Day: September 13, 2021

Elms College Ranked in Three Categories of U.S. News & World Report Listings

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Daily News

CHICOPEE — Elms College improved its ranking on U.S. News & World Report’s 2022 list of Best Regional Universities (North). The college moved to number 85 out of 171 other northern regional colleges and universities, up from number 93 in 2021.

“I am delighted that Elms College is now ranked on three lists from U.S. News & World Report: Best Regional Universities (North), Undergraduate Nursing Programs, and Top Performers on Social Mobility (North),” Elms College President Harry Dumay said. “This strong showing is a testament to our dedicated faculty and the top-notch education we provide to our students.”

U.S. News & World Report created a new list for 2022, Undergraduate Nursing Programs, and the Elms College School of Nursing ranked in the top 41% of nursing schools across the country, ranking number 288 out of 694 schools. Elms was the second-ranked nursing school from Western Mass. on the list, and overall, it was the 10th-ranked nursing school from Massachusetts.

Elms College continued its strong presence on the list of 2022 Top Performers on Social Mobility (North), ranking number 11 of 86 northern regional colleges and universities. This category ranks schools for enrolling and graduating large proportions of students who have received federal Pell Grants.

U.S. News ranks Elms College as a university because of changes to the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education’s basic classification system and the number of graduate programs Elms offers. The Carnegie categories are the accepted standard in U.S. higher education.

The U.S. News & World Report Best Colleges rankings are designed to help students and their families find colleges that offer the best academic value for their money. The list provides at-a-glance breakdowns of each institution and ranks them based on indicators of excellence such as value and first-year student-retention rate.

Virtual Seminar on Sept. 15 to Address Importance of Automation

By
Daily News

SPRINGFIELD — Delcie Bean says business owners have always had good reason to consider automation and what it can do for their employees — and their bottom lines.

But today, they have more reason than ever, he told BusinessWest, adding that technology and urgency combine to make this a time for business owners and managers to stop talking about automation and commence doing it.

“The labor market is so terrible right now that many organizations, in addition to trying to hire and figure that out, are also just having to figure out how to be leaner and how to be more efficient,” said Bean, CEO of Hadley-based Paragus Strategic IT. “So as you look at the state of the economy and the state of the job market, you have to ask: ‘how can I do more with less?’”

These sentiments comprise the main thrust of a virtual seminar to be presented by Bean, in conjunction with BusinessWest and Comcast Business, on Wednesdsay, Sept. 15 at 11 a.m. To sign up for the event, visit businesswest.com/businesswest-virtual-webinar.

The program is titled “Automation: the Time Is Now,” and subtitled “How Automation Can Streamline Your Business and Offset the Labor Shortage,” and those words effectively and succinctly describe the material to be covered.

Indeed, the 60-minute presentation will focus on the benefits of automation and the ways it can be utilized to save businesses time, trouble, and expense, said Bean, adding quickly that many business owners and managers are not fully aware of the many ways automation can benefit them.

“In the small-business space, it’s usually the most boring, unattractive tasks you can think of,” he said. “But it’s the things that have to get done behind the scenes that you never really pay much attention to but take up a fair amount of time and energy.”

As examples, he listed everything from the many steps involved in onboarding a new employee or client to the information that has to be gathered when someone signs up for something on a website and then moved to another system, to the steps involved in the approval process when employees want to request a new computer.

All of this should be automated, Bean said, and with emerging technology, specifically the Microsoft 365 platform, it can be, to the point where these tasks and functions now take a fraction of the time they once did.

But technology is just part of the reason why now is the time to automate, he added, noting that the ongoing labor shortage has given more urgency to such matters.

“Rather than sacrificing quality or increasing stress and risking burnout, which can lead to even more turnover, businesses need to ask how they can leverage technology to help them solve some of this problem,” he said. “Reacting to the current situation, there’s never been a better time, both from the availability of the technology and the demand and the urgency of the situation, to look for ways to automate things.”

Overall, the virtual presentation is designed to educate and empower business owners to first identify those tasks and processes that can be automated and then take the steps to go about doing it, said Bean, adding that the program is targeted for businesses with 15 to 250 employees, which encompasses most of the companies in Western Mass.

“There is not an industry that isn’t applicable,” he concluded.

Hazen Holography Brings Basketball Hall of Fame Dome to Life

By
Daily News

HOLYOKE — The cover of the 2021 Basketball Hall of Fame enshrinement ceremony yearbook appears electrified, the projection-LED-illuminated nine-story dome lit three-dimensionally on the page. To distinguish its ninth time producing the yearbook cover, Hazen Paper Co. used custom holography to illuminate the iconic symbol of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

According to Don Havourd, Hazen’s head of new business development, “brands often come to Hazen to add realism to their marketing efforts. Hazen Holography enabled us to simulate the most iconic imagery of the Hall of Fame, including the brilliant LED lighting of the recently refurbished Hall of Fame dome.”

