Henderson County has created the position of agri-business director and a nonprofit organization for him to run. The commissioners agreed with apple grower Kenny Barnwell’s story:

It’s something we’ve needed for a long time. We went a generation without anybody speaking for us in the apple industry, and we got left out of a lot of programs. We left a lot of money on the table last year in stimulus money because we just didn’t have the people there to put it together. I think if we can get the right person in this position, it could be very, very beneficial to this county.