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Breakout Sessions to Include:
The Environment and Quality of Life
Western North Carolina’s natural environment is a key factor affecting our health and well-being.
The panel discussing these issues will include:
- Dr. Peter Bates, Executive Director of Forest Stewards and Director of WCU’s Natural Resource Conservation and Management Program
- Brent Martin, Southern Appalachia Regional Director of The Wilderness Society
- Julie Mayfield, Co-Director of Mountain True
- Sharon Fouts Taylor, Executive Director of the Land Trust for the Little Tennessee
- Bob Wagner, Co-Director of Mountain True
- Moderated by Dr. Jay Gerlach, Director of WCU’s Masters of Public Affairs Program
Tourism and the Quality of Life
Tourism not only adds to the economy and quality of life in WNC, but is also playing an important role in economic development and attracting the next “creative class” of entrepreneurs, talented workers, and business owners. Find out how chambers of commerce and economic development officials are leveraging western NC’s strong tourism assets to recruit and retain the next generation of talented business owners and employees, and how tourism is creating an unmatched competitive advantage for economic development in WNC.
Panelists include:
- Stephanie Brown, Executive Director, Asheville Convention & Visitors Bureau
- Chris Cavanaugh, President, Magellan Strategy Group
- Betty Huskins, Executive Director, Smoky Mountain Host
- Tommy Jenkins, Executive Director, Macon Co. Economic Development Commission
- Ed Phillips, Executive Director, Burke Co. Tourism Development Authority
- Ryan Sherby, Executive Director, Southwestern Commission
- Moderated by Dr. Steve Morse, Economist and Director, WCU’s Hospitality and Tourism Program
PLUS, BREAKOUT SESSIONS ON: Creative Arts,Innovation & Technology, Education, and Healthcare and the Affect on Quality of Life
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