Workforce Development Archives - Page 5 of 6

Cruise Control

By BusinessWest Staff January 14, 2014

REB’s New Director Wants to Build on Recent Momentum

Dave Cruise says one of his priorities is to continue the employment board’s tradition of innovation in tackling regional workforce-development issues.

Dave Cruise’s desk — or, more specifically, what sits on it — speaks volumes about his work with the Regional Employment Board of Hampden County, and also his work ethic and his passion for putting other people to work.
Sitting in one corner are a few “toys,” as he calls them, including a plastic device (a tracheal tube of sorts once made by Mitchell Machine in Springfield), as a well as a small plastic castle tower, complete with an interior staircase, that are there as reminders of the many different types of products made in this region and of the high degree of precision involved with such work.
There’s also his personal pair of safety goggles, given to him by officials at Hoppe Technologies in Chicopee, which have been put to great use over the years as Cruise has carried out his assignment as project director of the REB’s Precision Manufacturing Regional Alliance Project, as well as a pair of earplugs, which haven’t been used much at all, by his recollection, because he likes to listen.
And then, there’s the paperwork.
It covers all but a few square inches of desk, credenza, and connecting leaf that is home to his computer monitor. It has become the stuff of legend in this agency, and Cruise can readily joke about it.
“People who know me would say my desk actually looks pretty clean today,” he said with a laugh as he talked with BusinessWest on the last day of 2013. “It may look cluttered, but it’s organized; I know where everything is, trust me.”
Hopefully he can say the same thing in a few weeks after he moves everything next door, to the much larger office assigned to the REB’s president, a post he officially assumed late in the afternoon on Jan. 2 as Bill Ward closed the book on a more-than-30-year stint at the helm of the agency.
Cruise’s new desk will likely become even more cluttered than the old one because there is much work to do in the weeks and months ahead — and for the time being, he won’t be naming a new project director of the Precision Manufacturing Regional Alliance Project.
“I’m going to be very careful about what our budget looks like moving forward into FY 15 so that we have the resources to be able to do what we need to do here. Before I add staff, I want to make sure we can sustain that staff,” he explained, adding that, while he’ll be keeping some of his former responsibilities with that program, he’ll also be parceling others out to different staff members.
In the meantime, he will also be leading the work to draft a new strategic plan for the REB. The previous, three-year document sunsetted at the end of the year, he explained, adding that, under normal circumstances, a new one would certainly have been in place by now, but the search for a new director — and Ward’s insistence that his successor be involved with writing a new plan — changed the timetable.
Cruise will bring to his new position a wide range of experience in workforce development and education, including a lengthy stint as director of the Mass. Career Development Institute (MCDI) and a host of assignments with Springfield Public Schools, as well as some specific skills and management techniques he’s developed over a 45-year career.
“My training has always been in workforce development, so I feel very comfortable moving from what I would describe as a sectoral initiative in manufacturing to seeing that sectoral initiative as part of the REB’s broader mission around workforce development and job creation,” he explained. “I’m excited about the opportunity to come into this work; I believe I can add some value to work we’re doing here. Bill has been a pioneer, and I hope to build on what’s been accomplished. The platform is there, and my role is to come here and move that work to the next level.”
For this issue and its focus on employment, BusinessWest talked at length with Cruise about his new assignment and also about the many challenges facing both employers and those looking to join the workforce.

Moving the Pile
Cruise said that he was not initially a candidate for the president’s position when Ward officially announced he would be stepping down early last summer, primarily because he considered much of the work he was doing with the region’s manufacturing sector to be unfinished business. And he wanted to finish it, or at least stay with it.
But things changed as the search commenced, reached a point last fall where a few finalists were interviewed, and was then expanded, he explained.
“I had given it some thought during the initial process last summer, but didn’t get engaged at that point,” he explained. “I continued to give it some thought both personally and professionally when the process was expanded. I sat down with my family and talked about the work ahead, and decided to become an applicant.
“I was very much involved in the work I’m doing in manufacturing, and I’m very committed to that assignment,” he went on. “I realized that, going forward, that work is part of a broader body of work being done here at the Regional Employment Board, and that I could probably bring that work to the level that I wanted to by being in a position to influence, manage, and direct the work from a different perspective and bring some different resources to it.”
Thus, Cruise will add another line to a diverse résumé with a number of stops, all involved, in one way or another, with the broad ream of workforce development.
He started in 1967 at Springfield’s Roger L. Putnam Vocational Technical High School, where he taught English until 1973, before moving to MCDI.
He first served as supervisor, overseeing training programs for unemployed adults and youth, while also analyzing labor-market trends and assessing needs within specific sectors of the economy. He was named director in 1980 and managed the now-closed agency through one of the busiest periods in its history, managing a staff of more than 150 and training up to 550 people in day and evening division programs.
From MCDI, he moved on to Springfield Public Schools, where he served as director of Occupational Education, director of personnel, chief operations officer, and finally executive director of Human Resources.
He then worked briefly as a consultant before being tapped by Ward to be program manager of the Literacy Works of Hampden County initiative from 2004 to 2006, and then the Precision Manufacturing Regional Alliance Project.
Over the past seven years, Cruise has been putting those goggles, if not the earplugs, to good use, visiting area precision manufacturers, assessing their needs, and developing programs to put more workers in the pipeline. Among the many initiatives that have occupied his time — and space on his desk — have been efforts to introduce young people to the manufacturing sector and convince both them and their parents that it is a field with a future, not just a glorious past.
One of the more recent endeavors, launched just last fall, is a pilot program called Pathways to Prosperity in Advanced Manufacturing, or simply ‘Pathways,’ which puts ninth-grade students at West Springfield High School on a career pathway that will eventually take them to Springfield Technical Community College and then, hopefully, employment with one of the many manufacturers desperate for qualified help.
The program, which started with 40 students, involves a number of partners, ranging from the REB, STCC, and the high school to several employers in West Side and Agawam (among them Advance Welding, Hayden Corp., Ben Franklin Design & Manufacturing, and Atlantic Fasteners), as well as the Eastern States Exposition, NUVO Bank, and the Bates Fullum Insurance Agency.
Cruise counts the ability to create and sustain such partnerships as one of his greatest strengths, and he said it’s one of many skill sets he will need as he goes about the task of guiding the REB as it carries out a rather broad mission.
Overall, he views his primary job description to be both innovator and facilitator when it comes to the REB’s many initiatives.
“We have a very talented group of people here. They work very hard, and they’re very dedicated to the mission of the REB,” he told BusinessWest. “They understand the vision, the values, and the purpose of the organization. My job is to be a resource to them and provide them with the tools they need to take their work to the next level.
“My goal is to strive toward operational excellence,” he went on. “I’m very committed to making sure that we do quality work that will respond to the business needs of the companies in the area, but that we also keep focused on our commitment to the customers, the clients that we’re here to serve.”

Parts of the Whole
Cruise expects a new strategic plan to be ready for the REB’s quarterly meeting in March, if not sooner. When asked about what will likely be in it, he said it will continue to focus on the many aspects of the REB’s mission and priorities such as youth, literacy, education, and especially innovation.
That last term essentially defined Ward’s lengthy tenure as REB president, he went on, and the agency must continue to exude that quality if it is to meet the region’s many workforce challenges — and secure the public and private funds that will be needed to carry out those assignments.
“I’m committed to the notion of innovative ideas,” Cruise explained, adding that this is an important companion piece to one of the REB’s primary assignments — collecting workforce data. “It’s going to be very important to look at some of the work being done by the REB that I believe is innovative and seeing how we can scale that work up, not only across the region but perhaps across the state.”
Moving forward, he said there are several priorities for the REB that are both part of its mission and key elements for the new strategic plan. They include:
• Identifying new public and private funding sources, or, more specifically, combinations of both for various initiatives;
• Continuing and escalating programs involving literacy and, overall, the education and employability of adults;
• A focus on young people and making sure they have what Cruise called the “employability skills necessary in the 21st century,” work that involves everything from early childhood education to programs like Pathways;
• Work to deepen and broaden relationships with area businesses and industry groups; and
• Being an advocate for workforce development as economic development, or, as Cruise put it, “telling our story.”
Elaborating, he said that all of these concepts, or strategic initiatives, are interrelated, and as an example, he said that workforce-development-related agencies (like the REB) that have good data as well as innovative ideas about what to do in response to that information, and work aggressively to tell their stories, are better-positioned to secure funding for such initiatives.
“It’s going to be those organizations and those agencies that have good data, have good strategic plans, have a clear mission, and then have the talent to pull it off, that are going to be able to get funding moving forward,” he explained. “I’m very committed to operational excellence here at the REB; I want to make sure that we’re doing quality work and that our work defines us, because I believe that if we can make that case and share it with people, especially with this notion of innovation and innovative ideas, that money will follow.
“I don’t think you can go out today and simply make an ask,” he continued, referring to requests for state and federal funds that are in shorter supply than years ago, as well as private money from businesses and foundations. “You simply need to demonstrate that you can add value to what that ask is all about.”
As for that goal of deepening and broadening relationships with industry groups and specific businesses, Cruise said this assignment involves both telling the REB’s story and, more importantly, listening to what those in various sectors are saying about what they’re seeing today — and expect to see tomorrow.
“I want to deepen those relationships, but I also want to engage more business and industry in different sectors in the work we’re doing,” he said. “I’m going to try to spend a reasonable amount of time out in the community. I want to go out and listen and learn; I want to see how people who are familiar with our work perceive us, and for people who are not familiar with the work we do, I want to build a relationship and a partnership with them.”

Work in Progress
When asked about the particular strengths he believes he brings to the table, Cruise put “relationship building and partnership building” at the very top of the list.
“I’m a good listener, and I believe in convening and facilitating,” he said, adding that these are qualities that will serve him well as he goes about the task of not only continuing to carry out the REB’s broad mission, but also building a tradition of innovation.
He said he has the commitment — and the desk space — to carry out his new assignment.

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

Briefcase

By BusinessWest Staff December 31, 2013

Briefcase Departments

Baystate Health to Acquire Wing Memorial Hospital and Medical Centers
PALMER — The boards of trustees of UMass Memorial Health Care (UMMHC), Baystate Health, and Wing Memorial Hospital and Medical Centers have authorized the organizations to sign a letter of intent to transfer of ownership of Palmer-based Wing Memorial to Baystate Health. The potential transaction now enters a period of review and due diligence within the organizations and in partnership with the relevant regulatory and oversight bodies. This work is expected to occur over the next several months. In the meantime, it will be operations as usual at the two organizations and at Wing Memorial. This letter of intent builds on a long-existing relationship between the two not-for-profit health systems and is also a result of the closer collaboration that UMMHC and Baystate Health announced in September, when the two systems agreed to explore a number of possible opportunities with the intent of improving quality, access, and affordability of care. Thus far, those discussions have advanced in the areas of sharing best practices in quality and population health management and jointly applying for grant funding for public-health research. The two organizations continue discussing other opportunities, including shared training methodologies and better coordination of specialty services. “Wing Memorial Hospital has a strong, historical place in the community it serves. Our dedicated staff and employees live and work in this community, and the high-quality care they provide has earned the trust and support of our neighbors and patients,” said Dr. Charles Cavagnaro III, president and CEO of Wing Memorial Hospital and Medical Centers. “For us to potentially be part of a vibrant, local and regional health system closer to home that allows for improved access to and recruitment of specialists, access to capital investment, an accountable-care organization, and further supports for our patients and their families is a win-win. This continuum of care for our patients, which starts at our front door, is most importantly at the center of these discussions.” Added Mark Tolosky, president and CEO of Baystate Health, “while we recognize that we are only at the beginning of a long and complex process, we are very excited at the prospect of welcoming Wing Memorial, its patients, and employees to the Baystate Health family. We at Baystate Health have a great deal in common with Wing Memorial: excellence in clinical care, common missions to improve health, well-established histories of caring for patients and our communities, and a strong shared geography.” Dr. Eric Dickson, president and CEO of UMMHC, called Wing a valued member of the UMass Memorial system since 1999. “This is a difficult decision, but it makes the most sense for the patients — who are at the heart of our decision — to become part of a regional academic healthcare system that will keep patients home, healthy, and free from needing to travel outside the area for advanced care. A potential transfer of ownership allows both of our healthcare systems to provide high-quality, safe, and affordable care, close to home.” Neither UMass Memorial Health Care nor Baystate Health expect to change their academic affiliations as a result of the potential transfer of ownership, nor will the letter of intent limit the ability of either party to pursue other strategic opportunities.

Holyoke to Fund Facade Improvement
HOLYOKE — The City of Holyoke has awarded the Greater Holyoke Chamber Centennial Foundation $50,000 through the city’s Community Development Block Grant Program to reinstate the Facade Improvement Program (FIP), which was run by the chamber in past years. “As downtown Holyoke moves towards its revitalization, it is important to appropriately allocate funding for projects that send the message to business owners that our city is as invested in the success of their business as they are,” Mayor Alex Morse said. “This is an important program that I am excited to see return, and I am confident that these improvements will not only benefit business owners, but also the downtown community as a whole.” The funds are in the form of a grant that must be matched in equal amounts of the request up to $25,000. The Facade Improvement Program was designed to strengthen and enhance Holyoke’s business districts by restoring and improving existing facades. The FIP is administered by the Greater Holyoke Chamber Centennial Foundation with funding from the City of Holyoke Office for Community Development. It offers rebates to eligible property owners for up to 50% of the façade-improvement project cost. The minimum rebate is $2,500 for at least a $5,000 project, and the maximum rebate is $25,000 for at least a $50,000 project. “We are very excited to be able to offer this program to our downtown businesses in an effort to help them improve their facades and hopefully their business as well, said Kathleen Anderson, president of the Greater Holyoke Chamber Centennial Foundation. “We appreciate the award from the city in an effort to support downtown business. We have such beautiful architecture downtown, and this program will help to restore these buildings so that they can last for another 100 years.” Applicants should apply through the Greater Holyoke Chamber Centennial Foundation. Potential applicants may contact Kathleen Anderson at (413) 534-3376 to determine FIP eligibility and to request an application package. The funds are used strictly to renovate the front facade of a building.

State Awards $79 Million to Infrastructure Projects
BOSTON — In continuation of the Patrick administration’s efforts to stimulate job creation and support long-term economic growth, state Housing and Economic Development Secretary Greg Bialecki announced more than $79 million for 33 MassWorks Infrastructure Program grants to support development throughout the Commonwealth. “The MassWorks program is a key tool in our growth strategy of investing in education, innovation, and infrastructure to create jobs and economic development,” said Gov. Deval Patrick. “By partnering with municipalities, these MassWorks projects will strengthen communities for generations to come.” Added Bialecki, “we remain committed to working with local communities to help identify opportunities to support growth and spur regional development. I look forward to our ongoing partnerships with municipalities across the state and private industry leaders to explore additional ways to promote continued growth in every region of the Commonwealth.” Through these grants, the state will partner with cities and towns to target investments in infrastructure such as roadways, streetscapes, water, and sewer to facilitate and support new and sustained housing and economic growth throughout Massachusetts. The 2013 application round generated 108 applications for more than $263 million in infrastructure requests. Of the 33 approved projects, 11 are in the four counties of Western Mass., including: Conway, downtown parking and safety improvements ($997,521); Deerfield, River Road roadway reconstruction ($952,463); Easthampton, Pleasant Street infrastructure improvements, phase 2 ($1.5 million); Hadley, Shattuck Road improvements ($61,815); Mount Washington, BashBish Falls Road project ($1 million); Pittsfield, streetscape improvements, phase 3 ($2 million); Savoy, Black Brook Road drainage improvements and road reconstruction ($997,112); Tolland, Route 57 improvements ($990,000); Wales, Union Road roadway and drainage improvements ($881,923); Warwick, Winchester Road paving ($495,000); and West Stockbridge, downtown improvements ($1 million). Administered by the Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development (HED), the MassWorks Infrastructure Program provides a one-stop shop for municipalities seeking funding to support housing, economic development, and job creation with a particular emphasis on assisting communities to advance multi-family housing development. Each year, the program allocates 10% of its funds to assist municipalities with populations of 7,000 or fewer complete roadway safety-improvement projects. For more information, visit www.mass.gov/eohed/massworks.

State’s Unemployment Surpasses National Rate
The Massachusetts unemployment rate in November surpassed the national rate for the first time in more than five years, suggesting weaker conditions in the Bay State even as the national economic recovery accelerates. The state unemployment rate was 6.4% in April, compared to 7.5% nationally. In November, the state rate was 7.1%, compared to 7% nationally, according to the state Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development. It was the first time since May 2007 that state unemployment exceeded the national rate. Economists said automatic federal budget cuts, known as sequestration, have taken a disproportionate toll on the state economy because of the high concentration of research institutions and defense contractors here that rely on federal grants and other funding. A recent report by the UMass Donahue Institute estimated that sequestration has cost the state about 14,000 real or expected jobs in roughly the past year. It also estimated that the cutbacks reduced the state’s economic output by $1.4 billion, resulting in a $63 million decrease in state tax revenues.

Bullying in the Workplace

By BusinessWest Staff July 30, 2013

Law Sections

Legislation Seeks to Protect Workers from Abuse, Harassment

By KATHRYN S. CROUSS, Esq.

Kathryn Crouss

A public hearing was held on June 25 before the Joint Committee on Labor and Workforce Development regarding HB 1766, proposed legislation titled “An Act Addressing Workplace Bullying, Mobbing, and Harassment, Without Regard to Protected Class Status.” Dubbed the ‘Healthy Workplace Bill,’ the bill seeks to provide protections for workers against workplace abuse and harassment.

Under the current state of the law in Massachusetts, workers who are members of a protected class have legal recourse for harassment and abuse suffered in the workplace. Existing statutes in Massachusetts establish remedies for employees who are subjected to a hostile work environment in the context of sexual harassment, or if the hostile behavior is motivated by race, color, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, or age.

However, Massachusetts does not presently offer general legal protection to employees against hostile treatment in the workplace otherwise. In an ‘at-will’ employment state such as Massachusetts, employers and employees are free to enter into or exit from a working relationship at any time, absent an express employment agreement. Under the at-will employment rule, continued employment is at the discretion of the employer, and employers are not prohibited from making arbitrary employment decisions, even decisions that may appear dishonest, distasteful, or rude.

Exceptions to the employment-at-will doctrine are narrow and limited. The law defers to the decisions of employers and intervenes on an employee’s behalf only for exceptionally strong public-policy reasons. Examples of such public policies are when an adverse employment decision is motivated by an employee serving on a jury, filing a workers’ compensation claim, or reporting criminal activity at work, whether the report is made internally or to public authorities.

According to the bill’s co-sponsors, Rep. Ellen Story of Amherst and Sen. Katherine Clark of Melrose, the Healthy Workplace Bill seeks to provide legal remedies for employees who have been harmed psychologically, physically, or economically by deliberate exposure to abusive work environments. The bill indicates that “at least a third of all employees will directly experience health-endangering workplace bullying, abuse, and harassment during their working lives, and this form of mistreatment is approximately four times more prevalent than sexual harassment alone.”

Additionally, the bill’s co-sponsors indicate that it incentivizes employers to prevent and respond to abusive mistreatment of employees by allowing employers to minimize liability. The bill states that “abusive work environments can have serious consequences for employers, including reduced employee productivity and morale, higher turnover and absenteeism rates, and increases in medical and workers’ compensation claims.”

Finally, the co-sponsors say the bill includes provisions that discourage weak or frivolous claims. The bill establishes affirmative defenses for employers when:

• The complaint is based on an adverse employment action reasonably made for poor performance or economic necessity;

• The complaint is based on a reasonable performance evaluation; or

• The complaint is based on an employer’s reasonable investigation about potentially illegal or unethical activity.

Clark recently indicated that “it is important to understand that this bill is not about everyday disagreements in the office, or someone having a bad day, or a boss providing directives, oversight, and feedback. Instead, it seeks to address a regular pattern of health-harming mistreatment at a work environment in the form of verbal abuse, offensive and threatening behavior, or malicious work interference.”

The bill is not without its detractors, however. Many believe workplace bullying is better addressed internally, such as by an employer’s human-resources department, as opposed to within the court system. Regulating workplace bullying, they say, might serve only to create a venue for disgruntled employees, opening the doors to frivolous lawsuits filed by employees in response to legitimate negative performance reviews. Such legislation could inhibit employers from making even constructive criticism of an employee’s performance for fear of a retaliatory lawsuit. Some fear the proposed legislation would allow an employee to avoid accountability.

Although this is the bill’s third submission, having been first introduced during the 2009-10 legislative session without success, there are indications that workplace anti-bullying legislation is gaining momentum. Since 2003, variations of the Healthy Workplace Bill have been introduced in 25 states, and 12 states (in addition to Massachusetts) are currently pushing for such legislation, according to David Yamada, a professor of labor and employment law at Suffolk University Law School, and one of the bill’s proponents.

It is too soon to determine the potential outcome regarding the bill. However, employers are advised to take caution. Language in the proposed bill indicates that an employer will be vicariously liable for violations of the statute committed by its employee. In other words, employers may be legally responsible for the actions of their supervising employees, if such employees are found to have engaged in abusive conduct or to have created an abusive work environment as defined by the statute.

Employers can defend against a lawsuit only if “the employer has exercised reasonable care to prevent and correct promptly any actionable behavior, and the complainant employee unreasonably failed to take advantage of appropriate preventive or corrective opportunities provided by the employer.”

Employers are advised to be vigilant about ensuring that managers treat employees with respect and dignity. Further, employers should ensure that they include anti-bullying language in their code of conduct policies, in order to preserve the availability of the affirmative defense. Employers are advised to contact an employment-law attorney about creating policies that will comply with the proposed legislation.

Kathryn S. Crouss, Esq. is a member of Bacon Wilson’s litigation department and handles all aspects of civil litigation, including employee- and management-side employment-law litigation, personal injury, and domestic-relations litigation; (413) 781-0560.

Hire Purpose

By BusinessWest Staff June 18, 2013

Employment Sections

Johnson & Hill Builds on Its Reputation for Effective Match Making

Andrea Hill-Cataldo says job hunting has become a much more complicated process.

Andrea Hill-Cataldo knows how difficult it can be to match a job seeker with the right company. And a lingering recession — not to mention a more complicated hiring landscape — haven’t made things any easier.
“It’s so frustrating for candidates, sending résumés into this abyss, not hearing back. And for employers who are inundated with a hundred résumés, it’s hard to get back to every candidate,” said Hill-Cataldo, president of Johnson & Hill Staffing Services.”
“At one time, you walked your résumé into a company or did a nice cover letter with a nice presentation,” and that was sufficient, she noted. But now, with many companies relying on online applications, “you’re e-mailing your résumé, clicking here, clicking there. As a result, candidates apply for more positions, employers get more candidates, and it’s harder for everyone.”
That’s where a good staffing service comes in. “For us, we still have that personal touch. We’re meeting with candidates and advocating for them,” she told BusinessWest. “We also do a lot of career coaching; we advise them on their résumé, questions they should be prepared to answer, talk about the environments they want to work in, industries they’re interested in.”
Hill-Cataldo likes to talk about building relationships, not just with those seeking work, but with the employers Johnson & Hill has developed long-lasting connections with during the 18 years the agency has been in business.
“We have a team of people, some of whom have been here since the beginning,” she said. “It makes a big difference when our clients call, because we know their history, their culture. That’s a big value add. People like to do business with people they like and know and trust.”
Johnson & Hill has come a long way since Hill-Cataldo and her cousin, Michaela Johnson, launched it from the ashes of a former Kelly Services agency after that corporation decided to take back its privately managed franchises during the mid-’90s.
Johnson’s mother (and Hill-Cataldo’s aunt) had run that office for decades, building a solid reputation and a number of connections, and when she retired after her franchise closed, the younger pair felt they could continue the legacy, with Johnson providing the initial financial backing and Hill-Cataldo contributing “sweat equity,” she said.
“There were some key players who had been with the company for a long time, so we hired two key people and built a company around them,” she explained. “There was a great history there, established relationships of trust. We grew that and built on that.”

Changing Tides
Since those early days, Hill-Cataldo told BusinessWest, the agency has both evolved and expanded.
Geographically, Johnson & Hill has offices in Springfield, Northampton, and Pittsfield, but serves clients as far north as Greenfield, south into Connecticut, and east to the Worcester area.
Meanwhile, the company has shifted from a full-service job-placement service to one that focuses on administrative, accounting, and legal careers. “It makes a real difference when you focus and specialize,” she said. “We found business doubled once we decided to focus on niche businesses.”
The strategy helps Johnson & Hill to better understand the industries and employers they serve. “We really try to be big picture, looking at a long-term approach with clients, building rapport and trust, and putting a lot of time into getting to know their culture,” she explained.
“We stand behind what we do for them, and in turn, they come to trust us,” she continued. “We’ve had some unique opportunities beyond typical staffing services; they also trust us with training and workforce development. We have some very unique, long-standing relationships with clients we’re very appreciative of.”
Hill-Cataldo and her staff of 10 have witnessed a number of shifts in the way companies attract talent. One is an increasing reliance on the temp-to-hire concept, as opposed to direct hiring.
“Temp-to-hire is a great way to bring someone on and not commit, but it’s great for the candidate, too; it’s not a one-sided story,” she said, adding that, if it’s not a great fit, Johnson & Hill already knows the candidate and can hit the ground running to find him or her something else. And if the job works out, “both sides are informed and feel better about the match. It’s better to be on the same page when you hire someone.”
The role of an employment agency looms more important than before, too, especially for those — companies and job seekers alike — who are anxious about navigating an increasingly complicated employment landscape.
“Hiring has changed dramatically over the past five years,” Hill-Cataldo said. “I feel bad for smaller companies that used to just place an ad in the paper. Now, what do you do? What online source to you use? How do you find the best people, manage your social-media presence, and market for better candidates?
“You have to cast a wide net, and then you have to manage that,” she went on. “It’s not just combing through résumés and getting back to people. We find recruiting more difficult, and the Internet has made it even more difficult.”
For job seekers in particular, “it’s lonely for them sometimes,” she continued, adding that it doesn’t have to be. “Many employers hire differently now; they bring in temp-to-hire employees to see if it’s a good fit. And many work with services like ours; we make sure you’re being considered for as many positions as we can. We don’t charge a fee for candidates, and we advocate for you. It can be a real positive.”
Many employers are happy to partner with agencies to ease the burden of candidate searches while still casting a wide net. “Our clients are overwhelmed. They’re all doing more with less,” she said. “They’re trying to add next staff members or replace a staff member, but they’re overwhelmed by other responsibilities. With our help, they have the resources to really look at qualified candidates, rather than hundreds of résumés.”

