Page 34 - BusinessWest April 27, 2026

Kate Caligaris
Vice President, Human Resources
Program Management,
Liberty Bank: Age 34
It’s called the Mirror Ball Trophy.
It’s awarded by the organizers of
the Fancy Steps fundraiser, a dance
competition of sorts for the Children’s
Museum at Holyoke, not to the best
dancer — “I would never have gotten it if
that was the case,” Kate Caligaris joked —
but instead to the one who raises the most
money for the institution.
In this case, for the 2025 event, Caligaris
raised more than $15,000 by “getting
creative,” with initiatives that included
everything from celebrity bartending to
soliciting Holyoke businesses for donations.
The trophy (yes, its main feature is a
mirror ball) now sits on Caligaris’s desk
at Liberty Bank, where she serves as vice
president of Human Resources Program
Management. It will soon be joined by a 40
Under Forty plaque, which she has earned
through a combination of excellence in
her day job and a strong commitment to
community, especially in her hometown, and
now her current home — Holyoke.
Her role brings a diverse set of responsibilities,
she said, listing everything from administering the
intern program to system integration initiatives;
from serving as HR business partner for several members of the
bank’s C-suite to overseeing the change to a
new 401(k) provider. “It’s a little bit
of everything, and that’s what I like
about it,” she said.
As for her work in the community, it
includes years of work on the Holyoke
St. Patrick’s Day Parade Committee,
continuing a family tradition that
started with her grandfather. In 2010,
she was named Colleen, and today she
serves as chair of the Colleen Pageant
and oversees all that happens after that
competition.
“I’m with the girls all through the green
season — the school visits, the hospital
visits, chamber breakfast ... you name it,”
she said, adding that she walks beside the
Colleen float on parade day.
Caligaris is also a Board of Health
commissioner in Holyoke, and served for
many years on the board of the Children’s
Museum and remains active with that
institution. She is also co-chair of the
American Cancer Society’s Massachusetts
Golf Classic, which will be staged later this
spring, and sits of the board of Magic for
Maddie, a nonprofit created in honor of
Madeline (Maddie) O’Hare Schmidt, who lost
a courageous battle against pediatric brain
cancer in 2022. Over the past four years, the
agency has raised more than $1.3 million
money for research, but also to assist families
waging their own fight against the disease.
—George O’Brien
Anthony Boido
President, TNT Tent and Table
Rentals: Age 38
Anthony Boido was working for the town
of Agawam in 2012, and also serving in
the U.S. Air Force Reserve — he deployed
three times to Afghanistan and Iraq — when the
local Taylor Rental was going out of business,
which gave him an idea.
Having worked for an event and tent rental
company almost a decade earlier, he borrowed
$1,000 from his parents; bought a couple of used
tents, 10 tables, and 100 chairs; and launched TNT Tent
and Table Rentals.
“I was doing it on the weekends to make a little extra
money,” Boido said. “Over the next few years, it really
took off and started to grow. I wasn’t expecting it to grow
as fast as it did, but I came to a point where I had to make
a decision: ‘this is getting too big. Do I stay at my job, or
do I take it full-time?’ I decided I had to give it a shot.”
That was a wise decision. The company now boasts more
than 150 tents, more than 500 tables, more than 7,000
chairs, and the ability to serve not only backyard parties, but
large events like air shows at Westover Air Reserve Base and
Westfield-Barnes Regional Airport. Last year, he set up 130
tents for the Big E alone.
And he loves every connection he makes.
“When we’re showing up at someone’s house or event
fairgrounds, whether it’s a baby shower, wedding, birthday party,
graduation, it’s usually something meaningful to them, and everyone’s in a
great mood. They’re happy; they’re
telling us all about who’s getting married
or what’s happening. And it makes our
lives, in a blue-collar business, a lot
easier.”
Boido also shares his success with
nonprofits like Shriners Children’s New
England, St. Jude Children’s Research
Hospital, and veterans’ organizations.
“In my first year in business, I called
Shriners and said, ‘I want to give
something to you guys.’ We had a great
first year in business, so we took all our tip
money and donated it to Shriners. It was a
small donation, but it was a great feeling.
I said, ‘I’m going to help out every single
year in every way I can.’ And I’m a veteran, so
helping veterans’ organizations was an easy
thing to get on board with.”
To Boido, it’s about staying true to his
community.
“When you become successful, it’s not just
about take, take, take or make, make, make.
It’s about giving back and helping those who
helped you get to where you are.”
—Joseph Bednar
A12 2026
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