Latest / City Vibes / CityVibes.tv Lifestyle Show People Places Life Stories--Episode 2

Transcript

CityVibes.tv Lifestyle Show People Places Life Stories--Episode 2 · City Vibes

• 0:18
  SPEAKER_01: Hello and welcome to CityVibes.tv.
• 0:20
  SPEAKER_01: I'm Christina Andrianopoulos.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_01: City Vibes is all about people, places, life, and stories happening throughout our communities, including Worcester County in Central Massachusetts.
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_01: We're coming to you from the beautiful view on the 24th floor in downtown Worcester, offering an incredible setting for our show.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_01: City Vibes is back in a digital format, bringing you great conversations and stories across our website, YouTube, social media, podcasts, and more.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_01: So be sure to like, follow, and share and subscribe to City Vibes as we grow.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_01: Today, I'm excited to introduce two people who are making great impacts in our community.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_01: My first guest is Ed Augustus, a leader who truly understands community transformation.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_01: As former city manager of Worcester, he spearheaded landmark development projects like the revitalization of the canal district and the arrival of WUSOCs at the Polar Park.
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_01: Today, as CEO of Unibank, Ed continues his lifelong commitment to building partnerships and driving progress.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_01: Under his leadership, Unibank has made nonprofit support a cornerstone of its mission through the Unibank Nonprofit Resource Center and dedicated nonprofit banking division.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_01: And speaking of bringing people together, my second guest, Matt Viccaro, knows a thing or two about creating excitement, building a winning team, and giving people something to cheer about.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_01: Joining me is Matt Vicaro, owner of the Worcester Bravehearts, along with several other ventures and not-for-profit organizations that keep him busy and connected to our community.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_01: From baseball and entertainment to business and community engagement, Matt has a lot of great stories to share, and I have a feeling we're going to have some fun with this conversation.
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_01: And a special thank you to our sponsors and brand partners who believe in local programming and make city vibes possible.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you to the Beachwood Hotel, home of Sonoma Restaurant, and to our media collaborators, Discover Central Massachusetts, along with our other partners that are helping us bring City Vibes to you.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_01: And thank you to Mike Covino and Nietz Hospitality Group as proud media partners with CityVibes.tv, celebrating the art of living well and for providing this beautiful space at the View as our City Vibes studio.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_01: And now our first guest, I'm so excited to introduce Ed Augustus.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_01: Hi Ed, how are you?
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_03: Thank you for having me here.
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_03: No, I appreciate it.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_01: You're such a busy person that when I heard that through two or three of people who work for you, that you wanted to be at this, I was like so thrilled and I couldn't wait to have you here.
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_01: And you're just legend follows you.
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, let's talk a little bit about what I talked about earlier, and of your involvement with the city and the canal district and Woosock.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_01: So let's start from the beginning and we'll bring you back to here.
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, no, I appreciate it.
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_04: Thanks for having me.
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_04: Um I was born and raised here in the city of Worcester.
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_04: Um my first kind of community involvement.
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_04: I was elected to the school committee when I was 23 years old.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_04: I was the youngest person elected to public office in the city of Worcester.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_04: Um then went to work for Congressman Jim McGovern.
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_04: I was his chief of staff when he first became Congressman.
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_04: I went on to run for the state senate, uh, was elected and represented Worcester in the state senate for several terms.
• 3:41
  SPEAKER_04: Uh, and then went to the College of the Holy Cross, where I was director of government and community relations, and then from there was asked to be city manager.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_04: So I was the sixth city manager of uh Worcester and did that for uh eight and a half years, uh, and then had the opportunity most recently before Unibank to be the Secretary of Housing uh in the Healy administration, uh, and then since March uh the CEO of Unibank.
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_01: That's great.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_01: Could you I moved um back to Worcester about 22 years ago with two little kids, and I wanted to get involved.
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_01: I came from Manhattan, and there was this area on Harding Green Street that seemed really cool, and it was organically growing.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_01: And to me, it looked like Soho, what Soho looked like before it became the Soho that it is.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_01: And then suddenly we have the canal district, the fashionable canal district.
• 4:33
  SPEAKER_01: Talk about your involvement with that.
• 4:35
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, I think the credit really needs to go to all of the folks who invested in the canal district when, you know, many of us who grew up and wish to remember Water Street and that area as where all the great bakeries were, where you went on Sunday mornings to to get some of the goodies from the bakery.
