Capital at Play November 2015

Samsel Architects

Flori & Ted Pate

Designing a Legacy p.10

Dig Local p.62

The Free Spirit Of Enterprise

colu m ns

A Steadfast Community Commitment p.30 Lost and Found: How Virgil and Midnite found a home‌ and a way back to each other p.56 How Wealth Transfers: Calculating The Cost Of Impatience p.72

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Heating Up THE

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Emily Ballard, Amelia Buchholz, Tracy Elliott, Anthony Harden, Roger McCredie, Marla Hardee Milling, Toni Sherwood, Melissa Stanz, Mike Summey, Shawndra Russell

m a n ag i n g e d ito r

Born and raised in Asheville, Amy recently returned to Western North Carolina from Boston, Massachusetts, where she edited children’s books for Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Prior to her career in publishing, she worked in film and television for production companies like Sony Pictures, 20th Century Fox, and Dream Works, among others.

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F E AT U R E S vol. v ed. xi

10

DESIGNING A LEGACY JIM SAMSEL, duncan

mcpherson

&

nathan bryant

46

HEATING UP THE ART SCENE BILLY GUILFORD & GEOFF KOSLOW

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#NOW TRENDING FLORI & TED PATE

November 2015 | capitalatplay.com

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Nonprofit North Carolina

A Moving Season

Feeling Stuffed?

lo c a l i n d u s t r y

Metrics and Accountability in Philanthropy.

colu m ns

30 A Steadfast Community Commitment

Written by Amelia Buchholz

56 L ost and Found

How Virgil and Midnite found a home‌ and a way back to each other

l e i s u r e & l i b at i o n Renovating and Restoring Carl Sandburg’s Connemara.

briefs

32 Carolina in the West 58 The Old North State 76 National & World News

c a p i ta l a d v e n t u r i s t Drop the drumstick, get outside, & get moving!

events

90 Why hibernate when you can celebrate?

The sands of daylight-savings time may have run out on November 1st, but there are countless ways to enjoy the month of November.

Written by Tracy Elliott

72 H ow Wealth Transfers:

Calculating the cost of impatience Written by Mike Summey

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| November 2015

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Designing A

Legacy

As its founder prepares to retire, Samsel Architects prepares to keep on keeping on. written by roger mccredie

|

photos by anthony harden November 2015 | capitalatplay.com

11

I

evan hauptmann

n 1985, architect Jim Samsel stood on Biltmore Avenue and looked upon number 60, where a flight of steps led to an abandoned and partially collapsed second-floor space. Asheville’s Biltmore Avenue wasn’t much to look at back then.

It was a down-at-heel remnant of what had once been the southern spoke of Asheville’s central business district, where it meets Pack Square, by the boarded-up corpse of the Plaza Theatre. From there, things went literally and figuratively downhill. Another movie house, the Fine Arts Theatre, was 12

| November 2015

there, showing grainy, third-run adult films. Across the street was Fain’s, a bargain department store owned by Belk’s. The Junior League thrift shop was tucked into a narrow, dusty storefront.

There was a shoe shine parlor that did about a dollar’s worth of business a day. The west side backed up to alleys and vacant lots paved over for parking. The east side backed up to The Block, once a vibrant social and business center, now a gutted victim of urban renewal.

Altogether not a promising place to consider opening a business, but Jim Samsel looked upon this place with the practiced and imaginative eye and saw possibilities. He was hoping to set up shop in a town, that even then, was showing signs of waking up and remembering that it was the cultural and economic hub of an entire region.

Thirty years on, upper Biltmore Avenue is a 24/7 buzzing hive of activity. The old Plaza was razed and became Pack Place, which houses the Asheville Art Museum as well as the Diana Wortham Theatre, a nationally known entertainment venue.

The now-sophisticated Fine Arts Theatre serves wine to patrons watching just-released, critically acclaimed movies while sitting in rocking-chair seats. Fain’s has transmogrified into the Asheville location of Mast General Store, selling everything from upscale sportswear to camping and hiking gear to frying pans and jelly beans.

In between are trendy shops, restaurants, brew pubs, bakeries, a yoga studio… and the flight of stairs next to Number 60, which still leads to the offices and studios of Samsel Architects, P.A..

Architects, plural. There are three owner-architects working here now, among a staff of a dozen or so. But soon, there will be only two owner-architects. Jim Samsel is about to retire. He is entrusting the governance of the firm that he founded all those years ago to a team from a new generation, who are prepared to meet the challenges of the future using the core principles that have driven Samsel Architects for nearly a third of a century.

The visionary who started all of this is a tall, genial, quiet-spoken man with a self-effacing habit of dwelling more on what his firm does, and is looking to do, rather than on himself and how he has brought the business to where it is today. Although obviously a great deal has been accomplished since 1985, he manages to encapsulate both the history of the firm, and the philosophy on which he founded it, in a few sentences.

“We shape our buildings; thereafter they shape us.”

Winston Churchill November 2015 | capitalatplay.com

13

jim samsel

duncan mcpherson

nathan bryant

14

| November 2015

brooke tate

“I grew up in Maryland,” he says. “I ended up here after I got my architectural degree from the University of Arizona. (He does not mention that he also holds a Master’s from MIT.) I’d been here nine years, working for other firms, and we saw an opportunity [on Biltmore Avenue] and took it. We purchased the building with partners about a year and a half before we moved in and were the first tenants in this building after it was renovated.”

“If you don’t remind people you’re here when times are bad, they won’t remember you when times get better.”

“At that time, it was all about building a future downtown.

We saw this building and thought it was the worst building on the best street in Asheville,” Samsel remembers. “This is, after all, the main north-south street through town [Biltmore Avenue, which is also U.S. 25, becomes Merrimon Avenue after crossing the square and runs as such all the way to Weaverville, five miles away]. We knew that when the revitalization came – and we were confident it would – [that] it would happen along this corridor.

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“What we were committed to early on,” says Samsel, “was great design; and to providing a whole variety of services – a complete architectural package. Also, we wanted to engage civically; to use our talents to help create well-designed public space; to work with nonprofits on a pro bono basis whenever it was feasible. We wanted to establish a legacy of giving,” he says. “We have always supported nonprofits financially whenever we could; the pro bono work was part of that. It still is.”

Community participation paid off for Samsel’s firm. “We got involved in the renovation of South Pack Square, in Pack Square Park, in what was starting to happen along the riverfront,” he says.

“And this led to our getting awarded a diverse group of projects that we’ve been able to enhance over time – hospitality, medical, private college, retail, custom residences – and so today we’ve grown somewhat; we do those kinds of projects in six or eight states.”

Asheville and its environs are thickly dotted with Samsel projects: the Allanstand Shop at Folk Art Center on the Blue Ridge Parkway east of town, the Southern Highland Craft Gallery in Biltmore Village (which involved the painstaking renovation of the historic Biltmore-Oteen Bank building, originally constructed in 1928), the Sourwood Inn, a dozen projects at Warren Wilson College, and many others. One of the firm’s recent projects, the Pinnacle Cottages at Primland, a resort on the Dan River in southwest Virginia, was instrumental in Primland’s being named “Best Designed Resort in the World” by Travel and Leisure magazine.

There were setbacks, however.

“The recession was something of a body blow to us, as it was to nearly everybody else,” Samsel says. “We’re so closely tied to the real estate and construction businesses that what hurts them hurts us. If money to build with is short, people don’t build, which means they don’t need an architect. We were certainly not immune to that; our numbers went down

accordingly, and it was a challenging time.

We hunkered down a little. But,” he says, “we didn’t panic. We realized this was a cyclical thing.”

Instead of scaling back its marketing efforts while times were lean, Samsel says, “We decided to double down. We went multi-media – including radio and print – to show we were confident things would get better, and just to keep our brand out in front of people. If you don’t remind people you’re here when times are bad, they won’t remember you when times get better.

“We had enough projects onboard that we didn’t have to downsize. Nobody got laid off or had to take a salary cut. That’s important in a small company like ours where teamwork is a huge factor.”

The recession brought with it another opportunity, Samsel says. The slowing of the work pace gave the firm a chance to take a step back, evaluate its marketing efforts, and find ways to make a leaner budget accomplish more. “One thing we did was to overhaul our website,” he says. “I think that was key. In fact, it’s probably the single biggest reason we’ve been able to reach a bigger target audience and get involved in projects in several states.”

Reach has been an important recruiting factor too, Samsel observes. “For a city our size and the region, Asheville has more creative talent than most,” he says, “but of course nothing like cities that have universities with architectural schools. There’s not much talent just lying around. Very few people want to move to Asheville without a job…”

“I don’t know,” says a voice at his elbow. “I did.”

The voic e b elon g s t o D u nc a n McPherson, one of the two senior architects who have taken the reins in advance of Samsel’s retirement. Creative energy rolls off McPherson in waves. It’s easy to believe what he says next.

“I was literally shopping for a place to live after I got out of college,” McPherson recalls. “Honestly, I went up and down the east coast looking for an opportunity to do good design work. A place that had November 2015 | capitalatplay.com

17

the right feel, the right culture. That led me to Asheville; it already had a reputation [in the late 1990s] as a place where a lot of creativity was going on; where there was a real interest in sustainability and quality of life. What led me to this firm

it did, and didn’t just pay lip service to it. When I interviewed here I felt that was the case.”

Nathan Bryant is the other principal and future co-CEO. A native of Lexington, North Carolina, he later lived in WinstonSalem and frequently vacationed in Asheville with his family. “We had friends who lived here, and I had visited enough to know that it was a really creative place to be, so it didn’t take much to persuade me that it would be great to live and work here. I had the opportunity to interview with Jim, and when I was offered the job I didn’t hesitate.” Bryant’s way is deceptively laid back and soft spoken – he’s like Samsel in that regard – and his manner strikes what is probably a very effective balance with McPherson’s drive.

So, given that both principals [McPherson and Bryant] have been with Samsel for over fifteen years, give or take, how and when did the idea of turning the firm over to them originate?

“We’ve done a lot of good work here, and the company has a history of doing great work, plus all that goodwill; we’ve got a good thing going. Let’s keep it going.” was its sense of environmental stewardship. I really wanted to make sure I’d be working for a design studio that put that sense of environmental responsibility in the forefront of what

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“I’d been thinking about that for probably the last eight or ten years,” Samsel says. “I had witnessed what happened to people in the profession who did not have a plan and what happened to their firms and” – he shrugs and looks at his successors –“why don’t you guys take it from there? A lot of this was driven by your initiative.”

“I think there was the realization that certain types of firms can have a shelf life,” Bryant says. “As Jim was about to say, I think, they can be so tied to an individual that when that individual is getting ready to phase himself out, you think, what happens to us? [We] felt like we were at a crossroad.

Do we strike out on our own? Do we go out together and create our own brand? We looked at our portfolio – the firm’s portfolio – and thought, “We’ve done a lot of good work here, and the company has a history of doing great work, plus all that goodwill; we’ve got a good thing going. Let’s keep it going.”

This brings a full-fledged smile from Samsel. His legacy is in good hands. But the group hesitates when asked to name a single project that might encapsulate the firm’s legacy.

“In a way all projects are like that,” McPherson says.

“Projects are like children.”

Back out on Biltmore Avenue things, as usual, are humming.

People walk to and from the Square. Bands of roving tourists wander. An urban jogger passes by. Patrons linger over their coffee at an outdoor café. And amid it all, that same unobtrusive flight of hundred-year-old steps leads up to the glow of very modern track lighting. There amid state-of-the-art equipment, the staff of Samsel Architects plans the future, one project at a time, renewing its own legacy every day.

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Nonprofit

written by melissa stanz with steve k all ann

North Carolina

Metrics and Accountability in Philanthropy Nonprofits in Capital at Play? Of course! Consider a few facts: Nonprofits are a huge part of the Western North Carolina economy. They form an important part of our regional employment base (see p. 29).

F

Most philanthropic assets come from American business success. This is true in Western North Carolina as well.

or these reasons and others, we are exploring the business of nonprofits and the ways they embrace metrics, accountability, and financial acumen while staying true to their mission. We are also looking at the ways business people take a stand (or not) to help nonprofits run more effectively, secure funding, and achieve their mission.

Focused on a broad group of mission-driven and social services nonprofits that serve the people of Western North Carolina, we are highlighting organizations that serve our culture, our children, and our environment with social services, arts programs, economic development, and job training.

Because churches, colleges, universities, private schools, or institutions like Mission Health represent unique sectors on their own, we opted not to include them here.

Steve Kallan, CEO of Kallan Strategic, is a nonprofit management consultant in Asheville, North Carolina. Steve spent decades helping national nonprofits and businesses manage change from Washington, D.C.. Moving to Asheville six years ago, he focuses his passion for building healthy businesses

Area business leaders sit on nonprofit boards, provide counsel, and are major funding sources for mission-driven and social services nonprofits.

Nonprofits fill the gap between what business, government, and churches cannot or will not do.

and his commitment to nonprofit causes to help strengthen the Western North Carolina nonprofit sector.

“When both nonprofits and for-profits embrace solid business practices there should be little difference between the two. But all too often, nonprofits ask for money only by appealing to their mission—an appeal of the heart,” said Steve.

The business world depends on the availability of capital wherein investors can recognize potential returns. The best nonprofit leaders and their boards assure that their organizations are “investment worthy,” i.e. funders making long-term commitments to the success of the organization and its impacts.

Thomas Beckett is co-executive director of Carolina Common Enterprise, a cooperative development center for the Carolinas. He is an attorney who works to form successful businesses. The combination of a law degree and a MBA from UNC Chapel Hill gives him insight into both sectors. He also serves as board chair of Accelerating Appalachia, a Western North Carolina business accelerator.

November 2015 | capitalatplay.com

21

local industry

“In any kind of enterprise, cash is king. The difference with nonprofits is that they have two sets of customers. There are the people they serve and work with and then there are funders—a completely different type of customer. Nonprofits must show they are working effectively to appeal to both customer bases, but the emphasis may be different,” said Thomas.

Thoma s site s Appa lach ia n Su st a i nable Agriculture Program (ASAP) as a good example of a nonprofit that works. ASAP has worked for over two decades to change the food system in Western North Carolina and build a thriving local food economy. The results in the region are tangible and significant.

“There have been many positive results for ASAP as an organization because of our focus on metrics and accountability,” said executive director Charlie Jackson. “First, the response from donors, grant funders, and the board has been strong because there is greater confidence in the purpose and impact of our work.”

ASAP has embraced a metrics and research-driven approach. “Clear metrics and accountability provide clarity for staff and definitely give direction for ASAP strategy and the commitment of resources.”

“Still,” said Jackson, “this is a work in progress. We have worked hard on a concrete logic model and metrics that guide our work. Many are focused on long-term changes to the food system and it remains a challenge to articulate that. The more clear we can get about accountability for

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| November 2015

long-term change, the more successful we will be in our work.”

Jackson acknowledged that it is often difficult to distinguish between impacts that can be “attributed” to ASAP and those for which ASAP may be seen to “contribute.” But they work hard to develop clear metrics that matter.

“If our thesis is that increasing exposure to healthy food choices leads to a change in the food system, then we establish proxy measures that may tell us we are on the right track. These are variables that we can control and be accountable for,” said Jackson.

Tension Between Sectors

There is friction between the nonprofit and forprofit sectors. Some nonprofits criticize businesses for only looking at profit and return on investment, while neglecting community and environmental health. Some in the business community criticize nonprofits for not being accountable and having an entitled and unrealistic view of the world.

Case in point—a few years ago Steve attended a symposium in Asheville about community healthcare. He was struck by the absence of nonprofits in attendance given their important role in employment and the economy. Someone asked why nonprofits were not present.

“The response from one prominent business leader was ‘Yes—let’s get them in here so we can teach them some accountability!’ I was incredulous.

In my experience most Western North Carolina nonprofits are highly committed to accountability, and their mission, members, and sustainability,” Steve explained.

But there is a kernel of truth to the business leader’s reaction. It raises several key questions: How are nonprofits accountable? How do they measure success? And, how can the business community encourage and reward nonprofit leaders?

Metrics and Accountability

Financial results cannot be ignored in nonprofits. But financial performance alone doesn’t determine success.

“I think ROI [Return On Investment] is inappropriate to use in a nonprofit and cooperative context.

There may be a social return, and it may be an investment of sorts, but there is no concrete financial return to the investor,” said Thomas.

So if ROI is not the primary nonprofit measure, what could be? Among other things, Thomas

emphasizes that every nonprofit needs a business plan. They also need revenue, cash flow, income to cover expenses, and a positive cash flow to achieve their mission and get the work done.

“An investor wants confidence in a set of people running the business as a management team, and you need to have a solid plan, know where the money is coming from, and what it will cost to run the organization,” said Thomas.

Funding Restrictions and the “Fiscal Year” – The “No Deficits” Myth

In nonprofit accounting a donor may restrict use of a grant for a specific program purpose or a specific time period. Sometimes the cash comes in when the grant is made; sometimes at a later date and sometimes not until program spending occurs.

How is that accounted for, and how is “break even” determined?

Many business people and funders are skeptical of any nonprofit organization that runs an audited deficit. But think about this in real terms: for ex ample , a nonprofit receives a cash

grant of $200,000 near the end of 2014, allowing the organization to build a high-impact program in 2015. The 2015 expense budget includes work funded by the grant received the prior year.

Audited financials show the income of $200,000 in 2014 that is likely to result in an audited surplus.

Although the organization does great work in 2015 based on income received in 2014, the audited financials may show a deficit. This is logical and perfectly sound management. But if people look only at simple annual financial results, they may conclude the organization is financially irresponsible.

