Mind Your Business - A Podcast Series produced by the Boone Area Chamber of Commerce

We've talked a lot recently about workforce influences. From our past episodes on workplace conditions, housing availability, and childcare access, you'll see each of these topics plays off one another.

This week's Mind Your Business heads in a similar direction as we focus on working to improve your employee benefits, paying attention to both what you can provide and what you can pass along in terms of savings.

This is one of the topics we'll discuss with Wayne Randall, Manager of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Customer Center in Boone. We'll also hear about supplemental products that can be offered to employees, that might not be traditionally bundled with standard benefits packages.

And now for the fun part -- the BCBSNC Boone Center will soon be moving to a new location, one that features opportunities for the local community to use a new space for activities. Wayne gives us the scoop on that project and many other details about their impending Grand Opening.

Mind your Business is produced weekly by the Boone Area Chamber of Commerce. The radio show airs each Thursday morning at 10:05AM on WATA (1450AM/96.5FM) in the High Country.

The podcast version of the program is made possible each week by Appalachian Commercial Real Estate and sponsored in part by Appalachian Regional Healthcare System.

We've talked a lot recently about workforce influences. From our past episodes on workplace conditions, housing availability, and childcare access, you'll see each of these topics plays off one another.

This week's Mind Your Business heads in a similar direction as we focus on working to improve your employee benefits, paying attention to both what you can provide and what you can pass along in terms of savings.

This is one of the topics we'll discuss with Wayne Randall, Manager of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Customer Center in Boone. We'll also hear about supplemental products that can be offered to employees, that might not be traditionally bundled with standard benefits packages.

And now for the fun part -- the BCBSNC Boone Center will soon be moving to a new location, one that features opportunities for the local community to use a new space for activities. Wayne gives us the scoop on that project and many other details about their impending Grand Opening.

Mind your Business is produced weekly by the Boone Area Chamber of Commerce. The radio show airs each Thursday morning at 10:05AM on WATA (1450AM/96.5FM) in the High Country.

The podcast version of the program is made possible each week by Appalachian Commercial Real Estate and sponsored in part by Appalachian Regional Healthcare System.

Support the show

The access and affordability of early childcare has always been an important component to a thriving workforce in Watauga County. With conditions in the labor market already tricky, the last thing our community needs is for it to become even more difficult to find quality childcare for those participating or returning to the workforce.

On this week's Mind Your Business, Elisha Childers and Hunter Varipapa  from The Children's Council of Watauga County discuss stabilization grants issued as part of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA), and what the looming expiration of those funds means for childcare centers across Watauga County. 

Earlier this week, Governor Roy Cooper sent a letter to the North Carolina Congressional delegation outlining the case for intervention at the Federal level. Please visit our Elected Officials Contact page to find contact information should you wish to address this issue with Congresswoman Virginia Foxx or Senators Richard Burr or Thom Tillis.

Mind your Business is produced weekly by the Boone Area Chamber of Commerce. The radio show airs each Thursday morning at 10:05AM on WATA (1450AM/96.5FM) in the High Country.

The podcast version of the program is made possible each week by Appalachian Commercial Real Estate and sponsored in part by Appalachian Regional Healthcare System.

Support the show

The High Country Real Estate market is... 

Your answer to that question depends on your perspective. For many, their answer will be laced with some level of frustration. Investors see opportunity, but that comes at the expense of those trying to find affordable solutions across all inventory types. Then comes the issue of availability, and what limited supply does to a market where demand remains high.

Our answer to the above prompt...complex!

On this week's Mind Your Business, we speak with Stacie Pineda of the Stacie Pineda Real Estate Group. She discuses current market forces and how inventory impacts pricing. She also gives us perspective into the tough conversation realtors are having with both buyers and sellers, as it relates to the specific things they are looking for in their next home.

Pineda authored a summary of current residential real estate trends in the latest edition of Economic Indicators, released in early February 2023.

Mind your Business is produced weekly by the Boone Area Chamber of Commerce. The radio show airs each Thursday morning at 10:05AM on WATA (1450AM/96.5FM) in the High Country.

The podcast version of the program is made possible each week by Appalachian Commercial Real Estate and sponsored in part by Appalachian Regional Healthcare System.

Support the show

When any business closes, on the surface, a casual observer could assume the worst. Upon digging deeper you may find the worst case scenario is actually true -- the business just didn't make ends meet. Or you could find out that a successful run in the industry sees the time right to pass the tourch to a new operator with new ideas. The point being, we don't learn by guessing or by applying "last time's logic." We must study the trends, talk to the experts, and take the pulse of one of our area's most important industries. 

