As the 'old saw' goes, "it doesn't take a rocket-scientist' to determine that the growth of Henderson County continues at a rapid pace....both in population and in economics.
All one has to do is to look around the county in terms of new construction in the way of apartment buildings and new business openings. There are many of both.
One of the new big industries in the county is the craft beer and wine distillers. One of the latest to open is Point Lookout Winery in Edneyville, owned and operated by Michael Jackson on property maintained in the family for generations. Sierra Nevada opened their massive east-coast brewery in the Mills River area several years ago, which also includes a 400-seat restaurant. This faciltiy has added 'handsome returns' to Henderson County in the way of tax revenue.
In spite of this continued economic growth with more employment opportunities in all sectors, Henderson County wage and income growth lags both the nation and the state.
Statistics show Henderson County averages around 1,500 new residents every year which has pushed Henderson County's total population to some 116,000 persons. Henderson County has long been known as the 'land of the retired' and continues to gain in that category with more and more assisted living facilities being opened in the area. However, the largest demographic is people between 40 and 44 years of age.
Henderson County has long been known as a 'varied economy' with a distribution between agriculture; industry; tourism and retirement. In other words, the county continues to thrive due to this great diversity. Henderson County continues to lead the state in the production of apples and is the seventh-largest apple producing county in the nation.
Henderson (county seat of Hendersonville) is the second-largest county in the 17-county western North Carolina area, trailing only Buncombe, county-seat to Asheville. This WNC area is represented in congress by Mark Meadows.
