Page 13 - 2020 BusinessWest Difference Makers Program
P. 13

IBy George O’Brien
ra Bryck started working in his family’s
business — Barasch’s, a store on Long
Island selling children’s clothes — when he was 5, and continued putting in hours there on weekends, after school, and during the summer through his col- lege years.
He has a lot of memories from those days, including the fact that he generally had more money in his pocket than
his friends because he was gainfully employed — even in middle school.
But he also remembers something
his father — and boss; a tough boss at that — told him. Something that gnawed away at him in some respects and stayed with him as he embarked on a career path he probably couldn’t have imagined while he was folding jeans and T-shirts, one that has made him a Difference Maker.
“He told me when I was a little kid,
‘if all else fails, there’s always the family business,’” Bryck recalled. “And I took that to mean, ‘if you’re a failure, you can come work with me.’ It took a long time — several years, in fact — for me
C
to realize that this did not mean I was a failure.”
Years later, his father’s line worked
its way into a play Bryck wrote called
A Tough Nut to Crack, a title chosen
to reflect his father’s toughness and
the difficulty of meeting monthly sales targets at the clothing store. Thus,
it became one of the intriguing and imaginative methods Bryck has used
for convincing those who became members of the UMass Family Business Center (now the Family Business Center of Pioneer Valley) that, like him, they weren’t failures if they joined the family enterprise.
Of course, there were other times when he helped individuals come to the realization that being part of the family business wasn’t the best idea, and that they should be doing something else. Anything else.
Bryck is a Difference Maker not simply because of this frank talk and his ability to help those in family businesses see the light — whatever that might mean to them — but because he’s helped people become better business owners and managers and become more
comfortable handling all the frank talk that accompanies those roles.
Indeed, to say that Bryck’s unique style has resonated with those he’s worked with in family businesses
would be an understatement, as is made clear by comments from some members we spoke with. They refer to him as a ‘communicator,’ ‘connector,’ ‘facilitator,’ and even ‘entertainer.’ And they use adjectives such as ‘determined,’ ‘assertive,’ and ‘direct’ to indicate how he approaches his work.
“He has an approachable and entertaining and positive way to talk about many issues, even when they can be tense or controversial,” said Kari Diamond, third-generation partner of Astro Chemical, the East Longmeadow- based company led by not one but two families. “He has a way of lightening things up so you’re comfortable talking about them. He makes it fun; he makes it interesting.”
Those sentiments make it clear why he’s been chosen as one of BusinessWest’s Difference Makers for 2020.
  ongratulations!
2020 BUSINESSWEST DIFFERENCE MAKERS
Balise would like to congratulate all of the 2020 Difference Makers for their contributions to our Western Massachusetts community. We thank you for all that you do for the region.
      Monte Belmonte
Founder, Monte’s March; Program Director and Morning Show Host, 93.9 the River
Dianne Fuller Doherty
Co-Founder of The Women’s Fund of Western Massachusetts; Former Regional Director, Massachusetts Small Business Development Center Network (MSBDC)
Ira Bryck
Founder, Family Business Center of Pioneer Valley
Ronald (Ronn) Johnson
President, Martin Luther King Jr. Family Services
Sandy Cassanelli
CEO, Greeno Packaging & Maintenance Supplies; Founder, Breast Friends Fund
Steve Lowell
President & CEO, Monson Savings Bank
Rick’s Place
In memory of Rick Thorpe
baliseauto.com
You’ll do better at Balise®.
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