Month: April 2017

Owner and Instructor, MEGAdance; Age 32

Megan Shaw

Megan Shaw has been passionate about dance and fitness all her life, so, about eight years ago, she started teaching Zumba.

Noticing that her classes at the YMCA were always packed, she took a leap in 2012 and launched her own fitness business, MEGAdance — which she characterizes as a “high-energy dance party workout” — from a small church basement, starting with only eight students. But it grew quickly by word of mouth, and today, she’s moved to much larger facilities in Greenfield, where her classes typically draw 40 to 50 people.

“MEGAdance is a place where people of all ages, sizes, backgrounds, and fitness abilities work out, dance, and have fun without fear of judgment,” she told BusinessWest. “I strive to create a positive environment where everyone is celebrated, supported, and encouraged to be themselves and express their own rhythm in class and in life.”

Shaw said her classes are a judgment-free zone for women and men of all ages, backgrounds, and abilities. “I love that women in their 70s come to my class; it’s very inspiring. And I strive to create a positive environment where everyone is supported and encouraged to be themselves. We are a fit family.”

It’s also a business that gives back to the community, offering free classes in low-income communities, schools, nursing homes, and at the Center for Human Development, and holding fund-raisers to support the New England Learning Center for Women in Transition, Shriners Hospitals for Children, Community Action, and most recently, the Peruvian Red Cross to help flood victims.

Shaw, who speaks Spanish fluently, is especially fond of Peru after spending the past two summers there, participating in internships that promote sustainable agriculture and working with indigenous communities.

“Because I come from a humble background and understand the struggle to live with few resources, I feel strongly about supporting the community,” she said, both in Peru and in her own backyard. To be able to do that while sharing her passion for dance, well, that’s just gravy.

“The goal in my professional life is nothing short of breaking the status quo and transforming my community through dance fitness, community building, and radical self-acceptance,” she noted, adding that seeing lives change for the better is only half the story.

“It’s reciprocal,” she said. “They change my life, too.”

—Joseph Bednar

Executive Director, Palante Theater Co.; Holyoke City Councilor; Age 29

Nelson Roman

Nelson Roman loves the theater and played many roles in well-known productions during his youth. But his life story is more compelling and inspirational than any script.

“I’ve gone from hopeless to hopeful through the things I’ve done and am making my dream become a reality,” said the Puerto Rican, bilingual founder of the black-box-style Palante Theater Co. in Holyoke, whose first production will be a Puerto Rican/Latino play.

A decade ago, after learning he was HIV positive, Roman became homeless and spent two years on the streets of Holyoke before a state program changed his life.

Today, he has secured the initial investment for his theater, plans to launch a capital campaign to fund it, and has support from the Urban Theater Co. in Chicago and the Mass. International Festival of the Arts Victory Theatre in Holyoke.

His goal is to give local people an inexpensive venue to see live productions and showcase young talent via plays and films that raise awareness about social issues and celebrate the Puerto Rican and Latino cultures.

Roman is also working to help revitalize South Holyoke. The Ward 2 city councilor was first elected in 2015 and views himself as a connector between government and the neighborhood. He started three neighborhood associations, helped create Taste of South Holyoke and the Holyoke World AIDS City Event, chairs the Joint Committee of the City Council and the School Committee, and serves on the council’s Development and Government Relations Committee.

In 2012, he founded the Imperial Court of Western Mass. Inc., a nonprofit that raises money to provide services to the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community and people who have HIV or AIDS.

“Five years later, we were able to give out $65,000 in grants to organizations that include the AIDS Foundation of Western Mass. [he served on that board from 2013 to 2015], the Holyoke House of Color, Springfield Pride, and Northampton Pride,” he said.

Roman served on the board of the Springfield Puerto Rican Cultural Council from 2014 to 2016, and has been feted with the Audre Lordes Founder Award and an International Court System Commendation.

“Every day when I wake up,” he said of his approach to life, “I think, ‘what if I am not here tomorrow? Have I done everything I can to make a positive difference in my community?’”

—Kathleen Mitchell

Director of Franklin/Hampshire Vocational Services, ServiceNet; Age 34

Shawn Robinson

Shawn Robinson was 12 years old when he walked by a music festival in a park and was recruited into the Berkshire Coalition to Prevent Pregnancy.

At age 15, he wrote an application for and won a grant from the United Way to launch a free Culture Camp for kids that he ran with his peers, and a year later he was named to the Berkshire Coalition board of directors.

