Page 12 - BusinessWest Women of Impact 2020

Campbell
Continued from page A10
Showing Her Metal
By now, most people know the story of how Campbell came to enter that male-dominated world of rigging and machine relocation. She was working as director of Marketing and Development for the UMass Fine Arts Center in
“She worked to create
a paradigm shift in the industry, or at least at
CIC, to create a work environment that is more linear, but, most important, a workplace without fear.”
the early ’90s, but looking for an entrepreneurial challenge.
Three area rigging plants had been shut down in the wake of the recession of the early ’90s, and Campbell started CIC as a way to rescue many of those workers, including her now-ex- husband.
Over the past 27 years, she has steered the company through a number of economic ups and downs — the Great Recession hit this company later than most, but very hard — including this latest downturn brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.
For example, when things got slow earlier this year, as manufacturing and other sectors were put in a wait-and-see mode by the pandemic, Campbell used a Paycheck Protection Act loan to keep her people employed, and used the time for training and professional development.
“We didn’t have enough projects to keep everyone working, so we decided to do training,” she recalled. “We did in-house and online training — on our hard skills, our soft skills,
Carol Campbell has balanced work in her adopted field with mentoring efforts and contributions of time and energy to many area nonprofits.
and technical skills — and we did that through March, April, and May.”
Those training sessions speak to Campbell’s approach to business and management, one that is employee-focused and perhaps best explained
Women
“Great leaders don’t set out to be a leader, they set out to make a difference. It’s never about the role, always about the goal.”
Congratulations Carol.
We are forever grateful for your purpose-driven leadership and commitment to Westmass and our community.
Women of of IMPACT
IMPACTA PROGRAM OF BUSINESSWEST www.westmassdevelopment.com
A12 NOVEMBER 9, 2020
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Photo by Leah Martin Photography
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