Home 2009 April
40 Under 40 Class of 2009
Age 36: President, Owner, and Sales Manager, Park Square Realty

Ted Cassell jumped right from college into his mother’s family business, joining Park Square Realty in 1994 as a sales agent. Apparently, he was a quick learner.

“After about seven years,” he said, “I purchased the company from them with the idea of taking it to the next level.”

For starters, Cassell moved the Westfield office from East Silver Street to Elm Street, effectively doubling its space and increasing visibility and traffic, while also recruiting more agents and building market share. Then, at the end of that first year, he got a call from one Barry Boccasile, who had worked with a local Coldwell Banker office before it was sold off.

“He liked the idea of working with a locally owned company, so together we opened up an office in Feeding Hills,” said Cassell. “Overnight, we doubled from 12 to 24 people. At the time, I was still wearing a lot of hats — I was an owner, active in the field, managing … it was a hectic time.”

That’s when he made a key decision to be a non-selling manager-broker-owner, with Boccasile playing a similar role managing the Feeding Hills site.

“I think that’s been fundamental to our growth,” said Cassell. “We’re not competing against our own agents; we help problem-solve, grow the company, recruit, train, and manage the direction of growth and development.”

In doing so, Cassell saw Park Square grow from a $10 million company to $138 million between 2000 and 2005. He attributes part of that success to his enthusiasm for his work.

“It’s a great field because it’s always challenging, and every day is different,” he said. “We really enjoy helping people accomplish their real-estate needs. Right now, it seems like the market is starting to pick back up. Interest rates are low, and first-time buyers get an $8,000 credit from the government. We’re seeing a lot of activity. It’s an exciting time.”

—Joseph Bednar

40 Under 40 Class of 2009
Age 32: Operations Manager, United Personnel

Michelle Sade grew up in Ohio, near where that state borders West Virginia and Pennsylvania.

“You could see all three states from the house where I grew up,” she said, adding, in a voice tinged with diplomacy, that people are “more neighborly” there than they are here in the Northeast.

“I’ve been living on my street in Springfield for four years,” she continued, “and I still don’t know some of my neighbors; people keep to themselves here.”

Sade credits her upbringing and the ‘more-neighborly’ attitude that prevailed in the Bible Belt with her many and varied attempts to bring some of that hospitality to the 413 area code, especially in her work with the Young Professionals Society of Greater Springfield. She is credited with co-founding the group in 2007 and helping turn it into a powerful force in efforts to engage young people (those under 40) in the goings-on in the Pioneer Valley — and, hopefully, convince them that they don’t have to leave it to find personal and professional fulfillment.

“I see myself as being a real cheerleader for this region,” Sade, the operations manager for Springfield-based United Personnel, told BusinessWest, noting that she had that role in a literal sense while she was growing up in Ohio. “It’s a great place to live and work … we just need to promote it more.”

Still a member of the YPS board, among many other community-based activities, including work with the American Cancer Society and Children’s Study Home, Sade said she is actively involved with helping to take YPS to the proverbial ‘next level.’ This refers to membership, visibility, and influence in Western Mass. — and also finding it a home, meaning a small office, preferably in downtown Springfield.

If Sade has anything to do with it, YPS will be a good, friendly neighbor — wherever it lands.

—George O’Brien

Departments

MassMutual Lays Off 65

SPRINGFIELD — Despite solid revenues and progress on its overall business strategy reported in early March, MassMutual Financial Group recently laid off 65 workers from its offices on State Street and in Enfield, Conn. Company officials noted that the layoffs were across the board, including finance, sales, and marketing. As of Dec. 31, 2008, MassMutual had reported a surplus of $8.5 billion, a 6% increase from $8 billion as of Dec. 31, 2007. MassMutual also posted record whole life insurance sales, significant increases in disability income and long-term care insurance sales, and solid growth in its sales force. As the impact from the deteriorating markets continue into 2009, MassMutual officials note they still expect to reduce staffing levels during the year, either by not filling open positions or by layoffs. MassMutual officials would not comment on how many additional positions may be eliminated in the coming months. A company spokesperson noted that the recent actions were taken to ensure the company has the “right people in the right positions.”

Bradley Expands Self-Select Lanes

WINDSOR LOCKS, Conn. — The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has expanded its popular Self-Select Lanes program to Bradley International Airport. To date, Bradley is the 51st airport in the country to launch the innovative program that expedites the screening process for air travelers. The Self-Select Lanes are comprised of three lanes designated by signage that directs passengers to the lane that best suits their travel needs and knowledge of security requirements — ‘expert,’ for the business traveler who flies regularly; ‘casual,’ for travelers who are somewhat familiar with the procedures; and ‘family/special assistance,’ which is already in place at Bradley, for passengers traveling with children, elderly passengers, and passengers carrying medically necessary liquids, aerosols, and gels in excess of three ounces. To watch a video of the lanes in action, visit www.tsa.gov.

Jobless Claims Plunge in Early April

NEW YORK — In the week ending April 11, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 610,000, a decrease of 53,000 from the previous week’s revised figure of 663,000, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. The four-week moving average was 651,000, a decrease of 8,500 from the previous week’s revised average of 659,500. The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 4.5% for the week ending April 4, an increase of 0.1% from the prior week’s unrevised rate of 4.4%. The fiscal year-to-date average for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment for all programs is 4.781 million. Extended benefits were available in Massachusetts, Alaska, California, Connecticut, Idaho, Indiana, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin during the week ending March 28.

State Bankruptcy Filings Climb in First Quarter

BOSTON — Chapter 7 bankruptcy filings in Massachusetts jumped 16% in the first quarter compared to the same period last year, according to the Warren Group, publisher of Banker & Tradesman. There were 3,285 filings under Chapter 7 of the U.S. bankruptcy code in the first three months of 2009, up from 2,833 during the first quarter of 2008. The filings were also 7% higher than the fourth quarter of 2008, when 3,072 filers sought Chapter 7 protection. Chapter 7 filings fell dramatically in 2006 after a federal law went into effect that tightened the requirements for filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection. But filings have started to escalate again, steadily increasing for the past three quarters, according to the Warren Group. Chapter 7 bankruptcy, the most common option for individuals who want relief from their debts, accounted for 82% of bankruptcy filings in Massachusetts in the first quarter. People filing under Chapter 7 bankruptcy can eliminate most debt after non-exempt assets are used to pay off creditors.

Home Sales Fall During First Quarter

BOSTON — Across the country, pending home sales have edged up, hinting at a possible pickup of sales activity in the coming months, according to the National Association of Realtors. In Western Mass., realtors note that the price and volume of single-family homes fell during the first quarter, however, the number of homes sold increased in March. During the first quarter of 2009, 635 homes were sold in Hampden, Hampshire, and Franklin counties, according to the Realtor Assoc. of Pioneer Valley. During the same period in 2008, 722 homes were sold in the three counties. The median price during the first quarter of 2009 was $169,500, compared to $195,000 during the same period a year ago — a 13.1% decline. In Hampden County, 463 homes were sold, while in Hampshire County, 116 homes were sold, and in Franklin County, 56 homes were sold.

Pioneer Valley Pet Pantry Launches Canned Food Drive

The Pioneer Valley Pet Pantry kicked off its food drive on April 1, with a goal to raise 4,000 pounds of canned dog and cat food by May 13, 2009. The food will be donated to local animal shelters, including the Thomas J. O’Connor Adoption Center in Springfield, the Dakin Pioneer Valley Humane Society in Leverett, and the Homeless Cat Project in Westfield. Mary Wilczynski, who founded the Pet Pantry with a group of community volunteers, said that, “amid the closing of the MSPCA and the start of kitten season, many of our local shelters are under a great deal of pressure to accommodate the needs of pets waiting to be adopted. There is a tremendous amount of support and compassion from pet lovers to step up and help our shelters in need.” Volunteers from the Pet Pantry are helping to organize canned-food drives in the community and solicit monetary donations to purchase food. Easthampton Savings Bank has partnered with the Pet Pantry and will accept monetary and food donations at all of its branch banks. A.W. Brown in East Longmeadow will also accept food donations. On April 23, Pet Pantry volunteers met at Dave’s Soda and Pet Food City in Agawam to purchase and then deliver 2,000 pounds of much-needed canned dog and cat food to the three local shelters. To make a donation using a personal PayPal account or to learn more about the Pioneer Valley Pet Pantry, visit sites.google.com/site/pvpetpantry

Departments

The Bank of Western Massachusetts in Springfield has hired Anthony P. Simone as AVP-Wealth Management Advisor.

•••••

Communication Solutions Partners in Southwick, the communications division of Whalley Computer Associates, announced the following:
• Mike Lata has been named to its Account Executive Team.
• Melissa Derouin has been promoted to manage the back-office operations.

•••••

Douglas J. Packard has joined Bancnorth Investment Group Inc. as a Financial Advisor based in the TD Banknorth store in South Hadley. Packard provides individualized retirement and financial planning services, as well as plans for families and small businesses.

•••••

Spec’s Design Group, LLC in Springfield announced the following:
• Mary A. Wilczynski has earned certification as LEED AP (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Accredited Professional) for Commercial Interiors.
• Karen Michalowski has earned certification as LEED AP (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Accredited Professional) for Commercial Interiors.
Wilczynski, founding principal, and Michalowski, bring 48 years of commercial design experience to the firm. They are also certified with the National Council of Interior Design Qualifications, and their professional memberships include the American Society of Interior Designers, the International Designers Assoc. and the Retail Design Institute.

•••••

Texcel Medical in East Longmeadow has named John Mulvihill as Vice President, Sales and Marketing.

•••••

Dave Worroll, Manager of the McDonald’s at 28 Hazard Ave., Enfield, Conn.; and Carmen Barrett, Manager of the Massachusetts Turnpike east McDonald’s in Blandford, were recently honored as being among the top 10% of McDonald’s managers in Connecticut and Western Mass.

•••••

MassMutual Financial Group’s Retirement Services Division in Springfield announced the following:
• George Sutherland was named Division Sales Manager, Institutional Sales, for the Southeast region.
• Scott Buffington was named National Sales Manager for MassMutual’s Taft-Hartley market segment.

•••••

Terri LaFlamme has joined the Feeding Hill office of Park Square Realty as a Sales Associate.

•••••

Monson Savings Bank announced the following:
• Lena Buteau has been promoted to Retail Banking Officer.
• Nancy Dahlen has been promoted to Assistant Vice President for Residential Lending and Servicing.

•••••

Risk Management Advisors of Canton, recently named Reed V. Hillman to its executive team as a Senior Principal.

•••••

Ingrid Bredenberg, Founder and Senior Consultant of Bredenberg Associates in Montague, was recently honored as a Sapphire Award winner at the Inscape Publishing MindLab Conference in Washington, D.C. Sapphire Award status is based on purchases of learning assessments and materials from Inscape Publishing.

•••••

Steven Bouffard will head the new Pulmonary Rehabilitation and Recovery Program at Country Estates in Agawam.

•••••

Valerie Demerski of Barbara Demerski Real Estate, has been awarded the National Association of Realtors Green Designation. She is now qualified to help clients evaluate the costs and benefits of green building options and related financial incentives.

•••••

Douglas R. Guthrie has been promoted to Senior Vice President for Comcast’s Western New England region. In this role, Guthrie is responsible for operations, financial performance and customer service for more than 800,000 Comcast customers in more than 300 communities.

Kyle Snow of Snow and Sons Landscaping in Greenfield has passed the certified landscape professional and certified landscape technician test and is nationally certified by the Professional Landcare Network, also known as PLANET. PLANET has more than 4,200 member companies and affiliates across the country.

40 Under 40 Class of 2009
Age 27: Founder, Stinky Cakes

Stinky Cakes, Stinky Cakes, Stinky Cakes …

It’s a mantra that 18-month-old Aidan Connelly launches into when he sees a pile of disposable diapers rolled into the arms of a stuffed animal.

It’s a mission for his father, Mychael Connelly Sr., who had long had entrepreneurial urges, and experienced the sweet smell of success one day when his older son, Mychael Connelly Jr., walked into the room and announced, “I did stinkies.”

“I knew it was what I was born to do,” said Connelly, adding that people expecting babies need practical gifts.

The former graphic artist handles the marketing and dresses in a baker’s suit to deliver stacks of Stinky Cakes to homes and businesses. The diapers are formed into towers of fun — complete with personalized, colorful ribbons — by his wife, Adrienne, in their Springfield home.

Connelly, who grew up in the Bahamas, always wanted to own his own business, and became motivated to do so after Mychael was born.

“Everyone should be able to get a Stinky Cake,” he said, adding they keep their prices reasonable.

But no one should have to use diapers before they are ready, and Connelly is also working to address the issue of teen pregnancy.

He and his wife have been foster parents to two children, and are still involved in their lives. “We are dedicated to doing foster care and devote a lot of time to it,” he said. “These kids really need help and need to be in a loving home.”

Many of the childen in foster care are born to teens, Connelly said, and his next goal is to start a foundation to combat teen pregnancy and provide teens with life skills to help them secure a bright financial future.

“Stinky Cakes is more than diapers. It’s about empowering parents and mothers. It’s a movement,” he said.

Not such a stinky idea.

—Kathy Mitchell

40 Under 40 Class of 2009
Age 39: Senior Relationship Manager, NewAlliance Bank

Brandon Braxton hasn’t forgotten the excitement of buying his first home.

It happened in 2004, about a year before his adopted daughter, Caterina, was born.

“It’s an amazing feeling,” he said. That meaning has been hammered home to Braxton since he joined Pioneer Valley Habitat for Humanity in early 2007 and met some of the grateful homeowners.

“Knowing where your children will grow up is something many folks take for granted,” he said. “But for those who don’t have that luxury, it’s life-altering.” The graduate of Amherst College signed on with Habitat when he heard his alma mater was donating land for four homes, with the goal of having up to 10 classes of students work on their construction. “It seemed like a great project, and the mission of providing affordable housing and home ownership is something I believe in,” he said.

By September of 2007, Braxton was president of the board of directors. He is dedicated to the progam’s expansion, which has taken on personal meaning as he has gotten to know and witness the excitement of the homeowners and their children. “The mission becomes very tangible,” he said. “We are making the community a better place, but it’s far more personal.

When you ceremonially hand over the keys, it’s an amazing feeling. And it’s nice to have 0%-interest mortgages, which I can’t do in my day job.” His position as senior relationship manager at NewAlliance Bank in West Springfield makes him acutely aware of developments in the area housing market and the difficulty of finding affordable housing in the Pioneer Valley.

He is dedicated to Habitat and says he is lucky to work for an organization that supports his volunteer work. His wife, A. Rima Dael, is also dedicated to making a difference and was in BusinessWest’s inaugural 40 Under Forty class in 2007. “We are proud to be a 40 Under Forty couple,” said Braxton.

—Kathy Mitchell

40 Under 40 Class of 2009
Age 35: Marketing Director, GetSet Marketing

Everyone has a story of how they found their rhythm in life. Dan Bessette found his through music. In college and during the years after, he played drums with his brother in a blues band.

The Wayfarers, as the band was called, played in venues all over Springfield, with frequent appearances at the downtown club Theodore’s. Bessette, who earned a degree in Business Administration at UMass Amherst, managed and promoted the band, while his brother, a graphic artist, designed the outfit’s eye-catching posters, which became the envy of all the other bands in town.

To support his drum habit, Bessette held down various day jobs. He worked three years as a marketing director at Falcetti Music, a company that sells musical instruments, and later sold airtime at radio station WRNX, until one day he, his brother, and a Web developer friend decided to launch their own gig.

“We started working for the music market,” said Bessette. “I spun that into other businesses, and it grew from there.”

In 2003, the trio rented some hip office space in an old mill building in Springfield (where the first monkey wrench was made) and formed Get Set Marketing, a full-service firm that keeps prices low by printing multiple jobs on a single press plate. The company’s slogan, “Apart from the Herd,” is personified by a rubber cow that travels around the world.

Bessette is a board member for the Young Professionals Society of Springfield, and was an Eagle Scout, the highest rank in Boy Scouts. “It’s something I’ve always been proud of,” he said.

While he may not be in the music business anymore, Bessette still keeps a set of drums in his office for whenever he needs to let off steam.

“My music,” he said, “keeps me sane.”

—Amy Castor

Features
Just Where Is All That Money Going?
Tim Brennan

Tim Brennan says the primary motivation for stimulus spending is job creation, but there could be some other benefits for the region, including improved rail service.

