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MassMutual Program Features a New Model for Mentoring

It is just after 8:45 on Wednesday morning, and Linda O’Neal and Shaylene Sanchez are settling into what has become their normal routine over the past 20 months — although there’s nothing routine about this exercise.
After grabbing some breakfast — O’Neal has chosen oatmeal on this day, while Sanchez has opted for a fruit cup and some juice — they seek out a quiet spot (if there is such a thing) in the large cafeteria at MassMutual’s sprawling headquarters on State Street in Springfield.
They have what amounts to a regular table, and there, every Wednesday, schedules permitting, they talk about what could best be described as the business of the day. And there is plenty of it at this critical juncture in Sanchez’s life.
For starters, the junior at Putnam Vocational Technical High School is taking the SATs in a few weeks, and has sought advice from O’Neal, a director in Retirement Services at MassMutual, on how to best prepare for that important challenge. Meanwhile, Sanchez is thinking about getting a part-time job this summer, and is exploring a number of options, including possible openings at MassMutual. She has sounded out her mentor on how to go about a search and choose the job that’s right for her, and the two have go so far as to conduct some mock job interviews in preparation for the real thing.
And then, there’s college. Sanchez will soon be entering her senior year and thus also commencing the usually grueling ordeal of exploring schools, applying at those she finds a good match, and seeking available financial aid — a process with which her parents can be of only limited help, because they haven’t been through it themselves.
Providing such assistance is just one of the motivating factors behind the creation of MassMutual’s unique — and award-winning — Career Pathways mentorship program, which now involves several dozen students at several high schools, who are matched with employees representing virtually every department in the company.
The initiative, carried out in conjunction with Big Brothers Big Sisters and the Springfield School Department, pairs students with the skills and inclination to pursue careers in financial services, information technology, and business with MassMutual employees who can help put their career aspirations into sharper focus, while also offering advice and support with regard to the myriad personal challenges facing today’s high-school students.
And in so doing, the company is helping to create what Pamela Mathison calls a “talent pipeline.”
“The Career Pathways model marries the needs of the students and the company together,” said Mathison, a community responsibility specialist for the company and lead coordinator of the mentoring program, adding that students gain valuable counseling, and MassMutual establishes relationships with potential future employees.
Jerrell Moore, director of Diversity & Inclusion at Mass-Mutual, didn’t have a mentor while growing up, and it is because he feels he could definitely have used one that he is passionate about his work in mentorship — in this program and other initiatives within the community.
“I think about a lot of the challenges that I have even now, professionally and personally,” he told BusinessWest. “If I had someone that could have shown me a just a few different steps I could have taken or turned my shoulders in a different direction … it’s not would’ve, could’ve, should’ve, but I see the impact that we as people working in corporate America, or just adults, can have by spending just a little bit of time with young people. It really makes a difference.”
At present, Moore is mentoring José Bautista, a junior at the High School of Science and Technology (which, like Putnam, is literally across the street from MassMutual), who has designs on a career in health care, although he admits that could change over the next year.
Bautista credits Moore with pushing him hard and hitting whichever buttons are necessary to get him to reach higher and put maximum effort into whatever it is he’s doing.
“He’s like a motivational speaker — every time I come in here, I leave with a new attitude,” he said. “Every week he’s like a beacon pushing me on, guiding me so I don’t lose focus.”
For this issue, BusinessWest interrupted the normal Wednesday-morning interaction between these two pairings to gain a better understanding of how the Career Pathways program works, and how it will benefit both the students and the company. We’ll also get some insight into mentoring from both sides of the equation and learn that there are rewards for all those who are involved.

