Small Business Infrastructure Grant Program (SmBIZ)

Grant Overview

Three rounds of the Small Business Infrastructure Grant Program have already moved $29.6 million into 41 Helene-damaged communities across western North Carolina. Roughly $23-25 million remains^[7], and the next quarterly award date is approaching. The name says “small business” but the money flows through local governments – towns and counties – to repair the publicly owned sidewalks, water lines, sewer pipes, storm drains, and utility infrastructure that those businesses depend on.

And here is the fact that changes everything for understaffed rural offices: the official guidelines allow your local government to hire a contract administrator or grant consultant to prepare and manage the application while keeping legal and financial accountability with the town.^[2] That single clause, buried in the program’s technical document, means the application does not have to live on a town clerk’s desk alongside everything else Helene left behind.

Key Grant Information

Active

22 days left

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Small Business Infrastructure Grant Program (SmBIZ)

Funded by NC Department of Commerce | Rural Economic Development Division

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Grant Snapshot

Grant Award

$1,000,000

Application Deadline

May 31, 2026 22 days left

Eligible Region

North Carolina, United States

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Eligibility and Benefits

Eligibility Criteria

• Local government (city/county) in Helene-designated county
• Must be within the 26-county FEMA disaster area or Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians
• Publicly owned infrastructure serving businesses with 150 or fewer employees
• Verified via NCUI101 quarterly wage reports from each beneficiary business
• Infrastructure damaged by Hurricane Helene specifically
• Must demonstrate with photos and documentation
• Eligible project type (water/sewer/gas/telecom/electric/sidewalk/curb/stormwater)
• Buildings, roads, parking lots, and land acquisition are ineligible

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Focus Areas

small business infrastructure grant SmBIZ NC Helene recovery

The eligibility tool below walks through the core requirements. It asks the same questions the Rural Connect portal will ask, but with explanations for what each question actually means. Answer honestly. If a red flag surfaces early, you will know exactly where to focus before committing hours to the full application.

What a funded project looks like

The best way to understand SmBIZ is to look at what has already been awarded. In Round 2 alone, the City of Asheville secured three separate awards totaling close to $2.5 million for historic sidewalk restoration, ADA-ramp reconstruction, and curb replacement throughout Biltmore Village – infrastructure that serves multiple small businesses in one of the hardest-hit commercial districts.^[6] The Town of Bakersville, a much smaller community, landed four awards in Round 3, covering everything from reinforced concrete retaining walls to critical flood-damaged infrastructure. Morganton received $1 million for its River Village Boardwalk. Bryson City used an emergency-track award to install 1,600 feet of water main under the Tuckasegee River – off the standard quarterly calendar entirely.

These are active construction projects, priced from $80,000 to the $1 million cap, spread across water, sewer, sidewalks, stormwater systems, and buried utilities. The average award across 41 projects sits around $722,000, so a well-prepared application from a town with visible Helene damage and the right supporting documents has a genuine path to serious funding.

Who actually applies – and who can help

Only local governments can apply. A restaurant owner cannot submit directly. A downtown merchants’ association cannot submit. This is the most common bounce point for small business owners who land on this page, and I want to handle it before you leave.

If you own a business in an eligible county and your storefront is still dealing with damaged sidewalks, failing drainage, or unreliable utility service, your path is through your town hall. But you do not have to be the one who assembles the application. The SmBIZ guidelines explicitly state: “The local government is legally, financially, contractually, and programmatically responsible for the project, even if the local government employs a contract administrator or contracts with a sub-recipient for the project.”^[2]

That means your town can hire a grant consultant, a contract administrator, or an outside firm to handle every step of the application – from narrative writing to engineering report coordination to NCUI101 form collection – while elected officials retain accountability. For a rural town with a three-person administrative staff already stretched thin by ongoing recovery, this clause is what makes the application actually feasible.

What infrastructure qualifies – and what does not

The eligible categories are specific and not negotiable:

What does not qualify: building construction of any kind (vertical improvements), roadways and parking lots, land acquisition, privately owned infrastructure or anything maintained by an individual business, and any cost incurred before the award date except limited application preparation expenses. If your project is a road repaving, a parking lot expansion, or a privately owned HVAC replacement, SmBIZ will reject it outright.

