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Date: 5/7/2015
CHICOPEE – Steve Capshaw’s story was compelling. The owner of VVS, a precision manufacturing shop in Greenfield, he has been able to grow positions through a state-funded program that has added significant middle class jobs to the poorest county in the Commonwealth. The funding has been cut in the proposed budget for the next fiscal year.
“I would beg for the state to put that back into place,” Capshaw said.
Capshaw was one of the participants in the first Mayoral Summit on Advanced Manufacturing that was conducted on May 4. Sponsored by Springfield Technical Community College, the summit brought together area business owners with Mayor Richard Cohen of Agawam; Mayor Richard Kos of Chicopee, Mayor William Martin of Greenfield, Mayor Alex Morse of Holyoke, Mayor David Narkewicz of Northampton and Mayor Edward Sullivan of West Springfield.
Representing Mayor Daniel Knapik of Westfield was Joseph Mitchell, the city advancement officer and representing Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno was Brian Connors, deputy director of the Office of Planning and Economic Development. Officials from the Manufacturing Roundtable and the Economic Development Council (EDC) also were in attendance.
Listening to the discussion was Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito, who said the secretaries of Economic Development, Education and Labor would be in the area on May 21 to continue a discussion on how the state can partner with businesses in Western Massachusetts.
Placards on the tables assigned to each community underscored the importance of manufacturing in the area. On them were listed the number of manufacturing businesses and the number of jobs: West Springfield 78/2,142; Westfield, 103/4,022; Agawam 76/4,327; Holyoke 78/12,609; Springfield 142/6,016; Greenfield 28/928; Chicopee 89/2,416 and Northampton 24/854.
While Polito said the Baker Administration is “creating the right business climate in Massachusetts” and looking at regulations that are “barriers to growth,” she also heard about specific issues affecting businesses here.
Rick Sullivan, executive director of the EDC, noted there is a problem communicating to start-ups in the eastern part of the state about the services offered by manufacturers here. He also noted it isn’t enough that CNR is building its rail car facility in Springfield, but that local manufacturers must be contributing to the supply chain.
“We need to tell the story of Western Massachusetts … that manufacturing is alive and well,” Sullivan said.
Attracting young people to manufacturing jobs was a theme repeated by several speakers. Kristin Maier, the president of Peerless Precision Inc. in Westfield the “biggest struggle” was recruiting new workers for tasks on the non-automated side of the industry. Although she said Westfield Vocational High School assists in the effort, it takes at least three to five years to adequately train a new employee.
Edward Leyden of Ben Franklin Design and Manufacturing of Agawam said 85 percent of the firms are “small shops” and to grow the solution is “finding the hook” to interest young people. He recalled how one high school student became interested when he realized a precision manufacturing job could allow him to buy the car he wanted.
Cohen said cost of energy was a real concern in retaining businesses here. He spoke of a local firm that could expand its facilities for less cost in North or South Carolina based on electrical rates. Terry Masterson, the Economic Development director for Northampton, explained how New York State has adopted a number of programs to lower the cost of the electricity through on-site generation.
Eric Hagopian, the former owner of Hoppe Tool Inc. in Chicopee, is now the president/CEO of the Massachusetts Center for Advanced Design and Manufacturing. He said what local companies need is a technology center where information about their services can be distributed as well as an organization to solve problems such as the purchase and sharing of necessary software.
It was suggested the group should have a follow-up meeting with area school superintendents.