E-Newsletter
An Electronic Publication of the North Central Massachusetts Chamber of Commerce
Inside this edition, you’ll discover the latest Chamber initiatives and success stories from across our region. From economic development projects and upcoming networking events to policy updates and workforce training opportunities, we’re keeping you connected to what matters most for your business and North Central Massachusetts.
The North Central Massachusetts Chamber of Commerce is here to help – with trusted resources, a strong business network, and a support system to keep your business and the region moving forward
When Great Wolf Resorts was searching for a location for its first location in New England, it selected the City of Fitchburg in North Central Massachusetts. The Wisconsin-based operator of indoor water park resorts bought a former Holiday Inn Hotel located in Fitchburg, not far from Route 2, and expanded the property with the addition of a 68,000 square foot indoor water park as well as a separate play area complete with miniature golf and a ropes course. The company looked at a number of locations and ultimately selected Fitchburg in North Central Massachusetts for its strong workforce, abundant water supply and proximity to Boston. More than 42 million families with children live within 300 miles of a Great Wolf Lodge.
Great Wolf Resorts invested $66 million in the project, including the construction and acquisition costs.
In return, the City of Fitchburg and the state provided a package of tax deferral incentives that helped support the development and job creation from the project. The North Central Massachusetts Chamber of Commerce and the North Central Massachusetts Development Corporation worked with local and state officials to attract Great Wolf Resorts to the region and helped advocate for the tax incentives for the project. The project helped create over 500 jobs for the region and generates millions in new tax revenues for the city and state.
The North Central Massachusetts Development Corporation, the North Central Massachusetts Chamber of Commerce, and Hometown Bank are holding two business workshops on January 12, 2016 aimed at assisting potential and existing entrepreneurs.
The free workshops are being held in cooperation with the Massachusetts Small Business Development Center (MSBDC), SCORE, City of Fitchburg, City of Leominster, and NewVue Communities (formerly Twin Cities CDC).
Both workshops will each run approximately two and a half hours and will be held at the North Central MA Chamber of Commerce, 860 South St., Fitchburg on Tuesday, January 12, 2016.
Session I: Fundamentals in Planning, Preparing, and Financing Your Business will run from 8:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. and will focus on evaluating and understanding the fundamentals of owning one’s own business. Information on how to get started, where and how to get financing and the loan application process will be presented. Registration begins at 8:00. Continental breakfast will be provided for all participants. Presented by Roland Nutter, AdviCoach
Session II: Understanding the Purpose of Financial Statements and How They Can Help Determine the Health of Your Business will run from 11:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. and will focus on understanding a balance sheet, income statement and cash flow statement. The workshop will also explain how a small business owner can anticipate financial needs in order to operate his/her business more efficiently. Registration begins at 11:00. Lunch will be provided for all participants. Presented by Robert C. Alario, CPA
To register, please contact Sandie Cataldo at 978-353-7600 ext. 232 or or register online at northcentralmass.com.
Twenty-two men and women, sponsored by area companies as up and coming employees and future leaders in our community, began the North Central Mass Chamber of Commerce’s Community Leadership Institute. The nine-month program is dedicated to providing participants with individual leadership skills and an understanding of the region’s education, government, health care, social services, justice system, media, arts and culture, environment and history. The Chamber created the Institute to inspire a new generation of men and women to enthusiastically assume important roles in their community. The program challenges individuals from diverse backgrounds to be influential in our region’s future.
Professor Mike Greenwood, business professor at Fitchburg State University and chairman of the Institute steering committee, is enthusiastic about this year’s participants and the meaningful professional, personal and community development they will take part in. “I have been with the class since it’s reintroduction in 2011. Each year, I am amazed and impressed with the dedication of the participants. Programs like this are an important asset within the community to ensure one that continues to thrive, even after our current leaders retire.”
Marty Connors, president of Rollstone Bank & Trust and past chairman of the Institute steering committee, led the Institute’s revival in 2010. “I was in the first class of the Institute and it was an integral part of my success in the community. As Chairman of the Chamber’s Board of Directors in 2010, I felt we needed the program back to once again support our needs for leadership and succession planning. Rollstone Bank & Trust’s participants have enjoyed the program and become leaders here in their workplace and in the community. We could not be prouder of the work they have done.”
