Recent Events...
Annual Meeting Breakfast - Thursday, October 22nd
Our second Annual Meeting Breakfast was held on Thursday, October 22nd at the Marriott Courtyard - Billerica. Our guest speaker wasl Navjeet K. Bal, Commissioner of Massachusetts Department of Revenue. Ms Bal, who was appointed as the Commissioner of Revenue for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in February 2008, provided an overview of the challenges her department and the Commonwealth have faced over the past year. Ms Bal is responsible for overseeing the Department of Revenue's approximately 2,200 employees in offices across the state that work in its Tax Administration division, Child Support Enforcement division and its Municipal Finance division. Ms. Bal is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Federation of Tax Administrators.
In addition to our keynote speaker, we also recieved and economic development update from Stephanie Cronin, the Town of Billerica's Economic Development Coordinator as well as an overview of the Town's Community Information Systems from Sgt Greg Katz and Captain Dan Doyle of the Billerica Police Department
The meeting also focused on the accomplishments of the Alliance over the past year, our first full year as an organization. Bill Haddad, President, reviewed what has been accomplished in 2009 as well as our goals for 2010. Jim McFeeley of billerica.org and the Fundraising Sub-Committee also gave a rousing presentation on our upcoming 'Buy It In Billerica' campaign
The meeting also included the election of five members to the Alliance's Board of Directors. The following were elected:
- Bill Haddad - LPL Financial - 2Year Term to Expire in 2011
- Doris Pearson - Enterprise Bank - 2 Year Term to Expire in 2011
- Dan Martin - Lantheus Medical Imaging - 3 Year Term to Expire in 2012
- Mike Reed - Brightview Concord River - 3 Year Term to Expire in 2012
- Jeff Surette - Surette Creative - 3 Year Term to Expire in 2012
Following the meeting, the board elected their officers for 2010.
- President - Bill Haddad - LPL Financial
- VP - Business Development - Neelam Wali - Printing & Graphic Services
- VP - Community Enhancement - Doris Pearson - Enterprise Bank
- Treasurer - Paula Ericsson - Paula Ericsson, CPA
- Secretary - Alice Rouse - Middlesex Community College
The Alliance wishes to thank Kris Frazee and Tara Norton of the Courtyard by Marriott - Billerica for their hospitatlity and assistance in hosting this year's meeting. We also wish to thank all of our guest speakers for taking the time to speak. We lastly wish to thank Jim Marshall for his two years of service on the Board of Directors.
Small Business Seminar - Tuesday, October 6th
The Alliance held it's latest Small Business Seminar on Tuesday October 6th at the Nana 7 Japanese Steakhouse in North Billerica. Our topic was information on the upcoming 'Massachusetts Identy Theft Prevention'
(201 CMR 17.00)
law that goes into effect on March 1, 2009.
Our speakers, Edan Barshan and Meghan Weaver of Boston based Universal Benefit Plans, provided an overview of the legislation as well as potential impacts to businesses and consumers. They also provided definitions of some of the key terms in the law and what type of changes businesses will need to make in order to insure that their practices and systems are compliant. Edan Barshan, CEO and President of Universal Benefit Plans, has himself been the victim of identity theft and offered some interesting perspectives on the ease with which an individual can be victimized.
We thank both of our speakers for providing information on this critical topic to our members as well as Jack Lu of the Nana 7 Japanese Steakhouse for hosting the event.
2009 Grant in Aid Winners
We are pleased to announce the winners of our 2009 Grant In Aid program. This year we received 14 applications the program, which is now in it's twenty first year. These applications represented a diverse set of programs with benefit to all segments of the community, requesting total funding of over $32,000.
The Alliance is proud to continue this long-standing program of the Billerica Plan which has awarded over $56,000 to local community groups since it’s inception. The winners recieved their awards at the Monday, October 5th meeting of the Billerica Board of Selectmen. This year’s winners are:
Billerica Family First Night for ‘First Night 2010’
First Night activities are intended to offer Billerica children under the age of 10 and their families a fun event surrounding New Years traditions. The evening’s activities also teach them about a particular theme, which in 2010 will celebrate Dr Seuss and his many books for children from Green Eggs and Ham to the Cat in the Hat. The Family First Night program in Billerica has been in existence since 1999 and expects to have about 1,500 residents participate in this year’s activities..
Billerica Lions Club for the Affordable Fourth of July Festival
Prior to it’s inception 8 years ago, the town of Billerica did not have a Fourth of July celebration. The Lions Club has filled that void with their Affordable Fourth of July Festival. The event serves all ages and provides activities that all in the community can enjoy. The Lions spearhead the organization of the activities and work with a variety of civic and community groups to provide a fun filled day for the community. The funds from this year’s grant will go towards additional activities at the fair, such as live music, face-painting and other family oriented entertainment.
