ASHEVILLE, N.C. (WLOS) — Small business owners across western North Carolina participate in a roundtable discussion about their recovery experiences in the year and a half since Helene as they continue to navigate challenges.
The roundtable discussion can be watched on News 13 at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 29. An extended, web-only version will premiere on WLOS’s YouTube at 7 p.m.
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It’s hard to believe it’s been over a year and a half since Helene passed through western North Carolina, causing widespread damage and upending many lives. But over time, progress has also come.
The Antique Tobacco Barn was one of many local businesses that lost almost everything, but if you’ve driven past its location on Swannanoa River Road on a nice day, the full parking lot and cars parked along the street show it’s back open and better than ever.
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“We’ve seen a lot more of our locals than we did before the storm, and that might be counterbalancing what would have been like tourist traffic, but we have kind of been in the off season, and you know, coming back and seeing more of our locals was one of our main motivators of coming back in the first place,” Antique Tobacco Barn general manager Brittany Cort said.
News 13 sat down with other small business owners across western North Carolina for a roundtable discussion about their recovery experiences in the year and a half since the storm.
James Keith
NuWray Hotel in Burnsville
Nick Sottile
Chimney Rock Smokehouse
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Eddy Schoeffmann
Blunt Pretzels in Swannanoa
