Asheville Grant Rules Shut Out Shop Just Outside City Limits

Jazmine Whitmore, owner of More to Love Plus Size Consignment, said she cannot apply for Asheville's business recovery grants because her store sits outside the city limits even though it has an Asheville mailing address, WLOS reported on October 30, 2026.

Whitmore said her business has taken on $60,000 in debt from loans after closing for a month without power and water following Hurricane Helene, followed by slow sales. She said she had already been recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic slowdown when the storm hit. "Those bills keep coming, and they keep coming," Whitmore said.

The grant application opened earlier in 2026. Matt Raker, director of Mountain BizWorks, which helped administer the program, said the city funded the grants with federal disaster recovery money and named small business recovery a priority in its application. The state, which received federal funding for areas outside Asheville, directed its initial funding toward other needs, including housing, Raker said.

Whitmore said she has not found a comparable grant program open to businesses at her address, according to WLOS.

This story was first reported by WLOS.