With President Joe Biden’s approval of Governor Roy Cooper’s requested disaster declaration for North Carolina counties impacted by Tropical Storm Fred, the Golden LEAF Foundation and the NC Rural Center have reactivated their disaster recovery loan program, which is now accepting applications from small-business owners in the eligible counties of Avery, Buncombe, Haywood, Madison, Transylvania, Watauga, and Yancey.
Operated by the Rural Center’s nonprofit subsidiary, Thread Capital, the disaster recovery loans (Resilient Recovery and Resilient Recovery Express) provide small businesses with low-interest capital to assist in the aftermath of a natural disaster, including meeting payroll, covering cleanup costs, and replacing lost revenue. Small-business owners can apply for disaster recovery loans at threadcap.org/disaster-recovery. In addition to completing an online application, business owners should be prepared to provide tax returns and minimal additional information.
“The Golden LEAF Foundation recognizes the critical role small-business owners play in our state’s economy,” said Golden LEAF Foundation President, Chief Executive Officer Scott T. Hamilton. “These businesses and the communities they serve stand a better chance of surviving when we respond quickly to their needs following natural disasters.”
Thread Capital’s disaster recovery lending programs address both the short- and long-term needs of small businesses affected by natural disasters. In the weeks following Hurricane Florence in 2018, Thread Capital made 71 disaster recovery loans in partnership with the Golden LEAF Foundation to affected businesses and helped retain more than 1,100 jobs.
“We’ve seen the physical damage hurricanes and tropical storms can bring to North Carolina, but the long-term economic impact is just as devastating,” said Jonathan Brereton, executive director of Thread Capital. “With the Resilient Recovery and Resilient Recovery Express loan products we can ensure that small businesses have the resources they need to quickly and strategically rebuild after a natural disaster, which is crucial for the future of our state’s economy.”
To learn more about Thread Capital’s disaster recovery loans and start an application for an eligible business, visit threadcap.org/disaster-recovery.
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About Golden LEAF
The Golden LEAF Foundation is a nonprofit organization established in 1999 to receive a portion of North Carolina’s funding from the 1998 Master Settlement Agreement with cigarette manufacturers. For 20 years, Golden LEAF has worked to increase economic opportunity in North Carolina’s rural and tobacco-dependent communities through leadership in grantmaking, collaboration, innovation, and stewardship as an independent and perpetual foundation.
The Foundation has provided lasting impact to tobacco-dependent, economically distressed and rural areas of the state by helping create 66,000 jobs, over half a billion dollars in new payrolls and more than 90,000 workers trained or retrained for higher wages. For more information about Golden LEAF and our programs, please visit our website at www.goldenleaf.org.
About the NC Rural Center
For 30 years, the NC Rural Center has worked to develop, promote, and implement sound economic strategies to improve the quality of life of rural North Carolinians. The Rural Center serves the state’s 80 rural counties, with a special focus on individuals with low-to-moderate incomes and communities with limited resources.
About Thread Capital
Thread Capital is a nonprofit organization committed to building a more robust, inclusive ecosystem of entrepreneurship in North Carolina, one that gives everyone an opportunity to achieve their small business dreams. We do that by weaving together capital, coaching, and connections to create a new era of entrepreneurship across the state.
For more information, contact:
Todd Brantley
Vice President of Public Affairs
NC Rural Center
[email protected]
919.250.4314