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Dear Go Local Loyalists,
October….Wow! Am I right? Not only is the weather beautiful (maybe a tad more rain would be nice) but it looks like, if I can judge by the full LaZoom and Gray Line buses, that the leaf peeping tourists are here, and with peak coming up, hopefully more are on their way! We couldn’t be more thankful! Even with the hard-to-find parking, crowded restaurants, bars and sidewalks, it seems a small price to pay to have our local independent businesses enjoying what’s shaping up to be a solid (maybe strong…still too early to say) October. And remember, when our retailers and food and beverage businesses are doing well, it bodes well for our service industry…the marketing, accounting, and financial service businesses that support them. In other words, it has a cascading impact we can certainly use right now!
Pumpkin patches, Halloween festivities, great hiking weather, cool mornings and evenings. There is so much to love about this month. Enjoy and whenever possible, support our local independent business community!
One final note…next month is when we begin preorders of our 2026 Go Local print card and we unveil the 2026 mascot! Stay tuned!!
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Go Local Businesses Show Up For Helene Recovery
Over the past 3 months, we’ve been sharing stories that were shared with us by Go Local business members about how they participated in the community recovery from Helene. While I won’t be sharing individual stories in this month’s newsletter, I want to make sure you know where you can find them on our website. Whenever you need to be inspired, uplifted, or reminded of the amount of kindness and generosity in the world, just go here: https://golocalasheville.com/business-of-community-stories
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$17 Million in Small Business Support On Its Way!
The City of Asheville has received $225M from HUD for Helene Recovery with $17 million  earmarked for small business support. With the process moving forward for grants, forgivable loans and technical assistance allocations for our small business community, you can imagine how that makes our heart sing! The City has created a “CDBG-DR Small Business Support Program Manual” for how to manage this allocation and if you’re interested, you can read it here. The process takes a while and the first grant allocations to small businesses probably won’t occur until the beginning of 2026. But when these monies come, they’ll going to help so many of our businesses turn the corner on recovery.
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Accessible Towns – The Launch of An Important Service for Asheville
Last month, Accessible Towns, Asheville’s go-to resource for discovering accessible dining,  drink, and attractions, launched in Asheville. I met with the founder, Katie Reph, before she launched, and was so impressed with what she wanted to do (make it easy for everyone to explore and enjoy the community) and why (to make sure everyone felt like they belonged). Two very worthy goals and so aligned with Asheville’s inclusive community vibe. They did this by creating an accessibility scoring system and then applying that equitably across each business in their database.
What is an accessibility score and how is it calculated? According to their website,
“…accessibility scores are designed to give you a quick, reliable overview of how easy it is to navigate the community and enjoy local businesses. With straightforward ratings, we help you make informed choices for a seamless experience. We have broken it down into 5 basic categories to assess the physical accessibility of the spaces. Each section is given a score, then all of the scores are totaled to determine each location’s rating.” The 5 categories are: parking, distance to parking, terrain/entrance, seating options and bathroom accessibility.
On their website accessibletowns.com, you can find an accessibility score by searching for a specific business by name or you can search a category to find and compare scores of several businesses.
Go Local is here to support this endeavor. It will help our locals and visitors who need this information to increase their accessibility and improve their quality of life (whether year round or the week or two they’re visiting) when they’re shopping, eating or attending an activity or event in our City.
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Upcoming Events and Requests for Participation
Through Instagram and Facebook, Go Local helps our businesses and partners share their upcoming events, including special promotions, collaborations, new products and services, and activities with our followers. If you’re a Go Local Cardholder, please follow us @GoLocalAsheville to see our stories, posts, comments and shares to keep up with our local independent business community. If you’re a Go Local business member, please be sure and tag us so we can see your post and help share it.
If you don’t use social media, AVL Today’s newsletter is a great way to find out what’s going on in our community. The Asheville Downtown Association posts downtown events on their website, and Mountain XPress and Citizen Times both include calendar of events in their print and online publications. But if you’re an active local like me, you probably already know all of this. So I’ll limit this space to things I want to make sure you’ve seen and hopefully, participate in or attend.
