Joining Forces For Canton's Success

Zac Ruiz [0:00] All right, everyone, welcome. We're going to get started here. Thanks to everyone who came and found parking wherever it was, and walked all the way over here. We appreciate it.

Speaker 2 [0:10] All right, yeah, so, first off, as Zach said, thank you so much for coming here. We want to lay a little bit of the groundwork about the reason why we did this after we go through this quick agenda so you know what to expect.

Zac Ruiz [0:23] All right, so generally we'd like to start everything very, very timely, but parking was an issue, so we let it run. But here's kind of what's gonna happen. Five-ish minutes of us just introducing ourselves, then we'll get out of the way. Then we're gonna go through the poll results, live with you guys, that you can see on your phone right now, if you want. Quick little market update of Haywood County specifically. And again, we're gonna kind of cut that short just so we can get to Force Fun. But then listen to Mayor Smathers. And so he's going to give us his vision. He's got about 10 minutes. He can take as long as he'd like.

And then we're going to have the fireside chat and mostly Q and A, right? So there is the microwave there in the most orderly and polite fashion possible. We'll make a line, and everyone will get their chance, hopefully. And then we'll have you out of here, right? So all that totals up to about an hour, and we're gonna do our best to get you out of there on that same timeline.

Speaker 2 [1:08] So with that, yeah, so for those of you guys who don't know, we're AVLmeetup. We bring together the movers and shakers for people who are in real estate here in the Asheville area. And our focus is to do specific, like, data driven local networking and education. And so, of course, this topic fits that to a T. It kind of came together because, personally, I've been loving Canton and buying in Canton for a while. And then when the news broke, A lot of people started asking, hey, what's gonna happen? Does anybody know what the plans are? And everybody didn't seem to have a clear answer.

And so we were like, hey, maybe we should go direct to the source and try to get some clarity on what we know and what we don't know, and then make decisions from there instead of just speculating.

Zac Ruiz [1:50] Right, so a little bit about it, who are we and why are we here? Right off the bat, we have our good friends at WLOS here. This is where I heard this story, breaking news. breaking news, right? So, the Canton Mill is closing, and that's basically what we're here to talk about. So, really quick introduction. I'll tell you a little about my co host here. Rodrigo Afanadore, a certified deal junkie, is known. It's done... Yeah. He's done over a little over 300 transactions since getting into real estate in 2012 in the area. Lots of business has two little tornadoes. Family of four at this point, and we put this together over our love of data. That's kind of how we came together.

Speaker 2 [2:26] Well, in that, a perfect way to introduce Zach. Of course, he's the keeper of the data, Jack of all trades, father of one, happily married to Tamela, who's in the audience. And, uh, yeah, we came together over data, networking, and again, that's why I came together, and we founded AVI'll meet up with the net philosophy principle.

Zac Ruiz [2:43] And on that, Oh, well, thank you, thank you, yes. So, uh, we are, we're about that net philosophy, right? So net profit philosophy. What is that? That's kind of our core values, basically, right? And so we believe that you profit from the sum of your networking, education, and transactions. So we try to get the right people in the room to get you the best networking possible. We like to cut the curve for the education, and then, ideally, everyone gets together and make some transactions, right? Because how else do you have profits? So, we take that quite seriously. And as you see on our website, this will update as soon as everyone is checked in and the event is over.

So we've done, since we started, almost 16,000 hours of education networking for AVLmeetup. That's if you sum together everyone that's come with the speakers and the time they've spent and all of that. We take this very, very seriously. So if you haven't heard about us, please join. We love doing this. And it's pretty... Yeah, it's 100% free. It's the right price. Um, so these are some of the topics that we've spoken on. So, everything from owner financing, lead management, short term rentals, funding without banks, Asian investors, I'll skip ahead to the state of the economy, we've covered commercial real estate. We have some speakers in the house with us tonight.

We just had spring chickens on the 14th. Those three top real estate professionals under 30, and that was when we decided to do this. So within the last two weeks, essentially, in 10 days, basically. We were able to put this all together, off the strength of the community.

Speaker 2 [4:06] So we feel like it's been very busy, but probably nothing compared to what Mayor's gonna share with us.

Zac Ruiz [4:11] So excited to hear a little bit about that. But this is our first AVI'll meet a pop up. And so, look, if we could get a round of applause for the volunteers. So, we've got Alexi coming in right now. We have people out there helping you park, finding spaces, helps us set everything up. Really, really, really appreciate it, and if you want to volunteer for one of these events, We have Ms. Ray Ray Hicks, who's our director of operations. She is right there at the front. Go talk to her. Very, very easy to get involved. We love you, including people, and it's just email volunteer at AVLmeetup.com.com. So moving along, how many realtors in the room if we can get a raise of hands? Look at that.

A couple people. All right, so, data driven real estate, right? Data driven real estate. Of the people who checked in, if you used your realtor email with Canopy MLS, with the software that I have, REMC.co, of the people in the room right now, there are 67 active listings for $21 million, and in the past 12 months, we've done $139 million of real estate. So, these are not the tire kickers. The room is filled with the realtors, the movers and shakers, as we like to call them. And so that's just so who you know. So at some point, after this marker report in the poll, we are going to talk a little force fun, and you should talk to these people.

You've probably done a deal with them, or seen one of their listings. And this is a great way to connect in real life. Right? So the community is strong. So with that, we're going to get into the data. And probably didn't think this through too well. But if you go to your phones, you can, at the top, right there, if you're logged in. You can go to the view pole. results. And so we're just going to go over that with you right now really quickly. kind of see where the room is at. So moving over here, we got 79 responses from the room, all right? So, amazing. Thank you for doing that. Good data, right? Good data from a subset of people that's interested in this, right?

So have you or someone, you know, been directly impacted by the closer of the paper mill? Predominantly know in this room. We gotta get a better, we gotta do a better job of bringing in more Canton and Haywood people next time. So on a scale of one to 10, how concerned are you about the impact of the mill closure on local real estate market? Five. I think that's pretty interesting. I think that there's gonna be a bullish sentiment to the room. That would be my, my assumption. So that kind of plays to that. So this is a great question. How confident are you in the ability of the town and its leader to attract new business to simulate real estate development in the milk closure, right?

