SPONSORED SECTION REGIONAL REPORT: WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA

SPONSORED SECTIONR E G I O N A L R E P O R T: W E S T E R N N O R T H C A R O L I N APROVIDED by AshEVIllE-buncOmbE TEchnIcAl cOmmunITy cOllEgEAsheville-Buncombe Technical Community College created its Craft Beverage Institute of the Southeast to supply a qualified workforce towestern North Carolina’s growing craft-beer industry.Blending old and newWestern North Carolina is growing its economy and welcoming new businesses,such as craft brewing, by leveraging existing assets and traditional industries.Three of the country’s largest craft-beer brewers— Longmont, Colo.-based Oskar BluesBrewing Co.; Chico, Calif.-based Sierra NevadaBrewing Co.; and Fort Collins, Colo.-basedNew Belgium Brewing Co. — each chose western NorthCarolina for their first East Coast brewery. They wereattracted over the last four years, in part, by abundantwater and a hip vibe that’s favored by their employees and82B U S I N E S SN O R T HC A R O L I N Acustomers. When New Belgium, the latest to open, reachesfull production in 2020, the companies will employ morethan 500 people in Henderson, Buncombe and Transylvania counties.These brewers, along with dozens of smaller ones,generate payroll, attract tourism dollars and make westernNorth Carolina the epicenter of the state’s beer industry.According to a National Beer Wholesalers Association

High Quality,Affordable Health Care.Sometimes, it really does exist.Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina selected Pardee as a Blue Distinction Center Plus for total kneeand total hip replacement. That means that in addition to demonstrating expertise in knee and hip replacementsurgeries, Pardee is on average 20% more cost-efficient as compared to other hospitals.Why go anywhere else?pardeehospital.orgBlue Distinction Centers (BDC) met overall quality measures for patient safety and outcomes, developed with input from the medical community. A Local Blue Plan may require additional criteria for facilities located in itsown service area; for details, contact your Local Blue Plan. Blue Distinction Centers (BDC ) also met cost measures that address consumers’ need for affordable healthcare. Each facility’s cost of care is evaluated usingdata from its Local Blue Plan. Facilities in CA, ID, NY, PA, and WA may lie in two Local Blue Plans’ areas, resulting in two evaluations for cost of care; and their own Local Blue Plans decide whether one or both cost of careevaluation(s) must meet BDC national criteria. National criteria for BDC and BDC are displayed on www.bcbs.com. Individual outcomes may vary. For details on a provider’s in-network status or your own policy’s coverage,contact your Local Blue Plan and ask your provider before making an appointment. Neither Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association nor any Blue Plans are responsible for non-covered charges or other losses or damagesresulting from Blue Distinction or other provider finder information or care received from Blue Distinction or other providers.

SPONSORED SECTIONProvided By economic develoPment coalition asheville-BuncomBe countyForty percent of San Diego-based White Labs Inc.’s customers, including craft brewers and distillers, are on the East Coast. It will open a lab,tasting room and distribution center in Asheville this year.study, the industry added 7.8 billion to thestate’s economy, created 26,000 jobs andgenerated 213 million in state and localtaxes in 2014, the last year for which figuresare available.Not long after the three breweries announced or opened their plants, AshevilleBuncombe Technical Community Collegereleased plans for its Craft BeverageInstitute of the Southeast, a degree-basedprogram that supports skilled positions inthe craft-brewing industry. This past spring,the institute graduated its second class, 28people, with associate degrees in brewing, fermentation and distillation. Theirknowledge and skills cover craft beverages;growing hops and grapevines; marketing,sales and supplier organizations; restaurantsand hotels; and new-business development.84B U S I N E S SN O R T HMost will likely take jobs at local breweries or wineries, says Jeff Irvin, department chairman. In addition to the degreeprogram, the institute offers continuingeducation and custom training for businesses. Blue Ridge Community College inTransylvania County has a similar program.The craft-beer industry is a new recipefor success in western North Carolina. Itjoins other newcomers, including autoand aerospace components and outdoorrecreation gear. They may seem like strangebedfellows, but these businesses and othersare reaching critical mass from the foothillsto the mountain high country, benefitingfrom the region’s natural resources, responsive workforce development and existingindustries, including one of the state’s oldest: agriculture.C A R O L I N ACompanies are opening to support theregion’s growing craft-brewing industry.They can’t make beer without yeast orhops, but it costs money and takes timeto bring those ingredients from the WestCoast, Northeast or Rockies, regions thathave been brewery bastions for decades.Asheville-based Riverbend Malt HouseLLC provides the region’s craft brewers anddistillers with malt made from locally andsustainably farmed grains. Founded in 2010,it was among the first craft-malt roasters inthe South. In 2014, the company expanded,adding racks for bulk-grain storage, acustom-designed kiln, additional safetyfeatures, and a partially automated cleaningand packaging system. The equipmentallows Riverbend to diversify its productsand offer 1-ton sacks of malt, which better