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_04: And, you know, a lot of those businesses over time had left and it had to reinvent itself.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_04: And people like Dino LaRusso and Alan Fletcher and and uh others who formed the Canal District Alliance came together, invested, and had a vision for branding that area, the Canal District.
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_04: Not a lot of people would know that a canal runs underneath uh some of those streets in that area, and they really gave birth to this notion that this was a special place with a special history, and that it could be something more than what it had been in the past.
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_04: Uh, a lot of older industrial buildings, but they could be reimagined into places that would provide homes for people, provide entertainment venues for people, uh, not only in Worcester, but bring people from central Massachusetts and beyond to visit Worcester, to spend some of their discretionary dollars here in the city.
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_04: So they had the initial vision.
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_04: As that started to take hold, we had the opportunity to chase uh at the time the Pawtucket Red Sox, which are the AAA affiliate of the Boston Red Sox.
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_04: They had signaled that they were looking for a new home.
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_04: 18 different cities and towns across New England were going after them, trying to convince them that their location was the right place.
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_04: We got into it as well.
• 6:11
  SPEAKER_01: So we went from the canal district to now one of my other most favorite parts, which is the Woosocks.
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_01: And talk about how competitive that was and how you were involved in helping bring that franchise here.
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, it was very um desirous to have the team and the Red Sox brand identified with any one of the communities that were making the pitch to have them relocate there.
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_04: Rhode Island wanted to keep the team there, uh, and they were putting lots of things on the table to try to keep them there.
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_04: But we knew Worcester was the second largest city in New England.
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_04: We were a growing city, we had a lot to offer, and what was organically happening in the Canal District was the perfect place to do it.
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_04: So we entered into negotiations, kind of wooed uh the WuSocks.
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_04: Uh, and I spent 18 months negotiating with Larry Lakino, who was the owner of the Wu-Socks at the time, until we entered into an agreement that they would, in fact, relocate to Worcester.
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_04: We would, in partnership, build Polar Park, uh, and that we would have development around the park.
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_04: And several hundred units of housing and some retail have already been built around the ballpark, with more to come.
• 7:21
  SPEAKER_01: Wow, that's amazing.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_01: Well, it's a landmark now, and people do come in, and um, one of my guests is going to be Matt Vicaro, and his family bought the Bravehearts, and I just feel it's such a wonderful synergy.
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_01: When you're the second largest city of New England, it sports is a really big part of living here.
• 7:40
  SPEAKER_04: It's part of what people are looking for in an urban experience.
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_04: They want restaurants, they want theater, they want sports venues.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_04: And now we're able to do it.
• 7:50
  SPEAKER_04: The Bravehearts are a great uh option, the Woosocks are a great option, the railers on the hockey side of things.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_04: So having different options for different people within the city and bringing people to the city who are spending money here that support our local businesses is important too.
• 8:05
  SPEAKER_01: That's great.
• 8:06
  SPEAKER_01: Well, thank you for doing that.
• 8:07
  SPEAKER_01: You have made my real estate go up.
• 8:11
  SPEAKER_01: But not not just that.
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_01: You've made it a place where my kids um feel like this is their home in regardless of which college they went to.
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_01: They always come back and visit, and they were around the big Greek family and the Greek community.
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_01: So it made it really desirable.
• 8:27
  SPEAKER_01: And it made it fun for me too, because I get involved with all these organizations.
• 8:31
  SPEAKER_01: And now let's bring you here today as the CEO of Unibank.
• 8:35
  SPEAKER_01: And my experience with Unibank has been many fold.
• 8:39
  SPEAKER_01: I'm on lots of not-for-profit boards, and we're always looking for banks that will serve us.
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_01: And we're, you know, one of the boards I work on is a smaller board, and we were just looking for really good, efficient online banking.
• 8:53
  SPEAKER_01: We're looking for a donor platform, we were looking for everything that could make it easy for a volunteer board.
• 9:00
  SPEAKER_01: And so talk about your, as I said, the cornerstone of working with not-for-profits.
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 9:07
  SPEAKER_04: You know, it really became clear to me that Unibank, which has been around for over 150 years, largest bank headquartered here in central Massachusetts, um, we have a government banking division.
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_04: Uh where a three billion dollar bank, half of the deposits uh come from municipalities.
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_04: So we have relationships with 90% of the cities and towns in Massachusetts.
