Fitchburg State University Business Students Drive Community Safety Campaign in Leominster
Principles of Management Class Partners with MassDOT, City of Leominster, and Travelers Marketing on Speed Awareness Initiative
Fitchburg State University's Principles of Management class is bringing classroom theory to life in a way that matters — helping shape a real public safety campaign aimed at reducing speeding and traffic-related crashes in the City of Leominster.
The Leominster Speed Awareness Campaign is a collaborative initiative between MassDOT, the City of Leominster, and Travelers Marketing. At its core is the Community Voices approach — a data-driven, community-based model that engages local leaders, students, business owners, and residents in developing campaign messages and media strategies that reflect the community's own voice.
Dr. Michael T. Greenwood's Principles of Management class at Fitchburg State University has become a centerpiece of that effort. Rather than meeting in a traditional classroom, students convene weekly in the Percival Hall boardroom, where they take full ownership of a live, consequential project. The class has conducted original research on the causes of speeding, target audience identification, media options, and message development — work that directly informs the structure and direction of the campaign.
"This class is what business education should look like," said Dr. Greenwood, Chair of the Business Administration Department. "Our students aren't simulating the work — they're doing the work."
The initiative reflects a broader vision for experiential learning at Fitchburg State. "This is the future of business training and education, where students focus on task-oriented learning with plenty of freedom to explore," said Dr. Mahmoud Al-Odeh, Dean of the School of Business and Technology. "When students contribute to something that directly affects community safety, they develop not just business skills, but a sense of civic responsibility. That is exactly the kind of graduate we are working to develop."
Serving as professional mentor to the class is Jeff Larason, Program Director of Highway Safety Communications at Travelers Marketing, who attends every class session and works closely with Dr. Greenwood on course coordination and lesson planning. Larason leads Travelers Marketing's Community Voices program, a nationally recognized model that has been implemented across multiple states. The program emphasizes local input, measurable outcomes, and resident engagement on issues including seat belt use, distracted driving, pedestrian safety, and speeding.
The partnership between Fitchburg State and Travelers Marketing exemplifies the kind of applied, community-embedded education that prepares students not only to enter the workforce, but to make an immediate impact within it.
At a class session earlier this month, representatives from MassDOT were on hand to view student group presentations to give feedback.
Kirsten Johnson - GIS Data Specialist
Bonnie Polin - State Safety Engineer
Michelle Deng - Senior Traffic Safety Engineer 
Michelle Deng (MassDOT), Jeff Larason ( Travelers Marketing ), Bonnie Polin (MassDOT), Michael Greenwood (FSU), Mahmoud Al-Odeh (FSU), and Kirsten Johnson (MassDOT)
