Events Features WMBExpo

2014 Western Mass. Business Expo

Scenes From the Fourth Annual Event

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The fourth annual Western Mass. Business Expo, produced by BusinessWest and again presented by Comcast Business, was staged Oct. 29 at the MassMutual Center in downtown Springfield. More than 2,000 attendees passed through the doors, and they had the opportunity to visit more than 150 exhibitor booths, stroll the new Retail Marketplace, take in more than a dozen educational seminars, and watch several presentations on the Show Floor Theater, ranging from a discourse on overcoming one’s fear of public speaking to an update on the next-generation space telescope. The day’s programming started with a keynote address from Gov. Deval Patrick at the ACCGS kickoff breakfast. Later, Patricia Diaz Dennis, retired senior vice president for AT&T, presidential appointee to the Federal Communications Commission, and member of the MassMutual board of directors, was the keynote speaker at the luncheon program presented by the Professional Women’s Chamber. The day was capped off with a pitch contest by Valley Venture Mentors and the popular Expo Social. Below is a photographic look back at the Expo. Watch the video here.

Thank You to Our Sponsors

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All names left to right:
AM7J6653Tim Paige, Stephanie Dumont, Laurie Deyette, Paul Salvos, Matt Strong, Robert Cortes, Charlene Johnson, and Kyle Wills from presenting sponsor Comcast Business;
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Dolly Werenski of Hampden Bank and Jamina Scippio-McFadden and Dr. William Davila of UMass Springfield;
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the Expo Retail Marketplace;
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Rachel Elliott from Baystate Children’s Hospital photographs Laurie Deyette from Comcast Business with Mr. Potato Head;
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Amanda Gagnon and Anita Bird from MGM Springfield greet visitors to the company’s booth;
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Tia Allen, Sharon Marshall, and Tim Steffen of Northwestern Mutual chat with Ryan Bouvier of Pioneer Valley Indoor Karting and Wilder Gulmi-Landy and Justin Roberts of American International College.

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Barbara Perry of Envision Marketing, Dawn Creighton of Associated Industries of Massachusetts, and Kristi Reale of Meyers Brothers Kalicka, P.C.;
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Jennifer Meunier and Judith Miller of the Isenberg School of Management at UMass Amherst with Mychal Connolly of Stinky Cakes;
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Trecia Marchand of Pioneer Valley Federal Credit Union chats with Andrea Hill-Cataldo, Jill Tower, and Peggy Popp of Johnson & Hill Staffing Services;
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Glenda DeBarge and Eric Harlow of Health New England share a moment with Alysia Cosby from the YMCA of Greater Springfield;
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Alfonso Santaniello of Creative Strategy Agency with Ed Nunez, Meaghan Parker, and Bill Russo-Appel from Freedom Credit Union;
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Kenneth Anderson from HazCommpliance, LLC and Joanne Gruszkos from MassMutual Financial Group.

The Expo featured a wide range of seminars and special presentations on the Show Floor Theater, as well as lively breakfast and lunch programs that gave attendees plenty to see, learn, and do.
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Jeremy Casey, vice president of Small Business Banking at First Niagara, presents a seminar “The Path to Building Name Net Worth.”
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From left: Gov. Deval Patrick, the breakfast keynoter, with BusinessWest Publisher John Gormally and his son, Hunter;
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Peter Rosskothen, co-owner and president of the Log Cabin Banquet & Meeting House, gives his Show Floor Theater presentation titled “The Entrepreneurial Process”;
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Carla Cosenzi, president of TommyCar Auto Group, presents the seminar “How to Delegate and Empower Your Management to Drive Employee Success”;
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Thom Fox, business advisor, philanthropist, and host of The Engine on NewsRadio 560 WHYN, gives his Show Floor Theater presentation titled “Nope, No Way, Never! How to Overcome Your Fear of Public Speaking.”
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Isa Deloge, area director of Best Buddies Massachusetts, presents a seminar titled “What Does Your Billboard Say”;
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Dana Barrows, JD, CLU, ChFC, AEP with Northwestern Mutual, presents his talk titled “Essential Strategies for Business Owners in the Current Environment”;
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Meghan Rothschild, co-founder and director of PR and marketing for chikmedia, presents a seminar titled “Public Relations 101: How to Get Your Message Heard”;
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Delcie Bean, founder of Paragus Strategic IT, presents a seminar titled “Win-Win Thinking”;
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Patricia Diaz Dennis, retired senior vice president for AT&T, presidential appointee to the Federal Communications Commission, and member of the MassMutual board of directors, presents the keynote address at the luncheon program presented by the Professional Women’s Chamber.
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Brian Comber, NASA thermal engineer, gives his Show Floor Theater presentation titled “NASA Is Alive: Building the Next-generation Space Telescope.”
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Kirk Smith, president and CEO of the YMCA of Greater Springfield, gives his Show Floor Theater presentation titled “Righteous Leadership.”

Valley Venture Mentors and BusinessWest invited VVM alumni and members of the current class to apply for a spot in the second annual Pitch Contest and Demo Day. The participating startups — Artifact Cider Project, Caswell Communications, CloudContacts, Nudger, and Piddx — made two-minute pitches to a panel of judges who offered immediate feedback.
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VVM Executive Director Paul Silva speaks at the event;
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contestants (left to right) Jake Mazar, Jan Caswell, Ian Ricci, Spiro Marangoudakis, Mike Mullen, and Brian Lobdell;
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Pitch Contest winner Jake Mazar, developer of Artifact Cider Project.

Plenty of folks stuck around for the annual Expo Social (all names left to right):
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Sarah Calabrese and Darcy Fortune of ABC 40 / Fox 6 with Mike Sarage of Valley Venture Mentors;
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Evan Plotkin of NAI Plotkin, Justin Roberts of American International College, Alfonso Santaniello of Creative Strategy Agency, Jeremy Casey of First Niagara, Peter Ellis of DIF Design, and Tim Steffen of Northwestern Mutual;
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Mike Mullen chats with Dianne Doherty of the UMass Small Business Development Center;
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Amanda Gagnon and Kelley Tucky of MGM Springfield, Seth Stratton of Fitzgerald Attorneys at Law, and Ed Marin and Mark Stolarczyk of MGM Springfield;
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Harry Georgiades and Bob McNamara of McNamara Waste Services with Chris Thompson of the Springfield Falcons.

View all the photos from the 2014 WMBExpo below: