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Healthcare Heroes

Emergency Department Director Creates Efficiencies — and a True ‘Front Door’

Erin Daley, RN, BSN

Erin Daley, RN, BSN
Dani Fine Photography

Almost from the first moment she stepped into the emergency room at Cooley Dickinson Hospital as a nursing student at UMass Amherst, Erin Daley knew this was the environment in which she wanted to work — and maybe spend a career.

“The ER is one of those places where you either love it immediately or you know it’s not for you, and it’s always been a place I absolutely loved,” said Daley, who, when asked what prompted the fast, deep embrace of this setting, said simply, “everything about it.”

“It’s that ability to be reactive,” she went on, as she went into some detail about what she meant by ‘everything.’ “And be able to change priorities at a moment’s notice. It’s unique, challenging, but not in a negative context, and there is nothing routine about it.”

These sentiments are reflected in the way Daley talked about everything from a much-needed return to the ER at CDH after a stint as a telemetry nurse at Baystate Medical Center to broaden her horizons, as she put it — “even though I learned a ton, I knew labor and delivery were not for me and I needed to get to the ER” — to the enthusiastic manner in which she relayed her affection for the work involved with being a ‘charge nurse’ in the ED at Mercy Medical Center.

“You have to know everything about everyone at all times in order to fit the puzzle pieces together,” she explained. “It’s this constant juggling act.”

And her affection for this setting was clearly evident when she talked about how much she misses being directly on the front lines, if you will, in her current role as director of Emergency Services at Mercy.

“I loved being an emergency-room nurse,” she said, expressing clear regret at having to use the past tense. “On days that they’re really busy and if there’s things I could skip, I’d gladly do that to jump in, even if it’s just to help transport patients; most of the day to day does not allow me to be out there anymore.”

But while there is that drawback to her current position, if one chooses to call it that, there are nonetheless many different kinds of rewards — everything from orchestrating strong improvements in the overall efficiency of the Mercy ER to working with a host of other players to help stem the tide of the nation’s opioid crisis.

Her boundless energy has gained her the reputation of being a go-getter, one who gets things done, and overall future leader for our healthcare system and community. She is both an emerging leader and one who has emerged.”

For her achievements in all these realms, Daley was the top scorer amid a strong field of candidates within the Emerging Leader category for these inaugural Healthcare Heroes Awards.

To put her efforts into proper perspective requires liberal use of numbers. For example, she oversees an ER with nearly 80,000 annual patient visits, making it one of the busiest in the state in terms of visits per bed. She oversees a staff of 160 and a budget of $65 million. More numbers are needed to chronicle the process improvements she and her staff have orchestrated with several key measurements of care. For example, the Mercy ER has:

• Decreased the ‘left without being seen’ rates from 5% to 2%, thus improving revenues;

• Decreased overall ‘door-to-door’ time, as it’s called, by 57 minutes;

• Increased patient-satisfaction scores by 40%; and

• Improved employee-engagement scores by 33%.

However, words and phrases are needed to convey how all this was accomplished — phrases like ‘whole-person care,’ used to describe an approach that views health for ED patients as a segue into engaging them in better health — and ‘care map,’ an aptly named initiative that charts a course for individual patients, especially frequent visitors to the ER.

First, though, some words and phrases from Doreen Fadus, vice president of Mission Integration and Community Health at Mercy Medical Center, who nominated Daley, are in order.

“Her boundless energy has gained her the reputation of being a go-getter, one who gets things done, and overall future leader for our healthcare system and community,” she wrote. “She is both an emerging leader and one who has emerged.”

Volume Business

As she talked about her staff’s efforts in the broad realm off efficiency, or process improvement, Daley told BusinessWest that they are driven largely by necessity.

Indeed, the Mercy ED has 36 beds (just over one-third the number at Baystate Medical Center, by way of comparison), which she described as both a blessing and a curse.

“We’re very spacially constrained considering the volume that we have — 36 beds for just shy of 80,000 patients,” she explained. “That’s driven us to be so efficient; it’s made us relook at how we do things, look at our data all the time, and undertake process-improvement initiatives, because we don’t have the luxury of having a lot of beds.

“We look at every aspect of how a patient moves through the system,” she went on. “And if there’s any means for reducing waste and redoing processes, we’ll find it. If there’s 10 extra steps that a staff nurse has to take to do a particular task, taking that waste out of their day puts their attention where it needs to be — back on the patient.”

How Daley came to be directing these efforts at improved efficiency is an intriguing story, one of moving progressively higher in the ranks in terms of responsibility within that environment she came to love.

After her stint at CDH, she came to the Mercy ED in 2004. She told BusinessWest she was attracted by its reputation for being a nurse-driven environment, a description she found to be certainly accurate, and a foundation she would only build upon.

She started as a staff nurse, taking care of patients at the bedside, and remained in that role for eight years, eventually assuming charge-nurse duties, which, as noted earlier, she found quite rewarding.

Mercy Medical Center

Erin Daley says the emergency room, and especially Mercy Medical Center’s, is a unique environment she described as a ‘constant juggling act.’

“It’s probably my favorite job,” she said. “You’re really trying to manage throughput, and it’s a gigantic puzzle with all these moving parts. It’s about how you have to think about the ED; there’s a certain number of beds, ‘X’ amount of patients you’re trying to get through, you’re trying to allocate resources and potentially pull resources from one area to another area to always have throughput in mind, with the patient at the center of it all.

“You’re like an air traffic controller,” she went on. “One’s coming in, one’s going out, and you’re having to reassess that constantly in order to optimize the space that you have.”

In 2010, Daley became clinical nurse supervisor in the Mercy ED, and in that role was directly responsible for the supervision of the department, with specific duties ranging from staffing to scheduling; from compliance to being what she called a “real-time resource,” meaning she was still in the trenches. In 2015, she became nurse manager of the ED, assuming responsibility for productivity and throughput metrics.

And just over a year ago, she was named director of Emergency Services, meaning oversight of the department and all its personnel and not being in the trenches, as she noted earlier.

But it does mean bringing a higher level of efficiency to those front lines, while also bringing new meaning to the notion that the ED is a hospital’s ‘front door’ and a resource for the community beyond emergency care.

“I want to know what’s happening in the community and how I can be a supporting influence,” said Daley, noting that she is involved with everything from the region’s opioid task force to a committee battling human trafficking.

That phrase ‘supporting influence’ gets to the heart of both Daley’s management style and the philosophy that she and her staff members embrace when it comes to what an ED should be and how it should function.

Regarding the former, she said she is a mentor as well as a manager, one whose simple ambitions when it comes to her team are to “inspire, uplift, and motivate.”

And as for the latter, she said the ED cannot only be a place to receive emergency care. In the whole-person-care model, it is also a vehicle for engaging individuals in better health, through such things as medication-management discussions, assistance with setting up post ED visit primary care, behavioral-health services, and more.

As an example, she cited the drug-overdose victim who arrives at the emergency room.

“If someone comes in that has overdosed on opioids … we could be that last line of support to reach out to them,” she explained. “They may have burned bridges everywhere with their family, with their friends, and we could be that last line to reach out to them.”

Elaborating, she said those in the ED, through the unit’s Complex Care program, strive to be more proactive with those who overdose, for example, and not simply treat them and move them through.

“We follow up with phone calls and try to reach out and talk with these individuals after they’ve had a chance to recover,” she explained. “It’s a traumatic experience, that whole overdose process … you’re given Narcan, now you’re in acute withdrawal; it’s incredibly traumatic.”

Erin Daley

Erin Daley says her management style encourages teamwork and solving common problems together.

Fadus may have summed up Daley’s ‘front door’ approach best, noting that “her understanding that the ED can provide the entry way to both providing medical services and the guidance of health education has led to many patients experiencing healthcare through a system rather than rely on services mainly through the venue of the ED.”

By the Numbers

As noted earlier, there are many numbers, or metrics, involved with an emergency department, and all through her career and especially in her current capacity, Daley has been involved with bringing specific numbers higher or lower — whichever translates into improvement.

In the case of patient satisfaction, an upward trajectory is obviously desired, while, when it comes to the ‘left without being seen’ category, downward movement is the goal, because individuals are leaving generally out of frustration with the time they’re spending in the ER waiting room. And when they leave, valuable revenue is lost, and, more importantly, these individuals may be endangering their health.

To achieve improvement in that ‘left without being seen’ category, and all others, the Mercy team embodies ‘lean’ strategies commonly used on the manufacturing floor and other settings, said Daley, adding that the goal is always to remove waste and improve efficiency. But while doing so, patient care cannot be compromised.

And Mercy has managed to do this with what is perhaps the most-watched ER statistic, the one focused on door-to-door time (from when they check in until they are discharged), which Mercy has managed to reduce by nearly an hour — 57 minutes to be exact — to 157 minutes.

This was accomplished with something called a split-flow model, which, as that name suggests, splits those arriving in the ER into ‘lower acuity’ and ‘higher acuity’ categories. “If you can keep vertical patients vertical, the ease of them getting through the system improves, and you can decrease length of stay dramatically by not even putting them in a hospital bed.”

Elaborating, she said the ED took one of its triage rooms and created the aptly named ‘rapid medical exam’ (RME) room. There, patients deemed to be low-acuity are triaged, seen by a provider, and discharged, all from that one room.

“If all of those patients that are of that lower acuity never hit the back of the ER and never take up a bed, you increase your capacity for sicker patients,” Daley explained. “You increase capacity, not because you’ve added beds, but because you’ve added bed hours.

“When we piloted this on our busiest days, it was incredibly successful, and over the next few years, we went from Monday and Tuesday to Monday through Friday, and then, as our volumes grew, we expanded it to every day of the week,” she explained, adding that the RME model has also had a huge impact on the ‘left without being seen’ numbers as well, because of the additional bed space.

These improvements have come about through that lean approach to operations, learning from best practices, and working together as a team to solve problems and achieve continuous improvement, said Daley, adding that her management style encourages all this.

“I’m successful because I have an amazing team of people that I work with — everyone who’s in a leadership capacity in this department is an over-achiever and a go-getter,” she noted. “I’m not the kind of person who micromanages at all; I like to be collaborative and make a goal together.

“How each individual person gets there … I don’t micromanage that,” she went on, “because everyone has their own style, and they do better working their own project in the way they feel comfortable. But we all have the same goals in mind, and they are lofty goals.”

Looking ahead, Daley, now pursuing an MBA at Elms College, is focused on building upon both her leadership skills and her grasp of the many financial aspects of her position and others within the higher ranks of healthcare management.

“I want to be very knowledgeable about how my business, meaning my department, runs, and feel confident about that,” she explained. “From there … I’m not quite sure what the future holds.

“I like operations a lot — fitting those puzzle pieces together,” she went on. “I can see myself overseeing operations on a larger scale. But I also love the work I do in the community.”

Bottom Line

For now, she will continue to oversee the air-traffic controllers and others in the ED, create more process improvements, and, in general, go on being a ‘supportive influence’ — there’s that phrase again — with her staff, in the ED, and within the community she serves.

As Doreen Fadus noted, Daley is both an emerging leader and an energetic administrator who has, in many ways, already emerged.

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

Community Spotlight Features

Community Spotlight

By Alta J. Stark

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

What’s in Store

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

SEE: Lee at a glance

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

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

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

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

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

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

Character Building

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Edwards said Lee is unique because of its thriving downtown.

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

On Location

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

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

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

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

Daily News

SPRINGFIELD — Western New England University announced an educational partnership with All States Materials Group of Sunderland to offer Lean Six Sigma certification to its employees.

The two-month program leads to green belt certification in Lean Six Sigma, an internationally recognized, data-driven methodology to achieve operating efficiencies used in manufacturing and related industrial enterprises. Employees achieve levels of certification, known as belts, through classroom instruction and online modules, culminating in a substantial work-related project. Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt Lisa Totz of LT Consulting of Westfield is the primary instructor for the program.

All States Materials Group was formed in 2007 with the goal of harnessing the strengths and capabilities of several individual member companies and their employees within one united organization. Member companies throughout New England and New York offer road paving and maintenance services, using a variety of advanced asphalt products and additives.

“We are proud to offer this cutting-edge program to a regional leader in asphalt products and service,” said Richard Keating, vice president for Strategic Initiatives at Western New England University. “We see this initiative as a bold outreach, with clear links to our acclaimed degree programs and clearly within our mission to serve the growing economy of Western Massachusetts and beyond.”

Daily News

BOSTON — The state’s total unemployment rate remained at 4.3% in July, the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development announced. The preliminary job estimates from the Bureau of Labor Statistics indicate Massachusetts lost 200 jobs in July. Over the month, the private sector added 1,500 jobs as gains occurred in construction, financial activities, education and health services, and manufacturing. The June estimate was revised to a gain of 10,900 jobs.

From July 2016 to July 2017, BLS estimates Massachusetts has added 45,200 jobs. The July state unemployment rate is the same as the national rate of 4.3% reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The last time this occurred was April 2008, when the unemployment rate was 5.0%.

“Although the unemployment rate remains low, we continue to see persistent gaps between the skill sets of available workers and the qualifications needed for in-demand jobs. Our workforce-development agencies remain committed to closing that skills gap and helping the chronically unemployed receive the training they need to access a successful career in Massachusetts,” Labor and Workforce Development Secretary Rosalin Acosta said.

The labor force decreased by 11,300 from 3,708,800 in June, as 11,500 fewer residents were employed and 300 more residents were unemployed over the month.

Over the year, the state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate increased seven-tenths of a percentage point from 3.6% in July 2016. There were 33,000 more unemployed people over the year compared to July 2016.

The state’s labor-force participation rate — the total number of residents 16 or older who worked or were unemployed and actively sought work in the last four weeks — decreased three-tenths of a percentage point to 66.4% over the month. The labor-force participation rate over the year has increased 1.5% compared to July 2016.

The largest private sector percentage job gains over the year were in education and health services; construction; financial activities; and professional, scientific, and business services.

Briefcase Departments

Employer Confidence Slips Slightly in July

BOSTON — The Associated Industries of Massachusetts Business Confidence Index shed 0.3 points to 61.5 last month, leaving it 6.4 points higher than a year ago. The Index has gained ground in five of seven months so far in 2017. The July slip was led by the Employment Index, which dropped 2.4 points from June. Experts on the AIM Board of Economic Advisors (BEA) believe the slide reflects employers’ inability to hire skilled workers amid a tight labor market rather than a hiring slowdown caused by economic factors. “Confidence levels at or above 60 signal continued strong confidence among employers in the direction of the state and national economies,” said Raymond Torto, BEA chair and lecturer at Harvard Graduate School of Design. “The labor shortage is a serious issue. We hear anecdotes from companies in multiple industries that are turning away business or postponing expansions because they can’t find tech specialists, manufacturing workers, or electricians to take the new jobs.” The AIM Index, based on a survey of Massachusetts employers, has appeared monthly since July 1991. It is calculated on a 100-point scale, with 50 as neutral; a reading above 50 is positive, while below 50 is negative. The Index reached its historic high of 68.5 on two occasions in 1997-98, and its all-time low of 33.3 in February 2009. The index has remained above 50 since October 2013. The constituent indicators that make up the overall Business Confidence Index were mixed during July. The Massachusetts Index, assessing business conditions within the Commonwealth, lost a point to 63.2, still six points higher than in July 2016. The U.S. Index of national business conditions rose 0.5 points to 57.9 despite lingering uncertainty about federal healthcare and economic policy. July marked the 88th consecutive month in which employers have been more optimistic about the Massachusetts economy than the national economy. The Current Index, which assesses overall business conditions at the time of the survey, declined 0.7 points to 61.2, while the Future Index, measuring expectations for six months out, edged up 0.1 point to 61.8. The Future Index ended the month seven points higher than a year ago. The Company Index, reflecting overall business conditions, lost 0.2 points to 62.2, up 6.3 points during the 12-month period. And though the Employment Index dropped to 55.7, the Sales Index rose for the third consecutive month, gaining 1.5 points to 64.1. The AIM survey found that 39% of respondents reported adding staff during the past six months, while 19% reduced employment. Expectations for the next six months are similar, with 37% expecting to hire and only 10% downsizing. Elliot Winer, chief economist with Winer Economic Consulting, said workers with the type of skills needed by employers in growing industries remain in short supply, even though Massachusetts has posted significant increases to its labor force so far in 2017. “Employers report that it is increasingly hard to fill jobs. Job vacancies now significantly exceed new hiring. And yet, wage growth in the state has been near zero when adjusted for inflation,” Winer said. Manufacturing companies remained optimistic about the economy with the 59.6 confidence reading, but not as optimistic as employers outside the manufacturing sector, who posted a 63.6 result. AIM President and CEO Richard Lord, also a BEA member, noted that employer confidence in the Massachusetts economy has stalled as the state Legislature has taken several troubling votes, including one to force employers to close a $200 million gap in MassHealth with no long-term program reforms.

Family Business Center to Host Summit for Couples in Business

AMHERST — Anyone in the unique (but not uncommon) situation of working with their spouse or significant other might be interested in being one of eight to 10 couples to take part in an upcoming ‘spouses summit,’ a constructive, honest, cathartic discussion and learning opportunity for couples in business. The Family Business Center of Pioneer Valley is planning such an event. The business owners represented will be from a mix of non-competing companies of various sizes and industries. A few lessons will be built in a la short talks on communication, conflict, professionalism, marketing oneself as a family business, etc., but it will also be a lightly facilitated, largely free-flowing conversation, comparing notes with others who are in the same scenario: working with one’s beloved. The Family Business Center has been presenting helpful programs, workshops, roundtables, and more for families in business since 1994, including a couple of successful sibling summits and one spouses summit. The cost will likely be around  $120 per couple, and limited to the first eight to 10 couples who register and pay. A date will then be chosen that will work for all participants. For more information, call Ira Bryck at (413) 835-0810.

Opinion

Editorial

Back at the start of this century, BusinessWest awarded its coveted Top Entrepreneur Award, established just a few years earlier, to Andrew Scibelli, then president of Springfield Technical Community College.

The choice, while heralded by some, drew some rather cynical e-mails and phone calls from observers who really couldn’t understand how an educator — and a state employee, no less — could win an award for entrepreneurship.

Such thinking, while in some ways understandable, is nonetheless narrow and shortsighted. In fact, this region’s colleges and universities have provided some of the best examples of entrepreneurial thinking over the past few decades — and they keep coming.

So much so that when the decision makers at BusinessWest gather to discuss potential honorees for the Top Entrepreneur Award, several from the ranks of higher education typically come under consideration.

Bay Path University’s new doctorate program in Occupational Therapy (see story, page 27), the school’s first, is only the latest of dozens of entrepreneurial endeavors launched by the school since Carol Leary became president in 1994 — including, ironically enough, an MBA program in Entrepreneurial Thinking & Innovative Practices — and Bay Path is just one of many schools to embrace an entrepreneurial mindset.

Indeed, other examples abound, from UMass Amherst’s opening of a campus in downtown Springfield to American International College’s introduction of new programs and aggressive pursuit of students not only across this country but in other countries; from Westfield State University’s large investment in a school-operated dining service (inspired by UMass Amherst’s hugely successful program) to Western New England University’s new Pharmacy program; from Elms College’s aggressive investments in new programs (which have brought it back from fiscal distress) to new campus-center projects at STCC and Holyoke Community College.

The list goes on, and on, and on.

But let’s back up a minute and put all this in perspective.

First, what does it mean to be entrepreneurial? It means moving a business or organization forward by recognizing opportunities and seizing them effectively. Some would call it calculated risk-taking, and that description works as well.

Successful entrepreneurs know that, no matter what field they’re in, be it manufacturing, healthcare, or financial services, they can’t stand still, expecting to do things as they’ve always done them, and hope to succeed.

It’s the same in higher education. These institutions can’t stand still, especially at a time of immense change — including smaller high-school graduating classes — and competition.

Back in 2000, Scibelli was honored for many initiatives, but especially his work to create partnerships with a host of major corporations that created learning (and job) opportunities for students, and also for his work to convert the former Digital Equipment Corp. complex located across from the STCC campus into a technology park that has brought hundreds of jobs to this area.

Today, schools are being entrepreneurial in a host of ways, all designed to create opportunities for those schools (meaning much-needed revenue) but also deliver all-important value to those that are meeting the high cost of a college education today.

The cynics would say it’s easy to be entrepreneurial when you’re spending the taxpayers’ money — which is what the presidents of the public colleges and universities are doing, in essence — or when you have huge endowments to draw from as you consider building new science buildings and dormitories.

But our public schools are not well-supported by this state, and, by and large, the private schools are not sitting on Harvard-like endowments. The investments they’ve made have definitely been calculated risks, but risks nonetheless.

Standing still was not, and is not, an option.

And there are lessons here — both literally and figuratively — to be learned and embraced by all area business owners.

Daily News

WATERTOWN — Nineteen companies from across the state have been selected as finalists for the 2017 Team Massachusetts Economic Impact Awards, awarded annually by MassEcon for their outstanding contributions to the Massachusetts economy.

This year, there are three finalists based in Western Mass.:

  • Avista Pharma Solutions Inc., in Agawam, a leading U.S.-based contract testing, development, and manufacturing organization for the pharmaceutical industry;
  • Interprint USA Inc., in Pittsfield, a global company and a leading designer and décor printer for the laminate industry; and
  • Tsubaki, in Chicopee, a Leading manufacturer and supplier of automotive parts and designer of driving systems.

