Request for Proposals for Professional Audit Services ~ Fiscal Year Ending 6/30/2020

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Request for Proposals

Professional Audit Services

Community Teamwork, Inc. is requesting proposals from licensed Certified Public Accounting firms to audit its financial statements for fiscal year ending June 30, 2020. Specifications with instructions for applicants for annual audit services are available upon request from: Phyllis Marion, Purchasing Coordinator, Community Teamwork, Inc. 155 Merrimack Street 2nd Floor, Lowell, MA 01852; pmarion@commteam.org 978-654-5656

All required submissions must be received by March 31, 2020 by 4:00 PM. Community Teamwork, Inc. reserves the right to accept or reject any or all proposals not deemed in the best interest of Community Teamwork, Inc. This notice is provided for informational purposes only, applicants shall be subject in all respects to the terms and conditions contained in the actual request for proposals. CTI is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer.

 

politos visit to discuss grants given to ec and others totalling K
politos visit to discuss grants given to ec and others totalling K

Press Release Baker-Polito Administration Announces Awards to Spur Job Creation and Small Business Growth

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Grants to seven organizations will lower barriers for accessing capital, enable substantial private and federal matching funds

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

2/06/2020

  • Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development

LOWELL — February 6, 2020 – Today, the Baker-Polito Administration announced grant awards to spur job creation and small business growth across the Commonwealth by lowering the barriers to capital access. Lt. Governor Karyn Polito and Massachusetts Growth Capital Corporation (MGCC) President & CEO Larry Andrews joined Lowell City Manager Eileen Donoghue, Lowell Mayor John Leahy, Representative David Nangle, Representative Stephan Hay, Community Teamwork CEO Karen Frederick, and grant recipients to announce $550,000 in awards to seven organizations through the Community Development Capital and Microlending programs, a procurement of the Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development (EOHED) and Massachusetts Growth Capital Corporation (MGCC).

“We have made it a priority to support small businesses and downtowns, which are central to the Commonwealth’s economy and its communities, and today’s awards will empower local organizations to provide entrepreneurs from underserved communities with access to capital,” said Governor Charlie Baker. “From low-interest loans to technical assistance, these awardees are giving local small businesses, especially women- and minority-owned enterprises, the support they need to be successful.”

“Supporting business competitiveness and equitable opportunity are two central tenants of the Commonwealth’s new economic development plan, and today’s capital and microlending awards support entities that are on the ground supporting small businesses in their communities,” said Lt. Governor Karyn Polito. “Our administration will continue to enhance access to capital, space and networks for women- and minority-owned businesses to help to unlock economic growth in all regions of the Commonwealth.”

The Community Development Capital and Microlending programs provide awardee organizations with funding to lend to small businesses that are outside of the scope of regular banks, or hard to reach because they are underserved communities. The awardees have shown the ability to garner significant matching funds from non-state entities such as the US Treasury CDFI, private foundations, USDA and SBA. Some of the awards include Technical Assistance to help the small businesses overcome deficiencies in accounting, marketing, licensing and other key aspects of business. Since FY2017, over 200 businesses have been served through the Community Development Capital and Microlending programs, with state investments of $1.5 million leveraging more than $17.2 million in matching funds from non-state entities.

“Expanding opportunity and growth to people and places that have not benefitted fully will have significant positive effects on families and communities, and today’s awards will go to directly towards achieving this goal of Partnerships for Growth,” said Housing and Economic Development Secretary Mike Kennealy. “In order to expand on progress made over the last few years, the administration will continue to increase outreach to small businesses and entrepreneurs in order to understand their needs and address their challenges.”

“Many of Massachusetts Growth Capital Corp.’s most effective partners are CDFIs located across the Commonwealth in which we share a common purpose of promoting economic revitalization and community development through investment and assistance,” said Larry Andrews, President and CEO of MGCC. “Supporting CDFIs through these matching grants bolsters the ability to reach the under-resourced and under-served with trusted and local leadership.”

Today’s event was held at Community Teamwork, Inc. (CTI) in Lowell, the Community Action Agency of Greater Lowell that mobilizes resources for low-income people, providing opportunities for them to achieve stability, self-sufficiency and have an active voice and participation in the decisions that affect their lives. The award will support Community Teamwork’s Entrepreneurship Center’s efforts to provide business development services to entrepreneurs from ethnically and economically diverse groups within the Merrimack Valley with the training, tools, and resources needed to create, sustain, and grow viable small businesses.

