Home 2012 January (Page 2)
Departments People on the Move

Florence Savings Bank announced the following:

Erin L. Couture

Erin L. Couture

• Erin L. Couture has been elected Vice President, Commercial Lending Officer of the Commercial Lending Department; and
Nancy D. Mirkin

Nancy D. Mirkin

• Nancy D. Mirkin has been elected Vice President, Commercial Lending Officer of the Commercial Lending Department.
•••••
Attorney John G. Bagley, Partner at Morrison Mahoney in Springfield, has been admitted to the American College of Trial Lawyers. He is the first person in the 63-year history of the firm to be inducted into the American College of Trial Lawyers. Bagley’s practice focuses on medical, dental, and legal malpractice; professional liability; product liability; commercial litigation; construction liability; employment litigation; and general negligence.
•••••
Karina L. Schrengohst, Esq. has been elected to serve as a member of the Board of Directors of Community Enterprises Inc. She is an Associate at Royal LLP, a management-side labor- and employment-law firm.
•••••
TD Bank announced the following:
• Gregg P. Desmarais has been appointed Store Manager at the TD Bank branch at 60 Main St., Westfield. He is responsible for new-business development, consumer and business lending, managing personnel, and overseeing the day-to-day operations; and
Derrick P. Feuerstein

Derrick P. Feuerstein

• Derrick P. Feuerstein has been named Store Manager of the TD Bank Hadley store, 140 Russell St. An Assistant Vice President, he is responsible for new-business development, managing personnel, consumer and business lending, and overseeing daily operations.
•••••
Six-Point Creative Works in Springfield announced the following:
• Meghan Lynch has been appointed President and Chief Executive Officer. In her new role, she is responsible for business and client development, and continues to manage day-to-day agency operations; and
• Marsha Montori will serve as Chief Strategist for client accounts.
•••••
Bacon Wilson, P.C. of Springfield announced that eight attorneys have been distinguished as New England “SuperLawyers,” and six of its attorneys have been distinguished as “Rising Stars” in the November issue of Boston magazine:
Paul R. Salvage

Paul R. Salvage

• Attorney Paul R. Salvage is the Co-chairman of the Insolvency Department. His practice deals with creditors, individuals, and companies facing financial difficulties. He was named a SuperLawyer;
Gary L. Fialky

Gary L. Fialky

• Attorney Gary L. Fialky is Chairman of the Corporate Department. His practice is concentrated in business and banking law, with an emphasis on business formations, mergers, and acquisitions. He was named a SuperLawyer;
Michael B. Katz

Michael B. Katz

• Attorney Michael B. Katz is Co-chairman of the Bankruptcy Department. His practice is concentrated in business and insolvency law. He was named a SuperLawyer;
Paul H. Rothschild

Paul H. Rothschild

• Attorney Paul H. Rothschild is Chairman of the Litigation Department. His practice is concentrated in general litigation, as well as personal injury, product liability, medical malpractice, and employer/employee disputes. He was named a SuperLawyer;
Hyman G. Darling

Hyman G. Darling

• Attorney Hyman G. Darling is Chairman of the Estate Planning and Elder Law departments. His areas of expertise include all areas of estate planning, probate, and elder law. He was named a SuperLawyer;
Michael J. Coyne

Michael J. Coyne

• Attorney Michael J. Coyne is a member of the Litigation Department with experience in commercial litigation, motor-vehicle franchising, banking litigation, lender-liability defense, franchise-litigation defense, municipal-law litigation, and government-contracts litigation. He was named a SuperLawyer;
Francis R. Mirkin

Francis R. Mirkin

• Attorney Francis R. Mirkin specializes in commercial and residential real estate and general business matters, as well as commercial-loan documentation. He was named a SuperLawyer;
Stephen B. Monsein

Stephen B. Monsein

• Attorney Stephen B. Monsein is a member of the Domestic Relations and Litigation departments. His work is concentrated on divorce cases, but he also handles personal-injury cases and does OUI defense work. He was named a SuperLawyer;
Gina M. Barry

Gina M. Barry

• Attorney Gina M. Barry is a member of the Estate Planning/Elder Law Department whose practice includes estate-planning issues as well as pet estate planning. Additional areas of focus include guardianship, conservatorship, planning for long-term care, and residential real estate. She was named a Rising Star;
Justin H. Dion

Justin H. Dion

• Attorney Justin H. Dion focuses on insolvency, business, and financial matters. In addition to handling Chapter 7, 11, and 13 bankruptcies, he also does financial planning, conducts foreclosures, and handles collection matters for lenders, as well as practicing nonprofit and real estate law. He was named a Rising Star;
Adam J. Basch

Adam J. Basch

• Attorney Adam J. Basch is a member of the Litigation Department whose areas of practice include construction litigation, personal injury, general litigation, and commercial litigation. He was named a Rising Star;
Todd C. Ratner

Todd C. Ratner

• Attorney Todd C. Ratner is a member of the Estate Planning/Elder Law Department whose practice includes estate-planning issues. Additional areas of practice include commercial and residential real estate together with general business and corporate law. He was named a Rising Star;
Benjamin M. Coyle

Benjamin M. Coyle

• Attorney Benjamin M. Coyle is a member of the Business and Corporate, Estate Planning and Elder, Litigation, and Municipal departments. He was named a Rising Star; and
Kevin V. Maltby

Kevin V. Maltby

• Attorney Kevin V. Maltby concentrates his practice on litigation and employment law. He was named a Rising Star.
•••••
The YMCA of Greater Springfield announced five new board members. They are:
• Ray Berry;
• Jules Gaudreau;
• Brendon Hutchins;
• John Koomson; and
• Sarah A. Williams.
The addition of these new members brings the total number of board members to 26.
•••••
Freedom Credit Union announced the following:
• Amy E. Fyden has been appointed Branch Officer of the Easthampton branch; and
• Beverly Walz has been appointed Branch Officer of the Sixteen Acres branch in Springfield.
As branch officers, both women oversee the financial and lending operations of their branch, develop new business opportunities with individuals and businesses, and promote financial literacy at area schools.
•••••
SABIC in the Americas, based in Pittsfield, announced the following:
• Innovative Plastics Executive Vice Presi-dent Charlie Crew will retire on Jan. 1; and
• Keith J. Smith, formerly of DuPont, will succeed Crew. Smith joined the company in December to plan for the transition.
SABIC acquired GE Plastics in 2007 and integrated it into its diverse portfolio as the Innovative Plastics strategic business unit.

Company Notebook Departments

Hampden Bank Donates $150,000 to Develop Springfield
SPRINGFIELD — The Hampden Bank Charitable Foundation recently granted $150,000 to support the plans and objectives of DevelopSpringfield. “We not only see this as an opportunity to help build a better, more vibrant community, but, as a corporate citizen and a purpose-driven organization headquartered in Springfield since 1852, we also consider this is a major responsibility,” said Thomas Burton, president and CEO of the bank. “We are proud to be part of this significant effort to move Springfield forward.” DevelopSpringfield is a private Massachusetts nonprofit 501(c)(3) formed in 2008 to advance development and redevelopment of commercial real-estate projects, stimulate and support economic growth, and expedite the revitalization process within the City of Springfield. In recent months, Mayor Domenic Sarno requested that DevelopSpringfield, in partnership with the Springfield Redevelopment Authority, expand its role to lead the city’s multi-year planning and redevelopment activities for areas impacted by the tornado of June 1. “Throughout the years, and regardless of the challenges facing our community, we have always been able to count on Hampden Bank to support important community needs in Springfield,” said Nicholas Fyntrilakis of Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co., and chair of DevelopSpringfield’s 14-member board. “Supporting DevelopSpringfield is the latest example of their commitment to our community.”

United Bank Named Top SBA Lender to Women
WEST SPRINGFIELD — United Bank was recently named the state’s #1 Lender to Women in fiscal 2011 by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). United Bank approved the highest percentage of total loans to women of all participating SBA lenders. Joanne Sheedy, RCA portfolio manager, accepted the award on behalf of United Bank at a recent meeting of SBA participating lenders in Boston. Robert Nelson, Massachusetts district director, applauded lenders for supporting SBA loan programs, which he called a “tremendous benefit to our businesses and economic recovery in Massachusetts.”

WMECo Completes Largest Solar Facility in Region
SPRINGFIELD — Western Massachusetts Electric Co. (WMECo) celebrated the completion of its second large-scale solar-energy facility on Dec. 21 in the Indian Orchard section of the city. The facility features 8,200 solar panels and produces 2.3 megawatts (MW) of electricity. WMECo representatives joined local and state officials in celebrating the transformation of the former foundry site into a clean, renewable energy facility. The Indian Orchard facility joins WMECo’s Silver Lake Solar facility in Pittsfield as one of the largest in the Northeast region, and is the largest in New England. The project brought nearly $12 million of new construction to the region and will contribute $400,000 of annual property tax revenue to the City of Homes. Springfield is one of the two Gateway Communities in WMECo’s service territory, and is home to approximately 65,000 WMECo customers. The Commonwealth has a goal to install 250 MW of solar generation by 2017. Under the landmark Green Communities Act, each Massachusetts electric utility may own up to 50 MW of solar, subject to approval by the Department of Public Utilities.

Bay Path Receives
$25,000 Award
LONGMEADOW — Bay Path College recently received a $25,000 scholarship award from the Petit Family Foundation during its first Evening Honoring Women in Science event at the Connecticut Science Center. The award will be used to provide financial support for students who are pursuing careers in the sciences. Bay Path currently offers undergraduate majors in biology, biotechnology, and forensic science, and will be introducing programs in biochemistry and neuroscience in the fall of 2012. The Petit Family Foundation honors the memories of Jennifer Hawke-Petit, Hayley Elizabeth Petit, and Michaela Rose Petit by continuing the kindness, idealism, and activism that defined their lives. The foundation’s funds are given to foster the education of young people, especially women in the sciences, to improve the lives of those affected by chronic illnesses, and to support efforts to protect and help those affected by violence. “On behalf of the college, I wish to express my profound gratitude to the Petit Family Foundation,” said Bay Path President Carol Leary. “With this scholarship award, our students will have the opportunity to study and excel in the sciences, pursuing meaningful and rewarding careers.”

CHD Elder Care Program Receives $10,000
SPRINGFIELD — The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) recently awarded the Center for Human Development’s Hawthorn Elder Care program a $10,000 grant to fund performances of Talking with Dolores, a one-act play that takes a serious look at depression and suicide among the elderly. The award is part of NEA’s Challenge America Fast Track program, which supports extending the arts to underserved audiences. The funding targets elder Latino audiences in Massachusetts and Connecticut. CHD is one of 162 organizations nationwide to receive this award. “We’re thrilled about the grant award because we will be able to reach more people with an important message,” said Jim Callahan, vice president of CHD Hawthorn Elder Care, in a statement. “The play tackles serious issues, but it does so in a very creative way. More than anything, it’s an effective way to get the community at large to talk about issues that are often times uncomfortable to discuss.” The NEA grant also enables Hawthorn to fund Hablando con Dolores, a Spanish-language production of the play.

Big Y Adds 38th Pharmacy
GUILFORD, CT — Big Y Foods Inc. recently opened its 38th pharmacy in a World Class Market in Guilford. Paul Dimmock, R.Ph., is the pharmacy manager, assisted by Robert Frye, R.Ph., and Jane Gray, R.Ph. Big Y pharmacies also conduct special wellness events throughout the year, including flu shots and cholesterol, osteoporosis, and blood-pressure screenings.

Briefcase Departments

MassMutual Invests in BMC’s Future
SPRINGFIELD — Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. (MassMutual) recently made a $3 million contribution to Baystate Medical Center’s capital campaign to support construction of its new facility. “At MassMutual, we recognize the importance of good health and well-being, as well as the benefits of leading a healthy lifestyle,” said Roger Crandall, chairman, president, and CEO of MassMutual. “So it’s only fitting that MassMutual does its share to contribute to this project, as our employees, agents, policyholders, and the community at large in this region will directly benefit from the outstanding care this great facility will provide.” In recognition of MassMutual’s commitment to Baystate Medical Center, Mark Tolosky, president and CEO of Baystate Health, announced the naming of its first phase of the building project; it will be known as the MassMutual Wing. “We are so grateful that MassMutual shares our vision of good health for the community and has so generously provided this support, which significantly helps us to replace an aging infrastructure and continue to meet the health care needs of the people of Western Mass. right here in Springfield,” said Tolosky. The first phase is on schedule and on budget for opening in March 2012. The MassMutual Wing will house the Davis Family Heart and Vascular Center, which includes six surgical/endovascular suites to accommodate advanced, lifesaving cardiovascular procedures, and 32 cardiovascular critical care rooms that will support state-of-the-art medicine and at the same time provide ample room for the comforting presence of patients’ family members and friends. The $296 million project has made a significant economic impact on the region, with job growth for the construction industry benefiting from the addition of approximately 300 new jobs on site since breaking ground in 2009. Approximately 70% of the work on the project has been completed by local and regional businesses. In addition, Baystate expects to add more than 200 permanent clinical and medical positions.

Kennedy Named Chief Development Officer
SPRINGFIELD — Lifelong city resident Kevin Kennedy was recently tapped by Mayor Domenic Sarno to serve as the city’s new chief development officer. Kennedy will manage a consolidated Community Development Department created in 2008 under Springfield’s Finance Control Board. He also will oversee the city’s Housing, Neighborhood, Economic Development, Code Enforcement, and Planning departments, as well as staffing of the redevelopment and industrial-development financing authorities. Sarno described Kennedy in a statement as “exceptionally well-suited for the job of chief development officer.” Sarno added that Kennedy is a “seasoned professional who possesses the knowledge and experience to navigate the economic-development waters on the federal, state, and local levels as well as with the private sector.” Kennedy has served as the chief economic-development assistant to U.S. Rep. Richard E. Neal since 1989. “Kevin Kennedy’s departure is a bittersweet occasion for me,” said Neal in a statement. “While I am sad he is leaving my congressional office, the city of Springfield will once again be the beneficiary of his considerable talents.” Neal cited Kennedy’s work on the State Street Corridor Initiative, the construction of the U.S. Courthouse, the new state data center, and the creation of the Neal Municipal Operations Center as areas where he has demonstrated effective leadership. In related news, Sarno announced that Christopher Moskal of Springfield, who has served as interim chief development officer, now will serve as director of the Springfield Redevelopment Authority. Moskal previously served as executive director of the Springfield Parking Authority. Sarno noted that the two appointments underscore his commitment to supporting the city’s planning and development functions to ensure they are optimally configured for maximum effectiveness. “The city’s ongoing investment in economic development will pay substantial dividends in terms of increasing development activity, stimulating job creation, and expanding our municipal tax base,” said Sarno. Both appointments are effective immediately. Kennedy will earn an annual salary of $125,000, and Moskal will receive an annual salary of $97,950.

Common Capital
Unveils New Focus
HOLYOKE — The Western Mass. Enterprise Fund has expanded its mission, changed its name, and put more capital on the table for local community-development projects, according to executive director Chris Sikes. In a recent announcement at Open Square, Sikes presented the company’s new name, Common Capital, and revealed a new logo, along with the company’s newly expanded role in the region. “It is clear to us that there is ample capital available to fund major change in Western Mass.,” said Sikes. “The challenge is not to access the money, but to help the region absorb that capital and leverage it for the common good.” Common Capital’s new focus, according to Sikes, includes extending lending well beyond small-business microloans, significantly increasing the company’s capital base, and enlarging business-advisory services. To help guide investments, Common Capital has initiated a discovery process to document specific needs within local business and community-development networks. Sikes noted that the process will include a “listening tour” with potential collaborative partners throughout the region to reconfirm community needs and resources. “We have capital and are well-positioned to attract much more,” he said, adding, “our goal is to find new and better ways to put it to use creating jobs, stimulating community development, and improving the quality of life in Western Mass.”

Women’s Fund to Award $150,000 in Grants
EASTHAMPTON — Applications are now available from the Women’s Fund of Western Mass., which will award $150,000 in grants in 2012 to organizations or programs serving women and girls in the four counties of Western Mass. Grants will range up to $15,000. “We look for projects that truly address the root causes, that influence long-term social change for women and girls, particularly around education, economic development, and safety,” said Julie Kumble, director of grants and programs. “Our three grant categories make it easier for organizations to decide where they might best fit in — operating support, project support, and capacity-building grants.” Before applying for a grant, Kumble recommends that applicants listen to a webinar that describes the application process. For more information on the webinar or for an application, visit www.womensfund.net. Since 1998, the Women’s Fund has awarded $1.7 million in grants.

