Employment Archives - Page 4 of 36

Opinion

By Michael Rudman

One of the most highly anticipated changes with the transition in Washington from one political party to another involves the makeup of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). Once known exclusively for its oversight of unionized workplaces, the agency has in recent years expanded its scope to include decisions and actions favoring unions and people trying to organize unions.

Traditionally, the board is composed of five members, three of which, including the chair, are from the president’s party, and two from the opposition party. Political fights over the years have led to nominees not being confirmed for long periods of time, leaving the board without a majority or sometimes without even a working quorum.

With Senate action this summer, the NLRB now has two Republicans and two Democrats. The status of the president’s final nominee is currently on hold within the Senate confirmation process, with no firm date for a vote. Given the likely tie vote on contentious matters until the final board member is approved, employers can expect that existing case law and precedents established over the past administration will remain in effect for the foreseeable future.

Does the NLRB matter now that there is a Republican administration? The answer is yes. NLRB still has a great deal of power in shaping some aspects of the American workplace. Employers must still be cautious about running afoul of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) if they engage in unfair labor practices.

To help minimize the risk of getting in trouble anytime an employer may be dealing with a union organizing drive, it is handy to remember the acronym TIPS. It serves as a reminder that, when an employer has a union or is facing a union drive, mistakes can be costly.

• An employer may not THREATEN employees with reprisals or other negative actions for discussing, supporting, or voting for a union. An employer may not threaten to close or relocate a business in the face of union activity.

• An employer may not INTERROGATE an employee about union activity, discussions, meetings, or any other events or activities relating to a union.

• An employer may not PROMISE rewards, different working conditions, new benefits, or other changes in status, compensation or employment in an attempt to discourage an employee from considering a union.

• An employer may not SPY on employees or union organizers for the purposes of gaining insight into union sympathizers, union promises, union activities, and the like. An employer cannot request or require an employee to act on the employer’s behalf in monitoring or reporting on union activities.

Michael Rudman is senior director at Associated Industries of Massachusetts. This article first appeared on the AIM blog.

Super 60 Honorees Are a Diverse, Dynamic Mix

Saluting Success

super60logo A large technology company that has been a fixture in Western Mass. for decades and a craft-beer startup that has quickly shot from obscurity to a large cult following may boast very different histories, but they have one thing in common: they are the top honorees in this year’s Super 60 awards.

“The success of this year’s winners is a clear indication that our regional economy is strong and reflects the diverse nature of our industries,” said Nancy Creed, president of the Springfield Regional Chamber, which is presenting the Super 60 honors for the 28th year. A celebration event honoring this year’s class will be held Friday, Oct. 27 from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at Chez Josef in Agawam.

Whalley Computer Associates Inc. of Southwick placed atop this year’s Total Revenue listing, followed by Marcotte Ford Sales Inc. of Holyoke and Commercial Distributing Co. Inc. of Westfield. In the Revenue Growth category, which recognizes the fastest-growing firms in the region, Tree House Brewing of Charlton tops the 2017 list, followed by Five Star Transportation Inc. of Southwick and LavishlyHip, LLC, an online outfit based in Feeding Hills.

“In just two short years of operation, Tree House Brewing, Inc., has moved straight to the top of the Revenue Growth category in its first year as a Super 60 winner,” she said. “And LavishlyHip, an online retailer that garnered the top honors last year has returned in the top three this year.”

To be considered, companies must be based in Hampden or Hampshire counties or be a member of the Springfield Regional Chamber, have revenues of at least $1 million in the last fiscal year, be an independent and privately owned company, and be in business at least three full years. Companies are selected based on their percentage of revenue growth over a full three-year period or total revenues for the latest fiscal year.

Creed noted that this year’s winners hail from 17 communities across the region and represent all sectors of the economy, including nonprofits, transportation, energy, healthcare, technology, manufacturing, retail, and service. One-quarter of the Total Revenue winners exceeded $30 million in revenues. In the Revenue Growth category, one-quarter of the top 30 companies had growth in excess of 100%.

Four companies in the Total Revenue category also qualified for the Revenue Growth category, while 15 companies in the Revenue Growth category also qualified for the Total Revenue category, although each honoree is listed in only one category.

Tickets to the Oct. 27 event cost $60 for chamber members, $75 for general admission. Reservations may be made for tables of eight or 10. The deadline for reservations is Wednesday, Oct. 18. No cancellations will be accepted after that date, and no walk-ins will be allowed. Reservations must be made in writing, either online at www.springfieldregionalchamber.com or by e-mail to [email protected].

Total Revenue

1. Whalley Computer Associates Inc.
One Whalley Way, Southwick
(413) 569-4200
www.wca.com
John Whalley, president
WCA is a locally owned family business that has evolved from a hardware resale and service group in the ’70s and ’80s into a company that now focuses on lowering the total cost of technology and productivity enhancement for its customers. Boasting nearly 150 employees, Whalley carries name-brand computers as well as low-cost compatibles.

2. Marcotte Ford Sales Inc.
1025 Main St., Holyoke
(800) 923-9810
www.marcotteford.com
Bryan Marcotte, president
The dealership sells new Ford vehicles as well as pre-owned cars, trucks, and SUVs, and features a full service department. Marcotte has achieved the President’s Award, one of the most prestigious honors given to dealerships by Ford Motor Co., on multiple occasions over the past decade. It also operates the Marcotte Commercial Truck Center.

3. Commercial Distributing Co. Inc.
46 South Broad St., Westfield
(413) 562-9691
www.commercialdist.com
Richard Placek, Chairman
Founded in 1935 by Joseph Placek, Commercial Distributing Co. is a family-owned, family-operated business servicing more than 1,000 bars, restaurants, and clubs, as well as more than 400 package and liquor stores. Now in its third generation, the company continues to grow by building brands and offering new products as the market changes.
A.G. Miller Co. Inc.
57 Batavia St., Springfield
(413) 732-9297
www.agmiller.com
Rick Miller, president
Early in its history, A.G. Miller made a name in automobile enameling. More than 100 years after its founding in 1914, the company now offers precision metal fabrication; design and engineering; assembly; forming, rolling, and bending; laser cutting; punching; precision saw cutting; welding; powder coating and liquid painting; and more.

Aegenco Inc.
55 Jackson St., Springfield
(413) 746-3242
www.aegisenergyservices.com
Spiro Vardakas, president
Aegenco, an energy-conservation consulting firm and the manufacturing arm of Aegis Energy Services, has grown steadily since its inception in 2005.

Aegis Energy Services Inc.
55 Jackson St., Holyoke
(800) 373-3411
www.aegischp.com
Lee Vardakas, owner
Founded in 1985, Aegis Energy Services is a turn-key, full-service provider of combined heat and power systems (CHPs) that generate heat and electricity using clean, efficient, natural-gas-powered engines. These modular CHP systems reduce a facility’s dependence on expensive utility power, reduce energy costs, and reduce one’s carbon footprint.

Baltazar Contractors Inc.
83 Carmelinas Circle, Ludlow
(413) 583-6160
www.baltazarcontractors.com
Frank Baltazar, president
Baltazar Contractors has been a family-owned and operated construction firm for more than 20 years, specializing in roadway construction and reconstruction in Massachusetts and Connecticut; all aspects of site-development work; sewer, water, storm, and utilities; and streetscape improvements.

Braman Pest
147 Almgren Dr., Agawam
(413) 732-9009
www.bramanpest.com
Gerald Lazarus, president
Braman has been serving New England since 1890, using state-of-the-art pest-elimination procedures for commercial and residential customers, and offering humane removal of birds, bats, and other nuisances through its wildlife division. The company has offices in Agawam, Worcester, and Lee, as well as Hartford and New Haven, Conn.

City Enterprises Inc.
38 Berkshire Ave., Springfield
(413) 726-9549
www.cityenterpriseinc.com
Wonderlyn Murphy, president
City Enterprises Inc. offers skilled general-contracting services to the New England region. Priding itself on custom design and construction of affordable, quality homes and the infrastructure surrounding them, the firm executes its mission in a way that supports community empowerment through job opportunities and professional development.

filli, lcc d/b/a con-test analytical laboratory
39 Spruce St., East Longmeadow
(413) 525-2332
www.contestlabs.com
THOMAS VERATTI SR., FOUNDER
Established in 1984, Con-Test provides environmental consulting and testing services to clients throughout Western Mass. The laboratory-testing division originally focused on industrial hygiene analysis, but expanded to include techniques in air analysis, classical (wet) chemistry, metals, and organics, analyzing water, air, soil, and solid materials.

EG Partners, LLC d/b/a Oasis Shower Doors
646 Springfield St., Feeding Hills
(413) 786-8420
www.oasisshowerdoors.com
tom daly, President
Oasis Shower Doors, New England’s largest designer, fabricator, and installer of custom frameless glass shower enclosures and specialty glass, has rapidly expanded its operations in recent years, with showrooms located at Feeding Hills, Weymouth, and Peabody, Mass., as well as Avon, Conn.

Fuel Services Inc.
95 Main St., South Hadley
(413) 532-3500
www.fuelservices.biz
Steve Chase, President and CEO
Full-service home-comfort and energy-solutions firm offering heating oil and propane delivery; plumbing, air-conditioning, and natural-gas services; installation of heating, cooling, water, and indoor-air-quality equipment; and more. The company serves more than 30 communities in Western Mass. and provides 24-hour emergency service.

The Futures Health Group, LLC
136 William St., Springfield
(800) 218-9280
www.discoverfutures.com
Brian Edwards, CEO
Futures provides occupational therapy, physical therapy, speech-language therapy, special education, nursing, mental health, and other related services to schools and healthcare facilities across the U.S. Founded in 1998, it continues to be managed by expert practitioners in their fields.

The Gaudreau Group
1984 Boston Road, Wilbraham
(413) 543-3534
www.gaudreaugroup.com
Jules Gaudreau, president
A multi-line insurance and financial-service agency established in 1921, the Gaudreau Group helps clients respond to an ever-changing economic environment. The agency offers a broad range of insurance and financial products from basic life, home, and auto insurance to complex corporate services, employee benefits, and retirement plans.

Haluch Water Contracting Inc.
399 Fuller St, Ludlow
(413) 589-1254
Thomas Haluch, president
For more than 30 years, Haluch Water Contracting has served the region as a water-main construction and excavation contractor specializing in water, sewer, pipeline, communications, and power-line construction.

JET Industries Inc.
307 Silver St., Agawam
(413) 786-2010
www.jet.industries
Michael Turrini, president
Jet Industries Inc. is a leading design build electrical, mechanical, communications and fire sprinkler contractor. What began as a small, family-run oil company founded by Aaron Zeeb in 1977 has grown into one of the nation’s largest companies of its type with over 500 employees servicing projects all across the country.

Kittredge Equipment Co. Inc.
100 Bowles Road, Agawam
(413) 304-4100
www.kittredgeequipment.com
Wendy Webber, president
Founded in 1921, Kittredge Equipment Co.is one of the nation’s leading food-service equipment and supply businesses. It boasts 70,000 square feet of showroom in three locations. The company also handles design services, and has designed everything from small restaurants to country clubs to in-plant cafeterias.

Lancer Transportation & Logistics and Sulco Warehousing & Logistics
311 Industry Ave., Springfield
(413) 739-4880
www.sulco-lancer.com
Todd Goodrich, president
In business since 1979, Sulco Warehousing & Logistics specializes in public, contract, and dedicated warehousing. Lancer Transportation & Logistics is a licensed third-party freight-brokerage company that provides full-service transportation-brokerage services throughout North America.

Louis and Clark Drug Inc.
309 East St., Springfield
(413) 737-7456
www.lcdrug.com
Skip Matthews, president
Since 1965, Louis & Clark has been a recognized name in Western Mass., first as a pharmacy and later as a resource for people who need home medical equipment and supplies. Today, the company provides professional pharmacy and compounding services, medical equipment, independent-living services, and healthcare programs.

Maybury Associates Inc.
90 Denslow Road, East Longmeadow
(413) 525-4216
www.maybury.com
John Maybury, president
Since 1976, Maybury Associates Inc. has been designing, supplying, and servicing all types of material-handling equipment throughout New England. Maybury provides customers in a wide range of industries with solutions to move, lift, and store their parts and products.

Notch Mechanical Constructors
85 Lemay St., Chicopee
(413) 534-3440
www.notch.com
Steven Neveu, president
A family-owned business since 1972, Notch Mechanical Constructors provides piping installation and repair services to facilities throughout southern New England. Its team has the capacity to address process and utility piping challenges at any business within 100 miles of its locations in Chicopee and Hudson, Mass.

O’Connell Care at Home
One Federal St., Bldg. 103-1, Springfield
(413) 533-1030
www.opns.com
Francis O’Connell, president
For more than two decades, O’Connell Care at Home, formerly O’Connell Professional Nurse Service, has grown to deliver a range of home-health and staffing services across the Pioneer Valley. Services range from nursing care and geriatric healthcare management to advocacy and transportation.

PC Enterprises Inc. d/b/a Entre Computer
138 Memorial Ave., West Springfield
(413) 736-2112
www.pc-enterprises.com
Norman Fiedler, CEO
PC Enterprises, d/b/a Entre Computer, assists organizations with procuring, installing, troubleshooting, servicing, and maximizing the value of technology. In business since 1983, it continues to evolve and grow as a lead provider for many businesses, healthcare providers, retailers, and state, local, and education entities.

Rediker Software Inc.
2 Wilbraham Road, Hampden
(800) 213-9860
www.rediker.com
Andrew Anderlonis, president
Rediker software is used by school administrators across the U.S. and in more than 100 countries, and is designed to meet the student-information-management needs of all types of schools and districts. For example, 100,000 teachers use the TeacherPlus web gradebook, and the ParentPlus and StudentPlus web portals boast 2 million users.

Specialty Bolt & Screw Inc.
235 Bowles Road, Agawam
(413) 789-6700
www.specialtybolt.com
Kevin Queenin, president
Founded in 1977, Specialty Bolt & Screw (SBS) is a full-service solutions provider of fasteners, vendor-managed inventory (VMI) programs, and C-class commodities. Based in Agawam, it has locations in Valcourt, Quebec; Juarez, Mexico; Queretaro, Mexico; Rovaniemi, Finland; and Kaohsiung, Taiwan.

Troy Industries Inc.
151 Capital Dr., West Springfield
(413) 788-4288
www.troyind.com
Steve Troy, CEO
Troy Industries was founded on the principle of making reliable, innovative, over-engineered products that function without question when lives are on the line. Troy is a leading U.S. government contractor that designs and manufactures innovative, top-quality small-arms components and accessories and complete weapon upgrades.

United Personnel Services Inc.
1331 Main St., Springfield
(413) 736-0800
www.unitedpersonnel.com
Patricia Canavan, president
United provides a full range of staffing services, including temporary staffing and full-time placement, on-site project management, and strategic recruitment in the Springfield, Hartford, and Northampton areas, specializing in administrative, professional, medical, and light-industrial staff.

W.F. Young Inc.
302 Benton Dr., East Longmeadow
(800) 628-9653
www.absorbine.com
Tyler Young, CEO
This family-run business prides itself on offering a variety of high-quality products that can effectively improve the well-being of both people and horses with its Absorbine brands.

Webber & Grinnell Insurance Agency Inc.
8 North King St., #1, Northampton
(413) 586-0111
www.webberandgrinnell.com
Bill Grinnell, president
Webber and Grinnell’s roots can be traced back to 1849, when A.W. Thayer opened an insurance agency on Pleasant Street in Northampton. The agency, which offers automotive, business, homeowners, employee benefit, and other types of products, serves more than 5,000 households and 900 businesses throughout Western Mass.

WestMass ElderCare Inc.
4 Valley Mill Road, Holyoke
(413) 538-9020
www.wmeldercare.org
Priscilla Chalmers, Executive Director
WestMass ElderCare is a private, nonprofit agency with a mission to preserve the dignity, independence, and quality of life of elders and disabled persons desiring to remain within their own community. Programs include supportive housing, home care, options counseling, adult family care, nutrition programs, and adult foster care.

Revenue Growth

1. Tree House Brewing Company Inc.
129 Sturbridge Road, Charlton
(413) 523-2367
www.treehousebrew.com
Nate Lanier, Damien Goudreau, Dean Rohan, Owners
The opening of a 45,000-square-foot facility in Charlton speaks to the recent growth of this brewery. Tree House was founded in Monson 2011, but in 2015 counted just one employee and 55 barrels of cellar space. The new facility can accommodate 50,000 barrels of cellar space, which will enable the brewery to produce up to 125,000 barrels a year.

2. Five Star Transportation Inc.
809 College Highway, Southwick
(413) 789-4789
www.firestarbus.com
Nathan Lecrenski, president
Five Star provides school-bus transportation services to school districts and charter schools throughout Western Mass. From its launch a half-century ago with a single bus route, the company currently services more than 12 school districts and operates a fleet of more than 175 vehicles.

3. Lavishlyhip, LLC
Feeding Hills
www.lavishlyhip.com
Rika Woyan, owner
This online retailer of jewelry and accessories offers accessory collections from the latest top designers. By meeting with the designers in their showrooms and at industry events, it stays on top of what is trending. Shoppers will find hip and classic jewelry for women and men, cashmere, silk and blend scarves, and hair accessories.

Adam Quenneville Roofing and Siding Inc.
160 Old Lyman Road, South Hadley
(413) 525-0025
www.1800newroof.net
Adam Quenneville, CEO
Adam Quenneville offers a wide range of residential and commercial services, including new roofs, retrofitting, roof repair, roof cleaning, vinyl siding, replacement windows, and the no-clog Gutter Shutter system. The company has earned the BBB Torch Award for trust, performance, and integrity.

Alliance Home Improvement Inc.
375 Chicopee St., Chicopee
(413) 331-4357
www.alliancehomeinc.com
sergiy suprunchuk, president
Alliance is a professional local contractor providing quality and reliable residential services. Its products are Energy Star certified, and most of them have lifetime warranty provided by the manufacturer. Services include siding, windows, doors, roofs, gutters, faux stone siding, and custom-built homes.

Baystate Blasting Inc.
36 Carmelinas Circle, Ludlow
(413) 583-4440
www.baystateblasting.com
Paul Baltazar, president
Baystate Blasting, Inc. is a local family owned and operated drilling and blasting firm located in Ludlow, Massachusetts that began in 2003. Sitework, heavy highway construction, residential, quarry, portable crushing and recycling, ATF licensed dealer of explosives as well as rental of individual magazines.

Center Square Grill
84 Center Square, East Longmeadow
(413) 525-0055
www.centersquaregrill.com
Michael Sakey, Bill Collins, Proprietors
Center Square Grill serves up eclectic American fare for lunch and dinner, as well as an extensive wine and cocktail selection and a kids’ menu. The facility also has a catering service and hosts events of all kinds.

Charter Oak Insurance & Financial Services Co.
330 Whitney Ave., Holyoke
(413) 374-5430
www.charteroakfinancial.com
Peter Novak, General Agent
A member of the MassMutual Financial Group, Charter Oak been servicing clients for more than 125 years. The team of professionals serves individuals, families, and businesses with risk-management products, business planning and protection, retirement planning and investment services, and fee-based financial planning.

Chicopee Industrial Contractors Inc.
107 North Chicopee St., Chicopee
(413) 538-7279
www.chicopeeindustrial.com
Carol Campbell, president
Founded in 1992, Chicopee Industrial Contractors is an industrial contracting firm specializing in all types of rigging, heavy lifting, machinery moving, machine installation, millwrighting, machine repair, heavy hauling, plant relocations, concrete pads, foundations, and structural steel installations.

Community Transportation Services
288 Verge St., Springfield
(413) 732-1500
Houshang Ansari, president
Community transportation is a locally owned medical, elderly, and VIP transportation service founded in 1991. Its goal is to provide the community with safe and affordable transportation services. It is especially committed to meeting the transportation needs of senior citizens and the physically and mentally challenged.

Courier Express Inc.
20 Oakdale St., Springfield
(413) 730-6620
www.courierexp.com
Eric Devine, president
Courier Express is committed to providing custom, same-day delivery solutions for any shipment. Its focal point is New England, but its reach is nationwide. The company strives to utilize the latest technologies, on-time delivery, customer service, and attention to detail to separate itself from its competitors.

Court Square Group Inc.
1350 Main St., Springfield
(413) 731-5294
www.courtsquaregroup.com
Keith Parent, president
Court Square is a technical strategic advisor to the life-science and biotech industries. Consulting services include business analysis and consulting, information security and disaster recovery, SharePoint and document management, long-term archiving, project management, and much more.
FIT Staffing Inc.
25 Bremen St., Springfield
(413) 363-0204
www.fitstaffingsolutions.com
Jackie Fallon, president
FIT Staffing, founded in 2005, provides a personal approach to connecting companies to the right IT professionals. FIT takes the time to meet the hiring manager to determine the exact qualifications, skills, and personality traits for the client’s ideal candidates. Meanwhile, FIT’s extensive listing of local IT openings is continuously updated.

Fletcher Sewer & Drain Inc.
824A Perimeter Road, Ludlow
(413) 547-8180
www.fletcherseweranddrain.com
Teri Marinello, president
Since 1985, Fletcher Sewer & Drain has provided service to homeowners as well as municipalities and construction companies for large pipeline jobs. From unblocking kitchen sinks to replacing sewer lines, Fletcher keeps up to date with all the latest technology, from high-pressure sewer jetters to the newest camera-inspection equipment.

Gleason Johndrow Landscaping Inc.
44 Rose St., Springfield
(413) 727-8820
www.gleasonjohndrowlandscaping.com
Anthony Gleason II, David Johndrow, Owners
Gleason Johndrow Landscape & Snow Management offers a wide range of commercial and residential services, including lawn mowing, snow removal, salting options, fertilization programs, landscape installations, bark-mulch application, creative plantings, seeding options, pruning, irrigation installation, maintenance, and much more.

Kelley & Katzer Real Estate, LLC
632 Westfield St., West Springfield
(413) 209-9933
www.kelleyandkatzerrealestate.com
Joe Kelley, Christine Katzer, Co-owners
Kelley & Katzer combines more than 40 years of real-estate experience with a modern approach. It is involved every step of the way of the real-estate process, guiding clients with a hands-on approach and knowledge of the real-estate market, blended with a genuine understanding of clients’ needs.

Knight Machine & Tool Company Inc.
11 Industrial Dr., South Hadley
(413) 532-2507
Gary O’Brien, owner
Knight Machine & Tool Co. is a metalworking and welding company that offers blacksmithing, metal roofing, and other services from its 11,000-square-foot facility.

Market Mentors, LLC
30 Capital Dr., Suite C, West Springfield
(413) 787-1133
www.marketmentors.com
Michelle Abdow, principal
A full-service marketing firm, Market Mentors handles all forms of marketing, including advertising in all mediums, media buying, graphic design, public relations, and event planning.

Martinelli, Martini & Gallagher Real Estate Inc.
1763 Northampton St., Holyoke
(413) 736-7232
www.buywesternmass.com
Paul Gallagher, president
Gallagher Real Estate boasts four locations in Holyoke, Agawam, South Hadley, and Springfield, offering commercial and residential sales and leasing services, as well as a real estate school and a separate division devoted to handling property-management needs.

North Atlantic Trucking Inc.
100 Progress Ave., Springfield
(413) 455-3981
www.northatlantictrucking.com
James Vieu, Director of Fleet Services & Financials
North Atlantic Trucking began by hauling a variety of products, including paper, plastic, metal, and more. The company is rapidly growing with a current fleet of 15 vehicles providing transportation services for miscellaneous products throughout the U.S.

Northeast IT Systems Inc.
777 Riverdale St., West Springfield
(413) 736-6348
www.northeastit.net
Joel Mollison, president
Northeast is a full-service IT company providing business services, managed IT services, backup and disaster recovery, and cloud services, as well as a full-service repair shop for residential customers, including file recovery, laptop screen replacement, PC setups and tuneups, printer installation, virus protection and removal, and wireless installation.

