Robbinsville – Playmakers from across the westernmost region of North Carolina braved a wintry mix to converge inside the Graham County Community Building on March 12, for an event branded as the "Graham County Business Roundtable."
Hosted by Josh Carpenter, Eli Hashemi and Linda Lamp with the Southwestern Commission's MountainWest Partnership, the 2 ½-hour gathering was attended by roughly 40 individuals from a wide array of agencies – both local and regional. The session included plenty of time for networking and fellowship before and after MountainWest's key presentation, which had a breakdown from the results of a survey conducted last fall. The sample group was attendees who expressed interest in the roundtable concept during its planning stages.
Carpenter, Hashemi and Lamp also moved around the room frequently during the presentation, to hand off microphones and give those on-hand an opportunity to discuss either their business or ideas. The interactive environment – coupled with a trivia game that had even the most savvy Graham County historians tripped up at certain points – helped keep the crowd engaged.
Largely sourced from ESRI (Environmental Systems Research Institute), notable statistics revealed during the main presentation included:
* Graham County has 293 total businesses, with a total of 2,011 employees. Of those businesses, 235 had less than 10 employees;
* Retail, accommodations and food service make up the largest employment sector of the county, with 539. Healthcare, social assistance and government was second, with 453; construction was third, with 421;
* There are 45 retail, accommodation and food service businesses in the county, with the industry providing an average, weekly wage of $543.50. Healthcare, social assistance and government offers an average, weekly wage of $815; while construction employees earn a weekly average of $1,272.
* Graham County outranked all seven of the western counties in average annual private-sector wage, despite having the second-smallest land area (301 square miles) and the lowest population (8,245 – a 2024 estimate). The county's average, annual private-sector wage is $49,651, ahead of second-place Haywood County ($47,053); Clay County ($47,047); Macon County ($47,004); Jackson County ($46,208); Cherokee County ($45,442); and Swain County ($36,667). Graham County's high ranking was attributed to the high amount of construction jobs (20% of the overall amount) and the overall workforce – which is low, but actually provides higher-paying jobs as a result.
* Tourists spent $51.47 million locally in 2024, according to The Economic Impact of Travel on North Carolina Counties. The same report added that tourism generated $2.51 million in local tax revenue, which saved Graham County residents $506 each in taxes.