20191577 Ver 1_Public Comments_20200420 (4)

Strickland, Bev
From: Matthew Burril <[e-mail]>
Sent: Monday, April 20, 2020 4:54 PM
To: SVC_DENR.publiccomments
Subject: [External] Biltmore Farms, LLC
External email. Do not click links or open attachments unless you verify. Send all suspicious email as an attachment to
[e-mail]
From: Matthew Burril
Sent: Friday, April 17, 2020 12:43 PM
To: [e-mail]
Subject: Biltmore Farms, LLC
Secretary Michael Regan:
My name is Matthew Burril.
I am a lifelong resident of Buncombe County, serve on the Economic Development Coalition for Asheville and Buncombe
County, and am the current Chairman of the Greater Asheville Regional Airport Authority. It is with great interest that I
write to you in the Public Comment period regarding the potential development in Buncombe County known as "Project
Ranger".
Yes, I am impressed that our county would be considered as a location for a project such as this one. Asheville and
Buncombe have been overweight with tourism and small transactional commerce for decades. During the past 15 years,
our local business leaders have made an intentional effort to broaden our base of available career options, using
organized professionals like our EDC staff to solicit well thought out projects to locate in our area.
Their success has been stellar.
Because of the effort supported by our local governments and business leaders, Buncombe County has placed well over
$1 Billion in new wage growth and raised our manufacturing profile which has brought a 30% wage improvement from
our traditional tourism and service -based employment base. My volunteer role on the boards I mentioned above is to
continue this trajectory so that our region will have a more diverse and less vulnerable work force in times such as
today.
Asheville lost over 13,000jobs in one week due to the mandatory shut down of hotels, restaurants and bars in March. It
is times like these that make economic development a top shelf priority for Asheville and Buncombe County.
Project Ranger has three critical elements that I view as favorable and worthy of your consideration:
1. A healthy developer. Biltmore Farms is one of the nation's most respected socially conscious developers with a
track record of excellent relations with city and county government. The Cecil family has a multi -generational
commitment to Western North Carolina unmatched by any economic developer in our history. Their willingness
to put their own capital into this project speaks specifically to their long term commitment to this region'
economic viability well beyond any short term monetary gain.

2. A capstone project. An opportunity to place a project in the center of our transportation corridor would be a
vibrant opening to what will be multiple coordinating projects in a controlled, well planned and coordinated
environment. Having DEQ involved along with our local governments and local business partners will give this
project visibility to other areas of the state while setting standards for excellence in economic development. This
project will allow the cross pollination of several interested parties having a voice in its success.
3. Wage growth and stability of workforce. As I mentioned earlier, our county has made great strides over the
past 15 years attracting GE, Borg Warner, New Belgium, Sierra Nevada and Hospital Corp of America. These
large employers are raising our county's average pay, providing health benefits, educational training and
creating opportunities for smaller ancillary business to come here and partner with them. This project will be a
considerable asset in broadening our work force while remaining environmentally conscious and protecting our
natural beauty that we are attracted to as residents. Having high wage, highly educated employees who want to
live in an environmentally conscious area seems a huge positive for WNC when considering this economic
development project.
Thank you for taking the time to read my note supporting this project.
Respectfully,
Matthew C. Burril
a,� ak, -4
MATTHEW BURRIL
WWW.BRICKSTREETEQUITy.com fbrickstreeteguity.coml
TWO TOWN SQUARE BLVD., SUITE 200 ASHEVILLE, NC 28803
828-232-2223
BRICKSTREET
kltrlI * %A`,A`,�I M i N I.