Page 24 - BusinessWest 2023 40 Under Forty

Lucas Giusto
Co-owner, the Naples Group: Age 29
When you ask Lucas Giusto about the secret to success for the Naples Group, he re- sponds, “we always answer the phone.”
As a college student living off campus, Giusto understood that if he owned property and rented it out to friends, he could live for free.
After receiving a business administration degree from Westfield State University, he acted on his initial idea and began buying college rentals in different parts of Western New England.
After gaining more experience by working with several area realty groups, in 2019, he and a business partner founded Naples Group, which consists of three real-estate-related businesses.
Naples Realty Group is a real-estate brokerage with more than 50 agents. Naples Home Buyers specializes in purchasing distressed properties and improving them for resell. Naples Waste Removal, which opened last year, offers property cleanouts and dumpster rentals. In addition to all that, the group has a rental portfolio with 50 available multi-family units and a goal to grow that to 100 by the end of this year.
Giusto takes particular pride in the home-buyers group because it helps people get out of tough situations. “If someone is being foreclosed on or they have property blight they can’t fix, we can offer them a quick sale. If the house is in good shape, we will list it with the realty group so they can get top dollar.”
With homes in short supply, renovating distressed properties can be a real opportunity for
someone looking for a home.
“If our realty group has a potential buyer, we
can help them get into a newly renovated home, sometimes even before it goes on the market,” he explained. “A renovated property is a win for the buyer and the agent.”
Giusto emphasizes mentoring and learning as part of the culture at the Naples Group. “We help our people to hit their goals by teaching them how to flip a house, how to buy a rental property, and even when not to buy a property.”
In the community, he has formed a relationship with Bob “the Bike Man” Charland.
“Bob will often go through a property before we renovate it and find items to donate,” Giusto said. “We enjoy supporting his foundation, Pedal Thru Youth, which provides bicycles for
kids in need.” Giusto also supports several other local efforts, including Empty Arms Bereavement in Northampton.
By renovating distressed and unwanted properties, Giusto gives them new life for new families — and makes Western Mass a better place to live.
—Mark Morris
It wasn’t until late in his undergraduate studies at Westfield State University that Dr. Seth Gemme even thought about having those two letters appear
before his name.
In fact, his initial aspiration was to be a meteorologist — he had an internship with Adam
Strzempko at WWLP while in high school. But he eventually became an EMT, which
brought him into the ER at Baystate Noble, which eventually led to a job there, which
eventually led him to develop a fondness for the ER and the desire to be a doctor in that
setting ... which led him to the University of Buffalo Medical School, where he
graduated first in his class.
That led to a residency at Brown
University, and — here we can fast- forward a little — eventually Gemme
returned to this region and to Baystate Noble Hospital, and then chief of the ED at Baystate Wing Hospital, and now, vice
chair of Clinical Operations in the ED at Baystate Medical Center.
It has a been a fast and quite impressive ascent for Gemme, whose job (more of a
passion, really) involves a mix of clinical work and administrative duties. When he’s not
tending to patients, he’s working to improve processes, reduce wait times, and improve
capacity management.
Like most who choose the ER, he prefers to say it found him, and he notes that he likes everything about it, from the pace of the work to the fact that every day, every hour is different.
“I like helping people at their most vulnerable time, and hopefully being someone who can change a life,” he explained.
He described the pandemic years as difficult and exhausting, with a full range of emotions.
“Initially, we were heroes; it was the first time where people stopped yelling at us and brought us food,” he joked, adding that the COVID years provided learning experiences and opportunites to grow professionally on many levels.
While the ER is the focus of his workday, Gemme has many other priorities and pursuits, starting
with his family — his wife Chelsie and daughters Harlow and Hanna. There’s also his music — he plays guitar and piano and sings, and appears both solo and in an indie folk trio, the Ship and the Shield. Meanwhile, he’s also one of the team physicians for the Springfield Thunderbirds and a board member for Hilltown Ambulance.
Needless to say, he’s instrumental to the health and wellness of people of this region — in every sense of that word.
—George O’Brien
A24 2023
BusinessWest
Dr. Seth Gemme
Vice Chair of Clinical Operations for Emergency Medicine, Baystate Medical Center: Age 37