Learning Curves
O’Neal said she’s noticed a big difference in the way Sanchez talks about school now, as compared to her comments and body language when these two first started meeting in MassMutual’s cafeteria in September 2010.
“Back then, she’d just say, ‘it’s school,’ and shrug her shoulders,” said O’Neal. “I’m so proud of her right now, because the way she talks about school is much different. I can tell that she understands the importance of a good education; she has a whole new attitude about school.”
Making such transformations reality is what organizers had in mind when they introduced mentoring programs at MassMutual several years ago, said Mathison, adding that the company has long been involved with supporting Springfield-area students, especially those attending Putnam and Sci-Tech.
The current initiative, put in place two years ago as part of the company’s broader Career Pathways Program, is an effort to take traditional mentoring and add a career-development component to it, as the name clearly suggests, she went on, adding that the program strives to introduce young people to career opportunities in finance, IT, and business, and also introduce them to MassMutual and its culture.
What’s more, the program and the individual mentors keep a focus on that word ‘pathways,’ and the need for students to get on — and stay on — the road that will take them to the careers they’ve been exposed to through their mentors and those with whom they work side by side.
The initiative is a true partnership between the company, Big Brothers Big Sisters, and the School Department, she continued, and has been designed to bring the talents of the three organizations together to create a strong and unique mentoring model.
“MassMutual is in the business of workforce development — we’ve got great opportunities to develop young people — but we’re not in the mentoring business,” she explained. “However, Big Brothers Big Sisters is, and they’ve provided support for the work involved to sustain a solid mentoring program.”
Elaborating, she said there is a geat deal of work that goes into the process of matching young people with mentors. In a nutshell, MassMutual recruits the many volunteers needed for the program, and Big Brothers Big Sisters goes about screening both volunteers and students identified by the School Department, and making the eventual matches. Students are identified for 10th grade, and are mentored for the last three years in high school.
The program recently earned an Ignite Award from the Mass Mentoring Partnership, which serves as an umbrella organization for nearly 200 mentoring programs across the state, including 25 in Western Mass.
As she talked about the mentoring process, O’Neal said this type of supportive assistance comes naturally to her, in part because of her job description within MassMutual’s Retirement Services department.
“I manage a group of account managers who service different corporations and the 401(k) plans they offer to employees,” she explained. “I love managing people, and I like being a resource, so that’s why the mentor program is ideal for me.
“I’m also involved in a number of youth programs in the Hartford area,” she continued, noting that she lives in Connecticut and is active with many initiatives in that state. “So when the mentoring program came to MassMutual, it was perfect for me.”
She described mentoring as very rewarding work, for which one needs good listening skills as well as the ability to counsel students while not necessarily giving them answers, but helping them find the answers themselves.
Which brings her back to those practice job interviews she has staged with Sanchez, designed to help the student answer questions she’ll likely hear from an HR representative, while building confidence and enabling Sanchez to gauge her own strengths and weaknesses in the process.
Indeed, when asked to recall the most difficult question O’Neal has put to her during these exercises, Sanchez said, “it’s when she asks me to talk about myself.”
Overall, Sanchez said she’s benefited greatly from her Wednesday-morning sessions with O’Neal, largely because she can discuss things she normally wouldn’t with her parents, and also gain insight on things like the college-admissions process from someone who has been there and done that.
“She’s just always there for me,” Sanchez said of O’Neal. “She listens and gives really valuable advice.”

Talking the Talk
On this particular Wednesday morning, Moore and Bautista were talking about scholarships, and which ones the latter could, and perhaps should, apply for as he contemplates college.
“We were looking at a Navy scholarship,” he explained, noting that’s in the ROTC program at Sci-Tech. “We also found a whole bunch of other scholarships that I could be eligible for, including a Latin scholarship, and we printed out information on many others that I can look at when I get home.”
At present, Bautista is taking a number of advanced-placement courses, including those in English and calculus. The broad plan is to position himself to pursue opportunities in engineering, health, or business.
He’s taking the SATs in June, and that has been another subject of conversation with Moore, whom Bautista credits with keeping him focused on what’s in front of him, and keeping him on that road he needs to travel to get where he wants to go.
“We talk about everything school-related,” he told BusinessWest. “We’ve been talking about scholarships, we’ve talked about time management — that was a big topic a while back — and we talk about how to act in different environments; we talk about a lot of stuff here.”
Moore nodded his head in agreement and, when asked how each week’s sessions proceed, said that Bautista will usually set the tone when it comes to talking points or, for lack of a better word, the day’s agenda.
“And for me, it comes down to making myself available to see what his needs are, and then adjusting the conversation so he gets the most out of that time,” said Moore. “It’s listening, planting the seeds, and offering encouragement. A lot of times, you see the capacity for him to be able to get things, but it’s that extra push to say, ‘yes, you can do it,’ or ‘have you tried this out?’
“That’s what a lot of our sessions are about,” Moore continued. “Sometimes he works it out on his own just talking through things.”
And while the mentoring program has obvious benefits for the young students, or mentees, as they’re called, it also carries rewards for the mentors — “this keeps me energized and feeling connected,” Moore said — and potentially for the company as well, he added, using the phrase ‘full circle’ early and often to describe this initiative.
“We get people like José in, they get to see our environment and see our commitment,” he explained, “so when he’s in college, he’s thinking about how MassMutual is a great place to work and how it’s well-regarded in the financial-services community, and he’s thinking about the opportunities and experiences he’s had there. It just comes full circle when I think about those things.”

That’s a Rap
Looking back at her own childhood, O’Neal, one of seven children in her family, said she benefited from having adults around that could give her guidance and insight.
“There were adults in my life who encouraged me to go to college, because they had never gone to college, and who helped me focus on my career,” she told BusinessWest. “So I know how valuable it is to have an adult there to listen to you, and I say this to people when they tell me they don’t have time to mentor young people.”
They need to find the time, she went on, because, as Moore said, mentoring does indeed come full circle, and the Career Pathways program seems certain to show that companies and individuals who invest time and energy in young people will see those investments pay huge dividends.

