Haywood County’s initiative to extend small grants to local businesses wiped out by the floods last September could become a model for the rest of the state, according to Mark Clasby, the county’s economic development director.

While residential flood victims are eligible for federal aid from FEMA, businesses that lost everything are only offered low-interest loans. Many struggling small business said they couldn’t afford loans at a time when they lost their inventory and storefront, hampering their ability to generate revenue to repay a loan. That’s where the county stepped up to the plate, providing $134,000 in grants to approximately 60 businesses.

The amount was nominal — ranging from $1,000 to $5,000 — compared to estimated $5.1 million in damages sustained by those 60 businesses. But it made a difference whether some businesses bit the bullet and reopened after the devastation, Clasby said.

“It gave them encouragement was the big thing,” Clasby said.

The grants were allocated according to a special formula based on the number of years in business, number of employees, the value of the businesses equipment (gleaned from tax records), and financial need.

Clasby said the willingness of the county commissioners to jump on board with the initiative is admirable.

“We are the first county to ever do anything like this in the state of North Carolina,” Clasby said. Business receiving aid included the well-known Skeeter’s Barbeque and Corner Sandwich shop in Canton and the Clyde Trading Post and Pam’s Homemade Bread and Trantham Farm in the Bethel area.

— By Becky Johnson