Join us each month to stay updated on business in Mills River.
With updates from the Town of Mills River and networking with neighboring businesses, let’s work to GROW your business in Mills River.

January’s Presenter – Chief Rick Livingston with Mills River Fire and Rescue

Chief Rick Livingston is a native to WNC, a graduate of the Henderson County Public Schools and NC State University. He began his fire department days at the young age of 7, as his father was a founding member of the department! He has been with the Mills River Fire Department since 2013, becoming the first full time career Fire Chief. He welcomes any comments and suggestions at [email protected].

More than 400 local businesses could benefit from Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan forgiveness. According to reports from the Federal Government’s Pandemic Response Accountability Committee, Buncombe County businesses may be eligible for $15.8 million and your small business could receive full or partial loan forgiveness. “Small businesses were under huge stress from the COVID-19 pandemic and continue to face challenges with supply chain issues and inflation. PPP loan forgiveness represents an opportunity for small businesses to gain additional relief, keep their doors open and continue to provide high quality jobs in our community,” explains Intergovernmental Director Timothy Love.

Wondering if your business is eligible? It’s definitely worth taking a moment to find out. “The process and requirements are quick. In many cases, detailed documentation may not be required during the application process. Typical documents include bank statements, tax forms, and business costs,” says Love. “PPP loan forgiveness may not require any additional work with your lender and you can apply for direct forgiveness through the SBA portal.”

To apply or learn more, please see the below links (Please note: This program is administered by the federal government)

• Apply here (Borrowers may submit a loan forgiveness application any time before the maturity date of the loan, which is either two or five years from loan origination.)
• FAQs

we are looking for local businesses to partner with to sponsor our upcoming theatre season, concert series, and special events! As a non-profit, local, community theatre, we are able to make events happen in our community through donations and sponsorship support. With your help, we can continue to provide quality live theatre, concerts, and more! Interested in becoming a season or show sponsor? We take donations at any level! For more information about sponsorship levels, visit the sponsorship page on our website here: SPONSORSHIPS – Hendersonville Theatre

Have you been thinking about building an online store to sell your physical or digital products? Building a Website that can handle Ecommerce, taking payments, calculating shipping and tax, and managing subscriptions is easier than you might think. In this class we’ll walk through the basics of Ecommerce as well as answer some more advanced questions pertaining to taking an online store to the next level. Don’t lock yourself to Etsy or Shopify and put up with their built-in fees. Build it yourself on WordPress and WooCommerce which has now become the leader in online Ecommerce platforms.

Speaker(s): Boomer Sassman

Co-Sponsor(s): Henderson County Chamber of Commerce, Brevard/Transylvania Chamber of Commerce

Webinar information will be emailed after registration.

**(You do not need to have attended Part 1 to attend Part 2)** Instagram is one of the fastest growing and biggest trending social media for business these days. And it’s always evolving! Join us for this session as we continue our dive into Instagram. We will continue to touch on: – The difference between Instagram and Instagram for Business – Visual tour of Instagram for business – Best Practices for posting – Explore the different sub channels of Instagram In part 2 we will also: – Learn how to use video to maximize your Instagram presence – Explore using hashtags as a powerful and free way to grow visibility for your business – What is tagging a user or business? – Live Q&A

Speaker(s): Aaron Wesley Means

Co-Sponsor(s): Henderson County Chamber of Commerce, Brevard/Transylvania Chamber of Commerce

Webinar information will be emailed after registration.

Interested in joining a book club (or two) in the new year? This evening is for you!

This program will feature short presentations from representatives from a dozen local book clubs and some time to chat. Find the book club that best fits your interests and schedule.

Attend in-person at Pack Library or participate in an online viewing! No registration is required for the in-person session. To sign up for the online session, click here to register to receive the live stream link.

Featuring representatives from:
Asheville Art Museum
Buncombe County Public Libraries
Buncombe County Special Collections
Firestorm Bookstore & Cafe
Malaprop’s Bookstore/Cafe
North Carolina Arboretum
Thomas Wolfe House
Wilma Dykeman Legacy
and more!

More than 400 local businesses could benefit from Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan forgiveness. According to reports from the Federal Government’s Pandemic Response Accountability Committee, Buncombe County businesses may be eligible for $15.8 million and your small business could receive full or partial loan forgiveness. “Small businesses were under huge stress from the COVID-19 pandemic and continue to face challenges with supply chain issues and inflation. PPP loan forgiveness represents an opportunity for small businesses to gain additional relief, keep their doors open and continue to provide high quality jobs in our community,” explains Intergovernmental Director Timothy Love.

Wondering if your business is eligible? It’s definitely worth taking a moment to find out. “The process and requirements are quick. In many cases, detailed documentation may not be required during the application process. Typical documents include bank statements, tax forms, and business costs,” says Love. “PPP loan forgiveness may not require any additional work with your lender and you can apply for direct forgiveness through the SBA portal.”

