With new growth comes new opportunities, and Joshua Allen Design (JAD) does exactly that with the recent launch of their kitchen cabinetry in 2022 and their mobile app, set to release to the public in Summer 2023.

Established 5 years ago by owner Joshua Allen Halterman, Joshua Allen Design is consistently reaching new heights. Originally a home-staging company, the business grew to the point where interior design started to take over, launching the business into a full-scale interior design firm. The current staff includes 3 full-time designers, a project manager, business manager, and marketing manager.

“I’m proud to say that over the course of five years, we’ve flipped the business on its head and turned it into an interior design-based business for all of central Massachusetts, but New England as well,” said Halterman. The business has designed in, but not limited to: Connecticut, Maine, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts.

“We help bring people’s spaces to life,” he said. “That is our number one goal.”

Designing with the Client in Mind

According to their website, JAD handles everything from kitchen, bathroom, living spaces, remodels, and renovations, and more. Based in Sterling Massachusetts, the business combines transitional style with a modern twist and a unique New England flair. They believe that listening, understanding, and building strong relationships with their clients take priority.

“Our goal is to make the interior design process as easy and as comfortable as possible for our clients, as well as attainable. This is something that I believe in firmly,” Halterman said. “Interior design should be as important as selecting a contractor, or plumber, whenever you are doing something to your home. Everyone should know an interior designer just like everyone knows a plumber or electrician.”

If a client is new to the interior design process, the design team will help to build you a roadmap and be a part of every step of the design process. The process begins with a design consultation, so that they can better understand what the client is looking for, and what their needs and goals are.

“Our goal is to ensure that our clients’ spaces are as unique and as personal as they are. We help them decorate, space plan, build out new rooms and go over architectural layouts and drawings, finishes and tiles, and much, much more,” he said.

The design process is unique to every potential client that JAD encounters, ensuring the full experience and customization that is unique as each individual looking to design their space.

COVID just could not stop JAD

When COVID-19 first arrived in the states, many small business owners were unsure of what to do. There were a lot of questions unanswered for many, and for some businesses, it was detrimental to their success.

“We were still relatively new at the time that COVID came around and were really impacted because our business is client-facing and in the clients’ homes,” Halterman said. And while Joshua Allen Design certainly felt that at the business’ core during a two-month furlough, the interior design firm came back stronger than ever. In fact, they were able to add to the team to provide the highest quality interior design services for their clients.

“We noticed this insane uptick of business out of nowhere. Clients would come to us in need of design because they need to redo their kitchen and have been putting it off for 10 years, and now that they’re staring at it every day, they need to have it done. There was a need for a client to have a comfortable living and working space because they were now stuck in the house all the time,” he said.

Additionally Halterman noted that the JAD team learned a valuable lesson with the importance of mental health as it relates to the design of a space. Having a messy, cluttered space or home that is outdated or worse can impact a person’s clarity of mind.

Most of the interior design firm’s clients are those that are looking to “rehab, refresh, or renovate” – those that just bought a home and are looking to add or update it, or those who have lived in their homes for a handful of years and looking to renovate. And for those clients who are looking to build their own home, JAD eliminates the extra step of coordinating with the contractor and eases the design process to ensure that progress is made the way you want it to be.

While the pandemic was scary for every small business owner, not only in Massachusetts but across the world, Joshua Allen Design benefited from it in the end as clients really wanted to connect with their spaces and make it their own.

New Opportunities Arise for Joshua Allen Design

In 2022, JAD started offering kitchen cabinetry from brand names Starmark Cabinetry and Mantra Cabinets, in addition to their interior design process. You can view the product information on their website here.

“We are proud to be able to offer kitchen design on top of interior design because we are truly a full-service interior design business. A lot of times, kitchen designers will only focus on cabinetry. So, what we do is we marry the two together, and we are thinking about how the bathroom relates to the living room as it relates to the kitchen, and how the flooring goes throughout. That’s a really rare business model to have,” said Halterman.

Additionally, Joshua Allen Design will be releasing their own branded mobile app in Summer 2023. This application will be free to everyone, and is an opportunity to not only grow the business, but also be in touch with clients and potential clients directly.