Chart A is what it may look like in simplified terms.

In the business world, operating deficits are perfectly acceptable. That’s why we have bridge loans and debt financing. But in the nonprofit world, if results are based only on financial metrics, all break-even years are “good” and deficit years are “bad.”

The Overhead Myth

A particularly tricky metric is a focus on overhead percentage and overhead costs. The commonly accepted view is that the more that funds are used for direct program expenses, the better the organization

chart a

2014

2015

Core Funding

1,000,000

1,000,000

New Grant

200,000

0

Total Income

1,200,000

1,000,000

Core Expenses

1,000,000

1,000,000

New Program

0

200,000

Total Expense

1,000,000

1,200,000

NET SURPLUS (deficit)

200,000

(200,00)

INCOME

EXPENSE

must be. At the extreme this may be true since no one would support an organization that funneled most of its assets into overhead and administration.

But we also know that no business board or investor would strip a business of its ability to function and still expect strong ROI. Why would so many funders and boards reinforce the low overhead culture for nonprofits?

Shaun Paul is currently the managing director of Reinventurecapital located in Boston. He founded the EcoLogic Development Fund and served as president for 20 years. He also now serves as an advisor to Accelerating Appalachia – a Western North Carolina business accelerator.

“I’m a big believer in unrestricted operating support. The best organizations need an effective, long-term vision, and therefore they need unrestricted multiyear support. In exchange we need to hold them accountable to the most effective measures of success,” said Shaun.

“Many boards, funders—and sometimes executive directors—are proud of reducing overhead expense.

Unfortunately, that kind of frugality forces organizations to live in the same kind of poverty as the people they serve. In many cases I think they should be embarrassed. They seem to be in a race to the bottom,” said Steve.

A national movement is beginning to address this issue. In 2013 a public letter was written to the “Donors of America” signed by the BBB Wise Giving November 2015 | capitalatplay.com 23

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Alliance, GuideStar, and Charity Navigator, which are rating and information agencies in the nonprofit community. Some highlights:

“ the

percent of charit y e xpenses that go to

administrative and fundraising costs—commonly referred to as “overhead”—is a poor measure of a charity’s performance… We ask you to pay attention to other factors of nonprofit performance: transparency, governance, leadership, and results… focusing on overhead without considering other critical dimensions of a charity’s financial and organizational performance does more damage than good.

“ w h e n w e f o c u s s o l e ly o r p r e d o m i n a n t ly o n overhead, we can create what the Stanford Social Innovation Review has called “The Nonprofit Starvation Cycle.” We starve charities of the freedom they need to best serve the people and communities they are trying to serve.”

More recently, the California Association of Nonprofits (CalNonprofits) expressed concern about what critics call the “overhead myth”; the concept that charities that devote more spending to programs and less to fundraising and administrative costs are more efficient.

“A factory that underinvests in overhead,” the CalNonprofits letter to Charity Navigator said, “will soon find its roof is leaking, its electrical systems failing, without adequate insurance, and without the investments in staff compensation and training that are key to success. As we work toward measuring results, financial health will potentially play an even smaller role in each charity’s rating.”

Two well-known and respected nonprofits have exploited donors emphasis on overhead costs. The Robin Hood Foundation in New York, and the nonprofit charity: water, both tout that 100% of donations goes to program delivery. In truth large funders are supporting the management, marketing, and overhead costs of these excellent organizations. It is not free.

Unfortunately, it reinforces the myth that the best charitable contributions go only to “program” and not to the management of the organization that gets the work done.

The Shift In Nonprofit Metrics

Metrics and evaluation measures for nonprofits and government services date back to the 1960s. PhD programs evolved and program evaluation experts now partner in measuring the impact of nonprofit and government work.

In the 1980s venture philanthropy was born, fueled later, in part by the dot-com boom. These entrepreneurs wanted to see results and also wanted more control over the use of their philanthropic dollars. They often demanded clear measures of 24

| November 2015

results, but also put their money where their mouth was. They knew that no business could succeed without the right infrastructure and capacity to deliver.

Venture Philanthropy Partners (VPP) in Washington D.C. is a prime example. Mario Morino of VPP helms the movement. With his book Leap of Reason, he challenges the funding community to invest so that nonprofit organizations can succeed.

From his perspective as a business investor, Shaun Paul knows that businesses focus on a single bottom line as a measure of success.

“We are quick to forget that it took about 60 years to come up with an accounting system that would establish a common foundation for investment accounting. What’s new in philanthropy is that we are coming up with standards of what impact is and how we can measure it. Social return on investing is still relatively nascent.”

Shaun references the Gates Foundation as a good example of how philanthropy is moving toward bringing business acumen to the nonprofit sector.

“Gates is pushing and challenging these issues; looking for scalable and measurable change. In the business sector we expect three to five year solutions, but for important social issues like eradicating poverty and cancer— that time horizon is just not long enough.”

the metric of “ ov e r h e a d e x p e n s e ” r at i o s

If you are looking for a single statistic about a nonprofit’s performance, there really isn’t one. It is more useful to measure results and impact than it is to focus on various ratios of overhead-related expenses. overhead there is not a consistent definition

Typically, overhead includes administrative expenses that are not directly related to programs or services. For example, accounting and human resources, information technologies, and governing board expenses. But cost accounting methods will allocate expenses differently from one organization to another.

S ome ex amples of r atios useful and not ( from guidestar ) The “program ratio” (Administrative Expenses ÷ Total Expenses) is a commonly used metric. A number of factors such as size, age, and location affect a nonprofit’s expenses. Some organizations and funders see that at least 65% of total expenses should be dedicated to “program expenses.” conte xt is critical as r atios taken on their own can be misle ading . guidestar advises that r atios are helpful :

When you are comparing organizations of similar size and age, that are located in the same area or similar locales, and that have similar missions and programs; When you are tracking an individual nonprofit’s progress over time. calcul ating r atios

What Other Nonprofit Metrics Should Be Measured?

Accountability starts with clear expectations and commitment to results. Many nonprofits with visionary leaders and boards have fully embraced accountability. In some sectors metrics of impact are logical and straightforward.

One of the best-known nonprofits in the region is Manna Food Bank. The public generously contributes to Manna because of its mission to feed hungry people. But behind the scenes, and central to major funders and partners, are sophisticated business practices and metrics.

“Beyond these food distribution goals, Manna is beginning to establish metrics associated with overcoming hunger and improved nutrition in the region,” said Cindy Threlkeld, executive director.

Frequently, an “overhead ratio” is calculated as Administrative Expenses ÷ Total Expenses. But a single metric is potentially misleading. The “overhead ratio” for an effective organization could range from 7-10% to 25%. Here are two additional ratios: contributions and gr ants r atio

(contributions +

gr ants)

÷

total revenue

The contributions and grants ratio indicates the extent of the organization’s dependence on voluntary support by calculating the percentage of total revenue made up by contributions and grants. fundr aising r atio fundr aising e xpenses

÷

total e xpenses

The fundraising ratio is perhaps the least useful of the ratios for a couple of reasons. First, there is ample evidence that nonprofits do not report fundraising expenses reliably—about 60% of the public charities that file a Form 990 report no fundraising expenses at all. Second, unique circumstances facing a nonprofit might make its fundraising ratio higher or lower than that of another organization.

Derived from BBB Wise Giving Alliance, GuideStar, and Charity Navigator.

November 2015 | capitalatplay.com 25

local industry

for e x ample , manna tr acks metrics as any distribution company might :

Bank Local.

waste and spoil age

This is a metric on the efficient use of food contributions and funding stewardship.

“ inventory

turns ”

Like grocery and retail – a function of speed of getting the product to market. pounds of food distributed per person in povert y

Connected to the number of meals served. food distributed as function of people in need

Equitable distribution.

some e x amples of manna metrics

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Volume metric: Increase food distribute distribution

Quality metric: Goal is that 25% of distributed food is fresh produce,

Greater than 20% a year

Increasing in future years to 28%

Mountain True, the regional conservation organization, demonstrates concrete accountability to metrics of impact.

For example: a core goal is to secure a forest plan for nantahala -­

pisgah national forest that includes protections for old-growth forest, backcountry, and natural areas meeting multiple use objectives for timber, wildlife habitat, and young forests through ecological restoration. One metric is that lands not set aside as protected old growth forests provide opportunities for sustainable logging and that < 50% of lands have ecological restoration emphasis.

What You Can Do

Business leaders can provide leadership needed to strengthen the nonprofit sector by supporting two major principles of

governance. The first is accountability for results. The second is building the capacity to get there.

Many leaders are beginning to push in this direction and organizations like Western North Carolina Nonprofit Pathways are helping with valued training and support. But business minded board members and funders must lead the way.

some specific ide as

1.

reward the best leaders for success .

If an organization can present a cogent multiyear business strategy and a plan to build the capacity to get it done, the funding community can reward this leadership with generous multiyear funding.

2.

select the right leadership.

Among the most important role of any nonprofit board is the selection of an executive director. Board members can help ensure that the organization chooses the best leader to pursue a businesslike path. This is not to say nonprofit leadership must come from the business world or have a MBA.

3.

Donating your car!

Wheels4Hope is a non-profit organization that repairs donated cars and recycles them back into the community by matching them with economically vulnerable people who need them. Our innovative model bolsters the work of our trusted partners (Helpmate, Homeward Bound, Habitat for Humanity, and Community Action Opportunities), by placing the vehicles with their clients – the ones they believe need them the most.

encour age business liter acy.

Board members from the business community are particularly well-positioned to support stronger business literacy for key nonprofit staff. This includes budgeting and projection skills, project management and team leadership skills, marketing and communication skills, people management skills, and effective use of technology. Boards and funders can commit to investing in recruitment and training of staff with an emphasis on these characteristics and skills.

4.

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encour age the use of str ategic level dashboards .

Many businesses have used executive dashboards for decades.

The idea is to repor t regularly on a handful of metrics that matter the most to success. Board members can ask for periodic reporting in a dashboard format that distills an overwhelming amount of information down to the handful of factors that really matter at a macro level.

5.

get educated .

Business leaders on boards and in funding institutions should dive deeper into the nuances of nonprofit financial management.

The differences are important.

6.

encour age partnerships and mergers .

Funders and board members can encourage stronger strategic partnerships and mergers of nonprofit organizations.

“This car will be such an asset to me and my daughter. I will be able to make her orchestra recitals and drop her off at Girl Scout Camp like most parents do. I will also be able to look for full-time work in my field.”

www.Wheels4Hope.org/Asheville (828) 676-5150

November 2015 | capitalatplay.com 27

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In the business world unique products and service, scale of operations, and other business factors quickly reward the best organizations. Nonprofit leaders and funders can encourage partnerships and mergers to reduce mission overlap, create scale and impact, and reduce some of the competition for scant resources.

t wo successful ex amples of mergers in our region include :

1.

the cre ation of mountaintrue

through a merger of the Western North Carolina Alliance, eco of Hendersonville, and the Jackson Macon Conservation Alliance.

The result is a stronger and more diversified organization serving the conservation mission in Western North Carolina.

2.

the mediation center in asheville

“The merger has made a huge difference in helping us to meet our operational budget and to continue to provide these needed services to the community,” said Laura Jeffords, executive director. When nonprofits achieve their missions we all benefit—it’s what community is about.

In honor of North Carolina Nonprofit Month, Capital at Play has invited regional non-profits to contribute to this issue. With columns from Junior League of Asheville, Inc., and the Asheville Humane Society, we hope to raise awareness of area non-profits and their important work, while encouraging productive conversations at the intersection of our state’s public and private sectors.

Have something to say? Curious about how non-profits are driving change? Join the conversation on Twitter with @ncnonprofits using the hashtag #npaware.

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n o n p r o f i t i m pac t i n

w e ste rn north c a roli n a

1,634

$3.9 billion

(11.35% of total employment), an 18.3% increase from 2007.

Statewide, the nonprofit sector (excluding religious institutions) is the

4

n o n p r o f i t ’ s $37 b i l l i o n a n n u a l i m pac t o n t h e s tat e ’ s e c o n o m y

n on prof it s i n w e ste rn n o rt h c a r o l i n a ( 2012)

total nonprofit e xpenditures in western north carolina ( 2012)

th

The nonprofit sector is a vital economic engine

l a r g e s t e m p l oy e r

Only Retail, Manufacturing, And Tourism Employ More North Carolinians.

has doubled

43,518

f r o m $17 b i l l i o n j u s t 10 y e a r s e a r l i e r .

n on prof it j ob s i n w e ste rn n o rt h c a r o l i n a i n 2013

(11.35% of total employment), an 18.3% increase from 2007.

Source: N.C. Center for Nonprofits, David Heinen (2015).

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column

A Steadfast Community Commitment

F

OR ME, THE BEST A ND MOST NATUR A L WAY to become a member of a community is to contribute something to that community. Volunteering is my way of making Asheville my home. As a young person, I first volunteered with a dear family friend who headed up a homeless outreach program at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in Columbia, South Carolina.

A

amelia buchhol z

Since joining the Junior League of Asheville, she has had the opportunity to volunteer with Homeward Bound, Mission’s Ladies Night Out, Eliada Corn Maze, and Children First / Communities in Schools.

30

I also did some volunteer projects through my church youth group in middle and high school, mostly working at Harvest Hope Food Bank in Columbia. In college, I tutored children in reading / ELA at Berea Middle School in Greenville, South Carolina.

I think a lot of people have this sense of wanting to help, but are a little paralyzed by the vastness of need in the world. Our own community is a great place to start, and the effects are much more far reaching than it might seem. When you set out to make a difference locally, so many lives are impacted.

We are all part of the same community, whether we need a little help, or are in a position to give that help. Coming together with fellow volunteers can create a really strong bond to build on from project to project. Our community grows stronger as a result and everyone benefits.

I admit that when I arrived at the Steadfast House for my first Junior League of Asheville Volunteer-aThon last spring, I wasn’t really sure what to expect.

I had volunteered in soup kitchens and food banks before, but never inside an actual shelter. I made my way past the front entrance, where a person was

| November 2015

stationed to ensure that anyone who entered was actually supposed to be there. I joined a group of my fellow Junior League of Asheville members in a large, bright room lined with comfortable furniture. I felt nervous and a little out of place, but ready to get to work. I was determined to make a difference that day.

My fellow volunteers and I headed downstairs to the section of the building that housed mothers and their children. There was a kitchen, a playroom, a common eating room, and dormitory-type bedrooms, some with adjacent bathrooms. I think the building used to be a nursing home and is set up in a way that makes sense for elderly patients living in single or double units. It was hard to imagine living in one of these rooms with children and all of the energy and raucous activity that comes with them – but it was a safe, warm place for them to stay when they needed help the most.

As we split into three teams, one for each of the two chosen bedrooms and one for the communal kitchen, a staff member led my group to the end of the hallway and into a smallish room, overflowing with furniture and personal belongings. We met the

A

young woman who was living there with her infant daughter and I felt an immediate connection. My own son was just about a year-and-a- half old at the time. I was not so far removed from the days of having a small, precious child attached to me, who was totally dependent on me at all times.

I asked her some questions about what she would like for us to accomplish in her room and how she would like it organized.

She was quiet and reserved and didn’t really offer much in the way of requests or suggestions. I think she was nervous, and I couldn’t blame her at all. It has to be an overwhelming experience to have a group of seemingly privileged women show up to redecorate and organize your living space.

We began by painting the chalky, pastel green room a very pretty cream color that was neutral, but warm. It wasn’t that different from the color of my own living room. The new bedding was cheerful—a green and blue pattern to give the room’s current resident a little something new and just for her.

Henderson County The charming and adventurous home of expert and empathetic care.

I FELT NERVOUS AND A LIT TLE OUT OF PLACE, BUT READY TO GET TO WORK. I WAS DETERMINED TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE THAT DAY. The next step was organizing the room with storage solutions and working with what was already there to create a space that was more functional for a mother and her baby. The result was a clean and tidy space that, although small and still a bit cramped, we hoped would feel a little more like a home while she was getting back on her feet.

The experience of seeing a person trying to fit her entire life into one small room was a very emotional one. It’s hard to imagine losing all of the safety and security that surrounds us in our daily lives and having to rebuild almost from scratch.

The work that Asheville Buncombe Community Christian Ministry and the staff at the Steadfast House does is incredible, and their task herculean. I am so glad that I was able to be a small part of it on that day. It was truly the most humbling and gratifying experience. The importance of helping others through participating in the building and strengthening of community is a lesson I want to teach my own son.

People who live here know that Henderson County is a blend of great qualities. The care we’re delivering at UNC Health Care is both highly advanced and individually attentive. At Pardee Hospital, we’re part of a statewide system enabling that kind of complete care all over North Carolina…and right here around Henderson County.

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The Junior League looks forward to beginning the next chapter of their relationship with the Steadfast House: The Junior League of Asheville Educational Playroom.

November 2015 | capitalatplay.com

31

CAROLINA in the

WEST [

news briefs

Big-Time Revitalization buncombe county

Hilton Worldwide has announced the conceptualization of the Asheville Foundry Inn, which will join Curio – A Collection by Hilton™. The upscale hotel chain describes Curio as “a global set of remarkable upscale and luxury hotels hand-picked for their distinctive character and personality, appealing to passionate travelers seeking local discovery.” The 92-room inn will be located in the old Foundry Buildings at Eagle and South Market streets. Steel for many of Asheville’s landmarks was forged here.