DBA Certificates Departments

The following Business Certificates and Trade Names were issued or renewed during the month of December 2011.

AMHERST

Amherst Family Chiropractic
228 Triangle St.
Lee Kane

Amherst Healing Light Acupuncture
479 West St.
Elaine Walsh

Bold Folds
2 Dwight Circle
Alex Gillat

Visual Concepts 123
170 East Hadley Road
Yvonne Mendez

CHICOPEE

AJ’s Gaming
425 East St.
Luigi M. Montefusco

Cool Limos
658 Fuller Road
John Garcia

Diana Sobieras Photography
140 Hendrick St.
Diana Sobieras

MCS
17 Mellen St.
Daniel S. O’Connor

Wackerbarth Deliveries
57 Carter Dr.
Matthew Wackerbarth

GREENFIELD

ABC Cab
305 Federal St.
James Shippee

Blissful Nails
42 Chapman St.
Angela D. Dobie

Buttonfoot
111 Davis St.
Cyrstal Kelleher

Family Dollar Stores of Massachusetts
10 Colrain Road
Joyce K. Thaggard

Goodwin, Shine, and Associates
20 Federal St.
Alfred B. Goodwin

Sweet Banana Berry
87 Hayward St.
Raymond Trombly

Thai Blue Ginger
298 Main St.
Kanok Ninsri

HADLEY

Ascent Audiology
104 Russell St.
Northland Hearing Inc.

Calendar Club
367 Russell St.
SRV LLC

Loonar Tattoo
206 Russell St.
Albert Valenta

HOLYOKE

Dock’s Classics
31 Jackson St.
James D. Perry

Dunkin Donuts
225 Whiting Farms Road
Derek Salema

Pretty Nails & Tan
2257B Northampton St.
Ngocgiao Dinh

LUDLOW

CJ Refrigeration
25 Parker Lane
Claudio Laneiro

Esteenz Skin Care LLC
733 Chapin St.
Carol Santini

Felt Well Woolies
33 Cady St.
Amy Brown

Mainely Drafts
1361 Lyon St.
Keith Ouellette

PALMER

Bechard Farms
149 St. John St.
Donald Bechard

Bumpers and More
21 William St.
William Tetrault

Labonte & Son
241 Wilbraham St.
Gary Labonte Sr.

Roadfox
136 Gates St.
Andrew Fox

Rondeau Entertainment
1300 Ware St.
Richard C. Rondeau

SPRINGFIELD

Majestic Barber Shop
444 Chestnut St.
Misael Colon

Maxim Seamless Gutters
21 Cluster Circle
Maksim Barabolkin

Mexico Express Packaging
2756 Main St.
Ady N. Rosario

New England Home Improvement
463 Page Blvd.
Anthony Becker

O.D. Trucking
34 King St.
Oscar Davila

Puerto Rican Master Barber
602 Page Blvd.
John W. Stevens

R & R Cleaning
21 Valley Road
Diana Mercedes

S.A.S. Trucking LLC
180 Warrenton St.
Sherlock Suban

Snow and Ice
88 Butternut St.
Deobrah A. O’Brien

Springfield Mobil
1828 Boston Road
Sanjay P. Patel

T.S. Services
24 Leatherleaf Dr.
Sean L. Walter

Thalia Nails Creation
27 Lyman St.
Yahaira Rodriguez

Thee Realm
396 Page Blvd.
Juan R. Guillen

Touch of NYC Hair Studio
167 White St.
Sophia C. Evans

Valhalla Ventures
805 White St.
John R. Henle

Zuny’s Family Daycare
367 St. James Ave.
Maria Pedemonte

WESTFIELD

Barry’s Painting
348 Elm St.
Kurt Barry

Central Transit
93 Sackett Road
Joseph Caputo

Cosmic Holdings LLC
302 East Main St.
Alan Flint

Igor’s Construction & Remodeling
134 Little River Road
Igor Kravchuk

New England EDM Service
22 Mainline Dr.
Theodore W. Macutkiewicz

Terry’s Barber Shop
48 Elm St.
John Symmons

WEST SPRINGFIELD

AAA Xtreme Paintball
683 Westfield St.
Edward J. O’Malley

Cellular Sales of Massachusetts
175 Memorial Ave.
Julie Dean

Fabulous Finds
209 Elm St.
The Home Staging Company LLC

Quick Stop Oil
75 Union St.
David J. Vickers

Storrowton Tavern
1305 Memorial Ave.
Vintage Inc. Corporation

Bankruptcies Departments

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

Alvarez, Ivette
a/k/a Rivera, Ivette
300 East Main St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 11/29/11

Barnes, Dale E.
Barnes, Melissa M.
9 Belanger Road
Southampton, MA 01073
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 11/16/11

Battles, Jennifer Nicole
a/k/a Grannells, Jennifer N.
51 Southview Terrace
Westfield, MA 01085
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 11/29/11

Benitez, Yoni F.
Liberato, Jenny
712 Chicopee St.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 11/22/11

Boyer, Jason Allyn
Boyer, Kerrianne
a/k/a Wolske, Kerrianne
310 Birch Hill Road
Russell, MA 01071
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 11/29/11

Bump, Carl E.
Neale-Bump, Doris B.
36 Joy St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Chapter: 13
Filing Date: 11/28/11

Burr, Shirley Anne
82 Darling St.
Indian Orchard, MA 01151
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 11/18/11

Cameron, Lucretia D.
1259 Plum Tree Road
Springfield, MA 01119
Chapter: 13
Filing Date: 11/21/11

Cherry, Ronald
Cherry, Patricia
19 Ford St.
Springfield, MA 01118
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 11/30/11

Christianson, Leona F.
28 Little Alum Road
Brimfield, MA 01010
Chapter: 13
Filing Date: 11/21/11

Columbia, Percy R.
a/k/a Columbia, Richard P.
205 West Granville Road
Granville, MA 01034
Chapter: 13
Filing Date: 11/16/11

Connors, Patricia
26 Fullerton St.
Indian Orchard, MA 01151
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 11/21/11

Cote, Patrick M.
34 Rockview St.
Palmer, MA 01069
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 11/28/11

Cruz, Tamara M.
62 Warner St., Apt. 4L
Springfield, MA 01108
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 11/16/11

Davidson, David G.
P.O. Box 854
Southwick, MA 01077
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 11/16/11

Dickson, Diana S.
16 Beyer Dr.
Easthampton, MA 01027
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 11/17/11

Dubish, Edward S.
Dubish, Jennifer A.
77 Lombard St.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 11/28/11

Fleagle, Jr., Robert D.
Fleagle, Christina J.
21 Raymond Circle
Agawam, MA 01001
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 11/28/11

Guertin Day Care
Guertin, Roger David
Guertin, Shirley Marie
495 Burts Pit Road
Florence, MA 01062
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 11/17/11

Harnden, Brian S.
263 Granville Road
Westfield, MA 01085
Chapter: 13
Filing Date: 11/16/11

Harrop, Ronald L.
79 West St.
Granby, MA 01033
Chapter: 13
Filing Date: 11/18/11

Keefe, Joseph W.
30 Westwood Dr.
Westfield, MA 01085
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 11/16/11

Kolek, Kimberly A
a/k/a Gauthier, Kimberly A.
33 Dale Court
Chicopee, MA 01013
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 11/17/11

Kozlowski, Michael
24 Farquhar Road
Sturbridge, MA 01566
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 11/20/11

Labarre, Brooke A.
a/k/a Miltimore, Brooke A.
360 Westfield Road
Russell, MA 01071
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 11/28/11

LaBonte, Deborah J.
451 Hapgood St.
Athol, MA 01331
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 11/22/11

Lacasse, Lincoln A.
Lacasse, Kimberly A.
a/k/a Gray, Kimberly A.
191 Packard Road
Orange, MA 01364
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 11/30/11

Lami, Dannielle M.
P.O.Box 1785
Westfield, MA 01086
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 11/26/11

Lander, John J.
Lander, Jamie E.
128 Gale Ave.
Pittsfield, MA 01201
Chapter: 13
Filing Date: 11/16/11

Laprade, Pierre F.
Laprade, Catherine A.
P.O. Box 564
West Warren, MA 01092
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 11/16/11

Leahy, Stephanie J.
35 Jeanne Marie Dr.
Westfield, MA 01085
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 11/17/11

Loizeaux, Clyde R.
125 Pondview Dr.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 11/29/11

Lynes, Leonard A.
Lynes, Halina J.
647 Britton St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Chapter: 13
Filing Date: 11/29/11

Mahony, Clark T.
Mahony, Candace Docimo
119 Old Pleasant St.
Lee, MA 01238
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 11/30/11

McCabe, Donald V.
McCabe, Mary F.
5 Wood Dr.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 11/29/11

Melanson, Edward R.
51 Village Hill Road, #14
Northampton, MA 01060
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 11/26/11

Messer, Cami J.
197 Pasco Road
Indian Orchard, MA 01151
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 11/22/11

Murdock, Gloria D.
204 Denver St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Chapter: 13
Filing Date: 11/21/11

Nana’s Day Care
Ventura, Thomas F.
Ventura, Geraldine F.
Third Ave.
P.O. Box 73
Ware, MA 01082
Chapter: 13
Filing Date: 11/23/11

Norway, Donna B.
61 Leslie St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 11/26/11

Omartian, Virginia N.
286 Bridge St.
Springfield, MA 01103
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 11/21/11

Pantojas, Cruz N.
16 Manilla Ave.
Springfield, MA 01109
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 11/16/11

Picard, Jessie M.
288 Allen Park Road
Springfield, MA 01118
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 11/18/11

Pierce, Lorene L.
a/k/a Massey, Lorene L.
a/k/a Small, Lorene L.
164 Plain Road
Greenfield, MA 01301
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 11/23/11

Praise and Glory Church
339 State St.
Springfield, MA 01105
Chapter: 11
Filing Date: 11/22/11

Pratt, Kenneth R.
43 Orchard St.
Belchertown, MA 01007
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 11/16/11

Rathbun, Richard R.
24 Apremont St.
Adams, MA 01220
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 11/18/11

Recoulle, Karen M.
296 Granville Road
Southwick, MA 01077
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 11/16/11

Roy, James R.
Roy, Paula A.
43 Spruce Circle
Feeding Hills, MA 01030
Chapter: 13
Filing Date: 11/16/11

Sanchez-Vega, Epifanio
127 Elijah St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 11/18/11

Schaffrick, John A.
Schaffrick, Brenda V.
15 Walnut St.
Adams, MA 01220
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 11/26/11

Shea, Joseph E.
1 Springfield St., Apt. 207
Chicopee, MA 01013
Chapter: 13
Filing Date: 11/21/11

Shufelt, Douglas G.
P.O. Box 813
Great Barrington, MA 01230
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 11/18/11

Simpson, Bradley
35 Barlett Ave.
Pittsfield, MA 01201
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 11/18/11

Stabach, Paige E.
24 North St.
Three Rivers, MA 01080
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 11/18/11

Staton, Tommy Eugene
Staton, Debbie Ann
a/k/a Russell, Debbie A.
8 Banbury St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 11/29/11

Stewart, Nadia V.
a/k/a Jarrett, Nadia V.
111 Fargo St.
Springfield, MA 01119
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 11/16/11

Sylvester, Kathy H.
630 Chicopee St., # 513
Chicopee, MA 01013
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 11/18/11

Talbot, Rene F.
52 Meadow St. Apt 2
Ludlow, MA 01056
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 11/18/11

Torres, Alisa
16 Cornwall St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 11/23/11

Building Permits Departments

The following building permits were issued during the month of December 2011.

AMHERST

Amherst Pelham Regional School
170 Chestnut St.
$1,070,500 — Replace 400 windows and 30-40 doors

Deborah Eaton
15 High St.
$432,000 — Construct multi-family dwelling with six apartments

Knights of Columbus
37 North Pleasant St.
$7,300 — Replace water-damaged awning

CHICOPEE

Haynes Realty, LLC
60 Haynes Circle
$75,000 — Construct billboard

Richard Kida
1021 Memorial Dr.
$10,000 — Install pre-fab handicap ramp

US Tsubaki Inc.
106 Lonczak Dr.
$2,320,000 — Construct 23,200-square-foot addition

GREENFIELD

AR Sandri, Inc.
400 Chapman St.
$6,000 — Interior renovations

Clinical and Support Options
47 Franklin St.
$24,000 — New roof

Leo P. LaChance
487-489 Bernardston Road
$6,400 — Renovations to add 126 square feet of retail space

McDonald’s Corporation
285 Federal St.
$25,000 — New flat roof

Syfeld Greenfield Associates
259 Mohawk Trail
$225,000 — Renovations to existing retail area

Town of Greenfield
125 Federal St.
$285,000 — New roof

Town of Greenfield
402 Main St.
$23,000 — New roof and gutter repair

Shree Vinayak Inc.
125 Mohawk Trail
$13,000 — New roof

HOLYOKE

South Holyoke Housing Limited Partnership
534 South Bridge St.
$31,000 — Re-build parapet wall

LUDLOW

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
584 West St.
$69,000 — Construction of new pavilion

Chin’s Restaurant
12 Lakeside Ave.
$20,000 — Alterations

SPRINGFIELD

APG Properties
130 Eastern Ave.
$28,000 — New roof

Crown Atlantic/Crown Castle
20 Birnie Ave.
$15,000 — Replace six antennas

E. Brook, LLP
309 Fernbank Road
$24,000 — New roof

Global Signal/Crown Castle
50 Chapel St.
$15,000 — Replace six antennas

J.C. Williams Community Center
116 Florence St.
$21,000 — Remodel space

Mass Mutual
1500 Main St.
$192,000 — Construction of new office space

Springfield Rescue Mission
19 Bliss St.
$14,000 — Two-room renovation

Springfield Rescue Mission
19 Bliss St.
$34,500 — New roof

WESTFIELD

Jeffrey Glaze
Arch Road
$13,500 — 2,581-square-foot renovation

Pride Limited Partnership
33-39 Southampton Road
$61,500 — New roof

Suffield Westfield Properties Group, LLC
39 S. Broad St.
$10,000 — Alterations

WEST SPRINGFIELD

Paul Longtin
1268 Riverdale St.
$10,000 — Renovate existing restaurant

Town of West Springfield
26 Central St.
$243,000 — Renovate portion of third floor for United Bank

Town of West Springfield
425 Piper Road
$8,961,000 — Erect 258,000-square-foot high school facility

Education Sections
Head of Academy Hill School Plans to Change the Way Students Learn

Stephen Edele

Stephen Edele has ambitious plans to institute an inquiry-based learning program to promote students’ interest in what they are learning.

Stephen Edele has ambitious goals for Academy Hill School in Springfield.
The newly appointed head of school wants to change the way students learn so that, in addition to succeeding academically, they become fully invested in and enthusiastic about all aspects of their education.
Although that may seem idealistic, Edele’s 40-year track record of instituting similar change proves it’s possible in an independent educational setting.
Academy Hill School caters to gifted and talented students, and Edele’s appointment last summer is a dream come true for the educator/administrator who has spent the majority of his career working in independent schools. He is glad to be back in New England after heading schools on the West Coast, and is excited to begin working on several goals he has set.
“When you talk about teaching bright kids, the assumption is that they learn faster than others,” he explained. “Most of the time it’s true, and while it is important to make sure the pace is appropriate, we can’t lose sight of the other side of learning, which is depth. We want to make sure that our students take the information they learn and apply it in ever-increasing levels of complexity by using it to solve problems with real-world applications.”
The school has 110 students in kindergarten through grade 8 who come from cities and towns across Western Mass. and Connecticut. And although many small, independent schools have experienced difficulties in recent years, Edele said Academy Hill has remained strong and continues to grow. He credits its success to the fact that “we have stayed absolutely true to our mission. We are a school for bright kids and don’t try to be anything other than that. We have done well by recognizing our niche and holding on to it.”
Edele has plans to take Academy Hill to new heights. One of his goals is to define the way technology is used in the classroom. Another is to develop a holistic program based on inquiry-based learning, which is an instructional method developed during the 1960s. It differs from traditional learning, which requires students to memorize material. Instead, it is an active form of schooling, where progress is measured by how well students develop experimental and analytical skills rather than by how much knowledge they possess.
“The teacher becomes more of a coach, instead of just being a fount of information,” Edele said. “The heart of it is about learning, then using the information to think critically and solve problems. Our job is to teach students how to be successful in the world on many different levels, and I am absolutely convinced that inquiry-based education is the best way of preparing them to enter the world. It allows students to be directly involved in their own learning and needs to be at the heart of what we are doing, not just an add-on.”

