tr?id=&ev=PageView&noscript=

Western NC small businesses pick up the pieces after Hurricane Helene

By Dylan Rhoney

January 22, 2025

Four months after Hurricane Helene wiped out peak tourism season in western North Carolina, local business owners are still feeling the losses. They believe that direct financial support is needed to keep some businesses open.

Lily’s Snack Bar opened near Appalachian State University in July of 2019. 

Trevor Moody started out as a dishwasher, and last April he took ownership of the business. Today, Lily’s is a successful business that employs around 20 people, including students. But now, he says he’s reeling in the months after Hurricane Helene devastated Boone and much of the rest of western North Carolina.

“The untold story on the other side of it, and what we’re seeing a lot of here, is the real, serious, economic harm and the lingering effects of that,” Moody told Cardinal & Pine. 

Helene hit western North Carolina on Sept. 27, shutting down Lily’s and other businesses across the region just as they were entering their peak season for business and tourism, owing in part due to the area’s stunning fall foliage. 

“October and November are huge months for businesses in the High Country, leaf tourism, and people coming up to see the leaves, as well as this end of the busy season going into the holidays before things get slow in January and February,” Moody explained.

He isn’t alone in suffering at the hands of Hurricane Helene; former Gov. Roy Cooper’s Hurricane Helene Damage and Needs Assessment, which was released in December before he left office, estimated that Helene harmed North Carolina businesses to the tune of over $12 billion. Beyond the economic impact, the assessment estimates that Helene caused nearly $3 billion in property damage to businesses.

@cardinalandpine

Trevor Moody opened Lily’s Snack Bar in Boone in July 2019. In the six years since, he has run a successful small business. But he said the fallout from Hurricane Helene threatens businesses like his. Moody said small businesses in the region need direct grants or loan forgiveness to contend with the economic fallout from the hurricane. “A real meaningful loan forgiveness program or grants is absolutely what it’s going to take to keep some of these businesses open,” he said.

♬ original sound – Cardinal & Pine

Small businesses in Boone took a financial hit from Helene

Lily’s was having a great year until Helene changed everything. The cushion from the fall season Moody normally relies on to get through the slow months isn’t there this time.

“Up until September, we were up year over year, by about 5 or 6%. By the end of October, we were down year over year by about 4%,” he said. 

Some establishments in the area haven’t been able to keep their doors open. Over Yonder, a  locally-owned restaurant that opened in Valle Crucis in 2014, permanently closed on Jan. 11, citing the financial impact of Helene.

“…losing October just isn’t something we can financially overcome, leaf money is what keeps the heat on and the staff paid through the Winter. It is with a heavy heart we announce we will be closing the doors of Over Yonder on Saturday, January 11th.  We had an amazing 10+ year run,” the restaurant’s statement read.

Wildwood Community Market & Deli  in downtown Boone, also suffered economic impacts due to the storm, even though the building survived and only saw some flooding in the basement.  

“We didn’t actually lose any product,” co-owner Joe Mager said.

Mager, who co-owns Wildwood with his wife, said much of the startup funding for  it was provided by Mountain Bizworks, an Asheville-based small business lender that responded to the storm by freezing loan withdrawals and making payments interest only. 

“They were very responsive and they froze withdrawals on loan payments immediately that month for October, and then extended some interest-only options to some businesses, but we really found ourselves applying for grants, and to this date, I have not secured any additional funding.”

Overall, Mager said the storm cost his business between $25,000 and $30,000 in revenue. 

“So that was money that would have been our cushion for this winter, so I’m actually feeling the storm more this week…and it’s in the form of losing that cushion,” Mager added.

Direct funding for small businesses is needed

Boone Mayor Pro Tem Dalton George says that small businesses need direct funding to remain open, and called on the North Carolina General Assembly to provide that funding.

“They have to step up for small businesses…what happened in that initial state package, I think was cruel, with these folks barely hanging on. That was when we heard of the closures here in Watauga County, after the state failed them…these businesses were holding out by a thread hoping the state would do the right thing, and the state failed,” George said. “This next package has to have small business dollars because that’s money that stays in our economy.” 

Fletcher Mayor Preston Blakely echoed George’s concern and said small businesses in his town and across the region need grants.

“I think it’s paramount. Our peak tourism season, they lost that stream of revenue. These folks have already taken out loans to start their business. They’ve already taken out loans for Covid,” he said. 

Without support, Blakely fears that some businesses may not survive.

“We don’t want to lose our businesses. We want them to succeed.”

