LYNNFIELD — Lynnfield resident Deanne Healey has become the first Destination Creation Course (DCC) certified facilitator in Massachusetts.
Healey, vice president and market manager of Salem Five Bank and former president of Peabody Main Streets, is one of only 50 facilitators in the United States.
“Certification allows me to help train small businesses and teach them how to reach their ‘destination,’” Healey said. “The program is designed to help business owners find the ways to set their business apart from others. It helps them choose the best ways to show that they have compelling aspects that make them stand apart.”
Peabody Main Streets and the Peabody Area Chamber of Commerce are partnering to host Healey’s first destination course for small business owners beginning March 15.
Through funding provided by the Massachusetts Growth Capital Corporation (MGCC) Small Business Technical Assistance Grant Program, the course will be free. Healey said 37 businesses had registered for the course before the sign-up deadline.
”We are excited to offer this business-building opportunity free of charge (normally $799 to attend) to small business owners, knowing it will assist them with spotlighting their unique services and products in a new way,” said PACC Executive Director Beth Amico.
“The bonus is having Deanne, the only licensed Destination Creation facilitator in the state and 2019 Essex Media Group Peabody Person of the Year, guide businesses through these chapters each week. You do not want to miss this opportunity.”
The eight-week course will be held virtually every Monday for two hours a night. Healey said the hope is that, at the end of the final session, business owners will have learned how to increase their revenue.
“It could be many things, like they may have needed a base website page or developing an online retailing platform or developing or improving social media presence,” Healey said. “The beauty of the course is that the initial grants will also be able to pay for those things.”
MGCC builds operational capacity and skills of organizations that are providing technical assistance, education, and access to capital to small businesses, including many owned by women, minorities and veterans.
Business owners who complete the course not only learn valuable business strategies, but are eligible to receive a technical assistance grant to implement an idea that will help them generate revenue.
Healey said she became familiar with DCC founder Jon Schallert’s work through the National Main Streets network and jumped at the chance to bring that expertise to local businesses.
“In my involvement with the Peabody Main Streets program, I’ve had the opportunity to attend the annual National Main Street Conference many times. The first thing I would look for is to see when Schallert’s session was scheduled,” said Healey.
“He has a wealth of information and Jon is able to communicate about the changing retail landscape, help business owners identify what is unique about their business, and harness the power of marketing to increase sales.”
Healey said DCC is a proven 14-point business strategy and that Schallert created the methodology after three decades of coaching independent business owners to make their businesses irresistible to customers.
“Businesses that follow Schallert’s process can attract both local consumers and customers from far beyond the typical geographic market of a business,” Healey said. “In the past, businesses interested in taking the class had to travel to Colorado for training, and many small businesses lacked the financial means to do this, so now the course has been adapted to virtual learning.”
The course material includes a combination of dialogue and discussion among participants, allowing for the opportunity to hear different business perspectives, recorded webinars, and interviews with world-class business experts and authors, in addition to providing a 178-page digital workbook. A special section on increasing revenue during COVID-19 has also been added.
“Our mission has always been to help independently-owned businesses who are the backbone of so many communities in North America,” Schallert said. “When we train leaders like Deanne, they are able to bring this critically-important information back to owners who need it now.
“Taking the Destination Creation Course can help owners successfully position themselves for the future and beyond.”