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All Roads Lead to Money - A Recap of the 2026 Vision Northwest North Carolina Economic Development Summit · Mind Your Business - A Podcast Series produced by the Boone Area Chamber of Commerce

• 0:01
  SPEAKER_06: Seven years in, a summit that keeps raising the ball.
• 0:05
  SPEAKER_06: This week, the roads that connect us, the colors that content, and the strategies that will shape the region for decades to come.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_06: From the Moon Area Chamber of Commerce, this is Mind Your Business.
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_05: Mind Your Business.
• 0:20
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• 0:26
  SPEAKER_05: Visit Appalachian CRE.com.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_06: Hello and welcome into Mind Your Business.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_06: I'm David Jackson, President and CEO of the Boone Area Chamber of Commerce.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_06: Thanks for joining us once again this week through the airwaves of WATA here in Boone, or perhaps as a subscriber of the podcast version of this program, which of course each week is made possible by our good friends at Appalachian Commercial Real Estate.
• 0:50
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• 0:53
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• 0:57
  SPEAKER_06: You can gain access to full archives, occasional bonus content, extended episodes, and plenty more as we connect you with the business news that you can use from right here in the mountains of Western North Carolina.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_06: Another month nearly complete.
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_06: Summer is just around the corner, and my oh my, the calendar fills up quickly.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_06: Events, travel, graduations, all exciting in their own way, and all have an impact on the local economy in one way or another.
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_06: Also, you have to drive to all of these things, for the most part at least.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_06: And these types of connections were just part of the discussion of the seventh annual Vision Northwest North Carolina Summit, which we held last week on the Watauga campus of Caldwell Community College and Technical Institute.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_06: Seven years in the books now for Vision.
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_06: When we started this event, the goal was to pull together the brightest and most connected minds in the region and focus that energy on a single consequential topic for a single well-organized day.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_06: And the conversations that have come out of this room year after year have helped shape policy, influence investment, and help frame the economic narrative of Northwest North Carolina in ways that sometimes are a little hard to fully measure, but also impossible to ignore.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_06: Like I said, this year's focus was transportation from roadways to greenways to railways, and how they connect people and business here in Northwest North Carolina, the timing could not have been more beneficial.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_06: We exist in a region where the road you travel is not just a commute, it is a supply chain, a tourism corridor, a connection to healthcare, pathway to a job, maybe even the route to graduation.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_06: When a road closes in Northwest North Carolina, like we've seen so many over the years, the ripple effect is immediately and broadly felt.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_06: And to our south and west, this issue has come up again even this week, as flooding rains over the last few days have impacted repair areas that were still sensitive due to Hurricane Helene.
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_06: Of course, the hurricane recovery impact remains a significant topic of discussion, while future planning of the transportation corridors and modes we will need in the future was also a topic that has to start somewhere.
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_06: What made this year's summit feel different, what gave it energy that carried from the opening keynote all the way through the final breakout session, was the convergence of big, timely content and genuinely excellent voices.
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_06: The North Carolina Department of Commerce released its new strategic plan titled First in Opportunity just days before our event.
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_06: That document featured the state's top economic development priorities moving forward.
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_06: And we had Kenny Flowers, the Chief Deputy Secretary of Commerce, right here in Boone to break it all down.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_06: We had nine breakout panels throughout the day.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_06: One was titled All Roads Lead to Money that dug deep into how transportation in North Carolina is actually funded, where that system is fracturing, and what comes next as project delivery continues to be a main topic of discussion around the state.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_06: We will recap that conversation on this week's episode.
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_06: And we close the day at Vision Northwest North Carolina with a look at a real funded, locally connected project that shows exactly how transportation infrastructure touches businesses at the most practical level.
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_06: A recap of Vision Northwest North Carolina and some dot connecting.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_06: That's what we've got for you on this week's Mind Your Business.
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_06: We'll get right to it after the break.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_06: You are listening to MindYour Business.
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_05: Appalachian Commercial Real Estate provides professional commercial real estate services in the Boone area.
• 4:46
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• 4:53
  SPEAKER_05: For more information, go to their website at Appalachian CRE.com.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_06: Welcome back to Mind Your Business.
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_06: I'm David Jackson.
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_06: Before we head into the heart of this year's Vision, Northwest North Carolina recap, a quick word from the folks that keep this podcast moving in the fast lane each and every week.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_06: That's James Milner and his team at Appalachian Commercial Real Estate.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_06: They solve simple and complex commercial real estate problems in and around the Boone area and beyond.
• 5:22
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• 5:32
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• 5:38
  SPEAKER_06: When you're putting together a summit focused on transportation and economic development, you need keynote speakers who can connect the macro to the local.
• 5:47
  SPEAKER_06: People who understand statewide policy deeply enough to explain it plainly, and who can walk into a room full of business leaders, elected officials, and community stakeholders here in the mountains of Northwest North Carolina and make that conversation feel immediate and personal.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_06: Kenny Flowers is one of those folks.
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_06: He's the chief deputy secretary of the North Carolina Department of Commerce and has spent years at the center of the state's economic development work, particularly in rural communities like ours.
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_06: What made his appearance at our summit especially significant was what happened just days before he walked through the doors.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_06: On May 20th, right before our event, Governor Josh Stein and the Department of Commerce officially released North Carolina's new comprehensive strategic economic development plan.
• 6:33
  SPEAKER_06: That's called First in Opportunity.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_06: The plan builds on the previous First in Talent strategy and broadens the state's economic vision considerably.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_06: First in Opportunity is organized around four strategic goals, and they are connected directly to what we were talking about all day at last week's summit.
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_06: Goal number one, modernizing and fortifying infrastructure to strengthen resilience, improve connectivity, and support long-term growth.
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_06: If you have been paying attention to the transportation conversation in the state over the past 18 months, you understand immediately why this goal tops the list.
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_06: Goal number two, accelerating economic competitiveness by strengthening innovation ecosystems, and supporting industries that position North Carolina to compete globally.
