing Brewery Employees FT: 4 PT: 4

Standard Tytape Company, Inc. (1953) Narrow Fabric Mills Employees: 20-49

Stone Connection Granite Interiors (2004) Custom Countertops

Stone Gallery Granite & Marble (2010) Custom Countertops

Survival Innovations (2017)

Human Protective Equipment

Saint Paul Mountain Vineyards (2012)

Tate Machine Shop (1981)

Winery

Machine Shop

Sanctuary Brewing Co. (2016) Brewery Employees FT: 4 PT: 3

RFID Technology

The Oriole Mill (2006) Luxury Textiles

| January 2018

The Warm Company (1999)

Sewing, Quilting & Crafting Supplies

Times-News (1875) Newspapers Employees: 100-199

Trailblazer Firearms (2017)

Wirtz Wire EDM, Inc. (1993)

Machine Shops Employees: 5-9

Zumco, Inc. (1975) Machine Shops Employees : 5-9

Firearms

Tri-Hishtil, LLC (2014)

Grafted Vegetable Plants

Triskelion Brewing Co. Brewery Employees: 4

UPM Raflatac, Inc. (2001)

Coated & Laminated Paper Employees: 300-399

Valiant Fabrics (2007) Fabric

Van Wingerden Greenhouse Co. (1972) Plants Employees: 10-19

Jackson Innovation Brewing Co. Brewery Employees FT: 5 PT: 6

Happy-Go-Lucky Foods (2013) Granola & Granola Bars

Jackson Paper Co. Recycled Paper

Sneak E Squirrel Brewery Brewery Employees FT: 3 PT: 10

Macon

Van’s Chocolates Inc. (1968)

Currahee Brewing Company

Vocational Solutions of Henderson County (1993)

Drake Software (1977)

Chocolates

Manufacturing-Medical Assembly & Printing Services

Vulcan Materials Company (1959) Cut Stone & Stone Products Employees: 20-49

Brewery Employees FT: 5 PT: 2 Tax Preparation Software Company Employees: 357

Duotech Services Inc.

Welding

Electronic Solutions for Military Civilian Aerospace & Commercial Uses Employees: 35

Welding Unlimited (1995)

Franklin Tubular Products, Inc.

Fabricated Structural Metals Employees: 20-49

Tubular Fabrication Employees: 80

Western Carolina Tool & Mold (1997)

Harmony House Foods (2004) Freeze Dried Food Products

Welding & Automation Inc.(1952)

Special Die & Tool Die Set, Jig & Fixtures Employees: 10-19

Lazy Hiker Brewing Co.

Whole Log Lumber (1984)

Satulah Mountain Brewing Co.

Lumber

Wilsonart International (1979) Laminated Plastic Plates, Sheets, & Shapes Employees: 500-749

Winstrip Inc (2008) Plastic Trays

Brewery Employees FT: 10-15 Brewery Employees FT: 1

Shaw Hardwood Flooring Hardwood Flooring Employees: 103

Tektone Sound & Signal Manufacturing Inc. (1989)

Healthcare Communication Equipment Employees : 75

McDowell Allied Industrial Company (1987) Custom Wooden Cabinet Doors Employees: 7

American Plastics (1998)

Madison Advanced Superabrasives, Inc. (1993) Cutting Tool & Machine Tool & Accessory Abrasive Products; grinding wheels Employees: 45

Alcan Packaging (1986) Medical Flexibles Employees: 100-199

Avery’s Creek Machine, Inc. (2000)

Machine Shops, Welding, & CNC Burning Employees: 5-9

Buchi Kombucha (2009) Kombucha Employees: 16

Deringer-Ney, Inc. (1972) Current Carrying Wiring Devices; screw machining & contacts Employees: 67

Dynamic Systems, Inc. (1967) Urethane & Other Foam Products (Except Polystyrene); foam plastics Employees: 25

East Fork Pottery (2010) Commercial Ceramics

Fontaine Vineyards Winery

Fox Hill Meadery (2007) Mead

Mad Co Brewing Brewery

Peerless Electric - Madison Manufacturing Company (1992) Industrial & Commercial Fan & Blowers & Fan Assemblies Employees: 62

Printpack, Inc. (1986) Medical Packaging Employees: 195

Custom Heating Injection Molding & Plastic Parts Employees: 5

Avtech, Inc. (1977) Custom Machinery & Repair Parts Employees: 6

Baldor - Dodge (1996) Mounted Bearings Employees: 142

& Couplings

Baxter Healthcare Corp. (1972) Medical Products - Intravenous Feeding Solutions & Kits Employees: 2,700

Belle Nicho Winery Winery Employees: 1

Carriage House Door Company (1906) Metal and Wooden Garage Doors Employees: 51

Catawba Hardwoods (1984) Kiln Dried Lumber Employees: 7

Coats North America (1952) Thread Finishing Employees: 385

Columbia Forest Products, Inc. (1981)

Hardwood Plywood & Veneers Employees FT: 350

Crane Resistoflex Company (1987)

Plastic Lined Pipe & Fittings Employees: 167

Ethan Allen, Inc., Pine Valley Div. (1969) Furniture Employees: 400

Foothills Industry (1972) Subcontract Piecework Employees FT: 32 PT: 84

Haldex Brake Products Corp. (1985)

Quality Plastic Custom Molding (1988)

Industrial Timber & Lumber (1997)

RDM Industrial Electronics (1988)

Automotive Brake Products Employees: 80

Heat Injection Molding Employees: 15

Kiln Dried & Hariet/ Surfaced Lumber Employees: 51

Remanufacture Petroleum & Car-wash Electronics Employees: 65

International Automotive Components Group North America, Inc. (1966)

SBFI North America (2012)

Automotive Carpet Employees: 720

Janesville Acoustics (1988) Non-woven Automobile Carpet Pad Employees: 196

Key Gas Components (2004) Valves for Propane & Natural Gas Equipment Employees: 42

Key Wood Specialties (2007) Custom Crating Pallets & Cut Plywood Employees: 8

Lewis Machine Company (1987) Machine Shop Employees: 5

McDowell County Millwork (2006)

Kiln-dried Lumber Saw Milling Employees: 22

Metal Industries of NC Inc. (2003)

Air Terminals & Fire Dampers For Industrial HVAC Employees: 130

Morganton Pressure Vessels LLC (2010) Air Pressure Vessels & Oil Separators Employees: 135

Oak Valley Hardwoods (2012) Kiln-dried Lumber Saw Milling Employees: 48

Parker Legwear Inc. (1946)

Wood Products for Ergonomic Furniture Employees: 38

South Creek Vineyards & Winery Winery

Superior Machine of SC (1933) High Grade Metal Repair & New Machinery Employees 39

Tilson Machine, Inc. (1980) CNC Lathe Machine Parts Employees: 100

Tool Company Industrial Corp. (1975) Service/Manufacturer of Cutting Tools Employees: 21

Tool Craft Inc. of North Carolina (1999)

Production Machining & Manufacturing of Key Bolt Carriers Employees: 47

Total Quality Assurance Int. (2011) Plastic Dunnage (Quality Inspection) Employees: 45

West Rock (1929)

Specialized Paper Board Manufacturing Employees: 350

Wilson Marble Company (1972) Cultured Marble Products Employees: 11

Mitchell

Men’s and Women’s Socks Employees: 10

BRP US, Inc.

Pleasant Gardens Machine (1964)

Dry County Brewing Co.

Machine Repair/Metal Fabrications Employees : 10

Recreational Vehicle Products Brewery Employees FT: 1

January 2018 | capitalatplay.com 41

local industry

New Buck Corporation Wood Stoves & Grills

The Bark House at Highland Craftsmen INC (1990) Original Bark Wall Covering

The Quartz Corp, USA High Purity Quartz

American MISO Company (1989) Miso & Soy Sauce Employees: 20

American Water Graphics, Inc (1990) Inks Employees: 20

American Zinc Recycling Corp

Unimin Corp., Schoolhouse Mine

Non-Metallic Industrial Minerals

Polk

Winery Employees FT: 1 PT: 5

Barbecue Sauce

Overmountain Vineyards Winery Employees FT: 4 PT: 4

Parker-Binns Vineyard Winery Employees FT: 4 PT: 2

Russian Chapel Hills Winery Winery Employees FT: 3 PT: 2

Winding Creek Brewing Company

Distillery Employees: 6

Packaging & Labeling Services

Broad River Forest Products, Inc. (1998) Wood Chips Employees: 7

Abercrombie Textiles II LLC (1995) Jacquard Fabric Employees: 110

Injection Molding Employees: 53

Fulton Mechanical and Machine Precision Machining Employees: 3

Gilkey Lumber Company Lumber Employees: 60

Heritage Classic Wovens, LLC Textiles Employees: 13

Oh Suzannah Apparel Employees: 25

Outdoor Colors, LLC Hydrographic Finishing Employees: 27

Packaging Corp of America Corrugated Boxes Employees: 33

Parker

Hydraulic Valve Mfg Employees: 151

Carpenter Design Inc. (1989)

Interactive Inks & Coatings

Plastic Packaging, Inc. (1957)

Onsite Machining Employees: 4

Wooden Pallet Repair & Recycling Employees: 80

Water Based Printing Inks

Carpenter Mulch Products (2011)

Electrical & Other Wiring Installation Contr

Upholstery Fabric Employees: 16

Crossair LLC

Ventilation Systems, Air Pollution Control Equipment

Diverse Corporate Technology

Eaton

Hydraulic Hose Employees: 125

| January 2018

Newspapers Employees: 16

Parton Lumber Co., Inc.

Communication Construction Employees: 7

Alliance Precision Plastics (2012)

Forest City Publishing Company (1969)

Hydra Tight

Steel Fabrication & Machining Employees: 31

CMI Automotive

Custom Aluminum Die Castings Employees: 170

Synthetic Textile Manufacturing

C F Reece & Son (1941)

Custom Cabinetry Employees: 3

Aallied Die Casting Company of NC (1988)

Meritor

Milliken & Co. - Golden Valley Textiles Employees: 125

Cherry Mountain Cabinets

Rutherford

Industrial Sheet Metal Fabrication Employees: 3

Everest Textile USA LLC (1988)

Paving Contractor Employees: 120

Mulch Products Employees: 15

Brewery Employees FT: 6

Elliott International Machinery Corp.

McArthurs Inc.

APAC – Atlantic Inc. (1967)

Bonita Pioneer

Old Mule BBQ Dipping Sauce (1994)

Pallet Recycling Employees: 38

Utility Buildings & Carports Employees: 9

Truck Drive Axles Employees: 91

Blue Ridge Distilling

Mountain Brook Vineyards

Ed’s Pallet World, Inc. (1988)

Mayse Manufacturing (1969)

Zinc Recycling

Printing Employees: 15

Textile Manufacture Employees: 50-99

Mustard Seed & Cheese Spreads

Machine Co. Employees: 12

Associated Printing (1967)

Milliken-Hatch Plant

Eat Pique (2017)

Isothermal Textile Services

KCH Services, Inc.

Ventilation Scrubber Systems Employees: 40

Lakeside Mills (1736) Flour, & Grain Milling Employees: 17

Liberty Press

Lumber Employees: 139

Flexible Packaging Employees: 20

R & D Weaving

Textiles, Woven Throws Employees: 9

Robbins Brick

Masonry Distributor Employees: 32

Sonoco Molded Plastics Molded Plastics Employees: 135

Manifold Business Forms, Promotional Items Employees: 20

Southeastern Rack Company

Lipscomb Neon Signs (1973)

Sunray, Inc.

Manual Woodworkers & Weavers (1932)

Sunrise USA

Signs & Advertising Displays Employees: 20

Other Household Textile Product Mills

Metal Finishing Racks/Baskets Employees: 12

Custom Polyurethane Products Employees: 44 Curtain & Linen Mills

Tanner Companies LLC Clothing

Thieman Manufacturing Technologies LLC Metal Fabrications Employees: 20

Thompson Contractor’s Inc Crushed Stone

The Timken Co.

Swain

Early Manufacturing, Inc. (2011)

Oskar Blues Brewery

Structural Plastic Components for Truck & Trailer Industry Employees: 330

Earth Renewable Technologies

Patton Electronics

Mountain Layers Brewing

Ecusta Brewing Company

Con Met (1995)

Brewery

Nantahala Brewing Co.

