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Down payment assistance gets unanimous Council backing

FOLLOW THE MONEY: Paul D’Angelo, city housing development specialist, presents the $1.4 million Down Payment Assistance Program to Asheville City Council. Photo by Daniel Walton

Asheville City Council member Julie Mayfield had a very clear request for prospective homebuyers regarding the city’s new $1.4 million Down Payment Assistance Program. “Please come get this money,” she said. “We want to spend it and we want to put people in houses.”

The program, unanimously approved by Council members at their Feb. 26 meeting, offers no-interest loans of up to $40,000 for low- and moderate-income borrowers to make down payments on single-family residences within Asheville city limits. Loans will be funded by $1 million of the 2016 Affordable Housing General Obligation Bonds, $300,000 in Housing Trust Fund money and $100,000 from the Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta.

Paul D’Angelo, the city’s housing development specialist, noted that the use of bond funding for this purpose is an uncommon tactic that nonetheless makes strategic sense for Asheville. “It’s not something I’ve seen out there, and especially around North Carolina,” he said. Area nonprofit organizations such as OnTrack WNC, Mountain Housing Opportunities and Habitat for Humanity, he added, all support the program.

Eligible properties, D’Angelo continued, include condominiums and townhouses in addition to traditional single-family houses. “If there’s any developers out there listening, we’d love to see more condominiums and townhomes out there; they can be a more affordable product,” he said.

Council member Keith Young drew particular attention to the $500,000 set aside for individuals and families making less than 60 percent of the area median income, or $36,780 for a family of four. The remainder of the $1 million in bond funding, as well as most other city affordable housing initiatives, uses 80 percent of AMI as the income threshold.

“There is a chunk that is set aside to make sure that those who really need it can access it,” Young explained. He added that the city must spend those funds by the end of 2021 before rolling them into the broader program, which expires in October 2023.

An additional $400,000 is reserved for “community heroes,” full-time employees of the city of Asheville or Asheville City Schools who have been at their jobs for at least a year. To be eligible for the program, these borrowers can make no more than 120 percent of the AMI — $73,600 for a family of four — and must apply by March 2020.

Although the city will charge no interest or monthly principal payments on the loans, borrowers must repay the original amount, plus an additional amount tied to the property’s appreciation, if they sell their homes within 20 years of purchase. The appreciation payment decreases by 10 percent annually after that point, and the loan is completely forgiven after 30 years.

Originally slated for Council’s agenda of Feb. 9, consideration of the program was postponed so its language could be made clearer. Mayfield said developing the policy had been problematic but thanked staff members for their hard work in taking the idea through “really complicated waters” from its “messy” origins in the Housing & Community Development Committee.

The only member of the public to comment on the policy, Devinceo Priester, also expressed his support. “I feel real good that somebody is actually willing to give Asheville a chance,” he said.

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Beer Scout: The Casual Pint and Tasty Beverage Co. take different routes to success

THE GANG’S ALL HERE: Appalachian State University fans enjoy a watch party at The Casual Pint, top, while, bottom, from left, Ashley Blalock, Bryan Smith and Johnny Belflower enjoy a quiet moment at Tasty Beverage Co. Photos courtesy of The Casual Pint and Mike Bromer

With so many businesses in the Asheville-area brewing industry being homegrown institutions, outsiders setting up shop in town are often met with a degree of skepticism from protective, hyperlocal customers.

Such was the case for the father-son team of Brad and Cameron Rogers in early 2018 as they established an Asheville location of The Casual Pint, which at the time had just over 20 other franchises scattered across the country. But as craft beverage fans have gotten to know the loyal locals running the taproom and bottle shop, they’ve embraced the business as the community institution it strives to be.

A former banker, Brad was the chief credit officer for a group that did small-business lending nationwide, and in February 2016, he received a request to finance a Casual Pint store. Already looking for a professional opportunity that he and Cameron, a recent graduate of Appalachian State University, could undertake together, Brad read up on the company. Three months later, he and his wife, Sissy Rogers, signed a franchise agreement, and in February 2018, they opened the store at 1863 Hendersonville Road with Cameron as its manager.

“With the banking background, the operational model was appealing,” Brad says. “Every store learns from the previous one. [Cameron and I] visited about a dozen of them before signing to see how consistent they were. [Cameron] knew beer, I knew business, but neither of us knew about opening and running a business. It’s not easy, but the operational part has made it better.”

Launched in Knoxville, Tenn., in 2011 by another father-son duo, Jon and Nathan Robinette, The Casual Pint opened its first franchise in 2014. The current network of 28 stores in eight states shares information and advice through an intranet and a monthly owners call.

There are also front-of-house and back-of-house managers for the entire company, so when issues arise, owners can reach out for solutions. The Rogerses pay for access to that communal assistance with a monthly fee.

All Casual Pint franchises feature the same design scheme and use uniform point-of-sale software. They also offer the same menu of six standard bar food items (e.g., chicken wings and pretzels). Otherwise, each location is truly independently owned and operated.

“The events we do, the people we hire, the beer we buy — it’s all our decision,” Cameron says. “But having the support and the system is a big help.”

He and his father considered World of Beer and The Brass Tap beer bars, but both franchises involve a full restaurant, and the Rogerses wanted to foremost run a beer store. The freedom to customize the space and tailor the 35 taps and wall of packaged beer to their customers’ preferences was likewise appealing.

In the same way they gradually overcame patrons’ false assumptions that they are from Knoxville, the Rogerses maneuvered stigmas in working with local breweries. One such success story is their account with Burial Beer Co., which took six to eight months to establish.

“It took some of their people coming out here and seeing what we do,” Cameron says. “Some people will look at a franchise and just say, ‘I’m not going there because it’s not local.’ But people who come in here typically don’t leave with something negative to say.”

Door No. 2

While the operational box of The Casual Pint gives the Rogerses the confidence to run their store, Brad applauds entrepreneurs like Johnny Belflower, owner of Tasty Beverage Co., who are willing to strike out on their own. Belflower opened his first bottle shop in Raleigh in 2011, and as the business grew to where expansion made sense, he opted to build a second store in Asheville rather than go the franchise route.

“Most weeks, I spend at least eight hours in the car and am working a couple of days at both shops,” Belflower says. “I often answer ‘Where do you live?’ jokingly with, ‘In my car on I-40 around Statesville.’”

Drawn to a brewing community that he calls “second to none,” Belflower opened Tasty’s Coxe Avenue store just in time for AVL Beer Week 2015. Overall, he feels his business has been embraced in much the same way as the additional locations of Sierra Nevada Brewing Co., New Belgium Brewing Co. and White Labs. Many of his weekly customers were born and raised in the area, and a good number of regulars work at local breweries.

The inaugural Brew Horizons Beer Festival is set for Saturday, Feb. 23, at the U.S. Cellular Center. It’s presented by the nonprofit Green Built Alliance, which also produces Asheville’s Ciderfest NC event. Proceeds will help fund the group’s Blue Horizons Project clean energy resource hub.