The 11-document application, grouped for your sanity

I am not going to list 11 requirements as a flat wall of text that makes you close the tab. Every town manager who has glanced at the SmBIZ guidelines knows the real work is the coordination. So here is the document load organized by what kind of effort each piece demands, and what relief options exist.

Group 1: Government Authorization

• Board-approved Local Government Resolution authorizing the specific project and application amount
• Local Government Certifications Document

These require a board meeting and formal vote. The timing of your next board meeting relative to the quarterly award date is the real gate. If your board meets monthly and your project is not on the agenda yet, count backward from the next award date and plan accordingly.

Group 2: Business Verification

• Business Listing Excel Template with names, addresses, and employee counts for every benefiting business
• NCUI101 Forms – quarterly unemployment insurance wage reports from the North Carolina Department of Labor for each beneficiary business

The Business Listing is straightforward. The NCUI101 collection is the hardest coordination task in the entire application. You become both grant applicant and collections agent for multiple external parties. You must contact every business whose property fronts the infrastructure you want to repair and ask them to provide quarterly wage reports that prove they have 150 or fewer employees.

Group 3: Technical Documentation

• Project map with labeled infrastructure and adjacent businesses
• Preliminary Engineering Report (PER) with certified cost estimates from a licensed professional
• Photos of pre- and post-damage conditions demonstrating Helene impact
• Project timeline

The PER is a professional engineering deliverable. Getting a cost estimate, map, and photos together will take weeks. The 20% advance payment exists specifically to help with this front-loaded cost.^[1]

Group 4: Narrative Responses and Compliance

• Five narrative responses in the Rural Connect portal covering project description, Helene damage documentation, small business benefit explanation, timeline, and budget justification
• State Historic Preservation Office documentation if the project affects historic properties

The narratives need to be specific and paired with the technical attachments. If your town does not have a grant writer on staff – and most small western NC towns do not – the consultant allowance from the guidelines matters here: an outside grant professional can draft every narrative while your team focuses on the technical pieces.

Start Full Application Submission

Your Grant Assessment fee is non-refundable, but the base assessment fee can be deducted once toward the same grant’s Full Application when you choose the optional checkbox at checkout.

The county cap is a silent deadline

SmBIZ has a $5.5 million per-county maximum – 10% of the total $55 million program. That sounds generous until you see what happened in Round 2 and Round 3. Asheville received three awards in one round totaling approximately $2.49 million. In Round 3, Mitchell County saw at least $3.3 million in awards across Bakersville and Spruce Pine. A county cap that looks comfortable on paper can evaporate in one or two award cycles once multi-project applications start stacking.^[6]

There is no public real-time tracker for county cap status. The only way to check is to call Hazel Edmond, the program’s Director of Rural Engagement & Investment, at 984-297-5082. Ask for your county’s remaining allocation before you spend a dollar on engineering or application preparation.

Tier 1 and Tier 2 counties get special consideration

The SmBIZ guidelines include a line that no competitor coverage mentions: “Special consideration will be given to local governments in Tier 1 and Tier 2 Counties.”^[4] Tier 1 covers the 40 most economically distressed counties in North Carolina, Tier 2 the next 40. Most of the Helene-affected area falls into Tier 1 or 2. The guidelines do not explain exactly how this consideration modifies the first-come-first-served order – it is a preference signal, not a separate scoring track – but it matters. If your county qualifies, mention it plainly in the application narrative.

The emergency track exists, but the criteria are not public

In fall 2025, Bryson City received $1 million for a water main under the Tuckasegee River on September 16, well outside the quarterly award calendar. Maggie Valley followed with two emergency awards totaling over $1.5 million on October 23 for sewer pipe and bridge replacement. These were off-cycle, emergency-designation awards. The guidelines confirm the emergency track exists, but the specific criteria that distinguish an emergency application from a standard one are not published. If your town has critical infrastructure failure with immediate public health or safety risk, reach out to the program contact directly about emergency designation.

Business owner? Here is your advocacy script.

If you are a business owner in an eligible county and your downtown infrastructure is still damaged, you cannot apply. But you are the most powerful advocate your town has. Your town manager may not know the grant exists, may think the application is too complex, or may not know they can hire someone to prepare it.

Frequently asked questions

Can businesses apply directly?

No. Only local governments can apply. Businesses must work through their town or county. The guidelines permit the local government to hire a contract administrator or grant consultant to prepare the application; accountability remains with the local government.

How much funding is left?

