The Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation announced Thursday that the Bluffs Restaurant in the Parkway’s Doughton Park will suspend food service for the rest of the season for the safety of guests and staff during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The annual Take a Break from the Interstate 3-Day Road Market along U.S. 21, from Wytheville, Va., to Harmony in northern Iredell County, is this Friday through Sunday.

Five Wilkes County companies received federal Paycheck Protection Program loans of between $1 million and $2 million, according to data released Monday by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA).

The N.C. Forest Service is accepting orders for its annual tree seedling sale.

The Golden LEAF Foundation has awarded $423,459 to Wilkes Recovery Revolution Inc. (WRR) to support the organization’s new program, “Healing Our Workforce.”

Lowe's Companies Inc. on Wednesday reported that its sales increased over 11% in the first quarter ending May 1.

Eighty-two people who work at a fiber cement siding manufacturing operation in Roaring River were placed on furlough on April 8, according to a WARN Act notice filed with the N.C. Department of Commerce.

Craftmaster Furniture, an upholstery producer with operations in Alexander and Wilkes counties, announced that its manufacturing operations and offices will be shut down for two weeks starting Thursday due to concerns about the coronavirus.

Wilkes Economic Development Corp. President LeeAnn Nixon spoke about several available buildings in North Wilkesboro owned by businessman Scott Nafe, and two in Wilkesboro that Nafe is buying, during the Wilkes EDC board meeting on March 13.

Louisiana Pacific Corp. on Friday announced the number of jobs that will be cut at its siding plant in the Roaring River community in late March as a result of a shift in production.

Louisiana Pacific Corp. announced plans to cut jobs at the company’s plant in Roaring River Thursday in connection with a shift in production there.

An information session on NC AgVentures, which provides grants to North Carolina farmers and community groups for new and innovative agricultural project ideas that increase profits, is from 4–5 p.m. Wednesday at the Wilkes Cooperative Extension office in Wilkesboro.

On Wednesday, Lowe's Companies Inc. reported net earnings of $1.7 billion and earnings per share of $2.14 for the quarter ending Aug. 2, up from $1.5 billion and of $1.86 in the second quarter of 2018.

The Golden LEAF Foundation has awarded a $63,000 grant to the Wilkes Economic Development Corp. for buying agricultural equipment for Wilkes County farmers to rent at reduced prices.

An annual event designed to spur retail activity in the U.S. 21 corridor from Harmony to Wytheville, Va., is July 26-28.

One of two Capital Bank offices in Wilkes County is among 22 branch banks being closed by the parent company, Memphis-Tenn.-based First Horizon National Corp.

The ECMD Inc. Board of Directors has promoted Todd Meade to president and CEO of the North Wilkesboro-based company, effective immediately.

Lowe’s Companies Inc. announced today that the Lowe’s customer support center in Wilkesboro will lose about 680 positions, with about 600 going to the Lowe’s headquarters in Mooresville and about 80 to the company’s data center in Winston-Salem.

Wilkes County farmers have until 9 a.m. March 17 to apply for free seed through the Spring Pasture Renovation Seed Initiative to replant pastures damaged by heavy rain associated with Hurricanes Florence and Michael, said Wilkes Cooperative Extension Director John Cothren.