The festival will feature about 20 Western North Carolina breweries and cideries along with live music and food vendors. Asheville-based breweries compose roughly half of the current lineup, though regional operations rarely seen on the local front — including 7 Clans Brewing of Cherokee, Currahee Brewing Co. of Franklin and Mica Town Brewing Co. of Marion — will also be in attendance. Mead maker Wehrloom Honey of Robbinsville is also on board, as is Asheville ginger beer brewery Ginger’s Revenge. Visit brewhorizonsbeerfest.com for details and tickets. — Tony Kiss

“I didn’t personally experience any backlash from residents or breweries over Tasty Asheville being our second location, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t people out there with those sentiments,” Belflower says. “I think most people understand how exceedingly different the implications are between Tasty Beverage Co. coming to town, compared to a corporation like Anthropologie or Ben & Jerry’s.”

Regarding franchises within his industry, Belflower is familiar with The Casual Pint and has visited a few Craft Beer Cellar locations. “I thought they all were well-run shops and elevated the craft beer industry,” he says. “I’m glad we didn’t choose that route for growth, but I’m not going to knock them for it either.”

Belflower adds that he supports Unchain Asheville’s mission, and with the exception of “an unhealthy addiction to Bojangles,” he almost exclusively shops and dines at independent businesses.

“The Asheville store’s revenue is reinvested as locally as every other local business, and our profits will never leave the city,” he says.

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Homeless Youth Are Virtually Invisible in Asheville

ASHEVILLE, N.C. — As thousands of tourists fawn each year over the opulent trappings of western North Carolina’s Biltmore Estates — a four football-field-sized homage to America’s Gilded Age — one of the starkest examples of the nation’s homeless problem endures less than a mile away.

The Tarheel state had nearly 9,000 homeless people in 2017, 20 percent of whom were children under the age of 17, according to the North Carolina Coalition to End Homelessness.

Homeless youth, including those up to the age of 24, are among the fastest-growing segment of North Carolina’s homeless population. And the state’s social services system is working to address the specific challenges of this demographic, which works just as hard to remain under the radar.

Asheville — home to Biltmore Estate — is a prime spot for many of those young people. Asheville/Buncombe County has the highest rate of homelessness in North Carolina, according to 2017 data from the North Carolina Coalition to End Homelessness. Buncombe County, for example, has seen an explosion in the number of homeless students in the last 13 years.

Asheville annually draws millions of tourists looking to soak up the mountain air, dine in quaint cafes, and browse bohemian art galleries. It has also drawn its share of people who have come to work but have no place to stay. Many wind up on the streets or — if they’re lucky — in a shelter.

The Rev. Amy Cantrell has worked closely with Asheville’s homeless for 17 years. She estimates that on any given day, Asheville has 700 homeless children and young adults. Her assessment provides a more in-the-trenches account of homelessness in Asheville than data from the North Carolina Coalition to End Homelessness, which does an annual one-night, point-in-time count of Asheville’s homelessness. (NCCEH recorded 8,962 homeless in the state during one night on the last week of January in 2017, the most recent available data.)

But, you’d be hard-pressed to find the younger ones.

Underneath the city’s vibrant economy are sullen socioeconomic realities: The homeless population in Asheville has shifted — women and children now make up the largest share. Compounding the complexity is the fact that homeless youth are considered virtually personae non gratae.

“It’s the most invisible population in terms of homelessness in our community,” said Cantrell, founder of Beloved Asheville, a nonprofit that works with Asheville’s homeless. “You see a little bit of everything. You have LGBTQ kids being kicked out of their homes. Kids running from abusive homes. We’re seeing them in the school systems.”

In fact, the number of homeless students in Buncombe has exploded in the last 13 years. More than 600 homeless students were identified in the Buncombe County school system during the 2017-18 school year, according to county school data. There were fewer than 30 during the 2005-06 school year.

On Chaos Corner, the locals’ name for a four-way intersection in downtown Asheville filled with boutiques, eateries, art galleries, and tourists, Megan Lampe is Hula-Hooping, hoping to get tips. Mostly she gets stares. Chaos is where the homeless like Megan gather. They play music, juggle, read tarot cards, or create other entertainment for passing tourists.

Even those like DeWayne Horton who have managed to find work said Asheville can be a tough place.

“Rents are super high right now,” said Horton, who works at The Hookah Hookup in downtown Asheville. “They’re building a lot of apartments and condos that young people can’t afford. I’ve been homeless twice. So I know the experience.”

The 26-year-old Baltimore native once slept in the woods behind an Asheville grocery store where he used to work and lived for a time in a friend’s Geo car. He now has a two-bedroom apartment.

“I’ve got a roof over my head.”

Scott DeAngelo, his 22-year-old girlfriend and their 1-year-old daughter aren’t so fortunate. The young family ended up at the Western Carolina Rescue Mission in Asheville recently after DeAngelo, 28, said a local motel squeezed the last of their money out of them.

When he complained, the clerk responded, “We’re a tourist town now.”

“People prey on the most vulnerable,” Cantrell said. “We’re in a severe housing crisis. Our housing costs are exploding in comparison to our wages. Many people are paying 50 percent or more of their income for housing.”

These days, she says she is seeing people, including families, living in their cars and tents, particularly since Asheville has no shelters for single fathers with children. Cantrell recalls seeing a mother and her three children outside the library recently after it had closed for the day. The two older children — elementary and middle-school aged — were playing as their mom sat on the sidewalk charging a tablet. Nearby, their car was packed with belongings.

“We have this all over the community. They blend in,” Cantrell said. “I saw all the possessions in their car. That family would be shut out of a shelter system because she had a son older than 12.”

Such observations led Cantrell to write a piece for the Huffington Post last year on “The Asheville that magazines and travel guides don’t tell you about.”

Asheville, she said, tends to “sweep our struggles under the rug.” Police are constantly on the prowl, she said. When she looked at arrest citations and shelter addresses going back a decade, she found “literally thousands of people” who were cited or arrested for trespassing.

“You’re basically trespassing wherever you go if you’re homeless, and trespassing is making homelessness a crime,” Cantrell said.

Richard “Cornbread” Howard has been living on the streets of Asheville since last year, when a rehab center in Henderson dropped him off and wished him good luck. He stays in Asheville because it has more resources for finding steady places to get free food, he said.

Asheville’s tourism-led building boom has made it the second most gentrified city in the nation. It added 18 new hotels last year alone. Such unrelenting construction illustrates “a stark contrast of wealth and homelessness in Asheville,” Cantrell said.

The Salvation Army sits in the shadows of downtown Asheville’s Hyatt Hotel, where the penthouse goes for $800 a night. Luxury condos called the Patton are across the street from the Western Carolina Rescue Mission, where many of the city’s homeless gather daily for hot meals and showers. Likewise, luxury condos are being built across from Beloved Asheville.

Less than a mile from Beloved is the Biltmore Estates.

“It’s always ironic to me,” Cantrell said. “Here are all these tourists coming to look at this famous house with 200 empty bedrooms and we have people living on the street with nowhere to lay their heads.

“It’s a tale of two cities.”

Editor’s note: This article originally appeared at Youth Today and is made possible in part by support from the Park, Raikes, and Tow foundations. Throughout this project, Youth Today will maintain editorial independence.

