Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Tech Citizenship

Local techs lending a hand

Video Gallery

MHT's Galen Moore: Nerds and geeks flock to Boston conventions

MHT's Julie Donnelly: Colleges see uptick in interdisciplinary programs

MHT's Galen Moore: Hiring trends and opportunities

Related News

Staples Foundation awards $2.5M to nonprofits [December 27, 2011]

Blog: STEM needs to branch out [December 14, 2011]

Google to give $6M in STEM grants to Boston groups [December 14, 2011]

BiddingForGood brings in $2.2M in new fundraise [December 8, 2011]

PTC supports high school engineering design challenge [October 12, 2011]

Mall Networks gives its all

by Lynette F. Cornell, Special to Mass High Tech

Thirty-five desks at Mall Networks Inc. remained empty as the work day began on April 8. Their usual occupants were getting their hands dirty, painting lockers and cleaning out debris at the Young Achievers School in Mattapan.

Led by a team from City Year, the employees began the day with the traditional City Year routine of morning calisthenics before diving into two gym lockers rooms that had fallen into disrepair. The school recently moved into a larger building, and the sudden nature of the move left little time for the rooms to be renovated. The Mall Networks employees helped overhaul them by cleaning out the showers and adding a fresh coat of paint to the walls and lockers.

The idea for Lexington-based Mall Networks to engage in community service originated with Maurice Blaustein, the software development company’s director of solutions delivery.

As a former reporter for the Boston Herald, Blaustein discovered City Year when covering the organization for a story. He fell in love with their volunteerism model, and at each company where he has worked, he has sought to foster workplace camaraderie by inviting coworkers to participate in community involvement projects.

At Mall Networks, he proposed his community service idea to CEO Tom Beecher, who responded by e-mailing every employee, inviting them to participate in the renovation project.

“I was struck by and impressed by the reaction I got in sending out the e-mail,” said Beecher.

Every employee was on board. While other companies seek to foster a team mentality through golf trips and big dinners, said Blaustein, he hoped to strengthen employee bonds while helping the community with a day of service. For Blaustein, helping the community is an important value he wants to instill in his family as well as his colleagues.

“Any company can make hardware or software, but not every company takes that step to help out the community,” he said.

Blaustein said he hopes to form a partnership with City Year in the future and arrange for Mall Networks to adopt a local school for a year. Beecher added that he would also like to make the day of service at least an annual event. 

Lynette F. Cornell is a freelance writer in Manchester, N.H.

First Wind expands scholars program to all areas
Newton wind energy site developer First Wind Holdings LLC has expanded its First Wind Scholars program to high school students residing in each community where the company has a project in operation or in an advanced stage of development. Launched in October for a student in Beaver County or Millard County, Utah, First Wind Scholars offers one-time $3,000 scholarships to support local high school students who display strong potential for a successful college experience, as well as interest in the environment, energy or the sciences. Under the expanded program, as many as 10 scholarships will be granted. In addition, First Wind will provide a renewable scholarship of $5,000 for up to four years to the most qualified student. Applications are open and available online with all submissions due by May 1.

Z-Medica launches QuikClot Grant for veterans
Z-Medica Corp., a medical device company in Wallingford, Conn., announced the launch of its QuikClot Grant program for U.S. military veterans attending Marietta College. The $25,000 grant will support Marietta College’s Yellow Ribbon Program, which allows qualified veterans to attend the college as undergraduate students and receive full tuition scholarships. The Yellow Ribbon Program is designed to cover any outstanding tuition and fees above those covered by the GI Bill benefit. The program will cover all qualified Iraq and Afghanistan War veterans who attend Marietta College. Bart Gullong, Z-Medica co-founder, is a member of Marietta College’s graduating class of 1970. Z-Medica manufactures and markets its QuikClot family of products for hemostasis for use by health-care professionals, first responders, law enforcement officers and the military. QuikClot products rapidly enhance the body’s natural coagulation process, helping to achieve hemostasis faster.

LoJack and May Institute promote autism awareness
Westwood’s LoJack Corp. has teamed up with the May Institute of Randolph, which provides educational, rehabilitative and behavioral health-care services, to launch its second annual statewide autism awareness campaign that aims to counter widely held stereotypes about the disorder. LoJack is backing the May Institute through a sponsorship valued at $100,000 during National Autism Awareness Month. The institute will be able to double its ad campaign throughout the MBTA system and is looking to reach potentially more than one million commuters in Massachusetts. This year’s What Does Autism Look Like? campaign includes more than 1,000 informational pieces on the MBTA system, including 125 platform posters in dozens of subway and commuter rail stations, and 900 educational car cards displayed in subway cars and buses. As many as 1.3 million riders use the MBTA each day. According to the Institute, 11,000 school-aged children in Massachusetts have an autism spectrum disorder (ASD), nearly double the number of five years ago.