Business Calendar
THE LOCAL ECONOMY
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Asheville Business Connections • 2nd TUESDAYS & 4th THURSDAYS, 11:15am - Asheville Business Connections will host a lunch meeting on "power marketing" at Yao Buffet Sushi Grill, 153 Smokey Park Highway, Suite 120. Restaurant prices apply. Info: meetup.com/ ashevillebusinessconnections. Asheville Buzz • WE (7/24), 7:30-9am - Asheville Buzz Summer Breakfast Series will focus on "Hire and Higher Education." Held at Renaissance Asheville Hotel, 31 Woodfin St. $20. Info: leadershipasheville.org/ asheville-buzz. Hospitality Lab Class • ONGOING - Goodwill offers classes for those interested in careers in the food and hotel industries. Hands-on training includes American Hotel and Lodging Association certification. $25. Info and schedule: 2989023. Mountain BizWorks Workshops 153 S. Lexington Ave. Info: 253-2834 or mountainbizworks.org. • MONDAYS, noon & WEDNESDAYS, 4:30pm - An informational meeting about Mountain BizWorks' programs will help businesses make the first step toward accessing the organization's services. Free. Info and registration: victor@mountainbizworks.org or 253-2834. WNC InfoSec • 3rd SATURDAYS, 1-4pm - "A friendly, mature and ethical group of information security enthusiasts, professionals, students and neophytes. All knowledge/skill levels welcome" Held at the EarthFare South community room, 1856 Hendersonville Road. Free. Info: wncinfosec.com.
“There are thousands of scattered archives delineating the history of the Cherokees that simply are not available to the average person,” says Lamar Marshall, cultural heritage director at Wild South, the Ashevillebased nonprofit that spearheaded developing the site. He spent nearly four years researching hundreds of historical maps, documents and records that provided the foundation for Cherokee Journey. Last fall, after contacting local Web design firm TopFloorStudio, the group landed a $20,000 Google Earth Outreach grant to develop the idea. Working with members of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, Marshall helped create an online resource filled with geographic and cultural material about the Cherokee people. And TopFloorStudio head Ty Hallock integrated interactive Google Earth maps and virtual tours into a Web platform and a smart-phone application for Android phones. Noting his personal interest in the project, Hallock says, “I grew up in
Declaration of independence Ditched by corporate HQ, Asheville print company reopens as independent store
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Cherokee, right off the reservation, so the content was very interesting. And I’m really a technology advocate and huge geek.” Hallock says the website and its Google Earth components took about four months to complete before Wild South could add the content. The geolocation aspect allows users to dive right in and learn information about the surroundings here, he explains. “You can really experience the history of Cherokee through Google Earth,” Hallock says. “It will do a flythrough in Cherokee and show you the history as things progressed, and show you where the villages were and where tribes migrated from.” Hallock commends Marshall for shepherding the project, even picking a basic look for the website that conveys that “adventurous feeling.” Says Marshall: “Our vision is that this project will graphically illustrate cultural geography by embedding it into the landscape through colorful, interactive, 3-D interfaces.” In addition to virtual tours, the site will feature historic maps, geographic lessons, information about Cherokee trails and local attrac-
When a California-based printing corporation decided to shutter its Asheville branch in May, the local owner of the business and his laid-off workers had a reply: not so fast. Jeffrey Jones, president of the print shop on 45 Asheland Ave., decided to reopen the business himself and renamed it Asheville Color and Imaging. Purchasing all new equipment and investing his own money, Jones was able to relaunch in a little over a month, bringing back all but one of his four employees. “When they came in and closed the office, they just emptied the building and moved everything out of state,” says Jones of his for-
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mer employer (ARC Document Solutions). “That’s when I thought what a great opportunity, especially because of the customers we had, to bring this back and bring back the services.” Jones says the corporation gave no reason or advance notice of the closure. He says business was steady and they had a full roster of clients. Jones believes headquarters did not have a future interest in Asheville. Kathy Wadham, a color production supervisor, had only been on the job for two months when she showed up that Friday in May, only to be told she no longer had a job. “It was a real shocker, like I said, because we had tons of jobs waiting to get done,” Wadham recalls. “They started moving stuff out on [the following] Monday. All the jobs we had [pending] for clients in Asheville, they moved down to the Greenville location. There were a lot of nightmares with that.”
tions such as the Oconaluftee Indian Village. Lessons walk readers through the landscape and ecology of 18th century Cherokee territory, trade patterns and tribal conflicts. The site aims at promoting tourism in the area by getting people interested in its history. Keen on presenting information accurately as well as sensitively, Marshall notes that no archaeological or sacred materials will be put online. Ben Prater, associate executive director of Wild South, has high hopes for the continuing development of the site. “Wild South is dedicated to preserving the natural legacy of Western North Carolina and beyond. The history and culture of the Cherokee people are a part of this region’s natural landscape, and educating others through this collaborative project will inspire them to respect and appreciate the region’s historical and natural heritage.” To visit the website and download the Android phone application, go to cherokee.wildsouth.org. X
By Julia ritchey
Wadham reports that even though they’ve only been open since early July, so far many of their old clients are jumping back on board. The company specializes in printing large- and small-format digital prints, signs, posters and banners, among other services. Jones says he never foresaw becoming a small, independent business owner, but says the transition has been natural one. “It didn’t scare me,” he says of buying the business. “It’s a lot of work, but I’ve had management experience before. I started out earlier in my career in the printing and digital business.” Jones and Wadham describe the present mood at ACI as exciting. Says Jones: “We’re really looking forward to bringing back the customers that kind of got let go. There was no notification to them either. They think it’s great that we’re bringing it all back.” X