George O’Brien can be reached at obrien@businesswest.com

Entrepreneurs Gain Insight at Valley Venture Mentors Program

The idea for Marcie Muehlke’s business was born when she went shopping for her wedding gown. “I wanted something that was beautiful, but also had a beautiful story behind it; I didn’t want a dress made in China in a sweatshop or by children,” said the Amherst resident.
Her search proved futile, but after talking with friends, the 29-year-old realized they shared her values — and so did many others.
“So I founded Joya Bride with the idea of having women’s cooperatives in Southeast Asia produce wedding dresses that would make women look beautiful and feel joyful on their wedding day,” Muehlke said, noting that her goal since she was a college undergraduate has been to figure out a sustainable way to help women in the developing world.
Muehlke recently returned from three weeks in Southeast Asia, where she met with silk makers and independent craftswomen. “It was an amazing trip,” she said.
It was also a journey she might never have undertaken without the help, support, and guidance she has received from Valley Venture Mentors, or VVM. The Springfield-based group provides critical support to entrepreneurs by linking them to business professionals who act as mentors during structured monthly pitch-and-planning sessions as well as in private meetings between sessions.
Although Muehlke had conducted academic research before making the decision to launch her company, the guidance she’s received from the group has been invaluable.
“Each month they posed questions about things like price points, sourcing, and supply-chain marketing, and through long conversations with my mentors, I was able to nail down answers and move forward,” she said. “They provided me with lots of valuable advice as well as help in making overseas contacts.
“I haven’t signed any contracts yet, but I have sample dresses and a few orders, and when I graduate next month from the Isenberg School of Management at UMass Amherst, I’ll devote myself to this full-time,” Muehlke continued. “It’s a decision the group really helped me with. We talked through the pros and cons, and they gave me the moral support to take the risk. They’ve helped me make critical decisions and move forward to make this business become a reality. It would have been a lot more difficult and slower without them.”
Muehlke’s comments are typical of those who have received — and continue to receive — support from the program. And for this issue, BusinessWest talked with several individuals on both sides of the mentoring spectrum about the VVM and its potential to spur business growth, and thus employment, in this region.

Valuable Exchange
Muehlke was one of more than 60 people who met in the Springfield law offices of Bulkley, Richardson and Gelinas during the VVM’s monthly meeting in April, where the degree of energy, enthusiasm, and intense interest in new business concepts was certainly palpable.
Four groups who hope to be accepted into the program delivered timed presentations. Their auditions had to include an executive summary, a video, and a pitch focused on how and why their company could work. When they finished, three teams already accepted into the VVM program reported back to the group on progress they have made since the last meeting.
Scott Foster, a partner and business law attorney with Bulkley, Richardson and Gelinas who started VVM with Paul Silva, managing partner of Angel Catalyst, said two main premises must be incorporated into each presentation. The first is called the ‘pain,’ which translates into the need or problem the entrepreneurs will fill or solve, as well as “why the world needs it.”
For example, a company dubbed Mission Control presented an idea for a software product that would be affordable and easy for nonprofits to use and noted that the market lacks software that meets the needs of such organizations.
After explaining why their product or service is valuable and viable, the entrepreneurs finish their presentations with the second critical component of the program, termed the ‘ask,’ which is a problem they must solve to move their venture forward — and a matter they want and need help solving.
Foster said entrance into the program is determined by the degree of maturity of an idea, and what the presenter has already accomplished. “We’ve had people present ideas that were not developed enough for us to be helpful,” he said.
Those who are accepted must be willing to accept what Foster refers to as “lovingly critical advice.”
“But this is not a shark tank — even if a mentor thinks an idea is the worst thing he or she has ever heard of, their job is to think about the challenges the business will face,” he explained, adding that groups who are not accepted can return and present their ideas again after they have done more work on them.
After the presentations, mentors meet with the presenters in two short break-out sessions where they pose questions aimed at helping the fledging entrepreneurs hone their ideas, identify exactly who their product or service will appeal to, where they might get financial backing, and the best way to market their idea. After those sessions, the mentors meet with teams already accepted into the program.
Foster said mentors refrain from giving advice, but may introduce solutions they have found helpful in solving similar problems. And between meetings, mentors, as well as the facilitator assigned to each group, often reach out to teams with help that can include introductions to people outside of VVM.
“We had one team that was creating a commercial coating to reduce the drag on ships,” said Foster. “One of our mentors knew someone at the Navy laboratories and was able to help the group get their product tested by the Navy. It’s a lot of work because the mentors and board members are all volunteers, but although it takes an enormous effort, it is very rewarding.”
Gourmet food and beverages are served to create a convivial atmosphere, and when the meetings finish, people often go to the sports bar in Tower Square to continue talking. “We’re hearing about innovative concepts and ideas that can change the world,” Foster said.
As word about VVM spreads, the number of people wanting to present ideas has mushroomed. “The majority of people we accept are still in early stages of establishing their company, and many are operating out of their homes, which is the stage where the least amount of assistance is available,” Foster told Business West.
The original concept called for a six-month membership for entrepreneurs accepted into the program. But that model has changed. “Some only need four months, while others come to a few meetings, then take time off to apply the advice they received before they return,” said Foster, offering the example of a person who came to the group with a viable concept, but needed time to bring it to fruition and figure out what the appropriate market for the product was before he was prepared to return. “But this is a lifeline for people. It’s the difference between sitting at home and thinking about a good idea and getting out there and getting it done.”
Nathaniel Davis was accepted into VVM last June. His company, Play/Give/Win, offers nonprofits and other people who want to raise money an innovative way to do so. Instead of asking for donations, charities can invite people to pay to play online games with prizes, or go on ‘missions’ that range from ‘liking’ a Facebook page or Twitter account, which translates into a cash value due to business sponsors, to checking in at a location where they can redeem a coupon.
“VVM has been absolutely pivotal in helping us create a working product, get customers, and generate our first revenue,” said Davis.
Before he found out about VVM last spring, Davis said he spent a large amount of money trying to make connections in Boston, and believed he would eventually have to relocate to a major hub such as New York or Silicon Valley, where there is strong support for technology entrepreneurs, in order to be successful.
But all that has changed as a result of his involvement with VVM. Davis had outsourced his Web development to India, but the relationships he made through his mentors allowed him to bring it back to Massachusetts at a lower cost, convey the concept in simpler terms, and define his product so the average person can understand it.
“They also helped me discover whether I was actually onto something,” he said. “I believed I had a viable idea, but they helped confirm it and provided valuable feedback that helped me redefine my business model. It’s a good place to come and pitch an idea; you will be among professionals in the area who have already succeeded and can help you avoid pitfalls and mistakes they made along the way.”