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SPONSORED SECTIONProvided By Watauga county Planning & insPections and economic develoPmentHealth care and education remain western North Carolina’s largest employers.Provided By aPPalachian ski mountainSkiing is one of many outdoor activities in western North Carolina that help attract thetype of workers the region’s newest industries want.meet growing demand. And by workingwith state resources, such as the N.C.State Cooperative Extension Service, ithas grown its network of farmers thatcultivate the more than 120 acres of grainneeded annually. “We’re building a supplychain and innovation infrastructure forthe industry here,” says Ben Teague, Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce’s seniorvice president and executive director foreconomic development.86B U S I N E S SN O R T HSan Diego-based White Labs Inc.,which supplies yeast and consultation tobreweries, wineries and distilleries, willopen a lab, tasting room and distributioncenter later this year in Asheville. The cityhas more breweries per capita than anyin the U.S. and was crowned BeerCityUSA four consecutive years. White LabsPresident and CEO Chris White told theAsheville Citizen-Times that the project willcreate 65 jobs and require an 8.1 millionC A R O L I N Ainvestment over five years. “We’re excited.We hope to add to Asheville’s communityof craft brewing.” About 40% of its customers are on the East Coast. “Being local willenable us to best serve them and lower ourcorporate carbon footprint.”Local economic developers say theregion’s workforce is resourceful andself-sufficient, traits it inherited from theScotch-Irish. They settled western NorthCarolina two centuries ago, when mountaincommunities were isolated. They had tomake almost everything they needed fromwhat they had on hand. Today, workforcedevelopment programs at several community colleges teach the skills workersneed to thrive in new industries. AshevilleBuncombe Technical Community College,for example, recently opened its Composites Training Center of Excellence.Evendale, Ohio-based GE Aviationis ramping up component productionfor its new LEAP jet engines at plants inAsheville and West Jefferson. The enginesare lighter and last longer, which reducesmaintenance and replacement costs for airlines. They’ll start rolling off the productionline later this year, destined for aircraft builtby France-based Airbus SAS, Chicagobased The Boeing Co. and others.A-B Tech’s center will train workersfor GE Aviation’s expansion. It has 5,000square feet of hands-on classroom andlab space filled with state-of-the-art machinery. Courses, which include lessonsin aerospace and structural composites,introduce students to manufacturing processes and material manipulation such ascutting and lay up. The center was fundedwith 1.3 million from the state. RockyMount-based Golden LEAF Foundation,which distributes money from the state’snational tobacco settlement to economicdevelopment projects, contributed about 200,000. “This is a fantastic space,”Michael Meguiar, GE Aviation Ashevilleplant leader, said in a statement. “Wereally feel A-B Tech is an extension of theGE Aviation family. We are excited aboutwhere we are going.”

SPONSORED SECTIONeconomic develoPment coalition asheville-BuncomBe countyStudents in UNC Asheville’s Mechatronics Engineering Program study mechanical, electrical and computer engineering, giving them theskills to thrive in today’s workplace.The LEAP component line will employmore than 600 people within five years.Some of those workers will train nearWest Jefferson, where Wilkes CommunityCollege also has played an integral role insupporting GE’s expansion. The productionline here will eventually have a staff of 105,most of them Level 1 machinists. Initially,GE Aviation was concerned that it wouldn’tbe able to find enough qualified workerswithin commuting distance of the plant,says Ginger Shaffer, the college’s director of workforce development. But thoseconcerns proved unfounded thanks to thecollege’s recruitment efforts, which, as withall custom training, is offered to businessesat no cost.88B U S I N E S SN O R T HGE’s training package also helpedcurrent employees who will transition tothe new production line, Shaffer says. Todate, all 143 incumbent workers have beguntraining. “The West Jefferson team will playa vital role in the next generation of aircraftengines, and we’re proud to be a part ofit,” Tim Tucker, GE’s West Jefferson plantleader, said in a statement.Western North Carolina has caughtthe eye of Demmel Inc., the U.S. subsidiaryof Germany-based Demmel AG. It choseEast Flat Rock for its first U.S. factory, whichwill produce auto parts and emblems usingmetal stamping, printing and injectionmolding processes. It was drawn to theregion because of its proximity to GermanC A R O L I N Aautomaker BMW AG’s factory in SouthCarolina, which is a short drive down Interstate 26, a labor pool with fabrication experience and what the company’s managingdirector calls “great similarities to our homein the mountains of Bavaria.” Demmel willcreate 50 jobs over the next five years andinvest 4 million.Demmel isn’t the only Europeancompany in western North Carolina. German company Putsch & Co., which makesprocessing equipment for the sugar beetindustry, opened in Asheville about 40 yearsago. “Henderson County has a heritage inmetals and plastics production in the automotive sector, as well as a strong historyof attracting German and other European

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