At the Asheville Chamber, we believe that together, we are MORE. Our combined efforts are more impactful in moving our community forward than any one business, special interest or industry. As the local champion for a balanced, thriving economy, we are honored to recognize the successes of 20 businesses right here in our community who employ nearly 2000 people. These winners are growing young businesses, reaching beyond past successes, and taking their businesses to the next level.
In 2018, Mosaix Group, a destination management and event planning business, hired two new full-time staff, and brought in more contract staff than in any previous year. Because of the significant revenue increase the company saw in 2017, 2018 was a year for investment in a new office space and marketing initiatives, which led to a significant jump in the level of long-term partnerships with high-profile clients and events, such as the 2018 World Equestrian Games in Tryon and the official pre-game for the Dr. Pepper ACC Championship in Charlotte.
Hi-Wire Brewing is a growing staple of the Asheville homegrown-business community. The brewery has been growth-oriented, while remaining true to its spirit and its core values, since its inception in 2013. Since winning a Sky High award in 2015, Hi-Wire has continued to grow, despite significant a slowdown in its industry. Hi-Wire’s growth is attributed to the brewery’s quality, consistency, brand loyalty, and perhaps most importantly, its evolving and adapting products and business plan. The brewery increased its workforce by 55% in 2018 and predicts a 37.6% revenue increase in the current fiscal year.
The Market Place Restaurant is Asheville’s oldest farm to table restaurant, and considered one of the founding farm to table restaurants in the United States. In 2019, the restaurant celebrates its 40th anniversary with Chef William Dissen at the helm. During 2018, the company expanded its Farm to Table brand to both the Charlotte and Asheboro markets, and continues to utilize locally grown North Carolina ingredients–many of them being produced in the Asheville area. The Market Place’s success has allowed for an organic growth in employment and the opportunity to pay employees beyond the living wage.
Mind Your Business is a leading provider of pre-employment, drug and background screening. Its number one priority is to provide clients with the best service experience and uncompromised accuracy results.Over the years, founder and CEO Karen Caruso’s vision to seek government solicitations has successfully paid off with the company being awarded many large government contracts. The company has also earned the rank of one of the fastest growing private companies in America making the 2018 Inc. 5000 list, increasing its annual revenue by 31%.
The Spherion corporation was founded in 1946 and opened its Asheville branch in September of 2016 with the goal of becoming the best staffing provider in WNC to its applicants, employees and clients. Since then, Spherion has used its excellent customer service and strategic networking to more than double its workforce for three years in a row. In 2018 alone, the company increased its annual revenue by 240%.
Asheville Arborists is a team of ISA Certified Arborists and Tree Workers that have served Western North Carolina since 2010. The team’s passion for trees is evident in their well-researched and expertly managed approach to tree care, pruning, and removal. In the last three years, Asheville Arborists has steadily increased its workforce and annual revenue–this year projecting a 20% rate of growth in both categories.
This real estate company, founded in 2011 with three employees, has flourished into a talented team of 17 that has seen significant increases in revenue over the years, along with earning the ranking of Top 10 Real Estate Team in the Carolinas for three years in a row. Operating mainly by word-of-mouth, The Matt & Molly Team have spearheaded their company’s growth by getting deeply involved with the community as volunteers with Leadership Asheville and Big Brothers Big Sisters. In the future, the team is excited to expand this model across several Carolina communities.
For Vannoy Construction, a commercial builder for Healthcare, Retail, Education, Industrial and Civil/Highway Markets, relationships have long been central to the company’s growth in the Asheville area. In fact, close connections with the community is exactly why Vannoy decided to build an office here in 2014, and why it’s seen continued growth with its revenue and employment levels ever since.
Asheville Sun Soo Martial Arts is the leader in the martial arts profession in WNC, and has been voted #1 in WNC by Mountain Xpress in categories such as “Best Martial Arts Program for Kids” and “Best Martial Arts Studio for Adults” for eleven years in a row. Sun Soo attributes its continued growth to its strong leadership and vision from founding owner, 8th Degree Black Belt and Senior Master Instructor Tony Morris, and the consistent qualities that characterize the Asheville Sun Soo team: hard work, exceptional professional and technical standards and a commitment to excellence in everything that they do.