Changing Direction
“Entrepreneurship, whether for profit or nonprofit, is what changes an economy to make it more responsive to the region,” said mentor Rick Feldman, who has been involved with fledging firms for 30 years. “My world is the world of enterprise development; I’ve started and sold two companies and, years ago, started the Western Mass. Software Assoc. to do this type of work.”
Feldman enjoys his involvement with VVM, and says part of the group’s goal is to help people figure out the right path to take and think seriously about whether they are prepared to own their own business.
“In some cases, that means rethinking their plans; they may actually want a job or career, and you find that out through lovingly critical conversation,” he said, using a phrase other mentors employed on a frequent basis.
He’s worked with two people in VVM who decided that going into business was something they were not prepared to do. “They found their niche in another way, through a job,” Feldman explained.
Mentor Mike Ippolito had the same experience. He was mentor to a group he met with four or five times. “They couldn’t seem to get their business model down, and eventually they all found good jobs,” he explained. “When you are in a startup, you have to look around and ask if the path you are on is the right one. We encourage people to look at all of their options and hopefully come up with a decision.”
However, those who decide to move forward get help from a variety of professionals, who essentially urge them to think globally. “We’re not looking for companies that want to stay small, but for those who want to swing for the fences, hit a home run, and become as big as Facebook,” Foster said. “It’s a little crazy, but we want them to think big, become very successful, and employ hundreds of people.”
Cloud2Market founder Robert La Ferla said VMM has been very helpful to him and his partner, Chitra Dwarka. “They showed us gaps we needed to address as well as areas in which we needed to communicate more effectively. And our mentor gave us ideas about different markets to target,” La Ferla said.
Their business is aimed at redefining the call experience for consumers and businesses via a visual, branded, interactive, and easy-to-use mobile app and cloud service designed as a single integrated solution for customers that will increase satisfaction and reduce costs.
Mentor Daniel Lieberman says VVM also benefits those who volunteer. “It gives the established business community an opportunity to meet people and get new ideas for growth,” he said, adding that he was a mentor to Davis’s company for three months and has been part of the program for nine months. “It is very fulfilling, and I’ve learned a lot. I’m in Internet marketing, so it is good for me to be aware of what the business trends are.”
Mentor Jim Mumm looks forward to the monthly meetings. “It’s exciting to be around people with great ideas who are working long hours to make them happen; the caliber of people who come here and help is incredible,” he said. “This keeps me in an entrepreneurial mindset as I am around other like-minded people, whether they are wildly successful or just getting started. I get more than I give, and it makes you rethink what you are doing in your company and why.”

Positive Gains
Muehlke said the monthly presentations at VVM helped her to polish her public-speaking skills. “You have to explain your concept, present any updates, and defend your decisions; public speaking and pitching a business is not easy, and this has been a great way to practice,” she said. “This is a community of support, and their energy and enthusiasm are as important as their actual advice. I’m so glad I have been able to be part of it so I can provide brides with dresses that make them look beautiful and feel more joyful, knowing they are helping women around the world.”
It’s a goal right in line with the purpose of VVM. “These people are building ventures and satisfying significant niches,” Silva said. “They may not all be high-tech, but they are all high-scale.”

