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North Central Massachusetts Development Corporation Approved as SBA Community Advantage Lender
The North Central Massachusetts Development Corporation (NCMDC) has been designated as a “SBA Community Advantage Lender,” according to an announcement made today by Robert H. Nelson, Massachusetts District Director of the U.S. Small Business Administration. New England SBA Regional Administrator Wendell Davis and SBA MA District Director Nelson co-presented the designation to NCMDC President Roy Nascimento at a special event in Fitchburg.
US Representatives Nikki Tsongas and James McGovern; Massachusetts Asst. Secretary of Business Development and Trade Nam Pham; Fitchburg Mayor Stephen DiNatale; and numerous other business and community leaders also participated in the special event.
Established in the wake of the 2008 Financial Crisis, the Community Advantage Lender Program seeks to extend credit to small businesses in underserved communities. It accomplishes this by seeking out lenders with experience working with clients who fit this description and ensuring their loans. The SBA provides guarantees of 85% for loans up to $150,000 and 75% for loans above that and up to $250,000.
To qualify as participants, applicants to the program are required to fit at least one of four criteria. Among these are recognition by the US Treasury as a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) and certification as an SBA approved microlender. Beyond that, participants are required to direct 60% of their Community Advantage backed loans to “underserved markets”. These include neighborhoods identified by the census as boasting a median income at or below 80% of the area median income (AMI), businesses who primarily employ individuals from low to moderate income (LMI) households or census tracts, new businesses established within the last two years, and businesses qualified to participate in the SBA’s Veterans Advantage Program.
Already a SBA certified microlender and federally recognized Community Development Financial Institution, the NCMDC provides gap financing and serves as a lender of last resort for small businesses and entrepreneurs throughout Central Massachusetts. In doing so, it has lent out roughly $6 million since its inception in 1996, leveraged an additional $21 million in private funds, and created nearly a thousand jobs. During a recent review of its portfolio, roughly half of its existing loans were found to be located in low to moderate income census tracts. “We are very excited and honored to have been selected as an SBA approved Community Advantage Lender,” said Roy M. Nascimento, President & CEO of the North Central Massachusetts Chamber of Commerce and the North Central Massachusetts Development Corporation. “This new partnership with the SBA will go a long way in helping to support local small businesses and the economic growth of the region.”
“The power of the Community Advantage Program is that it allows mission-based lenders like North Central Massachusetts Development Corporation — the ability to better meet the financing needs of the region’s small business that grow and thrive beyond traditional microfinance levels,” said Bob Nelson, SBA Massachusetts District Director. “This new status will allow NCMDC to leverage the guarantee of the Small Business Administration, which is typically 75% – 85% of the loan, up to $250,000 — to help more promising small businesses obtain the right amount of capital they need to start, grow and build vibrant business districts.”
Among those speaking at Thursdays event were the region’s two US representatives. Congratulating the NCMDC for their designation, Rep. Tsongas stated that “So much American innovation occurs within small businesses and the federal government must play a deliberate role in supporting small business growth.” She went on to point out that “Partnerships between federal agencies and local organizations like the North Central Massachusetts Development Corporation are how the federal government can be a strategic partner.”
Rep. McGovern likewise stated that “Keeping our economy strong starts with smart investments in local small businesses. North Central 
Under this program, loans made by the NCMDC can be used for working capital, leasehold improvements, machinery and equipment, furniture and fixtures and refinancing of business credit card debt. Eligible businesses include manufacturing, retail, wholesale and service businesses usually having five employees or less at the time of application and meeting the definition of small business. The interest rates are flexible, but generally close to the current fixed market rate.
New Director of Behavioral Health Services Announced
Community Health Connections (CHC) welcomes Julia Shirk Williams, LMHC, as the organization’s newest Director of Behavioral Health Services. Ms. Williams was chosen for the position for her significant leadership, management, mentoring skills and extensive clinical background.
Before joining CHC’s staff, Ms. Williams was the Director of Outpatient Services – Community Services and Partial Hospitalization Programs at Lowell Treatment Center. There she was responsible for the clinical, managerial and financial oversight of its behavioral health practitioners, Case Management, Therapeutic Monitoring, In-Home Therapy, the Family Stabilization Team, and Community Support Services. Previously Ms. Williams worked for Eliot Community Human Services, The Children’s Room, The Gifford School, Acton Cooperative School, and the Parental Stress Line developing strategies, providing support and directly engaging clients of all ages in behavioral health treatment.
