Business MONDAY

MAKING NEWS

JANUARY 26, 2015

Daily Hampshire Gazette • gazettenet.com Page C1

First-time home-buyer course in Belchertown

BELCHERTOWN — HAPHous-ing has been awarded a $60,000 grant from the Belchertown Community Preservation Com-mittee to provide low- and mod-erate-income, rst-time home buyers with down payment assis-tance and closing costs.

HAPHousing will conduct an assistance program that provides $5,000 loans to qualifying individu-als and families. Applicants must be rst-time home buyers with a household income that is 80 per-cent or less of the area median income, be purchasing a home in Belchertown and complete a rst-time home-buyer course through a H -certi ed coun-seling agency. The $5,000 loan will be restricted to closing costs and/or the down payment for a home purchase, and will be forgiven af-ter ve years if during that period the borrower continuously owns the property and occupies it as their principal residence.

The rst-time home-buyer course will be held at the Free-dom Center Community Room, 66 State St., from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Feb. 28 and March 7. People interested in applying for a rst-time home-buyer grant may con-tact Marta Alvarez, 233-1615 or 1-800-332-9667 ext. 1615, or malva-rez@haphousing.org.

Citizens Bank funds financial literacy

BOSTON — Citizens Bank is now accepting applications from nonpro ts for nancial literacy programs.

Organizations in the bank’s 11-state area are invited to sub-mit an application by Friday for up to $50,000 in funding as part of the bank’s Citizens Helping Cit-izens Manage Money program.

ligible nancial literacy ac-tivities include basics of banking and asset building, budgeting, home-ownership counseling, foreclosure prevention, credit management and repair pro-grams, and nancial manage-ment for small businesses. Re-cipients will be announced in March. Further information on funding and applications is avail-able online at www.cybergrants.com/citizens/chcmanagemoney.

Cooley Dickinson appoints vice president

NORTHAMPTON — Katherine L. Bechtold is the new vice presi-dent of patient care services and chief nursing of cer at Cooley Dickinson Health Care. She was misidenti ed in a photo pub-lished Jan. 19.

Most recently, Bechtold served as the senior vice presi-dent and chief nurse execu-tive for Mul-tiCare Health System in Ta-coma, Wash-ington, where she oversaw nursing and

clinical policies, case manage-ment, social work, and quality care for the ve-hospital system and its primary care, urgent care, and specialty clinics.

She also served for a total of eight years as chief nursing of -cer and vice president of patient care at Centura Health Systems in Englewood, Colorado, and Saint Anthony Hospital System.

ERA Laplante Real Estate adds associate

SOUTH HADLEY — A. Cynthia Baker is the newest member of the of ce of ERA M. Connie Laplante Real Estate. She was misidenti ed in a photo pub-lished Jan. 19.

Baker has more than 35 years of experience, has been a licensed

broker since 1985, and was most recently co-owner of Baker-Waite Realty in South Hadley. Baker has served the town of South Hadley as

A. CYNTHIA BAKER

See MAKING / Page C3

SOUTHAMPTON — “Do what makes your heart sing. Don’t worry about the money, that will come later.” Those were the words of wisdom a friend offered to Sven Kielhorn before he launched his business, eTown Videos, which creates mar-keting, training, informational and multimedia videos for businesses and governmental agencies.

“Before I started eTown Videos, I was in telecommunications selling data solutions to businesses,” Kiel-horn said. “But I always had a love for videography and photography.”

Kielhorn said he would do wedding videos for friends, as a side job. Then he began doing a few promotional videos for people’s websites.

As time went on, Kielhorn found that more people were seeking him to create videos for their websites. It was then that he decided to turn his hobby into a part-time business.

“I rst created the business in Jan-uary of 2006,” Kielhorn said. “This was a time when nobody was really doing that sort of thing and even You-Tube wasn’t well known at all.”

At rst, eTown Videos remained a side job.

“Three years went by and I start-ed getting busier and busier and the customers seemed to really like what we were doing,” Kielhorn said. “It started to occupy all of my days so I thought, let’s do this full time.”

Today, Kielhorn, 50, hires 10 to 12 contractors whose skills include videography, graphic design, illus-tration, animation and script writing. Their mission is to produce accessi-ble, accurate and compelling videos that help their clients communicate

with their target audiences.The success of eTown Videos

was recognized Thursday when the Greater Easthampton Chamber of Commerce presented Kielhorn with its Business Person of the Year Award. At the same event, the Busi-ness of the Year Award was given to Tandem Bagel Co., the Community Service Group of the Year went to the Easthampton Rotary Club and Joan Yamilkoski received the Chamber President’s Award.

