AVL Digital Nomads turns five this June. What started as a hunch about an overlooked population has become one of the most consequential economic stories in Western North Carolina. There is a parallel economy running inside Asheville’s coffee shops, coworking spaces, and kitchen tables. Software engineers on calls with clients in San Francisco. Consultants billing companies in New York. Fractional executives managing teams they’ve never met in person. These workers live here, spend here, and raise families here, but their income comes from somewhere else entirely. Together, they generate an estimated $400 million in annual employment income for the region. And for five years, a volunteer-run community called AVL Digital Nomads has been quietly organizing them. “If AVL Digital Nomads were a company, it would be the third largest employer in Western North Carolina.” Ric Pratte, ADN Founder The group, which calls its members “nomads”, celebrates its fifth birthday this month with a party at Wedge Brewing on Foundy St., the same spot where it all began. What started as a few remote workers deciding to leave their apartments and talk to humans has grown into the largest in-person remote work community in the United States.