Mind Your Business - A Podcast Series produced by the Boone Area Chamber of Commerce
A weekly podcast produced by the Boone Area Chamber of Commerce in partnership with Appalachian Commercial Real Estate.
Mind Your Business - A Podcast Series produced by the Boone Area Chamber of Commerce
Built in Boone: Jackson Sumner & Associates
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There are numerous businesses here in the High Country that we all drive by every day and wonder, "what do they do in there?"
This week we continue our 12-part series: Built in the High Country. This monthly feature will take us physically inside some of the most unique and successful businesses in Watauga County, as we examine what got them started and why they chose the High Country as the home for their business.
This week on Mind Your Business, we visit Jackson Sumner & Associates. Established in Boone in 1981, JSA has grown to become one of the top Excess & Specialty Lines Brokers in the eastern United States. CEO Danielle Wade explains the company's origin story, and how Boone's location plays in to their workforce recruitment and retention strategy. We'll also hear about JSA's place as an industry leader, and how they've earned that recognition while being located in rural North Carolina.
We'll also bring you the latest on Blue Ridge Parkway construction tied to the Great American Outdoors Act, including updates on detours planned for Watauga County in the near future.
Mind Your Business is written and produced weekly by the Boone Area Chamber of Commerce. This podcast is made possible thanks to the sponsorship support of Appalachian Commercial Real Estate.
Catch the show each Thursday afternoon at 5PM on WATA (1450AM & 96.5FM) in Boone.
If I ask you to describe where insurance decisions are made, you probably imagine a skyscraper. An intentional desire for high country life makes Boone home to one of the most unique agencies in the country. That story and a fresh round of Blue Ridge Parkway updates are up next. From the Boone Area Chamber of Commerce, this is Mind Your Business.
SPEAKER_02Mind Your Business, brought to you by Appalachian Commercial Real Estate, providing professional commercial real estate services. Visit Appalachian CRE.com.
SPEAKER_03Hello and welcome into Mind Your Business. I'm David Jackson, President and CEO of the Boone Area Chamber of Commerce. Thanks for joining us once again this week, whether that's through the airwaves of WATA here locally in Boone or as a subscriber of the podcast version of this program, which is made possible each week by our good friends at Appalachian Commercial Real Estate. If you are not a subscriber, this is a great day to do it. Just search for Mind Your Business wherever you get your podcast, and you can gain full access to archives, occasional bonus content, and extended episodes along with plenty more, as we connect you with the business news that you can use from right here in the mountains of Western North Carolina. The weather, it gets the best of us, and I feel like it's getting all of us at this particular moment. Gone are the mid-70s of yesterday as we record on March 12th. We saw some snow flurries flying around just a bit ago. Nothing like a good 40-degree temperature swing to get the blood flowing, right? Welcome to High Country Spring. For those of you that are experiencing your first, it will get better, I promise. One other thing the weather did was knock us slightly off our schedule for our Built and Boone series. Remember, we started that back in January at Baker Forge. Each month during 2026, and twice in the month of March, as it is, we'll take you inside the walls of some of the most unique businesses in Wataga County and the surrounding area. Businesses that showcase our economic diversity and hopefully provide some entrepreneurial motivation for what is possible outside of the tourism landscape. When we visited Baker Forge back in January, their story of growth in the steel forging industry was about the perfect mix of skilled labor and creative vision, along with the perfect space to place specialized equipment into the production line of high-end products. Workforce will be a throughpoint throughout this series and an element that will get highlighted during today's visit to Jackson Sumner and Associates, a family-owned and operated company here in Boone that is positioned as one of the top excess and specialty lines brokers in the country. Businesses like these often are located in financial centers, the Charlottes and Atlantas of the world. And for that matter, JSA is located in one of the busiest intersections in a fast-growing area here in our community, just right next door to the Deep Gap Food Line and across from tractor supply. That description might not necessarily match one's expectations until you walk inside the doors. And quickly you'll understand JSA's location is perfect. In a town that offers life to over 50 employees in the home office and positioned in the backyard of one of the richest workforce pipelines in the insurance industry. Their mission statement sounds like that of a boon business. We respect and care for all human connections we make, company or agent, friend or stranger. No account is too small, no relationship is too insignificant. We have a passion for insurance education, teaching, and innovation. We endure because we are not stopped by challenges, but guided by them. We commit to do our best, to take our work seriously, and to never stop having fun. Now that you know those details, where else could you imagine doing this work? This week on Mind Your Business, we resume the Built and Boone series as we visit Danielle Wade, CEO of Jackson Sumner and Associates, a 45-year-old company she leads with purpose, providing answers that customers are looking for, thanks to a collection of professionals that have built this business into an industry powerhouse. That story starts in just a moment. Also on this week's program, the latest on the resumption of construction along the Blue Ridge Parkway, what we know about coming closures and detours, and how this will impact the region as we move into the real spring and eventually summer. Lots to cover this week, so come back after the break and we'll get right to it. You are listening to Mind Your Business.
