Led by John Boyd, whose long list of civic activities includes time as president of Western North Carolina Entrepreneurial Council, president of the Business and Merchants Association and a Chamber board member of Henderson and Transylvania Counties, Vision Henderson County's mission is to promote informed and committed civic volunteerism. Its programs are designed to help participants acquire both a fuller sense of the wide array of critical issues affecting Henderson County and the leadership skills necessary to motivate and engage others in collaborative efforts to resolve them.

Vision Henderson County participants meet the 2nd Thursday of each month, September through May. Each day-long class is spent meeting with local officials, community leaders and touring businesses and organizations that make Henderson County viable. Vision covers local government, economic development, business and industry, law enforcement and public safety, cultural resources and arts, the environment and natural resources and education.

Among the skills participants become familiar with are:

Inclusiveness - learning to listen and include persons who look, think and act differently than themselves.

Trusteeship - people who see the common good and make decisions with many perspectives in view.

Vision - moving from an understanding of the past and "how it's always been done" to acting on strengths and creating and acting on a shared community vision.

Change Agent - learning to live with change, ambiguity and common diversity.

Serving Henderson County since 1911, the Chamber of Commerce welcomes all types and sizes of businesses from sole proprietorships to major industry. Our activities, supported by membership dues, influence all segments of community development, education, transportation, relocation, retirement, agriculture, small business and industrial recruitment. Visit our office in downtown Hendersonville at 204 Kanuga Road, on the corner of Kanuga and Church Street, for all the information you need about Henderson County.

The Small Business Center (SBC) at  Blue Ridge Community College functions as a management information resource for the community of small businesses in Henderson and Transylvania counties. More than 80 percent of all businesses in the area employ less than 100 people, and more than 80 percent of all employees in the area work for small businesses. The success of small businesses is, therefore, vital to the continued prosperity of this region. Yet, the failure rate of small businesses is unusually high, especially during the first three years of operation. The mission of the SBC is to enhance the prospects of success for small businesses in the region. Management information is provided to the SBC client base in a variety of formats, all with a minimum of red tape and at little or no cost.