People on the Move

Fitzgerald Attorneys at Law and MGM Springfield announced that attorney Seth Stratton will be leaving his position as vice president and legal counsel of MGM Resorts’ Northeast Group by mid-June to rejoin Fitzgerald as the firm’s managing shareholder. In this leadership role, he will assist the firm’s clients on a wide range of business-related matters, including corporate governance, commercial development, regulatory matters, and dispute resolution. During his time with MGM Springfield, Stratton oversaw legal affairs, regulatory compliance, and government relations in connection with the development, construction, and opening of the $950 million MGM Springfield destination resort casino in downtown Springfield. In 2019, his role expanded to serve as property general counsel and officer for two operating MGM casinos: MGM Springfield and Empire City Casino in Yonkers, N.Y. In that capacity, Stratton provided strategic oversight, management, and direction for legal, regulatory, compliance, risk, and government-affairs functions for both casino complexes and served as an officer and executive committee member for each property. He will now bring this business, development, and management experience to his work with Fitzgerald.

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Bay Path University announced that Crystal Neuhauser has been named vice president of Institutional Advancement, effective June 21. Neuhauser comes to Bay Path after serving as the associate vice president of Advancement at Franklin Pierce University, where she increased overall giving by 41% in 2020. Prior to Franklin Pierce, she directed advancement and development initiatives at Yale University, Quinnipiac University, and Mitchell College, and also worked within the nonprofit community sector. Her career experience spans fundraising, donor relations, alumni engagement, grants, and corporate contributions. She also served on a strategic planning subcommittee at Franklin Pierce. Neuhauser is currently working toward a doctorate of education in educational leadership at New England College. She earned her master’s degree in organizational leadership from Quinnipiac College and her bachelor’s degree in business management from Albertus Magnus College. At Bay Path, Neuhauser will serve as a member of the executive staff. In this role, she will provide strategic leadership for fundraising, including responsibility for annual giving; corporate, major and planned gifts; endowment; capital campaigns; alumni and constituent-relations efforts; stewardship; and advancement services. As a nonprofit higher-education institution, Bay Path depends on the generosity of donors to fund scholarships and important initiatives that make a difference in students’ lives.

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Springfield College announced that Rachel Rubinstein has been named dean of the School of Arts and Sciences, effective July 12. Rubinstein was professor of American Literature and Jewish Studies at Hampshire College for 16 years, where she also served as the dean of Academic Support and Advising for six years. She subsequently became Holyoke Community College’s inaugural vice president of Academic and Student Affairs, a position that combined two previously separate divisions. Most recently, she has been serving as senior advisor to the deputy commissioner of Academic Affairs and Student Success at the Massachusetts Department of Higher Education, where she has focused on supporting initiatives in the state’s equity agenda. The child of immigrants from Mexico, Rubinstein’s scholarship focuses on migration, multi-lingualism, racial formation, and literary nationalism, as well as on pedagogies in the fields of ethnic and race studies. She is the author of Members of the Tribe: Native America in the Jewish Imagination, as well as the co-editor of Arguing the Modern Jewish Canon and, most recently, Teaching Jewish American Literature, a volume in the MLA’s Options for Teaching series. She received her bachelor’s degree in English from Yale University and her PhD in English and American literature from Harvard University.

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FSB Financial Group, the investment division of Florence Bank, announced that Nicole Domnarski, after working two years as an assistant financial advisor, has transitioned to financial advisor. She began her career in the financial-services industry 24 years ago and has been employed by FSB Financial Group for the past 10 years, helping advisors protect and preserve clients’ wealth. As a financial advisor, she will work directly with individuals and business owners to develop strategic, long-term financial plans to help customers achieve their financial goals and objectives. Domnarski is a graduate of Springfield Technical Community College and is a chartered retirement planning counselor certified by the College for Financial Planning. She is an investment advisor representative with Commonwealth Financial Network, and holds Series 6, 7, 31, 63, and 65 registrations. She is also licensed to sell both life and health insurance.

