American Express expands hurricane recovery support to 1,000 additional small businesses

As communities across the Southeast continue to grapple with the effects of Hurricanes Helene and Milton, American Express, together with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation, is proud to expand its Small Business Hurricane Recovery grant program for small businesses still in the recovery process. In recognition of the vital role small businesses play in helping communities rebuild, we doubled our commitment by distributing an additional $5 million in grants to another 1,000 small businesses, totaling 2,000 small businesses supported with $10 million in grants through the program.

This latest round of support was funded by a corporate giving pledge during our 15th annual Small Business Saturday in November, where American Express donated $1 for every purchase made with an eligible American Express card at qualifying small businesses across the US.

In addition to financial support, our Small Business Hurricane Recovery grant program offers vital tools and resources to help these grant recipients prepare for and withstand future storms. As these small businesses strive to rebuild and create a brighter future, we remain dedicated to supporting their ongoing recovery efforts.

In this video and below, grant recipients share their powerful stories and how they plan to use the funding to recover and restore their businesses.

Newtomics is a medical clinic in Spruce Pine, NC. They hope to use their funding to continue offering pro bono care to volunteers, replace lost inventory, and rehire employees.

Learn a little more about Newtomics from owner Joshua Newton.

Our mission
“Our mission is to prioritize people. I had cancer when I was young, so I grew up in the hospital. Everybody said I should be a doctor, but I started off working in research. I realized I liked helping others, because that way you see the direct benefits every single day.

I went to medical school, then spent my career working in rural health centers. I eventually joined one in Spruce Pine, where I’m from. When I opened my own practice, my goal was to build something that puts the patient first.”

The impact of the hurricane
“Our business sits right by the North Toe River. When we got out there, there were railroad tracks hanging in the air with nothing underneath them, and the rocks were all washed away. We could see mud all along the lower street, a few feet deep.

We walked inside the clinic and looked down the stairs to the bottom level. That’s where we saw the water level, just feet from the top of the stairs. The lower parts of the building had been completely and utterly decimated.”

Helping the community
“My goal has always been to be a pillar of the community, to become involved in people’s lives. When they’re happy, we’re happy. When they grieve, we grieve.

After the hurricane, the very first thing we did was make home visits and check in on our high-risk patients and those who were in heavily devastated areas. We already do home visits, but these were different. We were trying to make sure everybody had the meds they needed. We weren’t charging anything, just trying to do whatever we could to take care of people. And we offered all the volunteers free health care.”

Creative Village Childcare is an early education center in Swannanoa, NC. They plan to use their funding to continue providing childcare to families and to keep their teachers employed.

Learn a little more about Creative Village Childcare from co-owner Liz Dohy, who runs the business alongside co-owner Tonya Davis.

Our mission
“We’re about meaningful experiences so that children can learn and grow. Interacting with others is such a building block socially and emotionally. I want them to come and learn and have fun and have those connections. We stay in touch with our families even after they leave.”

The impact of the hurricane
“When everything was over, it took me three days to make it down to the business because there was nowhere to park. All I could see was a telephone pole just hanging in the middle of the road. When I finally saw our building and it was standing, I burst into tears. I had to climb the playground fence to get inside because trees were blocking it. Seeing the devastation in the community that I grew up in, that I’ve lived in my whole life, really takes your breath away.”

On not giving up
“There are some days where you want to throw in the towel and crawl into a ball. Natural disaster makes you feel so helpless and powerless. But you just have to take it day by day and take care of yourself in the process. It does get better. There are a lot of tears, but there’s also a lot of good. And sometimes you have to look for that good.”

The Chop Shop is a family-owned butcher shop in Bradenton, FL. They plan to use their funding to continue to pay their 21 employees and deliver food to those who can’t leave their homes.

Learn a little more about The Chop Shop from owner Susan Higbee.

Our mission
"We’re a neighborhood store. We’ve been in the same place since 1971. We’ve had generations of family members as owners, and now we see generations of families as customers. We love the hometown feel. We feed our family out of the store, and we want to feed your family, too.”

The impact of the hurricane

Helping the community

“We still donate to a lot of different food banks, fire departments, and schools just to make sure that we’re helping as much as we can. We don’t have a lot to give, but somebody always needs something. It’s not just us. So, we try to do as much as we can, even if it’s discounts for places like churches and schools.”

The Small Business Hurricane Recovery grant program is part of American Express’ longstanding commitment to backing small businesses and communities. We’ve been partnering with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation to support small businesses impacted by natural disasters since the Maui wildfires in 2023. Read more about our community impact here.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJ-ILkUcRYA