Paragus Strategic IT
112 Russell St., Hadley
(413) 587-2666
www.paragusit.com
Delcie Bean IV, president
While still in high school, Delcie Bean founded Paragus IT in 1999, first under the name Vertical Horizons and then Valley ComputerWorks. Under the Paragus name, it has grown dramatically as an outsourced IT solution, providing business computer service, computer consulting, information-technology support, and other services to businesses of all sizes.

Rock Valley Tool, LLC
54 O’Neil St., Easthampton
(413) 527-2350
www.rockvalleytool.com
Elizabeth Paquette, president
Rock Valley Tool is a 17,000-square-foot facility housing a variety of both CNC and conventional machining equipment, along with a state-of-the-art inspection lab. With more than 40 years of experience, the company provides manufactured parts to customers in the aerospace, commercial/industrial, and plastic blow-molding industries.

Rodrigues Inc.
782 Center St., Ludlow
(413) 547-6443
Antonio Rodrigues, president
Rodrigues Inc. operates Europa Restaurant in Ludlow, specializing in Mediterranean cuisine with an interactive dining experience, presenting meals cooked on volcanic rocks at tableside. Europa also offers full-service catering and banquet space.

Royal, P.C.
270 Pleasant St., Northampton
(413) 586-2288
www.theroyallawfirm.com
Amy Royal, owner
Royal, P.C. is a woman-owned law firm that exclusively represents and counsels businesses on all aspects of labor and employment law. It represents a wide range of businesses throughout the New England states and nationally, and is an approved panel counsel for insurance companies that provide employment-practices liability insurance to employers.

Safe & Sound Inc.
428 East St., Chicopee
(413) 594-6460
www.safeandsoundhq.com
Michael Laventure, owner
Since 1983, Safe and Sound Inc., a family-owned company, has been providing customers with a wide selection of quality components such as home theater speakers, audio/video receivers, amplifiers, subwoofers, as well as car audio, remote starters, and security.

Taplin Yard, Pump & Power
120 Interstate Dr., West Springfield
(413) 781-4352
www.fctaplin.com
Martin Jagodowski, president
Taplin has been servicing the local area since 1892, and is an authorized dealer for parts, equipment, service, and accessories for a wide range of brands. It boasts a large inventory of zero-turn mowers, commercial lawn equipment, lawnmowers, lawn tractors, trimmers, blowers, generators, pressure washers, pole saws, sprayers, chainsaws, and more.

Valley Home Improvement Inc.
340 Riverside Dr., Florence
(413) 517-0158
www.valleyhomeimprovement.com
Steven Silverman, owner
Valley Home Improvement has specialized in home improvement, renovations, and remodeling service since 1991. Home-improvement and remodeling services include kitchen design, bathrooms, additions, sunrooms, screen porches, basement finishing, weatherization/insulation services, garages, and custom cabinetry and countertops.
VertitechIT
4 Open Square Way, #310, Holyoke
(413) 268-1600
www.vertitechit.com
Michael Feld, CEO
Calling itself a group of advisors, confidantes, strategists, and innovators for hire, Vertitech has, in its own words, created a new path to IT transformation, aiming not just to solve technical problems, but to develop the strategic solutions that make an organization or healthcare institution thrive.

Western Mass Demolition Corp.
50 Summit Lock Road, Westfield
(413) 579-5254
www.wmdemocorp.com
Dale Unsderfer, president
Western Mass Demolition Corp. has a wide range of services to meet clients’ demolition and recycling needs, including complete structure removal, selective works, emergency and fire on call, lowboy and equipment hauling, building separation, abatement and remediation, concrete cutting and breaking, oil-tank removal, recycling, reuse, and salvage.

Briefcase

Briefcase Departments

Eastern States Exposition Breaks Attendance Record

WEST SPRINGFIELD — A record number of visitors attended the Big E this year, breaking the fair’s all-time high attendance figure, with a final tally of 1,525,553. The previous record of 1,498,605 was set in 2014. Oct. 1 attendance was 137,208, also a new record for the final Sunday of the 17-day fair. During the fair’s run, the all-time-highest single-day attendance record was also broken when 171,897 visitors attended Saturday, Sept. 23. Three additional daily attendance records were set: Sept. 21, 85,019; Sept. 28, 89,905; and Sept. 29, 109,871. “I am humbled to see the incredible support of Eastern States Exposition by our loyal fair patrons,” said Eugene Cassidy, president and CEO of the Exposition. “The 2017, 101st edition of the Big E broke records again, recording for the first time in history over 1.5 million guests. Patrons of New England’s Great State Fair braved days of punishing temperatures that pushed the heat index to above 100 degrees, they endured a 55-degree drop in temperature accompanied by rain, and yet they came in great numbers to participate in, enjoy, and support this organization and all it stands for.”

Employer Confidence Rebounds in September

BOSTON — The Associated Industries of Massachusetts (AIM) Business Confidence Index broke a two-month slide in September, rising 1.2 points to 62.4. The reading equaled its high for 2017 and was 6.5 points better than a year ago. Employer confidence has moved in a narrow range so far in 2017, as employers appear bullish about the growth prospects of their companies. The September uptick was driven in part by a 5.7-point surge in the Sales Index, which is often a leading indicator of increased business activity. “The Index was also taken prior to the announcement of an effort by Congressional Republicans and the White House to significantly reduce corporate taxes, a move that enjoys broad support among employers,” said Raymond Torto, Chair of AIM’s Board of Economic Advisors (BEA) and lecturer at Harvard Graduate School of Design. “The prospect of tax reform and tax simplification is likely to buoy employer sentiment through the end of the year.” The AIM Index, based on a survey of Massachusetts employers, has appeared monthly since July 1991. It is calculated on a 100-point scale, with 50 as neutral; a reading above 50 is positive, while below 50 is negative. The Index reached its historic high of 68.5 on two occasions in 1997-98, and its all-time low of 33.3 in February 2009. The Index has remained above 50 since October 2013. The constituent indicators that make up the overall Business Confidence Index were generally higher during September. The Massachusetts Index, assessing business conditions within the Commonwealth, rose 2.2 points to 65.4, a reading that was 8.4 points higher than in September 2016. The U.S. Index of national business conditions dropped 0.4 points to 59.8 after surging more than 10 points during the previous 12 months. September marked the 90th consecutive month in which employers have been more optimistic about the Massachusetts economy than the national economy. The Current Index, which assesses overall business conditions at the time of the survey, increased 1.6 points to 62.9, while the Future Index, measuring expectations for six months out, rose 0.7 points to 61.9. The Future Index ended the month 5.9 points higher than a year ago. The Company Index, reflecting overall business conditions, gained 1.4 points to 62.3. Finally, the Employment Index fell 2.2 points to 55.8, continuing an up-and-down pattern within the mid-50s on the 100-point scale. “The Massachusetts economy continues to maintain a steady recovery, with employers adding 10,800 jobs during August and the state jobless rate declining to 4.2%,” said Elmore Alexander, dean of Ricciardi College of Business at Bridgewater State University, and a BEA member. “The surge in the AIM Sales and Future indices suggests that business activity may actually accelerate in coming months, so the primary challenge for employers will remain hiring and retaining skilled workers in a tight labor market.” AIM President and CEO Richard Lord, also a BEA member, said employers generally support federal initiatives to reduce business taxes, but also remain concerned about the potential effect those reductions might have on the deficit. It is ironic, Lord added, that the proposed Republican tax plan would lower levies for subchapter-S corporations and other small pass-through businesses, while Massachusetts voters may be voting on a surtax next year on those same companies. “Subchapter-S corporations and other companies that pay taxes on the individual level are generally small to medium-sized enterprises that form the heart of the Massachusetts economy,” he noted. “What a shame it would be if the federal government were to help these companies while Massachusetts penalizes them.”

MGM’s 95% Document Submittal Consistent with HCA Commitments

SPRINGFIELD — Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno and Kevin Kennedy, the city’s chief Development officer, announced that the MGM 95% construction-design submittals are consistent with the commitments outlined within the city’s host-community agreement (HCA). “As we move closer to the completion and grand opening of this unique urban development, I am pleased to be able to announce another milestone as the city accepts the 95% construction-design submittals,” said Sarno. “Through this continued collaborative effort between the city of Springfield and MGM, the designs submitted remain consistent with what has been outlined within the host-community agreement.” This determination of compliance is based on a detailed review of the submittal documents by a number of city departments, including the Office of Planning & Economic Development, the Law Department, the Building Department, the Department of Public Works, and the Casino Liaison Office. A full review of the 95% construction-design documents was also completed by Chicago Consultants Studio Inc., an urban-planning consultant that has been used extensively by the city of Springfield throughout the casino design-review process. “Based on a thorough review and engaged process over the past few months, we believe that MGM’s 95% construction documents continue to illustrate a high-quality, attractive, and innovative design,” said Kim Goluska of Chicago Consultants Studio Inc. “MGM’s cooperation with the city and its positive enhancements and completion of the key design components has resulted in a project that not only conforms to the HCA intent and requirements, but also creates a new, truly innovative precedent for urban casino developments.” Added Kennedy, “with MGM Springfield nearing completion and the numerous other economic-development efforts underway throughout the city, including the recent grand opening of Union Station, we are really starting to see the new Springfield take shape. Our focus will continue to be on capitalizing on these larger transformative developments to help attract other private investment and jobs to the city of Springfield.”

New England Unemployment Holds Steady in August

BOSTON — The New England Information Office of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) has released New England and state unemployment numbers for August 2017. These data are supplied by the Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS) program, which produces monthly and annual employment, unemployment, and labor-force data for Census regions and divisions, states, counties, metropolitan areas, and many cities. The New England unemployment rate was little changed at 4.0% in August. One year ago, the New England jobless rate was 3.9%. The U.S. jobless rate was little changed from July at 4.4%. No New England state had a significant over-the-year jobless rate change.

People on the Move

Departments People on the Move

Amanda Sbriscia

Holyoke Community College announced that Amanda Sbriscia has been hired as its new vice president of Institutional Advancement. Sbriscia will lead HCC’s fund-raising efforts as head of the HCC Foundation as well as oversee Alumni Affairs, Resource Development, and Marketing and Communications. She begins Oct. 30. “I am thrilled to be joining HCC at a very exciting time in its history,” Sbriscia said. “I look forward to connecting with our alumni, friends, faculty, and staff, and to engaging the community in our efforts to support students and build on the college’s excellent reputation.” Sbriscia comes to HCC with more than 10 years of experience in education and fund-raising. Most recently, she has been serving as senior director of Advancement at Bay Path University, following her role there as director of Annual Giving and Alumni Relations. Before Bay Path, Sbriscia worked in fund development for the Girl Scouts of Central and Western Massachusetts and as director of Annual Giving for Anna Maria College in Paxton. Her experience in higher education also includes work in major gifts, volunteer management, corporate sponsorship, and strategic planning. “We were fortunate to have four extremely qualified finalists to consider, and we put each of them through a full day of rigorous interviews,” said HCC president Christina Royal. “In the end, though, Amanda’s experience, presence, and passion really made her stand out. She has an energy that I believe will integrate fluently with our current campus leadership and help propel us forward as we begin to develop a strategic plan for the future of HCC. I’m excited that she will soon be here.” Sbriscia has served on the board of the Assoc. of Fundraising Professionals and is a member of Women in Philanthropy and the Young Professional Society of Greater Springfield. She is also a classroom reader through Springfield School Volunteers. She is currently pursuing her doctor of education degree in organizational leadership from Northeastern University.

•••••

Jaime O’Connor

Waterford Hotel Group announced the appointment of Jaime O’Connor as director of sales at the Sheraton Hartford Hotel located inside Bradley International Airport. The Sheraton Bradley is managed by Waterford Hotel Group, a national hotel and convention-center management firm. As director of Sales, O’Connor is responsible for the total sales efforts for the hotel, as well as supervising sales-related personnel and implementing sales and marketing strategies to maximize profits while also maintaining guest satisfaction. O’Connor started her career in hospitality at the Sheraton Springfield in 2001. She quickly grew within the property, holding the positions of executive meeting manager and senior executive meeting manager, before joining Waterford Hotel Group as a sales manager at the Marriott Hartford in 2005. Most recently, she has been working as director of sales at the Sheraton Hartford South. “We are pleased to welcome Jaime back to the Waterford Hotel Group team,” said Karen Bachofner, vice president of Sales and Marketing at Waterford Hotel Group. “We look forward to working with her in this new role.”

•••••

Valerie Krolicki

Valerie Krolicki recently joined Ayre Real Estate Co. Inc. as a full-time real-estate sales associate. She is a graduate of Hopkinton High School and has a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a master’s degree in education from Northeastern University in Boston. Krolicki is the daughter-in-law of the late Cynthia ‘Cindy’ Ayre, formerly of Ayre Real Estate and past president of the Realtor Assoc. of Pioneer Valley and Realtor of the Year.

•••••

With the upcoming departure of DevelopSpringfield’s President and CEO Jay Minkarah, the organization has tapped Jeff Daley to provide consulting services on an interim basis to manage project oversight. Daley is founder and principal of CJC Development Advisors, LLC with more than 15 years of experience in real-estate development, construction project development, government relations, and public-private partnership development. He was formerly the Economic Development director for the city of Westfield, executive director of the Westfield Redevelopment Authority, and a member of the Pioneer Valley Transit Authority board of directors, in addition to roles on other nonprofit boards and advisory panels. “I am excited for the opportunity to assist the team at DevelopSpringfield to move their projects forward,” Daley said. “CJC Development Advisors has been engaged in development projects around the region, and I feel this is a perfect opportunity to help DevelopSpringfield through their transition on some very important projects.” Nick Fyntrilakis, DevelopSpringfield’s board chair, added that “we are pleased to have Jeff step in to help ensure the advancement of DevelopSpringfield’s projects. Jeff has a strong background in large-scale development projects, and I’m confident his experience will be invaluable to the organization as we look to begin a search for a permanent replacement for Jay Minkarah.”

•••••

Claudia Pazmany

Claudia Pazmany was recently named director of Development & Marketing for Providence Ministries. “My guiding core philosophy is to honor the work of today but to bring people together in the form of support to enable a vision for tomorrow,” Pazmany said. “It exemplifies how I feel about the power of philanthropy and how it can transform communities. I hope to transform how we think about our most vulnerable in my new role here at Providence Ministries, and how we can all play a vital role in that transformation.” Pazmany is a community leader with more than 16 years of experience in professional fund-raising. Her business-development skills, combined with a long history in capital campaigns, philanthropy, community engagement, social media, and alumni relations, helped her build visionary and sustainable movements of giving. She continues to apply her leadership skills to creating a more just and equitable world. Pazmany has an MBA from UMass, served on the executive team as former director of Development at the Women’s Fund of Western Massachusetts, is a graduate of the Women’s Fund’s Leadership Institute for Political and Public Impact, and is currently a board member at Big Brothers Big Sisters of Hampshire County.

•••••

Morrison Mahoney LLP announced the election of six new partners, representing a range of practice areas including appeals, insurance coverage, construction litigation, professional liability defense, medical malpractice, fraud, transportation, and employment-law disputes.

“The election of so many highly qualified partners speaks volumes of the depth of talent that we have in all offices of Morrison Mahoney and quality of our mentoring and professional development,” said Managing Partner Scott Burke.

The new partners are:

Jeffrey O’Connor

Joseph Ciollo

• Jeffrey O’Connor (Springfield), who focuses his practice on the defense of medical and legal professionals, healthcare law, employment litigation, and general liability defense;

• Joseph Ciollo (Hartford, Stamford), who represents insurance companies, insureds, private businesses, attorneys, and other licensed professionals in matters involving automobile, homeowner, and property insurance coverage; insurance fraud investigation; general liability defense; automobile liability defense; bad-faith claims; subrogation; professional liability; and employment discrimination;

• Christopher Davidson (Boston), who specializes in the defense of corporate clients involving claims of catastrophic injury or death in the context of construction-site accidents, product liability, premises liability, and transportation/trucking matters;

• Larry Slotnick (Boston), who has successfully represented insures in a wide range of coverage and bad-faith disputes, both at the trial and appellate levels, and also represents businesses in commercial-litigation disputes;

• Christopher Keenoy (New York), who focuses his practice on cases involving professional liability, construction defects, product liability, lead paint, trucking, and general liability; and

• James McKenney (New York), who litigates complex commercial and civil matters, including healthcare and insurance-coverage issues, regulatory violations, Medicaid fraud claims, contract disputes, and civil RICO actions in federal, state, and appellate courts.

•••••

Jean Deliso

Jean Deliso, CFP has been named a member of the 2017 Chairman’s Council of New York Life. Members of the elite Chairman’s Council rank in the top 3% of New York Life’s sales force of more than 12,000 licensed agents in sales achievement. Deliso has accomplished this level of achievement for six consecutive years. Her passion for finance and strategic planning led to the creation of Deliso Financial and Insurance Services in 2000. She began her career in corporate accounting in Tampa, Fla., where she consulted with small-business owners on financial operations and maximizing performance. Deliso has been a New York Life agent since 1995 and is associated with New York Life’s CT Valley General Office in Windsor, Conn. She is currently chairman of the board of the Baystate Health Foundation and a board member of the Community Music School of Springfield. She is past chairman of the board of the YMCA of Greater Springfield, past board member of AAA Pioneer Valley, and past trustee of the Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts and the advisory council at Bay Path University. Deliso Financial and Insurance Services is not owned or operated by New York Life Insurance Co. or any of its affiliates.

Plainridge Park Casino Releases First-year Economic Impacts

By BusinessWest Staff October 13, 2017

HADLEY — The UMass Donahue Institute released an analysis of the impacts from Plainridge Park Casino’s first year of operation.

The Institute worked directly with the Massachusetts Gaming Commission (MGC) and Plainridge Park Casino (PPC) in Plainville to determine the economic footprint of PPC’s operations, including employment, wages, vendor spending, and fiscal impacts from taxes and other assessments paid to government. Researchers also analyzed how shifts in patron spending as a result of gaming expansion affected the state.

The economic impacts of a new casino opening in Massachusetts are not limited to the impacts of employees spending new wages in their communities. The casino also purchases goods and services from other firms, and state and local governments collect taxes and other assessments from the casino, allowing them to spend more than they would otherwise have been able to. Alternately, and as with any new attraction, some of PPC’s revenue is coming from consumers who previously spent their money at other Massachusetts businesses, and those businesses are affected by the loss of support.

Among the report’s highlights:

• In PPC’s first 12 full months of operation (July 2015 through June 2016), patrons spent approximately $172.5 million on gambling and non-gambling activities at the facility.

• The majority of patrons surveyed at PPC were identified as ‘recaptured’ patrons who would have spent their money gambling out of state had PPC not opened, while others were out-of-state visitors whose visit was prompted by the casino. Recaptured patrons are responsible for $100 million of the $172.5 million spent at PPC. Out-of-state residents spent $36 million at PPC. Another $36.6 million was spent by Massachusetts residents who otherwise would have spent their money elsewhere.

• The largest single source of new economic activity came from $81 million in taxes and assessments collected from the casino’s gross gaming revenue. Of those funds, $77.6 million in payments were made to various Massachusetts government entities, with $66.4 million given directly to cities and towns in the form of local aid.

• PPC created approximately 556 new jobs at the casino and $17.8 million in wages. In total, PPC created or supported 2,417 jobs in the Commonwealth with 1,633 jobs in the private sector.

• PPC supported $19.1 million in spending on vendors, membership organizations, and charitable causes.

• Visitors to PPC spent an estimated $3.2 million in the Plainville area in the course of visiting the casino.

“The principal motivation for the Legislature in crafting the gaming law was to recapture the approximately $1 billion spent annually by Massachusetts residents at out-of-state casinos,” said MGC Chairman Steve Crosby. “This report demonstrates emphatically that we are in the process of accomplishing that important objective.”

New England Unemployment Rate Holds Steady in August

By BusinessWest Staff October 6, 2017

The New England unemployment rate was little changed at 4.0% in August. One year ago, the New England jobless rate was 3.9%. The U.S. jobless rate was little changed from July at 4.4%. No New England state had a significant over-the-year jobless rate change.

Business & Innovation Expo to Feature ‘Ask an Expert Roundtable’

By BusinessWest Staff October 6, 2017

SPRINGFIELD — The Business & Innovation Expo of Western Mass., the seventh annual business-to-business show produced by BusinessWest and the Healthcare News, will introduce a new feature this year, called the “Ask an Expert Roundtable.” Ten business professionals in the community will share their expertise with a table of guests for 45 minutes. During that time, they will give a rundown of their professional experience, take questions, and participate in an open, relaxed dialogue with attendees.

Participants include Pam Thornton of Name Net Worth (who will focus on LinkedIn and social-media marketing); Amy Royal of Royal, P.C. (focus on employment law); Jenny MacKay of the Gaudreau Group (focus on healthcare reform); Sheila Magalhaes of Heartsong (focus on modern mindfulness); Angela Lussier of Speaker Sisterhood (focus on finding one’s voice and being more assertive); Ira Bryck of the Family Business Center of Pioneer Valley (focus on family-business work balance); Tracey Gaylord of Granite State Development Corp. (focus on funding one’s next big idea, big or small); Lorenzo Macaluso of the Center for EcoTechnology (focus on how to make a company green); and Jonathan Butler of 1Berkshire Chamber (focus on board of director succession planning); and Tiffany Appleton of Johnson & Hill Staffing (focus on recruiting, interviewing, and hiring).

The Expo, set for Thursday, Nov. 2 at the MassMutual Center, will also feature more than 150 exhibitor booths, educational seminars, breakfast and lunch programs, and a day-capping Expo Social. Current sponsors include Comcast Business (presenting sponsor), Johnson & Hill Staffing Services and Wild Apple Design Group (executive sponsors), Inspired Marketing (show partner), MGM Springfield (corporate sponsor), Isenberg School of Management at UMass Amherst (education sponsor), Xfinity (social sponsor), Elms College (information booth sponsor), Smith & Wesson (Workforce Support Center sponsor), Savage Arms (JoinedForces parking sponsor), and the Better Business Bureau (contributing sponsor). Additional sponsorship opportunities are available. Exhibitor spaces are also available; booth prices start at $800. For more information on sponsorships or booth purchase, call (413) 781-8600, ext. 100.

Dress for Success to Lead Discussion on Breaking Down Barriers

By BusinessWest Staff October 5, 2017

SPRINGFIELD — Area employers and human-resource professionals are invited to join Dress for Success of Western Massachusetts for a panel discussion about breaking down the barriers that stand between the region’s workforce and sustained employment.

With sponsorship support from the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, United Personnel, Sperion Staffing, Armbrook Village, and Western MA HRMA, the event will be held on Tuesday, Oct. 24, from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. at the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield.

“The right dress or suit might give you the confidence you need to perform well in an interview,” said Dawn Creighton, president of Dress for Success of Western Massachusetts. “But in order to truly be successful in the workplace, there are many barriers that must be overcome. Real success happens when employees and employers can work together to resolve some of these issues.”

Tickets for the event cost $25 and may be purchased online at westernmassachusettsdressforsuccess.org or by calling (860) 638-8980.

Morrison Mahoney Elects Six New Partners

By BusinessWest Staff October 4, 2017

SPRINGFIELD — Morrison Mahoney LLP announced the election of six new partners, representing a range of practice areas including appeals, insurance coverage, construction litigation, professional liability defense, medical malpractice, fraud, transportation, and employment-law disputes.

The new partners are:

• Jeffrey O’Connor (Springfield), who focuses his practice on the defense of medical and legal professionals, healthcare law, employment litigation, and general liability defense;

• Joseph Ciollo (Hartford, Stamford), who represents insurance companies, insureds, private businesses, attorneys, and other licensed professionals in matters involving automobile, homeowner, and property insurance coverage; insurance fraud investigation; general liability defense; automobile liability defense; bad-faith claims; subrogation; professional liability; and employment discrimination;

• Christopher Davidson (Boston), who specializes in the defense of corporate clients involving claims of catastrophic injury or death in the context of construction-site accidents, product liability, premises liability, and transportation/trucking matters;

• Larry Slotnick (Boston), who has successfully represented insures in a wide range of coverage and bad-faith disputes, both at the trial and appellate levels, and also represents businesses in commercial-litigation disputes;

• Christopher Keenoy (New York), who focuses his practice on cases involving professional liability, construction defects, product liability, lead paint, trucking, and general liability; and

• James McKenney (New York), who litigates complex commercial and civil matters, including healthcare and insurance-coverage issues, regulatory violations, Medicaid fraud claims, contract disputes, and civil RICO actions in federal, state, and appellate courts.