On this week's Mind Your Business, we hear from Seth Sullivan, co-owner of The Cardinal and Lilly's Snack Bar, to get a sense of the health of the High Country restaurant scene. Are the recent closures of restaurants a harbinger of things to come, or does this follow a repeated pattern? What about the new opportunities and concepts that are coming to the area? What are the factors driving the day-to-day operation within the industry? We tackle these topics and many more as we seek insight on what's to come for one of our most important economic drivers.

Mind your Business is produced weekly by the Boone Area Chamber of Commerce. The radio show airs each Thursday morning at 10:05AM on WATA (1450AM/96.5FM) in the High Country.

The podcast version of the program is made possible each week by Appalachian Commercial Real Estate and sponsored in part by Appalachian Regional Healthcare System.

Support the show

Earlier this week, the Boone Area Chamber of Commerce released its Q4 Economic Indicators report, tracking activity in five key categories as it relates to the health and stability of the local economy.

On this week's Mind Your Business, we examine the numbers and tell the story of how the High Country economy fared in 2022. We also will discuss some big picture topics at the State level that will have an impact on our area.

Mind your Business is produced weekly by the Boone Area Chamber of Commerce. The radio show airs each Thursday morning at 10:05AM on WATA (1450AM/96.5FM) in the High Country.

The podcast version of the program is made possible each week by Appalachian Commercial Real Estate and sponsored in part by Appalachian Regional Healthcare System.

Support the show

The outdoor economy is a vast subject. In Watauga County, that conversation encompasses the trails, streams, and other features we enjoy daily, while it also covers the businesses that make the "things" we use when we enjoy our favorite outdoor places.

Hundreds of millions of dollars flow through our area annually when it comes to outdoor tourism spending. Who controls those dollars and the projects they fund? Are there plans to rehabilitate the trails and features that got "over used" during the height of the COVID-19 tourism boom?

On this week's Mind Your Business, we'll hear about the Blue Ridge Parkway as an economic driver to our area. Tracy Swartout, Superintendent of the BRP will discuss the dollars generated and how the federal government is working to maintain this important community asset.

We'll also hear from Eric Woolridge with Boone-based Destination by Design and get an update on a refresh of Watauga County's tourism infrastructure master plan, and how dollars generated by heads in beds can be the same money that builds the next new feature for all of us to enjoy.

Mind your Business is produced weekly by the Boone Area Chamber of Commerce. The radio show airs each Thursday morning at 10:05AM on WATA (1450AM/96.5FM) in the High Country.

The podcast version of the program is made possible each week by Appalachian Commercial Real Estate and sponsored in part by Appalachian Regional Healthcare System.

Support the show

On Wednesday January 25, 2023, the Town of Boone adopted a Non-Discrimination ordinance that will take effect June 1, 2023. Boone becomes the 22nd municipality in the State of North Carolina to pass such legislation.

On this week's Mind Your Business, we talk to Boone Town Council Members Todd Carter and Dalton George about what is included in this ordinance, what led the Town to adopt this policy, and what is included in terms of protections for residents and visitors.

Town of Boone Non-Discrimination Ordinance - passed January 25, 2023

Frequently Asked Questions about the Town of Boone's Non-Discrimination Ordinance

Mind your Business is produced weekly by the Boone Area Chamber of Commerce. The radio show airs each Thursday morning at 10:05AM on WATA (1450AM/96.5FM) in the High Country.

The podcast version of the program is made possible each week by Appalachian Commercial Real Estate and sponsored in part by Appalachian Regional Healthcare System.

Support the show

As we recap the 2023 High Country Economic Kickoff Luncheon, listen to the keynote presentation from Tracy Swartout, Superintendent of the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Mind your Business is produced weekly by the Boone Area Chamber of Commerce. The radio show airs each Thursday morning at 10:05AM on WATA (1450AM/96.5FM) in the High Country.

The podcast version of the program is made possible each week by Appalachian Commercial Real Estate and sponsored in part by Appalachian Regional Healthcare System.

Support the show

As we recap the 2023 High Country Economic Kickoff Luncheon, listen to the keynote presentation from Dr. Harry Davis, renowned regional economist and Dean of the North Carolina School of Banking.

Mind your Business is produced weekly by the Boone Area Chamber of Commerce. The radio show airs each Thursday morning at 10:05AM on WATA (1450AM/96.5FM) in the High Country.

The podcast version of the program is made possible each week by Appalachian Commercial Real Estate and sponsored in part by Appalachian Regional Healthcare System.

Support the show