SPRINGFIELD — Brian Benson, CPA has joined the investment-management team at St. Germain Investment Management as a financial planner, while Kathy Stewart has joined the firm’s client services group.
Benson has extensive experience in accounting, risk assessment, audit procedures, and planning methodologies, and adds client relationship management to his quantitative and analytical competencies. Previously, he was a senior audit associate at Meyers Brothers Kalicka, P.C. He also held accounting and auditing responsibilities at Menzel & Associates, P.C.
Benson earned bachelor’s degrees in accounting and business management as well as an MBA with a concentration in financial planning from Elms College. He is an active volunteer and organizer involved with charity golf tournaments as well as sharing his time with Junior Achievement and the MSCPA. At World Sports Camp in Easthampton, he produced individualized coaching lessons for golfers and tennis players.
Stewart brings skill and experience in communications, corporate administration, client engagement, and secondary research. Most recently, she was the executive assistant for the operations & production manager at WWLP-TV22 News. She also held responsibilities as an executive producer for As School Match Wits, as well as administrative coordinator for the FCC 398 Children Television’s programming quarterly reports. Prior to her broadcast television experience, she worked in the Community Relations and Marketing department at the Sisters of Providence Health System. She earned an associate degree in administration from Bay Path University.
SPRINGFIELD — Scott Foster, partner at Bulkley Richardson, has been recognized as a New England Trailblazer in American Lawyer Media’s (ALM) inaugural publication.
ALM recently introduced New England Trailblazers, a special supplement developed to recognize professionals in New England who have “moved the needle” in the legal industry, are “agents of change,” and have made significant marks on the practice, policy, and advancements in their sector.
Foster’s nomination notes that “he is recognized as a trailblazer because of his unwavering commitment to the business community in Western Massachusetts, providing the resources for emerging businesses that encourage growth, provide education, and make collaboration possible. As a partner at Bulkley Richardson, he is responsible for the recent launch of important practice areas, including cannabis, cybersecurity, emerging businesses, and craft breweries.”
Dan Finnegan, managing partner, added that “Scott is thoroughly committed to the business growth and overall success of his community. He is an active participant in economic-development initiatives, industry organizations, and legal associations, and never misses the opportunity to remind our elected officials that our region is one where entrepreneurs can thrive. He has made a lasting impact and strengthened the Western Massachusetts community through his vision and work.”
All of the honorees are featured in the Nov. 4 issue of the Connecticut Law Tribune.
SPRINGFIELD — The Springfield College Department of Visual and Performing Arts and the Digital, Web, and Multimedia Design Program will host a free Game Lab and Career in the Arts Day Workshop on Saturday, Nov. 9 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. inside Blake Hall. The program is designed for high-school students who have an interest in becoming a game designer or working in the arts.
The workshop will introduce individuals to video-game-design experts and allow guests the opportunity to experience the field firsthand. Attendees will also have the opportunity to be a part of a panel discussion with industry experts who will discuss career options including game design, digital design, art teacher, art therapist, and community art coordinator.
The event will include a panel of industry experts representing multiple careers in the arts, including Pat King, co-founder of Pioneer Valley Game Developers; Creath Carter, designer at Interactive Media; Easthampton Arts Coordinator Pasqualina Azzarello; Alicia Shibley, a trauma-informed care clinic art therapist; and Michelle Shibley, a multimedia artist and art educator.
For more information about the event, visit springfield.edu/artcareers.
AMHERST — C&H Architects is celebrating 30 years of designing sustainable architecture.
The firm’s work serves as an example of how, in a time of critical climate challenges, developers can add to the built environment in a way that improves the sustainability of future generations, rather than threatening it, partner Jesse Selman said. “We have an ethical duty to understand the impact of our work — both socially and environmentally. It is a challenge that forms the basis of our work — and is what gets us up in the morning.”
At their most basic level, buildings protect individuals from the elements. Beyond that, they shape the environment and provide texture to people’s lives. Buildings, however, are also one of the largest contributors to global warming, accounting for nearly 40% of all greenhouse-gas emissions worldwide — a statistic expected to double by 2050. In an effort to mitigate these impacts, there has been a steady increase in sustainable architecture — the design of buildings that work in harmony with the environment.
C&H Architects has been at the forefront of this effort for the past 30 years. It designed the fifth-ever certified Living Building Challenge project in the world (and the first in New England) for Smith College’s MacLeish Field Station, the most rigorous performance standard for buildings available. The firm has designed more than 10 net-zero homes, the most recent of which won the top honor at AIA (American Institute of Architecture) Rhode Island in 2018, and includes a solar array that powers both the house and the car of its occupants.
Founded in 1989 by Bruce Coldham to create architecture that responds to our rapidly changing climate and resources, the Amherst-based firm has served hundreds of clients with projects at every scale, from small residential renovations to large institutional construction.
Today, the firm’s four partners — Tom Hartman, Garth Schwellenbach, Jesse Selman, and Elizabeth Morgan — carry on the tradition Coldham started, while constantly incorporating advances in building technology, materials, and practices. Their forward-thinking mindset is embodied by their mission to “design for the next hundred years.” Their work can be seen on their website, candharchitects.com.
AMHERST — Dillon Bodley & Associates, P.C., owned and operated by certified public accountants Brian Dillon and Catherine Bodley, recently moved its Amherst location to 196 North Pleasant St. to offer its clients more convenient parking and better access.
The firm closed at its former location at 37 South Pleasant St. on Oct. 27 and reopened at the new address on Nov. 1.
“We’re looking forward to offering a better parking situation for our clients, as well as providing ourselves with more office space, as our company has grown,” Bodley said. “We anticipate the move will go smoothly, and there will be no disruption in service.”
Dillon Bodley & Associates, P.C. provides a broad range of accounting and tax services, including tax preparation and planning engagements for individuals, small businesses, corporations, and nonprofit organizations. It also offers bookkeeping services to its business tax clients and provides consulting to small businesses and startups.
The firm was located on South Pleasant Street for four years, with Bodley working on Tuesdays and Thursdays and Dillon working on Wednesdays during tax season. Services are provided on other days of the week and throughout the rest of the year by appointment.
Dillon Bodley & Associates, P.C. also has a West Springfield office at 63 Myron St., which will move to 71 Park Ave., Suite C, on Dec. 4 to accommodate an increased number of staff members. Approximately 20% of the firm’s clients are served at the Amherst office.
Founded by Dillon as Dillon Consulting and Tax Services in 2011, the firm changed its name when he joined forces with Bodley in January 2014.
SPRINGFIELD — Springfield Technical Community College will hold its annual Veterans Day ceremony today, Nov. 6, from 12:15 to 1:15 p.m. outside the Student Learning Commons (Building 19).
The ceremony will include a presentation of the colors by Commerce High School’s JROTC. A guest speaker from One Call Away Foundation, a PTSD support network, will talk about veteran suicide awareness. Following the ceremony, there will be a reception in the Veterans Center in Building 19.
SPRINGFIELD — On Saturday, Nov. 9, Western New England University’s multi-cultural student organization United & Mutually Equal will host World Fest 2019, celebrating the cultures of the world.
The evening, beginning at 6 p.m. in Rivers Memorial Hall, will showcase various foods and include performances and a fashion show. The event is open to the public as part of the university’s celebration of Diversity Week. Admission is $3 for students and $5 for non-students.
HOLYOKE — Marcus Printing announced it has acquired ILS Business Services of West Springfield, strengthening the capabilities of both companies.
“The marriage of these two long-standing family businesses makes good sense,” said Susan Goldsmith, president of Marcus Printing. “The depth of printing experience we have at Marcus is unparalleled in our region, and we also offer mailing services. ILS offers nearly 40 years of direct-mail experience, and also sold printing services. Our services and expertise complement each other, allowing us to expand our capabilities across the board. It’s a perfect match.”
Both Marcus Printing and ILS Business Services are local Western Mass. companies built on the shared values of providing exceptional customer service at excellent prices, Goldsmith said. Marcus Printing was established in 1930 by Goldsmith’s grandparents, Phil and Sarah Marcus. ILS Business Services was founded by Bob and Irene Scalise in 1980, and their daughter, Amy Scalise, grew up around the business and officially joined the family business in 2014. Amy joins Marcus as the mailing manager, Bob will remain on board as a consultant, and the other ILS employees have joined the Marcus staff.
The operations of ILS will move in the near future to the 33,000-square-foot Marcus Printing plant at 750 Main St. in Holyoke.
“Printing and direct mailing often go hand in hand,” Goldsmith said. “By joining forces, we can offer our customers expanded services and recognized economies of scale with all services located under one roof.”
HOLYOKE — Carlos Santiago, commissioner for the Massachusetts Department of Higher Education, will visit Holyoke Community College (HCC) today, Nov. 5, and lead a discussion with faculty and staff about equity in higher education.
Santiago’s talk will run from 2 to 3 p.m. in the PeoplesBank Conference Room in HCC’s Kittredge Center for Business and Workforce Development.
“Enrollment, retention, and equity are critical to student success,” said HCC president Christina Royal. “We are very happy that Commissioner Santiago will be joining us to talk about these very important topics, which are critical components of HCC’s strategic plan.”
SOUTH HADLEY — The Massachusetts chapter of Pinups for Pitbulls, an international not-for-profit organization, announced an upcoming fundraising event to be held on Saturday, Dec. 7 from 5:30 to 8 p.m. at Abandoned Building Brewery in Easthampton.
The “Calendars, Cheers & Beer” party will feature an opportunity for guests to have their 2020 calendar autographed by calendar model and South Hadley native Bryn Nowell. The event will also feature a dogs-and-Santa photo shoot, provided by Julie Ann Blonaisz Photography, along with raffles and merchandise sales.
Pinups for Pitbulls — an organization that aims to do away with breed-specific legislation, among other goals — has published its annual fundraising calendar for the past 15 years. Featuring pinup-style hair, makeup, and clothing and a varying annual theme, calendar models include individuals and dog models who have been selected through an extensive application process. The 2020 calendar’s theme is “Fantastic Time Travel Adventures,” which includes iconic styles from the past and a glimpse into potential future styles.
The calendar release party is free to attend, and guests should be age 21 and older. There is a $10 suggested donation for dog photos with Santa.
NORTHAMPTON — Girls on the Run (GOTR) of Western Massachusetts and presenting sponsor MedExpress Urgent Care will host the annual GOTR 5K celebration on Saturday, Nov. 23 at 10:30 a.m. at Smith College.
The 5K event is open to the public. Event-day registration is available for $30. Approximately 1,600 runners are expected to participate.
The mission of Girls on the Run is to inspire girls to be healthy, joyful, and confident. Girls on the Run is a positive, physical-activity-based, youth-development program that uses fun running games and dynamic discussions to teach life skills to girls in grades 3 to 8. During the 10-week program, girls participate in lessons that foster confidence, build peer connections, and encourage community service while they prepare for an end-of-season celebratory 5K event.
The event begins on the Smith athletic fields and goes through the Smith College campus. The run will begin at 10:30 a.m., but festivities, including a group warmup and games, will begin at 10 a.m. Early arrival is strongly suggested.
Registration is available online at www.girlsontherunwesternma.org. The pre-registration cost is $25 for adults and $10 for children and includes a GOTR 5K event shirt. Registration will also be open the day of the event beginning at 9 a.m. For more information about the event, how to register, and volunteer opportunities, visit www.girlsontherunwesternma.org.
Event supporters include Scout Curated Wears, Cooley Dickinson Medical Group – Women’s Health, Holyoke Gas and Electric, Marisa Labozzetta and Martin Wohl, Mill 180 Park, PeoplesBank, People’s United Bank, River Valley Counseling Center, RunReg, Smith College, and Synergy Physical Therapy.
