Dozens of local business leaders and representatives convened at the Youche Country Club in Crown Point to attend a Business Boot Camp seminar, lunch and networking session hosted by local community organization, Hometown Happenings.
Click here for more photos from the event.
Participants of the event went to sharpen their skills and learn some new ones from business coach Kealah Parkinson. She covered topics like projecting confidence and excitement about your business, dealing with stress and identifying your strengths and weaknesses.
“We are all very invested in Northwest Indiana,” Parkinson said. “No matter who or where we are, we are all decision makers. We must work on growing our own local businesses first.”
Parkinson hails from just outside Muncie but has been in Crown Point for the last twelve years; working and focusing on Northwest Indiana businesses for the past five. She’s counting on these business leaders to take what they learn at the seminar and grow their local businesses.
Tim Fealy, coordinator of the event for Hometown Happenings said, “I want to change the way northwest Indiana does business.” Having a business and community oriented background, Fealy started a “Buy Local” program but soon noticed that the campaign didn’t go far enough. “We need businesses to be involved and offering better local products and services,” Fealy stated, “and what humbles me is it’s great to have a business community who still wants to improve their local business landscape.”
Fealy’s networking and getting the word out through the Chamber of Commerce, direct mail and social media has assured these events will continue to draw participants who want to promote and better the economic climate of the community.
Attending was Brooke Metz with Rossi and Taylor Real Estate. “We came to learn self growth, how to better communicate, and to harness the strengths of the team,” she said.
Also there was Willy Chandler of Willy’s Works, a fireworks distributor. He came to “get fired up!!” he said. “There’s always room for more enthusiasm. Tim and Kealah are great at what they do and we appreciate their efforts to help grow the community.”
Parkinson added, towards the end of the seminar, that, “we want this to be something that holds you accountable to your goals. Take what you learn back to the community.”
The next Hometown Happenings event is a Business Boot Camp breakfast scheduled for April 10. The theme of the seminar will be “Saying Less and Selling Even More!”
