State Representative Michael S. Day (D-Stoneham) recently announced Juanita Zerda, of Winchester, as his district’s Latinx Trailblazer nomination. Latinx Excellence Day, presented by the Massachusetts Black and Latino Caucus, is part of the month long celebration of Hispanic Heritage that aims to commemorate the contributions and legacy of Latinx individuals. The ceremony will be held on Thursday, October 29^th.

“Juanita Zerda is a community leader known for her empathy and her unique ability to address the personal, interpersonal, systemic and ideological complexities of diversity, equity and inclusion issues, “said Representative Day. “She has devoted countless hours to improving programming and diversity in areas ranging from education to housing and community development, health and human services and workforce training. We are rightly recognizing and honoring Juanita for all of the important work she has done and continues to do for the Winchester Community.”

Juanita is the present Clerk and past President of the Winchester Network for Social Justice, whose mission is “to foster a movement for systemic change to advance equity and inclusion in the town of Winchester and beyond.” Juanita earned her J.D. from Los Andes University in Bogota, Colombia and her Master of Arts in Philosophy from Boston College. After gaining American citizenship, she immediately joined the league of Women Voters, where she brought a valued and trusted perspective and voice. Constantly working to improve our world, Juanita served on the board of directors of the Winchester Community Music school, and now serves as a Director at The Collective Change Lab, a nonprofit seeking to increase the use of transformational change practices in mainstream social and environmental problem solving.  

State Representative Michael S. Day recently announced JK Automotive Designs as his nomination for Manufacturer of the Year in the 31^st Middlesex District. The 5^th Annual Manufacturing Awards, hosted by the Commonwealth’s Legislative Manufacturing Caucus, recognize manufacturers who have adapted and pivoted in response to the pandemic, stepping up to produce desperately needed personal protective equipment and other vitally important products for the pandemic response. The ceremony will take place on Tuesday, October 27^th.

At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, JK Automotive literally shifted gears, retrofitting their state-of-the-art laser cutters and printers to mass-produce personal protective equipment free of charge for health care workers desperately in need of supplies. Creating a unique design and using materials that were intended to be used in custom automotive interior installations, JK Automotive manufactured hundreds of face shields around-the-clock. Because of the quality of materials used, JK Automotive’s shields could withstand a thorough disinfectant process after each use, allowing front line workers to keep their focus on the individuals in need of immediate help.

“JK Automotive’s willingness to shift gears in the middle of a pandemic to help support frontline workers, who so desperately needed PPE, exemplifies why I nominated them as Manufacturer of the Year in the 31^st Middlesex District,” said Representative Day. “This recognition is entirely appropriate, but also falls short of capturing the impact JK Automotive made on all the frontline workers who received the personal protective equipment they so desperately needed. I deeply appreciate the Caucus’ acceptance of my nomination in naming JK Automotive as a Manufacturer of the Year.”

“Typically here at JK Automotive Designs we build one-of-a-kind automotive interiors for our clients. When the pandemic hit, we initially wanted to 3D print a few face shields for a local nurse, who one of my employees knew. After about 30 minutes of designing we had our own face shield cad file. With our new design, we were able to cut 45 face shields every 15 minutes,” said Jeremy Katz, owner of JK Automotive Designs. “We initially said we would make about 500 shields and donate them to local hospitals. But we then decided to share our file with our 12v industry friends across the country. Our industry was then able to make and distribute over 200,000 face shields across the country. It was an amazing effort from everyone involved. Our industry came together as a team and we were the fire extinguishers until the fire trucks came through.”

At the height of the pandemic, JK Automotive produced more than 200 face shields daily and dozens of intubation boxes, protecting medical professionals from any air-borne particles during the process of intubating individuals in dire situations. Upon receiving recognition from national media outlets for their work, JK Automotive’s owner, Jeremy Katz, created a GoFundMe page to raise money for materials used to produce the PPE. JK Automotive then donated the funds and their PPE designs and processes to other automotive shops around the country, resulting in the immediate production and distribution of thousands of pieces of PPE to frontline workers. Foregoing any profit while producing PPE, JK Automotive continued to pay all of their employees and donated all of the PPE it manufactured to frontline workers without charge.