The inn will take up a portion of five contiguous buildings, whose historicity will be preserved. Upfits will include 92 guest rooms, a 100-seat restaurant, a 3500-sq-ft. lounge with a library and fireplaces, a 3600-sq-ft. luxury spa and

]

fitness center, and 3000-sq-ft. meeting and event space. The hotel is expected to fit the funky Asheville scene that features more than thirty art galleries and over twenty-five microbreweries. Construction is being overseen by the development group Encore Lodging, which bought Mount Zion Missionary Baptist Church’s interest in the property for $3.5 million.

The Foundry Inn is scheduled to open in December 2016.

Red Hot Growth for Sweet Fire Hot Sauce buncombe county

Twenty-four year-old Keenan Kulp is in the midst of a Kickstarter campaign.

He is trying to grow his business, Fire on the Mountain Hot Sauce, to the next level,

which means selling his flagship product, Sweet Fire, on the shelves of supermarkets. Kulp learned an appreciation for agriculture growing up on an organic farm in Madison County. In 2008 he visited the Western North Carolina Farmer’s Market, curious about how much produce was being thrown away. He thought he might be able to can or dry it and then sell it returning a portion of profits to the farmers. The volume of food was so great, he started selling to restaurants, guaranteeing good-quality local products.

After a couple years, he realized he was working so hard that he had no time for his passion, cooking. So, he took the two most abundant types of produce on-hand and added other ingredients. After experimentation, he had a recipe that had friends and customers demanding more.

Kulp doesn’t mind sharing his recipe, believing nobody can cook it as well as he. He now works out of a commercial kitchen compliant with health codes, and he sells his NCDA-approved sauce at Louise’s Kitchen, Common House Fly, and Artisan Gourmet Market. He wants to raise $8000 to create and package three batches of his sauce. His growth plan is specific, so he knows exactly how any additional funds will be spent.

Always in the equation is giving back to the farmers.

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Asheville

Banner Elk’s Takeout Take Over avery county

Friends from elementary school, Adam Harris and John Baker, went into business to fill a niche in Banner Elk. Harris was inspired by a newspaper article about a guy in Boston who, fresh out of college, started delivering food with just a bicycle and a Tupperware container.

Within a couple years, the lad had grown his business into a $4 million enterprise.

Harris had often heard people in the area express frustration that nobody delivered food. So, the duo started working and saving, and Harris researched costs for things like heat bags, marketing, and a website. The entire startup was funded out-of-pocket. Several restaurants are onboard with the delivery service doing business as Banner Elk Take-Out, including Bella’s, the Pedalin’ Pig, Nick’s Restaurant and Pub, and the Painted Fish Café. Eleven restaurants are currently served, but the number is growing. The two friends will even deliver groceries.

They insist on working only with nearby restaurants, deeming forty-five minute response times unacceptable. Rates are $6.95 for in-town delivery and $9.95 for out-county areas. Currently, customers

58

76

the old north state

national & world

call a restaurant, pay by phone, and then call the delivery service to do the legwork.

To optimize the customer experience, Harris and Baker hope to implement one-stop online shopping.

Frequently Changing Frequency jackson county

Western Carolina University’s (WCU) campus-run radio station, WWCU, is taking over the 95.3 FM frequency. It will be bumping one of about a dozen WCQS stations that broadcast National Public Radio throughout Western North Carolina. WCQS had been operating provisionally on the frequency with a lower-level translator classification, which meant it could be displaced by a station with permanent licensing. One of the functions of the FCC is to space out stations on the radio dial and make sure frequencies don’t overlap. When a north Georgia station moved its transmitter south in 2000, the frequency became available in North Carolina. Five parties applied: WCU, three religious stations, and environmentalist Avram Friedman.

The religious stations were turned down for lack of a local presence, WCU was

carolina in the west

rejected because it already had a station in the area, and the initial licensing went to Friedman, who wanted to launch progressive programming as the Canary Coalition. WCU challenged the decision, and, after four years, it convinced the FCC that Friedman was ineligible because he did not list a physical address on his application. WCQS didn’t bother applying, knowing it failed the local presence criterion. WCQS program director Barbara Sayer is undaunted by the decision, saying the station has had to move its lower-level translator stations a lot. WCU has three years to get WWCU up and running on the new frequency, during which time it is working with WCQS, offering their old station, 90.5 FM, even though its coverage is 40% less.

When Life Hands you Lemons, Make Money jackson county

What could be more entrepreneurial than a little girl running a lemonade stand during summer vacation? All summer long, Chloe Crawford sat at her lemonade stand. She and her friend, Abbie, sometimes put in eight-hour days, foregoing many fun things children enjoy

November 2015 | capitalatplay.com

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carolina in the west

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during the summer, like going to the lake. About 40 other friends pitched in with shift work. The kids didn’t want to raise extra money for candy and movies, though. Chloe wanted to deliver all proceeds to Summit Charter School.

Fearing budget cuts applicable to all public schools, the charter school was in a tighter bind, with neither reserves nor revenue stream for capital projects.

When school began, the kids had kept the stand open 380 hours, selling cups of lemonade for $1 each. As might be expected, some adults paid a little extra.

What wasn’t expected were collections totaling $44,567. When the kids turned the check over to the school in a formal presentation, a person in the crowd, Barbara Carlson, who’s the grandmother of one of the students, announced she would like to match the donation and added $44,000 to the pot. Then Carrin Patman decided to make it an even $100,000. Following the ceremony, an anonymous donor pitched in another $10,000.

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Holly Ogle is providing alternative accommodations for outdoor enthusiasts seeking to enjoy the Appalachian Mountains. Ogle turned her passion for nesting into profit by opening Harmony Hostel. With a background in real estate, she concluded she was too fiercely independent to work for others.

She’s now a general contractor, who has been involved with every aspect of the hostel’s design and construction, including the landscaping. The indoor décor is modern, immaculate, and homey.

Furnishings were selected because they made her happy. While hostels offer dormitory-style accommodations, guests of Harmony Hostel stay in extralong twin beds screened by curtains.

Each guest gets a cabinet with a lock, a reading lamp, an electrical outlet,

and fresh linens. Showers and dressing areas are spacious and private. Guests are welcome to share the well-equipped kitchen or hang out in other common areas. To ensure a quality hostel experience for everyone, strict rules will be enforced. For example, only registered, paying guests are allowed on the grounds; alcohol, tobacco, and illegal drugs are forbidden; food and drink are not allowed in sleeping areas. A security code is required to enter, and video cameras are located in all common areas.

Say Goodnight to Waking Life buncombe county

Waking Life Espresso was a hot topic in Asheville news. The Haywood Road coffee shop’s owners, Jared Rutledge and Jacob Owens, had been running an anonymous blog, podcast, and Twitter account that featured analysis of their intimate dalliances with women, some of whom were customers. When the true identity of “Holistic Game” was exposed, locals called for a public protest outside the shop and circulated a petition asking retailers to pull Waking Life products from their shelves. Orbit DVD, another Haywood Road business, said it would donate its remaining Waking Life stock to Our Voice, a local nonprofit offering counseling, advocacy, and education for abused women. When Orbit, which was offered stock from at least one other business, sold out, it continued to take donations. In the meantime, Waking Life closed shop, its owners requesting time for reflection. Ten days later, Waking Life reopened, rebranded as a place for community conversation. Both protesters and customers showed up in small numbers. Waking Life offered to donate all profits for the remainder of the year to Our Voice, but Our Voice rejected the offer, saying the organization was not in a position to forgive. Less than a month after the initial outrage, the owners ditched plans to open a second

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L leisure & libation

A Moving

Season Renovating and Restoring Carl Sandburgâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Connemara

written by marl a hardee milling photos by anthony harden connemar a from the Front Lake.

this photo courtesy National Park Service November 2015 | capitalatplay.com 37

leisure & libation

sandburg â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s trust y t ypewriter

on display for visitors.

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oetry is the opening and closing of a door, leaving those who look through to guess about what was seen during a moment.

- Carl Sandburg When famed poet Carl Sandburg and his wife, Lillian (“Paula”), lived at Connemara, a 248-acre estate in Flat Rock, North Carolina, they made use of every available space—every closet, dresser drawer, and filling cabinet was packed full of manuscripts, letters, notes, magazines, information about the prize-winning goats Mrs. Sandburg raised, amid odds and ends, mementos, and other random miscellany.

Sandburg died in 1967, and the following year Mrs. Sandburg handed over the keys to the house and property to the National Park Service and moved to Asheville. While the family may have taken a few things with personal meaning or nostalgia, they basically walked away leaving the house just as it was when they lived there. The collection they amassed includes an estimated 350,000 objects, including more than 11,000 books and 25,000 magazines.

The word “hoarders” might come to mind when thinking of so many things, but Miriam Farris, museum specialist at the Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site, says she thinks “accumulators” best describes the couple and the fact that “they never threw anything away.”

In the late 1990s, the park service built a storage building on the property to house and protect two-thirds of the collection. “I’d say within the last 20 years, anything a visitor could not see on the tour was removed from the tour and put in storage,” said Ferris.

That left 50,000 items in the home, and for the past 10 months, gloved workers have painstakingly inventoried and cleaned each object, and then wrapped each individual piece in acid-free paper and bubble wrap. They cleaned textiles with special vacuums with HEPA filters—placing a screen between the item and the vacuum attachment to prevent fraying or unraveling.

In the first few weeks of November 2015, crews will transfer the packed boxes to trucks to haul the beloved possessions to a National Park Service repository outside of Washington, D.C.. They’ll also wrap all the furniture. The repository meets preservation standards by maintaining a

a national park service r anger

lends a helping hand with packing.

climate controlled environment that is ideally 60 degrees with 45% relative humidity.

The second and third floors of the Carl Sandburg home will sit devoid of contents for the next three years as crews work to complete a number of crucial renovation projects on the aging structure. While the work could be completed much quicker than a three-year timespan, they must stagger the projects over the 36 months in order to get budget approval.

The pinpointed improvements include refinishing floors, repainting walls, rehabbing the windows, and installing a much-needed ventilation system. “It won’t be an air conditioning system, but it will force air and dehumidify the house,” said Sarah Perschall, chief of visitor services. “We can’t open the windows at night because of security. Since we can’t open them, the house stays closed up all night and traps heat in. We’ll be able to pull air all evening with the new ventilation. It’s the biggest visitor impact issue.”

November 2015 | capitalatplay.com 39

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Perschall says about 75% of fires in historic buildings happen when renovation is going on, so they decided to remove everything in order to preserve the Sandburgs’ legacy.

Thinking Outside the Box During the next three years, visitors will still be allowed to tour the house if renovation projects underway at the time do not create a safety risk. Having an empty home presents new challenges for the staff as they work to find creative ways to engage guests in bare rooms. One method is to have photography panels that feature images of what the rooms looked like when furnished.

“We’re also weighing the risk of having some items in the house,” explained Farris. “We have all the freedom in the world to put period pieces out.” One example would be to stage a typewriter similar to one that Sandburg used, but not the actual artifact. “We wouldn’t put his actual typewriter on exhibit because of the risks of being in a work zone.”

She has set aside a few items representative of Sandburg, like his iconic green visor, that can be displayed in a small display case on the ground floor, where they have visitor information and a bookstore.

“We were thoughtful about whether we should close, but we want visitors to have an opportunity to see the house” said Perschall. “For the first three weeks of November, tours will not be available because we’ll be moving the collection out.

The week of Thanksgiving we’ll reopen the tours, and we’ll decorate through Christmas. We’ll put poinsettias, pine bows, and greenery throughout the house.”

One thing that remains unchanged in the visitor experience is free access to the grounds, five miles of hiking trails, and the goat barn. Even if the work in the house on a certain day prohibits going inside, there are so many ways to explore the property and find spots that gave Sandburg inspiration as he wandered and jotted down ideas.

Life at Connemara Carl Sandburg, a native of Galesburg, Illinois, moved to Flat Rock with his wife in 1945. He was 67 years old, a time when most people retire and settle into a lifestyle less devoted to career, but Sandburg remained prolific during his time at Connemara. He had already won a 1940 Pulitzer Prize for history with his work, Abraham Lincoln: The War Years. The second Pulitzer Prize came in 1951 when he won in the poetry category for his collection, Complete Poems.

Other work produced during Sandburg’s Connemara years includes his only novel, Remembrance Rock, published in 1948; Always the Young Strangers, an autobiography covering the first 20 years of his life, published in 1953; and Abraham Lincoln: The Prairie Years and The War Years, published in 1954. He also traveled the country lecturing and reading poetry

VINTAGE ITEMS from the Connemara collection are painstakingly cleaned before storage.

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gift shop keepsakes reflect the life and times of the Sandburgs at their mountain homestead.

carl and paul a sandburg

were proud of their farmâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s prizewinning Chikaming goat herd.

photo courtesy National Park Service

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| November 2015

L through many of those years, and in 1959 delivered the Lincoln Day address before a joint session of Congress. His last book of poetry, Honey and Salt, came out in 1963, and in 1964 President Lyndon Johnson presented Sandburg with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Janene Donovan, who has served as a park ranger at the Carl Sandburg Home Historic Site for 30 years, says some people had a false idea about how Sandburg spent his time at Connemara. “He got a letter saying, ‘How can you let your wife do all the work and all you do is sit around and write?’” she said. “He definitely was the main money maker—a third of his books were published here. He was also very supportive of his wife. He would insist that any photographers go to the barn with him and take pictures of him with the goats. Her world champion goat, Jennifer, is the only time there has been a goat in the people section of Time Magazine.”

Paula Sandburg, by comparison, did maintain a more rigorous schedule. While her husband would write late into the night and sleep long into the morning, she would rise at dawn to care for her prized Chikaming goat herd. At the peak of her operation, she had up to 300 goats.

She would leave a thermos of coffee on the dining room table for her husband to start his day when he got up much later.

“She was milking 80 goats twice a day and breeding for milk production,” said Donovan. “Mrs. Sandburg could not drink cow’s milk. She thought it was important to breed for more milk and did a huge favor for a lot of people.” Her Grade A operation included the distribution of the goat milk to Biltmore Dairy in Asheville, Kalmia Dairy in Hendersonville, and Greenville Dairy in Greenville, South Carolina. She helped start the American Dairy Goat Association, based in Spindale, North Carolina, and served as its director for more than 10 years.

The Sandburgs had three daughters—Margaret, Janet, and Helga—who lived with them and helped them at Connemara. Margaret and Janet never married and always lived at home. Helga lived with them at Connemara for seven years with her two young children, John Paul and Paula, before remarrying and moving to Washington, D.C. in 1952.

“Helga was in charge of the dairy. She oversaw the dairy for her mom,” said Donovan.

“When she remarried that was a big blow, and Mrs. Sandburg had to hire more help. The youngest daughter, Janet, fed all the baby goats, and Margaret mostly helped her dad.”

Descendants of Mrs. Sandburg’s goat herd remain at Connemara today, but they are no longer milked. Staff does breed the goats. The breeding season takes place each fall, and it’s expected that Connemara will see between eight and ten babies arrive in the spring of 2016.

“All are registered animals and each one is named,” said Donovan. They currently have 21 goats but are planning to sell three of them. “We try to sell the older ones and keep the younger ones. This year, the three are going to Georgia and South Carolina, but I have sold goats to Indiana, Ohio, and Pennsylvania.”

Visitors are welcome to walk to the barn and interact with the goats there. Donovan says feedings take place at 9AM and 4PM, and guests can help brush the goats. “They’re so cool, because they’re so safe,” she said. “With a lot of animals you have to worry

“People want to interact. We’re really aware and thinking of creative ways to find that balance between preservation and engaging visitors.

We don’t know what that will look like yet.”

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about getting bitten, but goats don’t hurt people. They are just a great animal to have around even little, tiny kids.”

In addition to spending time at the barn, there are five miles of hiking trails on the property that will give visitors a glimpse of some of the scenic beauty and natural solitude that inspired Sandburg as he gathered ideas while roaming. The park service website says he would sharpen the pencil he carried with him with his pocketknife. Most of the trails are easy to moderate and include the Big Glassy Mountain Trail, Little Glassy Trail, and a trail that goes around the front lake, among others. There’s a handy .pdf map of all the trails at the Sandburg home online that you can print out and take with you or use to do some pre-planning of where you want to hike. You can access it here: www.nps.gov/carl/planyourvisit/ upload/TM-2012.pdf

50th Anniversary in 2018 Contents of the house are expected to return in late 2018, just in time for the 50th anniversary of National Park Service ownership of Connemara. Workers will then begin the painstaking task of placing each item back in the home in the exact spot where it was when the Sandburgs lived there.

“Every single object has a catalog number,” says Perschall. “We will know exactly where the objects go. It’s incredibly well documented. That’s why it’s taken a year to get packed.”

Even with clear documentation, it doesn’t mean unpacking will be speedy. “It will take as long to unpack as it did to pack,” said Farris. “We might not look normal again until 2019.”

She says the “hands-off” philosophy of the past may give way to the increased desire to give visitors a more interactive experience. “No touching will become a thing of the past in the next 50 years,” Farris added. “People want to interact.

We’re really aware and thinking of creative ways to find that balance between preservation and engaging visitors. We don’t know what that will look like yet.”

Footnote: The only fee charged at the Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site is a fee to tour the house, and they don’t expect to waive that during renovations. The price, however, is modest at $5 for adults ages 16 to 61 and $3 for seniors 62 and older. There’s no charge for kids ages 15 and under. Hours are 9AM to 5PM daily; closed only on Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Day. www.nps.gov/carl 44

| November 2015

Rootabaga Stories Children love visiting Connemara and its family-friendly goats, but Sandburg was also beloved by generations of children for a series of stories he originally created for his three daughters. In Rootabaga Stories and Rootabaga Pigeons, Sandburg penned American fairy tales that reflected the American childhood experience. These classic books brim with urban and rural American imagery, from skyscrapers and trains, to corn fairies.

