Day: July 23, 2021

Country Bank, Worcester Red Sox Announce Community Giving Campaign

By
Daily News

WARE — Country Bank and the Worcester Red Sox have announced a community giving campaign to support nonprofit leaders throughout the region.

To kick off the campaign, dubbed “WooStars,” Country Bank recognized 11 local nonprofits at Polar Park, including Springfield-based organizations Friends of the Homeless, Ronald McDonald House, Christina’s House, and Habitat for Humanity, along with Worcester-based organizations the United Way, Why Me, Sherry’s House, Provision Ministry, St. John’s Food Pantry for the Poor, the Boys and Girls Club, and Habitat for Humanity. Each nonprofit was presented with a $5,000 check from Paul Scully, president and CEO of Country Bank. Representatives of the nonprofits also participated in a television commercial to support the campaign.

Country Bank and the Worcester Red Sox Foundation will select nine additional nonprofit leaders who have stepped up to the plate to serve their community. The deadline for nominations is Aug. 15. Each winner will receive a $5,000 donation to their nonprofit and will be recognized at a presentation in Polar Park on Sept. 9. A total of $90,000 will be donated this year through the WooStar campaign.

“One of the most important goals of our partnership with the Worcester Red Sox is to find ways for us to collectively give back to our communities in an impactful and meaningful way. Country Bank is deeply rooted in supporting its communities and a value that we have lived by for 171 years,” said Shelley Regin, the bank’s senior vice president of Marketing, adding that “this campaign rewards those doing the life-changing work out there.”

In addition, the bank has also launched a Most Valuable Teacher (MVT) campaign that recognizes the outstanding work teachers do every day to educate and support students. Country Bank has a long-standing Teacher of the Month campaign to support teachers in the region, so it is exciting to partner with the WooSox to make the MVT campaign even more rewarding for teachers and students.

“We are continually inspired by the unrelenting community outreach of Country Bank,” WooSox President Charles Steinberg said. “Our shared interest in education is leading us to recognize some of our unheralded heroes — our MVTs, or Most Valuable Teachers. We look forward to shining the spotlight in the sunlight on our educators, and we thank Country Bank yet again for their splendid partnership.”

The public is invited to nominate a WooStar or Most Valuable Teacher by clicking here or here to complete a simple nomination form.

State House Lawmakers Approve Sports Betting, Send Measure to Senate

By
Daily News

BOSTON — For the second time in two years, the Massachusetts House of Representatives voted to legalize sports betting. Though the vote was 156-3, the bill’s prospects remain unclear in the Senate, where the last attempt to pass a sports-betting law died.

The Boston Herald reported that sports betting brought in $960 million in the first quarter of 2021, according to a state Gaming Commission report. Thirty states — including Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Hampshire, and New York — have all legalized sports wagering in some form.

Licensing fees for the three casinos, two racetracks, and up to nine mobile-app operators described in the bill would generate as much as $80 million for the state to begin with, and again upon their renewal every five years, the Herald added, while the state could bring in another $60 million to $70 million in tax revenue annually.

Betting would be regulated by the state Gaming Commission. In-person bets at casino and track retailers would be taxed at 12.5%, with mobile bets costing slightly more at 15%.

Market Mentors Receives Women’s Business Enterprise National Council Certification

By
Daily News

SPRINGFIELD — Market Mentors, the region’s largest marketing, advertising, and public-relations agency, announced it has received certification from the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC), a leading nonprofit organization dedicated to helping women-owned businesses thrive and grow.

“We had previously received certification through the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Because we have clients outside of the state, pursuing this national certification made sense,” company President Michelle Abdow said. “We’re honored to be a part of a group of such successful and driven women entrepreneurs.”

WBENC certification provides Market Mentors with access to a vast network of support, including targeted business opportunities and increased visibility in corporate and government supply chains, education, and development programs. It is also an approved third-party certifier for the SBA’s Women-Owned Small Business federal contracting program.

“This certification opens the door so we can pursue opportunities with government agencies and programs, public schools and universities, and companies with supplier diversity and inclusion programs,” Abdow explained.

WBENC certification validates that a business is at least 51% owned, controlled, operated, and managed by a woman or women. One or more women must have unrestricted control of the business, a demonstrated management of day-to-day operations, and a proportionate investment of capital or expertise. To become certified, business owners undergo a thorough vetting process, including review of business documentation and a site visit.

After working in media for more than a decade, Abdow founded Market Mentors in her home in 2003. Over the past 18 years, it has grown into a team of more than 20 professionals with multiple areas of expertise and breadth of experience across a range of industries.

OMG Roofing Products Hires Christina Gonzalez as Product Manager

By
Daily News

AGAWAM — OMG Roofing Products announced it has hired Christina Gonzalez as a product manager. She is responsible for developing sales and marketing opportunities for new and existing OMG discretionary products throughout the company’s extensive network of independent roofing distributors across the U.S. She reports to Adam Cincotta, vice president of the Adhesives & Solar Business Unit.

For the past four years, Gonzalez has been an associate product manager with the FastenMaster Division of OMG Inc., where she led cross-functional teams to help commercialize several new products annually. Earlier, she was in a management-training program with Sherwin-Williams. She holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Eastern Connecticut State University.

Asnuntuck to Host Virtual Information Sessions

By
Daily News

ENFIELD, Conn. — Asnuntuck Community College will hold two more Admissions & Financial Aid virtual information sessions this summer, on Wednesday, Aug. 4 at 3 p.m., and Thursday, Aug. 12 at 5 p.m.

Potential students need to attend only one of the sessions. Participants will receive information about the admissions and financial-aid process, as well as learn about the many resources and course offerings available at Asnuntuck. The 60-minute session will also include time for questions and answers. Click here to register for a session. Classes begin on Aug. 26 for the fall semester.

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