“What we are trying to do is bring exclusive content to the general masses about interior design – what are the best colors of the month, best pieces of the month, or best deals of the month?” stated Halterman. “Our clients are going to have a better user experience because our designs are presented to them in a client portal designed by us. The client portal will be at their fingertips instead of having to always be on their laptop.”

Rooted in the Local Community

A vital aspect of the Joshua Allen Design values is being rooted in the local community. A portion of all proceeds are donated to the Rise Above Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that responds to the growing need to give youth in foster care opportunities that will give them a sense of normalcy, provide comfort and build self-esteem. By funding individual wishes for requests like prom expenses, soccer registration, and clarinet lessons, Rise Above provides positive experiences for children in foster care.

Halterman himself sits on the Board of Directors for the Rise Above Foundation, and according to their website, JAD donates 100% of their time and expertise multiple times as year to install design projects for youth transitioning from foster homes to their own as they start college and enter adulthood. Last but certainly not least, JAD releases a candle every year in honor of the Rise Above Foundation.

You can learn more about the Rise Above Foundation on their website by clicking here.

Halterman added that they have the North Central Massachusetts Chamber of Commerce to thank for being a part of the business’ growth.

“The North Central Massachusetts Chamber of Commerce has been a great resource because whenever you’re starting a business, it can be really hard to know who to talk to and who to connect with. The marketing opportunities have also been really great because we’ve been featured on their podcast, networking events, and it’s nice to get to know the community. The chamber is really business-oriented and we love that about them.”

If you are looking to refresh or design your space and home, look no further than the Joshua Allen Design team. You can contact JAD on their website, www.joshuaallendesign.com, or by giving them a call 508-901-9919 or emailing them at.

 

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Sterling, MA | Joshua Allen Design | Chamber of Commerce | North Central Massachusetts | North Central Massachusetts Chamber | Chamber Member | Massachusetts Business | Worcester County | Member Spotlight

Any business looking for answers about how to process payments safely and efficiently can look no further than Commonwealth Consulting Group. Headquartered in Worcester, MA, Commonwealth prides itself on being “your partner in the payment industry.”

“Commonwealth Consulting Group was founded in 2010 with a single mission,” said Ilene Holman, account manager, “to ensure every client is processing all forms of electronic payments with the most cost-effective and efficient solutions.”

“For too long, the payment processing industry has benefited from customer confusion,” Ms. Holman explained. “We believe in educating our clients, and we always offer interchange pricing. Our statements are transparent and easy to understand; you’ll always know what your costs are and why.”

Most importantly, Ms. Holman said Commonwealth considers itself a partner in the successful operation and growth of its clients’ business. “We offer free AR cost savings analysis, account reconciliation, online reporting and analysis, virtual terminal gateways, development software, and Level II and Level III pricing options,” she said.

“Unlike some merchant service companies, we’re just getting started after the relationship is established – we’re in it for the long haul. All of this, backed by superior customer service from qualified local representatives is what separates Commonwealth from its competitors.”

Ms. Holman added that she loves doing business in North Central Massachusetts.  “This region is a close-knit, diverse and well-connected business community comprised of many small and medium-sized businesses that rely on the merchant services that we provide,” she said. “This part of the state is also rich in tradition, tourist attractions, and entrepreneurial activity.”

Commonwealth is very involved in giving back to the community that has contributed to its success. “We support a number of youth sports organizations,” Holman noted, “we sponsor several community events throughout the year, and our employees serve on the boards of a number of local organizations.”

As businesses recover from the challenges of the COVID Pandemic, Ms. Holman shared some optimism about the future. “The last two plus years have been challenging for the business community,” she added, “but during the pandemic, we found that many of our relationships were made stronger because we responded to our clients’ need for remote and contactless payments, cash discounting options, and ATMs, all things that made it possible for our clients to adapt to the changed environment.”

“Going forward, those strengthened relationships are generating referrals and continued growth for our company,” she said.