Ms. Williams holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts and a Master of Arts in Counseling Psychology from Lesley University, Cambridge, Massachusetts. She also is a Certified Paralegal/Legal Assistant and describes herself as a “curious, life-long learner”.
Community Health Connections is the federally-qualified health center serving the communities of North Central Massachusetts. It provides primary medical, dental, behavioral health, optometry and substance abuse treatment services, for all ages, and accessible to anyone regardless of income or insurance status. Sites include Fitchburg Community Health Center, Greater Gardner Community Health Center, and Leominster Community Health Center and ACTION Community Health Center. CHC also provides preventive dental services at more than 55 schools in the region through its Caring For Kids program. More information may be found on the website www.chcfhc.org or by calling 978-878-8100.
Groton Inn Job Fair – Saturday March 31
The following positions are available:
Banquet Supervisor
Breakfast Supervisor
Guest Services
Agents/Front Desk
Houseman
Housekeepers
Night Audit, Banquet
Servers
Restaurant Servers,
Stewards, Line Cooks
Bar Backs, Banquet
Bartenders, Restaurant
Bartenders, Market
Attendant for
Forge & Vine, and
Maintenance Personnel
We welcome candidates who have applied previously. We welcome walk-ins. Applications will be available.
We hope to see you there!
Job Fair Location:
The Prescott School
145 Main Street, 1para Floor
Groton, MA 01450
(978) 448-6600
To learn more about careers with us, please go to migishotelgroup.com/about/careers.
Leominster Credit Union Holding Annual Book Drive
Leominster Credit Union is joining with credit unions throughout Massachusetts to collect new and gently used books during the month of April in association with the Cooperative Credit Union Association Annual Book Drive. The books will be donated to local organizations providing an educational resource for many children. Books may be dropped off at any Leominster Credit Union Office by April 27, 2018. For more information contact Kathy Hurley at 978-466-7242 or .
“Love Letters Written in Stone”: Exhibit to Display Loving Concern for Our Planet in an Extended Earth Day Celebration at Gallery Sitka in Fitchburg
Colette Shumate-Smith will show area art lovers a remarkable display of versatility at Gallery Sitka in Fitchburg beginning on April 7. The artist is a painter and a master in ceramics, the “stone” portion of the exhibition. All the works will sing the praises of Mother Nature on Earth Day. The show celebrates the beauty of the natural world as spring comes to Central Mass. But it’s also about reminding everyone of how precious and irreplaceable our little planet really is.
“Art is my lifeline, my spine, it makes me whole,” says Ms. Smith. “It holds me up and keeps me going.” The artwork is the proof of this statement. The artist will be showing a number of large canvases (as big as 40 inches square) and many pieces in ceramic, as well as sculpture constructed from an exuberant variety of materials.
Earth Day is traditionally April 22, ever since it was inaugurated in 1970. But the spirit of that special day will be celebrated through most of April and May at Gallery Sitka. Ms. Smith will be calling us out to defend the Earth against the callous and destructive tendencies of some of our fellow Earth-tenants. “Themes of my current work are air, water, landscape, and our biosphere in battle against the machine…” she says. This dedication to her environment is part and parcel of her working methods, developed over many years.
Ms. Smith loves the ocean and the creatures that live there. In one of her canvases, “Ecosystem,” a very large squid frolics not far from a somewhat smaller animal of the deep, a sea turtle. They seem to be co-existing very peaceably. Interestingly, the entire image looks like a cross-section, with the scene below the surface of the water reminding us somewhat of what we’d see behind the glass at the aquarium — until we see, near the top, the sun-drenched beach, with a rough fence dividing the sandy part from, say, the parking lot or the road or a grassy stretch just out of view.