SPEAKER_02Appalachian Commercial Real Estate provides professional commercial real estate services in the Boone area. They provide sales, leasing, consulting, and appraisal services to owners and users of commercial real estate. For more information, go to their website at AppalachianCRE.com.
SPEAKER_03Welcome back to Mind Your Business. I'm David Jackson. Before we head inside one of those buildings, many of you pass every day and always wonder what goes on inside. Let us direct you towards someone that can solve that riddle for you and your evolving needs for commercial space. That's James Milner and Appalachian Commercial Real Estate. They solve simple and complex commercial real estate problems in and around the Boone area and beyond. Whether you own or lease commercial real estate, regardless of the property type, have an advocate on your side, along with the experience and expertise to assist you and your business. For more information, check them out on the web, AppalachianCRE.com. We started this built-in Boone series with the notion that businesses of all types can flourish here. Many of our visitors interact with the postguard version of the high country, which is great, and we do hospitality as well as anyone in the southeastern United States. And we know that while that line of business offers some consistencies, the tiniest disruptions can upset margins that are already smaller than you think. You've heard me say our community has been built around volume, largely because people are needed inside the doors of some of these businesses to make them the most successful they can be. So, as we think about the growth of our business community, how do we capture some of North Carolina's momentum, the number one state for business three out of the last four years? People are a large part of that claim. North Carolina has talent, and the state government, education providers, nonprofits, and the businesses themselves are working every day on the workforce pipeline for industries across our state. Our focus of this stop of the Built and Boon Tour has to do with people, and we'll get into the weeds on that storyline in just a bit. But this story is also about a bet on a place where people could eventually thrive. In the early 1980s, Wayne Sumner put down the WASU DJ headset for good and started an insurance business, just a short hop from his alma mater, Appalachian State University. Their focus? Law enforcement professionals in those early days. And in 1981, he and his partner hung a shingle in a place they loved and did not want to leave. Flash forward to now, Jackson Sumner and Associates is still here. They've grown significantly, and they found the high country could give them everything they need at all of the growth stops along their journey. Our visit and tour of the JSA headquarters starts in the office of CEO Danielle Wade. We'll start out simple and just have you describe in your own words what JSA is and does.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. So we are a middleman for high-risk insurance. So we don't deal directly with the public. We deal with other licensed retail agents. And then we've got about 30, 40 different carriers, insurance carriers that we can work with to place a business that the retailers can't get with their direct contracts. So we are really kind of a market of last resort. When somebody goes to a local retail agent and can't get coverage, they'll come to us. So for risks that are maybe a new venture, or maybe they've had losses and the standard companies don't want to take them anymore, or maybe they're just inherently high risk and it's too risky for the standard companies, we'll find a home for them. Now, by the time you're coming to us, it is not cheap. You're not coming to say 5% or anything like that, but we're able to actually provide the coverage that maybe you can't get somewhere else.