• 9:31
  SPEAKER_04: And so that model was creating a government banking division that really worked with the folks in the municipalities, the treasurers and the finance folks in cities and towns, and crafted products and relationships that met the needs of cities and towns.
• 9:47
  SPEAKER_04: So I thought maybe we could do something similar with the not-for-profit sector, which is a very large sector.
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_04: Um there are billions of dollars uh in not-for-profits across Massachusetts that employ tens of thousands of uh uh workers, and that uh provide important um uh contributions to our cities and towns, whether it be arts and culture, social service agencies, food pantries, there's just so many ways that not-for-profits make our communities the great places they are.
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_04: So, could we sync up our mission as a community bank with the not-for-profits mission and make both of them stronger?
• 10:23
  SPEAKER_01: That is great.
• 10:24
  SPEAKER_01: And I have to tell you personally, several bank accounts are now with you, not only the ones with the board.
• 10:30
  SPEAKER_01: Because of that really community relationship, it's amazing.
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_01: I can I'm gonna name names, Nelson, who is just so dynamic, and he also will be strutting the catwalk fashion show for the Shea Foundation fundraiser in November.
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_01: And so we'd like you to, but I don't know if we can find clothes.
• 10:49
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, just close my size.
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_04: Well, we may you're better off with Nelson, who's hand more handsome than I am.
• 10:57
  SPEAKER_01: So another thing, another topic that I'd like to touch upon that affects a lot of people and residents who live in this area, it's the ADUs.
• 11:07
  SPEAKER_01: Let's explain the accessory development units.
• 11:11
  SPEAKER_01: And it's big news these days.
• 11:13
  SPEAKER_01: So could you talk about that?
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_01: Because um I'd like us to all take advantage of that if possible.
• 11:19
  SPEAKER_04: It really is an important tool that's now in the state's toolbox to build more housing.
• 11:24
  SPEAKER_04: Um I was Secretary of Housing, the governor asked us to draft a bill that would help deal with the housing crisis.
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_04: One of the elements in that bill were ADUs, allowing them as of right across Massachusetts, which meant that cities and towns couldn't put restrictions on the ability of a property owner to build out an ADU, which could be used sometimes for maybe an elderly parent that you want to be providing some care to as they age.
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_04: Sometimes it's a disabled child.
• 11:51
  SPEAKER_04: You want to have some independence but be able to provide help, or you just want another source of income to help you support the cost of living in your own home.
• 12:00
  SPEAKER_04: So ADUs basically allow you to build out above a garage.
• 12:05
  SPEAKER_04: There are now standalone units that are very cool that allow kind of single-floor living, but you can do a lot of your own kind of design elements to it and make it your own.
• 12:16
  SPEAKER_04: We looked at California that did something similar uh 10 years ago, and they created hundreds of thousands of units across the state of property owners just having the ability to build out these own units themselves, which helps take some of the pressure off the cost of housing and the scarcity of housing.
• 12:33
  SPEAKER_04: So uh it is a supply and demand issue, and ADUs are a piece of the solution to providing more supply.
• 12:40
  SPEAKER_04: And sometimes it also allows somebody who's maybe in a big house by themselves, they want to stay in the community, they want to downsize, but there's not a place they can.
• 12:49
  SPEAKER_04: As these ADUs come online, it gives them an option maybe to free up a bigger house for a growing family who need that space.
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_01: Aaron Powell That's great.
• 12:56
  SPEAKER_01: You told me a story about um a a woman who lived in their family home and it was a big house, and um sh she ended up taking advantage of this and building a sort of an in-law suite, and her daughter bought it, and her daughter would not have been able to b buy that.
• 13:12
  SPEAKER_01: So that's a great story.
• 13:14
  SPEAKER_04: Aaron Powell Yeah, it allows for, you know, in that particular case, the daughter was a school teacher, grew up in the town, but because of the cost of housing in the town, couldn't afford to live or own a home in the town she had grown up in.
• 13:26
  SPEAKER_04: The ADUs allowed the mom to build the ADU on the property and sell the family house to her daughter and growing family, and then be close by and provide some babysitting services and stuff.
• 13:38
  SPEAKER_04: So it worked uh for both families and it created another unit of housing within a community.
• 13:44
  SPEAKER_01: So I know government projects are meant to really help everybody and I'm grateful for them.
• 13:51
  SPEAKER_01: But sometimes they are difficult to get a hold of somebody to give you more information.
