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An Exciting Chapter

As part of a program called “Putting the Accent on Literacy, One Book at a Time,” BusinessWest and its Difference Makers Class of 2009 coordinated a book drive in conjunction with the Hasbro Summer Learning Initiative, which links young people with books during the summer months when they are away from school. On Aug. 5, program participants gathered for a reception and book reading at the Dunbar Community Center in Springfield. At right, Maura Geary, project coordinator for the Regional Employment Board of Hampden County, reads Mia Hamm’s “Winners Never Quit” with Tea Webster; below, right, Trevis Wray, representing the Young Professionals Society of Greater Springfield, reads “Where the Wild Things Are” with Chris Benoite; below, BusinessWest Associate Publisher Kate Campiti reads “A Chair for My Mother” with Tahjai Lewis.

Gala Event

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Features
Photos from the Difference Makers’ big night out

A crowd of close to 400 people turned out at the Log Cabin Banquet & Meeting House on March 26 as BusinessWest staged its inaugural Difference Makers gala. The event honored the first class of Difference Makers, as selected by the magazine, for the contributions to the community and work to make the region a better place in which to live, work, and play. Those gathered saluted Doug Bowen, president of PeoplesBank; Kate Kane, director of the Springfield office of the Northwestern Mutual Financial Network; Susan Jaye-Kaplan, founder of GoFIT and co-founder of Linked to Libraries; Bill Ward, executive director of the Regional Employment Board of Hampden County; and the Young Professionals Society of Greater Springfield.

Difference Maker Bill Ward, second from right, is seen with, from left, Sally Fuller, Cherish Every Child project director for the Irene E. & George A. Davis Foundation; Wanda Flores, administrative assistant at Springfield Technical Community College; Jorge Costellano, administrator for the Workforce Development Department at Springfield Public Schools; and Mary Walachy, executive director of the Irene E. & George A. Davis Foundation.

BusinessWest advertising account executive Michael Hurczyn, far left, with those representing event sponsor Sarat Ford Lincoln Mercury and other guests; from left, John DeLecchi, business development manager at Sarat; Jack Sarat, dealer and principal; Ron Dowling; Mark Bartos, account executive at ABC40 and FOX6; Jeff Sarat, general manager; Rick Daigneault, commercial truck sales manager; and Nancy Nielson.

Members of the Community Music School of Springfield’s String City entertain attendees at the gala.

Difference Maker Doug Bowen, president of PeoplesBank, with his wife, Anna.

Difference Maker Kate Kane, right, with Anne Paradis, CEO of event sponsor MicroTek.

BusinessWest advertising account executive Dianne Baribeault, with Michael White, left, director of operations and marketing for event sponsor PAZZO restaurant; and Richard DeBonis, senior vice president of Marketing for Hampden Bank.

BusinessWest Editor George O’Brien, Difference Maker Kate Kane (center), and BusinessWest Associate Publisher and Advertising Manager Kate Campiti pose with Kane’s ceremonial plaque.

BusinessWest advertising account executive Tina Kuselias, with Rich Webber, left, owner and treasurer of event sponsor Webber & Grinnell Insurance; and Bill Grinnell, owner and president of the firm.

Difference Maker Susan Jaye-Kaplan, left, with Janet Crimmins, her partner in a venture called Linked to Libraries, and Tim Crimmins, Janet’s husband and president of the Bank of Western Massachusetts.

Networking prior to the formal ceremonies are, from left, Rich Webber, owner and treasurer of event sponsor Webber & Grinnell; Christy Hedgpeth, former Spalding executive and one of BusinessWest’s 40 Under Forty, class of 2007; Peter DeMallie, president and CEO of Design Professionals Inc.; Bill Grinnell, owner and president of Webber & Grinnell Insurance; John Prenosil, principal of JMP Environmental Consulting Inc.; Ned Lutz, commercial lines account executive with Webber & Grinnell; and John Bidwell, president of Bidwell ID.