SPEAKER_03How long has the company been around now?
SPEAKER_01So my dad founded our company in 1981, right here in Boone.
SPEAKER_03Why Boone? Why Boone now?
SPEAKER_01So why Boone in 1981 was my parents met at App and fell in love with the area and decided just to stay here. Why we kept it here and still want to be in Boone is when it's just a great community. It's a great place for me personally to raise a family. We love the quality of life here. We love having App State in our backyard. And they have a fantastic RMI risk management and insurance program. And that has been huge for us of being able to get talent out. We have a great pipeline there. We work closely with them, but we're also able to give back to them being over there as well.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, if you could maybe go down that road a little deeper in how aligning yourself in a spot where you've got workforce development at your fingertips, how has that helped the company grow and you even be able to grow what you do because you've just got skilled workers continue to come in and be able to be molded to what your needs are?
SPEAKER_01Absolutely. So we are so fortunate for that reason. Um I think, you know, dad always says he'd rather be lucky than skilled any day. And I think he got lucky with having the Brantley Center there at App State, which started in the mid-80s. And so while everybody else in the 80s was building their MGAs in Raleigh or in Charlotte and any of the big cities, here we were in Boone, but we had this program that had people that actually wanted to go into the industry. Most people fall into insurance because they they don't have a career path for it. With having an actual college degree, we actually get a lot of people that actually want to go into the industry. So we're able to have interns, we're able to have not just summer interns, but even fall. We have quite a few students that come over and work for us part-time while they're getting their degree and can still work here where they don't have to go to Charlotte or Raleigh to get one of those, one of those internships. It has been huge for us to be able to have all of those young folks coming in. There's a statistics in the insurance industry at large that says that 50% of our industry will retire within the next four years. And so there's a huge concern over our industry and the perpetuation of how do we pass on this talent? How do we get folks that are skilled knowing what they're doing? And we're so fortunate to have it right here in our backyard where we we actually just hosted a shadow day for about 12 students here two weeks ago where they got to come over and see a life at JSA. And so they came and they shadowed my underwriters and they they saw what we did here firsthand instead of just textbooks. So we love having that partnership with them, not only to have talent come in here, but but also to be able to get back and help them see the industry at large, what they can do with their degree.
SPEAKER_03And at least talking to your dad, there has always been an intentionality behind employee wellness and retention that had to be attractive to you on some level too, because you chose this life. After growing up in it, you chose it. What were the things that were attractive to you as someone that was seeking your own pathway to think, hey, this might be it?
SPEAKER_01Yeah. So I kind of as you alluded, I did not intend to go this pathway and came back here and very glad I did. Um, this is a people industry, and and the people make all the difference, whether that's the people here at JSA or the people that we work with from our retail agents who are our customers all the way to our carriers. And as I was growing up, I got to see that firsthand of tagging along with dad to some of the trips he got to go on. And at that point, I was meeting now the people that are my peers in the industry, and they're just fantastic people and people make a world of difference. And so we we do foster a lot of our culture here because that's that's big. And as you know, you work with your coworkers and you see them more than you do your own family sometimes. And so for us, having having that strong culture here and making sure that everybody feels welcome, has a has a place and adds value to the company is important for anybody's happiness. And so when I started looking at industries, and when you're at Carolina, investment banking is the way they want to push you, and that was not the cutthroat environment that I wanted to live in. I wanted more of an environment where everybody was there to help you. Everybody was a true team environment. I know those are all buzzwords that everybody says, but we truly live it. And the entire insurance industry, I think, really does. And so that is what was important to me is to have coworkers that are your friends, that are teammates, that'll help build you up and help each other out and not just everybody out for themselves.
SPEAKER_03So you got to design a facility around that concept. Was it helpful to have the concept in place before you designed the facility instead of having to try to shoehorn this way we want to be into the walls we inherited?
