BusinessWest Staff, Author at BusinessWest

President, Board of Directors, Bhutanese Society of Western Massachusetts; Age 35; Education: BA, Western New England University; MPA, Westfield State University

Bhuwan Gautam

Gautam, a former refugee from Bhutan who resettled to the U.S. in 2008, is a president of the board of directors of Bhutanese Society of Western Massachusetts. He is co-founder of Sanitation, Health and Nutrition Study Center, Nepal. He launched a nonprofit that aids the social, cultural, educational, and health needs of the resettled Bhutanese refugees in Western Mass. He also serves as a co-investigator and steering committee member for the Research Program on Children and Adversity at Boston College School of Social Work, and as a co-investigator for the Global Demography of Aging program at Harvard University.

What did you want to be when you grew up? A detective.

What three words best describe you? Bhutanese American leader.

What do you like most about Western Massachusetts? The diversity, historic places — like the birthplace of basketball and volleyball — the universities I attended, and the great social-service and healthcare agencies I work with.

Who has been your best mentor, and why? Dr. DNS Dhakal, a senior Duke fellow. He gave me the wisdom that education is the key to upward mobility.

What actor would play you in a movie about your life? Keanu Reeves.

What goal do you set for yourself at the start of each day? I spend my time envisioning how I can best contribute toward a healthy and less-impoverished society in my community through health promotion, education, and economic empowerment.

What fictional character do you relate to most, and why? Professor Charles Xavier from X-Men. Because I have skills to organize and lead people like he does.

Whom do you look up to, and why? My wife, daughter, parents, siblings, and mentors, because they provide me with love, comfort, and mentorship unconditionally.

What will work colleagues say at your funeral? Bhuwan enjoyed his life the fullest. Within a short period of time, he not only took care of himself and family, but the entire community. He is our true community leader. Even though he left us alone, he has left us with the legacy. And it’s our responsibility to fulfill it.

What person, past or present, would you like to have lunch with, and why? Bill Gates. I would share him the work I do in the U.S. and in Nepal, with the hope that he will donate money to build up the programs to fulfill my dream of helping the poor.

Photography by Leah Martin Photography

Marc Gammell

Co-founder and CEO, Treaty Biotech; Age 24; Education: BDIC, UMass Amherst

Marc Gammell

Gammell believes the most brilliant systems and designs are locked in the DNA of life on Earth. At UMass, he studied sustainable enterprise and biotechnology, and had the opportunity to work in cutting-edge labs in the biotech sector, on projects from artificial intelligence to genetic engineering. His work in these labs gave him some wild ideas, and one of his particularly crazy ideas led him to Yinyong Li at the 2015 UMass Innovation Challenge. Li invented a plant-based anti-fog solution called FogKicker, and together Gammell and Li founded Treaty Biotech to develop a complete line of FogKicker products, and to continue making new products and technology with advanced biomaterials. Gammell’s dream is to become a leader in the field of biologically inspired design, and to create amazing new products and technology that change the world.

What did you want to be when you grew up? A paleontologist.

What three words best describe you? “How would I describe myself? Three words. Hard-working. Alpha male. Jackhammer. Merciless. Insatiable.” —Dwight Schrute

Who has been your best mentor, and why? God. He’s got a plan for me.

What goal do you set for yourself at the start of each day? Make my bed.

What actor would play you in a movie about your life? Leonardo DiCaprio — the version of him from The Revenant.

What are you passionate about? I love making things that inspire people.

What fictional character do you relate to most, and why? Tony Stark. He’s a philanthropist, playboy, billionaire. So, obviously, I relate to him a lot.

What goals have you set for yourself? Just to be better every day. Like Tom Brady said, the best ring is the next ring.

Whom do you look up to, and why? Jeff Corwin. I loved watching him on TV when I was a kid; he was a huge inspiration to me. He’s showed millions of people how brilliant wildlife is, and why it’s our job to protect it. I still have a big man crush on him.

What will work colleagues say at your funeral? The man took a stand against fog, and won.

What person, past or present, would you like to have lunch with, and why? I’ll have pizza with pretty much anybody, but especially Leonardo da Vinci, if I could understand Italian. Or Elon Musk. Or Rihanna.

Erica Flores

Erica Flores

Attorney, Skoler, Abbott & Presser, P.C.; Age 38; Education: BS, University of Colorado, Boulder; JD, University of Pennsylvania Law School

Flores has spent the past 10 years counseling and defending employers in all manner of employment-related disputes. She also serves on the board of directors of the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts. Before joining Skoler Abbott in 2013, she spent seven years working for prominent law firms in Manhattan and Philadelphia and served as a judicial clerk to Justice Russell Nigro of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. Flores lives in Westfield with her wife, Elizabeth, and their son, Jackson.

How do you define success? I had a tough childhood, so first and foremost, success for me means being a great mom to my little boy, a dependable partner to my wife, and a good sister to my three siblings. Everything else is secondary.

What do you like most about Western Massachusetts? After more than a decade living and working in big cities, moving to Western Mass. was, literally, a breath of fresh air. I love the hills, the trees, the farms, and the beautiful spring and fall colors. It never gets old to me.

What are you passionate about? I remind myself each day that I do not live to work, but work to live, so the little things mean the most to me — home-cooked meals, gardening, watching football, campfires with friends, good local beer, and spending as much time as possible with my family.

Hayley Dunn

Manager, Community Relations, Eversource Energy; Age 39; Education: BA, Providence College; MPA, Suffolk University

Hayley Dunn

Dunn works with a team at Eversource Energy that serves the needs of Massachusetts customers and communities. She is a member of the Holyoke St. Patrick’s Parade Committee, where she serves as spokeswoman, and was honored with the 2018 Rohan Award. She is also a board member of the Holyoke Board of Registrar of Voters, the Springfield Regional Chamber of Commerce, and the Holyoke Children’s Museum. A graduate of Leadership Pioneer Valley in 2015, Dunn and her husband, Frank, live in Holyoke with their four children: Frankie, Charlotte, Eloise, and Harry.

How do you define success? For me, success is defined by having a happy and healthy work-life balance. My career allows me to constantly learn, network, and enhance my skills, but it’s being an advocate for customers and communities that makes my job so rewarding. Serving on boards and engaging in civic activities provides me the creative and social outlets I crave, yet, at the end of the day, it’s the hugs from my husband and four children that make it all worthwhile. It’s important for my children to see me work and to positively make an impact on their community. Their love and the infinite possibilities for their future are what keep me going.

Whom do you look up to, and why? As a mother, I think it’s only natural to want to be (and do) the best for your children. I look up to all parents, particularly my friends and family, from whom I am always seeking advice and support. It may be cliché, but I truly believe it takes a village to raise a family. I’m so grateful to the parents who raise their kids to be good and kind friends, offer to carpool, and are always there to lend an ear, a laugh … or a glass of wine.

What person, past or present, would you like to have lunch with, and why? I would have loved to have spent time with Maureen O’Hara, the talented and classically beautiful Irish actress. I can only imagine the wonderful stories she would tell (in that famous Irish brogue!) about growing up in Ireland and of making movies during the golden days of Hollywood. She was fierce and passionate with just a dash of sass — all qualities I often find in myself.

Kathleen Dion

Counsel, Robinson & Cole LLP; Age 32; Education: BA, UMass Amherst; JD, Western New England University School of Law

Kathleen Dion

Dion is a litigator at Robinson & Cole LLP. She represents private schools, colleges, and universities in a variety of civil matters, such as tuition disputes, allegations of staff misconduct, and Title IX matters. She also assists public and private companies with internal investigations and a variety of business disputes across the country. Dion has devoted significant time to the representation of pro bono clients and is a board member with a number of organizations, including the Longmeadow Educational Excellence Foundation Inc. and Longmeadow Montessori Internationale Inc. Dion and her husband, Justin (a 40 Under Forty honoree in 2014), have two daughters, Sophia and Charlotte.

What did you want to be when you grew up? I always wanted to be a lawyer.

How do you define success? Success is finding happiness with a balanced mix of career, family, and friends.

What three words best describe you? Genuine, driven, loyal.

What do you like most about Western Massachusetts? After having traveled extensively throughout the U.S., I have come to appreciate Western Massachusetts as being an amazing place with a unique mix of weather, people, commerce, charity, and innovation. I have not been to a better place to work and raise a family.

What goal do you set for yourself at the start of each day? If I can provide help to my clients and happiness to my family, I consider myself as having had a good day.

What are you passionate about? Traveling. I did not travel much as a kid, but once I started traveling all over the country for work, I realized that I wanted to expose my kids to different experiences. Over the past five years, we have traveled to 22 different states and seen everything from rodeos in Wyoming to rocket ships at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Alabama.

What goals have you set for yourself? To live a long, satisfying, and happy life in which I have traveled the world.

Jamie Daniels

Owner, Director, Polestar Therapy; Age 39; Education: BA, Mount Holyoke College; MSW, Smith College School for Social Work

Jamie Daniels

Daniels is the owner and director of Polestar Therapy, a private psychotherapy practice in Amherst. She serves as the Diversity and Inclusion fellow at Smith College, where she also works as an academic advisor, and consults with various institutions on issues of race and inclusion. She is also currently a doctoral candidate at Smith. Daniels is the former director of a national youth organization and has years of experience serving on advisory boards and diversity committees. She is a daughter, sister, aunt, friend, and mother of three.

How do you define success? I define success by the quality of my relationships with others.

What three words best describe you? Black girl magic!

What are you passionate about? I am most passionate about issues of equity and justice. That, and ‘good enough’ mothering.

What fictional character do you relate to most, and why? LOL. Cookie Lion.

What goals have you set for yourself? I aim to complete my PhD program. When I’m done, I’d like to engage in public policy work and support the advancement of more socially just policies. I want to contribute a body of literature to my field about psychodynamic practice with people of color, clinical work with black women in particular. Of course, I want to continue to grow my practice and support those I serve. And be the best mom I can be every day — that goes without saying.

Whom do you look up to, and why? I look up to my mom, who is resilient and warm. Also to a small group of women who are talented and relentless, and whom I have the honor of calling my best friends, as well as the instrumental advisors and mentors who have supported my academic journey and professional pursuits. My work and life are also influenced by freedom fighters of the past, women in particular, including Sojourner Truth, Dorothy Height, Lucy Parsons, Anna Julia Cooper, Gloria Anzaldúa, Ida B. Wells, Luisa Moreno, Maida Springer Kemp, Fanny Lou Hamer, Shirley Chisholm, Dolores Huerta, Yuri Kochiyama, Audre Lorde, Marsha P. Johnson, Winona LaDuke, May Chen, Combahee River Collective, Inez Beverly Prosser, Marth Bernal, Mamie Phipps Clark, Reiko True, and Jennifer Eberhardt.

What will work colleagues say at your funeral? I hope they would say I worked tirelessly each and every day in the service of others.

Nathan Costa

President, Springfield Thunderbirds; Age 35; Education: BA, Northeastern University

Nathan Costa

Born and raised in Springfield, Costa has spent his entire decade-plus career in the American Hockey League, starting as an account executive for the San Antonio Rampage after graduating from Northeastern, and later as a founding member of the league’s Team Business Services department. He joined the Thunderbirds franchise at inception as executive vice president, was promoted to team president and owner after the conclusion of the inaugural season, and has led the Thunderbirds to explosive business growth.

What did you want to be when you grew up? I always knew I wanted to work in sports, and originally, I wanted to be a reporter or a broadcaster.

Who has been your best mentor, and why? I’d say my grandfather, Charles Wright. He taught me there is no such word as ‘can’t’ — there is only ‘can,’ and that has stuck with me my entire life. I have had many people tell me that what I’ve done in my career was impossible, specifically having a successful AHL franchise in Springfield — but I never allowed that to take over.

What actor would play you in a movie about your life? Adrian Grenier from Entourage.

Whom do you look up to, and why? Like many people, my parents have been two individuals that I have always looked up to. There have been ups and downs along the way, but the one constant has been their love and support, and they’ve always encouraged me to chase my dreams. Professionally? I’d say AHL President David Andrews. I learned so much during my time with him. He is a true professional, and having a chance to work with him day in and day out for a number of years provided me with a foundation to be successful.

What will work colleagues say at your funeral? That I was fair, and that they felt fulfilled in their roles, and learned the value of working hard. I’ve tried to create a culture within our office that allows people to be themselves and enable that to shine through in their work. They deserve just as much credit for this award as I do, because without them, none of our success would be possible.

What person, past or present, would you like to have lunch with, and why? I’d say Bruce Springsteen at the moment. My mom was a big Springsteen fan, so I got to listen to him a lot growing up. It’s not until recently that I have found so many similarities between his music and my own life. His journey was a lot like my own, leaving home at a young age to find himself and chase his dreams, just like I did.

Crystal Childs

Marketing and Creative Consultant; Age 37; Education: Holyoke Community College

Crystal Childs

Childs is a graphic designer and marketing consultant with almost 20 years of experience in the field, including 10 years at Balise Motor Sales in various marketing positions and, most recently, as the founder of Splash Marketing and Creative. Childs has continuously sought out opportunities for professional development, training at companies such as Google, Facebook, and Twitter. She currently sits on the board of directors for the Greater Westfield Chamber of Commerce and chairs its marketing committee. She is also co-founder of the annual EMBEE Marketing and Business Summit. She lives with her husband and daughter in Westfield.

How do you define success? Success isn’t defined by the dollars in your bank account or physical possessions. If you wake up every morning and look forward to what the day brings, if you’re happy with the work you’re doing, the work you’ve done, if you’re happy with yourself, then you’re successful.

What do you like most about Western Massachusetts? I’ve always loved that the mountains, the East Coast, and two major cities are just an hour or two car drive away — not to mention the states that surround us. I love variety!

Who has been your best mentor, and why? Mike Balise of Balise Motor Sales. This man was a true inspiration to many. Perhaps without knowing it, he took me under his wing and taught me how to remain calm in stressful situations and not sweat the small stuff. He inspired me to give back, to be selfless, and to always do what’s right. He was a constant source of encouragement, and he always had the best advice. He was my mentor, and he’s been missed since his passing in 2015.

Jamie Campbell

Business Development Specialist, Connecticut Business Systems; Age 30; Education: BS, Bryant University

Jamie Campbell

Campbell was born and raised in Springfield and played Division I college basketball on a full athletic scholarship. In her job, she works to help businesses with their workflow and efficiency. Passionate about giving back to her community, she loves to be outside, playing sports, laughing, and spending time with friends and family. She also spends a lot of time supporting causes like the Red Cross, Unify Against Bullying, and the Alzheimer’s Assoc.

What did you want to be when you grew up? I wanted to be a K-9 cop. I love dogs and always wanted to help people.

How do you define success? Success to me is feeling happy and fulfilled. I like nice things and am motivated by the thought of financial freedom, but someone can drive a nice car and travel the world but feel unhappy. I know I had a successful day when I go to bed with a smile and wake up excited.

What three words best describe you? Smiley, compassionate, outgoing.

What goal do you set for yourself at the start of each day? To enjoy my journey. My goal is to not let the little things get to me and to live in the moment. It’s easy to get distracted by the little things that may not go your way and to always be focused on the future. I try to let go of things I can’t control.

What are you passionate about? I’m passionate about giving back. I have had help throughout my life to get to where I am, and I often think back on the people who helped me. I want one day for someone to be happy and successful and think back to me as someone who helped them.

What goals have you set for yourself? My goals have always been to live a life without regret — try new things, travel to new places, and not fear the unknown. I go with my gut and trust that what happens is what was supposed to happen.

Whom do you look up to, and why? I look up to my parents. They have always focused on being happy and putting family first, and they have always pushed me to pursue my dreams.

Saul Caban

Youth Counselor and Operations Coordinator, CareerPoint; Age 25; Education: BSW, Westfield State University

Saul Caban

Caban grew up in a tough section of Holyoke, and early on knew he wanted to be a role model for at-risk youth and others like himself. He is passionate about service and excited to be back working in the Youth Department at CareerPoint, where he continues to deliver intensive counseling to young people in his community, helping them gain awareness of their skills and interests and guiding them on a path to success in the workforce and beyond. The second youngest of six siblings in a first-generation family, Caban was the first to graduate high school, the first to graduate from college, and the first to be admitted to graduate school. He is now working on the completion of an MPA in nonprofit management at Westfield State University.

What did you want to be when you grew up? Growing up, I wanted to be a lawyer, but now I’m still working on my plan to pursue a leadership career in higher education and/or workforce development.

How do you define success? To me, success is when I am performing well and satisfied with my position. It is knowing that my work and efforts are adding value to my company, but also to my overall life and the lives of other people.

What three words best describe you? Outgoing, witty, efficient.

What do you like most about Western Massachusetts? I love the people.

Who has been your best mentor, and why? I’ve had several amazing mentors come into my life, including my current supervisor, Gladys Lebron-Martinez (pictured); Steve Leiblum, former director of the NEARI Jump Start after-school program; and Holyoke legend Steve Dubilo, who left his legacy behind, and I’m proud to have been his ‘son’ for many years before his death. These three have introduced me to amazing people and the resources that I need to be successful in an ever-evolving world.

What goal do you set for yourself at the start of each day? To bring out the best in someone, so that they, in turn, bring out the best in the next person.

What will work colleagues say at your funeral? Saul brought a lot of energy and positive spirit, and he could always be counted on.

What person, past or present, would you like to have lunch with, and why? My mom. Because I don’t get to see her as much as I want to.

Andrew Bresciano

Vice President, Commercial Loan Officer, Greenfield Savings Bank; Age 37; Education: BA, Isenberg School of Management, UMass Amherst

Andrew Bresciano

Bresciano was born and raised in Greenfield. Growing up, he worked alongside his father in a family catering business. Being involved in the family business for more than 20 years instilled a strong work ethic and an understanding of the importance of entrepreneurs and small businesses in the community. In 2005, he joined Greenfield Savings Bank, and in 2013 was promoted to vice president of Commercial Lending. Bresciano currently serves as a director and officer of the Rotary Club of Franklin County, the Franklin County Community Development Corp., and Greenfield YMCA. He lives in Turners Falls with his wife and two children.

What do you like most about Western Massachusetts? The fact that we are home to so many small businesses owned by individuals who have unrivaled passion for what they do. Also, the fact that this community has the ability to support so many nonprofit organizations seeking to make an impact in the lives of our community members.

Who has been your best mentor, and why? My mother, who taught me how to be a compassionate and caring individual, and my father, who taught me that hard work is rewarding and worth every minute.

What are you passionate about? Continuing to make our community a better place to live, work, and raise a family.

What goals have you set for yourself? Instilling strong values in my children and teaching them the importance of giving back to their community, wherever they live.

Whom do you look up to, and why? My wife, Kathy. She is a smart, strong, and loving person who has extraordinary passion for our family. Kathy is always eager to support me, even in times when I knowingly take on too much. Without her, I would not be able to give the time and effort it takes to make a difference in our community.

Nathan Bazinet

Director, Annual Giving & Grants, Cooley Dickinson Health Care; Age 33; Education: BS, Westfield State University; UMass Dartmouth

Nathan Bazinet

Bazinet’s background includes work in healthcare philanthropy, nonprofit management, and small-business operations. He is an active volunteer for the Zoo in Forest Park and Education Center, where he served as interim executive director for the 2017 season, before transitioning into president of the Forest Park Zoological Society, the zoo’s managing board. He also serves as president of his condo association. In his free time, he enjoys spending time with Orion and Aurora (the Zoo’s timber wolves), road trips, running, and Neil Diamond concerts.

What did you want to be when you grew up? I wanted to own Jurassic Park, be a government agent (James Bond), and have a side job as an architect. The first two are still life goals.

Who has been your best mentor, and why? Diane Dukette has played the greatest role in helping to define and shape my career path. She is a patient teacher, a model for acting with integrity, and the definition of a strong support system — always reminding me to never change who I am, professionally or personally. Her support as a mentor, and the opportunity to work under her leadership at both Mercy Medical Center and Cooley Dickinson, has been critical to many of my career successes.

What are you passionate about? Giving back. The zoo is my current volunteer priority, and has been for several years. Having the chance to work with an amazing team and board to completely restructure and reinvigorate this Springfield icon was both challenging and incredibly fulfilling. Bonus: who wouldn’t love hanging out with timber wolves on the weekend?

Whom do you look up to, and why? My mom, for teaching me about life, and the importance of wearing sunglasses indoors; Christopher, for showing me safety, trust, and love (never give up); and my best friend, Peter. If I had to embarrass one of them with detail, it’s Peter. He’s a super-smart doctor, an author, and a world-renowned ethicist. More than that, as I’m an only child, he’s the closest I’ve had to a brother for longer than I can remember. Thanks for always having my back (and for putting up with my innumerable shenanigans).

What will work colleagues say at your funeral? Probably my mantra — “every day’s a great day!”

Lindsay Barron

Loan Originator, Applied Mortgage; Age 28; Education: BA, UMass Commonwealth College; MBA, Western New England University

Lindsay Barron

A proud Western Mass. native, Barron was raised, educated, and currently lives and works in Hampshire County. Her career in the mortgage industry provides a unique view of the economy. Having built a network of peers, clients, partners, and friends, she strives to nurture those connections to enable collaboration to achieve common, community-oriented goals. She is also committed to working with the next generation of leaders. Barron volunteers on committees for various fundraising events, serves on the Greater Northampton Chamber of Commerce board, is a founding board member of Young Professionals of Amherst, and is campaign co-chair for United Way of Hampshire County.

What did you want to be when you grew up? An adult. Seriously! I have been dying to be 30 since I knew what 30 was, and here I (almost) am.

How do you define success? To me, there are many categories of success — family, career, overall comfort in life. I guess, at the end of it all, I define success as the number of people who remember how you positively influenced their life in one way or another.

What three words best describe you? Goal-oriented, efficient, planner.

What do you like most about Western Massachusetts? We have it all: the hometown feel, amazing restaurants, access to healthcare and education, and beautiful natural attractions.

Who has been your best mentor, and why? My parents. They are an amazing team who support me in anything and everything I want to do and encourage me to be the best I can be every day.

What actress would play you in a movie about your life? Apparently, Mandy Moore, because someone just stopped me in the store and said I look like her — but I haven’t heard that before!

What are you passionate about? Family, friends, work, and maintaining a vibrant economy here in Western Mass. We are all in this together. Our community is as good as those around us, and helping each other helps everyone.

What person, past or present, would you like to have lunch with, and why? My Grandma Joan. I didn’t get to know her past my young childhood, and I would love to have a chat with her now as an adult.

Yahaira Antonmarchi

Director of Community Relations, the Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone; Age 33; Education: Associate degree, Holyoke Community College; BA, Elms College

Yahaira Antonmarchi

Antonmarchi was born in Puerto Rico to military parents; her mother was in the Air Force, and her father in the Army. When her parents retired from the military, the family settled in Western Mass., where Antonmarchi attended school mostly in South Hadley before graduating from Holyoke High School. Afterward, she went right to work in a small administrative office, after which she was hired at the Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone. While working for the firm full-time, she earned degrees from HCC and Elms College, and obtained a license to sell real estate.

What did you want to be when you grew up? My upbringing was very strict and disciplined, and the value of hard work was instilled in me from an early age. Although I can’t recall having an interest in any specific profession, I know I always wanted to work hard. I remember being a young girl and thinking that women in business suits seemed so powerful, like they had worked their asses off to get where they were, and they demanded respect for it. I thought that was so impressive. I wanted to be a woman in a business suit — or perhaps just the embodiment of what a woman in a business suit conveyed to me at the time.

How do you define success? I think being successful isn’t so much about your own accomplishments, but what you inspire others to accomplish. To be told that I have motivated someone or that someone looks up to me makes me feel far more successful than any degree, award, or accolade ever will.

What are you passionate about? I’m passionate about the advancement of individuals or groups for which advancement may seem unlikely — those who have the cards stacked against them. As a minority woman from a low-income background, I know what it is to be the underdog. It is truly inspiring to see disadvantage turn to motivation, motivation to action, and action to advancement.

Whom do you look up to, and why? Growing up, I saw my father walk from our home in Holyoke to work in West Springfield and back every day to provide for our family. The sacrifices that my mother has made for the sake of my two brothers and me almost make me question whether I could ever be even half the mother she is. The answer to this question will forever be my parents.