• 7:21
  SPEAKER_06: That's a lot of words.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_06: It's about the long game, keeping North Carolina on the map for the kinds of industries and investments that create generational economic impact.
• 7:31
  SPEAKER_06: Goal number three: enhancing community well-being by expanding access to housing, childcare, and health care so that more North Carolinians can fully participate in the economy.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_06: Because economic development that only reaches some communities is not a complete strategy.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_06: And we know this to be true in this part of the state as we see every day the strain of incomplete answers to this issue and the impact it has on our workforce.
• 8:00
  SPEAKER_06: And speaking of workforce, goal number four: build a resilient, future-ready workforce through stronger statewide coordination across education, workforce development, and economic development systems.
• 8:11
  SPEAKER_06: This is all of the connective tissue between all of the other goals that I just mentioned.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_06: You can't build all the roads and recruit all the companies you want if the workforce pipeline is not there.
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_06: Now, you notice that every single one of those goals of first and opportunity has a transportation component embedded in it.
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_06: Infrastructure is goal one, but access to jobs, childcare, health care, education, all of that shaped by whether or not people can get from where they are to where they need to be.
• 8:42
  SPEAKER_06: And that is exactly the thread that Kenny Flowers pulled on in his keynote address.
• 8:47
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I'm especially excited and appreciate the focus of this year's summit.
• 8:51
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, transportation infrastructure, as you know, preach it to the choir already, uh, touches every aspect of our economy and every aspect of our daily lives, from how people get to work to how products move through the supply chain, to how businesses decide where to invest and grow.
• 9:08
  SPEAKER_01: It touches all of us every day.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, and increasingly we see uh what we know transportation infrastructure is not separate from economic development strategy.
• 9:18
  SPEAKER_01: It is a core piece of that strategy, and we understand that and appreciate that at the commerce level.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, that's especially true out here in Western North Carolina, Northwest North Carolina.
• 9:29
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, at commerce, you know, we focus on cultivating the conditions for long-term prosperity in every corner of this state, and that's super important.
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_01: So that means supporting recovery efforts where it's needed, investing in competitiveness statewide, and ensuring communities of every size have the tools they need to grow and compete.
• 9:49
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, that's paramount if we're to maintain the perch that we have, and we know we've had some good success in that space.
• 9:55
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, and nowhere uh in this state is that more important right now than right here in Western North Carolina.
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, as all of you know firsthand, and all of us know at some level, uh Hurricane Helene really reinforced just how important infrastructure connectivity, resilience, and economic competitiveness are and how they're interrelated.
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_01: The storm certainly disrupted our transportation systems and corridors here, impacted freight movement, damaged critical infrastructure, affected tourism and small businesses, and created challenges for workers and employers across the region that we really hadn't seen before.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_01: But it also reinforced something that's bigger and more important.
• 10:40
  SPEAKER_01: Uh strong infrastructure systems are essential to long-term economic resilience, and we need to invest in that consistently.
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, roads, bridges, freight networks, aviation assets, broadband water and sewer systems, and site readiness are no longer just optional considerations.
• 10:58
  SPEAKER_01: They are certainly part of us building a competitive advantage.
• 11:02
  SPEAKER_01: It determines, and I'm about to preach to the choir again, uh, whether workers can reliably reach their jobs, whether businesses can move products efficiently, where the tourists can access destinations that's important to them, whether industrial sites in development is ready for investments and opportunity, and whether emergency response and recovery can happen quickly, and we know how important that is.
• 11:26
  SPEAKER_01: You know, all that really shapes the economic future of this state, of this region, and together the regions shape the economic future of our state.
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, we see that really uh as a reflection of our new state's first and opportunity strategic economic development plan, as mentioned earlier.
• 11:43
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, so excited to see that rolled out.
• 11:46
  SPEAKER_01: And Governor Stein and Governor Lilly did that just yesterday.
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_01: I was not in Wilson for the rollout.
• 11:52
  SPEAKER_01: I was in Winston-Salem.
• 11:53
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, so I know enough about it to know what they were going to do and say.
• 11:57
  SPEAKER_01: And I had the pleasure of missing out on walking through the town in 95 degree weather and sweating through my shirt like the rest of the team did.
• 12:04
  SPEAKER_01: But we're excited to do it and certainly glad to roll that plan out.
• 12:09
  SPEAKER_01: You know, this plan is designed as a guide for North Carolina's next phase of economic growth, building on our first in talent plan from five years ago.
• 12:17
  SPEAKER_01: But most importantly, and you know this, uh, it reflects extensive stakeholder engagement and input from communities all across North Carolina, including Western North Carolina, and many of you in this room.
• 12:30
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, this is not the Department of Commerce's plan.
• 12:35
  SPEAKER_01: This is not the state agency's plan.
• 12:36
  SPEAKER_01: This is the state's plan for economic development and how we advance our enterprise as we move forward.
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, we believe the plan recognizes North Carolina's challenges today.
• 12:48
  SPEAKER_01: They're no longer about whether growth is happening.
• 12:50
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, we see this, you know, 10 times over uh because growth is happening at a very high level in North Carolina.
• 12:58
  SPEAKER_01: In fact, uh North Carolina's economy continues to demonstrate strong momentum uh since 2025.
• 13:04
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, we've announced more than 42,000 jobs and over$29 billion in capital investment.
• 13:11
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, just last year alone, we announced 35,000 jobs and$24.1 billion in capital investment, a record year for jobs and investment in North Carolina, the third time in the past four years that we've had record numbers.
• 13:25
  SPEAKER_01: And that I think that speaks to the hard work that we're doing together, collectively, building that foundation for continued growth in North Carolina, and we need to be ready for it and continue to work and align together around our opportunities.
• 13:38
  SPEAKER_01: Um, Western North Carolina certainly continues to play a very important role in that success, as you're aware.
