Page 69 - BusinessWest October 28, 2024

AGENDA>> Super 60 Luncheon
Nov. 8: The Springfield Regional Chamber (SRC) announced the 2024 winners of its annual Super 60 awards program, honoring 60 businesses and nonprofits across five distinct categories. (They
are detailed on page 23 of this issue.) They will be celebrated at a luncheon at the MassMutual Center in Springfield. The keynote speaker will be Tania Barber, president and CEO of Caring Health Center, which, under her guidance, operates five primary- care sites across the region, employing 266 profes- sionals who provide healthcare services to about 28,000 patients. Super 60 sponsors include Health New England, WWLP-22 News, Stand Out Truck, Florence Bank, Keiter Corp., the Republican, and Pay- locity. Visit springfieldregionalchamber.com to reserve
a seat.
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Food Drive for Margaret’s Pantry
Nov. 11-15: The Wealth Transition Collective, a financial-planning firm out of Holyoke, will host
its fourth annual weeklong food drive to benefit Margaret’s Pantry in Holyoke in honor of National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week. Since the start of this event, it has raised more than 4,000 pounds of food and more than $7,500 in monetary donations. Individuals can drop off non-perishable and canned foods during business hours (Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.) at the Wealth Transition Collective office at 1632 Northampton St., Holyoke. Weather permitting, there will be a drop-off table outside the front door for easy accessibility. Some of the most-needed items at the pantry during
this time of year are stuffing mixes; canned goods like gravy, soups, and stews; baking mixes; frost- ing; syrup; salad dressing; condiments; Jell-O; and kids’ snack items. Margaret’s Pantry, a division of
on the endgame. He noted that the poor Leapfrog score was a “gut punch” for the system, one that doesn’t reflect the work being done and the quality of talent within the Baystate family of hospitals.
“Still, it’s a grade, and it’s how we’re being graded; I said we’re going to be an ‘A’ organization — everyone wants to work for an ‘A,’ said Banko, who said he also serves as ‘chief culture officer’ for Baystate Health, and in that role it’s his job to set a tone and generate optimism for the system moving forward.
“The light at the end of the tunnel can’t be another train coming — it has to be something better,” he
“I can see a vibrant downtown in Ludlow,” he added. “We have a lot of beautiful residential areas, particularly in the mountains and certainly closer to downtown as well. The clocktower so iconic. I remem- ber, before I started here, coming over the bridge to go to Randall’s and looking to the right and seeing the clock tower. It just made you feel like you had arrived someplace. Now we have corporate resources that are
Providence Ministries for the Needy, is a full-service food pantry that has provided food to residents of Greater Holyoke for more than 30 years. Presently, the pantry provides food to more than 180 families each month, and approximately 72,000 meals a year are distributed to the needy in the community.
Women of Impact Gala
Dec. 5: BusinessWest will celebrate its seventh annual Women of Impact cohort at Sheraton Springfield Monarch Place Hotel. The 2024 Women of Impact are profiled in this issue of BusinessWest and at businesswest.com. Tickets cost $95 per person, and tables of 10 are available. To purchase tickets, visit www.businesswest.com/women-of-impact-tickets. The presenting sponsors are Country Bank and Tom- myCar Auto Group, and Cooley Dickinson Hospital is a partner sponsor. Sponsorship opportunities are still available.
noted. “We’ve got a really nice picture of being able to grow the organization and invest a significant amount of money over the next six years if and when we do the plan.
“We don’t have to sell to someone, we don’t have to turn over the keys, we’re not in the same situation as Steward,” he said, referencing the Texas-based health system that filed for bankruptcy in May and has closed several hospitals, including two facilities in the Bay State. “We have a clear path, and if we execute on the path, we’re going to be healthy and growing and thriving for the next 140 years.” BW
putting money into the area.
“I’m really excited about what the downtown could
be,” Strange went on. “I feel like, if we can complete the downtown and update it, revitalize it, and make it exciting, it’s really going to make a difference for Lud- low. That’s my focus.” BW
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Baystate
on Chestnut Street, Banko said that, somewhere, there’s a book on turn-arounds he read earlier in his career.
He doesn’t have to reread it because he’s lived through many of them now, and also because it isn’t exactly rocket science. It’s about fundamentals, execu- tion, and “not relying on luck,” he noted. “For me, what’s more important than what you do is how you do it.”
Elaborating, he said one key is maintaining morale and getting buy-in on the strategic plan that is devel- oped. This comes through transparency and focusing
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Ludlow
footprint. Meanwhile, the clock tower in Mill 8 com- pleted its renovation this year.
“Every single year there’s something. There’s always cranes and activity down there. It’s exciting, and I think it gets people excited about the future,” Strange said, noting that the new residential units are for age 55 and up, and there is a great need for that kind of housing locally.
BusinessWest: 413.781.8600
Kate Campiti: 413.478.7017
Kathleen Plante: 413.896.9485
BusinessWest
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