SPEAKER_01Absolutely. I don't think it works well the other way. I think you're you're trying to force something that naturally doesn't work. And I think we actually saw quite a few examples of that with COVID. So when everybody went home in COVID, a lot of people decided they were gonna redo their office space and they were gonna make a different, you know, four walls for people to come into. And when people came back, it was still the same culture. And so for us, it was really let's have a building that fits our culture. And we had been working on this for so long when we were at our old location, and now we just had this building that actually goes in line with what we're trying to do from you know the windows and everybody having so much natural light to, you know, the light bulbs that we put in that are, you know, don't give headaches and all those little things that that seem silly, but they really do make a difference. And that's what we do every day with our staff of the little things make a huge difference, and and we pay attention to those details. So this is we kind of split up the building by department. So this is our property and casualty underwriting staff, our support staff, and then our personal lines and marketing when they're here, but usually they're out on the road. So um we'll come down here and see. We've got a couple of them working right now. Fewer at lunch, but these are a couple of our underwriters. And basically what they're doing is they're taking phone calls from those retail agents, finding out the details of an account, of you know, what why is it being, you know, shopped to us? Why couldn't a standard lines do it? What do we need to do to help make this sell? And then collecting all the information and giving it to one of our carriers, or just going ahead and quoting it if we have the authority to. So they're on the phones quite a bit. They're getting emails, the applications with all the information on it to quote the accounts and and servicing those because everybody always needs a certificate of insurance for somebody. So, and that's mostly what's right in this area is our our underwriting staff and a couple of our guys from from App State there. So um, and then this gets into like our personal lines division, and then these are a couple of our our marketing folks of geniuses behind everything that everybody sees.
SPEAKER_03How many people do you have in this building on a given day?
SPEAKER_01Uh so we've got about almost 50 people that this is their home office. We do allow them an opportunity to um be flexible and work from home when they need to for something, but most of them are in here all five days a week. Um, and so you know, Fridays probably get a little bit more sparse than other days, but for the most part, we've got about 50 here.
SPEAKER_03I know that you've you've done a lot to design shared community areas. Yep. What's the purpose behind that?
SPEAKER_01We we want our staff to collaborate and and be together. And so we we've got our large meeting space downstairs where everybody in the company, even our remote folks, can come in and all gather and we can have a meal because we know space in the high country is hard, even to find space for 70 employees to have a meal together. So we've got that space. We want people to collaborate and come together. We've got a kitchen where they can eat lunch together, a lot of different breakout meeting rooms for them to come together and share because again, a lot of what we do here is teamwork.
SPEAKER_03More of our tour of Jackson Sumner and Associates. When we return, you are listening to Mind Your Business.
SPEAKER_02Appalachian Commercial Real Estate provides professional commercial real estate services in the Boone area. They provide sales, leasing, consulting, and appraisal services to owners and users of commercial real estate. For more information, go to their website at Appalachian CRE.com.
SPEAKER_03Welcome back to Mind Your Business. I'm David Jackson. Our Built in Boone series continues as we head back inside a business with a waterfall in Boone? Danielle Wade explains. You've done a lot to make this building comfortable. Explain the waterfall's role in that.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, so everybody always talks about the sound of water, it is so calming. And not only is it just it gives you that outside in because again, we're we're all in in four walls inside every day. And being able to hear the nature sounds just creates a much more positive, calming environment. Um, we we do have white noise in here, but a lot of times we can't even hear the white noise because the water's just falling down the waterfall.
