Merrimack Valley Magazine

NoteWorthy – 12/22/19

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AROUND THE VALLEY

Robert Rivers Awarded 2019 Dave Tibbetts Award

Robert Rivers, the chair and CEO of Eastern Bank, was awarded the 2019 Dave Tibbetts Awards at the annual Lawrence Partnership meeting on Dec. 18. The award is named in honor of David Tibbetts, its first recipient, for his life of service to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and his native city of Lawrence.

Rivers is involved extensively in the community, serving on multiple boards and providing support to numerous nonprofit organizations. He was named among the top 10 “Most Influential People in Boston” by Boston Magazine.

Haverhill Bank Partners With Ruth’s House For A Successful Giving Tuesday

L-r: Kimberley Smyly, Ruth’s House store manager; Barbara Donegan, Ruth’s House president of the board of directors; and Thomas L Mortimer, president/CEO at Haverhill Bank

Haverhill Bank took a leading role on Giving Tuesday, matching the first $1,000 of Giving Tuesday’s donations to Ruth’s House. “Haverhill Bank has long been a friend of Ruth’s House allowing our team to make a difference to those in need in the Merrimack Valley,” shared president of the Ruth’s House board Barbara Donegan. “This donation allows us to warmly clothe the children, seniors, families, and veterans in the community — we thank all those that donated and Haverhill Bank for the match!”

Students’ Invention Will Help Patients Walk Again

Photo Credits: Meg Moore for UMass Lowell

A team of UMass Lowell students has won a prestigious entrepreneurship contest with an invention to help physical therapy patients relearn how to walk.

The Community Ambulation Tool Mat is a slip-resistant floor surface made of interlocking tiles filled with compression beads that simulate the feel of walking on grass, sand and gravel. The portable plastic mat allows patients to practice walking on uneven terrain so they can regain their confidence when walking outdoors.

The invention won the top prize at the seventh annual Beantown Throwdown, Boston’s largest pitch contest for college students with ideas for new products, services, technologies and startups.

NoteWorthy – 8/20/17

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NoteWorthy is your weekly news roundup of happenings, movers and shakers, and community events in the Merrimack Valley.

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AROUND THE VALLEY

(Back row, from left) Ricky Hai, Boys & Girls Club staff member, Jazmin Pires, Joe Hungler, Executive Director of the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Lowell, Ariana Malick, Lexie Thibodeau, Linda Onyenwe, Omar Diallo, Ian Muiruri, Wellington Lantigua, Brian Sousa, Senior Vice President and Chief Lending Officer at Jeanne D’Arc Credit Union, Sam Saltani, (front row, from left) Monique Githinji, Portia Yeboah, Jessica Arhuidese, Joshua Araujo and Kiza Msafiri.

Jeanne D’Arc Donates Hundreds of School Supplies to Boys & Girls Club of Greater Lowell

The teens of the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Lowell will begin the new school year with fully stocked backpacks thanks to hundreds of generous donations from Jeanne D’Arc Credit Union’s members and employees.

The Credit Union recently held a company-wide school supply drive to help provide the 65 teens at the Boys & Girls Club with their new school year necessities. Boxes were made available at each of the eight branch locations for members and employees to make donations. Backpacks, notebooks, binders, pencils, pens, highlighters, water bottles and more filled each of the boxes. The Credit Union also donated backpacks to ensure each teen would have one to start the year off right.

Each backpack and all of the school supplies will go directly to the teens. The teens, who range in age from 13 to 18, will join the Boys & Girls Club’s Director of Operations JuanCarlos Rivera to fill each of the backpacks with supplies and help disburse them to their peers.

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‘Soles of Haverhill’ Shoe Sculpture Seeks New Home

Apparently, it’s not as easy as an old shoe to find a home for an old shoe.

Team Haverhill and Haverhill Bank are partnering to find a new home for one of the original shoe sculptures created for the Soles of Haverhill project. The shoe, designed by luxury department store Nordstrom, has been on display at the bank’s Lafayette Square branch since 2009. The shoe sculptures salute Haverhill’s celebrated manufacturing history as the “Queen Slipper City.”

Proposals for ownership are currently being accepted from any interested public or private entity now through Sept. 5. A committee, including members from both Team Haverhill and Haverhill Bank, has been assembled to review proposals and select a new owner for the sculpture. Preference will be given to interested parties who plan to display the shoe at a Haverhill location where it can be viewed by the public, either during business hours or full-time. An interior location, such as a lobby or store window, would be best suited for this particular shoe, Mann suggested.

Those interested in adopting the shoe may request an application by emailing team.haverhill@comcast.net.

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L-r: State Senator Eileen Donoghue, Congresswoman Niki Tsongas & New England Quilt Museum Executive Director Nora Burchfield.

