Page 67 - BusinessWest February 17, 2021

Bay Path Recognized for Supporting Students Throughout Pandemic
LONGMEADOW — Bay Path University announce
it was selected as a winner of the Virtual Innova-
tion Awards: Excellence in Delivering Virtual Student Services hosted by NASPA – Student Affairs Admin- istrators in Higher Education. Bay Path is among 10 schools recognized across the nation for exemplary virtual student support services, and one of only three schools to receive the top award of $50,000.
The award highlights the effectiveness of the work being done to support both Bay Path’s traditional undergraduates and adult students enrolled in its online undergraduate degree program, the Ameri- can Women’s College. These best practices will serve as case studies to inform the field at large. As Bay Path’s online program for adult women, the American Women’s College has been continually developing and enhancing its virtual support services since 2013. At the onset of the pandemic, university staff were able to put these supports into overdrive to ensure campus-based undergraduate students could easily access services despite the abrupt move to remote. Some of the virtual services that have allowed Bay Path University to be responsive to its diverse student body, whether in person or online, include a virtual career-services hub; UWill, a telecounseling service; and Tutor.com, which provides access to online tutor- ing services 24/7. Similarly, programming related to orientation, peer-to-peer engagement, community building, and multi-cultural affairs was provided by a support team that was able to quickly pivot to virtual platforms and social-media tools.
STCC to Reinstate Five Programs
SPRINGFIELD — Springfield Technical Community College (STCC) will restore five programs that were discontinued last year in response to projected bud- get shortfalls brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. The STCC board of trustees voted to support biomed- ical engineering technology, biotechnology, civil engi- neering technology, dental assisting, and landscape design and management. STCC President John Cook said the college will work to rein-
Focused on helping to connect people with the right job opportunities, United Personnel Services received satisfaction scores of 9 or 10 out of 10 from 90.9%
of clients and 78% of placed job candidates, signifi- cantly higher than industry averages. These ratings led to United Personnel’s fourth consecutive year
of recognition as a Best of Staffing company from ClearlyRated.
People
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Sullivan is
Holyoke-based Startup Aims to Spark Non-alcoholic Beer Revolution
HOLYOKE — New to the beer and brewing industry, Ezra Bleau is introducing his business, Na Brews, with the launch of a Kickstarter campaign, “Na Brews (Nah Brooz) – Craft Beer for All People, for All Occa- sions.” This campaign will raise money for his mobile de-alcoholization production plan, increasing access to social, healthy alternatives nationwide. The main draw of the campaign is a $20 pledge to be part of
the “world’s largest non-alcoholic beer collaboration, which he intends to do during a livestreamed interac- tive event with his brewer. The company has been in contact with the Guinness Book of World Records and is working on certifying the event. Participants will
be a part of this new craft beer every step of the way, selecting everything from style, grains, and hops to
Notebook
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at CFGI, the nation’s largest non-audit business-advi- sory firm, and later Cloudant, an IBM company. He joined Pioneer in 2017, serving on the executive team in his most recent position as chief financial officer and controller. McMahon is an active member of his community, serving as a mentor for EforAll, a non- profit that partners with communities nationwide to help under-represented individuals successfully start a business. He is a CPA and graduate of Bentley Uni- versity in Waltham.
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Berkshire Hills Bancorp Inc., the parent company
of Berkshire Bank, announced that the joint board of directors of the company and the bank has appointed Nitin Mhatre as president and CEO of the company and CEO of the bank, effective Jan. 29. Mhatre will also serve as a member of the board. Sean Gray, who has served as acting CEO since Aug. 10, has been
and will continue to be president and chief operat- ing officer of the bank. Mhatre is a senior banking executive with 25 years of community and global banking experience. Most recently, as executive vice president, Community Banking at Webster Bank, he was a member of Webster’s executive team and led its consumer and business banking businesses. In this role, he was responsible for profitable growth of the Community Banking segment at the $31 billion bank and led a diverse team of more than 1,500 employees. Previously, he spent more than 13 years at Citi Group in various leadership roles across consumer-related businesses globally. Mhatre served on the board of the Consumer Bankers Assoc., headquartered in Washington, D.C., since 2014 and was chairman of the board from 2019 to 2020. He also serves on the board of Junior Achievement of Southwest New Eng- land, headquartered in Hartford, Conn.
