CCRT’s Downtown Business Academy Seeing Success, Hosting Classes

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Chehalis Community Renaissance Team’s (CCRT) Downtown Business Academy (DBA) has been seeing success within the community and is hosting a “Facebook Tips for Business” class on Wednesday, March 18 for all interested local business owners and employees. 

As of Monday, the event had not been canceled.

The business academy is into its second year of existence and CCRT Executive Director Annalee Tobey said they have been getting positive feedback from class participants. 

“We wanted to help move business owners into the next phase and get them thinking ‘okay how do I do this strategically.’ So we identified that as the need — the idea of trying to facilitate commerce through education,” said VP of the CCRT board and instructor of the business development classes Nicole Sampson.

Sampson said that she has met with a lot of smart and hard-working business folks who are so busy running their business that they have not had the chance to learn about strategies to take their business to the next level such as creating a website, marketing on social media, creating a newsletter or connecting with other business owners in the area.

Tobey said that the goal of the DBA is to be a source of knowledge and a place to turn for local businesses when they are struggling, want an outside opinion on an issue, want to take their business to the next level or just need some help with something.

The DBA has held several classes over the past year with topics including digital marketing on social media, business writing, merchandising and bookkeeping. Sampson said they develop class topics by talking with local business owners and identifying their needs.

“We always think ‘how can we reach out to the businesses and help them where they need it’ because they are an expert in their craft but that doesn’t mean they are an expert in social media. The last thing we want is for a business to be struggling and not know where to turn,” said Tobey.



The DBA classes tickets are $20 and lunch will be included. The upcoming class on Facebook Tips for Business will be held at Chehalis Coworks (moved from the Chehalis Timberland Library) from 12 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. The classes are open to everyone, not just business owners in Chehalis. To find more information and sign up visit https://experiencechehalis.com/dba/. 

Tobey is now formalizing some one-on-one sessions she has been having with an individual where he or she can get help with a specific problem or project. Tobey will have four free 90-minute sessions available for each month.

“We are trying to see if there’s good interest in it. Every time I get to work one-on-one with somebody I’m happy to know we are a resource for them,” said Tobey. 

The DBA works with people in specific ways to boost their business. Tobey gave the example of asking businesses if they have thought about putting flyers up around their establishment that have a QR code to scan to get people signed up for their e-newsletter.  

“There are a lot of tips that people may have not thought of because they are busy running their business. Sometimes people just need a little help with the details,” said Tobey. 

More information on upcoming DBA classes can be found on the CCRT website at www.experience chehalis.com.