GREENFIELD — Employment spans a multitude of sectors. Representatives from five of them — municipal, business, education, hospitality and nonprofit — made up the panel of speakers at this month’s Franklin County Chamber of Commerce breakfast on Friday.
Chamber members had a buffet meal before hearing from Montague Town Administrator Steve Ellis, F.M. Kuzmeskus Inc. co-owner Pam Reipold, Community Action Pioneer Valley Communications and Development Director Jessye Deane, Centennial House Bed and Breakfast co-owner Steve Stoia, and Shannon Larange, assistant to Greenfield Community College President Dr. Yves Salomon-Fernández.
Held at the Terrazza restaurant at the Country Club of Greenfield, the program was called “I Love My Job,” and included the showing of a video of chamber members explaining why they enjoy what they do for a living.
Ellis took the podium to explain his career path took a turn toward Montague Town Hall when he became 50 years old and hit a “mid-life point of reflection.” He explained he and his wife were kayaking in Vermont when he decided he wanted to use his master’s degree in public administration to work in municipal government or the nonprofit sector. The two got home and Ellis saw in the Greenfield Recorder that Francis “Frank” Abbondanzio, the Montague town administrator at the time, was retiring.
“And I said, ‘Oh, God, I think I’m about to change my life,’” he recalled to a round of light laughter. “And the job has been profoundly motivating for me. Every day I take the 1½-minute drive from my house to Town Hall and I devote every bit of my energy, every bit of creativity, all the experience, the failures and the successes of the previous 30 years of my professional career, to problem-solving with … collaborators, both professional and volunteer, who care just as much as I do about bringing prosperity to the community.”
Reipold told guests how what started as just a job in the family business turned into a passion. She said F.M. Kuzmeskus, with 170 employees, tallies 1½ million passengers and 2 million miles each year. She said the bus industry has some unique challenges, such as talking a new driver “off a ledge” after their first time dealing with a fourth-grade bully. But, she mentioned, it always delights a driver to eventually receive an invitation to that former bully’s high school graduation.
“We’re bus people, man,” Reipold said. “It’s not what we do — it’s who we are. And we’ve been doing this for almost 100 years.”
Elizabeth Fisk, chair of the Franklin County Chamber of Commerce’s board, opened the event with some introductions and was followed by Robert Betsold, in charge of technical marketing for All States Materials Group, which sponsored the breakfast. Diana Szynal, executive director of the chamber, said it goes without saying how much she enjoys her work, but humorously read off a list of Top 10 “Not-So-Obvious Reasons” why she loves her work. These included being 45 steps from the turkey reuben sandwiches at Brad’s Place and one of her co-workers having a police scanner that keeps her both informed and panicky.
The next breakfast is scheduled for Terrazza at 7:30 a.m. on March 27. The program will be “Stand Up and Be Counted — Why the 2020 Census is so Important to Franklin County” and will consist of a panel discussion including state Rep. Paul Mark, D-Peru, Greenfield Mayor Roxann Wedegartner, Franklin Regional Council of Governments’ Jessica Atwood and a representative from the Secretary of State’s Office.
Reach Domenic Poli at: dpoli@recorder.com or 413-772-0261, ext. 262.