Amanda Abramson

Realtor, Cohn & Co. Real Estate; Age 31; Education: BS, Keene State College

Amanda Abramson

Abramson grew up on a 100-acre sheep farm and was involved in 4-H throughout her life. She attended high school at Northfield Mount Hermon and college at Keene State. Abramson has always felt the need to be involved in her local community and has carried that sentiment through to her career as a local Realtor, where she was Top Producer of the Year at Cohn & Co. in 2017. She currently lives on a farm in Greenfield with her husband, Sam, and two dogs.

What did you want to be when you grew up? A professional athlete.

How do you define success? Being financially stable while living the life I love.

What three words best describe you? Passionate, energetic, determined.

What do you like most about Western Massachusetts? The beautiful landscape.

Who has been your best mentor, and why? My father. He has an unbelievable moral compass and work ethic, and loves his community.

What actress would play you in a movie about your life? Jennifer Lawrence.

What are you passionate about? Animal welfare.

Whom do you look up to, and why? My older sister. She is the wisest, most grounded person I know.

What will work colleagues say at your funeral? It’s so quiet now.

What person, past or present, would you like to have lunch with, and why? Jane Goodall. Her work in animal advocacy is amazing, and she has acted on her passion for animal welfare all over the world.

Local Companies Starting to Land Contracts with MGM Springfield

Features

The Trickle-down Effect

Rebeca Merigian, here with her son, Andrew Takorian, expects Park Cleaners’ contract with MGM to perhaps double the company’s current volume of business.

Rebeca Merigian says the slip was found, and promptly given to her, many years ago by a long-time customer, a description she quickly categorized as an obvious understatement.

Indeed, the date at the top is 1940, and thus this item, now displayed under glass, is a time capsule as much as it is a pick-up slip for a two-piece suit.

Start with the phone number at the top; there are just five digits because that’s all that were needed back then (ask your mother; actually, make that your grandmother). The name of the company was Park Cleaners & Dyers Inc. (the ‘& Dyers’ was dropped a long time ago because those services were discontinued). The address is Kensington Avenue in Springfield (the company moved to Allen Street in 1955). Even the slogan is different; back then it was ‘Dry cleaning as it should be done.’ Now, it’s ‘Family-owned and operated since 1935. We appreciate your business.’

Yes, much has changed since Edward Takorian, an Armenian who somehow escaped the genocide of 1915 and came to this country soon thereafter, went into business for himself.

There have been many ups and downs, said Merigian, Takorian’s great-granddaughter, who started working in the business on Saturdays when she was 9 and bought it from her mother three years ago. She noted that the company was started at the height of the Great Depression and has endured many other downturns over the next eight decades, and also the early death of her father. Not so long ago, there were more than 20 people working here; now there are four, including Merigian’s son and nephew.

But that number will be rising soon, thanks to what would have to be one of the biggest developments since that suit was picked up a year before the U.S. entered World War II — a contract with MGM Springfield, the $960 million resort casino that will open in about four months.

Park Cleaners has been awarded a contract to clean the uniforms for all 3,000 employees at the casino, and for the dry-cleaning of hotel guests and the MGM Springfield management team as well. Merigian couldn’t put a dollar figure on the contract, but she could certainly put it into perspective.

“I’m hoping that this will double our business,” she told BusinessWest, adding that the contract could give her the means to perhaps double the current workforce and pay the kind of benefits that are currently beyond the company’s reach. “My goal from this is to be able to provide health insurance for my employees who have been with through a lot of the challenges; I want to give back to them and provide more benefits and incentives so we can grow.”

Several other area businesses now have contracts with MGM or are in the process of finalizing one. Most will not be as life-changing as the one received by Park Cleaners, but they are all significant in some way.

Nick Noblit says the contract with MGM gives Yankee Mattress a new top line for its deep list of clients.

Take Agawam-based Yankee Mattress, for example. The company was originally asked to supply mattresses for all the rooms in MGM’s Springfield hotel, an order that Nick Noblit, the company’s general manager, admitted was too big to handle at this time. But the company will make California kings for the larger, high-roller suites, an assignment that will give the company additional business and some hopefully effective marketing material.

Meanwhile, Holyoke-based Kittredge Equipment Co. has secured one of the bigger contracts — this one to provide kitchen appliances and supplies to the many businesses that will do business at the casino.

There have been other contracts signed, and there will be many more agreements inked in the weeks to come as the countdown to the grand opening continues, said Courtney Wenleder, vice president and chief financial officer for MGM Springfield. She told BusinessWest that, as part of its host-community agreement, the company is required to apportion a percentage of its receivables to local companies.

But the company is striving to do more than just meet that obligation, she said, adding that MGM is looking to take the company’s philosophy regarding diversity and apply it to its vendor list. And this translates into extending opportunities to women (Kittredge is also woman-owned), minorities, and small businesses in general.

“MGM has a commitment to diversity and partnering with local vendors,” she explained. “It’s all about building the community together; there’s a symbiotic relationship — if the community does well, we do well, and vice versa.”

For this issue, BusinessWest looks at how the trickle-down effect from MGM Springfield, which began with local contractors taking part in the construction of the complex, is gathering momentum in the form of contracts to supply everything from knives and forks to marketing services. And while doing that, we’ll also shine a spotlight on some intriguing local businesses that have, by and large, flown under the radar.

The Rest of the Story

Wenleder told BusinessWest that many factors go into MGM’s decisions about which vendors to do business with and what might give a certain enterprise an edge over whatever competition emerges.

They range from quality of service and customer satisfaction, obviously, to whether, as noted, the business is minority- or women-owned. But there are some intangibles, and sometimes a little luck, that comes into play.

To get that point across, she relayed the story about how MGM Springfield now rents several apartments downtown, and they’re used, among other things, to house company executives visiting Springfield for extended stays.

Kittredge Equipment Co. owner Wendy Webber, left, with sales representative Amanda Desautels. The company will supply MGM Springfield with everything from appliances to glassware.

MGM CEO William Hornbuckle is one of these executives, and on one of his stays, he slept so soundly and comfortably that he took note of the label on his mattress (Yankee), later commented to those at MGM Springfield’s headquarters about his experience, and essentially initiated steps that would eventually lead to the company getting a contract.

“Bill commented about what a great night’s sleep he had on that mattress, and that pretty much secured their position,” Wenleder recalled with a laugh, adding that it wasn’t all that simple, but that bit of serendipity certainly got the ball rolling.

And the mattress contract serves as a good example of how MGM is trying to do business locally when it can and when it’s appropriate, said MGM Springfield General Manager Alex Dixon.

He noted, as Wenleder did, that there are times when MGM will simply add the Springfield casino to some existing contracts it has in place to provide certain products and services to the company’s existing properties.

Playing cards and dice would be good examples of this, he said, adding that MGM already has manufacturers providing those products. And, for the most part, there is no local company that makes such items.

But even with those products, there may be some opportunities for local businesses, he went on, noting, for example, that most playing cards are destroyed soon after they’re used, and MGM Springfield will use a local company to handle that work.

“We want to recognize what’s available in the local market and then tailor our supply chain to match what is happening in the local community,” he said while describing the company’s broad mindset when it comes to vendors.

Overall, MGM has a process in place when it comes to vendors, said Dixon, adding that the company actively solicits information from companies interested in doing business with it. The owners and managers of such ventures are invited to attend outreach events (they’re posted on the MGM Springfield website, for example), and through such events, companies become part of a database the company refers to when it needs specific products or services.

“Whenever there’s a business need, we want to find out if there are vendors, preferably local, who can help us to fulfill those needs — that’s step one,” he explained. “But informally, being members of the community, you really develop relationships.

“It’s no longer ‘hey there’s this great local brewer,’” he went on, while explaining how these relationships are created. “Now it’s ‘that’s Ray Berry from White Lion; maybe there’s an opportunity there.’”

In other words, familiarity breeds opportunity, and examples abound of how companies ranging from local caterers and computer hardware providers have come onto MGM Springfield’s radar screen — and are now doing business with the company.

The contract with Yankee Mattress is a good example of this phenomenon at work, said Dixon, confirming that the company was first presented with a proposal to furnish every room in its hotel now taking shape on Main Street.

But Noblet said such a large order would have necessitated additional hiring and other steps the company wasn’t ready to take.

But the contract to supply mattresses for the larger suites is a welcome addition and positive development for the Agawam-based company, which has been gaining traction in recent years as word-of-mouth referrals about its products proliferate.

This is another family business, started by Nick’s father, Joe, who is still active in the venture. The elder Noblit worked for a major mattress manufacturer for several years before deciding he could make a better product, and at a lower price, himself. And he did.

Yankee was launched in 1999, and it has grown and evolved other the years, said Noblit, adding that it started with a storefront and adjacent assembly area in Agawam, and now has four stores in the region.

Those outlets carry a host of lines with those huge tags that are supposedly illegal to rip off, including the top-of-line Black Collection, with models including the York, Fairhaven, Merrimac, and Nantucket.

There is a strong residential component to the customer base, obviously, said Noblit, but also many commercial clients as well, including several area B&Bs, hotels, and inns, as well as some healthcare providers, a few private schools, and a host of area fire departments.

“We custom-build those to be stronger than average — because there are some big firefighters out there and it’s important for them to have something durable,” he explained, adding that word of mouth has been the best marketing tool when it comes to adding new lines to the customer list on the company’s website.

If one were to peruse that list, the name now at the very top is MGM Resorts International, an indication of how important this contract is, not size-wise, but from a marketing and branding standpoint.

“Most hotels have a contract with a major manufacturer, and across the board, they do business with this manufacturer, and they make all of their beds,” he explained. “So for MGM to consider someone outside these big manufacturers that are nationwide, that’s significant.”

Buying Power

But if MGM Springfield found Yankee Mattress thanks to Bill Horbuckle’s good night’s sleep, most of the other vendors have had to find the casino giant.

And ‘find’ means going through a process of introducing one’s company to MGM Springfield through one of a number of vendor meet-and-greets, for lack of a better term, that the company has staged, including one at last fall’s Western Mass. Business and Innovation Expo, staged by BusinessWest.

Courtney Wenleder says there’s a symbiotic relationship between MGM and local vendors; when they do well, the casino operator does well, and vice versa.

Through these outreach sessions, MGM is making it much easier for companies to find it, said Wenleder, adding that MGM Springfield has a three-person purchasing team (a manager and two assistants), and one of their primary responsibilities is to go out into the community and find local vendors.

“Even though we’ve been doing a lot of communication with people when it comes to local purchasing requirements, some people aren’t hearing that message,” she explained. “We have people on the ground physically reaching out to these vendors.”

Merigian said she started attending such outreach sessions not long after MGM was granted the Western Mass. license in 2014, recognizing the casino as a rare business opportunity.

“I had my sights on it from the beginning,” she told BusinessWest. You never know how it’s going to work out with companies renting their own uniforms or owning them, but either way, I knew I would like to be part of it.”

So much so that she took steps to become a certified woman-owned business, understanding from those very first meetings that MGM had a strong interest in doing business with businesses led by women and minorities.

There would be more meetings to come over the next few years, she went on, adding that these sessions were beneficial on many levels.

“It really gets you tuned into your business,” she said, using that phrase to indicate everything from capabilities to long-term goals to what it will take to reach them. “It was an educational experience on many levels.”

The volume of work is large — most all of the 3,000 employees will wear some kind of uniform, and this contract covers all that and more — and thus MGM will likely be the largest customer in Park’s long history, said Merigian, although Park did have a contract with MassMutual for a quarter-century and still has one with the Defense Department (Westover Air Reserve Base).

“We don’t have specific numbers, but know it will be high volume,” she said of the business to start coming her way in a matter of weeks as employees are added to the payroll in waves. “But we’re ready for it, and we can feel the excitement.”

Indeed, after her father’s death, the company had to withdraw from the MassMutual contract, and it downsized considerably, said Merigian, adding quickly, however, that “we’re ready to go; we’re ready to get back to work.”

At Kittredge, meanwhile, the MGM contract is another important step forward for that company, said Amanda Desautels, an outside sales representative now working with MGM to outfit the restaurants that will be doing business at the casino.

“This is a significant contract for us,” she said, noting that Kittredge will be supplying MGM with everything from appliances to bar equipment; glassware to silverware, and adding it to a client list that includes UMass Amherst, the Max restaurant group, and Mount Holyoke College, among many others.

The company, rapidly approaching its centennial (it was launched in 1921), started as a supplier of typewriters and cash registers and has evolved into a $50 million equipment and supply giant that now employs more than 70 people locally.

At its warehouse and retail facility in the Agawam Regional Industrial Park, one can find everything from industrial refrigerators, freezers, and stoves to dishes and glassware to individual carving knives. Desautels joked that the company provides everything that goes on the table, around it (furniture), and even under it. “If you have a wobbly table, we have table levelers.”

It also has certification as a woman-owned business (Wendy Webber succeeds her late husband, Neil, as owner and operator), a designation that has opened many doors for the company and no doubt played a role in securing the contract with MGM.

“Being a woman-owned business has created many opportunities for Kittredge, and MGM is obviously one of those,” said Desautels, noting that the addition of MGM to the client roster is significant in many respects. “It’s exciting to be doing business with a company like MGM that shares the same values we do, such as diversity and the importance of their employees.”

Pressing Engagement

As she posed for a few photos for BusinessWest, Merigian gathered her son, Andrew Takorian, and insisted that he be part of the picture.

Figuratively speaking, he has been for some time now, working at this establishment — like his mother, grandfather, and great-grandfather before him — while still in grade school.

He represents the fifth generation to carry a business card that says ‘Park Cleaners’ — or Park Cleaners & Dyers, as the case may be. The company has gone through a lot of change and evolution after the past eight and half decades, and many important developments.

Perhaps none were as big as the contract inked with MGM Springfield, which comes at a critical time and represents a huge opportunity for growth and security.

It’s just one example of the trickle-down effect that is now underway, and already changing the local business landscape in profound ways.

George O’Brien can be reached at [email protected]

Simply Grace Partners Helping to Create a New Dynamic Downtown

Features

Changing Expectations

Mikki Lessard, left, and Nancy Feth say they’ve created a ‘retail-tainment district,’ one that is bringing people from across the region to downtown Springfield.

Like most people who grew up in and around Springfield in the ’60s and ’70s, Mikki Lessard has fond memories of getting on a bus and spending an entire Saturday afternoon downtown.

She said most of those visits would start, and a good number would also end, at Johnson’s Bookstore, but there were plenty of other stops as well.

“We would go to Johnson’s, and Steiger’s, and many other stores. There was always something happening; it was positive, and it was fun,” said Lessard, adding that, while she acknowledges that things won’t ever be exactly like that again given changes in how and where many people shop, it can be, well, something like that again.

And she and business partner Nancy Feth are a huge part of that ‘something.’

They are the founders of an intriguing enterprise called Simply Grace, which now operates a growing portfolio of businesses operating under the name the Shops at Marketplace in downtown Springfield — almost exactly where Johnson’s Bookstore was operating until it closed 20 years ago.

There are shops, but this is also a gathering place for events ranging from Thunderbird Thursdays to a farmer’s market to a Dress for Success graduation ceremony.

The two partners have a name for what they’ve created — a ‘retail-tainment district,’ blending both retail and entertainment. They didn’t invent the phrase — it’s been in use for a while and is often summoned when the discussion turns to what traditional shopping malls must become if they want to survive — but they believe they have the first in downtown Springfield, arriving ahead of MGM Springfield.

It all started with the Simply Grace Serendipity Boutique, and ‘the Shops’ has grown to include a yoga studio, a restaurant, a new store that just opened its doors, and another now being built out.

As they tell the story — and they love to tell the story, often finishing one another’s sentences and providing complementary commentary as they do so — these entrepreneurs note that they came to downtown Springfield as one of what was supposed to be several small retailers that agreed to set up shop as part of the initial Springfield Holiday Market in 2015, a strategic initiative designed to put some underutilized space in the Marketplace complex to work in a way that would bring people downtown and generate some momentum as well as foot traffic.

As things turned out, there were only a few pop-up shops, as they were called, on that location, but they did well collectively, and the public responded to this bid to bring some retail back to Main Street.

When the holidays were over, Glenn Edwards, owner of the property, asked Feth and Lessard if they would like to stay on for a while. They said yes, but without giving any real indication of a what ‘a while’ might or should become.

“We said, ‘we’ll stay for a few more months; we’ll stay ’til Valentine’s Day,’” said Feth, before Lessard picked up for her.

“And then, we asked to stay ’til Mother’s Day,” she explained. “And then we decided we wanted to stay for the year.”

But with some conditions, specifically that they could take space one of the retailers was vacating for yoga classes in an effort to attract more people and different constituencies to the downtown.

And, overall, the two entrepreneurs have been continuing that pattern, or mindset, ever since, adding new components to Simply Grace; bringing more events, vitality, and energy to the Marketplace area; and also, for those efforts, earning an award from the Small Business Administration to coincide with Small Business Week (April 29 to May 5).

Indeed, Feth and Lessard will be at the Sheraton Needham Hotel on May 4 to accept the Microenterprise of the Year Award, one of the few enterprises from Western Mass. to win such an honor in recent years.

But before, and after, all their focus will be on Springfield, the Marketplace, and new developments for Simply Grace.

These include a recent addition called Brick & Mortar, what Lessard calls a “mercantile, apothecary, and more,” which actually has some exposed brick for effect. There’s also Alchemy, a manicure and pedicure salon now being built out; Dharma, the yoga studio; and the boutique that got things rolling.

Those four businesses, along with Nosh, an eatery across the way from the boutique, now comprise a critical mass of small, diverse shops that the two partners believe will bring more foot traffic and momentum to an area that was once the pulse of downtown Springfield a generation ago — and can, they believe, take that role again.

“Do we have mall traffic? Heck no,” said Lessard. “But it’s working. It’s always about creating curiosity and then converting that into customers, and that’s what we’re doing.”

The only downside to all this is that the space once devoted to the holiday pop-up markets is now gone, absorbed by what could be called permanent fixtures, said the partners, adding that, in most all ways, this constitutes a very good problem to have.

For this issue, BusinessWest talked with Feth and Lessard about their venture and how in some ways it constitutes turning back the clock, but in most others, it’s symbolic of the downtown’s future.

What’s in Store

‘Walk. Pause. Browse. Shop. Experience.’

Those are the words the two partners have placed before ‘the Shops at Marketplace’ in their branding of the facility. And both collectively and individuality, those terms speak to what this venture is all about — as well as to some of the elements that have largely been missing from downtown since those days when Lessard and countless others would get on a bus and take it to Main Street.

The partners at Simply Grace say they carry brands with unique stories that resonate with their customers.

There was far less walking, pausing, browsing, and shopping going on, and therefore there was less to experience.

Feth and Lessard weren’t exactly out to change that equation when they were first invited to bring a taste of the Simply Grace Serendipity Boutique, a shop they opened in Monson, to downtown Springfield for the holidays. But that’s what has happened.

It’s been an intriguing journey, a learning experience on many levels, said the partners, adding that they are still writing new chapters to this story.

That first Holiday Market was so successful that the BID asked the new partners to manage and staff that project moving forward, said Feth, adding that they did so, providing an opportunity for a number of new businesses to become part of the experience and gain some critical visibility. And through that work, the partners came to understand the many layers of significance to their efforts. Indeed, this wasn’t simply retail, it was economic development.

“A lot of what we do is build community and work on economic development,” Feth explained. “These are the value adds we feel we bring to Springfield in addition to our own businesses.”

Lessard agreed, and referred to Simply Grace’s broad efforts as “collaborating and incubating.”

As for their own businesses, the partners say they are doing well and succeeding in their primary mission. That would be to bring people, but especially women, downtown. Or back downtown, as is often the case.

They’re getting that done by providing reasons to do so, said Lessard, adding that these vary and include yoga, the shops — which sell products made by vendors with unique, community-minded stories — and events.

Elaborating, Lessard said the partners will utilize their indoor spaces and walkways during winter and schedule a variety of gatherings for women, and when the weather gets warmer, they will fully “activate” the indoor and outdoor space, using it to host everything from flea markets to White Lion Wednesdays; from farmers markets to live music.

In fact, the space has become a popular venue for fundraising for groups that include Rays of Hope, Unify Against Bullying, Dress for Success, and many more.

“We just want to have this lively, quintessential, unexpected experience in downtown Springfield,” Lessard explained, adding that the key word there, and perhaps unfortunately, is ‘unexpected.’

Indeed, Feth said that many of those who come to the Shops at the Marketplace will offer commentary that makes this point.

“We’ll often hear people say, ‘I don’t feel like I’m in Springfield,’” said Feth. “Or ‘I feel like I’m in New York or San Francisco.’”

Which Lessard followed with, ‘and we gladly say, ‘you’re in this wonderful city called Springfield.’”

The unofficial mission moving forward, for the partners at Simply Grace and the city as a whole, is to generate fewer of these comments and to make a fulfilling trip downtown something that’s expected, not unexpected.

And the partners believe they and the city are moving closer to that goal through their lively mix of retail, events, things to do, and things to experience.

And the retail is a big part of it, said Feth, adding that, contrary to what is becoming popular opinion, traditional retail is not dead, and not everyone wants to buy everything on Amazon and have it shipped to their home.

“What we’re finding is that customers are actually hungry for experiences where they can see the product, talk to people, feel seen and acknowledged, and have a real experience instead of just a virtual experience,” she explained, before Lessard picked up on that ‘feel seen’ comment and ran with it because of its significance.

“We have women who come in here that pause, then browse, then shop, just to be seen,” she told BusinessWest. “They feel like they’re in this hustle and bustle of life and no one’s acknowledging them. So they come in, they share stories, we give them hugs; we actually care about them as people.

“We get a lot of pushback from people from who say, ‘you should be in East Longmeadow’ or ‘you should be in Hampden or somewhere other than downtown Springfield,’” she went on. “But we’re exactly where we’re supposed to be, because the women we’re connecting to that work or live or play downtown are very stressed out, and when they come to our store, it’s a breath of fresh air, an unexpected experience.”

Bottom Line

There’s that word again — unexpected. Soon, perhaps, it can be retired, and downtown Springfield will move closer to the one Lessard remembers from her youth, a time, she recalled, when there was always something positive and fun happening.

The partners at Simply Grace are doing their part to bring those phrases back into use. They’ll soon have an award from the Small Business Administration to show for their efforts, but they’ve already received something perhaps even more significant to them.

That would be all those comments from people who say they don’t believe they’re in downtown Springfield. Such comments tell them they’re doing the right thing and in the right place.

And to think they were only going to stay a month.

Good thing they didn’t.

George O’Brien can be reached at [email protected]

Rising Stars Have Their Priorities in Place

Opinion

Editorial

If you haven’t noticed yet (and you probably have, because that special section is where everyone turns first), BusinessWest has changed up the format when it comes to presenting its 40 Under Forty honorees.

In years past, there were short profiles written by staff members, who, by the way, considered that assignment among the most enjoyable within a given year. However, this year, we decided to switch things up and offer a questionnaire of sorts.

Indeed, we gave our honorees a series of questions and informed them they could answer as many as they wanted, so long as they kept to a word count. The questions ranged from what would be considered traditional — “How do you define success?” — to the decidedly not so traditional — “What will work colleagues say at your funeral?”

Almost everyone answered that first one, and very few took a stab at the latter, but that’s not important.

What is important is that this year, those of us at BusinessWest decided to let our honorees do more of the talking — and they certainly did. And by doing so, they’ve given all of us some things to think about.

We’ll get back to that in a minute. First, the class of 2018…

Like those that came before it, this class is diverse in every respect, meaning everything from gender to geography to the fields they’ve chosen. Indeed, virtually every sector is represented by these 40 individuals, including healthcare, financial services, education, nonprofit management, law, retail, and more. And many of them have chosen to work for themselves, not for someone else, something we’re seeing more of in recent years.

And, like most all of the 440 honorees who came before them, the members of the class of 2018 are involved in the community, supporting nonprofits and causes ranging from the Zoo at Forest Park to Link to Libraries to the United Way, and putting their many talents to a different, commendable use while doing so.

Unlike those previous classes, though, these honorees got to tell us a little more about themselves. They had more opportunity to tell us what’s on their minds and about what’s important to them. And, again, they took full advantage of it.