If that didn't go well, we have the guy here. to fix that, right? So that... Yeah, that was the way... that was a PR stunt waiting to happen. But look, the room's on your side. So, it'll be fun. At least, at least right now. So what do you believe is the biggest challenge facing the local real estate market in the wake of the mill closure? So it turns out, most of you went with uncertainty around what's gonna happen, and that makes sense, right? So that is what tonight is about, hopefully. So threading the needle between taking care of the fact that there is some pain that's going to happen, there are some people who are going to be displaced, we have to take advantage of that.

And then, you know, progress as a result. Those are our two leading answers there. So which of the following do you think would be most effective to stimulate the real estate development and attract new businesses to the area? I'm glad you can all probably read better than I can. So investing in the community. That was that we're gonna make this data available to everybody, but investing in the community seems to be the consensus in the room of how to move forward in a great way. here. So do you think the closure of the paper mill will impact the local real estate market with respect to property values?

It looks like we're scaling to the right here, but the majority of people think that values will increase significantly. I am in this camp. Do you think that the closure of paper mill will create opportunities for real estate investors in the area? Yes, there will be some. And on the right is, yes, it will be a lot. So generally, yeah, literally no one said no. We don't have a single note. We always like to call out the odd bird, but they're not here tonight. At least not on this question. So how do you think the closure of the paper mill will impact demand for rental properties? And predominantly, there'll be some increase in demand. But again, all these graphs are screwed right.

We tried to ask all the questions in the same, so decreased to increase, left to right. So, like, the sentiment of the room is bullish. How do you think the closure of the paper mill will impact rents in the local market? So some people think they'll remain the same. I know Mr. Afonador is kind of there.

Speaker 2 [8:34] I don't know if they have that much room to go up.

Zac Ruiz [8:37] Right. So it's already pretty competitive. So we'll see what the market can bear. People didn't agree with me. I'm alone over there. And there's no oddbirds. No one thought it would decrease. So how important do you think it is for the town to involve real estate agents and investors in the recovery efforts? All right, well, here's the room, right? A lot of you thought it was very important. Interesting. Um, so that's good. So congrats for coming over. If you want to get involved tonight. That's the mic. We will be having Q and A shortly, cut right to the chase. Would you be willing to collaborate with the leaders, right? Look, overwhelmingly, yes, 69%.

So, hey, we got some volunteers right here, let's refresh real quick. 72, 72 people said yes. So we got some bodies ready to go, right here. Do you currently own any real estate in Canton? No. And that's interesting. One of the talking points I got from someone was that if you were thinking about Canton, depending on what happens, this might be the reason that you take a second look. And so maybe that no will change over time. Finally, do you plan to invest in real estate or businesses in Cantonaria? I'm not sure yet. Great. I think we're going to help you get there. Or at least step one. Now, if I can learn how to use the slideshow.

Unknown [9:49] Boom.

Zac Ruiz [9:51] All right, cool. So that now we know where the room is at. Today's focus is going to be on the very abridged version, a shortened version, the Ruiz Report for Haywood County specifically.

Unknown [10:03] Well, that's the wrong direction.

Zac Ruiz [10:06] All right, so my name's Zachary Rees. I run the Ruiz Report. We've been doing that for 36 months in March or February this last one. So that's 3 years. Um, and that's fun time. That's a good time to get enough data. It started right at the pandemic, so real estate was changing literally week over week. It was very dynamic environment. So all the, you know, the old knowledge that everyone's known kind of went out the window. So this is all you need to know. Look how complicated this looks. It's very, very simple. So colors, red is bad, green is good. That doesn't always mean up and down, right? So if prices go up and you're selling, that's good.

But if the days on market go up and you're selling, that's bad. So the color represents what's happening. The number on the left, the big one, is what happened in the month in question. The top number on the right is what happened, the change versus last month. And the bottom number is the change versus that same time last year. So that's how this next slide is kind of interpreted, and really quick, it's really there just to say that it's red. Okay? So in Haywood County, you'll notice that these numbers are smaller, the volume is less, right? There's less available real estate for sale. So small changes will have a disproportionate effect on our graphs.

But all that's saying is, less people thought it was a good idea to sell, 10% less than the same time last year, and 14% less than next month. So less homes went under contract, almost a third less than the month before. And then home sold. It's important to know that that's a lagging metric, a home that's sold in February, actually went under contract in January or December. It's a lagging metric, because it takes some time to close. So that's kind of a perception of what's going on. But again, 20% lower than the same month last year. Right? And we kind of know that. Rates have doubled, they've gone up, and inventory is very scarce, reasons to sell all these good things.

That's kind of across the board, but now something very, very serious changed in Haywood County, so we will see how that affects it. This graph is, all you need to look is that green column there. That's months of supply. That's broken down into price ranges, right? Five to seven months, so call it 6 is what we call a neutral market. And so basically, it's how many, how long would it take to deplete the inventory of homes if homes continued to sell at the rate that they are selling now? We are at a month or less, basically, at everything. So there is no supply. There's no supply anywhere, and that kind of leads us to this.

So this chart is listing and closings, and at the bottom there, it says the pro tip, that's all you need to know. When the red bars, how many new listings there are, and the green line is how many homes went under contract, taken off. So if the red bar is not significantly above the green line, then we're not replenishing the supply with enough homes. We're either keeping it the same or taking more homes off. That is very, very important, because supply and demand, if there's one constant thing in economics, it's that. Supply and demand are about equal in Haywood County already. With how it's been. Now that there is a change that will impact it directly.

We are interested to see how that will happen. But what does that tell you about prices? Right? If there are more people who want something than there are of that thing available? Prices are going to generally either go up or remain sticky in the rate environment. And we're basically seeing that happen, but isn't this an interesting graph? Prices were trending upward in Heywood County. coming up to this. We think that's probably gonna continue, especially depending on how this all plays itself out, and we're gonna learn more about that tonight. But so just really quickly, the green and the red, the difference is the green is the average, right?