• 13:44
  SPEAKER_01: Governor Stein announced Pratt and Whitney's expansion in Ashefield, bringing 325 new jobs and 285 million dollars in capital investment to Buncombe County.
• 13:55
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, we also announced the GE Aerospace expansion in Ash County, bringing additional manufacturing jobs, advanced manufacturing jobs, and investments in that region and many more.
• 14:06
  SPEAKER_01: Uh the state is growing.
• 14:07
  SPEAKER_01: The work that you do here is really facilitating that growth in Western North Carolina.
• 14:12
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and North Carolina certainly continues to receive recognition for the work that you're doing and that we're doing together.
• 14:19
  SPEAKER_01: I'm required to say this at least twice during any public appearance that I make.
• 14:24
  SPEAKER_01: Um, last year we were named top state for business in the country, right?
• 14:27
  SPEAKER_01: Did y'all know that?
• 14:29
  SPEAKER_01: Last year we were named top state for workforce development in the country by Site Selection Magazine.
• 14:34
  SPEAKER_01: Did y'all know that?
• 14:35
  SPEAKER_01: We're also named the top state overall for economic development in the country.
• 14:40
  SPEAKER_01: And we're excited about that and certainly understand what that means, but we also use it as a driver to continue to do the work that we do.
• 14:47
  SPEAKER_01: And we think that this plan will help guide that work.
• 14:51
  SPEAKER_01: You know, these rankings certainly, I believe, reflect much more than just economic momentum.
• 14:57
  SPEAKER_01: They reflect the long-term investments, the strong partnerships, and a willingness to think strategically about competitiveness.
• 15:05
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, increasingly, we see competitiveness depends on infrastructure capacity, connectivity, and regional coordination.
• 15:12
  SPEAKER_01: And North Carolina is good at that.
• 15:14
  SPEAKER_01: Other states see it, they reach out to see what we're doing, and that's one of the things that they notice.
• 15:19
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, understanding that the core of our first in opportunity plan is organized around four major strategic areas to help guide us as we do that.
• 15:30
  SPEAKER_01: You know, think infrastructure, think strong communities, think global competitiveness, and also think continue to strengthen our workforce to be the top workforce in the country and building on the talented workforce that we already have.
• 15:45
  SPEAKER_01: So let's let's go down the road for a second.
• 15:48
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, first, we think about modernizing and fortifying infrastructure to strengthen resilience, improve connectivity, and support long-term growth, critical to every baseline thing that we do in economic development and how we do that matters.
• 16:01
  SPEAKER_01: That's why you're here.
• 16:02
  SPEAKER_01: These conversations matter.
• 16:04
  SPEAKER_01: Second, accelerating economic competitiveness by strengthening innovation ecosystems and supporting industries that position North Carolina companies to compete globally.
• 16:14
  SPEAKER_01: We know we are advancing an innovation economy, right?
• 16:18
  SPEAKER_01: So we need to be on top of those sectors that are super important to that and engage in investing there, whether it's aviation, advanced manufacturing, life sciences, super important.
• 16:28
  SPEAKER_01: And North Carolina are doing well in those spaces.
• 16:31
  SPEAKER_01: But we also need to make sure that as we advance that innovation economy, we don't leave communities behind.
• 16:37
  SPEAKER_01: Investing in every corner of this state, intentional investments in infrastructure like we've done before and will continue to do to make sure that we don't miss opportunities and that we don't lag behind in our rural areas and our tier one and tier two distressed counties.
• 16:52
  SPEAKER_01: Third, enhancing community well-being by expanding success and access to housing, childcare, and health care so more North Carolinians can fully compete in our economy and have a baseline of success for economic growth and prosperity.
• 17:08
  SPEAKER_01: Strong communities are critical.
• 17:10
  SPEAKER_01: I believe at the core of what we do.
• 17:13
  SPEAKER_01: Community building is the most important thing that we do.
• 17:16
  SPEAKER_01: So building that environment where we have strong town, strong downtowns and main streets that we can leverage in support of our communities, have strong and resilient neighborhoods that we can leverage for families to make sure that they have access, and also removing those barriers that make it difficult for some communities to compete, make it harder for some communities to compete than others.
• 17:38
  SPEAKER_01: And finally, building a resilient, future-ready workforce through stronger statewide coordination across education workforce development and economic development systems.
• 17:48
  SPEAKER_01: Core principle of what Governor Stein has emphasized for North Carolina.
• 17:53
  SPEAKER_01: One A behind the recovery out west is workforce development.
• 17:57
  SPEAKER_01: Governor Stein has made it clear that no state will outwork North Carolina when it comes to workforce development.
• 18:03
  SPEAKER_01: That's reflected in his priorities, and it's certainly reflected in your priorities as your input came into our process in building this strategic plan.
• 18:12
  SPEAKER_01: Nothing is more important than our people.
• 18:14
  SPEAKER_01: Our workforce is the bottom line, baseline for how those people impact our ability to do good work and expand our economic growth in North Carolina.
• 18:24
  SPEAKER_01: So across all these four goals, there's major emphasis on coordination and alignment.
• 18:29
  SPEAKER_01: You'll hear that over and over again.
• 18:31
  SPEAKER_01: Making sure our systems work together, not in silos, because long-term competitiveness really does depend on more than just recruiting projects.
• 18:40
  SPEAKER_01: It depends on us working together.
• 18:41
  SPEAKER_01: It depends on where the communities have the infrastructure, the workforce capacity, housing, and quality of life assets needed to sustain growth over time.
• 18:50
  SPEAKER_01: So it's broad and comprehensive.
• 18:52
  SPEAKER_01: And for the regions like Northwest North Carolina, transportation and infrastructure connectivity are deeply connected to every single one of the goals that are laid out in our strategic plan.
• 19:02
  SPEAKER_01: Transportation access influences workforce participation.
• 19:06
  SPEAKER_01: Freight mobility influences business competitiveness and industrial recruitment.
• 19:11
  SPEAKER_01: Reliable infrastructure affects housing development, tourism, supply chains, and also project delivery.