 

Together, these companies have added more than 90 jobs to the Commonwealth, invested over $22 million, and expanded their facilities by over 130,000 square feet since January 2016.

 

The finalist companies, representing businesses from Greater Boston to Western Massachusetts, range in size and are drawn from different sectors including, manufacturing, distribution, biotechnology, food, medical devices, and technology. MassEcon selected the finalists based on their job growth, facility expansion, and investment since Jan. 1, 2016, as well as other criteria including community involvement. The finalists collectively have added more than 1,500 jobs to the Commonwealth, invested more than $500 million, and expanded their facilities by nearly 3 million square feet since January 2016.

Finalists will present one-minute elevator pitches describing their growth in the Bay State to a panel of judges and business leaders on Sept. 13 at Nutter McClennen & Fish LLP in Boston. Secretary of Housing and Economic Development, Jay Ash, will be the featured guest at the event.

Finalists compete on a regional basis, defined as West, Central, Southeast, Northeast, and Greater Boston. From the pool of finalists, a gold, silver, and bronze winner will be selected from each region. The winners from each of the five regions will be announced in October and recognized at an awards luncheon on Nov. 21 in Boston.

Features

A New Experiment

umasslifesciencelabsPeter Reinhart, director of the Institute for Applied Life Sciences at UMass Amherst, said there’s a tendency in academia to think of private industry as the enemy. As one of the nation’s foremost public research institutions, however, UMass has become increasingly engaged with industry, most recently through an expansion of the institute’s core facilities with high-tech equipment that companies can use to help bring ideas to market. It’s a true win-win, UMass officials say, and an example of how public-private partnerships are changing the face of higher education.

UMass Amherst may be renowned for cutting-edge scientific research, but when it comes from turning published papers into public benefits, the transition hasn’t always been smooth.

“What we don’t do well is move the results of our research into society,” said Jim Capistran, executive director of the UMass Innovation Institute. “We’re not good at that. We’re not out there working with industry.”

That’s changing, though, as some 120 representatives from advanced and precision manufacturing firms, research and development companies, commercial lenders, and community colleges learned during a recent visit to UMass Amherst’s Institute for Applied Life Sciences (IALS, pronounced aisles) to learn about how its newly opened core facilities can help them boost the state’s manufacturing economy.

We want all the precision manufacturers and related industry in the state to know that we are open for business.”

“Now, we have this pathway to commercialization, to take our research and work with industries of all sizes,” Capistran told BusinessWest. “We now have this vehicle to bring research to fruition and make an impact on society.”

Located inside the IALS building, these core facilities — now numbering 30 — and their high-tech equipment are available not only to UMass researchers, but to companies that want to rent the space and equipment.

Peter Reinhart

Peter Reinhart says the core facilities at IALS can help UMass researchers turn academic papers into public benefit, while helping companies solve problems for customers.

The four newly opened core facilities offer additive manufacturing, 3D metal and plastic printing, roll-to-roll manufacturing, device characterization, materials testing, modeling, simulation, computer-assisted design, and other analytical core research facilities that will be available for advanced manufacturers to test designs and prototypes, for example, that could lead to a new product, land a new customer, or add jobs, Capistran explained.

“We want all the precision manufacturers and related industry in the state to know that we are open for business,” he told the visitors. “Today, they can see for themselves what we have to offer.”

Among Capistran’s roles is serving a point of contact for university engagement with industry, which has become an increasing priority over the past decade, he told BusinessWest.

“All these companies have this big research institution in their backyard, but they don’t use it,” he noted, ticking off reasons why they should. “They have their limitations; they can’t buy the latest and greatest tools, and they don’t have the people to use them. As we’re getting to know these companies, they’re finding we’re approachable; we’re not mad scientists running around an ivory tower. They can come here for help with introducing them to new technologies and new ways to approach solutions.”

Manufacturers are listening; among the attendees at the open house were product designers, research engineers, and others from not only large firms such as Raytheon, Pratt & Whitney, Saint-Gobain, General Dynamics, and General Electric, but scores of smaller, local precision- and advanced-manufacturing firms.

Chancellor Kumble Subbaswamy expressed to them his commitment to partnering to with industry to support their growth, asserting that, “when Massachusetts manufacturers are successful, the whole state benefits.”

At the same time, the benefits to UMass researchers are obvious, said Peter Reinhart, IALS director. “They’re thinking, ‘I can get more than a great paper out of this.’ They may not have thought that before, but this campus is becoming more industry-friendly. They’re not the enemy. They can help us.”

Next Big Thing

IALS was created in 2013 with $150 million in capital funding from the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center (MLSC) and the university itself. Its mission is to accelerate life-science research and advance collaboration with industry to effectively shorten the gap between scientific innovation and technological advancement.

Reinhart, a veteran biopharmaceutical executive and researcher, said the institute achieves this goal through three translational centers: the Models to Medicine Center, which harnesses campus research strengths in life science; the Center for Bioactive Delivery, which seeks to discover new paradigms for the discovery of optimized delivery vehicles for drugs; and the Center for Personalized Health Monitoring, which aims to accelerate the development and commercialization of low-cost, wearable, wireless sensor systems for health and biometric monitoring.

The goal, Reinhart said, is to realize a broad range of societal benefits that are practical and accessible for the average person.

We’re generating next-generation drug delivery, so the drug itself has the ability to target the inflamed cells. For instance, instead of the drug sloshing all throughout the body, it can target just the cell types in the body that need medicine, which keeps the concentration at the target site high and low elsewhere.”

“We don’t want to develop the next $1,000 or $2,000 home-monitoring device,” he explained, “but the next $20 device that sticks on the skin and measures information about your individual, personal trajectory.”

Meanwhile, in the Center for Bioactive Delivery, “we’re generating next-generation drug delivery, so the drug itself has the ability to target the inflamed cells,” he told BusinessWest. “For instance, instead of the drug sloshing all throughout the body, it can target just the cell types in the body that need medicine, which keeps the concentration at the target site high and low elsewhere.”

In short, IALS wants to create connections between research and the marketplace, and the new core facilities that focus on high-tech manufacturing will be a key step in that process.

Kristen Carlson, president of Peerless Precision Inc. of Westfield and president of the Western Mass. chapter of the National Tooling and Machining Assoc., told open-house attendees that more than 200 precision-manufacturing firms operate in the state’s four western counties, supplying many thousands of high-quality precision parts each year to the aircraft, aerospace, medical-device, fine-finishing, and robotics industries, among others.

Jim Capistran

Jim Capistran says UMass researchers aren’t “mad scientists running around an ivory tower,” but a practical resource manufacturers can tap into.

Increasingly, this requires sophisticated design and small-batch production of customized components made on extremely high-tech equipment. Among many other services, the IALS core facilities will assist in design and testing to such standards, she added. “I cannot stress enough how beneficial it is to have such innovation centers available to us. I am thrilled to see UMass expand the resources available to us.”

Matthew Koons of Boyd Technologies in Lee said customers approach advanced manufacturers with ideas, many of which require testing and experimentation. “This kind of facility allows us to expand our ability to translate ideas into a product, and more quickly, so we don’t have to reinvent the wheel. Anything that speeds the process and allows more rapid innovation is very valuable.”

Oh-Hun Kwon, director of external relations for Saint-Gobain’s Northboro R&D Center, added that the international firm, which specializes in construction and high-performance materials, appreciates the access to new talent it finds in Amherst. “We’ve enjoyed a long-term relationship with UMass for almost 10 years now,” he noted. “We find the faculty and facilities are top-notch, and we find them a powerful partner in meeting many technical challenges.”

Getting on the Same Page

The very existence of IALS owes a lot to the concept of partnerships. Its creation was funded by $95 million from the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center, a quasi-public agency that oversees a $1 billion investment made by the Deval Patrick administration in 2007. UMass kicked in another $55 million to IALS for a total seed funding of $150 million.

“We call it the ‘triple P’ — public-private partnerships,” Capistran told BusinessWest. “We’ve been doing this in Massachusetts for a number of years, and more and more, other states are doing it as well.” For instance, he noted, the state of New York has poured billions into the SUNY Binghamton area in an effort to create another Silicon Valley, while Ohio has invested heavily in the Edison Project. And those are just two examples.

“I think we’re doing it a little bit better here,” he went on. “The state doesn’t put as much money into it because it’s a public-private partnership. The governor has said, ‘I put up money, but you put up money, too; it’s not a free ride.’ I think that’s a good idea.”

But the effort takes more than just funding; it requires an aggressive outreach to the business world.

“I think we’re doing a good job,” Capistran said. “We could do better, and I think people are realizing that we have to engage different partners early, making sure everyone is on the same page, and everyone’s interests are heard.”

Equally important, Reinhart said, is making it easy for industry partners to collaborate.

Western Mass. is much more affordable, and quality of life here is really nice, so we’re doing a lot to get more businesses to spin out from these collaborations and get them to put down roots in Western Mass.”

“We have made the process of getting access to our core facilities as easy as we can,” he told BusinessWest. “We can turn contracts around in a matter of days, not months. We’re geared toward providing access to equipment and faculty expertise in a very streamlined, fast way.”

For companies, IALS provides a key resource and equipment they might not be able to afford on their own — and it could make a difference whether they invest in Western Mass. or go elsewhere. After all, lab space in Cambridge can cost four times as much as in Amherst.

“Western Mass. is much more affordable, and quality of life here is really nice, so we’re doing a lot to get more businesses to spin out from these collaborations and get them to put down roots in Western Mass.,” Capistran explained.

He added that the university also coordinates with other innovation centers, such as the Berkshire Innovation Center in Pittsfield and the Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology in Enfield, to make sure UMass is investing in complementary equipment to what’s already available. It has also connected with vocational schools to introduce students to the latest technological advances and prime the pump of interest in advanced manufacturing.

“Whether it’s from their parents or guidance counselors, some have the perception of manufacturing as a dirty, grease-under-the-fingernails trade. It’s not like that; all these shops now computerized, high-tech, clean, and pay good money. We want to help clarify perceptions.”

Into the Future

As to what the next core facilities might be at IALS, well, it can be tough to predict years ahead.

“Ten years ago, you didn’t even hear about 3D printing,” Capistran said. “What’s going to happen 10 years from now? Technology you haven’t even heard of yet.”

As challenges go, it’s an exciting one, and he’s looking forward to seeing more breakthroughs on the UMass campus turn into real-world products, and more companies helping clients with solutions using technology they normally wouldn’t be able to access.

“Like many universities, the way we worked with industry was broken,” he said. “But we fixed that.”

Joseph Bednar can be reached at [email protected]

Meetings & Conventions Sections

Echoes from the Past

John Aubin

John Aubin says the space in Mill 1 at Open Square is modern, but also comfortable.

It’s called ‘industrial modern.’

That’s the phrase attached to a genre of interior design, one that takes cues from old factories and industrial spaces — or uses such facilities themselves — and blends them with modern fixtures and furniture to create a unique working and playing environment that blends the past with the present.

That look and feel — which John Aubin, owner, developer, and chief designer at Open Square in Holyoke, also described with the phrases ‘accessible modern’ and ‘comfortable modern’ — are becoming increasingly popular with a host of constituencies. They include people in business, and especially those involved in creative work, who find such spaces inspiring and conducive to imagination and forward thinking.

And Aubin believes this helps explain why Mill 1 at Open Square, the meeting and event space he carved out of one of oldest mill buildings in Holyoke, has become popular not only as a wedding-reception site — there are 40 to 50 of those a year — but also as a place for strategic-planning sessions and other types of corporate gatherings.

“A number of major corporations have rented this space for brainstorming,” he explained. “They’ll rent it for anywhere from one to three days, and sometimes it’s as few as 10 people. They find it a very creative space; they’ll set up whiteboards and displays, and they’ll just brainstorm.”

Indeed, over the past several years, several regional and national corporations, including Hasbro, PepsiCo, and the New York City-based global design firm IDEO, have found Mill 1, said Aubin, who put extra emphasis on the word found. That’s because there hasn’t been much, if any, direct marketing of this space to the business community, and many who have chosen it have done so after Internet searches of unique meeting facilities.

A number of major corporations have rented this space for brainstorming. They’ll rent it for anywhere from one to three days, and sometimes it’s as few as 10 people. They find it a very creative space; they’ll set up whiteboards and displays, and they’ll just brainstorm.”

Overall, the Mill 1 space, which came online roughly at this start of this decade, has shown itself to be quite versatile, hosting everything from performances of the Enchanted Circle Theatre to Common Capital’s annual meeting; from the EDC’s announcement of the new branding slogan for the region (‘Western Mass’), to induction ceremonies hosted by the Volleyball Hall of Fame, headquartered just a few blocks away. Deerfield-based Yankee Candle has even used it as a staging area for a photo shoot involving its products.

“Around this time of year, late July, they shot their Christmas catalog here,” said Maggie Bergin, communications director for Open Square Properties. “It was weird … you walked in, and there was a living room and a den; they created little scenes, and they had actors and models come in, and they’d shoot people enjoying Yankee Candle products.”

This versatility is due to the fact that the space is, in many ways, like a blank canvas to be filled in by those who rent it out for a day, or two, or for just a few hours. In fact, there is an actual blank canvas in the form of a white wall, 11 feet by 40, at one end of the room. Companies have used it to project images such as charts with sales projections, and marrying couples have used it to post pictures that tell the stories of their lives.

The International Volleyball Hall of Fame’s induction ceremonies

The International Volleyball Hall of Fame’s induction ceremonies have been one of many events and meetings staged at Mill 1.

“It’s a neutral canvas onto which people can apply their vision,” said Bergin. “Sometimes, a country-club feeling or something traditional works for businesses when it comes to conferences and social gatherings, but others want a more modern feel or something that isn’t already stamped with a particular look or feel. And I think that’s why we’ve had companies coming here for creative work with their staff.”

For this issue and its focus on meetings and conventions, BusinessWest paid a visit to the blank canvas that is Mill 1 to learn about the many ways that clients, and especially businesses, are coloring things in and thus bringing a new dimension to their corporate outings.

Weaving in Some History

When asked about the history of Mill 1 and, specifically, the space converted into a meeting and event facility, Aubin started by pointing to the floor — the one painstakingly refurbished and brought to an admired luster with the application of four coats of industrial-strength polyurethane.

“This was called the loom room; there were two holes in the floor where a belt looped through,” he explained. “And there were holes in the beam in the ceiling that held pulleys; the belts would loop up and back and connect to looms.

“There’s a loom room in Lowell that’s still active,” he went on, referring to the industrial city north and west of Boston that, like Holyoke, was a textile-manufacturing hub (paper making came later in Holyoke). “They have these massive machines with the original belts spinning; they give you earplugs, and the noise is deafening with earplugs — I don’t know how anyone could work there without them.”

The loom room at Mill 1 is quiet now, obviously, except during events, but there are echoes from the past that can be seen and felt. The brick walls, a foundation of the ‘industrial modern’ look, are obviously prevalent, and the many windows present views of today’s Holyoke, but also, and especially, its past, with mill buildings, canals, and the bridges over them coming into focus.

We chose Mill 1 at Open Square because it was a true taste of Holyoke’s history and a glimpse into what life was like back in the 1890s when Holyoke was heavy into manufacturing and volleyball just invented.”

The views at Mill 1 are a selling point, but it’s the interior space itself that draws clients, especially businesses like Pepsi and institutions like the Volleball Hall of Fame, said Aubin, adding that those two words, ‘industrial’ and ‘modern,’ coupled with the history that is so palpable, create a unique venue.

Consider these comments from George Mulry, executive director of the Volleyball Hall of Fame: “We chose Mill 1 at Open Square because it was a true taste of Holyoke’s history and a glimpse into what life was like back in the 1890s when Holyoke was heavy into manufacturing and volleyball just invented.”

This is what Aubin had in mind when he set about creating this space. Well, sort of.

The space inside what’s known as Mill 1 — then wide-open, not finished or polished — was being rented out on an occasional, informal basis, mostly for community-based endeavors and events, said Aubin. From these events, the team at Open Square saw considerable potential for a far more refined space that could host weddings and other gatherings and become an important revenue stream for the larger mill-redevelopment initiative.

Mill 1, with its ‘industrial modern’ look

Mill 1, with its ‘industrial modern’ look, has become a popular site for companies looking to do some brainstorming.

“But we knew we needed to make a considerable investment in that space,” said Aubin, adding that one was made, and it has certainly given the facility that ‘industrial modern,’ ‘blank canvas’ look and feel.

Work was undertaken including refurbished floors, new glass in the windows, construction of an accompanying kitchen, and other facilities, such as a bar (designed by Aubin) that was fashioned from cypress wood used to make a water tower that once sat atop one of the mills in the complex.

Like the bar, the Mill 1 space blends old with modern to create an environment that resonates with people, said Aubin.

“It’s modern materials and a modern look, but it’s very comfortable to be in,” he told BusinessWest. “A lot of modern stuff looks great in pictures, but then people think, ‘if I sat in there, I’d feel like I was from outer space.”

The venue has certainly become popular with marrying couples — Mill 1 made BuzzFeed’s list of the 15 best wedding venues in the country for under $3,000 in 2015 — but, as noted, the business community is finding it as well.

And, moving forward, Aubin says there are a number of factors that should inspire more corporate business.

They include affordability and the uniqueness of the space, he noted, but also Open Square’s status as a zero-net-energy venue (actually, it produces more energy than it consumes through use of hydroelectric generators), a character trait that may resonate with environmentally conscious businesses and business owners.

And then, there’s accessibility, in the form of the train service that has returned to Holyoke after being absent for several decades. The Vermonter, a north-south line, stops in the town once a day, and the city’s new train station is only a few hundred yards from Open Square.

The service is limited, although it is due to be expanded in 2018, Aubin noted, adding that the train does make Holyoke and Mill 1 more accessible to companies in the Northeast corridor, including those in New York.

“We’ve already had some companies come up to do some photo shoots — it’s much less expensive to do that here than in New York,” he explained. “And we’re hoping that the train makes it easier for people to get to us.”

Looming Large

Aubin and Bergin both noted that there are many unique spots within the broad Open Square complex for wedding photos. These include the bridges and canals, the wide-open hallways on the office floors in nearby Mill 4, the brightly painted doors on some of the mills, the stairwells in those facilities, and many more.

And not only do marrying couples and their bridal parties find all of them, but they identify new ones seemingly with every ceremony.

This is what happens when the past and the present come together in ways that inspire optimism about the future and foster determination to turn dreams into reality.

It works for couples on their proverbial big day, and, increasingly, it works for companies of all sizes trying to generate some creative thinking.

This is the power of ‘industrial modern,’ and it certainly bodes well for Mill 1 at Open Square.

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

Departments Incorporations

The following business incorporations were recorded in Hampden, Hampshire, and Franklin counties and are the latest available. They are listed by community.

CHICOPEE

Maharajshree Inc., 67 Monroe St., Chicopee, MA 01020. Sheetal Patel, Same. Variety store with convenience items and alcohol.

HARDWICK

Lost Towns Brewing Company, 1643 Petersham Road, Hardwick, MA 01037. Curtis Stillman, same. Brewing malt beverages.

HOLYOKE

Metras Tax Services Inc, 12 Corser St., Suite 411, Holyoke, MA 01040. Lena Gauthier, 19 Berwick Road, Longmeadow, MA 01106. Tax preparation.

NORTH ADAMS

LT Requisitions Inc., 1544 Curran Highway, North Adams, MA 01247. Luis Teixeira, 500 Old Windsor Road, Dalton MA 01226. Distribution and manufacturing.

ORANGE

Launchspace Inc., 131 West Main St., Suite 342, Orange, MA 01364. Alec Macleod, 78 Chestnut Hill Road, Orange, MA 01364. To create and operate a makerspace (a set of member-based shops), to incubate and support new businesses engaged in making tangible things, to support workforce development by providing specifically targeted instruction.

PITTSFIELD

Lenco Export Inc., 10 Betnr Industrial Dr., Pittsfield, MA 01201. Leonard M. Light, 5 Andrea Dr., Pittsfield, MA 01201. Commodities broker and commission agent.

SPRINGFIELD

Luxury Real Estate Inc., 30 Glenham St., Springfield, MA 01104. Charlie S. Melo-Perez . Same. Real estate.

M & J Enterprises Inc., 14 Riverview Terrace, Springfield, MA 01108. Gerald T. Adams, Same. Sales and service of over the air antennas.

WESTFIELD

Maximum Transport Inc, 38 Greenwood St., Westfield, MA 01085. Viktor Burunov, Same. Trucking.

WILBRAHAM

Kidney Care and Transplant Services Of New England, P.C., 2 Sylvan Dr., Wilbraham, MA 01095. George S. Lipkowitz, 24 Saro Dr., Amherst, MA 01002. Medical service.