So if you sum it all together and divide it by how many there were, that's the green line. And so that's above the red line, which is the median. The median is if you line them all up, and then you pick the middle one, you line them up in order. The reason the green one is higher is because there's a high end market. Those expensive homes are dragging the average price up. But the median home, so 50% or so of homes in Haywood County right now, are $350,000. So that tells you about the market in general.

So days on market, we saw a huge drop, a huge drop from the previous couple months where they were going wild and taking much longer, is because people basically realized that, hey, this isn't the new normal, right? Rates have doubled. It is what it is. They're probably not coming down that much if they all come down at all, and we just have to adjust accordingly. And so even though the sticker price is what we want for it, really, what matters is how much is coming out of our pocket every month. How much can we afford? Because when you're trying to buy a house, it's your debt to income ratio. It's not how much the house costs necessarily, it's how much it costs of your income.

And so people came to terms with that, and so they've started to sell a little bit quicker. More price reductions are happening. And hey, like we said, abridged, right? So we're gonna give you 5 minutes, please discuss with your neighbors, kind of about what the sentiment of the room is from the poll, the market update, and we'll see you in 5 minutes.

Speaker 2 [14:51] All right, guys, it's been five minutes. So go ahead and wrap it up and get started here in a second. All right, so hopefully, as you were discussing with your neighbors, you were able to pick up a little nuggets or get a perspective on what's going on as that conversation went on. So, if you guys will, well, help me welcome Mayor Zeb Smathers to the stage, you have a big round of applause. We're very excited and grateful to have him here tonight, so...

Unknown [15:24] Good evening.

Zeb Smathers [15:26] Now, I didn't drive 20 minutes over here for that. Let's try it again. Good evening. All right. All right. It's always great to go someplace that I don't see people I'm related to. So it's, uh... Really appreciate y'all being here. Zach Rodrigo, where'd you... Where are you flying around? Wonderful job. I'm a little bit, and they said, Oh, come over to Haywood. We're gonna get some people. Go over to bunk 'em. get some people together, talk about things, and I walk in here with all the technology and all the advertising. It's like a, forget a TED talk. This is a Zeb talk, it seems. Um, I really appreciate the bit emoji my friends at the courthouse really had fun with that this week.

And again, I don't get paid anything to be mayor. Actually, I can't quit my day job as an attorney. Uh, so, uh, but again, um, just thank you for everything, giving me the opportunity to come here, talk about a place that I call home, and you're going to hear that word over and over again today. First off, I'm going to do a few personal shout outs. Where's my Haywood County folk at? I know you hear that. Oh, wow.

Unknown [16:30] Wow.

Zeb Smathers [16:35] Well, there goes the related part. First off, that's the best looking shirt in here. Thank you very much for playing for the home crown. A little Pesgan Nation survives. Haywood Community College is here. But more importantly, there are people, and I won't say who they are. There are people in this room whose husband and wife have lost their job at this meal. We will get in, and I appreciate the opportunity to be here. But the most important thing now, tomorrow, and going forward. Until every single one of these meal workers, contractors, truck drivers, find a job, are these people and families affected?

I promise you in the mayor handbook, there is nothing that suggests how you deal when a 55-year-old man basically hugs you with tears in his eyes, because he has to go home to tell his family and his kids, he doesn't have a job. There's not a playbook for children in schools crying because they're afraid. They are going to have to move away from their families and coaches and friends. Because out of nowhere, This news came. Make no bones about it. This is a death in the family. A death in the family. And all of us in Heywood County and the region are slowly working our way through the different levels of grief. There was a shock. This wasn't a death that we were expecting.

Everyone, as I like to say, and the meal opened up over a 100 years ago, if it opened up on a Tuesday on Wednesday, there were rumors that it was closing. That's just what you get used to in Cannon Haywood County. rumors and conspiracy theories, but we're still here. But out of nowhere, we were told the news. And then the morning set in, and some anger. And at some point, by all intents and purposes, we are working our way towards a funeral in June. It is important. I've started operating talking with the male about doing things for the community such as tours.

People need to be able to go in that factory, not just to see where their parents and grandparents worked, but one thing throughout the years, mill workers pride themselves on the community, is Santa Pals. There are people in the community, and there are people that have gone way past Canton and achieved great things, but they might have been in foster care. And guess where the one toy they received came from? People need to see that. People need to see the place that paid for their mortgages and their scholarships and blew the whistle on Friday night. We need to have a visitation before we have a funeral. Then after the funeral. The legal opening the estate stuff works in.

And that's part of what we'll talk about. today. But it's also important. I am guilty of this. I mean, maybe y'all are too. We're really good at showing up when someone passes on the 1st few days, you bring the casserole, you bring the bojangles. Love you. We're with you. If you go to visitation, you might go to the funeral. Where are you in a month? Where are you in 2 months? So much of what we're talking about and dealing with are issues that are going to linger for years and decades. You know, we had, I think, we had several job fairs. The 1st was the town I can put on a pinnacle church.

Natalie Walker, our CFO, and Lisa Stanton, our assistant town manager, on their own accord, put together this wonderful job market, and there was such a sense of hope. It was ironic that it was in a church because a lot of these workers, this is the first time there were people saying, we want you. Here's an application. There's hope. But also, there was mental health providers there and financial services because part of what worries me, a lot of times when factory closes, they're suicides. Because not only do you have to go tell that family, And your kids. They understand you and they hug you. But let's be honest, that mortgage payment on that table doesn't care.

We have to work through the stigma of mental health. We have all been traumatized by this. On top of, you might have heard, we got knocked out by floods. You might have heard about the pandemic. I told a preacher friend of mine, I'm starting not to feel too bad for Job in the Bible. I think he got sort off easy compared what we've gone through in Canton. If I see a bunch of grasshoppers, I'm going to take my shoe off just because I'm afraid at this point's locusts. I mean, we've been hit with everything. But we're still here, and West North Carolina is still here. And Pisgah High School is still here. The rumors of our demise are greatly exaggerated.