• 19:19
  SPEAKER_01: And regional transportation networks determine how effectively communities can connect workers to the jobs and opportunities that are in their regions.
• 19:29
  SPEAKER_01: That's why, you know, one of the clearest things that we've heard during development of this plan was the need for stronger infrastructure coordination.
• 19:37
  SPEAKER_01: And again, I'm preaching to the choir on that one.
• 19:39
  SPEAKER_01: I know you know that.
• 19:40
  SPEAKER_01: Most of you probably made comments that led us to this point.
• 19:43
  SPEAKER_01: But the need for coordinated and stronger infrastructure coordination, particularly in our growing rural regions and those areas impacted by disaster.
• 19:55
  SPEAKER_01: We need to double down and focus on those communities, make sure that we don't miss opportunities to bring them along, to bring them back, and to be most competitive at every level that we can.
• 20:07
  SPEAKER_01: The plan recognizes that infrastructure investment today is fundamentally about how we compete tomorrow.
• 20:14
  SPEAKER_01: We know that.
• 20:15
  SPEAKER_01: We make sure that we're advancing in ways that can build on the successes that we have and not miss opportunities.
• 20:22
  SPEAKER_01: And when we talk about infrastructure, uh we certainly mean that broadly.
• 20:26
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, roads and highways matter tremendously.
• 20:30
  SPEAKER_01: It's baseline of what we do, but so do freight and logistics networks, uh, rail connectivity, rural aviation assets, broadband access, water and sewer capacity, energy infrastructure, and certainly the development of ready sites that put us in position to take advantage of those investments and opportunities when they come along and we don't miss out on opportunities there.
• 20:56
  SPEAKER_01: The regions that will succeed over the next decade are those regions that think comprehensively about connectivity and capacity.
• 21:03
  SPEAKER_01: And I think we know we do that pretty well out here in the West and all across North Carolina.
• 21:08
  SPEAKER_01: As I mentioned earlier, uh the plan is uh built to recognize uh all of those pieces that are important to our state.
• 21:17
  SPEAKER_01: Uh it certainly recognizes that infrastructure planning can't happen in silos.
• 21:21
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, transportation strategy must align with workforce strategy.
• 21:26
  SPEAKER_01: Economic development and recruitment must align with infrastructure capacity and project and service delivery.
• 21:32
  SPEAKER_01: Housing, workforce participation, and infrastructure access also are increasingly interconnected.
• 21:38
  SPEAKER_01: And increasingly, we also recognize that housing and childcare are not a separate issue.
• 21:44
  SPEAKER_01: It's a development strategy that's important to us, and to bring those pieces together and into the conversation more is super important.
• 21:51
  SPEAKER_01: Uh just this week, uh Governor Stein took additional action to strengthen North Carolina's housing strategy through a new executive order focused on.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_01: Increasing housing supply across North Carolina.
• 22:03
  SPEAKER_01: One of the top two issues in this state as it relates to our ability to grow and compete and support families, I believe.
• 22:10
  SPEAKER_01: Affordability and access statewide is super important and was emphasized in his executive order because employees can't grow, work, grow if workers can't live in and around those jobs and opportunities that they present.
• 22:25
  SPEAKER_01: It's a never-ending story.
• 22:27
  SPEAKER_01: We know the answer to it, and we certainly need to find ways to invest more, align more, and build more housing product across the state of North Carolina.
• 22:36
  SPEAKER_01: We believe the same is true as it relates to childcare access.
• 22:40
  SPEAKER_01: Governor Stein continued emphasizing that childcare is essential to economic development and economic growth.
• 22:47
  SPEAKER_01: It's a critical part of our economic infrastructure because it directly affects workforce participation, business growth, and family stability.
• 22:56
  SPEAKER_01: Regional collaboration is certainly essential in making all of these critical systems work together.
• 23:02
  SPEAKER_01: And again, we don't want to miss opportunities, and I don't think we miss many opportunities to advance those pieces together.
• 23:09
  SPEAKER_01: No single city or county or organization can solve these challenges alone.
• 23:13
  SPEAKER_01: It's about alignment.
• 23:15
  SPEAKER_01: It's about working together to support transportation networks.
• 23:18
  SPEAKER_01: That's regional, right?
• 23:19
  SPEAKER_01: Supply chains are regional, right?
• 23:22
  SPEAKER_01: Workforce commuting patterns are regional.
• 23:25
  SPEAKER_01: Tourism economies are regional.
• 23:27
  SPEAKER_01: And economic competitiveness to increase our overall well-being is certainly a regional matter.
• 23:34
  SPEAKER_01: And again, important that we continue to do that good work together.
• 23:38
  SPEAKER_01: When those systems are aligned effectively, communities are better positioned to attract investment, support small business, and improve quality of life, and create the long-term opportunities that residents and families need and seek.
• 23:52
  SPEAKER_01: That's why gatherings like this are super important.
• 23:55
  SPEAKER_01: The conversations that you have today are super important because when chambers and local governments and transportation partners and workforce boards, educational institutions, and our economic development partners align around shared priorities, regions become far more competitive for investment and opportunity.
• 24:14
  SPEAKER_01: And I think that's what we do extremely well in North Carolina.
• 24:18
  SPEAKER_01: Coordination is one of our greatest competitive advantages when we get it right.
• 24:22
  SPEAKER_01: And I know that you know this, we get it right most of the time.
• 24:26
  SPEAKER_01: We are a great place to work, align, and grow together.
• 24:29
  SPEAKER_01: Workforce development, and I'll jump on that for a second as I wind to the end, is so important to what we're doing in this state, and so important to Governor Stein.
• 24:40
  SPEAKER_01: He's made that essential component of his overall economic development strategy, as I said earlier, through his initiatives like the Council on Workforce and Apprenticeship, the AI Leadership Council, and the Task Force on Child Care and Early Education, the Governor is trying to ensure that we don't miss opportunities to continue to grow in North Carolina and building that world-class talented workforce is a major, uh is an easy way uh to get there.