Tsongas and Donoghue Visit New England Quilt Museum

State Senator Eileen Donoghue and Congresswoman Niki Tsongas recently visited the New England Quilt Museum for a viewing of the exhibit “Threads of Resistance.” The national exhibition, organized by the Artist’s Circle, features 64 juried works of fiber art, contemporary quilts and art quilts themed around political activism which express a range of emotions from anger and sadness to hope and empowerment.

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Andover native and Uncommon Threads Founder Susan Kanoff.

Uncommon Threads Earns Recognition & Funding “Triple Play”

By popular vote, Uncommon Threads, a Lawrence nonprofit that provides women in need with confidence-boosting wardrobe updates, received $1,500 from Lowell’s Jeanne D’Arc Credit Union. Additionally, Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Foundation recognized Uncommon Threads with its own Community Spirit 9/11 Mini-Grant. And just to load the bases, Andover Business Community Association (ABCA) selected Uncommon Threads as its 2017 Honoree for Andover Day.

The organization’s mission is to use clothes and image as the tools for boosting women’s self-esteem, self-confidence and self-worth. Clients are low-income women who are social worker referred, including domestic violence survivors, female veterans, cancer patients and disabled women. Uncommon Threads provides women a private wardrobe styling session as a first empowering step.

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Samantha Petrou, of Haverhill, has been promoted to the position of assistant vice president, small business relationship manager at Pentucket Bank. Petrou joined Pentucket Bank and the commercial credit department in April of 2014 as AVP/commercial credit analyst.  Over that time, she has become a vital member of the Pentucket team bringing years of professional banking experience to the position. In her new role, Petrou will assume the responsibility of directly managing small business lending relationships up to $500,000. She and her family are also local business owners where she oversees much of the business’ operations. She graduated from University of Massachusetts Lowell with a Bachelor of Arts and from Regis University with a Master of Business Administration.

Kelley Contarino, of Haverhill, has joined Salem Co-operative Bank in the position of retail branch manager, assistant vice president for the bank’s Methuen office. Contarino brings with her more than 9 years of experience as a branch manager. In her new role, she will oversee the daily operations of the branch, as well as provide coaching and training to her staff. Contarino is very active in the local community. She is currently serving as president and board member of Haverhill’s Kiwanis Club, and is on the executive committee and board for the Greater Haverhill Chamber, where she also serves on the member services committee.

NoteWorthy – 5/21/17

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NoteWorthy is your weekly news roundup of happenings, movers and shakers, and community events in the Merrimack Valley.

Don’t forget to subscribe to be reminded when the news goes up each week!

AROUND THE VALLEY

UMass Lowell Awards Record 3,970 Degrees at Commencement

UMass Lowell held commencement exercises on Saturday, May 13 at the Tsongas Center at UMass Lowell, awarding 3,970 bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate degrees, a record number for the 10th year in a row. Civil-rights advocate and educator Freeman Hrabowski III and political correspondent Steve Kornacki delivered Commencement addresses and received honorary degrees at two ceremonies.

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L-r: Joanna Dowling, Bob Baker and Phil Vyhanek.

Lawrence Partnership Holds Event for Merrimack Valley Manufacturers

Manufacturing leaders from across the region came together in Lawrence to discuss a prominent issue to their current and long-term competitiveness: workforce. With a tightening labor market and new developments in technology and production, the ability for the regional labor pool to keep pace with the skill needs of employers represents a priority for an industry is one of the largest in the region.

“The state is invested in supporting the innovating and pipelining in manufacturing so we can continue to lead like we do in so many other industries,” mentioned Katie Stebbins, the assistant secretary of innovation, technology, and entrepreneurship for the Commonwealth and co-chair of the Massachusetts Advanced Manufacturing Collaborative.

The event was convened by a large group of regional stakeholders, each of which plays a different role in the large and complex ecosystem in which new and incumbent workers are trained for the manufacturing industry, with employers and other national and state partners driving the dialogue from a series of panel conversations.

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NECC graduate Yanina Vasquez received her bachelor’s in public health from Regis earlier this month, having taken all of her bachelor’s courses on NECC’s Lawrence campus. Yanina (left) is shown with Antoinette Hays, president of Regis (center), and Noemi Custodia Lora, vice president of the Lawrence campus and community relations, NECC.

First Students Receive Bachelor’s Degrees from NECC/Regis Partnership in Lawrence

Regis, a leading Catholic university in Greater Boston, announced the first group of students earned bachelor’s degrees from its satellite campus at Northern Essex Community College (NECC) in Lawrence. The students participated in commencement at the university’s main campus in Weston.

“These students represent our efforts to provide an educational ladder to reach better opportunities for them and their families,” said Regis President Antoinette Hays. “We’re thrilled with their achievements and look forward to seeing where their future endeavors take them.”

