John Waite, Executive Director

johnw@fccdc.org

413-774-7204, X102

John Waite has been Executive Director of the Franklin County Community Development Corporation (FCCDC) since March 2000. John oversees all programs and finances of the organization. He has helped expand the Business Assistance Program, the Small Business Lending program, and construct and operate the Western Massachusetts Food Processing Center. Most recently he has helped expand the FCCDC’s work in Food Systems and Racial Equity and is leading the Strategic Planning process during the organization’s 40th Anniversary year.
John has a Business degree from University of Massachusetts and a Masters degree from Columbia University. He has over 35 years of community economic development experience, including Peace Corps in Burkina Faso and Uzbekistan, CARE/UNDP in Uganda, Community Organization in Brooklyn working with Refugee entrepreneurs. He is on many boards and committees at the local, regional and national organizations.

Traci joined us as the Racial Justice Community Engagement Leader in late 2020.
Traci appreciates and values the significance of cultural competence as a tool for achieving success and making significant changes in our ever-changing world. "Take the time to discern, by listening to the individuals that surround you and, asking significant questions, before constructing a conclusion."
Traci has spent the last five years facilitating presentations on diversity and cultural awareness in various organizations, incorporating customer service skills as a strategic initiative to develop a team and grow a business. Traci is an adjunct at Cambridge College and Bay Path University. She is teaching Business Management, Project Managment, Diversity in the Workplace, Business Ethics, Leadership Models and the Capstone Research Project.

Amy Shapiro has been the Business Assistance Director at the FCCDC since 2001.

Amy has an MBA and owned and operated a family business for many years. She is a seasoned business owner, business consultant and instructor skilled in entrepreneurial training, business management, advising and strategic planning. She has experience working with businesses, communities, non-profit organizations, arts & culture, trade associations and young people to promote programs, conduct outreach and provide classroom and one-on-one training. Strengths include client recruitment, counseling, teaching and course design. She has strong knowledge of local and national business trends, and the ability to collaborate with a diverse blend of professionals, business leaders, instructors and students.

Christopher Janke is a poet, artist, educator, and entrepreneur. He brings a skepticism of the market and a passion for independent creativity, business, and local control to his new position at the CDC.

He believes in the value of small-scale enterprise as a way to push against the corporatization and financialization of daily life in the 21st century. In addition to nearly two decades of entrepreneurial experience in Franklin County, he teaches writing, art, and financial management at UMass, Springfield College, and other schools in the region. In poems and art installations, Janke explores the connection between mind and body in the ways that words connect to and interact with the physical world. Chris joined us in late 2020.

Rebecca Busansky is the Program Manager for the PVGrows Investment Fund (PVGIF). PVGIF provides financing and technical assistance to farm and food entrepreneurs located primarily in western Massachusetts through community investments. She has worked for PVGrows since 2013, and joined the FCCDC team in 2015 to launch the PVGrows Investment Fund, with a focus on developing and maintaining relationships with local food system borrowers and community investors. She has an undergraduate degree from Brown University and has worked in community economic development for more than 25 years.

Liz Buxton, Director of Operations at the WMFPC

lizb@fccdc.org

Liz Buxton has been the Director of Operations of the Western MA Food Processing Center (WMFPC) since August of 2013. Liz has over 30 years of management experience in food service, food production and food safety. She has held positions in many facets of food production such as restaurants, business and industry food service, college food service, and K-12 food service. Liz holds certificates in Better Process Control School, HACCP Plan development, Juice HACCP, FSPCA Preventative Controls for Human Food , Serv-Safe and OSHA 10 and 30(anticipated July 2020) .She works directly with food entrepreneurs to scale up and make their processes commercial ready and with local farms to develop value added products from their crops.

Kate Minifie, Food Business Manager

katem@fccdc.org

413-774-7204, X104

Kate Minifie is the Food Business Manager for the Western MA Food Processing Center. Kate has worked across many sectors of the local food system, including on farms, in restaurants and in the nonprofit sector as a farm to school and local food system advocate. At the Food Processing Center, Kate is the first point of contact for clients making a specialty food product in the facility. She helps clients navigate systems for bringing a product to market, including recipe development, food safety, licensing and regulatory navigation, business planning and more. In addition, she coordinates product sourcing and sales for the Valley Vegetables program, a line of frozen local veggies sold to schools and institutions. Kate holds a Master’s Degree in Public Health and strives to apply this lens to her work at the FPC in order to build a more resilient food system that is accessible to all.

Judy Scherer, the Director of Operations at the FCCDC, has been here since 2005. She is responsible for IT and maintenance of efficient office operations for the FCCDC and Venture Center. She brings many years of varied work experiences to the job. Judy coordinates training activities, manages data collection and reporting for programs.

Helen Perham, Development and Communications Manager
helenp@fccdc.org

413-774-7204, X114