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Campbell lays out Asheville to-dos at her first CIBO breakfast

STEPPING OUT: Asheville City Manager Debra Campbell left the podium behind as she addressed the Council of Independent Business Owners. Photo by Daniel Walton

Debra Campbell, Asheville’s new city manager, eschewed the podium when introducing herself to the Council of Independent Business Owners at the group’s Feb. 1 breakfast meeting. The symbolic lack of separation between Campbell and her audience seemed to mesh with the philosophy she outlined for her tenure in the city’s top unelected post.

“I did not come to this community to be a mover or a shaker. I came to this community to assimilate — to become a part of the community,” Campbell declared to a crowd of about 50 people. “I think that if I assimilate, then that means that I’m going to collaborate.”

Since leaving her previous role as Charlotte’s assistant city manager to take the Asheville job in December, Campbell said, she has focused on meeting as many community stakeholders as possible. Those discussions, she explained, have led to a slate of priorities with the common theme of making the city “the best partner that we can be.”

Campbell named a shortage of affordable housing as a “tremendous hurdle” to Asheville’s development, noting that high rents and mortgages may dissuade talented employees from coming to the city. She also mentioned the achievement gap between black and white students at Asheville City Schools (see ‘Beat back this monster,’ Xpress, Jan. 30), which has been the worst among all school districts in North Carolina since at least 2015.

“This may be a lane that you all may not think the city ought to be in,” Campbell said, “[but] again, if we’re going to be a premier city, all of our kids need to be educated, and they need to be prepared to be our future workforce.”

Last but not least, Campbell added, was a “significant need” for capital investments. She suggested that, even after Asheville’s 2016 issue of $74 million in bond funding, the city would explore “revenue diversification” through additional streams of income. In November, then-interim City Manager Cathy Ball proposed new sales and prepared food and beverage taxes for potential voter referendums in 2020.

“We cannot continue to have the enormous capital needs that are out there being paid for on the dime of the property tax,” Campbell said. “We’ve just got to figure out a different way.”

The most specific policy Campbell outlined at the meeting came in response to an audience question about “predictability” in the city’s permitting and development process. She explained that, while Asheville’s zoning ordinance outlines specific requirements for projects, City Council and developers often hash out details such as affordable housing incentives after a proposal has already cleared initial review.

“We can encourage Council to adopt a policy that says [affordable housing] is an expectation — not that it’s negotiated at the dais when you come to Council, but that it’s discussed with staff much earlier upstream in the process,” Campbell said. A recent 416-unit subdivision in South Asheville, for example, added an affordable housing condition on the day of its Council approval vote.

In closing, Campbell thanked her hosts and emphasized that her remarks were just the start of her involvement with the business community. “I will be knocking on your door,” she said. “This is a partnership.”

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Affordable housing: MHO to make $2.2M request of Buncombe County for new 95-unit complex

A rendering of the East Haven Apartments, a future 95-unit complex, scheduled to be constructed in Swannanoa.

(Photo: Provided)

SWANNANOA – A nonprofit community development group plans to ask Buncombe County commissioners Tuesday for $2.2 million to help complete a 95-unit affordable apartment complex in the eastern part of the county.

Mountain Housing Opportunities said it begins construction in March on the East Haven Apartments on U.S. 70 in Swannanoa, with plans for residents to move to the property in October 2020, a five-page presentation provided to the county shows. The $16.8 million development is expected to feature one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments available to low-income and disabled residents and families.

Scott Dedman, president and executive director of MHO, said in an email Friday the $2.2 million ask, a loan which potentially would be spread out over three budget years, is the last piece of funding required before construction gets underway.

The organization already has $14.6 million of funding in place from "private investments and other sources," Dedman said. Among those various sources are about $8 million in tax credit equity and an additional $1.25 million from the North Carolina Housing Finance Agency, a $1 million loan from the Rental Production Program and $890,300 in federal tax credits.

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Residents eligible to live in the new complex must have incomes lower than 60 percent of the area’s median income, which, in 2018, ranged from $25,800 a year for a one-person household $36,780 for four people.

"Usually as many as one-quarter to one-third of our residents are retirees or people with disabilities," Dedman said. "We will have some units set aside for veterans."

Details on the development

The scope of the development gradually has grown since its planning process began in 2014. It initially was planned for 40 affordable units until acquisition of additional parcels of land near the original site boosted the number to 60 units, and later 95 units after the county’s Community Oriented Development guidelines called for increased housing density along transit corridors.

The MHO presentation on the project is posted below in its entirety.

It comes at a time where affordable housing continues to be highly desirable in both the city and county, particularly after a 2017 report found the county’s overall multifamily occupancy rate at 97.3 percent — down slightly from 99.2 percent in 2014.

For market-rate inventory, the most recent occupancy rate measured out at 96.4 percent while the same rate for affordable rentals was near 100 percent.

Story continues below

County Planning Director Nathan Pennington and Donna Cottrell, its business administrator, said Friday the problem in development housing on available land in the county often is related to infrastructure, particularly access to water and sewer. But with the East Haven Apartments, Cottrell said it’s "a win-win location" near an Ingles supermarket, drugstores and transportation, all generally desirable traits for residents.

Pennington said county staff wrote the Community Oriented Development guidelines with projects like East Haven, which he calls "a key project," in mind.

"Not only does it provide affordable housing, but it provides affordable housing that’s accessible, in terms of the corridor, walkability, amenities and jobs in the areas," he said.

Tuesday’s Buncombe County Board of Commissioners meeting begins at 5 p.m. at 200 College St. in downtown Asheville. It’s also streamed live at buncombecounty.org.

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11-year-old girl punched in face outside NC mall; Man charged with assault

ASHEVILLE, NC (Gray News) – A 51-year-old man has been charged with assaulting an 11-year-old girl and two 13-year-old girls outside a mall in Asheville.

An Asheville Police spokesperson told Newsweek that David Steven Bell of Black Mountain, NC, pushed and hit a juvenile girl outside the Asheville Mall on Saturday night.

An off-duty police officer arrested Bell, who was charged with assault on a child under the age of 12 and two counts of assault on a female, a police spokesperson told Newsweek.

Two 13-year-old girls told the Buncombe County Magistrate’s Office that Bell also pushed them during the altercation, which resulted in the two charges of assault on a female.

Videos circulating online show a confrontation between a young girl and a man, who’s reportedly Bell. (Warning: The videos contains graphic violence and profanity. One can be viewed HERE.)

The man in the video shoves a girl several yards back. The girl recovers and rushes toward the man. He punches her in the face, knocking her to the ground. Onlookers scream and run away.

On Saturday the Asheville Mall tweeted: “We are aware of the videos circulating on social media. The @AshevillePolice responded immediately and the situation was diffused. An arrest has been made.”

Bell’s attorney, Andy Banzhoff, said Bell was trying to help a woman being harassed by “a large pack of youths," and that he felt threatened when the youths “trapped and surrounded him” and started yelling threatening remarks.

He said a female youth shoved Bell in the back. Another female youth “stepped towards Bell in an aggressive manner” and Bell pushed her away.

“She then got to her feet and aggressively charged in the direction of Mr. Bell," Banzhoff said. "As she entered Mr. Bell’s personal space, he struck her with his closed fist.”

Banzhoff said his client is undergoing treatment for a traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder, and that he regrets using physical force.

