PEABODY — After stepping in as interim president of the Peabody Chamber of Commerce in July, Deanne Healey has decided to stay on as president. Since joining, Healey has helped the Chamber make many changes.
The Chamber was in a transition period when they asked her to step in as interim president, she said.
“The Chamber lost both their executive director and their program manager within a week of each other, and so the Chamber was left without any staff and I happened to have left my corporate job and was doing some consulting,” said Healey, who lives in Lynnfield.
The board of directors approached her because she was the Chamber’s president for 16 years before stepping down five years ago to work for Salem Five Bank and a program called Destination Creation.
“[Destination Creation] helps businesses learn how to set themselves apart from the competition and be unique, and that made me realize that I really like working with the business community and being part of that whole community aspect,” Healey said.
After stepping into the role of interim president, she guided the board through a “strategic planning process.” After that, the board “took a hard look” at what the Chamber was involved in, such as advocacy efforts and events.
“Once we kind of finished that process we laid out a plan of what needed to happen over the next couple of years and it was exciting to me,” Healey said. “I like working with small businesses, I like being part of the community, and so everything that the Chamber was focused on doing, I felt that I wanted to stay on and have a role in.”
One of her responsibilities is developing a direction for the Chamber.
“We have just recently hired a membership director, that will be full time, and their focus is really going to be solely focused on membership,” Healey said.
Previously, membership activities were overseen by multiple members, making it difficult to understand what was going on in the membership sector.
“This person will be that single point of contact from the day somebody joins the Chamber, to onboard them through the process and make sure that they understand what the Chamber is doing for them and how they can utilize the Chamber for their business,” Healey said.
Over the next year, she wants the Chamber to focus on ensuring that its activities align with its mission.
“That is to be the voice of the business community and make sure that there are business-friendly policies out there,” Healey said. “We have to make sure that we’re communicating to our members in the community exactly what it is we’re doing because so many people don’t even know what a Chamber of Commerce is, and so we’re really taking a look at how we communicate with people.”
After taking the five-year break from being president, she said it feels “great” to be back.
“It probably is even better that I left and came back because I had the experience as a Chamber member too, so now I’ve seen it from both sides from being inside the organization and outside of the organization,” Healey said. “So I know what certain things looked and felt to me as a member so I can use that experience as well to make some changes.”
