Pre-Conference Sessions - 2026 Investing in Rural America Conference

Join Rural LISC for engaging tours across the Western North Carolina region where local partners will share their successes, challenges, and the tools and resources that have advanced their community and economic development strategies.

All bus tours will depart from the Marquee Art Gallery, located in the River Arts District (RAD) at 36 Foundy Street in Asheville. Bus tours will begin with an introduction to the Marquee and RAD; attendees can arrive by 1:30 PM and buses will depart at 2:00 PM.

Walking tours will depart at 3:00 PM and 4:15 PM from the Marriot Renaissance Asheville Downtown Hotel front plaza, located at 31 Woodfin Street in Asheville.

Please select only one tour from the choices below as space is limited.

1:30 - 5:30 PM | Community Tours

This session is open to all conference registrants and organized by Rural LISC.

Bus #1: From Disaster Recovery to Long-Term Affordable Housing
Hosted by: Housing Assistance Corporation

The Housing Assistance Corp. is helping reshape the housing landscape in Western NC, launching a novel concept to redevelop a vacant summer camp as a post-Helene “Volunteer Village” that will serve as a hub for collaborative teams returning to the area to support recovery for WNC communities. Housing Assistance will later transform the property into permanent affordable housing. The tour will also include visits to the Apple Ridge development (under construction) and Sugarloaf agriculture worker community.

Bus #2: Community Development Finance Tools in Action
Hosted by: Mountain Housing Opportunities

Mountain Housing Opportunities, a leading mission-driven housing developer serving Western North Carolina, will introduce portfolio projects that showcase the organization’s experience with diverse capital stacks. Tour will visit Larchmont Apartments, a LIHTC-financed 1-, 2-, and 3-bedroom multi-family development located on the transit line in Asheville with proximity to grocery stores and restaurants, and Lillie Farm Cove in Weaverville, an example of a promising practice to add density in a rural context. This 46-single-family home development includes 18 Self-Help Homeownership Program homes, 17 affordable turn-key homes, and 11 homes sold at market rate.

Bus #3: Startups will Change the Affordable Housing Sector in WNC
Hosted by: Fahe, Appalachian Service Project and Rebuilding Hollers Foundation

Fahe, a housing nonprofit network serving Central Appalachia, and Fahe member Appalachia Service Project, are expanding their highly impactful models of disaster response, workforce development, and sustainable housing development to support Western North Carolina recovery, contributing resources and expertise to help address chronic affordable housing shortages in the region. The tour will visit the Burnsville High School Home Building Workshop as well as housing rehab/rebuilding sites in Burnsville, and introduce the new nonprofit Rebuilding Hollers Foundation, which has evolved from an inspired, volunteer-led, mutual aid contributor into a housing rehab specialist with projects spanning Yancey and Mitchell Counties.

Bus #4: Capital Access, Inclusion, and Resilience
Hosted by: West Marion, Inc. and Mountain BizWorks

Old Fort and West Marion exemplify community capital-led revitalization, where residents, local institutions, and mission-driven investors are working together to rebuild inclusive local economies. Their efforts are supported by a diverse set of stakeholders, including CDFIs, nonprofit community anchors like West Marion, Inc. and Mountain BizWorks, philanthropy, and public sector partners, all aligned around long-term, place-based investment in commercial corridor revitalization, local businesses, workforce development, affordable housing and community-owned spaces. Residents and grassroots leaders play a central role as co-creators and decision-makers, ensuring that revitalization reflects community priorities. Tour will include visits to Catawba Vale Innovation Hub, McDowell Technical Community College Workforce Education Center, West Marion Resilience Hub (future project site) and the Foothills Food Hub.

Bus #5: Disaster Response and Resilience: Access to Capital for Home-Based Businesses
Hosted by: Western Women’s Business Center and Prospera

Western Women’s Business Center (a program of the Carolina Small Business Fund) and Prospera played key advocacy roles in advancing inclusive capital access following the Helene disaster. Located at the Asheville Mall, WWBC served as a highly visible, accessible hub offering bilingual (Spanish and English) one-on-one support, workspace, business resources, and community programming. The tour will feature a mini pop-up with selected client businesses and a conversation with WWBC, Prospera, and other WNC CDFIs on their push for more flexible, non-repayable grant funding to help businesses recover without added financial strain, as well as the evolving role of community capital in disaster response. It will also highlight collaboration among the Asheville Mall, small businesses, and nonprofit partners—demonstrating how communities can creatively use shared spaces to support entrepreneurship, help home-based businesses transition to brick-and-mortar, and strengthen long-term economic recovery.

Bus #6 (mini coach): Community Empowerment Through Cooperative Enterprise
Hosted by: PODER Emma and The Industrial Commons

PODER Emma and The Industrial Commons are working together to strengthen Western North Carolina's economy by advancing community centered, cooperative business models. PODER Emma's focus is to prevent displacement through community-owned infrastructure. Tour will begin at El Porvenir, a cooperatively owned cultural and economic development center, which served as a resiliency hub in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene. Tour will conclude with a visit to the Sourwood Community, highlighting an example of PODER Emma's efforts to promote resident ownership of mobile home communities, helping transform vulnerable housing into stable, energy efficient, community-controlled assets.

Asheville Neighborhood Walking Tour: Eagle Market Streets: Black Asheville Small Business and Entrepreneurship
Hosted by: Eagle Market Streets Development Corporation and Mountain Housing Opportunities

Tour will begin and end at PennyCup Coffee at the YMI Cultural Center, an anchor of Asheville’s historic Black community and a present-day catalyst for small business and entrepreneurial development. The tour will then continue to Eagle Market Place, completed by Mountain Housing Opportunities in partnership with Eagle Market Streets Development Corporation, as the City of Asheville’s second NMTC-financed development and a successful example of mixed-use infill development. Leadership from the YMI Cultural Center and Noir Collective will share the story of the nation’s oldest Black-owned arts, entertainment, and cultural center and its role as an anchor of community vitality and economic opportunity.

Rural-Focused Statewide and Regionwide Collaboratives
A space for partners to address issues specific to their organization and hear from rural advocates standing up new state-level and regional collaboratives to increase rural practitioner capacity and rural investment.
Rural and Tribal Housing Perspectives: Lightning Presentations and Topic Focused Breakouts
This breakout session will highlight the diverse tools, programs, and market dynamics shaping rural and Tribal housing today. Speakers will offer practical insights from across the country—from self help homeownership and rehab programs to LIHTC market trends, Opportunity Zones, NAHASDA, and regional planning. The session is designed to give practitioners a clear sense of what’s working, what’s emerging, and how these tools can be leveraged to strengthen local housing ecosystems. Rather than a traditional panel, this session will feature lightning round presentations followed by breakout group deep dives, where each speaker will lead a table discussion on the topic they introduced.
Disaster Resiliency Capacity Building
A reflective conversation on ways communities are collaborating to strengthen their resilience through disaster action roadmaps and small business disaster preparedness, relief, and recovery initiatives. LISC partner-developed toolkits will be shared.
Money, Mobility, and Opportunity: Rural Financial Realities for Individuals, Families, and Business Owners
An interactive peer-sharing session of how factors such as credit utilization and access, transportation access, housing, child and elder care, and employment opportunities influence overall financial health and economic mobility. Attendees will leave with a deeper understanding of rural financial ecosystems, practical strategies for supporting financial resilience, and ideas for creating more equitable pathways to opportunity and wealth-building.