Agenda

Outlook 2016

March 29: Gov. Charlie Baker will serve as the keynote speaker at the Springfield Regional Chamber’s Outlook 2016 from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the MassMutual Center, 1277 Main St., Springfield. He made his first major address to the business community at the chamber’s annual event in 2015. Presented by Health New England, Outlook is the area’s largest legislative event, attracting more than 700 guests and presenting expert speakers on local, state, and federal issues. The event is sponsored by Eastern States Exposition, MassMutual Financial Group, United Personnel, and MGM Springfield; program/reception sponsors Sisters of Providence Health System, Comcast, Eversource, and the Republican; with support from Chicopee Savings Bank and BusinessWest, and presented in in partnership with the East of the River Five Town Chamber of Commerce (ERC5). Baker and Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito have set their sights on addressing some of the Commonwealth’s greatest long-term challenges, including reducing family energy costs and improving the reliability of the energy grid through hydro- and solar-power legislation; lifting the charter-school cap; securing a 50% increase in the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC); and curbing the opioid epidemic’s grip on Massachusetts families. Baker will be joined in the program by U.S. Rep. Richard Neal, who will remark on events at the federal level, including his insight into activities on Capitol Hill, the presidential race, and front-burner issues facing Congress in the coming months. “As a senior member of the powerful House Committee on Ways and Means and ranking member of its Select Revenue Measures subcommittee, Congressman Neal serves in a critically important capacity in Washington for our area, our state, and the entire country,” said chamber President Jeffrey Ciuffreda. Tickets are $50 for Springfield Regional Chamber members and ERC5 members, and $70 for general admission. Reserved tables of 10 are available. Reservations must be made by Friday, March 18 by visiting www.springfieldregionalchamber.com or e-mailing Sarah Mazzaferro at [email protected]. No walk-ins will be accepted, and no cancellations will be accepted once the reservation deadline has passed.

Difference Makers

March 31: The eighth annual Difference Makers award program, staged by BusinessWest, will be held at the Log Cabin Banquet & Meeting House. Tickets cost $60, and tables of 10 are available. To reserve a spot, call (413) 781-8600, ext. 10, or visit HERE. Difference Makers is a program, launched in 2009, that recognizes groups and individuals that are, as the name suggests, making a difference in this region. This year’s class was profiled in the Jan. 25 issue, and their stories can also be read HERE. They include Hampden County Sheriff Michael J. Ashe Jr.; Mike Balise, Balise Motor Sales, philanthropist (1965-2015); Big Brothers Big Sisters of Hampden, Hampshire, and Franklin counties; Bay Path University President Carol Leary; and John Robison, president, J.E. Robison Service. Difference Makers is sponsored by EMA Dental, First American Insurance Agency, Health New England, Meyers Brothers Kalicka, P.C., Northwestern Mutual, PeoplesBank, Royal LLP, and Sunshine Village.

‘Training for the Digital Marketplace’

April 1, 8, 15: Stevens 470 will host a three-week program called “Training for the Digital Marketplace: Develop Your Online and Offline Marketing Strategies” to show attendees how to maximize their marketing channels. This seminar is for business owners, marketing managers, entrepreneurs, and key marketing staff. As marketing channels continue to evolve, are you using them to maximize your business opportunities? This program covers the latest online and offline marketing channels including brand presentation, websites, SEO, advertising, social media, e-mail, and mobile technologies. During this hands-on program, participants will review their current messaging and marketing channels; learn the latest ways to use both traditional and new media channels; explore social media, online advertising, and search-engine optimization; outline plans for offline and online marketing campaigns; coordinate marketing channels to maximize their effectiveness; and determine methods for evaluating results. Each participant will complete the program by creating a specific plan for their online and offline channels that they can share and put into action with members of their business team. The program meets weekly on three consecutive Friday mornings at Stevens 470 in Westfield. Limited space is available. For details, visit stevens470.com or call (413) 568-2660.