History Lessons
Edele brings a wealth of experience to his new position. “I have been through so much with so many kids and parents, you would have to try really hard to surprise me with something,” he said.
His career began in the early ’70s when he was hired to teach high-school English in a West Philadelphia public school. “It was a wonderful position; I learned a lot and got along well with the students,” he said, adding the majority of students were African-American and Vietnamese. “It was a fairly tough neighborhood, but that’s not what sent me scampering,” he told BusinessWest.
He said he felt a lot of pressure to conform, and when Edele was ordered to terminate an afterschool theater program he had begun, he made the decision to leave. The students had asked him if he would start the program because they hoped to stage a few small productions.
“I felt as if I were a puppet on a string. I had absolutely no say over what or how I taught,” Edele said, adding that he was teaching a class of ninth-grade gifted students.
His next stint was at the Pennington School in New Jersey, which catered to students in grades 6 through 12 via a boarding and day program. “I fell in love with the place and was there for 20 years. It was one of the first schools in the country with a program for kids with diagnosed learning differences,” he said.
Edele taught middle-school students in the school’s Center for Learning and discovered he loved working with the age group. “I really believe middle school is our last real chance to influence students in terms of who they will become. They are just beginning to separate from their parents and form their own identity and begin to think for themselves, but they have no idea how they will fit in the world,” he said, acknowledging that working with students of this age is a “roller-coaster ride, as their emotions are all over the place as they face enormous peer pressure.”
Edele believes schools have an obligation to educate the whole child. “It’s not just about making them the best in math, but about making them the best person they can be. It doesn’t just happen by itself, and it’s important for adults to guide students in how to make the right decisions,” he said.
He held a wide variety of roles at the Pennington School, including a stint as its first director of residential life, teaching advanced-placement courses, heading the middle school, then the upper school, coaching baseball and football, and directing middle-school plays.
“I loved it there until I had my own kids. And by 1995 I was itching to head my own school,” he said. So, he took a job at a facility in rural Virginia, then moved two years later to the Pegasus School in Huntington Beach, Calif., which catered to gifted and talented students.
Three years later, was recruited as head of the Harborside School in San Diego, a private school for students in preschool through grade 8. Seven years later it closed after losing a major benefactor, but Edele helped transition it into a charter school, then moved to a school on Vashon Island in Puget Sound, which was a 15-minute ferry ride from Seattle.
Although he and his family were attracted to the idea of life on an island, he found it isolating, and after three years, “I had the great fortune to end up here.”
But along the way, he learned many things, and one of the most important is how well inquiry-based learning works. He instituted the teaching method at the Harborside School and found the results were astounding.
Edele will never forget a project undertaken there by middle-school students. It was an election year in the U.S., and the students were tasked with learning Mexican history.
So the teachers divided the classes into two political parties and set up their own school election. One party supported a fictional candidate named Cortez, and the other supported a candidate named Montezuma.
The students did everything in their power to woo voters. They conducted research, used history from real-world politics to make their points, held debates, and developed comprehensive advertising campaigns within a budget.
Edele doesn’t remember who won that election, because the candidates were not real. But he does remember the effect it had. “The students were actually engaged in learning rather than reading about the subject in a textbook,” he said. “It was fun, and they will remember it forever. The old ways of teaching — reading a textbook and answering questions at the end of a chapter — are simply dull and boring and will certainly kill any child’s enthusiasm for learning. It’s important to keep them excited and engaged so they are active participants in their own learning, not passive recipients of information.”

Textbook Examples
Edele’s history has made him realistic about the time and energy it takes to bring a new style of teaching to a school.
“It’s not going to happen overnight. And I want to be absolutely certain that parents understand what I am trying to do and how and why new and different ways of teaching will benefit their kids. I also want to make sure that the faculty has all of the resources they need,” he said, adding that the staff will have to become fully grounded in inquiry-based learning.
But he knows it will add value to the Academy Hill program. “There isn’t another school in the Pioneer Valley with the same mission,” he said. “And what we’re going to do is the best way to prepare students for life after Academy Hill and beyond. Our students are bright, curious, and gifted, and this is our niche.”

Features
NAYP Readies Itself for Reinvention

Editor’s Note: This is the first in a series of stories spotlighting the work being done by area chambers of commerce and other economic-development-related agencies. We start with Northampton Area Young Professionals.

From left, Suzanne Beck, Lynn Kennedy, Rich Horton, and Kate Glynn.

From left, Suzanne Beck, Lynn Kennedy, Rich Horton, and Kate Glynn.

Sitting around the conference table at the Northampton Chamber of Commerce were some members of a new ‘executive team.’
That’s the name the Northampton Area Young Professionals — or NAYP, as the group calls itself colloquially — are using for the new leadership that has been steadily helping to reinvent the organization.
Some departures in the prior leadership of NAYP have led the group to take a look at its core values and mission. Kate Glynn is the owner of A Child’s Garden and co-owner of Impish, two children’s stores in downtown Northampton, and she said they were necessary changes for the group to evolve.
“Over the past four years of NAYP being up and running, we’ve learned that young professionals change careers,” she said. “We’re at a time in our lives where people get new opportunities, professionally speaking, or they’re making big changes in their private lives, having babies. And that’s the nature of being a young professional in today’s world.
“So, rather than have a static organization that isn’t flexible, nor addressing actual needs, we’ve decided to open it up and re-examine,” she added.
Rich Horton, Northampton director of Community Staffing, an employment agency, said NAYP is currently making “aggressive structural changes.”
“Historically it’s been what we called the leadership team — 10 or 12 people, a president, vice president, with committees underneath that,” he said. “So we decided to pull back and make the leadership roles a committee, with an executive team at its core. That team will have five members responsible for strategy, making sure everything gets done, with project leaders overseeing specific issues.
“The leadership of NAYP is no longer just 10 people,” he continued. “Rather, it’s really whoever wants to be involved. We’ll be having open meetings where anyone can come, and we expect that, over time, there will be a core of people who are consistently showing up. It really is more of an open format, allowing us to get more warm bodies in the room, getting things done that we want to get done, but also just to get excitement going around.”
The sixth de facto member of the executive team is Lynn Kennedy, the NAYP’s liaison within the Northampton Chamber of Commerce. She was quick to add that, while all this talk of restructured leadership and changing titles might sound like an entirely new organization, NAYP will not change in the way the group functions for its members.
“But there is one change that we want them to see,” she added, “and that is how to get involved, and at what levels. They don’t need to make these excessive commitments to get involved — they can be involved at the level that works for them.
“We hope that the NAYP membership is seeing a more clear way for them to be part of the group. That was a barrier that we are recognizing — that people weren’t always sure of the steps that they needed to take before.”
While the NAYP team was talking out the changes that are still taking place, they did state that they are, as always, ready to get down to business. Talking with BusinessWest for this inaugural feature, NAYP members said that, at its next meet-and greet-function to take place on Jan. 12, relative terms like ‘young’ and ‘area’ keep it pretty open as far is who is welcome to attend.
“We’re never going to say ‘no’ to someone because of where they are from,” Kennedy said, “or that you’re too old.”

Defining Moments
“The way that I address that question of who can be a member,” Glynn said, “and it comes up all the time, is that young can mean chronological; young can mean in business. Or young can mean that you have a fresh perspective on how you want to be part of the community.”
She was one of the early members of NAYP, which is not yet five years old. Initially, there was a common theme among other businesspeople like her, that a lack of a forum for young professionals needed to be addressed.
“I know there are other young people out there in business,” she remembered, “who consider their professional lives first and foremost, but also have a desire for networking and social opportunities within that.”
The Northampton Chamber of Commerce also realized early on the importance of such an organization, and NAYP considers them a sponsor and its biggest advocate. Suzanne Beck is the chamber’s executive director, and she told BusinessWest that there has always been a lot of talk in the Valley about who is that next generation in business and what is their commitment to the region. The chamber’s commitment to NAYP has stemmed from that question.
“Many of those people that were at the beginning of our downtown’s renaissance are aging out of their businesses,” she continued. “There was a five-year period where we really asked, ‘who’s next?’ Kate is one of the younger generation with a retail presence on Main Street, and these days, if you walk through Thorne’s, it’s amazing how many young people are running businesses there.”
NAYP started as a once-a-month networking event, and it has added things like leadership lunches, where a small group meets with area CEOs to learn about their career paths. There’s also a strong philanthropic component, working with area nonprofits, and Glynn said the monthly meetings are also “an opportunity for a local nonprofit to stand up and tell us what they do. We ask that they don’t make a pitch for money, but it’s more of an educational instruction as to what they do within the community, and if members want to get involved, here’s how.”
Borrowing an idea from the playbook of the Young Professional Society of Greater Springfield, NAYP launched what it calls a Nonprofit Board Fair this past summer. “What we find is that a lot of young professionals have interest in nonprofit leadership opportunities, but don’t have any clue as to how to get on a board,” said Horton.
“We worked closely with the local United Way,” he continued, “and we reached out to other nonprofits and stipulated that they had to have a board opportunity opening in the next six months. They didn’t have to actually take any of our folks, but they did have to have an opening.” The meeting was well-attended, and all members said that this was assuredly the first of an unfolding tradition for NAYP.

School of Thought
From the perspective of the chamber, Beck said NAYP fills a need for that developing generation of businesspeople in the region.
“With all the colleges and UMass, there’s always been the question of what happens to those kids who have been very well-educated and want to stay here,” she said. “We know that a huge percentage of people who are educated here want to stay here, and unfortunately we know that the majority of them won’t find it easy to find a job to keep them here. NAYP serves an important purpose for developing those connections to the community that might be more valuable to them.”
As one of those former students, Glynn said that it is exciting to see the possibilities for new members within NAYP’s frameworks, because a larger membership means more opportunities for individuals and for the organization as a whole. With a committee-based leadership, Kennedy noted that this structure will be an asset in how those opportunities are addressed.
“In the past, we had so many things that we wanted to do, but only a small number of people able to get things done,” she said, adding that the organization will look hard at prioritizing programs and then maximizing its available young talent to carry them out.
But as the assembled members of NAYP said, the core mission of the group will always be welcoming anyone who wants to be a member. There are currently 135 dues-paying NAYPs, and the goal is for that number to rise.
“Just last week, we had an event, and I met five or six people,” Horton said. “The hope is that they will become members, and from that become more involved. We have really evolved into a vibrant population. There’s a younger slant, but certainly there are folks who are much older in age but who contribute to the energy that knows no age limits.”
Said Glynn, “it’s not just a party with a purpose — we want it to be a fun networking event, but it’s an opportunity to be professional and social with a business perspective. People are coming because of that energy.”

Employment Sections
Job Prospects Are Bright for the Class of 2012

Sally Schirner-Smith

Sally Schirner-Smith says students network, do volunteer work, take internships, and use the Internet to make themselves marketable.

There are a number of indications that the employment outlook for college seniors is fairly bright — from the strong turnout of employers at recent job fairs to statistics showing an uptick in overall hiring. Recent and upcoming graduates have other things going for them as well, especially a proficiency with technology that gives them a decided edge over older individuals competing with them for job opportunities.

Nic Wegman calls it a “competitive edge.”
He was referring to technology, and, more specifically, the ability of recent and upcoming college graduates to understand it and take full advantage of it when it comes to both handling a job and applying for one.
“Their relationship with technology is seamless and almost intuitive,” said Wegman, executive director of the Career Center at the Isenberg School of Management at UMass Amherst, citing just one of their strengths.
His colleague, Jeff Silver, touched on another. “Our graduates have a real edge,” concurred the director of Career Services at UMass Amherst, adding that more than 60% of its undergraduates complete internships that allow them to show off their skills and network with professionals in their field.
And although local experts say it’s a little early to project how the class of 2012 will fare after graduation, indicators are bright. “Employers booked every space we have for a job fair in February; in the past, it was more challenging to get them to sign up,” said Silver, adding that an employer networking event in New York City this month reached maximum capacity in terms of employers, as did an engineering fair last fall.
“We had employers in the hallway,” he recalled. “It’s a positive sign because in the past we had to call companies and go through our database to find people who were hiring. But this year employers are running to us.”
Deborah Pace, director of employer relations at Western New England University, said a job fair held in November for the class of 2012 attracted 45 employers who “had openings and were willing to hire graduates.”

Barbara Kautz, director of the Career Center at Springfield College

Barbara Kautz, director of the Career Center at Springfield College, says today’s college graduates offer advanced Internet skills and a tremendous amount of energy and enthusiasm.

In addition, employers who participated in the Job Outlook 2012 survey conducted by the National Assoc. of Colleges and Employers (NACE) said they plan to hire 9.5% more graduates in 2011-12 than they did in 2010-11. The majority of jobs are entry- level positions, but NACE reports the average salary offer for grads in the class of 2011 rose 6% over the previous year’s average, soaring from $48,288 to $51,171. However, career experts do say there is a wide variance in those numbers because students who major in accounting, engineering, or computer fields earn far more than those who study liberal arts.
For this issue, BusinessWest talked with career experts about the prospects for the class of 2012, as well as the forces that will shape their job-search fortunes.

Progress in Degrees
Wegman works with people who are pursuing degrees in management, marketing, finance, accounting, operations management, hospitality management, and sports management.
“They’re faring better in this economy than students from higher-education backgrounds in other fields,” he said. “Companies that are hiring are looking for the skill sets they have mastered.”
He added that the buzzword, or phrase, often used by corporate recruiters is ‘transferable skills.’ Today’s business graduates have them, and Wegman said they include “the ability to solve problems using data. Our graduates are able to model and use analytics that can lead to potential solutions.”
Nearly half (47%) of students in the graduating class of 2011 who responded to a UMass survey said they had accepted a job related to their field of study before graduation, and an additional 15% had jobs three months later. “We feel very confident that, if anything, these numbers are understated,” Wegman added.
The poll’s results showed that 70% of these jobs were in Massachusetts, 11% were in New England, and 7% were in New York or New Jersey. “So the outlook for business students with a four-year degree is better than the press is portraying; they seem to be disproportionally sought after by companies in this difficult market,” Wegman said, adding the average salary for entry-level jobs his students accepted ranged from the 30s to the high 50s.
Pace agrees that students with degrees in accounting, finance, or telecommunications are in demand, and said graduates in these fields almost always have a job offer before graduation.
Their sophisticated knowledge of technology gives them an edge over older workers, said those we spoke with.
“There is no doubt that there is a generational difference,” Wegman explained. “Students can use multiple devices at the same time and process and solve so much through the efficient use of technology that it is almost mindboggling.”
Barbara Kautz, director of the Career Center at Springfield College, is also impressed by students’ advanced technological abilities. “Their comfort, savvy, and expertise can be better and more refined than those who didn’t grow up with the Internet. They may not have much work experience, but their personal involvement with technology surpasses that of many other people looking for employment,” she said.
Recent graduates in any field of study are also willing and able to research a company’s history and apply for jobs quickly online. “It’s as simple for them as ‘click, click, click,’” Pace said. “And new college graduates are adept at using Microsoft Office products.”
Kautz said the students’ ability to present information about a company works to their advantage. “If a candidate fails to demonstrate knowledge about an organization, he or she is unlikely to be hired,” she told BusinessWest.
Meawhile, many businesses use the Internet to research a candidate by viewing their Facebook or LinkedIn profiles. “They are looking for a certain level of professionalism,” Kautz said, adding that, in some instances, job offers have been rescinded if inappropriate pictures or postings are discovered. “A candidate may be a finalist for a job, but the employer wants to check the way the person represents themselves,” she explained.
Students with degrees in health care, which include physical and occupational therapy, as well as accounting, marketing, and retail management, are also in high demand. “There is opportunity for growth in these fields, and these grads don’t have the dilemma of identifying jobs that students in other liberal-arts programs have,” Kautz  said.