Like when we asked them which actor or actress would portray them on the big screen. People gave nods to Sandra Bullock, Brad Pitt, Paul Rudd, and even Robert Redford. We think — we hope — he meant a much younger Robert Redford, but we digress.

Perhaps the most intriguing question, and the one that generated the most responses, was that one about success and how it is defined. We understand that there is certainly a politically correct way to answer this question, but we believe our honorees were quite sincere when they implied strongly (and we’re paraphrasing here) that success isn’t measured by the number on the paycheck — although that’s part of it.

Instead, our honorees noted, it’s measured by how happy and fulfilled someone is — not by the job they hold, but by the life they’re living.

One honoree actually summoned that old ‘I don’t live to work, I work to live’ line, but the others were saying essentially saying the same thing.

If you read all 40 responses (that will take time, but make some; it’s worth it), you’ll find that many of these individuals count their parents as their best role models and mentors, and consider it their unofficial mission in life to have someone write the same thing about them in 20 or 30 years.

Overall, it’s very refreshing and, as they say in this business, good reading.

If you haven’t done that yet, get to it next.

Doubling Down on Intrigue

Opinion

Editorial

And then … things got even more interesting. And that’s saying something.

There was already considerable anticipation, speculation, curiosity, and intrigue involving the $950 million casino taking shape in Springfield’s South End, but in recent days, it seems everyone simply doubled down on all of the above.

For starters, MGM Resorts International announced that the casino would open ahead of schedule — August 24th to be exact — giving this region a date with destiny and a ramp-up period that’s only been accelerated. Meanwhile, Wynn Resorts chief executive Mike Maddox told CNBC late last week that the corporation isn’t planning to sell the $2.5 billion casino currently under construction in Everett. That move is a clear effort to tamp down the speculation that a sale is imminent, and that MGM Resorts might be interested in buying the property, thus putting a huge question mark on the Springfield Casino.

With that announcement as background material, a Boston Globe columnist — no, not the one accused of embellishing material he wrote about the Boston Marathon bombings — turned up in Springfield last week and started asking elected officials and men and women on the street for their thoughts on the prospect of a name other than ‘MGM’ going up on the casino rising in the South End.

One of those asked that question, a business owner in the South End, reportedly said “we can’t hold them (MGM) back if they want to buy something else … but I’ve got one of those big brooms and we’re going to chase MGM with that broom if there’s something goofy going on.”

Like we said, things have gotten even more interesting. And there’s a good chance that this pattern will only continue until August 24 and beyond.

For now, maybe a deep breath — or two — is in order.

Let’s start with what we know. The MGM name will be on the South End casino when it opens; that’s not going to change. All systems are go on that score, and the city is moving quickly to make sure the downtown is ready for the estimated 12,000 visitors a day and looks the part of a community on the rise.

If you visit downtown, you’ll notice that the streets are being paved, sidewalks are being redone, police substations are being readied, flowers are being planted — and those are just some of the steps being taken.

As for the MGM Springfield, it is moving ahead aggressively with putting a workforce in place — it must feel good about that daunting process if it moved up the opening to August — and with finalizing contracts with area vendors (see story, page 6). And, of course, the construction work continues, outside and especially inside.

A process that began more than five years ago and has been talked about for more than a decade is in the home stretch, the final furlong, as they say, and the excitement is palpable.

As for the speculation about the Wynn property and whether the MGM flag will fly there instead of in the South End … it’s just that, speculation. But in keeping with this region’s somewhat pessimistic outlook and inferiority complex (yes, it’s real) some are already resigned to the worst happening.

Maybe it will, but why would Wynn seemingly give up on a project, and a market, it fought so hard to get into? Yes, the company’s reputation has taken a big hit with the controversy surrounding ousted chairman Steve Wynn and it will take another one if an investigation concludes that executives looked the other way when it came to Wynn’s indiscretions, and selling that license may be a way to cut the company’s losses. But the Boston market is extremely lucrative, and many are now saying that it is likely that Wynn will fight hard to stay in it.

One thing we’ve learned in this market from our limited experience with the gaming industry is that the picture can change quickly and that the landscape can be altered in ways we couldn’t have imagined.

We’ve seen that happen already in the South End. Could we see it again?

There already was plenty of intrigue. Now, it’s like everyone just doubled down.

South Hadley Aims to Become a Destination

Community Spotlight Features

Community Spotlight

An aerial view of the Village Commons, which is at full occupancy, and has been for most of this century.

When Andy Yee talks about South Hadley, he speaks from experience.

All kinds of experience.

He grew up there, went to high school there, lives there still, and now watches his children’s high-school games there. He also does business there — quite a bit of it, actually.

He owns a number of restaurants in that community, including Johnny’s Bar & Grill and Johnny’s Tap Room, both named after his late father, as well as IYA Sushi & Noodle Kitchen, all located in the Village Commons, across College Street from Mount Holyoke College, as well as a bar called the Halfway House Lounge on Summit Street. He described that establishment as the ‘Cheers’ of South Hadley, meaning everyone there knows your name.

They also know the story of how the tavern got its name, which Yee was more than willing to share.

“Back in the day, there was a trolley system running from South Hadley Falls up to the college, and that was the halfway point, the halfway station,” he explained. “It’s a fun little place. We all grew up there; at some point, almost every resident has stopped at the Halfway House.”

Yee told that story to convey the strong sense of continuity that exists in this Hampshire County community, and how many things haven’t changed since the Halfway House started serving pints soon after Prohibition ended more than 80 years ago.

But many things have changed, and for evidence, one need only look further down Newton Street, to one of Yee’s latest entrepreneurial ventures.

He’s one of the principals — Peter Pan Chairman and CEO Peter Picknelly and Rocky’s Hardware President and CEO Rocco Falcone are the others — in a closely watched development at the so-called Woodlawn Plaza, former home to Big Y but more recently a mostly vacant eyesore of sorts.

Retail centers of this type couldn’t be classified as easy money or even a particularly wise investment at this point given the way the retail sector is heading, but this group of entrepreneurs moved to acquire the plaza at auction because of confidence in their abilities to bring new life to it, and also confidence in South Hadley itself.

“You can’t buy properties like this unless they come for sale at the right price,” said Yee, adding that there’s a reason this site was available at auction. “We see this as a good investment, and we have some great partners with great business savvy. We’re not going to sit idle on this property; there’s going to be something unique there for all to enjoy.”

This confidence results from historically steady results in South Hadley when it comes to retail and business in general, but also many recent developments that have secured the community’s place as a reputation of sorts when it comes to everything from outdoor activities to fine dining.

Take the Village Commons, for example. It’s at 100% occupancy, essentially, and has been since roughly the start of this century, said Jeff Labrecque, the facility’s chief operating officer.

“We have very, very little turnover, and when something does turn over, we usually fill it very quickly,” he said before getting his point across by noting that O’Connell Care at Home will be moving its headquarters there in several weeks, quickly claiming a 1,900-square-foot space vacated by River Valley Dental after a consolidation of that operation.

O’Connell’s move brings still more diversity to the Commons, which already had a good amount of it, said Labrecque, adding that it’s home to restaurants and bars, high-end apartments that are in demand (he says there are maybe 50 people on a waiting list, and some have been on it for years), many health and beauty businesses, service agencies, a still-surviving independent bookstore, and a still-surviving two-screen movie theater.

All of this makes the Commons a true destination, he said.

The broader goal is to make South Hadley itself more of a destination, said all those we spoke with, adding that many pieces to this puzzle are in place, and more are coming together.

Range of Initiatives

Mike Sullivan is better known for his time spent serving the community on the other side of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Bridge — he was mayor of Holyoke for a decade after owning and operating Nick O’Neil’s tavern — but he now resides (professionally speaking) at South Hadley Town Hall.

He’s been town administrator for several years, taking that position after serving the town of Maynard (famous as the home to Digital Equipment Corp., Monster.com, and later Curt Schilling’s ill-fated 38 Studios). In fact, Sullivan’s first day in Maynard was Schilling’s last, and he remembers the town being very upset and frustrated with losing the company, emotions that shifted went it quickly dissolved into bankruptcy. But that’s another story.

This one is about South Hadley, and Sullivan said it has achieved progress in many forms in recent years, including the broad realm of economic development, attracting new companies such as Mohawk Paper and E Ink Corp., and retaining others, such as South Hadley Fuel.

The town is also making headway with recreation-related initiatives such as a bike-share project and what he called the ‘river-to-range trail program,’ which, as that name suggests, is a handicap-accessible trail route that starts at Brunell’s Marina on the Connecticut River and connects to the Summit House in Hadley on Mount Holyoke.

South Hadley at a Glance

Year Incorporated: 1775
Population: 17,514
Area: 18.4 square miles
County: Hampshire
Residential AND COMMERCIAL Tax Rate: $19.93 (Fire District 1), $20.42 (Fire District 2)
Median Household Income: $64,610
Median Family Income: $76,679
Type of Government: Town Administrator, Town Meeting
Largest Employers: Mount Holyoke College, the Loomis Communities, Mohawk Paper
* Latest information available

Such initiatives bring more people to the town and thus the benefits that go with that visitation, he explained.

“These eco-tourism amenities in communities like South Hadley are becoming more and more important,” Sullivan said. “They feed restaurants and other businesses, like those at the Village Commons, like Brunell’s, like McCray’s Farm; we’re hoping that all of those benefit from our investment in the river-to-range trail.”

But easily the most-watched project in the community involves the Woodlawn Project on Newton Street, Route 116.

The goal is to create a mixed-use development, said Sullivan, adding that the town is working to create what’s known as a ‘40R,’ or Smart Growth Zoning Overlay District, at the site, which would allow for more flexibility with regard to both zoning and eventual development. That plan will go before town meeting later this spring.

The site, formerly home to a large Big Y and Food Mart before that, still has a few tenants and is anchored by a Rocky’s Hardware store, but is still largely vacant. The new owners have torn down the 65,000-square-foot former Big Y, have plans for a larger Rocky’s with a garden center, and are hoping to attract more retail at a time when that sector is clearly struggling, but also other types of tenants.

“Retail is struggling, with Toys R Us, BonTon, and other national chains going out,” said Yee, adding that, in many properties like the one on Newton Street, restaurants have become the main anchors.

Elaborating, he said that dining and entertainment businesses have played a major role in making a South Hadley a destination not only for those living in neighboring communities such as Granby, Holyoke, and Amherst, but for residents across the region and even beyond.

This is certainly in evidence at the Village Commons, which has always been a gathering spot, but it is now even more of a destination — because of its array of eateries, but also the diversity of ventures there.

Indeed, there are now more than 70 businesses with that address on their letterhead, and while all of them serve people living around the corner (or upstairs, when it comes to those with apartments in the complex), they are also drawing people from many surrounding communities into South Hadley.

The complex’s many restaurants are perhaps the main attraction, said Lebrecque, noting that there are now several of them. In addition to the Yee family’s offerings, there’s also Tailgate Picnot, Food 101 Bar & Bistro, New Main Moon Café, WOW Frozen Yogurt, and the Mexican restaurant Autentica.

This critical mass gives the Commons both diversity and drawing power, said Lebrecque, who drew comparisons, on some level, to the city of Northampton and its thriving downtown.

“We’ve become somewhat of a food and entertainment destination, just like Northampton,” he told BusinessWest. “That’s a thriving part of our business, and it brings people from all over to South Hadley.”

But retail is also thriving in the Commons, in part because of the foot traffic created by the entertainment options, he went on, citing, as one example, Moxy Boutique.

This is a relatively new addition — it arrived about a year ago — led by an entrepreneur who left a stable, successful situation in Suffield, Conn. for the Commons because of its destination status.

And there are others who would like to gain inclusion on the tenant directory, he went on, but there isn’t any space available.

“The retail is definitely making a thriving comeback — that’s something we’ve noticed over the last few years,” said Lebrecque. “For a number of years, it was hard to get retailers interested in space, but now we have people starting to knock on our door. We have a lot of people who would like to come to the Commons, but we just don’t have the space for them.”

Coming of Age

If that sounds like a good problem to have, it is.

Such a development means your facility — and the community — are in demand, a preferred landing spot, and a great place to live, work, and operate a business.

South Hadley is all of those things, and has been since people starting gathering at the Halfway House Lounge — long before it was called that.

The goal here is to become more of a destination — for businesses, families, outdoor enthusiasts, those looking for a boutique, and those looking for a new weed whacker.

And South Hadley is making strides toward being that destination.

George O’Brien can be reached at [email protected]

Paying for College Can Be a Challenging Puzzle to Assemble

Education Sections

Piece by Piece

Elms College Financial Aid Director Kristin Hmieleski

It’s hardly news that college costs have consistently risen over the past two decades, outpacing both inflation and incomes. But there are a host of resources families can access to help bring those costs down and reduce the initial sticker shock. Still, putting the pieces together takes a combination of hustle, clear communication, hard work, and often sacrifice, all in search of what students hope will be a life-changing degree.

Bryan Gross calls them “success stories” — incoming students who weren’t sure they could afford college, but somehow manage to make it happen.

“You’ll see a lot of media attention and articles about sticker shock, the cost of tuition, fees, room, and board, and it makes families very nervous,” said Gross, vice president of Enrollment Management and Marketing at Western New England University (WNEU). “But we do work very hard to make college affordable for families, and the sticker price is not what they end up paying.”

But it doesn’t happen overnight.

“It is a lot of piecing things together,” said Kristin Hmieleski, Financial Aid director for Elms College. “We always tell students, ‘you’re not going to get this for free, so let’s look at the resources at hand. What can you get through federal and state aid? What has the institution already offered you by way of merit? What else can we offer based on need? Worst-case scenario, you may have to pay out of pocket or take on additional loans.’ It’s almost like a puzzle we put together.”’

It’s a puzzle that has become increasingly challenging over the past couple decades, as college costs have steadily risen, often outpacing inflation and average income. According to the College Board, which tracks these trends annually, tuition and fees at private, four-year instititions increased by 1.9% from 2016-17 to 2017-18, to an average of $34,740. Meanwhile, public, four-year institutions saw an average increase of 1.3%, to $9,970.

Those increases are substantially lower than the spikes seen during the Great Recession. In 2009-10, for example, private institutions raised tuition and fees by 5.9%, and public schools posted a 9.5% increase.

However, the College Board noted, students still shoulder a heavier burden this year, because even those modest price hikes outpaced grant aid and tax benefits. And that places more pressure on financial-aid officers to help families, well, assemble that puzzle.

The key, both Hmieleski and Gross said, is communication — and lots of it, starting early.

“We do open houses, and as prospective students are looking at Elms College, we talk about different resources they can look at,” Hmieleski said, noting that plenty of opportunities exist beyond the award package — based on academic merit and financial need — that the college puts together for each enrollee.

“They might not know every single website to look at, but we give them some hints about community resources they can look into,” she explained. “Do they belong to a church? Do the businesses their families work for offer scholarships? The students need to do some hunting themselves. Have they reached out to guidance counselors? They might know of some opportunities.”

It’s not an easy process, and it takes legwork and often sacrifice. But if the end result is a degree and a career pathway, families are more than willing to make the effort.

Knowledge Is Power

Gross said communicating with students starts well before they ever sit down in a classroom.

“Being a private institution, being well aware of the current state of the economic landscape, giving families direct and clear information regarding their financial-aid package is really important for us,” he said.

Bryan Gross says communication with families — both early and often — is key to helping them forge a strategy to pay for college.

To that end, WNEU started a program three years ago called Culture of Financial Wellness, which includes several components, starting with financial-aid counseling, during which officers help families navigate the process of piecing together available resources. Meanwhile, during spring open houses, financial-aid workshops are offered to inform and educate parents about the financial-aid process to help them make the right decisions for their student.

Following those are SOAR, the university’s Summer Orientation and Registration sessions, featuring presentations by Peter Bielagus, known as “America’s Financial Educator,” who provides information to parents about financing their student’s education.

The final piece of Culture of Financial Wellness continues after the student has joined the campus. The Freshman Focus program offers programming and talks to help students successfully transition to college life, including an overview session each fall on finances and spending designed to teach students about credit-card debt and making sound financial decisions in college and beyond.

“We want to educate students and help them understand the importance of living within your means,” Gross said. “That’s the circle of life — we want to help students for the rest of their lives.”

But that help begins at the financial-aid office, where the allocation of resources has been subtly shifting. This year, the College Board reports, federal loans account for 32% of all student aid, followed by institutional grants (25%), federal Pell grants (15%), tax credits and deductions (9%), state grants (6%), private and employer grants (6%), and veteran and military grants (6%).

“We put together a strategy for each student based on their academic performance,” Gross said. “We offer them scholarships, and of course federal and state grants typically get offered, and after that we have need-based grants we offer depending on their circumstances, and typically at the bottom of all that is federal work studies.”

Hmieleski said some 80 to 100 Elms students benefit from federally funded work-study jobs, 7% of which must be targeted at community-service work, such as the America Reads program administered locally by Valley Opportunity Council, in which college students tutor children after school.

“Unfortunately, federal funding has been so limited — it gets cut every year,” she said, noting that some students work at campus jobs funded by the college, while others secure part-time employment off campus.

Gross said certain enrollees benefit from special circumstances. “Veteran students are a population we work with; we help students directly apply for veterans benefits, and they might be eligible for ROTC as well.”

The bottom line, he told BusinessWest, is that students are given a full picture of what resources are available so they can figure out how to fill in the gaps, even if that means living at home.

“We want them to live on campus, but we want families to make an informed decision. It’s amazing how many families don’t even think about that,” he said. “We just don’t want families to be flat-footed when they receive their first bill.”

Beyond the Gloom and Doom

As Gross noted, he’s gratified by the success stories, but they’re not the whole story, unfortunately.

“To be honest with you, every college also has stories of families that fill out an application for federal aid, then come to us and say, ‘this is not our reality; we can’t afford to pay that.’ We work with families to come up with a plan, and it may work, but it may not work.”

In some cases, he said, students will instead opt to begin their education at a two-year community college. No matter what the outcome, though, he tries to make sure the decisions are made from a place of copious information.

“Families know that it’s not just a matter of crossing their fingers and closing their eyes, and somehow it comes together. You really have to have a plan, and you have to use college and community resources to help you through the process.”

No matter how much thought goes into a strategy, Hmieleski added, it’s impossible to de-stress the process of financial planning for college.

“No matter where you are in life, even if you have wealth, money is always stressful,” she said. “When some people hear about finances or anything involving money, their reaction is almost to shut down and not listen because they don’t feel like they’ll ever understand it.

“But we deal with a lot of first-generation, low-income students here at Elms; we are here to support those students,” she went on, noting that the college is invested not only in their ability to pay for school, but their academic success and keeping them enrolled. “OK, you’re here, you’re able to afford it — now let’s make sure you’re academically successful.”

But it begins with that first look at the unassembled puzzle, and all the decisions that go into putting it together. Hmieleski recalled one student — whose academic record was strong — that she worried about every fall, wondering if she’d be able to continue on, due to tight finances. But each year, the family somehow managed, and she graduated.

“I get goosebumps in so many situations when it looked like doom and gloom, like the student wouldn’t be able to come here, but we work on it,” she said. “And when they’re able to walk through that door, it’s a thrill.”

Joseph Bednar can be reached at [email protected]

The College Advisor Puts Parents, Students on Proper Course

Education Sections

Smart Strategy

Adam Metsch says he works to help make the many moving targets that emerge in the college-selection process move a lot less.

Adam Metsch was asked to explain why individuals who retain his services should look upon the fees they pay him as an investment, rather than merely an expense.

And he would spend the next several minutes answering that question in several different ways, using both words and numbers. They were all effective in getting the point home, but perhaps none more so than his simple comparison to buying a home.

“When you buy a house, there’s a mortgage broker, a Realtor, and a lawyer to ensure that the transaction goes through smoothly,” said Metsch, president of East Longmeadow-based the College Advisor of New England. “When people buy a college education, very often, it’s on the emotions of a teenager, because the parents are going through the same learning curve at the time the kid is. So there’s no way to protect their $250,000 investment or their $125,000 investment, whatever it might be.

“If you look at what someone might pay me in fees, that’s about one-fifth what someone would pay to the lawyer, for the Realtor’s commission, and the broker when they buy that house,” he went on. “And the investment is nearly as big; think about it.”

As noted, he had several other methods for answering that question, including a very powerful use of numbers. Indeed, 91% of what he called “College Advisor students” — those who arrived on campus through his assistance — stayed that their enrolled college for four years, compared to the national average rate of 51%, a huge consideration given the soaring sticker price of a college education today.

Metsch, who’s been helping students and parents make what he called “more scientific decisions” about which college to attend for more than two decades now, offers these words and numbers often, because even though his profession has grown considerably in recent years in terms of the numbers of people handling such work, many people are still not aware that such advisors exist and that they can make an extremely daunting process far less so.

Getting that message across is one of the items on Metsch’s do-list, but he’s far busier handling a client list involving parents and students across the region. He provides a wide array of services and coaching on everything from when students should take certain standardized tests to which schools would make the best fits, to how parents can go about paying for the school their child eventually settles on.

Slicing through it all, Metsch said he and his staff help “reduce the movement in a lot of moving targets.”

That’s a colorful phrase he used to describe how his company helps take time, complexity, confusion, and anxiety out of a process that might (maybe ‘would’ is the better word) otherwise involve much larger quantities of each.

When asked how it does this, Metsch would go on in great detail, and we’ll get to those of those thoughts later, but he summed most of it up by saying his company works very hard to get young students to take ownership of the college-selection process, a necessary quality given the high financial stakes involved, but also because many of them don’t take such ownership, and with often dire consequences, poor decision making, and missed opportunities.

For this issue and its focus on paying for college, BusinessWest talked at length with Metsch about his business, his profession, and the mindset students and parents should take as they approach one of the most important decisions they’ll ever make.

Schools of Thought

There’s a map on the wall in the lobby area of the College Advisor’s suite of offices. It identifies essentially every college and university in the country, and at a glance, it’s quite revealing.

Massachusetts has so many of these institutions, there isn’t room for all the names within the confines of the state’s borders, thus they’re placed out over the Atlantic Ocean. In Wyoming, by way of contrast, there are just a few lines for the entire state.

Knowing where the colleges are, however, is just a very small part of the equation when it comes to the process of choosing a school, and the many moving parts, or targets, as Metsch called them, now explain why this profession of college advising has grown considerably after the past quarter-century.

Back in the early ’90s, this was the domain of high-school guidance counselors and a few individuals (mostly women) with backgrounds in social work who often worked part-time out of their homes helping parents and students navigate school-selection matters and options for financing an education.

Over the years, as many of these issues became more complex and parents and students realized they could use some assistance, more of it became available, although there are still not many people doing this kind of work, said Metsch.

And there are tiers within this profession, he noted, adding that some financial advisors will add these services to their portfolios, often as a way to sell more annuities and related products. Parents should look for individuals who can put the letters CEP (certified educational planner) on their business card, said Metsch, adding that he has done so for years now.

As such an advisor, he said he provides counsel on a broad range of subjects, which, as noted earlier, include such things as tests and when they should be taken, colleges and which ones might make the right fit, timelines for decision making, and how to pay for an education.

He said that many parents and students are still of the belief that they can do all this themselves, perhaps with some help from the high-school guidance counselor, and often find out that they’re in over their head or that they’re wasting money and an equally precious commodity — time.

He offered an anecdote to get some of his points across.

“I got a call two months ago from a family that said they thought they could do this on their own,” he recalled. One of the parents said, ‘when we went to Northeastern University, we realized they didn’t have the major my daughter wants. She was interested in looking at the school, but she didn’t realize they didn’t have her major; that was half a day we didn’t need to spend.’”

Busy parents don’t have many half-days to waste, he went on, adding that this family may have been using outdated information or relying on word of mouth. In any case, the proper research wasn’t done before the student and parents gassed up the car and drove across the state.

That’s one very simplistic example of how unscientific many searches are, said Metsch, adding that his business specializes in removing the prefix from that word.

And it does so with every aspect of the process, he added, noting that his team, which has more than 90 years of combined experience, has visited more than 550 colleges and universities across the country and can offer first-hand insight into a broad range of schools.

Staying with that anecdote he offered earlier, Metsch said this was a case where the parent clearly wanted the student to take ownership of the process — and that student did, but wasn’t properly equipped, or properly motivated (or both), to carry out that assignment responsibly.

