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Featured photo: The new director of the Transylvania County Campus, Jessica Stepp Edney, on the Transylvania County Campus. (Photo by Rich Keen.)
By: Benjamin Rickert, Marketing & Communications Dept.
After an extensive search, Blue Ridge Community College has selected Jessica Stepp Edney as the new director of the Transylvania County Campus, effective April 1, 2026.
In her new role at Blue Ridge, Edney will serve within the College’s General Administration Division, working closely with the Instructional and Workforce Continuing Education divisions to expand programs and services in Transylvania County. She will also collaborate with local partners, including Transylvania County Schools, economic development organizations and community stakeholders, to strengthen educational pathways and workforce opportunities.
“We are very excited to welcome Jessica as the new director of the Transylvania County Campus,” said Dr. Chad Merrill, Blue Ridge’s executive vice president and chief operations officer. “We look forward to her breadth of knowledge of our service area, her relationships with community stakeholders, and her vision for growing and expanding the programs and services that Blue Ridge Community College provides to Transylvania County, Transylvania County Schools, and our economic development partners throughout the area.”
Jessica Stepp Edney brings a strong combination of educational, workforce and community experience to the role, including early career experience in Transylvania County. After graduating from nearby North Henderson High School, she attended Greenville Technical College on her way to earning a Bachelor of Science degree in marketing from Clemson University. She then began her career in education at Brevard High School, where she taught marketing and leadership for several years.
“Returning to Transylvania County feels like a true full-circle moment,” said Edney. “This is a special community, and it is a distinct honor to serve here again. My mother was the first in her family to graduate from college because of the door a community college opened for her. I chose that same path for my own education, and it was on a community college campus that I truly found my own path.”
A fifth-generation Western North Carolina native, Edney later earned a Master of Public Administration degree from the University of North Carolina at Pembroke.
Edney later expanded her professional experience in the nonprofit sector, serving as resource development coordinator for the Henderson County Boys & Girls Club.
Since 2015, she has held multiple roles with North Carolina State University, most recently serving as business officer for the N.C. State University Mountain Horticultural Crops Research and Extension Center in Mills River. In that position, she managed financial operations, served as the center’s human resources liaison, cultivated public and private partnerships, and represented the organization throughout the region.
Edney’s experience and community connections will now benefit Blue Ridge’s Brevard-based campus, which enrolls more than 450 degree-seeking students this spring and serves hundreds more Workforce Continuing Education students annually.
“This is a special community, and it is a distinct honor to serve here again,” she added. “I look forward to collaborating with our local partners to create even stronger pathways for our students and a more vibrant future for all of Transylvania County.”
All Blue Ridge Community College campuses are currently enrolling for the upcoming summer and fall semesters, with admissions information available at www.blueridge.edu/admissions.
Edney succeeds Glenda McCarson, Blue Ridge’s former Transylvania County Campus leader, who retired in 2025 after 28 years of service to the College.