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LEWISTON WOODVILLE – A new restaurant planned for here will benefit from a state grant.

Randy Cherry plans to open Woodville Market & Smokehouse in a building he owns in Woodville (the former home of Woodville Supply Company).

He submitted a grant proposal to the Town of Lewiston Woodville, which was forwarded to the North Carolina Rural Infrastructure Authority (RIA). The RIA recently approved the application, along with several others across the state.

The state grant ($25,000) will support the reuse of Cherry’s 5,436-square-foot building. It’s there he plans to open Woodville Market & Smokehouse. The business will include a commercial kitchen, dining room, and outdoor area for meat smokers.

The project is expected to create five jobs, with a private investment of $25,000 tied to this grant.

“I’ve owned that building for the past five years,” said Cherry who currently serves as the Junior ROTC Instructor at Hertford County High School. “I can now start renovating the building using the state grant along with my personal investment.”

Cherry added that he has long dreamed of opening a sit-down restaurant in Lewiston Woodville.

“It’s something that I believe will work there,” he said. “Plus, because the grant comes with a stipulation that I hire five people, it’s a win-win because of offering jobs to local folks.”

Cherry has previous experience in the restaurant business. He owned Chief’s Sports Bar and Grill for seven years in Windsor. That established flooded in 2016 from Hurricane Matthew and was eventually purchased by FEMA.

The Aulander native served 22 years in the U.S. Army, joining that military branch right after graduating from Bertie High School. He retired with the rank of Chief Warrant Officer III

Cherry said he plans to open the new restaurant by the late spring or early summer of 2025.

Vivian Saunders, who was recently elected as a Bertie County Commissioner, said a grant writer with her organization – “The Hive” in Lewiston Woodville – collaborated with Cherry in writing the grant.

The RIA is supported by the rural economic development team at the North Carolina Department of Commerce. RIA members review and approve funding requests from local communities.

Funding comes from a variety of specialized grant and loan programs offered and managed by N.C. Commerce’s Rural Economic Development Division, led by Assistant Secretary for Rural Development Kenny Flowers.

Grants support a variety of activities, including infrastructure development, building renovation, expansion and demolition, and site improvements.