Duke Energy storm preparations in WNC
Duke Energy officials discuss storm preparations, power restoration plans and potential outages ahead of the Jan. 24 winter storm in Western North Carolina.
ASHEVILLE – The city is poised to direct $15.5 million to several area organizations who will then disperse grants to Asheville small businesses. It will be one of the first programs to launch as part of its $225 million in federal disaster recovery dollars.
City Council will vote on whether to authorize the City Manager to enter into the subrecipient agreements Jan. 27.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development allocated the $225 million to Asheville in January 2025 for Tropical Storm Helene recovery, with millions slated to funnel toward infrastructure, the economy, disaster mitigation and housing.
HUD approved the city’s action plan for the Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery funds in May, and a grant agreement was executed in August.
The action plan allocated $52 million to economic revitalization programs. Of that, $17 million is for the Small Business Support Program.
The program was created to respond to the extensive economic disruption caused by Helene, according to its manual. It will provide targeted financial assistance to small businesses and nonprofit partners within the city.
That could include equipment or inventory replacement; temporary lease assistance; job retention; working capital support; business expansion or more.
In October, the city issued a “notice of funding opportunity” in search of subrecipients to administer the grants. After a rigorous evaluation process, staff recommended the city partner with four organizations: Mountain BizWorks, ArtsAVL, Eagle Market Street and Venture Asheville.
If approved on Jan. 27, these organizations would distribute and manage the funds on behalf of the city.
All but Venture submitted applications as part of the “Asheville Recovery Together Small Business Grant Program,” though they were evaluated separately. That program would create a single portal for businesses, supporting a “streamlined application and reporting process,” according to a Jan. 20 city presentation given during a Planning, Economic Development and Environment Committee meeting.
It intends to fast track grants ranging from $5,000-$75,000; commit to the creation or retention of 1,000 jobs benefitting low- and moderate-income people; issue 650 grants; and have 96% of its funds go directly to beneficiaries.
While Mountain BizWorks would host back-end administration, Arts AVL would oversee arts-focused application review and Eagle Street would target outreach at low- and moderate-income businesses.
Seventy percent of the block grant funds must benefit households who make less than 80% of the area median income, which is $52,150 for one person, and $59,600 for a two-person household.
Venture Asheville, an initiative of the Economic Development Coalition for Asheville-Buncombe County and the Asheville Chamber of Commerce, applied to provide a combination of grants and capital investment to local companies, according to a staff presentation.
It would leverage an additional $1.25 million local match from philanthropic and corporate partners with 88% of funds directed to beneficiaries.
The Helene Economy Recovery Board voted unanimously to support staff recommendations on Jan. 15. The planning committee recommended approval Jan. 20 in a 2-0 vote, with one committee member absent.
Award recommendations
- Mountain BizWorks: $10 million
- Venture Asheville: $855,000
- ArtsAVL: $2.3 million
- Eagle Market Streets: $2.3 million
What’s next?
If agreements are authorized by council, staff will help subrecipients develop project manuals. In March, they would begin building out approved programs, according to a city timeline.
Small business grants could start to become available through subrecipients by the spring and summer.
Sarah Honosky is the city government reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA TODAY Network. News Tips? Email shonosky@citizentimes.com.
