Marjory Moore

Age 33: Guidance Counselor, Chicopee Public Schools

Every now and then a fresh-faced kindergartner at Bowie Memorial School in Chicopee looks up to see Marjory Moore walk into the classroom with her puppets: ‘Patient Puppy,’ ‘Be Calm Bunny’ and ‘Slow Down Snail.’

The fuzzy friends are part of a program called Second Step, which Moore, a guidance counselor, uses to coach young children on how to deal with frustrating emotions that can occur in certain situations, such as two kids wanting to play with the same toy at once.

Moore is proactive in seeking out kids who need help. “I like to deliver the program in the classroom so the kids can associate me with someone who can help them solve problems,” she said. It’s just one aspect of the work she does working with kids in kindergarten through grade 5.

Moore was once a kindergarten teacher, so it’s no surprise she has a special fondness for the little ones.

“I realized when I was really young I wanted to work with kids,” said Moore, who demonstrated her organizational skills at an early age, too. “When I was 16, I started a babysitting club. I used to organize all the girls my age and matched them with families I knew.”

Moore puts her empathy, understanding, and boundless energy to work in the community as well. During the holidays, she takes time to serve food to the needy.

In addition, she recently organized a mentor program between students and military personnel at Westover Air Reserve Base, helped organize a citywide fund-raiser for Lorraine’s Soup Kitchen, and also volunteers her time to Faith in Action for the elderly.

“I’m a happy person, and I like to make other people happy,” she said. “So I want to do whatever I can to help other people out, because people have helped me.”

—Amy Castor

Chris Thompson

Age 29: Director of Sales & Service, Springfield Falcons Hockey Club

Chris Thompson has a large collection of hockey memorabilia in his office at the MassMutual Center, from assorted pucks and sticks to a framed copy of that famous photo of Bobby Orr flying through the air as he scored the winning goal to cap off the Boston Bruins’ dramatic charge to the Stanley Cup in 1970.

Maybe his favorite, though, is an old hard hat with the Springfield Falcons logo. It’s a leftover from a strange chapter in the team’s history — the renovation and expansion of the old Springfield Civic Center and the resulting hardships for fans. Those season-ticket holders who made a two-year commitment to the team during that trying time five years ago were made members of the so-called Hard Hat Club and given one of the collector’s items.

Thompson found one of the hats while going through some old boxes in Falcons headquarters, kept it, and gave it a place of honor in his office. He says it speaks to his general job description — “building relationships” — better than maybe any words could.

“That’s essentially what I do,” he told BusinessWest, adding that he takes what might be considered an unusual title in sports management (director of sales and service), but this line on his business card says it all. “Service is just as important, if not more important, than sales. I make sure people enjoy the overall experience.”

This service is provided to fans, sponsors, and other types of clients, said Thompson, and constitutes the ideal job for someone who loved sports while growing up, and wanted to make this field his career.

While not working for the Falcons, the energetic Thompson is involved with a number of community activities, especially the Young Professionals Society of Greater Springfield, which he serves as a board member, and the West Springfield Park and Recreation Department.

With those groups, as with the Falcons, his job is to build relationships.

—George O’Brien

Dan Bessette

Age 35: Marketing Director, GetSet Marketing

Everyone has a story of how they found their rhythm in life. Dan Bessette found his through music. In college and during the years after, he played drums with his brother in a blues band.

The Wayfarers, as the band was called, played in venues all over Springfield, with frequent appearances at the downtown club Theodore’s. Bessette, who earned a degree in Business Administration at UMass Amherst, managed and promoted the band, while his brother, a graphic artist, designed the outfit’s eye-catching posters, which became the envy of all the other bands in town.

To support his drum habit, Bessette held down various day jobs. He worked three years as a marketing director at Falcetti Music, a company that sells musical instruments, and later sold airtime at radio station WRNX, until one day he, his brother, and a Web developer friend decided to launch their own gig.

“We started working for the music market,” said Bessette. “I spun that into other businesses, and it grew from there.”

In 2003, the trio rented some hip office space in an old mill building in Springfield (where the first monkey wrench was made) and formed Get Set Marketing, a full-service firm that keeps prices low by printing multiple jobs on a single press plate. The company’s slogan, “Apart from the Herd,” is personified by a rubber cow that travels around the world.

Bessette is a board member for the Young Professionals Society of Springfield, and was an Eagle Scout, the highest rank in Boy Scouts. “It’s something I’ve always been proud of,” he said.

While he may not be in the music business anymore, Bessette still keeps a set of drums in his office for whenever he needs to let off steam.

“My music,” he said, “keeps me sane.”

—Amy Castor

Karl Tur

Age 24: Co-owner, Ink & Toner Solutions, LLC

It was the spring of 2007, and Karl Tur wasn’t slacking through his senior year at Bryant University. He was thinking.

“I was beginning to research what I would get into,” said Tur, one of the youngest-ever 40 Under Forty honorees. “I knew I didn’t want a typical job coming out of college. I wanted to go out on my own. And I came across a great opportunity.”

That was Ink & Toner Solutions, a printer-supply shop opened by Serges Lariviere in Amherst the previous year. Tur partnered with Lariviere, and the pair opened a second store in Northampton — and are getting ready to announce a third location soon.

“We supply printer cartridges of all types to households, schools, government offices, and and businesses of all sizes,” Tur said. “We also do printer service and repair.”

But it’s the recycling aspect of the business that has gotten the most … well, ink.

“We recycle old, used cartridges and supply compatible or remanufactured products,” Tur said. “We offer customers a substantial price savings.”

Indeed. For example, an HP color cartridge that might cost $54.99 at Staples or Office Depot costs $20.99 when remanufactured at Ink & Toner Solutions. Considering how much ink companies run through in a year, the savings can really add up — while putting a small dent in the 800 million cartridges being tossed into landfills each year.

The partners also launched Ink Link, an initiative that benefits the Northampton Chamber of Commerce. “Chamber members can take advantage of our discount and learn more about what they can do to create a more sustainable office environment,” Tur said. “At the same time, when chamber members purchase products, we give money back to the chamber as a donation.”

In just six months, the program has raised close to $2,000 for the Northampton chamber, leading to similar partnerships with the Amherst and Quaboag Hills chambers.

Because good ideas get recycled, too.

—Joseph Bednar