DALTON, Mass. — The Select Board has appointed Lori Venezia as the new executive assistant to the town manager. She started her role on Monday.

 

Venezia grew up in Dalton and still has family in the area. She said she has a strong childhood connection to the community and is interested in making sure it remains a safe and caring community.

 

"I think it'll help me be in their shoes and put myself in their position and share their feelings and share their concerns," she said. 

 

In this role, Venezia expressed her commitment to supporting the town manager by assisting them to ensure they are successful and meeting deadlines. 

 

She said she would keep the town manager informed of any issues, help with the organization of town meetings, and support the work of committees.

 

"I'm hoping to, you know, reintroduce myself to people, and I was just amazed at the different number of people that I'm going to get an opportunity to work with and the diversity in the work that there's going to be," Venezia said. 

 

"So, for example, interacting with the different committees, I think, is going to allow me to wear different hats and keep it interesting and enjoyable." 

 

The Select Board approved the appointment of Venezia during its meeting on Feb. 24. 

 

During the meeting, Venezia said she noticed that there is a lot of passion within the community. 

 

"I'm happy that a lot of that there's a lot of representation at the meeting. I think that's a good sign," she said. 

 

Venezia has worked in administrative support roles for more than 25 years, since her first job out of college at Mass Mutual as an administrative assistant in the human resources department. 

 

She has particularly worked in the nonprofit and health-care sectors, including Pioneer Valley United Way. 

 

She said she was driven to this career path because it presented an opportunity to utilize her skills, including her "strong" attention to detail, coordination, and project management.

 

When she moved from Springfield to Adams, she was looking for a local job opportunity and landed a position at a law firm as a legal assistant.

 

Venezia has a bachelor of science in human resource management from Western New England University. 

 

Although she has not worked in the government sector previously, she has experience as a liaison between Bay State Health and government officials.

 

In this role, she coordinated with government officials from her role supporting the Government and Community Relations team at Bay State Health.