SPRINGFIELD — Hooplandia, the largest 3-on-3 basketball competition and celebration on the East Coast, will take place on June 26-28, 2020, hosted by Eastern States Exposition and the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
The event will feature hundreds of games for thousands of players of all ages and playing abilities, with divisions for young girls, boys, women, men, high-school elite, college elite, pro-am, ‘over the hill,’ wheelchair, wounded warrior, Special Olympians, veterans, first responders, and more.
More than 100 outdoor blacktop courts will be placed throughout the roadway and parking-lot network of the Eastern States Exposition fairgrounds in West Springfield. Slam-dunk, 3-point, free-throw, dribble-course, vertical-jump, and full-court-shot skills competitions will be spotlighted. Themed state courts will be mobilized along the Exposition’s famed Avenue of States. Featured ‘showcase games’ will be held on new court surfaces in the historic Eastern States Coliseum and on the Court of Dreams, the center court of the Basketball Hall of Fame.
“Eastern States is proud to co-host this terrific new signature event for all of New England and beyond,” said Eugene Cassidy, president and CEO of the Eastern States Exposition. “We are always looking for paths to reinvent our role in promoting commerce and community and appreciate opportunities to collaborate with other regional icons, like the Basketball Hall of Fame. We are excited to transform our grounds into the magical kingdom of Hooplandia for thousands of visitors next summer.”
Added John Doleva, president and CEO of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, “the role of Greater Springfield in the global growth of basketball is undeniable, from Dr. James Naismith to our annual Enshrinement Week at the Hall of Fame and points in between. Hooplandia is a natural extension of this legacy, with a grassroots competition and celebration befitting this area and all of New England. We are thrilled to help launch and build this event, which we hope will inspire hoopsters of all ages from throughout the Northeast.”
A year-long community outreach effort will begin immediately. Registration will open on March 1, 2020. Information and engagement is available now through www.hooplandia.com or on Instagram: @hooplandia.
SPRINGFIELD — Law firm Pullman & Comley, which is celebrating its 100th anniversary of practicing law, recently expanded into Springfield with an office in Tower Square at 1500 Main St.
Pullman & Comley’s new Springfield office is its first in the Bay State, adding to offices in Bridgeport (where the firm was founded 100 years ago), Hartford, Westport, Stamford, and Waterbury, Conn., as well as an office in White Plains, N.Y. With nearly 100 attorneys, Pullman & Comley is one of the area’s largest law firms.
The law firm’s expansion into Massachusetts gives its local clients — whom it has served for years — easy access to their lawyers. The lawyers in the Springfield office currently focus on legal matters relating to property tax and valuation, labor and employment law, and litigation. In addition, the firm’s Springfield location allows Pullman’s real-estate and public-finance attorneys, who often collaborate with the firm’s environmental, land-use, and energy practices, to serve the commercial real-estate industry in Western Mass. and bring their experience to local public and private development projects.
SPRINGFIELD — The Boys and Girls Club Family Center at 100 Acorn St. in Springfield will open its doors to members of the community for its fourth annual Thanksgiving dinner on Sunday, Nov. 17 from 2 to 6 p.m.
Many local organizations have joined the effort in support of the Springfield community. American International College has provided several healthy side dishes, and the Assoc. of Black Businesses & Professionals has continued to provide funds for the Boys & Girls Club Family Center to purchase items for the dinner. Many community partners have come together to purchase food and volunteer their time for the event. This list of contributors and volunteers continues to grow.
“Working closely with many of the businesses and organizations in the city, we understand that there are people in our community who struggle to make ends meet, or who live alone and feel they have little to celebrate,” said Boys & Girls Club Family Center Executive Director Keshawn Dodds. “Our neighbors are family, and we need to be present for them. We are grateful for the positive response from the businesses and organizations that have asked to be involved and will be joining us in making this Thanksgiving Dinner special for all in attendance. It is their collective generosity and concern for those who may not have the financial means or emotional support that many of us may take for granted that continue to make this event possible.”
The Boys & Girls Club Family Center anticipates serving approximately 300 guests this year. The event is free and open to the public. No reservations are needed. For more information, call Dodds at (413) 739-4743.
AGAWAM — Glenmeadow will offer an educational program on protecting the planet on Tuesday, Nov. 19 from 10 a.m. to noon at Agawam Public Library, 750 Cooper St., Agawam.
“Environmental Responsibility: Taking Steps to Protect Our Planet” is the third and final program in the fall Glenmeadow Learning series, which provides free educational offerings in the community.
The presentation will be led by Terra Missildine, who will speak about how her mission to protect the planet began and why it’s important for everyone to commit to doing so.
Missildine will also outline what individuals, organizations, and legislators can do to begin to bring about positive change and environmental healing. She will offer samples of earth-friendly products.
Missildine has had a lifelong passion for sustainability. While in an early iteration of a sustainable-living program at UMass Amherst in 2005, she founded Beloved Earth, the first eco-friendly cleaning company in Western Mass.
Since then, the business has blossomed to support 18 team members and still operates by cooperative principles and the values of the triple bottom line: people, planet, and profit. Missildine also helps to support her sustainability and that of her family through running a small suburban homestead, where they grow a fair amount of their own organic food.
“Environmental Responsibility” is free, but space is limited, and reservations are required. To register, contact Jazlyn Wanzo at [email protected]. For more information, or to register online, visit glenmeadow.org/events.
SPRINGFIELD — American International College (AIC) is announcing a new undergraduate initiative in the School of Business, Arts and Sciences titled Micro-Emerging Markets: Cannabis Certificate Program. Three business courses are offered in rotation beginning with the spring 2020 semester. The first course of the series will run on Wednesdays, 3:50 p.m. to 6:20 p.m., starting Jan. 13, 2020 and continuing through May 5, 2020. There are no prerequisites to enroll other than a high-school diploma or GED equivalency. Non-matriculated students can enter the program at any time in the sequence.
The first course, “Cannabis Entrepreneurship,” will examine customer groups, products, and services in the recreational market. The effect of price, quality, and competitors will be explored relative to competing effectively. This will involve key components of the industry, including legal aspects, business models, financing, and marketing.
In “Cannabis Business Operations,” students will analyze the evolving cannabis marketplace and investigate the complexities and challenges of this sector. This course will conduct an in-depth look at the key components of different business types, how the sector is evolving, starting and operating a cannabis business, in addition to financial constraints, investments, and strategic marketing in the industry.
The final course, “The Law and Ethics of Cannabis,” will examine the legalization of cannabis. Discussion around the legal and ethical implications of cannabis use, its legalization, criminal activity, and marketing will be explored in addition to perspectives of law enforcement, business owners, and recreational uses.
According to Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs Mika Nash, “the college is pleased to be able to introduce a new program that provides courses in a developing field. The certificate itself is a business-based offering that is essentially a focused way of looking at one product in a micro-emerging market.”
For more information about the Micro-Emerging Market: Cannabis Certificate Program, visit aic.edu/mem.
AMHERST — The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation awarded the Five College Consortium $800,000 to reimagine the way museum collaborations can share their online collections with each other and the world.
The current shared collections database at Five Colleges was developed more than 20 years ago, and this commitment to a consortial database has enriched collaboration across the Five Colleges and opened up discovery and access to museum collections for students, faculty, staff, and the public. It remains one of the few collections databases in the country that is shared among several museums, but with advancements in technology and new accessibility needs on the part of the user, this database has revealed its age and limitations. These facts, combined with Five Colleges’ long history of collaboration, was what originally led the Mellon Foundation to request a grant proposal from the consortium.
“We’re honored to receive this generous grant from the Mellon Foundation,” said Sarah Pfatteicher, executive director of Five Colleges, who led the grant-application effort. “This is a groundbreaking model for how a variety of museums can work together to connect, leverage, and facilitate access to collections data.”
The museums that are a part of the current collections database are the Hampshire College Art Gallery, the Mead Art Museum at Amherst College, the Mount Holyoke College Art Museum, the Smith College Museum of Art, the University Museum of Contemporary Art at UMass Amherst, and Historic Deerfield, an independent museum that works closely with the campuses.
The award from the Mellon Foundation’s Arts and Cultural Heritage program is a 30-month planning grant that will be used to assess the museums’ collections-management needs within the broader landscape of research collections within the Five College campuses. With a focus on the needs of users, the planning project seeks to identify the requirements for a next-generation collections-management system that will allow the integration of museum data with library discovery systems. This project supports the long-term priority of making it easier for students, faculty, scholars, and the general public to find and access the extraordinary cultural-heritage collections distributed across the Five College campuses and Historic Deerfield.
“This planning grant will help our institutions lay the groundwork for developing what could be a truly transformative cross-collection network of knowledge and discovery,” said Jessica Nicoll, director of the Smith College Museum of Art and lead author of the grant proposal.
SPRINGFIELD — Best Lawyers, in partnership with U.S. News and World Report, has included Bulkley Richardson in its 2020 list of “Best Law Firms,” ranking the firm in the top tier for the most practice areas of any Springfield law firm.
The 2020 “Best Law Firms” list ranks Bulkley Richardson in the following 11 practice areas: bankruptcy and creditor debtor rights/insolvency and reorganization law, bet-the-company litigation, commercial litigation, corporate law, criminal defense: general practice, criminal defense: white-collar, litigation – labor and employment, medical malpractice law – defendants, personal injury litigation – defendants, tax law, and trusts and estates law.
To be eligible for a ranking, a law firm must have at least one lawyer included in Best Lawyers. Bulkley Richardson has 12 of its lawyers included on the 2020 Best Lawyers list, the most from any Springfield law firm. Three of the firm’s partners were also named 2020 Springfield Lawyer of the Year: Michael Burke, David Parke, and John Pucci. The rankings are based on a rigorous evaluation process that includes the collection of client and lawyer evaluations and peer reviews from leading attorneys in their field.
NORTHAMPTON — For the fourth year in a row, Webber and Grinnell Insurance received a Super 60 award from the Springfield Regional Chamber.
Webber and Grinnell was recognized as one of the fastest-growing privately owned businesses in the region. Webber and Grinnell has seen growth as a company this past year by opening an office in Holyoke. The company also contributes to the community on an economic and philanthropic level by supporting a variety of events and organizations, such as Santa’s Trains at Look Park, the Hot Chocolate Run for Safe Passages, the Cancer Connection, Friends of the Homeless, and the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts.
“We are so happy to receive another Super 60 award because it acknowledges our growth as a small business serving the Pioneer Valley, but more importantly it recognizes my staff and sales team’s hard work by going above and beyond to provide the absolute best service to our customers,” said Webber & Grinnell President William Grinnell.
This is the 30th year the Springfield Regional Chamber has given Super 60 awards, which were presented by Health New England and sponsored by People’s United Bank, MassHire Hampden County Workforce Board, Wells Fargo Bank, the Republican, 22News, and Zasco Productions.
EAST WINDSOR, Conn. – The Collins Companies, one of the largest privately owned industrial distributors of pipe, valves, fittings, and engineered specialties serving the Northeast, announced it has acquired International Valve and Instrument Corp. (IVI), headquartered in Springfield.
“The Collins Companies has long been recognized as a large, regional distributor of automated control valves with nine degreed engineers on staff to assist our customers with the specifying, sizing, and selection of their control-valve requirements,” said Brian Tuohey, owner and president of the Collins Companies. “However, with the acquisition of IVI, we will now be able to expand the services that we can offer to the marketplace through the significant capabilities of this great company, which over the last 37 years has built a stellar reputation in the safety-valve-testing and valve-repair market.”
Founded in 1982, IVI is engaged in repairs of all types of valves, hydraulics, and pressure-relief valves.
“Collins has an outstanding reputation, and this merger will provide the additional resources we’ve always needed to grow to the next level,” said Marianne Brodeur, president of IVI. “We’ve always prided ourselves on having the technical expertise that has allowed us to bring a consultative approach to problem solving for the valve industry. Now, combined with Collins’ size and expertise in valve automation, I’m very excited to see both companies get started on this next chapter.”