Hopefully, you believe that, or you, this is a waste of your time tonight. But we're still here. This is the turning of a page, not the closing of a book. We've worked on a Canton comeback. And I know many of you all are discovering Canton for the 1st time, and that's okay. I told many people in the last few weeks, some people in this room, Zach Rodrigo, you probably know more about my town, than I do right now. You know parcels, you know plumbing, you know infrastructure, you know roads, and we'll get to those questions here shortly.

But This is a journey that started years ago, and I was part of a team and still remained just part of a team, both public and private and small business owners. Because when I became an alderman and then mayor in 2017, Forget what people thought of us outside of Heywood County. We'd give it up on ourselves. We were told there was no future for us. Milltowns were things the past. Well, you know, you can't have nice stores, you can't have nice restaurants. You can't even have a brewery. And now if you're a small town, you don't have a brewery. You really can't even be a small town these days, like the barbershop. But people believe Dennis. It also helped the Balsam range.

Grammy Award-wing bluegrass band wrote a song about us. Paper Town. You need to know about Canton. I appreciate the data. Let me say this. One reason I like talking to real estate agents is because you do know a lot of information. There were some questions here. If people like myself in elected office are not listening to real estate agents, the amount of data, you have, we're not doing it the right way. So it's a sincere partnership between real estate and leadership, in my opinion. But listen to Papertown. In fact, I challenge you when you leave here or not, Fire it up in your car. Listen to it. I don't listen to it because I've cried too much over the last few weeks, listen to it.

That's all you need to know about where we were. But there were people that believed in this the last 10 years when they had boarded up windows and we've had incentives and we've had grants and we've crawled away back. That was part one of the can't comeback. We thought we had retired that hashtag. It looks like we're going to have to bring it back for part two. But there's another person in this room. Thompson, I want you to wave. And I want to get emotional here, maybe. Perfect example. Her family. Opened up a store in Canton. Restored it. and are still there through thick and thin because they don't just believe in what they offer, they believe in its people.

And as long as we have people, like Haley and her family, even though her brother now is the principal of Tuscola. But... That's why I'm, I've lost a lot, I'm getting sleep but not a whole lot of rest. But when you have families like that still committed to people of the town, when it's easier to say, I'm moving somewhere else. I'm shutting down. We'll be okay. But I don't think that message literally just belongs or should belong to people like Kent. I don't know where y'all live. I gander, most of y'all live over here in Bunkum. But if I had to take each of you individual, through your past experiences, good and bad.

I've got a feeling, Most of y'all are from places, like Canton, or were like Canton, or from a city where there's burrows, which is just a fancy way to say small towns within a city. You have those stories of your grandparents. You have stories of those factories opening and closing. Plenty y'all probably did those summer programs. You can smell the sawdust. You can smell the oil. We're products of these towns. And we really don't talk enough about how important they are to us personally and to our character and what builds this world. We always want to move what's next and what's next, but we forget what God is here in those sacrifices. And that's what we have in Kansas.

So it's not such a closing of a meal. This is, again, a death in the family because this is our soul. This is our blue collar DNA. I believe that we can still be a meal town without be having a meal. Because it dawned on me in the hours following the announcement. It's not so much about the machines or the building. It has and always will be about the people and the relationships and the hard work it takes to get up in the morning to go clock in. 24 hour shifts. 365. Oh, it's Christmas. I go work. Oh, there's a chemical spool. I got to go in work. There's grit there. There's also the belief you have to power through adversity. And we've seen it. Y'all have seen it, no matter where you are.

There's something to be said about that blue collar grit. Yeah, hell, make this country. It still helps makes it, and it's still important. And I've been very, very clear that the people in my town and others deserve the respect, their stories matters, anyone else's, and they're more than just people on a PowerPoint. I don't care if it's healthcare or a male or whatever business. We are in the people business. They have families, they have hopes, they have stresses, and everyone's story matters, no matter where you're from or what you do. Your story matters. And the people in Heywood County and Kent at this meal closure, their story matters. Then I will defend them.

and work with them in the trenches. till my last breath.

Unknown [28:14] Because I'm a product. of this town.

Zeb Smathers [28:18] My son Stone is ninth generation. But now once we send this old dame off in a few months and give her the funeral she deserves. Because funerals, they're sad. They're emotional.

Unknown [28:37] They can be funny.

Zeb Smathers [28:38] They can be lighthearted. But again, this great dame deserves a send off worthy of over a 100 years. There's no one on this earth that remembers Canton and Haywood County without that paper mill. That's unbelievable. Most of us think, wow, you opened up in the 70s and the 80s, and it's impressive.

Unknown [28:59] This place.

Zeb Smathers [29:02] Outlast all of us until recently. And but then, We have to get on to what's next. And we'll get there. But it's also hard for me. I mean, we're going to talk about that. But again, the importance is with these millworkers and I just want to make that clear. But I have a $3000000 hole in my $11000000 budget. That's not counting the county. That's not county auxiliary effects. The 1st thing I will look at really will be in August. How many of these families were able to stay in Haywood County and keep their kids in school? Because if you lose those workers, And they leave. This will be much more destructive than it can be.

I have heard from people across the state, from the governor to timber factories in Rutherford County. One thing that weighs heavily on me is we have to make sure this economic black hole doesn't spread farther than it needs to. Because it can and it will, and there could be domino effects. Especially Inca Candler. Wayne's will. We have to commit, and I suspect our friends in Washington and Raleigh on both parties. We'll come to our aid for a little while, but I can't expect the government two, three, four, 5 years to still pay my bills. I have to depend on building what is next. in the town canon.

