People on the Move

HUB International New England, a division of HUB International Limited, announced that, effective Dec. 1, Timm Marini, will lead the Personal Lines Division for HUB International New England. This is in addition to his responsibilities of overseeing the Western Mass. offices and serving on HUB’s executive management team. Marini will lead the Personal Lines teams, which consist of close to 150 employees in more than 20 offices located throughout Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine, and Rhode Island. His areas of focus will be developing and implementing sales and marketing strategies that result in value and pricing options while always meeting the underlying goal of delighting the customer. “Developing an exceptional team is imperative in this fast-paced, technology-driven industry,” said Charles Brophy, CEO and Regional President, Eastern Region of HUB International New England. “The first person that came to mind for this position, without a doubt, was Timm Marini. His vision, leadership abilities, skillful thinking, discipline, and tact for customer service will be a great benefit for HUB New England as we continue to grow and expand into new markets.” HUB New England was built through partnerships with long-standing, local brokerages housing years of experience in consulting on property and casualty insurance, personal insurance, and employee-benefits programs for New England businesses and individuals. As a full-service brokerage, HUB New England has access to the resources of a large, international company with local service and expertise.

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Jeffrey Sullivan, chairman of the Greater Holyoke Chamber Centennial Foundation, announced that Tessa Murphy-Romboletti was chosen to lead the Foundation’s entrepreneurship program, known as SPARK. She was chosen by a committee made up of Holyoke’s entrepreneurial ecosystem partners, including Hilda Roque of Nuestra Raices, Maria Pagan of the Holyoke Public Library, Harry Montalvo of Easthampton Savings Bank, Jeffrey Hayden of Holyoke Community College, board chairman Jeffrey Sullivan, and Kathleen Anderson, president of the Chamber Foundation. “As the new SPARK program manager, Murphy-Romboletti will oversee the Co-starter Launch Class, develop programming for entrepreneurs and small businesses to help them overcome hurdles in opening their own business, and work with mentors and those that can offer some expertise to new business owners,” Sullivan said. “Murphy-Romboletti will also be responsible for development, fund-raising, and community outreach.” Added Anderson, “we are extremely excited to have Tessa join our team. The interview committee chose Tessa to lead this effort because of her expansive knowledge of the city, especially the central business district, her knowledge of the SPARK program, and her skills in grant writing, which will go a long way in the development of the SPARK program and building Holyoke’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.” Murphy-Romboletti has worked for the city of Holyoke for the last five years in both the Office of the Mayor and currently as development specialist for the Office of Planning & Economic Development. In this role, she has provided assistance to both new and existing business owners while acting as a project manager for several development projects within the city’s urban-renewal plan. Her experience in project management, grant writing, and communications, along with her experience working in the public sector, will serve the organization in its continued efforts to support Holyoke’s entrepreneurial community. “I have always been inspired by SPARK’s goal to identify and develop home-grown talent from residents within the city in order to create jobs, expand our tax base, and fill vacant space,” Murphy-Romboletti said. “I’m so thankful to have had the opportunity to work for the city that I love for the last four years, where I’ve met great people and passionate members of our community. I am looking forward to continue working with residents and business owners in this new capacity, and can’t wait to get started.”

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Giombetti Associates recently welcomed Thom Fox as its new Chief People Officer. Since 2013, Fox has managed a strategic consultancy focused on revenue and profitability solutions through the discovery of what customers want and don’t want. With a command of the fact-finding process and mastery of asking deeper-level, thought-provoking questions, he worked with stakeholders to build strategies yielding a larger likelihood of success. These solutions earned his clients a tremendous amount of personal and professional growth. Prior to founding his consultancy, Fox served for 18 years at a social enterprise, helping to build the organization from a startup into a national brand producing an excess of $50 million in annual revenues. He served in a variety of roles, including education coordinator, marketing director, community outreach director, author and subject-matter expert, spokesperson, and strategist. Fox’s advice has been featured in media outlets such as Forbes, MarketWatch, the Huffington Post, Fox Business, and others. He is also an award-winning philanthropist, volunteering as a board member for Suit Up Springfield, and supporting the business community as a facilitator for Valley Venture Mentors, producer and host of The Engine on NewsRadio 560 WHYN, and a member of the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission’s Plan for Progress Committee. Throughout his career, Fox has built partnerships and relationships, engaged people in taking an active participation in their own growth and development, and coached entrepreneurs and community leaders to embrace change. Working in these collaborative settings, he experienced the toll that failure (and success) plays in a team dynamic. These experiences ignited a passion within him to motivate people to move in the same direction, believing that, if they do, they can reach any destination they choose. These experiences also instilled within him the desire to help people, teams, and organizations reach their full potential — a natural fit with the core beliefs at Giombetti Associates. Fox will be charged with continuously improving the design and content of various team-building and leadership-development offerings. He will help deliver and facilitate team-building initiatives, learning workshops, and coaching to individuals and executives alike. He will also support Giombetti’s effort to solve one of its clients’ ongoing challenges: finding good people. He will help ensure that clients have enhanced access to high-performing individuals and innovative leadership training. As an entrepreneur and consultant, Fox understands the challenges of starting and scaling a business. His time in corporate America also exposed him to the damages created by telling people what they want to hear. He has worked with Silicon Valley-based ventures, mom-and-pop startups, and established businesses on their way to becoming multi-million-dollar ventures. Throughout it all, he has maintained the philosophy that people are transformed through lovingly critical feedback and supportive services empowering them with the ability to become the best version of themselves. Giombetti Associates is a leadership institute providing pre-employment assessment, leadership training and development, team building, talent sourcing and acquisition, conflict resolution, strategic business coaching, M&A consulting, and a few other areas of expertise, with personality and behavior serving as the foundation to all of them.

