Are you a value added person?

This question popped into my head as I was viewing a clip on the state of manufacturing in the US. In most cases, the greater the value that a company is able to bring to a product, the better their profit margins and the more successful they will be. I think that people can probably be judged in the same way.

To me, this means giving more back to the world than you take away. It may be as simple as a smile and pat on the back or a kind word. It could be helping someone get their groceries into their car (as a very kind young man did for my mother last week.) It could be stopping to help a woman who was frantic over her pet being hit by and car on a cold and rainy night (as my wife did this week.) It doesn't cost anything to be a value added person and the rewards in how you feel about yourself are tremendous.

I am sure you are asking yourself by this time: What has this to do with a buy local project? To me it is very simple: by shopping from businesses that are in our community, you are adding value to your friends and neighbors, creating wealth that stays in the county, creating jobs and growth.

Our retailers can be value added people as well, offering the best prices and service possible. Taking time to give their customers a smile and giving referals to other businesses in the county whenever possible.

By adding a little value to each others lives, we can make Stokes County an even better and more vibrant community in which to live.

Think Stokes First: The Arts Are Economic Development

Picking up where I left off with my last article, buying local and our effort to “Think Stokes First” is just a part of the process needed to help the county’s economy grow. It is an important part but by itself, it cannot sustain us alone.

Understanding that this is the case, our economic development efforts are very focused on retaining existing business and looking at every opportunity to help them grow. The EDC Board and the Board of County Commissioners understand that this is where the bulk of job growth will take place. “Think Stokes First” is just a part of this process, as is developing tourism, working with entrepreneurs, and whenever possible, recruiting new businesses to the area.

Our focus today is on the “Arts” and our artist community as an economic development engine. We are very fortunate to have a vibrant art community in Stokes County. The Stokes County Arts Council is led by a dynamic director: Eddy McGee. Eddy is supported by an extremely active board of directors. This small group strives to make art real for the entire community, from engaging our students in the schools, to hosting a winter desert theater, to providing venues all across the county for artisans of all kinds to practice their craft and to promote it to our citizens.

The arts and our artisans are essential to the health and vitality of our communities. They improve the quality of life in our cities and town. They enhance community development; spur urban renewal; attract new businesses and draw tourism dollars. Most artists and craftspeople are problem solvers and critical thinkers.

In addition, a healthy arts community acts as an economic engine for the county. A prime example would be the many live music events that take place during the year and the Stokes Stomp in particular. This year, the Stomp drew approximately 16,000 people to Danbury and for two days, transformed it into the largest municipality in the county and based on survey information gathered during the event spent about $1 million while they were in town.

While the other events of a musical or artistic nature do not have quite so dramatic an impact, all arts add significantly to the quality of life, which helps make this county an even more desirable location. The arts and crafts specific to our area define our unique characteristics, they attract tourists and other artists, they educate and keep alive our artistic customs and they contribute to the economic well-being of the community.

So if you are looking for a gift or a great way to pass some time this weekend, think about making the purchase from a local artisan or stop by that live music event at a local restaurant. It all comes down to “Think Stokes First.”

Buy Local Support

The Stokes County Board of Commissioners passsed a "Buy Local" Proclamation and it was signed on September 12 (see above). The Commissioners understand, as do I, that we must support local businesses for Stokes County to grow and thrive. I will be taking the campaign to all the municipalities in the county in the next few weeks as well as to anyone else that will stop and listen to the message. Help spread the word and stop by the Stokes EDC Booth at KingFest to sign your "Buy Local" Pledge. You can make a difference.

Think Stokes First

The Stokes County Economic Development Commission (EDC) along with assistance from the King Chamber of Commerce and the Walnut Cove Main Street merchants are embarking on a “Buy Local” campaign for Stokes County. The campaign, to be tagged “Think Stokes First” is intended to raise the awareness of why making purchase of goods and services is important to not only the businesses in Stokes County but for our residents as well.

