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Presented by Health New England

By Dr. Laurie Gianturco

Dr. Laurie Gianturco

Telehealth is the use of telecommunications and information technologies to deliver clinical care, preventative services, wellness services, patient education, and other health care related services from a distance.

But what does that mean to health care members and why should they take notice?

Telehealth is transforming the way health care is delivered, expanding it beyond the traditional doctor’s office to virtual consultations over the phone and on smart devices. Members can request a phone or online video consultation with a telehealth physician to treat low-acuity medical issues such as a cold, the flu, rash, urinary tract infections, ear infections, and more.

Roughly 30% of family physicians in rural communities have embraced telehealth, according to research conducted by the Robert Graham Center. An aging population, increasing incidences of chronic disease, and rapid technology advancements are fueling growth in the market.

Health New England was the first Massachusetts health plan to offer telehealth services to its members through a company called Teladoc. Health New England began offering telehealth services to its members in August 2015 as a convenient, affordable alternative to costly emergency room visits for non-urgent care.

Teladoc providers are U.S. board-certified in internal medicine, family practice, emergency medicine, pediatrics, dermatology and behavioral health. They are U.S. residents and are licensed in Massachusetts, with an average of 20 years of practice experience. Since Teladoc was launched in 2002, they have provided 1.6 million tele-visits.

To ensure continuity of care, Teladoc providers share information from a member’s virtual visit with their Primary Care Provider (PCP) so he or she is aware of the visit and can follow up as needed. Another benefit is that a Teladoc visit typically costs a member around $40, significantly lower than the cost of visiting an urgent care center or Emergency Department.

Teladoc offers a convenient option for members who need care for occasional minor issues after hours as well as those on vacation, on a business trip or away from home. Teladoc is not intended to replace a member’s PCP for ongoing care and for managing chronic conditions.
If you have a non-urgent medical need after hours, and your health plan offers a telehealth program, it’s an option that could save you time and money while providing care coordination with your PCP.

Dr. Laurie Gianturco serves as Vice President and Chief Medical Officer of Health New England. Dr. Gianturco is board certified in radiology and nuclear medicine.

STCC Project Is Historic on Many Levels

Construction Sections

Centuries in the Making

Rendering of the library in the renovated Building 19. (Ann Beha Architects)

As Springfield Technical Community College commences a year-long 50th-anniversary celebration, a landmark historic restoration project is taking shape — with the accent on ‘landmark.’ So-called Building 19, a 700-foot-long warehouse that predates the Civil War, is being converted into a campus center, a project that will enable the past and present to co-exist in a powerful fashion.

Tom Duszlak says he’s heard all the rumors.

Actually, they’re more like legends. And some of them are fact.

Like the story related to him about the construction crews that, while working to set oil tanks at what is known as Building 32 on the campus of the Springfield Armory more than a half-century ago, unearthed bones belonging to soldiers from the War of 1812.

“They were digging out the floors to put in these storage tanks when they came across some skeletons,” said Alex Mac-Kenzie, curator at the Armory, noting that, in the early 19th century, Building 32 was a barracks. An influenza outbreak swept the region, killing several soldiers, and they were buried right on site.

There are many other stories concerning people finding bones, uniform fragments, tools, and other items on the grounds during various building projects, and the validity of some tales is a matter of conjecture. But Duszlak says there is absolutely no debating the underlying (pun intended) sentiment regarding this historic site, chosen more than two centuries ago by George Washington: that one never really knows what might be found in the ground there.

Tom Duszlak says the Building 19 projects comes with a healthy list of challenges, including uncertainty about what crews may unearth at this historic site.

And that’s just one of the many challenges confronting Hartford, Conn.-based Consigli Construction, which Duszlak serves as project superintendent, as it takes the lead role in an ambitious, $50 million project to convert the cavernous structure known as Building 19 (right next door to Building 32) into a new campus center for Springfield Technical Community College.

Actually, crews have already unearthed some “artifacts” (Duszlak’s word) while undertaking some extensive infrastructure work at the site.

“We found some cow bones and a few pieces of metal that might be part of an old piece of manufacturing equipment,” he said, adding that the ‘we,’ in this case, is mostly a reference to the full-time archeologist — hired by the National Park Service, which manages the Armory site — who is on hand whenever crews dig deeper than four inches.

And there’s been a lot of digging to date, with most of it still to come — this building is 700 feet long, said Duszlak, adding quickly that, while a small part of him wants to unearth something intriguing — “I’d love to find an old cannonball or something like that” — the project superintendent in him is more pragmatic and fully understands that finding ordnance, let alone old soldiers’ bones, would mean potentially lengthy delays in an already-demanding project.

As mentioned, the fact that the Armory grounds could be described collectively as an archeological site is just one of the challenges facing Consigli, Ann Beha Architects, the state Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance (DCAMM), and STCC administrators as they proceed with this project. Others include the reality that this mammoth initiative must play itself out on a crowded college campus populated by 8,000 students and another 1,000 faculty and staff; that the site’s infrastructure, complete with some brick water lines, is quite old and mostly in need of replacement; that the work is taking place, in part, on a road system designed for horses and buggies; and that, with every bit of digging or restoration work, unforeseen problems may arise.

But the challenges ever-present in this project to convert what amounts to a 19th-century warehouse for walnut gun stocks into a thoroughly wired, 21st-century community-college nerve center, are also what make it so intriguing, and so rewarding.

“There’s history all around you here,” Duszlak noted. “Working in an environment like this — a functioning college campus — is logistically difficult, and this is demanding work. But it’s fun to blend the past with the present.”

Architect George Faber stands in the center of historic Building 19 as a multi-faceted restoration effort takes place around him

George Faber, project designer with Boston-based Ann Beha working on the Building 19 project, agreed.

“One of the main design goals here is respecting the building as it is, and as it was, while making it modern for contemporary use,” he said. “We’re obviously not trying to replicate the old; we’re trying to complement it in a way that might even teach someone about the history of this campus.”

For this issue and its focus on construction, BusinessWest talked with Duszlak, Faber, and others involved with this project — which is historic in every sense of that word — to get a sense for all that’s involved with an endeavor that has been centuries in the making — quite literally.

History Lessons

As he and others gave BusinessWest a quick tour of the Building 19 construction site, Faber stopped to point out a few of the original wooden shutters, or louvers, that graced the dozens of arches and curved windows that give the structure its unique identity.

Crews will replicate those features, and be meticulous in their efforts to match the material, look, and original color — something that was difficult to determine, Faber explained, adding that some of the originals that are in good shape will be restored and put back in place.

Thus, there will be an effective blend, or co-existence, if you will, of old and new, which, in a nutshell, is what this project is all about.

In construction circles, this kind work is considered a specialty, both for the architects and the contractors. And both Consigli and Ann Beha Architects have deep portfolios of similar projects.

Consigli, for example, has handled a number of projects in the category it calls ‘landmark restoration,’ including one unfolding just a mile or so, as the crow flies, from the STCC campus. This would be work on the headquarters building of the former Westinghouse complex on Springfield’s east side, now the home of the massive assembly plant being built by Chinese rail car maker CRRC MA.

Other projects in the portfolio include an elaborate restoration of New York’s historic Capitol Building, which dates back to 1867; restoration of the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s 19th-century Renwick Gallery; renovation of three historic buildings on the Trinity College campus in Hartford; and work to restore the exterior envelope of Maine Medical Center in Portland, opened in 1874.

Ann Beha Architects, meanwhile, has undertaken many historic preservation and restoration initiatives on college campuses, including MIT, the University of Chicago, Yale, Bates, and others.

“Ann Beha started her career doing historic-preservation work, so it’s always been a big focus for us,” said Faber, referring to the company’s founder. “We’ve done work in museums, colleges, and other institutions.”

This is the first project for both firms on the STCC campus, which means crews have undoubtedly absorbed a number of history lessons — and heard a number of stories, like the one about soldiers’ skeletons being unearthed — while taking on this ambitious undertaking.

They know, for example, that the buildings they’re using to stage and manage this project (as opposed to the traditional trailers that dot most construction sites) were once officers’ quarters dating back to the Civil War.

By then, of course, the Armory had accumulated almost a century of history, having opened its doors in 1777. Chosen by Washington in part because the site would be safe from naval bombardment — Springfield is located just north of a waterfall in Enfield that cannot be navigated by ocean-going vessels — the Armory did, nonetheless, come under attack. Sort of.

This was Shays’ Rebellion in 1787, a quickly crushed insurrection — one that nonetheless helped inspire the Federal Constitutional Convention — led by Pelham farmer Daniel Shays, a Revolutionary War solider who had gathered a number of rebels who, like him, were upset with their financial plight and thus the state’s government, and decided that seizing the arsenal in Springfield would certainly get someone’s attention.

Since arriving on site several months ago, crews might also have been learned about John Garand, the legendary Canadian-born firearms designer employed by the Armory who created the famous M1 Garand semi-automatic rifle, which Gen. George Patton would call “the greatest battle implement ever devised.”

building-19

Above, Building 19, as seen in the early 1930s; below, a rendering of what will be called the Learning Commons. (Ann Beha Architects)

At its height, during World War II, the Armory would employ more than 14,000 people making M1s and a host of other weapons, but two decades after that conflict ended, Defense Secretary Robert McNamara — earning himself an ignominious place in Springfield history — determined that private defense contractors could manufacture the nation’s weapons. He ordered the decommissioning of the Armory, putting more than 2,000 people out of work, a decision that would damage the local economy but also pave the way for the site’s next life.

Indeed, a group of area leaders, including then- (and also future) Springfield Mayor Charlie Ryan; Edmund Garvey, then-director of the Springfield Technical Institute; state Rep. Anthony Scibelli; and Springfield industrialist Joseph Deliso Sr. pushed for legislation that would create a “two-year college of technology.” (Their efforts, and their legacy, will be celebrated at STCC’s Founders Day festivities on Sept. 9, the first in a year-long series of events to mark the college’s 50th anniversary.)

Blueprint for the Future

The Founders Day speeches will be delivered in the gym in Building 2 on the STCC campus (a.k.a. Scibelli Hall). Those taking them in will need to look only a few dozen yards to the north to see the beehive of activity at ‘19,’ as it’s known colloquially.

Unlike other Armory structures, especially its main administration building, now named after Garvey, 19 has not had any significant role with the college since it was formed, other than as a warehouse for equipment that was no longer needed but couldn’t be discarded.

All that is about to change, though, and in a big way.

Indeed, the renovated structure, due to open in the fall of 2018, will be home to a wide array of offices and facilities now scattered across the campus, including the library, admissions, registration, financial aid, the bookstore, the welcome center, student government, the parking office, health services, student activities, a café, the IT help desk, meeting and conference space, and much more.

This collection of facilities will be called the Learning Commons, and if that sounds like a lot to put under one roof, remember that the roof of 19 covers a building longer than two football fields, complete with the end zones, and there are two full floors and a loft third floor.

As noted, converting a structure that large, built a century and a half before the Internet was conceived, 40 years before the lightbulb, 35 years before the telephone, and 80 years before air conditioning (and thus not designed for any of the above) — all while maintaining its original architectural elements and being on the cutting edge of energy efficiency (LEED Silver designation) — will be a stern challenge.

This will require, as Faber noted earlier, coexistence of the old and the new, because they’re both vital, but for different reasons.

“From a design standpoint, it’s really about respecting the tradition of the building,” he explained, adding that this can and will be done, while also making the facility ‘green’ and state-of-the-art with regard to information technology.

Duszlak said there are a number of stages to the project, many of which will be carried out concurrently.

Late this spring, work began in earnest on infrastructure, what he called the “enabling phase,” including water, sewer, and electrical lines. He added that crews made the very most of the three months when the student population is greatly diminished, with the goal of minimizing disruption when they return this week.

Maureen Socha, director of Facilities for STCC, said the project represented an opportunity for the college and DCAMM to greatly improve an aging, and often failing, infrastructure system, one that has been seized.

“A lot of our infrastructure is original to the Armory — we still have brick pipes and clay pipes everywhere,” she explained. “This was a huge opportunity to upgrade that system.”

An architect’s rendering of the forum section of the renovated ‘19.’ (Ann Beha Architects)

While infrastructure work continues on a smaller scale, restoration work on both the exterior and interior of the building have commenced, with the goal of preparing the structure for the extensive build-out work that will follow to create offices, a library, a café, and gathering spaces out of what was a cavernous warehouse.

“The roof gets brought up to current code, the second floor gets brought up to code, a lot of the existing joists get reinforced with structural steel,” Duszlak said. “There’s new elevators to be put in, new mechanical shafts to get cut through the building … a lot of it is just upgrading the skeleton of the building to get it ready for the tradespeople to create the spaces.”

There are many elements to this blend of restoration and renovation work, ranging from cleaning and repointing the hundreds of thousands of bricks to matching (after first determining) the original color of those louvers.

And in a way, the louvers are a microcosm of the project’s many challenges and the huge amount of research and even lab work that goes into such preservation and restoration efforts.

“We had a consultant who took paint chips off the building, took them to a lab, and, through use of a high-powered microscope, was able to pick out the different layers that had been painted over time,” he said. “We found four or five different colors layered on top of one another.” (A darker brown has been declared ‘original.’)

Research has involved poring over hundreds of old photos from not only the Armory but the Library of Congress, he went on, adding, again, the goal is a modern, energy-efficient facility that nonetheless pays respect to the building’s historic look and role.

Soon, work will commence on a 3D coordination of the space, said Duszlak, adding that this will enable crews to make sure all the mechanicals — plumbing, electrical, and HVAC services — are properly coordinated and there are no conflicts.

“There are a number of architectural elements that Ann Beha is concerned about,” he explained. “They want to keep a lot of the timbers exposed to give it some of the old-feel look, but keeping that much square footage exposed, and the ceiling, it limits where you can put duct work and electrical, which adds to the challenges and emphasizes the importance of the 3D coordination.”

Past is Prologue

Looking ahead, Duszlak noted that there is considerable digging (maybe 75% of the total for the project) still to be undertaken at 19 and its larger footprint.

“We have new structural upgrades that we have to dig foundations for,” he explained, “and we have electrical utilities that run the complete 715-foot length of the foundation. There’s new under-slab plumbing and drainage that services new bathrooms … we’ll be doing a lot of digging four to seven feet down.

“So there’s the potential for finding a lot of really cool artifacts,” he went on, adding that, while he doesn’t want to encounter anything that might hinder progress, he wouldn’t mind creating some new stories — or legends.

That’s what can happen when the past, present, and future come together in such dramatic, and historic, fashion.

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

Women’s Chamber Helps Members Achieve Critical Balance

Cover Story Sections Women in Businesss

Bonding Agent

Liz Rappaport says the camaraderie and support she has received from other mothers in the PWC will make leaving her baby daughter Ellie easier when she returns to work.

The Women’s Professional Chamber of Commerce is like most of the organizations with those three words in their title. But it is different in one important respect — the membership shares common challenges, issues, and emotions as they go about trying to balance work and life. This makes the WPC not only unique in character and mission, but also quite effective in providing needed support to members.

Jenny MacKay has not forgotten the first Women’s Professional Chamber (WPC) meeting she attended three years ago in Springfield.

It was a luncheon with a moderator and panel of speakers that included top female executives from Smith & Wesson, Columbia Gas, and Health New England.

An employee-benefits consultant for the Gaudreau Group in Wilbraham, and also a 2016 BusinessWest 40 Under Forty honoree, MacKay had attended events sponsored by many other local chambers, but this one was decidedly different.

“It was interesting and so inspirational to hear how these women talk about how they learned to balance the same life challenges I was facing or will have to face in the future,” MacKay said, adding that today she is a member of the WPC board of directors. “They talked about their biggest issues, which were things other women could relate to, and it was inspiring to hear that having a family won’t hold you back, that you don’t have to choose between a job or children. I’m afraid of what having kids will do to my career, but being part of the group makes me realize I am not alone.”

Liz Rappaport has also found the personal support she needed in the PWC.

The manager of Century Investment Co. in West Springfield and a 2014 BusinessWest 40 Under Forty honoree, she joined the group three years ago and said it has taught her invaluable lessons.

“Other women have told me you can never be perfect in your family life or on the job, but if you do your best; you can balance things out,” she noted, adding that she gave birth three months ago to a daughter named Ellie, and the advice she received helped her understand the challenges that will confront her when she returns to work this month.

“I’m eager to return to the PWC and talk to working moms because I have different questions now for my fellow cohorts,” she said, noting that she is the secretary of the group. “It helps knowing that they are juggling multiple roles, and if they can do it, I can do it, too.”

It was interesting and so inspirational to hear how these women talk about how they learned to balance the same life challenges I was facing or will have to face in the future.”

The PWC is a division of the Springfield Regional Chamber of Commerce, but is its own entity. Its 300 members are at different stages of life and career, and their jobs encompass a variety of professions in diverse fields. But they share a common theme: trying to balance their work with their personal life and obligations, a task most women struggle with on a daily basis.

Membership makes it easy for them to find other female professionals who can share stories and helpful hints about how to maintain a balance as they strive to fulfill their own expectations about being the best business professional, best mother, best wife, and best daughter, while playing an active role in their community and doing volunteer work.

It is this quality that sets it apart from other chambers. Women tend to network very differently when they are alone with their peers than they do in a mixed-gender group, and personal stories and situations are shared as readily as business cards. Although membership in the PWC can help them succeed in business through connections that are made, the ones they form usually result from bonding through intimate discussions.

For this issue and its focus on women in business, we take an inside look at the PWC and the ways in which women benefit from belonging to a group where dealing with personal and professional issues that intertwine is something they all relate to.

Appreciable Differences

The PWC was formed in 1953, and although its name changed from the Women’s Division of the Springfield Regional Chamber to the Women’s Partnership before it was given its current moniker in 2010, the group has always provided services to the community, local businesses, and its members.

Although Jenny MacKay belongs to many local chamber groups, the Professional Women’s Chamber is the place where she gets the most support.

Education has always been paramount, and scholarships have been granted annually to non-traditional women students since 1965. The recipients are often returning to the workforce after years of being at home, and three individuals have each been selected to receive at least $1,000 in recent years.

The calendar runs from September to June, and since the chamber’s officers and members of its board of directors know how difficult it can be for a woman to juggle multiple roles, two meetings feature speakers who share first-hand accounts of the personal struggles and roadblocks they hit along the road to success.

There are also evening events, which are usually held at local retail establishments that allow members to shop while they network in a relaxed setting.

The year begins with a kickoff luncheon in September, which features a compelling speaker, followed by an After Hours Ladies Night in October and a PWC-produced luncheon event at the Western Mass. Business Expo (slated for Nov. 3 this year). A second Ladies Night is held in December.

The new year is heralded with a Tabletop Luncheon; there is a third Ladies Night in February, and the second headline speaker luncheon is held in March. A fourth Ladies Night is scheduled in April, and the year culminates in late May with an event held to honor the Woman of the Year.

“The Ladies Nights are held at local shops; we’ve gone to Cooper’s Gifts in Agawam, Kate Gray in Longmeadow, and Added Attractions in East Longmeadow,” said MacKay, naming a few noteworthy outings and adding that the shops provide wine and hors d’oeurves.

“We try to schedule things that women like to do that can provide them with some stimulus as well a break from the stressors in their lives,” Rappaport said, noting that the evenings help women achieve an effective work/life balance. “Networking can be mundane, but these nights out are a nice distraction, and we realize that if a woman is going to carve out time to attend a meeting, we had better make it worth her while.”

But while networking does occur during the Ladies Nights, business introductions and connections that are formed are secondary to the personal relationships that evolve when women are in an atmosphere they find fun and enjoyable.

“What someone does for business is not as important as the fact that you have made a new friend; we talk to each other and find commonalities,” Rappaport explained.

MacKay concurred. “Our Ladies Nights don’t involve the commitment of a sit-down dinner for two hours every month. We don’t want to add more commitments to a woman’s to-do list because we understand how busy women’s lives are,” she said.

The PWC also has a six-session mentorship program called Reaching Goals, aimed at giving students from Springfield Technical Community College the professional and personal skills they need to succeed in their chosen careers.

Rappaport is a mentor and has worked with women ranging in age from 18 to 38. She has spent time with some outside of the meetings and says that, in some cases, the program has resulted in a student landing a job due to the connections she makes.

Gender Issues

The majority of the group’s members are over the age of 40, so Rappaport and MacKay plan to reach out this year to Millennials who may not know about the PWC and what it has to offer, while continuing to provide programs that interest women of different ages at different stages of their careers.

MacKay says this initiative is important because Millennials are trying to establish themselves in their chosen careers, and many are experiencing conflicting emotions as they struggle to create a healthy work/life balance.

“They’re working hard, planning important events such as weddings, and also trying to figure out if they can handle having a child without fearing that something will suffer,” she said, adding that the benefits of membership are priceless and the relationships women form with each other are much more intimate than those that result from other chamber groups.

MacKay works in a male-dominated occupation, and has gotten valuable advice from PWC members about how to deal with a variety of situations as well as strategies for communicating with male co-workers, since they relate to each other very differently than women.

In addition, the group teaches women that failure isn’t an end and can lead to a new beginning, which became apparent during a luncheon where Tracey Noonan was the keynote speaker.

The founder of Wicked Good Cupcakes, who successfully won her bid for a partnership on the popular TV series Shark Tank, shared her story of how her business evolved after she started baking cupcakes in Mason jars with her daughter Dani in their South Shore kitchen in 2011.

“She was a single mom who took a baking class in order to bond with her daughter,” MacKay said, recounting how Noonan shared the hardships of being a single mom, what is was like to start a business — who she got help from and who refused to help her — and how success has affected her life.

The story resonated with women on a variety of levels, as did the personal tale told by Lisa Ekus of the Lisa Ekus Group LLC. The Hatfield entrepreneur, who represents cookbook authors and food products, spoke to the PWC in March about the struggles of balancing her personal and family life.

Other speakers have addressed issues of equal pay and the lack of qualified candidates to fill jobs in precision manufacturing, and what women can do to help fill the gap, and Rappaport says she has learned many valuable lessons, including the fact that each woman is her own best advocate.

But feeling and projecting confidence is not easily accomplished, because many women are self-deprecating, and even getting a compliment on one’s clothing can lead to an embarrassed answer and insistence that it was purchased on sale.

“Women don’t want to be thought of as pushy or too assertive,” Rappaport noted, adding that, although she has never heard of a man with those traits being referred to in a condescending manner, it’s not uncommon for women to suffer from such labels.

MacKay agreed, and said if she doesn’t smile all the time, people tell her to do so and add, “everything will be all right,” which she finds very frustrating.

Valuable Setting

Rappaport is looking forward to returning to assuming a professional role in the family business when she returns to work following her maternity leave. She knows it won’t be easy and she will worry about her baby daily, but she finds strength in numbers and the knowledge that her peers have learned to effectively juggle responsibilities in different arenas of their life without feeling they have to be perfect in every role.

But women agree that the unrealistic belief is pervasive in society today.

“When did the message, ‘you can have it all’ change to ‘you have to do it all’?” MacKay said. “It used to be inspirational, but it has become exhausting because it’s an unrealistic and impossible goal.”

Which is where the PWC comes in. It helps women understand there are others who share the same feelings and concerns who can provide each other with reassurance that doing their best each day is truly good enough.

Friendly’s CEO Says the Company Has Achieved Needed Momentum

Moving Beyond the Heavy Lifting

CEO John Maguire says Friendly’s has achieved its first real mission — to once again be competitive in the marketplace.

As he talked with BusinessWest roughly four years ago, soon after assuming the title of president and CEO, John Maguire said his assignment, while complex in nature, came down to two simple words: fixing Friendly’s.

There were, of course, many things that needed to be fixed, and Maguire, then, as now, summed them all up by reciting comments attributed to a woman from New Jersey who was part of a focus group assigned the task of gaining valuable input concerning the restaurant chain, its food, and service. Yes, he knows the passage by heart, because he’s lost track of how many times he’s quoted it.

“She said very eloquently, ‘the problem with Friendly’s is … your people aren’t friendly, your food is mediocre, your restaurants are dirty, and you don’t fix things when they break,’” he noted. “And that was all you needed to know to sum up what had happened to the brand.”

To make a long, four-year story much shorter, the menu has been simplified, the food has been upgraded from mediocre, the restaurants have been cleaned and renovated, and perhaps, most importantly, the people are, indeed, friendly. (If they’re not, they don’t work there for long, if at all.)

Despite all this, Maguire isn’t remotely ready to retire the present tense as he talks about what is still his assignment. Indeed, he is most definitely still fixing Friendly’s. But sufficient progress has been made now for him to summon the phrase “we’re competitive now,” and he did so quite often. The implication was clear; for years, this chain that was started in Springfield in 1935 and has been a part of the landscape ever since, wasn’t competitive.

“You never say that work is done — that’s not how it is with brands; fixing and improving is a continuum,” he explained. “But we are competitive in the marketplace once again, and we’re taking market share from other restaurants.”

The work to achieve competitiveness was described as the “heavy lifting” by Maguire, who was quick to add, however, that there is still plenty of that to do.

And the company will use the capital gained from the sale several months ago of its large and quite successful manufacturing division to Dean Foods to continue to move the needle in the right direction.

Initiatives include everything from new restaurants to continued renovations of existing venues, to the installation of drive-thru facilities at some locations where infrastructure permits it.

For this issue, BusinessWest talked at length with Maguire about the progress that’s been recorded at Friendly’s and the considerable work still to do to return the chain to the prominence it once enjoyed.

Recipe for Success

Retracing the steps that led to the sale of the manufacturing division, what he called a “powerful transaction,” Maguire said that in some ways it was a difficult decision to make. After all, the unit had been enjoying steady growth, and was, in some respects, the top-performing business within the company.

But this strong track record is also what made it quite attractive to the many large companies that dominate that realm and have been searching for additional, and potential-laden, growth opportunities.

So, with a need for additional capital, Friendly’s leaders eventually saw the sale of that division as a means to an end.

“As I looked at the total business, we had this gem called the retail and manufacturing business,” he told BusinessWest. “The first year I was there, we grew the business maybe 45% and launched our novelty business as well. What became evident to us fairly quickly was that we could use the growth from that business to give us the capital, but also the time and the space, to do the things we needed to do on the restaurant side.

Giving restaurants a new look and feel and has been one of the primary missions at Friendly’s.

“So we put a full focus on that division, and as a result of those efforts, four years later, we ended up with a business that had grown more than 105% over that time,” he went on. “We were in more than 9,000 grocery stores, we were in 49 states, and had really a national footprint.”

The question then became what to do with this tremendous asset, he went on, adding that one option was to expand it, perhaps by opening one or more new plants in different parts of the country. The other was, as they say in business, to ‘sell high.’

It was decided to canvas the market to see if there was any interest in it. The response was overwhelming, to say the least.

“We were blown away by the response we got, both from private-equity companies and the ‘strategics,’ the people who were in the ice-cream business,” he explained. “We got back such a response that we believed that what made the best sense was exiting that retail and manufacturing business.”

John Maguire said one of the needed steps is his efforts to ‘fix Friendly’s’ was to revise and simplify the menu.

The company will buy all its products from Dean, which acquired the division for $165 million, while continuing to own the recipes and setting the standards for quality, said Maguire, adding that Dean has made it clear it has no intention of moving the operation from Wilbraham or downsizing that workforce. In fact, it has plans to grow the division and expand those facilities.

Meanwhile, the transaction allowed the company to retire debt on the restaurant side and continue to gain momentum in the drive to make the restaurant side not only competitive, but a sector leader, and, in the process of doing all that, change the narrative from people like that woman from New Jersey.

“We went to work on solving those issues she cited,” he said. “We made improvements with our people, for example; if you weren’t friendly, you couldn’t stay; if you didn’t want to take care of kids and families, you couldn’t stay; if you didn’t really want to be in the service business, you couldn’t stay; if you were a manager and you couldn’t be accountable for the results and deliver on the things we needed to deliver on, you couldn’t stay.”

But weeding out those who couldn’t provide the desired experience was just part of the equation, he went on, adding that a bigger piece was making the necessary investments in training so they could provide it.

If people were part 1 of the broad assignment to fix Friendly’s, then food, or improving it, to be more precise, was part 2.

“The food was mediocre,” said Maguire. “Over the years, Friendly’s had cut costs and stopped investing in food. We reduced portion sizes and cut back on the quality of the ingredients.”

So the company went back to fresh beef in its burgers, real ice cream in its shakes, haddock in the fish sandwiches, and extra large eggs and better bacon at breakfast. Just as importantly, it removed from the menu items that didn’t sell or that Friendly’s had no “credibility in serving,” as he put it — the ‘chicken-and-shrimp stir frys’ of this world.

Just Desserts

Such improvements were both needed and quite timely, said Maguire, a food-industry veteran who has a turn-around effort at Panera Bread at the top of his résumé’s list of accomplishments, adding that the burger and ice-cream business is flourishing, despite what amounts to rumors to the contrary.

“I know everyone talks about eating healthy, but there’s not much real evidence of that,” he said, adding that this assessment is buffeted by the strong performance recently of chains such as Five Guys, Steak ’n Shake, Dairy Queen and its ‘Grill & Chill’ concept, and relative newcomers such as Shake Shack. “The truth of the matter is, if you have a compelling product in the burger and ice-cream segment, you can be pretty darn successful.”

In most ways, Friendly’s is qualified to use that word ‘compelling,’ he went on, adding, again, that food is just part of the equation, and this brings him to what would be considered the third leg of the stool regarding the company’s return to competitiveness — the restaurants themselves.

Looking back only a few years, he said that woman from New Jersey was right on the money with her assessment.

“Our restaurants were, quite frankly, in deplorable shape; they hadn’t been remodeled in 12 to 15 years on average, and when things broke, we didn’t fix them,” he explained, adding that the company has made needed improvements and has remodeled 95% of the 130 company-owned locations, with the rest slated for work over the next 12 months. There are 130 more restaurants that are franchised; 60% of those have been remodeled, and the company has received commitments for the rest to be done by the end of 2017.

Add all that up, and the result is that measure of competiveness Maguire mentioned. And now that Friendly’s is competitive, it can do the things it needs to do to grow the brand, he told BusinessWest.

“Now that we’re competitive, the real work begins,” he explained. “Now, it’s about showing not only that Friendly’s can be viable — which I would say it can be — but that it can be a growth vehicle. And there’s a big difference between the two.”

Growth will come from improving the average unit volume of each location, or simply bringing more people to those sites, he said, adding that, while all the initiatives taken above are part of that equation, additional steps are being taken.

These include the addition of drive-thru windows, he said, adding that this additional convenience has proven its worth for countless other brands. And while Friendly’s doesn’t exactly fit the description of fast food, Maguire noted that it gets food to the drive-thru customer within four or five minutes on average.

“We’ve begun to retrofit some of our locations for drive-thrus,” he said, noting that the location in Westfield was the first to be done over, and six have been completed to date. “And those drive-thrus are seeing a 25% lift in sales volume.”

The company plans to be aggressive in this realm and add another 25 to 50 such retrofits in the coming years, with the goal of having one-third of the locations equipped with them.

Meanwhile, the company continues to expand with new locations, including one at Logan Airport, another in Merrimack, N.H., and two more in Southern New Jersey, with more planned for next year.

Shaking Things Up

If you visit a Friendly’s location, you won’t see a picture of that focus-group participant from New Jersey on the wall.

Still, Maguire gives her ample credit for the company’s turnaround efforts and return to competitiveness. In fact, he even called her “wise” as he relayed her sentiments, or previous sentiments, to be more accurate.

Making those observations dated constituted the ‘heavy lifting,’ as Maguire called it, in his efforts to change the company’s fortunes, and now the real work has commenced to become into an instrument of growth.

As happened in individual locations, Friendly’s has fixed what became broken — its brand. Actually, it’s still fixing it, because, as Maguire noted, such work is a continuum, and it’s never really done.

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

Region’s Competitive Commercial-loan Market Poses Plenty of Opportunity

Banking and Financial Services Sections

Lending Optimism

Glenn Welch (left) and Jeffrey Smith say Freedom Credit Union has built a name in local lending, but much more opportunity exists to expand the portfolio.

Banks and credit unions know all too well that the health of a commercial-loan portfolio is often dependent on the economic climate. Several years of improvement on that front has bolstered the portfolios of many regional lenders, some dramatically. But the added opportunity has brought little relief from fierce competition in the sector, both for loan business and the talent to procure it.

When asked about commercial lending, Matt Sosik doesn’t talk in terms of dollars and cents, but of relationships.

“Building long-term relationships brings value on both sides of the table,” said the president and CEO of Easthampton Savings Bank (ESB). “It allows us to transcend the pricing pressures and competitive pressures and focus on the relationship and the importance of it.”

Those relationships have become critical to banks trying to build their commercial-loan portfolio simply because, well, it’s a borrower’s market out there. A generally positive economy has businesses investing — perhaps not at pre-Great Recession levels, but close — yet the competition for those loans has only become more fierce.

“My back ground is in commercial lending, and it’s always been competitive,” said Glenn Welch, president and CEO of Freedom Credit Union. “Nobody wants to lose any deals in their portfolio. But every new loan out there … at least three institutions are looking at it. We’ve seen pricing get pretty skinny. We’ve walked away from some deals because we didn’t think they were appropriately priced for the risk in them.”

List of Banks in Western Mass.

But Freedom is making plenty of deals, too. Vice President and Chief Lending Officer Jeffrey Smith told BusinessWest the credit union’s gross volume in commercial loans is currently doubling from year to year. “We’d generally average $10 to $12 million in commercial lending each year, but in the 12 months that ended in July, we had more than $23 million.” Meanwhile, he added, the business-loan portfolio has grown from $30 million to $50 million.

Matt Sosik says a strong commercial-lending portfolio begins with strong relationships with area businesses.

“That’s still really small in a balance sheet of a half-billion,” Welch said, adding that he sees plenty of opportunity to ramp up business loans even further. “Also, commercial lending is the most profitable line of business. You can grow your balance sheet much quicker because generally the loans are larger. We service the small-business market, and we’re mostly comfortable in the $2-$3 million range, but we will go up to $5 million.”

Westfield Bank is another institution seeing significant lending growth, with higher ceilings for individual loans to boot. The bank was long known mainly as a residential lender before James Hagan’s tenure as president and CEO. But over the past two decades, the bank has significantly expanded its commercial-loan portfolio, said Allen Miles, executive vice president and senior lender — a process that will continue with the institution’s acquisition of Chicopee Savings Bank, which, once approved, will increase WB’s lending capacity from $20 million to $35 million.

“We have a small-business team, a middle-market team, and a commercial real-estate team,” Miles explained. “Our sweet spot is businesses with $5 to $10 million in revenues, but we’ve done loans for businesses with $80 to $100 million in revenue. We handle everyone differently.”

Ramping Up

While all banks were hit hard when companies pulled back on capital investments in the wake of the recession, smaller community banks were presented with opportunities as well. The nation’s larger institutions, awash in toxic debt, were having liquidity issues and pushed back on borrowers, many of whom took their business elsewhere, and community banks that had laid some groundwork and build relationships were able to take advantage.

Borrowers also appreciate locally based lenders who can make decisions quickly, Hagan explained, and Westfield became adept at turning credit applications around in 24 to 48 hours for loans up to $750,000, Miles noted. Larger loans are turned around in under a week.

“That has helped us grow,” Hagan said. “Potential borrowers appreciate that we can move things forward quickly.”

ESB, like many community banks in Western Mass., finds that lending to small to mid-size businesses is its bread and butter.

Jim Hagan says recruiting talent from area colleges has helped Westfield Bank build a formidable commercial-lending team.

“It’s a very important part of our balance sheet and, increasingly, on most community banks’ balance sheets,” Sosik said. “Commercial lending has become a priority we focus on, and we’ve grown the commercial portfolio over the past three years in particular. We’re trying to approach a level that gives us about a 50% loan mix — in other words, about 50% of the loans in the portfolio being commercially oriented.”

But he returned again to the importance of building long-term relationships with clients, rather than one-time transactions. “It’s easier for us to do that when we focus on medium to smaller businesses and geographically local businesses, for sure.”

Freedom Credit Union’s loan growth has been aided by its designation as a low-income credit union, which allows it to avoid the cap on commercial lending — 12.5% of assets — that most credit unions must adhere to. This, and an aggressive commercial-loan push in recent years, has seen the institution recognized as a top SBA lender in the region.

“The real growth has been over the last couple of years,” Welch said. “We’ve really matured into being more of a business lender than we originally started out. We do have a low-income designation, which does not put a cap on us, and that’s a big advantage to us in the market we’re in.”

Smith called the institution’s portfolio a “nice mix,” boasting clients ranging from IT companies, a construction firm, and commercial real-estate projects to social services and nonprofits. “We have a nice niche right now in the marketplace, with so many institutions in this market, headquartered in Springfield. Many times, we get phone calls based on the fact that we are a local player in this market.”

Valley’s Got Talent

Just because businesses are borrowing these days and plenty of opportunity seems to exist doesn’t mean growing a portfolio is easy, Sosik told BusinessWest.

“Commercial lending is a focus not just here at ESB, but across the community-bank sector, even on the credit-union side. There are a lot of players all vying for a finite group of customers, and that makes for a very competitive environment.”

Indeed, Welch noted that the local lending landscape has been rife with movement, with banks poaching talent from their competitors and even, in a few cases, entire teams moving from one bank to another.

Hagan said Westfield Bank has been fortunate to retain its top talent, and with the acquisition of Chicopee Savings will have three lending teams headquartered in Westfield, Springfield, and Chicopee.

“We have not lost lenders to our competitors,” he said. “But what we’ve also done is, we’ve actively recruited at colleges and universities. We interview folks and bring them on as credit trainees and groom them in-house. They get to know our culture and our customer base, and in so doing, we’ve created a way for them to grow in their career and for us to develop our own lending team. It’s been highly successful.”

It’s one way Westfield Bank has been able to continually grow its commercial-lending team and its book of loans, especially among small to mid-size, family-owned and closely held businesses that form the core of its portfolio.

As for Welch, he certainly thinks continued growth is sustainable. He noted that Springfield was recently named by CNBC as one of America’s “10 Most Overlooked Cities,” meaning cities where economic development — and, presumably, capital investments by companies — are on the rise, though not many people outside their regions are aware of it. And Springfield is only one part of a region currently booming with entrepreneurial life.

“There’s definitely more opportunity for growth, all the way up to Franklin County,” he said. “With our size and capital, we can compete pretty well. We’re trying to get our name out now, but I think there’s a lot of opportunity up and down the Valley.”

And that’s lending a measure of optimism to the region’s growing ranks of commercial lenders.

Joseph Bednar can be reached at [email protected]

Agency Fuels Entrepreneurship in Greater Holyoke

Providing a SPARK

Since its launch nearly two years ago, SPARK Holyoke has become an important addition to the region’s growing entrepreneurial ecosystem, providing a learning-and-nurturing environment for a variety of business owners. To sum up its impact, one participant said the agency gave him the discipline to be “both a creator and a finisher.”

Farid Kheloco says SPARK was created to help start-ups get off the ground — and maybe help fill some of Holyoke’s vast supply of vacant mill space.

When asked to talk about the agency known as SPARK (yes, that’s an acronym, but not really; hardly anyone knows what those letters stand for) and how it’s helped her create, shape, and realize a vision for her company, Hot Oven Cookies, Sheila Coon found it necessary to do a little comparing and contrasting.

And the other subject in the discussion was a close cousin among organizations that are part of what is now being described as an ‘entrepreneurial ecosystem’ — Valley Venture Mentors, known for many things, but especially its high-octane, extremely intense accelerator program, with which Rivera also participated.

“VVM … I love it because I’m kind of a high-action person,” she told BusinessWest. “With VVM, you go the edge of the cliff, they hand you a prarachute, and tell you to jump. And as you go down, they tell you ‘jump this way’ or ‘jump that way.’ It’s very high-paced.

“SPARK, on the other hand … kind of has you sit back, and think, and analyze things slowly and more methodically,” she went on. “It gave me the opportunity to slow down and think things through. And it was very intimate — there were 10 people in the class; we had more time to think and talk things through. It was amazing.”

Though perhaps not intentionally, Coon used this exercise to not only point up the differences between the two organizations, but also spell out, in an effective manner, why SPARK Holyoke, which has the Hispanic community as one of its main focal points, has become an important addition to the entrepreneurial landscape in Western Mass.

In short, since being launched in late 2014 as part of a Working Cities Challenge grant, SPARK Holyoke has enabled a number of aspiring entrepreneurs to sit back, think things through, and, hopefully, go into business for themselves.

It does so through a 15-week course that, according to Executive Director Farid Kheloco, has a number of moving parts and objectives and is designed to help a wide range of individuals, from start-up owners to those who have been operating for several years and, for one reason or another, are trying to change how they do things. In other words, people like Coon.

“We want to hold your hand so you can take your idea and turn it into a bullet-proof business plan,” he said while smashing the mission down to a simple phrase.

The current series of classes started earlier this month, said Kheloco, noting that the one that ended during the summer featured 42 participants and 31 businesses.

Since it was launched, SPARK Holyoke has provided assistance to individuals involved with a wide variety of businesses, from cookie making to motorsports sales; from home remodeling to sock-manufacturing; from event planning to window-tinting.

Sheila Coon, seen here with her husband, David, says SPARK helped her create a vision, and a game plan, for her venture, Hot Oven Cookies.

Overall, SPARK is part of a series of initiatives undertaken by Holyoke Mayor Alex Morse and his administration to spur entrepreneurship, create jobs, and generate more interest in Holyoke, especially with the younger populations.

Those efforts have been successful enough to earn the city placement on Popular Mechanics’ list of the “most entrepreneurial” cities in the country.

And while the goal is to encourage entrepreneurship and help businesses get off the ground, there is another, very practical element to the agency’s existence. That would be the roughly 2 million square feet of vacant mill space in this former industrial powerhouse, and a desire to fill it, said Kheloco.

He doesn’t expect SPARK to make a huge dent in that inventory any time soon, but the agency’s work can certainly be a factor in bringing more life to the old paper and textile mills that gave this city its identity and providing another spark (there’s that word again) to broad efforts to revitalize the city.

“SPARK is helping to put us (Holyoke) in the game when it comes to promoting entrepreneurship,” said Kheloco, as he spoke with BusinessWest in the Holyoke Chamber of Commerce offices (where the agency is housed) on High Street. “SPARK has a definite role in that perception of Holyoke, and that’s important for our city, because we have a lot of open space.”

For this issue, BusinessWest takes an in-depth look at SPARK Holyoke and how, despite the fact that it doesn’t issue parachutes to participants, it does help them get off their ventures off the ground.

Igniting Passion

For the record, SPARK is short for Stimulating Potential, Accessing Resource Knowledge. Kheloco and others involved with the program can probably recite all that (again, that’s probably) but most participants wouldn’t care to try.

But they do care about trying to take ideas they have a product or service and advancing them in the form of a new business. Or not, if they determine that said idea is not really viable, and SPARK Holyoke can help with that, as well.

It’s all part of that ‘thinking through’ concept that Coon mentioned, and while there is quite a bit that goes into it, the agency’s broad goals are to simplify the many matters involved with a business as much as possible, said Kheloco, who can speak with experience as he goes about working with aspiring entrepreneurs.

“I’ve been entrepreneurially minded my whole life, and growing up here I was told that you should leave the area if you want to be an entrepreneur,” he said, adding that while he works today to dispel such notions, at the time, he took that advice.

He went to New York and then Dubai, before relocating to the western part of this country and eventually for working for several different IT companies.

He returned to this area a few years ago, soon became program manager of TechFoundry, and found himself immersed in the work of VVM and other agencies involved with entrepreneurship.

He was looking to launch his own venture — one that would produce wooden sunglasses — in Holyoke, but wound up launching SPARK instead.

“The market is pretty much saturated with wooden sunglasses,” he joked, adding that the opportunity to run SPARK — a career path recommended to him by Katie Stebbins, who was then overseeing Holyoke’s Innovation District and is now working in the Executive Office of House & Economic Development — sounded like much more of a winning proposition.

Felix Santana, owner of Northeast Motorsports, says SPARK has given him the discipline to be “both a creator and a finisher.”

Initially, his work centered around getting the agency started, honing its mission, and developing its curriculum, he said, adding that now, he spends more of his time getting the word out — in essence, filling seats for the classes — while also achieving sustainability; the grant that funds the program is three years in duration, and this is year 2 of the initiative, so new funding sources must be attained.

“We’re kind of in our teen-aged years,” he said of the organization. “We’ve identified a little of what we are, but we need to mold that and solidify what’s needed to survive for the long term.”

Kheloco’s various outreach efforts drive home the basic point that SPARK is a community organization to help what he called “every-day entrepreneurs.”

That’s certainly not a technical term, but one he summoned to describe “neighborhood projects” — small ventures, mom-and-pop operations that may or may not scale.

“We want to work with them to give them the guidance they need to get started,” he went on. “So we take a lot of the competition aspects out of the equation, and we take a lot of the business jargon out of it; we try to make it team-oriented and say ‘now you’re part of this group, the SPARK starters, and how are we going to help each and work together?’”

