Economy

How Tech Can Help Asheville's Economy

By Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols | June 26, 2020

In 2019, if you were to ask anyone what drove Asheville’s economy, they’d tell you beer, arts and crafts, outdoor recreation, hotels and restaurants. In short, tourism.

Today, with those businesses only just beginning to ramp back up and tourists staying home, talk of diversifying Asheville’s economy is picking up. Local technology businesses and the rise of technology-based work-from-home jobs may be part of the solution.

Asheville already has a tech sector, albeit a small one with only 1% of the job market and approximately 1,900 jobs. But with an average salary of nearly $58,000 a year, according to ZipRecruiter, Western North Carolina tech jobs are good ones. And, more jobs are coming.

Asheville’s Soul Threatened

By Ilana Fiorenza | May 26, 2020

The pandemic that left thousands of Asheville workers unemployed has been particularly hard on the artists, musicians and performers who help define the city’s character. “Lots of people have been broken by this — people that live day to day, week to week, month to month,” said artist David Achenbaugh of Blue Ridge Gems, who has been selling his jewelry at the Grove Arcade Outdoor Maker’s Market for 17 years. “I worked my whole life. Every day, I’d go out and go to work, and I can’t even provide for myself or my family now.

“All my street artist people are hurting,” he said. Ed RowlesThe normally bustling Grove Arcade Outdoor Maker’s Market is quiet without artist vendors and foot traffic.

The Fear of Re-Opening: Small Business Owners Opt Out

By Sara Frazier | May 9, 2020

Asheville retailers finally received approval to reopen Friday after seven weeks of forced closure, but some are choosing to remain closed. Their biggest fear: exposing themselves and their employees to the coronavirus. Patrons are advised to abide by social distancing, but wearing masks is not required under Buncombe’s order, and few downtown visitors appear to be complying. Betsey-Rose Weiss, owner of American Folk Art & Framing at 64 Biltmore Ave., is choosing to stay shut. Her fears went back to March 17, the day she temporarily closed.