PeoplesBank Issues 2018 Corporate Green Report
HOLYOKE — PeoplesBank issued its 2018 annual Corporate Green Report in recognition of Earth Day 2018. Through its green values and actions to support environmental sustainability, PeoplesBank believes it can help make the region a healthier place to live, work, and raise a family, and puts these values to work throughout the year through its charitable donations and volunteerism. PeoplesBank is also recognized for its support of green-energy projects and its construction of LEED-certified offices.
“Our green values date back to when we helped Holyoke Gas & Electric replace hydroelectric generators years ago,” said Thomas Senecal, president and CEO of PeoplesBank. “That sustainable-energy source still provides electric power for four of our offices, including our headquarters in Holyoke.”
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. Those initiatives include support for an existing mobile farmers market in Springfield and the launch of a new one in Holyoke, the Community Involved in Sustaining Agriculture (CISA) Food for All campaign, the Center for EcoTechnology, Grow Food Northampton’s community garden, the Source to Sea Cleanup of the Connecticut River (support of this effort will also include hands-on participation by a team of volunteers from the bank), the Mount Holyoke Wetlands Restoration project, and scientific environmental education at the Hitchcock Center for the Environment.
PeoplesBank is also a longtime leader in sustainable-energy financing, and the bank’s commercial lenders are recognized for their expertise in creating financing packages for green-energy power generation. To date, the bank has financed more than $166 million in wind, solar, and hydroelectric power-generation projects, an increase of $40 million in just one year.
PeoplesBank also has a LEED Gold-certified office in Northampton, a LEED Gold-certified office in West Springfield, and a LEED Silver-certified office in Springfield. The LEED-certified office in Springfield, the first of its kind in the city, won a GreenSeal from the city of Springfield. PeoplesBank has also installed electric-vehicle charging stations at three offices, in Northampton, West Springfield, and Holyoke. In addition, the bank is a past winner of the Associated Industries of Massachusetts Sustainability Award, which recognizes excellence in environmental stewardship, promotion of social well-being, and contributions to economic prosperity.