Bearings Employees: 240

Brewery Employees: 20+

Touchstone Fine Cabinetry

Shaw Industries Inc. (2008)

Custom Cabinets Employees: 90

Trelleborg Grace Plant Coated Fabrics Employees: 230

Tri-City Concrete, LLC Ready Mix Concrete Employees: 21

Ultimate Textile, Inc Textile Dyer Employees: 38

Valley Fine Foods

Frozen Specialty Food Employees: 130

Verity Resins LLC Recycled Plastics Employees: 25

Walker Building Systems

Carpet, Hardwood, Laminate, Tile & Stone Floor Products Employees: 55

Transylvania Allegra Marketing, Print, Mail (2005)

Commercial Printer Employees: 1-10

American Carolina Stamping

WestRock

Display Fixtures

White Oak Carpet Mills Carpet Employees: 11

Wilbert Plastic Services, Inc Molded Plastics Employees: 101

Flymen Fishing Company

Ben’s Custom Woodwork (1984) Furniture

Blue Ridge Bakery (2006)

Electronics Employees: 1-10

Pharm Agra Labs Inc. (1999) Pharmaceutical Employees: 11-25

Piney Mountain Sawmill (1977)

Gaia Herbs, Inc. (1992)

Pisgah Coffee Roasters

Lumber & Plywood Products Employees: 1-10

Edible Oils Employees: 51-100

Coffee

Hoffman Amps (1995)

Pharmaceutical Employees: 11-25

Musical Instruments Employees: 1-10

J Dillon Woodcrafters, Inc. (2007) Wood Products Employees: 1-10

Lbm Industries, Inc.

Custom Industrial Equipment Employees: 11-25

Brewery Employees FT: 52 PT: 9

Fly Tying Materials & Fly Fishing Products Employees: 1-10

Automated Tool and Machine Company Inc.

Watts Regulator Co.

Animal (Except Poultry) Slaughtering Employees: 10

Brewery

Lighting Employees: 1-10

Bakery Products Employees: 1-10

Wells Jenkins & Wells Meat Market

Renewable Materials Employees: 1-10

Keir Manufacturing Inc.

Roof Trusses Employees: 6

Water Quality Product Employees: 80

Hand Proofer Employees: 1-10

Ceramic Materials Employees: 26-50

Nonmetallic Mineral Products

Leather Specialties Company (2004)

Pisgah Labs, Inc.(1979)

Praxair Surface Technologies, Inc./Genie Products Division Thermal Spray Employees: 11-25

Reason to Bake Cookies Employees: 1-10

Rotating Machinery Analysis (1993) Software for Rotating Machinery Analysis Employees: 1-10

Leather Grips for Music Instruments

Sigma Plastics - New Excelsior, Inc. (2006)

Lynn Cove Foundry & Forge (2005)

Signs & More, Inc. (1986)

Pulp & Paper Mills

Architectural hardware Employees: 1-10

Signs

Blue Ridge Quick Print, Inc. (1978)

M-B Industries, Inc. (1894)

Stamping & Wire Form Parts Employees: 101-200

Semiconductor & Other Electronic Components Employees: 26-50

Bracken Mountain Bakery (1995)

Mayberry's Commercial Kitchen

Stone Mountain Cabinetry & Millwork, Inc. (2004)

Commercial Printing Bakery Products Employees: 12-25

Brevard Brewing

Brewery Employees FT: 1 PT: 3-5

Brevard Chocolates Chocolates Employees: 1-10

Duke Medical Equipment International Diagnostic Imaging

Commercial Kitchen Employees: 1-10

McCall Technology, Inc. (1998) Surveillance Equipment Employees: 1-10

New Excelsior Inc. (2006)

Smith Systems Inc. (1982)

Furniture Employees: 11-25

SylvanSport (2004)

Camping & Adventure Trailers Employees: 11-25

Bags and pouches Employees: 26-50

Technical Design Associates Inc. (2009)

OGRE Outdoor Gear Research Experts

Theros Groves Olive Oil (2015)

Products Geared to Outdoor Sports Enthusiasts Employees: 1-10

Plastic Fabrication Food Products Employees: 1-10

January 2018 | capitalatplay.com 43

Through a process of exploration and discovery, our students— guided by teachers who truly know and respect them—discover their own paths to excellence. Our small classes, inclusive community, inspired teaching, and innovative program create the ideal environment for deeper learning, where each child can excel. We prepare students to drive their own futures in a rapidly changing, unpredictable world, equipped with the characteristics and skills of adaptability, flexibility, and intellectual agility. Explore Carolina Day School with a visit or tour soon.

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| January 2018

local industry

Toxaway Concrete, Inc. (1976)

Blowing Rock Brewing Co.

High Country Timberframe

Transylvania Vocational Services

Boone Industries

Highland International

Cement & Concrete Products

Dry Food Blending Employees: 101-200

Brewery Employees FT: 18 PT: 37 Furniture

Trend Performance Products Plastic & Rubber Products Employees: 1-10

Tucker Creek Products, Inc. (1990) Architectural & Structural Metals Employees: 1-10

Wells Woodworks (1987)

Lumber & Plywood Products Employees: 1-10

Win's Smoke House Services Ltd. (1996)

Lumber & Plywood Products Employees: 1-10

Young Bat Company, Inc. (1993) Sporting Goods

Booneshine Brewing Co. Brewery

Carolina Timberworks Timber Frame & Post & Beam Structures

Carroll Companies Leather

Charleston Forge (1984) Hand-built Steel & Wood Furniture

Dewoolfson Down Textiles

ECRS

Retail POS Systems

Goodnight Bros. Country Ham(1948)

Watauga Appalachian Mountain Brewery

Timber Frame Design & Heavy Timber Construction Services Paint

Hospitality Mints, LLC Food Products

Liam Hoffman Blacksmith Blacksmith

Lost Province Brewing Co. Brewery Employees FT: 21 PT: 29

Misty Mountain Threadworks Climbing Harnesses & Sewn Climbing Gear

Molecular Toxicology, Inc. Biological Products

The Sign Shop, Inc. (1972) Signs & Signboards

Climate Control Systems

Yancey Altec Industries Utility Products

Appalachian Truss

Building Construction Components

Bryant & Young Lumber Company, Inc Sawmill

Fastenal

Fasteners

Glen Raven Technical Fabrics, LLC, Burnsville Custom Fabrics

HSM Solutions

Furniture Components

Food Products

Southeastern Specialty Vehicles (1996)

Homeplace Beer Co.

Grandfather Vineyard & Winery

Tsuga Canopies

Mt. Electronics, Inc.

Watauga Opportunities

Parker Lumber

Ambulances & parts

Brewery

Winery Employees FT: 3 PT: 3

Portable Shelters

Beech Mountain Brewing Company

H&T Chair Co.

Custom Thermoformed Medical Trays, Shipping Trays, Food Trays & OtherÂ Custom Plastic Products.

Brewery Employees FT: 3 PT: 5

XP Climate Control

Beach Chairs, Umbrellas, & Cabanas

Harmony Timberworks Custom Homes

This master list is a compilation of lists supplied to us by various organizations in North Carolina as appear below. However, these organizations are not responsible for our list of manufacturers as shown here, as in some instances we have made appropriate corrections and additions. We acknowledge that this list is not complete. It may contain businesses that are no longer located or named as listed; the descriptions of their activities may also be incorrect. It is also inevitable that there are manufacturers currently operating in the 18 counties of Western North Carolina not shown on our list. Because of this, we welcome your corrections, and we will be happy to make those corrections to our online database of manufacturers. If you know of a firm not shown here, or notice any errors,

Brewery

Electronic Parts & Repair Mulch Supplier

Southern Concrete Materials, Inc. Ready Mix Concrete

Watauga Wood Products Log Homes Materials

we encourage you to contact us at editor@capitalatplay.com. [Note: Research here was conducted by Jennifer Fitzgerald.] Thanks to: Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce & Economic Development Coalition for Asheville-Buncombe County, Cherokee County Chamber of Commerce, Haywood County TDA, Henderson County Partnership for Economic Development, Macon County Economic Development, Madison County Development Services, McDowell Chamber of Commerce, Rutherford County Chamber of Commerce, Rutherford County Economic Development, Swain County Economic Development, Transylvania Economic Alliance, Watauga County Planning & Inspections and Economic Development

See pages 46-47 for current statistics and charts regarding manufacturing in Western North Carolina. January 2018 | capitalatplay.com 45

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2010-2017 percent change in manufac turing employment Source: NC Depar tment of Commerce , U.S Bureu of Labor Statistics

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MANUFACTURING IN REGION EXPERIENCES SIGNIFICANT GROWTH By 2010 the Asheville metro area (Buncombe, Henderson, Haywood, and Madison counties) had reached a historic low in manufacturing employment, at which point it gradually began to rebound, eventually adding nearly 3,000 new jobs by 2017. That represents a 16.4% increase in manufacturing employment since 2010, as compared to 8.5% statewide and 8.4% nationally. Among manufacturing subsectors, Beverage (which includes breweries, distilleries, wineries, and soft drink makers), Transportation Equipment, Plastics, and Printing manufacturers have experienced the strongest gains, with other significant subsectors being Furniture, Chemical, and Electrical Equipment & Components (plus “Miscellaneous”).

Skyland Automotive, Inc.

255 Smoky Park Hwy, Asheville, NC 28806• 828-667-5213 www.skylandmercedesbenz.com

| January 2018

Statistics and charts courtesy Johnson Price Sprinkle PA, www.jpspa.com

man u fac t u r ing employment ashe ville me tro 29,0 0 0

27,0 0 0

25,0 0 0

23,0 0 0

2017 20,661

21,0 0 0

19,0 0 0

17,0 0 0

15,0 0 0

2010 17,747 20 0 0

20 02

20 06

20 04

20 08

2010

2012

2014

2016

Source: NC Depar tment of Commerce

1,274

2010-2017 change in

employment ashe ville man u fac t u r ing su bsec tor s

893 661

Source: NC Depar tment of Commerce industries with gains greater than 100

397 157

193

208

furniture

chemical

electrical equipment & com pon ents

237

miscell aneous

printing

pl astics

tr ansportation equipment

b e v e r ag e

January 2018 | capitalatplay.com 47

column

Diner’s Choice

How to get the most from a wine list: simple tips to maximize value and minimize panic.

L J

john kerr

is the co-owner of Metro Wines located on Charlotte Street in downtown Asheville.

E T ’ S SEE , W HICH W INE SHOU L D

we order tonight? Italian or California? The big name or the independent label? A bottle or by the glass? For most of us deciphering a wine list can be a daunting task. Considering the prices of wines at restaurants, we all like to strive for value. So, which wine to choose?

The best wine for the night varies a bit on why you’re out on the town. The night out to relieve cabin fever or avoid cooking requires only a simple wine to lubricate the meal. The special occasion or the leisurely meal with good friends might call for something that adds to the experience. But no matter why you’re in a restaurant, you’d like to get the best bang for the buck. So this month, we’re going to pull the curtains back and give you an idea of the mechanics behind the wine list. With this knowledge and a few well-placed questions, you’ll get the best value for the occasion. And if you’re willing to do a little homework, you’ll boost that value even more. But before I offer a few tips, we’ll talk about markups on wine lists. (At this point I feel compelled to offer a caveat. These tips apply to most of the industry. But wine list strategies vary among restaurants. Don’t take these guidelines as gospel. Use them at an unknown restaurant. Within a visit or two, you’ll figure out their approach to wine.)

| January 2018

Watch Out For the Margin We all know we’re going to pay more in a restaurant for a bottle of wine than you would in a wine shop. But what can be perplexing is that the same bottle of wine can be offered at $25 in one restaurant but $20 to $40 in others. So, what is the average markup, and are these prices fair? The industry standard for margin is two-and-ahalf to three times the retail price. If you see a wine sold at $15 in your local wine shop, you can expect to pay $35 to $45 at the restaurant. But remember: We live in a tourist town where margins sometimes balloon to five times retail. That $15 bottle now weighs in at $75. If you don’t know the wines, how do you tell if the markup is high? When you walk in the door, look to see what everyone’s drinking. If all you see on tables are wines by the glass, it’s an indicator that the bottles are too expensive. Or you could use the technology in your pocket. Check the wine list online. Then pull out your

J smart phone to check the price on your favorite wine app. Or google Wine.com, which provides a reasonable proxy for retail prices if you add $3 to cover the absent shipping costs. Other websites often show lower prices, but that’s for a purchase of six or more bottles—a quantity that would make for a memorable night, but not in a good way. To be fair, most wine list prices are justified because restaurants add value to the drinking experience. First, they take the time to select wines they think are better than their wholesale prices indicate. At the table, the waiter helps you select the wine that best pairs with your meal. More importantly, wine prices nearly always subsidize lower food prices. Since you select the wine with the price you want to pay, you have a little more control over the bill at the end of the night. If the markups are astronomically high, never forget what made Asheville famous: Support the local economy and order a beer.

IF THE MARKUPS ARE ASTRONOMICALLY HIGH, NEVER FORGET WHAT MADE ASHEVILLE FAMOUS: SUPPORT THE LOCAL ECONOMY AND ORDER A BEER.