Let’s start the conversation with a number: $397,030,630. That is the estimated gap or amount of retail purchases made by Stokes county residents (in this case residents includes businesses located in the county) outside of the borders of the county or 62% of all retail purchases. Why should this concern you, you ask? There are many reasons but the most important are:
• Sales tax is now reimbursed to counties based on where purchases are made, not on the population of the county. When you make a purchase outside of the county, your are in effect supporting the economic health of those counties, not where you live
• Choosing to make your purchases outside of the county takes away revenue from local businesses that are the heart and soul of the community. These are your friends and neighbors who support your schools, churches and local charities. If you don’t support them, they can’t stay in business and we all suffer
• Making a special trip outside the county to make a purchase probably costs you money. If you have a 40 mile round trip to make a purchase you should add at least $20 to the price of your purchase (IRS allows .555/mile so you can consider this as your break-even rate) plus the value of your time it take to make the trip, your $100 purchase suddenly cost the equivalent of $135, not much of a saving, is it.
We know that it isn’t as simple as this, a large percentage of our residents work outside the county and there are many products that we have less than an adequate supply. That is okay, we do not expect to capture the majority or even a large minority of these sales but think about this: a change of 5% would mean an additional $19,000,000 in revenue to businesses in the county and a significant increase in sales tax revenue. Before you make your next purchase, Think Stokes First, it will make a difference.

Local Sustainablility Festival

Local food production and the local food movement is one of our initiatives in Stokes County. In trying to focus on our main assets and work to revitialize has been based on agriculture and manufacturing, we must focus on what we have and what we are good at. If this is your passion or you are interested, it will be time well spent.

There will be a local sustainability festival on Sept. 25 from 10:30 to 4:30 at the Hare Krishna Temple. Please see details listed below.

Here's the latest and the greatest!

Dear Friends,

The Local Sustainability Festival will be held
Sept. 25 , 10:30 to 4:30

Hare Krishna Temple
1283 Prabhupada Rd
Sandy Ridge, NC 27046

We are currently dependent on a system that is bound to fail.
Practically all of our food and other resources are delivered from far away.

What if we knew that in 10 years the cost of fuel would rise to $25 a gallon?

What steps can be taken in preparation for that possibility?

This is the subject matter for our upcoming event.

The following Local Speakers and Activists will each give a half hour presentation;

Vivian and Randy Fulk- This couple have developed Medley Meadows in King where they operate a CSA, hold music festivals in their vineyard as well as promote agri-tourism in our county.
www.medleymeadows.com
Vivian regularly speaks on Climate change at Guilford College,A & T,UNCG and Wake Forest ,where she was on the Sustainability Board.
She had been on the board of directors for our Local Sierra Club and has worked with Al Gore in promoting awareness of Global Climate Change.
http://www.medleymeadows.com/AIT/TCP_Press_Release_vgf.htm
Randy will be teaching An Introduction to Sustainable Agriculture.at Surrey Community College.he is also an excellent musician, writing a lot of his own songs.www.randyfulk.com



John Hartman and Kay Ritchie- Growing Sorghum, A Three Way Crop
This couple live near Danbury and have been living without electricity in their log cabin for as long as I've known them.They farm without tractors,using their horse team.

John and Kay have been growing and processing Sorghum into molasses for about 10 years now. The seeds is a major grain crop in many parts of the world.Kay feeds it to their livestock including their milk cow, who is like part of the family to them.Winter squash is grown amongst the sorghum giving 3 crops in one field.

Mathura and Aravinda -Trees That Will Feed Your Family For Generations
Many of you already know my neighbor Mathura. He runs a CSA and lives in a cob house that he built from the mud on his land. He and his wife Chitra raise cows, goats, sheep and use horses as draft animals.
Aravinda is new here.From West Virginia, he has a lot of experience growing Paw Paws and other easy care fruit and nut trees.

-Brian Heagney -Wild Food Hike-Brian's been studying this for a few years and hosts events where the group forages,then shares a meal. Here is a portion of his website devoted to this topic;
http://www.brianheagney.com/html/wild_studio.html


-Luke Staengl - Appropriate Use of BioFuels.
Co-founder of the Bio-based Materials Center at Virginia Polytechnic Institute,Luke has founded and served as chief executive officer for three companies involved in converting biomass to fuel, fiber, feed and other high value products.
Please see his interesting resume (attached) and the website for his company PescoBeam http://pescova.com

Julie Johnson-"Who Lives Downstream From Your Energy?"
In NC we have been blessed to not have the "resource" of coal underground.
In Appalachia, thousands of communities are being threatened daily by the relentless extraction of coal. The most devastating form of coal mining is mountaintop removal, a process with which the coal industry has already blasted over 500 mountains and buried over 2000 miles of headwater streams. The EPA puts it like this:
The impact of mountaintop removal on nearby communities is devastating. Dynamite blasts needed to splinter rock strata are so strong they crack the foundations and walls of houses. Mining dries up an average of 100 wells a year and contaminates water in others. In many coalfield communities, the purity and availability of drinking water are keen concerns.

