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Executive Spotlight: Deborah Gallant, executive director of Berkshire County chapter of Entrepreneurship for All

PITTSFIELD — Deborah Gallant had worked independently as a business coach for 15 years. But, when an opportunity to head a business growth-related organization came up last year, she jumped at the opportunity.

Gallant, originally from Connecticut and who holds an MBA in marketing from Columbia University, is executive director of the Berkshire County chapter of Entrepreneurship for All, a Lowell-based organization that operates seven chapters in Massachusetts and one in Colorado.

EforAll, founded in 2010 in the Merrimack Valley, features training programs and conducts pitch contests for developing small businesses — functions that are designed to create an entrepreneurial ecosystem in the communities where the organization is located.

We met with Gallant recently to talk about EforAll, why she joined the organization, how the group fits into the entrepreneurial landscape of the Berkshires, and her background as a business coach.

Q: Why did EforAll decide to open a Berkshire County chapter in Pittsfield last year?

A: EforAll came to the Berkshires as a joint effort from a number of community organizations.

Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation ran a study in 2017-2018 about how to help the economy of the Berkshires, and one of the things the report really said was that coordinating and supporting small businesses was going to help the entire community. … EforAll was an example of something they thought they’d like to look at.