Avoid the Second Cheapest Bottle If price is your primary concern that night, then by all means, order a cheap wine on the list. But keep in mind that not all margins are created equal. Since no one likes to look like a miser, about half of all sales are for the second cheapest wine. Restaurants know this and usually place their highest markup on this bottle. So, a $10 wholesale wine may be $30, while the $50 bottle might just be $80. The cheaper bottles are rarely the best value. That’s right—you’ll have to spend more to save money. Look for the bottle that is $5 to $10 more than the second cheapest bottle. That’s where the value kicks in.

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Don’t Buy Wine by the Glass Wine by the glass is a value only if you’re ordering one glass and no one else at the table is drinking wine. Sure, wine by the glass lets you pair a wine with each dish, but rarely is that worth the $8 to $25 per glass. The other problem with the glass pour is its freshness. When you buy a glass, you don’t know when that bottle was opened. The wine served could be as much as two days old. It will

January 2018 | capitalatplay.com 49

column

probably be drinkable, but it won’t have the same beautiful flavors that come from a freshly opened bottle. Several restaurants have solved the old-wine problem by using a Coravin. This device lets them pour a glass without opening the bottle. But this is reserved for the most expensive bottles on the list. One glass pour you absolutely positively must avoid is the house wine. While they are the cheapest on the list, the margin is massive. It’s not uncommon for the price you pay on the glass to exceed the restaurant’s cost for the entire bottle. If you’re ordering two or more glass pours, you’ll get soaked more than on anything else on the list. Instead, order a half bottle. Or get a bottle and take home what you don’t drink.

Don’t Buy Brand Names When you scan the wine list I’ll bet that you recognize few wines. This is both bad and good news. The bad news is that you don’t know the retail price, and therefore the margin on the wine. The good news is that the unknown wine is cheaper for the restaurant. They can offer you a great bottle at a lower price and still make their margin. Restaurants know that most people are more comfortable ordering a familiar wine. For this reason, popular wines nearly CAPJan18

12/8/17

12:40 PM

always have the highest margin. When you’re out for a special occasion you want to enjoy a wine that you like. Just know that you are paying more for the certainty. My advice is to look to unconventional regions and varietals. Don’t want to spend a fortune on a Napa Valley Cab? Try ordering a Cabernet from Argentina since they have a similar new world style. Love Pinot Grigio? Consider another crisp white, such as Picpoul, or pretty much any other Italian white, like Vermentino or Falanghina.

Order the Restaurant Theme or Buyer Preference Every wine buyer has a penchant for wines of a particular country or style. More often than not the buyer gives these wines the lowest margins to encourage you to try them. With a little attention, it won’t take you much to figure out which wines these are. If the restaurant has a theme such as Greek food, your best bet is to focus on the list’s Greek wines. This is particularly true if the owner of the restaurant is also from Greece. If you want to stay with something you recognize, many countries now blend their indigenous grapes with familiar ones. One great

Page 1

ANYTHING but B A S I C

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| January 2018

example is Oenodea red blend served at the Golden Fleece. An ancient Greek grape is blended with well-known Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon.

TALK TO SOMEONE AT THE RESTAUR ANT FAMILIAR WITH THE WINES. AT BET TER RESTAUR ANTS THIS IS USUALLY YOUR WAITER. IF NOT, DON’ T BE AFR AID TO ASK FOR THE RIGHT PERSON. The buyer’s preference is often revealed by the wine selection. For example, if you see a lot of Tuscan wines on the list, consider one of these wines. Chances are you’ll get a lower markup, and they’ll pair better with the cuisine to boot. Also look for a shorter sommelier’s list. These lists are the buyer’s favorites and can be full of value wines.

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Do Your Homework You’ll get more value if you walk into the restaurant with a solid idea of what you like. At each visit to your wine shop, consider buying one wine you don’t know along with your favorites. Over time you’ll build an arsenal of knowledge that allows you to order less known, less expensive wines you love.

If All Else Fails… Talk to someone at the restaurant familiar with the wines. At better restaurants this is usually your waiter. If not, don’t be afraid to ask for the right person. Give them a dollar amount and ask for their best choice. It’s their job to pair a great wine with your meal that fits your budget.

*** These tips should get you a great value for your wine dollar. In a future article, I’ll talk about some of the more distinctive wine lists in Asheville.

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THE OLD

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Disease Control, over half of antibiotics prescriptions are inappropriate, killing good bacteria along with the bad, and thus weakening the natural immune system while incubating cure-resistant mutations for invading microbes. Locus spun off from North Carolina State University in 2015 with loans from the Biotechnology Center and NCBiotech.

Locus Biosciences has raised $19 million in Series A funding led by ARTIS Ventures of San Francisco, California. Other major investors included Tencent Holdings of China and Abstract Ventures, also based in San Francisco. Funds will be used to file the company’s first investigational drug with the FDA and to conduct a clinical trial with humans. Locus claims to be the only company greensboro using CRISPR-Cas3 gene editing to Michael Wilson, co-owner of State destroy antibiotic-resistant microbes Street Jewelers, and Stephen Carlson of once they have infected a cell. Whereas DVG Group, which helps the company h CRISPR-Cas9 is popularly developed for d brunc n e k e e w with marketing, decided to decorate gene editing and repair, Cas3, which g is w servin Nocells, Christmas cookies with pearls, diatoo large to enter human disrupts h monds, and of the the replication of bacteria. The research ncsapphires—instead end bru k e e w g usual sprinkles. They won the cooperawould improve medical outcomes in v r e s ow because, according toNthe Centers for tion of Robin Davis, owner of Maxie B’s, a

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popular local bakery, after they agreed to donate 10% of sales to Greensboro Urban Ministry. After weeks of drafting, Ryan Weber, Maxie B’s chief cookie designer, baked all the creations one night after hours and with armed security. Some jewels were so tiny they had to be placed with tweezers. Small creations, like ornaments, a Christmas wreath, and a snowflake, were priced from $1,000 to $25,000. What was billed as the world’s most expensive cookie was the $100,000 Christmas tree creation, featuring 20 tiers of cookie boughs dipped in icing and jeweled. Wilson explained the gimmick. “We’re not a cookie-cutter jewelry store. We offer jewelry that’s as unique and special as our customers.” The display remained intact through Christmas Eve.

Out of the Woods hickory

The North Carolina Folklore Society’s 2017 Brown-Hudson Award was presented to Eddie Hamrick, a 63-year-old woodworker. Hamrick has crafted pieces for several American presidents, four North Carolina governors, the Queen of England, Andrew Lloyd Webber, and a pope. He has appeared on several PBS woodworking programs, worked on props

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and sets for four movies, and made carvings for nineteen churches. His work is displayed in collections at the George HW Bush Presidential Library and the Smithsonian Institution. Hamrick comes from a family of furniture makers, and his first carving was a train set he made for himself when he was six. He apprenticed at Colonial Williamsburg in Virginia and has worked making furniture, boats, and picture frames. Artistically, he has taught at the John Campbell Folk School, displayed at multiple galleries, and served as an artist in residence in Alexander County and the woodwright for Hart Square Village. His donations have raised over $1.5 million for charities. He is now working on setting up the Eddie Hamrick Folk Life Center where he will live and work. He hopes to one day sell his art exclusively through the up-and-coming cooperative Trade Alley Art.

Biomedical engineers at Duke University have produced the first human-scale artificial heart muscle. Heart attacks can damage heart tissue beyond the body’s ability to repair it, so it dies, leaving scar tissue, which, in turn, leads to congestive

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heart failure and death. Researchers released a video of a heart patch, which is made from human stem cells, beating autonomously in a Petri dish. Previous work successfully implanted smaller patches in rats, and the next stage will test the artificial muscle in pigs. The stem cells are harvested from a skin biopsy or blood sample. It takes four months to genetically reprogram the cells and another five weeks to grow a working muscle. If successful, researchers anticipate it will be another decade before the product is safe for humans. Problems include overcoming body rejection and synchronizing the tissue with the recipient’s heartbeat. The work is funded with a 7-year, $8.6 million grant from the National Institutes of Health. Duke is collaborating with the Universities of Wisconsin-Madison and Alabama at Birmingham.

the old north state

claim that Atmospheric Plasma Coating Removal (APCR) may be a safe and effective alternative to conventional paint and coating removal processes. Instead of using chemical strippers or mechanical abrasion, APCR generates a plasma beam from compressed air. The emitted oxygen ions react with hydrocarbons in paints and primers to release carbon dioxide, water vapor, and dust that can be easily vacuumed. APCR was tested on metal substrates and painted in compliance with mil-spec protocols, and no deterioration in the metals was detected after five painting-and-stripping cycles. The system is designed for quick and safe removal of tenacious coatings and sealants. APCR will now move into production for the military, with an industrial-grade system in development.

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At a NATO conference on science and technology in Utrecht, The Netherlands, Atmospheric Plasma Solutions, a spinoff from research at North Carolina State University, announced findings of the National Research Council Canada. Studies corroborated the manufacturer’s

Snyder’s-Lance posted a $56,263,000 loss for the third quarter of its fiscal year ended December 31. This compares to a year-over-year net income of $29,315,000. Revenues were up, from $543,903,000 last year to $564,184,000; but this quarter’s losses included

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PEPSI DELIVERS

$105,230,000 in impairment charges accrued as the company is in the process of moving its Emerald nuts factory from Stockton, California, to Charlotte. The endeavor proved more expensive than executives had initially calculated. President and CEO Brian Driscoll described “higher cost than planned and service-level disruptions.” Not only does the move include dismantling the Stockton facility and transporting things 2,500 miles cross-country for reconstruction, the company is also integrating improved technology with new bugs to work out and more rigorous protocols for maintenance and quality assurance. Added to that are the costs of restaffing the plant with local talent.

Cheap Labor Good for Ports wilmington

The Port of Wilmington began handling weekly service to Guatemala and Honduras in November. The weekly route, operated by Crowley Maritime, is hoped to help the port recover from a 35% drop in volume incurred when shipping giant Hanjin went out of business. Paul J. Cozza, executive director of the North Carolina State Ports Authority, hopes to profit off the business of shipping textiles to Central and South America, where they are sewn into garments and then shipped back. That business has been going through Florida, but Wilmington is closer to the manufacturers. Other big exports will be pork and poultry; for imports, fruit and vegetables. Three routes were added to the port earlier this year as well. One, operated by THE Alliance, connects China to Wilmington, Savannah, New York, and Boston through the Panama Canal. Another, run by Zim Integrated Shipping Services, connects the Atlantic seaboard to Taiwan and China through the Suez Canal. The third, handled by StreamLines, runs refrigerated service between Europe and several ports in the United States, Caribbean, and Central America. The port will get an additional boost from CSX’s restoration of intermodal rail service after a 30-year absence.

A GREAT PLACE TO WORK! 54

| January 2018

Meet the New Boss charlotte

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) has assumed temporary control of daily operations for Cardinal Innovations Healthcare Solutions, and the former board of directors has been banned from Cardinal properties during the transition. DHHS agents showed up unannounced and informed the board of the takeover. The action follows a history of regulatory questions; most notably, the executive director salary, $635,000, was cut, restored and reimbursed, cut again, and then overcompensated in a severance package. Three board members also resigned for severance, a total of $3.8 million being split among the four. The executives were

or email Callie: cdavis@fo

under additional heat for deciding to move Cardinal’s headquarters to the NASCAR Hall of Fame building. Trey Sutton, a former state Medicaid official, has been installed as the interim chief executive. He will be working with the DHHS and the commissioners from 20 counties to install a new board and develop a corrective action plan. Cardinal is the state’s largest behavioral health managed-care organization, handling over $765 million in state and federal Medicaid payments annually. State law allows the intervention in circumstances of serious financial mismanagement or regulatory noncompliance.

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Chaz Winkler and Dorothy Hope have launched an Indiegogo campaign to raise $235,000 to move a museum. The Outer Banks Beachcomber Museum is a two-story general store built in 1914. It was already moved once, in 1932, rolled on logs across the sand from one side of the island to the other to intercept more tourist business. Since 1992, it has displayed the treasures of beachcomber Nellie Myrtle Pridgen. It hasn’t been flooded since 1962, but Hurricane Matthew revived concerns about warping and mildew, if not utter destruction. The museum will be moved 450 feet away and eight feet higher, to a tract owned by Patrick and Cathy Trask. They bought the land earlier this year for $220,000 to make sure a shopping center would not disrupt the historic character of the village. The parties will swap parcels, and the museum’s current lot will become the Carmen Gray Coastal Heritage and Habitat Preserve. The funds will pay to lay foundations, move the store and the house behind it, and install parking and a septic system.