Briefcase Departments

Massachusetts Adds 10,000 Jobs in June

BOSTON — The state’s total unemployment rate increased to 4.3% in June from the May rate of 4.2%, the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development announced Thursday. The preliminary job estimates from the Bureau of Labor Statistics indicate Massachusetts added 10,000 jobs in June. Over-the-month job gains occurred in education and health services; trade, transportation, and utilities; leisure and hospitality; other services; manufacturing; information; and financial activities. The May estimate was revised to a gain of 2,000 jobs. From June 2016 to June 2017, BLS estimates Massachusetts has added 65,900 jobs. The June state unemployment rate remains lower than the national rate of 4.4% reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The labor force decreased by 2,600 from 3,711,100 in May, as 7,600 fewer residents were employed and 5,100 more residents were unemployed over the month. Over the year, the state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate increased six-tenths of a percentage point from 3.7% in June 2016. There were 27,400 more unemployed persons over the year compared to June 2016. The state’s labor-force participation rate — the total number of residents 16 or older who worked or were unemployed and actively sought work in the last four weeks — remained at 66.7% over the month. The labor-force participation rate over the year has increased 1.8% compared to June 2016. The largest private-sector percentage job gains over the year were in education and health services; professional, scientific, and business services; financial activities; and other services. “During the first six months of 2017, Massachusetts has experienced the largest increase in the labor force on record, and the 66.7% labor-force participation rate is now 3.9 points higher than the U.S. rate,” said Labor and Workforce Development Secretary Rosalin Acosta. “These marked labor-force gains should help ease labor-market pressures and are signs of a growing economy in the Commonwealth.”

United Way, Peter Pan Launch Annual Stuff the Bus Program

SPRINGFIELD — United Way of Pioneer Valley and Peter Pan Bus Lines launched the annual Stuff the Bus campaign on July 28. The campaign will collect new school supplies through Aug. 16. The supplies will be distributed in new backpacks to children who are homeless in Chicopee, Holyoke, Springfield, Westfield, West Springfield, and South Hadley. “All children in our community deserve to enter school feeling confident, proud, and equipped to learn. Yet, in our community, hundreds of children are without homes,” said United Way President Jim Ayers. “United Way and our supporters want to ensure that these most vulnerable children return to school with what they need: their own unique backpack, new supplies, and a symbolic message from our community that we care deeply about them and recognize their potential.” Individuals are encouraged to donate the following age-appropriate supplies: number-2 pencils, erasers, binders, paper, crayons, highlighters, pencil boxes, pens, glue sticks, rulers, two-pocket folders, and one-subject notebooks. Through August 16, 2017, donations can be brought to the United Way of Pioneer Valley, 1441 Main St., Suite 147, Springfield (weekdays, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.), Western Mass News, 1300 Liberty St., Springfield (weekdays, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.), Balise Kia, 603 Riverdale St., West Springfield (every day, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.), or Six Flags New England (Wednesday, Aug. 16 only). Aug. 16 is National Roller Coaster Day. Donors who provide six to 19 items will receive a $20.17 coupon toward main-gate admission at Six Flags New England. Those who provide 20 or more items will receive a free ticket. This event concludes the Stuff the Bus campaign.

Single-family Home Sales Down Slightly in June

SPRINGFIELD — Single-family home sales were down 2.6% in the Pioneer Valley in June compared to the same time last year, while the median price rose 4.8% to $218,000, according to the Realtor Assoc. of Pioneer Valley. In Franklin County, sales were down 1.3%, while the median price rose 16.3% from a year earlier. In Hampden County, sales were up 3.2%, while the median price was up 5.5%. And in Hampshire County, sales fell 15% from June 2016, while the median price was up 6%.

Company Notebook Departments

Granite City Electric Supply Relocates to Chicopee

CHICOPEE — Granite City Electric Supply Co. has opened a new, 80,000-square-foot distribution center and relocated its Springfield retail counter service to 451 Meadow St., Chicopee. This distribution center will provide service to the Western Mass., Connecticut, and New York markets. “Our new, state-of-the-art facility incorporates leading-edge innovations in material management and leverages the latest advances in automation and LEAN practices. We have implemented best practices of class-leading enterprises from several industries to give us a highly efficient and scalable platform to best serve the current and evolving needs of our customers,” said Adrian Grundy, chief operating officer at Granite City Electric. He also notes the capacity and operational efficiencies of the new facility will support expanded inventory levels to better serve all customer needs. The new location is equipped with many innovations and customer-centric enhancements. The new indoor service bay allows customers to drive indoors, so that, for example, large pipe orders can now be loaded indoors, out of the elements. The enclosed storage facility prevents rust and damage to material traditionally stored outdoors. Innovative and automated picking lanes allow for faster, accurate order fulfillment to get product to customers more quickly. And the new Chicopee facility will offer greatly expanded wire inventory, including colors and pulling-head options. The company will also deliver more to more customers, as the Chicopee location affords an expanded delivery footprint for the GCE Night Train Delivery Service, which allows customers to avoid waiting at the counter or wasting time in traffic to pick up electrical supplies.

SkinCatering Opens New Spot at D. Hotel & Suites

HOLYOKE — SkinCatering recently celebrated its grand opening at D. Hotel & Suites. The spa is located on the first floor of the hotel and features two massage rooms as well as separate spaces for manicures, pedicures, and facials. The location offers luxurious treatments as well as a selection of the high-end products currently developed and created through SkinCatering’s skin-care line. “I am very excited to provide now a health and wellness option at our Boutique Hotel,” said Linda Rosskothen, proprietor of D. Hotel & Suites. “The beauty and comfort of the spa offers locals and travelers a chance to enjoy our buildings. I am especially excited to see our guests combine their spa experience with their wedding plans, business-travel stay, exceptional dining, or just making it a special treat.” Guests are welcome to begin booking services, as well as monthly membership packages.

Thunderbird Thursdays Take Flight Downtown

SPRINGFIELD — The Springfield Business Improvement District and the Springfield Thunderbirds announced the start of Thunderbird Thursdays, presented by TD Bank. Each of Thunderbird Thursday will feature a guest craft brewer, live music, food, fun, and games. The Thunderbirds’ promotional team will also be on site each week with an inflatable slap-shot game, ticket information, raffle prizes, and more. Thunderbird Thursdays will run from 4 to 8 p.m. each week through Oct. 12 in downtown Springfield. They will rotate between three locations: 1350 Main St., the Shops at Marketplace at the rear of 1341 Main St., and Tower Square Park. For a full schedule of dates, locations, entertainment, and brewers, visit springfielddowntown.com/thunderbirds-thursdays.

United Financial Bancorp Announces Q2 Results

GLASTONBURY, Conn. — United Financial Bancorp Inc., the holding company for United Bank, announced results for the quarter ended June 30, 2017. The company reported net income of $16.2 million, or $0.32 per diluted share, for the quarter ended June 30, 2017, compared to net income for the linked quarter of $13.7 million, or $0.27 per diluted share. The company reported net income of $9.1 million, or $0.18 per diluted share, for the quarter ended June 30, 2016.

Kelley and Malmborg Celebrates First Year

NORTHAMPTON — Kelley and Malmborg Investment Consulting Group recently celebrated its one-year anniversary. Motivated by their desire to offer a more client-centered and consultative approach, advisors Jean Kelley and Joe Malmborg transitioned from Florence Bank’s FSB Financial Group late last spring. With a combined 65-plus years of financial and wealth-management experience, and through their consultative approach, creating personalized solutions, and a fee-based investment process, the pair’s goal is to provide comfort and confidence regarding the decisions their individual and business clients make. Kelley & Malmborg is located in the heart of downtown Northampton at 140 Main St., Suite 400.

Berkshire Hills Reports Second-quarter Earnings

PITTSFIELD — Berkshire Hills Bancorp Inc. reported second-quarter 2017 net income of $19.7 million, or $0.53 per share. Core earnings totaled $21.6 million, or $0.58 per share. Net income was up 23% year-over-year, while core earnings grew 31% due to the benefit of business expansion. Net income per share increased by 2%, while core EPS increased by 7%. Net income was impacted by net non-core charges related primarily to acquisitions.

Chemetal Installs Solar PV System in Partnership with Solect Energy

EASTHAMPTON — Chemetal, a manufacturer of metal designs and laminates, has partnered with Solect Energy of Hopkinton to install a 201.6-kilowatt solar-energy system on the roof of its Easthampton manufacturing plant. The array consists of 560 photovoltaic (PV) panels, which are projected to produce 210,686 kilowatt hours of energy annually. Chemetal anticipates the array will provide up to 33% of its facility’s annual electricity use. Solect carefully examined Chemetal’s energy-usage patterns and other factors in order to design the optimum solar-energy system. Solect then worked to make sure that Chemetal would achieve maximum ROI through myriad solar incentives. Chemetal is projected to save approximately $25,000 annually on its electricity bill, and is able to take advantage of state and federal tax and financial incentives, including SRECs (solar renewable-energy certificates), which are financial incentives based on the amount of solar energy the system generates. Electrical utility providers in Massachusetts purchase SRECs to help them meet their state-mandated goals of a percentage of power coming from renewable-energy sources.

Pioneer Valley Realtors Build Playhouses for Boys and Girls Clubs

SPRINGFIELD — The Realtor Assoc. of Pioneer Valley (RAPV) community service committee built two custom playhouses for the Boys and Girls Club of West Springfield and the Ludlow Community Center/Randall Boys and Girls Club. The playhouses were built using specific designs put together with crayons and markers by the children who would be using them. The RAPV community service committee spent hours constructing these unique and inspiring structures, makings the kids’s designs come to life.

Home Health Aide Grads Honored at STCC Ceremony

SPRINGFIELD — Eighteen graduates of the Home Health Aide program at Springfield Technical Community College were honored with certificates at a ceremony on July 7. The program is administered by Training and Workforce Options (TWO), a collaboration between STCC and Holyoke Community College. The program was supported by a 2016 grant from the Massachusetts Department of Higher Education’s Training Resources and Internship Networks (TRAIN) Program. Because the grant ended this year, Skinner’s class represented the fourth and final cohort of TRAIN home health aide graduates. Sharon Grundel, director of Healthcare Training Development for TWO, said she hopes the state will revisit funding for the program. While a stand-alone course is not currently offered, anyone seeking training as a home health aide can enroll in the Certified Nurse Aide (CNA) Plus program at STCC. Grundel said 50 people graduated from the four cohorts, and the majority of them have landed jobs.

Daily News

BOSTON — The Associated Industries of Massachusetts Business Confidence Index shed 0.3 points to 61.5 last month, leaving it 6.4 points higher than a year ago. The Index has gained ground in five of seven months so far in 2017.

The July slip was led by the Employment Index, which dropped 2.4 points from June. Experts on the AIM Board of Economic Advisors (BEA) believe the slide reflects employers’ inability to hire skilled workers amid a tight labor market rather than a hiring slowdown caused by economic factors.

“Confidence levels at or above 60 signal continued strong confidence among employers in the direction of the state and national economies,” said Raymond Torto, BEA chair and lecturer at Harvard Graduate School of Design. “The labor shortage is a serious issue. We hear anecdotes from companies in multiple industries that are turning away business or postponing expansions because they can’t find tech specialists, manufacturing workers, or electricians to take the new jobs.”

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

The constituent indicators that make up the overall Business Confidence Index were mixed during July. The Massachusetts Index, assessing business conditions within the Commonwealth, lost a point to 63.2, still six points higher than in July 2016.

The U.S. Index of national business conditions rose 0.5 points to 57.9 despite lingering uncertainty about federal healthcare and economic policy. July marked the 88th consecutive month in which employers have been more optimistic about the Massachusetts economy than the national economy.

The Current Index, which assesses overall business conditions at the time of the survey, declined 0.7 points to 61.2, while the Future Index, measuring expectations for six months out, edged up 0.1 point to 61.8. The Future Index ended the month seven points higher than a year ago.

The Company Index, reflecting overall business conditions, lost 0.2 points to 62.2, up 6.3 points during the 12-month period. And though the Employment Index dropped to 55.7, the Sales Index rose for the third consecutive month, gaining 1.5 points to 64.1.

The AIM survey found that 39% of respondents reported adding staff during the past six months, while 19% reduced employment. Expectations for the next six months are similar, with 37% expecting to hire and only 10% downsizing.

Elliot Winer, chief economist with Winer Economic Consulting, said workers with the type of skills needed by employers in growing industries remain in short supply, even though Massachusetts has posted significant increases to its labor force so far in 2017.

“Employers report that it is increasingly hard to fill jobs. Job vacancies now significantly exceed new hiring. And yet, wage growth in the state has been near zero when adjusted for inflation,” Winer said.

Eastern Mass. companies were more confident in June than those in the western portion of the Commonwealth, posting a 61.5 confidence reading in June versus 60.5 for employers in Western Mass.

Manufacturing companies remained optimistic about the economy with the 59.6 confidence reading, but not as optimistic as employers outside the manufacturing sector, who posted a 63.6 result.

AIM President and CEO Richard Lord, also a BEA member, noted that employer confidence in the Massachusetts economy has stalled as the state Legislature has taken several troubling votes, including one last week to force employers to close a $200 million gap in MassHealth with no long-term reforms to the program.

“Employers are thus left not only to struggle with the rising cost of providing health insurance to their own employees, but to bail out an unsustainable public insurance program as well,” Lord said. “There are consequences to raising the cost of doing business, and declining confidence is a red flag for what may come next.”

Daily News

EASTHAMPTON — Chemetal, a manufacturer of metal designs and laminates, has partnered with Solect Energy of Hopkinton to install a 201.6-kilowatt solar-energy system on the roof of its Easthampton manufacturing plant. The array consists of 560 photovoltaic (PV) panels, which are projected to produce 210,686 kilowatt hours of energy annually. Chemetal anticipates the array will provide up to 33% of its facility’s annual electricity use.

Solect carefully examined Chemetal’s energy-usage patterns and other factors in order to design the optimum solar-energy system. Solect then worked to make sure that Chemetal would achieve maximum ROI through myriad solar incentives. Chemetal is projected to save approximately $25,000 annually on its electricity bill, and is able to take advantage of state and federal tax and financial incentives, including SRECs (solar renewable-energy certificates), which are financial incentives based on the amount of solar energy the system generates. Electrical utility providers in Massachusetts purchase SRECs to help them meet their state-mandated goals of a percentage of power coming from renewable-energy sources.

“We began seriously considering solar when we doubled the size of our facility in 2016,” said Geoff Schaefer, creative director and president of Chemetal. “The incentives, including tax credits and accelerated depreciation, were beneficial, as was the opportunity to reduce our carbon footprint with renewable energy. Solect did a great job making a complicated proposition clear and straightforward. Their pricing was competitive, and they were very helpful in shepherding us through the process.”

Chemetal is one of the world’s largest sources of metal designs and laminates for commercial and residential building projects. The 50-year-old, family-owned business has a strong commitment to green practices. Many of its metal products are made entirely of aluminum, the most recycled material on the planet. Some of its aluminum finishes contain up to 85% recycled content, offering builders and architects LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) credits. LEED is the most widely used third-party verification for green buildings.

Environment and Engineering Sections

Raising Their Sites

The U.S. Envirommental Protection Agency (EPA) recently awarded 14 communities in Massachusetts — most of them in Western Mass. — grants totaling $4.92 million for brownfield site revitalization and technical assistance. These communities are among 172 across the country to receive EPA brownfields funding.

Nationwide, a total of $56.8 million has been awarded by EPA to fund selected recipients for brownfield site assessment and cleanup as initial steps toward redeveloping vacant and unused properties, transforming them to productive reuse that will benefit communities and local economies.

EPA’s brownfields grants and assistance to Massachusetts this year are among other significant annual investments by EPA to help New England communities address brownfield properties. The awards in Massachusetts (to be distributed community-wide, except where noted) include:

• Belchertown Economic Development Industrial Corp. ($400,000 for cleanup at the former Belchertown State School site);

• Berkshire Regional Planning Commission ($300,000 for site assessment);

• Chicopee ($600,000 for cleanup of the former Uniroyal complex);

• Framingham ($300,000 for site assessment);

• Great Barrington ($300,000 for site assessment);

• Lawrence ($350,000 for site assessment, $200,000 for cleanup, and $200,000 for job training);

• Ludlow Mills ($120,000 for technical assistance);

• Lynn Economic Development Industrial Corp. ($300,000 for site assessment and $200,000 for cleanup);

• Merrimack Valley Planning Commission ($300,000 for site assessment);

• New Bedford ($200,000 for cleanup of the former Polyply facility);

• North Adams ($300,000 for site assessment);

• Seekonk ($350,000 for assessment of the former Attleboro Dye Works site);

• Williamstown ($200,000 for cleanup of the former Photech Imaging Systems site); and

• Worcester ($300,000 for site assessment).

Across the six New England states this year, EPA is awarding a total of $10.4 million for 32 communities to assess or clean brownfields, as well as $750,000 for technical assistance to six communities. A brownfield is a property for which the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant.

There are estimated to be more than 450,000 brownfields in the U.S. Cleaning up and reinvesting in these properties increases local tax bases, facilitates job growth, utilizes existing infrastructure, takes development pressures off undeveloped land, and both improves and protects the environment.

“EPA is committed to working with communities to redevelop brownfields sites which have plagued their neighborhoods. EPA’s assessment and cleanup grants target communities that are economically disadvantaged and include places where environmental cleanup and new jobs are most needed,” said EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt. “These grants leverage considerable infrastructure and other investments, improving local economies and creating an environment where jobs can grow. I am very pleased the president’s budget recognizes the importance of these grants by providing continued funding for this important program.”

Continued Attention

In New England, since the beginning of the brownfields program, EPA has awarded 382 assessment grants totaling $103.9 million, 73 revolving-loan-fund grants and supplemental funding totaling $90 million, and 290 cleanup grants totaling $69.9 million. These grant funds have paved the way for more than $2.4 billion in public and private cleanup and redevelopment investment and for nearly 15,499 jobs in assessment, cleanup, construction, and redevelopment. These investments and jobs target local, underserved, and economically disadvantaged neighborhoods — places where environmental cleanups and new jobs are most needed.

Nationwide, about $17.5 million of the latest round of assessment and cleanup funding will benefit small and rural communities with populations of less than 10,000. Approximately $25 million will go to communities receiving assessment and cleanup funding for the first time. Selected recipients will each receive between $200,000 and $600,000 in funding to work on individual sites or several sites within the community. These funds will provide communities with necessary resources to determine the extent of site contamination, remove environmental uncertainties, and clean up contaminated properties where needed. Brownfields assessment and cleanup activities represent a stride toward realizing a site’s full potential, while protecting public health and the environment.

Chelsea site during and after cleanup and redevelopment at the former Lawrence Metals Site

For example, the site where a former industrial and textile manufacturing company operated in Chelsea is in the center of the city, where more than 45,000 people live within a one-mile radius. Hundreds of Chelsea High School students walk by the property every day. After all the manufacturing operations, the site was contaminated with PCBs and other contaminants. An EPA team involving multiple EPA cleanup programs, including brownfields investment, worked closely with the city and state to create a multi-party-funded cleanup and redevelopment opportunity. The development expanded the presence of lodging services in the Chelsea downtown with the building of the Homewood Suites Boston Logan Airport Chelsea Hotel.

Addressing and cleaning up sites, like those in the Chelsea neighborhood, across the nation will ultimately boost local economies and leverage redevelopment jobs while protecting public health and the environment, the EPA notes. Brownfield sites are community assets because of their locations and associated infrastructure advantages. Studies have shown that residential property values near brownfields sites that are cleaned up increase between 5% and 15%.

The study also determined that brownfield cleanup can increase overall property values within a one-mile radius. A study analyzing data near 48 brownfield sites shows that an estimated $29 million to $97 million in additional tax revenue was generated for local governments in a single year after cleanup. This is two to seven times more than the $12.4 million the EPA contributed to the cleanup of those brownfields.

There are an estimated 450,000 abandoned and contaminated waste sites in America. As of May 2017, more than 124,759 jobs and $24 billion of public and private funding has been leveraged as a result of assessment grants and other EPA brownfields grants. On average, $16.11 was leveraged for each EPA brownfields dollar, and 8.5 jobs leveraged per $100,000 of EPA brownfields funds expended on assessment, cleanup, and revolving-loan-fund cooperative agreements.

Daily News

BOSTON — The state’s total unemployment rate increased to 4.3% in June from the May rate of 4.2%, the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development announced Thursday.

The preliminary job estimates from the Bureau of Labor Statistics indicate Massachusetts added 10,000 jobs in June. Over-the-month job gains occurred in education and health services; trade, transportation, and utilities; leisure and hospitality; other services; manufacturing; information; and financial activities. The May estimate was revised to a gain of 2,000 jobs.

From June 2016 to June 2017, BLS estimates Massachusetts has added 65,900 jobs. The June state unemployment rate remains lower than the national rate of 4.4% reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The labor force decreased by 2,600 from 3,711,100 in May, as 7,600 fewer residents were employed and 5,100 more residents were unemployed over the month.

Over the year, the state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate increased six-tenths of a percentage point from 3.7% in June 2016. There were 27,400 more unemployed persons over the year compared to June 2016.

The state’s labor-force participation rate — the total number of residents 16 or older who worked or were unemployed and actively sought work in the last four weeks — remained at 66.7% over the month. The labor-force participation rate over the year has increased 1.8% compared to June 2016.

The largest private-sector percentage job gains over the year were in education and health services; professional, scientific, and business services; financial activities; and other services.

“During the first six months of 2017, Massachusetts has experienced the largest increase in the labor force on record, and the 66.7% labor-force participation rate is now 3.9 points higher than the U.S. rate,” said Labor and Workforce Development Secretary Rosalin Acosta. “These marked labor-force gains should help ease labor-market pressures and are signs of a growing economy in the Commonwealth.”

