The City of Asheville is launching a program offering grants from $5,000 to $75,000 to small businesses affected by Hurricane Helene.
The Asheville Recovers Together grant program will accept applications from June 15 to July 14.
At a press conference on Friday announcing the launch, Asheville Mayor Esther Manheimer acknowledged the hardships that many of the city’s business owners have faced in the 20 months since the storm.
“We heard from small businesses about their unmet recovery needs and put those words into action,” Manheimer said. “We know that this funding has been a long time coming and many of you have been carrying an enormous amount of uncertainty while trying to keep your doors open, support employees and continue serving this community.”
The $14.6 million dollar initiative is funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Community Development Block Grant - Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) program.
A Mountain BizWorks survey last year showed that small businesses across western North Carolina lost an average of $322,000 during Hurricane Helene. Businesses suffered not just physical damage from the historic storm but also economic damage from Asheville’s weeks-long water crisis and the resulting slump in tourism.
The small business grants are being administered by a trio of local organizations: ArtsAVL, Buncombe County’s arts agency; Eagle Market Streets Development Corporation, a nonprofit supporting disenfranchised communities; and Mountain BizWorks, a nonprofit supporting small businesses in western North Carolina.
Rebecca Lynch, development and grants director with ArtsAVL, said her organization decided to join the partnership because artists and creative businesses often face barriers to accessing traditional business support programs.
“We also know that creatives and artists often do not think of themselves as small business owners,” Lynch said at the press conference. “But by participating as a program administrator, ArtsAVL hopes to send a very clear message that this program is for them too.”
According to the grant program’s website, applications are open to businesses that have a principal location within Asheville city limits. The business must have been operating before Sept. 27, 2024, and it must have lost income due to Helene. For the full list of eligibility requirements, click here.
The city is also planning several in-person and online information sessions for applicants to learn more about the program.
More details on the application process can be found at the program’s website, AshevilleRecoversTogether.org.