• 25:09
  SPEAKER_01: It's not an easy process, but making sure that we don't miss opportunities there is super important.
• 25:14
  SPEAKER_01: Uh the Governor's Council on Workforce and Apprenticeship would actually like your help.
• 25:18
  SPEAKER_01: Uh we've pledged to connect 50,000 North Carolina businesses to our virtual workforce resources.
• 25:25
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm gonna give a little public ad right now.
• 25:27
  SPEAKER_01: So if you could share our employer engagement form at commerce.nc.gov forward slash employers, we'd appreciate that.
• 25:36
  SPEAKER_01: Um filling out that form will allow employees to pledge their partnerships with the workforce systems that we have in place, share information about their workforce needs and interests, and get connected to local partners who can help position them to connect with the workforce, workforce um products and services, and support the hiring process as they look to fill their uh employee roles and profiles.
• 26:02
  SPEAKER_01: All of these initiatives are certainly designed to strengthen the workforce in North Carolina, uh, strengthen participation, expand career pathways, and ensure employers can find the talent they need in a rapidly evolving economy.
• 26:17
  SPEAKER_01: You know, uh as we look back and think about where we go with this plan and the work that we've done, you know, we see major successes across North Carolina from projects like Nect Zero and Scout Motors and Toyota Battery and many others, uh, continuing to choose North Carolina.
• 26:34
  SPEAKER_01: Um, they do that because they know they can find a strong, future-ready workforce.
• 26:40
  SPEAKER_01: They know that they can find connected communities that are working together to support them.
• 26:44
  SPEAKER_01: So they're certainly more likely to drop anchor in our state and become a part of our communities, which is super important.
• 26:52
  SPEAKER_01: Um, these projects and many others certainly reinforce our theme that economic development success depends on alignment.
• 27:00
  SPEAKER_01: Um, infrastructure readiness is a big piece of that.
• 27:03
  SPEAKER_01: Customized workforce training is an important piece of that.
• 27:06
  SPEAKER_01: Site preparedness, regional coordination, and public-private partnership.
• 27:11
  SPEAKER_01: These pieces must move forward together.
• 27:14
  SPEAKER_01: And the philosophy that uh is embedded in our first opportunity plan, we think really allows us to do that.
• 27:20
  SPEAKER_01: At our core, that's about building strong communities and regions and being competitive.
• 27:26
  SPEAKER_01: And I think the plan really helps to take us there.
• 27:29
  SPEAKER_01: But it doesn't happen without the work that you've done, the work that we're doing together.
• 27:33
  SPEAKER_01: I'll say it one more time to kind of start where I to finish where I started.
• 27:37
  SPEAKER_01: Nothing is more important than community building.
• 27:40
  SPEAKER_01: Our connection, our alignment, our investments together is what makes North Carolina strong.
• 27:46
  SPEAKER_01: It's about our people, and you are the best people that we have.
• 27:49
  SPEAKER_01: So we certainly appreciate the good work that you're doing, uh the work that you're gonna have over the course of the day at this summit, and looking forward to continued investment partnership working together as we move forward.
• 28:00
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you so much.
• 28:01
  SPEAKER_06: Kenny Flowers, the Chief Deputy Secretary of North Carolina's Department of Commerce, laying out the vision embedded in first in opportunity, bringing that home to what it means for a region like ours, infrastructure innovation, community well-being, workforce development, those goals, not abstract policy language.
• 28:20
  SPEAKER_06: They are a checklist for how we here in Northwest North Carolina will grow, continue to compete, and recover from the impacts of Hurricane Helene.
• 28:30
  SPEAKER_06: We will include a link to first in opportunity in the show notes to this podcast.
• 28:36
  SPEAKER_06: And for those of you that are checking out your chamber report later today, that's if you are a Boone Area Chamber of Commerce member, remember that's in your inbox every Thursday.
• 28:45
  SPEAKER_06: There'll be a link to that plan in there as well.
• 28:47
  SPEAKER_06: So you can check out the framework for how conversations throughout the region will play out over the next four years.
• 28:53
  SPEAKER_06: After the break, we're gonna talk about how to pay for all of this.
• 28:57
  SPEAKER_06: All roads lead to money.
• 28:59
  SPEAKER_06: A recap of that important breakout session coming right after this.
• 29:03
  SPEAKER_06: You are listening to Mind Your Business.
• 29:05
  SPEAKER_05: Appalachian Commercial Real Estate provides professional commercial real estate services in the Boone area.
• 29:11
  SPEAKER_05: They provide sales, leasing, consulting, and appraisal services to owners and users of commercial real estate.
• 29:17
  SPEAKER_05: For more information, go to their website at Appalachian CRE.com.
• 29:22
  SPEAKER_06: Welcome back to Mind Your Business.
• 29:24
  SPEAKER_06: I'm David Jackson.
• 29:25
  SPEAKER_06: We continue our recap of the seventh annual Vision Northwest North Carolina Summit.
• 29:30
  SPEAKER_06: Every year we build the day around several breakout discussions filled by groups of people who can take the big topic and get pretty specific about it.
• 29:39
  SPEAKER_06: One of this year's most notable panels was called All Roads Lead to Money.
• 29:43
  SPEAKER_06: And that title was not just a play on words, it was a thesis statement.
• 29:47
  SPEAKER_06: Here is the core issue.
• 29:49
  SPEAKER_06: North Carolina's transportation system is funded primarily by the gas tax.
• 29:54
  SPEAKER_06: It has been for decades, but vehicles today are dramatically more fuel efficient than they were when that model was designed.
• 30:01
  SPEAKER_06: And electric vehicles are changing the equation further with each passing year.
• 30:05
  SPEAKER_06: So the revenue baseline that is always paid for roads, bridges, and other forms of transit is eroding.
• 30:12
  SPEAKER_06: At the same time, the cost of building and maintaining those roads continues to skyrocket.