Added Tuohey, “Marianne Brodeur is a born entrepreneur who had a dream 37 years ago and followed it, and today we are thrilled to have Marianne and her 22 associates join the Collins family.”
WESTFIELD — James Hagan, president and CEO of Westfield Bank, a wholly owned subsidiary of Western New England Bancorp Inc., announced that the bank will open a new branch office in Bloomfield, Conn. in mid-2020.
The bank will open a full-service branch in the Copaco Center shopping plaza on Cottage Grove Road. The office will include lobby and safe-deposit services, an image-technology ATM, and multiple drive-through teller lanes. The bank looks forward to breaking ground as soon as it secures the necessary permits and approvals, with construction being facilitated by AmCap Inc., the property owner and manager, and Borghesi Building and Engineering Co. Inc. of Torrington. Plans are subject to regulatory approval.
“We couldn’t be more thrilled to welcome Westfield Bank as a valuable member of the Copaco Shopping Center,” said Carly Beetham, leasing senior associate at AmCap Inc. “Their first-class commitment to community and customer service is evident in every interaction with their team. I know the town of Bloomfield will enjoy working with them as much as we have.”
The Bloomfield location will follow a new Financial Services Center, which is expected to open in West Hartford Center earlier in 2020. In addition to a full-service branch, the West Hartford Financial Services Center will include a suite of offices for residential lending, commercial lending, and business and government deposit services. Representatives of these departments currently occupy temporary space at 977 Farmington Ave. to assist with their community-outreach activities.
The two new offices will represent the bank’s 23rd and 24th branches and are part of the organization’s strategic expansion into Connecticut, which began with the opening of its Granby and Enfield branch offices in 2013 and 2014, respectively.
“We are very pleased to announce that Bloomfield will be home to our newest branch location,” Hagan said. “Combined with our new West Hartford Financial Center, the bank is excited to expand deeper into Connecticut and serve the Greater Hartford market. Both of our new locations will offer the deposit, lending, and technology solutions our customers need, and we’re confident that our community-bank values and customer-first approach will be a great fit.”
LONGMEADOW — In the last decade, artificial intelligence (AI) has rocketed from a science-fiction dream to a pervasive and critical part of our everyday lives — you just might not know it yet. As the technology expands, so does our ability to imagine what it might mean for the future. Can machines carry out tasks in a way that humans would consider smart? If machines have access to data, could they then learn for themselves?
Healthcare is on the verge of a revolution driven by an expansion of knowledge and big data. Challenges in medical informatics motivate and demand the development of novel machine-learning principles, models, and algorithms. Advances in machine learning and data mining have resulted in diagnostic standards, medical genomics, and rapid advances in treatment matching and patient personalization.
On Thursday, Nov. 7, Jinbo Bi, professor and associate head of the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at the School of Engineering at the University of Connecticut, will discuss recent trends and several medical topics where machine learning helped advance the field of medicine.
This free event, scheduled for 5:30 to 7 p.m., is open to the public, and will be held at Breck Suite in Wright Hall, Bay Path University, 588 Longmeadow St., Longmeadow.
This event is sponsored by Bay Path’s Center of Excellence for Women in STEM. For more information or to register, visit baypath.edu/events.
AMHERST — Levellers Press in Amherst received a Manufacturer of the Year Award at the fourth annual Manufacturing Award Ceremony at the State House on Oct. 22.
Collective Copies, a collectively managed and worker-owned printing company, celebrated the 10th anniversary of its publishing wing, Levellers Press, on Sept. 18. Levellers’ beginning was marked by the launch of its first title, Robert H. Romer’s Slavery in the Connecticut Valley of Massachusetts, still one of its bestsellers. One hundred titles later, it has expanded its book-printing and distribution capabilities with Off the Common Books to help self-publishing authors get their books out in a more collaborative way than is possible through the big vendors. Levellers offers a wide selection of printing papers and welcomes input from authors throughout the layout and design process.
Levellers Press is a member of the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers and was nominated by state Rep. Mindy Domb.
“Levellers Press and Collective Copies are icons in Amherst,” Domb said. “They are a successful, unionized, collective-managed shop that has shown great flexibility in adapting to and maximizing advances in printing technology and changes in the publishing industry. As a result, in a community of students and writers, many authors have succeeded in partnership with Levellers to publish their work and reach new audiences.”
The award ceremony was sponsored by the Legislature’s Manufacturing Caucus. Along with Levellers Press, 76 manufacturers were recognized for truly ‘making it’ in Massachusetts.
WEST SPRINGFIELD — Jack Jonah, a JCFilms project that was shot mid-August in West Springfield and Agawam, is set to premiere Saturday, Nov. 9 in the West Springfield High School auditorium.
Jack Jonah is a new feature film and a true story about a family’s endurance and struggle after unspeakable tragedy. Actor Dean Cain leads the cast in this multi-plot drama uncovering the deadly drug culture in Western Mass.
Showtime is 6 p.m. with members of the cast in attendance. Doors open at 5 p.m. for a reception with light appetizers. Tickets are $10 to attend the event, with all proceeds to benefit a national tour of the film in conjunction with the Jack Jonah Foundation and an actor from the film, Dean Cain.
Jack Jonah Foundation President Kirk Jonah said he is pleased with the outcome of the movie, which focuses on an anti-opioid education message.
“With such a huge interest in the film and people traveling from all over the region to be involved, we are able to select a fantastic team of over over 200 people to help in creating this film. Everyone involved was passionate about this issue, and everyone had an opioid life event,” he said. “Jack Jonah is bigger than just another teen film; it’s a challenge — a challenge for teens to better understand the dangers of heroin and other opioid drugs.”
After the premiere, the Jack Jonah Foundation is teaming up with Cain to host Community Action Events. “This film will be shown in schools all across America, so It just makes sense to hold the premiere at a school. Also, and ironically, this was Jack Jonah’s actual high school. That’s a great honor for us,” said Jason Campbell, writer and director of the project.
This red-carpet premiere event will host two separate screenings — an afternoon show for the cast, crew, and the large volunteer base from the community that participated in the film, and the evening show, which is open to the public.
For more information regarding the event, tickets, and ordering a copy of the film, visit www.jacksfilm.com.
NASHUA, N.H. — Melanson Heath has joined the BDO Alliance USA, a nationwide association of independently owned local and regional accounting, consulting, and service firms with similar client service goals. As an independent member of the BDO Alliance USA, Melanson Heath can expand the services offered to clients by drawing on the resources of BDO USA, LLP, one of the nation’s leading professional-services firms, and other Alliance members.
The firm serves clients through more than 60 offices and 550 independent Alliance firm locations nationwide. As an independent member firm of BDO International Ltd., BDO serves multi-national clients through a global network of more than 73,000 people working out of 1,500 offices in more than 162 countries.
“Our client base throughout New England is increasingly exploring business opportunities in other domestic markets and foreign countries. The BDO Alliance USA allows us to better serve these clients as they expand regionally, nationally, and globally, while maintaining our autonomy,” said Scott Toothaker, managing principal of Melanson Heath. “Along with the geographic benefits, our firm will have access to broader, and in some cases deeper, technical knowledge and specialty services of BDO USA and its Alliance firms. This also allows our team to work alongside larger firms and BDO USA while accessing expansive training opportunities which will enhance our abilities to help our own clients and staff.”
The BDO Alliance USA enhances member-firm capabilities through the availability of supplementary professional services, comprehensive management-consulting services, focused industry knowledge, customized state-of-the-art computer systems, and internal training programs.
“We believe the professionals of Melanson Heath share BDO’s commitment to exemplary client service, and we want to welcome them into the BDO Alliance USA,” said Michael Horwitz, partner and executive director of Alliance Services for BDO USA, LLP.
STOCKBRIDGE — Sarah Eustis, CEO of Main Street Hospitality Group, announced the appointment of H. Jackson Donoyan as vice president of Operations for the growing hotel-management company.
“It is a great pleasure to welcome Jackson Donoyan as the newest addition to Main Street Hospitality Group,” Eustis said. “Jackson’s proven leadership and expertise in the hospitality industry is a valuable addition to our team, and we look forward to having him spearhead a number of key initiatives across Main Street’s expanding portfolio of properties.”
As vice president of Operations, Donoyan will work closely with Eustis and Main Street’s leadership team to oversee operations at each hotel property in the portfolio. He will focus on revenue generation, operational oversight, owner relations, talent development, and strategic growth. In addition, he is tasked with stabilization and development of the brand while also enhancing the overall guest experience and reinforcing brand standards.
Donoyan brings a wealth of industry ingenuity to Main Street Hospitality Group, including a background opening and operating newly constructed and renovated hotels. Most recently, he was the general manager at NYLO Providence Warwick Hotel in Warwick, R.I. Prior to that, he was a hospitality consultant in Boston and held positions as the director of Food and Beverage and director of Operations/interim general manager at both the Liberty Hotel in Boston and Hotel Viking in Newport, R.I.
“Jackson’s understanding of the New England market is especially valuable as Main Street continues to grow, particularly with the spring opening of our properties in Newport and Providence, Rhode Island,” Eustis said.
HADLEY — During the recent Empower U conference in Boston, Credit Union Student Choice presented its third annual Honor Roll Award to UMassFive College Federal Credit Union. The award recognizes excellence in higher-education financing and is given to the winning financial institution in conjunction with a $5,000 Chip Filson Scholarship, which may be awarded by the credit union to an outstanding student-member of its choice.
“UMassFive first launched its private student-lending program with Student Choice in 2009, and over the last 10 years they have built a strong and sustainable portfolio while helping thousands of members,” said Scott Patterson, president and CEO of Student Choice. “In addition to the value they have delivered to their members, they have also returned tremendous value back to Student Choice in the form of insightful feedback, strong collaboration on innovative marketing efforts, and helpful guidance that has been instrumental in the continued evolution of our solutions.”
Jon Reske, vice president of Marketing for UMassFive, accepted the award in Boston on behalf of the credit union. “The partnership we have with Student Choice is invaluable,” he said. “They’ve allowed us to help our members overcome higher-education funding challenges. Throughout our relationship, the Student Choice team has always been very receptive to ideas we’ve presented and extremely supportive in testing new marketing strategies with us. We look forward to putting the scholarship funds to good use.”
The scholarship was given to UMassFive College Federal Credit Union in honor of Chip Filson, a credit-union industry icon and former Student Choice board member, who played an influential role in the founding and ongoing development of Credit Union Student Choice.
SPRINGFIELD — American International College (AIC) has been awarded a $2.2 million Title III: Strengthening Institutions grant from the Department of Education for the AIC Plan for Excellence (APEX) program. The grant, to be distributed over five years, will cover a wide range of activities associated with the development of the APEX program.
APEX is a shared curricular experience designed to achieve four main learning goals for students, including intellectual development and lifelong learning, personal growth, social and cultural competency, as well as career and professional development. Further, APEX will improve the value of an AIC education by creating synergy between practical, real-life skills and academic knowledge. The program will blend traditional classroom learning with co-curricular experiences and other experiential learning opportunities. By making participation in APEX a requirement for all undergraduates, every scholar will be afforded the resources to succeed academically and graduate with a set of tools to ensure lifelong personal and professional success.
“American International College is proud to be among the 36 colleges and universities across the United States to receive this grant,” said President Vince Maniaci. “As an institution committed to providing access and opportunity to a diverse student body, this greatly assists in serving students from socioeconomic backgrounds for whom attending college is not a guarantee.”
The grant will cover program and personnel costs, technology and equipment needs, curriculum development, an endowment match, and other related project expenses.
WEST SPRINGFIELD — The West of the River Chamber of Commerce (WRC) announced its Annual Food Fest West will be held on Thursday, Nov. 7 at Springfield Country Club in West Springfield from 5:30 to 8 p.m.
