FITCHBURG, Ma., April 30, 2020 – Workers Credit Union is pleased to announce it has donated more than $31,000 to area organizations during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Charitable giving is an important part of our culture at Workers and it is crucial that we continue to support our local organizations. There is more need than ever for us to stand together and support our most vulnerable members of our community” said Doug Petersen, president and CEO of Workers Credit Union. “Needs for services do not end because we are staying at home. I hope other businesses in the area who can donate will do so as well. We’re all in this together.”
The bulk of the donations were sent to the North Central Mass Development Corporation for their newly founded recovery fund, Making Opportunity Count (formerly Montachusett Opportunity Council), and Our Father’s House, among several other organizations. These organizations support a variety of essential services from Meals on Wheels to food pantry services to the needs of small businesses.
In 2019, Workers gave more than $375,000 to 170 organizations throughout Worcester, Franklin and Middlesex counties where its 16 branches are located. In 2020, Workers has already donated more than $140,000 to area organizations and continues to accept applications for support of charitable organizations on it’s website www.wcu.com/community.
Workers Credit Union, headquartered in Fitchburg, MA, is a member-owned financial institution with full banking services to meet a lifetime of financial needs including the $3 million GiveBack program. With 16 branches in Athol, Chelmsford, Fitchburg, Gardner, Groton, Lancaster, Leominster, Lunenburg, Orange, Townsend, Westford and Worcester, Workers is proud to offer traditional banking channels as well as the latest technologies to more than 104,000 members.
BOSTON – The Small Business Administration (SBA) has named Cleartech Group the 2020 Minority Owned Small Business of the Year for Massachusetts.
Cleartech Group earned the recognition for tremendous growth in revenue and outstanding community service. Serving clientele throughout Massachusetts and Southern New Hampshire, Cleartech provides consulting and managed IT business solutions for small and mid-sized firms.
“First and foremost, I want to thank Tony Fields for his service in the United States Military,” said SBA Massachusetts District Director, Robert Nelson. “It is an honor to recognize Mr. Fields for contributions both to his country and his community. He has notably demonstrated an ability to adapt to a changing marketplace and grow his business with relationships and commitment to his community.”
Tony began his entrepreneurial career in 2004 when he opened a computer repair franchise in Leominster, MA. For the next decade, he operated his business while balancing raising a young family and serving his community in the Leominster/Fitchburg area. With steady growth and an increased demand for managed IT services, Fields could see an expansion and new focus were necessary. In 2017, Fields left the franchise and founded Cleartech Group. He moved the company from a 900 sq. ft. service center to a 2,300 sq. ft. office space. The risk paid off as Cleartech Group increased revenue by 40% from 2018 to the end of 2019.
“We recognize how vital technology is to business success and provide the right solutions catered to our clients.” said Tony Fields, President of Cleartech Group. “My team is instrumental in supporting our clients’ ever-changing needs, especially in today’s unprecedented environment.”
Mr. Fields actively participates in the Nashoba and North Central Massachusetts Chambers of Commerce and co-founded the still-thriving Leominster chapter of Business Network International in 2004. He also contributes time and support to his community with organizations including: LUK, Inc., First Robotics Lego League, Mass STEM, Ayer Shirley Girls’ High School Basketball, and the Boys and Girls Club of Fitchburg and Leominster.
Tony Fields completed both the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Program and the SBA’s Emerging Leaders Initiative in 2018 and has utilized counseling services provided by the Veteran’s Business Outreach Center of New England. He is currently participating in EO Accelerator, a program facilitated by the peer-to-peer network, Entrepreneurs’ Organization.
The company was nominated by Alison Berglund, Founder/Coach at Encore Age LLC.
The first thing we always tell people is that we are a family business, not just our own family, but our greater New England family of skiers, riders and seltzer drinkers. We wanted to share some of the things we are doing to support our community and lift spirits.
We asked people to nominate a health-care worker to receive a Polar Seltzer care-package… and the response overwhelmed us. Our customer service team members were brought to tears. We are working on sending out packages to all 1,000 nominees.
During the upcoming weeks, we will also be launching #PolarTips on Instagram in support of bar and restaurant workers. Some Wachusett employees are also building face shields from Polar 2-liter bottles for local hospitals to help with PPE shortage.
In addition, Polar Beverages and Wachusett Mountain have donated $150,000 to support COVID-19 relief efforts. The pledge will be shared equally between the Worcester Together Fund and the Massachusetts COVID-19 Relief Fund.