Daily News

BRATTLEBORO, Vt. — Eric Lineback recently joined Country Business Inc. (CBI), a regionally based New England business-brokerage and merger-and-acquisition firm. He will be focusing his efforts serving clients in Western Mass.

Lineback previously worked as a strategic management consultant with McKinsey & Co. in Chicago on projects for various Fortune 500 companies. He then went on to work as a senior analyst for a mid-size private-investment company in Houston and then Washington, D.C., helping to manage a $500 million diverse portfolio of assorted assets, including several operating companies, real-estate investments, equity buy-out funds, and marketable securities. In the mid-’90s, as the Internet was emerging commercially, he co-founded and managed for almost 20 years a successful boutique Internet design and development firm, helping clients create an engaging online and offline presence. Lineback’s work with CBI enables him to apply his entrepreneurial, investment, and financial-management experience in assisting business owners with their succession plans.

“We are excited that Mr. Lineback has joined our firm,” said Philip Steckler, a principal with CBI. “While we have managed the sale of numerous businesses in Western Massachusetts over the years, his focus on that region enables us to enhance our services and broaden our client base.”

Since 1976, CBI has managed the sale of more than 1,200 businesses, ranging in price from $500,000 to $30 million. The company has represented businesses across many industries and sectors, including manufacturing, distribution, retail, and hospitality. CBI is an industry leader in successfully completing sales of client businesses. The firm traditionally completes 80% to 90% of the businesses it is retained to sell — far higher than industry norms.

“I’m excited to be working with such an established and successful company, one which has had a significant positive impact on the local economy,” Lineback said. “My passion has always been working with entrepreneurs and small-business owners.”

DBA Certificates Departments

The following business certificates and trade names were issued or renewed during the month of June 2017.

AMHERST

Competitive Advantage
226 Strong St.
Alan Goldberg

K.S. Dunn Associates
664 Main St., Suite 60
Kathryn Dunn

Shoots to Roots Nursery
539 Market Hill Road
Elizabeth Riley

CHICOPEE

C.F.B. Cleaning Inc.
43 Dickinson St.
Flavia Borges

Gung Ho Powerwashing
41 Old Chicopee St.
James Zabik

The Hair Professionals
974 Chicopee St.
Carlos Fonsera

J.E. Capital Home Improvement
27 Glendale St.
Joel Almonte

Joseph A. Wagner, State Representative — District Office
333 Front St., 1R
Joseph F. Wagner

Purpose Built Motorcycles
63 Britton St., Chicopee
John Freeman Jr.

DEERFIELD

Baranowski Cleaners & Tailors
7 Elm St.
Jerzy Bielski, Theresa Bielski

BJ’s
2 Hobbie Road
Bette Sokoloski

Dresser Real Estate
110 South Mill River Road
Lori Baronas

Korpita Masonry
165 Pine Nook Road
Paul Korpita Jr.

Pioneer Valley Sales & Service Inc.
253 Greenfield Road
Michael Bedard

Richard’s Automotive
242 Greenfield Road
Richard Bottego

EASTHAMPTON

kttrending
46 Holyoke St.
Katherine Trouern-Trend

Taxland
31 Union St.
Tina Chandler

Three Posies
124 Cottage St., Apt. A
Bronwen Hodgkinson

The Valley Arts Newsletter
124 Cottage St., Apt. A
Bronwen Hodgkinson

EAST LONGMEADOW

Graziano Brothers Landscaping Inc.
280 Elm St.
Christopher Graziano

Mary M. Barton Bookkeeping Services
46 Powder Hill Road
Mary Barton

Styles by Shelley at Ciao Bella
128 Shaker Road
Shelley McCloskey

GREENFIELD

Auto Plus Auto Parts
63 French King Highway
TEH Auto Parts, LLC

Environmental Labs
5 Adams Road
Susanne Newman

Shaw’s Mart
239 Main St.
Mehwish Shahid, Naxmart LLC

Transitions
94 Main St.
Seana Pitts, Shannon Bassett

Turn Signal Media
16 Lincoln St.
Danae DiNicola

HADLEY

AT&T Mobility
359 Russell St.
New Cingular Wireless

Benjamin Co.
2 Bay Road, Suite 200
Paul Benjamin

Brain Analysis & Neurodevelopment Center
195 Russell St., B-13
Integrated Health Solutions, LLC

Concussion Center of Massachusetts
195 Russell St., B-13
Integrated Health Solutions, LLC

Hedgehog Farms
8 Grand Oak Farm Road
Lisa Seymour

Petsmart
367 Russell St.
Petsmart Inc.

Pioneer Valley Growers
112 East St.
Glenroy Buchanan

Pioneer Valley Pain Relief Therapies
245 Russell St.
Gabriella Booth

Riverside Fencing Club
162 Russell St.
Taro Yamishita

Wendy’s
376 Russell St.
Massachusetts Baked Potato, LLC

HOLYOKE

3M Consulting
8 Ross Road
Willie Spradley, Patricia Spradley

B & M Property Services
266 Whitney Ave.
Michael Oates

Mahboob Inc.
333 High St.
Yasser Hussain

Northeast Powersports
161 Main St.
Felix Santana Jr.

Paper City Art Kids
92 Race St.
Natasha Colon Ortiz

Spradley Deluxe Coffee
8 Ross Road
Willie Spradley, Patricia Spradley

LUDLOW

Ludlow Family Dental
77 Winsor St., Suite 102
Binca Warren

Remsport Manufacturing
566 Holyoke St.
Ronald Chaisson

RJM Carpentry
181 Chapin St.
Gary Decoteau

NORTHAMPTON

Burke Chevrolet Inc.
200 North King St.
Bryan Burke

Cochrane Dental Associates
264 Elm St., Suite 11
Rebecca Cochrane

Dragonfly Industries
785 Ryan Road
Rochelle Friedman

Hazard Health
45 Jackson St.
JoAnna Hazard

Pangaea Sushi
330 North King St.
Su Su Min Aung

Paradox Projects, Studio 347/5
221 Pine St.
Karen Dolmanisth

Talk More Wireless New England, LLC
134 King St.
James Ralph

Water or Bread Theatre
31½ Grant Ave.
Christopher Gonzalez

PALMER

Kopec’s Auto & Truck Service
1219 Thorndike St.
Christopher Kopec

Marciano/Holloway Painting
3067 High St.
Nicholas Marciano, Paul Holloway

Superior Door and Millwork
21 Wilbraham St., Bldg. 64
Wesley Dupuis

Tailgate Tavern
24 Homestead St.
Tim Burke, Joy Burke

SOUTHWICK

CH Designs
57 Powder Mil Road
Cynthia Houle

SPRINGFIELD

3 Brothers Seafood
405 Dickinson St.
Hong Nguyen

Adonis Construction
120 Draper St.
Joseph Montero Sr.

All About You Hair Salon
27 Archie St.
Shawna Edmonds

Auveri Repairs & Sales
700 Berkshire Ave.
Rafael Fontanez

The Beauty Studio
535 Main St.
Marsia Nogueira

Chelo’s Towing
9 Bowdoin St.
Jesus Moran

Controlled Chaos Real Estate
34 Prakwood St.
Matthew Bienia

Dominguez Landscape
79 Tavistock St.
Jodaryn Dominguez

Fort Pleasant Convenience
102 Fort Pleasant Ave.
Akif Ali Khan

GLS Properties
23 Colonial Ave.
Grayce-Lynda Sypteras

JJ Barber Shop
1614 Main St.
Yoanda Carpio

J.D. Home Improvement
107 Oregon St.
John Olszewski

Jackie’s Pressure Wash
87 Melville St.
Jackie Perez

Kaezem Law
26 Thames St.
Alexander Kaezem

Kevin’s Painting
10 Rollins St.
Kevin Dowe

Master’s HVAC
98 Massachusetts Ave.
Eric Van Allen

Microblading by Greta D’Amours
3455 Main St.
Greta D’Amours

NeiSeba Carpeting
107 Naismith St.
Neidy Cruz

On the Move
64 Lawton St.
Otis Collins

Solutions Car Sales
4 Langdon St.
Rivera Rincon Francis

Tay Do Beauty Salon
287 Belmont Ave.
Kathy Truong

UR Discount Tobacco & Lottery
1207 Parker St.
Fazal Rehman

WEST SPRINGFIELD

Bertera Chrysler Dodge Jeep
539 Riverdale St.
Michael Bertera

Best Painters
19 Hill St.
Daniel Santiago

Boondocks & Blossom
78 Smyrna St.
Michelle Boucher

Forward Change Experience
270 Sibley Ave.
Antonia Santiago

Fred Music Academy
70 New Bridge St.
Hector Fred

Fresh Air Pet Services
317 Circle Dr.
Catherine Scoles

Gold Chopstick II
12 Chestnut St.
Shuangying Liao

Jorge Santiago Trucking Services, LLC
270 Sibley Ave.
Jorge Santiago

Mamma Mia’s Pizzeria
60 Park St.
Maria Alfarone

WILBRAHAM

Accurate Termite & Pest Control Co. Inc.
8 Wilson St.
Kevin Cox, Nancy Cox

Cleaning Done Right
19 Bridge St.
Alexis Valinho Rauscher

L.S. Home Improvement
28 Brookmont Dr.
Louis Saso

Suzanne Andre Salon — Charlene Freeman
2341 Boston Road
Charlene Freeman

Wilbraham Animal Hospital
2424 Boston Road
Amy Zander, Andrew Hersman

Accounting and Tax Planning Sections

A Different Kind of Number Crunching

sixsigmadpart3Since its introduction more than 30 years ago, the data-driven process-improvement methodology known as Six Sigma has been most closely associated with the manufacturing sector. But, as recent initiatives undertaken by the accounting firm Meyers Brothers Kalicka clearly show, this ‘lean’ concept can be utilized by companies in any business sector to improve efficiency and buy employees time — literally.

Melyssa Brown joked that when she earned her green belt in Six Sigma last year, she was disappointed when all that arrived in the mail confirming that accomplishment was a piece of paper, a certificate.

“I was thinking, hoping that maybe there would actually be a green belt — I could use an accessory like that,” she told BusinessWest, tongue firmly planted in cheek, adding quickly that just about everything else about Meyers Brothers Kalicka’s deep dive into this data-driven process-improvement methodology has been about what she and others at the Holyoke-based accounting firm expected.

And then some.

Our interaction with the client is better, and our delivery of services to the client is better. And internally, it has put everyone on the same page; it’s put everyone together behind a commitment to move forward and not stand still, because you can’t grow that way.”

Indeed, they were expecting that incorporation of this lean, quality-control program, developed by Motorola in 1986 and popular within the manufacturing sector, would be intense, time-consuming, and somewhat difficult because it constituted a significant change in how things were done.

They were right.

But they also expected it would achieve real results and provide powerful evidence that Six Sigma can work in the service sector as well as it does in the realm of manufacturing. And they were right again.

“Our interaction with the client is better, and our delivery of services to the client is better,” Brown, a senior manager in the auditing department at MBK, said of the net gains from the firm’s investments in Six Sigma. “And internally, it has put everyone on the same page; it’s put everyone together behind a commitment to move forward and not stand still, because you can’t grow that way.”

Elaborating, Brown said that, through Six Sigma, the company has been able to chart how the all-important time of partners, associates, and others at the firm is spent, with a critical eye toward making processes more efficient, thus essentially providing personnel with more time with which to better serve clients and serve more of them, critical elements in any company’s efforts to increase profits and improve market share.

Getting more specific, Brown said MBK has undertaken a few Six Sigma projects, both involving client interaction, the time spent accumulating needed information for tax and audit work, and efforts to bring more efficiency to those efforts.

Melyssa Brown

Melyssa Brown says MBK’s Six Sigma projects have effectively given employees at the firm more of that most precious commodity — time.

“To do audit and tax work, you clearly need to get information from the client — we need some numbers to work with,” she explained. “It comes down to, when you have that interaction, how it’s done, and how it’s followed up.”

In short, there were inefficiencies with all those steps in the process, she went on, and, therefore, some diligent work was undertaken to mitigate them.

“From these processes, we’ve put structures in place to help us monitor and conduct better interactions with the client, because that’s what’s important to them — and us,” she went on, adding that the goal was and is to make these interactions easier for the client and more productive for the firm.

Fast-forwarding a little, Brown said the firm has created an online portal, or drop box, if you will, for client information that can be accessed by all those servicing that particular client. This innovation has significantly reduced the time, trouble, and anxiety involved with collecting and accessing that data, as will be explained in more detail later.

As noted, the company’s experience shows how Six Sigma can be applied to businesses not traditionally associated with this methodology, said Brown, who was a member of a panel that delivered that very message to assembled members of the Employers Assoc. of the NorthEast several weeks ago.

“Everyone has a back office,” Brown explained. “And while people think of Six Sigma in terms of manufacturing processes, those back-office functions can be made more efficient as well.”

For this issue and its focus on accounting and tax planning, BusinessWest departs from more traditional discussions about taxes, audits, legislation, and compliance, and takes a hard look at a different form of number crunching.

Time Is of the Essence

Brown told BusinessWest she became the company’s point person on Six Sigma … well, because each senior manager at the firm has a ‘niche,’ as she called it, and at that moment in time, she didn’t have one.

So Six Sigma became her niche.

Backing up a little, Brown said she and others at the firm were in attendance for a presentation on Six Sigma presented by a consultant and hosted by CPA America, a trade organization the firm has belonged to for some time. That seminar came about just as the firm was aggressively exploring methods for achieving process improvement, thus bolstering the bottom line.

“We had tried several other ways to become better at improving efficiency,” she explained. “But we needed that outside person’s view of what the best course of action might be.”

Brown underwent green-belt training, which introduces an overview of the key concepts, in Ohio, and took on a project involving one of her clients to earn that aforementioned certificate in 2016.

Summing up what’s been happening at the firm since, Brown said MBK has essentially embraced ‘lean,’ a concept that, as noted earlier, is usually associated with manufacturing, but can be applied to virtually any business sector.

Lean is a transferable and systematic approach for discovering, analyzing, prioritizing, and correcting time-wasting activities that exist in business processes, Brown told BusinessWest — and her audience at the EANE roundtable in May.

Elaborating, she said ‘lean’ is a mindset, or a culture, to reduce waste, something that exists in every operation and can be reduced — but only, in most all cases, through careful analysis of data and development of new ways to do business.

And, as Brown noted, this approach can generate positive results not only on the factory floor, but also in back-room operations such as billing and accounts receivable, accounts payable, payroll, monthly reconciliations, and financial reporting.

With that, she returned to the projects undertaken by MBK, and specifically that online portal she discussed. It came about through the Six Sigma process of analyzing a specific process or method of doing business, taking it apart, and putting it back together again — without the wasted steps, energy, time, and profit.

To get her points across, she undertook an exercise in ‘before and after.’

“Before, we would send a list of needed information via e-mail, in Word or Excel, and the client would either send us documents via e-mail, save it to a jump drive, or find some other way to get it to us,” she explained. “But it was never really clear if we had a certain piece; we would say, ‘do we have an accounts-receivable list?’ and they would say, ‘yes, you have it,’ and someone here would say, ‘I don’t think I do.’”

Now, with the online portal, such exchanges are a thing of the past, she went on, and so is the time lost looking for information or trying to verify whether the firm has it or not.

The bottom line, as they say in this business, is that the firm can now serve clients better and more efficiently, and use the time saved to serve other clients or solicit new ones.

And all of these things can be measured.

“In the end, our goal in this is to issue financial statements to clients earlier or get tax returns done and out to the client sooner than we used to, and we can measure this,” she explained.

Meanwhile, the system improvements are enabling individual service providers to make better use of their time, she went on, adding that, in many cases, it is now possible to do some audit-preparation work in October or November, thus creating more time during the extremely hectic months and weeks prior to April 15.

“You’re getting a head start on the client,” she noted, “which frees us up during tax season, when we’re all a little stressed.”

The end result, she said, is the creation of more time.

“Before, we may have thought that we needed to hire more people to get the work done,” she noted. “Now, we can get the same amount of work done with fewer hours and the same amount of people — or more work, because you’re taking on new projects with the time that you’ve saved.”

Looking forward, Brown said the firm is looking at other ways to put Six Sigma to use.

Indeed, after projects involving the tax and audit functions, the company is looking at possible initiatives involving billing and administration and making them more efficient.

“There are lots of opportunities — you just have to crack open the shell,” said Brown, who told BusinessWest that this is her general advice to all those who own or manage service businesses.

She noted that too many businesses in this sector are not embracing Six Sigma, in part because they don’t fully understand how it can be applied to their sector. But once educated to the contrary, many are put off by what amounts to a considerable commitment to this culture in terms of time, expense (usually, a consultant must be hired and new technology acquired), and needed buy-in from everyone at the company.

Those willing to make such a commitment, she said, should take the dive.

“This can’t be the flavor of the month,” she explained. “The tone at the top has be, ‘we’re going to make this work — this is our new way of doing business and operating.’”

It All Adds Up

As noted, Brown doesn’t have an actual green belt, like the ones awarded to those engaged in the martial arts.

But through the firm’s implementation of Six Sigma principles, she and others at MBK have something far more meaningful — additional time, the most precious commodity that exists in business today.

It came about through hard work and a deep dive into processes and ways of doing business, with an eye toward continuous improvement.

Historically, such words, phrases, actions, and, yes, results have generally been restricted to the world of manufacturing. But as Brown noted and MBK has shown, any service business can generate the same types of positive outcomes.

They just have to crack open the shell.

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

Business & Innovation Expo of Western Mass. Events

Countdown to the Expo

expologo2017webIt’s a subtle name change, but a rather large adjustment in tone for what has become a fall tradition within the region’s business community.

Indeed, the annual show at the MassMutual Center in downtown Springfield is now known as the Business & Innovation Expo of Western Mass., and this change — the addition of that word ‘innovation’ on the marquee — speaks volumes about the business-to-business show’s new and expanded mission, said Kate Campiti, associate publisher of BusinessWest, which has managed the show since 2011.

“For more than 200 years now, this region has had an incredibly strong tradition of innovation in business,” said Campiti. “And that tradition has taken many forms, from new products to new processes to new ways of thinking about to how to meet the needs of a constantly changing society. That tradition continues today, and the Expo will make this abundantly clear.”

Elaborating, she said the Nov. 2 show, still very much in the planning stages, will be, in effect, a showcase of innovation and the many forms it takes in a changing, highly competitive business climate.

“Innovation isn’t just a theme for this event,” said Campiti. “It will be a compelling thread that runs through the programming, the educational seminars, the special presentations, and more. This will be a celebration of innovation in some ways, but, more importantly, it will be a powerful statement about how that tradition of innovation continues today.”

Once again presented by Comcast Business, the Expo has become a fall tradition in Western Mass., attracting more than 2,000 visitors and more than 150 exhibitors to the MassMutual Center.

As always, there will be a strong business-to-business component to the show, said Campiti, adding that the event provides opportunities for businesses to showcase their products and services, and for these businesses and attendees to make important connections.

But there will be an educational component as well, she said, and much of the focus will be on innovation and the many forms it takes.

“People tend to think of innovation as new-product development, and that’s a big part of it,” she noted. “But there is information in all aspects of business — from process improvement to how companies attract and retain talent; from the use of technology to make a business more productive and efficient to development of systems to not only generate ideas but cultivate them into advances; from how an emergency room handles peak traffic flows to how a bank safeguards its customers from fraud.

“Innovation is vital to the success of every sector of our economy, from education to healthcare to manufacturing,” she went on. “And the Expo will show innovation isn’t simply a watchword, but a philosophy, or attitude.”

In addition to Comcast Business as presenting sponsor, Inspired Marketing is the show partner, MGM Springfield is participating as corporate sponsor, the Isenberg School of Management at UMass Amherst is the education sponsor, and the Better Business Bureau is a contributing sponsor. Additional sponsorship opportunities are available.

Details of the show will be presented in upcoming issues of BusinessWest and online HERE.

For more information on the show, to register, or to request information on becoming a sponsor, visit the website or call (413) 781-8600.

Daily News

LUDLOW — Duro-Last announced the opening of its newest site in Ludlow. The 60,000-square-foot facility manufactures custom-fabricated roofing membranes and accessories for Duro-Last Inc., and services the Northeast customer base. A grand-opening ceremony took place on June 20 at the facility at 84 Westover Road, Ludlow.

“We are excited about this investment in the Northeast region, and would like to thank our customers whose loyalty and support have made it possible,” said Duro-Last CEO Tom Saeli. “In addition to initially creating approximately 20 new jobs In Ludlow, this expansion demonstrates that we are committed to providing our contractors quicker access to the products they require to satisfy their customers’ needs.”

Community Spotlight Features

Community Spotlight

 

Doug Stefancik

Doug Stefancik says Ludlow’s status as a safe, clean, middle-income community makes it an attractive spot to live or do business.

When it comes to economic development in Ludlow, the sprawling project known as Ludlow Mills has been the lead story for several years. But it’s far from the only story, Douglas Stefancik said.

“We do need economic development, and we take it seriously,” said Ludlow’s town planner. “We look to businesses for tax revenue and jobs. And anytime we can get a new business in town, it enhances the entire area.”

A good deal of that movement has occurred at Ludlow Mills since Westmass Area Development Corp. purchased the site six years ago. Since that time, it has attracted $127 million in public and private investment.

The State Street property encompass a sprawling complex of more than 60 buildings set on 170 acres, and Westmass predicts that, over the next 15 years, more than 2,000 new jobs will be created and retained there, and more than $300 million will be spent in private investments.

