Posted on 13 March 2012.
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Outlook 2012
The Affiliated Chambers of Commerce of Greater Springfield staged Outlook 2012 on Feb. 27 at the MassMutual Center. The annual look at the issues impacting the local business community featured keynote speakers Michael Widmer, top, president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Assoc., and U.S. Rep. Richard Neal.
Photos by Michael Epaul
Supporting At-risk Teens
The YMCA of Greater Springfield recently received a $50,000 grant from First Niagara Bank to support its Y-AIM (Achieve academically; Inspire to attend college; Move toward personal, family, and community advancement) program. The initiative works to provide talented, underachieving at-risk young people entering the ninth grade with a solid support system throughout all four years of high school. Together, the YMCAs of Greater Hartford and Greater Springfield are taking a regional approach to overcoming the obstacles young people face on the path to success. First Niagara has also pledged $50,000 to the YMCA of Greater Hartford to support its programming for at-risk teens. Pictured from left are Paul McCraven, senior vice president of Community Development for First Niagara; James O’S. Morton, president and CEO of the YMCA of Greater Hartford; Joe Shaw, first vice president and regional team leader of First Niagara Bank; Brandon Braxton, vice president of First Niagara Bank and corporate board member of the YMCA of Greater Springfield; Jim Ross, corporate board member of the YMCA of Greater Springfield; Kirk Smith, executive director of the YMCA of Greater Springfield; and Tom Creed, corporate board chair of the YMCA of Greater Springfield.
Community Giving
Monson Savings Bank President Steven Lowell presents Link to Libraries co-founder Susan Jaye-Kaplan with one of the 10 awards given to local organizations as part of the bank’s community-giving program. “It’s an honor to be recognized for work we do in the community and to be recognized by both Monson Savings Bank and the public,” said Jaye-Kaplan. “We truly feel privileged to do the work we do and thank Mr. Lowell and the Monson Savings Bank community.” Link to Libraries is a local, not-for-profit organization whose mission is to donate books to underserved youths in public elementary schools and nonprofit organizations in Western Mass. and Connecticut.
It’s Now the ‘Hospital of the Present’
Baystate Health recently opened the doors to the $296 million Hospital of the Future expansion, now known as the MassMutual Wing, which houses the Davis Family Heart and Vascular Center. At top, cardiac patient Siegfried Renner of Shelburne Falls, cuts a blue ribbon officially opening the new MassMutual Wing on March 2. Renner was assisted in his efforts by others with gold scissors, including, from left, U.S. Rep. Richard Neal; Dr. Mara Slawsky, director of the Heart Failure Program at Baystate; Marta Sokolowski, RN in the Davis Family Heart and Vascular Center; Mark Tolosky, president and CEO of Baystate Health; Richard Steele Jr., chair of the Baystate Health board of trustees; Heather Musselwhite, patient care technician in the Davis Family Heart and Vascular Center; and Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno. Earler that week, BusinessWest took its own tour of facilities. Above, Dr. Kugelmass, chief of Cardiology (left), and Dr. Mark Hirko, chief of Vascular Surgery, show off one of the cardiac ICU rooms. At bottom is a view of the wing’s new ‘healing garden.’
There were several events leading up the dedication of the MasMutual Wing on Feb. 28 and the ribbon cutting on March 2. Among them were the Hearts Saving Hearts Gala for major donors to the campaign supporting the hospital’s expansion project on Feb. 25. Top, Dr. John Rousou, chief of Cardiac Surgery at Baystate Medical Center (left), and Dr. Gordon Josephson, chief operating officer for Baystate Medical Practices, enjoy a light moment. At second from top, couples (from left) Timothy Delaney and his wife, Katherine Putnam, who serves on the Baystate Health board of directors, and Dr. Laurie Gianturco, chair of the Department of Radiology at Baystate, and her husband, Neil Swinton. Baystate also held the Red Tie Physicians’ Gala on Feb. 26. Third from top, Dr. Richard Wait, chair of Baystate’s Department of Surgery (center), stands with BMC medical staff member Dr. John Egelhofer of Chestnut Medical Associates and his wife, Janet Egelhofer. At bottom, couples (from left) Mark Tolosky, president and CEO of Baystate Health, and his wife, Noreen Tolosky, with Dr. Ashequl Islam from Baystate’s Cardiology Division and his wife, Melissa Islam.
The 9th annual Harold Grinspoon Charitable Foundation Entrepreneurship Initiative Awards Ceremony and Banquet was staged April 25 at the Log Cabin in Holyoke. More than 45 students from area colleges were recognized for their entrepreneurial contributions during the event, which featured an elevator-pitch competition sponsored by six area community banks, a tabletop competition, and the announcement of the Grinspoon, Garvey & Young Alumni Spirit Award. The participating schools are American International College, Amherst College, Bay Path College, Elms College, Greenfield Community College, Hampshire College, Holyoke Community College, Mount Holyoke College, Smith College, Springfield College, Springfield Technical Community College, UMass, Western New England University, and Westfield State University. From top: Kissa Owens of Bay Path College with her son, Da’Din Davis, was one of three tabletop winners at the event for her venture, the Platinum Kids Health Center, which specializes in helping obese and overweight children; Zongfang Lin, a student at the UMass Isenberg School of Management and a tabletop winner for her company, KinVi Products, talks with Joe Bohan of SciDose LLC; elevator-pitch winner Abby Duncan explains her Daddy Go-To Kit; Katelyn Nadeau of Holyoke Community College holds up a sign for her venture, Razzle Dazzle.
More scenes from the the 9th annual Harold Grinspoon Charitable Foundation Entrepreneurship Initiative Awards Ceremony and Banquet. Left, Mark Chamberlain addresses the audience of more than 500 people during the elevator-pitch competition. Middle, Sam Tulimat, a student at Mount Holyoke College, won a tabletop award for a venture he created, an online campus market business called Bizarit. Bottom, Harold Grinspoon, shares a laugh with UMass student Zongfang Lin.
