Capital at Play June 2018

Becky Cannon & Emi Kubota i play., Inc. p.16

Local Industry

Hemp Farming in Western North Carolina p.51

Western North Carolina's Free Spirit of Enterprise

colu m ns

The Garden Column Plants Don’t Read Plant Tags. p.30

Entrepreneurs – Find Your Next Act p.64

DR. FRANK KING OF

Carolina Bison & King Bio discusses growing and managing his businesses.

Volume VIII - Edition VI complimentary edition

capitalatplay.com

p.72

BIKE@PLAY p. 50 June Passcode June 2018

Amy Hanks, President, Beverly-Hanks Mortgage Services 100

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Q&A with Amy Hanks WHO IS BEVERLY-HANKS MORTGAGE SERVICES? We are a locally owned full-service mortgage lender, founded in 2000 to serve Western North Carolina. We’re partnered with Beverly-Hanks & Associates, REALTORS ®, the region’s most trusted real estate firm.

BHMS’S GROWTH HAS SURGED IN THE PAST THREE YEARS. WHAT’S LED TO THAT GROWTH? In 2015, we transformed from being licensed as a mortgage broker to a North Carolina mortgage lender. This step forward allowed us to control the entire lending process from our centrally-located operation center in Asheville.

Our locally based operations allow us to deliver fast and efficient closings that online and big box lenders only dream of.

THERE ARE MANY MORTGAGE LENDERS BOTH ON AND OFFLINE. WHAT MAKES BHMS DIFFERENT? Most big banks have regionalized their mortgage operations or moved them online.

In either circumstance, there is little local control of the process. Our local ownership, operations team, and highly experienced loan officers provide local hands-on service that is unmatched by others.

HOW DO CONSUMERS BENEFIT FROM BHMS AND BE VERLY- HANKS & ASSOCIATES UNDER THE SAME OWNERSHIP? Convenience, coordination, and care. Our lenders are conveniently located within our branch offices, making prequalification or loan application smooth. Working side by side with our REALTORS ® creates seamless coordination of the loan process, and no other lender has the profound vested interest in the ultimate care of the customer as BeverlyHanks Mortgage Services.

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About Beverly-Hanks Mortgage Services We’re a locally owned mortgage lender focused on delivering a convenient and reassuring mortgage process. Our partnership with BeverlyHanks allows our tenured loan officers to meet with clients in any one of 11 neighborhood offices, offering a level of personal service of which online and big box lenders can only dream.

June 2018 | capitalatplay.com

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A

few months ago, we kicked off a new series for our Featured Capitalists section informally called “The Capital at Play Revisit.” Not the catchiest name, I know. So I’m open to suggestions from you. Maybe something like “A Closer Look”?

Nope, that’s already been taken by Seth Meyers... How about “A Second Look”? Hmm… That might have legs. At any rate, these reports involve revisiting previously-profiled entrepreneurs and updating the file on them in order to outline, in as much detail as possible, how their businesses have grown and evolved since we first visited with them.

Typically, they will have undergone some form of noteworthy expansion between then and now, such as in the case of Asheville’s Riverbend Malt House, who in our February issue talked about how they had so rapidly exceeded their production goals in a short period of time that they had found it necessary to move into a massive new facility to meet the demand for their product. In the current issue we have two revisits: Dr. Frank King, of Carolina Bison and King Bio; and Becky Cannon and Emi Kubota, of i play., Inc. In Dr. King’s case, since our first visit, for the May/June 2012 issue (“The Secret to a Ripe Old Age”), his bison meat production has grown exponentially, to the point where he’s leasing ranchland all over the United States in order to keep up with demand; in similar fashion, his King Bio dietary and naturopathy products have exploded in popularity. And the mother-daughter team of Cannon and Kubota has overseen both a physical and production expansion since the March/April 2013 issue (“Seriously, Playful”) with i play., now occupying a huge warehouse and reaching sales of $17 million last year.

We feel success stories like these are both inspiring and potentially educational for other regional business people, because by listening to them describe how they were able to “grow smart” and effect those expansions—for example, what goals did they set for themselves, how did they handle the financial end, and what pitfalls were they able to overcome—one can view a kind of blueprint being laid out for other entrepreneurs who are either starting out or finding themselves at a business crossroads of some type. When someone is a success at what he or she has been doing, there usually are some primary reasons that success was achieved. We’re extremely fortunate to have people in our business community who are willing to share some of their insights and secrets to their success.

So we’ll continue to do these entrepreneurial revisits, and I’d like to invite you to drop us a line if you think one or more of our past profilees seems a likely candidate, particularly if they’ve gone through some significant changes that the public deserves to hear about. To Dr. King, Becky, Emi, and the Riverbend Malt House guys—a big salute to you, and my personal thank-you for being good role models in our community.

Sincerely,

Fred Mills

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

second video every two weeks, we give you exclusive interviews and insider info on the people, places, and faces of enterp throughout Western North Carolina. Visit us on social media or at capitalatplay.com to see the latest 60 Seconds at Play NOVEMBER VIDEO

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At Bclip we do more than tell your story. Our business-first mentality and creativity set us apart from other video production companies. It’s our mis help our customers sell their products, train their staff, and entertain custo video. We strive to eat, sleep, and think like the wonderful companies we

on the cover : AMERICAN BISON on Dr. King's Carolina Bison farm. photo by Anthony Harden thi s page : AFRICAN WATUSI cow and calf on Dr. King's Farm. photo by Anthony Harden

w 60 prise y.

combustible ssion to omers with work with.

F E AT U R E D vol. viii

ed. vi

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72

BECKY CANNON EMI KUBOTA

POUND FOR POUND

HERE TO PLAY

DR. FRANK KING

June 2018 | capitalatplay.com

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C ON T E N T S j u n e 2 018

. photo by Cycle North Carolina

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51 Aero Dynamics

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Fired Up

The Capital at Play Co-Op: Road Biking in Western North Carolina

Commercial Hemp Production in Western North Carolina

colu m ns

insight

14 F orest Millwork, Inc. Alan Tenan

30 The Garden Column:

Plants Don't Read Plant Tags Written by Cinthia Milner

64 Entrepreneurs –

Find Your Next Act

Written by Dawn Starks

p e o p l e at p l ay

86 Carolina Day School

“Share the Promise” Tuition Assistance Fundraiser

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briefs

26 Carolina in the West 46 The Old North State 68 National & World News

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nsight

AL AN TENAN

Entrepreneurial Balance, Craftsman Approach Alan Tenan, of Asheville’s Forest Millwork, takes pride in his company’s nearly three decades of experience in crafting custom quality woodworking for its customers.

S

ometimes a company’s website says it best: “Our quality and service set us apart from the rest,” is how Forest Millwork describes its residential and commercial operations.

Located on Thompson Street in Asheville, Forest Millwork does indeed distinguish itself, having earned a reputation for its top-quality materials and impeccable design for homeowners and businesses alike. Part of this is due, suggests owner Alan Tenan, to his company’s institutional memory and understanding of how to make a team work together seamlessly.

“Woodworking, architectural millwork, and kitchen cabinetry require a wide range of knowledge and skills,” Tenan explains.

“Entrepreneurs who buy into a cabinetry business don’t often have a craftsman’s understanding of the processes of design and machining that is required to sustain success. And far more common—a craftsman who succeeds by his quality and reputation almost never has the business acumen to deal with the growth and the challenges that come with it. I often see very good craftsmen who are fine as a one- or two-person operation, but fail when they grow to become a four-to-ten-man operation.

They accidentally evolve into entrepreneurs, but without the skill set needed. For my business partner and I, it was our second woodworking business, we learned a tremendous amount from our first businesses, and had an entrepreneurial balance to our craftsman approach to business.”

Tenan originally started Forest Millwork in 1991 with Bill Hamer, who had been a founding partner at Asheville’s Creative Woodcrafters; Tenan had operated Gulf Coast Cabinetry in St. Petersburg, Florida, prior to relocating to Western North Carolina. When the opportunity arose to purchase a struggling local company’s machinery and assume some of its contracts, they took it. “We really hit the ground running,” remembers 14

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Tenan, adding that they “were both rather like-minded, ‘oldfashioned’ craftsmen and businessmen.”

Since then, it has been a steady process of growth for Forest Millwork. Says Tenan, “The first eight years the millwork was in a 6,000-sq.-ft. rental space, fairly tight and efficient, but limiting as well. We purchased land on Thompson Street in

“Customers needing custom millwork for a house used to order packages six weeks in advance; and lately, the trend has been people wanting results often in a week.”

Asheville—property that has been processing timber and lumber since 1910 right in the heart of Asheville—and the millwork grew to 15,000-sq.-ft. in addition to having the display space to help residential customers. By 2007 we moved into the digital age with 3D CAD (computer-aided-design) that fed directly into a German-made top of the line CNC (computer numerical control) machining center. Major learning curve— but we increased efficiency and quality at the same time. By 2009 our increased efficiency required more warehouse space, and we took the opportunity to build The Cabinet Design Studio on our Asheville campus. And late last year we opened

Forest Kitchen Design Studio in downtown Greenville, South Carolina, to service the Upstate market.”

Critical to the company’s success: growing smartly and patiently, never rushing the process; understanding the value of having every employee pay close attention to the smallest of details; and never cutting corners when it comes to having the best available tools with which to work and the best possible work environment. “Our millwork facility is truly 21st Century technology-driven and crafted to be extremely flexible. Cabinetry, wood, and Corian countertops; paneling systems from traditional to modern; mouldings of any sort, including radial, finishing, installation—we provide a single source for customers looking for value thru quality. We opened The Cabinet Design Studio here in 2009 and believe it is the most expansive showroom for kitchen cabinetry in Western North Carolina. Customers can bring their own plans and look at hundreds of options in our showroom or work with one of our designers from scratch if they need full-service design. The residential architectural community and interior design community have really appreciated having one place to go to assist their clients with an upscale kitchen as well as a simple laundry room.

“We have also updated the last piece of our manufacturing plant with a major investment in our edgebanding department. This new technology will allow us to fuse the edgebanding directly onto the plywood without the glue line that has always been visible, creating a seamless, high-end look on wood, veneer, and gloss materials. By being the only firm in WNC with this, we’ll get to see customers and architects thrilled over the improved visual results by replacing a technology that had not changed much in 40 years.”

Tenan notes that business partner Hamer retired in late 2016 after 45 years in the industry (“That’s a challenge we are still working on!”), but at the moment he has no plans to retire, and he enjoys meeting the new wrinkles that every year in business brings.

“I’m old enough to remember when fax machines first came out,” says Tenan, “and business people could send a document in a minute instead of three days with the postal system. It started a change in the way business worked. While the information was faster, it was also less thorough. You put more effort into blueprints and specs when it took up to a week to send them and have them reviewed. Information speed changed again with the internet. Customers needing custom millwork for a house used to order packages six weeks in advance; now they could find somebody who could do it in two weeks, and lately, the trend has been people wanting results often in a week.

“We certainly have sped up our processes, but it is the largest of challenges to meet tight deadlines for custom manufacture with materials that come from literally every part of the world.”

Forest Millwork www.forestmillwork.com 93 Thompson Street, Asheville, NC

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15

Here TO

Play written by jason gilmer photos by evan anderson

A fresh look at Asheville’s i play., Inc., award-winning maker of safe, responsible baby products, which, in the five years since we originally profiled its owners, has experienced significant—and inspiring—growth and expansion.

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June 2018 | capitalatplay.com

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(L-R) Emi Kubota, her daughter Naomi, and Becky Cannon.

Editor’s Note: In the March/April 2013 issue of Capital at Play we published “Seriously, Playful,” a profile of Becky Cannon and her daughter, Emi Kubota, of Asheville’s i play., Inc., which Becky had started in 1982 when Emi was just a young child. At the time of our feature, Becky had grown her company from an out-ofher-garage mail order operation selling environmentally safe products for babies (such as woolen diaper covers) to a $10 million-in-sales-annually business with more than four dozen employees operating out of a Riverside Drive facility shipping to stores all over the country, including Target and Whole Foods; a year earlier, they had also opened a retail shop on South Liberty Street in downtown Asheville.

In the five years between then and now, i play., Inc. has experienced still more growth and change, with sales reaching $17 million at the end of 2017, significantly expanding the warehouse operation, and opting to shutter the retail location in 2014 in order to focus on order fulfilment and product development; Becky has also published a huge, 800-page book designed as a comprehensive resource for parents. Along the way, 18

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Becky and Emi have experienced both highs and lows as businesspersons: On the “up” side, for example, was winning a pair of 2012 Cribsie Awards—the equivalent of the Oscars in the baby product industry—for “Cutest Swim Diaper” (their Ultimate Swim Diaper) and “Most Convenient Way to Store Baby Food” (their Baby Food Storage Cubes); a definite low moment came several years ago when Target, which accounted for nearly 30 percent of their overall sales, decided to drop the i play., Inc. account, which decimated sales and left them scrambling to find fresh accounts in smaller stores and boutiques. (Luckily, in the end this may have served to strengthen the company’s brand and name recognition by getting their products into more places. And i play., Inc. did subsequently return to the Target shelves.)

So we thought now was an appropriate time to revisit the company for our latest “updating the file” feature on prior entrepreneurial profilees, in order to let the readers take a firsthand look at a local success story and get a sense of how it was achieved. To read the original 2013 story, please visit the Capital at Play website.

T

wo of the first words that i play., Inc.’s Vice President Emi Kubota’s daughter spoke were “hat” and “bib.” If that isn’t brand awareness, nothing is.

The Asheville-based company, which provides healthy and practical products for babies’ well-being and whole development, is known for its swim diapers and sun wear, baby food storage containers, and toys that stimulate the brain.

Kubota’s small daughter, Naomi, who is one of two grandchildren for i play. founder Becky Cannon, has helped the company in several ways since she was born. “Naomi is our model and our product tester,” Kubota says. “We bring a lot of prototypes home and try them out on her and fit samples on her. She’s a very willing product tester.”

Without her knowledge, Naomi has become a trendsetter for other babies. With its many products that help parents and children, i play. has made an imprint on the integral early years of child development. i play. began in 1982 as a mail order business in Cannon’s Kenilworth home and has grown to a company with more than 55 employees, a large warehouse space along the French Broad River, and sales all over the world. In 2014 the company moved its offices from a tucked away spot in the 60,000-sq.-ft. warehouse to a 7,000-sq.-ft. space on the second floor above their warehouse.

Now there are cubicles for professionals who specialize in product development, marketing, and sales. When another room, which was used by Blackbird Framing, was left vacant, the company took it over and now there’s a space where all of the employees can meet together instead of renting a banquet hall.

The company has grown to house four different divisions: i play.® baby wear, green sprouts® baby care, grow healthy® baby fare, and grow healthy. grow happy.® the whole baby resource.

The newest line is grow healthy® baby fare and the first products in that line will be released this summer. baby fare will be organic whole grain super cereals and protein-rich beans that are specifically made for babies, while there will also be a food product for nursing mothers. i play.’s grow healthy, grow happy® brand shares the name with an almost 800-page book that Cannon wrote and that was published

by Cannon’s own Genki Press in 2014. The book, grow healthy. grow happy. the whole baby guide, serves as a complete resource for parents and gives information “about wellness and healing, child development, healthy feeding, and products for natural living,” according to a description.

“I feel like it was really pulling together the foundational philosophy of the company,” Cannon says. “I was advised to do small books and not one big book, but I’m glad I did one big book and it’s done. It was really a process of integrating what I think about children’s physical, emotional, mental development, and I feel like everything in the book is integrated. Now, we have this document that other people can use to develop so many things.”

Over the past year i play., Inc. has upped its social media emphasis and also begun to build their relationships with influencers on blogs June 2018 | capitalatplay.com 19

and Instagram. “Influencers are so big now that we’ve started working with them recently and it’s been great,” says Senior Marketing Manager Kelly Howard. “We’ve sent them new products before they launch, and we get these wonderful lifestyle photos, and it’s really helped get a grassroots influence out there that isn’t just typical print advertising.”

The company Facebook page has more than 18,000 “likes” and there’s more than 5,500 Instagram followers who see a variety of photos and shared content from other customers. A beefed-up website is now part of the company, too, where customers aren’t just allowed to look at potential baby shower gifts, but also purchase them for their children and for kids of friends. Customers can also shop in retailers like Target, Buy Buy Baby, Kohls.com, Meijer, and Von Maur, grocers Earth Fare and Whole Foods, Amazon.com, SeaWorld/ Busch Gardens, and smaller specialty shops for their products.

Cannon and Kubota sat down recently in a small office with windows overlooking Riverside Drive in Woodfin to answer questions about the company and what has happened since it was featured in this magazine a little over five years ago.

*** C@P: You had a retail store, located at 233 South Liberty Street off Chestnut Street in Asheville. Is it still operable?

BECKY: No. It was a waste of our energy. The person who was our director of sales spent her weekends trying to replace the shelves. The channels we have are online, mass, international—we’re in 69 countries—and specialty stores, natural stores, like Whole Foods, and swim schools. She was trying to manage all of that, too, and consumer sales. We didn’t have it in the best location either. I thought we would have more of an outlet for the locals. If it had been downtown, it would have been more successful. We just didn’t have the attention for it.

EMI: We put a lot more attention into making our website better and consumer friendly and easy to shop.

BECKY: It was a contribution to the juice store, Elements Real Food, that is there now because of the outfitting that we did. Every time I see the owner he tells me that he loves his ceiling and walls.

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How long did you work on your book, grow healthy. grow happy. the whole baby guide, and how did you write it while running a business?

BECKY: We started it in 2009. I worked on it, and the last two or three years before I finished it were much more focused. It was a long time coming and then it evolved and changed, and then I homed in and cranked it out. The original vision for the book was to share the philosophy and principles behind the company and to be the foundation for an experiential brand that helps families live a natural lifestyle. I wanted the book to integrate child development, food, and products in a holistic way. Others advised me to do smaller books, but [it] stayed very close to the original vision. I’m looking forward to introducing more to the grow healthy. grow happy® brand.

