Month: October 2017

Law Sections

The Big Picture

While large in scale and scope, the unfolding Harvey Weinstein story nonetheless offers invaluable lessons to employers in every sector about their responsibilities and the steps they must take to protect their employees and themselves. That’s the main takeaway from this matter, according to several employment-law attorneys, who note that the main objective should be zero tolerance.

Kathryn Crouss says that, in many respects, the Harvey Weinsten story — three words that cover a lot of territory, to be sure — is outwardly extraordinary in several respects.

Starting with the individual at the center of it all.

He was (the tense is important here, so please note it) not only the leader of the company in question — Miramax and then the Weinstein Company — but an executive who seemingly had the ability to alternately make or break a career depending on his disposition at a given moment.

Also extraordinary was the extent of the allegations lodged against him by a growing number of women — from random, or not-so-random, as the case may be, acts of sexual harassment all the way up to rape. (Weinstein adamantly denies the latter.)

Other manners in which ‘extraordinary’ fits include everything from the number of alleged victims of harassment (or worse), to the number of people who evidently shirked their responsibilities in this matter (from other officials at the company to board members), to how long it took for this story to break. Indeed, several reporters have come forward to say their efforts to uncover allegations against Weinstein were thwarted for years by everything from alleged victims’ refusal to talk to heavy-handed threats of litigation from Weinstein and his lawyers.

But when you slice through all that, ‘extraordinary’ might not be the most effective adjective after all, said Crouss, an employment-law specialist and associate with the Springfield-based firm Bacon Wilson. She told BusinessWest that, in many respects, what happened at the Weinstein Company still goes on at firms that are exponentially smaller and with individuals who might lack the star power of actresses like Ashley Judd and Gwyneth Paltrow, but who nonetheless have the same basic rights.

Kathryn Crouss

“I’m glad all this has come out, because we really do have to have this conversation,” she told BusinessWest. “It’s not only in Hollywood, it’s everywhere, and this is a good opportunity to have the discussion.”

Specifically, she was referring to sexual harassment in its two most basic and legally identified forms — the presence of what’s known as a “hostile work environment,” and also the quid pro quo variety, where one individual promises something in exchange for something else.

They both go on at companies and institutions large and small and across all sectors of the economy, said Crouss, basing those remarks simply on how much time she’s spent in court and in clients’ boardrooms handling such matters.

Amelia Holstrom, an associate with Springfield-based Skoler, Abbott & Presser, agreed.

Amelia Holstrom

“Sexual-harassment cases are on the rise, and, more importantly, retaliation cases have increased from 18,000 in 1997 to 42,000 in 2016,” she said, adding that some of those harassment cases involve individuals who reported sexual harassment and allege that some action was taken against them as a result of their complaint.

Thus, the Weinstein story serves up some important lessons, or a wake-up call, if you will, said Crouss and others we spoke with, about employers’ responsibilities under the law, and what is really necessary to keep them from running afoul of those laws.

In short, while the law requires companies with six or more employees to have a formal sexual-harassment policy on the books — meaning in the handbook — having a policy on paper is only the starting point.

Peter Vickery, an employment-law specialist based in Amherst, said employers should be diligent about making employees aware of the policy, provide training to workers at all levels in recognizing and avoiding sexual harassment, and follow through on everything in the policy.

Peter Vickery

“When they receive complaints, they have to investigate them immediately, or as promptly as possible, and follow up,” said Vickery as he listed clear takeaways from the Weinstein saga. “And whatever they do, under no circumstances should they retaliate against the employee who brought the complaint. Also, depending on what their investigation uncovers, take remedial action.

“What the Weinstein case is showing is that a lot of powerful people chose not to protect Weinstein’s victims; they had a choice, they were employers, they knew that this was going on, and they chose to do the wrong thing,” he went on. “They chose not just to turn a blind eye, but to become complicit and to be his enabler. It looks like a lot of powerful people chose to put their employees in harm’s way.”

For this issue’s focus on law, BusinessWest looks at the Weinstein case and, more specifically, what employers should take from it.

Action! Items

Getting back to the Weinstein story and that word ‘extraordinary,’ it would also apply to the price that Weinstein and his company will be paying for all that transpired over the past few decades.

Indeed, Weinstein the man and Weinstein the company name would both appear to be highly radioactive at this point and with very uncertain futures. The same can be said for other officials at the company, including Harvey’s brother, Bob. There will likely be criminal charges filed and enormous penalties to pay.

Again, extraordinary. But the price to be paid by small-business owners and managers who run afoul of sexual-harassment laws are equally significant, at least when adjusted for scale.

“There can be damages for back pay if someone lost their job or quit,” Holstrom explained. “There can be damages for emotional distress, which is common in these cases and can range from $50,000 to one I’ve seen at $500,000. There can also be punitive damages, attorney’s fees, the other side’s attorney’s … the list goes on.”

So how do employers protect themselves and their businesses from paying such penalties? The simple answer, said those we spoke with, is by taking the matter seriously, or very seriously, as the case may be.

SEE: List of Law Firms

Most already do, said Holstrom, but the rising number of sexual-harassment and retaliation claims would seem to indicate they’re not taking it seriously enough.

Or, to put it another way, they’re not taking a ‘zero-tolerance’ stance on the matter, a phrase used by all those we spoke with.

There is much that goes into zero tolerance, as we’ll see, starting with the need to go well beyond placing a sexual-harassment policy in the company handbook. Additional steps could and should include yearly training, said Crouss, noting, for example, that this takes place at her firm.

Beyond training, employers looking to protect their interests must take each complaint, investigate it thoroughly, and, when there is harassment between co-workers, take steps to stop it, said Holstrom, adding that when the matter involves a supervisor harassing a co-worker, the employer is automatically liable. And while she acknowledged that ‘thoroughly’ is a subjective term, she said objectivity is required, and she had her own advice for clients on such matters.

“They have to meet with the accuser and get all the facts from that person,” she explained. “And then, they have to meet with the accused and gather information from that individual. And then, they have to meet with any witnesses that are identified by the accused, the accuser, or anyone else. And then, they have to follow up if necessary.

“And then, the employer, using some common-sense principles and some evidence, decide who they believe,” she went on, adding that this is sometimes, if not often, an inexact science.

Beyond acting ‘thoroughly,’ however it might be defined, companies must also act consistently, said Crouss, meaning that all cases are investigated and handled with equal vigor, regardless of who is accused of harassment.

That includes women; top officials at a company, up to and including those who might have the names over the door and on the stationary; and the proverbial ‘golden boy or girl’ — a top producer, for example, or a popular employee, or even someone who has been around a long time and is generally well-respected.

Creating an environment where employees feel they can lodge warranted complaints against anyone and they will be taken seriously and acted upon is inherently difficult, she went on, but this should be the goal for all employers; otherwise, complaints can and will go unreported, as they were in Weinstein’s case.

“What happens if it’s the golden boy?” she asked rhetorically. “This is someone the rest of the company values and likes, but this is going on behind the scenes. The harassed employee is likely to think, ‘they’re never going to come after so and so.’”

One of the most troubling aspects of the Weinstein case, Crouss said, is the alleged perpetrator himself, the boss and power broker, a situation that, in some respects, goes a long way toward explaining why harassment still takes place.

“Those women didn’t feel supported or safe in reporting it,” she said of the Weinstein allegations. “And I think the reason in this case, and in so many cases, why these types of things are able to go on as long as long as they are is because women either don’t understand what’s happened or don’t define it in their heads as sexual harassment, or don’t feel safe in their own jobs and their own employment reporting it.”

And this is why, she went on, at the grassroots level on up, it’s important for employers to be proactive and very clear about just what sexual harassment is and what employees can and must do if they believe they are victims of it.

Cast of Thousands

Zero tolerance and protecting a company and its leadership also means knowing, fully understanding, and taking steps to prevent (through training and other measures) those two main types of sexual harassment mentioned earlier.

The first is the presence of a hostile work environment, which, said Holstrom by way of offering the legal definition, “is unwanted or unwelcome conduct focused on or because of an individual’s protected class that unreasonably interferes with job performance or creates an intimidating, hostile, or offensive work environment.”

“Typically, someone must prove that she or he was subject to unwelcome/unwanted, verbal/non-verbal communication or action that was severe and pervasive enough to alter the terms and conditions of employment,” she went on, adding that, in sexual-harassment cases, examples of such conduct or actions include sexual advances, touching, and sexual jokes.

‘Hostile’ is another one of those words that seems laden with subjectivity, and in some respects it is, said Holstrom, who takes this approach on the matter:

“What I always tell my clients is that, when they do these investigations, they’re not necessarily making a legal determination about whether it would constitute a hostile-environment claim to a jury or another decision maker,” she explained. “I tell them, ‘you’re looking at whether it violates your policy and whether it belongs in your workplace.’”

Vickery agreed, and noted that employers should be mindful of the fact that hostile-work-environment claims can, and often are, lodged by those not being directly harassed but who are nonetheless working — or trying to work — in the same environment.

“They also have the right to be free from a hostile work environment,” he noted. “So they can file claims as well.”

As for quid pro quo harassment (the term comes from the Latin and means “this for that”), it occurs when submission to or rejection of conduct is used as the basis for an employment decision, said Holstrom.

“Examples include a supervisor promising an employee a raise if she goes on a date with him,” she noted, “and a supervisor giving an employee a negative performance review because he refused to go on a date with her.”

But safeguarding a company from trouble with regard to sexual harassment extends beyond the walls of a company, said Vickery, adding that this is another possible lesson from the Weinstein story.

Indeed, he said employers must be diligent about protecting employees from what’s known as third-party harassment, that committed by vendors, customers, and other parties employees might interact with.

The key in such matters is employers “sending employees into harm’s way,” said Vickery, meaning that a supervisor likely knows harassment is possible or even likely, and sends the employee into that environment anyway.

“A company’s policy should make it clear that employees can and must report sexual harassment by third parties,” he explained, “because that sexual harassment by a third party, if it occurs in the context of an employee’s job, can be a claim of hostile work environment. So employers need to be mindful of that to possibly avoid liability.”

Roll the Credits

As extraordinary as the Weinstein case is, and despite the fact that it will be in the news for quite some time, this story, like so many others that came before it, has the potential to fade from memory, or fade to black, as they say in the film industry.

Employers can’t afford to let that happen, in any sense of that phrase, said the lawyers we spoke with.

They should acknowledge that this case represents extremes in many, if not all, aspects of sexual harassment and the prices to be paid for such transgressions. But they should also understand that it also represents the basics.

And that there are important lessons to learn and remember.

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

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Holyoke Medical Center Offers Free Diabetes Wellness Fair

HOLYOKE — Holyoke Medical Center will host a free Diabetes Wellness Fair on Wednesday, Nov. 15 from 3 to 7 p.m. in the HMC Auxiliary Conference Center. This event is free and open to the public.