Ms. Holman notes that her team of eight employees “have to be good listeners in order to provide solutions for our customers’ business needs.” She added the staff is “customer-focused, self-motivated, and detail-driven.”  All this is done in a workplace culture which she best describes as “relaxed.”

Commonwealth’s website clearly defines the depths of its services and solutions:

• Credit card and debit processing
• B2B solutions
• PCI compliant software solutions
• Buy Now, Pay Later options
• eCommerce
• Point of service (POS) systems
• Mobile payments
• ATMs & ATM vaulting services
• ACH, EFT, and eChecks
• Terminals, products, and supplies

In addition to its website, Ms. Holman explained that Commonwealth promotes itself through all of the usual channels, including social media, event sponsorships, digital ads on our ATMs, monthly newsletters, and networking opportunities.  “But,” she said, “our best leads come from word of mouth and referrals from satisfied customers.”

In describing Commonwealth’s strongest influences, Ms. Holman said “we’ve always worked to be more customer-focused than our competitors.  So I guess you could say that we have learned what not to do by paying attention to the reasons our customers share for switching to Commonwealth from a competitor.”

 

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Chamber of Commerce | North Central Massachusetts | North Central Massachusetts Chamber | Business Growth | Business Development | Business Technical Assistance | Business Resources | Massachusetts Business Environment | Member Spotlight | Commonwealth Consulting Group

Fresh food, cold beer, a friendly staff and a great location are the main ingredients in the success of the Gardner Ale House, according to owner Rick Walton.

When asked what separates the Gardner Ale House from the competition, he noted “Our food is prepared fresh, not frozen or processed and we make our own beer. Our staff is super friendly and our location in downtown Gardner feels like the center of action – a Main St. kind of feel.”

Founded in 2006, Walton’s popular establishment at 74 Parker St. in Gardner now employs 85 people and is a thriving part of downtown Gardner.  He feels one of the most special aspects of doing business in North Central Massachusetts is that customers don’t have to deal with large crowds or noises of the city.

“Our modest size city is just right for our restaurant and the people in the area; some coming from a bit far away,” he said. “North Central MA is just more laid back. COVID didn’t hit us as hard as it hit the cities because of our lower population density and more spread out living situations.”

Walton noted the Ale House is very involved in many community activities.

“We pretty much involve ourselves in anything going on in the city (Gardner IS a city, by the way.),” he said.  “And the city and it’s organizations come to us for beer, food, donations of gift cards, senior center activities. We pretty much do it all. And we put on the biggest party for the city called Oktoberfest & the Chair Luge. So much fun! The list goes on…”

While COVID may not have hit the Ale House as hard as other establishments, Walton still said it forced them to change how they operate the business.

“Customers are harder to come by so we have to become even more attractive than we already are,” he said. “That means more consistency with food and service. It means tightening our belts, reducing waste even more – getting the most out of every dollar. It means making it easier to get food for takeout. We need to be like the chains with takeout!”

Walton added they are improving lighting, music, furniture. “The whole vibe is nicer,” he said.  “We were forced to take our already excellent restaurant and brewery and make it even better! And it is working, but it is a slow climb. The future looks bright because we are so much better than ever before.”

He also noted the Ale House’s staff is a very important part of why they are even better.  “Everybody in the company is important and listened to. Condescending to another employee just doesn’t happen and is not allowed. We aren’t too serious: The culture is to respect each other, work hard and enjoy your job. We can’t be 100% in this, but we try. It might sound dreamy, but we believe you shouldn’t be in a job you don’t like. So, our culture puts employees first. In that way, customers get the best possible service and experience.”

When he is hiring staff, Walton looks for “honesty, a good work ethic and a willingness to learn.”  “If you can be like that, he said, “we’ll teach you the rest!”

Word of mouth is a critical way for The Ale House” to promote itself.

“We promote ourselves through our community involvement, through Word of Mouth, heavy use of social media and through collaborations like the Brew Barn and Cidery at Red Apple Farm in Phillipston,” Walton added.  “I think Word of Mouth builds our customer base reliably, but social media gets the word out to that base and that is critical.  We also have a rewards program and a newsletter in which I am allowed to be a bit silly.”