Employer Confidence Rebounds in September

By BusinessWest Staff October 4, 2017

Employer confidence has moved in a narrow range so far in 2017, as employers appear bullish about the growth prospects of their companies. The September uptick was driven in part by a 5.7-point surge in the Sales Index, which is often a leading indicator of increased business activity.

“The Index was also taken prior to the announcement of an effort by Congressional Republicans and the White House to significantly reduce corporate taxes, a move that enjoys broad support among employers,” said Raymond Torto, Chair of AIM’s Board of Economic Advisors (BEA) and lecturer at Harvard Graduate School of Design. “The prospect of tax reform and tax simplification is likely to buoy employer sentiment through the end of the year.”

The AIM Index, based on a survey of Massachusetts employers, has appeared monthly since July 1991. It is calculated on a 100-point scale, with 50 as neutral; a reading above 50 is positive, while below 50 is negative. The Index reached its historic high of 68.5 on two occasions in 1997-98, and its all-time low of 33.3 in February 2009. The Index has remained above 50 since October 2013.

The constituent indicators that make up the overall Business Confidence Index were generally higher during September. The Massachusetts Index, assessing business conditions within the Commonwealth, rose 2.2 points to 65.4, a reading that was 8.4 points higher than in September 2016. The U.S. Index of national business conditions dropped 0.4 points to 59.8 after surging more than 10 points during the previous 12 months. September marked the 90th consecutive month in which employers have been more optimistic about the Massachusetts economy than the national economy.

The Current Index, which assesses overall business conditions at the time of the survey, increased 1.6 points to 62.9, while the Future Index, measuring expectations for six months out, rose 0.7 points to 61.9. The Future Index ended the month 5.9 points higher than a year ago. The Company Index, reflecting overall business conditions, gained 1.4 points to 62.3. Finally, the Employment Index fell 2.2 points to 55.8, continuing an up-and-down pattern within the mid-50s on the 100-point scale.

“The Massachusetts economy continues to maintain a steady recovery, with employers adding 10,800 jobs during August and the state jobless rate declining to 4.2%,” said Elmore Alexander, dean of Ricciardi College of Business at Bridgewater State University, and a BEA member. “The surge in the AIM Sales and Future indices suggests that business activity may actually accelerate in coming months, so the primary challenge for employers will remain hiring and retaining skilled workers in a tight labor market.”

AIM President and CEO Richard Lord, also a BEA member, said employers generally support federal initiatives to reduce business taxes, but also remain concerned about the potential effect those reductions might have on the deficit. It is ironic, Lord added, that the proposed Republican tax plan would lower levies for subchapter-S corporations and other small pass-through businesses, while Massachusetts voters may be voting on a surtax next year on those same companies.

“Subchapter-S corporations and other companies that pay taxes on the individual level are generally small to medium-sized enterprises that form the heart of the Massachusetts economy,” he noted. “What a shame it would be if the federal government were to help these companies while Massachusetts penalizes them.”

Mark Fulco Takes the Reins at Mercy Medical Center

By BusinessWest Staff October 3, 2017

Cover Story

Mission Control

Mark Fulco

Roughly 21 months ago, Mark Fulco left Mercy Medical Center for a position with the hospital’s parent company, Trinity Health, one that would groom him for a leadership role somewhere within the vast Trinity system. As it turned out, somewhere became Mercy Medical Center.

Mark Fulco called it the “president track.”

Formally, he was carrying out a role within the Livonia, Mich.-based Trinity Health system, specifically that of ‘vice president, Health Ministries & System Office Communications Interface.’ While doing that, though, he was learning and essentially being groomed for a leadership position in one of the system’s many hospitals and medical centers.

“The idea behind this role was to bring in what they considered a high-potential executive for advancement to come here, work for the system office, learn some new things about how the system worked, and help set the operating model and the agenda for some of what the organization was going to do moving forward,” he explained, “and then return back to the regional help ministries at a level higher than they left the field at.”

He called it providential — a word he chose very carefully because of the significant meaning it carries — that the later stages of his 18- to 24-month tenure on this president track coincided with a presidential search at his former place of employment, Mercy Medical Center in Springfield, part of the Sisters of Providence Health System.

He became a candidate and prevailed in what became a nationwide search. Thus, he’s essentially coming home, as he put it, to a hospital and a system with a somewhat unique mission, one he came to fully appreciate during his tenure there, which included work in everything from fund development to marketing; new-business development to operations of the accountable-care organization and clinically integrated network.

Fulco said the Mercy presidency was essentially the first job at that level that he applied for, and it’s one he sought enthusiastically, because of what he experienced there and was part of.

Mark Fulco says one of the items at the top of his to-do list is to make Mercy Medical Center’s high-quality care far less of a best-kept secret.

“In this role [at Trinity], I’ve had the opportunity to see how healthcare is delivered across the country,” he told BusinessWest. “And from that, I can say that the people of Western Mass. are really lucky to have such a talented and caring team at Mercy. And this is what really called me back to Springfield.

“It’s a great community,” he went on, referring to the Greater Springfield area. “But the real driving factor for me was the Mercy team; I’ve seen 94 or 95 different hospitals in our system, and I’ve met great caregivers from across the country, but Mercy has among the best I’ve seen, and the legacy of the Sisters of Providence … that’s a calling, it’s an honor, and it’s also a big responsibility to carry on that healing legacy.”

Fulco returns to Mercy at what he acknowledged was an ultra-challenging — and uncertain — time for the hospital, the system, and seemingly every healthcare provider in the country, with the uncertainty coming in many forms but especially the unknown fate of the Affordable Care Act, a.k.a. Obamacare.

Fulco said all providers are operating in an environment where reimbursements from most payers, and especially Medicare and Medicaid, do not fully cover the cost of providing care. This is not a recent phenomenon, but the situation has grown steadily more precarious in recent years.

In response, systems and individual providers must become ever-more efficient, he said, and, in a word, they must innovate.

To do to that effectively, he said he intends to take full advantage of the know-how, resources, and, yes, buying power of the Trinity Health system and its New England region. As an example, he cited a project that is in some respects already underway — conversion to a new electric medical record (EMR) system known as EPIC.

“This is something Mercy would not be able to do on its own,” he said of the EMR conversion. “If we weren’t able to rely on our colleagues in the region, this is something we couldn’t afford to do, and that’s just one example of taking full advantage of our regional resources.”

For this issue, BusinessWest talked with Fulco just days before his formal return to Springfield about his new role and that big responsibility he accepted to carry on the work of the Sisters of Providence.

Back to the Future

It’s not listed on his résumé, but Fulco still considers it one of his more important career stops.

He was referring to his time as an advanced-life-support EMT roughly 30 years ago, while he was in graduate school.

“That was my first job in healthcare,” he recalled, adding that, like all those that followed and especially his most recent assignment in Michigan, it was quite a learning experience. “That time as an EMT gave me some unique experience as a caregiver, and it gave me an appreciation for the clinical side of healthcare and incredible respect for physicians and nurses and the work they do.”

Mark Fulco, seen here with team members at Mercy Medical Center, says that, in this challenging time, Mercy, and all healthcare providers, must be focused on innovation.

Over the next three decades, Fulco would move off the front lines in healthcare and take a series of management positions, with each one bringing new and different responsibilities.

After a stint as president of Masonic Management Services Corp. in Wallingford, Conn., a nonprofit affiliate of Masonicare, he became senior vice president of Cardium Health Services in Simsbury, Conn. From there, he took the role of vice president of Strategic Marketing and Business Development at Saint Francis Care in Hartford, another member of the Trinity Health system.

In 2005, he took the position of ‘chief transformation officer’ for the Sisters of Providence Health System. This was a broad role with a host of responsibilities that included strategy formation, accountable-care organization and clinically integrated network operations, and business-development activities, including marketing, communications, and fund development.

And as transformation officer, he helped oversee a good deal of, well, transformation in many areas, including formation and operation of an accountablecare organization, one of many areas where Mercy was out front and in many ways ahead of other providers within the Trinity Health system.

It was roughly 21 months ago that he joined Trinity Health in that aforementioned ‘interface’ role, and he described his time in Michigan as invaluable when it comes to meeting the challenges he will face as he leads Mercy Medical Center.

But as much as he enjoyed working behind the scenes, if you will, he was anxious to get back to a hospital setting.

“Healthcare is not necessarily delivered in the boardroom,” he told BusinessWest. “Here in Michigan, I have an opportunity to see how the large healthcare system boardroom works, and how the large healthcare system team works in support of what’s delivered at the local level. But care is delivered at the bedside, and while this work here at the system office was exciting and invigorating, and it was wonderful to work with some of the best and brightest in healthcare, the hospital is where hope and healing occurs, and I wanted to be part of that again.”

He said he will bring to that role a management style grounded in the fundamentals of servant leadership, something he says comes to him naturally, because it has been his style throughout his career. And it’s also something that fits nicely with the missions of SPHS and Trinity.

“It dovetails with being a people-centered healthcare organization,” he explained. “And a lot of this was my upbringing — my father was a career public servant, and I was taught to be of service to others. It’s ingrained in me; it’s part of my DNA.”

Bringing it Home

As he talked some more about what made a return to Mercy so attractive to him, Fulco got his message across by relating the reactions he got from others when he would talk about the system.

“People here [in Michigan] are impressed when they hear about what the sisters have done, how they’ve served that community, and what that legacy is,” he explained. “But it’s interesting … they also tell me that me that, when I talked about the Sisters of Providence Health System and Mercy Medical Center, I had a twinkle in my eye that told them there was something special there. And I told them that you couldn’t help but have that if you spent any amount of time within that organization.”

mercy-exterior-front

Fulco will now get to spend considerably more time within that system, and he is already compiling a to-do list of sorts, or what he called a game plan for his first 100 days, one that came together through input gathered during the interviewing process, discussions with Interim President Beth O’Brien, and his decade of experience in the system.

And at or near the top of that list is doing a better job of telling Mercy’s story, he told BusinessWest.

“When I look at the challenges at Mercy, I think the care provided there is one of the best-kept secrets in Western Massachusetts,” he explained, adding that no business or organization, especially a hospital, needs or wants that particular quality, if that’s what a best-kept secret is.

“It’s been the organization’s culture to serve and be humble — that’s how the sisters taught us to be,” he went on. “But I think the community needs a better understanding of the physicians, the nurses, and the comprehensive services that are provided at Mercy and through the Mercy network.”

As he goes about working with those providers to better communicate Mercy’s services and mission, Fulco said he will put a heightened focus system-wide on the need to innovate, especially amid reimbursements that do not cover the full costs of providing care.

“Anyone who manages a household budget knows that you can’t spend more than you earn,” said Fulco. “So Mercy and Trinity Health New England are continuing to innovate with some of these approaches to deliver the absolute best and highest-quality care, but also deliver that care at the highest possible efficiency.

“We don’t know what’s going to happen with the Affordable Care Act,” he said. “But no matter where it goes, we’ll need to continue providing the very best care we can for people, and it needs to be done in a more efficient way at a lower cost year over year.”

There will be several initiatives in this broad realm, and some are already underway, he said, putting the EMR project in this category.

Improved EMR makes a system more efficient, he explained, because it allows for improved communication between providers across the region, giving physicians and nurses immediate access to information, an ability that often eliminates redundancies and mistakes in treatment, thus enabling Mercy, and the healthcare system as a whole, to reduce costs.

“When a test is done, other specialists don’t necessarily have to redo that test, so we’re able to save the system and, ultimately, all of us, as the payers for care, quite a bit of money,” he explained. “If a lab test is done, another physician isn’t redoing that lab test; when an X-ray is done or an MRI, you don’t necessarily have to redo that.”

Putting in the new EMR system is a massive undertaking with a lot of moving parts, said Fulco, adding that such enhancements have been undertaken at several facilities under the Trinity umbrella, and he intends to take full advantage of this accumulated wealth of knowledge and experience.

“We have a great team on the ground both at Hartford that has had experience implementing these systems, and the incredible team at Mercy that will help with the heavy lifting done,” he said. “It will be a process, and a big process, for us to undertake, but we’ll do that and make sure nothing falls through the cracks.

“One of the best things about being part of a system like this is that we’ve done this several times before,” he went on. “And with each one, you do you learn some things; we can now avoid the bumps in the road that others have encountered.”

Mission: Statement ‘Providential.’

That adjective, which Webster defines, variously, as ‘destined,’ ‘divine,’ and even ‘preordained,’ certainly works when Mark Fulco talks about coming home and all that goes with that territory.

He told BusinessWest that carrying on the work of the Sisters of Providence is an honor, but also a very big responsibility. It is all of that and more.

But it’s an assignment he’s looking forward to — as much as he is having still more people recognize that twinkle in his eye when he talks about not just where he works, but where he carries out the sisters’ mission.

George O’Brien can be reached at [email protected]

Marois Construction Builds on Its Relationships

Construction Sections

Happy Returns

President Joe Marois (left) and Vice President Carl Mercieri

A construction company doesn’t grow and thrive for almost a half-century — through some dramatic economic ups and downs — without the kind of client loyalty that makes it a go-to option for any number of job types. For Marois Construction, those include educational facilities, public buildings, medical offices, bank branches, and more. The firm has certainly left its mark on the Valley — with no signs of slowing down.

There are advantages to being in business for 45 years. One is that it’s plenty of time to build a reputation.

“People are looking for quality work — people they know they can trust,” said Joe Marois, president of Marois Construction in South Hadley, a business he built from the ground up — literally and figuratively — starting in 1972. “We’ve established that trust. We’ve made a lot of friends on our projects.”

A lot of friends means plenty of repeat business, and that has been a key component of the success of one of the region’s iconic names in construction, an entity that quickly grew beyond its roots building cabinets and restoring furniture from a small shed. Five years after that humble beginning, Marois boasted seven employees and five trucks. Today, headquartered in a large building on Old Lyman Road, the company currently employs about 45 people.

SEE: General Contractors in the Region

The repeat business has long been buoyed by the firm’s close relationships with area colleges and universities and expertise in niches as diverse as bank branches and medical offices. Current projects have the company busy at UMass Amherst, Elms College, a new Polish National Credit Union branch in Chicopee, the new state office building in Springfield, Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Agawam, and Central High School in Springfield, to put up a new press box and scoreboard.

The company also has a standing contract with the city of Springfield to perform needed maintenance and renovation jobs on public schools. “We’re all over the place there,” Marois said. “We never know what the needs will be.”

Carl Mercieri, Marois’ long-time vice president, said those assignments can be for just about anything. “They’re more maintenance-type things, on-call services, everything from changing a window to replacing ceilings in the classrooms over the summer, or repair old plaster. It’s pretty interesting. It’s more service work, but it’s good for the guys; they go to a job for two or three days, then move on to another for some change of scenery.”

Marois Construction workers prepare to install equipment on the roof of John Adams Hall at UMass Amherst.

In short, times are better for Marois — and for the industry as a whole, of course — than they were a few years ago, in the shadow of the Great Recession, when all firms were scrambling just to keep their crews reasonably busy.

“We were really coming off a bad time during the recession, where it was all about survival,” Marois said. “A few of our contemporaries did not make it. It was a culling of the industry, I guess you’d say. And it was further complicated by an influx of outside contractors into our area from New York and Boston; they were hungry too. Right now, we’re turning the corner and staying busy.”

Getting Around

A quick rundown of some of the firm’s recent project reflects its diversity. To wit:

• An upgrade of the electrical and fire-pump systems at John Adams Hall at UMass, a residential tower, included installation of twin emergency generators on the roof of the 22-story building, placed on a new structural steel frame.

• Also at UMass, a renovation of the Amherst Student Affairs Suite in the Whitmore Administration Building included the demolition of a 4,000-square-foot space, rebuilding of interior partitions, and finishes including porcelain tile flooring, recessed light fixtures, and a bamboo slat ceiling.

• A project at Veritas Preparatory Charter School included more than 22,000 square feet of demolition and renovated spaces, including new classrooms, a science lab, a music room, a reception area, and office space.

• The Keating Quadrangle at Elms College features the inlaid college logo and a large firepit that’s popular with students and staff. The project consisted of new drainage systems, underground electrical work, and multiple landscaping features including concrete, pavers, stone, and plantings.

• On the medical side, the Raymond Center at Baystate Health – South Hadley Adult Medicine consisted of developing 14,000 square feet of primary-care space within an existing building.

• At the Lee Hutt Gallery at the Yiddish Book Center in Amherst, the existing building was converted into a working sculpture studio, as Marois worked closely with the owner on all aspects of the design-build project.

• The company also built a single-story addition to Plainfield Congregational Church to provide new bathrooms and meeting space. Site improvements included a new well, septic tank, and grading. Repairs and improvements to the existing structure included replacement of piers supporting the existing timber-framed floor, thermal improvements to walls, and more.

• Marois also designed and constructed a facility to house supplies and equipment required to maintain the runways and grounds at Westover Air Reserve Base in Chicopee.

These cupolas are being designed for a project in Amherst.

The jobs are still coming, but a new obstacle looms, he said. “Now we’re being faced with a labor shortage, which is always a challenge. That’s the nature of construction — it’s never perfect. I don’t know to what extent the casino is affecting that, but basically, the labor pool for tradespeople is very small.”

National data bear that challenge out. According to the Associated General Contractors of America, construction employment increased by 28,000 jobs in August, yet contractors still face a lack of experienced workers. Association officials say construction job growth would have been even higher had a majority of firms not reported having a hard time finding qualified staff.

“Construction firms have stayed busy, adding employees in the past year at nearly twice the rate of employers throughout the economy, but more than two-thirds of contractors report difficulty finding craft workers as the number of unemployed, experienced construction workers hit a 17-year low in August,” said Ken Simonson, the association’s chief economist. “Although construction spending has fluctuated recently, many contractors are still looking for qualified craft workers and project managers.”

More than half of the survey’s respondents said they were having trouble finding carpenters, bricklayers, electricians, concrete workers, or plumbers, while some salaried positions, such as project managers and supervisors, are also hard to fill, Simonson added, noting that federal, state, and local leaders should act on measures aimed at recruiting and preparing more young adults for high-paying construction careers. “Exposing students to construction as a career path will encourage more of them to pursue these high-paying careers,” said Stephen Sandherr, the association’s CEO.

Marois would welcome that development. “I just don’t see a lot of evidence of new tradespeople or young people who are enthusiastic about learning a trade.”

Brave New World

Marois and Mercieri have an old-school ethos when it comes to quality work, but recognize that the way jobs are processed today is different than it used to be.

“It has gotten to be technically advanced as far as the computer systems we are using at the insistence, many times, of our clients,” Marois said. “For a dinosaur like me, that’s a challenge.”

Added Mercieri, “sometimes we run into a situation where a project requires specific software, either scheduling or reporting, and some are good, some are bad. It takes away from the normal, day-to-day business, and it’s something we do more to satisfy others than ourselves.”

Green building, however, is a building trend that has grown well past trendiness in recent years; instead, it’s standard operating procedure for many clients. Marois has worked on multiple LEED-certified structures, but even those that don’t reach for those goals are subject to a new world of sustainability.

“There are always new heating and cooling standards, new insulation values on buildings — seismic standards are another thing that’s a great concern for people — to the detriment of renovating older facilities that are non-correctable, for lack of a better word,” Marois said. “With these 100-year-old mill buildings they want to converting to loft apartments, none comply with the basic structural requirements in place today, and they either get variances on them, or it’s not affordable, with the money it takes to bring it to the standard they expect.”

The business has changed in other ways, too, such as Marois’ increased reliance on outsourcing some of the framing and demolition work than in the past, but he’s still keeping his crews active, after 45 years of loyal clients, technological advances, and economic ups and downs.

“I couldn’t even count how many repeat customers we have,” Mercieri said. “The past 18 months have been busier than we’ve been in a long time.”

Joseph Bednar can be reached at [email protected]

Chamber Corners: Upcoming Events

www.easthamptonchamber.org

Chamber Corners Departments

GREATER CHICOPEE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

www.chicopeechamber.org

(413) 594-2101

• Oct. 3: Table Top Expo with the Greater Holyoke, Greater Westfield, Quaboag Hills, and Springfield Regional chambers, 4:30-7 p.m., hosted by Castle of Knights, 1599 Memorial Dr., Chicopee. Sponsored by Holyoke Medical Center, PeoplesBank, Polish National Credit Union, HG&E, BusinessWest, Grzelak, Grzelak & Associates, P.C., and Westfield Bank. Cost: $5 pre-registration, $10 at the door. Sign up online at chicopeechamber.org/events.

• Oct. 12: Business After Hours, 4:30-6:30 p.m., hosted by Red Fez, 70 Exchange St., Chicopee. Sponsored by the Red Fez and Westfield Bank. Cost: $10 for members, $15 for non-members, including food and beverage. Sign up online at chicopeechamber.org/events.

• Oct. 18: Amazing World of Dr. Seuss Salute Breakfast with Kay Simpson of the Springfield Museums, 7:15-9 a.m., hosted by Collegian Court, 89 Park St., Chicopee. Sponsored by the Arbor Kids and Westfield Bank. Cost: $23 for members, $28 for non-members, including breakfast buffet. Sign up online at chicopeechamber.org/events.

• Oct. 19: Oktoberfest Collaborative Event with Young Professional Society of Greater Springfield, 5-7 p.m., hosted by Munich Haus Biergarten, 13 Center St., Chicopee. Free to YPS and chamber members. Call (413) 594-2101 for more information.

• Oct. 26: Lunch & Learn: New Marijuana Legislation, 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., hosted by Residence Inn, 500 Memorial Dr., Chicopee. Sponsored by the Greater Chicopee Chamber and Residence Inn of Springfield/Chicopee. Cost: $30 for members, $35 for non-members, including lunch. Sign up online at chicopeechamber.org/events.

GREATER EASTHAMPTON CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

(413) 527-9414

• Oct. 12: Networking by Night, 5-7 p.m., at Eastworks, 116 Pleasant St., Easthampton. Sponsored by Easthampton Travel. For more information, visit www.easthamptonchamber.org, or call the chamber at (413) 527-9414.

• Oct. 3: Meet the Candidates, 6-8 p.m., hosted by Eastworks, 116 Pleasant St., Suite 320, Easthampton. An opportunity to meet and get to know candidates running for mayor and City Council positions in Easthampton. For more information, visit www.easthamptonchamber.org or call the chamber at (413) 527-9414.

• Oct. 25: The Hampshire County Tourism Council will launch its new tourism guide at Northampton Country Club, 135 Main St., Leeds, 5-7 p.m. For more information, visit www.easthamptonchamber.org or call the chamber at (413) 527-9414.

GREATER HOLYOKE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

www.holyokechamber.com

(413) 534-3376

• Oct. 3: Table Top Expo & Networking, 4:30-7 p.m., hosted by Castle of Knights, 1599 Memorial Dr., Chicopee. Five area chambers — Greater Holyoke, Greater Chicopee, Greater Westfield, Springfield Regional, and Quaboag Hills — are getting together to present a table-top show. Cost: $125 for a table. Visitors are $5 in advance and $10 at the door. Call the Holyoke Chamber at (413) 534-3376 to secure your table, or sign up online at holyokechamber.com.

• Oct. 11: Chamber Business Development/Salute Breakfast, 7:30-9 a.m. hosted by Gateway City Arts, 92 Race St., Holyoke. Sponsored by PeoplesBank, Holyoke Gas & Electric, and Holyoke Medical Center. Join emcee Linda Noonan, executive director of the Massachusetts Business Alliance for Education, for a discussion on education and workforce development, internships, career exploration, and job shadowing. Speakers include Dr. Steve Zrike, Holyoke Public Schools; Maggie Gifford, William J. Dean Technical High School; and Eileen Bresnahan, Bresnahan Insurance. Plus, a sneak peek at the new high-school redesign. New chamber members will be recognized: Midas of Chicopee, Tradesmen of New England LLC, Northeast Powersports, Midas of Westfield, Paper City Art Kids, Strategic Alliances, Bay Path University, and Volleyball Hall of Fame 2017 induction. Cost: $25 for members, $30 for guests and walk-ins. Reservations may be made online at holyokechamber.com.