“When Mo (executive director Maureen Belliveau) called I was pretty oored,” Kielhorn said. “It is totally an honor and I am totally humble and very grateful that we get to work in a community like this.”

For the last eight years, Kielhorn has been working out of two rooms at his home in Southampton.

CAROL LOLLIS

The Greater Easthampton Chamber of Commerce named Sven Kielhorn, owner of eTown Videos in Southampton, its Business Person of the Year.

CAROL LOLLIS

Denise and Sven Kielhorn at their home in Southampton.

T E L L I NG A S TORY

By FRAN RYAN Gazette Continuing Writer

Sven Kielhorn turns hobby into

flourishing business, eTown Videos

DEERFIELD — Anglers, rejoice! If you’ve had trouble nding a place to restock your supply of lures or get your y- sh-ing rod repaired, Michael Didonna of South Deer eld will soon be able to help.

Didonna plans to open the Deer eld Fly Shop on March 7 in South Deer eld.

Over the past month, Didonna, 38, has been busy hang-ing merchandise racks, laying out equipment, and set-ting up in the store-front at 8A Elm St.

So far, a long rack lled with shing rods runs down the

center of the sales oor, olive-green vests hang from a clothing rack at the back, and a wooden case is slowly lling with ies of all shapes and colors.

Didonna said he rst began entertain-ing the thought of opening his own busi-ness about two years ago while working as an automobile mechanic at Duffy’s Front End Services in Northampton, and he is no stranger to the riparian pas-time.

He said he learned to sh as a young-

ster under the tutelage of his father, who would take him out on the river and watch y- shing shows with him on the television network now know as Spike.

“I put (my rod) down for a long time, but I picked it back up again about 10 years ago and fell in love with it again,” Didonna said. “Just being out there, you feel like you’re separated from the fast pace of life, and you feel so remote, but

it’s right here in our backyard.”

To prepare for his transition to business ownership, he said he began asking ques-tions at some of the established y sh-ing shops that he en-countered while out

shing or traveling.“If I went to Colorado and did some

shing there, I’d chat up the owner of the local shop and ask for advice,” he said. “It was something I just started looking into, and I kept the ball rolling in that direction.”

Didonna said South Deer eld is the perfect spot to open a y shing store because of its proximity to a variety of good shing rivers, including the Deer-

eld, Swift, West eld and Millers, and RECORDER/PAUL FRANZ

Michael Didonna plans in March to open the Deerfield Fly Shop on Elm Street in South Deerfield. It will sell fishing supplies and clothing, and host instructional events.

Former auto mechanic plans fly-fishing shop in DeerfieldBy TOM RELIHANRecorder Staff

BELCHERTOWN — Lucio Ortega, who Friday opened a second shop at 112 Federal St. for his Carluci’s Pizza, worked for the Hilton Orlando Lake Buena Vista hotel in Florida for 20 years before coming to Massachu-setts two years ago for family reasons.

If he has learned anything during his 50-plus years (he declined to give

his exact age) it is that he likes to cook, Ortega said. So he used his retirement money, spending $40,000 to revive a pizzeria in Orange that had been closed for two years and went to work baking and delivering pies.

Now he is trying to repeat his suc-cess in Belchertown. “I like what I do, so I did it again,” he said.

He added that Belchertown is a wealthier community with more people but the same number of pizza establish-

ments as Orange. His business will be limited to pick up and delivery orders.

“If you don’t like what you do, if you are just doing it for the paycheck, you are in the wrong place my friend,” said Ortega. “I put everything I know into the food and everything I sell I make sure I can eat it rst.”

Owners of established pizza restau-rants in town are not so sure that the local market can sustain another such enterprise.

Andre Dupont, who owns The Belchertown Pizza Shop at 4 Park St., said that with the addition of Carluci’s there will be eight places in town to get pizza.

“Once we are all open you are going to see at least two or three places close down,” said Dupont. He started sell-ing pizza 25 years ago in the location Ortega is moving into and went on to

Carluci’s Pizza opens in Belchertown, adding to crowded marketBy ERIC GOLDSCHEIDERGazette Contributing Writer

See ETOWN / Page C2

See DEERFIELD / Page C2

See CARLUCI’S / Page C2

KATHERINE L. BECHTOLD

BUSINESS C2 Daily Hampshire Gazette • gazettenet.com Monday, January 26, 2015

“It was OK, but now that the business is larger, it would be better for clients to have a big-ger of ce to go to, Kielhorn said.

