Latest news with #AshewellMedicalGroup
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
NC House's new Helene relief package includes grants for WNC small businesses
Depot Street in Asheville flooded during Hurricane Helene. Among those storefronts damaged was Ashewell Medical Group, Dr. Carly Brown's primary care clinic. (Photo: Courtesy of Carly Brown) Western North Carolina's small businesses and local governments would see grant money under a new relief package proposed by the state House, fulfilling longtime asks from the region. The House aid package, announced Wednesday, comes one day after Gov. Josh Stein asked for $891 million in new relief. He warned of slow and dwindling federal aid, saying the state would likely have to shoulder more of the burden going forward. Inside the $450 million House plan is $60 million to send disaster grants to small businesses in western North Carolina. Businesses could see up to 25% of their economic loss or $75,000, whichever is less, according to the bill. A grant program has been the number one request of the business community since Helene hit last fall. Lawmakers have previously opted to create loans, but many regional business owners have said they could not take on any more debt. Local governments would also see $50 million in grant money to help repair and replace infrastructure. That could help offset mounting costs for those governments as they face looming budget shortfalls, driven by both damages and lost tourism revenue. The money for the new aid package would come in part from the private nonprofit NC Innovation. Republican lawmakers have for months said they plan to claw back public dollars from the group to fund other priorities. Also included in the House's aid package: $70 million to qualify for continued reimbursement from the feds. $30 million to continue repairing private roads and bridges. $30 million for debris removal, including on farms. $25 million for construction on destroyed schools. $25 million to 'improve airport infrastructure' for the region to better respond to disaster. $25 million to rebuild farm infrastructure. $20 million for volunteer organizations aiding in recovery. $18 million for grants to fire stations and EMS. $15 million for firefighting equipment and Forest Service contract workers. $8 million to repair damaged schools. Lawmakers have thus far spent $1.4 billion total on relief for Hurricane Helene. Their last aid package, passed in March, laid out $524 million. That package prioritized aid for farmers and spinning up a state homebuilding program. The House plan is set to be considered by the appropriations committee Wednesday afternoon. Lawmakers in the chamber are also advancing their proposal for the state budget this week.
Yahoo
22-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Few were insured against Helene's floods. Those that were faced delays, frustrating hurdles
Depot Street in Asheville flooded during Hurricane Helene. Among those storefronts damaged was Ashewell Medical Group, Dr. Carly Brown's primary care clinic. (Photo: Courtesy of Carly Brown) Just a fraction of homes and businesses in western North Carolina were insured against the floodwaters that deluged the region during Hurricane Helene. An estimated 10.2% of commercial properties had FEMA-backed flood insurance, and just 5.2% of homes were protected. The low figures had devastating implications in the face of Helene, a lower-windspeed, heavy-rain storm that hit mountainous communities poorly acquainted with flooding. When the water subsided and recovery began, it became clear that many wouldn't be reimbursed for the kind of damage their buildings had suffered. But even for those that were protected, it's been a long road. Six months after Helene, some property owners looking for a bounce back through insurance have struggled to access it. It took until late March for one business owner to see any payment — and when it came, it was just a fraction of what she had expected. Another was able to recoup some flood money, but was bewildered when he was denied payment on other parts of his policies. And a larger group of business owners in the region's largest city are considering going to court to pursue money they believe they qualify for. Bryan and Angela King, who own 12 Bones Smokehouse & Brewing, filed claims on both of their locations: one on the river by Asheville's downtown River Arts District, and the other further south. The Kings had been paying into their insurance on the south location since it opened in 2019; they had put down around $300,000 total there, Bryan King estimated. They were able to get about $100,000 from flood insurance, he told NC Newsline, but they were denied reimbursement on two other policies: contents and business disruption. Contents insurance covers flood damage to movable objects within a building; business disruption insurance covers lost income, often after a disaster. King kept in frequent contact with other business owners in the area. He heard similar stories — particularly as others tried to navigate those same contents and business disruptions policies. Now, he told NC Newsline, a group of them are considering going to court over the matter. 'There's discussion of trying to pursue a class-action lawsuit,' King said in a late March interview. 