Home 2014 February (Page 2)
Class of 2014 Difference Makers

Attorney and Director of Olde Holyoke Development Corp.

He’s Taken Early Literacy to the Forefront in the Paper City

Michael Moriarty

Michael Moriarty
Photo by Denise Smith

Michael Moriarty was searching for the right words to describe how he felt when he learned how Holyoke’s third-graders fared in the reading portion of the MCAS test last year, and found an analogy that works on a number of levels.

“I kind of know what a farmer feels like when his crops fail,” said Moriarty, who has been the main architect of ongoing initiatives to bring about improvement in early literacy across the city, as he talked about his reaction to the community going backward, not forward, when it comes to third-grade literacy rates.

Officially, Holyoke went from having 20% of its third graders reading at level (the state average is just over 60%) to 13%, said Moriarty, noting that, while most other communities across the Commonwealth went down in the tests taken last spring, Holyoke’s fall was far more precipitous, leaving ample reason for conjecture and concern.

But as with the farmer and his field, when it comes to Holyoke’s participation in the national Campaign for Grade Level Reading, or GLR, which Moriarty serves as community leader, he believes the difficult work of preparing the ground and sowing seeds has been done, and now it’s time to continue the even harder work needed to cultivate positive results.

Moriarty, a third-generation attorney and former School Committee member who recently became president of Olde Holyoke Development Corp., is firmly committed to achieving those positive results, and he believes the pieces are falling into place to reverse recent trends.

These pieces include personnel, infrastructure, and a set of strategic initiatives, he said. In that first category are administrators, including new Superintendent of Schools Sergio Paez, who led Worcester’s GLR initiatives, and the city’s new early literacy coordinator, Rosemary Hernandez, who assumed her post late last month.

Holyoke, the nation’s first planned industrial city

Michael Moriarty says there are many signs of life in Holyoke, the nation’s first planned industrial city, but true revitalization won’t happen unless chronically low literacy rates are reversed.

As for the infrastructure, he went on, it is modeled after Springfield’s highly touted Read for Success program, put in place by the Irene E. and George A. Davis Foundation. It has put early literacy on the front burner in the City Homes and kept it there, and, more importantly, it has improved third-grade literacy rates from 20% to 40% through aggressive programming and creation of bridges between the community and the school department to address the matter.

And the strategic initiatives? They center around the three critical elements in poor reading proficiency — chronic absenteeism, summer learning loss, and kindergarten school readiness.

“When you look at why children aren’t reading at grade level by the fourth grade, they tend to have come to school as kindergartners not well-prepared for school or learning, they tend to not have a lot going on in the summer, so they go backwards, and they tend to be the kids who are most absent, because obviously you’re not learning a whole lot if you’re not showing up,” said Moriarty, who clearly conveyed his passion for his work as he spoke to BusinessWest. “And very often, with the kids who aren’t reading proficiently, all three of those things turn out to be true.

“When that child, for whatever reason, is not prepared for school between the ages of birth to 5, it’s already predetermining the high likelihood that they’re not going to finish high school and they’re going to be economically hobbled for the rest of their life,” he went on, effectively stating the problem — and the consequences — that drive him to find solutions to this dilemma. “And Holyoke’s got the biggest problem with early literacy of any community in Massachusetts.”

And perhaps for that reason, those involved with this initiative set a probably (most would say ‘certainly’) unrealistic goal of 80% proficiency by this year. At his last school board meeting, Moriarty introduced a motion to slice that goal to 40%, which he believes is still “crazy ambitious.”

Still, he believes the community can and will move the needle.

There are a number of examples of community activism on Moriarty’s résumé. In addition to his work on the School Committee, he’s been involved with everything from the city’s Rotary Club to the Holyoke St. Patrick’s Day Committee to the public television station WGBY. He’s also been a strong supporter of the arts and arts education, and in 2008, he and a group of community members formed Friends of Holyoke Public Schools Inc., which has funded the Summer Strings program, a free music camp for Holyoke public-school students.

