Surry County has tremendous outdoor resources including parks, trails, rivers and more — but is hoping to elevate that to another level by participating in a new regional initiative.
This included about 25 people gathering Thursday afternoon at White Elephant Beer Co. on Market Street in Mount Airy for an introductory community open house meeting. It was organized by representatives of Mountain BizWorks, a non-profit organization based in Asheville.
Mountain BizWorks is spearheading a fledgling program known as Building Outdoor Communities, which seeks to maximize opportunities offered by the bountiful natural resources of western North Carolina.
The rural development partnership targets 25 counties in all, including Surry.
Building Outdoor Communities is designed to support affected communities in developing, prioritizing and implementing their individual outdoor infrastructure and economic goals.
This will allow the counties involved “to capitalize on their extraordinary outdoors and build places that people love,” according to a description of the new program that stresses drawing in people lured by the mountain culture.
“We’re looking to pull more of this business into western North Carolina,” said Joanna Brown, one of the Mountain BizWorks representatives visiting Mount Airy.
Based on the tone of Thursday afternoon’s meeting, the program seeks not only to fully develop outdoor resources to attract tourists but companies seeking to expand to places possessing such attractions that are becoming more and more popular.
“People around the world are infatuated with finding ways to connect with nature,” Building Outdoor Communities Specialist Bradley Spiegel told those gathered at White Elephant Beer Co.
“There’s just so many cool stories to tell to attract people to this place,” Spiegel said of the western North Carolina landscape and the high-quality outdoor recreation access it offers.
While this has always existed, the coronavirus pandemic seems to have heightened interest in areas with such scenic and recreational value among employers, he advised.
“Companies are looking to relocate to places with outstanding outdoor assets,” Spiegel explained in reference to a business expansion and recruitment component involved with the program.
The Building Outdoor Communities initiative is funded in part by the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC). It was established by Congress years ago to foster economic development in the depressed region of Appalachia.
Appalachian Regional Commission officials work with the people of that 13-state region, including North Carolina, to create opportunities for self-sustaining progress in areas such as economic development and critical infrastructure.
Steps to help
Among the ways the new program will help targeted communities by driving outdoor industry growth are providing financing, training and mentorship for existing businesses and entrepreneurs — balancing that with conservation, organizers say.
Technical assistance and connectivity opportunities also will be offered.
Building pathways to a “robust and talented workforce” is among the goals of the new program.
Determining what Surry County wants to be from a branding standpoint is listed as one of the questions to be asked as part of the process, along with assessing what’s here now and what else is needed.
Local tourism official Jessica Roberts says one concern in Surry involves taking the load off Pilot Mountain State Park — which tends to be overflowing with visitors — by getting them interested in under-used attractions locally they might not even know about.
Roberts says another focus should be on providing more access points for local waterways.
Surry County Parks and Recreation Director Daniel White said Thursday that there is also a need for more mountain biking facilities locally, along with supporting ongoing pedestrian and biking opportunities and the possibility of connecting these in the future.
White further pointed to another outdoorsy opportunity: developing the 34 miles of the Mountain to the Sea Trail course that runs through Surry.
In addition to Roberts, White and Jenny Smith from Mount Airy Visitors Center, others in attendance Thursday afternoon were Mount Airy officials including City Manager Stan Farmer, Commissioner Joe Zalescik and Darren Lewis, assistant city manager.
A Pilot Mountain town official, Scott Needham, also was there, as were representatives of Stone Mountain State Park and the Piedmont Triad Regional Council that aids economic-development efforts in this area.
Surry County Economic Development Partnership President Todd Tucker was another person who attended.
Tucker was enthusiastic about one key starting step, building a local working group of citizens who represent a cross-section of stakeholders in the outdoor recreation industry to advance the Building Outdoor Communities initiative.
“Who wants to be involved?” he said of a key question needing to be answered as part of that process.
Source: https://www.mtairynews.com