Asheville committee previews economic-recovery plan; staff cites FAST team, business-inclusion wins

Asheville City Council’s Planning, Economic Development and Environment Committee heard an economic-recovery update July 15 that detailed near-term assistance and longer-range planning to move recovery work from emergency response toward an organized strategic program.

City staff presented results from the FAST team, short-term grant allocations, technical-assistance workshops, and outreach efforts intended to prepare the city to deploy Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) funds. “This goal number one is really about ensuring that businesses have access to resources,” said Steph Munson Dahl, planning and urban design director for the City of Asheville, describing resources as “funding, technical assistance, and access to staff.”

The presentation framed recovery under four Council priorities: (1) ensuring businesses impacted by the disaster have access to recovery resources; (2) strengthening outreach to underrepresented businesses; (3) expanding the city’s contractor pool; and (4) enhancing Asheville’s economy through a diversified, sustainable base. Nikki Reed, director of Community and Economic Development, said the briefing also previewed an upcoming Urban Land Institute advisory panel that staff expect will refine the city’s recovery work plan and inform use of CDBG-DR…