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Class overview
This Independent Study explores how storytelling, agritourism, and structured business supports can be integrated to strengthen economic sustainability and cultural preservation for West Virginia’s maple syrup producers. The project centers on producer narratives and visitor experiences (e.g., Mountain State Maple Days), and evaluates the WV Tourism Works Certification as a practical capacity-building tool for improving customer service, marketing, accessibility, and operational readiness. Using qualitative methods (semi-structured interviews, participant observation, and content analysis), the study produces actionable recommendations and a pilot “Maple Agritourism Readiness” toolkit for producers and partners.
About me
I’m Lindsay Kazarick—a communications strategist, copywriter, and community development practitioner rooted in Central Appalachia. I work at Future Generations University as the Recruitment & Communications Associate for the Appalachian Program, and I’m completing my M.A. in Applied Community Development through an independent study that centers storytelling as a practical tool for local economic resilience.
My work resides at the intersection of place-based tourism, small business support, and agritourism—especially within the maple syrup and forest farming communities. As a Certified Interpretive Guide, I’m especially interested in how we translate “what we do” into “why it matters” in ethical ways, inviting, and economically useful for local producers and communities.
This site documents my independent study—research notes, tools, reflections, and field-based learning—built to be shared, tested, and used in the real world (where the syrup is sticky and the stories are sweet).
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