SPARK carries out this work with a host of partners, which include VVM, the chamber, SCORE, Holyoke Community College, Easthampton Savings Bank, and Nuestras Raices, a nonprofit group that seeks to promote economic, human, and community development in Holyoke through projects related to food, agriculture, and the environment.

“Predominantly, we deal with concepts, and we work on taking the idea and turning it into a business model,” he went on. “We like to say that we work with anyone’s who’s stuck.”

Getting Down to Business

‘Stuck’ might not be the best term to describe what Coon was when she encountered SPARK and its curriculum, but it’s in the ballpark.

To be more precise, she was at a crossroads of sorts, or transition phase, and in need of some guidance and perhaps technical help with regard to where she could and should take her venture — as well as ‘how’ and ‘when.’

Backing up a bit, she said Hot Oven Cookies was enjoying decent success and had developed a solid following (one fan called this the ‘Ben & Jerry’s of the cookie world’) with its 100 flavors — some staples, or “classics” and other varieties rotated in weekly — and a business focused on gifts and catering, all delivered.

“That keeps it fun,” she said of the large inventory of flavors. “It’s good for the customers, but it’s good for us, too — we get to keep creating.”

This first phase of the venture, as Coon described it, helped pinpoint demand and identify need, and with regard to latter, what emerged was a desire to enable customers to buy a cookie or two or three, and not a full dozen, the minimum she set for deliveries.

And this led to talk of putting a food truck on the road and bringing the product directly to consumers. It’s a big step and a sizable investment, and she credited both SPARK and VVM with helping her bring it all the fruition; the truck makes its debut next month.

She was in the second accelerator cohort, which wrapped up its work in the spring, and through that experience was introduced to Kheloco and SPARK Holyoke, and took part in both programs simultaneously.

She credits VVM with helping her take an idea off a napkin, as she put it, and take it forward, but she said SPARK provided that more-intimate, slower-paced environment that enabled her to stop and work things through.

“We talked through all of my phases,” she said of the SPARK experience, adding that the experience not only helped her conceptualize her ideas, but pitch them in a more-effective manner.

Felix Santana wasn’t exactly stuck, either. But he did need some help with his venture, Northeast Powersports, which seeks to become the largest provider of Chinese-made motorsports — primarily scooters, dirt bikes, and go carts — in the region.

The company has become an authorized dealer of Cao Cao products, offering both sales and service, he said, adding that he graduated from SPARK’s first class.

He said it provided him with both support, in the form of mentorship, and technical guidance.

“I went in there with a really solid business plan — it was a matter of getting the numbers and the data to back it up,” he explained. “They helped me get my business plan focused and connect with the right people, like SCORE, and get organized.”

He noted that he’s a serial entrepreneur of sorts, but one that doesn’t “finish,” as he put it.

“I was one of those entrepreneurs who was a really good starter, but when I got to the middle point, I never knew how to finish and would usually sell whatever idea I had at that point,” he explained. “SPARK helped give me the discipline to be both a creator and a finisher.”

Seeing the Light

Searching for more words and phrases to describe what SPARK Holyoke is and what it does, especially with regard to the proverbial ‘big picture,’ Kheloco said it acts as the glue that binds the many organizations and agencies promoting and facilitating entrepreneurship in Holyoke and the communities surrounding it.

And in that capacity, it is not only helping to create new opportunities in Holyoke and fill some of that vacant mill space, but also taking on an important role within a growing entrepreneurial ecosystem.

SPARK is technically an acronym, but mostly it’s both a noun and a verb, and as such, the word effectively describes what the agency is, and what it provides.

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

Hampshire College Takes an Aggressive Course on ‘Green’

Back to School Cover Story Sections

Learning Environment

Not long after arriving on the Hampshire College campus in 2011, President Jonathan Lash asked students how long they believed it would be before the school could accurately declare itself carbon neutral. Upon hearing that they thought it could be done in 25 years, he said, in essence, that this wasn’t nearly good enough. So the school set a new goal — 10 years — and with some dramatic recent developments, it is well on its way to meeting it, and in the process it is writing an exciting new chapter in a history long defined by progressiveness and unique approaches to learning.

President Jonathan Lash in the Kern Center

Jonathan Lash noted that Hampshire College — that self-described “experiment” in higher education located on rolling farm land in South Amherst — has been operating for 46 years now.

That’s more than enough time to gather research, look at trends, and develop a composite, or profile, if you will, of the graduates of this small and in many ways unique institution.

And one has emerged, said Lash, the school’s president since 2011, noting quickly that individuality and independent thinking are perhaps the most common traits among students and alums, so it is impossible to paint them with one broad brush. But there are some common traits.

One of them is entrepreneurship. A quarter of the school’s graduates — an eclectic list that includes Stonyfield Farm chairman and former president and CEO President Gary Hirshberg, documentary filmmaker Ken Burns, actor Liev Schreiber, and countless others involved in the arts and literature — have started their own business or organization, placing the college on Forbes’ short list of ‘most- entrepreneurial colleges.’

Another is a passion for learning; the school is in the top 1% of colleges nationwide in the percentage of graduates who go on to earn doctorates.

“Our students have such a good time learning that they don’t want to stop,” said Lash with a laugh, noting that the desire to create unique learning experiences for students was one important motivation for two recent sustainability initiatives on the campus — construction of a so-called ‘living building,’ the school’s R.W. Kern Center, which will use zero net energy, and the announcement that the institution would take a huge step toward becoming the first private college in the country to go 100% solar powered.

Recent initiatives in sustainability have added another intriguing chapter to Hampshire College’s history of progressiveness.

Indeed, professors in several disciplines have incorporated the Kern Center into their curriculum, said Lash, noting also that for a course he was teaching last fall in sustainability, he assigned students the task of reviewing the contract for the solar installation and explaining why the initiative was a sound undertaking for the school and the company building it.

“One of the ideas behind this building is to make sure you learn something every time you walk into it,” Lash said of the Kern Center.

As for the exercise involving the solar installation, he borrowed an industry term of sorts. “You could see the lightbulbs going on,” he said while relating how the students eventually grasped the many aspects of the concept.

But creating such learning opportunities is only one motivating factor. Indeed, this school that has been seemingly defined by that adjective ‘alternative’ since it was first conceived nearly 60 years ago, is adding another dimension to that quality. And in the process, it is living up to its own core beliefs while also taking on the character (and the mission) of its president, hailed by Rolling Stone magazine as one of 25 “warriors and heroes fighting to stave off the planet-wide catastrophe.”

And it is a dimension that Lash believes will inspire other institutions — both inside and outside the realm of higher education — to follow suit.

For this issue and its focus on education, BusinessWest traveled to the Hampshire College campus to talk with Lash — in the Kern Center — about how that building and a broader drive to become carbon neutral is adding another intriguing chapter to the school’s brief but already remarkable history.

Alternative Course

Hampshire’s distinct philosophy and pedagogy assert that: Students learn best when they are given the independence to direct their own learning under the advisement of faculty, and education should not be imposed on students.

Courses are not the only sites of learning for our students; instead they engage in a variety of learning activities and environments that challenge their creativity, problem-solving, and discovery of ideas and meaning, through independent study, internships, community engagement, social action, lab work, and teaching assistantships. Hampshire was founded by the leaders of four venerable colleges in Western Massachusetts to re-examine the assumptions and practices of liberal arts education.

At Hampshire, all students are challenged to perform serious independent work under the mentorship of faculty. The college’s goal is to graduate students who can identify significant questions, devise interesting ways to approach them, and follow through to a solution … we have no majors, each student designs their own program of study, commonly examining questions through the lenses of several disciplines. The student negotiates their studies with faculty advisers in a rigorous environment that supports student intellectual growth. The student learns to be a creator of knowledge, engaging in substantial independent research and self-directed projects as they explore the questions that drive them.

List of Colleges in Western Massachusetts

This language, taken directly from the school’s own literature — a fact sheet describing and explaining its academic program — does an effective and fairly concise job of explaining what this school is, and more importantly, what it isn’t.

It isn’t a college in the traditional sense of that term — as made clear in that passage about majors, grades, and set programs of study, or the distinct lack of them, to be more precise.

These are the foundations upon which the school was founded, and Lash admits that he knew very little, if anything about all that when he came across an e-mail titled ‘Hampshire College’ from a headhunter, one that would eventually lead to the most recent line on a very intriguing resume dominated by work in the environment and sustainable development.

But first, back to that e-mail. Lash wasn’t going to open it; he opened very few of the many he received from search firms looking for candidates for a host of different positions. But something compelled him to click on this one.

“I cannot tell you why I opened it — I just don’t know; but instead of just clicking ‘delete,’ like I did with all the others, I opened it,” he told BusinessWest, adding that upon reading it, he recalled that a friend, Adele Simmons, had served as president of the school in the ’80s. He called her, and she eventually talked him into meeting with the search committee.

Lash needed such prodding, because he didn’t even know where the school was, and also because higher education was somewhat, but not entirely, off the career path he had eventually chosen, with the accent on eventually.

Indeed, Lash, a graduate who earned both his master’s in education and juris doctor from Catholic University, started his career as a federal prosecutor in Washington in the mid-70s.

“At a certain point, it began to be less and less rewarding for me to send people to jail, and I wanted to have a different kind of impact on society,” he explained, adding that he left the prosecutor’s office for the National Environmental Defense Fund, at what turned out to be a poignant time in its history — just as Ronald Reagan was entering the White House.

“There was a period during the Reagan administration when environmental organizations were filing lawsuit after lawsuit to stop things Reagan was doing,” he noted. “It was like shooting at a Budweiser truck — you just couldn’t miss; they just didn’t bother with the law.”

Fast-forwarding a little, Lash eventually left that organization to run environmental programs for the new governor of Vermont, Madeleine Kunin, and later became director of the Environmental Law Center at Vermont Law School.

From there, he went on to lead the World Resources Institute, a Washington-based environmental think tank focusing on issues ranging from low-carbon development to sustainable transportation. Under his leadership, WRI quadrupled its budget and globalized its work, with offices in eight countries and partners in more than 50 nations.

It would take something compelling to leave that for the Hampshire College campus, and he encountered it at his interview before the search committee, a panel of 26, dominated by students.

“They asked very aggressive questions, they argued with all my answers, and they were absolutely passionate about it all,” he recalled. “And about 45 minutes into it, I thought to myself ‘I’ve been working on these environmental issues all my life; I’ve been really successful, and the things I care about are getting worse. If anyone’s going to change that, it’s going to be kids like these, and I should probably help them.’”

Entrepreneurial Energy

Lash said he did some research before he came to Amherst for his interview, and gleaned a general understanding of the school and everything that made it unique. But it didn’t really prepare him for what he found.

And it was only a matter of weeks after arriving that he said he found himself saying, ‘I wish I could have learned this way,’ or words to that effect.

Still, four decades after its doors opened, Hampshire College was facing a number of challenges, especially those that apply to a small school with a tiny endowment — $40 million. In many ways, the school needed to make some kind of statement, a reaffirmation of its core values — social justice and environmental sustainability — and an even stronger commitment to live them.

Officials gather for the ground-breaking ceremonies for solar installations expected to save the college $8 million over the next 20 years.

The Kern Center is part of that statement, Lash said, referring to a structure that was carefully designed to make its own energy, harvest its own water, and treat its own waste, and thus become truly carbon neutral.

But that’s just one building, said Lash, who then related a conversation with students concerning the school’s participation in the American College and University Presidents’ Climate Commitment, under which institutions commit to implementing a comprehensive plan to achieve a carbon-neutral campus.

“The committee that was working on it came to me and said ‘maybe we can do it in 25 years,’” Lash recalled. “And I said, “I don’t think you understand how urgent this matter is; if Hampshire College says ’25 years,’ what is the world supposed to say?’

“So we switched it to 10 years, and that kind of forced us to think radically,” he went on, adding that such thinking included exploration of solar power.

But at that time, such a proposition was still financially untenable, he went on, adding that since then, the cost of photovoltaic collectors has gone down so much, and the efficiency of units has increased to such a level, that the proposition was not only feasible, but the school would save up to $8 million in electricity costs over the 20-year life of the project.

After months of cost analysis and negotiations with project partner SolarCity, which will construct the PV arrays and sell the electricity back to the college, work began earlier this month on the 15,000 solar panels, an installation that represents the largest known on any campus in New England and one of the largest in the Northeast.

It’s a groundbreaking development in many respects — again, Hampshire is the first residential college in the U.S. to go 100% solar — but it has been, and will continue to be a learning experience on many levels, in keeping with the school’s mission.

“The whole experience of reviewing proposals, shaping the contract, choosing where on our campus we were willing to put solar collectors, affirming the size of it and the ambition to go 100% solar, challenging and re-challenging the question ‘can you really do this in snow country?’ — students were involved in every step of that,” Lash explained, adding that this experience will serve them well.

“Students who have participated in this process and done this analysis, are going to go into the world really well prepared for answering the questions that society will need answered,” he went on. “If you take a highly entrepreneurial group of students who are already independent-minded and you give them this experience, they’re in a very good place.”

And moving forward, the installation can, and should, become both a classroom and an inspiration to those outside the institution who want to learn from it, he went on.

“Over the next 20 years, this is going to become a compelling environmental, but also business and technological question,” he explained. “The question of how we organize ourselves to provide low-carbon electricity will be central to the country.”

Which means he expects even more visitors to find their way to the Amherst campus in the years to come.

Kern20160715_0232-copy Already, many have come to take in the Kern Center, he explained, adding that he is one of many who will give tours to those representing institutions such as Yale Divinity School, which is contemplating a village of buildings with similar credentials.

“Three or four other universities have come to look, and other nonprofits that were thinking of building something but thought this was out of their reach have toured and realized it’s not out of their reach,” he explained. “You can watch when people come in the building and begin to look around and understand what it says and what it does — it influences them.”

And he expects the same will happen with the solar installations.

Study in Progressive Thinking

As one traverses the long driveway to the campus off Route 116, one sees meadows on both sides of the road — and for a reason; actually several of them.

“We don’t see why we should use the thousands of gallons of gasoline necessary to keep all that as lawn,” Lash explained. “But it also creates a habitat for an incredible number of birds and other creatures, and our science students study that.”

Thus, those meadows become yet another example of the school’s unique approach to learning, as stated earlier — that section in the fact sheet about ‘engaging in a variety of learning activities and environments that challenge their creativity, problem-solving, and discovery of ideas and meaning.’

Today, there are more such environments, with others, especially the solar installations, now taking shape on the campus. They both exemplify and inspire those traits for which the school’s students and alums are noted — entrepreneurship and a desire to not stop learning.

And they are textbook examples, in every sense of the word, of how this experiment in higher education is adding new dimensions to its mission, uniqueness, and commitment to sustainability.

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

Local Employment Agencies See Surge in Demand for Full-time Employees

Employment Sections

Hire Expectations

Employment agencies, by nature of the work they carry out, can take an accurate read of the economy, the confidence exhibited by area employers, and the trends developing within various sectors. Their pulse-taking exercises reveal, among other things, that the economy has been growing steadily since the end of the recession, and that this remains, by and large, a a job hunter’s market because businesses and start-ups are growing, and the demand for people with specialized skills is currently greater than the supply.

Tricia Canavan says working with an employment agency can be beneficial to job seekers because such firms know what employers want and can help them hone their skills.

A client recently told Tricia Canavan that he didn’t know how she found the right person to fill an executive position in his firm.

“I told him it’s our sole focus, so it’s easier for us than it is for many small and mid-sized companies,” said the president of United Personnel in Springfield.

But it’s still no small feat: The state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 4.2% in June, for the third month in a row, and fewer people are searching for jobs.

“It is becoming increasingly difficult to find qualified candidates,” Canavan said. “The economy in Western Mass. is really strong, the job market is very tight, and we’re seeing increased demand for direct hires as well as temp-to-hire positions.”

Chart of Area Employment Agencies

Indeed, although the market was flooded with job hunters during the recession, the pendulum has certainly swung in the opposite direction, creating new challenges for employers — and the staffing agencies trying to serve them.

“The field is rife with opportunity for people with the right skills,” said Jackie Fallon, president of FIT Staffing Solutions LLC in Springfield and Enfield, which specializes in the field of information technology. Historically, about 25% of their job openings have been for temporary positions, and although there was a rise in temp jobs from 2008 to 2010, today only two of 25 openings she is trying to fill fall into that category.

“It’s a job-candidates’ market; there is a gap between supply and demand,” Fallon continued, adding that people with IT skills are not afraid to quit jobs without notice due to the high demand for their skills, and this factor, combined with the fact that many baby boomers are retiring, has increased the number of openings in the industry.

“It is becoming increasingly difficult to find qualified candidates,” Canavan said. “The economy in Western Mass. is really strong, the job market is very tight, and we’re seeing increased demand for direct hires as well as temp-to-hire positions.”

Ed Piekos notes the same trend in another industry. “Job openings continue to exceed hires for companies looking for financial professionals with well-rounded skill sets and strong soft skills,” said the vice president of Accountemps/Office Team in Springfield. The former specializes in accounting and finance professionals and their temporary jobs can last up to two years, while its sister division specializes in administrative support, where a business might need a receptionist for as little as a day.

Jackie Fallon says there is strong need for employees who are proficient in information technology, and this pattern will continue.

Andrea Hill-Cataldo, president of Johnson & Hill Staffing Services in West Springfield, said the need for people in accounting and finance has grown so much that earlier this year she hired Tiffany Appleton to serve as director of the new Finance and Accounting division her firm created.

“We’re very busy, and there is a growing need for this type of expertise in both temp and temp-to-hire positions, although most of the jobs we’re trying to fill are temp-to-hire,” she told BusinessWest.

Appleton moved from the Boston area to Western Mass. to take the job, and was surprised to find the majority of vacancies in this region are newly created jobs.

“We’re not seeing a need for backfills; all of the positions we have exist because small and mid-size companies are growing and want to add to their teams,” she noted. “They’re creating permanent jobs and are fully committed; they are not testing the waters with a temp.”

Although she noted that larger firms still do employ temps, which some people prefer to call “contractors” due to the negative connotations associated with the term “temporary,” the majority of them keep these hires for a year or longer, which allows them to continuously adjust to economic demands without affecting their permanent staff.

“Temporary hires are a workforce-management tool because they can be used for projects, special needs, or uncertain demands,” Appleton explained.

Overall, who, when, and why companies are hiring are subjects still dominated by a host of questions marks. But many employment issues are coming into focus, and for this issue, BusinessWest talked with many staffing professions about what they’re experiencing, and what that means in terms of the proverbial big picture.

Meeting Diverse Needs

Although the demand for full-time employees is growing, Canavan said many companies have significant seasonal fluctuations and do need temporary workers. Decades ago they hired people to fill these jobs, then laid them off, but today they depend on employment agencies to fill their need for workers whose job duties can range from customer service to processing orders to even project management.

It’s a system that works well because local employment agencies retain pools of qualified candidates they deploy on a frequent basis.

Andrea Hill-Cataldo, left, and Tiffany Appleton say that although large companies can offer rich benefit packages, small to mid-sized companies often can be more flexible or creative with benefits, which appeals to many job seekers.

The length of time they work depends on what they are hired for, but Fallon said her firm provides them with health insurance if they need it and keeps them on staff as W2 employees, because independent-contractor law in Massachusetts is the strictest in the country.

“And in our industry, many software developers want to go from job to job, which they can do in other states, but not in this one,” she explained.

Other agencies also see people who only want to work on a temporary basis. Some are retired, others are simply interested in challenging projects, a number want to gain skills and experience in a new field they are considering, and still others supplement their income by working part-time.

“They may have plans to move in a year, are re-entering the workforce, or are a recent college graduate who just wants to build a resume,” Canavan said.

She told BusinessWest there are also many part-time positions available, which is ideal for job applicants with another job or responsibilities that prevent them from working full time.

The options are unlimited, and the temp-to-hire route often works well for both employers and prospective employees, although people leaving a full-time job to take another usually want the security of knowing they have a job.

“Many companies want to try a candidate out to see if they fit well in their culture, but it’s also an excellent way for a person to see if they want to work for the employers,” Piekos explained, noting that a job placement needs to be a good fit; someone who has worked in corporate America may not be comfortable working in the construction industry.

Ed Piekos says companies seeking a highly skilled financial professional with strong soft skills must act quickly when they find one and be willing to negotiate.

That can be difficult to determine if the employer and their workplace constitute an unknown entity, which happens frequently when people search for a job on their own.

“It can be very frustrating for people to apply for jobs via the Internet. It’s like sending your resume into a black hole,” Canavan said, explaining that there is often no response and no feedback, which can be mitigated with an employment agency because they know their clients well.

In fact, Hill-Cataldo believes every job seeker should contact an employment agency.

“We can’t help everyone but we’re really honest about feedback and we offer specialized services. One interview with us can yield a lot of potential options, so it is a good investment of people’s time,” she explained.

Her agency also offers candidates they accept free assistance in polishing their resumes as well as their interviewing skills, and offers honed advice on how to turn a temp position into a permanent one.

Timing Issues

Star performers may be in demand, but Hill-Cataldo said their clients are not compromising their standards.

“They want the right person and are highly selective,” she noted, “But if they do find a top candidate, they act quickly because they know that quality people are being snatched up.”

Piekos has spent 18 years in the industry and been through three economic downturns and recoveries, and says the market right now for skilled employees is especially tight, so it is critical for employers to make offers quickly if they like a candidate.

“Companies need to be willing to negotiate quickly because a person may have a lot of offers on the table. They have to be ready to sell themselves and be willing to entertain things such as higher salaries and flexible scheduling or they could lose top performers,” he said. “We’re in a specialized economy, and skilled talent is becoming harder and harder to find, so candidates with the skill sets companies want often have multiple offers.

“Counter offers are common and hiring has become intensively competitive,” he went on, adding that the national unemployment rate is 1.8% for financial analysts, and 2.6% for bookkeepers, so there may be dozens of local companies trying to hire a senior accountant.

“It’s really a candidate’s market, and people with the right skill sets are so confident they are forcing employers to look at retention strategies and compensation plans,” Piekos continued, explaining that people are more willing to change jobs today than they were during the recession.

He believes the top items companies need to offer in order to acquire and retain top employees include a willingness to invest in their professional development; the ability to provide opportunities for career advancement; good salaries or hourly wages; and programs that reward or recognize employees for excellent work.

Many job seekers in this market, particularly millennials, are also concerned with the flexibility a job offers and want to be able to make their own work schedules.

“Candidates are definitely demanding and want to work for a company that offers them a good work/life balance. Many tell us the company’s mission is important and should allow them to take time off to volunteer, as well as allowing them to work from home as much as possible,” Fallon said, adding that employers who want to hire people competent in information technology need to keep pace with it themselves because college graduates won’t work for a company with old technology.

And since a good fit means understanding the needs of both the employer and the employee, Canavan says her firm interviews employers about what a typical work week is like, and talks to prospective employees about what they find acceptable.

There are other important factors, and one of them is that finding the right candidate for a job doesn’t necessarily mean they need all of the technical skills a company would like.

Job-placement specialists agree that skill sets are transferable, so soft skills are often more important than proficiency in a certain area and finding someone who fits well within an employer’s culture and has good soft skills can be the deciding factors in who they hire.

“Employers are more open to understanding this today than they were in the past,” Appleton said. “Many skill sets are transferable.”

Hill-Cataldo added four new employees to her own staff over the past 18 months, and followed that principle; her new placement coordinator was a legal assistant, and other hires came from the banking and retail industries.

“You can train someone on the technical aspects of the job, but you can’t train them to be passionate about their work,” she said.

Future Outlook

The need for qualified employees continues to grow, and more companies are taking measures to ensure that the people who already work for them are happy, which is critical to retention. They are also focusing on why their firm stands out so they can sell themselves to candidates they like.

Hill-Cataldo and other experts say this is especially important in the current competitive environment.

“It’s not your typical market, and we are so busy we can’t identify enough qualified candidates for the business we have,” she noted, adding that they are placing people in many high- level positions.

“It’s a good time to be looking for a job,” she said in conclusion. “There are lots and lots of opportunities.”

Paragus Founder Gives Employees an Ownership Stake

Business Management Sections

Anatomy of an ESOP

Delcie Bean recalls that he was advised — by more than one individual and on more than one occasion — that it might not be wise to initiate an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) while the company was still very much in a strong growth mode. But he decided this self-described gamble was certainly worth taking — and for many reasons.

Delcie Bean

Delcie Bean likened an employee stock ownership plan, or ESOP, as one is commonly called, to an onion.

By that, he obviously meant that it has many layers of intrigue and complexity, as he found out while researching, planning, and eventually executing one for the company, Paragus Strategic IT, that he founded 17 years ago, when he was just 16.

“My initial understanding of an ESOP amounted to this 30,000-foot view,” he explained. “Over the past 2 ½ years, we kept peeling back the layers. I’ve learned more about this over the past few years than I could ever have imagined.”

Despite all these layers, Bean, as he explained why and how he went down this path, said there are two basic truths that he started with and that were still there when he peeled away all those layers: That this is, at least in his mind, the proper and fair course to take, and it is also (and this is in nearly everyone’s mind) a gamble.

“There’s a big part of me that believes that it’s the right thing to do — the fair and equitable thing to do,” he explained. “It’s not like I work that much harder than anyone else here, and there are people here who I’m sure work much harder than I do some days.

“To me, I always just felt uncomfortable with the fact that this young company was growing so fast and amassing a decent evaluation,” he went on, “but, for the most part, that was predominantly just to benefit me; I didn’t really like that.”

As for that second basic truth, Bean said he’s gambling that if he fast-forwards 10 years … 60% of the valuation of the business (as an employee-owned company) will be roughly the same or more as 100% of the valuation if he had remained the sole share holder in the venture.

“And I’ll never really know the answer to that, because we won’t be able to see both, obviously,” he told BusinessWest. “But it is something I really believe is possible. However, it takes a lot more than just forming an ESOP — there’s a lot of cultivation, education, and motivation needed. But if we get it right, then I think we can leverage the ESOP to grow the company, not only faster, but better, making it healthier, more stable, and more resilient than it could have been had I owned it and just had a bunch of employees.”

Referencing this ‘gamble’ part of the equation, Bean noted that he was actually advised — very early and quite often — against taking this step now, when the company is still very much in a growth mode, as opposed to full maturity or something approaching it, when ESOPs are a far more attractive option.

“They told me I might be leaving a lot of money on the table,” he said, adding that he didn’t want to wait 10 years or even 10 more months, because he thinks this gamble is well worth taking, and one he believes other business owners should take as well.

Delcie Bean, third from right, joins other Paragus owners at a recent reception to mark the closing on the company’s ESOP.

Why? Primarily because giving employees an ownership stake in the company can — that’s the operative word here — bring advantages ranging from greater ability to recruit and retain talented workers, to improved morale, to an even sharper focus on growth and strategies to enable a company to function more effectively and more profitably.

And as one small, yet hopefully effective example, Bean pointed to … the company’s postage machine, or, to be more, precise, to the fact it’s been retired in favor of simply placing stamps on envelopes (no one has to lick them anymore).

“One of the employees pointed out that the cost of our postage machine we were renting, for the amount of postage we were using, just didn’t make sense,” he explained. “We thought ‘we’re a business, we’re supposed to have a postage machine; no one puts stamps on envelopes anymore.’ But she ran the math and figured out it would save us $1,800 a year to just pay for stamps and put them on, even with the labor added in.”

But overall, ESOPs are undertaken for more far-reaching, and more long-term, strategic thinking and implementation, he went on, noting that with ownership of the company comes what amounts to a greater stake in its success.

For this issue and its focus on business management, BusinessWest uses the Paragus ESOP as a window into this complex and often misunderstood business tool, and also at what Bean believes it will mean for his already-highly-visible company.

Taking Stock

To help explain just how onion-like and complicated an ESOP is, Bean said the plan to initiate one was actually announced to staff at a company retreat nearly three years ago, and he had undertaken preliminary research and calculations long before that.

Then, as now, the company was defined by strong growth (roughly 24% per year has been the average), as well as physical expansion — the company is already starting to feel snug in new quarters opened in Hadley just two years ago — a constantly growing staff, and the mounting challenge of finding and keeping talented help in that climate.

In all ways, the arrow was pointing decidedly up.

And this is not the time, as noted earlier, when business consultants advise ownership to go the ESOP route.

But Bean, who has generated headlines in recent years for all kinds of reasons — from almost-permanent residence on Inc. magazine’s fastest-growing companies list, to BusinessWest’s Top Entrepreneur award for 2014, to the opening of new businesses and a unique training facility to prepare people for careers in IT — decided it was time to generate one of a different kind.

And, again, he said there were many motivations, and primarily a desire to share the wealth — in part because it should be shared, in his thinking, but also because doing so would benefit the company.

Seeking to feel more comfortable with the manner in which the pie would be divided, Bean started doing some research.

It involved books, articles, case studies, and some recent examples, locally and nationally. As noted with the onion reference, he learned that ESOPs are quite involved and require planning, execution, and a large team to handle both.

As part of the exercise, Bean became closely acquainted with the ESOP undertaken by a Springfield, Ill.-based company that remanufactures and resells engines. That case was considerably different — the venture had been bought, the buyer announced its intention to sell it or shut it down, and the employees, fearing the loss of their jobs, secured the capital to buy it — but the machinations were similar enough to make it a learning experience.

There were others, including the ones at Harpoon Brewery and Chibone Yogurt, Bean went on, adding that his research revealed that in most cases, ESOPs are initiated by companies looking to raise capital for equipment purchases and other reasons, or by owners looking for an effective exit strategy.

“As Baby Boomers look to retire, if they don’t have a succession plan already created they may use ESOPs to help them with that challenge,” he said, adding that given current demographic trends and the lack of succession plans at companies large and small, it’s likely that there will be an uptick in ESOPs in the years to come.

Despite his aggressive research, though, Bean found it very difficult to find an ESOP quite like the one he was planning, for all those reasons stated earlier.

“I’m not looking to go anywhere,” he said, adding that this was a point he had to drive home to his employees over the course of the nearly three years it took to bring the plan to fruition. “Rather, it’s a commitment that I’m all in.”

ESOP’s Fable

And as he explained ‘all in,’ Bean offered some specifics as to how this ESOP works, and, more importantly, how he expects the company to leverage it in the years and decades to come.

He started by saying that unlike those cases where an ESOP is an exit strategy, no funding was raised by employees and no cash changed hands. In essence, 40% of Paragus (roughly $1.4 million) was gifted to the 40 or so employees in the form of a trust that is wholly owned by the employees of the company. And this share of the company becomes a type of retirement plan, or another retirement plan as the case may be (there’s a 401(k) program already in place).

“Once a year, employees will get a statement showing how many shares they have in their account, and what the valuation (of the company) is, and therefore what those shares are worth and what their account is worth,” he explained, adding that the ESOP becomes a perc — in his mind, a very attractive one.

We need to help the employees understand, from the context of their job, the things they can do to have an impact that matters and that can change the bottom line. We have an obligation to simplify the business down so that every position has a metric that they can understand, that is tracked, is clear, and that ties into our profitability, so they know what they can do.”

Indeed, the company has a 10-year goal for growth and valuation ($40 million to be specific), and if it is hit, he projects that the average ESOP account, governed by ERISSA, will be worth “in the low six figures.”

As for leveraging the ESOP, which closed June 8, Bean said the company had already generated a culture of ownership — reinforced with rewards — throughout its ranks, but the ESOP will hopefully take it to a higher level.

“In order for this gamble to work, there is an obligation on the part of the employee, but there’s also an obligation on us,” he explained, meaning company leadership. “We need to provide education, training, and motivation.

“We need to help the employees understand, from the context of their job, the things they can do to have an impact that matters and that can change the bottom line,” he went on. “We have an obligation to simplify the business down so that every position has a metric that they can understand, that is tracked, is clear, and that ties into our profitability, so they know what they can do.”

Elaborating, he said that each position has such a metric, and, therefore, steps, or operating strategies, that can improve profitability. Examples include everything from purchasing policies, to the level of customer service provided by service techs, to that postage machine.

At present, the company is looking at every position from the vantage point of creating a metric and providing employees with the tools, and motivation, to know where and how to work harder and better.

“If they don’t know where to invest the effort, then even if they want to, they won’t do it,” he explained, adding that one key through all of us is to take steps that improve profitability while not negatively impacting quality of service.

The Bottom Line

When asked if and how the company would begin to know if this gamble was paying off, Bean said a look at the numbers about 16 months from now would provide some clues.

“We’ve been averaging about 24% growth over the past seven years; if we can increase that number, I think we can be fairly confident that it’s because of the ESOP as the biggest factor,” he explained. “We’ll know at the end of 2017, when we’ve had a full year with this; we’ll see if we beat that 24% number.”

But the company is looking well beyond the end of next year, he added quickly, noting that the key isn’t achieving more-profound growth, it’s sustaining it.

“It’s not about a short-term bump, it’s about a long-term sustainable approach,” he said in conclusion, adding that he firmly believes an ESOP can help attain all that, and that’s why he took this gamble.

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

The Value of Health-Plan-Sponsored Wellness Programs

BusinessWest White Paper Sections

Presented by Health New England

By Katie Bruno

Health plan sponsored wellness programs – designed to help employees become more active, eat healthier, and take better care of their bodies — are not simply the right thing to do; they can also help companies save on health care costs.

It’s a simple fact that when people feel great, they are at their best. And that’s why, when it comes to wellness programs, there is, to borrow a term from the business world, measurable ROI (return on investment.)

Improvements in health can be seen in the results of biometric screenings, including measures like blood pressure, body mass index and cholesterol levels. For employers this translates to improvement in everything from absenteeism and productivity to overall company morale.

To be effective, though, these plans must be properly planned and administered. Businesses of all sizes need to really partner with their health plan as they consider offering a wellness program, when to undertake such an initiative, and, most importantly, how.

For many years now, Health New England has been that partner, providing needed direction on how to blueprint and administer a plan; how to set goals — for the program and individual participants; how to keep a program on track; and how to raise the bar when necessary.

Health New England provides a wide range of programs and specific benefits to address the wellness of its members and their families — at every stage of their lives. Our programs are free-of-charge for employer groups and are structured as follows:

• Basic wellness plan benefits, including an annual preventive well-visit; a yearly $150 wellness/fitness reimbursement; nutritional counseling with a certified nutritionist; and free help to quit smoking through Health New England’s smoking-cessation program;
• An Enhanced Healthy Choices Rewards Program that rewards members for being proactive about their health. Employers can opt-in to this free program, designed to help members gain a better understanding of their health and learn ways to better manage it. By completing a few simple health activities during the year, members can earn points toward raffle drawings; and
• A Customized Health Directions Employer Worksite Wellness Program, designed for those who want to partner more closely with Health New England. Companies and their employees receive an onsite kick-off event, including biometric screenings; various health activities, fitness challenges, educational seminars and webinars; access to the Healthy Directions web portal; and access to raffle drawings.

Health New England partners with employers and their employees to design wellness programs with a focus on goal setting, physical activity, healthy eating and preventative care. They can also help design incentive programs to reinforce health and wellness efforts.

Wellness programs are not just the right things for a company to do. They are very good for business. And Health New England can help make them part of your business.

Katie Bruno is manager of Health Management Programs for Health New England.

Nancy Creed Takes the Helm at the Springfield Regional Chamber

A Job in Sales

Nancy Creed

As she takes the helm at the Springfield Regional Chamber of Commerce, Nancy Creed brings to the job a diverse résumé that includes work with nonprofits and in nonprofit management; in small businesses, large businesses, and her own business; and at the chamber itself. She believes these experiences have prepared her for the many challenges facing this organization — and all chambers.

Nancy Creed still remembers her first feature byline — and even the headline that went over the copy.

It was the fall of 1989. Creed was only a few months out of Syracuse University and, after briefly considering and then rejecting thoughts of trying to break into journalism in the Big Apple, had come back to her hometown of East Longmeadow to work for the Reminder as an assistant editor.

Her first feature story took her to Main Street — literally. Actually, it took her to the individual who had kept it clean — since Calvin Coolidge was in the White House — and was finally retiring.

“‘Street sweeper sees the end of the road’ — I was really proud of that headline,” Creed recalled. “He had been doing it for like 65 years or something like that; I interviewed about what he’d seen on the streets of East Longmeadow for six decades. His time had come, and I was there to write about it; that’s how I got started.”

She summoned similar wording — that ‘time has come’ part — to talk about a much different career milestone, specifically her ascendency to the role of president of the Springfield Regional Chamber of Commerce.

“I think it’s … my time,” she said with a solid dose of confidence in her voice, acknowledging that she might sound a bit cocky with that remark, but doesn’t intend to be. She implied that those words are merely what amount to the expression of an opinion — that she spent the 27 or so years since the street-sweeper profile preparing herself for such an assignment, and this one in particular. And now it’s time to put that accumulated experience to work.

“This is the logical next career step for me,” she noted. “Chamber work is in my blood.”

A quick look at her résumé would seem to bear this out. It includes work in journalism, marketing, and public relations; at small businesses, large businesses, and her own business; with nonprofits and as a nonprofit manager; and, perhaps most importantly, during two stints with the Springfield Regional Chamber, including the past three and a half years as vice president of Marketing and Communications.

Her first stint, as Communications director, came in 1999, when the name on the stationery was the Affiliated Chambers of Commerce of Greater Springfield. But so much more has changed over those years besides the name, and the sum of these transformations goes a long way toward explaining why ‘Creed’s time’ is, and will continue to be, an extremely challenging one for this chamber — and all chambers, for that matter.

The big challenge is to continue to provide value to the smaller businesses — they’re the backbone of this region’s economy.”

Indeed, the Affiliated Chambers took up considerably more real estate on the ground floor of what is now the TD Bank building back then, she acknowledged, noting that the staff was at least twice the size it is now. This contraction is a sign of the times, she said, adding that there are fewer members now, partly because there are fewer businesses that can be members due to a wave of consolidation that has enveloped banks, insurance agencies, healthcare providers, and more. But that’s only part of the story.

Another big part is the fact that chamber membership, once almost an automatic reflex action for someone new in business, is now anything but.

“Historically, joining the chamber was just the right thing to do; it’s no longer that way,” she said, adding that this is especially true with the younger generations. “So we have to figure out what people want to get out of the chamber — and provide it.”

Thus, chambers in general, and the Springfield Regional Chamber in particular, have come forth with new initiatives and programming designed to provide more of that all-important commodity — value.

As an example, Creed, who succeeds Jeff Ciuffreda at the chamber’s helm, pointed to new informational programs targeted for specific audiences (especially small businesses), such as the chamber’s Lunch ‘n’ Learn program, which has focused on topics ranging from social-media marketing to the new overtime laws.

“The big challenge is to continue to provide value to the smaller businesses — they’re the backbone of this region’s economy,” she said, referring to companies with 10 or fewer employees. “They make up 75% of our membership, so you really need to understand the issues and challenges they face and provide what they’re missing and need.”

But Creed’s time is challenging, and intriguing, for many other reasons as well, from the need to assemble almost an entirely new staff at the chamber (more on that in a bit) to the advent of what would have to be called the ‘casino era’ in Greater Springfield, to the groundswell of entrepreneurial energy sweeping the city and region.

For this issue, BusinessWest talked at length with Creed about, well, her time and the myriad components to that simple two-word phrase.

The Write Stuff

When asked what brought her to Syracuse, Creed offered a quick, one-word answer — “basketball” — before then elaborating.

“I loved college basketball, and I looked at all the big basketball schools,” she explained. “I didn’t really know what I wanted to do, so I thought, ‘if I’m not quite sure what I want to do, I might as well go to a college where I can enjoy a hobby.’”

And in the mid-’80s, if college basketball was your hobby, there was no better place than Syracuse, then one of the top teams in the soaring Big East Conference. But while attending games at the recently completed Carrier Dome, Creed was also finding a passion — for writing and marketing — and earning a degree from the prestigious S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications.

The question, upon graduation, was what to do with it. As mentioned earlier, she considered, albeit briefly, trying to make it in the city that never sleeps.

“I thought about going to New York, but that probably meant living with eight other women in a studio apartment and earning $25 a story,” she said, adding that there were several things wrong with this picture, certainly enough to look elsewhere as she sought to follow her dream.

Eventually, home, and the Reminder, became the best option. She stayed with the publication for two years before taking the first of many career turns that would shape her diverse résumé.

She went to work for the Springfield-based law firm Robinson Donovan as assistant marketing director. There, she worked alongside one of the young associate attorneys, Russ Denver, who would later go on to direct the Springfield chamber.

Nancy Creed says helping area companies do business with MGM’s casino now taking shape in Springfield’s South End is just one of many challenges on her plate.

That connection would become a key storyline a few years later, when, after getting married, relocating to the Boston area, and serving as Communications and Public Relations coordinator for the nonprofit group Community Care Services Inc., she began searching for what would become the next line on her CV.

Denver was looking for a Communications director, and encouraged Creed to seek the job. She did, and prevailed in the search, eventually serving two years in that role before returning to big business as manager of Corporate Communications for Western Mass. Electric Co., now Eversource.

After more than four years in that role, her career took another sharp turn as she started her own business, N.F. Creed Communications, handling work for a wide range of clients, including two former employers, the chamber and Northeast Utilities, parent company to Western Mass. Electric.

But shifts in the economic winds, coinciding with the Great Recession and its aftermath, prompted many companies to bring marketing and PR work in house, Creed explained, thus prompting another career move — and a return to the chamber.

Over the past several years, she has been involved with a number of initiatives, from helping to coordinate a renaming and restructuring of the chamber to managing a host of events, including the chamber’s annual Outlook lunch, which draws nearly 1,000 people to the MassMutual Center and speakers such as Gov. Charlie Baker and former White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card.

But mostly, she’s been working with Ciuffreda and other team members to do something chambers have always had to do, but not with anything approaching the sense of urgency they face now: sell themselves.

She sees this as both her primary assignment moving forward and the professional strength she will most call upon.

“When you look at my past experience … I’ve led, I’ve been led, I have entrepreneurial spirit, I worked in small business, I worked in big business and for nonprofits, so I understand the various challenges,” she said. “I have a really broad range of experience, and I think that’s important.

“And Jeff built a really strong foundation for the organization,” she went on. “So my marketing skills are probably the most important, because now we’re going to take that, and we’re going to sell it.”

Getting Down to Business

And as she talked about this process of selling the chamber, Creed said the organization has to do what all businesses across every sector must do — provide products and services that people want to buy.

And this brings her back to some of the newer offerings introduced in recent years, and the philosophy that brought them about.

“We used to have programs that were broad-based; there was no specific target market, no niche,” she explained. “We then created events and programs and services for specific markets, specific segments of our membership, and those have really become popular.”

Perhaps the best example is the Lunch ‘n’ Learn series, which focuses primarily on sales and marketing and employment- law issues, and was blueprinted for smaller companies that don’t have large teams, or even dedicated individuals, handling HR and PR.

“We had a session on social-media marketing, and it was designed for a specific segment of our membership that maybe didn’t have a marketing department or where the administrative assistant was handling social media,” she explained. “There are many issues that small businesses are faced with that they don’t necessarily have the internal resources to deal with, so we can provide those resources.”

This will be the mindset moving forward, she went on, as the agency looks for constructive ways to answer the question, ‘why should I join the chamber?’

Even the traditional, time-honored chamber breakfast has to be educational and value-oriented, she explained, noting that members need a reason to take that hour and half out of their day and attend.

“We’ve gotten pretty good at providing what people want to see out of those breakfasts,” Creed explained. “We continue to do our salutes because they want to see the success of other businesses and learn more about them. But with speakers, we’ve learned that people want to learn something, but they also want to be entertained.”

The chamber’s success in listening to members and responding to what they’re saying is verified in attendance figures at events, she went on, adding that they’re up across the board over the past few years.

Beyond the all-important work to sell the chamber and provide more value to members, Creed faces other, even more immediate challenges.

The first will be filling the offices and cubicles in the chamber’s space within what’s still known as the Regional Economic Development Center.

She must replace herself as vice president of Marketing, but also hire a new coordinator of sales and member benefits as well.

“We’re building an almost entirely new team,” she said, adding that the chamber’s former administrative assistant has been placed in a recalibrated position focused on events and program administration.

Assembling a solid team is critical, said Creed, again equating the situation to what faces businesses on a daily basis; there must be quality products and services, as well as people to sell them, market them, and coordinate all of the above.

But there are other pressing issues as well, including the schedule for the coming year, work traditionally done over the summer, and getting out and visiting as many members as possible in the weeks and months ahead as part of that process of listening to their needs.

Then there are the ongoing issues involving MGM’s $950 million casino, now finally starting to take shape in Springfield’s South End, specifically the matter of helping area companies do business with the gaming giant.

“We’ll continue to find ways to work with MGM to benefit our members,” she explained, adding that the process of becoming a vendor is somewhat complicated, but the chamber has resources that can help those interested navigate those waters.

