Feature
Kathleen George, Natalie Lea, April Colvard and Kitty Honeycutt serve the Ashe County Chamber of Commerce. Photos submitted
Taking Community and Making It Home Women Lead Chambers of Commerce in Banner Elk, Ashe County The natural beauty of each season in the High Country attracts
thousands of native and visiting admirers each year. As numbers increase and more businesses emerge, local Chambers of Commerce continue to find ways to promote and support member businesses as well as their individual communities. Both Avery and Ashe counties make best use of their local commerce organizations to benefit tourists and their year-round population. Representing the Banner Elk Chamber of Commerce, Jo-Ann McMurray began her work as a board member with the chamber in 2013. She describes her work “with various businesses, schools, churches, town officials and members of the community to help make Banner Elk
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a great place to live” as a rewarding and exciting contribution to her community. Born and raised in a small town in central New Jersey, Jo-Ann grew up in a town “very much like Banner Elk.” With her father as her role model, Jo-Ann learned early on how to organize events and work in ways that benefited her community. A town councilman, fire chief and president of the volunteer first aid and rescue squad, Jo-Ann’s father’s love for his town was a torch he passed onto his daughter. Likewise, both Jo-Ann’s work as a nurse and a business owner have “provided (her) with firsthand insight into the struggles that people and small businesses deal with every day,” she says. Pairing her love for community with skills
acquired and lessons learned created a broad range of resources to undergird her eventual role as president of the Banner Elk Chamber of Commerce. As the chamber is an all volunteer organization, the president as well as other officers and board members are required to chair a committee and participate in events. Moreover, Jo-Ann also oversees different committees, brainstorms event ideas to bring visitors to Banner Elk, supports business membership and recruits new members. In addition to her work with the chamber, Jo-Ann is also the co-executive director of Feeding Avery Families. A food pantry housed in Newland, the FAF provides food to the residents of Avery County who are dealing with food insecuaawmag.com