“Congratulations to all the Community Development Capital awardees,” said Karen Frederick, CEO of Community Teamwork. “Community Teamwork and its Entrepreneurship Center is honored to be a recipient of this grant, among other highly qualified candidates. We are proud to serve our community in a Commonwealth where the administration, specifically the Governor’s Office, is committed to supporting small businesses and the technical service providers that work tirelessly to ensure that local entrepreneurs achieve their dreams.”

This grant will go a long way to ensure that small business owners in our communities are successful.

“The unmistakable impact that Community Teamwork has had on business ownership and entrepreneurship for people from all economic backgrounds for the City of Lowell has been exceptional,” said Lowell Mayor John Leahy. “With this grant, CTI’s Entrepreneurship Center will continue to stimulate economic growth and support small businesses here. On behalf of the City of Lowell, I congratulate Community Teamwork for the continued success that this grant award will reflect.”

“The Community Development Capital and Microlending programs have proven to be credible forces for economic development and have provided a gateway to success for business owners in cities and towns across the Commonwealth,” said Lowell City Manager Eileen Donoghue. “The significant grant being awarded to Community Teamwork, Inc. will complement the excellent work that the organization does to support emerging businesses and extend the opportunities of entrepreneurship to people of all backgrounds, further strengthening the economic vitality of the City of Lowell.”

“I want to thank the Baker-Polito Administration, the Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development, and the Massachusetts Growth Capital Corporation for awarding this significant grant to Community TeamWork,” said Representative Thomas A. Golden, Jr., Chairman of the Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities, and Energy. “These funds will allow CTI’s Entrepreneurship Center to build upon its decades-long experience in providing business development services to a diverse group of small businesses and entrepreneurs and to further contribute to the economic revitalization of the Greater Lowell area.”

“This grant to CTI through the community development capital program highlights the successful partnership local social service organizations have with the Baker-Polito administration and their economic development team,” said Representative David Nangle. “Initiatives like this provide critical assistance to small, advocacy-based agencies, and allows them to expand their staffing, outreach, and development efforts.”

In December 2019, following nine public engagements sessions and 17 deep-dive listening sessions, the Baker-Polito Administration officially released the economic development plan for the Commonwealth entitled Partnerships for Growth: A plan to enable the Commonwealth’s regions to build, connect and lead. This plan aligns the administration’s economic development programs, funding, and legislative efforts within four central pillars—Respond to the Housing Crisis, Build Vibrant Communities, Support Business Competitiveness, and Train a Skilled Workforce—to address challenges and foster opportunities over the next four years. By focusing on business competitiveness, Partnerships for Growth seeks to enable robust economic growth across communities, businesses, and sectors. Over the next four years, the Administration will increase outreach to small businesses and entrepreneurs, with a focus on helping businesses access the capital, space, technical assistance, and diverse workforce needed to grow.

Community Development Capital and Microlending Program Awards:

North Central Massachusetts Development Corporation – $150,000

Community Teamwork – $100,000

Franklin County CDC – $100,000

Coastal Community Capital – $50,000

Cooperative Fund of New England – $50,000

Jamaica Plain Neighborhood Development Corporation – $50,000

Quaboag Valley BDC – $50,000

###

Media Contactfor Baker-Polito Administration Announces Awards to Spur Job Creation and Small Business Growth

Ryan Boehm, Director of Communications

ryan.f.boehm@mass.gov

Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development 

The Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development promotes vibrant communities, growing businesses, and a strong middle class.

More 

 

https://www.mass.gov/news/baker-polito-administration-announces-awards-to-spur-job-creation-and-small-business-growth

 

posse
posse

Rock n’ Roll for the Homeless

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3rd Annual Mayor’s Rock n’ Roll Holiday Fest for Youth Homelessness

State Sen. Ed Kennedy, front left, hangs out with his posse at the event he founded.

By Dacey Zouzas, The Z-List | daceyzlist@gmail.com |

PUBLISHED: February 11, 2020 at 1:50 pm | UPDATED: February 11, 2020 at 1:59 pm

“As a rock star, I have two instincts, I want to have fun, and I want to change the world. I have a chance to do both.” — Bono

The city of Lowell was rockin’ ’n’ rolling at the third annual Mayor’s Holiday Fest for Homeless Youth Rock ’n’ Roll Fundraiser to benefit Community Teamwork Inc., on Dec. 12.