Smart Choices
Many students take advantage of internships, which gives them with a clear picture of what is expected in the workplace as well as an inside track with what is going on within the company.
“It provides them with an edge because most employers are looking for candidates who can help move their organization forward,” Kautz said. “And because graduates are at the beginning of their careers, they throw themselves into their work with eagerness. That’s not to say people in their 40s and 50s don’t have as much energy, but they may have some reservations or ambivalence if they’ve been laid off, which can result in a morale issue.”
Sally Schirner-Smith, director of Career Services at Bay Path College, said that school requires students to perform an internship or have experience in their field before graduation. “We have found it is very beneficial for leveraging employment. If an employer has trained a student or put them through an orientation and they are a good fit for the company and have the right skill set, it can be a win-win situation. Some students have gotten jobs as a result, because employers don’t want to lose the person if he or she is doing quality work.”
Silver said UMass is one of a handful of schools in the country that allows students to earn up to 18 credits through internships or paid co-op positions. “U.S. News and World Report rated UMass among the top 10 universities in the country for producing internships,” he said. In fact, it recently started a program that allows students from other schools to sign up for internships through UMass and earn credits for their experience.
“An internship allows students to prove themselves in front of people who are doing the hiring,” Silver explained. “When they graduate, they have a leg up if their experience is linked with good grades.”
But even if a job offer isn’t forthcoming, the students gain valuable work experience, which enhances their résumé. Volunteer work is also beneficial, so many students pursue this avenue. “If a business sees that a graduate has given his or her time as a volunteer, it tells them a lot about the person’s interest and willingness to give back,” Schirner-Smith said.
Another decided advantage is that many young people are willing and able to relocate to distant states. “Today, people have to be open to mobility and the geographic regions that offer the greatest opportunity in their field,” said Schirner-Smith.
“There are jobs out there, but if a student wants to teach, he or she may have to work in North Carolina,” Pace agreed. “There are older people who are not getting jobs because they don’t want to move. They are established and have homes and young families.”
Recent graduates at Western New England University in Springfield have done well in the job market. “About 78% of the class of 2010 got jobs in their field,” said Pace, adding that statistics have not yet been compiled for 2011 graduates. The jobs spanned a wide range of fields, but the average starting salary was between $35,000 and $45,000.  “Employers are hiring the newbies because they can pay them less money,” Pace said.
Silver said students also haven’t developed bad habits and can be molded to fit within a corporate culture.

Alternative Measures
Many students who receive a bachelor’s degree continue their education, but Pace said most do so because their field requires a graduate degree. “If a student is a liberal-arts major and wants to become a social worker, he or she generally will be required to get a master’s degree.”
However, a fair number of the 44% of graduates in the class of 2010 at Springfield College who went to graduate school did so because they believe an advanced degree is a good investment. Because they realize work experience is important, competition can be fierce for fellowships and internships. “Students recognize that challenging themselves and seeking experiences of service to others can help them develop skills and competencies that are of value to employers,” Kautz said.
Colleges also do their best to offer programs that put grads at the top of the game, including a two-day career summit at Bay Path which offers workshops, classes, and opportunities to have résumés reviewed by professionals.
But some grads prefer to take the entrepreneurial path and have launched their own companies. Pace attributes this to two factors: they want to be in charge of their own destiny and want to help the country remain strong.
“They don’t like the trends they have seen in business and the fact that jobs are being sent overseas, so they decide to grow businesses that are American-owned,” Pace said, adding that recent grads have opened a variety of businesses which range from a bakery to a diagnostic car-repair company and a vodka company. “Ten years ago, graduates would have been more reluctant to do this. Back then, they were looking for jobs within companies, but today they want to be in charge of their own success and have control of their own legacy.”

Promising Futures
Experts concur that the outlook is positive for today’s graduates. “I think the prospects for the class of 2012 are good because there has been slight growth in some industries, and right now there are companies in the U.S. that are doing well,” Pace said.
Schirner-Smith acknowledged that graduates will face challenges.
“But things are slowly improving with the economy, and we are definitely seeing more students find jobs than we did in the past,” she said. “They are working very hard to strategize for employment in their respective fields by networking, using social media, joining organizations, and going to conferences, because many jobs are never posted. These things can streamline the time it takes to find a position, so we anticipate they will have success.”

Features
Holyoke’s Young Mayor Is Ready to Get to Work

Holyoke Mayor-elect Alex Morse

Holyoke Mayor-elect Alex Morse

Alex Morse’s triumph in November’s election captured the attention of the entire region — not to mention those who put  together the guest list for a dinner at the White House a few weeks ago. At 22, Morse is said to be second-youngest mayor in the state’s history, but his educational background and seemingly limitless confidence would appear to have him ready for the corner office. He says his primary goals are to aggressively market and rebrand the city, and enable it to take full advantage of what he called “its moment.”

Alex Morse graduated from Brown University last spring with a degree in Urban Studies.
This means that he knows a lot more than most people about what prompted the decline of every major Northeast city in the ’50s, ’60s, and ’70s, and also about what some of those same communities have done to reinvent themselves and bring people back downtown.
And at Brown, he had a working laboratory in the form of one of the more intriguing urban comebacks, albeit one that is still very much a work in progress. In Providence, city officials, led by flamboyant and controversial mayor Vincent (Buddy) Cianci, literally moved a river, among other initiatives, in their efforts to reinvigorate a moribund central business district and make their community a destination.
Providence, its downtown, and its public school system became the subjects of many of Morse’s classroom projects in Urban Studies, but his hometown of Holyoke also figured prominently in his coursework; indeed, the recent Hope 6 project in the city’s Churchill neighborhood became the subject of one assignment, and his experiences growing up in a declining urban core gave him a unique perspective for the classroom — in the many forms it took.
“Unlike my classmates in Urban Studies and Political Science, I actually came from a struggling urban community, and could use my perspective from growing up here and going to public schools,” he explained. “A lot of the kids at Brown had gone to private schools and didn’t have the experience that I had; I thought that what I brought to the table was much more relevant than what my classmates had to offer. And at the same time, I could take what I learned at Brown and bring it back to Holyoke.”
And it was while working toward his degree — probably early in his junior year, by his estimation — that Morse boldly decided that he would like to continue his education in urban studies in Holyoke City Hall, specifically the spacious ground-floor mayor’s office.
It was with extreme confidence that Morse entered the race nearly a year ago, and it was this character trait, coupled with a solid game plan, a message of hope, and a positive campaign tone, captured in his lapel pin bearing the words ‘I Love Holyoke,’ that propelled him to victory over incumbent Elaine Pluta on Nov. 1.
In a wide-ranging interview with BusinessWest a few weeks before his inauguration, Morse, whose campaign exploits have made news well outside the 413 area code — at 22, he’s the second-youngest mayor in the state’s history, and he’s already been a guest at the White House — talked at length about his road to the corner office and what he plans to do when he officially takes office.
He said that, while his business card and door plaque will say ‘mayor,’ he considers himself, first and foremost, to be the city’s “chief marketing officer.”
Indeed, he told BusinessWest, while Holyoke has suffered (and continues to suffer) from many of the ailments facing Northeast cities — from high concentrations of poverty in the urban core to a struggling public school system —perhaps its biggest problem is perception and the fact that no one is telling the city’s story, or at least to the right people.
And he believes that, from the perspective of a marketer, or salesperson, he has a quality product to sell.
“Holyoke is a great city, and we’re at a great time,” he explained. “Things are really falling into place in a really great way for our city. And I’m prepared to be Holyoke’s biggest salesperson and spokesperson as mayor, and I think that’s what Holyoke needs, someone willing to stand up and promote our assets.”
Beyond marketing, Morse says his primary assignment is to help make sure that Holyoke takes full advantage of what he called “its moment.”
Elaborating, he said pieces of the recovery puzzle — an emerging creative economy, the possible return of rail service, investments in downtown, the Canal Walk, a growing reputation as a ‘green’ community, the Victory Theatre project, and especially the high-performance computing center and the attention it is generating — are coming together, and Holyoke must seize its opportunity to do something special.
“This is the moment; we have a window of opportunity over the next two years to take advantage of this incredible moment,” he said. “It comes down to what we do with that moment, and this is why I ran for mayor. We can either stay the same and cling to the status quo, or we can embrace the future and do things differently.”

News Flash
One of Morse’s biggest challenges since election night has been handling all the media requests.
They’ve come from far and wide, including the Boston Globe, the Christian Science Monitor (which made him one of its ‘30 under 30’ subjects), New England Cable News, MSNBC, CommonWealth magazine, and the Brown University alumni magazine, among others.
He doesn’t say ‘yes’ to everyone — he’s spending most of his time on transition issues — but there haven’t been many ‘nos’ to date. That’s because he views such press encounters as opportunities — not for him, necessarily, but for Holyoke. He endeavors to take the focus of questioners from himself to the city, and often, the interviews take place while he’s offering a tour of the community to someone who has never seen it or knows little about it (he took the Globe on one just before meeting with BusinessWest).
And he can already see some tangible results from all that press.

The high-performance computing center

The high-performance computing center is one of many projects that Morse believes has “put all eyes on Holyoke.”

“It’s great for Holyoke to get this kind of exposure,” he explained. “Kathy Anderson [the city’s director of economic development] will tell you she’s received a number of calls and e-mails because of the stories done since the election. I’ve had people say, ‘I heard on the CBS clip that you have a lot of renewable energy; can we have a phone conversation about that?’”
Thanks to all that attention from the Fourth Estate before and after the election, many in the region know at least some of the Alex Morse story — that he’s young, openly gay, has had dinner at the White House (he said the invitation just appeared in the mail one day), and isn’t a supporter of a casino as an economic-development strategy. Those who have read a little more thoroughly know that he grew up in the city, attended Peck Middle School and Holyoke High School, where he was salutatorian, and was accepted at the only college he applied to — Brown.
They might also know by now that Morse’s parents have worked mostly blue-collar jobs — his father with Carando (he now has a manager’s position there) and his mother with a day-care facility she ran out of the family home — and that he was the first one in his family to earn a college degree.
He told BusinessWest that his upbringing has provided him a unique perspective on one of the main challenges facing his city and most others like it: narrowing the income gap between the poor and the wealthy, and bolstering the middle class.
“We need people with disposable income in downtown Holyoke,” he explained. “It’s not sustainable to have concentrated poverty in our downtown.”
What most have come to learn about Morse is that running for mayor certainly wasn’t anything spontaneous. Rather, it was a well-thought-out plan, a common-sense career path chosen because of his affection for his hometown, knowledge of urban challenges and models for revitalization, and a desire to bring real change to a city that has long been the butt of jokes.
“The last two years of my life have been pretty much consumed by the campaign,” he explained. “It’s something I’ve thought about for about four years. It didn’t matter exactly who I was running against; I could have been running against Elaine Pluta, I could have been running against another long-term city councilor — there was nothing personal about it, it was just something I wanted to do.”
Morse said his campaign strategy was fairly straightforward, and involved meeting as many residents and business owners as possible, framing everything in the positive — “I focused on my ideas and my plans, and people respected that” — and, in a nutshell, “getting people excited about Holyoke again.”
To say that he succeeded with all that would be an understatement. He won the endorsement of the Republican, a paper with a long and deep record of supporting incumbents, and was swept into office by a 53-47 margin.
And while some have suggested that the election results represent a vote against Pluta, a longtime city councilor elected mayor two years ago, and/or a vote against casinos, Morse certainly doesn’t see it that way.

Morse will soon become a resident of Open Square, seen here from just across the canal, in a move he equates to putting his money where his mouth is.

“I see those as votes for Holyoke and its future,” he said of the ballots cast for him. “This election was framed as a choice between the past and the future and what direction Holyoke wants to go in. I decided to run not because I’m particularly distraught or concerned about the direction of our community, but because all eyes are on Holyoke right now, whether it’s because of the computing center or other projects we have going on. The race came down to deciding what kind of mayor we want during these exciting times.”

A Moveable Feast
It’s called BYOR.
That’s short for Bring Your Own Restaurant, a rather unique grassroots initiative started by a group of city residents more than a year ago in response to a perceived lack of dining options in the downtown area.
Participants bring tables, chairs, and potluck dishes to designated spots — empty lots near the canals and the parking area of a closed gas station have worked — that in essence become those nights’ restaurant, said Morse, adding that he’s taken part in several of these get-togethers. He’s hoping, of course, that someday soon this BYOR tradition will end out of necessity — or lack thereof, in this case. And bringing that day closer to reality is just one of many formal and informal items on his list of goals and objectives.
At the top of that list is rebranding the city, or changing the long-held perceptions about it. He’s noticing incremental improvement in the way people talk about his community — he mentioned he’s heard people saying they should move to the city, or move back to it, as the case may be — but maintains that it still has a long way to go.
As chief marketing officer, Morse said he’ll essentially go anywhere and do anything to put Holyoke front and center and sell attributes ranging from cheap, ‘green’ energy to housing prices well below those in surrounding cities.
“We have a great foundation here — it’s not as if we have to start over,” he told BusinessWest. “We just have to restore it to what it once was and beyond that. During the campaign, I talked about bringing us from the Paper City to the Digital City, and I’m going to be the one to lead us into the future — and a better future.”
Rebranding is something he believes Providence did quite well, and its success in that realm is just one component of a broad revitalization strategy he would like to make one of many models Holyoke can borrow from in the years ahead.
Another was the partnerships forged with the business community, he went on, as well as the desire to take bold and dramatic steps, such as reclaiming the Providence River, once spanned by the ‘world’s widest bridge’ (1.5 miles) as recorded in the Guinness Book of World Records, and making it a true asset through initiatives such as the famed WaterFire installation.
“There’s a lot of good things happening in Providence in terms of what they’ve done to rebrand themselves,” he said. “Some of the reflections and experiences I’ve had in Providence will help inform what I want to do in Holyoke in terms of perception and the way Providence has used the artists’ community in the downtown, restaurants, how they’ve taken advantage of the river with WaterFire, and how they’re bringing people into downtown.
“They had some very concerted efforts on the part of the municipal government, and what they did well was partner with business,” he continued. “There were a lot of public-private partnerships to get investment back in Providence.”
Morse said he and his classmates at Brown studied a number of communities, including Baltimore, Detroit, Boston, and others, and that there are common denominators and lessons to be taken from many models for recovery.
“Holyoke is unique in many senses and special in many senses, but at the same time, we have followed the same trajectory as many Northeast and Midwestern cities in terms of deindustrialization and the moving of factories to the south and then overseas; Holyoke is just a part of that story,” he explained.
“Any urban community struggles with issues like public education; it’s how we respond to them that’s really going to make a difference,” he continued. “What I’m interested in as mayor is looking at what other mayors are doing, looking at what other school systems are doing, looking at best practices, and learning from what’s worked and what hasn’t worked.”

Live and Learn
Morse said much of his administration’s focus and energy will be directed toward the downtown area, where efforts will be concentrated on seizing momentum from the computing center, while also working on the many aspects involved with getting more people living in that area.
And the new mayor won’t just be talking about it — he’ll be doing it.
Indeed, he will be the first residential tenant in Open Square, the massive former mill complex now home to dozens of businesses, a café, a performing-arts group, and more, and is awaiting final touches on the space before moving in later this month.
“I made a statement that I wanted to move downtown to help change the perception there,” he told BusinessWest. “If I show a business owner our downtown or Open Square, or talk to young families about moving here, I can say, ‘hey, the mayor lives right down the street; it must be safe.’
“It’s a symbolic gesture, but I’m putting my money where my mouth is,” he continued. “Anything we can do to promote downtown and bring more people and more business there … I think that will help us.”
Overall, Morse says he sees a good deal of momentum downtown, and it comes in a number of forms — from the attendance at the regular BYOR events to growing interest in commercial property in that area, to a growing sense of community, coupled with changing demographics, that he believes are a very positive sign.
“There’s a community today that didn’t exist 10 years ago in Holyoke — a progressive, young, arts-friendly constituency here in downtown,” he explained. “There’s an interest in downtown moreso than I’ve ever seen before, and that’s very refreshing to me, someone who was born and raised here; it’s great to see interest from people who weren’t born here but want to move here and have things happen downtown.”
From his studies of other cities, Morse said he fully understands the chicken-and-egg scenario when it comes to growing the population in the urban core; professionals, empty nesters, and others with disposable income need good reasons to move to a downtown — safe streets, attractive housing, and nightlife are all high on the list — but many of those things, and especially the nightlife part, won’t happen unless there is already a critical mass of urban dwellers capable of supporting businesses.
“If we want to support a thriving small-business community — restaurants, cafés, and nightclubs — we need to have people with money in their pockets,” he explained. “And that means we have to convince people to move to Holyoke, bring their business here, and be a part of this.
“A lot of young professionals and even single people, men and women, want to live in urban communities; I’m convinced of that,” he continued. “Over the past 50 years, there’s been a lot of disinvestment in cities, as if cities were bad, but now, attitudes are changing, and we need to take advantage of that.”