Easthampton Savings Bank’s President Reflects on a Generation of Change

A long-time customer of Easthampton Savings Bank recently called with a question about a loan.
“This was someone who did his first mortgage with us in 1972,” bank President William Hogan said. “When he called, he said he had to talk to me, and I remembered him. He asked, ‘why do you need all this information?’
“I said, ‘Jack, the world has changed,’” he continued. “And it’s true — what we used to do with a handshake when we took his first application, we can’t do that anymore. Now, a loan file is four or five inches thick by the time it gets completed. Those are big changes, and changes which aren’t necessarily for the best.”
As Hogan prepares to step down in late 2013 after more than 20 years at the helm, and after more than four decades working at the bank, he can picture the full panorama of changes that have transformed financial services, from customer convenience — forget ATMs and online banking; ESB didn’t even offer checking accounts when he was first hired — to the ever-increasing tangle of regulations and paperwork that so confounded Jack.
Some changes are a source of pride — the bank’s asset growth over the past four decades, for instance. “The bank had $53 million when I joined; we’re just under $1 billion today.”
And, by all financial measures, Easthampton is currently on a roll after posting a strong 2011 and first quarter of this year. Nowhere is that more evident than in Agawam, where the bank opened its ninth branch last April. “That office has taken in $25 million in deposits in its first year,” Hogan said, adding that such performance confirms the demand for an Agawam office, and also justifies what has been a gradual, deliberate strategy for branch expansion.
“It’s a natural progression of growing the bank franchise. From Easthampton, we went to Southampton, then Westfield, then Agawam,” he said, in addition to offices in Belchertown, Hadley, South Hadley, and two in Northampton. “We’re not leapfrogging over too many communities or going into places where we might meet some resistance, where people say, ‘I don’t know Easthampton Savings.’ That has not been an issue for us.”
He said customers in Agawam have responded to the bank’s emphasis on strong personal service. “Our style of community banking is very much employee- and people-focused,” he told BusinessWest, noting that branch officials in ESB’s various towns have become active in senior centers and other organizations. “They’ve really become part of the community. That’s part of our culture, and I like to think it’s become our reputation. We’ve gotten to know the people we serve.
“We’ve wondered how far we can go geographically with the Easthampton name,” he continued, “but as we’ve reached farther geographically, we’ve had no problem with our brand and name recognition. And I think it’s because we’ve done so in a methodical, measured sort of way.”
For this issue, Hogan sat down with BusinessWest to talk about that measured growth, the changes that have transformed his field, and what he’ll miss most when he retires next year.

Turnaround Time
Hogan is justifiably pleased with the shape Easthampton Savings is in as he winds down his tenure at the helm — particularly after a rocky patch not long ago.
“In 2010, we had little or no loan growth. But in 2011, we had terrific growth” — specifically, a $61 million increase in loans, to go along with a $52 million jump in deposits. “And we’re having terrific growth again in 2012, doing the exact same things we did before. I wish I was smart enough to know how that happened.”

Hogan echoes many the region’s community-bank presidents who have been telling BusinessWest for years that they have plenty of money to lend, even as the Great Recession suppressed demand for commercial loans and mortgages.
“From the highs of the market, in 2007 and early 2008, before the financial disaster, until today, we’ve done very little differently with regard to our standards and demands and our loan policy,” Hogan said. “The things we thought we were important to making good lending decisions then are still important today. We didn’t make a single subprime loan. We didn’t reach for loans for people who didn’t have the capital to pay it back; we didn’t make loans with no down payment.
“That was true before, and it’s still true today — and, by and large, that’s true of all the community banks,” he went on. “We didn’t do some of the wild things that got banks into trouble and got a lot of customers in trouble. We’ve had a few foreclosures, because that’s the normal life cycle — people lose jobs, go through life events, and they’re not able to stay in their homes. Most are fortunate enough to sell and get out, but even then we have to take action against some people, only as a last resort.”
He noted that ESB is the number-one mortgage lender in Hampshire County, and ranks in the top 10 in Hampden County — with only two branches located there. “We have seen some refinancing of our own portfolio, but we’ve also done refis where people had a mortgage at another institution. Again, it’s because of the way we treat people, the way we deliver our products. We’ve had people come to us and say, ‘I’ve heard good things from people who have done business with you, and I want to be a part of that as well.’”
Commercial lending has been on the rise as well, Hogan said, adding that the bank has added an additional lender recently and will soon open a new loan center close to its Easthampton headquarters, where the IT infrastructure and other services will also be located.
“We have competitive products, both variable and fixed-rate products, first-time homebuyer products,” he continued. “The fees associated with our lending products are lower than — maybe not everybody, but certainly lower than most — and I think that’s one of the appeals of doing business with us on the lending side. We also have some terrific lenders who know the business and have been very successful with business development.”
ESB has seen that kind of successs against the backdrop of a much tougher regulatory environment — again, one that surprises longtime customers like Jack. “All the rules and regulations — that’s another whole subject,” Hogan said. “With legislation like Dodd-Frank, they’re making the business of banking more complex and more expensive for banks, and I’d argue that many of the changes are at the expense of customers.”

New Generation
There’s no doubt, however, that the past 40 years have put some very powerful financial tools in consumers’ hands. Hogan smiled when he thought back to the early 1970s, before the bank even offered checking accounts. In 1973, ESB was finally authorized to issue NOW (negotiable order of withdrawal) accounts.
“Up until then, when somebody came into this bank and wanted to open a checking account, we’d send them next door to the First National Bank of Easthampton — later Baybank — and when someone went there asking for a mortgage, they’d send them here. The banks had mutually exclusive activities.
“I guess there have been so many changes that I’ve become somewhat immune to the pace of change. Change is in the air all the time,” Hogan said, noting that, when he arrived at ESB, “we didn’t have computers. Online banking — what’s that? We didn’t have ATMs, and so many things that people take for granted today. Going to the grocery store, using your debit card, and getting cash back — sometimes it feels like we’re getting ready to replace banks.”
For the past two years, he said, ESB has been actively tracking the number of customer visits to the physical branches and the number of electronic transactions.
“The transactions in the bank are flat and declining,” he said, “but the number of transactions outside the bank, electronically, through a whole variety of means, continue to grow exponentially. Mobile banking is the most recent things — who knows what the next one is going to be?
“A generation is taking advantage of things that didn’t exist not too long ago,” Hogan continued, “and in many ways, it makes it difficult to leverage customer service and style and brand because we don’t have as many opportunities, or touch points, for customer service, to get to know people on a personal basis.”
Even so, Hogan said the bank has long connected with the community in other ways, many of them philanthropic.
“Being able to help and support so many valuable community resources is very rewarding for the bank,” he told BusinessWest. “Whether it’s the Red Cross, the Northampton Survival Center, or the Little League, there are ways we can reach out and support things that make this a better place to live. The bank is proud of that, and that doesn’t happen unless we have profitability. We’re able to do these things because we’ve been profitable for many, many years; we’re able to make contributions to support valuable community activities.”