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OrthoLite, a leading provider of comfort and performance insoles, announced three new additions to its marketing and sales team, including Dan Legor as Director of Marketing; Andy Downes as Sales Manager, Key Accounts; and Matt Hennessey as Sales Manager, Performance East. These new appointments will support OrthoLite’s dedication to strengthening partner relationships across the globe. In his new role, Legor will manage all aspects of marketing while elevating the brand’s global marketing and branding strategies. As an accomplished senior marketing professional, he brings more than 20 years of experience to OrthoLite. Most recently, he was the director of E-commerce at Lindt & Sprungli, and prior to that he was the head of U.S. Marketing at ECCO Shoes, senior Marketing manager at Timberland, and Retail Marketing manager at the Rockport Co. Downes brings more than 20 years of product and sales experience to OrthoLite, and was most recently the Key Account sales manager for Inov-8 footwear. During his 13 years at Nike, he held sales and product-related roles in a variety of business units such as Running Specialty, Custom Footwear, and Special Make-up Groups. From Nike, he joined Adidas as category manager, Running Footwear for several years before moving to Innov-8. Hennessey brings more than 16 years of senior-level sales and development experience to OrthoLite and most recently was the Product Development manager at Sperry. Prior to Sperry, he was a senior Development manager at Under Armour Footwear and a senior developer at New Balance Footwear, along with holding the National Sales manager position at Xterra. “We’re thrilled to have these dynamic professionals joining our team and helping to drive continued growth within each of the key sales channels,” said Pamela Gelsomini, OrthoLite president. “The number-one priority of the sales and marketing team is to help our footwear partners sell more shoes by delivering the most comfortable product to their consumers. This has fueled our success together over the years, so we will continue to invest in ways to help each of these brands exceed their goals with OrthoLite. Dan’s deep leadership experience in brand strategy will help to shape new marketing initiatives with our footwear partners and with the brand overall. Andy and Matt also share OrthoLite’s unwavering commitment to deliver world-class service and collaborative support.”

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FIT Staffing, an information-technology staffing and recruiting company based in Springfield and Enfield, Conn., announced that Emily Doucette has joined the team as a technical recruiter. Doucette has extensive recruiting and HR experience in the information-technology and aerospace-engineering industries. At FIT, she is responsible for sourcing and screening technical talent for Massachusetts and Connecticut clients. She has a bachelor’s degree in business management and an MBA from Springfield College. She is also a member of the adjunct faculty at Springfield College and teaches business management to undergraduate students.

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Northeast IT Systems Inc. announced Joe Bishop as the latest addition to its growing team. Bishop spent four years at Yankee Candle, where he was a candle maker. He then went on to work at NCR Corp., where he spent two years working on POS systems and ATMs. His latest work experience included working for an IT company for 10 years as a PC technician. When asked what got him interested in computers, Bishop accredited it to having a computer at a young age — his first one, in fact, at just 4 years old. He and his grandfather would spend time on the computer downloading games after school. When it comes to his profession, he said he s always learning new things. “There is so much to learn in the IT field that there’s never a dull moment.” Bishop studied computer networking at Porter and Chester Institute in Chicopee. His certifications include Network+, A+, MCP, and CCNA.

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DiGrigoli Salon announced that Kim Lavallee has been promoted from Master Stylist to Elite Stylist, and Carrie Muller has been promoted from Junior Stylist to Senior Stylist. Both are alumni of the DiGrigoli School of Cosmetology. Lavallee joined the DiGrigoli Salon artistic team in June 2011 and has made major strides in her career since then. In addition to doing hair, Kim is also a skilled makeup artist, both in cosmetic and special effects, and is often featured on WWLP-22News and Mass Appeal showcasing her talents. Muller started with DiGrigoli Salon this past February and has already been promoted twice. As the salon manager, she has many responsibilities, but she remains eager to learn and grow artistically as a stylist. This dedication has resulted in a strong clientele base and a continual refinement of her skills. DiGrigoli Salon, located at 1578 Riverdale St. in West Springfield, is owned by Paul DiGrigoli and has been offering professional beauty services to the public since 1987.