• 30:16
  SPEAKER_06: You add a disaster of Hurricane Helene's magnitude with an estimated six billion dollars in road damage, nearly two billion of which is just for I-40 alone.
• 30:26
  SPEAKER_06: And you have what one of our panelists described as a trifecta of transportation investment crisis.
• 30:32
  SPEAKER_06: This is not a distant theoretical problem.
• 30:35
  SPEAKER_06: This is playing out right now in how projects get funded, how long-term repair timelines stretch out, and how much leverage rural communities like ours have in competing for state and federal transportation dollars.
• 30:49
  SPEAKER_06: One of the critical reference points for this conversation is the NC First Commission report.
• 30:54
  SPEAKER_06: First stands for Future Investment Resources for Sustainable Transportation.
• 30:59
  SPEAKER_06: You find out in these kinds of things that nearly every acronym has some sort of hidden meaning to it, right?
• 31:05
  SPEAKER_06: This commission was formed back in 2019 to advise the Secretary of Transportation on long-term sustainable investment strategies for the state.
• 31:13
  SPEAKER_06: And the commission that produced this report included a name that will be familiar to those of you that attended Vision Northwest North Carolina, Patrick Woody, the president of the North Carolina Rural Center, who was a member of that commission and a panelist for us last Thursday and helped tie all of these things together.
• 31:30
  SPEAKER_06: He discusses what the Commission found and why it matters more now than when it was written.
• 31:43
  SPEAKER_04: And there was really five core things.
• 31:45
  SPEAKER_04: Avoid near-term harm.
• 31:47
  SPEAKER_04: You know, whatever we do, we don't need to make things worse in the short run when we've already got significant revenue challenges.
• 31:54
  SPEAKER_04: Develop durable revenue and finance options.
• 31:57
  SPEAKER_04: And then I'll talk a little bit about just kind of what the range of those looks like.
• 32:01
  SPEAKER_04: Diversify and broaden funding stream.
• 32:04
  SPEAKER_04: It's going to take there is no one solution to this.
• 32:08
  SPEAKER_04: There's got to be multiple solutions to this in terms of funding streams.
• 32:14
  SPEAKER_04: Support user pays principle.
• 32:17
  SPEAKER_04: And we haven't really talked about, you know, uh highway user fee or uh anything along vehicle user fees or anything along those way, those ways.
• 32:27
  SPEAKER_04: But at the end of the day, it's pretty fair to think about user pays.
• 32:32
  SPEAKER_04: Um and there that and that that's probably, and we see other states around the country that have experimented more with it than we have at this point, but it's probably something that's in our future.
• 32:42
  SPEAKER_04: And then adhere to principles of fundamental fairness.
• 32:45
  SPEAKER_04: Um, and that's one I like to hear because it I think that that really does come into play when we think about uh rural North Carolina.
• 32:54
  SPEAKER_04: But just to give you a sense of the variety of options that are on the table.
• 32:59
  SPEAKER_04: There's a highway um use tax, there's a state sales tax, there are DMV fees.
• 33:05
  SPEAKER_04: Some of those DM fees, DMV fees that are currently collected, you'd think would go to highways, they don't, you know, uh should they be.
• 33:14
  SPEAKER_04: Umage-based user fees.
• 33:16
  SPEAKER_04: Uh we did a pilot as when we were doing NC first.
• 33:20
  SPEAKER_04: It was a pretty small pilot.
• 33:21
  SPEAKER_04: Uh I attached one of the gadgets to my own car just to see what that looked like.
• 33:27
  SPEAKER_04: It did not scare me to death, uh, but this may be in our um my in our future.
• 33:33
  SPEAKER_04: Highway tolling, uh, Joe mentioned what the trade-offs are, particularly for the for uh urban areas and those mega billion dollar projects.
• 33:42
  SPEAKER_04: Public-private partnerships, state infrastructure bank.
• 33:46
  SPEAKER_04: There's even been talk of regional or division-based infrastructure or uh highway division-based um infrastructure banks, value capture, local sales tax, local road impact fees, local infrastructure banks.
• 34:02
  SPEAKER_04: Um and then increasing our debt capacity.
• 34:06
  SPEAKER_04: And I think a variety of all those things are going to have to be in play.
• 34:11
  SPEAKER_06: Three panelists total joined us last week.
• 34:13
  SPEAKER_06: Mark Newsom, the chief financial officer for the North Carolina Department of Transportation.
• 34:18
  SPEAKER_06: He knows the numbers just about better than anybody in the state.
• 34:21
  SPEAKER_06: Patrick Woody, who you just heard from, again, the president and CEO of the North Carolina Rural Center, he spent his career making the case that rural North Carolina cannot be an afterthought when it comes to statewide infrastructure policy, not just transportation related either.
• 34:37
  SPEAKER_06: Housing, childcare, the whole works.
• 34:39
  SPEAKER_06: And Dan Gerlock joined us as well, an economic development strategist, a former chief budget officer for the governor's office here in North Carolina, and he helped translate transportation investment, or the lack of it, into the language of business competitiveness and site selection.
• 34:55
  SPEAKER_06: We covered a lot of ground, and for this recap, we pulled a few questions that each panelist was able to answer, the exchanges we felt that captured the most important and most applicable content for this broader audience.
• 35:10
  SPEAKER_06: Now, from the rural lens, Patrick Woody of the North Carolina Rural Center, he spoke to the balance of funding that is available for projects and how rural communities stack up in terms of competitiveness.
• 35:21
  SPEAKER_04: What we always come back to, and it is a it is a word we use all the time in rural economic development.
• 35:28
  SPEAKER_04: I've been doing this for 34 years.
• 35:30
  SPEAKER_04: We've been talking about it for 34 years, and we'll be talking about it for the for the next 34.
• 35:35
  SPEAKER_04: And it is capacity.
• 35:37
  SPEAKER_04: And we're always trying to build capacity and greater capacity.
