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80-year-old Brightwaters Guesthouse restored and reopened

Flat Rock Business

MossColumn: Village Council's vote made road safer

Maya Richardson did not get as much ink as other commenters on the North Highland Lake Road widening project.   Read Story »

Hendersonville Business

Awaiting floodplain permit, Publix edges closer to opening

Publix is filling mailboxes with slick fliers and popping up on smart phones with the promise that it’s “coming soon.” In the mailings, smiling cashiers, welcoming butchers and produce managers and delectable-looking plates of seared steak and baked salmon tease shoppers about the offerings and service at the supermarket "where shopping is a pleasure." (“No matter where you are in the store, our associates are easy to find and ready to serve.”)Muscling into a crowd of incumbent supermarkets and drug stores within a few hundred yards, the new grocery store on Greenville Highway is getting closer to completion by the day. Signs went up on Greenville Highway and White Street. Last week, crews moved the construction trailer behind the store, to clear ground for paving. Landscapers are unloading dozens of trees and bushes, so contractor Benning Construction can comply with the city’s stringent landscape requirements. One of the biggest regulatory obstacles remaining is a permit required by state and federal agencies because of the floodplain conditions, notorious locally for pushing high water up over cars’ wheel wells.A deluge of rain in May had people wondering whether Publix had made Mud Creek flooding worse, despite the fact that the contactor installed a huge underground stormwater storage system and other flood prevention measures. Halvorsen Development, the Florida-based contractor that manages construction of new stores for Publix, is still waiting for a flood control permit from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Publix can’t receive a certificate of occupancy until it gets the signoff from FEMA and the state Floodplain Mapping Program, said Susan Frady, director of the city’s Department of Development Assistance. The developer received a conditional letter of map amendment after it tried six times and failed to win a regulatory OK called a no-rise permit, which would have certified that the development on the 6-acre site in the Mud Creek floodplain would not make flood conditions worse than they currently are. The conditional letter allowed the supermarket company to start construction. To get a certificate of occupancy, Publix’s engineers have to convince regulators to drop "conditional."“They have to get everything done with all the flood stuff,” Frady said. “That’s part of their main C.O.”She had received correspondence recently from Jason Claudio-Diaz, the Kimley-Horn engineer working on the application, “so I know he’s working on it.”“We don’t have that yet,” Halvorsen president Tom Vincent said Monday of the Letter of Map Amendment. “We’re getting there. I just know it’s on our checklist as a work in progress. There isn’t a specific opening date. In the next 30 days we’ll have a better idea” on an opening date.City Manager John Connet said the last projection he heard on an opening date was late August. Kim Reynolds, a Charlotte-based Publix spokeswoman, confirmed an opening in the third quarter, which would be by Oct. 1.“Ultimately they have to get (FEMA) to sign off” on the floodplain application, Connet said. “Plenty of people are speculating” that the fill on the site may have made flooding worse, he said. “The question I ask back is, Didn’t it flood this way before Publix was there? We have no indication it’s caused any increased flooding in that area.” More than 2 feet of rain in a three-week stretch in May caused widespread flooding across the region, including high water that closed Greenville Highway directly in front of the supermarket site.Since the May floods crews have completed a new concrete box culvert that drains water from the site via a channel called the Johnson ditch.The contractor has to get a driveway permit from the NCDOT. And still to come are a center turn lane for shoppers northbound on Greenville Highway. The NCDOT is requiring the left-turn lane into the driveway entrance at the southern end of the parking lot. Plans submitted by Halvorsen’s traffic engineers also show a 130-foot southbound right turn lane on Greenville Highway across from Copper Penny Street and a new right turn lane from White Street into the store parking lot.       Read Story »

Mills River Business

Mills River OKs tax breaks for herbal supplement maker

MILLS RIVER — A Brevard-based distributor of herbal supplements is hoping to expand its footprint in Henderson County, consolidating leased spaces into a new $10 million facility at Broadpointe Industrial Park that will generate up to 30 jobs over three years.Gaia Herbs, a nationally recognized producer of herbal supplements, plans to move operations from Brevard and East Flat Rock into Broadpointe and continue operations at an existing facility in Mills River. It plans to invest $10.7 million in the building and $1.5 million in furnishings and equipment for a total of $12.2 million.The Mills River Town Council on Thursday agreed to $42,700 in economic development incentives over five years in the form of property tax rebates. The promised jobs would pay an average annual wage of $39,600 plus benefits. The company currently has 260 employees, including 30 in Henderson County.The herbal supplement maker cited the location next to the Asheville Regional Airport as a positive factor. The new facility would contain a bottling operation, warehousing and order fulfillment plus offices and support staff, said Brian Traylor, vice president of operations. The company's headquarters, manufacturing operations and farm will remain in Brevard. “It’s large enough we’re able to start with a facility that meets our needs for the near future and still gives us the opportunity to expand our footprint in that area,” Traylor told the council. It’s an advantage, too, to be across the road from the N.C. State University agriculture research station on Old Fanning Bridge Road.“It really lines up well with who we are what we already doing, considering we have a large farm ourself,” he said.The Henderson County Board of Commissioners is scheduled to take up a separate tax incentives request from Gaia Herbs and the Partnership for Economic Development next month.The company would break ground in August and complete the facility by the fall of 2019 if it closes on the sale, Traylor said.Marketing manager Aimee Sprinkel described the company as a “seed to shelf” enterprise that carefully cultivates all of its plants and harvests the plants when they’re ready, not when the business side needs to fill an order.“At Gaia we actually go out and see if the plants are ready,” she said. “We work with mother nature. We don’t force mother nature.”Councilman Richmond Meadows said he had followed the company for years in Transylvania County.“Ya’ll have grown from a little bitty something to a whole lot of something,” he said.   Read Story »

