Hey y'all,

It's been a while! That means we've got plenty of ground to cover, including some fresh Capital at Play content. We're celebrating the start of the summer season with all the outdoorsy things, like horseback riding for all ages and equestrians (beginners welcome!) and the incredible work of World Treehouses of Asheville. Of course, summer in the mountains is also peak wedding season, so we're covering a new angle of that industry with our piece on wedding planners. 

Welcome to the sweetest season! ☀️

Till next week,

• Featured Capitalist | Out on a Limb: World Treehouses of Asheville 🌳 The treehouses Everett builds are spectacular. It only takes a few clicks around World Treehouses’ website to get the idea. The photos you’ll find are of lofted, white fluffy beds in two-story treehouses high in the canopy; one is plumbed with a beautiful copper tub in a treehouse spa; another has a pot-bellied wood-burning stove complete with a chimney. Continue Reading  
• Leisure & Libation | Taking the Reins: Horseback Riding in WNC  🐴  Keith Ward refers to himself as a cowboy poet. The designation is simple, really. He writes poems and rides horses, and has done so ever since he was a child living in Bethel, a rural community in western Watauga County. Today, as owner of Dutch Creek Trails in Valle Crucis, Ward makes an actual living off of galloping fast and waxing poetic. Continue Reading 
• Local Industry | Start with a Great Plan: Wedding Planners 💒 Imagine spending workdays in beautiful places while celebrating joyful occasions. To the uneducated, the life of a wedding planner may seem, at first glance, like it is a glamorous, fun job. But if there’s anything wedding planners in the Asheville area want you to know, it’s that glamorous is the last word they’d use to describe their industry. Continue Reading 

JOBS

• The Center for Craft 🎨 is looking for a Development Coordinator and Executive Associate. 
• ENO 🌳 is looking for a Field Marketing & Sales Representative. 
• Alpha Omega Integration is looking for a Database Administrator.
• Plum Print 📗 is looking for a Customer Success Specialist. 
• MANNA FoodBank is looking for a Mobile Programs Coordinator. 🚌 
• Organic Growers School 👨🏽‍🌾 is looking for a Development Coordinator.  
• Jewish Family Services is looking for a Clinical Manager and an Elder Club Program Manager.  
• United Way is looking for an Events and Experiences Associate,  🥳  Events and Experiences Manager, and a Resource Development Manager. 
• Western Carolina Community Action is looking for a Human Resources Manager and a Site Supervisor.
• The Community Foundation of WNC is looking for a Finance Associate. 💰

• Pisgah Legal Services is looking for a Leadership and Legacy Giving Officer and a Poverty Law Attorney. 👩🏼‍⚖️

ANNOUNCEMENTS

• UKIAH Japanese Smokehouse is set to open next week at 121 Biltmore Avenue (formerly home to Bartaco and Charlotte-based ramen enterprise Futo Buta). 🍖 The menu merges Japanese ingredients and flavors with American BBQ techniques.
• American Vinyl Co’s new location on the South Slope is now open. 🎙 The 4,800-sq.-ft. space features a bar made of 1930s radios, a growing audio museum, and a curated selection of used vinyl. The new sound stage will host live music throughout the year.
• CFWNC is making grants from its Sudden and Urgent Needs (SUN) grant program to support vaccine efforts by nonprofits throughout WNC. 💉 Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis. Learn more.
• The Center for Craft will host a virtual symposium, Craft Ways 2021: Tending to Craft, July 22–24. 🧶 This 3-day event will create a virtual space for participants to convene and question how research tends to the study of craft. Learn more and buy tix. 
• Jabil Inc. recently announced the groundbreaking of its new manufacturing facility in Henderson County, which will develop and produce pharmaceutical delivery devices. Operations are set to begin in 2022 and plans include the creation of 150 new jobs by 2025. 👨🏻‍⚕️ Learn more. 
• Asheville-based Mount Inspiration Apparel has opened its third retail location in Boulder, Colorado. 🏔 The brand has also signed a lease on the current Second Gear space in WAVL where it will have live printing, local draft beer, yoga classes, live music, local speakers, and its own sustainable apparel and outdoor equipment. 
• Dogwood Health Trust has invested $25 million in the newly created Pisgah Fund, a $50 million investment fund focused on making investments in start-up or high growth companies that can deliver innovative products or services to improve health in the region. ⛑  Learn more. 

⚾️ Play Ball | The Tourists take on the Winston-Salem Dash all weekend at McCormick Field. 

📌 Biz Opps | Care4Carolina will host three business forums across WNC to discuss small business opportunities under the American Rescue Plan, June 28 (Lenoir: 3:30–5 p.m.) and 29 (Tryon: 8–9:30 a.m. and Waynesville: 11:30 a.m.–1 p.m.)

💻  Riceville History | Swannanoa Valley Museum will host WNC History Café: A History of Riceville online on Mon. June 28, 10:30–11:45 a.m.

🏐 Glowballin' | Highland Brewing will host a Glow in the Dark Volleyball Pickup game tonight from 7–10 p.m. 

🤔 Trivia Night | 12 Bones Brewing hosts Robert's Totally Rad Trivia every Wednesday at 6 p.m., including June 30.