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Mission Accelerator
Mission Accelerator
Take your Organization to the next level
An annual review gives an organization clear insight into what’s working, what’s not, and where to focus next so it can align people, priorities, and resources for greater success and sustainability in 2026.
Business Accelerator program is a comprehensive business innovation program designed to assist for-profit, not-for-profit, family-owned businesses and government agencies.
Designed for Every Sector
- For-Profit Businesses
- Empower your team, sharpen your strategy, and unlock new levels of growth, performance, sustainability
and profitability.
- Empower your team, sharpen your strategy, and unlock new levels of growth, performance, sustainability
- Nonprofits
- Strengthen your mission, elevate your impact, and give your board and community a clearer path to long-
term success.
- Strengthen your mission, elevate your impact, and give your board and community a clearer path to long-
- Government Agencies
- Enhance service delivery, boost efficiency, and builds lasting confidence in your agency’s leadership and
service.
- Enhance service delivery, boost efficiency, and builds lasting confidence in your agency’s leadership and
2026 New Year Retreat
Please note the new date, as a result of the recent winter storm: February 6, 2026
Class size: 25 participants
Registration fee: $95 per person
Attend as your organization’s manager, owner, or bring your team.
For more information,
call Blue Ridge Community College at
(828) 694-1910
For the seventh year, Blue Ridge and the Henderson County Chamber of Commerce have partnered to offer the Mission Acceleration Business Accelerator. This year it is in a “new” one day Retreat format for profit, not-for-profit and government agencies. Larger successful organizations each year use a retreat format to innovate and improve their organization.
Now for the first time solo entrepreneurs can attend and small to large organizations can bring their team to use this best practice. Led by the program’s Executive Director Gary Heisey, the program will guide you through a structured retreat process for greater sustainable success.
Retreat Dates and Topics
February 6, 2026
- Morning Session: Evaluate your current organization model to generate smart improvement ideas.
- Afternoon Session: Develop an action plan for the next 1-3 years for greater sustainable success.
- Sessions meet at the Henderson County Chamber of Commerce from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., with an hour lunch break from 12 noon – 1 p.m.
Innovate. Accelerate. Achieve.
Mission Acceleration Business Accelerator
An optimized organization is one where people, processes, resources, and goals work together smoothly and efficiently to achieve consistent, high-level results. It operates with clarity, alignment, and continuous improvement, allowing it to adapt quickly and perform at its best.
In just one day, using Success Scan™, your organization receives a complete view of its strengths, gaps and opportunities empowering your team to take meaningful, measurable action.
Why Organizations Choose Mission Acceleration
- Fast — clarity in one day, not weeks or months
- Affordable — $95 per person
- Clear — simple language everyone understands
- Actionable — clear steps forward
- Repeatable — your annual organizational check-up
- Sector-ready — for business, nonprofit, or government
Your success begins with clarity. Your future is clearer with Mission Acceleration.
How it Works
Phase 1 — Optimization Assessment
Online diagnostic survey for your past and current year of 15 core functions based on research supported
best practices that help owner/manager, leadership team, board or entire organizations successfully move
forward into 2026.
Phase 2 — Optimization Roadmap
You now have an action plan for your 15 core functions for improved success and sustainability.
Optimized organizational scan designed to evaluate
your 15 core functions to
transform insight into action.
Mission Vision Values
Company Culture
Planning Process
Financials
Employee Recruitment
Employee Retention
Succession
Marketing
Sales
Customer Service
Quality Control
Purchasing/ Supply Chain
Technology
Innovation
Access to Resources
“The Mission Acceleration Program with Blue Ridge Community College has been the best investment I have made back into my business since we launched a few years ago. Through the group retreat format, I was able to learn what components of my business are working, which areas need improvement and workshop solutions with my peers. For anyone looking to capture a snapshot of where your business is today, plan for where you want it to go and have guidance on defining the steps necessary to get there; the Mission Acceleration Program is for you.”
Andrew Murkens,
828 Biz Marketing
Presented By:
For-Profit
Whether your business is a startup (1-3 years old), existing, or in a scale-up phase, Mission Acceleration Business Accelerator can help you innovate and take your business to the next level.
Family Owned
Mission Acceleration Business Accelerator is designed to not only grow your business and increase profitability now, but also help with a family business transition. The skills learned can help the next generation of a family business better prepare for a future business transition.
Nonprofits
According to By Soren Kaplan the author of The Invisible Advantage, “Nonprofits face a fundamental “business” challenge: they’re nonprofits. Most of the 1.5 million US nonprofits don’t support themselves through “competing” by creating and selling better products, services, or business models. They fund-raise, get donations, and find grants. The problem with the typical nonprofit business model is that it’s based on dependence – many nonprofits look for funding every year from unpredictable grants, donations, and even bake sales.
But if you’re truly a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization, can you really innovate? The answer is yes, and in fact, business model innovation has arrived in the nonprofit sphere. In today’s world, running a nonprofit doesn’t mean eliminating profit from your thinking. Whatever you’re doing to serve the world, you can likely do more of it, in a more predictably sustainable way, by innovating your business model.” The sessions listed below give examples of how the Mission Acceleration Business Accelerator can help your non-profit.
Meet Our Executive Director
Vision Henderson County is led by Executive Director Gary Heisey. Gary has lived in Western North Carolina for 26 years.
In addition to his role as the Vision Henderson County Executive Director, he is the Executive Director for the Blue Ridge Community College Mission Accelerator Program, a comprehensive business innovation program designed to assist for profit, not-for-profit and family owned businesses to take them to the next level of success and sustainability.
Gary has put together a remarkable curriculum to help small business owners thrive. The Mission Acceleration Program puts together a diverse array of speakers who each contribute different things. The best part of this program is Gary’s mentorship. Gary brings a lot of business and coaching experience to the table. Gary’s willingness to invest in each participant and their business is what makes this program impactful.
Josh Goldbach,
Director, Bold Earth Adventures
Contact Us
(828) 694-1910