World of Opportunities

Barbara Rodriguez had her cell phone at the ready.

She was out of her home office, and thus her cell became the only link with a client base that may call at any time, day or night. That's the nature of the business she is now part of, said Rodriguez, noting that the phone did indeed ring twice just before she sat down to talk with BusinessWest about her building venture, called Global Link Translations and Interpreting Services.

Both calls were from Baystate Health, which was seeking Spanish interpreters to work shifts at Baystate Medical Center and another of the system's locations in Springfield the next day. "They have their own staff of interpreters," she explained. "But they're so spread out, sometimes they can't cover it all; that's when they call me."

The health care sector has been a steady source of business for Global Link since Rodriguez, 52, formed the business in 2001 - acute care and behavioral health hospitals are now required to provide translation services for any patient who requires them, regardless of the language in question but there are many other avenues for opportunity.