lead faculty for the Occupational Therapy doctorate program at
American International College. As an occupational therapist and educator, she has dedicated her 27-year career to improving the lives of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities across
the lifespan, working in day-habilitation services, school-based occupational therapy, and residential settings. She is the chair of the MAOT Western Mas- sachusetts Mental Health Special Interest Group, a certified group-exercise and yoga instructor, and the co-founder and leader of #OTalk2US, a Twitter chat for occupational therapists with tens of millions of views of tweets carrying this tag. Sullivan earned a bachelor’s degree in fine arts from Amherst College, a master’s degree in occupational therapy from Spring- field College, and a doctorate in occupational therapy from Temple University. She currently volunteers
as an advisory board member for Lighthouse and a board member and social media committee chair for Allen Cognitive Network, and serves on the human rights committee for Viability.
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Robinson Donovan, P.C., a full- service law firm, announced it has named attorney Katherine Amato a partner in the firm. Amato focuses her practice
on all aspects of family law, including divorce; custody; representing children, parents, and guardians in guardianship of minors proceedings; and
appellate work. She received her law degree from Northeastern University School of Law after complet- ing a bachelor’s degree at Springfield College. She was selected to the Massachusetts Rising Stars list by
state programs after open, transpar-
ent, and public conversations with
college stakeholders about needs
and resources. In June, the college
announced the discontinuation of
seven programs as part of a broad set of cost-saving measures. Trustees established a committee to exam- ine these programs, including costs, enrollment, facilities and equipment needs, and to consider ques- tions of sustainability. Beyond the five programs, at a future time, trustees will continue the examination of two programs: automotive technology and cosmetol- ogy. STCC will work to relaunch the five programs in fall 2021, and the gross annual operating cost of these programs is approximately $500,000.
United Personnel Services Wins ClearlyRated’s Best of Staffing Award
SPRINGFIELD — United Personnel Services was recently honored in the Best of Staffing Client, Employee, and Talent Awards from ClearlyRated, in recognition of high levels of satisfaction from cus- tomers, job seekers, and employees. Winners have proven to be industry leaders in service quality based entirely on ratings provided by their clients and staff.
Super Lawyers in 2018-20, and is a member of the BusinessWest 40 Under Forty class of 2016.
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Western New England University (WNEU)
announced that Dr. John Pezzuto, dean of the Col- lege of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, has been rec- ognized in Stanford University’s recently released list of “Top 2% of Scientists in the World.” The list names an elite group of scientists with criteria based on the citation impact of their publications. In the overall category of career impact, Pezzuto is ranked in the top 4% of the top 2% of scientists. His placement is even more remarkable in the discipline-specific rank- ing of medicinal and biomolecular chemistry, where he is placed 21st among 80,622 researchers in that field — the top 0.02% of the top 2%. Pezzuto joined Western New England University in August 2020 as professor and dean. Over the years, he has investigat- ed natural products as drugs, with special emphasis on cancer therapy and prevention. He is well-known for his pioneering work concerning resveratrol, a component of grapes and grape products, that has been shown to mediate a raft of biological responses. His work on investigating the effect of grapes on health and longevity continues at WNEU.
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Pioneer Cold Logistics Services named Joseph
McMahon executive vice president. He will be responsible for managing all aspects of the com- pany’s operations as it continues to build upon Pioneer’s 70-year history of providing cold-chain warehouse and logistic service to food producers marketing in the Northeast. McMahon has 20 years of corporate experience in increasingly impactful roles. He began his career as an auditor at State Street Bank and furthered his accounting skills with Pricewater- house Coopers. He expanded his executive skill set at Bain & Co. before accepting management positions
Company Notebook
KATHERINE AMATO
DEPARTMENTS
FEBRUARY 17, 2021 67
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