Johanna Fein
On October 21, National Support Your Local Chamber of Commerce Day offers a chance to recognize work that’s easy to overlook: the steady, behind-the-scenes effort helping Highlands and Cashiers flourish.
In Highlands and Cashiers, chambers are more than offices with maps and visitor guides. They are front doors, advocates, conveners, storytellers, and neighbors, helping businesses connect, welcoming guests, and strengthening the fabric that makes the area feel like home.
Founded in 1931, Highlands Chamber of Commerce/Visit Highlands, NC serves as both a chamber and destination marketing organization, supporting businesses, promoting responsible tourism, and hosting programs and celebrations that enrich life for residents and visitors.
“A chamber is much more than a membership organization,” says Johanna Fein, executive director of Highlands Chamber of Commerce/Visit Highlands, NC. “We are a connector, advocate, and resource for our business community, working every day to strengthen the local economy and quality of life. When local businesses thrive, our entire community benefits.”
That work is practical and personal. A visitor seeking a trail recommendation may discover a new favorite restaurant. A business owner at a chamber gathering may leave with a collaborator, mentor, or fresh idea. A calendar listing may become a treasured tradition.
The Cashiers Area Chamber of Commerce plays a similar role for Cashiers, Glenville, Lake Toxaway, Sapphire, and surrounding communities. Founded in 1982, it promotes the area, supports year-round vitality, and encourages thoughtful growth that protects this mountain place. At its heart is a simple belief: choosing local businesses keeps the community strong by supporting the people who live, work, and invest here.
Heather Dalton and Susan Sapienza
For executive director Susan Sapienza, the work begins at the Crossroads, where commerce and community meet.
“You can learn a lot about Cashiers on a summer morning,” she says. “Contractors are heading up the mountain, shopkeepers are opening their doors, families are studying maps, and someone is asking where to begin a walk, a meal, or a new connection.”
Sapienza sees the chamber as connecting business, community, and opportunity through its visitor center, member programs, leadership initiatives, and events.
“Visitors do not experience organizational boundaries,” Sapienza says. “They experience a place: its restaurants, shops, trails, accommodations, events, and people. Our job is to help those pieces work together in a way that supports both the visitor economy and the community’s quality of life.”
Supporting a chamber can be as simple as shopping locally, attending an event, joining, volunteering, sharing a recommendation, or sending a guest to a visitor center. Across the region, every local purchase helps sustain the shops, restaurants, services, and entrepreneurs who give Highlands and Cashiers their distinctive character. Small gestures ripple outward.
This October 21, the day is less about ceremony than recognition. Behind festivals, business introductions, visitor welcomes, and Main Street success stories, there is often a chamber doing the patient work of connection. In Highlands and Cashiers, those connections keep the towns open for business and rooted in community.
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