Forward Thinking
When asked what someone ambitious enough to run for mayor of a major city while still a college student might do next for a career challenge, Morse smiled broadly and paused for a minute.
While he didn’t speculate on what else he might do, he mentioned Thomas Menino, the longest-serving mayor in Boston’s history (18 years) and hinted that this is a record of service he may try to emulate.
“Holyoke needs consistent leadership over the next decade,” he said, hinting that he plans to be around at least that long — if the voters are so inclined.
For now, though, he’s focused on getting on with his work as chief marketing officer and with enabling Holyoke to take advantage of that window of opportunity he mentioned.
He said he’s never seen people this excited about the city, and that he considers it his job to capture that excitement and have it translate it into tangible, positive change. He acknowledged that he certainly can’t change the citiy’s fortunes in two years, but he can certainly get the ball rolling.
And if he does, he might be back in the White House soon.

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

Chamber Corners Departments

ACCGS
www.myonlinechamber.com
(413) 787-1555

• Jan. 4: Business@Breakfast, 7:15-9 a.m. at the Sherato• Springfield. The monthly breakfast pays tribute to individuals, businesses, and organizations for major contributions to civic and economic growth and for actions that reflect honor o• the region. The chamber breakfast gives your company exposure to business owners, upper management, and salespeople. Each month, September through June, the event is hosted at a different locatio• throughout the ACCGS community. To reserve tickets, contact Cecile Larose at (413) 787-1555 or [email protected]

• Jan. 4: After 5, 5-7 p.m. Network, build relationships, and forge strategic partnerships. The ACCGS After 5, held the second Wednesday of certai• months September through June, offers business professionals from diverse industries a• opportunity to exchange business leads while socializing i• a casual atmosphere. For more information, contact Cecile Larose at (413) 787-1555 or [email protected]

Amherst Area
Chamber of Commerce
www.amherstarea.com
(413) 253-0700

• Jan. 11: Amherst Area Chamber Breakfast & Annual Meeting, 7:15-9 a.m., at the Courtyard by Marriott. Tickets: $12 for members, $15 for non-members.

• Jan. 25: Amherst Area Chamber After 5, 5-7 p.m. Cost: $5 for members; $10 for non-members. The new chamber Web site will debut.

Frankli• County
Chamber of Commerce
www.franklincc.org
(413) 773-5463

• Jan. 17: Business After Hours, 5-7 p.m. at the Farm Table at Kringle Candle, Bernardston. Tickets: $5 for members, $8 for non-members.

• Jan. 27: Breakfast Series, 7:30-9 a.m. at the Greenfield Corporate Center. Program TBA. Co-sponsored by F/H Career Center. Tickets: $12 for members, $15 for non-members.

Greater Easthampto•
Chamber of Commerce
www.easthamptonchamber.org
(413) 527-9414

• Jan. 26: Chamber Annual Meeting & Awards Dinner, 5 p.m. at Southampto• Country Club. Annual awards presentatio• for business, business person, and nonprofit members of the year. Also, a review of a successful, 2011, and a celebratio• of member milestones. Cost: $30 per person, inclusive. For more information, visit [email protected]

Greater Holyoke
Chamber of Commerce
www.holycham.com
(413) 534-3376

• Jan. 11: 2011 Winners Circle, 5-7 p.m., at the Yankee Pedlar, 1866 Northampto• St., Holyoke. Sponsored by Dowd Insurance Agency; Holyoke Community College; Holyoke Medical Center; PeoplesBank; Resnic, Beauregard, Waite & Driscoll; and Universal Plastics. Cost: $25. Call the chamber at (413) 534-3376.

• Jan. 18: Chamber After Hours, 5-7 p.m., at Mrs. Mitchell’s Kitchen, 514 Westfield Road, Holyoke. Sponsored by Holyoke Credit Union. Cost: $10 for members, $15 cash for non-members.

Greater Northampto•
Chamber of Commerce
www.explorenorthampton.com
(413) 584-1900

• Jan. 4: January Arrive@5, 5-7 p.m., at Verizo• Wireless/Wireless Zone, 162 North King St., Northampton. Sponsored by Normandeau Communications Inc. Cost: $10 for members. Arrive@5 is a casual mix and mingle with your colleagues and friends.

Northampto• Area Young Professional Society
www.thenayp.com
(413) 584-1900

• Jan. 12: NAYP Monthly Networking Event, 5-7 p.m., at the World War II Club, 50 Conz St., Northampton. Cost: free for members, $5 for guests.

Professional Women’s Chamber
www.professionalwomenschamber.com
(413) 755-1310

• Jan. 18: Professional Women’s Chamber Business Expo, 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m., at Max’s Taver• at the Basketball Hall of Fame. Accepting reservations for the 14th Annual Tabletop Expo. Last year’s successful expo was a sellout. Sig• up today to showcase your company’s products and services or to attend the event. Display price includes a draped table and lunch for one. General admissio• tickets include specialty sandwiches, fruit, chips, and dessert.  For more information, contact Lyn• Johnso• at (413) 787-1555 or [email protected]

Greater Westfield
Chamber of Commerce
www.westfieldbiz.org
(413) 568-1618

• Jan. 9: Mayor’s Coffee Hour, 8-9 a.m., at Dunkin’ Donuts, 625 East Mai• St., Westfield. Cost: free.

• Jan. 18: WestNet networking event, 5-7 p.m., at Tucker’s Restaurant, 625 College Highway, Southwick. Opportunity to meet other local businesses and chamber members. Cash bar and free hors’doeuvres. Tickets: $10 for chamber members, $15 for non-members. Your first WestNet is always free.

Agenda Departments

Anthropologist Lecture
Feb. 22: Susan Darlington, a professor at Hampshire College, will discuss her latest book, The Ordination of a Tree: The Thai Buddhist Environmental Movement, as part of the Ovations series at Springfield Technical Community College. Darlington has studied the work of Buddhist monks in Thailand who are engaged in rural development and environmental conservation. The science-based talks, at 10:10 a.m. and 11:15 a.m. in Scibelli Hall Theater, will also include insights into religion and social activism. The presentations are free and open to the public. For more information, call (413) 755-4233.

Author Lecture
March 28: Internationally acclaimed author Tom Perrotta will read from his upcoming novel, The Leftovers, at 10:10 a.m. and 11:15 a.m. in Scibelli Hall Theater, as part of the Ovations series at Springfield Technical Community College. The talks are free and open to the public. Two of Perrotta’s books, Election, and Little Children, have been made into movies, and five novels have been national bestsellers. For more information, call (413) 755-4233.

Slam Poet Lecture
April 13: Taylor Mali, a former high-school teacher who has emerged from the slam-poetry movement as one of its leaders, will discuss his performances at 10:10 a.m. and 11:15 a.m. in Scibelli Hall Theater, as part of the Ovations series at Springfield Technical Community College. The talks are free and open to the public. For more information, call (413) 755-4233.

Difference Makers
March 22: BusinessWest will stage its fourth annual Difference Makers Celebration at the Log Cabin Banquet & Meeting House in Holyoke. The program recognizes area individuals and organizations that are truly making a difference in this region. The winners will be announced in February. The awards ceremony will feature entertainment, butlered hors d’ oeuvres, and introductions of the winners. Tickets are $55 per person, with tables of 10 available. For more information or to order tickets, call (413) 781-8600, e-mail to [email protected], or visit www.businesswest.com.

Opinion
Thing5 Move Downtown Spurs Momentum in Springfield

The recent announcement that Thing5 LLC will be creating a new call center in One Financial Plaza, thus bringing 500 new jobs to Springfield, is a positive story for the city and the region — on a number of levels.
Let’s start with the jobs. That’s priority No. 1 in the Greater Springfield area, and it has been for many years now. Some might look at this and say, ‘it’s only call-center jobs,’ or words to that effect, but these opportunities come on many levels, from entry positions to management slots, and, in many cases, they can be handled by those who do not possess a college education. The region needs those high-quality jobs (call them white-collar, if you like), but it also needs employment opportunities like these, especially in such large volume.
Beyond the employment factor, there are many other aspects to this story, all of them positive. First, this company started here, in the Technology Park at Springfield Technical Community College — which was created to spur this kind of tech-related enterprise — and thus provides solid evidence that we can incubate ventures and grow them into major employers.
Also, this company stayed here. Indeed, when it reached that proverbial next level, there were, quite obviously, opportunities to take Thing5 almost anywhere — because there isn’t a city or town in the Commonwealth or well beyond it that wouldn’t fight, and fight hard, for 500 jobs. But management chose to stay in the City of Homes, largely because of the lower cost of living, available workforce, access, quality of life, and affordable commercial real estate.
This shows that our various assets are tangible — and sellable.
But perhaps the biggest benefit will come in the form of greater momentum downtown. First, this move gives a substantial boost to the office tower known as One Financial Plaza, which has had several dark floors for many years, but has been staging something of a comeback recently.
Beyond that, though, the 500 new employees working downtown will provide a larger critical mass of people needed to spur additional investments, be they in support businesses, hospitality-related ventures such as restaurants and clubs, or badly needed retail.
And there is another component — the possibility that some of these employees may soon be working and living downtown, thanks to a program that will offer reduced lease rates to Thing5 employees at the nearby Morgan Square apartments, managed by the same company (Samuel D. Plotkin) that also manages One Financial Plaza. This additional residential piece could further stimulate investment in the central business district and be a key contributor to the kind of vibrancy that other Northeast cities have enjoyed.
As we said, there are many angles to this positive story for Springfield and its downtown. The headlines were all about the jobs coming to the city — and that’s an important aspect of this — but there are many other elements that bode well for the City of Homes.

Opinion
A Breath of Fresh Air in Holyoke

When people reference Alex Morse’s age, they do so slowly and with conviction.
They say ‘22 years old’ as if there was a verbal exclamation point behind the number and words. And it’s understandable — that’s a very young age to be walking around with a business card that says ‘mayor of Holyoke.’
But Morse is not like most recent college graduates, as anyone who has spent just five minutes talking with him can readily understand. He has confidence, poise, a plan — well, about as much as any mayor can have a plan — and a deep affection for his city.
He’ll need all of that and more as he moves into the corner office, because the challenges facing Holyoke and all other urban centers are considerable, and real progress is difficult to achieve and sustain.
But Morse will make you want to believe.
His election is certainly one of the most intriguing stories of 2011 locally, a real breath of fresh air in a city that is in many ways ahead of Springfield in terms of generating some positive vibes. And now, with Morse’s election, there is genuine excitement and optimism in the Paper City.
There’s something else, too — what could be real leadership.
BusinessWest has recorded a number of urban turnaround stories in recent years. Just last month, we told the story of Grand Rapids, Mich., the site of a City2City visit involving a large delegation from this region. A year earlier, that same program took us to Winston-Salem and Greensboro, N.C. A few years ago, we relayed the stunning recovery in Lowell, and we’ve been witness to real progress in Worcester, Pittsfield, and other cities.
There are common denominators with each of these stories, but the most critical is leadership, in the form of individuals who can set a tone and get people to follow them and work with them as they carry out strategic initiatives; leadership, in the form of people who can restore civic pride and get people to believe in their community again; leadership, in the form of people who can generate game-changers.
It’s very early in the game — the new mayor is still organizing the desk drawers in his office — but we believe he possesses such leadership skills, even at 22.
In simple terms, Morse has real potential to be the proverbial right person in the right place at the right time. The place is a city that is showing some signs of life after spending decades in retreat, and the time is a period when Holyoke is gaining a reputation as a ‘green’ city, a place where individuals and businesses want to be, at a time when most planners and economic-development experts tell us that people want to move back into the cities that were abandoned in favor of the suburbs 40 years ago.
The person is someone who appears to have the ability to get people to listen, follow, and take the lead when necessary.
In sports, analysts have a phrase they use when observers get excited about someone who has excelled or overachieved in their first exhibition game or spring-training tilt. They say, ‘don’t put him in the Hall of Fame yet.’ That appears to be what we’re doing with Morse, and it’s probably a little unfair — or more than a little.
But even though he hasn’t presided over his first ceremonial ribbon-cutting yet, it is clear that there is excitement in Holyoke, and he is the primary cause of it. What happens when the media hype from the election and its aftermath dies down is anyone’s guess, but we believe that in time, and probably not much of it, people will stop referencing how old Morse is. That’s because they’ll have better, more important things to talk about.

Opinion
An Age of Demoralizing Debt

The number itself is daunting: $1 trillion in student debt. That means there is more student debt than credit-card debt in the U.S. And that the amount of student debt in this country is in the realm of the GDP of such nations as South Korea, Mexico, and Australia.
This issue has the potential to fray our social fabric. The Occupy Wall Street protests inspired the Occupy Student Debt campaign, which has been asking 1 million students nationwide to pledge not to repay their student loans. This is a lose-lose proposition — one with potentially harrowing long-term financial implications for anyone who might follow this course — and it’s for the better that the Occupy Student Debt pledge has not caught on.
Yet the basic impulse is entirely understandable. There was a time in the not-too-distant past when student debt didn’t exist. When I went to college in the 1960s, students could pay for a college education without borrowing. College costs were low enough that a family contribution and a summer or part-time job got you through. You graduated with a degree — not with a payment plan.
As an educator, I have spent my entire career at public universities. When I was a young chemistry professor at Towson University in Maryland in the 1970s, a shared-responsibility social contract prevailed in the world of public higher education. Government funded about 70% of the cost of education, and students and families came up with the remaining 30%. Students graduated with little or no debt.
This shared-responsibility model acknowledged that earning a college degree benefited the student but also paid great social and economic dividends for communities, states, and the nation.
Today, that funding model has changed considerably. Nationally, the split is now closer to 50-50; the public subsidy and tuition dollars are roughly equal. The reason for this ominous change is clear: decreased funding by states has shifted more of the burden to the student.
In Massachusetts, the shift is even more acute. A decade ago the Commonwealth provided 63% of the funding for general education expenses at UMass. This year the state is providing 45%; students and their parents are on the hook for 55%.
So we have gone from the days when students took on no debt, moved through a period of ‘manageable debt,’ and now stand poised at the edge of an era of destabilizing, demoralizing debt. UMass students now graduate, on average, with $24,000 in debt, up from $14,000 only four years ago. At private universities, where education costs are two and a half times what they are at public universities, the debt story is even more daunting. How do we fix this major national problem?
There is no easy fix. But there are steps that, taken together, could put us back on a sustainable course.
For one, the 50 states need to make their public universities and colleges a higher priority. Next year is the 150th anniversary of the Morrill Act, which led to the creation of UMass and the vast expansion of public higher education nationwide. States should mark the occasion by rededicating themselves to the public institutions that have educated millions of citizens over the years and that drive the national economy.
The federal government should do its part by providing more grant aid to students — a step that would benefit public and private institutions alike.
We in higher education need to step up by reducing administrative and academic costs. We also need to make sure that students graduate in four years — eliminating the need for more loans and more debt.
While ‘crisis’ is a greatly overused word, its use is completely warranted in this instance. While organized default is not a good option, we do need to take a number of imaginative and purposeful steps to make sure that the student-debt storm does not batter our economy and our society. We need to keep our bridge to the future — our educational bridge — open wide for all citizens. v

Robert Caret is president of the University of Massachusetts.

Features
Nominations for the 40 Under Forty Class of 2012 Are Due Feb. 17

When BusinessWest launched its 40 Under Forty program in 2007, it did so with the expectation that the honor would soon become coveted and that the program would cast a bright light on the young talent in the four counties of Western Mass. To say that all this has happened would be a huge understatement. The program continues to grow in terms of both relevance and popularity, as evidenced by a new high-water mark for nominations in 2011 and record attendance at the June gala. And now, it’s time to nominate the class of 2012.

