At their Oct. 15 meeting, Buncombe Commissioners are set to approve $84,000 in economic incentives for Plasticard-Lockteck International. The deal’s been in the works since last spring, when county officials promised the incentive grants to the company if it expanded operations at its Arden headquarters.
Over 100 business leaders gathered at Pack’s Tavern Oct. 8 to honor several longtime staffers who were recently laid-off by the Asheville Citizen-Times.
The state of the Asheville area economy is getting stronger, with job numbers nearing prerecession levels, but wages remain stagnant, according to panelists at the 14th annual Asheville Metro Economy Outlook.
With plans to eventually hire 150 local employees, New Belgium Brewing Co. was again ranked by Outside Magazine as one of the best places to work in the country.
Local shoppers can save money on a variety of items soon, as Aug. 2-4 marks North Carolina’s final tax-free weekend.
The Blue Ridge Parkway is now closed from Milepost 375, a few miles north of Asheville, to Milepost 355 at N.C. 128/Mount Mitchell State Park, according to the National Park Service.
In what could be a good sign for the local economy, retail space at the Grove Arcade in downtown Asheville is on the verge of being fully occupied for the first time since 2007.
A local startup has launched a lightweight Linux operating system that is gaining popularity.
Of the 30 utility-scale solar projects built in the Southeast last year, 21 were in North Carolina. That’s the kind of good news business leaders heard when they gathered June 19 in Asheville to celebrate the successes and discuss the challenges facing the rapidly growing renewable energy industry. (pictured: Ivan Urlaub of the N.C. Sustainable Energy Association; photo by Max Cooper)
The Economic Development Coalition for Asheville-Buncombe County announced June 17 that GE Aviation is planning a major expansion of local operations, putting an end to months of speculation about a deal that had been known as “Project X.”
From a desk in a former public-housing unit across from the W.C. Reid Center, Marilyn Bass ponders what a sustainable economy should look like.
In Asheville’s thirst for sustainability, it's easy to forget that a third of the city's workers are low-wage, and in some neighborhoods, survival is the top priority.
Maps from the Buncombe County Tax Assessor’s office reveal how property values shifted — sometimes drastically — after the recent property revaluation. Almost every neighborhood within the city of Asheville saw values rise, while the housing market crash hit most areas of the county hard, with some areas even losing half their property value.
With a key position still vacant after six months, major changes could be in the works for how the city of Asheville deals with the local arts community and tries to facilitate growth in the creative sector.
Entrepreneurs and artists are gathering for the third annual Creative Sector Summit, a series of events that aim to spur economic growth in the local arts sector.
It is ironic that President Barack Obama chose Asheville, both as a vacation spot and as a place for economic speeches of late, given what I have to say. But I don’t wish to speak to those in power, beg them for an audience, change or hope. I’d like to address Asheville’s working people, its poor and the powerless.
I won't regale you with stories of an idealized past, laud our many golf courses, or tout our “vibrant” local economy. I'd like to tell a different story. I am a North Carolina native. I've lived my entire life in this state, in every corner, born to a pastor and public-school teacher in the coastal […]
After sharing 42 slides worth of charts, data and graphs, an independent economic consultant speaking to local doctors, health advocates, politicians and board members at the Feb. 22 meeting of the Buncombe County Department of Health and Human Services made a conclusion: Though the recession started five years ago, the numbers show that Buncombe County still has “a ways to go.” Highlights of the presentation, along with the full presentation, can be found in this post. (Slide image courtesy of SYNEVA Economics)
Is North Carolina manufacturing dead? “The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated.” So said Mark Twain after hearing that his obituary had been published in the New York Journal.
Some of the biggest news in city government this week isn’t happening at Asheville City Council’s formal meeting, but at a presentation to the Finance Committee at 2 p.m. this afternoon. There, staff will lay out the effects of rising property values in the city, and the details of Council’s challenges will become more clear.
Although broadband or high-speed Internet access is fairly common in Asheville, many Western North Carolinians can’t get it if they wanted to, largely because the infrastructure doesn’t exist. Thanks to a grant, MAIN has a mapping tool that could help get access to the nearly 48,000 WNC residents who are missing out on the digital revolution.