EMI: The last year she wasn’t here. Previously, before she was writing the book, the business was very much a hub and spoke organization with Becky in the center and everything came and went through her. She saw the big picture and it was integrated through her. As she stepped out more and more to work on the book, the business continued to function and people were stepping up, but people were stepping up in their own little silos. So it got to where different parts of the organization weren’t integrated and collaborating together.

There wasn’t anything joining them together, so Operations was moving in a different direction from Sales. You want everything to be dovetailed and integrated.

BECKY: When I came back from writing the book I thought everything had to be whole. People would come in and ask questions and I’d say, “We have to look at the big picture.”

We started on this mission of overhauling the structure of the business to make systems and structure and consistency in everything. We’re still working on that. We’ve had a lot of internal time to make the business integrated, making the departments integrated, and to make better communications between everyone. We’ve redone our mission and values. We’ve had a lot of turnover and the people who are here now are really more in alignment with the mission and values and there’s a more harmonious environment. The idea is that everyone gets more independent and I can disappear again. I can ride off into the sunset on my bicycle.

So was it a good thing that you stepped away for a while to write the book?

BECKY: Yeah, I think it was part of the process and was really great for the business to have [the book]. It’s the basis for our lifestyle brand. To have this foundation here it is really good.

It changed my brain and how I think.

You’ve focused on developing a more cohesive internal work structure recently—how have you done that, and how has it helped business?

BECKY: We’ve created what we call a “live” business/action plan for each department, which outlines department responsibilities and roles of each team member, which has helped to see the internal structure and where the different departments overlap. We have also worked with a process consultant to help us improve our process workflows and utilizing project management software to have more transparency and efficiently communicate on projects and keep up deadlines.

June 2018 | capitalatplay.com

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FABRIC PAT TERNS are designed and discussed.

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June 2018

You have a new food product in the works. How did this come about?

EMI: Food is definitely a big part of our lives. Becky went to Japan to study natural foods and cooking and that’s where she met my dad.

BECKY: We had an East-West center here to teach cooking.

Emi was raised on grains and vegetables and it’s a big part of the book. If we had investors, they would probably advise us not to do a food product. We won’t initially get a high return on the investment, but it’s something we really believe in and it’s something over time that will be a profitable thing. It’s going to take time. It’s based on the dry ingredients. We recommend that parents get fresh vegetables and fresh produce and we will provide the dried grains that are sprouted. It’s a hybridtype thing.

EMI: It’s to make it easier and more accessible for parents to cook foods like brown rice at home for their kids.

BECKY: We have a lot of food preparation items, from bibs to cups and bottles and dishes.

EMI: From a business perspective, people only need so many sippy cups, but you have to eat every day. Having something that keeps us top of mind as a brand is important.

BECKY: We’re just getting started and it’s taken some time and we want to make sure we have everything done correctly.

Any other new products in the works?

BECKY: Another new product that I’m excited about is we are making sippy cups out of PLA, polylactic acid, which is a plant-based material. It looks like plastic, feels like plastic, but it’s not plastic. Those should be out next spring. It will be a whole system, where we have a stainless base with a PLA collar, handles, and cap, and then we’ll have a glass product and also a PLA cup. The whole thing will be interchangeable.

PRODUCTS ARE HAND packaged in the warehouse.

You add products each year: How do you arrange financing for those additions?

BECKY: We retain prior years’ profits to reinvest into the business and our product development budget. We also work with our banking partner, SunTrust. I started with some financial help from my mother and grandfather in the beginning, but learned the simple formula of making sure you have more money coming in than going out. Making a profit and paying attention to your margins and breakeven point were very important, so I didn’t get too behind where I could not make it back up. I also feel that having limited resources June 2018 | capitalatplay.com 23

makes you more resourceful and you can make more money because you are more careful with your spending and making sure you are getting results with that spending.

As you add more products do you plan to add more employees? How do you see the company’s workforce growing in the coming years?

BECKY: I see how that might be your line of thinking, but it’s not ours. In 2013 we had the same number of employees as we do now, and our sales have been up $7 million from then. We hope we can grow the sales with the people we have here, maybe a few more. We feel like we can double our sales with the infrastructure we are developing now. We have sales channels and we have a warehouse that can do single consumer orders [as well as] drop shipping from China to our international customers.

EMI: One day we had a big order from Target go out that was four truck loads and we can also send out one sippy cup to a consumer. Our warehouse is able to do that wide range of order sizes.

Was that the plan or did it just organically happen that way?

BECKY: That’s been the plan. Years ago I wanted to diversify, so we’d have these specialty stores. We took away some time focusing on consumers because we didn’t want to compete with our wholesale customers. Now we’re doing more consumer orders. We wanted to diversify with specialty stores because we didn’t want all of our eggs in one basket. It helps build the brand to have our products in those stores but also have individual consumers.

EMI: Having the direct contact with consumers is really great.

Having an email list and the ability to see what people are buying on our website and being able to connect with them is very important.

Emi, in the first article it said you were always interested in helping small businesses grow and develop. What sparked that interest?

EMI: We would drive around in the car and she’d have some kind of business, learning book-on-tape playing. So I was definitely

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exposed at an early age to small businesses and the struggles of small businesses and the way to systemize small businesses.

It was what I saw growing up. When we were growing up, this business was in the investment phase, not the growth phase.

What has been the best decision for i play., Inc. since you started the company?

BECKY: I came close to taking on investors when I was desperate to make ends meet, but after taking all the risks for so long, and realizing I would have to give up my dream to then meet someone else’s expectations for what I had created, I just decided I would never be able to do that.

EMI: Keeping it family owned has allowed us to be more principle-based in our decision-making than purely profitbased. We’re in the process, and it has taken us a while to finish the application process, to become a B-Corp. That’s one of the things we would like to do. We’re doing a lot of the things to set the foundation for it. We’ve put in a lot of benefits for our employees. People are generally making more here. Our professional roles have all increased in their pay over time.

We just added a 401k this week where we are doing an aboveaverage match for the Asheville area.

Have there been any missteps along the way?

BECKY: At the time, some decisions may have seemed like a misstep, but those decisions put the company on the path it is on today; so I have a hard time saying there were big missteps.

A big challenge I have dealt with is making sure the decisions I make have the best interests of the company in mind, while still being considerate of other people’s needs. There have been times when I put others’ needs before the company, and those decisions came back to hurt the business. I realized that, as the leader of the company, I had to take care of the company’s needs first while finding a balance of considering others’ needs as well.

[So] I would have to say the biggest “misstep” would be starting the business. Why did I go into business? I’m a child development person. I had an entrepreneurial seizure. Then I had to get over that seizure and learn how to survive. I’ve been reading this book that everything is evolving. There are things that I have regrets for, but are they really regrets, or just part of the process of helping me learn to grow to get to the next place? You learn out of difficulties and out of pain.

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CAROLINA in the

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news briefs

A View With a Room haywood county

The Canton Board of Aldermen is looking for something productive to do with the Colonial Theater. In a recent meeting, Town Manager Jason Burrell counseled the board members not to worry about the building’s highest and best use, but to brainstorm ideas on an annual basis. The theater was built in 1931 by Benton & Benton architects, and it is one of many of their buildings in the state to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The five-story, five-bay, 347-seat movie house was built for an era when people learned of current events on newsreels; this was before nightly news, and definitely before cable TV, Netflix, and widespread theater consolidation.

The building remains in good condition, with a good HVAC system, and it is

]

ADA-compliant. It was deeded to the town in 1986, and it is not paying for itself. Last year, 36 events were hosted in the theater and 74 in the annex. It was a significant improvement over the previous year’s bookings, but at current rates, Alderman James Markey noted, it would have to be rented almost every day to break even. Town leaders aren’t interested in making the theater another event center. They would prefer to forge partnerships with a talent buyer and a promoter. One idea is to seize a bluegrass niche to differentiate the theater from all those in Asheville, eight miles away.

Magnificent Magnolia henderson county

A North Carolina State University (NCSU) professor of horticulture, Thomas

G. Ranney, has patented a new type of magnolia tree named NCMX1. This tree has a strong, straight central trunk with branches that curve upward, lending an “excellent pyramidal form.” Unlike other magnolias, this one’s flowers are fuchsia in bud from opening to lavender-pink, and they bloom about a month later than other magnolias, making them less susceptible to the late-season frosts typical of the mountain region. The flowers are very fragrant, and their petals can reach 12” in diameter. Working out of the Mountain Horticultural Crops Research and Extension Center in Mills River, Ranney breeds plants with a focus upon developing new bioenergy crops and enhancing crop quality. He began his career in search of more pest-resistant and otherwise resilient plants. From there, he developed a desire to integrate multiple desirable traits into crops. Working for NCSU for over 20 years, Ranney has cultivated about 30 new plants, including a seedless miscanthus; the Carolina Sweetheart redbud that sports green, white, purple, and, for a while, hotpink foliage, not flowers; and the Javelin h pear, a slender tree with purple foliage. d brunc eekensomething He enjoyss ebreeding he g wplants, in v r Now as “science coupled with serendescribes dipity,” because it requires a knowledge nchof end bru k e e w g horticulture, plant pathology, and vin sergenetics, Now among ecology, other subjects.

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At presstime, Venture Asheville was searching to replace Josh Dorfman, who had been serving as executive director.

Venture Asheville is a partnership of the Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce and the Economic Development Coalition for Asheville-Buncombe County, created to help connect entrepreneurs with guidance and capital. Two Venture Asheville programs Dorfman established since joining in 2014 are Elevate, a mentoring program, and Asheville Angels, which has invested over $1 million in over 20 startups so far. Dorfman is leaving to become CEO of The Collider, a nonprofit coalition of entrepreneurs, scientists, and engineers working to shape policy and industry with climate-friendly innovation. The collider hosts community events and conferences, like the recent ClimateCon, and its members include builders, growers, and vendors of natural food, engineering firms, and advocates for cleaner transportation; as well as the Sierra Club and UNC Asheville’s National Environmental Modeling and Analysis Center. As CEO, Dorfman wants to expand The Collider’s outreach to more businesses, support more entrepreneurs, and recruit more industry events to

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Asheville. In the past Dorfman was CEO of green furniture retailer Vivavi, founder of The Lazy Environmentalist, and site leader of Vine.com.

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The Surprise Patrol Team of the Brevard /Transylvania Chamber of Commerce completed its first mission of the year. Representatives of the chamber, dressed in party favors and carrying noisemakers, carried balloons, an honorary sign, and a box of Blue Ridge Bakery cookies to five area businesses, selected at random. This year’s winners were Carl F. Root, CPA; Number 7 Arts Gallery; Platt Architecture; Broad Street Wines; and Quixote Fine Cuisine. Brevard IT Services was also selected, but because the owner operates out of his home, the patrol team settled for a boisterous phone call and celebratory email. Meredith Baldridge of State Farm Insurance sponsored the mission, a simple, occasional event intended to honor chamber members for their contributions to the community. On their last mission, the team, accompanied by WSQL radio personalities Robert and Amanda, took their silliness and goodies to M-B Industries,

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Lake Toxaway Company, Mountain Falls Luxury Motorcoach Resort, and Quebec Stowaway. Founded in 1923, the Brevard/ Transylvania chamber now has over 500 members.

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The Certificate of Need (CON) for a new hospital to replace Angel Medical Center’s main campus has been approved.

President and Chief Nursing Officer Karen S. Gorby explained it would have been financially irresponsible to try to modernize the existing building, especially since there was no room for expansion. The new building will be more centrally-located and easily accessible, with room to grow. The CON will allow Angel Medical to spend no more than $45 million on the construction of a facility with no more than 30 beds, three operating rooms, and an endoscopy room.

The CON was granted on the basis of demonstrated need, obvious community benefits, and proximity to the existing hospital site. Construction should begin next year and be completed by September 2021. The expansion is part of Mission Health’s Mission Future Ready initiative.

The hospital is investing more than $500

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Nick Provost and Peter Moyle, co-founders of Gnarcissist Gear, met sharing granola bars in high school.

As they carpooled to high school jobs at Cataloochee Ski Area, they dreamed of starting a business that would make affordable but sturdy, polarized sunglasses. When they went to Western Carolina University, they developed a business plan for a vendor of inexpensive, quality sunglasses for an Honors College project. In 2013 they entered the concept in SiteDart’s 2013 Awesome Business Idea Competition and won $1000. They used the funds to trademark their cheap but sturdy sunglasses and manufacture their first run. The profits were then plowed back to fill more orders and continue to tweak the design. Provost and Moyle have now settled on a textured plastic frame designed to emulate the wood they had originally hoped to use, which didn’t hold up in action sports. Their sunglasses are now retailed in about 20 stores, mostly in North Carolina, and the company even sponsors athletes.

They liken business to outdoor adventure, a mix of planning, adapting, and overcoming. In fact, one of their early “adventures” was selling out faster than anticipated and they found themselves having to hold up orders for three months to get in order the additional paperwork they hadn’t anticipated.

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Lake Lure’s new mayor and town manager are planning for $5 million in refurbishments to the town’s dam. Mayor Kevin Cooley is a retired civil engineer, and Town Manager Ron Nalley, who formerly managed Montreat, was surprised to see nobody had taken action

on warnings from the state. Since 2006, state inspectors have noted the concrete is losing its strength, joints between concrete slabs are leaking, materials used to seal joints are crumbling, steel is rusting, bays are showing signs of instability, the road across the top is poorly-maintained, and water is seeping under the dam’s foundations. Under new leadership, the town hired Dan Marks to comply with previously unheeded state orders to conduct inspections and develop an emergency action plan. The town is currently considering funding repairs by floating bonds and using the dam itself as collateral. Improvements would be made to ensure the dam will last another 50 years, by which time the town should have set aside enough to fund a replacement. Each year, the town would award contracts for work on that year’s capital improvements. That way, Cooley hopes to avoid problems he has seen with long-term government contracts. The dam is listed as high-risk, not because of the likelihood of failure, but because of the amount of harm failure could inflict on people and property downstream.

Strength in Diversity western north carolina

The Appa lach ia n Su st a i nable Agriculture Project (ASAP) has published a report, “The End of Tobacco and the Rise of Local Food in Western North Carolina.” Researchers analyzed Census of Agriculture data, which is collected every five years, to track shifts in agriculture from 1997 to 2012. Prior to 1997, tobacco had been the dominant cash crop in 20 Appalachian counties.

Growers were incentivized to grow it under a system of federal quotas and price supports, discouraging diversification in an impoverished part of the country. Things changed in 1998 when the Master Settlement Agreement held tobacco companies accountable for tobacco-related medical expenses, and then again in 2004 when the Fair and Equitable Tobacco Reform Act ended

all federal subsidies for tobacco growers and opened markets to international competition. Between 1997 and 2012 the number of tobacco farms in the nine studied counties dropped from 2,707 to 74, tobacco acres cultivated dropped from 8,344 to 441, and revenues dropped from $20,900,000 to $892,000. Then, ASAP was formed to connect local people to farms and encourage the cultivation of vegetables, melons, potatoes, and sweet potatoes (VMPS). The organization can take at least partial credit for the doubling of the numbers of farms growing VMPS, the tripling of revenues, and a shift toward local markets.

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The Balsam Mountain Inn is under new management. Marzena Wyszynska, with two decades of international experience in the hospitality industry, purchased the 50-room lodge listed on the National Register of Historic Places in December, and she has since been restoring it. The Inn is located 3,500 feet above sea level, near the Blue Ridge Parkway. It was built in 1908 as a retreat for fishing and hunting, and it was largely serviced by railroad.

Although it was restored again between 1989 and 1991, Wyszynska found much in need of refurbishment. She refinished the floors, painted the walls, and upgraded the plumbing. Most of the rooms that only had a bathtub now have a shower, and the rooms have been provided with electric heat. None of the rooms have TV or landlines because Wyszynska says, “Televisions are not a relaxing environment.” People come to the Inn to take a step back in time and enjoy mountain scenery, good food, and outdoor recreation. The Inn is currently home to an in-house library, and Wyszynska hopes to add art galleries and workshops. Wyszynska also hired back the former chef, CJ Reum, who had been away at college. Joining him is a new, fresh, in-season, “classical cuisine” menu.

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column

Plants Don’t Read Plant Tags, and Other Gardening Tips.

“ C

R

Have you heard that before? I’m forever telling clients that catchy, little phrase. Interpreted, it means, don’t plant a crape myrtle that reaches 20’ x 15’ in a t wofoot space next to the garage, no matter how pretty its multi-stem arching trunks look there now.

Sooner over later, you’re going to hate that plant because it will grow and grow, and you will prune and prune, and eventually the plant will win, and you’ll be parking on the street.

Here’s the rub: Your neighbor has the same crape myrtle, and it never seems to grow, and it fits perfectly in their two-foot spot by their garage and has for years. They aren’t parking on the street.

Yeah, plants are like that. They don’t read our plant tags. They grow beyond their noted maturity size; or, conversely, they never grow at all.

So, then, what’s all the bother with right plant, right spot? The stated size is an average size or maintenance size, estimated by growers and nurserymen. Plants don’t quit growing once they hit that average size. The “Little Gem” Magnolia that says it reaches 20’ x 15’ can reach 30’ if it lives long enough and has the right conditions. When stating sizes, different tags read different ways.

Some will give you the maturity of the plant at 10

cinthia milner

is a garden coach at B.B. Barns Garden Center & Landscaping Services in Arden, North Carolina

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June 2018

years (most conifer tags do this). Some will give you an average size determined by trailing plants.

What’s a gardener to do?

Remember: Stated plant sizes are guidelines for the mature height and width of a living, breathing, organic plant—not a measurement for a kitchen cabinet. The sizes give you proportion (columnar, cone, square), and, hopefully, a pretty good range for a 10-year period. How does that translate into the garden?

Rule of thumb: Give plants room to spread out.

That American beautyberry? It’s going to look stunning in fall, with its purple-magenta berries, given plenty of room to send those branches out, without hinderance, but it won’t look pretty crammed between two Nellie Stevens hollies that are 20’ x 10’ planted 3’ apart. The beautyberry will look like it’s crammed into a tight spot, and eventually you’ll have to decide: the hollies or the beautyberry? (The tag for the beautyberry reads

C 5’-8’ x 5’-8’, but that’s a “sprawling” 5’-8’.) None of us want to start culling five years after planting.

