WINTER 2027 cohort · limited seats · Massachusetts
Unlocking your company's growth potential.
You compete against companies with ten times your budget and
no time to step back and think. SCALE UP is 50 hours of live
training across Marketing, Sales, Leadership and AI built to close
that gap — and for Massachusetts employers with 100 or fewer
employees, the Workforce Training Fund covers 100% of it.
No pitch deck. Chris tells you in 15 minutes whether this fits.
$0
300+
Leaders trained across New England
5
Workshop modules
50
Hours of training
25+
Training templates
15
Companies per cohort
Format
Live virtual cohort
Length
5 modules · 50 hours
Cadence
Tues & Thurs · 2.5 hrs
Room size
15 companies
Cost
$0 out of pocket
Instructor-led training, taught live in a small room, where you apply each
framework to your own business as you go — and for qualifying
Massachusetts employers, fully covered by the Express Grant.
Who this is for
Built for the engine of the economy.
Pick a challenge to see how the program answers it
Small businesses and nonprofits employ most of the people in this state,
and they carry every function on a handful of shoulders. The owner is
also the head of sales. Nobody has a spare quarter to figure out AI. These
are the five things we hear on nearly every intake call.
The challenge
“We sound like everyone else in our category, and we
have no formal growth plan behind it.”
Module 01 · Strategic Planning
Learn to build positioning you can defend — and the growth
plan behind it.
Seven working sessions teach you how to sharpen messaging and positioning so a
prospect can tell you apart from the other three quotes on their desk — then how to
structure a formal growth plan and the scorecards to track it, working your own draft
as you go.
Frameworks and templates covered
Differentiated positioning
A USP that holds up
Formal growth plan
Company scorecards
The challenge
“I cannot afford to lose my best two people, and I have no plan if I do.”
Module 04 · Lead Generation
Learn how to build a retention plan for the people you cannot replace.
How to describe your culture to a candidate, how to run recruiting and onboarding that holds under growth, and how to use the hard-conversation frameworks — Radical Candor, the 5 Dysfunctions, the 5 Whys — on your actual team rather than a case study.
Frameworks and templates covered
Retention plan
Defined culture
Onboarding process
Feedback framework
The challenge
“We have no formal marketing or sales strategy driving our growth — we just react to whatever comes in.”
Module 03 · Marketing Strategy
Learn to document a marketing and sales strategy your growth can run on.
You train on a marketing plan template built specifically for small organizations with minimal paid budgets — mapping how your customers really decide, pressure-testing your position against the competition, and structuring a plan and content library, so growth is driven by a robust, detailed strategy leveraging cutting edge tactics, tools and platforms
Frameworks and templates covered
Written marketing strategy
Customer decision journey
Competitive positioning
Content library
The challenge
“Our pipeline is thin and inconsistent. We need a real way to generate leads instead of waiting on referrals.”
Module 04 · Lead Generation
Learn to design a lead generation system that keeps the pipeline full.
You audit your own website and fix what is actually costing you leads, then learn which channels are worth your time — SEO, AI search, paid advertising, retargeting, email, social media, guerilla marketing and sales outreach — resulting in a lead generation engine that drives consistent leads.
Frameworks and templates covered
Website audit
Prioritized lead channels
Email & outreach playbook
Repeatable pipeline engine
The challenge
“We sound like everyone else in our category, and we
have no formal growth plan behind it.”
Module 01 · Strategic Planning
Learn to build positioning you can defend — and the growth
plan behind it.
Seven working sessions teach you how to sharpen messaging and positioning so a
prospect can tell you apart from the other three quotes on their desk — then how to
structure a formal growth plan and the scorecards to track it, working your own draft
as you go.
Frameworks and templates covered
Differentiated positioning
A USP that holds up
Formal growth plan
Company scorecards
Why this matters
“A business has only two functions:
marketing and innovation. Everything
else is a cost.”
After Peter Drucker
The first four modules build the foundation and supply the marketing.
The fifth puts the innovation engine in the owner's hands. The gap
SCALE UP is built to close is not a knowledge gap — it is an execution
gap, and it is well documented.
01 — The Funding
Most organizations pay nothing.
