One of the state’s top business publications has announced its annual list of the top under-40 leaders in rural North Carolina, including a Greater Outer Banks woman who has become a leading force behind the transformation of downtown Elizabeth City.
Heather Sawyer, owner and managing broker of Water Street Real Estate Group, has been named a 2023 Business North Carolina Trailblazer.
This is the sixth year Business North Carolina has complied its roster of “thriving business owners and professionals under the age of 40 who work in cities and towns with fewer than 100,000 residents. They are creating jobs and providing services while championing their communities.”
Here’s more of what Business North Carolina had to say about the 33-year-old mother of two:
Sawyer started her career in 2018 as a managing broker for a national company. Her passion for downtown led her in January 2021 to buy her first commercial space, which included a bakery and cafe. She took over the business, hired a manager and operated it before handing it off to another entrepreneur. She created space in the same building for her own firm, which now includes 16 teammates and annual real estate sales of more than $50 million.
Sawyer also notes in the article that she is about to undertake her largest project ever, after recently purchasing what’s believed to be one of the oldest properties in Elizabeth City.