Moving forward, another priority is to build upon existing partnerships with a host of entities — from Associated Industries of Mass. to other area chambers, to various economic-development agencies.

That includes those involved with promoting entrepreneurship and helping startups get to the next level, she said, adding that the rising levels of entrepreneurial energy in the region present a great opportunity for chambers, and hers in particular.

“When you look at the success of a group like Valley Venture Mentors … they’re creating a pipeline of new businesses and startups,” she explained. “The next logical step for those entrepreneurs is the chambers; there’s a huge opportunity for us.”

In Her Blood

Creed told BusinessWest that she will bring to her latest career challenge what she has brought to all the others — energy, imagination, and experience gathered from the stops that came before.

That includes the time spent recently managing a nonprofit organization, in this case, Dakin Humane Society. Creed has long served on the board of that agency, and agreed to step in and serve as interim director last fall.

She described this stint as yet another learning experience, one that was rewarding and enjoyable.

“It was easy, because it’s a passion of mine,” she said of her work with animals, adding that she has many others, including college basketball (still) and writing.

And chambers of commerce. This work is in her blood, as she said. That won’t necessarily make this assignment easy, or even easier, but it will provide her an edge, as will all that accumulated experience since the street-sweeper profile.

As she noted, it’s her time.

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

SSO Takes Steps to Broaden Its Reach, Audience

Cover Story Sections Travel and Tourism

Instruments of Progress

Executive Director Peter Salerno on the steps of Symphony Hall

As it enters its 73rd year, the Springfield Symphony Orchestra does so knowing that, to remain relevant, it must be creative and willing to assume risks as it strives to cultivate new audiences, especially the younger generations. Peter Salerno, who has twice served as interim director of the SSO and took the helm on a permanent basis earlier this year, says the institution is more than up for that challenge.

Peter Salerno said the phone call seemed to come out of left field … or from the 20-yard line, as the case may be.

On the other end was someone from the New England Patriots’ marketing department. She wanted to know if the Springfield Symphony Orchestra, which Salerno was serving then as interim executive director, could have 50 or 60 of its musicians at Gillette Stadium in 24 days for a performance that would celebrate the team’s fourth Super Bowl victory, earned six months earlier, and usher in the 2015 season.

It was an extraordinary request on many levels, and Salerno, who has since dropped the word ‘interim’ from his title, knew he couldn’t say ‘yes’ at that moment, as much as he wanted to, knowing what this opportunity would mean for the venerable institution in terms of invaluable and incalculable exposure. Indeed, he would have to consult with Maestro Kevin Rhodes and other members of the team to see if this was even logistically feasible, and then get approval from the SSO board, because this was a venture far outside the orchestra’s traditional mission — and comfort zone, for that matter.

He got the nod from both parties and promptly called the Patriots back, thus setting the wheels in motion for perhaps the most memorable night in the orchestra’s 73-year history.

It was certainly the biggest stage, at least in a figurative sense. Indeed, while the actual performing area was a trifle snug, more than 70,000 people at the stadium and another 35 million watching NBC’s broadcast of the Thursday-night game against the Pittsburgh Steelers saw and heard the orchestra perform “O Fortuna,” the Patriots’ so-called tunnel song, and eventually shared the stage with the rapper T-Pain.

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“It was quite an upbeat moment for us,” said Salerno, using both wordplay and understatement to get his point across. “I recognized this is an opportunity for us to perform, and be relevant, in an area that we never thought we could before.”

In many respects, that performance at Gillette almost a year ago effectively speaks to the aspirations, goals, and challenges that define the SSO moving forward. It was a dramatic attempt to move beyond what would be considered traditional (in terms of both the venue and performing with a rapper), attract new and larger audiences, and greatly improve visibility beyond the confines of Symphony Hall.

There will be a lot more of that — although certainly on a smaller scale — in the months and years to come, as a look at the 2016-17 calendar reveals.

One of things I’m teaching, but also learning at the same time, is that our orchestra must respond to different genres of music to remain in the forefront of the people’s minds.”

In addition to the classical offerings — a Tchaikovsky Gala on opening night (Sept. 24), Brahms’ “Double Concerto” on Nov. 19, and Beethoven’s “Emperor Concerto” on Jan. 21 — the SSO will share the stage with the Irish Tenors two weeks before St. Patrick’s Day, and will wrap up the season on May 13 with something called Video Games Live!

As that name suggests, this will be an immersive concert that features the musical scores from the greatest video games of all time — as those games appear on large screens around the hall, with synchronized lighting and other special effects.

Those unique events, and especially the final one, are designed to draw more diverse audiences, particularly young people, a stern challenge now facing all arts institutions.

Peter Salerno says the main challenge for SSO and its conductor, Kevin Rhodes (pictured), is audience development.

To meet this challenge head-on, the SSO must do something not exactly within its character, historically, and that is to be far more willing to take risks, said Salerno, adding quickly that the board has essentially greenlighted such an approach to business, and so has long-time conductor Rhodes and the rest of the orchestra’s team.

“One of the things I’m teaching, but also learning at the same time, is that our orchestra must respond to different genres of music to remain in the forefront of the people’s minds,” he explained, adding that this is the mindset driving the SSO and forging its schedule for the coming year.

For this issue and its focus on travel and tourism, BusinessWest takes an in-depth look at how the SSO is looking to expand its playing field, in all kinds of ways, and put every definition of the term ‘score’ into play.

Developments of Note

Looking back on the 24 days after that fortuitous phone call came in from Foxborough, Salerno used all kinds of descriptive phases to characterize them — from ‘long’ to ‘exhilarating.’

“Those were 60-hour weeks,” he said, smiling as he did so because, while the work was sometimes tedious — involving everything from drafting contracts with the Patriots and NBC to insurance matters and a mountain of logistics — it was also very exciting.

This was, after all, the proverbial opportunity of a lifetime, and the SSO was going to do everything in its power to seize the moment.

“This was a surreal moment for our orchestra, and it showed the versatility of our people,” said Salerno as he showed a video of the performance, with the SSO clearly visible to fans amid fireworks and low-lying fog, adding that perhaps the biggest obstacle was creating a sheltered performing area for the orchestra, something the Patriots organization pulled together. And demand for it was warranted because it rained in the hours leading up to the performance and stopped only moments before it was set to begin.

In many respects, dealing with cloudy forecasts and unsettled skies — in a figurative sense — has been a part of doing business for the SSO in recent years. Like all arts venues, it has seen its traditional audiences age, and with that demographic shift a need has emerged to embrace change and, as mentioned earlier, risk.

The Patriots performance was, again, a significant manifestation of this trend — this was believed to be the first time a full symphony orchestra had performed at such an NFL ceremony and perhaps the first time an orchestra of this type had appeared with a rapper — but there have been others, with more planned for the year ahead.

“We’re participating in the creation of new horizons for symphonic sound,” he said, adding that orchestras across the country are facing the same challenges. “And we’re going to keep pushing, and bringing world-class talent to the Springfield arena.”

Leading the orchestra through this intriguing period is Salerno, now 75 years old, who brings a wealth of experience in business, work with nonprofit institutions, and the SSO itself, having been a trustee for many years and serving not one, but two stints as interim executive director.

Described by many as a stabilizing influence to the operation, he succeeds Audrey Szychulski, who left the SSO in the spring of 2015 after less than two years at the helm.

Salerno brings a diverse résumé to the post, including everything from stints as COO of Providence Hospital and president and CEO of Brightside to work coordinating new retail stores for Taylor Rental Corp.; from a short stint running an operation that managed college bookstores to his own business, PTS Consulting, launched nearly a decade ago.

Over the years, he’s taught several graduate-level business courses at Bay Path University and Clark University in Worcester, with a focus on business strategies for nonprofit organizations, marketing, and finance.

In his latest role with the SSO, he’ll be applying the lessons that he teaches, especially as they apply to the most pressing challenge facing the institution — audience development.

Drumming up Interest

There are many components to this assignment, he said, listing everything from imaginative artistic events to new and different types of talent that will share the stage with the SSO, to a variety of touches that will make SSO performances true happenings.

With that, he took out a copy of the schedule for the coming year and started running his finger down the listings.

His first stop was the holiday concert, set for Dec. 3, although Salerno said ‘concert’ doesn’t go far enough, so the actual wording on the schedule is Holiday Extravaganza.

It was chosen to encapsulate the theme — “It’s a Wonderful Life” — and describe the sum of the activities and events, including a Christmas tree outside Symphony Hall, a visit from Santa, perhaps a reindeer if one can be secured, and more.

“We want to make coming to the symphony not just an event, but an entire presentation,” he explained. “We don’t want it to just be sitting in the audience for two hours.”

Elaborating, he said the SSO will again coordinate visits whereby ticketholders gather at spots in area communities, are then bused downtown for dinner at various downtown restaurants, and then taken to Symphony Hall.

“We’re trying to make it convenient for people to come to us,” he explained. “And we view this as an opportunity to attract more people to Symphony Hall.”

SSO conductor Kevin Rhodes is seen here with rapper T-Pain at the performance last fall at Gillette Stadium to usher in the Patriots’ new season.

His next stop, schedule-wise, was several months later, in early March, when the Irish Tenors, well-known to PBS audiences, will take the stage.

Similar to the holiday performance, this will be more than a concert, said Salerno, adding that it will be more like a celebration of Irish heritage, one featuring many moving parts.

The full itinerary is still a work in progress, he said, but in the days leading up to the performance, there will likely be an Irish-style dinner featuring luminaries and elected officials of Irish descent, and other touches, such as a possible discussion of the 1916 uprising.

“We’re trying to build the activities and the service level to a higher plane than we have in the past,” he explained, adding, again, that the goal is to move beyond the music and create experiences.

That will certainly be the goal for the season finale, Video Games Live!, which is the most dramatic example to date of the orchestra’s efforts to attract young people.

“Some of our donors have expressed interest in efforts to create continuity with younger audiences and thus lower the demographic age of our attendees,” he noted. “And we determined that one of the areas where we could start making an impact was with junior-high and high-school students.”

To that end, the SSO will contract with a California-based organization to bring the music from video games, orchestral sound, and a host of special effects together in the same venue on May 13.

“There are so many opportunities to show off our talents, and this might be a good one,” he said, adding that the show, similar to others staged in other cities in recent years, should prove to be an impactful vehicle for introducing young people to the orchestra and beginning the process of turning them into life-long audience members.

The other performances on the schedule will bring some of these elements to the table, said Salerno, adding, again, that developing new audiences and remaining relevant in the years and decades to come will require the SSO to continue to push the envelope.

“The board has allowed us to take more risk in terms of encouraging us to look at new genres and new methodologies,” he said. “I think it’s essential that we take advantage of the strengths that we have and marry them to the interests of our population, while at the same time preserving the outstanding classical performances that attract people from all over.”

Reaching a Crescendo

Returning to that now-famous phone call one more time, Salerno acknowledged that he allowed himself to think about why the Patriots were calling the SSO, and whether this was the team’s first call.

But only for a brief moment, and not in a deep manner, he told BusinessWest, noting that doing so would be counterproductive at a time when the sentiment should be, ‘why not call the SSO first?’

“One of the things I’ve learned over the years is that you don’t look a gift horse in the mouth,” he joked, before taking the discussion to a much higher plane.

“If we ask that question — ‘why us?’ — we’re probably not thinking of ourselves as being as good as we really are, so I didn’t ask that question,” he explained. “Instead, I said, ‘let’s just make this happen.’ When they called us, I just assumed they wanted us number one; I believe in this orchestra.”

These sentiments — not to mention the ‘let’s just make this happen’ remark, which refers to far more than a performance at a football game — could only be described as a winning attitude, one where the orchestra is, quite literally, taking the ball and running with it.

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

Aer Lingus Flights Seen as Boost for Airline, Bradley, Region

Sections Travel and Tourism

Ready to Take Off

The Aer Lingus flights scheduled to begin at Bradley International Airport in September are expected to attract a mix of business and leisure passengers .

As they talked about the Aer Lingus flights set to begin at Bradley International Airport late next month, Kevin Dillon and Keith Butler used strikingly similar language as they discussed what the service means to their respective organizations.

Indeed, Dillon, executive director and CEO of the Connecticut Airport Authority (CAA), which manages Bradley, and Butler, chief commercial officer for the Dublin, Ireland-based airline, said the timing for this venture is ideal, that the flight represents a key component of their respective growth strategies, and that it could be a catalyst for more developments of this type.

And they were in agreement on something else, too: that a firm commitment from the region’s business community — with ‘region,’ in this case, meaning what has come to be called the Knowledge Corridor — is necessary for this venture to, well, get off the ground.

“The success of this flight relies heavily on business travel,” said Dillon. “We know that this is going to be an extremely popular route in the summer months — we’ll have a lot of leisure travelers on this flight — but in order to retain a flight, it has to be successful year-round.”

Added Butler, “we’re expecting good volumes of both leisure and business travel, but support from businesses will obviously be a key to success in Hartford.”

Looking ahead, both the airline and the airport believe they will get such a commitment, in large part because their research — and especially the CAA’s — tells them there is considerable demand for such a service (more on that later).

Kevin Dillon

The Aer Lingus flight will depart Bradley just after 6 p.m., local time, and arrive in Dublin at 5:20 the next morning, meaning that someone could be in London (via a connecting flight) for the start of the workday there, said Butler. The return flight will leave Ireland at 2:20 p.m. and arrive in Hartford at 4:20.

“You can essentially do a day’s work in Connecticut, hop on a plane, and immediately the following day do a full day’s work in London — if that’s what you wanted to do,” said Butler.

The flights will be on a Boeing 757, with 12 business-class seats and 165 in economy. Those aren’t big numbers, but the impact of this flight could be enormous, said both Butler and Dillon.

For Aer Lingus, now the fastest-growing airline in the world in terms of trans-Atlantic business, the Hartford flights represent another spoke in the wheel when it comes to a broad growth strategy that has seen the company add flights in several U.S. cities in recent years.

“We’ve nearly doubled our trans-Atlantic capacity over the past five years,” said Butler, while quantifying the growth of Aer Lingus, now part of IAG, which also owns British Airways. “We’ve expanded our business model; we don’t just fly people between the U.S. and Ireland — we’re increasingly flying more people into Europe via Dublin, and we’re looking to continue to grow.”

As for Bradley, the impact could be even bigger, largely because of what Aer Lingus has done in terms of broadening its reach, said Dillon, noting that, while the airport is, indeed, an international airport, that term is narrow in scope and limited to this continent. With the Aer Lingus flight, the definition will become much broader.

Keith Butler

Indeed, while the service will connect business and leisure travelers alike to the Emerald Isle itself — and there is ample demand for that — it will also bring convenient connections to dozens of other cities across Europe, meaning that travelers can begin their journey to those destinations by driving to Windsor Locks, not Boston, New York, or Newark, which represents a tremendous opportunity for the airport.

“Passengers from Hartford will be able to connect to at least 24 European cities,” Butler explained. “That includes London, Paris, Amsterdam, Madrid, Barcelona, Frankfurt, Munich, and many cities in Great Britain. Our flights won’t just connect people to Dublin, but all of Europe.”

For this issue and its focus on travel and tourism, BusinessWest takes an in-depth look at the Aer Lingus service out of Bradley, and at what it means for the airport, the airline, and, most importantly, this region.

Soar Subject

When asked for a timeline on the Aer Lingus service and a quick explanation of how it came about, Dillon ventured back to 2012 and the creation of the CAA, which brought what he called a “dedicated focus to aviation in this region.”

As part of this stated mission, the organization undertook extensive outreach to the Hartford-Springfield business community, with the goal of identifying ways to improve service to that vital constituency, said Dillon, adding that, while the results were not exactly surprising, they did provide the CAA with confirmation of what was wanted and needed, and thus a specific direction in which to move.

Actually, several of them, as things turned out. He noted that one of the stated desires within the business community was for non-stop service to the West Coast, a need addressed through a partnership with American Airlines, which in June began service out of Bradley to Los Angeles International Airport (LAX).

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“So far, it’s proving to be a very popular service,” said Dillon, adding that the flight not only provides business and leisure travelers with better, easier access to the West Coast, but also to Asia, which has become an increasingly popular destination for both constituencies.

But in many ways, the bigger stated priority was for trans-Atlantic flights, said Dillon, citing some eye-opening numbers gained through the CAA’s outreach.

“We worked with 23 companies representative of those across our catchment area,” he said, meaning the Hartford-Springfield corridor. “What we found is that those 23 companies were spending more than $43 million annually on trans-Atlantic travel. And we said, ‘if we could get just a piece of that, we could have a very successful trans-Atlantic route.”

Bradley has long sought such service as a growth vehicle and means to make it the proverbial airport of choice for people in this region. And it had such service nearly a decade ago, when Northwest Airlines introduced non-stop flights to Amsterdam, but that venture was doomed by poor timing — sky-high fuel prices and then the Great Recession — and the service ceased in September 2008.

Since then, Bradley and the CAA have been relentless in their quest to bring Europe back within its direct reach. But that sentiment hardly makes it unique.

“There are a lot of airports that are very hungry for European connections — the competition is actually quite fierce,” said Butler with a laugh, noting that Aer Lingus, now celebrating 80 years in business, has had many suitors, and many attractive options, as it has weighed proposals for continuing and accelerating its strong pace of growth.

Airports that want to prevail in that competition have to present opportunity in the form of a package of location, attractive conditions, ample opportunities to effectively market the service, and suitable demographics, meaning a mix of both leisure and business travelers looking for something more convenient than the available options.

Hartford presented just such a package, said Butler, adding that it became an attractive addition to the airline’s existing Northeast-corridor service in and out of New York (JFK), Boston, Newark, and Washington (Dulles), for many reasons.

“Hartford came about because it represented an opportunity to strengthen our position in the Northeast,” he explained. “It has strong cultural ties to Ireland, but also business relations. At the same time, we were also looking to try something different, and go into a secondary city.

“Bradley fits, and Hartford fits, into a broader plan we have for expansion,” he went on, adding that the airline has also recently added service to San Francisco, Toronto, and Los Angeles, among other destinations. “We’re growing quite rapidly.”

Indeed, the airline now flies to almost every major city in Europe — with 18 flights daily to London alone — as well as many destinations on this side of the Atlantic.

The timing for such additions is appropriate, he went on, adding that economic conditions globally have improved greatly since the recession, and that is especially true in Ireland, meaning more people are flying out of airports there for destinations on both sides of the Atlantic.

As for the Hartford flights, there will be four per week during the winter months, which Butler defines as October to March, and daily flights (all seven days) the rest of the year to accommodate greater leisure travel.

Dillon told BusinessWest that the initial response has been quite solid, and he expects demand to remain steady, because of the high level of connectivity to European cities that Aer Lingus provides, and also the airline’s ability to provide pre-clearance for its passengers heading back to the U.S., a service that could save them a two-hour trip in the line at customs.

The task at hand is to extensively market and promote the new flights and drive home to the business community the great opportunities that they provide.

“We’ve spent a significant amount of time out in the business community educating them about the flight,” he explained, “and trying to put them in touch with Aer Lingus to hopefully provide commitments to the airline for use of the service. Because if that support is not there, it’s going to be very difficult to make this flight work.”

Plane Speaking

As mentioned earlier, while they were talking from much different perspectives, Butler and Dillon used markedly similar language about the service set to start Sept. 28.

They both used the phrase ‘this makes perfect sense’ when talking about the flights, and for good reason. They add another dimension to the growth strategies for both organizations and open the door to new opportunities.

Not only to the airport and the airline — but the region and its diverse business community.

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

Rhyme Digital Helps Clients Navigate Website Marketing

Sections Technology

Code Talkers

Blair Winans, president of Rhyme Digital

Blair Winans had forged a successful small business in website development when a larger company from across the state came calling. The acquisition that ensued brought more frustration than growth, and lasted just over a year. But it did generate lessons for Winans and his team, who regrouped in Easthampton, rebranded as Rhyme Digital, and refocused their efforts on not just designing websites, but helping clients understand how to get the biggest marketing bang for their money and time.

Blair Winans’ professional journey has weathered a few bumps. But those bumps have been valuable, he said, by teaching him what he and his Easthampton-based company, Rhyme Digital, do best.

When he launched his website-design firm in 2005, it was known as Winans Creative, and over the next several years, he built up a cadre of loyal clients and a small staff. Things were on the right track — he assumed.

That all changed three years ago, however, when Winans was approached by HB Agency, a much larger marketing firm in Boston, about a possible acquisition. The company lacked digital capabilities and wanted to offer such services to its clients, and they thought the expertise of Winans Creative would fit nicely into their business model. Winans agreed.

“We were excited about it, and a bit nervous,” he said, but he took the leap, acting as vice president of digital marketing in what was essentially HB’s Western Mass. satellite office. “But it brought all sorts of challenges. As a satellite office, it’s tough to merge cultures, which was a tough stumbling block. It also turned out that a lot of our existing clients didn’t fit in with this new company’s business model, and those clients were let go in favor of bigger ones. A lot of us were upset about it; that wasn’t part of the expectation.”

After a year, it was clear that the acquisition wasn’t bearing fruit for either side, and Winans was given the opportunity to take his firm back. And he did, in February 2015, bringing his five employees with him.

“It’s not a scenario where everyone looks back and says, ‘that was a fantastic time,’” he told BusinessWest. “But, in retrospect, we learned who we are and what we’re good at — and what we don’t want to be, which I think was a really helpful part of that process. Thankfully, we came out of it with all the same team; that’s one of the things that really helped us become stronger.”

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Taking the company back was also a chance to reassess the company’s direction, he went on. He and his employees wanted to stress the team aspect of the operation, hence the name change to Rhyme Digital. They also sensed increasing opportunity in not only building websites for companies, but teaching them how to turn their online presence into an effective marketing tool with measurable results.

“We were great at building and designing websites, and a lot of times clients think a website is the end-all, be-all,” Winans said. “But a lot of what we do revolves around helping people market themselves and build an online brand presence and sustain that over the long term. That’s where we shifted the focus — not just building these tools, but helping people understand the different pieces to it.”

That’s an issue today, he said, for companies that have websites and receive reports back from digital marketing firms that don’t really tell them anything. Rhyme’s goal is to track and clearly communicate not just a website’s hit count, but where the traffic is coming from, which campaigns potential customers are responding to, and what they’re doing on the website once they’ve arrived.

“We’ve had clients come to us saying, ‘I signed up for this digital marketing package, and I get reports of how many clicks are coming through my website, but not much more than that. Can you help me?’ We sit down and show them what’s happening once people come through. Once you make the connection, you can really put a dollar amount on the traffic coming onto your site.”

In other words, there’s a technical component to setting up a website and its features, but the end result has to bring return on investment, and ways to effectively measure it. “The question a client needs to ask,” he said, “is not ‘can you build me a website,’ but ‘I need my website to do x, y, and z.’ Or, ‘I need my website to be a lead-generating tool.’ We’re going to give you all the data to help your company continually improve what it’s doing online and in all its marketing.”

Come Back Home

After the failed acquisition, Winans said he was gratified — but perhaps not totally surprised — when Rhyme reached out to the clients it been forced to drop and was met warmly.

“The response was fantastic,” he told BusinessWest. “We’re really thankful we have a loyal client base; we’ve been working with some of them for more than 10 years. They see us as a partner and a resource. That always makes us feel good.”

The most successful relationships between Rhyme and its clients are the ones that have grown over time to the point where Winans and his team understand everything about the client and its marketing goals — both in online and traditional advertising.

Blair Winans says constant advances in website coding, graphic design, and marketing strategy lends his work variety and keeps it fun.

Rhyme’s clients run the gamut from manufacturing to retail (both brick and mortar and purely online); from outdoor adventure sports (Zoar Outdoor is one of its longest-running clients) to publishing and nonprofits.

“We end up treating each client as its own specific case. We’re never going to be a one-size-fits-all solution,” Winans explained. “We do a bit of e-commerce development, and no e-commerce store does things the same way another one does; they have very specific differences and needs.”

Rhyme helps its clients consider the many possible facets of an online campaign — banner ads, search-engine optimization, Google AdWords, and, especially, landing pages with optimized content that gets visitors to take action, not just click on through. Then there are newer, cutting-edge tools such as radio-frequency identification and geofencing, which are used to target potential customers by location.

“The possibilities are enormous right now, better than they ever have been before, and we help clients set up these types of campaigns,” Winans said, noting that, for one of his clients, a publisher targeting first-year law students, he used geolocation to focus mobile pitches around college campuses. “One of the best things about digital marketing is that fluidity, and the ability to pivot based on the data that comes in.”

It’s also more cost-effective to test multiple messages digitally before deciding on the best one and launching it through larger, traditional-media campaigns, he went on. “We’re helping people make the most of their budgets, looking at how technology plays a role, and helping them figure out where they should be spending money.”

Websites weren’t Winans’ first career path, or even his second. He enrolled in college looking to be a lawyer, but then switched gears and transferred to the Boston University College of Communication to study advertising, marketing, and public relations. It was a field where he could put his graphic-art skills to good use, doing branding and design for a number of companies.

This was the late ’90s, a time when websites were first coming online, and he had a chance to play around with early marketing models, including working with Dunkin’ Donuts on its first website. “It’s kind of the equivalent to what’s happening now, with all these different technologies, seeing which ones are panning out,” he said. “I learned a lot of different stuff very early on; actually, I taught myself how to do it.”

In addition to leading a team that now numbers seven, Winans characterizes his day-to-day work at Rhyme as half coding, half design, and appreciates the variety offered by both — and the challenge of keeping abreast of the latest developments in the world of dynamic websites.

“For my development team, every week there’s a new platform or technology or script or language they need to be aware of,” he told BusinessWest. “We don’t just want to sell our clients a bunch of tools, but the right set for what they’re trying to do. It puts a lot on our shoulders — but it’s fun. We love learning about different types of technologies and seeing what these capabilities are. It’s an ongoing process.”

What makes it work here is, we’re all interested in the same thing: to make our work the best it can be and push each other — and in the process have fun. In our business, you never know what kind of work you’ll get on any given day. You could be coding something one day, working on the checkout process for an e-commerce site another day.”

But one, he said, made easier by the closeness and longevity of his team. “Everyone here is excited about coming to work every day, excited about who they’re working with and what they’re doing for clients. We’ve been through some ups and downs as a team as part of the whole process, but we’ve built something we feel is more than just a business. That’s important.”

There’s the Rub

That’s not to say website design and marketing it’s sometimes stressful, Winans added, but the team at Rhyme — based out of an airy space in the Eastworks complex — has created an environment where everyone encourages each other and helps each other out, and nobody is afraid to step up and ask for help.

“What makes it work here is, we’re all interested in the same thing: to make our work the best it can be and push each other — and in the process have fun,” he said. “In our business, you never know what kind of work you’ll get on any given day. You could be coding something one day, working on the checkout process for an e-commerce site another day.”

The reward, he went on, is seeing the sites go live.

“There’s a pretty big sense of excitement when we look at all the projects we’ve done and hear the way our clients talk about them, when they come back and tell us, ‘we get nothing but praise for our site now.’ A couple of clients go back 10 years, and they’re on the fourth iteration of their website, and you see the transformation. We have archives of sites we’ve done, and it’s fun to see the progressions in them. When we can help businesses utilize their sites to their fullest capacity, that’s what really makes what we do worthwhile.”

In other words, Rhyme Digital is certainly not going to the dogs — unless you count Winans’ two furry friends, a yellow lab named Butters and a pug named Flora, who join him at work every day. The other employees are encouraged to bring their dogs occasionally as well.

“They provide some comic relief,” he said. “When things get stressful or we’re under a heavy deadline, and Butters is upside-down on the floor, wagging his tail hard, you realize we’re not doing brain surgery. Sure, you’re dealing with deadlines, but there’s always time for a belly rub.”

For someone who’s been coding websites going on two decades and still finds excitement in the details, it’s a healthy perspective.

“You get to learn something new every day here,” he said. “It’s a good spot to be in.”

Joseph Bednar can be reached at [email protected]

Peter Rosskothen Steps to the Plate — Again

An Appetite for Entrepreneurship

Peter Rosskothen

Peter Rosskothen has compiled a quarter-century-long track record of entrepreneurial energy and daring — all of it in the broad realms of food and hospitality. He says it exists partly out of necessity in this highly competitive market, but also because he’s always looking for ways to do things differently — and better. His latest venture, which he describes as the cutting edge of food retail, is no exception.

Peter Rosskothen was at a loss for words. Well, sort of, and not for very long, actually.

He was asked to explain, if he could, the origins of, and inspiration for, his very healthy appetite for entrepreneurial ventures — all of them in the broad realms of food and hospitality, ranging from several franchises of a national chain of eateries, to a banquet facility; from coffee shops to an ambitious catering operation.

And, like many who have made the choice to work for themselves instead of someone else, he struggled with that question.

“I’m not really sure how to explain it; it’s always been there, though,” he said of his entrepreneurial drive after pausing for a few moments of reflection, adding that, in many respects, it exists out of necessity in a highly competitive and always-changing marketplace.

“I think we share this belief that you have to always do something a little different, or find a way to do something a little better, to stay in business today, and I’d like to think that this is what drives us,” he said, referring specifically to business partner Michael Corduff and other members of the team that operates his businesses.

He did much better when it came to putting into plain words why he and his partners over the years have been not only so prolific, but so successful.

“Lots of people have ideas,” he explained. “And they’ll talk about these ideas, and talk about them some more. Taking the idea and doing something about it is what makes us entrepreneurs, and that’s what happened last September, when we decided to stop talking about this and do it.”

It’s a scenario that has played itself out several times over the past quarter-century or so, as Rosskothen — by himself or with different partners — has launched Boston Chicken (later Boston Market) franchises; undertaken a massive renovation of the landmark Log Cabin restaurant in Holyoke into a banquet facility; completed several subsequent expansions of that facility, purchased the Delaney House restaurant in Holyoke and, later, the hotel erected adjacent to it; created a catering operation known as Log Rolling; and opened two coffee-and-sandwich shops called Mt. Joe to Go.

And it is playing itself out again with yet another new venture, this one called Delaney’s Market, which is set to open its doors in the Longmeadow Shops in early August. Rosskothen described this as a “retail store for food,” where patrons can grab a container of chicken marsala and accompanying veggies, a fresh loaf of bread, a bottle of wine or a few microbrews, and dessert, and take it all home to enjoy there.

Which means that, like many of the ventures Rosskothen has launched over the years, this one is somewhat unique and cutting-edge when it comes to understanding what the dining public wants and needs.

“There is nothing else like this in our market — nothing,” he explained, adding that various types of operations offer some of the above, to one extent or another, but certainly not all of the above.

Peter Rosskothen and former business partner Larry Perreault were honored by BusinessWest as the magazine’s Top Entrepreneurs for 1997 for their efforts at the Log Cabin.

He said the concept was born from acknowledgment that today’s consumers — and especially the younger generations — want, by and large, food that is fresh, local, healthy, and of high quality. Meanwhile, they also want convenience and help with cramming all that life throws at them into the 24 hours in a day.

Various business operations address some or many of those needs in various ways, said Rosskothen, noting that supermarkets now offer many prepared foods, some ventures will deliver meals to your door (while others will drop off the ingredients and let you cook them), and restaurants, most of which offer takeout, have put a heavy focus on local and healthy.

But extensive research — another common denominator with all of his previous ventures — told Rosskothen there was a desire for, and room for, another — and, in many ways, better — alternative.

“This concept allows people to take it easy and spend more time with their family,” he explained, adding that it represents the best of many worlds — convenience, affordability, variety, and quality.

For this issue, BusinessWest talked with Rosskothen about his latest venture, but also about entrepreneurship in general and his desire to remain on the cutting edge of innovation within the world of hospitality.

Another Bite at the Apple

As he talked with BusinessWest at a small table outside the Starbucks just a few doors down from his new storefront, Rosskothen gestured with his hand toward the scene in front and on both sides of him.

“This if the perfect location for this — if we don’t make it here, we’re not going to make it anywhere,” he said. He was referring, in large part, to the packed parking lot at the Longmeadow Shops, a heavily trafficked lifestyle center (now being expanded) featuring an eclectic mix of high-end tenants including Ann Taylor and Chico’s, but also several popular anchors such as a CVS and a few bank branches. But he was also referencing the facility’s spot on the map, in Longmeadow, but only a half-mile or so from East Longmeadow and the Connecticut border and the affluent communities there.

Rosskothen said his research told him that, while there are many attractive geographic options for launching this kind of venture — the Amherst-Northampton area, Westfield, and East Longmeadow itself were also considered — his instincts told him that this was the place to start.

And his instincts have rarely, if ever, been wrong.

They weren’t when he opened a few Boston Chicken franchises in the region in the early ’90s, deciding that area residents had, or would develop, an appetite for the emerging product known as ‘fast casual.’

They were on target again when, in 1996, he and partner Larry Perreault decided to resurrect the Log Cabin as a banquet facility, guessing that, despite a market flooded with competitors, there was room for, well, a room with a view. And they were right; ‘the Cabin,’ as it’s known colloquially, at least in some circles, remains one of the region’s most popular venues for events, because of those views, as well as a location roughly halfway between Springfield and Northampton.

Those instincts were on the money — in all kinds of ways — with subsequent ventures such as the Delaney House restaurant and its more casual, on-site counterpart, the Mick; the D. Hotel on the Delaney House property; Mt. Joe; and Log Rolling.

That last venture is the catering arm that brings ‘rolling kitchens,’ as Rosskothen calls them (hence the name), to venues across Western Mass. and Northern Conn. The venture has done well during the 17-day Big E, for example, as groups look to stage their own functions in a large tent on the grounds, and he’s anticipating big things this fall as the institution celebrates its 100th birthday.

“Log Rolling has become a nice business division for us — it’s for people who are looking for our services, but at a unique site,” he said, adding that these have ranged from Wickham Park in Manchester, Conn. (which also has a log cabin) to Black Birch Vineyard in Southampton, and a wide array of spots in between and beyond.

Mt. Joe to Go, with locations at the Log Cabin and downtown Holyoke, is one of a series of entrepreneurial endeavors launched by Peter Rosskothen and various partners.

And Rosskothen believes his instincts (and those of his team) are again sound with a venture that in some ways encapsulates all the ventures that came before it, to one degree or another. In a nutshell, it brings food to customers in a convenient manner and creates another, and potentially solid, revenue stream.

“This is really exciting because it’s a way to utilize a lot of our brainpower and ability and apply it to a new business,” he explained. “And it’s not conflicting with what we do on weekends.”

That last remark was a reference mostly to the events, and especially weddings, at the Log Cabin and also the Delaney House. Not all events come on weekends, but most of them do, he explained, adding quickly that while this business is quite solid, there is a time of the year — January through March — that is sometimes problematically slow.

Some of the other recent entrepreneurial undertakings have been launched in an effort to overcome those slow months — Log Rolling was also created to counter a marked slowdown that followed the onset of the Greater Recession in 2008 — and Delaney’s Market is no exception.

Full Menu of Options

As he offered BusinessWest a quick tour of the storefront in progress, Rosskothen explained the concept in more detail.

He started by pointing to a long row of coolers along one wall, and then grabbing a sturdy, microwavable plastic container, one of several sizes that would be available. The former would be filled with the latter, he said, adding that food prepared at the Log Cabin would be trucked to the Longmeadow Shops in refrigerated trucks daily.

To fully explain the concept, though, he referred back to still another of his team’s entrepreneurial undertakings — the Mt. Joe facilities, located in the lower parking lot of the Log Cabin and at the transit facility in downtown Holyoke.

It specializes in coffee — hence the name — but also sells meals to go, enough of them to prompt thoughts, talk, and then action to take that business to a different, much higher level.

“We’ve always had this dream about what we could do with meals to go,” he told BusinessWest. “For a while, we studied the home-delivery-of-meals (or ingredients) concept, but the problem with them is you have to be disciplined — the food shows up, and you have to cook it, or you waste it. And it’s not cheap.

“It’s a good concept, but I really like what we’re doing here,” he went on. “I’m on my way home … I don’t really know what I want for dinner … I do know that I really don’t want to prep my meal … I stop in Delaney’s Market, I walk around, see what I feel like, pick it up, grab a bottle of wine or a beer, and take it home.”

Peter Rosskothen, then operator of Boston Chicken franchises, is seen with TV celebrity Ed McMahon at a promotion at one of the stores.

Rosskothen and his team are betting that this thought process is common enough to create enormous business potential, and he believes it’s a pretty safe bet.

As for what will be in those plastic containers on the store shelves, Rosskothen said there would be a host of entrees, but also salads, desserts, breads, and beverage options made possible by a surprisingly available liquor license.

The menu is still somewhat of a work in progress, he went on, and would always be something flexible and a reflection of what customers wanted. But when pressed for examples of what patrons might expect, he listed items like chicken francaise, beef bourguignon, salmon salad, and stuffed mushroom caps. This will be a restaurant, but in a retail format.

In keeping with current dietary trends and a broader focus on health, each container will let the customer know how many calories they’ll consume per serving, said Rosskothen, adding that there will be low-calorie, vegetarian, and gluten-free offerings, among other things.

“Everyone I’ve talked to about this — and that’s a lot of people — says, ‘I hope you’re going to have healthy items; I’m trying to lose some weight,’ or ‘I’m trying to be good,’” he noted. “I tell them, ‘absolutely — that’s a big part of our thinking.’

“We have a good idea of what we want to bring here, but we’ll adapt to what our guests want,” he explained. “The best way to explain it is that we’ll have the variety of a restaurant, but with a focus that will make us a regular stop for people.”

Salad Days

As he talked about the timing of his latest venture, Rosskothen believes it’s ideal given the way societal trends are changing and the retail sector is trending.

As for the Aug. 3 scheduled soft opening, he said this date is ideal as well. Not because business will be brisk, but because it will likely be rather slow — although there’s a good deal of buzz about this operation — given the large number of families that will be on vacation.

“We’re opening in August on purpose — I like to start in a slow month,” he said, adding that this strategic decision was made with an eye toward getting whatever kinks there might be out, a staff up to speed, and perhaps an even better feeling for what the buying public wants — and doesn’t want.

This thinking is not exactly straight out of most business-success textbooks, but it’s yet another example of how Rosskothen and his team are thinking outside the box, or food container, as the case may be, and expressing their appetite for entrepreneurship in a way that is both scientific and, as history shows, successful.

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

New Westfield State Leader Is Focused on Student Success

Education Sections

Study in Strategic Thinking

Ramon Torrecilha

Ramon Torrecilha took the helm at Westfield State University in late January. Well before he arrived, he understood that the school and its many constituencies were poised to move forward and get to the next level. Since arriving, he’s only become more convinced that the institution is ready to make a positive leap. The challenge ahead is taking the ambitious goals that the school has put down on paper and making them reality.

Ramon Torrecilha recalls that, maybe 15 months or so ago, he was a candidate for a number of advertised college presidents’ positions in several states.

But upon visiting the Westfield State University campus and talking with members of several constituencies there, he decided to drop out of several of those other searches, including the one taking place at another school in the Bay State. When asked why, he started with a quick answer that required a lengthy explanation.

“It was that kind of institution,” he told BusinessWest, using that phrase to describe what he encountered as a student at Portland (Oregon) State University in the early ’80s. Like other schools at the time, it was suffering budget difficulties and undergoing staff reductions. The faculty that remained were dedicated and singularly focused on student success, he recalled.

“The relationship I was able to develop with faculty allowed me to have a transformative experience at Portland State,” he recalled. “And when I looked around here, I felt that Westfield State was very similar in that regard. You get a strong sense of community here.

“We’re student-centered; our faculty members are committed teachers, stellar researchers, and faculty that cares about student engagement,” he went on, clearly proud to shift the tense of his remarks to the present, and thus use terms like ‘we’ and ‘our.’ “So there was an alignment between myself and the kind of institution I was looking for, and Westfield State University.”

Beyond these characteristics, though, Torrecilha, who knew very little about the school before his first visit and was diligent in his “discovery process,” noted that there was something else about the institution that became apparent — and appealing — to him.

Go HERE for a list of Colleges in Western Mass.

“The sense I got was that the institution was really ready to move forward — it was ready for the next stage,” he said, using a phrase with many applications.

For starters, it meant moving on from the controversy, and statewide negative press, that accompanied the ouster of his predecessor, Evan Dobelle, amid reports of extravagant and reckless spending practices — although Torrecilha believes the school has, by and large, already done that.

“There was an interim president in place [Elizabeth Preston] for two full years, and she did a tremendous job of stabilizing the institution,” he explained. “Westfield State is a very resilient institution; it has what we call good institutional bones. It showed to the higher-education community that it was much, much stronger than a hiccup in leadership.”

But that next stage also refers to a host of other initiatives at this school of roughly 6,000 students, from expanding programs, especially in healthcare, to broadening graduate programs and generating more momentum in regional and statewide efforts to get more people into college and then successfully on to completion of a degree program.

Ramon Torrecilha says he wants to make Westfield and the state university within it true destinations.

A sociologist by trade, Torrecilha will bring to his new position a deep understanding of multiculturalism and the issues confronting different demographic groups, but also his own opinions on how college presidents should approach their work, one forged through roughly a quarter-century in academia.

“When you think about it, presidents don’t run anything — presidents provide a sense of direction, identify priorities for the institution, and provide a vision and a map for how we’re going to get there,” he explained. “But it’s really the faculty and staff that run the place, so understanding how to do this and understanding the organizational psychology of the institution becomes really important in the presidency.”

For this issue and its focus on education, BusinessWest talked at length with Torrecilha about his decision to take his career 3,000 miles to the north and east, and how he intends to lead efforts to draft that road map for taking this 178-year-old institution to the proverbial next stage.

Course of Action

Visitors to the president’s office at WSU — and a host of other spots on campus, for that matter — can pick up some intriguing reading material if they are so inclined.

Indeed, in an effort to fully communicate what he has seen, heard, and learned since arriving on campus in January — and also to set a tone for what he wants to happen next — Torrecilha has printed a compendium that details it all.

It’s called the “President’s First 100 Days Report,” with the working subtitle “Vision for a Model, Comprehensive Public Institution.” And it includes everything from a detailed accounting of the new president’s meetings since he took the helm — 102 with direct reports, 84 with campus constituents, 11 with the Westfield State Foundation, and five at alumni events, for example — to the results of an extensive survey of students, faculty, and staff.

Torrecilha said the purpose of the report was to put down in black and white (and a host of colors as well) the sentiments he expressed about where the school is and where he and those various constituents want it to go, and also state the basic tenets of a new strategic plan for the school.

That plan will have a number of key bullet points, including stated goals common to all of the Commonwealth’s public schools — increasing retention, improving graduation rates, and decreasing the so-called ‘achievement gap’ among state residents of different demographic groups. But there will be some more specific planks as well.

Ramon Torrecilha has been meeting with a host of constituencies since his arrival in January.

These include a broad push to strategically grow graduate programs, which will in turn provide financial and other sources of support for undergraduate programs; better engage alumni, many of whom go on to live and work in the Bay State upon graduation; and strengthening ties to the community, meaning both the host city and the region as a whole.

“Achieving student success does not come from just one mind,” Torrecilha writes in the report. “Currently, we possess the brushstrokes of a vision. But decisions about how we are going to achieve our goals is ongoing. The process is fluid and organic, and relies on collaboration from students, faculty, staff, and other partners.”

Roughly translating this passage, Torrecilha acknowledged that it’s one thing to put goals, aspirations, and visions down on paper. Making them reality is quite another.

“The next fiscal year will bring the hard work of taking ideas on paper and making them happen,” he explained, adding that the overarching goal, or assignment, is to make Westfield and the university there a true destination.

He believes the university’s ready — and he’s ready — to do just that.

And he’ll bring to the task a broad résumé of experience, one that includes everything from experience in the classroom to a host of administrative positions.

Our story starts at Portland State, where Torrecilha majored in sociology and became inspired by a faculty member to get the graduate degrees needed to teach that subject, which he did, with first a master’s at Portland State and then at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, which had one of the nation’s top programs in that field.

Achieving student success does not come from just one mind. Currently, we possess the brushstrokes of a vision. But decisions about how we are going to achieve our goals is ongoing. The process is fluid and organic, and relies on collaboration from students, faculty, staff, and other partners.”

His specific fields of study were demography, poverty, and socioeconomic developments, and this would shape his teaching, starting at Berkeley College in New York, where he taught, among other things, a course titled “Minority Groups.”

In the course of doing so, he essentially refocused it — on sociological concepts, rather than specific demographic groups. He eventually wrote a paper with a graduate student on how to redesign such courses nationally, and it caught the attention of the American Sociological Assoc.

“The next thing I knew, they called me and said, ‘come to Washington and help us think about how to fuse multiculturalism into the curriculum,” he told BusinessWest, adding that this began a stint as director of something called the Minority Fellowship Program and Minority Opportunities Through School Transformation.

From there, he went to the Social Science Research Council in New York, working specifically as director of the Public Policy Research Program on Contemporary Hispanic Issues, before shifting back to higher education and a stint first as director of Multicultural Programs at Mills College and then executive vice president of the Oakland, Calif. School.