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hand blown glass sculpture emerges from a white-hot oven.

Heating

Up

Art Scene THE

W I T H L E X INGT ON GL A SS WOR K S

written by emily ball ard

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| November 2015

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photos by anthony harden

November 2015 | capitalatplay.com 47

mooth lines, vibrant colors, and a collection of glass artwork gleams in the light of a special gallery in downtown Asheville.

Each piece of hand-blown glass begins in the furnace located just past the entrance.

On any given day, inside Lexington Glassworks, you will find the owners, Billy Guilford and Geoff Koslow, diligently and delicately crafting one-of-a-kind pieces in the galleryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 2,100-degree furnace that they assembled themselves. Locals and tourists casually drop in and stand behind a simple wood railing barricade that separates this impromptu audience from the artistsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; main stage. As they meticulously heat and shape the molten glass into an intricate piece of sellable art, they also create an opportunity for their customers to directly interact and witness the story behind the spectacular pieces on display.

tools of the tr ade must be

durable enough to withstand the punishing temperatures of molten glass.

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| November 2015

All Roads Lead to Asheville Geoff and Billy are young, casual in demeanor, and welcoming to all who enter their space. They exude a comfortable confidence gained from almost a decade of refining their

geoff koslow

craft. They are not new to the art scene, or the glassblowing industry, and although they have only resided in Asheville for a few short years, their business accomplishments are impressive. With a prime location, a growing presence in the community, and plenty of artistic freedom, financial success has become a reality for a couple of talented friends who shared an artistic dream.

They met while attending Alfred University, a small school in upstate New York, in what they describe as a one stop light town. Originally from Richmond, Virginia, Geoff had been working with glass since he was 15 years old. Billy, on the other hand, hailed from Cleveland, Ohio, and applied to the school for its world renowned ceramics program, but quickly became enamored with glass. Little did they know that the friendship shaped in those years would be a reflection of new things to come.

After graduation, Geoff was offered a full-time job blowing glass in a small production studio in Austin, Texas. He started at the bottom, cleaning up after more seasoned glassblowers.

Over a four-year period, he worked his way up the ladder and eventually took on a management role.

During the same time period, Billy accepted a position at the Pittsburgh Glass Center, a nonprofit glassblowing school whose mission was to teach and educate others about the art of glassblowing. As a technician, he was in charge of building and maintaining studio operations, as well as teaching classes.

Much like Geoff, he was able to learn and grow his job within the Center.

Perhaps the most important thing these creative partners have in common is a shared work ethic. They continually challenge themselves and each other. “We are passionate about the material. We are hard workers. You reach the top of that ladder and you find more room for growth,” says Billy.

billy guilford

A Spark of Imagination Both Geoff and Billy were ready for something new and began to hash out ideas. It just so happened that they were each planning road trips across the country. Call it fate or serendipity, but their lives seemed to be on the exact same trajectory: they needed to be free and explore. Seizing the opportunity, they spent the next few months travelling almost 14,000 miles. After their adventures and explorations wrapped up, they reconvened, eager to begin planning their future.

The skilled artists had each taken classes at the Penland School of Craft and had connections in Asheville. They felt a strong sense of community in the mountain city. Geoff recalls visiting the area after feeling burnt out from his job in Texas and sensing that it would be a great place for their new endeavor.

“I saw the opportunity here, “Geoff remembers. “Not all cities are still accessible for young people and that really excited me.”

November 2015 | capitalatplay.com 49

Creative Entrepreneurs The kind of studio they wanted to open was rare and, at that point, practically nonexistent in Asheville. They had plenty of experience and know-how, but were new to the details involved in building a business.

They were determined to do it the right way.

“We basically had zero business background… just four years work experience after graduation. No experience [with] getting funding or writing a business plan,” Geoff remembers.

Both Geoff and Billy feel fortunate that they were able to start their careers directly after college, and, in fact, were the only two in their graduating class to be offered positions in their field so quickly. They were able to use their savings from this work experience to launch their new business. They also secured a small credit line to cover start-up costs.

To avoid distractions, they leased a small studio in the River Arts District. The space was just big enough for their computers, a printer, and a fax machine. They would spend 40 hours a week doing research, drafting their business plan, and studying the area’s market. As the two describe this time period, they jovially depict the office as more of a storage unit. They exchange glances and laugh at the memory of the hours spent together in those very close quarters, brainstorming and planning ways to make their dream a reality. You can sense the ups and downs, and the excitement and fears, that must have filled that small space.

“We sat in that office day-in and day-out researching, and the numbers were just speaking to us. We were reading about all the market trends in Asheville and felt this was the perfect opportunity,” Billy says.

If they didn’t take action, they knew they would miss out on an incredible chance.

They enrolled in classes and seminars at AB-Tech and within the community, collecting any advice, guidance, and support they could find.

After scouting locations in Biltmore Village, the River Arts District, South Slope, and Weaverville, they found a building on South Lexington Avenue. It had been vacant for six years and had last been home to a 50

| November 2015

group of artists. Billy describes the space as “empty but full.”

They would have their work cut out for them, however. The first thing they had to do was strip down the building entirely.

With the assistance of a friend’s dump truck they emptied tons of trash. They enlisted the expertise of an architect friend to design a studio that would have an open and spacious feel with room for them to grow.

While waiting for construction permits, Geoff and Billy sidestepped labor costs by ordering all the special materials they needed to start building the equipment by hand: a cooling apparatus, and two crucial pieces needed to blow glass: the furnace and an oven they would use to reheat the glass between steps, called a glory hole.

We were reading about all the market trends in Asheville and felt this was the perfect opportunity,” Billy says.

big metal tweezers, called Jacks, steady a glass bulb as it is shaped by hands and breath.

Billy had plenty of experience with construction, but he describes the process as “unnerving.” He always had supervisors looking over his shoulder and inspecting his work. Now they were on their own, with no choice but to make it work.

“At the time there wasn’t anything like what we wanted to build in Asheville. My background is more the retail side,” Geoff explains. “Billy knew how to build everything.

It takes two people to blow glass. I think that’s how we really started the conversation. I had a pretty good idea what the product needed to look like and how to do the management and retail side. Billy knew how to build everything we needed. You can’t just go to the store and buy that stuff.”

November 2015 | capitalatplay.com

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le xington gl assworks

Billy, their assistant Leckie Gassman, and Geoff

Equipment assembly was not the only project the partners did for themselves; the walls had to be power-washed; the rafters needed paint; the plumbing had to be ripped out and replaced, and a long list of other responsibilities fell to them in an effort to save money and create a business that would truly represent them as artists.

“We didn’t have a real-estate broker; we did everything; we built the space ourselves; we wrote our own lease. We didn’t even know we had these skills,” Billy proudly recollects. Still, there were bumps in the road and moments when the two feared that maybe it wouldn’t happen.

A Grand Re-opening After seven months they gradually overcame those doubts and the frustrating intricacies involved in dealing with city permits 52

| November 2015

and financing. At last, everything was in place. They were fired up and ready to open the vintage garage doors to reveal the reimagined space to the public.

They moved on to doing the creative work: blowing glass, developing products, and creating inventory. Research and development was complete. It was time to see if their strategic preparations and projections would pay off.

“At first, it was just two of us. People would wander in and ask if we were open. The pedestals and gallery were empty. We were trying to remember what blowing glass was like. After two months we felt like we were actually open and had a good amount of work out there.”

Billy and Geoff wanted to create a space where people, children, and dogs were welcome. Anyone could walk in from the street and not worry about breaking something. They wanted to get away from the more traditional setting of an exclusive gallery and make

showroom and a few art pieces

November 2015 | capitalatplay.com

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their space accessible. What they have achieved is a clean and airy atmosphere that strategically enhances visual aesthetics, while serving the gallery’s other function as a working studio.

Beyond the shelves of vibrant glass vases, complex bowls swirled with color, and elaborate light fixtures, the guys are hard at work. As the small furnace door swings open, the heat is palpable. Glowing embers emanate a surreal orange glow. Geoff explains that it takes years to fully understand what you are seeing. Through that small opening is the glass that is being created. For these expert glassblowers, clear glass is a blank canvas. Once it comes out of the furnace, they add layer after layer of color and use hand tools to shape and form the glass.

As you watch them work, it looks like a carefully choreographed dance. They sit at the workbench, using techniques that have been around for 2,000 years; their movements are precise - each action deliberate. They work expertly together; a well-oiled machine, trusting each other’s knowledge as they handle the extreme medium, controlling the materials with care. Onlookers stare transfixed, following the thrilling

process from melted glass to a vessel that has been blown to life by the breath of these two remarkable artists. It is not every day that you get to actually witness the practice of glassblowing.

And that experience was the crucial intersection between art and commerce in their business plan.

“It takes two people to blow glass. I think that’s how we really started the conversation.

I had a pretty good idea what the product needed to look like and how to do the management and retail side. Billy knew how to build everything we needed.”

“We didn’t want that disconnect where you go into a gallery and say, ‘I love this piece. Can you tell me about the artist?’ In this studio you are talking directly to the artist that made the work,” Geoff says.

The curtain rises on another day

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| November 2015

Billy explains that they are selling more of an experience than a product. They promote an open door policy and encourage people to witness their process in action. It’s free to enter and welcoming to the general public.

“There is an educational aspect of what we do that really gives people an appreciation. Being able to see it happen and explaining the process empowers that $25 item or $1800 item.

It really puts it in perspective for our clients that they are supporting local artists,” says Billy.

White-Hot Possibilities Billy and Geoff have already experienced success beyond their projections and they are excited for what comes next.

Soon they will be opening up a small beer tasting bar within the studio. They envision their patrons purchasing one of their affordable hand-blown drinking glasses and filling it with beer, socializing, and taking in the surroundings.

In the future the studio may be open for special events, and the guys are excited to work with local restaurants and hotels in hopes of producing lighting fixtures, an increasingly popular product line for them. Each day has a full schedule.

They collaborate with clients, fill orders, and further their

craft; a combination of artistic experimentation and practical business fulfillment.

Billy and Geoff are elated to be a part of the development of Asheville as the city continues to grow. When they first started learning their craft in college, they were unaware that they would one day become a bustling city attraction.

A Bright, Clear Future If Geoff and Billy had a crystal ball, they would hope to see Lexington Glassworks become a staple in the Asheville artist community, with tourists and locals continuing to visit and re-visit their studio, watching their works-in-progress evolve. “We are excited to be where we are. We are blown away by the response that we have gotten. It has been a lot of hard work, but we are just happy that people are actually enjoying their experience.”

They also want to pay it forward by creating job opportunities for new graduates, in the same way those opportunities were given to them. Ultimately, these innovative entrepreneurs want to sell beautiful stuff that people are really interested in and share its story.

November 2015 | capitalatplay.com

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column

Lost and Found

How Virgil and Midnite found a home… and a way back to each other

W

HEN I WAS A CHILD (AND DOGS ROAMED freely in my hometown), our poodle, Gigi, would come to the school building every day at 3:15 to walk me and my sister home. Whatever adventures we embarked upon, she was our loyal companion.

T

tracy elliott

is the executive director of the Asheville Humane Society.

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When my mother gave birth to my younger sister, Gigi found her way to the hospital. Somehow she knew which room was my mother’s, and she laid outside the window all day. We had to carry her home at night because she refused to leave until my mother was released.

I’ve always been in awe of the powerful connection between pets and their people. Looking at photos of cats cozily curled up beside their person on the couch, dogs spread out on the bed next to their family, and birds nuzzling faces while gingerly resting on a shoulder, it is amazing how these universal images touch our hearts because we know it speaks to the amazing connection between humans and animals.

A few months ago, we received a phone call at the Asheville Humane Society from a veteran’s organization. One of their members, a veteran named Virgil, needed a special kind of help. He had moved to North Carolina from Texas to be with his sister, but the landlord would not allow additional tenants. He became homeless. Virgil was sleeping on the streets with his dog and frequenting day centers for food and water. They could offer Virgil shelter but he refused it because they could not accommodate

| November 2015

his dog, Midnite. He told them he couldn’t imagine his life without her. Both Virgil and Midnite needed a safe place to stay, so we gladly agreed to provide temporary boarding for his furry best friend.

When Virgil made the three-hour roundtrip bus commute to meet with us, carrying the 30-pound spitz mix in a crate, he was very concerned about Midnite. Before he left his beloved dog, he talked to us for a long while to make sure she was in the very best care. Virgil said she was his baby, and he was worried about leaving her. He wanted to make sure she would be okay. He told us all about Midnite’s various likes and dislikes and drilled us with questions. We told him we would help with her heartworm medicine, take her for walks, bathe, feed, and love her, as well as provide a clean, warm bed.

He told us he had purchased a bus pass, so that he could visit Midnite every day.

Virgil was a man of his word. He rode the bus to the Asheville Humane Society every single day, hiking up a considerable hill to see his beloved dog. Midnite had been with him her whole life. Not only was she a loyal and loving companion, but she also helped him keep his balance. Midnite looked out for him, as

T November 20, 2015 – January 3, 2016

much as he looked out for her. We eventually learned that Virgil had lost all of his toes from diabetic neuropathy and walking was difficult. We were amazed, wondering how he tackled his daily trips to see Midnite. But he never complained. Typically calm and aloof, Midnite would perk up whenever she saw him, wagging her tail, doing a little dance, and leaping out of the kennel towards him, full of excitement. From the moment Virgil arrived, the dog attached herself to him, gazing up at her owner with adoration. Their connection was undeniable.

As our staff watched these interactions, we witnessed a devoted friendship. Virgil and Midnite walked around the yard as he talked sweetly to her. If he stepped off-balance, she stopped, waiting patiently for him to steady himself, using the taught leash. When Virgil leaned down to talk to Midnite, she gave him kisses. The only person, he told us, that she ever kisses.

When he left each day, Midnite whined, begging him not to go. Staff members tried to soothe her with kind words and affection, but all she wanted was to be with Virgil.

DECK THE HALLS LIGHTING CELEBRATION Friday 5 - 8 pm, November 20

MIDNITE HAD BEEN WITH HIM HER WHOLE LIFE. NOT ONLY WAS SHE A LOYAL AND LOVING COMPANION, BUT SHE ALSO HELPED HIM KEEP HIS BALANCE. MIDNITE LOOKED OUT FOR HIM...

ASHEVILLE SYMPHONY CHORUS performs holiday carols at 6 p.m.

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After a month, Virgil let us know that he had found a place to live and would be picking up Midnite and taking her home. He had also gotten her certified as a therapy dog, ensuring that he would always have his buddy and helpful companion close by.

Midnite and Virgil touched our hearts. While we provided the medical care, nourishing food, and a warm bed, it was Virgil who won her heart and helped her thrive. Our staff remains in awe of this amazing duo, and it is our hope that all pets, and their people, have a chance at this kind of love!

The staff at Asheville Humane Society sees the amazing connection between pets and their people every day because these bonds are undeniable. We see people on a fixed income scraping half of the food off of their plate to give it to their animals. We see people who stay in abusive situations because they don’t want to leave their dog or cat behind.

We see people who choose to be homeless because their landlord threatens to make them leave if they don’t get rid of their pet. We are amazed by each story, and strive to find solutions to all of these limitations, to keep pets and their people together and thriving.

ONGOING EVENTS THROUGH

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THE OLD

NORTH

STATE [

news briefs

Dim All the Lights raleigh

Wake Electric Membership Corporation has released a remote monitoring system for outdoor lighting. Wake has been using the system at its own facilities since 2012.

This is just the latest in a series of innovations spun from an ongoing partnership with Sensus. The system, known as the Sensus VantagePointTM Lighting Control Solution allows all the outdoor lights used by an industrial or educational complex, or even an entire utility company, to be monitored simultaneously from a single computer terminal or handheld device.

The network starts with a plug-in sensor with an onboard metrology chipset. In addition to sensing, it performs analytics and communicates via a secure, long-range, two-way, radio-frequency network. The technology may be used

]

to dim or brighten lights for security or to adjust to changing daylight. It can also alert technicians of outages or developing issues with power supply. Problems can thus be resolved before consumers complain, or perhaps before they even know about them. Among programmable control options, it is capable of automatic customer updates.

Wilson Medical Expands Behavioral Health Capabilites wilson

Wilson Medical Center will add a 24-26 bed inpatient behavioral health unit as part of the first phase of a facilities master plan. The hospital is currently recruiting an adult psychiatrist and

one specializing in geriatrics. After renovations, the facility will be located on the hospital’s sixth floor, formerly a psychiatric unit. When it closed in 2008, Wilson County was left with no inpatient options. Involuntary commitments often exceed the emergency department’s six-bed capacity. Overflow could be transported as far away as Goldsboro.

Voluntary commitments add to the problem. Federal law forbids their discharge to a lower level of care, so they may have to wait weeks for treatment. The North Carolina Hospital Association cites a noticeable correlation between mental illness, failure to have a primary care physician, and lack of insurance.

