Agenda
Understanding Your Company’s Cash Flow
Oct. 24: Your business runs on cash — cash in and cash out. At a workshop titled “Understanding Your Company’s Cash Flow,” presented by the Mass. Small Business Development Center Network, attendees can learn the basics of cash flow, how to manage cash-flow projections, the timing of cash inflows and outflows, how to improve a company’s cash flow, and how cash flow is different from profit. The workshop will take place at 10 a.m. at PeoplesBank, 330 Whitney Ave., Holyoke, and will be presented by Robb Morton of Boisselle, Morton & Associates in South Hadley. For more information, call (413) 737-6712.
Top Trends in Politics
Oct. 24: “Top Trends in Politics @Westfield State: a Round-table Discussion of What is Happening Now” will be staged at the Woodward Center on the Westfield State University campus starting at 7 p.m. A public reception begins at 6:30. The event is described as “an exploration of election year 2012 — the issues, candidates, strategies, and political climate” — and will feature six panelists. They include Douglas Brinkley, bestselling author of Cronkite, historian, and professor at Rice University; Hendrick Hertzberg, senior editor and political commentator for the New Yorker; Shannon O’Brien, former Massachusetts state treasurer and receiver general; Dan Thomasson, nationally syndicated columnist and former editor and vice president of Scripps Howard; Lowell Weicker, former U.S. senator and U.S. representative; and Westfield State University President Evan Dobelle. For more information, visit www.westfield.ma.edu
Rays of Hope Walk in Springfield, Greenfield
Oct. 28: As the nation observes Breast Cancer Awareness Month, thousands of walkers and runners will be hitting the pavement to support breast health in Western Mass. as part of the 19th annual Rays of Hope – A Walk Toward the Cure of Breast Cancer, and its accompanying 3rd annual Run Toward the Cure 8K. This year’s annual walk events, presented by Health New England, are set for Springfield and Greenfield, while the run is held only in Springfield. Last year some 21,000 combined walkers and runners from Springfield and Greenfield, including over 600 teams, participated in Rays of Hope. Since 1994, the program has raised $10.25 million, all of which has remained in local communities on behalf of patients and their families affected by breast cancer. The Springfield walk and run begin at Temple Beth El on Dickinson Street, with registration set for 9 a.m. The walk in Greenfield begins at Energy Park on Miles Street, with registration at 10 a.m. The Springfield walk steps off at 10:30 a.m., preceded at 10:15 a.m. by the run, and the Greenfield walk begins later at noon. Walkers in Springfield can choose from a two- or five-mile route. The shorter route is accessible to handicapped participants, while the five-mile stroll is a little more challenging with some hills. In Greenfield, participants can select a two- or three-mile route, both of which travel up Main Street before taking different directions. Participants can register for both the walk and run online at baystatehealth.org/raysofhope, where they can also create their own personal webpage to assist them in their fund-raising efforts. For the Springfield Walk, free parking with shuttle service is available at locations near Temple Beth El, including in East Longmeadow at American Saw and East Longmeadow High School, as well as in Longmeadow at Blueberry Hill School and Longmeadow High School, and at other locations found on the Rays of Hope website. Participants are asked to refrain from parking on the side streets near the temple. In Greenfield, free parking is available in the public lots behind Green Fields Market, on Chapman Street behind Wilson’s Department Store, behind the Franklin County Court House, and in the Freedom Credit Union parking lot. Walkers are asked not to park in the Wilson’s Department Store lot for the benefit of its customers. There is no shuttle service, as all lots are within walking distance of Energy Park. Handicapped parking is available at Temple Beth El and at Energy Park for those with an official handicapped parking permit and/or license plate only. No pets, other than service dogs, are allowed at either the Springfield or Greenfield locations.