The fair will offer free blood-pressure checks, a type-2 diabetes risk test questionnaire, raffles, and more. Medical experts will be on hand to offer information on preventing diabetes-related complications, including skin, foot, dental, eye, and ear health. Demonstrations on exercise and food portion control will be presented and allow for hands-on participation.

Pharmacists will be on hand to discuss medications available to treat diabetes. Private consultations for those with more in-depth questions about medications and how to manage their diabetes can be scheduled. These one-on-one, half-hour meetings will be by appointment only; call (413) 534-2789 to register.

In conjunction with the Diabetes Wellness Fair, a free flu clinic will also be held from 4 to 6 p.m. Registration for flu shots is required by calling (413) 534-2533.

Complimentary valet parking will be available. HMC also offers regular transportation services throughout Holyoke, Chicopee, and South Hadley, which will be available for a portion of the fair. To inquire about and arrange transportation, call HMC Transportation Services at (413) 534-2607.

Staffing Agencies Meeting Needs, but Challenges Are Mounting

Employment Sections

Hire Degree of Difficulty

The region’s staffing industry has always been a solid barometer of the overall economy, and that is certainly true in this economy. Firms report that demand for qualified workers is high, and the pool of talent is small and in some respects shrinking. Meeting the demands of various sectors, firm owners and managers say, requires a mix of persistence, imagination, and, well, hard work.

Andrea Hill-Cataldo calls it the ‘Perm Division.’

That’s ‘perm,’ as in permanent-hire, or direct-hire, work. The venture she founded nearly 20 years ago, Johnson & Hill Staffing Services, has always provided such services. But they didn’t comprise a division of the company, and there weren’t staff members dedicated directly to them.

Until recently.

Indeed, the Perm Division is now staffed, and it is quite busy, said Hill-Cataldo, helping companies secure everything from administrative assistants to CFOs and CEOs. And it’s busy for several reasons.

They include the fact that many businesses, bolstered by a prolonged recovery that shows few if any signs of slowing down and challenged by everything from retiring Baby Boomers to on-the-move Millennials, are hiring. And also the fact that many of them need some help with that hiring.

“When businesses aren’t sure what they want to do, they might go temp or temp-to-hire, or they might just wait and see,” Hill-Cataldo explained, noting that the third option involves trying to get by without filling a vacancy. “But when they’re hiring on a permanent basis right off the bat, they’re pretty confident, and they know they need that position filled.”

The creation and consistent growth of Johnson & Hill’s Perm Division — and the reasons for both — are clear examples of how the staffing industry, as it’s called, is an effective economic indicator in its own right, and also how its operations essentially reflect, as a mirror would, what is happening with the local economy.

Andrea Hill-Cataldo says her company is meeting client clients and creating effective matches — but it is has never had to work harder to do so.

Discussions with Hill-Cataldo and others in this sector reveal that they are busy virtually across the board, meaning nearly all sectors of the economy; that they are handling increasing volumes of work in temp-to-hire and permanent hiring scenarios; and that they are becoming increasingly challenged when it comes to meeting the needs of their clients for qualified, motivated workers.

“Our work becomes more difficult as the pool of candidates gets smaller,” said Jennifer Brown, a certified staffing professional and vice president of Business Development at Springfield-based United Personnel, noting that, despite these challenges, the firm is meeting growing client needs across two main divisions — manufacturing and ‘professional’ positions.

All these developments reflect what is happening regionally, where companies are reasonably confident, need qualified help, and are having trouble finding it. And also where workers are equally confident, not shy about moving on to different challenges seemingly every few years, and are doing so in huge numbers, leaving their employers with the task of somehow replacing them, a situation that will certainly be exacerbated as MGM Springfield goes about filling roughly 3,000 positions over the next 10 months or so.

They also reflect the unemployment numbers and what’s behind them. This area’s jobless rate is higher than the state’s and the nation’s, which might sound beneficial for staffing agencies. But observers say it’s higher for a reason — most of those out of work lack many of the skills (technical and ‘people’ skills alike) to attain work.

The mirror-like quality of the staffing industry even extends to the broad realm of technology.

Jackie Fallon, president of Springfield-based FIT Staffing, which specializes in finding IT personnel for clients large and small, said a growing number of clients want and often desperately need individuals to collect and mine data, keep their systems safe from hackers, and enable computers (and therefore people) to continue working.

But in addition to now knowing how to find and evaluate good candidates (one big reason FIT is extremely busy these days), they are often surprised by and put off by the sticker price of such qualified individuals. They often want help at lower wages than what the market is often dictating, thereby adding a degree of difficulty to the search process.

“Think about a small manufacturer,” said Fallon while offering an example of what she’s running into. “Someone running a plant doesn’t want to pay an IT guy more than he or she is paying the plant manager. But that’s what the market is like out there; that’s what people are getting, and it’s creating challenges for companies.”

For this issue and its focus on employment, BusinessWest talked at length with several staffing-agency executives about what they’re seeing, hearing, and doing, and how all of that reflects the bigger picture that is the region’s economy.

Getting the Job Done

Hill-Cataldo was asked about how challenging it is to meet the needs of various clients and whether she was, in fact, able to keep up with demand. And with her answer, she probably spoke for not only everyone in her specific sector, but almost every business owner in Western Mass.

“It’s much more challenging to find qualified candidates than it probably ever has been, and I’ve been doing it for 25 years,” she explained. “We’ve never had to work this hard to get the right people; we’re getting them, but we’re just putting tremendous amounts of resources into doing that, and more hours. We have to work very hard.”

Jackie Fallon says the need for data and security specialists continues to soar, making her company extremely busy.

Brown and Fallon used similar language, by and large, and collectively, their words speak volumes about the employment situation and this particular cycle that the region and its staffing agencies find themselves in.

And like all businesses, staffing firms see life change considerably with those cycles.

When times are worse, or much worse, as they were during and just after the Great Recession a decade ago, there are large numbers of skilled people looking for work. The problem is, there isn’t much of it to be had as companies, out of necessity, make do with fewer bodies.

During such cycles, more hiring is done on both a temporary and temp-to-hire basis (providing some work for agencies) because companies generally lack the confidence to bring people on permanently.

When times are better, of course, the situation is reversed. There are more positions to fill as companies staff back up, but fewer qualified individuals to fill them. There are still large amounts of temp-to-hire work because companies generally want to try before they buy (and with good reason), but also considerably more permanent hiring, hence Johnson & Hill’s Perm Division.

If it sounds like there are no easy times for staffing agencies, that’s about how it is, although these would obviously be considered better times, or even, for some, the best of times.

“Technology is always in high demand because everyone needs it,” said Fallon. “We’re really busy; we had our best year ever last year, and this year, we’re continuing that trend.”

Both United and Johnson & Hill are also having a very solid year, continuing a recent run of them, and for a variety of reasons that have to do with the economy and a changing environment when it comes to the process of hiring.

Elaborating, Hill said busy managers often lack the time to recruit and interview candidates. Meanwhile, others aren’t fully up on the methods required to reach younger audiences and assemble a strong pool of candidates. Thus, they’re leaving it to the experts.

“The way companies recruit now has become so complex that, if you don’t need to hire on a large scale, you don’t have the time to invest in social-media campaigns and all the things you need to do to build that pipeline of people coming into your organization,” she explained. “That’s what we do all day; we’re building a pipeline of people for the positions we need to fill. That makes it cost-effective for us, and far less so for small companies that can just offload the whole process.”

Brown agreed, and said this helps explain why United’s Professional Division, as it’s called, is quite busy. But there are other factors, and they include the fact that, in most all respects, the market has shifted in favor of the employees and job seekers, who, like employers, have large amounts of confidence.

“With this economy, there are opportunities,” she explained. “People aren’t fearful about moving from one company to another, whether they want to enhance their skill set to get ready for the next step or relocate, or just earn more money.”

Meanwhile, larger numbers of Baby Boomers are making the decision to retire, leaving companies with the often-challenging task of replacing long-time, valued employees.

Pipeline Projects

In this environment, where agencies have to commit more time, energy, and financial resources to the task of creating solid matches (that’s the operative word in this industry), staffing work requires persistence, resourcefulness, imagination, and often working with partners to help individuals gain the skills needed to enter the workplace and succeed there.

“Before, it might take a few days to find someone; now, it might take a few weeks,” said Hill-Cataldo, as she addressed that persistence part of the equation. “Searches are more difficult and time-consuming.”

Jennifer Brown says the key to making successful matches is to fully understand a company’s culture, and finding individuals who can thrive in that environment.

Brown agreed, but stressed that, while the work is harder and it takes longer, there can be no shortcuts, because a firm can only succeed in this business if client needs are met — that is, if successful matches can be made.

And one key to accomplishing this is understanding not only a firm’s needs, but its culture, and then essentially working in partnership with the client to create what all parties concerned would consider a proverbial good hire.

“We need to make sure that the candidate we’re seeking aligns with what the client is looking to fulfill with the position,” Brown told BusinessWest, adding that this often goes beyond expected technical skill sets and into the realms of teamwork and company culture.

And with both sides of that equation, United is devoting time and resources to many forms of workforce development to help provide candidates with needed skills, she said.

As an example, she said the firm works with Goodwill Industries to present a training program to assist individuals with acquiring the essential skills to succeed in the workplace today.

“We need to make sure that the candidate’s character aligns with what the company is looking for, but also their competency as well,” she explained, adding that this is both an art and a science.

All of these traits are also needed within the broad spectrum of technology, said Fallon, adding that this has proven to be a lucrative, yet still challenging niche for the agency because, as she noted, technology is a critical component in every company’s success quotient, and also because the needs within this realm continue to grow.

This is especially true on the data side of the equation, as evidenced by growing use of the acronym DBA, which still stands for ‘doing business as,’ but increasingly, it also stands for ‘database administrator.’

“These are individuals in high demand,” said Fallon. “Data is a company’s goldmine; they need to protect it, and they need to make sure it’s running smoothly.”

Likewise, system security specialists are in equally high demand, said Fallon, adding that such professionals can and usually do demand a six-figure salary, a number that causes sticker shock in this region, which further complicates that aforementioned process of creating solid matches for both temp-to-hire and, increasingly, permanent-hire scenarios.

Matters are even further complicated by the fact that, increasingly, IT specialists can work remotely, which makes competition for them regional if not national or even international in scope.

“Someone can live here, work for a company in Boston, and maybe go into Boston once a week or maybe even less,” she explained, adding that firms in urban areas not only understand this, but they are generally less intimidated by the salaries such individuals are commanding.

The lesson companies can take from this is to be flexible and, when possible, allow people to work remotely, said Fallon, adding that, for various reasons, including an unwillingness, or inability, to meet those six-figure salaries, FIT has to cast an extremely wide net in its efforts to make matches.

“It’s easier for us to find someone from the Midwest to come here than it is someone from Boston — unless they were originally from this area,” she explained. “There’s more opportunity in Boston and places like it; if something doesn’t work out, they can walk down the street and find something else.”