• 35:43
  SPEAKER_04: And in in a rural environment and in a rural context, it is inherent in being rural.
• 35:50
  SPEAKER_04: There's fewer people, there's fewer resources, there's there's less density.
• 35:56
  SPEAKER_04: All of those things which can drive those STI formulas to create greater um scorability, move things up the chart, they that that really happens.
• 36:10
  SPEAKER_04: And so as we're making public policy, we've got need to be thinking about those things.
• 36:16
  SPEAKER_04: And we need to be thinking about how do we, at the end of the day, context adjust our policy so that it fits urban, suburban, and rural.
• 36:28
  SPEAKER_04: You know, I live most of the time in in the triangle.
• 36:33
  SPEAKER_04: Lord knows we understand congestion, we know what that's like.
• 36:37
  SPEAKER_04: But I spend as much time as I can in Piney Creek.
• 36:40
  SPEAKER_04: And I know getting to Piney Creek, you know, from where I get off of 421 and go up 18, there's a lot of road concerns, you know, along those um miles of two-lane roads.
• 36:51
  SPEAKER_04: Those are very different animals, very different things.
• 36:54
  SPEAKER_04: And the same criteria drive driven process is not going to work equally in all the same contexts.
• 37:02
  SPEAKER_04: And so policy really matters, and having policy that is designed for the context of a very diverse state, I think, is one of the things that really matters.
• 37:14
  SPEAKER_06: Again, that's North Carolina Rural Center's Patrick Woody on the equity thread he raises that runs through nearly every proposed alternative to the gas tax.
• 37:24
  SPEAKER_06: Now, Dan Gerlock bringing the economic development perspective to how the formula sits today.
• 37:29
  SPEAKER_03: I think there is economic development money in the DOT budget that is a better way to get at that.
• 37:35
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 37:35
  SPEAKER_03: And the idea here is we'll put site development work to work on that.
• 37:39
  SPEAKER_03: In addition, if the General Assembly would give the EDPNC uh Economic Development Partnership, North Carolina, money to develop the sites, we could do something about that transportation infrastructure sitting there.
• 37:50
  SPEAKER_03: Obviously, the General Assembly has appropriated money for Toyota, the Toyota project and for other projects to help DOT get these sites ready in Kingsboro as well, and in Division V, where all the money should go, in their opinion.
• 38:03
  SPEAKER_03: Uh so it's all it's all of a piece.
• 38:05
  SPEAKER_03: I think there are other ways to do that other than to mess with the stip on it.
• 38:09
  SPEAKER_06: Mark Newsome, Patrick Woody, and Dan Gerlock.
• 38:12
  SPEAKER_06: Three perspectives, one urgent message.
• 38:14
  SPEAKER_06: The way North Carolina pays for transportation is simply not sustainable.
• 38:18
  SPEAKER_06: The tools being discussed, these are no longer just think tank ideas.
• 38:23
  SPEAKER_06: These are live conversations happening now within the North Carolina General Assembly.
• 38:27
  SPEAKER_06: And communities like ours, where the roads are the economy, have a significant stake in how those conversations land.
• 38:35
  SPEAKER_06: We will continue to stay abreast of all of these discussions and let you know when we hear something that moves the needle about how we may be funding the projects of the future.
• 38:44
  SPEAKER_06: We'll take a quick break and come back with a real life example of how transportation matters to business development right here in our region.
• 38:52
  SPEAKER_06: You are listening to Mind Your Business.
• 38:55
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• 38:58
  SPEAKER_02: The High Country Young Professionals, affectionately dubbed the High Country Yopros, is a dedicated group of 200 plus professional young adults under the age of 40, serving in various industries across the high country.
• 39:10
  SPEAKER_02: Join us for our casual networking event on the first Tuesday of each month from 5 to 7 p.m.
• 39:16
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• 39:18
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• 39:43
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• 39:47
  SPEAKER_06: We continue our Vision Northwest North Carolina Summit recap with a story that brings this entire transportation conversation down to earth in the most tangible way possible.
• 39:57
  SPEAKER_06: We spent a good portion of this year's summit talking about the big picture gas tax revenue, STI funding formulas, infrastructure investment gaps, but underneath all of that policy conversation is the practical reality that every business owner that was in the room understands.
• 40:12
  SPEAKER_06: If you can't move your product, none of the rest of it matters.
• 40:15
  SPEAKER_06: Meet Rootsy, it's a sweet potato processing and distribution project with roots, quite literally, right here in our region.
• 40:24
  SPEAKER_06: Connected to Appalachian State University and funded in part through NC Innovation.
• 40:29
  SPEAKER_06: That entity develops and deploys research and commercialization funding for the state's university system to move ideas from the lab into the marketplace.
• 40:39
  SPEAKER_06: And Rootsy is the exact kind of project that initiative was designed to report.
• 40:44
  SPEAKER_06: Here's why transportation is central to this project.
• 40:47
  SPEAKER_06: Sweet potatoes are grown primarily in eastern North Carolina in counties like Nash, Wilson, Johnston, some of the most productive agriculture land in the state.
• 40:56
  SPEAKER_06: Getting product from those eastern farms to a processing and distribution site that can serve Western North Carolina markets is a transportation challenge.
• 41:04
  SPEAKER_06: And then getting that finished product to buyers, grocery distribution, institutional food service, regional markets, that's another layer entirely.
• 41:13
  SPEAKER_06: The project requires infrastructure that can accommodate both inbound supply chain and the outbound distribution network.
• 41:21
  SPEAKER_06: In a region like ours, where all roads are mountain roads, where bridge load limits matter, where every single highway closure for a repair issue can reroute an entire delivery route, these are not small considerations.
• 41:36
  SPEAKER_06: Megan Coney Beer is with NC Innovation, and she was at the Vision Summit to talk through the grant details, the statewide footprint of the project, and how specifically transportation shapes its future.