This popular event will feature cuisine from all over Western Mass., as well as a DJ, raffle, and sports auction. As guests sample the cuisine, they will be voting for the People’s Choice Award, which will be given to the eatery with the most votes. A portion of the proceeds raised by Food Fest West will go toward the West Springfield Partnership for Education and the WRC Foundation Fund, which provides grants to businesses for on-the-job training and continuing-education needs.
Tickets are on sale now and cost $35 in advance or $45 at the door. Tickets may be purchased online by visiting WRC’s website at www.westoftheriverchamber.com.
Event sponsors include OMG Inc., bankESB, and Haselkorn Inc. Media Sponsors are BusinessWest and iHeart Media. Sponsorship opportunities are still available for Food Fest West.
HOLYOKE — On Oct. 21, students from 20 different schools in Massachusetts walked the runway and acted out anti-bullying performances at a fashion show dedicated to celebrating diversity. The show was attended by 500 guests at the Log Cabin in Holyoke.
“This fashion show has far surpassed anything we ever initially imagined possible,” said Edward Zemba, president of Robert Charles Photography and founder and chair of Unify Against Bullying. “What makes the show special is that we celebrate students of all shapes, sizes, styles, sexual orientation, ethnicity, and physical ability. We make sure that kids know it’s who they are that’s truly important, not just what they look like.”
Jamison Mae Rohan, a senior at Minnechaug Regional High School in Wilbraham, was presented the 2019 Hero Award, which is given to an individual who exemplifies the strength and spirit to empower themselves and others. Rohan is an inspiration and role model for young people who have been or are being bullied, Zemba said. She wholeheartedly believes in everyone’s right to be treated with kindness and respect.
Unify also recognized Michaeline DeJoria Heydari, vice chairman for John Paul Mitchell Systems, with its inaugural Champion Award. “A champion is an individual who supports an initiative to bring a program or idea to reality that will improve the quality of life for our youth,” Zemba said. “Ms. Heydari is an inspired visionary who saw an issue and took a leadership role to transform it. Due to her efforts, the Neon product line and Stick It to Bullying campaign does just that. She was chosen for her efforts to help raise awareness to this issue and to empower our youth to stick it to bullying.”
This year, Unify combined its annual grant awards ceremony with the fashion show, awarding a record $20,000 in microgrants to help fund anti-bullying initiatives to benefit youth in schools and the community. Julie Solwold, vice president of Corporate Communications for the John Paul Mitchell Corp., was in attendance to award an additional $1,000 grant to Arianna Hopkins, a sixth-grade student from West Springfield Middle School.
“We were excited to combine the two events this year as we get to showcase the individual recipients of the Unify fundraising efforts to a larger audience,” said Christine Maiwald, executive director of Unify Against Bullying. “Without the generosity of our donors, the grassroots efforts to promote the anti-bullying message would be in doubt. We are grateful to the countless businesses who stepped up to support our youth. It’s through their generous donations that we can help families struggling with this pervasive issue throughout our region and beyond. Unify is grateful to Carla Cosenzi and TommyCar Auto Group for once again being our presenting sponsor.”
SPRINGFIELD — On Sept. 19, the Children’s Study Home held a child and youth art show and auction at the Carriage House at the Barney Estate in Forest Park. More than 30 pieces of artwork from all mediums, including acrylic, watercolor, colored pencil, chalk, and sculptures were shown from the students of the Children’s Study Home’s Mill Pond School and Curtis Blake Day School, as well as artwork from the children of the Children’s Study Home’s residential programs.
Local area artisans participated and donated art pieces to the event. The art was displayed for the evening and sold to raise money for the Children’s Study Home’s art and culturing programs.
“The first annual art show and sale was a tremendous success,” said Leslie Fisher-Katz, executive director of the Children’s Study Home. “The tent and artwork setup at the Barney Estate was spectacular, the food from Al Dente’s Catering was amazing, and it was an overall wonderful evening with friends, enjoying beautiful artwork that the children created.”
Fisher-Katz offered thanks to Jesse Lederman, a Springfield City Council member who presented an event proclamation; Don Blanton, a former art teacher at Mill Pond School who donated a dolphin painting to Baystate Children’s Hospital; all the local artists for their art donations; and all those in attendance. “Almost every single piece of art was bid on and bought,” she noted. “We look forward to our second annual art show and sale in 2020.”
This is the second class of Women of Impact, a new recognition program created by BusinessWest to recognize individuals who are making a difference in this community and tell stories that need to be told.
This is a diverse class of winners, in every sense of that phrase, but especially when it comes to the manner in which they’re making an impact, whether it’s through public service, turning around a nonprofit, connecting individuals with opportunities to serve their communities, managing a school system, mentoring entrepreneurs, helping individuals and families find financial security, running a successful business, or donating time and talent to area nonprofits and institutions.
Join us as we celebrate them on Dec. 5 at the Sheraton Springfield. We invite you to come and applaud these truly impactful women.
Date: Thursday, December 5, 2019 Time: 11 a.m.-1:45 p.m. Tickets: ON SALE NOW $65/person; $650/table of 10 Location: Sheraton Springfield, One, Monarch Place, Springfield, MA 01144 For more information: Call (413) 781-8600 x100 or email at [email protected]
THE 2019 WOMEN OF IMPACT AWARDS LUNCHEON IS SOLD OUT
Keynote Speaker
Lisa Tanzer, president of Life is Good, has over 25 years of consumer brand experience. Prior to becoming president, Lisa served as the company’s head of Marketing after spending over 20 years on the board of directors of the Life is Good Kids Foundation. She’s held executive positions in the entertainment, ecommerce, and education sectors. Earlier in her career, Lisa held marketing and strategy roles at Hasbro, Staples, The Gillette Company, and PricewaterhouseCoopers. She received her BA from Tufts University and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Co-emcee
Taylor Knight joined 22News in July of 2018 as a multimedia journalist. Currently, Taylor is the co-anchor of the 22News weekday morning newscasts and a reporter for the 22News I-Team. Before arriving in Springfield, Taylor was a reporter for FiOS1 News in New Jersey. Taylor began her career as a multimedia journalist in Connecticut, covering news and sports in Fairfield County. Taylor earned her B.A. in broadcast journalism at Temple University in Philadelphia. During college, she interned at WFSB in Connecticut and NBC Sports Philadelphia. In her free time, Taylor enjoys spending time with her dog, running, and watching the Philadelphia Eagles. She is excited to now be “Working for You!”
A few years ago, Cheryl Clapprood was thinking about retirement. But a love of the work and opportunities for advancement kept her in uniform, and with the abrupt resignation of Commissioner John Barbieri, she was put on a path to lead what has become an embattled department, one dealing with fallout from scandals, controversy, and staffing issues.
His name is Mango.
He’s a 1-year-old German shepherd who carries a badge.
Legend has it — and he’s already becoming legend — that he lacked the temperament or concentration needed to be to be a medical alert dog, like his parents — a highly trained canine that can sense when its master is about to have a seizure, for example. And he wasn’t (and still isn’t) aggressive enough to be a true police dog.
So … he has become a comfort dog for the department (more on that later) and an ambassador of sorts — his business card (yes, he has one) reads ‘Comfort K9’) — visiting area schools, showing up at various events, and becoming a face of the Springfield Police Department.
He joined the force, if that’s the proper term, in June, and he is getting comfortable in his new role and seemingly enjoying it more every day.
Those are sentiments are shared by the person he shares an office with — Springfield Police Commissioner Cheryl Clapprood, who dropped ‘interim’ from her title and was officially sworn in to her new position a month ago.
But she has been leading the force for roughly nine months now, since the abrupt resignation of John Barbieri amid a growing number of scandals involving the department. These include the arraignment of 13 current or former police officers on allegations that they either participated in or helped cover up the alleged 2015 off-duty police beating of four men outside Nathan Bill’s Bar & Restaurant, and also federal indictments stemming from alarming video showing Officer Greg Bigda threatening two juvenile suspects arrested for stealing an unmarked police car, among other recent incidents.
“When a couple of incidents happen, it sets you back, and people tend to lump us all together — it’s a profession where, when one officer does something, the rest of us pay the price, and that’s nationwide.”
In the wake of these scandals, Clapprood said, all those in the department are being painted with the same broad brush as those accused of abusing their power, and this is unfortunate, because the vast majority of officers don’t.
“When a couple of incidents happen, it sets you back, and people tend to lump us all together — it’s a profession where, when one officer does something, the rest of us pay the price, and that’s nationwide,” she said. “They treat us all the same, as if we had all committed these crimes. The video got out of Bigda in the cell block, and a lot of people were appalled and shocked at the behavior, but now, people think, ‘oh, that’s how the Springfield Police Department treats prisoners, that’s how they treat juveniles; it’s like we were all in that cell block with him.”
Still, the culture of the department needs to change, she said, adding that these scandals are just one of the challenges facing a department of roughly 500 officers. She told BusinessWest that police work is not as popular and glamorous as it was years ago, and it is, by almost all accounts, more dangerous. That means there are fewer people looking to enter law enforcement, she went on, and when you couple this with the number of officers currently on suspension and those planning to retire early next year, the department is facing a potential staffing crisis.
“We cannot recruit, and we cannot retain,” said Clapprood, adding that Springfield is certainly not alone when it comes to this challenge — other departments are facing the same issues. “We’re having a very difficult time recruiting and retaining officers, and every city in Massachusetts, and, from what I hear, every major city in the country, is facing the same problem.”
Despite these pressures and challenges, the department is, by most measures, creating progress when it comes to the incidence of many types of crimes, and in improving the perception of the city when it comes to public safety, especially in a downtown that is drawing ever-larger numbers of visitors since the opening of MGM Springfield.
Cheryl Clapprood, see here being sworn in as police commissioner, says the Springfield Police Department must change its culture to regain the confidence of the public.
“Violent-crime numbers are down, in large part because there are a lot of officers in the downtown area now,” she said, adding that the department’s relatively new Crime Analysis Unit, which crunches the numbers when it comes to what types of crimes are being committed and where, is also helping make the streets safer.
For this issue, BusinessWest talked at length with Clapprood about the state of public safety in the City of Homes and her efforts to change the perceptions of, and the culture within, the department she has been part of for four decades.
Out of the Blue
Clapprood told BusinessWest she recently met up with a woman she attended elementary school with a half-century or so ago. “She gave me a hug and said, ‘do you remember in the second grade when you said you wanted to be a cop?’”
Clapprood didn’t remember actually making that specific comment at that time, but she did recall always being drawn to that type of work.
“I was the crossing guard, I was in school security — I was in all those things,” she recalled, adding that her family lacked the money to send her to college, so she joined the Air Force, where she also gravitated toward the security side of the equation, and fully embraced it.
“It’s going to take some time. I knew we would not win back a good reputation in a short amount of time. It’s going to take some years to build this back up again. But you do it slowly; you show the community that you have officers who are professional officers who have integrity and do a good job.”
While stationed at Westover, she read in the local paper about the upcoming Springfield police cadet exam.
“I was 19, and I said, ‘that sounds really interesting,’” she recalled. “I took it, I passed, and became a police cadet in April 1979. And it’s just followed a course from there — I love the Springfield Police Department; it will be 41 years next April.”
Most police officers retire long before getting to 41 years — a fact of police work that is contributing to the staffing issues we’ll get to later — but Clapprood said she loved the work, and opportunities to advance continued to present themselves.
Fast-forwarding through four decades with the force, she said she gradually moved up in the ranks and eventually reached captain and eventually captain of the Community Action Division, which includes traffic, canine, C3 Policing (or what Clapprood calls “community policing on steroids”), and other programs. And that experience inspired her to stay on for a few more years.
She then took the assessment test for deputy chief, thinking it would be a good experience for her. She would soon discover that everyone else on the list for that post had retired, and with more retirements pending, she decided to hang in still longer.
It was a decision that would eventually propel her to the commissioner’s office, first as interim in February, and then on a permanent basis earlier this fall.