Body of Work

While there are opportunities for staffing agencies during virtually all economic cycles, it is times like these when firms are particularly busy and when, like FIT, they are likely to record that proverbial ‘best year ever.’

But, as Hill-Cataldo noted, the rewards don’t come easy, and firms like hers must work harder than ever to not only meet the needs of clients, but exceed them.

In this respect, and many others, the staffing industry is reflecting the bigger picture and the economy of this region.

In other words, it’s a work in progress — in all kinds of ways.

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

Mobile Devices Find New Frontiers of Speed, Power, and Quality

Sections Technology

Innovation at Hand

An on-the-go society demands on-the-go technology, and the array of smartphones, tablets, wristband health sensors, and portable game systems only continues to expand as the major players compete for their share of a growing pie. In its annual look at some of the hottest tech items available, BusinessWest focuses on those mobile devices, which are connecting more Americans than ever, 24/7, to bottomless online resources and, sometimes, to each other.

If it seems like everyone’s on their smartphone these days, well, that’s a bit of an exaggeration.

But not by much.

According to a Pew Research Center survey conducted last November, 77% of Americans (77%) now own a smartphone, with lower-income Americans and those ages 50 and older exhibiting a sharp uptick in ownership over the previous year. Among younger adults, ages 18 to 29, the figure soars to 92%.

The 2017 results won’t be available until later this year, though the percentage is expected to rise even higher, because, well, it’s been on an upward trend since 2011, when Pew first started conducting these surveys. That year, just 35% of Americans reported they owned a smartphone of some kind.

These numbers don’t include plain old cellphones (remember when they seemed like the pinnacle of communications technology?). If those devices are included, 95% of Americans can reach in their pocket to make a call.

But BusinessWest’s annual rundown of the hottest technology — which, this year, focuses on mobile devices — isn’t interested in what was hot a decade ago. Following are some the most buzzworthy new smartphones, tablets, wearable fitness devices, and handheld game consoles, according to tech media.

Smarter — and Bigger

We’ll start, as many lists do this season, with the Samsung Galaxy S8 ($749), which Gareth Beavis at Techradar calls “the best phone in the world for a few reasons, but none more so than the display: it makes every other handset on the market look positively antiquated.

The camera and screen quality are both excellent, he continues, and while the phone is pricey, it’s worth the cost. “With the screen, Samsung has managed to find some impressive innovation at a time when there’s very little to be found in smartphones.”

Eric Walters at Paste added that, while the Galaxy S8 isn’t perfect, it’s the best Samsung has ever made, and an easy frontrunner for phone of the year. “It not only pushes the company’s portfolio forward, but the entire industry with its elegant and futuristic design that prioritizes the display without bloating the size. It’s an impressive achievement of design and engineering, but the quality isn’t surface deep. The entire experience of using the S8 is a rich one.”

One of the hottest trends of the past few years has been a shift to ‘phablets,’ smartphones that boast a much larger screen size than their predecessors. The Google Pixel 2 XL ($849) “improves on the first in lots of ways, but mostly it just looks a whole heap better,” writes Max Parker at Trusted Reviews, praising the device’s modern display and large size in a package that fits the hand well.

“But it’s the software that really wins here,” he adds. “Google’s approach to Android is fantastic, and the Assistant is an AI that’s already better than Apple’s Siri. The camera is stunning, too. It’s a 12-megapixel sensor that takes stunning photos in all conditions, and it’s packed with portrait mode tricks, too.”

Apple continues to be a key player in this realm, too, of course, and while the iPhone 8 Plus ($799) isn’t a big change over last year’s model, it boasts some substantial advantages, notes Mark Spoonauer at Tom’s Guide, and may turn out to be the equal of the iPhone X, to be released in early November.

“The new iPhone supports wireless charging, and its dual rear cameras are dramatically improved,” he adds. “Coupled with Apple’s new crazy-powerful A11 Bionic chipset, those lenses deliver portrait lighting — a new mode that lets you manipulate the light in a scene before and after the fact. The iPhone 8 Plus also delivers excellent battery life, lasting more than 11 hours in our testing.”

For those who prefer full-size tablets, competition continues to be fierce in that realm, with Apple again drawing headlines with the iPad Pro ($599).

“With Apple’s fastest-ever mobile processor, the 10.5-inch iPad Pro is easily the best tablet out there right now,” says Lindsay Leedham in Lifewire, who praised its camera, speakers, 256 GB storage, and True Tone display. “The iPad Pro uses sensors to detect the light in whatever room it’s in to adjust the color temperature of the display to the ambient light. The effect makes the screen look more like paper, and is most noticeable when it’s turned off and the screen switches to a bright bluish light.”

Meanwhile, for those on a budget, the Amazon Fire HD 8 ($79) is the best sub-$100 tablet available, according to Sascha Regan at PC Magazine.

“While you shouldn’t expect to compete against the iPad at this price point, the Fire HD 8 fits the bill for media consumption and light gaming,” she writes, calling its battery life adequare but praising its dual-band wi-fi. “In several tests at different distances from our Netgear router, we often got almost double the speed on the HD 8 than on the Fire 7. That made a real difference when doing things like downloading comics.”

Health and Leisure

Wearable technology, which focuses on tracking health and wellness habits, continues to be popular, although Fitbit, far and away the dominant player in this market, may be reaching saturation in the U.S., while smaller competitors eat away at its global market share, according to International Data Corp.

Still, its new products continue to wow reviewers. “Guess what: Fitbit’s newest tracker is its best one yet,” raves CNET’s Dan Graziano about the Fitbit Alta HR ($149). “For me, it’s all about design. I’ve been wearing the Alta HR for almost a month and plan to continue wearing it even after this review. It’s comfortable to wear and doesn’t sacrifice any features, but what sold me was the seven-day battery life.”

For those looking to spend more, the Fitbit Surge ($249) is a satisfyingly sophisticated piece of machinery,” writes Jill Duffy at PC Magazine. “It not only tracks your steps and sleep, but also alerts you to incoming phone calls and text messages, keeps tabs on your heart rate with a built-in optical heart rate monitor, uses GPS to track outdoor activity, and has much more functionality, especially for runners.”

Looking over the rest of the field, Marko Maslakovic at Gadgets & Wearables finds plenty to like about the Garmin Vivosport ($199), which is waterproof, comes with built-in GPS and all-day stress tracking, and counts reps and sets in the gym.

Though it’s slim and fits snugly on the wrist, “Vivosport has some pretty decent specs under the hood,” he adds. “You’ll get everything you could possibly hope for 24/7 activity tracking, including detailed info on steps, calories, distance, heart rate, activity, floors, and sleep. The GPS makes for more precise distance, time, and pace tracking, along with route mapping for your runs. It will track your swims in the pool, too. This is probably Garmin’s best fitness band yet.”

For technology enthusiasts whose tastes favor gaming on the run over, well, running, the portable-console market continues to thrive, with the longtime market leader making some new waves this year with the Nintendo Switch ($299).

“You can use it as a stationary console with your TV or transform it into a portable gaming device in literally seconds. You will keep all the data and can continue your game on the go,” Slant notes. “Nintendo Switch is light and feels comfortable in hand. It doesn’t cause any wrist strain. It also has a kickstand that folds out from the back of the console, so you can put it on the table.”

The publication also praises its graphics and controllers, but notes that it can be hard to find, lacks long battery life, plays poorly in direct sunlight due to screen glare, and doesn’t boast a wide variety of popular games — yet.

Game variety is no issue for the Nintendo 3DS XL ($199), which boasts two large screens, glasses-free 3D, and some of the best video games available on a mobile console, according to Top Ten Reviews. On the downside, battery life is not ideal.

Still, “thanks to its backwards compatibility with DS games and its huge selection of classic and new games in the Nintendo eShop, the 3DS XL is the best handheld game console available,” the site continues. “The 3DS family has the best games on a mobile category, and the Nintendo 3DS XL is the best handheld console available.”

Joseph Bednar can be reached at [email protected]

Sunshine Village Celebrates a Half-century of Creating Great Days

Cover Story Features

Star Power

Lenny Recor attends to the second floor at the TD Bank building, a position he secured with the help of Sunshine Village.

Back in the mid-’60s, a group of parents, advised by friends, family members, and attorneys alike to put their developmentally disabled children into an institution, collectively rejected that idea and, far more importantly, came up with a much better one. The result of their innovative, forward-thinking outlook was Sunshine Village, which, 50 years later, remains an immensely powerful source of light, warmth, hope, and lives fulfilled.

Lenny Recor was in a good mood — or as good a mood as you might expect someone to be in on a Monday morning.

Actually, the day of the week doesn’t seem to matter much to Recor, who appears to wear a smile on an almost permanent basis. And such was the case as he went about his work vacuuming, mopping, dusting, and cleaning bathrooms at 1441 Main St. in Springfield, a.k.a. the TD Bank Building.

“I like to work … it’s meaningful, and I get to meet people and say hello,” said the 39-year-old. “Besides, it’s good to have money in your pocket — really good.”

The ability to work and put money in one’s pocket is something that many people might take for granted, but not Recor.

He has managed to secure several such opportunities thanks to Sunshine Village, the Chicopee-based nonprofit that this year is celebrating a half-century of doing what it does best — creating ‘great days’ for hundreds of individuals with developmental disabilities and help them lead rich, meaningful (there’s that word again) lives.

SEE: List of Employment Agencies

And these great days come in many forms, said Gina Kos, long-time executive director at Sunshine Village, noting that, for some, it means a day of working and earning. For others, it might mean volunteering at one of a number of area nonprofits. For still others, it might mean using a computer or practicing yoga. And for some, a great day may involve learning to shake hands or hold a spoon.

“A great day is a collection of small, proud moments,” she told BusinessWest, noting that this simple definition covers a significant amount of ground, to be sure. “What goes into ‘great’ depends on the individual.”

Elaborating, she said the agency’s mission, and its mindset, are neatly summed up with a collection of words — a summary, if you will, of what the agency provides for its participants — now filling one wall inside the agency’s administration building:

“Warm welcomes, new skills, shared laughs, many choices, caring staff, friendships, creativity, new experiences, safe travels, big smiles, helping hands, happy people, kind words, unique opportunities, lifelong learning, fun times, teamwork, dedication, shining moments, celebrations, personal accomplishments, sunshine, great days,” it reads … with those last two words in bold red letters.

Over a half-century, Gina Kos says, Sunshine Village has evolved, but has always remained true to its core mission.

But it’s not what’s on the wall that defines Sunshine Village, but what goes on inside the walls — and, in Recor’s case and many others, well outside them.