And I feel this hashtag was created after the 1st one, but really we had to get out for a spin, but we are now. And this is my next challenge I have for this room. This is not about real estate. This isn't about houses. This isn't about investing. It's about buildings. That's easy. That straightforward. I am asking people in this room. to be part of an opportunity. Make no bones about it. Us in Canton are now tasked with building the hometown of tomorrow. The hometown of tomorrow. It's a place that takes the best of us, existing in the best brought in.

to allow your family an opportunity, your kids, your grandkids, your neighbor, to go through our schools, our churches, our sports, and whether it's the workforce, community college, university work, military. You have the opportunity to come back if you choose. to come back to Canon. back to West North Carolina. Because if you're just interested in the houses and buildings, And information takes care of itself. Y'all are professionals. You truly are. But if you want to be part of something more, then I got a place to tell you about. Because what we will do is take what is the best of us in the past, our schools, test scores, number 7th in the state, a sense of community.

that is next to nobody, next to nobody. are people, what you see is what you get. I'm a big believer in such a superficial world of marketing and social media and filters. When you're around the real thing, You know it. You're drawn to it. And what you see in Haywood County, in Canton, and other places in West North Carolina. Oh, what you see is what you get, but that is refreshing. That is refreshing. So if that's what you're interested in, I want to talk to you. If you're interested in taking the best of what we already have existing proximity to asphalt, rail, natural gas, infrastructure, education, energy.

Unknown [33:27] I want to talk to you.

Zeb Smathers [33:30] If you understand that there are people, even if you weren't affected by this, a lot of this information scares the hell out of them. They know, and I've already heard people saying, hey, I got these letters in the mail or someone locked on my door. I mean, we are we're reeling. We're picking our teeth off the ground. You can have to give us time a little bit. That doesn't mean you stop what you're doing. Doesn't mean you don't do your study and do your visiting. But there's a lot of scared people. I'm not scared. I know the quality of our people. We're going to be fine in time. I think we'll be fine soon rather than later.

But some of these people, they look at their neighbors and they look at those empty church pews. Scared. Please, when you look at can and have an interest, understanding you're dealing with people whose souls hurting. You also have to realize that there is still a lot of opportunity beyond the 150 plus acres, the mill. I'm sure there'll be some questions what's next down there. There's still a lot surrounding Canton. Not just in Canton, but Candler, and Fickety, and Beaverdown, and Newfound, and Clyde. Saw it in the floods. Six people lost their lives of in Crusoe. They're not part of the city limits. But they're part of the Kent family. You also, we want to be different.

And again, each one of y'all, from wherever you from, have a unique story, a unique address, you can still remember probably your home phone number. I'm 40 years old. I still remember my grandma had rotary. I can still remember my landline phone number. And I suspect many of y'all can too. But each of your towns are unique. And again, there is importance in being unique. West Asheville. wonderful place. I do miss Zia Tucker, though. I do miss Z. That hatch was good. West Asheville's West Asheville. We don't want to be West Asheville. There's a difference between West Asheville and West of Asheville. I let that linger out there.

But I don't say that bad towards West Asheville, any other place over here. I spend money in West Ashville. But we want to be something different. but not change who we are. And if I was trying to sell you that line without having experience, like, Pigeon River Mercantile, then that would be some political fluff, but we have proven the last 10 years. We have been able to bring in new people, new ideas, new money, new resources, new ideas, but not change who we are. And we're going to do that again.

Unknown [36:35] Because shouldn't we?

Zeb Smathers [36:37] Why should we throw out everything that God is here? Don't forget the ones that brought you to the dance. And I'm proud of what we've been able to do. Democrats, Republicans, help of our community college. Also, if you're looking for something to donate, HCC is doing a great job with workforce, setting up a fund to provide, provide. Take a... But even that's a challenge. I said it. You know, I had a lawyer friend of mine pull me over here. He said, I was reading this article about the meal closing and had all these economists and professors, and then it gets to you, and they said, well, what do you think about the workforce challenges? And I said, you can't make Bubba's baristas?

And it's true.

Unknown [37:15] I don't stand by that.

Zeb Smathers [37:17] A lot of these folks know one thing and one thing only. That's to work hard, factory work, welding. You can't turn them into web designers overnight. But HCC knows that, and that's why we're betting literally our future on the community college with help from Western and others with workforce training. But We don't have to change who we are. That doesn't mean we should be close minded. That doesn't mean we should just say, oh, we always did it this way. We have things to offer. Chestnut Mountain bike Park. If you don't know about Chestnut Mountain bike Park, you didn't do your Googling good enough. sitting on the border between Bunkham and Haywood. It's a world-class mountain bike park.

Now, I mean, if you know what you're doing. If you take your huffy up there, it's going to be a long way down. But we're adding trails. 450 acres, it was gonna be a rock cruelry. Again, we did it something that was very close to us. We've been hiking those trails, and I can promise you some of the best moonshine ever created in Heywood County came from Chestnut Mountain. So I know every, you know, leaf turn in that mountain, but that's who we are. But if you start there, I tell people, I can't stand fake people. I'd rather disagree with you and know where you stand than agree with you than you be fake. There's a priority there.

So again, if y'all are looking to just come and invest and make some money and I can't stop you. But I'm challenging you to do it better. This will be over time, the greatest opportunity, economically, socially, culturally in Western North Carolina history, if not the state. Because in some regards, I'll leave it this if we're doing Q and A. I go back, you know, my family was one of the 1st 5 in Heywood County. I was lucky to find a girl I wasn't related to to Mary. True story. The river brought us there. The river brought the mill. And I suspect the river will play a major part in our future. You and I will have miles and miles. All the water in Haywood County comes within in our own county.

We're on the 5 counties in the U.S. I suspect that, but going to the river and the mountains. In some regards, all of us. Our frontier men and women again. We have found ourselves with another challenge where it's easier to go away to fall back, to give up, to make excuses. But damn it, we're just stubborn enough. to see what's on the other side. To climb the mountain, they say it can't be done. And it's right there in our name. It's corny, but it works. You can see Canton now, or in the past, and see Cant. Or can't.