Since taking the helm, she has made it a point to get out in the community and meet with as many constituencies as possible, learning of their needs and concerns and letting them know what the department is doing to address them.
She’s also brought Mango into the department, giving him a role that is new to the force — comfort dog.
Police Commissioner Cheryl Clapprood says one challenge facing the police department — and all departments — is recruiting and retaining new officers.
“I don’t think people realize what the police officers go through on a daily basis, the things they see, and how it affects them,” she explained. “And he’s been a home run; I bring him to roll calls and the report room, and so far, everyone loves him. He makes trips around the station every day and goes to community events and meetings.
“Sometimes people come in here and they can be jacked up a little bit — they have problems and complaints,” she went on, referring to both members of her department and the general public. “I always ask, ‘are you all right with a dog?’ By the time they’re done petting him and him kissing them, they’ve come down to a level that’s very amicable for me.”
Arresting Developments
But there are a number of issues and problems that can’t be solved with a visit to or from Mango, and these are the matters currently absorbing most of Clapprood’s time.
The department’s scandals and the image problems they’re creating are at the top of this list, she said, adding that she knew changes needed to be made even before she became commissioner.
“You can’t waffle, and you can’t wait for problems to go away — that tends to cause you more problems than you had before,” she told BusinessWest, adding that she is taking a proactive approach to the issues facing the department and bringing about a change in the culture.
“It comes back to instilling discipline, it comes back to training, it comes back to accepting responsibility,” she explained. “That’s what I preach at the staff meetings and with the officers, and you have to lead by example.
“When I was a young police officer here, you’d have to force people out at 65; they were fighting it, calling it age discrimination and threatening to file suit. They didn’t want to go at 65. But it’s a tough job now, and I can’t blame people for wanting to retire earlier.”
“And it’s going to take some time,” she went on. “I knew we would not win back a good reputation in a short amount of time. It’s going to take some years to build this back up again. But you do it slowly; you show the community that you have officers who are professional officers who have integrity and do a good job.”
Meanwhile, another matter is keeping the department staffed, a considerable challenge given the fact that many officers are retiring at an earlier age than a generation ago and fewer young people are looking to enter what was once a proud profession.
“They go early now,” she said, referring to officers and retirement. “When I was a young police officer here, you’d have to force people out at 65; they were fighting it, calling it age discrimination and threatening to file suit. They didn’t want to go at 65.
“But it’s a tough job now, and I can’t blame people for wanting to retire earlier,” she went on. “There have been a few on-duty deaths in recent years, and the last one [Officer Kevin Ambrose] shook up a lot of people.”
Clapprood told BusinessWest that the staffing challenges will soon force some hard decisions on which programs it can continue to operate. For the long term, she worries that such issues will force her department and others to lower their standards when it comes to who can eventually wear a badge.
“In time, lowering standards can cause more problems,” she said, adding that, while once the department desired a bachelor’s degree and later an associate degree, it will now accept a GED. “You might see people here who maybe are not mature enough or didn’t want it for the right reasons; it will bring about a host of other issues.”
As she noted, there are positive things happening within the department and across the city from a public-safety perspective, but these developments are getting lost amid the scandals and negative press.
In an effort to shed some light on them, Clapprood has gone on radio talk shows and writes a regular column for the Republican in an effort to get the word out.
This month’s offering is typical of the submissions: there is commentary on timely topics — October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month, so she discussed the department’s team of domestic-violence advocates — as well as relevant updates, specifically one on the pending decision on which vendor will supply the department with body-worn cameras.
“Cameras aren’t perfect, but they will be beneficial both to our officers and our residents,” she wrote, echoing comments she offered to BusinessWest on this subject. “Just about every department to which we’ve spoken said complaints about officers nearly disappear once they implement a body-worn camera program.”
She also shares news about the department — this month there was mention of how Bill Schwarz, the department’s Crime Analysis director, was recently presented with the International Assoc. of Crime Analysts membership award — as well as another warning about scams and a reminder that photos of she and Mango for the police officers’ ball book can be seen on Mango’s Facebook page.
“I’m trying to get out a lot of good and a lot of the things that we do here,” she said. “And it’s been received very well.”
Paws for Effect
Like most dogs, Mango now has the run of the house — well, Clapprood’s office, anyway
There’s a dog bed not far from the commissioner’s desk, and she likes that he recently developed an affinity for the couch that sits in the corner.
“No one else likes to sit there, so I guess it’s Mango’s,” she said, adding that she and the department’s comfort dog are both growing into their jobs — and they both have a detailed job description.
Clapprood’s can be boiled down to putting her department and all its officers in a position to succeed while also changing the culture within the department, and, at the same time, making the city a safe place to visit and for those who live and work here.
There is considerable work to be done and challenges to be overcome, but Clapprood believes the department can get where it wants and needs to go. It won’t happen overnight, as she said, but it can happen slowly but surely.
Leading those efforts has been a life-long ambition, or at least since the second grade, according to at least one account.
Lynn Kennedy says the Log Cabin, Delaney House, and Log Rolling catering services have something for every business during the holiday season, no matter their size.
Companies have long celebrated the hard work they’ve done over the course of the year with a holiday party. Whether hosting a small gathering or a large corporate bash, plenty of restaurants, banquet facilities, and caterers in the Western Mass. area are willing to get the job done each year. Although these parties have been popular for decades, owners and managers say trends are always changing in how people want to celebrate the year and ring in a new one.
Lynn Kennedy says one of the most common things she hears from employers booking holiday parties is that they want to do something special for the people that work for them.
“This is something people don’t want to do halfway,” said Kennedy, director of Sales and Marketing at the Log Cabin. “They want to go all in because they realize it’s the best way for them to show their employees the appreciation they deserve for a lot of hard work that they put out there.”
While end-of-the-year holiday parties have long been a tradition for companies of all sizes, employers are finding new ways to show employees their appreciation this season.
Aside from the traditional but enjoyable small group parties and restaurant reservations, companies are going above and beyond to make sure all employees are able to join in the celebration, no matter how big the organization may be.
The Log Cabin offers a wide array of options for holiday parties, including small-group holiday parties that are always a hit. Indeed, the facility is hosting a total of six this year, as opposed to the usual four or five, because of how popular they are.
“This is something people don’t want to do halfway. They want to go all in because they realize it’s the best way for them to show their employees the appreciation they deserve for a lot of hard work that they put out there.”
The Starting Gate at GreatHorse is another popular venue for small-group holiday parties, including a Breakfast with Santa, a Holiday Dinner Dance with the Clark Eno Orchestra, and the annual Holiday Luncheon with Dan Kane & Friends.
Cathy Stephens, director of Catering Sales, says these events are affordable options for small to mid-sized companies looking to enjoy a festive night.
“It is cost-effective for the smaller and even the mid-size companies to host their holiday celebration at venues that are providing live entertainment and a festive menu that satisfies just about everyone,” she said. “It also provides the opportunity to network with other local businesses.”
In addition to Center Square Grill, Bill Collins recently opened another restaurant, HighBrow, in Northampton.
There is no shortage of businesses in the Western Mass. area, and all have their own preferences as to what kind of gathering will appeal to their employees. This encourages restaurants like Center Square Grill to expand their options and accommodate unique requests.
Owner Bill Collins says he does his best to work with any request, no matter how big or small, and often does so himself to make sure everything goes smoothly.
“What makes this restaurant stand out is that the owner is on deck,” he said, adding that General Manager Kim Hulslander is also frequently involved with booking parties. “If you want to call and work with me, you’re going to get me on the phone. You’re in ownership’s hands when you’re booking an event with us, and we see it through to the end.”
The holiday season poses a strong business opportunity for restaurants and banquet facilities, but it is also a great time for caterers.
“We have people who book at the end of the prior year. Once their holiday party finishes, most people, within a week or two, are booking already for the next year.”
Nosh Restaurant and Café in Springfield may be fairly small on the inside, but its catering business is booming, and uses creative food and elegant edible centerpieces to stand out from the competition.
“I think our food is super creative, and we present it beautifully,” said owner Teri Skinner. “It’s important to be creative in how you present the food, the taste, and the flavors. It’s really what a catering company is built on.”
These caterers are seeing a lot more business around the holidays over the past few years for a number of reasons. For this year’s holiday party planning issue, BusinessWest spoke with local restaurants and caterers about these changing traditions and how they strive to stand out among local competition.
Teri Skinner, owner of Nosh, says it’s important to be creative when it comes to food presentation.
Keep Them Coming Back
When Missy Baker at Arland Tool e-mailed Skinner to set up the company’s annual party, she sent just five short words: “all set for the 24th?” Skinner responded, “yes, we’re all set.”
That’s because this is the seventh or eighth time Skinner has hosted Arland’s annual party, and she knows exactly what they like and need.
“It’s great for the customer because they know I’m going to be there, they know the quality of food, and it’s great for me because I know how much they eat and how long it takes,” Skinner said. “It’s a very precise job that we can control very well.”
These kinds of relationships are not uncommon for restaurants and caterers, and it’s often the unique experiences customers have that keeps them coming back year after year.
Collins noted that a loyal clientele books parties at Center Square Grill every year.
“For us not being a big corporate chain, I just try to go above and beyond for the customer,” he said. “It’s worth it for me to do that to try to build in the business year after year.”
Some sites, like the Log Cabin, are so popular that regulars will book their next annual event just weeks after they enjoy their party this year.
“There are a lot of companies where their business is heaviest during this season, and it doesn’t make sense for them to actually have the celebration before Christmas, so they do it as a type of new-year celebration.”
“We have people who book at the end of the prior year,” Kennedy said. “Once their holiday party finishes, most people, within a week or two, are booking already for the next year.”
This mainly includes the larger parties that rent out big rooms at the Log Cabin for 300 to 400 people, like Tighe & Bond, Florence Bank, and PeoplesBank.
Because of the desire for a smaller, more intimate setting, Kennedy says the company’s Delaney House, where several rooms can fit 15 to 50 people, is also jam-packed during the holidays. Whatever the booking party’s size, she has seen an increase in catering over the last few years, which she credits partly to a changing workforce schedule.
“A major component of that is work schedules because you have first and second and third shifts of people,” she said. “Heads of businesses are really trying to figure out a way to incorporate their entire workforce in a holiday celebration and not just limit it to a particular time.”
These multi-shift businesses include news crews, manufacturers, and even hospitals, where it is nearly impossible to get everyone in the same room at the same time. This is where Log Rolling, the catering service for Log Cabin and the Delaney House, comes in handy.
“They’ll come in and ask us, ‘can you set up a breakfast for our morning crew? Can you set up a lunch for our afternoon crew? Can you set up a dinner for our evening crew?’ so everyone is kind of being hit at a different time and everyone gets to enjoy that holiday experience,” Kennedy said.
Making Spirits Bright
Caterers aren’t the only ones bringing unique styles to holiday celebrations. At Center Square Grill, Collins says customized packages are available for parties of any size, including both food and décor.
The restaurant offers packages for private dining that start at $20 and typically go up to $45 per person, although that isn’t the limit. Lower packages might offer unlimited alcoholic beverages with an entrée choice and a salad. With the $45 packages, everyone is greeted with a glass of champagne and gets an appetizer, salad, entrée, and dessert.
Collins also said he can arrange rooms in a variety of ways, with everything from decorated tables for a sit-down dinner to cocktail tables for a more casual night out.
“What’s unique about us is that you can come here casually, or you can come here dressed up, and you’re not going to feel bad in either direction,” he said. “We want you to be comfortable coming in for a burger and a beer or filet, oysters, and a bottle of champagne.”
Perhaps one of the most important parts about a holiday party is the quality and presentation of food, Skinner said. From everything from the plate the food goes on to the way the food itself is presented itself, Nosh puts together each “edible centerpiece” with with care.
“We call them edible centerpieces because they’re so beautiful when they go out,” she elaborated. “That’s how we build things here. We want them to look gorgeous and taste great, so that’s our goal at the end of the day.”