The unofficial theme for the night was the Butterfly Effect — the concept that small events can have large, widespread consequences — which sums up the importance of the Difference Makers and their contributions.

Kate Campiti welcomes attendees to the gala.

George O’Brien and Kate Campiti present Susan Jaye-Kaplan with her plaque.

Event sponsor Sarat Ford Lincoln Mercury had a number of the car-makers current models on display in front of the Log Cabin.

David White, owner of event sponsor Exclusive Car Service, which delivered many of the Difference Makers to the event in limousines, addresses the audience.

Alyssa Carvalho, current president of the Young Professionals Society of Greater Springfield shares the stage with the group’s board members as she accepts the Difference Makers plaque from George O’Brien.

Impact Statements

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Features
BusinessWest Will Celebrate the Difference Makers at March 26 Gala

Mark your calendar!

BusinessWest recently chose its first class of Difference Makers — four individuals and one group of young people who are all improving the quality of life in Western Mass. — and will celebrate their accomplishments at a gala set for March 26 at the Log Cabin Banquet and Meeting House in Holyoke.

Details of the event are falling into place, and the gala is shaping up as a not-to-be-missed gathering that will blend networking with some well-deserved recognition for people who are making a difference in the community.

“Our first Difference Makers have different roles, different backgrounds, and different ways to channel their generous donations of time, energy, and imagination to the community,” said Kate Campiti, associate publisher of BusinessWest. “But there are many common denominators, starting with a desire to connect people and businesses with resources.

“These resources vary,” she continued, “and include everything from library books to outfits women can wear to a job interview; from capital for sustainable energy projects to programs designed to help make individuals workforce-ready. In each case, these connections make the region a better place in which to live, work, and play, and they create a ripple effect that can be felt across the Valley.”

And this focus on the Western Mass. region has generated a theme, if you will, for the March 26 gala. Indeed, this will be a celebration of not only the Difference Makers, but the Pioneer Valley itself, with food and beverages produced locally and entertainment music provided by area artists.

“There is going to be an incredible amount of energy in the room that night,” said Campiti. “BusinessWest wants to invite all its readers to attend, celebrate excellence, and recognize all that is special about this region.”

Tickets for the inaugural Difference Makers Gala are $50 per person, and may be ordered by calling (413) 781-8600, ext. 10, or via E-mail at[email protected].

The Difference Makers for 2009, as profiled in the Feb. 2 edition of BusinessWest, are:

  • Doug Bowen, president and CEO of PeoplesBank, emphasizes a strong philanthropic platform — the bank ranks among the leading charitable contributors among Massachusetts businesses, giving well over $3 million over the past five years — as well as a solid leadership position in lending to ‘green’ businesses and sustainable-energy-related ventures. He has also steered the bank to strong profitability, while balancing his own time with service to a number of civic and charitable organizations.
  • Kate Kane, managing director of the Springfield office of the Northwestern Mutual Financial Network, has used her platform in a variety of service roles, from mentoring young entrepreneurs to helping steer the Sisters of Providence Health System through a time of uncertainty for health care providers, to serving on the board of Friends for the Homeless. She co-wrote the original business plan for the Western Mass. chapter of Dress for Success, an organization that has become an international phenomenon.
  • Susan Jaye Kaplan founded GoFIT, which introduces young people to the importance of fitness and provides them with not only running shoes but a game plan to stay in shape. Later, she co-founded Linked to Libraries, which collects new books and donates them to elementary schools across the region that serve children of low-income families. In both roles, she has started kids on the path to good habits, both physical and intellectual, that will hopefully last a lifetime.
  • Bill Ward, as executive director of the Regional Employment Board of Hampden County, has worked to create access to employment, especially for minorities, young people, and underskilled individuals. The REB’s latest project, Building a Better Workforce — Closing the Skills Gap on the Road to Economic Resurgence, brings together businesses and colleges in an effort to establish universal kindergarten, improve young education proficiency and career awareness, increase adult literacy, and boost technical training in high-growth industry sectors.
  • The Young Professionals Society of Greater Springfield, in just two years, has grown to include more than 200 members. YPS creates professional-development programs, educates members on economic and other issues of the day, and provides reasons for young professionals to plant roots in the Pioneer Valley and become valuable contributors to its long-term progress. It also conducts events intended to connect young people with the arts, promote mentoring, and facilitate efforts to give back to the community.