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For The Love of Sewing:

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Pints for Purpose hosted the second annual Crystal Coast Oyster Festival at Big Rock Landing to raise funds for the nonprofit North Carolina Shellfish Growers’ Association. The association is tasked with representing the interests of all in the shellfish industry, from farmers and dealers to researchers and regulators. Its projects, aimed at conserving and growing sustainable oyster cultivation, range from advocating for sanitation and safety to organizing get-togethers where professionals can engage in shoptalk. The festival brought growers together so members of the public could sample differences in regional recipes and cultivation methods. Fried, steamed, and raw oysters were offered, and competitions included a cook-off. Farmers were on-hand to answer questions, and members of North Carolina Sea Grant spoke about nuances in cultivation and current events impacting the industry. The weather was cooperative for the eight-hour festival, and organizer Russell Lewis was pleased with the turnout.

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January 2018 | capitalatplay.com

Pursuit OF

Salt

Celtic Sea Salt’s Selina Delangre didn’t exactly wake up one day and decide to get into the natural foods business. It turned out to be a destined journey. written by emily ball ard

photos by anthony harden

SELINA DELANGRE SITS AT THE HELM OF A company that was started over 40 years ago by one man with a mission to educate people on the health benefits of a high mineral sea salt. Salt, of course, is a commodity that people around the world are familiar with; in homes everywhere, salt shakers reside on dining tables and kitchen counters, and recipes call for various measurements of this savory mineral, a pinch of salt here, a dash of salt there, all ways of adding to our culinary experimentation and enjoyment in efforts of enhancing flavor. But this everyday staple has a much deeper story behind it, and the Delangre family in 56

| January 2018

Asheville has made this story their own. Over the years their company has grown, evolved, and certainly seen its share of hardships. Selina, as CEO of Celtic Ocean International, Inc., the parent company of Selina Naturally and the Celtic Sea Salt brand, feels that she was destined on this path. She and the company have persevered through financial hardships, business relocation across the country, divorce, floods, deaths, and lawsuits. Instead of throwing in the towel, they have risen above each challenge with the gusto and enthusiasm needed to survive—traits that flow from Selina’s personality.

SALT CONTAINERS must be f illed by hand. January 2018 | capitalatplay.com 57

(L-R) Selina Delangre, Stephanie Tomatis, Colette Delangre, & Carla Delangre

Gray Matters Celtic Sea Salt is often assumed to be a specific type of sea salt, but, in fact, it is a brand that was created in 1976 in Chino, California, by Selina Delangre’s father-in-law, Jacques Delangre, who founded a company he called the Grain and Salt Society. He was a pioneer and leader in the salt industry at a pivotal time in the country. For years families had been gravitating towards mass produced items that held decreased nutritional value, salt included. Jacques entrenched himself in the study of macrobiotics, a more mindful way of consumption that emphasized knowledge of where food comes from and how it is harvested. Years of research and relationship building with leaders in the field of health and wellness led him on a journey into the salt world, and on a quest for the best sea salt he could find. He recognized the potential benefits of this precious mineral and knew there was a rich history and culture in the harvesting methods that had waned over time. Jacques subsequently came across a small community off the northwest coast of France that had long been a great source 58

| January 2018

for harvesting sea salt, but the lack of interest, knowledge, and financial support had taken its toll on this ancient tradition. To Jacques—and to the salt farmers who had made this their livelihood—salt harvesting was an art, and this region was the perfect landscape to provide the necessary ecosystem for optimal sea salt. Ancient salt ponds were lined with a rich clay that was thought to provide a higher concentration of minerals, and thus increased health benefits. Mindful of all this, Jacques started bringing back suitcases full of this beautiful gray colored salt, selling it to friends and family by the pound. He called it Celtic Sea Salt because it was the Celts that would harvest this way over 2,000 years ago. Based on his research and findings, he wrote a book titled Seasalt’s Hidden Powers that turned out to be the catalyst for an explosion into a society that at the time was embracing a kind of “health revolution.” People were hungry for information, and in this pre-internet era, influencers of the day included doctors and researchers who were reaching large audiences via newsletters. These newsletters, with subscribers numbering in the tens of thousands, started disseminating information about Jacques and his book.

JACQUES AND Y VET TE

In one newsletter, written by Dr. Bruce West, who had around 85,000 subscribers, Jacques and his small salt company was mentioned with a claim that if you sent them $5, they would send you a bag of salt. Not long afterward, when Jacques and his wife, Yvette, went to the post office, there were close to 40 white bins lined up with envelopes that had $5 bills in them. Overnight, the company went viral—“viral,” in a late ‘70s era, old-school type of way. To answer the sudden demand, Jacques and his wife went to the grocery store, bought plastic baggies, figured out how to make labels, and started sending their product to their eager customers. Because this type of salt harvesting was a dying art, they were concerned that their supply would not keep up with the demand, and they needed a way to ensure the farmers would have consistent orders. Jacques’ solution was to create a club with a membership structure so that his customers knew they were getting their product, and also that the farmers knew there was a reliable demand and a stable profit. He called this the Grain and Salt Society. This trend took on a life of its own and has continued to grow over the last four decades. The concept of sustainably harvested and mineral-rich sea salt struck a chord with consumers, and as a result, the artisanal salt farming industry was rejuvenated.

A Family Business In 1992, Jacques, who had been born with a heart defect, suddenly passed away while shoveling snow. Devastated by the loss of her husband, and without the ability to efficiently run the business, Yvette turned to their son, Philippe, and his wife, Selina, who soon packed up and, with their three children, moved from Florida to Chico to assist Yvette in the running of the business. Interestingly enough, having been afflicted with migraines when she was younger, Selina had become suspicious that her health issues could be food and nutrition related. Over time, she gravitated toward healthier foods, the opposite of what she had grown up with as a child in Indiana. After moving to California, she fully embraced a new age lifestyle, with a focus on healthy living. As she now explains, “It wasn’t like I woke up one day and wanted to get into the salt business, or even the natural products industry.” Her life had led her to this opportunity, and it just felt meant to be. She says that even her name means salt (“salt” translates in French to “sel”), and she truly believes that it was her destiny to become a part of this business and this culture. After jumping into the business that Jacques had built, Selina quickly realized that people wanted more information. She was fielding questions on all sorts of January 2018 | capitalatplay.com 59

health and nutrition related topics, so the company started its own newsletter, called A Grain of Salt Newsletter, and it was distributed to 20,000 people. “I just started writing articles and getting it out there, and kind of built the business on mail order and newsletter,” says Selina. “That is how we built the foundation of the company, and at one time we had 80,000 members of the Grain and Salt Society.” This newsletter was addressing a wide spectrum of inquiries and topics, but at its very core was the magnificent benefits of Celtic Sea Salt.

Selina had tapped into her passion and she and Philippe hit the ground running. In 1996 they bought the company from Yvette, and it continued to grow in popularity. Their newsletter expanded on topics from mind and body health to spirituality. They did no advertising. Instead, they networked, a perfect fit for Selina’s energetic and personable disposition. As her daughter Carla describes it, “Everyone always fell in love with her whenever we would go to conferences, or expos, or trade shows.” This relationship-building laid the groundwork for the success of the business. Selina says they didn’t have to advertise because they were educating through writing. Her tactic was to find people in the natural health industry who had a book or a platform, and develop a relationship with them. Today, Celtic Sea Salt is mentioned or featured in over 700 books. This all stemmed from that immensely popular newsletter—plus a product that they firmly stood behind. Explains Selina, “We have a commodity that just makes sense to talk about because everyone uses salt, so it is really easy. The salt company just started going viral through relationships. Could I do the same thing with wheat or ice cream…? I do not know.” She attributes the wild success of the newsletter to the concrete nature of snail mail. Their customers had a tangible reference, and she says that even today they still have people contact them for replacements of certain volumes. 60

| January 2018

ex ample of an ancient salt pond harvesting

Diagram built from info courtesy Celtic Sea Salt

c h a n n el

salt piles covered with cl ay

pool

ponds

tributary channel

pool

ponds

pool

mudfl at distilling ponds distilling ponds

ponds

evapor ation pools saline pool saline pool

Against All Odds The origin and growth of this company was organic. The timing was right, the product was desirable, and they built a solid market. But as any successful business owner knows, there are always changes that threaten to rock the boat. One such challenge was the 1996 decision, made shortly after buying the business from Yvette, to move from California to North Carolina. This was no small undertaking. One of Selina’s children was a special needs son, and it was important for the family to find a location that better suited the family’s purposes. They settled on the beautiful mountains of Western North Carolina, and bought a warehouse building off Swannanoa River Road in Asheville to house the Celtic Sea Salt business. This move was definitely a leap of faith. “Everyone that was counseling me said, ‘Don’t do it; you are going to go under.’ I said, ‘I’ll show you—I won’t.’ So, I saved and saved to have enough cash money to make the move and I did it anyway,” Selina recalls, with a triumphant tenacity.

They brought two employees from California just for the training, and hired new employees. It was a rocky start. They had limited space, all new software, all new computers, and a new staff. The orders were coming in and the steep learning curve was a reality check. Through a glitch in the system, they were accidentally shipping out three orders to every customer. This is one of the many mistakes that they can now laugh about, and Selina jokes that they have always been extremely forgiving. The company was able to get on its feet, but there was still a tumultuous road in front of Selina. She and Philippe eventually found themselves going through a painful divorce, and once finalized, she decided to buy out the company from her husband. Shortly after, her son, who suffered from cerebral palsy, passed away at the age of 28. Around this time, she was also hit with a brand infringement lawsuit from a competing company. Even though her father-in-law coined the term Celtic Sea Salt and she owned the intellectual property, this opposing brand took the name Celtic Sea Salt to the U.S. Supreme Court in order to make it a generic term that they could use on their packaging. January 2018 | capitalatplay.com 61

CARL A VISITING a pink salt pond. photo courtesy Celtic Sea Salt

Running low on funds, Selina decided to settle the suit—it wound up costing her $92,000—and was becoming painfully aware of the cutthroat nature of big business. The popularity of her brand was both a blessing and a curse. With the rise of the internet, companies around the world were encroaching on her hard-earned family business name. Selina was lucky enough to find a mentor who took an interest in her and her company. His name was Jim Cockman, a prominent Greenville, South Carolina, businessman. She says that he gave her invaluable advice and guidance when he told her, “You can either build a commodity and source salts from all over the world and just make them available, or you can build a brand of intellectual property; but it is going to be a lot harder, a lot more expensive, and a lot more money to protect.” Never one to shy away from a challenge, Selina chose to focus on building the brand, something she could stand behind and fight for. And she has fought for it every step of the way. In 2004, shortly after her divorce was finalized and her lawsuit settled, Selina was in France on business when she got a call from her sister, the CFO of the company. In the aftermath of Hurricanes Frances and Ivan there had been significant flooding in Asheville. The proximity of their building to the Swannanoa River rendered them vulnerable to the swift rising water, and the entire warehouse was now housing over five feet of water. Everything they owned was ruined by the 62

| January 2018

muddy, wet mess. The one saving grace was that their computer server was housed on the second floor, and they were able to recover their database. As Selina relives this memory, the devastation and shock still twinge like a fresh wound. Yet her optimistic side revels in the positive aspects of this tragic event. Friends and employees donated their time to help salvage anything they could. The relationships that Selina had worked so hard to build were paying off, and a real sense of camaraderie and community emerged. The company had already made plans to move into a new warehouse in Arden, off Brevard Road, that they had purchased, but they had not yet gotten the approvals and certificate of occupancy. Now, with Duke Energy workers being called to New Orleans to help with Ivan-related flooding, there was little hope that this move would happen anytime soon. Selina went to the FEMA office and waited in line for hours to ask for assistance, only to be told that they could only help her if she had a business plan. Determination set in, and right then and there she took a piece of paper and outlined her plan. Her plan was to drop the mail order business and start getting her products into stores. She detailed the ways in which she was going to do that, and eventually she was able to get a two percent interest loan of $480,000 from the Small Business Administration. “It was almost like a gift from God to start all over,” she says. But her loss wasn’t over yet.

Divine Intervention

Some of these risks have paid off, and some have cost her money and emotional distress... so goes the life of an entrepreneur—by definition, a risk-taker.

Throughout this ordeal, she had tried tirelessly to reach her beloved friend Jim Cockman, but to no avail: The retired businessman had been reported as missing by his wife and the police. Although she was trying to piece together her business, Selina still took time to print and post fliers in hopes of finding him. Then she received a devastating blow when she learned that Cockman had actually been kidnapped and murdered, the victim of an automobile robbery plot turned violent. (“It was truly tragic and something we have never forgotten,” Carla relates now, of the 2004 incident.) Selina was crushed, but she turned to her spiritual side for guidance, and held onto the belief that he was still with her and had the power to help her get through this trying time. This belief would manifest itself in the form of a man named Cookie Mills. Stuck in a building without power and her business hanging in limbo, Selina was in her office one day when, out of the blue, the gentleman showed up and informed her that he was about to retire from Duke Energy, and although he was supposed to be going to New Orleans, he said that God told him there was a lady here that needed his help. After finding out that power would not be restored for at least eight more weeks, Cookie called in some favors to the energy company, and was able to get it restored that evening. Selina admits the story is unbelievable, and that if there hadn’t been witnesses, the truth would be in question. But she is certain that her friend and mentor was sending help at the exact time she needed it, in the form of Mr. Mills, and that this act most likely saved her business. This has been the story of Selina’s life. Every time she has been delivered a heart-wrenching, potential ly life -alter ing blow, something miraculous has come out of it. To say she has surmounted obstacles in her life is an understatement, but she is adamant that she doesn’t relay these as victim stories. She never obtained a business degree, and she confesses that she made terrible grades in school. She has gotten to where she is today by following her intuition and taking risks. Some of these risks have paid off, and some have cost her money and emotional distress, but as is often the case, so goes the life of an entrepreneur—by definition, a risk-taker. January 2018 | capitalatplay.com 63

ALL THE PACK AGES are sealed by hand.

