Nantahala Outdoor Center (NOC) President and CEO Sutton Bacon testified
before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Small Business at
the “Heroes of Small Business” hearing. At the hearing Bacon discussed
NOC’s $48 million impact on western North Carolina’s economy and the
company’s plans to open NOC’s Great Outpost, an 18,000-square-foot
LEED-certified flagship store in Gatlinburg, TN bordering the Great
Smoky Mountains National Park.

Throughout Bacon’s testimony he emphasized “innovating through the
recession”-creating new product offerings and refining operational
infrastructure to gain strategic advantage in the marketplace. “A
downturn is a terrible thing to waste” he asserted before detailing the
opening of NOC’s new flagship retail store, NOC’s Great Outpost.

Bacon’s testimony on the new store opening fit the committee’s
objective to “examine the important role [small businesses] play in
creating jobs and growing our economy”. The new store occupies an
anchor position in Gatlinburg’s downtown shopping and entertainment
district, one of the most popular vacation destinations in the
Southeast with over 14 million visitors annually, and will feature a
wide selection of top outdoor apparel, camping, climbing, cycling,
paddling, hiking and travel brands. When it opens it will become the
largest retail store in Gatlinburg, creating approximately 55 jobs in
both Tennessee and North Carolina.