Pamela Powell started her child care center, Christian Prep Academy, in 1998, and has built a successful and profitable business over the past 19 years. The Academy carries a 5-star rating from the state of North Carolina—the highest rating a center can receive. Because of Christian Prep’s stellar rating, the center is able to receive higher reimbursement rates from the state, and is one of just a few centers in the state that has been awarded pre-K slots for at-risk youth. The center currently enrolls more than 60 youth, and has a maximum enrollment of 90.
Services: Physical therapy
Jobs Created: 7
Lymphedema is a treatable—but not curable—condition that can occur after cancer surgery or radiation affecting the lymph nodes. The condition causes considerable pain and swelling in the arms or legs. Fortunately, trained physical therapists can help relieve the symptoms by reducing patients’ pain and improving their mobility, often lessening the need for further surgery or the long-term use of prescription medications.
Laura Price grew up around horses. She first began riding in 1979, and has spent most of her adult life working with them in some capacity—whether riding, training or running a stable. It’s no surprise that Laura’s dream has been to own her own horse barn and boarding facility.
Partners: Appalachian Regional Commission, First National Bank of Williamson, Hatfield-McCoy Regional Recreation Authority
Jeff Davis, a former coal miner, was born and bred in Mingo County, West Virginia. He mined coal for eight years until 2006, when he opened up his own contracting business specializing in home remodeling and residential construction. While mines have closed in southern West Virginia, Jeff and his wife Anita have watched the Hatfield-McCoy Trails expand.
The eight co-founders of Earthseed Land Cooperative (ELC) have a vision: to use land to support the collective health, wealth and environmental sustainability of diverse communities in Durham, North Carolina.
NCIFund Role: Working Capital Loan; Solar Energy Assistance
Stubble. Fade. Circle. Carved. Goatee. Van Dyke. Full. Mountain Man. These are just a few of the many styles of beards appearing on men all over the United States in the last few years, and the trend shows no sign of abating.
But as most women will tell you, with any hairstyle—including men’s facial hair—comes the need to take care of it, to keep it healthy and clean and smelling good. And this calls for “product”—in this case, beard balms, beard oils, beard washes, and special combs and brushes.
Jobs created or retained: 3
When Laila and Doug Mortimer moved to Robbinsville, North Carolina, Laila was moving home. She grew up in Graham County, and her family has been in the area for more than 200 years, so she knew all that it had to offer. But as they watched thousands of tourists come to Graham County—to enjoy hiking trails, multiple rivers for water sports, and the 11-mile “Tail of the Dragon” that draws motorists to drive along the scenic views offered by the Great Smoky Mountains and Cherokee National Forest—they realized Graham County was missing something.
Sustainable Solutions, LLC, uses an Ecosystem Services approach to provide a wide range of natural resource management services, including conservation contracting, prescribed fire solutions, ecological planning services and natural resource education and training.
As a family with a passion for mountain biking, when Guy and Jennifer Miller’s son introduced them to downhill (or “gravity”) mountain biking, it was an easy sport for them to get behind. After taking their son to downhill races around the country and getting to know the sport better, they realized that there was a real void for this sport in the Southeast. There was a demand, but nowhere for people to go.
Inter-State Hardwoods has been in the sawmill business for decades, tracing its origins back to the late 1930s. The family-owned sawmill primarily manufactures hardwood boards and moulding, and is committed to sourcing its timber locally and sustainably.
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