Satisfying Work
With so many changes occurring in the employment field, the company participates in a number of local and national organizations to keep current, said Hill-Cataldo. “But, thankfully, meeting with clients, talking to clients all the time, that in itself is an education. We can draw conclusions from what we see out on the front lines.”
Many of the agency’s clients were affected by the Great Recession and its aftereffects, she noted, but the picture is improving. “We in this industry are used to ups and downs, and we’re coming out of another dip,” she said. “We’ve definitely seen an uptick recently … a slow climb out.”
But it’s not only job seekers who lost their employment during the recession that find Johnson & Hill’s services useful. “We also help people who have taken a break from employment to gain some experience and get back in,” she said, citing, as examples, those who choose to stay at home to care for an infant or a sick parent. “That happens, and that’s explainable, but now they need more skills, and it’s nice to help them build a bridge to get back.”
Whatever the case, “it’s really satisfying when people we’ve worked with find great situations,” she told BusinessWest. “And we feel really good about the companies we work with. We work with a lot of colleges and major employers. We consciously seek out certain employers, and we feel good when people take a job with them. We know they’ll have a good experience.”

Joseph Bednar can be reached at [email protected]

PictureThis

By BusinessWest Staff May 21, 2013

Departments Picture This

Send photos with a caption and contact information to: ‘Picture This’ c/o BusinessWest Magazine, 1441 Main Street, Springfield, MA 01103 or to [email protected]

House Party

HAPHousing recently celebrated its 40th anniversary at the organization’s annual event and fund-raiser at the MassMutual Center, and received a generous donation of $75,000 from the event’s sponsor, Citizens Bank. HAPHousing provides a broad range of housing services to meet the needs of low- and moderate-income households and is the region’s largest nonprofit developer of affordable housing. More than 400 attendees also witnessed the success achieved by three of HAPHousing’s program participants, pictured above. From left, Wally Quinones, who rebuilt on Clark Street after the 2011 tornado; Derek Washington, formerly homeless and now employed and off of public assistance; and Gladys Morales, who went from a shelter to self-sufficiency and owning her own home.

Learning Experience

Dan Warwick, superintendent of Springfield Public Schools (second from left), recently presented an Outstanding Community Leadership award to United Water for its exceptional outreach and education programs to Springfield students. United Water, which operates the Bondi’s Island wastewater treatment facility, is a founding sponsor for the World Is Our Classroom program, and has donated nearly $775,000 over the past 10 years. Nearly 20,000 Springfield fifth-grade students have participated in the World Is Our Classroom program, which advocates learning outside of the classroom, since its inception in 2003. Here, Nora Burke Patton, left, executive director of World is Our Classroom, poses with, from left, Warwick; Don Goodroe, area manager for United Water; and Katharine Pedersen, executive director of the Springfield Water and Sewer Commission.

Ingenuity on Display

Thousands of attendees descended on Eastern States Exposition in West Springfield last week for EASTEC, the largest manufacturing trade show on the East Coast. Sponsored by the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME), the three-day event, now staged every other year, showcased more than 550 exhibitors and pre-registered more than 14,000 attendees to view exhibits of industrial equipment and take in educational programs focused on continuous quality improvement, advanced manufacturing, and the importance of workforce development. At top, attendees stroll the aisles. Middle, Kevin Garvey, left, field service and sales, and Kathleen Trudeau, vice president, sales and service, both of Hayden Corp. in West Springfield, stand with Steve Roy, sales engineer of Hayden Laser Services LLC. Bottom, Tony Nelson, left, forging manager, and Larry Flatley, specialty services business manager, staff the Smith & Wesson booth.

Briefcase

By BusinessWest Staff May 7, 2013

Briefcase Departments

DevelopSpringfield Acquires Historic Property
SPRINGFIELD — DevelopSpringfield recently acquired a deteriorating historic property at 83 Maple St. in Springfield for rehabilitation in keeping with its historic significance. A property to the rear at 234 Union St. was also acquired and will be developed as a part of the project. The Greek revival-style home was originally built in 1841 for Solymon Merrick, the inventor of the monkey wrench. It has been considered an important component of a group of 19th-century buildings located at the corner of Union and Maple streets. Later it was owned by Ansel Phelps, the fourth mayor of Springfield, and was commonly known as the Ansel Phelps House. The property has been included on the Springfield Preservation Trust list of endangered historic properties of Springfield, which highlights 10 threatened properties of architectural and historical significance. The house has fallen into disrepair and will require significant stabilization in preparation for restoration and reuse. The goal of DevelopSpringfield with this project is to eliminate a blight on the neighborhood while saving an important historic property and to ensure its rehabilitation to an appropriate use. “Our first priority is to stabilize the exterior of the building by repairing or replacing windows, porches, and pillars and taking other steps to prevent further deterioration, and to improve the physical appearance of the property,” said Jay Minkarah, president and CEO of DevelopSpringfield. The organization plans to work closely with the Springfield Preservation Trust, the Historic District Commission, and the city’s Planning and Economic Development Department regarding redevelopment of the site to ensure that restoration and reuse plans are consistent with city and neighborhood goals and compatible with surrounding uses. The Springfield Preservation Trust owns the buildings at 77 Maple St., offering an opportunity for collaboration. “This is a property of great importance historically, and it is located on a major gateway to downtown. It cannot be lost to disrepair,” Minkarah added. “Once restored, however, it will become a tremendous asset once again for our city.”

Labor Report Mixed Across Commonwealth
BOSTON — The Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development recently reported that, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, seasonally unadjusted unemployment rates for March were down in eight areas, up in seven areas, and unchanged in seven areas over the month. Over the year, the rates were down in 14 areas, up in five areas, and unchanged in three areas. Statewide, the seasonally unadjusted unemployment rate remained unchanged over the month at 6.8% and 11,300 jobs were added in March. Over the year, the statewide unadjusted rate edged down by 0.1% from the 6.9% rate posted for March 2012, and Massachusetts added 32,400 jobs. In March 2013, over-the-month job gains occurred in 11 of the 12 areas, the largest of which were in the Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, Worcester, Barnstable, Springfield, and Framingham areas. The Leominster-Fitchburg-Gardner was the only area to record a job loss. Over the year, eight of the 12 areas added jobs, with the largest-percentage gains in the Barnstable, Haverhill-North Andover-Amesbury, and Peabody areas. The seasonally adjusted statewide March unemployment rate, released on April 18, was 6.4%, down 0.1% over the month and down 0.2% from the 6.6% rate recorded in March 2012. The statewide seasonally adjusted jobs estimate showed a 5,500 job loss in March following a loss of 800 jobs in February. Unadjusted unemployment rates and job estimates for the labor-market areas reflect seasonal fluctuations and therefore may show different levels and trends than the statewide seasonally adjusted estimates.

Home Sales Down, Prices Up in March
BOSTON — Massachusetts home sales slowed in March while prices kept going up, prompted by a shortage of properties on the market. Statewide, 3,100 single-family homes were bought in March, a 3.6% decline compared with the same time in 2012, according to Warren Group, a Boston company that tracks real estate. For the first three months of the year, sales fell 2.1% to 7,849, compared with the first quarter last year. Condominium sales also dropped off in March, by 2% to 1,211. Sales for the first quarter declined about 1%, compared with the first three months of 2012. At the same time, buyers were having to pay more. The median price for a single-family house rose to $285,000 in March, 8% higher than during that month last year. During the first quarter, the median value of a home swelled by 10.6% to $282,500, compared with the first three months of 2012, according to the Warren Group. Condo prices rose less dramatically to $261,000 in March, by 1.5%. For the first three months of 2013, the median price of a condo hit $250,000, a 1.6% increase from the year-earlier period. The data suggest that there are not enough homes for sale to meet the demand of buyers, who are motivated by low interest rates, rising prices, and an improving economy. The inventory of single-family homes eroded by 29.8% in March, compared with March 2012, marking the 12th consecutive month of decreases, according to the Massachusetts Assoc. of Realtors. Inventory for condos fell 34% in March, compared with that month in 2012. “Low inventory is plaguing housing markets all over the country, and Massachusetts is no exception,’’ said David Harris, editorial director of the Warren Group. “There is definitely concern that such steep price spikes will cause an affordability issue.” Meanwhile, Kimberly Allard-Moccia, broker-owner of Century 21 Professionals in Braintree and president of the Mass. Assoc. of Realtors, said she is happy that so many people are interested in buying a home, but she wishes more sellers would embrace that optimism about the housing market and list their properties. “A good supply of homes for sale is the only thing we’re missing from a sustainable housing recovery,’’ she said.

Ventures and Adventures

By BusinessWest Staff April 23, 2013

Sections Women in Businesss

Network of Women Entrepreneurs Educates and Inspires Budding Women Business Owners

Sharon Styffe says the Network for Women Entrepreneurs fills a need in the region for a resource to assist those looking to start or grow a business.

Sharon Styffe, dean of Workforce and Professional Development at Holyoke Community College (HCC), says that coming up with a successful new business concept is a challenge that comes in two parts: having a good idea, and identifying a market to buy that idea.
“It’s one thing to do what you’re good at,” she told BusinessWest, “but its quite another thing to find something you’re good at — and that the market will buy. You can’t just sell something that’s your passion; it has to be someone else’s need — because otherwise it’s just an organized hobby.”
These are just some of the many thoughts she tries to impress upon the growing number of participants in something called the Network of Women Entrepreneurs, which meets every other week at the Kittredge Center on the HCC campus.
As the name suggests, this initiative, which Styffe created last fall, is indeed a network, one in which ideas are exchanged, common issues and problems are discussed, and people leave the room with more to think about than when they arrived. It is intended for those already in business, those who would like to be some day, and those who need to decide if being in business for themselves is the correct career path to take.
Mary Kearney is actually in two of those categories — sort of. She already has one operating enterprise, called CleanScape Inc., a commercial cleaning service she founded 18 years ago, as well as a fledgling enterprise still mostly in the hobby stage — a niche graphic design company for women’s clothing — that she would like to make her primary business pursuit.
“Although I’m an entrepreneur, cleaning has never excited me as much as the arts,” she explained, “especially since that’s where my skills are.”
Kearney’s desire to grow her graphic arts enterprise brought her to the Network of Women Entrepreneurs, but discussions within that group, and her own due diligence, have brought her to the conclusion that her concept might be too cost-prohibitive. However, further introspection — and help from the group — may eventually lead to the acceptable alternative of folding some aspects of that dream into her cleaning venture (more on that later).
Nancy Fields, president of Fields Graphic Design in Leeds, is another participant in the network who said the informative, interactive sessions have given her new perspective on what it means to be in business and serve customers.
“One of the speakers was a former marketing person and she was an eye-opener for me,” she said, “because she made me see that I’m not just a person doing a job for someone else. I’m actually running a business and I really have something to offer here.”
Currently the group consists of business owners involved in writing, Website and graphic design, food production, commercial office cleaning, accounting, hair design, radio talent, healthy food preparation, end-of-life care, publishing, and home organization.
Each venture, and each entrepreneur, is different, but there are common denominators that include everything from clearing the many hurdles involved with taking a concept from the drawing board to the marketplace, to the difficulties women face in finding a balance between life and work.
For this issue and its focus on women in business, BusinessWest took in a session of the network Styffe facilitates to see how it helps members juggle the many balls they have in the air and take their businesses to the next level.

Life in the Middle
Before she came to HCC from a large community college in Ohio last October, Styffe, a single mother and full-time working professional with experience in education, banking, and workforce development, did some extensive research on Western Mass.
And that due diligence led her to conclude that it was a “hot bed” for small-business development.
Looking deeper, and calling on her own background, she recognized a need within the community for a resource for women business owners and those with entrepreneurial urges, one that would provide information, inspiration, and, perhaps most importantly, dialogue between such individuals.
Thus, she launched the network, which is based on a program she created at Montgomery County Community College in Pennyslvania. One of the main reasons to target women, she explained, is their continuing roles as nurturers and caretakers, which makes them “natural multi-taskers.”
“It doesn’t matter how far up the career ladder one goes, that nurturing quality is still something that is ingrained in you from when you were little,” she said, “and that makes you perfect for creating a business, and a program like this captures that spirit.”
Styffe has a number of initiatives she wants to launch at HCC, but the Network of Women Entrepreneurs is the first, and a place where women business owners can form a new community of learning in an accepting environment.
Just a few weeks ago, one of the women attendees presented her company and her products, explaining to the other women how she got to the that point with all her struggles, including FDA approvals, and she brought her newborn baby with her.
“Her husband was working that night,” Styffe said. “And everybody completely understood.”

Information Overload

Donna Bliznak, left, recently addressed the network on the broad subject of commercial lending, providing insight for members, including Mary Kearney, center, and Nancy Fields.

At a recent Tuesday evening session, guest speaker Donna Bliznak, vice president of Commercial Lending for PeoplesBank, presented a comprehensive inside look at the lending process, and at what banks want to see and hear from business owners as they consider loans for various purposes — starting up, next-level expansion, or simply weathering economic downturns.
Other speakers have presented on such topics as legal issues involved in getting started, personnel recruitment, branding and marketing, and access to common capital.
The scheduling of the session topics is based loosely on the plan one should follow if they are just starting up their business. In between the expected topics, other presentations are also booked for the rest of the year, based on what the attendees want to learn.
But one of Styffe’s concerns is that attendees not get overwhelmed. The sheer volume of information packed into some of the recent sessions can burn them out.
“The topics have been really great and the speakers haven’t relaxed it at all,” Styffe said. “Some of these women haven’t had financial training; they’ve been consumers, but with a business, it’s a whole new ball game. You have to be prepared to talk to someone to sell them on the long-term prospect of what you do.”
Which leads her to the importance of creating an effective business plan.
While Styffe has seen some people get their ventures off the ground without a business plan, one is needed to help the entrepreneur set goals and create effective strategies for reaching them. An up-to-date plan can also help determine possible course changes for businesses experiencing growing pains.
Fields, for example, was doing graphic design work for 20 years when she lost a major client, forcing her to step back and look at where her business was and how to take it where she wanted it to go.
“I have to look at what I’m doing and why I’m doing it,” she said, adding that her business plan is addressing such questions. “I have to look at money, and now start really thinking of my work as a business.”
In Fields’ situation, Styffe talked about the importance of developing a pipeline of customers, a client network of current and future customers to draw from, which enables a business to weather downturns and not be dependant on one or a few clients.
Fields said she started attending network sessions upon realizing not only that she needed to create this pipeline, but that hard work and effective networking would be needed to create such a prospective client list.
“I know I need to network now, especially for online marketing and to refresh my brand,” she said.
Kearney’s CleanScape has fluctuated between 17 and 33 employees during various economic ups and downs, but remained generally stable.
“At times I couldn’t find enough employees to keep up with the work,” she said, “and other times, doctors’ offices would hire their own staff to clean, just to save money during the tough economy.”
But, despite her relative success in a competitive field, something was missing — a passion for the work. And that’s why she desired something in what she would consider her chosen field — art.
An early love of murals eventually turned into a hobby centered on illustration, and then a very small start-up venture called ArtWear Gallery, which offers Kearney’s upscale illustrations on women’s shirts, blouses, and casual- to business-style tops. As a weekend graphic designer and illustrator, Kearney wanted to turn ArtWear Gallery into her primary business focus. This was the mindset she took to her first network sessions, but further examination of the concept changed her outlook.
“I found that in this country, our technology with dyes isn’t as advanced as overseas, and because my company would not be able to buy the volume of garments initially, like plain tee shirts are bought in bulk, it just wasn’t going to be affordable.”
She reluctantly shifted her hopes and dreams away from ArtWear Gallery and back to commercial cleaning, but with more services and the assistance of a local contractor. Now, in addition to routine, detail, and specialty cleaning, she’ll offer space-organizing services, window and carpet cleaning, composite tile floor refinishing, building repairs, remodels and renovations.
But something even more exciting has happened, thanks in part to the HCC group. Kearney is now considering merging her expanded commercial cleaning company to include different forms of her passion for art.
“Now, I’ve added wall painting, including contemporary faux textures and effects, personalized logo and original mural design,” she said, adding that all this allows her to satisfy that artistic passion that she was missing for years in the cleaning business.

Guiding Light
Styffe said she isn’t surprised that people like Kearney and Fields are able to make important career decisions through the help of the network.
She told BusinessWest that this is what happens when people with common dreams and similar challenges come together to learn and, in some cases, teach.
Over time, she believes the initiative can help enable a number of ventures to thrive, add jobs, and perhaps inspire new ideas to meet recognized needs.
After all, that’s what a successful business does.

Elizabeth Taras can be reached at [email protected]

Chamber Corners: Upcoming Events

By BusinessWest Staff April 9, 2013

Chamber Corners Departments

ACCGS

www.myonlinechamber.com

(413) 787-1555

• April 10: April After 5, 5-7 p.m., at Twin Hills Country Club, 700 Wolf Swamp Road, Longmeadow. The event will feature the ERC5 Feast in the East. Join us for a culinary event sure to please your palate as dozens of local restaurants present their signature dishes. Proceeds benefit the ERC5 Scholarship Fund. Sponsorship opportunities are available. For more information and to purchase tickets, contact [email protected].

• April 3: ACCGS Business@Breakfast, 7:15-9 a.m., at the Springfield Marriott, 2 Boland Way, Springfield. Guest Speakers will be Carol Leary, president of Bay Path College, and Ira Rubenzahl, president of Springfield Technical Community College. They will speak on the subject “The Importance of Public and Private Higher Educational Institutions in Workforce Development.” Chief greeter: Sarah Tsitso, executive director of the Boys and Girls Club Family Center. Salute: the Horace Smith Fund, for its 115th anniversary. For more information and to purchase tickets for the breakfast event, contact [email protected].

AMHERST AREA

CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

www.amherstarea.com

(413) 253-0700

• April 10: Amherst Area Chamber Breakfast, 7:15-9 a.m., at Applewood at Amherst, 1 Spencer Dr., Amherst. Tickets: $17 for members, $20 for non-members. RSVP to [email protected] or register online at www.amherstarea.com.

CHICOPEE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

www.chicopeechamber.org

(413) 594-2101

• April 17: April Salute Breakfast, 7:15-9 a.m., at the Kittredge Center, Holyoke Community College. Tickets are $20 for members, $26 for non-members. Sign up online at www.chicopeechamber.org.

• April 8: Meet Your Legislators, 5-8 p.m., at the Castle of Knights, 1599 Memorial Dr. in Chicopee. Meet the legislators who represent you and your business, and start a relationship and a partnership with the Commonwealth’s leadership. Your chamber membership affords you a valuable voice on issues that impact your bottom line. Sponsored by Mohegan Sun. Sign up online at www.chicopeechamber.org.

FRANKLIN COUNTY

CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

www.franklincc.org

(413) 773-5463

• April 19: Chamber Breakfast, 7:30-9 a.m., at the Franklin County Fairgrounds. Program to be announced. Sponsorship opportunities are available. For more information, contact the chamber at (413) 773-5463.

GREATER EASTHAMPTON CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

www.easthamptonchamber.org

(413) 527-9414

• April 13: REACH Fest Day, starting at 10 a.m. REACH invites local and national artists to show in a multi-city exhibition of contemporary practitioners working in a variety of non-traditional formats. REACH promotes visibility, aims to bridge the arts and spaces in neighboring cities, encourages collaborative experimentation, and invites community members to participate in experiencing an array of contemporary art practices that are exhibited in a variety of traditional, non-traditional, and underutilized spaces throughout participating cities and towns. With more than 25 artist installations and exhibitions, a series of events are scheduled for REACH Fest Day. There will be performances in Easthampton and Holyoke by contemporary movement and sound artists and the One-Minute Vidfest, a film festival at Popcorn Noir in Easthampton featuring one-minute short films submitted by more than 80 artists from Easthampton to Serbia. All exhibitions will be open for visitation in Holyoke from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and in Easthampton from 4 to 9 p.m., in conjunction with the monthly Art Walk Easthampton. For more information visit www.reachfest.com

GREATER HOLYOKE

CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

www.holycham.com

(413) 534-3376

• April 17: Chamber Business Connections, 5-7 p.m., Renaissance Manor on Cabot Street. members of nonprofit organizations may attend as our guest; limit two employees per organization. Tickets are $10 for members, $15 for non-members. For more information or to register, call the chamber office at (413) 534-3376 or visit www.holycham.com.

• April 18: Accessing Workforce Training Funds, 8-10 a.m., in the PeoplesBank Conference Room in Kittredge Center on the campus of Holyoke Community College. Learn if your company qualifies and what you have to do to get a piece of the pie. Price includes a continental breakfast. Tickets are $20 for members, $30 for non-members. For more information or to register, call the chamber office at (413) 534-3376 or visit www.holycham.com.

• April 25: Beacon Hill Summit. Buses depart at 7 a.m. and return at 7 p.m. Ticket cost of $180 includes transportation, breakfast, lunch with legislators, materials, and wrap-up reception. Call the chamber at (413) 534-3376 for more details or to sign up.

GREATER NORTHAMPTON CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

www.explorenorthampton.com

(413) 584-1900

• April 3: Arrive@5, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Smith Vocational and Agricultural High School, 80 Locust St., Northampton. Sponsored by King And Cushman Inc. and ACME Auto Body & Collision Center. Arrive when you can, stay as long as you can for a casual mix and mingle with your colleagues and friends. Tickets are $10 for members, $15 for non-members. To register, call the chamber office at (413) 584-1900 or visit www.explorenorthampton.com.

GREATER WESTFIELD

CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

www.westfieldbiz.org

(413) 568-1618

• April 10: WestNet Connection, 5-7 p.m., at Betts Piping Supply Co., 14 Coleman Ave., Westfield. Spend a couple of hours networking with local businesses. Tickets are $10 for members, $15 cash at the door for non-members. For more information or to register, contact Pam Bussell at (413) 568-1618 or e-mail [email protected].

YOUNG PROFESSIONAL SOCIETY OF GREATER SPRINGFIELD

www.springfieldyps.com

• April 18: Third Thursday, 5-7 p.m., at Adolfo’s Restaurant, 254 Worthington St., Springfield. Join YPS at Adolfo’s, an Italian restaurant and bar situated across from historic Stearns Square in the heart of Springfield’s Entertainment District. The menu features a selection of traditional Italian dishes along with creative house specialties and a wide choice of wines to match.

Finding Answers

By BusinessWest Staff March 12, 2013

Features

At the Donahue Institute, They Also Help Formulate the Questions

Executive Director J. Lynn Griesemer

While J. Lynn Griesemer still hears the phrase ‘think tank’ used in reference to the University of Massachusetts Donahue Institute (UMDI), she acknowledges that she’s heard that largely inaccurate description less often in recent years.

And she believes that’s because more groups and individuals are coming to understand that this agency, attached to the UMass President’s Office, is so much more than that.

Indeed, while the institute certainly has its share of experts among its 100 employees — on subjects ranging from the U.S. Census and the numbers it generates to passenger rail service in the Northeast Corridor — and has been called upon to conduct research on matters as disparate as college-graduate retention rates and the workforce needs of the state’s life-sciences industry, it also boasts a number of programs that one might not expect from a pure think tank.

For starters, said Griesemer, the agency’s executive director, there’s a so-called special initiative called the Academy for Newly Elected Legislators. This is a biannual program (senators and representatives are elected to two-year terms) that the institute funds from its own budget. It’s designed to help newcomers to Beacon Hill with everything from understanding the nuances of the state’s budget to dealing with the media.

There’s also another recent endeavor called the Massachusetts STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) Summit. The ninth edition of the program, staged last October inside Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, was hosted by the Donahue Institute and the Massachusetts Business Roundtable and sponsored by more than two dozen colleges, universities, businesses, and education-related agencies. It brought more than 1,200 people together for sessions with titles like “Preschool Science Standards: Connecting Theory to Early Childhood Education” and “Aligning STEM and the Commonwealth’s Economic Development Strategy.”

Couple these initiatives with long-standing Donahue Institute programs involving everything from the training of state employees to workforce-development initiatives to early-childhood-education services, and it’s easy to see why the term ‘think tank,’ while in some ways appropriate, doesn’t quite cover things.

And this lack of a simple descriptive phrase makes the institute quite unique, said Eric Heller, its deputy director, who spends a good amount of his time educating people about what the UMDI does and how it does it.

“When you think of a traditional think tank and the white papers it would produce … that’s not the typical bread-and-butter work that goes on here,” he told BusinessWest. “The work here is client-oriented; we support ourselves by doing work for clients to help them solve problems.”

But there remains a large and vibrant research component at the institute, as evidenced by the white board that dominates one wall in the office occupued by Dan Hodge, the recently named director of the agency’s Economic and Public Policy Research department.