Eric Gouvin said being one of the judges for last year’s crop of 40 Under Forty nominees was a more difficult task than he thought it would be. But he said the experience was also enlightening — and encouraging, when he thinks about the future of the Western Mass. business community.
“It was hard,” said Gouvin, professor of Law and director of the Law and Business Center for Advancing Entrepreneurship at Western New England University. “There are a lot of talented people who participate, and to try to narrow that down to 40 was challenging. But I found it to be a real shot in the arm, for sure, to reassure me that we’re not running out of talented, smart people.”
Indeed, in its fifth incarnation, last winter’s nomination process brought forth a record number of applicants, demonstrating that, if anything, the program is only gaining steam.
“There’s so much enthusiasm,” said Pam Thornton, business development coordinator at United Personnel in Springfield, and current president of the Young Professional Society of Greater Springfield (YPS), which has consistently mined its membership for 40 Under Forty honorees on an annual basis.
“If you think about it, the program has created a kind of precedent already, which is amazing,” she continued. “People really look forward to the opportunity to get their name out there, to get an opportunity to get in front of people, and that’s just an awesome thing for our group, and for our age group.”
Now entering its sixth year with a call for nominations, BusinessWest’s 40 Under Forty has captured the respect of the region’s business community and continues to demonstrate that Western Mass. is home to a creative, motivated, and successful group of young business leaders, entrepreneurs, and innovators — people who are redefining what it means to build successful businesses and serve their communities with whatever spare time they have left over.
There are clear benefits in recognizing local professionals under age 40, said Kate Campiti, BusinessWest’s associate publisher. But initially, there were some concerns as to whether a strong-enough crop could emerge year after year. Clearly, that worry has long been put to rest.
“I’m amazed at the number of strong nominations we’re getting every year,” Campiti said. “It really speaks to the depth of the young talent here in the region.”

Click here for a nomination form!

Shine a Light
The 40 Under Forty program was launched in 2007 as a way to spotlight the accomplishments of younger professionals throughout Western Mass. — not only their on-the-job achievements, but their often-extensive volunteer work with organizations that benefit their communities.
Over the years, the program has highlighted individuals from an impressive range of businesses and industries, including education, law, finance, media, medicine, creative arts, nonprofits, government, retail, restaurants, green business, and many others. And last year presented a first — a 16-year-old high-school student (Stephen Freyman) was among the winners.
In addition, a healthy number of honorees each year hail from the ranks of entrepreneurs, developing their own business plans and building companies that in turn create jobs.
Judges score nominees on a combination of their accomplishments (be they in business, government, or the nonprofit realm), leadership qualities, and work within the community.
The effort has also helped boost the image of groups like YPS and Northampton Area Young Professionals, which share a common goal with 40 Under Forty — specifically, demonstrating the economic and cultural vibrancy of this region and generating enthusiasm among talented professionals to set down roots in Western Mass.
“I would absolutely say that it’s raised our profile, without a doubt,” Thornton said, noting that YPS typically brings a strong contingent to the annual June gala. “Everyone looks forward to it, and it’s such a great event.”
One theme that past winners have touched upon repeatedly is the networking benefits generated by being chosen to the 40 Under Forty.
“The experience of being an honoree brought together 40 great business people with collegial networking and partnerships that wouldn’t have been made otherwise,” said Beth Vettori, executive director of Rockridge Retirement Community in Northampton, one of the 2011 honorees.
“Between the friendships formed and the business opportunities, the 40 Under Forty really provided a bridge to some successful affiliations,” she added. “These people I’ve been able to network with — they’re very charismatic, very intelligent, and it’s just great to see that the youth in this area really have depth.”
Vettori said those connections have given her a viable resource — plenty of new colleagues with strong business acumen.
“You’re able to have conversations that give you greater insight into your own business,” she said. “The networking has allowed me a greater understanding of my own operation. It’s helpful to get different perspectives, different ideas; other people may work in different fields, but it’s still business, and it allows you to expand your own thinking.”
As with the past five installments of 40 Under Forty, this year’s winners — chosen by a panel of judges comprised of area business leaders and previous honorees — will be profiled in a spring issue of BusinessWest (always a must-read issue) and toasted at the annual gala reception, which drew a record crowd last June, providing further evidence of the 40 Under Forty’s momentum.

Healthy Crop
Gouvin said the growing popularity of the program is due in part to the sheer impressiveness of the honorees.
“Lots of these folks are professionally accomplished and very engaged in our community; they’re giving back, too,” he told BusinessWest. “That’s very encouraging. We want to make this city the best it can be, but we all have to contribute, not just in our jobs, but in our free time, too. I really do feel like they’re making it better.”
The nomination form can be found on page 20 of this issue. It will be reprinted in upcoming issues as well, and may also be printed from businesswest.com. The deadline for entries is Feb. 17.
Thornton sees the 40 Under Forty, and the role of YPS in it, as a collaborative effort.
“It’s people doing great work together, and I feel like the YPS organization helps to feed the program,” she said. “It’s a way for our people to celebrate what they’ve done, who they are, and how they’ve gotten where they are. And it’s something we should continue if we want to keep the momentum going.”


Past Honorees

Class of 2007
William Bither III — Atalasoft
Kimberlynn Cartelli — Fathers & Sons
Amy Caruso — MassMutual Financial Group
Denise Cogman — Springfield School Volunteers
Richard Corder — Cooley Dickinson Hospital
Katherine Pacella Costello — Egan, Flanagan & Cohen, P.C.
A. Rima Dael — Berkshire Bank Foundation of Pioneer Valley
Nino Del Padre — Del Padre Visual Productions
Antonio Dos Santos — Robinson Donovan, P.C.
Jake Giessman — Academy Hill School
Jillian Gould — Eastfield Mall
Michael Gove — Lyon & Fitzpatrick, LLP
Dena Hall — United Bank
James Harrington — Our Town Variety & Liquors
Christy Hedgpeth — Spalding Sports
Francis Hoey III — Tighe & Bond
Amy Jamrog — The Jamrog Group, Northwestern Mutual
Cinda Jones — Cowls Land & Lumber Co.
Paul Kozub — V-1 Vodka
Bob Lowry — Bueno y Sano
G.E. Patrick Leary — Moriarty & Primack, P.C.
Todd Lever — Noble Hospital
Audrey Manring — The Women’s Times
Daniel Morrill — Wolf & Company
Joseph Pacella — Egan, Flanagan & Cohen, P.C.
Arlene Rodriquez — Springfield Technical Community College
Craig Swimm — WMAS 94.7
Sarah Tanner — United Way of Pioneer Valley
Mark Tanner — Bacon Wilson, P.C.
Michelle Theroux — Child & Family Services of Pioneer Valley Inc.
Tad Tokarz — Western MA Sports Journal
Dan Touhey — Spalding Sports
Sarah Leete Tsitso — Fred Astaire Dance
Michael Vann — The Vann Group
Ryan Voiland — Red Fire Farm
Erica Walch — Speak Easy Accent Modification
Catherine West — Meyers Brothers Kalicka, P.C.
Michael Zaskey — Zasco Productions, LLC
Edward Zemba — Robert Charles Photography
Carin Zinter — The Princeton Review

Class of 2008
Michelle Abdow — Market Mentors
Matthew Andrews — Best Buddies of Western Mass.
Rob Anthony — WMAS
Shane Bajnoci — Cowls Land & Lumber Co.
Steve Bandarra — Atlas TC
Dr. Jonathan Bayuk — Hampden County Physician Associates
Delcie Bean IV — Valley Computer Works
Brendan Ciecko — Ten Minute Media
Todd Cieplinski — Universal Mind Inc.
William Collins — Spoleto Restaurant Group
Michael Corduff — Log Cabin Banquet and Meeting House
Amy Davis — New City Scenic & Display
Dave DelVecchio — Innovative Business Systems Inc.
Tyler Fairbank — EOS Ventures
Timothy Farrell — F.W. Farrell Insurance
Jeffrey Fialky — Bacon Wilson, P.C.
Dennis Francis — America’s Box Choice
Kelly Galanis — Westfield State College
Jennifer Glockner — Winstanley Associates
Andrea Hill-Cataldo — Johnson & Hill Staffing Services
Steven Huntley — Valley Opportunity Council
Alexander Jarrett — Pedal People Cooperative
Kevin Jourdain — City of Holyoke
Craig Kaylor — Hampden Bank / Hampden Bancorp Inc.
Stanley Kowalski III — FloDesign Inc.
Marco Liquori — NetLogix Inc.
Azell Murphy Cavaan — City of Springfield
Michael Presnal — The Federal Restaurant
Melissa Shea — Sullivan, Hayes & Quinn
Sheryl Shinn — Hampden Bank
Ja’Net Smith — Center for Human Development
Diana Sorrentini-Velez — Cooley, Shrair, P.C.
Meghan Sullivan — Sullivan, Hayes & Quinn
Michael Sweet — Doherty Wallace Pillsbury & Murphy
Heidi Thomson — Girls Inc.
Hector Toledo — Hampden Bank
William Trudeau Jr. — Insurance Center of New England
David Vermette — MassMutual Financial Services
Lauren Way — Bay Path College
Paul Yacovone — Brain Powered Concepts
Class of 2009
Marco Alvan — Team Link Brazilian Jiu Jitsu
Gina Barry — Bacon Wilson, P.C.
Maggie Bergin — The Art of Politics
Daniel Bessette — Get Set Marketing
Brandon Braxton — NewAlliance Bank
Dena Calvanese — Gray House
Edward Cassell — Park Square Realty
Karen Chadwell — Doherty, Wallace, Pillsbury and Murphy, P.C.
Kate Ciriello — MassMutual Financial Group
Kamari Collins — Springfield Technical Community College
Mychal Connolly Sr. — Stinky Cakes
Todd Demers — Family Wireless
Kate Glynn — A Child’s Garden and Impish
Andrew Jensen — Jx2 Productions, LLC
Kathy LeMay — Raising Change
Ned Leutz — Webber & Grinnell Insurance Agency
Scott MacKenzie — MacKenzie Vault Inc.
Tony Maroulis — Amherst Area Chamber of Commerce
Seth Mias — Seth Mias Catering
Marjory Moore — Chicopee Public Schools
Corey Murphy — First American Insurance Agency Inc.
Mark Hugo Nasjleti — Go Voice for Choice
Joshua Pendrick — Royal Touch Painting
Christopher Prouty — Studio99Creative
Adam Quenneville — Adam Quenneville Roofing
Michael Ravosa — Morgan Stanley
Kristi Reale — Meyers Brothers Kalicka, P.C.
Amy Royal — Royal & Klimczuk, LLC
Michelle Sade — United Personnel
Scott Sadowsky — Williams Distributing Corp.
Gregory Schmidt — Doherty, Wallace, Pillsbury & Murphy, P.C.
Gretchen Siegchrist — Media Shower Productions
Erik Skar — MassMutual Financial Services
Paul Stallman — Alias Solutions
Renee Stolar — J. Stolar Insurance Co.
Tara Tetreault — Jackson and Connor
Chris Thompson — Springfield Falcons Hockey Team
Karl Tur — Ink & Toner Solutions, LLC
Michael Weber — Minuteman Press
Brenda Wishart — Aspen Square Management

Class of 2010
Nancy Bazanchuk — Disability Resource Program, Center for Human Development
Raymond Berry — United Way of Pioneer Valley
David Beturne — Big Brothers Big Sisters of Hampden County
Maegan Brooks — The Law Office of Maegan Brooks
Karen Buell — PeoplesBank
Shanna Burke — Nonotuck Resource Associates
Damon Cartelli — Fathers & Sons
Brady Chianciola — PeoplesBank
Natasha Clark — Springfield School Volunteers
Julie Cowan — TD Bank
Karen Curran — Thomson Financial Management Inc.
Adam Epstein — Dielectrics Inc.
Mary Fallon — Garvey Communication Associates
Daniel Finn — Pioneer Valley Local First
Owen Freeman-Daniels — Foley-Connelly Financial Partners and Foley Insurance Group
Lorenzo Gaines — ACCESS Springfield Promise Program
Thomas Galanis — Westfield State College
Anthony Gleason II — Roger Sitterly & Son, Inc. and Gleason Landscaping
Allen Harris — Berkshire Money Management Inc.
Meghan Hibner — Westfield Bank
Amanda Huston — Junior Achievement of Western Mass. Inc.
Kimberly Klimczuk — Royal, LLP
James Krupienski — Meyers Brothers Kalicka, P.C.
David Kutcher — Confluent Forms, LLC
James Leahy — City of Holyoke and Alcon Laboratories
Kristin Leutz — Community Foundation of Western Mass.
Meghan Lynch — Six-Point Creative Works
Susan Mielnikowski — Cooley, Shrair, P.C.
Jill Monson — Adam Quenneville Roofing & Siding Inc. and Inspired Marketing & Promotions
Kevin Perrier — Five Star Building Corp.
Lindsay Porter — Big Y Foods
Brandon Reed — Fitness Together
Boris Revsin — CampusLIVE Inc.
Aaron Vega — Vega Yoga & Movement Arts
Ian Vukovich — Florence Savings Bank
Thomas Walsh — City of Springfield
Sean Wandrei — Meyers Brothers Kalicka, P.C.
Byron White — Pazzo Ristorante
Chester Wojcik — Design Construction Group
Peter Zurlino — Atlantico Designs and Springfield Public Schools

Class of 2011
Kelly Albrecht — left-click Corp.
Gianna Allentuck — Springfield Public Schools
Briony Angus — Tighe & Bond
Delania Barbee — ACCESS Springfield Promise Program
Monica Borgatti — Pioneer Valley Habitat for Humanity
Nancy Buffone — University of Massachusetts
Michelle Cayo — Country Bank
Nicole Contois — Springfield Housing Authority
Christin Deremian — Human Resources Unlimited/Pyramid Project
Peter Ellis — DIF Design
Scott Foster — Bulkley, Richardson and Gelinas, LLP
Stephen Freyman — Longmeadow High School
Benjamin Garvey — Insurance Center of New England
Mathew Geffin — Webber and Grinnell
Nick Gelfand — NRG Real Estate Inc.
Mark Germain — Gomes, DaCruz and Tracy, P.C.
Elizabeth Gosselin — Commonwealth Packaging
Kathryn Grandonico — Lincoln Real Estate
Jaimye Hebert — Monson Savings Bank
Sean Hemingway — Center for Human Development
Kelly Koch — Bulkley, Richardson and Gelinas, LLP
Jason Mark — Gravity Switch
Joan Maylor — Stop and Shop Supermarkets
Todd McGee — MassMutual Financial Group
Donald Mitchell — Western Mass. Development Collaborative
David Pakman — Vivid Edge Media Group/The David Pakman Show
Timothy Plante — City of Springfield/Springfield Public Schools
MauricePowe — The Law Offices of Brooks and Powe
Jeremy Procon — Interstate Towing Inc.
Kristen Pueschel — PeoplesBank
Meghan Rothschild — SurvivingSkin.org
Jennifer Schimmel — Greater Springfield Habitat for Humanity
Amy Scott — Wild Apple Design Group
Alexander Simon — LogicTrail, LLC
Lauren Tabin — PeoplesBank
Lisa Totz — ITT Power Solutions
Jeffrey Trant — Human Resources Unlimited
Timothy Van Epps — Sandri Companies
Michael Vedovelli — Mass. Office of Business Development
Beth Vettori — Rockridge Retirement Community

Joseph Bednar can be reached at [email protected]

Education Sections
Cambridge College to Move to Tower Square This Spring

First-floor space in Tower Square will be built out for Cambridge College this winter for an early-spring opening.

First-floor space in Tower Square will be built out for Cambridge College this winter for an early-spring opening.

Teresa Forte says Cambridge College’s upcoming move to Springfield’s downtown is a win-win, with benefits for both the school and the city.
“We’ve been in conversations with the college because our site was so badly in need of an upgrade, and we launched an extensive search to find a location where we could put it,” said Forte, director of Cambridge College’s Springfield Regional Center, currently located on Cottage Street.
“They narrowed it down, and Tower Square was the number-one option for us,” she continued. “So we’re updating to a state-of-the-art center to better serve our students, and also to serve the population of downtown, the people working downtown. We want to help the city while we help our students.”
By that, Forte intends for the school to become yet another cog in the intriguing downtown revitalization efforts involving education, including the Springfield School Department’s move to the former federal building on Main Street and the soon-to-open UMass design center in Court Square.
The Main Street location makes sense for Cambridge College as well, with its easy access from I-91, Forte explained.
“We have approximately 40% to 45% of our students coming from Connecticut, Springfield, and north of Springfield, so there’s a lot of travel along the 91 corridor,” she told BusinessWest. “Tower Square is right beside that, so it makes sense to make it even easier for those commuters. It also gives students a lot more exposure to downtown restaurants, dry cleaners, all sorts of services like that.”