Equity-financing Workshop
Oct. 31: For some new or small businesses, equity financing is the most appropriate way to bring required capital into the firm. This could be the case because the businesses are high-risk, high-growth, or in need of more startup and growth capital than can be supplied by other sources. At a workshop titled “Equity Financing for High Potential/High Growth Ventures,” presented by the Mass. Small Development Center Network, attendees can learn about this attractive financing option. The program will provide an overview of equity financing and answer questions such as, what qualifies a venture for equity financing? What are the biggest mistakes you can make and the smartest things you can do while seeking equity investment? What should the venture leadership team look like? What are equity investors looking for? What matters the most in seeking equity investment? What are the major reasons why a business is funded or not funded? How are equity deals structured? And how do you set a valuation for a new venture?
The workshop, to be presented by Peter Morton of the MSBDC Network, Central Regional Office, will take place from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Scibelli Enterprise Center, 1 Federal St. in Springfield. A light lunch will be provided. For more information, call (413) 737-6712.
HCC Fall Open House
Nov. 1: Holyoke Community College will stage its annual Fall Open House from 5 to 7 p.m. in the Kittredge Center for Business and Workforce Development’s PeoplesBank Room. Guests can learn about HCC’s nearly 100 degree and certificate programs, as well as the school’s comprehensive support, services, student clubs and activities, financial aid, and more. Applications for admission will be accepted at the event, and there will also be individual breakout sessions for financial aid and adult learners. The open house will feature a new segment called “Conversations by Division” beginning at 6 p.m. Guests will be assigned to a separate meet-and-greet based on their intended major, led by division teams. Each divisional conversation will be followed by a short question-and-answer session and then a student panel discussion. For more information, contact the Office of Admissions at (413) 552-2321 or [email protected].
Writer, Essayist to Speak
Nov. 5: Anne Fadiman, a writer, essayist, and author whose first book, The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, won her a National Critics Book Circle Award, will visit the region as part of the Ovations series, sponsored by the Chicopee Savings Bank Endowment for Academic Excellence, the STCC Office of Academic Affairs, and the STCC Honors Program. There will two performances, at 10:10 and 11:15 a.m., in Scibelli Hall. Both are free and open to the public. The Washington Post called Fadiman’s book “an intriguing, spirit-lifting, extraordinary exploration.” The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down tells the story of Lia Lee, the daughter of Hmong immigrants from Laos, who was diagnosed with epilepsy in 1981. What follows is the story of a clash of cultures as well as an examination of the U.S. healthcare system. The book is often taught in university literary journalism courses across the country and serves as a casebook for cross-cultural sensitivity. Fadiman also is the author of Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader and At Large and at Small: Familiar Essays. She currently resides in Whately and is a professor of English and writing mentor at Yale University. For additional information about the Ovations series, contact Philip O’Donoghue at (413) 755-4233 or [email protected].
Employment Law and Human Resources Practices Update
Nov. 8: The Employers Assoc. of the NorthEast will stage its annual Employment Law and Human Services Practices Update at the Holyoke Hotel and Conference Center (formerly the Holiday Inn). The conference, sponsored by Johnson & Hill Staffing Services, will address the challenging state and federal legal and regulatory environment for employers, and present practical solutions and information to guide employers in their day-to-day employment decisions. The conference is designed for all levels of management — executives, corporate counsel, human-resource professionals, managers, and supervisors — who need practical and timely information to help negotiate ever-evolving employment issues. Conference presenters will include Joel Berner, chief of Enforcement for the Mass. Commission Against Discrimination; Charles Krich, principal attorney for the Connecticut Human Rights Organization; attorney Elaine Reall; and attorneys from Skoler Abbott & Presser, P.C., and EANE. For more information, contact Karen Cronenberger at (877) 662-6444.
40 Under Forty Reunion
Nov. 8: BusinessWest will stage a reunion featuring the first six classes of its 40 Under Forty program at the Log Cabin Banquet & meeting House inn Holyoke. The event, open only to 40 Under Forty winners, event judges, and sponsors, will begin at 5:30 and feature a talk from Peter Straley, president of Health New England, about leadership and community involvement. For more information on the event, call (413) 781-8600, or e-mail [email protected].