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Cost of living increases prompt higher living wage — $13.65 — in Asheville area

Asheville Hardware just got re-certified as paying all six of the store’s employees a living wage. (Photo credit: WLOS staff) Living wage for Asheville rises to $13.65. (Photo credit: WLOS staff) Just economics of WNC, a non-profit that examines living costs has raised living wage to $13.65 an hour for Asheville area employees.{ }(Photo credit: WLOS staff)<p></p>

ASHEVILLE, NC —

Higher rents and costs to live in Asheville have led to a new living wage for 2019, according to non-profit Just Economics in Asheville. The living wage has been set at $13.65, up from $13 in 2017. That comes to $28,392 a year for a full-time living-wage employee without health insurance in Asheville.

“We use a formal to do that, using the living wage formula,” said Vicki Meath, executive director of Just Economics. “We know that housing (costs) have increased. You can’t survive almost anywhere in the country, but you definitely can’t survive in Buncombe County on $7.25 an hour (the federal minimum wage)."

North Carolina cities can’t set their own minimum wages because the state has to pass a law to allow them to do so. More than 400 businesses and entities, including medical groups and non-profits in the area have signed contracts with Just Economics, which allows the non-profit to randomly audit an entity to make sure staff are getting the living wage set by the group.

“We have only six employees here. We sell woodworking supplies, tools and lumber,” said Dan Kostin, manager of Asheville Hardware in the South Slope.

The business is newly certified as a living wage company.

“The cost of living in Asheville seems disproportionate to other cities in the state. It is extremely important to be able to pay our employees a wage that enables them to live a fruitful life.”

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(SATIRE) A Funny Taste: Asheville star chefs rebrand to taco-themed restaurants

TACO TAKEOVER: In recent weeks, five Asheville restaurants have announced plans to close and reopen with taco-themed menus. The changes will give Asheville more taco shops per capita than any other city in North Carolina. The Buncombe County Tourism Development Authority has already launched a campaign touting the area’s taco glut.

It’s no secret that tacos have been a rising trend among Asheville’s new restaurants for several years. But a recent flood of press releases from some of Asheville’s top chefs came as quite a surprise. Cúrate, Cucina 24, AUX Bar, Copper Crown and Zambra have all announced they will close after the new year to begin rebranding as taco-themed restaurants.

“We just saw the demand for tacos more than Spanish tapas,” says chef Katie Button, who will shutter her James Beard-nominated downtown restaurant Cúrate in February. “We think, Button’s Burritos will be a perfect fit for Biltmore Avenue, and will complement Button & Co. Bagels nicely.”

“I’m just sick of cooking burgers,” says chef Steve Goff, who has announced plans to rebrand AUX Bar, the Lexington Avenue restaurant he co-owns with Mike Moore, as Stevie G’s Taco Extravaganza. The change could come as soon as March. “If all anyone wants in this town is cheap bar food, our build-your-own taco buffet line is going to be a hit,” Goff says.

Following a string of taco shop openings over the past five years, and with the conversion of these five eateries, Asheville will soon have the highest rate of taco shops per capita in North Carolina. Goff says this shouldn’t come as a surprise — as Asheville’s housing prices continue to rise, wages remain stagnant and customers become increasingly concerned about prices, businesses must inevitably curb their costs.

“It’s just so affordable,” he says. “A little bit of meat, a little bit of veg and a tortilla. We plan to make everything from scratch here, even the tortillas.”

Cucina 24 chef and owner Brian Canipelli seems a little less enthusiastic. “You pour your whole life into a place, but it never seems to change anything. No one cares about fine dining anymore. All they care about is the price point,” he says. Look for Canipelli’s new concept, Canilupe’s Taco Takedown, to open midsummer in the Cucina 24 space on Wall Street, with carryout service from the restaurant’s old deli location. “It’s fine. It’ll be fine,” he says.

“F**k it, we’re serving tacos now,” was all Copper Crown co-owner Kate Bannasch had to say before handing the phone to her husband, Adam Bannasch, executive chef of the East Asheville restaurant. “F**k it,” he echoed. Copper Crown will retain its name after rolling out its all-new menu of tacos, quesadillas and burritos in early spring.

Zambra owner Peter Slamp declined to make a statement, but staff members say they received their new El Duende uniforms at the last staff meeting.

Mandatory draft beer ordinance

After months of debate, Asheville City Council has outlined new draft beer requirements for all downtown businesses. “According to new zoning guidelines, all retail stores, galleries, clothing shops, real estate offices, even toy stores, will be required to have at least one beer tap for every 200 square feet of floor space offering locally made beers as soon as April of 2019,” said Mayor Esther Manheimer at the Council’s Dec. 11 meeting. “We hope this will be a way of sufficiently supporting our ever-growing craft brewing sector.”

“It just seemed necessary, what with 12 new breweries planning to launch before 2020,” says City Council member Vijay Kapoor. “The industry is already so saturated, we just don’t see any other way to sustain these new businesses.”

Councilman Brian Haynes voted against the initiative, noting that Asheville already has the highest drunk and disorderly arrest rate in the state. But he was interrupted mid-speech by a delivery person wheeling in a new kegerator for the council chambers in Asheville City Hall.

“I’m just concerned about the costs,” says Elizabeth Schell, co-owner of Purl’s Yarn Emporium on Wall Street. “We are essentially being required to buy the permits; we’re being strong-armed into selling booze.”

“I think it’s great,” says Kip Veno, owner of Lexington Avenue vintage clothier Hip Replacements. “We’re just going to turn the shop into a lounge, with couches and comfy chairs in the back. It kind of just turns every business in Asheville into a bar.”

High Five and Izzy’s sell to Starbucks

Both Izzy’s Coffee Den and High Five Coffee announced in late December that all locations of both shops have been sold to Starbucks Corp.

The multinational coffee chain has been trying to make inroads into the downtown and West Asheville scenes for decades, but public backlash had held them at bay. The reported multimillion-dollar offers made to the High Five and Izzy’s owners seem to have turned the tides in the corporation’s favor.

“If the breweries can do it, why can’t we?” says Izzy’s employee Chris Ballard with a sigh. “I mean, hell, this town is increasingly becoming a capitalist hellscape anyway. We may as well just give it to the tourists. At least this way, I’ll get benefits.”

When Asheville’s Charlotte Street Starbucks location opened several years ago, it was a target of rampant vandalism for its first few months, requiring police protection until passions ebbed and the people of Asheville came to accept it as part of the changing landscape of the city.

“Asheville people really don’t like Starbucks,” says Amber Arthur, owner of PennyCup Coffee Co., one of the few local coffee chains to withstand the recent corporate buyout.

“We really see no place for corporations like that in this city,” she says, adding after a pause, “I mean, I guess if the money is right. But we balked at their offer of a paltry $11 million. Surely dignity costs a little more than that, right?”

Though the sales of both Izzy’s and High Five will be final in May, the names of the coffee houses are expected to stay the same. “The only way you’ll really notice a difference is that we’ll just start pronouncing and spelling everyone’s name wrong,” says High Five barista Caroline Adams. “That’s mandatory, according to corporate.”