Understand that your garden may look like a pet cemetery at first, if planted correctly. I tell my clients not to expect lush on installation day. If I’ve done my job right, I’ve placed the plants with room to grow to their full maturity, which means, it can look like you spent a lot of money and got a few plants. Clients, naturally, want the yard filled up now, and installation day is sometimes disappointing.

A few tricks for the in-between: Fill in with temporary plants. Use annuals, perennials, even small shrubs that you are easily transplanted. A good example is azaleas. Let’s say you planted a new bed with evergreens that are small now but will mature at 30’ x 15’ and shade the surrounding area. Add Encore azaleas around the evergreens, now. They like full sun. You’ll enjoy a spring garden for several years, and since azaleas are shallow rooted, when they stop blooming, due to lack of sunshine, they’re easy to move. And, speaking of shade….

The Longer You Live in a Landscape, the Shadier It Gets Take a picture of your garden now. Take a picture of it in three years. Then again in five. See the difference? Those dogwoods and sugar maples you planted are now shading your full sun perennial beds. If you hear yourself saying, “My roses don’t bloom like they used to,” then look up.

Maybe all that’s needed is fertilizer or rejuvenation pruning to invigorate old shrubs, but often, what was once a sunny spot, is now a shady one.

Trees grew; neighbors added onto their homes; a lot can change in few years; and because we live with the daily changes, we don’t often notice it. Sometimes, the opposite happens. We started with a shade garden, and our giant oaks fell, creating more sunlight—but mostly our homes get shadier. Take heart; there are

plenty of shade plants to create shade gardens, and gardening in the shade?

Way more fun than the hot sun.

Here’s the good news: Finding yourself in the shade is an opportunity to learn new plants and start new gardens.

Woodland gardens are as beautiful and fun to work in as a full-sun garden. A favorite book to get you started: Beth Chatto’s Woodland Garden: ShadeLoving Plants for Year-Round Interest.

Remember: Gardens aren’t static.

They evolve and change. That’s one reason gardens are so engaging. As gardeners, we adapt with our gardens, not the other way around. Gardens aren’t the same as houses, but in one respect they are. Just like you’re going to update that kitchen or bathroom, the landscape needs refreshing, too. Some plants last forever right where they are, but most do not because plants require certain cultural conditions to thrive. When those conditions change, i.e., less or more sunlight, soil changes (from nearby construction, remodeling, and so forth), then it is time to make some tough decisions. It is much harder to remove old shrubs and trees that you planted and watched grow than it is to replace outdated cabinets. It’s hard to part with what we nurtured. Instead, plan now. Know that one day, if you live in your house long enough, plants you love may have to go. The happy part?

New plants bring joy, too.

Rule of thumb: If you’ve lived in a house for 15+ years, chances are you’ve gone from full-sun to part-shade or fullshade. Take stock. Can some trees be limbed up to allow for more sunlight?

Is it time for some trees to come down?

Have an arborist routinely check the health of your trees and determine if any culling is necessary. Put that on your spring or fall clean-up list to ensure trees don’t fall on your house or your neighbor’s. Have a garden coach suggest some new plantings that can replace old shrubs that no longer perform. Sometimes a fresh set of eyes is necessary.

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Perennials Live Forever, Right?

No, perennials don’t live forever. As we all know, nothing does.

Some perennials are called short-lived perennials. They live three to five years (lupines, delphiniums); others are longerlived, up to 15 years (balloon flower); and some for decades (peonies). And, as noted above, conditions can change which will impact the perennial’s lifespan. The best way to keep your perennials thriving year-to-year is to divide them every three to six years, and spread them around. When you see perennials getting sparse in the middle, or getting smaller, it’s time to divide. Due to the sheer volume of perennial plants, a good book on perennials is an excellent resource for gardeners to have handy. (I’d suggest The American Horticulture Society Encyclopedia of Perennials, or The Know Maintenance Perennial Garden by Roy Diblik.)

Here’s the how-to: It is often as simple as inserting a shovel through the middle of the existing plant and replanting one half of it elsewhere in your garden. Or you may need to cut it into quarters. For the industrious gardener, dig up the entire plant, take a sharp garden knife (I love my Japanese garden knife), and cut in half. Replant the divided plants and enjoy the extra bounty.

Remember: Some perennials re-seed from season to season, expanding their lifespan that way. Black-eyed Susans, foxgloves, echinaceas, salvia, and some sedums are a few. If you’re fussy about where they reseed, transplanting the new seedlings is a quick job, and helps to grow the garden without breaking the budget.

Rule of thumb: For spring-blooming perennials, divide and transplant in the fall. For summer and fall blooming perennials, divide and transplant in spring.

Rain Will Water My New Plants, So I Don’t Have To Sorry, if you have new plantings and don’t have irrigation, then grab the watering hose. Watering first-year plantings is critical—big or small plants. New plants need to sink roots deep down into the soil to establish themselves, and deep watering or root drenching will accomplish that.

Remember: Drought tolerant plants don’t go into the ground drought tolerant. Some plants, once established, are more drought tolerant than others, but the words on the tag “droughttolerant” don’t mean you skip watering new plantings. You must water all new plantings that first and perhaps even second

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growing season to ensure one day they will be drought tolerant.

In other words, buying drought tolerant plants helps with the watering bill in the long term, not the short term.

Watering: Water at soil level, not above the plants. The goal is to reach the roots, not just get the leaves wet, which can cause fungal issues if the leaves don’t dry out. Morning watering is

THERE ARE NO GARDENING EXPERTS, ONLY PEOPLE WITH MORE MILES IN THE GARDEN. best, as it allows the plants all day to dry, but if the only time you can water is evening, then evening it is. It’s better to water at dusk than not at all.

Water around the drip line of the plant, making sure the root ball is drenched. For how long? Take an empty bucket, say a gallon-sized one, and fill it up with your watering hose. Time how long it takes to do this: Thirty seconds? Forty seconds?

That gives you an idea of your water pressure. Then you know

if you water a plant for 30-40 seconds, it is getting close to a gallon of water. Larger trees and shrubs will benefit from a gallon or two of water, smaller perennials from ½ gallon or less.

Rule of thumb: Most plants need an inch of water a week.

How do you determine if they get that? Buy a good rain gauge.

Rain isn’t uniform from one area to the next. It may rain all day at the office and sporadically at home. The road looks wet, so we assume it rained the same amount in both places. Here’s where the rain gauge helps. If your plants aren’t getting an inch of rain a week, then you, the gardener, must water.

How to tell: If a plant is getting moldy, dark leaves in the center, you’re over-watering. If the outer leaves are getting crispy, you’re underwatering.

The Takeaway Gardening is a knowledge-based occupation and a lot of personal trial and error. What works in your garden doesn’t always work in mine. There are no gardening experts, only people with more miles in the garden. Gardening is a hands-on pursuit, an organic process that nurtures both garden and gardener while we learn and explore. Seriously. You can’t beat that.

June 2018 | capitalatplay.com

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FARMER FR ANNY photo cour tesy Franny's Farm

local industry

Farmers are

Fired written by shawndr a russell

UP

for Hemp

It’s a booming market for the Western North Carolina hemp industry, with some observers even predicting that hemp will become a cash crop to rival tobacco during its heyday.

June 2018 | capitalatplay.com

35

local industry

H

emp is having a moment, from the halls of D.C. to the mountains of North Carolina, which ranked as having the seventh-most outdoor acreage dedicated to hemp in the United States as of December 2017, according to Hemp Industry Daily’s “Hemp Report: Top 10 U.S. States.” However, if that same list was produced right now, North Carolina might catapult to third, depending on the rate of growth in the states of Oregon, North Dakota, Minnesota, and New York. How is that possible? Because in just the first quarter of 2018, North Carolina’s number of approved outdoor hemp acres has jumped 112%, from 1,930 to 4,102 acres as of May 2018. Back in December 2017, Oregon held the third spot on this list, with just 3,500 hemp acres, trailing the significant leads of Colorado and Kentucky, which have 12,000+ acres of licensed cultivation space.

Industry Leaders Colorado’s trailblazing status in the marijuana industry makes their dominance in hemp no surprise, while Kentucky’s history as a tobacco-producing state led to many tobacco farmers looking for more lucrative or alternative crops like hemp. But what’s helping North Carolina climb the ranks as a leader in the hemp industry is its willingness to go all-in when it comes to this once-controversial crop. This support, including forming the N.C. Industrial Hemp Commission, led to our state cultivating more growers, more acres, and more processors than any other state had done in their first year of hemp production. Yes, you read that right: North Carolina has made all this progress in just one growing season, and if the other three quarters of 2018 repeat what the state experienced in the first quarter, we could be looking at the state having over 6,000 licensed acres.

But acres aren’t the only criteria that the Hemp Industry Daily’s study factors into their report. In fact, Kentucky may have the most licensed acres, but Colorado earned the number one spot due to other market considerations, such as hemp seed selling for the average per-pound wholesale price of $9 in Colorado and only 75 cents in Kentucky (food-grade hemp seed sells for $1 in North Carolina). As for the price of dried hemp flowers, North Carolina claims the lowest average wholesale price at $25 per pound, with four states netting $100 per pound, two others not allowing for the sale of the flowers, and one state, Nevada, getting a cool $200 per pound on average and even as 36

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much as $350 per pound for high-quality, high-cannabidiol (CBD) varieties, because the demand for this non-intoxicating, anti-inflammatory extract has led to farmers in the state struggling to keep up with demand.

For North Carolina to maintain its status as a top hemp-producing state in its second grow year, it’s worth looking at the similarities found between states that have been growing hemp longer and enjoying successful yields and results year after year. One common theme is that the state’s government must be supportive and allow farmers and hemp processors flexibility, like permitting experimental uses for animal feed, pet litter, and cosmetics, which the North Carolina Department of Agricultural and Consumer Services (NCDA&CS) has been.

Another is trying to attract hemp-adjacent startups to open in your state, from clothing manufacturers to biotech companies to CBD product makers. And from the perspective of Colorado hemp entrepreneurs, their state will maintain its status as the hemp industry leader because it has invested so much in hemp research, says the Hemp Industry Daily report.

North Carolina Hemp Research Looking at these three factors, current and future North Carolina hemp business owners should be heartened by the fact that North Carolina State University (NCSU) is also all-in with an Industrial Hemp Program. To lead the program, NCSU hired Emily Febles, who is considered an expert in hemp policy nationally. Ms. Febles attended law school at the University of

LEF T: Young Plant Production CBD, photo cour tesy NCDA&CS BELOW: Industrial Hemp seeds, photo cour tesy Industrial Hemp Posters.from Nor th Carolina State University.

FIELD PREP, photo cour tesy HempX

Iowa and later worked as the coordinator for Washington State’s Industrial Hemp Pilot Program. One of her favorite parts of the job is “seeing how industrial hemp is encouraging people to farm again. I often hear about how someone’s parents or grandparents used to farm and how they are going to return to the family farm to try growing industrial hemp. Industrial hemp, as a crop, really does seem to be bringing folks back to agriculture. It’s exciting to see.”

NCSU’s program has seen early success after their Department of Crop and Soil Sciences won a grant from NCDA&CS for $62,702 to develop industrial hemp in North Carolina. These grants are chosen by a committee of 15 using a scorecard to determine which projects will receive funding, with the highest score possible being 100. Criteria includes project relevance, potential future impact, and the quality of the grant itself, and it breaks down into seven sections: 1. Project’s Purpose (20 points) 2. Potential Impact/Long Term Solutions (25 points) 3. Measurable Outcomes (10 points) 4. Project Work Plan and Timeline (10 points) 5. Budget/Financial Feasibility (10 points) 6. Project Oversight (10 points) 7. Intangibles related to overall success of project (15 points) June 2018 | capitalatplay.com 37

local industry

photo cour tesy NCDA&CS

For this year’s growing season, Dr. Jeanine Davis, associate professor and extension specialist at NCSU, says they are working with their colleagues in Raleigh—the extension campus is located in Mills River—on several initiatives, including “a fertilizer trial and a variety trial for grain/fiber production.

We will also have a study on growing industrial hemp for floral parts, often referred to as CBD plants, and looking at different production systems (like no-till, white plastic mulch, and black plastic mulch) and different in-row spacings. We will also have a variety trial and topping study.”

Davis recommends that farmers share this experimental attitude when trying to grow hemp for the first time. “Continue to grow what you are familiar with growing and selling so you maintain your income stream,” she notes, “as industrial hemp may or may not work out for you the first year you grow it for a variety of reasons. So, start with a scale of production that you can handle and do a good job with. If it works out, great.

If not, you are not out too much. She adds that anyone who tries growing hemp will certainly be tweaking their system for a few years to really get it right and should expect hiccups as farmers and processors gain experience. Other burgeoning crops she’s noticed piquing regional farmers’ interest much more in recent years include barley, hops, stevia, medicinal herbs, and blackberries.

Challenges

PREPPING FUTURE hemp f ield at Franny's Farm, photo cour tesy HempX

photo courtesy HempX

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North Carolina farmers seem to share Fables’ and Davis’ excitement for hemp, since the Tar Heel state amassed nearly 100 licensed farmers in the crop’s first legal growing season in the state, while other pioneering states typically only had five to ten growers licensed during their pilot year. That number has already risen to 250 licensed hemp farmers in just the first four months of 2018. But those interested in joining this booming market do have to walk into the business with eyes wide open and take into consideration that they might face scrutiny for growing hemp. “When you receive a license to grow industrial hemp, as part of your license, you attest that both the Department of Agriculture and local law enforcement can come to inspect and sample your crop at any time. You also receive an annual inspection where a sample is taken to be sure your crop is in compliance,” Febles says. In 2017 10% of the state’s licensed hemp farmers had to destroy a portion of their crop for testing over the 0.3% THC legal limit. But Febles says this number typically drops in year two and beyond “as people understand the crop better.”

It appears that things may just get a whole lot easier for those interested in growing hemp. The Hemp Farming Act of 2018 proposes that hemp be removed as a Schedule 1 drug and be regulated as an agricultural crop; the aforementioned THC legal limit rule allows up to 0.3% THC content for hemp plants (hemp’s cannabis cousin, marijuana, has a considerably higher THC content, with some of the more potent strains reaching 30%).

Hemp Products Flowchart INDUSTRIAL HEMP HEMP SEEDS

HULLING

MEAT

SHELL

Food

Flour

HEMP STALKS

HARVEST

INTERMEDIATE PROCESSING

PRESSING/ CRUSHING

OIL

CAKE

Food Fuel Paint Personalcare products

Food Beer Feed

Hemp Product flowchart: info courtesy USDA

The president of the Vote Hemp organization released a statement supporting the bill, saying, “We are calling on Congress to pass this imperative legislation so that American farmers can finally engage in and benefit economically from the booming U.S. hemp industry... We urge them to do so immediately, so that no further economic opportunity is lost to American farmers and manufacturers.”

High initial cost is another important factor to consider, so Febles encourages all interested parties to be very clear on what the end-market for their hemp will be. “Your end-market is very important to choosing the correct variety or strain of hemp to grow [fiber, grain, or floral]. I would then definitely reach out to processors to determine where you will sell your hemp at the end of the season... You’ll want to know that you can sell what you grow,” she explains. Pilot year growers also experienced other challenges typical to the agricultural industry, including washout from heavy rains, weeds, and damage

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from pests. There were even a few reported thefts, likely by people mistaking the hemp plants for cannabis.

For the industry as a whole, Cornell University’s Cooperative Extension released a May 2017 report entitled “Industrial Hemp: From Seed to Market” and identified these seven barriers for growing the hemp market in the United States: 1. Re-establishment of agricultural supply chains 2. Upgraded and/or specialized harvesting equipment 3. Processing and manufacturing 4. Access to certified seed 5. Federal government drug policies and DEA concerns 6. Limited agronomical information on varieties 7. Global competition June 2018 | capitalatplay.com 39

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local industry

And it may be possible that an opening for the United States to become the leader of industrial hemp worldwide has come and gone since China and Canada have much more established hemp markets: A 2017 report by online hemp industry resource HempAlta.com noted that Canada is the largest hemp producer in North America, with 108,000 acres being cultivated, additionally estimating China’s production to be 80 million pounds of hemp.

Local Success for Farmers North Carolinians are already starting to cash in on hemp as farmers, health store owners, and festival founders. Western North Carolina currently has two festivals related to hemp: HempX, which started in 2015 and this year will be held September 18-19 at Highland Brewing Company, and Hemp Hootenanny, a celebration taking place June 5 at Franny’s Farm in Leicester to honor the national Hemp History Week’s 2018 Featured Farmer, Western North Carolina’s own Franny Tacy. “It’s very significant because Franny is an ambassador of everything that is possible when it comes to

“Hemp is the only agricultural product that can be used to feed, shelter, and clothe us, while also being used in medicine and sustainable farming practices.” hemp,” explains Blake Butler, HempX’s founder. “She has already spearheaded multiple collaborations in our community, and that’s what you want in this industry—a farmer that thinks outside the box.” To move the industry forward in the region, Butler thinks more farmers should explore growing hemp for fiber grain instead of CBD and hopes more local investors and processors come online.

“For the farmer to make money, you must keep this whole process within a 100-mile radius,” he adds. “This fight is about the farmer and helping the communities that need it the most.”

This year, Hemp History Week takes place June 4-10 and serves as the largest national grassroots effort to change federal policy on industrial hemp. Says Tacy, “We are writing the history books now, people, and we are all creating the market. Hemp is the only agricultural product that can be used to feed, shelter, and clothe us, while also being used in medicine and sustainable farming practices.

We can revolutionize industries and once again see a surge of entrepreneurialism with this one crop.”

