BusinessWest & Healthcare News: Business & Health Talk Podcast · Audacy

Editor Joe Bednar talks with Sarah Tsitso, executive director of the Forest Park Zoo

·22 min·1 clip

During COVID, the zoo took in about 50 animals from a closing New Jersey facility.

1. Business West’s Business Talk features Joe Bednar speaking with Sarah Tsitso about the Forest Park Zoo in Springfield. 2. Sarah Tsitso is the executive director of the Zoo and Forest Park and Education Center, and Joe Bednar is the editor of Business West. 3. The episode asks how a 132-year-old Springfield zoo moved from financial strain to a stable mission built around education, conservation, and rehabilitation. 4. Tsitso says the board approached her in 2017 when the zoo was in financial difficulties and at a crossroads. 5. She says she reviewed the books, operations, board members, stakeholders, and staff before concluding that the zoo could continue. 6. Tsitso says that seven years later the zoo is financially stable, has more visitors than ever, and has expanded its reach beyond its gates. 7. She says the zoo updated its mission in 2018 because the old idea of what people thought the zoo was doing did not match the work inside the organization. 8. Tsitso says the education work now reaches schools, libraries, senior centers, nonprofit groups, afterschool programs, Pittsfield, Central Mass., and Connecticut. 9. She says the zoo uses education to address misconceptions about animals and human impact on habitats and the food chain. 10. Tsitso says the zoo no longer takes in exotic animals like bears or elephants and instead focuses on non-releasable animals with injuries, disabilities, or orphaned backgrounds. 11. She says each exhibit includes signs about the animal’s name, history, arrival date, wild facts, and likes and dislikes. 12. Tsitso highlights Kids Go Wild, a program created by director Caroline Adams with almost 30 lessons aligned to Massachusetts state curriculum standards and integrated STEAM content. 13. She says the zoo won two national awards for Kids Go Wild and that most of the programming is offered free through grants. 14. Tsitso says the zoo is a private nonprofit, not a city department, and depends on visitors, memberships, donations, and community support. 15. She notes that a 2023 Greater Springfield Convention and Visitors Bureau survey placed the zoo behind only Yankee Candle, Six Flags, The Big E, and MGM Springfield among area attractions. 16. Tsitso says the zoo is closed to the public in winter, but the animals live there 365 days a year and the staff works through snowstorms and floods. 17. The interview style is conversational, with Joe Bednar asking direct follow-up questions and Tsitso answering in practical detail. 18. The tone stays community-focused and explanatory, with repeated emphasis on budgets, access, and animal care. 19. People interested in Springfield institutions, zoo operations, or nonprofit turnaround stories. 20. People looking for celebrity news, debate, or heavy controversy.

As heard by us

A practical look at how a small zoo stays open, relevant, and accessible.

Sarah Tizzo frames the Zoo and Forest Park and Education Center as a private nonprofit with its own finances, even while it rents space from the city of Springfield.

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Why you'd press play

Want the business model behind a four-and-a-half-acre oasis in Forest Park?

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