An analysis from McKinsey & Company estimates that around 45% of North Carolina’s small businesses are in counties impacted by Helene, and of those small businesses, 60% have fewer than 20 employees and collectively produce $72 billion in revenue.

Shortly after lawmakers were sworn into the General Assembly in early January, newly-elected Speaker of the House Destin Hall (R-Caldwell County) committed to further action from the state.

“Know that you’re not forgotten…We’re working on some of those things now. It’s going to be a long road to recovery. There’s more than $50 billion, probably, in damage. This body is committed to doing everything possible to build back western North Carolina,” Hall said.

Moody said direct cash would be greatly beneficial and help keep small businesses like his open.

“Restaurants like mine, and many others in the town, we already have a lot of debt. I don’t think that more loans at the friendly rate of 5 or 6% is going to help people in the long-term when, especially places like the High Country, western North Carolina may not see real economic recovery in terms of tourism for a year or years.” he said. “A real meaningful loan forgiveness program or grants is absolutely what it’s going to take to keep some of these places open.”

@cardinalandpine

The economic impact of Hurricane Helene continues to be felt in western North Carolina. Businesses in the region, many of which were closed for days and even weeks, saw revenue decline at a time they most depended on it. Boone Mayor Pro Tem Dalton George is encouraging people to visit towns like Boone to keep small businesses open. ?Boone may look a little different. Come visit. Come spend your money here because it?s working to keep the doors open,? George said.

♬ original sound – Cardinal & Pine

Supporting small businesses at a time of greatest need

The Garage on 25 is a small business in Fletcher, owned by four women: Ellen Schwab, Kaye Youngblood, Susan Brady, and Joan Rickert. Local vendors and artists can rent a space in the business and sell their products. They currently have over 80 vendors operating on the site whose products range from art and antiques to furniture and soaps. 

The business closed for nearly two weeks after Helene while the owners made sure each vendor was safe and Schwab says their customers provided a huge amount of support in Helene’s aftermath.

“We had a great response from our regular customers who we knew really made it a point to come shop here because they could choose from artists from all over this area. We have all local folks here,” she said.

The quartet of women is urging tourists and visitors to also come support local businesses and the economy. 

“We need them to come. And there are pockets that are devastated, still. But there are a lot of functioning areas around here where they can still come and stay in a nice hotel, get a nice meal, shop, so I think we need tourists here,” Youngblood said. 

Brady also encouraged people to support businesses like theirs.

“Stay off Amazon. Stay out of Big Box, and support local when you can,” she said.

As for the potential for grants or loan forgiveness for small businesses, Brady supports the idea,  but isn’t optimistic it will happen.

“I would love to see something like a PPP [Paycheck Protection Program] loan that could be forgiven later if you comply. That would be wonderful, but I’m not counting on that,” she said. 

As was the case in Boone, not all businesses in Fletcher have survived Helene’s impact.

In December, after 82 years of operation in Fletcher, the Diamond Brand Gear Company closed down due to the impact of Helene, costing 40 people their jobs. 

“Forty high paying jobs lost. Property taxes lost to this town. That’s big on a lot of fronts,” Mayor Blakely said. 

Blakely said it’s critical that the General Assembly acts to provide support for communities like Fletcher.

“The past couple of months have been tough. It’s been tough for our residents, it’s been tough for our businesses. I can’t stress enough the urgency about what’s happening here. People need housing, our businesses need support, our kids need support,” he said. “The revenues are lost, businesses are hurting. We need direct action from the General Assembly pretty immediately.”

Correction: A previous version of this story mistakenly stated that Trevor Moody opened Lily’s Snack Bar in 2019. Moody actually started out as a dishwasher and took the business over last April. We regret the error.

Author

  • Dylan Rhoney

    Dylan Rhoney is an App State grad from Morganton who is passionate about travel, politics, history, and all things North Carolina. He lives in Raleigh.

CATEGORIES: RURAL
Related Stories
Opinion: Mark Robinson wants to take away our rights and freedoms

Opinion: Mark Robinson wants to take away our rights and freedoms

A North Carolina woman says Mark Robinson's latest ad is trying to soften his stance on abortion rights, but she says he's an extremist who would support a total abortion ban. When I saw Lieutenant Governor Mark Robinson’s new ad earlier this month, I had to do a...

Jeff Jackson on what he’d do as NC attorney general

Jeff Jackson on what he’d do as NC attorney general

The next attorney general will play a huge role in shaping the direction of North Carolina. In an interview, Democrat Jeff Jackson explains how his vision for the state differs from that of his opponent, Dan Bishop. Jeff Jackson’s done a lot of things in his life. He...

Share This