He then served as provost and executive vice president at Berkeley College, before returning to Mills College and service in a variety of roles, including interim president. His most recent stop was as provost at California State University, Dominguez Hills.

By 1993, he said, he had made becoming a college president his stated goal, and he spent his career preparing himself for that eventuality.

“In academia, you have to sort of expose yourself to different things and have jobs in the many divisions that form a university,” he explained, “in order for you to harness the know-how and understanding of the different parts of the institution, and the sector.”

Which brings us back to last spring, and his decision to pull out of several presidential searches and focus on WSU.

Degrees of Momentum

Torrecilha said this choice came down to a word many use upon making a career decision of this kind: fit.

“In higher education, the question of fit, both from the standpoint of the candidate and the standpoint of the institution, becomes an important consideration,” he explained, adding that, in all matters that mattered to him, the fit was ideal.

He was looking for a school with a student-centered focus, and the school was looking for someone willing to make a substantial commitment to the school and the host city — and spent a year considering more than 400 candidates to find such an individual.

By commitment, Torrecilha said a stay that would be at least seven or eight years, out of necessity. “It takes that long for someone to really put some strategic initiatives down and then make them happen.”

As he talked about how he intends to go about meeting the goals set down in his first major communiqué to the WSU campus, Torrecilha said he will bring to the task an attitude, or mindset, far different than that of his controversial predecessor.

Summing it up, he said it comes down to putting the school, and especially its students, first — always. This sounds simple and quite obvious, he said, but some college and university presidents tend to forget this basic premise and make it about them.

“I want to serve as the president, but not be the presidency,” he said, choosing those words carefully. “It’s not about me, and as a sociologist I understand the differentiation.

“You bring to the job qualities that allow you to create that road map and enable you to work with members of the community,” he went on. “But you have to be able to put yourself on the side and think institutionally: ‘what’s the best thing for the institution?’ You have to remove personalities from that process.”

This is the approach Torrecilha says he will take to the various initiatives outlined in his “First 100 Days” report. These include efforts to expand and enhance graduate programs, thus making the school more of that destination he described, and for more types of students.

Ramon Torrecilha with the WSU soccer team

This strategic step will also help not only with broadening the school’s reputation — it has been known throughout its history as a teachers’ college, and more recently for criminal justice — but also in withstanding certain demographic shifts (something Torrecilha obviously understands) and especially smaller high-school graduating classes for the foreseeable future.

“Birth rates are declining, and the numbers of traditional college students are going down, and for this reason, most of our growth is going to come at the graduate level,” he said, citing, as one example, a new physician assistant master’s-degree program, the first of its kind for a public school in the state.

But those smaller high-school graduation classes means WSU, like all the other public schools in the Bay State, will have to become more diligent about helping students — traditional and non-traditional alike — enter college and then leave it with a degree.

This challenge explains many of the affiliation agreements between WSU and the area’s community colleges — programs that facilitate moving on to the four-year institution — and also why Torrecilha is a strong supporter of the state’s Commonwealth Commitment program, which incentivizes individuals (through rebates on tuition and fees) to enter a community college, graduate in two and a half years or less, move on to one of the state universities or UMass campuses, and wrap up a baccalaureate degree in no more than four and a half years.

When asked about the challenges WSU would face if a large number of students took the state up on its offer, Torrecilha replied simply, “that would be a really good problem to have.”

Applying Lessons

He was speaking about the state, the business community, and area cities and towns that would benefit from having a better-trained workforce. But he was also speaking about the state’s public schools and especially WSU, which embraces its role in training individuals for a global, technology-driven economy.

This is part of that ‘moving forward’ and ‘moving to the next stage’ vibe, for lack of a better word, that Torrecilha experienced when he first visited the campus on Western Avenue.

That vibe was a big factor in prompting him to take his name out of consideration for other presidents’ jobs and focus his sights on WSU. And it’s one he believes will take the school to the various destinations on the road map he’s helping to create.

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

New Spin on Bowling Helps Keep Sport Alive

Sections Sports & Leisure

Strike Force

Jeff Bennett, general manager of AMF Chicopee Lanes, says there has been a seismic shift in the bowling industry in recent years.

Those who haven’t been in a bowling alley in decades probably wouldn’t recognize today’s centers. There are strobe lights and black lights, disc jockeys, and fine food. These are just some of the adjustments center owners have made to bring people to their doors and, more importantly, bring them back.

It is late Friday night at Shaker Bowl in East Longmeadow — or ‘Galactic Bowl’ time, as it has come to be called.

The lanes are lined with tiny rope lights, and bouncing colored-light orbs dance on the walls and floor as a disc jockey plays tunes and bowlers enjoy drinks from the bar or food from the recently expanded menu. There are also prizes awarded each night in the form of discount coupons for return visits.

“The people who are here come to hear the music and have a good time. It’s a different atmosphere – more of a nightclub feel,” said Justin Godfrey, general manager of the operation.

This scene, and Godfrey’s words, speak to just how much the business of bowling — not the game, really — has changed over the decades and especially the past several years.

Indeed, where once people came to bowl, and the only thing those who owned such establishments had to do to bring in business was unlock the front door, now there’s … Galactic Bowl and a whole host of initiatives like it. And they are the new reality.

Today, there are fewer bowling lanes in operation than even a decade ago, and those still in business would be somewhat unrecognizable to those who grew up on the game in the ’50s, ’60s, and ’70s. Now, the lanes have black lights and strobe lights. There are music videos or disc jockeys on weekend nights to appeal to young people looking for a place to socialize with their friends. Arcade games have become a staple, and food and beverage sales figure prominently as a source of income.

Bowling, it seems, is not the thing people come to do — it’s something else they come to do.

“There has been a huge shift in the bowling business,” said Jeff Bennett, general manager at AMF Chicopee Lanes, who has been involved with the industry since the ’80s.

He noted that AMF bowling centers represent the largest operation of its type in the world, and today, some are set up more like lounges and don’t cater to leagues, which were once the backbone of the business. “They’re designed for folks who want to make food and drink as much a part of their experience as bowling.

“Centers used to have double shifts on weeknights for league play; one would start at 6 p.m., and another would begin when the first league finished at 8:30,” he went on. “Years ago, many people bowled three to four times a week; they belonged to a men’s or ladies’ league as well as a couple’s league, and food and drink only accounted for 10 to 15% of a center’s revenue.”

Jon Roberts, left, and Jim Feeley are committed to making needed adjustments at Agawam Bowl, one of the few remaining candlepin facilities.

Jim Feeley, who grew up bowling and watched it every Saturday on TV, made similar observations. “When I was a youngster and young adult, I was glued to the TV set when candlepin bowling was on,” said the manager of Agawam Bowl, a candlepin operation.

He bowled on a sanctioned team at Springfield Technical High School, and today he enjoys the sport with his son. But Feeley and others who have spent years in the business say people today are too busy to make long-term commitments to league bowling, and there are so many sports and activities for young and old alike that can be done year-round, that bowling no longer takes the lead when it comes to recreational pursuits.

“Owners have had to make big investments to improve conditions and the attractions they offer at bowling centers to stay in business,” Feeley said. “It’s not easy to do well today.”

But some operations are. These are the ones who have made the necessary adjustments — and the requisite investments.

For this issue and its focus on sports and leisure, BusinessWest looks at how the game — and the business — have changed, and the types of programs bowling centers have developed to attract patrons.

No Time to Spare

Erik Semb remembers when people used to line up at the door of French King Bowling Center in Erving, just east of Greenfield, in hopes of joining a bowling league.

Some of its busiest years were from 1987 to 1991, when 300 people bowled in leagues Monday through Friday. At that time, 80% of the business consisted of league play, and 20% was open play.

But today, those numbers have become reversed, not only at French King, but at all bowling operations, and Semb cites changing demographics, attitudes, and priorities as the main reasons why.

Three decades ago, all of the area factories, including Erving Paper Mills and Strathmore Paper Co., had leagues, he noted, but when those industries left town, went to swing shifts, or downsized, business began to plummet.

Meanwhile, today’s young professionals don’t have as much time for recreation as previous generations, or so the theory goes, and there is considerably more competition for what time they do have, he went on, listing everything from the Internet to ziplines.

“It’s a commitment, and people today are so busy today,” he said of bowling and especially league play. “The average person works longer and more hours than they did 20 years ago, and there are more women in the workforce.”

So, like most all bowling facilities, French King has made necessary changes, many of which have been successful.

These include everything from a focus on corporate outings — Dylan Chevrolet in Greenfield has hosted several there, for example — to leagues that play only every other week.

“We also have black-light bowling on Friday nights and all day Saturday and Sunday,” said Semb, adding that these steps are typical of what’s taking place across the industry.

“The industry is at a crossroads,” said Shaker Bowl’s Godfrey, noting that everything about the business is different, from how the game is presented to how it’s marketed to how operations are staffed.

Indeed, most bowling centers now have an event planner on staff, he said, adding that one is necessary to make sure that the many different types of gatherings that now take place are well-planned and well-executed.

“Marketing used to be mainly done for leagues, but now you need to invest in advertising just to get people in the door,” he told BusinessWest, citing another key change. “Arcade games are huge, and many centers are going after birthday parties or offering laser tag.”

“For most people, bowling is simply a night out and a social experience,” he went on, adding that only 5% to 10% of people who bowl do so competitively. “Our goal is to elevate the guest experience; we want to create memorable experiences for every guest on every visit; it’s become our mission.”

And it’s the mission for every bowling facility, because the game itself is not enough to bring people in.

Making the needed adjustments is difficult — and costly — and many operations simply haven’t been able to keep up, said those we spoke with.

There used to be about eight 10-pin bowling lanes locally, Bennette noted, but now there are only a handful, including AMF Chicopee Lanes. “There are none in Greenfield, one in Pittsfield and one in Great Barrington,” he said, adding that few candlepin bowling lanes exist in the area, and the ones that are still open are often small operations. “Their struggle is more mighty than the 10-pin centers.”

Candlepin bowling is almost strictly a New England and Canadian sport. The main difference between 10-pin and candlepin is that, in the latter form, each player uses three balls per frame rather than two; the balls are smaller, weigh less, and don’t have finger holes; the pins are thinner; and when they are downed they not cleared away between balls during a player’s turn.

Justin Godfrey says aggressive marketing is necessary today to get people in the doors and attract new bowlers.

The average age of bowlers at AMF Chicopee Lanes is 25 to 45, and they usually bowl at least once a week. Many are there on weekend nights, when the average age is 25 to 35.

“We have music videos playing on screens over the lanes and black lighting. It’s a very upbeat atmosphere, and people are here for two to three hours, eating and drinking while they bowl,” Bennett said, adding that, generations ago, bowling centers were often empty on weekend nights.

AMF Chicopee has two men’s leagues on Friday nights that are very competitive and a few competitive women’s leagues, but they are the exception.

In general, there are very few men-only leagues, and the remaining women’s leagues are typically made up of senior citizens, although the number of mixed leagues has grown.

AMF Chicopee’s leagues have remained at the same levels they were at 15 years ago, but Bennett says that may be true because there are fewer centers today, and whenever one closes, many of its bowlers move to the remaining centers.

Knowing the Score

Jon Roberts purchased the building Agawam Bowl is housed in on April 1, and had no plans to continue the bowling operation, but decided to do so when he found how important it was to the community.

“There aren’t many candlepin lanes left, and one woman in the senior league has bowled here for more than 50 years,” he said, noting that candlepin centers in Westfield, Holyoke, and Springfield closed over the past several years; there were at least a dozen candlepin centers in Springfield alone decades ago.

His decision to keep the business going and make needed adjustments are steps reflective of those trying to make what amounts to a 7-10 split in this business.

He reconditioned the lanes and recently hired a marketing manager, he said, citing a few examples.

Agawam Bowl offers a number of summer programs, including a Friday Night Pizza League that people can join with no commitment — each person is assigned a handicap score, and each week teams are composed of bowlers who show up. At the end of the night, the top-scoring team gets free pizza courtesy of the other bowlers.

It also started a Summer Fun Bowling program; children have to rent shoes, but if they register, they can play two free games each week.

The program has been very successful: 1,400 young people are registered, and an additional 100 family passes have been sold.

Feeley said there has been a revival of interest in candlepin bowling in Eastern Mass., but owners everywhere have had to improve conditions and add attractions.

For example, the center in Wilmington, Vt., which that was rebuilt after it was devastated by Hurricane Irene, has added a restaurant and mini-golf course.

“We have had a pretty good summer and are trying to reestablish a youth group here, but have problems because so many kids have schedule conflicts,” he said, adding that they tried adding special effects such as lights and music, but it didn’t prove popular.

However, Agawam Bowl does host its share of corporate events and birthday parties.

“The game is not out of the woods, but I have hope for the future. There are people who want to continue to go bowling at a competitive level, but we need more families to start bowling,” Feeley said.

Bennett agreed. “The game’s inexpensive, and something people can do from age 2 to 102,” he said, adding that AMF Chicopee Lanes has an e-mail club that offers discounts several times a month and other special offers for people who sign up when they bowl.

“It’s a benefit for our loyal customers,” he went on. “Marketing has had to change to keep up with time and the demographics; today people can text and get coupons, so we run contests on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook to keep in touch with young people. But our customer base is so broad that it takes a lot to keep in contact with people of all ages.”

Although the center used to target 25- to 40-year-olds, today, every age group has become a focus. There are ramps so people with handicaps can bowl, six-pound balls that can be pushed down the ramps by 3- and 4-year-olds (bumpers are put in the gutters to increase their chances of knocking down pins), and senior leagues with members in their 80s. “Millenials have fun here on Saturday nights, and we have programs that cater to all abilities and interest levels,” Bennett said.

AMF Chicopee is also the setting for many corporate outings and fund-raisers; it caters to eight to 10 groups a month and works with corporate planners to build special menus.

Semb says French King Bowling Center holds about two corporate events a month as well as a lot of Christmas and birthday parties. “When companies go out to dinner around the holidays, people usually only socialize with co-workers who sit next to them. But when they have a party here, everyone socializes with each other when they are not bowling,” he said.

Since it’s a candlepin center and the balls weigh only two pounds, six ounces, small children can enjoy it, and even preschool groups have gone to French King.

Next Generation

Although the scope of bowling has changed, many adults are introducing their children to the sport. Theresa Sherman was at Agawam Bowl with her two children, their friend, and her own friend Alicia Richter, who brought her 5-year-old daughter and 4-month-old to the lanes on a recent stifling hot day.

“My high school had a bowling program, and I came from a generation that bowled a lot and enjoyed it. My daughter is at a good age to start, so I definitely plan to bring her here more often,” Richter said.

Sherman recalled bowling lock-ins in high school, when students would spend the entire night in a center, bowling and eating pizza. “I bowl occasionally and came here when my son’s school sponsored a bowling night. We loved it and hadn’t known that there were candlepin bowling centers around here. But we discovered their summer program; the children love it, and it’s definitely a good family activity.”

Five-year-old Logan agreed. “It’s better than anything. The pins are like bad guys, and the balls are like power balls,” he said.

Indeed, although the reasons people bowl have changed, it’s still a sport and an activity which current and future generations can enjoy in a world where superstars and special effects reign.

Eric Nelson Takes the Helm at Westmass

Commercial Real Estate Sections

Developing Interest

Eric Nelson

As Eric Nelson takes the reins at Westmass Area Development Corp., the agency’s ambitious Ludlow Mills project, which features economic-development opportunities on several levels, is entering an intriguing new stage. Meanwhile, Westmass is moving aggressively to answer the question ‘what’s next?’ — meaning everything from development of new sites to creation of a development-services arm to provide technical assistance to area cities and towns.

While he was pursuing his master’s degree in landscape architecture at UMass Amherst, Eric Nelson developed a keen interest in land planning and economic development, and eventually wrote his thesis on the adaptive reuse of historic mills.

Specifically, his work concentrated on the town of Uxbridge in the Blackstone River Valley south and east of Worcester, and several mills that had drawn the attention of the National Park Service, which would eventually create a national heritage corridor in the area marketed under the slogan “Birthplace of the American Industrial Revolution.”

One of Nelson’s focal points was the famed Stanley Woolen Mill in Uxbridge, which had a long history of manufacturing military uniforms, including those worn by Union soldiers during the Civil War. His work involved making recommendations to the park service on where and how to invest resources for this heritage corridor. It was rather involved work with many key considerations.

“You were looking at factors such as access, transportation, recreation, the integrity of the buildings, the opportunity for tourism, the opportunity for economic development, and much more,” he explained.

Fast-forward 25 years, and Nelson is tackling these very same issues again — this time on a much different stage and with much different stakes.

Indeed, as the recently named president and CEO of Westmass Area Development Corp., Nelson is overseeing a project with striking similarities to what he encountered in Uxbridge — the ongoing efforts to revitalize the Ludlow Mills, which Westmass acquired in 2011.

This initiative blends elements of economic development, which comes in many possible forms, as we’ll see, as well as access and recreation (a riverwalk is being created), and repurposing of a wide array of different buildings on the property.

“There are many similarities between the Blackstone Valley and Ludlow Mills — and a host of other mills in this region,” he explained. “In many instances, they’re on a river, and in a lot of cases, they’re brownfield sites; there are a great many challenges to reuse of these properties.”

But Ludlow Mills is only one piece of the Westmass portfolio, and one aspect of Nelson’s work to increase the agency’s presence in the region and its impact on overall economic development.

There are other properties to be developed, he told BusinessWest, including the Chicopee River Business Park, which has been a lingering source of frustration for Westmass and remains mostly vacant two decades after it opened. But Nelson sees reason for optimism.

“It’s a great location — it’s only two minutes from the Mass Pike, and it’s right off Route 291,” he said, adding that Westmass is considering a change to its strategic focus on the property, with a shift toward attracting potential suppliers to CRRC MA’s subway-car-manufacturing facility, now taking shape less than mile down the road.

This aerial shot of Ludlow Mills shows the many different elements to this project — from mill redevelopment to river access to green acreage.

Beyond development of its properties, though, Westmass has become more aggressive, if that’s the right word, in efforts to become a resource for other agencies and entities involved in economic development, he noted.

As an example, Nelson cited the ongoing efforts to revitalize the property on Race Street in Holyoke known as the Cubit, because it takes that shape. This project has a number of players, he went on, including the state, the city, Holyoke Community College (which is relocating its culinary arts program there), and private developers. Westmass, and specifically now-former President and CEO Kenn Delude, has been lending technical assistance to bring the initiative together.

“We’re putting together what we call a development-services side of the house,” he explained. “A lot of area towns have resources, but they don’t have the staff; we can be of assistance to them with various development projects.”

For this issue and its focus on commercial real estate, BusinessWest talked at length with Nelson about his vision — for Westmass, Ludlow Mills, the Chicopee River park, and much more, and how he intends to bring it all into focus.

View to the Future

As he talked with BusinessWest in the conference room at the facilities housing Westmass at Westover Metropolitan Airport, Nelson paused to reference a stunning aerial photo of the Ludlow Mills project on one wall.

As he talked, his hand moved over various components of the project — from the land where the new HealthSouth Rehabilitation Hospital of Western Massachusetts now sits (the photo is several years old) to the mill that Winn Development will soon be converting into senior housing; from the so-called Clock Tower building, for which Winn recently announced an ambitious mixed-used project, to the dozens of small block houses, some of which have since been razed; from the intended path of the riverwalk to 47 acres of undeveloped land on the property that constitutes still another key component of the initiative.

The exercise was effective in communicating everything from the importance of the project to the region to what it represents as a career opportunity.

“This is an extremely interesting project with lots of elements and moving parts,” he said. “And it’s significant on many levels — for the town, for the region, for job creation … it’s great to be part of this.”

Nelson, who came to Westmass in 2011 specifically to move the Ludlow Mills project off the drawing board, brings to his new assignment a broad résumé of job experience, with stints in everything from education to landscaping.

He started as a public-school teacher in Amherst, a job he eventually lost to budget cutbacks, and then went into business for himself in landscape construction, specifically the installation of patios, walkways, decks, and other features.

It was that work that eventually took him to UMass and pursuit of his master’s degree. After earning it, he went to work for SVE (Southern Vermont Engineering) Associates, a professional consulting firm specializing in engineering, surveying, and landscape architecture, rising in the ranks to senior project manager and director of the Greenfield office.

He was attracted to Westmass, and a vice president’s position there, specifically by the Ludlow Mills project, which appealed to him on a number of levels, but especially the promise to exercise many of his passions — from landscape architecture to economic development — in one project.

“Westmass was looking for someone to carry the vision out,” he explained. “And the job requirements meshed well with my background, talents, and interests.”

As president and CEO of Westmass, Nelson will see his time and energy parceled in several different directions — geographically and otherwise.

Indeed, the agency owns industrial parks in Agawam, East Longmeadow, and Hadley that are full or mostly full, and Chicopee River, which remains a mostly blank canvas, but one Nelson believes could finally become filled in.

One area has already become home to a solar farm, he explained, and efforts to make a parcel near Route 291 more visible from the highway should generate some momentum.

“I think that will generate a lot of interest because people driving by there don’t realize they can site their building there,” he said of that site work. “And I think that if we can get one company in there, others will follow.”

But Ludlow Mills is getting most of the headlines — and the bulk of Nelson’s attention at the moment.

Winn’s Clock Tower building project comprised the main announcement at the recent Developers Conference staged by the Economic Development Council of Western Mass., and many other components of the project are coming together.

Mill-10-Interior-Before

These before-and-after photos show progress being made in the work to convert one of the Ludlow Mills structures into senior housing.

The property is no longer a brownfields site from a technical standpoint — most all contaminants have been remediated — and extensive infrastructure work, including new water and sewer connections, have made the complex far more appealing to developers.

Overall, the site has enormous potential for many different kinds of development, from the senior housing already taking shape to manufacturing, office, and even retail, he explained, adding that, with its various structures and green spaces, it can handle the needs of growing enterprises.

“We have small spaces that startups can rent,” he explained, “and when they get to the point where they need a manufacturing facility, we have the opportunity to offer them a piece of property they can build on.”

Ludlow Mills is roughly five years into a 20-year redevelopment effort, said Nelson, adding that the ongoing challenge is to determine the best uses for various properties moving forward, and facilitating efforts to develop them.

As one example, he returned to the aerial photo and pointed to one of the mills, this one with low (seven-foot) ceilings, which will ultimately make redevelopment quite challenging. Perhaps the best course for that structure is to raze it and create parking for other projects, he explained, adding that this is one of many decisions that will have to be made in the years to come.

Building Blocks

As he talked about Ludlow Mills, Nelson said this project wasn’t yet on ‘auto pilot,’ a phrase he used to describe a point where most pressing issues have been resolved and matters come down to attracting the development community to the property.

But it’s getting close.

And that means more of the agency’s time and energy can be put toward the intriguing question of what comes next.

There are many components to that answer, said Nelson, who started by saying that this region will soon have more inventory of land and properties to develop.

That’s because absorption of existing buildings, a trend (one less expensive than building new) that emerged and then accelerated in the years following the Great Recession, has continued unabated. And that inventory is dwindling.

“The economics of building new were not going to pencil out, because people were able to go buy an existing building at a big discount,” he explained, adding that this fundamental shift in many ways inspired a change in strategies at Westmass, one that prompted a unique project like Ludlow Mills rather than additional industrial-park development.

Go HERE for a listing of available Commercial Real Estate properties for sale and lease in Western Mass.

But if the pendulum isn’t already swinging back, it’s apparent that it soon will, to one extent or another, he went on, adding that, while the green space at Ludlow Mills can address some of the additional demand that will emerge, more land will be needed, for projects of all sizes.

“We’re at a curve in the road,” Nelson explained. “We need to plan ahead, and we need to start aggregating sites and getting sites ready, knowing that it takes three years to get them ready for building.”

He didn’t give any specifics about where the agency is currently looking for land that could be aggregated, but did say the search is on, and, as in years past, it will be undertaken with diligence and imagination.

Meanwhile, another answer to what comes next is that aforementioned development-services arm, which Nelson believes holds vast potential — for Westmass, but especially the region and individual communities.

He circled back to the Cubit project, and Holyoke Community College’s request for Westmass’ support, as an example of what’s possible.

“The leaders at HCC do what they do well — they run a college,” he explained. “But this is not their area of expertise, so they turned to us for help in deciding which building to go into, finding an architect, negotiating a lease, and, more importantly, going for grant funding.

“This meshed well with our skills and talents, and it’s job creation,” he went on, referring to the opportunities awaiting graduates of the culinary arts program. “I see this as a model that Westmass can develop for towns that don’t have staff.”

Milling About

Nelson admits that he pretty much lost track of his master’s thesis subject, the Stanley Woolen Mills. He did some research, though, and reported that progress was being made in redevelopment of those landmarks for new uses.

He has his own project to keep tabs on now, one that is in many ways similar to those Blackstone Valley initiatives, and in all ways important to the future of this region.

What was once a project undertaken in pursuit of a degree is now essentially his life’s work, a project that is well, a textbook example of generating economic-development activity.

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

Commercial Construction Work Steady, but Highly Competitive

Construction Sections

Varied Landscape

David Fontaine Jr. says Fontaine Bros. has a good mix of new construction and historic renovation work lined up.

The building industry has travelled a tough road in its efforts to recover from the Great Recession, with mostly modest improvements in business volume amid ever-mounting competition for available work. But in recent months, the skies have become brighter, and most builders are expressing real optimism that the better times are real and have some staying power.

It’s easy to notice major commercial construction projects underway during the summer, and this year is no exception. Business is booming, and local companies say they are doing well — one is actually having a record year — but competition is stiff, and it takes a good track record to get hired in today’s market.

“Business has been very good,” said David Fontaine Jr., vice president of Fontaine Bros. Inc. in Springfield. “The market is very competitive, but we have gotten our fair share of business over the last few years. We’ve been consistently busy and have work lined up on the books that is a good mix of new construction and historic renovation.”

Eric Forish, president of Forish Construction Co. Inc. in Westfield, said his company has also been fortunate. “The past two years have been our best out of 70 years in business, and the forward momentum is continuing,” he told BusinessWest.

But he says it takes a lot to win a bid. “A company has to have a multitude of strengths and share the customer’s expectations; they want a safe job site, quality, and performance, and these things, coupled with excellent customer service, have been our priorities.”

Although Keiter Builders Inc. in Florence has been very busy and has a number of projects underway, it is also aware of the high level of competition and what it takes to prevail in a contest for a job.

“The bids have been very close on the last half-dozen jobs we won; we were within a few percentage points of our competitors,” said company President Scott Keiter. “The owners are creating their short lists of candidates based on reputation; then it’s all about the numbers.”

However, the firm deliberately searches for challenging and complex projects.

“We truly enjoy them, whether they involve creating an observatory or a new restaurant. We’re good at complex undertakings; they keep us on our toes,” Keiter said, adding that he started his business eight years ago in the depths of the recession, but has done well. “Everything keeps going in the right direction, we are proud of our work, and we’re growing.”

Stephen Greenwald, president of Renaissance Builders in Gill, says there is considerable work available across the board in residential, industrial, and commercial sectors.

“We’re busier than we were last year and have work through the beginning of next year,” he said, noting that it used to be like that 10 years ago, but hasn’t been that way for a long time.

The type of work the company handles varies; about 50% to 60% is commercial, 30% is residential, and 10% to 15% is industrial, although the numbers change from one year to the next, and Greenwald agreed that landing jobs is highly competitive and a number of factors enter into the equation.

“Margins are still slim, but one of the reasons is that materials continue to go up in price,” he told BusinessWest. “But since the recession ended, business has steadily gotten better.”

However, Forish networks with many local, regional, and national firms and noted this year is unusual: some contractors are busy, while others are not. He doesn’t know why, but noted that, “historically, election years create a degree of angst.”

Different Landscapes

Fontaine said his company is frequently hired to do construction management.

“We help throughout the design process and are involved long before the actual construction work begins,” he said, explaining that the firm works in conjunction with the architect and owners, helps with the budget, and makes sure the job starts on time and stays on budget.

Most projects are several years in duration, and landing them is no easy feat.

“There are a lot of really qualified large and small companies bidding on projects, and we’re definitely seeing more companies with a national reach coming into the area,” Fontaine said. “We focus on our relationships with our clients, and the success of our projects keeps us busy. But we live and die based on our reputation and our continuing results. In our business, you can’t take a day off. You have to consistently do your best to get and keep clients.”

Eric Forish (standing) spends a moment with Michael Oakes at Super Brush in Springfield, where Forish Construction Co. is putting on a 12,000-square-foot addition.

Forish agrees. “We’re always looking to take on new work. You can’t sit on your laurels; we’re constantly challenged to find new opportunities and markets,” he said. “If you’re good at what you do, every day you’re completing work, so you need to find new jobs. You have to keep going; you can’t assume that things will stay steady in any industry.”

Fontaine Bros. has a number of projects that were recently completed as well as ones that are underway or in the planning stages. It recently finished a historic renovation of the 100,000-square-foot, $33 million Shrewsbury Public Library that involved keeping the front of the building and adding 40,000 square feet, and it’s finishing a new elementary school in Athol.

Local work includes the $55 million Pope Francis High School being built by the Diocese of Springfield on the grounds of the former Cathedral High School on Surrey Road in Springfield that suffered extensive damage during the 2011 tornado.

“The project is in the final design stages, and we expect to break ground in September,” Fontaine said, adding that many people have wondered when the work will begin and don’t understand how much has to be done behind the scenes before construction can start.

“It’s a great project for us, and will put a lot of local people to work. I’m happy to see the school being rebuilt,” he added. The undertaking will take two years from start to finish, and the school is expected to open in September 2018.

Fontaine Bros. is also working on the MGM casino parking garage in Springfield; construction is underway, and concrete was being poured at the time of the BusinessWest interview.

“We partnered with Tishman Construction, and it’s great to be included in the project,” Fontaine said. “We’re excited about being part of the revitalization of the city and appreciate the fact that Tishman and MGM sought participation from local contractors and tradespeople.”

The majority of work Fontaine Bros. handles involves ‘green’ building, and many of its projects are LEED- or Massachusetts CHPS-certified. The company has been ranked as one of the Top 100 Green Contractors by the Engineering News-Record for the past few years.

Forish has also been busy. Over the past year, the company completed the new Sarat Ford and Sarat Lincoln auto dealerships in Agawam and the Marcotte Commercial Truck Center in Holyoke, put on a large addition at Astro Chemicals in Springfield, and most recently completed the Curry Nissan dealership in Chicopee and a new $6.5 million senior center in Westfield.

Projects underway include the $3.5 million PVTA Pavilion in Westfield, a 30,000-square-foot addition to Hillside Plastics in Turners Falls, a 12,000-square-foot addition at Super Brush in Springfield, and a multitude of jobs at UMass Amherst.

Keiter has a varied portfolio that includes a number of residential construction projects, and the firm is putting additions on a number of homes and building a few new ones in the Northampton area. However, about 80% of its work is commercial, and the roster includes a number of jobs at Smith College. The work includes a large window-and-door installation on the president’s house, a large dormer addition on a classroom building, and a renovation to another building to accommodate a gluten-free kitchen.

The firm is also handling a major renovation of the Alumni Gym at Amherst College, which houses its athletic operations.

“We’re very diverse, and also have a site division that does a lot of earthwork, which is a fast-growing part of our business,” Keiter said, adding that the firm began doing excavation and site work about three years ago.

Last year the company also completed a number of jobs at Smith College. It finished a telescope observatory in McConnell Hall, put a new roof on the building, and made mechanical upgrades; repurposed space to create a scientific drone research room in Bass Hall for the Science Department; and did a good deal of office-renovation work. Is also handled a buildout for an attorney’s office in Northampton and created a new restaurant (ConVino) in the basement of Thornes Marketplace in Northampton, which required completely changing the layout of the space.

Renaissance Builders also has a large, diverse portfolio. Last year, the company completed a major church renovation in Greenfield, a significant renovation of an apartment building in Northampton, another major renovation of a food-distribution company’s warehouse in Hatfield, and an addition for a commercial cabinet maker in Northfield. And on the residential side, it built two new homes in Chesterfield and Montague.

“Earlier this year, we did a large historical renovation in downtown Turner’s Falls, and right now we’re doing a renovation in Gardner for a service company,” said Greenwald. “We’re also building a day-care center and doing renovations at a private school in Northfield, and renovating a chain of tire stores in multiple locations.”

Future Forecast

Forish attributes his company’s success to the dedication of his employees, but said the company’s longevity poses its own set of challenges.

“We have a supervisor and general manager who both have 30 years of experience who are retiring, a tradesman with 25 years who is retiring, and two others who were recently recognized for 40 years of service who could retire,” he said. “Being a strong, mature company has its advantages, but it also creates challenges when you need to replace people. We’re always looking for motivated individuals to join our Forish family.”

Although it’s impossible for commercial construction companies to predict what the future will hold, Forish and other company spokesmen say this year looks like it will be a good one.

“But it’s always difficult to tell how much is due to the economy versus the typical busy summer, so we’re always looking ahead,” Keiter said.

Still, Greenwald noted that the economy in Western Mass. seems to be holding its own. “Businesses are putting money into expansion and infrastructure improvements, which I interpret to mean they are doing well; we see it as a positive sign.”

One that should contribute to a stellar season as local commercial construction companies not only hold their own, but thrive in a competitive environment where attention to detail and reputation makes a world of difference.

Big E’s 100th Is Cause for Celebration, Reflection

Marking a Milestone

Eugene Cassidy, president and CEO of the Big E, with one of the many pieces of memorabilia collected from patrons of the fair.

The Eastern States Exposition turns 100 this year. For organizers of the 17-day fair every fall and a host of other events during the year, planning such a celebration comes easily. But the centennial is in many ways more than a party — it’s an opportunity to reflect on the Big E’s history, its place in the region, and the many challenges that stand in the way of continuing this tradition for the generations to come.

The request went out on various forms of social media a few years ago.

The Eastern States Exposition, long on history but admittedly somewhat short on older archival material and memorabilia concerning its century-long existence, was looking for the public’s help in rectifying that problem — and in telling an important story.

“When we moved here [the Big E fairgrounds] from our offices at 31 Elm St. in Springfield in 1950, we jettisoned a lot of our archives; we have our business records and our meeting notes, but we don’t really have a good archive,” explained Eugene Cassidy, the institution’s president and CEO. “So we spent the past several years collecting Eastern States memorabilia, mostly from people who are fond patrons of the fairgrounds. And a lot of fascinating stuff poured in.”

The donations include dozens of photographs, some of them going as far back as the 1920s, and many chronicling the horrific floods of 1936 and 1955; promotional posters, including one from 1925 that was found behind a wall by two sisters from Ludlow as they were relocating to Alaska; a framed copy of some of the early attempts to answer a request from some journalists to shorten the exposition’s lengthy name (yes, this was the origin of the term ‘Big E’); and a metal sheet detailing the dates of the 1950 exposition that was designed to wrap neatly around street signs.

“People couldn’t tell what street they were on, but they knew the dates for the exposition,” said Cassidy as he held up the well-preserved artifact, marveling at its purpose.

Construction of the coliseum commences in 1916, just months before the National Dairy Show was to come to West Springfield.

These items and countless others will be put on display during this year’s Big E, the 100th birthday celebration, which will commence Sept. 16. Collectively, they speak to the institution’s place — not only in the region, but in the hearts, and memory banks, of the millions who have visited the fairgrounds over the years.

In many ways, this is what will be celebrated during this milestone year, said Cassidy, adding that Big E administrators want to use the occasion to bring awareness to the institution’s long history, the manner in which it has become part of the social fabric of the region (in a figurative, but also quite literal, sense, as we’ll see) — and the fact that help, in many forms, will certainly be needed to preserve this tradition for future generations.

Indeed, the Big E is facing a number of formidable challenges as it stares down its second century, said Cassidy, now in his fifth year at the helm, listing everything from an ever-growing number of forces competing for the time and energy of families to the inexorable decline of agriculture in Massachusetts and the Northeast (the bedrock on which the exposition was built), and an aging exposition infrastructure that includes several buildings that date to the beginning in 1916, including the venerable coliseum.

“My goal is to raise awareness so that people in the greater community might take a step back and think about what Eastern States means to the region,” he explained. “This is an opportunity for people to refamiliarize themselves with Eastern States at hopefully a different level, and to take note of our resilient ability to remain successful in an environment that becomes increasingly more difficult to survive in.”

Elaborating, he said fairs of this type across the country are struggling mightily, but many have the support of their various states to fall back on.

“Gov. [Andrew] Cuomo recently gave the New York State Fair $55 million to rehabilitate a few buildings on their fairgrounds, and the Indiana State Fair gets 6% of the revenues from gaming in that state,” said Cassidy, adding that the Big E is certainly not likely to receive similar forms of support.

To fund needed capital projects and relieve the exposition of growing amounts of debt, other measures will be required, said Cassidy, noting that a capital campaign for the nonprofit organization is a distinct possibility.

For now, he wants to grow awareness and gain a full appreciation for the institution.

“My personal goal is for as many as possible in our Greater New England region to have a connection to, and a fondness for, the future of this organization, some respect for its history, and a desire to be a part of it moving forward,” he explained. “It’s going to take all of that in order to assure that this organization continues to have its incredible importance on the stage of national agriculture and food production, and to continue to have the economic impact it has.”

For this issue, BusinessWest takes a look at the Big E’s centennial, what is planned from a celebratory standpoint, and especially at what this institution must do after it blows out the candles for its 100th birthday.

Party Animals

Cassidy told BusinessWest that the Big E is used to throwing big parties — in most respects, that’s what it does for 17 days each fall — so a 100th-birthday celebration is, in many respects, no big deal.

Well, at least from a planning and execution perspective; again, this is what they do. From a historical and, yes, public-relations perspective, though, this is a very big deal, an opportunity that exposition officials intend to fully maximize.

This panoramic photo shows the Big E in the 1920s, when it was fast becoming a tradition in the region.

There will be a number of special touches, he went on, pointing to everything from the birthday-cake-like signage now adorning the administration building to the flagpoles now affixed to the coliseum (an attempt to recapture the look from 1916 and the ensuing decades); from the display of artifacts collected from the public to a spirited effort to bring back performers from the exposition’s heyday in the ’50s, ’60s, and early ’70s (the return of the Cowsills falls into that category); from a new/old logo, as well as coasters, buttons, and magnets with the number ‘100’ on them, to a special Big E tartan, a pattern bearing a mix of the primary colors of the Big E, the town of West Springfield, and the six New England states already woven into ties and scarves — the fabric of the community in a literal sense.

There will also be a commemorative book on the centennial, due to be released just before this year’s fair begins (one can already be ordered online).

Wayne Phaneuf, executive editor of the Republican, was the main editor for the book and one of those contributing content and selecting photos, the latter of which essentially tell the story of the past half-century.

Phaneuf told BusinessWest that he did some extensive research for the project and learned a number of things while doing so.

That list includes everything from the full roster of entertainers who appeared over the years — “I never knew Bob Hope came here,” he said — to insight into how the federal government essentially commandeered the fairgrounds during both World War I and World War II for use as a staging area and supply depot.

But mostly, that research merely reinforced what he already knew.

“As a kid growing up in this area, there were only two things kids really looked forward to,” he said while summing things up — “Christmas and the Big E.”

And that sentiment basically applies to people of all ages, he went on, adding that the book — and the 100th anniversary, really — is all about memories.

People from across this area and soon well beyond started collecting them in 1916, when Joshua Brooks, a prominent area businessman and lithographer by trade (his company printed bank notes, among other things), pulled off an unlikely coup and brought the prominent National Dairy Show to a once-muddy flood plain beside the Westfield River.

Actually, when he sold this region to the highly skeptical fair organizers during intense meetings in Chicago, that area was still mostly a swamp — but one for which Brooks had big plans.

Growing Concern

Two years earlier, he and 62 others listed as original incorporators launched the Eastern States Agricultural and Industrial Exposition. Its lengthy purpose was to “to hold agricultural and industrial expositions, and fairs within the county of Hampden, to engage in agricultural and industrial products and in livestock, to conduct races, sports, and general amusements, and to promote the agricultural and industrial development of the eastern states.” (No, there’s nothing in there about cream puffs or deep-fried … anything.)

Brooks’ ambitious plan was to launch the first exposition by bringing the National Dairy Show to the site. And to do that — again, against seemingly all odds — he essentially sold a promise: to build the roads, buildings, facilities, and amenities needed to stage that event, because none existed at the time.

To make a rather long story short, he delivered on that promise, raising more than $500,000 to get it all done.

A year after the successful staging of that event, the Eastern States Exposition and Dairy Show began, only a few months before the U.S. officially entered World War I. The first fair drew 138,000 people, roughly one-tenth what it does today.

BigE-BobHope

Until the mid-’70s, the Big E was the undisputed entertainment hub in the region, hosting entertainers such as Bob Hope (top) and sporting events like auto racing.

After the war, the Big E initiated a pattern of continued growth and expansion that would continue for decades — not simply in terms of infrastructure, but also in prestige, attendance, and prominence within the region and also well beyond it.

The Big E, and especially the fair each fall, would find a unique place in the region’s consciousness, while drawing celebrities and politicians, including a sitting president, Dwight Eisenhower, and his sitting vice president, Richard Nixon.

By the middle of the 20th century, the Big E — as it came to be known in 1967 amid complaints from the press that there were just too many syllables in Eastern States Exposition — became the undisputed center of entertainment in Western Mass. and Northern Conn., as well as a place for events of all types, because the coliseum was the largest venue of its kind in the region.

Indeed, the exposition was, for many years, home to professional hockey (the American Hockey League in the form of Springfield’s franchise, but also the parent National Hockey League when the Hartford Civic Center’s roof collapsed in January 1978, leaving the Whalers temporarily homeless). But it was also home to what is now CityStage (then StageWest) starting in 1967, as well as other entertainment facilities, including the Storrowton Dinner Theatre.

The list of those who have appeared in West Springfield is long and prestigious, and includes the likes of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, Lionel Barrymore, Jackie Gleason, Bob Hope, Liberace, Arthur Godfrey, and countless others.

“We have a great, storied history for entertainment — we had the biggest names going back to the 1920s,” Cassidy said. “Anybody who was anybody played at the Eastern States. Buddy Hackett played here so many times that, in the late ’60s, the police chief gave him a key to the town of West Springfield. He loved the fair, and he loved his connection to us.”

The exposition also hosted all manner of events, including college and high-school graduations, a wide array of sporting events, and many political gatherings, including the 1964 state Democratic convention. (The state’s junior senator, Edward Kennedy, then campaigning for re-election, was injured and nearly killed as the plane taking him to that convention crashed in Southampton).

Survivor’s Story

But while the exposition’s history is replete with big names, big events, and big crowds, it is, in many respects, a story of survival, of overcoming challenge.

Those challenges have come in a number of forms — from two world wars to the Great Depression, which took a heavy toll in a number of ways, to the building in the early ’70s of the Springfield Civic Center, which took hockey, many school graduations, and scores of other events across the Connecticut River and actually prompted Big E officials to briefly consider a move to the Nutmeg State as a way to counter that threat.

Then there were the natural disasters, the floods, and especially the hurricane that visited Western Mass. in September 1938, just a few days after that year’s fair had begun.

Photos taken in the aftermath of the disaster told a story of complete devastation, with rides, tents, and structures crumpled, a situation compounded by a forced early closing and resulting loss of revenue as well as the lingering effects of the depression, which cast a large shadow over the prospects for recovery.

The situation was summed up poignantly in remarks, included in the centennial book, from Republican reporter Frank Bauer, who attended a meeting convened by Brooks that featured a host of area business leaders curious about what could, and would, happen next for the fair.

“The Eastern States Exposition, even then a venerable 22-year-old institution, was in danger of extinction, down and out from the big blow,” he wrote. “There was no treasury, no funds, and no insurance to begin to cover the damage and loss of revenue.”

Before that meeting ended, Bauer went on, Brooks and ally Harry Fisk asked for and received commitments from those in the room for funds to restore the fair.

While the situation nearly eight decades later is not as dire in most respects, there are some similarities, said Cassidy, noting that the Big E is facing a host of challenges — if it not to its survival, then certainly to its bottom line and many of its traditions, especially its agricultural roots.

Chief among them, perhaps, is the aging infrastructure at the fairgrounds and the ever-rising cost of restoring and modernizing buildings built decades ago.

President Dwight Eisenhower, left, visits the Big E in 1953.

Fair officials have received some estimates, for example, that it would cost at least $40 million, and probably more, to completely restore the coliseum to its former glory and original look and make it suitable for many of the events it can no longer stage, said Cassidy.

“The coliseum is obsolete today — professional hockey moved out in the ’70s, and they stopped playing high-school hockey there in 1991,” he explained, adding that the facility is now used mostly for horse shows and the Shrine Circus. “The building is in need of a $50 million to $60 million investment to make it contemporary in this day and age.”

There are other facilities that need work as well, he said, pegging the total amount of deferred maintenance at more than $140 million.

