Home 2006 May (Page 2)
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Tighe & Bond Wins Top Award

WESTFIELD — Tighe & Bond Inc. was recently awarded the 2006 Build Connecticut Award, sponsored by the American General Contractors/CT Chapter. The awards competition is a bi-annual competition amongst contractors that recognizes the top project in four categories – large and small new construction projects and large and small renovation projects. The Lake Whitney Water Treatment Plant for the South Central Connecticut Regional Water Authority won the award for the top project in the category of Large New Construction. Tighe & Bond was a member of the design firm team that engineered the project. The firm participated in the pilot testing and planning stages of the project, and was responsible for the asbestos abatement and demolition of the old plant, and the civil/site, structural, electrical and engineered the pumping systems for the new water treatment plant. Tighe & Bond also assumed the lead role during construction.

MassMutual Completes $45M Construction Project

SPRINGFIELD — MassMutual Financial Group officially completed its $45 million renovation and expansion project at its Springfield home office on State Street on April 21. The project consisted of a new 80,000-square-foot document management building and a renovation of a major building wing first constructed in 1965, including a complete overhaul and expansion of its employee cafeteria. MassMutual is currently ranked 92nd on the Fortune 500 list, making it the largest company, based on revenues, in the state.

UMass Amherst, Elms Receive Grant

AMHERST — UMass Amherst and Elms College in Chicopee have been awarded a grant of $24,948 from the Massachusetts Board of Higher Education to encourage top honors students early in their nursing education to pursue an academic career. The initiative is designed to increase the number of nursing professors, now in short supply. ‘Increasing the Pipeline to Ph.D. Education’ will support five teams of faculty and students from each college in the conduct of clinical projects and research. Honors students will be identified in their sophomore or junior years, matched with faculty mentors, and conduct honors work during the 2006-2008 academic years. They will work as research assistants for the first year to develop research skills and then undertake honors projects and research during the second year. The students will be eligible for direct admission to the UMass doctoral program upon completion of the bachelor’s degree.

Client First Associates Redesigns Web site

NORTHAMPTON — Client First Associates, a Vann Group company, recently revamped its Web site at www.clientfirstassociates.com. The firm supports organizations through large and small change initiatives, ranging from organizational assessments, systemic change projects and leadership development programs to executive coaching and employee development programs.

Credit Union Breaks Ground in Ludlow

LUDLOW — The Luso Federal Credit Union recently began construction of a 15,000-square-foot building on East Street that will be three times the size of its present building at 535 East St. Luso membership boasts being one of the largest credit unions in the region despite its membership being limited to those who work or live in town. As of Dec. 31, total assets were $137.5 million. When construction is completed in early 2007, Luso’s new facility will feature 35 parking spaces, a drive-up teller lane and a drive-up automated teller machine lane. Luso was created by members of the Gremio Lusitano Club in 1971. Juster, Pope Frazier of Shelburne Falls designed the structure, while L.N. Bernache of Chicopee will serve as the general contractor.

Three Markets Have Charter Phone Options

Residents in Chicopee, East Longmeadow and Ludlow now have a telephone service option through Charter Communications. The service began in March, with Charter offering its cable customers a telephone service of $39.99 a month with unlimited local and domestic long distance calls, voice mail, caller identification and other features. The service is also compliant with the latest 911 safety technology which provides a name and address when users dial the emergency number. Charter provides Internet, cable and telephone service to 11 communities, including Chicopee, East Longmeadow, Easthampton, Hadley and Wilbraham.

Sierra Grill To Open

NORTHAMPTON — O’Brian C. Tomalin plans to open a new restaurant, Sierra Grill, at the former location of Brasserie 40-A, part of a three-story restaurant and lounge operation which closed in mid-April. Anthony B. Bishop and his father, Daniel J. Bishop Sr., co-owners of Brasserie 40-A, said they decided to close the restaurant because they were not getting the end result they had expected.

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.

