CONTENTS

Welcome Message 6

Board of Directors 8

Indera Mills serves the
Yadkin community 10

Showcase Yadkin Business
Expo benefit students and businesses 12

Grape Festival promotes wine industry, tourism 16

Local events draw wine tasters from all over North Carolina 22

Chamber Happenings! 26

Yadkin County Chamber of Commerce

205 S. Jackson St., Yadkinville, NC 27055

P.O. Box 1840

(336) 679-2200 | www.yadkinchamber.org

This is a Town Square Publications, formerly MetroMedia (since 1997), publication created and produced for the Yadkin County Chamber of Commerce 205 S. Jackson St., Yadkinville, NC 27055
(336) 679-2200 | www.yadkinchamber.org

Copyright © 2023 Town Square Publications

P.O. Box 280, Arlington Heights, IL 60006

(847) 427-4905 | marketing@tspubs.com

www.TownSquarePublications.com

Every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information in this publication. The Chamber and Town Square assume no responsibility for misinformation. Please contact the Chamber with any additions or corrections. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission of the Chamber and Town Square Is prohibited.

Chairman, CEO and Publisher | Douglas K. Ray

President and Chief Operating Officer | Scott Stone

Vice President / Director | Scott Ray

Managing Director | David Small

Director of Production | Ryan Moore

Sales Rep | Chris Smith

Editor | Bob Oswald

Project Manager | Mike Nickells

Welcome MESSAGE

Welcome back to the “Yadkin Courant”!

We were very pleased with our first edition and have had a lot of positive feedback from our community. We are excited about our second edition and we hope we are meeting your needs by keeping you informed on what is going on in Yadkin County. Our county is a fantastic place to live and the “Yadkin Courant” gives us a chance to not only inform you of its benefits, but also brag a little bit!

I want to thank each one of you for caring about Yadkin County and making it such a wonderful place to raise our families as well as to grow our businesses. We want the “Yadkin Courant” to be a reflection of that care, concern and hard work that you have so others can see what a great place this is for their families and businesses.

The “Yadkin Courant” will continue to share articles about businesses in our county and their successes. We hope that you will find the successes of our Yadkin County families exciting and inspiring. This is your publication to promote your businesses and build a strong economy for our county.

A BIG THANK YOU to our member advertisers for without them this publication would not have been made possible.

I am also issuing a standing invitation for all those that are not a member of the Yadkin County Chamber to join us not only making Yadkin County a better place to live, but also connecting personally with our Yadkin County families that share a passion about this place we call home!

Again, thank you for your dedication for Yadkin County. Let us know how we can support you more!

Smith Williams
Chairman
Yadkin County Chamber

The Chamber Champions program allows Yadkin County Chamber members to make their sponsorship commitments for the entire year to better assist with budgeting. As a Chamber Champion, your commitment helps us accomplish the Chamber’s mission by providing the necessary funding to support the numerous programs and events we host throughout the year. Please contact the Chamber to learn more about the Chamber Champions program.

Board of directors

Smith Williams
Unifi, Inc.
Chair

Nolan Brown
NGB Enterprises
Secretary / Treasurer
Chair – Finance

Kevin Austin
Austin Enclosures
Past Chair

Joy Kay
AOA Signs

Addie Wilson
Cooperative Extension – Yadkin
Chair – Public Relations

David Nance
Gentry Family
Funeral Service
Chair – Travel & Tourism

Rusty Crissman
CMS Insurance
Chair – Membership

Anna Howe
Anna Howe Designs

Marty Driver
Attorney Tom Fagerli Office
Chair – Education

Chris Hampton
Hampton Law Office

Michael Pardue
Town of Jonesville
Chair – Economic Development

Ercel Carter
First National Bank

Brett Munn
New Vision Management

Tim Doub
Quality Steel Fabrication

staff

Robert (Bobby) J. Todd

Executive Director

Jamie Johnston

Administrative Assistant

Indera Mills serves the Yadkinville community, with products on a global scale

By Mike Danahey

This past winter, Miami-based Intradeco Holdings acquired Yadkinville-based Indera Mills, one of the largest suppliers of thermal undergarment products in the world.

“The sale to Intradeco is a good fit. They intend to keep the operation intact and in Yadkinville. It was the right thing to do,” said John Willingham, whose family owned the business from its inception and who remains president of Indera Mills.