But it is his work to bring the issue of early literacy into the forefront — and to be a prime mover in the effort to draft and execute a battle plan to address the problem — that puts him firmly in the category of Difference Maker.

“His advocacy has ensured that early literacy is a priority in the Holyoke public schools,” said Mayor Alex Morse, who has worked with Moriarty on many of the GLR initiatives. “The stars are starting to align, and I believe we’re going to see real progress.”

Early Chapters
Moriarty graduated from Holyoke High School in 1979, which means he can easily recall when this city, and especially its downtown, were still bustling.

“I’m one of those guys who can remember Thursday nights in downtown Holyoke,” he said with a broad smile, noting that this was payday at most of the remaining paper and textile mills and other businesses. “You would walk from one end of the street [High Street] to the other, and the sidewalks would be packed; it was not unlike being in Manhattan.”

He remembers a number of restaurants and clubs that were booming.

“There were so many places to go in downtown Holyoke at that time,” he said. “My dad’s law office was around the corner from Gleason’s Town House on Suffolk Street. I remember it was a high-end piano bar and quite a fancy place to go to.

“I got engaged at the Golden Lemon,” he went on, referring to the former restaurant on Appleton Street. “And there was a big family dinner spot called Kelly’s Lobster House, where I learned most everything I know about politics. When I was a kid, those were just three of many places to go; this was a thriving commercial center.”

But Moriarty’s timeline in the nation’s first planned industrial city means he’s also seen the climax of a slow, painful decline that actually began just after the start of the Great Depression.

By the 1970s, most all of the mills that had given the city its identity had closed or moved south. Meanwhile, in Moriarty’s junior year in high school, the Holyoke Mall opened its doors to considerable fanfare.

Those Thursday nights he recalled so fondly have continued — sort of — at the mall, he said, but downtown slowly started changing and retreating, and it has really never been the same.

Indeed, there are now vacant lots where the Golden Lemon and Kelly’s Lobster House, which burned down in the ’80s, once stood. And the city’s daily newspaper, the Transcript, which once operated on High Street and won Pulitzer prizes for its coverage of a city in decline and the issues that changed its fate, closed in 1995.

Many of the people Moriarty graduated from high school with — as well as a good number of those who came before and after — knew there were few opportunities for them in their hometown, so they left.

“I saw many of my friends’ older brothers and family members move away, because the mill jobs and the construction jobs they thought they were going to have here were out in Colorado and Florida,” he told BusinessWest. “It was a pattern I saw when I was still a kid.”

But Moriarty stayed.

Indeed, while he was tempted to stay in the Washington, D.C. area after graduating from Catholic University with a degree in Education, he ultimately decided to come back home. “I loved living in Holyoke, and I’ve never regretted coming back.”

And almost since the day he returned, he’s been involved with the community and, more recently, efforts to revive its schools. He first ran for the school board in 2000 and served 13 years.

“Education has always been a vocation for me, and I will always have some way of being engaged in that realm,” he said. “Being on the school board gave me an oversight position for a district that had a lot of issues. It was never boring, not even for a minute; there was some important work or initiative that had to be done, and I enjoyed all of it.”

He began his professional career teaching social studies at Peck Junior High School, but was laid off in 1989. With some encouragement from his wife, a lawyer, he attended Western New England University Law School and essentially carried on the family law practice started by his grandfather and continued by his father, focusing on business law, family law, and estate planning.

Roughly two decades later, in the early spring of 2013, he was recruited by the board of directors of Olde Holyoke Development Corp. to succeed long-time president Richard Courchesne, whom Moriarty credits with effectively carrying out — and broadening — the agency’s mission to develop real estate, manage low- to moderate-income housing, and provide financial assistance to Holyoke residents.

“I thought I’d written enough wills,” he joked when asked about his career course adjustment. “If you get a call every 20 years or so to change what you’re doing, say ‘yes’ — it’s good for you.”