The Quest This life and business in the pursuit of salt is no ordinary one. Selina is continuously educating herself and her customers on the qualities of this commodity. This means she frequently travels in search of salt flats that produce a quality and ethical product, keeping with the example that Jacques set so long ago. The overall concept and mission of the company remains the same, but Selina has certainly made it her own. Realizing that the original salt source in France was too limiting to rely on totally, she has spent many years in search of other sources around the world, including Spain, Hawaii, and Mexico. She has found that the essential minerals found in sea salt were not actually derived from that gray clay. People from all over the world send her samples of their salt for her to test in her lab. She is looking for the same features and benefits that Jacques wrote about in his book. What sets sea salt apart is the reduced level of sodium chloride. If it is harvested correctly, this reduction leaves room for the beneficial 64

| January 2018

CELTIC SEA SALT the horse. photo courtesy Celtic Sea Salt

elements of magnesium, calcium, and potassium. Selina tests every one of their salts for these properties, and keeps detailed documentation for comparison. “It is an evaporation process,” she explains. “Whether it is with a wooden rake, or whether a piece of machinery comes in and breaks the crust of the salt that is on top so they can harvest what is on bottom, the same features and benefits are coming forth. The thing that makes a difference is usually the weather and the conditions of the soil and surroundings, and then the processing of the salt to make it user friendly.” She personally visits each salt flat to ensure that all quality standards are being met, and is currently in the process of visiting sites in hopes of purchasing one of the flats herself. This will guarantee her control over the process and the product. Additionally, she and her team of specialists continuously search for new harvesting practices and products that will give them an advantage in a competitive industry. Although a profitable business is certainly the end goal for Selina, her passion lies in the product. For her, the journey and the discoveries are what keep her going.

Horsing Around Selina is approached by a wide spectrum of people, and hears her share of outlandish questions and ideas, but a recent contact in an unlikely arena has piqued her interest. A woman reached out to her with a story about one of her horses. This horse, a prized and expensive race horse, had fallen ill. It was refusing to eat and its health was quickly deteriorating. The vet warned that if there was not a change soon, the outlook was not good. After recently visiting her own doctor and having been recommended to use Celtic Sea Salt in her diet, the woman examined the bottle as she was eating one day. Suddenly, she got an idea.

We know

d ce n va ad manufacturing.

L e ar n m ore at

B LU E R I D G E . E D U

January 2018 | capitalatplay.com 65

That day she put a tablespoon on the horse’s food. Two hours later the food was completely gone. “She couldn’t believe it. She did this for five days, and the vet came back out, and the vital signs were completely normal on the horse they were about to put down,” Selina recalls with amazement. “So, she said… can we do business?” Within a month they had developed an entire equine line that is in the process of being distributed to big name stores such as Tractor Supply. The owners even renamed the horse Celtic Sea Salt because it has won every race since. This new, unexpected revenue stream could be a welcome boost for Selina and her company.

Changing Times The timing of the equine line couldn’t be better. The company traditionally sold directly to consumers, but over time, large companies will only purchase through distributors. This has been a huge shift in the process and the profits for the business. To offset costs, Selina has tried tactics such as automation, but found that she was sacrificing the quality that was the foundation of her business. She has learned a lot along her journey through trial and error.

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The business started as a family business, and this concept couldn’t be truer today. When Selina contemplates the future of the company, she thinks about retirement and she thinks about her kids. Both of her daughters work for the company, as well as her niece, the granddaughter of Jacques. This family emphasizes innovation, too. While the daughters and niece each play different roles in the company such as marketing and PR, they each also have their own businesses. Daughter Carla and her husband, George, focus on the culinary aspect of the business with organic coconut products. Her other daughter, Colette, has created a successful skin care line called Rare Body. And her niece, Stephanie, produces and packages Baobab and Moringa (natural super foods) from a farm in Senegal. Selina fosters each of these endeavors. All of their products are sold through Selina Naturally. “That is my first little circle of supporting entrepreneurs. We are all here under the same roof and are making it and doing it,” Selina says. Her goal is to grow the company as much as possible and sell it when she is ready to retire, with hopes that all of her family members will have successful enterprises of their own. Each of the kids have memories of going to trade shows at a young age, hiding under the table, and making their own

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little samples to sell to customers. They remember their grandparents fondly and are inspired by the mission that was instilled in them from the beginning. “We have always been a team, and I think our future is always sticking together and keep doing what we love, and hopefully the industry will support that,” says Carla.

office, with all these people, and travel with my daughters, and be in business with my daughters,” Selina says. “But there are a lot of times, too, that I say I am scared.” Vulnerability and self-doubt are no strangers to Selina’s life. She admits that often she doesn’t know what will happen next. Yet this lends to the infectious nature of Selina’s charm, and has led her to grow a business based on passion and intuition. Selina may not know what is next, and she knows that there are many things you must sacrifice in life and business, but quality is not one of them. She will continue to search for the perfect salt that is harvested with mindfulness and sustainable practices. The proof is in a product that has a life of its own, one that people love and appreciate for its natural wonders. “I think there is just a good vibration around the salt,” Selina says. “It has its own destiny.”

The business started as a family business, and this concept couldn’t be truer today. When Selina contemplates the future of the company, she thinks about retirement and she thinks about her kids. The pride that Selina has in her company and all of her family’s ventures is evident as she describes each of them with amazement at all of their accomplishments. “I love this place. Eighty percent of the time, I come into work and pinch myself that I get to work in this beautiful

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Above & Beyond:

Accommodating Breastfeeding Employees In today’s evolving business climate, navigating accommodations for breastfeeding employees can yield both immediate and long-term rewards.

casey hite

is CEO and co-founder of Aeroflow Healthcare, an Asheville-based durable medical equipment supplier.

NFLUENTI A L NATIONA L COMPA NIES SUCH

as Facebook, Google, and IBM, mindful of the need to support working parents to ensure retention rates remain high, as well as continue to acquire quality talent, are setting the industry standard for their attention to creating a healthy work/life balance for employees.

The corporations are outspoken supporters of employing parents and allowing them to have the flexibility and amenities needed for higher performance goals. Among those amenities are providing nursing mothers with private, clean spaces to use their breast pumps. To that end, Google provides pumping rooms through an online reservation system, available 24/7, and designed the space based upon interviews with nursing mothers. Equipped with “locks, curtains, desks, a comfortable chair, a footrest, a refrigerator, cubbies, Clorox wipes, Kleenex, a stocked magazine rack, a hospital-grade pump, a mirror, and a side table,” Google has become an icon among parent-friendly workplaces.

Since 2010, companies in the United States have been required to provide a private pumping space other than a bathroom, along with reasonable unpaid break time for their employees to use the pumping space. The only exception is for companies with fewer than 50 employees and that experience “undue hardship” staying in compliance with the law. This law is part of the Fair Labor Standards Act and is widely recognized as an essential step for helping nursing mothers return to the workplace comfortably. North Carolina additionally implemented a policy for all government employees that reinforces the federal law and provides a designated pumping area and time to pump throughout the work day.

Knowing the Law

Designating a Pumping Space

In most cases, accommodating breastfeeding employees in the workplace is required by law.

Savvy companies are recognizing the benefits of providing nursing employees a private pumping

| January 2018

space and see the law as an opportunity to make positive changes to their company culture. Comfortable seating, a sink for hand washing and cleaning pump parts, an electrical outlet, and a refrigerator for storing milk are ideal amenities to include in a pumping room. Setting office policies that do not allow the pumping room to be repurposed for taking naps, holding meetings, or eating lunch is also important in order to provide nursing employees with the support needed to feel welcome at work. Although it is not required, companies that value the health of their employees can strive to provide these amenities. Doing so will set a tone that breastfeeding is not an inconvenience, but a fact of life.

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workplace accommodations. They add that other amenities may include “breastfeeding wall art, or a place for baby pictures, a telephone, a music player, or a wall clock” among the considerations a company can make for nursing employees. The coalition also offers awards for companies who comply with the law and would like public recognition for their achievement.

Ahead of the Curve Being proactive is better than waiting for the first instance of employees requesting pumping accommodations. Be prepared by understanding the legal requirements for constructing a pumping room, and brainstorm solutions before finding a space. Small companies that lack the space for a designated pumping room may be able to work with nursing employees to reserve a private office or meeting room. The helpful addition of a “do not disturb” sign that warns co-workers not to enter during a pumping session helps as well. Researching sample pumping routines can offer insight for the accommodations your company will need, along with understanding how often and for how long you should anticipate reserving the space for pumping.

According to the Department of Health and Human Services, “Women typically express their milk every 2–3 hours, or around

FLEXIBLE SCHEDULING ARR ANGEMENTS CAN ALSO HELP COMPANIES RETAIN TALENT AND ENCOUR AGE CAREER LONGEVITY FOR EMPLOYEES. EVEN EMPLOYEES WHO DO NOT REQUIRE FLEXIBILITY WILL BE PLEASED TO WORK FOR A COMPANY THAT ALLOWS FOR IT. 2–3 times per eight-hour work period. Women who work twelvehour shifts may need to express 3–4 times to maintain their

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milk production. It can take 15–20 minutes to express milk. This does not include time needed to get to and from the room, or the time needed to set up their breast pump.”

employees. Even employees who do not require flexibility will be pleased to work for a company that allows for it, knowing that their job will be secure if the need ever arises.

Flexibility Works

Other Considerations

MomsRising is a group of more than a million people who are working to achieve economic security for all mothers, women, and families in the United States. MomsRising is working for paid family leave, earned sick days, affordable childcare, and for an end to the wage and hiring discrimination which penalizes so many mothers. One issue they focus on is encouraging businesses to help employees adopt flexible work schedules, allowing people to be caretakers of children and family members with medical needs. They believe that reimagining the standard work environment to include this type of scheduling will “allow both businesses and families to thrive, including workplace flexibility, telework, non-linear career paths, and more.” As suggested above, flexible scheduling arrangements can also help companies retain talent and encourage career longevity for

A private pumping space is just one way that a company can show their commitment to helping working parents succeed. Providing paid parental leave, hiring a lactation consultant who can help your company exceed the basic requirements of the law, and making sure your insurance plan provides good coverage for maternity care are all additional ways to support families. Company culture in the United States is shifting, and corporations are realizing the importance of supporting new family ideals and welcoming employees with diverse backgrounds. Businesses of all sizes will see immediate rewards after they implement family-friendly policies and go above and beyond standard workplace laws.

January 2018 | capitalatplay.com

UPDATES FOR

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news briefs

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Amazon has been in preliminary discussions with Mylan and Sandoz, two giant manufacturers of generic drugs. Speculation about the generic drug trade being “Amazon’d” has negatively impacted stock in all phases of the complex industry. If Amazon is considering picking up distribution of drugs from pharmaceutical manufacturers to pharmacies, then the negotiations would only impact distributors like McKesson, AmerisourceBergen, and Cardinal Health. If Amazon wants to retail the drugs directly to consumers, then the move would be more disruptive. While the conversations have not been made public, Sandoz has indicated that any deal with Amazon is not expected to significantly impact its business. Executives of pharmaceutical companies

]

Allergan and Pfizer have said they welcome Amazon, but other industry leaders consider the market too complex and regulated for their platform.

1980s. The homeowners learned they no longer owned the property when Cheng and Lamm asked if they would like to buy it back. The homeowners’ association then appealed to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors to overturn the sale, and their request was approved on a 7-4 vote. The homeowners accused the purchasers of trying to flip their street, while Cheng suggested they should have contacted the city to find out why they hadn’t gotten a tax bill in 30 years.