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The Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts (CFWM) announced the appointment of Denise Hurst as vice president for Community Impact and Partnerships. In this redesigned role meant to deepen community engagement and drive program efficacy and representation, Hurst will oversee community investments, including grants, scholarships, and new efforts to strengthen advocacy, technical assistance, data and research, and evaluation in regional projects and initiatives. This appointment is the latest example of CFWM’s ongoing commitment to advance equity in the region by elevating community voices, cultivating new coalitions and partnerships, and advancing the organizational effectiveness of nonprofits. Hurst joins the Foundation after serving Springfield Technical Community College (STCC) as vice president of Advancement & External Affairs, where she led development for the college as the executive director of the STCC Foundation, and later oversaw marketing, communications, and government affairs. Prior to that, she was appointed regional manager of the Massachusetts State Lottery in Western Mass. by state Treasurer Deb Goldberg and has worked as site director for the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health, as well as an adjunct professor at Cambridge College. She comes to CFWM with a wealth of knowledge, experience, and established networks across Hampden, Hampshire, and Franklin counties. For more than a decade, Hurst served as an elected member of the Springfield School Committee. She led the charge to establish the Minority Caucus for the Massachusetts Assoc. of School Committees (MASC) and served as the former chair of the caucus, as well as the former vice president of MASC. Hurst has been honored with several awards, including BusinessWest’s 40 Under Forty class of 2014, 2015 100 Women of Color in New England, and 2015 Top 25 Women to Watch in Western Mass., and most recently as the 2019 Woman of the Year by the Professional Women’s Chamber.

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Nancy Creed, president of the Springfield Regional Chamber, has been elected president of the Massachusetts Assoc. of Chamber of Commerce Executives (MACCE) through 2022. MACCE is a Massachusetts-based organization that offers resources and networking opportunities to its member chamber of commerce professionals across the Commonwealth. Creed has amassed more than 25 years of strategic alliance building, communications, public relations, media relations, and government and community outreach experience. She has served as president of the Springfield Regional Chamber since 2016. Prior to becoming chamber president, she served as vice president of Marketing and Communications. She holds a bachelor’s degree in magazine journalism from the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University, is certified in nonprofit organization management through the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Institute for Organization Management, and is a 2000 graduate of the Springfield Regional Chamber’s Leadership Institute. Creed has served in a variety of capacities on the MACCE board, including Region 1 vice president, secretary, and vice president.

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UMassFive College Federal Credit Union announced the retirement of Michael Sullivan, longtime board director and original founding member of the credit union, at its 54th annual meeting in March. New director Julius Lewis was also elected to the open position at the virtual event. Sullivan’s legacy extends well beyond UMassFive in the world of credit unions. While he served originally as a UMassFive board member beginning in 1982, and as the credit union board chair at UMassFive from 1986 to 1993, he concurrently held the titles of director, vice chair, and chair of Mass CUNA (1986-1998). During this time, he was instrumental in the merger of the two state credit-union leagues that eventually became the Cooperative Credit Union Assoc. (CCUA). As a thank you for his many contributions, UMassFive has dedicated the board room in its Hadley executive area as the Michael Sullivan Board Room in his honor. Newly elected board member Julius Lewis has been a member of the credit union since 2010 and, throughout the years, has helped promote UMassFive’s products and services within the local community. He is a graduate of the Isenberg School of Management at UMass Amherst, which played a major role in launching his professional career in the financial industry. He has worked as an independent financial consultant, specializing in insurance products since 2003. In 2006, Lewis created and began hosting The Lewis & Morrow Financial Hour, a weekly financial radio talk show broadcasted throughout the region and online. In 2017, he started his company, JDL Financial, and has received several awards and achievements within his profession. UMassFive welcomes his new perspectives and ideas to the board.