Robinson was exposed to people with diverse abilities throughout his youth because his parents worked for the Department of Developmental Services, and clients shared Thanksgiving and overnight stays with them. Those experiences, combined with parental values and his involvement in church, Boy Scouts, youth groups, and two missionary trips to Haiti during high school and college, fueled his passion to help others.

“I’ve always had a deep sense of wanting to make a difference,” he told BusinessWest. “I want to do anything I can to help the community, and often find myself getting involved in things without thinking, although I try to serve on only three boards at a time.”

Robinson and his wife, Jill, are parents to Sofia, 6, and Jake, 3, and he has volunteered with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Hampden County since 2008. He co-founded the Pioneer Valley chapter of Young Democrats, and served as president and was named Massachusetts Young Democrat of the Year in 2010.

In 2011, ServiceNet asked him to develop a program to improve client health outcomes through fresh-air and outdoor work. He spent a year working with a disabled man who lived in a house in Hatfield with plenty of acreage, and they converted the property into Prospect Meadow Farm.

Today, it employs 70 people with developmental disabilities, autism, or brain injuries who raise chickens, sell eggs, manage one of the state’s largest log-grown shiitake-mushroom operations, build and sell wood products, and operate catering and community landscaping services.

Robinson is president of the board of Highland Valley Elder Services and serves on the Ethics Committee at Cooley Dickinson Hospital, the town of Hatfield Finance Committee, the town’s Mental Health Awareness Committee and Council on Aging, and ServiceNet’s Diversity Committee. He has received awards from United Way of Hampshire County and the Mass. Department of Developmental Services. And he’s not slowing down.

“In the next few years,” he said, “I will look at new ways of engaging in the community.”

—Kathleen Mitchell

Teacher, English Language Learners School; Children’s Author; Age 26

Katherine Kraver

Katherine Kraver jokes that she’s “retiring in reverse.”

That’s a reference to the fact that she’s collecting stamps on her passport — dozens of them — when she’s in her 20s, not 60s, 70s, or 80s. But she’s not traveling to destinations as diverse as Costa Rica, Croatia, India, Jordan, and South Africa to relax, sightsee, and snap photos for albums (although she does some of that).

No, she’s going to learn. Only she has another name for it.

“I keep it to business,” she noted, adding that this means absorbing everything she can about these countries, many of which are the birthplaces of students in her third-grade classroom at the ELL (English Language Learners) School in West Springfield.

“Every school vacation, I pick a student in my classroom, and I travel to their home country to learn more about their culture, customs, language, history, and some of the experiences they may have gone through,” she explained. “Students are more willing to learn when they feel you’re really connected to them, like if I know a little of their language, or a tradition, or something else I can connect to them with.”

And these trips have yielded more than insight, perspective, and those connections. Indeed, they have provided storylines and inspiration to tell those stories, in the form of children’s books told from the perspective of a child.

Her first, It Was Just a House, written when she was just 24, was inspired by her trip to a Middle Eastern refugee camp. Her second, The Boy with the Red Shoes, released last year, was motivated by her trip to Haiti following the earthquake there in 2010.

“I wrote that first book to teach other students about what that child might be bringing into our classroom, and how we can be compassionate and empathetic, as well as to teach my co-workers and adults about these people we know so little about,” she said, adding that it was the same with the second tome.

While she likes to talk about where’s she’s been, Kraver is more fond of discussing where she’s going next, to do more learning and perhaps gain the inspiration to pen additional books.

In fact, just a few days after the 40 Under Forty gala in late June, she’ll be off to Venice and a host of other destinations in Italy.

Retiring in reverse? Not even close. This will be another ‘business’ trip.

—George O’Brien

Assistant Vice President, PeoplesBank; Age 39

Michelle Chase

Michelle Chase says she has a simple, yet quite poignant outlook on her career, parenting, and … every facet of her life, really.

“With whatever I’m doing, whether its running, with the kids, at work … I’m always trying to think of a way where I can leave my mark, or I can leave my legacy,” she explained, adding that she believes she’s been quite successful in those efforts to date.

As she elaborated, she started with a reference to a quarterly coffee hour she spearheaded at PeoplesBank, where she has been employed since 2011, currently serving as assistant vice president and manager of the branch in Westfield.

“A member of senior management speaks at that coffee hour about their career development and how they got to where they are — the career path they took, the mistakes they made, the things they did well,” she said of the gatherings, staged at the institution’s headquarters in Holyoke. “And it has spread like wildfire at the bank; we’ve run out of room for the people who want to attend. I left my mark — that event will continue long after I leave the bank.”

