Asheville Innovation Districts the topic of Leadership Asheville breakfast

Asheville Mayor Esther Manheimer will participate in a panel discussion on the City’s Innovation Districts at 8 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 18, as part of Leadership Asheville’s latest Buzz breakfast.

The event at Renaissance Asheville Hotel, downtown, will be moderated by Steph Monson Dahl, the City’s Riverfront Redevelopment Office Director. Other panelists will include New Belgium Brewing’s Asheville General Manager Jay Richardson, Patrick O’Cain, chef/owner of Gan Shan Station, and Chris White, founder, president & CEO of White Labs Inc.

In 2014, City Council approved the designation of three new Municipal Service/Innovation Districts. This brings the number of designated districts to four, including the Central Business District which was adopted in 2012. Significant planning, engineering and design work has already been done for projects in the River Arts District (RAD) and a team is being organized to guide progress on work in this Innovation District. Preliminary design of projects in the South Slope Innovation District is anticipated in 2015.

For more information about the panel discussion, visit leadershipasheville.org.