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Mill Town announced it has hired Dennis Robinson as the company’s chief operating officer and president of Bousquet Enterprises, a group of recreational and hospitality businesses based in the Berkshires. Beginning immediately, Robinson will be responsible for the management, operations, and financial performance of the company’s operating business portfolio. He will also oversee major capital projects related to these sites, which include Bousquet Mountain Ski Area, Bousquet Sport (formerly Berkshire West Athletic Club), the Camp by Bousquet (formerly the Lakeside Christian Camp), the Gateways Inn, and Mission Bar & Tapas. Robinson brings more than three decades of management experience to the team. Following an MBA from Harvard Business School, he spent nine years with the New Jersey Sports & Exposition Authority, the ownership entity of the Meadowlands and MetLife Stadium. From 1999 to 2007, he was the senior vice president of Business Operations for the NBA in New York. Upon returning to the New Jersey Sports & Expo Authority in 2008, he led facility management of Giants Stadium, Meadowlands Racetrack, Monmouth Park Racetrack, and the IZOD Center. More recently, Robinson held leadership roles at Formula 1 and was the chief of staff and acting secretary of State for the state of New Jersey from 2015 to 2017. Robinson has an undergraduate degree from Wesleyan University, where he was a varsity football player; a master’s degree in sport management from UMass Amherst; and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

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OMG Inc. appointed Kate Keiderling to the position of director of Human Resources and Environmental Health and Safety (HR/EHS). In her new position, she is responsible for developing and executing strategies that continue to provide a culture that is safe, healthy, supportive, inclusive, open, and creative. In her new role, she will work closely with the senior management team to plan and execute business strategies that address corporate safety, as well as effective personnel management. She is also responsible for improving the company’s current HR/EHS structure, programs, and processes as necessary to support OMG employees and business goals. She reports to Hubert McGovern, president and CEO of OMG. Keiderling joined OMG Inc. from Paradigm Precision in Manchester, Conn., where she was director of Human Resources for North America. Earlier, she spent 16 years in various HR positions with Pratt & Whitney, most recently as associate director of Human Resources for military engines. She also worked for the Travelers Insurance. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Elms College and a master’s degree in human resource development from American International College.

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New England’s largest healthcare-centric managed service provider and value-added reseller is positioning itself for national growth with the addition of Fred Mills as its new vice president of Sales. Mills joins baytechIT after stints as senior director of Worldwide Healthcare Alliances and Business Development for data-management provider Commvault, and director and general manager at Hewlett Packard Enterprise for Healthcare in the Americas. The effort is also part of a national sales strategy for the entire Pixel Health portfolio of companies under the direction of newly appointed Chief Revenue Officer Barbara Casey. BaytechIT was founded in 2018 as a partnership between Pixel Health and Baystate Health System. The company’s U.S.-based call center and field-services staff supports more than 150 hospitals, clinics, and independent medical practices, with more than 16,000 devices under management. The company maintains sales partnerships with Microsoft, HPE, Cisco, Hewlett Packard, Dell, and Lenovo, among others. Mills will support clients throughout the U.S. and will be based in Raleigh, N.C. He holds a bachelor’s degree in marketing and finance from the Boston College Carroll School of Management.

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SkinCatering Salon & Spa, located inside Tower Square in downtown Springfield, announced the promotion of its spa coordinator, Emma Redman, to its leadership team as the new salon & spa manager. Redman will oversee daily operations and social-media coordination, while leading a growing unit of nine employees. After several years in customer service at Six Flags New England, acting in local theatre productions, and working as a special-effects and bridal makeup artist, Redman began as a part-time front-desk employee at SkinCatering in 2019 and was quickly promoted to full-time spa coordinator just a few months later. In 2020, Redman’s support during the spa’s temporary closure during the COVID-19 pandemic was invaluable as she adeptly navigated the unknown to help preserve SkinCatering’s extensive client base for their return. As SkinCatering Spa evolved into SkinCatering Salon & Spa in December with its expansion in its new location on the first floor of Tower Square, Redman’s responsibilities increased, and she continued to show great leadership promise, SkinCatering owners Leanne Sedlak and Kim Brunton Auger said.