ASHEVILLE – As Buncombe County faces high unemployment rates in the wake of Tropical Storm Helen, Governor-elect Josh Stein visits small businesses in downtown Asheville and says some business owners are bracing for tough times. He urged more tourists to head to Asheville. winter.
After Helen struck on September 27, businesses in western North Carolina suffered and unemployment soared. Before Helen, there were only about 5,000 unemployed people in the county, but after the storm, more than 13,000 people were unemployed. The storm means the unemployment rate in the county tripled to nearly 9%, according to a report from the North Carolina Department of Commerce. During his visit, Mr. Stein stopped by Lexington Glassworks, Mast General Store and the Vendor Gallery.
“What a lot of people around North Carolina and around the country don’t understand is that Western North Carolina is reopening,” Stein said. “And we need people to come here, spend their money and have a great time doing so.”
“Because Asheville is wide open,” he continued.
At the Lexington Glass Factory, owner Jeff Koslow, along with employee Michael Martin, gave Stein a glassblowing demonstration. Koslow said keeping business flowing during the offseason is a top priority. The hope is to get through the first two months of next year, traditionally the slowest for the region, and “pay your taxes,” he said. After that, I started to look forward to spring business.
“Like any good business owner, I’m preparing for the worst,” Koslow told the Citizen-Times. “We’re definitely going to be prepared for an incredibly slow first quarter.”
Tourism economy estimated to decline by 70%
Martin, who has worked in the glass blowing business for four years, helped Stein delicately create new glass art pieces during his visit. Martin expressed some optimism about Asheville’s businesses, but remained concerned some businesses would not recover from the storm.
“There are a lot of restaurants that I love, but I don’t have high expectations for them,” Martin said.
That concern is well-founded. The Federal Emergency Management Agency estimates that nearly half (43%) of businesses affected by natural disasters will not reopen. Another 29% of businesses affected by the storm will go out of business within two years.
The hospitality and tourism industries have been hardest hit by the storm, and the coming months could be tough. The tourism industry supports a total of 29,000 jobs in Buncombe County, according to the Buncombe County Tourism Development Authority.
“We estimate a 70% loss in the fourth quarter alone, which equates to a revenue loss of $584 million across these businesses,” said Vic, president and CEO of Explore Asheville and BCTDA. Eisley said.
“That’s why it’s so important to bring outside funding into our communities through spending and through corporate doorsteps,” she continued.
Lucious Wilson, Wedge Brewing general manager and BCTDA board member, said continued grants and federal support for small businesses is “very important” in the coming months. Ta.
Currently, the Small Business Administration’s disaster loan program is running out of funds, leaving local businesses unable to access low-interest government-backed loans. Businesses can apply for the program, but no loans will be made until Congress approves new funding, and the timeline for that is unclear. Loans can be used for property repairs, payroll, and employee health benefits, among other things.
“If there’s a way to bring back some type of personal protective equipment system in the short term, I think that would be very beneficial not only for businesses, but also for employees and the landlords who rent to employees.” Wilson said. “The whole ecosystem will benefit from that.”
For Wedge Brewing Co., which lost one of its locations on the outskirts of Foundy Street to the storm, the priority is getting through the winter. The company currently has stores open in the Grove Arcade and off Payne’s Way in the River Arts District.
“January and February are going to be slow, and we’re ready for that,” Wilson said.
Stein needs to ‘learn more’ about potential eviction moratorium
Eviction filings continue in the wake of Helen’s case, even as many people remain unemployed in the area due to the storm. In the months since the storm, local leaders and advocacy groups have called for an eviction moratorium that would prevent landlords from filing new evictions against tenants for nonpayment.
Asked if he supported a moratorium, Stein said he needed to “learn more” about “market dynamics.” Earlier in the day, he had visited Pisgah Legal Services, an Asheville-based nonprofit that helps provide legal aid.
“We have to do everything we can to keep people in their homes,” Stein said.
Stein’s visit also came on the heels of North Carolina House Republicans’ veto of Senate Bill 382. The bill transferred $227 million to the state’s Helen Relief Fund, but less than 15% was allocated for spending. The powers of incoming Democratic Party officials were also stripped.
Stein criticized the move by state Republicans as “despicable.”
“The Legislature in Raleigh is indifferent to the people of western North Carolina and the hardships they are experiencing in the aftermath of Hurricane Helen,” he said. “They’d rather play politics and actually use people’s despair as a smokescreen for what they’re doing. It’s a despicable act.”
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Will Hoffman is a growth and development reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA Today Network. Any tips? Email WHOfmann@citizentimes.com. Please consider supporting this kind of journalism by subscribing to Citizen Times.
