FXBG Neighbors Podcast
Fredericksburg Neighbors Podcast
FXBG Neighbors Podcast
EP #117 Inside ChamberWorks Business Academy: Skills, Mentors, And Real-World Results
What if you could take one stubborn business problem and turn it into a concrete plan backed by expert guidance and a cohort that won’t let you stall? We sit down with Carley Walker, Executive Vice President of Workforce and Community Development at the Fredericksburg Regional Chamber of Commerce, to share how ChamberWorks Business Academy gives small and mid-sized businesses a practical path from uncertainty to action.
Across six sessions, we unpack a curriculum built for real-world impact: business foundations to sharpen your operating model, AI to work smarter and scale your efforts, HR and culture to stabilize teams, and financial management to bring clarity to cash flow and decisions. Carley spotlights the people behind the program—local leaders, seasoned operators, and the Dean of the Business School at the University of Mary Washington—who bring deep expertise and a Fredericksburg lens to every topic. Together, they create a learning environment where questions are specific, examples are local, and answers translate into daily wins.
The standout feature is the capstone. From day one, each participant brings a live challenge or opportunity—hiring, pricing, product launch, rebrand, or a pivot into a new field. As you move through the academy, you stress-test ideas with peers and instructors and build a business impact plan you present at the end. That structure turns notes into movement, with accountability, feedback, and momentum that lasts long after graduation. We also get into practical details: how the $895 member pricing compares to typical executive education, what kind of ROI owners can expect, and why this community’s habit of saying yes makes all the difference for emerging leaders and career changers.
If you’ve been waiting for the right moment to level up, consider this your nudge. Explore the ChamberWorks Business Academy, apply with a real problem in hand, and join a cohort ready to help you grow with intention. If this conversation resonates, follow the show, share it with a fellow business owner, and leave a review to help more neighbors find us.
Carley Walker
Fredericksburg Chamber of Commerce
cwalker@fxbgchamber.org
(540) 373-9400
1701 Fall Hill Ave Ste 106, Fredericksburg, VA, United States, Virginia
This is the Fredericksburg Neighbors Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Dori Stewart.
Speaker 2:Welcome back to another episode of the FXBG Neighbors Podcast, where we share the stories of our favorite local brands. I have a special guest joining me today. We've got Carley Walker. She is the Executive Vice President of Workforce and Community Development with the Fredericksburg Regional Chamber of Commerce. Carley, welcome to the podcast. Thank you, Dory. I'm excited to be here. Well, I'm excited that you joined me. I asked you to be my guest today because my audience is full of local small business owners, and the chamber has a new program going on. And I would love to learn all about it myself and also share it with my audience. So tell us, Carley, what is the Chamber Works Business Academy?
Speaker:Oh, I'm so fired up about this program, Dory. It's going to be uh groundbreaking and really wonderful for our small to mid-sized businesses or those persons that are maybe in transition. Let's say they've been a teacher their whole career and they want to go into marketing and they need to brush up on some of their skill set in the business world. So it's going to be one of our signature programs and it's designed to equip new and growing businesses as well as emerging leaders inside established companies with operational knowledge, strategic insight, and community connections needed for long-term success. It's a six-session course of work. And we start with like building the foundation of your business. And then we go into programs around AI, around HR and culture and your people, around financial management, all of these really key lessons and business advocacy information that we all need to be successful in business. And another really cool concept of it is that we're going to start when you come into the program, you're going to bring a problem in your business. None of us have problems in our business, no, right? No. What are you talking about? So you're going to bring to the coursework a problem in your business, and you're going to take that problem with you through each course, and you're going to present it as a solution, however, you came up with a solution through the coursework at the end, like a business impact plan. And that is going to be our final session in December where you're going to present that. And you also have a graduation.
Speaker 2:So that's amazing. I really love the way that you have structured it. And I love how well rounded it is and all of the different facets of business that you're covering. And I understand that you have some other local leaders who are helping out. So talk to me a little bit about that.
Speaker:So that's the really cool part too, is that I reached out to some friends in the business industry, some friends in the higher education world, and let them know that this was something we were starting. And I said, I would love to have you as an instructor. And no one said no.
