Jeannie Hebert: The Power of Connection
- Elizabeth Reid-Eriksen
- 16 hours ago
- 7 min read
How Jeannie Hebert, Chair of the Blackstone Valley Hub Board, built a career through relationships, community engagement, and the networks that shape opportunity.
Few careers follow a perfectly straight line, and Jeannie Hebert’s journey is a clear example of how relationships, curiosity, and a willingness to step into new spaces can shape a professional life.
Today, Hebert serves on the board of the Blackstone Valley Hub for Workforce Development, where she continues to support initiatives that connect students, businesses, and community leaders. Over the course of several decades, however, she has built an unusually diverse career that spans healthcare, manufacturing, tourism, nonprofit leadership, and regional economic development.
What ties these experiences together is not a single industry or job title. Instead, Hebert’s career reveals the importance of professional relationships and community networks. Each new opportunity emerged through conversations, board service, and the connections she built along the way. As she reflected on her journey, one theme became clear: careers rarely unfold exactly as planned, but the people you meet often shape the path ahead.
A Career of Opportunities
Jeannie Hebert’s professional journey began in a place few might expect. She started her career as a dental hygienist and worked in dentistry for nearly two decades. Yet even in those early years, she was already gaining experience that would influence the leadership roles she would later take on.
“I started out as a dental hygienist, believe it or not,” she recalled. “And I did that for 18 years.”
At the time, the healthcare field was undergoing major changes. As public awareness of AIDS grew in the 1980s, medical offices were rapidly adapting their safety procedures. The uncertainty surrounding the disease created an environment filled with new regulations and constant adjustments.
Hebert saw the shift firsthand. “There were so many procedures we had to go into for prevention because no one really knew what was going on,” she explained.
Rather than continuing solely in clinical work, she began transitioning into management. She became a dental practice manager and helped guide the office through another major transition of the era: the move from traditional paper ledgers to early computer systems.
“It was a time when we transitioned from ledger systems to computers,” she said. “There were no personal computers. Everything was DOS. It was pretty crude when you look back now.”
Although the technology may seem outdated today, the experience gave Hebert an early introduction to operations, problem solving, and organizational leadership. Skills that would later prove essential.
Her next professional chapter took her into the family business, Hebert Candies in Shrewsbury. What began as occasional involvement gradually expanded into a full leadership role. Eventually, she became Vice President of the company, overseeing both wholesale and retail operations as the company grew to thirteen stores and more than one hundred employees.
Running a business of that scale required far more than a narrow set of responsibilities. Hebert worked across nearly every part of the organization. Manufacturing, retail, logistics, and management all became part of her daily responsibilities.
“When you own the company, you do everything,” she explained. “From working down in manufacturing to wholesale and retail. There are a lot of moving parts.”
Those years also introduced her to a world that would shape the rest of her career: community leadership.
While working at Hebert Candies, Hebert also began serving on several boards across Central Massachusetts. These roles introduced her to civic leaders, nonprofit directors, and public officials who were deeply involved in their communities. Through those experiences she built confidence, expanded her network, and developed a growing interest in regional development.
Inside the Boardroom
Over the years, Jeannie Hebert has served on numerous boards across Central Massachusetts, from nonprofit organizations to workforce and education initiatives. For her, these spaces are more than formal meetings. They are places where ideas are tested, relationships are strengthened, and communities come together to solve problems.
“I serve on probably too many boards,” she joked, though many of them reflect causes that are deeply personal to her.
Some boards focus directly on advancing the work of the Chamber and the Blackstone Valley Hub, such as the Governor’s STEM Advisory Council. Others, like the Community Harvest Project or Job Corps community boards, reflect her broader commitment to strengthening the region.
Despite their differences, the purpose of these boards is often similar. They bring together people with different perspectives who share a common mission.
“What happens in the boardroom is that you get together to better what your mission is,” Hebert explained. “To grow your mission and to make a difference.”
For Hebert, these boardrooms have also been powerful spaces for networking. They create opportunities to collaborate with community leaders, legislators, and nonprofit advocates who are working toward the same goals. Those relationships often extend well beyond a single meeting.
The Art of Networking
For Hebert, networking did not begin as a natural skill. Like many people early in their careers, she initially felt hesitant about speaking up in professional spaces. One of the first moments that pushed her outside her comfort zone came when she was invited to join the Sturbridge Tourism Association Board while running a Hebert Candies store in the area.