It lists more than a dozen potential projects, or “opportunities,” as he called them, and several initiatives already underway, including a study on the growth potential of the manufacturing sector in the Berkshires, commissioned by the Pittsfield Economic Revitalization Corp., and another research project, undertaken for the Boston Redevelopment Authority, on retention of college graduates.

Dan Hodge is currently overseeing projects on matters ranging from the industrial sector in the Berkshires to growth issues involving businesses across the region.

“Even Boston thinks about the notion of brain drain,” Hodge said with a laugh, noting that the issue is now national in scope, although many of those who study it are uncertain just how much of a concern it should be. “Part of the argument that we’re trying to make, or one conclusion we’re reaching, is that it matters less if someone went to Boston University or Dartmouth; what matters more is that the individual is a skilled, educated worker in the area.”

For this issue, BusinessWest takes an in-depth look at the Donahue Institute and the many kinds of work it undertakes within the Commonwealth and beyond.

Getting the Idea

Griesemer was somewhat apologetic when she brought up another of those special initiatives involving the UMDI — research into the feasibility and practicality of a UMass satellite facility in downtown Springfield, a development that many believe would bring foot traffic and therefore more vitality to the city’s central business district.

That report is nearly ready, she said, but isn’t something she can talk about in any detail until the ink is officially dry and the product has been delivered to the client — in this case, the President’s Office itself.

“There’s need, but the real issue is going to be money — funding such a facility,” said Griesemer, while politely declining further comment and acknowledging that there are many officials at the university and Springfield City Hall who are eagerly awaiting the report and its findings. “I spent a lot of time on that project personally, and understand how important this is to the city.”

There have been countless similar initiatives since the UMDI was created by an act of the state Legislature in 1970 and eventually led by former state Senate President Maurice Donahue, a Holyoke Democrat who was looking for a new challenge after leaving his Senate seat for what turned out to be an unsuccessful run for governor.

The institute was originally charged with “bringing the intellectual resources of the university to bear on the needs of the Commonwealth and its citizens,” said Heller, adding that this unofficial mission, while intact, has evolved and manifested in a number of ways over the past 43 years.

In the beginning, for example, much of the emphasis was placed on training and educating individuals involved in state and local government, said Griesemer, adding that the federal government was pumping large sums of money into such initiatives in the early and mid-’70s.

One of the institute’s early programs, for example, was an annual ‘cherry sheet conference,’ created to help officials in cities and towns understand the state appropriations that were detailed on documents that came in that unusual color.

“We still do a lot of work with those in state and local government, but from that beginning, the institute has grown and evolved significantly,” Griesemer explained, adding that it now has a staff of 100 and six business units handling roughly $15 million in contracts and grants each year. The UMDI will handle roughly 140 contracts each fiscal year, with dollar amounts ranging from a few thousand to several million.

Those six business units are Applied Research & Program Evaluation, Economic & Public Policy Research, Organizational Development & Learning Solutions, Early Childhood Services, Workforce Development Services, and Civic Initiative/International Programs. A seventh unit — Financial Management Education & Training — is being phased out.

The institute is described in its own promotional literature as a “client-focused provider of a broad array of consulting services, including applied research, training, organizational development, management support, technical assistance, educational programming, international-exchange programming, and workforce-development services.”

As it goes about that broad assignment, the UMDI serves clients in the public, nonprofit, and private sectors through grants and contracts, Heller went on, noting that the institute works throughout Massachusetts, across New England, nationally, and also through international programs. In doing so, it routinely collaborates with a broad range of individuals and organizations to meet client needs, including UMass faculty, independent consultants, and other consulting organizations. And, in some cases, the university itself is the client.

The institute is headquartered in Hadley, at a facility within the WestMass development known as University Park, and also has a facility in Brockton that houses a career center for employers and displaced workers, another in Shrewsbury that houses the Applied Research & Program Evaluation unit, and other operations scattered across New England and also in Washington, D.C.

And while its role extends well beyond pure research and advocacy, some of its most important work falls within those realms. As an example, Griesemer cited important work it does for the state with regard to the Census.

“We support the Common-wealth by being the home for the U.S. Census in Massachusetts,” she explained. “We help ensure the best count for Massachusetts, which in turns leads to the state getting the most federal money, because the Census count and the subsequent estimates affect 140 federal formulas involving 140 federal programs. And if you don’t have as good a count as you can get, you’re losing money.”

And there are some of those aforementioned white papers, or detailed reports for clients, said Heller, listing, as just one example, a document called “Growing Talent: Meeting the Evolving Needs of the Massachusetts Life Science Industry,” which was prepared by the institute and commissioned by the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center and the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council.

Study in Perseverance

Some of the UMDI’s most visible work falls to the Economic & Public Policy Research unit, which Hodge took over just a few months ago.

He had been working as an independent consultant after stints with Regional Economic Models Inc. (REMI) in Amherst, a venture started by a long-time UMass Amherst economics professor; Cambridge Systematics, known for transportation-related policy and planning work; and the Boston-area office of engineering and architecture company HDR, when the position became open.

Hodge said he was intrigued because the job presented him with an opportunity to blend his experience in research with many recent projects that have made him familiar with this region, its economic-development leaders, the issues it faces, and its prospects for growth.

These include a study undertaken while he was at HDR that focused on passenger rail service in the so-called Knowledge Corridor, which stretches from Northampton to New Haven, Conn., which was undertaken for the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission, and another initiative involving the High Performance Computing Center in Holyoke and the development of an innovation-based economic-development strategy for Holyoke and the Pioneer Valley.

“The big thing for me was a chance to continue to focus on the Massachusetts economy,” he told BusinessWest, adding that he and his team do this through analysis of current economic trends and statistics (Hodge presented a broad overview of the state’s economy at the Affiliated Chambers Outlook Luncheon, for example), and also through various projects, such as those currently listed on that white board in his office.

“To a large extent, we function almost as a quasi-consulting group within the university,” he explained, adding that the institute is being called upon to conduct research and then analyze the resulting data on a host of timely matters.

The study on manufacturing in the Berkshires, for example, was commissioned to identify potential growth areas for a region known more for its tourism-related businesses and institutions, at a time when it is trying to diversify its overall economy.

“Growing Talent,” a report undertaken for the Life Sciences Institute and the Mass. Biotechnology Council, is one of hundreds prepared by the Donahue Institute since 1970.

“The Berkshires aren’t necessarily known for manufacturing, but there is some tradition of manufacturing there and a number of small to mid-sized companies that are doing quite well,” Hodge explained. “We’re looking at how that sector can potentially be expanded and how could it possibly be a supplier to the many semiconductor firms in New York, for example.”

Another current initiative undertaken by Hodge’s division is a business-growth study for the Pioneer Valley, a project undertaken for several clients working collaboratively, including Common Capital, the PVPC, the Economic Development Council of Western Mass., and the Franklin Regional Council of Governments. The specific assignment is to create a detailed profile of existing businesses in the region and identify growth trends among individual sectors and companies.

A key component of the work is a detailed business survey designed to identify both the factors likely to stimulate or restrict growth and the types of support needed, said Dodge, adding that the initiative has thus far generated nearly 200 responses from Hampden, Hampshire, and Franklin counties.

“There are financial needs that could be met by organizations like Common Capital,” he explained. “But there are other concerns, such as access to skilled workers, that affect a number of businesses across the region.”

Thought Process

While handling those 140 contracts, or assignments, each year, Griesemer said, the Donohue Institute must also do some strategic planning of its own, to remain effectively positioned to meet the needs of its many kinds of clients.

“In this business, you have to be constantly scanning the environment to see what’s emerging,” she explained. “The development of each of our units has a history behind it; they all came about because of opportunities — what was out there as far as recognized needs, and could we meet those needs? That continues today.

“And there are some characteristics of the institute from a business standpoint that have opened up some of those doors,” she continued. “We are like a mid-sized consulting company that has the good fortune of being located inside a public university.”

These thoughts bring her back to the uniqueness of the institute — “there are organizations within universities that will do one of the pieces of the institute’s work, but not all the pieces,” she said — and some of the work it does that falls well outside basic research or consulting.

And the STEM Summit, co-sponsored by businesses and institutions ranging from Raytheon to Westfield State University, is a perfect example.

“This is an event that’s grown steadily over the past 10 years, and taking it to Gillette Stadium has taken it to a new level,” said Heller, adding that the program has drawn attendees from across the country who want to learn about the state’s aggressive approach to tackling the STEM challenge, and how the summit is a key component in those efforts.

The Academy for Newly Elected Legislators is another example. The three-day, non-partisan program, jointly conducted with the president of the Senate and speaker of the House, falls under the category of community service and speaks to the original motivations for creating the institute, said Griesemer.

“We focus on everything from communication, working with the press, to ethics, how the budget works, and the overall process — what happens when you’re on the floor of the House or Senate,” she explained, adding that there was a special program this year on the economy and the budget featuring Michael Widmer, president of the Mass. Taxpayers Assoc., and Michael Goldman, co-editor of MassBenchmarks.

Looking ahead, Griesemer and Heller said that, because much of the institute’s work is generated by federal grants and contracts, the agency is watching the phenomenon known as sequestration very closely.

As an example, Heller cited work handled by the Applied Research & Program Evaluation group, which will often collaborate with the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education on projects funded by federal grants.

Beyond that, well, it’s often up to clients to decide what’s next for the UMDI, said Heller and Griesemer, before quickly adding that the institute can in many ways help clients and potential clients figure out what’s coming down the road.

“All of our clients will tell us what’s next,” said Griesemer, “but we also engage heavily with clients about shaping their own thoughts about what’s next. And that’s tricky business, because sometimes clients will be absolutely convinced that it’s this, or the facts are that. But one of our first engagements with a client is always around helping them shape what the questions are and what they’re really trying to accomplish with an engagement with us.

“We’ll do a needs assessment, because the perception about what is needed may not be, in reality, what is needed,” she continued. “Helping a client shape their thinking, and their request, is always critical.”

Heller concurred. “Helping them ask the right questions of themselves is an important part of what we do,” he told BusinessWest. “And I think that’s very common in consulting; it’s not uncommon that the presenting question or need, or perceived need, does not end up being what the real need is. And when you’re good at working with this client to think through and explore all the aspects of what they’re dealing with, then you end up providing them with a service that is much more responsive and that really helps them.”

Schools of Thought

Such involvement is just another example of how the institute is not like most other consulting organizations, and why ‘think tank,’ doesn’t always, or even usually, work when describing the institute and what it does within and for the Commonwealth.

Heller doesn’t have a simple one- or two-word phrase to sum it all up, and that’s one of the challenges he faces when he goes about explaining the UMDI’s mission and how it’s carried out.

It takes probably a full sentence or two to do that, he said, and it comes down to not only coming up with the answers, but helping clients understand — and formulate — the questions.

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

Editorial

By BusinessWest Staff December 4, 2012

Opinion

A Powerful Show of Unity on Literacy

“Reading is the cornerstone of academic success. In fact, educators attest that, until third grade, a child learns to read. After third grade, a child reads to learn. Further, a child who enters fourth grade unable to read proficiently is far less likely to graduate from high school, become an effective citizen, and develop the skills essential for contributing to the 21st-century economy.”

This was the first paragraph of a case statement, or proposal, for the establishment of something called the Funder Collaborative for Reading Success, a document, inked more than a year ago, that apparently got its points across in a meaningful way.

That’s because more than a dozen organizations are now standing together in this ambitious endeavor, having donated close to $1.5 million between them in the all-important fight to make young people in this region more proficient at reading by the time they reach the fourth grade.

And a few months ago, some of this money was put to work, with three grants, totaling nearly $325,000, awarded to five early-literacy and learning programs. These include the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art and its Links to Literacy and Learning program; the Hasbro Summer Learning Initiative through the Regional Employment Board of Hampden County; the Springfield Collaboration for Change and its Home-School Family Literacy Project; Square One and its summer and after-school enrichment programs; and the Springfield College AmeriCorps Student Success Corps program.

It’s far too early to attempt to quantify and qualify the payback from these grants, but it’s certainly not too early to say that this is money extremely well-spent, because, as we’ve said many times, perhaps the biggest issue involved with mitigating the cripplingly high levels of poverty in this region is education, and, more specifically, childhood literacy.

Meanwhile, the Funder Collaborative has, by all indications, become an innovative and highly inspirational method to address some of the larger societal issues facing this region, one that can and should be borrowed for matters ranging from workforce development to combating racism.

But let’s back up a minute.

The Funder Collaborative was launched in early 2011 when the Irene E. & George A. Davis Foundation, which has long been a strong advocate for early-childhood education and a driving force behind the Read! Reading Success by the Fourth Grade initiative, decided that this fight was too big for it to tackle alone.

So it asked a number of area foundations and major employers to join the fight. One of the first to join was the SIS Fund, a charitable foundation left over from the bank formerly known as Springfield Institution for Savings. The list of funders now also includes the Berkshire Bank Foundation, Babson Capital Management LLC, Baystate Health, the Beveridge Family Foundation, the Community Foundation of Western Mass., Hampden Bank, MassMutual, the Nellie Mae Education Foundation, the Peoples United Bank Foundation, the TD Charitable Foundation, and the United Way of Pioneer Valley.

The prevailing theory behind creation of the collaborative is that, by working together on this one issue, these groups could accomplish much more than a single entity or a few organizations moving in different directions — and we believe that thinking is sound.

And there is no more important issue facing this region at this time than reading proficiency among young people. Currently, fewer than 40% of Springfield’s children read at grade level by the end of the third grade. Unless those numbers improve substantially in the years to come, the cycle of poverty that has strangled the city will continue, and the strong workforce needed to take on the jobs in today’s knowledge-based economy will fail to materialize.

The programs funded with the first round of grants are designed to introduce children to books, continue the learning process throughout the year, and, in essence, make students fully able to read to learn.

The Funders Collaborative is really just getting started, but it’s certainly not too early to call this an unqualified success story — on many levels.

Opinion

By BusinessWest Staff September 25, 2012

Opinion

United Way: 90 Years of Meeting Needs

On occasion, we are asked, “why give to the United Way and not simply make a direct contribution to my agency of choice?” This is a very important question for all of us at the United Way, and here are a few answers.

The United Way is a volunteer-driven organization committed to addressing the most critical needs in our community. We determine those needs by researching and analyzing the prevalence of a social problem and the critical needs in the communities we serve. After gathering the data, we look for opportunities where an investment of funding will yield a measurable return on the investment.

We are no longer simply reporting the number of people served, but also focusing on the outcomes of the service provided. This no easy feat given the reality that it often takes years to change behaviors and achieve tangible outcomes and results, but we know we are making an impact based on benchmarks and regular reports. We are also implementing and supporting science-based and results-oriented approaches and service-delivery models that have demonstrated positive outcomes in communities like ours. We are holding the organizations (funded through a competitive grant-making process) accountable, and we are holding ourselves accountable to the thousand of donors and investors.

United Way of Pioneer Valley has embarked on its celebration of 90 years of service in the Pioneer Valley. Over the past decade, UWPV has distributed more than $50 million dollars to nonprofits serving children, families, elders, and individuals with special needs and circumstances. The dollars help support those services that feed the hungry and offer emergency housing and assistance for victims of domestic violence, homelessness, and fires. Critical funding is also dedicated to improving high-school graduation rates, early-childhood education, reading by grade 4 in Holyoke and Greater Springfield, and youth development and prevention services.

We recently launched a regional initiative to address income disparities, workforce development, and the financial stability of low-income and working families. These efforts will not only strengthen families, but will impact quality of life and economic development throughout the Pioneer Valley. Over the last three years, we have also committed resources to help nonprofits build greater capacity through partnerships and collaborations, so limited resources can provide expanded services to youth and families; every dollar invested leverages additional dollars from other funding sources.

Additionally, our financial support of Mass 211, an information and referral system, provides an immediate response to individuals searching for social services in their respective communities. Residents in our service area (Hampden County, South Hadley, and Granby) are the second-highest users of Mass 211 in the Commonwealth. What an amazing resource financed through contributions made to the United Way. These are examples of investments for the common good, and we will all benefit.

Our 90th anniversary has provided an opportunity to reflect, rejuvenate, and rejoice. We would like to thank our corporate, business, and social-service partners for hosting annual workplace campaigns, and our donors who make online contributions or send a check in the mail. Special thanks to the board of directors and our volunteer leaders, campaign coordinators, and local, regional, and statewide supporters. Your contributions of time, talent, and money truly make a difference.

Our resolve is to continue the rich tradition and history of this organization and do more to address the escalating social needs and conditions confronting our communities. How can we do more? Through the generosity and investment of individuals who believe they have a responsibility and desire to contribute to the common good of all. These people remain essential to our efforts. Please join us in celebrating our 90th anniversary. Visit our website (www.uwpv.org) for information about how you, too, can Live United … Today. Tomorrow. Forever.

Dora Robinson is the president and CEO of the United Way of Pioneer Valley.

Opinion

By BusinessWest Staff June 5, 2012

Opinion

The Education State, for Now

For many years, Massachusetts has enjoyed the unofficial title of the Education State. It is the mecca of American higher education with more than 50 universities and colleges in the Boston area alone. Bay State K-12 students rank first in national reading and mathematics test scores. High-school graduation rates may not be best in the country, but with four in five freshmen receiving diplomas within four years, it is toward the head of the class and well above the national average.
The rankings, however, do not tell the whole story. Although Massachusetts ranks first on the National Assessment of Educational Progress, half of the Commonwealth’s fourth graders scored below proficient in reading. Massachusetts also has a large achievement gap. One key to a happy ending is to support preschoolers and early education. Yet according to a landmark national study released recently by the National Institute for Early Education Research, Massachusetts continues to struggle in maintaining its commitment to state funding for high-quality pre-kindergarten. In the long run, this could threaten Massachusetts’s status as the Education State and its accompanying benefits as the achievement gap becomes insurmountable and costly.
The National Institute for Early Education Research’s 2011 report on the state of preschools ranked the state 23rd in funding for pre-kindergarten, compared to eighth a decade ago. It also trailed 27 other states in research-based quality standards, achieving only six of 10. The Universal Pre-Kindergarten grant program, which is designed to support and enhance quality, is currently funded at $7.5 million, down from $12.14 million in fiscal year 2009. The state currently contributes $7.5 million to Head Start, down from $10 million in fiscal 2009. The Department of Early Education and Care is currently funded at $495.16 million, down from $570.58 million in fiscal 2009. The institute’s calculations find a precipitous drop in dollars spent per pre-K child of nearly 45% over the past decade, and there has been little progress in enrolling more children in quality pre-K programs at a time when the need is escalating. These results are surprising for a state priding itself on its education system.
Massachusetts was one of nine states to win a federal Race to the Top Early Learning Challenge grant, a $50 million infusion to the state over the next four years. The award shows that the ideas and desire to keep young children in the forefront of education reform are present, even if the state’s allocation of resources is lacking.
Over the next four years, plans are to strengthen early education in Massachusetts by addressing quality, standards and assessment, family engagement, workforce development, data systems, and children’s mental health.
Unfortunately, Early Learning Challenge grant funds will not last. Neither are they to be used to supplant state investments. To build on the momentum created by the Early Learning Challenge, Massachusetts must increase investments in high-quality early education. Science and economics both confirm the benefits of investing in quality early education. An overwhelming body of research shows that high-quality pre-K prepares children to succeed in school, enroll in college or career training, and ultimately get better jobs in the increasingly competitive global economy.
For Massachusetts to retain its perceived advantage as the nation’s Education State, with the ensuing benefits of that title, policymakers need to change course and make prudent new investments in early education now.

Jim Squires is senior research fellow at the National Institute for Early Education Research.

Briefcase

By BusinessWest Staff March 13, 2012

Briefcase Departments

Federal Budget Cuts Would Impact Bay State
BOSTON — With a precarious economic recovery to preserve, currently mandated federal spending cuts of $1.2 trillion over the next 10 years are set to begin in 2013. The Budget Control Act of 2011 requires that these cuts be split equally between defense and non-defense programs, and they include reductions to Medicare and other mandatory spending programs. Assuming that the cuts will be enacted in accordance with the Budget Control Act, MassBenchmarks used REMI, a forecasting and comprehensive economic tool that answers ‘what-if’ questions about the state’s economy, to estimate the potential impact the cuts would have in Massachusetts. MassBenchmarks is published by the UMass Donahue Institute in cooperation with the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. The Donahue Institute is the public-service, outreach, and economic-development unit of the UMass Office of the President. While Massachusetts relies heavily on federal defense spending, other leading industries would also be substantially affected, including professional and technical services, health care, and social assistance, resulting in approximately 52,000 jobs lost, according to the study. The types of jobs expected to be lost range widely, but on average they require higher levels of educational attainment and are high-paying with benefits. Significantly, they are within the sectors that have allowed the Massachusetts economy to outperform the nation in recent years, a fact that underscores the stakes for the Bay State in ongoing federal budget debates, according to Dr. Martin Romitti, MassBenchmarks managing editor and director of economic and public policy. “A reduction in state employment of 52,000 is more than 20% larger than the entire net increase in employment the Commonwealth experienced during 2011, when net job growth was an estimated 40,500,” said Romitti. “The pattern of these job losses strike at the very heart of the Massachusetts innovation economy. In addition to the 10,000+ federal civilian and military jobs that our model estimates would be lost, other leading industries would be substantially affected.” The study estimates that professional and technical services would experience a loss of nearly 10,000, health care and social assistance would lose more than 6,000. “What is not captured fully by these numbers is the collateral damage the cuts could trigger,” Romitti continued. “There is no way to conjecture what future innovations would be lost without the support to the state’s high-technology sector provided by federal dollars. A large number of important inventions and innovations in modern times can be traced to federal support of research and development.” Dr. Robert Nakosteen, MassBenchmarks executive editor and professor of Economics at UMass Amherst, echoed those sentiments. “These clusters require a critical mass of activity to thrive, and large federal budget cuts threaten this diverse community of firms,” he said. “These budget and job cuts are not inevitable. Congress and the president could finally agree on a grand bargain to rationalize budget cuts and combine them with revenue increases. The allocation of cuts could also be very different than our assumptions in making these estimates, which are based on the sequestration rules and past patterns of sector-specific expenditures in Massachusetts. It is possible, for instance … that a leaner military could depend on more high-technology support systems, favoring the state’s comparative advantage.”

Report: Bank Customer Switching Rates Rise Again
WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif. — Consumer backlash against bank fees, coupled with poor service and unmet customer expectations, has fueled increases in defection rates among customers of large, regional, and midsize banks, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2012 U.S. Bank Customer Switching and Acquisition Study recently released. On the heels of Bank Transfer Day on Nov. 5, 2011, the beneficiaries of the accelerated exodus from larger banks are primarily smaller banks and credit unions. Acquisition of new customers by smaller banks and credit unions has increased by 2.2 percentage points to an average of 10.3% in 2012 from 8.1% in 2011. Among big banks, regional banks, and midsize banks, switching rates average between 10% and 11.3%, while the defection rate for small banks and credit unions averages only 0.9%, a significant drop from 8.8% in 2011. The study, which examines the bank shopping and selection process, finds that 9.6% of customers in 2012 indicate they switched their primary banking institution during the past year to a new provider. This is up from 8.7% in 2011 and 7.7% in 2010. The study finds that, not unexpectedly, fees are the main reason customers shop for a new primary bank. In particular, one-third of customers of big and large regional banks cite fees as the main shopping trigger. “When banks announce the implementation of new fees, public reaction can be quite volatile and result in customers voting with their feet,” said Michael Beird, director of the banking services practice at J.D. Power and Associates. However, according to Beird, customers weigh the price they pay against the value of their experience. “It is apparent that new or increased fees are the proverbial straws that break the camel’s back,” said Beird. “Service experiences that fall below customer expectations are a powerful influencer that primes customers for switching once a subsequent event gives them a final reason to defect. Regardless of bank size, more than one-half of all customers who said fees were the main reason to shop for another bank also indicated that their prior bank provided poor service.” In capturing customers who are shopping for a new bank, several of the more successful banks achieve higher acquisition rates through the use of promotions and cash incentives. Nearly 20% of customers indicate these promotions were the reason they selected their new bank. However, according to Beird, doing a good job for customers is not just about dollars, but also about loyalty and retention. “Only 32% of customers who selected a new bank because of promotional offerings said they definitely would not switch banks again in the next 12 months,” he said. “In comparison, 46% to 51% of customers who chose the new bank because of either good service experience or positive recommendations say they definitely will not leave within the next year.”

Students Protest Community-college
Board Consolidation
HOLYOKE — Occupy Holyoke Community College (OHCC) facilitated a campus-wide student walkout at the college on March 1 as part of a nationwide day of student action. The event took place on the plaza and featured speakers, music, and a speak-out. It was noted that students “are deeply concerned with Gov. Deval Patrick’s plan to consolidate the community-college boards of Massachusetts.” Speakers cited research that indicates that the student voice has been shut out of this decision. Overall, students felt “disheartened” that Patrick would target a plan for workforce development at schools that serve a diverse student population that includes low-income and non-traditional students. Protest organizers noted that a petition circulated that day stated that students will not allow the campus to become a location “simply used for job training.” The petition will be delivered to Patrick’s office in the coming weeks.

William Messner

By BusinessWest Staff February 14, 2012

Class of 2012 Difference Makers

President, Holyoke Community College

WilliamMessner
Photo by Denise Smith Photography

As he talked about Holyoke Community College, what has transpired since he arrived there in 2004, and what he envisions moving forward, Bill Messner dropped the name Ruben Sepulveda early and quite often.

And with good reason.