Keeping Showrooms Relevant hickory

Resource Décor announced it will launch its successful B2B model in the United States in October. The company, with offices in Hong Kong, Hickory, and Ho Chi Minh City, supplies traditional furniture retailers and interior decorators, with no intention of providing direct sales. Chief sales and marketing officer Dixon Mitchell learned from an

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exhaustive survey he conducted that retailers’ worst problems were inventory management, visual merchandising, labor costs, and customers visiting showrooms only to collect SKU numbers to price-shop online. Another challenge was minimum order quantities creating an inventory surplus. The solution was to create one-stop shopping for all elements of a curated lifestyle floor display, complete with upholstery, rugs, lighting, and wall art. Room settings are customizable and will arrive at the retailer’s location in a container from Vietnam, complete with a planogram. Duplicate items could be shipped individually from the warehouse in Hickory. State-of-the-art ordering and tracking will replace the logistical complexities of international ordering with something as simple as an online shopping cart.

Interest in Cold Fusion Heats Up raleigh

Tom Darden made his millions cleaning environmental hazard sites. Now, he’s investing in cold fusion as founder and CEO of Cherokee Investment Partners, a $2.2 billion private equity fund. Tabletop

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carolina in the west

national & world

fusion seems a little unusual for Darden’s sound portfolio. In fact, cold fusion investigators, from creditable places like Oak Ridge Laboratories and Los Alamos, refer to the process as low-energy nuclear reaction (LENR) to dissociate themselves from the charlatans. Darden is currently funding the work of Andrea Rossi, an Italian with a United States patent on fusion at temperatures just over 1000K, far cooler than the sun’s ambient 14,000,000K. Darden has invested over $10 million in LENR, and he says he will spend substantially more because something is going to have to be proven before he’ll vouch for it, and then he must still convince his critics.

Recently, Cherokee Investment Partners joined forces with Woodford Investment Management in the United Kingdom, which has outspent Darden on LENR.

the old north state

since 2009. Vineyards took off in 1999, when the state’s Golden Leaf Foundation offered incentives to get farmers out of the tobacco business. By 2003, the Yadkin Valley (seven counties) was declared the first viticulture area in the state. In 2005, North Carolina had 48 wine producers in 28 counties, and, by 2015, there were 159.

Among subsidiary businesses growing with grape cultivation is tourism. The Department of Agriculture also concluded 17 million tourists visited North Carolina wineries, spending over $257 million in 2013. While natural growth for the industry is expected, grape cultivators would like to see more legislative help.

For example, wine sales continue to be forbidden in many places, and several growers would like a law requiring North Carolina wines to be made exclusively with North Carolina grapes.

NC Grows Grapes… and Profits

Dealership Deal

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A recent study released by the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services attributes the wine and grape industry with a $41.7 billion impact on the state’s economy in 2013.

Grape consumption has increased 33%

Jimmie Johnson, of NASCAR fame, signed a two-year contract extension with Hendrick Motorsports, and he will continue to serve as the ambassador of Lowe’s hardware. His crew chief, Chad Knaus, signed a three-year contract. The

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the old north state

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team of Rick Hendrick, Johnson, Knaus, and Lowe’s has been working together since 2001. Hendrick created team No. 48 especially for Johnson. At the time, Lowe’s was apprehensive about sponsoring an unproven driver, but with six championships and 74 victories fourteen seasons later, Johnson has successfully grown brand recognition for Kobalt, and he is now working on Lowe’s ProServices department. Johnson indicated the shortterm of his contract represented only the meeting point of all negotiators. At age 40, he has no retirement plans. A holdup in the negotiations had been Johnson’s wish to be more involved in Hendrick’s automotive dealerships. Similar deals were cut with Terry Labonte, Jeff Gordon, and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. With his name already on Jimmie Johnson’s Kearny Mesa Chevrolet in San Diego, he will soon be gaining stake in others.

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Chicago-based brewer MillerCoors, LLC, is closing its Eden plant in September 2016. It is anticipated that 520 employees will be laid off. A corporate statement attributes the closing to “economic challenges, explosion of choice and fragmentation in the beer business, and a dramatic change in the way consumers engage with brands.”

Since Miller and Coors merged in 2008, they’ve seen sales drop 13.5%. Last year, they sold 55.8 million barrels.

MillerCoors is the second largest brewer in the country. The first, AnheuserBusch, saw a 10.3% decrease in sales over the same period. By way of contrast, Samuel Adams, the nation’s largest craft brewer, doubled its output. By 2014, craft brewers had captured 11% of the beer market. The Eden plant was selected for shutdown because of its proximity to the company’s newest plant in Shenandoah, Virginia, which is better situated to serve Northeast markets. Anticipating the long-term decline in interest in traditional brands to continue, MillerCoors

will be developing brands in its “above premium” portfolio, such as the Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing Company.

Tiny Bubbles, In the Brain chapel hill

The UNC-Chapel Hill Eshelman School of Pharmacy may be closing in on a new treatment for diseases like Parkinson’s, Lou Gehrig’s, and Alzheimer’s. The development involves splicing a section of DNA, like that found in cells that promote growth and development in the nervous system, onto the DNA of white blood cells. Petri dish experiments have led researchers to believe the genetically-modified white blood cells, known as macrophages, would still go about their business of seeking sources of inflammation in the body. But they would have the added bonus of being able to release tiny bubbles, called exosomes.

The exosomes contain a protein, GDNF (glial cell-derived neurotrophic factor), which sustains and repairs nerve cells, as well as the DNA, RNA, and tRNA needed to get affected nerve cells to produce their own GDNF. Serendipitously, the macrophages can pass the bloodbrain barrier, blood vessels in the brain being impenetrable to many medical treatments. It looks like the discovery might have what it takes to treat degenerative neural disorders associated with inflammation in the brain. The North Carolina Biotechnology Center recently gave the program a $50,000 Technology Enhancement Grant in hopes of developing a licensable, commercial treatment.

A Helping Hand for Veterans durham

Duke Medicine is getting a hand transplant program. It will be the first in the state. To date, there are only twenty hand transplant centers, and only 150 people in the world have undergone the procedure. Candidates for surgery must

Solutions Without Limits be 18 to 60 years of age, and those who have suffered losses below the elbow in military service are encouraged to apply.

The procedure lasts about 12 hours. Hand transplantation is more difficult than single-organ transplants because doctors have to match skin, muscle, tendon, bone, cartilage, fat, nerves, and blood vessels. A new drug, Belatacept, shows promise with a reducing rejection of new hand tissue.

Linda Cendales will be in charge of the program, formerly of Emory University, where she was the director of vascularized composite allotransplantation and the Laboratory of Microsurgery. She trained at the Christine M. Kleinert Institute for Hand Microsurgery in Louisville, home of the first hand transplant program in the United States. Cendales participated in the first two hand transplants in the country in 1999 and 2001.

305 A Airport Road, Arden, NC 828.687.8770 | novakitchen.com

Digital Nooks & Crannies hickory

CommScope completed its acquisition of Airvana. CommScope designs, builds, and manages fiber and wireless networks.

Services for data transmission include increasing bandwidth, maximizing capacity, facilitating transitions to ever-changing technologies, and otherwise improving performance. CommScope’s data infrastructures may be found worldwide in large buildings, venues, data centers, central offices of telecommunication providers, airports, trains, and tunnels.

Airvana provides optimized 4G LTE and 3G small-cell solutions. It ensures five-bar coverage, expanded capacity, and superior data transmission for outof-the-way locations. Typical clients might include individual offices or homes.

Before joining CommScope, Airvana was a privately-held company, operating out of Chelmsford, Massachusetts, and Bangalore, India. Airvana will now be working out of CommScope’s Wireless division. The announcement came two weeks after CommScope purchased TE Connectivity’s wireless business.

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November 2015 | capitalatplay.com 61

#Now Trending: Ted and Flori Pate’s Authentic Start-Up written by shawndr a russell

|

photos by anthony harden

Starting a business is a risk y endeavor no matter your age or circumstances. Undoubtedly the stakes are higher when you’re in your forties with two kids and a mortgage. This holds especially true when your business partner is also your spouse, as is the case with Dig Local founders, Flori and Ted Pate. In less than two years, they have acquired 200 member businesses and 1.5 million website views for Dig Local, an app and website that helps people “Find Authenticity” in Asheville. Soon, it will be available in other cities throughout the southeast.

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T

he Pates’ big break came during Startup Weekend 2013 in Atlanta. They put everything on the line after those two life-changing days, and it appears to have been a smart leap of faith.

One of the key differences between Dig Local and competitors like Yelp and Tripadvisor is their exclusive focus on local businesses. The criteria to join this marketing co-op include: • Independent ownership; • 50% ownership in their region; • No headquarters outside of their region; • Not being a registered franchise; • Capacity to make independent decisions about their name, look, purchasing, and distribution.

flori pate

ted pate

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This model has become a big factor in their success and helped earn them the trust of members and users alike.

However, early skeptics saw this mission as a liability. “We did have some business mentors early on say that we were going to have to be prepared to turn down a lot of money with our strict definition of local. And we said that we were absolutely prepared to do that,” Flori says.

Part of the reason they were able to stick to this fairly audacious local-only goal was the reception they received at Startup Weekend. On a whim, Flori signed up Ted early in the same week of the event, after a friend suggested they check it out. Both were freelance advertising and marketing professionals at the time; the couple had no idea that their lives were about to change. Flori recalls, “Ted was watching football, and I yelled from the other room, ‘Honey, I’m going to sign you up for this Startup Weekend thing. It’s just a bunch of creative people sharing ideas.’” Little did he know that his mumbled consent would lead to entrepreneurship.

Since Ted didn’t know anyone there, he sought out fellow Ashevillian Hartley Brown. Flori was doing some logo work for her, but the two had never been introduced. “She asked me to join her team, and we started tweaking. Her idea was more of a traditional discount card

model,” Ted explains. They combined forces with a programmer and several other attendees, working like mad for the next 48 hours to prepare their presentation. They recruited Flori to create a logo. She did it in 30 minutes.

“We were competing against eight other teams, and I knew that we needed to have direct revenue in order to win. So, I suggested we turn it into a marketing platform.” They took first place, and the judges urged the team to launch their concept after the event.

Only three of the Startup Weekend team members wanted to pursue launching Dig Local, originally called Local Flavor. They soon brought Flori on and got to work. Six months later, they added another team member, a 23-year-old programmer, who received equity in the business. Eventually, the Pates bought out those other partners and now own 100% of Dig Local. “We were fortunate that it wasn’t messy,” Flori says, “and our programmer got a great job offer in Florida that I’m sure paid a lot more than we could afford.” Hartley is now a professor at Mars Hill. “She’s one of our biggest fans,” Ted says.

This fairly smooth transition is just one of the many examples of how things seem to line up in the Pates’ favor, dating back to 1994, when they first met as aspiring art directors at Atlanta’s Creative Circus.

After graduating in 1996, the new couple decided to go for broke and camp their way across America, interviewing with agencies and showcasing their portfolios.

“We had no money, so we would camp out, put on our fancy interview clothes in the morning, and go into these agencies reeking of campfire,” Flori explains. Ted adds, “We were competing for the same jobs and got lucky that the same agency in Portland, Oregon, wanted to hire both of us.” That experience marked the only other time the Pates worked together before starting Dig Local, nearly 20 years later.

The couple stayed in Portland for four years and then proceeded to crisscross America for the next decade, chasing bigger and better advertising jobs.

the pate ’s busy

home office.

Greenville was next, followed by Bend, Oregon, Atlanta again, and then Charlotte. “By this time, we thought, heck with it, we can’t keep moving around like this, we’ve got kids now,” Ted says. So, they took yet another risk and decided to move to Asheville in 2010 to be closer to Ted’s family in Burlington, North Carolina, and Flori’s in Marietta, Georgia. “We decided to sign a year lease and see what happened. We really missed Oregon, but we missed our families too… Asheville felt kind of ‘west coast’ to us in many ways, and we felt drawn here,” Flori says.

The gamble paid off in ways they never expected. Little did the Pates know that three years later, the decision would make launching a business easier, thanks to the outpouring of support they would receive from Asheville’s entrepreneurial community, including Paul Zurich of Biltmore Farms, whom Ted met during Startup Weekend. “He sent out about a dozen emails to people who he thought would be good mentors for us.

So, we met with Troy Tolle of Digital Chalk, and worked with Gustavo Kolmel [of LuAnn Capital] and Dr. Ed Wright [director of the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Programs at Western Carolina University].”

While Ted jokes that their story “sounds like a bad, cheesy movie… almost too perfect,” Flori is quick to add that they’ve “also endured plenty of hurdles, many of which people don’t see.” One of those obstacles has been staying afloat with zero outside dollars. They pay themselves minimum wage when they can, and everything else goes directly into the business. In the

beginning they had to invest their own savings to accelerate Dig Local’s growth, and the financial pressure has created many “talking each other off the ledge” moments, as Ted describes these bouts of panic. “It ups the ante because if it doesn’t work out, we both have to find different jobs,” he says.

Changing the name of their business was another hurdle to clear. Although challenging, they both fervently agree that the new name better encompasses who they are and what Dig Local is, since “Local Flavor” suggests a food-only business.

Just like their other challenges along the way, this one was an opportunity. Ted clarifies, “While we were confident of the name change, we didn’t know for sure if it would be seamless; it has actually been one of the best things to happen to the company. Not one business member complained, and now it’s a rallying cry: ‘Support Local and Shop Local’. Now, Dig Local.”

The new name also better fits with their tagline, “Find Authenticity,” since “searching” and “digging” go hand-in-hand.

“Just last week, someone asked me if Dig Local was slang, like ‘we dig it,’ or if we meant ‘dig’ as in ‘find’. I just said, ‘Yes,’ and laughed, because it’s really both—however it strikes you. We’re very fond of the new name,” Flori says.

Their steadfast refusal to let anything bring them down fits their mission to be a positive force in the community, without getting mired down in politics. “There are other organizations that are political, but we try to stay neutral on politics and social media. We’re just here to promote authentic Asheville,” Ted says. In this case, perhaps actions speak louder than words November 2015 | capitalatplay.com 65

Give, Give, Receive Although the company was built to support local businesses, Dig Local has received support back in spades, too. Hereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a list of programs and competitions that have helped the business get to where it is today:

2013 Asheville Startup Weekend (1st place) LEAD: Innovation Entrepreneurship and Small Business Summit winners Western Carolina University Small Business Project A/B Tech Entrepreneur-inResidence (first business to be part of new program) 2015 Asheville Startup Weekend Keynote Speaker and Judge dig local recharge station at

Asheville Regional Airport photo by Stacy Redmon, Red Rock Photography 66

| November 2015

1 Million Cups presenters

because Dig Local undoubtedly helps amplify the voice of small businesses by giving them a unifying platform. For example, the decision to expand the app’s beer and recreation categories goes beyond Asheville. Flori explains, “With what happened with Innovation Brewing”—the small microbrewery in Sylva still battling with big brewery, Bell’s, over its name—“we decided to reach out and include all breweries… in Western North Carolina.” Since people take day trips to visit breweries and seek out recreational activities, expanding these two categories felt appropriate and “satisfied the feedback many app users have provided,” Flori explains.

Just as they have to maintain a delicate balance between being an advocate for local businesses and operating as a business themselves, the Pates also constantly work to accommodate both their member businesses and their users. A third group that they must satisfy is future investors. “We’re at that point,” Ted says, “and we have a whole bunch of options ahead of us and a lot of important decisions to make. We’ve proven the concept; we’ve built the business model; we’ve got the tech piece going smoothly; we’ve made the sales, dealt with customer service, dealt with all of it.

Now, we’re ready for the next stage.”

That next stage will entail constant tweaking and promotion of the Dig Local Asheville portal, but the Pates are ready to ramp up soft launches in Greenville, South Carolina, Chattanooga, Tennesee, and Boca Delray, Florida—cities that currently exist on the platform. Users can toggle between Asheville and these other locations; however, they do not, as yet, have member businesses that have signed up in those cities.

As with Asheville, the businesses listed for those other locations have been pre-populated and, for now, enjoy free advertising. “The mentors we’ve talked to are excited that our business is very scalable and can be replicated anywhere. You could even do international!” Ted says, throwing his hands up excitedly. For now, they’re focused on destinations in the Southeast that are within driving distance of Asheville, hoping that will make it easier to market Dig Local and spread awareness.

“Maybe someone in their twenties can make some big mistakes, but we feel like we have to be really careful. It’s just us—this is our family’s business, so we’ve got to make sure that when we do get funding, it’s a good fit,” Ted explains.

NicØle m conville Photography www.nicolemcconville.com Portraits + Lifestyle + Weddings

Plan Local, Grow Global Suggestions pour in via their website concerning where Dig Local should go next.

With the right funding and investors, the Pates are confident they could duplicate the success they’ve had in Western North Carolina. “People want us to come to Cleveland, Ohio, since there’s a huge local movement happening there, and really, we’d love to bring Dig Local anywhere that it could help revitalize the local economy.

But we work 80 hours a week just on Asheville, so we’d have to have the right support in place first,” Flori says. This support includes boots on the ground salespeople and customer service support contacts who fiercely love their city and believe in Dig Local’s mission.

Although they’ve had a lot of interest from individuals and groups who want to invest, the Pates know teaming up with the right people is crucial to Dig Local’s November 2015 | capitalatplay.com 67

success. “We just haven’t been ready yet. Maybe someone in their twenties can make some big mistakes, but we feel like we have to be really careful. It’s just us—this is our family’s business, so we’ve got to make sure that when we do get funding, it’s a good fit,” Ted explains.

When they launch in other cities, the hope is that the reception is as warm and accepting as it has been in Asheville.