The majority of buildings that make up the heart of Ludlow Mills were built between the 1870s and 1920s by Ludlow Manufacturing and Sales Co. From the 1860s through the 1970s, it made cloth, rope, and twine out of Indian-grown jute, flax, and hemp, employing about 4,000 people in its heyday.

Today, the complex is a growing mixed-use complex and home to many small businesses, including Iron Duke Brewery, which opened in a 3,000-square-foot space in December 2014, including a taproom that draws big crowds to the site.

But the jewel so far is HealthSouth Rehabilitation Hospital of Western Massachusetts, which opened a $28 million acute-care facility on the grounds four years ago, marking the beginning of the revitalization of the largest brownfield mill-redevelopment project in New England, and keeping 75 to 100 jobs in Ludlow.

On the heels of that project, WinnDevelopment, which specializes in housing and mill redevelopment, is in the final stages of a $24.5 million adaptive reuse of Mill 10 that will include 75 apartments for seniors, most subsidized but a few market-rate. Winn is also working on a $60 million conversion of Mill 8, which features the town’s iconic clock tower to a mixed-use complex of market-rate apartments with commercial, retail, and office space on the first floor.

“Winn has been first-class professionals all the way,” Stefancik said. “We’re excited about what they’ve done with Mill 10 and what we expect them to do with Mill 8.

“We’re also finishing up a riverwalk project, with public-safety improvements, lighting, trash receptacles, historical and interpretive signage, and benches,” he went on, describing a project that has drawn well over $1 million in funding to date. “Having walked it a few times, it’s fantastic. Overall, we continue to see the evolution down there. It’s a 20-year project, and we’ll continue to see development happen in phases.”

On the Rise

Nearby, the East Street corridor has been attracting more small restaurants, mom-and-pop shops, and convenience stores. Long a fertile ground for insurance agencies, banks, hair salons, bakeries, and other small businesses, “there’s a good, healthy mix there,” Stefancik said. “We just had a lady open a cupcake bakery down in that area, and someone is looking to open a yogurt shop. We continually have interest in the storefront businesses down there.”

He said business activity has been healthy, with 33 changes of occupancy in 2016, following 37 in 2015. “We see a good amount of businesses coming in,” he noted, before taking a stab at explaining why.

“I think we’re a classic middle-income community that’s safe and clean,” he said, adding, “the process for going through permitting is simple. The permitting on the mill site is more of an expedited permit, and we have similar processes and procedures for other types of businesses.”

That’s true, he said, for both a change in ownership in a small, storefront business or a new build from the ground up. “The Planning Board has been good about working with developers to make sure the plans are as close to approvable as possible when they come before them. And I don’t think our rules and regulations make people jump through hoops; I think they’re straightforward and fair.”

Stefancik said Ludlow also approves many special permits for home-based businesses, 18 last year. “These can be anything from a landscaper to someone doing an Internet business.”

Ludlow Mills

WinnDevelopment plans to turn Mill 8 at the Ludlow Mills into a bustling mixed-use complex.

But they’re less visible than storefront businesses that continue to proliferate, such as recent East Street additions like Corner Café, BlueWater Sushi, Casa Pizzeria, Family Pawn, and Treasures of the World.

Meanwhile, the Planning Board recently approved the town’s third solar array, a 1.8-MW installation owned by Eversource on Chapin Street. That joins a town-owned, 2.6-MW photovoltaic system on a capped landfill on Holyoke Street, and a privately owned, 3.8-MW installation on Center Street.

Residential development has been steady as well, with a 13-lot subdivision on Maria’s Way, a 20-lot project on Cislak Drive, and a 35-lot subdivision at Parker Lane Extension. Meanwhile, HAPHousing is planning a 40-unit affordable-housing project on Fuller Street that has run into neighborhood opposition, but is moving through the approval process.

Out and About

Recreation is typically the third pillar of a healthy community, and Ludlow planners have their eyes on a few projects, like a dog park at Camp White on the north side of town.

“The dog park committee has finalized a design for the plan with Berkshire Design Group,” Stefancik said. “It’s one of these amenities that people in town have been asking for. So we researched our area, and Camp White allows passive recreation. A lot of other parks in town are filled to capacity with sports fields, so it’s hard to fit something like that in. For a dog park, we’re looking at one or two acres, if not more.”

The town also continues to look for open space to develop a new complex of sports fields, and is exploring the construction of a new elementary school to replace Chapin Street Elementary and also possibly Veterans Park School. For the older set, a committee is studying the potential for a brand-new senior center or retrofitting the existing center on Chestnut Street.

Finally, Ludlow officials are finalizing the design of a reconstruction of Route 21, Center Street, though the center of town, from Beachside Drive to Sewall Street. “There will be a turning lane in the middle, and pedestrian improvement, with sidewalks where there are none now,” he said. “The end result will be a big improvement to that area.”

Improvement is the name of the game for the Planning Department in any town, and Stefancik says Ludlow has plenty of reason for optimism.

“A lot of good things are going on,” he told BusinessWest. “We’re excited about the momentum, especially with the Ludlow Mills project and the impact that will have on the whole community.”

Joseph Bednar can be reached at [email protected]

 

Ludlow at a glance

Year Incorporated: 1774
Population: 21,103 (2010)
Area: 28.2 square miles
County: Hampden
Residential Tax Rate: $18.13
Commercial Tax Rate: $18.13
Median Household Income: $53,244
MEDIAN FAMILY Income: $67,797
Type of Government: Town Council; Representative Town Meeting
Largest Employers: Hampden County House of Correction; Massachusetts Air National Guard; Kleeberg Sheet Metal Inc.; R&C Floral Inc.
* Latest information available

 

 

Law Sections

Winning Attitude

Raipher Pellegrino

Raipher Pellegrino

Its marketing materials are emblazoned with the phrase ‘for the win.’ But at Raipher, P.C. — the law firm Raipher Pellegrino founded in 1994 and put on the map with a series of high-profile victories — the end result is only part of a successful case. Just as important, Pellegrino notes, is helping clients, who are often suffering through the worst crisis of their lives, navigate the legal system and get back to some semblance of normalcy. That, in itself, he says, is also a win.

Raipher Pellegrino may be best-known for winning a handful of high-profile court cases. There was his defense in 2002 of a man accused of breaking into a UMass dorm room with attempt to rape, arguing — successfully — that the defendant was sleepwalking. Then, as a plaintiff’s attorney, he secured a $6 million settlement for the family of a woman killed when a Big Dig tunnel collapsed on her car in 2006.

Such cases may not represent the day-to-day work of Pellegrino and his team of attorneys at Raipher, P.C. in Springfield, but they did help raise his profile, which is why he works on cases for clients nationally.

“It’s a matter of being able to prove results year in and year out, on complex, oftentimes high-profile cases, which can be more difficult to handle because you’re worried about not just the legal aspect, but the public-relations aspect of the case,” Pellegrino told BusinessWest.

Perhaps most recognized as a personal-injury firm, Raipher also focuses on criminal defense, family law, and general business law, from commercial transactions to business litigation and everything in between. Pellegrino also has a special interest in charter schools, a model he supports, and has represented them in matters ranging from financing to litigation.

When he launched his firm in 1994, “the original concept was personal injury and criminal litigation, but not so much on the transactional side. We’ve evolved since then,” he said, noting that the firm currently boasts 12 attorneys.

In any case, success isn’t measured only in decisions and settlements, he explained, but in meeting the myriad needs of clients who are often dealing with life-changing situations.

“When someone is in a circumstance where they need a lawyer, it’s a moment of anxiety. Our goal here is that they should feel less anxious after they contact us,” said Sean O’Connor, who joined the firm 18 months ago in a management capacity, overseeing the case loads of each attorney and handling marketing and other non-legal aspects of the business, in an effort to modernize the practice.

SEE: List of Law Firms

“We go up against some of the largest forms in the U.S. and the world, with over 1,000 attorneys,” Pellegrino added. “They’ll attempt to bury you with process, putting five or six lawyers on the case and sending documents 24/7. The modernization of the practice on the intellectual side and also in workflow is important; it allows us to take on large firms from right here in Western Mass.”

For this issue’s focus on law, BusinessWest sat down for a candid chat with Pellegrino and O’Connor about how they take on those challenges — and why the process of resolving each case is as important as the end result.

Sean O’Connor

Sean O’Connor says much of the firm’s business comes from client referrals, which he considers “a real compliment to an attorney.”

Sweet Relief

Personal injury is a broad field in itself, encompassing car accidents, product liability, medical malpractice, slip-and-fall injuries, and workplace injuries, just to name a few. Pellegrino cited a recent, complex case with multiple defendants, in which the plaintiff was killed in a manufacturing plant.

“We brought suit against the company that designed the machine and the employer, and we were able to settle that for several million dollars despite having serious legal obstacles which could have precluded an award to the plaintiff,” Pellegrino said, including a state workers’ compensation statute that throws up barriers to suing employers. “We were able to navigate around those issues and resolve that case.”

The defendant was a Boston-based company, and his sole heir lived in Puerto Rico, but despite the presence of many large personal-injury firms in the Boston area, the plaintiff sought out Raipher, an example of the firm’s reputation for handling difficult cases — work that begins with the first meeting with the client.

“We don’t try to sell the firm; we try to educate people. We believe education is the building block of what we do,” he explained, likening it to a different kind of major life event. “If you’re going in for surgery and have no concept what the surgery is about, what the process is, it can be frightening to go through it because of the fear of the unknown. Well, nobody prepares for an accident; you don’t wake up and say, ‘I might have an accident today.’ But if you have a law firm in mind, and you know they’ve been through it time and time again, and they can walk you through the process, it takes some of the fear away.”

The firm uses the motto ‘for the win,’ but Raipher Pellegrino emphasizes that the process of finding relief, restitution, or justice is as important as the end result.

The firm uses the motto ‘for the win,’ but Raipher Pellegrino emphasizes that the process of finding relief, restitution, or justice is as important as the end result.

And monetary restitution isn’t the sole goal, he added. “We also want to let them get on with their lives. They may be out of work, have loss of income, physical pain; that’s what they should be focused on, getting better and back to life as quickly as they can. We routinely tell clients, ‘let us do our job and make your life easier.’ And if we can make the process more understandable, that’s part of our job — not just getting a monetary settlement.”

Pellegrino said his firm has built its client base organically. “We have generational clients, we’ve been referred by clients’ family and friends, and we’ve had referrals from attorneys, not just in Western Mass., but around the country. I’ve had jurors hire me.”

That makes sense, he added, since jurors have a front-row seat to how an attorney works. If one is impressed and, down the road, has a need for a lawyer, they’ll remember what they saw in court. “That feels good, when people appreciate you and want to hire you. We take pride in our work and in delivering a good product.”

Added O’Connor, “the greatest complement we get here is client referrals. Raipher has clients he’s known for 20 years who still refer people to us. That’s a real compliment to an attorney, to have the confidence of past and current clients.”

To earn that confidence, Pellegrino said, his team is dedicated to staying educated on all facets of the law they handle. “A doctor doesn’t stop reading about new surgeries. We’re constantly adapting to changes in the law, whether regulatory or statutory.”

When asked whether the regulatory landscape has become more burdensome over the past decade or so, he said many lawyers would say yes. “And that certainly requires a broader spectrum of knowledge to litigate a claim.”

But some changes have been beneficial for attorneys, he added. For instance, only recently have lawyers in Massachusetts been allowed to ask potential jurors specific questions during the voir dire process, allowing them to dig into biases — whether conscious or subconscious — and establish their best opportunity to ensure a level playing field. In addition, lawyers can now demand a specific award amount at trial, which can make it easier to demonstrate the value of an injury, loss, and suffering to a jury.

And jurors take these matters seriously, Pellegrino said, noting that, while people often feel hesitant when summoned to jury duty, once they’re empaneled, they tend to embrace their responsibility. In fact, he noted, jurors are often frustrated they can’t get more information, though there are good reasons behind the rules for which pieces of evidence can be entered into the record and which can’t.

He recalled one criminal-defense case that fell apart for the prosecution during cross-examination and was quickly settled. “The jury waited for me outside the court to talk to me; they wanted to ask about more underlying facts of the case. It shows how they’re engaged, and they take it seriously.”

For the Win

Pellegrino certainly takes his work seriously, even though personal-injury law often suffers from negative perceptions in society.

“The only way our society knows how to compensate someone for a civil loss is monetarily,” he said. “One of the best mediators in the country likes to ask, ‘if I could give you your leg back or offer you $100 million, which would you take?’ Inevitably, the person says, ‘I’d want my leg back.’ So it’s clear no amount of money can adequately compensate for your leg.”

I tell everyone, ‘don’t go into the practice of law for money. It serves society in many ways, and if you put your heart and soul into it, it’s one of the most gratifying professions you can have.”

As a result, he went on, it can be difficult to put the value of a death, injury, or physical loss in financial terms. “It’s constantly evolving, and so many factors go into it. In every case, those factors change. There are different ways to value it and monetize it. It’s not simply, someone gets in an accident and makes a demand, and you give them that money. It’s far more complex.”

O’Connor said he often finds himself explaining this concept at dinner parties. “People often don’t want to bring a lawsuit because there’s a stigma. But there is literally no other way to compensate you for someone else’s wrong. It’s not your stigma. Someone else’s negligence caused you harm. So the stigma is unfortunate.”

But Pellegrino sees the value of his work in the lives of his clients, and doesn’t worry about public perception.

“I tell everyone, ‘don’t go into the practice of law for money,’” he told BusinessWest. “It serves society in many ways, and if you put your heart and soul into it, it’s one of the most gratifying professions you can have.”

The emotions cut deep in both wins and losses, he added. In the Big Dig case, he recalled being happy for the plaintiff, who wouldn’t get his wife back, but could at least move on with his life having received some compensation and an assurance that it wouldn’t happen to someone else.

Then, in a criminal-defense case, “you can lose the case, and the client is going away to be incarcerated for 10 years, and they’re thanking you and hugging you and telling you how appreciative they are of your effort,” he said. “That’s an odd feeling. But at the end of the day, you’re not going to win every case, but if you put your heart and soul into it, the client knows that. They know you can’t guarantee an outcome.”

O’Connor agreed, adding, “you feel like you disappointed them, even though they’re clearly expressing gratitude. Clients can tell whether you’re phoning it in or doing the best you can for them.”

Still, every lawyer wants to win — which is why Raipher, P.C. uses the phrase ‘for the win’ in its marketing materials.

“I tell people, ‘you almost have to hate losing more than you like winning,’” Pellegrino said. “And if I lose, I’ve got to know that I did everything I could for the client.”

Joseph Bednar can be reached at [email protected]

Sections Technology

Banking on Breakthroughs

 

Three UMass Amherst campus research initiatives are among nine projects across the five-campus system that are sharing $735,000 in grants from the President’s Science & Technology (S&T) Initiatives Fund.

Announced by UMass President Marty Meehan, the projects showcase a range of cutting-edge faculty research being conducted across the UMass system, from enhancing clean-energy technologies to developing materials that can autonomously release drugs and precisely target tumors.

The Amherst campus projects include:

• The Center for Autonomous Chemistry, an initiative with UMass Lowell and UMass Medical School, and led by chemistry professor S. Thayumanvanan. The project will develop the molecular design fundamentals for autonomous chemical systems, inspired by the immune system. Fully developed, this will form the basis to develop materials that can autonomously release drugs in response to a specific trigger and precisely target tumors. The grant of $140,000 will be used to facilitate one or more proposed projects to federal research agencies.

• The UMass Unmanned Aerial System Research and Education Collaborative (UASREC), led by Michael Knodler of the UMass Transportation Center. A collaboration with UMass Dartmouth, UASREC is established to advance unmanned aerial systems, also known as drones, to advance interdisciplinary and collaborative research and education. With research already funded through the state Department of Transportation, $100,000 in S&T funds will help position UASREC to become the New England Transportation Center and develop other proposals to federal funding agencies.

• The Center for Smart and Connected Society (CS2), a project with UMass Medical School, is being led by Prashant Shenoy in Computer Science at UMass Amherst and David McManus in Cardiovascular Medicine at UMass Medical Center. The project, as part of the creation of the new interdisciplinary CS2, will focus on the advancement and application of smart and connected technologies. The smart-application domains include smart health and smart living, smart buildings and energy, smart and autonomous vehicles, and smart agriculture. The one-year, $25,000 S&T grant will advance the planning for CS2 and coordination with the medical school’s Center for Data Driven Discovery and HealthCare, which also received an S&T award.

Amherst campus researchers are also involved in another of the funded projects, the UMass MOVEment Research Center, which will explore the mechanics of movement and muscle function. Led by Matthew Gage of the UMass Lowell Chemistry department, the researchers will use the $25,000 grant to plan for a UMass system-wide research center for movement mechanics, focused on understanding movement in the aging population. Faculty from Lowell, Amherst, and the medical school will explore how to combine existing research strengths at all three campuses into a comprehensive program designed to approach research questions in the biomechanics of aging from a molecular to an organismal level.

“These funds empower our faculty, strengthen our research enterprise, and spur breakthroughs that boost the economy and improve lives,” Meehan said. “I’m proud to support our faculty while advancing our critical mission as a world-class public research university.”

Now in its 14th year, the S&T fund accelerates research activity across all five campuses, drives partnerships with state industry, and positions researchers to attract larger investments from external sources to expand the scope of their projects.

Since 2004, the fund has awarded nearly $12 million to faculty, helping to generate additional funding of more than $240 million in areas such as medical devices, nano-manufacturing, clinical and translational science, bio-manufacturing, data science, robotics, and personalized cancer therapy.

S&T awards have also helped to establish important research and development centers across the state, including the Center for Hierarchical Nanomanufacturing at UMass Amherst, the Center for Personalized Cancer Therapy at UMass Boston, the Center for Scientific Computing and Data Visualization Research at UMass Dartmouth, the Massachusetts Medical Device Development Center and New England Robotics and Validation & Experimentation Center at UMass Lowell, and the UMass Center for Clinical and Translational Science at UMass Medical Center.

“Since 2004, these grants have generated a tremendous return on investment to our campuses and to the Commonwealth, strengthening our engagement in key areas, including the life sciences, data science, climate science, and advanced manufacturing,” Meehan said. “This program underscores how critical a strong public research university is to the future of the state.”

The President’s Science and Technology Initiatives Fund is one of three sources of support that help advance the work of faculty members, along with the Creative Economy Initiatives Fund and the Technology Development Fund. u

Cover Story Features

Hire Expectations

employeesartfinal

The job market in the region has tightened considerably in recent years, approaching, if not reaching, that state known as full employment. In this environment, employers are finding it increasingly difficult to find good help — at least among the ranks of the unemployed — and many are responding to the situation proactively and creatively.

It was almost 17 years ago, but Kevin Lynn can still remember the sense of urgency in the employer’s voice and the impassioned plea for help — any kind of help.

“He just said, ‘get me someone with a beating heart,’” said Lynn, then (and still) director of FutureWorks, the one-stop career center based in Springfield. “That was his lone qualification; he was desperate, to be sure.”

That was in 2000, just before the recession prompted by the bursting of the tech bubble, he told BusinessWest, when the nation, and this region, were pretty much at full employment and companies were struggling mightily to find talented help.

Things are not quite that bad (for employers) or that good (for job seekers) at this moment in time, he added quickly, before offering a very intriguing, if not menacing, qualifier.

“If the economy keeps going the way it’s going, could we be there in a year? Maybe,” he said.

For now, Lynn, like others, would say merely that the job market is as tight as it’s been in a while, maybe since 2000, and certainly since the height of the last recession in 2009.

Kevin Lynn says the tightening of the job market has put many employers in a situation where they need to ‘grow their own’ talent.

Kevin Lynn says the tightening of the job market has put many employers in a situation where they need to ‘grow their own’ talent.

At that time, he noted, there was a very large pool of talented, skilled people looking for work. Now, the pool is seriously depleted, comprised mostly of people with fewer skills, both technical and ‘people,’ and less experience than employers would prefer.

This is the main byproduct of  ‘full employment.’ That’s a term used by economists and others, and it has a definition — actually several of them. The one that prevails goes something like this: ‘a state of the economy in which all eligible people who want to work can find employment at prevailing wages.’

Most economists believe full employment occurs when the unemployment rate is at or just above 4%, which, according to the latest figures, just happens to be the rate nationwide.

But from a practical standpoint, and for the purposes of this discussion, parties are more interested in what full employment, or something close to that, means figuratively, not literally.

For employers, it means challenges — everything from finding and retaining qualified help to rising wages, said Meredith Wise, executive director of the Employers Assoc. of the NorthEast.

“Employers are beginning to get frustrated with the lack of quality out there, the lack of skills out there,” said Wise, adding that this situation will, in all likelihood (meaning unless there is a dramatic downturn in the economy) become more exacerbated when MGM Springfield begins hiring people in large numbers. That should start happening about a year from now, and there should be quite an impact on the local employment picture (much more on this later).

Nearly full employment also means that many employers are becoming more creative when it comes to such matters as searching for help and developing employees’ skill sets once they arrive, Wise went on, which, overall, is a good thing.