Sepulveda is now in what amounts to his junior year at Amherst College, studying Psychology. This is worlds — and even dreams — removed from the existence he knew after dropping out of high school in New York and spending considerable time homeless or living in the boiler room of the pool hall where he used to hustle to put a few dollars in his pocket.

His fortunes changed in a huge way not long after relocating to Holyoke and, more specifically, a chance encounter with HCC Adult Learning Center (ALC) Director Aliza Ansell in the gas station across the street from CareerPoint, where the ALC program was then housed. Fast-forwarding a little, Ansell convinced Sepulveda to take a college placement test. He scored well and eventually enrolled in HCC, majoring in Psychology. His bigger goal was to transfer to a four-year institution, and after a tutoring session with a student at Amherst College, he knew that’s where he wanted to land; he even carried a business card with the school’s name and logo on it in his wallet, looking at it often to inspire him.

“I realized I had to see the dream to make it a reality,” he told a writer for an HCC publication not long after becoming the first HCC student to transfer to Amherst in decades.

Sepulveda’s compelling journey goes a long way toward explaining why Messner, HCC’s third president, has been named a Difference Maker for 2012. It doesn’t tell the whole story, but it hits on the overriding theme of Messner’s tenure — creating opportunities, or what he calls “pathways.”

And that work started virtually the day he arrived on the Homestead Avenue campus. Actually, it goes back further, to one of his interviews for the job, when he asked, in essence, why did a community-college campus in a city that was 41% Latino have a mere 14% of its students from that demographic?

After taking over, he went about leading efforts to do something about those numbers. Indeed, Messner has made increasing enrollment and strengthening college relationships with the Latino community one of his top priorities. During his tenure, the number of Latino students has increased 67%, and they now make up 20% of the student body, a number that is continually rising.

Such improvement stemmed from a recognized need to change the direction the school had taken for what was then more than a half-century, he said, adding that general agreement on what needed to be done made it that much easier to move forward as a campus.

“The world had changed over the course of the 50 years of the school’s history, and I think many individuals agreed that the next step in the institution’s evolution was that we had to make it more accessible to the changing population of Western Mass.,” he explained. “We had to open the doors, get off campus, and become more involved in the community than we had heretofore.”

Achieving progress in this evolutionary process is one of many accomplishments Messner can cite since his arrival, and they all contribute to his designation as a Difference Maker. Others, which in some way contribute to the big picture, include:

• The opening of the Kittredge Center for Business & Workforce Development and the emergence of that facility as one of the region’s key resources for workforce training, professional development, and personal growth, through a number of innovative programs.

• Success in the long and challenging fight to create the Picknelly Adult & Family Education Center in the old downtown fire station in Holyoke. The PAFEC is a collaboration between HCC and its partners in the Juntos Collaborative, and it provides GED preparation and testing, adult basic education, workforce-development classes, English for speakers of other languages (ESOL), tutoring, mentoring, career counseling, and other services.

• Training and Workforce Options (TWO), a unique collaboration between HCC and Springfield Technical Community College established to support the workforce-training needs of the region’s businesses and nonprofits.

• Planned expansion of the campus through the pending acquisition of the former Grynn & Barrett photo studio and converting it into a health sciences building.

• Expansion of what are known as Holyoke Community College School District Partnerships. Over the past several years, HCC has significantly grown its partnerships with area school systems in ongoing efforts to meet community needs and make the college more accessible. In particular, the college has worked closely with both Holyoke and Springfield to help them deal with the challenges of enhancing student success. Overall, HCC has two dozen public-school outreach initiatives throughout the Pioneer Valley, such as the Gateway to College program, which brings at-risk high-school students to the campus from Agawam, Holyoke, Longmeadow, Ludlow, Palmer, and Springfield.

Through these efforts and others, Messner has advanced his primary mission of creating those pathways he described, while also putting greater emphasis on the middle word in the college’s name — ‘community’ — through programs, policies, and, in Messner’s own case, leading by doing.

Indeed, he has become involved with a number of organizations and initiatives, including Wistariahurst, the United Way of Pioneer Valley, the Economic Development Council of Western Mass., the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission, the Holyoke Chamber of Commerce, Holyoke Medical Center, the Holyoke Innovation District Task Force, and others.

“I’ve spent a good deal of my time off campus involved in a variety of community endeavors, as one way of demonstrating what this institution should be all about,” he said. “Another way of doing that, beyond the president getting off campus, is the institution getting off campus. The transportation center is perhaps the most visible example of that, but so is the Ludlow Adult Learning Center, which serves a large immigrant population there. And the Kittredge Center, even though it’s on campus, is another example.

“It’s another visible manifestation of the fact that we’re here to serve the community, not just in the traditional sense that we have for 50-some-odd years,” he continued, “but in an array of ways, such as seminars, workshops, meetings, and more.”

Looking back on these efforts — and ahead to what must come next — Messner came back to those two words access and pathways, and again summoned the name Ruben Sepulveda. He’s only one of many who have been impacted by the school’s heightened focus on access and community, but he exemplifies many campus-wide strategic initiatives.

These include everything from strengthening ties to the Five Colleges, including Amherst — Messner went so far as to say that one of his unofficial goals is to change that phrase to ‘Six Colleges,’ with HCC joining the club — to bringing the demographic mix of the college more in line with the communities it serves.

And as he goes about that work, he can find some affirmation in some words Sepulveda penned in an essay at HCC years ago:

“Contrary to what most people think about underprivileged people — those with substandard education, those who are part of the cycle of mediocrity, those people we see on the bus, or dragging baby carriages with babies in tow, or just released from prison — they are not empty inside,” he wrote. “They are not content with the lives they have. They want more; they dream of more.”

For helping to carve the pathways to more, Bill Messner is truly a Difference Maker.

— George O’Brien

Editorial

By BusinessWest Staff December 6, 2011

Opinion

Making the Case for Community Colleges

Looking at it one way — maybe the way most community-college presidents choose to view things — it certainly was a tough stretch from a public-relations standpoint.
Indeed, the headlines following the release of two reports — from the Boston Foundation and the Commonwealth Corp. — were certainly not flattering. “Massachusetts Community Colleges Slammed Twice in One Week,” “Report: Massachusetts Community Colleges Fail in Preparing Students for Careers,” “Report Says Community Colleges Falling Short with Health Majors,” and “Mass. Community Colleges Slammed in 2nd Report This Week” were among the offerings (see story, page 18).
Like we said, not a good week PR-wise, at least on the surface. But we think there’s much more to these accounts — one of which says that many health care graduates are not fully ready for the careers they’ve chosen, while the other suggests that community colleges need to do more to close what the authors call a growing jobs-skills mismatch.
While most community-college presidents, including several in this market, got their backs up when the reports were released and spent most of their time defending their institutions and assailing the accounts (and some of that was and is warranted), we prefer to look at the week that was in late November in a very different way.
And that is from the perspective of opportunity, which we believe is buried in these reports somewhere amid several headline-grabbing suggestions — such as merging a few of the Boston-area community colleges, narrowing the mission of all 15 instituitions to workforce-related initiatives, and a centralization effort that would do away with the local boards of trustees.
That opportunity comes in the form of exposure, or recognition, regarding the vital role community colleges are playing and will continue to play in both economic development and workforce development across the state — and also the possibility that this recognition will eventually lead to greater support as the schools go about their work.
The Boston Foundation report notes that “Massachusetts is at a crossroads in its capacity to compete — and the ability of its residents to fully participate in the current economy and the rewards that employment brings,” and that community colleges will play a critical role in reversing many disturbing trends regarding the state’s skilled workforce. It suggests that several steps can be taken to make the schools more effective in that role. All this is much too difficult to cram into a short headline, and thus we are left with “Report Slams Community Colleges,” which isn’t entirely accurate but does catch the reader’s eye.
Over the past several years, community colleges have been involved in almost every major workforce-related initiative in this region, from the Healthcare Workforce Partnership of Western Mass. to the new Training and Workforce Options program involving Holyoke Community College and Springfield Technical College, to initiatives involving the area’s precision-machining sector and efforts to draw more people into that profession. And they have done their work extremely well, and under great duress in the form of reduced state funding in the wake of the recession.
None of this seems to have caught the attention of the Boston Foundation report’s authors, which is frustrating, but not the main point of this discussion. That point is that individuals and groups like the foundation and Commonwealth Corp. are finally waking up to the vital role being played by community colleges in this state, and that even more can and should be expected from them moving forward.
We can’t blame the community college presidents in this market for being defensive and critical of many of the recommendations in these reports. But most of those steps, especially the centralization of governance and a narrowing of the community-college mission, are not likely to happen any time soon, if at all.
But what might happen because of all this attention — and needs to happen — is for state leaders to adequately support these institutions, and in the many forms that the word ‘support’ connotes.

Briefcase

By BusinessWest Staff August 30, 2011

Briefcase Departments

Extreme Makeover: Home Edition Coming to Springfield
SPRINGFIELD — A deserving family in Springfield will have their dreams come true in just a few weeks thanks to ABC’s Emmy-winning reality show Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. That family will learn of their good fortune with a knock on the door on Sept. 11, when the show’s team of designers will surprise them with the news that their home will be completely renovated. The build is a race against time involving a team of designers, contractors, and several hundred workers who have just seven days (one week for the actual construction) to rebuild an entire house — every room, the exterior, and landscaping. Normally, a project of this scope would take months, not days. Chicopee-based N. Riley Construction was selected by Extreme Makeover: Home Edition’s producers to be the lead builder on the project. The Home Builders Assoc. of Western Mass. has also signed on to collect donations and help coordinate volunteer contractors. “We look for builders with big hearts, great skills, and a strong connection within their own community,” explained Milan Vasic, the show’s senior producer. “Nick and his crew at N. Riley Construction were the perfect fit.” The build officially kicked off with an announcement by Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno on Aug. 19. A kickoff pep rally is scheduled for Aug. 30 at 6 p.m. (location TBA) with work beginning on Sept. 11, and continuing around the clock until Sept. 18. “We are thrilled to be part of this project and already have tons of support from the community,” noted Riley. “But we need your help and donations. So please go online and sign up to volunteer and donate.” Organizations and companies that have already signed on include: the city of Springfield, Abide, Ingram and Associates, Southampton Environmental, Durkee, White, Towne, and Chapdelaine, Ondrick, Kohler, Kitchen Encounters, Kraftmaid Cabinets, Silestone, Emtek, Dki, John Pelland Electric, Fontaine Bros., Galen and Sons, Superior Walls, Mvg Home Improvement, Crystal Brook Decorative Concrete, Sherwin Williams, Masterpiece Finishes, Shubee, Contemporary Structures, USG, ABC Supply, Daltile, Baystate Rug and Flooring, Bouchard, Pro-Tech, Select Blinds, Lumber Liquidators, Garvey Communication Associates Inc., James Langone Photography, and Viz-Bang. To donate, volunteer, or for more information, visit www.joinextreme.com/mass. Several families are being considered, and the recipients will be announced on the door-knock date. Local information, including the most up-to-date sponsors’ lists, behind-the-scenes photos, and news flashes, will be posted at facebook.com/emheSpringfield.

State’s Jobless Rate Holds Steady
BOSTON — Massachusetts continues to outperform the nation in job growth, according to the latest statistics from the state Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development. Employers in the state added nearly 13,000 jobs in July, building on strong gains in the first half of the year, the agency reported. The state’s unemployment rate held steady in July at 7.6%, well below the national rate of 9.1% in July, the office reported. Massachusetts has added more than 50,000 jobs since the beginning of the year.

HCC Plans ‘Working Green’ Training, Certification Programs
HOLYOKE — This fall, the Kittredge Center at Holyoke Community College will introduce new training courses that provide technical skills and a framework for developing sustainable facilities. “Green Facilities Training for Managers” is an introductory course that focuses on practical ideas and a plan of action for businesses to immediately save money. In addition, HCC will offer “Introduction to Cleaning Green,” “Getting to Sustainability Through Changes in Waste Contracting,” and “Introduction to Green Purchasing.” Also, a “Facility Team Green” program is designed for restaurant and lodging establishments. For more information on programming, visit www.hcc.edu/bcs or contact Rachel Bishop-Cook at (413) 552-2730 or [email protected].

Kindergartners to Receive Literacy Packets
SPRINGFIELD — Children entering the Springfield Public School kindergarten programs this fall will receive a special gift thanks to Link to Libraries Inc. Welcome to Kindergarten, the newest initiative by Link to Libraries, will include a bookbag, new book, bookmark, and educational materials that are bilingual. It is hoped that the selected youths participating in the test pilot program will have the opportunity to read their book with their parents or guardians at home. Classroom teachers will be asked to generate discussion among their pupils to gauge if the sharing of the book occurred at home between the parents or guardians and the youths. It will be requested of each teacher to return a brief survey to Link to Libraries to help determine the success and effectiveness of the program. Link to Libraries has donated more than 26,000 books to schools and nonprofit organizations throughout Western Mass. and Northern and Central Conn., and more than 10,000 books to Springfield public elementary schools since its inception in 2008. For more information, visit www.linktolibraries.org.

NH, Maine Join FastLane/E-ZPass Pacts
BOSTON — The Mass. Department of Transportation recently announced agreements with New Hampshire and Maine enabling all three states to impose sanctions on FastLane/E-ZPass toll violators across each other’s state lines. Enforceable penalties now include registration suspension (Maine) and denial of vehicle registration renewal (New Hampshire and Massachusetts). The tri-state reciprocity agreements are the first such agreements in the nation and mark an important step in ensuring toll equity by addressing revenue losses caused by motorists without FastLane or E-ZPass transponders or whose electronic accounts perennially have insufficient funds. “Electronic tolling accounts accounts for about 70% of our toll revenue,” said Jeffrey Mullan, MassDOT secretary and CEO. “These first-in-the-nation agreements allow us to continue to collect tolls more efficiently, to address toll equity issues, and to collect tolls from out-of-state violators.” The agreements will be in force for one year. After that, the agencies have the option to extend the term of the pilot program for up to two additional one-year periods or create permanent agreements. For more details, visit www.mass.gov/massdot.

Editorial

By BusinessWest Staff April 26, 2011

Opinion

Assessing the Job at Hand

The trends and statistics that form the basis of the Regional Employment Board of Hampden County’s latest strategic initiative are not exactly recent phenomena, and together, they would hardly be considered a news flash.
But they are still eye-opening, and comprise a significant challenge for this region moving forward.
Summing up what the report’s authors have noted, or recorded, there remains a significant gap in this region between what many employers are seeking in terms of requisite abilities and skill sets from their workers, and what is apparently available in the region’s workforce as currently comprised. This sobering realization can be drawn from the fact that we still have a rather high unemployment rate in Western Mass. — around 9% according to most estimates, with that number much higher in some metropolitan areas like Springfield and Holyoke — and yet there are many employers in several sectors of the economy, from health care to precision manufacturing, who have vacancies they can’t fill because they can’t find skilled workers.
This is a rather unique problem for this region, historically, and one that constitutes a major economic development agenda item, even if some still don’t understand that the phrases ‘workforce issues’ and ‘economic development’ can and must be put together in the same sentence.
Indeed, while most consider economic development to be luring new businesses to the region, building clusters of companies of specific sectors, such as green energy and biotechnology, and enabling existing companies to expand, none of that can really happen — even if the economic conditions were favorable — unless this area had the workforce to support such growth.
Which is why we’re glad that the REB has not only put a plan down on paper — it’s known officially as the ‘Strategic Workforce Development Plan for Hampden County 2011-2013’ — but has developed a game plan for addressing some of the major issues, and has the ability to keep these matters front and center, where they belong.
In short, the report concludes that closing that gap — the overriding mission beyond the strategic plan — will not be easy and it won’t happen overnight. But it must be done, and it will involve the continuation of several current collaborative efforts, and some new ones, to get the job done.
And the work encompasses many different elements, from promoting pre-school programs and helping young people gain the reading skills they need, to introducing junior high school students to the benefits of a career in precision manufacturing; from working with health care providers and area colleges to ensure that graduates have the skills necessary to succeed in specific careers, to the fostering of mentoring programs that will help curb the high drop-out rates in several areas cities.
For decades now, the REB’s unofficial mission has been to help create employment opportunities, anticipate where the jobs will be for the short and long term, and partner with area institutions to ensure that there is a match between the skills needed for those jobs and the skills possessed by those in the workforce. The mission hasn’t changed, but there is now a greater sense of urgency, because, in very simple terms, that aforementioned gap is getting wider, not narrower.
And unless that trend is reversed, cities and towns across the region will suffer in their efforts to attract new companies and diversify their bases of businesses.
Workforce development certainly would not be considered the glamorous side of economic development, which is reserved for those announcements of new companies or expansions of existing ones involving hundreds of jobs. But those announcements won’t come unless this region has workers of sufficient quantity and quality.
As we’ve said many times, and we’ll keep saying it— workforce development is economic development.

The Class of 2011

By BusinessWest Staff April 26, 2011

40 Under 40 Cover Story The Class of 2011

This Diverse Group Finds Ways to Stand Out and Give Back

April 25, 2011

The ‘club’ has now reached 200 members.
Indeed, with this announcement of the Class of 2011, there are now five groups of 40 Under Forty winners, each one distinct, but with several common denominators that run through all the classes.
The most important of these is a willingness to find the time, energy, and, yes, passion to not simply perform a job or manage a business or nonprofit — but also contribute to the community in some way, or several ways.
Like the groups before it, the Class of 2011 is diverse, with each story unique in some ways. Perhaps the most unique is that of a 16-year-old high-school student who became the youngest winner to date through his work in the community, which ranges from tutoring Somali refugees to work on the Web site for Link to Libraries; from involvement with a teen-philanthropy organization to membership in the aptly-named Don’t Just Sit There, a ‘good-works’ group that assists a number of causes.
Looking over this group of 40 individuals, it would be fair to say that none of them ‘just sit there,’ and most all of them could be considered truly inspirational. Here are some other examples:
• A lawyer who has also served for several years on the board of the Forest Park Zoological Society, but also recently helped initiate a new program to mentor fledgling entrepreneurs, thus improving their odds of survival and staying in Western Mass.;
• A melanoma survivor — and marketing manager for the Food Bank of Western Mass. — who founded SurvivingSkin.org and now actively promotes a message of sun safety while also helping to raise awareness and funds to fight the disease;
• A loan-review officer for a local bank who finds a number of ways to give back to the community, including work as a mentor to young women at the Mass. Career Development Institute;
• The regional director of the Mass. Office of Business Development, who helps area companies secure needed state assistance to grow and add jobs, while also helping young men learn life lessons (and a better jump-shot technique) as a high-school basketball coach; and
• A Web-site designer who has also created a recognition program that is inspiring Springfield-based businesses to become more earth-friendly in everything from how they make their products to how they build out their office space.
There are about three dozen more stories like these in this special section introducing the Class of 2011, which will be honored at BusinessWest’s annual 40 Under Forty Gala on June 23 at the Log Cabin Banquet and Meeting House.
We hope you’ll enjoy these stories and become inspired to find your own ways to stand out in the community and give back to it.

2011 40 Under Forty Winners:

Kelly Albrecht
Gianna Allentuck
Briony Angus
Delania Barbee
Monica Borgatti
Nancy Buffone
Michelle Cayo
Nicole Contois
Christin Deremian
Peter Ellis
Scott Foster
Stephen Freyman
Benjamin Garvey
Mathew Geffin
Nick Gelfand
Mark Germain
Elizabeth Gosselin
Kathryn Grandonico
Jaimye Hebert
Sean Hemingway
Kelly Koch
Jason Mark
Joan Maylor
Todd McGee
Donald Mitchell
David Pakman
Timothy Plante
Maurice Powe
Jeremy Procon
Kristen Pueschel
Meghan Rothschild
Jennifer Schimmel
Amy Scott
Alexander Simon
Lauren Tabin
Lisa Totz
Jeffrey Trant
Timothy Van Epps
Michael Vedovelli
Beth Vettori

Photography for this special section by Denise Smith Photography

Meet Our Judges

This year’s nominations were scored by a panel of five judges, who accepted the daunting challenge of reviewing more than 110 nominations, and scoring individuals based on several factors, ranging from achievements in business to work within the community. BusinessWest would like to thank these outstanding members of the Western Mass. business community for volunteering their time to the fifth annual 40 Under Forty competition. They are:

Diane Fuller Doherty

• Diane Fuller Doherty, regional director of the Western Mass. Regional Office of the Massachusetts Small Business Development Center Network. Previously, she founded and served as president and CEO of Doherty-Tzoumas Marketing. She is a founder of the Women’s Fund of Western Mass., and also serves on the boards of the Pioneer Valley Plan for Progress, Bay Path College, and the Community Foundation of Western Mass.

Eric Gouvin

• Eric Gouvin, a professor of Law at the WNEC School of Law and director of WNEC’s Law and Business Center for Entrepreneurship. Previously, he practiced corporate, commercial, and banking law in Portland, Me. He founded the Small Business Clinic at WNEC School of Law, serves on the Board of Editors for the Kauffman Foundation’s eLaw web site, and is a member of the Board of Advisors for the Scibelli Enterprise Center and Harold Grinspoon Charitable Foundation’s Entrepreneurship Initiative.

Hector Toledo

• Hector Toledo, vice president and Retail Sales director for Hampden Bank, and member of BusinessWest’s 40 Under Forty class of 2008. He is currently chair of the Board of Trustees at Springfield Technical Community College (from which he graduated), and has long been active with the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation, Springfield’s libraries, his church, and a host of other nonprofit groups.

Jeffrey Hayden

• Jeffrey Hayden, director of the Kittrredge Center for Business and Workforce Development at Holyoke Community College, which houses a number of workforce-development programs, the Mass Export Center, and WISER, the World Institute for Strategic Economic Research. Previously, he was director of the Holyoke Office of Planning and Development and the Holyoke Economic Development and Industrial Corp.

Michael Vann

• Michael Vann, a principal with The Vann Group, a professional services firm that provides small-to mid-size businesses with solutions such as accounting and bookkeeping, human resources, recruiting and strategic advisory services. He handles day-to-day operations of the group’s strategic advisory services and merger/acquisition activities. He is actively involved in a number of charitable organizations, and is a member of the 40 Under Forty Class of 2007.

Briefcase

By BusinessWest Staff September 13, 2010

Departments

Workers Paying 14% More for Health Insurance
WASHINGTON — American workers will pay about $4,000 to get health insurance for their families through work this year, 14% more than in 2009, according to a survey conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation. Employees’ average share of the premium costs for family coverage is $482 more than last year as economic conditions continue to push companies to pay less of the bill, the report said. Total premiums for family policies, including both worker and employer contributions, increased 3% to $13,770. “Businesses have been shifting more of the costs of health insurance to workers through premiums, deductibles, and other cost-sharing,” said Drew Altman, Kaiser Family Foundation chief executive. “From a consumer perspective, the cost of health insurance just keeps going up faster than wages.”

Executives Plan Moderate Hike in Professional Hiring
MENLO PARK, Calif. — Looking toward the final months of the year, 11% of executives interviewed for the Robert Half Professional Employment Report said they expect to increase the number of full-time staff they employ in professional occupations in the fourth quarter. Another 5% anticipate declines, resulting in a net 6% increase in hiring activity, up three points from the third-quarter forecast. Executives’ business optimism level remains high: 86% of respondents expressed at least some confidence in the growth prospects for their companies, rising slightly from 85% reported in the third-quarter survey. The number of executives citing recruiting challenges also rose, climbing from 42% in the third quarter to 47%. The Robert Half Professional Employment Report is the first quarterly executive survey of its size and scope to focus exclusively on professional-level hiring. The survey is based on telephone interviews with more than 4,000 executives from a variety of fields throughout the U.S. about their hiring plans and general level of optimism regarding the upcoming quarter. “Companies that overextended their teams are now selectively adding full-time employees,” said Max Messmer, chairman and CEO of Robert Half International. “Businesses are hiring to keep service levels high and boost morale among team members who have taken on extra work in the past few years.”

Economy Needs More Than Modest Spending
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis recently released personal income and outlays for July. Personal income increased 0.2% in July, similar to private-sector expectations, while real disposable income decreased 0.1%. Real personal consumption expenditures increased 0.2% in July and at a 1.3% annual rate from their second-quarter average. Consumer spending adjusted for inflation continues to increase at a moderate pace, according to U.S. Commerce Under Secretary for Economic Affairs Rebecca Blank. She noted that data suggests the economy continues to grow, as consumer spending accounts for 70% of GDP, although the economy is growing at a slower pace than the Obama administration would like. On a related note, many economists, including those at PNC Financial Services Group, say a boost in salaries and jobs will help grow the economy.

Businesses Offered Customer-service Training
GREENFIELD — The Greenfield Business Assoc. (GBA) and the Greenfield Community College (GCC) Workforce Development Office are coordinating customer-service trainings for local business owners and their staff members this fall. The cost is free to GBA-member owners/managers and is on a scale for the number of staff per business attending. For businesses with one to five staff members participating in training, the cost is $10 each; for six to 11 staff, $7.50 each; and for 12 or more employees, the cost is $5 each. For non-member pricing, call (413) 774-2791. The owner/manager training is slated for Sept. 27 from 8 to 10 a.m. at the GCC Downtown Center, room 121. The frontline staff training is planned for Oct. 4 from 1 to 3 p.m. at the GCC Downtown Center, room 121. Business owners can reserve space by e-mailing [email protected] with the names of the person(s) attending and the business they are representing.