Kathryn Weldon, home loan specialist at Fidelity Bank and current participants, looks forward to learning more about her community. “I have been in North Central almost my entire life but I know there are areas that I could learn more about, such as our healthcare facilities or economic development. I look forward to the seminars each month to make better connections with my classmates, learn more about the resources in North Central and helping to advance the community.”
Kurt Zelch, Director of Physician Relations at HealthAlliance Hospital, just recently began working in the area. “I am thrilled and honored to be part of this year’s class. I am most excited about the possibility of incorporating the good ideas of my fellow nominees into my own perspective. These meetings will surely help all of us in that regard.”
Participants in the 2016 Class include:
Evelyn Cabrera – Director of Residential Services, YWCA
Brian Calnan – Area Administrator, Catholic Charities
Ellen Coughlin – Human Resources Manager, Leominster Credit Union
Katy Cuddahy Kirouac – Head Teller, Avidia Bank
Daniela Cunha Raphael – Customer Service Representative, Avidia Bank
Jennifer DeLisle – Assistant Branch Manager, Workers’ Credit Union
Penny Doolittle – Manufacturing Career Coach, Workforce Investment Board of North Central Mass
Lisa Dutton-Swain – Resource & Development Director, NewVue Communities (formerly Twin Cities CDC)
Scott Farris – Director of Strategic Enrollment Management, Mount Wachusett Community College
Heather Finnerty – Branch Manager, Rollstone Bank & Trust
Kallee George – Admissions Coordinator, The Arc of Opportunity of North Central MA
Holly Kreidler Phaneuf – Assistant Director NCEOC, Mount Wachusett Community College
Lisa Moison – Director of Professional Studies, Fitchburg State University
Susan Piper – Director of Sales & Marketing, DoubleTree by Hilton
Sarah Proctor – Sales & Marketing Coordinator, The Arc of Opportunity of North Central MA
Nicholas Rocheleau – Engineer, Rocheleau Tool & Die
Eric Rodriguez – Lead Organizer, The United Neighbors of Fitchburg
Sandra Sagehorn Elliot – Executive Vice President & Chief Operations Office, Workers’ Credit Union
Natalie Silverthorn Kruger – Retail Manager, Cutiques & Cutie Patuties
Kathryn Weldon – Home Loan Specialist, Fidelit Bank
Katy Whitaker – Development Coordinator, Montachusett Regional Vocational Technical School
Kurt Zelch – Director of Physician Relations, HealthAlliance Hospital
Sign Up Open for Habitat for Humanity Golf Outing To Help “Build Dreams” for Area Families
4th Annual Golf Tournament to Raise Funds for Local Building
Anyone who loves to tee up and walk the fairways, or might like the chance to try their swing, can do so and also help “Build Dreams” for area families at Habitat for Humanity North Central Massachusetts’ 4th Annual Building Dreams Golf Tournament on Tuesday, September 19th –rain or shine-at the Shaker Hill Country Club in Harvard, MA.
Habitat NCM is reaching out to the community for participants in the event, including foursomes ($600), singles ($175) and event sponsors to help support the tournament. Registration includes greens fee and cart, golf shirt, golf balls, golf towel, golf tees, pen and gift bag, morning refreshments, snacks, and luncheon, and the shotgun start is at 9:00 a.m. and registration open at 7:30 a.m.
Sponsorships opportunities for the event are available and local businesses and organizations are encouraged to apply early as space is limited. Sponsor benefits include recognition and company branding (logo, tagline, etc.) at the event and in all printed and digital media releases as well as on Habitat’s website and Facebook page. Sponsor branding is also imprinted on select event giveaways (shirt, gift bag, golf balls, etc.) Sponsorship rates vary, depending on sponsorship level chosen.
Sponsorship forms are available at www.ncmhabitat.org.