Which brings him back to that notion of moving targets.

“If you look at financial-aid eligibility, many parents have no idea what they can afford,” he explained. “They’re just looking at a $60,000 price tag, and that’s paralyzing them. Then you have the question about how this school figures out who gets scholarships or need-based aid, so that’s a moving target. The kid doesn’t know what he wants to study, so that’s a moving target. So where do you start the process?

“We’re able to come up with a plan that takes into account how much it’s going to cost at a variety of schools based on the different formulas schools use,” he went on. “We can do an eligibility analysis, and, like an accountant, can reduce your tax burden and increase your eligibility for financial aid.”

There is both an eligibility review and an affordability review, he went on, which really does a deep dive into just what parents can realistically afford, taking into account a host of factors including everything from how loans are paid back to how many children the couple has, to how much money the family will save when the child leaves the house for college.

“Some families may not be able to afford what the formulas say they have to pay,” Metsch went on. “So that means we have to look more at schools where the student can get academic scholarships. We may also say to a student, ‘here’s the threshold you want to get your test scores to, because if you just go up another 20 points, you’ll get another $10,000 from this particular school.’”

Grade Expectations

This is what Metsch means by a more scientific approach to this complex, time-consuming process.

And such science is obviously critical given the high stakes for all those involved and the long-term implications of the decisions being made.

“There are all these moving targets,” he said in conclusion. “And if you can’t freeze-frame them, it’s a complete crapshoot, and no parent wants that.”

And that’s probably the best reason, he went on, why people should look at his services as an investment, not an expense.

George O’Brien can be reached at [email protected]

Way Finders Relocation Creates More Momentum in Both Ends of the City

Commercial Real Estate Sections

Making a Move

Two architect’s renderings of the planned new home of Way Finders at the site of the Peter Pan bus station.

The nonprofit group Way Finders, formerly known as HAPHousing, has released renderings of the new 35,000-square-foot home it intends to build on the site of the soon-to-be abandoned Peter Pan Bus station. The move to the North End will bring benefits for the agency and its many types of clients, but it will also generate momentum — and economic development — at two locations, a trickle-down effect not always seen with relocations of this type.

From the start, Peter Gagliardi said, the goal was to find something on the major bus routes and, preferably, near the bus station.

Turns out, he accomplished all that and then some.

Indeed, the new home for Way Finders, formerly HAPHousing, will be the bus station — or the old bus station, to be more precise, the long-time home to Peter Pan Bus Lines. Which just happens to be across Main Street from the new bus station, the renovated, 90-year-old Union Station.

“I had really hoped that we would have a place near the bus station, but I never expected that we would buy the bus station — you can’t get any closer than that,” said Gagliardi, long-time CEO of the agency, which rebranded to Way Finders last fall in a reflection of its broadened mission.

But this ambitious, $15 million project (that’s the latest estimate) will achieve much more than added convenience for and clients served by Way Finders, many of whom don’t own cars or have reliable transportation, said Gagliardi.

It will also become an important additional component of broad revitalization efforts in downtown Springfield and especially the area just north of the Arch — and a likely catalyst for still more, he noted. It will also bring roughly 200 workers to that area, providing opportunities for service businesses already in that quadrant and those looking to expand into it. And it will give a growing, evolving agency the room and the facilities to better serve clients and continually expand its portfolio of services.

Indeed, a nonprofit that was once focused mostly on securing housing for those who could not afford it has morphed into a truly multi-faceted agency focused on everything from financial education to helping individuals buy a home to assisting them with finding employment so they can rent a home or apartment.

“Because there’s not enough housing to go around, we’re helping people avoid homelessness by becoming employed,” said Gagliardi, obviously proud of the results generated by this relatively new initiative. “We’ve placed about 560 people over the past four and half years, and at the end of 12 months, 80% to 90% of those people are still employed. We don’t have [housing] vouchers for everyone, so we tell people employment might be their best bet.”

But while this relocation will bring many benefits to Way Finders and its many clients, there will be a trickle-down effect as well, and one not always seen when a large employer leaves one home for another.

Peter Gagliardi says the new Way Finders headquarters will be a solid addition to Springfield’s North End.

Indeed, this relocation, announced late last year, is not a case of musical chairs — the commercial real-estate variety, anyway — a phrase that brokers and those involved in economic development like to use when a tenant within a property abandons it for something similar a few miles or even a few blocks away.

Such moves often don’t have a significant net impact on the real-estate market or the economy of the area in question, experts say, because the only thing that’s really changing is the tenant’s street address.

In the case of Way Finders, so much more is changing. It’s soon-to-be-former home in Springfield — the agency also has an office in Holyoke — at 322 Main St. in the South End has been acquired by Balise Motor Sales. And while no plans have been announced, it seems likely that property will be put to new and different use as Balise expands its already considerable footprint in that part of the city.

Meanwhile, Way Finders’ move to the North End, coming as Peter Pan moves its employees into Union Station, provides another shot of adrenaline for a section of the city that had been mostly dormant for years.

To borrow a phrase used often in business and politics, this move would appear to constitute a win-win-win for the South End, the North End — and specifically Union Station — and the nonprofit agency and its clients. Maybe that’s a win-win-win-win.

In any case, for this issue and its focus on commercial real estate, BusinessWest takes a look at this relocation and its many implications.

Space Exploration

As he talked about how Way Finders arrived at that press conference where its purchase of the Peter Pan property for $2.75 million was announced, Gagliardi said the seeds for that acquisition were planted quite some time ago.

To make a long story somewhat short, the nonprofit has grown significantly over the past several years as its mission has been expanded, he explained, adding that the workforce, or at least those members of it working in Springfield, outgrew the property at 322 Main St. a few years ago.

“We were comfortable at 120 people, but not at 160,” said Gagliardi as he got specific with the numbers of employees working at that site a few years ago. “It really compromised the quality of the space the staff was working in, and it also cramped the quarters we were using to work with clients; our foot traffic just kept increasing, especially with the issue of homelessness and people trying to keep a roof over our heads.

“It was getting to be untenable,” he went on, adding that parking was another issue, especially after MGM acquired the former Orr Cadillac property (Way Finders was leasing 40 parking spaces there) and converted it into the new Springfield Rescue Mission and Balise acquired an adjacent property, eliminating another 25 spaces. “The handwriting was on the wall. It was a 15,000-square-foot parcel with a 13,000-square-foot building; there wasn’t even room to put in a dumpster.”

By that time, “Balise had us surrounded,” said Gagliardi, adding that the car company had acquired several parcels around 322 Main St., and the logical step for Way Finders was to offer that building as the next addition to the portfolio, lease back office space and parking spaces, and commence a search for a new headquarters.

Which it did, while also moving about 40 employees to a large suite of offices on Maple Street, just a few blocks away.

As for that search, a request for proposals yielded several options for buying and especially leasing space, said Gagliardi, acknowledging the obvious — that a stable, growing nonprofit with roughly 200 employees would be a very attractive tenant for a number of landlords in the city.

The bus station became one of those options, he went on, adding that, after careful consideration, it became the best option, for reasons ranging from location — that first consideration in commercial real estate — to the footprint’s size and flexibility, especially with regard to parking (there will be room for 180 spaces).

Being near the new bus station, or transportation center (there is rail service at Union Station as well) was a big factor, he told BusinessWest.

“We needed a place well served by public transportation because a lot of our clients don’t have cars or don’t have reliable vehicles,” he explained. “And we have a lot of staff that live in the city and could use buses if they were convenient.”

Initially, the thought was to renovate the existing facilities at the bus station, said Gagliardi, adding that a detailed review determined that new construction would allow better utilization of the footprint and better service to clients.

“We looked at it closely, but the cost of bringing facilities up to code was substantial,” he said. “It would cost even more to do it as new, but a new building will be far more energy-efficient than we can make the old one; it will be a much more efficient use of space. The end result was that it just made more sense to do this.”

Way Finders, which recently took title to the property, is in the process of putting together financing for the project, said Gagliardi, adding that it will include New Markets Tax Credits, a tax-exempt bond through MassDevelopment, and significant fundraising, perhaps a total of $3 million to $4 million. The goal is to move in by September 2019.

As for that trickle-down effect mentioned earlier, often there isn’t much of that phenomenon with moves such as this, only that musical-chairs outcome seen in this city and many others when new properties are constructed.

“Often, with relocations like this, you’re worried about the place left behind,” said Kevin Kennedy, Springfield’s chief Development officer, adding that this thought process went through his mind even on projects like the new federal courthouse on State Street, an initiative he led as an aide to U.S. Rep. Richard Neal. The new facility changed the landscape on State Street and greatly upgraded the facilities for the court — but it also left a huge vacancy at 1550 Main St.

That property rebounded nicely and is now home to a diverse group of new tenants, but such bouncebacks don’t always occur.

With Peter Pan relocating to Union Station, the bus station would be left behind, said Kennedy, adding that Way Finders’ relocation was both a quick and extremely positive reuse of a highly visible piece of property.

“To get a brand new building there with a significant number of employees was a good result,” he said in a voice that certainly conveyed understatement, adding that the second parcel to be left behind, 322 Main St., will likely have an equally positive outcome.

“With a family like Balise that has accumulated a significant amount of property in that area, I expect a that we’re going to see a significant development there that will be good for the city and good for the tax base,” he told BusinessWest.

Room for Improvement

All that certainly constitutes a win-win-win, with maybe a few more wins as well.

It started with a desire to be near the bus station and ended with a purchase of the bus station. That wasn’t the expected route, to borrow a phrase from the transportation business, but this relocation will help several parties get to their desired destinations.

“We could have gone outside the city; we could have done something in an industrial park,” said Gagliardi. “But that wouldn’t have been good for our clients or good for the city. The idea that someone that can hop on a bus in Chicopee, take it to Union Station, and walk across the street is a good thing.

“We’d like to be part of the good stuff that’s happening this city,” he went on, adding that this relocation, not to mention the agency’s many initiatives to improve quality of life for area residents, will certainly make that a reality.

George O’Brien can be reached at [email protected]

Available Commercial Properties

Commercial Real Estate Sections

For Sale, for Lease

A PDF list of available commercial properties in the region

Construction Is Largely a Man’s World, but It Doesn’t Have to Be

Construction Sections

Framing the Issue

Local union carpenters gather for a forum on women in construction at Mount Holyoke College.

Construction has long been a male-dominated industry, but the playing field doesn’t have to be so uneven, several carpenters with Local 336 told BusinessWest. They all took different paths to the field, but all say women with an interest in working with their hands shouldn’t shy away from a career society has too often said they’re not suited for. Progress in diversifying the workforce has been incremental, but several regional developments offer reason for optimism.

Lily Thompson laughs when she hears that women can’t handle themselves on a construction site.

“That’s a societal thing as much as anything,” said Thompson, a journey-level carpenter with Local 336 of the New England Regional Council of Carpenters. “If a mother can pick a sleeping child out of bed 2,500 times, there’s no reason she can’t pick up metal studs and shlep stuff around; 90% of this business is moving and fastening.”

Yet, the stereotypical messages persist. “You wouldn’t believe how many times kids are told, ‘that’s a boy thing,’ or ‘that’s a girlie thing,’” she went on, recalling the day her young daughter was helping her install a barn door, and a passerby took note of them and commented, ‘a lady with a saw — how unusual.’

“It doesn’t get any more basic than that,” she said of how gender roles get reinforced in traditionally male professions. “But society has changed a lot lately, and Western Mass. is prime territory for people doing non-traditional things.”

Julie Boucher, another journey-level carpenter, didn’t get those messages at an early age, or, if she did, she ignored them.

“I wanted to be a carpenter since I was a little girl, probably since I was 4 or 5, playing with Lincoln Logs and Legos,” she told BusinessWest. Her route to that career was a circuitous one.

“I went to vocational school and learned the trade, but when I got out, it was difficult to find a job,” she said. “Being a woman, a lot of companies took one look and said I wasn’t needed or wanted, so I got a little discouraged.”

SEE: List of General Contractors

After serving in the Navy for a time before getting a medical discharge and then studying business administration at Holyoke Community College, she again became interested in carpentry, and after a professor handed her a pamphlet for the carpenter’s union, she applied.

“The job can be difficult mentally and physically, and sometimes I think the mental struggle is harder than the physical struggle,” she said. “But if building and working with your hands is something you love to do, you should follow your dreams.”

Katurah Holiness, here pictured at the MGM Springfield site, says she appreciates the different avenues of training available in her union.

Lisa Clauson, director of Strategic Partnerships for the union’s Carpenter’s Labor Management Program, loves testimonials like that one.

“We’ve been working aggressively over the past two years to expand our union’s diversity and ensure we reflect the communities we work in and our members live in,” she said, noting that this effort includes bringing in more men of color, but in particular has focused on recruiting women of all backgrounds.

Tradeswomen, Clauson noted, represent fewer than 3% of the construction industry nationally, and closer to 2% in Springfield. “We, and many other building trades, all have very successful tradeswomen, so it is not an issue of women not being physically capable, but it is an issue of women being recruited and encouraged to do this work — and an issue of contractors being willing to employ them. The construction trades are one of the last industries to diversify opportunities for women.”

Indeed, while female representation in the construction trades rose steadily between the 1980s and 2007, the number then leveled off and has decreased ever since. One factor was certainly the Great Recession, which hit construction hard and chased many professionals out of the field — women at a higher rate.

They should come back, Thompson said, with opportunities on the rise.

“I’ve been doing this almost 16 years,” she said. “The pay and benefits are great, and I work with a great group of people. It’s something I like to do, versus sitting at a desk. I tried making sandwiches and was a receptionist in a hair salon, but that wasn’t where I wanted to be.”

Test of Time

Thompson graduated from Franklin County Technical School in 2001, and decided to focus on carpentry after trying out some trades — auto-body and electrical work, to name two — that she found less appealing.

SEE: List of Area Home Builders

“I like building things, and seeing things that are long-lasting. You get to look at it and have pride in your work for years to come,” she said, noting that her skills translate well to her personal life, too; she and her husband, a mechanic, bought a run-down property 12 years ago and worked to turn it into a home.

A home is something Katurah Holiness didn’t have when she entered the world of carpentry. An Air Force veteran, she was driving for Uber and sleeping on a series of friends’ couches, and when she got tired of hopping around, she went to stay at Soldier On in Leeds, where she lived for much of 2016 and 2017.

She had never had much interest in carpentry, but one day she gave a union carpenter a ride, and chatting with him piqued her interest. She applied with the union and quickly became an apprentice and got hired on the MGM Springfield job.

“With the carpenter’s union, there are so many avenues you can go as far as interest,” she said. “You can take a welding course, learn about framing and sheetrock … the avenues don’t end. There are a number of things you can get into, specialties and certifications you can train for.”

Her car broke down shortly before she started as a carpenter, and Holiness initially was able to get to work through getting rides with other members and sometimes from other women who lived at Soldier On. Steady work at the union apprentice rate enabled her to save, pay off some of her debts, and eventually move to an apartment.

Besides those pluses, she enjoys the work, and feels at home working alongside almost all men.

“I came from a male-dominated background in the military, so it’s not new to me in the least,” she said. “I can vouch for the men I’ve worked with; they’re for the most part good guys, and they’re willing to train you and educate you if you’re willing to learn.”

That’s not to say some stereotypes of the field aren’t occasionally true, Thompson said, including ribald or condescending teasing.

“I just put in my imaginary earplugs. Its ‘hey, you’ve got your sexy jeans on today,’ or ‘where did you get your boots from, the kids’ section?’ You take it with a grain of salt — smile, wave, give some s–t back when it comes down to it. As for the physical part, well, if you’re active in life and don’t want to go to the gym every day, come give this a whirl.”

The union has been trying to motivate more of that whirl-giving among women in several ways, Clauson said. One is recruiting aggressively from members’ networks, community organizations, career centers and job-training programs, vocational schools, and other sources.

“We’re spreading the word about the opportunities for this work and letting women know that, when this work is done union, they can earn living wages, be fully trained in the craft for free, and get great benefits. Our recruitment work has involved intensive outreach in the vocational schools throughout Western Mass. as well.”

Meanwhile, to retain women in the trade, the union has created a ‘Sisters in the Brotherhood’ chapter for its women to come together regularly to network and support each other.

“We have mentorship programs and are working to educate our members on the value of diversity and the need for harassment-free worksites. We are also working with our contractors on these issues,” she explained.

Finally, the union has been persuading developers to require diversity in their contractors.

“This last step is key to ensuring women get hired and get work,” she said. “Contractors are slow to change their hiring practices, but if owners of construction work require them to bring in a diverse workforce, they will do so. This often gives women — and people of color — a foot in the door to demonstrate their work ethic and skills, and many are then kept for other jobs that don’t have requirements.”

Success stories in this realm have included MGM, with women accounting for at least 6.9% of all work hours, people of color 15.3%, and veterans 8% — minimums that are consistently being exceeded. “MGM is a remarkably different worksite than most,” Clauson said. “Our women constantly talk about how different it is to be seeing other tradeswomen all around them.”

Lily Thompson takes a break from work renovating Blanchard Hall at Mount Holyoke College.

Meanwhile, the UMass Amherst Building Authority has also set work-hour goals of 6.9% for women and 15.3% for people of color. Three years ago, she added, these goals existed but were ignored, but a compliance officer started enforcing them in 2015, and now the all jobs are exceeding these numbers.

Mount Holyoke College recently completed its first project (a renovation of Blanchard Hall) with work-hour requirements of 7% for women and 16% for people of color. And Smith College recently announced it will require the same percentages on its $100 million Neilson Library project.

Finally, the city of Springfield is reworking the Springfield Responsible Employer Ordinance, which requires city construction contractors to employ 35% Springfield residents, 20% people of color, 6.9% women, and 5% veterans.

“It has largely been unenforced, and they are now creating a new enforcement plan and have recently hired a compliance officer to oversee it,” Clauson said.

Small Steps

Boucher said every additional woman on a job site makes the environment healthier for all women. That’s partly why she coordinates the training center of the union’s apprenticeship mentoring program and helped launched its Sisters in the Brotherhood chapter.

“I naturally wanted to help other people; that’s in my blood,” she said. “I started a mentorship program at my local because I know how important it is to have that support. I wanted to be there for the apprentices coming in and help guide them in any way I can. Not all apprentices want mentoring, but the ones that do, I try to provide a support system for them. We have a great team of mentors to help out.”

The progress achieved in diversifying the construction workforce regionally is exciting, Clauson said, but much more needs to be done.

“Women historically have done many physically demanding and dirty jobs, but traditionally they are doing work of this type in low-wage and low-skilled industries,” she said, citing jobs in cleaning, food service, and personal care. “Construction careers, in contrast, are higher-paid, skilled, and, when unionized, have good wages, free training, and strong benefits. Women need to be able to access these opportunities.”

And be treated equally on the job site, Boucher said.

“There are companies that allow me to do my job, and then companies that don’t allow me to do my job, in the sense that I’ll get put on menial tasks, easy tasks, because my foreman or journeyman I’m working with don’t think I’m capable of doing it. I wish I was challenged a little more. Let me do the framing; let me handle drywall. But that’s not always the case.”

It helps that the union supports workforce training, she added. For example, Boucher earned a construction management degree at Wentworth Institute of Technology in Boston, and the local paid for one-third of the tuition; most of the classes were held at Springfield Technical Community College through an exchange between the two institutions.

Thompson said women are ultimately responsible for taking such opportunities to better their careers. “Women today want to be 50-50, want to feel like they’re equal partners,” she noted. “Whether just out of college or age 50, as long as you’re physically able, there are lots of positions in construction. I didn’t see myself doing this full-time, but it works. I’m much happier than I’d be in an office.”

Holiness agreed. “A lot of people think it’s only for males because they’re stronger, but that’s not true,” she said. “Where there’s a will, there’s a way. There’s nothing you can’t do.”

Joseph Bednar can be reached at [email protected]

Picture This

Departments Picture This

Email ‘Picture This’ photos with a caption and contact information to [email protected]

Healthy Beginnings

More than 100 community stakeholders, CHD staff, and well-wishers gathered to officially welcome the new CHD Greenfield Center for Wellness to 102 Main St. in downtown Greenfield on April 20. The center, a partnership of CHD and Community Health Center of Franklin County, officially opened for business on Monday, April 30. CHD invested nearly $6.5 million through a combination of private funds, MassDevelopment tax-exempt bonds, and historic tax credits to transform the historic Sears building into a state-of-the-art community health center. Pictured at top: Jim Goodwin, president and CEO of CHD, with Natalie Blias, executive director of the Franklin County Chamber of Commerce. Bottom: Robert Babcock, market president with TD Bank, with Kimberley Lee, vice president of Development at CHD.
Healthy Beginnings Healthy Beginnings 2

Caritas Gala

Mercy Medical Center staged its annual Caritas Gala on April 21 at the MassMutual Center. The gala, with its Motown-inspired theme “Reach Out,” raised funds to support Mercy’s Pathway to Care: Addressing the Opioid Crisis through Intervention, Education, and Treatment. Gala organizers presented two Caritas awards at the event, named after Sister Mary Caritas, SP, vice president of Sisters of Providence congregation and long-time president of Mercy Medical Center. The first went to Gov. Charlie Baker for his vision and leadership around prevention and treatment efforts for those suffering from substance use disorder and his support of individuals and families in recovery. “Recognizing that the opioid crisis is one of the most significant public health issues facing America, Gov. Baker has mobilized efforts across the Commonwealth to tackle the issue through prevention and treatment services; he was a unanimous choice for this important award,” said Mark Fulco, President of Mercy Medical Center and its affiliates, as he presented the honor. The second Caritas Award was presented to Daniel Keenan, vice president of Advocacy and Government Relations for Trinity Health of New England, for his advocacy efforts on behalf of patients at Mercy Medical Center and Providence Behavioral Health Hospital. An attorney and former state representative, he is active in behavioral health advocacy including work with the Massachusetts Health and Hospital Association and the Massachusetts Association of Behavioral Health Systems. Below, from left, Fulco; Sister Caritas; Baker; Robert Roose, MD, MPH, FASAM, vice president of Behavioral Health, Mercy Medical Center; and Sister Kathleen Popko, SP, president, Sisters of Providence congregation. At bottom, from left, Fulco, Baker, and Keenan. Caritas Gala Caritas Gala 2

People on the Move

Departments People on the Move

Alexandra Fach

Meghan Morton

Genevieve Brough, president of Finck & Perras Insurance Agency Inc., recently announced the firm has hired two new employees. Alexandra Fach and Meghan Morton will serve as personal-lines account managers. Fach will work in the firm’s Easthampton office, and Morton at the Florence location. Fach holds a bachelor’s degree in communication technology and visual communication and a master’s degree from Lesley University in Cambridge. She has worked in the industry since 2013 and also holds state insurance licensure. Morton is a certified insurance service representative and a certified insurance counselor. She holds state insurance licensure and has worked in the industry for six years.

•••••

Andrew Caires

Pathlight, a provider of services for residential and community services for people with intellectual disabilities, has named Andrew Caires its chief financial officer and vice president of Administration, effective April 9. Caires has significant experience in human services. He was the financial director for Hawthorn Services for 15 years. When Hawthorne merged with the Center for Human Development, he became CHD’s director of Fiscal Services. Most recently, he was the controller for the Williston Northampton School. Caires has a bachelor’s degree in business administration/accounting from Western New England University and an MBA from UMass Amherst. He has maintained his certified public accountant (CPA) designation. Pathlight has been providing programs and services to people with developmental disabilities since 1952. Its programs include residential homes, supports for independent living, family-based living, recreation, enrichment, employment supports, family resources, autism supports, and more.

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Amanda Carpe

The Gove Law Office announced that Amanda Carpe has joined the firm as an associate attorney focused on real-estate transactions, estate planning, and estate administration. Carpe earned her juris doctor from Western New England University in 2016. While in law school, she interned with Gove Law Office and for the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families, where she appeared on behalf of the Commonwealth in child-endangerment cases. She also clerked for Judge Charles Belsky. She began her career in Worcester, where she worked on complex estate planning, elder-law matters, guardianships and conservatorships petitions, and probate administrations.