There’s a reason that Asheville’s Fun Depot has been rated the number one place in WNC to host your kid’s birthday party. With over 65,000 square feet available for shenanigans, Fun Depot has become an ideal place for all ages to have creative and innovative adventures. Since starting in 2003, Fun Depot has proved its commitment to making life a little more amusing time and time again– besides one year during the global recession, the company has continuously increased its employment growth and sales numbers year over year.
The YMCA of Western North Carolina has long been dedicated to its mission of healthy living, youth development, and social responsibility. In 2018 alone, the YMCA has, among other things, opened a new facility in Black Mountain, facilitated key partnerships with UNCA and the City of Hendersonville, become the first YMCA in North Carolina to become a Medicare provider, and has served more than 100,000 people while providing more than $4 million in charitable investment, including financial assistance for afterschool child care, Y membership, and chronic care management programs; camp scholarships; educational enrichment; and healthy food distributions.
The Center for Craft is a leading cultural asset that honors the legacy of craft in the region while building a bright future for craft across the country. Over the years, the Center has developed into a vital community resource, last year launching a market study with our Chamber and Artspace that engaged 5,000 creative individuals locally. In Fall of 2019, the Center is excited to expand its downtown Asheville location by 7,000 square feet that will accommodate increased gallery space, additional classrooms and office space, as well as one of a kind maker installations.
After years of listening to patient needs, pharmacists Todd Tamplin and Dean Clayton put together a team of experts to build a new model – and Sona Pharmacy + Clinic was born — a locally-owned community pharmacy and clinic where you can find doctors, nurses, and pharmacists working together on your behalf. Keeping the patient at the center of every business decision has allowed the company to build a new and innovative pharmacy model that the Asheville community continues to embrace.
With a growth mindset, Dr. Luke Roberts of Blue Ridge Orthodontics has driven his team towards the goal of being the premium standard for orthodontic care in Western North Carolina. So far his approach has worked. In the last three years, Blue Ridge’s state of the art care, company culture, and charitable outreach has catalyzed the business to open three new locations in Asheville, Hendersonville, and Brevard, and more than double its workforce and revenue as a result.
This wellness company has been a 20 year fixture in Asheville, and in that time has historically enjoyed moderate to low growth… that is, until 2017, when new woman-owned leadership began to focus more on quality services that embed value and operational excellence, as well as adding new jobs integral to physical, social, and emotional well being. Now, the Center is seeing revenue growth and employment increases like never before, and its future has never looked healthier.
Since 2012, Physio Physical Therapy and Wellness has made its utmost mission to help as many people as possible become their best, most active selves. Over the years, this company has grown and continued a healthy increase in revenue year over year. The biggest growth in 2018 for this company has been moving into a new and larger space after maxing out its original location, along with adjusting its core treatment approach to better serve clients.
Zoe Dental believes that unless you try to do something you haven’t already mastered, growth will never come. Thanks to the company’s intelligent, confident and devoted team that strives for a new level of greatness each day, along with the continuing education/training the company provides, Zoe Dental’s growth has increased by 65%.
Avadim Health reaches for new ways to improve health and enhance quality of life. The word avadim means “to serve.” That sense of service extends to their shareholders, hospitals, patients, employees and community. Avadim’s innovative products and therapies are making a difference in a wide range of areas—from infection and wound care to muscle cramps and more. They have received the Sky High Growth Award for the past five years and are well on their way to being one of our area’s largest employers. In fact, Avadim was ranked by INC 5000 as the second fastest growing company in North Carolina.
SimplyHome is an eight-time Sky High Growth Award winner. SimplyHome’s founders, Drue and Allen Ray, began providing support for individuals with disabilities and senior adults in 1989. Through long-term relationships with providers and advocates at the forefront of disability rights as well as ongoing innovation, SimplyHome has become a national leader in the enabling technology industry. SimplyHome deliberately takes a person-centered to create the best opportunity for success. And they say, the most important outcome of their work is not selling technology, but rather each person’s increased opportunity for independence, dignity, and a self-determined life.