Representative Day Announces Return of “Spotlight on the 31^st”

State Representative Michael S. Day (D-Stoneham) recently announced the return of his “Spotlight on the 31^st” program, which he designed to call attention to the small businesses based in Stoneham and Winchester and to encourage residents to patronize them.  The 31^st Middlesex District, which Day represents, comprises the towns of Stoneham and Winchester, and the spotlight program highlights both the business of these neighborhood institutions as well as their civic involvement.    

“These businesses make up the backbone of our community, are typically family-owned and operated, and deserve any boost we can give them during this pandemic,” said Representative Day. “I hope this program adds to the work our chambers of commerce are doing to encourage everyone to shop local and to do what we can to help keep these businesses afloat. They define our downtowns, are the most involved in our community and deserve our attention and loyalty.”

The “Spotlight on the 31^st” is hosted on an open and independent page on Facebook, found at https://www.facebook.com/31stSpotlight/.  In its initial springtime incarnation, Representative Day and his office would announce a different local restaurant each day and would then purchase the meal of a lucky patron to try to drive up business and awareness for the restaurants.  After a summertime hiatus, and listening to the needs of the business community, Representative Day redesigned the program, which has now expanded to include all manner of local businesses and civic groups located in Stoneham or Winchester.

“Until we get this virus under control and can safely lift crowd size restrictions, our small businesses will face challenges the national chains don’t,” continued Representative Day. “I hope our families, who benefit so much from the charitable endeavors and presence of our local businesses, will join me in celebrating them and patronizing them. I am confident that, by continuing to pull together and look out for each other, we will come through this pandemic stronger than ever.”

If you know of a local business that should be spotlighted by this program, you are invited to post their information on the “Spotlight on the 31^st” Facebook page or by emailing Representative Day directly at Michael.day@mahouse.gov.

As someone who has been dealing with the effects of COVID-19 personally, I implore you all to WEAR A MASK.  This is not a political issue, or a deprivation of constitutional rights.  This is a matter of common sense, common decency and scientific truth.  MASKS WORK TO PREVENT THE SPREAD OF COVID-19.

Feel sick? Get tested. I continue to press for increased availability of tests and testing sites throughout the CommonwealthFor more information and an interactive map of all COVID-19 testing sites in the Commonwealth, visit www.mass.gov/covid-19-testing

WINCHESTER—Winchester’s state delegation, Representative Michael S. Day, Senator Jason Lewis and Senator Patricia Jehlen, announced that the the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) recently selected Winchester as a recipient of funding under MassDOT’s Shared Streets and Spaces grant program. Shared Streets and Spaces is a quick-launch/quick-build grant program administered in response to the detrimental economic and community impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. It provides funding for cities and towns to quickly implement or expand improvements to sidewalks, curbs, streets, on-street parking spaces and off-street parking lots that support public health, safe mobility and increased commerce.

Through this program, Winchester will receive $125,974.80to provide traffic calming in the town center, reconstruct curb ramps on segments of the Tri-Community Greenway and create a two-way bike lane connecting to Winchester High School. 

“This grant will support and enhance our community’s adjustments to new challenges posed by the pandemic, and will enable town government to implement safety and economic development measures that will benefit us all,” said Representative Michael Day. “This is another example of the state listening to the needs of our towns and responding quickly with the assistance requested and I applaud all parties for working cooperatively and making this program work for Winchester. This is very good and welcome news.”

“It is great that Winchester will be able to improve accessibility for pedestrians and cyclists with the Shared Streets grant,” said Senator Pat Jehlen. I hope it enables people to safely take socially-distanced walks and visit the shops and restaurants in Town Center that need our support more than ever.”

“Winchester’s Town Center is a vital hub of the community’s economic, social and civic life, and this important grant funding will allow the town to do even more to ensure safety, accessibility and usability for all residents and local businesses,” said Senator Jason Lewis. “This grant will help Winchester to create safe and accessible shared spaces that will benefits pedestrians, students, commuters and local merchants.”

Successful Shared Streets and Spaces projects must be implemented quickly, flexibly, at low cost, and without major roadway reconstruction. Grant recipients are also encouraged to consider how a successful project could eventually be made permanent.

Now that MassDOT has officially named Winchester as a grant recipient, town and state officials will work together to advance the projects included.