Service of Remembrance

April 3: Baystate Children’s Hospital will hold its annual Service of Remembrance for area families who have experienced the death of a child over the past year. All family member and friends are invited to attend the event, which will be held at 1 p.m. at Baystate Medical Center’s Chestnut Conference Center on 759 Chestnut St., Springfield. It is also open to families with losses prior to 2015. Baystate Children’s Hospital staff will be in attendance at the event to remember and pay tribute to the children and families who were under their care. Families are asked to respond by March 23 with the number of adults and children planning to attend the event, as well as their child’s name, if they would like it to be read aloud during the service. Families with earlier losses are simply asked to call and register. To respond, call Deborah Levine at (413) 794-3283. The special service will include readings, music, and a ceremony of light. Families can share a photograph or other memento of their child on a ‘Table of Memories’ at the event. They may also choose to have their child’s name read aloud during the Memorial Service, regardless of whether they can attend the event. As part of the service, families will be given a piece of fabric which they can personalize in memory of their child before it is added, along with others, to create a memory quilt. The new quilt will be displayed on Oct. 1, along with 17 other quilts created in past years, at Baystate’s annual Memorial Quilt Exhibit.

‘A Night of Passion’ for Link to Libraries

April 5: They’re calling the event “A Night of Passion.” That’s a phrase that applies to both support for efforts to promote childhood literacy and a fondness for a particular food or beverage. These various passions will come together April 5 at the Log Cabin Banquet & Meeting House in Holyoke at Link to Libraries’ biennial fund-raising event. Proceeds from all ticket sales will go to Link to Libraries. More than 500 people are expected to attend the event, which will be a celebration of all that Link to Libraries has accomplished since it was created in 2008 — including the donation of nearly 500,000 books to area schools and organizations — and how it intends to continually expand its mission in the years to come. As for those passions for specific foods and drinks, they will be a focus of the night, provided by a host of area celebrities and business leaders, including Mike Mathis, MGM Springfield president and chief operating officer; Kevin Rhodes, Springfield Symphony Orchestra conductor; Spiros Hatiras, Holyoke Medical Center president and CEO; Delcie Bean IV, CEO of Paragus Strategic IT; Mick Corduff, executive chef and co-owner of the Log Cabin; Amy Royal, founding partner of Royal, P.C., and many more. As for their passions, well, those are carefully guarded secrets at this point. Those who would like to experience these passions and support Link to Libraries — which supplies books to schools and other organizations across Western Mass. and Northern Conn., and promotes read-alouds that put area business and civic leaders in area classrooms — can buy tickets for $40 each by sending checks to: Link to Libraries, Attn. Karen Blinderman, P.O. Box 958, West Springfield, MA 01090. All beverages are included in the ticket price. Food and beverages are donated by the Log Cabin. Sponsors for “A Night of Passion” include lead sponsors Health New England and Rediker Software, and event sponsors Bacon Wilson, Bank of America – U.S. Trust, the Frank Stanley Beveridge Foundation, the Irene E. & George A. Davis Foundation, James Vinick and Moors & Cabot Investments, Monson Savings Bank, PeoplesBank, Peoples United Bank, the Springfield Falcons, and United Bank.

‘Poets for Life: Poets Respond to AIDS’

April 9: Patrick Donnelly, 2015-17 poet laureate of Northampton, will host “Poets for Life: Poets Respond to AIDS,” a benefit reading in support of A Positive Place (formerly AIDS Care/Hampshire County), a nonprofit organization providing a wide array of services for people with HIV in Hampshire and surrounding counties. The event will be held at 3 p.m. at the Paradise Room, Conference Center, Smith College, 51 College Lane, Northampton. The Northampton Council for the Arts and the Poetry Center at Smith College are co-sponsors of the benefit. Tickets for the event are $20 and may be purchased online at poetsforlife.brownpapertickets.com, or by phone at (800) 838-3006, ext. 1, or at the door at the event. All proceeds from ticket sales will benefit A Positive Place. Those unable to attend the event can designate a tax-deductible donation through poetsforlife.brownpapertickets.com to make it possible for one of A Positive Place’s clients to attend. Poets for Life will feature readings by award-winning poets Eduardo C. Corral, Patrick Donnelly, Michael Klein, and Joan Larkin, who will read not only from their own poetry about the epidemic, but from the work of other notable poets, living and dead. Singer-songwriter Laura Wetzler will also perform. Since 1991, A Positive Place has been providing comprehensive, confidential case management and health-related support services, filling life-saving needs for people living with HIV/AIDS in the county. Anyone living with HIV or AIDS is eligible for services regardless of level of need, health status, or ability to pay. Services are free to people living with HIV.