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Asheville NC Real Estate Agent and Co-Owner of Blue Ridge Daylilies Announces the Start of the Peak Bloom Season

Eric Simpson, a Real Estate Agent with Century 21 Mountain Lifestyles and Co-Owner of Blue Ridge Daylilies, is Looking Forward to Welcoming Visitors to the Beautiful Farm Starting on June 11

WEAVERVILLE, NC / ACCESSWIRE / June 10, 2018 / Eric Simpson, an Asheville NC real estate agent with Century 21 Mountain Lifestyles, and co-owner of Blue Ridge Daylilies, is pleased to announce that peak bloom season will be starting soon at the farm. Peak bloom starts June 11 and visitors are welcome to visit the beautiful daylilies farm from 10 a.m.-5 p.m., rain or shine 7 days a week.

To learn more about Blue Ridge Daylilies, which Simpson co-owns with Robert Selman, please check out http://blueridgedaylilies.com/.

As a spokesperson for Blue Ridge Daylilies noted, the farm is located at 872 Lower Flat Creek Road in the beautiful mountains of Alexander, North Carolina. The daylilies farm is at an elevation of 2,300 feet in a mountain valley with several streams surrounded by wooded hills, just 15 minutes north of Asheville and 4 miles past Weaverville.

"The garden includes two acres of daylilies with more than 1,500 registered daylily cultivars and thousands of daylily seedlings, surrounded by extensive display beds and borders filled with conifers, ornamental shrubs and grasses, rhododendrons, daffodils and hardy perennials," the spokesperson noted, adding that the use of color and texture in the landscape over the years along with the well-grown daylilies and a large collection of whimsical garden art continue to delight over 300 garden visitors each bloom season.

In addition to his work at Blue Ridge Daylilies, Eric Simpson is also an Asheville NC real estate agent. He thoroughly enjoys showing his clients homes for sale in Weaverville as well as the surrounding mountain real estate.

"It is such a pleasure to serve the real estate needs of the greater Asheville community with outstanding dedication, timely communication, and the expert care and commitment you deserve," Simpson said.

"Exceeding your expectations and securing your satisfaction is my ultimate goal."

Simpson said he and Selman are looking forward to meeting the hundreds of visitors who are expected to visit Blue Ridge Daylilies starting in mid-June. Guests can also check out a number of upcoming garden events at the farm, including Art in the Garden on Tuesday, June 26.

About Century 21 Mountain Lifestyles:

Century 21 Mountain Lifestyles is a local Real Estate firm in Asheville, NC serving the surrounding Western North Carolina markets in Asheville, Arden, Weaverville, Hendersonville, and Tryon. For more information, please visit https://www.c21mountainlifestyles.com/.

Contact:

Julia Campbell JCampbell@c21mountainlifestyles.com (864)437-0122

SOURCE: Century 21 Mountain Lifestyles

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Uh oh, Asheville, Jim Cantore is headed your way

With memes galore saying if Jim Cantore shows up in your town, you’d better leave because it’s going to get bad, there have been a lot of rumors about where the Weather Channel meteorologist will be for this weekend’s winter storm.

And now we know. Cantore is headed for Asheville.

Early rumors were that Cantore was in Charlotte, but that was disproved when it was determined that a viral image of Cantore, allegedly walking through CLT, was found to be from 2015 in Boston.

(Video above is Cantore during a winter storm in 2017)

WCNC chief meteorologist Brad Panovich posted that he was texting Thursday morning with Cantore when the Weather Channel guy told him he would be going to Asheville.

Panovich posted on his Facebook page: "I love me some Jim Cantore, but he’s not in Charlotte.”

Cantore later confirmed that Asheville is his Friday destination in responses to questions and comments on Twitter. (See below)

Before Hurricane Michael made landfall, the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office posted a tongue-in-cheek trespass poster of Cantore, with the comment, “Everyone knows what’s in store when Jim Cantore shows up. So, we issued a little notice. Lol!”

The poster says: “Person of Interest: Jim Cantore. Special conditions: Non-business related visits only. Winter months preferred.”

The bottom of the poster says, “This is not a real trespass. We like Jim. Just not under these conditions.”

The post was shared more than 16,500 times.

The Weather Channel gave Cantore his first job in 1986, the year he got out of college, and he has worked there ever since. Cantore is one of the most well-known meteorologists on television.

So one of the producers just asked who @JimCantore is. Like sir….REALLY? @producerprobspic.twitter.com/MbylWCEvK2

— Alexis (@__JustAlexis) December 7, 2018

THIS POLL IS ONLY FOR @JimCantore CAN YOU PLEASE CONFIRM OR DENY THAT YOU ARE COMING TO BOONE, NC? ALSO CAN WE MEET YOU???

— Kristen Huddleston (@kayyystrizzle) December 7, 2018

CHECK OUT WYFF:Get the latest Greenville news and weather. For live, local, late-breaking Greenville, SC, news coverage, WYFF is the place to be.

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Farmers, artisans host holiday markets around Asheville, WNC

With the past week of Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday, it’s nearly impossible not to think about holiday shopping.

Area farmers markets host holiday markets across the region to give you the opportunity to find the perfect gift, all while buying fresh, locally grown groceries.

Each market has a diversity of items, and products and vendors may vary from week to week at a given market. What might you find if you visit one of these markets? An array of produce; value-added gifts such as honey, jams, spices and cookies; crafts, including knitted items, pottery, jewelry, cutting boards and prints; wellness items like tinctures, essential oils and body products; and holiday decorations of wreaths, trees, etc.

Here in the central mountains, there are multiple markets happening throughout the week through December. See the list below.

To find holiday markets throughout other regions, visit “Farmers Market Closings and Holiday Dates” page at asapconnections.org.

WNC Markets

Following are many of Western North Carolina’s outdoor tailgate markets, according to ASAP. For exact locations and other details, visit appalachiangrown.org.

• Asheville City Market: 9 a.m.-noon Saturdays on Market Street. Last day: Dec. 15. Reopens indoors at the Masonic Temple Jan. 6.

• East Asheville Tailgate Market: Holiday market 3:30-7 p.m. Dec. 14 inside Groce UMC Asbury Hall.

• Jackson County Farmers Market: 10 a.m.- 1p.m. Saturdays through Dec. 22, 110 Railroad Ave., Sylva.

Yarn from Colour Visions is typical of the handmade items available at holiday markets around Western NC.

(Photo: Courtesy of ASAP)

• Madison County Farmers & Artisans Market: Holiday market 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturdays through Dec. 15, inside Spilman Hall on Mars Hills University campus.

• North Asheville Tailgate Market: Holiday bazaar 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturdays through Dec. 15 at UNC Asheville.

• Transylvania Farmers’ Market: 10.am.-noon through April. Holiday market 10 a.m.-noon Dec. 2.

• Weaverville Tailgate Market: Winter Market 2-6 p.m. Wednesdays through Dec. 19 inside Honey and the Hive.

• West Asheville Tailgate Market: Holiday market 2:30-6 p.m. Tuesdays inside the Mothlight.

• WNC Farmers Market: 8 a.m.-6 p.m. daily.

This wreath from Gaining Ground Farm is typical of the handmade items available at holiday markets around Western NC.

(Photo: Courtesy of ASAP)

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Code for Asheville: A New Model for Civic Tech Collaboration (Contributed)

What started as an academic project has morphed into something special: a new methodology that allows developers to efficiently process city data while making it accessible to any modern Web application.