By BusinessWest Staff September 13, 2010

Departments

Workers Paying 14% More for Health Insurance

WASHINGTON — American workers will pay about $4,000 to get health insurance for their families through work this year, 14% more than in 2009, according to a survey conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation. Employees’ average share of the premium costs for family coverage is $482 more than last year as economic conditions continue to push companies to pay less of the bill, the report said. Total premiums for family policies, including both worker and employer contributions, increased 3% to $13,770. “Businesses have been shifting more of the costs of health insurance to workers through premiums, deductibles, and other cost-sharing,” said Drew Altman, Kaiser Family Foundation chief executive. “From a consumer perspective, the cost of health insurance just keeps going up faster than wages.”

Executives Plan Moderate Hike in Professional Hiring

MENLO PARK, Calif. — Looking toward the final months of the year, 11% of executives interviewed for the Robert Half Professional Employment Report said they expect to increase the number of full-time staff they employ in professional occupations in the fourth quarter. Another 5% anticipate declines, resulting in a net 6% increase in hiring activity, up three points from the third-quarter forecast. Executives’ business optimism level remains high: 86% of respondents expressed at least some confidence in the growth prospects for their companies, rising slightly from 85% reported in the third-quarter survey. The number of executives citing recruiting challenges also rose, climbing from 42% in the third quarter to 47%. The Robert Half Professional Employment Report is the first quarterly executive survey of its size and scope to focus exclusively on professional-level hiring. The survey is based on telephone interviews with more than 4,000 executives from a variety of fields throughout the U.S. about their hiring plans and general level of optimism regarding the upcoming quarter. “Companies that overextended their teams are now selectively adding full-time employees,” said Max Messmer, chairman and CEO of Robert Half International. “Businesses are hiring to keep service levels high and boost morale among team members who have taken on extra work in the past few years.”

Economy Needs More Than Modest Spending

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis recently released personal income and outlays for July. Personal income increased 0.2% in July, similar to private-sector expectations, while real disposable income decreased 0.1%. Real personal consumption expenditures increased 0.2% in July and at a 1.3% annual rate from their second-quarter average. Consumer spending adjusted for inflation continues to increase at a moderate pace, according to U.S. Commerce Under Secretary for Economic Affairs Rebecca Blank. She noted that data suggests the economy continues to grow, as consumer spending accounts for 70% of GDP, although the economy is growing at a slower pace than the Obama administration would like. On a related note, many economists, including those at PNC Financial Services Group, say a boost in salaries and jobs will help grow the economy.

Businesses Offered Customer-service Training

GREENFIELD — The Greenfield Business Assoc. (GBA) and the Greenfield Community College (GCC) Workforce Development Office are coordinating customer-service trainings for local business owners and their staff members this fall. The cost is free to GBA-member owners/managers and is on a scale for the number of staff per business attending. For businesses with one to five staff members participating in training, the cost is $10 each; for six to 11 staff, $7.50 each; and for 12 or more employees, the cost is $5 each. For non-member pricing, call (413) 774-2791. The owner/manager training is slated for Sept. 27 from 8 to 10 a.m. at the GCC Downtown Center, room 121. The frontline staff training is planned for Oct. 4 from 1 to 3 p.m. at the GCC Downtown Center, room 121. Business owners can reserve space by e-mailing [email protected] with the names of the person(s) attending and the business they are representing.

By BusinessWest Staff March 15, 2010

Departments

Helping Hand

Employees of the Springfield office of the Department of Workforce Development were moved by the needs of the people of Haiti following the Jan. 12 earthquake. Over a period of one week, staff volunteered their time to host a ‘goodie sale’ in the workplace, raising $730 for the Haiti Relief and Development Efforts with the American Red Cross. Here, Department of Workforce Development employees Marion Smreck (left) and Linda Luckey (right) present the donation to Paige Thayer, deputy director of Chapter Support for the American Red Cross Pioneer Valley Chapter.

Safety First

Jewish Geriatric Services (JGS) was recently recognized with the 2009 Leadership in Safety Award by CNA HealthPro, a leading health care insurer. It was presented by Bruce Dmytrow, vice president of CNA Global Specialty Lines, to JGS leadership and senior staff. Representatives of FieldEddy Insurance, partners in this effort, also attended. Pictured are, from left, FieldEddy representatives Kevin Munsell, Teresa Petit de Mange, and Executive Vice President Timothy Marini; Alan Rosenfeld, JGS president and CEO; Linda Donoghue, JGS COO and CNO; Dmytrow; Martha Finkel-Ceppetelli, vice chairman of the JGS board of directors; Mary Ryan, CNA risk introduction consultant; and Michael Hurwitz, chairman of the JGS board of directors.

The Big Picture

Members of the Geitz family gather around the portrait of Dr. Robert C. Geitz, second president of Springfield Technical Community College. The portrait, unveiled at a reception on Feb. 21, will be hung in Garvey Hall alongside the portraits of other presidents and school founders.

Healthcare Workforce Partnership

The Healthcare Workforce Partnership of Western Mass., a collaborative of area employers, workforce-development leaders, and education providers, staged a legislative gathering on March 5 to provide a progress report on the partnership’s efforts to address projected workforce shortages in many health care fields. The highlight of the gathering was an address by Robert Calaf (above, center), who overcame long odds to become a patient care technician at Baystate Health. He’s seen with representatives of many of the groups that helped him transition into a career in health care. From left are Rexene Picard of FutureWorks; Ann Peterson of the Mass. Career Development Institute (MCDI); Amy Rist of Baystate Health; Chanel Azito, Calaf’s girlfriend and also a participant in the patient care technician program; Calaf; Ivette Cruz of the Puerto Rican Cultural Council; Jean Jackson of Baystate Health; and Tim Sneed of MCDI. Below, left, are three of the featured speakers at the event: from left, Mary Walachy, executive director of the Irene E. & George A. Davis Foundation; Jean Jackson, vice president of Workforce Planning at Baystate Health; and Kelly Aiken, director at Health Care Initiatives for the Regional Employment Board of Hampden County. Below, right, audience members listen to Aiken’s update on job opportunities in health care.

By BusinessWest Staff February 1, 2010

Departments

Foreclosure Petitions by Lenders Surge 28%

BOSTON — The number of foreclosures initiated in Massachusetts jumped 28.1% in 2009 to 27,928 from 21,804 in 2008, but was 5.5% below the level in 2007, according to the latest report from the Warren Group, publisher of Banker & Tradesman. The number of completed foreclosures, meanwhile, declined 25.4% to 9,269 last year from 12,430 in 2008, but was still 21.1% ahead of the 7,653 foreclosures recorded two years earlier. Foreclosure petitions, the first step in the foreclosure process in Massachusetts, reached 2,060 in December, a 6.4% increase from 1,937 in November and 26.8% higher than the 1,625 petitions filed in December 2008. The number of foreclosure petitions exceeded 2,000 for most months in 2009, falling below that number only in January and November. In December, there were 857 foreclosure deeds, a 22% jump from November’s 702 deeds but an 8.4% drop from the 936 deeds recorded in December 2008. Foreclosure deeds represent completed foreclosures. Foreclosure deeds fluctuated throughout the year, peaking at 978 in January. The Warren Group also tracked slightly more auction announcements in 2009. A total of 19,441 auction announcements were tracked in 2009, a 0.9% increase from 19,270 in 2008. Auction announcements in December totaled 1,931, a 13.3% drop from 2,226 in November but a 60.1% jump from 1,206 during the same month in 2008.

Firm Closes $34.5M Financing, Hires CEO

WILBRAHAM — FloDesign Wind Turbine Corp. recently closed a $34.5 million Series B financing round and has hired a new chief executive officer. The Series A venture investor Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield and Byers has been joined by a syndicate of three major new investors in the Series B — a Goldman Sachs-managed investment fund, Technology Partners, and VantagePoint Venture Partners for the financing package. Following the closing of the Series B financing, Lars A. Andersen joined FloDesign as CEO, effective Jan. 4. Andersen will be responsible for managing FloDesign’s transition from a research-and-development organization to a leading renewable-technology-manufacturing company. FloDesign’s previous CEO and co-founder, Stanley Kowalski III, will remain with the company as vice president. FloDesign is developing high-efficiency shrouded wind turbines based on the application of mature aerospace technologies. In addition to the private financing raised by the company, it was also recently awarded an $8.3 million grant as part of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy Program.

Massachusetts Unemployment at 9.4%

BOSTON — The Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development recently reported that Massachusetts’ unemployment rate rose to 9.4% in December from the revised November rate of 8.7%. The state rate remains below the national unemployment rate, which was 10.0% in December, the same as the November rate. In Massachusetts, education and health services, government, other services, manufacturing, and financial activities added jobs in December, while trade, transportation and utilities, leisure and hospitality, construction, professional, scientific and business services, and information recorded job losses. Jobs were down 8,400 for December. At 3,164,000, jobs are down 66,200 or 2.0% from one year ago. The labor force declined by 22,000 in December, with 43,100 fewer state residents employed and 21,100 more residents unemployed. In December, 3,108,600 residents were employed, and 323,200 residents were unemployed. At 3,431,800, the labor force was down 800 from December 2008, with 104,300 fewer residents employed and 103,500 more residents unemployed. The unemployment rate is based on a monthly sample of households, while the job estimates are derived from a monthly sample survey of employers. As a result, the two statistics may exhibit different trends.

Report: Small Businesses Still Struggling

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The National Small Business Assoc. recently released its 2009 Year-End Economic Report, which shows that small businesses continue to struggle under the lagging economy and the ongoing credit crunch. The number of small businesses citing decreases in revenue over the past 12 months rose to its highest point since 1993, and 39% report that they are unable to get adequate financing for their business. Despite a dismal latter half of 2009, however, there is a small silver lining — a majority of small businesses (52%) expect growth opportunities in the coming 12 months. For the first time in two years, there was a slight increase in the number of small businesses who are confident in the future of their own business — up from 58% in July 2009 to 61% in December 2009. Although a positive shift, the downside is that more than one-third (39%) of small-business respondents have concerns about the ongoing viability of their business. According to the report, 64% of small-business owners reported decreases in revenues, up from 62% in July 2009. Job growth also continued to suffer. Despite a three-point increase in the number of small-business owners who created new jobs in the last 12 months, there was also an increase in the number who cut jobs — up from 41% in July 2009 to 44% in December 2009. Looking ahead to 2010, growth projections appear to be on an upswing. Small-business owners also are projecting a net increase in jobs for the first time in over a year, with 24% projecting job growth while 18% expect job cuts. The survey was conducted the last two weeks in December 2009 among 450 small-business owners from across the country in every industry.

Venture Investment Declines in 2009

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Venture capitalists invested $17.7 billion in 2,795 deals in 2009, marking the lowest level of dollar investment since 1997, according to the MoneyTree Report by Pricewaterhouse-Coopers and the National Venture Capital Assoc., based on data from Thomson Reuters. Venture investments in 2009 represented a 37% decrease in dollars and a 30% decrease in deal volume from 2008. It was the second consecutive year of annual deal and dollar declines. Investments in the fourth quarter of 2009 totaled $5.0 billion in 794 deals, a 2% decline in dollars but a 15% increase in deals from the third quarter of 2009, when $5.1 billion went into 689 deals. Double-digit declines in investments were spread across almost every industry, including clean technology, life sciences, and software. Investment dollars also fell across every stage of development category, with the exception of a 2% increase in seed-stage investments. First-time financings fell to the lowest dollar and deal level since the MoneyTree began reporting venture-capital investing in 1995. However, fourth-quarter investing did show increases in the number of first-time and early-stage deals completed, potentially marking the beginning of an uptick in investment levels for 2010.

Goncalves, 21 Others Accused in Bribery Sting

SPRINGFIELD — Following an undercover sting lasting almost two years, Amaro Goncalves, vice president of sales for Smith & Wesson, has been accused of bribing an African government in the hopes of securing a multi-million-dollar deal for its presidential guard. Additionally, 21 executives from a host of military and arms suppliers have been charged with conspiracy to launder money and violating the federal Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Federal prosecutors allege that the defendants agreed to pay an illegal 20% commission to a sales agent they thought represented the defense minister of an unnamed African government. The arrests were made in Las Vegas while the defendants were attending the 2010 Shooting, Hunting & Outdoor Trade Show.

Bridging the Digital Divide

By BusinessWest Staff January 18, 2010

Features

Comcast Program Helps Low-income Students Become Computer-literate

From left, high-school students Esther Njeri, Shemron Ross, Melissa Philogene, and Tevin Jones work together on a community-service project.

Its called the Digital Connectors Program, and, as the name implies, it is designed to help connect young people, specifically those in low-income areas, to digital technology. In Springfield, the program is opening eyes and also opening doors to opportunity.

Its 5 p.m. on a Wednesday afternoon, and several teenagers are intently focused on computer screens at the Urban League in Springfield.

They are researching violence and its causes, studying the consequences of smoking tobacco, visiting college Web sites, and creating and editing public-service announcements and films.

Several months ago, the majority of these teens used the computer only to network with friends via Facebook and MySpace accounts. But today, thanks to the Comcast Digital Connectors Program, they have become proficient in broadband technology and are using their newfound knowledge to pursue personal goals and make a difference in Springfield.

The purpose of Comcasts program is to help young people in low-income neighborhoods become computer- and broadband-literate and develop leadership skills that will allow them to become ambassadors and share their knowledge with their families and community.

My friends told me about this, and it sounded fun and interesting, said 15-year-old Gladys Kibunyi. I wanted to become involved in something that could help me build my future and help me figure out what I want to be when I grow up. This will help me get ready for college and choose what college I want to attend. In this program, I can do community service or do volunteer work, learn how to get scholarships or grants, and meet important people and make the right connections.

Kibunyis sentiments mirror those of other program participants. I didnt know much about computers before I became part of this program, said 16-year-old Esther Njeri. I want to become a computer engineer, and this will help me with my future. It has also taught me about teamwork and how to work well with others.

The group recently used flip video cameras donated by Comcast to film themselves passing out informational packets to people in the downtown area. The packets contained a list of community resources and were provided by the Shannon Foundations Anti-Youth Violence Campaign.

They are also promoting the Urban Leagues Tobacco Prevention and Cessation Program and developing a TV show, which they hope will air on Comcasts Springfield access channel as well as the Digital Connections Web portal.

Its a talk show about violence prevention, said Leon Cosby, director of the Urban League of Springfield Digital Connectors Program. We want to get them active in areas where they want to see change. We also hope to get some local radio stations to air their public-service announcements.

The program was set up for 25 students, but word of mouth has made it so popular that about 40 teens have become involved. Comcast provided the computers they work on as well as broadband service at the Urban League.

Each teen has their own Web page where they post videos and talk to students in other Comcast groups in the country, said Cosby. Leadership skills are built into the program. These teens could be anywhere, but they are here doing something constructive and building relationships with each other.

Classes began last April, but the programs curriculum has expanded and was recently finalized. Cosby has adapted it to their needs, making sure to focus on the core areas of competency.

The majority of program participants are from New Leadership Charter School. The Urban League was instrumental in its establishment in 1998 and continues to be involved with education and leadership and development programs there.

Our goal is to have these students become ambassador advocates, Cosby said. Once they have this knowledge they will be in a position to help others, and will also be on a level playing field with other teens.

National Initiative

Comcast has made a national $1.2 million commitment to sponsor its Digital Connectors initiative for three years, beginning in 2009. The company plans to implement the program in 22 cities across the nation, but chose Springfield, Washington, D.C., and Houston to launch its pilot programs.

The Comcast Digital Connectors initiative began with our desire to promote the importance of digital-literacy skills that are necessary for students to realize their potential, said Doug Guthrie, senior vice president of Comcasts Western New England region. They took action by forming a partnership with One Economy Corp., which began a Digital Connectors program in 2002, which identifies talented young people, immerses them in technology training, and helps them build leadership and workplace skills.

One Economys program is active in more than 20 rural and urban areas across the country. But since Comcast is the largest residential broadband provider in the country, combining resources will allow the program to grow quickly.

Its new curriculum, which was just released, has expanded the subject matter to be mastered from four to 12 areas of competency. Participants will be educated in leadership and diversity, personal development, workforce development, financial literacy, community mapping, digital literacy, hardware and networks, software and programming, media production and civic journalism, the environment and sustainability, service and global engagement, and teaching and facilitation.

The program, which contains testing to ensure that students are meeting benchmarks, is aimed at address what experts call the digital divide.

For cities like Springfield, the digital divide is not about access to broadband service. Its about the adoption and the development of digital-literacy skills that will be necessary for these kids to realize their future potential, said Guthrie.

Henry Thomas, Urban League president, agrees.

Knowledge is power, he said. Being connected digitally is critically important to the quality of peoples lives and gives them an advantage. Although digital connectivity is almost essential for work or college, the digital divide is very substantial.

A recent national study showed that 80% of Caucasians have computers and are connected to the Internet, while 55% to 60% of Latinos have those resources, but only 46% of African-Americans have the same advantage. We are the ethnic population that is the least connected, Thomas said, adding that inner cities are heavily populated by African-Americans and Latinos, and 85% of Springfields Mason Square residents are African-American.

Thomas cites two reasons for the digital divide. The first is affordability, while the second is that many people arent aware of the value computers and broadband can add to their lives. Unfortunately, childen in these families often fall behind.

Children in families who dont have computers or havent adopted broadband lack a major source of information and technology that they need to be competitive in the academic arena, he said.

Local Partnership

Thomas was delighted when Comcast approached him and proposed using the Urban League as the setting for its pilot program. Comcast has provided funding and support for the leagues programs in the past, including a computer-skills training program that took place about three years ago.

They were familiar with our mission and understand the impact we are having in the community, he said, adding that Comcast has relationships with many of the 101 Urban Leagues across the country. We were honored to be part of the initiative.

The students have done so well that Comcast made a DVD of their program for distribution to new markets. Thomas is proud of this and proud that students are sharing their new skills with others. We will increase the collective functioning within the inner city to the extent that we can establish value in being digitally capable and proficient, so that people can be on even ground as it relates to educational and workforce-development issues, he said.

The students are very appreciative of the opportunity and growth they have experienced since signed on as Digital Connectors.

I havent seen any other programs like this, said 17-year-old Ceeja Brice. Its been a very great learning experience and very valuable as our world is headed toward technology. I actually feel a lot smarter than I did before. Now I know what computers are capable of.

He has gained knowledge about how to utilize the Internet to search for jobs. The One Economy Web site has job-search tools, and I have shown the site to several people, including my mother, he said. She used it, and it was a new resource for her.

Brice is editing a public-service announcement the teens are creating about violence. It is never the answer to where you want to be, he said. People are being killed or sent to the hospital because of violence.

His life goal is to own a music business, and he has learned that the Internet can be a useful tool for conducting surveys about new musicians and music. This is making a huge difference for me, he said.

Kibunyi is producing a public-service announcement about tobacco use. She has also taught her mother how to use the Internet and is excited about coming into contact with a whole world of new people and opportunities.

Shes building her network, Cosby said.

Its a network that will continue to grow, city by city, across the nation as students in communities spread the word about the benefits of being a Comcast Digital Connector.

Green Power

By BusinessWest Staff November 23, 2009

Uncategorized

Organizers of the Clean Energy Connections Conference and Opportunity Fair staged the second edition of the still-fledgling event earlier this month. The conference provided job seekers with an opportunity to see what the field has to offer, and for business owners to recruit new talent. But for most attendees, the event offered a chance to see, hear, and experience the size and diversity of the regions green sector, and to ponder what the future might hold for this intriguing industry

On a Tuesday earlier this month at the MassMutual Center, you could find everything from energy-saving window shades to solar power providers; from green energy consultants to pioneering biofuel technology.

The Clean Energy Connections Conference and Opportunity Fair is in its second year. Last year was a bit of an experiment, and folks didnt know what to expect, said Loren Walker, associate director of Research Liaison and Development at UMass Amherst. This year it was affirmed that what weve organized is truly unique. Its way more than a job fair. Many connections were made between businesses, between students and colleges, and between businesses and future employees.

Walker is the associate director in the Office of Research, and is one of the organizers of the event. This year, he said, the goals for the conference were to create those connections in the business and research communities to advance the green, clean-energy technology sector in the region.

The event was staged on a weekday this year in the hopes of increasing a corporate role at the convention, Walker said. By keeping it inclusive, for educators, financiers, business leaders and owners, community leaders, and public agencies, we increase the chances that well have an impact on developing the pipeline of trained workers, placing workers locally, and growing clean-energy-related businesses in the Commonwealth that will be socially responsible.

Walking through the exhibition hall, the broad scope of the conference was evident: schools, architectural firms, biofuel industries, banks, environmental entrepreneurs, and consulting firms, all representing a commitment to a solid green sector for this region, were in attendance.

The clean-energy sector is going to grow by these folks coming together, Walker continued. The green economy touches so many issues social justice, business development, technology, workforce development. Its still so broad, but the communication needs to be there, or else well end up with a fragmented economy.

BusinessWest talked with some of the events exhibitors, some familiar names and some not-so-familiar, to gain some perspective on just where the regions green sector is, and where a diverse group of players think it can go.

Onward and Upward

When JMP Environmental Consulting opened a second office in Springfield, having originally operated in Ware, the move was a perfect example of the role Western Mass. plays for the green sector.

Exhibiting at the conference for the first time, owner John Prenosil said that his hopes were to raise awareness for land-development issues. Our goal is to educate and guide our clients interested in alternative energy sources as they relate to site selection, he told BusinessWest.

Springfield is important as the largest city in the region, and he said that his decision to locate another office here was based on a lack of others in his field.

In our experience, people seem to be more receptive to alternative energy sources and green alternatives, he said. As a business, we strive to be as green as we can. We are involved with more residential and commercial projects that involve alternative energy and greener development techniques this year than in the past, and hope to see this trend continue and increase in the future.

Around the corner, Chris Kilfoyle welcomed people to the booth representing his company, Berkshire Photovoltaic Services. Admiring the crowds of students, fellow exhibitors, and interested visitors, he spoke highly of the gathered talent.

Number one, we want to make sure that companies who may have come to the conference looking at the region as a place to brand their manufacturing facility, or their service industry, can see that theres an active educational component here as well as a network of professionals already in place, he said. The industry can grow here, and we all would love to be part of that growth.

Already a recognized leader in the regions solar-energy field, Kilfoyle said he did get some good leads for new business at the conference, but the issues the gathering raised were of far greater significance.

Kilfoyle had high marks for the organizers at UMass, citing them as leaders for the green sectors in the area. He was impressed by the students hed encountered, whom he spoke of as giving renewed optimism for the future. While the conference gives business owners a chance to look at the region for its role in green initiatives, it can also give rise to enthusiasm for the succeeding generations destined for roles within that economy.

For many students, he said, we gave them a pep talk. They are asking about what courses of study should they be looking at, what is the job growth, what are the job prospects. We collected résumés from people who are unemployed but highly qualified in electronics and electricity, and in that regard, its even better for us than making contacts to sell systems. The main impetus of the conference is to show, hey, there are companies out there that will be hiring, that are hiring, and this is the place to meet them.

Map Quest

John Laux is the president and CEO of Greendustry Park of Florence, and the creator of the Green Gateway Guides Map, an all-in-one look at the green industry for the four counties of Western Mass. While the Greendustry Park had been a contributor at the earlier convention, the map made its debut this year.

The map represents a strategic step forward in identifying all things and organizations green, looking at agriculture, building trades, education, energy systems and services, environmental services, manufacturing, organized groups, retail, and support services. Laux said that there had been many other compendiums and guides out there, but usually there is a charge for inclusion in such information banks.

We found that there are many Web sites with a smattering of these different companies in the region, he explained, but there isnt one clearinghouse of data, because everyones model is about how to make money off of selling positions and listings.

That wasnt accessible to the public or anyone doing research in the region or outside of the region, he continued. So we decided that what we needed to do was to build a model that wasnt money-centric, that was built on a framework of neutrality. Were not looking for money, were looking to be able to put this information together for anyone who needs it.

According to Laux, an important aspect in creating the map is to raise awareness of what is green, and how that could be applied to ones daily life. The map itemizes businesses and services that are green by their nature, offering environmentally minded products, or are green behind the scenes, with practices, systems, or policies that situate them as proponents of the green ethos.

What Laux plans to do next is use the data compiled to create baseline metrics for the local green community. What it does, he explained, is measure companies based on performance, so that people get rated, above and beyond standard business practices. What we are trying to do is to create a neutral metric, to encourage companies to strive for added status.

As one of those people showcasing the green industry from within, Laux said the conference this year highlighted the emergence of a consciousness for the sector outside the region. Last year the conference was very centered on Western Mass. to show everything that was going on here. This year, the conference pulled in a lot of people from the east.

Most important, he said, is a growing recognition of the area for all that it offers. UMass has pioneering laboratories working on biofuels, as reported widely in the media, but also groundbreaking work on agriculture for that energy technology, as well as one of the more important wind-energy laboratories in the world. Its been there for 20-plus years. Their technology is being used throughout the world for wind technology, but who really knows that? he asked.

I gave a presentation to the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission recently, he continued. Im on the green strategy group there, and went over all the data that we had compiled for the map, and they were fascinated by it. Their response was, we knew things were going on, but not at this level. It really gave them a sense; you could almost see them bubbling over with, wow, this is really happening.

In trying to figure out what green is, he concluded, you need to stop and look at the data that weve compiled, and know that this region is way up there. It was an awakening for the PVPC, and thats what this conference is about. Were trying to get the word out that it is happening here, and we are players. And we want the rest of the state and beyond to know that.

Showand Tell

By BusinessWest Staff July 6, 2009

Uncategorized

The Economic Development Council of Western Mass., working in conjunction with area young professionals societies and something called the Senior HR Roundtable, has developed a DVD called Its Your Move to show young people with career options why they should make the Pioneer Valley one of those options. The DVD is part of a much broader focus on recruitment and retention designed to make the region more competitive now, and especially in the future, when competition for top talent will be only be heightened.