Spring Forward
Construction will soon begin on the new facility, to be located on the building’s first floor, with the college expecting to move in sometime this spring.
Deborah Jackson, president of the Cambridge, Mass.-based school, which boasts a network of seven regional centers across the U.S., agreed that the Tower Square location makes the Springfield facility more accessible.
“Cambridge College is delighted to partner with the city of Springfield and Tower Square to offer a high-quality education in what will be a state-of-the-art facility,” she said at a recent press conference. “In this new facility, we look forward to continuing our 20-year tradition of offering exceptional undergraduate and graduate education to working adults in Western Mass. and Connecticut.”
Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno echoed those sentiments. “I’m elated that my administration has worked hand in hand with President Jackson and Cambridge College to make this happen,” he said at the briefing. “Tower Square is a great location for the college — it fits right into our vision for downtown toward a more eclectic market rate and higher education focus.”
Fred Christensen, senior property manager of Tower Square, said the addition of Cambridge “will have have a tremendous impact not only on Tower Square, but also on downtown Springfield as a whole. We look forward to accommodating their students at their new location.”
The college will occupy 18,000 square feet of space near Lorilil Jewelers, which was at one time occupied by the U.S. Factory Outlets store. More than 300 faculty, staff, and students will make the move, which should boost business at eateries and retail shops in and around Tower Square.
Cambridge College, a private, nonprofit school which targets its programs at working adults, has had a regional center in Western Mass. since 1977, when it was established in Northampton. The center moved to Cottage Street in Springfield in 1991, and later to a larger building on that same street.

Overdue Move
Forte said the Springfield Regional Center is the oldest of the satellite campuses and in need of an update. “We currently have some issues with space, but we’re going from eight classrooms to 14 classrooms.”
The regional center offers graduate-degree programs in education, management, and counseling and psychology, many of which lead to licensure and certification. Undergraduate degrees are also offered in human services, management, and multidisciplinary studies.
“We’ve been in Springfield since 1991, and we want to continue to elevate the city and all of its people,” Forte said of the high-profile move to Tower Square. “Because it’s right on the first floor, we’re going to be really easy to find and be very accessible. We’re hoping to be done by late March or April; that’s our hope, but it all depends on construction.”

Joseph Bednar can be reached at [email protected]

Employment Sections
That’s the Goal of an Initiative Involving the State’s Community Colleges
Stephen Keller and  Deborah Koch.

Stephen Keller and Deborah Koch.

Jeff Hayden says it all comes down to one word: transformation.
That was his way of describing, in a succinct yet meaningful way, an initiative to assist the unemployed and underemployed that has a long name and a broad set of goals.
It’s called the Massachusetts Community College and Workforce Development Transformation Agenda (MCCWDTA), and it’s part of nearly $500 million in grants for community colleges in all 50 states that will help workers around the country. U.S. Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis called this the first step in preparing a workforce for “high-wage, high-skills fields.”
Hayden, vice president of Business and Community Services at Holyoke Community College, put it another way.
“The expectation sometimes in today’s world is that education is not meeting the needs of the workforce,” he explained, “because they’re not connected, or because there are bureaucratic systems in place that just don’t mesh with the business world. The grant will connect education to workforce in a way that transforms the systems that we have.”
Spearheaded by Quinsigamond Community College in Worcester, the MCCWDTA is a three-year, $20 million package that will involve all 15 Massachusetts community colleges, and is intended to target several industries, including health care, information technology, manufacturing, life sciences and biotechnology, clean energy, and financial services and entrepreneurship. In conjunction with the state’s workforce-development system — the local career centers — the broad goal is to find and pursue what the unemployed and underemployed need to re-enter the workforce.
As he talked about the initiative, Stephen Keller, executive vice president & chief academic officer at Springfield Technical Community College, gestured out his office window across the street to the STCC Technology Park, which houses FutureWorks Career Center. “Instead of FutureWorks working with employers and us working with employers, it’s getting everyone together at the table to talk about these issues.
“With the assistance of this grant,” he continued, “we can we create a unified approach where the one-stop centers are talking to the providers of training, who are in turn talking to the employers who are talking to the unemployed and underemployed. It’s a unified effort to create a system where someone comes in, they need a job, they’ve just been laid off, or a company is in the process of expecting layoffs, so they can contact one of the centers and we can work with the company to create some kind of training package.”
It’s a big effort, and there are many more fine points. Both men agreed that the goal is to transform not just the lives of future workers, but in many ways the entire academic process for workforce development. The MCCWDTA has been in effect since October, but there is still a lot of work to be done both at the colleges and for the Commonwealth’s administration of the grant.
Deborah Koch is director of grants for STCC and one of the design team who framed this transformative measure. As a simple means to understand the sheer breadth of what is hoped for, she used that magic word once again. “This will help transform how the community colleges deliver education, so that they can meet the needs of these dislocated workers.”

Class Action
The final draft of the MCCWDTA proposal lays out the bad news and the good news.
“In the last decade, millions of jobs requiring only a high-school diploma or less have been permanently lost to automation and overseas completion,” the abstract states. “Analysts anticipate that two-thirds of new jobs emerging in the next decade will be middle-skills jobs demanding some post-secondary education … especially true in Massachusetts, which is expected to lead the nation in middle-skills job openings in the coming decades.”
The document goes on to state that the grant isn’t just throwing money at a problem. Rather, it is hoping to address a cause, “changing the way that community colleges in the Bay State interact with one each other, the workforce-development system, public agencies, leading industry groups, leaders of government, and private businesses to transform delivery of education and training programs for workers.”
Here’s how it works:
Initially, each college will address particular strengths within their own curriculum. Keller said that STCC is focused on IT, health care, and manufacturing, and at HCC, Hayden said that his school is looking to fund the development of programs in both health care and clean energy — solar and wind — and to augment their career-counseling component.
“So we will now be able to offer career counseling to the adult student, and that’s relatively new,” he said. “We have been doing some of it, but this will give us the capacity to actually do that type of assessment, with the goal of helping that individual find what they want to do, and to get motivated in increasing their potential success.”
Koch explained some key concepts that the MCCWDTA targets. The grant allows the colleges to explore possibilities, “which is the beauty of grant funding,” she said, “so that we can meet the needs of our clientele. Workers probably have never seen themselves as college-bound, but now can consider us as a very sensible and reasonable option.”
Stackable certification is something both colleges spoke of. Koch explained it as “moving up the academic ladder,” but while being employed.
“The idea of stackable certificates is that, rather than being focused on coming and getting a two-year degree as the only indicator of your ability to do a good job,” she said, “it may be that there are steps prior to the two-year degree that will enable you to have some form of employment. You can get a job, not a high-paying job, but a job in a system or industry where there is growth. While you’re working, you can take additional courses to get you to the next step, so you can eventually have your two-year degree, but in the meantime you’re working.”
Another transformative component for the academic process is what Hayden called “the institutionalization of credit for prior learning.”
He listed the UMass Amherst University Without Walls as a good example of how this concept works. As the phrase suggests, it involves academic credit for relevant work in the business sphere, Hayden explained, adding that it hasn’t happened yet throughout the community colleges.
“In the academic world, it’s difficult to put a system like that into place where it’s widely accepted,” he told BusinessWest. “Part of this grant is to help the community colleges have broadly accepted standards for workforce and workplace-related education. An individual works at an area business after they have achieved a certain level of skill in their academic program, and they receive credit.”

Working Model
There are some limitations to the grant funding, Keller and Koch admitted.
“Some of these people may have had jobs that didn’t require college-level work, and perhaps they didn’t have a high-school diploma,” Keller said. “We’ll have to solve that problem. A lot of these moneys from the government come with a timeline, and sometimes a worker might need to learn these skill sets within a year, or a matter of months. That’s a real problem because, if a student comes to us with a low reading level, it’s going to take time to get them over that.”
Hayden said that, for those who might wish to switch fields altogether — for instance, from manufacturing to health care — the process isn’t a quick and easy fix. But with the new models of academic delivery allowed by the grant funding, it is possible.
“We know that someone who wants to be a doctor or nurse, and who has kids at home and might be on public assistance, isn’t going to be able to jump into medical school tomorrow,” he said. “But how do we get them to the point where we create some stability, get them a job, and make them aware of the career steps, the academic pathways, which they need in order to get them to where they want to be?”
Ultimately, MCCWDTA funds will help the colleges blur the lines between the ivory tower and workforce readiness. Historically, Hayden said, there has been a notion that education and workforce training are two different things.
“What this grant is saying is that they’re not,” he continued. “They might have different steps, or different components, but education and training are part of the same thing. The grant is bringing together the ideas that we need skills training, workforce-development training, and we need academic pathways and careers. And we need them to be at community colleges in an accessible way for our students.
“One of the criticisms that community colleges always get is that we try to be all things to all people,” he added. “But the mission of the community college is to take an individual where they’re at and to meet their goals, but at the same time make them aware of the education and career pathways that exist.”
With the MCCWDTA funding to help that mission become more clear, the word ‘transformation’ that everyone uses sounds less like magic, and more like people getting back to work.

Employment Sections
Program Readies Students for Arts, Entertainment Careers

Jeanie Forray

Jeanie Forray describes the arts and entertainment field as a growth industry.


As he talked about his exploits with the bass guitar, or at least as far as organized performances are concerned, Jonathon Eells made repeated use of the past tense.
“I was in a band with some friends … we played in high school for a while, but that was pretty much it,” said Eells, his voice tailing off. But he made it abundantly clear that, while his performing days are apparently over, he very much wants to still be involved with music — and make it his career, perhaps in the realm of managing bands, individuals, or a concert hall.
“I know a lot of people who play still, and I’d like to manage a band,” he said, adding that there are many directions his passion for the industry could take. “I could also manage a venue; I just want to be around music.”
This explains why Eells became one of the first students at Western New England University to sign on for a program that gives him one of the more intriguing — and envied — answers to the age-old question, ‘what are you majoring in?’
His reply is ‘Arts and Entertainment Management,’ and it’s a comeback that he says has earned more than a few responses like ‘that’s cool,’ or ‘I wish I was majoring in that.’
But he isn’t out to impress his classmates; he’s trying to position himself for a career in a sector that many 21-year-olds are intrigued by, and one that Jeanie Forray, associate professor and chair of the Department of Management (and chief architect of the new program), believes is very much a growth field, in both the arts and entertainment realms.
“This is a multi-billion-dollar industry with a need for individuals with knowledge and skills focused on the business side of the creative enterprise,” she said. “This is considered a growth field, especially with what’s happening with technology and the Internet, and graduates of this program will be prepared for a wide range of careers.”
Alyssa Beecy certainly hopes she’s right. She is another of the students who switched into this major, and, like Eells, she has her eye on a career in music, preferably representing artists or handling bookings for a venue. She knows this is the ambition of many people, and she’s still trying to figure out the road in front of her — probably to begin with one of many large firms (most of them located in Los Angeles or New York) that manage musicians and bands.
She also wants to be positioned for other kinds of opportunities in this broad realm, and for that reason she is interning this spring at CityStage and Symphony Hall in Springfield.
“We’ll see if that changes my direction at all,” she said of her internship, adding that she’s leaving her options open regarding both what she wants to do and where the jobs are. But for now, she believes she’s in the right major at the right time.

Achievements of Note
Forray told BusinessWest that the Arts and Entertainment Management program came about the way most recent additions to the portfolio of degree offerings have — through collaborative discussions among faculty members in various disciplines.
In this case, the dialogue focused on the recognized need for a management program focused specifically on arts and entertainment — similar to how Sports Management concentrates on that still-emerging field — and how the university could meet that need.
“I have had contact with the theater instructor and the music instructor at various times, and we’ve talked about the arts on campus and the curriculum,” said Forray, who brings to the table extensive experience in television production and post-production, facilities operations and sales, and work with such production companies as Entertainment Tonight, the Disney Channel, and Paramount. “And I’ve always had an interest in somehow linking my professional background with academia.”
The answer was a new major that would address both universal aspects of business management, and issues and challenges unique to the arts and entertainment worlds. And there are many of each, she noted, listing everything from the many challenges involved with running a not-for-profit agency (a description that covers most arts-related endeavors) to the rigors of the musician-management positions both Eells and Beecy are eying.
Meanwhile, it would also dovetail nicely with an institution-wide strategic initiative to elevate the arts on campus. “It seemed like an ideal collaboration to situate arts and entertainment in the college of business in a way that would be attractive to students who have an interest in the arts, but who are not planning to be performers or creatives in the process, but rather the people behind the art, behind the scenes,” Forray said.
Students who complete the program could see their diplomas translate into a number of intriguing job titles on business cards, representing talent or managing everything from arts festivals to community theaters; orchestra companies to television stations; art galleries to historical museums, she explained.
Forray told BusinessWest that the first offering in the program this past fall, a course she taught called ‘Managing Arts and Entertainment Organizations,’ featured textbooks, some guest speakers from within the industries, and some learning by doing — and that many of the courses will unfold in the same manner.
In this case, students read both Management of the Arts and Performing Arts Management: A Handbook of Professional Practices, while also hearing from a broad range of speakers. That list include Alexander Kennedy, executive director of the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art; Tina D’Angostino, interim president, and Bevan Brunelle, marketing manager for Springfield CityStage and Symphony Hall; Dawn Helsing Walters, managing director of the Milwaukee Repertory Theater; Becky Schutt, senior consultant with Festivals & Events International, and Michael Kane, managing partner of Mt. Auburn Associates, the Boston-based planning, strategy, and evaluation company that has become a leader in the creative-economy field.
“This class is an introduction to the structure of arts organizations and entertainment organizations, which tend to be somewhat different than other industries in that they have both creative and functional sides,” she explained. “Students do research on a company in an area that interests them to determine what the challenges are for that kind of organization in the current business environment, and we have a number of speakers.”
Other arts- and entertainment-specific courses include:
• Business Law for Arts and Entertainment Management, which focuses on, among other things, industry-related matters such as intellectual property, copyright, First Amendment, representing talent, provenance, and autehtication;
• Arts and Entertainment Venue Operations, which provides an overview of venue management, including issues related to various arts and entertainment facilities;
• A Seminar in Arts and Entertainment Management, a capstone course that examines contemporary issues and challenges for managers in the industry; and
• The Arts and Entertainment Practicum, which focuses on the management process involved in producing events within the arts and entertainment domain. During the course, students produce an arts or entertainment event on campus or in the local community.
As with other business and management programs at the university, internships will be a key part of the learning experience, said Forray, adding that such opportunities provide exposure to the industry, hands-on work in that field, and the potential to make a connection that could lead to employment upon graduation.
She said students like Beecy are finding internships with area organizations like CityStage and Symphony Hall, and that such experiences could help keep graduates in Western Mass., where they could become part of the effort to expand the cultural community regionwide.

The Big Finale
Eells said he looked into sports management early in his college career because he was (and still is) intrigued by that industry.
But he found that his real passion is music, which holds a number of career possibilities beyond performing, as he’s learning. If all goes well, he’ll accomplish his main goal of “still being around music,” but going much further and making it a rewarding career as well.
In other words, even though he doesn’t perform on stage anymore, he can still make some achievements of note — quite literally.

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

Departments Picture This

Send photos with a caption and contact information to:  ‘Picture This’ c/o BusinessWest Magazine, 1441 Main Street, Springfield, MA 01103 or to [email protected]

Pitching In

HampdenBankThe Hampden Bank Charitable Foundation recently granted $150,000 to support the plans and objectives of DevelopSpringfield. Seen here, from left, are Nicholas Fyntrilakis, chairman of the board of DevelopSpringfield; Thomas Burton, vice chairman and CEO of Hampden Bank; Glenn Welch, president and COO of the bank; and Robert Massey, CFO, treasurer, and senior vice president of the bank.


Top Lender

UnitedBankUnited Bank’s Joanne Sheedy (center), RCA portfolio manager, recently accepted the bank’s award as the U.S. Small Business Administration’s #1 Lender to Women in 2011 from the SBA’s Robert Nelson, Massachusetts district director, and Jeanne Hulit, New England regional administrator.


Capital Idea

PNCUPolish National Credit Union recently donated $25,000 to the Chicopee Senior Center capital campaign. Seen here, from left, are: Ernest LaFlamme, co-chair of the capital campaign; James Kelly, president and CEO of Polish National Credit Union; and Richard Kos, co-chair of the capital campaign.