Every Massachusetts company already pays into the Workforce Training Fund through its unemployment contributions. The Express Grant is how you get that money back — up to $3,000 per course.
Skayle 360 is a registered provider in the Express Course
Directory, so our courses are pre-approved. We prepare the
paperwork, you sign it.
✓
Registered training provider — Commonwealth Corporation Express
Course Directory
Grant administered by Commonwealth Corporation. Award subject to
eligibility and approval. Skayle 360 does not control grant outcomes.
$3K
per org, per
course
What it covers
Up to $3,000 per organization, per course, with a $15,000 annual
cap per company. SCALE UP is built to fit inside those limits —
most companies see 100% of training cost reimbursed.
≤100
W-2 employees
Who qualifies
Massachusetts businesses with 100 or fewer W-2 employees and a physical location in the state. You will need a Certificate of Good Standing from the DOR and a Certificate of Compliance from the DUA — we help you gather both.
21d
to approval
How fast it moves
Express Grant applications are typically reviewed and awarded
within 21 business days. We complete the application, assemble
the documents and submit — so the timeline stays predictable.
02 — The Curriculum
Five modules, one operating system.
01
The Foundation
Strategic Planning
Your Why, values, USP, vision and plan — the layer every later module points
back to.
What you learn to do
How to write a clear Why, define core values, sharpen a USP,
and structure a strategic plan and scorecard — practiced on
your own business using our training templates.
10 hours
7 sections
Sections covered
◆
Crafting Your Unique Selling Proposition (USP)
◆
Mastering The Golden Circle Framework
◆
Defining Your Core Values with Clarity and Impact
◆
Building Out Detailed Customer Personas
◆
Developing a Compelling Company Vision
◆
Creating a Strategic Plan That Delivers Results
◆
Building Company Scorecards for Measurable Success
02
The People
Building Your Team
The people who carry the strategy, and the rhythms that keep your best ones.
What you learn to do
How to write a clear Why, define core values, sharpen a USP,
and structure a strategic plan and scorecard — practiced on
your own business using our training templates.
10 hours
6 sections
Sections covered
◆
Building a Strong Company Culture That Lasts
◆
Developing a Retention Strategy for Your Team
◆
Strengthening Marketing Through the Lens of Leadership
◆
Overcoming the Growth Killer — Tackling Unproductivity
◆
Navigating The 5 Dysfunctions of a Team
◆
Leading By Example — Inspiring Through Action
03
The Difference
Marketing Strategy
What makes you different, said in the customer's words, inside a working plan.
What you learn to do
How to run a Five Forces read, choose three defensible differentiators, validate a persona, and structure a marketing plan around three channels.
10 hours
6 sections
Sections covered
◆
Developing Your Marketing Strategy for Maximum Impact
◆
Differentiating Your Brand in a Crowded Market
◆
Becoming Customer-Centric Across Every Touchpoint
◆
Mapping McKinsey's Customer Decision Journey
◆
Mastering the Paid, Owned & Earned Media Framework
◆
Building Out a Comprehensive Marketing Plan
04
The Engine
Lead Generation
The website hub and the few channels that put the plan in front of buyers.
What you learn to do
How to audit your website, prioritize the channels worth funding, and design a lead generation engine your team can run without an agency.
10 hours
6 sections
Sections covered
◆
Website Tools & Fundamentals for Conversion-Ready Sites
◆
SEO & Paid Strategies That Get You Found
◆
Retargeting Strategies to Recapture Lost Leads
◆
Email Marketing Best Practices That Actually Convert
◆
Mastering Social Media for Lead Generation
◆
Sales Enablement — Aligning Marketing and Sales for Growth
05
The Multiplier
AI for Growth
The multiplier that strengthens all four — at a fraction of the old cost and time.
What you learn to do
How to use AI to strengthen your personas, plans and content library — plus prompt technique and a tool stack you can operate yourself.
