Conklin Furniture follows ‘circular economy’

By E LIZABETH L AFOND- C OPPEZ

Special to The Republican

The terms

“green,” “sustainability” and “carbon footprint” are not usually associated with office furniture. But for Conklin Office Furniture in Holyoke those terms are deeply rooted in its mission.

Franco and Rosemary Arnold purchased the business 41 years ago and turned it into one of the nation’s pioneers in office furniture recycling and refurbishing. As the company has evolved and moved, it is now one of the Paper City’s largest employers and has earned a regional and national reputation for its business.

“We call ourselves ‘gratifyingly green,’” Franco Arnold said.

Jeremie Kadzik, Conklin’s director of operations, says the company was green ahead of the times. “We are green just by the nature of what we do,” said Kadzik.

Conklin Office Furniture, located at 75 Appleton St., offers a showroom and an extensive space for transforming pre-owned furniture, including cubicles, filing cabinets, task chairs, desks, tables and much more. It employs over 50 people, making it one of Holyoke’s largest employers. Conklin Office Furniture began in

Springfield, and, over time, the business outgrew each location. In 2001 it came to Holyoke and occupied a building on Canal Street.

“It was affordable and we said we would never fill that building,” Arnold recalls. “But that didn’t last long and we outgrew it.”

After the downturn of the economy in 2008, Conklin Office Furniture moved to its current location. The building is outfitted with 2,600 solar panels that help power the 231,000-square-foot facility. Each year, it’s estimated that Conklin is powered by 900 KWh of clean energy.

Members of Conklin’s manufacturing team are trained in Eco-Remanufacturing and Eco-Reconditioning, processes that also utilize environmentally friendly materials.

“We take pride in the fact that not only do we sell recycled products, but our company adopted a way of ‘green thinking’ that is much bigger than just a recycled chair,” Kadzik said.

The passionate team at Conklin Office Furniture recognizes there is not an endless supply of natural resources in the world, and, thus, reuse of office furniture helps to decrease landfill waste and decrease use of raw materials.

Alyson Arnold, sustainability coordinator and the second generation of her family in the business, says Conklin follows the principles of a circular economy.

“It’s based on three principles: eliminate waste and pollution; circulate products and materials; and regenerate nature,” she said. “It’s a resilient system that’s good for business, people and the environment.”

Alyson Arnold said she never imagined she would work for the family business. “I went to college to become a veterinarian, then decided to major in science and work in wildlife rehabilitation,” she said. Her path changed when she started a family and came home. “This job is so meaningful,” she said.

Arnold says she’s currently writing an environmental management plan for Conklin to earn its ISO 14001 Certification. It recently earned its HUBZone Certification.

“HUBZone stands for Historically Underutilized Business Zones Program, and it was designed to were developing and distributing E-Alerts on changing requirements for employers,” Wise said.

They compiled toolkits and newsletters, so employers had the resources to be compliant during this time and to ensure their practices were empathetic and responsive to their workforce’s needs.

Prior to the pandemic, more than 90% of programs and learning opportunities were offered in-person in a variety of locations. Now, more than 90% of the learning and development opportunities are offered virtually. Materials and facilitation styles have been retooled and redeveloped so they can be presented in an engaging and informative way virtually.

Throttle

from the COVID shutdown.

Greer said he had some doubts about opening his own business, but once he got going, he didn’t stop.

The now 5-year-old retail business, Monty’s landed second spot for growth in the Springfield Regional Chamber’s Super 60 Awards for 2022. “I show up to work every day and put my head down and work to become the biggest power sports hub,” he said. “I don’t take days off.”

Facilitators have been retrained on delivery techniques so programming can be as effective in the virtual environment as it has been in-person.

“We still love to gather participants in an actual training room to help them learn new skills, but the virtual world has opened new opportunities for EANE and our learners,” Wise said. She is optimistic for 2023: “Over the past 2 1/2 years, our members have showed incredible resilience and innovation in the ways that they do business. It’s been inspiring to watch them change and evolve their businesses to meet these challenging times and we feel so much gratitude and pride that our team has played a small part in contributing to their success,” she said. “In the coming year, we look forward to helping our members continue their journey becoming exceptional workplaces.”

Benitez

CONTINUES FROM PAGE K14 sustainable, and that change will be inevitable. Colleges and universities have a responsibility to promote innovation and entrepreneurship. They should recognize and be sensitive to diverse thoughts and must take an aggressive approach to bridging educational gaps.