At the hangars and administration buildings at nearby Westover Air Reserve Base, for example, where participants at Sunshine Village have been employed for more than 40 years, handling various cleaning duties. Or at a host of nonprofit agencies such as the Cancer House of Hope, Habitat for Humanity, the Holyoke Soldiers’ Home, and many others. Or at area businesses and office buildings ranging from the Trading Post, a large convenience store just down the street from the agency’s headquarters on Litwin Drive in Chicopee, to the TD Bank building.

And while on the subject of great days, Kos said Sunshine Village strives to provide them for both its participants and the team of employees who serve them.

“We work very hard to be a provider of choice and an employer of choice,” she noted, adding that these are the broad organizational goals outlined in a three-year strategic plan for the agency, one due to be updated in the near future. “And in the third year of our plan, we’ve realized outcomes with both of those goals that have really exceeded our initial expectations.”

For this issue, BusinessWest takes an in-depth look at the Village as it marks a key milestone, and at how, as it looks forward to its next half-century of creating great days, it will continue its evolutionary process.

Bright Ideas

When asked about the circumstances that brought her to the corner office at Sunshine Village, Kos quickly flashed back more than 25 years to the agency’s first annual fund-raising golf tournament at Tekoa Country Club in Westfield.

“I was a volunteer — I drove the beer cart,” she recalled, adding that she had such a good time, and was so impressed with the agency’s mission and how it was met, that she volunteered again the next year.

And through those experiences, Kos, who was, at the time, working in the banking sector, decided she wanted to get involved at a much higher level.

Indeed, she joined Sunshine Village in a marketing position, and a few years later rose to director. She told BusinessWest that, early on, her focus was on putting the agency on a stronger financial footing and enabling it to operate more like a business, or a nonprofit business, to be precise.

Kori Cox, a participant in Sunshine Village’s community-based day services, describes herself as an ambassador committed to generating positive thinking.

“When I came here, people in the human-services world didn’t talk about money,” she noted. “But I said, ‘you need to talk about money.’ And today, I think a lot of organizations follow Sunshine Village’s path of talking about money and acting like a business; in order to achieve your mission, you need to have a solid financial base.”

And while that work continues, she said the primary assignment for the team at Sunshine Village has been to continue a 50-year process of evolution and refinement in order to better meet the needs of those the agency serves and create more of those great days.

This is a broad constituency, individuals 22 and over, for the most part, who have one of many types of development disabilities, including, and increasingly, those on the autism spectrum.

To fully understand this evolutionary process, it’s best to start at the beginning, when a small group of parents of children with developmental disabilities set on a course that would change lives for decades to come.

“These parents were told by their physicians, their lawyers, their families, and friends that they needed to put their children into an institution — either Belchertown State School or the Monson Developmental Center,” she said, adding that they had a different, considerably better idea.

“These families were pretty radical at that time — this was the mid-’60s — and they said, ‘no, institutions are not for us; we’re going to keep our children at home with us,’” she went on. “But they also realized that the resources to help them raise their children weren’t there; they couldn’t go through the school system, and just bringing their kids to nursery schools and the local playground didn’t feel right 50 years ago.”

So this group of parents, under the leadership of Joseph Casey, owner of Casey Chevrolet, who had a young daughter with a developmental disability, started a group called Friends of the Retarded Children and set about creating an organization that would become what Sunshine Village is today.

On land donated by the city and local sportsmen’s club, and with money raised through an involved grassroots effort, a playground and the first building (eventually named after Casey) were built and opened in the spring of 1967.

In its early years, the agency served children, said Kos, noting that it had a nursery school and recreational facilities that reflected playgrounds of that era. As those original participants grew older, the roster of programs evolved accordingly, including the addition of employment services as well as a skills center for those who wanted to work, but needed the skills to do so.

It Takes a Village

Today, Sunshine Village, which has a $13 million annual operating budget, serves roughly 450 adults with developmental disabilities across Western Mass. Many stay with the agency for years or decades, and one participant in its programs recently turned 86.

In addition to its facility in Chicopee, there are other locations in Springfield, Three Rivers, and Westfield, added over the years to bring participants closer to the services being offered.

Day programs provided by the agency cover a broad spectrum. They include:

• Community Engagement Services, also known as community-based day services, or CBDS, which offer individuals activities promoting wellness, recreation, community engagement, technology, self-advocacy, and personal development;

• Contemporary Life Engagement Services, a highly structured program specifically designed to support individuals on the autism spectrum. This is a medically based day ‘habilitation’ program with services augmented with clinical supports as necessary, including speech and language, physical, and occupational therapies, and access to a board-certified behavior analyst;

• Traditional Life Engagement Services, a medically based day habilitation program focused on building functional life skills, including social, communication, personal wellness, and independent living; and

• Employment Services, which support participants in obtaining a job or working as a member of a supervised team. It does this through placement services, and also through Village Works, an agency-owned business located just off exit 6 of the Turnpike, as well as Westover Maintenance Systems, a commercial cleaning company operated by Sunshine Village, which, as noted, provides maintenance services for all the buildings and hangars at Westover Air Reserve Base.

Over the years, and on an ongoing basis, the programming at the Village evolves to meet changing needs within society and area school departments and their special-education divisions, said Kos.

“Over the years, we’ve offered different kinds of services — residential services, shared-living services, different kinds of day and employment services — but we’ve always remained true to our mission,” she told BusinessWest. “And that is to serve people with disabilities and to serve them regardless of the level of disability; we’ve served people that other organizations can’t and won’t serve.”

As one example of this evolutionary process, she noted additions and changes undertaken to meet the dramatic rise in the number of individuals on the autism spectrum.

“There are a lot more people graduating from area high schools who are on the autism spectrum,” she explained, adding that the reasons for this are not fully known. “And on the autism spectrum, 40% of the individuals also have an intellectual disability, meaning their IQ is less than 71.

“And one of the things we’re doing at Sunshine Village is redefining and redesigning our services so that we’re able to meet the needs and support people on the autism spectrum who do not have intellectual disabilities,” she went on, “because that is a growing need in the community.”

Denise Simpkins and Bill Denard have been working at Westover Air Reserve Base for several years now through Sunshine Village’s employment-services arm.

It’s also an example of how the agency is constantly listening to the constituencies it serves when they’re asked about needs and concerns — and responding to what it hears.

These traits have certainly benefited the agency as it works toward that goal of being a provider of choice, said Kos, adding that the same is true when it comes to being an employer of choice.

Elaborating, she said the competition for talent in the nonprofit sector is considerable, and Sunshine Village looks to stand out in this regard by working hard to enable employees to shine as well as those they serve.

“We see our employees as our best asset, and we invest a lot of money in training, recognizing, and thanking them,” she said of her team of more than 250.

Shining Examples

Kos said the official 50th anniversary date for the agency was in April of this year, and in many respects it has been a year-long celebration.

There was a dinner for employees last spring, several outreach events, and a community celebration in September, called, appropriately enough, the ‘Great Days Gala,’ that was attended by more than 250 people.

But in most all ways, Sunshine Village has been celebrating 50 years by doing more of what it’s been doing for 50 years — enabling people with developmental disabilities to shine.

And as BusinessWest talked with some of the clients served by the agency, it became clear that there are many ways for that verb to manifest itself.

For Jonathon Scytkowski, a participant in the CBDS programs who came to Sunshine Village in 2015, there are several components to his great days. He works at the Trading Post, cleaning floors, taking out the recyclables, and other duties. Meanwhile, he also volunteers at the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts and other nonprofits, and takes visits to the libraries in Chicopee and South Hadley and area malls.

Add it all up, and he’s busy, active, and, most importantly, involved.

“I like volunteering — at the Food Bank I do a lot of volunteering putting food in boxes for those who need it,” he told BusinessWest, noting, like Recor did, that working is important on many levels, from making money to having a sense of purpose.

Those sentiments were echoed by Denise Simpkins and Bill Debord, who have both worked at Westover, through Sunshine Village, for several years.

In fact, for Debord, it’s been almost 30 years, long enough to see a number of personnel come and go, but also long enough to feel like he’s part of that important operation.

“I really like working there — you feel like you’re part of the family,” he said, adding that he knows people by name, and vice versa.

As for Simpkins, who has been doing it for 12 years, she likes the work, the pay, and especially the perks — like the special occasions where she gets to see the planes close up and take some pictures.

“It’s good to have a job because you get to pay you bills and manage your money,” she told BusinessWest.

Meanwhile, for Kori Cox, another participant in the CBDS program, shining, if you will, takes a different form.

Indeed, as part of initiative called Positive Behavior Supports (PBS), she said she has an important role she described this way. “I do a lot of stuff to try to prevent the Village from being negative.”

Elaborating, she said she made a sign that reads “Positive Attitude, Positive Life,” and she works to encourage others, inside and outside Sunshine Village, to not only read the sign, but live by those words. Specifically, she works diligently to prompt people to stop using the ‘R’ word.

“We remind people that’s not nice to use that word — ever,” she said, adding that her efforts in this regard dovetail nicely with her broader mission.

“I love positivity — it really helps life; there’s no negativity,” said Cox, 24, who described herself as an ambassador, advocate, and peer leader.

As for Recor, well, let’s just say he seems to embody the words on Cox’s sign.

A World of Difference

Sunshine Village still stages a golf tournament every year. In fact, it’s the agency’s most successful fund-raising effort.

Its new, permanent home is Chicopee Country Club — only a drive and a wedge away from the Litwin Drive campus — and Kos no longer drives the beer cart, obviously.

Her role has evolved and grown — as has the agency’s.

But the basic goals are still the same — to create great days and enable those with developmental disabilities to shine, however those words are defined.

Half a century later, Sunshine Village is delivering on those promises.

Just ask Lenny Recor. He’s the guy with a smile on his face — on a Monday morning no less.

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

Country Bank Promotes Jodie Gerulaitis to VP, Community Relations

WARE — Country Bank President and CEO Paul Scully announced that Jodie Gerulaitis has been promoted to vice president of Community Relations.

“Jodie’s commitment to the local communities we serve and her deep understanding of the bank’s mission made her the obvious choice for this new position,” Scully said. “Jodie will further enhance the bank’s long-standing commitment to helping those in need and work with local nonprofits on various events while managing the bank’s charitable-giving programs.”

Gerulaitis has been with Country Bank for 24 years in various positions and holds several certifications from the Center for Financial Training. She is currently attending the New England School for Financial Studies, serves as a local treasurer of the Salvation Army, and is on the West Brookfield Elementary and Stanley M. Koziol school councils.

Annually, Country Bank partners with more than 500 local nonprofits to support their needs and was recently recognized as one of the Top 100 Charitable Giving Companies by the Boston Business Journal.

Solidago Foundation Welcomes Truman Scholar

NORTHAMPTON — The Solidago Foundation, a national social-justice foundation, appointed Springfield native, Amherst College graduate, and Truman scholar Pierre Joseph to the newly created role of program associate. Within this role, Joseph will have a critical role in developing four new signature projects as well as researching, recruiting, and managing new national and state partners.