10 hours
6 sections
Sections covered
◆
Artificial Intelligence Introduction — What You Need to Know
◆
The Rise of AI Agents — Your New Business Partners
◆
The Power of the Prompt — Perfect Your AI Output
◆
Leveraging AI to Perfect Your Strategic Growth Plan
◆
Using AI to Strengthen Your Marketing Plan + Content Library
◆
Additional AI Tools to 10x Future Growth
Taught by
Chris Ciunci — operator first, trainer second.
SBA Small Businessperson of the Year. Built and exited TribalVision, a 4-time Inc 5000
agency. Trains every SCALE UP cohort personally.
Meet Chris →
03 — The Results
Ask the 300 leaders who went first.
Three on camera here. The full library — sixteen client videos and thirty-four unedited exit surveys — lives on the results page.
Steve & Farzan
Owner and CTO
John Boyajian
President and Founder
Todd Civin
Director of Communications
Frequently Asked
Fifteen companies. One cohort a season.
We cap the room at fifteen so every company gets time on its own plan. Grant paperwork takes about three weeks, so the practical deadline is earlier than the start date.
Cohort
Winter 2027
Dates
Jan 19— Apr 1, 2027
Schedule
Tues & Thurs · 1:00–3:30 PM ET
Format
Live virtual · 15 companies
Tuition
Fully funded by Express Grant
Winter 2027 cohort · limited seats
What leaders ask before they enroll.
Mostly about the grant. If yours isn't here, call — we
answer grant questions even for companies that end up
training elsewhere.
answer grant questions even for companies that end up
training elsewhere.
Ask Chris directly
→
Does my company actually qualify for the Express Grant?
If you are a Massachusetts employer with 100 or fewer W-2 employees and a physical office, factory or warehouse in the state, you almost certainly qualify.
We confirm eligibility and gather the three required documents (Certificate of Good Standing, Certificate of Compliance, W-9) as part of intake.
How does reimbursement actually work?
You pay for each course as your employee completes it, then submit a reimbursement request to Commonwealth Corporation with the invoice and proof of payment. The state reimburses the full amount, up to the cap.
We provide every document you need and walk you through the first reimbursement submission at no charge.
What are the actual grant caps?
The Express Grant caps reimbursement at $300 per instructional hour, $3,000 per organization per course, and $15,000 per company per calendar year. SCALE UP is structured to fit comfortably within those limits.
If you want to send several people or run a larger program, the Express Grant can be paired with the WTFP General Program in the same year — we will help you map the path.
Can I send more than one leader through the program?
Yes. The $15,000 cap is per company per calendar year, so you can send additional leaders the following calendar year. Or pair the Express Grant with the WTFP General Program (allowed simultaneously as of April 2026) for larger rollouts. Or you can fund additional seats out-of-pocket.
We'll help you map the path that fits your team's size and timeline.
Do trainees need to be paid during class?
Yes — this is a WTFP requirement. Employees must be paid their regular wages while attending training. The grant is intended to upskill working employees, not to fund unpaid time.
For SCALE UP, that means roughly 2.5 hours of paid time per session, twice a week, for the duration of the cohort.
What if my application gets denied?
Denials are uncommon when eligibility is confirmed up front, which is why we walk through it before you apply. The most frequent reasons for denial are missing documentation or being out of compliance with the DOR or DUA — both of which we help you check before submission.
If something does come back rejected, we work with you to address the issue and resubmit.
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06 — The Book
SCALE UP, in print.
SCALE UP is the foundational resource behind every Skayle 360 workshop and custom training engagement — a practical playbook drawn from two decades of scaling small businesses.
An invaluable compass for the small business community. SCALE UP
bridges the gap between theory and the real world. It's a playbook
every business leader should have on their desk.
Kathie Mahoney · President, MassMEP
07 — Get Started
Fifteen minutes with Chris.
Pick a time and we'll cover three things: whether your company qualifies for the grant, whether SCALE UP is the right fit, and what the paperwork looks like. If it isn't a fit, Chris will tell you that on the call.
Book a call
Fifteen minutes with Chris.
✓
Whether your company qualifies for the grant.
✓
Whether SCALE UP fits where you are right now.
✓
If it is not a fit, Chris tells you on the call.
Pick a time
↗
Live availability · no back-and-forth email
Phone
(888) 209-1360
LinkedIn
/in/christopherciunci/