To capitalize the needed work, the Big E, despite several very successful years recently, would have to revert to its old methods for raising money, he explained. Well, sort of.

“In the old days, when we had a rainy fair and lost money, Mr. Brooks would get on the phone and call everybody up and say, ‘I need you to write me a check for $16,000,’” Cassidy said, adding that those calls went to corporators, board members, and other prominent supporters of the exposition. “And the money came in; it paid the bills, and it got us through difficult times.”

That model was actually still in place in 1978, when the Big E used it to finance the Young Building, Cassidy said, adding that, when Brooks’ son, J. Loring Brooks, died in 1980, that development strategy was essentially retired.

As a result, to fund its operation, the Big E has taken on increasingly larger amounts of debt, he explained, noting that the number has risen exponentially over the past few decades.

Thus, when the centennial celebration is over, the focus will shift entirely to the next 100 years, said Cassidy, adding that this includes development of a new strategic plan that will specifically address challenges and how to fund them.

“It will have a meaningful and robust development and fund-raising piece to it,” he said, adding that a likely step is a capital campaign, something the fair hasn’t done — at least in the modern sense of that term.

With those thoughts as a backdrop, Cassidy noted, again, that this Big E will, from a production standpoint, be business as usual, but it will also comprise a sincere effort to show just how important that business is for the region, and how challenging it will be to continue it into the future.

Fair Game

As he posed for a few photos with some of the memorabilia collected from area residents, Cassidy stopped at the large conference room in the administration building.

He wanted to show off the renovations to that facility, but also, and more importantly, make a point.

To do so, he started by gesturing to the photos of Joshua and J. Loring Brooks (they were both known as J.L.) at the far end of the room.

“Those used to be out in the hallway, where no one really saw them,” he explained, adding that, now, they’re almost impossible to miss.

In fact, the horseshoe-shaped conference table is set up so that each member of the board of directors will face those pictures, of the founder and the man who continued his work for several decades.

“So, in a way, while addressing the present and the future, we’re always reminded of the past and the need to preserve that history and those traditions,” Cassidy explained.

In many respects, that’s exactly what the 100th-birthday celebration is all about.

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

New PeoplesBank President Looks to Set the Bar Even Higher

Banking and Financial Services Sections

The Feeling’s Mutual

Tom Senecal

Tom Senecal takes the helm at PeoplesBank at an intriguing time for the institution — and the industry. Competition is keen, and efforts to achieve growth are challenged by thin margins and stagnant, historically low interest rates. The bank has made a commitment to continue this fight as a mutual institution, a strategy Senecal believes will continue to bring a host of inherent advantages.

Tom Senecal called it “going from the back room to the front lines.”

That’s how he chose to describe his decision in 2001 to leave his position as controller at Holyoke-based PeoplesBank and join the commercial-lending team led at that time by future President and CEO Doug Bowen.

Looking back on that not-so-subtle and fairly unusual career move, Senecal said that, at that juncture, he understood it was a necessary move if he was to achieve what was an already-emerging goal — to move higher up the ladder in banking administration, and perhaps to the top rung.

“I knew, career-wise, that if I wanted to be … well, where I am today, I needed more exposure and experience than just an accounting background,” he explained, noting that Bowen’s career trajectory has become common in the industry today. “So I made a conscious decision to change careers and move to the front line of servicing customers.

“This was outside my comfort zone — I was 41 years old, moving from an accounting environment to a sales environment,” he went on. “But I knew I needed that experience.”

What Senecal — who was named president last August after prevailing in a search for Bowen’s successor a few months after he made his retirement plans known — didn’t know in 2001 but does know now, is that, while leaving the back room improved his chances to advance in this industry, working in both settings will better enable him to handle that position’s varied job description.

“My experiences, both on the financial side and in lending, brought something different to the table, and that’s important given the current banking environment,” he explained. “Both jobs enabled me to see how the bank operates, but from different perspectives.”

Senecal takes the helm at PeoplesBank at an intriguing time for both that institution and the banking industry as a whole. Indeed, he officially takes both the president and CEO titles (Bowen maintained the latter until late June) just as the bank, probably not coincidentally, announced it was taking its commitment to being a mutual bank to a higher level.

Specifically, the institution changed its bylaws in a way that will make any future conversion to a stockholder-owned company exceedingly more difficult. Before, a vote to take such a step would require a simple majority of votes among corporators to move in that direction; now, it will take a super-majority, or 75% (much more on all this later).

As for the industry in general, a trend toward consolidation and gaining all-important size and economies of scale continues unabated, with the recently announced merger of Westfield Bank and Chicopee Savings Bank being the latest in a lengthy string of such moves.

Senecal acknowledged the benefits of size in this era of rising regulatory costs and razor-thin margins, but said PeoplesBank will continue to address those challenges as a mutual institution, and with an operating strategy forged by his immediate predecessors and honed by Bowen during his 10-year tenure.

Tenets include everything from calculated territorial expansion, including a strong push into Springfield, to permanent residency on the cutting edge of new banking technology and an emerging niche in lending to ‘green’ business ventures.

Describing what might come next, Senecal started by implying strongly that there won’t be any attempts to fix anything that isn’t broken (and that’s most things). Getting slightly more specific, he said the bank will continue its efforts to grow the only way a bank can grow in this region and this banking environment — by gaining additional market share.

And this brings him back to mutuality and a commitment to retain that operating structure. As a mutual institution, the bank is not beholden to stockholders, he explained, and in this case, the word ‘local’ doesn’t refer to where commercial lenders live and play golf, but rather to where decisions are made.

“We believe that local decisions really do mean something,” he noted. “There aren’t many mutuals left, and that means people don’t feel comfortable that the decisions are being made in Western Massachusetts. I think that’s a big advantage for us.”

For this issue and its focus on banking and financial services, BusinessWest talked at length with Senecal about his career in banking, his attainment of that goal he set long ago, and what to expect — or not expect, as the case may be — from PeoplesBank moving forward.

Matters of Note

Summing up the progressive Doug Bowen administration at the 131-year-old institution, Senecal said his predecessor “set the bar very high.”

As he spoke those words, he was referring to awards and honors, specifically to the bank’s regular appearance on a host of regional and statewide ‘best-of’ lists. They include everything from the Boston Globe’s compilation of the best places to work in the Bay State to Boston Business Journal’s list of the top corporate charitable contributors, to MassLive’s Readers Raves.

Meanwhile, Bowen himself was honored in 2009 as one of BusinessWest’s first Difference Makers, and in 2011 as a Globe 100 Innovator for, essentially, creating an environment that fostered and facilitated all of the above.

But that reference to setting the bar high actually referred to much more than placement on lists and plaques for the front lobby. It was also a reference to overall growth (the bank crashed through the $2 billion barrier in total assets during Bowen’s tenure), territorial expansion in the form of six new branches, a ‘green’ philosophy (three of those branches are LEED-certified), innovation (the institution has created a Customer Innovation Lab and hired a so-called ‘data scientist’), and the bank’s strong commitment to mutuality and the many competitive advantages it brings.

Senecal will work to keep the bar where it is and hopefully raise it even higher, and he’ll bring to this task that aforementioned blend of experience in the back room and on the front lines.

A Coast Guard veteran, Senecal eventually decided the military would not become a career, and went back to school, earning a degree in business at the Isenberg School of Management at UMass Amherst.

Tom Senecal, seen with other members of the PeoplesBank team, says the bank’s commitment to remain a mutual institution makes a strong statement.

He started his career in the financial-services sector with the Big 4 firm KPMG, as a senior manager and CPA. In that capacity, he provided organizational leadership and technical consulting expertise in the areas of auditing, accounting, tax compliance, and financial reporting for small to mid-sized banks in Massachusetts and Connecticut. One of the clients in his portfolio was PeoplesBank, which eventually recruited him to the role of controller.

As mentioned earlier, he drifted far out of his comfort zone a few years later and joined the commercial-lending team, where he remained until 2004, when he accepted an offer to join Florence Savings Bank as CFO and treasurer.

He returned to Holyoke in 2008 when Bowen, who took the helm at PeoplesBank a year earlier, encouraged him to take that same role with his bank.

“I looked upon coming back here as an opportunity,” he explained. “PeoplesBank is a larger, broader-reaching bank geographically that had a lot of opportunities for growth because of its name recognition and the marketability of PeoplesBank. Having had some conversations about the future with people here, I decided to come back.”

The search for Bowen’s successor, which began in the summer of 2015, eventually focused on two internal candidates, and Senecal prevailed.

Making a Statement

Since taking over as president of the bank, Senecal has put himself even closer to the front line — actually, right on it.

Indeed, he’s spent some time behind teller windows at several of the branches, getting an up-close look at what happens there, while also taking the opportunity to speak with some customers directly.

“I don’t think one of those branches is going to invite me back to scan checks, because I wasn’t very good at it — I think I kept the staff an extra hour,” he joked, adding quickly that those experiences were nonetheless fruitful and somewhat eye-opening. “As much as I can laugh about it now, that’s an example of understanding what the front line is really like.”

Beyond this time in the field, Senecal said he’s spent his first several months as president working toward that vote on mutuality and also developing a new four-year strategic plan. Dubbed Vision 2020, it will be presented to the board of directors in September.

When asked what’s in it, Senecal offered only generalities, and said it focuses on every aspect of the banking operation, including retail and commercial products and services, cash management, retail delivery channels, digital delivery channels, and more.

“We’re strategizing and looking at best-in-class products and services to compete with the larger institutions,” he explained. “Remaining as a mutual enables us to do that; we don’t have to worry about the next quarter’s earnings — we can make investments in these technologies and people and not worry about it. We’re in it for the long term.”

Elaborating, he said the bank changed two bylaws that will make converting to a public company far less likely. The first is the new requirement of a super-majority. The second is a so-called ‘protective self-enrichment clause,’ which prevents any director or senior manager from financially benefiting if that 75% vote from the corporators is actually obtained.

“Management and directors cannot participate in any initial public offering,” he explained. “This takes away all the financial incentive to convert; it requires senior management to focus on the long term and growing responsibly.”

Commenting on the decision to change the bylaws regarding mutuality, Senecal said he’s not sure such a step was necessary given that the bank hasn’t shown any interest in moving toward converting to stock ownership. But the vote does make a statement, and an important one, he went on, in terms of its commitment to the community.

“It was an opportunity to commit the institution and send a message to the community about who we are,” he explained. “I think it’s hard to deliver that message because most people don’t understand what mutuality is and how it affects them.

“Having been the CFO of two banks and having talked to other banks, I’ve gotten a real sense for what community banks do for our communities,” he explained. “You can talk to the big banks and the public banks, and they’ll tell you they’re committed and they’re creating foundations, but take a look at what they contribute to the community compared to what the mutual banks contribute, and you’ll see a huge difference.

“The public doesn’t see that,” he went on. “But on the inside, we see that.”

On-the-money Analysis

Still, despite the apparent advantages of mutuality, it does bring some competitive challenges, especially when it comes to size and its benefits, and capital (which ultimately determines how much a bank can lend) and how to attain it.

“Size is not overrated,” Senecal said, adding that it is the best method for coping with costs that continue to rise (compliance costs have nearly tripled for PeoplesBank over the past three years, from $1 million to $2.5 million, for example), while banks cannot recover them by adjusting rates for loans and deposits.

As for raising capital, public banks do so through stock offerings, he noted, while for mutual banks, the only source of capital is earnings, which are elusive in this era of those rising operating costs and in a region generally defined by the compound modifier ‘no-growth.’

But Senecal said there is room for growth in market share, and, as an example, he pointed to the residential mortgage market.

“We were a top-four mortgage lender in Hampden and Hampshire counties last year,” he explained. “There were probably 190 originators in our market, and we had 4% of that market. To me, there’s a lot of market share that can be acquired — and in many ways beyond bricks and mortar.”

This was a reference to emerging technology in the financial world and digital ways of doing business, a realm the bank has been on the leading edge of for years, Senecal noted — a trend he expects to continue.

Meanwhile, there is also room for growth in commercial lending, he said, adding quickly that the market remains highly competitive, despite the fact that the spate of mergers and acquisitions has actually created fewer players.

“There may be fewer banks, but there aren’t fewer lenders — this remains a very competitive environment fueled by historically low rates,” he explained, adding that area institutions are raising the already-high stakes by recruiting not simply individual lenders, but entire teams of lenders.

“I think the public institutions are feeling that they can steal market share by acquiring a group of commercial lenders,” he explained, adding that PeoplesBank has a different strategy, one focused on creating and maintaining relationships through stability.

“We’ve had very little turnover in our commercial lending area,” he explained, “and that has definitely helped us grow that part of our business.”

As for the overall growth strategy, Senecal said PeoplesBank has historically done it organically (it has never acquired another institution), and this trend will continue.

“When I arrived in 1995, this bank had $450 million in assets; today, we’re just about $2.1 billion,” he explained. “We did that through organic growth — putting branches in, increasing our loans, increasing our deposit base. We will continue to focus on that same strategy, although it’s definitely challenging.”

A Strong Bottom Line

When asked to compare and contrast work in the back room and on the front lines, Senecal said there are basic and very important differences.

“Having worked in the finance area, I’d say it’s very easy to make decisions looking at numbers and not understanding the customer impact,” he explained. “When you get to the front lines, you realize those decisions impact your customers, and they become more difficult.”

As he noted earlier, working in both environments will benefit him immensely as he goes about trying to move an already-lofty bar still higher.

He said he’s ready for the many challenges facing the banking industry today, and so is the institution he now leads.

In other words, the feeling is mutual — in all kinds of ways.

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

Tessier Associates Diversifies Its Portfolio

Architecture Sections

Blueprinting a Growth Pattern

Robert Stevens

Tessier Associates has been in business since Warren Harding was in the White House and Prohibition was the law of the land. No architecture firm can survive that long — and through all those twists and turns in the economy — without being resilient and resourceful, and the Tessier firm has been both. In recent years, for example, it has been diversifying its portfolio, complementing a dwindling amount of public-school work with projects in higher education and other sectors, and now has a steady supply of work in the pipeline.

The photos, sketches, and blueprints adorning the front entranceways and conference rooms at architecture firms usually tell a story — or, to be more precise, a big part of the story.

Indeed, collectively, these images become a highly visible, although not always organized, chronicling of a company’s history, examination of its portfolio, and window into its past, present, and, in some ways, its future.

This is definitely true at Tessier Associates, the nearly-century-old firm that has long been doing business out of a large storefront on the second floor at Tower Square in downtown Springfield. The photos in the front lobby and hallway leading to the production areas speak to the company’s proud history, which has included everything from dozens of school projects to a number of new churches and a host of commercial buildings, including bank branches, which became a prolific niche for a number of years (more on that later).

The main conference room offers more of the same, but specifically a look at more recent history — and a very necessary diversification of the portfolio to reflect changing times when it comes to designing new public schools, additions, and renovations.

“It’s much more difficult to get school projects today. There are fewer of them out there, and the selection process is now out of Boston — the rules have changed,” said Robert Stevens Jr., long-time principal with the company, noting that, while local school systems once did the hiring of an architect for a project, now those decisions are the purview of the Mass. School Building Authority.

Go HERE for a list of Architecture Firms in the region

This explains why the conference room still features photos and drawings of some of the firm’s school projects — including Lenox Middle/High School, which actually dates back to the late ’90s, and Hampshire Regional High School, newer work but still more than a decade old — but far more wall and easel space is now devoted to work with area colleges and businesses, which have become a far larger and more reliable pipeline of projects.

There are several images, for example, of a new dining commons being planned by Western New England University. Curved, and featuring large amounts of glass and a host of different and unique dining areas, the structure currently taking shape on the drawing board reflects a heightened interest in food and food service at institutions of higher learning, said Stevens.

“Food is a big deal now, and it’s important when it comes to recruiting students — you have to be on the cutting edge of this,” he explained. “These facilities now require a lot of social space, a lot of dining opportunities, a number of seating arrangements, and some quiet space; there’s a lot that goes into these now.”

The walls tell of other recent projects at Bay Path University and Springfield College, and also the Big E, which is exploring possible renovations to several of its historic buildings, including the coliseum (see related story, page 6). Stevens noted that such private-sector work is both necessary and, at the moment, at least, steady enough to keep the firm busy and in a contemplative mode when it comes to expansion and bringing on more staff.

One of the Tessier firm’s renderings of the planned dining commons at Western New England University.

Still, like many in businesses across virtually every sector of the economy, Tessier has some doubts about the staying power of the current expansion, if one chooses to call it that, and noted that there are risks to bringing on more staff, especially in a sector as vulnerable to swings in the economy as this one.

He believes the economy is improving, but, like most others, would like to see more solid evidence that the upswing is real.

“We could be hiring others, and we probably should be,” he explained. “When you’re leery about whether the economy is really improving, you tend to hold back, even when you think you need to hire.”

For this issue and its focus on architecture, BusinessWest takes an in-depth look at … well, the walls and easels at Tessier Associates and at what they reveal about where the company has been, and where it’s going.

Designs on Diversification

Tracing the history of the company, Stevens said it was started by Henry Tessier in 1923, who was still working part-time when Stevens joined the firm in the mid-’80s.

“Henry worked until he was in his mid-90s,” he recalled. “He obviously liked what he did — he was still coming into the office every day.”

Under the tutelage of Tessier and later his son, Bob, and fellow partners Doug Engebretson, who retired in 2012, and Stevens, the firm developed a number of niches within the broad realm of architecture, including everything from churches to those aforementioned bank branches.

The former remains a source of some work, said Stevens, noting that the portfolio includes several projects in this category, including the new Immaculate Conception Church in Holyoke, St. Patrick’s Church in Springfield, Nativity Church in Holyoke, and Holy Name Church in Springfield.

As for those bank braches, they were a solid source of work decades ago as area institutions sought to develop a presence in many of the emerging suburbs.

“There was a period of time just after I came here when we really did nothing but bank branches,” he said, noting that, in those days — and perhaps not so much now — architects could, and did, get creative with design of the teller lines and other elements of those structures to give them individuality.

But the firm’s main bread and butter starting in the mid-’80s was public-school projects, said Stevens. The portfolio includes initiatives across this region and beyond, with most of them in response to growing populations and/or a need to replace or modernize aging infrastructure. The list includes additions and renovations at Frontier Regional School in South Deerfield, Commerce High School in Springfield, and JFK Middle School in Northampton, as well as new construction at Quarry Hill Elementary School in Monson and Grafton Elementary School in Grafton, among many others.

But by 2004, the pipeline of school projects dwindled to a trickle as the state all but stopped funding schools and changed the formula for how such initiatives were funded. By the time conditions changed and money started flowing more freely, the selection process for architects had changed, adding another layer to the challenge of landing such projects. The last one the firm handled was Hoosic Valley Regional Middle and High School in Cheshire in 2012.

With school work dwindling and prospects for improvement in that realm dim, the firm has done what it has always done since Warren Harding was in the White House and Babe Ruth was leading the American League in home runs, said Stevens — create a diversified portfolio and adjust its focus to where the work happens to be at a given time.

Indeed, an architecture firm cannot survive 93 years and an untold number of economic twists and turns, including both the Great Depression and Great Recession, without being flexible, resourceful, and resilient, and the Tessier firm is deserving of all those adjectives.

Drawing on Experience

Recently, for example, the firm has garnered a number of projects in higher education, tapping into one of the pillars of the region’s economy.

“We’ve been relying mainly on private work in recent years,” said Stevens, “and we’ve been successful in getting some nice projects. We’ve done a lot of work at area colleges and universities.”

Perhaps the signature initiative in this realm is the $30 million Center for the Sciences and Pharmacy building on the Western New England University campus, undertaken in 2009. “That was a significant project for us, coming right after the recession,” Stevens explained.

But there have been many others, including several projects at Bay Path University, including, most recently, renovation to some of the science labs. There has also been work at Springfield College, Elms College, and other schools.

The Center for the Sciences and Pharmacy building at Western New England University is one of Tessier’s signature projects.

Meanwhile, there have been other forms of commercial work, including an office addition and renovation project for UniFirst Corp., a Wilmington-based supplier of uniforms and provider of related services that has a facility in Springfield, as well as another site in New York that the Tessier firm is also working on.

Those projects and others have provided Stevens with a sense that the economy is improving, that business owners are becoming more confident about the immediate future, and that this scenario may continue for some time.

And this sentiment wasn’t present in the years immediately after the Great Recession, even when analysts were saying the economic picture was brightening and businesses in many sectors, including those in the broad realm of construction, should see some trickle-down.

“Things were questionable in the few first years after the recession ended — I would hear that the economy was improving, but we weren’t feeling it,” he explained. “But at this point, it seems like there’s more activity.

“We have backlog — you can see enough work out for a year or two,” he went on, “and that’s pretty unusual for recent years.”

This is what he tells builders who will call and ask him what he thinks and what he knows — calls that come often, because, historically, architecture has been an accurate barometer of the economy; when firms are busy, that’s a good sign, and when they’re not … well, no explanation needed.

“The climate is improving,” he said in conclusion. “I’m feeling much more optimistic than I was a few years ago.”

Lines of Business

Tucked in a corner of the Tessier firm’s conference room is an aerial photo of the Elms College campus, complete with the wellness center the company designed.

Stevens couldn’t pinpoint the date of that project, but did know that it was some time ago. That was an acknowledgement that what’s on the walls and easels of such firms don’t exactly (or always) reflect current events.

But those items tell a story, or, as noted earlier, the story.

In this case, it’s one of a history of creativity — both on the drawing board and in business itself — and resiliency.

In other words, Tessier has developed a blueprint for surviving and thriving in changing times.

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

Owners, Manager Craft a Business Plan to Enable Thunderbirds to Soar

A New Era

Nate Costa

After a two-month hiatus, professional hockey is back in Springfield, with a franchise recently named the Thunderbirds. Its executive vice president and large ownership group are confident this team can get over the attendance hump that has plagued previous franchises in the City of Homes, and say this confidence stems from an intense focus on sales coupled with the commitment — and connections — of the 26 owners.

Nate Costa had what most people would consider an attractive position with the American Hockey League — with the operative word being had.

As a member of the AHL’s Team Business Services Department, Costa had a broad job description, but essentially he worked with all 30 of the league’s teams to improve revenues and attendance and deploy best practices to help their organizations run more efficiently and profitably. It was a job that took him across the country, to cities ranging from San Diego to Grand Rapids, Mich., to Utica, N.Y., and provided a host of learning opportunities.

But while Costa, a Springfield native and Cathedral High School graduate, enjoyed that work, he coveted another title and a much different set of job responsibilities.

“I really wanted to run a franchise, and I entered the job with the AHL with that goal in mind,” he told BusinessWest, adding that achieving this career ambition would provide him with an intriguing opportunity to put to work many of the lessons learned while working with and for teams like the Hershey Bears, Syracuse Crunch, Utica Comets, and Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins.

And now, thanks to the dramatic turn of events that brought the Portland (Maine) Pirates franchise to Springfield this spring, he’ll get that chance. Indeed, Costa was recently named executive vice president of the team, recently renamed the Thunderbirds.

It’s been a whirlwind month or so for Costa; he got married just a few weeks ago, and officially started his new job at the same time. He doesn’t have an office yet — a new lease with the MassMutual Center doesn’t begin until July — or even business cards. Meanwhile, most of his time, and that of the new ownership group, has been spent on matters of business, such as franchise agreements, negotiating with the MassMutual Center, and choosing a team name, logo, and colors.

But Costa told BusinessWest that the real work of running this franchise and doing what the previous ownership group could not — move the team out of last place, at least when it comes to attendance — is underway.

When queried about how he intends to improve the numbers at the gate as well as the overall profitability of Springfield’s AHL franchise — a question posed repeatedly and in several different ways — he said, in essence, that it comes down to one word: selling.

He would elaborate, of course, touching on both what is to be sold and, especially, how and to whom.

As for the former, he said the product is much more than hockey, although that’s obviously a big part of it. He preferred to say that the team would be selling “an experience” that could be enjoyed by all members of the family.

TbirdsPrimary(Color) As for the latter, he said the selling would take on a far more aggressive tone than it has historically, with a specific focus on season tickets and group sales, strategic targets that have yielded success for other franchises, as we’ll see later.

Dennis Murphy, owner of the Ventry Group and a member of the ownership group, summed things up this way:

“To compare what’s happened in the past to what this situation looks like would be to compare a shovel to a bulldozer,” he explained. “This is the most powerful sales force ever assembled in any part of Western Mass., bar none.”

Overall, Costa said the Thunderbirds won’t really do anything the previous franchise didn’t do — it will just do it better and more aggressively, with the goal of creating more and stronger connections between the team and the community.

And it will also do it with the backing of 26 local owners, all of whom are committed to hockey, this team, and selling it (there’s that word again), said Paul Picknelly, president of Picknelly Enterprises, who is among that group.

“We now have 26 owners,” he noted, saying that number slowly and with added emphasis to convey strength in numbers. “That, in itself, is a huge positive change in the way we sell hockey across the region.”

Picknelly said the ownership group is diverse — from Tony Caputo, owner of the Red Rose Group, to Peter Martins and Derek Slema, who both own of a number of Dunkin’ Donuts franchises across the region — and they will use these businesses, and their skill sets, to help bring visibility to the team and fans to the MassMutual Center.

For this issue, BusinessWest talked at length with Costa and others about the Thunderbirds franchise and how the new ownership group and leadership team plan to take hockey to new heights in Springfield.

Dropping the Puck

Looking ahead, Costa noted, while the AHL’s 2016-17 schedule is not yet official, he knows the Thunderbirds, the affiliate of the National Hockey League’s Florida Panthers, will start the campaign on the road.

That’s good in many respects, he said, because it will give the team another week to get ready for opening night (Oct. 22) — seven days that will certainly be needed.

Indeed, the new ownership group and leadership team will be compressing a process that usually begins the day after the season ends, and actually long before that — Costa said roughly 80% of ticket packages for the ‘next’ season are sold while a team is still playing games — into a much shorter time frame.

But that’s just one more element to an already imposing and multi-faceted challenge, one the energetic 33-year-old certainly embraces.

Costa has taken an interesting path to this point in his career. A journalism major at Northeastern, he found employment opportunities in that field few and far between. While searching for one in the fall of 2006, he instead decided to join a classmate at Cathedral who had recently become one of the first salespeople hired by the new AHL franchise in San Antonio, owned by that city’s hugely successful NBA franchise, the Spurs.

“My original thought was to go down there, cut my teeth, learn some things, and eventually get back to the public-relations or writing side of things,” he explained. “But I ended up loving what we were doing; we were starting a team from scratch in San Antonio, and I got to see that on a day-to-day basis.”

Tasked with selling season tickets, corporate partnerships, and group packages, Costa said he could see momentum build for the sport and the team in a city that could never be described as a hockey hotbed.

“I saw over the course of my three and half years with the club that we were making a real impact,” he said, using that phrase to describe both the efforts of the sales team on the club as they related to the team’s success, and the franchise’s work to become a force within the community. “The hockey piece kind of sells itself, but we had to find a niche to get people out to the building and experience this sport for the first time; we centered on connecting with the community, connecting with kids, showing them experiences at the building and through our games that they couldn’t get from going to a San Antonio Spurs game, and providing them access they couldn’t get with the NBA.

“This opened my eyes to the difference between the, quote, unquote, minor leagues and the professionals,” he went on, “and the cool things you could do from a community-connectivity standpoint with our league.”

Costa’s success in San Antonio — he was one of the top performers on a sales team that won awards from the league for highest group-sales growth — led him to be recruited by the head of the Team Business Services Department formed a few years earlier to help franchises develop and share best practices.

Paul Picknelly says the ability to leverage the talent and resources of 26 local owners is a huge benefit for Thunderbirds management.

“We were sharing revenue streams as a league, so the AHL was able to identify teams that were having success and teams that were doing really good things, and we were able to share that across the league,” he said, adding that he joined that department in 2009 and thoroughly enjoyed his seven years in a role he described as part support system, part consultant.

But, as mentioned earlier, a career goal he set some time ago was to one day manage a team of his own.

“I viewed that opportunity with the American Hockey League as a chance to get my Ph.D. in sports business,” he explained. “I spent the past six and half years working closely with our other owners and presidents, helping them to improve their businesses, while also being completely entrenched in what works from an AHL perspective; it was a great learning ground for me.

“It got to the point where I wanted to see if I could actually enact all the things we talked about on a regular basis and helped our teams with,” he went on. “The ability to do so here in Springfield was very intriguing to me. I had worked with them over the course of time, I’ve seen opportunities, and there were things I wanted to see if I could make a difference with.”

Seeking Net Results

Looking forward, Costa said the challenge facing him, his management team, and the ownership group is not exactly the same as the one he encountered in San Antonio, but there are many similarities.

Professional hockey is certainly not new to Springfield — there has been an AHL team in the city since Calvin Coolidge was in the White House — and the sport of hockey is much more entrenched in the Northeast than it is in the Southwest. But in most respects, this is a new team and a new business, said Costa, adding that, as in San Antonio, he intends to improve attendance and profitability by building season-ticket and group sales and strong connectivity to the community.

He said this is not exactly a new strategy — those managing the former Springfield Falcons used the same words as they discussed their work — but efforts will take on a new sense of urgency and higher level of intensity.

Both will be needed, he acknowledged, to get the team over an attendance hump that has been a formidable obstacle for many years now. Indeed, while he didn’t have the figures at his disposal, Costa knew the Falcons were either last or just ahead of the Portland franchise when it came to average game attendance last season, a statistic that ultimately drove the previous ownership group to sell the team to the parent Arizona Coyotes, which moved it to Tucson.

To bring those numbers up significantly, the management team intends to first create that ‘experience’ mentioned earlier and then sell it to families, groups, the business community, and the region as a whole — the basic road map used in San Antonio and other cities, he noted.

“The game plan is to take pieces of everything I’ve learned over the last six and half years and put those together to form a business plan that’s going to have success here in Springfield,” he explained. “Though there is a rich hockey history in Springfield, with this being a charter member of our league, we’re essentially starting a business from scratch.”

When asked about specific elements of that business plan, Costa said most involve developing what he called a “sales-focused mindset” and a service-oriented approach to everything the team does.

And while all types of sales are important, including season tickets and walk-ups, group sales are usually the prime mover for franchises in this league, and for many reasons.

“What really drives our business and what fuels revenues is the group-ticket side of the business,” he explained. “This involves getting out into the local community and selling tickets to groups that are going to come out on a regular basis and participate in our games, have a good time, and, hopefully, expose new people and new kids to the experience we provide and create fans for a long time moving forward.”

If a sellable experience can be created, he went on, as well as solid connections with the community, then the franchise can succeed whether it is at the top of the standings, the middle, or even the bottom.

“We have markets that are successful even though the team isn’t winning,” he noted, adding that winning is obviously preferable. “That happens because you create an environment that shows that value to people, and there’s an experience that goes well beyond wins and losses on the ice. And that’s going to be the plan — creating a season ticket that people can see value in.”

Model Franchises

Costa said he’s optimistic the new franchise can soar higher than previous teams in Springfield because he’s seen a number of success stories in similar markets — models that can be effectively emulated.

He pointed, for example, to what’s happened in Hartford, with its Wolf Pack, an affiliate of the NHL’s New York Rangers, and a team he worked with extensively in his role with the AHL.

“Since coming back into the market as the Hartford Wolf Pack, they’ve had a great group there that has focused on tickets,” he explained, adding that, while this sounds obvious, it’s actually not. “We laid out a plan for them on where they needed to focus, and on finding more ways for them to connect with their local community at their arena. If you were to visit there, you’d see that they’ve done a great job with their building and with creating an experience and that interconnectivity — and that’s what we’re looking to do.”

The team in Providence, long called the Reds, but more recently the Bruins (because it’s an affiliate of the NHL team in Boston), is another example.

“They’re very driven from a sales perspective, and they’re one of the best at doing that,” Costa explained. “They have a full-on sales force making out-bound connections with their community. If you go to a Providence Bruins game, you see groups connected to their games constantly, from the national anthem through to everything else; they do a great job of utilizing the space that they have to sell tickets.”

Another thing those franchises do well that the Thunderbirds must emulate is getting fans to do much more than turn out for games, said Costa.

Elaborating, he said very successful teams work hard to get their fan base, and especially those who purchase season tickets, engaged, a verb he would explain in some detail.

“Selling season tickets just for the sake of selling season tickets is fantastic, but if people aren’t using those tickets and they’re not going to the games and getting that experience, then you’re not getting full benefit from those sales,” he explained. “You want people who are engaged, who are ambassadors that feel a connection to the organization that they won’t get anywhere else. That’s something I want to create.”

Moving forward, while the team is several months and perhaps a full year behind the schedule it would like to be on with regard to all the initiatives described above, it does have a few things working for it for next season and beyond.

First, it is now the only AHL franchise left in Massachusetts after Worcester lost its team, said Picknelly, noting that the Thunderbirds will attempt to effectively widen their circle of influence and bring in fans from across the state and especially from Worcester west.

Meanwhile, MGM’s $950 million casino is expected to bring several thousand people to Springfield each day, while also providing an attractive incentive to those planning meetings and conventions to take their events to Greater Springfield. Thus, the casino has serious potential to bring more families and groups to the MassMutual Center for individual games, said Picknelly.

But easily the biggest asset the team has moving forward is that large — and local — ownership group, he went on.

It translates into 26 people (all of them successful business owners in their own right) passionate about hockey in this region, committed to making it work, and willing to use their businesses and any other means available to them to promote the team and get fans to the games.

“These owners will be looking upon their local professional hockey team in a different way than they have in the past,” he explained — a natural sentiment when one is making an investment in that franchise. “For example, myself and two other owners own four of the five hotels in downtown Springfield; we’re going to sell hockey differently than how we did it in the past in our hotels.”

The same is true of all the owners, including the Dunkin’ Donuts franchise owners, he went on, adding that their stores are visited by more than 250,000 people a week, customers who will likely be exposed to the new hockey franchise in some way during those visits.

Murphy agreed, noting that the team will benefit from that new and expanded sales force he described, coupled with that large and local ownership group — a powerful combination, in his estimation.

“This sales force will work hand in glove with 26 of the most successful business owners in the Pioneer Valley,” he went on. “You can’t possibly overstate our ability to leverage these relationships.”

Bottom Line

As he sought to sum up what he described as a “new era” for hockey in this region, Picknelly chose to relate an e-mail he received from an individual who wants to join the new ownership team and likely will.

“He said he spent the last few nights sleepless, thinking about ways to sell hockey,” Picknelly recalled, adding that just about everyone already in this ownership group has probably done the same thing.

Sleepless nights do not directly correspond to success at the box office, he implied, but they do convey energy, commitment, and, most importantly, passion.

Both he and Costa believe those traits, and especially the last one, will enable the Thunderbird franchise to fly as high and fast as its namesake, and reach new heights.

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

Our Annual Guide to Warm-weather Fun in Western Mass.

Sections Travel and Tourism

What Summertime Blues?

In the mood for some live music or theater? Or are art shows and antiques more your style? How about clambering through the trees or soaring on roller-coaster tracks? Whatever your taste, Western Mass. boasts plenty of ways to enjoy the summer months, making any day potentially a vacation day. Here are 25 ideas to get you started, in a region that’s home to many, many more.

July

> Berkshires Arts Festival
Ski Butternut, 380 State Road, Great Barrington
(845) 355-2400; www.berkshiresartsfestival.com
Admission: $7-$14; free for children under 10

July 1-3: Ski Butternut may be best-known for … well, skiing, of course. But the property also plays host to the Berkshires Arts Festival, a regional tradition now in its 15th year. Thousands of art lovers and collectors are expected to stop by to check out and purchase the creations of more than 175 artists and designers, as well as experiencing theater and music from local and national acts. Founded by Richard and Joanna Rothbard, owners of An American Craftsman Galleries, the festival attracts top artists from across the U.S. and Canada.

>Fireworks Shows Various Locations

July 1-4: Independence Day weekend is brimming with nighttime pageantry throughout the Pioneer Valley. The Valley Blue Sox in Holyoke kick things off with fireworks following its July 1 game. July 2 brings displays at Beacon Field in Greenfield, while on June 3, Michael Smith Middle School in South Hadley and East Longmeadow High School get into the act. July 4 will bring the spectacle to Riverfront Park in Springfield and McGuirk Stadium at UMass Amherst. And Six Flags in Agawam will light up the night on July 2, 3, and 4.

> Brimfield Antique Show
Route 20, Brimfield
(413) 283-6149; www.brimfieldshow.com
Admission: Free

July 12-17, Sept. 6-11: After expanding steadily through the decades, the Brimfield Antique Show now encompasses six miles of Route 20 and has become a nationally known destination for people to value antiques, collectibles, and flea-market finds. Some 6,000 dealers and close to 1 million total visitors show up at the three annual, week-long events; the first was in May. The Brimfield Antique Show labels itself the “Antiques and Collectibles Capital of the United States,” and — judging by its scope and number of visitors — it’s hard to disagree.

> Glasgow Lands Scottish Festival
Look Park, 300 North Main St., Florence
(413) 862-8095; www.glasgowlands.org
Admission: $16; $5 for children 6-12; free for kids under 6

July 16: This 23nd annual festival celebrating all things Scottish features Highland dancers, pipe bands, a pipe and drum competition, animals, spinners, weavers, harpists, Celtic music, athletic contests, activities for children, and the authentically dressed Historic Highlanders recreating everyday life in that society from the 14th through 18th centuries. Inside the huge ‘pub’ tent, musical acts Enter the Haggis, Soulsha, Albannach, Screaming Orphans, and Charlie Zahm will keep toes tapping in the shade. Event proceeds benefit programs at Human Resources Unlimited and River Valley Counseling Center.

> Pioneer Valley Beer & Wine Festival
Look Park, 300 North Main St., Florence
(413) 584-5457; www.lookpark.org
Admission: $35 in advance, $40 at the door

July 30: Hungry — or thirsty — for something to do as the dog days of summer take hold? Look Park presents its first annual Beer & Wine Festival at the Pines Theater from noon to 4 p.m. Attendees (over age 21 with ID) will get to sample local beer and wine from the Pioneer Valley, live music, and food vendors including Local Burger, La Veracruzana, and Sierra Grille.

August

> Pocumtuck Homelands Festival
Unity Park, 1st Street, Turners Falls
(413) 498-4318; www.nolumbekaproject.org
Admission: Free

Aug. 6: This annual celebration of the parks, people, history, and culture of Turners Falls is a coordinated effort of the Nolumbeka Project and RiverCulture. The event features outstanding Native American crafts, food, and live music by Theresa ‘Bear’ Fox, Mohawk (Wolf Clan), ‘wave artist’ Mixashawn, the Medicine Mammals Singers, and Kontiwennenhawi, the Akwasasne Women Singers. Also featured will be the Black Hawk Singers, the Visioning B.E.A.R. Circle Intertribal Coalition Singers, a Penobscot hoop dancer, round dancing, elder teachings, craft activities, storytelling, and traditional dances. The Nolumbeka Project aims to preserve regional Native American history through educational programs, art, history, music, heritage seed preservation, and cultural events.

> Springfield Jazz & Roots Festival
Court Square, Springfield
(413) 303-0101; springfieldjazzfest.com
Admission: Free

Aug. 6: The third annual Springfield Jazz & Roots Festival will offer a festive atmosphere featuring locally and internationally acclaimed musical artists, dance and theater workshops, local arts and crafts, and plenty of food. More than 5,000 people are expected to attend and enjoy the sounds of jazz, Latin jazz, gospel, blues, funk, and more. Featured performers include Taj Mahal, Eric Krasno Band, Joey DeFrancesco Trio, Terri Lyne Carrington Group, Samirah Evans and Her Handsome Devils, Rayvon Owen, Heshima Moja and Ofrecimiento, and Jose Gonzalez and Banda Criolla. The festival is produced by Blues to Green, which uses music to bring people together, uplift and inspire, and help build a more equitable and sustainable world.

> Agricultural Fairs
Various locations and admission costs; see websites
www.thewestfieldfair.com; www.theblandfordfair.com; www.3countyfair.com; www.fcas.com; www.belchertownfair.com

Starting in late August and extending through September, the region’s community agricultural fairs are a much-loved tradition, promoting agriculture education in Western Mass. and supporting the efforts of local growers and craftspeople. The annual fairs also promise plenty of family-oriented fun, from carnival rides to animal demonstrations to food, food, and more food. The Westfield fair kicks things off Aug. 19-21, followed by the Blandford Fair and the Three County Fair in Northampton on Sept. 2-5, the Franklin County Fair in Greenfield on Sept. 8-11, and the Belchertown Fair on Sept. 23-25.

September

> Stone Soul Festival
Blunt Park, 1780 Roosevelt Ave., Springfield
(413) 636-3881; www.ssfestival.weebly.com
Admission: Free

Sept. 2-4: Stone Soul began in 1989 as a community reunion picnic aimed at gathering together the Mason Square Community. It has since evolved into a three-day event, and New England’s largest African-American festival. Stone Soul aims to provide family-oriented activities, entertainment, and cultural enrichment, and is a vehicle for minority-owned businesses to display their wares and crafts. Entertainment includes gospel, jazz, R&B, and dance. Sunday’s free picnic includes ribs and chicken cooked by talented pitmasters, as well as barbecued beans, cole slaw, and more, with the backdrop of an afternoon of live gospel music performed by local and regional choirs.

> Mattoon Street Arts Festival
Mattoon St., Springfield
(413) 736-0629
www.mattoonfestival.org
Admission: Free

Sept. 10-11: Now in its 44th year, the Mattoon Street Arts Festival is the longest-running arts festival in the Pioneer Valley, featuring about 100 exhibitors, including artists that work in ceramics, fibers, glass, jewelry, painting and printmaking, photography, wood, metal, and mixed media. Food vendors and strolling musicians help to make the event a true late-summer destination.

> Glendi
22 St. George Road, Springfield
(413) 737-1496
www.stgeorgecath.org/glendi
Admission: Free

Sept. 9-11: Every year, St. George Cathedral offers thousands of visitors the best in traditional Greek foods, pastries, music, dancing, and old-fashioned Greek hospitality. In addition, the festival offers activities for children, tours of the historic St. George Cathedral and Byzantine Chapel, various vendors from across the East Coast, icon workshops, movies in the Glendi Theatre, cooking demonstrations, and a joyful atmosphere the whole family will enjoy.

> Fresh Grass
1040 MASS MoCA Way, North Adams
(413) 662-2111; www.freshgrass.com
3-day pass: $99 for adults, $89 for students, $46 for ages 7-16

Sept. 16-18: The Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art is known for its musical events, and the Fresh Grass festival is among the highlights, showcasing more than 50 bluegrass artists and bands over three days. This year, the lineup includes Old Crow Medicine Show, Glen Hansard, Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder, The Devil Makes Three, Rosanne Cash, the Infamous Stringdusters, and many, many more. Also on tap are new-artist competitions (with prizes totaling $25,000) and bluegrass workshops open to festival attendees.

All Summer Long

> Berkshire
Botanical Garden
5 West Stockbridge Road, Stockbridge
(413) 298-3926
www.berkshirebotanical.org
Admission: $15; free for kids under 12

Through Oct. 10: If the flora indigenous to, or thriving in, the Berkshires of Western Mass. is your cup of tea, try 15 acres of stunning public gardens at the Berkshire Botanical Garden in Stockbridge. Originally established as the Berkshire Garden Center in 1934, today’s not-for-profit, educational organization is both functional and ornamental, with a mission to fulfill the community’s need for information, education, and inspiration concerning the art and science of gardening and the preservation of the environment. In addition to the garden’s collections, among the oldest in the U.S., visitors can enjoy workshops, special events, and guided tours.

> CityBlock Concert Series
Worthington and Bridge streets, Springfield
(413) 781-1591
www.springfielddowntown.com/cityblock
Admission: Free

Through Aug. 25: Downtown Springfield’s annual Thursday-evening summer music series is again studded with a mix of national touring acts and local lights, starting with FAT on June 30 in Court Square. The shows then move to Stearns Square for the rest of the summer, and include Ricky Nelson Remembered (July 7), Forever Motown (July 14), the Machine (July 21), Natalie Stovall and the Drive (July 28), Terry Sylvester (Aug. 4), Max Creek (Aug. 11), Blessid Union of Souls (Aug. 18), and the Shadowboxers (Aug. 25). The presenting sponsor for the shows is MassMutual, and the series is presented by the Springfield Business Improvement District. See article on page 27 for more information.

> Crab Apple
Whitewater Rafting
2056 Mohawk Trail, Charlemont
(413) 625-2288; www.crabapplewhitewater.com
Admission: $110-$116 through Sept. 11; $99 after Sept. 11

Through Oct. 9: Wanna get wet? Crab Apple is a third-generation, multi-state family business that operates locally on the Deerfield River in the northern Berkshire Mountains of Western Mass. Its five separate rafting excursions range from mild to wild, full- or half-day runs, in rafts and inflatable kayaks. In short, Crab Apple offers something for everyone, from beginners to more experienced rafters.