Her passion for the industry is just one reason she’s being honored this year; her business savvy is another. “Right now, growing for CBD is hot, but with the expected regulations and pharmaceutical companies taking control, the flame of opportunity may burn out June 2018 | capitalatplay.com 41

local industry

Map of Industrial Hemp by County in April 2018 Approx. 200 growers * info current as of 4/15/18 Approx. 200 growers * info current as of 4/15/18

1-2 licensed growers 3-5 licensed growers 6-10 licensed growers 1-2 licensed growers 11+ licensed growers 3-5 licensed growers 6-10 licensed growers 11+ licensed growers

Map of Industrial Hemp by County in 2017

* info current as of 10/24/17 * info current as of 10/24/17

1 licensed growers 2 licensed growers licensed growers 13-4 licensed growers licensed growers 25-7 licensed growers 18 licensed licensedgrowers growers 3-4 5-7 licensed growers 18 licensed growers Maps from the NCSU Industrial Hemp Pilot Research Program

sooner than later,” she says. So while she grew a Futura 75 fiber variety from Italy in 2017, she turned to a Cherrywine hemp variety for 2018’s growing season for its floral parts and oil and noted that the process has been very different. For starters, last year they weren’t able to get the crop in the ground until four weeks after ideal planting time since hemp had just been okayed in the state. Plus, she adds, “We are tending to individual plants this year, so air and access are critical versus when we grew a field of industrial hemp for fiber.”

She also anticipates fewer DEA flyovers during this year’s threemonth growing season. Not that they bothered her much last year 42

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June 2018

anyway: “I was always humored by the DEA flyovers last year—so close I could see their face and wave to them. There were only [a few] growers in Western North Carolina last year, though.”

In fact, only four Western North Carolina counties had licensed growers by the end of 2017, but that number has already risen to 14 counties, including Macon, Jackson, Transylvania, Haywood, Buncombe, Henderson, Rutherford, McDowell, Mitchell, Avery, Caldwell, Burke, Alleghany, and Rutherford for a new total of at least 25 licensed growers in our part of the state.

Who can blame these farmers for wanting to get in on what was at least a $688 million-dollar industry in 2016, up

20% from $573 million in 2015? The breakdown of the market in 2017 was:

24% personal care products 19% CBD products 19% hemp foods 18% industrial applications 14% consumer textiles 4% supplements 2% other consumer products

(like paper and construction materials) And experts predict that we’ve only scratched the surface of hemp’s market potential, with The Hemp Business Journal concluding that the CBD market alone will reach $2.1 billion, with at least $450 million deriving from hemp plants.

Local Success for Other Hemp Entrepreneurs From using hemp fiber for textiles to building with products like Hempcrete or cooking with hemp hearts and hemp seed oil, many entrepreneurs are coming up with creative ways to cash in, like Nature’s Vitamins and Herbs owners, Mike Rogers and Bill Cheek of Asheville.

Both have pharmacy experience, with Mike earning his doctorate in pharmacy at Mercer University’s College of Pharmacy in 1976, and Bill earning his B.S. in pharmacy from the University of Florida’s College of Pharmacy in 1978.

Rogers says they’ve been selling and recommending CBD products for about three years and see between 40-60 customers come through their doors each day for them, which accounts for 70-80% of their business. “Probably the tinctures, capsules, and vapes sell the most,” he adds. “There are advantages and disadvantages to each one, so we go over those with patients and figure out what would work the best for their particular conditions.”

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LEF T: CBD products in Nature’s Vitamins and Herbs, photo by Oby Morgan RIGHT: Franny and Spencer creating super hemp protein balls at HempX 2017. photo cour tesy HempX

They’re even starting to see folks come in per their doctor’s recommendation because other patients have sung CBD’s praises. “As long as the FDA does not start letting pharmaceutical companies start patenting synthetic versions and charging thousands of dollars for the drugs, then the use of CBD will skyrocket because patients will find there is a natural product that is not addicting that can replace many of the pharmaceuticals that cause problems,” Rogers says. Their customers come in for a host of reasons, including anxiety, arthritis, seizures, autism, Parkinson’s, chronic pain, and much more. “We have the opportunity to impact many people out there suffering from awful conditions that can find relief from CBD,” he adds.

Currently, they source their hemp products from eight trusted companies, including Kingdom Harvest, a whole spectrum hemp extract produced by Asheville’s Carolina Hemp

and Herbs also stocks products made by another North Carolina company, Asheboro’s Founder’s Hemp, makers of CBD gummies and honey sticks, clothing, and other hemp-made health and beauty products.

As North Carolina hemp farmers, processors, and makers continue to explore this newfound territory, they can take comfort in knowing that CBD may just be the tool that can stop the opioid epidemic plaguing America. As Yasmin Hurd, director of the Addiction Institute at Mount Sinai, told CNN’s Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CBD can improve the functionality of the brain’s frontal lobes and heal the glutamatergic system, the area of the brain that controls memory, judgement, and decision-making that is damaged with opioid use. And with opioid overdoses claiming more than 45,000 lives in 2017, it’s imperative that all the medical benefits of CBD be studied and the FDA gives their

“Demand is growing by the second. Every North Carolina grower I know already has their crop sold before we’ve even planted.”

Company. These extracts contain CBD, flavonoids, terpenoids, and other cannabinoids that nurture our endocannabinoid system, or large network of receptors and transmitters found throughout our bodies that work to regulate our systems. To consume, users hold the hemp oil under their tongue for up to 90 seconds before swallowing, allowing the mouth’s mucus membranes to absorb the product and speed up how quickly it interacts with the endocannabinoid system. Nature’s Vitamins 44

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June 2018

stamp of approval to CBD-based medicines, so this industry can move into the future here and across the nation.

As it stands, 31 states have made growing industrial hemp legal, and their retail numbers show no signs of slowing down, especially here in Western North Carolina.

“Demand is growing by the second,” Franny Tacy says.

“Every North Carolina grower I know already has their crop sold before we’ve even planted.”

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THE OLD

NORTH

STATE [

news briefs

Creating Solar Systems charlotte

House Bill 589, the 2017 Competitive Energy Solutions for North Carolina law, has been approved by the North Carolina Utilities Commission (NCUC). That means Duke Energy will be awarding a total of $62 million to customers to help offset upfront costs associated with installing solar systems. The rebates for qualified projects are 60 cents per watt, capped at 10KW, for residences. They are 50 cents per watt for commercial properties, and 75 cents per watt for nonprofit establishments, and both those amounts are capped at 100KW. Federal tax credits will not be affected.

The law also allows people to install leased solar panels. Interested parties may sign up for the rebates this summer. Two other parts of HB 589 awaiting approval by the NCUC would launch Shared Solar, which

]

will allow customers to use the output of a nearby solar apparatus, and Green Source Advantage, which will allow large customers to purchase or generate their own solar power. Duke now has over 6,000 customers with private solar systems contributing to a combined capacity of 50MW. The utility expects to triple that amount in the next five years.

Crushing Crud shallotte

While a student in pharmacy school, Brad Carter carried a notepad on which he jotted down ideas for inventions. After graduating, he brought most of the ideas to fruition. One of his ideas came to him while interning at CVS. A lot of people would come into the store needing the same combination of medications, and

Carter wondered why nobody had put everything in one bottle. The result was called Carolina Crud Crusher. Although it was sold over-the-counter, it performed so well, doctors were prescribing it and asking what else he made. So, he launched his own pharmacy, Carter Drugs, about three years ago. In addition to the Crud Crusher, he sold treatments for yellow toenails, burns, psoriasis, and eczema. All remedies were handmade, and he started his workday at 5AM. Then, like so many other independent pharmacists, Carter began having problems with reimbursements from insurance companies. So, he returned to Thomas Drugs. Last year, his third year at that pharmacy, he sold 5,000 bottles of Crud Crusher over-the-counter and thousands more by prescription. With over 100 doctors prescribing it, it was Thomas’ best-selling single-prescription drug, by volume.

Cleanest Dirt Around mooresville

It’s difficult to build interest in something as old as dirt, but Harvest Organics has come up with a catchy hook: cleaner dirt for greener gardens. The company sells premium organic soils made from “high-quality feedstocks, rich organic

H Y DR A NGE A S I N L I V I NG COL OR!

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Sometimes

all you need

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carolina in the west

national & world

perspective matter, and plant-happy nutrients.”

Harvest sources its product through collaboration with municipalities in an effort to divert organic waste from landfills.

Feedstock from compost has nutrients that help plants grow without the dangerous side effects of synthetic fertilizers.

The company has developed a “certified clean dirt” logo to raise awareness about its mission to serve home growers with products that contribute to the growth of safe and healthy plants while protecting everything else downstream. Senior Vice President Brent Bolton, who has no shortage of slogans, said by repurposing fruits and vegetables, the company is, “keeping good trash out of bad landfills.”

Harvest Organics products are currently sold exclusively at Lowe’s.

the old north state

influences coding nonetheless. They use the CRISPR technique of gene editing to activate or deactivate parts of the molecule, and then they use big-data to look for patterns. They moved their business off-campus to the Chesterfield, a biotech incubator near Durham. Chesterfield offers coworking space and equipment for 19 new businesses, mostly from state universities. By being off-campus, the setup allows researchers to own their inventions; and it also lets them access private investors, who can pay three times the amount of a college research grant. If the deal closes, some of the $30 million will be paid up-front, and the remainder will be released contingent upon meeting performance targets. Element Genomics will be a wholly-owned subsidiary of UCB.

“unacceptable rodent activity;” grime and food debris on floors, pallets, and equipment; water leaking and pooling on floors; employees skipping steps in cleaning eggs, including removing detergent before it had a chance to sink in; and employees failing to wash their hands after touching unsanitary objects. The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said evidence was found linking the eggs to at least 23 incidents of salmonella poisoning and six hospitalizations. The eggs were distributed in nine states under at least ten brands and would be identified by the plant number P-1065 and a lot code between 011 and 102. If the problems are not remedied before the next inspection, federal agents could confiscate the eggs or shut down the facility.

Bad Eggs BEVERLY-HANKS Element Genomics is in negotiations Following the release of an inspection MORTGAGE reVIEW for a $30 million acquisition by UCB, a report by the United States Food and Belgian company specializing in drugs Drug Administration, Cal-Maine Foods PLUS $100 for neurological disorders. Gift Element Card. voluntarily recalled over 280,800 eggs

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Ally Financial, a Michigan-based digital financial services company, announced it will open an innovation hub in Camp North End. Dubbed TM Studio, the hub Genomics was founded three years ago purchased from Rose Acre Farms in will be a space for fast-paced prototyping as a collaboration of four Duke University Hyde County. In visits between March 26 and design of consumer banking projects. biotech professors. Theirworking field of experApril 11, the inspectors noted, “the It is expected that teams of experienced Considering withand another mortgage lender? tise was analyzing the 98% of DNA that harborage, proliferation, and spread of designers, project engineers, and web Let oursynthesize team review yourfilth rate terms; youincluded might just prefer ourtogether perspective. doesn’t directly proteins but andand pathogens.”

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the old north state

on a project-by-project basis. One example of a recent project developed by Ally includes Ally Skill, which allows bank customers to perform certain banking activities like checking their balance, looking up interest rates, or transferring money—by voice. Another project, Face ID, lets customers access their accounts with facial-recognition software. Occupying 2,200 square feet, Ally will be the anchor tenant in a 26-story building. Camp North End is a former industrial district where old warehouses and factories, like an old missile plant, are being converted to retail and office space. Ally will be in the old Boileryard with an eclectic mix of businesses like a coffee roaster and a custom motorcycle builder.

Sunny and Sharing greensboro

The North Carolina Supreme Court heard an appeal from NC WARN, a nonprofit whose mission statement explicitly names Duke Energy as a target of efforts to “tackle the climate crisis.” The environmental group had been assessed $60,000 in fines for violating state law protecting utility companies, as regulated monopolies, from intrusion on their business by unregulated parties selling electricity for the public. Back in 2015, NC WARN installed solar panels on the roof of Faith Community Church. The environmental group paid for the $20,000 installation and entered an agreement with the church to sell the power to it below market rates. NC WARN had hoped to replicate the model for other nonprofits, claiming Duke isn’t expanding solar capacity fast enough, and framing the issue as not so much selling power to the public as helping nonprofits save money with green technology. The court, however, found replicating the model was equivalent to public sale. Power providers and the utilities commission are concerned that if the appeals court were to rule in NC WARN’s favor, it would set a precedent to allow solar companies to put solar panels on top of large factories, forcing utilities to shift the burden of paying for new plants and infrastructure onto fewer paying customers.

Expect $40,000 morganton

Western Piedmont Community College hosted an open house for its new mechatronics building. Educators and leaders from business and government were treated to a tour of the 7,000-sq.-ft. facility’s two labs, two classrooms, conference room, and support room. They also got to see some of the facility’s high-tech manufacturing equipment. The building was made possible with a $750,000 grant from the LEAF Foundation, $433,000 from Burke County, $100,000 from the Cannon Foundation, and $10,000 from the Unifour Foundation.

Duke Energy donated $184,600 for the purchase of instructional machinery. The school will offer programs in industrial 48

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WARM DAYS systems and mechatronics engineering technology; and classes will familiarize students with robotics, automation, and programmable logic controllers. Speakers at the open house said there was a waiting list of companies wanting mechatronics students. Program graduates can expect a starting salary of $40,000 with potential for a 50% pay raise in a few years.

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Sales Call, Line 1 charlotte

Proactive Dealer Solutions has launched software designed to turn dropped sales opportunities into sales. Call Management Solution (CMS) is an automated business development center specifically for automobile dealerships. The developer says dealerships, on average, spend $200 to generate a single sales call. In sales departments, 65% of incoming calls are made to set an appointment, but only 18.5% of callers actually follow through. For repairs, the numbers are 85%-90% and 44%. CMS was created over 25 years ago, and the company now serves about 3,000 dealerships. Today, the average car buyer spends 9-14 hours online researching, so when they call, they are normally “transaction-ready.” CMS uses artificial intelligence to isolate sales opportunities and evaluate staff effectiveness.

In near-realtime, management is notified of staff performance, and the applicable proprietary micro-training videos are recommended from CMS’ library of over 300 training videos that are constantly updated with machine learning. The software is adaptable to dealership policies and procedures, and protocols vary with demographics and dealership types.

Local Shopping, Dining & Essentials in a Uniquely Asheville Atmosphere

A 9000-Milestone statewide

GE Aviation announced milestones for two of its jet engine models that use parts made in North Carolina. The GE9X, the world’s largest aircraft engine, flew in a Boeing 777X aircraft for more than four hours in its first test flight at GE Aviation’s flight center in Victorville, California. The GE9X generates 100 kips of thrust with a turbine 11 feet in diameter. Features contributing to the engine’s superior efficiencies include its lightweight composite fan case and lightweight carbon fiber blades, a high-pressure compressor, and a highly-efficient combustor. With more testing, it is expected the engine will be certified by the FAA sometime next year. A pair of the company’s GEnx engines powered a 9,000-mile, nonstop commercial flight from Perth, Australia, to London, England.

The trip, which lasted 17 hours and 20 minutes, flew 236 passengers in a Qantas 787-9. GE Aviation’s facilities in Asheville, Durham, West Jefferson, and Wilmington contributed parts for the engines. They are among 80 facilities in 19 countries making parts for GE Aviation.

THE HISTORIC

GROVE ARCADE on

BATTERY HILL

Open Daily • One Page Avenue www.grovearcade.com June 2018 | capitalatplay.com 49

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Western North Carolina's Free Spirit of Enterprise

We’re partnering with local businesses every month to bring our readers (that’s you!) free goodies and giveaways!

How it works – Each month, we choose a new passcode (June is BIKE@PLAY, used verbally in store, or online when available) granting access to unique offerings and huge deals at businesses throughout Western NC, like free rentals from bike outfitters.

The monthly passcode is available in each new edition of the

magazine, in our once-a-month email newsletter, and on our Facebook and Instagram pages.

Bonus – We will also be giving away big-ticket items from those businesses each month (two road biking giveaways in June) in a special readers’ contest. Want to enter?

Just sign up for our newsletter!

To make sure you get the passcode each month, keep reading the magazine, or follow us on social media, or sign up for our once-a-month e-newsletter.

For more information visit: capitalatplay.com/coop

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photo by Evan Anderson

leisure & libation

Aero

Dynamics written by derek halsey

For road biking enthusiasts, their sport represents a true Western North Carolina mountain adventure.

PEOPLE COME HERE FROM ALL OVER THE PLANET to road bike the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Great Smoky Mountains. Technically, the Great Smoky Mountains are a part of the greater Blue Ridge Mountains, with the demarcation line forming somewhere west of Asheville near Maggie Valley and Cherokee.

Meandering throughout the middle of Western North Carolina is the famed Blue Ridge Parkway, which is a keen destination for road bikers looking to make tracks amidst the wonderful attributes found in the natural world. The Parkway is a scenic gem, traversing the Appalachian Mountaintops for 469 miles from the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia until its end near Cherokee. Along the way, road bikers have access to the tallest mountains east of the Mississippi River, including Mount Mitchell, which has the highest summit in the eastern United States, at 6,683 feet.

Built during the Great Depression by President Roosevelt’s Works Progress Administration, the Blue Ridge Parkway was originally supposed to exist equally in three states — Virginia, North Carolina, and Tennessee. But Roosevelt wanted to pass his Social Security program in the 1930s, and politics came into play in the form of a legislative road block: a congressman from North Carolina named “Muley Bob” Doughton. Rep. Doughton was the head of the powerful Ways and Means Committee in

Congress and he wanted something in return for agreeing to Roosevelt’s Social Security program, and that came in the way of bypassing Tennessee altogether when it came to planning this new scenic roadway. To get the now-famous paved passageway to go through Doughton’s home county, the path of the Blue Ridge Parkway was altered with North Carolina getting its wish.

The Blue Ridge Parkway is considered Federal land, and because of the 45-mph speed limit that is posted along the way—and because of the incredible panoramic beauty that is experienced below and above its blacktop—it has become a premier point of compass for road bikers in search of adventure.(As this issue was being finished, the annual 102-mile Assault on Mt. Mitchell bike race was getting underway—speaking of “adventure.”)

With the existence of a great destination for road biking, numerous businesses geared toward facilitating this unique hobby and lifestyle have been created. As a result, there are excellent bike shops found from Blowing Rock to Sylva to Asheville, with each catering to a different set of needs along the way.

Visit Capitalatplay.com/Coop for a full list of the FREE bicycling gear the shops are offering our readers this month with the code BIKE@PLAY. Then sign up for our newsletter for a chance to win even bigger prizes.