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Back in 2015 Michael Cheng and Tina Lamm of San Jose purchased the common areas of Presidio Terrace. The street is private and gated, lined by 35 homes, all valued between $5 and $15 million, and their nicely-manicured grounds. It was put up for auction by the city after the homeowners’ association failed to pay taxes for 30 years. It wasn’t because the homeowners couldn’t cobble together the $14 a year, but because the tax bills had been going to an accountant who hadn’t worked for the association since the

In the first five months, cousins Cameron and Pey Manesh have done over $150,000 in business at Cameron’s Seafood Online, shipping about 1,000 orders to 46 states. They had the idea when a customer came from out-of-state to save $60 on a bushel of fresh Maryland blue crabs at the family business, Cameron’s Seafood. The cousins reverse-engineered Blue Apron, a leader in the growing market of home-delivered meals, and Cameron invested $65 million of his own in the startup. They bought up foam coolers and bubble wrap, had their uncle’s company print labels and instructions, and warehoused all the packaging in an old family home. Overhead was low,

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as the company can use the family stores and employees and build on the existing customer base. A major glitch was having gel packs melt over the summer, so they had to hire out to store the packs at -10oF. To date, the company has spent $42,000 on online advertising; Cameron’s wife, Mimi, handles the website. While business is good, Cameron doesn’t see the venture turning a profit next year without shipping wholesale to major retailers.

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Samsung’s Advanced Institute of Technology has announced the development of a battery with 45% more capacity and 80% less charging time than standard fast-charging lithium-ion batteries. They also retain 78.6% of their initial capacity after 500 charging cycles. The battery uses graphene balls as a cathode coating and the anode itself. Graphene is a layer of graphite one-atom thick. It is deposited on silicon oxide nanoparticles to form the graphene balls. Growing graphene on silica proved an efficient and cost-effective means of mass-producing the material, which is 100 times more conductive than copper. While not yet on the market, the technology would be a

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welcome alternative to downtime in both mobile devices and electric vehicles. The Institute has filed patent applications in the United States and Korea. Seoul National University’s School of Chemical and Biological Engineering collaborated with the research.

costs by shopping contracts. The merger would leave ExpressScripts as the only standalone PBM working with large corporations. CVS and ExpressScripts are the nation’s top two PBM’s; Ætna, United Health, Anthem, and Cigna, its top health insurers in terms of market value.

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Pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) CVS has announced its intentions to purchase Ætna for $69 billion. Analysts are split on whether or not the deal will be a go. Antitrust regulators recently blocked proposals from Ætna and Humana, and Anthem and Cigna, because there is considerable overlap in the goods and services the companies provide. By contrast, the CVS/Ætna deal is viewed as a vertical integration, which would traditionally have been of little concern to regulators. But that was before the Justice Department recently sued to block the Time Warner/AT&T merger as posing harm to consumers by limiting options. A repeated concern about the CVS/ Ætna merger is that most corporations with over 20,000 employees have been purchasing medical benefits separately from prescription coverage, containing

A report compiled by IdeaWorks and CarTrawler estimates airline revenue from ancillary sales will reach $82.2 billion this year. This represents an average of $20.13 per passenger per flight, and a 264% increase over the last eight years. Ancillary revenue is what airlines earn from selling customers more than a seat. Sales are generally associated with comfort and convenience and include seat upgrades, meals, fast-track boarding, duty-free catalog items, memberships, and commissions from bundling car rentals and hotels. IdeaWorks President Jay Sorensen explains, “That’s merchandising: getting people to spend more than they anticipated they would.” The report says one reason airlines are doing so well is they are attentive to customer choice and moving to meet it. The revenues go toward increased salaries, newer craft,

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better seating, and airport waiting area amenities. By way of comparison, the airline industry is expected to spend $129 billion on fuel this year.

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Nasdaq, the stock exchange second only in size to the New York Stock Exchange, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission to withdraw four data products. Market Pathfinders was a realtime data stream that allowed traders to evaluate market sentiment based on moves of market leaders. Users could follow three or more key players with information, such as how many were bullish or bearish on a particular stock and ratios of shares bought to shares sold. Another tool, The Intellicator, used artificial intelligence to allow traders to reverse-engineer the strategies of major traders. The products were widely opposed as unraveling the complexities to which large traders resort so as not to upset the market, and, worse, opening the market to those who intentionally want to disrupt it. Nasdaq claimed the tools would help democratize the market, and opponents noted it was democracy only for those who pay Nasdaq for those services. The products have since been withdrawn.

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Facebook announced the rollout of an AI system for identifying suicidal tendencies in Facebook conversations. The technology has been deployed everywhere except in European Union countries where data privacy laws stand in the way. Facebook already employs a group of humans to review reports of users who may be on the verge of self-harm. One of the AI’s tasks is to search for comments from concerned friends like, “Are you OK?” and “Can I help?” Upon detection, the target will get a popup from Facebook saying, “We’re reaching out to offer help. Someone thinks you might need extra support right now and asked us to help.” The person in question must then click a button to connect to services or opt out to go back to using Facebook. CEO Mark Zuckerberg is confident refined nuance analysis will lead to more accurate and comprehensive risk detection. In the first month of the launch, first responders connected with persons in crisis over 100 times.

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Immelt, who left the company months earlier than planned. The company currently reports $134 billion in debt, plus as-yet unquantified insurance liabilities, and it needs to borrow another $6 billion to make good on pensions. One of Flannery’s first moves was to overhaul leadership and trim executive perks, such as corporate jets. Next, he announced the company would be shedding $20 billion in operations over the next two years to focus on just three sectors: aviation, power, and healthcare. The company has already sold GE Industrial to the Swiss company ABB for $2.6 billion, and it has announced its intent to sell its lighting division, Current. With stock down 42% year-to-date, the company has halved dividends, which were paying $0.96 per share per year while earning only $0.86.

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Buffalo Wild Wings has been purchased by Roark Capital Group for $2.9 billion. The casual dining and entertainment chain was among restaurants suffering recently. In August last year, activist investor Marcato Capital Management published an open letter claiming the restaurant was mismanaged. After Marcato gained a majority on Buffalo Wild Wings’ board, CEO Sally Smith departed. Then, Roark Capital agreed to purchase the restaurant. It will now be run by CEO Paul Brown as a privately-held subsidiary of Arby’s Restaurant Group. Brown is credited as the turnaround artist who took the roast beef restaurant from annual losses in the millions to $3.7 billion in sales last year. The model used on Arby’s hired new executive officers, closed underperforming stores, made kitchens more ergonomic, introduced new menu items, and called attention to the store in the media. Brown accepted his new role with nothing but praise for the Buffalo Wild Wings brand and the chain’s talent.

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Bitcoin surpassed the $10,000 mark the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. The next day, its value rose to a high of $11,395, before settling around the $9,000 mark. At its maximum, the digital currency was valued about $9,000 higher than it was at the beginning of the year. Analysts speculated the increase was the result of more awareness of and confidence in the coin. Nasdaq, CBOE Holdings, and CME Group are among more notable exchanges announcing their intention to integrate bitcoin into futures contracting. On Thanksgiving, 100,000 new customers purchased the coin, bringing the total of bitcoin buyers over 19 million. Purchasers appear more interested in investing in the coin to take advantage of volatility, rather than using it as a unit of exchange. Bitcoin remains suspect on Wall Street, it being the currency of choice for people who don’t want their transactions traced. January 2018 | capitalatplay.com 75

PUTSCH'S WATER JET cutting through materials.

| January 2018

THE

Cutting Edge written by jennifer fitzger ald photos by anthony harden

Carl Christian Radinger carries on the family tradition with the multinational Putsch & Co.

January 2018 | capitalatplay.com 77

I PUTSCH BL ADES waiting to be sharpened.

| January 2018

magine flying to destinations that include Germany, Italy, Russia, Spain, Norway, and Asheville, North Carolina, on a regular basis— all for your business. This travel is routine for Carl Christian Radinger, owner of Putsch & Co., Inc., a leader in the international sugars/sweeteners, root vegetable processing (sugar beets in particular), glass technology, filtration and separation, and panel processing industries. “I basically commute,” says Radinger. “I come back and forth all the time. I go to the customers still. It’s very important to me because that’s how you see how your products perform. You get ideas for new developments. So, I fly about 400,000 miles a year. Home is where the family is, and family live here (Asheville)—so this is home for me.” Radinger is the third generation of his family to run Putsch & Co., Inc. The company was founded in 1871 in Germany by Hermann Putsch—hence the company name. Putsch gradually grew his high-quality cutlery craft into the industrial knives business. Meanwhile, Radinger’s grandfather was working in the ballistic industry but wanted to do something by himself, so he wound up purchasing the company and expanding even further into manufacturing sugar processing equipment. (Worldwide, the sugar industry is huge, the global market in 2012 being estimated at over $65 billion annually.) Radinger’s father later joined the business and, in 1975, opened the facility near Asheville, which serves as Putsch's North American technical, manufacturing, and service center. Carl Christian took over the company in 1992—just after receiving his college degree. “For me, it was a passionate thing,” he says. “We were in a difficult situation when I took over the company, and I realized it was either now or never and I decided to take it and develop it. I had to make some hard decisions right off the bat and was not prepared for it. But you figure it out. I had good tools. Like a lot of things in life, you just have to figure it out.” Born in Germany, he visited Asheville during the summers. “When my father built the company here he also bought a house—a summer home. So for me, it was a second home. I had lots of friends. Loved the area. Loved the people even more.” Deciding to attend university in the United States, he studied mechanical engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York. Visiting a girlfriend in Philadelphia one summer, he discovered a business school there, the University of Pennsylvania – Wharton School of Business, and took some summer classes. He had no clue what he was getting into—at the end of the summer, his marketing professor said he was good at this and should come to school there full-time. “I loved it, but for me, the harder challenge was engineering, so I said, ‘Why don’t I do both?’ I would do Monday/Wednesday/ Friday engineering in Troy, and Tuesday/Thursday business in Philadelphia. I didn’t quite get the business degree. I needed another summer semester, but almost.”

R ADINGER SHOWING an ar ticle about the family business.

Multiple Technologies Located near Asheville, on Cane Creek Road in Fletcher, Putsch is a technology company working in various fields. Unique in terms of not having just one product, Putsch has received worldwide recognition and offers multiple technologies for certain industries. They currently have 650 employees worldwide, with 50 in Fletcher. “We are completely vertically integrated,” says Radinger. “We do basic consulting and then go the whole nine yards from the engineering to testing, to delivering hardware, delivering machinery. Doing the factory programming and automation, up to project management and getting the production facilities ready. Afterwards, we do a lot of optimization [of] spare parts, training, and so on. The customers, like with a construction set, can either pick parts of it, or have the whole thing. So, that developed over the last 25 years. We started out with two products for one industry. And now we have, alone for the sugar industry, over 60 different technologies with that whole gamut in there. That’s what we came from.” Putsch also serves the panel processing industry. “Basically, it was a cutting technology we used from the sugar industry,” says Radinger. “We imported it over to other industries. We are one of the world leaders in cutting panels, mostly wood panels, [that] can be de-sandwiched aluminum composites for building facades. Any kind of plastics, composite materials. We cut big pieces to size and then give them an edge. The product headquarter is in our Italian company. We bring the basic technology here, customize it, service it, sell it, adapt it.” January 2018 | capitalatplay.com 79

Also a spin-off from the sugar industry is animal nutrition and energy. One of Putsch’s top selling points, as listed on its website (Putschusa.com), is the company’s expertise in the root vegetable processing industry, offering efficient, rugged machines for rock separating, washing, and slicing the roots of sugar beets, carrots, potatoes, etc. “Sugar beets have turned into energy beets, or feed beets as we call them now, too,” he explains. “It is a much more economical and healthier way to feed cows and farm animals. Problem is, when you plant those, you need a way to process them. You need to extract them out of the dirt. You need to get bulk dirt off and chop them up, so animals don’t choke on them. We make that equipment here.” Putsch’s customers range from the woodworker next door up to multi-billion-dollar corporations who use their equipment for panel processing or to provide sugars. Locally, they work with companies like Lentz Cabinets. Nationally, they work with sugar companies like Domino Sugar. Putsch’s headquarters are in Hagen, Germany. They also have a company in Northern Germany that specializes in cleaning technologies; one in the Rhineland that works on screens for

“One of my favorite questions is—why are you here? Some people say to make money. I say that’s a very honest answer, but it is wrong. You need to be here because you love it.” sugar centrifugals; one in Spain; and one in Italy for panel processing. In 2011 they set up shop in Russia with an office in Moscow and a service center 300 miles south of there. In 2013 they bought a company in Norway, which has a production facility in the Czech Republic.

