Kathy Selvia to Receive 2011 Citizen of the Year Award

The Affiliated Chambers of Commerce of Greater Springfield (ACCGS) will present awards to one local business owner and two nonprofit organizations at its annual meeting on Wednesday, June 15.

Kathryn Selvia, owner of New England Promotional Marketing (NEPM) in Wilbraham, will receive the 2011 Richard Moriarty Citizen of the Year award. Rick Moriarty was an active participant with the ACCGS for many years, serving on the former Greater Springfield Chamber of Commerce Small Business Council, as a member of the ACCGS Legislative Steering Committee, as chair of the Springfield Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors and ACCGS Board of Directors. He was well-known in the community as someone willing to donate his time, talent and financial resources to many charitable and community programs throughout our region.

Selvia said she is honored and humbled to receive this honor.

Founded in 1989, NEPM provides imprinted promotional products, fulfillment services and Web-based company stores. Selvia is very active in the community, serving as past chair of the Hampden-Wilbraham Chamber, past president of the Wilbraham Community Association, chair of the Wilbraham Peach Festival, past board member of the Children's Study Home, and past president of the Women Business Owners Alliance (WBOA). She received Woman of the Year honors from both the WBOA and the Quaboag Zonta Club, as well as the Paul Harris Award through the Wilbraham Rotary Club. She also served on the Town of Wilbraham Finance Committee and the Minnechaug Renaissance Program.

NEPM has been named one of the top 100 Women-Led companies in Massachusetts by The Commonwealth Institute and the Boston Business Journal.

A resident of Wilbraham since 1980, Selvia has two children - David, who lives in Beijing and works for a private equity investment company, and Amy Selvia-Smith, who works alongside her mother at NEPM.

ACCGS will also recognize two nonprofit groups at the June 15 annual meeting - the YMCA of Greater Springfield and the Salvation Army. These awards are given each year to local nonprofits with strong business models and community presence that have a direct impact on the quality of life in the Greater Springfield business community.

Both of these organizations have offered essential services to the businesses and residents in the area for many years. They have also increased their outreach and access to programs since the recent tornadoes.

The ACCGS Annual Meeting will also feature a guest speaker - Secretary Greg Bialecki, of the Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development, Commonwealth of Massachusetts, who will outline the Patrick Administration's plan for accelerating the state's economic recovery. He will also address the ongoing efforts of responding to the damages caused by the June 1, 2011 tornadoes.