ABOUT OUR WORK

The Mitchell County Development Foundation (MCDF) was established in June of 2001 with the mission of establishing economic and cultural assistance in Mitchell County.

For more than two decades, the MCDF has supported the people, businesses, and community organizations of Mitchell County, North Carolina. We improve the quality of life by reducing poverty and improving the physical, environmental and business conditions of Mitchell County.

The MCDF is a community-based organization that raises tax deductible funds to support businesses in Mitchell County. The MCDF improves the well-being of Mitchell County as a whole by helping to implement the long-range planning of the county and municipal governments by working to bring together the various public and private groups necessary to promote job creation, business promotion and economic development.

PROGRAM SPOTLIGHT: THE MCDF’S SMALL BUSINESS RESILIENCY GRANT PROGRAM

Much of the foundation’s work for the last two years has focused on the MCDF’s Small Business Resiliency Grant Program, created to support businesses across the county devastated by Hurricane Helene in September of 2024. At the time, Mitchell County reports from Helene damage show 10 commercial businesses were destroyed, 48 received major damage, 40 received minor damage and 10 had some measurable damage. Many jobs across our country have been delayed or lost completely. For a small rural area, this is devastating. As just one example, our unemployment rate increased from 2.9% in September 2024 to 7.5% in October 2024—and this doesn’t reflect the sole entrepreneur or family-operated business losses.

We are very proud to report that the Small Business Resiliency Grant Program awarded a total of $1,451,700 in grants to sixty businesses in Mitchell County affected by the storm. Grants were used to repair buildings, equipment and fixtures providing much needed financial assistance to Mitchell County small businesses as they took on the huge task of clearing out hurricane debris and rebuilding their businesses.

The MCDF awarded $1,451,700 in grants to 60 Mitchell County Businesses impacted by the storm, including:

• Round one: 29 grants totaling $191,500.00

• Round two: 39 grants (21 to new grantees and 18 to returning grantees) totaling $527,700.00

• Round three: 31 grants (3 to new grantees and 28 returning grantees) totaling $554,500.00

• Round three: XX grants (X to new grantees and X returning grantees) totaling $178,000.00

Despite concluding its Small Business Resiliency Grant program, the larger work of the MCDF will continue—as it has for more than 20 years. 

Words from our partners and grant recipients:

“As we near the anniversary of Tropical Storm Helene, Mica Gallery wishes to thank the Mitchell County Development Foundation and our other supporters for grant funding that helped the gallery remain open throughout the year to serve artists and the community. These funds help us to know that we are an asset to Mitchell County and the surrounding area. These resources provided an infusion of cash for repairs and operations and also some much-needed moral support and encouragement."

—Robbie Bell, President, Mica Gallery  

"Thank you so much for the grant funding. It will really help. I hope others who lost so much were able to get funded also. Thank you so much for letting us use the free working space in downtown Spruce Pine. It has really been a blessing to have a sense of normalcy."

—MCDF Grant Recipient

OUR BOARD

FOUNDATION DOCUMENTATION + FINANCIAL DETAILS

• Address: Mitchell County Development Foundation, Inc. / PO Box 327 / Spruce Pine, NC 28777

• Telephone number: 828-467-7253

• Employer Identification Number (EIN): 56-2262436

• Principal contact: Sandy Buchanan

• Principal contact email:contact@mitchellcdf.org. 

• CPA: Sharon Gillespie of S. Gillespie, P.A., Spruce Pine, NC

• IRS Determination Letter and other documents: Can be found here and our updated bylaws can be found here. The Foundation is also listed on the IRS’s list of tax-deductible organizations here (just enter the EIN listed above).

• North Carolina Articles of Nonprofit Incorporation and other documents: Can be downloaded here