Bernadette Peters arrived in Western North Carolina in 2011 as a novice in the world of food service and an outsider to the tight-knit Sylva community. 

Planning events during the COVID-19 Pandemic has been no picnic. Just as businesses and agencies make plans for their next festival or fundraiser, the virus takes another unexpected turn. 

As state elected leaders toured areas of Haywood County decimated by deadly flooding that killed six people last week, local agencies were busy assessing damage and compiling reports in support of a federal disaster declaration that would bring badly needed resources. 

A couple of Haywood County businesses have had to shut their doors temporarily after several employees were exposed to COVID-19.

By Diana Conard • Contributing writer | Courtney and Spencer Tetrault established Axe & Awl Leatherworks six years ago as an online business. Coming from two rewarding yet demanding careers, this required a leap of faith and a whole lot of grit. Now, they are taking another leap of faith to pursue a much-anticipated dream of opening a storefront on Depot Street in downtown Waynesville.

The outdoor industry has for years been on an upward trajectory in Western North Carolina, and a regional branding campaign unveiled May 18 aims to boost it even further. 

The Haywood County town of Canton hasn’t always been a major tourist destination, but with downtown revitalization well underway and a major mountain biking park about to open, all that’s about to change, and a group of concerned citizens want to make sure the town takes full advantage of the interest soon to come. 

Things are going so well at two of Haywood County’s best-known industrial employers that they’re both hiring and expanding, making them eligible for the county’s economic development incentive plan. 

The last time Americans lived through a global pandemic, the field of employment law wasn’t nearly as developed as it is today. That’s led to an overwhelming number of unanswered questions surrounding the rights and obligations of both employers and employees when considering the massive COVID-19 vaccination effort currently underway. 

When spring sprung in 2020, so did the Coronavirus Pandemic, forcing farmers to make life-altering decisions in the face of an unknown future. A recently published survey  of Southern Appalachian farmers shows that those decisions built a reality that was better than anticipated but still full of challenges.