NCLM Volume 70, Issue 4, 2020

NCLM.ORG 39 Talk of Our Towns This list of assistance is by no means extensive. These stories can be found far and wide—from the large cities above, all the way to the small western town of Dillsboro . In October, the town, popu- lation 232, launched a grant program to help its struggling local businesses. As reported by the Smoky Mountain News, Dillsboro leveraged $200,000 it received as part of a local bridge project. Those funds will go towards businesses needing to offset lost revenue and heightened expenses due to COVID-19. “The town board would like to help our businesses and restaurants that were forced to close as ‘non-essential’ back in March,” Mayor Mike Fitzgerald told the Smoky Mountain News. “This board was proactive in working to recover from the 2009 recession by partnering with WCU and funding grants to attract several anchor businesses. We want to continue that tradition now by using this money to help out. This will help our small owner- operator shops as well as our larger businesses.”