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Kanuga featured in CNBC's runup to 'Best States for Business' feature

CNBC correspondent Scott Cohn poses at Lake Kanuga.

By Lightning Reports, Published: July 12, 2023

One day before CNBC revealed from the Biltmore Estate in Asheville that North Carolina was named America's Top State for Business for the second consecutive year, the network ran a series of teaser clips to help viewers guess the winner.

CNBC correspondent Scott Cohn announced on Tuesday morning that North Carolina was also the winner for 2023. This time, the teaser scenes were filmed in Western North Carolina, many of them at Kanuga Conference Center.

Six clips filmed at Kanuga aired live throughout the program on Monday. Scenes including the waterfront, lakeside chapel and Long Rocks. All the while, the North Carolina location was kept sealed from viewers. Top guesses included Michigan, Pennsylvania, Georgia and Tennessee. Cohn revealed not only North Carolina as the winning state, but also Kanuga as a location for many of the teasers.

“It was a pleasure to host this crew,” Kanuga marketing director Jane Childress said. “I loved that there were guests here during the filming—it added a bit of excitement to week two of summer guest period. And I’m proud of how professional and responsive our staff members were. In a live, national broadcast plans often change on a dime, and Kanuga’s team was always at the ready.”

Over its nearly 100-year history, Kanuga has been a contributor to the economic impact of both the hospitality and summer camp industries in North Carolina. An economic impact study conducted by N.C. State University in 2011 found that summer camps in Henderson, Transylvania, and Buncombe counties have a combined impact of more than $365 million every summer. Camp Kanuga is among the oldest American Camp Association-accredited camps in the country.

Kanuga’s conference center, which is a nonprofit organization affiliated with the Episcopal Church, has long been an employer in the region, and active in area civic organizations. Annually, Kanuga welcomes more than 40,000 guests, from across the country and globally, for leisure stays and group events, helping to fuel the hospitality sector year-round.