Chamber President and CEO Charles Hardin Talks Helene Recovery and Upcoming Retirement STORY BY KATHERINE KIM
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Charles Hardin after he received a Spirit of Boone award at the Boone Area Chamber of Commerce annual awards banquet. Photo submitted.
Charles Hardin presenting a check to help the Middle Fork Greenway project. Photo submitted. 58
HIGH COUNTRY MAGAZINE
December 2024
lowing Rock Chamber President and CEO Charles Hardin never imagined his last few months with the Chamber would be heavy with the weight of Hurricane Helene’s devastation. He had planned to retire from his 20-plus-year career with the Chamber on a high note, but nature had other plans. While Blowing Rock and much of Boone were spared from Helene’s wrath, the devastation felt in neighboring western counties weighs on Charles’s mind. The Chamber has worked to oversee, organize, and support efforts in Avery County and parts of Mitchell County. This includes supporting donation sites and sponsoring groups that operate donation efforts, including Samaritan’s Purse, which is headquartered in Blowing Rock. “We’ve been working with our local officials, emergency management, and with news outlets to manage any relief efforts we can,” Charles said. “We volunteer, we help load and unload trucks, and we do whatever we can to help.” The Chamber assisted in coordinating delivery efforts with World Central Kitchen (WCK), a disaster response organization that brings food to those in need after natural disasters. During the first few weeks after Helene hit, WCK used a local soccer field as a helicopter staging site for incoming food deliveries. For Charles, retirement left his mind completely in the weeks after Helene. Emergency meetings and calls with other Chambers, state departments, and even the Governor filled each day, and he wanted to be a part of the recovery efforts and support the community as long as he needed to. In his role, responding to a disaster like this is very different than responding to something like the pandemic. He says this disaster was ten times worse than COVID, mainly due to its timing. When the pandemic hit in mid-March of 2020, businesses were impacted, but because much of the economy is seasonal and relies on visitors in the fall, businesses had time to change their operational plans. Masks could be worn, and people could visit by the time fall rolled around. Helene, however, hit the state right at the start of October, coinciding with the true kickoff of Boone’s seasonal economy. “October is the biggest month up here, in terms of tourism, which is much of our economy,” Charles said. “These businesses rely on visitors and have to plan financially to get through to the following spring. We have six months of prosperous times, and then six months of slow business. If you don’t store all your nuts in October, it will be tough to get through to spring.”