It’s been a couple months in the making, but the federal stimulus program is starting to come to fruition. You’ve already seen the benefits on your tax return, but as the spring construction season commences, people on the front lines of stimulus funding have high hopes for 2009. While there are different subjects on which to focus — from infrastructure to rail lines; from schools to ‘green’ initiatives — the primary concern is job creation.

Historic times call for historic measures.

By all accounts, the current state of the world’s economy has precipitated the largest financial rescue effort in history. Prior to President Obama’s federal stimulus program, 2008 saw Washington doling out $700 billion to failing banks, more than $500 billion to collapsing money-market managers, $150 billion to insurance giant AIG, and the list goes on. It has led one economist to wonder if we are using greenbacks or Monopoly money.

The hue and cry across the nation at the use of taxpayer dollars to bail out the villains of the financial collapse is apparently yesterday’s news. Looking into 2009, the real story is not a whodunit, but rather, who is going to get it? — as in stimulus money. And the good news is that the answer to that question is communities across the nation, via the Obama administration’s stimulus package.

Stimulus: by now the term has become woven into the national lexicon, and in 2009 it will continue to be the watchword. The first waves of the $789 billion federal stimulus package have been rolling out since Obama’s inauguration, and almost immediately Gov. Deval Patrick and a host of local officials began working hard win slices of that enormous pie.

In addition to money for long-overdue projects in public education, workforce development, and social services, at the beginning of the year, cities and towns across Massachusetts pulled together their shovel-ready infrastructure projects for the first wave of stimulus funds.

Chicopee Mayor Mike Bissonnette filed nearly $200 million in requests, with school renovation, senior centers, and industrial redevelopment the top priorities. Springfield sent off $1 billion dollars in proposals, nearly half of that targeted to the city’s schools. With such an invoice to the stimulus pool of funds, Mayor Domenic Sarno told the press in January that “we threw everything against the wall to see what sticks.”

Almost every community in the Commonwealth has done essentially the same thing.

Massachusetts expects to receive close to $600 million in the first round of funds, for projects that need to be started within 120 days of the January passing of the stimulus plan. And, as might be expected, the administrative facet to the federal stimulus program is enormous. To streamline the process by which funds are disbursed, the state has gone with existing systems: regional planning boards to be the umbrella organizations to serve the towns under their jurisdiction.

In this region, the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission is the designated body to oversee stimulus funds, and PVPC Executive Director Tim Brennan called the project “enormous.”

But with so much funding for so many different programs, be they focused on energy, transportation, education, or tax relief, the prevailing mindset is that with such an unprecedented need also comes an unprecedented opportunity, and the obligation to take full advantage of that opportunity.

“There’s two ways to think about the solutions,” said Robert Pollin, a professor of Economics at UMass Amherst who is a more-than-interested observer when it comes to the stimulus process. “One is in terms of the short run. If the economy is in a ditch, like we are now, what is the best way to get out of the ditch? And the longer-run question is, if we’re going to be spending huge amounts of money to help us get out of the ditch, maybe it should also help ward off future ditches.”

For this issue, BusinessWest takes an indepth look at all things stimulus, and what the sum of the various parts means for this region.

Local Dirt

Looking at the anticipated breakdown of stimulus money for Massachusetts, the total amount in the first round of funds adds up to about $600 million, with the lion’s share projected for the Boston area’s Metropolitan Area Planning Council, with projects totaling $309 million.

However, among the state’s 12 other regional planning boards, the PVPC is estimated to garner the third-largest appropriation, about 6% of the total, amounting to $35.4 million.

According to the PVPC’s status reports, the majority of presently green-lighted projects are roadwork, with Route 9 from Belchertown to Ware designated for $6 million; another $4.5 million for Routes 5 and 10 in the communities of Easthampton, Northampton, Southampton, and West-field; and just over $4.5 million to connect two rail-trail bicycle and pedestrian byways in Northampton and Easthampton.

As the planning body for Hampden and Hampshire counties, the PVPC is not a federal or state organization, but, in its words, “a consortium of local governments that have banded together under the provisions of state law to address problems and opportunities that are regional in scope.”

Brennan was instrumental in the early days of both Patrick’s and Lt. Gov. Murray’s task forces to speed aid to Mass. communities. He described that process as “unprecedented in scope.”

Commenting on the first round of submissions from the communities across the state, he said, “One thing that I think that has to be underscored here, is that the shovel ready-ness of a project is a much more daunting situation than people might understand.”

Elaborating, Brennan said that, given the nature of the bill, to stimulate employment, “in order for a stimulus to have an effect it has to come out quickly. The bottom line is that it’s a jobs bill. So, many projects came in, but realistically speaking were not shovel-ready.”

An unprecedented aspect to the 120-day expedited timeline, he mentioned, was the speed from proposal to plan. “As the bids are open, contractors are asked to sign the contract for the winning bid on the spot. That’s unheard of, but that gives you an impression of the speed that things are envisioned. No state, including ours, wants to leave any funds on the table. If you don’t spend the dollars within the timeline, it goes back into the pool and gets redistributed to other states.”

But Brennan’s job isn’t just about getting the checks out on time.

Key areas of interest for the PVPC in 2009 include, among other things, climate change, energy, economic development, infrastructure investment, and transportation. As executive director, Brennan sees these as points of focus when looking at the stimulus funding.

He said that building the area’s infrastructure is an excellent opportunity for the overall stimulus plan, both in this first round, with its focus on highway and road work, and in the planning stages for the second round of funds.

Commenting on the big news of the day, that many construction bids were coming in well under estimate, he said, “that’s because the cost of materials has dropped dramatically. Asphalt is way down from a year ago, and petroleum has come down too, but also contractors are hungry. Overall, this is good. We can get more projects out there. There is a backlog of projects, also, so that if any one falters, there could easily be another to move in its place so that no Commonwealth dollars are left behind.”

But for Brennan, the big story isn’t what’s in the news … yet.

On the Right Track

Indeed, commenting on a recent groundbreaking in Greenfield for a multi-modal transportation center, he mentioned that the city had provisioned for that building’s inclusion in a potential rail connection from Springfield due north to Vermont, the Connecticut River Line.

Currently, Amtrak passenger rail enters Springfield, then takes a circuitous route out to Palmer before eventually linking to the Green Mountain State. The existing north-south rail lines are so outdated that only freight trains traveling at a very low speed can use them.

A big hope for stimulus money in the subsequent round of funding is to completely repair the track along the population centers of the Connecticut River Valley, bringing commuter possibilities, expanded tourism options, and ultimately big opportunities for some communities that could use the support. Mayor Mike Sullivan has spoken in the past of his hopes for a rail stop in Holyoke, and Brennan noted that Chicopee, Northampton, Greenfield, and other cities and towns could easily envision themselves as within commuting distance for all points along the rail, even as far south as New York.

“This as an excellent example of how you can make a stimulus investment,” said Brennan, “and get large amounts of economic activity spinning off because of it.”

Ultimately, the goal for further stimulus money is to have a brick-and-mortar application, rather than as tax credits, said Brennan. “Out of the $789 billion stimulus bill, almost half of it went to tax relief, $800 for a family and $400 for an individual,” Brennan said. “That’s nice, but that doesn’t go far in the way of creating new jobs.

“You get more jobs out of infrastructure creation than you do out of tax relief — they’ve put actual concrete numbers to this,” he continued, citing the work of the Political Economy Research Institute (PERI) at UMass Amherst (which Pollin co-directs) as having identified distinct benefits to spending over tax breaks.

A Green Recovery

Some of these benefits are spelled out in Green Recovery: A Program to Create Good Jobs & Start Building a Low-Carbon Economy, a report that Pollin co-authored and released last fall.

“As the nation debates its energy future, this report shows that the U.S. can create 2 million jobs by investing in a rapid, green economic-recovery program,” states the study’s abstract, “which will strengthen the economy, increase energy independence, and fight global warming.”

Pollin modestly states that he had little to do with the creation and design of the Obama administration’s stimulus plan. He does admit, however, “I’ve heard that Green Recovery was heavily used, and in the final measure which passed, the green component to it, pretty closely reflects what we published.”

Talking to BusinessWest recently, Pollin set out the importance of his study’s focus, and its application to the stimulus plan. From his perspective, a focus on a green application to any stimulus planning is the right thing to do for the environment, but also for the employment rate.

“I think it’s fair to say that the green-investment agenda, as well as the broadening infrastructure, will be effective on both counts, on the short term and the long term,” he said. “Here’s the reason for it. Over the short term, spending on the green agenda, or public infrastructure, has a bigger short-term positive job impact.

“It is about 25% to 30% bigger,” he continued. “So, if you spend $1 million on a green agenda, or an infrastructure agenda, you’re going to get about 17 jobs created. If you do the same thing for tax cuts, at maximum you’re going to get about 14 jobs. And I do stress the maximum. You’re probably going to get less, and the reason is, many of us are in bad shape financially.

“When we get our stimulus checks, it’s not necessarily that we’re going to go out and spend it. Some of us may, but some of us are going to save, or pay off debts. On the other hand, when the government says, ‘we’re going to start retrofitting a building,’ or ‘we’re going to start constructing a bridge,’ you know the money is going to get spent for that, because that’s what the money is meant to do.”

Continuing with his thoughts on how the stimulus funding should proceed, Pollin said that over the long term, we need to make this transition to a clean-energy economy — even former President Bush paid lip service to that toward the end. We’ve got to start, and it’s got to be some time. If we’re going to spend $1 trillion in the next couple of years, why not invest in things that are going to help us over the long term?”

As to how Western Mass. could benefit from such a program, Pollin merely shrugged and said, “most of the job creation from the green agenda comes through construction projects and retrofits. Every community has buildings that could be retrofitted, and we also certainly need to improve our infrastructure grid.”

In citing the study’s numbers, Pollin mentioned six areas that could both have that green agenda, and also create a maximum of employment. They included the building retrofitting and rail and mass transit, but also work on ‘smart grid’ technology systems, wind power, solar power, and advanced biofuels.

Within all of these sectors, according to the report, “the vast majority of jobs are in the same areas of employment that people already work in today, in every region and state of the country.”

On-the-money Analysis

Ultimately, time will tell what the stimulus will indeed stimulate, be it tax dollars returning to people’s wallets on up to larger social systems. The ideas are big, but even those framing the complexities are hammering down the edges. Pollin himself is working with the Department of Energy on its own funding programs.

“There are the really big issues,” he said expansively, but then, there are the regularly big issues, like making what has been funded work properly.

“So how do we get the money out the right way, and how would we need to make mid-term corrections if there are things that aren’t going right with job creation?” he asked. “Because, above all else, it’s important to create jobs.”

Sections Supplements
Westfield Bank Keeps Its Eye on the Ball
The executive team at Westfield Bank: from left, Leo Sagan, CFO; James Hagan, president and CEO; Allen Miles, executive vice president; and Gerald Ciejka, legal counsel.

The executive team at Westfield Bank: from left, Leo Sagan, CFO; James Hagan, president and CEO; Allen Miles, executive vice president; and Gerald Ciejka, legal counsel.

It’s a story increasingly — and enthusiastically — being told by community banks in the Pioneer Valley. Simply put, while many large, national institutions have become trapped in a credit crisis partly of their own making, Western Mass. banks are well-capitalized and ready to do business. Westfield Bank is no exception, finding new avenues for growth by staying true to its core goals — among them steady and strategic expansion, a continued focus on commercial lending, and service that, as President James Hagan says, takes the bank to the customers.

Westfield Bank, with 11 branches and a steady growth pattern over the past few years, has consistently been one of the region’s positive financial stories — but the opening of a new location is still reason to celebrate.

Especially, bank President James Hagan said, when that new branch is a reflection of the institution’s success in a specific market.

That market is Agawam, where Westfield Bank has seen a swell of retail and commercial business in recent years, which is why a branch will open on Route 57 in Feeding Hills in June.

“Our Agawam branch is at full capacity, and we want to maintain and improve our service in that market,” said Hagan. “We own this land — we bought it decades ago — and we felt this was the right opportunity. It’s a high-visibility area, and we’ll run it similar to the Main Street branch, which is our second-busiest office.”

Alice Babcock, vice president and director of community banking, said the current Agawam branch is one of the company’s oldest, and has long had strong market share. “But the changes in the community have been such that the branch is bursting at the seams. And we’ve found that 30% of those who use the Main Street branch have Feeding Hills zip codes.”

In addition, the bank has several business customers in the Agawam Industrial Park, and the Feeding Hills branch will provide a more convenient site for them as well, she said.

Making business easier for commercial clients, in fact, is a long-time priority for the bank, as evidenced by the rollout of its remote data capture service a few years ago.

Westfield was the first community bank in the region to introduce the technology, which is essentially a device that scans checks at a customer’s place of business and allows him to make deposits remotely, even hours after most branches close. Babcock said the service has been a hit with customers, particularly those in towns without a branch nearby — especially critical when making inroads into Connecticut — and has been a selling point when attracting new commercial business.

That’s important for a bank that has not branched out as quickly or aggressively over the past decade as other regional institutions, instead opting for gradual, deliberate growth in its footprint, and always with a strategy.

Three years ago, that meant moving its downtown Springfield office to Tower Square to increase foot traffic, as well as opening a branch on East Main Street in Westfield with more space and visibility than its longtime Elm Street headquarters. That branch also boasts Sunday hours for customers too busy during the week to do their banking in person. And Saturdays and Sundays, it turns out, are that site’s busiest days.

These advances — strategic new branches, weekend hours, new technology to make business easier — all fit a pattern, said Hagan, of bringing the bank to the customer. And in these trying times for financial institutions, that sort of strategy is more important than ever.

Growth Pattern

Westfield Bank has undeniably been in a growth mode. From its launch more than 150 years ago through the mid-1970s, its assets had grown to about $100 million, but three decades of rapid expansion have brought that total to $1.1 billion.

In fact, total assets increased by $70.5 million last year alone, and net loans jumped by $59.1 million to $414.9 between the start of 2008 and the beginning of 2009 — primarily due to an expansion in commercial, industrial, and commercial real-estate loans, offsetting a slight decrease in residential mortgages.

“We’ve had great success growing our commercial and industrial loans,” which now total $245 million, Hagen said. More important, business in that sector is up 17% over last year, and up 24% in commercial real-estate loans.

At the height of this growth, Westfield Bank has also seen a shift in its administrative structure, with Don Williams, who handed the president’s reins to Hagan four years ago, recently stepping down as CEO, giving Hagan that role as well.

“It gives me a more global perspective,” Hagan said. “Before, it was more day-to-day, new product development, new sales development. Now it’s general management of the bank, how we utilize capital. And we have an awful lot of capital right now. In fact, we’re the third-most well-capitalized bank based in Massachusetts, with about $300 million.”

The Feeding Hills branch is one way that money is being put to use, but so is growth in the bank’s commercial-loan portfolio, which — rather than being hurt by the recent troubles of lending institutions nationwide — has been able to benefit from the crisis in at least one way, Babcock said.

“While the national banks are tending to hold back on new lending commitments to companies, Westfield Bank is still willing to entertain lending requests, and putting new business on the books,” she noted.

“Primarily,” Hagan added, “we’re picking up loans that are now in turmoil at larger national and super-national institutions, those that have had difficulty in either extending credit or adding to their current debt load. But these are well-known, Western Mass.-based companies, and they’re having a positive effect on our balance sheet.

“This didn’t just happen over the past year. It’s been a consistent marketing effort,” he added, noting that the bank has been in contact with some of these companies for a long time. “With some of the bigger accounts $5 million and up, it could take four to five years of consistent calling to finally get the account moved to your institution.”

And the marketing message goes well beyond financial numbers, he added.

“It’s a relationship. People want to know who you are and what your bank is about,” Hagan said. “They want stability, with a large capital base, a strong credit staff, and an excellent branch network. And we’ve been able to position ourselves as that bank and take advantage of other institutions’ problems.”

It’s not just loans; Westfield Bank has seen commercial checking accounts grow by 10% over last year, in addition to 8% growth in retail checking and 35% in consumer savings accounts.

“We haven’t had to put the brakes on at all,” Hagan said. “Lending is healthy, delinquency is low, and we’ve been able to position ourselves as an alternative to the national and regional banks.”

Community Minded

This success speaks, at least in part, to the bank’s growing reputation as a community-minded institution, said Babcock. “What we’re seeing on the consumer and business sides,” she noted, “is that customers are looking for a banker they know and can contact easily if they’re having questions.”

