Tribal member to lead Kituwah LLC

Following the departure of Mark Hubble, who has led Kituwah LLC as its CEO since it was formed in 2018, Kituwah Economic Development Board member Samuel Owl will take the reins.

Register for the Business of Farming Conference

The 21st annual Business of Farming Conference is coming up Saturday, Feb. 24, at the A-B Tech Conference Center in Asheville. 

Cherokee cannabis business shows forward movement

After months of stalemate, the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians appears ready to advance its cannabis enterprise.

Appalachian Farm School returns to Sylva

An eight-week training course for anyone interested in operating an agriculture-based business will kick off Monday, Jan. 15, at Southwestern Community College in Sylva.

Outdoor businesses invited to join accelerator program

Applications are open through Thursday, Oct. 12, for participants in the fifth cohort of the Waypoint Accelerator, which is the first outdoor business accelerator east of the Rockies.

Ground breaks on Exit 407 entertainment district

KK Kituwah LLC broke ground Tuesday, April 11, on a new entertainment district within its 200-acre property off Interstate 40 in Sevier County.

‘We’re still here’: Canton businesses, residents react to mill closure

It’s 12:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Southern Porch restaurant in the heart of downtown Canton. Less than 24 hours ago, the mountain community received word that its century-old paper mill would close this summer.  

Local businesses expand in Jackson

The expansion of two local businesses in Jackson County, American Sewing Corporation and Innovation Brewing, will lead to the creation of 52 new jobs and over $5 million of investments in the county. 

Joining the herd: Family-run bison 
farm, vacation rental flourishes in Clyde 


When Cheryl Hillis started managing vacation rentals in Haywood County 15 years ago, Airbnb didn’t exist, reservations were made with phone calls and mailed checks, and she lived nowhere near Western North Carolina. Hillis was the face of Buffalo Creek Vacations, but she took reservations and managed payments from whichever town her military husband and their four boys lived at the time.

‘Self-sufficiency is resistance’

Julie Fox Jones’ family has been in Cullowhee for at least 100 years, probably even longer. Naturally, as a kid growing up here, all she wanted to do was leave. Get out of town. What she didn’t expect was that once she’d made it out, all she would think about was how to get home. 

Smokey Mountain News Logo
SUPPORT THE SMOKY MOUNTAIN NEWS AND
INDEPENDENT, AWARD-WINNING JOURNALISM
Go to top
Payment Information

/

At our inception 20 years ago, we chose to be different. Unlike other news organizations, we made the decision to provide in-depth, regional reporting free to anyone who wanted access to it. We don’t plan to change that model. Support from our readers will help us maintain and strengthen the editorial independence that is crucial to our mission to help make Western North Carolina a better place to call home. If you are able, please support The Smoky Mountain News.

The Smoky Mountain News is a wholly private corporation. Reader contributions support the journalistic mission of SMN to remain independent. Your support of SMN does not constitute a charitable donation. If you have a question about contributing to SMN, please contact us.