Does it matter if my MSP is actually located in Asheville?

Here's the honest version rather than the sales version: for routine remote support, geography barely matters — a good technician in another state can reset your password as well as one on Airport Road. If that were the whole job, 'local' would be pure marketing.

It stops being marketing the moment hands are required. Server hardware fails. Offices move and need cabling. Networks need physical installation. A security incident needs someone in the room. In those moments, a provider whose nearest technician is in Greenville, Charlotte, or Durham is hours away on a good traffic day — and several of the providers ranking prominently in Asheville search results are exactly that. Check their actual office address, not their landing page.

Local also changes the accountability equation: a provider that lives in the same business community, sees clients at the chamber, and depends on local reputation has more skin in the game than a distant branch operation. When comparing providers, simply ask: 'Where does the technician who would drive to my office actually work from?'