In addition, Hagan said, Westfield Bank continues to take pride in its Future Fund, a vehicle through which it has given about $1 million over the past three years to various charities and nonprofits, particularly those that focus on children and education — hence the word ‘future.’ A Web site has been set up not only to track where the money goes, but also publicize events that benefit those organizations, and hopefully spur more community giving.

The bank is on track to add another $350,000 in donations in 2009, he said, putting it right on track with the past few years. “This is a challenging time for nonprofits,” Babcock said, “and to keep the same level of commitment, we feel good about that.”

Even in the midst of a full-blown national financial crisis, it seems, there’s still good news coming out of Westfield.

“We don’t get the big highs and lows in this region, and our portfolio reflects that,” Hagan said. “Some sectors have dropped, like manufacturing, but other areas are looking pretty good.

“The economy isn’t robust,” he admitted, “but we’ve seen positive signs.”

Joseph Bednar can be reached at

[email protected]

Departments

Ten reasons to : Hire a lawyer for domestic- relations proceedings

1. You don’t know the law. Pro-se litigants frequently encounter roadblocks that can cost not only time and money, but missed deadlines and case dismissals.

2. Limited assistance representation. The court has instituted a cost-effective program whereby a lawyer can represent a party in just one aspect of their case such as a court hearing or preparing a memorandum.
3. Child support guidelines. The way child support is calculated in Massachusetts has changed dramatically. Calculations are highly complex, and there are now many built-in deviation arguments.
4. Dealing with other attorneys can be difficult. Pro-se litigants are at a severe disadvantage. A lawyer has the knowledge and experience to manipulate facts and law to their client’s benefit.

5. Knowing the judge. Lawyers are familiar with how judges think and are likely to rule on a particular issue, thereby enabling them to prepare accordingly.

6. Public speaking. Courtrooms are typically open forums. Lawyers are accustomed to speaking in venues with many people present.
7. Thinking on your feet. Presenting your case in court requires articulate on-the-spot arguments that are compliant with court rules and laws.
8. Knowing procedural rules. Lawyers know how to serve the other party, when to bring motions, how to dismiss a case or request a continuance, and how to conduct discovery.
9. Trying cases. It takes a highly skilled lawyer to effectively make opening and closing statements, enter evidence, elicit testimony, and propose judicial findings.

10. ‘He who represents himself has a fool for a client.’ With the Family Court home to such emotionally charged issues, lawyers are able to think objectively.

Melissa R. Gillis, Esq. is an associate with Bacon Wilson, P.C. She is a member of the Family Law and Real Estate departments; (413) 781-0560; [email protected]; bwlaw.blogs.com/familylawbits

Departments

Women’s Professional Development Conference

April 30: Bay Path College in Longmeadow will host the 14th annual Women’s Professional Development Conference from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the MassMutual Center in downtown Springfield. For more information, call (413) 565-1293 or visit www.baypath.edu.

Auction and Wine/Beer Tasting

May 1: The Chicopee Chamber of Commerce will sponsor its popular Auction and Beer/Wine Tasting at the Castle of Knights on Memorial Drive in Chicopee. Funds raised from the event will benefit local businesses and nonprofit organizations throughout the area. A new feature of the fund-raiser includes a professional appraisal of one antique item from Kimball’s Auction & Estate Services and Hollister Jewelry and Coins. The appraisal is free with the price of admission. Tickets are $20 per person. To reserve tickets, call the chamber office at (413) 594-2101, or visit www.chicopeechamber.org. The general public is invited to attend.

‘Tourism Trends’ Seminar

May 6: The Greater Springfield Convention and Visitors Bureau (GSCVB) and the Greater Hartford Convention & Visitors Bureau (GHCVB) will co-present “Tourism Trends,” a seminar that will examine the future of tourism as well as provide an update in hospitality and travel trends, at noon at the New England Air Museum in Windsor Locks, Conn. Featured speakers will include Maureen O’Hanlon, a senior partner of the Prism Partnership, and Kiran Jain, director of marketing and development at Bradley International Airport. The seminar will begin with a lunch at noon, followed by the presentations. A tour of the New England Air Museum is available following the program. The cost to attend is $12 for GSCVB or GHCVB members, and $20 for non-members. The deadline to register is May 1. For more information, call Alyssa Carvalho, GSCVB membership manager, at (413) 755-1347.

Business Market Show

May 13: The Affiliated Chambers of Commerce of Greater Springfield Inc. will showcase the products and services of some 200 regional businesses at the 2009 Business Market Show Conference and Exhibition at the MassMutual Center in Springfield. The seventh annual Taste the Market will also be conducted during the show, featuring food prepared by restaurants and caterers chosen and sponsored by participating exhibitors. The day begins at 7:15 a.m. with the May Breakfast Club, featuring speaker Gov. Deval Patrick, who will share his insights on the state’s upcoming fiscal year as well as some of the current initiatives of his administration. Doors to the show will open following the breakfast at 9 a.m. In addition, a host of free business seminars will be offered throughout the day. A complete schedule of seminars and exhibitors can be found at www.businessmarketshow.com. A microbrew tasting given by Azon Liquors is planned from noon to 2 p.m., and the Taste the Market will be conducted from 3 to 5 p.m. The conference and exhibition ends at 5 p.m. For more information, call (413) 787-1555.

Brown Bag Lunch Series

May 21: Amherst-based Marigold Fund founder Gary Moorehead will present a lecture titled “Afghanistan Lives and Labor” at noon at One Financial Plaza Community Room, third floor, 1350 Main St., Springfield. The lecture, part of the Instant Issues Brown Bag Lunch Series, is sponsored by the World Affairs Council of Western Mass. Moorehead has lived in Afghanistan since 2003, founding Marigold Fund in 2004. Until 2008, he worked as a program manager on projects funded by the U.S. State Department and others, building schools and homes for returning refugees. The cost of the lecture is $8 (bring a lunch) or $15 (tuna, turkey, or vegetarian sandwich). Reservations must be made by calling (413) 733-0110.

Economic Illusions Lecture

May 28: Edward Guay, principal of Wintonbury Risk Management in Bloomfield, Conn., will present a lecture titled “Recovering from Economic Illusions and Global Credit Shocks” at noon at One Financial Plaza Community Room, third floor, 1350 Main St., Springfield. The lecture, part of the Instant Issues Brown Bag Lunch Series, is sponsored by the World Affairs Council of Western Mass. Guay is a global macro strategist. He has a long history of accurately predicting major shifts in business, financial, and political conditions. Guay specializes in the identification of those forces for change that will shape future events, either gradually or in climactic fashion, causing consensus business, investment, political, or geopolitical strategies to go awry. The cost of the lecture is $8 (bring a lunch) or $15 (tuna, turkey, or vegetarian sandwich). Reservations must be made by calling (413) 733-0110.

‘Leadership Development & Teambuilding’

June 15: SkillPath Seminars will present a daylong conference titled “Leadership Development & Teambuilding” at the Holiday Inn, 711 Dwight St., Springfield. Workshops include: “Developing the Leader within You,” “30 Tips for Becoming an Inspired Leader,” “It All Starts with You … Discover Your Team Player Style,” and “Building a Team That’s a Reflection of You.” Also, “Leadership Mistakes You Don’t Have to Make,” “Light the Fire of Excellence in Your Team,” “Speak So Others Know How to Follow,” “Positive Feedback … the Fuel of High Performance,” “A Team Approach to Dealing with Unacceptable Behavior,” and “What Teams Really Need from Their Leaders.” The conference is targeted for managers, supervisors, team leaders, and team members who would like to learn skills to motivate, inspire, lead and succeed. Enrollment fee is $199 per person or $189 each with four or more. For more information, call (800) 873-7545 or visit www.skillpath.com.

Bonfire ’09

May 21: A large, roaring bonfire and top-rated live music will provide a great early-summer evening out for area students and families just before the Memorial Day weekend, and all the fun will be for a great cause. A new, nonprofit organization based in Belchertown, Future Leadership: Journey 2009, is going to make raising funds for educational travel a cool evening for kids and adults in the area with this first-annual event. A huge bonfire and DoOkiE, a Green Day tribute band that plays all over the nation, will take over the Chestnut Hill athletic fields from 7 to 10 p.m. The Bonfire ’09 event is open to all friends, family, and residents of the area, and will have plenty of police and fire protection. “Andy the Armadillo” of the Springfield restaurant Texas Roadhouse will be on site, as well as other forms of entertainment. The new organization is in the process of applying for a state nonprofit certificate and will assist six Belchertown High School students in raising funds for educational travel to Europe and Africa this summer. The two travel destinations are with two different programs: Future Leaders of Ghana (FLoGhana) and People to People (P2P). FLoGhana became a 501(c)3 in 2007 by Andrea Boyko of Belchertown and is a nonprofit organization dedicated to paving the way for positive change in Ghana’s education system and increasing awareness of Ghana in the U.S. through volunteer action. The volunteer program sends qualified teachers and student/adult volunteers to help improve the rural schools of Ghana. Volunteers also bring with them much-needed school supplies from the U.S. so the Ghanan teachers can continue to provide high-quality education long after the volunteers leave. Volunteers experience an adventure of their own while continuing the mission of FLoGhana. For more information, call (413) 323-6064 or (413) 687-3144.

Departments

The following business incorporations were recorded in Hampden, Hampshire, and Franklin counties and are the latest available. They are listed by community.

AGAWAM

Toast & Cheers Inc., 20 Parker St., Agawam, MA 01001. Dorothy Preston, same. Wedding and event planner.

AMHERST

Debt Relief Services Inc., 84 January Hills Road, Amherst, MA 01002. Donald W. Todrin, Same. To train individuals in managing their credit card debts, budgeting, and living within their means.

Emogination Research Inc., 893 West St., Hampshire College, Amherst, MA 01002. Jose Andres Fuentes, same. Educational and scientific research in the field of Internet-based information services.

Yun’s Family Corporation, 41 Boltwood Walk, Amherst, MA 01002. Jae Woong Yun, 82 Stillwater Road, Deerfield, MA 01373. Restaurant.

Safari Transit Inc., 160 Old Farm Road, Apt. 54, Amherst, MA 01002. Elly Dickson Tuti, same. Livery transport.

CHICOPEE

D & D Masonry and Chimney Inc., 299 Columbia St., Chicopee, MA 01020. Micholas D. Doup, 12 Katie Lane, Palmer, MA 01069. Masonry and chimney construction for residential and commercial buildings.

Pro-Green Inc., 109 Telegraph Ave., Chicopee, MA 01020. Cheryl A. Picard, same. Purchase and sale of environmental products.

EASTHAMPTON

Madison Ave Salon Inc., 250 Northampton St., Easthampton, MA 01027. Laurie L. Littman, 563 Piper Road, West Springfield, MA 01089. Owning, operating, and managing a beauty salon.

Sal-Czar Inc., 106 Florence Road, Easthampton, MA 01027. Stacy A Lavertu, same. Distribution of fireplaces and wood/gas stoves.

FEEDING HILLS

Tuggie Macqueen Inc., 111 Clover Hill Dr., Feeding Hills, MA 01030. Joan Guernsey, Same. To sell pet and non-pet apparel.

HOLYOKE

Shoyu Japan at Holyoke Inc., 50 Holyoke St., #R129, Holyoke, MA 01040. Anna Lau, same. Restaurant.

LONGMEADOW

Camax Inc. 46 Severn St., Longmeadow, MA 01106. Valdermar A Johnson, 88 Grove St., West Springfield, MA 01089. Web-site sales/wholesale

 

NORTHAMPTON

88 Pleasant Inc., 88 Pleasant St., Northampton, MA 01060. Saleh Alhujaji, same. Restaurant business.

Communicatehealth Inc., 4 Linden St., Northampton, MA 01060. Stacy Robinson, Same. Writing, and editing of documents, training and technical assistance of same.

SOUTHWICK

Total Home Services Inc., 80 Davis Road, Southwick, MA 01077. Eugene J. Whitehead Jr., Same. Landscaping, commercial and residential building and remodeling.

SPRINGFIELD

SubwayA3640Main Inc., 3640 Main St., Springfield, MA 01107. Mark E. Benoit, 76 Blokland Dr. Longmeadow, MA 01106. To own and operate a Subway franchise.

VY Enterprises Inc., 475 Saint James Ave., Springfield, MA 01104. Abbas A. Younes, 13 Yvonne St., Chicopee, MA 01013. Gas station and convenience store.

WESTFIELD

Mastro Enterprises Inc., 16 Camelot Lane, Westfield, MA 01089. Michael D. Mastroianni, Same. Health and wellness.

Ninoss Corp., 1029 North Road, Westfield, MA 01085. Eleni Sidiropoulou, 370 Old Connecticut Path, Wayland, MA 01778. Pizza restaurant.

WEST SPRINGFIELD

International Christian Center Inc., 553 Main St., West Springfield, MA 01089. Oleg Abramchuk, 48 Jamie Lane, Feeding Hills, MA 01030. To establish and maintain a place of worship.

P & G Graphic Solutions Inc., 1313 Riverdale St., West Springfield, MA 01089. Jean Niksa, 115 Blood Road, Charlton, MA 01507. Design, manufacture, printing, and sale of signs, digital graphics, and banners.

WILBRAHAM

Joecreative Incorporated, 89 Springfield St., Wilbraham, MA 01095. Joseph Anthony Pellegrino Jr., same. Creative consulting.

Departments

Community Health Fair

The annual Community Health Fair, offered by the senior class in the School of Nursing at Springfield Technical Community College and staged April 14, featured information booths, demonstrations, and presentations on subjects such as asthma, eating disorders, maternal health, child safety, stress reduction, diabetes, and substance abuse. Above, at the child-safety booth, students show attendees how to safely bathe an infant. At left, students show young visitors how to perform CPR.

40 Under 40 Class of 2009
Age 29: Owner, Minuteman Press

Michael Weber knows a secret about how to succeed in business.

“It’s such a cheesy statement,” said the 29-year-old, who owns and operates Minuteman Press in Enfield, Conn. with his wife Lindsey. “It’s the more you give, the more you get. Givers gain. If you want to succeed, you have to help out and contribute something.”

The formula has worked — the Webers have increased sales by 450% in the five years since they purchased the business.

Weber takes his volunteer work seriously. He is vice president of the North Central Connecticut Chamber of Commerce, a director of the Young Professionals Society of Greater Springfield, and a member of the Home Builders Assoc. of Western Mass. and the Affliliated Chambers of Commerce of Greater Springfield.

He joined these organizations immediately after moving from Boston to Connecticut and taking over the Minuteman franchise. His motivation was to make friends, make a difference, and form relationships that would result in business accounts.

Although his approach has worked, Weber’s intent is always focused on the greater good. “I want to do my part by helping people out and genuinely contributing,” he said, adding that he has supported beneficial initiatives even when they were not good for his business.

Many of his volunteer activities involve working with people who are much older, so Weber especially enjoys his affiliation with the YPS.

“It’s refreshing to be on board with so many like-minded people. I truly have good intentions and try to contribute,” he said.

His background is in information-management systems, and his wife was an assistant buyer for Filene’s Corp. prior to their venture with Minuteman, but both know the value of networking.

“We don’t wait for people to come in,” said Weber. “You have to get to know people. We set quality standards, volunteer, and participate on committees. You have to get involved, and if you show up to help, you get to know everyone.”

—Kathy Mitchell

Sections Supplements
Two Major Studies on Prostate Cancer Leave Plenty of Questions Unanswered
Dr. James Stewart

Dr. James Stewart says an elevated PSA likely indicates the presence of some cancer, but cannot tell a man how serious the cancer is, or if any treatment is necessary at all.

Two studies that were expected to answer some long-standing questions about prostate cancer may have only further muddied the water.

At issue are two undeniable facts: screening for prostate cancer is up since the early 1990s, when doctors began placing an increased emphasis on the importance of early detection. And over the same period, the prostate cancer death rate has dropped. The big question, then, is whether that decline is largely due to increased screening, advances in treatment, or some combination of factors.

Two major, long-term trials — one American and one European — both aimed to determine whether screening, specifically with the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) blood test and traditional, digital rectal exams, makes a difference in mortality rates. The results clarify the issues somewhat, but are frustratingly lacking in solid answers.

Dr. Len Lichtenfeld, deputy chief medical officer of the American Cancer Society, wrote in his blog that he had eagerly awaited the results of the U.S. and European trials.

“In the meantime, millions of men continued to get tested and undergo treatment, even though no one could really say if we were saving lives, or just sending millions more men to unnecessary treatment with all sorts of side effects,” he wrote. “Well, my friends, the waiting is over. The day has arrived. And I don’t know that we now have any better idea whether or not prostate cancer screening actually works.”