> Hancock Shaker Village
1843 West Housatonic St., Pittsfield
(413) 443-0188; www.hancockshakervillage.org
Admission: $8-20; free for children 12 and under

Through October: In 1774, a small group of persecuted English men and women known as the Shakers — the name is derived from the way their bodies convulsed during prayer — landed in New York Harbor in the hopes of securing religious freedom in America. Nearly 250 years later, their utopian experiment remains available to the public in the restored 19th-century village of Hancock. Through 20 refurbished buildings and surrounding gardens, Shaker Village illuminates the daily lives of its highly productive inhabitants. After spending a day in the recreated town, visitors will surely gain a greater appreciation of the Shakers’ oft-forgotten legacy in the region.

> Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival
358 George Carter Road, Becket
(413) 243-0745; www.jacobspillow.org
Admission: $25 and up

Through Aug. 30: Now in its 84rd season, Jacob’s Pillow has become one of the country’s premier showcases for dance, featuring more than 50 dance companies from the U.S. and around the world. Participants can take in scores of free performances, talks, and events; train at one of the nation’s most prestigious dance-training centers; and take part in community programs designed to educate and engage audiences of all ages. This year’s events introduce a quirky, charming company from Germany, the explosive footwork of South American gauchos, inspiring ballet companies from across the U.S., astounding flex dancers from the streets of Brooklyn, and 12 high-flying men from Algeria — plus, more live music than ever before. See article on page 25 for more information.

> Lady Bea Cruise Boat
1 Alvord St., South Hadley
(413) 315-6342; www.brunelles.com
Admission: $10-$15; free for kids 3 and under

Through Labor Day: If you’re in the mood for a scenic meander up and down the Connecticut River, consider the Lady Bea, a 53-foot, 49-passenger, climate-controlled boat operated by Brunelle’s Marina, which typically runs Thursday through Sunday between South Hadley and Northampton. If you don’t feel like sharing the 75-minute narrated voyage with others, rent the boat out for a private excursion. Amenties include a PA system, video monitors, a full bar, and seating indoors and on the sun deck — but the main attraction is the pristine water, sandy beaches, and unspoiled views along the river.

> Mahaiwe Performing
Arts Center
14 Castle St., Great Barrington
(413) 528-0100; www.mahaiwe.org
Admission: Varies by event

Year-round: The beloved Mahaiwe Theatre dates back to 1905 — continuously running programs since its opening — and underwent an extensive, $9 million renovation starting in 2003. Today, the theater seats just under 700 and hosts year-round arts programming, including music, dance, theatre, opera, talks, and movie classics. It’s leaders say Mahaiwe is a staple and a resource: its live performances inspire tens of thousands of audience members each year, its family and educational events are vital to the region, its embrace of modern technology supplements programming with live, high-definition satellite broadcasts from around the world, and its year-round schedule enhances the quality of life for those who reside in and visit the Berkshires.

> Nash Dinosaur
Track Site and
Rock Shop
594 Amherst Road, South Hadley
(413) 467-9566; www.nashdinosaurtracks.com
Admission: $3 for adults; $2 for children

Year-round: Walk where the dinosaurs walked, literally. It’s hard to believe that the first documented dinosaur tracks found in North America were on the shores of the Connecticut River, in 1802, near today’s site of Nash Dinosaur Track Site and Rock Shop in South Hadley. Over the years, thousands of dinosaur tracks have been discovered; many were sold to museums and private individuals all over the world, but many more can be seen due to the extensive work of Carlton S. Nash. Visit the site and learn about some of this region’s earliest inhabitants, and also about the geology of the area.

> New England Peace Pagoda
100 Cave Hill Road, Leverett
(413) 367-2202
www.newenglandpeacepagoda.com
Admission: Free

Year-round: A Peace Pagoda is a Buddhist stupa, a monument to inspire peace, designed to provide a focus for people of all races and creeds, and to help unite them in their search for world peace. Most peace pagodas built since World War II have been built under the guidance of Nichidatsu Fujii, a Japanese Buddhist monk. Fujii was greatly inspired by his meeting with Mahatma Gandhi in 1931 and decided to devote his life to promoting non-violence. In 1947, he began constructing peace pagodas as shrines to world peace.

> Ramblewild
110 Brodie Mountain Road, Lanesborough
(844) 472-6253; www.ramblewild.com
Admission: $69 for adults, $59 for youth

Year-round: Aerial parks are an outdoor activity in and among the trees that offer excitement, challenge, and personal growth for families and adventurists of all kinds. At Ramblewild, the focal point is a central wooden platform about 10 feet above the ground from which eight aerial obstacle courses originate, meandering from tree to tree at various heights through the forest. Each course consists of 15 to 17 elements (high wires, ziplines, balancing logs, rope ladders, cargo nets, suspended bridges, etc.) that meander through a pristine hemlock forest. These tree-to-tree challenge courses are designed to have a profound impact on visitors’ self-confidence — while having lots of fun, of course.

> Six Flags New England
1623 Main St., Agawam
(413) 786-9300
www.sixflags.com/newengland
Admission: $61.99; season passes $91.99

Through oct. 31: Continuing an annual tradition of adding a new major attraction each spring, Six Flags New England recently unveiled Fireball, a looping coaster, and rethemed Bizarro to its original Superman motif, adding a virtual-reality component (via goggles) to boot. Other recent additions include the Wicked Cyclone, the 420-foot-tall New England Sky Screamer swings, the 250-foot Bonzai Pipeline enclosed waterslides, and the massive switchback coaster Goliath — in addition to a raft of other thrill rides. But fear not: the park has attractions for everyone along the stomach-queasiness spectrum, from the classic carousel and bumper cars to the wave pools and lazy river in the Hurricane Harbor water park, free with admission.

> Valley Blue Sox
Mackenzie Stadium
500 Beech St., Holyoke
(413) 533-1100
www.valleybluesox/pointstreaksites.com
Admission: $4-$6; season tickets $79

Through Aug. 1: Western Mass. residents don’t have to trek to Boston to catch quality baseball. The Valley Blue Sox, members of the New England Collegiate Baseball League, play close to home at MacKenzie Stadium in Holyoke. These Sox feature a roster of elite collegiate baseball players from around the country, including some who have already been drafted into the major leagues. Frequent promotional events like postgame fireworks and numerous giveaways help make every game at MacKenzie Stadium a fun, affordable event for the whole family.

> Williamstown Theatre Festival
1000 Main St., Williamstown
(413) 597-3400; www.wtfestival.org
Admission: $40 and up

Through Aug. 21: Six decades ago, the leaders of Williams College’s drama department and news office conceived of an idea: using the campus’ theater for a summer performance program with a resident company. Since then, the festival has attracted a raft of notable guest performers. This season will spotlight a range of both original productions and plays by well-known lights such as Tennessee Williams (The Rose Tattoo) and Wendy Wasserstein (An American Daughter), as well as a number of other programs, such as post-show Tuesday Talkbacks with company members.

Joseph Bednar can be reached a [email protected]

Due Diligence Required to Conduct Successful Job Interviews

Employment Sections

Careful Culling

John McGlew says the best predictor of future success on the job is past behavior, which can be gleaned during the interview process and by checking references.

Interviewing job candidates is an art and a science that many small and mid-size employers don’t have the time to perfect. But knowing what to ask job candidates and how to interpret their answers is important, because hiring the wrong person is a waste of time and money and can lead to difficulties later on.

John McGlew says it’s critical for employers to do their homework before they sit down and begin interviewing job candidates.

The director of Employment and Employee Relations for the Sisters of Providence Health System noted that he was interviewed by 21 people before he was hired, and he has developed a program for his managers that teaches them how to use behavioral questions to find the person most suited for a particular job.

“Good interviewing practices and thorough vetting of candidates is critical to any business trying to hire the right person,” he explained. “It includes getting proper references and employment information, but you need to do a lot to get prepared for the actual interview.”

Michele Cabral, who hired many employees in her former position as CFO and COO of Farm Credit Financial Partners in Agawam and now helps employers with the process through her company, CFO On the Go, agrees that the work should begin long before applicants are actually interviewed.

“Most companies have a culture, but they fail to take it into account when they write a job description,” said the Holyoke Community College professor of Business, explaining that it is important for new hires to be invested in a company’s success as well as its mission.

McGlew agrees, and considers this so important that he tells managers to convey the Sisters of Providence mission to candidates and explain how the job advertised will relate to it, and says every business should have a clearly articulated mission statement that it shares.

Shannon Levesque concurs, but adds that interviewers also need to have a list of clear and measurable goals that get conveyed to everyone they interview.

“The person not only needs to be a good cultural fit, but you need to be realistic, honest, and up front about what will be expected to eliminate any surprises for the candidate,” the director of talent acquisition for Baystate Health told BusinessWest. “A small or mid-sized business also needs to know what makes the company attractive; an interview is a two-way street, and if you want to hire talent, it’s important to sell your company.

“Good people always have options, and even more so if they are already working, so there has to be an incentive,” she continued, noting that this may mean taking on a new challenge or having the ability to use newly acquired education. In any case, the interviewer needs to understand what is driving the candidate to apply for the position.

Experts say it’s not difficult to assess someone’s technical skills, but knowing how well they work in a team environment and how they will handle difficult customers, people, or situations can be equally or even more important.

“The best predictor of future success is past behavior. But in order to get this information, you need to be able to elicit responses about how the person has behaved in workplace situations in the past,” McGlew said.

For this edition and its focus on employment, BusinessWest looks at methods that seasoned interviewers use in their own hiring, so business owners can employ them and assess a candidate’s ability to do a job.

Essential Measures

Although there are many ways to conduct an interview, Cabral says most people fail to ask the right questions.

“The wrong candidates are often hired because the interviewer didn’t dig deep enough during the interview,” she noted.

Michelle Cabral says people applying for managerial positions should to be able to inspire others and have standards in place, while employees at lower levels need to be able to manage their workload.

She measures five core competencies: leadership, management, communication, technical skills, and analytical skills, or the ability to solve problems, and says interviewers need to assess each of these areas while the candidate is in front of them.

“At the highest level, you need someone who can create a vision, understand the environment they are working in, and navigate their way through it. The person needs to be articulate verbally and in writing,” she said. “At the lowest level, the new employee needs to understand the vision, but interpret it for themselves as it relates to their job. They also need to know when to use different communication skills, such as e-mailing versus speaking to someone.”

She added that people applying for managerial positions should be able to inspire others and have standards in place, while people at lower levels need to be able to manage their workload. They should also be able to identify problems, come up with ways to solve them, and be able to discuss these options with their manager.

She suggests conducting a 15-minute phone interview with candidates whose résumés align with job requirements, and recommends getting people out of their comfort zone right away.

For example, if someone says they answer the phone frequently at their current job, the interviewer should ask them to cite an example of how they handled a customer who was rude to them.

“The phone interview helps you determine how articulate the person is and also assess their listening skills and whether they answer questions appropriately,” she said.

McGlew agrees that asking a person how he or she dealt with a challenging customer or phone call, as well as what steps they took toward service recovery, can reveal how they will handle stressful situations in the future.

“You want someone who takes steps to effectively resolve a difficult situation and restore the relationship for the company,” he noted.

Indeed, experts say the ability to communicate can be more important than technical skills, because most people can be taught to do new things. “But they need to be able to communicate when they are struggling and not be too embarrassed to ask for help,” he said.

Levesque told BusinessWest that problems sometimes arise because interviewers fail to differentiate between what is needed and what is preferable, which should be clearly defined in the job description. And if no one in the company has time to spend to help a new hire become proficient in a new skill, it may be a moot point.

“If you are taking a chance on someone’s potential to learn something, you need to structure training in a way that gets them up to speed quickly,” she said.

McGlew says interviewers should write down the qualifications the applicant must have before conducting the interview. In addition to technical skills, requirements can range from the ability to complete work within a given time frame to the ability to collaborate well, be knowledgeable about cultural diversity, or anything else that is pertinent to the job.

These things are important because, if soft skills are missing, a new hire’s interactions can become problematic. “It may be important for a security officer to know the law, but if the person has a brusque way of dealing with others, their interactions may become a problem,” Levesque said.

McGlew tells managers to come up with 20 to 25 behavior-based questions and then prioritize them. Although they are unlikely to get through all of them during an interview, asking candidates the same questions evens the playing field and allows interviewers to compare their answers.

But the candidate should do most of the talking. “You need to spend twice as much time listening as you do asking questions,” Levesque said.

Her interviews begin with a welcome, followed by behavioral questions. And there is always a defined closing, with time allotted for the candidate to ask questions and for her to assess their interest.

She said some interviewers aren’t used to using open-ended questions and may need to practice interviewing team members. But it makes a difference because open-ended or behavioral questions require candidates to give examples that include details related to their past performance, which allow the interviewer to understand the situations they have encountered, what their response was, and what they learned.

“You have to probe; it’s absolutely essential, but you also have parrot back what you heard and ask for elaboration,” Levesque said.

However, interviewers should avoid asking candidates to talk about their strengths or weaknesses. “They have already done their bragging on their cover letter and résumé,” Cabral said.

More useful questions can include, “if I called your manager today, what would he or she say about you?”; “tell me about a time when you were communicating a message and you were misunderstood?”; “tell me what gets you out of bed in the morning?”; and “tell me about a time when your employer needed you to stay late at work and you couldn’t?”

“You need to remain quiet after the person’s initial response,” Cabral advised. “And once they start sharing, you need to keep digging. If they couldn’t stay late when their boss needed them to, you want to know what happened and how they handled the situation or got the work done.”

Details That Matter

Although some employers seek well-rounded employees who can bring unique perspectives to problems, lifestyle can play a role in determining whether a candidate is suitable for a job. For instance, if the person says they love to ski and do so every weekend, it is appropriate to ask if it will present a problem if they are occasionally asked to work weekends.

Shannon Levesque says interviewers need to know which technical skills are critical and which ones are preferable and can be learned after the person is hired.

And although young candidates may not have a job history or be able to provide examples of handling difficult workplace situations, they can be asked what led them to believe the job they are applying for is the right career, Cabral said, adding that gauging a candidate’s honesty is important. They can also be asked to supply references that include professors, members of the clergy, or people at places where they have volunteered.

Obtaining proper references and an employment history does play a role in choosing a new hire, but experts say busy interviewers can hire an outside service to do this.

However, McGlew suggests asking the person for past-performance appraisals. They may need to give their supervisor permission to share the information, but it can prove invaluable.

People conducting interviews who are not familiar with employment law also need to brush up on what they can and can’t ask.

“Don’t get into the person’s personal life. If someone starts talking about their family, change the subject,” Cabral advises.

Salary or hourly pay should also be discussed. Although it doesn’t need to be definitive, it’s important to divulge how much the organization or business is willing to pay a new hire.

McGlew told BusinessWest that, if the person won’t or can’t accept the dollar figure, it is a waste of time to continue the interviewing process.

“You also have a duty to give people a clear idea of the benefits you plan to offer,” he went on. “Salary and fringe benefits are definitive economic decisions, and if you don’t meet a person’s requirements, they may choose to keep looking or stay at their present position.”

Levesque agrees, and says there is nothing more disappointing to both parties than to offer someone a job, then find out they can’t afford or are unwilling to accept the pay. And when an interview nears the time allotted for it to end, it’s important to identify and set expectations about what will happen next.

“You should ask about their job search and whether they have any offers pending; an employer needs to know where a candidate is in the process,” Levesque said. “We have an obligation to treat job seekers with respect and understand their goal is to find gainful employment that is rewarding, challenging, and fits their career goals. Nothing is more painful to a candidate than to be in a black hole and not know where they stand or what to expect.”

Cabral understands that employers can get exhausted looking through hundreds of résumés, but warns against taking short cuts simply to fill a vacancy with someone.

“Some rush to get a job filled when they know in their gut they are hiring the wrong person,” she explained. “But if a new hire is not working out, you need to have an honest conversation. It’s OK to provide a soft landing and give them several months notice, but if the job is not getting done, you need to find the right person for it.”

However, experts say that situation can be tempered by hiring a person on a probationary basis. “But the person really needs to understand that there will be a formal assessment period,” McGlew said, adding that, when a person is being interviewed or hired, the words “permanent position” should never be used.

Instead, the interviewer should refer to a job as a “full-time opportunity,” which can prevent legal problems later on, he said, even though the Massachusetts Employment at Will statute allows employers to terminate an employee at any time, barring a contract.

Final Decisions

Cabral says hiring is an art and a science, and employers need to know the art is important in helping them make a decision. “At the end of the day, 80% of a decision is based on gut feel and attitude.”

McGlew agrees. “A lot is subjective and has to do with judging whether the person’s values and priorities are in line with the organization’s values,” he said. “But there is no foolproof methodology to interviewing, and sometimes the person who shows up for work is not the person you interviewed.”

Still, knowing what to ask and being well-prepared goes a long way toward keeping that from happening.

“It can be difficult to separate personality from competency, but if you ask questions in the right way, you will be surprised what people tell you,” Levesque said. “Good interviewers accept what they see, then probe for validation. And it’s a win-win if you get it right.”

Ten Years of Excellence

Scenes from the Class of 2016 June Event

40u40 2016Group

012_BusinessWest40under40-2016Event The Log Cabin in Holyoke was once again bursting with energy and excitement as more than 700 people packed the house to celebrate the 40 Under Forty class of 2016 — the 10th class of successful young professionals so honored by BusinessWest since the program’s inception in 2007. This year’s winners were treated to a game-show-themed ceremony — complete with valuable prizes — courtesy of presenting sponsor Paragus Strategic IT. And for the second year, presenting sponsor Northwestern Mutual unveiled the winner of the Continued Excellence Award: Dr. Jonathan Bayuk, president of Allergy and Immunology Associates of Western Mass. and chief of Allergy and Immunology at Baystate Medical Center. Scroll down to view the photos by Leah Martin Photography.

Three members of the 40 Under Forty class of 2016, from left: Justin Killeen, Energia Fitness and 50/50 Fitness/Nutrition; Meghan Godorov, career consultant; and Lamont Clemons, S-Cel-O Painting and Proton Energy Group.

Rebecca Moriarty, Hampden Senior Center, 40 Under Forty class of 2016, and Laura Walsh, Springfield Department of Parks, Buildings and Recreation Management, 40 Under Forty Class of 2016.

Ross Giombetti, Giombetti Associates, 40 Under Forty class of 2016; and his wife, Elizabeth Giombetti, Giombetti Associates.

From left: Amanda Moyer, Market Mentors, 40 Under Forty class of 2016; Ashley Clark, Berkshire Bank, 40 Under Forty class of 2016; and Renee Mancuso, Berkshire Bank.

From left: Diane Sabourin, BusinessWest; Rebecca Connolly, Moriarty & Primack, P.C., 40 Under Forty class of 2016; Jennifer Connelly, Junior Achievement of Western Mass., and Amanda Huston Garcia, Elms College, 40 Under Forty class of 2010, and finalist for the Continued Excellence Award.

Beth DeGray (right), Log Cabin and Delaney House, 40 Under Forty class of 2016, with her sister, Nicole Kim.

Lidya Rivera-Early (second from left), Springfield Technical Community College, 40 Under Forty class of 2016, with her husband, Dwayne Early, High School of Commerce; LaTonia Monroe Naylor, United Way of Pioneer Valley, 40 Under Forty class of 2016; Christina Grass, Training & Workforce Options, 40 Under Forty class of 2016; and Tom Reynolds, Paper City Strength and Conditioning.

Meghan Rothschild (second from left), chikmedia, 40 Under Forty class of 2011, Continued Excellence Award finalist, with her husband, Andrew Mankus, UMass Dining; and Leanne Sedlak, SkinCatering Spa, 40 Under Forty class of 2016, with her husband, Scott Sedlak, Adam Quenneville Roofing & Siding.

Scott Coen, game show announcer, Saga Communications; and Nunzio Bruno, Disruptive Strategy Co., 40 Under Forty class of 2016.

From left: Michelle Chase, PeoplesBank; David Chase, Freedom Credit Union; and Teresa Spaziani, Market Mentors.

From left: Beth DeGray, Log Cabin and Delaney House, 40 Under Forty class of 2016; Lamont Clemons, S-Cel-O Painting and Proton Energy Group, 40 Under Forty class of 2016; Nicole Kim; Waleska Lugo-DeJesus, Healing Racism Institute of Pioneer Valley, 40 Under Forty class of 2012, and co-emcee of this year’s gala; and Michael Sakey, Center Square Grill, 40 Under Forty class of 2016.

Representing event sponsor the Young Professional Society of Greater Springfield, from left: Samalid Hogan, 40 Under Forty class of 2013; Brittney Kelleher; Kyle Sullivan, class of 2015; Katie Chappell, class of 2016; Alfonso Santaniello, class of 2014; Leanne Sedlak, class of 2016; Heather Zielenski; Jeremy Casey, class of 2013; Ashley Clark, class of 2016; Peter Ellis, class of 2011; Justin Roberts; and Jose Delgado, class of 2014.

Representing event sponsor Moriarty & Primack, P.C., from left: Shelley Sheridan; Michelle Fenton; Rebecca Connolly, 40 Under Forty class of 2016; Beth deSousa; and Sharon Blazejowski.

Representing presenting sponsor Northwestern Mutual, from left: Tyler Landry, Kate Kane, Kelsey Fletcher, Jamie Campbell, and Tim Steffen.

From event sponsor Health New England, from left: Elaine Mann, Damion Brown, Sandra Ruiz, Sarah Fernandes, Sandra Bascove, Jennifer Loranger, Kerry LaBounty, Patrick McColley, and Jessica Dupont.

From event sponsor the UMass Isenberg School of Management, back row, from left: Mike Famighette, Trista Hevey, Elizabeth Paul Hoffman, Laurie Millikan, and Tom Moliterno; front row, from left: Chris Foley Pilsner, Rachel Trafford, and Jennifer Meunier.

From event sponsor EMA Dental, from left: Colleen Nadeau, Jeannie Reynolds, Dr. Lisa Emirzian, Dr. Vincent Mariano, Cassandra Woodworth, Dr. Rebecca Cohen, Laura Panzetti, Jennifer Ziobrowski, and Dr. Colleen Chambers.

BusinessWest Editor George O’Brien (right) presents the second annual Continued Excellence Award — honoring a past 40 Under Forty winner who has since significantly built on his or her success — to Dr. Jonathan Bayuk (class of 2008), president of Allergy and Immunology Associates of Western Mass. and chief of Allergy and Immunology at Baystate Medical Center.

Kate Morneau of John R. Fausey Elementary School, 40 Under Forty class of 2016, enjoys the celebration.

Waleska Lugo-DeJesus, director of the Healing Racism Institute of Pioneer Valley and member of the 40 Under Forty class of 2012, co-emcees the 2016 gala.

Michael Sakey of Center Square Grill cheers on his fellow 40 Under Forty class of 2016 honorees during the awards presentation.

This year’s 40 Under Forty gala added a game-show-style twist, courtesy of presenting sponsor Paragus IT. Here, Sophia Lilly (right) presents LaTonia Monroe Naylor of the United Way of Pioneer Valley with her prize, a Crosley portable USB turntable.

Ashley Clark of Berkshire Bank, 40 Under Forty class of 2016, is carried to the stage to receive her award by fellow members of the Young Professional Society of Greater Springfield (and 40 Under Forty alumni), from left, Jeremy Casey (class of 2013), Jose Delgado (class of 2014), and Peter Ellis (class of 2011).

Adrian Dahlin of Conway School of Design dances his way to the stage to be honored as part of the 40 Under Forty class of 2016.

Robert Kain (left) of event sponsor United Bank is welcomed to the 40 Under Forty class of 2016 by BusinessWest Editor George O’Brien.

Representing presenting sponsor Paragus IT, from left: Tom Beyer, Jim Young, Margie LaMotte, a cardboard Delcie Bean, Alissa LaMotte, Ray Olson, Jocelyn Bugan, and Steve Monska.

Photo gallery from the June 16, 2016 BusinessWest 40 Under Forty Class of 2016 Gala

For reprints contact: Leah Martin Photography

[Show slideshow]

Pilot Program Targets Region’s Manufacturing Sector

The Goal: to Make Progress

In an effort to bolster the region’s manufacturing sector by opening doors to opportunity for many of the smaller firms that dominate the landscape, Valley Venture Mentors will customize its startup accelerator program for use with existing businesses. The goal is to create matches between these companies and original equipment manufacturers that will lead to contracts, jobs, and a broad ripple effect.

When asked what the team at Valley Venture Mentors intends to do with and for area manufacturing companies through a unique and intriguing adaptation of its startup accelerator program, Paul Silva flashed a broad smile and said simply, “we’re going to show them how to dance.”

That word ‘dance’ is a euphemism for many things in this case, said Silva, co-founder and executive director of VVM. He summed them up by noting that many of the region’s small to mid-sized manufacturers are too bogged down in the day-to-day work of producing parts for a client — quite often one of the nation’s larger defense contractors — to introduce themselves to potential new customers.

Nor do they often have the time, inclination, or, in some cases, the know-how to put their machinery and expertise to use in different markets and for different customers — and for understandable reasons.

“These are, by and large, family-owned, multi-generation enterprises, small shops with 50 or fewer employees, so they don’t have the resources to do anything different than what they’ve been doing all along,” he explained while painting a profile of the target companies. “Many of them have one customer, Uncle Sam, directly or indirectly, and they just don’t have the experience to go find other customers.

“They’re literally world class at what they do, but they do the things they do, and they’ve made money doing that for decades,” he went on. “But the margins in that business are such that there’s not a lot of room to go out and do crazy experiments. You have lots of expensive capital equipment and highly trained, expensive employees — you can’t just go off and try new things. It’s not a risk-tolerant business, and for very good reason; the people who take on too much risk very often wind up dead.”

Paul Silva says VVM’s program with existing manufacturers will allow those companies to make important connections with OEMs.

A $320,000 pilot program to be undertaken in conjunction with MassDevelopment (the primary funding agency putting up $200,000), the National Machine Tooling Assoc. (NMTA), the Economic Development Council of Western Mass., and other partners will seek to change many aspects of this equation. It will enable, and essentially force, participating companies to become more willing and able to take some calculated risks.

Here’s how it will work: VVM and its partners will spend the next several weeks recruiting companies that fit the profile described above for a three-month, boot-camp-like experience that will, in many ways, mirror VVM’s accelerator program for startups (its second class just graduated a few weeks ago; see sidebar on this page).

But while the accelerator introduces startups to venture-capital companies and angel investors, this pilot program will put manufacturing companies in the same room as several growth-minded original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), with the goal of creating matches, or dance partners, said Rick Feldman, development director for VVM and veteran of the manufacturing sector.

“The idea behind this accelerator is to have a lot of match-up,” he explained. “You’re a small manufacturer … here are the OEMs in the region who are looking for skill, machine, ability to produce those kinds of parts. Go talk to each other.”

Like Feldman and Silva, Veda Clark, vice president of Manufacturing Initiatives for MassDevelopment, said there are many goals — and thus many ways to ultimately gauge the success — with this program. They include jobs, obviously, but also revenues, profits, and, in some cases, the ability to keep companies and jobs in this region.

Indeed, many of this area’s smaller manufacturers are “aging out,” said Feldman, using that term to describe a Baby Boom-age owner mulling various exit strategies.

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There may well be more opportunities to keep companies from being closed or sold to outside entities if they have a broader, more diverse customer base and better prospects for the future, he told BusinessWest. “As soon as we have 10 to 15 companies needing to produce new products, on time and high-quality, for several OEMs, we should expect some ripples through the economy. And we’ll be tracking those — things like revenue, profitability, jobs, new industries, or existing sectors expanding.”

For this issue, we take a preliminary look at this pilot program and its prospects for providing a boost for one of the region’s most prominent — and important — business sectors.

Parts of the Whole

Silva admitted that the initial phone call from Clark that eventually brought VVM to this point caught him more than a little off guard.

He was and is quite familiar with MassDevelopment, which is kicking in $2 million for the accelerator facility currently being built in downtown Springfield, but far less so with its so-called Advanced Manufacturing Futures Program.

As Clark explained to Silva — and later to BusinessWest — MassDevelopment has been addressing the many issues and challenges confronting the state’s manufacturing sector through that initiative and, more specifically, grants awarded for several pilot programs across the state. It attempts to deal with specific concerns identified in a comprehensive study of the Commonwealth’s manufacturing industry, funded by MassDevelopment and undertaken by a team at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, which outlines several potential action areas.

One of them involves providing more educational opportunities to the owners and managers of SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises), with an eye toward enabling those companies to run more efficiently, seize new business opportunities, and initiate comprehensive succession-planning efforts, among other things.

The desire to address this concern brought Clark to VVM and that phone call to Silva.

“She said, ‘we have this bucket of money to help advanced manufacturing in different parts of the state; there’s a bucket for Western Mass., and no one has asked for it the right way,’” he recalled. “And I said, ‘we haven’t asked for it, either; thank you for calling, but we help startups.’”

Fast-forwarding through events, that phone call led to a request for a lunch meeting — “you’re asking me to lunch so you can give me money; I think the answer is ‘yes,’” said Silva, recalling his thought process — which led to more meetings, at which the attending parties agreed that the VVM model could and should be utilized for a very different purpose.

“In talks with those at VVM and other agencies, it became clear there was a need to help the owners of SMEs, especially the small machine shops, with diversifying their companies, growing their businesses, and developing succession plans,” Clark explained, adding that business and management schools had little interest in trying to meet that need, prompting efforts to look elsewhere.

Familiar with VVM’s success with its accelerator, which involved 30 startups in three months of programming, Clark believed that model could help another constituency with the universal goal of working on the business, not in it.

“We needed something that would help these executives think beyond their four walls,” she noted. “When you’re a small to medium-sized manufacturer anywhere in the state, you tend to be head down, day-to-day, grinding out the business, rather than looking ahead.”

Rick Feldman says many OEMs are simply not aware that there are companies in this region that can make parts they need.

Silva agreed, and noted that, while the pilot program will indeed involve existing companies, some of them several decades old, it will in some ways be addressing them as startups.

“They’re there to think about new products,” he explained. “We want them thinking, ‘how can I use my existing equipment and teams to make something else?’

“The way we look at it, and the way the manufacturers we’ve talked to look at it,” he went on, “yes, these are existing businesses, but it’s really a startup inside of their business — a startup that has access to a manufacturing facility and a staff, but they have to treat it like a whole new business.”

Pilot’s License

Silva said the pilot program will entail learning curves not only for participating manufacturers, but for VVM as well as it customizes its well-regarded accelerator model for this new purpose.

“We’re spending the summer designing the program and doing customer development, which is our fancy term for talking to people and designing the product right before you build it,” he explained, adding that the agency won’t be reinventing the wheel, only modifying it slightly.

Indeed, like the accelerator program, the pilot will make use of what’s known as the Lean Launchpad philosophy, which simplifies and accelerates the process of developing new businesses and plans for them. And this approach should certainly resonate with those in this sector.

“They’re very familiar with the concept of lean manufacturing,” he explained. “And the lean startup philosophy is descended from lean manufacturing. So we’re going to go in there and say, ‘you know all that ‘lean’ stuff you know … we’re just applying the same concept you know and love and that has generated profit for you, and apply it to other parts of your business.”

When asked to sum up Lean Launchpad as it applies to concepts and the potential to create a successful business with them, Silva did so with his now-familiar — and colorful — way of getting his points across.

“Translated into plain English, it’s just ‘stop thinking that you know shit,’” he explained. “Instead, write it down as a hypothesis as a scientist would, then figure out the cheapest, easiest way to determine if you’re smoking something or not. Go do the tests, and if the tests come back positive, do a bigger test, then rinse and repeat until you’ve got a business.”

Silva said these sentiments will be expressed to members of the pilot program’s first cohort, which will likely include six to eight manufacturing companies as well as a number of OEMs — CRRC, the company that will soon will assembling subway cars in Springfield, is likely to be one of them — with the explicit goal of creating matches, or dance partners, as the case may be.

And in this respect, the pilot is again like the accelerator program, said Feldman, adding that, with the latter, startups and investors learn about each other. It will be the same with the precision manufacturers and the OEMs.

And this is an important consideration, because there is considerable learning to be done on both sides of the equation.

“The OEMs have told us, ‘we would love to hire these companies, but we literally can’t find them,’” Silva told BusinessWest. “They say, ‘it’s too hard for us to find them because they’re small firms, they don’t go to the trade shows we go to, they don’t speak our language; it’s a pain in the neck, and we end up having the work done far away or not as well.’”

As mentioned earlier, this pilot program comes complete with a number of goals, the most overarching being the creation of new opportunities for companies and that resulting ripple effect that Feldman described.

And the pilot program calls for a hard assessment after one year to see if those goals are starting to come into focus.

“After a year, the state wants to see how many jobs are created, how many companies have expanded their markets, whether new technologies emerge, and whether revenues and profitability have gone up,” he explained. “What we find with many manufacturers is that sales revenues improve, but profitability doesn’t because it’s such an expensive industry to be in.”

Positive Steps

When asked about the next steps in the process for this pilot program, Silva said one of them is the task of recruiting manufacturers to take part, and this, in itself, will likely be a stern challenge.

“That’s because they’re really busy — they have to run their shop; they don’t have time to do this,” he explained, adding that the hope, and expectation, is that forward-thinking business owners will somehow find the time.

They will need to if they want to open some doors, forge relationships, fashion new opportunities, and create sustainability.

Because, for all that to happen, they must learn how to dance.

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

Photographer Brings a Unique Niche and a Thriving Business into Focus

Cover Story Sections Women in Businesss

Body of Work

Dani Klein-Williams says her soon-to-be released book (inset) will bring more exposure for her company and its unique niche.

When Dani Klein-Williams started her own photo studio, she had only enough confidence to seek a month-to-month lease. Fast-forward nearly 20 years, and she’s occupying 1,300 square feet on the second floor of Thornes Marketplace in Northampton. This sea change has come about through an abundance of confidence forged through a blend of sound business practices, cutting-edge work in the field, and development of intriguing niches, such as the genre known as boudoir.

Dani Klein-Williams was only half-kidding when she joked that photographers don’t even like to look back at work they did a few months or even a few days earlier because of how much they feel their talents have grown since and how they could have done things better.

And that explains why she offered a wry smile and gazed skyward as she thought back to the time she took what would be considered her first boudoir photograph.

That was roughly 12 years ago, she recalled, noting that it came about because a client, a soon-to-be bride, wanted a different kind of wedding present for her fiancé — “beautiful, tasteful, but sexy” photographs.

“She felt that she had been working out harder than at any time in her life, she looked the best she ever had, she’d been getting facials … she felt really beautiful, and said, ‘30 years from now or 50 years from now, I want to have these pictures,’” said Klein-Williams, adding that those last few sentiments comprise a form of common denominator for those who hire her for such work.

Looking back, she said the subject of that first boudoir photo shoot was in some ways more comfortable with what was going on than she was, and that she was certainly learning by doing.

“Photographers don’t even like the work they did the day before,” she said while explaining that sentiment noted above. “Usually, you’re critical, and you improve … thinking about a boudoir session I shot 10 years ago is, well, kind of scary.”

Fast-forward to today, and Klein-Williams has certainly retired ‘scary’ while fashioning boudoir photography into one of the cornerstones of a business she has taken from the ground up.

Dani Klein-Williams says boudoir photography, misunderstood by many, is now a huge part of her business.

Indeed, her large studio in Northampton’s Thornes Marketplace is outfitted with, yes, a queen-sized bed, among other things, for such photographs. Only it doesn’t get used as much as it used to, because she’s doing much more of this work on location, as they say in this business — at clients’ homes, in hotels in various cities, and even on a farm just outside Boston.

Klein-Williams now shoots several hundred such photos a year, and that number is perhaps not the most surprising thing about this niche. She points out that the average age of the subjects is roughly 45 by her estimate (one of them was 69), and many, if not most, would fit that diplomatic description ‘plus-sized.’

Klein-Williams has become so adept at this art that she’s written the book on it — quite literally. It’s called Real. Sexy. Photography: The Art and Business of Boudoir. This is, as she described it, a cross between a coffee-table book and how-to manual (there are specific instructions on how to replicate each shot). It will be out in August, and she expects it will sell reasonably well, but also, and perhaps more importantly, raise awareness of her business and the niche she has developed.

Just as a recent article about her career in the online version of Forbes has. It came out about a month ago and has already generated some business, as well as a new way to reference her venture.

“It has really helped us secure some jobs,” she said of that exposure. “We had sent a proposal for a big job — shooting 40 attorneys for a Manhattan law firm — and hadn’t heard back. I forwarded them a link and said, ‘you want to go with the Forbes photographer, right?’ And they said ‘yes’ — they called back and booked.”

Between the book, the Forbes piece, and a growing portfolio of clients and assignments, Klein-Williams, who started this business just a year out of high school, feels she’s ready to take the next step (if she hasn’t already taken it) and move into high-end, even very high-end, wedding, corporate, and boudoir photography.

And she feels ready not simply as a photographer, but as a business person, because she works equally hard at both facets of this enterprise.

“I feel like I’m a business owner, and I’m in the business of photography,” she said while noting that most in this profession don’t have quite the same take. “I love photography; it’s a passion of mine. But I’m a business person first and a photographer a close second.”

For this issue and its focus (that’s an industry term) on women in business, we zoom in (there’s another one) on an intriguing business and its body, or bodies, of work.

Learning Curves

As mentioned earlier, Klein-Williams put her name on a business card when she was 19, when most of her peers were deciding which college courses to add or drop or trying to land a summer job.

So one might assume she’s always possessed an abundance of confidence — and assume incorrectly.

“When I rented my first space in the Eastworks building [in Easthampton], I went month-to month,” she said in an effort to make a point. “I said, ‘I think I can make the rent … I’m pretty sure. But I don’t really want to sign anything because I don’t know for real.’”

Dani Klein-Williams says one of the goals in her business plan is to add more high-end destination weddings to the portfolio.

But like expertise in boudoir photography, confidence has come with experience, and today, Klein-Williams doesn’t lack for either, especially confidence.

Indeed, consider this comment when she was asked about the competition for boudoir work — she doesn’t believe there is much — and the other types of work she does.

“I think the biggest mistake you can make is caring what someone else does,” she explained, adding that she believes this applies to not only her business, but all others as well. “I think that it’s a waste of energy; if you spend any time thinking about what the competition’s doing, you’re not focused on what you’re doing.

“And I always think that I want to be one step ahead of everyone else, doing the latest, greatest thing,” she went on. “And I want to be constantly reinventing myself and constantly honing my craft. The second I stopped caring about what anyone else was doing … that’s when my business improved.”

Reaching this state hasn’t come easily, though, and it’s been achieved though large amounts of perseverance, entrepreneurial guile, and, yes, some luck, as we’ll see.

Our story begins, more or less, with her decision (made just before the semester was to begin) not to go to college, but instead attend the Hallmark School of Photography in Turners Falls.

That decision didn’t exactly sit well with her parents, but it did with her; she had been intrigued by photography since her youth, and, despite her parents’ reservations, she decided to follow her passion.

The 10-month program offered a quality education, she recalled, adding that it provided her with technical skills and the requisite amount of confidence needed to pursue photography as a career.

She started out working with and for two different — and much older — photographers, one of whom was in his early ’70s and essentially easing his way into retirement. And here’s some of that luck that was mentioned earlier.

“He was just feeling really done, ready to retire,” she recalled. “And he offered me an opportunity. He said, ‘I don’t really feel like being in my studio; do you want to sit here and answer phones? Anyone who calls, and I’m not here, you can take the work.’

“And he went one better — he said I could use his studio,” she went on, adding that she took full advantage of this opportunity to essentially launch her own business. “It was the best-case scenario; I had nothing to lose, I was still working for him photographing weddings, and he would let me take any spillover.”

Eventually, Klein-Williams had enough of her own clients to start her own studio, and set up shop in Eastworks in 2001 — paying month to month, as she noted, while also holding down a few retail jobs and handling jobs for other photographers.

“There was a lot of luck involved, as well as hard work and some really generous people,” she said of her start in business, adding that, in 2003, she and her husband, Keith, got engaged and together decided to devote all their energies to making the photography business work.

“We lived off his salary for a while, and I threw every dollar I made back into the business,” she explained. “It didn’t take long, and once I went full-time, I said, ‘why didn’t I do this years ago?’ Soon after, I hired my first employee and just went for it.”

As with all entrepreneurs, she had to take her talent and meld it with business acumen, something that happened over time and through the requisite trial and error.

“I tried everything, and when it worked, I stuck with it, and when it didn’t work, I moved on, and it worked out,” she said, adding that one of her forays that fell into that first category was boudoir.

Developing Interest

But as she thought back on her first session in that genre, Klein-Williams noted there was really nothing about it that even hinted of everything that was to come over the ensuing dozen years.

“I started to do this this very quietly,” she noted, putting heavy emphasis on the adjective in that sentence. “I was strictly a wedding photographer, a portrait photographer, and here and there I would do a boudoir session or two.”

Things changed, though, when the subject of one of those shoots invited Klein-Williams — or almost dared her — to put one of the shots out in her studio as a way to perhaps intrigue other brides and prompt them to pose.

She did — and, to make a long story short, many brides did as well, and a lucrative niche was born.

“I put out one or two pictures sort of in the background, not the forefront of the studio,” she explained. “People started to notice and ask about it; things started off slowly, to be sure.

“Then, we had a client come in who said, ‘if you’re using her pictures, I want you to use my pictures — you can put them on your website,’” she went on. “Then Facebook came out, and people started to say, ‘put my photos there if you want — I feel good about them, I feel beautiful, I feel powerful.’”

Dani Klein-Williams says boudoir photographs, like this one, now represent more than a third of her annual workload — and revenues.

It got to the point where some women would call and ask why one of their photos wasn’t displayed on the website.

And those sentiments, not to mention that desire among many women to put their photos out where the public, not merely their fiancé, can see them, helps explain why this niche has grown so much over the years, said Klein-Williams, from 30 sittings a year to more than 300. The women are proud of what the camera has captured, and, in some ways, they find the experience empowering.

As she talked about her niche, Klein-Williams said this is serious business, one many people don’t fully understand, or want to.

“I think people have misconceptions about what boudoir is,” she told BusinessWest. “It’s very beautiful, very tasteful — people are generally more covered than you would see at the beach. Also, many think this is just for the size-2 supermodel, and it’s not.”

While many don’t understand this photograph genre, it’s clear that a growing number do, she went on, adding that, while she still markets herself and this specific niche at trade shows and other venues, many of those whose pictures wind up on her website and her walls find her. Many of them are from well outside the 413 area code, and, in another surprising statistic, some are repeat customers.

“When we started doing this, we thought these would be one-and-dones; we’re not going to do repeat business for boudoir,” she explained. “But people have so much fun that they end up coming back, sometimes by themselves, but often with their sister or their best friend to keep them company, so we see a lot of clients repeatedly.”

But boudoir photography, as healthy and intriguing a niche as it is, is just one component of Klein-Williams’ growing portfolio — and business.

Indeed, she now has eight employees and several photographers on her staff and, as mentioned earlier, appears poised to take that leap to the next level in terms of prominence, the size and price tag of assignments, and sales revenue (she’s looking to crash through the $1 million mark this year).

Weddings comprise a large portion of the business, and Klein-Williams is devoting much of her time and energy to building this segment of the portfolio. Much goes into this, and the actual photos that wind up in an album or on one’s walls are only part of the equation.

Indeed, there is a huge amount of customer service involved with this work, she explained, adding that it involves getting to know the bride and groom (but especially the former), what’s important to them, and what they want captured not only on their wedding day, but the day or two before, in many cases.

“People hire me because they trust I’ll do right by them,” she explained. “I will create beautiful images that will bring back the emotions of their day. It’s not just a recording of what they did — now they cut the cake, now they do the first dance.

“I really get to know my clients; I meet with them a lot,” she went on. “When they choose a florist or someone like that, this vendor is not going to be with them all day. But I’m with them throughout the day, for all their important moments. So when they make the decision to hire us, that has to be something that they’ve really thought through and that they’re comfortable with.”

These sentiments reflect what she said earlier about competition and how she doesn’t dwell on it.

“I don’t think of other photographers as competition at all,” she explained. “I feel that what I offer is unique and what they offer is unique, and when you’re hiring someone for boudoir, a wedding, or anything else, you’re hiring them based on making sure that you have the same artistic vision, but even more than that, that you have the same personality.

“You’re hiring someone for your wedding day that you really get along with and that has the same vision that you do,” she went on. “And it’s the same for boudoir.”

A Shooting Star

As she talked about her soon-to-be released book (one can pre-order it on Amazon), Klein-Williams acknowledged that this how-to could, in some ways, create competition for her down the road within that boudoir niche.

But she shrugged off that potential threat in a manner that shows how far she’s come since those days of not making sure she could make the rent.

“Before we release our secrets, we’re always on to the next thing,” she said. “That’s what a successful business person does; I’m not worried about competition.”

Such confidence shows why she’s moved to the top of the profession locally, and why this business she started when she was only 19 continues to develop and gain an ever sharper focus on growth.

