Boyle Means Business

The last time I spoke to this many people – aside from giving a presentation to business executives – was at the dedication of a new Teenage Community Center to the late President John F. Kennedy. That was on September 14, 1965. As you may recall, the Teen Center resulted from a letter sent to the Holyoke Transcript-Telegram Safety Valve by Ray Beaudry, president of Eagle Lodge Local One of the Papermakers Union, challenging young people to find something better to do that loiter on street corners. Little did we know that his intention was to help young people create a better opportunity for each other.

When I fired back my own letter saying we had nothing better to do, Beaudry offered a meeting at the union’s offices, then located in a Suffolk Street block above the Suffolk Theater. We rallied over 100 teenagers to attend the gathering. Next, over the course of a few summer months, we raised money by doing odd jobs, holding car washes and bake sales until we had enough money in our bank account to rent a building owned by former Mayor Samuel Resnic at 410 High Street. After the building was painted and otherwise refurbished, we held a city-wide election and I became the Teen Center’s first president. We had an Adult Council consisting of civic and union leaders and a Teen Council representative of Holyoke’s young persons. President Kennedy’s first cousin, Robert Fitzgerald, attended the opening ceremony. Today, thankfully, there are many organizations serving Holyoke’s young people. One person who worked strenuously to create the Teen Center and who served on the Adult Council is Bob Authier, former vice president of the Eagle Lodge. Bob is here tonight.

Now, we are long overdue for a Senior Center serving the needs of those who have contributed so much to Holyoke’s success. That campaign is underway and I urge everyone to get personally involved.

While they have been working in the public sector, I have devoted my energies to private enterprise. Many of you know the name ‘Daniel C. Boyle’ is synonymous with writing – starting out with the old Holyoke Transcript-

Telegram where I honed my communications skills under the tutelage of Michael J. Burke and now with Turley Publications – The Holyoke SUN and Town Reminder. After earning my bachelor degree at Colorado College, I spent three years working for the National Association of Government Employees and International Brotherhood of Police Officers. There, I worked with the Bureau of Apprenticeship and Training/U.S. Department of Labor to write the National Apprenticeship Standards under which all law enforcement and correctional officers could receive uniformed training.

In 1980, I landed a job as Human Resources Manager at Diamond International Corporation, an egg carton manufacturing company in Palmer, Massachusetts. In addition to handling all of the labor – employee relations responsibilities – I created an Employee Recognition Program (The 100 Club) that greatly improved the company’s efficiency so much so that our corporate officers asked me to introduce it to other manufacturing operations in Natchez, Mississippi, Red Bluff, California, and Plattsburgh, New York. Over the course of its first 18 months, The 100 Club saved a total of $5.2-million collectively among all four operations. Those results were confirmed by an Independent Study conducted by the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service in Washington, D.C. In 1984, I led a manufacturing, legal and financial team that bought Diamond International’s Palmer operation and saved about 250 jobs. As Co-owner, Vice President and Treasurer of Diamond Fiber Products, I managed the budget of our multi-million-dollar business, including an annual payroll of over $7-million. In addition, I remained responsible for employee and labor relations, including contract negotiations and handling grievances. After selling the business, I have consulted with companies world-wide to help them improve their profitability through The 100 Club Employee Recognition Program. Some of the company names would be familiar to you – Owens Corning Fiberglas, Nestle Foods and Scott Paper. When South Africa was getting ready to re-emerge onto the world stage – after the abolishment of apartheid – I was invited to help their companies become more efficient and, especially, to create better working relationships among their employees. I am proud of the role I played in that effort.

Meanwhile, here in Holyoke, Mayor Michael J. Sullivan and his staff have been good stewards of our resources. We must continue in that same vein and use it as a foundation for greater expansion. It was no accident that Holyoke was the first industrially-planned community in the United States. The Holyoke dam and our three levels of canals shepherded in an era of incredible financial gains and thousands of jobs. Given all that is going on today – especially the focus of the State and Federal Governments on renewable energy – I believe Holyoke is on the threshold of another economic boom.