Speaker 2:Wow.
Speaker:They were all so excited about it and said, absolutely, I'll be there. This sounds like exactly what our Fredericksburg business community needs. Um, and so you've got like you're uh we're starting out uh building the foundation course um in February with uh Dr. Felice Tabac, who is the Dean of the Business School at the University of Mary, Washington. It doesn't really get much better than the dean of the business school. Um and then we have um leaders in the community that are like very successful in business, um, like Jessica Marshall, who's coming and leading our accounting. Um, and then we have um Adam Vanderwiss, um, who is the HR director at Simventions, who is going to come and lead us in HR People and Culture. Um, and we have um Jenny May turn with Maytern Staffing, who is our um incoming board chair for the Fredericksburg Regional Chamber of Commerce, but also very successful in business. Um, and she is going to be working with the group on their capstone project, actually. So um, and all in between. And if you go to our website, um the Fredericksburg Regional Chambers website and check click on Chamber Works, it'll give you a full listing of all the instructors that have signed on and said yes, and um that they are ready to help you grow and thrive in your business.
Speaker 2:That's amazing. I just love how supportive and giving our Fredericksburg business community is.
Speaker:Isn't it beautiful? It really is. Because, you know, we get to see it firsthand here at the Chamber of Commerce because we work with so many businesses. Um, but when you're introducing a new program, whether it's something really small or something a little bit larger like this, um, you have a little bit of nerves. You're like, oh, is this gonna take off? Are people gonna support it? I'm not sure. But you know what? Fredericksburg businesses in the region, they never disappoint. They all step up and say, How can I help make this successful for you? Whether it's the Business Academy or Chamber membership or in Main Street or wherever you are and advocating, I say sign up and do it and lean in because someone will help you.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I love that so much. So if someone listening right now is, you know, hearing this and is excited, maybe a little nervous and they're on the fence about joining, what would you say to them?
Speaker:I would say uh it's funny. I just recently shared that my word of the year is unafraid. Um be unafraid of leaning into something different. Um, be a little bit bold, even if that's out of your character, because it could be life-changing for you. Um, we just had our member meeting this morning at the Chamber of Commerce, and um, a lot of people spoke about how serving on a committee at the chamber or even coming to a ribbon cutting has completely changed the trajectory of their business and the way they network and meet people and build upon, you know, leads and all of this. Um that is just putting forth the effort and doing it. And it's very inexpensive, of course, to get these kind of calibers of um instructors and speakers for you. It's $895 for our chamber members to go through this coursework. Um, and so I say just do it, be unafraid and lean in.
Speaker 2:Be unafraid. I love that. And I imagine, you know, being in, you know, a small cohort like that, you're gonna make some lifelong friends.
Speaker:Yeah, yeah, and you're gonna also make some friends that are going to help you in your business because you're bringing forth that problem, opportunity, whatever you want to call it. Um, and they're going along with you on this journey, coming up with a solution to this problem. And so they're not gonna forget that, and they're gonna be there holding you accountable long after you graduate and celebrating these successes with you along the way. Um, it's going to be an intimate group that are really gonna get to know each other and really lean heavily on each other and um help each other sit be successful. Amazing, amazing.
Speaker 2:So now that we've convinced everyone to join, yes, what are the next steps? What should they do? How do they get enrolled?
Speaker:Okay, so you're gonna go on our website at the Fredericksburg Regional Chamber and you're gonna click on Chamberworks Business Academy and you're gonna click apply. And there are basic questions in there, like there, you tell me more about you, more about your business, and more about that problem slash opportunity that we talked about. And then um we are going to let you know if you got in um very quickly. And um, yeah, and then we look forward to having you and your business in the first cohort of ChamberWorks Business Academy.
Speaker 2:Amazing, Carley. Thank you so much for joining me on the podcast today and sharing the ChamberWorks Business Academy. I hope those listening are inspired and they sign up and change their lives and change their careers. So thank you for joining me.
Speaker:Thank you, Dory. Have a great day.
Speaker 1:Thank you. Thank you for listening to the Fredericksburg Neighbors Podcast. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to FXBG NeighborsPodcast.com.