“Employers are looking at the situation and saying, ‘well, if the regular methods for getting employees aren’t working — if I can’t just go out to the employed market — what else can I do?’” she explained. “We’re seeing employers that are trying to get more involved with the schools, trying to get more involved with interns, and other steps. Employers are sensing that, if the regular methods aren’t working, instead of just throwing their hands up and trying to steal people from others, they’re looking at what else they can do.”


Meredith Wise

Meredith Wise

Employers are telling me that the people who are walking through their doors don’t have the skills that they’re looking for.”


Lynn agreed, noting that, in many cases, employers are adopting what he called a ‘grow your own’ philosophy, whereby, instead of holding out for individuals who have the requisite skills upon arrival, they’re opting for taking rawer talent, if you will, and developing it.

He cited the staffing company Snapchef, which recently opened a location in downtown Springfield, as one that embraces a model others will likely have to follow.

“They provide a five-week training course for people who want to get into the food-service business,” he explained. “Individuals learn all the basics, and Snapchef gets people into a job; this is probably the model that more employers are going to have to embrace.”

As for the region as a whole, full or nearly full employment means working harder with those who are still in the labor pool — including some who might have given up on their efforts to re-enter the workforce and are now giving it another go — to help them attain and retain work, said Dave Cruise, executive director of the Regional Employment Board of Hampden County.

“We’re working hard with those individuals looking to re-enter the market to address barriers that might have prohibited them from getting back in,” he said. “And as we do that, we’re focused not only on identifying candidates for employers, but also on the issue of retention, and dealing with issues now, as opposed to when someone is five or six weeks on a job.”

Work Orders

Lynn calls it the ‘recruiting corner.’

That’s an area at the FutureWorks complex — a table near the main entrance, actually — where area employers will, as that name, suggests, do actual one-on-one recruiting with those who come to the agency for help attaining employment.

At the height of the recession, and in the years after it, for that matter, the recruiting corner wasn’t used much because most companies weren’t hiring, and if they were, job hopefuls were coming to them.

The situation is much different now, obviously, Lynn went on.

“We’re seeing increased demand among employers who want to come and sit there during times of high foot traffic and get some face time in front of potential employees,” he said, adding that the economy is, for the most part, solid, and many companies across a host of economic sectors, are hiring — or at least thinking about it.

Dave Cruise

Dave Cruise says many of those who remain unemployed face one or more barriers to re-entering the workforce.

And what they’re finding as they go about hiring is that the pool of talent is shallow, that most of the individuals they would prefer to hire are already gainfully employed, and that they’re going to have to work harder and be more creative in their efforts to find and retain talent.

The resulting challenges for employers manifest themselves in many ways, from the recruiting corner to the strong interest shown in a job expo to be staged early next month at the Basketball Hall of Fame.

“We recently opened registration,” said Lynn. “And as soon as we put that out, we got three or four companies to sign up.”

Locally, as noted, the employment situation is not as tight, or robust, as it is nationally, or certainly in the eastern part of this state.

Larry Martin, director of Employer Services & Engagement with the Regional Employment Board of Hampden County, said the unemployment rate in Hampden County is just over 5%, compared to roughly 3.6% for the Commonwealth. In Springfield, meanwhile, still one of the poorest communities in the state, unemployment is at roughly 6.8%.

Both that number and the 5% for the county represent significant improvement over just a few years ago, said Martin, noting that unemployment in Springfield was well above 10% at the height of the recession.

As for the current situation and what it all means, those we talked with started by assessing the constituency that remains unemployed. This is where Cruise made repeated use of that word ‘barriers,’ adding that most all of those out of work and looking for work (some are not) generally face at least one, and perhaps several.

Wise agreed, and summoned that well-worn phrase ‘skills gap’ to describe what employers generally see or perceive from the current workforce, meaning those who are presently unemployed.

“Employers are telling me that the people who are walking through their doors don’t have the skills that they’re looking for,” she explained. “Sometimes this is in manufacturing, when people are looking for someone specific, like machine operators or maintenance people, or other roles. But other times, it’s just the general market — people walking through the doors for receptionist positions or accounting clerk, positions where you don’t need a lot of technical skills, but you need the customer-service skills and people with good work histories.

“A lot of the people who currently make up that 4% are people whose work history is maybe not that great,” she went on. “They may have moved around a lot, or they may have been out of the workforce for a while, so therefore employers are hesitant to bring them back in.”

Work in Progress

Some of those who remain unemployed are older individuals (a term usually used to describe those over 55, although the age varies), who were downsized during the recession and have often struggled to re-enter the workforce or given up altogether.

The tightening of the job market has given some of these older workers the impetus to get back in the hunt for work, said Martin, noting that some face a steep climb because their skills are outdated.

“There were a lot of older individuals who may have been in a particular industry and didn’t have the updated skills, and got discouraged,” he explained.

Wise agreed, but opined that she believes some employers are making a mistake by overlooking or perhaps underestimating some older workers and, more specifically, their desire to return to the workforce at a salary (and rung on the ladder) lower than where they were when they left.

“Employers look at some of those older workers and look at what they had been making and also at what their job responsibilities may have been,” she noted. “And they’re hesitant to bring them into their workforce now, because they’re concerned that the individual may not be satisfied — this person may have been in a managerial position or a position with some responsibility, and is now looking for a lower-level position.

“I think employers are doing themselves a bit of a disservice, because they’re bypassing those people,” she went on. “A lot of those older workers that have been in a position of responsibility … they’re done with that; they don’t want those responsibilities anymore. They want to keep working, and they’re ready to take that step back and do the 9-to-5. And many employers are overlooking those people.”

Others among the unemployed have different barriers, including everything from language to basic skills to transportation, said Cruise, adding that one of the REB’s main focal points at this juncture is working to remove some of those barriers — not just to gaining a job, but to succeeding in one and staying in it.

Elaborating, he said many individuals come to the REB looking for employment, but before they are ready to attain it, they need one or more of the other services provided by the agency — training, education, and various forms of support.

“What we’re finding is that fewer and fewer of the people coming to us are ready, based on our assessment of them, for that top bucket — employment,” he explained. “They may come in looking for employment, but we’re finding that in many cases they need training, and prior to that, they need education, such as basic mathematical skills.”

They also need some of those softer ‘people’ skills, he added, adding that the workforce of today is different from the ones years ago in that teamwork and the ability to work in tandem with others, as well as the ability to perform many different tasks, are far more important.

“It’s no longer a situation where you park your car, punch in, and go to your workstation and stay there, in isolation, until your lunch break,” he explained. “That doesn’t exist anymore, and for a lot of people trying to re-enter the workforce, it’s a matter of educating them to a different work culture and the necessity of them working in team-type situations and having the skills to move from task to task.”

Rolling the Dice

As the pool of unemployed workers shrinks and become less qualified, several forces come into play, said Wise, adding that employers must be focused not only on attaining new help, but retaining existing help.

Indeed, in such cycles, competition for those with skills and good work habits naturally intensifies as the advantage clearly shifts from employees to workers, she went on, adding that this dynamic is reflected in rising wages and benefits.

They’re not going up dramatically in this region, but they are rising, she said, noting that, while most companies weren’t giving any raises at all during the recession and the year or two after it (in fact, wage cuts were common) and then giving increases of only a percentage point or two, most are giving raises averaging 2.5% to 3%.

“That’s been pretty consistent for the past few years,” Wise said. “And in many industries, it’s closer to 2.8% or 3% than 2% or 2.5%.”

These wage hikes reflect the heightened competition for good help, said Lynn, adding, again, that in this environment, most people who are seeking employment and have desired skills are already gainfully employed.

“If you talk about people who have solid work histories and skill sets … if companies want what we’ll call a ‘fully formed’ employee, they’re pretty much looking at stealing from other employers,” he told BusinessWest. “Those who are still looking for work are facing barriers to employment, and in general, we have to train that group up to a point where they’re attractive to an employer.”

This brings him back to that notion of companies having to ‘grow their own,’ as he put it, and get someone in the door and do more training, rather than hope to find someone who already has all the requisite skills.

“I think we’re at a point where companies need to reconsider how they bring people in,” he explained. “We’re coming into a period where companies who are successful at attracting people are going to have to do more training; they’re going to have to look at people and say, ‘this person has the raw material — they may not have everything, but they have the ability to learn, and we’re going to have to grow our own.”

This situation should become more exacerbated within the next 12 to 15 months as MGM Springfield, scheduled to open in the fall of 2018, begins to assemble a workforce projected to number 3,000, said Lynn.

He said several sectors, especially financial services (bank tellers and others), food service, and the broad hospitality industry are certainly vulnerable to losing valuable employees to the casino.

And if the current trends with regard to the job market continue, backfilling those individuals lost to MGM could prove quite challenging.

“The backfill is the most crucial thing — how are we going to deal with those vacancies?” he asked. “Banks have something to worry about, based on what we’ve seen when other casinos have opened — tellers have left for those jobs because of the flexibility; you can give someone an off shift. And anything involving food and restaurants — because they’re having trouble finding people now.

“If you add another major player into the mix, and their wages are more than competitive, that will be problematic for employers,” he said, adding that their woes could be further compounded by another casino slated to open in Northern Conn.

Wise agreed, and noted that, while the casino’s opening is more than a year away, it certainly isn’t too early for employers to start thinking about what might happen and reacting in a proactive manner. Some are doing just that, she went on, but others, caught up in today, tomorrow, next week, and maybe next month, aren’t able or willing to focus on the fall of 2018 just yet.

“There are still organizations thinking, ‘I need to get through this month,’ or ‘I need to get through this year, and the casino’s not coming for another year,’” she told BusinessWest. “They’re thinking they’ll worry about that down the road, and that may be short-sighted.”

Bottom Line

Lynn said that, to the best of his knowledge, no one has called FutureWorks recently putting in an order for someone possessing only a beating heart.

The market has, indeed, tightened, but conditions are not yet approximating those of 2000 and the years that followed.

But as the steady use of the recruiting corner and the early registration for that job expo clearly show, employers are facing challenges, and they’re responding, in many cases, with creativity and maybe a mild dose of desperation.

No one really knows what will happen in the months to come, but it appears likely that conditions will only worsen — for employers, anyway — before they improve.

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

Briefcase Departments

Massachusetts Adds 3,900 Jobs in April

BOSTON — The state’s total unemployment rate increased to 3.9% in April from the March rate of 3.6%, the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development announced. The preliminary job estimates from the Bureau of Labor Statistics indicate Massachusetts added 3,900 jobs in April. Over-the-month job gains occurred in professional, scientific, and business services; education and health services; trade, transportation, and utilities; other services; information; and manufacturing. From April 2016 to April 2017, BLS estimates Massachusetts added 58,600 jobs. The April state unemployment rate remains lower than the national rate of 4.4% reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. “Through the first four months of 2017, Massachusetts has added over 20,000 jobs, with much of those gains coming from key sectors of the economy like professional, business, and scientific services,” Labor and Workforce Development Secretary Ronald Walker II said. “These job gains, coupled with large increases to the labor force and a low unemployment rate, are signs of a strong economy in the Commonwealth. Our workforce agencies remain focused on closing the skills gap and ensuring that those newly entering the job market have the training necessary to access employment opportunities.” The labor force increased by 33,000 from 3,661,200 in March, as 21,200 more residents were employed and 11,800 more residents were unemployed over the month. Over the year, the state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate dropped one-tenth of a percentage point from 4.0% in April 2016. There were 300 more unemployed persons over the year compared to April 2016. The state’s labor-force participation rate — the total number of residents 16 or older who worked or were unemployed and actively sought work in the last four weeks — increased six-tenths of a percentage point to 66.5% over the month. The labor-force participation rate over the year has increased 1.5% compared to April 2016. The largest private-sector percentage job gains over the year were in professional, scientific, and business services; construction; financial activities; education; and health services.

Cultural District Seeks Pop-up Gallery Proposals

SPRINGFIELD — The Springfield Central Cultural District (SCCD) has issued a call to artists for a unique opportunity in downtown Springfield. The Cultural District is searching for artists to host a solo show in their Art Stop pop-up gallery program and sell their work in one of three locations downtown – New England Public Radio (NEPR), UMass Springfield, and 1550 Main. The RFP asks for proposals from artists of all mediums to show their work from July to October. Requirements to what the art should look like are fairly laid-back, to best enable creative expression. All art will be available for sale during the display period, with 100% of proceeds going directly back to the creator. A stipend of $200 will also be awarded to the chosen artists. The Art Stop venues include a small community meeting space at NEPR which has been used for its youth arts program, MediaLab, and yoga classes; the highly visible first-floor lobby of 1550 Main, trafficked by hundreds of people daily; and the sunny and recently renovated main entryway of the UMass Center at Springfield. The SCCD hopes artists will draw inspiration from these differing spaces. “Art Stop has now become a flagship program of the Cultural District,” said director Morgan Drewniany. “We began this in October of last year and continued the effort in April, expanding to include Tower Square. Visitors love the unique blend of art, music, and community at the openings, and artists love being able to connect directly with their audience, as well as have a platform to sell their work downtown.” A joint reception will be held between the three locations in mid-summer, with gallery openings, street art, and performances between the locations to encourage walking, and light food and drinks, all provided by the SCCD and the artist hosts. The Springfield Central Cultural District encompasses an area of the metro center of Springfield and is membership-based, involving many of the downtown arts institutions. Its mission is to create and sustain a vibrant cultural environment in Springfield. The RFP and more program details can be found at springfieldculture.org/artistresources. Any questions can be forwarded to Drewniany at [email protected] or (413) 454-1195.

Plainridge Study Suggests Casino Projects Can Lower Unemployment

HADLEY — The UMass Donahue Institute released a compilation of results from two years of new employee questionnaires at Plainridge Park Casino. This report is the latest in a series of studies focused on the economic impacts of the gaming industry in the Commonwealth. Representatives from the UMass Donahue Institute presented its findings to the Massachusetts Gaming Commission (MGC) during a public meeting on May 10. The findings reveal several important characteristics of new hires at Plainridge Park Casino and the emergent casino workforce in Massachusetts:

• 50.1% of new hires worked part-time or were unemployed before obtaining their job at Plainridge Park Casino;

• Major reasons for seeking employment included career advancement, improved pay, and improved benefits;

• 40.1% of new hires said they needed work due to being unemployed, part-time, or underemployed. 86.2% had no gaming experience prior to their jobs at Plainridge Park Casino;

• 96.5% of new hires did not transfer from other Penn National Gaming locations, and 92.8% did not move to take their jobs at the casino. Of those who moved, one-quarter originated from cities or towns within Massachusetts; and

• Nearly three-quarters of respondents come to their job without pre-employment training for their position.

The vast majority of survey respondents are people who are new to the gaming industry and are now being hired for gaming and non-gaming positions at Plainridge Park Casino, including its food-court vendors. Very few workers (only 7%) moved to take their job at Plainridge Park Casino, and those who did were mostly from Massachusetts and Rhode Island. This suggests that most new employees live close enough to commute to their positions at Plainridge Park Casino. “As we have pointed out repeatedly, the Legislature made broad-based economic development a key focus of the Gaming Act, with a particular focus on local employment for those underemployed and unemployed,” said MGC Chairman Steve Crosby. “This report, thus far, demonstrates that legislative intent is being achieved. We are also pleased to see the implementation of the legislative mandate to objectively and rigorously assess the economic and social impacts of gaming. This report represents one of the many important research topics fulfilling that objective.” Added Rachel Volberg, principal investigator of the Social and Economic Impacts of Gambling in Massachusetts (SEIGMA) group, “one of the most important positive impacts of expanded gambling is increased employment. However, in assessing the overall impacts of expanded gambling, it is important to understand whether employment gains at the casino result in the loss of employment in other sectors of the economy and in surrounding communities. This report establishes a basis for making this determination going forward and will help us understand the role of casinos in increasing economic activity, and overall employment, in Massachusetts.”

Manufacturing Partnership Graduates 100th Student

TURNERS FALLS — On Friday, May 19, 14 advanced-manufacturing trainees will receive certificates of completion and start down the pathway toward precision-machining careers in Pioneer Valley manufacturing companies. The current cohort of students in the Advanced Manufacturing Pipeline – Computer Numerical Control (AMP-CNC) training program hail from across Franklin and Hampshire counties, including Belchertown, Colrain, Easthampton, Greenfield, Montague, Northfield, South Hadley, and Shelburne. Among these trainees will be the 100th graduate of a successful job-training partnership that began four years ago to address a shortage of skilled machinists in the Valley’s precision-manufacturing industry. The event will be held at 4 p.m. at the Franklin County Technical School. AMP-CNC is a non-credit, 15-week, 300-hour, hands-on training program offered by Greenfield Community College (GCC) in partnership with the Franklin Hampshire Regional Employment Board (FHREB), the Franklin Hampshire Career Centers, Franklin County Technical School (FCTS), and area machining companies. The program has been offered at no cost to qualifying participants thanks to funding provided by federal and state grants and employer contributions. The AMP-CNC program is taught by experienced instructors in a state-of-the-art machine shop at Franklin County Technical School. The shop is outfitted with Haas CNC mill and lathe machines funded by employer contributions and matching state funding. The program uses the FCTS machine shop in the evenings after the high-school day concludes, thereby maximizing training use of the equipment. The previous seven cohorts have averaged a 93% graduation rate and an 84% job-placement rate. Students participating in the program complete testing, a four-week Foundational Manufacturing precursor program, and online Tooling U assignments. Coaching and job-placement support are provided to help students demonstrate readiness and pursue careers in precision machining by completing résumés, cover letters, and work-search plans. Trainees recently completed their résumés and cover letters to participate in a recent CNC job fair before graduation. Employers present included Bete Fog Nozzle, Hassay-Savage, G.S. Precision, Mayhew Tool Co., Poplar Hill Machine, Quabbin Inc., and VSS Inc., all employer partners of the program. Those interested in applying can sign up to attend one of the monthly information and application sessions by registering online at www.gcc.mass.edu/manufacturing or by calling the Franklin Hampshire Career Center at (413) 774-4361. The next information session will take place on Monday, June 12 at 3 p.m. at the GCC Downtown Center, 270 Main St., Greenfield. For more information about the AMP-CNC training program, contact Andrew Baker at FHREB, (413) 774-4361, ext. 375, or [email protected], or April Estis-Clark at GCC, (413) 774-1602 or [email protected].

Daily News

BOSTON — The state’s total unemployment rate increased to 3.9% in April from the March rate of 3.6%, the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development announced.

The preliminary job estimates from the Bureau of Labor Statistics indicate Massachusetts added 3,900 jobs in April. Over-the-month job gains occurred in professional, scientific, and business services; education and health services; trade, transportation, and utilities; other services; information; and manufacturing.

From April 2016 to April 2017, BLS estimates Massachusetts added 58,600 jobs. The April state unemployment rate remains lower than the national rate of 4.4% reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

“Through the first four months of 2017, Massachusetts has added over 20,000 jobs, with much of those gains coming from key sectors of the economy like professional, business, and scientific services,” Labor and Workforce Development Secretary Ronald Walker II said. “These job gains, coupled with large increases to the labor force and a low unemployment rate, are signs of a strong economy in the Commonwealth. Our workforce agencies remain focused on closing the skills gap and ensuring that those newly entering the job market have the training necessary to access employment opportunities.”

The labor force increased by 33,000 from 3,661,200 in March, as 21,200 more residents were employed and 11,800 more residents were unemployed over the month.

Over the year, the state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate dropped one-tenth of a percentage point from 4.0% in April 2016. There were 300 more unemployed persons over the year compared to April 2016.

The state’s labor-force participation rate — the total number of residents 16 or older who worked or were unemployed and actively sought work in the last four weeks — increased six-tenths of a percentage point to 66.5% over the month. The labor-force participation rate over the year has increased 1.5% compared to April 2016.

The largest private-sector percentage job gains over the year were in professional, scientific, and business services; construction; financial activities; education; and health services.

Daily News

TURNERS FALLS — On Friday, May 19, 14 advanced-manufacturing trainees will receive certificates of completion and start down the pathway toward precision-machining careers in Pioneer Valley manufacturing companies.

The current cohort of students in the Advanced Manufacturing Pipeline – Computer Numerical Control (AMP-CNC) training program hail from across Franklin and Hampshire counties, including Belchertown, Colrain, Easthampton, Greenfield, Montague, Northfield, South Hadley, and Shelburne. Among these trainees will be the 100th graduate of a successful job-training partnership that began four years ago to address a shortage of skilled machinists in the Valley’s precision-manufacturing industry. The event will be held at 4 p.m. at the Franklin County Technical School.

AMP-CNC is a non-credit, 15-week, 300-hour, hands-on training program offered by Greenfield Community College (GCC) in partnership with the Franklin Hampshire Regional Employment Board (FHREB), the Franklin Hampshire Career Centers, Franklin County Technical School (FCTS), and area machining companies. The program has been offered at no cost to qualifying participants thanks to funding provided by federal and state grants and employer contributions.

The AMP-CNC program is taught by experienced instructors in a state-of-the-art machine shop at Franklin County Technical School. The shop is outfitted with Haas CNC mill and lathe machines funded by employer contributions and matching state funding. The program uses the FCTS machine shop in the evenings after the high-school day concludes, thereby maximizing training use of the equipment.