Solutions The Putsch corporate philosophy focuses on solutions for the select industries they understand thoroughly. They are not just a supplier of pieces, but focus on customer value. Radinger’s management style mirrors the corporate philosophy. “I’m very hands-on. For me, I believe in management teams and working together. I’m trying to empower everybody to make as many decisions as possible by themselves. But how do you do that? You need a guideline and that’s where the corporate philosophy comes in. So we are trying to have as much selfresponsibility as possible. Strategic or bigger things, I ask the 80

| January 2018

L ABELS MADE to detail which Putsch locations the materials go to.

local management teams or whoever it concerns to sit together and come to a conclusion. It’s very interesting in the way that when you do that, usually at first it doesn’t work—they fight, different opinions, and so on. I learned early on that a lot of it is because discussion is easy, but most of the time the data and legwork are missing. So before we discuss something, I say, ‘Let’s do the legwork, get this data, get this data, and get this data.’ And when they do that and come back together, a lot of times they say, ‘It’s clear—we don’t need to discuss anymore.’ [By putting] the effort into it, 90 percent of the time, people actually work unanimously. Once people understand it’s part of our company culture, it works very well. If you did all the legwork and everything else and you still don’t agree, or you still have questions or can’t decide, then give me a call. That’s my management philosophy.” Radinger is very involved in the details of his company. He knows all his employees by name except for several new ones that were hired in Europe that he has yet to meet. This is not difficult for him, as he likes to interact with people—talk with them and see what’s going on. The information he receives from an employee in shipping or on a machine is just as important to him as a member of management or a customer. It is important to keep the information flowing. “I know all the products. I know a lot of the customers. In the U.S., I would say I know every customer, every factory that we deal with, so I can call them. I get input if something is not right. I feel like I am a good discussion partner for them—not from a strategic management up in the clouds, but I know the products, I know the details—let’s work together.” He believes in customer communication and visits. When asked where he spends the company’s marketing dollars, he jokes, “Delta Airlines,” because business is done person to person. Every sugar factory worldwide is visited by a Putsch employee at least once a year to look at the customer’s facilities and see what’s going well and what’s not. Video conferencing does not replace the personal visit.

Love What You Do Twenty years ago when hiring a new employee, Radinger would study a CV or resume, but he now realizes that much more important is the feeling you get from the person. Important for him is, are you willing? Are you interested? He states that if people put in the effort, they can learn lots of things. “I’m only interested in the new generation—the trainees. Unfortunately, I have a lot of responsibilities and don’t get to spend much time with them. But I make some time and I like to talk with them. One of my favorite questions is—people think it is a trick question—why are you here? They look at me with big eyes. Some people say to make money. I say that’s a very honest answer, but it is wrong. I’ll tell you why. You need to be here because you love it. Because you love January 2018 | capitalatplay.com

CARL CHRISTIAN R ADINGER

| January 2018

TR ADEMARK PAPERWORK displaying the Putsch & Co. branding hangs in Radinger's off ice.

it, you are going to give it your best. If you give it your best, you are going to be good at it. And once you are good at it, you are going to make a lot of money. That’s what I’m looking for—people who love what they are doing. That’s why I am doing what I am doing.”

The American Customer While traveling and doing business around the world, Radinger notes that the American customer is a very smart customer. Overseas, price is a huge factor, and in the United States, of course, it is too, but not price per se, but value. He sees the American customer willing to pay a little more and get more value out of it. “I don’t go to a cheap outfit from China if I can’t have it serviced locally. It’s all about what do I get out of it. It’s a different way of thinking. Plus, customer and supplier work together much better. It’s more of a trust issue.”

Manufacturing Renaissance Twenty-five years ago, when Radinger started working in Germany, people came up to him and said, “Germany is so expensive, you must go to the Czech Republic,” where it was cheap to have things made and imported. He said, “No thank you.” to this idea because quality was a huge issue for his company. He notes that it can take a long time for some people to understand the quality concept and that cost advantages are temporary. “If you let someone in China do a product, then they have nothing else to do with it—they don’t particularly care about the quality of the product. What we do here is, we build the equipment, it gets shipped, some of the people who work on that equipment commission it at the customer, they service it

over the lifetime, so it is their baby. That is a much better fit in terms of commitment to the market, to the industry, and to the customers.” At a point in time when so many manufacturers were leaving North Carolina, Radinger’s point of view was to keep building it here because it felt right. He saw no benefit to outsourcing but a lot of benefit in keeping it local with the jobs and profits in Western North Carolina. “Right now, we see a renaissance in manufacturing. We see big increases in the last three to four years. In general, that’s great. In particular, it causes challenges—not so many people are studying to be engineers or welders or fabricators and so on. And now there is a huge problem in the U.S. for skilled labor. There is a shortage. That’s one of the challenges for manufacturing here. We are fortunate here to have a very good support from Henderson County Economic Development, and also work a lot with community colleges. That helps tremendously.”

The Future “In Germany we say the first generation builds it up; the second enjoys it; and the third drives it into the ground. I knew I had to be very careful about that. I wanted to beat the odds,” Radinger shares, with a laugh. Beating those odds is exactly what Radinger has done as he guides the company that is still privately owned by him and his mother. “Probably every two weeks I get a letter that someone wants to invest. We are very happy where we are. We are in the fortunate position that our operations can fund any of the projects that we need to do. We re-invest probably a far greater portion of any of the profits we make than 99 percent of the other companies out there. We are very, very solid. We don’t need it from a financial point of view, and from a strategic point of view, we are actually January 2018 | capitalatplay.com 83

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TINY HOLES punched into metal sheeting to f ilter sugars.

one of the bigger fishes in our industry. So, at the moment, there is no need to do that.” Radinger is the father of three sons, the oldest having already completed an eight-month internship at Putsch. The two younger sons are finishing high school. A look to the future brings the question of, will a fourth generation of the Radinger family lead Putsch & Co., Inc? “I thought about that quite a bit. Obviously, I would love nothing more than that, but it needs

believes his father would be proud of the company today—an international group of companies recognized globally for excellence in technology and quality. “I think he would be proud. He really liked where we took the company. We are really an international name now. We are very proud of the companies and communities that we work out of. We are basically a household name in all the industries that we serve worldwide. It’s an exciting time right now. We have been able to grow really through all channels—organic growth; we developed it ourselves—and we had quite a few merger and acquisition opportunities.” When asked what advice he would give to a younger version of himself, he thoughtfully offered the following: “If something really adverse hits you, stay calm, step back, look at it, and then deal with it appropriately. Don’t let things shock you or give you a heart attack. Many, many things are possible in life—just step back and consider it. Take the speed out of it, look at it, and then attack it. “Here, we are all very passionate about what we do—everything else falls into place. Be passionate about the products, and be very good to all your customers and employees. Then everything else works out—those are the big things.”

“We have been able to grow really through all channels—organic growth; we developed it ourselves —and we had quite a few merger and acquisition opportunities.” to work. It needs to be a good fit for the company and any, all, or none of my sons to come in. We’ll see. The possibilities are there. If not, we’ll do what’s right for everybody.” The ribbon-cutting for a new Putsch facility in Fletcher was held in 2013. It still includes the original building that his father, who passed away in 2001, opened in 1975. Radinger

January 2018 | capitalatplay.com 85

column

Taking Care of Your Employees

Want your company to retain a high-performing workforce? Start with an annual benefits review.

E OF TEN CONSIDER OU R WOR K PL ACE

a second home, but have you thought about how your company takes care of your people? Here are a few ways you can craft an environment where people want to stay and perform at their best. This article will focus on your benefits package options.

k atherine morosani

is a Financial Advisor at Carol L. King & Associates in Asheville.

Vacation

Flexible work environment

According to Fortune magazine, 429 million paid vacation days are not taken; put another way, only 25 percent of Americans use all their vacation. Harvard Business Review puts this expense at $224 billion a year. Not only is this a liability for accrued vacation time: Time away from work helps employees regenerate and come back to work refreshed and ready to focus. I worked for a bank that required every employee to be away from the office two weeks in a row. They did that as a control point to uncover embezzlement. The benefit of no email or contact with work was, by the second week, I was able to relax and really be on vacation. This also provides connections among employees as they learn where projects stand and backfills institutional knowledge. No one should be so indispensable that he or she cannot take vacation.

Harvard Business Review reports that after healthcare, flexibility is the next most valued benefit. There are many ways to offer a flexible work environment and it does not have to cost the employer. Employees can start and end their days when they want. People can get to work by 7:30AM so they can be home with their children after school. Depending on the job function, employees can work from home. One example: On a snowy day, instead of risking an accident to get to work, let your staff work from home. A flexible work environment allows for work-life balance so employees can respond when a child has a school event, or they have to go home sick, or they have personal events to attend.

| January 2018

K Health Insurance Health insurance is the benefit that employees look for in a quality employer. How does yours cover employee needs? Does a high deductible mean that your employee is not covered for her monthly asthma medication until November? Does every office visit require $100 to walk through the door, or is there a less expensive co-pay? Have your healthcare benefits partners do a regular review to make sure that your employees have the best options for both the employer and employee. A healthcare option is a benefit only when people can use it.

for the employee is that they can potentially reduce their overall taxes in the present as their retirement savings grow tax deferred for the future. Remember, withdrawals of taxable amounts will be subject to ordinary income tax and if made prior to age 59 ½ may be subject to a 10% IRS tax penalty. The employer wins because retirement plans can be “golden handcuffs” or an incentive that help retain employees until they are vested. Society of Human Resource Management’s Stephen Miller reports in his May 22, 2015, article that one in four employees do not enroll in retirement as an employee benefit and

HSA or FSA? I have had both FSA, or flexible spending accounts, and HSA (health savings accounts) in my career. What I like about both accounts is the peace of mind it creates for surprise medical expenses, and the employee does not have to pay taxes on the money going into or out of the account. With the HSA, I do not lose any money at the end of the year; the pot keeps on growing until I need to pay for a medical expense, and it is portable if I leave the firm. FSAs are good for low deductible healthcare; they require the employee to use the money or lose any money that is still in the account by the end of the year. One year I miscalculated and had to buy medical supplies I did not need because I was too frugal to let the FSA money disappear. The positive side is if there are planned medical events such as surgeries, this can help alleviate those expenses.

Life insurance It is not expensive to provide all employees up to $50,000 in a death benefit. It does not add to the employee’s taxes and can be a help with final expenses for the family.

Retirement plans Do you offer a retirement plan or profit sharing plan for employees? If you offer a match, how long does the employee have to wait to become eligible and then be able to keep the match available to the employee? Are you encouraging your employees to take advantage of this benefit? A benefit

therefore miss the company match. Every time I meet with clients and their employer has a 401(k) with a match, I ask them if they have enrolled. More people than expected leave money on the table because they do not take advantage of the 3%-6% match. On a bigger scale, Miller states, the one in four employees are leaving on average of $1,336 each—or $24 billion dollars total—on the table that they did not have to put forth any extra effort to earn. In addition, this benefit can grow surprisingly fast. When employees tell me they cannot afford this benefit, I recommend starting at the match level or 1% and then grow another 1% each year. Quickly, people see that the net amount taken out of their paycheck is minor compared to the free match and tax-deferred dollars they receive. Imagine what saving up to the IRS 2017 maximum of $18,000 a year could do for a comfortable retirement.

*** There are many ways to show your employees that they matter, and benefits are one of the most valued and visible. Take a look from head-to-toe, from vacation to health insurance to retirement plans, and see how your company is doing. Katherine Morosani is a Financial Advisor at Carol King & Associates offering securities through 1st Global Capital Corp., Member FINRA, SIPC. Investment advisory services offered through 1st Global Advisors, Inc. Insurance services offered through 1st Global Insurance Services, Inc. She can be reached at 828-258-2323 or Katherine@CLKcpa.com. January 2018 | capitalatplay.com 87

People Play at

1. (L-R) Gar Ragland, George Glackin, Allison Glackin, Meg Ragland. 2. Juan Garzon during his signature pitch workshop.

| January 2018

3. Group ESports Coaching, led by Chris Filipiak. 4. Trey Scott presenting Watch Pitch. 5. Shayla Khalife presenting. 6. Trinity Wiles pitching.

7. (L-R) Judges Josh Dorman, Cain McClary, Dr. Mary Lynn Manns, George Glacken. 8. Brett McCall chatting with Steve Meisner and VR Arena team.

Hatch This! Weekend Hatch AVL | Asheville, NC | November 3,4,&5, 2017 Photos by Bob Ware of Slow Glass Pictures 14

10 15

9. Michael Byrd pitching. 10. (L-R) Judges Josh Dorfman, Tom Ryan (pointing), Meg Ragland, & Jim Moore. 11. Lisa Fournier mentoring Our City team (Asheville STEM school students).

12. Dominic Taverniti and George Glackin. 13. Mayor Esther Manheimer delivering closing remarks and announcing winning team. 14. Alicia Jack (L) receiving Tech Talent South scholarship award from Amber Williams.

15.Tim Montgomery mentoring team AVL Create Space.

16. Scott Shwarts mentoring team Tipster. January 2018 | capitalatplay.com 89

events

january

EVENTS january 1- 5

Intro - Emerging Ceramicists in Western North Carolina

10AM-5PM The Refinery Creator Space 207 Coxe Ave, Asheville, NC

Artists were selected on the basis of offering new angles on an old tradition. Expect so much more than your basic idea of pottery; ceramic sculptures, bowls, and creations abound.

