When the Great Recession hit tiny Marion, Va., the birthplace of Mountain Dew, 17 percent of its downtown storefronts were left empty. Like most of America, the town of 5,905 wasn’t exactly seen as fertile grounds for starting a business.

Ken Heath, Marion’s community and economic development director, saw otherwise. Now he fields weekly calls from towns as far away as Monticello, Ill. asking: How can we do what Marion is doing?

“We’ve literally had interest from everywhere from New York to Ohio,” Heath says. “If [Cuba] wanted a ‘Pop-Up Cuba,’ I’d consider that.”

“Pop-Up Marion,” the entrepreneur training program Heath developed in 2012, has helped cut Marion’s downtown vacancy rate to 4 percent in just three years. Currently in its seventh round, Heath’s program has launched 19 small businesses, created 87 jobs, revitalized 10 empty storefronts and led to the sale of nine buildings, according to The News- Gazette.

The so-called “small business boot camp” helps Marion residents learn how to develop their own business and marketing plans over the course of five weeks, free of charge. A $5,000 grant is awarded to the winning concept, thanks to financial support from the Virginia Main Street and Wells Fargo Bank.

“Now that our small business community has come back, people are starting to notice Marion because there’s a buzz about it,” Heath says. “There’s excitement, vitality.”

There’s also a 19 percent increase in meals tax revenue and a 12 percent increase in hotel tax profits. Not to mention an estimated $1.5 million in private reinvestment over the past year and a half.

While no other place in the U.S. can claim the title of “America’s Coolest Hometown” (Arnett Muldrow and Associates) and Small Business Community of the Year (Small Business Association), Heath insists he “didn’t invent the iPhone” with “Pop Up Marion”—he just went back to basics.

“It’s comprehensive and community-based. That’s the key,” Heath explains. Vital components include a mentorship program that follows grant winners for the first six months and requires a clear line of communication regarding how the grant money is spent. And he’s willing to share these methods with anyone who will listen, as he recently did with Monticello.

Heath’s advice to entrepreneurs is the same advice his grandfather gave him: Be good to your customers. Be on time. Deliver more than you promised.

“That’s just basic business sense,” Heath says.  “Our paradise is in the small business. You know the neighbor, know the people running it, just like it used to be.”