NORTHAMPTON DISTRICT COURT

Mount Holyoke College v. The Massachusetts Festival of the Arts Inc.
Allegation: Breach of contract — Failure to pay for goods sold and delivered: $3,242.12
Date Filed: April 11

SPRINGFIELD DISTRICT COURT

City Tire Co. Inc. v. Steven M. Perry d/b/a T & J Tire Service
Allegation: Breach of contract — Failure to pay for goods sold and delivered: $5,181.67
Date Filed: March 27

United Rentals (NA) Inc. v. AMI Framing Co.
Allegation: Breach of contract — Failure to pay for goods and services: $5,599.26
Date Filed: March 28

United Rentals (NA) Inc. v. Tara Construction Inc. and Pedro Pirez
Allegation: Breach of contract — Failure to pay for goods and serices: $6,249.62
Date Filed: March 28

Departments

The following Business Certificates and Trade Names were issued or renewed during the month of April 2006.

AGAWAM

Aquadays Family Pools
258 North West
Jason Morin

Community Laundromat
305 Springfield St.
Donald Chartier

Family Dental Care
1379 Main St.
Stephen Jacapraro

Joe’s Plants and Veggies
705 Suffield St.
Joseph Fleming

Norris Custom Woodworks
141 Maple St.
Eric Norris

AMHERST

Amherst General Store
233 North Pleasant St.
Osman Jami

Ben Tap Soul
1305 John Adams Hall
Etan Efrati

CHICOPEE

ABC Coupon Book
821 McKinstry St.
Steven Marcil

The Card Zone
920B Meadow St.
Stephen Pettengill

MPC
45 Dale St.
Michael Cominsky

Unique Styles Boutique
922 Chicopee St.
Karen Phillips

EAST LONGMEADOW

Aquaduct Services
41 Howard Ave.
Edward Hellyer

Ray Miller & Co.
38 Harkness Ave.
Raymond Miller

Shapes A Salon
219 Shaker Road
Scott Poirier

HADLEY

Econolodge
129 Russell St.
Hospitality VI Lic.

HOLYOKE

Generation X
2272 Northampton St.
Mattie Todd

Santos Glass
120 Suffolk St.
Daniel Colon, Luis, Frank, and
Jose Santos

White Conservation Services
218 Madison Ave.
Susan White

LONGMEADOW

Interior Inspirations
43 Bonadici Ter.
Susan Green

Proseed Lawncare Services LLC
605 Maple Road
Matthew Judd

NORTHAMPTON

Borawski Insurance
88 King St.
Robert Borawski

The Furniture Shop
67-A Bradford St.
John Moore

Robinson Properties
599 Coles Meadow Road
Stephen Robinson

SOUTH HADLEY

Dragonfly Garden Herbs &
Gifts
21 Alvord St.
Alice Lefebvre

SPRINGFIELD

AAA Games
21 Rutland St.
Albert Sweeney

Bulls Carpentry
98 Melha Ave.
Leonardo Toro

Dr. R. F. Valkenburg
529 White St.
Dr. R.F. Valkenburg

Global Spectrum Charities
1277 Main St.
Comcast-Spectacor Foundation

King Nails
465 State St.
Nguyet Thi Nguyen

Merchant Family Group
66 Newton Ave.
Kenneth Merchant

The Pretzel Twister
1655 Boston Road
K.J. Pretzels LLC

Rhino Linings of Springfield
250 Verge St.
Michael Daney

Tropical African Market
810 Main St.
Akua Amoakoh

UPS Store
1500 Main St.
Steven Auerswald

Wireless 2 Wireless
570 Cottage St.
Eugene Stovall

WEST SPRINGFIELD

A & K Temps
41 Oleander St.
Aimee Devall

Bellosconi Courier Services
853 Main St.
Abdul Rauf Bello

Elite Towing and Auto
Repair
414 Park St.
Robert Ugolini

Kustom Decokrete
518 Day St.
Robert A. Higbie

Major Home Improvement
42 Cooper St.
Vasilie Kharchuk

Sergiy’s Builder Home
Improvement
68 Worthen St.
Sergiy Suprunchuk

WESTFIELD

Alice’s Piano Studio
159 Hillside Road
Alice Chaffee

Green Carpet Landscape
40 Briarcliff Lane
Noah Bertone

R.J. Sanding
2 Cycle St.
Roger Cortis

Departments

The following business incorporations were recorded in Hampden and Hampshire counties and are the latest available. They are listed by community.

