While county relief has heretofore been available only in the form of low-interest loans, businesses will now be able to seek grants of $5,000 to hire or rehire employees at a living wage. Staff had previously believed such a grant program to be illegal but had since received updated guidance from the UNC School of Government.
![Buncombe County seal](https://mountainx.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/CountySeal.gif)