The fun fest was hosted by then-Mayor William Samaras in the Zorba Music Hall at the Olympia Restaurant in the Acre. Bill continued the fundraising effort started two years ago by former Mayor Ed Kennedy, now Lowell’s state senator.

More than 250 groupies gobbled up plenty of homemade Greek food and pastries while listening, dancing and singing along to the phenomenally talented artists, guitarists, singers and bands who sang their hearts out to help end homelessness. The rock stars included Love Train, the Zorba’s house band, Abbie Barrett, All D’s Boyz, Emily Desmond, Funrazrs, Mickey Kanan, Kelly Knapp, Peter Lavender, Jenna Markard, John Powhida, Silvertongue and Kevin Wall.

Youth homelessness is a persistent problem in Lowell. CTI estimates that more than 100 young people in Lowell each year experience homelessness for a variety of reasons.

This single event raised $30,000, and the Amelia Peabody Charitable Fund offered a Challenge Grant to CTI, matched that amount to raise the total to $60,000, which will support transformation of CTI’s Youth Opportunity Center.

From left, Rich Sarmento of Hampton, with Sun Charities President Terry McCarthy and Leo Sheridan, both of
Lowell

From left, Lee Gitschier, Ben Martello and Justin Robinson, all of Lowell

From left, state Rep. Tom Golden, Brian Poitras and City Councilor John Drinkwater, all of Lowell

From left, George Duncan, Jim O’Donnell and then-Mayor William Samaras, host of the party, all of Lowell

All D’s Boyz provides entertainment.

For more information, visit www.commteam.org/mayorsholidayfest.

Soul Sista: Rock ’n’ roll is always good for the soul! The Z-List dressed like a rock star, wearing a shining, silver, glittered miniskirt and black suede over-the-knee boots. Happy Presidents’ Day!Dacey Zouzas is founder and creative director of The Z-List, highlighting nonprofits, and host and producer of the “Dacey’s Divas” TV show, featuring “Women Making a Difference.” Follow @Mass_Women on Twitter.

Dacey Zouzas, The Z-List

Dacey Zouzas is Founder and Creative Director of The Z-List, highlighting non-profits, and TV Host and Producer of Dacey’s Divas TV Show, featuring “Women Making a Difference.” Follow @Mass_Women on Twitter.

 

 

Rock n’ Roll for the homeless

 

polito speaking at podium
polito speaking at podium

In Lowell, Polito announces grants for small business groups

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$550,000 in grants announced at Community Teamwork headquarters

Jon Winkler

 

Lt. Governor Karyn Polito speaking at the Community Teamwork headquarters in Lowell

By JON WINKLER | jwinkler@nashobavalleyvoice.com | Nashoba Valley Voice

PUBLISHED: February 6, 2020 at 9:11 pm | UPDATED: February 6, 2020 at 9:12 pm

LOWELL – The Baker-Polito administration continues its support of small businesses throughout the commonwealth with Thursday’s announcement of $550,000 in community development capital and microlending grants.

Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito announced multiple recipients of the grants at the headquarters of the Community Teamwork Inc., a nonprofit organization on Merrimack Street. Polito was joined by Mayor John Leahy, City Manager Eileen Donoghue and Larry Andrews, president and CEO of the Massachusetts Growth Capital Corporation.

“What we’re celebrating today are the ideas that come from the community,” Polito said. “Think about the cultural diversity that makes up what Lowell’s history is and what you continue to be: a welcoming place for people with different backgrounds and cultures and dialects come to. They come with that diversity of thought, which is a real asset. When individuals come to this community, they have ideas that they want to bring forward.”

The biggest grant of the collective $550,000 total was awarded to the North Central Massachusetts Development Corporation in the amount of $150,000.

Other grants ranged from $100,000 each to $50,000 each. They were awarded to groups including Community Teamwork’s Entrepreneurship Center, the Cooperative Fund of New England, the Jamaica Plain Neighborhood Development Corporation and the Franklin County Community Development Corporation.

Andrews described the grants as a means for organizations spread throughout the state to offer matching funds to small business owners in need. He added that the amount in each grant and the number of grants awarded each year depend on yearly appropriation from the administration.

