Cooper, Tillis pledge joint response to Helene’s economic impact
Sen. Thom Tillis (right) joins (from left) Canton Mayor Zeb Smathers, Waynesville Town Council Member Anthony Sutton, Gov. Roy Cooper and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg in Canton Oct. 17.
Cory Vaillancourt photo
Western North Carolina’s small businesses, even those that suffered no damage, now occupy an unenviable position — struggling to rebuild and retain employees amid disruption to the transportation infrastructure that drives the tourist trade while still paying off COVID-era loans. Canton’s mayor is calling for help to avert a larger economic catastrophe. North Carolina’s governor and senior senator appear to be listening.
“Federal and state recovery plans must include direct grant assistance for small businesses,” said Canton Mayor Zeb Smathers in an Oct. 16 Facebook post. “Loans may be part of the solution, but most small businesses — especially those that have already weathered COVID and another disaster three years ago — cannot take on more debt, no matter how favorable the terms.”
Smathers was referring to loans provided by the Small Business Administration.
On Oct. 17, Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg toured hard-hit areas in Western North Carolina, starting in Asheville’s River Arts District before moving onto Canton and the Interstate 40 near the Tennessee line. With him were Republican Sen. Thom Tillis and Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper, who both addressed Smathers’ request.
“I think that the legislature is going to need to look at some kind of small business grant program to help them get on their feet, to encourage them to stay here,” Cooper said.
Cooper has already taken action, via an executive order increasing the state’s maximum weekly unemployment benefit from $350 to $600 until the state of emergency ends — currently slated for March 1, 2025 — or until it the executive order is rescinded. But Cooper still thinks there’s more to be done.
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“So my answer to that question is yes, we certainly want to work with federal authorities, because they’ve got little deeper pockets than we do,” he said.
Tillis, who like Cooper has been to Canton at least a half-dozen times since deadly flooding affected the town in 2021, cited BearWaters Brewing as a prime example; the riverside brewery was gutted three years ago, and again last month.
“I was talking with the owners of this brewery. I've been here since 2021 [when] we had Fred. That was a 100-year event three years ago. They have experienced a global pandemic, a 100-year event. They experienced Fred in 2021, now they've experienced Helene and they sought assistance, including, I believe, paycheck protection,” Tillis said. “We've got to figure out how we can take all of those disasters and maybe some of the relief that they've gotten, consolidate it, and let them restructure.”
Tillis added that state relief will also be important, because some communities would only qualify for narrowly construed federal funding, which alone may not be enough to bring some businesses back.
“We’ve got to work together on it,” Tillis said.