Chase is also leaving a mark, her mark, in the community through contributions to groups and causes ranging from the Young Professional Society of Greater Springfield (where she volunteers with everything from the CEO luncheons to dodgeball) to the Greater Westfield Chamber of Commerce; from Habitat for Humanity to the Springfield Boys & Girls Club.

She brought this passion to serve and help others together with another recently developed passion — running — to help in the fight against breast cancer. Indeed, soon after her best friend was diagnosed with that disease, she organized a 5k race called the Breast Run Ever.

And she believes she’s making her mark as a parent through … well, all of the above, by setting a solid example for her children, daughter Emma Daunais, 14, and son Chase Daunais, 11.

“One of the reasons why I do the things I do within the community is to lead by example and hope that these are things that they pick up and they want to do themselves someday,” she explained. “I’d love it if they’d say, ‘my mom did these things, and I want to follow that lead.’”

As she said, she likes to leave her mark, and it’s a mark of excellence and commitment to the community.

—George O’Brien

Program Director and Morning Show Host, 93.9 the River; Age 39

Christopher Belmonte

‘Monte’ Belmonte (only his mother still calls him Chris) says he probably owes his career to a solid Al Gore impersonation.

OK, that’s an exaggeration, but that impression definitely helped get him started in radio. He was an intern at a Boston station in the fall of 2000, and started doing the Gore impersonation (off the air) well into the campaign. One of the show’s hosts thought it was quite funny and put him on the air. It caught on, and, as everyone should recall, that race didn’t end the first Tuesday in November; it wasn’t official until all those hanging chads in Florida were counted weeks later.

So Belmonte kept on doing the impersonation, and people at the station soon realized he had many other talents. Fast-forwarding a little, he and his future wife relocated to this region, and Belmonte took a job with 93.9 the River, and he’s been there ever since, now serving as program director and morning-show host. He still does an occasional impression — he says he can do a decent Donald Trump — but adds quickly that this is not what he’s known for.

What he is known for, and what certainly impressed the 40 Under Forty judges, is his work in fund-raising, specifically for two main causes — helping those fighting cancer, and battling hunger.

With the former, his work focuses on the Cancer Connection, which promotes itself as “a place to find strength,” and it involves pitching a tent in the winter on the old courthouse lawn in Northampton to raise both awareness and money. The first year, the program raised $5,000; by the 10th, it was raising more than $100,000.

As for the latter, Monte’s March has become part of the region’s lexicon. He started with a single shopping cart and a trek between Northampton and Greenfield, collecting money for the Food Bank of Western Mass. as he went. Now, he has several “hot-rodded” carts thanks to students at Smith Vocational and Agricultural High School, a two-day trek between Springfield and Greenfield, and some people to keep him company, including U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern. Last year, the march raised more than $200,000.

“The congressman was with me the whole way, and listeners sign up to independently fund-raise, and they join me on the expedition,” he said. “The march has really taken off.”

In some respects, the region has Al Gore to thank for all this, but mostly it’s indebted to the man who can impersonate him.

—George O’Brien

Physician Assistant, Spa on the Green; Age 39

Leah Kenney

While studying to be a physician assistant, Leah Kenney planned to go into pediatric plastic surgery, fixing cleft palates and birth defects. But when she trained with Dr. Glen Brooks, she was intrigued by the wide range of procedures and the way they changed lives in ways both big and small.

“I love the diversity of being involved in short, sweet cosmetic cases, and then big, involved cases,” she said. “Either way, you’re making life better for the patient.”

Those major cases include assisting Brooks with breast reconstructions after cancer-related mastectomies. “The advances in the field have been extensive; we can do smaller surgeries now with equally satisfying results and less downtime, so patients can move forward with their recovery much more quickly.”

But Kenney has also built a strong niche in cosmetic injections, fillers, and laser work, which have become as common as getting highlights in one’s hair, she said.

“I remember when Botox was a dirty word, and now it’s truly a household word. Today, the question isn’t ‘who’s getting Botox,’ it’s who’s not having it done. It’s such a small thing, but it makes people feel more confident and competitive in the workforce because they feel as good as they look.”

Kenney’s passion for improving lives extends far beyond her office, however, with a host of volunteer roles in the community.