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In 2007, Dr. Dwight Mullen founded The State of Black Asheville as an undergraduate research effort at the University of North Carolina Asheville. Over the next 10 years, students utilized public data to compare outcomes by race and gender in the areas of education, housing, health care, criminal justice and economics.

This research represented the most comprehensive effort to quantify the significant issues of racial equity that have existed in Asheville for decades. The data quickly became part of important policy discussions in the city and was the catalyst for Buncombe County’s innovative Isaac Coleman Economic Community Investment program.

When Dr. Mullen prepared to retire from the university in 2017, however, the project faced an uncertain future. As a former student of Dr. Mullen, I was eager to help, and we had already started planning a new website when the Code for America Community Fellowship program was announced. This program is designed to bring community and government partners together to tackle big issues facing cities across the country.

We saw the Community Fellowship program as an opportunity to provide additional support during the project’s evolution from an undergraduate research effort to a larger, community-driven resource. Furthermore, the Community Fellowship requires a government partner to sign on to the project; this allowed the Fellowship Team to build a strong, formal relationship with the city of Asheville’s Departments of Equity and Inclusion and Information Technology.

Our Community Fellowship team in Asheville joins groups from Honolulu, Austin, and San Jose in piloting a new model to bring principles of civic technology and 21st-century government to communities across the country. This new approach provides direct support to volunteers from the Code for America network to scale up efforts in their own communities, while providing the structure to build formal partnerships between technologists, community advocates, and government entities.

Code for America has already inspired a large volunteer movement through their Brigade network — bringing people together through the shared vision that “government can work for the people, by the people, in the digital age.” The Community Fellowship program is designed to leverage the existing relationships and local knowledge these groups possess to spur innovative projects to help vulnerable populations. It also gives volunteers an idea of what it’s like to really work in government, and gives government an idea of what it’s like to have civic technologists on staff.

Our local brigade, Code for Asheville, has been actively involved with the city’s open data efforts, starting with an Open Data Policy in October 2015 that has facilitated the release of over 200 data sets on Asheville’s Open Data Portal. In 2018, following the leak of body-cam footage showing an incident of police brutality, Code for Asheville led a community-driven petition effort calling for greater transparency around data sets related to public safety.

We’ve also produced several apps that are powered by open data provided by the city, including AVL Park and AVL Crime, so we knew quite a bit about the city’s existing data sets and the effort required to put that information in a format that can be easily utilized by our community.

For the State of Black Asheville project, we developed a vision of accessing public data in new and innovative ways, but quickly realized we had a few challenges to overcome. Most city data starts in structured query language (SQL) databases, and SQL is a great tool for the job of aggregation and statistical analysis — exactly what we need to show useful charts. Open data application programming interfaces (APIs), however, don’t typically support these aggregation operations of grouping and filtering data. Instead they provide row-level information such as the details on a single permit, call for service, or a traffic stop.

One technology had the tools we needed for the required data processing, and the other had the tools necessary for a dynamic Web application. We had to figure out a technical approach to handle this “missing piece” in the way open data is provided to the public today.

Our Community Fellowship provided the perfect framework to work together with our government partners on a solution. We worked with the city’s IT team to produce a read-only replica of its existing Postgres server. This was a win in itself — for the first time, anyone can use existing SQL tools to look at city data!

Asheville had already developed an app, SimpliCity, which consumed their public data using modern Web technologies like React and GraphQL. We realized that our needs on the State of Black Asheville website were similar — interface with city data and visualize it in a way that makes sense to community members. Additionally, all of Asheville’s code was already published on GitHub.

We decided to take an approach that is surprisingly rare in civic technology: rather than trying to build a “better mousetrap,” we actually built off of the city’s existing repository. We decided to build our visualization library in React, and to interface with Asheville’s data using a GraphQL server forked from its own version for SimpliCity.

We built a generic “statistics” endpoint on the city’s GraphQL structure to provide us with a flexible method to query any city data set, allowing us to utilize an SQL-style syntax to perform aggregation and filters to produce the exact analysis we need in a dynamic manner. We had found our bridge that would allow developers to efficiently process city data while making it accessible to any modern Web application.

Shortly after, Asheville identified an internal project with a similar need: an easy way to access statistics related to permitting trends in the city. So, we finally got to do something very exciting: submit a pull request back to the city so that they could deploy our enhancements. The close working relationship created by the Community Fellowship allowed us to identify a common need, and this example of code-level collaboration will provide benefits to everyone involved.

Asheville saves valuable staff time by eliminating the need to develop the data feeds critical to performance metrics and operational dashboards. The Community Fellowship team benefits by having their modifications merged into a repository that is maintained by city work plans and deployed to their existing infrastructure.

The Asheville IT department does a great job of committing to open source, modern technologies, and they publish most of their work onto GitHub to encourage community contributions. The Code for America Community Fellowship has allowed us to develop some successful strategies for civic tech collaboration, and we’re learning some important lessons along the way.

For government to build truly collaborative efforts around open source software, it is essential that we go beyond simply sharing code and start to build working relationships around challenges that are common to both government and community efforts. By working together on shared technology, we can start to unlock the true potential of civic technology and 21st-century government.

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Bomb suspect’s van — its windows covered by Donald Trump images — seen in Asheville in 2017

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Study details current, future housing issues for Beaufort county

Video

Beaufort county leaders are hoping data can help them tackle the lack of affordable housing in the area.

The County commissioned and paid for $39,000 for a study by Bowen National Research. the 8 month long study offered insights into housing issues now and in the future.

Bowen National Research worked 8 months on the Beaufort County housing survey

18,000 people responded, and 25 businesses from around the County were interviewed for the project.

The survey shows 63% of people in Beaufort County are having trouble finding a suitable place to live, and more than 45% are paying 30% or more of their salaries just to find a home.

"Lack of available housing, lack of affordable housing," are the two biggest issues, according to Patrick Bowen, President of Bowen National Research.

Houisng prices information from Bowen National Research study

47.4 percent of Beaufort County renters are "cost-burdened", paying more than 30% of their income for housing. Northern unincorporated parts of the County had the highest amount of those renters at 55.9%.

The Bowen National Research study showed that population grew more than 15% in the last 7 years, and will grow another 10% in the next five.

The fastest growing part of the population is still 65 to 75 + in the county, but the research shows nothing is being done to help the other part of the community, the young and not rich.

"If you are trying to buy something that’s priced say under $250,000 or trying to rent something under $1000 there is virtually nothing to choose from," said Bowen.

Market rate, median rents – from Bowen National Research study

41,000 people live and work in Beaufort county, but almost the same number, 36,000 travel either in or out of the county either for a home or a job.

Homes values at $300,000 or more make up 70% of the houses in Beaufort County. Only 10% of the single family homes available for $200,000 of less.

That becomes a nearly impossible number for hospitality workers, police and firefighters.. and more.

"Constantly we kept getting teachers teachers teachers," said Bowen. "That was a problem particularly entry level teachers around the lower spectrum of the pay scale. Those folks were really having a tough time finding a place to live."

Household growth by age, from Bowen National Research study

While 18% of the county can only afford to pay $500 in rent, only 6% of the rental market is at that price.