Another seascape, “Tree with a View,” offers us a tree in the foreground, shorn of all its leaves, but cropped at the top by the frame so that we might well be missing some leafy spots just outside of the shot. The sea in the background is a deep, dark blue, but very strangely is streaked with reddish-brown, green, and yellow. These are not unusual colors to see in a lake or in the ocean — the green could be seaweed or other aquatic plants, the yellow could be sunlight glinting off the waves — but their size and intensity seems expressionistic, coming to us by way of the artist’s interpretation, indeed through some strong emotion or intuition that would not be detected by the camera or by paints applied for a super-realistic effect. The colors are so strikingly beautiful that the viewer might not want to jump into that water for fear of disrupting or spoiling it somehow.
Some of the pictures do feature human figures. In one, “Nature’s Son,” the figure is a young man, perhaps a teenaged boy. He may be a student, and an industrious one, since he carries a walking stick in one hand and a book in the other. The walking stick could be a large branch with the bark stripped off, or perhaps it is a stake with markings or notches at regular intervals. There is also some unintelligible writing in proper cursive jumping out of the yellow-green straw in the background, improbably enough. Wildness and civilization seem to overlap in Ms. Smith’s natural world.
“Look to the Future” presents two young women, one in ponytails, the other with short, dark hair. We’d be hard-pressed to say much else about them, because we cannot see their faces. They are turned away, ignoring us, looking out at a startling blue ocean again. But there, in the distance, coming right out of the waves, are some short but significant words written in very elegant cursive. In that writing we can make out the phrase “I love you” over and over again. Who is speaking those three words? Or are they only thought but remain unspoken?
One painting is especially relevant to the occasion of Earth Day and the bright spring green of April: “Don’t Throw It Away.” We see an enormous hand grasping, or perhaps just letting go of, a variegated green sphere. Can this be the Earth? The photos of the Earth from space always show our planet to be darkish blue — the color of our oceans, which cover most of the Earth’s surface — streaked with immense blotches of white, the clouds swirling above us. But the artist has chosen to make this Earth green, dark in some limited areas and light everywhere else, even betraying streaks of yellow. Contemporary English uses the word “green” to denote a reverence for the unspoiled wilderness, even a political commitment to the environment and long-term plans to save our planet — and ourselves — from destruction.
Curiously, darkish blue does make a dominating appearance in the background surrounding the hand and the green world in (or just out of) its grasp. This is a seascape in blue, with the ocean stretching to the horizon. But this field of color rises up into a set of pointy peaks on the horizon — “purple mountains’ majesty,” as it were, though they seem to be closer to indigo than to purple. Below the green sphere, apparently at the wrist connected to the outstretched fingers of the gigantic hand, there seems to be a cuff of white muslin. This might be a clue to the identity of the human being “throwing away” the Earth. Since the fingers are quite large and thick, we can surmise this is a man’s hand. But the cuff of a white shirt also might indicate that the person also wears a white collar. Is this the hand of a grasping millionaire? Or could it be the hand of another kind of white-collar professional — say, a tweedy professor of environmental science? Is the hand recklessly throwing our precious Earth away, as if it were simply a disposable by-product of some manufacturing process meant to pile up profits? Or is the hand trying to pile up riches in the hereafter by doing the epic good deed of reaching out to the Earth, to gather it in and care for it as the sublime, beautiful home not just of humanity but of all our kindred species of plants and animals?
Ms. Smith is just as much at home with ceramics and sculpture as she is with oil paint and acrylics on canvas. “Recyclemania!” is a sculpture made from various media, including aluminum soda cans and laminated juice pouches. The recycled cans, pounded flat, drape the legs, arms, and shoulders of a little girl whose head is made of (yes) recycled Styrofoam and whose long mane of hair is a brilliant Sunday-morning-comics yellow made of spray-on foam insulation. Colette seems to be challenging her fellow artists to use these same kinds of materials as grist for the artistic mill, rather than letting these disposables simply go into landfill.
Another startlingly original sculpture is “On the Rocks,” a full-figure portrait of a polar bear in ceramic. The bear is composed of plates of ceramic curved like large side-sections of pipe. Her (or his) immense white body is immediately recognizable as that enormous animal most of us have never seen in the wild, but the figure is not filled out. Rather, the curved ceramic plates join together, one jutting out to the left, another to the right, then left again, suggesting the undulating trunk of one of the biggest but also one of the most agile creatures on Earth. The bear seems content to simply look out to sea and contemplate her (or his) cold and lonely hunting grounds — or to leap into action to catch a fish or two in one fast lunge into the near-freezing water.