•••••

Dean Brown

Teresa Wurszt

Florence Bank announced recently that Dean Brown and Teresa Wurszt were named to the President’s Club for 2018. The honor recognizes superior performance, customer service, and overall contribution to Florence Bank. Brown, a card operations specialist in the Operations Department in the main branch in Florence, began work at Florence Bank in 2008. Wurszt, an assistant commercial loan administration manager in the main office in Florence, joined the bank in 2015. With nearly 20 years of banking experience, she was praised by her colleagues for her knowledge, collaboration, and dedicated work ethic.

•••••

Erika Gleason

Pathlight, a provider of residential and community services for people with intellectual disabilities and autism, named behavior specialist Erika Gleason as the first recipient of its Donald Fletcher Scholarship. The $5,000 scholarship, which will be awarded yearly, is meant to assist an employee in obtaining an undergraduate degree. A committee of Pathlight board members and staff made the selection after receiving applications from employees. The scholarship is named after Pathlight’s former Executive Director Donald Fletcher, who was committed to helping staff pursue their education. This scholarship is in addition to Pathlight’s current tuition-reimbursement program. Gleason started at Pathlight in 2013 as a direct support professional, supporting people with intellectual disabilities and intensive behavioral needs, but quickly moved up the Pathlight career ladder, becoming a behavioral specialist this year. In her new role, she is responsible for checking in with all of Pathlight’s residential homes, as well as conducting safety-training sessions that teach people how to support individuals with special needs. She is currently working toward an associate’s degree in psychology at Holyoke Community College. Her goal is to transfer to Westfield State University, where she hopes to earn her bachelor’s degree.

•••••

Gov. Charlie Baker announced Patrick Carnevale as director of the Governor’s Western Mass. Office in Springfield. Carnevale brings almost 20 years of experience in public service and will be the administration’s primary liaison between Western Mass. constituents and communities. With 18 years of public service in the Commonwealth, Carnevale has spent much of his career in emergency-preparedness response and recovery. He most recently served as regional manager for the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency (MEMA), where he was responsible for emergency management in Central and Western Mass. Since 2002, he has held multiple roles in the State Emergency Operations Center, responding to natural disasters, developing and implementing municipal preparedness plans, allocating state and federal funding and grants, and improving emergency management in 161 communities. Carnevale graduated with a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts and received his MBA from Western New England University. He also attended the National Preparedness Leadership Initiative and the National Preparedness Leadership in Homeland Security at Harvard University. He holds 14 certificates relating to emergency-preparedness disaster management from the Emergency Management Institute, the National Hurricane Center, and MEMA.

Chamber Corners: Upcoming Events

www.easthamptonchamber.org

Chamber Corners Departments

1BERKSHIRE

www.1berkshire.com

(413) 499-1600

• May 7 to 17: Dream Auction. Grab great deals on theater tickets, spa services, dining certificates, and one-of-a-kind experiences in our online auction. Proceeds support the Berkshire Marketing Fund, which promotes the region as a destination for all seasons. Visit www.biddingforgood.com/berkshires.

• May 16: Chamber Nite & BYP Networking Social, 5-7 p.m., hosted by Dalton Union, 395 Main St., Dalton. Join us for our joint May Chamber Nite and BYP Social at Union Block in downtown Dalton with participating businesses: Hot Harry’s, Berkshire Dream Home, Therapeutic Massage & Wellness, Academy Mortgage Corp., Horace Mann Insurance, McMahon & Vigeant, P.C., Wheeler & Taylor Insurance, Dalton Restaurant, New England Dynamark Security, and 2 Flights Up Dance & Game Studio. Cost: free. Register online at www.1berkshire.com.

AMHERST AREA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

www.amherstarea.com

(413) 253-0700

• May 3: Leaders as Readers, 12 noon, hosted by Pasta E Basta, 26 Main St., Amherst. This month in Leaders as Readers, we will be discussing Work It: Secrets of Success from the Boldest Women in Business by Carrie Kerpen. For more information, visit www.facebook.com/events/928353994013860 or e-mail [email protected].

• May 4: Lunch and Learn, “How to Protect Your Most Important Asset: Your Income,” 12 noon, hosted by Lord Jeffery Inn, 30 Boltwood Ave., Amherst. Sponsored by Hollister Insurance. Lunch will be provided. For details, e-mail [email protected].

GREATER CHICOPEE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

www.chicopeechamber.org

(413) 594-2101

• May 10: Business After Hours, 4:30-6:30 p.m., hosted by Mercedes-Benz of Springfield, 295 Burnett Road, Chicopee. Kentucky Derby theme. Presented by Polish National Credit Union. Cost: $10 for members, $15 for non-members. Sign up online at chicopeechamber.org/events.

• May 16: Salute Breakfast, 7:15-9 a.m., at Munich Haus, 13 Center St., Chicopee. Chief greeter: Chicopee Mayor Richard Kos. Keynote Speaker: Kim Kenney-Rockwal, Elms MBA. Cost: $23 for members, $28 for non-members. Sign up online at chicopeechamber.org/events.

• May 18: Chicopee Chamber of Commerce Annual Golf Tournament, 10 a.m. shotgun start, hosted by Chicopee Country Club, 1290 Burnett Road, Chicopee. Presented by Polish National Credit Union. Cost: $125 per golfer, $500 per team of four, and/or $20 golfer package that includes 25 raffle tickets and one mulligan. Sign up online at chicopeechamber.org/events.

• May 31: Sunshine Soiree, a multi-chamber networking event, 5-7 p.m., hosted by Sunshine Village, 75 Litwin Lane, Chicopee. The event will feature complimentary hors d’oeuvres, wine, and beer. Register in advance for this free event online at springfieldyps.com.

GREATER EASTHAMPTON CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

(413) 527-9414

• May 24: Chamber on the Vine, 5:30-8:30 p.m., a wine-tasting event hosted by Glendale Ridge Vineyard, 155 Glendale Road, Southampton. Taste wine, enjoy local food, and listen to the music of Trailer Trash. Cost: $20 to enjoy the music, $30 to taste the wine. Pre-registration is a must. For more information, visit www.easthamptonchamber.org or call (413) 527-9414.

GREATER HOLYOKE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

www.holyokechamber.com

(413) 534-3376

• May 2: Women in Leadership: Leadership in Your Future, 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., hosted by HCC MGM Culinary Arts Institute, 164 Race St., Holyoke. A monthly luncheon series where participants learn from area CEOs while networking with peers from the region. An elegant lunch prepared by the HCC Culinary Arts program provides the setting.

• May 9: Coffee Buzz, 7:30-8:30 a.m., hosted by Loomis House, 298 Jarvis Ave., Holyoke (Sheldon entrance). A free morning networking event sponsored by Loomis House where guests enjoy a light breakfast while networking with the business community. Register online at holyokechamber.com or call the chamber at (413) 534-3376. There is no charge for this event.

• May 14: Holyoke Chamber Cup Golf Tournament, 50th Anniversary, 10 a.m., hosted by the Orchards, 18 Silverwood Terrace, South Hadley. Registration begins at 10 a.m., followed by lunch at 11 a.m., tee off at noon (scramble format), and dinner afterward. Cost: $150 per player, which includes lunch, 18 holes of golf, cart, and dinner. Cost of dinner only is $30. Awards, raffles, and cash prizes follow dinner. For reservations or sponsorships, call the chamber at (413) 534-3376 or register online at holyokechamber.com.

• May 16: Chamber After Hours, 5-7 p.m., hosted by Holyoke Hummus, 285 High St., Holyoke. Cost: $10 for members, $15 for non-members. Feel free to bring a door prize. Sign up online at holyokechamber.com.

• May 23: Leadership Holyoke Information Session, 5-7 p.m., hosted by Holyoke Community College, Frost Building, Room 309, 303 Homestead Ave., Holyoke. Join the Greater Holyoke Chamber of Commerce and Holyoke Community College for a free information session for Leadership Holyoke 2018-19..

GREATER NORTHAMPTON CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

www.explorenorthampton.com

(413) 584-1900

• May 4: Annual Spring Swizzle, 6:30-10:30 p.m., hosted by Eastside Grill, 19 Strong Ave., Northampton. A networking event. Cost: $75; $100 for two. Purchase tickets at www.chamberspringswizzle.com.

• May 9: May Arrive @ 5, 5-7 p.m., host to be announced. Sponsored by Northeast Solar and the Lusteg Wealth Management Group – Merrill Lynch. A networking event. Cost: $10 for members.

• May 17: Workshop: “Microsoft Excel Tips, Tricks & Shortcuts,” 9-11 a.m., hosted by Greater Northampton Chamber of Commerce, 99 Pleasant St., Northampton. Presented by Pioneer Training. Cost: $35 for members, $45 for non-members. Pre-registration required at goo.gl/forms/pX8YUuC25YdMsLjD2.

GREATER WESTFIELD CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

www.westfieldbiz.org

(413) 568-1618

• May 7: May Coffee Hour with Mayor Brian Sullivan, 8-9 a.m., hosted by Westfield Center – Genesis Healthcare, 60 East Silver St., Westfield. This event is free and open to the public. Online registration is available at www.westfieldbiz.org, so we may give our host a proper count. For more information, call Pam at the chamber at (413) 568-1618.

• May 7: May After 5 Connection, 5-7 p.m., hosted by East Mountain Country Club, 1458 East Mountain Road, Westfield. Refreshments will be served. A 50/50 raffle will benefit the chamber scholarship fund. Cost: free for chamber members, $10 for non-members (cash or credit paid at the door). Online registration is available at www.westfieldbiz.org. For more information, call Pam at the chamber at (413) 568-1618.

• May 14: Greater Westfield Chamber of Commerce 57th annual Golf Tournament, 10:30 a.m. to 7 p.m., hosted by Shaker Farms Country Club, 866 Shaker Road, Westfield. Online registration is available at www.westfieldbiz.org. For more information, call Pam at the chamber at (413) 568-1618.

SOUTH HADLEY & GRANBY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

www.shgchamber.com

(413) 532-6451

• May 9: Educational Breakfast: Insider Travel Tips, 7:30-9 a.m., hosted by Loomis Village, 20 Bayon Dr., South Hadley. Chuck Elias, travel advisor for Pioneer Valley Cruise Planners, will share tips on how to make travel safe and fun. Cost: $10 for members, $15 for non-members. To register, call (413) 532-6451 or e-mail [email protected].

• May 14: The South Hadley & Granby Chamber will join the Greater Holyoke Chamber for a day of golf at the Orchards Golf Club in South Hadley. Registration and lunch will begin at 10:30 a.m., with tee-off beginning at noon. Cost: $150, which includes lunch, a round of golf and cart, a tourney T-shirt, refreshments on the course, and a dinner back at the clubhouse. E-mail [email protected] to register.

• May 21: After 5 at the Ledges Golf Course, 5-6:30 p.m., hosted by the Ledges, 18 Mulligan Dr., South Hadley. Cost: $10 for members, $15 for non-members. Pre-register by May 15 by contacting Sara Lawrence at (413) 532-6451 or [email protected].

SPRINGFIELD REGIONAL CHAMBER

www.springfieldregionalchamber.com

(413) 787-1555

• May 2: Business@Breakfast, 7:15-9 a.m., hosted by MassMutual Center, 1277 Main St., Springfield. Cost: $25 for members in advance ($30 at the door), $35 general admission ($40 at the door).

• May 10: Lunch ‘N’ Learn, Equal Pay, 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., hosted by Lattitude restaurant, 1338 Memorial Ave., West Springfield. Cost: $30 for members in advance ($35 at the door), $40 general admission ($45 at the door).

• May 15: C-Suite Conversations & Cocktails, 5-7 p.m., hosted by CityStage, One Columbus Center, Springfield. Exclusive members-only event. Cost: $25 for members ($30 at the door).

• May 31: Sunshine Soirée with the Springfield Regional Chamber, the Greater Chicopee Chamber, and YPS, 5-7 p.m., hosted by Sunshine Village, 75 Litwin Lane, Chicopee.

Reservations for all Springfield Regional Chamber events may be made online at www.springfieldregionalchamber.com, [email protected], or (413) 755-1310.

WEST OF THE RIVER CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

www.ourwrc.com

(413) 426-3880

• May 2: Wicked Wednesday, 5-7 p.m., hosted by the Irish Cultural Center, 429 Morgan Road, West Springfield. For more information, call the chamber office at (413) 426-3880 or register at www.westoftheriverchamber.com.

• May 8: Coffee with West Springfield Mayor Will Reichelt, 8-9:30 a.m., hosted by West Springfield Public Library, 200 Park St. For more information, call the chamber office at (413) 426-3880 or register at www.westoftheriverchamber.com.

• May 17: Networking Lunch, noon, hosted by Springfield Country Club, 1375 Elm St., West Springfield. Must be a member or guest of a member to attend. The only cost to attend is the cost of your lunch if you are a member. Non-member fee: $10. Register at www.westoftheriverchamber.com.

• May 22: Job Fair 2018, 3-6 p.m., hosted by Storrowton Tavern/Carriage House, 1305 Memorial Ave., West Springfield. West Springfield and Agawam businesses, along with other employment opportunities, will be showcased. This event is free and open to the public. To be a participating vendor, register online at www.westoftheriverchamber.com.

YOUNG PROFESSIONAL SOCIETY OF GREATER SPRINGFIELD

springfieldyps.com

• May 18: Adult Field Day, 2-5 p.m., Irish Cultural Center, West Springfield, hosted by the Irish Cultural Center, 429 Morgan Road, West Springfield. For more information, visit springfieldyps.com.

Court Dockets

Court Dockets Departments

The following is a compilation of recent lawsuits involving area businesses and organizations. These are strictly allegations that have yet to be proven in a court of law. Readers are advised to contact the parties listed, or the court, for more information concerning the individual claims.

CHICOPEE DISTRICT COURT

Nain Oliver v. Petco Animal Supplies Inc.

Allegation: Negligence; slip and fall causing injury: $4,366.40

Filed: 3/21/18

Nichole Gura v. North East Specialty Corp. d/b/a Nescor

Allegation: Unauthorized credit-card charge; unfair or deceptive business act or practice: $6,000

Filed: 3/29/18

HAMPDEN DISTRICT COURT

JR Kakley & Sons Inc. v. Affordable Baths Inc. and Craig S. O’Connor

Allegation: Unpaid balance due from goods sold and delivered: $6,590.31

Filed: 3/13/18

Laura L. Sikes v. Metro Motors of Chicopee Inc. d/b/a Metro Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram

Allegation: Breach of used-car lemon law, breach of implied warranty of merchantability, revocation of acceptance, unfair and deceptive practices in trade or commerce: $25,000

Filed: 3/14/18

Bria Wilson v. BZGJJ Inc. and Irving Oil Corp.

Allegation: Negligence; slip and fall causing injury: $25,000

Filed: 3/27/18

EP Floors Corp. v. Merritt Construction Services, LLC

Allegation: Breach of contract: $9,939.50

Filed: 3/27/18

Emily Montalvo v. All Wheels Detailing & Auto Sales Inc.

Allegation: Breach of service contract, breach of lemon law warranty: $4,395

Filed: 4/4/18

HAMPDEN SUPERIOR COURT

Kurt Wolmart v. In-Land Contracting Inc., Joaquim Borges, Baltazar Contractors Inc., and Paulo Baltazar

Allegation: Employment discrimination: $200,000

Filed: 3/12/18

Rediker Software Inc. v. Bridgewater-Raynham Regional School District

Allegation: Breach of contract: $85,000+

Filed: 3/14/18

Mary Ann Mannix as personal representative of the estate of Joan Watson v. Guidewire Inc.

Allegation: Negligence, wrongful death: $1,030,000

Filed: 3/16/18

Daniel Stebbins and Susan Stebbins v. Joseph E. Flack III, M.D.; Abdallah K. Alameddine, M.D.; Mara Slawsky, M.D.; Sonali Arora, M.D.; Gregory Valania, D.O.; and John or Jane Does, 1-5

Allegation: Medical malpractice: $341,585

Filed: 3/19/18

Mary K. Pijar and John F. Pijar v. Colebrook Realty Services Inc., Baystate Medical Center Inc., John Doe; and XYZ Inc.

Allegation: Negligence; slip and fall causing injury: $85,000+

Filed: 3/20/18

Willwork Inc. v. the Exhibit Source Inc.

Allegation: Money owed for goods sold and delivered: $30,783.23

Filed: 3/22/18

Joya Bruce-Pettway, personal representative of the estate of Dominique Williams v. Cheryl Ruta, RN; and Chandravathi Loke, M.D.

Allegation: Medical malpractice; wrongful death: $25,000+

Filed: 3/22/18

Rick Lajeunesse and David Richter v. the Home Depot U.S.A. Inc.

Allegation: Violation of overtime law: $150,000+

Filed: 3/23/18

HAMPSHIRE SUPERIOR COURT

Pellegrini Development, LLC v. Paul Truehart d/b/a Truehart Paving & Construction

Allegation: Failure to complete agreed-upon work, causing plaintiff to incur expenses completing it at higher cost: $125,000

Filed: 3/27/18

Sherry McGinn v. Greenfield Housing Authority

Allegation: Negligence; slip and fall causing injury: $14,167.16

Filed: 4/2/18

HOLYOKE DISTRICT COURT

Yanitza Bruno-Jimenez v. Lia Auto Group Inc. d/b/a Lia Honda

Allegation: Negligence; plaintiff’s vehicle rear-ended by Lia employee causing injury: $20,768.84

Filed: 3/30/18

Company Notebook

Company Notebook Departments

CHI Insurance Opens Downtown Springfield Office

SPRINGFIELD — CHI Insurance Agency Inc. announced the opening of an additional office location in downtown Springfield. The office, located at 1684 Main St., is the former Joseph Chernaik Insurance Agency. The Springfield location is the fourth CHI office, with other locations in Holyoke, Westfield, and South Hadley. Auto insurance will continue to be offered, and additional insurance products have been added and are available out of 1684 Main St. In addition to new staff and updated systems, customers now have the opportunity to purchase coverages for home, business, life, and specialty lines. All locations are bilingual and offer complete insurance products. CHI services clients throughout the Pioneer Valley with all of their insurance needs, and represents most major insurance carriers.

Griffin Staffing Network Announces Expansion, Rebrand to ManeHire

EAST LONGMEADOW — Griffin Staffing Network, a certified woman- and minority-owned business, has undergone a company rebrand to ManeHire and unveiled its new logo, tagline — “connecting great companies with great talent” — and website, manehire.com, to support its expansion from a local boutique staffing agency to a full-service regional staffing agency serving the Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, and Washington, D.C. markets. Since 2013, Griffin Staffing Network has served a wide-range of local and regional clients operating in industries such as healthcare, financial services, insurance, manufacturing, and nonprofit, filling roles from entry-level to C-suite and everything in between.

PeoplesBank Issues 2018 Corporate Green Report

HOLYOKE — PeoplesBank issued its 2018 annual Corporate Green Report in recognition of Earth Day 2018. During the past year, the Sustainable Business Network (SBN) of Massachusetts named PeoplesBank a winner of the Sustainable Business of the Year award. For the fourth year in a row, voters throughout Hampshire County named PeoplesBank the Best Local Green Business in the 2017 Daily Hampshire Gazette Readers’ Choice poll. The bank also continued a multi-year commitment of more than $65,000 in funding for green initiatives in Western Mass, and is a longtime leader in sustainable-energy financing. The bank boasts three LEED-certified branches in Northampton, West Springfield, and Springfield; and it has installed electric-vehicle charging stations at its Northampton, West Springfield, and Holyoke offices.

L&A Fine Men’s Shop Cuts Ribbon in Springfield

SPRINGFIELD — L&A Fine Men’s Shop, located at 159 State St., Springfield, hosted a ribbon cutting and open house April 19. Audrin Desardouin and Lillian Ortiz, husband-and-wife co-owners, opened the store in December and have been investing in inventory and undergoing training to become an official minority-owned business. Desardouin came to the U.S. from Haiti when he was 21 years old. A U.S. citizen, he has lived in New England for the past 30-plus years. Ortiz, who was born in Connecticut, is Puerto Rican. She works at Quinsigamond Community College in Worcester as vice president of Enrollment and Student Engagement and Community Connections. Desardouin owned a men’s clothing store in Norwich, Conn. for 15 years. The new shop is open Monday through Saturday, 9:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.

Pioneer Valley Credit Union Awards Four Scholarships

SPRINGFIELD — Pioneer Valley Credit Union announced the recipients of its 2018 college scholarship program. Each year, PVCU selects four students to receive a $1,000 scholarship to help with college expenses; over the years, it has awarded $70,000 in all. The scholarships are named in honor of board of directors members who have dedicated their time and service to Pioneer Valley Credit Union and to the credit-union movement. Miya Walto of Smith Academy received the Maurice O’Shea Scholarship, John Fiester of Monson High School received the Richard Borden Memorial Scholarship, Janiya Dixon of Longmeadow High School received the Ignatius Collura Scholarship, and Fiona Cioch of Westfield High School received the Ted Klekotka Memorial Scholarship.

United Financial Bancorp Announces Q1 Earnings

HARTFORD — United Financial Bancorp Inc., the holding company for United Bank, announced results for the quarter ended March 31, 2018. The company reported net income of $15.8 million, or $0.31 per diluted share, for the quarter ended March 31, 2018, compared to net income for the linked quarter of $9.5 million, or $0.19 per diluted share. The company reported net income of $13.7 million, or $0.27 per diluted share, for the quarter ended March 31, 2017. Assets totaled $7.07 billion at March 31, 2018 and decreased $45.5 million, or 0.6%, from $7.11 billion at December 31, 2017. At March 31, 2018, total loans were $5.38 billion, representing an increase of $42.3 million, or 0.8%, from the linked quarter.

JA of Western Mass. Wins Grant from Wells Fargo

SPRINGFIELD — Junior Achievement of Western Massachusetts announced it was awarded a $7,500 grant from Wells Fargo. Funding from Wells Fargo will support the Pathways to 21st Century Skills Project to provide students with the tools to develop the 21st-century skills needed to become autonomous employees. The project’s goals are to improve students’ knowledge of financial literacy in order for them to make sound financial judgments in the future, increase students’ entrepreneurial skills, increase students’ critical-thinking and problem-solving skills, and increase awareness of career and post-secondary education and career opportunities in Western Mass.

Fuss & O’Neill Opens Downtown Springfield Office

SPRINGFIELD — Engineering firm Fuss & O’Neill, which has locations throughout New England, recently held an open house at its new downtown Springfield office, 1550 Main St. The company’s move from its West Springfield office to downtown Springfield officially happened in January. “We are thrilled to be here in Springfield,” said Eric Bernardin, vice president at Fuss & O’Neill. “As an engineering firm, our job is to help create an environment that promotes and provides the groundwork for economic opportunity, civic involvement, and arts and entertainment. We are excited to be part of helping Springfield grow, and we look forward to the future.” The office space is owned by MassDevelopment, the public finance and economic-development authority of Massachussetts.

Smith Brothers Insurance Acquires Bailey Agencies

EASTHAMPTON — Smith Brothers Insurance, LLC has purchased the assets of Bailey Agencies Insurance of Groton, Conn. Owned and operated by the Scott family since 1980, Bailey has been a long-term fixture on the Connecticut shoreline. Bailey Agencies Insurance has moved to the Smith Brothers office in Niantic, Conn., at 377 Main St. With headquarters in Glastonbury, Conn., Smith Brothers has offices throughout Connecticut as well as Massachusetts — including a branch in Easthampton — and New Jersey. John Scott IV, former Bailey Agencies Insurance principal, will continue his role as commercial-lines producer and, along with two other insurance professionals, will work from Smith Brothers’ Niantic office.

Berkshire Bank Honored for Social Responsibility

PITTSFIELD — Berkshire Bank announced that it received the 2017 Communitas Award for Leadership in Community Service & Corporate Social Responsibility. The Communitas Awards, administered by the Assoc. of Marketing and Communication Professionals, recognize businesses that give of themselves and their resources to their communities. The award recognized Berkshire Bank’s comprehensive corporate social-responsibility activities, including volunteer, philanthropy, and sustainability efforts, as well as responsiveness to community needs through products, services, and engagement activities. Annually, Berkshire Bank and the Berkshire Bank Foundation provide more than $2 million in financial contributions as well as scholarships to high-school seniors. In addition to financial support, the XTEAM, the bank’s employee volunteer program, provides employees with paid time off to volunteer during regular business hours.