Riverbird Research, in partnership with local and state agencies, is conducting the Helene Business Feedback Survey for our business community one year after the storm to better understand recovery progress and on-going needs. If you feel you’ve seen this survey before, it is because you have. It is a survey that they’re conducting every 6 months to be able to report on recovery results over time. We know business situations have changed, and it’s important to understand how and to what degree. Whether your organization was severely affected, still recovering, fully recovered or largely unaffected, your input on this brief survey will provide valuable insight to inform regional recovery efforts and planning.
Here is the link and thank-you in advance for participating: https://www.ashevillechamber.org/helenesurvey
Two Chamber events next week you may want to put on your calendar if you haven’t already (and if you have, or you do, I look forward to seeing you there!)
Oct. 23 – Civic Conversations
Marking Progress, Envisioning the Future: A Conversation with County Leaders
Hear from Buncombe County Manager Avril Pinder and Buncombe County Commission Chair Amanda Edwards at this re-envisioned Legislative Update event. You’ll gain insights on Buncombe County’s progress towards recovery and rebuilding along with envisioning the future. In this intimate conversation moderated by Chamber VP of Public Policy Casey Gilbert, our panelists will discuss how planning initiatives underway (such as parks, small area plans, infrastructure, childcare, housing and economic mobility) intertwine to build back a stronger, more resilient community.
Please join us to celebrate how far we’ve come – and to hear how the community’s feedback is shaping where we go from here.
Registration required. https://web.ashevillechamber.org/events/Civic-Converations-9802/details
Oct. 27 – Policy on Tap: Business Resources
What resources are available right now to support business – and what’s on the horizon? Join us for a conversation with local champions who are driving programs, technical assistance, access to capital, and disaster relief efforts for our business community. Come hear timely updates, discover resources that could benefit you now or later, and connect with fellow business leaders who care about building a stronger, more resilient business community. Speakers include James Shelton, Community Development Division Manager, City of Asheville; Marcus Kirkman, Business Inclusion Manager, City of Asheville; and Christine Laucher, Strategic Partnership Manager, Mountain BizWorks. Free registration at: https://web.ashevillechamber.org/events/Policy-on-Tap-Business-Resources-Supports-9713/details
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The Trolls Are Coming! And so are the Asheville Sessions!
(Note: This is an updated post from September and will serve as a reminder if you haven’t purchased tickets yet!)
Fall is here, and with it comes some great events. There are two really, really special ones you need to be sure you get your tickets soon!
First, the Trolls…I am beyond excited! The North Carolina Arboretum is hosting the U.S.  premiere of Trolls: A Field Study, an outdoor art exhibition by Danish artist Thomas Dambo. From November 15, 2025, to February 17, 2026, twelve whimsical trolls, each 7 to 9 feet tall and made from reclaimed materials like wood pallets and branches, will be on display throughout the Arboretum’s gardens and trails. Six of the trolls will also be featured in the Arboretum’s Winter Lights show from November 15 to January 4. The trolls, who are on their first North American tour, are described as “explorers” embarking on a journey to learn about humanity, and visitors can use a “treasure map” to find them. The exhibition aims to inspire a sense of wonder and connection to the natural world while showing how recycled materials can be turned into something beautiful.
Admission to Trolls: A Field Study is included in the standard Arboretum parking fee. Advance tickets are not required.
Second, Asheville Sessions, November 6th thru November 9th. To all of you music lovers,  especially the ones who love the history of Appalachian music, listen up! In August 1925, 100 years ago, producer Ralph Peer set up a temporary recording studio in Asheville’s George Vanderbilt Hotel, where he recorded fiddlers, banjo players, and singers from the region for ten days. These “Asheville Sessions” became the first commercial recordings ever made in Appalachia, capturing a variety of genres from gospel to blues and vaudeville. Often considered the precursor to the more famous 1927 Bristol Sessions, these recordings are seen as having “lit the fuse” for the explosion of American roots music by proving the rich musical talent in the mountains. To celebrate the 100-year anniversary, Asheville is releasing remastered versions of the original recordings on CD and vinyl on August 25, 2025, and will host a four-day celebration with concerts from November 6-9, 2025. Additionally, reimagined versions of the century-old songs by contemporary artists are planned for release in 2026. To read more about this historic event, and to get tickets, go here.
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Thank-you, Newsletter Subscribers, for all you do for our community. Please don’t hesitate to contact me at sherree@golocalasheville with any questions or comments about the newsletter.
You Local Loyalist,
Sherree
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