SPEAKER_03One of the things I I know I've I've heard your dad talk about before is why this building is where it is. Can you explain a little bit about that, about why it is you chose the east side of town?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, absolutely. So we originally were off of George Wilson Road and conveniently about two minutes from dad's house. And so when we had outgrown that space, we were looking to move in. We actually had some other property that was a little bit down Boon Mountain. And then this property came available. And in looking at where our folks lived, this was gonna save over 80% of our staff 20 minutes every day one way. So it made just absolute no-brainer for us to move out here. We've got a lot of folks that live on the eastern part of the county of Watauga, and also a lot that are over in Ash and Wilkes now, and so they're able to come here. It's also now conveniently closer to my house than his, so that worked out for me. But that was at the time that was wise because already more of our staff are live in East Boon, eastern part of the county, and in Ash and Wilkes.
SPEAKER_03Can you tell me a bit about what JSA looks like as a national brand? What your clients and customers see, and how do you work to embed a little bit of Boone in what that brand looks like?
SPEAKER_01Yep, so um we are kind of more of a regional player, but I serve on some national boards. And so we write everywhere from Maryland down to Georgia and to Tennessee as kind of our footprint of our territory. Um, we are very involved with a lot of the national organizations, whether that's from political lobbying, trying to get better legislation for the insurance industry, or I sit on the WSIA, which is our National Trade Association, on a national level. And so, you know, yes, we are small town Boone. I'm one of the few independent MGAs left, and they all know Boone. And whether that is from App State's RMI program, whether that is from the Michigan game, it's amazing wherever I go in the country and even the world, because we go over to London, because we work with the Lloyds of London, that we'll mention Boone and yet people know where we are. And so anytime I say it, they're all like, oh, you're so lucky to live there. And I have to agree with them. It is, you know, amazing that we're able to have this large company right here in Boone and be able to continue what we do. But, you know, they all know the mountains, they all know App State, and so it's it's fantastic that we're actually on the map.
SPEAKER_03When when you have uh a regional footprint like you do, sometimes that that changes the mentality of some businesses that want to be such community partners. You don't necessarily have to be, but you've chosen to be. Why is that?
SPEAKER_01Well, and again, uh, you know, a lot of times people will do it just to get their name out there because it's advertising. And since we don't actually deal directly with the public, we it there is no crossover there. It's not advertising for us, it's who we are and what we want to do because our community is where we are. We we see the people around. And even, you know, Helene was uh an event that everybody got to see the good of the community here. And even before that, we've always wanted to get back to our community because when you give back and you put in, you're gonna get out. And no, we're not getting dollars out because our local customers are not coming to us. They have to go to a retail agent. And so we do it just to help our community because we are part of it. And and to be able to be here, all of our employees here are part of this community in one way or another. So it may be that we're giving back to a charity or a local cause that is near and dear to their heart, or it's something that they're aware of. And so we're able to support their efforts as well.
SPEAKER_03Why did it take you so long to put the sign out front? And what was the story behind that?
SPEAKER_01So again, we we don't work directly with the public. And so there was no need for a sign. Nobody needed to know where we were because anybody coming to us found us from another way. You don't just drive by and go, oh, I'm gonna stop in Jackson Sumner because we don't deal with the public. And so it it almost became a joke for so long of, you know, it's kind of like Willy Wonka, what goes on in bes inside there. And so we finally decided, you know what, we we are proud of who we are, and we do want people to know who we are, even though we can't help them directly. And so we decided, you know, the more that we do, the for the longest time, the only sign that had our name in town was our road cleanup sign. And so um, we we finally decided we would put our sign out front.
SPEAKER_03Can you explain the helicopter and and why there is a helipad in your parking lot?
SPEAKER_01I would like to say that it's because I have a helicopter to take me to Charlotte back and forth, but it is not. Um, so my dad served on the rural fire board for many, many years and saw the great need for emergency services to be able to have a landing pad. Out here in Deep Gap, where it is so foggy. And if you don't know where we're located, we are right next to the stoplight with the 20 million lights at the corner of tractor supply. And so there's unfortunately a lot of dense fog and a lot of wrecks happen out here. And the closest one, Deep Gap Fire Department, does have one now. Either that or you would have to go into Hard and Parks Field or the hospital. And those are a ways away when you've got an emergency situation. And so we wanted, we had luxury of a flat parking lot and wanted to be able to, again, get back to the community and have this as a helicopter landing zone. And so it has nothing to do with JSA. JSA does not have a helicopter, sadly. But it is really for the emergency Medevac helicopters to be able to come in.