“Pierre is joining our growing team at a pivotal time for the foundation,” said CEO Elizabeth Barajas-Román. “We are excited about the expertise and fresh perspective he’ll bring to our ongoing work.”

Prior to working at the Solidago Foundation, Pierre worked as a policy analyst at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy. There, he staffed the National Advisory Committee on Rural Health and Human Services and worked on many issues including two-generation approaches to child poverty, family implications of substance-use disorder, and linking health-systems transformation to the social determinants of health.

“In this new role, I am very interested in how emerging financing strategies, blended funding streams, and democratized access to capital can build wealth, expand opportunity, and increase economic mobility in underserved communities throughout the United States,” he said.

Joseph is also responsible for working with senior staff on supporting the team’s budgeting, financial analysis, and planning efforts.

“I am thrilled to be working alongside Pierre,” said Jeff Rosen, CFO of the Solidago Foundation. “We are lucky to have a person who has gained so much experience in both local and national arenas to bring to the next phase of our work. Pierre offers the rare blend of practical focus and long-range vision. He will be an invaluable field and thought partner, and we look forward to working together on a host of new initiatives.”

Karen Franklin, Jeanne Bishop Join ServiceNet’s Senior Team

NORTHAMPTON — ServiceNet President and CEO Susan Stubbs announced the promotion of two leaders at the agency. Karen Franklin is the new vice president of Outpatient Services, and Jeanne Bishop is vice president of Mental Health Recovery Services. Both Franklin and Bishop bring extensive experience to their new roles.

Franklin earned her master’s degree in social work at Columbia University and began her career in New York City at Bellevue Hospital and the Puerto Rican Family Institute. She later moved to the Pioneer Valley and served for four years as director of Adult Services for Franklin/Hampshire Community Mental Health Center, the organization which later merged with Valley Programs to become ServiceNet.

Franklin was a consultant for eight years and then worked for 13 years in a variety of clinical and supervisory roles with healthcare and mental-health organizations throughout the Valley before returning to ServiceNet in 2014 as director of Clinical Services. She is excited to step into her new role on the senior leadership team, and noted that she is especially “proud of the caliber of the clinicians at ServiceNet, the excellence of the work they do, and their deep commitment to the clients we serve.”

Bishop earned her master’s degree in counseling psychology from Antioch/New England Graduate School. She worked for five years with Family Planning of Western Massachusetts before joining the crisis team at what was then Franklin/Hampshire Community Mental Health Center. She was promoted from crisis clinician to director of Emergency Services, and continued in that position after the organization became ServiceNet, serving for a total of 25 years in acute services.

In 2009, Bishop joined ServiceNet’s Mental Health Recovery Services (MHRS) team, first as contract director for Hampshire County, and later as director of MHRS. Now, as vice president of Mental Health Recovery Services, she is pleased to join the agency’s senior leadership while continuing to work with the skilled managers and staff of MHRS and maintain a connection with program participants who are in their process of recovery.

Healthcare Heroes 2017 Event

Event Galleries Healthcare Heroes

Scenes from the October 2017 Gala

[Show slideshow]

Photos by Dani Fine Photography

healthcareheroeslogo021517-ping There were more than 70 nominations for the inaugural Healthcare Heroes class, and each one of them was truly worthy of that word ‘hero.’ Each one is to be considered a winner in some respect.

On Oct. 19 BusinessWest and The Healthcare News recognized the inaugural Healthcare Heroes class. Collectively, they are pioneers, and were celebrated at the Starting Gate at GreatHorse in Hampden. Each one is to be considered a winner in some respect.

American International College and Trinity Health are the presenting sponsors of Healthcare Heroes. Partner Sponsors are Achieve TMS, HUB International New England, and Health New England. Additional sponsors are Bay Path University, Baystate Health, Cooley Dickinson Health Care, Elms College, and Renew.Calm. Tickets to the event are $85 each, with tables available for purchase. For more information or to order tickets, call (413) 781-8600.

Their stories reveal large quantities of energy, imagination, innovation, compassion, entrepreneurship, forward thinking, and dedication to the community.

There were eight winners in this first class, with two in the category of ‘Innovation in Health/Wellness,’ because two candidates were tied with the top score. The Heroes for 2017 are:

• Lifetime Achievement: Sister Mary Caritas, SP;

• Patient/Resident/Client Care Provider: Dr. Michael Willers, owner of the Children’s Heart Center of Western Massachusetts;

• Emerging Leader: Erin Daley, RN, BSN, director of the Emergency Department at Mercy Medical Center;

• Health/Wellness Administrator/Administration: Holly Chaffee, RN, BSN, MSN, president and CEO of Porchlight VNA/Home Care;

• Community Health: Dr. Molly Senn-McNally, Continuity Clinic director for the Baystate Pediatric Residency Program;

• Innovation in Health/Wellness: Dr. Andrew Doben, director of the Surgical Intensive Care Unit at Baystate Medical Center;

• Innovation in Health/Wellness: Genevieve Chandler, associate professor of Nursing at UMass Amherst; and

• Collaboration in Healthcare: The Healthy Hill Initiative.

Nomination Deadline Looming for Difference Makers Award

SPRINGFIELD — Nearly a decade ago, BusinessWest created a new recognition program called Difference Makers. That carefully chosen name sums up what this initiative is all about — identifying and then celebrating individuals, groups, and agencies in this region that are making a difference in our communities.

And now, time is running out to nominate candidates for the Class of 2018.

The nomination form can be found on the magazine’s website, www.businesswest.com. Visit ‘Our Events,’ and then ‘Difference Makers.’ Nominations must be submitted by Friday, Nov. 10.

Over the first nine years of the program, honorees have included a host of individuals and nonprofit agencies focusing on everything from childhood literacy, to combatting homelessness; from reducing gang violence in Springfield, to creating a walk to battle breast cancer.

The Class of 2017 epitomized such diversity. It featured the Community Colleges of Western Mass., Friends of the Holyoke Merry-Go-Round, Denis Gagnon, president and CEO of Excel Dryer, Junior Achievement of Western Massachusetts, and Joan Kagan, president the CEO of Square One. For a full list of previous winners, visit www.businesswest.com.

Those nominating candidates are encouraged to make their submissions detailed and explain why the individual or group in question is a true Difference Maker.

Hotel Northampton’s Fhad Khazraj Named Food Server of the Year

NORTHAMPTON — Hotel Northampton announced that team member and restaurant server Fhad Khazraj, an employee of the hotel for more than four years, has won the Massachusetts Restaurant Assoc. (MRA) 2017 Food Server of the Year Award. Khazraj received the honor at the “Stars of the Industry” awards gala on Oct. 24, where he was a finalist among exceptional hospitality employees throughout the Commonwealth.

“We recognize the efforts of our hotel team as they provide top-notch service year-round,” said Hotel Northampton owner Mansour Ghalibaf. “It was exciting and well-deserved to have Fhad recognized on a statewide level with this great MRA distinction.”

Hotel Northampton also had a finalist in the Bartender of the Year category. Randy Krutzler has been with the hotel for more than 20 years and was included in the top three.

Toy Drive/Bike Run to Benefit Brightside for Families and Children

Business & Innovation Expo of Western Mass. Events

SPRINGFIELD — The children served by Brightside for Families and Children will be the recipients of the Hope for the Holidays Toy Drive. The three-day event will begin on Friday, Nov. 3, and continue Saturday, Nov. 4 at the Walmart store in Chicopee. During those two days, toys, gift cards, and monetary donations will be collected from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. There will also be a toy drop available at Indian Motorcycle of Springfield at 962 Southampton Road in Westfield.

On Sunday, Nov. 5, the Toy Run/Bike Ride will begin at 9:30 a.m. from Walmart to Brightside located at Providence Behavioral Hospital in Holyoke at 11 a.m. The entry fee for the ride will be a donated toy, gift card, or monetary donation. Immediately following the run, there will be an after-party featuring Peter Newland and Radioxile and the band Esperanto at the Moose Club at 244 Fuller Road in Chicopee.

Event organizers Bruce Rivest, Melvyn Hook, and Peter Silvano have worked to make the Hope for the Holidays Toy Run a successful annual event. Rivest originally contacted the Fund Development Office at Mercy Medical Center about coordinating a toy drive for Brightside. Adopted as a child himself from Brightside in 1970, Rivest knows first-hand the importance Brightside plays in this community. Hook, also adopted as a child through a separate agency, has joined him in the effort to ensure that every child and family supported by Brightside has hope and joy this holiday season.

Major sponsors of the event are Indian Motorcycle of Springfield, American Legion Post 275 of Chicopee, Western Mass News, Haymond Law, Custom Identity Apparel, Papa John’s, Red’s Towing, ZZ & Co BBQ, Ed Popielarczyk’s Magical Moments, C.O.B.B., Springfield Motorcycle Show, and Connecticut Cruise News Super Sunday Motorcycle Show.

Business Innovation Show Guide 2017

By BusinessWest Staff October 29, 2017

Preview to the Thursday, November 2 Event at the MassMutual Center, Springfield

Special Flipbook HERE

Unify Against Bullying to Be Recognized

SPRINGFIELD — State Sen. Eric Lesser and representatives of Unify Against Bullying will hold a ceremony on Monday, Oct. 30 at 2:30 p.m. in front of the MassLive building, 1350 Main St., Springfield. Lesser will extend congratulations on behalf of the Massachusetts Senate to Unify Against Bullying in recognition, during the month of October, of its participation in National Bullying Prevention Month.

Unify Against Bullying’s mission is to bring an end to bullying through the celebration of true diversity. There are countless children waging quiet battles against bullying. Many believe they are alone. The organization wants these children to know they are far from alone, supported by a loving, caring community of fellow students, teachers, parents, brothers, sisters, business leaders, and others.

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Franklin County Awarded $10,000 Grant

GREENFIELD — Big Brothers Big Sisters of Franklin County has been awarded a $10,000 grant through the Charles F. Bacon Trust for 2017-18. This one-year grant was made in support of the general operations of the Big Brothers Big Sisters of Franklin County.

Located in Boston, the Charles F. Bacon Trust was established in 1928 to support and promote quality educational, human-services, and healthcare programming for under-served populations. The trust has delivered more than $1.4 million in grants to Massachusetts non-rofits since 2008.

“We are thrilled to receive this award at this time, and honored that we are only the second Franklin County nonprofit to benefit from the Bacon since 2008,” said Big Brothers Big Sisters of Franklin County Executive Director Danielle Letourneau-Therrien.

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Franklin County serves children in Franklin County and the North Quabbin area. Mentors are carefully screened to make sure this is the right volunteer opportunity for them; if matched, they continue to receive support throughout their mentoring relationship by professional case managers. If you or someone you know may be interested in learning more about this opportunity, call Jennifer Webster at (413) 772-0915 or visit www.bbbs-fc.org.