• Oct. 18: Chamber After Hours, 5-7 p.m., hosted and sponsored by Westfield Bank, 1642 Northampton St., Holyoke. Business networking event. Refreshments, 50/50 raffle, and door prizes. Cost: $10 members, $15 for guests. Call the chamber at (413) 534-3376 to register, or sign up at holyokechamber.com.

• Oct. 25: Holyoke Chamber Business Person of the Year/Volunteer of the Year Award Dinner, 6 p.m, hosted by Delaney House, Country Club Way, Holyoke. Social hour 6-7 p.m., followed by dinner at 7 p.m. A dinner honoring the 2017 Business Persons of the Year: Michael Hamel, owner of Hamel’s Creative Catering and the Summit View Banquet and Meeting House, and the Henry A. Fifield Volunteer of the Year, Harry Montalvo, Community Development specialist at bankESB. Cost: $65. Register online at holyokechamber.com, or call the chamber at (413) 534-3376.

GREATER NORTHAMPTON CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

www.explorenorthampton.com

(413) 584-1900

• Oct. 4: October Arrive @ 5 and Chamber Open House, 5-7 p.m., at the Northampton Chamber of Commerce, 99 Pleasant St. Cost: $10 for members. Sponsors: Clinical & Support Options, Florence Bank, Innovative Business Systems, and Pioneer Training.

• Oct. 19: “Microsoft Excel: Tips, Tricks, & Shortcuts,” 9-11 a.m., presented by Pioneer Training, hosted by Greater Northampton Chamber of Commerce, 99 Pleasant St., Northampton. This workshop will present tips, tricks, and shortcuts that we have collected and developed over 20 years of teaching and using Microsoft Excel. Participants are encouraged to bring laptops and follow along with the instructor, but this is not required. Pre-registration is required, and space is limited. Cost: $35 for members, $45 for non-members.

• Oct. 24: Start Your Business, 9 a.m. to noon, at TD Bank, 175 Main St., Northampton. Presented by SCORE of Western MA. This three-hour workshop will help you clearly understand the details, challenges, opportunities, and rewards of owning and operating your own business. This workshop is a suggested prerequisite to our Business Planning Workshop. Cost: $25. RSVP, as space is limited. To register online, visit westernmassachusetts.score.org/content/take-workshop-38.

GREATER WESTFIELD CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

www.westfieldbiz.org

(413) 568-1618

• Oct. 3: Greater Westfield Chamber of Commerce 20th Annual Table Top Expo & Networking Event, 4:30-7 p.m., hosted by Castle of Knights, 1599 Memorial Dr., Chicopee. The Greater Westfield, Greater Chicopee, Greater Holyoke, and Springfield Regional chambers invite you to the 20th annual Table Top Expo. With approximately 110 businesses represented and hundreds of visitors, this event is an excellent marketing tool for area businesses. Cost: $125 for a draped 8-foot table. Includes two exhibitor passes with fee. Must be a member of one of the four chambers to have an exhibitor table. New Westfield Chamber members may use new-member benefit and pay $62.50 for a table. Admission: $5 for pre-registered tickets, $10 at the door. Call the Pam at the chamber office at (413) 568-1618 for more information, to register, or to inquire about sponsorship opportunities.

• Oct. 6: Workshop: “Family Medical Leave Act,” 8:30-10 a.m., hosted by Holiday Inn Express, 39 Southampton Road, Westfield. Join Attorney Timothy Netkovick of Royal, P.C. for this informational workshop on the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA). Employers are well aware of the challenges presented by the FMLA. Employers need to be familiar with the provisions of the FMLA in order to be able to respond to all employee requests, from intermittent leave to unforeseen leave. Cost: free for members, $30 for non-members. Online registration is available at www.westfieldbiz.org, or call Pam at the chamber at (413) 568-1618.

• Oct. 11: October After 5 Connection, 5-7 p.m., hosted by East Mountain Country Club, 1458 East Mountain Road, Westfield. Sponsored by Fresh Look Interiors and Vivid Hair Salon and Spa. Cost: free for members, $10 for non-members. Refreshments will be served, and a cash bar will be available. A 50/50 raffle will benefit the chamber scholarship fund. Bring your business cards and make connections. This month: speed connecting. Online registration will be made available at www.westfieldbiz.org. For more information, call Pam at the chamber at (413) 568-1618.

• Oct. 16: Greater Westfield Chamber of Commerce – Best Practices – Hiring & Firing, 8:30-10 a.m., hosted by Holiday Inn Express, 39 Southampton Road, Westfield. Attorneys Mary Jo Kennedy and Jennifer Cannon from Bulkley, Richardson and Gelinas, LLP will present on the subject of best practices for hiring and firing to avoid discrimination claims. This interactive and informative program will include an overview of federal and state employment laws, tips for preventing liability under these laws , what questions can be asked in an interview and what questions are prohibited, reviewing protected classes under federal and state law, documenting performance management and reviews, steps the employer should take when preparing for a termination, and protecting the business from liability for discrimination when terminating employees. A question-and-answer session will follow the presentation. Cost: Free for members, $30 for non-members. Online registration is available at www.westfieldbiz.org, or call Pam at the chamber at (413) 568-1618.

SPRINGFIELD REGIONAL CHAMBER

www.springfieldregionalchamber.com

(413) 787.1555

• Oct. 3: Annual Multi-chamber Table Top Showcase and Networking Event with Greater Chicopee, Greater Holyoke, Greater Westfield, and Quaboag Hills chambers, 4:30-7 p.m., hosted by Castle of Knights, 460 Granby Road, Chicopee.

• Oct. 4: Business@Breakfast, 7:15-9 a.m., Crestview Country Club, 281 Shoemaker Lane, Agawam. Sponsored by United Personnel Services. Joshua Weiss, co-founder of the Global Negotiation Initiative at Harvard University and program director of Bay Path University’s master of science program in Leadership and Negotiation, will keynote the event, with a focus on “The Negotiator in You.” Attendees will learn how to negotiate with confidence and calm for successful results. The chamber will also recognize Anthony Hayes as the new general manager for WGBY and Tim Kennedy as the new president of MassLive Media. Cost: $25 for Springfield Regional Chamber members in advance ($30 at the door), $35 for general admission in advance ($40 at the door). Register online at www.springfieldregionalchamber.com or by e-mailing Jessica Hill at [email protected]. Sponsorship opportunities are also available. Contact Hill at (413) 755-1310 for more information.

• Oct. 11: Pastries, Politics, and Policy, 8-9 a.m, hosted by TD Bank Conference Center, 1441 Main St., Springfield. Featuring new Massachusetts Secretary of Labor and Workforce Development Rosalin Acosta, in her first Western Mass. appearance.

• Oct. 27: Super 60, 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m., hosted by Chez Josef, 176 Shoemaker Lane, Agawam. The 28th annual Super 60 awards luncheon celebrates the success of the fastest-growing privately owned businesses in the region. Cost: $60 for members in advance, $75 for non-members.

Reservations for all Chamber events may be made online at www.springfieldregionalchamber.com.

WEST OF THE RIVER CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

www.ourwrc.com

(413) 426-3880

• Oct. 4: Wicked Wednesday, 5:30-7:30 p.m., hosted by Candlewood Suites. Wicked Wednesdays are monthly social events, hosted by various businesses and restaurants, that bring members and non-members together to network in a laid-back atmosphere. For more information about this event, contact the chamber office at (413) 426-3880 or register at www.westoftheriverchamber.com.

• Oct. 19: Networking Lunch, noon to 1:30 p.m., hosted by Cal’s Woodfired Grill, West Springfield. Must be a member or guest of a member to attend. Enjoy a sit-down lunch while networking with fellow chamber members. Each attendee will get a chance to offer a brief sales pitch. The only cost to attend is the cost of your lunch. Attendees will order off the menu and pay separately that day. We cannot invoice you for these events. Register online at [email protected].

• Oct. 25: Food Fest West, 5:30-8 p.m., hosted by Springfield Country Club, West Springfield. Local restaurants show off their cuisine at this well-attended event. Vote for your favorite restaurant or enjoy a cigar on the patio of Springfield Country Club. A DJ, raffle, and entertainment round out this event. Proceeds raised by Food Fest West will go toward the Partnership for Education and the WRC Educational Fund, which provides grants to businesses for on-the-job training and continuing-education needs. Cost: $25 in advance, $35 at the door. Tickets may be purchased online by visiting www.westoftheriverchamber.com. For more information about this event, contact the chamber office at (413) 426-3880 or e-mail [email protected].

YOUNG PROFESSIONAL SOCIETY OF GREATER SPRINGFIELD

www.springfieldyps.com

• Oct. 18: Professional Breakfast Series: “The EQ Exchange,” 7:30-9 a.m, hosted by the Colony Club in Tower Square, Springfield. Use emotional intelligence to manage your boss. Cost: free for members, $15 for non-members.

• Oct. 19: Oktoberfest Third Thursday with Chicopee Chamber of Commerce, 5-7 p.m., hosted by Munich Haus. Join us for live music, light appetizers, and networking. Cost: free for members, $10 for non-members.

Agenda

Agenda Departments

Labor & Employment Law Symposium

Oct. 5: Skoler, Abbott & Presser, P.C. will hold a Labor & Employment Law Symposium from 8:30 a.m. to 3:45 p.m. at the Sheraton Springfield Monarch Place Hotel. “The past year has brought significant changes in labor and employment law, and employers need to be aware of these changes; not knowing the law is no excuse for not following it,” said attorney Timothy Murphy, a partner at Skoler Abbott. “We are offering this symposium to provide local and regional HR professionals and employers with the latest developments, and to help them prepare for what’s coming next.” The symposium is geared toward human-resources professionals and business owners. Topics will include “Labor Law Update: Change Is Coming,” “Massachusetts’ New Pay Equity Law and the Effects of Implicit Bias in the Workplace,” “Top Ten Wage & Hour Mistakes Made by Employers,” “Insurance Coverage in Employment Litigation: Limiting Your Risk & Knowing Your Rights,” “After Barbuto: Strategies for Addressing Drugs in the Workplace,” and “How You Should (and Shouldn’t) Conduct a Workplace Investigation.” Attendees will be able to select three of six breakout sessions, and the symposium will close with an overall question-and-answer session. The symposium has been pre-approved by the HR Certification Institute for five hours of general recertification credit toward PHR and SPHR recertification. The cost to attend is $99 per person and includes continental breakfast and lunch. Registration is available at skoler-abbott.com/trainingprograms.

Holyoke Medical Center ACE Awards

Oct. 7: Holyoke Medical Center announced that Esmat Ezzat and Tom Hazen will each be honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award for their outstanding dedication and hard work on behalf of Holyoke Medical Center and the Holyoke community. Valley Health Systems, which includes Holyoke Medical Center, Holyoke VNA Hospice Life Care, River Valley Counseling Center, and Western Mass. Physician Associates, will also recognize select members of the VHS team who exemplify exceptional care. Award recipients will be honored at this year’s ACE Awards event at UMass Amherst.

“The dedication and continued support provided to Holyoke Medical Center and the entire Pioneer Valley from both Mrs. Ezzat and Mr. Hazen make them true assets to our community. We are honored to recognize them for a lifetime of service,” said Spiros Hatiras, president and CEO of Holyoke Medical Center and Valley Health Systems Inc. Ezzat retired as the director of Speech and Hearing at Holyoke Medical Center in 2007, after a 40-year-long career with the hospital as a speech pathologist. She developed many innovative programs and built a reputation for the center as a regional leader in speech and language therapy. She credits the success of her career and of the center to the support she received from the community and her staff. “The support we have received from the community over the years has been tremendous,” said Ezzat. “When we needed something, the community gave it to us.” Hazen is a past partner in his family’s Holyoke-based Hazen Paper Co. and served on the board of directors for Holyoke Medical Center for 11 years. He continues to be involved with the hospital and currently serves on the investment committee. He has also been an active member in the community, serving in volunteer leadership roles for many local and regional organizations, including the Holyoke Public Library, the Holyoke mayor’s Industrial Development Advisory Committee, the Holyoke Chamber of Commerce, the Holyoke Taxpayers Assoc., Associated Industries of Massachusetts, the Economic Development Council of Western Massachusetts, the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission, and the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation. “I’ve had a long kinship with the Holyoke community,” Hazen said. “The people I’ve had the pleasure of working with over the years are a distinguished group. I have many fond memories of citizens and friends who are dedicated to both the hospital and the Holyoke community, and contribute readily to the long-term well-being of both.” ACE Awards will also be given in the categories of Best Physician, Best Caregiver, Best Supporting Employee, and Best Leader. Tickets to the event, which is open to the public, are available by contacting Denise Rebmann at (413) 534-2579 or [email protected].

Homework House 10-year Celebration

Oct. 19: Homework House is celebrating its 10-year anniversary this year, and it will mark the occasion with a 10th Anniversary Celebration and Fund-raising Breakfast from 7:45 to 9:15 a.m. at the Log Cabin in Holyoke to share its story and inspire the financial resources Homework House needs to sustain its programs for the next 10 years and beyond. The anniversary breakfast’s theme is “A Decade of Inspiring Children, Supporting Families, and Transforming Community,” which reflects the broad ripple effect that occurs as a result of children’s participation in Homework House’s academic after-school and summer programming. Founded by retired educators Sr. Maureen Broughan and Sr. Jane Morrissey, Homework House promotes educational success through free, individualized tutoring and mentoring for children. Featuring a program that will highlight the stories of Homework House alumni, parents, and stakeholders, the breakfast will reflect on the powerful work of the past 10 years while looking forward to Homework House’s continued growth. The breakfast is free for guests and will feature a focused ask for donations at its culmination. Community members interested in attending the event or taking a leadership role as a table captain can register by visiting www.homeworkhousetenth.com.

Healthcare Heroes

Oct. 19: BusinessWest and the Healthcare News will present the inaugural Healthcare Heroes Awards at the Starting Gate at GreatHorse in Hampden. This new recognition program was created by the twin publications to recognize outstanding achievement across the region’s broad and diverse healthcare sector. From a pool of 70 nominations, panel of judges chose eight winners in seven categories, who were profiled in the Sept. 4 issue of BusinessWest, the September issue of HCN, and at BusinessWest.com. American International College and Trinity Health Of New England are the presenting sponsors of Healthcare Heroes. Partner sponsors are Achieve TMS East, HUB International New England and Health New England. Supporting sponsors are Bay Path University, Baystate Health, Cooley Dickinson Health CareElms College, and Renew.Calm. Tickets to the event are sold out.

Super 60

Oct. 27: Ralph Crowley Jr., president and CEO of Polar Beverages, will serve as the keynote speaker at the Springfield Regional Chamber’s Super 60 event. Now in its 28th year, the program celebrates the success of the fastest-growing and privately-owned businesses in the region which continue to make significant contributions to the strength of the regional economy. Worcester-based Polar Beverages was founded by Crowley’s great-grandfather, Dennis Crowley, in 1882, primarily as a wholesale and retail liquor business. However, prohibition put a stop to the family’s liquor sales, forcing them to focus on bubbly waters and bottled water instead. Under the entrepreneurial and visionary leadership of fourth-generation Ralph Crowley Jr., Polar Beverages has grown to be the largest privately owned soft-drink bottler in the U.S., having completed more than 30 acquisitions, including proprietary brands Adirondack, Waist Watcher, Clear ‘n’ Natural, and national brands 7Up, A&W, Sunkist, Seagram’s, Royal Crown, and Diet Rite, along with new-age brands Snapple, AriZona, Fiji Water, O Water, HyDrive, and Nantucket Nectars. Polar also bottles home and office water. In September 2001, Polar Beverages formed a joint venture with Cott Corp. that produces and distributes most of the retailer-branded beverages in the Northeast. At one time, Polar Beverages maintained a warehouse in Springfield. “Polar Beverages is an example of a regional, family-owned business that has remained true to its roots, while at the same time growing its brand by smart acquisitions and innovative, entrepreneurial thinking,” said Springfield Regional Chamber President Nancy Creed. The Super 60 Celebration event honoring this year’s class will be held from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at Chez Josef, 176 Shoemaker Lane, Agawam. Reservations are required. The cost is $60 for members, $75 for general admission. Reservations may be made for tables of eight or 10. The deadline for reservations is Oct. 18. No cancellations will be accepted after that date, and no walk-ins will be allowed. Reservations may be made online at www.springfieldregionalchamber.com or by e-mail to [email protected]. The Super 60 event is presented by Health New England and sponsored by Farmington Bank. The event is also sponsored by the Republican, the Regional Employment Board of Hampden County, and Zasco Productions.

Business & Innovation Expo of Western Mass.

Nov. 2: Comcast Business will present the Business & Innovation Expo of Western Mass. at the MassMutual Center in downtown Springfield, produced by BusinessWest and the Healthcare News. The seventh annual business-to-business show will feature more than 150 exhibitor booths, educational seminars, breakfast and lunch programs, and a day-capping Expo Social. Current sponsors include Comcast Business (presenting sponsor), Johnson & Hill Staffing Services and Wild Apple Design Group (executive sponsors), Inspired Marketing (show partner), MGM Springfield (corporate sponsor), Isenberg School of Management at UMass Amherst (education sponsor), Xfinity (social sponsor), Elms College (information booth sponsor), Smith & Wesson (Workforce Support Center sponsor), Savage Arms (JoinedForces parking and workforce development sponsor), and the Better Business Bureau (contributing sponsor). Additional sponsorship opportunities are available. Exhibitor spaces are also available; booth prices start at $800. For more information on sponsorships or booth purchase, call (413) 781-8600, ext. 100.

Court Dockets

Court Dockets Departments

The following is a compilation of recent lawsuits involving area businesses and organizations. These are strictly allegations that have yet to be proven in a court of law. Readers are advised to contact the parties listed, or the court, for more information concerning the individual claims.

CHICOPEE DISTRICT COURT

Orange Park Management, LLC v. Arch Properties, LLC

Allegation: Failure to return $8,000 and accrued interest according to contract: $8,000+

Filed: 8/17/17

U.S. Foods Inc. as successor in interest of Cara Donna v. OZKA, LLC d/b/a Maggio’s Pizza

Allegation: To enforce credit application, for food goods sold and delivered, unjust enrichment, and account annexed: $6,344.81

Filed: 8/29/17

HAMPDEN DISTRICT COURT

Geraldine Talbot v. Five Below Inc.

Allegation: Negligence, slip and fall causing injury: $6,816.04

Filed: 9/5/17

Liani Zabik v. Springfield Area Transit Co. Inc.

Allegation: Negligence of bus driver causing injury: $6,216

Filed: 9/11/17

HAMPDEN SUPERIOR COURT

BP Environmental Services Inc. v. Allen Burke Construction, LLC

Allegation: Money owed for delivery and removal of storage containers: $29,865

Filed: 8/21/17

Angel Vazquez, personal representative of the estate of Vilma Vazquez v. Daniel Engelman, M.D. and Baystate Health Inc.

Allegation: Wrongful death, failure to properly treat infection: $25,000+

Filed: 8/25/17

Peter Yaffe v. LMERG Inc. d/b/a Homewatch Caregivers and Lori Mgrdichian

Allegation: Breach of employment contract: $56,448

Filed: 8/28/17

White Glove Caterers Inc. d/b/a Partners Restaurant v. Western Massachusetts Electric Co.

Allegation: Negligence causing injury and property damage: $250,000

Filed: 8/31/17

Colin Drury v. Town of East Longmeadow

Allegation: Employment contract and wage violations: $70,000

Filed: 9/1/17

HAMPSHIRE DISTRICT COURT

Jean Bess v. Ricky C. Hoy, United Parcel Service Inc., and Liberty Mutual Insurance Co.

Allegation: Motor-vehicle negligence causing injury: $20,111.28

Filed: 8/30/17

Picture This

Departments Picture This

Email ‘Picture This’ photos with a caption and contact information to [email protected]

Great Days Gala

Sunshine Village in Chicopee celebrated its 50th anniversary on Sept. 14 with a Great Days Gala. More than 250 guests enjoyed food stations and passed hors d’oeuvres under a tent, along with tours of the buildings on its main campus in Chicopee. As an industry leader in disability services, the organization serves more than 450 people and employs mre than 250 in its day programs and employment services for adults with developmental disabilities, including those on the autism spectrum. The event focused on the innovation surrounding the next 50 years of the organization, including finding new programs to serve the growing population of individuals with disabilities. Board President Ernest Laflamme Jr. and Chicopee Mayor Richard Kos cut the ribbon on the Davis Building that was recently renovated by A. Crane Construction and Caolo & Bieniek Associates to allow for future growth. The building houses administration offices and a new contemporary day-habilitation program geared toward younger adults. In addition, the board room was also dedicated to the leadership of Laflamme as a board member.

Mayor Kos, state Sen. Donald Humason, Executive Director Gina Kos, board Clerk Michael Siddall, A.J. Crane of A. Crane Construction, board President Ernest Laflamme Jr., board Vice President Stephen Melnyck Jr., board member Peter Benton, board Treasurer Clifford Bordeaux, Chicopee Treasurer and board member Marie Laflamme, board member Debra Schneeweis, board member Teri Szlosek, and Curtis Edgin of Caolo & Bieniek Associates.

From left: Ernest Laflamme Jr., Program Manager Jenny Galat, former Hampden County Sheriff Michael Ashe, and Marie Laflamme

Those gathered listen to a succession of speakers marking the occasion

Day of Caring

Sept. 15 marked United Way of Pioneer Valley’s 23rd annual Day of Caring. More than 700 volunteers from 25 different companies rolled up their sleeves and gave a helping hand to a non-profit in need. United Way’s Day of Caring is the largest day of volunteerism in Western Massachusetts, with 39 non-profit agencies participating and more than 70 projects happening on that day alone.

A group of 15 volunteers from AAA of Pioneer Valley, led by Tammi Benson, sort through various donated food items at The Food Bank of Western Massachusetts in Hatfield

Three employees from MassMutual spent the day volunteering with Girls Inc. in Holyoke and washed down all over their transportation vehicles. From left, Jennifer Bolduc, Wendie Dilk, and Charlene Pafumi

Katie Martin, Kathy Dube, Christina Sousa (in camo hat), and Kare LaFleche are among those who volunteered at the Center for Human Development by cleaning up the Residential Center for Young Women—a transitional house for women who suffered trauma from abuse in Holyoke

A group of volunteers from Westfield Bank show off a hard day’s work spent doing landscaping projects at Highland Elementary School in Westfield; and Marco Gomes of MassMutual works diligently on a painting project at the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Holyoke

PeoplesBank to Host Seminar on Regulations That Impact Businesses

HOLYOKE — The regulations governing the workplace in Massachusetts are changing again, and PeoplesBank is bringing back employment-law specialist attorney Meghan Sullivan on Thursday, Oct. 12 to help area business owners navigate this new landscape.

Sullivan’s presentation will include an overview of the legal obligations and recommended compliance strategies related to the new Massachusetts Equal Pay Act and the Massachusetts Pregnant Workers Fairness Act. She is a managing partner of Sullivan, Hayes & Quinn, LLC and an employment-law litigator. She earned a bachelor’s degree from Wheaton College and a juris doctor from Quinnipiac College School of Law, where she was awarded the West Publishing American Jurisprudence Award for academic excellence in the field of Constitutional Law. She is experienced in the areas of labor and employment law, discrimination law, labor relations, affirmative action, OSHA compliance, personnel policy, and training.

The event will take place from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the Colony Club, 1500 Main St., Springfield. The seminar is free and open to the public with registration, but seating is limited. To register, visit peoplesbank32.eventbrite.com.