SPEAKER_03The insurance industry has evolved quite a bit over time from your leadership perspective. What keeps you up at night about making sure that JSA is able to serve your clients the way that you know that the industry is directing you to?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I, you know, there's a lot that keeps me up at night. Um, I think one of the big things that is a concern for probably any business owner is a cyber attack. I think, you know, so much of everything we do is all on the computer. And so that's one thing that, okay, if we get attacked, everybody knows you're gonna be down for a while. So that that's probably the biggest thing that keeps me up at night. Beyond that, it's it's really some of these natural disasters that we continue to see. And are our carrier partners gonna be there? Are they gonna, you know, have things priced correctly where they're able to satisfy all the claims? And, you know, economy is big for us because again, we ride a lot of new ventures, we ride a lot of trucking. So we watch that economy very closely as gas prices go up, truckers start pulling back. Or, you know, if if the economy is uncertain, people aren't necessarily starting new businesses. They may sit back and wait. So, you know, we're watching a lot of things out there. Um, but again, I think the biggest thing that keeps me up is that potential cyber.
SPEAKER_03Two last questions for you. One is around uh going back to workforce again and that you are one of those businesses that supplies the type of jobs that allows people to stay. How do you make sure that there is room to grow inside of a business that is a destination for so many that that want to get involved in the industry and know they can make life here because of that choice?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and and that's a challenge that I have for my management team is we've got to grow, but we want to grow smartly. We don't want to just grow for the sake of growth because we we've seen that and it doesn't always go well. So we're always looking for new ways to add products, new states to go into. And and by allowing that, we kind of give everybody kind of their own destiny here of you can grow as much as you're willing to put in, and it'll come back to you twofold. So, you know, we do continue to grow. We do have some employees that they kind of outgrow Boon for a little bit, and some of them to come back. So, you know, there's there's always the challenge of that young professional single scene that we've all talked about is difficult here. So we have a lot of our guys that'll come out of app, they'll stay here for a couple of years, they'll go to a big city, and then they'll come back to raise a family here. And so we're happy that we're able to have them remote, have them go to one of our other offices, and then they can come back home to Boone anytime that they want.
SPEAKER_03Last question, without giving anybody up, what's the most interesting thing you've been asked to ensure?
SPEAKER_01Oh, we we got a lot of lot of good ones for that. Um, probably the most interesting one that I did was um a chicken beauty contest. And so it is just like it sounds, where there was a chicken beauty pageant for the chickens that they parade them across the stage and they are judged, and they win with Miss Chicken Little is the crown at the end.
SPEAKER_03What kind of insurance do you need for that?
SPEAKER_01Just some general liability. You never know. You know, it's just like any beauty contest, right? The chickens might start pecking at each other, they they might start going at it, they might go rogue to the crowd. You never know.
SPEAKER_03You know, you mentioned that that with a regional and at times national footprint, you have to bring people to Boone without physically bringing them to Boone. A lot of technology in this building. How does that keep you connected to your customers?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, so you know, with with COVID, the positive of that was all the video conferencing. And so before, you know, we had a lot of conference calls, and everybody remembers that awkward pause where you jump in and somebody starts to say and you don't. So now with Zoom and all these other platforms, it's a whole lot better to see somebody. You know, a lot of times we we have to travel to these places that are in Scottsdale, in Phoenix, in London to meet with them, and we would have to do that multiple times a year. Now we can usually do that once a year and have a lot of Zoom meetings with them to be able to still build that relationship, look them in the eye, even though it's a virtual system for it. Um, you know, we've got all of our meeting spaces where we can see all of our remote folks. So they're not left out if they're not in home office. They they can still be just as much a part of our meetings as if they were right here in Boone. So it's it's helped us a lot.