The previous seven cohorts have averaged a 93% graduation rate and an 84% job-placement rate. Students participating in the program complete testing, a four-week Foundational Manufacturing precursor program, and online Tooling U assignments. Coaching and job-placement support are provided to help students demonstrate readiness and pursue careers in precision machining by completing résumés, cover letters, and work-search plans. Trainees recently completed their résumés and cover letters to participate in a recent CNC job fair before graduation. Employers present included Bete Fog Nozzle, Hassay-Savage, G.S. Precision, Mayhew Tool Co., Poplar Hill Machine, Quabbin Inc., and VSS Inc., all employer partners of the program.

Those interested in applying can sign up to attend one of the monthly information and application sessions by registering online at www.gcc.mass.edu/manufacturing or by calling the Franklin Hampshire Career Center at (413) 774-4361. The next information session will take place on Monday, June 12 at 3 p.m. at the GCC Downtown Center, 270 Main St., Greenfield.

For more information about the AMP-CNC training program, contact Andrew Baker at FHREB, (413) 774-4361, ext. 375, or [email protected], or April Estis-Clark at GCC, (413) 774-1602 or [email protected].

Insurance Sections

Culture of Safety

riskmanagementMention insurance to someone, and chances are they’ll think of buying a certain level of coverage against loss, damage, or other adverse events. But when it comes to business insurance, that’s just one aspect of protecting a company. Just as important is risk management, which is essentially the process of implementing steps to reduce the probability of such dangers. It’s a win-win effort that saves money for both insurance companies and their clients — and often saves lives, too.

Insurance, Bill Grinnell noted, is a transfer of risk, an investment a business makes in protecting itself from the costs of accidents, fraud, theft, and any number of other occurrences.

“You can manage risk in different ways,” said Grinnell, president of Webber & Grinnell Insurance in Northampton. “You can buy insurance to protect against exposures, but you can also reduce the risk of exposures — and your costs will be lower.”

He was talking about risk management, which can take many shapes, but typically refers to the mitigation of risk to avoid an accident or other incident that could trigger a costly insurance claim.

Risk management is big business for insurance carriers, who employ professionals with industry-specific expertise to help businesses cut down on their exposure to risk, thereby saving both the insurer and client money.

Bill Grinnell

Bill Grinnell says reducing risks is the best way to lower the cost of insuring against exposures.

“Some of it is common sense. But sometimes it takes paid professionals to come in and make recommendations to help devise solutions,” said Timm Marini, president of HUB International New England in East Longmeadow. “The larger employers have their own safety officers and risk-management officers, but even they often rely on people like us.”

He said one of HUB’s calling cards is its network of individuals around the country who develop and help implement industry-specific workplace strategies to reduce risk, from driver training to hazardous-materials edcuation. “Within each discipline, there are very specific types of expertise available.”

Shellye Archambeau, CEO of MetricStream, a provider of governance, risk, and compliance software solutions, recently wrote that the hallmark of a good risk-management program is a pervasive risk-assessment culture that starts at the top, and is built on sound policies, training programs, and incentives.

“For organizations to not only survive, but thrive in this new landscape, they will need to build better resilience. That means gathering, analyzing, and learning from the past, so that decision makers can take measured steps to deal with the next major volatility or stress,” Archambeau noted. “It also means having the right risk data at the right time to understand how to diversify or disperse risks, so that no single risk has a major impact.”

The exposures that HUB works with companies to mitigate, Marini told BusinessWest, are diverse and always changing. For instance, while many accident-prevention strategies in manufacturing have been around for decades, now employers must deal with a demographic shift: Americans working longer in life than before, leading to higher-than-ever instances of joint deterioration and a subsequent boost in workers’ compensation claims related to joint injury and replacement.

Then there’s the new high-tech culture as it intersects with driving, a concern for companies with employees who work on the road. “With new technology in vehicles, we’re seeing more distracted drivers,” Marini said. “That creates increased exposure; when drivers get distracted, it’s very similar to drunk or impaired driving.”

SEE: List of Insurance Agencies in Western Mass.

Grinnell agrees, saying, his agency insures many firms in trucking, fuel-oil transport, and other fields where driver safety is a concern. “So we’re seeing more webcam technology, GPS technology, and technology that tracks the speed of the vehicle, sudden starts and stops, swerves … all that gets recorded.”

It’s a way to both incentivize driver safety and to record the true facts of an accident, both of which affect a company’s bottom line. But another high-tech concern is causing an even greater stir these days in the world of risk management.

Breach Combers

That would be cybersecurity, an area of interest for just about every company, large or small. Not every breach causes exposure on the level of a Target or Home Depot, but any avoidable damage can harm a company’s bottom line and reputation.

“Those companies that keep medical records, Social Security numbers, and credit cards are expected to be more diligent in protecting their data than businesses that don’t have so much of that exposure,” Grinnell said. “You need to be sure you’re not only protected, but in compliance with some pretty stringent laws.”

More and more, Marini added, insurance agencies are working with clients to control cyber privacy and protect information. “It runs the gamut from healthcare to manufacturing. If people get in, they can disrupt your business and hold you hostage. We’re spending a whole lot of time developing capabilities to help our customers protect themselves from cyber exposure and risk.”

Timm Marini

Timm Marini says technology is posing new risks, from data breaches to drivers distracted by their devices.

 

One way it has done that is through the use of certified friendly hackers. “We’ve actually put on some seminars with the FBI, where our friendly hacker goes in and shows how easy it is to permeate your firewalls. For 97% of businesses, it’s not a matter of if, but when something of this nature will happen.”

But he also returned to that concept of creating a culture of safety where each employee understands the risks of, say, leaving a laptop open, neglecting strong password protection, or falling for phishing e-mails. “Those moments of carelessness may be having the same password for everyone, or keeping printed materials of a private nature in your vehicle.”

After all, employee negligence may limit insurance protection, noted Lorelle Masters,  a partner at the international law firm Perkins Coie, in Risk Management Monitor. “Although many businesses have crime insurance that covers ‘computer-systems fraud,’ ambiguous provisions or liability limits may restrict coverage,” she noted. “Some courts have held that fraud coverage applies only when intrusions are unauthorized, but not when an unwitting employee falls prey to an online scam.”

For other types of risk exposure, insurance companies rely on the guidelines laid out by the National Fire Protection Agency, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), and other work-related protection agencies — as well as their own, industry-specific expertise — to determine exposure to loss and help companies reduce it.

For instance, manufacturers need to train employees in handling hazardous chemicals and working around dangerous machinery and sharp cutting edges. Much like the friendly-hacker concept, many risk managers conduct mock OSHA inspections, so companies can locate and iron out safety issues before the real thing — when mistakes can lead to hefty fines. Businesses may also choose to make structural changes to their buildings if they’re located in a flood zone, near a faultline, or otherwise geographically vunerable.

Once risk is mitigated to whatever degree is possible, an insurance carrier can then assume the remainder of the risk.

“Risk management boils down to the owner and management of a business making safety a priority and really instilling in their managers to preach safety — and hold them accountable for the safety of their workers,” Grinnell said. “It’s amazing how much common sense can protect a business. On the other hand, if it’s all about profit and productivity and squeezing as much business as you can into one day, then safety falls to the side, then accidents are going to happen. When businesses get the culture of safety right, the rest kind of falls into place.”

Stepping Up

Grinnell noted, however, that many insurance companies do a mediocre job helping companies reduce risk. “Most insurance companies go out for the first visit and make sure companies have their act together, but they don’t repeat that visit or check up on them,” he said. “Some companies do offer more comprehensive risk-management services, but they’re few and far between, so companies are left to rely on their own devices to figure out their risk-management steps. We do offer a fair amount of those services.”

With the risk-management and regulatory-compliance worlds intersecting in a more complex way for businesses these days, Marini said HUB’s emphasis on providing resources to help clients navigate their risks is a definite benefit. “We have all of that available for our customers. Ninety-nine percent of the time, it’s part of the arrangement.”

Some risk-management startegies are simply common sense, from not leaving customer data lying around to shredding rather than throwing away sensitive documents; from maintaining eye-wash stations where chemicals are handled to installing cameras in parking lots and entryways to record the verity of slip-and-fall accidents that often lead to costly lawsuits.

“Those types of controls have been around for a long time,” Grinnell added. “You basically do an assessment of the business, whether you’re trying to prevent hands getting caught in machines or exposure to hazardous materials or fall exposure, whatever. There are safe practices to follow to protect yourself against all those hazards.”

Although no company can ever say it’s totally safe from the myriad events that cause disruption, financial loss, and injury — or worse — it’s clear that developing that culture of safety, with all the details that go into it, can significantly reduce exposures and help employers sleep better at night.

“You may think you’re running the best operation in the world,” Grinnell said, “but if you’re not thinking about these exposures, you’re leaving yourself vulnerable.”

Joseph Bednar can be reached at [email protected]

Daily News

NORTHAMPTON — The Western Mass Green Consortium has slated its next Green Night for Wednesday, May 10 from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Platform Sports Bar in Northampton.

Greenfield Community College (GCC) has significantly contributed to Massachusetts’ national prominence in renewable energy and energy efficiency, and its interns are often on the forefront of these fields. Student interns have contributed to such forward-looking developments as manufacturing fuel from recycled vegetable oil, assessing the energy performance of the region’s building stock, increasing outreach to businesses and volunteers for a local low-income housing franchise, and designing and installing solar arrays.

At Green Night, recent and current interns will give a thumbnail sketch of their experiences working for local organizations such as Northeast Biodiesel, Power House Energy Consulting, and Pioneer Valley Habitat for Humanity. Representatives of host sites will also be on hand to discuss their perspective of the internship process. Teresa Jones, GCC’s Renewable Energy/Energy Efficiency (RE/EE) program director; Christine Copeland, GCC’s internship coordinator guru; and Beth Paulson, adjunct faculty for the RE/EE program, will update attendees on GCC’s accomplishments, describe how other businesses can get involved, and introduce the presenters.

GCC’s pioneering Renewable Energy/Energy Efficiency degree and certificate programs have been closely aligned with local sustainable businesses since the program began in 2008. It is a leader in not only the state, but the country. It has graduated 29 students in the degree program and 79 students in the intensive, one-year certificate program.

Community Spotlight Features

Community Spotlight

From left, Douglas Albertson, Kyle Thibeault, and Nicolas O’Connor

From left, Douglas Albertson, Kyle Thibeault, and Nicolas O’Connor say the disc-golf course that will be built at Piper Farm Recreation Area will benefit residents and help make Belchertown a destination.

Bob Bolduc says Pride purchased a 20-acre parcel of land in Belchertown about eight years ago because it believed this was an area where development was likely to occur.

“We envisioned it as an ideal location for a gas station and other businesses,” said the company’s founder and adviser, referring to a site at the junction where Route 202 and Route 21 intersect.

The prediction proved quite prescient; the Eastern Hampshire District Courthouse was built there shortly after the purchase was made, and a bevy of projects are underway. They include a new, $2 million Pride station; a new financial-services center; the town’s first assisted-living facility, to be built on the grounds of the former Belchertown State School; a new disc-golf course on town-owned land; and infrastructure improvements aimed at improving pedestrian safety, solving traffic problems, and enhancing connectivity with the town center, which is a short walk away.

“After many years of work and planning, there will actually be shovels in the ground on multiple projects this spring,” Selectman Nicolas O’Connor told Business West, noting that the projects align perfectly with goals that include meeting the needs of residents while finding ways to use open space for recreational purposes that will attract visitors, benefit local businesses, and spur additional growth.

Decades ago, Department of Public Works Director Steven Williams noted, economic development was concentrated at the end of the corridor that runs in the opposite direction from the town center, which is also within walking distance, although it is a little farther away.

But that area is almost completely built out, so the new hub has become the mile-long stretch of Route 202 that extends from the center to the courthouse. The Pride property sits on one side of the corridor, while the former Belchertown State School campus is across the street. It is owned by the Belchertown Economic Development Industrial Corp. (EDIC), which entered into an agreement with MassDevelopment five years ago that designated it as the agent for redevelopment.

Since that time, MassDevelopment has worked with the town and EDIC to access funds to demolish 40 dilapidated buildings on the campus. About half of them have been removed, and anticipation has been building over the past 18 months since approval was granted to build the Christopher Heights assisted-living complex on the site. It will contain 83 units, half of which will be affordable, and fill a real need within the community.

“They expect to break ground soon, which is very exciting,” said Claire O’Neil, vice president of planning and development for MassDevelopment.

She added that the town has plans to make significant infrastructure improvements that will restore water to the state school campus, improve sewer lines, and address pedestrian and traffic issues that will help move plans forward for the property to become a mixed-use development that will include manufacturing, commercial enterprises, and space for anyone interested in building in Belchertown.

An abundance of property is also available across from the campus, which is close to Route 21. “The area has enormous potential to generate new construction, businesses, jobs, and resources for the town,” Williams said, explaining that it will be fueled by the aforementioned $4.5 million in infrastructure work that will be composed of upgraded sidewalks and crosswalks, roadwork with new striping, new turning lanes, a new signal at the Stadler Street intersection and perhaps another at the junction of Routes 202 and 21, and new signage.

The plan is still in the design stage, but Williams estimates it will be completed by the beginning of next year. When the work is finished, he added, it will improve pedestrian access and safety, and connect the area to the town center in a way that will allow development to occur without creating traffic problems.

“Some businesses have already been established along the corridor, but compared to the amount of land available, they constitute a drop in the bucket of future potential,” he said.

For this issue, BusinessWest looks at projects in the planning stages or underway that will make a difference in the town’s economy and help make it a destination for recreation while meeting the needs of residents.

Generating Growth

Alden Credit Union recently opened a new, 4,000-square-foot financial center on State Street in an existing building that sits on a 1.4-acre parcel purchased from Pride.

“They did a major renovation of the property,” O’Connor said, explaining that it will become Alden’s headquarters.

Bolduc noted that Pride’s new, 4,500-square-foot store will be built adjacent to the credit union and will focus on food service.

“Most people think of Pride as a place to get gas that also sells food. But we want to reverse that, have them think of this as a food store where they can also get gas,” he said, explaining that the new store will contain a large bakery, full café with specialty drinks, a drive-thru window, a full deli and grill with a breakfast and lunch menu, and an area with tables and chairs where people can eat. “There will also be a fountain area where people can get real fresh-fruit smoothies.”

Although the exterior will have 10 gas-filling stations, including one for diesel fuel, Bolduc emphasized that “this will be a new version of Pride. We are in the permitting stage and are looking forward to working with the town and hiring locally.”

Town Planner Douglas Albertson said Pride designed the building to fit in well with the neighborhood: the exterior will resemble a brick colonial structure with clapboard, and will have real roof shingles.

Other developments in the area include a new garage being built by Belchertown Motors that will allow it to expand the business; and discussions taking place with the Pioneer Valley Transit Authority to install a turnaround to accommodate bus traffic to the area, which will become especially important when construction on the Christopher Heights assisted-living complex is complete.

In the meantime, the town is doing everything possible to create new recreational opportunities in the area, which is within walking distance of several public schools.

“We recently moved the Belchertown Family Center into the former Belchertown Day School, which is a town-owned property,” O’Connor said, explaining that the move is in line with officials’ vision of developing more recreational resources in and around the schools.

The Recreation Department also conducted a recent online survey to determine what people would like to see built in the future, and the top choices were a new splash park and public recreation area with pavilions.

“It would be really nice if families could go there for the day with their children, play baseball at our mini-Fenway Park, then head to Jessica’s Boundless Playground, which was recently completed,” O’Connor said.

That may happen at some point, but right now a great deal of effort is being focused on creating an 18-hole disc-golf course in the Piper Farm Recreation Area, where 25 of its 68 acres will be used for that purpose.

“We already have a population in town involved with disc golf, and our new course will draw people from other communities,” said Parks and Recreation Director Kyle Thibeault.

“The golf trails could be used for hiking, snowshoeing, or cross-country skiing off-season,” he continued, noting that the course could also be used for after-school activities and instructional programs, especially since the middle school is close to the rear of the property.

O’Connor told BusinessWest that disc golf is rapidly gaining popularity, and people who use the free course could park in the town center and visit the Pride station or existing eateries, as well as other restaurants or businesses that could be established in the future.

“Disc-golf courses have become destinations, and our small-business owners are helping us with this project. We plan to be very aggressive with this project, as it requires a small investment but will provide a positive return for the town,” he said as he spoke about fund-raisers being planned to raise money for the course.

The town also recently completed the acquisition of the Patrick Center on the old state school campus. It sits on a 5.5-acre tract of land, and officials are working with state legislators, the Recreation Department, and a local committee to initiate projects to add additional recreation and public-use spaces adjacent to existing fields and the public-school complex.

“We want to bring things here that people in the community can use, but also want to create unique recreational experiences that will attract visitors,” O’Connor said.

Fruitful Endeavors

Town officials helped establish the Quaboag Connector, a shuttle service that provides rides for people in Belchertown, Brookfield, Hardwick, Monson, Palmer, Ware, and West Brookfield. Priority is given to those who need transportation to and from work, job-training programs, and related destinations that include community colleges and educational programs. The shuttle also allows passengers from outlying towns to be taken to Belchertown, where they can board Pioneer Valley Transit Authority buses that go to a number of destinations.

Residential construction is also gaining ground; last year 55 new homes were built, and the Bell Property Corp. is building 24 single-family homes on the former Dudek Farm property. “Woodland Lane will be our first new subdivision in 10 years,” Albertson said.

Both he and O’Neil believe the combination of projects that are planned or underway will benefit residents while attracting new people to Belchertown.

“Things have finally converged here,” Albertson said, noting that there is plenty of land available for new businesses and restaurants in a community that offers many benefits and is a great place to live, work, and play.

 

Belchertown at a glance

Year Incorporated: 1761
Population: 14,838 (2017)
AREA: 52.64 square miles
County: Hampshire
Residential Tax Rate: $18.20
Commercial Tax Rate: $18.20
Median Household Income: $76,968
Family Household Income: $80,038
Type of government: Open Town Meeting; Board of Selectmen
Largest Employers: Hulmes Transportation Services; Town of Belchertown/School Department; Super Stop & Shop
(Latest information available)

Daily News

WESTFIELD — Splash Marketing and Creative, a full-service marketing agency located in Westfield, announced the recent hiring of Amanda Myers, a 2016 graduate of Roger Williams University.

Myers joins Splash Marketing and Creative as its newest web designer. In this role, Myers will combine creativity and technical savvy to build or redesign websites for clients, improving the aesthetic, functionality and overall usability of a brand or company’s web presence.

Myers graduated with a B.S. in Web Development with a minor in both Marketing and Graphic Design. She has experience building websites for several different industries, including non-profit, manufacturing and higher education. Myers also has significant experience in customer service.

 

40 Under 40 The Class of 2017

Founder and CEO, Olive Natural Beauty; Age 28

Jessica Dupuis

Jessica Dupuis

When Jessica Dupuis was selling cosmetics in a Boston apothecary in 2008, she began researching the ingredients they contained. The products aren’t regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and her concern about customer safety grew when she discovered more than 1,500 ingredients known to cause health problems are banned in Europe but haven’t been eliminated in the U.S.

Dupuis felt the marketing was misleading, there was no transparency, and manufacturing benefited companies rather than consumers. So she began making soap and other products in her kitchen and giving samples to friends and relatives.

“I wanted to do something good for women that wouldn’t damage their health or the environment,” she said. “These products are being washed down the drain and are affecting the planet.”

She moved back to Amherst in 2010 and decided the following year to market her products to retail stores. She was working as an assistant to Tom Horton of Sustainable Resources, and his wife introduced her to people at Joia Beauty in Northampton, and they sold out of her products in weeks.

She continued to sell her product line, and in 2012, with help from fiancé (now husband) Graham Immerman, Dupuis launched a campaign and raised more than $7,000 on Indiegogo to donate safe skin-care products to women in need.

That same year, Horton introduced her to Paul Silva at Valley Venture Mentors (VVM). In 2015, Olive Natural Beauty won the first VVM Accelerator program for startups in Springfield. She and her team of 10 per-diem workers prepared and packaged 300,000 units of products and generated $250,000 in revenue by the end of that year, and she gave the keynote speech at the 2015 Grinspoon, Garvey & Young Entrepreneurship Conference.

Last year, Dupuis hired 13 local women to help fulfill orders and was featured multiple times on ipsy, the largest beauty-product sampling program in the world. Since then, 200,000 ‘ipsters’ have been introduced to her safe skin care, and she has mentored many VVM entrepreneurs seeking help with their startups.

“I dreamed about having my company become successful, but never thought this would happen,” she told BusinessWest. “It has been a very humbling experience, and I am not only proud but very grateful to people who have helped me.”

—Kathleen Mitchell

40 Under 40 The Class of 2017

Management Consultant, Jen D. Turner, MBA; Age 39

Jen Turner

Jen Turner

Jen Turner calls herself “a beyond-the-box business-performance advisor,” helping small businesses throughout the Pioneer Valley grow and succeed.

“I like working with smaller companies and helping them through transitions,” she explained, adding that she’s been partnering with business owners for six years. Before that, she held traditional jobs in the sales, finance, retail, medical, and software industries. They provided typical benefits, but not a lot of work/life flexibility or job security.

“In my last full-time salaried position, I could see the writing on the wall,” she said. “The company was not really doing well, and I was laid off.”

She seized the opportunity and struck out on her own. “It was a natural progression for me. I had my MBA, and knew I could apply the same analyzing, optimizing, and collaborative skills I’d honed for 17 years without being tied to a traditional 9-to-5 schedule; I wanted the freedom and flexibility to create my own schedule and release my creative spirit.”