“The federal government wants to be sure that the state is involved, but more importantly we want to make sure that these community development corporations and community development financial institutions are supported in other ways,” he explained. “It is up substantially this year. However, it’s still not enough so we’re trying to look at a trajectory that’ll actually go up. There should be more.”

Andrews noted that the receiving corporations address communities with various demographics and needs, referencing how for example the Franklin County Community Development Corporation has a commercial kitchen that offers microlending for people wanting to start restaurants and catering businesses.

“Every recipient has a great story,” he concluded. “If you look at why people come to Lowell, they’re looking to make a a better life for themselves. You just have to go down Merrimack Street and there’s a Spanish restaurant and a Cambodian restaurant, some of that is just the flavor of the international population. You look at Lowell and its educational institutions and its financial institutions. It truly is a renaissance city that can come back from a dormant past. What you’re gonna start seeing is that international flavor of Lowell and I think there will be more inclusion of businesses.”

Jon Winkler

Jon Winkler is a 25-year-old reporter covering government, education and human interest in Ayer, Groton, Pepperell, Shirley and Townsend for the Nashoba Valley Voice. He previously covered education and local government in East Hampton and Southampton, New York. Jon is a New England original, born in Nashua and raised in Merrimack, New Hampshire.

 Follow Jon Winkler @MrJW595

In Lowell, Polito announces grants for small business groups

Local artist paints community faces in new light

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‘The Power of One’ will show at The Brush through February

 

Artist Glenn Szegedy talks about the portraits he painted of YouthBuild students and other people he knows, for his exhibit at the Brush Art Gallery, The Power of One. Portraits from left, students Liomare, Luka, Zha and Benyialise, artist Bob (partly hidden), and student Jasmine. (SUN/Julia Malakie)

 

By NICOLE DEFEUDIS | ndefeudis@lowellsun.com | Lowell Sun

PUBLISHED: January 21, 2020 at 6:02 pm | UPDATED: January 21, 2020 at 6:03 pm

LOWELL — Glenn Szegedy marvels at his faces — all 26 of them, each with their own story.

One is a chef, another a dental hygienist. One was a teenage mother and now manages a catering business. Another is an artist.

Szegedy painted real, “everyday” community members in a new light in his latest exhibit, titled, “The Power of One.” The portraits will be displayed at The Brush Art Gallery & Studios through Feb. 22.

“You don’t have to be a multi-billionaire or movie star to be important,” Szegedy said. His goal was to highlight the value of each of his subjects.

“These people all have mothers… they have dreams and aspirations,” he said. “To put them in an oil painting makes them important.”

About three years ago, the Dracut sculptor tried his hand at painting people. He looked to Google stock images for inspiration, but quickly grew bored. He needed real muses.

That’s when Szegedy began photographing acquaintances and other community members. He collected over 60 photos, and painted the ones that stood out to him. Twelve of the 26 portraits are of students in a YouthBuild student art class he teaches once a week.

YouthBuild provides G.E.D. preparation and vocational training to young adults ages 16 to 24 who have not completed high school. The art program serves as a safe space for the students to express themselves, Szegedy said.

“A lot of these kids have never been exposed to art,” he said. “They (often) go back to neighborhoods that aren’t the best. There’s a lot of pressure… It just gives them a downtime.”

During the weekly art class, Szegedy guides the students in whatever they choose to work on. This past holiday season, they constructed a manger and repaired figures in the city’s nativity scene downtown.

Szegedy pointed around the gallery to several of his former students’ faces, many of whom now have jobs.

“They say painting is three hours of looking and 10 minutes of painting,” Szegedy said. For this project, Szegedy did a lot of looking.

Szegedy painted each of his subjects with a serious demeanor. Some smile just slightly. “I wanted the person without a lot of emotion,” Szegedy said. “But some people are just so happy, you can’t not paint them smiling.”

When Szegedy started the project in 2017 from his home studio, he wasn’t quite sure of his goal, or the message. About midway through, he realized it was about celebrating individuals, while also recognizing our similarities.

“We’re all human beings,” he said.

“We’ve had a lot of nice responses,” James Dyment, executive director of the gallery, said of Szegedy’s installation. Passersby have said the large portraits, which can be seen from the gallery’s plate glass windows, are compelling, he explained.

“He (Szegedy) has been like a friend of The Brush for a while and I was excited when he told me he had this body of work…” Dyment said.

