Asheville business owners get first look at $14 million recovery grants

Asheville small-business owners now have their first clear shot at a share of $14.6 million in recovery grants aimed at shops still fighting through Helene’s damage, lost revenue and slow foot traffic. The Asheville Recovers Together Small Business Grant Program is set to hand out awards ranging from $5,000 to $75,000 to businesses inside Asheville city limits that were operating before Sept. 27, 2024 and can still document unmet storm losses after insurance and other aid.

The application window opens June 15 at noon and closes July 14 at noon. A public kick-off event was held June 11 at 9:30 a.m. at the YMI Cultural Center, putting the program in front of owners who have been navigating construction zones, flooding and a long recovery in places like the River Arts District and Biltmore Village. The city also says free technical assistance and application help will be available through community partners, a detail that could matter as much as the grant dollars themselves for operators without staff to chase paperwork.

The money comes from City of Asheville CDBG-DR funds tied to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the program was shaped through a three-month public input process before Asheville City Council approved the broader $15.5 million Small Business Support Program in January 2026. The city chose Mountain BizWorks, ArtsAVL, Eagle Market Streets Development Corporation and Venture Asheville as subrecipients to help run the effort and connect it to Asheville’s business network.

The latest round sits inside a larger recovery push that has already moved tens of millions of dollars through the local economy. The first round of the Asheville-Buncombe Rebuilding Together Grant Fund provided $3.69 million to 276 businesses in January 2025, and the total later grew to 390 businesses receiving $4,447,395. Across 844 applications, business owners reported $215.6 million in combined damage and losses, 2,146 jobs were lost in the applicant pool, and the awards were designed to help retain 2,084 local jobs and rehire 1,527 more over the following year.

The stakes remain high. A WNC Chamber survey cited by WLOS found one-third of small businesses in Western North Carolina were still operating without profit after Helene, underscoring how much of Asheville’s recovery still depends on whether aid reaches the independents that were hit hardest, not just the firms best equipped to apply.