We are all in this together.
On Behalf of Wachusett Mountain Ski Area and Polar Beverages,
Many members of the community have reached out in recent weeks with kind words and expressions of thanks to our dedicated staff as we work to battle COVID-19. Please know that your support means the world to us.
Others have reached out with concerns on how our regional approach to battling COVID-19 – which reaches beyond the walls of our hospital – might impact the local community. So, I wanted to provide you with the facts.
What We Did
As many know, we temporarily suspended inpatient intensive care admissions at Nashoba Valley Medical Center and redeployed resources to communities experiencing increased need as a result of COVID-19. Other services, including the Emergency Department, remain open. In addition, experienced critical care nurses continue to be available at Nashoba Valley Medical Center 24/7 to treat and stabilize anyone in need of immediate intensive care services. We plan to resume normal Intensive Care Unit (ICU) services at Nashoba Valley Medical Center when the statewide declaration of emergency is resolved.
Why We Did It
The year-to-date average daily census in the ICU at Nashoba Valley Medical Center is three patients. As COVID-19 cases have surged across the Commonwealth – and to best care for all patients we serve – we have assembled teams, including critical care staff to Holy Family Hospital in Methuen, to maximize the effect these highly-trained providers could have on patient outcomes, including those from Nashoba Valley Medical Center.
By doing so, we were able to create both COVID positive and COVID negative ICU locations at Holy Family Hospital in Methuen, further reducing the potential for cross-contamination of patients and staff.
Our chief medical officer, Joseph Weinstein, MD, recently addressed why this was the right step in caring for our community’s health. He said: “We saw early on in other geographies that traditional models of care delivery were ineffective in battling the surge of COVID-19. We needed to learn the lessons from Italy and China. And we needed to move fast. Significantly lower infection and mortality rates were achieved in places like Germany and South Korea, where hospitals clustered COVID-19 patients in isolated locations, thus lessening the chance of infection for other patients and staff.”
We Are Here for You
Our mission is to best serve the health needs of our community. Nashoba Valley Medical Center is open and continues to serve the needs of the local community with its 24/7 Emergency Department and medical/surgical beds.
We are able to respond to any case that comes through our door or medical need that arises within our facility. In addition to ICU nurses, we have 24/7 physician coverage in our Emergency Department and our inpatient units. We also have more than adequate resources to care for our patients, including personal protective equipment (PPE), medications, ventilators, defibrillators and medical expertise.
Again, thank you for your support in during this very difficult time.
This survey is to gain perspective on concerns that are truly affecting businesses throughout New England. M.E.S. Consulting wants to gain insight as to what type of support businesses need right now aside from the financial relief that is available.
Looking ahead of Coronavirus M.E.S. Consulting wants to hear what businesses are hoping to be able to achieve. Their hope is to share this insight so that businesses can gain the support that they really need.
With the COVID-19 virus presenting unique challenges and stressful conditions for healthcare workers, Golden Girl Granola wanted to help the best way we knew how. This month, we provided 4 cases of healthy and delicious granola to the Emerson Hospital staff to help lift their spirits.
Here are the live webinar course offerings with registration links for enrollments.
All courses $24.95 each. After purchase course, there will be a registration link for zoom. Click on link, register on zoom for live webinar, then you will receive webinar confirmation email with zoom meeting password and ID.
Looking forward to sharing this life changing education. Stay healthy!
Scherrie Keating, RN, BSN, CDCES, CDC, NDPP Lifestyle Coach, CDP, Certified Ageless Grace Educator, Founder Diabetes Kare Consulting, LLC, Producer and Host Talk Me Healthy TV Show and Podcast
Boston, MA, April 16, 2020 – NEADS, a non-profit organization that trains and places Service Dogs for people with physical disabilities and hearing loss, today announced the donation of a newly created coloring and activity book, Let’s Go with NEADS Service Dogs Arnie and Zara, to Boston-area hospitals. Matching a donation for every book sold, NEADS has already delivered 200 copies to Franciscan Children’s Hospital and will shortly send a shipment to Boston Medical Center’s Pediatrics Department. NEADS has trained and placed 1,800 Service Dogs since its founding in 1976, changing the lives of those with physical disabilities and hearing loss.
“We realize that having children at home unexpectedly can be challenging, and we hope Let’s Go will be a welcome diversion for parents everywhere,” says Cathy Zemaitis, NEADS Director of Development. “And people who buy the books can feel good that they’re also helping children in need. NEADS Assistance Dogs are on staff at both Franciscan Children’s and Boston Medical Center, so they were logical partners.”