'I honestly think that's basically going to be the only way that we get anything out of this.' North Carolinians who have sought insurance payouts in the months since Helene described other similar frustrations and bureaucratic hurdles that complicated an already fraught process. That includes homeowners who told the Asheville news station WLOS that they had received cancellation notices from their providers months after the storm. Among the other layers of complexity: adjusters who live out of state, multiple subcontractors and extensive documentation requirements. Carly Brown, who runs Ashewell Medical Group in Asheville, told NC Newsline her provider had subcontracted out to another group, which had then subcontracted out to another adjuster. When Brown finally received a flood insurance payment in late March — six months after the storm — it was a 'fraction of our losses.' Her practice's office had filled with 11 feet of flood water during the storm. She, too, has now engaged with a law firm. 'They just nickel and dime you after paying faithfully on a flood policy for eight years,' Brown said. 'You think you're doing everything right, being a responsible business owner and citizen. Then the insurance companies essentially keep all their profits, without upholding their responsibilities.' The Kings ran into other barriers as they filed their claims. They were told by their Utah-based adjuster that as part of their documentation, they needed a letter from Duke Energy testifying that the damage to their south Asheville location was from wind, and not water. That seemed unnecessary, Bryan King said — there was no real flooding in that area, but there were plenty of downed trees and power lines to show for the whipping winds. 'You definitely get the sense that it's like they're trying to make it as hard as possible,' he said. 'So that people just give up. Like, you know, 'screw it — I don't have time to work on this, I've got a business to run, and I don't think we're going to get it anyway.'' Duke Energy said customers could request a power outage verification letter by contacting the company's customer care team. 'During significant weather events, multiple factors can contribute to outages, making it difficult to identify a single cause of a power outage,' a Duke Energy spokesperson said in a statement to NC Newsline. 'Our primary focus is restoring power as quickly and safely as possible for our customers and communities.' The chair of the North Carolina House Insurance Committee, Rep. Jennifer Balkcom (R-Henderson), said she had heard from constituents about slogging through insurance in the region — specifically on business disruption claims, some of which are denied outright. 'I'm asking the insurance commissioner to kind of help me look into what's going on, and we're trying to get some specifics so that we can work with those individuals,' said Balkcom, whose district was among those that were hardest hit by Helene. There are around 150,000 flood insurance policies in place in North Carolina, according to FEMA and NC Department of Insurance data. The vast majority of those (around 130,000) are federal policies; the rest are private. Many of those policies are for properties in eastern North Carolina, which has been struck multiple times in recent decades by deadly hurricanes. The extent of the mountainous west's coverage pales in comparison: according to FEMA data, there are a total of just 1,295 federal policies in the region's most populous county of Buncombe and its communities, including Asheville. A total of 1.8 million North Carolinians live in the 25 counties that were part of Helene's disaster zone. Jason Tyson, communications director for the NC Department of Insurance, said in an interview that Helene had brought about 'a whole variety of situations and scenarios' in the region. The minimal flood coverage, he said, combined with early communication struggles and a host of different providers, often led to confusion. 'I think the industry and the carriers have done the best they can, in light of difficult circumstances,' Tyson said. The department has asked providers to report updated data on claims periodically in the months after Helene. The scope of that information is limited, as it does not include federal flood policies. And only data from one reporting deadline — January — is available publicly. NC Newsline requested and received claims data from October 2024. Data from the department's other reporting deadlines, in November and December, are not posted publicly and were not provided. But the data that is available gives a sense to how complex — and long — some flood claims can be. As of January, 32.4% of those private flood claims were closed. That's a far lower closure rate than other types of claims made after Helene. Residential property claims had closed at an 84.4% rate; just over 70% of business interruption claims had closed as of January. Those 547 reported private flood claims account for more than a half-billion dollars in damage, according to DOI's data. Just over $240 million had been paid as of January. The department is expected to have updated data from providers in the coming weeks. FEMA's federal flood insurance program (NFIP) paid out almost $214 million to North Carolinians in 2024, across more than 2,500 claims. That's roughly 20% of the total paid out by the program to the state over the last decade.