While an artist’s work is never complete, Szegedy said he’s happy with the exhibit. He’s proud of sticking with it, he said as he pointed out a dark spot in one of the portraits that would only be visible to its creator. “I find great comfort in just creating something,” he said.

“The paintings kind of take over and you stop thinking about what you’re doing,” he said.

The exhibit’s opening reception will take place Feb. 1 from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. The gallery is free to attend from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday and from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Sundays.

“Being free and part of the National Park, it’s a godsend,” Szegedy said of The Brush. He invited all of his Youthbuild students to see their portraits at the gallery.

Szegedy hopes to take the installation elsewhere after Feb. 22. “I would love to see it out and about and somewhere else,” he said.

But in the meantime, it’s on to the next project — whatever that may be. “It gives me a little sanity in an insane world,” Szegedy said of making art.

 

 

https://lnkd.in/d_TfMJT

yb grant ged
yb grant ged

Grant boosts job training and GED program for struggling youths

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YouthBuild, a Lowell-based organization will be able to continue and expand its work helping troubled young people continue their education and prepare for jobs, as a result of new federal funding.

By John Laidler Globe Correspondent,Updated January 17, 2020, 7:49 a.m.

Students enrolled in Community Teamwork’s YouthBuild program work in the kitchen.

LOWELL – Community Teamwork was awarded $1.44 million by the US Department of Labor to support its YouthBuild initiative, the largest of three 40-month grants announced in Massachusetts to organizations offering the federal program.

YouthBuild provides job training and education toward a GED for students who have either dropped out of high school or were at risk of doing so. Those completing the nine months of training and classes also receive job placement and retention help.

“We are extremely excited,” said Carl Howell, division director for housing and homeless services for Community Teamwork, an anti-poverty agency that has served nearly 400 students in its YouthBuild program since taking it over from another organization 12 years ago.

Howell said it is notable that the new grant came just as Community Teamwork’s previous YouthBuild grant — in 2017 — was expiring. He said agencies typically have to wait a year or more for new funding.

“It shows what we are doing is appreciated and well-regarded in the federal eyes,” he said.

The fresh funding will enable his agency to enroll a new cohort of students in February, and to increase the number of participants from 64 to 80.

Community Teamwork, which assists about 50,000 people annually with services ranging from emergency fuel assistance to early education, runs its YouthBuild program out of its Youth Opportunities Center in downtown Lowell.

Participating students can choose between hospitality/culinary arts and construction for their job training, which is offered on alternating weeks with their GED classroom instruction.

A spacious workshop at the Lowell building provides room for construction students to frame walls and other training work, and for the culinary/hospitality students to learn cooking and other skills.

Students earn a $125-per-week stipend to help cover their living expenses and are not charged fees. But each week they take part in community service projects, from repairing fences to assisting with Habitat for Humanity home building projects. (Students learning construction also work at other times on Habitat projects as part of their training).

About 85 percent of students in the nine month-period achieve the goals of completing their job training — which earns them certificates to work their fields — and earning or moving toward receiving their GEDs. After they graduate, students remain in the program up to two more years for help in finding and keeping a job, and other services as needed.

“I think it’s the non-traditional setting that really helps,” Howell said of the program’s good results, noting that the more intimate setting discourages the kind of disruptive behavior students might exhibit in a large high school. He said their hands-on work, the services available to them, and the fact that the program is voluntary are also factors.

Rafael Cotto, 21, had been expelled from two area high schools when he enrolled in the program in 2018. Through his job training and the help of YouthBuild staff, he was hired as a cook at a local restaurant, and later as a school bus driver. That led to his current employment as a construction trainer in the YouthBuild program.

Calling it his “dream job,” Cotto said, “I love working with kids” and using the example of his own experience to motivate them. “I strive for excellence every day and to show them it is possible to do what they want to do.” Meanwhile Cotto has earned his GED and now attends classes nights at Middlesex Community College.

Cotto credits YouthBuild for the strides he has made.

“It’s a life-changing experience,” he said of the program.

John Laidler can be reached at laidler@globe.com.

https://www.commteam.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Grant-boosts-job-training-and-GED-program-for-struggling-youths-1-17-2020.docx

https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/globelocal/2020/01/17/grant-boosts-job-training-and-ged-program-for-struggling-youths/QUdpkdoN90V1RNU36GbyNJ/story.html