John N Gardner Institute, 11 Park Pl W, Brevard, NC 28712, US

WNC Communities is the result of the merger of the two oldest community development organizations in Western North Carolina. For almost 60 years, two community development groups (Western North Carolina Associated Communities and Western North Carolina Development Association) successfully worked to benefit communities across the mountains through parallel efforts. The consolidated organization works to more efficiently serve the needs of communities across the region. The merged entity is now named WNC Communities. The staff and board members of the two previous organizations have been combined. Supporting community development and agriculture initiatives across Western North Carolina are primary goals of WNC Communities. WNC Communities is dedicated to providing a unique forum for leaders in the mountain region of North Carolina to convene, collaborate and carry out innovative programs to improve the quality of life for rural communities and enhance the economy of the agriculture sector. WNC Communities created Regional, Agricultural and Community Assemblies that provide organizations and communities with a means of identifying common issues, exchanging best practices and collaborating to resolve shared difficulties. This process offers the best hope for building consensus by connecting community representatives with regional and state officials and elected representatives who are eager to understand and address community issues. The Regional Agriculture Assembly was formed in March 2005 and consists of current members of the Beef Cattle, Dairy, and Horticulture Commissions. Recognize and Reward Communities The WNC Honors Program celebrated its 59th year in 2008 of recognizing, honoring and rewarding communities across Western North Carolina. The WNC Honors Awards Program serves in a research and demonstration capacity in that it allows WNC Communities to review community best practices, i.e. community programs, initiatives, etc. The process for registration and application into the WNC Honors Awards Program involves a self-examination of communities by their respective leaders. This self-examination, following the guidelines of numerous application questions devised by the Honors Committee, is then submitted in writing with supporting materials to WNC Communities. Through this process, WNC Communities will be able to examine "best practice" communities. In 2008 sixty-two communities received over $34, 000 in cash awards from private donations. Sustainable Economic Development WNC Communities supports economic development by continuing a tradition of collaborating with a wide variety of organizations and agencies including the leaders of the agriculture community, to bring regional and state strategies to the community level. WNC Communities works with a wide variety of regional partners to design and implement community-based strategies around sustainable economic development options for communities and agriculture. Community efforts center on projects to develop sustainable economic options around tourism, agricultural products, crafts, media arts, retirement and technology.

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