Florence Bank Presents Customers’ Choice Grants

FLORENCE — Florence Bank recently presented $100,000 in awards ranging from $500 to $5,000 to 57 area nonprofits through its 16th annual Customers’ Choice Community Grants Program during an event at the Garden House at Look Memorial Park. The funds will support libraries, schools, police, fire departments, hospitals, hospices, and other organizations that benefit people of all ages, as well as animals and the environment. The bank reached the $1.05 million mark in terms of grants made over nearly two decades to 144 community nonprofits. The Customers’ Choice Community Grants Program is an annual offering founded in 2002, through which Florence Bank customers are invited to vote for their favorite local nonprofit in hopes it will receive a share of grant funding.

Briefcase

Briefcase Departments

Columbia Gas Files New Rates with DPU

WESTBOROUGH — Columbia Gas of Massachusetts, a subsidiary of NiSource Inc., recently filed a petition with the Mass. Department of Public Utilities (DPU) to increase annual revenues by $24.1 million, representing a 3.9% increase in current operating revenues. If approved by the DPU, the change would impact the annual gas bill for a typical residential heating customer by an average of $4.95 per month, or 3.6%. The revised rates take effect March 1, 2019. In the first year after the rates take effect, the $9.1 million refund due to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act will reduce the customer bill impact to an average of $2.80 per month, or 2%. The request addresses increases in operating and maintenance costs incurred to comply with increasingly stringent federal and state regulatory mandates and capital costs incurred to upgrade gas infrastructure since the last time Columbia Gas changed its rates in 2016. The DPU decision is expected by Feb. 28, 2019, with rates taking effect March 1, 2019.

Farmington Bank Offers Assistance to Homebuyers

FARMINGTON, Conn. — Farmington Bank announced it has been selected to participate in the Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston’s Equity Builder Program (EBP), which assists local homebuyers with down-payment and closing costs as well as homebuyer counseling and rehabilitation assistance. The EBP provides grants to financial institutions to assist households at or below 80% of the area median income. Farmington Bank is eligible to receive up to $110,000 in 2018 through the EBP, depending on availability of funds. Farmington Bank borrowers are eligible to receive up to $11,000 in assistance for homes located in Massachusetts and Connecticut on a first-come, first-served basis. Buyers must also complete a homebuyer counseling program. In addition, Farmington Bank offers a variety of affordable lending programs that have lower down-payment requirements and closing costs, including special mortgage financing for first-time homebuyers and veterans. Since 2003, the EBP has awarded more than $35 million in EBP funds, assisting 3,150 income-eligible households to purchase a home.

Grant to CHD Improves Opportunities for Children with Disabilities

SPRINGFIELD — The ATI Foundation recently present CHD’s Disability Resources program with a $5,000 check. The program offers barrier-free recreational and competitive opportunities for people of all skill levels and age groups, as well as their family and friends. The program emphasizes access and ability. Rock climbing, waterskiing, sled hockey, dance, wheelchair basketball, and other programs and services designed for individuals with physical and/or intellectual disabilities are offered to more than 500 children, teenagers, and young adults each year. According to Sharon Franceschini from the ATI Foundation, when the possibility of funding CHD’s Disability Resources program was presented, it was a quick decision. “The CHD Disabilities Resources program was brought to our attention by the therapists and staff who live and work in the Greater Springfield community,” she said. “The mission of the ATI Foundation is directly aligned with what CHD’s Disabilities Resources is doing for kids every day. We are thrilled to support the Springfield community in this way and hope that the resources make a big difference in the lives of physically impaired children for years to come.”

Building Permits

Building Permits Departments

The following building permits were issued during the month of April 2018.

AGAWAM

City of Agawam
1000 Suffield St.
$9,900 — Re-roof loading dock

Ellendave, LLC
151-155 Springfield St.
$25,000 — Build an enclosed rink area for soccer and lacrosse

McLean Realty Co.
197 Main St.
$1,068,586 — Build out for FC Taplin to occupy, and add loading dock to north wall of building

Store Master Funding XIII, LLC
104 Gold St.
$191,960 — Renovations to existing building; remove partitions, add new partition, add two doorways, and three fume hoods

Trata Inc.
396 Main St.
$9,000 — Build three rooms and small office for escape/puzzle rooms

DEERFIELD

Historic Deerfield
104 Old Main St.
$12,650 — Install second means of egress, door, and stairs

Ideal Movers
247 Greenfield Road
Sheet-metal work

Smith Interconnect
5 North St.
$41,000 — Install fire-sprinkler system

VESH
141 Greenfield Road
$169,125 — Addition to existing building

EASTHAMPTON

Cumberland Farms
221 Northampton St.
Install various wall and free-standing signs

Elephant Shoes, LLC
90-92 Maple St.
$4,000 — Install attic and basement insulation; air-sealing measures

EAST LONGMEADOW

The Arbors Kids
126 Industrial Dr.
$9,200 — Fire sprinkler system

De Nardo’s Restaurant
37 Maple St.
$20,000 — Sheet metal

TD Ameritrade
32 Center Square
$6,000 — Sign

Westfield Bank
382 North Main St.
$46,035 — Commercial alteration

GREENFIELD

Baystate Franklin Medical Center
164 High St.
$24,265 — Replace existing attic wet fire-sprinkler system with dry system

R & D Vic Corp. Inc.
204 Main St.
$1,800 — Modify existing system for new hood and cooking appliances

Town of Greenfield
Silver Street
$25,000 — Replace existing press box at Vets Field

Town of Greenfield
Kenwood Street
$30,000 — Build solid fence/wall in outfield of Lunt 3 Little League Field

HADLEY

Creative Properties, LLC
226 Russell St.
$9,000 — Frame office space

ENZ, LLC
207 Russell St.
$5,980 — Install furnace and ductwork for Miracle Ear

ENZ, LLC
207 Russell St.
$9,275 — Install furnace and ductwork for nail salon

Parmar and Sons Inc.
41 Russell St.
$25,000 — Install 3-split system with complete new duct work for Manny’s

Target Corp.
369 Russell St.
$18,000 — Remove kitchen exhaust system at Starbucks, relocate supply registers, install new ductless split HP system

LONGMEADOW

LPC Realty, LLC
123 Dwight Road
$28,250 — Minor remodel of doctor’s office

Town of Longmeadow
31 Pondside Road
$30,000 — Verizon Wireless to swap out old antennas for new antennas and associated ancillary equipment

LUDLOW

Site Acquisitions
1 State St.
$20,400 — Cell tower alterations

Tarpon Towers II, LLC
653 Moore Road
$35,000 — Cell tower alterations

NORTHAMPTON

American Tower Corp.
327 King St.
$20,000 — Add three remote radio units and upgrade equipment at wireless facility

Coca-Cola Co.
45 Industrial Dr.
$750,000 — Cooling tower and refrigeration upgrades

Coolidge Northampton, LLC
243 King St.
$60,300 — Expansion for current tenant, Domino’s

People’s Institute
38 Gothic St.
$9,785 — Replacement windows

Smith College
7 Neilson Dr.
$18,569,817 — Foundation and structure

SPRINGFIELD

1350 Main St., LLC
1350 Main St.
$16,800 — Subdivide existing suite on 10th floor for Radiology and Imaging Inc.

Amerco Real Estate Co.
88 Birnie Ave.
$2,633,504 — Renovate third and fourth floors of building by installing prefabricated self-storage lockers; raise customer parking and add ADA-compliant parking

Baystate Health
759 Chestnut St.
$250,000 — Renovate existing space for infusion suite

GEL W Mass. II, LLC
1341 Main St.
$3,800 — Add passageway through partition wall, remove portion of partition wall, replaced damaged ceiling tile, restore existing brick flooring, painting, install sales counter

Klondike Group
354 Birnie Ave.
$30,000 — Minor demolition and partitions to create office and storage closet

Mark Realty, LLP
1780 Boston Road
$39,000 — Remove awning, install handicap-accessible bathroom, repair broken glass in windows

Shardool Parmar
711 Dwight St.
$5,000 — Enclose three window openings and create new opening at La Quinta Inn & Suites

Nina Regan
362-364 Cooley St.
$148,000 — Interior renovations, including framing, sheetrock, cabinets, painting, flooring, bathroom accessories, and doors, for Luv 2 Play

Tony Tai
525 Belmont Ave.
$13,350 — Interior renovations to Saigon Market

Trinity United Methodist Church
361 Sumner Ave.
$15,000 — Replace six Verizon Wireless cellular antennas and install new remote radio heads

WESTFIELD

Noble Hospital
115 West Silver St.
$149,994 — Renovations to gift shop and front lobby area

Peabody-Westfield Limited
126 Union St.
$80,000 — Convert unit to handicap-accessible unit

Rosow Westfield, LLC
66 South Broad St.
Extend fire-protection signaling system

WEST SPRINGFIELD

Stella Clark
38 Jensen Circle
$6,500 — Strip shingles down to wood decking and install new shingles

Wendy Diamond
1285 Riverdale St.
$168,200 — Interior remodel of existing storage space at Flag Fables into finished retail space; minor exterior improvements

Pride, LP
757 Riverdale St.
$6,500 — Install kitchen exhaust hood with fan and ANSUL system

WILBRAHAM

Town of Wilbraham
859 Stony Hill Road
$3,000 — Remove roofing materials and reroof back portion of maintenance building

Real Estate Transactions

Departments Real Estate

The following real estate transactions (latest available) were compiled by Banker & Tradesman and are published as they were received. Only transactions exceeding $115,000 are listed. Buyer and seller fields contain only the first name listed on the deed.

FRANKLIN COUNTY

DEERFIELD

138 Lower Road
Deerfield, MA 01342
Amount: $253,200
Buyer: Hampshire College
Seller: Ariella Nasuti
Date: 04/05/18

92 Plain Road West
Deerfield, MA 01342
Amount: $508,000
Buyer: Lisa A. Allenby
Seller: Kelly Killeen
Date: 03/29/18

1 Porter St.
Deerfield, MA 01373
Amount: $245,000
Buyer: Steele 2005 RET
Seller: Margaret B. Konieczny IRT
Date: 03/30/18

GILL

10 Main Road
Gill, MA 01354
Amount: $162,000
Buyer: Daniel S. Siano
Seller: PDV Inc.
Date: 03/28/18

GREENFIELD

280 Country Club Road
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $191,300
Buyer: Oliver L. Beane
Seller: Sarah E. Blackmore
Date: 04/03/18

129 Green River Road
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $232,500
Buyer: Stacy A. Metzger
Seller: Till IRT
Date: 03/30/18

32 Lunt Dr.
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $195,000
Buyer: Piterson M. Allen
Seller: Susan A. Maher
Date: 04/05/18

68-70 Pierce St.
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $228,000
Buyer: Tom Friedman Enterprises
Seller: Janine L. Risser
Date: 04/04/18

40 Plantation Circle
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $192,500
Buyer: Steven Chevalier
Seller: Wilmington Savings
Date: 03/28/18

81 Wildwood Ave.
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $153,000
Buyer: Casey Graves
Seller: Peter A. White
Date: 03/26/18

LEVERETT

335 Long Plain Road
Leverett, MA 01054
Amount: $350,000
Buyer: Lorraine Re
Seller: James M. Douglas TR
Date: 04/04/18

MONTAGUE

36 Crocker Ave.
Montague, MA 01376
Amount: $142,044
Buyer: USA VA
Seller: Erin E. Slocik-McLaughlin
Date: 03/29/18

196 Millers Falls Road
Montague, MA 01376
Amount: $180,000
Buyer: 196 Millers Falls Road LLC
Seller: Cheryl S. Termo
Date: 04/04/18

42 Montague St.
Montague, MA 01376
Amount: $220,000
Buyer: Sara J. Sabelawski
Seller: Mauria Sirum
Date: 04/02/18

ORANGE

47 Dewey Conrad Ave.
Orange, MA 01364
Amount: $185,000
Buyer: Bobby W. Hart
Seller: Stan Smith
Date: 04/06/18

300 East Main St.
Orange, MA 01364
Amount: $146,000
Buyer: Samuel Hancock
Seller: Patrick E. O’Neil
Date: 03/30/18

154 Quabbin Blvd.
Orange, MA 01364
Amount: $300,000
Buyer: JGC RT
Seller: Sage Real Estate Holdings
Date: 03/30/18

27 Sandrah Dr.
Orange, MA 01364
Amount: $180,000
Buyer: Nicole Sadowski
Seller: Jason P. Vautour
Date: 03/27/18

West Moore Ave.
Orange, MA 01364
Amount: $161,000
Buyer: George A. Hunt
Seller: Orange Economic Development
Date: 04/05/18

ROWE

Tunnel Road
Rowe, MA 01367
Amount: $439,000
Buyer: Franklin Land Trust Inc.
Seller: Rowe Land Trust
Date: 03/29/18

SHELBURNE

1449 Mohawk Trail
Shelburne, MA 01370
Amount: $124,244
Buyer: PNC Bank
Seller: Gloria C. Foster
Date: 04/06/18

SHUTESBURY

29 Great Pines Dr.
Shutesbury, MA 01072
Amount: $151,200
Buyer: Karen M. Lynch
Seller: Charles K. Langlais
Date: 03/30/18

SUNDERLAND

Bridge St.
Sunderland, MA 01375
Amount: $1,055,000
Buyer: Karen Tozloski
Seller: Tozloski, Freddie L., (Estate)
Date: 03/30/18

17 Bridge St.
Sunderland, MA 01375
Amount: $240,000
Buyer: John H. Sackrey
Seller: Barre E. Tozloski
Date: 03/30/18

23 Bridge St.
Sunderland, MA 01375
Amount: $255,000
Buyer: John H. Sackrey
Seller: Barre E. Tozloski
Date: 03/30/18

258 Plumtree Road
Sunderland, MA 01375
Amount: $144,200
Buyer: FNMA
Seller: Joseph J. Paulovics
Date: 04/03/18

242 Russell St.
Sunderland, MA 01375
Amount: $285,000
Buyer: Tsering Phuntsok
Seller: Steele 2005 RET
Date: 03/30/18

41 South Main St.
Sunderland, MA 01375
Amount: $190,000
Buyer: James F. Houle
Seller: Houle IRT
Date: 04/05/18

WHATELY

Grey Oak Lane #16
Whately, MA 01093
Amount: $222,000
Buyer: Hampshire 401K TR
Seller: Jawk Inc.
Date: 04/05/18

61 Long Plain Road
Whately, MA 01373
Amount: $499,500
Buyer: Kathy S. Vanpatten
Seller: Roy J. Giangregorio
Date: 03/27/18

HAMPDEN COUNTY

AGAWAM

73 Bessbrook St.
Agawam, MA 01030
Amount: $221,000
Buyer: Mary Arendt
Seller: Armando Arroyo
Date: 03/27/18

8 Burlington Dr.
Agawam, MA 01030
Amount: $420,000
Buyer: Lilia Mereshko
Seller: David A. Deluca
Date: 04/04/18

20 Colonial Ave.
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $185,000
Buyer: Marc Gendreau
Seller: Elizabeth M. Lynch
Date: 03/26/18

48 Federal St.
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $310,000
Buyer: John A. Walker
Seller: Raymond W. Babbin
Date: 04/03/18

13 Harding St.
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $167,000
Buyer: Craig M. Heroux
Seller: Joanne M. Braica
Date: 04/05/18

41 Harvey Johnson Dr.
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $222,000
Buyer: Adam M. Sullivan
Seller: Angela J. Giberson
Date: 03/30/18

89 Harvey Johnson Dr.
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $1,088,875
Buyer: Seweryn W. Grabowski
Seller: Deutsche Bank
Date: 03/30/18

35 High Meadow Road
Agawam, MA 01030
Amount: $330,000
Buyer: Chad M. Roderick
Seller: Peter J. Briancesco
Date: 03/27/18

265 Main St.
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $1,880,000
Buyer: PCT Realty Ventures LLC
Seller: Southworth Co.
Date: 03/26/18

41-43 Mark Dr.
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $360,000
Buyer: Nguyet A. Huynh
Seller: Robert E. Houle
Date: 04/03/18

84 Norris St.
Agawam, MA 01030
Amount: $190,000
Buyer: Fred U. Sisson
Seller: Chad M. Roderick
Date: 03/27/18

166 Thalia Dr.
Agawam, MA 01030
Amount: $238,000
Buyer: Robert H. Claremont
Seller: Denise R. Lynch
Date: 03/30/18

33 Vadnais St.
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $175,000
Buyer: Valerie A. Mulka
Seller: Robert M. Burke
Date: 03/28/18

BRIMFIELD

265 Dunhamtown Palmer Road
Brimfield, MA 01010
Amount: $250,000
Buyer: Christian H. McCoy
Seller: Charles L. Hood
Date: 03/28/18

18 Lyman Barnes Road
Brimfield, MA 01010
Amount: $320,000
Buyer: Alan M. Pelletier
Seller: Michelle Amadei
Date: 03/28/18

CHICOPEE

105 5th Ave.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $125,000
Buyer: Connor M. Knightly
Seller: Thomas D. Knightly
Date: 04/06/18

103 9th Ave.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $174,150
Buyer: Daniel T. Hill
Seller: Charles J. Mayo
Date: 04/05/18

19 Alvord Ave.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $465,000
Buyer: RT Property Management
Seller: Mamba Capital LLC
Date: 03/30/18

69 Arthur St.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $225,000
Buyer: Branden Velez
Seller: Ray Otano
Date: 03/27/18

64 Belmont St.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $135,000
Buyer: George N. Robare
Seller: Deanna M. Chelte
Date: 04/03/18

156 Chapel St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $169,000
Buyer: Jennifer A. Stefanik
Seller: Omer O. Deroy
Date: 04/06/18

121 Davenport St.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $174,000
Buyer: Rebecca C. Dahlinger
Seller: Ashoke D. Ghosh
Date: 04/06/18

63 Dorrance St.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $136,500
Buyer: Matthew R. Bienia
Seller: Jason R. Page
Date: 03/30/18

49 Fernhill St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $223,600
Buyer: Yao Amedzro
Seller: Theodore S. Iwanski
Date: 04/04/18

374 Front St.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $220,000
Buyer: Northeast Conference Corp.
Seller: William F. Davitt Post 625
Date: 04/06/18

35 Grace St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $269,000
Buyer: Denise Ramos
Seller: CRA Holdings Inc.
Date: 03/30/18

340 Grattan St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $120,100
Buyer: Wells Fargo Bank
Seller: Joe Francis
Date: 03/30/18

60 Ingham St.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $205,000
Buyer: Bing Pan
Seller: Debra A. Jamrok
Date: 03/29/18

10 Ludlow Road
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $210,000
Buyer: Rodney S. Nieves
Seller: S&C Homebuyers LLC
Date: 03/28/18

22 Madison St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $198,900
Buyer: Sulaiman Al-Dulaimi
Seller: Jeffrey H. Erricolo
Date: 03/30/18

64 May St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $153,000
Buyer: Walter S. Rief
Seller: Kathy E. Sketchley
Date: 03/29/18

458 Meadow St.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $140,000
Buyer: Aleksey G. Kamyshin
Seller: Katie M. Bleau
Date: 03/28/18

210 Moore St.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $165,000
Buyer: Sharon M. Amos
Seller: Gerald W. Stadnicki
Date: 03/30/18

36 Olivine St.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $119,900
Buyer: Jessica Robienczak
Seller: Mark A. Sadowski
Date: 03/28/18

188 Springfield St.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $465,000
Buyer: Manal Abdulhameed
Seller: Bank New York Mellon
Date: 03/30/18

104 Streiber Dr.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $145,000
Buyer: FNMA
Seller: Harold E. McCray
Date: 04/03/18

75 Thaddeus St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $129,000
Buyer: Timothy J. Raney
Seller: Marsha L. Burek
Date: 03/26/18

17 Upton St.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $138,000
Buyer: Gary J. Majewicz
Seller: Ronald J. Majewicz
Date: 04/04/18

70 Willwood St.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $143,000
Buyer: V. S. Holembiyevskyy
Seller: Cecile S. Early
Date: 03/30/18

78 Willwood St.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $173,000
Buyer: Doreen Demers
Seller: Anatoliy Sosnin
Date: 03/30/18

EAST LONGMEADOW

Alta Crest St.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $205,000
Buyer: Christopher J. Haczynski
Seller: Jeremy J. Sullivan
Date: 03/26/18

111 Braeburn Road
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $205,000
Buyer: Christopher J. Haczynski
Seller: Jeremy J. Sullivan
Date: 03/26/18

40 Heritage Circle
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $450,000
Buyer: Joshua J. Lamoureux
Seller: Timothy P. Alben
Date: 03/30/18

Jeffrey Lane
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $130,000
Buyer: Southern NE Real Estate Development
Seller: Chad P. Herrick
Date: 03/29/18

79 Old Farm Road
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $375,000
Buyer: Reza Shafi
Seller: Harvey M. Grant
Date: 04/06/18

154 Orchard Road
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $475,000
Buyer: Sung Y. Chun
Seller: Jay Babineau
Date: 04/02/18

506 Parker St.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $240,000
Buyer: Michael G. Robare
Seller: Jonathan Haraty
Date: 04/03/18

228 Pleasant St.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $152,900
Buyer: Carine T. Bryan
Seller: No Place Like Home Properties
Date: 03/29/18

9 Ramonas Way
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $414,000
Buyer: Nicholas A. Pioggia
Seller: Michael E. Malone
Date: 03/28/18

40 Rogers Road
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $291,000
Buyer: Angela Pafumi
Seller: Robert Hanson
Date: 04/06/18

82 Rural Lane
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $320,000
Buyer: Michael P. Grieshaber
Seller: Valentina Pioggia
Date: 03/28/18

190 Somers Road
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $130,000
Buyer: Southern NE Real Estate Development
Seller: Chad P. Herrick
Date: 03/29/18

521 Somers Road
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $412,500
Buyer: Reginald Miller
Seller: Moltenbrey Builders LLC
Date: 04/06/18

115 Westwood Ave.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $159,053
Buyer: FHLM
Seller: Ronald Zimmerman
Date: 04/02/18

34 Windsor Lane
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $450,000
Buyer: Sarah I. Kosinski
Seller: Jeffrey J. Drake
Date: 03/26/18

HAMPDEN

43 Pondview Dr.
Hampden, MA 01036
Amount: $385,000
Buyer: Thomas P. Bianco
Seller: Elaine L. McGrath
Date: 03/26/18

HOLLAND

17 Overlook Road
Holland, MA 01521
Amount: $136,500
Buyer: Adam Silva
Seller: Michael D. Sherman
Date: 03/28/18

HOLYOKE

133 Colony Road
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $785,000
Buyer: Donald E. Griffith
Seller: Ruby Realty LLC
Date: 04/06/18

28 Columbus Ave.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $175,000
Buyer: Jonathan E. Ouimette
Seller: Allison A. Boyden
Date: 03/30/18

190 Essex St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $115,399
Buyer: Sunlight Properties LLC
Seller: Sunlight Mgmt. & Receivership
Date: 04/05/18

810 Frank Smith Road
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $324,900
Buyer: Sandeep R. Muddasani
Seller: Kevin D. Hebert
Date: 04/03/18

4 George Frost Dr.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $289,000
Buyer: Rosa Feldman
Seller: Robert R. Gagnon
Date: 03/30/18

447 Longmeadow St.
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $225,000
Buyer: Athena P. Pappas
Seller: Hooton, Jean A., (Estate)
Date: 04/04/18

827 Maple Road
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $120,000
Buyer: Mary Beth Santaniello
Seller: Mark Payson
Date: 04/02/18

1190 Northampton St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $869,000
Buyer: Gary P. Kingston
Seller: Robert P. Milos
Date: 03/30/18

19 Norwood Ter.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $240,580
Buyer: Matthew J. Lucey
Seller: Coakley Corp.
Date: 03/30/18

9 Saint James Ave.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $179,000
Buyer: Carmen A. Texidor
Seller: Kristin Lohr
Date: 03/30/18

120 Shady Side Dr.
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $530,000
Buyer: Donald J. Sonn
Seller: William T. McCarry
Date: 04/06/18

188 Southampton Road
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $395,000
Buyer: Douglas S. Riel
Seller: Donald R. Andrejczyk
Date: 03/30/18

8 Wyckoff Ave.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $255,000
Buyer: Nina M. Tissi-Gassoway
Seller: George R. Gaudette
Date: 03/30/18