AGAWAM

308 Suffield Street Inc., 308
Suffield St., Agawam 01001.
Amandeep Singh, 35
Fletcher Circle, Chicopee
01013. A convenience store
and gas station.

CHICOPEE

International Automobiles
Inc., 341 Chicopee St.,
Chicopee 01013. Antonio M.
Fonseca, 203 Hampden St.,
Chicopee 01013. Purchase
and sale of used automobiles.

Omega Manhood Uplift
Foundation Inc., 49
Stephens St., Chicopee
01022. Carlton Pickron, 18
Greenwich Road, Amherst
01002. (Nonprofit)
Charitable funding to help
focus on organized
community based activities.

Pine Ridge Development
Inc., 209 Prospect St.,
Chicopee 01013. Gregory J.
Gilligan, 101 Osborne Ter.,
Springfield 01104.
Construction service.

EASTHAMPTON

Eagle Vision Vehicles Inc.,
37 Carillon Circle,
Easthampton 01027. Thomas
Parsons, same. Sales and
marketing.

EAST LONGMEADOW

Sports Bar Marketing
Exchange Inc., 31 Schuyler
Dr., East Longmeadow
01028. Andrew Jaffee, same.
Marketing and promotion
support sports bar
operations.

FEEDING HILLS

Joel Page Landscaping Inc.,
123 Line St., Feeding Hills
01040. Joel Page, same.
Landscaping.

FLORENCE

Fields Graphic Design Inc.,
92 1/2 Maple St., Florence
01062. Nancy E. Fields, 410-
B Kennedy Road, Leeds
01053. Graphic design.

HOLYOKE

Bonds of Vision Inc., 5
Yoerg Circle, Holyoke 01040.
Jose A. Hernandez same.
(Nonprofit) A ministry to
help people in need, feed the
hungry, supply a home to
those needing one, etc.

Duckcharm Holdings Inc.,
350 Southampton Road,
Holyoke 01040. Ruth H.
Pinon, same. Real estate.

LUDLOW

DDP Pizza Inc., 31
Chadbourne Circle, Ludlow
01056. Douglas M. Delisle,
26 Chadbourne Circle,
Ludlow 01056. Pizza shop.

Engineering & Land
Solutions Inc., 165 Dowd
Ct., Ludlow 01056. Christina
Pietras, same. Civil, architectural,
environmental engineering.

MONSON

Quality Tool Company Inc.,
113 Bethany Road, Monson
01057. Paula M. Wehr, 234
Bumstead Road, Monson
01057. Manufacturing of
machine parts.

MONTGOMERY

Steve Brzoska & Sons
Plumbing and Heating Inc.,
71 Pitcher St., Montgomery
01085. Steven Brzoska, same.
Plumbing and heating service.

NORTHAMPTON

K.D. Industries Inc., 326
Glendale Road, Northampton
01060. Denise M. Shea, same.
General driving of trucks for
transporting, towing, etc.

SOUTH HADLEY

ELB Design Inc., 13 Pheasant
Run, South Hadley 01075.
Edmond L. Brousseau, same.
Architecture, construction
management and construction
planning.


SOUTHWICK

New Origins Inc., 13
Industrial Road, Southwick
01077. Jerome Malcovsky Sr.,
109 Sacket Road, Westfield
01085. Automobile service and
repair.

SOUTHAMPTON

Aquarius Realty Inc., 14
David St., Southampton
01073. Beverly Bishop, 18
Hathaway Road, Westhampton
01027. Real estate purchase,
sales, rentals, etc.

SPRINGFIELD

Compliance and Benefit
Administrators Inc., 123
Interstate Dr., West Springfield
01089. Lisa Robin Crouser,
1000 Tinhkam Road,
Wilbraham 01095. Compliance
and benefit administration.

Crivelli Family Chiropractic
Inc., 1506 Allen St., Suite B,
Springfield 01118. Francesco
N. Crivelli, D.C., 895 South
Branch Pkwy., Springfield
01118. Health and wellness
education and chiropractic
care.

