Laurel Park Business
Laurel Park police have arrested a suspect in an Aug. 18 bank robbery of the Wells Fargo Bank during which a robber threatened bank employees with a knife.
An intense investigation by the Laurel Park police, making use of video surveillance from multiple sources and witness interviews, led to Marquis Dechane Harrison as a suspect, the town said in a news release. Investigators secured a warrant for Harrison’s arrest on one count of Robbery with a Dangerous Weapon.Chief Bobbie Trotter thanked the FBI, Hendersonville Police Department, Fletcher Police Department, Henderson County Sheriff’s Office and Buncombe County Sheriff’s Officefor their assistance in this case. Read Story »
Hendersonville Business
Sanctuary Brewing Company took home three medals this week in the North Carolina Brewer’s Cup, the premier beer competition in North Carolina.
The brewery won a Gold in the category of Amber Bitter European Style for Country Roads, a Bronze in the category of Best Fruit Beer for Apple Pie Saison and a Bronze in the category of Best Strong American Ale for Anniversary IPA.
The NC Brewers Cup is an official competition sanctioned by the Beer Judge Certification Program and the North Carolina State Fair. A panel of certified judges selected the finest examples of each beer style submitted by professionals and homebrewers from across North Carolina’s thriving craft beer scene.
The 2017 NC Brewers Cup featured the stiffest competition in the event’s history, with 599 commercial entries and 141 homebrew entries competing for medals over 3 days of judging by beer experts from around the Southeast. The competition is organized by the NC Craft Brewers Guild, and sponsored with support from Total Wine and More.
Sanctuary Brewing Company, at 147 First Avenue East, is a brewery and taproom committed to enriching the lives of both humans and animals through excellent craft beer, kindness, and philanthropy.
Read Story »
Mills River Business
MILLS RIVER — Touting their gleaming new plant as an industry-leading supplier of lightweight parts for cars and trucks, officials from GF Linamar snipped a ribbon on the factory to the cheers of 300 invited guests.
Read Story »
Henderson County Business
Q. I heard that the old First Union Bank Building at the corner of Asheville Highway and Haywood Road has been sold. Who bought it?
Another bank, of course. The building was more recently home to SunTrust Bank but has been vacant for years since SunTrust built a new bank building on Main Street in downtown Hendersonville. The new owner is the State Employees Credit Union. The credit union will relocate its now outgrown main office on Washington Street and Third Avenue next to the County Library. The old SunTrust bank — if you can call it old — will be demolished (except for the vault) and a larger 8,500-square-foot building will be erected on the pie-shaped lot that once also contained the Mountain Aire vacation cottages. Construction is scheduled to begin by the end of the year.
Q. What’s going on at the Opportunity House? I see fewer cars parked in front and the site is up for sale. Are they closing?
Neither their website nor Facebook page has been updated since May. Jackie Roberts is the organization’s development director and the only paid person at the facility. She has the daunting task of keeping the doors open – figuratively and literally. “Over the past years, revenues have declined and the present model is not sustainable,” says Roberts. Ken Rhoads, president of the Opportunity House Board, has not returned my calls.The building and land is “available” for sale or lease. If sold, the asking price is $2.2 million. In either case, the operation would relocate to a smaller facility. Roberts says that if that happens, the nonprofit will still adhere to four key elements of their stated mission: cultural, social, educational and recreational endeavors. I heard from another source that a possible new direction for the organization would be to build and operate a business development center, perhaps similar to Biz 611, at 611 N. Church St.