Just weeks after winning the Startup Weekend competition, the very first business owners they approached, Teri and Greg Siegel of Avenue M, said yes immediately, by just looking at the prototype. Next, they contacted Kevin Westmoreland, the co-owner of Corner Kitchen, Corner Kitchen Catering, and Chestnut restaurants, who said, “As a member of AIR [Asheville Independent Restaurants] since we opened Corner Kitchen 11 years ago, we have loved being a part of the independent restaurant community in Asheville. When we joined Dig Local, we felt it was a great way for us to support the larger, local independent business community that makes Asheville so 68

| November 2015

unique.” Member signups continued to snowball from there.

The cost to be included on Dig Local is $100 a month, and in return, businesses get a page on the Dig Local website, inclusion in the app, and benefit from all the promotion the Pates are doing for the Dig Local brand. They can also log-in to the site to update their own content online, in addition to sharing daily updates and events in real-time.

As marketers for twenty years, the Pates definitely know a thing or two about branding and promotion with koozies, posters, ads, sponsorships, t-shirts, and stickers. In October their shirts went on sale in the North Carolina Visitor Center, and early in 2015, they celebrated Dig Local’s one-year anniversary with a ribbon cutting at their newly decked-out recharging station at the airport. It features a large flat-screen monitor that is turned vertically to look like a smartphone, playing a two-minute video to promote 10 member businesses. The entire space is covered with photos of the area and local businesses, and a two-and-a half-hour continuous soundtrack loop of Asheville musicians.

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“Our product is marketing; it’s all we do. Some of our members have to worry about making bread or providing a service or running a venue,” Ted says, “but we can think about marketing all the time. We can step in and do that for businesses.”

can focus on tweaking their product instead of scalability or other cash-making concerns. “Being scalable wasn’t even our intent, but now we realize how important that is,” Ted explains.

“Josh Dorfman [of Venture Asheville] was the first one to point out to us that we did things backwards.

He said, ‘Traditionally, people make apps free and get lots of users, then charge people to advertise. How in the world did you make this work?’ We just said, ‘We didn’t know any better!’”

Having at least some money secured through yearly commitments from members may have kept Ted and Flori open to other opportunities. After a meeting with Pack Tavern’s Mary Evans, to discuss any updates she’d like made to the app, Flori says Mary “explained she was happy, but was there anything we could do to help move leftover food after holiday parties since we were already working with nonprofits?” Although Dig Local already accounted for over twelve hours of her work day, Flori couldn’t get the problem out of her head. “Later that week, Ted and I are both on our laptops one night, and he asked what I was working on, and I said I was

Dig Local leads by example, supporting worthwhile causes as an important part of their business plan. “What if every entrepreneur included that piece [giving back]; how different would the world be?” Flori wonders.

Being cash positive from the start allowed Dig Local’s owners to focus on becoming an information hub instead of selling ad space. They also chased their vision to promote Asheville, instead of chasing dollars. This freedom has allowed the Pates to put both users and members at the forefront of their decisionmaking. With an influx of money from member businesses, they

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just returning some emails. He peeked at my screen. ‘What’s Food Connection?’ he asked,” she explains, laughing. “I already had a logo in the works and knew this was something I wanted to help solve. Since launching Dig Local, I’ve realized that if you can’t stop thinking of an idea, then you should probably do it.”

They reached out to Asheville Taxi to set up a text-based service where restaurants could call for food pickups to be delivered to organizations in need. When Asheville Taxi owner, Woodward McKee, is on duty, he donates his time, but otherwise, the Pates pay the drivers’ fares. They’ve already moved thousands of meals to area shelters, and they recently launched a partnership with UNC-Asheville. Flori explains, “They have to cook X number of meals every day because of students’ meal plans, but kids eat out or skip a meal, and that was leaving close to 100 pounds of food per day wasted. Now, it’s going to six different organizations.” Food Connection and those donating the meals are protected by The Federal Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Food Donation Act, which was enacted in 1996.

“Sadly, so many people we’ve talked to didn’t know this act existed to protect them from liability, so it’s great that Food Connection can help spread awareness for it.”

Flori now spends some of her time focused on Food Connection as its executive director, in addition to juggling

her responsibilities as the creative director for Dig Local. It currently operates under the Grace Covenant Presbyterian Church’s nonprofit status, but they plan to file for their own 501-c3 status. They’re also in talks with other universities and businesses and are adamant that wherever Dig Local goes, Food Connection will come with it. “It’s incredibly rewarding,” Flori says. “If we’re having a hard day, we can always go, ‘Wow, look how much food was delivered today.’ I’ll get a text saying that 30 portions of prime rib was just delivered, and it lifts us up.”

Flori credits owning Dig Local for giving her the determination to launch Food Connection. “Before Dig Local I wouldn’t have been strong enough to take it on. I would have just said, ‘Oh yeah, that’s awful.’ But now, I know I can do something about it.”

Dig Local leads by example, supporting worthwhile causes as an important part of their business plan. “What if every entrepreneur included that piece [giving back]; how different would the world be?” Flori wonders.

For now, Flori and Ted Pate are doing good work for their local community and its people, creating positive and sustainable change, one city at a time.

November 2015 | capitalatplay.com

71

column

How Wealth Transfers: Calculating the cost of impatience

A

M

mike summey

is an entrepreneur, author of several books on real estate, and also an avid pilot and philanthropist.

72

LMOST EVERY DAY YOU R EAD ARTICLES OR hear commentators talking about the sad state of our country and how the gap between the rich and poor is widening. Have you ever wondered how wealth transfers?

I know, the mainstream media and many progressives blame it on big business and Wall Street tycoons. That may be the end result, but it’s not the reason wealth transfers from the poor to the rich. I’ve written about this before, but I’m taking a slightly different approach this time. I submit to you that there is only one way that wealth transfers—through debt. Consider this example: Suppose you and I work the same job at the same company and make the same amount of money.

We live in houses that cost the same price. The only difference between us is that my standard of living only requires 80% of my take home pay and I invest the other 20%. You, on the other hand, live a lifestyle that consumes all of your income each month. For this reason, in the beginning, you will always appear more successful than me. You will probably drive a nicer car, have more expensive clothes, take more vacations, and spend money on high-priced “toys.”

One day, you find a really nice boat that you would like to have, but you don’t have the money to buy it.

In the past, when you’ve asked why I didn’t do things your way, I’ve told you I’ve been saving my money.

You are aware that I have a sizable amount saved, so rather than going to a bank, you ask me if I would loan you the money to purchase the boat. You offer

| November 2015

to pay me 10% interest on the money. I trust you and 10% is a nice return, so I agree to do it. We have a note and security agreement prepared that gives me a lien on the boat as security for the loan. Everything is done in the same way it would if you went to a bank.

You buy the boat and begin making payments that include the 10% interest. Everything works great and eventually you repay the loan in full, with interest.

During this time, you look like you are doing much better than me because, in addition to all the other things you have that I don’t, you now have a boat, too.

Our friends and coworkers wonder how you can be doing so much better than me when we both work the same job and make the same money. They might think I waste my money because they cannot see how I have spent it. But during those early years, I lived a more frugal life, saved money, and prepared for a better future.

Let’s analyze the transaction that has occurred between us. We both worked the same number of hours for same amount of money up to the point when you borrowed the money for the boat. Prior to then, you spent all of yours, but I didn’t, which is the reason I could make you the loan in the first place. Just for ease of calculation, let’s assume the loan was for $10,000 and you paid me a total of 10% interest, for a total payoff of $11,000.

M Here’s where the wealth transfer occurs. We both worked the same number of hours to earn $10,000, but you had to work additional hours to earn the extra $1,000 you paid me in interest. Since we both make the same rate at our jobs, if I work the same number of hours you have to work to earn the $1,000, I will have an additional $1,000 plus the $1,000 you pay me. At this point, I will have $2,000 more than you for the same number of hours worked. The $1,000 you paid me bought you nothing, but it will buy me anything I choose. Rather than saving to buy the boat, you chose instant gratification and were willing to pay $1,000 more than the cost of the boat so you could have it quicker.

The cost of interest made me a bit richer and you a bit poorer. This example may be an oversimplification of wealth transfer, but when you apply this concept to the trillions of dollars worth of debt in this country (personal, city, county, state, and national), is it any wonder the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer?

After all, money isn’t borrowed from the poor; they don’t have it to loan.

Let’s go a step further. Suppose you were willing to save enough money to buy the boat over the same number of months it took you to repay the loan. Again, for ease of calculation, let’s assume you earned a total of 5% on your money while you were saving. 5% of $10,000 is $500. By saving first, you would still have the $500 your money earned after paying $10,000 for the boat. That’s $500 you would not have had to work and earn. The net result is that by saving first, you would only have had to work and earn $9,500, not $11,000. The $1,500 difference is the price of impatience… of having an “I want it now” mentality. I believe the average American pays enough in interest and finance charges over their lifetime to become millionaires.

I SUBMIT TO YOU THAT THERE IS ONLY ONE WAY THAT WEALTH TR ANSFERS—THROUGH DEBT. “But,” you say, “don’t you need money to make money? And, if you don’t have it and you want to make it, don’t you have to borrow money in order to do so?” The answer is yes, but only if you can put the borrowed money to work in a way that earns more than it costs to borrow. Banks are a perfect example. When you deposit money in the bank, the bank treats it as a loan; after all, it’s your money. You expect to get it back and, in most cases, you expect the bank to pay you interest or provide some service in exchange for the use of your money. The bank then loans the money to others and charges them enough interest to provide the bank with a spread between what it pays you and what it charges those who borrow it. That spread, minus the cost of doing business, is the bank’s profit, which is either used to grow the bank or is paid to the shareholders who own it.

I used banks in this example because the way they operate makes it is easier to understand. There are many ways in which other people borrow money and use it to make a profit. Personally, I borrow money from banks and invest it in properties that rent for enough to pay back the banks, and provide me with a profit over and above what the money costs me to borrow. The same holds true for many other types of investments, whether they are operating businesses like restaurants, manufacturing companies, service industries, etc., in which one can invest borrowed money and earn enough to repay the loans and make a profit.

November 2015 | capitalatplay.com 73

column

payments on a home loan, or pay rent to someone else who owns Naturally, the biggest returns come when you can invest your the property where you live. own money and not use borrowed funds. It cuts out the middle The real killer is consumer debt like credit cards or loans man. In the earlier example in which I theoretically loaned to finance campers, boats, RVs, planes, big screen televisions, you $10,000 to buy a boat, I would not have made as much if etc. These are things that many people buy in order to give the I had borrowed the money from a bank and paid 5% interest appearance of wealth, for which they have to borrow money to on it. Then I would have only made 5%, which is half of the buy. Our country is drowning in an “I want it now” mentality. amount I made using my own money. A good rule of thumb is People ask themselves: “Can to not increase your standard I make the payments?” not of living more than what the “Can I afford the purchase?” amount of money from your I BELIEVE THE AVER AGE If you choose the short-term investments will support.

AMERICAN PAYS ENOUGH satisfaction, others get rich at Now, back to the subject of your expense. why the rich get richer and the IN INTEREST AND FINANCE Fol low i ng W W I I, debt poor get poorer. When money CHARGES OVER THEIR LIFETIME was encouraged as a way to is borrowed to buy things that TO BECOME MILLIONAIRES. keep the economy growing. don’t earn income, or spent Interest, even on consumer on things that are consumed debt, was allowed as a tax like dining out, concerts, deduction. As a result, our country is covered in debt. However, vacations, etc., wealth transfers. Another good rule of thumb is debt no longer carries the stigma it did following the Great to consider any debt that must be paid from your earnings as Depression. At the time of this writing, our national debt alone helping someone else get rich at your expense. One exception is approaching $19 trillion. That doesn’t include state and local is a loan on a reasonable house in which to live, one that is governmental debts, which are at an all-time high. Consumer considered reasonable based on what you earn. It’s reasonable debt and student loans are in the trillions of dollars. How because you have to pay to live somewhere. You will either make

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M long can America’s obsession with living beyond its means be sustained? Or should I ask, how rich will the wealthy become before the poor go completely broke?

If your “I want it now” mindset is causing you to spend more than you make, you only have three options: spend less, earn more, or go into debt. Going into debt is the easiest option in the beginning, but doing so will eventually force you into one of the other two options. It’s a fact that holds true not only for individuals, but government as well. There is always a point at which lenders will refuse to continue loaning money and this is true whether it is to you as an individual, or whether it is a company or government entity. Believe me, unless we rein in our overspending habits, there will come a day of reckoning and it won’t be pleasant.

As debt grows, so will the gap between the rich and the poor.

Income redistribution is not the answer. I would be willing to bet my life that if you could wipe the slate clean, eliminate all debt and start over with everyone having exactly the same amount of money, within a single generation, those who are rich now, would be rich again, and the ones who are poor now, would be more likely to be poor again. That’s because some of those who are poor, are poor because of the choices they have made, and those who are rich, are rich because they have made different choices.

Taking from the rich and giving to the poor will not change this. All this does is reward some people who opted for instant gratification and provide little incentive for them to change. If you don’t believe this, just ride through any of the government housing projects that were allegedly built to give people a hand up. With all the trillions spent since Lyndon Johnson’s War on Poverty began, we still have just as much or more poverty today than we did back then. One very noticeable difference is changes in the work ethic of people who live far beyond their means.

So, before you start railing about the widening gap between the rich and the poor, take time to analyze why it is happening.

I think you will find the same thing I did. Wealth only transfers through debt and our present situation is the direct result of an entire society trying to live above its means by choosing to go into debt. Unless we curb our appetite for a lifestyle we cannot afford and begin paying off what we have already consumed, we are headed for an inevitable collapse in our economy. This is not a scare tactic, it is just plain common sense.

To learn more about the tools for financial success and how to avoid debt, read Mike Summey’s latest book, “Financial Security Bible: How to Build Wealth and Be Happy.” Currently available at Audible.com, the hard copy arrives in fine bookstores everywhere in November.

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This Isn’t the Big One, Elizabeth! edinburgh, scotland

A new blood test is expected to divert two-thirds of chest pain sufferers from hospital emergency departments. The new test measures levels of torponin in the blood. Researchers at the University of Edinburgh claim 99.6% of people with less than five nanograms per deciliter are neither having a heart attack nor are likely to have one in the next 30 days.

The test, funded by the British Heart Foundation, involved over 6,000 subjects at four hospitals in the United States and Scotland. Hospital admissions for chest pain have tripled in the United Kingdom over the last 20 years. Visitors now number around one million, but the

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overwhelming majority are not having heart attacks. Since clinicians are saying patients with low torponin readings may be discharged immediately and safely, cost savings should be substantial.

Wireless Battery Charging – No Strings Attached cupertino, ca

A patent for wireless iPhone charging, first filed in April 2014, was made public in early October. The suggested mechanism would not add bulk to the phone, as it would use existing coils for inductive charging. The patent, “Inductive power transfer using acoustic or haptic

devices,” suggests a couple of methods.

The first would assign double-duty to either an acoustic coil in a microphone or speaker, or a haptic (vibrator) coil.

The coil could be designed to perform its traditional function and charging simultaneously, or it could operate in a frequency-triggered either/or mode. The same would apply to the second coil, which would be attached to a charging mechanism, perhaps a docking solution.

Another possibility would be to use a central electromagnet that initiates and terminates transmitting and receiving mode in existing coils.

The 90-Second Oil Change london, uk

Castrol, a division of British Petroleum (BP), claims to have invented a 90-second oil change. Not only does the Nexcel system make it easy for the average person to change oil, it is supposed to be better for the environment, cutting down on carbon emissions, as well as using a lubricant that can be refined back into usable petroleum. What’s more, following tests in a wide variety of vehicles, the

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system appears to introduce no issues in acceleration, braking, or overall handling; even when going from 62 to zero mph in 1.6 seconds. The only hang-up is that automobile engines will have to be redesigned. Nexcel made its debut in an Aston Martin Vulcan racecar because it seemed the best way to speed up the research and development process. The technology might not hit the mainstream market for another five years because that’s the normal turnaround time for significant changes in automobile design.

Castrol is now in negotiations with major automakers.

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Another release is Amazon Snowball, a chunky, 47-pound storage box. For just $200, people who don’t want to upload files to Amazon’s cloud can just throw them in the Snowball, ship it to Amazon, and let Amazon’s experts do the work. At the conference, Andy Jassy, senior vice president of AWS, spoke openly about his intentions to disrupt competitors.

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Amazon Web Services (AWS), the computer service business of Amazon.com, Inc., shared new and forthcoming innovations at its re:Invent 2015 Developer Conference. Capturing most attention was QuickSight, which would provide a simplified user interface for businesses to access the marketing giant’s informatics. Users will be able to query data about people who have been clicking on

Big Ideas for Big Data Biometrics At a recent corporate investor day, Under A r mour CEO Kevin Plank announced intentions to employ as many as 500 apps in 2016. Plank wants his company to become the Facebook of fitness, like LinkedIn is the Facebook of business. This year, Under Armour acquired MyFitnessPal and Endomondo, adding to its existing apps, MapMyFitness and UA Record. At last count, 150 million people owned one or more of Under Armour’s apps, and 60 million were active users.

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Armour would track what people eat, how they sleep, how much they exercise each day – and then recommend products to deal with any changes. Forty percent of Amazon’s sales are attributed to recommendations based on individual search and purchase history. Plank’s futuristic vision is based on his philosophy that sooner or later every product is going to have a chip in it.

Solar Subsidies Subside san mateo, ca

SolarCity thinks it has the right stuff to offset the sudden drop in solar sales anticipated when federal subsidies end.

