New director to lead Haywood Waterways Association

Becky Johnson, The Mountaineer, Waynesville, N.C.
·1 min read

Jun. 3—A new executive director taking the helm of Haywood Waterways Association this month brings a host of experience in the sustainability and environmental field, in both the public and nonprofit sectors.

Preston Jacobsen of Waynesville is best known as the guy behind Yokel Local Weather, a meteorology site that aggregates and analyzes hyperlocal weather data.

His day jobs over the past dozen years include sustainability analyst at Haywood Community College, sustainability manager at University of Tennessee, and most recently the finance operations manager for the Southern Appalachian Wilderness Stewards.

Jacobsen majored in environmental science at Western Carolina University and was on the board of Haywood Waterways from 2011-2013.

Haywood Waterway's former executive director Eric Romaniszyn stepped down after 18 years in February. Since then, the Haywood Waterways board of directors has been busy defining the organization's needs and seeking a candidate that could fill them, including a thorough and rigorous search.

"We are so thrilled to have Preston coming on board because he meets our needs in many ways," according to a statement by the board.