Open Door
Toward the end of his chat with BusinessWest, Hogan brought out a framed chart given to him on the occasion of his 40th anniversary with the bank. His 17-year (at the time) tenure as president was noted at the end of a list of the bank’s previous 14 presidents, and their years at the head desk, dating back to 1869. The third man on that list, one John Mayer, served a record 20-plus years, from 1880 to 1901. Come next May, Hogan will surpass that mark.
That’s a long time in such a dramatically changing industry, but despite ESB’s exponential growth and the impressive advances in technology, what Hogan values most, even today, is the bank’s personal touch.
“I would argue that’s what gives us a leg up over many of our competitors,” he said. “My door is open; I answer my own phone. When someone needs to see me, I say, ‘let’s make an appointment.’ While I’m not looking for problems for customers, when there are problems, that gives us an opportunity to solve it for them.
“You know, the people aspect of this business is the one I will miss the most — helping people and solving problems, whether those are customers, my employees, or board members,” Hogan continued. “The relationships I’ve formed with all those people are the basis for what I do, and what has made this so enjoyable for me. I’ve never thought of this as a job, from my earliest days until today. It’s been very, very rewarding for me.”

Joseph Bednar can be reached at bednar@businesswest.com

JA Takes a Different Approach to Teaching Financial Literacy

The large, gilded frame holding the picture of an imposing, yet gentle-faced, elderly man doesn’t quite fit the modern office design of Junior Achievement of Western Massachusetts (JAWM).
However, the impressive painting is just where it belongs in the central Tower Square location of the nonprofit that Horace Moses, president of Strathmore Paper, created almost a century ago. “Horace is staying right where he is,” said Jennifer Connelly, president of JAWM.  “JA USA in Colorado wants the painting, which is an original, but they’re not getting it!”
The painting was donated by a woman in Springfield who had the artifact in her attic for years. Her father was a friend of Moses, and she felt the painting belonged with the organization that Moses and the two other well-to-do gentlemen, Theodore Vail, president of American Telegraph and Telephone (AT&T), and U.S. Sen. Winthrop Murray Crane, formed in 1919. As the Industrial Revolution changed the American business landscape from agricultural to the business of manufacturing, the three men knew that the younger generation would need the additional education to learn new skills and be able to handle new money.
A humble JA started as a collection of small, after-school business clubs for students in Springfield.  From that early vision, JA of Western Mass., a member of JA Worldwide, is now a part of a global organization that operates in 123 countries and reaches 9.7 million students around the globe, according to its Web site, jawm.org. Locally, JA serves the young people of Western Mass. and Vermont.
Today, JA is facing a new challenge: the same technology revolution that has changed the way we all communicate, learn, and promote products and services. The purpose of JA remains basically the same — to educate and inspire youth to value free enterprise, business, and economics to improve the quality of their lives — but different avenues of technology are enabling the small office staff and a very dedicated board and volunteer team to connect to teachers, students, and donors in the area.
One of the key elements of all JA programs — which are presented at no cost to area schools regardless of the age of the student — is an understanding of real-life decisions and what one more step in the thinking process can mean. Connelly talks of a high-school boy who, when asked what he would spend his first few meaty paychecks on, said a down payment on a new red sports car. When Connelly asked where he lived, he said with his mom.
“I then asked him what he would feel like when a cute girl saw his new car and thought it was really cool but then he would have to take her back to his place … to see mom,” laughs Connelly. “That’s the next step that many kids just don’t think about at first, and something as simple as pushing the real-life questions can really make them review their decisions ahead of time.”
Today, the process of reaching out to those kids who want cool new sports cars before they even have a garage to put them in is a bit different than in Moses’ time. In this issue, BusinessWest examines what else has changed within JA and, perhaps more important, what has not.