Holiday Party

Holiday Party 1
Holiday Party 2
Holiday Party 3More than 80 area children attended the annual Children’s Holiday Party on Dec. 17 hosted by WTCC-90.7 FM, the radio station of Springfield Technical Community College. DJ Fred (Flash) Layne, in his 13th year in the role, was Santa Claus. Station members personally donated more than $800 toward the event, according to committee chair Valerie King-Jackson. WTCC General Manager Denise Stewart said the event “helped these children to understand the love of a community.” Each child received a book donated by Barnes & Noble.

Court Dockets 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.

FRANKLIN SUPERIOR COURT
Edmund J. Demers v. Poet’s Seat Health Care Center
Allegation: Negligence and breach of duty of care causing injury: $16,638.93
Filed: 11/10/11

GREENFIELD DISTRICT COURT
Roma Food Service v. Bada Bings Bar and Pizzeria Inc. d/b/a Christina’s Pizzeria & Tavern
Allegation: Non-payment of goods sold and delivered: $5,307.21
Filed: 10/20/11

HAMPDEN SUPERIOR COURT
Adolfo’s Restaurant Inc. v. American Canvas and Aluminum and Lyman Conrad
Allegation: Non-payment of services, labor, and materials: $100,000
Filed: 10/28/11

Brunelle Electric v. Supermedia, LLC
Allegation: Failure to provide services: $250,000
Filed: 10/28/11

East Baking Company, Danny & Idalina Serra v. Irwin I. Weitz, Esq. and Weitz & Weitz
Allegation: Legal malpractice: $750,000
Filed: 10/31/11

Mark Machine Co. v. Bronx County Recycling, LLC and Salvatore Cascino
Allegation: Non-payment of services, labor, and materials: $25,529.55
Filed: 11/10/11

Uneco Manufacturing Inc. v. Dow Roof Systems, LLC and Christopher Maurice d/b/a Commercial Construction Services
Allegation: Breach of contract: $45,000
Filed: 11/9/11

Western Mass Environmental, LLC v. Stamford Wrecking Co. and Douglas P. Fleming, LLC and VAMC Bedford
Allegation: Breach of contract: $213,061.68
Filed: 11/12/11

PALMER DISTRICT COURT
Julie Szymanski v. Caceres-Ferez-Gomez Realty, LLC
Allegation: Breach of lease agreement: $7,000
Filed: 11/9/11

Meister Media Worldwide Inc. v. Hampden Structural Systems Inc. d/b/a Private Garden Greenhouse Systems
Allegation: Non-payment of previous judgment: $10,877.01
Filed: 9/17/11

SPRINGFIELD DISTRICT COURT
Cutter & Buck v. Fran Johnson’s Golf & Tennis
Allegation: Non-payment of goods sold and delivered: $3,757.32
Filed: 11/22/11

Seaboard Drilling Inc. v. Atlantic Environmental Technologies
Allegation: Breach of contract for drilling services: $12,552.94
Filed: 11/15/11

U.S. Foodservice Inc. v. Compari’s Inc. and Tracy v. Mountain
Allegation: Non-payment of goods sold and delivered: $2,928.75
Filed: 12/2/11

WESTFIELD DISTRICT COURT
Brian Bigelow v. City of Westfield
Allegation: Negligence in maintenance of sidewalk causing injury: $13,000
Filed: 11/30/11

Margaret Schimke v. Blanford Club Inc.
Allegation: Negligence in property maintenance causing injury: $20,132.16
Filed: 11/29/11

Cover Story Sections Top Entrepreneur
Herbie Flores Is Making His Vision for Springfield Reality

COVER0112aHeriberto “Herbie” Flores has always had a heart for needy people, partly because he grew up poor. From its humble origins 40 years ago providing legal and financial assistance for migrant farm workers, he has grown his multi-agency nonprofit, Partners for Community, into an $80 million force for economic development and community improvement. But he’s made bigger news with a series of real-estate acquisitions, including the Paramount Theater (seen here), that promise to transform Springfield’s downtown. The kind of long-term change Flores envisions for the City of Homes will require energy and passion — and BusinessWest’s Top Entrepreneur for 2011 has no shortage of either.

“This city is coming back,” Heriberto Flores said. “People don’t want to live out in the woods.”
He was sharing a vision of a societal shift away from suburban sprawl back to a city-life model, especially as aging Baby Boomers increasingly seek to live close to all the amenities they need and desire, from food stores and restaurants to banks and performing arts.
As Flores spoke those words, he was standing beside the stage of the 86-year-old Paramount Theater on Main Street in Springfield, an icon of music and theater that has fallen into disrepair — but whose walls, ceilings, and fixtures are breathtaking in their ornate beauty, for anyone willing to look beyond the dust, grime, and faded paint.
And vision is something Herbie Flores has in spades.
Just as he sees the potential in the Paramount — a $1.75 million purchase that will require millions more to restore to a multicultural center for performing arts and community events — he’s also an unabashed optimist when it comes to Springfield itself, choosing to focus on the positives of the city and not the large pockets of poverty, high-school dropout rates, crime, and other issues that often color people’s perceptions.
“When you start looking at the assets, the city has clean water and natural resources. We have companies like Big Y, Peter Pan, and MassMutual. We have three TV stations in this city. We have Baystate Medical Center — how many people would kill to have a hospital like that in their region? And all the schools and universities … this is a very good region,” he told BusinessWest.
“I could live anywhere, but I live in Springfield,” Flores continued. “The investments we make in the city, some people say, ‘they’re paying too much for that.’ ‘Why are they doing that?’ But you have to invest for the future. I don’t believe Springfield will be in the position it is today in the future. I see the changes coming.”
For the past three decades, from his stewardship of a social-assistance network called Partners for Community to his more recent ambition to transform the city’s downtown, Herbie Flores has been the catalyst for many of those changes, and for those reasons, among others, he is BusinessWest’s Top Entrepreneur for 2011.

Herbie Flores outside the State House in Boston, mid-1980s.

Herbie Flores outside the State House in Boston, mid-1980s.

“He’s making investments in Springfield, and this region, at a time when some people and businesses are dis-investing,” said BusinessWest Editor George O’Brien as he explained the selection of Flores as the magazine’s 16th top entrepreneur. “He directs a number of nonprofit agencies, but his actions, especially in recent years, are, in a word, entrepreneurial.
“Purchases like the Paramount and the Bowles building [further south on Main Street] involve risk, and they require vision,” O’Brien continued. “Together with other things happening downtown to bring vibrancy and a larger, more diverse residential population in that area, these bold steps could provide the much-needed spark that Springfield needs.”
Said Flores, “the city needs help, the city and the region; we have a responsibility to step up to the plate. There are problems, but you can’t just stand in the corner and complain. And nobody’s going to do it for you.”
That optimism doesn’t go unnoticed by those in Flores’ circle.
“I think very highly of Herbie,” said Russ Omer, vice president of Commercial Lending for Chicopee Savings Bank, the lead lender on the Paramount project. “He’s been involved in the neighborhood for 30 years, and I’ve always known Herbie to be community-minded. Whatever he did, he always did it for the betterment of his community. The Paramount is just one example of what he does for Greater Springfield.”
For this issue, Flores speaks about some of those initiatives, and discusses how he is creating a legacy that promises to keep improving Springfield long after he’s gone.

Street-level Perspective

Bowles Building

Herbie Flores says the acquisition of the Bowles Building could be a spark for downtown revitalization.

At one point during a lengthy interview, Flores brought BusinessWest to the Borinquen project in the impoverished North End of Springfield. The initiative involves the renovation of 41 units of low-income housing, as well as six commercial spaces, including amenities like a grocery store and a laundromat.
The $11 million project, completed in July 2011, combined federal tax credits, private-investment tax credits, Mass. Department of Housing and Community Development funds, city of Springfield HOME funds, and private financing — a good example of the tapestry of players Flores must weave together to turn one of his visions into reality.
And although it’s just one parcel amid one of the poorest neighborhoods in Massachusetts, when one stands under the rebuilt wood porches and clean, quiet doorways away from the street, it doesn’t feel like a low-income neighborhood.
“America was not built by rich people,” Flores said. “It was built by poor people who did something to create wealth.”
Flores knows something about starting poor. Born in Caguas, Puerto Rico, he was intimately acquainted with poverty as his family struggled for sustenance throughout his childhood. It was there, he said, that he began to identify himself with economically deprived groups and devote himself to service on their behalf.
He moved to Springfield with his family in 1965, then served with the Army in Vietnam in the late ’60s. He has remained active in veterans’ causes, and was named Springfield Veteran of the Year in 2001.
But it was his affinity with migrant farm workers that led to the development of an agency — the New England Farm Workers’ Council — to help them out with various needs, from fuel assistance to job skills to education. That agency would, in the decades that followed, morph into Partners for Community, an $80 million nonprofit with several departments under its umbrella.
Those include the Corporation for Public Management, which seeks solutions to welfare dependency, chronic joblessness, and illiteracy, and also focuses on providing services to those with physical and developmental disabilities; the Corporation for Justice Management, a leader in community-based offender re-entry services to reduce recidivism and address public safety; and New England Partners in Faith, which supports small, faith-based organizations.

Solid Ground
Those agencies share space with a number of private businesses in a number of buildings owned by the Farm Workers’ Council downtown, including 11-13 Hampden St., 1628 Main St., and 1666 Main St., among others.
About 25 years ago, Flores made his first forays into real estate through Brightwood Development Corp. (BDC), a nonprofit formed with the goal of providing housing and economic development on the north side of Springfield. As president and CEO of the BDC, he developed a $2.5 million shopping center, La Plaza del Mercado, on Main Street in 1995, followed by a $3 million neighborhood medical clinic, El Centro de Salud Medico Inc., the next year. That was immediately followed by a $2 million rehabilitation of blighted, multi-family houses in the North End.
His recent deals are helping him secure a wide swath of downtown, which will have a dual effect. First, the resulting critical mass of space will ultimately create economies of scale for development opportunities, as well as a diverse mix of inventory that will suit the needs of a wide range of potential tenants. Second, it will allow him to control the immediate environs around his buildings, reducing opportunities for negative elements to creep in.
The Massasoit building, which houses the Paramount, will be renovated as phase one of Flores’ planned downtown redevelopment. The theater will boast a completely new façade, with interior renovation of the seats and stage area, including all technical aspects of a performing-arts theater. Work on the four-story building, which will include other commercial and residential space, is expected to begin during the first quarter of 2012.
As Flores led BusinessWest through the cavernous corridors — including a projection room hollowed out of equipment and rows of narrow, beaten-up, red seats in need of restoration or replacement — he talked about the impossibility of pleasing everyone with a project of this scale, but with a clear belief that the end result will be worth all the give and take.
“You can work to do something for yourself,” he said from the theater floor, just in front of the stage, “or you can work to do something for society.” Clearly, he envisions a restored, vibrant Paramount as an example of the latter.
Then there’s the Bowles building, a property recently purchased for $2 million which currently houses the Student Prince restaurant; that structure will be phase two of the council’s planned downtown development. The office building will be renovated for commercial and residential space, with work beginning sometime in 2013. However, the adjacent parking lot, which will be converted to a four-story, covered parking garage, will be part of phase one and will be completed first.
Flores said the Bowles project could became a key initiative in efforts to prompt more people with disposable income to make downtown Springfield their mailing address, a necessary ingredient in any municipal recovery effort.
Flores has been a participant in two so-called ‘City2City’ excursions that have taken delegations from the Springfield area to resurgent cities — Greensboro and Winston-Salem, N.C. in 2010, and Grand Rapids, Mich. late last year — and said that, in both instances, investments in the downtown areas, and especially those in market-rate housing and entertainment-related ventures, provided sparks that translated into real momentum.
He says he wants to do the same in Springfield.

Glass Half-full
Flores said he enjoys the politics and networking necessary to bring together the necessary investors, both public and private, to create real-estate deals. And he enjoys the challenge of doing so at a time when many people still don’t believe in Springfield’s potential.
“Sometimes people tell you it’s a bad time to invest in Springfield,” he said. “But if you take that attitude, nothing gets done. You have to be able to see the opportunities and run with them.”
Simply put, it doesn’t matter whether people see the city’s glass as half-empty of half-full. “The way I see it, even if the glass is empty, then there are more opportunities.”
The number of projects occurring downtown, he added, will make the landscape more attractive to other investors, although many of the city’s problems — keeping kids in school, creating more jobs, etc. — will take more than time and money to solve, and he also believes Springfield desperately needs an infusion of young, middle-class residents. Still, he said, banks are willing to back realistic capital projects today, even though lending regulations are more difficult to navigate.
Omer called Flores an example of someone creating projects that the entire community can benefit from — the Paramount being a good example.
“He wants to make it available to faith-based organizations, Springfield public schools, and other community events, as well as some general entertainment,” he said, adding that the mere idea of restoring that building appeals to many longtime city dwellers.
“I tell the story that I grew up in Springfield, and I used to go to the movies there. They’d pass out free pencil boxes in the ’50s and ’60s. Today, it could be a museum in itself. I think it’s a great thing to preserve in Springfield, and now the city is going to get to enjoy it.”
Flores says he doesn’t envision the Paramount as a standalone attraction, but something that should operate alongside other entertainment venues and restaurants as part of a destination district for fine arts.
“The symphony should be doing a show, the Basketball Hall of Fame should be doing some kind of activity, the MassMutual Center should be doing some hockey, CityStage should be doing something, and the Paramount should be doing something,” he said. “If we think with a big vision, advertising will come in, and everyone can make money.”
Omer said Flores approaches projects with the big picture in mind, “kind of like a chess player, always four or five moves ahead of the pack. He’s a very bright, astute businessman, and over the years he’s been very successful at completing his projects.”

Something to Build On
In addition to his other endeavors, Flores is president of the North End Educational Development Fund, which administers the largest Hispanic scholarship fund in New England, providing college scholarships for underprivileged, inner-city Springfield residents — and, hopefully, starts them on their own journeys of success.
“I’d like to see another 25 millionaires come out of Springfield,” he told BusinessWest. “If people can make money here, they will invest and stay. I see myself as a catalyst to open doors.”
As he walked around the Bowles building and toward his modest office overlooking Hampden Street, Flores said people have wondered what wealth he could have amassed as a for-profit real-estate entity. But he said he’s building more than just physical structures. He’s also constructing a legacy — through his nonprofit endeavors guided by a committed board — that will far outlast his own life and continue to remake Springfield for decades to come.
“I’m not making anything for myself,” he said. “I’m building all this wealth for the nonprofit, so that, when I’m gone, we’ll be able to do some good in the future. Money is neutral — money is not good or bad. Good people with money can do good things, and bad people with money can do a lot of bad things.
“I have tried to set up these programs and buildings to have something for the next generation,” he continued. “I don’t know who’s going to be here 25 years from now, but these programs and services will still be here.”
Flores said he believes people should take responsibility for their community with the resources they have, and he’s tried to run his business — and prioritize his life — that way.
“I’m hard on myself. I keep saying there’s more that can be done,” he said. “I ask, ‘did you leave it better than found it? What did you do to make this country better?’ I can honestly say I’m still working on it.”
To Herbie Flores, that goal is paramount — and reachable.

Joseph Bednar can be reached at businesswest.com

Previous Top Entrepreneurs

• 2010: Bob Bolduc, founder and CEO of Pride
• 2009: The Holyoke Gas & Electric Department
• 2008: Arlene Kelly and Kim Sanborn, founders of Human Resource Solutions and Convergent Solutions Inc.
• 2007: John Maybury, president of Maybury Material Handling
• 2006: Rocco, Jim, and Jayson Falcone, principals of Rocky’s Hardware Stores and Falcone Retail Properties
• 2005: James (Jeb) Balise, president of Balise Motor Sales
• 2004: Craig Melin, president and CEO of Cooley Dickinson Hospital in Northampton
• 2003: Tony Dolphin, president of Springboard Technologies in Springfield
• 2002: Timm Tobin, then-president of Tobin Systems Inc.
• 2001: Dan Kelley, then-president of Equal Access Partners
• 2000: Jim Ross, Doug Brown, and Richard DiGeronimo, then-principals of Concourse Communications
• 1999: Andrew Scibelli, then-president of Springfield Technical Community College
• 1998: Eric Suher, president of E.S. Sports in Holyoke
• 1997: Peter Rosskothen and Larry Perreault, co-owners of the Log Cabin Banquet and Meeting House
• 1996: David Epstein, president and co-founder of JavaNet and the JavaNet Café in Northampton