The American study, dubbed the U.S. Prostate, Lung, Colorectal, and Ovarian Cancer Screening Trial, was spearheaded by the National Cancer Institute. Researchers randomly assigned more than 76,600 men to two groups.

Participants in one group were given annual PSA tests for six years and digital rectal examinations every year for four years; the other group served as a control. The researchers found little difference in prostate cancer death rates between the two groups at seven years and again at 10 years of follow-up.

In the other trial, called the European Randomized Study of Screening for Prostate Cancer, researchers randomly assigned 182,000 men between the ages of 50 and 74 from seven different countries to either a control group or a screening group, which required the men to have a PSA screening, on average, every four years and a digital rectal exam every other year.

In following up, researchers found that screening reduced the rate of prostate cancer death by 20%. But, according to the authors, “1,410 men would need to be screened and 48 additional cases of prostate cancer would need to be treated to prevent one death from prostate cancer.”

And there’s the issue. Even when PSA and other tests find prostate cancer, they can’t tell how dangerous the cancer is. Some prostate cancers grow slowly and may never cause a man any problems, while others are more aggressive.

Because of a high PSA level, someone may choose to be treated, even though his cancer may never have manifested symptoms. Meanwhile, the treatment, which may include surgery, radiation, or other interventions, can have serious effects on quality of life. In a very real sense, the cure could be worse than the disease.

“When one considers all of the problems associated with treatment for prostate cancer — urine incontinence, impotence, pain, and bleeding, among others — that is a lot of men left with a lot of symptoms to save one life,” Lichtenfeld said.

Deadly … or Not

It’s an important topic, to judge solely by the numbers. An estimated 186,000 cases of prostate cancer were diagnosed in the U.S. in 2008, causing more than 28,000 deaths, according to the American Cancer Society. In addition, prostate cancer is the second-leading cause of cancer death in men — behind lung cancer — and accounts for 10% of all cancer deaths. An American man has a 1 in 6 chance of being diagnosed with prostate cancer during his lifetime, with most of those diagnoses occurring at age 70 and older.

Importantly, however, only one in 34 men will die of the disease, and many live full lives without much disturbance.

“If you do a screening and your PSA is a little bit elevated, there’s a reasonable chance you might find cancer there,” said Dr. James Stewart, chief of Hematology and Oncology at Baystate Medical Center. “If so, then you have a big decision: do you have an operation to remove the prostate or get radiation? The downside of doing that is, you might not need to have it done.”

The studies, he said, “did see a very modest decrease in death rates. But you have to balance the positives against the harm — how many men are being overdiagnosed and overtreated?”

Dr. Otis Brawley, chief medical officer of the American Cancer Society, noted in a written statement that, “for several years, many experts had anticipated these studies would show a small number of men will benefit from prostate screening, but a large number of men will be treated unnecessarily. And that’s what these studies show.

“What we need to know is, what are benefits of prostate cancer screening, and are they large enough to outweigh the harms associated with it?” he continued. “And despite the release of this early data, we still cannot say whether the benefits outweigh the risk.”

For example, the studies had some important limitations. In the European trial, the countries used different study protocols, such as enrolling men of different age groups. And in the American trial, men in the control group weren’t barred from getting screening tests, and many of them ended up getting screened anyway; by the sixth year of the trial, 52% of the men in the control group had undergone a PSA test, and 46% a rectal exam.

Perhaps the most important topic being raised, Brawley said, is whether patients of average risk should be screened.

“For many years, people who suggested this was still an open question have been criticized as not supporting anti-cancer efforts,” he noted. “In some respects, over the last 20 years, many have been eager to promote widespread screening based on the assumption that finding cancer early is beneficial. Now as these reports have begun to come out, we see that the results may not be as favorable as many had hoped or even anticipated.”

Brawley added that he’s concerned that, if the information being reported from the dual studies is not interpreted appropriately by doctors, those covering the news, and by the general public, it could cause actual harm, by dissuading patients from approaching their doctors when actual symptoms arise.

“There is a group of men who should be getting screened but who, after hearing this week’s news, may begin to shy away from testing,” said Brawley. “There is no debate that men who have urinary symptoms, such as frequent or difficult urination, a weak stream, etc., ought to be getting exams, including PSA tests. That is not screening; screening is testing asymptomatic men for signs of cancer. Men who have symptoms should be getting tests.”

Into the Future

As for those without symptoms, well, the debate goes on, said Stewart.

“There are reasonable people on both side of this,” he said. “People might argue that the real benefits [of the studies] won’t be seen for 15 to 20 years, while skeptics would say the modest decline in mortality doesn’t compare to the side effects from all these treatments, that it’s not worth it.

“My recommendation is that, for significantly older men, if you’re 75 and up, you’re not likely to get any benefit,” Stewart said.

Dr. Mohammad Mostafavi, a urologist with the Urology Group of Western New England, agreed. “If a patient has prostate cancer in his 40s or 50s, that can probably become problematic,” he said. But if a patient in his 70s who has always had normal screenings suddenly has an abnormal one, it can force some tough — perhaps needlessly so — decisions.

“What if the PSA rises a little bit? You don’t want to create anxiety, and you don’t want to be too aggressive in treatment. At that age, the cancer is probably going to be insignificant. But you have to respect the patient’s wishes.”

The American Urologic Assoc. generally recommends screenings begin at age 50, but for high-risk groups, such as African-Americans and men with a family history of the disease, the recommended starting age is 40. Stewart argued, however, that no one should undertake a screening without a plan for what happens next.

“Before you go to get screened, you need to have a conversation with your doctor about what to do with the results,” he said. “If you haven’t had that conversation, you shouldn’t get screened.”

That’s because the treatment options can still be a major hindrance on quality of life — although modalities like robotics, cryotherapy, and brachytherapy are making it less invasive than ever before.

“The way we think about the disease is constantly evolving,” Mostafavi said. “How we practice today compared to 10 years ago is very different. The treatment options are different, and the way we think about the disease is always evolving.”

The only constant, it seems, are unanswered questions.

Joseph Bednar can be reached at

[email protected]

Opinion
JA: It’s Not Just About Building Birdhouses

Junior Achievement has changed over the years, but the mission is as vital today as it was in 1919.

A report from the Mass. Business Alliance for Education, released in October 2008, noted, “students in the 21st century must master skills that include: global awareness; financial, economic, business and entrepreneurial literacy; civic literacy … creativity and innovation; critical thinking and problem-solving; communication; and collaboration skills.” JA provides skills to our young people through the financial and volunteer support of local businesses.

Nearly one in every four children in Springfield Public Schools is involved in JA this year, but there are more children who need the JA experience, and you can help by investing in JA. It’s good business.

In 1919, JA’s founders wanted to teach children between the ages 8 and 12 about this country’s economic way of life and give them the skills to succeed in an economy that was changing from an agrarian base to a manufacturing base.

The students were organized into clubs that had adult leaders and operated like a business. With the adults overseeing the program, the students developed an enterprise, made articles for sale, and learned how to operate their own company. The clubs were supported financially by local businesses. In the mid-1920s, the Junior Achievement Training Institute was built on the grounds of the Eastern States Exposition, where Achievement Hall still stands today.

For nearly eight decades, JA remained an after-school program, where groups of high-school students, mentored by adult volunteers, formed a company, sold stock, made a product, and sold it with the goal of returning a profit to the shareholders. For more than 400,000 people in Western Mass., JA brings back fond memories of making birdhouses, aprons, wire hangers, hair products, or electrical gadgets.

Today, 90 years later, JA is part of a worldwide organization where more than 3 million volunteers serve 9.2 million students in 137 JA areas in the U.S. and in 97 other countries. Despite the tremendous growth, JA remains true to its mission “to prepare and inspire young people to succeed in a global economy.” However, while our mission is the same, our approach to providing economic and entrepreneurial education has changed.

Junior Achievement offers a wide variety of programs for students in grades K-12 that focus on business, citizenship, economics, entrepreneurship, ethics/character, financial literacy, and career exploration. The three pillars of JA’s foundation continue to be financial literacy, workforce readiness, and entrepreneurship.

Junior Achievement has continued to grow over the years because it delivers relevant programs and, like business, adapts to the needs of the community.

Today, JA programs are still delivered by local volunteers. The programs are found in schools, after-school programs, community youth organizations, and summer programs. JA’s programs can take place in one-day or in a series of weekly classroom visits. The program and the delivery method depend on the needs of the school or organization. The age-appropriate, interactive JA activities are correlated to the state frameworks in mathematics, language arts, reading, social studies, economics, and civics, as well as to the Mass. Comprehensive Assessment System.

Today, a Junior Achiever might be a first-grader who learned the difference between a need and a want; a fourth-grader who knows about human, natural, and capital resources; or a middle-grader who knows about budgeting, how to use credit wisely, and the importance of insurance. A Junior Achiever can also be a high-school student who has completed JA Success Skills and four hours of JA volunteer training and can be found teaching JA to students in grades K-3, learning first-hand the importance of teamwork, time management, communication skills, and service. –

Jennifer Connelly is president of Junior Achievement of Western Mass.; (413) 747-7670.

Departments

The following bankruptcy petitions were recently filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court. Readers should confirm all information with the court.

Alvins, LLC
Alvaro, Joseph M.
Alvaro, Rebecca L.
a/k/a Wilkinson, Rebecca L.
84 Fuller St. Unit 3
Ludlow, MA 01056
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/05/09

Angers, Wayne D.
2 Oakley Estate
South Hadley, MA 01075
Chapter: 13
Filing Date: 03/10/09

Appleton, David John
25 Boylston St.
Pittsfield, MA 01201
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/06/09

Arena, Mark A.
Arena, Laura L.
229 College Highway
Southwick, MA 01077
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/06/09

Atwood, Christopher William
903 Dalton Ave.
Pittsfield, MA 01201
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/02/09

Ayala, Rosa M.
196 Breckenridge St.
Palmer, MA 01069
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 02/26/09

Baez, Hipolito
P.O. Box 5894
Springfield, MA 01101
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/01/09

Banks Carpet Cleaning, Inc.
Banks, Michael S.
1129 St. James Ave.
Springfield, MA 01104
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 02/27/09

Barcus, Christine
584 East St.
Pittsfield, MA 01201
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 02/26/09

Barker, Anthony D.
P. O. Box 1213
West Springfield, MA 01090
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 02/23/09

Barrett, Melissa B.
116 Sandrah Dr.
Orange, MA 01364
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/15/09

Bauch, Brian J.
68 Laurel St.
Athol, MA 01331
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 02/23/09

Berard, Thomas A.
Berard, Patricia A.
5 Corey Road
Springfield, MA 01128
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/05/09

Bergeron, Joseph A.
Bergeron, Sonja M.
41 Piquette Ave.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/11/09

Bernardi, Kathy R.
72 Church St., Apt 1
W. Springfield, MA 01089
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 02/26/09

Bilodeau, Jeremy W.
21 Kingsberry Lane
Ware, MA 01082
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/11/09

Bilodeau, Melissa J.
21 Kingsberry Lane
Ware, MA 01082
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/11/09

Blaisdell, Nora T.
23 Lorimer St.
Indian Orchard, MA 01151
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 02/20/09

Blondin, Kenneth Albert
91 Yale St.
North Adams, MA 01247
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/02/09

Blumenfeld, Samuel L.
73 Bishops Forest Dr.
Waltham, MA 02452
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 02/26/09

Boudreau, Thomas R.
Boudreau, Mary Ellen
151 Monastery Ave.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 02/27/09

Bousquet, Joseph H.
44 Peros Dr.
Agawam, MA 01001
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/06/09

Brown, Laura Ann
22 Third St.
Turners Falls, MA 01376
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/04/09

Bruinsma, Anthony P.
Bruinsma, Jennifer A.
LaFleur, Jennifer A.
56B Lake George Road
Wales, MA 01081
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/06/09

Burgen, Marilyn R.
69 Lathrop St.
South Hadley, MA 01075
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/01/09

Caisse, Kevin John
506 Amherst Road
South Hadley, MA 01075
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 02/27/09

Camilleri, Richard
14 Upland Road
Holyoke, MA 01040
Chapter: 13
Filing Date: 03/13/09

Capeles-Santiago, Quetcy
66 Hadley St.
Springfield, MA 01118
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/06/09

Caron, Lilly Colleen
387 Springfield St.
Agawam, MA 01001
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 02/20/09

Carroll, Cynthia M.
798 Newbury St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/09/09

Carson, Paul L.
Carson, Lynn A.
125 Chapel St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 02/27/09

Cavannah, David R.
Cavannah, Karen B.
8 Aldrich Road
Monson, MA 01057
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/13/09

Chartier, Jennifer L.C.
296 Elm St.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/04/09

Cimini, Daniel J.
103 Creswell Dr.
Springfield, MA 01119
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 02/27/09

Clark, Denise L.
4 Monson Road
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/13/09

Coffin, Robert A.
38 Beech St. B
Greenfield, MA 01301
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/05/09

Cohen, Burton
Cohen, Ruth Ann
PO Box 30152
Springfield, MA 01101
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 02/20/09

Cook, Melissa M.
919 South Hampton Road
Apartment T-4
Westfield, MA 01085
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/09/09

Cosme, Vilma Lisa
819 Chestnut St.
Springfield, MA 01107
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/11/09

Cox, Bernard
PO Box 91211
Springfield, MA 01139
Chapter: 13
Filing Date: 03/12/09

Cruz, Gary M.
133 Regency Park Dr.
Agawam, MA 01001
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/05/09

Decker, Elisabeth R.
Thibodeau, Elisabeth R.
Montovani, Elisabeth R.
155 Northwest Road
Westfield, MA 01085
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 02/24/09

DeLeon, Antonio
462 Berkshire Ave.
Springfield, MA 01109
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/06/09

Delgado, Carmen Ivette
1430 Wilbraham Road
Springfield, MA 01119
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/03/09

Dester, Gary P.
Dester, Irene S.
113 Kennedy Road
Belchertown, MA 01007
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 02/27/09

Devins, Charles R.
Devins, Kathleen T.
45 Merrick St.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/03/09

Dillard, Tracey Leigh
93 Woodstock St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/13/09

Dion, Mark J.
50 Calvin St.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/09/09

Dougan, David M.
Dougan, Virginia M.
51 Oakham Road
Barre, MA 01005
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/11/09

Dougherty, John A.
Dougherty, Cynthia C.
a/k/a Carlisle, Cynthia L.
79 Louise St.
Pittsfield, MA 01201
Chapter: 13
Filing Date: 02/20/09

Downs, Cynthia Anne
104 Pinehurst Dr.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/09/09

Dziubek, Darryl E.
Dziubek, Rachelle A.
222 Northeast St.
Amherst, MA 01002
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/03/09

Emerson, William E.
Emerson, Sally O.
4 Pequoit Point Road
Westfield, MA 01085
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 02/24/09

Enders, Marshall
Enders, Cynthia Ann
10 Gate St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 02/23/09

Estridge, Lynda R.
40-C Valley View
Ware, MA 01082
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/04/09

Fernandez, Elsa M.
a/k/a Torres, Elsa M.
P.O. Box 260
Springfield, MA 01101
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/05/09

Fisher, Janet C.
110 Applewood Dr.
Chicopee, MA 01022
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/09/09

Forgotch, Thomas M.
Forgotch, Christine J.
315 Newhouse St.
Springfield, MA 01118
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/09/09

Forrest, Frank L.
10 Prospect St.
Westfield, MA 01085
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 02/24/09

Frantz, Stephen C.
Frantz, Veronica M.
P.O. Box 60472
Longmeadow, MA 01116
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/04/09

Galeucia, Brian T.
38 Beacon Ave.
Pittsfield, MA 01201
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/02/09

Gallucci, Georgia Ann
37 Kent Ave.
Pittsfield, MA 01201
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/12/09

Gamache, Roland J.
Gamache, Barbara J.
112 Chase Road
Athol, MA 01331
Chapter: 13
Filing Date: 02/27/09

George, Thomas R.
George, Karyn T.
108 Quinn Road
Barre, MA 01005
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/05/09

Gerard, Alex N.
Gerard, Mary E.
8 Clover Hill Road
Belchertown, MA 01007
Chapter: 13
Filing Date: 02/27/09

Guagliardo, Tammy L.
a/k/a Wilk, Tammy L.
100 Steiger Dr.
Westfield, MA 01085
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 02/28/09

Gusmao, Marcelo
Gusmao, Miralva
20 Joy St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/12/09