• 41:47
  SPEAKER_00: We have an amazing opportunity in the high country brought to you with a collaboration between App State University, CCCTI, which is Rootsy.
• 41:56
  SPEAKER_00: And so Dan Parker, the co-founder of Rootsie, is back here, so y'all can mob him later with fandom and questions.
• 42:01
  SPEAKER_00: But they were awarded a$1.82 million opportunity for advanced food manufacturing that will be headquartered here in the Northwest Prosperity Zone and a dual factory in the eastern part of the state.
• 42:14
  SPEAKER_00: We know for every$1 invested in Appalachian highway infrastructure, we get a$3.70 economic return.
• 42:21
  SPEAKER_00: With this investment brought to us by App and CCCTI, we're well on our way to this$3.70 increase in value for our region.
• 42:30
  SPEAKER_00: And what we're asking for today is your help and support in this process.
• 42:34
  SPEAKER_00: So this process and this project has a potential for$224.6 million in gross state product and 621 new jobs spread across both the East and West regions.
• 42:46
  SPEAKER_00: This is direct factory and manufacturing employment, as well as trucking and the multiplier effect of factory outfitting, cardboard, packaging, all those good things.
• 42:57
  SPEAKER_00: This is also going to establish a really high-value, skilled, advanced food manufacturing facility in the West and in the eastern part of North Carolina.
• 43:06
  SPEAKER_00: So we are spreading the love across the state.
• 43:09
  SPEAKER_00: In partnership with Appalachian State University and CCCTI, we also have the Rise Caldwell Watago Initiative, High Country Workforce Development Board.
• 43:17
  SPEAKER_00: So they're already thinking about jobs and they're already thinking about how we make this happen.
• 43:23
  SPEAKER_00: But here's what we need you guys for.
• 43:25
  SPEAKER_00: This is where we need help.
• 43:26
  SPEAKER_00: So we know we already have a university anchoring us here.
• 43:30
  SPEAKER_00: We know we have an agricultural innovation asset both in Rootsie and their partnership with the North Carolina Sweet Potato Commission.
• 43:37
  SPEAKER_00: We have the talent, we have a quality of life, we have tourism visibility.
• 43:42
  SPEAKER_00: But we need the transportation infrastructure to connect the research that we're already doing to the commercialization that we hope to realize through this work.
• 43:49
  SPEAKER_00: We need agriculture to be able to reach these manufacturing places and these value added processing facilities in the eastern part of the state, from the farm and the field to the factory.
• 44:00
  SPEAKER_00: From that value added ingredient product to the West region here to turn into sweet potato milk.
• 44:05
  SPEAKER_00: And then we have um rural innovation that needs to be able to reach national markets from North Carolina.
• 44:11
  SPEAKER_00: So when we talk about these in the context of our project here, Rootsie takes sweet potatoes, a value added or our number one commodity in the state and turns it into a value-added plant-based sweet potato milk product.
• 44:23
  SPEAKER_00: So you almond milk drinkers, your oat milk drinkers, we're about to blow your minds.
• 44:26
  SPEAKER_00: It tastes so much better.
• 44:28
  SPEAKER_00: And it's local and it's it's not orange.
• 44:31
  SPEAKER_00: That's our second most frequent question is is it sweet and is it orange?
• 44:36
  SPEAKER_00: It is sweet, it's very good, but it is also not orange, it is white.
• 44:39
  SPEAKER_00: And um we know that Rootsey has this potential to launch this product nationally.
• 44:44
  SPEAKER_00: It's it's an amazing product.
• 44:45
  SPEAKER_00: I'll link you guys to the website here in a minute.
• 44:47
  SPEAKER_00: But we need to reduce their operating cost, increase the distribution efficiency of their product so that they can get product out of the coastal plain, into the mountains, and then off the mountain and into the grocery stores.
• 44:59
  SPEAKER_00: And we need employee recruitment help and we need to help establishing a long-term durable economy surrounding this company and surrounding this product.
• 45:07
  SPEAKER_06: Megan Coney Beer from NC Innovation and the Rootsy Project is a perfect capstone for a day built around transportation because it is a reminder that infrastructure is not an abstraction.
• 45:18
  SPEAKER_06: It is the difference between a project reaching its potential and a project stalling out on the roadways before it ever really gets started.
• 45:26
  SPEAKER_06: We're back to wrap up this episode right after this.
• 45:28
  SPEAKER_06: You are listening to Mind Your Business.
• 45:33
  SPEAKER_06: One more thing before we take off down the road ourselves business after hours.
• 45:38
  SPEAKER_06: That's coming up June 11th.
• 45:40
  SPEAKER_06: Details and registration, all of that waiting for you at Boonchamber.com.
• 45:45
  SPEAKER_06: These evenings are great ways to connect with the business community here in the Boone area.
• 45:49
  SPEAKER_06: Make time for connecting, expanding that network, or just simply getting out and seeing friends here in the summertime as we get those extended days.
• 45:58
  SPEAKER_06: We'll be in the Sanford Commons at App State.
• 46:01
  SPEAKER_06: That's the event area just outside the race dining hall that's just across the Skybridge from the River Street parking deck.
• 46:07
  SPEAKER_06: Very convenient to get there.
• 46:09
  SPEAKER_06: You'll get a chance to see App State's conferences and events team at their best.
• 46:13
  SPEAKER_06: So make sure you make plans to join us today by registering for Business After Hours at Boonechamber.com.
• 46:19
  SPEAKER_06: That'll do it for this week's episode.
• 46:20
  SPEAKER_06: This program written and produced each week by the Boone Area Chamber of Commerce.
• 46:24
  SPEAKER_06: Thanks again to WATA for placing us on the airwaves each and every week.
• 46:28
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• 46:35
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• 46:39
  SPEAKER_06: Just search for Mind Your Business wherever you get your podcast.
• 46:42
  SPEAKER_06: You can also visit us online anytime at Boonchamber.com.
• 46:46
  SPEAKER_06: Until next week, so long, everybody.