Business & Innovation Expo to Feature ‘Ask an Expert Roundtable’

By BusinessWest Staff September 25, 2017

Confirmed participants include Pam Thornton of Name Net Worth (who will focus on LinkedIn and social-media marketing); Amy Royal of Royal, P.C. (focus on employment law); Jenny MacKay of the Gaudreau Group (focus on healthcare reform); Sheila Magalhaes of Heartsong (focus on modern mindfulness); Angela Lussier of Speaker Sisterhood (focus on finding one’s voice and being more assertive); Ira Bryck of the Family Business Center of Pioneer Valley (focus on family-business work balance); Tracey Gaylord of Granite State Development Corp. (focus on funding one’s next big idea, big or small); Lorenzo Macaluso of the Center for EcoTechnology (focus on how to make a company green); and Jonathan Butler of 1Berkshire Chamber (focus on board of director succession planning).

Employment Law and HR Practices Conference Set for Nov. 2

By BusinessWest Staff September 25, 2017

AGAWAM — The Employers Assoc. of the NorthEast (EANE) will present its annual Employment Law and HR Practices Conference on Thursday, Nov. 2 at the Sheraton Monarch Place in Springfield. The full-day conference, which draws attendees from throughout the region, will address the ever-changing employment-law landscape and HR best practices in today’s modern workplace.

“Building on the momentum from our recent sold-out Compensation and Benefits Conference, we are excited to bring together speakers and topics focusing on the vital developments in employment law,” said Meredith Wise, EANE president.

The program will featured keynote speaker Jennifer McClure, CEO of Unbridled Talent and co-founder of DisruptHR. McClure helps leaders leverage their influence to solve real-world business problems. She will present “DisruptHR: the Rebellious Future of HR,” challenging attendees to think differently about the way they approach people and talent by taking risks, stirring the pot, and disrupting the future of work.

Other sessions will include a comprehensive update on the recent developments in state and federal employment law, plus breakout sessions covering topical issues such as stay interviews, immigration, employee retirements, remote workers, safety, and more.

The cost for the program is $285 per person with discounts for three or more with early-bird pricing prior to Oct. 13. Register at www.eane.org/employment-law-hr-practices-update-2 or call (877) 662-6444. The program will offer 5.25 credits from the HR Certification Institute and SHRM.

Polar Beverages CEO to Keynote Super 60 Event

By BusinessWest Staff September 21, 2017

SPRINGFIELD — Ralph Crowley Jr., president and CEO of Polar Beverages, will serve as the keynote speaker at the Springfield Regional Chamber’s Super 60 event on Friday, Oct. 27. Now in its 28th year, the program celebrates the success of the fastest-growing and privately-owned businesses in the region which continue to make significant contributions to the strength of the regional economy.

Worcester-based Polar Beverages was founded by Crowley’s great-grandfather, Dennis Crowley, in 1882, primarily as a wholesale and retail liquor business. However, prohibition put a stop to the family’s liquor sales, forcing them to focus on bubbly waters and bottled water instead. Under the entrepreneurial and visionary leadership of fourth-generation Ralph Crowley Jr., Polar Beverages has grown to be the largest privately owned soft-drink bottler in the U.S., having completed more than 30 acquisitions, including proprietary brands Adirondack, Waist Watcher, Clear ‘n’ Natural, and national brands 7Up, A&W, Sunkist, Seagram’s, Royal Crown, and Diet Rite, along with new-age brands Snapple, AriZona, Fiji Water, O Water, HyDrive, and Nantucket Nectars. Polar also bottles home and office water.

In September 2001, Polar Beverages formed a joint venture with Cott Corporation. The partnership is known as Northeast Retailer Brands, LLC. This joint-venture partnership produces and distributes most of the retailer-branded beverages in the Northeast. At one time, Polar Beverages maintained a warehouse in Springfield.

“Polar Beverages is an example of a regional, family-owned business that has remained true to its roots, while at the same time growing its brand by smart acquisitions and innovative, entrepreneurial thinking,” said Springfield Regional Chamber President Nancy Creed. “Its founder could probably not have envisioned a line of mythically inspired, limited-edition cans of seltzer with names like Mermaid Songs, Unicorn Kisses, and Dragon Whispers that, in 2017, fly off of store shelves.”

The Super 60 Celebration event honoring this year’s class will be held from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at Chez Josef, 176 Shoemaker Lane, Agawam. Reservations are required. The cost is $60 for members, $75 for general admission. Reservations may be made for tables of eight or 10. The deadline for reservations is Oct. 18. No cancellations will be accepted after that date, and no walk-ins will be allowed. Reservations may be made online at www.springfieldregionalchamber.com or by e-mail to [email protected].

The Super 60 event is presented by Health New England and sponsored by Farmington Bank. The event is also sponsored by the Republican, the Regional Employment Board of Hampden County, and Zasco Productions.

Expo Will Help Attendees Work on Their Business

Features

Learning Opportunities

It’s often said that business owners and managers are good at what they do, good at their particular business, but not necessarily good at — well, fill in the blank.

And there are many things to fill in that blank with, from information technology (and how to make the most of it) to employee benefits; from social media to ever-changing employment laws. There are dozens more ways to fill in the blank, as anyone doing business in today’s ultra-challenging environment can attest.

That’s why experts in such matters are so valuable. And that’s also why the 2017 Business & Innovation Expo of Western Mass., set for Nov. 2 at the MassMutual Center in downtown Springfield, will feature a host of experts.

They will have ‘a seat at the table,’ to borrow a popular phrase from business, and those attending the Expo can have one as well.

Indeed, there will be a number of industry-expert panelists, as well as ‘Ask an Expert’ roundtables that present attendees with an opportunity to have a small-group, 45-minute session with regional industry leaders. (Space is limited to 10 at each ‘Ask an Expert’ table, and pre-registration is required at www.wmbexpo.com.

Overall, the show’s many programs are designed to help attendees become more innovative and work ‘on’ their business, not merely in it.

“Innovation comes in many forms,” said BusinessWest Associate Publisher Kate Campiti. “It might mean new-product development, new and improved technology, or new ways of doing business. But it also means looking at the many aspects of running a business in different ways, with an eye toward greater efficiency and continuous improvement.

“The Expo will put a premium on all these forms of innovation,” she continued, “and the expert tables, as we’re calling them, are just part of that equation.”

Other elements of the Expo, once again presented by Comcast Business, include a number of seminars with panels of, yes, more experts; robotics demonstrations; presentations from area technical high schools focused on how they’re readying students for the jobs of today and tomorrow; and much more.

As for the expert roundtables noted above, these will be tables of 10. The presenter will make a brief presentation and then field what will certainly be a host of questions from those filling the other nine seats.

Commitments are still being secured, but at present, experts have signed on to focus on such topics as social media, healthcare reform, employment law, improving public-speaking skills and being more assertive, issues with family businesses, and funding a business venture.

Other elements of the day-long seminar include:

• A fund raising breakfast for Revitalize CDC’s JoinedForces program. The event will take place from 7:30 to 9 a.m. on the Expo show floor. The master of ceremonies will be state Rep. Aaron Vega. Revitalize CDC has been supporting veterans for more than 25 years. JoinedForces, in partnership with businesses, civic organizations, and other nonprofit agencies, provides veterans and their families with critical repairs and modifications on their homes to help make them safe, healthy, and energy-efficient. Parking in the Civic Center garage will be validated at the conclusion of the breakfast. Additional sponsorship opportunities are available. Call (413) 781-8600 for additional information;

• Several educational seminars, including a number of panel discussions. These include a panel addressing common marketing myths, another featuring area media representatives who will discuss how business owners and managers can make better use of the media resources available to them, a seminar titled “How to Build Skills to Help You Succeed,” and other panels addressing cybersecurity and marijuana in the workplace;

• A lunch program, 11:30 a.m. – 1 p.m., featuring keynote speaker Ron Insana, senior analyst and commentator for CNBC, addressing the impact of “Trumponomics.” For ticket information, call (413) 781-8600 or visit www.wmbexpo.com;

• A Retail Marketplace in the atrium of the MassMutual Center. Retail vendors will include LuLaRoe, Springfield Macarons, Springfield Thunderbirds, SKM Jewelers, Sassy Mama’s Delectable Cupcakes, Lipsense, Rodan & Fields, Fork Art, the Shops at Marketplace, and more. In addition, there will be numerous booth demonstrations, giveaways, and specials. For example, Kitchens by Curio will offer virtual-reality demonstrations of their kitchen and bath remodels, Dani Fine Photography will offer a headshot session plus digital images for only $49, and DiGrigoli Salon will return to the Expo with free haircuts and manicures, just to name a few;

• The day-capping Social Expo, sponsored by Xfinity, from 3:30 to 5 p.m. This popular networking event will feature a ‘best in show’ food-sampling competition. Restaurateurs interested in participating should call (413) 781-8600; and

• More than 150 exhibitor booths featuring businesses in virtually every sector of the economy.

In addition to Comcast Business, sponsors include Johnson & Hill Staffing Services and Wild Apple Design Group (executive sponsors), Inspired Marketing (show partner), MGM Springfield (corporate sponsor), Isenberg School of Management at UMass Amherst (education sponsor), Xfinity (social sponsor), Elms College (information booth sponsor), Smith & Wesson (Workforce Development sponsor), Savage Arms (JoinedForces and Workforce Development parking sponsor), and the Better Business Bureau (contributing sponsor). Additional sponsorship opportunities are available.

Exhibitor spaces are also available; booth prices start at $800. For more information on sponsorships or booth purchase, call (413) 781-8600, ext. 100.

New Products Give Callaway Plant a Needed Bounce

Cover Story Manufacturing Sections

A New Spin

Vince Simonds stands by the Truvis V machine with one of the products of the same name.

Over the past century or so, golf balls — and golf-ball history — have been made in Chicopee. Indeed, the sprawling plant on Meadow Street that once bore the name ‘Spalding’ and now ‘Callaway’ has been home to a number of innovations and new products. In recent years, though, that tradition — not to mention the number of workers at the plant — has been in decline. However, a new and exciting golf-ball design is changing the landscape, in all kinds of ways.

They’re calling it the Truvis V.

That’s the name given to a large, sophisticated piece of machinery recently installed at the sprawling Callaway plant in Chicopee. It was built to carefully place the 12 pentagons that have become the distinctive design pattern for the Truvis golf ball, as well as the Callaway name and the player number, all in accordance with USGA rules and regulations.

This machine is cutting-edge when it comes to such work, said Vince Simonds, senior director of Global Golf Ball Operations for Callaway, adding that it packs as much symbolism as it does science and technology.

Indeed, the Truvis V is perhaps the most visible evidence — except for perhaps the soccer-ball-like product the company has developed — of a compelling turnaround in the history of golf-ball manufacturing in Chicopee.

It’s a long history, to be sure, one that dates back to the late 1800s, but recent chapters have certainly not been as glorious. Decades ago, the talk about this plant was mostly reserved to the tens of millions of golf balls produced there annually. Lately, though, it’s been about the dwindling numbers of men and women working inside; decades ago, more than 1,000 people were employed at the plant, and only a few years ago that number dipped below the century mark.

It’s now at or near 200 and steadily climbing, and there were essentially two catalysts for that growth. The first was the arrival of Chip Brewer as the company’s president and CEO in 2012, a move that energized Callaway in many ways, Simonds noted. The second was the development of the Chrome Soft golf ball, or the “ball that changed the ball,” as the company says in its marketing materials.

This became the ball that essentially changed the fortunes of the Chicopee plant as well, Simonds went on, adding that the product has helped Callaway become the number-two ballmaker in the world (well behind the leader, Titleist), and it has also spurred those growing employment numbers in Chicopee.

The ‘Made in Chicopee’ banner at the Callaway plant has new meaning these days.

And the Truvis model of the Chrome Soft is a very big part of this improved and still-changing picture.

It is still relatively new — it’s been on the market for a few years now — and no one on the PGA Tour is using it yet (more on that later), although Tom Watson is using it on the Champions Tour for players over age 50. But it is certainly catching on among amateurs.

As the name implies, the ball’s claim to fame is that is it is easier to see and enables players to focus better. The product has won some supporters among older players, said Dan Gomez, director of Golf Ball Supply Chain at the Chicopee operation, and among the younger clientele as well, who see is as a break from golf’s staid (some would say stuffy) image.

SEE: List of Largest Manufacturers

“It’s something new and different, and some would argue that’s just what’s needed in golf right now,” said Simonds.

The response has been so good that Callaway is having a hard time keeping up with demand. In fact, it isn’t keeping up.

“We’re capacity-constrained right now,”Gomez said with a laugh. “We’ve been sold out on this product for two years; everything we make goes right out — we can’t make enough of them.”

This development explains the Truvis V, but also the fact that space has cleared on the production floor for several more of these machines, and the company plans to add 30 to 40 more workers to operate them.

Indeed, Callaway is quite convinced that the strong interest in the Truvis ball does not represent a fad, like colored golf balls were when first introduced 40 years ago, but rather a business it can build on for years to come. And it is investing heavily in new equipment and plant reconfiguration.

It is also taking very necessary steps to ensure that it will have workers to staff those machines in the years to come. Like all manufacturers, Callaway is having a difficult time finding qualified help, and it is forging (that’s an industry term) relationships with area technical schools to help create a better pipeline.

Part of this relationship building involves tours — officials at Springfield Technical Community College recently visited, for example — designed to impress upon schools and the young people they educate that golf-ball making is alive and well in Chicopee.

And that’s something that really couldn’t have been said just a few years ago.

Round Numbers

Speaking of history, there is quite a bit of it on display, literally, in a row of cases in the hallway leading from the executive offices to the main production floor at the Callaway plant.

There’s more than two centuries of golf-ball technology and product developments behind the glass, including a reproduction of a ‘feathery,’ an 18th-century product that, as the name might suggest, was essentially leather-covered feathers. There’s also some gutta percha balls, or ‘gutties,’ as they were called — products used in the 1800s that were made from dried gum resin from guttiferous trees — as well as dozens of balls from the 20th and 21st centuries with the Spalding name on them, as well as those of several subsidiaries acquired over the years.

There’s even a ball that commemorates the historic moon shot, or moon golf shot, taken by Alan Shepard during the Apollo 14 mission in 1971. (Simonds said there is some ambiguity as to just which brand of ball Shepard used for his famous lunar 6-iron, but he signed a promotional deal with Spalding soon after his return from that mission.)

Dan Gomez, left, and Vince Simonds show off some of the Chrome Soft products that have changed the dynamic at the Chicopee plant.

Further down the hall, there is another display case. Its top rows are currently populated with a number of variations on the Truvis theme — meaning a host of color schemes and a few speciality balls, such as one produced for Australian pro Mark Leishman that has the shape of Australia printed inside the pentagons.

There are rows of empty racks waiting to be filled, as well as the confidence that they will be — something that probably didn’t exist just a few years ago.

Indeed, as he talked about Callaway’s acquisition of Spalding’s assets, including the Chicopee plant, in 2003, Simonds said the ensuing years were certainly not what the leaders at that company hoped they would be.

The company’s consistently sluggish performance in the golf-ball business was coupled with the fact that it was overcapitalized — actually, way overcapitalized — especially with regard to the sprawling Chicopee plant, which was much too big for the company’s needs.

Out of necessity, Callaway downsized and rightsized, said Simonds, adding that it sold the Chicopee plant and is currently leasing back roughly 275,000 square feet, maybe one-quarter the footprint of the original facility.

The rightsizing coincided with Brewer’s arrival as president and CEO of the company and the introduction of new products, especially the Chrome Soft, which is essentially technology that enables lower-compression golf balls to perform as well as higher-compression balls years ago.

These developments led to a dramatic increase in market share — from just over 7% in 2013 to more than 14% at present — which has in turn fueled investments in new product development, and especially the Truvis.

Today, the company is making 200,000 to 250,000 balls a day, and the workforce has steadily grown over the past few years to roughly the 200 mark, about a 50% increase, with more hiring planned, primarily in response to the strong early performance of the Truvis.

“It’s been a phenomenal success,” said Simonds, adding quickly that the company has taken steps, patent-wise (from both a manufacturing and design standpoint), in efforts to protect itself from competitors developing something similar, something he believes they’ll try to do.

At present, there are black pentagons on yellow (popular with fans of the Boston Bruins and Pittsburgh Steelers) and red-on-white options in this country, and a blue-on-white model sold in Japan, he went on, adding that there have been a number of custom orders as well, including green on white for Dick’s Sporting Goods, white on pink for the Susan G. Komen Foundation and Mother’s Day, and red maple leaves to commemorate the 150th anniversary of Canada.

The response has been so strong — those balls shipped to Canada sold out quickly — that Callaway has mapped out an ambitious, three-year capital expansion plan to produce the balls.

The Truvis V, as noted, is merely the first of many that will be installed at the Chicopee plant.

And this is very specialized, and expensive, equipment.

“This is an involved process,” Simonds explained. “When you think about stamping such a large design on a spherical object … you have to distort the artwork so that it doesn’t look distorted on the ball. And we’ve developed some techniques to purposefully and mathematically distort the artwork so that, when it’s placed on the ball, it looks normal.”

Another challenge will be finding qualified individuals to operate these machines, he said, adding that this is why the company is reaching out to STCC and the technical high schools in the area, with the goal of establishing relationships and putting Callaway back on the radar screen for young people looking for career opportunities.

In the meantime, Callaway officials look forward to the day — and they predict it will come — when a PGA tour regular starts playing the Truvis, a development that would give the ball a huge boost in terms of both exposure and credibility.

“Most of the tour pros have them, and they use them for chipping and practicing,” Simonds explained. “But most PGA tour pros are too traditionalist to put those in play. But I think it will happen someday.”

Growth Patterns

There’s another item of interest on the shop floor to the administrative offices at the Callaway plant.

It’s a large banner hanging from a utility duct that features images of the Chrome Soft ball, with the Truvis product well-represented. Above those images, in large white letters, are the words ‘Made in Chicopee, MA.’

Such banners and such words have been seen at the plant for decades, obviously, but today, there is more meaning behind them, more optimism, and more promise, if you will.

A plant that has made a good deal of golf balls — and a great deal of golf-ball history — is entering a new era in which it will produce more of both.

George O’Brien can be reached at [email protected]

Briefcase

Briefcase Departments

Employer Confidence Slips in August

BOSTON — Massachusetts employer confidence edged lower for the second consecutive month during August. The Associated Industries of Massachusetts (AIM) Business Confidence Index (BCI) shed 0.3 points to 61.2 last month, leaving it 7.1 points higher than a year ago. The Index has been essentially flat since April and now stands 0.2 points lower than at the beginning of 2017. Last month’s slip reflected offsetting trends in employer attitudes about conditions inside and outside their walls. Employers grew less bullish about their own companies during the month, but showed growing optimism about the national economy and about prospects for manufacturers. “Employer confidence continues to move in a narrow range defined by broad optimism about both the state and national economies,” said Raymond Torto, chair of AIM’s Board of Economic Advisors (BEA) and lecturer at Harvard Graduate School of Design. “The steady level of confidence readings above the 60 mark reflect a state economy that grew at a 4% annual rate during the second quarter while maintaining a steady level of employment growth.” The AIM Index, based on a survey of Massachusetts employers, has appeared monthly since July 1991. It is calculated on a 100-point scale, with 50 as neutral; a reading above 50 is positive, while below 50 is negative. The Index reached its historic high of 68.5 on two occasions in 1997-98, and its all-time low of 33.3 in February 2009. It has remained above 50 since October 2013.

Valley Venture Mentors Joins Global Accelerator Network

SPRINGFIELD — After a rigorous selection process, the Global Accelerator Network (GAN) has invited Valley Venture Mentors (VVM) to join its network. To date, GAN has helped more than 5,000 startups receive more than $4.8 billion in funding and create 28,000 jobs globally. VVM will join more than 85 other accelerators in a network that includes notable programs such as TechStars, Microsoft Accelerator, and PlayLabs @ MIT. The network offers expansive opportunities for VVM’s startups and for VVM as a whole, including startup accelerator alumni access to morw than $1 million in in-kind perks, from cloud hosting credits to airline tickets; a network of thought partners with which to share best practices and develop innovations; a global coworking exchange that will allow VVM’s startups to work all over the world and bring other GAN members to Springfield; access to a global network that will match startups with interested investors; the opportunity for VVM to serve as a pipeline to GAN Ventures, which invests in early-stage startups; and programming for alumni that will augment VVM offerings.

New App Accompanies Springfield Walking Tour

SPRINGFIELD — Finding the next big thing or a historic old thing is now easier than ever. The Springfield Central Cultural District (SCCD) has launched an app version of its Cultural Walking Tour. The walking tour, first introduced in the summer of 2015, is a tool designed to be used by visitors or residents to learn more about the city’s architectural, historic, and cultural highlights. Printed maps are available at attractions and the visitor’s center, and a video map is hosted on springfieldculture.org, but until now, it wasn’t possible to access easily on your phone. Easily found by searching ‘Springfield Cultural Tour’ in the App Store or Google Play, visitors and residents alike can learn something new about the Cultural District and its assets. Public art; attractions like the Armory, Springfield Museums, and Basketball Hall of Fame; and architectural and historic points of interest have background information and video that are accessible from the app, which is based in Google Maps. Users can choose what they’re interested in and sort points of interest. “As people walk around, they can see themselves moving through the app. What we couldn’t do before this existed was point out the HH Richardson Courthouse or the Sol Lewitt mural without being on site with a visitor. Now they can see it in real time, and navigate directly there on their own schedule,” said Morgan Drewniany, SCCD director. The app was designed to not only engage a changing demographic in and around Springfield to appreciate their surroundings, but to help shed light on little-known assets within the downtown and orient visitors not familiar with the area. Paper maps will continue to be available alongside the app. The project was funded by the Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts. Additional support was provided by the city of Springfield, the Greater Springfield Convention and Visitor’s Bureau, and the Springfield Business Improvement District.

Company Notebook

Company Notebook Departments

Old Chapel at UMass Earns LEED Gold Certification

AMHERST — The renovation of the historic Old Chapel at UMass Amherst earned LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. The LEED rating system is the foremost program for buildings, homes, and communities that are designed, constructed, maintained, and operated for improved environmental and human health performance. Built in 1885, the Old Chapel is the most iconic and significant historic building on the UMass Amherst campus. Designed by Steven Earle in the Richardsonian Romanesque style, the building originally housed a library, auditorium, natural-history collections, and classrooms. It was later used as a drill hall, departmental offices, and finally as home to the Minuteman Marching Band in the 1960s, before officially closing its doors in 1999 due to structural deterioration. The Old Chapel was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2015, and work began on a $21 million renovation, addition, and preservation effort to restore the building to its original glory. The revitalized Old Chapel now serves students, faculty, and alumni as a campus resource. The first floor provides a flexible layout for student study, gallery exhibitions, and community events, while the Great Hall on the top floor provides a large, open space for performances, lectures, receptions, and weddings. UMass Amherst and the UMass Building Authority hired Finegold Alexander Architects of Boston to design the restoration and demonstrate how aspects of historic preservation and sustainability can work together. The firm deployed an array of sustainability strategies to maintain the integrity of the original design and materials, while adapting the building’s structure and interior to modern use, access, and building-code requirements. The Old Chapel’s original structure consists of local timber and stone such as Pelham granite and Longmeadow sandstone. The design reused 83% of structural masonry, wood columns, beams, trusses, and wainscoting trim, and 82% of new wood products were either locally sourced or certified by the Forest Stewardship Council. The addition of a contemporary glass entry pavilion at the south façade is integrated into a landscaped terrace that provides full accessibility while also incorporating water-efficient landscaping and rainwater management that improves site ecology. Meeting modern indoor environment and energy-efficiency requirements within the original exterior wall assembly was a challenge; the design team used energy modeling to find the correct balance of masonry-wall insulation, energy-efficient glazing, and stained-glass restoration so that sustainability goals were in concert with historic restoration efforts. The building is designed to exceed code energy performance by 21% and to reduce potable water use by 34%, and it will follow a rigorous measurement and verification process that ensures those savings are realized post-occupancy.

