Breaking the mold - Fosta

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SATURDAY, July 31, 2010
75 cents
Breaking
the mold
Lawmakers
face casino
showdown
with Patrick
House, Senate OK bill;
gov says he won’t sign
By Matt Murphy
mmurphy@sentinelandenterprise.com
SENTINEL & ENTERPRISE / BYRON SMITH
Above and below, Fosta-Tek’s new injection and compression molding machine is lifted off a truck before being placed on the
assembly line at Fosta-Tek in Leominster on Friday.
Leominster’s Fosta-Tek Optics positioning
itself for greater manufacturing success
By Dan Magazu
dmagazu@sentinelandenterprise.com
LEOMINSTER — Officials at Fosta-Tek Optics in
Leominster say they are positioning themselves to emerge
from the global economic recession stronger than ever,
bucking a nationwide trend of manufacturers either
shrinking or going out of business.
“I think our success has a lot to do with the fact that our
core market is very
specialized,” FostaTek President John
Morrison said during
an interview Friday
at the company’s
location on Hamilton
Street. “We have continually invested in
new technology to
support that market.”
The plastics company received shipment Friday of the most expensive
piece of molding equipment it has ever purchased — a
$250,000 high-tonnage machine that has simultaneous
injection and compression capabilities.
A tool the company has also purchased to go into the
machine cost an additional $200,000, Morrison said.
Please see PLASTICS/4
BOSTON — The long-awaited compromise on expanded gambling put
Gov. Deval Patrick and the Legislature on a collision
course as the House
CASINO
and Senate prepare to
vote today on a bill
that would license
three, Las-Vegas style
casinos and two raciUPDATE
nos at existing tracks.
The three resort
casinos would be spread across the
state in three regions — east, southeast and west. The slot licenses would
be bid among the state’s four race
tracks with the possibility of hosting
1,200 or 1,250 slot machines at each
Please see BILL/4
FSC readies
to officially
be university
By Emily Devlin
edevlin@sentinelandenterprise.com
Fosta-Tek President John Morrison discusses the future of his business
Friday. “We have eight new tooling projects this year, with seven being in
the safety area and one in automotive,” he said.
FITCHBURG — Fitchburg State
University officials have begun using
the school’s new name publicly, though
converting signage and documents will
take more time, FSU President Robert
Antonucci said Friday.
“I’m not afraid to take a little extra
time in order to do it right,” Antonucci
said.
Gov. Deval Patrick on Wednesday
signed a bill renaming six state colleges, including Fitchburg, to universities, which supporters say will make
graduates more competitive in the job
market following graduation.
The name change legally goes into
effect on Oct. 26, marking the required
90-day waiting period from the date
Please see FSC/4
Lions Club member wants to inspire others to pay it forward
By Dan Magazu
dmagazu@sentinelandenterprise.com
TOWNSEND — Lunenburg resident Steve Weaver said memories of
a challenging childhood still inspire
him to give back to the local community whenever possible.
“I remember going to school in the
middle of the winter with big holes in
the bottom of my sneakers,” Weaver
said during an interview Thursday at
the Sterilite Corp. in Townsend,
where he serves as plant manager.
“Times were tough for my family
back then. Now that I have a healthy
family and am in a position to give
back, I want to do whatever I can to
help children and other families in
this area.”
Weaver has been an active member of the Fitchburg Community
INSIDE TODAY’S
ALSO ONLINE AT
Steve Weaver,
of Lunenburg,
who recently
received the
Melvin Jones
Fellowship
Award, the highest honor given
to Lions Club
members, talks
about why he
enjoys giving
back to the
community at
Sterilite in
Townsend.
“I remember going to school in the middle of the winter
with big holes in the bottom of my sneakers. ...Now that
I have a healthy family and am in a position to give
back, I want to do whatever I can to help children and
other families in this area.”
Lunenburg resident Steve Weaver
Lions Club for about eight years and
was recently awarded the Melvin
Jones Fellowship Award from the
Lions Club International Foundation, which is the group’s highest
form of recognition.
“The Lions Club is the largest
service organization in the world,” he
said. “It’s in 204 counties and there
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are about 1.35 million members.”
Weaver is very active in the
group’s Eye Glasses for the Needy
campaign, which raises money to provide glasses for children or seniors
who otherwise wouldn’t be able to
afford them. He also helps raise
SENTINEL & ENTERPRISE
BYRON SMITH
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SEN_0731_Pmaster Pages 4, 07/30/10 22:40:54
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FROM PAGE ONE / NATION
4 SATURDAY, JULY 31, 2010
College readies
for name change
FLYING SOLO
FSC/From Page 1
the bill was signed.
It could take four to five
years before FSU is completely rebranded in terms of
name recognition, Antonucci
said, but the work begins now.
The most pressing concern
is changing FSU’s four major
signs, on the green smoke
stack, at entrance, dining hall
and recreation center.
“The major identification
signs we will be changing
immediately,” Antonucci said.
The word “college” will be
replaced with “university” on
the green smoke stack in time
for the start of the fall semester, according to Antonucci,
and the others will follow.
The pages of the university
Web site, www.fsc.edu,
already reflect the name
change, and university officials have already ordered a
new domain name
(www.fsu.edu is already
owned by Florida State University).
Michael Shanley,
Antonucci’s executive assistant, will chair a name transition committee made up of
students, faculty and staff.
The cost of changing signage and other public materials will probably cost between
$50,000 and $80,000,
Antonucci said, and that
money will be drawn from the
university’s marketing and
branding budget.
According to FSU
Spokesman Matthew Bruun,
there’s no rush to replace
materials, and things such as
stationary and business cards
will be replaced as they run
out.
“We’re doing it gradually,
but students will be graduating from Fitchburg State University in May,” Bruun said.