Friends of the Billerica COA for the Senior Citizen of the Year Award Event
The Senior Citizen of the Year Award was created in 2006 to honor a past president of the Friends of the Council on Aging, Eugene L. Lecomte. The award is given to an individual who exemplifies the characteristics of community service, character, leadership and one who makes a difference in the town of Billerica. Since its inception, this event has become a wonderful opportunity to recognize the contributions our seniors make to the community. The funds from this year’s grant will be used do defray the cost of the award dinner, so that it can continue to be an affordable event for those in the community who wish to attend.
Shawsheen Valley Tech School PAC for All-Night Graduation Party Program
The Graduation 2010 program provides a safe environment for graduating seniors to celebrate their high school graduation. Roughly one third of the graduating senior class are residents of Billerica. This program has been in place at Shawsheen for 15 years and this grant will go towards entertainment expenses at the June 2010 event.
Fall Sundowner - Wednesday, September 30th
The Alliance held our Fall Sundowner on Wednesday, September 30th at the Pinehurst branch of Enterprise Bank at 674 Boston Rd.
Enterprise Bank Branch Manager, Margarita Kalaviotis and her staff, provided a great venue for the group. Buffets Inc catered the event and provided a nice assortment of appetizers and beverages. Our thanks to Margarita for hosting the event and for Ellie Mooney of Buffets for the excellent refreshments.
Sundowner Host Enterprise Branch Manager, Margarita Kalaviotis and Alliance Member Helen Mastroianni of Hill's Home Foods
Alliance Vice President Doris Pearson and Alliance Member Ken Goode of MassDevelopment
Fall Business Roundtable
On Thursday, September 17th the Alliance held it's second Business Roundtable event at the offices of Woods Realty in Towne Plaza at 700 Boston Rd. The Roundtable is intended to be a collaborative working session that includes representatives from our member businesses as well as local officials. Our Fall Roundtable focused on our smaller member businesses and we had an excellent turnout that included representation from key Town of Billerica departments as well about 30 or our member businesses. The purpose of these sessions is to:
- Identify issues of common interest
- Determine potential solutions
- Devise action plans and follow up activities
We hope that collectively we can solve issues and identify opportunities that will help businesses grow and prosper in Billerica.
Our thanks to Carol Woods and her staff at Woods Realty who provided an excellent venue for the event as well as providing our group with ample morning refreshments.
Home Sweet Home - Open House
Ellie
Mooney from Buffets Inc held an Open House for her new business
venture, Home Sweet Home, on Thursday,
June 18th. Pictured from left at the ribbon cutting are Doris Pearson,
Vice President - Billerica Community Alliance, Billerica Selectman Bob
Correnti and Ellie Mooney. In spite of some very dismal weather, the
locale was cheery and the food was delicious.
Home Sweet Home is located at 756 Boston Rd in Pinehurst. They offer a variety of take out items for both lunch and dinner, including a salad bar and soup selections as well as dessert items. Priced for families, Home Sweet Home offers the same great food served by Buffets Inc. that you can enjoy at home or at work.
Billerica Businesses and the 'Globe 100' - Congratulations!
Billerica businesses are well represented on this year's 'Globe 100 List of the Best Massachusetts Businesses'. This annual list represents the top performing public companies in Massachusetts. As the Globe notes, these companies continued to excel at a time when so many others have struggled and their stories offer invaluable lessons for tough times.
We congratulate all Billerica companies who made this year's 'Globe Top 100' or 'Growth 50' lists and are happy to note that a number of these local companies are among our members and have been consistent supporters of this organization. Congratulations to all on their achievements..
Among those businesses in Billerica who are on the Globe 100 and their overall rank on the list are the following:
- Parexel - #10 for 2009
- Raytheon - #17 for 2009 (Alliance Member)
- Millipore - #35 for 2009 (Alliance Member)
- AS&E - #39 for 2009
- Bruker - #48 for 2009 (Alliance Member)
- Cabot - #53 for 2009 (Alliance Member)
- Enterprise Bank - #92 for 2009 (Alliance Member)
- CSP Inc - #99 for 2009
In addition, a number of these businesses also made the list of the 'Growth 50'. Those include (along with their rank on the Growth 50 list) the following local companies:
- Bruker - #2 for 2009 (Alliance Member)
- Parexel - #7 for 2009
- Millipore - #16 for 2009 (Alliance Member)
- AS&E - #24 for 2009
- Raytheon - #34 for 2009 (Alliance Member)
For more information on the 'Globe 100'. see the Boston Globe's website at www.boston.com/business/globe/globe100/be100.