June 2018 | capitalatplay.com

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Youngblood Bicycles Youngblood Haske is the owner of Youngblood Bicycles, located in Asheville. Though he has deep connections to Western North Carolina, he comes to this part of the world via the Big Apple.

“My Mom was born here, but I grew up in New York City,” says Haske. “I was 23 years old when I moved here to Asheville. In NYC I was a bike messenger and was a bike shop mechanic as well. I had a little bit of aptitude for bike repair as I worked on my own bikes. Then, when I got a job in a shop, I had a mentor at City Cycles in NYC that showed me the ropes. Being a bike messenger in the big city wasn’t that crazy. I mean, you see movies about it and stuff, but I tried to be sensible and not get run over. I wasn’t one of those guys that was bombing between buses. Plus, when it comes to taxi drivers, you learn that when you see that hand by a potential customer start waving, you know that a cab is about to come over into your lane. If you keep going, you will get hit if you see people trying to flag a cab down.”

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While in New York City, Haske began to road race on bicycles.

Eventually, however, he traveled to North Carolina and the land of his grandparents to ride in the mountains. He moved here in 1989, and then took the entrepreneurial step of starting his own bicycling shop in 2006.

“I used to come to my grandfather’s farm in Fairview and help him to cut and bail hay,” says Haske. “Having a little bit of farm experience for a city boy was awesome. I ended up working for other people in bike shops for many years, so I decided to have a go at it on my own. I wanted to be able to do things my way. I moved here for the cycling. I love these country roads as they are awesome for road riding. Now, of course, they are getting a lot more crowded than they were when I first got here. But, these mountains are wonderful to ride a road bike on, and there is a lot of bike culture here.”

What Haske has found is that Western North Carolina has become a true destination for those wanting a real adventure.

“People come here from all over the place to road ride,” says Haske. “There was a stage race here for amateurs in May. [A stage race involves several races ridden consecutively, the

photo cour tesy Youngblood Bicycles

June Passcode : B IK E @ PL AY Use the passcode upon reservation and get a weekday (M-F) bike rental.

YOUNGBLOOD HASKE

winner being whoever has the lowest cumulative time for all the races.] It lasted three days, and while many road races are point to point, this race had the same start and finish location every day, ending up back in Asheville. The participants came from many places. When I am not racing, I have a favorite lunch ride that I do where I ride up Elk Mountain Scenic Parkway to the Blue Ridge Parkway and then back down Town Mountain Road. I have seen quite a few bears on those roads, messing around in people’s yards looking for garbage cans. Doggett Mountain to Hot Springs is another popular road biking route. That is a great ride where you are climbing up Doggett Mountain on the switchbacks and you feel like you have done a real climb. I like riding in the Shining Rock area as well, near Waynesville, where you go up RT. 215 to the Blue Ridge Parkway and then back down RT. 276. That is a great ride with a lot of climbing on a 45-mile loop.�

June 2018 | capitalatplay.com

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2018-19

UPCOMING ROAD BIKE EVENTS JULY THROUGH NOVEMBER 2018 Weekly Road Rides on Tuesday Afternoons Starting Point (SP): Asheville motionmakers.com

JULY 22, 2018

SEPTEMBER 8, 2018

Gran Fondo Asheville SP: Asheville

Blowing Rock Art in the Park Ride SP: Blowing Rock

granfondonationalseries.com/ gran-fondo-asheville

Cycle NC Mountains to the Coast Ride SP: Black Mountain cnc.ncsports.org

JULY THROUGH OCTOBER, 2018 Weekly Road Bike Rides in Asheville SP: Asheville sycamorecycles.com/ride-local/ weekly-group-rides/ JULY THROUGH OCTOBER, 2018 Weekly Group Rides in Boone and Blowing Rock, NC SP: Blowing Rock boonebike.com JULY THROUGH OCTOBER

AUGUST 4, 2018

SEPTEMBER 8, 2018

Boone Gran Fondo SP: Boone

Pisgah Monster-Cross Challenge SP: Pisgah Forest

granfondonationalseries.com/ gran-fondo-boone AUGUST 4 – 5 Cycle North Carolina Mountain Ride SP: Tryon cnc.ncsports.org AUGUST 11, 2018 Blowing Rock Art in the Park Ride SP: Blowing Rock rhoddiebicycleoutfitters.com

Weekly Thursday Afternoon Road Rides SP: Asheville youngbloodbikes.com/roadrides/ JULY 14, 2018 Blowing Rock Art in the Park Ride SP: Blowing Rock rhoddiebicycleoutfitters.com/ JULY 14, 2018 Hot Doggett 100 Road Ride SP: Mars Hill hotdoggett100.org/

AUGUST 11, 2018 Blue Ridge Brutal Road Bike Challenge SP: West Jefferson blueridgebrutal.org AUGUST 25, 2018 Cowbelle Classic All-Female Ride SP: Sugar Grove cowbelleclassicride.com SEPTEMBER 3, 2018 Tour d’Apple Cycling Tour SP: Hendersonville tourdapple.com

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rhoddiebicycleoutfitters.com

SEPTEMBER 29 – OCTOBER 6, 2018

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June 2018

pisgahproductions.com/events/ pisgah-monster-cross-challenge/ SEPTEMBER 12 – 21; Blue Ridge Parkway Bicycle Tour 10 Day SP: Black Mountain velogirlrides.com/blue-ridgeparkway-bicycle-tour/ SEPTEMBER 15, 2018 Tour de Cashiers SP: Cashiers tourdecashiers.com SEPTEMBER 16, 2018 Pedal to Plate Farm to Table Cycling Event SP: Marshall rootbottomfarm.com/pedaltoplate/ SEPTEMBER 16, 2018 Blowing Rock Fall Classic SP: Blowing Rock bloodsweatandgears. racesonline.com/blowing-rockfall-classic

OCTOBER 6, 2018 Blowing Rock Art in the Park Ride SP: Blowing Rock rhoddiebicycleoutfitters.com OCTOBER 13, 2018 White Squirrel Cycling Classic SP: Brevard blueridgeadventures.net OCTOBER 27, 2018 Bookwalter Binge Gran Fondo SP: Swannanoa bookwalterbinge.com APRIL 6, 2019 Assault on the Carolinas SP: Pisgah Forest assaultonthecarolinas.com APRIL 26-28, 2019 Cycle NC Coastal Ride 2019 SP: Edenton cnc.ncsports.org APRIL 27, 2019 Looking Glass Cycling Tour SP: Brevard blueridgeadventures.net/

photos by Derek Halsey

BRIAN SAIN

Rhoddie Bicycle Outfitters As for Brian Sain, who co-owns Rhoddie Bicycle Outfitters, located in the heart of Blowing Rock, on Sunset Drive, he grew up in nearby Bethlehem and simply climbed the mountain to start his business.

“I grew up in Bethlehem, which is north of Hickory and about a 45-minute drive to Blowing Rock,” said Sain. “From where I lived as a kid, you could see the town of Blowing Rock and Grandfather Mountain and Table Rock Mountain. My family always had road bikes and spent a lot of time up here in the mountains. We rode the Virginia Creeper Trail and cycled in places like nearby Todd, where there are a lot of good biking roads. So, it has been in my blood as riding in the mountains was always a priority. I worked at a bike shop in Hickory while I was in college and I also worked as a bicycle company rep for about a year and a half. Then, I opened my own shop here in Blowing Rock in November of 2015.”

Sain is well aware that Blowing Rock is a resort town, so he caters to the traveler’s mentality.

“Blowing Rock is a place that focuses on the tourist industry, so we really depend on people coming here from many places,” says Sain. “I have a degree in tourism so I have been pairing my two interests. If I was back in Hickory, I’d be running a little bit different of a business than in a place where people are coming for vacation. And, it has worked out great as it has mainly been the experience that we expected it to be. During the summer months, we do a lot of bicycle rentals and catering to people that are not familiar with the area. We also work on bikes for

the locals as well, although they can be a seasonal local; as in, someone who lives really close in places like Charlotte, Greensboro, or Winston-Salem and owns or rents a summer place here. I consider them locals because I know them and don’t have to tell them where to ride, and I take care of them while they are up for the season. It is cool because each season is different and there are perks to all of them.”

The truth is, the difference in air temperatures in the summertime up top compared to the off-the-mountain areas can range from 10 to 15 degrees. Although firmly planted in the mid-South, the cool air of the Western North Carolina mountains can be sweet relief for road bikers, and the Blue Ridge Parkway is a big part of that reality.

“Except for the climb up from Price Lake to the Grandfather Mountain section, the Blue Ridge Parkway is fairly level and fun to ride from Blowing Rock to Linville Falls and Linville Gorge,” says Sain. “The Parkway is a huge draw. This time of year is when you get all of the thru-riders that start their ride at the northern end of the Parkway in Virginia and ride the whole way to the southern end. It takes about a week to a week-and-a-half for most people to ride the whole 469 miles of the Parkway. People have to be pretty self-sufficient because there are sections of the Parkway where you are going through communities that may not be geared towards Parkway business. Just yesterday I was out riding on the Parkway and I saw about eight riders with their bikes loaded down with racks and bags and stuff. There are other country roads to ride near the Parkway as well. I like to ride in Linville and Pineola and around the backside of Beech Mountain.”

June 2018 | capitalatplay.com

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June Passcode : B IK E @ PL AY Use the passcode upon upon reservation and get a two hour weekday (M-F)

hybrid bike rental.

MustAsheville Bike Shop

photo by Rob Landwehrmann

photo cour tesy Cycle Nor th Carolina

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Jeff Stone came from Austin, Texas, to Asheville, where he would start his MustAsheville Bike Shop.

Austin is a hip town that has blown up to the point where automobile traffic has become very congested at times. Stone says that those who think the traffic in Asheville is bad need to realize it is much worse in other places. He came to Asheville when he was 18 and ended up managing bike shops in Greenville, South Carolina, and Asheville before creating his own business two years ago.

Stone, like the other bike shop owners, hopes that more flat bike lanes and routes can be created so that beginning bikers can have a chance to improve their skills.

“Obviously, the bike lane situation could be better than what it is,” says Stone. “It is improving, but if we could get more infrastructure and bike lanes—that may happen with this Greenway project the city has envisioned and has been working on—then it will improve the cycling here in town. As for the mountains surrounding Asheville, I love the scenery here. I love the overlooks and the beautiful mountains, as I did not get that in Austin. I have only seen one bear when I have been out riding; however, I know a lot of the native Asheville folks seem to see them a bit more often. As for local rides, I also like to ride up Town Mountain Road to the Blue Ridge Parkway then come back down Elk Mountain Scenic Parkway, which takes about two hours. As for my shop, people come here from all over the country. I had a bunch of folks come in from Chicago the other day and people have come in from Florida to the West Coast. I definitely enjoy what I am doing.”

Fortunately, to coincide with projects in other places in Western North Carolina, the Blue Ridge Conservancy Project, High Country Pathways, Watauga County, and the towns of Boone and Blowing Rock are working together to create the Middle Fork Greenway. This new corridor will be a six-mile road bike, hiking, and walking path that will connect Blowing Rock and Boone. A flatter trail than is found on the surrounding mountains, the new roadway will connect with the already-existing Boone Greenway Trail and will provide a safe place for beginner cyclists to ride.

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June 2018 | capitalatplay.com 57

leisure & libation

SAM WHITE

Liberty Bicycles One of the oldest bike shops in Western North Carolina is Liberty Bicycles located on the south side of Asheville at 1378 Hendersonville Road. The business was started by Mike and Claudia Nix in 1980. Sam White, Liberty Bicycles’ general manager, has been with the establishment since 1989.

“I’m a local, having grown up in nearby Candler, and I have been biking ever since I can remember,” says White. “I used to do group rides with the Asheville Bicycle Racing Club, which was the original biking club in town but is defunct now. At its peak in the 1990s, the Asheville Bicycle Racing Club had a membership that was in the 100s. It ended a couple of years ago when multiple clubs formed and peeled off of it. The cycling community in Asheville is obviously much larger today than it was in the 1980s and ‘90s, so that club spawned off about five or six other clubs in town. The original Asheville Bicycle Racing Club was founded by people who worked at Liberty Bikes or were customers of Liberty Bikes. Liberty Bikes has the oldest heritage of biking of any shop in the area.”

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Having grown up in this part of the world, White naturally got a bit jaded when it came to the beautiful surroundings that surrounded him every day of his life as a kid. But now, he appreciates the natural wonders of this region that draws people in from out of town.

“You always do that when you’re younger,” he admits, “as the grass seems greener on the other side, and you always enjoy exploring other areas to cycle. Ultimately, however, it is hard to beat the Asheville area for the diversity of outdoor activities and the road cycling that we have to offer. The drawback, when you ride out West, even though the roads are a little bit less traveled, is that you usually use only two or three roads for every road ride because there are not as many roads. Here in Asheville, there are so many roads that you can ride on that it is pretty astounding. We are also blessed with the plant life and the wildlife we have here. Having plenty of water is a good thing for the diversity of habitat.”

White has a preferred route that he enjoys cycling when possible.

June Passcode : B IK E @ PL AY Use the passcode upon reservation and get a weekday (M-Thr) bike rental. photos by Evan Anderson

“One of my personal favorite road rides is to start in Candler and climb up RT. 151, which then Ts into the Blue Ridge Parkway,” says White.

“Then, I’ll follow the Parkway to Highway 215, as that will drop you back down into the Waynesville area. Then, I’ll follow RT. 110, which will lead you to Canton, and then I’ll take Newfound Road to the backside of Hookers Gap Road, which drops you back down into Candler. It is a long loop, about 70 miles.”

White adds that he appreciates the people he meets while working at Liberty Bicycles, noting, “We get customers from all over the U.S. that visit us when they come into town for bike riding. We have a huge contingent of cyclists that come in from Canada, as well as New Hampshire, Ohio, Michigan, and more. We had a large group come in here from Maine. And, we know many of them by name.”

June 2018 | capitalatplay.com 59

leisure & libation

photo cour tesy Wes Dickson Sycamore Cycles

Sycamore Cycles

BIKERS IN The Assault on Mt. Mitchell 2018 photo by Paul King / Cour tesy Freewheelers Association

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Wes Dickson owns two Sycamore Cycles bike shops in Brevard and Hendersonville. He is a native of North Carolina who was born and raised on the far western end of the state. At a young age, Dickson fell in love with biking and sought to make it his life’s profession.

“I grew up about four minutes from my shop in Brevard in a place called Little River, North Carolina,” says Dickson. “My Dad was really into biking, so he got me into cycling. Of course, when you have a bike as a kid, it is basically a toy to you. But around 1988 or so, my Dad took me mountain biking and we went from there.

It was something that we did together and enjoyed and then we eventually began to do competitive events. Other times, we would just get out and have some fun, riding bikes all over the East Coast.

The riding bug bit me. I was better at bike riding than any stick and ball sports, so it worked out for me. I started working on my own bikes and my Dad taught me a lot of stuff. Then, I began to take classes from bike manufacturers. It became more to me than just a hobby.”

Dickson grew up on the edge of Pisgah National Forest and began to explore that amazing, geographically large park at an early age. Surprisingly, he did not work for other bike shop owners before starting his own business in 2000. Dickson knew what he

wanted to do, was well-trained in all things bikes, and was ready to create his own business.

With the Pisgah National Forest, the Blue Ridge Parkway, and hundreds of miles of country roads to choose from surrounding Brevard and Hendersonville, according to Dickson, there is a lot to explore in that part of the state.

“As for road biking, every spring there is the Assault On The Carolinas loop, which begins in downtown Brevard and dips down into South Carolina before coming back up by Caesars Head Mountain,” says Dickson. “The RT. 276 Caesars Head climb is kind of a marquee climb for road bikers. On the other side of our county, we have the Caesars Head climb that goes up to the Blue Ridge Parkway. My personal favorite bike ride is going up RT. 215 and going across the Blue Ridge Parkway and coming down RT. 276. The trip has a lot of diversity with quiet roads along the way and I enjoy it quite a bit.”

Dickson loves the fact that bikers come to his part of the Appalachian Mountains from many other places.

“We just had a big stage race here that brought people in from 25 countries,” says Dickson. “Just the other day we had some French Canadians in here from Quebec. We have had people come here from Brazil wanting to ride our mountains. It seems like they come from all over the world these days. I just think that they like to explore new places just like everybody else, and I think that the bike riding pulls a lot of people into Western North Carolina.

“One reason is the green leaves and plant life along the roads. I don’t think a lot of other places have mountains with the amount of foliage that we have here.

So, it is a combination of the diversity of our eco-system and the challenging terrain of climbing and descending and whatever it might be. Whether it is road biking, gravel biking, or mountain biking, we have something for everyone [who] wants to come here. And, the South has a friendliness about it that a lot of other places do not have, so it is fun to visit!”

If the Shoe Fits...

18 brook st next to fig biltmore village 828.505.1984 June 2018 | capitalatplay.com 61

leisure & libation

GET IN

Here are some of the prominent bicycle shops in Western North Carolina; in addition to bike, bike accessories, and bike apparel sales, most of them also do bike repairs and offer rentals. In addition, most of them sell both road and mountain bikes; for a list of area shops that specialize primarily in mountain bikes, visit our June 2017 story, “Dirt Surfing,” at CapitalatPlay.com.