Unemployment Rates Decrease Across State in September

BOSTON — Local unemployment rates decreased in 19 labor-market areas, increased in two areas, and remained the same in three areas in the state during the month of September, the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development reported. Compared to September 2016, the rates were up in 18 labor-market areas and remained the same in six labor-market areas.

Six of the 15 areas for which job estimates are published recorded seasonal job gains in September. The gains occurred in the Springfield, Worcester, Brockton-Bridgewater-Easton, New Bedford, Peabody-Salem-Beverly, and Leominster-Gardner areas.

From September 2016 to September 2017, 14 of the 15 areas added jobs, with the largest percentage gains in the New Bedford, Haverhill-Newburyport-Amesbury, Barnstable, Boston-Cambridge-Newton, Lynn-Saugus-Marblehead, and Springfield areas.

In order to compare the statewide rate to local unemployment rates, the Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates the statewide unadjusted unemployment rate for September was 3.5%.

Last week, the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development reported the statewide seasonally adjusted unemployment rate dropped to 3.9% in the month of September. The statewide seasonally adjusted jobs estimate showed a 9,300-job gain in September and an over-the-year gain of 62,300 jobs.

The unadjusted unemployment rates and job estimates for the labor market areas reflect seasonal fluctuations and therefore may show different levels and trends than the statewide seasonally adjusted estimates. The estimates for labor force, unemployment rates, and jobs for Massachusetts are based on different statistical methodology specified by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Connecticut Airport Authority Seeks Development Proposals for Site

WINDSOR LOCKS, Conn. — The Connecticut Airport Authority is seeking developers to enter into a long-term land lease to develop, operate, and maintain commercial property owned by Bradley International Airport located on a vacant, 4.8-acre parcel on Ella Grasso Turnpike.

A pre-proposal meeting will be held on Wednesday, Nov. 8 at 10 a.m. in the Human Resources Conference Room located at 334 Ella Grasso Turnpike, Suite 100, Windsor Locks.

Full copies of the request for proposal may be downloaded by clicking here, or by e-mailing [email protected].

GCAi Increases Its Expertise in Corporate Reputation Management

SPRINGFIELD — John Garvey, president of Springfield-based digital-marketing and public-relations firm Garvey Communication Associates Inc. (GCAi) recently completed a certificate program in corporate reputation management offered by the Public Relations Society of America.

The eight-week program was taught by communications experts from global brands including Weber Shandwick, the Hershey Co., MasterCard, Revlon Inc., and Burson-Marsteller. The program included modules on “Reputation and the CEO,” “Key Performance Indicators,” “Digital Reputation,” and “Reputational Risks.” The program is designed to help communications professionals navigate the space between marketing, public relations, and digital, as well as to recognize the importance of reputation and the CEO’s impact on brand value.

Garvey was also a keynote presenter at the 2017 Massachusetts Bankers Assoc. Executive Officers Conference, where he presented on “Managing the Media and Your Reputation in a Crisis.” He has close to four decades of public-relations and reputation-management experience, having worked as a consultant to a variety of corporations and nonprofits, as well as a political campaign consultant.

Garvey earned a bachelor’s degree from Marquette University and has served as a guest lecturer at the university’s Diederich College of Communications. He earned a master’s degree in organizational development at American International College. He is also a judge and mentor for the Boston-based global startup accelerator MassChallenge, where he has worked with cohorts from Spain, Columbia, Morocco, France, and Mexico.

Westfield Bank, Customers Raise Funds for Hurricane Maria Relief

WESTFIELD — Westfield Bank presented a donation for $8,000 to the Westfield Spanish American Assoc. and the Western Massachusetts United for Puerto Rico coalition to aid relief efforts in Puerto Rico following Hurricane Maria. The funds were raised during the Bank’s “Casual for a Cause” event held earlier this month, in which employees could earn the privilege of dressing casually by contributing to the fund-raiser. Bank customers were also invited to drop contributions in collection boxes located at the Bank’s 21 branch offices. Together, employees and customers donated $4,000, and Westfield Bank matched their efforts with an additional $4,000.

According to Ed Diaz, co-founder of the Westfield Spanish American Assoc. (WSAA) and chairman of the association’s hurricane relief fund, the bank’s donation will be sent directly to the United for Puerto Rico relief fund. Together, the WSAA and Western Massachusetts United for Puerto Rico form a coalition of community groups; civic and business leaders; volunteers from Springfield, Holyoke, Westfield, and Chicopee; and others in Western Mass. working to bring relief to the people of Puerto Rico.

“Over $100,000 has been raised thus far,” said Diaz, “and we have collected other items such as batteries, water, sanitary products, canned foods, and radios at drop-off points at the Westfield Boys & Girls Club, the Westfield YMCA, and the Westfield school superintendent’s office. We have shipped over 250 boxes of goods to Puerto Rico, and we thank Westfield Bank and everyone who donated to this cause and volunteered their time and talent for this effort.”

Both Westfield Bank and the WSAA plan to continue their efforts on behalf of Hurricane Maria relief. With significant support from the WSAA and the Portuguese American Club in Chicopee, a group of Westfield Bank employee volunteers is organizing a benefit dance on Saturday, Dec. 2. The dance will be held from 6 p.m. until midnight at the Portuguese American Club, 149 Exchange St., Chicopee. For more details, the public is invited to visit any Westfield Bank office.

“Our employees and our customers have been eager to support this critical humanitarian effort,” said Westfield Bank President James Hagan. “Their generosity and that of others in our region, along with the diligent work of the WSAA and Western Massachusetts United for Puerto Rico, will send comfort and compassion to the people of Puerto Rico as they recover and rebuild. Westfield Bank is proud to support the WSAA and Western Mass. United in this time of great need. And, I’m personally proud of Westfield Bank employees, who keep asking what more they can do and how they can help.”

Steven Weiss to Discuss Chapter 13 Plan at Bankruptcy Symposium

SPRINGFIELD — Attorney Steven Weiss will speak about the new Chapter 13 plan as part of the 16th annual Western Mass. Bankruptcy Symposium presented by the Massachusetts Bar Assoc. (MBA) on Tuesday, Nov. 7 from 4 to 7 p.m. at the Western New England University School of Law. Weiss is a shareholder with the regional law firm Shatz, Schwartz and Fentin, P.C.

“I am honored to again be among the distinguished presenters for this symposium,” Weiss said. “This year’s program will provide practical information for bankruptcy professionals and attorneys. I will specifically address the new Chapter 13 plan, form, and rules.”

Weiss concentrates his practice in the areas of commercial and consumer bankruptcy, reorganization, and litigation. He supervises the firm’s bankruptcy, reorganization, and workout practice and represents creditors, debtors, and others in both commercial and consumer bankruptcy cases throughout Massachusetts.

In addition, Weiss is a member of the MBA, the Hampden County Bar Assoc., the American Bankruptcy Institute, and the National Assoc. of Bankruptcy Trustees. He has been a member of the private panel of Chapter 7 trustees for the District of Massachusetts since 1987 and also serves as a Chapter 11 trustee.

United Bank Foundation Supports Acute Elder Care Unit at Baystate

SPRINGFIELD — The United Bank Foundation Massachusetts recently approved a $50,000 grant designated to help Baystate Medical Center and Baystate Health Foundation establish a permanent Acute Care for Elders (ACE) unit at the hospital.

Baystate launched its ACE unit as a pilot program in September 2014, providing nationally recognized and award-winning geriatric care that has resulted in many positive clinical outcomes for elder patients at the medical center, including reducing the length of hospital stays for elderly patients, enhancing patient safety, boosting training for medical staff, and increasing the number of patients who return directly home after their hospital stay.

Due to the success of the pilot program, Baystate is seeking partners like United Bank to help establish a permanent, state-of-the-art ACE unit. This 32-bed unit would enable Baystate to provide acute care to more elderly patients in Western Mass. To date, Baystate’s ACE unit has treated approximately 500 elderly patients.

According to the Baystate Health Foundation, the elderly population in Western Mass. — which is currently among the highest in the state — is expected to rise by nearly 15% in 2018. By 2030, the older adult population will increase to more than 70 million and account for one in every five Americans.

“For anyone who has an elderly family member who required a prolonged hospital stay, you want peace of mind knowing your loved ones are comfortable in a compassionate setting, receiving top medical care, and are on course to return home to lead independent lives when they are discharged,” said Dena Hall, the bank’s Western Mass. regional president and president of the United Bank Foundation Massachusetts. “Baystate has a proven record for meeting these patient-care goals and successfully addressing the unique physical and psychological needs of elderly patients. We know our $50,000 financial commitment will help Baystate continue to be a leader in transforming elder care in Western Mass.”

Added Dr. Andrew Artenstein, chief physician executive at Baystate Health, “we’ve proven that this approach works, and the need for it will increase significantly as our population increases. It’s time to move out of the pilot stage and crease a more permanent, expanded ACE unit.”

The Gray House Seeks Turkeys to Feed Neighbors in Need

SPRINGFIELD — Thanksgiving is approaching, and the Gray House, a nonprofit human-services agency in the North End of Springfield, is requesting donations to help ensure that everyone enjoys a traditional Thanksgiving meal.

“There are so many families in our community that would go without a Thanksgiving meal if it weren’t for our community donating turkeys and all of the sides,” said Executive Director Teresa Spaziani-Liberti. “Families who receive turkeys from us are so appreciative that they get to share this meal with their loved ones. Almost every year, we receive at least one turkey donation from a family who previously received a turkey from us. It’s so wonderful to see people giving back to others, even though they still may be struggling themselves.”

The Gray House is seeking donations of frozen turkeys as well as gravy, stuffing, potatoes, canned sweet potatoes, canned vegetables, pie crust, and pie filling. “We are hoping to provide at least 500 families with a turkey and sides. The number of families we can provide holiday meals to truly depends on the number of turkeys donated,” Spaziani-Liberti added.

This year, with the influx of evacuees from Puerto Rico affected by Hurricane Maria, the Gray House expects an even greater need for food on top of the higher demand it typically experiences toward the end of the year. In addition to holiday food, donations of new or gently used warm winter coats, gloves, and scarves are needed for these families.

Donations can be dropped off weekdays from 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. through Nov. 17 at the Gray House, 22 Sheldon St., Springfield. To schedule a donation outside of this time or if you plan to coordinate a food drive, call (413) 734-6696. Eligible families in need can sign up to receive a turkey at the Gray House on Tuesday, Nov. 7 from 3 to 5 p.m. More information on eligibility and requirements can be found at grayhouse.org/thanksgiving-food-distribution.

Rachel Turgeon Wins United Personnel Academic Merit Award

SPRINGFIELD — Rachel Turgeon, a United Personnel employee who has worked in a variety of customer-service roles for the past five years, has been awarded the 2017 United Personnel Academic Merit Award. Turgeon received the $1,000 scholarship to defray student-loan payments related to her bachelor’s degree she received from Elms College last June. As an aspiring oncologist, Turgeon hopes to begin medical school next year.