To apply or learn more, please see the below links (Please note: This program is administered by the federal government)

• Apply here (Borrowers may submit a loan forgiveness application any time before the maturity date of the loan, which is either two or five years from loan origination.)
• FAQs

we are looking for local businesses to partner with to sponsor our upcoming theatre season, concert series, and special events! As a non-profit, local, community theatre, we are able to make events happen in our community through donations and sponsorship support. With your help, we can continue to provide quality live theatre, concerts, and more! Interested in becoming a season or show sponsor? We take donations at any level! For more information about sponsorship levels, visit the sponsorship page on our website here: SPONSORSHIPS – Hendersonville Theatre

If you’re obsessed with Canva, you’re not alone! This session is for the small business owner who has started using Canva, but wants a deeper dive to learn more fun tools you can use to promote your business. In this workshop you will learn advanced techniques on the Canva platform, including creating designs from scratch, uploading your own graphics, Canva Pro features, presentations and much more.

Speaker(s): TenBiz

Co-Sponsor(s): Henderson County Chamber of Commerce, Brevard/Transylvania Chamber of Commerce

Webinar information will be emailed after registration.

This live streamed virtual event is free but registration is required. Please click here to register. The link required to attend will be emailed to registrants prior to the event.

If you decide to attend and to purchase books, we ask that you purchase from Malaprop’s. When you do this you make it possible for us to continue hosting author events and you keep more dollars in our community. You may also support our work by purchasing a gift card or making a donation of any amount below. Thank you!

Decent People
In the still-segregated town of West Mills, North Carolina in 1976, enigmatic siblings Marian, Marva, and Lazarus Harmon are found shot to death in their home. The people of West Mills – on both sides of the canal that serves as the town’s color line – become swept up in gossip and accusations that have them taking a deeper look at their neighbors and loved ones. The crime is the first reported murder in the area in decades, but the white authorities don’t seem to have any interest in solving the case. As the case continues to go unsolved, questions swirl around the town: Why were the Harmons murdered? Was it about drugs, money or a romantic dispute? And most importantly, who killed them?

Ms. Jo Wright has just moved back to West Mills from New York City to retire and marry a childhood sweetheart, Olympus “Lymp” Seymore. When she discovers that the murder victims are Lymp’s half-siblings, and that Lymp is one of West Mills’ leading culprits, she sets out on a transformative mission to prove his innocence. As Jo begins to investigate those who might know the most about the Harmons’ deaths, she starts to discover darker secrets than she’d ever imagined, and a pattern of cover-ups of racism, homophobia, and medical misuse that could upend the reputations of many. With Decent People, Winslow has written another novel with the makings of a classic, crafting a remarkable story that covers difficult themes of shame, race, and money with compassion, insight, and grace, and making the community of West Mills come alive from the first page.

De’Shawn Charles Winslow’s first novel, In West Mills, was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, Lambda Literary Award, Publishing Triangle Award, and Willie Morris Award for Southern Writing. He has been featured as a “Writer to Watch” in The New York Times and one of the “Black Male Writers of Our Time” in T, The New York Times Style Magazine. He was born and raised in Elizabeth City, North Carolina, graduated from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and now lives in Atlanta, GA.

Jonathan Parks-Ramage is a Los Angeles based novelist, screenwriter and journalist. His critically acclaimed debut novel, YES, DADDY, was named as one of the best queer books of 2021 by Entertainment Weekly, NBC News, The Advocate, Bustle, Lambda Literary, Goodreads, and more. The book is currently being adapted for television. His writing has been widely published in such outlets as VICE, Slate, OUT Magazine, W Magazine, Lit Hub, Atlas Obscura, Elle, Electric Literature and more. He is also an alumnus of the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference.

Foodie Book Club

More than 400 local businesses could benefit from Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan forgiveness. According to reports from the Federal Government’s Pandemic Response Accountability Committee, Buncombe County businesses may be eligible for $15.8 million and your small business could receive full or partial loan forgiveness. “Small businesses were under huge stress from the COVID-19 pandemic and continue to face challenges with supply chain issues and inflation. PPP loan forgiveness represents an opportunity for small businesses to gain additional relief, keep their doors open and continue to provide high quality jobs in our community,” explains Intergovernmental Director Timothy Love.

Wondering if your business is eligible? It’s definitely worth taking a moment to find out. “The process and requirements are quick. In many cases, detailed documentation may not be required during the application process. Typical documents include bank statements, tax forms, and business costs,” says Love. “PPP loan forgiveness may not require any additional work with your lender and you can apply for direct forgiveness through the SBA portal.”