Hairston, Wayne
101 Mayflower Road
Springfield, MA 01108
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/03/09

Hampshire Frame And Art
Smilie, Robin J.
19 Lake St.
Florence, MA 01062
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/04/09

Haver, Catharine E.
229 Green Ave.
Belchertown, MA 01007
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 02/20/09

Hegarty, Paul
Hegarty, Dianne
60 Van Horn St.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Chapter: 13
Filing Date: 02/26/09

Heiden, Paul R.
Heiden, Amy M.
6 Fourth St.
Southwick, MA 01077
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/11/09

Heintz, Sonya Marie
1694 Main St.
Athol, MA 01331
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/04/09

Hibbler, Blondean
167 Daniels Ave.
Pittsfield, MA 01201
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/09/09

Holland, Larry
251 Roosevelt Ave.
Springfield, MA 01118
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/11/09

Hughes, Kimberly J.
345 Walnut St.
Springfield, MA 01105
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 02/27/09

 

Jackman, Danielle C.
Jackman, Brian D.
67 Somerset St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 02/26/09

Johnson, Marlene M.
616 Main St.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 02/27/09

Kamyshina, Natalya G.
410 Elm St.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/07/09

King, Charles A.
500 Plainfield St.
Springfield, MA 01107
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/05/09

Kreybig, Annemarie K.
80 Damon Road, Unit 7302
Northampton, MA 01060
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 02/26/09

Laflamme, Anne M.
a/k/a Wilson, Anne M.
48 Summit Ave.
Athol, MA 01331
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 02/28/09

LaFleche, Wayne Alan
LaFleche, Linda Ann
22 Woodlawn St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Chapter: 13
Filing Date: 02/26/09

Lajoie, Gloria D.
8 Hartford St.
South Hadley, MA 01075
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 02/26/09

Lamberton, Christine Joyce
15 Albee St.
Springfield, MA 01129
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 02/25/09

LaMountain, Donna
289 Sackett Road
Westfield, MA 01085
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/05/09

Latshaw, Jason M.
Latshaw, Brandy M.
a/k/a Ruelle, Brandy M.
598 Granville Road
Westfield, MA 01085
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 02/23/09

Leab, Noi M.
28 Jasper St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 02/25/09

Loboda, Yan
16A Sunflower Lane
Westfield, MA 01085
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 02/25/09

Lubelczyk, Jessica M.
a/k/a Mobley, Jessica M.
82 Osborne Road
Ware, MA 01082
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/06/09

Lucas, Paul Anthony
181 Turnpike Road
Turners Falls, MA 01376
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 02/24/09

Luvera, Patricia D.
2205 Boston Road, Unit #3
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/12/09

Manarite, Anthony T.
11 Lower Hampden Road
Monson, MA 01057
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 02/25/09

Marron, Suzanne M.
43 Wrentham Road
Springfield, MA 01119
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/03/09

Matlock, Julia Maxine
62 Pomona St., Fl. 2
Springfield, MA 01108
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/06/09

Mayo, Paul J.
P.O. Box 195
Fiskdale, MA 01518
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/04/09

Mayou, Geraldine
114 Corey Colonial
Agawam, MA 01001
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/13/09

Mayou, William E.
114 Corey Colonial
Agawam, MA 01001
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/13/09

McCarthy, Robert E.
330 Cold Spring Road
Belchertown, MA 01007
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/05/09

Medina, Betzaida
193 Allen Park Road
Springfield, MA 01118-2638
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 02/20/09

Merrill, Lorna J.
80 Plantation Circle
Westfield, MA 01085
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 02/26/09

Miller, Barbara S.
174 Briar Way
Greenfield, MA 01301
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 02/24/09

Moore, Judith Anne
33 Kellogg Ave., Apt. 5
Amherst, MA 01002
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/06/09

Moore, Todd A.
33 Brooklyn St.
North Adams, MA 01247
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/01/09

Morin, Richard A.
440 Crouch Road
West Warren, MA 01092
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/12/09

Murphy, Daniel J.
Murphy, Cynthia S.
Sheridan-Murphy, Cynthia
Ziemba, Cynthia L.
122 Ely Ave.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 02/27/09

Murphy, Edward J.
92 Coffey Hill Road
Ware, MA 01082
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/04/09

Muzzy, Catherine L.
P.O. Box 714
Athol, MA 01331
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 02/23/09

Nguyen, Huong-Thi
37 Alberta St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/11/09

Norton, Susan M.
113 Lindbergh Blvd.
Westfield, MA 01085
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 02/20/09

Okatan, Nuriye
12 Sutton Court
Amherst, MA 01002
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 02/20/09

Opal, Craig
32 Granville St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/11/09

Ozimek, Richard A.
1 Belden Court, Apt. C2
Agawam, MA 01001
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/13/09

Pagnano, Sharon M.
51 Robbins St.
East Bridgewater, MA 02333
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 02/20/09

Pappis, Charles A.
66 Yorktown Court
Chicopee, MA 01020
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/05/09

Patruno, Jay J.
107 Lathrop St.
South Hadley, MA 01075
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/12/09

Patruno, Laura L.
85 Abbey St.
South Hadley, MA 01075
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/12/09

Petersante, John M.
89 Joseph Ave.
Westfield, MA 01085
Chapter: 13
Filing Date: 02/28/09

Picture the World, LLC
Keiter, Scott I.
51B Hatfield St.
Northampton, MA 01060
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 02/27/09

Polak, Roxann M.
35 Karen Dr.
Agawam, MA 01001
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/06/09

RC Homes Inc.
New Castle Development
Ridgewood Custom Homes
Dickey, William R.
26 Jensen St.
Belchertown, MA 01007
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/04/09

RDJ Associates
Johnson, Richard D.
Johnson, Linda M.
403 Springfield St.
Palmer, MA 01069
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/06/09

Ricapito, Cheryl A.
2 Green St., Apt. 6
Palmer, MA 01069
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 02/20/09

Robison, David Russell
5 Nutmeg Circle
Chicopee, MA 01020
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 02/25/09

Sadler, Kathleen
61 Aldrich Dr.
Westfield, MA 01085
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 02/26/09

Sadlow, James R.
32 Fisk St.
Adams, MA 01220
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/03/09

Shannon, Steven Michael
788 Page Blvd.
Springfield, MA 01104
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/11/09

Sinclair, Darcy Susan
15 Sczygiel Road
Ware, MA 01082
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 02/20/09

Smart, Arthur C.
89 Maynard St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 02/26/09

Spafford, Richard A.
161 White Oak Road
Springfield, MA 01128
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/06/09

Stewart, Darlene J.
a/k/a Stewart-Hernandez, Darlene J.
71 Eddywood St.
Springfield, MA 01118
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 02/20/09

Stibolt, Gretchen D.
54 Buena Vista Plaza
Springfield, MA 01108
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/12/09

Strauss, Deborah J.
211 Old Warren Road
Palmer, MA 01069
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/04/09

Strickland, Joseph C.
Harris-Strickland, Diane P.
Harris, Diane P.
118 Stevenson St.
Springfield, MA 01119
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 02/24/09

Subira, Marta
12 Sargeant St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/11/09

Sweeney, Christopher Edward
753 South Mountain Road
Northfield, MA 01360
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/09/09
/P>

Tanguay, Christie
24 Ely St.
Westfield, MA 01085
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/13/09

Tessier, Marc C.
1125 South St.
Barre, MA 01005
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/04/09

Tetreault, Donna L.
77 Fresno St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 02/27/09

Thompson, Charles H.
Thompson, Joanna E.
1003 Pecks Road
Pittsfield, MA 01201
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/12/09

Tierney, Jennifer M.
a/k/a Conde, Jennifer M.
1069 Central St.
Palmer, MA 01069
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 02/20/09

Tremble, Susan V.
100 Champlain St
Indian Orchard, MA 01151
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/12/09

Trudel, Joyce B.
38 Maynard St.
Orange, MA 01364
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/15/09

Turner, Christopher L.
101 Woodbridge St.
South Hadley, MA 01075
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 02/25/09

Valentine, Yolanda C.
33 Tourtelotte Ave.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 02/27/09

Velleca, Paula A
171 South Main St.
Orange, MA 01364
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/15/09

Vera, Adin A.
322 Elm St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/09/09

Walters, John R.
27 Lyman St.
Springfield, MA 01103
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 02/27/09

Warren, Robert J.
Warren, Lisa D.
10 Woodland Dr.
Monson, MA 01057
Chapter: 13
Filing Date: 03/06/09

Wedemeyer, Juergen R.
Wedemeyer, Donna M.
37 Andersen Road
Chciopee, MA 01022
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/06/09

Whitten, Ronald P.
63A Grattan St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/06/09

Wilson, Lola M.
70 Ferncliff Ave.
Springfield, MA 01119
Chapter: 13
Filing Date: 02/20/09

Departments

The following is a compilation of recent lawsuits involving area businesses and organizations. These are strictly allegations that have yet to be proven in a court of law. Readers are advised to contact the parties listed, or the court, for more information concerning the individual claims.

CHICOPEE DISTRICT COURT

All-Temp Controls v. Accurate Mechanical Corp.
Allegation: Breach of contract and non-payment for services rendered: $33,624
Filed: 4/01/09

HAMPDEN SUPERIOR COURT

Diversified Technical Products v. Plasticorp Inc.
Allegation: Non-payment of services rendered: $25,000
Filed: 3/19/09

Financial Counselors, LLC v. Keniston & Co.
Allegation: Conversion and unjust enrichment: $268,000
Filed: 3/23/09

Greater Media Inc. v. The Countertop Shoppe
Allegation: Non-payment of goods sold and delivered: $33,100
Filed: 3/19/09

Utica Mutual Insurance Group, as subrogee of Detector Technology Inc. v. DMT USA Inc. & SG Water USA Inc.
Allegation: Distribution, sale, and installation of defective adaptor fitting, causing damage to property: $44,384.39
Filed: 3/25/09

HAMPSHIRE SUPERIOR COURT

Green Street Café v. Smith College
Allegation: Breach of covenant of quiet enjoyment and contract in a commercial lease: $25,000
Filed: 3/25/09

NORTHAMPTON DISTRICT COURT

Capital One Bank N.A. v. Box of Golf Inc.
Allegation: Non-payment of monies owed: $10,737.36
Filed: 3/31/09

Myer’s Catering v. Hallmark Institute of Photography
Allegation: Non-payment of catering goods and services rendered: $27,275.25
Filed: 4/01/09

PALMER DISTRICT COURT

Laurie McCarthy v. R.A. Manley & Sons
Allegation: Unfair and deceptive practices causing home-repair damages: $17,216
Filed: 3/16/09

SPRINGFIELD DISTRICT COURT

Louis Michaelson & Sons Co. Inc. v. Blue Sky Diner Restaurant Inc.
Allegation: Non-payment of goods sold and delivered: $4,208.10
Filed: 3/25/09

Louis Michaelson & Sons Co. Inc. v. O’Driscoll’s Irish Pub
Allegation: Non-payment of goods sold and delivered: $6,820.55
Filed: 3/25/09

Springfield Florists Supply Inc. v. Gift Baskets by Carmela
Allegation: Non-payment of merchandise: $5,440.50
Filed: 3/27/09

United Rentals v. Encompass Construction and Management Inc.
Allegation: Non-payment for services, materials, and equipment: $4,689.31
Filed: 3/27/09

Vladimir M. Zamotayev v. Max S. Construction, LLC
Allegation: Breach of sales contract and non-payment of balance owed: $17,924.77
Filed: 3/26/09

WESTFIELD DISTRICT COURT

One Communications Corp. v. Kellie’s Candies Nut Free Confections Inc.
Allegation: Failure to pay for services rendered: $4,175.58
Filed: 3/11/09

40 Under 40 Class of 2009
Age 29: Co-owner and Co-founder of Jackson & Connor

Tara Tetreault says she’s flattered by comments from those who applaud her entrepreneurial spirit and her first-year success with the men’s clothing store Jackson & Connor in Northampton — especially with the economic downturn and the negative impact it’s had on all types of retail.

But she’s more proud of the feedback she’s getting for her work within the community, and how it seems to be generating momentum and more energy for causes and organizations ranging from Best Buddies to the Northampton Chamber of Commerce; from Clarke School for the Deaf to Northampton Area Young Professionals.

“I think that my actions have, in some ways, spawned other people to act,” she said. “I’ve seen it amongst my peers, with people saying, ‘I never thought to do that,’ or ‘I never thought to get involved with that.’”

Elaborating, Tetrealt said she and her partner, Candace Connors, have taken the attitude that, if they are going to do business in the Greater Northampton area, they need to be actively involved with that community.

This mindset has translated into actions ranging from hosting a Northampton Chamber ‘Arrive at 5’ event coinciding with their first anniversary in business, to active involvement with Best Buddies, a group that is committed to enhancing the lives of those with intellectual disabilities.

“It’s all about making connections,” said Tetreault, who told BusinessWest she is humbled by those who remark on her success in business to date, but is more energized by the words and actions of those who want to work beside her within the community.

“It’s nice to see other people get motivated by what we do — it gives me a warm, fuzzy feeling,” she explained. “It comes when other people decide to act in kind — to look in the mirror and see not just themselves, but also the larger picture, and how it’s not just about you, it’s about all of us being in this together and supporting each other, making it work, and making the area a better place.”

—George O’Brien

Sections Supplements
Restaurant Venture Will Light Up a Dark Spot in Tower Square
John DeVoie

John DeVoie, seen standing in the future home of the second Hot Table location, believes Tower Square is ideal for his venture.

John DeVoie knows the recent history of the restaurant site in the southeast corner of Tower Square — it’s been vacant for nearly a year and has seen several establishments come and go over the past decade — and he’s not fazed by it one bit.

That’s because he believes the failures, if some could even be called that, were due to circumstances or factors that had nothing to do with location. And, more to the point, he’s quite confident that he has a product, or model, that will succeed in that highly visible spot.

It’s called Hot Table, a name derived from a form of fast, casual dining DeVoie experienced in Italy (more on that later), and placed over an eatery that he and his brother, Chis, opened in the 16 Acres section of Springfield roughly two years ago. The establishment features signature panini sandwiches — from ‘three cheese chicken’ to ‘steak horseradish’ — and has successfully drawn business from nearby MassMutual, Western New England College and other schools in the area, and the surrounding residential community.

And when the brothers DeVoie, natives of Springfield, opened the doors to the eatery, they did so with the understanding that they were starting a business, not a single sandwich and coffee shop.

“The initial plans called for opening a second location within 18 to 24 months, and we’re right at two years, so we’re on schedule,” he said, adding quickly that they would likely have moved sooner, but last fall was not the time to be seeking capital to open a restaurant.

But long before last autumn, the location of that second restaurant started to come into focus. Officials with Tower Square and the DeVoie brothers started talking roughly a year ago, said John, noting that both had some clear objectives. The property’s owners wanted a stable tenant that could draw visitors to the corner of Main Street and Boland Way, said DeVoie, adding that he and his brother wanted a site with both vast potential and great visibility with which to expand and brand Hot Table.

It took some time to get the deal done, but now that work has commenced at the site, there is optimism that the new restaurant will breathe some life into the still-struggling retail component within Tower Square, and provide more momentum for the DeVoies’ business venture.

“The corner spot at Tower Square is the most visible location in downtown, and the importance of having a vibrant business at that location is imeasurable,” said Russell Denver, president of the Affiliated Chambers of Commerce of Greater Springfield. “Hot Table has proven at its Breckwood Boulevard site that it knows what it takes to attract professionals and students alike to their business to be profitable.”

Said DeVoie, “we’re happy to be lighting up that corner. This location is going to help us brand Hot Table. Everyone goes to Main and Bolland eventually, and when they do, they’re going to see our name, and so when we go to Westfield or West Springfield, or another community in the region, people will know us.”

As he talked about the factors that led to the recent press event announcing Hot Table’s pending arrival downtown, DeVoie flashed back to a visit to the 16 Acres restaurant last year by Fred Christensen, Tower Square’s senior property manager.

“He came to see the operation, and when he arrived, there was a long line of people going almost out the door,” DeVoie recalled. “He saw all the people with MassMutual badges and noted that they not only drove a mile to get there, but probably had to walk a mile first to get to their cars in the parking lot. That was enough for him.”

As for DeVoie and the Tower Square space, he was pretty much already sold, although there was considerable negotiating still to do. And the ensuing deal appears to give both parties what they want and need: for Tower Square, a drawing-card tenant that fills a highly visible void; and for Hot Table, an affordable location at one of the region’s busiest intersections.

