economic impact

Two months ago Beech Mountain was largely isolated as a result of outages caused by Helene. Now the surrounding roads have been mostly repaired and the economically important ski season is off to a strong start.

New tourism numbers are out for the Blue Ridge Parkway with nearly 15 million visitors last year adding to the local economy.

A new report examines the 50-year impact of an anti-poverty agency that targets the Appalachian counties in the U.S. and the results are mixed.