BUSINESS NORTH CAROLINA'S Trail BLAZER 2018.

For those concerned about the fate of rural parts of North Carolina, our inaugural Trailblazers feature provides some hopeful signs. The section recognizes young, thriving business owners and professionals who operate in North Carolina's smaller cities and towns. We sought nominations for the best and brightest under 40 who are showing significant business success and are striving to make a positive impact on communities that have fewer than 100,000 residents.

Success in North Carolina's less-populated areas is important for the state's future, and attracting and retaining young people is particularly critical. About 4.2 million of the state's 10 million residents live in 80 counties that have fewer than 250 people per square mile, the metric often used in defining an area as rural. While population is surging in the Charlotte and Triangle areas, almost half of the state's 100 counties have fewer residents now than in 2010, according to the nonprofit N.C. Rural Center. The outflow is expected to continue for another 20 years, officials at the Office of State Budget and Management say.

Rural North Carolina also has an older population, on average, than faster-growing urban areas, says Jason Cray, senior fellow for research and policy at the Rural Center. "In part, this is due to young people leaving to look for work, and in some cases it is because of older populations moving in to retire.... The counties that are losing population are seeing the biggest losses due to out-migration of 18- to 35-year-olds." Meanwhile, small business startups and lending are lagging in many less-populated areas.

By bucking that trend, these Trailblazers are showing the dedication and passion to go the extra mile. Enthusiastic nominators introduced us to many young professionals who are bettering their hometowns. We narrowed the list to 22 leaders from across the state, from Saluda to St. Pauls. Each noted that there's something special about living in a small community. Each offers the kind of energy needed to improve their communities, often against heavy odds.

Sara BELL

37. THE CORCE/CREEN RIVER ADVENTURES, SALUDA

Sara Bell was an architecture student at Auburn University when the rivers of western North Carolina first beckoned. "I grew up in Birmingham, Ala., and I didn't totally fit," she says. While at Auburn, she learned to kayak on Alabama's Coosa and Tallapoosa rivers, and by the end of her sophomore year, she was teaching kayak lessons. "That was pretty much all I wanted to do."

So after two years, Bell transferred to the much smaller Brevard College, which offers a unique wilderness leadership and experiential education program. "It felt like this is where I belong, and this place--western North Carolina--just sort of instantly felt like home, and always has."

Today, Bell, 37, owns and operates two businesses in Polk County that attract about 30,000 adventure-seekers annually. Based in a modern, barn-like structure surrounded by state-owned game lands, The Gorge is a 1.25-mile guided zip line canopy tour that Bell says is the steepest and fastest in the U.S. About 2 miles away in downtown Saluda, Green River Adventures runs guided inflatable kayak trips out of an open-air structure that originally was the town's first gas station.

Bell came to Saluda after several years working for an adventure travel business in Costa Rica and at a residential treatment facility in Bennington, Vt., where she developed an outdoor-education program for "super bungled-up kids." In 2006, she and her husband, Tim, returned to western North Carolina, and Sara agreed to help some friends run a school for avid whitewater kayakers on the Green River. When the school's owners decided to move on to other ventures, Bell, then 25, bought the business, using savings for a down payment.

That same year, N.C. lawmakers passed a bill sponsored by former state Sen. Tom Apodaca that banned alcohol consumption within 50 feet of rivers in Polk County. "It had this instant cleansing effect," Bell says. "Before, it was like this floating frat party.... There were beer cans floating everywhere."

Spying an opportunity, Bell drafted a plan to expand the business beyond lessons for experienced kayakers. Green River Adventures opened in spring 2007, including kayak trips for all skill levels, waterfall rappelling and sales of gear, life jackets and other apparel. Then the recession hit, and the retail business completely dried up.

Fortunately for Bell, during the downturn many families traded long getaways for day trips closer to home, prompting her to shift the business model to focus on water adventure instead of retail. When Tim's business making custom cabinets and furniture slowed during the recession, he joined the river outpost, where he runs daily operations. Sara oversees The Gorge, which she opened in 2013, and handles marketing, social media and finances for both ventures.

The businesses operate seven days a week from spring through fall; The Gorge also is open Fridays and Saturdays during the winter. In the peak summer season, they draw a combined 1,600 people a week, and a year-round staff of about 20 swells to more than 70, including college students, local retirees and others who have made outdoor recreation a career.

Bell has served on the boards of the Saluda Business Association and the Polk County Economic Development Commission. She is treasurer of the Green River Access Fund, a nonprofit that maintains access for paddlers.

The impact Bell's businesses have had on the town of about 700 residents seems obvious. "The restaurants are crushing it, the retail stores are...