Indera Mills was founded in 1914 in Winston Salem. It moved to Yadkinville in 1994 and produces the Indera and Coldpruf brands.

Today, Indera Mills employs 75 people locally and another 400 at its operation in Mexico.

It has 5,000 retail customers in the United States and counts Dick’s Sporting Goods and Tractor Supply Co. among its clients.

“It’s a niche business. We thrive on being the best we can be and an industry leader,” Willingham said.

In November 2019, New York Magazine named an Indera Mills expedition weight thermal top as one of its favorites, noting that the raschel knit “is less bulky than the traditional waffle knit, so it would make a great cold-weather undershirt if you want something a little slimmer with a more body-hugging fit.”

What actually distinguishes Indera Mills from its competitors?

“We’re the drugstore of the thermal/base layer industry,” Willingham said. “We make garments for adults and children in sizes from extra small to 8X. You can always find something with us.”

That line includes the old school, classic union suit. The original onesie.

“We still make quite a few. In fact, we’re the largest union suit manufacturer in the world,” Willingham said.

While union suits traditionally have been made from cotton and/or wool, Willingham said the last 20 years or so has seen the rise of synthetic performance fibers including polyesters, spandex, wicking and antimicrobial materials for thermalware. Still, there’s a significant market for natural fibers, particularly among people who work outdoors or industrial jobs and among outdoor sports fans, Willingham said.

While Indera Mills is known for making garments that keep people warm, at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic the business shifted gears for about six months and made masks to help curtail the spread of the virus.

“We had the capability, with our materials, machines and people to make masks fast. Within two to three days of the start of the pandemic edicts that March, we became the very first place in the country making masks,” Willingham said.

For a time, Indera Mills wound up making just masks, operating 24/7 on the project, hiring extra workers, with some employees putting in 100-hour weeks, Willingham said. At its peak, the company made 100,000 masks a week.

Customers included United Airlines and Krispy Kreme, Willingham said. Indera Mills also gave masks at no cost to local schools and nonprofits, including Hands of Hope Medical Clinic.

“It was a great experience. We felt we were doing important work here in Yadkinville and beyond,” Willingham said.

Being part of the community has been an essential part of how Indera Mills operates, Willingham said. Along with being very active in the Yadkin County Chamber of Commerce, the company has been involved with local nonprofits and civic endeavors. Chief among them: contributing to the building of and providing support for the Yadkin Cultural Arts Center and Yadkin Arts Council.

“It’s important to step up and raise your hand in a small town. You have to love and believe to succeed,” Willingham said.

For more information on Indera Mills, visit inderamills.com.

Students and businesses benefit from Showcase Yadkin Business Expo

By Mike Danahey

An expansion of the Showcase Yadkin Business Expo this year to include high school students proved to be popular and beneficial for both the teens and area businesses.

Nearly 150 Yadkin Early College students participated in the annual event, collecting information and visiting with representatives of area businesses and organizations to explore career interests and job prospects.

“This was a great opportunity to match students with fields they’re interested in,” said Danielle Marion, director of marketing for Hugh Chatham Health, and a participant in the Expo. “They were able to learn about businesses in the area, and it gave companies a chance to connect with students who might be future interns or employees.”

The Expo is an annual event of the Yadkin County Chamber of Commerce. It was held late in the year until 2023, when it was moved to March. Jamie Johnston, the Chamber’s administrative assistant, said the one-day event will be held in March again next year.

In past years, the program has focused on giving the public a day to meet with dozens of area businesses to learn about their products and services. This year, Johnston said, the Chamber decided to invite about 150 students to participate for the first two hours of the event. It was so successful that the same format will be used in 2024.

Several participants praised the Chamber for giving members an opportunity to network and learn about each other as well as to present themselves to students and the public at large.

Sandi Scannelli, president and CEO of the Shallow Ford Foundation, said students were able to learn about her organization’s scholarship programs, the field of philanthropy and career opportunities. Many adults who attended also showed an interest in learning of the work of the foundation.

“A lot of the adults who were attending were familiar with maybe one of our programs, but they were surprised and interested to learn what else we do,” Scannelli said. “That made it a very rewarding opportunity. We had a chance to talk to people who support local nonprofits and tell them about various ways of doing that.”