Cathy Stephens says events at Great Horse, including the holiday dinner dance and holiday luncheon, are perfect for businesses with a smaller budget.
More recently, Nosh catered a Halloween party for Northwest Mutual and provided edible centerpieces, appetizers, and a bartender dressed up for the spooky season.
Skinner agrees that catering has become more popular over the years and thinks a lot of people just want to feel comfortable and laid-back. “I think having it at home or at an office is relaxing,” she said.
Perhaps one of the most relaxing options all these restaurants have seen is the decision to hold off on a holiday party until the beginning of the following year to avoid the craziness of booking during peak season.
Kennedy says people normally book parties at the Log Cabin through the first few weeks of January, but some even book all the way into February.
“There are a lot of companies where their business is heaviest during this season, and it doesn’t make sense for them to actually have the celebration before Christmas, so they do it as a type of new-year celebration,” she said.
This happens frequently at restaurants in the area as well, and it’s the reason why Center Square keeps decorations up well into the new year so customers can still feel the holiday spirit even after the holidays are over.
In short, whether businesses are going with a new tradition or sticking with an old one, there is no shortage of options for holiday parties in Western Mass. — and banquet halls and restaurants say they’re happy to oblige.
President Trump has made no secret of his hope that a series of tariffs on goods from China and other countries will eventually force a more favorable balance of trade for the U.S. But in the meantime, the escalating trade war has posed very real, often negative impacts for manufacturers, particularly in the form of higher costs and a general sense of uncertainty that makes it difficult to pursue growth. And no one seems to have any idea when the situation will ease up.
A trade war can hurt business in more ways than one, Kristin Carlson says.
For example, as a contractor for the U.S. Department of Defense, her manufacturing company, Westfield-based Peerless Precision, doesn’t buy a lot of foreign materials, like steel and aluminum — in fact, she buys about 95% domestic — so she hasn’t been subject to the direct cost increases on imported goods resulting from the volley of back-and-forth tariffs posed by President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
“As a result of tariffs and increased pressure on domestic supply, we’ve had supply and demand issues. We’ve been seeing pricing going up 25% to 40% from what we have historically paid.”
But those increased costs of Chinese products have pressured the domestic supply chain, so she is, indeed, paying more.
“As a result of tariffs and increased pressure on domestic supply, we’ve had supply and demand issues. We’ve been seeing pricing going up 25% to 40% from what we have historically paid,” she said. “Costs are a big issue.”
Peerless Precision, which makes parts for the aerospace and defense industries, employs 32 people and has generated strong revenue in recent years, but profits are being squeezed by the trade war.
Kristin Carlson says manufacturers are dealing with price increases and supply-chain disruptions due to the recent tariffs.
Lead times are also affected, she added. “Because of this supply and demand issue on the domestic supply chain, companies are stocking up to make sure they’re getting the prices they need. When times are normal, we’ll get material in one to three business days, and that’s turned into one to four weeks.”
Trump’s trade war, now about 18 months old, has had a ripple effect on the global supply chain of many products, driving up the price of imported raw materials and finished goods. It’s not just manufacturers feeling the heat — for example, farmers have lost lucrative markets as well.
NPR recently reported that cranberry growers worked for years to develop a market in China, and sales of dried cranberries to China increased by more than 1,000% between 2013 and 2018. But after the White House approved tariffs on $50 billion worth of Chinese goods in July, China immediately retaliated with tariffs on dozens of U.S. goods, including dried cranberries, and now growers — many of them in Massachusetts — are faced with a serious glut of product.
That’s just one example of the impact of tariffs, but for manufacturers, the equation can have even more moving parts (pun intended). Many shop owners say the uncertainty of the situation is causing them to hold off on hiring and expansion because they’re not sure how or when a deal will take shape.
“The imposition of 15% tariffs on $112 billion worth of Chinese goods on Sept. 1 underscores the uncertainty facing employers, particularly manufacturers, who do business in overseas markets,” Raymond Torto, chair of the Associated Industries of Massachusetts (AIM) Board of Economic Advisors, wrote last month. “At the same time, employers are beginning to see evidence from both customers and suppliers of a slowdown in the U.S. economy.”
Stirring the Pot
Robert Lawrence, professor of International Trade and Investment at the Harvard Kennedy School and a former member of President Clinton’s Council of Economic Advisers, recently told the Boston Globe that, while U.S. strategy over the past century has been to use protectionist measures like tariffs sparingly, Trump has a more aggressive outlook.
“This is at odds with the entire thrust of our policies over the post-war period,” he said. “We’re acting unilaterally. We’re bullying the Chinese by putting these tariffs on them.”
The Trump administration has taken aim at China for a variety of economic reasons, from the nations’ trade imbalance to accusations that Chinese companies steal intellectual property from American companies. But, as Carlson noted, China isn’t the only affected supplier.
“When we submit a quote for a customer purchase, we’re locked into the price we quote them. If our cost changes, we have to suck it up. We can’t go back to the customer and say, ‘oops, materials went up 50%, so we have to raise the price.’ We don’t do that.”
“Tariffs weren’t just slapped onto China, but onto Canada, Mexico … maybe three to five countries in the entire world don’t have tariffs on them.”
Not all manufacturers see the impact the same way. Eric Hagopian, who owns Pilot Precision Products in South Deerfield, told the Globe that, while the price of domestic steel he buys has gone up 43% this year, the tariffs are boosting American industry as many companies are moving to American products as a result of tariffs on products from Pilot Precision’s Chinese competitors. “It actually helps our business,” he said.
Rick Sullivan, president and CEO of the Economic Development Council of Western Mass., said he has heard from members with differing perspectives on the impact of the trade war.
“Some people, I think, are really impacted; they feel there are some pretty serious impacts on cost and competitiveness,” he told BusinessWest. “Then, if you go to someone like Eric Hagopian, he’s a little less adamant that it’s a big issue.”
MassBenchmarks, an initiative of the UMass Donahue Institute and the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, reported on economic trends in Massachusetts this week, pointing out that the economy is doing well overall, with low unemployment, but employment and output growth are decelerating.
“Growth in the global economy is slowing, and labor-supply constraints, softening demand, and rising international geopolitical uncertainty all signal concerns for the economy going forward,” the report notes.
Rick Sullivan says manufacturers — and other businesses — have differing takes on the pros and cons of a trade war, but no one likes the uncertainty it generates.
Board members focused on a number of broad sources of uncertainty in the economic and geopolitical environment and what they could mean for the Massachusetts economy. One board member said the current environment is characterized by “considerable internal and external disharmony,” which includes ongoing trade conflicts, as well as continued tension around Brexit, the apparent impacts of climate change, particularly as it relates to agricultural production in various places around the world, and increasing instability in global markets among advanced economies. Against that backdrop, Trump’s ongoing impeachment inquiry is yet another wild card.
But there’s a reason MassBenchmarks placed trade conflicts at the top of that list.
“I think they create an uncertainty, and they increase costs,” Sullivan said. “Certainly, costs are a concern, and competitiveness is a concern.”
Cost and Effect
Those costs aren’t easily passed on to customers, Carlson said, and manufacturers, by and large, would rather not do that.
“When we submit a quote for a customer purchase, we’re locked into the price we quote them,” she explained. “If our cost changes, we have to suck it up. We can’t go back to the customer and say, ‘oops, materials went up 50%, so we have to raise the price.’ We don’t do that.”
AIM releases its Business Confidence Index every month, gauging exactly that — how member businesses are feeling about the economic outlook of the state and their own businesses. The overall Index, which is scored on a 100-point scale, has lost 3.7 points since a year ago but remains within optimistic territory.
“For a long time, a lot of us have been eating the material cost increases. Everything I hear is there’s not really an end date. We’ll see what happens.”
However, September’s reading was weighed down by weakening sentiment among Bay State manufacturers. The Index’s manufacturing component dropped 2.4 points in September and has lost 7.9 points for the year. Non-manufacturers were more confident than manufacturers by a 6.5-point margin.
The results mirrored the national Institute for Supply Management’s manufacturing index, which fell to its lowest level since 2009 last month. A separate report by IHS Markit showed that the manufacturing sector suffered its worst quarter since 2009, though activity increased during September.
“Manufacturers are bearing the brunt of both actual and threatened tariffs against goods imported from China,” Torto wrote. “Many Massachusetts companies have also become caught in retaliatory tariffs and are seeing significant weakening of their overseas business.”
Michael Tyler, chief investment officer at Eastern Bank Wealth Management and a BEA member, noted that the gaps in confidence between manufacturing companies and other businesses appear to be growing.
“Manufacturing has been hit by the steady increase in tariffs imposed by the United States, China, and other nations since 2018,” he noted. “The World Trade Organization estimates that the flow of goods across borders will increase by just 1.2% this year, and manufacturing companies are feeling that downdraft.”
Carlson is feeling it, for sure, and as president of the Western Mass. chapter of the National Tooling and Machining Assoc., she knows others are, too.
“For a long time, a lot of us have been eating the material cost increases,” she told BusinessWest, conceding that the uncertainty around the trade war has been equally vexing. “Everything I hear is there’s not really an end date. We’ll see what happens.”
From its humble beginnings in a Southwick basement 40 years ago, Whalley Computer Associates has become a technology company with remarkable reach, providing a host of services to more than 3,000 business clients, ranking WCA in the top one-tenth of 1% of all computer resellers by sales volume. That growth has come through constant evolution in response to industry needs and trends, but also simply by making life easier for clients, who increasingly demand no-fuss solutions to their network needs.
Paul Whalley knows his company might have a larger brand presence in a larger city.
“Our biggest challenge, marketing-wise, is being in Western Mass. — because you know what they think of us in Eastern Mass.,” he said. “And then we’re in a town called Southwick, and if you look up Southwick, you see a farming community, and the name of the company is a family name. So I think people have an image of my brother and me with pitchforks, milking the cows in the morning and feeding the chickens when we get home, and maybe selling one or two computers.
“But that perception isn’t what people get when they walk through here,” he quickly added, and for good reason.
Out of its 62,500-square-foot headquarters in Southwick — it also maintains facilities in Westfield, Milford, and Providence, R.I. — Whalley Computer Associates (WCA) has grown to be the 175th-largest computer solution provider in North America. That’s among more than 200,000 such companies, placing Whalley squarely in the top one-tenth of 1%.
What started as a software-consulting firm is now an original equipment manufacturer (OEM), building computers and other devices for 25 brands, a few of them major national names. In so doing, WCA is the largest reseller of Lenovo products in the U.S. and has been the top reseller for Dell in the Northeast many years.
“I think people have an image of my brother and me with pitchforks, milking the cows in the morning and feeding the chickens when we get home, and maybe selling one or two computers. But that perception isn’t what people get when they walk through here.”
Initially, the firm served customers mostly based in Massachusetts and Connecticut. However, in the past decade, it has expanded its range, providing technology products and services across all of New England and Upstate New York.
It’s not easy to pin down what WCA does in a few words. Early in its history, it focused on imaging and configuration, delivery and deployment, and maintenance and repair. But today, services include pre-sales consultation, system design and implementation, infrastructure, data storage and management, client and server virtualization, disaster recovery and business continuance, VoIP, wireless cloud computing and cloud infrastructure services, server, storage, and network health checks — and more.
The company provides services to more than 250 school systems, 50 colleges, and 3,000 businesses, while continually expanding its range of offerings as the technology world continually evolves.
“It’s the full life cycle,” said Whalley, WCA’s vice president. “We’re consulting on what they should buy, selling them what they should buy, preparing what they bought, delivering what they bought, taking care of what they bought, managing what they bought — perhaps even remotely — and then, at the end of its life, gathering it back and disposing of it or returning it to the leasing company or giving it to a school, whatever the customer wants.”