Walton said he listens to everyone for ideas.  “We casually take in the competition to see how they do things,” he noted. “We aren’t too proud to borrow! A very big influence is each other. So many people in this company have left their mark on us with ideas, methods and best practices.”

He concluded the biggest influence of The Ale House is the guests’ input.  “Guest feedback is largely positive,” Walton noted, “which gives us the impetus to continue along our way and negative feedback is critical to improving our way forward.”

 

With the onset of the COVID pandemic, many homeowners were forced to stay home or work from home. As a result, they started more home improvement projects. According to the Improving America’s Housing 2021 report from Harvard University, the home remodeling market bounced back quickly since March 2020 – making 2020 the tenth consecutive year of expansion for the improvement industry.

This remodeling market also helped the dumpster rental businesses which ultimately benefited Julie Paradise, owner of Bin There Dump That, located in Fitchburg, Ma. Bin — celebrating 10 years in business in May 2023.

Paradise started the Bin There Dump That franchise when she was laid off from her corporate job. She and her husband decided to take the risk and call something their own. With the help of the North Central Massachusetts Chamber of Commerce – the Paradises started hiring more people and successfully grew their dumpster rental business into the thriving one it is today.

“It was scary at first, but we got to know other Bin There Dump That owners and joined the [North Central Massachusetts] Chamber of Commerce,” said Paradise. “We learned more about business necessities: mechanics behind owning a business, marketing, networking, and more.”

“The [North Central Chamber is great, and everyone there is fabulous,” she added. “You can talk to anyone about anything, and no one would ever say, ‘That’s not my job.’ They know right where to send you, and what direction to send you in. They introduced me to the Small Business Development Center, SCORE mentoring, and more services that I learned about through the Chamber that helped us grow the business over the years.”

Bin There Dump That dumpster rentals are residential-friendly. Most of their dumpsters are sent to people’s homes as homeowners are getting ready to move, renovating their kitchen or bathroom, getting a roof replaced, or just organizing and cleaning up their homes.

“I always like to say, ‘You can’t fit two cars in a one-car garage!’” Paradise laughed.

Bin There Dump That also works closely with contractors, renovators, or roofers to coordinate clean-up for those who working in people’s homes.

“We love working with people who have never rented a dumpster before because they have a lot of questions,” said Paradise. “We love being able to help them out so they can relax about home improvement projects. We provide advice on what to do with recycle items, and we take care of the dumpster placement and taking it away. We want to make sure they know what to expect and can rely on us when renting a dumpster.”

In addition to dumpster rentals for residents, Bin There Dump That provides dumpsters to community programs like Grotonfest, Habitat for Humanity, as well as charitable events like a recent charity golf outing with the team to help support the Boys & Girls Club. In the spring, they provided dumpsters to help raise funds for the Lunenburg Skate Park, currently under construction. Homeowners could fill up their trunks with unwanted items or garbage and pay a certain amount to help raise money for building the skate park.

Paradise praised her Bin There Dump That staff and employees, who all share the same core values — life first, family-oriented, honesty, trustworthy and hard-working.

“We’ve got the best people working for us,” she said. “You can go to our website and see everyone who works here. They’re just a really great group of people; we get together every quarter and do something fun together to celebrate successes. As we like to say, ‘We’re the clean guys in a trashy business!’”

As the dumpster business was contact-free prior to the pandemic, Bin There Dump That still took the necessary safety precautions to protect both their staff and customers. In addition to dumpsters continuously being kept clean, the handles and trucks were wiped down and sanitized before and after every drop off and pick up. PPE was also provided, ensuring that everyone was well-protected in all aspects of dumpster rental.

To learn more about a dumpster rental for your needs, from renovations to a residential clean-out, visit Bin There Dump That’s at www.wachusettdumpsterrental.com, or contact them at 978-582-1176 or .

 

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Chamber of Commerce | North Central Massachusetts | North Central Massachusetts Chamber of Commerce | North Central Massachusetts Development Corporation (NCMDC) | Bin There Dump That | Fitchburg, MA

In August 2017, Sean Kelly, Aaron Birt, and Diran Apelian from Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), combined their expertise and together, formed Solvus Global to bridge the innovation gap through the creation of next-generation technologies.

