Past Business Partner Award Recipients

2022 – Newburyport Area Industrial Development Corporation and Foundation

The Newburyport Area Industrial Development (NAID) Charitable Foundation has been supporting the NEF and its predecessor organization since inception in 2005 with generous annual donations to support teacher partnership grants, culminating with the NEF’s largest major gift to date. More importantly, the Newburyport Area Industrial Development Corporation, whose remaining assets were used to create the Charitable Foundation, included many local businesses whose financial support and expertise have enriched the Newburyport Public Schools. When the members of NAID raised funds to create the industrial park, they not only brought jobs to Newburyport, but employers who would go on to support educational initiatives, provide career insights and internships to students and teachers, and partner with educators to support active and project-based learning.

2021 – The Institution for Savings (IFS)

The IFS exemplifies everything intended when the Business Award was created. Since our inception, the IFS has donated over one million dollars to the NEF. The district-wide impact of this partnership is immeasurable. Notably, grants received from the IFS have resulted in the complete renovation of the auditorium at Newburyport High School, 8 science labs and STEM lab were created at the Nock/Molin, and both the gym and auditorium are named after the IFS at the Bresnahan. They have been our presenting sponsor for the Lighthouse Auction, high level sponsor for countless NEF Open Golf Tournaments and Monte Carlo nights, and are one of the first to help out when unexpected needs come up. When the schools first went into lockdown due to Covid-19, we received an unplanned $20,000 ask to get books into the hands of our students. The IFS saw our Facebook post and within minutes started off this successful campaign with a $5000 donation. The IFS genuinely cares about not only the Newburyport Public Schools, but also the community. They sponsor a vast array of non-profits in town, all with the same goal of helping make Newburyport the best it can be. We are truly lucky to have them in our community and even luckier that they are our biggest supporter.

2020 – John Galligan, Bradford & Bigelow

Bradford & Bigelow embodies what it means to be a true partner and public school champion, according to the release. The firm has been an integral part of the success of our summer literacy program since 2017, eagerly partnering with us from the beginning. More than 100 students in grades K-8 participate in this program aimed at preventing or slowing summer learning loss as they are shipped student-selected books over the summer. Bradford & Bigelow not only offered to donate the shipping supplies and postage costs, but also offered to donate their employees’ time to package each shipment. Bradford & Bigelow is a solid partner, not only as a generous donor, but through educating other companies on our mission and encouraging them to donate.

2019 – New England Development

New England Development has been a generous and constant partner with the NEF. They are always among the first to offer support as a sponsor for our marquee events, but have also generously provided the “extras” for our events that generally were not in our budgets, including venue space for the NEF Awards Night, signing up foursomes to play golf in the NEF Open, and even supplying all of the food for the NEF Lighthouse Auction. Their involvement with our American Music and Harvest Festival, NEF Awards Night, NEF Golf Open, Poker/Monte Carlo Night and our Lighthouse Auction has been crucial to the success of these events and has been critical in our ability to fund countless projects within the Newburyport Public Schools.

2018 – Scott Signore, Matter Communications

Matter Communications, led by Scott Signore, has been incredibly generous, both as a sponsor of NEF events as well as advocates for Newburyport schools. Matter has been an anchor sponsor for the NEF Open, NEF Monte Carlo Night and generously donated the proceeds of Newburyport Charitable Cause’s bocce tournament to the NEF. As an example of his generosity, when Scott noticed that the weathervane on top of Newburyport High School was in need of repair, he proactively reached out to the school and donated funds to get it fixed. It is this type of support from the Newburyport Business Community that energizes the NEF’s ability to provide financial support for our schools. Matter Communications is a shining example of a partnership that directly impacts our students’ education.

2017 – M.K. Benatti Jewelers, Matt & Karyn Khatib

For many years, M.K. Benatti Jewelers has been the sole sponsor of the NEF Lighthouse Auction raffle. Matt and Karyn Khatib’s support of the NEF has extended beyond donated jewelry, with them volunteering their time and connections to help improve our schools. With the dollars raised through the Lighthouse Auction raffle, the NEF has been able to complete a number of annual campaigns. The Khatibs are a shining example of how businesses can and should be involved in the communities they are a part of.