SPEAKER_03If you could describe the energy of this building as somebody that's walking into it the first time, if they came in at the time where everything's humming, what what would that word be or those words be?
SPEAKER_01Oh, that's a good one. I mean, I hope that they feel an instant calming, um, where that they they feel happy, calm, but they also are productive. And that's what we want our staff to be. You know, when when it's not lunchtime and it's, you know, bustling upstairs, you'll hear people on the phone chatting, somebody rolling over to somebody's cubicle asking a question, but it's not the stress that's there. It's just they're at calm, they're getting it done, and and they're happy to be here.
SPEAKER_03What's it like to be in a type of a business where so many people have been told no until they get to you and you get to say yes?
SPEAKER_01We get to be the hero. So it, you know, it is something where they call us a market of last resort, but a lot of times we end up being the first market to allow businesses to even start. So new ventures oftentimes don't have the data and so they can't get with the standard line. So, in order for somebody to be an entrepreneur to go out on their own, they may have to come to us. And so we do get to be the hero by coming up with a solution to be able to provide them something after they've been in despair and like, oh, there's no hope left. We get to provide them something. So it is a great feeling to find that solution, put that together for them, and help them get their business going.
SPEAKER_03Thanks to Danielle Wade, Wayne Sumner, and the entire crew at Jackson Sumner and Associates for allowing us inside to tell their story. And I hope it motivates you to think about place and people. And further, thinking about your team beyond the skills they provide, but also thinking about the life they wish to live. We've discussed retention strategies at length over the years on this show. People are not driven by the number of widgets created or the number of policies they write. That is what they do, not who they are. How can you match your business goals to a staff that loves to do what they do in a place where they can love to be who they are? The High Country offers that experience in so many ways. Wayne Sumner made that bet in 1981, not knowing how AppState's Brantley Risk and Insurance Center would truly impact the business. But once he saw what was possible, he positioned JSA to keep people here. And how many AppStudents turning into professionals have you heard express that desire before? What is your link to the pipeline? And what can you provide in terms of quality of life? That's the riddle to solve. And while pay is great and high-paying jobs are what every community seeks, sometimes it's the little things like shared spaces and the occasional waterfall that can make a difference in recruiting and retaining the best professionals you can. Speaking of waterfalls, you may have to think about exactly how you chase them very soon. So Blue Ridge Parkway construction updates are coming your way next. You are listening to Mind Your Business.
SPEAKER_00Are you a young professional looking to expand your network? 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. Join us for our casual networking event on the first Tuesday of each month from 5 to 7 p.m. As we visit locations across the high country. Events are free of charge. However, donations are appreciated. Not a chamber member? That's okay. No membership needed to join us. You just have to be under 40. Learn more about High Country GoPros at Boonchamber.com slash HCYP.
