People on the Move

Serial entrepreneur Delcie Bean IV took home BusinessWest’s inaugural Continued Excellence Award at the ninth annual 40 Under Forty gala on June 18. It was yet another honor for the owner of Paragus Strategic IT, who was named BusinessWest’s Top Entrepreneur for 2014. For the Continued Excellence Award, which will be awarded annually to a former 40 Under Forty honoree who has continued to expand his or her business accomplishments and community impact, Bean was among about 40 individuals nominated by their peers and judged by an independent panel. “Nothing I have done has not been without the help of at least 100 other people,” Bean said to more than 650 attendees of the 40 Under Forty event at the Log Cabin in Holyoke. He cited, as one example, the 24 high-school students who graduated this week from Tech Foundry, a nonprofit he started to provide IT workforce training and job skills to young people. A member of the 40 Under Forty Class of 2008 when he was just 21, Bean has since seen Paragus grow 450% and earn status as one of Inc. magazine’s fastest-growing companies on several occasions, and recently earn the Top Employer of Choice Award from the Employers Assoc. of the NorthEast. He’s also started a second business venture, Waterdog Technologies, a technology-distribution company. Meanwhile, within the community, he has been active with Valley Venture Mentors, River Valley Investors, and DevelopSpringfield; is a board member for Up Academy Springfield; and serves as a board member for the Mass. Department of Elementary & Secondary Education’s Digital Literacy and Computer Science Standards Panel. In his short acceptance speech last night, Bean put the focus not on himself, but on the promise of the Pioneer Valley. “I’m just one of many people who helped me get to where I am,” he said. “I’m so incredibly grateful to be here, to be part of the Valley. And you know what? I think there’s so much more we can do. I really, really think this Valley has a huge story ahead of it. I’m excited to be a part of that, and I hope you guys will join me. And, with that challenge, let’s see what’s next.” The other four finalists for the Continued Excellence Award were Kamari Collins (40 Under Forty class of 2009), dean of Academic Advising and Student Success at Springfield Technical Community College; Jeff Fialky (class of 2008), partner at Bacon Wilson, P.C.; Cinda Jones (class of 2007), president of Cowls Lumber Co.; and Kristin Leutz (class of 2010), vice president of Philanthropic Services for the Community Foundation of Western Mass. The judges for the inaugural award were Carol Campbell, president of Chicopee Industrial Contractors; Eric Gouvin, dean of the Western New England School of Law; and Kirk Smith, former director of the YMCA of Greater Springfield.

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Sue Drumm, a real-estate agent with Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage in Longmeadow, has been named the 2015 Realtor of the Year by the Realtor Assoc. of Pioneer Valley (RAPV). The announcement was made during the association’s annual awards banquet on June 11. As the highest honor given to a member, the Realtor of the Year award is bestowed upon the one person who has shown outstanding service and devotion to the 1,650-member organization during the past 17 months in the areas of Realtor activity, community service, and business activity. A Realtor since 2009, Drumm serves on the association’s board of directors, grievance committee, community service committee, and centennial president’s advisory group. She is a co-presenter at the bi-monthly new-member orientation promoting involvement and explaining the benefits of membership. In 2014 she was a member of the strategic planning committee and affiliate of the year committee. She is a longtime member of the association’s community service committee and an active participant in numerous projects, including a book and blanket drive for Shriners Hospital for Children in Springfield, and shopping, wrapping, and delivering gifts to area homeless shelters during the holidays. She is involved in the association’s charitable fund-raising efforts as a member of the Benefit Golf Tournament subcommittee, Comedy Night subcommittee, and Fantasy Auction subcommittee. Drumm has been a Girl Scout troop leader in Agawam for six years and assists with its annual food drives.
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Springfield College Sport Management and Recreation Department Chair Kevin McAllister was recently elected president of the board of directors for U.S.A. Nordic Sport (USANS). The appointment to president follows McAllister’s role in leading a transition committee that assisted with the merging of the U.S.A. Ski Jumping and Nordic Combined. Under McAllister’s leadership, a new set of bylaws was transcribed for USANS, and a new mission statement was drafted. The mission of USANS is to encourage, promote, and develop the Nordic disciplines of ski jumping and Nordic combined in the U.S.; assist U.S. athletes in achieving sustained competitive excellence in Olympic, World Championship, and other international competitions in the disciplines; and to promote the highest standards of sportsmanship, fair play, and goodwill between individuals of all nations through competition in the discipline sports. “This opportunity to serve as president of the board of directors for USANS is a great honor, and I am excited to have the opportunity to work with so many talented people both with U.S.A. Ski Jumping and Nordic Combined,” said McAllister, who has been a Springfield College faculty member since 2003. In his role with USANS, McAllister has the opportunity to work with Springfield College alumna Signe Jordet, U.S.A. Ski Jumping director of Sport Development since 2012. Jordet earned a master’s degree in sport management and recreation from the college in 2010, and she was instrumental in recruiting McAllister’s leadership for U.S.A. Ski Jumping and Nordic Sport. “We are always willing to assist and work with graduates from our Sport Management program at Springfield College,” said McAllister. “We are very proud of Signe and the work she has done in her role with U.S.A. Ski Jumping. There was an opportunity for me to get involved and assist in some leadership areas, and I am looking forward to the challenge. This experience will also provide some great examples in the classroom when teaching our current sport-management students.”