That figures nicely into the growth plans for the business, which DeVoie conceptualized after spending 18 years in corporate sales for Alcoa and realizing that it was time for something else. “I was 40, and I knew that, in sales, they generally try to put you out to pasture when you’re 50,” he explained. “I had some time to go, but that 10 years comes up fast.”

DeVoie said he has long wanted to launch his own business, and when he started seriously considering options, he focused on one apparently common in Italy. There, small shops called Tavola Caldas serve hot, fresh food and desserts quickly to their patrons. The literal English translation of that phrase is ‘hot table,’ the name trademarked and then given to the venture by the DeVoies and their brother-in-law, Don Watroba, also a co-founder.

The three chose a somewhat tired strip mall across Wilbraham Road from Western New England College to start their venture, citing its proximity to MassMutual and several schools, and also what they considered an “underserved” area.

And they used that same word to describe downtown Springfield. Indeed, while there are several restaurants downtown, DeVoie said there isn’t anything quite like what Hot Table has to offer — a mix of gourmet coffee, unique panini sandwiches, and affordable prices.

“Our intent was to start our company in Springfield, grow our name regionally, and then see where that takes us,” he said, referring to the initial five-year plan and speculation about what might follow.

“We wanted the second store to be close to the first one, and we looked at the demographics of what we do, specializing in breakfast and lunch, and said, ‘OK, where’s the highest concentration of people working in one spot in Western Mass? It’s not Longmeadow, it’s not Northampton, it’s not Holyoke — it’s downtown Springfield, and that’s where we want to be.

“And in our efforts to build a regional brand, what better place to drop a store than right in the heart of the biggest city in Western Mass. and in the best piece of real estate in the city?” he asked as he continued. “That was evidenced by our press conference; we didn’t have a press conference when we opened in 16 Acres, and we wouldn’t have had one if we were opening in West Springfield.”

That press conference was attended by a number of civic and business leaders who expressed the hope that Hot Table would create a spark in the downtown and eventually help light up much more than one currently dark space.

And DeVoie believes his venture can provide one.

“Knowing the history of that site, I’d say there is an element of risk involved with it,” said DeVoie. “But we’re very confident in the product we sell and the service we provide — and we’re also confident in Springfield and in Tower Square.”

—George O’Brien

Sections Supplements
Dental Health Clinic’s Creation Is a Story of Determination, Perseverance
Mike Foss

Mike Foss says there were several points when he thought the new dental clinic wouldn’t become reality, but a host of players persevered.

Mike Foss says he felt “almost dizzy” at the ribbon-cutting ceremonies for the new dental clinic at Springfield Technical Community College a few weeks back, and this wasn’t because of the seemingly endless array of one-liners from speakers about how he had to give up his office in order for the facility to be built.

Rather, it was because he, probably more than anyone in the room, knew what it took to make that occasion possible. And also because he could recall several times over the past few years when he thought this ambitious vision — a conveniently located clinic that could serve 10,000 families living within a mile of the campus — just wasn’t going to become reality.

“It’s been a very, very frustrating project, and on a number of levels,” Foss, dean of the School of Health and Patient Simulation at STCC, told BusinessWest several days after the ribbon was cut. “It was frustrating for me personally because it took us so long to get here and there were three or four times when I thought this project was dead, and I knew how important this was to the community and how it needed to happen.”

The fact that it is happening — the clinic is slated to open its doors sometime in May — is a testimony to the patience and determination of the many players involved, said Foss, listing, for starters, the college (specifically its president, Ira Rubenzahl, who was instrumental in finding money for the project), and also Western Mass. Hospital, which has long operated a dental clinic for its patients and those in the community, and saw a need to place such a facility in downtown Springfield.

There were other prominent players as well, he said, including Partners for a Healthier Community, the Springfield-based agency that, among other things, was strongly supporting a broad, region-wide oral health initiative. There was also help from the Preschool Oral Health Task Force and a number of area elected officials, especially state Rep. John Scibak, D-South Hadley, who chairs the state House Oral Health Caucus.

“There was all kinds of juggling being done,” said Foss, “all kinds of work being done by individuals and groups to pull this off. In the end, it all came together.”

This story begins roughly four years ago — none of the parties involved recalls exactly when — or soon after then-Western Mass. Hospital President Blake Molleur, knowing that needed renovations at the hospital would require finding a temporary new home for the facility’s dental clinic, set out on a search. When he and others, including Partners for a Healthier Community Executive Director Frank Robinson, found such a site — in Building 20 on the STCC campus in space that was once a dental clinic and then home to Foss and other administrators’ offices — they quickly decided to remove the ‘temporary’ designation and replace it with ‘permanent.’

“As Frank, Blake, and I were looking the site over and I walked them through it, we just sort of turned to one another and said, ‘this isn’t something that should happen; it has to happen.”

The reason why can be found in some old photographs, kept by Dental Assistant staff members at the college and viewed by Foss whenever the project appeared headed for a serious impasse — and there were many such occasions.

“Every time I got discouraged, I pulled those pictures, taken years ago when the Dental Assistant faculty were doing screenings in the school district,” Foss said as he recalled when the photos were taken. “They called me in and said, ‘Mike, you need to see this first-hand; they opened this kid’s mouth, and it was simply bombed out. Her face was disfigured from infection, and permanent teeth were completely rotted away.

“It was so horrifying to me,” he continued, “that it kept me going when things weren’t looking so good. I kept thinking that if the parents of that kid could have brought her to a clinic like the one we wanted to build, she would have been taken care of.”

In this issue, BusinessWest takes an indepth look at how the new dental clinic came to be, and what it means for the constituency it will soon serve.

Sound Bites

Derrick Tallman, Molleur’s successor at Western Mass. Hospital, said records he’s seen indicate that there has been a dental clinic at WMH since just after World War I. Created originally to serve patients of the hospital, the clinic has seen this clientele change, from tuberculosis patients in the early years to, in recent times, those on ventilators, with neuromuscular disorders, Alzheimer’s sufferers, those needing end-of-life care, and others.

In the mid-’80s, the clinic expanded its scope and began serving people on an outpatient basis. Clients included those diagnosed with HIV, said Tallman, adding that eventually there was a much broader constituency that he described as “underserved and underprivileged.”

Many of the individuals being served by the clinic would board mass-transit buses in Springfield for the ride to Westfield, said Foss, noting that, when WMH went looking for what was going to be a temporary site to which to relocate the clinic, downtown Springfield was deemed the ideal location.

And soon, the focus turned to STCC, which was accessible and had — or could assemble — the physical space for a clinic. In fact, as Foss said, his office at that time was once a dental clinic. “We had most of the infrastructure right here — there was a waiting room, office space, a storage area … it was all here.”

STCC also had students in a Dental Assistant program who could do the clinical-component portion of their studies at a facility right down from the hall from their lab.

It was an intriguing picture that made sense on a number of levels, said Foss, who told BusinessWest, tongue-in-cheek, that there was “one little setback” standing in the way of the plan becoming reality.

“No one had any money,” he said, adding quickly that there were, in fact, several pockets of money — WMH had some annually budgeted for its outpatient clinic work, for example — but not enough to meet the projected $600,000 price tag (a number that kept climbing) to get the venture off the ground.

So, while the vision started to come clearly into focus, many of those aforementioned players set about finding some funding.

Robinson, for example, approached the Oral Health Foundation, funded by Delta Dental of Massachusetts, and helped secure a $200,000 grant for the new clinic. Meanwhile, Rubenzahl, who arrived at STCC just a few months before the search for a new clinic site commenced, helped in the effort to successfully lobby the state Department of Capital Asset Management (DCAM) for funding to renovate in Building 20. Meanwhile, Partners for a Healthier Community contributed $50,000 in seed money to get things started, said Foss, who recalled some of the early meetings with Oral Health Foundation officials.

“They wanted to interview all of us, all the players, to see how serious we were and to see if we actually had a plan of action,” he said. “Of course we had a plan of action, and we shared it with them. They were very excited about the possibility of funding us, at least to some point. They went back to their board and sold the project.”

Teething Troubles

That plan of action, as Foss called it, was to create a clinic with five chairs that would provide full dentistry to uninsured and underinsured individuals and families, and serve as a clinical site for STCC students. The clinic would make dental care more accessible to people in Greater Springfield — there are a few clinics already in existence, but continuity of care has always been a challenge — and thus create progress with one of the region’s most pressing, and vexing, health care concerns.

As good as that picture looked, there were a number of hurdles to clear before anyone could think of cutting a ceremonial ribbon.

“There was the time when we discovered from the architect that the cost was going to be several hundred thousand dollars more than what we had in the bank,” Foss recalled. “Then I think we had a little hope of money, and then we didn’t, and then we did again, and then we didn’t again. But then the state came through.

“We had even decided at one point that we were going to have to a do a phased project until we could raise additional funding,” he continued, adding that this project was defined by fits and starts that made the process frustrating but the end result more enjoyable.

“Every time we talked to the architects, the price went up — they’d bring up something else that I couldn’t see how we could pay for,” said Foss, noting that there were other challenges, including changes in leadership at both WMH (the president’s office) and STCC (director of facilities) to contend with.

“All this was sometimes frustrating to me personally, because I had already made the commitment — that it was going to happen,” he continued. “Part of my job was to get a hold of anyone’s ear that I could and explain to them just how necessary this clinic was.”

In the end, Foss, Robinson, Molleur, Tallman, and others succeeded in getting their points across.

Something to Chew On

Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno had probably the best line about Foss having to abandon his space for the new clinic. He said that people usually didn’t leave an office until the voters decided it was time — or words to that effect.

Foss laughed at all the jokes, and eventually went to the podium to accept a plaque — one that will hang in his now-former office — that acknowledges all the hard work and perseverance that it took to get the clinic open.

The greater reward for all those involved will be the work going on in the chairs behind the plaque. It will hopefully help transform those pictures Foss used to gain additional inspiration for this project into distant memories.

George O’Brien can be reached at[email protected]

Sections Supplements
For Area Clubs, There Are Opportunities Amid the Economic Downturn
Chicopee Country Club’s Tom DiRico

Chicopee Country Club’s Tom DiRico

Like virtually every other sector of the economy, the golf industry will be affected by the current downturn. The questions going into the 2009 season concern where and to what extent this broad business will be impacted. There will be challenges, especially for private clubs that are witnessing declines in membership as businesses and families put the brakes on spending, but also opportunities, particularly for public courses that become alternatives for people looking for places to play. The key to seizing on such opportunities, club pros agree, comes down to one word: value.

Tom DiRico has been a golf pro for nearly 40 years now, which means he’s watched the game endure a number of economic cycles. He says he’s learned firsthand that the sport — and therefore the broad business created by it — is anything but recession-proof.

“People are still going to play the game no matter what’s going on with the economy,” DiRico, now the pro at Chicopee Country Club, told BusinessWest, “but …”

There was a lengthy pause after that ‘but,’ and he didn’t really finish the thought. However, the implication was clear — that, while people will still play, there are questions as to how much they’ll play and where. And how these queries are eventually answered will determine what kind of year 2009 will be for area course owners and operators.

There is uncertainty, but also doses of optimism, said DiRico, noting that both were expressed, repeatedly, during meetings of Chicopee’s Golf Commission and, more specifically, talks about projections for the year ahead.

“We talked about the economy and how it’s going to affect us,” he said. “We feel that would could take a hit, but we’re just not sure. We offer a great golf course at a fantastic value; we just have to hope that people look and seek us out for that.”

Kevin Kennedy has similar thoughts about what might transpire over the ’09 season.

Now in his third year as head pro at Franconia Golf Club and Veterans Golf Club, Springfield’s two municipal courses, he said a general, if hard-to-quantify, decline in membership at area private clubs will likely benefit area public layouts to some extent.

“As strange as it might sound to some, we do better when people have less money,” said Kennedy, being careful and diplomatic as he discussed the recession and its many implications. He noted that he was seeing this pattern unfold last year, as the downturn began to impact the Pioneer Valley and its golf industry. In fact, Kennedy said that, despite a very rainy spring and early summer in ’08, Springfield’s golf operation would likely have eclipsed revenues posted in 2007 had repeated rains not impacted October’s volume of play.

As it was, the two courses pretty much duplicated ’07’s numbers last year, he continued, adding that most courses would be content with being ‘flat’ this season, given the way the economic downturn has taken large bites out of discretionary spending across the board.

Overall, most course operators forecast some opportunities in the year ahead, and agree that, to capitalize on them, clubs must focus on value.

“That’s the real key,” said Kennedy, noting that many now-former private club members, and also those who rotate among the public layouts, will be looking for bargains. “It’s all about providing an enjoyable experience, one that will bring people back.”

As for the private clubs, they’ve been “bumped and bruised a little,” said Dave DiRico, Tom’s brother and longtime pro at Agawam’s Crestview Country Club. He said membership is down there slightly, less than at some other clubs, at least from what he’s heard anecdotally, but there are some encouraging signs.

“We’ve picked up 12 new members over the past few weeks,” he said, adding that the club now has roughly 215 members and a budget based on 225. Thus, closing the gap is the most immediate challenge facing this and other clubs. And while working to do so, clubs must also be diligent about meeting the high expectations that are part and parcel to private-club membership.

“There is still a perception when you join a country club, there’s a level of service that you come to expect,” he explained. “And that’s where some clubs are having a difficult time. They still need to provide that service, and it comes at an expense, whether it’s great conditions on the golf course, hours and service at the food and beverage operation, lifeguards for the pool area … regardless of how many members you have, you still need to operate and provide that demanded level of service.”

In this issue, BusinessWest looks at how the recession will impact golf in ’09, and how, for some clubs, there may actually be a favorable bounce amid all the fiscal turmoil.

Course Correction

Tom DiRico told BusinessWest that he was among the 280 or so golf pros gathered at the Hartford Marriott for the recent annual spring meeting of the Connection Section of the Professional Golfers of America (PGA), which includes Western Mass. The guest speaker was Jim Remy, president of the National PGA, who went on, by DiRico’s estimation, for almost 90 minutes.

“That’s pretty long for a speech like that, and after about 15 or 20 minutes I’m usually ready for a nap,” he joked. “But he had everyone’s attention, including mine, because he talked about the economy and how it’s going to affect golf courses on a national level — public courses, private courses, and municipal courses.

“He told us to basically look around, watch what other clubs are doing, and, above all, be competitive with pricing,” DiRico recalled. “He said the average golfer was going to shop around — shop around to join a club or shop around to play 18 holes a week.”

This was not exactly a news flash, DiRico acknowledged, but it served to reinforce what course owners and local pros knew as they entered the ’09 season — that this would, in many respects, be a challenging year, as individuals and businesses responded to the economic downturn.

Overall, courses should expect total play to decline somewhat, said DiRico, meaning everything from casual weekday get-togethers to the number of people who will pay to play in the myriad benefit golf tournaments staged between April and November.

“I don’t think the number of tournaments will decline,” he explained, noting that the golf outing has become one of the more popular and enduring methods of fund-raising over the past few decades. “But you’re definitely going to see fewer people playing in them. The banks and other companies are picking and choosing now which tournaments they’ll support.”

The projected decline in tournament participation is just one of the many factors that will go into determining what kind of year 2009 will be for the local golf community. There is also speculation about everything from how the downturn will impact sales of clubs, bags, apparel, and other golf-related merchandise, to how it may affect golf travel and play at some of the area’s higher-end clubs.

But much of the discussion at the start of the year has been about private-club membership, and how the decline in those numbers would impact not only those facilities, but also the public courses that will now become an attractive alternative for those who still want to play but not pay thousands of the dollars in annual dues for a club membership.

When asked just how many fewer private club members there would be this year as opposed to last or in 2007, Kennedy thought for a minute about coming up with a number, but then opted for a percentage instead.

“Maybe 15% to 20% fewer across the area,” he said, noting quickly that he was merely speculating and that this amounts to probably several hundred individuals who, collectively, add up to a good amount of business for public and semi-private clubs — those that have members, but are also open for public play at certain times of the day or week.

Geography will be a key element in determining where those now-former private-club members play, said Kennedy, but value and accessibility will also be big factors.

“Who wins the battle for those players? It all comes down to who can provide the best value, conditions, and accessibility — people want to play when it’s convenient for them,” he explained. “At our courses, people get great value for what they pay.”

Rough Going

Tom DiRico said the same thing about Chicopee, and echoed those thoughts about value. He said that, overall, and despite some of the general public’s perceptions to the contrary, golfers are frugal, and they will shop for the deals.