Approximately $23-25 million. The exact figure is estimated from multiple official sources – Round 2 reported nearly $32 million remaining, and NC Commerce confirmed $18.1 million awarded in 2025, with Round 3 adding $8.5 million. Call 984-297-5082 for current county status.^[7]

Is there a scoring rubric?

No. The review is eligibility-only, first-come, first-served. If your application meets all requirements and funds remain under your county’s cap, you are awarded.^[5] The only preference factor is the Tier 1/2 special consideration clause.

What are NCUI101 forms, and where do I get them?

NCUI101 forms are the quarterly unemployment insurance wage reports each North Carolina employer files with the Department of Labor. They are used to verify that beneficiary businesses have 150 or fewer employees. Each business must provide theirs. Access them through the NC DOL at des.nc.gov/employers/unemployment-insurance-tax/quarterly-wage-and-tax-reports.

What is the advance payment, and is it 25%?

No. The advance is up to 20%, not 25%. Some local coverage has published the wrong figure. The official guidelines cap the advance at 20%, requiring a written request, advance form, invoices, and proof of payment within 60 days.^[1]

Terms you will encounter

SmBIZ

Short form for the Small Business Infrastructure Grant Program.

Rural Connect Portal

The online submission system hosted on Salesforce at nccommercedws.my.site.com/ruralconnectportal.

Preliminary Engineering Report (PER)

A certified cost estimate and project scope document prepared by a licensed professional engineer. Required for all applications.

NCUI101

Quarterly unemployment insurance wage report used to verify the 150-employee threshold for each beneficiary business.

Tier 1 and Tier 2 Counties

North Carolina’s economic distress designations. Guidelines give special consideration to these counties.

Contract Administrator / Third-Party Consultant

An outside entity or individual hired by the local government to prepare the application. Legal responsibility remains with the local government.

[source_notes]

1. SmBIZ Program Guidelines: confirms 20% advance payment cap and 60-day proof-of-payment timeline. Back to claim
2. SmBIZ Program Guidelines: contains the contract administrator allowance language. Back to claim
3. FEMA DR-4827-NC Initial Notice: official list of designated counties including Macon County. Back to claim
4. SmBIZ Program Guidelines: Tier 1 and Tier 2 special consideration clause. Back to claim
5. SmBIZ Program FAQ: confirms eligibility-only review with no scoring rubric. Back to claim
6. Governor Stein Round 2 Press Release: contains named award projects including Asheville’s three awards. Back to claim
7. NC Commerce 2025 Rural Grant Programs Summary and Governor Stein Round 3 Press Release: used to estimate remaining funds after three award rounds. Back to claim

[/source_notes]

More grants for North Carolina local governments

If SmBIZ does not fit your project, the Multifamily Recycling Grant Program is another NC state-funded opportunity for local governments with awards up to $150,000 for recycling infrastructure.

How Grantaura helps with SmBIZ

If your town has the staff capacity and the board alignment to assemble the entire application in time for the next quarterly award date, you may not need outside help. But if the NCUI101 collection already feels daunting, or if you are simply not sure your project concept will survive the eligibility-only review, Grantaura’s services are the next logical step.

An application assessment checks your project against every SmBIZ requirement, flags missing documents, and identifies disqualification risks before you invest in engineering. For towns ready to move, the Full Application service manages every piece – narratives, attachments, portal submission, and NCUI101 coordination – while you handle the approvals only the local government can manage.

If you want strategic advice before deciding, schedule a live 1-on-1 consultation with a grant expert to discuss your project, your county cap status, and your best path through the queue.

About the author

My name is Shahzad Nawaz, and I work as a freelancer. Writing for my readers is central to what I do. For this page, I reviewed the full SmBIZ program guidelines updated February 2026, three rounds of award announcements, FEMA’s Hurricane Helene disaster records, and the NC Commerce FAQ. I wanted to surface the facts that competing coverage misses – the consultant allowance, the advance payment correction, and Macon County’s confirmed eligibility – so that any town official or business owner reading this page can make a better decision than they would from the official program page alone.

[{"url": "https://grantaura.com/grant/nc-multifamily-recycling/", "custom_description": "Another North Carolina state-funded opportunity for local governments. While SmBIZ focuses on Helene-damaged infrastructure, this grant supports recycling infrastructure projects. Both require local government applicants and serve NC communities."}]