Hazen’s edgeless Hazen-Lens technology was used to create the pulsating play of light in front of a brilliant radial burst of two-channel holography, which refracts ambient light to generate the impression of movement as the book is opened. In front of the dome, the Basketball Hall of Fame logo is rendered three-dimensional with holography that emphasizes the basketball’s pebbled texture, juxtaposed with the sleek, reflective sphere of the dome.

The back cover also features a custom hologram to telegraph the excitement of the Mohegan Sun Arena, mimicking the strobe-like effect of lighting washing over the audience in color from the concert stage. Detailed custom holography requires precise registration to deliver a crisp final product through the printing process. The unique Hazen Holography for both sides was registered to a tolerance of 1/16” for near-perfect alignment during printing.

Hazen originated the holography completely within its vertically integrated facility. The custom holograms were created in Hazen’s holographic laser lab, then micro-embossed and transfer-metallized onto smooth, 12-point WestRock Crescendo C2S using Hazen’s environmentally friendly Envirofoil process. Envirofoil is manufactured with less than 1% of the aluminum of traditional foil laminate, reuses the film carrier multiple times, and is recyclable as paper.

The yearbook cover was designed by agency GO of Hartford, Conn., and printed and individually numbered for authenticity on an HP Indigo digital press by Starburst Printing of Holliston.

WNE School of Law Dean Sudha Setty Wins NCCJ Human Relations Award

By
Daily News

SPRINGFIELD — Western New England University School of Law Dean Sudha Setty has been named 2021 Human Relations Award winner by the National Conference for Community and Justice (NCCJ), a human-relations organization whose mission is to champion social justice for all; fight bias, bigotry, and racism in all forms; and work toward building strong and inclusive communities.

In a message to Setty notifying her of this honor, NCCJ board member Andrea O’Connor said, “we are so pleased to recognize the excellent work that you’ve been doing at the law school on these issues and proud to honor you with our Human Relations Award.”

Each year, the NCCJ presents the Human Relations Award to individuals or corporations that have actualized in their daily lives the values and mission of the organization. These individuals and companies have demonstrated their commitment to fostering social justice and cooperation among all races, religions, cultures, genders, abilities, and sexual orientations.

“I am humbled and gratified to receive the 2021 Human Relations Award from the National Conference for Community and Justice,” Setty said. “Social-justice lawyering has been a priority at the WNE University School of Law for many years and continues to grow rapidly as we help educate and train even more lawyers doing cutting-edge work. I view the School of Law’s social-justice work as part of the larger efforts that NCCJ has championed for decades. It is essential to meet the challenges of this moment and those that will arise in the future.”

Setty became dean of the School of Law in 2018 and has served on the faculty since 2006. She is the author of National Security Secrecy: Comparative Effects on Democracy and the Rule of Law and the editor of Constitutions, Security, and the Rule of Law, and has written dozens of articles on national-security law and policy. In July 2018, she was elected to membership in the American Law Institute.

Her leadership of the School of Law has been characterized by a commitment to social justice; diversity, equity, and inclusion work; and supporting excellence in teaching, learning, and research. In May 2019, the School of Law founded the Center for Social Justice, which has quickly grown to be a regional hub of research, advocacy, education, and activism. In April 2021, the faculty of the School of Law adopted an anti-racism and cultural-competency graduation requirement, making it the first law school in the region to do so.

Setty is also a founder of the Workshop for Asian-American Women in the Legal Academy, with its inaugural workshop being held in 2021, an effort to support current and aspiring members of the legal academy and to diversify its ranks.

She was recognized on the Lawyers of Color Power List in 2020; was recognized as part of Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly’s Top Women in the Law in 2019; was awarded Western New England Law School’s Catherine J. Jones Professor of Year Award in 2009, 2016, and 2018; received the 2017 Tapping Reeve Legal Educator Award from the Connecticut Bar Assoc.; and was recognized in 2015 as a Trailblazer by the South Asian Bar Assoc. of Connecticut.

BusinessTalk with David Godaire, president and CEO of MassHire Holyoke

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Business Talk Podcast Special Coverage

We are excited to announce that BusinessWest, in partnership with Living Local, has launched a new podcast series, BusinessTalk. Each episode will feature in-depth interviews and discussions with local industry leaders, providing thoughtful perspectives on the Western Massachuetts economy and the many business ventures that keep it running during these challenging times.

Episode 79: Sept. 13, 2021

BusinessWest Editor George O’Brien interviews David Godaire, president and CEO of HassHire Holyoke

BusinessWest Editor George O’Brien has a lively discussion with David Godaire, president and CEO of HassHire Holyoke. The two discuss the ongoing labor shortage impacting virtually all businesses in the region, the many different forces behind it, and the outlook for the short term as federal unemployment benefits, specifically the $300 weekly bonuses expire.  It’s must listening so join us on BusinessTalk, a podcast presented by BusinessWest in partnership with Living Local.

 

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