    • Kate Kane

    By
    Kate Kane
    Class of 2009 Difference Makers
    Managing Director of the Springfield Office of the Northwestern Mutual Financial Network
    Kate Kane

    Kate Kane

    Kate Kane was talking about Worcester, and, more specifically, her efforts to help create an extension of the program Dress for Success, which provides a set of clothes to underprivileged women for a job interview or their first day on a new job, in that city.

    “It was a huge chore,” said Kane, managing director of the Springfield office of the Northwestern Mutual Financial Network. She was born in the Worcester area and worked there for some time, and her father was a “Worcester boy.” But she still found herself treated like an outsider in this endeavor, which made it hard to get things done.

    “It’s a very closed community … people are very suspicious of those who did not grow up there,” she said, proffering the theory that this attitude likely results from that city’s historic competition with Boston. “I was out there for five years trying to start this charity — I was trying to give something away, and they made it so hard.

    “It’s a very interesting experience trying to break through in that market, which is not at all like Springfield,” she continued. “Here, from the get-go, it’s been very easy to meet people, very easy to get involved; people welcome your help.”

    For persevering in Worcester (that Dress for Success facility is finally slated to open in a few months), and for taking full advantage of the opportunities she’s been given to give back to the community in Western Mass., Kane has been named to the inaugural class of Difference Makers by BusinessWest. And it’s not just the long list of groups she serves — from Dress for Success to the Sisters of Providence Health System; from the Women’s Fund of Western Massachusetts to the Andrew M. Scibelli Enterprise Center at the Technology Park at STCC — but also the attitude she brings toward that work that has brought her this distinction.

    “What I’ve tried to do is have a consistent orientation to the things I do,” she said. “One of those things is a sense of economic justice and helping people who haven’t been given the tools to learn about money and finances, and really try to provide them access to those tools.”

    She says that people in her capacity and who possess her skills have a moral responsibility to find ways to utilize those skills to help those less fortunate. She told BusinessWest that she gives — time, energy, and expertise — but also receives back.

    “To me, it’s about the gift,” she explained. “I’m giving the gift of my time, but in return for that I’m getting the gift of all these lessons that I get to learn.”

    Kane was still planning to pursue a career in teaching when, soon after graduating from Vassar, she took a job in the Worcester office of Northwestern Mutual in 1986. But she adjusted her career plans in only a few short months.

    She would still become a teacher, in a number of ways, but the setting and the actual work would be much different. She’s in the financial-services sector, not academia, and instead of English literature, she’s teaching sales professionals how to reach their maximum potential. She does so by taking them out of their comfort zone and imploring them to continually seek new and greater and challenges.

    This, in a nutshell, is what her predecessor in Springfield, Paul Steffan, did with her several years ago, when he coaxed her into trading her position as ‘field director,’ in which she was quite comfortable, for the managing director’s seat. In that capacity, she recruits, develops talent, mentors rising stars, and sets a tone for the office. She describes herself as an able listener and, ultimately, a “doer.”

    And it is these talents that she brings to the many kinds of work she does within the Western Mass. community, and also Hartford and, most recently, Worcester, where she tapped into more than a decade of experience with Dress for Success, which is now a national and international phenomenon. She co-wrote the original business plan for the Western Mass. chapter of Dress for Success — the first one in the Bay State — which now outfits, or ‘suits,’ nearly 500 women a year through a boutique located at the Mass. Career Development Institute in Springfield.

    In recent years, she’s broadened the scope of her work to include everything from mentoring young entrepreneurs as they work to reach that proverbial next level to serving at the board at the SPHS and helping steer that system through a time of extreme challenge and uncertainty for all health care providers, to taking a board seat with Friends for the Homeless and assisting that group to find long-term solutions to one of nation’s most perplexing societal issues.

