Providence, R.I.-based Citizens Bank is offering a new Small Business Peak Performance program designed to show smaller companies how they can expand.

Providence, R.I.-based Citizens Bank has long offered small businesses various checking, savings and investment options. But this month, the financial institution is doing more to help small businesses grow with a new initiative called the Citizens Bank Small Business Peak Performance program.

The program is being touted as a multi-faceted campaign providing information, visibility and other resources.

“Small businesses are a key cylinder in Massachusetts’ economic engine,” said Tony Nuzzo, the bank’s New England managing director of business banking. “Citizens recognizes that growing a small business isn’t a job; it’s a way of life. In creating the Peak Performance program, we sought to bring critical data and resources directly to small-business owners to help them take their companies to the next level.”

As part of the program, the bank established an advisory board made up of professionals and leaders in business and academia that will “support and advise Citizens Bank throughout this initiative.”

Nuzzo said the bank is committed to helping small businesses and the new program allows small-business experts to take research and turn it into practical business exercises.

“We are using the experience of demonstrated business leaders in conjunction with Citizens Bank and Babson [College] research to communicate [advice and strategies] in an easy-to-understand way,” Nuzzo said.

Some of the advisory board members include Kevin J. Clancy, chairman and chief executive officer of Copernicus Marketing Consulting; Daniel C. Kenary, president and co-founder of Harpoon Brewery; Robert Mahoney, vice chairman of New England banking for Citizens Bank; and Stephen Spinelli Jr., vice provost of entrepreneurship at Babson College in Wellesley and co-founder of Jiffy Lube.

In the first month of the program, advisory board members have played a critical role in various small-business seminars. On Oct. 6, Kenary spoke at the New England Business Expo in Worcester and outlined which strategies have been effective for his company.

“[Business leaders are] translating critical information in a practical way,” Nuzzo said.

‘Tepid at Best’
At the Worcester event, Kenary explained ways he has implemented employee and management development at Harpoon. For example, he takes employees with a certain tenure to Europe to visit various breweries.

“It’s right in line with deepening the knowledge of the industry,” noted Nuzzo, who added that it also is a good method to strengthen employee and management relationships.

In mid-October, Spinelli spoke at the South Shore Chamber of Commerce Business-to-Business Expo in Randolph. Clancy is scheduled to speak at the Nov. 17 Boston Business Expo at the Hynes Convention Center.

Nuzzo said it is critical to understand how small businesses view the marketplace and what challenges they face. In order to do that, the Small Business Peak Performance program includes a semi-annual Small Business Pulse Survey, which “explores and tracks issues impacting small-business growth in Massachusetts.” The bank has partnered with the Arthur M. Blank Center for Entrepreneurship at Babson College to conduct the survey.

In early October, the first round of survey findings was released. At least 40 percent of small businesses in the Bay State operate in diversified industries beyond professional, business and technology services. High-growth industries vary by revenue group, the survey said, with a wide range of industries providing growth opportunities.

Small businesses reported they have experienced an average growth rate of 29 percent over the past three years. Other findings included information on the state of the economy – about which, Nuzzo said, small businesses are expressing mild optimism.

“The economic climate in America is tepid at best,” Nuzzo said.

Despite those feelings, small and middle-market businesses in the Bay State reported plans to invest and expand in the upcoming year. Most companies will either maintain or increase their workforce, the survey results revealed.

Increasing health care costs are also on the minds of most small-business owners, as are other types of insurances, such as business interruption and property liability insurance.

“The second-largest challenge is the cost of other insurance,” Nuzzo said.

The survey identified access to skilled labor and employee retainment as other concerns.

“Small businesses are alive and well in Massachusetts and their optimism has helped them grow at an aggressive pace despite the challenges of an uncertain economy,” said Spinelli. “In order to continue creating jobs and adding value to the economy, however, the research tells us that small businesses must implement certain management practices and business planning efforts. Resources and support from policymakers, financial partners and others may play an important role in helping these enterprises to continue growing.”

Even though Citizens Bank is sponsoring the program for small businesses, the Peak Performance effort is not being used to market the products and services the bank offers to the small-business community. However, Nuzzo said if small businesses see Citizens backing the new initiative, they may look to the bank for products and services in the future. Ultimately, Nuzzo noted, the bank has a mission to help small businesses grow.

The final piece of the bank’s small-business program is recognizing companies who have achieved exceptional growth. The Citizens Bank Peak Performance for Extraordinary Growth award is given based on benchmarks in employee relations, community involvement, financial stability and growth and organizational vision.

On Oct. 19, Citizens Bank presented the award to a Rockland-based company. Source Atlantic, a health care industry consultant company, was presented at the South Shore Chamber of Commerce Business-to-Business Expo. Two additional South Shore firms, Advanced Lighting and Production Services and Jack-n-Jill Child Care, were recognized as runners-up for the award.

As part of the honor, Source Atlantic is being given the chance to work with a team of Master of Business Administration degree candidates from Babson College’s Olin Graduate School of Business in order to “continue developing innovative growth strategies that will take their company to the next level.” The team will provide six weeks of consulting services to Source Atlantic.

The Small Business Peak Performance Program is currently running only in Massachusetts.