Chris Fedina has made a career out of recruiting talent to the Pioneer Valley.

He started with the local office of the executive search firm J. Morrissey & Co., before moving on to serve MassMutual as director of recruitment and staffing, a position he now holds with another of the regions largest employers: Baystate Health. In that capacity, hes responsible for essentially handling all recruiting other than that of physicians, and that means dozens of positions each month.

Over the years, hes talked almost endlessly about the virtues of Western Mass. from its cultural and sporting attractions to its affordability to its easy commutes and hes been helped in those efforts in recent years by some visual effects via the Internet. But hes always desired more vehicles for showing people the Valley and not merely telling them about it.

And now, Fedina and those who have similar titles on their business cards and name badges have something with which to work.

Its a fast-paced, four-minute DVD called Its Your Move, which was created this spring and is now available to area companies looking to show possible recruits all that the region has to offer. It came about through a partnership between the Economic Development Council of Western Mass., two area young professionals organizations, and the Senior Human Resources Roundtable, which Fedina currently serves as chair.

Weve been talking for some time about the issue of young people, and how to attract and retain them, said Fedina, who noted that members of his group, which includes HR professionals from many larger companies, including Big Y, Peter Pan, and area colleges, have expressed interest in a DVD or similar promotional vehicle for some time now.

Their new product features comments from perhaps a dozen members of the Young Professionals Society of Greater Springfield and the Northampton Area Young Professionals (including several members of BusinessWests 40 Under Forty Class of 2009). There was no script, insisted Fedina and others involved with the project, but those seen on film hit on points that area recruiters have been making for years.

Some of the lines to be heard include: Your American dream is right here, a reference to the regions affordability; I can be a big fish in a little pond; you can add more hours to the day, a nod to the relatively easy commutes in this area; and theres a little bit of something for everybody.

The commentary is interspersed with footage of the region borrowed from a host of sources, from area TV stations to the Greater Springfield Convention & Visitors Bureau, and the DVD features music from the local rock band Gone by Daylight.

Its Your Move is part of a broader effort focused on work to attract, retain, and develop young talent, said Dan Prestegaard, chair of something called the Talent Development Subcommittee of the EDC, which he now chairs and that represents another component of that larger initiative.

The panel was created to underscore the EDCs commitment or recommitment to the tasks of attracting and retaining young professionals, and to keep attention focused on what has been identified as a key economic-development strategy.

He believes much of the work will be focused on building awareness of the region and its amenities, and addressing some of the misperceptions concerning the Valley and the career opportunities it provides.

Not everyone realizes the opportunities that are here, said Prestegaard, a principal with Agawam-based Financial Partners Inc., a technology provider in the farm-credit industry. We have a good story to tell; we just want to develop some strategies to make sure more people know it.

In this issue, BusinessWest looks at how the EDC, in concert with such groups as the young professionals societies and the HR Rountable, are working to make the region more competitive now and especially in that day, coming soon, when competition for top talent will escalate as companies scramble to replace retiring Baby Boomers and meet new, self-imposed standards for diversity.

Lights, Camera, Action

Its Your Move, which was produced by two local companies, Horgan Associates and New York Sound and Motion Productions, made its debut several weeks ago at a well-attended event at the MassMutual Center. The DVD was played on a few big screens, and a host of officials, including EDC President Allan Blair, talked about how and why it was produced.

Essentially, it was created to help sell the region, said Fedina, who has considerable experience with that assignment and has found that if you can show the region to potential recruits or get them to come here as opposed to just telling them about it on the phone, the sales job becomes that much easier.

People at many companies based here will say that, once you get people to make the trip here, theyll typically fall in love with the area, he explained. We wanted something that would put our best foot forward: what are the benefits of coming here and staying here? And now, they can see and hear it not from HR people, but from young people living and working here.

We really wanted to make sure people understand all that Springfield has to offer, he continued, referring to several different constituencies, including young people who may intern in this area but attend colleges in other regions. Were now losing some of that talent; how do we convince them to stay here? We needed a way to show them all that we have.

A number of cities and regions, including Hartford, now have promotional DVDs, said Fedina, adding that they have become effective recruiting vehicles, especially when backed up with other initiatives, such as the HR Roundtable, which he described as a support network for HR professionals facing the increasingly challenging task of bringing talent to the region and keeping it here.

We talk about whats happening in the Springfield area in terms of staffing and agenda items, and about how we can partner together, he explained. For example, we all are looking to attract people here, but what about trailing spouses and family members? Weve established a network that will share résumés of anyone in those situations, and includes most of the larger employers in the region.

We do a lot of sharing of information and strategic initiatives on matters such as diversity, he continued. We talk about how we can support each other for the common good of Springfield; instead of being in competition with other for talent, which we all are, theres the bigger picture of maintaining the vibrancy of this region.

So the DVD is just part of a renewed focus on recruitment and retention, said Ann Burke, vice president of the EDC, who told BusinessWest that the council is ramping up in this realm because recruitment professionals saw, and continue to see, a need, and informally asked the EDC to help meet it.

We saw that this was something we could do and should do, she explained, adding that area companies have expressed a need for help and the EDC has long understood the importance of workforce development to the general health of the region.

It responded by realigning some of its subcommittees and creating the talent-development panel, said Burke, adding that the group hasnt met formally, but will do so soon and commence work across a broad canvas.

A mission statement for the subcommittee is being developed, said Prestegaard, but its assignment will essentially break down into two main components: first, recruitment devising strategies, like the DVD, to help attract young talent to the region and retention, or shaping methods to will keep that talent in the 413 area code.

The DVD will be a key part of the former, but it will only be one of the ways in which the regions story will be spread, he said, noting that a video alone probably wont be enough to sell someone on the area. But it can be a vehicle for introducing people to the region and whetting their appetites for more information and perhaps a visit.

The video and its many selling points have to be backed up with other efforts that will prompt people to want to come here, and also make it easier to so, he continued, citing, as just one example, current work by the HR Roundtable and others to help find jobs for candidates spouses.

As for retention, strategies for this part of the assignment will also be developed, he said, noting that networking and leadership-development efforts are part of this equation, as well as work to make young professionals aware of the opportunities they have to make a difference in this market, as opposed to a larger metropolitan area.

Blair agreed.

We want to ramp up our leadership-development efforts and really get people engaged, he explained. When theyre engaged, they develop a sense of pride and ownership, and if we can get more people to take ownership stakes, that will help with retention.

All of these efforts will involve collaborations with the young professionals groups, the HR Roundtable, and other components of the EDC, Blair continued. Its going to take a team effort, but weve got a number of players who can contribute.

Rolling the Credits

Summing up the importance of the DVD, Fedina put it this way: as recruiters in this area, we speak the things that you can now see visually.

When I tell someone its a beautiful area and its close to the beaches and the mountains, and that its easy to commute here, the surrounding towns are wonderful, weve got sports downtown, and arts and theater, they say, oh, OK, thats nice, he continued. Now, I can say, take four and a half minutes and look at this video.

That four-plus minutes could eventually lead to someone coming here and staying here for years, decades, or most of a lifetime, he continued, adding that the sum of the video and other component parts of this focus on recruitment and retention will bring many benefits to the region.

Its not just a talent search, he continued, but talent development and a big part of economic development in the region.

George OBrien can be reached at[email protected]

By BusinessWest Staff June 8, 2009

Departments

Springfield Names Development Chief

SPRINGFIELD — John Judge, a real-estate developer in Boston, has been named the city’s new chief development officer. He will succeed David Panagore, who left last fall to take a similar position in Hartford. Judge, 42, who was introduced by Mayor Domenic Sarno at a City Hall press conference, brings a varied résumé to his position. He’s president of Judge Co., a real estate development firm based in Boston, and previously served as director of Habitat for Humanity of Greater Boston. As he was introduced, Judge told the local press that “the challenges that Springfield is encountering right now are the challenges that America is encountering. Springfield can certainly be an incubator for innovation and ideas, an incubator in the lead, top of mind, if you will, for New England.”

Poll: Local Firms Optimistic About Economic Recovery

SPRINGFIELD — The recession has taken a toll on businesses across the country, and Hartford-Springfield firms are no exception: 83% report that the recession has had a direct negative effect on their business. To remain competitive, many businesses in the interstate region have postponed capital spending (48%), cut their workforce (45%), or initiated hiring or pay freezes (39%). Only a handful (9%) have raised prices. In fact, more businesses have lowered prices to boost demand, and almost half (49%) have increased marketing efforts to prepare for recovery when the economy bounces back. Those are some of the key findings in the 2009 Hartford-Springfield Regional Business Survey, released recently. Commissioned by the Hartford-Springfield Economic Partnership (HSEP), the survey was conducted by the Connecticut Business & Industry Assoc. (CBIA) and sponsored by Comcast Business Class and Kostin, Ruffkess & Co. It is a follow-up to the first survey in 2007. The survey finds that economic competitiveness, taxes, regulatory burdens, and the cost of doing business are high on Hartford-Springfield businesses’ list of concerns, while the region’s quality of life, educational institutions, and proximity to key markets rank high on the list of benefits. The majority (61%) of business leaders cited the cost of doing business as the single greatest barrier to their continued success in the Hartford-Springfield region. The sluggish economic climate overall ranked a distant second (18%), followed by the region’s demographics and skilled workforce shortage (14%). Somewhat encouraging is the fact that the proportion of businesses expecting to record a loss in 2007 and in 2009 has remained the same (23%); however, the share of businesses expecting to record a profit dropped precipitously from 71% in 2007 to a projected 41% in 2009. Perhaps the brightest news is that almost none of the businesses surveyed plan to shut down (2%). While 9% plan to sell their companies within the next five years, the vast majority (85%) expect to stay in business — and to stay in the Hartford-Springfield region. “Concerns expressed about the high costs of doing business are timely as state governments struggle with decreased revenue and flirt with increasing costs to compensate,” said Allan Blair, president and CEO of the Economic Development Council of Western Mass. “For our companies to grow when the economy improves, their costs must remain competitive. Fortunately, most businesses surveyed expect to successfully navigate these difficult times.”

Pay Gap Between Public, Private Sectors Reaches New High

WASHINGTON — The compensation gap between public- and private-sector employees continues to grow, according to recently released data from the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics. Overall total compensation for state and local workers in December 2008 was $39.25 per hour — $11.90, or 44%, more than in private business. A year earlier, the gap was $11.31. Public-employee benefits were 68% higher than private-sector workers — $13.38 an hour compared to $7.98. Annualized, that equates to $27,830 for the average government worker and $16,598 for the average employee in the private sector. Last year, the cost of public-sector benefits rose three times more than those in the private sector — up 69 cents for government workers and 23 cents for private-sector employees, according to the new report. The public-private wage gap has remained about the same since 2002, the report states, but for every $1-per-hour pay increase, public employees have received $1.17 in new benefits compared to 58 cents for private workers.

Consumer Confidence Climbs in May

SPRINGFIELD — The Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence Index climbed 14.1 points in May, a much-larger jump than most analysts were expecting, bringing the confidence level to its highest mark — 54.9 — since last September (61.4). The gain was at least 10 points higher than economists were predicting, fueling speculation that the worst of the recession may indeed be over. Much of the improvement came from the expectations index, which measures shoppers’ outlook over the next six months. That barometer climbed to 72.3 from 51.0 in April. Consumers’ assessment of the present situation, however, was still weak, rising from 25.5 in April to 28.9 in May.

Springfield’s Jobless Rate Falls

SPRINGFIELD — A rise in seasonal hiring brought Springfield’s employment rate down from 8.7% in March to 8.2% in April, according to recently released statistics from the state Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development. The decline mirrored a 0.4% decrease reported statewide (from 8.2% to 7.8%); however, the numbers are not quite double what they were a year ago (4.3% for the state and 4.7% for Springfield).

Manpower Indentifies ‘Hardest-fill’ Positions

MILWAUKEE — Engineers, nurses, and skilled/manual trades are among the nation’s most challenging positions to fill, according to survey findings released by Manpower Inc. “In the four years we have performed this research, the same positions appear on the list again and again,” said Jonas Prising, president of the Americas. “Despite the current economic instability and high unemployment, there are still skills that the U.S. workforce seems to lack.” The 10 hardest jobs to fill, as reported by U.S. employers for 2009, are engineers, nurses, skilled/manual trades, teachers, sales representatives, technicians, drivers, IT staff, laborers, and machinists/machine operators. Each of the 10 job categories on the 2009 list has appeared on the Hardest Jobs to Fill list in the past. Technicians, machinists/machine operators and sales representatives have been present all four years. Engineers, drivers, and laborers have appeared three out of four years, while nurses, teachers, skilled/manual trades, and IT staff have been present in two of the four years Manpower has performed the survey. Even with unemployment at or near record levels in many communities, Manpower’s research highlights the problem many employers are having finding individuals with the right combination of job-specific skills, experience, training, and soft skills. “It is becoming more clear that there is a talent disconnect,” said Melanie Holmes, vice president, World of Work Solutions for Manpower North America.

Home Sales Increase in Springfield

SPRINGFIELD — Home sales in Springfield surged in April compared to a year ago, bucking a statewide trend. A total of 90 homes were sold in Springfield in April, up 30.43% from the 69 sold in April 2008, according to figures released by the Warren Group. Year-to-date through April, there were 274 homes sold in Springfield, up 13.22% from the 242 sold in the first four months of 2008.

Opening the Gateway

By BusinessWest Staff June 8, 2009

Sections Supplements

State Program Will Plant the Seeds for Green Energy Jobs — and Careers

Larry Martin says the Gateway project is expected to lead to careers, not simply jobs.

Its called the Springfield-Holyoke Gateway to Green Jobs initiative, a state-financed project that has a number of goals from job creation to helping make the Commonwealths homes and business more energy-efficient. The program will fund training that will enable individuals to enter a number of relatively new occupations, from energy auditor to solar hot water heating system installer. But ultimately, the Gateway initiative wants to place people into careers, not merely jobs.

Bill Ward calls it low-hanging fruit.

That was his way of describing a Bay State initiative, funded by the Department of Energy and Environmental Affairs, that covers considerable ground in the areas of clean energy and workforce development, and holds great promise for creating some needed momentum in both realms.

Its called Springfield-Holyoke Gateway to Green Jobs, a name that doesnt say it all, but comes very close, said Ward, executive director of the Regional Employment Board of Hampden County. Gateway, in this case, has multiple connotations it refers to the term gateway cities, now being used by several state agencies to refer to older manufacturing centers in the Commonwealth that are struggling to find new economic identities; there are 11 of them, including Springfield and Holyoke. Meanwhile, the program provides an entry, or gateway, to employment for unemployed or underemployed individuals.

And green jobs, in this case, refers to a growing list of occupations that have arisen out of regional, national, and even international efforts to make homes and commercial buildings more energy-efficient, thus reducing societys overall carbon footprint. These include weatherization technician, energy auditor, window insulation customer service/sales representative, and even solar hot water heating system installer. These would be considered mostly entry-level positions with fairly modest salaries, but they could lead to work higher up the ladder, said Ward.

The Springfield-Holyoke endeavor is part of a $1 million statewide initiative that encompasses five separate projects, all involving Gateway cities. The local piece is the only one that involves a regional employment board, said Ward, and it will create 51 jobs in those areas described earlier, positions that area companies attempting to capitalize on the clean-energy movement report difficulty in filling.

But there are possibly more and greater opportunities for the long term, said Ward, noting that the program may help spark interest in this emerging sector, one that would appear to have strong growth potential. In the meantime, Springfield Technical Community College is bidding to become a regional center for programs to train individuals to enter clean-energy occupations, a distinction that would provide more opportunities for the region.

There is a lot of talk about whether green energy is going to be an economic driver in this region, said Ward. There are a number of factors that will go into determining whether it will, especially the level of private investment in new products and technology. But government investment will also be critical. The potential is definitely there for this to be an important part of the local economy.

The term low-hanging fruit refers to the relatively simple way in which this program will go about addressing need for qualified workers, said Ward, and also help in the broad efforts to make buildings more energy-efficient in the states older urban centers, where the need for such work is great. But the components of the project have the potential to bear more fruit down the road.

In this issue, BusinessWest looks at the Gateway to Green Jobs program and how it addresses two of the states primary economic-development issues at the same time.

Windows of Opportunity

Larry Martin, Planning and Employer Services manager for the REB, said the training to be spawned by the Gateway program is employer-driven, and the need is apparently acute.

This was revealed at a recent focus group, or roundtable discussion, staged in Hatfield that involved 20 area businesses already in or looking to break into the emerging clean-energy sector. The session, similar to others conducted for other industry groups, including health care and precision manufacturing, was designed to gain a consensus on workforce needs and how to address them, he told BusinessWest.

That consensus is that there is definitely going to be a need to expand the workforce in this clean-energy field for 2009, 2010, and moving forward from there, said Martin. Areas identified included weatherization, insulation, energy auditing, customer sales and service of products, some manufacturing generally across the board.

The Gateway program emerged in part to meet the need for skilled workers, said Ward, and in some respects the Bay State is taking the lead in such endeavors. Other cities or regions have programs Chicago, New York, and some areas of Texas have launched initiatives, for example but the Springfield-Holyoke project has the potential to become an effective model.

This was a policy decision made by Gov. Patrick, and it arose out of the need to begin to address green-energy initiatives, said Ward. It was determined that one of the easiest, low-hanging-fruit ways of getting out of the blocks was to create jobs in the urban areas for low-income people to do entry-level jobs with some level of training.

Such jobs would involve work with energy audits, conducted to identify ways to become more energy-efficient, he continued, but also in the manufacturing and installation of new products and technologies.

So many of the older houses and apartments, as well as the Section 8 [subsidized] housing buildings, are not up to maximum efficiency by any stretch, said Ward. These are properties that can, and should, be modernized and upgraded.

And there would be significant return on investment from such initiatives, he continued, noting lower energy bills for individuals and businesses, and, overall, less reliance on fossil fuels.

Elected officials have recognized the importance of such efforts, said Ward, and stimulus money should put more work in the pipeline. The challenge at hand is creation of a workforce that can handle such projects, and the Gateway initiative, described as a pilot program, addresses that concern, while also creating new career opportunities for several challenged constituencies.

Powerful Arguments

Indeed, Martin said the program will provide a pathway out of poverty for many individuals, and will do so by providing high-quality training in the occupations of solar-boiler installation, energy auditing, manufacturing of a new proprietary window-sealing product, and weatherization technician.

This will be accomplished by creating career ladders and so-called lattice-training structures, said Martin, adding that the ultimate goal is to elevate the work of the occupation from a simple job to a career, one with multiple points of entry and that holds opportunities for several constituencies, including women, youths, minorities, non-English-speaking individuals, and economically disadvantaged candidates.

Both Springfield and Holyoke have large populations of such individuals, said Ward, and the REB put both cities together its response to the states request for proposals regarding the grant money, a bid that was ultimately chosen.

As with most REB initiatives, there were will be a number of players, or partners, in this initiative, said Martin.

They include Holyoke Community College, which will handle project coordination; other educational institutions and training providers, in this case, HolyokeWorks, Springfield Technical Community College, and the Mass. Career Development Institute; Career Point and FutureWorks, the regions two one-stop career centers, which will recruit potential candidates for the training; Nuestras Raices, a Holyoke-based community organization that will work to recruit young people for the youth component of the project, solar hot-water heating systems; and other groups such as as the Springfield and Holyoke housing authorities and YouthBuild programs in those two cities.

Another set of partners will be the employers that will hire the individuals to be trained. These include the Alliance to Develop Power, Alteris Renewables, the Center for Ecological Technology, Co-op Power, Greendustry Park (a green-business incubator), Environmental Compliance Services Inc., and others.

The Gateway project is expected to create more than 50 jobs over the next 16 months, including 12 weatherization technicians, 16 solar-boiler installers, eight window-treatment installers, five window-treatment assemblers, and one machinist. These positions will carry salaries averaging $12 or $13 per hour to start, but there will be opportunities to move up the ladder to better-paying jobs, such as energy auditor.

People can establish their own businesses or become engineers, for example, said Martin. There are places to go within this industry.

Clean Starts

Summing up the Gateway program, Ward described it as a common-sense initiative that could address several important needs simultaneously especially the desire to make the state more energy-efficient and creation of a workforce that can handle that assignment.

If all goes as planned, the individuals who will eventually take part wont have jobs, theyll have careers, he told BusinessWest, meaning that this ambitious project will truly provide windows of opportunity on a number of levels.

George OBrien can be reached at

[email protected]

Gala Event

By BusinessWest Staff April 13, 2009

Features

Photos from the Difference Makers’ big night out

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

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

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

Members of the Community Music School of Springfields String City entertain attendees at the gala.

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

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

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

BusinessWest Editor George OBrien, Difference Maker Kate Kane (center), and BusinessWest Associate Publisher and Advertising Manager Kate Campiti pose with Kanes ceremonial plaque.

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

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

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

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

Kate Campiti welcomes attendees to the gala.

George OBrien and Kate Campiti present Susan Jaye-Kaplan with her plaque.

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

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

Alyssa Carvalho, current president of the Young Professionals Society of Greater Springfield shares the stage with the groups board members as she accepts the Difference Makers plaque from George OBrien.

There Were Some Bright Spots in 2008

By BusinessWest Staff January 5, 2009

Opinion

A Boston Globe sports columnist was writing recently from Seattle. He was trying to describe just how bad things are for the sports teams and their fans there, and he summoned this phrase: reading the sports page here is like reading the business page everywhere else.

Ouch.

That says a lot about how last place has become the mailing address for most teams in that city but also about how painful it was, and is, to turn to the business section. It has been replete lately with stories about layoffs, failing banks, climbing mortgage-foreclosure rates, stocks tumbling hundreds of points on a regular basis, businesses closing, car dealers posting wretched numbers, and retailers having lousy months, quarters, shopping seasons (take your pick, they all work).

Locally, residents were treated to all of the above, with specific examples ranging from the collapse of Skybus and the closing of its operation at Westover to the loss of SunEthanol (now Qteros) to the Worcester area, the closing of several car dealerships, and even Springfields ranking among the fastest-dying cities in the U.S.

It wasnt all bad. It just seemed that way.

Amid the gloom and doom there were some bright spots, and in an attempt to maybe get 2009 off to a decent start, BusinessWest thought it would recount five of those positive stories. In no particular order:

A blueprint on workforce development. Toward the end of 2007, regional economic-development leaders initiated a program to improve the quality and quantity of the regions workforce for the long term. Called Building a Better Workforce Closing the Skills Gap on the Road to Economic Resurgence, the endeavor took its first major steps forward in 08 with programs to put workers in the pipeline for the health care and precision-manufacturing sectors, and also increasing access to preschool. Perhaps more important, the first steps will get a number of businesses and institutions actively engaged in an issue of vital importance to the regions future

The emergence of YPS. Thats the acronym for a group called the Young Professional Society of Greater Springfield, which, while only a few years old, seems to possess enormous potential to not only keep more young people in this region, but also help prepare them to be leaders in business and the community.

New life for an old mill. Westmass Area Development Corp. announced plans to acquire the old Ludlow Manufacturing Associates complex in the center of that community. This is a 20- to 30-year proposition that looks to transform the nearly 1 million square feet of mill space and 79 acres of adjacent undeveloped land into a business and industrial center. At a time when the inventory of traditional greenfields is shrinking, the Ludlow development is an imaginative attempt to give companies more opportunities to move to and grow within the Pioneer Valley.

The start of a green wave. Yes, the region will lose Qteros, one of the best emerging green stories in Western Mass., but there are some other signs of potential growth in the realm of green jobs. In Wilbraham, a company called FloDesign is making progress on a prototype that may revolutionalize the design of wind turbines. Meanwhile, in Greenfield, there are the makings of a green cluster. And everywhere, there is a commitment to creating jobs in what looks like a sector with enormous promise. Stay tuned.

Liberty Mutual brings hundreds of jobs to Springfield. With what seems like a big assist from Gov. Patrick, Liberty Mutual announced that it would locate a call center in the Technology Park at STCC. Cynics will say that these are just call center jobs and that the company would have done the city more good if it had located downtown. The bottom line is that these are new jobs, and decent jobs, coming in a year when there werent many gains in that department. Meanwhile, a big part of this good story is the fact that Springfield triumphed over many other job-hungry cities in what became known as Project Evergreen.

There were other somewhat uplifting stories from 2008 that, while they didnt obscure all the bad news, generated some hope for 2009 and well beyond. Lets see if the region can build on this in the year ahead.

‘Ask the EDC’

By BusinessWest Staff December 8, 2008

Features

Marketing Effort Answers the Question About How to Raise Awareness of the Agency

Joe

His name is Joe.

And while he bears some resemblance to a few business owners in the area, there is no one person who inspired this character, said Ann Burke.

Instead, he represents every business owner in the region, said Burke, vice president of the Western Mass. Economic Development Council, and thus he puts a face on an intriguing new marketing intiative launched earlier by this fall by the agency.

Its called Ask the EDC, and its primary mission, said Danielle Paine, manager of Communications for the non-profit agency, is to raise awareness of the many ways in which it can be of assistance, especially to small-business owners, through myriad free services offered by a host of organizations affiliated with the EDC.

Such services from help with writing a business plan to assistance with crafting an energy-conservation program are always in some level of demand, said Paine, adding quickly that such interest rises in trying economic times such as these. Which explains the timing of Ask the EDC, which, according to some early numbers, is doing precisely what it was designed to do.

