INVESTING IN THE WEST.

• Author: Blake, Kathy

North Carolina's mountain counties have always been popular with tourists. Infrastructure improvements, community development and better career opportunities are making them appealing to more full-time residents and businesses.

Western North Carolina's picturesque mountain vistas and abundant outdoor and cultural attractions bring plenty of visitors. They didn't shy away during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, when most of the travel and tourism industry ground to a halt because of stay-at-home orders. Clay, Polk, and Yancey counties, for example, saw 14%, 9% and 16% increases in 2020 visitor spending from the year prior, respectively, according to N.C. Department of Commerce. And visitor spending in Buncombe County, which is home to the region's largest city, Asheville, held steady. Industry experts say the region's open spaces, which allowed socially distanced recreation, pushed the performance.

But the state's westernmost counties and Qualla Boundary--Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians' reservation--are proving attractive in other ways. Nestled among the Blue Ridge range of the Appalachian Mountains, they're home to more and more year-round residents, higher education, manufacturing and health care jobs, and entrepreneurs. "We don't have to vacation here," says Brittany Brady, president and CEO of Henderson County Partnership for Economic Development. "We work here. There are amenities that people are paying for hotels to come here and see. And you see a positive migration. They find they can actually live here. To keep Henderson County first, we want to make sure we have a healthy tax base in economic development. We're creating jobs that may not be a quantity number but a quality number."

Asheville-based Biltmore Farms, founded in 1897 by George Vanderbilt, has an expansive portfolio of housing communities; business, retail and mixed-use properties; and hotels. It works to create sustainable communities through developing education, health care, arts and culture, and environmental and quality of life. "There are a lot of special places in the country that are urban, and there are a lot of mountain areas, but having urbanity in the mountains is really unique," says Biltmore Farms Vice President of Strategic Development Ben Teague. "It balances the sophistication of the cities and the serenity of nature. There's a lot to be said for having nature and innovation together, and that's what I think western North Carolina is."

ADDING INDUSTRIES

Teague was among 60 people selected for the seventh-annual class of Presidential Leadership Scholars. The career professionals attend monthly leadership sessions and meet with former presidents. "The caliber of people from all across the country is incredible," Teague said in March. "It's a life-changing experience. Like last week, I was with Bill Clinton, and in a couple weeks we'll be with George W. Bush. It's not political. It's about leadership and good people who agree on a lot of things and how we craft that for the future."

Through PLS sessions, participants gain knowledge, which they apply toward visions for their communities. "I think innovation and nature are symbiotic," Teague says. "And that's what the economic development has been, companies looking for talent and people looking for careers in a place they're attracted to. And in western North Carolina, it's our job to help them see how they can be professionally successful and personally successful."

Henderson County Partnership's 2020 target market analysis identified businesses that would grow best in the region's economic climate. "We went through ... and found areas we could thrive in are health care...