Page 75 - BusinessWest August 22, 2022

Trader Joe’s Employees in Hadley Approve Chain’s First Labor Union
HADLEY — Employees at Trader Joe’s in Hadley have become the chain’s first store to approve a labor union. The union vote passed 45-31. “This victory
is historic, but not a surprise. Since the moment we announced our campaign, a majority of the crew have enthusiastically supported our union, and despite the company’s best efforts to bust us, our majority has never wavered,” Trader Joe’s United said in a statement. “We are incredibly proud of the work we have done together to win this union election, but winning is just the beginning. We now begin the difficult work of sitting down at the negotiating table as equals with our employer and securing a contract that will benefit and protect us, the crew, instead of the company’s bottom line.”
Tech Foundry Awarded $72,547
Tech Talent Diversity Grant
BOSTON — Housing and Economic Development Secretary Mike Kennealy recently announced three new grants from the Commonwealth’s Tech Tal-
ent Diversity Initiative, an effort aimed at boosting diversity hiring and training opportunities for diverse candidates. The three grants, totaling $494,947, were awarded to Tech Foundry in Springfield, Hack.Diver- sity in Boston, and Benjamin Franklin Cummings Institute of Technology in Boston. Tech Foundry
was founded in 2014 by Pioneer Valley tech employ- ers and other workforce, business, education, and economic-development stakeholders to address the regional skills gap in information technology and drive regional economic growth. The organization offers training programs aimed at filling entry-level IT roles and provides training that is tailored to the needs of partner employers, including a work-experi- ence component where students are placed in a posi- tion at a local employer. Tech Foundry’s $72,547 grant award will be used to assist employer partners’ ability to host students, primarily in the Pioneer Valley, for hands-on training, by creating a new platform called Tech Foundry Ventures to host two new programs, including the development of a virtual IT technician- training environment, working with employer part- ners to create a tool where students will face similar scenarios to those seen on the job, allowing them to practice the skills they have learned in the classroom without the stakes of serving real-world clients; and the launch of a service-learning initiative where stu- dents will work with community organizations that cannot afford to utilize commercial services, provid- ing similar IT services to those provided by employer partners. The expanded tools will allow Tech Foundry to train as many as 150 additional students per year, three times its existing number.
People
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bankESB recently promoted Karen DeMaio to assis-
tant vice president, IRA and Operations Risk Man- agement. DeMaio joined bankESB in 2006 as an IRA specialist and was promoted to IRA and Deposit Services officer in 2014. She is responsible for IRA services, vendor management, business-continuity planning, and insurance for the Hometown Finan- cial Group family of banks, which includes bank- ESB, bankHometown, and Abington Bank. Prior to bankESB, DeMaio served as senior Marketing analyst at Friendly Ice Cream Corp. and as senior auditor
at KPMG Peat Marwick. She earned her bachelor’s degree in accounting from Western New England Col-
Chase Bank to Open First Springfield Branch
SPRINGFIELD — Chase Bank plans to open its first Springfield branch next year at 1391 Main St. in downtown Springfield. There are plans to add at
least three more locations in the Greater Springfield area over the next few years. The expansion is part of the bank’s recently announced plans to more than double its presence in Massachusetts by 2025. The firm opened its first Massachusetts branch in Boston in 2018 and now has 36 statewide. Beyond Spring- field, Chase will open its first branch in Worcester next month. “Springfield is a great city with a rich economic, cultural, and educational environment, which makes it an ideal place for Chase to grow,” said Ali Zaidi, Chase’s market director for Springfield and Worcester. “Our goal is to help the commu-
nity and support our customers during their
most important moments.” This first branch
will be about 3,000 square feet in size and fea-
ture modern, bright designs with comfortable meeting areas and state-of-the-art banking technology. A dedicated Chase Private Client team will provide premium banking services, personalized attention, and access to the expertise and investment capabilities of J.P. Morgan to help families reach their goals. Customers may also meet with financial and home-lending advisors and business-banking rela- tionship managers. “Branches are critically impor- tant to our customers, but our mission goes beyond service and convenience,” said Jennifer Piepszak, co-CEO of Chase Consumer & Community Banking for JPMorgan Chase. “We’re hiring locally, investing in the community, and bringing all the benefits our firm has to offer to drive economic growth.”