Roberts said that the Opportunity House was once more of a craft center but over time became a senior center. Even so, no one plays cards there anymore because players won’t pay the higher room rates needed to keep the facility operating. The Music Academy is the biggest revenue producer in the building. The loss of clients renting space has delayed needed maintenance work.The Opportunity House was born 60 years ago in a local church as a place where folks could learn and share new hobbies and crafts. In the 1980s, it moved to a former A&P Grocery store at 1411 Asheville Highway. In its heyday, the Opportunity House offered classes in stained glass, crocheting, dancing, painting, and ceramics, just to name a few. They even had a singles group that met there. The center supported itself by renting rooms to bridge players, potters, woodcarvers and other craftspeople. Weekend birthday parties were not uncommon.I am of the opinion that the decline in use is partly due to competition from private craft businesses and perhaps even the County’s Athletics and Activity Center which rents rooms to local groups. The Opportunity House will have to reinvent itself or fold its tent. Roberts said that if the right client came in tomorrow with a long-term commitment, the sign in front may be pulled. I suspect that it will take a lot more than the return of bridge and pinochle players to make that happen.
Q. We used to have separate bins for metal, paper, plastic, etc. at the Henderson County Convenience Center. Now it’s all mixed together. Why the switch?
The new system, called “single stream,” went into effect in July. So why the change? “Efficiency,” says Rachel Kipar, the County’s Environmental Programs Coordinator. “Now we can move gondola trailers full of recycles whenever they are full and not have to wait for individual trailers.” Kipar also said that when new compactors are installed at the landfill later this year, there will be monetary savings due to fewer trailer hauls to the recycling facility in Asheville. The County received $45,500 in state grants to ease the change to single stream.What’s changed at the Stoney Mountain Road Convenience Center is that all those separate bins (mixed paper, plastic, cardboard, and metal) have been reduced to just two – one for glass and one for everything else. Glass is hauled to Georgia. Sadly, in the recycling market, glass brings little revenue and its highest value comes if it’s separated from other recyclables. Hendersonville’s curbside collection will still take glass, but if you really, really want to help the solid waste system, save your glass for a trip to the Convenience Center.
* * *Send questions to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Read Story »
Mills River Business
MILLS RIVER — More than 2,500 people are expected to “Prost like a Pro!” with authentic German beer, food and music at Sierra Nevada's third annual Oktoberfest under tents on the brewery grounds.
Tickets are still available for the celebration from 5 to 10 p.m. Saturday.
Sierra Nevada brewed year’s Oktoberfest beer, available on tap and in stores since July, in collaboration with Brahaus Miltenberger of Germany, Brian Grossman, second generation brewer and vice president of Sierra Nevada, said during a media preview of Saturday's celebration on Tuesday.Sausage and kraut top the menu, along with sauerbraten and red cabbage, wood-roasted pig, German potato salad, brussels sprouts, a harvest salad and German chocolate cake cupcakes.The Minor Mishap Marching Band from Austin, Texas, will lead partiers into the tent to kick off the festivities, followed by Sirius B with its gypsy folk sound. The Mountain Top Polka Band from West Asheville closes out the night.Keg throwing is the new contest this year, joining the mustache and “Chicken Dance” contests. Hot Glass Academy and Asheville Area Arts Council will provide glass blowing demonstrations, and select items will be auctioned off to benefit the Arts Council.General admission tickets cost $45 and include the meal, a commemorative beer stein, entertainment, shuttle and one drink or pretzel. Additional beer, pretzels or cupcakes cost $5. Designated driver tickets are $30, with water, lemonade or ice tea as the beverage.Complimentary shuttles from downtown Hendersonville will start at 4:30 p.m. from the Grove Street Courthouse parking lot. Parking is also available at the WNC Agricultural Center, where shuttle service will start at 4 p.m. No parking will be allowed at the Sierra Nevada site.For more information and to purchase tickets, go to http://www.sierranevada.com/oktoberfestnc. Read Story »