Yanina Vasquez holds an associate’s degree from NECC and will graduate with a bachelor’s in public health from Regis. She plans to enter graduate school at Regis in the fall to earn her master’s in Health Administration. Originally from the Dominican Republic, her goal is to help the Spanish-speaking community through health care.

In 2015, Regis opened its campus in Lawrence to bring new educational and professional opportunities in the high-demand health care industry to Lawrence and area residents. Students are required to earn an associate’s degree from NECC before admission to Regis.

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Students Learn About Budgeting at at Haverhill Bank-Sponsored Credit for Life Fair

A student has only so much money, faces monthly expenses, needs a car and is worried about credit scores. That was the kind of dilemma placed before Haverhill High School juniors and seniors during the recent Fourth Annual Credit for Life Fair at Northern Essex Community College, sponsored by Haverhill Bank.

For those students enrolled in the school’s Financial Literacy Program, the Credit for Life Fair required them to make real-life financial decisions based on fixed salary and credit score. Budgeting decisions made throughout the course of the day included whether to live alone or have roommates, buy or lease a car, how to save for short- and long-term goals and balancing monthly expenses such as phone, cable and internet plans.

After all budgeting decisions had been made, counselors from Haverhill Bank met with the students to review their final budget one-on-one to ensure solvency or to help students learn how to live within their means.

In addition to Haverhill Bank, many local organizations donated their time and expertise to the Fair, including Cedardale, Salon Riza, Emmaus, Men’s Wearhouse and Coldwell Banker.

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Members of Creative Haverhill and Essex Heritage pose for a photo after being selected as one of the latter organization’s partnership grant recipients.

Essex Heritage Announces 2017 Partnership Grant Recipients

The Essex National Heritage Commission (also known as Essex Heritage), in keeping with its long tradition of supporting the region’s unique cultural heritage, announced the 2017 Essex Heritage Partnership Grant Program recipients at the Commission’s spring meeting in Methuen on May 18. Over the next year, the 20 grant recipients will be working to implement a diverse range of educational, interpretive, and preservation projects throughout Boston’s North Shore and the Merrimack Valley.

“We recognize the importance of supporting local organizations and we are proud that we are able to award twenty partnership grants again this year,” said Annie Harris, Essex Heritage CEO. “Over the 19-year life of the program, we have provided grants to every community in Essex County – and we know that this seed money greatly impacts the region by leveraging more investments in the Essex National Heritage Area.”

The Merrimack Valley recipients of partnership grants include: the Whittier Home Association, the town of Andover, Creative Haverhill, Rocks Village Memorial Association, John Greenleaf Whittier Birthplace, Lawrence History Center and the Clean River Project.

Anna Jaques Hospital Signs Letter of Intent to Join Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

The Board of Trustees for Anna Jaques Hospital has signed a Letter of Intent to explore joining the proposed combined system of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Lahey Health and New England Baptist Hospital. As such, Anna Jaques Hospital would become a part of an integrated health care delivery system that will extend across Eastern Massachusetts. Anna Jaques Hospital already has a clinical affiliation with Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and is a member of the Beth Israel Deaconess Care Organization network.

Anna Jaques Hospital and BIDMC have had a clinical affiliation in place since 2010. The clinical affiliation has brought highly specialized care to the greater Newburyport community, including establishing co-branded services such as the Anna Jaques Cancer Center affiliated with BIDMC, Gerrish Breast Care Center, Thoracic Clinic, and the Maternal-Fetal Medicine program for high-risk pregnancies.

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Nannu Nobis of Bow, N.H., founder and CEO of Nobis Engineering, has assumed the position of Board Chair at Granite United Way. Nobis came to the United States in 1978 from his native India with a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Birla Institute of Technology and Science in India. He earned his master’s in geotechnical engineering in 1979 from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor then went on to complete several executive management programs at Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business in Hanover, N.H. Nobis was recognized by the U.S. Small Business Administration as the 2012 New Hampshire Small Business Person of the Year.

 

Stuart Cady, head golf professional at Renaissance Golf Club in Haverhill, has been awarded “Best Merchandiser of the Year – Private” by the New England Professional Golfers’ Association. The Merchandiser of the Year Award recognizes a PGA professional who has demonstrated superior skills as a merchandiser in the promotion of golf.  Cady will be honored during the annual Special Awards Dinner on Sept. 30 at Nashawtuc Country Club.

NoteWorthy – 2/26/17

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NoteWorthy is your weekly news roundup of happenings, movers and shakers, and community events in the Merrimack Valley.

Don’t forget to subscribe to be reminded when the news goes up each week!

AROUND THE VALLEY

NoteWorthy - 2/26/17
From left, back row: Marta Magnus and Marie Maseng,Wang Middle School art teachers; Greg Passeri, Wang Middle School vice principal; Mark S. Cochran, president and CEO of Jeanne D’Arc Credit Union. Front row, from left: Wang Middle School students Christina Grillakis, Brendan Quealy, Damien Teap, Julie Thach, Anastacia Teap, Savannah Cameron, Katherine Brown and Isa Sao.