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

At Area Dealerships, Crossover Sales Continue to Soar

Autos Sections

More for the Money

Sport utility vehicles have long staked out significant market share in the auto-sales world, as Americans appreciate their roominess and flexibility. But their price tag has been a little high for sedan owners who might otherwise consider a larger vehicle. Enter crossovers, or compact utility vehicles, which are small SUVs that handle like cars — and typically boast a price point in the sedan range. For these reasons and others, they’ve soared in popularity in recent years, and are a main reason why SUVs now outsell sedans in the U.S.

A look at any parking lot might suggest America is the land of SUVs, but the past two years have seen hard statistics back up that perception.

Indeed, as recently as 2013, sedans accounted for half of all new-vehicle sales in the U.S. Last year, they accounted for just over 40%.

Ken Cernak, president of Cernak Buick in Easthampton, has seen the trend play out locally. “This is the second year SUV penetration been greater than sedans — last year and this year,” he told BusinessWest. “Before that, it was equal, but the last two years, it has changed, and people are buying more SUVs than passenger cars.”

At the heart of this trend is the continued dominance of perhaps the past decade’s most significant auto-sales trend: CUVs, or compact utility vehicles, also known as crossovers.

It’s easy to see why. While traditional, large SUVs are built on a truck platform, CUVs are built on a car platform and handle more like a car. But they offer much of the roominess of SUVs at often lower gas mileage and a sticker price more in line with midsize sedans.

“It’s not that people don’t still like to buy cars,” Cernak said, “but more people coming into the market are looking for SUVs of all kinds, both new and used.” And CUVs — Buick’s version is called the Encore — are driving the shift.

Though SUVs have long been popular with American motorists, the capability, passenger room, and storage space of most sedans is adequate for the needs of most families; to those who didn’t need the extra space (for camping and other hobbies, or toting multiple pets around, for example), SUVs were a luxury the price difference didn’t justify.

But CUVs, which compete with sedans at a very similar price point, are making converts. It partly explans why even hugely popular car models like the Toyota Camry and Prius fell last year to sales lows not seen since 2011, while the BMW 5 Series and Ford Focus and Fusion saw drops of up to 20%, according to Carbuzz.

“This isn’t a bad thing for automakers because crossover and SUV sales remain strong enough to keep the trend of total vehicle sales going up,” the publication notes. “Companies that have strong SUV lineups are seeing the greatest benefits from this shift in power.”

Like Balise Auto Group, which specializes in close to a dozen nameplates. Bill Peffer, the company’s president and chief operating officer, said CUVs are just one more step in America’s ever-evolving shift in driving tastes.

“If you go back through the decades, it was the sedan in the ’60s, the station wagon in the ’70s, minivans in the ’80s, sport-utility vehicles in the ’90s and 2000s,” he said. “But the traditional SUV, which was on a truck platform, has moved to a car platform and created a new segment of CUVs, or crossovers, if you will. CUVs offer the utility and some of the capacity of a truck, but still retain the comfort and drive and fuel economy of a car. It’s the best of both worlds.”

He said the crossover — popular models include the Toyota RAV4, the Honda CR-V, the Ford Edge, the Mazda CX5, and the Nissan Rogue — appeals to any number of groups, from empty nesters to newlyweds looking for weekend adventure; from hobbyists to growing families.

“They’re a lot more comfortable overall, and the footprint is a lot smaller than the Expedition, Tahoe, or Explorer,” said Peffer. “And with so many choices in the $25,000 to $35,000 range, many with four-wheel drive or all-wheel drive, it’s a pretty compelling proposition. If you have any type of utility needs or a big family, it’s hard not to go the way of the CUV, and manufacturers are picking up on that; their products are reflecting more and more of that.”

Price and Performance

Michael Oleksak, general manager at Burke Chevrolet in Northampton, has done well in recent years with Chevrolet’s crossover, the Equinox, which offers front-wheel drive or all-wheel drive, depending on the buyer’s preference.

“They’re very popular,” he said. “There’s the price-point part of it, but another part is the way the vehicles are built. You’re not getting up into it, and you’re not getting down into it; it’s almost level. So, if you’re an average-height person, they’re very easy to get in and out of.”

Bill Peffer says manufacturers have picked up on the growing popularity of crossovers and are busy introducing more to the market.

The utility aspects aren’t dissimilar from a larger SUV, he added. “The back is very functional because the rear seat actually moves forward and back just like the front seats, so you can get a little extra cargo room. Or, if you have a larger person sitting in the back, they have the extra room.”

In addition, Oleksak said, the low base price of most CUVs gives buyers an opportunity to add amenities, from leather seats to a moonroof, and remain below a large SUV’s price tag. “You can get something very well-equipped, very top of the line, or something very basic, or in between. The way it’s built, it’s very versatile with regard to budget.”

Cernak agreed that crossovers are easier than SUVs to enter and exit, which is especially helpful for elderly people. “It’s easier to step up and step down; in a car you drag yourself up and out. So the Encore is very popular with both young and elderly women; their size isn’t too small and isn’t too big. It’s easy to park and drives and handles well. Also, a lot of our women customers like the idea of sitting up a little higher, for better vision.”

Ken Cernak says his dealership, reflecting a national trend, now sells more SUVs than cars, and crossovers are driving the shift.

On an aesthetic level, the appeal of CUVs has become so well-understood that they adhere to a certain formula, Gregory Lang, corporate strategic planning manager for Toyota in California, told the Atlantic last year. “Frankly, if you lined up a Ford Escape, a Honda CRV, and a Toyota RAV4, and you were looking at them 50 yards away and you were an average customer, I don’t think you could tell the difference. Somebody in the industry could, but the crossovers have collapsed on a certain formula that seems to be very in vogue — some sleekness but a strong dose of utility.”

They also tend to be quieter inside than most cars, Cernak noted, which is another selling point.

However, their main appeal remains their sheer utility, Peffer said. “You can load furniture, load people, whatever your heart desires. Americans are fairly nomadic, and they’re also adventuresome, and SUVs fit that lifestyle. And because we have different sizes [with CUVs], the affordability aspect brings access to more people.”

Fueling Sales

Another element in the surging popularity of crossovers — especially for buyers who would traditionally purchase a sedan — is the currently low gas prices.

“They do make a difference,” Oleksak said, noting that the Traverse, Chevrolet’s next size up — larger than the Equinox but smaller than bigger SUVs — is also reaping the benefits of savings at the pump, and is a solid choice for, say, larger families who want a third seat.

Peffer agreed that the fuel-cost situation has been good for sales of larger vehicles, from crossovers to larger SUVs to trucks, which are selling well.

Whatever the reasons, automakers have begun to adjust to a landscape where sedans are currently being pushed to the side by SUVs and crossovers. For example, this past January and February, The Truth About Cars reported that a dozen premium brands produced 150,000 SUV and crossover sales, up 17% from the same period one year ago. Even luxury names reflected the shift; in February, Lexus was down 1,883 new-car sales from a year earlier but added 1,978 SUV and CUV sales.

Meanwhile, Automotive News reported that Hyundai’s new-car sales slipped 5.8% just last month, while its crossover sales nearly doubled.

Cernak isn’t surprised by such trends. “It’s been going in that direction for a long time,” he said, noting that Buick will soon unveil the Envision, which, like Chevy’s Traverse, bridges the size gap between the Encore and the brand’s large SUV, the Enclave. In other words, more choices for a buying public that’s increasingly ditching sedans.

As for crossovers, “when we get them, we sell them,” Peffer said. “That’s pretty much across all brands, from Lexus to Kia and everything in between. That’s where all the news is. That’s what’s selling.”

Joseph Bednar can be reached at [email protected]

Employers Navigate Challenges Posed by the BYOD Culture

Law Sections

Left to Their Own Devices

Whether or not a company explicitly allows it, employees in all fields are increasingly using their own laptops, tablets, and smartphones as part of their jobs. This practice, known as ‘bring your own device,’ or BYOD, certainly has its benefits, from flexibility to employee satisfaction to decreased IT costs. But it also brings risks — data security is a major one — and potentially thorny legal questions concerning company information being stored on private equipment. There may be no one right answer for all businesses, but well-written, clearly communicated policies are a good start.

Jeffrey Trapani understands the appeal of personal devices like laptops, tablets, and smartphones.

“Everyone’s grown accustomed to having these devices; it’s sort of an expectation,” said the partner with the the Springfield-based law firm Robinson Donovan, while pointing to his own phone. “I find myself sometimes looking at that instead of the giant screen next to me.”

In fact, in an ever-more mobile society, the lines defining the workspace are blurring, and more Americans find themselves using their personal devices, rather than — or in addition to — company-owned equipment, so they can access their work no matter where they are.

All good, right? Well, yes and no.

Certainly, the bring-your-own-device (BYOD) movement offers real benefits, from increased employee satisfaction — they can work more flexibly and tend to be more comfortable and productive on their own devices — to cost savings for employers, who don’t have to spend as much money on hardware, software, and maintenance.

“There are two competing schools of thought whether this would be a good practice,” said Amy Royal, founding partner of employment-law firm Royal, P.C. “Proponents point to the ease and comfort of using your own personal device. And I understand the convenience. If I have employees who are comfortable with their own device, smartphone, laptop, or tablet, they’re more productive, it’s easier for them to navigate their device, and it creates more employee satisfaction.

Amy Royal says it may be wise for a company to require personal devices used for work to be checked by IT staff periodically.

“Plus, it’s kind of annoying if I have duplicative devices — a work phone and a personal phone — and there’s cost savings to the company if they’re not responsible for furnishing those devices. Those are good things,” she went on.

However, the concerns the BYOD trend raises for employers are serious ones, she told BusinessWest. “You want to delve into the different considerations. Opponents would say it creates potential legal and security risks, and confidentiality and security issues.”

The key issue is not necessarily employees using their personal devices at work, said John Gannon, an associate attorney with employment-law firm Skoler, Abbott and Presser — it’s allowing employees to access the company’s secure network and sensitive data with those devices.

“It’s a broad area of concern,” he noted. “If employees want to do it, an employer will want to have specific policies geared toward people’s personal devices and accessing the employer’s network from those personal device, whether it’s a mobile phone, tablet, or laptop.”

The reason the BYOD question is so pervasive, said those who spoke with BusinessWest, is that even companies that forbid the use of personal devices for work purposes often find employees are doing it anyway. By establishing and clearly communicating policies surrounding personal devices, employers have a better chance of avoiding disputes, legal trouble, and security issues down the line.

Safe and Secure

It wasn’t difficult for Royal to quickly tick off a number of pitfalls made possible by transferring workplace data to a laptop or tablet.

“It poses significant risks to confidentiality when we have somebody using a personal device to access work on the company network and store information — proprietary information — on that personal device,” she said. “What if there’s a data breach? Or the employee could lose it, and the device could end up in someone else’s hands. Or, they could share their device with family members, and that could be a problem.”

Furthermore, she suggested, what happens when an employee leaves the company, which doesn’t always happen on the happiest of terms? They’re obligated to leave company-owned equipment at work, but what is the terminated employee’s responsibility when it comes to client or customer data left on their own device?

Go HERE for a list of Law Firms in Western Mass.

One solution is crafting policies — agreed to as a term of employment — that either forbid the storage of proprietary information on a personal device, or allow the company access to the device to wipe it clean, Trapani said, courses of action that touch on sensitive issues of balancing data security and employee privacy.

“The concern with these personal devices is what kind of data winds up on these things, and are you enabling the employee, if they’re leaving, to take it with them,” Gannon added. “Another big concern is if they lose the device. So, if you’re going to allow employees access to the network through their personal devices, you should have some way to log into those devices and wipe them clean if they’re lost or not returned after employment.”

With all the concern around what employees can take off the company network, perhaps equally important is what they can put on it.

“If you have a personal device you’re connecting to the company network, there’s a risk with that. It might not be supported with updated malware protection,” Royal said, noting that businesses backed by a strong IT department typically don’t have to worry about that on company-owned equipment.

“It’s important to iron out these considerations before allowing people to use their devices in the course of the job,” she added. “You want to develop a clear policy. Maybe personal devices need to go to IT periodically. You can set some kind of timetable in that regard, as well as who can access the device.”

John Gannon says storing sensitive company data on personal devices can be cause for concern — especially if they lose the device or leave the firm.

Gannon agreed. “The primary concern is data security, and personal computers that are in the office, that don’t go anywhere, typically have antivirus software that’s regularly updated by either internal IT people or IT management companies that come in and remotely monitor what’s going on the computers.

“If someone has their own device, they could be using it at home, where they may not have the same level of antivirus protection that networked computers have, and they may install something unknowingly, some virus or malware,” he went on. “Malware is a big one — something inadvertently downloaded to your computer that stays dormant, then, say, when you access a banking website, tries to steal your login credentials. It’s pretty dangerous stuff, and if you install that on your laptop, bring that to work, and connect to the network, there’s a chance of infecting the systems on the network.”

Where Does the Time Go?

Security issues are only one piece of the BYOD puzzle, however. Another piece involves wage-and-hour issues, particularly for non-exempt employees getting paid by the hour. Say an employer e-mails workers after hours, Trapani suggested, and an hourly employee responds to that e-mail at home, rather than opening it the following morning.

“Is there an expectation that’s something you have to compensate them for? You can lock yourself into a claim if you don’t.”

Gannon agreed, recalling a study claiming the average American checks their phone 150 times a day, and many of those checks come after work hours, but could involve work issues.

“If you do have non-exempt employees, you have to pay them for all their working time. And if they’re going home and accessing the network to check e-mails or take phone calls, technically that is working time,” he explained. “If that’s a couple e-mails a day over the course of a week, we’re talking about potentially a half-hour, 45 minutes of work. Over a year, that could cause problems. Employers find it difficult to track that time, so it’s a significant challenge for employers who want to give employees freedom to do things from home.”

Gannon said companies can address this challenge in one of several ways: Not allowing non-exempt employees to connect to the network remotely, or allowing only exempt employees to use their personal devices for work purposes, or allowing employees to work from home, but clearly delineating in the company handbook how to accurately report that time, or allowing overtime only with prior approval from a supervisor.

“It gives the employer some protection if the employee leaves, then claims to have worked all these hours, and you didn’t know about it. If you have a policy that requires them to seek approval beforehand, you may not have to pay for that time.”

Then there’s the question of reimbursing employees who use their own device — and, if companies choose to go this route, what legal ramifications it raises, Trapani said. For instance, is the business liable if an employee gets into a motor-vehicle accident while texting? Or, if a company is involved in a lawsuit, what is the employee’s obligation to surrender data on their phone or laptop in the discovery phase?

“Sometimes employers can get dragged into a lawsuit and want to see information on various devices,” Gannon noted. “You’ll want to have some kind of language in your bring-your-own-device policy that the information on that device could belong to the employer.”

In that circumstance, it would actually benefit an employer to reimburse the employee, or pay for a device that can be used for work and personal time, he went on. “If the employer pays for and provides these devices to the employee, it’s less of a privacy issue. If employees are using their own device, mostly for personal use, but for some work use, getting that information can be more challenging.”

Finally, Trapani said, there’s the age-old concern — updated for this high-tech era — of employees killing time while on the clock, and whether using their personal devices at work makes it easier. “There are performance issues. If you have a handheld device in front of you instead of a giant screen, are you looking at Facebook, or doing what you should be doing?”

Clear Communication

In the end, Royal told BusinessWest, the BYOD trend has been a net positive at many companies, but there’s risk in allowing it — risk that nonetheless can be managed with well-constructed, clearly communicated guidelines.

“It’s a collaborative effort involving a number of people, like IT, HR, your legal team, and also accountants — are you reimbursing your employees a certain amount for using personal devices, and what are the tax implications of that? You want to have a team looking at this practice before you roll it out.”

Trapani agreed. “Communication is important, not only so employees know what’s expected of them, but also so the people in charge understand the implications of new technology.

That said, Gannon noted, it’s difficult to craft a general BYOD policy, as a lot of it depends on the industry. For example, medical businesses bound by HIPAA from disseminating health information need to be more vigilant than some other industries about which employees can access sensitive data, and on what devices. But there are some universal recommendations.

“Certainly, you want to have a policy that sets out authorized and unauthorized use. And sometimes, the policy lets employees use their own device only if the IT people install software updates and an antivirus program, and gives them remote access if they need to clean out the device.”

A strong BYOD policy, at the very least, puts all employees on the same page, knowing exactly how their devices can be used and what happens when they leave the firm.

“Even if you don’t want to replace company devices by allowing the use of personal devices, you still want to tackle these kinds of issues,” she said. “Employees are probably using their personal laptop or smartphone for some business. That’s the reality.”

Joseph Bednar can be reached at [email protected]

Father, Son Innovators Put the Pedal to the Mettle

Entrepreneurial Drive

Kevin, left, and Devin Murray, the father-and-son co-founders of better.bike.

It was born out of a blend of need and desire. Nevin Murrary wanted something that would get him to high school in a manner that would by healthy, environmentally friendly — and cool. He and his father, Kevin, came up with the PEBL, described as a bridge between a bike and a car. But beyond becoming an effective means for the younger Murray to commute, it is evolving into a business concept with recognized potential.

When Nevin Murray arrives at Greenfield Community College in September, he’ll do so with most of the usual questions and anxieties that most all entering freshmen have. Well … maybe not; he certainly has a lot of poise and confidence for an 18-year-old, and with good reason, as we’ll see in a bit.

One thing’s for certain, though. His arrival will be totally unique in one aspect: he’ll be driving something no one else on that campus (or any other campus, for that matter) has — a PEBL.

That’s technically still an acronym (it stands for Pedal Electric Bike Lifestyle), but Nevin and his father, Kevin, who together conceptualized, designed, built, and soon plan to manufacture this vehicle, consider it more of a model name than anything else.

PEBL from GCAi on Vimeo.

As one discusses it, the word ‘vehicle’ is certainly the safest term you can use. But it’s not a car, although it looks like one (sort of, anyway), especially the tiny Smart cars now gaining traction in this country. And it is not technically a bicycle in the strictest sense of the word, although the name the Murrays have chosen for their enterprise is better.bike, which uses the tag line ‘Solutions in Transportation,’ which is quite effective and totally accurate (more on why later).

No, this product is a ‘velomobile.’ That’s a technical term in transportation circles, and one that’s been around for a least a century, by most estimates. It is used to describe, well, a bicycle/car, or a bicycle that is enclosed for aerodynamic advantage and protection from the weather. In those respects, the PEBL is not really unique. But in many others, it certainly is — from the material used to make the body (it’s actually a hemp-and-soy composite, rather than fiberglass) to the lithium-ion battery-powered motor.

In other words, the PEBL is both eco-friendly and human-friendly, said Kevin, an acupuncturist by trade, noting that, in his estimation, fiberglass is one of the most toxic substances used in manufacturing today.

“One of my passions is looking after people’s health,” he said, adding that this mindset explains many aspects of the PEBL, from its conception to the component materials used in making it.

The Murrays say their vehicle was born from need and desire — for a four-season velomobile that could handle the rigors of a Western Mass. winter — and came together over three years of searching junkyards for parts, trial and error, and the maturation of an innovative streak that both men possess.

The same goes for another trait — entrepreneurship, although the two acknowledged they had a lot to learn about the difficult process of transforming an idea into a business. With that in mind, they applied to become part of Valley Venture Mentors’ second accelerator class, and were accepted.

They didn’t make the list of finalists — honored at ceremonies last week — and thus didn’t win one of the larger monetary prizes distributed to those chosen 12. They both say they came away with something inherently more important, though — invaluable insight into maneuvering the many forms of whitewater facing startups, from identifying potential markets to raising the capital needed to advance the concept.

For this issue, BusinessWest continues its recent efforts to spotlight emerging startups across the region by talking with the Murrays about their concept and why they believe it can be a vehicle for business success, figuratively and quite literally.

Putting the Wheels in Motion

The senior class at Amherst Regional High School recently voted on a number of the usual honors presented at this time of year — to individuals of both sexes deemed the most popular, most likely to succeed, best dressed … the list goes on.

There’s one for ‘best car’ as well. One young woman earned the prize for the Mercedes she parks every morning, while Nevin Murray took the honor with his red PEBL, the second prototype built by the father/son team, which he has been driving for about a year now, and with a purpose.

“I’ve been testing every possible aspect of it,” he explained, “to make sure that we’ve covered everything we need to cover.”

He knows this is technically not a car, but he’s not about to give his award back; he’s rather proud of it. But he and his father are soon hoping their concept will win much more — specifically the attention of the buying public, or at least a decent-sized component of it.

This would be the segment (or segments) that care about the environment, and themselves, and want a healthy alternative, or solution (there’s that word again), for their transportation needs.

Right now, though, the Murrays are also hoping to win some financial support. Indeed, a Kickstarter campaign is being planned — one that seeks to net at least $50,000 for a mold and tools that will help get production of the vehicles off the ground.

Kevin told BusinessWest that the company is currently searching for manufacturing space, preferably in the Deerfield area, and needs about 2,000 square feet to get started. It took months to build each of the first few prototypes, he went on, but the process has been refined and formalized, and a team can now assemble one in a day or two. They expect that people who want a PEBL can get one as soon as this fall.

Before looking toward the immediate and long-term future, though, this would be a good time to go backward — something else the PEBL can do that a bike can’t — and look at how we arrived here.

Our story begins in the summer of 2013, said Kevin, who started by noting that, while his career has been in healthcare, he minored in engineering in college and has always enjoyed working with his hands and building things — character traits passed down to Nevin.

“Since he could pick up Legos, he’s been a builder,” he said of Nevin, adding that the two have collaborated on many initiatives. “We’ve been in science fairs and all kinds of projects, each one more complex.”

When Nevin turned 15, he went on, conversations within the family began to include talk about how the then-high-school student could, or should, get around. “We didn’t want to get a third car — we’re a very environmentally conscious family, and Nevin is even more so — so we started hunting around for a different kind of alternative vehicle for him that would hopefully include bicycling.”

The two saw some things online that caught their attention, but nothing effectively checked all the boxes they wanted to check. So they decided to design and build something that would.

“We wanted something he could use all year-round,” Kevin explained, “and also something where he wouldn’t be all sweaty when he got to school — we live seven miles from the high school — and that looked cool.”

The process of coming up with something that did all that started with visits to the nearest Home Depot and several area junkyards, said Nevin, adding that, as the concept starting coming together, they eventually realized it had potential as a marketable product, and this realization prompted a far more serious approach to their R&D.

“After we built the first prototype, we realized that to refine it enough to be a product wouldn’t take much more work,” he explained. “From there, it was a year of materials research and figuring out what goes where.”

What they pieced together — quite literally — is something that bridges the gap between a bike and a car. It has a 750-watt motor, powered by a 48-volt, 16-amp lithium-ion battery that on flat roads provides up to 30 miles of continuous riding without using the pedals. (Users can buy additional batteries for longer trips.)

The Murrays say that is all goes well, consumers should be able to get their own PEBL this fall.

As for those pedals, PEBL owners can use them for short stretches, but the vehicle weighs 200 pounds or so, meaning one wouldn’t want to pedal uphill or very far. There’s an electric heater to keep the user warm in winter, and the doors come off to create air flow in the summer. The PEBL (sticker price $6,000) can accomodate a rider well over six feet tall, and even has the ability to tow a bicycle.

A license is not required to drive one, and the vehicles themselves are not registered, said Kevin, adding that he keeps expecting to get pulled over by the police while he’s out driving in his PEBL, the first prototype, but hasn’t yet.

While many of those features listed above are unique to one level or another, what makes the PEBL stand alone among vehicles like it is the materials used to assemble it.

“We spent hundreds of hours experimenting and researching different materials,” said Kevin. “We finally developed a combination of hemp cloth, instead of fiberglass cloth, combined with a non-toxic epoxy that’s made from soy and peanut oil.”

These materials, as he noted earlier, are safer for those doing the assembly — one doesn’t need to wear a respirator. But they are also more practical. “We feel they make for a better body for the vehicle,” he explained. “It’s not as brittle as traditional fiberglass.”

Getting Up to Speed

As one reads the list of standard features on the PEBL, one would think it might be for a Honda Civic or even one of the myriad crossovers now flooding the market: ‘expandable cargo space,’ ‘cruise control,’ ‘standard rear suspension, ‘great visibility,’ among others.

It’s the lines at the top of that list, though, that make it readily apparent that this is not a car, or anything else currently on the road: ‘zero emissions,’ ‘pedal and electric,’ ‘hemp-and-soy composite body,’ ‘20 miles per hour top speed,’ ‘removable and stowable doors.’

It is the sum of all the items on that list that the Murrays believe will propel them to success with their venture — a vehicle that is in many ways practical, but also environmentally friendly and, if you get some pedaling in, good exercise.

They believe this product will play in cities and regions populated with individuals who value such things — and that have what they would consider a PEBL-friendly infrastructure. That would largely rule out New York, said Kevin, noting that residents would still have to find parking, which is always a struggle.

But he listed mid-sized, spacious cities such as Portland, Ore., Seattle (especially the sprawling tech-industry campuses there like Microsoft and Amazon), Denver, Austin, San Antonio, and others, as well as most all rural regions, as ideal for their concept. He believes there would be a strong market in Europe, where gas is very expensive, as well.

With an eye toward sharpening their focus on a target audience — and the many other aspects of making their PEBL company a reality — the Murrays sought to become members of VVM’s second accelerator class, were accepted, and found the experience invaluable.

It included use of the so-called ‘Lean Canvas’ to form a business plan, a one-pager that entrepreneurs can use to identify everything from the specific problem they’re trying to solve with their product or service to its unique value proposition; from channels for getting the product to consumers to a list of customer segments.

In the case of those customers, the team at better.bike identified several, including retired individuals, those with physical or fitness limitations, tech-loving Millenials, a parent with one or two small children, and commuters who want to ride in all seasons and all weather. Similarly, for early adopters of this concept, they identified these groups: those who care about the environment, individuals who want to get exercise, those who want to commute or ride in “something that is fun and looks cool,” and people put off by the expenses associated with using a car.

As they talked about the VVM experience, the Murrays used language similar to other participants.

“It was a real kick in the pants,” said Kevin. “It really moved us — it forced us to move quickly and focus. It put us in touch with reality.

‘From the beginning, they said, ‘don’t focus on the prize money, focus on the information and the connections that you’re going to get out of this,’” he went on, adding that they’ve done just that.

Nevin agreed, noting that the process of moving from product conceptualization to starting a company to market that product has been a learning experience on many levels.

“Getting the company going was definitely the most stressful part of this, but it’s also the one I’ve most enjoyed,” he said, adding that the experience has provided lessons in not only business, but life.

“As a teenager, I’ve been growing up as this has been happening,” he explained. “This has definitely shaped my perspective, especially on how I approach things and how I’m going to approach college. This experience has given me a better picture of how an idea transforms into an actual thing. And you can apply that to other things.”

The Ride Stuff

Nevin Murray, who plans to build one of those so-called ‘tiny houses,’ find a plot of land to put it on in Montague, and commute from there to GCC, told BusinessWest that he’s not sure where he’s going to park his PEBL on campus.

He said the school has a few spaces equipped with charging stations, but he’s not sure he wants to — or is even qualified to — take one of those. Wherever it’s parked, though, his velomobile is sure to turn some heads, as it has everywhere else it has appeared.

Whether it evolves into a decent-selling product that becomes part of the landscape in this region or those cities listed earlier remains to be seen. But what is certain is that this father-son team has no shortage of entrepreneurial drive, which should, like the PEBL itself, take them where they want to go.

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

MGM, Surging Downtown Boost Prospects for Meetings, Conventions

Meetings & Conventions Sections

Meeting Expectations

Mary Kay Wydra

As news circulates concerning construction of MGM’s $950 million casino in Springfield’s South End, the region is finding itself a player in many more of the spirited competitions taking place to host meetings and conventions. That’s no coincidence, said area tourism officials, as well as those who plan such events. Because of the casino and other visible forms of progress, they note, the city is now in a different, higher bracket for such gatherings.

The planned gathering of the Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of America — the so-called ‘Big I’ — in August 2018 certainly won’t be the biggest convention ever to come to Greater Springfield.

In fact, with 600 to 800 members of that group expected, this event will be roughly one-sixth the size of the 64th National Square Dance Convention, staged in the City of Homes in 2015. It won’t be a hugely visible group, either — again, unlike those square dancers.

Resplendent in their colorful, often handmade outfits, the dancers were easy to spot as they walked to and from various downtown venues. Dressed in civilian clothes, the insurance agents will blend in; most people visiting or working in the downtown won’t even know they’re here, unless they’re wearing nametags.

Still, the announcement that the insurance agents are coming to Springfield was a significant one for this region and its tourism industry as they enter what would have to be called the ‘casino era’ —for many reasons. They range from the list of cities Springfield beat out for the honor — tier-one stalwarts such as Atlanta, New Orleans, and Austin, as well as neighboring rival Hartford — to the comments made by those who compiled a list of finalists and eventually chose Springfield.

Indeed, consider these remarks made to BusinessWest by Jeff Etzkin, an event planner hired by the Big I to scout and then recommend sites for the 2018 show.

“The casino was definitely a factor in this decision — in fact, if it wasn’t for the casino, Springfield would not have been a consideration,” said Etzkin, president of Etzkin Events, adding that there was sentiment to bring the 2018 event to the Northeast, and Springfield emerged as the best, most reasonable option.

There was more from Etzkin. “It’s not just the casino, though,” he explained. “It really helps that Springfield is changing certain aspects of its downtown to be more amenable to events like this. It’s the restaurants, the tourist activities … the whole package.”

Go HERE for a list of Meeting & Convention Facilities in Western Mass.

And there was still more. “We looked at this as an opportunity to get there before everyone discovers Springfield and the prices go up,” said Etzkin, adding that, while there was a tinge of humor in his voice, he was dead serious with that comment.

When — and even whether — event planners really start discovering Springfield and the prices do start to rise in dramatic fashion remains to be seen. But there are some strong signs that Springfield is emerging as a more desirable destination for gatherings of various types and sizes — from jugglers to Scrabble players; rowing coaches to women Indian Motorcycle riders (all scheduled to come here over the next 24 months), and that news of the city’s progress, not just with the casino, will prompt more groups to put Springfield and this region in the mix.

“I think people are going to be giving Springfield a harder look given the fact that we’re going to have this massive new attraction right smack in the middle of downtown that’s getting a lot of press, be it the parking garage going up or the Gaming Commission coming to town, or churches being moved,” said Mary Kay Wydra, director of the Greater Springfield Convention and Visitors Bureau (GSCVB). “The press is shedding a lot of light on the city, and as these groups make decisions, many are going to be saying, ‘this is a really cool city to check out now.’”

MGM’s planned opening in the summer of 2018 played a key role in the decision of ‘Big I’ officials to bring their convention to Springfield.

Wydra said this region has always had — and always sold — what the bureau calls the three ‘A’s. These would be ‘affordability,’ ‘accessibility,’ and either ‘abundant attractions’ or ‘all those attractions,’ depending on who’s doing the talking. Now, it can add a ‘C’ for MGM’s $950 million casino and perhaps a ‘V’ for vibrancy.

And all those letters should put the city in a different bracket when it comes to competing for events.

“We usually compete against Des Moines or Little Rock or other third-tier cities if we’re talking about a national search,” she explained. “Now, we’re going head-to-head with Chicago and Atlanta; how great is that?”

For this issue and its focus on meetings and conventions, BusinessWest takes a look at some of those events on the books for Greater Springfield, and also at why all signs are pointing to much more of the same.

Show Time

Mike Sullivan says the International Jugglers’ Assoc. (IJA), which he currently serves as a site consultant, generally has no problem finding cities that have the various facilities and amenities it requires for its annual festival, including a large performance venue — the group prefers grand, Vaudeville-era halls, like the historic, 90-year-old Plaza Theatre in El Paso, site of this year’s festival. Likewise, it can easily find cities that would fit the broad description of ‘affordable.’

What is has long struggled with, however, is finding locales that can effectively check both boxes. But Springfield can, and that pretty much sums up why between 500 and 750 jugglers — professionals and hobbyists alike — will be descending on the City of Homes on July 18, 2018, although there is certainly more to the story.

Indeed, instead of the jugglers finding Greater Springfield, this region (and, in this case, the GSCVB) essentially found the jugglers. It did so as part of a broader effort to bring more sports-related groups and events to the area. (That initiative also explains why the U.S. Rowing Convention is coming to Springfield in December.)

As Sullivan relates the story, the IJA, as a member of the National Assoc. of Sports Commissions, posted its festival requirements to that group’s website. Sullivan also staged a webinar, during which he explained what it would take for a city to host the festival. Among those who took it in was Alicia Szenda, director of sales for the GSCVB, who quickly noted that Springfield fit the bill; she crafted a proposal that eventually became the winning bid.

But while strong outreach helped prompt the jugglers and rowing coaches to sign on the dotted line, it’s clear that more groups are discovering Greater Springfield — through referrals, hard research, news coverage, or some of those all-important local connections.

There were more than a few of the latter involved with the Big I and its decision, said Wydra, noting, in the interest of full disclosure, that Joseph Leahy, a principal with Springfield-based Leahy & Brown Insurance and Realty, is slated to be sworn in as chairman of the national organization at that 2018 convention.

But Leahy & Brown’s Allen Street address was certainly not enough by itself to tip the scales in favor of Springfield, said Etzkin, who returned to that ‘package’ he mentioned earlier, the broader Western Mass. region, one that offers attractive options for members who bring their families — and there are many of those.

Alicia Szenda says many forms of progress in Springfield — from Union Station to new restaurants downtown — are making the city a more viable option for meetings and conventions.

Springfield’s ongoing efforts to revitalize its downtown helped bring the city into a discussion that usually involves much larger cities — including Chicago (where the convention will be held this year and next) and previous locations New Orleans, San Antonio, and Minneapolis — although smaller destinations, such as Savannah for 2019, have also been chosen.

But he made it clear that the casino was a huge factor in the decision, as evidenced by those earlier comments as well as his unique insight into the probable schedule for the casino’s opening (nothing approaching what would be considered official has been announced), which is very close to the chosen date for the start of the 2018 convention.

“There’s been talk of a soft opening and also a date for a hard opening,” he said, adding that all indications are the casino will be open when the Big I arrives on Aug. 22. “They were talking about September, but from what I understand, everything is moving along a little quicker.”

It Wasn’t a Toss-up

The casino did not play any significant role in the IJA’s decision to come to Springfield, said Sullivan, adding that, while his group was aware the city was soon to be home to such a facility and that it might be ready by the time they arrived, it did not really enter into the decision-making process.

What did, however, were some or all of those 3 ‘A’s Wydra mentioned, and especially the one that stands for affordability.

“No one gets paid to go to a juggling convention — everyone is spending their own money,” he explained. “We’re looking for very reasonable hotel-room rates, and we’re looking for rental rates on performance venues that would also be reasonable. A lot of cities that would be perfect for us, that have perfect facilities, and are very reachable by air, would also be perfect for lots of other groups, which means they’re busy, their rates are high, and we can’t afford them.

“We’re happiest when we’re in small cities where there’s a nice, small downtown with all the ingredients,” he went on, adding that, while the festival has been to large cities such Portland, Ore., Quebec City, and even Los Angeles, the IJA clearly prefers smaller communities such as Winston-Salem, N.C.

But the facilities certainly played a role in the decision, noted Sullivan, adding that Springfield Symphony Hall, similar in age and size to El Paso’s Plaza Theatre, fits the bill for the Las Vegas-style shows that are staged nightly during the festival/convention and are a big part of the gathering.

There are also seminars, open juggling 24 hours a day, competitions (attendees vie for the coveted gold medal and the accompanying $10,000 prize), and workshops, at which beginners and so-called hobbyists can learn from some of the most celebrated names in this entertainment genre.

“It would be like going to basketball camp and getting tips on your jump shot from Michael Jordan and Larry Bird,” said Sullivan, who has been attending the festival for a quarter-century now, adding that there are typically more than 100 of these workshops during the course of the event, some running several hours in length.

Wydra noted that the combination of attractive venues and affordability is a potent mix, one that, with the addition of the casino, should help Springfield turn more heads, especially those on event planners and convention schedulers looking to bring an event to the Northeast.

Both Sullivan and Etzkin said the groups they represented were definitely leaning in that direction, and as they mulled options in that geographic quadrant, Springfield emerged as an attractive option.

“We like to work the event into a location that’s convenient for people who want to attend the conference from a particular volunteer’s location,” said Etzkin, referring, in this case, to Leahy.

“Boston is a very expensive location, and Hartford, while it’s good from a flight perspective, it’s not exactly a great site for a conference,” he went on, using language that certainly bodes well for this region moving forward.

The Latest Word

Melissa Brown acknowledged that Scrabble is not exactly a spectator sport.

“It’s kind of like watching paint dry — some people will sit in on a match for a little while, but then they’ll get bored and leave,” she said, speaking, quite obviously, from experience gathered as a participant in events staged by the World Game Players Organization (WGPA).

The group will be taking its so-called Word Cup (yes, that is indeed a play on words) to Springfield in roughly 13 months, and while there won’t be many on hand at the Sheraton Springfield to watch, the competition, involving an anticipated 100 players, will be keen.

As was, in many ways, the contest for the right to stage this event, said Brown, a long-time member of that group and its current member liaison, who relocated to Wilbraham from the Midwest several years ago and was part of the team that chose Springfield to join cities such as Reno, Denver, and Phoenix (this year) as hosts for the event.

She said organizers were looking for some specific amenities — quiet spaces for the games and playing areas close to restrooms, because every minute counts (yes, players are on the clock for these games). But mostly, it was looking for a site in the Northeast as a way to help build membership there, and a location that was reasonably priced.

“We’ve had some smaller events in the Northeast, but this is the first time we’ve taken the Word Cup there,” she said, adding that she was the one who compiled the research given to those who made the final decision and chose Springfield over Detroit, Charlotte, and other contenders.

When asked what put the city over the top, she said it was a combination of factors, including everything from the cooperation of the GSCVB to the amenities at the Sheraton. “All around, it just seemed like the best option.”
It is the unofficial goal of the bureau to convince more groups to think in those terms, said Szenda, adding that a variety of forces are coming together to make this task easier.

These include more hotel rooms — new facilities have opened in Springfield and Northampton recently, pushing the number of ‘room nights,’ as they’re called, to 1,125 in Springfield and 4,000 in the region— as well as the casino and recognized progress in the region.

Together, these forces are getting Greater Springfield more looks, as they say in this business.

“The insurance group said they might not have looked at Springfield five years ago, and they’re not alone in that sentiment,” she said. “But because of what’s happening, not just with the casino, but with Union Station and the Chinese subway-car manufacturer and other things that happening, they are looking.”

Etzkin confirmed those observations, noting that, while Springfield still has a ways to go when it comes to having an A-list reputation within the galaxy of meeting and convention planners, perceptions of the city and region are certainly changing for the better.

“I was serious about getting there before the area gets too well-known and the prices go up,” he told BusinessWest. “That part of Massachusetts is beautiful, and people are going to want to go there.”

Staying Power

Despite Etzkin’s expectation that prices in Springfield may soon start to rise, Wydra believes that, for the foreseeable future, anyway, the city and region will be able to boast all three of those aforementioned ‘A’s.

And with the addition of MGM’s casino and growing vibrancy in Springfield’s downtown, the package that attracted insurance agents, jugglers, and Scrabble players should appeal to more of those who plan and stage events.

It won’t happen overnight, but it appears certain there will be, well, more overnights in the area’s future. And that means a new day is dawning for the region and its tourism and hospitality sectors.

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

Boat Dealers Navigate Challenges to Post Strong Sales

Luxury Living Sections

Rising Tide

Oxbow Marina in Northampton

A boat is, for most buyers, a true luxury item, and price tags can get high. Yet, boat sales have remained steady over the decades, and even the Great Recession posed only a blip for the industry, which has posted steady gains for the past several years. The bigger challenge, sellers say, is generational — specifically, drawing young people into the activity who will then share the passion with their own children.

Diane Bassett Zable calls it “water therapy.”

“You go away on a Friday night, spend a couple days and nights on a boat, and come back refreshed — you feel like you’ve been away even longer than that,” said Bassett Zable, co-owner of Bassett Boat, whose family business has been in Springfield for 73 years.

“You might not get your kids to sit still in your 29-foot living room, but on a 29-foot boat, away from video games or TV — unless you choose to have a TV — they’ll start playing cards again with the family,” she went on. “It’s a wonderful family activity. You’ll find a lot of families that boat also snow ski together, and vice versa; they want that family unity. Boating really does give that to you.”

Maritime enthusiasts across the U.S. echo that passion, and boat sales nationally have remained healthy over the past few years, with steady improvement each year the norm, according to Boating Industry.

In fact, following a solid 2015, this sector is expecting an even stronger year in 2016, Thom Dammrich, president of the National Marine Manufacturers Assoc., told the publication, noting that the broader economic indicators that affect sales are healthy. “The economy, while not robustly strong, is still positive. Fuel prices remain low. Interest rates remain low. There’s nothing negative happening to adversely affect boat sales in the coming year that we can see today.”

Chuck Burke, who co-owns Action Marine in Holyoke with Paul Robillard, notes that the inverse is also true. “When you get high gas prices, when interest rates go up and the economy is shaky, we see a direct drop on sales,” he said.

Not lately, however. Through mid-May, Action has seen a 16% increase in business over this time last year, but Robillard said that number may be a bit deceptive. Last year, a longer, colder winter meant a later start on sales, which was followed by a very strong June. This year’s mild winter weather got sales ramped up earlier, but a mediocre June would bring the numbers in line with 2015, so the jury is still out. But the partners are confident that brisk business will continue through the spring and into summer.

Mick Duda, owner of Oxbow Marina in Northampton, which has long sold a wide range of boats alongside its slip-rental, service, and supply business, agreed.

“Business has stayed strong,” he told BusinessWest. “The only slow year was about seven years ago, in the recession. People didn’t have the discretionary income, so they didn’t buy boats, or they were buying repossessed boats.”

In a healthy economy, it’s a different story.

“The people we primarily sell to have the capacity to buy these things. We’re not selling small sports-store-type products. Our cheapest new boat starts off around $20,000, but some go up to a half-million. That’s the niche I want to be in.”

Diane Bassett Zable says a passion for boating is often passed down from parents to children, so it’s important to get young families interested in the activity.

In a recent Boating Industry reader survey — including boat dealers, manufacturers, marina owners, and others working in the industry — 77% said they expect their revenue to increase this year. More than half expect revenue to increase by more than 10% for 2016, while only 4% expect their revenue to decrease. That would be an improvement over 2015, a year when 71% said their revenue increased, 13% reported a decline, and 16% said business was flat.

Duda said his team at Oxbow — which includes his children, Clay Duda and Shelley Anderson — has been recording strong sales at regional boating expositions. “We go in with a positive attitude, and our shows are always really strong. We have top-notch products because we’ve been in it so long, and we get clientele who can well afford to buy a boat.”

Behind the Numbers

Still, nearly half the respondents in the Boating Industry survey said they are ‘very concerned’ about the challenge affordability poses to the industry, with 96% saying they were at least ‘somewhat concerned’ about the issue.

But Bassett Zable said many are looking at raw numbers instead of the monthly cost — banks will accept 15-year terms on new boats up to $50,000 and 20 years for pricier models — while too many look to buy used, not realizing that new boats bring warranties and lower interest rates.

“A lot of people might not realize how affordable a new boat is,” she said. “When they’re new to the sport, they say, ‘oh, what do you have used?’ I chuckle at that. If you’re new to something, why do you want someone else’s headaches?”

Instead, Bassett deals almost exclusively in new craft, backed up with long warranties and a service culture — the staff answers their phones even after hours and on weekends — that have ranked the business second nationally on the industry’s Customer Satisfaction Index. After all, she said, a negative experience will chase newcomers away much more quickly than the price of a new boat.

As for a boat’s value, if it has a sleeping area, she said, that can become a second-home writeoff. “A lot of people don’t realize that. It’s direct waterfront property. You can wake up with a cup of coffee and a seagull. You can finance that for $100,000 and pay $599 a month. That’s the cost of a fancy hotel room for one night. It’s really affordable, but I don’t think that message has reached everyone.”

Mild winter weather with minimal snow, as the region enjoyed this past winter, can help raise the profile of boating come spring, Burke said. “You’re not getting bogged down in shoveling snow, and when the shows start in January, February, and March, that kind of gets the ball rolling. February is more like mid-March, business-wise, because of the lack of snow.”

In addition, he recalled, the last few years have seen rainy springs that raised water levels and kept marinas and boat owners from opening their docks early. “This year, the weather was more consistent, which was conducive to early boating.”

Duda doesn’t have an issue at Oxbow, whose slips are protected from swells and heavy flooding. “On the river proper, you never know what’s going to happen, but here, there’s no current whatsoever,” he said, adding that the slips are secured by a network of underwater cables, keeping everything in place.

He said the marina benefits greatly from its visibility from Interstate 91, but he doesn’t wait for business to come to him, taking part in shows throughout the Northeast and delivering product from New Jersey up to Canada. But plenty of customers visit the spacious showroom, lined with Crownline fiberglass vessels, Bennington pontoons, and other models.