To apply or learn more, please see the below links (Please note: This program is administered by the federal government)

• Apply here (Borrowers may submit a loan forgiveness application any time before the maturity date of the loan, which is either two or five years from loan origination.)
• FAQs

we are looking for local businesses to partner with to sponsor our upcoming theatre season, concert series, and special events! As a non-profit, local, community theatre, we are able to make events happen in our community through donations and sponsorship support. With your help, we can continue to provide quality live theatre, concerts, and more! Interested in becoming a season or show sponsor? We take donations at any level! For more information about sponsorship levels, visit the sponsorship page on our website here: SPONSORSHIPS – Hendersonville Theatre

Calling all BIPOC owned businesses!

As part of their 2023 Pay it forward campaign Spectrum Reach will be distributing 15 free advertising schedules each worth $7,500 for businesses in Asheville and the surrounding market. That is $112,500 worth of free advertising that will be awarded to BIPOC businesses.

Each winner will receive the following:

A three-month TV advertising schedule

A free :30 commercial produced by Waymark

Support from local marketing experts

Access to on-demand educational resources & top industry insights

Invitations to exclusive marketing events

On January 26th at 5:30pm, come learn more and register to win. During the event, you’ll have time to connect with other businesses, learn more about the giveaway from Spectrum’s team as well as have time to register.

This is open to all BIPOC owned businesses in Asheville and the surrounding market. Chamber membership is not required.

Food and drinks will be provided, registration is required. This event is held in partnership with Black Wall Street.

The Book for January is ‘Bewilderment’ by Richard Powers
The astrobiologist Theo Byrne searches for life throughout the cosmos while single-handedly raising his unusual nine-year-old, Robin, following the death of his wife. Robin is a warm, kind boy who spends hours painting elaborate pictures of endangered animals. He’s also about to be expelled from third grade for smashing his friend in the face. As his son grows more troubled, Theo hopes to keep him off psychoactive drugs. He learns of an experimental neurofeedback treatment to bolster Robin’s emotional control, one that involves training the boy on the recorded patterns of his mother’s brain…

With its soaring descriptions of the natural world, its tantalizing vision of life beyond, and its account of a father and son’s ferocious love, Bewilderment marks Richard Powers’s most intimate and moving novel. At its heart lies the question: How can we tell our children the truth about this beautiful, imperiled planet?

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/15/books/review-bewilderment-richard-powers.html

More than 400 local businesses could benefit from Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan forgiveness. According to reports from the Federal Government’s Pandemic Response Accountability Committee, Buncombe County businesses may be eligible for $15.8 million and your small business could receive full or partial loan forgiveness. “Small businesses were under huge stress from the COVID-19 pandemic and continue to face challenges with supply chain issues and inflation. PPP loan forgiveness represents an opportunity for small businesses to gain additional relief, keep their doors open and continue to provide high quality jobs in our community,” explains Intergovernmental Director Timothy Love.

Wondering if your business is eligible? It’s definitely worth taking a moment to find out. “The process and requirements are quick. In many cases, detailed documentation may not be required during the application process. Typical documents include bank statements, tax forms, and business costs,” says Love. “PPP loan forgiveness may not require any additional work with your lender and you can apply for direct forgiveness through the SBA portal.”

To apply or learn more, please see the below links (Please note: This program is administered by the federal government)

• Apply here (Borrowers may submit a loan forgiveness application any time before the maturity date of the loan, which is either two or five years from loan origination.)
• FAQs

we are looking for local businesses to partner with to sponsor our upcoming theatre season, concert series, and special events! As a non-profit, local, community theatre, we are able to make events happen in our community through donations and sponsorship support. With your help, we can continue to provide quality live theatre, concerts, and more! Interested in becoming a season or show sponsor? We take donations at any level! For more information about sponsorship levels, visit the sponsorship page on our website here: SPONSORSHIPS – Hendersonville Theatre

More than 400 local businesses could benefit from Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan forgiveness. According to reports from the Federal Government’s Pandemic Response Accountability Committee, Buncombe County businesses may be eligible for $15.8 million and your small business could receive full or partial loan forgiveness. “Small businesses were under huge stress from the COVID-19 pandemic and continue to face challenges with supply chain issues and inflation. PPP loan forgiveness represents an opportunity for small businesses to gain additional relief, keep their doors open and continue to provide high quality jobs in our community,” explains Intergovernmental Director Timothy Love.

Wondering if your business is eligible? It’s definitely worth taking a moment to find out. “The process and requirements are quick. In many cases, detailed documentation may not be required during the application process. Typical documents include bank statements, tax forms, and business costs,” says Love. “PPP loan forgiveness may not require any additional work with your lender and you can apply for direct forgiveness through the SBA portal.”