The fun and educational “A to Z” Coloring and Activity book is centered around words and phrases related to NEADS Service Dogs. Through the main characters, Arnie and Zara, the book demonstrates how the dogs help their human partners, featuring each letter of the alphabet. The book is perfect for a young dog lover to learn about Service Dogs while doing problem solving and tuning motor skills. It is ideal for ages 4-10 and was created by Lori Barrett, NEADS Creative Media Specialist. The coloring book can be purchased through the NEADS Shop for $7. All monies go to supporting NEADS mission.
NEADS is offering a free coloring page from the book and has also created a Discussion Guide for parents to share with children learning about Service Dogs and people with disabilities. In a further community collaboration, NEADS has created a bonus page featuring the Boston Duck Tours, a long-time supporter of NEADS. The two free coloring pages and Discussion Guide are available for download via the NEADS Shop.
“Having a resource like the NEADS coloring book to hand out to children and families will serve as a real asset to our care of patients,” said Molly Ann Duggan, Child Life Manager, Boston Medical Center. “During times of uncertainty, small tokens can go a long way to support our patients. The hospital environment, especially the Emergency Department, can be very stressful for children and their parents. Our staff focuses on caring for the whole patient and their loved ones. Diversionary activities such as this wonderful coloring book help promote a positive rapport and ease the experience.”
About NEADS Inc.
NEADS Inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization located in Princeton, Massachusetts. Established in 1976, NEADS offers the widest array of Service Dog programs in the industry, including Service Dogs for adults and children with a physical disability, Service Dogs for veterans, Service Dogs for Hearing, and Service Dogs for children with autism or other developmental disabilities. NEADS dogs are also partnered with professionals in classroom, therapy, hospital, ministry, and courthouse settings. For more information, please visit www.neads.org.
Company is designated Essential Employer during statewide emergency order
Leominster, MA – April 7, 2020 – AIS, a leading manufacturer of commercial office furniture and seating, remains open as a designated Essential Employer during the COVID-19 Crisis. The company’s decision is in direct response to urgent requests received through its sales and dealer network to provide product to critical services organizations throughout the country.
AIS will continue to manufacture and ship office furniture products to support the efficacy of hospitals and medical suppliers, biotech firms, local, state and federal agencies, IT firms and other critical providers throughout this crisis. Distributed product will help vital organizations continue to function by meeting the needs of their onsite and remote workers who are diligently working towards the mission of keeping the citizens of our nation safe, infrastructure running smoothly, and providing vital health services.
In addition to manufacturing its standard and custom office furniture solutions for critical customers, AIS is rapidly developing and producing unique products to help contain the COVID-19 virus. Cloth face masks are being sewn onsite and distributed to its employees and donated to frontline workers.
Personal protective equipment and screens are in accelerated product development and will be produced in a converted section of the 600,000 square foot factory.
To protect the health and well-being of its employees, the company has initiated stringent practices in accordance with CDC and WHO guidelines throughout their organization.
Corporate Employee Protocols:
Non-essential travel has been halted.
Non-essential employees in Leominster and around the country are working from home.
No face-to-face meetings are being held with groups.
Use of tele-conferencing technology to service customers and sales requests.
Social distancing practices are in place.
Ill employees are required to stay home.
Visitors are allowed by appointment into our facility – and only in small groups of 10 or less.
“I am so proud of our dedicated employees and truly humbled to be designated as an essential employer in Massachusetts. We are working together and doing everything in our power to keep our teams safe while providing solutions to help support the frontline heroes across the country,” AIS President and CEO Bruce Platzman said.
This designation comes as the governor of Massachusetts issued an emergency order requiring all business and organizations that do not provide COVID-19 Essential Services to close their workplaces to workers, customers and the public from 3/24/20 until 5/4/20.
AIS COVID-19 Response – Health and Safety Solutions brochure available here.
ABOUT AIS
AIS, headquartered in Leominster, Massachusetts, is a leading manufacturer of commercial office furniture and boasts one of the most impressive stories of growth and success in the furniture industry. Founded in 1989, the company is known for offering market-relevant, feature-rich product lines that entice designers and support the diverse needs of end-users while offering exceptional value. AIS is an innovator that leads the industry in sustainable, lean manufacturing, lead-time performance and manufacturing flexibility. AIS has permanent showrooms at its