Up from the Basement
Like many high-tech success stories, WCA grew from humble beginnings. As a part-time programming consultant in the Agawam school system in the 1970’s, math teacher John Whalley — Paul’s brother — purchased a small software-consulting firm. Working after school and during the summer from his Southwick basement, he built a small customer base.
Then, in 1979, incorporating his experience teaching his students programming on the school’s new computer, he started Whalley Computer Associates. He moved to new quarters in Southwick twice, all the while trying to convince his brother to come on board.
Paul started helping out part-time, and in 1985, they both dove in full-time, with John (still the company’s president) leaving his teaching job and Paul resigning from his position as a programmer at MassMutual, in the process becoming WCA’s fourth employee. The acquisition of customers such as Northeast Utilities, United Technologies, General Electric, and Cigna helped drive the company’s rapid growth.
Dean LeClerc says WCA’s engineering training lab helps keep the team on top of current technology.
That growth necessitated several moves in Southwick, from John Whalley’s cellar to a former hair salon, to a 1,500-square-foot office, to an 18,000-square-foot building on Route 202, to the current headquarters on Whalley Way, in the industrial-park section of town, built in 1999.
Through all that growth, Whalley said, the idea has always been to make life easier for customers. For example, the Southwick facility has hundreds of linear feet of ‘bench space’ where computers and other devices are not only built, but tested by connecting directly with the client’s network.
“The benefit for the customer is they can just walk to the desk, unplug the old one, plug in the new one, and walk away. Otherwise, they’d have to go the desk and spend 15 minutes with the product and get it fully configured on their network. It’s much more efficient and cost-effective, and allows them to work on more strategic things. Their IT staff doesn’t really want to be doing this. They’re certified at a pretty high level and want to be doing more challenging things.”
Dean LeClerc, director of Engineering, pointed out one bench that was being used to test Chromebooks headed to a Holyoke school.
“They leave here as if it had already been brought to Holyoke and connected with their network and tested,” he explained. “So they’re opening a box they already know works on their network.”
LeClerc added that Whalley can even set up each device for the individual student who will be using it, and a WCA representative will often visit sites to hand them out to specific users.
Early in BusinessWest’s recent visit, LeClerc showed off one of the facility’s newer features, an engineering training lab outfitted with WCA’s most commonly sold storage devices, switches, and servers — a half-million-dollar investment in making sure the engineering team stays on top of technology.
“Our engineers are doing it for the second, third, or fourth time before they’re getting to a customer’s environment,” he explained. “They’re not doing it for the first time at a customer’s live environment.”
In addition, if a customer is in a bind with equipment going down that could affect the flow of business, the lab might loan a piece of equipment for a day or a week to get the customer up and running again immediately instead of having to wait for shipment of a new product.
“If you listen to anybody in technology, they’ll tell you the majority of problems come when people aren’t being vigilant and open e-mails they shouldn’t be opening.”
“So we try to balance it,” he said. “This is our lab for our engineers, but if we have a couple extra pieces of equipment that we know we can bring out to get a customer back up and running, we can do that.”
Safe and Secure
WCA has evolved in other ways as well, Whalley said, mostly in response to changing industry needs and trends. Take security, for example, in the form of building security, surveillance cameras, access-control cards, and other products and services.
“We weren’t even thinking about that stuff 10 years ago, but it’s becoming a bigger piece of our business now,” he said, adding that WCA has a contract with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts as an ITC71 vendor for security systems.
Cybersecurity is another growing niche, he noted. “We’ll do assessments, look at the network, and help them prevent someone from attacking them. Even the biggest companies get attacked. We’ll build up a robust system with a lot of redundancy so if something does happen, whether it’s ransomware or malware or a virus, they experience no — or very little — downtime.”
He recalled two incidents, one involving a customer of WCA’s managed services, who had invested in a needs analysis and network cybersecurity protection and monitoring. “Within seconds of a ransom attack, we shut everything down, isolating the problem to one desktop, and brought the whole network back up, so they were down for only minutes, and then worked on clearing out that one bad desktop where the ransomware came in.”
Meanwhile, another local company, not a customer of those managed services, got attacked, and it took three weeks and 100 hours of engineering time to get it back up and running, Whalley noted.
“One computer down for an hour, versus the entire network down for three weeks. One did the preparation and the engineering ahead of time to have a robust defense of their system, and because it was monitored at the point, we immediately knew there was a problem and could quarantine it and get the rest of the company working again. That’s the power of having the combination of the managed-service group and Dean’s engineers.”
WCA also sends a trainer to conduct security-awareness trainings for clients, because so many breaches result from human mistakes, he noted.
“If you listen to anybody in technology, they’ll tell you the majority of problems come when people aren’t being vigilant and open e-mails they shouldn’t be opening. So we offer a very affordable service, coming into a company and going through a two-hour presentation on how to stay out of trouble and how not to make those mistakes that put your company in jeopardy.”
Staying atop such trends and others is critical, which is why WCA presents the annual Foxwoods Technology Show, the biggest technology event in the region solely for IT professionals. Every year, it attracts more than 1,000 attendees, including 300 representatives from 60 different manufacturers.
“We’re in an industry where you either change or you die,” Whalley told BusinessWest. “Everything’s moving so fast now. You either change and embrace the change — and try to lead the change — or you go out of business.”
Growth Pattern
In a business market where 80% of computer companies fail in less than five years, WCA employs more than 150 computer professionals and continues to grow its client base. It’s not exactly a small company, but tries to maintain a small-firm spirit, through events like monthly breakfasts, lunches, and birthday parties, as well as kickoffs of baseball and football season, where employees wear their favorite teams’ jerseys. Just this month, employees gathered to celebrate WCA’s best September ever.
“We pride ourselves on being a family business,” Whalley said, with the concept of family extending beyond the company’s founders, reflecting a general spirit of camaraderie in Southwick as well as the other sites.
At the same time, its work is serious business — and a long way from milking cows and feeding chickens.
“Our challenge is to stay as ahead of the curve as we can, but provide the stability and assurance to our customers that we’re not just jumping onto the new shiny penny and abandoning our core business,” LeClerc said. “We’re large enough that we can afford to do that. We have enough resources to stay ahead of the curve but still deliver traditional services to our customers until they’re ready for a change.”
Whalley agreed. “We try not to jump around from one thing to the other; we just try to add additional capabilities and continue to be exceptional at the legacy of services and products that we provide.”
Mike Vezzola says the North Central Connecticut Chamber of Commerce’s new headquarters at Enfield Square has given the organization greater visibility.
If a long-discussed tribal casino takes shape in East Windsor, Conn., the town of Enfield would find itself in an intriguing geographic spot between two destination casinos — which could bring benefits in a number of ways, Mike Vezzola says.
“It’s still going through a large permitting process, but if the casino does wind up coming to East Windsor, we’re right smack dab in the middle of MGM Springfield and that proposed East Windsor site, so the hope here is that Enfield can become a little bit more of a destination,” said the executive director of the North Central Connecticut Chamber of Commerce during a recent conversation at the chamber’s office in the mall known as Enfield Square.
“It’ll certainly create a lot of runoff for hotels and restaurants,” he went on. “We have a plethora of great restaurants, stores, and activities right at our fingertips. We need to build on those things and make sure the right pieces are set in place, and certainly the town is doing its part to try and see that through. We’re excited for what’s on the horizon over the next five to 10 years.”
As a border town that may eventually be flanked by two casinos, Enfield is, in many ways, at a crossroads — one that town officials hope will be bolstered by a new train platform in the Thompsonville neighborhood.
Earlier this month, the Town Council unanimously voted to transfer $670,000 from the general fund into a separate fund for the development of a train platform in Thompsonville, a project that has been 15 years in the making and is expected to attract traffic to town and give residents and businesses more reason to relocate or stay there.
Other financial hurdles need to be cleared, as the total cost of a platform would be around $2.5 million. A full train station could follow down the road, at a cost of tens of millions; Enfield is just one of several train-stop communities in the Nutmeg State waiting for DOT action on such projects. In Enfield, town officials say any upgrade will bring a number of economic benefits, particularly for Thompsonville itself, which has been the focus of a planned revitalization project for some time.
The town implemented a tax increment financing (TIF) plan in Thompsonville and the Enfield Square area earlier this year. TIF is an economic-development tool that allows municipalities to use tax revenues generated from new capital investment to assist in a project’s financing.
“We have a plethora of great restaurants, stores, and activities right at our fingertips. We need to build on those things and make sure the right pieces are set in place, and certainly the town is doing its part to try and see that through.”
Patrick McMahon, CEO of the nonprofit Connecticut Main Street Center, who was hired by the town as a consultant in January to help revitalize Thompsonville, told legislative and business leaders at a recent economic-development breakfast that Enfield leaders envision significant private investment in new business ventures, redevelopment of historic properties, and new public infrastructure.
“Hopefully, the new TIF project will bring some revitalization to that specific area, especially with the commuter rail between New Haven and Springfield,” Vezzola told BusinessWest. “We’re one of the primary stops on that rail, and they’re hoping to get the platform built in the next couple of years.”
Pipeline to Progress
At the same time, Enfield has seen growth in recent years in its manufacturing, distribution, and warehousing sectors, while Asnuntuck Community College (ACC) — which hosted the recent breakfast — has built a reputation as a manufacturing-education leader through its Advanced Manufacturing Technology Center (AMTC).
Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont and other guests toured the space, speaking to students and taking in the 11,000-square-foot machining lab with its 90 CNC and manual machines, the state-of-the-art additive manufacturing lab, and other high-tech training areas.
Enfield at a Glance
Year Incorporated: 1683 Population: 44,654 Area: 34.2 square miles County: Hartford Residential Tax Rate: $34.23 Commercial Tax Rate: $34.23 Median Household Income: $67,402 Median Family Income: $77,554 Type of Government: Town Council, Town Manager Largest Employers: Lego Systems Inc., MassMutual, Retail Brand Alliance, Enfield Distribution Center * Latest information available
With programs that get students working at good-paying manufacturing jobs in two years or even one in many cases, ACC — and, by extension, its town — has become a promising answer to workforce needs at area plants, which have long lamented persistent skills gaps.
Asnuntuck has forged partnerships and talent pipelines with area manufacturers and businesses including Pratt & Whitney, Sikorsky, Eppendorf, and Stanley Black & Decker, among others, contributing to a 98% job-placement rate for AMCT graduates.
“With more than 25,000 skilled workers needed in the next two decades, the advanced manufacturing technology centers at Connecticut community colleges offer the opportunity for people of all ages and backgrounds to find a rewarding career in our state,” said Connecticut State Colleges and Universities President Mark Ojakian, who participated in the tour.
The rise in Enfield’s manufacturing reputation coincides with retail struggles, particularly in Enfield Square, where the only remaining anchor is Target. However, numerous small stores still call the property home, and Party City made a major investment there two years ago.
“The mall is very open to interpretive ways of using their retail space,” Vezzola said, the chamber’s presence there being just one example. “We get a lot of foot traffic in here, community members looking for referrals to some of our members or just information about who we are and what we do and how that benefits the community. Certainly, we’re here and excited to help facilitate any potential new clientele the mall might see in the future.”
While Enfield hasn’t attracted many new large retail establishments over the past year, the community continues to be a haven for sole proprietors, he noted.
“With more than 25,000 skilled workers needed in the next two decades, the advanced manufacturing technology centers at Connecticut community colleges offer the opportunity for people of all ages and backgrounds to find a rewarding career in our state.”
“These are folks who have their own businesses and work from home, whether it’s social-media development or graphic design, things of that nature,” he said. “A lot of young people are starting these businesses — and we’re excited that they want to put their talents and work skills to use right here.”
So excited, in fact, that the chamber is hoping to launch a young professional networking group next year as a subsidiary of the chamber.
“We want to encourage other younger folks who might not necessarily know how to navigate creating their own business or are looking for a new opportunity to learn and develop, so it’ll be a bit of an educational piece as well as a networking piece,” Vezzola explained. “That’s a big focus of what we do; we’re continuing to encourage our businesses to help each other, utilize each other, and benefit each other the best way they can.
