Residents in Henderson County, and even western North Carolina, are cheering the recent announcement that Chico, California-based Sierra Nevada, a large brewer, has chosen to locate its new brewery on the east coast in the Ferncliff Industrial Park in Mills River.

The decision to locate in Henderson County was not accidental. Rather, Sierra Nevada was recruited by Henderson County's economic development team over a six-month period.

What follows is only an overview of what happened in terms of legislation to help bring Sierra Nevada to Henderson County. Much credit should go to the Partnership for Economic Development (PED), particularly its executive, Andrew Tate, for the success in recruiting Sierra Nevada. He quarterbacked the county's successful effort...

In late August, I got a call from Andrew Tate....

I had no idea who we were visiting when I got on the plane. I'd been told that we were visiting a brewer who was looking for an east coast location. I was told the brewer was based in Chico, California, but I hadn't taken the time to try to figure out what company was involved. I only knew we were working on a project, code named "Big Forest," and that we were flying to California. ...