Drop Head
Since BusinessWest last visited JA, Facebook, Twitter, and a slew of online programs that volunteers can use directly from the Internet in the classroom and at events have become a part of everyday education and outreach. JA is active not only with advertising events and linking financial stories of interest on social networks, but collaborating with other JA chapters on best practices and recent successes.
But JA’s main mission is to be in the schools with talented volunteers and offer a different approach to financial literacy for students in all grades. For the younger students, the programs involve games and role playing to provide their first glimpse of economic education and financial literacy. In middle school, the programs involve more historical references to how business has grown in America, how money circulates in the global economy, and how personal interests, skills, and values can shape career aspirations.
According to Connelly, middle-school teachers are the hardest to convince. Because of the tough Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) guidelines and the Massachusetts Curriculum Framework, the teachers fear losing so-called ‘blackboard time.’ But Connelly points out that JA programs mirror the state’s requirements, and building relationships with those teachers is vital because JA has to be invited into the classrooms.
And a ‘cool factor’ online program helps.
Take, for instance, the Web-based business-simulation program for high-school students called JA Titan. Set in the year 2035, JA Titan creates a world in which players are CEOs of their own companies, complete with their own avatars. During game play, students must run a manufacturing company and master six key business decisions: price of product, production levels, marketing expenses, research and development costs, capital-investment level, and charitable giving. Various corporate assistants help the player through each phase.
Last May, at Berkshire Community College, Springfield and Pittsfield high-school students participated in the first JA Titan Challenge in the Commonwealth, and Springfield won. This was significant, said Connelly, because Pittsfield at that point had more experience with the program.
In order to keep the nonprofit organization financially healthy, educational foundation grants, corporate underwriting, fund-raising events, and requests via social networking and Web for individual donations are in constant practice. This past April, JA launched its first-ever Horace A. Moses Legacy Breakfast and introduced a public-awareness campaign, It All Starts Here. The goal was to educate new friends about JA’s mission and successes, to raise $50,000, and to convert some of those donations into three-year pledges.
“We are extremely pleased to have had more than 150 in attendance, many of whom are totally new relationships for JA, and we raised more than $65,000,” said William Kowlek, development officer. “The fact that we were able to convert more than 50% of those donations to three-year pledges is an amazing feat our first time out.”
JA has deep relationships with many large companies in the area and a dedicated board that reads like a directory to the most successful businesses in the area. Other annual fund-raising events keep JA busy throughout the year, including the Bowl-A-Thon, the Readiness 5K Run, the JA Golf Tournament, and the extremely popular Stock Investing Competition.
The annual fall stock-market event is an exciting simulation in which teams of four receive $1 million in fictitious dollars to invest in 50 different stocks. Every 60 seconds is a fast-paced new trading day, and the competition determines which team can amass the largest net-worth portfolio in the teamwork-building challenge. A video of the event can be found on YouTube via jawm.org.
While the event centers on the technology of a stock-market program, technology almost killed the event in October 2010. The company that JA had used for years, Fun-Raising, had major technical issues with the computer program that simulated the stock market ticker, and all those fictitious dollars got lost on the big screen.
“It was a mess,” says Connelly. “One of our long-time volunteers, Jon Toner, took a look at the screen and said he thought he could reproduce the program, and he did.” Toner, who at the time was in the information technology department of a large local corporation, created a new and improved program, and, after testing with more than 200 students buying and selling at high volume, the program was slated to be used in the next stock-market event.
The new Stock Investing Competition, formerly the Stock Market Challenge, launched the first public use of Toner’s new program last October, and it was deemed a complete success. Connelly saw an opportunity for Toner with all the other JA chapters around the country, with which the now-for-sale Fun-Raising company had contracts for their own stock-market events.
“And it was great timing because he separated from his corporate job, and this new career was already in motion,” says Connelly.
By this past January, Toner had jumped from a job-loss situation and was instantly in the process of securing various JAs for their stock-market events; his new company, Future Financiers, and a sweet deal were born. For every event that Toner books with other JAs, the JA of Western Mass. receives a $1,000 donation, and the computer program for their October stock-market event is free.
“The stock-market program is also designed to be available to the students that actually were at the October 2011 event so that they can go back at any time, 24/7, log in, and review, turn-by-turn, their decision-making process,” said Toner. “This is just another way that JA has made the learning process for students an online experience that fits their personality.”

The Next Step
The JA mission is to inspire and prepare young people to succeed in a global economy, and with enthusiastic volunteers and the consistent, multi-level use of technology, Connelly says the JA of Western Mass. is definitely succeeding.
“We teach innovation, and if we can continue to evolve in today’s business community and show students the connection between what they are learning and reality, then we are a success.”
Added Connelly, “if the one thing a student decides is that they don’t want to be in a certain career because of the huge cost after college, then that means they really are taking that next step to ask important financial questions and make wise decisions based on what they’ve learned through our programs.”
And making that next step part of someone’s thought process is what JA is really all about.

