NC Offers $500K Grant Fund to Mitigate Layoffs After Hurricane Helene

New Support Fund Announced for Businesses Affected by Hurricane Helene in Western North Carolina

The North Carolina Department of Commerce has announced a new initiative aimed at providing financial support to businesses impacted by the recent Hurricane Helene. This initiative, known as the Hurricane Helene Business Edge Fund, allocates $500,000 in grant funding to assist local workforce boards in the most affected areas, with a focus on retaining jobs and sustaining businesses.

“This innovative grant program is one of numerous tools we are using to support long-term economic recovery for western North Carolina,” stated N.C. Commerce Secretary Lee Lilley. “It is essential that we help employers, particularly small businesses, to save jobs, adapt and rebuild.”

Administered by the Governor’s Rapid Response program within the Division of Workforce Solutions (DWS), the Business Edge initiative is designed to assist employers in minimizing layoffs, offering strategies throughout various business life stages.

Regional workforce development boards are invited to apply for these funds, which can then be dispensed as grants up to $10,000 to qualifying businesses and community entities.

Eligible applicants must be situated in specific counties recognized for significant business disruption, including Ashe, Avery, Burke, Buncombe, Caldwell, Haywood, Henderson, Madison, McDowell, Mitchell, Polk, Rutherford, Transylvania, Watauga, and Yancey.

To qualify, businesses must satisfy several criteria: they should have been operational for at least two years, maintain current Unemployment Insurance (UI) tax payments, and uphold good standing with the IRS. Applications must clearly illustrate the need for layoff aversion support and provide a viable plan for fund utilization. Local boards may impose additional application necessities.

Funds from the Hurricane Helene Business Edge Fund can be allocated to various layoff aversion activities, such as Incumbent Worker Training, setting up Internet and remote access tools, enabling online sales or delivery services, acquiring cleaning and sanitation supplies, conducting risk assessments, and other innovative methods to prevent layoffs.

Restrictions apply to fund usage; it cannot cover items or services insured, hazard pay, rent, employee wages and benefits, specific employee support services, or improvements that constitute business capital assets.

This initiative is part of a broader WIOA Rapid Response project fully funded by the Employment and Training Administration of the U.S. Department of Labor, with North Carolina receiving an award of $5,261,492.