Dance has been in Jen Turey’s heart and soul since she was seven years old. As the owner of Dance Etc. School for Performing Arts in Newtown, CT, the former Radio City Music Hall Rockette and professional dancer has grown her business to four spaces, which today support over 300 students across the local community. Jen and her team instill lessons about teamwork, commitment through learning and the rewards of hard work that will follow the young dancers for a lifetime. When Jen decided that she wanted to start looking for her own piece of property for her small business, she turned to her trusted partner, Union Savings Bank, the community bank that’s been helping her feel comfortable with financial and banking decisions for over 10 years. As she continues to watch her students grow and succeed, we’ll be there to help make sure her business does too.
Video Transcript:
I started dancing when I was seven, and somewhere around thirteen, I knew this was in my blood, this was in my heart, this was in my soul. I am Jen Turey, I am the owner and president of Dance Etc. School for Performing Arts. The business started with two spaces, since then, we’ve grown to four spaces, and have over 300 dancers here training. Everybody knows each other here, even if they’re from a different town. We have dancers from Bethel, Brookfield, Redding, Danbury, Newtown, Sandy Hook – the surrounding area. Being a small business owner in a community like this means you’re part of this family and you see so-and-so grow up and you see them go off to college, and we’re all connected. I have a goal, and that is to own my own piece of property. I never thought that would be possible, and I’ve been looking, and it’s hard. Union Savings Bank helped me understand the process. They’ve been so great teaching me business ideas. They helped me feel comfortable with financial and banking decisions. I’ve been with Union Savings Bank for ten years, so when I go in, they know my kids’ names, they can’t believe they’ve grown up so much. So it’s a great atmosphere, I feel like I’ve got more of a connection than just a business connection.