Topics Related to Community

Today Renew NC, North Carolina’s housing recovery program, announced that the deadline for western North Carolina homeowners to apply for assistance through the Single-Family Housing Program (SFHP) has been extended to January 31. The extension provides one additional month for homeowners to submit applications for help with repairing, reconstructing, or replacing homes damaged by Hurricane Helene. North Carolina got its federally funded housing program up and running faster than any other Helene-impacted state.

Today Governor Josh Stein announced that the State is accepting applications for a new disaster recovery program to repair or rebuild small rental properties in western North Carolina that were damaged or destroyed by Hurricane Helene. The Small Rental Rehabilitation Program is the second Renew NC recovery initiative to be offered by the North Carolina Department of Commerce’s Division of Community Revitalization.

Governor Josh Stein announced this week that more than $7 million in economic development grants benefiting 15 North Carolina counties has been awarded by the Southeast Crescent Regional Commission (SCRC). The grants will support job creation and retention, investments in critical infrastructure that fuel economic growth, and strengthened workforce development pipelines through targeted training and education.

Governor Josh Stein today announced that the Rural Infrastructure Authority (RIA) has approved 15 grant requests for local governments totaling $5,042,113. The grants include commitments to creating a total of 702 jobs, 386 of which were previously announced. The public investment in these projects is expected to attract more than $104 million in private sector investment.

Today, the North Carolina Department of Commerce announced the county tier designations for 2026. The designations, which are mandated by state law, play a role in several programs that assist in economic development.Eighteen counties will change tier designations for 2026.Counties moving to a less distressed tier ranking include Beaufort, Camden, Davie, Graham, Macon, Montgomery, Randolph, Stanly, and Surry.Counties moving to a more distressed tier ranking include Buncombe, Burke, Granville, Haywood, Henderson, Jones, Madison, Pasquotank, and Yancey.

Today Governor Josh Stein and NC Department of Commerce Secretary Lee Lilley visited a completed home rehabilitation project in Fairview to highlight Renew NC’s work to repair and rebuild homes damaged by Hurricane Helene.

Governor Josh Stein today announced that 19 new small busine

Governor Josh Stein today announced that the Rural Infrastructure Authority (RIA) has approved 21 grant requests for local governments totaling $9,815,885. The grants include commitments creating a total of 758 jobs, 489 of which were previously announced. The public investment in these projects is expected to attract more than $179 million in private and public investment.

In the 12 months since Hurricane Helene damaged Western North Carolina, Governor Josh Stein’s Commerce Department has launched a new division to put $1.4 billion of federal recovery dollars to work, accepted more than 3,400 applications from homeowners seeking recovery help, encouraged tourists to return to the mountains, and paid more than $96 million in disaster-related unemployment insurance benefits to people in need. These key milestones in the state’s ongoing recovery efforts reaffirm North Carolina’s commitment to help families, workers, and businesses rebuild stronger than ever.

Renew NC, North Carolina’s long-term disaster recovery effort, today finished making storm-related repairs to the first home approved for assistance through the Renew NC Single-Family Housing Program (SFHP). Renew NC is funded by a federal Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).