Page 26 - BusinessWest 2023 40 Under Forty

Jordan Hart
Amid all the physical-therapy practices in the region, Daniel Griffin had a vision for a different approach.
“I wanted to bring a more innovative style to rehabilitation,” he said. “It’s important to look at a
patient’s total health — how they eat, sleep, and how the rest of body moves — then tailor their rehab plan so they can return to the social activities
they enjoy.”
He opened Resilience Physical Therapy
and Wellness in 2019 after completing
his doctoral work in physical therapy at Springfield College and immediately began using evidence-based approaches to physical therapy.
“Our youngest patient is age 6, and our oldest is in their mid-90s,” he said. “Having such a diverse age range is rewarding for us as clinicians.”
Part of his business includes providing physical-therapy services to first responders in several area communities.
“Whether it’s police, firefighters, or military personnel, we understand what they do from
a work standpoint, and we’re just glad to help when they get injured on the job,” he said.
Notably, Griffin and his staff run Resilience’s education program for healthcare students,
encompassing students from high school
through graduate level who are pursuing health careers. The program is designed to take students through
the internship process and show them the day-to-day responsibilities of a physical therapist.
“It’s extremely rewarding to see our high-school students advance to physical therapy or pre-med programs and our undergrad students move into graduate-level training,” he said. “We hire many of our former students. In fact, most of our staff interned with us.”
Griffin said the program can really benefit high-school students by giving them exposure to a health-career pathway, as well as offering interactions for college
and graduate students to better understand their experiences.
“We’ve invested a lot of time and energy to create this program,” he added. “We’re happy to see all our slots booked for the summer, and we look forward to a new group of students in the next school year.”
From the first Resilience location in Agawam, Griffin has expanded to Wilbraham and will open a third practice this summer in Suffield. He’s grateful to all those who have helped him along this successful path.
“In the beginning, I had great mentors who helped me get started,” he said. “We continue to grow because I’ve got a great team that works with me.”
Executive Director, Greater Holyoke Chamber of Commerce: Age 33
Jordan Hart was attending Holyoke Community College and waiting tables at the Yankee Pedlar in Holyoke in early 2013, not really knowing she wanted to do with her life.
She saw an ad for a part-time administrative assistant at the Greater Holyoke Chamber of Commerce, thought about applying, but didn’t, because she thought the
job would interfere with her college schedule. But
a chance conversation with the chamber’s director, Kathy Anderson, when she came to the Pedlar for lunch prompted her to change her mind.
And that decision changed the course of her career.
Indeed, a decade and a few different positions with the chamber later, Hart is now in Anderson’s former role. And she’s not just leading the chamber, but leading it through an aggressive and much-needed change of course.
Under her direction, the chamber has become more responsive and also more inclusive, a place for business owners of all backgrounds, languages, and experiences.
“I worked for a chamber for a long time, and over
the years, I’d seen how businesses had continued to change, but chambers had not changed with business,” she explained. “We weren’t seeing a lot of young entrepreneurs, we were not getting a lot of new members, and we were seeing members drop out because they felt they were not getting value for their membership. And we also weren’t doing much to engage the Latino business community in Holyoke. So I became really motivated to make sure we were a hub for business support and a bridge between Holyoke and its business community.”
Among her many initiatives, Hart has made the
chamber an active part of many events and activities, including Holyoke Pride, the Paper City Food Festival, and the Great Holyoke Brick Race. She has also undertaken
a rebranding, giving the chamber a new, more modern logo.
Meanwhile, she has made the agency more responsive to the needs of solo-preneurs and startups, which are
a huge part of the Holyoke economy, with one-on-one technical assistance available to members free of charge.
Over the years, Jordan herself has become a fixture in Holyoke, lending time and talent to such initiatives as the food festival, the MIFA
Victory Theater Entrepreneurial
Strike Team, the city’s
150th-anniversary celebration,
and the Holyoke Transformative
Development Initiative with
MassDevelopment.
When not doing any of that, she may be found playing softball, rollerskating, or bartending at Brennan’s,
the legendary bar in downtown Holyoke.
In short, Holyoke has become more than a focus;
it’s become a passion.
—George O’Brien
—Mark Morris
A26 2023
BusinessWest
Daniel Griffin
Owner and Clinic Director, Resilience Physical Therapy and Wellness: Age 28