Henderson County Business

Pardee board elects new officers, welcomes new members

The Pardee UNC Health Care Board of Directors elected new officers and welcomed three new board members during its last meeting of the fiscal year on Wednesday. Jack Summey was elected board chair, Greg Burnette vice chair, Hall Waddell treasurer and Tammy Albrecht secretary. Joining the 15-person board of directors were Vivian A. Bolanos, market manager for First Bank; Brian Cavagnini, senior director of operations for axles at Meritor; and James “Jimmy” Chandler, a retired vice president of operating services at Compaq Computers. Bolanos, Cavagnini and Chandler  fill seats left vacant by Peggy Judkins, Bill Moyer and Bill Smith, who have completed their terms. The new board members began their term on June 1 and will serve for three years through 2021. “On behalf of the Pardee UNC Health Care board of directors, I am pleased to welcome Vivian, Brian and Jimmy,” Summey said. “As leaders in their respective industries, we look forward to their unique perspectives as we pursue our mission to offer high-quality health care to our community .”   Read Story »

Laurel Park Business

Senior apartments, round 2, off to rocky start

LAUREL PARK — Nine months year after the Hendersonville City Council shot down its request for senior apartments on U.S. 64, a developer is shopping the idea in Laurel Park.   Read Story »

Hendersonville Business

Pardee honors top doc, donor

A part-time gardener and bookkeeper, emergency dental assistant and full-time mom, Betsy Merrell can add Physician of the Year to her portfolio. The family practitioner was honored as the top doc for Pardee UNC Health Care for 2018 at the annual Pardee Hospital Foundation Gala Saturday night at the Blue Ridge Conference Hall at BRCC. A native of Ohio, Merrell has spent most of her life in North Carolina, from high school to Appalachian State to medical school at Wake Forest University. She and her husband, dentist Joshua Merrell, moved to his hometown of Hendersonville in 2006 and both started private practice at the same time. Betsy Merrell joined Pardee in 2009, first as a hospitalist, becoming a family practice associate two years later. Betsy Merrell A member of the North Carolina Medical Society, the American Academy of Family Practice and the N.C. Academy of Family Physicians, Merrell served for two years as president of the Henderson County Medical Society. She’s also served on the Board of Safelight and has volunteered with the Free Clinics, Relay for Life and Chamber of Commerce.Besides gardening at her husband’s dental office and decorating the interior, she rears 7-year-old Sophia and 4-year-old Luke. “We have even learned that she has stepped in as dental assistant at 3 a.m., called upon to help with an emergency root canal,” Greg Burnett, a Pardee board member and First Citizens Bank executive, said in introducing her. “She has been known to stand in line for hours to snag UNC basketball tickets and is on the short list to learn of the next U2 concert in the area.” Philanthropist of the Year Philanthropist of the Year was Carol Adams, a former Pardee Foundation member and veteran of many fundraising campaigns. A native of North Carolina, Adams has been a “professional volunteer” since a young age while moving around the South before arriving in Hendersonville in 2003, Mary Olson, the 2017 philanthropist winner, said.After graduating from graduate of Queens College in Charlotte, Adams moved to Richmond, Virginia, where she met the love of her life. Her volunteer service and commitment to philanthropy has run the gamut from the Junior League to the Public Library, the Crippled Children’s Clinic to the Henry Logan Children’s Home and the Parkersburg, West Virginia Community Foundation. In her free time she served as a tennis and swim team coach and a homeroom mom.In Hendersonville, the Pardee Foundation was fortunately to be on the receiving end of Adams’s tireless volunteer service and philanthropy. She helped found the Women Helping Women Committee, chairing the fundraising committee before joining the Pardee Foundation Board in 2005. She served in Carol Adamsvarious roles from secretary to the By-Laws and Nominating committees and co-chaired the capital campaign for the Elizabeth Reilly Breast Center. In addition, the busy mother of two and grandmother of three, Adams serves St. James Episcopal Church in numerous volunteer leadership roles. In addition, she spent countless hours a few years ago working at the Blackwater Grill, which was owned and operated in Laurel Park by her son and daughter-in-law. “After a brief hiatus from the foundation board, she rejoined the board in 2012 and will finish six years of devoted service with tireless commitment to Planned Giving, Generations and Annual Fund; chairing the Annual Fund Committee for the last couple years,” Olson said.“Dr. Betsy Merrell and Carol Adams are both fantastic representatives of our community,” said Kimerly Hinkelman, Pardee Hospital Foundation Executive Director. “Pardee Hospital is a better place because of them and we would not be able to provide the care our community deserves without these individuals. We thank them for making Pardee a better place with their gifts.”          Read Story »