Indeed, while its somewhat early to draw in-depth conclusions about the overall success of the initiative, initial response to the campaign has been positive, said Burke, adding that, while the EDC was getting a few random questions a week from area business owners before the campaign started, it is now getting closer to 15. And traffic to the EDCs Web site is up, unofficially, by about 30%.

All this is positive news for the region, she told BusinessWest, noting that one of the EDCs primary missions is to help existing businesses survive, thrive, and, if at all possible, stay in this region. The Ask the EDC program, part of a larger effort called HomeField Advantage, has become an important manifestation of that mission, and at a time when many businesses are struggling and looking for some help to get them through to the day when the economic climate improves.

Acknowledging that 70% of our growth comes from within, meaning businesses that are already in the region, and the need to better support those businesses in light of these challenging times, we decided to launch this campaign to help make people more aware of the free services available to them, said Burke. She noted that recent questions reflect the current conditions, and include issues such as replacing lost customers, securing financing, and creating new revenue streams.

Helping small business owners get the answers to these and other questions was the motivation for Ask the EDC, which was officially launched on Oct. 27 and has included print ads, radio spots, a new page (asktheedc.com) on the EDCs Web site, and a billboard on the southbound lane of Interstate 91 near Longmeadow.

The campaign was inspired by the nagging perception that, while larger businesses probably know about the EDC, its services, and its affiliations with a host of economic-development agencies and business-support organizations, many smaller venues dont, or lack a full understanding of the help thats available. The recent surge in calls, E-mails, and Web hits would seem to verify that notion, said Burke, and offer evidence that the $28,000 expenditure has been a sound investment.

Ask the EDC was designed to build the EDC brand, said Burke, and, in general, educate business owners and managers about the many areas in which support is available. They include:

Real estate, or help with finding a new location;

Capital access, or assistance with obtaining financial resources, grants, micro-loans, venture funding, and incentive programs;

Regional data and drive-time analysis, or access to demographics and statistics needed for relocation and expansion decisions;

Peer networking opportunities;

Workforce development, or insight into recruiting and training opportunities, internships, and grants to help resolve staffing issues; and

Academic institutions, or ways to tap into the resources available at the colleges and universities in the Knowledge Corridor.

The questions posed to asktheedc.com have run the gamut, said Burke, as evidenced by one recent print ad. One inquirer wanted some input on whether state funding or other types of grants are available for a solar power installation for his manufacturing plant. Meanwhile, a retailer in what he called a hidden location in Springfield wanted to know if there was financing available for some obviously needed marketing.

My company currently uses contracted employees, but we are interested in transitioning to direct hire, wrote a third business owner. How can we learn about workers compensation wage rates and insurance? Still another, the owner of a small electrical-contracting business, desires to build in the local industrial park and wanted to know where to turn for financing.

Those with questions are often referred to a veritable alphabet soup of acronyms, said Burke, connoting agencies such as the Western Mass. Enterprise Fund (WMEF), the Small Business Development Center Network (SBDC), SCORE (the Service Corps of Retired Executives), and even the Mass. Office of International Trade & Investment (MOITI).

Paine told BusinessWest that the new marketing campaign will run through the end of the year, at which time, she, Burke, and others will review goals, results, and strategies for moving forward. Results (in the form of responses to the various marketing vehicles) are being carefully tabulated, she continued, adding that the EDC will likely continue the campaign with those media outlets that are generating the best results.

For now, Ask the EDC seems to be the answer to the ongoing question about how to brand the EDC and make its broad menu of services and affiliations known to more business and owners and managers.

Just ask Joe. George OBrien

An Important Lesson in Teamwork

By BusinessWest Staff September 15, 2008

Opinion

They call them soft skills.

Thats the term applied to most non-technical skills associated with employment situations. These include communications, teamwork-building capabilities, listening, even dress and punctuality.

These are often overlooked at a time when employers are struggling to find people who have the requisite technical skills to run todays high-tech manufacturing equipment or read an X-ray. But those soft skills are critical in every job and for every business, and like those aforementioned hard skills they are often missing from the equation among those seeking employment in the Pioneer Valley.

Which is why were encouraged by programs like that created by Junior Achievement of Western Mass. Inc. for area high school students, but also the companies that may employ them someday. Called the Workforce Readiness & Career Preparation Project, the initiative (see story, page 35) has a number of different components. Together, they address concerns and issues ranging from awareness of career opportunities at area businesses to the importance of education in seizing those opportunities, to those aforementioned soft skills.

The program, now in its second year and involving more than 1,300 students at two Springfield high schools, is a good example of how the business community can work together with groups like JA to help improve the quality and quantity of this regions workforce and must do so if this all-important economic development issue is to be addressed.

As weve said before, workforce development is a broad, complex, often-frustrating issue that, to be properly addressed, requires some vision and patience in equal doses. Thats because the answers, and the solutions, dont some quickly or easily. In some cases, steps taken today may not yield results for five, 10, or even 20 years down the road. But they still have to be taken.

Which brings us to the JA workforce-readiness program, which continues a tradition that the organizations started nearly 90 years ago to teach kids how business works. In years past, this assignment traditionally involved going into a high school and setting up a company making night lights or some other product.

This exercise would provide lessons in everything from budgeting to marketing; management to sales. JA still conducts such programs within the area, but recently, it was informed that it had more work to do.

Indeed, after querying area business owners about the problems and issues confronting them and about how JA might address them administrators in the Springfield office heard that young (and some not-so-young) people lacked many of those soft skills, some as apparently simple as showing up for work on time.

Discussions with business owners revealed that these matters were in no way simple, and that some requisite skills and attitudes needed to succeed in business and in life matters once taken for granted were now getting lost; the lessons were not being imparted in the home or classroom.

Using funds amassed through a challenge grant from MassMutual, the JA program is addressing these issues through in-class presentations, board games, and a job-shadowing program that gets young people out of the classroom and into the workplace. Through these initiatives, students learn about everything from credit and how to manage it to what an underwriter does and why one has to stay in school to become one.

Its far too early gauge just how successful the JA program will be in addressing the concerns of area business owners. But this much we know already: workforce development is all-encompassing matter for this region, and that the process of improving quality and quantity will require that the business community and groups like JA practice teamwork and not simply try to teach it.

This Workforce Readiness & Career Preparation Project provides some momentum to build upon.-

OPINION

By BusinessWest Staff September 1, 2008

Opinion

Creating a State of Diversity in Massachusetts

‘Inclusion Incorporated’ is an excellent phrase for the new world of hiring and workforce development being faced by corporations and other organizations throughout New England every day.

The cover story with that title in the July 21 edition of BusinessWest focuses tellingly on the many factors that make diversity an economic imperative a subject that is now urgently discussed in business schools and boardrooms, and would be even if it werent so prominent on the political pages.

As Lorie Valle-Yanez of MassMutual pointed out in that story, with Baby Boomers beginning to retire, organizations will need to find large numbers of new employees in the next few years, and they will be recruiting from a pool that is much more diverse than the group checking out. Workplaces that give a cold shoulder to employees of color will soon find themselves short of talent.

One big problem for Massachusetts is its reputation as a place that doesnt welcome diversity. College recruiters, corporate human-resources directors, and others repeatedly find that talented people of color from other parts of the country are reluctant to locate here. The problem reached its peak during the bitter court-ordered busing conflicts in Boston in the 1970s, but it was simmering for decades before that. And it persists.

Commonwealth Compact, a statewide program, was launched earlier this year to face the problem squarely and turn it around. The stated goal is to make Massachusetts a location of choice for people of color. This is no small ambition, we know. But the response has been so positive, so broad, and so fast that we are encouraged to hope real progress can be made.

Driving our project is the belief that diversity is more than a moral or social issue. Real inclusion of all kinds of people, at all levels of organizations, is absolutely crucial if they hope to thrive in our shrinking world.

Together with a group of more than 50 advisors from all segments of the community, and with the support of Gov. Patrick, the groups creators agreed to confront honestly the question of how much of the states poor reputation is a leftover from busing and how much is still deserved; build on the work of other groups in the field, collaborating to expand their efforts and not competing; and rally a statewide community response.

One first step was a survey by the McCormack School last year of more than 300 boards of directors. It found that 95% of members were white and 87 male in corporations, with numbers only slightly better for non-profit organizations. Other indicators were also discouraging: for instance, in paired tests of couples seeking housing, nearly half of those of color received fewer options or inferior financing.

Commonwealth Compacts Bench-marks Initiative seeks to encourage organizations of all kinds to respond with individual actions that could be very powerful collectively.

Specifically, organizations are asked to measure annually their own diversity on a detailed list of 25 benchmarks, ranging from board membership through the workforce including retention and promotion rates vs. white males to policies relating to customers and suppliers. Individual information is confidential, but the data will be aggregated and reports issued. The object is improvement over time. To date, 125 organizations have signed on, including Staples, Raytheon, John Hancock, Harvard, MIT, UMass, Partners Health, Blue Cross Blue Shield and the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.

This strong response shows an enormous and heartening appetite to make real progress. To build further, Commonwealth Compact is preparing an online talent database of people of color, and a clearinghouse to connect people with ongoing agencies, programs, and events.

We encourage organizations from all over the state to join the effort, so that inclusion really can be incorporated.-

Robert Turner is the director of the Commonwealth Compact; (617) 287-5579.

Bridging the Gap

By BusinessWest Staff May 26, 2008

Sections Supplements

Workforce Conference Will Address Recruitment and Retention Issues

Considering how many other challenges exist in maintaining a productive workforce, one thing companies don’t need is a bunch of employees staring blankly across a generation gap, confused by what they see.

“There are two issues for employers,” said Greg Michael, executive director of Human Resources and the Career Center at Western New England College in Springfield. “One is the need to keep older workers, who would otherwise be retiring, engaged in the workforce. The other is managing the Millennials — the young people coming into the workforce who, in many respects, have a different perspective on the world of work than their predecessors.”

And these two matters are by no means separate issues, Michael stressed. That’s because Baby Boomers (and Gen-Xers, too) find themselves managing Millennials as the latter begin their careers, and those differing perspectives and expectations can easily breed workplace conflict if not handled correctly.

For example, “many younger workers think nothing of having multiple jobs in one year; that’s not necessarily seen as a negative thing, but rather doing what they see fit to accomplish their personal and professional goals,” he said. “It’s a rather different concept than latching onto one employer and working through the ranks in order to achieve one’s goals.”

Understanding those differences is one focus of a June 18 conference at WNEC, “Massachusetts In Demand: Accessing a Skilled Workforce in Western Mass.” Organized by the Building a Better Workforce Coalition (BBWC), it follows on the heels of a conference in November that focused on the importance of education in cultivating a talented workforce and, hence, a strong economy in Western Mass.

At next month’s event, keynote speaker Suzanne Bump, the state’s secretary of Labor and Workforce Development, will join Paul Harrington, an economist with Northeastern University, and several workforce-development specialists and regional business owners in discussing how companies can draw upon existing skills in the region to advance their businesses. In addition, Dr. Alan Robinson, author of Ideas Are Free and an expert in workplace productivity issues, will deliver a luncheon address.

“We haven’t gotten a hit lately with a huge company moving to town,” said Sally Fuller, project director of the Cherish Every Child initiative at the Irene E. and George A. David Foundation, a conference sponsor. “So what we really need to think about is what to do for our existing workforce, how to give them better skills.”

Starting Young

The BBWC was formed partly to emphasize the connections between education and workforce development, and last November’s conference featured Dr. James Heckman, a Nobel laureate in Economics from the University of Chicago, who presented an economic case for investing in young children.

This was the type of message that appeals to Fuller, whose program emphasizes the value of early-childhood education.

“People don’t think of early childhood as impacting workforce development,” Fuller said, “but, from research on what happens in a child’s brain, we know it absolutely does. Children learn a whole array of soft skills that carry them on into the future, and early childhood is not too early to begin to cultivate that.”

In fact, in an op-ed piece in the Wall Street Journal, Heckman argued that investing in disadvantaged young children has a high economic return for any region — specifically, that it raises the quality of the workforce, in addition to reducing crime, teenage pregnancy, and welfare dependency. “Focusing solely on earnings gains,” he said, “returns to dollars invested are as high as 15% to 17%.”

People don’t typically think about such a connection,” Fuller said. “They think of workforce development as teaching the existing workforce and helping them improve their skills and do better at their jobs — which, obviously, also needs to happen.

“But we’re saying that early childhood is a great place to start because these people are going to compete in a very different work than the one that exists now, and they’ll need these soft skills to compete in the global economy. So, yes, we need to do the other things with the current workforce, but we also have to start now with this generation of young people.”

Fuller said Cherish Every Child supports the coalition’s work because it wants to remind area business people that the early-childhood workforce is a significant factor in the region’s economic future. “They do a really important job, so we’re helping to professionalize that workforce, and have it be part of the discussion.”

While that big-picture thinking may be important, the expected knowledge drain caused by mass retirements of Baby Boomers is arguably a more urgent priority, said Nancy Snyder, president of the Commonwealth Corp., another conference sponsor.

While members of this older generation typically earn more money than Gen-Xers or Millennials, they also come to work with invaluable years of wisdom and hard-earned experience that companies might have trouble replacing. “How do we retain those older workers? We don’t want to lose their knowledge,” Snyder said.

The Commonwealth Corp. has prepared studies of 16 regions of the Bay State, including Hampden County, examining the dynamics of each region’s employment picture over the past five years — which industries have added jobs, which have shed jobs, and factors contributing to those trends.

“The goal is to really look at how we can stimulate more graduates in big-demand occupations,” Snyder said. “What are the demand trends? What are the supply trends? What do we need to do to better align them?

“The data isn’t completed yet, but there are some fairly persistent needs,” she continued. “Health care and manufacturing are two areas in which it has been difficult to find people.”

Snyder emphasized, however, that there is no one solution to the region’s disconnect between workforce supply and demand.

For example, “in nursing, it’s probably a capacity issue: do we have enough seats in nursing schools, enough faculty, enough clinical placements,” she said. “But in a field like precision manufacturing, the question might be, how do we get better information to young people about what today’s manufacturing environment is like, in order to generate more interest in precision machining.”

Stay Awhile

The more transitory — Boomers might say fickle — nature of the incoming Millennial workforce just adds another layer to the already-difficult challenge companies face in maintaining a skilled group of employees. In short, it makes retention as significant an issue for employers as recruitment.

“You have one generation with a mindset focused on longevity and the value of loyalty managing younger people who don’t hold the same values,” Michael said, adding that he sees the issue from both sides; his department oversees WNEC’s employees, most of whom are Boomers or Gen-Xers, while the college is sending out an annual stream of Millennials into the workplace.

“How do companies fill the vacuum left by older workers while effectively recruiting and retaining younger workforce? We’re seeing both points of view here,” he told BusinessWest. “And we really saw that there was some value in this conference for the area’s employers.”

Snyder agreed that factors like retaining the knowledge base of older employers while convincing talented graduates of the area’s many colleges to stay in Western Mass. are issues that must be addressed simultaneously by employers, schools, and economic-development agencies.

“To address some of the supply-and-demand misalignment, we need strategies, and we need to work together with our partners,” she said.

The Building a Better Workforce Coalition was created with those very needs in mind, and the WNEC conference is just the next step in what promises to be a long-running discussion.

Dave DelVecchio

By BusinessWest Staff April 28, 2008

40 Under 40 Class of 2008

Age 38: President, Innovative Business Systems Inc.

Dave DelVecchio says he was blogging long before it became a national pastime.

“I don’t think they called it blogging then,” he said, referring to the mid-’90s, when he started using the Internet to reach out to friends, family, and colleagues in a manner designed to inform and entertain.

He’s still doing it, through his Web site, davedelvecchio.com, or “the new Dave’s World,” as he calls it, where you could learn much more about this member of the Forty Under 40 than you can in this space — probably more than you want to know. You can even hear a tune from Big Pain, the garage band for which DelVecchio, or the “king of low end,” plays bass — pretty well, actually.

And you can click on ‘Dave at Work’ and find out about Innovative Business Systems, which he serves as president. It is for his work at Easthampton-based IBS, and also his involvement in the Easthampton community, and not for music, that DelVecchio earned a spot among the ‘40,’ although maybe the judges did give the band a listen.

It is more likely that they were impressed with DelVecchio’s ability to take IBS, the IT-solutions company that he and four others purchased from founder Bill Tremblay in 2003, and guide it to steady growth, recognition as a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner (the corporation’s highest designation), and a Workforce Development Award from the Hampshire/Franklin Regional Employment Board.

The “five guys,” as they’re called at IBS — the others are Brian Scanlon, Scott Seifel, Ben Scoble, and Sean Benoit — have created an appealing workplace, said DelVecchio, an environment that provides the tools for professional growth, while also facilitating the often-difficult act of balancing work and life.

While directing IBS and also taking an active role with the Regional Technology Corp., DelVecchio is also involved, on a number of levels, in the revitalization of Easthampton. The former mill town, now officially a city, has reinvented itself as a center for the arts and home to a diverse mix of small businesses.

“This is a community on the rise,” said DelVecchio, who works and lives in the town, is former president of the chamber of commerce, and is entertainment committee chair of the Easthampton Fall Festival.

What else would you expect from the king of low end?

George O’Brien

Progress– by Numbers

By BusinessWest Staff March 17, 2008

Features

Bringing A Sense of Accountability to the ‘Plan’

Pioneer Valley Planning Commission Executive Director Timothy Brennan

Since it was first blueprinted in 1994, the regions Plan for Progress has identified growth strategies for the Pioneer Valley, and helped to keep area business and civic leaders focused on the proverbial big picture. What had been missing from the equation with the plan, according to some involved with it, was a method for actually measuring progress with regard to those strategies. A recently implemented accountability system was designed with the specific goal of filling that void.

Timothy Brennan equated it to checking the gauges on a cars dashboard.

We need to be able to see if we have enough gas to get where we want to go, he explained. We need to see if everythings working the way we want.

It was with this well-thought-out analogy that Brennan, executive director of the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission, summed up an elaborate effort to add a strong measure of accountability to the regions so-called Plan for Progress and the many strategic components imbedded within it.

The plan, first drafted in 1994 as a road map of sorts for guiding the Valley out of the seemingly endless recession of the early 90s, has evolved over the years, but its basic mission has remained the same: to give the region focus points for growth and economic development that will enable it to effectively compete against other economic-development regions across the country.

The document, which has been updated and expanded for its 10th anniversary, has no less than 14 individual bits of strategy from improving and enriching K-12 education to enhancing high-tech and conventional infrastructure to revitalizing the Connecticut River. A small army of area business and civic leaders has been assembled to address these strategic components and develop action plans for addressing them.

What was missing from the equation, according to some involved with the plan, was a measure of accountability, or a means to measure the progress being made with each of these strategic points or not being made, as the case may be.

And what has emerged over the past several months is a system that fills that void, said Brennan, who told BusinessWest that it uses numbers, not words, to gauge (theres that word again) whether the region is moving forward on a specific issue, going backward, or remaining in neutral another automotive term.

We didnt want to use words alone to measure progress, he said, noting that there was a certain subjectivity to the one-paragraph narratives that had been used to create progress reports, for lack of a better term, in the past.

We wanted to do this in a metric fashion to give it a harder edge.

To illustrate how the new accountability system works, Brennan and Molly Jackson-Watts, the PVPCs Regional Information and Policy Center manager, focused on one of four larger groupings of strategic components within the plan in this case Strategic Grouping III: Supply the Region with an Educated, Skilled, and Adequately Sized Pool of Workers. Within this group are four of the plans 14 strategy points:

Integrate workforce development and business priorities;

Advance early-education strategy at state and regional levels;

Improve and enrich K-to-12 education; and

Support higher education and retain graduates.

There is a also a list of six so-called indicators, ranging from average MCAS test scores (including breakouts for the regions urban core and rural school districts) to the median age of the regions workforce to the number of older workers (55 to 75 years old) who remain engaged in the regions workforce.

These and others are all telling statistics, said Brennan, who noted that for some, including most MCAS scores, the region is trending down, while for others, like the number of older workers, the region is gaining ground.

What does it all mean? Well, thats open to interpretation, said Brennan, and also subject to comparisons with other regions similar to this one. Indeed, part of any attempt to quantify progress is to put any numbers in perspective, and this is the next challenge for those involved in this initiative.

We knew that there was another piece of this coming down the road, he explained. It involves not just issuing ourselves a report card, but taking our report card and putting it against peer regions. Thats the next thing we have to do.

In this issue, BusinessWest takes an indepth look at the the plans new accountability system, and focuses on the broad workforce strategy grouping to show how it works and why its important to the programs success.

Statistics Course

Brennan told BusinessWest that the search for a system of accountability for initiatives like the Plan for Progress is not exactly a recent phenomenon. Its been a topic of discussion nationally, at meetings and conferences involving agencies (like the PVRPC) that fall under the auspices of the federal Economic Development Administration.

Theyve been on this for more than six years, since the start of the Bush administration, really, said Brennan. They kept saying that these planning efforts across the country needed to have to a more rigorous measurement system. So Id go to these meetings, put my hand up, and say, got any examples that you can show us to help us along?

The standard answer, which almost became comical, was, no you go figure it out, he continued. Theyd say, this is what we want, but we havent figured it out yet you go find a way.

So he and some of the others involved with the Plan for Progress did, although Brennan admits to being somewhat defensive the first time it was suggested that the plan needed more accountability. Such prompting came from several members of the initiatives executive board, especially former Stanhome CEO John Gallup.

He challenged everyone, Brennan said of Gallup. He said, we have a plan, and were trying to follow it, but its time to reach beyond what we had been doing and do it better. In general terms, he said, is there a better way for us to be accountable than what we have now?

Over the course of several months, a team involved with the plan pieced together that better way, an accountability system that essentially gauges progress and awards a score, or rating. Such ratings are 1, 2, or 3, to connote a negative trend, a neutral trend, or a positive trend, respectively.

Going into this exercise, Brennan said that those involved with it had several fears or concerns, but two that really stood out.

First, there was acknowledgement that individuals and groups can manipulate numbers to show virtually whatever they want to show. Plan for Progress leaders wanted to avoid such appearances, and focused on objective questions, or statistical points, that would reduce or eliminate such doubts. Second, there was the fear that by putting numbers, or scores, out for everyone in the region to see, there would be a focus on the negative, which is something else that organizers wanted to avoid.

Overall, architects of the new system wanted something intrinsically simple, yet effective, and conducted a good amount of research to achieve that end.

We had done a fair amount of study into systems of measurement in other metropolitan areas, and it helped us identify what we wanted and didnt want, Brennan explained. We came across one in Cleveland, for example, that had 300 indicators. They spent millions of dollars on it, and it lasted about two years before it melted down. So we knew we didnt want to go with something that was so laborious that you couldnt maintain it.

Developers of the new system also wanted the results to be readily accessible, so they put a new section on the PVPC Web site (www.pvpc.org) called The Plan for Progress/Region Wide Performance Indicators Summary, which is updated as new data is available, said Jackson-Watts.

Number of Possibilities

As they pieced together their accountability system, organizers settled on four strategy groupings. In addition to the workforce category, which Brennan said is perhaps the most critical set of issues facing the region, there are others titled Strengthen and Expand the Regions Economic Base, Foster Means of Regional Competitiveness, and Enhancements Fostering the Regions Business Climate and Prospects for Sustainable Economic Growth.

Each grouping has three or four of the strategic components that were set down within the expanded, revamped plan. The expand the economic base grouping, for example, has three strategic elements attract, retain, and grow existing businesses and priority clusters, promote small businesses and generate flexible risk capital, and market our region.

The workforce strategy grouping, which is focused primarily on the matters of supply and demand with regard to skilled labor, now and for the foreseeable future, produced some fairly mixed results for the region in this case, Franklin, Hampden, and Hampshire counties as a visit to the performance indicators summary section of the PVPC Web site clearly shows.

Overall, the section earned a 1.9 rating, showing a neutral trend, but there was great fluctuation in the numbers for individual indicators. While the percentage of students scoring proficient or above on the MCAS third-grade English test increased 1.7% between 2006 and 2007, for example, the percentage of students passing the MCAS math test (administered in 10th grade) decreased 4.2% across the Valley between 2005 and 2006, the latest numbers available. Meanwhile, the high school dropout rate for the region was virtually unchanged (up 0.9%), while the percentage of high school graduates in the workforce among those ages 25 or older increased nearly 6%.

What do these dashboard gauges, as Brennan called them, show at this time? In some cases, as with the MCAS math scores, they show where work needs to be done, he explained, adding quickly that it is generally difficult to extract meaningful findings unless or until the numbers are compared to peer regions.

In the meantime, though, the numbers provide a base on which future years can be assessed, giving the region some direction in matters such as workforce development, which will be a challenging realm as Baby Boomers retire and the smaller generations that succeed them are asked to step up.

There is a major focus on supply, in this region and everywhere else, and with good reason, said Brennan. Thats because we know theres going to be a huge exodus of workers, in probably 2010 or 2011, when people will hit age 65 and reach retirement, or at least soft retirement. One of the big questions is whether were going to have worker shortfalls in the New England states, and most of us think there will be.

Numbers gathered in the workforce grouping can help area development leaders gauge how the region will fare up to the supply challenges, he continued, by offering indications on everything from the sheer number of bodies in the workforce to the overall quality of that constituency.

Were in a new economy, a global economy, and were not chasing smokestacks anymore, were chasing talent thats what makes an economy grow, he said, adding that the new accountability system should help the region assess just how its faring in that chase.

Summing things up, Brennan said the assembled numbers hold up a truly objective mirror to the region and its strategies regarding growth and competitiveness.