The Hub Studio Announces Grand-opening Celebration

FLORENCE — Tracy Roth, who launched the Hub Studio, a fitness studio located at the Nonotuck Mill in Florence, will host a grand opening at the studio on Saturday, Sept. 30 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. The studio will offer spinning, TRX resistance training, mat Pilates, scientifically backed nutrition-coaching programs, outdoor cycling instruction, workshops, special events, and more. The grand opening will include refreshments and snacks from local cafés and restaurants, live music from kid-friendly DJ Quintessential, free chair massage, a raffle, and more. The raffle prizes include classes and a three-month membership at the Hub Studio, as well as other exclusive items from area businesses. The event is free, and the public is welcome. Northampton Mayor David Narkewicz will attend to assist with the ribbon-cutting ceremony. Located in Suite 202 at the Nonotuck Mill, 296-C Nonotuck St., Florence, the studio will be open full-time starting Monday, Oct. 2 and will include group fitness classes for all levels during the morning, afternoon, and evening hours. The studio will also have classes, workshops, and special events on Saturdays and Sundays. For class descriptions, schedule, a blog, and more, visit www.yourhubstudio.com.

BCC Launches New Job-search Website

PITTSFIELD — Berkshire Community College (BCC) announced that its Career Development Center has launched new career-management software with College Central Network (CCN) at www.collegecentral.com/berkshirecc. BCC students past, present, and future now have access to the latest resources and job opportunities at the regional and national level. Additionally, this tool will enhance communication among various departments within the college that routinely collaborate with employers in the community. The new website offers exclusive job postings targeting the BCC student and alumni population as well as access to hundreds of career articles, podcasts, and career-advice resources. Students and any community members can upload or build a résumé on the site as well as register for career-related events around the area and receive alerts for their ideal job. BCC recently sent out registration notifications to local employers, inviting them to create an account. Once confirmed, they may begin uploading job opportunities that they would like to post. BCC’s job-search site is meant to assist local employers and the community in making it easier to post and find jobs. It also helps ensure a smooth transition for BCC students to find local employment with support from the software and the college’s Career Development Center team.

JA of Western Massachusetts Announces Grant Awards

SPRINGFIELD — Junior Achievement of Western Massachusetts announced that it received a $10,000 grant from the United Bank Foundation to bring financial-literacy programs to students in East Longmeadow, Westfield, West Springfield, and Springfield. The programs will teach students concepts related to budgeting, saving, and money management with the intent of promoting the development of good financial habits. The partnership includes the involvement of volunteers from United Bank to help deliver the programs to students. Meanwhile, JA of Western Massachusetts also received a $7,200 grant from the UPS Foundation to implement JA “Be Entrepreneurial” classes. The curriculum introduces high-school students to the essential elements of a practical business plan and challenges them to start an entrepreneurial venture while still in high school. Students learn about advertising, competitive advantages, financing, marketing, and product development, all of which are key to being an informed entrepreneur. The program includes seven 45-minute sessions taught by a community or corporate volunteer. Volunteers bring in their own experiences and life lessons to the classroom to enhance the JA program. Schools and organizations participating in “Be Entrepreneurial” include Putnam Vocational Technical Academy, the JA BEE Summer Program, the Center for Human Development, St. Mary’s High School, and East Longmeadow High School.

Tighe & Bond Among Top New England Design Firms

WESTFIELD — Tighe & Bond, a Northeast leader in engineering and environmental consulting, has been ranked ninth in the Engineering News Record’s (ENR) New England Top Design Firms edition. In addition, the firm was named among the Top 200 Environmental Firms by ENR, and appeared for the first time as a Top 60 Engineering Firm nationwide by Building Design + Construction. Other recent rankings for Tighe & Bond include number 154 on ENR’s list of Top 200 Environmental Firms, based on environmental-specific revenue from 2016; number 260 on ENR’s Top 500 Design Firms, based on design-specific revenue from 2016; and sixth on Hartford Business Journal’s list of Largest Engineering Firms in Greater Hartford.

Hogan Technology Receives Cybersecurity Certification

EASTHAMPTON — Hogan Technology, a provider of unified communications, announced that the company is certified to provide cybersecurity solutions to SMBs (small to mid-sized businesses) to protect them from the barrage of cyberattacks that occur every day. Cybercrimes are a serious threat, and most businesses cannot afford to become the victim of malware, ransomware, phishing, password attacks, denial-of-service attacks, or malvertising of any sort for a prolonged period of time, said Sean Hogan, president of Hogan Technology. Recent advancements in preventive technology have helped SMBs safeguard themselves from unnecessary attacks, network vulnerabilities, and company downtime that can often result from such disruptions. Hogan Technology invests heavily in its staff of IT professionals to ensure that everyone is well-trained, certified, and fully equipped to protect customers from cyberattacks.

Bay Path Master’s Degree in Applied Data Science Ranked 12th Nationally

LONGMEADOW — Bay Path University’s master’s of science degree in applied data science was ranked 12th in a list of the top 50 data-science programs nationwide by www.onlinecoursereport.com. Rankings were based on a combination of affordability, flexibility, and student support services. The article highlights the low student-to-faculty ratio of 12 to 1 at Bay Path. It also makes reference to the university’s WiSH (Women in STEM Honors) program, which offers a four-year curriculum consisting of integrated and advanced study and research for women at the undergraduate level dedicated to becoming scientists. The university is also home to the Center of Excellence for Women in STEM, providing professional development, networking, and mentorship opportunities for students and professional women in STEM fields. The program is fully online and open to both women and men. The 36-credit program teaches the fundamental principles, platforms, and toolsets of the data-science profession in an accelerated format that can be completed in as little as one year. This rapidly growing career field is well suited to professionals with backgrounds in mathematics, statistics, and business analysis, with graduates achieving such career outcomes as data scientist, data engineer, and more.

Agenda

Agenda Departments

Mini-Medical School

Sept. 21 to Nov. 16: Going back to school has never been so much fun when it comes to your health. Baystate Medical Center’s Mini-Medical School, which begins its fall session on Sept. 21, will give area residents an inside look at the expanding field of medicine – minus the tests, homework, interviews, and admission formalities. The course runs weekly through Nov. 16. Mini-Medical School is an eight-week health-education series featuring a different aspect of medicine each week. Classes this fall will include sessions on various medical topics such as surgery, emergency medicine, anesthesiology, midwifery, pathology, and several others, including the current opioid crisis. Many of the ‘students,’ who often range in age from 20 to 70, participate due to a general interest in medicine and later find that many of the things they learned over the semester are relevant to their own lives. The goal of the program — offered in the hospital’s Chestnut Conference Center — is to help the public make more informed decisions about their healthcare while receiving insight on what it is like to be a medical student. Baystate Medical Center is the region’s only teaching hospital, and each course is taught by medical center faculty who explain the science of medicine without resorting to complex terms. All classes are held Thursday nights starting at 6 p.m. and run until 8 or 9 p.m., depending on the night’s topic. No basic science knowledge is needed to participate. Each participant is required to attend a minimum of six out of eight classes in order to receive a certificate of completion. Tuition is $95 per person and $80 for Senior Class and Spirit of Women members. To register, call (413) 794-7630 or visiting www.baystatehealth.org/minimed. To see a schedule of topics and speakers slated for the fall semester, visit www.baystatehealth.org/about-us/community-programs/education-training/mini-medical-school.

Free Legal Help Hotline

Sept. 21: The Hampden County Bar Assoc. will offer a free Legal Help Hotline in conjunction with Western New England University School of Law from 4 to 7 p.m. at the law school, 1215 Wilbraham Road, Springfield. Individuals needing advice should call (413) 796-2057 to speak to a volunteer. Volunteers will provide legal advice on a variety of topics, including divorce and family law, bankruptcy, business, landlord/tenant matters, and real estate. Additionally, in light of recent immigration developments, attorneys with immigration-law experience will also be available to answer questions. Spanish-speaking attorneys will be available.

Labor & Employment Law Symposium

Oct. 5: Skoler, Abbott & Presser, P.C. will hold a Labor & Employment Law Symposium from 8:30 a.m. to 3:45 p.m. at the Sheraton Springfield Monarch Place Hotel. “The past year has brought significant changes in labor and employment law, and employers need to be aware of these changes; not knowing the law is no excuse for not following it,” said attorney Timothy Murphy, a partner at Skoler Abbott. “We are offering this symposium to provide local and regional HR professionals and employers with the latest developments, and to help them prepare for what’s coming next.” The symposium is geared toward human-resources professionals and business owners. Topics will include “Labor Law Update: Change Is Coming,” “Massachusetts’ New Pay Equity Law and the Effects of Implicit Bias in the Workplace,” “Top Ten Wage & Hour Mistakes Made by Employers,” “Insurance Coverage in Employment Litigation: Limiting Your Risk & Knowing Your Rights,” “After Barbuto: Strategies for Addressing Drugs in the Workplace,” and “How You Should (and Shouldn’t) Conduct a Workplace Investigation.” Attendees will be able to select three of six breakout sessions, and the symposium will close with an overall question-and-answer session. The symposium has been pre-approved by the HR Certification Institute for five hours of general recertification credit toward PHR and SPHR recertification. The cost to attend is $99 per person and includes continental breakfast and lunch. Registration is available at skoler-abbott.com/trainingprograms.

Square One Tea Party

Oct. 5: This year, Square One will draw inspiration from the early days of its Tea Party. “Our annual tea party began 11 years ago in a classroom with tiny tables and a big dream,” said Joan Kagan, Square One president and CEO. “This year’s theme brings us back to the event’s roots. We’ll be celebrating all the success that this event has helped us achieve over the years.” The 12th annual Square One Tea is expected to draw 400 supporters who will celebrate the work the provider of early-learning and family services is providing to thousands of families throughout the Greater Springfield region. “Year after year, we look forward to this wonderful opportunity to highlight the work we are doing and the impact that our programs and services have had on the thousands of children and parents who have been served by Square One,” Kagan said. “It is so gratifying to hear from our guests how much they enjoy being a part of this special day, and it’s always fun to see who is going to have the best hat.” The wearing of hats for women and men has become a tradition, with a Top Hat Award bestowed upon the wearer of the most elaborate or unusual hat. Early event supporters include Health New England, Smith & Wesson, USI Insurance, Columbia Gas, the Gaudreau Group, MGM, United Personnel, Mercedes-Benz, Bay Path University, Springfield Thunderbirds, and Fathers & Sons. Tickets are $60 each. Tables of eight and 10 are available. To register, visit startatsquareone.org. For sponsorship or vendor information, call Andrea Bartlett at (413) 858-3111.

Healthcare Heroes

Oct. 19: BusinessWest and the Healthcare News will present the inaugural Healthcare Heroes Awards at the Starting Gate at GreatHorse in Hampden. This new recognition program was created by the twin publications to recognize outstanding achievement across the region’s broad and diverse healthcare sector. From a pool of 70 nominations, panel of judges chose eight winners in seven categories, who were profiled in the Sept. 4 issue of BusinessWest, the September issue of HCN, and at businesswest.com. American International College and Trinity Health are the presenting sponsors of Healthcare Heroes. Partner Sponsors are Achieve TMS East, Health New England, and HUB International New England. Additional sponsors are Bay Path University, Baystate Health, Cooley Dickinson Healthcare, Elms College, and Renew.Calm. Tickets to the event are $85 each, with tables available for purchase. For more information or to order tickets, call (413) 781-8600.

Out of the Darkness Walk

Oct. 21: Suicide is the 10th-leading cause of death in the U.S., yet suicide is preventable. The Western Mass. Chapter of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) announced that its flagship event, the Greater Springfield Out of the Darkness Walk to Fight Suicide, has a new home, School Street Park in Agawam. Roughly 1,000 people from throughout the Greater Springfield Area are expected to participate in this annual event at its new location starting at 10 a.m. This fund-raising walk supports the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention’s local and national education and advocacy programs and its bold goal to reduce the annual rate of suicide by 20% by 2025. “We walk to raise awareness about this important health issue. Suicide touches one in five American families. We hope that by walking, we save lives and bring hope to those affected by suicide,” said Heather White, area director for AFSP in Western Mass. The event is one of more than 375 Out of the Darkness community walks being held nationwide this year. The walks are expected to unite more than 250,000 walkers and raise millions of dollars for suicide-prevention efforts. With this walk last year, the Greater Springfield community raised almost $60,0000 for suicide awareness and prevention initiatives, and had nearly 800 participants. Planning committees for the 2017 Greater Springfield Out of the Darkness Walk are meeting now. If you would like to help organize this inspiring charitable event, sponsor the walk, or have a booth on site, contact Heather White at [email protected] for more information. To join the fight against suicide, register to walk at School Street Park in Agawam on Oct. 21 by visiting www.afsp.org/greaterspringfieldma.

Lowcountry Celebration

Oct. 27: Blue Heron Restaurant will celebrate its 20th anniversary by hosting “Lowcountry Living: An Evening of Gullah Culture and Cuisine,” a one-night event designed to take diners on a culinary trip to the South Carolina Lowcountry, the region which originally inspired owners Deborah Snow and Barbara White to open a restaurant focused on local, seasonal ingredients and unpretentious hospitality. The dinner, which will feature a Gullah-themed menu, as well as music and pieces from critically acclaimed South Carolina artist Sonja Griffin Evans’ “American Gullah Collection,” will start at 6:30 p.m., with reservations open to the public. Menu and pricing for the event will be announced at a later date. Reservations can be made by calling (413) 665-2102 or e-mailing [email protected].

Business & Innovation Expo of Western Mass.

Nov. 2: Comcast Business will present the Business & Innovation Expo of Western Mass. at the MassMutual Center in downtown Springfield, produced by BusinessWest and the Healthcare News. The seventh annual business-to-business show will feature more than 150 exhibitor booths, educational seminars, breakfast and lunch programs, and a day-capping Expo Social. Current sponsors include Comcast Business (presenting sponsor), Johnson & Hill Staffing Services and Wild Apple Design Group (executive sponsors), Inspired Marketing (show partner), MGM Springfield (corporate sponsor), Isenberg School of Management at UMass Amherst (education sponsor), Xfinity (social sponsor), Elms College (information booth sponsor), Smith & Wesson (Workforce Development sponsor), Savage Arms (JoinedForces and Workforce Development parking sponsor), and the Better Business Bureau (contributing sponsor). Additional sponsorship opportunities are available. Exhibitor spaces are also available; booth prices start at $725. For more information on sponsorships or booth purchase, call (413) 781-8600, ext. 100.

Court Dockets

Court Dockets Departments

HAMPDEN DISTRICT COURT

Evadney Jumpp v. High Ridge Real Estate, LLC
Allegation: Negligence causing injury: $2,261.88
Filed: 8/21/17

HAMPDEN SUPERIOR COURT

Charles Dodge and Candice Dodge v. Baystate Health Inc.; Michael Dunkerley, M.D.; Amanda Shorette, M.D.; Eleanor Winston, M.D.; and Ziv Corber, M.D.
Allegation: Medical malpractice: $22,000
Filed: 8/10/17

Douglas Knoechelmann and Trina Knoechelmann v. Baystate Health Inc.; John Wang, M.D.; Amanda Shorette, M.D.; Thomas Chin, M.D.; and Brian O’Connell, M.D.
Allegation: Medical malpractice: $30,000
Filed: 8/10/17

Debra Smethurst, individually and as personal representative of the estate of Kris Smethurst v. Richard Wait, M.D., Baystate Medical Center, and Baystate Surgical Associates
Allegation: Medical malpractice, wrongful death: $40,000+
Filed: 8/11/17

Brian Beloncik v. Bruce M. Goldstein, M.D.; Northampton Dermatology Associates, P.C.; Glenn P. Genest, M.D.; and New England Dermatology, P.C.
Allegation: Medical malpractice: $25,000+
Filed: 8/14/17

Catherine Brantley v. Price Rite a/k/a PRRC Inc.
Allegation: Slip and fall causing injury: $39,694
Filed: 8/14/17

Margaret Richardson v. Walmart Stores East, LP
Allegation: Employment discrimination: $250,000
Filed: 8/14/17

Arthur J. Hurley Co. Inc. v. Amps Electrical Inc., Waste Management Disposal Services of Massachusetts Inc., and Southern Sky Renewable Energy Chicopee, LLC
Allegation: Construction dispute: $38,690.45
Filed: 8/15/17

Joseph B. Collins, trustee in bankruptcy of Donald J. Wheeler v. Thomas Richard Canto, M.D. and Baystate Wing Hospital
Allegation: Malpractice: $1,000,000
Filed: 8/16/17

HAMPSHIRE SUPERIOR COURT

Historic Round Hill Summit, LLC v. TP Daley Insurance Agency Inc.
Allegation: Negligence re: insurance policy: $3,063,448
Filed: 8/15/17

Business & Innovation Expo to Feature ‘Ask an Expert Roundtable’

By BusinessWest Staff September 11, 2017

Confirmed participants include Pam Thornton of Name Net Worth (who will focus on LinkedIn and social-media marketing); Amy Royal of Royal, P.C. (focus on employment law); Jenny MacKay of the Gaudreau Group (focus on healthcare reform); Sheila Magalhaes of Heartsong (focus on modern mindfulness); Angela Lussier of Speaker Sisterhood (focus on finding one’s voice and being more assertive); Ira Bryck of the Family Business Center of Pioneer Valley (focus on family-business work balance); Tracey Gaylord of Granite State Development Corp. (focus on funding one’s next big idea, big or small); and the Center for EcoTechnology (focus on how to make a company green). Other participants will be announced soon.

Berkshire Community College Launches New Job-search Website

By BusinessWest Staff September 7, 2017

BCC students past, present, and future now have access to the latest resources and job opportunities at the regional and national level. Additionally, this tool will enhance communication among various departments within the college that routinely collaborate with employers in the community.

The new website offers exclusive job postings targeting the BCC student and alumni population as well as access to hundreds of career articles, podcasts, and career-advice resources. Students and any community members can upload or build a résumé on the site as well as register for career-related events around the area and receive alerts for their ideal job.

BCC recently sent out registration notifications to local employers, inviting them to create an account. Once confirmed, they may begin uploading job opportunities that they would like to post.

BCC’s job-search site is meant to assist local employers and the community in making it easier to post and find jobs. It also helps ensure a smooth transition for BCC students to find local employment with support from the software and the college’s Career Development Center team.

Labor & Employment Law Symposium Slated for Oct. 5

By BusinessWest Staff September 6, 2017

SPRINGFIELD — Skoler, Abbott & Presser, P.C. will hold a Labor & Employment Law Symposium on Thursday, Oct. 5 from 8:30 a.m. to 3:45 p.m. at the Sheraton Springfield Monarch Place Hotel.

“The past year has brought significant changes in labor and employment law, and employers need to be aware of these changes; not knowing the law is no excuse for not following it,” said attorney Timothy Murphy, a partner at Skoler Abbott. “We are offering this symposium to provide local and regional HR professionals and employers with the latest developments, and to help them prepare for what’s coming next.”

The symposium is geared toward human-resources professionals and business owners. Topics and presenters will include:

• “Labor Law Update: Change Is Coming,” by Murphy and attorney Ralph Abbott Jr., Skoler Abbott;

• “Massachusetts’ New Pay Equity Law and the Effects of Implicit Bias in the Workplace,” by attorney Kimberly Klimczuk, Skoler Abbott;

• “Top Ten Wage & Hour Mistakes Made by Employers,” by attorney John Gannon, Skoler Abbott;

• “Insurance Coverage in Employment Litigation: Limiting Your Risk & Knowing Your Rights,” a panel discussion with attorney Marylou Fabbo, Skoler Abbott; Miriam Siegel, director of Human Resources, Springfield College; and William Trudeau, president, Insurance Center of New England; moderated by attorney Amelia Holstrom, Skoler Abbott;

• “After Barbuto: Strategies for Addressing Drugs in the Workplace,” by attorney Erica Flores, Skoler Abbott; and

• “How You Should (and Shouldn’t) Conduct a Workplace Investigation,” by Holstrom and attorney Susan Fentin, Skoler Abbott.

Attendees will be able to select three of six breakout sessions, and the symposium will close with an overall question-and-answer session. The symposium has been pre-approved by the HR Certification Institute for five hours of general recertification credit toward PHR and SPHR recertification.

The cost to attend is $99 per person and includes continental breakfast and lunch. Registration is available at skoler-abbott.com/trainingprograms.

MGM Puts Team, Strategies in Place for Staffing Up

Employment Sections

Hire Power

Wanda Gispert, regional vice president of Talent & Workforce Development for MGM Resorts International.

The final countdown has begun at MGM Springfield; the $950 million casino will be open for business in just over a year. That means roughly 3,000 people must be hired between now and then, a massive task that falls to a team that has already been hard at work for months.

126,000.

That’s the number of applications that Wanda Gispert is expecting for the 3,000 or so positions that MGM Springfield must fill between now and opening night roughly a year from now — actually, well before opening night.

Doing the quick math, Gispert, who takes the title of regional vice president of Talent and Workforce Development for MGM Resorts International, acknowledges that this number equates to just over 40 applicants per job.

That might be the average, but the number of applicants will vary wildly with the position, she told BusinessWest, adding that, for top-level positions, like vice president of table games, there might be hundreds of candidates.

And then, for some positions, 40 applicants for each posting would be a blessing, but certainly not a reality.

“Being a butcher is a lost art — a lot of people don’t have that specific skill,” she said, adding that the casino will need a handful of such individuals. The same is true of pastry chefs and security personnel specifically trained to work with canines.

Filling the hundreds of different kinds of positions needed to operate MGM’s $959 million casino in Springfield’s South End is now Gispert’s responsibility. Actually, she leads a team of people that will handle this assignment, one she is still building.

SEE: List of Largest Employers

As she goes about her work, she will draw on years of experience with meeting the considerable workforce challenges of major corporations within the broad hospitality sector.

Her specialty is opening new properties, and her résumé includes considerable work within the hotel industry, specifically with Marriott Hilton, opening more than 200 properties within the U.S., Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean, while serving on what is known as the ‘new-opening team.’

She later went to work for MGM Resorts International, and took the lead role in assembling the team of roughly 4,000 for the company’s National Harbor casino, which opened earlier this year.

She will also draw on a host of resources, everything from the area’s community colleges and workforce-related agencies to websites that can tell her which companies are downsizing across the country and, therefore, what types of talented individuals might be looking for work.

Overall, she said assembling a workforce for MGM Springfield will pose some challenges, but nothing out of the ordinary for such assignments.

The region boasts a large, qualified workforce, she noted, and it has the resources in place to train those who will need specific training, such as dealers. Meanwhile, MGM’s name and reputation within the gaming industry will bring a number of experienced workers into this market, giving the new casino ample talent to draw from as its fills out its team.

“With every market that we service, we see challenges in certain areas,” she explained, noting that this region would certainly not boast many experienced casino workers because legalized gaming only came to this state a year ago. “What’s encouraging about this area is that there are professions that easily transfer over to what we need; the banking industry is huge here, for example. From a cage-operations standpoint and how you run a casino behind the scenes — meaning accounting, finance, human resources, and other areas — we have a lot of positions there, but we know skills will transfer over.”

For this issue and its focus on employment, BusinessWest talked at length with Gispert about the hiring process for MGM Springfield and how things will unfold over the next year.

Surveying the Situation

As she assessed the challenge of staffing up at MGM Springfield, Gispert made a number of observations.

Among them is the fact this is a good time to be in a culinary-arts program, and for fairly obvious reasons made clear by her reference to pastry chefs and how hard it will be to find them. It’s also a good time to be a math teacher or a retired math teacher, for less-obvious reasons she would explain. And it’s a good time to be a bank teller, especially one who might be downsized in this time when there is need for fewer of those professionals.

As for math teachers and those who have retired from that profession, Gispert said they are the perfect sorts for the behind-the-scenes positions in surveillance.

“Those jobs are very different from security positions,” she explained. “Everyone in surveillance is given a math test; they have to understand all the games — poker, blackjack, craps, everything that we offer — and they need to be able to do math in their head very well, because if I’m watching a play, how do I know if an odd is being paid out properly?

“They catch mistakes; they catch possible cheating,” she went on. “They’re the eyes and ears of the casino. They must be really sharp, and their facial-recognition skills must be really strong.”