Jeanne D’Arc Holds Reception For Wang Middle School Student Artists

Jeanne D’Arc Credit Union recently held a reception at their Lowell Branch on Merrimack Street to recognize the artistic abilities of several Wang Middle School students. The students’ artwork is now on display at the branch, taking their talents from the classroom into the public for all to see.

“We are happy to showcase the work of these talented students,” said Mark S. Cochran, President and Chief Executive Officer of Jeanne D’Arc Credit Union. “It’s always great to see what new pieces they create and we enjoy giving them the opportunity to share their work with the community,” he added.

From mid-February through late spring, the artwork of 17 students in grades 5-8 will be displayed on the shelves of Jeanne D’Arc’s Lowell Branch. The colorful artwork demonstrates various techniques of art, which includes illuminated letters made by embossing metal, dessert paintings made with acrylic paint, sculptures made out of repurposed books and more.

Middlesex CC Offers IT Cybersecurity Degree Program

Middlesex Community College’s new Information Technology – Cybersecurity Transfer degree program is one of the first community-college Information Technology programs to focus intensely on this high-demand career field.

“The world is now more connected than ever,” said Syeda Ferdous Begum, associate professor of STEM. “We use the Internet for banking, shopping and so much more. But those conveniences bring about security risks and concerns. Individuals with a cybersecurity background are now high in demand.”

The FBI predicts cybersecurity will eventually become the number one threat against the United States, said Brady. And the U.S. Department of Labor projects computer-security specialists’ employment to grow by 22 percent — up to approximately 65,700 new jobs — by 2020.

MCC’s Information Technology – Cybersecurity Transfer degree program is designed to prepare students for transfer to a bachelor’s degree program or for employment in a variety of entry-level information-security analyst positions.

The college’s cybersecurity curriculum was created with guidance from the college’s Information Technology Advisory Board, which includes cybersecurity professionals from organizations such as Mitre Corp. and MIT Lincoln Labs, and includes topics such as riting secure scripting using Python, and implementing secure networking, virtualization and cloud computing.

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Carl Howell has been named division director for housing and homeless services at Community Teamwork. Howell has been with the organization since April 2010 as the director of residential services. In that role, he has developed and managed family shelters, home base and domestic violence residential programs. Howell has a master’s degree in counseling education and is a graduate of the Institute for Non-Profit Management.

 

 

A. Richard “Dick” Hanlon, of Pelham, N.H., recently joined Haverhill Bank as vice president, commercial lending. Hanlon, based out of the bank’s Salem, N.H., branch, is responsible for the lending needs of business customers from expansion to repairs to equipment financing. Prior to joining Haverhill Bank, Hanlon worked as assistant vice president of business lending at Merrimack Valley Federal Credit Union and brings 39 years of banking and business development experience to his new position. He is a graduate of the former Lowell Technological Institute (now UMass Lowell) with a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration.

 

Pentucket Bank Announces Officer Promotions

Pentucket Bank is pleased to announce the promotion of several officer-level positions within the bank.

Michelle Queenan has been promoted to assistant vice president – human resources officer. Queenan has been with Pentucket Bank for over five years, coming to Pentucket with more than 12 years in the industry and valuable experience with nonprofit agencies. She is a graduate of Westfield State University and in her free time volunteers at Jumpstart Youth Connection. She lives in Merrimac with her husband Jim, and 4 children: Sara, Emily, Jack, & Lily.

 

Pamela Wellington has been promoted to assistant vice president – senior branch manager. Wellington has been with Pentucket Bank for two years and came to Pentucket with an impressive background of over 10 years in the banking industry, including experience as an AVP senior branch manager for TD Bank. Wellington graduated cum laude from Northeastern University in Boston, with her B.S. in Business Administration as well as a concentration in accounting and management. She currently resides in Hampstead, N.H. with her husband Chris and their two children, Matthew and Zachery.

 

Saima Alrai has been promoted to assistant vice president – senior branch manager. Alrai has worked at Pentucket Bank for just over two years and has an incredible 23 years of experience in retail banking. Alrai’s main focus during her time here at Pentucket has been understanding customers’ needs, developing long term successful relationships with customers, and building a strong team through working with each of her employees to ensure success. Alrai currently resides in Windham, N.H. with her family.

 

Eric Paradis has been promoted to assistant vice president – database manager. Paradis has been working at Pentucket Bank for the last eight years and has extensive experience as an information technology officer for the bank. He brings to Pentucket over 15 years of experience in the banking industry. Paradis is a graduate of Southern New Hampshire University and volunteers as a board member of Salem Family Resources in his free time. He currently resides in Salem, N.H. with his wife Allison and their two sons.

 

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