Yahoo
20-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Months after Helene, some western NC businesses reopen — with new debt and financial worries
Second Gear, an outdoor gear shop in Asheville, North Carolina. The store's previous building on the riverfront was destroyed during Hurricane Helene. (Photo: Courtesy of Russ Towers/Second Gear) After Hurricane Helene left his Asheville store beyond repair, Russ Towers had a plan — and the good fortune — to relocate. Second Gear, his outdoor gear shop, was almost entirely submerged at the peak of the storm's flooding. When the waters receded, the roof of the Riverside Drive building had collapsed. A month later, he had closed on a new lease across the river, in the Westgate Shopping Center. And by early December, Second Gear's doors were open again. 'I had some people that I didn't want to lose,' Towers said. 'I didn't want to wait until spring.' The quick pivot came with a price tag. Towers and his co-owners made loans to the business to get the new location off the ground. They were aided by a GoFundMe that exceeded their expectations, raising more than $40,000. Helene has cost them about $700,000 in total, Towers estimates. Second Gear isn't alone in carrying new financial burdens. Dr. Carly Brown, who runs the affordable primary care clinic Ashewell Medical Group, said repairs to the practice's 2,300 square-foot office would cost hundreds of thousands. And Jennifer and Jon Hartman, owners of the Marion restaurant J. Hartman's, have taken on debt to finance new equipment. All three have now reopened — thanks to a combination of saved capital and community fundraising. Direct aid from the government, though, has been hard to come by. The Hartmans received a grant through a county chamber program, but their restaurant and Brown's clinic haven't qualified for the biggest programs. Second Gear has received about $55,000 across four grants, including from the private sector. 'It helps, but it doesn't even come close to covering our loss,' Towers said. Lawmakers leading North Carolina's Helene recovery have created loan programs for businesses, but have so far resisted the idea of providing wide-ranging grants that they argue could be distributed irresponsibly. Business and industry leaders are continuing to push for more relief. Many other businesses, they say, haven't been able to reopen so quickly — and for them, the next few months will be a crossroads. 'They're just trying to find other ways to survive,' said Lynn Minges, president and CEO of the North Carolina Restaurant and Lodging Association. 'There's been a little relief here, a little of nonprofits helping a little bit along the way. But they really need some significant support in order to sustain.' Brown, who runs the Asheville clinic, opened a new line of credit and expanded another to finance the office's move. She's been working on applying for a loan from the Small Business Administration, too, but she has reservations. 'I'm very, very hesitant to take it, because they'll put a lien on my property if I do,' Brown said. The loan in question would feature a 30-year term, at a 4% interest rate — a 'generous' offer, she said. But there's no guarantee that Asheville's River Arts District, where the old office is located, ever makes a full recovery. 'I don't know that that area will come back,' Brown said. 'I don't want to throw good money after bad.' In addition to the SBA's federal loans, businesses in the mountains have been offered new state loans created by the legislature and the private sector. But many are shying away from those as well, because they're still paying off pandemic-era loans and are already too leveraged. 'We were aggressively paying on our COVID loan,' said Towers. 'We were trying to pay it off within 10 years.' Business advocates and Democratic officials have repeatedly pushed for the state to create grants for businesses — or at least make the loans forgivable. Republicans have been wary of doing so. One top lawmaker said earlier this month that he wanted to avoid major companies — 'the Walmarts or the Family Dollars' — from taking advantage of them. Grants would be 'essential' to keeping businesses afloat, a spokesperson for the Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce said in an email. There was still a 'large gap' between the damage absorbed by businesses and how much grant money was available, vice president of communications Erin Leonard said. The city chamber has launched a survey about Helene recovery, asking business owners to 'help inform decision-makers at the local, state and federal levels.' Gov. Josh Stein, a Democrat, has turned to the private sector to help fund grant programs. A $35 million program is providing grants to businesses that make $2.5 million or less annually, a higher threshold than the $1 million annual cap for earlier grants. The North Carolina Restaurant & Lodging Association's foundation also established a grant program to directly pay employees. To date, more than 1,800 hospitality workers have received pay through the $740,000 fund. 'I was super thankful for that,' said Hartman, whose restaurant workers were able to take advantage of the fund. 'I was looking for anything and everything, how to get them some financial assistance while we were down.' Republican lawmakers have in recent weeks signaled that grants, or forgivable loans, could be on the table going forward. The latest package for Helene relief, currently in the House, proposes a roundabout grant program — sending money to local governments, who can use it to repair 'infrastructure serving one or more small businesses.' But it does not propose allocating money to businesses directly. It's still unclear how quickly lawmakers will move to pass that package. The Senate leader has been mum on his plans, and winter weather set the process back another week. 'I'm not sure how much longer these businesses can survive,' said Minges, the head of the Restaurant and Lodging Association. 'They have debt already, loans that they're not able to pay back. They're just getting further and further behind. It is concerning.' Business owners are keeping an eye on both Jones Street and Washington. But some, like the Hartmans, are keeping their heads down and expectations in check. 'We had to just kind of stay in our own bubble,' said Hartman, who added that the state's response was 'a touchy subject' for some. 'And realize that we can't rely on or wait around for help that may or may not be coming from anywhere.' Still, frustrations remain. Brown pointed to her clinic's history — a successful, frontline medical practice that served as a testing site for Asheville during the pandemic. If she couldn't easily access the aid she needed, could anyone? 'One thing that feels very real for us here is to feel like we're kind of pawns in the political process,' Brown said. 'We do feel like the local politicians are really trying. But it does seem like we're wrapped in this bubble of federal issues, on top of state issues, on top of local issues. It just feels hard.'