Gerardo Express Inc., 626
Carew St., Springfield 01104.
Milagros Rodriguez, 47
Parkside St., Springfield 01104.
Interstate transportation.

Gulmohur 546 Sumner
Corp., 135 State St.,
Springfield 01103. Charanjit
Singh, 6 Woodstock Ct.,
Oyster Bay, NY 11771.
Timothy J. Howes, 135 State
St., Springfield 01103,
registered agent. To own and
manage real estate.

Humanitarian Charity to
Haitians H.C.H. Corp., 235
Eastern Ave., Springfield
01109. Frants-Ed. Laporte, 26
Edgemont St., Springfield
01109, (Nonprofit) To help
poor people to ameliorate their
life here in the US and in
Haiti, etc.

Springfield Fancy Nail Corp.,
1835 Wilbraham Road,
Springfield 01128. Hoseon S.
Kye, same. Nail salon.

Sullivan Factory Outlet Inc.,
180 Avocado St., Springfield
01104. Richard Spafford, 48
Holy Family Road, Apt. 417
West Holyoke 01040. Retail
and wholesale paper, gifts, etc.,
at outlets and on the internet.

Victory Transportation Inc.,
62 Clarendon St., Springfield
01109. Nancy Cortes, same.
Transportation.

Vital (Vision Intervention
Technology Academics and
Learning) Center Inc., 44
Prospect St., Springfield 01107.
Dr. Leonard Naylor, same.
(Nonprofit) To provide a safe
and educationally constructive
environment to low-income
families and youth at risk in
the Springfield area, etc.

WESTFIELD

Cooper Excavating and
Trucking Inc., 4 Woodland
Ave., Westfield 01085. Bruce
Cooper, II, same. General
excavating and trucking
services.

WEST HATFIELD

Paciorek Electric Inc., 45
Linseed Road, West Hatfield
01088. Timothy M. Paciorek,
same. Electrical contracting.

WILBRAHAM

QA Medical Inc., 2823 Boston
Road, Wilbraham 01095.
James D. Driscoll, 53 Ridge
Road, East Longmeadow
01028. Medical instruments,
devices, and products.

WEST SPRINGFIELD

Chris’s Tree Service and
Landscaping Inc., 67 Oakland
St., West Springfield 01089.
Michael Christodlous, same.
Landscaping and tree
maintenance and removal
services, etc.

O’Donnell Paving &
Landscaping Inc., 1612
Riverdale St., West Springfield
01089. John T. O’Donnell,
same. Paving and landscaping.

Departments

Open House

MassMutual recently staged an open house and reception to showcase a $45 million expansion and renovation project at its Springfield home office. The project consisted of a new 80,000-square-foot document-management building and a renovation of a major building wing first constructed in 1965, including a complete overhaul and expansion of its employee cafeteria.

 

Peter Wood, director of sales and marketing for Associated Builders, general contractor for the document-management building, looks at a photo display of the project.

MassMutual President and CEO Stu Reese chats with state Rep. Gale Candaras.

Breakfast of Champions

Go FIT, the local non-profit group focused on educating women and children about exercise, fitness, and nutrition, recently staged its Breakfast of Champions, a fund-raising event held at Bay Path College.

The guest speaker was pro football quarterback Doug Flutie, most recently with the New England Patriots. He is seen here with Go FIT founder Susan J. Kaplan.t.

Silent Auction

Laurie Normandeau, right, a veteran mountain climber who ascended Mount Kilimanjaro in 2004 as part of the Climb to Fight Breast Cancer, a program initiated by the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, will be part of another climb this summer — rugged Mount Elbrus in Russia. As part of that effort, she must raise $5,000 for cancer research, and recently staged a silent auction in Northampton’s Look Park as part of that process. Here, she poses with bidder Janet Eggleston, owner of the Northampton Brewery.

Janet Eggleston & Laurie Normandeau

Fresh Roast

Celebrating their 10-year anniversary as the morning team on WAQY Rock 102.1 FM, Bax and O’Brien (Mike Baxendale, and John O’Brien) were roasted earlier this month by a wide range of media personalities and community leaders at the MassMutual Center.