King Chamber of Commerce Silent Auction

Imagine yourself basking in the warmth of the spring sunshine as you are refreshed by a gentle ocean breeze. Soak up those tanning rays or shop and dine to your heart’s content along our state’s crystal coast. Golfers, just ponder weekend rounds on the meticulously maintained course of a well-known resort. You can make this vision a reality for you (and 2 guests) by having the winning bid for the weekend stay for two at Sea Trail Resort
at Sunset Beach. The complimentary weekend lodging was donated by Tim Hall of Helsabeck-Hall Insurance, Kevin Walker of Doctors Vision Center and Craig Harris. Silent auction bids will be accepted on this in the Chamber Office until April 29. Stop by and place your bid for the weekend getaway, a handmade quilt, a barbecue grill/smoker and other great prizes. The final silent auction bids will be taken at the One Way Antiques Spring Show and Sale during the weekend of May 1-2, and the winning bids will be announced at the close of the show on Sunday.

Canopy Tours with one of the first in Stokes County

Canopy Tours are gaining more attention throughout the state. One of the first was built in Stokes County by the Nickell's family. Carolina Ziplines Canopy Tours is located on Nickell Farm Rd. in Westfield and is a great way to spend a part of your summer.

By Lisa O'Donnell | Journal Reporter

Published: April 8, 2010

ASHEBORO

When I am riding that knife's edge between a hurl and a howl, screaming provides me with great relief.

I let out a few of those "holy-&*$#" screams last week while whizzing above and through the trees on ziplines near the N.C. Zoo.

Yeah, I thought I was going to revisit my poached egg and toast when I purposely flipped myself upside down and let one hand off the harness, but I was facing tremendous peer pressure from some other 40-something women who made riding upside down seem as blasé as conditioning their hair.

Ziplines, which are also called canopy tours, are the latest rage in outdoor adventures. In most commercial outfits, riders slip into a harness that is attached to a pulley system that glides along an inclined cable. Gravity provides the fuel that moves riders from one stop to the next. Riders, who are given padded leather gloves, brake by pulling down on the cable.

Ziplines have long been popular in such Central American countries as Costa Rica that promote eco-tourism. Lately, they have started sprouting all over the United States, including in North Carolina.

Our area has a handful of ziplines, including Carolina Ziplines in Westfield, Scream Time Ziplines in Boone and Richland Creek Zip Line in Asheboro.

New ziplines are popping up in Bryson City, the U.S. National Whitewater Center in Charlotte, and Hawksnest in Seven Devils. Prices range from about $40 to $80. Yes, it's a lot of money, especially if you have children. On the positive side, the tours last about 2½ hours and, most important, there's a lot of yee-haw for your buck.

I got a taste of ziplining at Richland Creek Zip Line, off N.C. 42 in Asheboro. It has about 10 lines totaling one mile. My group included 6-year-old Colin Sullender and his 77-year old grandmother, Frances Herring.

"The buzzards are circling," Herring said as she climbed the steps to a platform for her first ride, "and I'm not even dead yet."

The ziplines run to platforms that are built in the trees. If standing on a platform 30 feet in the air makes your stomach turn a double McTwist, fear not. The staff clips the carabiner on your harness onto a safety clip as soon as you step on the platform. In other words: You will not fall.

The ziplines here cut through a beautiful woods near the base of Purgatory Mountain and over Richland Creek, a fast-running creek strewn with boulders. Part of what makes a zipline such an exhilarating experience is seeing nature from a squirrel's eye view.

Of course, that makes it a little scary, too, especially those first few rides when you are getting your air legs.

By the third run or so, the nerves were settled, although I swore I smelled smoke coming off my padded glove while trying to slow myself down. By the final run, most of the folks in my group were riding upside down, some with no hands.

Owner Buddy Hammer said he has never measured how fast you can go on one of his lines, but it is probably no more than 30 mph. Some zipline companies promote their fast lines. Scream Time in Boone, for instance, says you can get up to 50 mph on its lines.



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Want to go?

• Carolina Zip Lines Canopy Tour: 1085 Nickell Farm Road, Westfield, 972-7656, www.carolinaziplines.com.