GEAR > >boone

bike and touring

774 E King St, Boone boonebike.com 828.262.5750

> >chainheart

cycling studio

10:00 AM

makers bicycle shop

36 Allen St, Sylva 828.586.6925

bicycles

1378 Hendersonville Rd,Suite G Asheville, libertybikes.com 828.274.2453

102 Sutton Ave, Black Mountain epiccyclesnc.com 828.669.5969 5/8/18

> >libert y

> >motion

878 Brevard Rd, Asheville 828.633.2227

Use the passcode upon arrival & receive a choice of free appetizer

cycles

CAPJune18

your line bicycle shop

(repairs/service only)

487 Haywood Rd, Asheville findyourline.bike 828.585.7289

4 Foundy St, Suite 20, Asheville 828.412.5755

> >epic

> >find

17 Big Cove Rd, Cherokee (New Location) motionmakers.com

Page 1

FLIRTY AND FIERCE

One All Souls Crescent • Historic Biltmore Village Asheville, NC • 828.505.8140 • www.shoppalmvillage.com www.facebook.com/Palm.Village.Asheville

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> >mustasheville

bike shop

Use the passcode upon arrival & receive free two hour weekday bike rental 408 Depot Street, Unit 140, Asheville mustashevillebikes.com 828.575.9779

> >rhoddie

bicycle outfitters

257 Sunset Drive, Blowing Rock rhoddiebicycleoutfitters.com 828.414.9800

> >rollsrite

bicycles

1362 Asheville Rd, Waynesville rollsritebicycles.com 828.276.6080

> >sycamore

cycles

112 New Hendersonville Hwy. Pisgah Forest 828.877.5790 146 3rd Avenue East, Hendersonville, 828.693.1776 sycamorecycles.com

> >youngblood

cycles

Use the passcode upon arrival & receive a free weekday bike rental.

233 Merrimon Avenue, Asheville youngbloodbikes.com 828.251.4686

Win it, Bike it!

Follow our e-newsletter and social media accounts to win!

>> Youngblood shop jersey ($125 value)

>> Liberty Bicycles ibike Asheville

pack (hat, T-shirt, water bottle, $55 value)

50 - 60% OFF TOP BRANDS EVERYDAY!

106 Sutton Ave Black Mountain, NC •

828.669.0075 • towncountryfurniture.net

S H O P LO C A L • FA M I LY O W N E D A N D O P E R AT E D B U S I N E S S

June 2018 | capitalatplay.com 63

column

Entrepreneurs – Find Your Next Act

To successfully transition out of your current business, have a plan—and start your planning early.

B

EING A N ENTREPRENEUR IS

D

While I am not there yet, I anticipate a fair amount of dread when both these children are ready to leave the nest. It’s a natural process for a child to leave the nest and begin living her own life as an adult. But to suggest a business may also mature and become independent might seem odd. I would argue that if a business owner grows the business correctly, a day will come when that business can, and should, fly on its own.

The success of this sort of transition can be smooth and easy. It can also be volatile and possibly explosive. The variation depends in large part on what type of business is in transition. If the business sells a product, it’s likely to be a far easier transition than a business that provides a service.

This is especially the case when the service business has been synonymous with the owner. If customers think of the owner interchangeably with the business, there might be difficulties when that owner is no longer there.

dawn starks

Certified Financial Planner™ practitioner, writer, and blogger, resides in Asheville, NC. You can find her at SimpleMoneyPro. com.

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just like being a parent. The early days of being an entrepreneur meant sleepless nights as well as the growing pains of my “child” along the way. My entrepreneurial journey is no different than my current experience of raising my actual daughter.

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June 2018

Ideally, any business transition should start multiple years before the actual transaction.

Laying the groundwork over many years is key to a smooth, drama-free transition. Sometimes illness or emergency requires a faster adjustment. Anticipate the unexpected and begin thinking about the endgame from the beginning.

As soon as the business is on solid footing, start planning ahead. Are your company documents in order? Do the documents provide the necessary steps to transition the ownership of the business?

And most importantly, do you have documents in place that would ease an unexpected transition due to the disability or death of the owner?

As a business owner, you might envision working in your business until the day you die. That is a wonderful goal and it might come to pass. But having your ducks in a row along the way in case something happens will give you peace of mind knowing your “baby” will be in good hands.

D In the best-case scenario, your business will live long and prosper, and you will have ample time to develop the ideal transition. Many years before you anticipate transitioning out, determine what you want to see happen. Some entrepreneurs want to grow a business to a successful level and then sell it outright and move on. Others want to nurture their business and enjoy working in that business for the length of their careers.

When the business owner hasn’t planned ahead, the default option is that the business simply closes down.

It saddens me to see a local business

THERE IS NO PERFECT SOLUTION: EVERY ENTREPRENEUR HAS AN IDEA REGARDING THE FATE OF HIS OR HER BUSINESS. close its doors, but it is particularly disheartening if the reason is a lack of transition plan.

With a plan in place, the business owner might sell the company outright to an outsider. Or, new owners—in the form of current employees—might be nurtured along the way to take on the business. There is no perfect solution: Ever y entrepreneur has an idea regarding the fate of his or her business.

Whatever you hope for the future of your business baby, here are three ideas for entrepreneurs that will make the transition smoother.

Make A Plan.

We’re your bridge—from here to where you want to go. Veteran CFOs, providing on-site financial management. Working beside you to help manage and mentor your team through times of transition. Building the financial strength, processes and relationships to move you forward. Local, engaged, connected. Kaplan CFO Solutions. We’re your bridge.

We l l i n a d va n c e o f “ D - d ay ” (departure day), create a timeline for your transition. Pulling back on your

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BEING MORTAL

more of the actual leadership of the firm. Instead “Hopedelegating aallplan.” ofis me not running of our meetings by default, we created

day-to-day involvement slowly and steadily is the key. Equally important, however, is reining in your involvement in the company’s decision-making. It is incredibly difficult to stop being the puppet master.

Calling the shots is what running a business is all about. If you are trying to make a smooth, longer-term transition, begin giving up some of the shot-calling. Allow your trusted team members to take the lead. This can happen in small ways at

for various things. Each committee is led by a ~ Dr.committees Atul Gawande different team member. Even the most timorous member of

the PBS FRONTLINE documentary film

RELATEDLY, IF YOU TRUST THE PEOPLE WHO ARE TAKING THE REINS OF YOUR BUSINESS, MOVE OUT OF THE WAY.

my staff now has the responsibility to run meetings regularly, and she is doing marvelously.

Don’t Hover.

Relatedly, if you trust the people who are taking the reins of your business, move out of the way. Particularly important in the later years of the transition, it is essential that the entrepreneur not hover. It is not enough to give lip service to trusting your people. Your people need to feel that trust. I am not suggesting benign neglect. Rather, I am suggesting that you methodically hand over responsibilities and then—don’t hover.

Don’t come into the office or business establishment and just hang out. Trust your people!

A friend of mine has been in the top leadership position with a company for many years. A slow and steady ownership change has been in the works, but the problem is that the founder of the company just cannot let go. Despite no longer having a day-to-day role in the company, the founder comes in each

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day and hovers. My friend finds it distracting and frustrating.

The founder might say he trusts in the job my friend is doing, but his actions conflict with his words.

Give Up The Idea Of Cloning.

Acknowledge the fact that the business will never be the SAME as when you were running it. It might be better, it might be worse, but it won’t be the same. No one can be YOU. If you want to avoid significant frustration in your transition, you need to reach this epiphany as early as possible. Instead, focus on the strengths of the folks who will be taking your place. You can secretly hold on to the idea that your way is the best way, but out loud, you must support and mentor your successors.

As a person with perfectionist tendencies, this one has been tough for me. The change in my mindset really did come as an epiphany. I woke up one morning and had the realization, my team members are never going to be just like me. However, they are awesome in their own right, and I need to focus on that instead of dwelling on the things that they do differently than I do.

Have A Next Act. By nature, entrepreneurs are doers. We’re not “ride into the sunset and live happily ever after on the beach” folks, as a rule.

Therefore, if you are launching this business-child of yours into the world, find an outlet for your newfound time and energy. Just like parents can get depressed when their children leave the nest, stepping away from your business will likely create a void.

Decide in advance how to fill that void. Will you start another business? Take up a favorite or new hobby in earnest? Provide service to the community through volunteerism? Whatever your outlet, pursue it prior to your transition. Experiencing the fulfilment that comes from the new venture will help you stay on schedule for your business departure.

In the end, having a successful transition out of your business boils down to one thing: having a plan. After the frenetic early days of starting your business settle down, lay the groundwork by creating your emergency succession plan. When that is in place, start thinking about your long game. Even if you plan to work in the business forever, you should be prepared in the event that you change your mind. Hire carefully and then train and mentor the people who will one day become the adoptive parents of your business-child.

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UPDATES FOR

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NATIONAL WORLD [

news briefs

Evolving Too Fast for Capitalization brentford, united kingdom

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) sold off the branch of its business conducting research and development on gene therapies for rare diseases. Orchard Therapeutics, another company in that line of business, acquired the assets in exchange for giving GSK a 20% stake in the company. The treatments in question are surefire cures that may only treat a couple dozen people a year. One of GSK’s treatments involved in the deal was Strimvelis, a cure for “bubble boy” disease, a condition in which children are born so immune-deficient, they live a short life in a plastic bubble.

GSK chose to hand off commercialization of the drug because one treatment could cost as much as $665,000, and the

]

process was complex, requiring bone marrow extraction and return. GSK has been criticized for putting money before saving lives, but gene therapies are advancing so fast these days, as soon as something is commercialized, there will likely be a new and improved version on its heels. Orchard Therapeutics is, in fact, developing one such successor drug for Strimvelis.

Too Big for Amazon seattle, washington

Amazon Business, the arm of the distribution giant that sells in bulk to enterprises, has decided to table consideration of distributing pharmaceutical products to hospitals. The distributor is still in negotiations to sell prescriptions

directly to customers, however. Problems Amazon encountered included traditional purchasing systems used by hospitals, which involve a lot of middlemen and loyalty. Hospitals typically work with group purchasing organizations that negotiate pricing by aggregating orders; and such organization are beating Amazon at its own game. Amazon executives don’t believe they have the scale yet to justify investment in handling temperature-sensitive products that even FedEx and UPS aren’t equipped to deliver; and hospitals prefer one-stop-shopping. In the meantime, Amazon is licensed to sell items like glucometers, stethoscopes, and overthe-counter disposable items in 47 states.

Independent professionals, like dentists and persons running ambulatory surgery clinics, are more inclined to use Amazon for convenience and affordability.

The Hits Just Keep Coming… singapore

Hazel Savage and Aron Pettersson have gone into business after meeting at an Entrepreneur First conference in Singapore. Brit Savage had worked for Pandora and Shazam, and Swede

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Pettersson was a data scientist. They co-founded Musiio, a tool that uses artificial intelligence for music selection and curation. Savage had worked places where employees were expected to sift through 1,300 music tracks a day. In an eight-hour shift, a person can only fairly listen to a quarter as many. What’s more, people burn out after listening to 20 tracks. By way of contrast, Musiio can listen to 1,000 tracks in four hours. Unlike other tools for streaming tailored musical content, which may rely on statistics and thirdparty marketing data, Musiio categorizes songs using only the audio content. While a dashboard for personal use may be in long-term plans, Musiio is currently only being made available as a service to labels looking for new talent and agencies seeking background music. One track, Kurt Vile’s “I Wanted Everything,” had been played 3,000 times in eight years before it was listed by Musiio; two weeks later it had notched 10,000 plays.

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Financial Protection Bureau and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency will each receive half the total. The fines were assessed to penalize the practices of forcing customers procuring car loans to purchase unwanted insurance and inappropriately charging customers seeking mortgages for locking-in interest rates.

The bank was already fined $185 million in 2016 for opening millions of accounts in existing customers’ names without their permission. Last quarter, the bank paid $3.25 billion in settlements, mostly for running afoul of regulations overseeing sales practices. Since CEO Tim Sloan has taken the helm, additional irregularities have been exposed through internal controls. The bank remains under unprecedented sanctions imposed by the Federal Reserve, preventing it from increasing total assets above 2017 levels until abuses and lapses are corrected. Proceeds from the fines will support victim restitution and consumer education programs.

… And the Hits Just Keep Coming

The Sincerest Form of Flattery

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Wells Fargo has been assessed $1 billion in fines to settle probes into practices extending back to 2016. The Consumer

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redmond, washington

Linux has historically been the operating system of choice for geeks rebelling

national & world

against the vulnerabilities and annoyances of Microsoft. So, it is somewhat surprising that Microsoft President Brad Smith recently announced the release of a product that uses a Linux kernel developed by his company. Azure Sphere is the Linux-based operating system that was invented because Windows was too ungainly to be powered by microcontroller units (MCUs), tiny computers on an integrated circuit, and they’re now preferred to microprocessor units for powering appliances, toys, and other smart gadgets in the Internet of Things.

MCUs, incidentally, are also an easy target for hacking. To mitigate these concerns, the product will be connected to the highly-secure Microsoft Azure cloud. The cloud connection will enable gadgets to receive security updates for ten years or more. To interest developers in converting to Azure Sphere, Microsoft will at first license the chips for free.

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C A P ITA L AT P L AY.C OM

drug ketamine as an antidepressant.

Ketamine is already on the market, but it is approved only as a powerful anesthetic, so it can only be prescribed as an off-label drug for depression. That leaves insurance companies hesitant to reimburse patients for the $400-$1,000 out-of-pocket expense. Another hurdle Johnson & Johnson is addressing is inconvenience. Ketamine is currently available only through IV, and the new drug is administered in a nasal spray.

Ketamine has long been known to curb severe depression quickly, even in patients who have been unresponsive to other antidepressants. Tests, performed by Janssen Research & Development of Johnson & Johnson, combined esketamine with a common oral antidepressant and found the treatments had a high correlation with safe and sustained improvements in symptoms of depression, including suicidal ideation. Ketamine, also a known dissociative hallucinogen, is considered a “party drug” in certain circles.

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A team of researchers, led by Professor Paul Moynagh of the Immunology Department at Wellcome-Wolfson Institute for Experimental Medicine at Queen’s University Belfast, has made a discovery that may help people who suffer chronic inflammation. Inflammation occurs because white blood cells typically enter tissues from the blood stream to fight invading microorganisms. If they remain in the tissue too long, the white blood cells will cause tissue damage, which could result in critical organ failure. According to a paper published in Nature Communications, the researchers discovered that the protein Pelino-2 is involved in the production of molecules that promote inflammation.

So, their next step will be searching for a way to neutralize the protein.

Inflammation underlies diseases like

sepsis, Chron’s disease, psoriasis, and multiple sclerosis. Vulnerability to sepsis is on the rise as aging populations, enjoying greater access to healthcare, undergo more invasive procedures and take more immunosuppressive drugs.

Gold in Them Hills vancouver, canada

On Apr i l 23 Aton Resou rces, headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia, announced it will likely start drilling for gold later this year at its Abu Gaharish and Gaharish North prospects in the deserts of eastern Egypt. Assays of minerals from a strip of land over three miles long have shown gold concentrations of up to 26.6 grams per ton of ore.

In addition, radar data suggest the gold reserves may extend underground to the west. Additionally, on April 24 GT Gold, also headquartered in Vancouver, announced it would start drilling on its Saddle gold discovery, which runs for 11 miles in northwestern British Columbia.

Drilling in June would build on the gold, silver, and copper extractions begun last year. The Saddle South trend is over half a mile long and half as deep, and its assays have returned as much as 51.53 grams of gold per ton. The Saddle North seam is 100 feet under a glacier, and not nearly as extensive, but its assays have been as high as 22 grams per ton. A mine is considered high-quality if gold densities are over eight grams per ton.

Scooter Liberation san francisco, california

Bird is a $300-million on-demand scooter-for-hire company. It allows people to use an app to locate an electric scooter and then drive it where they want. The company only asks users to be respectful and park the scooters where they won’t obstruct sidewalks or doorways; preferably, near a bike rack.

Representatives from Bird recently sent a press release to San Francisco

news outlets complaining the Board of Supervisors was going to ban the scooters outright. That claim was denied by Supervisor Aaron Peskin, who said the town was only working to regulate them. Then, City Attorney Dennis Herrera said the city was considering taking legal action because the scooters are cluttering sidewalks and putting people with strollers or in wheelchairs at-risk. The scooters can also go 15mph, which Herrera said was illegal on San Francisco sidewalks. Bird spokesperson Kenneth Baer countered the scooters were legal, but city leaders were making laws after-the-fact. In Santa Monica a criminal complaint was filed against Bird for failing to obtain a permit to operate.

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Wa l ma r t ’s $11 bi l l ion capit a l expenditure plan is intended to make shopping faster and easier, using the latest innovations. In addition to building 20 more stores, Walmart will remodel 500. Florida and Texas will see the most action, with $477 million invested in remodeling 82 stores and opening 14. General changes include widening aisles, shortening shelves, changing signs, and refinishing floors.

A preview of the electronics department is reminiscent of Best Buy, with tables and interactive displays. Pharmacies will be updated and feature a private consultation room. In addition to adding more self-check lanes, the store will be offering more Mobile Express Scan & Go, where customers can scan items and pay the bill with their phone.

Automobile lanes for picking up items ordered online will be added to 1,000 stores, and pickup towers for online ordering will be added to 500. Rather than being defeated by online innovation, Walmart is integrating it into its brick-and-mortar stores.

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A AMERICAN BUFFALO ON Dr. King's 150 acre farm in Leicester.

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POUND FOR POUND

A conversation with Dr. Frank King about his businesses Carolina Bison and King Bio, about what’s changed since we last talked to him six years ago, and about the importance of getting back to basics. written by jennifer fitzger ald

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photos by anthony harden

June 2018 | capitalatplay.com 73

GET UP CLOSE and personal with the animals on the Farm tour

Editor’s Note: Our September/October 2012 issue carried a profile of Dr. Frank King, “The Secret to a Ripe Old Age,” in which the naturopath/chiropractor talked about discovering the clear health advantages of bison meat over regular beef and subsequently establishing Carolina Bison. Part-tutorial on the history of bison in America and part-advocacy for a healthier lifestyle for everyone, the story was immensely popular among our readership, making King a natural fit for our “updating the file” series of revisits with previously profiled Western North Carolina entrepreneurs.

Both Carolina Bison and its companion homeopathic medicines company, King Bio, Inc., have grown considerably since that original story, from the vast amount of acreage Carolina Bison commands and the number of restaurants and grocery stores where you can find bison meats, to the Dr. King’s by King Bio product lines that are offered and the public recognition and awards that King Bio has notched.

Please visit our website to read the 2012 profile.

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HEN CA PITA L AT PLAY V ISITED DR. FR A NK King in 2012, he shared the path that led him to Asheville and the founding of Carolina Bison and King Bio. The influence of growing up on his father’s 450-acre farm was large, but rather than studying agriculture or animal husbandry, he decided that he wanted to learn more about natural healing.