“Throughout my life, I’ve always been advocating for my peers,” she said, from her term as class vice president in college to her launch of the Assoc. of Plastic Surgery Physician Assistants. “And when I became a mother, I started Longmeadow Swap.”

That’s a Facebook page she expected to link a small number of area moms, who would send each other used toys and household items they were done with, as a way to keep plastic out of landfills. “But it’s unbelievably popular,” she said of the 5,000-strong group (with another 2,400 on the waiting list), which has assembled its collective might in the service of everything from helping members find jobs to locating lost dogs and even, in one case, a child who had wandered off.

It’s impressive she fits all this in while also training students in injection techniques, working at a second practice in Connecticut, and raising three children. But her work keeps her energized.

“Every day is a good day at work. When students come from area programs, they always have a fun rotation here because the patients are so thankful. It’s very satisfying.”

—Joseph Bednar

Chief Operations Officer, Caring Health Center; Age 31

Jacqueline Johnson

Jacqueline Johnson has more than 15 years of professional experience working as a grass-roots community organizer and leader of diverse teams. But it’s her life experience that has shaped her success.

Raised by a strong, single Latina mother in Northampton’s Florence Heights projects, Johnson’s upbringing not only prepared, but motivated her to be the best she could be.

“My mom was 15 when I was born. Growing up, I saw a lot — drugs, alcohol, poverty. If it weren’t for my mom, my life could have turned out very differently,” said Johnson. “She told me to go to school, work hard, and do well.”

So she did, overcoming whatever challenges she faced. “I went to school in Northampton. None of the kids looked like me or spoke like me. They were mainly middle- to upper-class, and predominately white. There were a lot of economic and racial barriers, but I took every opportunity I could to grow.”

She started volunteering when she was 11, using her own street smarts and know-how to help kids at risk. She says the youth-development work gave her a sense of identity, and the beginning of a lifelong investment in social justice and community advocacy.

Johnson graduated from Mount Holyoke College with a bachelor’s degree in politics and urban development. She went on to earn a master’s in social justice from UMass Amherst, and started working for Springfield’s Caring Health Center when she was 21, as an HIV program director focused on management and prevention for people at high risk, specifically Latina intravenous drug users.

“I realized the odds were against me,” said Johnson. “I was helping people I grew up with, and it hit home that I could have been one of the program’s participants.”

Today, she’s the center’s chief operations officer, who never loses sight of what sustains her: the personal and professional relationships she’s made throughout her life. “I respect them all — friends, co-workers, and, of course, the people who come through our doors every day. They all inspire me and are the reason I love coming to work.”

Besides leading CHC through its development and expansion of new sites and services, Johnson also works tirelessly to secure funding and improve healthcare accessibility for the region’s diverse residents. She’s also served as a liaison to Northampton’s mayor and to the Latina community, and is a frequent public speaker and motivator — following in the footsteps of the mother who inspired her.

 —Alta Stark

Associate Director, Springfield South End Community Center; Age 37

Wesley Jackson

Many recognize “Do the Right Thing” as the title of a movie. Wes Jackson has made the phrase his life mantra, helping boys and young men at risk realize their potential.

Jackson started at Springfield’s South End Community Center 17 years ago, as an intern coaching basketball. Today, he manages day-to-day operations there, a multi-faceted job made more challenging five years ago when a tornado destroyed the center, pushing services to various satellite locations. But he says his biggest challenge is keeping kids on the right path, one he followed because of his own experience.

“I grew up on Parker Street in Springfield, across from the former Green Leaf Community Center,” he explained. “The programs they developed kept me out of trouble, and I wanted to do the same thing in my life.”

Jackson has stayed close to nearly 50 area boys and men who’ve gone through the programs he’s involved in, including two more jobs he holds, coaching at the Springfield Commonwealth Academy and serving as athletic director for the Paulo Freire Social Justice Charter School in Holyoke. “I like working with them and shaping their lives,” he said.

Many of these guys call him ‘Pops’ or ‘Dad,’ and two men, in particular, have seen their lives change for the better because of his influence.

In 2011, he was leading a discussion group as part of the RISE character-development program, when a young man revealed he was being bullied. “Kids were calling him names, making him feel bad about himself,” he said. With the support of the boy’s parents and school, Jackson worked with him to build his confidence. After the bullying stopped, the student excelled academically and went on to captain his high-school football team. He’ll graduate in June.