Currently, consumers enjoy a 30% tax credit on solar installations. In 2017 subsidies will be reduced to 10% for businesses and totally obliterated for homeowners. Leaders at SolarCity, including chair Elon Musk, CEO Lyndon Rive, and COO Peter Rive, are willing to invest heavily in solar because they believe it is the wave of the future. They further believe demand is so low in a supplier-glutted market because today’s offerings are mediocre. In 2014 SolarCity acquired Silevo for $168 million because leadership was interested in Silevo’s

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high-output, low-cost models. Then, just recently, SolarCity stole the crown from SunPower in the Renewable Energy Test Center’s determination of the world’s most efficient solar panel. SolarCity’s charted 22.04% efficiency, compared to SunPower’s 21.5%. SolarCity’s panels, rated at 350-360 watts, are 38% more efficient than today’s off-the-shelf models. They’re also less expensive to produce and install.

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Lyft is trying to brand itself as the ridesharing company that puts drivers first. One new incentive will be allowing drivers to rent Hertz cars at discounted rates. Other perks include discounted fuel at Shell gas stations in certain cities, and the ability to cash out for services rendered at any time, rather than waiting for payday. The incentives will increase Lyft’s applicant pool; 20% of drivers are rejected for having unqualified cars or no cars at all. Existing drivers can upgrade to a SUV or luxury car to increase earnings potential. To be eligible for discounts, drivers must work at least two hours a day and accept at least 90% of ride requests. They may not use the rentals to work for Uber; Uber won’t register Lyft-Hertz cars. Currently, 100,000 active drivers work for Lyft, many of them work for other ridesharing companies, and management harbors no delusion that they would sacrifice earnings for company loyalty.

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The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is requiring healthcare providers to transition to the tenth version of the International Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD-10). The list of 70,000 codes, labeling health problems and treatments,

was developed by the World Health Organization (WHO). It replaces the ICD-9, in use since 1979, which only had about a quarter as many codes.

The ICD-10 has been criticized for being unnecessarily bureaucratic with a ridiculous level of detail. For example, V91.07XA is for a “burn due to water skis on fire.” Botching a code on could lead to delays in payment, rejection of reimbursement requests, or corporate audits.

Promulgators, however, say the system is needed to transition from a pay-for-service culture to outcome-based pay. The transition is expected to create a hiring spike, as coding specialists are in high demand. Large institutions are expected to hire firms for software upgrades and staff training.

Vitriol Makes VW Vunerable wolfsburg, germany

In the days following the Volkswagen emissions scandal, corporate stock values fell 46%, an amount close to $34 billion. The German auto giant was caught running afoul of United States emissions tests. Volkswagen had spent nine years developing its EA 189 diesel engine, described as being agile enough for American drivers’ tastes, while meeting environmental standards. But standards stiffened, and the engine wasn’t up to them. At one point VW rejected technology available

by Daimler that could have made the engine work. VW ended up resorting to defeat devices, or software that caused the engines to run efficiently only while under the test. When in use, the cars expelled up to forty times the allowed levels of nitrogen oxides. The engine was slated for Volkswagen Group cars, which include Audi, Skoda, and Seat.

Since 2008, it found placement in 11 million vehicles, namely, Passats, Jettas, Beetles, and Golfs, which must now be recalled. Criminal investigations, regulatory probes, and lawsuits are

ongoing. Hans Dieter Poetsch, VW’s new chair, described the crisis as “existence-threatening.”

Chip and Pin Compliance is Complicated foster city, ca

Ef fective October 1, the lea st chip-compliant party in plastic card transactions will assume responsibility for any fraud. The deadline was set by major credit card issuers to prompt banks, retailers, and consumers to convert to EMV chip cards. EMV stands for Europay Mastercard Visa. Whereas traditional cards contain consumer data in their magnetic strips, chips will generate unique transaction codes with each transaction to prevent widespread data breaches and individual card forgeries. Reports of the number of cards to be replaced vary widely, but fall in the hundreds of millions. The cost of conversion is estimated at $8 billion. Large corporations have already transitioned, but smaller financial organizations will require time to sort out the new guidelines and install updated software.

Mom and pop shops are expected to run behind with conversions costing $200$300. Difficulties with the new system include longer wait times for connecting to financial institutions, functionality with no PIN or signature requirement, and inability to process add-on tips.

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boone fork tr ail

in Blowing Rock NC. photo courtesy Amanda Lugenbell Blowing Rock Tourism Development Authority 80

| November 2015

capital adventurist

l ake powatan

photo by Oby Morgan

FEELING STUFFED? DROP THE DRUMSTICK, GET OUTSIDE, & GET MOVING!

T

written by toni sherwood

The holiday season kicks off this month with Thanksgiving leading the fray. Soon we’ll be tempted to overindulge at office parties, football games, and family feasts.

Why not coax everyone out of the dining room and into the woods to commune with nature—and each other? These hikes are as accessible as they are family-friendly.

November 2015 | capitalatplay.com

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capital adventurist

a bent creek trail.

photo by Oby Morgan

Parking: It can be tight on busy days. There are approximately 12 paved parking spaces at the Hard Times Trailhead, and an additional 10 or so along the road just before you reach the paved parking lot.

(Tip: From here, there’s a feeder trail that will take you to the main trail.)

Dogs: Yes, on leash.

Loc al Wildlife: Bears roam Bent Creek Experimental Forest, and owls can be heard in the woods near the lake. Many migratory birds stop here as they head south for the winter.

Fees: None

asheville hikes bent creek

–

l a k e p o wata n l o o p

Just moments from downtown Asheville, The Bent Creek Experimental Forest offers visitors an abundance of trails. The 6,000-acre nature preserve is located within the Pisgah National Forest. Established in 1925, it is the oldest federal experimental forest east of the Mississippi River. Its purpose is to allow for scientific experiments in forest management practices that further restoration and promote sustainable forestry.

There are many trailheads to explore, but the Hard Times trail is a local favorite.

This wide gravel road gives hikers plenty of room to walk and comfortably share the trail with mountain bikers, dogs, kids, and strollers. It’s a short trek from the parking area to the creek where the trail makes a ‘T’.

At the creek, go right toward Lake Powatan. The route loops around the lake at a fairly steady elevation. There are fishing areas, a beach, and, at the end of the loop, a dam that pours into Bent Creek. The trail narrows as it circles the lake. At the end of the loop you will see the bridge you have previously passed. Cross the bridge to head back toward the parking lot. The lake loop takes approximately 20 minutes.

Alternately, go left at the ‘T’ and continue along the creek on the wide flat walkway. In about 30 minutes, you will arrive at a back gate to the Arboretum, which is accessible without any fees when the gate is open (sunrise to sunset). You can enter the Arboretum here and continue further, or simply turn back and retrace your steps.

All trails are well-marked and well-maintained.

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Restrooms: Outhouse at the main parking area.

| November 2015

photos by Oby Morgan

arboretum hike

photo by Michael Oppenheim the arboretum

If you’re more of a stroller than a hiker, steer the family toward the Arboretum.

Within the boundaries of the Bent Creek Experimental Forest, lies The North Carolina Arboretum. The main entrance is just off the Blue Ridge Parkway where it meets Hwy. 191.

This 434-acre public garden includes one of the most renowned Bonsai collections in the country, as well as a year round flower and botanical exhibit. With both indoor and outdoor displays, restrooms, plenty of parking, and well-marked trails, it’s a stress-free destination.

Take a leisurely self-guided tour of the 200-piece indoor/ outdoor Art Walk or connect with a guide at the information desk. Be sure to check out the beautiful grounds of the Quilt Garden, an exhibit of flowering plants using the traditional Rail Fence Quilt Block pattern.

But if you’re hankering for a hike, there are 10 miles of trails to work off that second helping of mashed potatoes. One easy walk is the Bent Creek Road, a 12-foot wide gravel-surfaced trail for bikes, pets on leashes, and hikers. This trail is 1.3 miles and follows Bent Creek, with many side trails.

Guided hikes are also available Tuesdays and Saturdays at 1PM, rain or shine through November. Guided walks last one to two hours and are not recommended for children under eight. Topics are seasonal and can include plant species identification and natural history. There is no fee for guided hikes. Walks begin at the Baker Exhibit Lobby on a first come, first-served basis.

Daylight becomes scarcer as we head into winter, but the Arboretum is one place to walk safely after dark. Starting November 20 the Winter Lights event kicks off. The three-acre nightly walking tour of the gardens includes the Quilt Garden and the Bonsai Exhibit. This year there are newly programmed animated displays that move to the beat of classic holiday tunes, as well as family-friendly activities throughout the garden. Winter Lights happens nightly, November 20-January 2, 6-10PM. Parking: Plenty with the fee.

Dogs: Yes, on a leash no more than six feet.

Local Wildlife: Bears have been spotted within the fenced boundary of the Arboretum, but generally this is an uncommon occurrence. A wide variety of bees, butterflies, and birds, such as hummingbirds, are attracted to the multitude of flowering plants during warm weather seasons.

Fees: $12 vehicles, $50 commercial vehicle, $100 buses Restrooms: Yes a dog friendly hike

photo by Camila Calnan Photography November 2015 | capitalatplay.com 83

photos courtesy of Henderson County Tourism Development Authority

capital adventurist

h e n d e r s o n v i l l e / f l at ro c k : h i s to r i c h e i g h t s

Parking: There are about 15 spaces in a horseshoe.

Dogs: Yes, on a leash no more than six feet.

Local Wildlife: Minimal bear risk, so take sensible precautions.

“Squirrels are probably the most exotic animals you’ll see,” Fleming says.

Fees: None Restrooms: None jump off rock

Thanksgiving and hiking go hand-in-hand. Jump Off Rock is a scenic overlook that gets its name from local folklore.

The tale has it that a Cherokee Indian Chief fell in love with a young Indian maiden. They would meet on the rock ledge and look over the valleys and rolling hills. When the chief was called to war, the maiden vowed to wait for him at their favorite spot. But when word came that the chief had died in battle, the heartbroken maiden jumped from the precipice.

Some say her spirit still haunts the bluff.

The Jump Off Rock scenic overlook is just five miles from downtown Hendersonville. “This is a great destination for a variety of skill levels,” Michelle Fleming, communications

coordinator for the Henderson County Tourism Development Authority, says. “There’s a trail to fit everybody.”

There are three trails that vary in length and intensity. The blue trail is the shortest and easiest, it’s about an eight-minute walk. The yellow trail is moderately strenuous and about a 15-minute walk. The red trail is a good three-mile stretch. It’s more challenging and takes about an hour.

But if the view is what you’re after, the observation area is an easy stroll. “The panoramic view is just 100 feet from the parking lot,” Fleming says.

The park is open year round sunrise to sunset

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b e a r p r e c au t i o n s :

d o n ’ t wa l k a l o n e

mak e lot s of noi s e

c a r ry b e a r b e l l s

i f yo u s p o t a b e a r

A great way to scare off bears, as there is safety in numbers.

Bears tend to avoid human contact if they hear you coming.

Put them on your dog’s collar or attach to your backpack.

Back away slowly, and don’t run; remain calm and walk away.

(above lef t ) boone fork tr ail , photo courtesy Amanda Lugenbell with the Blowing Rock Tourism Development Authority (above right ) photo by Oby Morgan

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capital adventurist

STEP-BY-STEP: Damage Control For Over Indulgers.

The number of calories burned by walking depends on one’s weight, walking speed, and distance. A good rule of thumb is a 180-pound person burns 100 calories per mile, a 120-pound person burns 65 calories per mile.1 The number of calories varies by how the food is prepared; throw a stick of butter in the mashed potatoes and you’ve got far more fat per serving.

Here are some guidelines to approximate calories in many traditional holiday foods: 2

4 oz white meat turkey

4 oz dark meat turkey

¼

½

180 323 50

cup turkey gr av y

cup stuffing

190

1 cup mashed

190

¾ cup sweet potato casserole

624

potatoes

pumpkin pie of 9 ” pie)

(1/ 8

316

1. Source: walking.about.com/cs/howtoloseweight/a/howcalburn.htm 2. Source: www.caloriecount.com/calories-thanksgiving-food-b362227

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| November 2015

Parking: It can get tight on busy days with about 30 spaces available, including three oversized lots for RVs and buses. The Flat Rock Playhouse parking lot is available until noon for additional parking, and in the afternoons when a performance is not scheduled. Signs will be posted on performance days to restrict parking.

Dogs: Yes, must be on a leash no longer than six feet.

Dog waste disposal bags are not provided so be sure to bring your own.

Local Wildlife: Turkeys, squirrels, birds, and the occasional bear. With so much activity on the property, bear sightings are rare.

Fees: None Restrooms: Only available when the house is open to visitors; 9AM-5PM every day of the week. carl sandburg house tr ails

Five miles of gorgeous trails steeped in literary history surround the Carl Sandburg House.

The trails are accessible sun up to sun down even when the house is closed. The easiest hike is the loop around Front Lake, a .4-mile flat path.

Most visitors walk to the main house and on the trail around Front Lake, but the trails behind the house offer more seclusion and opportunities for solitude. These trails can accommodate two people walking abreast.

From the House to Glassy Mountain is a 1.25 mile moderate to strenuous trek with a 523-foot climb in elevation, but it’s worth it for the view at the end. This trail offers the best views, and as the leaves fall it becomes less obstructed. You can see downtown Hendersonville from the peak. Simply follow your tracks back to return to the House.

The Memminger Trail is a moderate to strenuous loop of approximately .75 mile that crosses the Glassy Mountain Trail before heading back to its origin.

Occasionally, the park sees black bear activity. “Last year the oak trees were prolific with acorns and that attracts a lot of wildlife,” Sarah Perschall, chief of visitor services, says. “So far this year has been one of the least active bear seasons.”

Regardless, Perschall advises hikers to err on the side of caution and avoid walking alone. carl sandburg tr ail

photos by Anthony Harden

Carl Sandburg House trail map: www.nps.gov/carl/planyourvisit/upload/TM-2012.pdf November 2015 | capitalatplay.com 87

capital adventurist

Parking: Plenty, over 150 spaces.

Dogs: Yes, must be on a leash no longer than 6-feet.

Local Wildlife: Heath has never seen a bear on the trails - a few hikers have, but it is rare. “Mostly I see deer, turkeys, groundhogs, and hawks,” he says.

boone & b low i n g roc k

Fees: None.

Restrooms: Not open in November.

boone fork tr ail

This 5-mile loop is easy to find with the trailhead located at the Price Park picnic area.

“Up here everything depends on the weather,” Bob Heath of the Blue Ridge Hiking Club explains. When roads ice over, the Forest Service will close parts of the Blue Ridge Parkway. But Heath says if the Blue Ridge Parkway is open, the Boone Fork Trail is among his favorites. “I could take anyone who comes to visit me there,” Heath says. Heath has been coordinating hikes for the club for over six years. He leads one to two hikes per month.

Proper shoes and clothing are a must, especially in areas of higher elevation that tend to be colder and more prone to weather fluctuations. “People come up here and think they can do Grandfather Trail in a pair of flip-flops,” Heath quips.

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The Boone Fork Trail winds along a creek with occasional waterfalls. There are many stream crossings. For those who are unfamiliar with mountain hikes, Heath says it could be considered fairly strenuous.

If you’re up for a shorter hike, Heath recommends taking the trail to the right, going as far as you wish to go, then simply turning back. “That’s the prettiest part.”

The Blue Ridge Hiking Club organizes four weekly hikes; the easier hikes are Monday and Friday, whereas the Wednesday and Saturday hikes are harder and longer. Newcomers are always welcome.

Blue Ridge Hiking Club: www.boonenc.org/hiking/index.html

con e manor to ba s s l ak e

Another destination not to be missed is the Moses Cone Memorial Park, with 3,600 acres of pristine mountain terrain. Cone Manor (a.k.a. Flat Top Manor) now houses the Parkway Craft Center. This 20-room, 13,000- sq-ft. house was built in 1901 in the grand Colonial Revival style for Moses Cone, a prosperous textile entrepreneur, conservationist, and philanthropist.

The Craft Center occupies the first floor, which is open to the public.

Like most of the trails in the park, Cone Manor to Bass Lake was originally a carriage trail so itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s possible to walk several people abreast on the crushed rock surface. Horses are also allowed on the trail.

The 2.5 mile roundtrip trail is considered easy with a steady uphill climb of approximately 400 feet in elevation from Bass Lake. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s great for kids and the whole family. Although there are no spectacular mountain views along the trail, the hike features lush foliage with streams and trees, including huge white pines planted by Cone. Swans, geese, and mallards are among the birds that populate Bass Lake.

Moses Cone Memorial Park/Flat Top Manor is located at milepost 294 off the Blue Ridge Parkway, between US 321 and US 221. Bass Lake can be accessed from US 221.

Parking: About 50 spaces are available at Cone Manor, which can get crowded at times. There is an additional smaller parking lot at Bass Lake with approx. 10 spaces Dogs: Yes, on leash.

Local Wildlife: Bears have been spotted in the park, take normal precautions Fees: None Restrooms: Available during Manor hours: daily 9AM-5PM.

When hiking in winter months, be sure to check road closures on the Blue Ridge Parkway before heading out.

November 2015 | capitalatplay.com 89

events

November

EVENTS november 2

First Monday Concert Series 12:30PM Scott Concert Hall, Porter Center Brevard College: Brevard, NC The Brevard Music Center and Brevard Community College welcome pianist Donna Lee and cellist Keith Robinson.

Robinson is an award-winning chamber musician and soloist, who helped found the Miami Quartet in 1988. He plays a Giovanni Grancino cello made in 1690.