Surry-Yadkin Works, which partners with area school systems to match students as interns with area businesses, gathers information from the teens about their interests and directs them to appropriate companies, according to Marion.

Providing that kind of exposure to students is important to both the teens and Chamber members, Marion said. “The students want to know more about businesses in the area and to start preparing for the future at an early age, which is one of the things our company looks for.”

The Expo also is about exposure of Chamber members to consumers.

“We’re trying to bring about more awareness of our Chamber members,” Johnston said. “We want people to come and check out what kinds of products and services are offered by our Yadkin Chamber members. A lot of these are smaller organizations, smaller businesses, so we’re trying to give them greater exposure to the public.”

Just as important to many Chamber members is their ability to use the event as a place to network, learn about each other’s businesses, and exchange ideas.

“You can go to a Chamber meeting and have a conversation, but there is a lot of residual value when folks are able to display their products and have some tangible items to show,” Scannelli said. “We find that to be very valuable.”

The Expo and other events throughout the year are important parts of the Chamber’s goal of showing consumers the importance of doing business with companies and organizations that operate in Yadkin County.

“When you’re a small community, you want to keep your business and your money within that community,” Marion said. “The more money spent within the community, the more that stays in the community. We want our community to thrive and grow and expand.

“This is how we do that — by connecting with each other and supporting one another through events such as this that the Chamber provides. And besides all of these benefits, it’s nice to work with a group of people who are friendly and work to have a positive impact on the community.”

Grape Festival promotes wine industry, tourism

By Glenn Stephens

Thousands of wine lovers will descend on downtown Yadkinville Oct. 21 to sample products from 14 Yadkin Valley wineries at the 19th annual Yadkin Valley Grape Festival.

The festival, held the third Saturday of October each year, also will feature food trucks, live entertainment and displays of arts and crafts. Admission is free, and wine-tasting tickets are available for $20 in advance and $25 on the day of the event.

Sponsored by the Yadkin County Chamber of Commerce, the event attracts upwards of 5,000 visitors each fall to showcase the quality and variety of wines produced in the area.

It also means a boost for the area’s tourism industry, with many families staying overnight or for several days to visit wineries and take advantage of hiking and other recreational opportunities.

“When the Grape Festival comes, we are completely full of people who come back year after year after year,” said Debbie Cooper, co-owner of the Holly Ridge Campground, about eight miles from Yadkinville. “We have guests from Raleigh, Charlotte and other places around North Carolina during the festival, but we also have campers from as far away as New Jersey. We get a lot of folks from all over.”

The Yadkin County Chamber of Commerce provides free transportation to and from the festival for visitors staying at venues such as the campground, area hotels and bed-and-breakfasts.

Justin Wilmoth of Brandon Hills Vineyard sees the event as more than an opportunity to promote the company, which offers an array of wines ranging from dry to sweet.

“There are people who come to the festival who may have never heard of Brandon Hills or any of the other vineyards in the area,” he said. “It’s good exposure for us, but it’s also a chance to spread the word about the kinds and quality of wines produced in the Yadkin Valley.”

Sid Proctor of the Weathervane Winery views the festival as a learning opportunity for area residents as well as visitors from across North Carolina and other states.

“We invite people to come to the vineyard and see the production of wine as a complete package and to get an idea of the variety of wines available,” Proctor said. “We’ll have people come to the winery six months after the festival and say, ‘We just had to come back and see all you guys have to offer.’”

Like much of North Carolina, Yadkin County was a big producer of tobacco for many years. The decline of the tobacco industry saw farmers searching for ways to replace it.

The valley’s climate, soil and other factors turned out to be ideal for grape production, said Bobby Todd, executive director of the Yadkin County Chamber of Commerce. “We’ve got several hundred acres that used to be in tobacco but are in grapes for our wineries.”

The growth of the industry in the Yadkin Valley is part of an expansion of wine production statewide, Todd said. Wineries in the eastern part of the state traditionally were known for wines made from muscadine and scuppernong grapes.

“Those are sweet wines,” Todd said, “and that’s not what most wine drinkers want today. Our producers are exploring more and more, and we have wineries that are competing in national and international competitions, and doing quite well.”

