Worcester Business Journal

18 Worcester Business Journal • August 15, 2016 www.wbjournal.com MICHAEL COVINO, president and CEO of Niche Hospitality Group in Worcester, is now a member of the Massachusetts Restaurant Association's board of directors. He will serve a one-year term on the board, which is made up of experienced food service operators and suppliers. In addition to his duties at Niche, Covino is a co-owner of Peak Fitness Performance Training, a Worcester performance training MOVERS & SHAKERS MELISSA LORD Shepherd & Goldstein LLP DANIEL M. RODERICK Clark University MICHAEL COVINO Massachusetts Restaurant Association JOYCE A. MURPHY Schwartz Center for Compassionate Healthcare ANJENA KUZDZAL Webster Five Cents Savings Bank HERATH WIJERATHNA Southboro Medical Group ACCOLADES & HONORS Ralph's Rock Diner in Worcester, owned by Vincent Hemmeter, sold more Genesee beer than any other in Massachusetts, selling 22,701 cans in six months. SHARON M. DAVENPORT Anna Maria College MARY SIMONE Corridor Nine Area Chamber of Commerce center with an on-site physical therapy clinic. He was this year's Worcester Business Journal Entrepreneurial Business Leader of the Year. HERATH WIJERATHNA has joined the department of internal medicine at Southboro Medical Group in Framingham and is now seeing patients at the 761 Worcester Road location. She received her medical degree from the University of Peradeniya in Sri Lanka and completed a residency in internal medicine at Danbury Hospital in Danbury, Conn. DANIEL M. RODERICK joined Clark University as director of physical plant last fall. He is responsible for the overall leadership, administration and operation of the 70 buildings on Clark's 50-acre campus and the 90 full-time employees on the physical plant workforce. His first 10 months have largely revolved around the construction of the new Alumni & Student Engagement Center on Main Street, which was scheduled to be completed in late July. Before joining Clark, he was director of housing operations at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and spent 12 years at Boston College in various facilities roles. He holds a bachelor's degree from the University of Massachusetts and a master's degree in science from Boston College. MELISSA LORD of Marlborough was promoted to manager at Shepherd & Goldstein LLP and successfully completed all requirements for licensing as a certified public accountant in Massachusetts. In her new role as manager, Lord will assist the firm's partners in practice development and administration, and will develop and train team accountants. She will also continue her client responsibilities to provide tax, accounting and management advisory services. She holds a master's degree in business administration from Framingham State University and a bachelor's degree from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. ANJENA KUZDZAL was named mortgage loan originator at Webster Five Cents Savings Bank in Webster. She has been with the bank since 2009, when she joined as a customer service representative at the Oxford branch, eventually being promoted to assistant manager at the main branch in 2012. In her new role, she will obtain residential mortgage loans by cultivating business relationships with the community. She grew up in London, England, where she earned a degree in accounting. JOYCE A. MURPHY, executive vice chancellor of UMass Medical School's Commonwealth Medicine division, is now clerk of the Schwartz Center for Compassionate Healthcare Board of Directors. The Schwartz Center for Compassionate Healthcare is a national nonprofit focused on bringing compassion to patient-caregiver interactions. Murphy was appointed to serve on the board in October and previously had served on its leadership council. She has been a senior executive at Commonwealth Medicine since 2011, after five years at UMass Medical School. She has worked at several hospitals in administrative positions and serves on numerous boards and commissions. SHARON M. DAVENPORT is now vice president for advancement at Anna Maria College in Paxton. She joins Anna Maria from Bay Path University, where she was director of leadership and planned giving. She is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, where she also worked in a number of development roles. She lives in Montague. MARY SIMONE, general manager of the Courtyard by Marriott in Marlborough, is now chair of the Board of Corridor Nine Area Chamber of Commerce. A 15-year veteran of the board, Simone has served on the executive committee for two years. She was appointed to a two-year term. n n Milford Regional Medical Center was recognized for its treatment of infants exposed to drugs or alcohol while in their mother's womb, by the Vermont Oxford Network. In 2015, Milford Regional got involved with a quality improvement collaborative sponsored by the nonprofit, to improve the care of substance abuse- exposed infants through live webinars and other efforts. n VNA Care Network & Hospice in Worcester and VNA of Boston, certified home healthcare divisions of the Atrius Health subsidiary VNA Care, were named HomeCare Elite 2015 Top Agencies by OCS HomeCare, placing them in the top- performing 25 percent of home healthcare agencies in the United States. n Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts selected UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester as a Blue Distinction Center for Spine Surgery. Hospitals designated as Blue Distinction Centers for Spine Surgery demonstrate expertise in cervical and lumbar fusion, cervical laminectomy and lumbar laminectomy/discectomy procedures, resulting in fewer patient complications and hospital readmissions compared to other hospitals. n Donny McKendall of SERVPRO of South Worcester was recognized with the Millionaire's Platinum award for outstanding revenue performance during the 47th Annual SERVPRO Convention in Las Vegas. SERVPRO provides fire and water cleanup and remediation services.

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