Part of being a frontiersman or woman, even in the modern age, is that stubborn belief that you can, that you can put that one foot in front of the other, that you can beat back the adversity. that you can climb that mountain. And you can build something better. We're front, we have and always will be frontiersmen. And now in your own professional field, as members of these mountains, I ask you to help us be those join us as we create our new opportunity. as we create that hometown of tomorrow.

Zac Ruiz [41:24] All right, so, one of the things I say in my line of work, so I run two companies, the REMC.co and the Ruiz Report, and it's just data. And one of the things I'm always saying is fighting the age old balance in real estate, the battle, that between facts tell but emotions cell, right? So, at some point, you're gonna fall in love with the home and see yourself hosting your family and everything like that, and that just kind of takes over. So we try to give as much information before that happens to you. So I just want to thank you for bringing the heart and the emotion of this into it, which is past the data, so if we could just get one more round of applause. Is that what you do?

We also have two stools. So, would you like to... We're going to stand.

Speaker 2 [42:07] Yeah, so I guess we're all standing. So we have a bunch of prepared questions, as we typically do, but we wanted to start with audience Q and day first, since we put this on with the purpose of allowing the audience to interact, as they see fit. If you don't have questions, no worries, we've got some, and we'll happily ask them, since, you know, obviously, we made them, so we're personally interested in knowing the answer, but we'll give an audience an opportunity first, since we put this on for the community anyways, to begin.

Zac Ruiz [42:32] So we know, we know, you know, some of you have to leave and we're getting to that time. So if you just want to get right up to this mic right now, for that, just right here, the mic, you can get up, go in line. Yep, so we're recording this for posterity. So there you are. The 1st Brave Soul. So please introduce yourself and ask me.

Speaker 4 [42:51] Oh, Peg Crow. And I'm a realtor, but I know Canton from real life for life. So what can we how can we meet them where they are?

Zeb Smathers [42:58] I mean, first off, I think trust your gut. I mean, this is different than floods. You can't send water, you can't clean up mud. Um, there's great opportunities, hey, we community college to donate money to their workforce. Champion Credit Union has set up an account to help with mortgage assistance. Ive had people reach out to me. But I can't run a mortgage assistance through a town hall. This is difficult. I mean, I think I posted on social media. It's worth saying, it brought tears to my eyes, a, and I can't, I don't know if he worked at the mill. He sent $25 to the town hall to me. He's in on a pinch and he's 80 years old.

He was moved by the story with just the simple instructions, can he buy someone's dinner? I wish I could, I wish I could give more, but can you buy one of these mill workers dinner? Visit these stores, visit these restaurants. Talk them up. Let your emotions and your feelings be your God. Because again, knowing it's together. This is a family type situation. And again, there's great resources to donate. I mean, there's websites. I think one is Haywood Strong. There's still flood victims reeling. There's charitable organizations and schools. You go where you see fit and every part of it will be appreciative. It's that broad, but that easy.

Speaker 4 [44:21] I'm just, I'm concerned that realtors are just gonna show up and they're gonna be like, whoa. You know, that's that's my concern.

Zeb Smathers [44:28] And again, that's my concern. I've had that expressed people, you know, I'm getting knocks on the door. getting all these letters. You know, these little old ladies and men. And again, they're calling. Sometimes when you're a mayor and attorney, they just call you for advice. Which can be frustrating at times, but each, just like y'all know, someone calls you to that person, it is the most important thing going through their mind. Treat it like that. That's just good old customer service. So again, if, you know, I want to talk a whole lot about that, but if that becomes an issue, then I'm going to pick up and I won't be the only one. Again, these people are hurting.

There's a way we're going to figure this out. We understand the importance of innovation and investment and opportunities, especially as the meal opens up, you know, the next part of that chapter. And there's a time and a place. But just be respectful. That's simple as that. So... Well, thanks. That's been a concern of mine. Good.

Speaker 5 [45:28] Have new, Maris, Matt. Hey, Ben. Thanks for being here. Ben Bogartis with Homespun Realty. In North Asheville now, from Jackson County. I was curious what the plan is for the property, where the mill is, the real estate there, and how the government's gonna be involved in what happens to that.

Zeb Smathers [45:50] I am excited that there were some obviously some disagreements and bumps of what how this should have been rolled out, and I think evergreen appreciates that now. Um, no comment. But we had to be partners. And I think down the road, they are committed to doing what they need to do as it concerns cleanup. Obviously, that's their property. They're a private company. But I am, um, hopeful and just recently I think, you know, in a better position to understand and trust that they want to do a good job. And legally, they need to. And, you know, obviously myself and people way above my political pay grade are watching.

Um, But I think at some point we will get to a point where we discuss with Evergreen what the next steps are. I mean, look, I wish I could snap my fingers and say, oh, surprise, breaking news. There is a factory getting ready to come in and bring back all of these jobs. Can't do that. It is just as dangerous for me to put my head in the sand as it is to promise false hope. Could there be manufacturing down there? Yes. Could there be tech? Yes. Could there be breweries? Yes. I have heard every idea from top golf, to civic centers, to breweries, no, Dolly Parton has not contacted the can of can. I've heard that rumor.

Unknown [47:30] Um, to be determined.

Zeb Smathers [47:34] But it's 150 plus acres on a river with rail and natural gas and fiber. and concrete pads. And again, there's there is environmental concerns. And we will figure those out. I mean, there's, you know, again, another thing with rumors, I don't know yet, but I know evergreen knows they have to do what legally they have to do and they're committed to doing that and spending a lot of money doing it. It is my hope that we will have that conversation with Evergreen Collaborative and his partners. I think it'll be a great public, private partnership in time. I also see there's probably a 3rd group out there that will be interested in this site.

And they will be, you know, probably a large investment group. Who they are, what they are. I've told people. I mean, it's a nice way. Six, there are people 6 months from now, friends and foes. I have no idea who they are. They don't know me.

Unknown [48:37] But 6 months we will.