> 828-258-0710 > ashevillearts.com

> 828-227-2787 > museum@wcu.edu january 1-28 Festival of Lights at Chetola Resort Dusk until

Chetola Resort 185 Chetola Lake Dr, Blowing Rock, NC More than pretty-colored balls of light in the nighttime, this outdoor display features sculptures of light in the form of popular holiday icons.

> 800-243-8652 > blowingrock.com

january 1-7

Romantic Realism by Ernestine Bucking

9AM-5PM The North Carolina Arboretum 100 Frederick Law Olmsted Way, Asheville, NC Mixing oil, acrylic, and watercolor on canvas, she really does do a good job emulating reality. Her paintings of birds, butterflies, and landscapes are on display in the Education Center.

> Parking: Personal Vehicle $14, Motorhome $50, Bus $100 > 828-665-2492 > ncarboretum.org

january 1-26

WCU Collects: Recent Acquisitions

10AM-4PM WCU Bardo Arts Center 200 Centennial Dr, Cullowhee, NC 90

The public has a chance to view the gifts made to the art museum over the last couple years. The collection consists of paintings, printmaking, book arts, sculptures, ceramics, and contemporary crafts.

| January 2018

january 4 , 11, 18 , 25

The Jones House Weekly Jam Sessions 7:30-11PM

The Jones House 604 West King St, Boone, NC Members of the public are welcome to bring an instrument and play along or just kick back and enjoy the talent. This event recurs every Thursday.

> 828-268-6280 > joneshouse.org january 8 & 9

Holistic Financial Planning 9AM-5PM

Burnsville Town Center 6 S Main St, Burnsville, NC For area farmers, an opportunity to learn more about whole farm planning and decision-making frameworks related to their economic, environmental, and

social viability. Space is limited to 30 participants, so sign up today.

> Cost: $100; $75 if w/farm business partner

> organicgrowersschool.org january 9

Henry Rollinsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Travel Slideshow 7PM

The Orange Peel 101 Biltmore Ave, Asheville, NC Erstwhile Black Flag / Rollins Band frontman and spoken word artist Henry Rollins has taken the road less traveled through the Middle East, Africa, Central Asia, South America, and Antarctica. Now he wants to share some of his favorite storytelling photographs with you.

>Tickets: Advance $30, Door $35 > 828-398-1837 > theorangepeel.net january 11-21

A Turnpike Sunset 7:30PM (Thu, Fri, Sat), 2:30PM (Sun) Asheville Community Theatre, 35below 35 East Walnut St, Asheville, NC Drovers traveling the Buncombe Turnpike two centuries ago stop to gather â&#x20AC;&#x2122;round the campfire, tell stories, drink moonshine, and play some music, compliments of local bluegrass sensation Buncombe Turnpike.

> Admission: $20 > 828-254-1320 > ashevilletheatre.org january 13

Little One-Inch 10AM Asheville Community Theatre 35 East Walnut St, Asheville, NC

Red Herring Puppets act out the tale of a teensy baby found at roadside. He doesn’t grow up, but defends a princess against an ogre, who leaves behind a magical hammer with the power to make Little One-Inch grow.

> Admission: $5 > 828-254-1320 > ashevilletheatre.org january 13 -14

Asheville Gun & Knife Show

9AM-5PM (Sat), 10AM-4PM (Sun) WNC Agricultural Center 1301 Fanning Bridge Rd, Fletcher, NC

Karen Washington

Dan Kittredge

Sobande Moss Greer

Mike Kent and Associates, the producers of the Nashville Civil War Show since 1990, promise a wide assortment to interest shooters and collectors in a family-friendly space.

> Admission: Adult $8, Child (0-12) FREE > 770-630-7296 > wncagcenter.org

– april 22 Dream Silks by Kathy Goodson january 13

9AM-5PM The North Carolina Arboretum 100 Frederick Law Olmsted Way, Asheville, NC Nothing holds saturated color like silk, and Goodson steam-sets layers of crepe de Chine and adds other media to create images of plants and flowers on the verge of springing to life in splendid beauty.

> Parking: Personal Vehicle $14, Motorhome $50, Bus $100 > 828-665-2492 > ncarboretum.org

Beth and Shawn Dougherty

Russell Hedrick

Celebrating 25 Years of Education March 9–11, 2018 • UNC Asheville 150+ Classes & Hands-On Workshops Organic Growing • Sustainable Living Special Speakers • Expert Instructors Trade Show • Seed Exchange OrganicGrowersSchool.org January 2018 | capitalatplay.com 91

events

january 13

Dwight Yoakam

7:30PM Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Resort 777 Casino Dr, Cherokee, NC The gold, platinum, triple platinum, Grammy winner's most recent album, Swimmin’ Pools, Movie Stars, is a bluegrass lover’s delight, and Yoakam remains the true heir to the classic Bakersfield countrypolitan sound.

>Tickets: $37 and up > 828-497-7777 > ticketmaster.com january 17

12th Annual Homecoming Career Fair

january 19

Joshua Lozoff: Life Is Magic

8PM Diana Wortham Theatre 18 Biltmore Ave, Asheville, NC

He not only messes with your mind, he can make you disappear. Joshua has performed for high level CEOs to regular Joes, so it's a show everyone can enjoy.

>Tickets: Adult $35, Student $30, Child $20 > 828-257-4530 > dwtheatre.com

january 20 -28

Beech Mountain’s 50th Anniversary

11AM-4PM WNC Agricultural Center 1301 Fanning Bridge Rd, Fletcher NC

Beech Mountain Resort 1007 Beech Mountain Pwy, Beech Mountain, NC

Take a bath and update your resume. Biltmore Farms, the Grove Park Inn, Ingles, BB&T, colleges, governmental agencies, state-of-the-art production facilities, fast food stores, utilities, breweries, and temp agencies are just a few of the exhibitors.

To celebrate, they’re rolling back prices here and there. While specials will spring up throughout the year, this week will feature contests, live music, and fireworks—in addition to the usual skiing, skating, tubing, and hanging out at the lodge.

> 828-258-6101 > ashevillechamber.org

january 20

january 18

Aesop’s Fables

Tom Fisch

6-7PM Henderson County Public Library, Kaplan Auditorium 301 North Washington St, Hendersonville, NC Fisch provides low-key, top-talent conversation and catchy music on melodious guitar, with stories for the whole family. I can’t get that song out of my head.

> 828-697-4725 > henderson.lib.nc.us

> 828-387-2011 > skibeech.com

| January 2018

10AM Asheville Community Theatre 35 East Walnut St, Asheville, NC Bright Star Touring Theatre enacts in a swift pace Aesop’s favorite stories of animals teaching why being a good human is such a wonderful thing.

> Admission: $5 > 828-254-1320 > ashevilletheatre.org

january 20

Rim Hike

8AM Swannanoa Valley Museum 223 West State St, Black Mountain, NC The first in the series of third Saturday hikes tackles Rhododendron Rim and takes in property once owned by Rafael Guastavino, architect of the Basilica of St. Lawrence. Participants completing all eleven jaunts will join the elite few who have hiked the entire Swannanoa Valley Rim. Advanced registration is required.

> Registration: Single hike $50, Full series: $310 > 828-669-9566 > swannanoavalleymuseum.org

january 20 & 21

Tedeschi Trucks Band 8PM (Sat), 7PM (Sun) Thomas Wolfe Auditorium 87 Haywood St, Asheville, NC

This Grammy-winning blues rock group and jamband world mainstay is led by stars in their own rights, guitar virtuosos (and spouses) Derek Trucks and Susan Tedeschi.

>Tickets: $29.50 and up > 828-259-5736 > ticketmaster.com

– february 18 Jeeves Takes a Bow january 24

NC Stage Company 15 Stage Lane, Asheville, NC Bertie Wooster embarks for New York with his servant, Jeeves, and runs into the mob. To see exactly out how this turns into a Broadway musical, you might want a ticket.

>Tickets: $30, $40, $50 > 828-239-0263 > ncstage.org

January 2018 | capitalatplay.com 93

events

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Book a free workout* at ORANGETHEORYFITNESS.COM OTF Asheville 1816 Hendersonville Road, Ste 60 Asheville, NC 28803 828.610.5500 *First-time visitors and local residents only. Certain restrictions apply. $28 minimum value. At participating studios only. Orangetheory®, OTF® and other Orangetheory® marks are registered trademarks of Ultimate Fitness Group LLC. ©Copyright 2018 Ultimate Fitness Group LLC and/or its affiliates.

january 25 -28

WinterFest

10AM-10PM Downtown, Main St, Blowing Rock, NC In the 20th annual, participants can jump in the freezy-cold waters of Chetola Lake, enjoy ice carvings while they last, and take in a fashion show, dog show, or hayride. Shop-ops will abound. Feasts are ticketed; see website for pricing.

> 828-295-7851 > blowingrockwinterfest.com january 26 -28

AKC All Breed Agility Trial

8AM-5PM (Fri & Sat), 8AM-3PM (Sun) WNC Agricultural Center 1301 Fanning Bridge Rd, Fletcher, NC Hosted by The Blue Ridge Agility Club, watch these pups soar through obstacle courses designed to test their agility and training. Though this one is for the dogs, they ask you to keep any non-competing pets at home.

> 828-687-1414 > blueridgeagility.com january 26

David Rawlings

8PM The Orange Peel 101 Biltmore Ave, Asheville, NC Touring in support of acclaimed recent album Poor David’s Almanack, the Americana hero’s band includes longtime partner Gillian Welch, so fans of the Welch-Rawlings collaboration that made both famous will still be well-served.

Custom pools and spas. We create unique backyard environments 1200-C Hendersonville Rd. Asheville, NC • 828-277-8041 • waterworkswnc.com 94

| January 2018

>Tickets: Advance $30, Door $35 > 828-398-1837 > theorangepeel.net

january 26

ACMS presents Camerata Chamber Ensemble of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra

8PM Diana Wortham Theatre 18 Biltmore Ave, Asheville, NC

Acclaimed musicians from Amsterdam travel the world performing about 50 concerts a season. Selections for this show are Mozart’s “Quintet in A major for Clarinet and Strings, K. 581” and Schubert’s “Octet in F major, D. 803.”

>Tickets: Adult $40, Youth (0-25) $5 > 828-575-7427 > ashevillechambermusic.org january 27

Steep Canyon Rangers

WESTERN NORTH C AROLINA’S BUSINESS LIFESTYLE MAGAZINE

8PM US Cellular Center 87 Haywood St, Asheville, NC

Even before they made it big, this bluegrass group’s music had smiting power. Add-on VIP packages are available. Opening act: River Whyless.

>Tickets: $27 and up > 828-259-5736 > ticketmaster.com february 2

First Friday Art Crawl 6-8:30PM Downtown Boone

Studios open their doors so evening strollers can feast their eyes and mingle with the artists themselves. Live music and complimentary refreshments are scattered throughout the town.

> 828-268-6280 > downtownboonenc.com

January 2018 | capitalatplay.com 95

events

february 2

Sense and Sensibility

8PM Diana Wortham Theatre 18 Biltmore Avenue, Asheville, NC The Aquila Theatre company performs this classic for all you Jane Austen fanatics out there. Aquila will host a pre-show discussion an hour before the show at the nearby Asheville Music School.

>Tickets: Adult $40, Student $35, Child $20

> 828-257-4530 > dwtheatre.com

>Tickets: $16 > 828-692-1082 > hendersonvilletheatre.org february 5

First Monday Concerts

12-1PM Brevard College, Porter Center 1 Brevard College Dr, Brevard, NC

First Monday concerts raise awareness about the struggles and triumphs of a different local charity each month.

> 828-884-8330 > brevardmusic.org

february 2-11 Love, Loss, & What I Wore 7:30PM (Fri & Sat), 2PM (Sun) Hendersonville Community Theatre 229 South Washington St, Hendersonville, NC Who hasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t stressed over what to wear on a date as if the wrong choice would spell Armageddon? Girls reminisce about how apparel and accessories ushered in personal eras of war and peace in this in the award-winning dramedy.

february 6

Principles of ATHENA Leadership Dinner

5:30-7PM Kanuga Conference Center 130 Kanuga Chapel Dr, Hendersonville, NC The eight principles of ATHENA are live authentically, learn constantly, advocate fiercely, foster collaboration, build relationships, give back, celebrate, and something else they might divulge if you go. Leaders are invited to invite/sponsor an emerging leader.

>Tickets: Single $50, Twosome $80 > 828-692-1413 > hendersoncountychamber.org february 6

The Ammons Sisters Mountain Storytelling

4-5:30PM Henderson County Public Library, Kaplan Auditorium 301 North Washington St, Hendersonville, NC Old-fashioned, folksy, down-home fun is shared through audience participation in music and the spoken word. Music is provided by the Canhouse Band.

> 828-697-4725 > henderson.lib.nc.us

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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