“The Blue Ridge Rising Summit marks a historic milestone, bringing together 29 counties from North Carolina and Virginia with a shared dedication to shaping a brighter future for the communities along the Blue Ridge Parkway,” said Kim Davis, Executive Director of Friends of Southwest Virginia.

The event, hosted by the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation working with Destination by Design, highlighted six key focus areas determined by participants in a series of 30 listening sessions hosted earlier this year. A range of speakers and panelists highlighted the top action strategies. These strategies include developing a unified regional voice, creating curated travel itineraries to highlight regional offerings, advancing connector trails and greenways, protecting the viewsheds that attract Parkway visitors, bolstering workforce development in hospitality and natural resources, promoting safe bicycling adventures and identifying dark sky areas for stargazing along the 469-mile route.

The Blue Ridge Rising action plan will be finalized early this year, and the Foundation and its partners will implement the first projects soon thereafter. The Foundation is organizing the effort, which is funded mainly through the U.S. Economic Development Administration.