Zeb Smathers [48:40] So I don't know. I just think there is a collaborative effort that is happening, and at some point it will be a development of that site, and I think there is so much potential. It is almost, I really have to set back and think how much opportunity exists, but we also can't wait around forever five, 10 years, the next factory to come. Not with $3000000 hole in my budget. I have to economically find a way to push forward. I have to. I told somebody, I told a Asheville city councilwoman. I said, those Asheville Tourists were available in a couple years. I might be, I might be saying, But I think it'll be, I think it'll be mixed. I see mixed development across the board. I just do.

It's that big of a side. It's that much opportunity, but the question will be how we do it, what we demand, and it's going to be done right. We're going demand that this is done in a good way for our people and also honors the legacy. I don't make bones about this. I look at Durham, Greenville, Knapolis, Chattanooga. Those are some of the stars I'm following to a degree. Durham has been able to look at the legacy of not only just tobacco and textiles, but also African-American history. Greenville, obviously with the river, they've been able to do, Canapolis with the research, Chattanooga, sort of the combination.

Because honoring the history of this place and the stories, there's people that have died down there. There was a short story at our, we had this great prayer rally. You can't sort of, you know, brought really brought the community the days following. There was someone who had, someone had sneaked out a plaque of their father who had passed a few years ago and he was holding it this prayer. I mean, big old boy. Tears in his eyes. He was holding this as a memory to his father. who had passed several years ago, not in the mill, but out. That's the connection here. Their legacies and stories are worth remembering. And I plan to make that part of that.

So again, whoever we deal with, we're going to demand their best and we're going to, again, demand that they respect our legacy and our people. That is the very least we as elected officials can do.

Unknown [51:06] Thank you.

Speaker 2 [51:08] If you guys have other questions, if we can just do a line just to keep things a little bit clicking quicker, that'd be good, but go for it.

Speaker 5 [51:15] Hey, Jay Scholes, I'm a resident of Canton. moved from Asheville about 3 years ago out there. absolutely love it. We love the people. We totally agree with everything that you've said about the people of Canton. We couldn't be more happy with our neighbors. Are you in the city limits?

Zeb Smathers [51:33] What's that? Are you in the city limits or outside the city limits?

Speaker 5 [51:36] We are in the city limits. Good.

Zeb Smathers [51:37] I got some election from Aldermen coming up this year. I just need to know where the people are. So...

Speaker 5 [51:43] You mentioned Chestnut Mountain, and the natural resources that we have to bring in people that are outdoors people, and then you also mentioned the fact that that city's built on the river. What are the plans, or are their plans, to maybe use the river more as a recreational thing, because of the fact that, with the mill there now, it's impossible to travel through there in a canoe or a tube. But will it be opened up?

Zeb Smathers [52:10] I mean, again, I think it's one of the major questions of, you know, who gets this property next. But this, I mean, obviously, we're talking a lot about Canton. I mean, now you have this river. Which, you know, I mean, I remember growing up, and I will give evergreen this. When I was a kid, I remember the top of the pigeon being black and foam and a stench and this soot. I mean, they have taken great steps to environment, clean the river up. Used to, you could not swim, fish, do anything below the river. You now can do that. But without the meal, the level of water we have at the headwaters will be constant through the whole county.

Unknown [52:49] Think about that.

Zeb Smathers [52:51] The whole county's river quality is getting ready to increase. So absolutely. I think the river, when I say the river brought us the settlers, they brought the mill, the river will bring the future. I sing everything for wildlife, to fishing, to camping. There is not an outdoor activity. Uh, that river will not play a part of. I mean, now the ability even with brewers and distillery to use this quality of water. It's all there. It's all set there ready to go. So there is no doubt the river is going to play a huge part in doing this because again, that keeps us partly who we are. So, yep.

Speaker 4 [53:37] Hi, my name's Audrey Hager. Thanks for doing this, and thanks to Zach, and Rodrigo, thank you very much. I live in Haywood County. I've been there about 15 years, I live in Waynesville and Lake Junalaska. Also, past president of Carolina's Real Estate Investors Association, which, um, did a study with incremental development. They're the ones that put together the plan for Chattanooga, and so I'd love to make some connections for you. They get the community involved, and we can work together to do something like that. Also, yeah. Also, I was just talking with Hyla, and I'm gonna contact her a little bit more. One thing about real estate investors.

We're a really good and giving community, and we're honest, and what you see is what you get, but we need a lot of babas. Um, there is a lot of projects that we cannot find labor for, um, whether it's construction or website design, or... So, I think there's an opportunity for the community in Canton to, you know, to also benefit, um, with the help of Haywood Community College. We could get together. I know, she said that there's a program coming up again in April. And so if we can work together and use those resources, I think that it could be a win win for both the community and those individuals with projects.

Zeb Smathers [55:08] In a similar fashion. I mean, I said this is the job fair. I mean, these all these employers, you know, even ones you're talking about, you're some of the best employers of West North Carolina can meet, I think, are some of the best workers. And I think it's just that's just another part of doing exactly what you just said. So thank you.

Speaker 4 [55:26] Okay. I'll be in touch. Thank you.

Zac Ruiz [55:29] All right, friends, just because we're on, we're way past our time here, the last 2 questions.

Speaker 2 [55:33] Send everyone on their way. Wow. We'll kind of have we'll have a closure, and then if you have more questions, we can come to do that, but make the non-awkward leaving loud. So I'm Phil Corley Wolf, I'm actually operations manager for a flipping business. But however, my question's not for that, have y'all thought about retrofitting the Blue Ridge Southern Railroad and to like making like a hub from Western North Carolina, especially with Amtrak, eventually down the road connecting to Asheville?

Zeb Smathers [56:07] Again, much like the river, I do not see how the future of Kent is not tied to rail somehow. Now, obviously with Blue Ridge, it's important for us. Right now to figure out, I mean, obviously that's going to be a huge reduction in the rail needed without the meal being there. But if you take it away, that's going to have an effect or even reduce it down on Giles Chemical in Waynesville. We cannot have a domino effect of places that are falling or really start cutting back workforce. So I think there is a relationship. Obviously, a lot of us are very interested in how both can work. I mean, I have I've said for years, um, especially between Asheville and the West.

