Theresa Banks, Ed.D., Immediate Past Chair
Theresa Banks was appointed by the Governor on August 12, 2019. A Marshall native, Banks received her Bachelor's degree from Mars Hill College, her master's and specialist degrees from Western Carolina University, and her Doctorate from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. She taught at Marshall Elementary and Marshall Primary and was the principal at Spring Creek Elementary and Madison High School.
She was the principal of Madison High for 10 years, and while principal served as the first female president of the North Carolina High School Athletic Association. Dr. Banks concluded her career serving as Associate Superintendent of the Madison County School System. In 2010, after 33 years in public education, she retired. From 2014 until 2018, she served as Chairman of the Madison County Board of Education.
Joseph Barwick, Ph.D., Chair
Joe Barwick was appointed by the Buncombe County Commissioners on August 1, 2022. His educational background includes a Ph.D. in Educational Administration and Community College Leadership from the University of Texas, Austin; an MA in English/Education, and a BA in English, from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Dr. Barwick is a native of North Carolina and served as President of Carteret Community College. He has also served as Vice President of Academic and Student Services at Southwestern Community College.
Dr. Barwick is past Vice Chair of SACS – Commission on Colleges and was President of the North Carolina Retired Government Employees Association and Carteret County Schools Foundation. He has received numerous awards, including the University of Texas Community College Leadership Distinguished Graduate Award, Carteret Chamber of Commerce Man of the Year, and the State of North Carolina Order of the Long Leaf Pine Award.
Michael Garrison
Garrison was appointed by the Madison County Board of Commissioners on August 2, 2021. He has more than 20 years of service in law enforcement and recently retired as Mars Hill's Chief of Police. He was elected to and currently sits on the Madison County Board of Commissioners.
Himanshu Karvir
Karvir was appointed by the Buncombe County Commissioners in 2020 and reappointed in 2025. He is President and CEO of Virtelle Hospitality in Asheville and was General Manager of Holiday Inn Asheville -- Biltmore West for more than 16 years. He also serves as chair of the Buncombe County Tourism Development Authority Board of Directors, vice-chair of the United Way of Asheville and Buncombe County Board of Directors, and on the Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors. Karvir was previously on the UNC Asheville Foundation Board and has volunteered for YMCA Annual Campaigns. He is a graduate of the Georgia Institute of Technology.
Matt Kern
Matt Kern was appointed by the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners on June 12, 2107. Born in Greensboro, NC, and then moved at a young age to Erwin, Tennessee, he was raised on a 30-acre farm deep in the Appalachian Mountains. Growing acres of burley tobacco, corn, and potatoes, as well as picking up many hay bales, taught Matt the value of hard work and respect for the land. Kern attended Western Carolina University and received a BS in Environmental Health and a Master's of Public Administration(MPA). He started his own residential construction company, M.C. Kern Contracting, Inc., in 2003. Matt has also been a Co-Organizer of the very successful French Broad River Festival, Inc. since 1997.
Libby Kyles
Libby Kyles, an educator and facilitator, was appointed by the Governor on November 2, 2020. She was the CEO of the YWCA of Asheville and the Executive Director of the Youth Transformed for Life Training Programs. From 2004 until 2019, Kyles was a teacher at Isaac Dickson Elementary School. She was named Teacher of the Year for 2005-06. She is passionate about improving conditions in her community and empowering women and youth.
Judy Lewis, Vice Chair
Judy Lewis is a retired educator who began her career as a secretary for Buncombe County Schools. She taught English for more than 20 years and served as Assistant Principal at Enka High. She has also taught classes at A-B Tech and coordinated the Beginning Teacher programs for both Buncombe County and Asheville City Schools.
Lewis is a member of the Buncombe County Board of Education and the Advisory Council at Enka High. She is a graduate of Clyde A. Erwin High School and earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in English/Literature from the University of North Carolina at Asheville and a Master’s Degree in Educational Leadership and Curriculum and Supervision from Western Carolina University.
Roger Metcalf, Ed.D.
Roger Metcalf was appointed by the Board of Education on June 15, 2015. He is currently serving as Vice-Chair. A lifelong resident of the Enka Community, Roger received a BS degree from Appalachian State University, an MA degree from Western Carolina University, and a doctorate from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Forty-two years in public education included service as a teacher, coach, principal, and assistant superintendent in the Asheville City and Buncombe County Schools.