• 13:56
  SPEAKER_01: But so as you're speaking, what we'll do is we'll put up the ADU website so that from your experience, has it become a little bit easier?
• 14:05
  SPEAKER_01: Because when this first happened a couple of years ago, nobody would talk to me.
• 14:11
  SPEAKER_04: I think it has.
• 14:12
  SPEAKER_04: We did a design competition too through one of the quasi-state agencies, Mass Housing Partnership.
• 14:19
  SPEAKER_04: And we gave awards to the best green design, the most accessible design, uh, the most cost-effective design.
• 14:27
  SPEAKER_04: And we made all of those designs free on the Mass Housing Partnership website.
• 14:33
  SPEAKER_04: So you can see what an ADU looks like and feels like if you're not familiar with the concept.
• 14:39
  SPEAKER_04: And if you want to just download those plans and take it to your builder and say, build me this, it takes some of the costs out of building those units.
• 14:47
  SPEAKER_01: That's great.
• 14:47
  SPEAKER_01: It looks like you really did do something about making it more user-friendly and navigate.
• 14:52
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
• 14:52
  SPEAKER_01: Thanks for everything that you've done, everything you've done for the state, and everything you've done for our city, and also now for the banking system in Unibank and learning all about this.
• 15:03
  SPEAKER_01: If I didn't have you here, we we would not have known that you also handle the government and the local treasury and and also not-for-profit division.
• 15:12
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 15:13
  SPEAKER_01: So that's really great.
• 15:14
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
• 15:14
  SPEAKER_04: No, thanks for giving me the opportunity to share some of the exciting stuff we're doing at Unibank and congratulations on the relaunch of the show and excited to see where this goes.
• 15:24
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, well, thank you, Ed.
• 15:26
  SPEAKER_01: You're you always have a smile on your face.
• 15:28
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
• 15:28
  SPEAKER_01: Everybody knows if you're in the room.
• 15:30
  SPEAKER_01: He's like 6'5.
• 15:32
  SPEAKER_01: How tall are you?
• 15:33
  SPEAKER_04: Six six.
• 15:34
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, I missed it, my anonym.
• 15:35
  SPEAKER_04: I might have shrunk when I was city manager, so that's because you kept being beaten.
• 15:40
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, yeah, exactly.
• 15:41
  SPEAKER_01: Well, great.
• 15:42
  SPEAKER_01: Well, thank you so much.
• 15:43
  SPEAKER_01: No, thank you, Christina.
• 15:44
  SPEAKER_01: I really appreciate having you here.
• 15:45
  SPEAKER_04: Likewise.
• 15:46
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
• 15:47
  SPEAKER_01: And I'll be right back.
• 15:50
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to the Beachwood Hotel, home of Sonoma Restaurant.
• 15:55
  SPEAKER_00: Perfectly situated adjacent to the Biotech Research Park, and minutes from downtown Worcester, we put you right in the center of it all.
• 16:03
  SPEAKER_00: From the DCU Center and Holy Cross to UMass Medical School, everything you need is just around the corner.
• 16:10
  SPEAKER_00: Whether traveling for business or leisure, discover comfort in our 52 boutique guest rooms and 21 elegant suites.
• 16:18
  SPEAKER_00: Reserve your stay today at the Beachwood Hotel.
• 16:21
  SPEAKER_05: Discover Central Mass.
• 16:23
  SPEAKER_05: Endless adventures await in central Massachusetts.
• 16:27
  SPEAKER_05: Located in the heart of New England, the region welcomes visitors to explore historic treasures, museums, parks, botanical gardens, and wildlife sanctuaries.
• 16:39
  SPEAKER_05: Catch a Woo-Socks game or a Holy Cross matchup at family-friendly prices.
• 16:44
  SPEAKER_05: Plan an outing with activities for the whole crew.
• 16:47
  SPEAKER_05: Check the calendar for seasonal events celebrating food, music, arts, makers, and traditions.
• 16:55
  SPEAKER_05: Proud Media partners with CityVibes.tv.
• 16:59
  SPEAKER_05: Learn more, discover centralmass.org.
• 17:05
  SPEAKER_01: Welcome back.
• 17:06
  SPEAKER_01: And now I have the great pleasure of introducing our second guest, Matt Picaro.
• 17:11
  SPEAKER_01: Hi, Matt.
• 17:12
  SPEAKER_01: How are you?