Wilmoth said Brandon Hills Vineyards produces several types of grapes and offers some sweet wines but also is known for a number of dry red and white wines.

“We offer an array of choices so that no matter what wine you prefer, you can come here and find something to enjoy,” he said.

At the Weathervane Winery, Proctor said both his dry and sweet wines have won several awards.

“Our wines are not as sweet as some of the others, and they have a very clean, crisp taste,” he said.

Todd foresees an expansion of production, quality and variety of wine production.

“I think we’ll continue to see the growth of the industry. Wine grapes will produce for 80 to 100 years. And the longer those vines are in the ground, the better the grapes that they produce will be, until the end of their life cycle.”

Local events draw wine tasters from all over North Carolina

By Glenn Stephens

Four seasonal events that feature a variety of locally produced wines, each paired with a sample of a complementary food, are proving a boost to the Yadkin Valley’s growing reputation as a wine appellation.

The events, sponsored by the Yadkin County Tourism Development Authority, bring hundreds of people to the area each year to taste the wide variety of wines produced by the area’s 12 wineries. They are the Winter Reds and Summer Whites events, Yuletide Sippin’ Tour and Dessert Tour.

The Summer Whites Event is held over one or two weekends every August. Each participating winery in this year’s event served ticket holders a 2-ounce pour of a white wine and a 3-ounce serving of a selected food item. Each person also got a souvenir glass. Ticket holders were able to visit each of five wineries one weekend and four wineries the other weekend.

This year’s 14th annual Winter Reds Event was held on a weekend in February, following the same format as the Summer Whites. The sold-out occasion featured seven wineries that offered wine, food and souvenir glasses.

The Yadkin Yuletide Sippin’ Tour starts on Nov. 1 and runs through the end of December. Each winery offers visitors a sampling of several wines, along with a holiday ornament. Ticket holders can visit each of the 10 participating wineries at any time during the two-month period.

The Dessert Tour will return in 2024 after a one-year hiatus. It will be in April, with each of the several wineries participating offering a selected wine, paired with a dessert.

Brenda Doub, chair of the Yadkin County Tourism Development Authority, said the Sippin’ Tour has become perhaps the most popular of the annual events.

“Participants are not tied down to one or two weekends,” she said. “They have two whole months to use their tickets, and people love to get ornaments from each of the wineries.”

Doub said the Tourism Authority coordinates the wine and food offerings, having each participating winery to submit in advance the type of wine and food it will feature.

“We want to be sure they are not all offering the same wine and the same food,” she said. “We want people to experience a variety of types of wines.”

The activities cover part or all of four months each year and are a boost to hotels, restaurants and other businesses in Yadkin County. The Summer White and Winter Red events cover two weekends each, while the Sippin’ Tour extends for two months and the Dessert Tour is held on a single weekend.

“We see a spike in our occupancy tax around those times, so that means people are staying,” Doub said. Most of them spend a weekend in Yadkin County, and others stay longer.

She said many wine-lovers come from the Raleigh area, along with a growing number from Charlotte and other parts of North Carolina.

Jamey Johnson of Shadow Springs Vineyard and Windsor Run Cellars, both in nearby Hamptonville, said the events expose visitors to the growing variety of wines produced in Yadkin County.

“It drives more traffic to the area and exposes the wines to people who aren’t already customers,” Johnson said. “We get a lot of repeat customers, but we always get new people for these events. The Chamber and tourism folks do a great job of promoting our industry and our area.”

Each of the wine events brings an influx of guests to the Holly Ridge Campground, according to co-owner Debbie Cooper.

“We have some campers who come back for these functions every year,” Cooper said. “We have a bus, and I sometimes take 30 people to the Winter Reds and Summer Whites events.”

At Brandon Hills Vineyards, Justin Wilmoth said events throughout the year, including the seasonal ones sponsored by the Yadkin County Tourism Development Authority and the Grape Festival presented by the Chamber of Commerce, all boost the wine industry.

“You get people from all over who are coming to the area,” Wilmoth said. “That’s tourism, and it means that people are coming here and spending money for wine, food, hotels, entertainment and recreation. It is a boost for our economy.”

Doub said the promotional activities began with the Winter Reds Event and grew over the past several years.

“I’ve participated in the Winter Reds several times, and it is a lot of fun,” she said. “You get to see several wineries and you get to try whatever food they come up with for the event.”