Debuting as a soloist in 1990, Julliardtrained Lee has traveled the world teaching and playing in her elegant and refined style.

> Free > 828-884-8188 > brevard.edu

november 4

Biltmore House TreeRaising Ceremony 10AM Biltmore Estate One Lodge Street, Asheville, NC In an annual tradition, the tallest tree from the Biltmore Estate forest is hauled along Approach Road to the house by a horse-drawn carriage. Mr. and Mrs. Claus break from their hectic seasonal schedule to accompany the tree. At the end of the journey, over 30 employees painstakingly decorate the tree .

> Free with Admission: Adult $50, Youth (10-16) $25

> 800-411-3812 > biltmore.com november 5

The Search For Life In The Solar System 7-9PM Manheimer Room, Reuter Center UNC-Asheville: Asheville, NC At the monthly meeting of the Astronomy Club of Asheville, UNC-Greensboro

associate professor emeritus Stephen Danford will discuss recent findings that lead some scientists to believe there may be life on other planets. Particular attention will be given to Mars and Jupiterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s moons.

> Free > astroasheville.org november 6 - 8

Southern Rodeo Finals Western North Carolina Agricultural Center, Mcgough Arena 1301 Fanning Bridge Road, Fletcher, NC Contestants come from as far away as Canada, Florida, and Oklahoma to compete in the oldest rodeo association east of the Mississippi. Events include: bareback, saddle bronc, bull riding, calf roping, steer wrestling, team roping, barrel racing, and breakaway roping. The Southern Rodeo Association (SRA) was founded in 1954 to preserve the cowboy heritage.

>Tickets: Adult $15, Child $5, Full Weekend $36

> 919-963-2599 > srarodeo.com or wncagcenter.org/ events/2015/sra-rodeo-finals

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november 7

Civitan Club Of Hendersonville Presents The Hendersonville Swing Band 3PM Hendersonville High School 1 Bearcat Blvd, Hendersonville, NC Led by trombonist Jerry Zink, the 19-piece Hendersonville Swing Band plays Big Band hits from the ’30s, ’40s, and ’50s. Most band members hail from that era, playing only three to four public performances per year.

Proceeds to benefit activities of the Civitan Club of Hendersonville.

> Suggested Donation: $10 > 828-693-0090 november 7

11th Annual Western North Carolina Pottery Festival 10AM-4PM Front Street - Dillsboro, NC Forty-five juried master potters converge in the rustic town of Dillsboro for one day of fall fun. The primitive, elegant, functional,

and decorative will be represented. Artisans come to show their wares, but some will compete in the Clay Olympics. Pre-festival receptions and other activities are planned for Friday from 1PM-5PM, rain or shine.

> Admission: Adult $5, Child (0-12) Free > 828-631-5100 > wncpotteryfestival.com

november 8

6th Annual Warmth Of Home Benefit Concert 3-5PM Flat Rock Cinema 2700 Greenville Hwy, Flat Rock, NC In the season closeout of the Magnolia Concert Series, Tom Fisch and Terry Welton perform a benefit show for the Interfaith Assistance Ministry’s winter heating fund. Guests enjoying dinner are asked to arrive half an hour before show time. The series is produced by Howard Molton and sponsored by Morris Broadband, Carolina Investment Brokers, Hampton Inn, and WTZQ-AM 1600.

>Tickets: $15 > 828-697-2463 > flatrockcinema.com

november 10

Key Learning Center At Carolina Day School 6:30PM Crowne Plaza Resort Expo Center One Resort Drive, Asheville, NC Tommy Spaulding is a world-renowned inspirational speaker and New York Times best-selling author. He is the former CEO and president of Up with People, one of the largest nonprofits in the world.

He will deliver the keynote address and participate in a panel discussion with experts on dyslexia. Spaulding will be selling and signing copies of his latest book The Heart-Led Leader: How Living and Leading from the Heart Will Change Your Organization and Your Life.

> Free: Pre-registration requested > 828-274-0757 > carolinaday.org/unlockingpotential november 11-15

Veterans Day At Chimney Rock 8:30AM-4:30PM Chimney Rock State Park 431 Main Street, Chimney Rock, NC

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events

The park honors our nation’s veterans with free admission November 11-15, with proof of service. $1 and $2 discounts are available for up to five friends arriving in the same vehicle. The park covers 6270 acres with 75-mile vistas, hiking trails for all levels, and 404-ft. Hickory Nut Falls.

The 315-ft. chimney is accessible by climb and elevator.

> Admission: Adult $15, Youth $7, Vets Free > 800-277-9611 > chimneyrockpark.com

november 14

Race To The Taps: Oskar Blues 1PM-until Oskar Blues Brewery 342 Mountain Industrial Drive Brevard, NC Promoters warn “this ain’t no pub crawl.”

Six 4-mile races of varying degrees of difficulty take timer-chipped athletes and run-walkers through the beautiful fields and forests of Brevard. A new, rolling race course tours lovely neighborhoods.

Runners can enter all races if they so choose. Dogs and strollers would be inappropriate. Oskar will provide beer at the finish line.

> Registration: Runners $38, Spectators Free > 828-883-2337 > racetothetaps.com

november 14

Unveiling Of The Summit Express 10AM Sugar Mountain Ski Resort 1009 Sugar Mountain Drive Sugar Mountain, NC Good just got better. Sugar Mountain Resort promises innovations every year with a “wow factor.” This year, a comfy, 92

| November 2015

mile-long lift up to the top of the 5,300ft. peak will be unveiled with a grand opening celebration. With the Summit Express and the re-engineered Little Gray and Gunther’s Way lifts, the resort may now transport 10,520 people an hour. Other improvements include new snowmaking machines and fresh food options. Sugar Mountain is the state’s largest snow-sports resort.

>Tickets: See website for pricing. > 800-784-2768 > skisugar.com november 18 - 21

Fade 2015

7:30PM Valborg Theatre, Appalachian State University 480 Howard Street, Boone, NC The Fall Appalachian Dance Ensemble students perform, choreographed with the assistance of faculty members Sherone Price, Kathryn Ullom, and Laurie Atkins.

This year’s performance will be a mix of modern and contemporary compositions.

The Valborg is designed with excellent sight lines to optimize appreciation of dance and choreography.

>Tickets: Adult $17, Student $10 > 828-262-7533 > appstate.edu

– january 3 23rd Annual National Gingerbread House Competition november 18

9AM-9PM Omni Grove Park Inn 290 Macon Avenue, Asheville, NC Starting in 1992 as an unpretentious, friendly gathering, the contest has grown to become one of the nation’s best-known Christmas traditions. The competition is so stiff, it attracts expert artisans from the world of pastry design. Even the judges are

nationally-acclaimed experts in the fields of food and art. The quaint, Olde World charm of these edible masterpieces in the historic inn is so delightful, you may find yourself clasping your hands and exclaiming, “Goody! Goody! Gumdrops!”

> Holiday Parking: $10 and up > omnihotels.com/hotels/asheville-grovepark/

november 19

Taste Of Asheville Food & Wine Event 6-9PM The Venue 21 North Market Street Asheville, NC Asheville Independent Restaurants (AIR) will host a small plate crawl for the curious epicurean to sample 40 downtown restaurants. Chefs will share established traditions and debut mystery creations.

Beverage distributors will ensure elixirs flow to wash down the tasty morsels. The new Taste of Asheville Passport, a $60 booklet offering about $750 in promotions from AIR members, will debut the same night. A portion of ticket proceeds benefit culinary educational programs sponsored by AIR.

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>Tickets: Single $70, Couple $125 > airasheville.org

– january Winter Lights november 20

2

6-10PM NC Arboretum 100 Frederick Law Olmsted Way Asheville, NC The nationally-recognized gardens will be thoroughly lit under the direction of Jerry Stripling, who once designed and managed holiday decorations, special projects, and events at Walt Disney World.® A special feature is a couple of garden-scale model trains. The Savory Thyme Café and Baker Exhibit Center

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events

Connections Gallery will be open for business. No pets allowed. All tickets must be purchased in advance.

>Tickets: Adult $18, Child (5-11) $16,

THE FREE SPIRIT OF ENTERPRISE

Infant (0-4) Free > 828-665-2371 > ncarboretum.org

W E S T E R N N O R T H C A R O L I N A' S

Business Lifestyle MA G A Z I N E L

view the current edition or ďŹ nd a pick-up location online

C A P ITA L AT P L AY.C OM

november 21

Holiday Parade & Light Up The Town 3PM-6:30PM Downtown West Jefferson, NC The West Jefferson parade starts at 3PM, and the lights come on at 5:30PM. Many downtown shops have agreed to stay open late so patrons can complete their Christmas shopping early. To entice those who may be inclined to procrastinate, live music will enliven the pace, while merchants offer yummy goodies and chances for prizes inside.

> Free > visitwestjefferson.org november 21

Holiday Parade 11AM-4PM Downtown Asheville, NC

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This year, over 100 floats, marching bands, and dancers will stream from South Charlotte Street to Biltmore Avenue, stop at Pack Square for performances, then continue down Patton Avenue to South French Broad. Bojangles will sell lunch along the route. After the parade, Ingles will host activities for kids in Pack Square.

The parade has 24 sponsors and approximately 40 merchants participating in this yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Holiday Windows Walking Tour contest. Roads will be closed.

> Free > 828-251-9973 > ashevilledowntown.org

november 21

november 25 - december 30 Shadrack’s Christmas Light Show

8PM Thomas Wolfe Auditorium 87 Haywood Street, Asheville, NC

7:30PM-10:30PM Western North Carolina Agricultural Center 1301 Fanning Bridge Road, Fletcher, NC

Asheville Symphony: The Planets

Daniel Meyer conducts the music of the spheres. First, the smooth, melodic tones of Joseph Haydn’s Sinfonia Concertante in B-flat major will be interpreted with solos on the violin, cello, oboe, and bassoon. Next, is Gustav Holst’s The Planets, which will paint sonic pictures of the planets from an astrological perspective.

Though first scored for piano, with mysterious Neptune only written for organ, Holst’s re-scoring for orchestra has been compared to works by Rimsky-Korsakov and Stravinsky.

>Tickets: Adult $22-$62, Youth $11-$43 > 828-254-7046 > ashevillesymphony.org

november 22

David Holt’s State Of Music Live 3-5:30PM Bardo Arts Center Theatre Western Carolina University Cullowhee, NC David Holt hosts a PBS program featuring modern masters who will gather in an Appalachian setting for music and storytelling. The four performers are multi-instrumentalist Josh Goforth, Rhiannon Giddens of the Carolina Chocolate Drops, gospel group The Branchettes, and local bluegrass sensation Balsam Range. The event will be videotaped as a companion piece for Holt’s TV series.

>Tickets: Standard $45, $35 > 828-227-7211 > wcu.edu

Described as the world’s largest drivethrough, fully-synchronized, LED Christmas light and music show – of its kind with write-ups in magazines like Forbes. Hundreds of thousands of lights are precision-placed and programmed to perform with spirited music. It’s huge, brilliant, animated, and too much to take in during a single visit. It is the result of Shadrack’s passion to share the true meaning of Christmas with holiday cheer.

The show now runs in six locations.

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> Admission: Family Vehicle $20,

Activity Van/Mini Bus $40, Limo $40, Bus $80 > 888-321-7547 > shadrackchristmas.com

november 23 - december 1

The Names Project Aids Memorial Quilt 10AM-7PM Renaissance Hotel, 31 Woodfin St, Asheville, NC For the eighth year, the Western North Carolina Aids Project is bringing the NAMES Project quilt to Asheville. An opening ceremony will be held at 6PM on November 23. It will feature a keynote address by NAMES Project co-founder Mike Smith, and musical performances by classical guitarist James Barr and a cappella group Pastymes. The project was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize and is the subject of an Academy-Award winning documentary.

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events

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New items arriving daily!

Come see for yourself!

Tuesday through Saturday | 10am to 4pm 1215A Greenville Hwy. Hendersonville, NC

828.693.3535 Accepting Quality Consignments

Chasing Rainbows: The Road To Oz Flat Rock Playhouse 2661 Greenville Hwy Flat Rock, NC This musical portrays a biographical sketch of Judy Garland’s rise to fame with The Wizard of Oz. The program was developed in the Johnny Mercer Writers Colony at Goodspeed Musicals.

Hollywood musical hits, including “Over the Rainbow,” will be featured.

>Tickets: $15- $40 > 828-693-0731 > flatrockplayhouse.org november 27- 29 Thanksgiving Weekend Activities 5:30PM-9:30PM Chetola Resort, 185 Chetola Lake Dr Blowing Rock, NC Santa’s coming to Chetola every night over the weekend, and he has lots of cookies and decorations, school age assemblers and eaters. It’s free to wander in, but horse-drawn carriage rides around the lake and photos with Santa will cost. Signups for the rides start each evening at 5PM. Timberlake’s Restaurant will be open for dinner, and to parties with reservations, from 5-10PM.

> Carriage Rides: Adult $18, Child

(3-12) $11, Infant (0-2) Free; Photos: One $12, Two $20 > 828-295-5500 > chetola.com

november 28

Ole Timey Day At The Curb Market 8AM-2PM Curb Market 221 North Church Street Hendersonville, NC Visitors can wander around looking at 96

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crafts, farm equipment, and old cars. The November event has a Christmas theme, with carols, traditional decorations, crafts, and gift items. Ole timers start the day firing up wood stoves to prepare a breakfast of ham, sausage, and gravy biscuits. The Curb Market (est. 1924) began as the place where farmers brought extra produce to town for the city folk.

> Free > 828-692-8012 > curbmarket.com november 28

Joe Shannon’s Mountain Home Music 7:30PM-9:30PM St. Elizabeth Catholic Church 259 Pilgrims Way, Boone, NC Preeminent Celtic singer/guitarist John Doyle will share traditional Irish and original works while recounting Christmas stories from his youth in Dublin.

Cofounder of Irish super group, Solas, the fast-strumming Doyle has played and/or sung on over thirty albums. He will be joined by fiddler Duncan Wickel, who is also a master of the uilleann pipes and Irish whistle. The two have been playing together off and on since Wickel was a wee lad.

> Admission: Adult $20, Student $10, Youth (0-12) Free > 828-964-3392 > mountainhomemusic.com

If your organization has any local press releases for our briefs section, or events that you would like to see here, feel free to email us at events@capitalatplay.com.

Please submit your event by the first day of the month preceding your event.

Stroll Through the Village for Shopping at its Best.

SHOPPING: aabani Salon Bette Bohême blue Bon Vivant Company Brooks Brothers Chico’s Estate Jewelry, Ltd. Gardener’s Cottage J. Crew Jos. A. Bank lululemon athletica

Monkee’s Mtn Merch Origami Ink Luxury Stationer & Gallery Palm Village - A Lilly Pulitzer Signature Store Porter & Prince Posedian Spa Southern Highland Craft Gallery Spa at Biltmore Village Style Surface Gallery

Talbots Turner & Scott Village Antiques & Interiors, Ltd. White House Black Market William & Grace Williams-Sonoma Yummi Yarns

RESTAURANTS: Appalachian Vintner The Cantina Catawba Brewing Company The Corner Kitchen Fig Bistro Hi-Wire Brewing Ichiban

Red Stag Grill Rezaz Restaurant & Enoteca Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse TGI Friday’s Village Wayside Bar & Grill ACCOMMODATIONS: Baymont Inn & Suites Biltmore Village Inn Biltmore Village Lodge Clarion Inn & Suites DoubleTree Biltmore Hotel Grand Bohemian Hotel

Posh Boutique Hotel Residence Inn Biltmore

by Marriott SERVICES: Carolina Mountain Sales Mountain Oak Properties

National Retailers Hours: Monday-Saturday, 10AM-7PM Sundays 12PM-5PM

Village Shops Hours: Monday-Saturday, 10AM-6PM Sundays 12PM-5PM ww.historicbiltmorevillage.com • www.facebook.com/biltmorevillage

info@biltmorepropertygroup.com • 828-398-6854

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The all-new BMW X1

bmwofasheville.com

BEST-IN-CLASS PERFORMANCE PLUS BEST-IN-CLASS CARGO SPACE. THE ALL-NEW BMW X1.

With 228 horsepower and a 0–60 time of just 6.3 seconds, it commands the road better than any vehicle in its class. And with 41.9 inches of headroom and up to 58.7 cubic feet of cargo space, it’s also the most spacious. Introducing the Sports Activity Vehicle® built for those who never settle for less than the best: the all-new BMW X1.

NO-COST MAINTENANCE

UP TO 4 YRS / 50K MILES1

BMW of Asheville

649 New Airport Road

Fletcher, NC 28732

828-681-9900

bmwofasheville.com

Experience the Difference.

Best-in-class mentions based on BMW X1 xDrive28i versus Mercedes-Benz GLA 250 4MATIC and Audi Q3 2.0T quattro.

For model year 2015 or later vehicles sold or leased by an authorized BMW center on or after July 1, 2014, BMW Maintenance Program coverage is not transferable to subsequent purchasers, owners or lessees. Please see bmwusa.com/UltimateService or ask your authorized BMW center for details. ©2015 BMW of North America, LLC. The BMW name, model names and logo are registered trademarks.

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Autumn..... What a Wonderful Time Of Year! Let Ingles Be Your One Stop Shop For All Your Fall Favorites! Whether Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Delicious Deals For Your Thanksgiving Dinner, Tailgating For Your Favorite Football Team, Baking Pumpkin Pies, Enjoying Sweet Goodies Like Smores, or Supplies, Snacks, and Lunch For Your School Goer, We Have Everything You Need!

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