Air Show Strives to Gain the Attention — and Support — of the Region

The Great New England Air Show and Open House, scheduled for Aug. 4 and 5 at Westover Air Reserve Base in Chicopee, has a special theme: they’re calling it “a Salute to the Greatest Generation.”
And in a nod to the men and women who served during World War II and are known by that descriptive phrase coined by Tom Brokaw (it became the title of his book on the subject), the show will feature a number of vintage aircraft from that era — including the vaunted bomber called the B-17 and the fighter known as the P-51 Mustang — as well as several ground displays and re-enactments of events from that global conflict.
Meanwhile, calls have gone out to veterans’ agencies across the region in the hope that they can contact those who served during the war (now in their 90s, on average) and ask those who are able and willing to come to the show and earn a salute from those in attendance.
At the same time, though, a different kind of call is being made, this one to businesses and individuals whose help is needed to make this show — which is expected to draw more than 300,000 people from across New England — all that planners hope it can be and should be. Bud Shuback, president of the Galaxy Community Council, a volunteer civilian organization that supports activities at Westover, including the air show, calls this his “100 Heroes” campaign.
Elaborating, Shuback said he’s working diligently to identify 100 companies or individuals who can donate $1,000 toward the estimated $250,000 the Galaxy Community Council will need to cover its share of the cost of putting on the air show. That’s a bigger burden than in previous years, and there are reasons for that.
Primarily, it comes down to cutbacks within the Department of Defense, including the number of appearances for flying teams like the Blue Angels and the Thunderbirds, shows that come free of charge for organizers of events like the Great New England Air Show.
Replacing those popular acts with private (non-military) jet-demonstration teams — like the Red Steel Jet Team scheduled for this year’s show that will fly Russian MIG 23s — is necessary, but also quite expensive, said Joe Marois, a long-time member of the Galaxy Community Council.
Marois and Shuback stressed repeatedly that there will be an air show in August — that’s a certainty. What isn’t known yet is the size and overall quality of the show, which will determined by the amount of funding support attainted. But it’s important for the show to reach traditional levels of excellence, they said, to draw a large audience and thus have a significant economic impact on the region.
Meanwhile, the show provides an excellent opportunity for Westover to open its doors to the public, and also assists in the ongoing efforts to recruit young men and women, said Col. Steven Vautrain, commander of the 439th Airlift Wing based at Westover.
“I always stress the ‘and open house’ part of the show’s name — it’s not just about the airplanes,” he said. “It’s an opportunity for us to open up the base, let people come in and see what we do, and show them a good time. It also helps bring money into the local economy, because you have 300,000 people coming, with many of them staying in local hotels and eating in local restaurants.
“It’s also good for us when it comes to recruiting — that’s one of the main reasons for doing the air show,” he continued, noting that he believes he got hooked on flying while attending a show at South Weymouth Naval Air Station when he was young. “That happens with a lot of kids; they come out, see the jets, the helicopters, the Marines, the Air Force — and they make a connection and say, ‘that’s something I’d like to do.’”

Base of Support
Shuback told BusinessWest that this region has a rich history of producing large and memorable air shows over the past several decades.
Indeed, with a few exceptions — forced by everything from scheduled inspections to the ramping up of military activity following the 9/11 terrorist attacks — Westover and Barnes Municipal Airport (home to the 104th Tactical Fighter Wing of the Air National Guard) have staged shows on alternating years since the ’80s.
And while the show will indeed go on this year, additional support is needed to maintain the high quality that visitors have enjoyed over the years — and also to ensure that the show will have the same economic impact it has had in the past, said Shuback.
And those numbers are impressive. The 2008 air show at Westover (the last one in Chicopee) contributed $13.8 million in direct economic impact to the region, according to a report authored by students at the Isenberg School of Management at UMass Amherst.
A large portion of that impact comes in the form of hotel stays and business with other types of hospitality-related ventures conducted by individuals and families traveling long distances to reach the show, the report concluded.
The Galaxy Council has always had to conduct extensive fund-raising efforts to produce the air show, said Shuback, adding that it has secured sponsorships from both local companies and national and international corporations (including several car makers) while also staging a huge kickoff fund-raising breakfast, this year slated for Aug. 3.
But this year, the challenge is greater, he told BusinessWest, because of those aforementioned defense cutbacks and resulting bigger tab for the Galaxy Community Council (which must pay for the fuel for the acts, provide lodging, and other expenses), but also due to the lingering effects of the recession.
“The last time Westover hosted a show was 2008,” Shuback noted, “and while the recession was certainly coming, most companies were not really feeling the impact by that summer.”
More than one-quarter into 2012, many companies small and large are still feeling the effects, he went on, adding that some traditional supporters of the air show are scaling back their contributions, while others are pulling back altogether. “People are being more cautious in this environment.”
These various challenges have forced the Galaxy Community Council to exercise its imagination and resiliency, said Shuback, and one of the answers it has devised is the 100 Heroes campaign.
It is expected to involve area chambers of commerce, the Greater Springfield Convention & Visitors Bureau, Spirit of Springfield, and other groups and elected leaders in an effort to identify parties that can step forward and support the show.
“We’re reaching out to the local people who are impacted by the economics of this show,” said Shuback. “And if you’re in this region, you’re impacted in some way; the money will rattle around, and everyone will benefit.”

Soaring Expectations
The full list of show attractions is still being finalized, but the lineup is already deep and diverse. It includes everything from a host of World War II-vintage aircraft to a demonstration of a Marine Corps CV-22 Osprey; from a jet-powered school bus to a U.S. Navy F-18 Hornet demonstration.
The full scope of the show will ultimately be determined by the support from the business community, including what Shuback, Marois, and others hope will be at least 100 heroes.
“The show has really become a tradition in this region and, beyond that, a boon for the local economy,” said Marois. “It’s a tradition we want to continue because there are a number of important benefits for the region.”

George O’Brien can be reached at obrien@businesswest.com