For the Grape Festival, a one-day event presented on the third Saturday of October, wineries set up booths in downtown Yadkinville to offer samples of different types of wine. The festival also features food trucks and live entertainment.

Chamber Happenings!

October

21st  Yadkin Valley Grape Festival – 11:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. – Downtown Yadkinville

24th  Chamber Investors Luncheon – Noon - Yadkin County Agricultural & Educational Building

November

28th  Chamber Investors Luncheon – Noon - Yadkin County Agricultural & Educational Building

January

23rd  Chamber Annual Meeting – 6:00 p.m. - Yadkin County Agricultural & Educational Building

February

27th  Chamber Investors Luncheon – Noon - Yadkin County Agricultural & Educational Building

March

26th  Chamber Investors Luncheon – Noon - Yadkin County Agricultural & Educational Building

Surry Community College Small Business Center offers monthly business seminars for free, visit their website for a list of upcoming seminars www.surry.edu/sbc

Community Happenings!

October

19th – 21st  Yadkin Cultural Arts Center presents “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” Production, Willingham Theater – 7:30 p.m.

21st  Trail & Treats, Jonesville Greenway – 5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.

22nd  Yadkin Cultural Arts Center presents “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” Production, Willingham Theater – 3:00 p.m.

27th  Cinema Spectacular, free showing of “The Nightmare Before Christmas”, Willingham Theater – 7:30 p.m.

31st  Halloween Downtown Event, Yadkinville - 3:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.

31st  Boonville Boo Bash Event, Downtown Boonville – 4:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.

November

4th  Yadkin Cultural Arts Center presents “Della Mae” musical group in concert, Willingham Theater – 7:30 p.m.

24th  Christmas In Jonesville at Jonesville Town Hall – 5:00 p.m.

25th  East Bend Small Town Christmas at East Bend Fire Department – 5:30 p.m.

December

1st  Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony at Yadkinville Community Park – 6:00 p.m.

1st  Christmas Tree & Nativity Scene Lighting Ceremony in Downtown Boonville – 6:30 p.m.

2nd  Yadkin Rotary Club Pancake Breakfast at Yadkinville United Methodist Church – 7:00 a.m. – 9:30 a.m.

2nd  Yadkinville Christmas Parade on Main Street – 10:00 a.m.

2nd  Boonville Twilight Christmas Parade on Main Street, 5:00 p.m.

7th – 9th  Boonville Twilight Christmas Parade on Main Street, 5:00 p.m.

10th  Yadkin Valley Christmas Parade – 3:00 p.m., Parade in Downtown Elkin / Jonesville

10th  Yadkin Cultural Arts Center presents “The Christmas Story” Production, Willingham Theater – 3:00 p.m.

16th  Yadkin Cultural Arts Center presents “Holiday Jazz with Martha Bassett” concert, Willingham Theater – 7:30 p.m.

23rd  Cinema Spectacular, free showing of “The Grinch”, Willingham Theater – 2:00 p.m.

January

5th  Welborn Gallery Opening Reception – Cultural Arts Center – 5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.

13th  Sounds of the Mountains Series in partnership with the Blue Ridge Music Center at the Willingham Theater – 7:30 p.m.

20th  Sounds of the Mountains Series in partnership with the Blue Ridge Music Center at the Willingham Theater – 7:30 p.m.

27th  Sounds of the Mountains Series in partnership with the Blue Ridge Music Center at the Willingham Theater – 7:30 p.m.

February

10th  Yadkin Arts Council Gala Celebration with the Carolina Soul Band at Tractor Brown's Museum – 5:30 p.m.

24th  Cinema Spectacular, free showing of “42: The Jackie Robinson Story”, Willingham Theater – 7:30 p.m.

29th  Welborn Gallery Opening Reception – Cultural Arts Center – 5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.

March

1st  James and the Giant Peach musical production, Willingham Theater – 7:30 p.m.

9th  Men In Black, tribute band featuring hits from the 60's and 70's, Willingham Theater – 7:30 p.m.

16th  The Enrichment Center's Emerald City Festival, Yadkin Cultural Arts Center Plaza – 1:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.

23rd  Jonesville Hippity Hop at Lila Swaim Park –
2:00 p.m.