Not Just Business as Usual

April 14: The Springfield Technical Community College (STCC) Foundation’s Not Just Business as Usual (NJBAU) event, a networking event for business leaders in Western Mass., will be held at the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. The event, now in its seventh year, is a celebration of innovative thinking giving participants the opportunity to learn from business experts while raising significant funding for the STCC WORKS scholarship program. A cocktail and networking reception will be held from 5:30 to 7 p.m., with dinner and keynote speakers to follow from 7 to 8:30 p.m. This year, NJBAU will host a discussion of diversity in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields with panelists Emily Reichert, CEO of Greentown Labs; Laurie Leshin, president of Worcester Polytechnic Institute; and Frank Robinson, vice president of Public Health and Community Relations for Baystate Health. Tickets and sponsorship opportunities are now available. Tickets are $175 each, and sponsorships begin at $2,500 for a table for 10. For additional information or to become a sponsor, contact Christina Tuohey, STCC’s director of Annual Giving and Alumni Relations, at (413) 755-4475 or [email protected]. To purchase tickets online, visit www.stcc.edu/njbau.

 

5K Run & Walk for a Noble Cause

April 30: Registration is now open for Baystate Noble Hospital’s 32nd annual 5K Run & Walk for a Noble Cause, being held at Stanley Park in Westfield. The race begins at 9 a.m., with registration from 7:30 to 8:30 a.m. near the Children’s Pavilion. The Baystate Noble 5K is a competitive, 3.1-mile road race through Stanley Park and surrounding areas for all levels of runners, from the novice to the serious athlete. Early registration is encouraged. The registration fee for ages 13-59 is $35 through April 29 (seniors 60 and older are $25). The registration fee for ages 13-59 is $40 on April 30 ($30 for seniors). Children 12 and under participate free when accompanied by a paying adult. T-shirts in various sizes are available to registrants on a first-come, first-served basis while inventory is available. To register online, download registration materials, and read general information, visit baystatenoblehospital.org/5k. Sponsorship and vendor table opportunities are also available. For more information, visit baystatenoblehospital.org/5k or contact the Community Development Office at [email protected] or (413) 568-2811, ext. 5520.

 

Walk of Champions

May 1: The community is invited to come together at the Quabbin Reservoir to mark the 11th annual Walk of Champions to benefit the Baystate Regional Cancer Program at Baystate Mary Lane Hospital in Ware. The walk is a one-mile loop that allows walkers to choose the number of miles they complete among the comfortable walking terrain of the Goodnough Dike. Along the way, walkers will enjoy entertainment and refreshments, along with the peace and beauty of the Quabbin Reservoir. Since its inception, the Walk of Champions has raised more than $662,000. All funds raised remain local to support those cared for in the Baystate Health Eastern Region at Baystate Medical Center’s Mary Lane Satellite Unit and for things such as family-support counseling, educational outreach, pastoral care, medications, state-of-the-art equipment, and the Healing Garden located in the courtyard of the hospital. Overlooking the Healing Garden is the oncology suite, which provides access to comprehensive cancer care, clinical trials, and a multi-disciplinary team approach to cancer care. Pledge forms, fund-raising resources, giving opportunities, and more are available at www.baystatehealth.org/woc for businesses, community organizations, and individuals who wish to participate.

 

40 Under Forty

June 16: The 10th annual 40 Under Forty award program, staged by BusinessWest, will be held at the Log Cabin Banquet & Meeting House in Holyoke, honoring 40 of the region’s rising stars under 40 years old. An independent panel of judges has chosen the winners, and their stories will be told in the April 18 issue. Tickets — which cost $65 per person, with reserved tables of 10 available — are going very quickly. To order, call (413) 781-8600, ext. 100. The event is sponsored by Northwestern Mutual and Paragus Strategic IT (presenting sponsors), EMA Dental, Health New England, Moriarty & Primack, and United Bank. More details on the gala will be revealed in upcoming issues.