• 17:12
  SPEAKER_02: Christina, thanks for having me.
• 17:14
  SPEAKER_02: So happy to be here today.
• 17:15
  SPEAKER_01: That's great.
• 17:16
  SPEAKER_01: Now I had talked a little bit about you at the beginning.
• 17:18
  SPEAKER_01: For those who didn't hear exactly what I said, you own the Bravehearts.
• 17:24
  SPEAKER_01: You also work a family business that you're going to tell us about for generations.
• 17:29
  SPEAKER_01: Not you weren't part of that generation.
• 17:33
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, that's good to know.
• 17:34
  SPEAKER_01: And then also that you also um sponsor or are um in charge of a not-for-profit that you're going to tell us all about.
• 17:42
  SPEAKER_02: Correct.
• 17:43
  SPEAKER_02: Yes.
• 17:43
  SPEAKER_01: So let's start the segue into the brave hearts because my first guest talked about the Wolf Sox.
• 17:50
  SPEAKER_01: Let's talk about the Brave Hearts.
• 17:52
  SPEAKER_01: So tell us about it.
• 17:54
  SPEAKER_02: We're the longest-running franchise in the history of Worcester, 14 years and going.
• 18:00
  SPEAKER_02: What we offer is affordable family fun, coming out to the ballpark with your families, with your friends, an affordable night where you can really enjoy yourself and enjoy a summer night, uh watching baseball, uh hanging out with our mascot, Jake the Lion, and really just enjoying uh all summer nights.
• 18:20
  SPEAKER_02: Uh my family, this is our third season that we just owned, um, that we've owned the team, going to our fourth season.
• 18:26
  SPEAKER_02: Uh it's been great.
• 18:27
  SPEAKER_02: Honestly, it's been great.
• 18:29
  SPEAKER_02: Uh seeing the people come in, the smiles on the kids' faces, the players that come through, they're really uh special.
• 18:36
  SPEAKER_02: All the players are collegiate players and they're they're trying to be professionals.
• 18:42
  SPEAKER_02: Uh we've had five guys drafted over the past two years, um, a couple that are in Major League Baseball right now.
• 18:49
  SPEAKER_02: But more than that, they're inter they interact with the kids, they interact with the community.
• 18:53
  SPEAKER_02: And that's really what the Bravehearts are.
• 18:55
  SPEAKER_02: We're a community team more than just a futures league baseball team.
• 18:59
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 19:00
  SPEAKER_01: I remember um when I first moved into Worcester when my kids were really little, it was one of our favorite places to go for every reason, everything that you just said.
• 19:09
  SPEAKER_01: And so families, when you have little kids, big kids, or you want to go on a date.
• 19:13
  SPEAKER_01: I have broth, or young adults as well.
• 19:17
  SPEAKER_01: But we used to go and I would sign them up for these games that they would do on the field, and they were so excited about it.
• 19:24
  SPEAKER_01: And do you still do the games?
• 19:26
  SPEAKER_02: We do.
• 19:27
  SPEAKER_02: We do the games, we do spin races, we do race Jake the mascot, we throw out shirts and towels and anything that we can do to get the kids uh all riled up and cheer on the Bravehearts.
• 19:39
  SPEAKER_02: Uh the team has had success over the years, uh, four championships that they brought back to the city.
• 19:45
  SPEAKER_02: We're still looking for our first one as as owners now of the team.
• 19:48
  SPEAKER_02: We've made the playoffs the past couple of years.
• 19:53
  SPEAKER_02: Team is flourishing.
• 19:54
  SPEAKER_02: Uh we just got to keep building on it and growing it and keeping it a community team.
• 19:58
  SPEAKER_02: That's really what makes us happy is is is being out and being vocal and and showing that the brave hearts are more than just baseball.
• 20:07
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 20:07
  SPEAKER_01: And I met your um head of um outreach or marketing, Delaney.
• 20:12
  SPEAKER_02: Delaney.
• 20:12
  SPEAKER_02: Delaney's terrific.
• 20:13
  SPEAKER_02: She's a graduate of recent graduate of WPI, played basketball over there, and she's making an impact in the community, uh, making visits to schools, uh, showing that the Bravehearts uh can do so much more than just bringing people out to a ballgame.
• 20:28
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and I I will bring her on because I'm going to do a whole segment on women athletes and what it's like, you know, to be a woman athlete and thousand point score in high school.