    She’s also served as president of the Women’s Partnership, been part of the Affiliated Chambers of Commerce of Greater Springfield, and been a long-time board member and Governance Committee member with the Women’s Fund, which administers a $3 million endowment and donates tens of thousands of dollars each year to area nonprofits.

    These groups have different missions, but there are common threads that Kane says appeal to that sense of economic justice she described. Meanwhile, she says each assignment allows her to grow professionally and personally.

    “I try not to get stuck just doing the things I’m good at,” she said, referring specifically to her work with the Women’s Fund. “I’m an action person, a ‘do’ person — ‘let’s just do it.’ So it’s been good for me to be on a committee that’s all about process.

    “I try to find ways to have the community-service work to teach me things,” she continued. “Such work can not only provide life lessons, but also help you run your businesses better; there’s a lot of things you can learn from the nonprofit environment and take back to your business.”

    Returning to the subject of Worcester and trying to do charitable work there, Kane said that if more people had that experience, they would have a greater appreciation for working in Springfield. “It’s like night and day.”

    Kane hasn’t merely worked in both cities, she’s broken through in both, and especially in the Pioneer Valley, where’s she’s been a learner and a teacher.

    — George O’Brien

    YPS

    By
    Class of 2009 Difference Makers
    The Young Professionals Society of Greater Springfield

    Alyssa Carvalho described it as a “good problem to have.”

    She was talking about April 14, and a scheduled ‘CEO Luncheon’ to be hosted by MassMutual Chairman and CEO Stuart Reese. The Young Professionals Society of Greater Springfield (YPS) started the luncheon series last year as another way to carry out its broad mission to “engage, involve, and educate” its members.

    The problem? Well, seats to the monthly luncheons are limited in number, said Carvalho, the group’s current president and, during the day, membership manager for the Greater Springfield Conventon & Visitors Bureau. The typical count is 20 to 30, to ensure intimacy and the opportunity for one-on-one dioalogue, but Reese and MassMutual will likely find a way to accommodate many more than that. Still, not everyone will be able to go.

    “And everyone will want to go,” she told BusinessWest, adding that she and other officers will have to contrive some method of determining which members will be able to circle that date on their calendars. As she said, that’s a good problem to have, and it’s a scenario that shows just how far this organization has come in two years.

    From quasi-humble beginnings, YPS has grown to more than 200 members, expanded and diversified its program offerings, and garnered enough respect to prompt Reese to donate a few hours of his precious time to impart some “words of wisdom,” as Carvalho called them, to this young, diverse audience.

    “We worked very hard to get him, and we’re thrilled that he would take the time to speak to our group and open it up to more people than we would normally have,” she said. “Our members are excited about the chance to be sitting in the same room with that caliber of speaker; the fact that he’s willing to do so speaks to the importance of our work — these are the emerging leaders in the community.”

    This higher profile has earned YPS a place in this first class of Difference Makers, along with some sky-high expectations for the future — which Carvalho and other officers are determined to meet in what might be considered another good problem to have.

    “We’ve done very well so far,” she said, “but we know we have to keep building, doing more in the community, and providing more value for our members.”

    YPS got its start in Springfield in late 2006, when a small group of younger professionals — all graduates of the Leadership Institute, a partnership between the ACCGS and Western New England College to teach mid- and upper-level managers the skills needed to become effective leaders — conceptualized a group that could handle a number of assignments. They would range from giving people something to do to providing programs on professional development; from helping to educate members on the issues of the day to providing some reasons for young professionals to stay in the Pioneer Valley and become valuable contributors to its progress and livelihood.

    The overriding goal, said Carvalho, is to help members “plant roots,” and develop lasting connections to the region and its business community.

    While the group’s founders were ambitious and had lofty expectations, even they might be surprised by how quickly and profoundly the group has become a real force in the community. In addition to the 200 members, there are 900 ‘subscribers,’ those who have a connection to the group and attend some of its events.

