Tough the Economic Development Coalition is a public-private partnership funded by Buncombe County, the City of Asheville, the Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce, and private investors through the AVL 5x5 Campaign, local governments make the decisions about awarding incentives with regard to recruitment of industry to the area.

The City of Asheville’s Economic Development Specialist Rachel Taylor said the EDC provides much of the marketing for business recruitment, providing details about the economy, workforce, and potential work sites, working directly with companies until the interested company is ready to move forward. At that time, the new company will engage with the City and Buncombe County, who are often both involved with  economic development projects.

The City, County, and the State of NC are all able to provide incentives to businesses moving into the area. There are different incentive tiers based on levels of company investment. These governments work to gain a well-rounded picture of the company’s plans and what they can offer to the area and work together to develop incentive offers based on that determination.

“North Carolina used to have more restrictions around business incentives than other states, but after a big industry loss, the state changed its mind,” Taylor said. “There are pros and cons to incentives, and we want to make sure those are balanced with an appropriate impact on taxes, and the companies entering the region fit with the overall AVL 5X5 plan we have in place.”

Riverbird Research, a market research team established by the Chamber, provides a potential economic impact analysis of incoming companies. The analysis includes potential impacts to property taxes and property values, as well as the effects of job creation and wages paid to members of the community. Once determined appropriate, incentives in the form of economic development grants are offered to incoming businesses.

Not all potential projects are supported by the City or County governments. Local governments are focused on predetermined sectors for growth and also consider sustainable development as well as social and environmental goals.

“We want to have projects that are successful and everyone can be excited about,” Taylor said. “We don’t tend to consider projects that are not a good fit.”

Taylor said an example of a good fit across all aspects was New Belgium Brewing Company coming to Asheville. There were opportunities for investments and buy-ins from multiple sectors, and the company wanted to invest in community growth by improving sections of the River Arts District and developing greenways because they were interested in a location that both their employees and the community could enjoy.

Local small businesses are also supported through a variety of community development block grants. Funds go toward activities at organizations like Mountain BizWorks, the Western Women’s Business Center, and a loan program with the Mountain Community Capital Fund. These types of funds can help small businesses or historically underrepresented business owners. 

“We want to make sure everyone is getting their needs met,” Taylor said. “We work intentionally around business retention and engagement, maintaining a strategic plan of what that looks like for all businesses as well as the community.”