• 20:38
  SPEAKER_02: You not me, her.
• 20:41
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, that's great.
• 20:41
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, I'll learn all about her.
• 20:43
  SPEAKER_01: But one of the things that you one of the stories you told me about was when you go into the schools, which you do, then you have you ask the children if they want to do posters and paint them, and then you do a wall of posters in the stadium.
• 20:57
  SPEAKER_01: So tell us about that.
• 20:58
  SPEAKER_02: So it's part of our new foundation called We're All Hearts.
• 21:01
  SPEAKER_02: Uh we're focusing on education, uh, access to sports, health, wellness, advocacy.
• 21:06
  SPEAKER_02: And uh our one of our first initiatives is called All Hearts, All Art.
• 21:10
  SPEAKER_02: And we're going to the schools in and around Worcester area.
• 21:15
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, we've had 25 schools sign up so far, and the students will make banners for the ballpark.
• 21:21
  SPEAKER_02: And they can come out and see it.
• 21:22
  SPEAKER_02: It will be voted on, uh, the winners, and those will be posted onto the outfield wall.
• 21:28
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, but everyone will be able to come out, come see their banner, and you know, it brings art back into the schools and and out to the ballpark.
• 21:34
  SPEAKER_02: And uh, you know, it's great that we can get that participation back participation back, excuse me.
• 21:40
  SPEAKER_02: And um uh each kid gets a ticket to a game.
• 21:43
  SPEAKER_02: So if you're a school out there and you want to participate, please reach out to uh to the Worcester Brave Farts for all hearts, all art.
• 21:50
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, as you speak, the information will come up, but uh that also reminds me of another bigger initiative happening in the city, and it starts with young people in our But um the YWCA um had uh um attain obtained two artists to do a mural on their wall.
• 22:11
  SPEAKER_01: And it's all women from the past and women of today who have made a change.
• 22:16
  SPEAKER_01: And it reminds me sort of like the wall the wall this of the success of the women.
• 22:21
  SPEAKER_01: And now they're starting and they see their artwork on the wall of the brave hearts and their upfield.
• 22:27
  SPEAKER_02: Fantastic.
• 22:28
  SPEAKER_02: And you know, the the main one, the winner, will be posted right at the front gate to the ballpark.
• 22:33
  SPEAKER_02: So uh it's just exciting, and you know, we're proud to have a foundation now.
• 22:39
  SPEAKER_02: And we've been doing a lot of community work for years in the city, and now we can have uh a different piece of the business uh to to give back more.
• 22:47
  SPEAKER_02: Um another initiative that we have is called First Glove.
• 22:51
  SPEAKER_02: So what we're doing is uh we'll be donating 100 baseball and 100 softball gloves to area little leagues uh and softball leagues.
• 23:00
  SPEAKER_02: Um sometimes there's barriers, you know, people have, you know, in affording things and uh the opportunity to bring participation back into baseball and back into sports uh by giving uh a child their first glove.
• 23:15
  SPEAKER_02: Uh that's what we plan to do.
• 23:16
  SPEAKER_02: So it's that's our second initiative with the uh the We're All Hearts Foundation.
• 23:21
  SPEAKER_02: And uh it we're looking forward to it.
• 23:23
  SPEAKER_02: It's going great so far.
• 23:24
  SPEAKER_01: That is great.
• 23:25
  SPEAKER_01: So this was um you wanted to give back.
• 23:29
  SPEAKER_01: We did.
• 23:29
  SPEAKER_01: And so you have had a family business that you'll talk about in a minute, and then your family decided to, you know, invest in the Brave Hearts, thank you, because we need that as well, and for everything that you're doing for college baseball as well as for the younger generation who wants to go and play with the players too.
• 23:50
  SPEAKER_01: Sure.
• 23:50
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and so and then you started this foundation.
• 23:54
  SPEAKER_01: And so are you're affiliated with the American Heart Association, or your mission is similar?
• 24:00
  SPEAKER_02: Uh it's somewhat similar.
• 24:01
  SPEAKER_02: We're on the board for the American Heart Association of Central Mass.
• 24:04
  SPEAKER_02: And uh it's a great cause.
• 24:06
  SPEAKER_02: And if anyone uh would like to get into that, it it's it's tremendous.
• 24:10
  SPEAKER_02: Just it's a heart end stroke.
• 24:12
  SPEAKER_02: And uh, you know, the people that they've the lives that they've changed, the people that they've saved uh is tremendous.
