Ruiz, local businessman and community activist, sponsored last SSO season’s Havana Nights concert; Spirito is recently retired as Chief Financial Officer of the Springfield Museums
Local businessman and community activist, Cesar Ruiz, and Bernard (“Bernie”) Spirito, who recently retired as the Springfield Museums’ Chief Financial Officer, have joined the organization’s Board of Directors.
The addition of Ruiz and Spirito to the SSO Board brings the number of members to 15. The SSO has added seven other new members to its board since 2022: Margaret Mantoni, Robert Bolduc, Andrew Cade, Graham Cahill, Sandra Doran, Eileen McCaffery and Evan Plotkin.
As President and CEO of Golden Years Homecare, Ruiz leads an organization that provides quality and compassionate home care services to those who need assistance performing their day-to-day tasks due to disability, injury or aging. Ruiz is a prominent figure in the Hispanic community as a businessman, community activist and entrepreneur, and was recognized by the Massachusetts State Senate for being the first Latino ever elected at large in Massachusetts history, elected at age 25 as the first Hispanic in Springfield on the School Committee, serving until 1986.
Ruiz is also spearheading a new state-of-the-art sports complex in Holyoke, also set to become the new home for the International Volleyball Hall of Fame. This venture seeks to raise Holyoke’s status as the birthplace of volleyball and hub for global sports development.
Ruiz was the Community Leader Sponsor for the SSO’s first-ever Latin-themed concert, Havana Nights, during the 2022-23 season. His partnership and connections within the community paved the way for the SSO to connect musically with the Latin community, attracting new audiences to Symphony Hall. Through his sponsorship, hundreds of middle and high school students from Springfield Public Schools and Holyoke Public Schools attended Havana Nights and several local Hispanic organizations were also represented in the audience.
Spirito recently retired from the Springfield Museums, serving as the organization’s Chief Financial Officer since 2014. During his time at the Museums, Spirito helped guide the organization from breakeven to eight years of profitability, and successfully produced ten years of accurate budgets and year-end closings.
Spirito’s responsibilities in his role at the Springfield Museums included the annual budget and audits for all departments of the Museums; maintaining banking relationships; and completing operations reports, balance sheets and cash flow analyses.
Prior to the Museums, Spirito served as Vice President and Controller at Bassette Company, LLC for nearly 30 years. He has also worked at Smith & Wesson in various capacities, including Manager of Financial Analysis and Manager of Planning and Investment Analysis.
Spirito has also been very involved with the Springfield Rotary Club since 1991, currently serving as Assistant Treasurer and is a past president of the organization. He is a Paul Harris Award recipient and was named Rotarian of the Year in 2012. Spirito has also served as past chairman of the Consolidated Finance Group of Springfield and past president of the Springfield Chapter of Financial Executives.
According to Paul Lambert, President and CEO of the SSO, “Cesar has had a remarkable business career and his deep commitment to community is making a mark in so many ways. His willingness to step forward in supporting the SSO’s Havana Nights program this past season helped bring new energy and a new audience to experience our Symphony. He is respected in the community and we welcome him to our Board where I know his voice will be heard as we build the SSO for the future.
“We are also honored and excited to add Bernie Spirito to our Board of Directors. Bernie’s remarkable career and knowledge of finance and investment matters will be of great value to our Organization, and we are deeply grateful to have him join us. As a fellow Rotarian of many years, I know that Bernie will also work diligently to help build ‘good will and better friendships’ for the SSO on an ongoing basis,” Lambert said.
In 2023, the SSO adopted new bylaws that allow the Board to be expanded to 17 members over the next two years. The bylaw changes also implemented term limits for board members.
The Springfield Symphony Orchestra is the largest Massachusetts symphony outside of Boston. It consists of over 65 musicians from the NE region of the United States and Canada, and holds many performances in a given season – as either the full orchestra or in ensemble formats.