“They’ll look at $35 for 18 holes and a cart, and then $31 for the same thing elsewhere, and go for the lower price,” he explained. “They may very well waste $4 on gas in the process, but they’ll look at that $4 as lunch or maybe a few extra beers.”

So pricing is critical, he continued, noting that officials in Chicopee want to position their course appropriately, while also making it accessible, but not at the expense of leagues that provide a steady source of revenue for the course — and the 19th hole as well.

“People are going to play golf — this is a recreational sport — but everything is geared toward that discretionary income,” said DiRizo. “When people lose that discretionary income, they have to make some decisions — where they’re going to play and how many times a week they’re going to play.

“If you have a good facility where you’re offering value, condition, and service, then you can pick up that stray golfer who is not a member of a private club who is used to that value, condition, and service, and that’s why I stress to my employees that they have to be on their toes every single day.”

A month into the season — and a cold, rainy month as well — Tom DiRico said it’s much too early to tell how the recession will be impacting the ’09 season. “On the nice days, we’re not seeing too much difference from what we saw last year,” he explained. “We’ll know a lot more by July or August.”

Within the private-club realm, there is speculation about how that lifestyle plays with younger generations and whether they will make investments in such facilities. In the meantime, changes in tax laws have made some businesses less willing to offer club memberships as perks, and some employees less willing to accept them.

But Dave DiRico said he’s seen some signs of optimism amid those questions and the economy itself.

“Our phone is ringing; people are calling and asking questions,” he said. “There is interest out there; we’re seeing it every day.”

And much of that interest is from what would be considered younger constituencies, those under 50, said DiRico, noting that these individuals would likely be less intimidated by what’s happening with the economy and on Wall Street than those at or very near retirement age.

Overall, private clubs must do the same as public facilities and focus on providing value and service, he said, adding quickly that the expectations will be considerably higher at those private clubs.

Hole Card

Kennedy told BusinessWest that he believes golf will endure through the recession in part because it gives players a four- or five-hour break from the downturn and the anxiety it creates.

“When it’s tough going, golf can provide an escape,” he explained, noting quickly that, for course owners and operators and everyone involved in the business of golf, there will be no escaping all of the many impacts of the recession.

But there is considerable room for optimism at many clubs, where the assignment is to be properly positioned to take advantage of what opportunities develop.

George O’Brien can be reached at[email protected]

Sections Supplements
What You Need to Know to Profit in the Current Real-estate Market

As commercial vacancy rates continue to increase and property values decrease, the region is faced with more commercial real estate on the market. These properties may become distressed if property owners don’t address the hard realities of their real-estate holdings and enter into sometimes difficult discussions with their lenders and/or sources of capital.

Nationally and in our region, certain industries are being hit harder than others. Three that come to mind are hospitality, retail, and financial services. Here are some of the reasons why.

Companies are controlling costs by decreasing travel budgets, while individuals are reducing leisure travel to save money. Both of these situations translate into reduced occupancy rates at hotels.

Certain retailers are focusing on top-producing locations and closing locations that don’t contribute enough to the bottom line. Other retailers have already disappeared from the landscape and are unlikely to return.

Financial-services companies are trimming human resources and searching to reduce operating costs. Do they still need the same amount of office space?

Overall, most businesses are looking for ways to reduce operating expenses. To do so, many are renegotiating rental rates.

As a whole, the hospitality, retail, and financial-services sectors are substantial users of real estate. When they contract space to maintain their operations, the market can be left with a variety of empty buildings. On the other hand, property owners of certain types of real estate may be more immune to some of the downward drafts caused by the regions’ economy. But they still need to keep a watchful eye.

The contractions in today’s market are stressing the real-estate industry in the form of lower rental revenues and property values. Complicating the matter is the difficulty some property owners and developers have accessing cash and credit.

Property owners who borrowed money for a project based upon a specific value of the property at that time and who have an interest in selling the property or restructuring the debt may be ‘upside-down.’ In other words, they may owe far more on their mortgage than the property is worth today.

The Cap-rate Factor

Many of the financial problems inherent in our economy, such as reduced consumer confidence and spending as well as reductions in employment, contribute greatly to contractions in rental income and net operating income (NOI) for income-producing real estate. However, another factor that has significantly affected the fair market value of these properties is the increase in capitalization or ‘cap’ rates.

A cap rate is based on the rate of return that an acquirer of a property is looking to earn (assuming no debt on the property). The most common way that income-producing properties are valued (and therefore sold or purchased) is by applying the cap rate to a property’s net operating income. Changes in cap rates are based on market factors and can have significant impact on the ultimate value of a property.

For example, if a property generates $800,000 in annual net operating income and the market cap rate for this property is 8%, then the value of the property would be equal to $10 million ($800,000/8%). However, if cap rates increase (which they have) and the new cap rate is 10%, this property would now be worth $8 million. Additionally, if the NOI decreases by 20% to $640,000, the value of this property now becomes $6.4 million.

As illustrated by this example, what we see today are rising cap rates and decreasing income from properties, which fuels declining property values. This combination creates challenges for property owners with loans to repay and lenders with decreasing values of loan portfolios. In short, property owners may be left holding undervalued real estate when compared to the original purchase price and the outstanding debt on the property.

Some lenders are looking to divest themselves of non-performing, undervalued notes discounting them by as much as 60% in some parts of the country. However, even at deeply discounted rates, some properties may not be a good value. For instance, if a lender applies a 25% discount to a $4 million note written in 2002 and the current value (because of credit issues with tenants, contraction of net operating income, and increased cap rates) of the property collateralizing it is less than $3 million, this may not be such a great deal.

The decreasing value of property is one of the characteristics leading to the credit crunch. Even though local and regional lenders are writing commercial real-estate loans to creditworthy clients, national lenders are most often looking to establish and strengthen relationships with the most-experienced and financially sound real-estate companies. Many investors still need access to capital to restructure debt and finance new projects.

Profiting with Distressed Properties

For clients with cash and access to credit, there are opportunities to pursue in the region. However, it must be ‘patient money.’ If you’re acquiring a distressed property with pre-existing tenants, do your research. When evaluating a potential acquisition, the final decision is as much a marketing decision as a financial one. Here are some questions to consider:

  • What is the credit-worthiness of the tenants?
  • What are the lease rates and lengths?
  • What is the realistic rate at which you think current tenants will renew their leases?
  • What is the realistic marketability of the project given its location and the activity in the market?
  • Will you need financing for the project? Where will you get it?
  • Which lenders in the market are active?
  • How long can you support the property if it generates a negative cash flow?
  • What are the tax consequences of the deal?
  • This whole scenario, unless intelligently discussed, can be fraught with confusion, frustration, dead ends, and unique circumstances.

    If property owners and managers can look forward and realistically project their ability to retain their tenants, attract new tenants, negotiate their operating costs, and maintain a flow of capital, they will be better able to weather the storm and build a solid foundation for the future.

    When charting a course through today’s economic obstacles, a seasoned real-estate accountant is invaluable. Such an individual can anticipate challenges before they arise and revise business and financial models to position the organization for success. For instance, if a client is going through debt restructuring, it’s important that their accountant communicate with lenders to evaluate acquisitions and divestitures and help them minimize tax consequences.

    As real-estate companies and lending institutions throughout the region find themselves adjusting to the distressed commercial real-estate market, we advise working together in a spirited effort. By doing so, we will position our region for economic growth and prosperity.v

    Ed Kindelan is Real Estate Services Group leader at Kostin, Ruffkess & Co., LLC, a certified-public-accounting and business-advisory firm. Beyond traditional accounting, auditing, and tax consulting, the firm also specializes in employee benefit plan audits, litigation support, business valuation, succession-planning business consulting, forensic accounting, wealth management, estate planning, fraud prevention, and information-technology assurance. The company has offices in Springfield, as well as Farmington and New London, Conn.; (860) 678-6000;www.kostin.com

    40 Under 40 Class of 2009 Cover Story
    Cover

    Cover

    Back in 2007, when BusinessWest’s inaugural 40 Under Forty honorees gathered for a group photograph outdoors, the sky was clear and bright — appropriate, since the clouds that now darken the nation’s economic outlook were a long way off.

    It was an impressive group of entrepreneurs, innovators, and community leaders — in short, success stories that any region would be proud to tout. Last year’s group of honorees — in the second go-round of our annual celebration of the region’s young talent — was equally impressive, even if the economy was growing shakier by the week.

    This year, economic bad news is everywhere, and the clouds only seem to get darker by the day. But guess what? Our third 40 Under Forty class shines just as brightly as the first two.

    Not that this should come as a surprise to anyone with a finger on the pulse of the region. In fact, the vibrancy of the area’s young achievers — and getting younger; this class includes more 20-somethings than either of the previous two — gives those who care about Western Mass. plenty of optimism about the future. Even in the midst of perhaps the worst recession in 70 years, these individuals are starting and expanding companies, growing profits and creating jobs, seamlessly taking the reins of family businesses … and, in most cases, staying intimately involved in their communities through service on boards and volunteer efforts with charitable organizations.

    Better yet, they’re creating lasting legacies that will inspire others to follow in their footsteps. Check out Kathy LeMay, this year’s highest-scoring honoree, who is cultivating philanthropic connections that will make a difference throughout the region for years to come. Brenda Wishart has worn a number of hats over the past decade, all aimed at building the next generation of entrepreneurs. Corey Murphy takes time away from his insurance agency to help kids read and do well in school — maybe giving a leg up to a future 40 Under Forty winner along the way.

    By most expert accounts, the clouds will clear. And when they do, what will be left standing are the 40 Under Forty and others like them, who are working hard to build a buzz — and a foundation for long-term economic health — in the Pioneer Valley and beyond.

    And now, we’d like to tell their stories, so you can be inspired, too.

    —Joseph Bednar

    The Class of ’09

    40 Under 40 Class of 2009

    Chris Thompson

    Age 29: Director of Sales & Service, Springfield Falcons Hockey Club

    Chris Thompson has a large collection of hockey memorabilia in his office at the MassMutual Center, from assorted pucks and sticks to a framed copy of that famous photo of Bobby Orr flying through the air as he scored the winning goal to cap off the Boston Bruins’ dramatic charge to the Stanley Cup in 1970.

    Maybe his favorite, though, is an old hard hat with the Springfield Falcons logo. It’s a leftover from a strange chapter in the team’s history — the renovation and expansion of the old Springfield Civic Center and the resulting hardships for fans. Those season-ticket holders who made a two-year commitment to the team during that trying time five years ago were made members of the so-called Hard Hat Club and given one of the collector’s items.

    Thompson found one of the hats while going through some old boxes in Falcons headquarters, kept it, and gave it a place of honor in his office. He says it speaks to his general job description — “building relationships” — better than maybe any words could.

    “That’s essentially what I do,” he told BusinessWest, adding that he takes what might be considered an unusual title in sports management (director of sales and service), but this line on his business card says it all. “Service is just as important, if not more important, than sales. I make sure people enjoy the overall experience.”

    This service is provided to fans, sponsors, and other types of clients, said Thompson, and constitutes the ideal job for someone who loved sports while growing up, and wanted to make this field his career.

    While not working for the Falcons, the energetic Thompson is involved with a number of community activities, especially the Young Professionals Society of Greater Springfield, which he serves as a board member, and the West Springfield Park and Recreation Department.

    With those groups, as with the Falcons, his job is to build relationships.

    —George O’Brien

    40 Under 40 Class of 2009

    Karl Tur

    Age 24: Co-owner, Ink & Toner Solutions, LLC

    It was the spring of 2007, and Karl Tur wasn’t slacking through his senior year at Bryant University. He was thinking.

    “I was beginning to research what I would get into,” said Tur, one of the youngest-ever 40 Under Forty honorees. “I knew I didn’t want a typical job coming out of college. I wanted to go out on my own. And I came across a great opportunity.”

    That was Ink & Toner Solutions, a printer-supply shop opened by Serges Lariviere in Amherst the previous year. Tur partnered with Lariviere, and the pair opened a second store in Northampton — and are getting ready to announce a third location soon.

    “We supply printer cartridges of all types to households, schools, government offices, and and businesses of all sizes,” Tur said. “We also do printer service and repair.”

    But it’s the recycling aspect of the business that has gotten the most … well, ink.

    “We recycle old, used cartridges and supply compatible or remanufactured products,” Tur said. “We offer customers a substantial price savings.”

    Indeed. For example, an HP color cartridge that might cost $54.99 at Staples or Office Depot costs $20.99 when remanufactured at Ink & Toner Solutions. Considering how much ink companies run through in a year, the savings can really add up — while putting a small dent in the 800 million cartridges being tossed into landfills each year.

    The partners also launched Ink Link, an initiative that benefits the Northampton Chamber of Commerce. “Chamber members can take advantage of our discount and learn more about what they can do to create a more sustainable office environment,” Tur said. “At the same time, when chamber members purchase products, we give money back to the chamber as a donation.”

    In just six months, the program has raised close to $2,000 for the Northampton chamber, leading to similar partnerships with the Amherst and Quaboag Hills chambers.

    Because good ideas get recycled, too.

    —Joseph Bednar

     

    40 Under 40 Class of 2009

    Erik Skar

    Age 38: Financial Services Professional, MassMutual Financial Group

    Erik Skar has a motto. “There is no try; there’s only do,” he said.

    The 38-year-old — who holds degrees in Psychology and Religion and is father to 3-year-old Julia, who speaks four languages, and 6-month-old Sofia — loves life and describes his own as a dream.

    “I’ve been blessed beyond my understanding. If it was any better, you’d have to wake me up,” he said.

    It’s a reality-based dream, however. Skar is a Pioneer Valley Montessori board member, belongs to the Chicopee Chamber of Commerce and the Wilbraham Rotary, is past president of Quaboag Business Networking International, serves as a Big Brother, and volunteers for Best Buddies of Western Mass. He rediscovered golf last summer and is on five tournament committees.

    Skar has traveled the world, lived in Europe, and beat out 6,000 other candidates to appear on Survivor in Norway, which was filmed in Malaysia. “I’ve seen so much and cannot give back enough,” said the Young Professionals Society of Greater Springfield board member, who was on the Junior Olympic Soccer Team in Norway at age 16.

    He is overwhelmed by the opportunity to transform lives in Greater Springfield, in efforts ranging from mentoring to volunteering. Everything he is involved in has personal meaning, and even his job isn’t work to him, he says, because selling disability and life-insurance policies changes lives when tragedy happens.

    “It’s fun when you finally find what you are born to do,” he said.

    For Skar, that means “cramming” as much as into every day as possible.

    “There is incredible affluence surrounded by incredible poverty here, and therein lies the opportunity to make a difference,” he said. “Springfield has a screaming need for people who want to make a difference, and it doesn’t take much.”

    He finds YPS inspirational and loves being surrounded by members. “They are doing incredible things that are almost beyond the scope of understanding,” Skar said.

    That’s what happens when your motto and dream are action-packed.

    —Kathy Mitchell

    40 Under 40 Class of 2009

    Andrew Jensen

    Age 22: Owner, Jx2 Productions, LLC

    Andrew Jensen says he can’t remember the last time he had a weekend off.

    He’s exaggerating of course, but not to any great degree. “Just when you think you have a Saturday night off, something comes up — something always comes up,” he told BusinessWest.

    And Jensen wouldn’t have it any other way. A full schedule and no weekend time off equates to continued growth and success for Jx2 Productions, LLC, the company he started with his brother, Erik, eight years ago, when he was still in high school. Erik still works for the company, but Andrew, just 22, runs the show, literally and figuratively.

    Indeed, the venture now handles lighting, sound, video, event-planning work, and more, for both individuals and, increasingly, companies of all sizes. Jx2 has handled everything from weddings to corporate annual meetings; from backyard parties to employee-recognition events, and the list continues to grow.

    It all started with Jensen’s parents’ 25th wedding anniversary. He and Erik took it upon themselves to provide some background music for that event, and their behind-the-scenes work was noticed, and appreciated, by a few guests who asked them to handle similar events for them.

    “And it’s just grown from there,” said Jensen, a Springfield Technical Community College graduate, as he fast-forwarded through eight years of entrepreneurial exploits that have earned him considerable press — and some awards. They include a Small Business Administration Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award in 2006, and, also that year, a Top 25 Inner City Business of USA award, this one in the so-called “Growing Up CEO” category.

    In his spare time, what little there is, Jensen is involved with the Young Professionals Society of Greater Springfield. He donates time and pro-bono work to that organization, as well as to the Boy Scouts of America and other groups.

    The schedule doesn’t have any weekends off any time soon, which is really music to Jensen’s ears.

