Mark Borsari didn’t have a number handy to quantity just how large the ‘twisted wire brush’ market is — so he qualified matters instead. “It’s big … much bigger than most people would think, certainly — twisted wire brushes are used everywhere,” said Borsari, president of Palmer-based Sanderson-MacLeod, which has made a name for itself in this somewhat obscure, yet intriguing corner of the manufacturing sector.

The first, coming up on June 21, will have a hard focus on the broad subject of literacy, and a very aggressive goal: collecting 5,000 books for a variety of child-literacy programs, including the Hasbro Summer Learning Initiative (HSLI), which works to bridge the gap in learning that occurs when many area young people leave school for the summer months. Other programs include Link to Libraries and Book It.

“Employers are trying to get more out of workers with less of a footprint than before in terms of space,” he explained. “I also think that, when many companies rightsized during this downturn, more was expected from the workers that remain. I also think there’s been some major shifts in the way we do business.” In addition, “the work stations are getting smaller because computers are getting smaller,” said Scott Montemerlo, account executive at the Lexington Group. “And they don’t need to have all the filing underneath.

The roots of GZA Geoenvironmental Inc. began deep below the ground. “We used to say we worked from the ground down,” said Stephan Roy, principal and officer manager for the company’s Springfield location. Indeed, during the late ’60s, the company focused on analyzing conditions below the ground to determine how they would impact construction.

For these reasons and many others, we hope that area businesses, through their own initiative or in concert with organizations like the Regional Employment Board of Hampden County, find the means, the courage, the confidence, or whatever you choose to call it to add a body or two for the summer months. No, the economy isn’t as strong as most would like it be or thought it would be by this time, but bringing on summer help is important to this region’s overall vitality.

The last tier of decision-making involved where in the Pioneer Valley to make this comeback. After considering several options, he decided that reviving Page’s Loft, located in the Clarion Hotel just off exit 18 of I-91 (but not that name) made the most sense

For Americans, taking a summer vacation is a birthright,” said Mary Kay Wydra, director of the Greater Springfield Convention and Visitor’s Bureau. “People are going to travel, but they will probably make different choices.

Originally, presenteeism signified the opposite of absenteeism, explained Sandy Reynolds, executive vice president of the Employer’s Resource Group at Associated Industries of Massachusetts (AIM). “It meant somebody who came to work when they were sick because they wouldn’t get paid at home. And there is a cost to having people come to work when they’re sick, in terms of reduced productivity.

“The REB is embarking upon a new and more expansive strategic direction, and we’re looking at workforce development in a more comprehensive way, because we want to build a more prosperous community,” Ward explained. “One of the essential components of a high quality of life is safe, secure employment with adequate pay.”

Vedovelli’s had considerable success on the court — Cathedral teams he served as assistant coach won four Western Mass. championships in six years, and two of his Agawam teams won sportsmanship awards — and within the broad realm of state-supported economic development. Indeed, he’s had his picture in several press outlets, including BusinessWest, for his work helping companies such as Titeflex and Smith & Wesson, both in Springfield, gain the state and local support needed to expand.

Like the groups before it, the Class of 2011 is diverse, with each story unique in some ways. Perhaps the most unique is that of a 16-year-old high-school student who became the youngest winner to date through his work in the community, which ranges from tutoring Somali refugees to work on the Web site for Link to Libraries; from involvement with a teen-philanthropy organization to membership in the aptly-named Don’t Just Sit There, a ‘good-works’ group that assists a number of causes.

When Craig Melin embarked on his pursuit of a doctoral degree from the Dartmouth Institution for Health Policy and Clinical Practice, he figured it would be a two- or three-year journey. Almost five years after he started, Melin, president and CEO of Cooley Dickinson Hospital in Northampton, still has a ways to go, but there is light, he said, at the end of the proverbial tunnel

“Learn, earn, and return.” That is the broad principle guiding seasoned entrepreneurs volunteering their time and talents for something called Valley Venture Mentors, or VVM. The nonprofit initiative was launched last fall to fill a huge need in the region: a service to mentor fledgling entrepreneurs, help them navigate the whitewater that confronts new ventures, and keep businesses — and jobs — in Western Massachusetts.

Kenn Delude says that, when officials at Westmass Area Development Corp. announced their intentions to acquire the former Ludlow Mills property in July 2008, they expected that it would take considerable time to secure the financing and handle the myriad other details needed to make the complex deal happen. And they were right.

Lyon now boasts 25 employees and annual sales around $20 million. Along the way, it has steadily added to its fleet of planes. The hangars at the Pittsfield airport now house that original Cessna and a twin-engine model (used for training), a Piper Navajo,a six-seat Lear Jet, two eight-passenger Hawker 800s (the ‘workhorses’ of the stable), and the showhorse (although it logs considerable time in the air itself), a Gulfstream IV, or G4, as it’s often called, which can seat 12, although it rarely does

On the heels of its first large solar-power installation in Pittsfield, built on land once owned by GE, Western Mass. Electric Co. is ready to build an even-larger facility on the site of a capped landfill on Cottage Street in Springfield.

Development Associates, which has a portfolio boasting 1.5 million square feet of office and mixed-use facilities across Western Mass. and Connecticut, is adding a new facility to its product mix — a Class A office facility to be known as the Northampton/I-91 Professional Center.

The recent Jeopardy! contests featuring IBM’s Watson computer was a success on a number of levels, from television ratings to exposure for IBM and its products. In a quieter fashion, the show and the computer have shed some light on what’s known as question-answering, or QA, technology, and the important work being done in this realm by UMass Amherst and its Center for Intelligent Information Retrieval, which is hard at work finding new and better ways to search materials, extract information, and help people make sense of the information they retrieve.

“The ERC5 has its own individual chamber, but has the ability to access all the resources the ACCGS has to offer. “We see value in the extended networking powers we get with Outlook, the Business Expo, and all the After 5s and breakfasts our members have the ability to attend,” she continued. “From a marketing standpoint, it extends our marketing ability from the 240 members ERC5 has to 800;

“We’re giving the show a new look, but much more than that,” she said, stressing that the Expo is a truly regional event involving the four western counties and all area chambers.

When Insurance Center of New England commenced a search for new headquarters space last year, the focus soon centered on the former Oaks banquet facility on Suffield Street in Agawam.

Dan Moen wasn’t looking for a job opportunity when a recruiter invited him to apply for the position of president and CEO of the Sisters of Providence Health System last summer.

They have names like ‘kaleidoscope,’ ‘lens crackle,’ ‘pillars of light,’ and ‘blinking dots.’ These are holographic originations, or multi-dimensional patterns, created at Hazen Paper in Holyoke and used in packaging and promotional products ranging from golf-ball boxes to the cover of a ‘75th birthday’ Elvis CD.

Many of Easthampton’s artists and artisans have set up shop in the city’s converted mill buildings and old factories, which include Cottage Street Studios, owned by Riverside Industries; Eastworks; the Paragon Arts Industry building; and Mill 180, which recently opened its doors to new tenants.