The last 17 years were spent as director of the Western Region Education Service Alliance. He received the Order of the Long Leaf Pine, North Carolina’s highest honor. In 2008, Roger retired to the family farm in Candler, where he helps his wife, Anita, with her gardens, and she helps him with his bees. He spends as much time as possible with his granddaughters, Meredith and Elizabeth, and occasionally plays a round of golf.
Anthony Penland
Anthony Penland has served as fire chief of the Swannanoa Fire Department, where he has worked since he became a volunteer firefighter in 1990 and was appointed chief in 2001. In 2015, Penland received the Career Fire Chief of the Year Award presented by the Western North Carolina Association of Firefighters. He was awarded his Chief Fire Officer Designation by the Center for Public Safety Excellence in 2016. He is a member of the Western North Carolina Association of Firefighters and is a past president of the Buncombe County Chiefs’ Association.
Penland earned an associate degree in Fire Protection Technology from A-B Tech, a bachelor’s in Fire and Emergency Service Administration from Fayetteville State University, and completed the North Carolina Chief Officers Executive Development Program in 2005. Chief Penland currently lives in Swannanoa with his wife, Cindy, and their two children, Jarrod and Mallory. They have two older children, Zachary and Kaitlin, and two granddaughters.
Frances Ramsey
Ramsey was appointed by the Madison County Commissioners in 2014. A lifelong resident of Madison County, Ramsey earned her undergraduate and graduate degrees from Western Carolina University. She taught for 30-plus years for Madison County Schools and finished her educational career as an adjunct faculty member at A-B Tech Madison. Ramsey currently serves on the Board of Trustees at A-B Tech, the Advisory Board for Madison County’s Cooperative Extension agency, and the Board and Executive Board for the Smith-McDowell House, and volunteers with Madison County Schools, helping develop volunteer programs for the school system.
Roger Reid
Asheville native Roger Reid has been appointed to the A-B Tech Board of Trustees by the Asheville City School Board. Reid is employed by the United Way of Asheville and Buncombe County. He previously served as the Teen Association Director for the YMCA of Western NC. Reid earned a bachelor’s degree from Mars Hill University.
Ben Teague
Ben Teague was appointed by the NC General Assembly in 2025. He joined the Biltmore Farms team in 2018 as Vice President of Strategic Development after serving as the Executive Director of the Asheville-Buncombe County Economic Development Coalition (EDC) and COO of the Asheville Area Chamber for more than nine years. His focus at Biltmore Farms is crafting and executing a strategy to turn real estate and relationships into capital investment and jobs for the community. Throughout his career, he has placed more than 60 economic development projects and over $3 billion in capital investment in multiple states.
In 2022, Ben was selected as a Presidential Leadership Scholar by a collaborative initiative of four presidential foundations. He was named to Business North Carolina magazine’s Power 100 list in 2022, 2023, and 2024. In 2017, he was named one of North America’s Top 50 Economic Developers by Consultant Connect and received Development Counselors International’s Top 40 Under 40 award. He also led the Asheville-Buncombe County EDC team to become one of 50 Accredited Economic Development Organizations (AEDO) in the nation. Ben earned a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from Mississippi College, an MBA from the University of Mississippi, and an AMDP from Harvard Graduate School of Design.
Glenda Weinert, DBA
Glenda Weinert is a business owner and retired educator who currently serves as the at-large representative for the Buncombe County Schools Board of Education. She brings a wealth of early childhood education experience, with a family that owned and operated the Little Beaver Child Care Centers for 45 years. Weinert also served eight years on the North Carolina Child Care Commission and was an adjunct business instructor for A-B Tech and UNC Asheville.
She earned a BS in Accounting from Lee University, an MBA from Kennesaw State University, and a Doctorate in Business Administration from the University of Phoenix. She and her husband, Clint, have been married for 34 years and have a son.
Drew West
Buncombe County native Drew West was appointed by the NC General Assembly in 2025. As Deputy Executive Director of the Council of Independent Business Owners (CIBO), he advocates for pro-business policies and bridges the gap between the public and private sectors. Previously, Drew served the constituents of WNC as a staffer for the U.S. House of Representatives, where he managed hundreds of constituent cases and built strong agency and community relationships.
His background also includes a successful career in sales and marketing, where he led high-impact initiatives, managed financial operations, and drove growth through strategic planning and execution.
Drew holds an MBA from Clemson University, a B.S. in Management from UNC Asheville, and an A.A. from Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College. With a deep commitment to empowering communities, promoting educational opportunities, and advancing business interests, Drew brings a results-driven mindset and collaborative approach to every role he undertakes.
Robert Uhren, SGA President