    —George O’Brien

    40 Under 40 Class of 2009

    Mark Hugo Nasjleti

    Age 39: Founder and President, Go Voice for Choice

    In one sense, Mark Hugo Nasjleti’s story isn’t exactly unique: tired of being overweight, he made a commitment to fitness and lost 133 pounds. Since then, he has forged a career in public speaking, sharing his story and encouraging others to follow his lead.

    “I thought, if I could do this for myself, I could do it for others, and help other people change,” he said.

    Words spoken by many a fitness guru, right? Sure, but with one difference: Nasjleti has Down syndrome.

    It’s an important aspect of how he connects with his audience, particularly those with developmental disabilities, but in a way, he doesn’t dwell on it. In fact, a brochure for Go Voice for Choice, his series of self-improvement programs, lists eight of his roles, from speaker and workshop leader to expert on self-advocacy and independent living. Listed at the very bottom is “a man who happens to have Down syndrome.”

    That’s because Nasjleti — whose fitness workshops include lessons in exercise, making menus, smart shopping, and preparing healthy meals — doesn’t see his condition as a hindrance, and would rather focus on the things in life he can change.

    For inspiration, he thinks big.

    “When Dr. Martin Luther King spoke in front of huge crowds of people, they really wanted to follow him, and they did,” said Nasjleti. “I know that, when I show people what I did, they can do the same thing I did.”

    He keeps a busy roster of engagements, even including one program for would-be entrepreneurs looking for guidance in starting their own business, as he did. And he’s told his story before both small groups and large national gatherings, including a stint as keynote speaker at the National Down Syndrome Congress last year.

    But his core passion remains the same: “I want to help people eat healthier and gain a whole new point of view.”

    More and more, they’re listening.

    —Joseph Bednar

    40 Under 40 Class of 2009

    Brenda Wishart

    Age 36: Director of Recruiting, Aspen Square Management

    Brenda Wishart has played many roles over the past several years, with one clear streak running through all of them: entrepreneurship.

    For example, at Bay Path College earlier this decade, she developed the college’s Entrepreneurial Program, not only mentoring students in how to start their own businesses, but also forging educational partnerships between the college and area companies.

    “Rather than lecture them about entrepreneurship, we wanted to get them out visiting local entrepreneurs,” she said. Students were directed to examine actual challenges those companies faced and develop ‘living case studies’ to tackle them.

    From there, Wishart directed the Entrepreneurship Institute for the Harold Grinspoon Charitable Foundation in 2005, leading a committee of faculty advisors from 13 area colleges with the goal of advancing entrepreneurship education and activity in the Pioneer Valley. The following year, she launched Wishart Associates, an executive-search and project-management-consulting business.

    “An unintended consequence of my role at Bay Path is that it gave me the inspiration to jump off a cliff and go out on my own,” she said. “We spend an extraordinary amount of time at work — probably more than with our families. So I’ve always been passionate about helping people find the right match for them.”

    Wishart returned to Bay Path in 2007 to launch a satellite campus in Eastern Mass. After studying possible locations and leading a comprehensive marketing campaign, she oversaw the opening of the Burlington campus that fall.

    These days, she’s taking a break from working for herself, leaving the company she started to become director of recruiting for Aspen Square Management. But her work with Wishart Associates lives on.

    “I’m in the process of phasing out of that and passing the baton along so a new director can run with it,” she said.

    Meaning that, because of Wishart’s efforts, at least one more person found the right job.

    —Joseph Bednar

    40 Under 40 Class of 2009

    Tara Tetreault

    Age 29: Co-owner and Co-founder of Jackson & Connor

    Tara Tetreault says she’s flattered by comments from those who applaud her entrepreneurial spirit and her first-year success with the men’s clothing store Jackson & Connor in Northampton — especially with the economic downturn and the negative impact it’s had on all types of retail.

    But she’s more proud of the feedback she’s getting for her work within the community, and how it seems to be generating momentum and more energy for causes and organizations ranging from Best Buddies to the Northampton Chamber of Commerce; from Clarke School for the Deaf to Northampton Area Young Professionals.

    “I think that my actions have, in some ways, spawned other people to act,” she said. “I’ve seen it amongst my peers, with people saying, ‘I never thought to do that,’ or ‘I never thought to get involved with that.’”

    Elaborating, Tetrealt said she and her partner, Candace Connors, have taken the attitude that, if they are going to do business in the Greater Northampton area, they need to be actively involved with that community.

    This mindset has translated into actions ranging from hosting a Northampton Chamber ‘Arrive at 5’ event coinciding with their first anniversary in business, to active involvement with Best Buddies, a group that is committed to enhancing the lives of those with intellectual disabilities.

    “It’s all about making connections,” said Tetreault, who told BusinessWest she is humbled by those who remark on her success in business to date, but is more energized by the words and actions of those who want to work beside her within the community.

    “It’s nice to see other people get motivated by what we do — it gives me a warm, fuzzy feeling,” she explained. “It comes when other people decide to act in kind — to look in the mirror and see not just themselves, but also the larger picture, and how it’s not just about you, it’s about all of us being in this together and supporting each other, making it work, and making the area a better place.”

    —George O’Brien

     

    40 Under 40 Class of 2009

    Dena Calvanese

    Age 35: Director, Gray House

    Dena Calvanese lists travel at the top of her list of hobbies — and passions.

    She’s been to India and the Far East, all around Italy, to several cities in the U.S., and, last summer, to Iceland. It was a great trip, but frustrating in one respect. A budding photographer, Calvanese wanted a nice shot of an Icelandic sunset. The problem was, she went there in the middle of summer, when the sun was out 24 hours a day.

    “It was great, because you could visit places all day long,” she said. “But no sunset pictures.”

    Things are similar, in some respects, at Springfield’s Gray House, now celebrating its 25th year in operation, which Calvanese has served as director for the past two and a half years. She says she keeps waiting for there to be some kind of lull in the action — and level of need — at this community center in Springfield’s North End. But, like a sunset in Iceland in July, one never comes, which is fine with her.

    “We’re busy just about all the time,” said Calvanese, who, as she spoke with BusinessWest, was working on projects ranging from collection of prom dresses for underprivileged young women to assemblage of Easter baskets for area families.

    “Need is constant, and it’s increasing with the economy,” she continued, listing everything from a surge in requests for food assistance to a rise in enrollment in adult-education programs from people who want to better themselves.

    Managing all this has become another passion for Calvanese, who once worked as an analyst for MassMutual, but has made a very successful transition into the challenging world of nonprofit management.

    As for her next travel destination? Calvanese has a trip to Chicago on the calendar. There should be some great sunset pictures by Lake Michigan to be taken there.

    —George O’Brien

     

    40 Under 40 Class of 2009

    Karen Chadwell

    Age 37: Associate Attorney, Doherty, Wallace, Pillsbury & Murphy, P.C.

    Karen Chadwell knows a lot about dreams — both those with happy endings and those that never come to fruition.

    As a patent attorney, Chadwell works with and for people who come to her with vague ideas, sophisticated plans, and everything in between.

    As a member of the Longmeadow Conservation Committee, Chadwell sees people whose dreams of putting an addition on their home or adding a swimming pool can be realized, as well as those whose proposals would adversely affect the environment and wetlands.

    The mother of 3-year-old Jimmy and 2-year-old Catherine finds her work and civic involvement fascinating, satisfying, and worthwhile.

    Chadwick spends a lot of time educating prospective clients, without charge, about what is involved in taking an invention from idea to market and making it profitable. Her desire to help has spurred pro bono work, including help finding manufacturers or marketing firms for clients.

    “I’m a conduit for people to manifest ideas into something that will have worth and value,” she said, adding that many people have no idea just how lengthy and complex the process of bringing an idea to the marketplace can be. “These people are supporting families, and it’s an expensive process with no guaranteed results. I don’t want them to be shocked and disappointed if things don’t go quickly or work out.”

    Chadwell’s original life goal was pharmaceutical research, but after earning her bachelor’s degree from Loyola University, a stint in the lab changed her mind, and she returned to Loyola’s law school.

    “Helping people is very important to me,” she said, adding that she describes herself as “very analytical” but also someone who does a great deal of hand-holding.

    Her work on the Conservation Committee also involves education. “It’s important for people to know how everyday activities impact the environment and have long-term effects,” she explained. “I spend a lot of time trying to ground people.”

    And also, helping them fly off the ground with ideas that work.

    —Kathy Mitchell

    40 Under 40 Class of 2009

    Kate Ciriello

    Age 33: Executive Development Program Consultant, MassMutual

    Kate Ciriello says she learned what counts in life from her grandmother.

    “She was a person who did things for others,” said Ciriello, who recalls how, on May Day — a holiday that was more-celebrated a few decades back —“my grandmother would bake cookies for the whole neighborhood. She did things like that all the time.”

    Ciriello, who was named after her grandmother, gets a similar satisfaction from helping others. “I guess it’s in my genes or something,” she told BusinessWest. “It’s what makes me feel connected to others and gives me a sense of satisfaction in my work.”

    As an executive-development program consultant at MassMutual, Ciriello, who earned her MBA at Babson College, learns the ropes by trying on a lot of hats. The company rotates her to a different position each year. Ciriello prefers jobs that involve advising agents on how to better sell a product or serve a select constituency, such as women or retirees.

    “When I got here, I quickly learned that I needed to be in a role that was making other people’s jobs and lives easier,” she said.

    Ciriello’s giving extends beyond the workplace. Last year, she was active in MassMutual’s United Way fund-raising campaign. She also helped orchestrate the company’s United Way Day of Caring, a campaign that gets workers out of their cubicles and onto the streets to volunteer at local nonprofits.

    Since then she was elected to serve on the board of directors for Square One, an organization that supports low-income families in Springfield. She also sits on the advisory board for GoFIT, helping kids stay in shape through running.

    Whatever her role, Ciriello has never forgotten the simple lessons learned from her namesake. And yes, she’s also been known to put a tray of cookies in the oven now and then.

    —Amy Castor

    40 Under 40 Class of 2009

    Kamari Collins

    Age 33: Academic Counselor, Springfield Technical Community College

    Kamari Collins knows firsthand the importance of after-school programs. When he was a kid, they kept him busy with opportunities to play basketball, learn about business, and achieve his career and academic goals.

    After-school programs had such an impact, in fact, that Collins has since made a career out of giving back. “Knowing how various programs helped me, I wanted others to get some of the same benefits,” he said.

    He started early by coaching. When he was only 18, Collins and his father organized a traveling AAU basketball team for youths, coordinating games throughout the states. “Sports can motivate young people to want success,” he told BusinessWest. “I know — it had that impact on me.”

    After earning a bachelor’s degree in Sport Studies and a master’s in Human Services, Collins joined Springfield Urban League, an organization that supports minorities. He stayed nine years, eventually becoming director of the Youth and Education Services program.

    In 2005, when Springfield Technical Community College (STCC) offered him the position of academic counselor, Collins made the switch.

    “I do more than simply offer academic advice,” he said of his current role. “I try to help the students be as successful as they can be.”

    Extending his influence to the basketball court, Collins also serves as academic coach for STCC’s men’s basketball team, reminding team members to keep their eyes on academic goals as well as the ball. “You can’t have one without the other,” he said.

    In his spare time Collins serves on several boards, including New Leadership Charter School, Springfield College of Human Services, and the Pioneer Valley Health Education Center, to name just a few.

    “I was fortunate in my life to have people who gave back to me,” he said. “And now I get a deep, personal satisfaction from doing the same.”

    —Amy Castor

    40 Under 40 Class of 2009

    Mychael Connelly Sr.

    Age 27: Founder, Stinky Cakes

    Stinky Cakes, Stinky Cakes, Stinky Cakes …

    It’s a mantra that 18-month-old Aidan Connelly launches into when he sees a pile of disposable diapers rolled into the arms of a stuffed animal.

    It’s a mission for his father, Mychael Connelly Sr., who had long had entrepreneurial urges, and experienced the sweet smell of success one day when his older son, Mychael Connelly Jr., walked into the room and announced, “I did stinkies.”

    “I knew it was what I was born to do,” said Connelly, adding that people expecting babies need practical gifts.

    The former graphic artist handles the marketing and dresses in a baker’s suit to deliver stacks of Stinky Cakes to homes and businesses. The diapers are formed into towers of fun — complete with personalized, colorful ribbons — by his wife, Adrienne, in their Springfield home.

    Connelly, who grew up in the Bahamas, always wanted to own his own business, and became motivated to do so after Mychael was born.

    “Everyone should be able to get a Stinky Cake,” he said, adding they keep their prices reasonable.

    But no one should have to use diapers before they are ready, and Connelly is also working to address the issue of teen pregnancy.

    He and his wife have been foster parents to two children, and are still involved in their lives. “We are dedicated to doing foster care and devote a lot of time to it,” he said. “These kids really need help and need to be in a loving home.”

    Many of the childen in foster care are born to teens, Connelly said, and his next goal is to start a foundation to combat teen pregnancy and provide teens with life skills to help them secure a bright financial future.

    “Stinky Cakes is more than diapers. It’s about empowering parents and mothers. It’s a movement,” he said.

    Not such a stinky idea.

    —Kathy Mitchell

    40 Under 40 Class of 2009

    Todd Demers

    Age 35: Owner, Family Wireless

    Todd Demers figures he’s been working for himself since he was about 12.

    Actually, his working life started even earlier, when he was essentially digging ditches for the church he belonged to and making about $1 an hour.

    “I decided this was nuts,” said Demers, who proceeded to start what amounted to his own landscaping business. Later, after getting a job as a DJ at 13 years old, he took some seed money from his father and started another business spinning records, and did that for a dozen years before a series of events put him at the helm of a mobile-phone franchise that he has since expanded into the 11-store chain known as Family Wireless.

    “I was bitten by the entrepreneurial bug early,” said Demers, noting that he segued into the wireless-communication business as an employee, but simply wasn’t comfortable, or happy, in that role. “I’ve always liked working for myself.”

    While growing Family Wireless into a regional chain, with locations in Agawam, Amherst, Chicopee, East Longmeadow, Longmeadow, Lee, Northampton, South Hadley, Southwick, Westfield, and Wilbraham, Demers has also become an entrepreneurial role model of sorts as he sets a tone for his employees.

    “As CEO, I don’t really have a job description,” he told BusinessWest. “I do whatever has to be done, from painting walls to cleaning toilets to answering the phones — which I do from 9 to 10 a.m. every day. I like to stay involved in all aspects of the business; that’s how I stay grounded.”

    As the name on the business venture might suggest, family plays a big part in Demers’ life. Much of his non-working time is devoted to his wife, Tessa, and his two children, Tanner, 9, and Sydney, 7. He doesn’t miss any of the kids’ sporting events — and there are many — and since he’s bought them both guitars, they spend ample time jamming together.

    You might say he’s tuned in — and in about every way possible.

    —George O’Brien

    40 Under 40 Class of 2009

    Kate Glynn

    Age 27: Owner, A Child’s Garden and Impish

    Whether she’s in Washington lobbying for change, selling a baby sling to a new mom, or planning educational classes, Kate Glynn’s heart is with and for children.

    The owner of two Northampton stores, Glynn’s mission is to reduce risk in every arena a child enters, and coax parents back to natural practices such as breastfeeding. The graduate of Smith College spent seven summers and about 18 months working with New York preschoolers with emotional and behavioral special needs before settling in Western Mass.

    She took over A Child’s Garden about two and a half years ago and opened her second Northampton store, Impish, last fall. “I’ve always been drawn to education, kids, and families,” she said. “I am so blessed to have had a very good education. I was taught to think critically at The Windsor School in Boston and learned to ask ‘why?’”

    It’s helped her make a difference on the home front as well as become an advocate for small-business owners and manufacturers across the nation.

    Two years ago, Glynn sat on a steering committee at Cooley Dickinson Hospital in Northampton whose aim was to bring midwives into the hospital to attend births. “The first baby was born last June at the Cooley Dickinson Center for Midwifery Care,” she said.

    Glynn is a founding member of Northampton Area Young Professionals, belongs to the city’s Chamber of Commerce, and recently returned from Washington, D.C. She was there as a member of the board of the Hand-Made Toy Alliance Group, petitioning Congress to amend the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act and provide provisions for natural toys.

    Glynn sells only toys made from natural products, and she cites statistics that prove babies do better intellectually and socially if they are carried close to the heart in slings. “Children want to be where the action is,” she said.

    And that’s exactly where Glynn has positioned herself.

    —Kathy Mitchell