Love for work unites local leaders at Chamber of Commerce breakfast

GREENFIELD — Love was in the air at the “I Love My Job” Franklin County Chamber of Commerce breakfast on Friday morning as a panel of five local leaders shared what they love about their work.

The breakfast at Terrazza Ristorante featured speakers in different career fields who each reflected on the question of what they love most about their job, and in some cases, jobs.

“The reason that I love my job is because I get to work with friends like you,” Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Jessye Deane said to the full house of chamber members and the panelists. “I get to connect you with one another, and together, we are finding solutions and celebrating each other’s successes and building a stronger, more collaborative community that I am so deeply proud to be a part of.”

The first speaker was Joe Hastry, co-founder and director of finance and operations of the South Deerfield-based startup, florrent. He explained that his company creates supercapacitors, which are high-powered, short-duration batteries. The active materials within florrent’s supercapacitors are biomass waste in the form of pecan shells from landfills in the U.S., bringing wealth back to those regions and limiting emissions.

Hastry said he and his fellow co-founders are from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and have laid roots for their startup in western Massachusetts, hoping to bring clean energy and advanced manufacturing jobs to the region. He said he loves his job for being local, but also for how he’s learning from the team of scientists and engineers he works with.

Representing the nonprofit sector was Música Franklin Executive Director Orice Jenkins. The program hosts a free after-school program offering music education for Franklin County students in kindergarten through 12th grade. Students learn singing, drumming and string instrument skills, and perform concerts in front of audiences year-round.

Jenkins shared that he loves his job as the leader of a nonprofit, which involves wearing multiple hats.

“It’s a small-to-medium nonprofit, so that really means I love my jobs,” Jenkins said with a smile as the audience laughed.

Jenkins added that he and his team love their work at the free after-school music program for Franklin County youth, and they try their best to maintain it for the kids.

Jay Heilman said he enjoys his job as principal owner of the Shelburne Falls-based JPH Building and Firehouse Design because his work evolves over time and is new every day.

Heilman’s company primarily builds homes and has since expanded into design work for its own clients, while partnering with other local designers and builders. Some of the projects his company has completed include taking the old Buckland firehouse and turning it into a mixed-use building, along with the active redevelopment of the former Buckland Police Station into long-term rental and professional office space.

“If you were to ask me why I love my job, it’s because I always have a new job,” he said.

The second-to-last panelist was Northwestern District Attorney David Sullivan, who shared his love for several facets of his public service. While sharing his appreciation for the DA’s office’s partner agencies, Sullivan also said he loves being able to help the victims, the engaged citizenry of Franklin County and the people he works with in his office.

“I love the mission, and it’s really about doing justice for the victims of crime, but also the community,” Sullivan said, “and also to make sure that we compassionately take care of the offenders — that we hold them accountable, that we do something that’s going to change their lives, so they’re not back into the criminal justice system.”

To close out the breakfast, Christy Moore, director of the Greenfield Recreation Department, shared her love for the opportunities that recreation brings to a community, and the way it impacts the lives of residents. She shared that the programs the department organizes, like the Independence Day fireworks, the Winter Carnival and various summer programs, benefit the community in more ways than one. She referred to recreation as “essential infrastructure.”

“The value of this work is simple but powerful. We bring people together, we build health, we strengthen our community, we create a legacy that benefits not just today’s residents, but future generations as well,” Moore said. “That is why I love my job.”