Relative to many U.S. cities, Asheville’s economy is holding its own in spite of
recent turbulence. Perhaps its stability has something to do with the diversity of its business portfolio, from major international players, such as BorgWarner Turbo & Emissions Systems and Volvo Construction Equipment North America, to Mission Hospitals and Biltmore Company. And consider that hotel key card you may be using. More than likely it was made in Asheville at Plasticard-Locktech International (PLI), the largest manufacturer of plastic key cards for some 15,000 hotels worldwide.
But Asheville’s economic strength owes much to smaller, homegrown businesses, such as Mind-Spring, a leadership-consulting firm that works
with local, national, and international companies. Another, World’s Best Carrot Cake, was launched susthrough a smallbusiness incubator at Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College.
But it is the green sector in which the city is emerging as a leader. The world’s largest archive of weather data, the National Climatic Data Center (an arm of
the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration), is based downtown.
And its role is changing:
Recently, the federal government awarded NCDC partial stewardship of the Cooperative Institute for Climate and Satellites, which means the agency will take a leading role in predicting climate changes by using satellite observations. It will also mean $32 million and, potentially, 100 scientific jobs pumped into Asheville’s economy, with private-sector positions likely to follow.
One local green industry success story is FLS Energy. Founded in 2006, the company specializes in solar hot water and solar electricity for homes and businesses. Among its clients: Biltmore Farms and its LEED–certified Hilton hotel in Biltmore Park Town Square in south Asheville. The largest mixeduse
community outside of downtown, Biltmore Park Town Square, is the brainchild of Biltmore Farms President John F.A.V. “Jack” Cecil. “It was, if you will, my generation’s version of Biltmore Village that my great-grandfather built,” Cecil says. “That’s our historical reference.” The intellectual reference is renowned landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted. “He designed parks as a way to create community,” Cecil says. “If I combine these two references, that’s what we’re trying to do.” Think walkable streets lined with retail, office, and residential spaces; a YMCA and theater; plenty of green areas; and, of course, sustainable building practices such as
low-flow plumbing and a recycling program that eliminates 50 percent of construction waste. The entire concept speaks to the sustainable community that George W. Vanderbilt envisioned since the inception of Biltmore Farms in 1897.
Real Estate
Time and again, Asheville locals will tell you they were drawn to the area for its quality of life. And just who are the city’s newest residents? With accolades from Where to Retire and AARP Magazine, Asheville is seeing a growing number of retirees. Another wave of newcomers is second-home buyers, mostly from out of state and who discover the city as tourists, according to The New York Times. The Asheville Home Builders Association takes advantage of this trend with its Parade of Homes held in October.
Remodeling older houses in areas such as Montford or West Asheville is a strong trend, in keeping with the city’s tradition of conservation and sustainability. But there’s always room for new amidst the historic, such as the recently constructed Fitzgerald condominiums adjacent to the historic Grove Park Inn Resort & Spa.
Another of the newer neighborhoods is The Cliffs at High Carolina, the latest of eight residential communities expected to be up and running in a few years — all adhering to founder Jim Anthony’s vision that luxury and sustainability
can go hand-in-hand. Its biggest draw is the construction of Tiger Woods’ first golf course at 4,000 feet above sea level, which will be completed by 2011.
Healthcare
Asheville has a long tradition of healing, from the early tubercularsanatoriums of Thomas Wolfe’s day to various alternative therapies, including one of the state’s first certified acupuncture practices.
But it is Mission Hospital that has the largest presence in Asheville’s
healthcare sector. Employing nearly 6,000 and spanning a 90-acre campus, it has earned a national reputation in heart services, endocrinology, orthopaedics, and other fields. “Asheville and Western North Carolina are blessed to have an outstanding community of physicians,” says Mission Hospital president and CEO Joe Damore. “Many have come from the largest
and most prestigious teaching medical centers in the country, but they have relocated to Asheville due to their desire to live in a beautiful area with a high-quality hospital.” One of Mission’s legacies that started 40 years ago is The Health Adventure, a health and science museum for children that promotes wellness through interactive programs and exhibits. Currently
occupying a space in Pack Place, the museum will move to a new 10-acre
campus next year under the name Momentum: Science and Health Adventure Park.
Education
Ranked seventh on Kiplinger’s Personal Finance 2006 “Smartest Cities List,” Asheville continues to be a standard-bearer in education. Asheville and T.C. Roberson high schools made Newsweek’s list of the nation’s top 1,500 high schools this summer. There are no less than 13 colleges in the region, including Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, while Asheville proper
is home to the University of North Carolina-Asheville and Asheville-
Buncombe Technical Community College (A-B Tech).
With a student body of about 3,500 and a strong liberal-arts curriculum, UNC-Asheville has repeatedly been ranked as a good value by the likes of the Princeton Review and the Fiske Guides.
Asheville education challenges students to look at life through many lenses, and empowers them to have the freedom to ask questions and the courage to seek answers,” says Deborah Griffith, interim associate vice chancellor. The university also strives to keep close ties to the community with various initiatives, including its recently introduced health and wellness promotion major and the North Carolina Center for Creative Retirement.
A-B Tech has been serving the area for 50 years. Of particular note is its Culinary Technology program, the first of its kind in North Carolina, which provides workers on many levels for the hospitality and food industries,
according to Sheila Tillman, associate dean of hospitality education. Many students apprentice in local restaurants and compete in culinary competitions, raising A-B Tech’s national profile. Some go on to careers in lauded establishments elsewhere, but many, such as Reza Setayash, chef/owner of Rezaz Mediterranean Cuisine, have set up their own restaurants in Asheville, providing continued sustenance — literal and cultural — to the city.
