Class 2004

Area Entrepreneurs Selected for Induction into the 2004 Western Mass. Entrepreneurship Hall of Fame at Springfield Technical Community College

Five individuals or families from the past and present of this region were selected for induction into the Class of 2004 of the Western Massachusetts Entrepreneurship Hall of Fame, located at the Andrew M. Scibelli Enterprise Center in the Springfield Technical Community College Technology Park.

The formal induction took place on Thursday, October 7, with an induction banquet following that evening at the Log Cabin Banquet and Meeting House. Proceeds from the banquet are used to support entrepreneurship programs in Western Massachusetts, including the YES! (Young Entrepreneurial Scholars) program, which currently serves more than 1,000 young men and women in two dozen area high schools, as well as the Community Foundation of Western Mass. student business incubator.

The Class of 2004 includes:

Albert and Amelia Ferst, former owners of Camfour
Silas Lamson & Abel Goodnow, founders of Lamson & Goodnow LLC
Joseph V. Gosselin, Jr., owner of Commonwealth Packaging Corporation
Emanuel (Manny) Rovithis, founder and owner of Manny's TV and Appliance
William Skinner and family, founder of William Skinner & Sons

Albert and Amelia Ferst

Ferst, a noted philanthropist, was a laborer when, in 1952, he scraped together enough money to buy a Springfield-based fishing equipment and aluminum boat distribution company known as Camfour, a name derived from the last names of its founders Adam Cameron and Bill Fournier.

During Ferst's nearly half-century of ownership the company evolved, and revolvers, shotguns, and ammunition became some of its primary product lines. Ferst's company, which relocated to Westfield, was known for its strong customer service, innovation, and use of ever-improving computer technology. In the mid-80s, for example, the trail-blazing company released a software system that enabled dealers to access its inventory and order electronically. In 1998, Ferst sold the company to the Picknelly family.

While successful as a businessman, Ferst has earned far greater acclaim as a philanthropist, especially in Westfield. Working as a team with his late wife, Amelia, Ferst was the driving force behind the creation of the Interfaith Center at Westfield State College and, later, a new Boys & Girls Club of Greater Westfield. Adjacent to the club stands Amelia Park, an ice skating arena with related recreational facilities, which Ferst created for the city, at a cost of nearly $6 million, in memory of his beloved wife.

Most recently, Ferst gave the Discover Westfield Children's Museum a $1 million challenge grant to construct a new facility on the grounds adjoining Amelia Park. On the occasion of that award, Westfield Mayor Richard Sullivan said, "I think Mr. Ferst and his family have absolutely given a new definition to philanthropy and charity here in Westfield."

Silas Lamson and Abel Goodnow, Lamson & Goodnow LLC

The oldest continuous producer of cutlery in the United States began in 1834 when Silas Lamson invented and produced a curved handle or snath for a scythe, used to cut grass for hay. Three years later, Silas, with his sons Nathaniel and Ebenezer, along with Abel Goodnow, founded the Lamson & Goodnow Manufacturing Company along the Deerfield River in Shelburne Falls.

The handmade cutlery was created with power from the turbulent river (originally called Salmon Falls by earlier residents), and in 1851 the company built a second, larger manufactory nearby. As the company grew and the American market for cutlery and edged tools expanded, Lamson and Goodnow brought master "cutlers" from Sheffield, England and Solingen, Germany to assure quality products and highly-skilled labor.

Lamson and Goodnow employed as many as 340 people before the Civil War. The number swelled to more than 500 workers during that conflict, as the company became a military supplier to the Union armies. During the two world wars, 80 percent of the company's production went toward the war efforts.

Currently, Lamson and Goodnow specializes in kitchen cutlery and barbecue tools for the consumer retail market, as well as cutlery for the food service and scientific industries. Their LamsonSharp™ forged or stamped cutlery is "sharp for life" with a guarantee of lifetime free factory sharpening. Lamson is the only company that offers such a program, according to the corporation. Lamson and Goodnow cutlery is considered some of the best in the world.

With the acquisition of TreeSpirit™, the company now includes a line of handcrafted wooden cutting boards made from North American hardwoods grown in self-sustaining forests, and maple kitchen tools made by Amish craftsmen and New England artisans. Other Lamson and Goodnow brands include TimberGrass bamboo kitchen products, HotSpot kitchen products, and Grind salt and pepper mills.

Lamson and Goodnow "takes great pride in its heritage, history, and American made cutlery."

Joseph V. Gosselin Jr.

Gosselin, who is perhaps best known for his three decades of work with the Holyoke St. Patrick's Day parade, founded Commonwealth Packaging Corporation in 1982.

A long-time executive of Carando, Gosselin saw an opportunity when Laurino Packaging in West Springfield, a maker of folding cartons, went out of business. He bought the building and the equipment, and created a new enterprise focusing on design and assembly of corrugated containers.

Starting with six employees, Gosselin has expanded the business to 60 workers, and now counts more than 800 customers in the Northeast.

Like other inductees from the class of 2004, Gosselin is known as much for his contributions to the community as he is for his success in business. He has been involved with the Holyoke St., Patrick's Day parade for 29 years, and has held a number of positions with the parade committee, including president, in 1986. This past spring, he was grand marshal of the parade.