LONGMEADOW

179 Birch Road
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $263,000
Buyer: Donald Dubuc
Seller: Haskins, Richard E., (Estate)
Date: 03/30/18

42 Crest Ave.
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $165,000
Buyer: FNMA
Seller: Eziekiel W. Russell
Date: 03/28/18

22 Fairhill Dr.
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $449,900
Buyer: Eric Lederman
Seller: Eileen B. Maglathlin
Date: 03/30/18

55 Fernleaf Ave.
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $255,000
Buyer: Cancks Properties LLC
Seller: Lachenauer LLC
Date: 03/30/18

87 Oakwood Dr.
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $227,000
Buyer: Wells Fargo Bank
Seller: Jerilynne McDermott
Date: 03/30/18

25 Western Dr.
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $271,000
Buyer: Louise Lamountain
Seller: Baschwitz, Hazel W., (Estate)
Date: 03/26/18

LUDLOW

117 Americo St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $310,000
Buyer: Kathleen Sheehan
Seller: Duc M. Hau
Date: 03/30/18

51 Bristol St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $185,000
Buyer: Janet M. Costa
Seller: Sandra A. Silva
Date: 04/05/18

80 Bruni Ave.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $220,000
Buyer: Nicole E. Whiting
Seller: John P. Whiting
Date: 03/30/18

175 Laurel Lane
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $285,500
Buyer: Anselmo C. Amaral
Seller: John F. Albano
Date: 03/29/18

96 McKinley Ave.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $218,000
Buyer: Husni Y. Hermez
Seller: Barbara J. Land
Date: 04/04/18

32 Reynolds St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $125,000
Buyer: Sara N. Scudder
Seller: US Bank
Date: 03/27/18

240 West St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $325,000
Buyer: Redline Shifterz LLC
Seller: Craig S. Gridley
Date: 04/03/18

MONSON

31 Fenton Road
Monson, MA 01057
Amount: $235,000
Buyer: Alan G. Stickles LT
Seller: Holly J. Woods
Date: 04/06/18

89 Main St.
Monson, MA 01057
Amount: $247,500
Buyer: Gaston Mengel
Seller: Mark F. Brothers
Date: 03/26/18

6 Pineview Dr.
Monson, MA 01057
Amount: $208,000
Buyer: Timothy Derouin
Seller: David J. Salzarulo
Date: 03/30/18

MONTGOMERY

42 New State Road
Montgomery, MA 01085
Amount: $183,500
Buyer: Joseph E. Cabana
Seller: Brandon R. Laliberte
Date: 04/04/18

PALMER

213 Breckenridge St.
Palmer, MA 01069
Amount: $190,000
Buyer: Kelley A. Meehan
Seller: Maciej Janusz
Date: 03/29/18

1 Ford St.
Palmer, MA 01080
Amount: $138,000
Buyer: Erica Stewart
Seller: Catherine M. Duncan
Date: 03/28/18

2338 Main St.
Palmer, MA 01080
Amount: $137,000
Buyer: Roberta A. Richardson
Seller: S&C Homebuyers LLC
Date: 04/06/18

3105-3107 Main St.
Palmer, MA 01069
Amount: $136,055
Buyer: Wells Fargo Bank
Seller: Timothy Roberge
Date: 04/02/18

SOUTHWICK

17 Congamond Road
Southwick, MA 01077
Amount: $135,000
Buyer: Hart Enterprises LLC
Seller: FNMA
Date: 03/28/18

78 Hillside Road
Southwick, MA 01077
Amount: $490,000
Buyer: Steven R. Treglia
Seller: Donald R. Dubuc
Date: 03/30/18

5 Sodom Mountain Road
Southwick, MA 01077
Amount: $180,000
Buyer: Ryan T. Smith
Seller: John E. Balesky
Date: 03/29/18
SPRINGFIELD

185 Ambrose St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $209,000
Buyer: Joanuel Claudio
Seller: Melro Associates Inc.
Date: 03/30/18

36 Andrew St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $175,000
Buyer: Noelia I. Rojas
Seller: Derrick J. Hatwood
Date: 04/03/18

11 Angelo St.
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $115,000
Buyer: Endy A. Sanchez
Seller: Commonwealth RT
Date: 04/05/18

44-48 Armory St.
Springfield, MA 01105
Amount: $125,000
Buyer: Opus Durum LLC
Seller: Christopher Petropoulos
Date: 03/30/18

223 Arthur St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $132,500
Buyer: Lisa M. Moriarty
Seller: Angela M. Cartier
Date: 03/30/18

38-40 Banner St.
Springfield, MA 01151
Amount: $190,000
Buyer: Shawn D. Davis-Smith
Seller: Wieslaw Cieslak
Date: 04/04/18

1303 Bay St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $415,000
Buyer: Valley Castle Holdings
Seller: J&M Property & Development LLC
Date: 04/02/18

377 Belmont Ave.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $230,000
Buyer: Christine T. Phan
Seller: Michael L. Lemay
Date: 03/27/18

1070 Berkshire Ave.
Springfield, MA 01151
Amount: $139,900
Buyer: Felix M. Morales-Ramos
Seller: Nadia Leonidovna-Ruby
Date: 03/30/18

3 Bonnyview St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $121,000
Buyer: Evelyn Rojas
Seller: Carl G. Stiles
Date: 04/06/18

170 Brittany Road
Springfield, MA 01151
Amount: $148,500
Buyer: Samuel Farnsworth
Seller: FNMA
Date: 03/26/18

1763 Carew St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $130,000
Buyer: Mariette Cruz
Seller: Scott Fearn
Date: 03/30/18

97 Catharine St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $127,000
Buyer: Lismel Luciano
Seller: Josefina Ventura
Date: 04/04/18

36-38 Chester St.
Springfield, MA 01105
Amount: $120,000
Buyer: Rifle Street Partners TR
Seller: Luz N. Medina
Date: 03/30/18

28 Clarendon St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $415,000
Buyer: Valley Castle Holdings
Seller: J&M Property & Development LLC
Date: 04/02/18

53 Clement St.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $172,500
Buyer: Elvin Andino
Seller: Amy L. Delgado
Date: 03/27/18

23 Derryfield Ave.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $146,750
Buyer: Rebecca Arce
Seller: Adam M. Tarquini
Date: 03/29/18

102 Devens St.
Springfield, MA 01151
Amount: $121,000
Buyer: Michael Manicki
Seller: Mark Manicki
Date: 03/27/18

92-94 Draper St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $210,000
Buyer: Eimy I. Santiago
Seller: Dion Woods
Date: 04/06/18

102 Druid Hill Road
Springfield, MA 01129
Amount: $260,000
Buyer: Lisa Treat
Seller: David A. Preston
Date: 03/30/18

9 Duggan Circle
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $140,000
Buyer: Linda A. Lassonde
Seller: Casey L. Mastay
Date: 04/02/18

16 Eddy St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $154,900
Buyer: Francisco Ramirez
Seller: Fernando Blanco
Date: 04/03/18

402-404 Fernbank Road
Springfield, MA 01129
Amount: $180,000
Buyer: Robert A. Arnett
Seller: Maurice L. Campbell
Date: 03/30/18

13 Granger St.
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $140,000
Buyer: Scott Simpson
Seller: Mya Realty LLC
Date: 04/05/18

94 Granby St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $217,900
Buyer: Devon Gibson
Seller: Richard R. Cyr
Date: 03/29/18

862 Grayson Dr.
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $130,000
Buyer: Gloria A. Brown-Owens
Seller: Benjamin D. Mastay
Date: 03/30/18

122 Hastings St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $152,500
Buyer: Xavier J. Palou-Rivera
Seller: William W. Babcock
Date: 03/30/18

20 Hood St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $118,000
Buyer: Juan Rivera
Seller: Evelyn Perez
Date: 03/28/18

73 Howes St.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $175,000
Buyer: Zachary N. Lomas
Seller: Ruben A. Reyes
Date: 03/30/18

209 Island Pond Road
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $170,000
Buyer: Aura M. Endo
Seller: Gabrielle Morgan
Date: 03/30/18

82 Jasper St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $135,000
Buyer: William H. Russell
Seller: Ramona Messier
Date: 04/03/18

257 Jasper St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $128,000
Buyer: Ruth V. Adon-Sanchez
Seller: Shawna Gutowski
Date: 03/30/18

118-120 Kensington Ave.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $160,000
Buyer: Seajay Group LLC
Seller: Bank Of New York Mellon
Date: 04/04/18

170-172 Laconia St.
Springfield, MA 01129
Amount: $196,500
Buyer: Timothy Powis
Seller: Lotrecia A. Marchand
Date: 04/02/18

24 Lester St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $155,000
Buyer: Gregory Anderson
Seller: Angela Bourget
Date: 04/06/18

1500 Main St.
Springfield, MA 01103
Amount: $10,500,000
Buyer: Mittas Hospitality LLC
Seller: Massachusetts Mutual Life
Date: 04/05/18

234 Mallowhill Road
Springfield, MA 01129
Amount: $250,000
Buyer: Guidewire Inc.
Seller: Sapphire Property Development LLC
Date: 03/29/18

29 Maybrook Road
Springfield, MA 01129
Amount: $129,000
Buyer: Resilient Investments LLC
Seller: Carlitos L. Rosa
Date: 03/30/18

19 Merrick Ave.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $176,000
Buyer: Luis Pacheco-Nazario
Seller: Jonathan Hernandez
Date: 03/30/18

188 Naismith St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $329,999
Buyer: Chiang H. Swei
Seller: Bretta Construction LLC
Date: 03/28/18

113-115 Noel St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $159,500
Buyer: Abigail Olivo-Rodriguez
Seller: Homer Foucher
Date: 04/04/18

35 Osborne Ter.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $152,000
Buyer: Maria A. Perez
Seller: Mister Mister LLC
Date: 03/26/18

85 Overlook Dr.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $189,000
Buyer: Georgia A. Walters
Seller: Thomas, Mary A., (Estate)
Date: 03/27/18

1069 Parker St.
Springfield, MA 01129
Amount: $148,000
Buyer: Kyrill H. Dancik
Seller: Moltenbrey Builders LLC
Date: 03/30/18

1917 Parker St.
Springfield, MA 01128
Amount: $186,500
Buyer: Sarilia N. Rivera
Seller: Kirstyn N. Rodriguez
Date: 03/30/18

199 Parkerview St.
Springfield, MA 01129
Amount: $142,000
Buyer: George Santos
Seller: William H. Russell
Date: 04/04/18

152 Pendleton Ave.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $120,000
Buyer: Angelina E. Malave
Seller: Extremely Clean LLC
Date: 03/26/18

580 Plainfield St.
Springfield, MA 01107
Amount: $215,000
Buyer: Robert Olberg
Seller: Kerim D. Senkal
Date: 03/30/18

75 Roanoke Road
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $126,400
Buyer: FNMA
Seller: Patricia J. Ackerley
Date: 03/28/18

79 Quincy St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $415,000
Buyer: Valley Castle Holdings
Seller: J&M Property & Development LLC
Date: 04/02/18

142 Shefford St.
Springfield, MA 01107
Amount: $172,200
Buyer: US Bank
Seller: Lisa R. Parrow
Date: 04/05/18

17 Shirley Road
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $145,000
Buyer: Todd Regnier
Seller: Brian S. Kingsley
Date: 04/06/18

1514 State St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $170,000
Buyer: Changemakers Charismatic
Seller: Hubert Mattis
Date: 04/06/18

4 Stratford Ter.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $125,000
Buyer: Shelena Bernard
Seller: Wells Fargo Bank
Date: 03/28/18

23 Sullivan St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $143,350
Buyer: Victor L. Colon-Hernandez
Seller: James W. Fiore
Date: 04/06/18

83 Sunapee St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $179,000
Buyer: Eddie Rivera
Seller: Hedge Hog Industries Corp.
Date: 04/05/18

581 Tinkham Road
Springfield, MA 01129
Amount: $155,850
Buyer: James W. Fiore
Seller: Nationstar Mortgage LLC
Date: 03/26/18

79 Vadnais St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $120,000
Buyer: Toby A. Ferris
Seller: Heriberto Osorio
Date: 03/30/18

16 Victoria Marie Lane
Springfield, MA 01128
Amount: $305,000
Buyer: Juan C. Lugo-Morales
Seller: Viet Nguyen
Date: 03/26/18

54 Virginia St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $132,000
Buyer: Yolanda Pupo
Seller: Elizabeth H. Spence
Date: 03/30/18

343-345 Water St.
Springfield, MA 01151
Amount: $118,000
Buyer: FV 1 Inc.
Seller: Kellie Lynch
Date: 04/06/18

130 West Allen Ridge Road
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $184,000
Buyer: Thomas Adams
Seller: Stephen F. Dickinson
Date: 03/29/18

44-46 Washington St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $263,666
Buyer: US Bank
Seller: Charles Conway
Date: 03/26/18

586-588 White St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $200,000
Buyer: Catherine M. Chavez
Seller: Onyx Investments LLC
Date: 03/30/18

107 Winding Lane
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $203,000
Buyer: Victor Tang
Seller: Arlene F. O’Connor
Date: 03/27/18

6 Worthington St.
Springfield, MA 01103
Amount: $222,500
Buyer: Friends Of STCC Inc.
Seller: City Of Springfield
Date: 04/04/18

863 Worthington St.
Springfield, MA 01105
Amount: $415,000
Buyer: Valley Castle Holdings
Seller: J&M Property & Development LLC
Date: 04/02/18

19 Yale St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $415,000
Buyer: Valley Castle Holdings
Seller: J&M Property & Development LLC
Date: 04/02/18

WALES

10 Lake Shore Dr.
Wales, MA 01081
Amount: $115,000
Buyer: Ruben Semidey
Seller: Susan M. Parsons
Date: 03/29/18

25 Stafford Road
Wales, MA 01081
Amount: $300,000
Buyer: Natalie S. Thomas
Seller: Jason C. Thomas
Date: 03/28/18

WEST SPRINGFIELD

157 Bonair Ave.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $255,000
Buyer: Ahmad Jawid
Seller: FNMA
Date: 03/26/18

34 High Meadow Dr.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $240,000
Buyer: Michael Oppel
Seller: Hann Realty LLC
Date: 04/05/18

33 Hummingbird Lane
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $319,800
Buyer: Kevin Maloney
Seller: Jeff D. Buddenhagen
Date: 03/29/18

27 Miami St.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $200,000
Buyer: Adam K. Gryszko
Seller: Margaret Green
Date: 04/04/18

11 Mulcahy Dr.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $448,000
Buyer: Albert Agomaa
Seller: Francis Wheeler Construction
Date: 03/30/18

36 Southworth St.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $172,000
Buyer: Michael A. Krupa
Seller: Patriot Living LLC
Date: 03/30/18

33 Van Horn St.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $214,000
Buyer: Anju Sapkota
Seller: Jessie M. Yanovsky
Date: 03/30/18

56 Warren St.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $157,000
Buyer: Anthony Poloski
Seller: Robert G. Tassinari
Date: 03/27/18

93 West Calvin St.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $224,000
Buyer: Stephen M. Buynicki
Seller: Cardinal Homes Inc.
Date: 03/30/18

443 Westfield St.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $1,325,000
Buyer: Chalet Realty Partners
Seller: Albert E. Paone
Date: 03/30/18

WESTFIELD

26 Cedar Lane
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $233,500
Buyer: Anatoliy Sosnin
Seller: Michellene Cyr
Date: 03/30/18

1925 East Mountain Road
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $200,000
Buyer: Luke J. Beaupre
Seller: Lynn A. Wheatley-Beaupre
Date: 03/27/18

389 Falley Dr.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $320,000
Buyer: Peggy A. Pettengill
Seller: Nathan Lemay
Date: 03/30/18

5 Forest Ave.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $150,000
Buyer: Madhu Darjee
Seller: USA HUD
Date: 04/02/18

170 Joseph Ave.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $164,800
Buyer: Sergiu Mocanu
Seller: Margarete J. Deso
Date: 03/29/18

27 Juniper Ave.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $263,800
Buyer: Autumn Neylon
Seller: Thomas J. Grzelak
Date: 03/29/18

131 Loomis Ridge
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $450,000
Buyer: Nathan T. Lemay
Seller: Brendan L. Tallon
Date: 03/30/18

100 Main St.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $180,000
Buyer: Morizio Brothers Mgmt.
Seller: Richard K. Adams
Date: 04/05/18

4 Oak St.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $189,900
Buyer: Amanda R. Kinnunen
Seller: Charles F. Henrickson
Date: 03/29/18

18 Ridgecrest Dr.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $300,000
Buyer: George Clemons
Seller: Jeffrey J. Chagnon
Date: 04/06/18

10 Rosedell Dr., Ext.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $124,600
Buyer: Della Ripa Real Estate
Seller: Douglas E. Welch
Date: 04/05/18

23 Russellville Road
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $288,000
Buyer: Thomas E. Hoffman
Seller: Sergey Gut
Date: 03/30/18

100 Servistar Industrial Way
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $440,000
Buyer: Servistar Realty LLC
Seller: Roland Boissonnault
Date: 03/29/18

107 Sunset Dr.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $167,500
Buyer: Zachary Cortis
Seller: FNMA
Date: 03/28/18

WILBRAHAM

85 3 Rivers Road
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $325,000
Buyer: Eric Franco
Seller: New England Developers
Date: 03/29/18

23 Bartlett Court
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $228,000
Buyer: Benjamin D. Mastay
Seller: Michael K. Maroney
Date: 03/30/18

18-20 Cottage Ave.
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $900,000
Buyer: Stockhouse 122 Realty LLC
Seller: Old Red Barn LLC
Date: 04/04/18

16 Dudley St.
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $145,000
Buyer: Lyndsay M. Vickers
Seller: Daniel K. Ulich
Date: 04/05/18

4 Duffield St.
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $295,000
Buyer: Mark D. Rowe
Seller: Michael E. Dyer
Date: 04/06/18

95 Silver St.
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $349,900
Buyer: Thomas Alimberti
Seller: Lorie V. Roy
Date: 03/30/18

358 Springfield St.
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $130,000
Buyer: An T. Dinh
Seller: Amanda A. Bennett
Date: 04/05/18

17 Stirling Dr.
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $264,000
Buyer: Melissa M. Santos
Seller: Katherine Zahirovic
Date: 03/30/18

HAMPSHIRE COUNTY

AMHERST

38 Gray St.
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $1,500,000
Buyer: Harmsway LLC
Seller: Gerald G. Guidera
Date: 04/04/18

180 Lincoln Ave.
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $173,578
Buyer: Stephen Braun
Seller: Stephen Braun
Date: 03/30/18

111 Logtown Road
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $280,000
Buyer: Maly Mao
Seller: John B. Gulbrandsen
Date: 03/30/18

20 Mount Holyoke Dr.
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $387,000
Buyer: Bruce J. Stedman
Seller: Thomas R. Neuburger
Date: 03/27/18

378 Old Montague Road
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $127,588
Buyer: Reverse Mortgage Solution
Seller: Stebbins, Martha, (Estate)
Date: 04/04/18

33 Sheerman Lane
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $345,000
Buyer: Edith S. Howe
Seller: Andrew C. Fisk
Date: 03/30/18

1730 South East St.
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $475,000
Buyer: Jason R. Edwards
Seller: Robert W. McAllister
Date: 03/30/18

459 South Pleasant St.
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $510,000
Buyer: Thomas R. Neuburger
Seller: Stephen C. Mallett
Date: 03/27/18

BELCHERTOWN

40 Front St.
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $415,000
Buyer: 40 Front Street LLC
Seller: Fabbo Properties Inc.
Date: 03/29/18

215 Granby Road
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $340,500
Buyer: Loredana Pietrini
Seller: William J. Kennedy
Date: 03/28/18

230-238 State St.
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $325,000
Buyer: Robert M. Mileski
Seller: Henrichon, Robert J., (Estate)
Date: 04/06/18

554 State St.
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $255,000
Buyer: George W. Herrick
Seller: Donald C. Eskett
Date: 04/06/18

CHESTERFIELD

6 Antin Road
Chesterfield, MA 01012
Amount: $180,000
Buyer: Moguma LLC
Seller: James A. Ryan
Date: 03/30/18

Old Chesterfield Road #1
Chesterfield, MA 01012
Amount: $130,000
Buyer: Joseph A. Audette
Seller: Sugar Hill RT
Date: 04/05/18

EASTHAMPTON

18 Gaugh St.
Easthampton, MA 01027
Amount: $153,010
Buyer: Lake Rentals LLC
Seller: Onota Rental LLC
Date: 04/05/18

40 Holyoke St.
Easthampton, MA 01027
Amount: $215,000
Buyer: Old Jarvis LLC
Seller: Lisa L. Fusco
Date: 04/02/18

30 Pleasant St.
Easthampton, MA 01027
Amount: $320,000
Buyer: Bruce Harrison
Seller: Peter W. Kelley
Date: 03/29/18

11 Strong St.
Easthampton, MA 01027
Amount: $330,000
Buyer: Joshua C. Allgaier
Seller: Peter K. Sacuta
Date: 03/30/18

79 Strong St.
Easthampton, MA 01027
Amount: $252,000
Buyer: Camilla R. Sise
Seller: Zadkiel RT
Date: 03/30/18

GRANBY

65 Ferry Hill Road
Granby, MA 01033
Amount: $559,000
Buyer: Jaime A. Lavallee
Seller: Cheryl T. Boisselle
Date: 04/06/18

4 Jackielyn Circle
Granby, MA 01033
Amount: $189,900
Buyer: Bethany Adams
Seller: Yellowbrick Property LLC
Date: 04/04/18

Taylor St.
Granby, MA 01033
Amount: $230,000
Buyer: Ryan J. Voiland
Seller: Kestrel Land TR
Date: 04/03/18

HADLEY

East St.
Hadley, MA 01035
Amount: $140,000
Buyer: Allards Farms Inc.
Seller: Niedbala, Julianna, (Estate)
Date: 04/06/18

102 Rocky Hill Road
Hadley, MA 01035
Amount: $277,500
Buyer: Corinne E. Shaw
Seller: Timothy Edgcumbe-Ford
Date: 03/30/18

HATFIELD

40 Dwight St.
Hatfield, MA 01038
Amount: $175,000
Buyer: Julie E. Aquadro
Seller: US Bank
Date: 04/06/18

10 Elm Court
Hatfield, MA 01038
Amount: $275,000
Buyer: Katherine J. Weaver
Seller: Robert R. Keller
Date: 03/28/18

61 Plain Road
Hatfield, MA 01038
Amount: $465,000
Buyer: Lisa A. Keller
Seller: Alan E. Wolejko
Date: 03/28/18

44 West St.
Hatfield, MA 01088
Amount: $178,000
Buyer: Ursula M. Donaldson
Seller: Doris A. Wheeler
Date: 04/05/18

HUNTINGTON

Russell Road
Huntington, MA 01050
Amount: $249,000
Buyer: Ramanjanappa Ravikumar
Seller: Huntington Russell Road TR
Date: 04/06/18

MIDDLEFIELD

Huntington Road
Middlefield, MA 01243
Amount: $249,000
Buyer: Ramanjanappa Ravikumar
Seller: Huntington Russell Rd TR
Date: 04/06/18

NORTHAMPTON

137 Barrett St.
Northampton, MA 01060
Amount: $286,500
Buyer: Mark Esposito
Seller: Michelle M. Fitzgerald
Date: 04/06/18

122 Cardinal Way
Northampton, MA 01062
Amount: $460,000
Buyer: Andrew J. Durocher
Seller: Phuc V. Dinh
Date: 03/29/18

23 Dryads Green
Northampton, MA 01060
Amount: $1,107,000
Buyer: Dryads Green TR
Seller: Peter Whittredge
Date: 03/27/18

21 Liberty St.
Northampton, MA 01062
Amount: $326,000
Buyer: Ira Curtis
Seller: Alicia M. Spence
Date: 03/28/18

PELHAM

62 Buffam Road
Pelham, MA 01002
Amount: $596,500
Buyer: Tammy L. Haut-Donahue
Seller: Philippe Galaski 2008 TR
Date: 03/30/18

SOUTH HADLEY

7 Cypress Dr.
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $205,000
Buyer: James R. Houlihan
Seller: Mary B. Aiken
Date: 03/28/18

84 Hadley St.
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $220,500
Buyer: Corey R. Whelihan
Seller: US Bank
Date: 03/30/18
20 New Ludlow Road
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $245,000
Buyer: Yelizaveta Khomyak
Seller: Avet RT
Date: 03/30/18

27 Saybrook Circle
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $233,500
Buyer: Randall Benoit
Seller: FNMA
Date: 03/28/18

SOUTHAMPTON

373 College Hwy
Southampton, MA 01073
Amount: $470,000
Buyer: Mathieu J. Tebo
Seller: Alfred M. Roy
Date: 04/06/18

Fomer Road
Southampton, MA 01073
Amount: $255,000
Buyer: Jeffrey K. Florek
Seller: Denise D. Wayne
Date: 04/02/18

100 Gunn Road
Southampton, MA 01073
Amount: $605,000
Buyer: Todd J. Barron
Seller: Douglas S. Riel
Date: 03/30/18

WARE

4 Bel Air Dr.
Ware, MA 01082
Amount: $272,900
Buyer: John P. Petracone
Seller: Kathleen M. Sheehan
Date: 03/30/18

15 Chestnut St.
Ware, MA 01082
Amount: $172,491
Buyer: April A. Camuso
Seller: Georgeann Koziol
Date: 04/03/18

3 Mattson Blvd.
Ware, MA 01082
Amount: $145,000
Buyer: Eric Allard
Seller: Darlene B. Marks
Date: 04/05/18

75 Old Belchertown Road
Ware, MA 01082
Amount: $222,000
Buyer: Wendell R. Pipkin
Seller: Douglas G. Nugent
Date: 03/27/18

23 Walnut St.
Ware, MA 01082
Amount: $139,900
Buyer: Betsy A. Pascale
Seller: Wilmington Savings
Date: 03/28/18

WILLIAMSBURG

176 Main St.
Williamsburg, MA 01096
Amount: $208,000
Buyer: Jeffrey Ross
Seller: Allan L. Kidston
Date: 03/30/18

Bankruptcies

Bankruptcies Departments

The following bankruptcy petitions were recently filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court. Readers should confirm all information with the court.