Loss-prevention specialists for major retailers would obviously be good candidates for such positions, she continued, but those math teachers and former math teachers are also ideal.

And teachers, in general, are good candidates for jobs through the casino, and for many reasons.

“They’re off every night, they’re off every weekend, they’re off for Christmas,” she said while listing some. “We love school teachers; many of our employers teach school because they have the perfect schedule.”

As noted, Gispert can talk about filling such positions from experience — lots of it.

A graduate of Georgia State’s respected hospitality program (the school is located in Atlanta, a popular site for conventions), she said she started her career on the front desk of a Holiday Inn at age 18 and has worked in a host of different positions within the hotel sector.

“I think that’s what’s given me my edge,” she told BusinessWest. “I’ve worked all of those jobs — I’ve washed dishes, I’ve made beds, I’ve worked in sales. You’re a jack of all trades at that point, and when you’re recruiting for those positions or training for them, you know what to look for, and you know how to train better because you’ve been in that position.”

Jason Randall says the process of onboarding MGM employees is well underway.

As noted, she’s taken all that experience in hotels and added casino staffing to her résumé, assignments that are similar to hotels but have some additional wrinkles, such as host-community agreements, which stipulate commitments that the casino will make to hiring people from the specific host community and region surrounding it.

With MGM Springfield, that commitment is to have more than one-third (35%) of the workforce be comprised of people living in Springfield or from Springfield.

That last consideration is a very important one, said Gispert, adding that one of the things Springfield officials hoped to do by luring a casino here was to bring back some of those young people (with ‘young’ being a relative term) who decided they needed to go elsewhere to find fulfillment of their career aspirations.

That commitment to designate a third of the jobs to those with Springfield roots, as well as other commitments (to hire veterans, for example) is essentially a starting point for this assignment, said Gispert.

“That’s how I start crafting how I will approach my workforce-development game plan for the area,” she explained, adding that 90% of the workforce must come from this region, which is defined loosely as Greater Springfield.

Counting Down

Running down some of the numbers involved with her assignment (there are always lots of numbers to consider when talking about a casino), Gispert said the largest specific team, or department, will be dealers; roughly 600 of them will be needed for blackjack, poker, and other games. A large security force will also be needed, she went on, noting that roughly 200 individuals will be required for such work.

There will be a number of restaurants and catering operations, so about 150 culinary artists will be required, she said, adding that there are subsets within that broad realm (pastry chef, for example), and there will be about 80 cashier, or ‘cage,’ positions, as they’re called; these are people who will be handling money.

There are also a number of positions for which the casino will need just a few talented individuals, or perhaps even one. Butcher falls in that category, as does locksmith, security people that can work with dogs, and ‘master tailor’ (there will likely be just one of those).

When asked about the schedule moving forward when it comes to the process of putting a team in place, Gispert said the hiring has already begun in many areas, especially within the higher levels of management, meaning those who will lead the teams that will be assembled.

The matter of when specific positions will be filled will be determined by several factors, she went on, but especially how much training is involved and, obviously, when the employees in question will be needed.

As an example, she noted security personnel. This will be a large force, as noted, and one that will need extensive training. Also, in many cases, individuals will be needed long before the doors to the casino actually open.

“January is the month when a lot of positions will come on board,” she explained. “Because security and surveillance come in first; they take the longest to train, and you need them on the premises earlier than anyone else.

“Once equipment starts to be delivered, surveillance has to be there from that point on,” she went on. “Once slot machines and other equipment start to arrive, it cannot be left unsupervised; it’s 24 hours a day once they’re on the premises.”

And bringing someone onboard, if you will, is a lengthy process, said Jason Randall, who just went through it himself while being hired as director of Talent Acquisition & Development.

A veteran of the tourism industry in the human resources realm — he was a member of BusinessWest’s 40 Under 40 Class of 2014 as director of Human Resources for Peter Pan Bus Lines — he joined MGM in May. He said one of his primary responsibilities is taking new hires “from A to Z,” as he put it.

“Soon, we’ll start building out our human-resources team to start managing that on a volume scale,” he explained. “We’ll have a team that will take over halfway through the process to help initiate drug and background checks, complete offer letters, assisting with gaming-license processing, and eventually queueing everyone up for the big orientation dates.”

Those will be coming after some large hiring events late next spring and into the summer, he went on, leaving ample time for training before the casino opens.

As jobs need to be filled, the positions are posted on LinkedIn and job boards, said Gispert, adding that the response has thus far been solid, and it points toward overall numbers similar to what was experienced with National Harbor — thus that projection for 126,000 applications.

People can apply for as many as three jobs, and many do, she explained, which will be a factor in how many applications MGM receives, but overall, she’s expecting a very strong response, and from people of all ages.

“We reach out to AARP,” Gispert explained, “because a lot of people thought they wanted to be retired, then they retired and they decided, ‘no, I really want something back in the workforce.’”

Odds Are

As she talked about the process of creating a workforce for MGM Springfield, Gispert noted one challenge that might not be apparent to all.

“Not everyone will want to work for us,” she said with laugh, “because if you work for us, you can’t gamble here. Some people would rather be a customer than an employee.”

Perhaps, but she’s quite confident that this obstacle can be overcome as she goes about hiring dealers, security personnel, and even butchers and pastry chefs.

A year from now, roughly 3,000 people will be wearing ‘MGM Springfield’ nametags as part of the work attire. Getting to that point will be a challenge, but the casino and its workforce will be ready, she said.

You can bet on it.

George O’Brien can be reached at [email protected]

Chamber Corners

Chamber Corners Departments

1BERKSHIRE
www.1berkshire.com
(413) 499-1600

• Sept. 14: Celebrate the Berkshires, 6-8 p.m., at Bloom Meadows, where we’ll recognize the Community of North Adams as our ‘Putting the Berkshires on the Map’ honoree and announce the winners of our Trendsetter Awards. These awards are our way of recognizing individuals and organizations whose outstanding achievements and commitment have strengthened our economy and helped the Berkshires grow. Register online at www.1berkshire.com.

FRANKLIN COUNTY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
www.franklincc.org
(413) 773-5463

• Sept. 13: “Are You Making Money or Losing Your Shirt?” 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., hosted by TD Bank Greenfield, 324 Main St., Greenfield. Net profit gauges how well a business manages both revenue generation and expenses, assuming that owners are not taking out much cash in the form of distributions. Being profitable also means the company is building equity. What does this all mean? Join us to learn more about your financial statements and how you can use them to improve your profit picture. At the end of the workshop, each attendee will be entered into a drawing for a free copy of Quickbooks Pro, a $220 value. A light lunch will be provided. Register at www.franklincc.org.

GREATER CHICOPEE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
www.chicopeechamber.org
(413) 594-2101

• Sept. 7: CEO Power Hour Luncheon with Nathan Costa, CEO of the Springfield Thunderbirds, 11:45 a.m. to 1 p.m., hosted by Collegian Court Restaurant, 89 Park St., Chicopee. Costa was well aware of the challenges the Thunderbirds faced, and he will share his strategy for turning things around, including improvements made in sales and marketing efforts, game-day experience, and community engagement. Join us for lunch with Costa and learn about the creation of a winning culture. Cost: $30 for members;, $35 for non-members. Register online at www.chicopeechamber.org.
• Sept. 14: Business After Hours presents Porter & Chester, 4:30-6:30 p.m., hosted by Porter & Chester Institute, 134 Dulong Circle, Chicopee. Cost: $10 for members, $15 for non-members. Register online at www.chicopeechamber.org.

GREATER EASTHAMPTON CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
www.easthamptonchamber.org
(413) 527-9414

• Sept. 14: Networking by Night, 5-7 p.m., hosted by Pioneer Landscapes, 223 Cardinal Way, Florence. Cost: $10 for members, $15 for non-members. Register online at www.easthamptonchamber.org.

GREATER HOLYOKE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
www.holyokechamber.com
(413) 534-3376

• Sept. 6: Chamber Coffee Buzz, 7:30-8:30 a.m., hosted by Providence Place, 5 Gamelin St., Holyoke. The Coffee Buzz series is a morning networking program that provides chamber members and guests the opportunity to make new contacts and exchange business information over a light breakfast. The format includes a 30-second introduction of each guest, the host has a five- to 10-minute promotional opportunity, and rest of the event is mingling. Cost: free. Register online at www.holyokechamber.com.
• Sept. 13: Annual Clambake, 5-7 p.m., hosted by Holyoke Country Club, Country Club Road, Holyoke. We’re planning a feast of lobster, steamed clams, sweet corn on the cob, boiled red potatoes, tossed salad, and iced tea. Treat a client or make this your employee-appreciation gathering — there’s plenty of room. Grilled chicken will be available. Join Weld Management as a sponsor of this well-attended event. Cost: $38 for members, $40 for non-members. Register online at www.holyokechamber.com.

GREATER NORTHAMPTON CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
www.explorenorthampton.com
(413) 584-1900

• Sept. 11: “Financial Planning 101,” 5:30-6:30 p.m., presented by Streetlight Financial, hosted by Forbes Library. Cost: free. Register online at forbeslibrary.libcal.com/event/3442716.
• Sept. 13: Arrive@5, 5-7 p.m., hosted by Family Legacy Partners, 48 Round Hill Road, Suite 2, Northampton. Co-host: CheckWriters Payroll. Sponsored by Northeast Solar, Finck & Perras Insurance Agency Inc., and Coldwell Banker Upton-Massamont Realtors. Cost: $10 for members.

GREATER WESTFIELD CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
www.westfieldbiz.org
(413) 568-1618

• Sept. 11: Mayor’s Coffee Hour with Mayor Brian Sullivan, 8-9 a.m., hosted by Shaker Farms Country Club, 866 Shaker Road, Westfield. This event is free and open to the public. Call Pam at the Chamber office at (413) 568-1618 to register, so we may give our host a head count.
• Sept. 13: After 5 Connection, 5-7 p.m., hosted by Holiday Inn Express, 39 Southampton Road, Westfield. Bring your business cards and make connections. Refreshments will be served, and a 50/50 raffle will benefit two Citizen’s Scholarships. Cost: free for members, $10 for non-members (cash or credit card).
• Sept. 15: Chamber Workshop: “Employment Practices, Liability Insurance,” 8:30-10 a.m., hosted by Holiday Inn Express, 39 Southampton Road, Westfield. Join management-side labor and employment-law attorney Timothy Netkovick for this informational seminar on EPLI. Netkovick will provide an overview of the types of claims these policies generally cover and exclude. He will also identify the 10 most important considerations you should be aware of when assessing whether a particular EPLI policy is right for your company. When you leave this seminar, you and your team will be able to fully assess your needs in regard to whether or not you should invest in EPLI. Cost: free for members, $30 for non-members (cash or credit card). Contact Pam at the chamber office at (413) 568-1618 or [email protected] for more information or to register.
• Sept. 18: Chamber Workshop: “Go Mobile!” 8:30-10 a.m. hosted by Holiday Inn Express, 39 Southampton Road, Westfield. Join Kurt Lumpp of Russell Cellular for this informational workshop and maximize the use of your cell phone. Cost: free for members, $30 for non-members (cash or credit card). Contact Pam at the chamber office at (413) 568-1618 or [email protected] for more information or to register.

SPRINGFIELD REGIONAL CHAMBER
www.springfieldregionalchamber.com
(413) 787.1555

• Sept. 6: Business@Breakfast, at the Sheraton Springfield, One Monarch Place, Springfield. Featuring Pam Victor, president and head of happiness at Happier Valley Comedy, on “Two Magic Words to Stimulate Innovation.” Also saluting Elms College President Harry Dumay and Sunshine Village. Cost: $25 for members in advance ($30 at the door), $35 for general admission ($40 at the door).
• Sept 14: Professional Women’s Chamber Luncheon, Munich Haus, 13 Center St., Chicopee.

WEST OF THE RIVER CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
www.ourwrc.com
(413) 426-3880

• Sept. 6: Wicked Wednesday, 5:30-7:30 p.m., hosted by Carrabba’s Italian Grill, West Springfield. Wicked Wednesdays are monthly social events, hosted by various businesses and restaurants, that bring members and non-members together to network in a laid-back atmosphere. For more information about this event, contact the chamber office at (413) 426-3880, or register at www.westoftheriverchamber.com.
• Sept. 13: September Breakfast, 7 to 9 a.m., hosted by Chez Josef in Agawam. The event will bring members and non-members together for a morning of breakfast, debate, and town updates. Attendees will have the opportunity to connect with local business people over breakfast and listen to the Agawam mayoral candidates discuss their views and ideas on how they plan to stimulate local business success. The moderator for this event will be Robert MacDonald of Work Opportunity Center in Agawam. Questions from the public and businesses can be submitted to [email protected]. In addition, West Springfield Mayor Will Reichelt will be on hand to discuss business-development plans for his community. Event sponsors include United Bank and bankESB. Sponsorship opportunities are still available. Tickets cost $35 for members and $45 for non-members. To register or sponsor this event, visit www.westoftheriverchamber.com.

Employer Confidence Slips in August

Last month’s slip reflected offsetting trends in employer attitudes about conditions inside and outside their walls. Employers grew less bullish about their own companies during the month, but showed growing optimism about the national economy and about prospects for manufacturers.

“Employer confidence continues to move in a narrow range defined by broad optimism about both the state and national economies,” said Raymond Torto, chair of AIM’s Board of Economic Advisors (BEA) and lecturer at Harvard Graduate School of Design. “The steady level of confidence readings above the 60 mark reflect a state economy that grew at a 4% annual rate during the second quarter while maintaining a steady level of employment growth.”

The constituent indicators that make up the overall Business Confidence Index were mixed during August. The Massachusetts Index, assessing business conditions within the Commonwealth, remained unchanged at 63.2, still 6.3 points higher than in August 2016. The U.S. Index of national business conditions rose 2.3 points to 60.2 amid strong signs of job expansion nationally. The U.S. Index has risen 10.6 points during the past year, more than any other element of the overall Business Confidence Index.

Still, August marked the 89th consecutive month in which employers have been more optimistic about the Massachusetts economy than the national economy.

The Current Index, which assesses overall business conditions at the time of the survey, edged up 0.1 points points to 61.3, while the Future Index, measuring expectations for six months out, dropped 0.6 points to 61.2. The Future Index ended the month 6.3 points higher than a year ago.

The Company Index, reflecting overall business conditions, lost 1.3 points to 60.9. The Employment Index surged 2.3 points to 58.0 after losing ground during July. Confidence was also remarkably consistent across all geographic regions of the Commonwealth. Eastern Mass. companies posted a 61.3 reading during August versus 61.1 for companies in Western Mass.

AIM President and CEO Richard Lord, a BEA member, noted that a significant number of employers who responded to the August survey expressed frustration with the new $200 million health-insurance surcharge and the proliferation of complex and expensive employment laws.

“Amid a generally strong economy, employers feel under siege from a government and an electorate that seem willing to impose crushing financial burdens on job creators in the name of social progress,” Lord said. “Employers are telling us that additional measures that may be headed to the statewide ballot — paid family leave, a $15 minimum wage, and a punitive surtax on incomes of more than $1 million — may force them to relocate.”

Innovation in Health/Wellness: Dr. Andrew Doben

Healthcare Heroes

ICU Surgeon Takes Cutting-edge Approach to Help Crush Victims

Dr. Andrew Doben
Dani Fine Photography

Dr. Andrew Doben has two real passions — beyond his family, of course.

Sailing and surgery. Not necessarily in that order, but probably.

They have been both pursuits and professions for Doben, and they are both well-represented on the walls and shelves in his small office at Baystate Medical Center.

Indeed, hanging next to his medical-school diploma is a poster from that famous (or infamous, depending on your point of view) 1983 America’s Cup, the one where Australia II, with its revolutionary winged keel, which Doben would describe in great detail, ended the New York Yacht Club’s 132-year hold on the cup. Not far from a shelf crammed with thick medical textbooks is a photograph of Doben and his children on his boat, a 41-foot Oceanis. And just across from a model of the titanium rib fixture he uses to save (and change) the lives of his patients, is another poster, this one complete with bits of sail flown by America3 in its successful America’s Cup defense in 1992.

“I know they’re genuine,” Doben said of these strips of sail, “because it looks like there’s some salt leaching onto the matting.”

Sailing and surgery; surgery and sailing. Doben can do more than talk about them with confidence and reverence in his voice. He can draw some stirring parallels and analogies between the two professions, as we’ll see. Together, they provide a window into how he views his work as director of the Surgical Intensive Care Unit at Baystate.

Which brings us back to that model mentioned earlier and a surgical treatment known as ‘surgical stabilization of rib fractures’ (SSRF), or rib fixation, which, as that name suggests, uses surgically implanted hardware to stabilize rib fractures. The procedure yields quicker recovery times, decreased mortality, reduced incidences of pneumonia, reduced use of ventilation after trauma to the chest, and less chest-wall deformity.

Doben explained. “With pretty much every bone in the human body, when you break it, you are, in some way, shape, or form, holding that bone stable while it heals, whether you put it in a cast, or you put some degree of fixation on it or through it — you stabilize that bone.

“And almost every bone in the body has had that to some degree, with the exception of the ribs,” he went on, adding that this is largely because they are always moving. “Fractures in motion will not heal.”

Years ago, surgeons would try casting or binding the ribs, Doben noted, but because they are so important to the respiratory process, this strategy is almost universally fatal. “People couldn’t take a deep breath, they got pneumonia, and they died.”

People trust a lot in you when you operate on them, and it’s very similar to the feeling you get when someone asks you to be their captain; they give you their boat, and they ask you to carry them through to safe passage; it’s very similar.”

Matters are further complicated by the fact that, if someone has endured an injury forceful enough to break several ribs, they have likely also damaged one or more of the organs that the ribs protect, he said, adding that for decades the hallmark of treatment of such patients was pain control, which led to slightly improved outcomes, with the emphasis on slightly.

Roughly 75 years of technical and medical developments, accelerated by several wars, have produced a fixation system, one that uses a combination of metal exoskeletal plates and pins to keep the ribs entirely immobile while damaged bone and tissue heal, resulting in reduced pain and a much shorter recovery time, as we’ll see later.

Doben’s emergence as one of the leading practitioners of rib fixation — he has performed the procedure more than 200 times, in his estimation — goes a long way to explaining why he is one of two winners in the Healthcare Heroes category called Innovation in Healthcare.

But that’s only part of the story. His tireless work to help make this surgical procedure more mainstream, thus saving more lives, is another big part. Indeed, while fib fixation is widely available in other countries, that is not the case in the U.S.; Doben is working to change that equation.

He noted that, while the number of rib-fixation procedures being performed in this country has risen, those numbers are skewed by the fact that most procedures are being undertaken at a handful of high-volume centers.

“Only a few dozen people in this country have performed as many as 100 of these operations,” he explained, adding that one of his goals moving forward is to create centers of excellence that will become referral centers for the treatment of people with such injuries and training centers for those who perform the procedure, with Baystate likely being one of the first of these centers.

Taking the High Road

As he talked about the start of his professional career — which saw him on the water, or ‘blue water,’ as it’s known to those who navigate it, and not in the OR — Doben made it clear that, while he misses some if not most aspects of that work, he has no regrets about wearing blue scrubs to work every day.

Nor does he have any regrets about not getting into finance, which would have been the most logical path to take with his degree in economics. Instead, he took, well, a different course, actually hundreds of them, as a professional sailor after being part of a nationally ranked sailing team at Connecticut College, a small liberal-arts school located across the street from the Coast Guard Academy in New London.

“I lived on boats and traveled all over the world,” he explained. “I was a captain and delivered sailboats; I did about 35,000 miles of open-ocean sailing prior to going to medical school.”

Elaborating, he said he was first employed by different companies that would lease out boats for sometimes lengthy excursions. It was his job to sail a boat back after a lessee was through with it.

“So someone might start in Tortola in the British Virgin Islands, and they’d finish in Antigua,” he explained. “Well … somehow that boat has to make it back to the British Virgin Islands. Someone has to have that horrible job of sailing that boat back.”

Later, Doben did well in the business of delivering sailboats to their owners. “Let’s say you live in New England and have a boat you keep in Newport, and you want it in the Caribbean for the winter, but you’re busy; you have a lifestyle where you can’t do it yourself. So you call someone up, and you pay them to bring that boat to you.”

They actually pay more than what he’s making now as a surgeon, Doben said with a smile on his face, noting that, while that life on the ocean sounds like something that would be difficult to leave, he did — and for several reasons.

For starters, life as a sailboat captain didn’t jibe with his ambitions for starting a family — “it’s a tough thing to step aside and say, ‘see you in 35 days,’” he noted. And despite the pleasing picture this lifestyle probably presents in one’s mind, reality is a little different.

“When you’re 600 miles from shore in 140 mile-per-hour winds wondering if your boat is going to sink, it’s not exactly the type of lifestyle most of us want to have in our mid-40s,” he told BusinessWest.

Dr. Andrew Doben can find many parallels between surgery and captaining a sailboat. In both cases, there is what amounts to a contractual agreement.

But, and this is a big but, he desired a lifestyle and a profession that would in many ways mirror what he found on the water.

“I wanted to find a career that was very dynamic, that was constantly changing,” he explained. “One of the things I love about being on the water and navigation is that you can study your whole life and still have things to learn about it.

“No matter what you think you know, things change so rapidly,” he went on, still referring to life on the ocean. “You can start out in the day in beautiful, sunny skies and finish in a tremendous storm, and you have to adjust to it. That dynamic part was something that was very important to me.”

And he’s found it in healthcare, and, more specifically, the operating room.

After going back to college and taking the requisite science courses, he enrolled in medical school at the University of Pittsburgh and quickly narrowed his focus to surgery. And in what couldn’t be considered an upset, he found some parallels between that specialty and being a sailing boat captain.

“I felt that there was a real connection to patients, and much more of what I would call a contractual agreement,” he explained. “People trust a lot in you when you operate on them, and it’s very similar to the feeling you get when someone asks you to be their captain; they give you their boat, and they ask you to carry them through to safe passage; it’s very similar.”

Current Events

Fast-forwarding a little, Doben came to Baystate and its 16-unit surgical intensive-care unit in 2010, a destination he chose because of the specific challenges and rewards it presented. And, once again, he can find similarities to life on the blue water.

“When I made the decision that I was going to this [surgery], I decided that I wanted to take care of the sickest of the sick,” he told BusinessWest. “I have the type of personality where … I was out with a friend sailing a few weekends ago, sailing in 40-miles-per-hour winds. I was having a blast.

“I’m not the sort who gets freaked out by bad things happening around me; I’m just sort of even-keeled,” he said, using terminology directly from his previous profession. “If something’s going wrong, I’m just going to focus and try to solve the problem.”

That phrase ‘sickest of the sick’ is often appropriate when taking about candidates for rib fixation. These are usually the victims of crush, fall, and explosive-force injuries and are often elderly, said Doben, adding that he considers himself at the forefront of efforts not only to perform this procedure, but to educate the medical community about its ability to save lives and improve quality of life, while dramatically reducing the overall costs of treating such patients.

“Most bones heal in six weeks, but with ribs, because they’re constantly moving, you’re talking about three to six months,” he said while explaining the many benefits to be derived from this procedure. “If you’re a contractor and you’re self-employed, and you have a raise a hammer over your head, six months to not be able to do that is a long time.

“Roughly 60% of the people who have a severe chest-wall injury remain unemployed for up to a year,” he went on. “We can get people back to work, full-time employment, in three to six weeks.”

He reports that some progress has been made in mainstreaming SSRF, but there is still considerable work to be done.

“In 2009, we wrote a paper on this during my fellowship, and we basically had tomatoes thrown at us when we were at the national meetings,” he recalled. “And now, we’re asked to come to the national meetings and talk about it; it’s been such a frame shift.”

Progress is reflected in the number of rib-fixation procedures being undertaken in this country, he went on, noting that there were maybe 100 cases performed in 2001; by 2014, that number had risen to more than 3,300.

But behind those statistics are some troubling trends, he went on, adding that there are only 20 surgical centers across the country that are performing this surgery more than 30 times a year.