Gosselin has also served as a board member of the Sisters of Providence Health System, the Holyoke Community College Foundation, and the Holyoke Catholic High School Advisory Board. He is a past recipient of the Holyoke Community College Alumnus of the Year award.

Manny Rovithis

Rovithis, a Greek immigrant, has one of the most recognizable names, faces, and marketing slogans -- "we have to be better; we live here" -- in Western Massachusetts.

He built an appliance sales and service chain that now includes five stores from very humble beginnings -- a 1,000-square-foot store he opened in Springfield in 1977 after the owner of the former House of Television turned down his requests to be made sales manager.

Over the years, Rovithis has expanded the chain to include stores in Westfield, Hadley, Greenfield, and Holyoke. The additional stores have helped Rovithis provide convenience to customers and enabled his business to survive heavy competition from large, national chains.

In addition to his success in business, Rovithis, or Manny, as he is widely known, has also been a strong supporter of many area non-profit groups and charities. This spring, for example, he was recently honored with the Omar T. Pace award of the American Cancer Society for his many contribution to that group and its efforts.

William Skinner family

William Skinner and his descendants are famed nearly as much for their philanthropic gifts to social and educational institutions in this region as they are for the highest quality silk thread and satin fabrics they produced and their business innovation and expertise.

Nineteen-year-old William Skinner left England in 1843 for better opportunities in the new world; when he died in 1902, the William Skinner and Sons silk and satin mills were earning revenues of $6.5 million and employing 1000 people. Already experienced in his family’s silk dyeing trade, Skinner came to work at the Valentine Dye Works in Florence, Mass. When the company folded two years later he took it over, and in 1848 started the manufacture of sewing silks with financial partner Joseph Warner. That business partnership was short-lived, but Skinner married Joseph’s sister Nancy, who died two years later.

Skinner remarried, with Sarah Elizabeth Allen, and in 1849 built a mill in Williamsburg that, populated primarily by his employees, became known as Skinnersville. The new concern was named Unquomonk Silk Mills and its trademark was a carving of the head of this chief of the Agawam Indians. The mill was geared to production of fine sewing threads for merchant tailors.

Following a flood in 1874 that destroyed the mill, Skinner rebuilt the factory in Holyoke. Within six months, he was again producing sewing silk and silk braid used for binding men’s suits and service uniforms.

In 1883, the company became William Skinner and Sons, as William and Joseph took over leadership of the firm. The company that William Skinner created became the largest producer of satin linings in the world.

As the years passed, new generations of the family kept up with the times, producing other varieties of fabric and introducing synthetic materials. The family decided to sell the business in 1961, to Indian Head Mills.

William Skinner and his family were devoted to their communities and to improving the quality of life for their fellow citizens. His son Joseph may have expressed this best. Once asked “What could be finer than silk?" Joseph replied “It is our character which lives, our character which influences others…which gives us our place in society…it is our character woven into our lives which makes the world better or worse than when we came into it, so character is finer than silk.”

William Skinner was a founder of Holyoke Hospital, and helped build a Holyoke church, the YMCA and the Holyoke Public Library, as well as donating liberally to Mount Holyoke and Vassar colleges.

His daughter Belle, a Vassar graduate, traveled extensively. Following World War I, she founded an organization to help French villages recover from the war's devastation. She herself “adopted” the village of Hattonchatel, pouring $1 million of her own money into rebuilding and improving the town.

In Holyoke, Belle and her younger sister Katherine founded the Skinner Coffee House to serve the needs of immigrants who worked in the mills and factories. Belle and her brother William inherited the family mansion, Wistariahurst, which in 1959 was given to the City of Holyoke as a museum.

Joseph Skinner echoed his father’s strong interest in higher education for women, and served on the board of trustees of Mount Holyoke College from 1905 to 1931; he was president of the board from 1912 on. Joseph left his 23-room mansion to the college as well as Skinner Hall, a fellowship fund, an endowment fund, money toward the building of a president’s house, 90 acres of land, and the Orchards golf course. This Donald Ross-designed golf course, which he had built for his daughter on 200 acres across the street from his home, was the site of the 2004 U.S. Women’s Open.

Steering Committee

Members of the steering committee for the 2004 Entrepreneurship Hall of Fame banquet are: Allan W. Blair, Carol Moore Cutting, John H. Davis, Steven A. Davis, Gary Fialky, Michael Fritz, John Gallup, Robert J. Greeley, Kerry J. Kuhlman, L. Douglas LaPlante, W. Guy Ormsby, Peter L. Picknelly Sr., and Donald Williams. The chairperson of the steering committee is John E. Reed.

The Western Massachusetts Entrepreneurship Hall of Fame was established in October, 2000 to honor the entrepreneurial spirit in Western Massachusetts. Recognizing more than business success, it honors creativity and innovation along with perseverance and business acumen. The individuals enshrined in the Entrepreneurship Hall of Fame, from the past and present of this region, have chosen to give back to their community, and have committed time, effort, and resources to foster success in others.