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SPEAKER_03The Blue Ridge Parkway, some driving music, and you can take off with the wind and your hair and see the beauty of the Blue Ridge for over 400 miles across two states. Maybe not so much with the wind and your hair during this particular weather swing, but as we've said before, the parkway is one of our tourism magnets. Nearly 17 million visitors a year makes the parkway the most visited national park unit in the entire country. Over$1.9 billion, that's billion with a B, an economic impact felt along parkway towns like Blowing Rock and surrounding communities like Boone each and every day. Investing in the parkway's longevity has always been a priority in this region. Back in 2021, Congress approved the Great American Outdoors Act, which directed some$200 million to the Blue Ridge Parkway for deferred maintenance, fixing campgrounds and trails and repairing and repaving the roadway, which serves as a ribbon that guides visitors from the Shenandoah to the Pisgah. Hurricane Helene brought havoc to the parkway, we all know that. And the National Park Service and the Department of the Interior have done some seriously heavy lifting to reconnect the roadway, and that work will be finished later this year, with a heavy emphasis right now on sections near Lynville Falls and Mount Mitchell State Park, two of the most popular areas along the entire parkway, especially here in North Carolina. Before the storm, the Great American Outdoors Act work was progressing from Southern Virginia into Ash County, with some bridge repair work that was ongoing when the storm hit. Once this work continued last spring, the sections in Ash and Allegheny were opened all the way up toward the Bluffs restaurant and beyond into Roanoke, Virginia, all the way that far. And the roadway itself has provided as smooth a ride as there has ever been on the parkway. Work progressed into Wataga County with a significant paving project from the 421 bridge in Deep Gap toward Parkway School, and drainage work and overlook repair took place from the county line to the area around Grandfather Mountain. Because of Helene's impact and the need to have the parkway open and hosting visitors, the Department of the Interior graciously halted construction in September, allowing for the freedom and economic boost of flowing traffic. And that allowance was noted at a critical time for many small businesses. Well, now it's time for that work to resume, with a goal of completing these important parkway sustaining projects by early fall, and in time once again to allow the roadway to serve as a bright spot for our visitors. There will be some detour-related reflux along the way, especially in Watauga County and up toward Beacon Heights, as 11 separate work areas will be addressed between now and late summer. The parkway will be operating staggered closures, meaning they'll be able to keep access open to key attractions while moving their crews accordingly. The work begins with a full closure of the Access Near Parkway School off Old 421 to Bamboo Gap, and that could start as early as tomorrow, March 13th, weather permitting, of course. This is a popular commuter route and through way to Blowing Rock from the east. The posted detour will use Old 421 to Browns Chapel Road and Bamboo to get you back to the parkway. Though a more business-friendly way to travel may see visitors stay on US 421 and access Bamboo Road from there. No matter what, East Boon traffic, it's gonna get a little bit slower while this work is being completed and hopefully done by late April, early May, and in time to handle some of the higher volume that the parkway creates at that time of year. Next week, a closure in Blowing Rock near the 321 Bridge will start significant work between Blowing Rock and Beacon Heights, with a detour route that brings the parkway visitors into the downtown area and then back out on US 221 to reconnect with the parkway from there. Those are the first two sections that we'll see in terms of activity. They're labeled 1A and 1B, and there are plenty more to come. We will keep you updated with maps, descriptions, and plenty more detail as we hear from the parkway staff. In the meantime, bookmark nps.gov slash BLRI. That's nps.gov slash BLRI. That's where the Park Service will be publishing detour maps and route information. This work is complex, it's congressionally funded, and it will be done in a way that keeps the parkway vibrant for another 20 to 30 years or so. So for now, follow the detours, visit some new areas along the way. And we look forward to smooth sailing on the Blue Ridge Parkway as fall colors begin to turn as we wrap up September and into October. Back to wrap up this program, right after this, you are listening. Mind your business. Couple of quick notes on the way out for under 40 tickets. They remain hot. Less than 60 remaining for next week's show. So get them all you can at BoonChamber.com Space Limited. Again, that show March 18th. That's next Wednesday at the Appalachian Theater. Again, full details of ticket purchasing at Boonchamber.com. And a reminder: tune in to WATA from 6 o'clock to 9 o'clock each weekday morning for Mark in the morning. He is taking the time to interview all of our 4under 40 award finalists. You can catch archives of those interviews at GoFordRidge.net. Thank you once again to High Country Radio for bringing these fine folks to the airwaves and for partnering with us in this year's 4under 40. That does it for this episode of Mind Your Business. The program is written and produced by the Boon Area Chamber of Commerce each and every week. Thanks once again to WATA for bringing us back to the airwaves. If you are not a subscriber of the podcast version of the program, rainy days are great days to catch up on some of that work. Just go subscribe to this program wherever you get your podcast. Remember, you can visit us online anytime as well at Boonechamber.com. Until next week, so long, everybody.
