Where Are They Now?

Mike Vedovelli seen today at Eversource

Mike Vedovelli as a member of the 40 Under Forty class of 2011

Mike Vedovelli says it’s as if he had written the job description for himself.

Indeed, Eversource had posted for a Community Relations specialist, and the job description it sent out indicated it was looking for someone who knew the region — as in the four counties of Western Mass. — and also “knew the economic development side of things,” said Vedovelli, who had all this covered through previous career stops.

These included nearly a decade in Westfield’s Community Development office, several more running the Western Mass. office of the Massachusetts Office of Business Development (MOBD), and then a few years as director of Community Development in Chicopee.

He thought that experience qualified him to join the giant utility in the community relations role, and those doing the hiring agreed, thus beginning an intriguing chapter in the career of this 2011 40 Under Forty honoree. And he’s written a few more since joining Eversource, rising in the ranks, first as manager of Community Relations for Massachusetts (overseeing the team of specialists, each serving their own region), and currently as director of Community Relations and Economic Development in Massachusetts.

Based at the utility’s facility on Cadwell Drive in Springfield, but frequently on the road to communities in every corner of the state, Vedovelli now oversees a team of 14, “which rises to 140 during storm events,” he said, adding that one of his many responsibilities is to work with those on his teams to coordinate response to severe weather in the more than 70 communities served by the utility.

“Each city and town has a designated liaison,” he explained, adding that, from an incident-command structure in Boston, he oversees these liaisons as they work with their respective communities on preparation for, and response to, severe weather.

Community Focus

We’ll get back to the weather and how Vedovelli and Eversource prepares for it. But first, a look back.

Vedovelli, who grew up in Indian Orchard and stayed in the region, first started working in government and economic development when he became an accountant and Grants Compliance coordinator in the Westfield Community Development office, overseeing HUD initiatives and especially the Community Development Block Grant program.

He worked in Westfield for more than 10 years before becoming a regional director for the Massachusetts Office of Business Development, with the region essentially being everything west of Worcester — 101 cities and towns, a number that has stuck with him.

While getting to know those cities and towns in the 413 and their business communities, he helped several companies, including Titeflex and Smith & Wesson (which would eventually relocate its headquarters and significant operations to Tennessee starting in 2021), stay in the region, expand, and create more jobs.

“I made a point of getting to know all four counties as well as I could — knowing not just the businesses, but the fabric of the communities — and making connections.”

“I was representing the governor and the administration, and you had to be aware of what was occurring on many different levels, not just in business development opportunities,” he said of his work at MOBD and now it would provide him with invaluable experience for career stops to come. “I made a point of getting to know all four counties as well as I could — knowing not just the businesses, but the fabric of the communities — and making connections.”

It was rewarding work that came to an abrupt end with the change of gubernatorial administrations in January 2015. A few months later, one of those connections he’d made paid off when he got a call from then-Chicopee Mayor Michael Kos to see if he would be interested in becoming the city’s next director of Community Development.

Vedovelli was, and spent the next few years on projects ranging from redevelopment of the former Uniroyal plant to the opening of a Mercedes-Benz dealership on Burnett Road.

But then, he read the job description that seemed written for him.

Over the past nine years, he has added several new responsibilities, but maintains that the work still comes down to making connections and building relationships, something he’s been doing his whole career, while “handling all things Eversource, on the gas, electric, and transmission sides.

“Every day is different — that’s the 24/7 nature of the business,” he said of his work and what he likes most about it, adding that his job description is varied and includes everything from educating public officials, communities, and other key partners on Eversource’s projects to conducting outreach for the siting of major projects and strategic initiatives.

Power Play

In recent years, a growing focus has been on meeting the state’s decarbonization goals and the many investments needed to make that happen.

“We’re working very closely with our load forecasting team to analyze areas as we move toward decarbonization, and the loads that will put forth on the system,” he explained. “New infrastructure will be needed, and placing infrastructure is always a challenge, while also upgrading the existing system to make it as safe and reliable as we can.

“People are relying on power more and more — not just for their home and business, but for electric vehicles and everything else that requires power,” he went on. “It’s a needed resource.”

Then there’s the weather, which has always been a very big part of this job, he said, adding that the utility contracts with several weather services and partners with the University of Connecticut, which creates the UConn Outage Prediction Model, which is fed with high-resolution weather data to forecast a storm’s impact on the electric grid.

The model takes into account everything from snowfall amounts to wind speeds to the amount of foliage in trees (a huge factor in the devastating impact from the pre-Halloween storm in 2011) to project the level of power outages, he went on.

“With the information that we get from the weather service and the information we get from the prediction models, the incident commander can make decisions on enacting an emergency response plan,” Vedovelli explained. “Everyone in the company has a storm role.”

And while the community liaisons have many responsibilities, he said, the biggest is communicating with officials in that city or town so that they can make informed decisions.

“If they know when a road is going to be open, if they know when power is going to be restored, they can make decisions for their community,” he told BusinessWest, adding that this is especially true during weather events that stretch over several days.

Preparation is always the key, he said, adding that Eversource is prepping for hurricane season from June to early November, and there are regular training programs to help ensure that those at the utility are prepared for whatever might happen and have the necessary resources in place. Such was the case with three tornadoes that touched down on Cape Cod in July 2019, an unexpected weather event, he noted.

“If you think about the Cape and how many people are there in July … now mix in a tornado,” he said. “That tornado came through on a Tuesday, and everything was buttoned up and cleaned up by Thursday. That shows you the power of being prepared.”

Helping the utility and communities across the state be prepared for such calamities is now a big part of Vedovelli’s job description. No, he didn’t write it himself, but his past experiences have enabled him to carry it out and make a surge — yes, that’s an industry term — in his career.