“Most centers are doing one or two a year,” he explained. “And when you look at the patient pool and the injury-severity scores, meaning ‘how badly injured is this patient?’ the number is almost double at the high-volume centers. So the sicker patients are being treated at the high-volume centers, and the mortality is half what it is at the lower-volume centers. So the lower centers are seeing patients who aren’t as sick, with less frequency, and they’re having worse outcomes.

“And that makes sense,” he went on. “If you don’t do the operation a lot and you don’t have a lot of experience, your outcomes are not going to be the same. This is concerning to me, and we’ve been working on that.”

This work is largely focused on creating those centers of excellence he mentioned, adding that he and others with the Chest Wall Injury Society are working to establish the criteria for such centers.

And there is much more to this than having specialists who can perform the rib-fixation surgery, he explained.

“The operation is only one-tenth of the puzzle,” he explained. “The puzzle is the team that takes care of these people. The respiratory specialists, the ICU, anesthesia, the pain management, the post-op management, the physical therapists … it’s a whole host of people. The operation just helps accelerate that process.”

And while establishing these centers of excellence that the ill and injured can be referred to, Doben and others will work to greatly increase the number of surgeons who perform this procedure, with an eye toward improving care in currently underserved areas.

Elaborating, he said there are maybe two dozen facilities that may soon become centers for excellence, and most are clustered in the western part of the country, where there are higher incidences of motorcycling and skiing injuries. Other parts of the country are underserved, he went on, listing Boston, where there is only one surgeon who performs this procedure, as an example.

“There are many people who don’t even know this procedure is available,” he said, adding that his goal now is to not only change that equation, but make the procedure available to more people.

Stemming the Tide

Returning to his thoughts about why he chose surgery as a profession and the ICU as the place to call his professional home, Doben recalled something that a friend of his father and a cardiologist by trade once said to him — something that has obviously stayed with him.

“He said, ‘being a doctor is a great privilege, where you get to see people in their most vulnerable states,’ and there’s nothing more true about that than the ICU, both for patients and families. And I enjoy that relationship of being able to work with people to get them through all that, to get them to safe passage.”

“Sometimes they don’t get there; they don’t survive,” he went on, adding that helping people live out their final days and moments in dignity is often as rewarding as saving a life.

That reference to safe passage was yet another analogy to sailing, a profession Doben has left behind him. Yet the sailing mindset remains — to focus on the horizon and chart a course that will get where you need to go.

And with SSRF and the challenge of bringing that breakthrough technology to more of the people who can benefit from it, he has done just that.

George O’Brien can be reached at [email protected]

Prospect Meadow Farm Provides Jobs, Therapy

Features

Growth Opportunities

Aerial Mehler with ‘Snowy,’ her pet goat.

When Prospect Meadow Farm was conceived six years ago, the thinking was that working outdoors and with animals could have a significant therapeutic effect on those with autism or developmental disorders. “That’s something I believed in before this started, but I didn’t quite know how powerful it was,” Shawn Robinson noted, adding that he certainly knows now.

Aerial Mehler grew up on the western end of Long Island, just a short train ride from Manhattan. So, in most all respects, she considers herself a city girl.

Thus, when her family relocated to Western Mass. several years ago, her first reaction was that this region was, in all likelihood, too rural for her liking.

And when she was approached about working at Prospect Meadow Farm in Hatfield, a vocational-services program operated by Northampton-based ServiceNet, after becoming frustrated at a few other employment settings, she was more than a little dubious about the notion that she would soon warm to the place, vocationally and otherwise.

“I thought, ‘I’m from the city — I don’t do this stuff,’” she told BusinessWest, adding that today … well, she does do that stuff, or at least some of the many things that fall into the broad realm of agriculture and farm management.

In fact, she is the program assistant to the facility’s director, Shawn Robinson, and carries out a host of administrative duties ranging from sending out bills to the farm’s many customers, especially those who purchase its eggs and log-grown shiitake mushrooms, to drafting reports to the state, to maintaining the farm’s Facebook page.

“I call myself the on-call employee, because if something needs to be done, I do it, and it’s something different every day,” said Mehler, 29, who actually owns one of the goats now living at the farm, a spirited white female appropriately named ‘Snowy.’

“I’d say I’m a regular here, but that’s a setting on a washing machine,” she joked, expressing an opinion held (if not openly expressed) by most all those who work at the farm — men and women of all ages who are on the autism spectrum or have a developmental disability.

Indeed, there are no ‘regulars’ at Prospect Meadow, only individuals with various talents who, it was thought, could certainly benefit from working outdoors, around animals, and as part of a diverse workforce handling various assignments that, like Mehler’s, are different every day — and also make $11 an hour while doing so.

And six years later, that theory has been validated — and then some.

parsley

At top, farmhand Brittany Rawson tends to some of the parsley plants at Prospect Meadow Farm. Below, Shawn Robinson, director of the farm, with one of the resident llamas.

“When the facility was created in 2011, it was with the thinking that there would be a significant therapeutic effect to working outdoors and working with animals,” said Robinson. “That’s something I believed in before this started, but I didn’t quite know how powerful it was.

“One thing that we’ve seen is that people who were not successful in other work programs and had explosive behaviors, for example, would come here, and we just wouldn’t see those behaviors,” he went on. “And I have to credit a lot of it to the outdoors and the animals.”

Prospect Meadow is a multi-faceted operation with many moving parts. There are anywhere from 800 to 1,000 chickens on the property at any given time, and egg sales are a huge part of this business. Likewise, a shiitake-mushroom venture that started small and continues to grow provides those products to a host of area restaurants and stores.

There is also a landscaping component — crews will be sent out to handle a wide range of small residential and commercial jobs — as well as a catering operation managed out of the farmhouse. There are also plans in the works for both a feed store and a small café, separate operations that will provide employees with additional opportunities to interact with the public.

And, yes, the farm sells goats as well — to those, like Aerial, who want them as pets; to groups who need them for culinary offerings to be served at dinners and festivals; and to entrepreneurs who ‘employ’ them as “lawnmowers,” as Robinson called them.

But while Prospect Meadow might be gaining an identity from all of the above and especially the mushrooms, it is, at its core, a place of opportunity — employment-wise and personal-development-wise — for those who come here and don shirts with the farm’s logo, a rooster.

“We’re helping to increase these individuals’ skills and improve any sort of vocational deficiencies that may be identified, while also providing them with a real, paying job experience in a supportive environment,” Robinson explained, “with the hope that combining that support with that training could eventually lead to them being very successful in any career they pursue elsewhere.”

For this issue, BusinessWest visited Prospect Meadow to gain a full appreciation for the many aspects of this operation and the many ways it is cultivating growth, in every sense of that term.

An Idea Takes Root

When BusinessWest asked Robinson if he could pick up one of the chickens he was pointing out as he offered a tour of the farm and make it part of a picture, he replied with a confident “sure, no problem.”

The chickens, however, were not going along with the program.

Indeed, try as he might — and he tried several times — Robinson could not get both hands around any of these fast-moving fowl, and both hands are needed. So he suggested that the resident llamas might prove to be more willing subjects for a photo shoot.

Farm director Shawn Robinson (second from left) with, from left, farmhands Ana Tyson, Vicki Taft, and Justin Cabral.

Only, they weren’t. They were rather shy and kept retreating to their wooden home or the shaded area behind it; only bribery, in the form of a late-morning snack, seemed to help. Their recalcitrance gave Robinson an opportunity to shed some light on their presence at the farm (in some respects, they are where this story begins) and one of their primary assignments — protecting the chickens who live in the same general area on the 11-acre property.

“They use their legs to really fight, and other animals know that, and even their scent keeps some predators away … but they’ll go after other animals, too,” said Robinson, noting that, while llamas are certainly not indigenous to Hatfield, many chicken-loving animals that are, including coyotes, bobcats, and even the occasional bear, seem to know instinctively that messing with a llama is not a good career move.

But these long-legged animals have, as noted, another, far more important role at Prospect Meadow, that of being therapy of sorts for those who come to work there, and this takes Robinson back before the start of this decade and the genesis of Prospect Meadow.

A ServiceNet-operated residential program in Williamsburg for individuals with psychiatric issues was gifted some llamas, he explained, adding that the animals were having a recognizably positive impact on the residents, information that made its way back to ServiceNet director Sue Stubbs.

She was already aware of highly successful farm operations at the former Northampton State Hospital and other similar facilities, he said, and this knowledge, coupled with entreaties from the state for the development of more innovative vocational-services programs, spurred discussions about perhaps establishing such an operation.

However, the original vision was for a residential program for individuals with chronic mental illness, he continued, adding that Prospect Meadow eventually evolved into what it is today, a vocational program with 40 to 45 people working on the property on a any given day.

As for Robinson, he had no experience in the sector known as agribusiness, but that didn’t stop him from seeking out this career opportunity — or from thinking he had what it would really take to succeed in the role of director.

“I live in Hatfield and know lots of farmers, but certainly wasn’t an expert in that area,” he told BusinessWest. “But I was an expert in developing things and building things, so I was pretty confident that I could come up with a vision and develop this into something with the support of the ServiceNet leadership.”

And he was right; he’s built Prospect Meadow into that unique vocational-services program the state desired.

Individuals are referred to the program through the Mass. Department of Developmental Services (DDS) or through a school’s special-education department, and they often arrive after working in other settings.

Most of the farmhands are between the ages of 18 and 35, but there are some who are much older, and one individual recently retired after turning 65. They come from across Western Mass., but most live in Franklin and Hampshire counties.

Revenue to maintain the farm and its various facilities and pay some of the employees is generated in a number of ways, including the sale of eggs, mushrooms, and other products; the catering and landscaping services; and through community-supported agriculture (CSA) shares sold to area residents who, through those contributions, not only support the farm and its work, but fill their table with fresh produce.

Robinson said the farm operation takes on added significance today not only because it provides a different and in many ways better employment opportunity for those with various developmental disabilities, but because such opportunities are becoming increasingly harder to find.

Indeed, he said piecework job opportunities in area factories are fewer in number, and for a variety of reasons. And while some employers actively hire individuals with developmental disabilities, there is a recognized need for more landing spots.

Not a Garden-variety Business

Still, as noted, Prospect Meadow isn’t merely another a place of employment for those who come here. Because it is agribusiness, it provides opportunities daily that fall more in the category of ‘therapy’ than ‘work,’ although they are obviously both.

And this brought Robinson back to the subject of the animals, which are not exactly a profit center (with the exception of the chickens and their eggs), but provide payback of a far different kind.

“We keep the animals, even at a little bit of a loss, because they are able to make the farmhands more impactful in their other work,” he explained. “Having that 20 minutes to feed a goat in the morning or care for a rabbit makes them more focused when they’re dealing with the shiitake mushrooms or working in the garden.”

Indeed, the farmhands, when asked about what they enjoyed most about coming to work every day, typically started with the animals.

But they also spoke of the importance of the bigger picture, meaning being able to earn a better paycheck, learn a number of different skills, do something different every day, and work alongside others.

It was Justin Cabral, an energetic, extremely candid 26-year-old from Deerfield, who probably best summed up the many types of opportunities that the farm provides to individuals like him.

“I really love this job; it’s a real blessing,” he told BusinessWest, before going into some detail about all that he meant by that. And he started with some very practical matters.

“Before I came here, I was doing piecework at a different place,” he noted. “The pay wasn’t very good at all; I decided to leave and come here.”

We’re helping to increase these individuals’ skills … while also providing them with a real, paying job experience in a supportive environment.”

But then, he moved on to the many other elements in this equation — everything from gaining confidence from taking on various job assignments (including work to drill holes in logs with power tools) to learning how to work in teams, to overcoming fears, such as those involving animals.

“I drill holes in the shiitake logs, and I’ve become really good at it,” said Cabral, now in his second year at the farm. “And I used to be afraid of the chickens and the rabbits, and a lot of the animals here, but not anymore.

“I like everything … I like the egg collections, I like working out in the fields, I like feeding the animals, I like hanging out with my friends, and a lot more,” he said in conclusion. “It’s a great job, and there’s something here for everybody.”

Those sentiments were echoed by the many others we spoke with, and through their comments it became clear that Prospect Meadow provides much more than jobs.

Indeed, Robinson said the experience gained at the farm can open the doors for people in a variety of other settings, including other area farms, where individuals would work independent of state support.

Meanwhile, there are career paths at Prospect Meadow itself, he noted, adding that one can move — and some have — from farmhand to senior farmhand to ‘job coach,’ a level where the state is providing no funding for the individual, who has moved into what amounts to, as the name implies, a coaching position.

Scott Kingsley, 36, is a candidate for that job title, which would bring with it a host of new responsibilities, a pay increase, and benefits such as health insurance. He is currently working to help open the feed store and will work closely with those assigned to that operation.

“I like working with the animals, but I also like doing all kinds of different things,” said Kingsley, clutching the walkie-talkie that also comes with senior-farmhand status. “I guess what I like most is working with other people and helping them make money.”

Experts in Their Field

As he wrapped up his interview with BusinessWest, Cabral turned to Robinson, who asked him if he wanted to go back to his duties at the shiitake logs or hang in and listen to others as they offered comments.

“I’m not getting paid to sit here and talk,” he said with a voice that blended sarcasm and seriousness in equal doses. “I’ve got to go back to work.”

And he did just that, as the others would when it was their turn.

Most of them come here for four or five days a week, in all kinds of weather and at all times of year (this is a farm, after all). But none of them would prefer to be called a regular.

That term, as Mehler so eloquently noted, should be reserved for one of the buttons on a washing machine.

Here, there are only individual farmhands who together comprise a hard-working team that makes this farm a well-run business where there are growth opportunities — of every breed and variety.

And a place that can almost prompt Mehler to say she was a city girl.

George O’Brien can be reached at [email protected]

Lee Builds on Identity as Gateway to Berkshires

Community Spotlight Features

Community Spotlight

By Alta J. Stark

Colleen Henry says Lee has always had a great location, but as a community, it has also been very innovative.

Ask a Lee business leader or owner what the key to their success is, and you’ll hear one resounding answer: “location, location, location.”

Lee’s prime location at Massachusetts Turnpike exit 2 has afforded the town some of the best economic opportunities in Berkshire County. “It’s ideal in that regard,” said Jonathan Butler, the president and CEO of 1Berkshire.

“Lee has always had a solid amount of traffic through its downtown because of its proximity to the Pike, and having Route 20 run right through its downtown, but the community doesn’t rest on location alone,” he told BusinessWest. “They’ve done a lot of work to make the town a destination, not just a spot people pass through.”

The community has undergone quite an impressive downtown revitalization over the past decade, following a series of economic transitions in the ’80s and ’90s, as large employers, including a series of paper mills, closed. The most recent such closure was Schweitzer-Mauduit International in 2008, which led to the loss of several hundred jobs in the community. Butler says the town got back on its feet by “forging a partnership between its town government and its community development corporation. They did a lot of good work in the 2000s, focusing on redevelopment projects of a few key downtown properties. They also did a big facelift for the downtown, making it look much more inviting for all the traffic that comes through.”

“People have worked really hard to make Lee beautiful and livable,” said Colleen Henry, executive director of the Lee Chamber of Commerce. “We’re very innovative in Lee, and always have been.”

In fact, town founders were so savvy, they redirected the location of the Housatonic River. Lee was founded in the 1700s when the river flowed down the town’s current Main Street. Henry says the area flooded often because it was on a downhill, so the river was redirected to expand to the riverbank and enable downtown to flourish.

Today, there’s a lot of diversity to Lee’s economy, including high-quality manufacturing jobs, farms, quality eateries and resorts, eclectic stores, coffee shops, and iconic retailers.

This mix has created an intriguing business story, one that is continuously adding new chapters. For this, the latest installment of its Community Spotlight series, BusinessWest turns some of those pages.

What’s in Store

The largest employer in Lee is the Lee Premium Outlets, which, during the tourist season, employs about 750 people in its 60 outlet stores. Carolyn Edwards, general manager of the complex, said the facility recognizes the important role it plays in driving the local economy.

“We tend to advertise out of market to draw tourists and shoppers to the region. Our customer base is driven by cultural attractions such as Tanglewood, Jacob’s Pillow, and Shakespeare & Company,” said Edwards. “But once they’re here, they make a day, sometimes a week of it, and we’re always giving recommendations for ‘what’s a great restaurant to eat at?’ or ‘can you recommend a great hotel to stay at tonight?’ If it’s a rainy day, they ask, ‘what can I do with the kids?’

“We try to stay in tune with what’s going on in the community,” she went on. “And I think it’s a good relationship where we offer something for folks who are here, and then we’re driving business elsewhere as well.”

Edwards said the outlets average about 2 million visitors a year, with shoppers coming from local markets, as well as regional and international locations.

Lee Premium Outlets has become a destination within a destination community.

“I love meeting the customers,” she said. “I’m always amazed at people who show up from far and away. In the summer, we have a lot of foreign camp counselors who come here to ramp up their wardrobes before going back to the UK, France, and Spain. It’s fun to see them buy things that they’re excited to bring back and show their families. We always look forward to their return.”

Edwards said they come for brand names like Michael Kors, Coach, and Calvin Klein, and they return each year to see what’s new. “We always want to deliver a new experience when someone comes. We’re different from maybe your local mall in that respect because we’re kind of a destination. Shoppers look forward to coming, they plan on coming, and when they do, that’s always the first question: ‘what’s new?’”

Down the road a piece is the headquarters and distribution center of another iconic retailer, Country Curtains. Colleen Henry said its annual sale at the Rink is a big draw. “When they have their sales, they put up a sign. People stop their cars and get out. Once they do that, and walk around Lee and see all that we have to offer, then we all benefit.”

Trade, transportation, and utilities lead the list of employment by industry in Lee, followed by leisure and hospitality, and education and health services. Manufacturing is number four on the list, and while many of the paper mills have closed, the sector is still holding strong, making up more than 7% of the workforce in the Berkshires, and representing some of the highest wages in the region. In Lee, in particular, there are three high-tech companies along the Route 102 corridor that are providing some of the highest wages in the region.

Onyx Specialty Papers is the town’s third-largest employer with more than 150 employees. Butler said it’s a remnant of some of the larger mill closings in the 2000s that was bought by local shareholders with a vision. “It’s now locally run and owned, and they’ve innovated their technology to produce very unique, technically exacting papers. Their products are distributed across the globe.”

Down the road there’s Berkshire Sterile Manufacturing, a manufacturer to the pharmaceutical industry, a relatively new employer that found its way to Lee with the help of a strong regional partnership.

“We not only helped them find space, we also worked with our local community college to do some specific training for their workforce needs,” said Butler.

SEE: Lee at a glance

Year Incorporated: 1777
Population: 5,878
Area: 27 square miles
County: Berkshire
Residential Tax Rate: $14.72
Commercial Tax Rate: $14.72
Median Household Income: $58,790
Median Family Income: $71,452
Type of government: Representative Town Meeting
Largest employers: Lee Premium Outlets; Country Curtains; Onyx Specialty Papers; the Village at Laurel Lake; Oak ‘n Spruce Resort; Big Y
* Latest information available

A third high-end employer providing quality jobs is Boyd Technologies, another company that’s been successful in transitioning from one generation of ownership to the next. Butler said he’s encouraged by these companies because “they’re doing a great job of innovating and diversifying what they’re doing. The economy’s evolving, and they’re evolving with it.”

Henry said she’s working to bring in more high-tech companies. “We have the space for it; we have more open land than a few others of the towns in the Berkshires, so we have the room to grow and expand.”

Henry is also excited by a huge project that’s been on the horizon for several years now, the redevelopment of the Eagle Mill. It’s one of those old Schweitzer-Mauduit mills off North Main Street that has been closed for several years.

Renaissance Mill LLC is working to transform the space into a mix of different economic uses that could help expand downtown offerings, adding everything from lodging to additional eateries and attractions.

“Projects like the Eagle Mill give Lee the opportunity to continue to become a bigger and bigger part of the Berkshire visitor economy, and it’s also a space that eventually will be able to attract next-generation families with a variety of different affordable-housing options,” said Butler. “Presently, Lee boasts relatively reasonable real-estate prices from both the rental and buyer’s market perspective. Adding additional affordable housing will position the town to be very competitive.”

Character Building

Of course, the heart and soul of the town is its quintessential New England charm. Lee has maintained its small-town character through decades of growth and change.

“That’s what we’re all about, and what we would like to be known for even more,” said Henry. “We benefit from the location because we’re at the entrance to a great tourist destination, but we also benefit from the location because it’s beautiful on its own.”

Butler agreed, noting that “Lee is one of those Berkshire communities that’s really bounced back in the past 15 years in terms of its downtown being filled up with great coffee shops, cool bars and restaurants, and an interesting mix of quality stores. It really has a destination feel to it for visitors to the Berkshires, but it’s also the type of downtown that’s really prominent for residents who live in the community.”

Joe’s Diner has been serving the community for more than 60 years, literally and figuratively. Customers far and wide know the diner as the backdrop of one of Norman Rockwell’s most well-known works, “The Runaway,” featuring a state trooper and a young boy sitting on stools in the diner.

The Sept. 20, 1958 Saturday Evening Post cover hangs proudly in the diner, next to a photo of the neighbors Rockwell recruited to model for him, state trooper Richard Clemens and Eddie Locke. Longtime staffers are used to the attention, and don’t miss a beat filling coffee cups while they help make memories for visitors.

Lee is also home to “the best courtroom in the county,” where its most famous case was that of Arlo Guthrie, whose day in court is remembered in the lyrics to his famous war-protest song, “Alice’s Restaurant.”

But there are other hidden gems that Henry invites people to discover, like the Animagic Museum on Main Street, where visitors can learn about the many local animators who made movie magic in films such as 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Matrix, and The Lord of the Rings. One of the town’s quirkiest claims to fame is on property that was once the Highfield Farm. “Monument to a Cow” is a marble statue of a cow named Highfield Colantha Mooie, who in her 18 years produced 205,928 pounds of milk.

Henry says it’s the diversity of business and industry that drives Lee’s economy.

“You can get everything you need in Lee. You don’t have to go somewhere else,” she said. “And you can buy from people who you know, people you see in church and in the grocery store and at basketball games. Supporting the community is really important, and people really do that in Lee. Residents understand that supporting the local economy is really important to our survival.”

Edwards said Lee is unique because of its thriving downtown.

“It’s alive, and it’s beautiful. You turn onto Main Street and see flowers everywhere,” she said. “It’s well-kept, and there are locally owned businesses there and restaurants that are very unique and not necessarily chain restaurants, so there is the best of both worlds in Lee.”

On Location

Henry says she’s proud to be part of Lee’s success story and recognizes it’s just part of the bigger Berkshire picture.

“We’re a work in progress, part of a bigger whole that’s more than just individual town thinking,” she told BusinessWest. “We’re tied into this together in a lot of ways.”

Butler agreed, and said the region has a good handle on the future. “We know what the challenges are, and we have a growing understanding of where the opportunities are,” he explained. “Lee is a great microcosm of the Berkshires in that it went through the same economic transitions that the majority of our communities went through in the ’70s into the ’90s and early 2000s, but Lee bounced back.

“It’s found its place in the visitor economy,” he went on. “It’s found its place in having employers that are evolving and doing cutting-edge things, and it’s attracting families. It’s a really great example of the potential for all our Berkshire communities.”

New England Unemployment Rate Holds Steady in July

By BusinessWest Staff September 1, 2017

BOSTON — The New England Information Office of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released New England and state unemployment numbers for July 2017. These data are supplied by the Local Area Unemployment Statistics program, which produces monthly and annual employment, unemployment, and labor-force data for Census regions and divisions, states, counties, metropolitan areas, and many cities, by place of residence.

According to the release, the New England unemployment rate was unchanged at 4.1% in July. One year ago, the New England jobless rate was 4.0%. The U.S. jobless rate was little changed from June, at 4.4%. Meanwhile, three New England states posted jobless rates that were significantly different from the U.S. rate of 4.3%. Maine (3.7%), Vermont (3.1%), and New Hampshire (2.8%) had significantly lower unemployment rates and were among 18 states in the country to do so.

Addiction & Recovery Awareness 5K and Music Festival Set for Sept. 9

By BusinessWest Staff August 28, 2017