At the time, the board included local leaders and political stakeholders, and the conversations carried real weight. Hebert admits she was unsure of herself in those early meetings.
“I was a little trepidatious about speaking and taking a stand on certain issues,” she said.
But she pushed herself to participate anyway. Before meetings, she would remind herself that her perspective mattered and that she needed to contribute to the discussion. Over time, the nervousness faded. The more she engaged, the more comfortable she became.
That experience also taught her an important lesson about professional relationships. Networking is not about perfectly polished conversations. It begins with simply introducing yourself, sharing what you care about, and showing genuine interest in the work others are doing.
Over the years, those introductions turned into lasting relationships with community leaders and public officials across Massachusetts. Many of those connections have lasted decades. Hebert recalled meeting figures such as Congressman Jim McGovern early in their careers and maintaining those relationships as their professional paths evolved.
Networking, however, does not end once a connection is made. Maintaining relationships requires effort and thoughtfulness. Hebert believes one of the most important rules is simple: “If you say you’re going to do something, you have to do it,” she explained. Reliability builds trust, and trust strengthens professional relationships over time.
Equally important is staying connected, even when years pass between conversations. A quick message congratulating someone on a new role, a note after seeing them mentioned in the news, or simply reaching out when someone comes to mind can help keep those relationships alive.
“I think it’s just always being thoughtful,” Hebert said. “Everyone’s human, and they feel good knowing that you’re thinking about them too.”
For Hebert, networking is not about collecting contacts. It is about building genuine relationships with people who share a commitment to their community. Over time, those relationships create the foundation for collaboration, opportunity, and lasting impact.
And eventually, one of those relationships opened the door to the role that would define the next chapter of her career.
Creation of the BV Hub
One of the most defining moments in Hebert’s career resulted from a simple observation during a local event. While attending a gathering at Blackstone Valley Tech, she heard the school’s leadership proudly announce that nearly 90 percent of its graduates were going on to college. For many in the room, this sounded like a success story.
For Hebert, however, the statistic lit off a light bulb.
“That's why we have no skilled laborers,” she realized. “They’re getting certified, but they’re going into totally different career paths.”
At the same time, she was hearing concerns from school leaders across the region. Superintendents were reporting rising dropout rates and increasing disciplinary issues among students who were disengaged from traditional academic pathways. Over time, many schools had shifted heavily toward college preparatory tracks, leaving fewer opportunities for students who wanted to pursue hands-on careers or technical training.
Meanwhile, vocational schools were becoming harder to access. Admission was increasingly tied to MCAS scores, which meant academically stronger students were often prioritized. Ironically, the students most interested in technical careers were sometimes the ones who could not get into the very programs designed for them.
The disconnect between education pathways and workforce needs became impossible for Hebert to ignore. So, she began reaching out to people in her network to explore possible solutions. She sat down with state education leaders, including Undersecretary of Education Bob LePage, to discuss whether the requirements for vocational education could be adjusted to better serve students and employers.
During those conversations, another idea emerged. Jack Healey, then head of MassMEP, suggested a more ambitious approach.
“Why don’t you just start your own school?” he asked.
What initially sounded like a bold suggestion soon became a serious plan. Hebert returned to LePage to discuss the concept further, and together they explored the possibility of securing a workforce skills grant to launch a new training initiative.
From there, the pieces began to fall into place. Funding opportunities emerged, partners stepped forward, and the concept evolved into what would eventually become the Blackstone Valley Hub for Workforce Development.
Therefore, what appeared from the outside to be a series of unrelated career changes was actually a steady accumulation of relationships, skills, and opportunities. Each role expanded her network and introduced her to new communities of professionals.
Looking Ahead
For students interested in civic engagement or community leadership, Jeannie Hebert believes the first step is surprisingly simple: start by connecting with people who are already doing the work. Whether through a local chamber of commerce, a community organization, or a professional event, she encourages young people to seek out mentors and opportunities to learn directly from those around them.
For Hebert, confidence grows through experience and through the relationships built along the way. Many of the opportunities that shaped her own career came from people who took the time to offer guidance or open a door. Now, she sees part of her role as “paying that support forward” by helping the next generation find their own place in the arena.
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