• 24:19
  SPEAKER_02: They're trying to get CPR into every single school, you know, AEDs at all fields, uh blood pressure monitoring.
• 24:27
  SPEAKER_02: Uh it's just uh uh, you know, blood pressure is a silent killer.
• 24:31
  SPEAKER_02: And you know, people a lot of times don't get their blood pressure checks.
• 24:34
  SPEAKER_02: So it's really something we're pushing this year as an initiative.
• 24:36
  SPEAKER_02: And uh it's my third year with the Heart Association and just proud to be a part of it.
• 24:41
  SPEAKER_01: That's great.
• 24:42
  SPEAKER_01: And you're right that we have to learn, you know, CPR, just you never know, especially with athletics and especially with school athletics.
• 24:50
  SPEAKER_01: So it's good that you're going in there and not only the students, but the coaches too.
• 24:55
  SPEAKER_01: You know, how many coaches have really been trained or have been, you know, have learned more recent techniques?
• 25:02
  SPEAKER_02: You're right.
• 25:02
  SPEAKER_02: It's it's so easy to learn and it, you know, well, you know, you can save a life, you know, any time, or or you know, the opportunity to save someone who's having a cardiac episode.
• 25:13
  SPEAKER_02: So it's uh I'm really happy to be a part of it.
• 25:16
  SPEAKER_01: That is so great.
• 25:17
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you so much.
• 25:18
  SPEAKER_01: Also, I wanted to talk about with what's happening with the I don't want to talk about the economy, but I do know that we're all affected by the economy, and that means a lot of people are looking for work or need work, and and that's where your family business comes in.
• 25:34
  SPEAKER_01: And so why don't we talk a little bit about your staffing agency and how you can help some of some people who maybe have just been laid off or sure.
• 25:43
  SPEAKER_02: So Massive Staffing Solutions is our family-owned business.
• 25:46
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, we're headquartered on Grafton Street, and we have two branches in the city, one in Webster Square and the other one off of Shrewsbury Street.
• 25:52
  SPEAKER_02: But we're a national company.
• 25:54
  SPEAKER_02: We're in 30 states, two separate divisions, a light industrial division that does more of warehousing.
• 25:59
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, and then we have a professional division that does more of white-collar office insurance uh staffing.
• 26:06
  SPEAKER_02: And uh, we uh staff a lot of local businesses in in the city that we've partnered with, uh, but all throughout Massachusetts and New England.
• 26:15
  SPEAKER_02: And uh, you know, it's rewarding for the fact that we can put people to work.
• 26:20
  SPEAKER_02: It's really a life-changing experience when you give somebody employment.
• 26:25
  SPEAKER_02: And we just want to continue uh doing that uh as well as uh being a um a key piece to uh employing people in the city of Worcester and around the whole country, really.
• 26:36
  SPEAKER_02: And uh it's a family business.
• 26:38
  SPEAKER_02: My father started the business.
• 26:40
  SPEAKER_02: Uh and my brother and I are in the both now in the business second generation.
• 26:44
  SPEAKER_02: And uh I don't know if there'll be a third in the business, but we'll wait and see.
• 26:47
  SPEAKER_02: The kids are young.
• 26:48
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 26:49
  SPEAKER_02: But we're uh we're proud of the work that we've done, and uh we just want to continue to to make a difference.
• 26:55
  SPEAKER_01: That's great.
• 26:56
  SPEAKER_01: And it's um so for someone, a person, not a business or looking for a job, can they get in touch with you?
• 27:06
  SPEAKER_02: 100%.
• 27:06
  SPEAKER_02: Yep.
• 27:07
  SPEAKER_02: Uh so massestaffing.com, go run our website.
• 27:10
  SPEAKER_02: Easy application to fill out, goes right through our recruiters, and uh they will contact you and and we'll get the show going on on trying to find an opportunity that fits their need as well as a customer's need.
• 27:22
  SPEAKER_01: That's great.
• 27:23
  SPEAKER_01: Well, Matt, you play baseball.
• 27:27
  SPEAKER_01: Are you?
• 27:28
  SPEAKER_02: I used to play baseball many moons ago.
• 27:31
  SPEAKER_01: You you are uh really interested in everybody's heart with your your heart association, your foundation, and also your staffing agency.
• 27:41
  SPEAKER_01: So you give them a job, they feel really, really good, and then they go to your your field to play baseball.