In addition to her work as a United Personnel contract employee, Turgeon is currently a women’s leader at Celebrate Recovery. In 2010, she suffered from an autoimmune disorder, and, in order to grow and heal from that occurrence, she began to counsel women in similar situations. She wanted women to see their beauty and worth beyond their physical impairments, such as hair loss. It was through this experience that she realized her calling and began taking steps to one day specialize in oncology, with the dream of traveling the world through Doctors Without Borders.

“Working at United Personnel has taught me that hard work pays off,” Turgeon said. “United Personnel has been a blessing to work for. They have helped me during an extremely tough time in my life, and through them I found a job that has supported me and my long-term goals. I am extremely grateful to receive the United Personnel scholarship. Because of this scholarship, I can pay off a portion of my student loans and process quite a few medical-school applications. United Personnel has brought me one step closer to my goals, and I am so thankful for their support.”

Each year, United Personnel identifies one United Personnel contract employee, or the child of a United Personnel contract employee, who has worked at least 160 hours and is currently enrolled or is a recent graduate of an accredited college as the winner of its annual Academic Merit Award. This $1,000 award recognizes hard work both inside and outside of the classroom, and can be utilized to defray current costs or for loan forgiveness.

“This scholarship is United Personnel’s way of showing employees such as Rachel that we are invested in their futures. We stand behind everything that Rachel stands for — drive, determination, heart, and community involvement,” said United Personnel President Tricia Canavan. “While the decision was hard with such a great group of applicants, Rachel stood out for her exemplary commitment to being a dedicated employee, student, and member of her community. We are proud to have her on our team.”

Springfield WORKS to Unveil Innovative Job Portal Today

SPRINGFIELD — Anne Kandilis spends a lot of time talking with area employers, so she knows there are jobs to be had. How to connect those jobs to people who can perform them — well, that’s an issue that has plagued Western Mass. for a generation.

Springfield WORKS, a collaboration by city, community, education, and employer leaders to develop strategies to transform the region’s workforce ecosystem, was funded with a three-year Working Cities Challenge grant from the Boston Federal Reserve Bank. One concrete application of those strategies, an innovative job portal, will be launched today, Oct. 25 at 3:30 p.m. at the UMASS Center at Springfield in Tower Square, 1500 Main Street.

The event, titled “Innovations in Developing and Delivering a Workforce,” will offer the first public presentation of the portal, which aims to connect job seekers and current workers with a roadmap to available positions. Importantly — because this has too often been the missing piece, Kandilis said — the portal will also serve as a resource on where to acquire needed skills with available training.

Prabal Chakrabarti, senior vice president and Community Affairs officer for the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston and one of the founders of the Fed’s Working Cities Challenge, will moderate the session. Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno will make opening remarks and will be joined by Delcie Bean, founder of Tech Foundry and CEO of Paragus IT; Mark Keroack, president and CEO of Baystate Health; and Lydia Martinez, assistant superintendent of Springfield Public Schools. Each of these organizations will be providing information about connecting people to jobs, resources, and career paths at their respective organizations through the new Springfield WORKS portal.

The region’s low unemployment rate does not reflect the total number of people not participating in the labor force. Approximately 42 out of 100 Springfield residents age 16 to 64 are not working, and the initiative is a response to employers needing more qualified candidates to support operations and growth.

Florence Bank Promotes Michelle Cayo

FLORENCE — Florence Bank, a mutually owned savings bank serving the Pioneer Valley through 10 branch locations, has hired Michelle Cayo of Granby in the position of vice president, Credit Administration manager. She brings nearly 20 years of commercial credit experience to her new role.

Cayo studied at Bay Path University, where she received her bachelor’s degree in business with a concentration in finance, and her master’s degree in communications and information management. She completed the New England School for Financial Studies program and is in the process of completing the Graduate Banking Program from the American Bankers Assoc.

Cayo serves her community as a member of the Jimmy Fund Council of Western Mass. In the past, she has also served as president of the Professional Women’s Chamber of Western Mass. In 2013, she was recognized by Western Mass Women magazine as Volunteer of the Year to recognize her work for children with pediatric cancer. She was also recognized by BusinessWest as a member of the 40 Under Forty Class of 2011, which celebrates young business and civic leaders in the Pioneer Valley.

“We are thrilled to announce the addition of Michelle Cayo to our Florence Bank family,” said President and CEO John Heaps Jr. “She has an impressive background in commercial credit, and we feel she’s the ideal candidate to take on the role of VP/Credit Administration manager. I know we will be seeing excellent results from her in the years to come, and I look forward to watching her success.”

State Grant to Boost Continued Development at Ludlow Mills

LUDLOW — Rep. Thomas Petrolati and state Housing and Economic Development Secretary Jay Ash visited Ludlow Mills on Tuesday, Oct. 24 to announce a $3.5 million grant for ongoing redevelopment at the 170-acre site, the Republican reported.

Westmass Area Development Corp. bought the former mill complex in 2011, setting out on a 15- to 20-year path of redevelopment. Since then, the site has added 75 apartment units and attracted 39 businesses.

On Thursday, Oct. 26, WinnDevelopment will hold a ribbon-cutting ceremony with Petrolati, Gov. Charlie Baker, and other dignitaries to celebrate the firm’s $20 million transformation of Mill 10 into the Residences at Mill 10, which features 75 mixed-income, age-restricted apartments.

Real-estate Sales Licensing Course Starts Nov. 6

SPRINGFIELD — Beginning Monday, Nov. 6, the Realtor Assoc. of Pioneer Valley will sponsor a 40-hour, 14-class sales licensing course to help individuals prepare for the Massachusetts real-estate salesperson license exam. The course will be completed on Dec. 13. Tuition is $359 and includes the book and materials.

The course curriculum includes property rights, ownership, condos, land use, contracts, deeds, financing, mortgages, real-estate brokerage, appraisal, fair housing, consumer protection, Massachusetts license law, and more. Classes meet Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday evenings from 6 to 9 p.m. at the association office, 221 Industry Ave., Springfield.

For an application, contact Joanne Leblond at (413) 785-1328 or [email protected], or visit www.rapv.com.

Amherst Area Chamber to Host Legislative Breakfast Oct. 26

AMHERST — The Amherst Area Chamber of Commerce’s annual legislative breakfast brings together legislators, local officials, and business leaders to network and discuss current and upcoming policy issues. This year’s event will be held Thursday, Oct. 26 from 7:15 to 9 a.m. at Lord Jeffery Inn, 30 Boltwood Ave., Amherst.

Speakers include Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito; state Reps. Susannah Whipps Lee, John Scibak, and Solomon Goldstein-Rose; and Senate President Stan Rosenberg. The cost is $20 for members ($25 at the door) and $25 for non-members ($30 at the door). To register, click here.

Selfie Challenge Brings Attention to Issue of Bullying

EAST LONGMEADOW — An anti-bullying movement initially started in Western Mass. has spread across all 50 states and to more than 50 countries. Now celebrities are getting into the act.

“The social-media effort was started by the kids of Unify,” said Edward Zemba, president of Unify Against Bullying. “It was their way of bringing awareness to the silence of bullying. As parents, we all know that this issue is difficult enough to address when we talk about it. However, when children are left alone to deal with it in silence, things can get far worse.”

In January, the kids of Unify set a goal. By the end of the year, they wanted to have 50 celebrities participate in their challenge. “Bullying is about trying to look cool,” said 14-year-old Julianna Zemba, one of the organization’s founders. “If celebrities send a message that bullying isn’t OK to kids, they’ll listen differently than if it’s from their parents, or even friends.”

With well-known figures such as Chris Evans (Captain America), Zach Braff (Scrubs), and actors from series such as The Walking Dead, Game of Thrones, and Stranger Things participating, they are well on their way. Even celebrities from NASCAR, the WWE, the Boston Bruins, the WNBA, and New England Patriots cheerleaders have posted selfies.

The kids of Unify have also launched a video challenging comedienne and talk-show host Ellen DeGeneres. “She’s kind of the queen of selfies,” Julianna said. “Having her do the challenge would send a message loud and clear to children all over the world. It would be a rallying call to end the silence of bullying.”

No matter where things go from here, the Kids of Unify have definitely left their mark, she added. “Doing the #UnifySelfieChallenge is about bringing attention to the fact we are all important. To me, everyone who’s posted a Unify selfie is a celebrity.”

To see the video challenge to Ellen, or learn more about Unify, visit unifyagainstbullying.org or #UnifySelfieChallenge. The video was donated to Unify Against Bullying by Myers Video Productions and Robert Charles Photography.

Michael Koziol Joins Holyoke Medical Center as CFO

HOLYOKE — Spiros Hatiras, president and CEO of Holyoke Medical Center and Valley Health Systems, announced the appointment of Michael Koziol as chief financial officer at Holyoke Medical Center (HMC).

“Mike has over 30 years of experience in nonprofit organizations, including several hospitals throughout New England,” said Hatiras. “His knowledge and successful contributions to organizational financial stability and improved operating efficiencies have already proved to be an asset to the leadership team of Holyoke Medical Center and Valley Health Systems.”

Koziol has served as interim CFO at HMC since April 2017. His prior experience includes executive-level finance positions with Southcoast Physicians Group in Fairhaven, Mass.; MaineGeneral Health in Augusta, Maine; South County Hospital Healthcare Systems in Wakefield, R.I.; Massachusetts Eye & Ear Associates in Boston; Rhode Island Hospital in Providence; and Memorial Hospital of South Bend in South Bend, Ind. He received his bachelor’s degree in business administration from Illinois State University and completed his MBA at the University of Illinois.

“I have spent the past six months as interim CFO with Holyoke Medical Center, and I am very happy to be a part of this organization,” said Koziol. “The people who work here are wonderful, and enable a bright future in continuing to provide high-quality, cost-effective care to the community.”

Governor Appoints Ivonne Vidal to HCC Board of Trustees

HOLYOKE — Ivonne Vidal, a staff attorney for the Committee for Public Counsel Services in Springfield, has been appointed to the Holyoke Community College board of trustees by Gov. Charlie Baker.

Vidal holds a law degree from Boston University School of Law and a bachelor’s degree in International Relations and Economics from Brown University. As an undergraduate, she spent a year studying international relations and economics at the London School of Economics and Political Science.

A native Spanish speaker, Vidal grew up in Cuba and has been living in the U.S. since she was 15 and in Western Mass. for the past six years.

“As a public defender and an immigrant, I am keenly aware of the transformative role education plays in a person’s life,” Vidal said. “Holyoke Community College is at the forefront of this movement, finding innovative ways to engage and improve the lives of residents in Holyoke and Western Massachusetts. I am very excited to become a part of this institution, and I’m looking forward to helping advance its mission.”

Before coming to New England for college, Vidal worked as an aide at the English Center in Miami, helping to teach classes in English as a second language and citizenship. She also spent summers during college in Miami working as an executive intern in the public defender’s office. As a law student at Boston University, she worked for Greater Boston Legal Services and as a legal intern with Masferrer & Associates, P.C.