Contests on the course include Hole-in-One, Longest Drive, Closest to the Pin, and Closest to the Flamingo and prizes are given to the winning foursomes. Think you have what it takes to win these contests and help a good cause? Sign up now!
Sign Up Today!
To register for the event, please visit the Habitat for Humanity North Central MA website at www.ncmhabitat.org Deadline to register is August 30th. All teams registered by August 1st will receive a free Bag ‘O Rope to improve their score.
All proceeds from the Golf event will benefit the work of Habitat for Humanity North Central MA, bringing affordable housing to those in need throughout the organization’s 25 towns and cities in the region.
Habitat NCM is supported only by local funding, donations and money raised at these events to help those in need in our cities and town. Habitat NCM is hoping to see local banks and businesses join the cause by donating additional funding needed for a successful event.
Habitat for Humanity North Central Massachusetts
Habitat for Humanity North Central Massachusetts offers a hand up, not a hand out, to hard-working, low-income central Massachusetts families seeking affordable homeownership. Through volunteer labor and tax-deductible donations of money and materials, Habitat NCM builds and repairs simple, decent houses alongside our homeowner partner families. In addition to a down payment and monthly mortgage payments, homeowners invest hundreds of hours of their own labor into building their Habitat house and the houses of others. 90 percent of surveyed Habitat homeowners in 44 U.S. cities said they could not have owned a home without the help from Habitat.
Habitat for Humanity North Central Massachusetts is a non-profit housing ministry that builds simple, decent houses with people in need. It is the local affiliate of Habitat for Humanity International, serving 25 towns and cities in North Central Massachusetts, including Acton, Ashburnham, Ashby, Ayer, Berlin, Bolton, Boxborough, Clinton, Fitchburg, Gardner, Groton, Harvard, Hudson, Lancaster, Littleton, Lunenburg, Leominster, Maynard, Pepperell, Princeton, Shirley, Sterling, Stow, Townsend, and Westminster. Habitat NCM also operates the Leominster ReStore which raises funds through the sale of discounted or recycled materials and furniture.
Let’s build strength, stability and self-reliance through shelter, together.
Project aims to address the public response to addiction through grassroots driven campaigns
Facing Addiction announced today that Fitchburg, MA has been selected as one of 15 communities to participate in the organization’s pilot community project. The project, first announced by Facing Addiction (www.FacingAddiction.org) in October 2015, will work to reform the public response to the addiction crisis in 15 selected communities via a grassroots-driven campaign strategy. Specifically, Facing Addiction will work with Fitchburg, MA and 14 other communities to:
• Secure increases in localized funding to adequately address the crisis
• Train advocates on proper organizational and advocacy techniques to reform their community’s response
• Invest time and resources in communication opportunities with elected officials and other policy makers
• Provide media guidance to garner press coverage to further highlight the solutions to the problem
• Develop political strategies and aid community stakeholders in the development of an overarching “campaign strategy”
“As addiction to alcohol and other drugs now impacts 1 in 3 households in America, we must urgently work to turn the tide on this health crisis. We received over 50 applications from communities across the country for this program,” said Greg Williams, Facing Addiction’s Co-Founder and Executive Vice President. “We are excited about the prospect of working to train,
organize and mobilize citizens in Fitchburg, MA to ensure a shift toward a public, health-centered response to those impacted by addiction.”
The Joint Coalition on Health (JCOH) submitted an application on behalf of the City of Fitchburg after requesting and receiving the full support of Fitchburg leadership including Mayor DiNatale, Chief Martineau and Fitchburg Board of Health Director, Stephen Curry. All three expressed the need for a more collaborative community approach in addressing this deadly issue. Susan Buchholz, Co-Chair of the JCOH Sub-Committee on Opiates and Addiction, coordinated the effort to assist Fitchburg to apply as a Pilot Project with Facing Addiction. “The process of applying to partner with Facing Addiction was a labor of love. So many compassionate, dedicated individuals and organizations, throughout the region, provided their support by helping to gather the necessary information.” stated Ms. Buchholz. She added, “It is clear that here in Fitchburg, like many communities across the country, it is difficult if not impossible to find anyone who has not been impacted by the tragedy of addiction. We are excited about working together to build on existing efforts within the community and to foster further meaningful, sustainable and positive change on the issue of addiction.”