It was 1979 in Lowellville, Ohio, that King, a naturopath and chiropractor, established a clinic on a no-outlet road in the middle of the farm. The clinic became well-known for its natural approach to healing and disease prevention. King raised registered Angus cattle and showed them all over the United States, but he had also read a study about how bison has less fat than fish and about half the calories of some beef.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, a four-ounce serving of USDA Choice rib-eye steak (beef) has 280 calories and 33 grams of fat. The same portion of bison has 180 to 200 calories and just 8 grams of fat. Another great Southern staple, channel catfish (dry cooked) has 214 calories and 13.3 grams of fat. Reports showed that the bison-dependent Plains Indians of the late 1800s were the tallest and healthiest people in the world.

King had patients with health issues that he thought were related to their diet. There was a bison farm nearby, so King started putting patients on bison as their primary red meat source. The blood

DR . KING AND HIS WIFE SUZIE

work showed these patients were seeing improvement—actually more improvement than with any of the drugs they had tried.

King was working with them in many ways with a more natural lifestyle, more water and such, but the big boost came when he started people on the bison diet.

In the Capital at Play profile, King described bison as the Schwarzeneggers of livestock, saying, “Pound for pound they’re just so strong, and they live about four times longer than beef.

They can live to be 45 years of age. A bison could have 40 calves in her lifetime. That’s huge, and you know they’re still wild animals. If you look at the bison spine, its skeleton, as you go up the back the spine sticks up high just like the dinosaur skeletons. Many people believe the bison survived the ice ages.

If you look at prehistoric bison skulls, they’re just like the bison we have today.”

After King saw the benefits from bison, he started raising them in 1985. He bought an additional farm and started with 23 animals. He bought the gold and silver trophy champions at the National Livestock Show in Denver that year, and those started the herd and business that would become Carolina Bison.

The King ranch in Leicester is part of the Carolina Bison operation. In 2012, between 300 and 500 bison grazed in

seven pastures arranged around a center corral, head gates, and loading area. Carolina Bison has the distinction of being FDA certified as both an organic farm and a grass-fed farm.

In addition to his Carolina Bison operations, King founded and operates King Bio in the Emma Air Park industrial complex.

King Bio dietary and naturopathy products were marketed in 15,000 outlets with King predicting that would grow by an additional 50,000 outlets by the end of 2012.

*** Fast forward six years as we revisit King, who has remained true to his vision for his companies: to empower people to take better control of their health. He is working at how to address causes rather than just suppress symptoms—in his words, “How do we fix the reasons people have what they [have]?”

As the visionary of Carolina Bison and King Bio, he heads Research and Development and oversees the businesses in general. His wife, Suzie King, manages the finances and administration for the King business trilogy—Carolina Bison, King Bio, and Dr. King’s real estate holdings.

“With my background as a fourth-generation farmer,” he says, “we are passing the farm on to our fifth generation. Nathan, June 2018 | capitalatplay.com 75

AFRICAN WATUSI IS also know as the “Cattle of Kings.”

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our 20-year-old son, works full-time on the farm during his summer break from college and as many weekends as possible. Our 17-year-old daughter, Bella, works on the farm and in the farm gift shop, and also does research and administration.”

He continues to operate his companies from the Emma location in West Asheville, and last year he purchased the Arvato plant in Weaverville, previously used for compact disc production, which he plans to lease to other companies.

His King Bio products, which can be ordered directly from the company website are all natural and have no known drug interactions and no known side effects. Most of the products are registered drugs with the FDA, with the same license as any other drug company. A few of the best-selling products include regional allergy mixes, cream for arthritis and joint pain, appetite and weight control, and anti-aging. There is also a category of children’s products and even pet products. King has partnered with local farmers who organically grow over 130 herbs, which has proven mutually beneficial.

“Buying local botanical ingredients has similar benefits to buying local food,” says King. “We support the organic movement because it’s environmentally sustainable—dumping tons of poisons and releasing genetically engineered organisms into our environment makes no sense.

Using fresh, locally grown, organic ingredients in our medicines increases the product’s freshness and quality, reduces shipping costs (our carbon footprint), and also supports local organic growers.

Homeopathic medicine requires only small amounts of raw materials, so we pay top dollar to the organic growers who partner with us.”

The next phase for the company is going international.

It’s worth noting, also, that King Bio products frequently have been singled out for recognition in the health care and nutrition industry, including winning a 2017 Vity award for the company’s Regional Allergy Formula, a 2016 Better Nutrition Best of Supplements award for the Dog Allergies supplement, and a 2016 Taste For Life Essentials award for the Anti-Aging & Wrinkles For Women supplement.

King is working on his second published book, which will be released later this year: LEAP (Life Empowerment Action Plan). (His previous book is 2014’s The Healing Revolution: Eight Essentials to Awaken Abundant Life Naturally.) “People spend more time planning their vacations than they do planning their own lives,” says King. “This book

tells you how to do a plan for your life, but also how to empower and equip people with the tools to be more successful in life.”

He has established two nonprofits—the Natural Medicine Institute, which will conduct research in natural medicine, and the Wild Food Foundation, which will focus on understanding the value of wild foods. Carolina Bison is always looking for additional land to lease, so King is currently partnering with other ranchers around the country to raise animals for Carolina Bison, and the Wild Food Foundation will educate and encourage others to do so also. King encourages those who are interested to contact Carolina Bison.

Carolina Bison meats are served in over 40 restaurants in the Asheville area and are available in multiple retail stores. Tours at the Leicester farm are offered every day during the summer. Dr. King believes opening the farm for tours is a means of educating the public about the importance of farming, explaining, “Education is to our industries as location is to real estate. Farming is at the bottom end of the food chain, economically. Did you hear about the farmer who won the lottery?

He said he plans to keep farming until it is all gone.

We hope to change this system and find ways to save American farms and farmers. Our country has become dangerously foreign food dependent.

We want to help bring back the stability and food security that farming brings us all.”

Plans for expansion on the farm include a train that carries up to 150 people around the farm, as well as an outdoor amphitheater for concerts, lectures, corporate events, and weddings.

King invited Capital at Play back for a question and answer session to update our readers on the growth and expansion of his companies over the past six years.

*** C@P: What have been some of the significant milestones since our 2012 story?

DR. KING: We have continued to expand all of our operations. In our King Bio manufacturing we have grown from owning 180,000 square feet to now over 700,000 square feet (consisting of four buildings— two buildings in the Westside Drive Industrial Park, plus a 122,000 square foot building on Merrimon Avenue and the Weaverville Arvato building) so that we can continue to grow our June 2018 | capitalatplay.com 77

KING BIO IS an FDA-registered pharmaceutical manufacturer.

one in-house sales rep. We also have multiple distributors that make it easy for stores and restaurants to order our products.

PACK AGING IS done by hand in the facility for maximum care.

What have been some of the significant setbacks since our 2012 story?

For King Bio, more and more regulations with the FDA are always a challenge, but we continue to stay ahead of the increased regulatory demands with great teams in quality assurance, manufacturing, and R&D. We believe and live our philosophy that challenges are opportunities for personal growth. Growing a business from just a few people to 50 people to 100 people creates multiple challenges—opportunities. We developed a set of 30 principles that embody our core values: For the past several years, each week we’ve discussed one principle to inspire the managers and employees. It’s an investment of time and energy into our company culture that we feel is worth it. We help grow each employee, professionally and personally, and it helps us all become better people as we create a better company.

It’s a great opportunity to create new, nontoxic, natural drug products that challenge the current drug establishment. We have learned a lot about the good, the bad, and the ugly in our political-economic system.

natural medicine operations. In the past two years we have moved into all regions of Canada. Now, we’re working toward negotiations as far away as India.

We have all this space because, in addition to planning for our own growth, we are motivated to be an incubator in growing local kindred-spirited companies and to draw new, dynamic companies to the Asheville area. We want to support a collaborative environment where positive synergies can percolate.

In our Carolina Bison meat sales, we are now in chains such as Harris Teeter, Fresh Market, and Earth Fare. We currently have 78

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In 2012 you indicated that the Leicester ranch had between 300-500 bison spread across seven pastures, plus 100 out west as well—what are the herd sizes these days and where are they located?

We have more herds now. More ranching partners are raising bison to all our stringent guidelines, from Georgia to upstate New York. Our ranching partners also extend through the Midwest and into Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, and the Dakotas. We are now releasing a few new, exceptional wild and wonderful meats,

The King Bio Way The successful culture at King Bio is based on the following 30 Principles— principles to live and work by.

1. Do the Right Thing, ALWAYS. 2. Make Quality Personal.

3. Do It Right the First Time.

4. Take Ownership.

5. Practice Blameless Problem-Solving.

6. Always Think Big. 7. Listen Generously.

8. Speak Straight.

9. Honor Commitments.

10. Walk in Your Customers’ Shoes.

11. “Bring It” Every Day. 12. Work with A Sense of Urgency.

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13. Check the Ego at the Door.

14. Always Ask Why. 15. Deliver Results.

16. Get Clear on Expectations.

17. Share Information.

18. Follow-up and Follow Through.

19. Think Team First.

20. Fix Problems at the Source.

21. Think Safe. Work Safe.

22. Be Positive.

23. Be Proactive.

24. Go the Extra Mile.

25. Invest in Relationships.

26. Celebrate Success.

27. Live the 8 Essentials.

28. Be Relentless About Improvement.

29. Embrace Change.

30. Keep Things Fun. Each week, one of the Principles is highlighted with King Bio employees.

June 2018 | capitalatplay.com 79

including elk, Himalayan yak, African Watusi cattle, and wild boar. We continue to research the health benefits of camel milk, and we have a new patent in process to naturally preserve meat quality, which will increase tenderness, flavor, and digestibility. On our current owned and leased farms, we have over 1,000 animals, including bison, yak, camels, Watusi, elk, and deer. Our partner ranches add another 5,000 animals, approximately.

Can you share how much your company has grown since 2012?

For King Bio, we now make more than 500 products in our brands and more than 500 private label products for other well-known national brands. Carolina Bison has five breeds of animals, times the different cuts of meat, totaling about 50 different items, with more to be added in the near future. Both companies use both sales reps and distributors. We find our distributors through relationships, built over time, within the industry.

Have you added additional investors since 2012? Are Carolina Bison and King Bio linked financially, or completely separate corporate entities? (Do profits from one get shared with the other?) What is the organizational overlap? Do the two companies share employees?

We have no investors. We have been able, to this point, to maintain 100% ownership, so as not to dilute the vision of bringing safer, all-natural medicines to the market. Each company is an individual C corporation. At times, we do need to seed personal finances for growth or expansion. Our marketing and media department has shared duties between the companies that we measure.

How many people do you employ? Are these full-time? Contract/commission? How do you manage or oversee your sales force?

We have grown to more than 80 employees in-house and another 80-plus sales reps in the field. Each business has one full-time sales rep. Commission, and most reps, have multiple lines of products.

We have sales managers.

What do you feel are the strong points of managing it the way you do?

Creating good measurables. If we can’t measure it, we can’t manage it.

Is agri-tourism and hosting farm tours an important part of the business model?

SPR AY BOT TLE SEALING at King Bio's development facility.

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Yes, it is important to educate people about the benefits of how their food is raised and the health benefits of wild genetics. [Tours of the Leicester farm are] all year long, weather permitting.

How many regional stores carry your bison meat? National? Your King Bio products?

are also sold direct and through distributors throughout the United States and Canada.

We ship frozen meat in coolers anywhere in the United States.

For locals and tourists, we sell the meat at the farm or at our Asheville business office at 3 Westside Drive. You can try our meat at restaurants like the Biltmore Estate, Grove Park Inn, Wicked Weed, Juicy Lucy’s, and more.

Do you still own and operate the Pennsylvania location, and are there other farms elsewhere?

Do you handle your own distribution?

We sell direct and through distributors in both businesses.

On the manufacturing side, we sell our SafeCareRx brand to physicians direct and through distributors. Our retail brands

No—we lease multiple farms in the area and have developed multiple ranching relationships.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of leasing ranch land vs. purchasing it outright?

With the high cost of land in this area, leasing is more feasible.

We are also negotiating a lease with options to buy.

DR . FR ANK KING June 2018 | capitalatplay.com 81

Are you ready to solve the DUMPSTER Great news! Sutera is coming to WNC PROBLEM?

A R ARE WHITE BUFFALO on Dr. King's Farm. His orange tint is due to rolling in the clay. They do this to keep off f lies.

No Costly & Unsightly Enclosures Required Saves Parking

Regulation MS4 Compliant

Vertical Compaction = Less Pickups Maintenance Free

Animal Resistant

“Our firm has specified several of the Sutera Systems for our clients and we have been extremely impressed with the product as compared to the traditional containment systems used for waste management. Its self-contained design provides a solution that is easy to install and maintain while eliminating odors and promoting recycling. All in all, it’s affordable, clean and aesthetically pleasing, and comparatively speaking it certainly seems to be a better solution from the conventional solutions.”

Joseph Pazdan II, Managing Principal McMillan Pazdan Smith Architecture

www.suterausa.com info@suterausa.com

Tel. 1-866-524-9082

FARM TOURS group enjoying the bison.

MULCH | SAND | GRAVEL | MASONRY TOOLS | BOULDERS | BUILDING STONE | THIN STONE | FLAGSTONE

:: ASHEVILLE :: 321 SWEETEN CREEK ROAD 828.575.9400

:: BREVARD :: 415 ROSMAN HIGHWAY 828.883.9680

WWW.FRENCHBROADSTONE.COM 82

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How are these partnerships solicited and developed?

We begin by learning best practices in raising these unique breeds that require unique practices. We then share our systems of naturally raising and caring for each breed. Farmers will get a premium price beyond what they get for domestic breeds. In this country, we need to get the farmer out of just raising a commodity that enriches the middleman. There’s something whacky about a system that subsidizes farmers who use earth-destroying chemicals to create junk food that makes us sick, while ignoring farmers who grow clean food that heals the planet and the people.

We’re here to empower the farmer.

Are you the owner of the herds, or is there a shared ownership?

We have done both but find it best that people take personal ownership. If people are inspired to raise these special animals, we can share expertise for raising them properly. Plus, we can guarantee a premium price to buy back their offspring or finished animals, because the demand is there.

Are the animals shipped to the partners, or does the entire life cycle take place at their farms? And considering the relatively long lifespan of buffalo, please give us a general sense of the harvest life cycle—at what age are animals harvested, are horns also used, etc.?

We do both. Sometimes we ship animals to finish in the prairies.

We also provide superior breeding stock, from our 33 years of creating advanced genetics, to other farms and ranches. We teach partners how to use the whole animal, from the tongue to the testicles. Bison harvest is prime from 24-30 months. Watusi and yak are slow to mature, three to five years, but worth the wait.

Elk mature at 12-14 months.

What appealed to you about the new Weaverville location and the structure, and how long were you looking for a spot?

We have been looking for a number of years. This new facility, named The King Center at 108, appealed to us because there is room to help other companies grow, and the synergies that offers.

I measure our success not just in dollars but in endorphins.

Was there a plan to move King Bio, wholly or partially, to Weaverville, and if so, how did the decision making evolve? Also, please June 2018 | capitalatplay.com 83

tell us a little more what the plans for the facility are now, going forward?

We weighed the pros and cons of moving to a high-quality, class-A facility in Weaverville to staying where we are in West Asheville. The leasing demands for the very nice Weaverville facility are quite high. The costs of moving our clean rooms was high. We have a 25-acre campus in West Asheville with room to build an additional 300,000 square feet. We decided to stay at our Westside Dr. industrial park in Asheville.

We have added for the first time, organic drug products.

We have partnered with organic growers who are growing for us more than 130 organic ingredients going into our FDAlisted homeopathic drug products. We have new, 100 percent organic and homeopathic skin lotions for psoriasis, eczema, and rosacea, and we now have a new warming pain cream to join our soothing and cooling topical pain creams. This year we are also releasing our new Breakthrough for the Common Cold nasal gel.

How was the purchase of the building financed?

What livestock do you have at the farm? Do you sell the livestock?

United Federal Credit Union has been awesome to work with.

You can’t get away from the three C’s [Collateral, Cash Flow, and Character]. Credit Unions are chartered for the benefit of their members and not third-party shareholders, which provides them more flexibility.

We have bison (including the rare white bison), Watusi cattle, Himalayan yak, camels (two types), elk, and whitetail deer. We have all these breeds for sale on our website (complete with ancestry information), and we offer guidance in helping other farmers get started in raising these breeds.

On your website it indicates King Bio has six brands, so what are the plans for expanding the product line going forward?

Do you sell camel’s milk?

We are still in R&D phase of that.

TOP DESIGNERS CHOOSE TOGAR RUGS TO COMPLETE THEIR CLIENTS’ DREAM HOMES - LET’S TALK ABOUT COMPLETING YOURS -

AN ASHEVILLE FAMILY OWNED BUSINESS FOR

41 YEARS 562 Long Shoals Rd. Arden NC 28704 828-687-1968 TogarRugs.com | June 2018 84

Design by: Ambiance Interiors Ambianceasheville.com

What are your most popular King Bio items?

Revolution. Hippocrates, the father of medicine, said, “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.”

Top sellers are products that address symptoms of Candida (yeast) overgrowth, pain, allergies, stress and mood, immune health, and pet products. Consumers are searching for medicine that is safe and effective—they are fed up with all the negative side effects of conventional drugs. Homeopathic medicines are drug products, overseen by the FDA, but they are safe.

Are Carolina Bison and King Bio run as two separate entities or are there synergies between the two?

Yes, and Yes. Food is also your medicine. My passion is to empower everyone with the tools and techniques to live a healthy, abundant life, naturally. Healthy food and safe, natural medicine are part of a healthy lifestyle. Ideally, a proper lifestyle prevents most ailments. But when symptoms do kick up, we provide natural medicine, without negative side effects, to help people—and their pets—regain balance. There are no incurable diseases. Given the proper constituents, the body is a self-healing organism. A healthy lifestyle is essential, so we teach natural lifestyle and free natural healing techniques through my book, podcast, and video channel, The Healing

What advice would you give to a younger you?