Mike Baxendale


John O’Brien


Roasters Sarah Ryan, WAQY’s morning news director, Holyoke Police Chief Anthony Scott, ABC Sports’ Jack Arute, and Chicopee Mayor Mike Bissonnette wait for their chance to zing the duo. Acclaimed comedienne Lisa Lampanelli headlined the event, which was hosted by WGGB ABC 40’s chief investigative reporter, Jim Polito.

Ribbon Cutting

Westfield mayor Westfield Mayor Richard K. Sullivan Jr. cuts the ribbon to open PeoplesBank’s new office located 281 East Main St. in Westfield. The branch opened for business on April 7.

Seen with Sullivan are, from left, state Rep. Donald F. Humason Jr., Sue Wilson, assistant vice president, Marketing at PeoplesBank, Joseph D. LoBello, President and CEO of PeoplesBank, Joyce A. O’Connor, assistant vice president and branch manager, state Sen. Michael R. Knapik, and Greg Sheehan, assistant vice president for PeoplesFinancial.

Uncategorized

One question has been answered in Massachusetts: Is the Commonwealth moving forward with one of the most extensive health care reform packages in the nation’s history?

The answer is yes.

But there’s a host of additional questions and concerns that have yet to be addressed in terms of this landmark legislation, signed into law on April 4, and already some critics are ready to declare the plan unworkable.

We believe a measure of optimism is in order — or at the very least a willingness to give this bold initiative a chance to succeed.

At its core, the law was crafted to ensure that all state residents have health care insurance — a recognized step to reducing the total pricetag for health care and ensuring the long-term welfare of the Commonwealth’s fiscally challenged hospitals.

The first move toward these objectives will be to enroll 100,000 eligible residents in Medicaid through an outreach program. Later, the state plans to enroll 200,000 residents in state-subsidized programs. The remaining 200,000 uninsured will be required to obtain insurance as soon as a suite of affordable products is made available.

But as of yet, we don’t know when that will be.

Those products will be created by providers and submitted to the state, which will then approve or deny them based on overall value and affordability. One way these plans will be monitored and disseminated to the public will be through the Commonwealth Health Insurance Connector, which will provide individuals as well as employers with a one-stop shop for health insurance packages.

But the Connector doesn’t exist yet, nor do any specific criteria for inclusion.

As for employers, those with 11 or more employees will be required to provide insurance to their workers; those that do not are subject to penalties ranging from a $295-per-worker assessment to the total cost of any free care provided over $50,000 per year. There are questions about how such penalties will be enforced and what their impact will be on individual businesses.

Health care insurance providers, meanwhile, are wary that the new regulatory environment in which they are being placed will not afford them the flexibility they need to devise affordable plans that also cater to a wide audience.

In terms of the individual mandate itself, it remains to be seen how the uninsured will respond to this requirement. Massachusetts drivers are required to obtain auto insurance, but it’s no secret that some people do not. Will the punitive measures put in place ensure that all residents obtain coverage? And moreover, will the structure of the new system be the easily navigable invitation to obtain coverage that legislators hope it will be?

The answer to all of these questions is a proverbial shrug of the shoulders. We just don’t know. In short, individuals, employers, insurers, and providers are navigating an entirely new health insurance landscape.

But such is the nature of plans that do not follow any preconceived model, and that’s what we’re dealing with here. No other health care reform package exists like the one now on the books in Massachusetts, and in many ways the Commonwealth is emerging as a pioneer for dramatic change in the national health care system.
As Michael Widmer, president of the Mass. Taxpayers Foundation observed, some feel that Massachusetts has earned a reputation for knee-jerk reactions to potential failure: at the first sign of trouble, we man the torpedoes.

Widmer urges patience and a willingness to give these reforms a chance to work, and we concur.

Massachusetts is leading the pack – in fact, it is already one of the leading states in the nation in terms of the health insurance coverage of its residents – and showing it isn’t afraid to test imaginative solutions to nationwide problems.

There are going to be issues in the coming years as we move ahead with the goal of insuring an additional 500,000 people. There are going to be teething troubles, unforeseen pitfalls, and inevitable doubts about whether the plan is working. Let’s accept that, and move forward.

Was Rome built in a day? We all know the answer to that.-