Page 10 - BusinessWest May 1, 2023

EDITORIAL >>
Saluting the Region’s Rising Stars
Inspiring.
There are many adjectives one can use to describe the members of the 40 Under Forty class of 2023 and their
many — and varied — accomplishments. But ‘inspiring’ prob- ably works best, and for a reason.
This was one of the main motivations for BusinessWest to start this recognition program in 2007. The goal was not to simply identify 40 rising stars each spring, but to inspire oth- ers by telling their stories, which are all different, but similar in that they chronicle success in the honorees’ chosen fields, but also strong involvement in the community.
These stories are impressive, but it is our hope, and our expectation, that they will inspire others to want to follow suit.
Let’s look at a few of these stories so you can see what we mean:
There’s Ashley LeBlanc, who told BusinessWest that it seems strange to be happy when someone is diagnosed with lung cancer. But she is, in some ways, because that diagno- sis, especially if it comes early, can be one that saves a life. And helping to save and prolong life has become a kind of unofficial job description for her as nurse practice manager of Thoracic Surgery and nursing director of the Lung Cancer Screening Program at Mercy Medical Center in Springfield.
There’s Dave Fontaine Jr., who has not only taken his fam- ily’s business, the construction firm Fontaine Bros. Inc., to new and much higher levels in terms of sales, staff, and even a ranking as one of the Boston Globe’s “Top Places to Work.” He has also become a serial entrepreneur of note as presi- dent of F2 Ventures, and taken his company and his family to a new level of involvement in the community. Indeed, collec-
OPINION >>
tively, they support everything from Link to Libraries to the Forest Park Zoo to the Sr. Mary Caritas Cancer Center.
There’s also Chelsea Russell, manager and CPA at Mey- ers Brothers Kalicka. She has quickly become a leader and mentor at the company, and has also developed its Com- munity Outreach program, which coordinates drives, aware- ness campaigns, and services for organizations that include Square One, the United Way of Pioneer Valley, Christina’s House, Rachel’s Table, and many others.
There’s Andrew Brow, the restaurateur who has grown his portfolio to three eateries in Western Mass. — HighBrow Woodfired Kitchen and Bar, the Kitchen by HighBrow at White Lion Brewing Co., and Jackalope Restaurant — while also becoming quite active in the community, serving on boards at Smith Vocational and Agricultural High School and Holyoke Community College, and using his talents in the kitchen to support a number of area nonprofits.
Then there’s Delmarina Lopez, who started a career in law and still uses her legal talents to help small business owners as a consultant. But she wanted to do something more meaningful with her time and energy, so she ran for, and won, a seat on Chicopee’s City Council as its Ward 3 representative.
There are 35 more stories like this, starting on page A8. Each is one is different, inspiring, and uplifting.
This is what we had in mind 16 years ago when we took an idea — to shine a bright light on the young talent in this region — and made it reality.
Like the 680 stories we’ve told, including the 40 this year, this program, and the way it has inspired others, is some- thing worth celebrating. BW
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Recognizing the Need to Compete
Amid some very concerning trends on outmigration — more than 110,000 people have left the Bay State for
... well, somewhere else since early 2020 — Massachu- setts House leaders have unveiled a tax-relief plan they believe will improve the state’s overall competitiveness.
The plan, which echoes much of what Gov. Maura Healey proposed in her own tax plan, would, among other things:
• Raise the estate-tax threshold from $1 million to $2 mil- lion and tax only the value of an estate that exceeds $2 mil- lion, and not the entire estate, as the law currently requires;
• Cut the rate on short-term capital gains from 12% to 5% in two years. During the first year, short-term capital gains would be taxed at 8%;
• Change how state corporate taxes are calculated to what is known as the ‘single sales factor,’ to line up with how most states tax companies now;
• Expand tax credits for seniors and renters; and
• Combine two existing tax credits — childcare and depen- dent care — to create one $600 credit per dependent, while eliminating the current cap.
The Senate has yet to release its tax plan, and there will be considerable debate before one plan — if there is one — eventually emerges.
But the House plan is cause for optimism in the Bay
State. It shows that the chamber’s leaders get it when it comes to outmigration and the many ways in which this ongoing exodus is impacting the state and its business community.
This plan recognizes the need for Massachusetts to be able to compete for talent and then retain it, whether the employer is MassMutual, the University of Massachusetts, or even the New England Patriots.
The outmigration, as we’ve noted many times before, is a strong indicator that this state has become too expensive, both for individuals and the corporations that hire them.
There are many factors that go into this equation, includ- ing the skyrocketing cost of living, especiallly when it comes to housing. This is a problem that was many years in the making, and it will take many more years, and strong efforts to create more housing worthy of that adjective ‘affordable,’ before we can see any kind of relief.
But there are things this state can and should do now, such as raising the estate-tax threshold and cutting the rates on short-term capital gains, that can have more immediate results when it comes to making the state more competitive.
It is time to stem the tide, and this proposal is a step in that direction. BW
10 MAY 1, 2023
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