This work is important to AIC because we believe that diversity and inclusion is a path to innovation. We have

Cabin

CONTINUES FROM PAGE K12 offered to employees who worked the entire month.

“We recently had five people who called out in one night. In the old days you would have said, ‘OK, you are finished,’ but now you need to think twice and work with them because the labor pool is smaller,” he said. “And the $100 investments are actually less costly than training new employees. But the good news is the average consumer is more sympathetic because they understand the challenges we are going through.”

In general, the hospitality industry when hiring new employees also needs to work with different cultures, Rosskothen noted, especially with the large Latino population in Holyoke, where most of his

When COVID hit, Monty’s had to close its doors temporarily and the owner attempted an online option with two other employees. He said it wasn’t ideal, that his was a brick-and-mortar store, but they did what was needed to pay the bills.

Once they could open, Greer said business surged with a high demand for outdoor recreation. Similarly, bicycle shops were faced with a massive demand that at times was a challenge to meet. Greer said he was able to build “on the back of COVID.” Maintaining an inventory was difficult, but like with other obstacles, he and the team worked through it.

“We did everything we could in order to stay open,” he said.

Moving allowed the business to take on a much wider inventory and create a completely different environment. He’s now working with manufacturers such as KTM, Suzuki, and CF Moto, all of whom Greer described as major names in power elected to do this by being inspirational and transformational, and we have invited everyone to assist in removing obstacles that hinder moving forward.

AIC strives to be entrepreneurial and academically innovative, while promoting access and inclusion to all demographics of students. We are committed to being fully responsive to community and higher education needs by creating academic pipelines for tomorrow’s workforce.

The college continues to promote opportunities for businesses are located.

“Not all of the positions we have to offer require speaking English to do a good job, and I would rather have a manager who speaks Spanish to train someone in their native language who is willing to do a good job for us,” Rosskothen said.

As for the predicted recession, Rosskothen noted he is an “optimist.”

“What we do costs money.

The hard part of the economy is that we are charging more and that is concerning when we are looking at the possibility of a recession,” he said.

“We haven’t seen any negative signs and we entered 2023 with strong bookings. However, once the economy crashes, we usually don’t feel it until six months later.

“If and when it does come, it impacts our corporate business which translates sports. He said this wouldn’t have been possible with the original site.

When it comes to taking on a brand, Greer looks at their own presence and the fans they bring to the table. He described working with the bigger names as an affirmation that the business is succeeding.

“I started this with selling used dirt bikes,” he said. “I’ve met some very interesting people involved in the sport. I kept chugging along, making things happen.”

Part of the success is likely due to a set of puppets that Greer made when he had an idea of starting a come dy show. He described the characters as “straight out of my twisted brain.” They’re used in the commercials, with Greer doing all the voices. The puppets don’t have names, but include a savvy salesman, a dedicated power sports enthusiast and a somewhat nerdy character.

“They just all keep us from taking ourselves too serious ly,” he said. “They’re funny all students, including those that are low-income and first-generation, because social mobility is important and preparedness to enter the labor market as versatile and resilient individuals will help meet the challenges of the future.

Hubert Benitez is the president of American International College in Springfield. To learn more about the college and its programs, go online to aic.edu. You can read its five-year plan online at aicreimagined.org into our event business in a radical way and affects our hotel business,” Rosskothen added. Eventually, it will filter down to affect the restaurant business, as people may have less money to spend on dining out, for instance, he explained.

“I haven’t been through a recession with Delaney’s Market, but since people don’t have to spend a lot of money to get a quality, fresh meal to bring home, my instinct is that Delaney’s Market will be more resilient than its sister companies,” he added.

Whatever happens down the road, Rosskothen said he is “up for the challenge.”

“It is fun to be running my businesses under these new circumstances. It reminds us why we are managers, that we need to think out of the box to meet the challenges of these times,” he said.

CONTINUES FROM PAGE K17 promote job growth, capital investment, and economic development in historically underutilized business zones,” she said. “HUBZone will help our small business gain access to federal procurement opportunities.”

At Conklin, employees carefully inspect every piece of furniture that comes to the company and then do what’s necessary to make it sparkle. There is an upholstery shop, wood shop and a specialized area for powder coating, which is a process that creates a high-quality, durable finish on metal surfaces.

“Most of the furniture we acquire through liquidation is from New York City,” Kadzik said. “It’s very expensive and high-end, and by selling it in the secondary market, we’re able to give our customers up to 80% off original prices.”

