Page 31 - BusinessWest February 17, 2025

Photo by Bob Zemba, Simple Truth Imaging
BusinessWest
DifferenceMA ERS
FEBRUARY 17, 2025 DM13
Andrea
She Thrives
by Bringing People Together to Cultivate Community
EBy George O’Brien [email protected]
arly in life, and then as she started her ca- reer, Andrea Bordenca had no real desire to work within, let alone manage, the business started by her father, DESCO, a healthcare emergency field-service response organiza-
tion.
“I said, ‘it’s your thing, dad, but I don’t know if it’s
my thing,’” she recalled, adding that she did work for the company in various capacities in her youth, but began working professionally as a technical writer and later handled marketing for her husband, an artist specializing in murals.
But things changed when her father got sick with kidney cancer.
“I thought it was something I needed to do to help my parents ... and I eventually fell in love with it,” said Bordenca, who joined her mother, a nurse practitioner, in managing the venture, taking the role of president. Over the past 20 years, Bordenca, now CEO and chairperson, has expanded its services from laboratories to hospitals, surgery centers, clinics, restaurants, and hotels, taking sales from
$4 million to $10 million while greatly improving profitability as well.
But her success in growing the company and taking it the next level is not why she has been named a Difference Maker for 2025, although it’s certainly part of her inspiring story.
Instead, it’s what she’s done at the space that ... well, also serves as DESCO’s headquarters, at 200 Venture Way in Hadley.
There, she has created what she calls the Venture Way Collaborative, with the emphasis on the
last word in that title. There, she brings together diverse voices and provides both the physical space and positive environment for people to grow and achieve something she never felt growing up — a sense of belonging.
“I thrive when people of all ages, races, and genders are in dialogue together,” said Bordenca, a self-described entrepreneur, executive coach, and youth and adult leadership educator. “And I believe that the only way toward systemic change is by bringing all community stakeholders together to create change together.
“In my leadership and coaching, I work with people to develop a grounded and powerful presence rooted in what drives them,” she went on. “This starts with creating awareness of how people see themselves. That awareness then creates choice to move differently in the world. The root of all these conversations is care. What are we taking care of? What needs more care? A common missing piece in the leaders, parents, and kids I work with is ourselves.”
She does this at Venture Way Collaborative, which she described as far more than space that can be rented for events, team-building exercises, community gatherings, nonprofit fundraisers, and yoga classes — although it is that, too.
Bordenca
CEO, DESCO Service