Western Women’s Business Conference celebrates diversity and empowermen­t

With balloons, fancy hats, Zumba and gospel singing all featuring as part of the activities in the full-day Western Women’s Business Conference on June 21, it wasn’t your average business gathering. Designed to support and empower women in business, especially women of color and those from disadvantaged backgrounds, the conference was chock-full of inspiration and success stories.

Location, location, location: Asheville’s 2014 brick-and-mortar business developmen­t by the maps

Where were Asheville’s “hot spots” for brick-and-mortar businesses in 2014? Despite ample buzz about growth in downtown’s South Slope, local development was surprisingly modest, according to an Xpress analysis of city data. A heat map created by Xpress Web developer Kyle Kirkpatrick shows that downtown areas just north of Patton Avenue have been 2014’s most dense hot spots. Small but noticeable pockets of development […]

Local dollars, local food: Slow Money NC hosts Financing Our Foodshed Gathering

Carol Peppe Hewitt is a matchmaker of sorts. As cofounder of the North Carolina chapter of the international nonprofit organization Slow Money and author of Financing Our Foodshed: Growing Local Food With Slow Money, Hewitt’s goal is to help sustainability-minded food entrepreneurs and community members interested in supporting their work meet and — quite possibly — fall in love.