Andrews – When Nola Cooper and her husband, Jeff, landed in the Andrews Valley after completing their home in 2017, she knew she wanted to give back to the community and become more involved.
However, after a recent joint decision with her husband to retire, Nola is stepping down from her role as executive director of the Andrews Chamber of Commerce to focus on “gardening and grandbabies, but not necessarily in that order.”
“Jeff worked with Creative Woodworks in Brasstown, and then part time with Andrews Valley Rail Tours, but when he decided to retire and mentioned that it was also time for me to perhaps think about it, I began giving it serious consideration,” Nola said. “While I love my work, I’m also ready for a break of sorts, to relax a bit.”
Having visited and vacationed in the area for years with family, it was a natural progression for Nola to join the Andrews Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors after moving here permanently.
Cooper had run a successful stationery shop in her native Mooresville. As a small graphic design business owner of NCDesigns, she knew she had a skill-set to offer the local business community.
“I had operated my store and graphic design business since 1995, and when both of our kids finally left the nest, Jeff and I realized we didn’t have to stay in a big city,” Nola said. “Since we both worked from home and loved this area, we decided to find some property and build a home.”
That opportunity led her to get involved in chamber activities in 2018. When former executive director Jan Olson of FernCrest Winery decided to step down in early 2020, Nola, who was already working on the chamber’s website, saw her role expand as executive director.
“I’m self-taught in web design, and after completing the chamber website I was eager to take on a new role,” Nola said. I started web design and merged that skill with my graphic design business in 2002. I began designing websites for a working mothers’ group and it grew from there.”
Apart from her web and graphic design skills this role led her to creatively express her love for the area to help put Andrews “on the map” for not only North Carolina, but the entire country. She touted the town’s unique position with her signature slogan as the perfect place to “Raft. Hike. Fish. Bike.”
That slogan became synonymous with Andrews’ over-arching theme as an outdoors destination, capitalizing on the town’s proximity to both premier trophy fishing and whitewater rafting in the Nantahala National Forest, as well as its relationship to the Appalachian and other trails.
Nola was also instrumental in both introducing and securing the continuation of what will be the fifth year of the monthly Food Truck Fridays, which turns First Street and Hall Park into a promenade of mobile eateries and the gazebo into a musical venue for all to enjoy during the summer months. Using her vast connections to secure both regional and local food trucks as well as vendors and musical talent has paid off for an event now synonymous with spring and summer in Andrews.
Another capstone for Cooper was the design of the original 2018 logo for the Earth Day celebrations begun in 2015 by Eve Miranda and the Andrews Public Library as “educational events for elementary school students.” In 2018, that morphed the annual Spring Fling, a town-wide joint celebration that has become one of the chamber’s key annual events, expanding into a Street Fair and Nature Exposition, highlighting local demonstrators, regional artists and vendors as well as local businesses. Many of the events have boasted attendance in the upper thousands, with last year’s Christmas on Main event seeing 10,000 people flocking to downtown.
Nola also said she had the “distinct pleasure” of working on the Cherokee County Fair and closely with Brain Wilson of Andrews Recreation Department in securing both traffic permits from the N.C. Department of Transportation to ensure “the safety of our citizens at our many events.”
She adds that “the Town of Andrews has worked seamlessly with the chamber to bring the best events to downtown Andrews for our community, and for that I am grateful.”
Nola has also worked tirelessly to “get the word out” about all Andrews has to offer in these last four years which has also included media juggernauts with both large-scale attention from Our State magazine in 2023, along with a series of television and print ads in 2024.
When asked about her legacy, Nola reflected on bringing Andrews Valley Rail Tours to town as her proudest moment for introducing the potential of the Valley River railroad to create a prospective business model.
“In contacting Judy [Fitzpatrick] from Blue Ridge (Ga.), I was glad to let her see the untapped potential of a rail tour from downtown Andrews to the natural landscapes of the Rhodo area. She [Judy] visited and brought one of their electric bikes and Jeff and I had hiked out to the tunnel and the waterfall and were supposed to meet her there,” Nola said.
“There’s no cell service out there and we’d waited a long time. Finally, we saw a black dog and Jeff said, ‘Is that Judy’s dog?’ and when Judy came around the corner she was amazed and after that she never looked back and brought the business in and subsequently won the Andrews Chamber Business of the Year last year. We’re so incredibly proud and happy that Judy found her place in our town.”
When asked about what she’ll do with her free time in retirement, Cooper coyly smiled and said, “I’ll enjoy getting to finally “attend all the events.”
She doesn’t rule out anything and hopes to continue consulting with her business clients as well as “traveling, mostly to see those grand-babies.”
Nola is glad to see the chamber splitting her title into two positions; an executive director, whose role will “primarily be to focus on the duties of promoting local Andrews businesses, allowing more time to advocate for those businesses as well as the town’s reputation as an outdoor destination.” The other role, which is a seasonal stint titled events coordinator, will run from March through November to “oversee and plan the chamber’s signature events as well as foster vendor relationships.”
The chamber has already chosen two local candidates to fill the spots. Shannan Kelly will take over as executive director, while Alaina Trull will fill the events coordinator position.
Nola is training until her final day on Feb. 14. Of her two replacements, she said, “I am very excited about our new director and coordinator and their plans for the future, and I’m confident that Andrews will continue to prosper under their guidance.”
And there’s still something to be said about visiting those grandbabies.
Details: Visit visitandrewsnc.com.