Picture This
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Fantastic Pour
On Sept. 10, the Springfield Boys & Girls Club partnered with the Student Prince/the Fort in a celebrity bartending event. All tips and a portion of the proceeds from sales benefited the club and its services. From top to bottom: from left, celebrity bartenders Nick Tokman, cast member on Deadliest Catch; former NBA players Travis Best and Lou Roe; former UMass basketball coach Bruiser Flint; and current UMass basketball coach Derek Kellogg share a moment with Fort partner Andy Yee. Peter Picknelly, partner at the Fort and president of Peter Pan Bus Lines, chats with patrons. From left, celebrity bartenders George O’Brien, BusinessWest editor; Brittany Decker, reporter for Western Mass News; and radio personality Mike Baxendale from Rock 102 with Yee. From left, celebrity bartenders Malcolm Getz, retired CPA and serial entrepreneur, and Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno with Picknelly and Fort bartender Matt Dessereau.
All Aboard
Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno and Gov. Charlie Baker (center) joined a host of local and state officials and representatives of CRRC USA Rail Corp. recently for a groundbreaking ceremony (above) at the city’s former Westinghouse site on Page Boulevard, where the company will build its first North American plant — a project that promises 100-plus construction jobs from the building of a 220,000-square-foot facility, and more than 150 new manufacturing positions. Among the company officials on hand was Weiping Yu, vice president of CRRC Corp. Limited in Beijing (bottom). “We have an exciting road ahead as we embrace this unique opportunity to partner with Massachusetts on our first transportation project in the United States,” he said, adding that the company sees potential for significant growth in the U.S., and has increased overseas investments by 61% over the past year. “We have a focused vision and a strong commitment not only to being the best, but understanding the infrastructure needs of our global partners and working together to achieve them.” Others sharing thoughts at the ceremony included Yi Lu, general commercial counselor for the New York Chinese Consulate; Chuanhe Zhou, president of CRRC USA Rail Corp.; Jay Ash, the state’s secretary of Housing and Economic Development; and Stephanie Pollack, the Commonwealth’s Transportation secretary. See page 60 for more extensive comments from the event.