Like any ceramic artist, Colette uses the kiln to turn moist clay into hard “stone,” and to turn the drab colors of pre-firing glaze into the shimmering colors we see on the finished product. But the daring Ms. Smith also uses a method called “pit firing,” whereby the artwork is not so much baked, as it is in the kiln, but simply burned by the fire directly, seeming to be devoured by flames that create striking colors on the ceramic once the fire has burned itself out. The artist enjoys experimenting and taking chances. “It is through this faith in the future of the vision, and your belief in the impossible,” she explains, “that a creative artist brings a work of art into reality.”
This Earth Day exhibition will include works by many other artists. Those represented by Gallery Sitka include: Ekaterina Abramova, Beth Barry, Jean Borofsky, Thomas W. Bradley, Ilse Buchert Nesbitt, Tommaso Chiappa, Marston Clough, Luann Hume, Gosha Karpowicz, Lawrence Libby, Ylenia Mino, Jonathan Route, Mia Scheffey, Daniel Senie, Paul Sihvonen-Binder, Meagan St. Laurent, Sid Solomon and Susan Wadsworth. Other artists submitting work include Nina Arnold, Suzanne Blanchard, Robert Cadena, Kimberley Gaston, Deb Giordano, Christa-Belle Marli, Jim McKnight, Wren Curewitz , Ruth Lague, Bonnie Rundlett and Sharon Thompson.
The opening will take place on Saturday, April 7, 2 – 4 p.m., at Gallery Sitka West, 454 Main St., in Fitchburg, Mass. Adventurous art lovers will want to visit gallerysitka.com and justrightaline.com to learn more about the remarkable artwork of Colette Shumate-Smith. This show will be on display until May 26.
Sitka Gallery – Join us for our 1st Oil Pastel Class
Join us for our 1st Oil Pastel Class
FRIDAY NIGHT!
Join us for our first oil pastel painting class on Friday, March 30 from 6-8 PM. One of the artists we represent, Iphigenia Gossios Burg, will be teaching you the basics of oil pastel! All supplies and snacks are included in this price.
$30 PP
RSVP Required via Ticket Purchase.
Purchase a Ticket
Location:
Gallery Sitka
454 Main St.
Fitchburg, MA 01420
WACHUSETT DOUBLES DOWN ON THEIR 2018 IPA PORTFOLIO
Craft Brewer Launches “Mass Soul” and “Wally JR”, Two New Year-Round IPAs in New England Market
As the craft beer market continues to evolve, Massachusetts-based Wachusett Brewing Company is introducing two new year-round beers to complement their existing portfolio.
The first new entry, Mass Soul, is a modern, tropical style IPA. Featuring Galaxy, Citra & Centennial hops, Mass Soul is a luscious and delicious IPA with a ripe blend of passion fruit, pineapple and other tropical fruit notes that compliments the soft mouthfeel and unique vibrancy of this medium bodied brew.
“Mass Soul was originally concepted to express the personality of the Wachusett brand. The name says it all”. said Christian McMahan, President of Wachusett Brewing Company. “Our brewers then created a beer that took things to another level, and the result is an IPA that we think tastes amazing”
The second new entry, Wally Junior, is a New England Session IPA. Wally Junior has all the citrus character and hop backbone of the highly rated New England IPA Wally, with a more sessionable ABV of 4.5%.
“A session version of Wally was a natural progression for us” said McMahan. “We have seen great success in Wally and also Wally Juice, our blood orange rendition of Wally. We love brewing and drinking New England IPAs and wanted to give our fans a more approachable option in the category, especially in time for summer”.
“Mass Soul” will be released on draft, 6-pack cans and in a new IPA Mix Pack mid-April. “Mass Soul” is 6.5% ABV and 60 IBU. “Wally JR” will be released on draft and in 6-pack cans. “Wally JR” is 4.5% ABV and 50 IBU.
For more information about Wachusett Brewing Company, visit www.wachusettbrew.com
The company produces a diverse, award-winning line of beers ranging from their best-selling Blueberry Ale to their highly-rated New England IPA Wally. WBC is the largest brewer in Central Massachusetts and was one of the top 50 largest craft breweries in the US in 2017.
¡Todavía hay tiempo para conseguir tus entradas para el evento de pianos enfrentados de Habitat for Humanity NCM!