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Two Baystate Medical Center physicians were honored recently by the Massachusetts College of Emergency Physicians (MACEP) for advancing excellence in emergency care. Dr. Sunny Mani Shukla received the Emergency Medicine Fellow of the Year award, and Dr. Lauren Westafer received the Emergency Medicine Resident of the Year award, during MACEP’s recent annual meeting. The Emergency Medicine Resident and Fellow of the Year awards recognize an outstanding emergency-medicine resident and emergency-medicine fellow in Massachusetts, whose combination of clinical promise, leadership, ability to think outside the box, and commitment to patients and emergency medicine separate them from others. Westafer earned her doctor of osteopathic medicine and master of public health degrees from Nova Southeastern University College of Osteopathic Medicine in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Blogging on emergency medicine even before her residency, today she co-hosts an educational podcast and frequently tweets and blogs about important and interesting articles, keeping her colleagues up to date on the latest in emergency medicine. Westafer regularly takes on additional tasks as part of her residency, including providing statistical mini-lectures to colleagues. An adjunct assistant professor at Western New England University College of Pharmacy, she lectures pharmacy students preparing to enter the field of medicine. She has also been recognized as a Knowledge to Action Fellow by the Emergency Medicine Residents’ Assoc. (EMRA) and the New York Academy of Medicine. “Dr. Westafer is an incredibly talented physician with the potential to contribute greatly to academic emergency medicine. Her ability to review the current literature and distill it into an easily digestible format is incredibly valuable and will make her a strong contributor in the future,” said Dr. Niels Rathlev, chair of the Department of Emergency Medicine at Baystate. Shukla, who received his medical degree from Manipal University in Karnataka, India, completed a residency in emergency medicine at Baystate. He participated in MACEP’s Leadership & Advocacy Fellowship Program in 2014, and recently designed the Baystate Emergency Department’s Administrative Fellowship. He was also selected by the EMRA as one of 10 residents nationwide to receive an EDDA scholarship, which provides financial assistance to resident leaders to attend the Emergency Department Directors Academy, designed to help them develop leadership skills that will advance their careers, their local emergency departments, and the specialty of emergency medicine. Shukla, who provides emergency care at Baystate Franklin Medical Center in Greenfield, was also the second-place winner in the Emergency Medicine Physicians’ emp.com third annual Video Challenge, allowing residents to show off their residency program in a creative way. As secretary/newsletter editor for the American College of Emergency Physicians’ Emergency Medicine Practice Management and Health Policy Section, he also uses his talents to mentor residents in writing scholarly articles. “Dr. Shukla has tremendous potential as a future leader in healthcare,” Rathlev said. “He has a particular interest in administrative matters and is currently obtaining his MBA at UMass Amherst. He is an active contributor to important patient-care and safety initiatives at Baystate Health.”
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At its recent board meeting, the Gray House elected two new officers to a one year term: Candace Pereira, treasurer, and Susan Mastroianni, secretary. Pereira has more than 10 years of banking experience. She is a commercial-portfolio loan officer for Farmington Bank in West Springfield.
Mastroianni has more than 25 years of experience in the advertising field. She is director of Media Services and partner in FitzGerald & Mastroianni Advertising Inc. in Springfield. Michael Walsh and David Chase remain as president and vice president, respectively. Walsh is an adjunct instructor in Political Science at Westfield State University and a consultant and legal advisor at MIRA Associates. Chase has more than 20 years of banking experience and is vice president of Member Business Services at Freedom Credit Union in Springfield. The Gray House is a small, neighborhood human-service agency located at 22 Sheldon St. in the North End of Springfield. Its mission is to help neighbors facing hardships to meet their immediate and transitional needs by providing food, clothing, and educational services in a safe, positive environment.
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Dr. Paul Donovan, a long-time practicing physician in North Adams, has written and published the first of a three-part series on the history of North Adams Regional Hospital (NARH). The hospital closed in March 2014 after filing for bankruptcy. Part one of the series covers the years 1882 to 1910. In 1882, a catastrophic train accident galvanized a small group of North Adams residents to initiate the concept of a hospital, which was built with private donations and opened in March 1885. Part one concludes with a major reorganization in 1909-10 due to financial difficulties. Part two will cover the years 1910 to 1955, and part three will cover 1955 to 2014. They are expected to be published in 2016 and 2017, respectively. Donovan is an emergency-medicine and sports-medicine specialist practicing in North Adams and Bennington, Vt. He was a member of the NARH medical staff for 25 years and served as medical staff president from 2008 to 2010, and as director of the NARH Emergency Department. The book can be purchased on www.blurb.com and will be available at local bookstores starting in July.
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Citizens Bank announced the appointment of Quincy Miller, president of Citizens’ business-banking division, as its new Massachusetts state president. He succeeds Jerry Sargent, who will focus full-time on leading Citizens’ middle-market commercial business after serving as state president for five years. Sargent’s responsibilities will continue to include overall leadership for state presidents across the Citizens footprint. As state president, Miller will lead Citizens’ engagement with civic, business, and community leaders across the state. He will retain responsibility for Citizens’ company-wide business-banking efforts, which serve companies with annual revenue of up to $25 million. A member of Citizens Bank’s executive leadership group, Miller serves as a member of the Citizens Bank Charitable Foundation board of directors. He also currently serves as board chair for the Urban League of Eastern Massachusetts. Miller is a graduate of Lafayette College, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in economics and business. Prior to joining Citizens in 2006, he spent nine years at M&T Bank in New York City and in Harrisburg, Pa. He has received 40 Under 40 recognition from the Boston Business Journal, Crain’s Cleveland Business, and the Central Penn Business Journal.