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The ripple effects of Hurricane Helene are being felt locally beyond the physical damage to homes, life and property.
Just ask Mike Young.
Owner of the popular Falls Landing restaurant in downtown Brevard, Young said since Helene roared through, his business is down at least 50%.
“I expect it to get worse,” said Young. “Here, October is just as busy as July. We won’t have an October and I’m worried about that.”
Like Young, Cindy Wilson, owner of Hoppy Dreams Sleep Company, is seeing the worst of things.
“We have seen a devastating drop in visitors and tourists,” said Wilson. “My store and all my neighboring businesses are suffering. When we get together and visit each other’s stores, it is because of the lack of customers. I love all the businesses around me and only want us to prosper.”
Comments from Young and Wilson reflect a collective sense of angst among owners and employees not only in downtown Brevard but throughout Transylvania County.
Just as they ramped up for the colorful fall season and the usual influx of tourists, the hurricane slammed the door on visitors. Messages continue to caution out-of-town visitors to stay away from western North Carolina.
Anna Bracco has been Earthshine Lodge’s co-owner for five years. The Lake Toxaway business provides visitors overnight stays, retreats, outdoor education, adventure programs and events.
“We’ve lost a lot of business just in two weeks,” said Bracco, calculating already $60,000 in contracts have been lost, including a family reunion, wedding and overnight school field trips.
“It’s bleeding into the next month as people are concerned to travel,” she said. “It’s going to drastically effect our ability to give hours to staff, at a time when everybody needs it, and pay the bills.”
TOURISM ECONOMY
Clark Lovelace, Transylvania County Tourism Development Authority’s executive director, provided the county’s most recent visitor impact data collected from 2023.
In Transylvania County, $195.10 million was received in tourism revenue, made up of $48.10 million spent on lodging, $57.81 million for food and beverage, $28.86 million in recreation, $17.26 million in retail and $43.08 million in transportation.
In 2023, tourism generated $6 million in state tax revenue and $7.4 million in local tax revenue. Tourism provided 1,175 jobs resulting in $50.9 million for payroll.
The visitor-to-resident ratio in 2022 was .45, meaning, on average there was nearly one visitor in the county for every two residents. The average visitor spent $300.84.
In fiscal year 2024, $1,987,161 was collected in monthly occupancy tax with the most lucrative months being July, followed by June and then October. Transylvania County had 1,755 short-term rental units available in 2023.
The visitor center in downtown Brevard tracks visitors. In October 2023, it tracked 2,056 visitors. This month, it tallied 379 visitors as of Oct. 17.
Nicole Bentley, executive director of Heart of Brevard, said local businesses are nervous; dollars spent during the fall give stores a cushion to carry themselves through the winter months.
The ripple effect of businesses not doing well also impacts their supply chain of artisans, employees and other local vendors.
HOB board chair Billy Parrish likens the trickle down affect to a business ecosystem where store owners and suppliers rely on each other. If no one comes to the area to enjoy small businesses, he said, “it will bring a second wave of economic cataclysm.”
He said while downtown Brevard was “relatively unscathed physically, we are focused on what is next after the physical recovery is completed. We have to make sure businesses can recover now and through the winter.”
SHOP LOCAL
“We have to reach out first to our friends and neighbors that we’d love to see them,” said Parish. A second piece is communication to second home and seasonal residents, recommended Parrish, on what they can do to support small businesses downtown and in the county. The third leg of the communication tripod is more complex: how to thoughtfully encourage traditional visitors’ understanding that not all amenities are open, including state and national forests and road closures.
Richard DeAngelis and his family of Lakeland, Florida escaped the onslaught of Hurricane Milton to seek refuge in Brevard. As he walked with a bag of purchases from Main Street stores last week, DeAngelis lauded the notion of shopping locally and he pinned his enthusiasm on his view that “it’s in the DNA of Brevard” to provide good service.
DeAngelis would rather make his buying decisions based “on the quality of the person (helping the customer) over the quality of the goods you buy. There seems to be a kindred-ship among store owners because they seem to be friendly to each other and engage with the community and that shows through.”
Brevard, he said, “has more to offer than cities 10 times its size. Here you can get what you need and it has a good food scene, too.”
To DeAngelis’ point, Milton has put the shoe on the other foot shopping-wise.
Young of Falls Landing said Brevard has benefitted from storms in Florida. The inference is that now Brevard is in position to aid Floridians who in turn can benefit Transylvania County.
There is a sense of urgency when it comes to business survivability and local support.
“When we say ‘shop locally,’ everyone plays a critical role in helping these businesses survive,” said Bentley. “The storm brought us together in an intentional way to support business is part of the recovery. The people who own these businesses are our neighbors and our friends.”
Small businesses help “provide a sense of place and community and without small businesses we simply don’t have that,” she said. “We want people to put money where their heart is,” including Cedar Mountain, Rosman and the upper county and in all our communities that need support during this period of recovery.
TRANSYLVANIA TOMORROW
Grants will be available through the Transylvania Tomorrow Fund. This approach came to the rescue of many businesses when COVID-19 knocked local stores for a loop. More than 111 stores received grants totaling $250,000, a model that has being resurrected post-Helene.
HOB, the Brevard / Transylvania Chamber of Commerce, the Transylvania County Tourism Development Authority and the Transylvania Economic Alliance have huddled together frequently in the days since the water receded to find solutions to help local businesses throughout the county cope with the loss of tourism revenue including pinpointing resources, relaying information from FEMA and other federal disaster assistance.
On Monday, Oct. 24, “Transylvania Tomorrow: After Hurricane Helene” will take place at 4 p.m. at Oskar Blues Brewery in Brevard. Business resources for disaster relief will be identified by speakers from the U.S. Small Business Administration, NC Works and Mountain Bizworks. All are welcome to this free community-wide event. For more information visit brevardnc.org.
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