“You can’t beat the exposure from the interstate. This is the crossroads of the Northeast, the junction of 90 and 91,” he said. “And people with this kind of money want to see what they’re buying; they don’t want to look at a catalog. They want to come inside a nice showroom and look at the boats displayed.”

The property, celebrating its 50th anniversary with a series of events this year, has come a long way from its humble beginnings. Duda was a dairy farmer in Easthampton when he came across some property for sale along the Connecticut River. He bought it with the intention of farming, but started to consider boating as a potential business opportunity. So he bought more land neighboring the first parcel — where hundreds of boats are now moored — and launched a marina. Today, he owns more than 200 acres, which is home to not only the marina, but two soccer fields and the headquarters of a waterski team.

“When I met with the neighbors, they were happy because it was a mess over here,” he said, recalling that the property was a popular site for nighttime parties before he began buying up the land — a good investment, it turned out, considering that waterfront property has become so expensive that many dealers can afford only small parcels with smaller showrooms. “But Oxbow has grown so much. We’re busy.”

Living Large

Sellers of large boats are experiencing a resurgence in business. Specifically, boats over 40 feet, hit hard during the recession, posted some of their strongest numbers, Dammrich noted, especially in the offshore fishing market.

Buyers who can work a larger boat into their monthly budget have more than one reason to do so, Bassett Zable said, including ease of operation. Twin-engine boats above 30 feet long can be fitted with a joystick and steered like a video game — in other words, much easier than a smaller boat.

However, many factors go into choosing the right vessel, Duda said. “A boat has to meet the needs of the family and what its desire is. If it’s just fishing, they want an offshore fishing-type boat. If they’re interested in cruising, overnights, that’s something different. If you can fit the family to the right model boat and price, then they’ll be happy. If not, they won’t be happy.”

Paul Robillard, left, and Chuck Burke say a robust service business buoys the bottom line at Action Marine no matter what kind of sales year it’s been.

Still, despite the positive signs, Boating Industry reported that a decline in entry-level boaters remains an issue for the industry in 2016, which is reflected in the continuing decline in sales in the ‘runabout,’ or small motorboat, market.

“Back in the ’80s, young people were getting into boating, but fewer are now,” said Burke, a 50-year industry veteran who opened Action with Robillard 26 years ago. That’s why attending boat shows is important. “It gets the boating season going and allows people to see what’s out there, what’s new.”

Action specializes in fishing boats — alumimum vessels between $10,000 and $20,000, and some offshore fiberglass fishing boats in the $20,000 to $40,000 range. “Our strong suit is fishing. What we’ve got, our niche, we’re sticking with that.”

But fishing is just one way to enjoy the water, Duda said. “Boating is certainly very popular, and it’s a true family form of recreation, which everyone in a family can enjoy at the same time.”

Bassett Zable understands the family appeal, but knows it’s a constant challenge to attract families who have never experienced boat ownership.

“Boating is here to stay, and once people understand how great it is, they love it. It’s such a fabulous family memory. And if their children grow up with it, they’ll want to stay part of it, so we have to make sure it stays affordable.”

To that end, her goal is to make boat shopping a pleasurable experience, and stress service after the sale. “Dealers look like equals, but we’re not,” she said. “Not all manufacturers are equal, and neither are dealers. What’s their reputation? If they say they’re going to do something, do they do it? If you buy a boat from Bassett, you’re joining my Bassett Boat family — and I take that seriously.”

She recalled someone who called, panicked, on a Sunday evening. He needed to clean up a spill in the cabin of his 34-foot boat before his wife saw it, but couldn’t find the central vacuum. “He was so happy that I answered the phone and helped him. I was in a supermarket in Florida, but I took the call.”

Bassett Boat, which overlooks Lake Massasoit in Springfield and boasts a second location in Old Saybrook, Conn., also offers learn-to-boat programs to turn novices into capable captains.

“I want to deal only with quality products that bring quality customers, and then turn around and give them quality service,” Bassett Zable said. “When you can stick with that strategy, that’s a winning combination.”

Continued Growth

Speaking of service, Burke said that side of the business is what insulates Action from recessions like the one that struck eight years ago. “If the economy goes down, people tend to put their money into repairs to keep what they have going. Either way, it kind of balances out for us because we have a strong service background, and people bring their boats to us for service. In fact, that’s what keeps the door open. Sales are nice, but secondary.”

Duda also stressed the value of taking care of customers, and said many employees have stayed with Oxbow for decades and know the business well.

“Work is what I live for, and I’m still working at my age,” he said. “I still wake up at 3:30 to plan the day.”

With his children doing most of the selling these days, Duda can devote part of his time to growing vegetables on some of Oxbow’s acreage. Last year saw squash, and this year he’ll be growing sweet corn.

“After all,” he said, “I’m still a farmer” — one who, 50 years ago, saw a future in the boat business and took the plunge.

Joseph Bednar can be reached at [email protected]

Development Associates Broadens Its Portfolio

Commercial Real Estate Sections

Building Momentum

Ken Vincunas stands near the bulldozer that will soon take down the Clarion Hotel & Conference Center, which will become the site of additional office facilities.

Over the years, Agawam-based Development Associates has steadily grown its portfolio to more than 2 million square feet of space under management. Behind those numbers are some intriguing new projects, including additional development just off I-91 in Northampton at the former Clarion Hotel & Conference Center property.

The walls of Ken Vincunas’ office in Agawam Crossing, the property his company built on Silver Street, are covered with photos that he and his daughter have taken in Italy, Spain, and other travel destinations over the past several years.

The front lobby of that space is another matter. The photos there feature landmarks of a different kind, specifically some of the properties Development Associates has built over the years and now manages. There’s one of the Greenfield Corporate Center, for example, as well as 8 Atwood Dr. in Northampton, one of two 40,000-square-foot buildings at that site, known collectively as the Northampton/I-91 Professional Center.

The list of properties, and collection of photos, has grown steadily over the years, said Vincunas, adding that the goal has always been to achieve smart growth when it comes to the portfolio — and thus cover more wall space — through new ventures with sound potential.

And if things go as planned, Development Associates may need to buy some more frames in the months and years to come.

Indeed, the company, which currently has roughly 2.1 million square feet under management in Western Mass. and Connecticut, is mulling additional opportunities at the Atwood Drive complex, if you will, including the former Clarion Hotel & Conference Center, which is set to be demolished.

Permitting has been obtained for 120,000 square feet of new buildings on the north side of the property, across from the two existing 40,000-square-foot structures — 8 and 22 Atwood Dr., respectively, said Vincunas.

But depending on how, and what type, of demand emerges, plans could change, and the site might instead be used for two 60,000-square-foot business facilities.

“We have something permitted, but there is a lot of flexibility with that site, and a number of potential uses,” he said, adding that the picture will likely come into focus over the next several months.

Located just off the junction of Route 291 and the Mass Pike, the former Dow Jones warehouse is now part of the Development Associates portfolio.

Meanwhile, Development Associates recently acquired the 80,000-square-foot former warehouse property operated by Dow Jones on First Avenue in Chicopee. Located just a few hundred yards from where the Mass Pike and Route 291 come together, the site is easily accessible and well-suited for distribution and manufacturing uses, said Vincunas, adding that there has already been significant interest expressed in the site from a variety of potential users. The company also completed a purchase/leaseback of two buildings at Westover owned by Ethos Energy.

For this issue and its focus on commercial real estate, BusinessWest talked with Vincunas about his company and its ongoing efforts to expand its portfolio of properties — and opportunities.

Success Stories

As he talked with BusinessWest at the Clarion site — just a few feet from the then-idle bulldozer poised to start tearing down the long-time Northampton landmark, which was home to the restaurant Page’s Loft and many other names over the years — Vincunas pointed in a few different directions on the parcel as he talked about what could happen there next.

Click HERE for a listing of available commercial properties

He said the property, owned by Atwood Partners, an entity whose partners include members of both the O’Leary and Shumway families (the latter has owned or developed a number of hotels in the Amherst/Northampton area), has a variety of possible uses, and a tentative plan has emerged.

It calls for a smaller hotel, a restaurant, and a four-story, 80,000-square-feet office facility slated to be built on the site of famous (or infamous) domed pool on the Clarion footprint. A sign now appears in front on the property announcing that the space is for lease.

But the hotel market is becoming more crowded, he said, noting a number of recent additions, including a new facility less than a mile away on Conz Street. So a hotel may not be in the cards.

Additional office space — an expansion of the professional center complex — certainly is, though.

The planned 80,000-square-foot structure is being described as ‘professional and medical space’ — there are plenty of both types of businesses at 8 and 22 Atwood Dr. — with spaces from 2,500 square feet all the way up to 70,000 (essentially the entire building) available. It would be built on a parcel that would make it very visible from I-91, and just a few hundred yards from exit 18 off that highway.

“It would be pretty much a landmark right off the highway when it’s done,” Vincunas noted.

But development of such large properties hinges on signing one or more large, or anchor, tenants early enough in the process to justify construction, he noted, adding that the days of spec building are long over in this market. (Clinical & Support Options is an anchor at 8 Atwood Dr., while Cooley Dickinson Hospital is an anchor in both existing structures).

“In order to move forward with a venture of that magnitude, you need to have some pre-leasing on a major scale,” he explained. “And there just aren’t that many of those anchor tenants out there — they’re getting harder to find.”

He is conducting an ongoing hard search at the moment, and already has a few solid leads.

If enough demand materializes, the plans for the site may be altered to feature two 60,000-square-foot buildings, he told BusinessWest, adding that there is ample parking on the site to support such development.

While efforts to secure anchor tenants for the planned Northampton development continues, the company continues work to add tenants to existing properties, said Vincunas.

Agawam Crossing, now home to an eclectic mix of businesses, is at full occupancy.

And there are many of them, scattered across Hampden, Hampshire, and Franklin counties and into Northern Conn. The portfolio is diverse, and includes everything from what’s described as ‘industrial/flex/technology space’ in South Deerfield, now available for leasing, to ‘flexible automotive space’ at property on Palomba Drive in Enfield, Conn. — 8,000 square feet of space is available — to the 145,000-square-foot Greenfield Corporate Center, home to a number of businesses and agencies.

One of them is the Greenfield District Court, which is scheduled to relocate soon to new space downtown and become part of ongoing revitalization efforts in that central business district. That will leave Development Associates with a large vacancy to fill; however, Vincunas is confident that, with the momentum now evident in Franklin County’s largest community, the building will gain new tenants.

“This is an excellent office park setting, and we have a great deal of flexibility with the property,” he said, adding that the space is ideal for a call center, medical facility, education, and other uses.

Meanwhile, the Chicopee property represents an intriguing addition to the portfolio, he said, adding that the property has been underutilized, and could be an attractive option for businesses across several sectors of the economy, given its strategic location.

“With such a great location and a good quality building, we could either take on multiple tenants or try to get a single tenant for the whole building,” he noted. “We’re entertaining a number of proposals to try and maximize the use of that building.”

Bottom Line

Development Associates recently moved into its own new space in the Agawam Crossing building, joining Comcast Spotlight and physicians affiliated with Mercy Medical Center as recent tenants.

The company has about 2,000 square feet, with a number of private offices, a large business hub, and a sizable front entranceway that has plenty of wall space.

That’s a commodity that will surely be put to use as this company continues to expand its portfolio with new properties that are suitable for a variety of tenants — and for framing as well.

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

Pelican Products Looks to Become a True Household Name

Manufacturing Sections

Making a Strong Case

Joe Eckerle, Pelican’s vice president and general manager, with one of the company’s high-end coolers.

For decades now, the names Pelican and Hardigg (which came together through a merger in 2008) have been well-known in the commercial, government, and public-safety realms, with containers used to ship everything from missile guidance systems to laboratory specimens. Now, the company — and the plant in South Deerfield that has been one of Franklin County’s largest employers for 60 years — is also making coolers, luggage, and cell-phone protectors, taking this brand places it’s never been before.

Joe Eckerle calls it ‘Pelican DNA.’

That’s a term — one he would use often — with roots that actually go back long before that corporate name and logo went up on the sprawling manufacturing complex in South Deerfield in 2008, and also well before Pelican products hit the market in the mid-’70s.

It refers, at least in part, to design, performance, and quality standards set more than six decades ago by James Hardigg when he started a company that would design and produce material, like foam, to protect products and, later, hard-plastic containers of all shapes and sizes.

Torrance, Calif.-based Pelican Products acquired Hardigg, its main competitor, because its standards, and culture, mirrored those set by Pelican founder Dave Parker, said Eckerle, vice president and general manager of the South Deerfield operation. And, in recent years, this international corporation has applied this collective DNA to an ever-growing roster of products that has made this brand something it really wasn’t before — a true household name.

Indeed, the name ‘Pelican,’ which was mostly known for commercial, military, and public-safety applications — its cases have protected everything from hunting rifles to missiles to parts for the Hubble telescope — is now also on cell-phone protectors, coolers, suitcases, GoPro cases, and even backpacks.

“They all have that Pelican DNA,” Eckerle said of the new products, referring not only to their hard-plastic backbones, but also to a reputation for durability — practically everything that is shipped out the door comes with a limited lifetime guarantee and is described with the adjective ‘indestructible.’

The recent efforts to expand the product line and enter new markets, such as the one for high-end coolers, is part of an ongoing effort to create more vertical integration at Pelican, said Joe Baltronis, senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing.

Joe Baltronis says Pelican has vertically integrated its operations and entered a number of new markets in recent years.

He told BusinessWest there are now separate divisions devoted to the commercial/government, ‘BioThermal,’ and consumer components of the company’s portfolio of products, with all three (and especially the consumer side) seeing impressive growth in recent years, triggered in large part by the specific focus — and expertise — brought to those divisions.

“Pelican was very much a matrix organization … everybody worked on everything,” he explained. “We realized while getting into the consumer world, especially, when we had been so entrenched in that commercial/government world, that we needed new expertise, we needed people who understood consumer retail cycles, we needed people that understood the variances of the various markets we were going after.”

This vertical integration and penetration into new markets has spurred a roughly 10% increase in the workforce in South Deerfield, said Eckerle, to about 400 people, 300 of them in manufacturing jobs.

But innovation certainly hasn’t been limited to new-product development, said Baltronis, who took a quick break from his conversation with BusinessWest to retrieve one of six sizes of protective cases now bearing the brand name ‘Pelican Air.’

“This represents a significant breakthrough — it’s an innovation statement,” he noted, while explaining that the case he was holding was roughly 40% lighter than its predecessor of the same dimensions.

Pelican Air went on the market just a few weeks ago, he said, joking that he believes a good deal of the sales to date have been to competitors bent on reverse engineering these cases to figure out how all that weight was taken out.

When pressed by BusinessWest on that subject, he was understandably shy with specifics, but did offer some generalities.

“Through our engineering efforts, we’ve been able to take a significant amount of weight out of the case, not only in the manufacturing process, the molding, but also with the components, where we’ve been able to do things like honeycombing, coring, and other processes,” he explained, adding that part of the equation is the material that goes into the mold, which is proprietary.

“It’s all top-secret,” Eckerle noted with a laugh, adding that it is certainly not a secret that the company, now with sales offices on four continents, is looking to take the Pelican and Hardigg brands to places they’ve never been — in every sense of that phrase.

For this issue and its focus on manufacturing, BusinessWest talked at length with Eckerle and Baltronis to get an in-depth look at the many forms of progress that have taken place at this Franklin County stalwart, and about all that goes into that term ‘Pelican DNA.’

A Different Mold

While the Pelican name is not always visible to moviegoers — although sometimes it stands out — there’s no debating that this company’s products have logged considerable time on the big screen (as well as the small screen) in recent years.

Indeed, its containers were omnipresent in The Martian, and made several appearances in the latest Star Wars installment. Products have appeared in some of the Iron Man movies — Tony Stark keeps his arc reactor in a case made by Pelican — and those with sharp eyes could also spot them in episodes of Alone and Dexter, among many other shows.

“Any military movie where there are cases in the background — that’s us,” said Eckerle. “We make for great background material.”

But while the company is making its presence known on Hollywood production lots, that’s not exactly one of the specific goals put down in a broad-based, constantly changing business plan — although such exposure certainly helps. Instead, the primary mission is to make that name ‘Pelican’ more and better known to a host of constituencies, including home and business owners, by putting it on more of the products they use.

It already resonates with a number of groups — from hunters and fishermen who walk the aisles at Cabela’s or Bass Pro Shops, to police and fire departments in most every community in the country (the company makes everything from the flashlights officers carry to the cases used to hold materials used to train bomb- and drug-sniffing dogs), to major defense contractors and the small shops supplying them with parts.

The company has done well meeting the specific needs of these consumer groups, enough it to make the global leader in high-performance protective cases. But in recent years, it has recognized opportunities to put that Pelican DNA into a host of new products, said Eckerle, and it is seizing those opportunities and gaining new visibility in the process.

“One of the big changes seen over the past five years is that you can actually walk into a store and see our products,” he explained. “Before, you would have gone to a dealer or gone online; now, you can walk into Dick’s and see our coolers.”

Before elaborating on the present and future, though, we first need to take a look back to understand how we arrived at this point.

Our story begins with James Hardigg, an aerospace engineer noted for his work to create what’s known as the cushion curve, which, as that name suggests, involves determining how much cushioning is needed to keep a product safe during transport.

He started a company that was initially focused on manufacturing protective materials, said Baltronis, adding that the industry term ‘cushioning’ goes well beyond foam, and extends to cradling systems and what amount to shock absorbers. It was years later that the company directed much of its focus to cases.

“Mr. Hardigg used to say that the only real purpose of the case is to protect the foam; the purpose of the foam is to protect the product,” he said, adding that, nonetheless, by the late ’60s or early ’70s, the company was far better known for those cases.

Indeed, Hardigg became the industry leader in a process known as roto molding, or rotational molding, whereby a heated hollow mold is filled with a material, in this case plastic, and is then slowly rotated, causing the softened material to disperse and stick to the walls of the mold.

Pelican Air makes what the company calls an “innovation statement,” and represents a key improvement to a core product.

Over the years, the Hardigg name was attached to a growing number of products, some manufactured in large quantities, but many of them custom-built for the specific customers. Cases built by the company, some as large as a room, were designed and built to protect everything from hunting rifles to cameras; from parts for the Apache helicopter to delicate medical instruments.

Meanwhile, a continent away, in Torrance, just south of Los Angeles, the next compelling chapter in this story was unfolding.

Dave Parker, an avid scuba diver, recognized the need for rugged flashlights and cases that wouldn’t leak, so he and his wife, Arlene, started a company that would manufacture one in his garage.

Named Pelican Products, this venture would soon move on from the SABRELITE flashlight to waterproof first-aid kits. Dissatisfied with the quality of the work turned out by a contract manufacturer assigned to make the cases, Parker decided to produce them himself.

The company would go on to expand its line to include a host of protective cases and other products such as industrial dive lights, said Eckerle, and become an industry leader in injection molding.

In 2004, the company was acquired by the private-equity firm Behrman Capital, and four years later, it would effectively double in size through the acquisition of chief rival Hardigg, making it the largest manufacturer of equipment-protection cases in the world.

Cold-case Files

In recent years, the company has taken the logical step of introducing consumer products imbued with the same standards of quality and durability, said Baltronis, who initiated this line of conversation by digging into his pocket, grabbing his cell phone, and proudly displaying its back side, which displayed the name ‘Pelican.’

It’s getting easier for consumers to duplicate that maneuver, he told BusinessWest, adding that the company now makes its Voyager cases for Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge, as well as a host of iPhones.

“This is a rugged, high-end protector — that’s the segment we’re in; it’s built to last,” he said of the one in his pocket, adding that this same philosophy and DNA (there’s that term yet again) is being applied to a host of new products, which bodes well for the company and the South Deerfield manufacturing facility.

As Eckerle (alongside Baltronis and Les Rhodes, facilities manager for the operation) offered BusinessWest a tour of that plant, he stopped for several moments in the large area now dedicated to the production of the company’s Elite coolers.

While pausing at one of the 30-quart models being readied for shipping, he turned his body in several different directions to point out the many different sizes and shapes now being produced, all the way up to 250 quarts, a popular model with commercial fishermen.

He then pointed to the wheels on one of the models.

“That’s something we do that no one else does,” he said proudly, adding a quick ‘to the best of my knowledge’ in acknowledgment of a market where things can change quickly.

The wheels on the coolers — those products are also certified ‘bear resistant’ by the Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee — constitute just one example of how the company doesn’t want to simply be in a market, he explained: it wants to be a leader and an innovator in that specific market.

The South Deerfield plant remains a world leader in the process known as roto molding, or rotational molding.

Consider this language from the ‘cooler’ section of the company’s website: ‘We hold ourselves to a higher criteria than other cooler makers,” it states. “From the latches to the freezer-grade seal to the toughest handles in the business, every part is engineered to our extreme durability and performance standards.”

There is similar verbiage in the description of luggage, cell-phone protectors, and backpacks (which are assembled overseas and feature crushproof, watertight laptop and tablet compartments).

But while new-product development has been the primary focus within the business plan in recent years, innovation involving what would be considered the company’s traditional, or core, product lines is also a big part of the equation, especially as competitors have encroached on that territory and taken market share by cherry-picking popular models to emulate, said Baltronis.

Pelican Air is a prime example of such movement. Marketed using catchphrases such as ‘floats like a butterfly, protects like a Pelican,’ the lighter protective cases represent, as he said, an innovation statement, and an answer to perhaps the only major concern voiced about Pelican products over the years: weight.

“We’ve launched a number of new products on the consumer side in recent years, with the cases on the core side taking somewhat of a backseat,” he explained. “As we started to look at encroachment, we brought our gaze back to the core products — and it wasn’t just ‘let’s come out with a few new sizes or form factors,’ it’s ‘what can we fix?’ And that’s what we feel we’re doing here.”

Case in Point

Baltronis told BusinessWest that the Hardigg name lives on today because it resonates across many industry sectors — although the containers sent out of the Deerfield plant are co-branded ‘Hardigg’ and ‘Pelican.’

That’s fitting because the two iconic names in this increasingly competitive industry share the same standards — the same DNA, if you will.

And that DNA is giving birth to not only new product lines, but new product innovations that will take those names from Mars (well, at least in the movies) to the kitchen closet to the cell phone in your pocket.

This would seem to herald more growth and vitality for that plant built by James Hardigg all those years ago, one that continues to break the mold in more ways than one.

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

Accelerator Helps Entrepreneurs Hone Ideas, Shape Dreams

Meetings of the Minds

The team at AnyCafé: from left, Evan Choquette, chief information officer; Logan Carlson, CEO; Chris Urciuoli, president; and Ryan Noon, chief technical officer.

‘Community’ and ‘network.’ Those were the two terms used time and again by members of the second cohort of Valley Venture Mentors’ accelerator program to describe the program — and they speak volumes. While those involved with the 36 ventures are competing against each other for prize money, they are also staring down the same challenges of entrepreneurship, thus making that journey a little less daunting for their colleagues.

Jas Maggu was relating some personal sentiments. But she was also speaking for every member of Valley Venture Mentors’ second accelerator cohort — and also anyone who’s tried to turn an idea into a business.

Jas Maggu, founder of AuthenFOOD

“As an entrepreneur, it can get really lonely, and you have huge ups and downs,” said Maggu, who has launched a venture called AuthenFOOD, which will bring gourmet, healthy foods right to one’s doorstep. Through her participation in the four-month accelerator program, which wrapped up a week or so ago, she finds she is far less lonely.

And also more enlightened, more confident, better connected, and, in her mind, better able to stare down the many challenges standing between her and success.

She is not alone in these sentiments. Indeed, as BusinessWest talked with several members of the 36-member cohort — some of whom had already given final presentations before their peers, while others were going to have to sleep on it another night and stand at the podium the next day — many common sentiments were expressed.

Individually and collectively, they spoke of camaraderie and shared learning experiences; gaining a firmer grasp of their specific concept, the market for it, and what it will take to advance it; making important connections; and simply being able to share common challenges and emotions that explain what Maggu meant when she spoke of loneliness.

These sentiments came from a diverse audience trying to advance a seriously eclectic mix of business concepts. For example:

• Joe Salvador is on the verge of bringing to the market a new silencer, or noise suppressor, for firearms, a product he believes will resonate with shooters trying to not only improve their accuracy but save their hearing;

• Chris Urciuoli heads a team of fellow Western New England University engineering students trying to seize what they consider a huge opportunity with a product that will enable the user to brew a cup of coffee anytime and anywhere — hence the corporate name AnyCafé. They’ve already heard from the CEO of Keurig, who told them he believes they have the next logical entrepreneurial step in the ongoing saga of the K-Cup;

• Dr. Alex Louizos is a vascular surgeon and co-founder and CEO of Nanotech Galaxy, which is working to produce software that will enable surgeons to operate more efficiently and healthcare providers to reduce their expenses;

• Lora Fischer-DeWitt has developed a line of jewelry called Scout Curated Wears that is already in a number of gift stores in the region, including Cedar Chest in Northampton;

• Angela Lussier has launched a venture called Speaking School for Women, which, as that name suggests, was conceptualized to help women become better public speakers and, overall, more effective communicators;

Lora Fischer-DeWitt, founder of Scout Curated Wears

• Tom Skypek is co-founder of an online networking tool he bills as a “Match.com for government contracting professionals”; and

• Terra Missildine, already a serial entrepreneur — she has a ‘green’ cleaning company — has launched a family-friendly co-working space called Cultivate. She jokingly notes that she wishes she was in the accelerator before she opened the doors (more on that in a bit), but she nonetheless credits the experience with helping her attain early success.

Vastly different people with a wide range of ideas and a common dream (actually, several of them) — that’s what the cohort is. As for what it’s about … we’ll let the entrepreneurs do the talking.

In the course of doing so, they go a long way toward validating the optimism expressed by those who believe the intense accelerator regimen will help steel its participants for the rigors they will face and create a host of new employers for the region.

2016 VVM Accelerator Finalists (in alphabetical order)

AnyCafé: Developer of hot beverage solutions for the future, including the Travel Brewer
Celia Grace: Fair-trade, ethical wedding dresses that give back and empower women around the world
DaVinci Arms: Designer and manufacturer of firearms suppressors and accessories for mission-critical applications
Homebody Holistics: Maker of all-natural, hand-crafted, herbal cleaning solutions using no harsh chemicals or additives
iRollie: Niche-market phone-case manufacturer and online retailer featuring the rolling tray phone case
Livingua: An app that connects travelers to locals who know the language and culture wherever and whenever they want
Name Net Worth: Connective platform that leverages trusted relationships to measure and strengthen a user’s personal and professional networks
Need/Done Inc.: Instant help for kids at home from people your parent network trusts
Prophit Insight: Software company that helps healthcare providers identify and acquire unique sources of physician referrals
Scout Curated Wears: Designer, curator, and producer of thoughtful women’s accessories
Sumu: Works with property managers and landlords to post fee-free apartments to help users find their next home
Treaty: Nanotechnology company whose flagship product is FogKicker, a biodegradable anti-fog solution made from nanocellulose

Getting Down to Business

“Joe’s the man.”

That opinion was expressed loudly by someone in the conference room at VVM headquarters in Tower Square — exactly whom wasn’t entirely clear to BusinessWest — but there were several heads nodding at the suggestion.

‘Joe’ is the aforementioned Joe Salvador, and the commentary about him was not simply in reference to his suppressor concept — although that’s part of it. It’s clear that, over the past four months, he’s been able to help several of his cohorts, through everything from valuable connections to words of wisdom.

“Joe has put me in touch with someone I’m courting to be an advisor,” said Skypek. “And I know a lot of that has happened across the board; there’s a nice community of people here who are all in this together.”

Joe Salvador says the accelerator process has helped him better articulate his suppressor concept and identify target audiences.

Such reflections cut right to the chase when it comes to explaining the accelerator and its inherent value — to those taking part and the region as a whole. Indeed, while the 36 participants are competing against each other for bigger shares of the $250,000 in prize money that will be awarded at the Accelerator Awards on May 26 — everyone will get at least $1,000, and the top prize last year was $35,000 — they are, as Skypek said, in this together.

‘This,’ specifically, being the struggle — because that’s exactly what it is — to turn an idea into a viable business. So, in many ways, the accelerator is a type of support network.

The cohort members are in various stages of development — Missildine and Fisher-DeWitt, as mentioned, were already in business, while those at AnyCafé entered the program with simply a concept — but they all have the common goal of accelerating their progression.

The program they were chosen to be part of helps in that regard in several ways, from rugged weekend boot camps focusing on specific aspects of business management to back-and-forth between participants, to interaction with mentors who can help the entrepreneurs with the issues right in front of them while also assisting them with seeing around the corner and anticipating what will come next.

Much of this support could be described as a form of tough love, or challenging the participants, said Missildine, among others, noting that friends and family members, while they mean well, will often tell entrepreneurs what they think they want to hear.

“Here, you’re confronted on your assumptions, and you have to essentially prove things,” she explained. “And that’s important, because as an entrepreneur, you don’t always have someone pushing back on you regarding the assumptions you make about your business.”

Salvador said the various efforts to challenge his team to identify a market for its product and outline a course for moving forward have certainly helped in the progression of DaVinci Arms, which he described as a spinoff from Wilbraham-based FloDesign, which has developed noise-suppression equipment for several applications, including the military.

“When we started this, we had a really strong product that we had developed, but we really didn’t have the business side locked down — you had two engineers running the company,” he explained. “Through VVM, we’ve been able to gain a laser focus on every aspect of what was needed to grow our startup.

“We needed to have our financials really well-addressed, what our customers and market segment were, how we were going to engage that customer segment, what we were looking at for funding, how we were going to raise that funding, and much more,” he went on. “Basically, all the minutiae that builds up the business, that’s what we needed help with: the details of financing, marketing, and sales, all coming together.”

Dr. Alex Louizos credits the accelerator with helping him create more effective presentations for his software concept.

Through all of that, VVM and its accelerator program helped DaVinci hone its presentation and target it to a specific audience, he explained, adding that, before, the team was giving highly technical presentations that effectively went over the collective heads in the audience.

“At the start, I knew that suppressors were selling like crazy, but I didn’t know who they were selling to,” he explained, adding that, through the accelerator experience, the venture has gained key contacts, identified its primary audiences, and drawn a road map for moving forward, starting with product demonstrations and putting the suppressors in the hands of distributors in gun-friendly states like Florida, Texas, and Utah.

Missildine said the accelerator process has also helped her with the audience-identification process and other aspects of her business. She’s grateful for the help, but wishes it had come earlier; if it did, she might have done some things differently.

“I’m a lifelong entrepreneur, and I’m extremely impulsive,” she explained. “I opened the doors to my business in the second month of the accelerator, and already see what I would have done differently if I had gone through the whole experience prior to launch.”

Elaborating, she said she would have shopped, and negotiated, more effectively for a space for the co-working venture — she joked that she has the highest overhead of any venture in the Valley — and she would have expanded her team and not tried to do everything herself.

Through the experience, though, she’s proven what she’s believed all along — that her concept is scalable. And along the way, she’s found “camaraderie and community” on a scale she couldn’t have imagined.

“The accelerator plugs you into so many more resources than the homework that you do,” she explained. “By going through this, I feel that my company’s in a much better place.”

In Good Company

Louizos feels much the same way about his venture, which centers around using artificial intelligence — what he calls “smart software” — that empowers doctors to diagnose patients more quickly and also enables hospitals to analyze data in a way that saves both time and money. He credits the accelerator experience with helping him sharpen his business focus and better articulate complex subject matter.

“When I started the accelerator, I couldn’t describe what I was doing in a way that a 5-year-old would understand,” he noted. “I received lots of critical feedback in a way that helped me explain my idea in a way that makes sense to everyone and also creates some enthusiasm about it.”

Summing up the experience, he said it helped him identify and understand the weakest aspect of his business — because, as the saying goes, it’s only as strong as that point — and improve upon it.

Meanwhile, the team at AnyCafé didn’t exactly have a business when this accelerator session started. Instead, they had a concept, and a bold one at that — to bring to the market a device that would brew a single cup of coffee anywhere the consumer chooses.

The key to this concept — and what has apparently kept others from bringing something like it to store shelves — is battery technology that fuels the heater in the thermos-like device, team members noted, adding that they have perfected this technology and are ready to scale up this operation.

But the science was and is only a part of the equation, as the accelerator experience has shown them.

“We didn’t have much entrepreneurial experience, but we knew we wanted to do this,” said Urciuoli. “Over the past four months, VVM has taught us the way you have to think to succeed as a startup company; they’ve given us the spirit and the knowledge to go out and create our product and a plan to get it to the market and millions of individuals.”

Logan Carlson, another of the AnyCafé partners, agreed, and, echoing Salvador, said the accelerator experience has provided insight not available in the college classroom — especially the engineering classroom.

Tom Skypeck was one of many who used the term ‘community’ to describe the 36 accelerator participants.

“It’s been a tremendous teaching experience,” he said. “Our knowledge has increased exponentially, just because of all the amazing people who are here.”

Maggu has been part of this teaching experience from many sides — she was a venture capitalist “in another life,” as she put it, and has been involved with VVM as a mentor. Now in the role of entrepreneur, she understands, even more than she did before, the importance of connections and learning from others going through similar experiences.

The accelerator process has given her both. Indeed, through her involvement with the program and connections made, she’s been able to forge a partnership with Fitness Together, one of several health clubs she works with to help individuals lose weight by eating better.

And she’s also learned by listening to and interacting with the other 35 participants.

“It’s been great to be part of this tremendous community,” she said, “where everyone you know is going through the same phases that you are.”

Like Maggu, Fischer-DeWitt said the prospect of starting a business can be very isolating. She then added another adjective: scary.

Things are somewhat less so than four months ago, she said, making frequent use of the words ‘network’ and ‘community,’ as so many others did, to describe what VVM, and especially the accelerator, creates.

“The connections have been amazing,” she said, adding that her business is growing rapidly — she’s now in 130 stores and has sales representatives in more than 20 states — and her experience in the accelerator will help her manage that growth and continue the expansion process in a smart fashion, literally and also figuratively.

Only the Lonely

The four AnyCafé partners now have matching dark brown golf shirts with their company’s logo. They had them on as they made their final presentation that Friday evening.

But they have much more than this wardrobe option, thanks to the accelerator. They have, as Urciuoli, said, much more of an ability to think as businesspeople, and not simply engineers with an idea.

Their learning curve, similar to that of other participants, but also unique in some ways, is what the creators of the accelerator program had in mind when they conceptualized it.

That, and making entrepreneurship just a little less lonely.

And in that mission, they have succeeded beyond all expectations.

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

Restaurant Guide 2016

Cover Story Restaurants Sections

Plenty to Chew On

This Year’s Restaurant Guide Reflects a Diverse Dining Scene

By all accounts, restaurant are flourishing across Western Mass., a region that offers nearly endless choices when it comes to cuisine, atmosphere, price range … you name it. For this special section, the 2016 Restaurant Guide, we venture to three establishments — with calling cards ranging from solar-brewed beer to classic French cuisine to singing servers — that clearly reflect that variety. Bon appetit!

Square One Advocates for Access, Opportunities in Early Education

Education Sections

Joan Kagan, Square One president and CEO

For more than 130 years, Square One has met the challenge of providing quality early-childhood education, thus serving not only young people, but also their families and the community. Today, as the importance of such education becomes ever more apparent, the challenges to providing it continue to mount. Square One is trying to meet those challenges through vital connections to a host of constituencies.

By Sarah Leete Tsitso

When a water main broke and created a massive sinkhole in the middle of downtown Springfield two weeks ago, Square One President and CEO Joan Kagan could empathize with those who were displaced.

She has seen more than her fair share of disasters and led her team back from the brink. In June 2011, a tornado tore through Square One. Eighteen months later, another of its buildings was destroyed by a gas explosion downtown. Even now, the view from the Square One administrative offices on Main Street is obscured by bulldozers, dirt piles, and orange fencing that are all part of MGM’s massive construction project.

Through — or despite — it all, this 133-year-old nonprofit organization continues to thrive, serving 700 children and their families each day, even in the face of adversity. When the tornado hit on a Wednesday evening, the agency reopened on Monday morning and had space for every single child in the program. After the gas explosion, it got tougher; the team was weary from living in crisis mode and struggling to find the energy to regroup and rebuild. Still, despite the loss of two sites, it had to turn away only 17 children, helping those families find other programs that met their needs.

“The key to the survival of Square One is our adaptability and responsiveness to the needs of the community,” said Kagan. “We have a great, committed staff and team, a board that is willing to take occasional leaps of faith, and a caring community.”

To further strengthen the organization, Kagan and the board of directors recently made a bold decision to expand the resource development team. She hired Kristine Allard in July as vice president of development, then added Dawn DiStefano in January to serve as director of grant development.

Together with Kagan, this experienced team is already making an impact in raising funds and awareness.

Building a Solid Foundation

Square One’s mission is to ensure that all children and families have the opportunity to succeed at school, at work, and in life by providing educational programs, family-support services, health and fitness resources, and a voice in the community. At the core of everything it does is a belief, confirmed by research, that children who begin learning early become better learners for life.

Programs at Square One include center-based child care; preschool and kindergarten; home-based child care in 40 locations throughout the region; after-school, weekend, and summer programming for children living in homeless shelters; fitness and nutrition initiatives; job-skills training for parents; parent education for incarcerated and post-incarcerated parents; supervised visitation; peer support groups for victims and survivors of domestic violence and parents recovering from addiction; and family literacy programs.

Kristine Allard, vice president of Development for Square One, says the agency hopes to build support by creating connections.

Taking a holistic, whole-family approach to early-childhood education ensures that the needs of the child are met, with a belief that family success contributes to educational success. As science and research have expanded to show the importance of early-childhood education, the demand for highly qualified teachers has risen dramatically over the past couple of decades. Unfortunately, salaries for these teachers have not kept pace, which presents a near-constant issue for organizations like Square One.

Kagan said early-childhood education has been a focus in terms of curriculum development and resources; however, there is still a lot of work to do in ensuring that programs can attract — and retain — energetic, committed, qualified teachers to lead these classrooms and undertake the important work happening inside.

For many years, early-childhood education was called nursery school, and was focused on keeping children safe and entertained while their parents were at work. Now, these programs are geared toward preparing children for public school, making sure they are ready to learn and interact with their peers when they enter kindergarten.

As this evolution progressed, the need for trained and educated teachers expanded. But supply has not kept up with demand, particularly since jobs in early-childhood education have notoriously low pay rates. Kagan said it is increasingly difficult to find and keep these teachers. As their level of education and training increase, they often leave to take better-paying jobs in the public school system.

Because Square One mostly serves at-risk children and families, Kagan and Allard stressed the need for teachers and others who can meet the unique needs of this population. Of the 700 children served each day, only four are privately paid. The others receive some sort of subsidy that enables them to access services.

Many of Square One’s children have at least one parent who is incarcerated. Others are involved with the Department of Children and Families, are homeless, have at least one parent in recovery, or have a teen parent. With this wide array of needs, Square One employs social workers, therapists, and others who can provide support services to the children and their families.

Many of these family issues have an impact on education, as well as the children’s social and emotional growth. If a child is hungry or malnourished, it affects that child’s ability to focus in school. If a child has a toothache, he or she may not be as cooperative and open to learning.

Kagan noted that 85% of brain development occurs between birth and age 5; if a child does not have a solid foundation, he or she will fall behind, resulting in lifelong implications for future success. To give a strong start to as many children as possible, Square One has partnered with the YMCA, Head Start, and the Springfield School Department on a pilot program geared toward providing free early education to 4-year-olds who had never before participated in a formal program. The school department, which received a four-year grant from the state, provides coaches who work with the teachers at Square One to ensure that the curriculum aligns with state standards.

“We realized there is a large pool of children entering kindergarten who have had no access to formal child care or preschool, so those children were entering kindergarten completely unprepared for it,” said Allard. “This means they are already way behind their peers, even when it comes to basics like how to stand in line or take instructions from a teacher.”

The program launched in September, with 60 children in three classrooms participating at Square One. Kagan reports that, while there have been challenges, the children’s growth has been remarkable.

If You Fund It, They Will Learn

Funding for pilot programs like the one at Square One is important, but only scratches the surface of the organization’s true financial needs. Kagan spends a considerable amount of time lobbying legislators at the state level to increase funding for education programs.

While she understands there is only so much money to go around, and plenty of worthwhile causes looking for a piece of the pie, she believes access to early-childhood education is crucial to the growth and development of society as a whole. She and others in the field have spent years advocating for adequate funding to cover the cost of doing business, which includes paying teachers a living wage and providing exceptional classroom experiences.

At Square One, the annual cost to provide high-quality early education and care is $15,000 per child. The state reimburses $9,000 of that cost, leaving a $6,000 gap for each child, every year.

“The state has to understand that this is really about getting children off to a good start,” she said. “We want them to succeed in school, graduate, go to college or vocational training, and become productive members of society. We also need the state and other stakeholders to understand the savings involved; when you invest in early education, the research has shown that there are significant savings down the road in costs associated with social welfare, criminal justice, and special-needs programs.”

Financial limitations have resulted in fewer programs offering these services to children statewide, and fewer seats in the remaining classrooms. In recent years, the number of available spots for those seeking early-childhood education in Massachusetts has shrunk by 3,000. This reduction in capacity is due to several factors, including the difficulty finding teachers and ever-increasing state regulations. If programs cannot find staff and cannot comply with state licensing requirements around the quality of the teachers they do find, they are closing their doors. It’s a simple business problem — it is not possible to operate without quality staff and enough money to pay the bills. When these centers close, it is the children who suffer.

At the core of everything Square One does is a belief, confirmed by research, that children who begin learning early become better learners for life.

If a child doesn’t have access to early-education programs, they have difficulty keeping up with their peers once they enter the public schools. The struggles are academic, social, and behavioral, and are challenging to address once the ship has sailed. For many of these struggling students, Kagan noted, it’s like going to a job every day where your boss yells at you for doing it wrong, but never shows you the right way.

This is where public and private investment in early-childhood education comes into play. Advocating for increased government funding is one way to raise needed funds, but it can’t be an organization’s only revenue stream. This is where Allard and DiStefano come in.

Developing a Brand

Since joining the team almost a year ago, Allard said she has been asking a lot of pointed questions. Did people in the community know the Square One brand? Did they know about the wrap-around services provided for families? Were they aware that there is more to Square One than preschool? Had people made the mental transition from the organization’s old identity — Springfield Day Nursery — to its new one?

The team sought answers to those questions, and built its development plan around the answers. This included implementation of a new annual fund-raising campaign, more marketing, bigger special events, and expanded outreach on new grant opportunities. The equation is simple: if they can raise more money, they can serve more kids, pay higher teacher salaries, and have a greater impact on the community.

“When you look at our families and the challenges they face, it can consume you,” said Allard. “Or, you can identify a need and perhaps make a call, write a grant, make a connection in the community, and, in the end, find a solution.”

While Greater Springfield does not have a deep pool of donors, the businesses and individuals here are generous with both their time and money. However, with fierce competition for limited dollars and volunteers, nonprofits like Square One are focused on tracking results. Donors look at their contributions as investments, and want to see those investments yield dividends. Kagan and Allard believe their donors appreciate the work done by the organization and understand how it benefits the community. But there are still those who may not be familiar with Square One and its mission.

Special events are one way to help spread the word and engage new supporters. While labor-intensive and time-consuming, events are about more than making money. They are also about making friends.

“Events let us get in front of people and provide them with that personal connection to the people we serve,” said Allard. “They get to meet the people their money supports and hear their stories first-hand. It’s different coming from the person who lived it. Afterward, people walk away with a better understanding of their community.”

That awareness also gives Square One and other nonprofit organizations a platform to advocate for what they need to meet their mission. For example, Kagan cited the Kentucky Derby-themed event held on behalf of Square One on May 7 at the Colony Club. This event, she noted, provides an opportunity to talk about the early-education and family-support services the organization provides.

“From understanding comes compassion,” she said. “That’s a big part of what comes from hosting an event like this. It’s about funds, friends, and advocacy. And, of course, it’s about having fun.”

Kagan and her staff bring that philosophy directly into the classroom, promoting friendship and fun as well as education. This long-standing commitment to families and children’s education has resulted in a large, dynamic group of donors and supporters who are always willing to lend a hand. Kagan recalls how, after the tornado, when she and her team escaped with nothing more than the items in their pockets, they were setting up shop in temporary space all over the city. A local business heard about their plight and showed up on their doorstop with a big box of office supplies.

“It may not seem like a big deal, a box full of pens and notebooks, but it was a very big deal for us,” she said. “You take those things for granted until you don’t have them. We literally had nothing; we got out with our lives, but that was about it. So, for someone to think about that basic need and make their way to our door with that box? It’s just one example of how this community rallies around its friends and neighbors in need.”

Scott Berg to Address the Challenges Facing This Springfield Institution

By BusinessWest Staff May 3, 2016