Western North Carolina is home to the first program of its kind in the country that helps communities cultivate entrepreneurs. The Certified Entrepreneurial Community program was developed in 2007 by Advantage West, a regional economic development agency, as a way to help communities foster their entrepreneurial spirit. Haywood County was the first to receive the designation.
In the shadow of Cold Mountain, deep in the heart of Pisgah National Forest you will find the Sunburst Trout Farm--one of the top trout producers on the East Coast and one of the entrepreneurial success stories in Haywood County.
Sally Eason's dad started the business in 1948. "He started a trout farm literally knowing nothing about it," she said. "My dad's a renegade, a pioneer."
Just west of the farm in Waynesville is the Gateway Club which often serves up Sunburst trout. In a town of just 12 thousand--there were plenty of skeptics who thought the private dining and social club would never survive.
"People have ideas all the time," said owner Art O’Neil. "I hate when I hear some one say, oh, it will never work. Why not? I mean you don't know until you try. I'd rather try 100 things and fail at 90 of them then to have never tried,"
Just across the street from the club you can find Gateway member Scott McLeod, publisher of the Smoky Mountain News. He started the independent newspaper in 2000."We were jumping off a cliff you know," joked McLeod. "We had to put up a lot of my own money which is obviously scary I was 39 years old, three kids. My wife calls it my mid life crisis."
What Sunburst, Gateway and Smoky Mountain News have in common is their entrepreneurial spirit and their connection to Haywood County. Like many small business owners they all took a chance and dreamed big--and today they help one another.
"By organizing ourselves and helping each other in that entrepreneurial spirit I think it helps us survive literally it's helped us these last two years to survive," said O'Neil. "If you've made it in business in these last two years and unfortunately a lot haven't, but if you've made it you probably owe somebody a favor because somebody’s helped you out,"
Haywood may be small in size, but it is big on ideas The county developed the first small business incubator in North Carolina in 1985 and it was named the nation’s first Certified Entrepreneurial Community in 2008."Our mission is basically threefold," said Haywood County Economic Development Director Mark Clasby. "One, to work with existing industry and businesses in our county, two, recruit new businesses and industry to our county, but also entrepreneurship. We realized that was very important."
Advantage West CEO Scott Hamilton believes the program allows communities to identify their strengths and their shortcomings. "Well the purpose behind the Certified Entrepreneurial program is to help communities throughout the 23 county region in western North Carolina to help them grow their entrepreneurs," said Hamilton. "We want to help them bring an entrepreneurial spirit together that is going to foster an environment for entrepreneurs to be successful."
Sunburst Trout Farm is one small business that has shown its tenacity to succeed. Fed by the Pigeon Rive--five to twelve thousand gallons of water a minute flow into the trout farm. Early each morning the fish are harvested by hand--250 thousand pounds of trout each year. From pond to the coole--processing takes less than an hour.
"The restaurants who get our fish today can say their fish were swimming this morning," said Eason. Once a pediatric nurse, she never imagined she would become a trout farmer, but since taking over from her dad she has expanded the business by introducing a variety of new trout products, including smoked trout dip and trout caviar.
With about 22 employees, it may not be the county's largest employer, but it is a shining example of a small business that has faced its share of challenges, but still managed to thrive. Eason credits part of that success to the strong support of farmers in the area. "I think the economic development piece the entrepreneurship program in Haywood County is the strongest I’ve seen in any small town," said Eason. "What they’re doing for small businesses is phenomenal. I've seen a lot of small businesses tap into that resource and they’re just thriving."
The Gateway Club is another one of those businesses. The onetime Masonic Lodge is now home to a ballroom for catered events, private meeting space and a member's only restaurant. There were many who didn't think this small town could support a private social club, but the owners proved them wrong. "The drive and the energy to succeed is at the heart of any entrepreneur," said owner O'Neil. "I think it's a great time to be an entrepreneur. When there are issues, when there’s stress when there's problems--that's when ideas emerge."
No where is that more evident than at Smoky Mountain News. At a time when many newspapers are struggling this independent is growing. Along with a weekly paper it publishes 30 different magazines a year. McLeod also credits part of his success to the support of Haywood County.
"The need to support local business is very strong," he said. "People feel like supporting local businesses is a way to come out of the doldrums, the bad economy. Certainly we've been a victim of that. It's been a rough few years, but I think us and other businesses in Haywood County are benefiting from a feeling that supporting local businesses is the right thing to do."It's that support that many business owners say is the key to cultivating economic growt--so that not just individual businesses succeed, but entire communities. "If we stay divided then you have to fight alone, "said O'Neil. "But if we can organize and come together and work together there's strength in numbers."
Counties seeking a Certified Entrepreneurial Community designation must secure a team of local community leaders, educators, business people and established entrepreneurs. The process typically takes 18 months to two years. Seven western North Carolina counties have received the designation since the program began in 2007.
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