According to their website’s timeline, Solvus Global built out their first office space and laboratory on Rockdale Street in Worcester back in 2018. CEO Aaron Birt secured their first subcontract award from the Army Research Laboratory (ARL) as a result of the team’s expertise in cold spray and existing partners in the research community, which he established during his days at WPI. In continuation of his PhD dissertation, COO Sean Kelly was able to obtain project funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF).

Starting out with two employees and only a handful of customers to its name; Solvus Global has since expanded their staff, facilities, and customer base.

“Now Solvus [Global] has approximately forty employees across Central Massachusetts. And we recently opened our new 32,000 sq. ft. Manufacturing site in Leominster.”

At Solvus, employees harness the power of a creative and multi-disciplinary team to develop and commercialize next-generation technology in the materials and advanced manufacturing sector.

“Solvus [Global] exists to solve technological problems that are impactful on society, the environment, and everything in between. We aim to solve the most prevalent problem at the right time with the right team,” said Kelly.

The intuitive company has a current model that houses multiple business units within Solvus to assist with bridging the gap between material consumption and production, in a sustainable way. The goal is to transition each unit to become its own standalone entity. Commercialization of these brands is not far from reality.

Solvus Global business solutions include but are not limited to:

• Powders On Demand – Quality-controlled, inertly packaged metal powders for cold spray repair and additive manufacturing
• Build It Gigantic (B.I.G.) – Cost-effective additive manufacturing of large specialty material parts utilizing techniques
• Kinetic Batteries – 3D printed solid-state Lithium-ion batteries for dense energy storage with custom-fit electrode cells
• Augmented Process Ecosystem for X (APEX) – Manufacturing Intelligence for advanced manufacturing processes that coalesces data from OEM equipment, advanced sensors, process models to one place
• VALIS – Machine learning model for optimized non-ferrous metal scrap sortation with real-time adaptive algorithms to maximize the value of recycling

For the future, Solvus Global will continue to develop business enterprise units to serve as multi-faceted solutions for the greater community. In adaptation to the ever-evolving world, Solvus tailors each solution to support the marketplace for many years to come.

Keeping up with the fast-pace COVID-19 pandemic landscape, Solvus has taken on a hybrid working model to prepare for the “new normal.”

Kelly stated, “We’re flexible. We’ve done our homework – complying to the regulations and recommendations from the CDC and the state of Massachusetts. With our 3 locations and remote option, we tell our employees to work where it makes the most sense at the current moment based on their workload and projects.”

He also added that it was important to stay informed on current COVID-19 procedures and guidelines, as health and safety is a top priority for Solvus employees and families. They have also created a COVID council so that the company has eyes and ears on the situation at all times.

In April 2021, Solvus Global became a new member of the North Central Massachusetts Chamber of Commerce. Solvus immediately saw the local impact of joining the Chamber with their expansion to Nashua Street in Leominster amid the pandemic.

“From top to bottom, members’ interests and needs are consistently at the [North Central] Chamber’s forefront,” Kelly said. “Everyone is always willing to help and there are plenty of opportunities to network.

“The [North Central] Chamber [of Commerce] puts their members first. They don’t just say it, they act on it,” he added.

While Solvus Global is coming up on their four-year anniversary in August, the business is looking to grow and hire more dedicated employees, both full-time and part-time.

“We’re looking to deliver more powder products and continue software testing than ever before,” said Nicole Boyson, Marketing Manager. “We are progressing toward additional funding opportunities and getting into the industries to make our mark in the world.”

Solvus Global looks to a bright future ahead of them with innovative technology at their side.

“We’re only as strong as the individuals we have on our team,” Kelly stated. “Each and every person matters from the most recent to the most senior hires.. Bottom line: Curating the right team sets us up for success.”

To learn more about Solvus Global and their solutions, or to inquire about a potential job or partnership opportunity, visit their website at www.solvusglobal.com or email them at .