I’ve learned to pace myself and wait for the doors to open. I think in my passion and desire I have bloodied my face on the bricks of life. Sometimes timing is so important. As a visionary, you struggle. What I am doing today, I had no vision back in the ‘70s and ‘80s. It’s just now starting to come to fruition. I’ve learned that there is certain timing in life. I waited until I was 60 years old to write my first book. I didn’t want to be one of these young bucks at 20 who know it all. Your perspective can change through life. As a visionary, I see things but not always in the timing that it needs to be. I have so many unfulfilled visions yet, but that’s why I have to live longer.

There is an old saying: Great seaman are not made in the bay, but out there sailing and navigating through the storms. I think in life, as long as we learn to face our storms and learn from them—turn the stumbling blocks into stepping stones—to turn every problem into an opportunity—those are truths that are real. My dad used to say, ‘If you fall son, just fall forward.

You’ll gain six feet.’ I think we have a tendency to give up. Don’t give up, but navigate through the storms.

ENGAGE. GROW. CELEBRATE.

Life at Deerfield means connecting with your passions and embracing fun, fitness and friendships. It means giving yourself and your loved ones the greatest gift: peace of mind. Here, in one of America’s most desirable retirement destinations you’ll enjoy extraordinary surroundings, activityfilled days and nights, and an extensive list of amenities.

Call to schedule a visit and discover how you can add life to your years.

Asheville, North Carolina

800-284-1531

deerf ieldwnc.org

June 2018 | capitalatplay.com 85

People Play at

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1. Vince & Jane Childress 2. Audrey Ulke and James (’01) & Melanie Clayton (’01) 3. Alex & Brandi Melvin

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6. Michael Murray & Natale Polinko 7. Carole & Greg Hilderbran and Margaret Sinnott (’79) 8. Swati (’92) & Himanshu Patel

9. Justin Hinton, Prestina Smith (’06), Gail Wallace, & Elizabeth Garland (’07) 10. Jenny Lyons

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11.Laura Kudnik & Chappell Carter (’82) 12. Kemper Brown Jr. (’04), Elizabeth Wilkes, Elizabeth

Brown, & Kemper Brown 13. Melissa Johnson (’99) & Kate Walters 14. The Paddle Raise

15. Michael Eaton & Christie Draddy (’08) 16. Bev Sgro and Diane Milner 17. Lisbeth Harrison & some prizes

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events

june

EVENTS june 1-30

Hendersonville Bee City USA Celebrates Pollinator Month Hendersonville

Sundry organizations are hosting gardening classes and tours throughout the month. Consult website for more info.

> 828-697-3000 > hendersonvillenc.gov/bee-city

– september 3 Making Scents: The Art and Passion of Fragrance june 1

9AM-5PM NC Arboretum 100 Frederick Law Olmsted Way, Asheville, NC

Two years in the making, installations teach what goes into making fragrances, show actual plants and ancient relics, share bizarro historical anecdotes, and

allow visitors to make their own computer-aided fragrance.

> Parking: Personal Vehicle $14, Motorhome $50, Bus $100

> 828-665-2492 > ncarboretum.org june 1, 8 , 15 , 22 , 29, 30 Land of Oz Presents: Journey with Dorothy

10:30AM-4:30PM

Beech Mountain Resort 1007 Beech Mountain Parkway, Beech Mountain, NC You can role-play as a character from the film as you skip down the Yellow Brick Road in this interactive tour of the Land of Oz. Free shuttles run every fifteen minutes to the Land of Oz, as the tornado is under repair.

>Tickets: Adult $25, Infant (0-2) Free >1-800-514-3849 > landofoznc.com june 1-2

Swan Lake

7PM (Fri, Sat), 3PM (Sat)

Diana Wortham Theatre 18 Biltmore Ave, Asheville, NC The Ballet Conservatory of Asheville will perform the classic. The prince finds love in an idyllic setting, and trying to find it again, he is tricked into giving it all away, a horror he cannot accept. He lives happily ever after only after he shows he’s willing to do anything to avoid the treachery.

>Tickets: Senior $20-$24, Adult (1364) $24-$28, Student $14-$16.50

> 828-257-4530 > dwtheatre.com june 2

Village Potters Master Series: Reiko Miyagi 1:30-5:30PM

The Village Potters, Riverview Station 191 Lyman St, Asheville, NC Reiko will teach narrative and simple decoration in scratch technique emphasizing variations on a sgraffito theme. This is the third in the 2018 Master Series.

> Registration: $150 > 828-253-2424 > thevillagepotters.com

A Unique and Independent Real Estate Company since 1979 88

23 Arlington Street Asheville, NC 28801 | 828. 255.7530 | www.appalachianrealty.com |

June 2018

june 2

Shaka at the Luau: MANNA FoodBank’s 19th Blue Jean Ball

7-11PM MANNA FoodBank 627 Swannanoa River Rd, Asheville, NC Twenty of Asheville’s primo chefs have prepared appetizers for, and Empire Distributing has stocked a tiki bar. Even though it’s a blue jean ball, people who opt to dress Hawaiian put themselves at-risk of winning prizes.

>Tickets: $95 > 828-299-3663 > mannaevents.org june 5

Hemp Hootenanny

4-10PM Franny’s Farm 22 Franny’s Farm Rd, Leicester, NC To mark Hemp History Week (June 4-10), hemp farmer Franny Tacy and HempX, along with sponsors the Carolina Hemp Company and EverythingHempStore. com, host this series of workshops, demonstrations, and discussions.

“Hempy” foods, beer, live music, and more, plus plenty of relevant vendors. Proceeds benefit the Organic Growers School.

>Tickets: $22 (GA), $33 (GA+camping) > hempxasheville.com

june 6 -10

Blowing Rock Charity Horse Show – American Saddlebred Division

8AM-5PM Tate Show Grounds 1500 Laurel Lane, Blowing Rock, NC It’s described as glitz & glam and chrome & flash. Some horses will prance in their fancy duds; others will pull chariots dressed in their fancy duds.

> Admission: Adult $10/day, Child

(0-12) FREE > 828-295-4700 > brchs.org

june 8

Night at the Museum

43 Patton Ave, Asheville, NC The evening features a movie and pizza from 828 Family Pizzeria, plus fun and games and access to all the fun interactive activities. The event recurs monthly and is geared to children 4-10 years old.

>Tickets: $15 > 828-254-7162 > ashevillescience.org june 9

Heart of Horse Sense Mane Event

1-5PM Heart of Horse Sense, 6919 Meadows Town Rd, Marshall, NC Ride on, Josephine, ride on! Familyfriendly equine event that includes a walking tour (w/music) of the farm, rhythmic-riding demo and equine-assisted-therapy demos, scavenger hunt and face-painting for the kids, and an appreciation of all things horses.

>Tickets: Adult $10, Child $5 > heartofhorsesense.org

5:30-7:30PM Asheville Museum of Science,

8 Samuel Ashe Drive, Asheville 28803

MLS #3278736 Stunning western views of Mt. Pisgah and beyond from this modern 2016 built home in Beaucatcher Heights

3 Bed - 3 Bath Approx. Sq. Ft: 2989

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events

june 9

Antibalas & Lee Camp

7PM-11PM Orange Peel, 101 Biltmore Ave., Asheville, NC A benefit for Brother Wolf Animal Sanctuary and hosted by the Asheville VeganFest, this brings the premiere American purveyor of Fela Kuti-informed Afrobeat to the local stage.

Opening is hip-hop activist Grey.

>Tickets: $26, VIP $60 > 828-398-1837 > theorangepeel.net

– july 15 Paintings by Michael Francis Reagan june 9

TM

MAINSTAGE MAY. 25 - JUNE 9

LOVE LIST w

MAINSTAGE JUNE 14 - 30

10AM-5:30PM (Mon-Sat), 11AM-5PM (Sun) Grovewood Village, 111 Grovewood Rd, Asheville, NC As a small child, Reagan was deeply touched by seeing a dove fall from the sky. Reaching for the meaning behind it all sets the theme for the exhibit. A reception will be hosted June 9 from 2-5PM.

> 828-253-7651 > grovewood.com june 14

Says You! Radio Taping

Diana Wortham Theatre, 18 Biltmore Ave, Asheville, NC

The popular NPR comedy/competition show that airs weekends on WCQS-FM will be taping two local shows for later broadcast. En route to the Land of the Sky are show regulars Carolyn Faye Fox, Murray Horwitz, and Barry Nolan, who’ll also take part in a pre-show Q&A for VIP ticket holders.

>Tickets: VIP $45, Regular $40, Balcony $32 > dwtheatre.com > 828-257-4530

– 16 Asheville Symphony Guild Special Estate Sale june 14

DOWNTOWN JUNE 21 - JULY 15 828.693.0731 flatrockplayhouse.org 90

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9AM-5PM CarePartners, 75 Fairview Rd, Asheville, NC

Furnishings, art, books, tableware, jewelry, tools, instruments, and more will be sold to benefit the ASO and CarePartners.

> ashevillesymphonyguild.org

– 17 Piedmont Paso Fino Horse Show june 14

8AM Western NC Ag Center, 1301 Fanning Bridge Rd, Fletcher, NC

Equestrians show horses of various breeds and ages in almost 250 categories.

> 704-778-6717 > ashevillealive.net june 16

Art in the Park

10AM-5PM Downtown, Park Ave, Blowing Rock, NC Six times a year, 90 juried artists from all over the Southeast show their crafts in wood, clay, jewelry, metal, glass, fiber, painting, and photography.

> 828-295-7851 > blowingrock.com

We are committed to conscious sexuality, body positivity & self-care!

57 Broadway St, in the Heart of Downtown Asheville VaVaVooom.com 828.254.6329

– 17 All Go West 2018 Music Fest june 16

10AM-12AM (Sat), 12-6PM (Sun) Downtown West Asheville

The seventh annual free celebration of the regional indie music scene will feature more than 4 dozen acts, including Carly Taich, Nest Egg, Axxa/Abraxas, Josh Phillips, and the Jonathan Scalles Fourchestra. In addition to there being outdoor stages, both the Mothlight and Isis will be hosting sets. Think of it as a more relevant Bele Chere.

> allgowest.com june 16 – 17 Father’s Day Weekend Special

8:30AM-5:30PM Chimney Rock State Park, 431 Main St, Chimney Rock, NC

With a downloadable coupon, for every ticket purchased, a dad or granddad gets in free.

169 Charlotte Street Asheville, NC 28801

> Normal Admission: Adult $13, Child (5-15) $6 > 800-277-9611 > chimneyrockpark.com

828-575-9525 metrowinesasheville.com SMALL SHOP SERVICE *FREE & EASY PARKING*

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captivating Enjoy performances as

as the view.

F E S T I VA L

JUNE - AUGUST 2018 OPENING WEEKEND

BERNSTEIN FESTIVAL

SEASON HIGHLIGHTS

Keith Lockhart, Olga Kern, The Manhattan Transfer & Steep Canyon Rangers

West Side Story in Concert, the opera Candide, plus Broadway, symphony & chamber scores

Conrad Tao Plays Beethoven, Mike Mills Rock Violin Concerto, Patriotic Pops & Tchaikovsky 4

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(828) 862-2105

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TICKETS START AT $20

events

june 16

Prelude 2018 Masquerade

Brevard Music Center 349 Andante Lane, Brevard, NC

Those too bashful to make an ostentatious gift can hide behind a mask and participate in auctions to benefit the school’s scholarship program, as they dance and dine to worthy music.

>Tickets: $150 > 828-862-2147 > brevardmusic.org

– 21 Buncombe Chautauqua june 18

7PM Ferguson Auditorium, AB Tech 340 Victoria Rd, Asheville, NC

Each night starts out with local live music and ends with an impersonation of a historically-significant character, in costume. In chronological order, the characters will be Winston Churchill, Harriet Tubman, Alice Paul, and Francis Marion.

>Tickets: $5 > 864-244-1499 > greenvillechautauqua.org JUNE 19

King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard

june 20

American Aquarium

7-11PM Grey Eagle, 185 Clingman Ave., Asheville, NC Following opening act Travis Meadows (whose 2017 album First Cigarette topped scores of critics’ year-end lists), the Raleigh heroes—also Asheville faves—will showcase their sterling new Americana-infused album Things Change.

>Tickets: $15-$18 > 828-232-5800 > thegreyeagle.com

– 23 Terpsicorps Theatre of Dance: 15th Anniversary Season june 21

7:30PM Diana Wortham Theatre 18 Biltmore Ave, Asheville, NC

In the world premiere of a very local production, Zelda’s Dance, the story is told of F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald’s lessthan-fairytale marriage. Contemporary dancers from Terpsicorps are accompanied by an original score by Andrew Fletcher, performed by the Firecracker Jazz Band.

>Tickets: $12-$150 > 828-257-4530 > dwtheatre.com

8PM-11PM Orange Peel 101 Biltmore Ave., Asheville, NC

– july 1 Moonlight and Magnolias

These Aussie weirdos create a Pollacklike musical splatter of psychedelia and Prog; extra points for their multi-hued vinyl records. Virtually the entire tour is already sold out.

7:30PM (Fri, Sat), 2PM (Sun) Hendersonville Community Theatre 229 South Washington St, Hendersonville, NC

> 828-398-1837 > theorangepeel.net

june 22

This is a farce based on the actual writing of Gone with the Wind. After producer David O. Selznick shuts down the filming, he locks himself, with Ben Hecht and Victor Fleming, in a room for

five days so they can come up with a screenplay that works.

> Admission: $16 > 828-692-1082 > hendersonvilletheatre.org

– 24 Farm Tour Anniversary Celebration june 23

12-5PM Western North Carolina

Hosted by ASAP the tenth annual event opens the gates of a couple dozen of the area’s hundreds of farms. The idea is to see interconnectedness in the ecosystem and relationships between producers and consumers. Expect tours, demonstrations, hands-on activities, and tastings.

> Passes: Advance $30/carload, Door $40/carload > 828-236-1282 > asapconnections.org

june 23

Drums & Dragons

9AM-3PM Lake Julian Park 406 Overlook Rd, Arden, NC Corporate or community teams of 20 paddlers, a drummer, and a steerer race authentic, 46-foot long Chinese dragon boats to fundraise for services supported by CarePartners Foundation.

> Registration: $1,500/team > 828-777-2827 > drumsanddragons.com june 23

3rd Annual Upper French Broad Riverfest

10AM-3PM Champion Park and Rosman Town Hall 6 Main St, Rosman, NC June 2018 | capitalatplay.com 95

events

This festival is focused on water sports with tubing, a cone relay, an outdoor gear flea market, hands-on activities for kids, and food trucks.

> 828-585-7487 > transylvaniafrenchbroadstewards.org

and morals to every adventure from the L. Frank Baum classic.

>Tickets: $18-$43 > 828-898-5241 > lmc.edu

> Registration: Adult $40, Child (0-12) $30 > 828-898-4521 > skisugar.com/crawl

june 28

june 24

Singing on the Mountain 9AM-6PM MacRae Meadows Highway 221 South, Linville, NC

For what will be 94 years, a select group of gospel performers will keep the praise going all day, with a break for a sermon TBA. Primitive camping is available.

> 336-261-8386 > grandfather.com

– july 1 The Wiz june 24

and loose, using the trail of their choice.

A one-way lift ticket back to the base is included with registration.

Listen to This

– august 25 Reflections Glass Art Show july 1

7:30PM Asheville Community Theatre, 35below 35 East Walnut S, Asheville, NC Local personalities share local stories about the absurdity of everyday life.

This month’s presentation is a student showcase.

>Tickets: $15 > 828-254-1320 > ashevilletheatre.org

Momentum Gallery 24 N Lexington Avenue, Asheville

In conjunction with the May-Oct. Dale Chihuly exhibition at the Biltmore Estate, this nod to the Gilded Age of the 19th Century and to George Vanderbilt’s “aesthetic of opulence” features works from top contemporary glass artists. Opening reception Sun., July 1, 5-8PM, with beer/ wine/snacks.

> 828-505-8550 > momentumgallery.com

2PM (Sun, Fri), 7PM (Tue, Wed, Thu, Sat) Lees McRae College 191 Main St, Banner Elk, NC

your complete 10AM your complete Fabric cente Sugar Mountain Resort

Ease on down, ease on down, the road.

The winner of seven Tony Awards, The Wiz adds soulful and multicultural music

What a sight for Martians! At 10AM sharp people will scurry 5,300 feet up the un-snowed mountain any which way

june 30

Summit Crawl

Fabric center

1009 Sugar Mountain Dr, Sugar Mountain

Largest selection of upholstery fabric in WNC

For The Love of Sewing:

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.

Largest selection Please submit your event at least six of upholstery weeks in advance.

F f s

Fast, fabric in WNC friendly service

Drapery material/lining | Comforter and bedsprea Drapery material/lining | Comforter and bedspread material

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FABRIC • SEWING MACHINES

BERNINA • BABY LOCK • HORN 1378 Hendersonville Road, Asheville (next to Fresh Market) 828-277-4100 • Mon-Sat, 10a-5:30p

www.ashevillecottonco.com

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Fletcher, NC

LOCATIONS IN: Fletcher & Black Mountain fletcherfoamandfabric.com

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The journey of excellence begins here...

Co-ed • Independent • Pre-K/12 • College and Life Preparatory

...and lasts a lifetime.

From that first step on campus until the celebratory cap-throwing, Carolina Day School students are on a journey of educational excellence. Discover how your child can flourish surrounded by peers who are excited about learning and teachers who inspire intellectual curiosity and personal achievement.

CarolinaDay.org 828.407.4442

Inquire now for 2019-20.

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Envision what’s possible...

I ntroducIng 3d t echnology Make it yours in half the time.

Custom jewelry can celebrate any special moment in your life. Make it your own with our revolutionary EnvisionTEC 3D printing software.

This new technology allows any design to come to life with precision and speed. Let us create a unique piece just for you.

828 ∙ 676 ∙ 1625 MarthalerJewelers.com Visit Us in Biltmore Park 43 Town Square Blvd #130 Asheville, NC 28803 June 2018 | capitalatplay.com 99

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