America’s Original Chimney Sweep
Parker, Todd L.
248 State St.
Granby, MA 01033
Chapter: 13
Filing Date: 03/19/18

Avery, Thomas J.
929 Shaker Road
Westfield, MA 01085
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/20/18

Badillo, Diane
18 Toledo Ave.
Westfield, MA 01085
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/27/18

Bogacz, Janet Leslie
a/k/a Garstka, Janet Leslie
95 Sky Ridge Dr.
Springfield, MA 01128
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/19/18

Boghosian, Brian P.
Boghosian, Melissa A.
a/k/a Curtiss, Melissa A.
27 Eloise St.
Springfield, MA 01118
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/21/18

Bottesini, Eric K.
113 Ely Ave.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/27/18

Carribbean Restaurant
Lay, Carmen D.
94 Sherman St. #1
Springfield, MA 01109
Chapter: 13
Filing Date: 03/18/18

Casillas, Milagros
a/k/a Miranda, Milagros
30 Myron St. Unit 37
West Springfield, MA 01089
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/22/18

Colon, Jaime
1 Stone Ave.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/29/18

Cotto, Gregory James
111 Christopher Lane
Feeding Hills, MA 01030
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/27/18

Cove, Patricia A.
a/k/a Winn, Patricia A.
420 Main St.
Agawam, MA 01001
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/27/18

Cruz, Margarita
a/k/a Cruz-Miranda, Margarita
189 Center St.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/26/18

Cunningham, Tanya M.
26 Plesant St.
Warren, MA 01083
Chapter: 13
Filing Date: 03/30/18

DeBlase, Jon G.
DeBlase, Stacey A.
a/k/a Laliberte, Stacey A.
53 Gunn Road
Southampton, MA 01073
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/20/18

Drexler, Cheryl Anne
323 East St., Apt 1
Easthampton, MA 01027
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/30/18

Dunn, Vicki J.
a/k/a Kilmon, Vicki Jeanne
a/k/a Lother, Vicki Jeanne
58 Howland Ave.
Adams, MA 01220
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/28/18

Estridge, Errol J.
Estridge, Carol S.
222 Belchertown Road
Ware, MA 01082
Chapter: 13
Filing Date: 03/26/18

Fadairo, Tinuke A.
1215 Wilbraham Road
Springfield, MA 01119
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/19/18

Garzone, Dominic A.
15 Burke Ave.
Pittsfield, MA 01201
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/20/18

Gleason, Kevin Patrick
76 Royal Lane
Agawam, MA 01001
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/23/18

Goncharenok, Ilya
198 Labelle St.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Chapter: 13
Filing Date: 03/23/18

Greenspan, Hollis Lynn
16 Spring St., #2
South Hadley, MA 01075
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/23/18

Hameedi, Loay
7 Lanebrook Circle
Granby, MA 01033
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/28/18

Herter, Brandon J.
1 Belden Court, Unit E1
Agawam, MA 01001
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/21/18

Interactive Training Assocs.
Bogdanove, Eve Naomi
39 Shattuck St.
Greenfield, MA 01301
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/23/18

Johnson, Jacob A.
68 Prospect St.
Orange, MA 01364
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/20/18

Kane, Jeffrey William
1003 Montgomery St.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/30/18

Kelly, Hannah R.
a/k/a Stanfield, Hannah R.
18 Dublin St., Apt. 2F
Palmer, MA 01069
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/28/18

Klemba, Charles M.
Klemba, Kayla M.
1980 West St.
Barre, MA 01005
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/28/18

Kushi, Linda
a/k/a Dascani, Linda L.
269 Lenox Ave.
Pittsfield, MA 01201
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/19/18

Lantz, Barbara P.
a/k/a Stowe, Barbara P.
30 Depalma St.
Feeding Hills, MA 01030
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/28/18

LeFebvre, Jason M.
184 Appleton Ave.
Pittsfield, MA 01201
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/19/18

Lesnick, John
21 Harding Ave.
Adams, MA 01220
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/27/18

Lesnick, Kelley
a/k/a Field, Kelley
21 Harding Ave.
Adams, MA 01220
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/27/18

Lyman, Susan Ann
60 Prentiss St.
Orange, MA 01364
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/30/18

Mancini, Robert
110 Lancaster Ave.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Chapter: 13
Filing Date: 03/22/18

Martin, Kathy Lynn
a/k/a Mills, Kathy Lynn
26 Gay St.
Orange, MA 01364
Chapter: 13
Filing Date: 03/29/18

Martinez, Ana R.
26 East Court
Holyoke, MA 01040
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/26/18

Masterson, Elizabeth S.
42 Paige St., Unit 1
Athol, MA 01331
Chapter: 13
Filing Date: 03/22/18

McCarthy, Robert W.
33 Raymond Ave.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/28/18

Melo, Rafaelo A.
743 Bradley Road
Springfield, MA 01109
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/28/18

Mercier, Adrienne L.
15 Kaveney St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/29/18

Miller, Carol A.
4 Entrybrook Dr.
Springfield, MA 01108
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/23/18

Minihan, John A.
942 Shoemaker Lane
Feeding Hills, MA 01030
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/28/18

Morales, Andres E.
776 Belmont Ave.
Springfield, MA 01108
Chapter: 13
Filing Date: 03/22/18

Morse, Eric C.
Morse, Rebecca A.
8 Whitney Ave., Apt. 1R
Monson, MA 01057
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/21/18

Narreau, Gayland D.
1137 Thorndike St.
Palmer, MA 01069
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/27/18

Nelson, Lynn J.
7A Bradford Dr.
Greenfield, MA 01301
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/30/18

Ostrander, Jeffrey M.
Nourse, Michelle A.
1717 Home Road
Great Barrington, MA 01230
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/27/18

Paniagua, Melissa
24 Cranberry Dr.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Chapter: 13
Filing Date: 03/19/18

Paquette, Catherine S.
a/k/a Fryzel-Paquette, Catherine S.
49 Arden St.
Springfield, MA 01118
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/23/18

Pelkey, Jerry L.
Pelkey, Tinamarie
84 Nonotuck Ave.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Chapter: 13
Filing Date: 03/28/18

Phillips, Kenneth R.
11A Sheppard St.
Westfield, MA 01085
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/27/18

Polucci, Gregory V.
47 Crotteau St.
Adams, MA 01220
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/19/18

Ponomarev, Viktor
51 Forge Pond Road
Granby, MA 01033
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/21/18

Richard, Marcus
93 Park Ave.
North Adams, MA 01247
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/26/18

Rodriguez, Benjamin
Rodriguez, Janis M.
5 Lockhouse Road
Westfield, MA 01085
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/28/18

Russell, Theresa M.
145 Wildwood Ave.
Springfield, MA 01118
Chapter: 13
Filing Date: 03/28/18

Saalfrank, Joey A.
Saalfrank, Jennifer M.
216A Norwich Lake
Huntington, MA 01050
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/28/18

Sheppard, Kimberly M.
7 Lanebrook Circle
Granby, MA 01033
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/28/18

Smith, Catherine J.
102 Northway Dr.
Springfield, MA 01119
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/27/18

Sperlonga, Thomas P.
Sperlonga, Rosemarie
a/k/a Pompi, Rosemarie
20 David Ave.
Lee, MA 01238
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/28/18

Sullivan, Jennifer Lee
a/k/a Caron, Jennifer Lee
a/k/a Barry, Jennifer Lee
45 Wood Ave.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/22/18

Swinton, Patricia A.
50 Parkerview St.
Springfield, MA 01129
Chapter: 13
Filing Date: 03/27/18

Sypek, Joseph M.
196 Root Road
Westfield, MA 01085
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/29/18

Trigo, Christopher J.
67 State St.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Chapter: 13
Filing Date: 03/28/18

Vega, Lucinda N.
a/k/a Cayo, Lucinda
66 Haven Ave.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/19/18

Wakem, Christine E.
2016 Maple St.
Three Rivers, MA 01080
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/28/18

Doing Business as Certificates

DBA Certificates Departments

The following business certificates and trade names were issued or renewed during the months of April 2018.

AMHERST

Barbara L. Hawley, Attorney at Law
24 Dickinson St.
Barbara Hawley

DeJong Consulting
81 Pine Grove
Christene DeJong

Elisha Beaman House
12 Clifton Ave.
Tina Lalonde

Katherine Pfister, LICSW
48 North Pleasant St.
Katherine Pfister

La Boa Brava
92 Henry St.
Hannah Staiger

Peelle Leisure Enterprises
161 High St.
Paul Peelle, Diana Peelle

Southern Belle Pastry
34 Pomeroy Lane
Latasha Beckett

Yiddish Book Center
1021 West St.
Susan Bronson

BELCHERTOWN

KLP Builders
55 Greenwich Hill
Kirk Pisani

Old Fashion Cleaning & Handyman Services
38A Warren Wright St.
Aneta Rybicki

CHICOPEE

Chicopee High School Lacrosse
22 Sachem St.
Tammy Niedermeier, Tina Niedermeier

CSM Entertainment
77 Grattan St.
Christopher Kelleher

Felt to the Core
91 8th Ave.
Christine Laverdiere

STAR Mini Mart, LLC
51 Springfield St.
Eric Collazo

Touch of G. LaRose
208 Exchange St.
Gilmarys Marrero

DEERFIELD

Giving Circle Thrift Shop
55B Main St.
Susan Pratt-Tripp Memorial Foundation Inc.

EASTHAMPTON

Boucher-O’Brien Funeral Home
7 Pleasant St.
Thomas O’Brien III

Buri’s Generation HI & GC
31 Exeter St.
Belisario Buri

Payne and Picard Remodeling
122 Pleasant St.
Peter Payne Jr.

Zenful Cleaning
21 High St.
Yushan Zheng

EAST LONGMEADOW

Caitlin Lavin
280 North Main St., Suite 4
Caitlin Lavin

Dreamscape Design Landscaping
20 Somerset St.
Marco Basile

John DeSousa General Contractor
18 Dell St.
John DeSousa

Meadows Health Center
40 Crane Ave.
Muhammad Gul

HADLEY

Infinity Ed
245 Russell St.
Varna Nailc

Out of This World Cleaning
116 Rocky Hill Road
Lindsey St. Laurence

T-Mobile
367 Russell St.
Executive Cellular Phones Inc.

HOLYOKE

Bennion Kombucha
92 Race St.
Michael Bennion

Defining Moments Productions
42 Ogden St.
Joseph Hodgins

El Dugout de Gammy
134 High St.
Jesus Hernandez

Graphic Stop
50 Holyoke St.
Christopher Lombardi

Hillside Auto Sales
911 Main St.
Michael Krassler

Hothouse Farms
5B Appleton St.
Audrey Park, Lucas Wiggins

Hothouse Holyoke
5B Appleton St.
Audrey Park, Lucas Wiggins

KTG Construction
1180 Northampton St.
Kurt Garvery

T & Y Enteprises Inc.
1530 Northampton St.
Tamer Mahdy

Torres Flooring
83 Martin St.
Jose Torres

Voltscooter
56 Nonotuck St.
Kenneth Harstine

LONGMEADOW

JML Construction Services
152 Burbank Road
JML Construction Services

Matchmaking.world
73 Oakwood Dr.
Matchmaking.world

SafelyRetire.com
102 Woolworth St.
SafelyRetire.com

LUDLOW

A.K. Paint
9 Cady St., Apt. 7
Andrew Kessler

Bio Links of New England
438 Ventura St.
Leslie Lindsey

Bob Costa Electric
181 Wedgewood Dr.
Robert Costa

Jerry’s Roofing
572 Fuller St.
Gerald Brown

Precision Home Improvement
476 Fuller St.
Jon Schneider

RC Computers
51 Simonds St.
Richard Calento, Joanne Calento

NORTHAMPTON

Applied Mortgage
211 North St.
HarborOne Mortgage, LLC

Dapper Kitty
29 Butler Place
Melissa Goldsmith, Anthony Fonseca

Fitzwilly’s/Toasted Owl
21-23 Main St.
Fred Gohr

Gelb Gemological Consulting
4 Madison Ave.
Thomas Gelb

Gothic and Main
29 Butler Place
Anthony Fonseca, Melissa Goldsmith

Greg’s Auto Repair
442 Elm St.
Jeffrey Tenczar

Hasper and Associates
24 North Maple St., #1
Patricia Hasper

Kidstuff
90 Maple St.
Tami Schirch

MLMC
29 Butler Place
Melissa Goldsmith, Anthony Fonseca

Pear Tree Press Music Publishers
703 Fairway Village
Ronald Perera

Sally Staub Design
74 Audubon Road
Sally Piland Staub

Student Power Networks
37 Kensington Ave.
William Wimsatt

PALMER

Cardinal Custom Carpentry and Woodworking
21 Wilbraham St.
Angelina Dubovik

Cross Roads Institute Driving Safety
2045 Calkins Road
Brian Griffith, Julie Griffith

Dillon Childs, Electrician
3115 Main St.
Dillon Childs

SPRINGFIELD

Big Y Express #166
471 Cooley St.
Big Y Foods Inc.

Brown Mini Market
178 Oakland St.
Christopher Brown

Check 2 Cash
338 Belmont Ave.
Phuoc Thien Ho

Chinese Qi Gong Tui Na
1655 Boston Road
Zujin Chen

Chiro Pro Billers & Management
34 King St.
Maria Davila

Garcia Detailing
199 Fernbank Road
Richard Garcia

Goddess Goods
258 Main St.
Kalisha Davis

Goldy’s Affordable Landscaping
34 Langdon St.
Rodolfo Sanchez

The Green Team
198 East Allen Ridge Road
James Bazinet

Hegartees
11 Balfour Dr.
Joseph Hegarty

International Auto Sales
715 Liberty St.
Tina DePergola

Jetmar Trucking
80 Harkness Ave.
Jose Torres

Kenia Hair Center
219 Berkshire Ave.
Kenia Torres

Lavigne Cleaning Machine
67 Hall St.
Michael Lavigne

Lozada’s Auto Sales
86 Boston Road
Daniel Lozada

The Markets at Eastfield
1685 Boston Road
William Bullock

Northeast Lawn and Shrub
25 Manchester Terrace
Donald LeBlanc

PJB Home Improvement
67 Lang St.
Paul Babiec

Pac One
46 Tinkham Road
Justin Cotton Jr.

Rhino Linings of Springfield
50 Verge St.
Michael Dancy

Roussel and Sons Masonry
59 Jamaica St.
Joshua Roussel

Timminy Press
61 Adams St.
William Dusty

Top Notch 2
538 Page Blvd.
Shawn Jones

Touch of Class Boutique
1655 Boston Road
Owen Bewry

Uno Chicago Grill
1722 Boston Road
Uno Restaurants, LLC

WESTFIELD

Crack Attack Sealcoating
419 West Road
Justin Boisseau

Elegant Home Improvement
3 Scarfo Dr.
Viachaslau Khivuk

Heritage Auto Transport
1 Roderick Dr.
Nathan Charette

Ken’s Appraisal Service
3 Crawford Dr.
Kenneth McCoubrey

PMJ Builders
57½ Montgomery St.
Peter Pienkowski Sr.

Westfield’s Fallen Heroes
1 First Ave.
Westfield’s Fallen Heroes

WEST SPRINGFIELD

Cassie Roche, MS, LMHC
425 Union St.
Cassie Roche

Classic Burgers Inc.
1261 Westfield St.
Barry Parker

Expo Liquors
1122 Memorial Ave.
West Side Spirits

The Help to Retire Group
181 Park Ave.
HTR Group N.E., LLC

King Pizza
1440 Memorial Ave.
Enes Inc.

Lincare Inc.
51 Park Ave.
Susan Yanush

Majestic Theater
131 Elm St.
Todd Cadis

Pleasant Valley Real Estate
865 Memorial Ave.
Nicholas Katsoulis

Potterville Pottery
1702 Riverdale St.
Laura Frasco

Precision Components Group
190 Doty Circle
Peter Elias

Sorrento’s Pizza of West Springfield
660 King’s Highway
Pasquale Albano

Spartan Auto Care Center
865 Memorial Ave.
Nicholas Katsoulis

Spartan Auto Sales
78 Lowell St.
Nicholas Katsoulis

WILBRAHAM

Better Days Counseling
8 Federal Lane
Jessica Senecal-Bennett

DES Woodworking
103 Manchonis Road
Dustin Smith

Elevation by Lattitude
859 Stony Hill Road
CCW Catering, LLC

Excel Training Institute Inc.
4 Stony Hill Road
Rebecca Paquette

Incorporations

Departments Incorporations

The following business incorporations were recorded in Hampden, Hampshire, and Franklin counties and are the latest available. They are listed by community.

CHICOPEE

Empyre Enterprises Inc., 34 St James St., Chicopee, MA 01020. Christopher Harman, Same. Retail and Online Sales.

EASTHAMPTON

Easthampton Screaming Eagles Softball Corporation, 57 Ward Ave., Easthampton, MA 01027. Jennifer McCarthy, Same. Provide a fast-pitch softball organization for the youth in and around Hampshire County. For tournaments, games and fun.

ERVING

Friends of The Erving Public Library Inc., 17 Moore St., Erving, MA 01344. Rebecca Jane Hubbard, 8 Gary Street, Erving, MA 01344. To support the programs and services of the Erving Public Library financially above and beyond the support provided through municipal appropriations.

FEEDING HILLS

Feeding Hills Spa Inc., 1226 Springfield St., Feeding Hills, MA 01030. Changji Jin, Same. Personal services.

HOLYOKE

Gilbert Towing Co., 950 Main St., Holyoke, MA 01040. Gilbert Negron Correa, Same. Automotive towing.

LONGMEADOW

Family Life Success Inc., 251 Park Dr., Longmeadow, MA 01106. Amy Hilbrich Davis, Same. Provides SVCS & PDTS to improve family wellbeing.

SPRINGFIELD

Fresh Air Inc., 184 Lamont St., Springfield, MA 01119. Irving Raul Concepcion, Same. Provide services for youth female/male aged 17-26 that have involvement with the judicial, DCF, DYS, DOC, HOC, homelessness, substance abuse, trauma.

Iglesia Cristiana Pentecostal Jesus El Buen Pastor, 910 Liberty St., Springfield, MA 01107. Rosa Mojica, 18 America St., Apt. 1, Chicopee, MA 01013. To engage the community in worship services.

WEST SPRINGFIELD

Gogri And Rana Inc., 82 Pierce St., West Springfield, MA 01089. Khushal Gogri, Same. Cell phone accessories.

BusinessWest to Present Second Future Tense Lecture on May 17

SPRINGFIELD — The second installment of the BusinessWest lecture series Future Tense, titled “What Got You Here Might Not Get You There: Mistakes Business Owners Make Before and After Retirement,” will take place on Thursday, May 17 from 8 to 9:30 a.m. at Tech Foundry, 1391 Main St., ninth floor, Springfield.

The lecture, open exclusively to CEOs and business owners, will be delivered by Amy Jamrog, wealth management advisor with the Jamrog Group. The cost is a $25 donation to Tech Foundry. Event sponsors include Paragus IT, the Jamrog Group, and Meyers Brothers Kalicka, P.C.

Do you feel like you’re doing a good job running your company, but wonder if you should be doing more? Are you as prepared as you could be for the eventual sale of the business? Are you willing to delay some tax gratification now for a more efficient retirement later? Are you focused on accumulation, but forgetting about the equally important decumulation strategy when it comes to your wealth? How do you take care of yourself, impact your community, and provide legacy for the family — and is it possible to do it all? Hear about proactive strategies to align your team of advisors and get you best equipped for your future.

Metered street parking is available near the venue, and there are several parking-garage options nearby as well. To register, visit businesswest.com/lecture-series.

HCC, Girls Inc. Team Up for Downtown Community Arts Celebration

HOLYOKE — Holyoke Community College (HCC) is co-sponsoring a community arts celebration at the Race Street Gallery in downtown Holyoke on Saturday, May 5 from 2 to 7 p.m., featuring the artwork of Holyoke youths alongside that of nationally known ceramic artists and printmakers. The event, titled “Celebrate Arts and Community,” will include demonstrations, hands-on activities, interactive workshops, and food.

“We really want it to be a community celebration,” said HCC ceramics instructor Adero Willard, one of the event organizers. “It’s really about creating a connection between HCC and the Holyoke community through the arts.”

Arts instructors and students from HCC have been working with groups of girls from Girls Inc. of Holyoke to create ceramic sculptures for the event based on the themes of immigration and migration. Artists Daniel Ricardo Teran and Ahrong Kim from Philadelphia, Salvador Jimenez-Flores and Nora Valdez from Boston, and Cynthia Consentino, an adjunct professor at HCC, will be in the gallery to display and discuss their work.

“We chose these people because their work all deals with some kind of cultural exploration, cultural identity, or personal narrative,” Willard said.

Jimenez-Flores will be leading a printmaking workshop using a modified tortilla press from 3 to 5 p.m. And visitors can sit at a spinning wheel and try their hand at making their own ceramic bowl through the Pots on Wheels truck, which will be parked outside the gallery on Race Street.

The event is being co-sponsored by Florence-based Plunge Arts, Pots on Wheels, Girls Inc., and HCC, with a grant from Mass Humanities.

Florence Bank Hires Three New Employees

FLORENCE — Florence Bank has hired three new employees to serve in various positions. Lori Jarrett will serve as assistant controller in the Finance Department in the main office in Florence, Celia Alvarado was named portfolio officer/commercial loan origination, and Alicia Pare was named to the position of cash management relationship officer.

Jarrett holds a master’s degree in accounting from Western New England University. She volunteers for area nonprofits, including Riverside Industries, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Hampshire County, and Safe Passage, and she runs in the Apple-a-Day 5K, which benefits the elementary schools of Easthampton.

Alvarado joined Florence Bank in February with nearly 10 years of banking experience. She currently studies at the New England College of Business, where she’s working on a bachelor’s degree in accounting and finance. She volunteers for Junior Achievement of Western Massachusetts and has served on its board in the past.

Pare earned a bachelor’s degree in business management from Assumption College in Worcester. In 2014, she received Florence Bank’s prestigious President’s Club Award, an annual tradition that recognizes outstanding performance, customer service, and overall contribution to Florence Bank.

Westfield Bank to Open Liberty Street Office in Springfield