Baystate Medical Center, Roca
Create Violence-intervention Program
SPRINGFIELD — Baystate Medical Center and Roca Springfield are launching a first-in-the-region hospi- tal-based violence-intervention program called Better Tomorrow to serve as a vital public-health response to violence in local communities. Funded with a $1 million U.S. Department of Justice grant through the Byrne Criminal Justice Innovation Program, the joint effort will combine medical staff and community- based service providers to intervene with victims
of violence in hospital settings, connect them with community services, and reduce further victimiza- tion and violent behaviors. Hospital-based violence- intervention programs are multi-disciplinary teams designed to identify patients who are at risk of repeat violent injury and connect them with hospital- and community-based resources to help address under- lying risk factors for violence. Research shows that
lege, completed the certified public accounting exam, and earned her Certified IRA Services Professional designation. She currently serves as vice chairperson for the town of Southwick Finance Committee and is a board member of Westfield Credit for Life.
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American Eagle Financial Credit Union (AEFCU)
announced the appointment of Ashley Rollins as vice president of Consumer Lending. In her new role, Rollins will focus on all aspects of lending, including consumer and real-estate originations, collections, process improvement, automation, and loan report- ing. Rollins assumes her new role at AEFCU with more than 11 years of experience in financial-services operations, quality control, and consumer loan prod-
these programs reduce repeat victimization and criminal-justice involvement while also decreasing healthcare and other costs associated with violence. They improve quality of life for patients by address- ing disparities in access to healthcare, transportation, case management, and a range of other social deter- minants of health.
Elm Electrical Creates Program to
Educate Teens on Electrical Careers
WESTFIELD — Elm Electrical has created a new program for high-school students interested in the electrical field. The students, in grades 10-12, were recommended by their teachers or Elm employees to attend this free, four-day training seminar. These pro- spective co-op students, or Elm Futures, were then
Company Notebook
invited to join Elm educators learn new skills as well as showcase their own talents at the First Steps Train- ing Seminar. Monday through Wednesday, students receive instruction and training in the state-of-the-art Elm University multi-media classrooms and hands- on lab. Thursday, the final day, is Challenge Day, when students apply what they’ve learned and com- plete a project board challenge. Elm project manag- ers are invited to evaluate their work, offer feedback, and get to know the students. Three sessions have been held this summer. The Elm University class- rooms and lab are used year-round as Elm’s in-house training facility. Employees who want to become licensed electricians can opt into the company’s four- year apprentice program. They can work their jobs Monday through Thursday and then, every other Fri- day, attend school at Elm University for free.
Rocky’s Ace Hardware Named Presale Ticket Partner for Eastern States Exposition
WEST SPRINGFIELD — Eastern States Exposition (ESE), home of the Big E, announced a new partner- ship, naming Rocky’s Ace Hardware an official pre- sale partner of the Big E. Through this partnership, Rocky’s and ESE have joined together to utilize a locally owned platform in selling tickets to the 2022 Big E. ESE and Rocky’s have developed a ticketing initiative that will allow fairgoers to purchase 2022 advance discount tickets, advance pay-one-price Midway Magic passes, value passes, and Big E Arena concert tickets through the Rocky’s mobile circular digital app and at www.rockys.com.
ucts. She most recently served as Loan Administration officer for Justice Federal Credit Union in Washington, D.C. She earned certificates from the National Assoc. of Federally Insured Credit Unions Management and Leadership Institute and the Harvard Business School Leadership Academy, as well as
a Yellow Belt certification from Lean Six Sigma. Dur- ing her time in the D.C. region, she volunteered at the Central Virginia Food Bank and taught financial-liter- acy classes at Richmond, Va. elementary schools.
ASHLEY ROLLINS
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