Press Release

CMRPC Expanding

New Hires
Worcester, MA- July 1, 2016- Over the past several months, CMRPC has expanded its ranks to better serve the Region's forty communities. From administration to transportation, seven new hires have started contributing to CMRPC.

Complementing CMRPC's existing resources, Jayne Armington, Jeffrey Bagg, Todd Fontanella, Andrew Loew, Patrick McCabe, Connor Robichaud, and Melissa Santley bring a diverse set of skills to the Commission.
Jayne Armington
CMRPC has hired Sturbridge resident Jayne M. Armington, AICP, as a part-time principal planner in the Community Development and Planning Department. She has her Master's  Degree in Regional Planning from the University of Massachusetts and worked most recently as a Senior Planner at the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission in Springfield's Land Use Department where she provided technical planning assistance. While at PVPC, Jayne authored or assisted with numerous master plans, housing plans, open space and recreational plans, and special studies. She also drafted zoning for municipal consideration. Jayne was the primary author of the award-winning Pioneer Valley Regional Housing Plan, which won the Mass-APA's 2013 Best Comprehensive Plan award. Jayne was also the Mass-APA's 2013 Young Planner of the Year award. 
Jeffrey Bagg
Jeff recently left his position as a Senior Planner for the Town of Amherst  where he was able to observe, assist, and embrace the very active citizenry. He was the professional staff support for the Amherst Zoning Board of Appeals (a permitting workhorse in the busy university town).   Some of his other projects in Amherst included a consolidation of Inspection Services, Conservation, and Planning Department into one functional area and the implementation of a large  municipal scanning project. In addition, he represented the Town of Amherst at a regional economic development council, initiated a multiyear downtown parking process, and  was the designated point of contact for the extensive interest from entities seeking to locate medical marijuana dispensaries in town.
In his new role as Principal Planner at CMRPC, Jeff is very excited to bring his energy and experience to the Community Development and Planning program and to work hard towards making the communities in Central Massachusetts great places to live and work - and to help CMRPC grow programs that cross borders and bring a coordinated approach to planning and development .

Todd Fontanella
Todd joined CMRPC on June 20th and will be coordinating CMRPC's Transit Planning staff data collection, analytical, and reporting/advising activities supporting the Worcester Regional Transit Authority (WRTA) and the Federal Transit Authority's (FTA) regional transit planning efforts.  Todd has a diverse planning background, having served as the Director of Transportation and Commercial Development for the City of Somerville (1994-2000); Manager of Alternative Transportation at MassDOT (2000-2009), and Senior Transportation Planner at the Merrimack Valley Planning Commission (2009-2016).   While at MassDOT, Todd was involved with the rehabilitation of Worcester's Union Station. He brings over twenty-six years of transportation, land use, community and economic development work experience to CMRPC and has worked cooperatively with many different federal, state, regional and municipal agencies as well as with non-profit organizations.  Todd has a B.S. in Environmental Design from UMass-Amherst; a Masters' in City Planning from Boston University, and has co-taught several design studios engaged in neighborhood development and transportation topics at the Boston Architectural College.
Andrew Loew
Joining us as Principal Planner in the Municipal Collaboration & Regional Services section, Andrew Loew, AICP, joins CMRPC from the City of Worcester. He has prior regional planning and state government experience in Massachusetts and will focus here on community development, homeland security, hazard mitigation and disaster response planning, and brownfields revitalization. Mr. Loew has a graduate planning degree from McGill University in Montreal and an undergraduate degree from the University of Chicago.

Patrick McCabe
Patrick was brought on to CMRPC to help out with accounting, billing, accounts receivable/payable, payroll, personnel files, and other administrative tasks including all maintenance issues. He has five years of managerial and accounting experience from his time at the Republic Parking System. His Bachelors of Science degree is in Business Administration with a concentration in accounting from Fitchburg State College. 

Connor Robichaud
As a recent graduate of the University of Massachusetts, Connor has joined CMRPC as a part-time Administrative Assistant. His schedule will compliment Judy Pearson's, giving the office full-time administrative coverage. Most recently, Connor worked as an Administrative Assistant in Westminster's Building Department. He is also a member of Westminster's Town Government Study Committee, a group that is working to develop a Town Charter. He looks forward to broadening his exposure to local government and helping the administrative team at CMRPC.

Melissa Santley
Formerly of MassRIDES, a program of MassDOT, Melissa worked with businesses and communities in Central Massachusetts to implement commuter programs aimed to reduce congestion and offer sustainable transportation options for employees to get to work.  With a Master's degree in Urban Environmental Leadership from Lesley University, Melissa is looking forward to bringing her experience in bridging environmental concerns with transportation planning to advance CMRPC's efforts in performance management, CMAQ program and Environmental Consultation.  
CMRPC
Janet Pierce
Director
508-459-3319
jpierce@cmrpc.org
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