Facing Addiction is a national non-profit organization dedicated to unifying the voices of the more than 45 million Americans and their families directly impacted by addiction. Facing Addiction is bringing together the best resources in the field in order to reduce the human and social costs of addiction, every year, until this public health crisis is eliminated. The organization was launched in historic fashion on October 4th, 2015, in front of tens of thousands on the National Mall at the UNITE to Face Addiction rally and concert, and recently was co-sponsor of the launch of the U.S. Surgeon General’s seminal report on the addiction crisis in America, in Los Angeles on November 17, 2016.
In addition to Fitchburg, MA the following communities have been selected to participate in Facing Addiction’s Pilot Community Project:
Annapolis, MD – Baton Rouge, LA – Billings, MT – Boise, ID – Chicago, IL – Cumming, GA – Martinsburg & Berkeley Springs, WV – New Canaan, CT –
Rochester, NY – Safford, AZ – San Diego, CA – Springfield, MO – West Bend, WI – West Linn, OR
The Joint Coalition on Health (JCOH) is a grassroots public health and human service coalition formed in 1998, whose mission includes advocating for underserved and marginalized populations by addressing health disparities and the social determinants of health. The Coalition has a long history of collaborating with diverse partners to create evidence-based initiatives, guided by assessment data and focused on systems, environmental and policy change.
Prior JCOH initiatives include founding Fitchburg Community Health Connections, the region’s first federally qualified community health center. To date, JCOH has brought more than $7 million in state, federal and foundation funding to North Central Massachusetts. Meetings of the Joint Coalition on Health are open to the public and are held monthly. For more information about the Coalition, contact Susan Buchholz at
Questions on the Pilot Project should be directed to Facing Addiction’s National Director of Outreach & Engagement, Michael King, who can be reached at .
For the seventeenth consecutive year, Leominster Credit Union participated in Children’s Book Month, an annual event sponsored by the Cooperative Credit Union Association.
During the month of April LCU members and employees collected donations of 1,375 new and used children’s books. The books were distributed to the Red Raiders Lending Library program and various organizations.
This year’s event was spearheaded by LCU employees Nancy Daigle, Kathy Hurley and Rachel Terrell. Since 2009, LCU collected and donated 7,118 books to various agencies.
L-R: Nancy Daigle, LCU Receptionist; Kathy Hurley, LCU HR Generalist; Erin Vasington, Red Raiders Lending Library;
John O’Brien, LCU President & CEO; Rachel Terrell, LCU Executive Assistant.
Founded in 1954, Leominster Credit Union (LCU) is a member-owned, not-for-profit financial cooperative with a full range of deposit, lending and other financial services. Headquartered in Leominster, Massachusetts, LCU is proud to claim nearly 50,000 members and more than $600 million in assets. LCU has seven branch locations in Leominster, Worcester, Clinton, Holden, Sterling and North Leominster with ATM services at all branch locations. LCU also provides 24 hour banking via Mobile and Online services. Visit leominstercu.com or call 800-649-4646.
When the workday ends and the lights go down, Custom Cleaning Service of Peabody, Inc. gets to work. “We operate as our clients’ silent partner after business hours,” says Adam Paicos, of Templeton, who now serves as Director of Operations and oversees the company’s expansion into North Central MA. “We are not often seen, but we ensure facilities are clean, secure, and ready for business each day while serving as the eyes and ears for our clients when they are not on site.”
Discover local business stories through our Inside North Central Massachusetts Podcast series. Listen as Chamber members share their journeys, insights, and contributions to our thriving regional business community.
Looking for your next opportunity? Explore current job openings from employers across North Central Massachusetts on our Jobs Board. Whether you’re starting a new career or making a change, you’ll find a variety of local positions available to help you take the next step.
CapEx Facility Services & Construction · Leominster, MA
TaraVista Behavioral Health Center · Harvard, MA
DRS Power Technology, Inc. · Fitchburg, MA
AIS · Leominster, MA