    Since its start, the organization — which takes a name similar to other groups in the region, including young-professional societies in Northampton, the Berkshires, and Hartford, but is different from these groups because it is independent — has been consistently adding programs, forming collaborative partnerships with other groups, and, in general, making its presence and influence felt.

    It’s making a difference.

    In addition to the CEO lunches, which have featured leaders and business owners ranging from ACCGS President Russell Denver to Springfield Falcons General Manager and co-owner Bruce Landon, the group has staged monthly networking events called Third Thursdays. It has become involved with the Division II college basketball tournament staged in Springfield each March, and last fall it partnered with Rock the Vote and other groups to encourage young people to register to vote and understand the issues involved with the presidential election.

    YPS also conducted a number of events and programs to connect young people with the arts, promote mentoring, and facilitate efforts to give back to the community. It even created an award — the Young Professionals Society of Greater Springfield’s Excellence in Leadership Award — which is given to a graduate of the Leadership Institute who has distinguished him or herself through community involvement, civic leadership, and professional excellence. The first winner was Elizabeth Cordona, director of Gov. Patrick’s office in Springfield.

    For 2009, the goal is simply to build on the momentum created over the past two years by continually looking for new ways to meet and expand the group’s mission, as expressed in one of its slogans: ‘live, work, play, and stay,’ said Carvalho, who told BusinessWest that her work as president has become what she called “a second full-time job.”

    “I’m putting in maybe 30 or 40 hours a week toward this,” she said, adding quickly that other officers are logging similar time handling YPS affairs. “And I need to, because there’s so much happening and so much to do.”

    Sounds like another one of those good problems to have.

    — George O’Brien

    Meet the Difference Makers

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    Cover
    Class of 2009 Cover Story Difference Makers
    They lead — and inspire
    Cover

    Cover

    Their contributions vary, from helping to improve the quality and diversity of the region’s workforce to providing books for local school libraries; from donating time, energy, and know-how to area nonprofit agencies to spearheading efforts to engage, involve, and educate the Valley’s young professionals. The common denominator is that these individuals are all making a difference in Western Mass. They’re not the only ones, certainly, but their stories reflect the work of countless others to make this a better region in which to live, work, and run a business.

    In Praise of the Difference Makers

    By
    Opinion

    BusinessWest launched a new recognition program late last year. It’s called Difference Makers, and as we said in our initial announcement, while that name says it all in some ways, in other ways it really doesn’t.

    That’s because the phrase ‘making a difference’ is somewhat overused and has lost some of its meaning and its punch. With this new program, BusinessWest wants to bring some attention and acclaim to those who really are making an impact in the community we call Western Mass., and are inspiring others to do the same.

    When we unveil the first round of winners in early February, you’ll see what we mean.

    But let’s back up a minute.

    BusinessWest already had a few recognition programs with its name on them. One is the Top Entrepreneur award, given since 1996 to individuals who exemplify the proud tradition of entrepreneurship in this region, a tradition shaped by people like Milton Bradley, George Davis, Everett Barney, and Horace Smith and Daniel Wesson, and carried on by recent winners such as Jeb Balise, the Falcone family (founders and operators of Rocky’s Hardware), and the recipients for 2008, Arlene Kelly and Kim Sanborn, who have created two businesses that have changed the face of health care business operations.

    We also created 40 Under Forty. Well, actually, we started our own version of what has become a national trend among business publications — to recognize up-and-coming talent in a given market.

    Both programs have become huge successes, and play key roles in helping this publication relate the accomplishments of some very talented people. But something was missing.

    Not all people are true entrepreneurs (although most in business are at least entrepreneurial), and, alas, certainly not everyone doing important things and making lasting contributions is under 40. So we created another program that can, and will in many cases, recognize those who don’t fall into one or either category.