• 27:47
  SPEAKER_01: Wow, that's such a great combination.
• 27:49
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you.
• 27:50
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you.
• 27:51
  SPEAKER_02: We've been involved in other baseball too.
• 27:52
  SPEAKER_02: Um, American Legion baseball and Shrewsbury is really big.
• 27:55
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, yes.
• 27:56
  SPEAKER_02: My fellow's been a coach there for 20 years.
• 27:59
  SPEAKER_02: Yep.
• 27:59
  SPEAKER_02: They've had a couple trips to the World Series, but a lot of those players have come back and worked in the staffing company too.
• 28:04
  SPEAKER_02: So it's nice that, you know, they can go play and and have fun, and then when they need a job, they can come back and full circle.
• 28:10
  SPEAKER_02: Exactly.
• 28:11
  SPEAKER_01: So we like to Yeah, my um brother-in-law is involved with um, I think it's the little league in Shrewsbury.
• 28:19
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, nice Craig.
• 28:20
  SPEAKER_01: Craig Colonel.
• 28:21
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
• 28:21
  SPEAKER_02: He's fabulous.
• 28:22
  SPEAKER_02: We like Craig.
• 28:23
  SPEAKER_02: He's a sponsor of ours, and we need all the sponsors we can get.
• 28:27
  SPEAKER_01: That's great.
• 28:28
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, I know.
• 28:28
  SPEAKER_01: I know what you mean.
• 28:30
  SPEAKER_01: Well, before we go, this has been so pleasant, and I love meeting new people, and I appreciate um having been introduced to you.
• 28:39
  SPEAKER_01: So I do have a talent agent, and that person has been introducing me to a lot of people and you, but and I'm kidding.
• 28:46
  SPEAKER_01: But anyway, do you have any like last words you want to tell our audience?
• 28:52
  SPEAKER_02: Come out to Fenton Field and come out and see the Bravehearts.
• 28:56
  SPEAKER_02: Uh we're so excited for our fourth season coming up.
• 28:59
  SPEAKER_02: Uh and uh it's a family fun atmosphere.
• 29:02
  SPEAKER_02: You'll enjoy it.
• 29:03
  SPEAKER_02: It's the cheapest ticket around, and it's free parking.
• 29:05
  SPEAKER_02: You can't beat it.
• 29:06
  SPEAKER_02: If you need a job, come out to Massive Staffing.
• 29:08
  SPEAKER_02: Please reach out to us.
• 29:09
  SPEAKER_02: We'd be happy to find your needs and and and a niche that fits your your need.
• 29:15
  SPEAKER_02: And uh thank you for having me on the show.
• 29:17
  SPEAKER_01: Well, thank you also.
• 29:19
  SPEAKER_02: Pleasure.
• 29:20
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
• 29:21
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you so much.
• 29:23
  SPEAKER_01: Wow, what an incredible show.
• 29:25
  SPEAKER_01: I hope you've enjoyed these conversations as much as I have, because that's what CD Vibes TV is all about: bringing you fascinating people, inspiring stories, fresh perspectives, and ideas that make us think, feel, and see the world a little differently.
• 29:40
  SPEAKER_01: A heartfelt thank you to my wonderful guests for sharing their stories, insights, and experiences.
• 29:46
  SPEAKER_01: I hope something you heard today sparked an idea, spirited you to take action, or simply reminded you of the extraordinary people and exciting things happening right here in our community.
• 29:58
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• 30:02
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• 30:14
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• 30:23
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• 30:27
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• 30:36
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• 30:44
  SPEAKER_01: Now, before we say goodbye, I want to leave you with something close to my heart.
• 30:49
  SPEAKER_01: Every day we have a choice about the energy we bring into the world.
• 30:52
  SPEAKER_01: I believe we're all connected through energy, and when we choose gratitude, kindness, positive thoughts, we raise our vibration and open ourselves to incredible possibilities.
• 31:02
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• 31:12
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• 31:14
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• 31:17
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• 31:22
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• 31:27
  SPEAKER_01: Until next time, keep your energy high, your heart grateful, your mind open to possibilities because when you live with gratitude and positive energy, you make room for miracles.
• 31:38
  SPEAKER_01: May your day and your week be filled with miracles.
• 31:40
  SPEAKER_01: I'm Christina Andronopes, and I'll see you next time on City Vibes TV.
• 31:46
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• 32:01
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