Some of the brands include

Keiter

CONTINUES FROM PAGE K13 donations to the chamber, made two years in a row. The donations made it possible for area residents to buy a $25 Northampton gift card and receive $50 in actual spending power.

Herman Miller, Knoll, Steelcase and many more. Conklin also has its own line of office furniture through Gateway Office Furniture. The work environment is a very close, family-like atmosphere. “We have a tremendous amount of family members who work here, including many fathers and their sons,” Kadzik said. Conklin also enjoys giving back to the community in Greater Holyoke, making donations to charities, supporting golf tournaments, annual dinners, scholarship funds and much more.

“We love the Holyoke location and being part of Holyoke’s rebirth with the culture coming back,” Arnold said. “It’s wonderful to be a part of this city, because its residents take great pride in living here in this community!” in the community — three months after we sold out,” Jackson added. and people get a kick out of them.”

For more information about Conklin’s many furniture options and installations, visit conklinoffice. com or call 800-817-1187.

Keiter says his parents raised him and his siblings to show gratitude and not take things for granted.

Greer feels that Monty’s Motorsports has tapped a genuine need in the community. He’s had to teach himself each day and added that he applied what he learned in the car business to this venture. He’s hopeful that a recession won’t happen, but has no plans other than to keep moving forward.

“I can’t just give up and go home,” said Greer. “Put your shoes on and go to work and see how it goes.”

The Keiter Cards sold out within days and the feedback was overwhelming. Chamber executive director Vincent Jackson said he heard from many people who were pleased to be able to buy a card because they could otherwise not afford to shop. Some small-business owners told Jackson they purchased the cards as employee appreciation awards.

“We are still receiving two to three inquiries a week about the Keiter Card, which suggests that it is being talked about by the people using it

“I started the business in my community and that community has been a huge part of our growth,” he says. “I want to give back. I’m committed to doing what I can — and the business can — to give back some of that goodness.”

Despite the pandemic, Keiter says, “There’s no room to complain.

“Other industries really took it on the chin,” he adds. “Being in construction, we have been very fortunate. We’ve been able to continue to grow our business despite all the challenges that COVID brought. We continue to expand and grow. We’re excited about that.” electricity and proprietary carbon material. “Simply put, multiple steps of contaminants removal happen within a single treatment unit as the contaminated water passes through leaving behind heavy metals, nutrients, pathogens, and toxic man-made chemicals,” a company statement said.

Traditional water treatment uses reverse osmosis, but that requires a lot of steps and a large amount of energy. Membranes have to be cleaned with harsh chemicals and replaced frequently. The Elateq system does away with a lot of that in a one-step process, eliminating the need for harsh chemicals and membranes. It uses 90% less energy and 80% savings on total operating costs compared to reverse osmosis, Anderson said.

The company started testing the system with the Amherst and South Hadley Depart- ment of Public Works for eight months It also worked with the Water, Energy and Technology Center at the University of Massachusetts, Anderson said.

It turned out the timing of beginning the company during the pandemic actually served as a benefit. It started working with a large metal plating company out of Connecticut, which was mostly shut down because of COVID. The owners allowed Elateq to come in and test systems, he said.

“We ran every possible scenario under the harshest of conditions,” Anderson said. Metal plating creates a lot of “nasty water” and a lot of fumes, so the system could really be put through the paces to see how well it worked.

Elateq is continuing to work with the company, which Anderson declined to name.

Elateq has also benefited from receiving multiple grants over the past few years to develop the technology and business. Some of them include a product devel- opment grant from FORGE, a Western Massachusetts nonprofit that works with startups, an InnovativeMass grant of $67,250 from the state’s Clean Energy Center and a National Science Foundation grant of $236,645. The work being done with Amherst is partially funded with the Clean Energy Center grant, he said.

The company is a participant in the collaborative Western Mass Founders Network, which is a program within the Economic Development Council of Western Massachusetts.

As word is getting out, there has been increased interest in Elateq’s technology and systems, especially among cities and towns trying to find better and less expensive ways to treat water and wastewater, Anderson said.

“We have had a number of municipalities reach out to us, but right now we are focusing on our execution with Pepsi,” he said. “We won’t want to bite off more than we can handle.”

As word is getting out, there has been increased interest in Elateq’s technology and systems, especially among cities and towns trying to find better and less expensive ways to treat water and wastewater.

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For over 45 years, Casella has served local communities. Each year, we recover over a million tons of recyclable material from the waste stream, and over the next decade it is our goal to double that amount.

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