After Hurricane Helene devastated western North Carolina in September 2024, Mitchell County leaders began to clean up and find ways for its community to recover. The Mitchell County Chamber of Commerce has always supported local business as they start up and grow. Along with the county’s Economic Development Commission, the economic recovery of the area focused on one plan: being OPEN FOR BUSINESS.
As the 2025 Creative Give Back recipient, Mitchell County Chamber of Commerce and Creative Economic Development Consulting worked together to develop resiliency and recovery strategies that focused on attracting more people to visit and experience Mitchell County, support business stability and growth, and build capacity for future economic resilience. The Mitchell County Chamber of Commerce has a central role in the county’s economic recovery. It promotes and connects local businesses. It also supports businesses starting up and growing. In partnership with the EDC, the Chamber helps build the community’s capacity to attract new businesses. This project, donated by Creative Economic Development Consulting, is designed to bolster the Chamber’s work in recovery and build long-term resilience.
Recovery and Resiliency Strategies include:
- Promoting Business – Shop and Spend Local
- Infrastructure and Access for Business
- Recovery Finance and Project Readiness
- Business Retention and Expansion (BRE)
- Stabilizing and Scaling Small Businesses
- Housing Recovery and Workforce Stability
- Building Workforce and Contractor Capacity
- Expanding Space for Growth
- Filling Market Gaps
- Alternative Business Models for Resiliency
The plan for recovery and resilience also includes recommendations to strengthen economic, community, and tourism development organizations:
- Develop a “Mitchell County Collaborative” to bring together all of the organizations involved in community, tourism, and economic development to share strategic plans, programs of work, annual event plans, and major initiatives planned and underway to further collaborative efforts.
- Unify and align the programs of work, marketing calendars, and events of Collaborative members.
- Complete a gaps analysis, identify joint funding opportunities, align funding requests, and identify a joint project or initiative.
- Explore opportunities for co-location and shared staff resources where value can be added to organizations and the work they do.
Read the full Mitchell County Chamber of Commerce Resilience and Recovery Strategy report.
The Creative Give Back is Creative Economic Development Consulting’s way to give
back to the field of economic development. Since 2014, Creative EDC has awarded one
consulting project a year through a competitive application process.