Median rent in Beaufort County is $1060 for a one bedroom apartment. $1200 for a two bedroom.

All government subsidized properties are filled. A 300 person waiting list exists, and the wait for housing vouchers stands at 18 months to 3 years.

"There is nothing available for low income people to rent," explains Bowen. "If you are a renter that makes less than 40,000, and you are trying to find an apartment in the county, good luck."

Its not just the low income housing that will become an issue. According to Bowen, demand for nearly every housing type and price in every part of the county is going to rise as the county continues to expand.

If the county wants to attract business and high-ranking executives, more housing in the high-income segment has to be built.

About 200 beds for senior care housing facilities will need to be added annually in Beaufort County to keep up with the number of aging residents.

"You already started with a lot of older people and they are just going to get older," explains Bowen. "So housing needs are about to change and a lot of these people financially can’t take care of their homes they need to downsize."

So what needs to be done?

More housing, period will be needed, in all forms, high, moderate and low income.

More single family homes, multi-family apartments, and duplexes and townhouses, according to the study.

The price points on many homes also needs to be less than $150,000 for entry-level and workforce families. Rentals for $750 a month or less will be needed to keep the workforce in Beaufort County.

Bowen does have some recommendations on how to create more affordable housing. Among those

Implementing "inclusionary zoning," Setting aside a number of units in new apartment complexes or other developments for low to moderate incomes people or families.

Simplifying the permitting process to make it quicker for developers who plan to include affordable housing.

Waive building fees for affordable housing developers.

Bowen says those are just recommendations, not exact guidelines the County needs to follow. He likened this area to Asheville, North Carolina who was having similar problems. Many of their workers now travel two counties away to live or build homes.

The full report will be released sometime this week.

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Letter: No rhyme or reason to development approvals

Graphic by Lori Deaton

In December 2017, local neighbors living off of Aiken Road in North Asheville were outraged when the [Buncombe County] Board of Adjustment approved a conditional use permit to Atlanta-based Hathaway Development to build an apartment complex on 29.5 acres of land near the intersection of Aiken Road and Country Oak Drive.

As with so many homeowners in northwest Buncombe County, I was opposed to the 296-unit, high-density Aiken apartment complex and, perhaps more importantly, the process by which it was decided.

The people in this community showed up in force with strong concerns about traffic along Aiken Road, a narrow two-lane road connecting Weaverville Highway and New Stock Road with limited visibility in many spots and one of the most dangerous roads on a typical day with the already-heavy bottlenecks on the entrance to I-26. We were also concerned about additional noise and light, the destruction of bear and deer habitat, and the reality that this apartment complex does not fit in with the surrounding neighborhood.

Unfortunately, the Board of Adjustment felt the manipulated traffic study recruited by Hathaway was reasonable enough to approve the complex. Perhaps having a member of the BOA as a partner with Hathaway helped to approve a project much too large for this quiet neighborhood with single-family homes that have dotted the bucolic countryside for many generations. The destruction to the area and the danger of the traffic on this road will reverberate forever.

In contrast, it was recently announced that “amid wide-ranging criticisms” from neighbors, “Buncombe County officials shot down plans for a proposed 214-unit housing development in East Asheville,” [according to an April 11 Citizen Times article].

[The article continues,] “Buncombe County’s Board of Adjustment voted 5-2 against issuing a conditional use permit to developer Michael Posey of Spartanburg, South Carolina-based RAB Builders LLC for a project planned on the site of 423 Moffitt Road in East Asheville near the Swannanoa River.” …

The Aiken Road project is not close to any hotel or commercial properties, has far less buffer to the neighborhood and is a traffic nightmare waiting to happen. I can’t help but wonder why they would say no to the East Asheville development but approve a another development that mirrors it in so many ways, especially in regard to one neighbor’s concern: “This road is a narrow, curvy, dangerous road,” the neighbor said [in the Citizen Times article]. “People speed on it; they’re in your lane 50 percent of the time. There’s nowhere to go.” Our neighbors expressed the same issues. And the Aiken Road project was approved.

Why the difference? Is it because there is a higher-end demographic in East Asheville neighborhoods versus Aiken Road being a small, rural neighborhood? Is it because no one on the BOA is a partner in the development company, and they have no stake in the profits? The people of this East Asheville development, [according to the article], “hammered the project for lacking in specifics for its stormwater design, the height of the proposed buildings — which would sit high off the road and slope down with the natural terrain — and its impact on traffic, among other issues.” Well, so did we. Exactly. What is the difference?

I encourage everyone to take a ride out Aiken Road and look at this neighborhood and envision what a 296-unit apartment complex will look like. Why yes to this Hathaway project and no to the East Asheville project? Money? Profit? We still have many issues with this BOA and I am hopeful for the day when there is a system in place that is fair and objective in regard to responsible growth and development in our county.

— Marilyn Ball Asheville

Editor’s note: Xpress contacted the Buncombe County Planning Department, which offered the following response to a summary of the letter writer’s points: “County boards follow North Carolina laws relating to member conflicts of interest. Accordingly, in all cases, boards evaluate potential conflicts of interest and recuse members as appropriate to ensure, among other things, that no voting member has a financial interest in the outcome of any matter.

The Board of Adjustment sits as a quasi-judicial body. In such proceedings, seemingly similar cases can sometimes have different results depending on the facts and evidence presented to the board. In all cases, parties in interest have the right to appeal the board’s decision.

Buncombe County Planning and Development is committed to maintaining orderly and responsible growth in an ethical and transparent way through its administration of land use ordinances written for the community as a whole rather than any individual. It respects, appreciates and encourages input from its community through, among other things, participation in board meetings and letters to local publications.”

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Asheville supplement maker joins recall; 5 sickened in NC

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Health officials warn of dangers associated with Kratom

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The national recall of herbal supplements that include kratom now includes a North Carolina manufactuer. Pious Lion, an Asheville company, pulled two kratom power products from shelves, according to the N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.

Since February, 130 people have been sickened nationwide, 5 of them in the Tar Heel State, from salmonella in kratom products, suffering symptoms of nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.

Kratom is popular as an herbal pain reliever, and it comes in the form of pills, powers and teas.

Pious Lion recalled two powers products:

1 oz. Pure Premium Potent Limited Release Pink Bali

4 oz. Pure Premium Potent White Maeng DA, Bright Uplifting Energy

As of Saturday, Pious Lion was still advertising both types of power on its website.

In an alert about the recall, Joe Reardon, assistant commissioner in the Department of Agriculture, said, “This is a very serious issue, and consumers should take immediate action if they have these products in their homes. Consumers are advised to discard these products and are warned not to consume them.”

The FDA is recommending that people avoid any kratom-containing compounds after 26 products in different forms from different manufacturers in different states have tested positive for salmonella.

US Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb has said, "There is no evidence to indicate that kratom is safe or effective for any medical use" and likened its chemical compounds to opioids.

In fact, the Drug Enforcement Administration has considered categorizing kratom as a Schedule I controlled substance, which would put it in the same category as heroin or LSD.

Those who use it call it a good alternative to prescription pain medication for a host of ailments, such as fibromyalgia, and an alternative to opioids.