It helps that college officials have been anticipating
the name change for more
than three years, according to
Antonucci.
When it was time to buy
new banners that now line
North Street, they were
ordered with only “Fitchburg
State” printed on them, so
they wouldn’t need to be
replaced.
It’s also not the first time
the university has changed
names. It was founded in
1894 as the Fitchburg Normal
School, and renamed in 1932
as the State Teachers College
at Fitchburg. It became the
State College at Fitchburg in
1960, and then Fitchburg
State College in 1965.
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SENTINEL & ENTERPRISE
Owner:
Company
poised for
greater
success
PLASTICS/From Page 1
“We’re going to have
$450,000 sitting on the footprint,” he said. “It’s an amazing investment and it brings
us up to 22 machines in our
shop, which is the most we’ve
ever had.”
The machine will be used to
produce commercial face
shields that have advanced
optics and lighter weight.
“We worked with a major
company to design the face
shields for different industrial manufacturing environments that require full-face
protection,” Morrison said.
SENTINEL & ENTERPRISE / BYRON SMITH
Fosta-Tek Optics began as
Nick Ernst, 16, of Fitchburg performs an “Indy grab” out of the bowl at the Ryan C Joubert Memorial
Foster Grant in the ‘60s manSkatepark in Fitchburg on Thursday.
ufacturing a variety of sunware frames. The company
began bringing its lens manufacturing technology into the
safety and military markets
by the late ‘80s.
“We have a strong sense of
not give us the jobs at higher 31, a threshold more easily
The bill was written in
BILL/From Page 1
purpose here because we’re
wages and benefits that jusreached in the House than
such a way that the governor making things that protect
venue.
tify the social costs.”
the Senate where the vote on cannot issue a line-item veto our soldiers, our firefighters
A day after signaling his
Patrick has two options if gambling is tighter.
targeting the two racinos. He and provide safety in the
willingness to compromise
he doesn’t sign the bill. He
House Speaker Robert
would have to issue an up-or- workplace,” Morrison said.
with the Legislature on three could do nothing, in which
“We have a disciplined
DeLeo said he hoped Patrick down veto on all of the gamcasinos and one slot parlor in case it would become law
approach and we continue to
would reconsider his opposibling venues, including the
exchange for action on other
invest to stay ahead of the
after 10 days. He could also
tion once he looked at the bill three casinos, which he supimportant legislation, Patrick veto the bill, or send it back to in detail.
market.”
ports.
said the bill filed Friday did
The company received
the Legislature with an
“The governor is a reasonThe bill would let the govnot live up to the bargain.
$800,000 from the federal
amendment.
able guy,” he said.
ernor enter into a casino
government in 2009 to
“I cannot support this bill
The second two options
Under the bill, the state
agreement with one of the
develop lenses for U.S. troops
in its current form,” Patrick
would almost undoubtedly
would receive $85 million
state’s two federally recogto use for goggles, glasses and
said in a statement issued
force the Legislature to
from each of the casino
nized tribes. It would allow
gun-sighting systems.
moments after House and
extend their session beyond
licenses and $20-$25 million one casino in each of three
Morrison said the company
Senate leaders unveiled their today’s deadline, something
from the licenses for the race- geographic locations in the
is
currently putting greater
bill.
Senate President Therese
track slot parlors, also known state, including the metropolemphasis
on capitalizing on
Patrick called his willing- Murray has said she is
as racinos. Each of the two
itan Boston area, the western
commercial opportunities.
ness to compromise on one
unwilling to do.
racinos would be allowed to
portion of the state and the
“There is some uncertainty
slot parlor “a big concession
It would take a two-thirds have between 1,000 and 1,250 state’s southeast region.
with
the military as the counfor me in light of my consisvote in both branches to come slot machines, depending on
The Associated Press contry
looks
to cut back on
tent view that slot parlors do back into session after July
their location.
tributed to this report.
deployments,” he said. “We
have eight new tooling projects this year, with seven
being in the safety area and
one in automotive.”
Morrison said other keys to
the company’s recent success
is the fact that it isn’t saddled
Weaver is also closely
shies away from attention
been based in Townsend
CLUB/From Page 1
with any debt and it “stayed
since the ‘60s, is known for
involved with the United
the course” during slower
when it comes to his efforts
funds to provide disabled chil- Way of Central Massachugiving back to the commuyears.
in the community. But he
dren and veterans with
nity, recently building a new said he hopes to inspire more
setts, which has recognized
“We had a couple of slow
canines.
library and senior center for people to give back.
him for more than 40 years
quarters, but we didn’t
“Those are a few of our
the town.
of community-related serv“Anyone, if they do a lot of panic,” he said. “I think it
charitable focuses,” said
“Sterilite is a very generice.
helps that we’re private. We
soul searching, can find time
Weaver, who is a Vietnam vetous company and I think
Weaver said part of his
continued to make investeran and former Bolton Police passion for helping the com- that rubs off on the employ- for the things that are
ments, while large companies
important in life,” Weaver
Officer and volunteer fireees here,” Weaver said. “It
munity comes from the
cut back on their important
WE BUY GOLD fighter. “We also give out hun- example set by his employer encourages a lot of the
said. “There are a lot of
investments.”
unsung heroes in this area
BEST RATES AROUND dreds of Thanksgiving Day
Mayor Dean J. Mazzarella
Sterilite Corp., where he has employees to try and give
that deserve more credit for
food baskets to local organiza- worked for 20 years.
back.”
said
Fosta-Tek has been a
Crowne Jewelers
strong business in the city for
their efforts.”
tions each year.”
Weaver said he typically
The company, which has
978-534-4040
many years.
Junctions Rte 2 & 12 Leominster
“They’ve really found a
good niche that has allowed
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