Alumni Owned Business Featured on PBS

A local business owned by two Brevard College alumni was recently featured on the PBS show, North Carolina Weekend.

Sara and Tim Bell own and operate Green River Adventures in Saluda, N.C. They met at Brevard College and graduated together from the Wilderness Leadership and Experiential Education (WLEE) program in 2002.

The PBS crew filmed in August 2022 and highlighted the variety of activities offered to explore the Green River Gorge, including canopy ziplining, whitewater and waterfall rappelling.

“They contacted us,” said Tim Bell. “I thought they did a beautiful job visually and accurately representing our services and the full spectrum of people who are a good fit for our programs. It can be challenging to communicate accurate expectations for what we do in the outdoor adventure industry.”

The concept for Green River Adventures began, says Tim, because Sara wanted to start a whitewater paddling school. “She is from a family of entrepreneurs and it’s a natural skill that she possesses,” he said.

Since their days at Brevard College, the Bells have stayed connected to the college faculty they know and are often called up for river certification courses. They have also employed dozens of other BC alumni over time.

“The staff we hire from BC have been an unbelievable source of leadership, generation after generation. Before my time at BC, I didn’t understand the full scope of being an outdoor leader and had a lot to learn from the professors. WLEE has continued to produce quality leaders, and the students coming out of the program now are much more adept than I was.”

Green River Adventures is looking forward to a full and busy summer and Tim is grateful for the seasonal staff he has lined up, a major accomplishment in the current hiring environment.

“What BC taught me and what I observe in the staff that we hire is a greater attention to soft skills and group dynamics, being aware that outdoor education is a human services profession. That often gets overlooked, the customer service side of things.”

He recalled one person’s story, a woman who was trying to overcome her inability to swim. “We never know what experiences or anxieties people are coming in with. Clients come from all sorts of backgrounds, and we try to meet them where they are and get them on the right trip.”

You can catch the segment on Green River Adventures on Season 20, Episode 15 of North Carolina Weekend.