To apply or learn more, please see the below links (Please note: This program is administered by the federal government)

• Apply here (Borrowers may submit a loan forgiveness application any time before the maturity date of the loan, which is either two or five years from loan origination.)
• FAQs

More than 400 local businesses could benefit from Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan forgiveness. According to reports from the Federal Government’s Pandemic Response Accountability Committee, Buncombe County businesses may be eligible for $15.8 million and your small business could receive full or partial loan forgiveness. “Small businesses were under huge stress from the COVID-19 pandemic and continue to face challenges with supply chain issues and inflation. PPP loan forgiveness represents an opportunity for small businesses to gain additional relief, keep their doors open and continue to provide high quality jobs in our community,” explains Intergovernmental Director Timothy Love.

Wondering if your business is eligible? It’s definitely worth taking a moment to find out. “The process and requirements are quick. In many cases, detailed documentation may not be required during the application process. Typical documents include bank statements, tax forms, and business costs,” says Love. “PPP loan forgiveness may not require any additional work with your lender and you can apply for direct forgiveness through the SBA portal.”

To apply or learn more, please see the below links (Please note: This program is administered by the federal government)

• Apply here (Borrowers may submit a loan forgiveness application any time before the maturity date of the loan, which is either two or five years from loan origination.)
• FAQs

More than 400 local businesses could benefit from Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan forgiveness. According to reports from the Federal Government’s Pandemic Response Accountability Committee, Buncombe County businesses may be eligible for $15.8 million and your small business could receive full or partial loan forgiveness. “Small businesses were under huge stress from the COVID-19 pandemic and continue to face challenges with supply chain issues and inflation. PPP loan forgiveness represents an opportunity for small businesses to gain additional relief, keep their doors open and continue to provide high quality jobs in our community,” explains Intergovernmental Director Timothy Love.

Wondering if your business is eligible? It’s definitely worth taking a moment to find out. “The process and requirements are quick. In many cases, detailed documentation may not be required during the application process. Typical documents include bank statements, tax forms, and business costs,” says Love. “PPP loan forgiveness may not require any additional work with your lender and you can apply for direct forgiveness through the SBA portal.”

To apply or learn more, please see the below links (Please note: This program is administered by the federal government)

• Apply here (Borrowers may submit a loan forgiveness application any time before the maturity date of the loan, which is either two or five years from loan origination.)
• FAQs

we are looking for local businesses to partner with to sponsor our upcoming theatre season, concert series, and special events! As a non-profit, local, community theatre, we are able to make events happen in our community through donations and sponsorship support. With your help, we can continue to provide quality live theatre, concerts, and more! Interested in becoming a season or show sponsor? We take donations at any level! For more information about sponsorship levels, visit the sponsorship page on our website here: SPONSORSHIPS – Hendersonville Theatre

Science Fiction Book Club

Join host and former Malaprop’s Bookseller Allison to dive into the wreck of the wily and wonderful world of science fiction, fantasy, weird fiction, speculative fiction, and literary horror with a healthy mix of underappreciated classic and contemporary books. Meets the last Monday of every month at 7pm on Zoom. Also meets the second Monday of every month at 7pm to discuss the film adaptations of the books we read. To learn more or join the club, email [email protected].

More than 400 local businesses could benefit from Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan forgiveness. According to reports from the Federal Government’s Pandemic Response Accountability Committee, Buncombe County businesses may be eligible for $15.8 million and your small business could receive full or partial loan forgiveness. “Small businesses were under huge stress from the COVID-19 pandemic and continue to face challenges with supply chain issues and inflation. PPP loan forgiveness represents an opportunity for small businesses to gain additional relief, keep their doors open and continue to provide high quality jobs in our community,” explains Intergovernmental Director Timothy Love.

Wondering if your business is eligible? It’s definitely worth taking a moment to find out. “The process and requirements are quick. In many cases, detailed documentation may not be required during the application process. Typical documents include bank statements, tax forms, and business costs,” says Love. “PPP loan forgiveness may not require any additional work with your lender and you can apply for direct forgiveness through the SBA portal.”

To apply or learn more, please see the below links (Please note: This program is administered by the federal government)

• Apply here (Borrowers may submit a loan forgiveness application any time before the maturity date of the loan, which is either two or five years from loan origination.)
• FAQs

we are looking for local businesses to partner with to sponsor our upcoming theatre season, concert series, and special events! As a non-profit, local, community theatre, we are able to make events happen in our community through donations and sponsorship support. With your help, we can continue to provide quality live theatre, concerts, and more! Interested in becoming a season or show sponsor? We take donations at any level! For more information about sponsorship levels, visit the sponsorship page on our website here: SPONSORSHIPS – Hendersonville Theatre

Celebrate the women in your life with women-centric networking. Athena of Henderson County presents this unique and informal networking opportunity designed to inspire and connect women. No entrance fee – just bring your business cards and enjoy expanding your network!