Step right up for “Dueling Pianos” – an interactive musical event to raise funds for Habitat for Humanity North Central MA and support the upcoming building projects as well as its critical home repair program. The event will be held on Friday, April 6ta at the Devens Common Center.
Tickets are $70 per person for Dinner and the Show -OR- $40 per person for the show only. The Dinner and Show package includes a three-course plated dinner with choice of Baked Jumbo Gulf Shrimp, Marinated Beef Tips, or a Vegetarian selection. A cash bar will also be available. Dinner will be served at 6:00pm. A Cocktail Hour with complimentary light appetizers and desserts along with the cash bar for “Show Only Patrons” will begin at 7:00pm. The show starts at 7:30pm.
Highlighting the event is a Silent Auction which will be held before the show and during intermission. Gift cards and certificates from several local area restaurants and businesses will be featured including Wachusett Mountain Ski Resort, Great Wolf Lodge, Rye & Thyme, The Natural Café, Lucia’s, Columbia Tavern, and the Habitat Restore in Leominster. Red Sox tickets, a week at a beautiful vacation home in South Carolina, lovely hand-painted bird houses, and many original art pieces will also be on tap for the bidding and more items are being added to the auction daily. Auction winners will be announced during the show’s intermission.
Special thanks to this year’s Event Sponsors: Digital Federal Credit Union, Leominster Credit Union, Mitrano Removal Service LLC, Village Mortgage and Phoenix Park Business Center.
To purchase tickets, please visit www.ncmhabitat.org. Tickets and sponsorship information are also available by calling the Habitat for Humanity NCM office at 978-348-2749. The Devens Common Center is located at 31 Andrews Parkway in Devens, MA.
Habitat for Humanity North Central Massachusetts
Habitat for Humanity NCM offers a hand up, not a hand out, to hard-working, low-income central Massachusetts families seeking affordable homeownership. Through volunteer labor and donations of money and materials, Habitat NCM builds and rehabilitates simple, decent houses alongside our homeowner partner families.
Corte de listón del Laboratorio de Ciencias de la Vida de Goodrich Academy
Corte de listón del Laboratorio de Ciencias de la Vida de Goodrich Academy
STEM equipment and supplies grant was awarded by the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center to Goodrich Academy during the 2016-17 school year. The awarded amount was $105, 345 ($95,795 equipment, $9,550 professional development).
The grant award was announced last February and provided Goodrich with new furniture, lab equipment and technology, which is being used to promote STEM education in the Life Sciences and prepare Goodrich students with skills they can apply in a career in the Life Sciences.
“The life sciences and STEM+ education are a major focus of the Fitchburg Public Schools in all grades as we prepare students for college and careers,” FPS Superintendent Andre Ravenelle said. “This addition to the Goodrich Academy Campus is a good example of a collaboration to enhance this work.”
WHO: Fitchburg Public Schools, Goodrich Academy
WHAT: Corte de listón del Laboratorio de Ciencias de la Vida de Goodrich Academy
WHEN: Friday, March 16 at 10 a.m.
WHERE: Goodrich Academy, 111 Goodrich Street, Fitchburg.
Expected speakers:
Andre Ravenelle (Fitchburg Public Schools Superintendent)
Stephen DiNatale (Mayor of Fitchburg)
Ryan Mudawar (Massachusetts Life Sciences Center)
ARC of opportunity/North Central Career Center April 17th job fair
The North Central Career Center and the Arc of Opportunity have partnered to organize a job fair on April 17, 2018, 4:30pm-6pm. The event is open to the public but will include job applicants with developmental disabilities. We recognize the benefits to businesses and to our economy of utilizing their talent, experience and skills.
Hiring employees with developmental disabilities has many advantages for the individuals, including: increased independence, the opportunity to contribute & achieve, develop skills & abilities and provide dignity & self-respect. In addition, the advantages to employers include high work attendance, dedication to their work, loyalty and hiring them can help you achieve your business objectives by investing in the local community and realizing corporate social responsibility goals.
We hope you can join us for the April 17th job fair at the Arc of Opportunity in Fitchburg. Job seekers with a wide range of experience and talent will be attending. The attached flyer has details on the date, time and cost to participate.