Henderson County Business

Spirit Airlines offering new flights to Florida

Area residents seeking a getaway to Florida have new options with discount flyer Spirit Airlines adding eight flights a week from Asheville Regional Airport to the Sunshine State in September and 11 flights starting in November. On Sept. 6 Spirit will begin service from AVL to Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, Orlando International Airport and Tampa International Airport. Asheville will mark Spirit’s 67th service station in its growing network. Service to and from Fort Lauderdale and Orlando will each run three times a week, while service to and from Tampa will operate two times weekly starting in September, increasing to four times weekly to Fort Lauderdale and Orlando and three times weekly to Tampa starting Nov. 8. “We are so excited to offer service between the beautiful Asheville region and three cities in sunny Florida, as they are all incredible destinations,” said Mark Kopczak, Spirit Airlines’ Vice President of Network Planning. “Guests in Florida will be able to experience all the cool things to do in Asheville, including taking in the scenic Blue Ridge Mountains, trying out some of the over 80 craft breweries in the area, and experiencing the local arts scene in downtown Asheville. Meanwhile, Guests in the Asheville area who are looking for a warm beach vacation this winter will now be able to getaway for less with our ultra-low fares.”   Read Story »

Mills River Business

Canadian company to grow tomatoes here under 45 acres of roof

MILLS RIVER — A Canadian produce company plans to invest close to $75 million in a farming operation growing greenhouse tomatoes in the largest vegetable production under roof in North Carolina, the company's president and AgHC officials announced at a news conference on Thursday. Lakeside Produce Co., of Leamington, Canada, plans to have its first 15-acre greenhouse producing tomatoes and other vegetables by November 2019 and will add two more greenhouses the same size, eventually employing 150 people. It has bought 116 acres from local landowner Drew Brannon, whose family has farmed Horse Shoe and Mills River land since 1855. "Daddy and I bought that property in the 1970s," Brannon said. "I wanted it to stay in agriculture." He has leased the land for tomato growing in the past but it's fallow this year while Brannon negotiated the sale of the land to Lakeside. "Why North Carolina? Why Mills River," Lakeside president and CEO Chris Cervini said. "I've been explaining this to a lot of people but I want you all to know that the local commissioners sat here with humility and empathy and said we want you to come here to our area. We've made mistakes in the past but we have a strategy. It was really, really nice to see that you have a strategy here." Cervini singled out Mark Williams, the president of AgHC, the agriculture-promoting agency funded by Henderson County, Hendersonville and Mills River, for his work in the recruitment of the international greenhouse operation. Williams worked with the city of Hendersonville on an agreement to extend water to the site.  Hendersonville Mayor Barbara Volk recalled Williams visiting the City Council "to see if we could get water here. There was no question with the council we were happy to work again with AgHC." Henderson County  had "decided to make a concerted effort to promote agriculture in the county, similar to what commissioners had done years ago with the manufacturing sector," Henderson County Commissioner Bill Lapsley said. "What you see here today is a good example of a return on that investment and I think commissioners are very pleased to see results like this growing the agricultural segment of our community." Lakeside's project manager, Mary Scerbo, scoured the country for a location and found Henderson County and its agriculture-recruiting arm, in Williams. She called the boss and told him, "I think I've found the real deal." "The elevation here along with local support is why we have chosen this area," he said. "I can't thank you enough for actually putting financial support into AgHC." The company also chose the southern Blue Ridge Mountains for the contrast in sunny days with cool nights, a temperature difference that drives sugar into the fruit and makes greenhouse tomatoes more flavorful. "That's the reason we're coming here." Lakeside already sells greenhouse tomatoes to Fresh Market, Publix and other supermarkets, Cervini said. Besides greenhouse workers, the operation will hire managers, supervisors, maintenance engineers, food safety specialists and packing line technicians. Lakeside also plans to launch a $2,000 scholarship program for high school seniors that "comes with a job," Cervini said. "We want them here working on the farm."     Read Story »

Saluda Business

Duke says sale of Tuxedo power plant preserves whitewater recreation

TUXEDO — Duke Energy Carolinas announced this week the sale of its hydroelectric plant at Lake Summit and four others in the region, a move that whitewater paddlers are watching with interest.   Read Story »

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