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Businesses with ties to national parks suffering during shutdown

out frFrom wedding planners to elk tour guides to non-profit organizations, the closing of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park hasn’t only disrupted the livelihood of federal workers.

The park is home to a wide variety of outside enterprises working independently yet inextricably tied to it. In many ways, the federal impasse that caused the ongoing shutdown has hurt these operations more than the federal workers who have been furloughed.

Smokies and Parkway open to windshield tourists only

fr emptylotThe impasse at the federal level will touch all areas of operation at the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and Blue Ridge Parkway, closing picnic areas, campgrounds, bathrooms, visitor centers and historic sites.

Shutdown irks tourism industry on the eve of leaf season

The tourism industry in Western North Carolina is not letting the shut down of visitor facilities on the Blue Ridge Parkway, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park or national forests in the region darken their spirits as the mountains head into the busiest tourism time of the year.

Turned Away: Visitors, residents barred from national park

coverWhen Joe and Dolly Parker approached the entrance of the Deep Creek campground Tuesday morning, the sign read “Office Closed.”

“We can’t believe this,” Dolly said.

A retired couple from Key Largo, Fla., the Parkers spend upwards of five months each year traveling and camping around the country. Joe rides his motorcycle, with Dolly following behind in their campervan. Amid of all their stops, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is one of their favorites. 

A mixed bag of home building signals hope for 2013

fr jackson constructionIt may still be too soon to declare an economic rebound, but recent construction data may point toward a housing sector comeback led by high-end, new home building in Jackson County.

Haywood tourism holding its own, gradually coming back

Tourism numbers are looking good for Haywood County so far this year, and tourism leaders are keeping their fingers crossed that a cold winter will drive visitors to Cataloochee’s slopes.

College kids gum up Jackson County’s economic stats

The economic situation seemed to be looking up in Jackson County: unemployment was on a steady decline; the real estate market was rebounding; and tourists were finding more expendable income to travel.

Haywood County economy outpaces its peers

Joey Del Bosque scrolled through his appointment book for the week; time slot after time slot was filled, with just enough room to breathe.

Belle On Main, a salon and massage parlor along South Main Street in Waynesville, opened in May and quickly started picking up business.

Economic indicators show WNC’s pump is primed but still waiting to flow

coverMore doom and gloom or a light at the end of the tunnel?

For five years, the nation has waited eagerly for economic forecasters to tell us what we want to hear — that home sales are rebounding, wages are finally rising, and job growth at long last is outpacing layoffs. Will 2013 bring those things at last?

RELATED:
Haywood County economy outpaces its peers
College kids gum up Jackson County’s economic stats

The military bubble will be the next to burst

op frKen Jacobine • Guest Columnist

As students of the Austrian School of Economics understand, financial bubbles are caused by central bank monetary policy and government intervention in the economy.  The housing boom and subsequent crash in the first decade of this century is an excellent example of the Austrian Business Cycle Theory (the Austrian School’s explanation for booms and busts in the economy).  

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