Gifts and Challenges
Every region and community has its unique gifts and challenges. In Western North Carolina, one of those gifts is our extraordinary, rich heritage of handcraft. As we explored how to bolster our economy and preserve that heritage, we considered our geography and how our land is used. Our region, by itself, is larger than eight states in the continental U.S.

Location, a Gift
Western North Carolina is blessed with location at a critical gap in the Appalachian Range from the southeast to the midwest plateau. Served by I-40 and I-26 and bounded by I-85 and I-77, the area is within one day's drive of 50% of the American populace. Our major highways run east and west through the gaps of the mountain with only the Blue Ridge Parkway running north to south and serving as the region's connector.

Topography and Geography, both Gifts and Challenges
Much of our land is unsuitable for economic investment, due to extensive holdings by corporations and utilities, watershed restrictions and a desire to conserve the steep slopes which occupy more than 50% of our 7,310,547 acres. But beyond this, we must deal with the issue of absentee ownership, or more importantly, absentee interest.

Western North Carolina serves as the watershed for most of the Southeast because of our abundant precipitation, which is second only to the Pacific Northwest. The protection of our water quality is critical to millions of people downstream. WNC is also one of two centers for biological diversity in North America, supporting more than half of the species of trees, flowering plants and ferns found in North America. More than one hundred species of trees exist in the Great Smokies, more than are found in all of Europe.

The great Appalachian Mountain Range, which runs from Canada to Georgia, reaches its peak in Western North Carolina. Here the range is at its widest point at 150 miles. Of the 46 mountains over 6,000 feet, in the Eastern United States, 34 are located in our region. Our mountains are the oldest, born in the Jurassic Period, more than a quarter billion years ago.

Unveiling the Invisible Industry
In 1995 HandMade in America, in association with researchers at the John A. Walker College of Business at Appalachian State University, conducted a survey to measure the economic contribution of crafts in 22 counties in Western North Carolina. This survey, The Economic Impact of Crafts revealed that crafts, contributed $122 million annually to the region's economy. That figure is four times the revenue generated from burley tobacco, our state's number one cash crop. The survey also revealed some of the challenges and needs of the craft community, including access to capital and marketing and business education services.