Due to the county’s heavy reliance on tourism — an industry especially vulnerable to travel and business restrictions imposed to reduce the spread of COVID-19 — Budget Director Jennifer Barnette estimated that April, May and June would all see sales tax receipts 35% less than in 2019.
The longest economic party in U.S. history isn’t quite over yet, economist Bernard Baumohl told a capacity crowd at the Metro Economy Outlook hosted by the Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce on Oct. 24. But fears of recession and “acts of human folly” clouded his assessment of otherwise strong market fundamentals.
Just in time for the chill of fall, The Bull and Beggar has opened its doors for the revival of Charlie Hodge’s Recession Proof Mixology, or RPM. Hodge began the project at Chestnut before bringing the program of affordable cocktails and bar food to the River Arts District for the first time last Monday night.
After sharing 42 slides worth of charts, data and graphs, an independent economic consultant speaking to local doctors, health advocates, politicians and board members at the Feb. 22 meeting of the Buncombe County Department of Health and Human Services made a conclusion: Though the recession started five years ago, the numbers show that Buncombe County still has “a ways to go.” Highlights of the presentation, along with the full presentation, can be found in this post. (Slide image courtesy of SYNEVA Economics)
The recent announcement that Internet giant Facebook will be creating a data center in Rutherford County was the big news at AdvantageWest’s Nov. 15 Economic Summit. Just before the panel discussion began in the Diana Wortham Theatre, Thomas Jenkins, board chair for the public/private regional development agency, referenced the good news, joking, “I want you […]
Asheville City Council began its annual planning process Friday afternoon with a stark assessment from the city’s top management: The recession has exposed “structural weaknesses in the city’s financial foundation” that will require a long-term City Council strategy to repair.
New numbers from the N.C. Employment Security Commission show a continued increase in unemployment rates for Asheville, Buncombe County and North Carolina.
Asheville Mayor Terry Bellamy is urging residents to buy savings bonds to combat the national economic crisis.
A reader’s call-in question led Xpress from plastics to thieves this week. At the start, we set out to find out why some plastic can be recycled and some can’t. We got an answer but then stumbled upon a perplexing trend in the world of recycling: thieves who’ll snatch up aluminum cans, washers and dryers, […]
The sky isn’t falling, but at the Asheville City Council’s April 15 work session, Council members were told that the city can expect tight budgets and lean times for the next few years—probably moving some Council priorities to the back burner. That includes such items as property-tax relief, various major capital-improvement projects, and assorted environmental […]