“We peg ourselves on changing with the times, and certainly the scope of what a chamber does is completely different now than it was 20 years ago,” he added. “We’re just trying to stay relevant and active and evolve with the times.”
Life on the Border
Vezzola understands, too, the potential for his chamber and its members to make connections across the state line as well.
“Being a border town, I think it helps us get some exposure over the border in Massachusetts for our businesses and vice versa, and we’re considering some partnerships with chambers in Western Massachusetts to maybe do some cross-border development with each other, with networking groups,” he said. “Again, it’s about always evolving and just trying to do the best we can with what we’ve got here.”
From left: Patrick Fortunato, business development manager; Jitu Changela, CEO; and Marc Solomon, director of Operations.
While growing his business and keeping his employees busy at all times is Jitu Changela’s primary goal, his mission in business is to keep his clients’ employees busy and help those companies grow.
He and his team at the IT solutions company Azaya believe this is one of the best ways to measure success in this highly competitive, still-evolving field. Indeed, companies can’t grow and prosper, and their employees can’t be highly productive, if their IT systems are down. Or if the equipment is old and obsolete. Or if a business isn’t making the most of its investments in IT.
Azaya, a 25-year-old managed-service provider based in Palmer and founded by Changela, helps clients maximize their IT systems and ensure they are reliable and sustainable, thus enabling employees to work better and smarter. It does this through a philosophy of putting the client first and continually learning from each customer experience.
“You can never know everything; we’re always learning,” said Changela, leader of this six-person tech company that provides essential technology components and service to many different types of businesses. “The best way we keep up with what’s happening in this industry is by having a variety of different clients. They’re all from different industries, so working with each one of those clients in a different industry forces us to look at all the different hardware and software solutions that are out there.”
The company’s overarching goal is to become what a provider must be in this changing industry — a one-stop shop. And it is well on its way to becoming just that.
The company offers something it calls eZ Virtual IT, which creates a team of IT professionals available at a client’s disposal and capable of handling a variety of services, including customized systems, security, website hosting, data protection, and server system setup and maintenance.
It also provides eZ Voice, a complete solution to business phone-line needs, and eZ Projects, help with specific IT projects, which, as Changela puts it, enables the company to “audition” for the client for future partnerships.
“With our model of one fixed cost, we’re there as many times as we need to be without it being any extra expense to them. Being able to be preventive solves a lot of their problems before they become problems.”
But the company’s ongoing success and continued growth is due not only to what it provides clients, but also how — specifically a fixed-cost model that is somewhat unique in the industry and provides a number of benefits for clients.
“That’s our core focus today, providing fixed-cost services,” Changela said, adding that most companies still charge hourly rates. “What we do is very unique; it’s a win-win partnership. Clients pay us a fixed cost, and our goal is to make sure we maintain their infrastructure at a very high level.”
Overall, the company preaches to its clients to be proactive, or preventive, and not reactive, when it comes to technology, investing in it and ultimately making the most of it, said Marc Solomon, Azaya’s Director of Operations, and the fixed-cost system helps them do just that.
For this issue and its focus on technology, BusinessWest talked with the team at Azaya — that word means ‘shelter, refuge, and support’ in Sanskrit — as it celebrates 25 years in business and looks ahead to what the future can bring for this forward-looking company.
Tech Talk
Before looking forward, though, Changela first flashed back a quarter-century or so to when the internet was young and he was looking for work.
With a strong background in electrical engineering, he knew he wanted to do something computer- or electronics-related but was unemployed and couldn’t find a job. That’s when he decided to make his own luck.
“I just decided that I had some experience in purchasing high-level computer equipment, and I found clients that needed stuff like that,” he told BusinessWest. “At that time, the internet was very new, so they had to go through some channel to get the high-level computer equipment, and I had the source.”
So, he provided that equipment to them. Then, the fledgling venture grew from what is called “reselling” to the next phase, which focused on providing a variety of needed services to local clients.
“We then became internet service providers in town here in Palmer,” Changela said, adding that the company continued evolving into a multi-layered IT solutions provider.
Solomon joined the team after an internship while he was attending Southern New Hampshire University. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in computer science, and has been with the company for three years.
“I’ve always been interested in technology,” he said. “After I graduated, Jitu brought me on board and has really shown me the ropes of the managed-service-provider industry.”
More recently, Azaya added Patrick Fortunato as its Business Development Manager to lead the sales of IT managed-services support, digital and VoIP business telephone systems, and cutting-edge security surveillance technologies, and he has plenty of experience in the technology industry.
“I used to replace telex machines with fax machines,” he said with a laugh, adding that technology has certainly evolved even more since then, and all three men emphasized the importance of keeping up with the changing times.
This means finding ways to stand out within a deep and talented pool of competitors, bringing more services to a wider array of customers.
Indeed, Changela said he realized years ago that Comcast was going to take over some of Azaya’s internet business, so the company knew it had to change something up. That’s when it evolved from being an Internet service provider to a managed-service provider,
And one that features what it calls a guaranteed network uptime policy — essentially a promise to keep clients up and running all the time.
“It’s all about being preventive over being reactive,” Solomon said. “A lot of times, with billable hours, which is the other side of the coin of fixed cost, it’s difficult to be preventive when you’re working on a limited source of hours. With our model of one fixed cost, we’re there as many times as we need to be without it being any extra expense to them. Being able to be preventive solves a lot of their problems before they become problems.”
“Downtime is obviously not cost-effective. It costs a lot of money when employees cannot work. We want to work smart, not hard, and they want to see their network up and running all the time. Everybody is winning at that point.”
This policy, said Changela said, puts pressure on Azaya as a vendor and partner, but ensures that each party involved is happy.
“Downtime is obviously not cost-effective. It costs a lot of money when employees cannot work,” he said. “We want to work smart, not hard, and they want to see their network up and running all the time. Everybody is winning at that point.”
Overall, Azaya focuses on efficiency and security, bringing the technological support a business needs for greater effectiveness to internal business processes. Changela also says they customize services based on what the business needs, and guides companies through the process.
This is what the team’s leaders mean when they say the company works in partnership with its clients, another key to its success.
“We’re constantly talking to our clients and trying to figure out what technology they can utilize to best serve their needs,” he said. “We have to do some research and figure out what’s out there that can help them.”
For Adaptas Solutions, for example, a phone system that could handle all its needs throughout multiple offices was something it lacked. Azaya installed the Cisco BE6000 in five of its locations, giving Adaptas the ability to connect all its locations seamlessly, providing the phones, servers, and phone lines all throughout the entire operation, creating a one-stop solution.
Bottom Line
While this model seems to be working well for the tech company, Changela says the team has big plans for where they want to be in the future.
“Our biggest goal is to become that one-stop-shop,” he told BusinessWest. “Anything that is connected to the network, whether it’s printers, cameras, security cameras, or phone systems … we should be involved in it.”
Fortunato said the future of technology is related to security and speed, and Solomon added that becoming a specialty leader in multiple industries is also at the top of Azaya’s list.
“We have clients from architects to veterinarians, so our range is quite large,” he said. “To be able to pick a vertical and become the dominant leader in that vertical is something that is on the business plan. We want to be viewed as equals in the industry, against the companies that have a little more exposure.”
Changela added that one main thing that separates Azaya from competitors is the culture of the company, with a focus on honesty and integrity.
“It’s not always about making money, it’s about helping our clients become successful,” he said. “And at the end of the day, if they’re successful, we’ll make money anyways.”
When BusinessWest decided a few years back to create a new recognition program to honor women in this region, the next big decision involved assigning a name to this initiative.
‘Women in Business’ would have been the obvious choice, and publications with similar missions and audiences have gone that route. But that would be short-sighted, and it would leave out a good number of women who are making a real difference in this community.
‘Women Leaders’ is another option, and it would certainly work, because these are the individuals that this program was created to identify — and celebrate.
But we chose ‘Women of Impact’ for a reason. When we hear that word ‘impact,’ we think of people who are influencing this region in some way, creating positive change, improving quality of life, and moving the needle on many of the important issues facing society. And while doing that, they may also be very successful in business as well.
We also chose ‘Women of Impact’ because there are countless ways to make an impact in this region — each one of them important in its own way. It was and is our desire to show the variety of ways that people, and especially women, can be impactful. We were quite successful with this assignment in our first year, 2018, and we can say the same for the class of 2019. The stories for this year’s class are unique:
• Tricia Canavan, president of United Personnel, is a highly successful businesswoman, but she is having an impact in many ways, especially in her various efforts to help ensure that individuals possess the skills they need to succeed in the workplace;
• Carol Moore Cutting, president, CEO, and general manager of Cutting Edge Broadcasting, is also a successful businesswoman and a role model for women of color across the region. She also epitomizes the hard work, sacrifice, and the ability to overcome adversity that is necessary to succeed in business — and in life;
• Jean Deliso, principal with Deliso Financial Services, is also a successful business owner and has spent her career helping individuals, and especially women, become empowered when it comes to financial planning and securing a solid future;
• Ellen Freyman is an accomplished business lawyer, but she would be the first to tell you the biggest impact she is making concerns helping others, especially women and minorities, get involved in their communities and make an impact themselves.
• Mary Hurley has been a life-long public servant and has made an impact at every stop in her career — as a lawyer, a Springfield city councilor, mayor of the city, District Court judge, and, most recently, as governor’s councilor. At each stop, she has impacted lives in countless ways;
• Lydia Martinez-Alvarez, assistant superintendent of schools in Springfield and the first Hispanic woman to hold that post, is being impactful in many ways, from helping to ensure students can succeed in the workplace after they accept their diplomas to serving as a role model for young women, and especially Hispanic women;
• Suzanne Parker, executive director of Girls Inc., has transformed that agency into a powerful force when it comes to empowering young women and enabling them to seize career opportunities. As a mother and master of the art of balancing life and work, she is also a role model to those girls across the region; and
• Kate Putnam, managing director of Golden Seeds and a successful businesswomen in her own right, is making an impact in several ways, but especially in her efforts to mentor entrepreneurs, and especially women entrepreneurs, helping them attain much-needed capital and grow this region’s entrepreneurship ecosystem.
Eight stories. Far more than eight ways to have an impact on this region and the people who call it home. This is why we created a new recognition program and why we chose this name. And that’s also why the class of 2019 is worthy of celebration.
Lisa Tanzer, president of Life is Good, has over 25 years of consumer brand experience. Prior to becoming president, Lisa served as the company’s head of Marketing after spending over 20 years on the board of directors of the Life is Good Kids Foundation. She’s held executive positions in the entertainment, ecommerce, and education sectors. Earlier in her career, Lisa held marketing and strategy roles at Hasbro, Staples, The Gillette Company, and PricewaterhouseCoopers. She received her BA from Tufts University and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Taylor Knight joined 22News in July of 2018 as a multimedia journalist. Currently, Taylor is the co-anchor of the 22News weekday morning newscasts and a reporter for the 22News I-Team. Before arriving in Springfield, Taylor was a reporter for FiOS1 News in New Jersey. Taylor began her career as a multimedia journalist in Connecticut, covering news and sports in Fairfield County. Taylor earned her B.A. in broadcast journalism at Temple University in Philadelphia. During college, she interned at WFSB in Connecticut and NBC Sports Philadelphia. In her free time, Taylor enjoys spending time with her dog, running, and watching the Philadelphia Eagles. She is excited to now be “Working for You!”
President Trump has made no secret of his hope that a series of tariffs on goods from China and other countries will eventually force a more favorable balance of trade for the U.S. But in the meantime, the escalating trade war has posed very real, often negative impacts for manufacturers, particularly in the form of higher costs and a general sense of uncertainty that makes it difficult to pursue growth. And no one seems to have any idea when the situation will ease up.