Hendersonville Business
Twenty attorneys in 29 different areas of law for the Van Winkle Law Firm have been named to the 24th edition of The Best Lawyers in America, which has been called “the most respected referral list of attorneys in practice” by Corporate Counsel magazine. In addition, three Van Winkle attorneys received the highest overall peer feedback for a specific practice area and have been recognized as “Lawyer of the Year,” including trust and estates specialist Robert H. Haggard of the Van Winkle’s Hendersonville office. Also recognized from the Hendersonville office were Adam L. Shealy, trusts and estates, and Caroline T. Knox, elder law.Others were Jones P. Byrd – Litigation – Real Estate; Stephen J. Grabenstein – Litigation – Trusts & Estates; Albert L. Sneed Jr. - Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights / Insolvency and Reorganization Law; Commercial Litigation; Corporate Law; Allan R. Tarleton - Medical Malpractice Law – Defendants; Workers' Compensation Law – Employers; Carleton C. Metcalf – Litigation – Banking & Finance; Caroline T. Knox – Elder Law; Carolyn L. Coward - Corporate Compliance Law; Health Care Law; Craig D. Justus – Land Use and Zoning Law; Litigation – Land Use & Zoning; Dale A. Curriden – Commercial Litigation; Medical Malpractice Law – Defendants; Personal Injury Litigation – Defendants; Professional Malpractice Law – Defendants; David M. Wilkerson – Litigation – Patent; Esther E. Manheimer - Appellate Practice; Litigation – Land Use & Zoning; Litigation – Real Estate; Larry C. Harris - Business Organizations (including LLCs and Partnerships); Closely Held Companies and Family Businesses Law; Commercial Transactions / UCC Law; Corporate Law; Mergers and Acquisitions Law; Larry M. McDevitt - Commercial Litigation; Medical Malpractice Law – Defendants & Plaintiffs; Personal Injury Litigation – Plaintiffs; Litigation – Patent’ Lindsay P. Thompson – Real Estate Law; John G. Kelso – Trusts & Estates; Jones P. Byrd – Construction Law; Eminent Domain and Condemnation Law; Litigation – Real Estate; Medical Malpractice Law – Plaintiffs; Personal Injury Litigation – Plaintiffs; Mark A. Pinkston - Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights / Insolvency and Reorganization Law; Mortgage Banking Foreclosure Law; Stephen J. Grabenstein - Commercial Litigation; Litigation – Trusts & Estates; Trusts & Estates; Phillip J. Smith - Commercial Litigation; Construction Law; Litigation – Construction; Barry B. Kempson (Of Counsel) – Trusts & Estates. Read Story »
Hendersonville Business
Brief hed
Crowded craft beerscene claims casualty
As if to signify the financial risks of the food and beverage business, Brooks Tavern is opening just as Basic Brewery, across the street, closed its doors on Sept. 3. The increasingly competitive and crowded microbrewery scene claimed its first casualty downtown when the owners announced that Basic has closed.Started a year and half ago by Linda and Rich Wenger, Basic Brewery went up against the established Southern Appalachian and Sanctuary Brewing Co. and also competed with Flat Rock Cider Works on Main Street. Two more microbreweries are planning to open by the end of the year — Triskelion on Seventh Avenue and Dry Falls in the old Oates Paint and Body Shop on Kanuga Road’s Busy Bend.“As many of you know Rich has continued to work fulltime in Greenville, S.C., in addition to co-owning our brewery in Hendersonville,” the owners said in a note on the brewpub’s door. “That daily commute and those job responsibilities along with an ongoing health issue in the family are the reasons for our decision to close.“We are at peace with our decision and very much look forward to our future endeavors,” the couple said. “A huge thank you to all those wonderful individuals who supported and really appreciated our nanobrewery and our beers.” Read Story »
Henderson County Business
Greater Asheville Regional Airport Authority has been awarded $5,053,216 of discretionary grant funds by the U.S. Department of Transportation to help finish the airport's new runway project.
Read Story »
Saluda Business
Mark Ray was telling a visitor about how he’d recruited Dennis Dunlap to fly his vintage 1943 Stearman biplane over a celebration of Berkeley Mills baseball park on Sept. 16 when he heard a distinctive sound from outside.
Read Story »
