Neeraj Kebede at Addissae Ethiopian Restaurant

Biz briefs: Buncombe continues to see high COVID-19 unemployme­nt, business closures

The county, North Carolina’s seventh-most populous, was fifth on the state’s list of counties by number of pandemic-related first-time unemployment insurance claimants in April. Of those claims, 21.7% were from workers in the leisure and hospitality industries, while 15.6% were from the trade, transportation and utilities sector.

Weathering the winter months: Addissae Ethiopian restaurant hopes for community support

Asheville’s first and only Ethiopian restaurant, Addissae, has fallen on hard times nearly a year after opening. The restaurant’s owners, Vicki Schomer and Neeraj Kebede, recently launched a GoFundMe campaign to elicit community support and help pay for the basic costs of rent, utilities, insurance and fees. “Recently we have depleted our resources and exhausted our […]