“Ivonne’s background in law and fluency in Spanish will strengthen our already-talented board,” said Robert Gilbert, board of trustees chair. “Our goal is to foster an environment where students can succeed not only academically in college, but in their lives as well. New trustees bring fresh ideas that will help guide HCC into the future and strengthen our connections with community partners.”

City2City Pioneer Valley to Visit Local Collaborations on Oct. 30

SPRINGFIELD — The City2City initiative, formed in 2010 as a way to identify best practices in metro areas that can be applied to the Springfield metro region, will host a one-day trip around the Pioneer Valley on Monday, Oct. 30 to highlight new or ongoing collaborations.

Organizers will fill a Peter Pan coach, and stops include the Basketball Hall of Fame, where a major renovation is planned; the Pioneer Valley Riverfront Club, which has opened the Connecticut River to rowing and recreation; the Massachusetts Green High Performance Computing Center in Holyoke; the Ludlow Mills project and renovation of Mill 10 into a residential community; and Union Station in Springfield.

As part of the program, the Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts will host TED-style talks on a number of collaborative local initiatives, including the Healing Racism Institute of Pioneer Valley, the Springfield Innovation District, Leadership Pioneer Valley, Valley Venture Mentors, and Partners for a Healthier Community/the Public Health Institute of Western Massachusetts.

The full program can be accessed online by clicking here.

There is limited seating on the trip, but space is currently available, and the cost is $75 to cover meals. Peter Pan Bus Lines has donated a coach to transport participants on the trip, being dubbed “One Day, One Region, One Experience,” as travelers will see and hear about successful collaborations up close.

City2City was created to connect leadership from the Pioneer Valley with other metro areas adopting successful strategies in a number of areas, originally with the assistance of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. Previous learning trips have been taken to Winston-Salem and Greensboro, N.C.; Grand Rapids, Mich.; New Haven, Conn.; Bethlehem and Allentown, Pa.; and Chattanooga, Tenn.

The trip to the Pioneer Valley was designed to take stock of current collaborations in economic development, technology, health and wellness, tourism, and innovation. The initiative is being hosted by the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission and is co-chaired by Shayvonne Plummer of the Economic Development Office of the City of Springfield and Paul Robbins, principal of Paul Robbins Associates Strategic Communications.

CNBC Commentator Ron Insana to Keynote Expo Lunch Event

SPRINGFIELD — The Business & Innovation Expo of Western Mass., the seventh annual business-to-business show produced by BusinessWest and the Healthcare News, slated for Thursday, Nov. 2 at the MassMutual Center, will present a lunch event featuring keynote speaker Ron Insana, senior analyst and commentator with CNBC.

Titled “Trumponomics,” Insana’s talk will address how Washington will affect the economy in the years ahead. As the U.S. and global economies move toward recovery, Insana will apply his journalistic perspective to how Wall Street, Main Street, and Washington shape what the new normal means for everyone.

The event runs from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., with check-in starting at 11:30 a.m. The cost is $25. To register, visit www.wmbexpo.com.

A financial journalist with the experience of working for and running his own hedge fund, Insana offers clear insights on the ever-changing status of the economy. Currently host of a nationally syndicated daily radio show in addition to his roles at CNBC, he has access to the top financial players in Washington and on Wall Street and translates the market signals and political maneuvers into information everyone understands. His hands-on experience in the financial industry — through some of the markets’ most turbulent times — give an added depth of perspective. He offers practical advice on what individuals and businesses can and should do now to protect what they have and to find opportunities in any type of market condition. Insana is the author of Traders’ Tales, The Message of the Markets, TrendWatching, and most recently How to Make a Fortune from the Biggest Bailout in U.S. History: A Guide to the 7 Greatest Bargains from Main Street to Wall Street.

The Expo will feature more than 150 exhibitor booths, educational seminars, breakfast and lunch programs, and a day-capping Expo Social. Current sponsors include Comcast Business (presenting sponsor), Johnson & Hill Staffing Services, Wild Apple Design Group, and Meyers Brothers Kalicka, P.C. (executive sponsors), Inspired Marketing and Go Graphix (show partners), MGM Springfield (corporate sponsor), Isenberg School of Management at UMass Amherst (education sponsor), Xfinity (social sponsor), Elms College (information booth sponsor), Smith & Wesson (Workforce Support Center sponsor), Savage Arms (JoinedForces parking sponsor), WMAS, WHMP, Rock 102 & Lazer 99.3, and MassLive (media partners), and the Better Business Bureau and Cartamundi (contributing sponsors). Exhibitor spaces are still available; booth prices start at $800. For more information on booth purchase, call (413) 781-8600, ext. 100.

Bulkley Richardson Welcomes Elizabeth Quick as Executive Director

SPRINGFIELD — Bulkley Richardson has named Elizabeth Quick its new executive director. In this position, she is responsible for overseeing all business operations including finance, human resources, information technology, business development/marketing, and facilities.

“We are pleased that Elizabeth will be joining us,” said Peter Barry, chairman of the firm’s executive committee. “She has directed many programs and business systems for law firms throughout Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Washington, D.C. Based on her experience and her abilities, we are confident that she will be a major contributor to continuing the firm’s success.”

Quick said she is excited about her new opportunity. “I look forward to working with this talented group of professionals as we continue to serve Bulkley Richardson clients and the community. Continuous improvement of systems and management to foster the firm’s delivery of superior legal services is an important focus for me.”

An experienced operations professional, Quick’s career spans more than 25 years as a legal-industry administrator. She has developed and implemented new processes, along with coordinating all administrative functions required to ensure smooth day-to-day operations. She has a strong network of colleagues and vendors which has allowed her to streamline tasks to bolster productivity and performance.

Prior to joining Bulkley Richardson, she worked as a multi-location administrator for a law firm with offices in New York, Washington, D.C., and Connecticut. She was responsible for strategic planning, expansions and moves, human resources, budgeting, day-to-day operations, business lines of insurance, and cohesive interaction with the management group in benefits, finance, technology, recruiting, and marketing to forward the firm’s overall success and business operations.

Quick earned her bachelor’s degree, summa cum laude, from Eastern Connecticut State University, and received her associate degree from Manchester Community College, and was honored with the David A. Greenberg Award for Academic Excellence and the Fred A. Ramey Jr. Award for Outstanding Business Student. She is a member of the Assoc. of Legal Administrators (ALA), and also a member of the Nutmeg and Capitol chapters of ALA.

Quick is based in Bulkley Richardson’s Springfield office. She succeeds Patrick Hourihan, who retired in September after 36 years of service to the firm.

Pilot Training Program Underway to Hone Manufacturing Skills

SPRINGFIELD — The Regional Employment Board of Hampden County, in partnership with Springfield Technical Community College and Training & Workforce Options, are piloting a Metrology & CNC Foundations training program.

This eight-week, 160-hour, advanced-manufacturing training program, which started on Sept. 25, is training 12 laid-off workers in manufacturing skills in quality control utilizing micrometers, calipers, and coordinate measurement machinery. In addition, trainees will receive training in blueprint reading, shop mathematics, ISO 9001 and AS9100 quality systems, and basic CNC setup and operations.

The goal of this program is to provide the trainees with manufacturing skills that are in high demand with manufacturing employers and to place them in into on-the-job training opportunities. Future programs will be based on employer response to this pilot training program.

Expo to Feature Seminar on Innovation in Continuous Improvement

SPRINGFIELD — The Business & Innovation Expo of Western Mass., the seventh annual business-to-business show produced by BusinessWest and the Healthcare News, slated for Thursday, Nov. 2 at the MassMutual Center, will feature a wide range of educational seminars and panel discussions.

For instance, what is continuous improvement? Three area experts on the subject will answer that question from their own unique perspectives starting at 2:15 p.m.

Chris Hutchins, continuous improvement expert at Cartamundi East Longmeadow, will discuss his company’s approach to continuous improvement over the past 15 years, and will outline the approach he would take if he were to start again today. He will touch on a few examples of the Lean/Six Sigma tools Cartamundi has employed, and what he wished he knew 15 years ago.

Peter Russo, director of Growth & Innovation at MassMEP, will talk about the new opportunities that exist for startup companies and established manufacturers to work together efficiently and effectively, and the processes that connect both groups on a personal, organizational, financial, and intellectual basis, ultimately contributing to growth in both.

In addition, Peter Reinhart, founding director of the Institute for Applied Life Sciences at UMass Amherst, will discuss new models for academic institutions to become more relevant to industry partners in several ways: as hubs for exploring new-product candidates, by providing access to cutting-edge equipment facilities and providing employee training; by interacting on new research and development project; and through early identification of potential employees.

Happy Valley Half Marathon & 5K Slated for Oct. 22

FLORENCE — The second annual Happy Valley Half Marathon & 5K will take place at Look Park on Sunday, Oct. 22. This event is designed to combine a challenging course with beautiful foliage and great food. It was voted the third-best road race in the Valley Advocate Readers’ Poll in its first year. This year, the event has partnered with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Hampshire County, and a portion of the funds raised will support that organization.

The 5K and Half Marathon courses are both USATF-certified. Registration is $65 for the half-marathon and $30 for the 5K. The race fee includes a free beer and taco as part of the post-race party in Look Park.

“We created this race to add to the amazing running scene here in the Pioneer Valley. We want the Happy Valley Half Marathon & 5K to become a destination race that shows runners the beauty of Western Massachusetts in the fall,” said Grant Ritter, Western Mass. native, running coach, and creator of the Happy Valley Half Marathon & 5K. He has been running in the Pioneer Valley for more than 30 years.

“It all started on a run,” added Justin Killeen, owner of 50/50 Fitness and Nutrition in Hadley. “We were talking about how incredible the Valley truly is, and started to brainstorm ways that we could highlight and embody all of its unique qualities. At first, it was about the run and beauty, but then equally as important was the post-race experience and lasting impression.”

Jen Loebel, Big Brothers Big Sisters Development director, added that “we are thrilled to team up with Justin Killeen and Grant Ritter for the second annual Happy Valley Half Marathon & 5K. It’s fantastic to think that not only will we have a hand in presenting an award-winning race to the community we love and serve, but that funds raised from this partnership will support Big Brothers Big Sisters of Hampshire County in our mission to match more children facing challenges with caring adult mentors. It’s a win-win situation for us and the youth we serve.”

The road race begins at 9 a.m., with post-race activities scheduled shortly after. The top male and female half-marathon finishers will receive a $250 cash prize and a free admission to the following year’s event. Second-place finishers will receive a $100 gift card, third-place finishers will receive a $50 gift card, and the top three finishers in each age group will receive gift cards, coupons, and discounts from local area sponsors. All half-marathon finishers will receive a medal at the finish line.

Brightside Golf Classic Raises $110,000