The idea was to try to be as candid as possible tell the good stuff but also tell the bad stuff to make it as believable as possible, he explained. But also, dont be afraid tell it like it is and hope, particularly with those things that were not doing so well on, that we have something to shoot for.

At the same time, the numbers can help us clear up some of the misconceptions about this region, he continued. There are many out there, and the numbers can help separate fact from perception.

Off the Charts

When asked to elaborate on what numbers can do that words cant do, or do as well, when it comes to gauging progress, Brennan said the numerical statistics hit harder and speak in a louder voice, one thats much harder to ignore.

By going to numbers, youre forcing yourself to get more rigorous, he said, referring to those involved with carrying out the plan. Its less easy to weasel out of problems, but its also easier to celebrate successes.

Like the plan itself, its accountability system is a work in and about progress. It is already showing great promise as a method for showing area economic developers when to hit the gas, and what problems or issues they may confront further down the road.

And thats what dashboard gauges are for.

George OBrien can be reached at[email protected]

By BusinessWest Staff January 7, 2008

Departments

Precision Timing

A $600,000 gift to establish a scholarship fund to train a new workforce for the precision machining industry of Western Mass. was made recently by the family of the late E. Herbert Burk, former senior vice president of Mestek Inc. in Westfield. The fund will be managed by the Community Foundation of Western Mass., and the Hampden County Regional Employment Board (REB) will serve as lead adviser in disseminating these funds to individuals and organizations. The gift was recognized and celebrated last month in Springfield by a group that consisted of several Western Mass. business leaders and economic development representatives. Pictured here, the REB presents members of Burk’s family with an award of recognition. From left to right: Mike Nziolek, senior vice president at Hasbro Games, and chair of the REB; Alfred Materas II, Burk’s son-in-law; Judith Materas and Jacky Yiznitsky, Burk’s daughters; Mass. Secretary of Labor and Workforce Development Suzanne Bump; David Cruise, director of the REB’s precision machining project; and Kent Faerber, director of the Community Foundation of Western Mass.

Insuring for the Future

OneBeacon Insurance recently made a $2,500 donation to the American Red Cross Pioneer Valley Chapter as part of the company’s charitable trust. The gift was presented by OneBeacon executives recently. Left to right: John Scroope, Regional President, OneBeacon; Dean Florian, President, Insurance Center of New England (ICNE); William Trudeau, Jr., Chief Operating Officer, ICNE and newly elected Pioneer Valley Chapter Board President; Brian Cadigan, Business Development Manager, OneBeacon; and Rick Lee, Pioneer Valley Chapter Executive Director.

Upper Crust

The Atrium at Cardinal Drive delivered homemade pies (baked by Chef Mellissa Hathorne) to service professionals in Agawam and surrounding communities. One of the first stops was the Agawam Fire Department, where Judy Bourgeois, director of Community Relations for the Atrium, presented Deputy Fire Chief Michael Mercadante with a pecan pie and Lt. Jim Demming with a pumpkin pie. This was the beginning of two very busy days of deliveries.

Our Workforce Is a Work in Progress

By BusinessWest Staff December 24, 2007

Opinion

As he talked with BusinessWest about regional economic development and the prospects for 2008, Allan Blair said the region was due — make that overdue — for a “big hit.”

By that, Blair, director of the Economic Development Council of Western Mass., meant the arrival or relocation to the Pioneer Valley of a major employer, creating several hundred new, hopefully well-paying, jobs. And he’s right, the Valley hasn’t seen such a ‘hit’ for a while now.

And while it’s possible we may see one in the year ahead — as Blair explained, there is still movement among corporations even in economic downturns, one of which is expected for 2008 — this is not the shape economic development is likely to take for the near future.

Even though Western Mass. still has comparatively ample amounts of developable land (the Chicopee River Business Park, for instance) and boasts a much lower cost of doing business than Boston and other areas of the state and the country, major manufacturers are simply not coming to the Northeast and the Pioneer Valley. In fact, this region is struggling just to hold onto what’s here.

Meanwhile, ‘big hits,’ what few there are, in biotech, are occurring in Worcester or Cambridge, which have established clusters of companies in that sector.

Which means that, unless something unexpected happens, growth is going to come organically, from new-business development and growth of companies that have already planted roots in the Valley.

For this to happen, economic development leaders have to put renewed emphasis on workforce development and close a wide skills gap that is preventing many area companies — from hospitals to machine shops; public school systems to paper makers — from filling existing vacancies.

This is not a breaking news story — employers up and down the Valley have been complaining for years about not being able to find enough qualified workers — but the problem is becoming acute, and it is in many ways stifling growth (meaning economic development) in the area.

Thus, we’re pleased to see that a comprehensive action plan will be prepared early next year to address workforce-development issues. This plan will be demand-driven, says Bill Ward, director of the Regional Employment Board of Hampden County, and must be, because the economy won’t grow and companies can’t reach their full potential if those who comprise the region’s workforce don’t possess the specific skills that employers need.

Baystate Health can’t fill hundreds of current vacancies — and it has a $239 million expansion project on the drawing board that will probably add hundreds if not thousands of new positions over the next decade. Meanwhile, other health care providers struggle to find nurses, technicians, and other personnel; school systems tax their resources and imaginations to find teachers; machine shops have to turn down millions of dollars worth of work because they don’t have enough qualified people; and area pre-schools are staffed largely by people without college degrees.

All this leads people like Russ Denver, president of the Affiliated Chambers of Commerce of Greater Springfield, to wonder out loud, “where are we going to find all these workers?”

The challenge for 2008 and beyond is to find ways to stop asking that question and instead develop a real, long-term strategy for answering it.

Such a strategy, or plan, might not fit the working definition of “big hit,” but it would provide a big boost to a region that knows only too well that workforce development is indeed economic development.

Employing a Strategy

By BusinessWest Staff December 24, 2007

Sections Supplements

The Jobs Outlook for the Year Ahead

Potential applicants for jobs at the L.S. Starrett Co. learn about modern machining on a bus that had been converted into a mobile training center.

The L.S. Starrett Co. in Athol, a maker of precision tools, needed an influx of talented workers. Plenty of folks living in or near the town on the border of Franklin and Worcester counties needed a job — but lacked the necessary skills.

So they hopped a bus to a better future.

Michael Truckey, director of the Franklin Hampshire Career Center in Greenfield, said his agency worked with the Mass. Manufacturing Enterprise Program to set up a training center on wheels — a converted bus, actually — and boarded nine people at a time for two-week training cycles to bring them up to speed on necessary manufacturing skills. The result? After two months, Starrett was able to hire 27 new workers.

“It was about showing people what the opportunities are right there on ground level,” Truckey said. “A lot of machine shops have an aging workforce, so they’re trying to figure out creative ways to meet their employee needs.”

It’s a story being told over and over across the Pioneer Valley: good jobs are available, but job seekers remain plentiful, in part because they lack the skills necessary to take on the work. It explains why many fret over the region’s employment outlook at the same time that others report positive signs.

Consider Manpower Inc., for instance, which recently reported that Springfield-area businesses expect to hire at a bullish rate early in 2008, with 53% of the companies surveyed planning to hire more employees and only 7% looking to reduce payroll. But even those projections come with a caveat.

“It seems positive, but when you dig into the results, it does show that most of these intentions are slight,” said Cathy Paige, a local spokesperson for Manpower. “So I don’t want to put an overly optimistic spin on this, like companies are planning to hire hundreds of people at a time. Some of this is replacement of attrition, not necessarily additional hiring.”

Still, she said, the survey results show a more-positive outlook, particularly in the manufacturing sector, which, while not booming, is showing signs of life.

“Even if it’s one head, I’ll take it, because it’s not a decrease,” Paige told BusinessWest. “Those [in manufacturing] are the best kind of jobs for an economy, because they spin off other jobs, like taking orders, shipping, and receiving. Studies have shown that 100 manufacturing jobs lead to 25 to 40 support jobs, in most cases.”

Mixed Signals

Still, on the ground in Springfield, reports remain mixed. “At the beginning of the year, we started off gangbusters, but it’s not ending the year that way,” said Mary Ellen Scott, president of United Personnel in Springfield, which works with employers to find administrative, warehouse/light industrial, and medical office support workers. “And I would say it’s like that across the board.”

Scott attributed that trend to some anxiety among employers about a possible recession looming. “What I’ve heard is people predicting that 2008 will not be a booming year, and I think the more we hear the ‘r-word,’ the more we talk ourselves into it,” she said. “And any time there’s talk about a business outlook that’s not positive, people get very nervous about what they’re spending, and hiring is one of those things they look at.”

Even strong pockets of hiring aren’t necessarily good news, Paige noted. “Most of the hiring activity has been in the service sector, which is typically not a great sign because service jobs don’t pay as much as, say, durable and non-durable goods.”

But obscured in these trends is the fact that many employers, particularly in manufacturing, want to hire new workers, but continue to grapple with a skills gap in the Pioneer Valley — one that the region’s career centers are trying to close through training and awareness programs.

“After the downsizing that happened in the 1980s and 1990s, when a lot of mass production moved elsewhere, you still have a hub of niche companies that survived — but you don’t just walk in without skills,” Truckey said. “Those companies don’t employ hundreds anymore; they might hire 15 or 50, so their margins are tighter. Their machines do more than they used to, and they need people with technical skills, a background in math, computers, or programming … it’s a specialty thing.”

Truckey said his agency still has “eight or nine pages” of job postings — heavily weighted toward hospitality, service, and health care, but including some solid manufacturing jobs as well — and is working with employers on training programs.

“We want to upgrade the skills of people presently employed, and we’re also looking at ways to train unemployed people for these types of jobs,” he said. “When you had larger machining companies, they used to bring trainers in and had their own apprentice programs. But that doesn’t happen as much now.”

Part of the problem is simply attracting job seekers to the manufacturing field, because many of them hold outdated perceptions of what such jobs are like.

“Machining is a clean industry now, and I don’t think the public knows how clean it is — and you can make some pretty good money working for these companies,” Truckey told BusinessWest. “At a recent legislative breakfast, we talked about trends over the past 25 years like green products and recycling. One owner of a machine company talked about how they used to use oils, and the toxicity of those products, and how it’s totally different today; his oils are of a non-toxic nature now. People don’t know that.”

Rexene Picard, executive director of FutureWorks Career Center in Springfield, said manufacturers are taking the problem seriously.

“Local employers are coming together and forming partnerships, saying, ‘we just can’t keep stealing people from each other; we’ve got to have a pipeline.’ So they’re partnering with trade and vocational schools, as well as offering training for their own incumbent workers to bring them up to the next level.”

Picard noted that 26,000 new jobs were created in Massachusetts over the past year, but at the same time a similar number of job vacancies persist.

“That’s a sign of a chronic skills gap,” she said, noting that FutureWorks plans multiple job fairs to raise awareness of the opportunities available in Western Mass., as well as launching some cross-border initiatives in Northern Conn.

“These jobs have been out there for awhile, and the job seekers are out there too, but they don’t have the necessary skills to close the gap. Still, I’d say there’s more good news than bad.”

Labor Daze

The skills gap isn’t just a regional problem. Gov. Deval Patrick’s administration has made it a focus of its economic development efforts, attempting to get people trained for the most in-demand professions. Of particular interest in Boston is health care, which continues to be the state’s top-employing industry, encompassing 450,000 workers, or 15% of the state’s workforce — a trend not expected to let up in the coming years.

“Closing the skills gap in Massachusetts is our top priority,” asserted Suzanne Bump, secretary of Labor and Workforce Development, in a statement last month. “It is important that we pursue sector training through programs such as the Workforce Competitiveness Trust Fund to bridge that gap. Additionally, we are working with the Board of Higher Education and regional workforce boards to increase post-secondary educational opportunities.”

“Long-term investments in training and education go a long way toward easing the skills gap,” agreed Nancy Snyder, president of the Commonwealth Corp., a statewide workforce-development agency. “A strong economy requires a competitive business community and well-paying jobs for residents; upgrading workers’ skills in coordination with our employers serves both.”

Picard said those goals can’t be met soon enough, with area employers reporting fewer hires at the moment than they did late in 2006, although health care, warehousing, education, government jobs, and — to some extent — manufacturing all show positive signs. FutureWorks has begun working with some larger employers, such as Big Y and the Sisters of Providence Health System, to assess their needs and help them meet their hiring and growth goals.

Meanwhile, by using grant money for education and training programs, “we’re trying to get people to consider skilled manufacturing as a career path,” she said. “But things don’t turn around quickly; they take a little bit of time.”
And sometimes a bus.

Joseph Bednar can be reached at[email protected]

By BusinessWest Staff November 26, 2007

Departments

Bright Nights

Nov. 21-Jan. 1: Bright Nights at Forest Park in Springfield opened Nov. 21, and will run Wednesdays through Sundays until Dec. 9. Bright Nights will then be open nightly from Dec. 12 through Jan. 1. Buses run nightly from 5 to 6 p.m., and cars from 6 to 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, and from 6 to 9 p.m. on Fridays, Saturdays, and holidays. For more information on admission, call (413) 733-3800 or visit www.brightnights.org.

ACCGS Government Reception

Nov. 28: The Carriage House at Storrowton Tavern, Eastern States Exposition, West Springfield, will be the setting for the Affiliated Chambers of Commerce of Greater Springfield Inc.’s annual Government Reception. The 5 to 7 p.m. event allows ACCGS members to meet socially with local, state, and federal elected officials and begin or renew commitments to work together. For more information on tickets, visit www.myonlinechamber.com.

Day of Health

Dec. 5: The YMCA of Greater Westfield and Noble Hospital will team up for a Day of Health from 10 a.m. to noon and again from 5 to 7 p.m. at the YMCA on Court Street, Westfield. A series of free screenings will highlight the festivities, including blood pressure, body-fat analysis and BMI, foot care, pulmonary function, and sun and skin damage. Also, a fasting full lipid profile, a blood test for total cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, and triglycerides, will be available for $25. Appointments for the cholesterol screening are available from 7 to 9 a.m. and can be made by calling Noble Health Beat at (413) 568-2328. In addition, Therapeutic Massage of Greater Westfield will treat participants to a five-minute mini-massage, and Beauty by Jeunique Custom Bras and Shape Ware will be on hand to ensure women have the perfect fit. For more information on the event, contact Charlene Call, member retention/wellness director, at (413) 568-8631, ext. 305.

Entrepreneurial Boot Camp

Dec. 7: The Regional Technology Corporation (RTC), in partnership with the Harold Grinspoon Charitable Foundation, will stage the half-day “Entrepreneurial Boot Camp & Flavors of Capital” seminar at the Kittredge Center for Business & Workforce Development at Holyoke Community College, starting at 8 a.m. The first half of this event will feature a workshop on “How to Speak Investorese,” presented by Paul Silva, managing partner at Angel Catalyst. Banks, investors, and funding agencies use specialized language to describe and analyze companies. Companies that don’t speak this language have much more difficulty in securing funding. This lecture will teach attendees the basics of how to talk to bankers, investors, and granting agencies so they will hear the actual potential of their business. Attendees will also be shown how to identify weaknesses in their business before they become a problem — and stop them from being funded. The focus of the second half is a panel discussion on the “Flavors of Capital,” moderated by Joseph Steig, managing director of Innovation Path Inc. and co-founder of the River Valley Investors angel group. Attendees will learn which types of funding source are a good fit for a given opportunity. The panel will include experts from venture capital, angel investors, regional banks, the Western Mass. Enterprise Fund, and others. Following these presentations, attendees can talk one-on-one with the presenters and visit their tabletop displays for helpful literature and handouts. Cost of the event is $25 for RTC members and $50 for non-members. Advanced registration is required, and seating is limited. Contact April Cloutier at [email protected] to register.

UMass Dinner Forum

Dec. 11: The UMass Family Business Dinner Forum will host two topics, “The Starbucks Experience: Lessons in Leadership to Spark You and Your Business to Unimaginable Success,” and “Should We Grow Our Business by Acquisition?” Registration is required. For more information and to register, contact Ira Bryck at (413) 545-1537 or via E-mail at [email protected] .

Learning Curves

By BusinessWest Staff November 12, 2007

Features

Explaining the Link Between Education and Economic Development

Sally Fuller and Bill Ward hope the Nov. 19 conference will energize business owners and managers, and drive home the connection between education and workforce development.

While there is some general understanding within the business community of a recognized link between education, especially early-childhood education, and workforce development, many are still missing that message. A Nov. 19 conference will attempt to drive that point home and, in the process, mobilize area business owners and managers for what will be an ongoing fight to ensure that companies have qualified workers for the short and long term.

Bill Ward calls it “an economic imperative.” That’s how he chose to describe this region’s need to focus on workforce development for the long term and, even more specifically, to drive home the connection between education, at all levels, and economic development.

Some business owners and managers understand this relationship, said Ward, director of the Regional Employment Board of Hampden County, but too many do not. Changing that equation is the unofficial mission of a group of area business and civic leaders who will punctuate their efforts with a conference titled ‘Building a Better Workforce: Investments in Education and Early Development.’

It will feature, among other speakers, Dr. James Heckman, the Nobel laureate in Economics from the University of Chicago, who will present the economic case for investing in young children.

In an op-ed piece that appeared last year in the Wall Street Journal, Heckman said there are many reasons why investing in disadvantaged young children has a high economic return. “Early interventions for disadvantaged children promote schooling, raise the quality of the workforce, enhance the productivity of schools, and reduce crime, teenage pregnancy, and welfare dependency,” he wrote. “They raise earnings and promote social attachment. Focusing solely on earnings gains, returns to dollars invested are as high as 15% to 17%.”

Sally Fuller hopes these and other numbers resonate with conference attendees. Fuller is project director of the Cherish Every Child Initiative launched by the Irene E. and George A. Davis Foundation. Cherish Every Child has a number of focus points, she said, but has made universal early-childhood education one of the biggest planks in its platform.

Fuller and others involved with planning the Nov. 19 conference hope to energize those in attendance for what will be a lengthy and challenging battle to improve education at all levels and, eventually, build a bigger, stronger workforce for the region.

“I have a Chinese menu full of options for business people who want to get involved,” said Fuller, using the word interventions for the first of many times to describe what individuals and companies can do. Menu items include everything from tutoring programs to mentoring junior high school students; from initiating literacy programs to lobbying state legislators to fund universal early education.

Some businesses are already doing such things, and some view it as a “good thing they can do,” said Fuller, adding quickly that such thought patterns need to be altered, because such interventions go well beyond good deeds — they are part of a larger economic-development strategy.

“The research clearly shows that if we can intervene with children at a very early age, that will have a significant economic impact,” she said. “Granted, it’s way down the road, but it’s there, and it’s real.”

Carol Baribeau agreed. As regional director of Public Affairs for Verizon, she’s been involved in a number of programs to promote literacy and early childhood education — and she’s heard Heckman’s message about reaching children at an early age.

“I’ve seen a huge amount of research and science that’s telling us we need to begin the quality education at the youngest, youngest levels,” she said. “We need everyone — educators, families, policy makers — to understand that education is truly a life-long process, and it has to begin at the earliest ages.”

In this issue, BusinessWest turns a spotlight on the workforce-development conference, the motivation behind it, and most importantly, what organizers say needs to happen when it’s over.

Schools of Thought

They’re called “dropout factories.”

That’s the term used by the authors of a nationwide study on graduation rates to classify high schools where no more than 60% of a freshman class will graduate from that institution. Springfield has four of these factories — Central, Commerce, Putnam, and the High School of Science and Technology — while Holyoke has two, and Greenfield and Ware also find their high schools on the list.

These dropout numbers comprise just part of the qualitative and quantitative evidence that points to a mounting problem in the Pioneer Valley, said Ward, one that will have serious consequences for the economy if it is not addressed, and soon.

“These dynamics, on some scale or another, exist in all urban areas,” he noted, referring to dropout rates, poverty, crime, homelessness, and others that can be traced back to disadvantaged youths. “But once the problem reaches a certain scale or proportion — with more and more children dropping out of school and more people going into poverty — it begins to have a more significant impact on the economy.”

And this is the point that Springfield and Holyoke have reached, he told BusinessWest, adding that there are other demographic trends that will impact the future workforce.

Indeed, as he talked about the region, its workforce, and the future, Ward said population growth in the region has been flat, and that it is unrealistic to expect large numbers of people to move into the area down the road. Thus, the Valley’s workforce will be mostly homegrown, which is not an appealing situation when there are eight dropout factories in the 413 area code.

“There are changes in how work is being done … it’s more complex and requiring more and more skills,” said Ward, who said he hears from business owners on an almost daily basis about how difficult it is to find qualified help.

Couple that with the fact that our population is flat, and one can see that we face a real problem.

“These dynamics are forcing us to take a look at finding ways to do better with the people that we have, to grow our own,” he continued. “There’s now an economic imperative, not just a social imperative, to find new and better ways to link economic development and education.”

Many in the business community tend to think that the job of preparing people for the workforce is to be handled by the school systems, he told BusinessWest, “but we can’t afford to think that way anymore; we need to see business people come to the table with an open mind, and use their leadership and problem-solving skills to work on some of these very tough issues.”

Changing the outlook for the Pioneer Valley, workforce development-wise, will require a broad focus on education at all levels, said Ward, noting that the business community must play a major role in this effort.

Some businesses are already involved, primarily out of a strong need for qualified workers for the short and long term, but also out of recognition that this is a regional issue impacting all businesses.

“We take the philosophy that the only way out of poverty is to have a job, and the only way to have a job is to have an education and speak English,” said Bob Schwarz, executive vice president of Communica-tions for Peter Pan Bus Lines, a company that has invested significant time, energy, and resources on literacy programs like the REB’s Literacy Works campaign, and adult basic education, or ABE.

In fact, the company will create a learning center in an intermodal transportation center it is building in conjunction with the Pioneer Valley Transit Authority in downtown Holyoke. Construction is set to begin soon, with ABE classes due to begin at the center next September.

Like others we spoke with, Schwarz said organizers of the workforce development conference face a stern challenge in enlightening the business community about the link between education and workforce development, and then mobilizing it for the work that will have to be done in the years ahead.

“One of the biggest challenges we faced with Literacy Works was to persuade the community at large that there was a literacy problem that we faced, and that there is a connection between employment and one’s ability to speak and read English,” he said. “A lot of human resources directors knew how important it was, but not many small business owners — and even our legislators had to be educated about the importance of ABE to workforce development.”

Driving Forces

This broad message is what will be driven home at the Nov. 19 conference, he said, adding that he hopes and expects that what will result is the necessary commitment to what will be an ongoing campaign.

“We need to get people committed to putting their shoulder behind this,” he explained. “This isn’t something you can start and then walk away from … this is a long-term commitment.”

To get this commitment, conference organizers are leaning heavily on Heckman. The Davis Foundation has been working to bring him to the Pioneer Valley for about two years now, said Fuller, adding that she expects his remarks to be well worth the time and expense.

Heckman’s basic message is that investing in disadvantaged youths is good for the economy, and that such investments yield far better results than adolescent and young-adult remediation programs when it comes to lifting people out of poverty.

“It is a rare public policy initiative that promotes fairness and social justice and, at the same time, promotes productivity in the economy and in society at large,” he wrote in the Journal. “Investing in disadvantaged young children is such a policy.”

There will be several other speakers at the conference, said Fuller, including Paul Harrington from the Northeastern University Center for Labor Studies, who will address the status of the region’s workforce, and Dana Mohler-Faria, Gov. Deval Patrick’s education advisor, who will provide insight into the governor’s “Cradle to Careers” initiative and its planned impact on the development of the state’s workforce.

And while the morning-long event is expected to inform attendees, its primary focus is to inspire, said Fuller, who told BusinessWest that involvement from business owners is needed for a number of initiatives — from lobbying for early-childhood education to helping current and future preschool teachers earn college degrees .

Combined, these efforts can work effectively to close what she called the “achievement gap” among children in the region.

“We know how much we’re spending on special-education diagnoses in Springfield, we know how many kids will be involved in the criminal justice system, and we know how many children are going to drop out of high school,” she said. “But we now also know, thanks to research, that we can level the playing field for children, especially disadvantaged children.

“In Holyoke, 47% of the children in the public school system have not experienced early-childhood education,” she continued. “It is very, very difficult to get those kids to the point where they can read at grade level in the third grade. We have an opportunity to close that gap.”

Part of the challenge facing those who have developed the conference and are stressing the link between education and economic development is to convince business owners to invest in something that probably won’t bear fruit for a decade and a half, said Ward, who admitted that this is no small hurdle.

“The mindset in corporate America today has been accused of being too short-sighted … they’re focused on short-term gains, how their stock is doing, and how they’re looking for the next quarter,” he said. “If you say ‘early-childhood education’ to them, they do the math and say, ‘I won’t see any impact out of this for 14 years … I may not even be here in 14 years.’

“This is the kind of knee-jerk reaction that we have to change,” he continued. “Because there are some direct benefits that can be seen. When you reach out to young children today, you’re also reaching out to their parents, many of whom see their children reading and want to be able to read with them.”

Baribeau concurred, and noted that those preaching the importance of education to the future workforce have to be diligent about spreading awareness and gain the commitment needed to turn the tide.

“Everybody, not just the major employers we have in this region, but everybody needs to make this a priority if Massachusetts and the Springfield area are to be successful,” she said.

Class Dismissed

Fuller told BusinessWest that when she talks with business owners and managers about the many ways they can intervene with the education of people of all ages, but especially children, their eyes tend to glaze over, in large part because they don’t see or fully understand the connection between such steps and regional economic development.

“They still tend to look at these as good things they can do, being good corporate citizens,” she explained. “They need to understand that it’s much more than that — we’re talking about the future workforce here. It’s not just doing good.”

Indeed, as Ward said, it’s an economic imperative.

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

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