He is currently looking for of-ce s ace but has been unable

to nd anything that would both meet the needs of the business and be affordable.

Two- to three-minute videosKielhorn and his team ty i-

cally turn out two- to three-min-ute videos that highlight new materials, illustrate rograms, introduce new businesses or feature training techniques.

His customers come from a broad range of businesses and services, including health care, banking, governmental agen-cies, machinery roduction and maintenance, and manufactur-ing.

“We use a lot of testimonials, gra hic elements, animation in our videos. y favorite art is

ulling the story together, Kiel-horn said. “To condense a lot of material down into a two- to three-minute video, you really have to know how to ull out

the most im ortant arts of the story.

Making the videos can take between one and six months to com lete.

“We start with a story board and re-visuali e the ro ect with ictures. Then we sched-ule actors and a videogra her, Kielhorn said. “We take the cus-tomer through all of the hases of their business and nd out where the want to show their video whether it will be broad-cast on TV, seen on the Internet, or on local access stations.

As each client comes from a different business or rofession, Kielhorn and his team have to do their homework before start-ing the ro ect.

Kielhorn said they have to get it right, because an informed audience would easily s ot something that was incorrect. “If we are doing a video about re ux, then we have to know about re ux, he said.

Research comes fairly easily to Kielhorn, who is com letely self-taught, learning videogra-

hy, hotogra hy and animation on his own.

Originally from Germany, Kielhorn immigrated to the

United States to study busi-ness at American International

ollege in S ring eld, where he earned his master’s degree in business administration in 1990.

“I ust loved living in the states, so I moved to astham -ton in 1990, he said.

The “Sustainable Knowl-edge orridor was the sub-ect of a ro ect that eTown

Videos recently com leted for the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission. It details how the agency s urs economic growth o ortunities and ositions the S ring eld-Hartford region as a leader in sustainable communi-ty develo ment.

“That will be airing next week on ublic access TV, he said

Kielhorn also creates video ro ects for his fellow members

at the chamber.“Sven does a lot of volun-

teer work for the astham ton Chamber of Commerce, elli-veau said. “His com any does video s otlights once a month for different businesses. He is really great at talking with the business owners and hel ing them to relax and come across very well.

Continued from C1

eTown Videos

Continued from C1

Carluci’s pizza opens in Belchertowno en i a arlors in the Three Rivers section of Palmer and in Myrtle each, lorida.

“I moved back to elchertown because we like ew ngland, he said.

u ont said of Ortega’s new venture, “It’s going to be hard to get it going, but I wish him the best of luck and all that.

Italo Salvo, who owns La Trattoria Pi eria Ristoran-te at 37 State St., is similarly ske tical about another i a sho in elchertown. “If I were in Ortega’s lace, I don’t know if I would want to o en here, because there are too many, Salvo said. “I don’t have nothing against anybody, it’s ust that I would do my homework before I o en a lace and say, What chances to I have here ’

Salvo, who has been in busi-ness for four years, said his cus-tomers have been asking him about the addition of a new i a

lace in town. “I’m not worrying about anybody else coming in because there’s nothing really we can do about other business-

es o ening u in town, Salvo said. “We’re doing ne. We have great customers. It’s a family oriented business, my whole family works here.

Combined namesOrtega’s business in Orange

also is called Carluci’s, a com-bination of the cou le’s rst names. His wife is Carla. She still lives in their home in lorida, and if all goes well Ortega ho es to o en a third i a lace there.

“The money is not an easy thing. ou cannot um from one to another. You have to go little by little, he said.

While working at the Hil-ton in Orlando, which is art of Walt Disney World Resorts, Or-tega went to Valencia Commu-nity College where he earned degrees in culinary arts and restaurant management. He has a degree in com uter ro-gramming from his home coun-try of Ecuador, but he said ad-vances in com uting have made those skills obsolete.

Ortega said he trusts that his new business — which is next to the Sunoco gas station at the site

of the former Sa orito’s Pi a which left two years ago — will thrive based on the quality of the

roduct. “The only advertising I have is when the eo le eat, they talk to everybody else, and that’s the way I go, he added.

The menu will be the same as in Orange, combining to -

ings to make what he calls 0 different “gourmet i as. He will also sell salads, quesadillas, and desserts like baklava and cheesecake.

Sa orito’s was originally owned by Du ont. He sold it and the new owners moved it down the road to the uabbin sho s at 31 ederal St. where it closed early last year. That s ot is now occu ied by Antonio’s Pi a by the Slice, which also has restau-rants in Amherst, Eastham ton, Rhode Island, Texas and Illinois.