I mean, you could unite the West by rail from River Arts district to Canton, to Clyde, to Waynesville, uh, to Silva all the way to Bryson. You know, yes, it's there's challenges there. But I mean, I should have said this in my remarks. I've sort of referred this, not as the is the Milltown miracle. I mean, if you talk about the Milltown miracle, Some people said, you know, going forward, that means that you were sort of counted out and it just sort of happened. This is the Milltown moonshot. So when you face challenges and they say, well, we got to do this and got to do that. Why not? I don't think we talk enough about the big idea anymore in this world.

And, okay, there's challenges, but that makes a lot of sense. It makes a lot of sense to a lot of people. And there's a benefit to bunk them. And again, I should have said this part of it. One thing I think we're definitely going to put a huge premium on an expectation. We want young families. We want young families. Yes, there's tourism. Yes, there's service. Yes, there's retirees. If I had to pick one group, It would be young families because they fill your schools, your churches, your fields, your stores, that's what we want. And I got a 3 year old at the house and he's going to miss the choo-choos down there, but hopefully he will see them return at some point. So.

Speaker 5 [58:17] All right, Parker Knutson, Plum Dog Financial, for one, you did a great speech. Thank you so much. What I was concerned about, and it's affected me in several ways, is just mental health and the suicide. And aside from the number to call or the groups to tell you I'm sorry afterwards, how can I help?

Zeb Smathers [58:38] I think find connections. I would dare say most people in here are just a few phone calls or know somebody.

Unknown [58:47] And reach out.

Zeb Smathers [58:49] I mean, time and time again, it's how many times do we hear something bad is happening. It's like, oh, we didn't see that coming. A personal phone call and a text will, I mean, it's just like that letter I got from that man in Florida. This is tough for me. I mean, I've got a job to do, but this is tough for everybody. And so if you come across someone you know or may know, reach out, tell them that, I mean, especially in such a world that just constantly, you know, it's one of the reasons I don't read, I don't read comments, because, I mean, sometimes I need a cigarette in a shower, just, I don't even smoke. But it's, I mean, it's hard out there. It's hard.

I mean, it's mean and I call them keyboard cowboys. It's real easy to sit behind a keyboard. Um, but I mean, there's people reading that. I can't imagine being a teenager these days.

Speaker 5 [59:45] Well, and they're in a can and strong, so I'm sure they're not used to asking for help, maybe.

Zeb Smathers [59:50] No, we've been through a lot, but I have been pleasantly surprised how many people have started to ask and just that job fair. Getting through that stigma. Um, I think generations coming up are more used to asking, which is great. But we got a whole lot of people that just need to say, look, you're not in this loan. And this has been, this is about, as close to PTSD, diagnosed or undiagnosis you're going to get because it happened so quickly, it's closing so soon. This is whiplash. This is whiplash. So, yep. Thank you.

Speaker 2 [1:00:24] All right, so if you're good, we'll do a couple more questions if people, you know, we always try to end on top. What times, what times, cookout?

Zeb Smathers [1:00:32] What types cookout close? So it's, uh, I got salad. Yeah, I'm fine.

Speaker 2 [1:00:36] Yeah, so if you have more questions, go for it. Just wanted to give a pause in case. And if you're connected to cookout, we love a cookout.

Zeb Smathers [1:00:42] The number one request I get is from cookout, so please, please.

Speaker 4 [1:00:48] Well, I'll just do a public service announcement to you guys. I am with Heywood Community College. And if you do want to help out with workforce development to help these employees get another job, um, we are accepting donations as, as Zeb said, um, if you go to Haywood.edu slash foundation, the name of the scholarship is Haywood Strong. Pine Gate Renewable Energy here in Asheville was our first business donation today. So they said they want other businesses, individuals to join, and just be a part, and let's help these employees and our family. I mean, this is our family. And we want to help make sure that these factories and employees can have a job. wherever it is.

So that's my public service, sir. Thank you. Thank you. Can you just give us an idea numbers? How many plant workers are there that are affected? Just give us some numbers, if you could. Well, I mean, I think...

Zeb Smathers [1:01:48] Well, your baseline is 1,100 workers. Okay? 1,100 workers. That means 1,100 families. That is not counting the contractors. That's not counting the truck drivers. That's not counting all the different people that are involved in pulp and chip making. When I received a phone call from Governor Cooper the very next morning. Um, You know, he used the word supply chain, and we've used that word a lot when we couldn't find tomatoes at the grocery store during the pandemic. But I think the governor was absolutely correct. This is a, not a Canton crisis. This is a statewide crisis, if not a regional.

There are so many people from here to Wilmington, South Carolina, Tennessee, the trucking industry, the mechanics, the marketers. I mean, there were contracts, $10000 contracts, people that were betting on chip production gone. And they're much farther away than 20 minutes from Asheville. I make no bones about it. If I would hopefully still be telling some of these stories and have this hope. If I was an hour and a half from Asheville... being 20 minutes from Asheville Helps. Just does. So there are places that are really being affected in very rural areas that it's tough. It really is tough. So there's so many tentacles.

For example, I mean, I was talking to our one of our judges today, so many custody actions and schedules have been based around the meal schedule, the infamous swing shifts. Guess what? We all go back to court now. Stuff like that, you just don't think about how it affects so many things. So, I mean, it's, you can talk about the 1100 and that's a good baseline, but it's so, you know, 10s of 1000s of people that will be felt for decades, somehow, some way.

Speaker 2 [1:03:44] All right, well, are you going to stick around for a little bit? Is that an okay commitment to make for you? All right. Great. Well, thank you guys so much for coming tonight. If you remember, we'll have the recording up on our website in the next few days, in case you're interested. Same thing with all the poll results as well for if you want to refer to that, talking to clients who are talking to other people in your network. So once again, thanks so much for coming out. Big high end of applause, please for Mary Zeb, for joining us tonight.

Unknown [1:04:14] Thank you.