Watauga Economic Development Commission Releases March 2025 Business Snapshot Report
Sixth month of data collection shows improvement on Helene’s impact on the local economy
BOONE, NC – In an ongoing effort to track real-time conditions for local businesses as recovery from the impacts of Hurricane Helene continue, the Watauga County Economic Development Commission released its sixth monthly Business Snapshot Report, which highlights activity for the month of March 2025.
These monthly reports provide data on the state of business in Watauga County, with a focus on current concerns, performance toward revenue expectations, and ability to meet staffing needs among its core analysis.
“This is the most encouraging report yet, as we are seeing some improvement in key areas of our economic performance.” said Joe Furman, Director of Economic Development for the Boone Area Chamber of Commerce.
“We saw a 19% decrease in businesses reporting they failed to meet revenue expectations and the overall rating of the current state of their business saw one of our highest concentrations of scores over six. Moving toward the beginning of the spring and summer travel seasons, we are optimistic that continued economic improvement is on the horizon. We will be careful to watch how larger economic drivers separate from the storm play out over the next few months, which showed up as a rise in the number of respondents that thought overall conditions would decline. Still, we see a lot more in this report to be encouraged about rather than the alternative.”
The March data set included 26 respondents that reported on their March 2025 performance, with 16 participants having also participated in a previous reporting period.
Among key statistics from the March 2025 report:
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Of businesses surveyed, 85% reported an employee count between 1-25.
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When asked to rate the current state of their business, 65% of respondents answered at a level of 6 or higher, which is the highest such total over the six-month span of data collection.
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Overall financial stability (35%) and reliable revenue stream (27%), and adequate staffing levels (16%) were the top three answers regarding current concerns about their business.
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50% of respondents said their business failed to meet revenue expectations for March 2025, which ties for the lowest such percentage in six months (November 2024) and is down 19% from the February reporting period. Of those respondents, 65% reported a March year-over-year loss of 0-25%.
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When asked if they anticipated improvements to their business conditions over the next six months, 62% said they expect conditions to improve, while 27% expect conditions to remain the same.
The Watauga EDC will continue to conduct this study each month through October 2025. Businesses of all types inside the Watauga County limits are encouraged to participate and can have monthly survey links sent to them directly by sending a request to info@boonechamber.com.
Participants remain anonymous during the process and are only asked to identify their industry for data analysis purposes. Watauga EDC and the Boone Area and Blowing Rock Chambers of Commerce will use this data in their advocacy to policy makers and elected officials in seeking additional support for relief.
For more information on the Watauga Economic Development Commission, please contact Joe Furman at joe@boonechamber.com, or learn more by following the link below.
Watauga Economic Development Commission