Thinking of making a move to Asheville, but wondering about employment and business opportunities? The Asheville area is lucky to have both low unemployment and strong job growth. And it’s no wonder: Very few tourist destinations boast the stable population growth, healthy housing market, growing professional services, strong health-care industry and small-business boom that Asheville does. The population’s unfaltering support of local and independent businesses, coupled with the entrepreneurial spirit so integral to the city, has helped start-ups thrive in recent years, generating even more jobs and business opportunities.
Top 10 Major Asheville Employers
According to the Asheville Chamber of Commerce, the top employers in the area range from medicine to manufacturing to education, in addition to tourism. The four-county Asheville metro is a diverse $16.4 billion economy, with nationally recognized schools, close proximity to many major cities, direct access to I-26 and I-40, and the Asheville airport, with direct flights to Washington and New York, among others. Annual visitors to Asheville number in the millions.
The top 10 employers in the Asheville area are:
Mission Health System and Hospital
Buncombe County Public Schools
City of Asheville
The Biltmore Company
Buncombe County Government
The Omni Grove Park Inn
Ingles Markets, Inc.
Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College
VA Medical Center - Asheville Department of Veterans Affairs
Eaton Corporation - Electrical Division
Big Support for Small Business in Asheville
Thanks to the kind of startups, incubators, co-working spaces, business community support and commercial resources you’d find in much bigger cities, Asheville is the perfect place for entrepreneurs who want to develop quality products and services while maintaining an enviable quality of life. With an overwhelming majority of businesses in the Asheville metro area employing fewer than 50 people, small businesses and entrepreneurship are active engines fueling the region's diverse business landscape and shaping the economy.
Driven by a city that embraces the impact of small companies on culture and lifestyle, the Chamber of Commerce, Economic Development Coalition and other community organizations have developed a variety of resources designed to help small businesses succeed.
In addition, services like those offered by the non-profit Mountain Bizworks help small businesses start, grow and create jobs through loans, classes and coaching.
Nowhere is small-business growth more evident than in Asheville’s craft-beer boom. The community support of such local start-ups as Hi-Wire Brewing Co., Burial Beer Co. and Asheville Brewing – to name just a few – has helped fuel a cycle of growth that has spurred job creation and even greater entrepreneurial drive. And the country is watching: Local start-up successes have drawn the likes of such national heavy-hitters as Sierra Nevada and New Belgium brewery, whose second U.S. facility, based in West Asheville on the French Broad River, generated 140 new jobs when it opened in 2016.
Most who choose to relocate to Asheville are driven by the area’s natural beauty, range of outdoor activities, and greatly heightened lifestyle. Now you can add incredible employment opportunities to the mix. For a guided tour of all the Asheville real estate market has to offer, contact Mike Figura at Mike@MyMosaicRealty.com or call him anytime at (828) 337-8190.
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