Ortega said he will em loy one cook and one driver at his new business, drawing on er-sonnel he trained in Orange. His hours will be 11 a.m. to 9 .m. Mondays through Saturdays.

Eric Goldscheider can be reached at eric.goldscheider@gmail.com.

Continued from C1

Deerfield Fly Shopbecause there are not many sim-ilar sho s in the area so close to Interstate 91 and Routes 5 and 10.

“I thought, I can’t be the only one who thinks when I’m on the way to the river, or nd myself in a am, that I don’t want to have to take a big round tri or wait for an order off the Internet, said Didonna. “There’s a big ga in the western Massachusetts area

for s ecialty y shing sho s.In addition to selling y shing

rods, ies, clothing and accesso-ries, Didonna said the store will also host instructional events, including y-tying classes and casting clinics.

Though the store is not of cial-ly o en yet, Didonna said lenty of eo le already have sto ed in to see what it’s all about.

“They all seem retty excited to see a y shing sho coming into the area, he said.

GREENFIELD — The Smithso-nian Cafe and Chowder House in the Arts lock on Court Square in Green eld has closed after 15 months.

Owner Peter Langlois said the decision was made because of the uncertainty over what is going to ha en to the building.

Last fall, the owner of the Arts lock, Edward Wier bows-ki, led for Cha ter 11 bank-ru tcy and it has been unclear since whether the bank will foreclose, the building will be sold or Wier bowski will nd a way to kee it.

“I think when eo le learned about the bankru tcy, they au-tomatically assumed everyone had left the building, said Lan-glois. “We weren’t getting the traf c. Our other two locations are doing great, but our num-bers declined in Green eld, so it was the right business deci-sion.

Langlois said the Smithso-nian restaurants in Hat eld and

ortham ton will honor all gift certi cates and cou ons.

He added that Smithsonian Catering will continue to cater events throughout the valley, in-cluding ranklin County.

Langlois said the few em loy-ees who worked in Green eld have been relocated to Hat eld and ortham ton, so no obs were lost because of the closing.

He said the Smithsonian did not relocate in Green eld be-cause it could not nd a “ready-to-move-into s ot like the Arts

lock, which had a kitchen and dining room when cafe moved there in Se tember 013.

“It didn’t cost us much to start u in Green eld because ev-erything we needed was there in the building, said Langlois. “We’re thriving and strong — ust not in Green eld.

Smithsonian Cafe closes in GreenfieldBy ANITA FRITZRecorder Staff

ASHFIELD — It a ears the Ash eld Lake House will change owners in the coming weeks.

The Select oard this month unanimously a roved a liquor license transfer for the local landmark restaurant. Now all that remains is state a roval of the license transfer to the new owners for the deal to go through.

Chris and Andrea “Dre Rawlings of Dyer Road told the Select oard that they have a

urchase-and-sale agreement for the restaurant, contingent u on the license transfer. Now that the board has a roved it, the Rawlingses are waiting for a roval by the state Alcoholic

everages Control Commis-sion, which they said could take about six weeks.

Chris Rawlings said they ho e to start running the restaurant by the end of eb-ruary or early March. He said their initial lan will be to sim-

lify the menu, serving the same basic fare, but using less fro en food and more fresh in-gredients.

“Initially, our ob ective is to

evaluate the business, and see what we have urchased, he said. “We don’t lan to make any structural im rovements initially.

All who s oke at the ublic hearing favored giving the li-cense to the Rawlingses.

Dan Pease read a letter from his arents, former Lake House owners Cheryl and Douglas Pease, who were out of town. The Peases wrote: “We are ha y about the im ending sale and wish them much suc-cess. We ho e the new owners will work with the town to main-tain health and building code requirements. We’re looking forward to meeting with new and old friends there for many

years to come.u Eisenberg described

the cou le as “very local, and very res onsible. We’re lucky to have them. This is a meeting

lace for everybody. I’m ho ing everything goes well for them.

Amy Sha iro of the ranklin County Community Develo -ment Cor . also s oke on behalf of the Rawlingses.

Select oard Chairman Tom Carter remembered “making

i a and slinging hash at the restaurant in 1978, when it was a summer-only establishment that closed after Labor Day.

Now it is o en year-round, attracting ice shermen and snowmobilers as well as sum-mer visitors.

New owners for Ashfield Lake House By DIANE BRONCACCIORecorder Staff

The Ashfield Lake House will have new owners if the state approves a liquor license transfer.