So she did, finding her out-of-the-box niche by splitting her time as a financial analyst with the Delta Group and working with more than 30 area companies in industries like agriculture, restaurants, manufacturing, fitness, advertising, nonprofits, and even her own.

“I just went through rebranding myself,” said Turner, “and I worked really hard to find the right look and feel for what I do. I’ve tried to be fun without losing sight of the hard work, skill, and determination it takes to help businesses grow and thrive.”

She also has a successful track record working with businesses at the brink of failing, helping them make a comeback and thrive. “It’s been really rewarding to do this work,” she said.

And it’s given her the flexibility she needs to not only volunteer in her community, but also find time to stretch creatively. “I wear many hats,” said Turner, who lives with husband Brad, son Gaius, and daughter Althea. “I’m a wife, a mom, a money manager, and an artist who’s discovered life really is about balance.”

Turner also serves as co-chair of the Pioneer Valley Chinese Immersion Charter School Family Assoc., treasurer of the Belchertown Cultural Council, volunteer for Leadership Pioneer Valley, and vice president of the Quabbin Art Assoc., which she founded.

“Everything I do is for my family,” she said, “and I couldn’t do it without their support.”

—Alta Stark

Daily News

SPRINGFIELD —Training & Workforce Options (TWO), the collaboration between Springfield Technical Community CollegeHolyoke Community College, and Commonwealth Corp., invite area businesses to a free information session on April 26 to hear an overview of all of the Workforce Training Fund Programs (WTFP).

Registration is required to attend the session, scheduled for 8:30-11:30 a.m., at Scibelli Hall (Building 2), Café Rooms, at STCC. Seating is limited. To register online, click on this Eventbrite link.

Workforce Training Fund, a program of the Massachusetts Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development, is administered by Commonwealth Corp.

The Workforce Training Fund offers several types of grants to support training needs of business across the state. The fund is available for business of all sizes, but its major focus is small- to medium-sized businesses. Government agencies are not eligible to apply.

The Workforce Training Fund helps address productivity and competitiveness by providing resources to Massachusetts businesses to fund training for current and newly hired employees. It’s designed to help businesses make an investment in their future and in their employees’ skills.

Topics covered at the info session will include the features and requirements of each Workforce Training Fund Program, funding availability, and the application process.

The session covers the following Workforce Training Fund grant programs:

  • General Program;
  • Express Program;
  • Direct Access Program (formerly Regional Training Capacity Pilot Program); and
  • Technical Assistance Grant

For more information about the WTFP, please visit www.workforcetrainingfund.org.

MassDevelopment, the state’s economic development and finance agency, will attend the session to share its funding options.

Businesses can apply for grants up to $250,000. After the information session, participants should be able to determine which grants are best suited for their business’s needs and how to start the application process.

For more information, contact Tracye Whitfield, Director of Manufacturing and Corporate Training

Daily News

HOLYOKE — Conklin Office Furniture announced it is partnering with Canadian brand Groupe Lacasse, a leader in the business furniture manufacturing industry.

“This partnership allows for us to stay competitive by offering our clients a range of products that cater to the education, government, healthcare, and, of course, office markets,” saids Michael Morin, Conklin’s marketing and communications coordinator.

The partnership has also driven Conklin’s expansion and redesign of its showrooms and design center. “We really want to create a space where clients can come in with ideas they’ve seen on TV, Instagram, and in design magazines and say, ‘make my office look like this,’” Morin noted. “There’s a real desire now to have workspaces that reflect a company’s brand or culture.”

Features

50 Shades of … Everything

Amy Woolf

Amy Woolf

Amy Woolf, a certified architectural color consultant, says color can, and very often does, affect people physiologically and psychologically. And for these reasons, it’s very important to pick the rights ones, especially in business. Indeed, the chosen colors should reflect the products or services being sold, and the people selling them.

Amy Woolf says colors have long had meaning, importance, and symbolism; that’s not a recent phenomenon.

Centuries ago, she noted, royals and those in the clergy wore purple because that was a rare, very expensive dye, and thus that color translated directly into money and power.

And while they are still relatively few in number, individuals have been putting the title ‘architectural color consultant,’ or words to that effect, on their business card for some time now, she went on. In fact, there is a trade group comprised of such professionals — the International Assoc. of Color Consultants (IACC) — that has chapters all over the world; the one in North America stages classes once a year in San Diego.

But in recent years, color has seemingly taken on more importance in architecture, office design, and business in general, she noted, listing as reasons why everything from the growing number of colors (or shades of them, to be exact), to high-definition television, which brings everything into sharper focus; from the proliferation of decorating shows on TV to an increased emphasis — in business and in marketing — on sending the proper message, in part through colors.

These would be the colors on the walls, the company logo, the home page of the website, the business card, the fleet of vans or trucks, and on it goes. But much of her work involves commercial and residential real estate.

“To me, the most important thing is to unravel how someone wants to feel in a space, and how we can choose a color that’s going to have the right physiological outcome and the right psychological outcome,” Woolf said while trying to quickly explain what she does and how she does it. “Because color really does have a physiological impact; it changes our heartbeat, it changes how we perceive temperature, those kinds of things.”

There is such a focus on color now that Woolf — whose business is based out of her home in Northampton — and others in this profession make a decent living from what could certainly be described as a solid mix of art and science, one with many variables and focus points.

Indeed, just listen to this description of a job she worked on recently involving a lengthy search for the right color for the exterior of a commercial building in Amherst.

“The building had been brown, and the client was expecting me to specify gray,” Woolf told BusinessWest. “The tenants are diverse, including light manufacturing, a Comcast office, and a martial-arts school. The color eventually chosen, which sits between the blue of the sky and the green of the trees, settles into the landscape nicely, but provides a much more welcoming first impression than brown or gray would have. Heaven knows the world is not lacking for more brown and gray buildings.”

Also consider this summation of her work to “break a tie” among leaders at Greenfield Savings Bank concerning the exterior color for the branch on King Street in Northampton; two browns and a gray were under consideration.

“Their goal for the architectural design was to help increase the sense of a “walkable, village-like feeling for King Street,” she recalled. “I suggested they do a 180 away from neutrals and go with an olive green instead. I encouraged them to break up the monotony of gray and brown so prevalent in the King Street corridor with something fresh and friendly.”

Like we said, it’s a blend of art and what is certainly now a science.

The exterior color chosen for this commercial building in Amherst

The exterior color chosen for this commercial building in Amherst “sits between the blue of the sky and the green of the trees,” says Amy Woolf.

And one of the key aspects of this work is working in partnership with the client, said Woolf, adding that the key words in those remarks above are ‘suggested’ and ‘encouraged.’

Indeed, Woolf says she doesn’t choose colors for her clients. She advises, explains the reasons behind this advice, and works to achieve buy-in. Ultimately, the client has to be more than comfortable with the decision, she said, and essentially own it.

“I explain to my clients why I’m choosing the colors I’m using,” she explained. “I’m as much a coach and a teacher; I don’t just come in and say ‘do this’ and ‘do this’; I’m always explaining why.”

For this issue, BusinessWest takes an in-depth look at the business of colors, or, more specifically, the art of picking the right ones.

No Black and White Issues

As she grabbed a large fan deck, this one created by Sherwin Williams, Woolf made an emphatic point about just how many colors there are to choose from by stopping in the ‘whites’ section.

It was not a short visit.

“Look at all of these whites,” she said as she flipped through the wheel. “And they all have a slightly different, subtle quality to them, and that’s where people get in trouble; they say, ‘I’m just going to paint white.’ But if it’s a pinky white, then they end up with pink walls.”

Helping people make sense of, and perhaps choose among, all those whites — and blues and greens and grays — is essentially Woolf’s stock and trade, only it’s much more complicated than looking at swatches and finding one that looks good, as she would explain in detail. Because ‘good’ is certainly a relative term in this discussion, and one with myriad meanings.

Other professionals involved in art, architecture, and interior design obviously work with clients on color selection, she noted, but this is all she does. She’s not sure if she’s the only certified color consultant in the 413 area code, but she does know that it wouldn’t take long at all to call the roll.

Nonetheless, hers is a vibrant business (that’s a technical term in many respects), and she quantified that by saying she’s generally juggling more than 20 clients at a time, with a healthy mix of residential and commercial, probably a little more of the former than the latter.

And her work, as she told BusinessWest, involves almost anything, design-wise and business-wise, that comes in colors. That includes flooring, window treatments, furniture, etc. (She noted that, when she mentions she’s a color consultant, many ask if this extends to fashion and coordinating one’s wardrobe; it doesn’t.)

“I liken it to an algebraic equation — everything’s a variable that all comes together in a certain way,” she said of most projects in both the commercial and residential realms. “As you tweak one thing, everything around it moves, so it’s good to look at it all at once.”

Like most of those who are certified architectural color consultants, Woolf was greatly influenced by the work of the late Frank Mahnke, who wrote the book on the subject — quite literally. It’s called Color, Environment & Human Response, and that name goes a long way toward explaining this profession.

Indeed, there are human responses to various colors, she went on, adding that these responses should help dictate which ones people, especially those in various businesses, should choose.

As she talked about all this, Woolf referenced the color chosen for the walls of her home office — called ‘cooking apple green.’

She chose it because she likes it and finds it comfortable to be in and around. But BusinessWest was among the very few people outside her family who have been in this office (Woolf obviously needs to do her work on location in almost all cases), so this played into the decision.

“This is just for me,” she said, adding quickly that it might be suitable in a traditional business office; that’s might.

“The important thing about color is that we do have these sort of prescriptive ways of talking about it — ‘this is good for business,’ or ‘this is good for a nursery,’ or ‘this is good for a bedroom,’” she explained. “But what that doesn’t really examine is the individual, personal relationship with color.

“For me, I find this green to strike the right balance between restful and having enough liveliness so that it’s somewhat energizing,” she went on, diving into the real science of her work. “But for someone who doesn’t really like green, it would be the wrong choice. So you probably need to think of it in terms of a bell curve — for a large number of people at the middle of the bell curve, this would be an acceptable color, but for some people who are maybe outliers, it wouldn’t work. The bottom line is that one needs to be careful not to generalize over colors that are ‘good.’”

For her new office in Agawam, Jean Deliso

For her new office in Agawam, Jean Deliso desired colors that make clients feel comfortable and convey a sense of trust.

So, just what goes into choosing the right color or colors, especially for a business setting? Woolf said it all comes down to how the client would like someone to feel in that space. Sometimes, that someone is the client themselves, but for a business that entertains customers, it’s more about how those individuals will feel in that space.

Business owners want that individual to feel comfortable, obviously, she went on, but often there’s more to it. In settings where the visitor might be anxious — a doctor’s office or any other place where delicate matters are discussed, for example — calming colors are required. Meanwhile, in most professional settings, like lawyers’ and accountants’ offices, colors that somehow generate trust and respect are preferable.

“In a commercial environment, you want to choose colors that send the appropriate message for the product or service being sold,” she said, adding that, while this sounds obvious, it is often an overlooked or underappreciated matter.

“I would never — OK, never is a big word … I would be unlikely to use trendy colors in an office or business environment where the message and the branding is that of solidity or trust,” she went on. “We talk about ‘IBM blue’ or ‘banking blue,’ the kinds of colors that create a sense of trust and reliability; we can use colors like that.”

And, as one might guess, there are, well, fine lines everywhere when one is talking about this subject.

Take yellow, for example. “It’s a very energetic color, it’s very buzzy; that’s why we paint school buses yellow, so we can see them,” she told BusinessWest. “But sometimes, people are sensitive to the level of energy in that yellow, and might think it’s overwhelming.

“In my training, we talk about this continuum of understimulation versus overstimulation,” she went on, “with understimulation being monotonous and boring in the environment, and overstimulation being so vivid, so bright, so much data that it becomes overwhelming and is too much. So what I want to unravel with my clients is, what does their environment call for in terms of that feeling?”

Hue and Cry

What this unraveling process has revealed throughout her career is that, while there are rules of sorts in this science and this business, they are not exactly hard and fast, and sometimes rules are made to be broken.

“The classic example is using a restful color in a bedroom,” she explained. “People want calming, soothing colors. But I did work for a physician who really wanted a wake-up call, so her bedroom is a soft orange, which flies in the face of those rules, or those shortcuts.”

One of those rules pertains to colors at opposite ends of the color circle, such as yellow/purple, red/green, and orange/blue. While celebrated artists liked to bring such contrasts together on a canvas, and doing so might work from a fashion perspective, it’s generally best to avoid such practices in a business setting, said Woolf.

“Color schemes that are high-contrast really don’t work,” she said. “Strong black and white, which arguably is trendy and in style in the architectural world, really creates eyestrain,” she explained. “My training says to keep the colors closer to the center and not to the extreme end of light and dark.”

However, strict adherence to the common practices of using all warm colors or all cool colors might not yield the kind of dynamic color scheme and interesting environment that results from working from both ends of the color wheel.

“You can do it, but do it just enough,” she said of contrasting colors, adding that this, in itself, is part of the art and science of this work. “That’s where the magic is.”

There are some other general guidelines to follow, she said, adding that it is wise, especially in a business setting, to focus on colors that work for that particular setting, meaning sending the right message, and not, as she noted earlier, colors that are ‘trendy’ at that given time.

Colors in that latter category now include turquoise and aqua, said Woolf, adding that, while they may be ‘hot,’ they still wouldn’t be suitable for a lawyer’s office. A pediatrician’s office? Well, probably.

However, businesses should look to avoid what she called “outdated” colors in order not to appear behind the times. Asked for examples, she listed dusty rose and Colonial blue.

“When we go to a doctor’s office, we want to feel like they’re up to date on everything — they’ve got the latest equipment and the newest science,” she explained. “If the color schemes are holdovers from the ’80s, you’re not really sending that message.”

conference room at Deliso Financial

Amy Woolf says the colors in the conference room at Deliso Financial were chosen to have a calming effect.

While talking about colors in the hypothetical can he helpful, Woolf said an actual project from her portfolio might help put matters in perspective. She was right.

BusinessWest accompanied her on a visit to Deliso Financial Services in Agawam. Jean Deliso, principal and financial advisor, most recently served the magazine as a judge for this year’s 40 Under Forty competition. This time, the assignment was to explain how Woolf helped her make over her new space in the office building on Meadow Street Extension, and, more specifically, how and why the colors now on the walls were chosen.

And she embraced it enthusiastically because the walls of this space, formerly occupied by a pest-control company, were white (which shade she doesn’t know), and she wanted to replace this blank canvas with something that “said something.”

“This is a great space, but it needed a transformation,” she recalled, noting that she was essentially moving across the hall and into a bigger office. “Everything was white, and it was soooo non-inviting, and I need to have something inviting, and I needed help to do that.”

Elaborating, she said she desired something that was “comfortable and non-intimidating,” which is understandable seeing that she works in financial services, dealing with a subject that the vast majority of people would prefer to not talk about. She also wanted to convey professionalism and trust, two character traits required of those handling such work.

She hired Woolf, who has also done work at her residence, and who set to work picking colors that would convey all that. For one wall, she chose a color called Wilmington tan, which is kind of like beige, but a little richer (“people think of beige as insipid, but this has a lot of depth to it”), because it has a calming effect.

For the back wall, the one a client would be looking at if he or she were sitting across Deliso’s desk from her, Woolf chose something called Newburyport blue.

Deliso likes the name — she’s a sailor (paintings of boats dominate her walls), and Newburyport is right on the water — but likes the color better. It complements the IBM blue on her business card — sort of — and that’s by design, said Woolf, who noted that Deliso had a much brighter blue (like the shade on her business card) on the walls in her old office. And that wasn’t exactly working, at least in her judgment.

“We toned the blue down a little bit,” she explained. “Because what looks great on letterhead doesn’t always translate into a comfortable wall color. We can use those brand colors as an inspiration, but you don’t, or shouldn’t, just pull it off a card and stick it on a wall.”

Elsewhere in the Deliso Financial suite, Woolf used Providence olive in the conference room, again to create comfort and a sense of ease among clientele who might be nervous upon entering, especially for the first time, and carefully positioned Deliso’s many awards and news clippings on what the client calls the ‘trophy wall,’ again to convey professionalism and generate confidence.

When asked if all this focus on color was worth the time and expense, Deliso issued an enthusiastic ‘yes’ that speaks to why Woolf’s schedule is pretty tight these days.

“My clients feel very comfortable here; they enjoy coming here,” she explained. “They feel great when they come here, and it’s a good experience, and I think the colors play a very big part in that.”

Positive Tones

In her next life, Woolf joked, she wants to be the one who gets to assign names to all those colors on the wheel — like ‘cooking apple green’ or even ‘Bedford Stuyvesant boiled chicken,’ the name one client attached to a wheat-like color she eventually chose for her summer home.

For now, though, she’s content to work with all those hues and, more to the point, help clients choose the right ones — like the color on that building that “sits between the blue of the sky and the green of the trees and settles into the landscape nicely.”

It’s rewarding work on a number of levels, one that has made for a colorful career to date, in every sense of that phrase.

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

Daily News

SPRINGFIELD — Bay Path University will hold its 22nd annual Women’s Leadership Conference (WLC) on Friday, March 31 from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the MassMutual Center in Springfield. This year’s event will explore empathy, how it empowers people individually and as teams, and how it can help them become better, stronger, and more compassionate leaders. Keynote speakers include Nicholas Sparks, Nely Galan, and Shiza Shahid.

In today’s workplace, a successful bottom line is defined by how much an organization values and cultivates human capital. Leaders need to understand not only their business, but also their people. At the 2017 conference, attendees will discover how becoming a more empathetic leader builds strong teams and relationships in the workplace and at home. Empathy creates connection between socio-economic, ethnic, and geographic lines, allowing people to influence, inspire and help others achieve their dreams and goals. Keynote speakers will share their own perspectives on the subject, motivating and inspiring attendees to engage empathy in their daily lives.

Sparks, author of 20 New York Times #1 bestselling books, storyteller, and producer, will give the afternoon keynote address. Before he was a world-famous novelist, Sparks worked a variety of jobs, including real-estate appraisal, waiting tables, selling dental products by phone, and starting his own small manufacturing business, which struggled from the beginning. In 1994, at the age of 28, he wrote The Notebook over a period of six months, and in October 1995, Warner Books bought the rights. He has gone on to write and publish a novel every year, all of them domestic and international bestsellers.

A Latina media dynamo and women’s empowerment advocate, Galán was dubbed the “Tropical Tycoon” by New York Times Magazine. An immigrant and self-made media mogul, Galán was the first Latina president of Entertainment for a U.S. television network (Telemundo). She is an Emmy Award-winning producer of more than 600 episodes of television in Spanish and English. After becoming self-made on her own terms, Galán has made it her mission to teach women — regardless of age or background — how they, too, can become entrepreneurs. Her New York Times bestselling book, SELF MADE: Becoming Empowered, Self-Reliant, and Rich in Every Way, was published in 2016.

Shahid is co-founder and former CEO of the Malala Fund. She’s also a social entrepreneur, television personality, speaker, and women’s-rights advocate. Shahid co-founded the Malala Fund with Nobel Prize winner Malala Yousafzai, and led the organization as founding CEO. She is now focused on supporting startups, innovators, and entrepreneurs, particularly women, who are creating positive global impact. She is an advocate for women entrepreneurs, and hosts Women’s Story-telling Salons, bringing together leading female entrepreneurs to collaborate. She is the host of the new show ASPIREist, which airs on Flipboard, Facebook, and YouTube, reporting on the suicide epidemic.

Bay Path’s Women’s Leadership Conference is attended by approximately 2,000 women and men annually. For further information on the conference and to register, visit www.baypathconference.com.

Daily News

PHILADELPHIA — CRRC, the Chinese rail-car manufacturing giant currently building a plant in Springfield, was awarded a $137.5 million deal this week to build 45 new train cars for SEPTA, Philadelphia’s transit system. Its bid was $34 million less than the nearest competitor, according to philly.com. The deal includes an option to buy 10 additional cars for another $23.5 million.

The announcement comes on the heels of another deal, announced in December, to manufacture new subway cars for Los Angeles. The Los Angeles contract is worth $178.4 million for the manufacture of 64 new subway cars, with an option to buy 218 more cars.

CRRC is building its Springfield facility on Page Boulevard to manufacture 284 subway cars for the MBTA’s Boston-area Red Line and Orange Line, a deal worth $566 million. Production is expected to last five years. Late last year, the MBTA awarded CRRC another $277 million contract to build 120 additional cars after the initial run is complete.

Daily News

HOLYOKE — Conklin Office Furniture recently installed an array of solar panels atop its Appleton Street manufacturing facility, reducing its carbon footprint. Owner Franco Arnold, has taken many steps to reduce his company’s emissions of carbon usage and bettering its environmental impact; his Appleton Street location now produces enough renewable energy to offset all the company’s energy needs.

“Conklin is continuing with our business plan by doing all that we can to help the environment. We started in 1981 recycling office furniture and, over the years, refined our manufacturing processes to limit waste and use environmentally-friendly materials. This solar project is a big step in meeting our long-term environmental goals,” Franco said.

Conklin’s newly installed solar panels offset the amount of CO2 sequestered by 81 acres of forest, or represent the ability to charge 67 million smartphones, continuously power 7,000 lightbulbs; annually power 76 homes, or displace the CO2 emissions of 120 cars.