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‘The Headliners’ part 2: Gas Power, Connect X & more events across NC

Keeping track with our initiative to spotlight North Carolina startup and tech events, WRAL TechWire’s weekly “Headliners” column is now divided into two parts—inside and outside the Triangle.

Following is a list of May meetups, conferences, workshops, socials and networking events happening in Asheville, Charlotte, the Piedmont Triad, and other areas throughout North Carolina.

To find out what’s happening this month in the Triangle, check out this post.

Another post previews hot events coming up in June. Recurring monthly meetups are also featured in a separate post.

These columns accompany our interactive calendar of tech and startup events. If you’d like to suggest an event to be added to the calendar, feel free to send me an email.

Get the top stories in your inbox every morning

* May 14, 5 p.m.

Applications are officially open for NC IDEA’s Micro-Grants Pilot Program. Grants—$1,000 to $10,000—will be awarded to early-stage companies seeking to validate and advance their ideas. Recipients will receive mentorship and assistance from NC IDEA and access to its network.

May 15, 8-9 a.m. @Avenu Health

Build your contacts by networking with fellow business professionals at Business Before Hours. The host for this month’s event is Avenu Health. Come meet the team and learn how the company is changing the game of primary care.

May 15, 12-1 p.m. @The Collider in Asheville

Learn how to evaluate a startup investment deal in this workshop hosted by The Collider. Isaac Pino, an investment manager at Huckleberry Capital Management, will lead the session, showing attendees what investors need to know before investing and what entrepreneurs need to do to attract investors.

May 15, 12-1:30 p.m. @Flywheel Coworking

Indeavor, a networking club offered to all Flywheel Coworking members, is an opportunity to get to know fellow entrepreneurs and swap helpful resources with one another. The lunches are held on the third Tuesday of every month at the the Center for Design Innovation in Winston-Salem.

May 16, 9-10:30 a.m. @The Collider

Asheville’s entrepreneurial community meets weekly to hear local startups’ pitches and support one another in continuing to grow. For this week’s event, 1 Million Cups Asheville will feature a presentation from FernLeaf Interactive CEO Jeff Hicks.

May 16, 4-6 p.m. @Hilton Charlotte Center City Ballroom

This event features pitches from the latest cohort of the Joules accelerator, plus presentations from industry guest speakers and a cocktail reception hosted at the Gas Power Conference.

May 16-17 @Hilton Charlotte Center City

This conference convenes leaders and representatives of the U.S. power industry to discuss the most important issues facing the natural gas-fired generation market.

May 16, 5:30-8 p.m. @Packard Place

On the third Wednesday of every month, the Queen City’s entrepreneurial community joins together for an evening of networking and connections over free beer and snacks.

May 17, 8:30-9:30 a.m. @Innovate Charlotte Venture Hub

Join for a conversation over breakfast with the economic development and entrepreneurship community of Charlotte.

May 17, 11:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. @Winston Starts

At this workshop, participants will learn how to design an engaging, user-friendly website that represents their brand well.

May 17, 12-1 p.m. @The Collider in Asheville

Learn how to attract investors at this workshop led by Porter Bayne, founder, fundraiser and head of product for Antenna and co-founder and bootstrapped fundraiser of Potlukk.

May 17, 5-8 p.m. @Bailey Power Plant in Winston-Salem

Held on a weekly basis, this Venture Café event series provides all sorts of programming for Piedmont Triad entrepreneurs and innovators. Every Thursday evening, the community gathers for networking, panel talks, workshops, presentations, product demos, interviews, and more.

May 17, 5:30-8 p.m. @Jay Hurt Hub for Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Davidson

In celebration of Female Founder’s Month, the newly expanded Startup Grind Triad is hosting two fireside chats featuring Tech Talent South CEO and Co-Founder Betsy Idilbi. This is Part 1 of a two-part program. Part 2 will be held in Winston-Salem on May 22.

May 18, 4 p.m. – 6 p.m. @Camp North End Hygge, Charlotte

Three Charlotte entrepreneurs—Dina Carey of Milkful, Haley Bohon of Skillpop and Meggie Williams of The Waggle Company—return from the latest class of Techstars Austin to share the experience with the Queen City community.

May 20

Ventureprise, a winner of NC IDEA’s ecosystem grant, invites early-stage startups in Charlotte and Western North Carolina to apply to its customer discovery program, Ventureprise Launch. It covers all the components an early-stage entrepreneur should need to build their business, from opportunity assessment to business model generation to forming a commercialization strategy.

May 21-22 @UNCW Swain Center

In this workshop, participants will learn the knowledge and skills needed to compete in today’s marketplace with a Certified Global Business Professional (CGBP) credential.

May 21-24 @Charlotte Convention Center

The Connectivity Expo (Connect X) showcases the latest innovative connectivity solutions driving the future of communications. Sessions will cover a range of topics, from private LTE networks to macro cells to innovations in infrastructure to connected property. Keynote speakers represent industry-leading companies including Dish, Verizon, NASCAR and AWS.

May 22, 12-1 p.m. @The Collider

At this workshop, serial entrepreneur and angel investor Tom Ryan will provide an overview of the most common sales landmines and offer tips on how to deal with them.

May 22, 5:30-8 p.m. @Flywheel Coworking

In celebration of Female Founder’s Month, the newly expanded Startup Grind Triad is hosting two fireside chats featuring Tech Talent South CEO and Co-Founder Betsy Idilbi. Part 1 is in Davidson on May 17, and this event will be part 2.

May 23, 5-7:30 p.m. @Charlotte Convention Center

RIoT’s 25th event is all about how public/private partnerships are adopting Internet of Things to revolutionize parking, transit and other areas of public importance. Food and drinks will be provided.

May 24, 5-8 p.m. @Bailey Power Plant in Winston-Salem

Held on a weekly basis, this Venture Café event series provides all sorts of programming for Piedmont Triad entrepreneurs and innovators. Every Thursday evening, the community gathers for networking, panel talks, workshops, presentations, product demos, interviews, and more.

May 28

Innovate Charlotte, an arm of the Charlotte Regional Fund for Entrepreneurship, is seeking applicants for its upcoming pilot program, which aims to serve entrepreneurs looking to bring their startups to the next level. Five companies will be admitted to the three-month mentorship program.

May 29, 12-1 p.m. @The Collider in Asheville

Learn all about Guerilla Usability studies at this workshop hosted by The Collider and led by Dave Michelson, an applied research software designer at UNC Asheville’s National Environmental Modeling and Analysis Center.

May 30, 6-8 p.m. @Hatch AVL

Entrepreneurs are invited to test and develop their pitch at this monthly event hosted by Hatch AVL. Presenters will receive helpful feedback from the audience, and the best-voted pitch will land a spot at 1 Million Cups Asheville.

May 31, 12-1 p.m. @Skookum Charlotte

Join an open tour of the Skookum office to get an introduction to the tech and ideas powering the community. The Skookum team will be available for any questions or comments participants may have. Lunch will be provided.

May 31, 5-8 p.m. @Bailey Power Plant in Winston-Salem

Held on a weekly basis, this Venture Café event series provides all sorts of programming for Piedmont Triad entrepreneurs and innovators. Every Thursday evening, the community gathers for networking, panel talks, workshops, presentations, product demos, interviews, and more.

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