    These can be individuals who are making great strides in business and thus perhaps changing the fortunes of a company, a business sector, a community, or a region. They can be individuals who are making an impact in the community through donations of money, time, energy, and inspiration to nonprofits and those served by them. They can be leaders who are at the forefront of change and improvement in the quality of life for people who live, work, and play in this region.

    The timing of this program is important. While we didn’t exactly plan it this way, Difference Makers becomes a counterbalance to the successive waves of negative news about the economy, the stock market, job losses, and the incredible toll all this is taking on individuals and communities. There are still good things happening in the region, and some of that news is being buried in the avalanche of negative press.

    But BusinessWest is not a ‘good-news journal.’ That’s not our purpose, and it never will be. Instead, our mission is to simply hold up a mirror to the region and especially its business community and effectively reflect that image — good, bad, ugly, or promising.

    Difference Makers is part of all this mirror-holding work that we do.

    It was created to reflect the work of people (some of which goes largely unnoticed or underappreciated) that contributes to progress in this region and makes Western Mass. special.

    The stories vary, of course, but they all start with unique people who, well, want to make a difference — and are doing so.

    So who are the first Difference Makers? For that, you’ll have to wait two weeks. We need to build up some suspense.-

    BusinessWest to Salute ‘Difference Makers’

    By
    Features
    Recognition Program to Honor Those Who Are Changing the Landscape

    We’re calling it Difference Makers. And while that name says a lot, it doesn’t reveal everything about BusinessWest’s latest recognition program, to be launched early next year.

    With this new initiative, BusinessWest, the region’s leading business publication, which next year will celebrate its 25th anniversary (2009 is shaping up as quite a year already) wants to recognize people and institutions that are, well, making a difference.

    How?

    It can be any number of ways, really, which is the best part about this new program.

    A difference maker can be anyone from an inventor bringing some ‘disruptive’ technology or innovation to the market or at least to the drawing board, meaning a potential new product that could dramatically alter the landscape in a given sector, to an administrator who has changed the course of a local nonprofit agency.

    It could be an elected or appointed official who has succeeded in improving the quality of life in one of this region’s cities or towns. Or it may be a college president or other administrator who has changed the fortunes of one of the Valley’s many institutions of higher learning. It could be the second, third, or even fourth generation within a family business that has taken that company to places that some of those earlier generations may not have dreamed possible.

    It could be … well, one’s imagination is the only real limit.

    The accomplishments that make someone or some group worthy of Difference Maker status can be very recent in nature, have taken place over the past several years, or even fall into that ‘lifetime achievement’ category. But ideally we’re looking for those who are helping to set the tone in our region today.

    We’re launching Difference Makers because we believe this region has many such individuals and groups, and, while some of the stories are known — and have perhaps been told on the pages of BusinessWest — some are not, and we think it’s time they were. Meanwhile, we believe it’s also time for these individuals or teams of people to be recognized.

    BusinessWest has a Forty Under 40 program (which will introduce its third class late next spring), but that recognizes only people too young to remember the Nixon years or, in some extreme cases, the Reagan years. The magazine also offers a ‘Top Entrepreneur’ program, but it recognizes only one individual, family, or set of partners each year.

    Difference Makers will go further, and honor many of the people, institutions, and developments that are shaping the fortunes of the Pioneer Valley in the 21st century.

    We’re excited about it, and we think you should be, too.

    Here’s how it works: On this page (and at www.businesswest.com), you’ll find a nomination form for this latest recognition program. The form and its various questions, especially the explanation of why you believe someone or some group fits our description, is self-explanatory. These nomination forms will be due to BusinessWest — via E-mail, fax, or snail mail — by Dec. 31.

    The writers and editors at BusinessWest will then review the nominations, make their selections (there will be no set number for a given year), and introduce them in a subsequent issue of the magazine. A special gala will be staged to recognize our winners.

    It will be a real party, because the individuals chosen and their accomplishments will be worthy of a serious celebration.

    So take a few minutes, think of those of who are making a difference in the Pioneer Valley — they may just be in the next office or cubicle — and nominate them for this special honor.

    —George O’Brien, Editor