Jackson gave a second young man the life skills he needed to leave a life of crime behind, moving the boy into his home for two years following jail time for selling drugs. He got the boy on the basketball team and literally showed him how to ‘do the right thing’ on a daily basis. The young man got a job, graduated from high school, and went on to earn degrees from Holyoke Community College and Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts in North Adams.

While not yet a father, Jackson considers all the kids he works with his own — he’s pictured (center) with a few individuals who have been through the center’s programs — and looks forward to helping them grow, succeed … and lead.

—Alta Stark

Owner, Pete’s Sweets; Age 26

Peter Gray wasn’t long out of culinary school when he found his way onto Next Great Baker, a cooking-competition show on TLC hosted by “Cake Boss” Buddy Valastro. But, perhaps due to his youth, he didn’t feel stressed.

“I was there to learn and have fun,” he recalled. “All the others were there to win $100,000 and keep their failing bakery alive so they could feed their family.”

Indeed, he did not win, but during one of his weekly visits to a WMAS morning radio show to discuss the previous night’s episode, the topic of starting his own business came up. He had been putting out feelers to find a job working for someone else, but instead wound up moving into space in East Longmeadow where a gelato outfit operated during the summer. Since then, he’s not only taken over the whole property, but has expanded three times.

Gray has been passionate about baking from a very early age. In fact, he presented an oral report in fourth grade on his future company, which he then dubbed Peter’s Sweets; the teacher of that class is one of his customers today. And through high school, he made birthday cakes for friends as a side hobby. So perhaps owning his own shop was inevitable.

“It’s such a celebratory business,” he said. “Florists have to deal with funerals, but we just deal with celebrations — weddings, baby showers, anniversaries, birthdays. And we don’t sell coffee here, so we don’t have angry coffee drinkers in the morning. No one comes in angry for a cupcake.”

Gray is especially gratified when customers come in again and again. “I’ve done baby showers, then that child’s first birthday, then the second birthday. And I want to be the baker who bakes that child’s wedding cake.”

Environmentally and civically minded, he follows a compost food-waste and recycling policy and hosts food drives for area pantries, and also donates time, resources, and, yes, sweet stuff to various nonprofits and community organizations, as well as the East Longmeadow Police Department, which gets a delivery each month as a thank-you for responding to the needs of his hometown.

Growing up in East Longmeadow, Gray recalls helping out in the kitchen at age 5. “My mom would always joke, ‘I’m not a baker; I don’t know where he got this.’”

It’s more clear where he’s taking it — to new heights of sweet success.

—Joseph Bednar

President, Geeleher Enterpises Inc.; Age 39

Ryan Geeleher

By the time most people reach their late 30s, they’ve been on countless job interviews. Ryan Geeleher is 39, and he’s never experienced one. He doesn’t have a résumé, and, as he says, he’s never held a ‘real’ job.

“I always planned to have my own business,” he said. “I wanted to be my own boss.” He started Geeleher Enterprises as a senior in high school, forgoing usual teen routines to mow lawns and plow snow, assisted by a couple of part-time helpers. “It was a sacrifice, but one I don’t regret.”

Geeleher graduated high school and went on to study landscape contracting at UMass Amherst’s Stockbridge School of Agriculture. While there, he not only earned a degree and honed his business skills, he also continued to grow his business. When he graduated in 1999, he poured what he’d learned into the company.

“Everything kind of snowballed,” said Geeleher. “I started getting larger commercial-site and snow contracts, so I bought more machines.” By 2000, he had a half-dozen or so employees, and while he suffered through economic downturns in the years that followed, he says he’s always been fortunate to keep his business growing with the help of a great team of employees.

Over time, he expanded services to include both private and public contracts, ranging from large-scale excavation to municipal utility installations. Today, Geeleher Enterprises is a multi-million-dollar company with 35 full-time employees year-round. In the winter, that number can flex up to as many as 50, to service some of the largest retail, commercial, and medical properties in Western Mass.

Geeleher remains hands-on, running equipment and filling in as a laborer as needed. He’s also the first one to get a call in the middle of the night to fix a water-main break or plow snow. He says he doesn’t mind because it’s his name on the door.

He also gives back to the community, chairing the Southampton Zoning Board of Appeals and supporting Team Justice, a nonprofit founded by three Southwick police officers to provide area youths with positive role models and give them the opportunity to compete in motocross, a sport Geeleher has enjoyed since he was 14.

Still unmarried (but attached), he remains devoted to the business he’s nurtured for 22 years. “It can consume you,” he said, “but it’s worth it.”

—Alta Stark