The mayor shared her enthusiasm about a potential business improvement district, or BID, in the city’s downtown.
Tag: small business
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Asheville’s bra shops offer support for all occasions
The women who own boutiques selling undergarments in Asheville know the search for the right bra can be a fraught experience (as many who’ve experienced a meltdown in the dressing room can attest).
Q&A with Jill Sparks, executive director of A-B Tech Business Incubation and Small Business Center
Unlike modern job-hoppers who switch roles every few years, Jill Sparks jokes that she’s a “monogamous worker.” She spent over six years at Appalachian State University, primarily in career planning services, and for the past 16 years, she’s worked at A-B Tech. As executive director of the community college’s Business Incubation and Small Business Center, […]
Q&A with Kareen Boncales, director of entrepreneurship at Mountain BizWorks
Many people who volunteer with the Peace Corps consider it a life-defining experience. Kareen Boncales is one of them. She served in Cameroon from 2009-11 in small enterprise development, teaching basic business skills to everyone from farmers to boutique owners. “I really admired that entrepreneurial spirit of turning challenges into opportunities,” she recalls. “I knew […]
Asheville Grown passes the baton
After 12 years helming the Asheville Grown Business Alliance, founder Franzi Charen is stepping aside. Her role will go to Sherree Lucas, who has served on the alliance’s steering committee for two years.
Meanwhile at the bird feeder
Corporate taking
Conference to focus on economic inclusion, equity
The third annual conference, “Bringing it Home: Building a Local Economy for Everyone,” will take place on Oct. 7 at the YMI Cultural Center in downtown Asheville.
In with a bang
Asheville, N.C.
Passing the torch: What happens when local business owners retire?
With 45 percent of business owners in Buncombe County alone facing retirement in the next decade, local groups and service providers are encouraging them to start planning for their company’s next chapter, while simultaneously devising ways to turn an impending crisis into an opportunity for employees to shoulder new responsibilities.
Asheville Small Business Week to host forums, give away iPad
The Asheville Small Business Week event series will highlight the importance of small businesses in the Asheville area from May 2-5.
Reality check: Mountain BizWorks gets $1.25 million from SBA
“Since 2006, Mountain BizWorks has participated in the SBA microlending program. In that time, it has provided SBA loans to over 80 startups and 150 existing businesses,” Mike Arriola commented. “But beyond the statistics, they are helping to create the American dream for individual entrepreneurs like Greg who just spoke.”
Mother Earth Produce wins big in Tap The Future semifinals
Local farm-to-door produce delivery service Mother Earth Produce won big last night in the the Miller Lite Tap The Future small-business competition semifinals in Atlanta, taking first place among a pool of 30 contestants and bringing home a $20,000 award.
Mountain Xpress gains living wage certification
While most Ashevilleans are aware of their city’s well-earned title of Beer City USA, Asheville is quietly gaining national attention for its vibrant Living Wage Certification program
MED Week’s entrepreneur of the year: Hector Romero
Hector Romero sees his life in Asheville as no accident. “God had it in my path that we should come to Asheville,” he says. “My wife and I loved Asheville, and so we set our eyes here.” But his journey to the Paris of the South was neither quick nor easy. Romero, who won the […]
Amazing Pizza Co. rolls out mobile franchise plan
Western North Carolina’s (and the nation’s) mobile food trend continues to roll along: Darren Stephens of Mills River believes he may have found a new market niche with mobile pizza kitchens. Nearly two years of research and development and about $60,000 pumped into the Asheville-area economy have yielded a compact, wood-fired oven that cranks out […]
Survey says Asheville unfriendly toward small businesses
If you’re thinking of starting up a small business in North Carolina, Asheville may not be the best choice according to a new Small Business Friendliness Survey from Thumbtack and the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. The survey, conducted over 38 states and 82 metropolitan areas and including responses from over 12,000 small business owners, ranked Asheville dead […]
Small-business lending: Growing the local economy, one loan at a time
Businesses need capital to grow. And strong local economies need ways to grow local businesses. But as local business owner Kudzai Mabunda learned, getting the money can be an arduous and frustrating process.
A Veterans Day PSA from the Small Business Administration
Nov. 11 is Veterans Day — a day set aside to honor veterans of the U.S. armed forces. On this day, we show our appreciation to all veterans for their service and sacrifice. The Small Business Administration staff is proud to support those who gave so much for our country. There are approximately 5 million […]
Some small businesses, especially young ones, simply cannot offer living wages
The "Working Should Keep You Out of Poverty" response by Hatz of Americorps VISTA in the May 19 Xpress [letters to the editor] is a wonderful ideal and one every small business should strive [to provide] for their employees. The reality is many small businesses, especially if in their formative years, are not in a […]
A week for small business
A host of events will be held during Small Business Week, April 19 through April 22. Here are a few. For more details, go to www.smallbusinessweekasheville.com. Small business celebration Monday, April 19, 5:30 to 7 p.m. Local small businesses will highlight their products or services at this fun networking event, hosted by the Asheville Area […]