The Southern Economic Development Council gave an award of Excellence to Burke Development, Inc for the organization's Welcome to Burke County video. Awards were announced and displayed last week at the SEDC Annual Conference in Kansas City. The video, completed by BCI in 2015, highlights the local business climate and explains why Burke County is a great place to do business. Several growing manufacturers are featured in the video including Catawba Valley Brewery, Valdese Weavers, Geiger Furniture, and Toner Machining Technologies. Other community organizations, such as Carolinas HealthCare System Blue Ridge, Burke County Public Schools and Western Piedmont Community College are also highlighted in the video, which is featured on the BDI website.

Foothills Conservancy of North Carolina, based in Morganton, completed transfer July 20th, of the Buck Creek Gap tract in McDowell County to the U.S.Forest Service. The Forest Service received $330,000 in Recreational Priority Access funds from the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund program in order to purchase the key inholding property from the conservancy. The 73-acre tract is located along N.C.Highway 80 near its junction with the Blue Ridge Parkway. Its protection buffers parkway views, including outstanding vistas from Forest Service lands the nearby Mountains-to-Sea Trail, according to a news release from Foothills Conservancy. Acquiring the tract helps the Forest Service better manage Pisgah National Forest and protects the headwaters of Buck Creek, which is a significant creek flowing into the Catawba River near Marion.

Lenoir-Rhyne has named a new Director of Alumni Engagement. Cheryl Abee began her new duties Monday. Abee has spent over 20 years employed with the Catawba County United Way in a variety of capacities. Most recently she served as Volunteer Center Director and was responsible for recruiting and coordinating local volunteers to work directly with Catawba County United Way and non-profits across the county.