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.
The North Central Massachusetts Development Corporation, the economic development arm of the North Central Massachusetts Chamber of Commerce, is now accepting applications for the SBA Paycheck Protection Program. Applications are limited to small businesses, sole proprietorships, independent contractors, self-employed persons, and non-profit organizations who are unable to apply through a local bank or credit union and located within our service area. The NCMDC is also limiting its PPP loans to under $50,000. Businesses and entities with an established banking relationship or with requests larger than $50,000 are encouraged to contact their bank or credit union first to apply.
The U.S. Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program offers favorable financing for small businesses to help keep their workforce employed during the Coronavirus/COVID-19 crisis. Portions of the loans are eligible to be forgiven by the SBA when used for payroll costs, interest on mortgages, rent and utilities.
The North Central Massachusetts Development Corporation (NCMDC) is a non-profit economic development corporation with the mission of creating jobs and improving the economy. NCMDC is certified by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), and the U.S. Department of the Treasury under the Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Program. The NCMDC works in partnership with local banks, credit unions, chambers of commerce and area nonprofits to support emerging microenterprises, small businesses, and community projects in 76 communities in Worcester, Middlesex and Franklin Counties with loans and business assistance. Since 1996, the NCMDC has granted over $6,900,000 in loans to small businesses to help grow jobs and the economy in the region.
For more information or to apply for a PPP loan through the North Central Massachusetts Development Corporation, please contact Bea Lee, Economic & Loan Administrator at or Sandie Cataldo, Economic Development Manager at 978.353.7600 x232 or via email at .
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
PUA is a program open to the following individuals:
Self-employed individuals, including gig workers, freelancers, and independent contractors
Those seeking part-time employment
Claimants that have an insufficient work history to qualify for benefits
And claimants that have been laid off from churches and religious institutions and are not eligible for benefits under state law
As PUA is a separate program from regular unemployment insurance, they ask that you send constituent inquiries to Jennifer Lavin at
The DUA constituent service team (like Mavis Smith, for example) does not have access to the PUA platform, so they will not be able to help you with these claims. If you have policy questions please do not hesitate to reach out to .
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.
How Four Businesses Are Serving North Central Massachusetts
While non-essential business have been forced to shut down during the COVID-19 pandemic, many companies in North Central Massachusetts are stepping up with innovative and philanthropic solutions to support the community, health care institutions and those in need, while also taking measures to protect their employees.
From making hand sanitizer, to building temporary nurses’ stations, to setting up a drive-through window for food pickup, or donating storage containers and masks, local businesses are doing whatever it takes.
“We are proud and privileged to play a small role in helping our communities fight this fight,’’ said David Reilly, president of United Solutions in Leominster. “We are in regular contact with many state and local organizations, and our team here will continue to seek out ways to support our communities and the country.’’
United Solutions, a leading manufacturer of plastic totes, trash cans and storage organization solutions, donated Rubbermaid Roughneck Totes and Rubbermaid Action Packers to the Fitchburg Fire Department, Leominster Fire Department, Leominster Emergency Responders, Hopkinton Fire Department, and donated PPE masks to UMass Medical Center.
Reilly said their team is focused on keeping employees safe and healthy while working to meet the demand for products needed by families, essential businesses, first responders, healthcare professionals and military personnel on the front lines of this critical effort.
“At the same time, where we can help, whether it’s by getting our Rubbermaid storage or United Solutions sanitation and other products quickly to local organizations or donating excess PPE or PPE we can procure through our supply chains to organizations, we will do our best,’’ Reilly said.
Leominster-based AIS, a leading manufacturer of commercial office furniture and seating, has also taken several measures to support the community.
The company acquired and donated 4,000 KN95 mask to first responders in Leominster and Fitchburg, said Bruce Platzman, president and chief operating officer. He said the company is now also manufacturing and donating two different types of masks – a cloth mask made of three layers of fabric including a antimicrobial layer to help kill and repel germs and one less complex.
Platzman said he has converted an area of the company typically used to make seating just for masks. Production takes place 16 hours a day.
“If I had a million mask to donate, I could find people to take them,’’ he said.
In addition to the masks, AIS has adapted its manufacturing to provide equipment most needed by essential industries like hospitals.
Platzman said about 95 percent of its orders are going to organizations that need to stay open – an emergency nurses station for Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and projects for the FBI and the Pentagon, to name a few.
“If we get an order from a triage center in Brooklyn, which we did, and don’t deliver the chairs and desks they need, that triage center doesn’t open up,’’ Platzman said. “It’s as simple as that.’’
AIShas also taken many steps to protect its 700 workers.
The company is:
Using 10 cleaners instead of the usual two,
Requiring employees to take breaks and lunch outside the building.
Taking temperatures of employees three times a day.
Mandating the use of masks.
Circulating air through its ventilation system more often.
“If everyone keeps workers safe and finds a way to keep the workforce moving, we’ll all get through this sooner rather than later,’’ he said.
Another local company that has adapted its manufacturing to help meet the needs of the community is Garden Remedies.
Garden Remedies, which operates three marijuana dispensaries in Massachusetts, has its cultivation center in Fitchburg.
Seeing an immediate need to keep its facilities clean during the pandemic, the cultivation center started producing its own sanitizer, said Dr. Karen Munkacy, the founder and president.
A team member of its topical department immediately switched gears into measuring and sewing face masks for dispensary staff members.
As the need for sanitizer increased, Garden Remedies joined with the Commonwealth Dispensary Association’s program to make 5 gallon jugs of sanitizers sold at cost for hospitals and first responders in the state.
The company has produced 200+ gallons of sanitizer and expects to continue for several more weeks.
“The Fitchburg team has done a great job of responding to the important needs of the community,’’ she said.
Munkacy said the pandemic has had a major impact on how they do business and on their overall business results.
“Despite all the challenges that the pandemic has brought on, the Garden Remedies team has worked extremely hard in our mission to help patients with safe and legal cannabis products and also to support the community by making sanitizing fluid for Massachusetts hospitals and for first responders in communities in which we operate,’’ she said.
Garden Remedies and places like Wachusett Brewing Company in Westminster continue to serve the public so they have taken additional steps to ensure the safety of their customers.
The timing of the pandemic could not have been worse, said Wachusett Brewing Company President Christian McMahan.
This is typically its peak production period as it ramps up for the summer. Additionally, they had recently opened a new Brew Yard in Worcester and were about to open one in Cambridge.
McMahan said they have had three guiding principles during this time: ensuring employment however possible, providing the safest possible environment for employees and supporting the community.
“When the Brew Yards all closed, we were the first brewery in MA to set-up a local delivery service and offer food and beverages for those who were not comfortable leaving their homes,’’ McMahan said. “We have expanded that to now having a drive-thru/curbside delivery option at our Westminster location, which is growing by the day. We also added an online ordering service to make it even easier for our customers to tell us what they would like and when they would like it.’’
He said the result as exceeded their expectations.
“I think people are looking to mix things up in their routine and if we can play a role in providing them some level of comfort and service through these crazy times, then certainly will continue to do whatever we can to make a difference,’’ McMahan said. “Our staff has been incredible in adapting to something completely new and different. There is no roadmap for what we are all dealing with. We just wake-up each and every day and do the best we can with what we have.’’
UPDATE
Since the writing of this article, Garden Remedies has also contributed $5,000 to the Stand United Covid-19 Relief Fund of North Central Massachusetts and their friends at the Fireman Family Foundation matched their contribution for a total of $10,000 donated to the worthy cause.
