Press Release: 6/16/2025
Remembering Bill Blanker
Posted on June 14, 2025
By Brooke Thomson
President & CEO
It’s fair to say that no one played a more significant role in the growth and success of AIM than Bill Blanker, who passed away Wednesday at the age of 97.
Start with the fact that Bill served on the AIM Board of Directors for 40 years and led the organization through the most formative moments of its modern history. He served as AIM board chair and was a founding director of A.I.M. Mutual Insurance Company.
First elected an AIM director in 1985, Bill served as assistant treasurer and treasurer before being elected chairman in 1994. He served at an inflection point for the Massachusetts economy as the Workers Compensation Reform Act of 1991 and the Education Reform Act of 1993 built the commonwealth into the economic powerhouse it is today.
Bill, the President and CEO of Esleeck Manufacturing Company in Turners Falls, served the association in many other ways as well. He chaired the AIM Service Corporation, was a longtime member of the association’s Executive Committee and served for many years as chair the AIM Nominating Committee.
I first met Bill when I joined the AIM board in 2014. He was unfailingly courteous and always took the time to tell me about the mission and history of AIM. It was some time before I understood that Bill had made much of that history himself.
Bill was a key voice across multiple decades on issues ranging from taxation to environmental policy to energy costs. He was a constant through gubernatorial administrations from Michael Dukakis to William Weld to Paul Cellucci to Jane Swift to Mitt Romney to Deval Patrick to Charlie Baker to Maura Healey.
He was also a steady hand for the business community during times of challenge, whether the 9-11 terror attacks of 2001, the financial crisis of 2008 or the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020. Throughout all these times, Bill was an articulate and compelling advocate for Massachusetts manufacturing and for his beloved Franklin County.
Dan Kenary, Co-Founder of Mass Bay Brewing Company and a former Board Chair at AIM, remembers Bill always having “a twinkle in his eye and a ready smile.”
“We had many connections, but one of my favorites was his being a regular customer of our brewery in Windsor, Vermont, on his drives (in a convertible sports car) from Greenfield to Stowe. He would always have a positive comment about our staff and the beer he got to enjoy over the weekend. There will always be an empty chair for me at all AIM gatherings with Bill’s passing,” Dan said.
Another former Board Chair, Patricia Begrowicz, President of Onyx Specialty Papers in South Lee, said: “As a fellow Western Massachusetts executive representing the paper industry, it was an honor working side by side with Bill on the AIM Board. He was a thoughtful leader with a rich history in our industry and a long-term commitment to the mission of AIM. He was a soft-spoken gentleman, who was consistent and clear in his advocacy on behalf of manufacturers in the state. I am grateful that our paths crossed through our shared passion for AIM.”
A third former Board Chair, Joanne Hilferty, President & CEO of Morgan Memorial Goodwill Industries, said: “Bill was such an example of leadership. He was interested in your business but also interested in you as a human being. He was the essence of what you want in a board member.”
One of Bill’s central contributions to AIM and to the Massachusetts business community was his involvement in the creation of A.I.M. Mutual, which was created in 1988 as a reciprocal insurer called the Massachusetts Employers Insurance Exchange (MEIE) and has since grown into one of the largest workers compensation companies in the region.
Bill was born in Greenfield on May 4, 1928, the son of Rudolph H. and Matilda M. (Scheidler) Blanker. He graduated from Greenfield High School and then earned a BA in Economic from Tufts University in 1949. He ran Esleeck for 47 years, from 1958 until 2006. AIM honored Bill with its Legacy of Leadership Award in 2012.
Bill was active in many civic and community organizations. From 1958 – 1967 he served as a member and then Chairman of the Greenfield School Committee. He was also an elected Town Meeting Member, a member of the Greenfield Finance Committee, Chairman of a committee responsible for drafting a new municipal charter, a member of a subsequent Charter Review Committee, and a Trustee of the Greenfield-Montague Transportation Authority. His contributions to his community and his church would fill pages.
Bill’s wife of 63 years, Ann H. Blanker, died in 2023.
On behalf of the membership and Board of Directors of AIM, we extend our deepest sympathy to Bill’s family and thank our friend for a job well done.