He told BusinessWest that he’s enjoying his new challenge, as well as his Monday nights, which he got back after opting not to seek another term on the school board so he could focus on his new job and his early-literacy responsibilities.


Reading Between the Lines

Michael Moriarty

Michael Moriarty says the recent decline in literacy rates is discouraging, but he believes the pieces are in place to achieve real improvement.

Today, Moriarty sees many signs of life, and hope, in his hometown.

These include a growing arts community, new businesses in many of the old mills, the arrival of some young professionals, and a somewhat renewed sense of civic pride.

“A coffee shop just opened on High Street recently, and there’s a lot of buzz here,” he told BusinessWest. “There’s a sort of arts center that’s popped up on Race Street, and other things happening; you just hope that one of those things becomes the spark that’s going to make all the rest of what you want to see in a vibrant downtown come to life.”
But he acknowledges that there has historically been a rather large barrier to further improvement, additional economic development, and more complete revitalization — those intolerably low rates of third-grade reading proficiency.

It was this recognized need to change this equation that prompted him to take a lead role in early-literacy initiatives and act as Holyoke’s liaison with the national Campaign for Grade Level Reading.

In that capacity, he wrote and submitted a community-solutions action plan, one that borrows heavily from Read for Success, but is far more embedded with the school department, which should, in theory, make it easier to generate change and improvement.

Like similar programs, Holyoke’s initiative recognizes the importance of that third-grade MCAS test as a milestone in young people’s lives.

“When you transition from the third grade to the fourth grade, you’re also transitioning from that part of your life when you’re learning to read to where you’ve got to read to learn,” he noted. “And so, everyone who goes into the fourth grade not doing that is automatically behind the eight ball, in need of remediation, and not going to stay on grade level for at least part of that year while they get caught up — if they get caught up. And when almost nine out of 10 kids in a class need remediation, that tends to be the whole curriculum, which is not a good thing.”

So, in simple terms, Holyoke’s early-literacy program is designed to position young people so they don’t have to catch up.

This is much easier said than done, as evidenced by the results of last year’s third-grade MCAS reading test, which Moriarty said professionals describe as being “for real.”
“Children who are illiterate are not passing third-grade MCAS,” he told BusinessWest, adding that, if anything, it’s the other way around.

Moving forward, he is optimistic that the numbers will begin to improve and perhaps someday approach that very aggressive goal set years ago for 80% third-grade proficiency.
Part of that optimism is based on the hiring of Paez, who was assistant superintendent of English Language Learners (ELL) students in Worcester, and significantly improved the percentage of those students who read at grade level.

“He recognized the importance of this work there, and he was able to use most of the elements of a vibrant literacy campaign as we were going through the hiring process,” he said, “and as far as my vote was concerned, that went a long way toward his getting his job.

Overall, those involved in this endeavor need to focus on the future and continuous improvement, he added.

“We have to take all the lessons learned, use all of the best things we’ve put in place in terms of policies, data gathering, and classroom practices, and redouble our efforts to see results,” he told BusinessWest. “I think we have a community that recognizes the problem and is fully committed to doing a lot about it. I think we can look forward to seeing a real change in third-graders, hopefully in a really short period of time.”

Today, Moriarty still wears a number of hats with this initiative. For example, he represents Holyoke at meetings of the Mass. Reading Proficiency Learning Network, a group comprised of representatives from Boston, Holyoke, Pittsfield, Springfield, and Worcester who have committed to learning and sharing best practices to ensure that young people have access to high-quality early education and become proficient readers. Meanwhile, he also co-chairs a facet of the broad initiative called Attend for Literacy, which, as the names suggests, oversees a policy to identify children who are chronically absent from school and puts good practices in place to address that issue.

And occasionally, he reads to young people in the classroom. He does this to engage the students in reading and also show them that people are willing to get involved in their education.

He usually reads the same book, Animalia, by Graeme Base, which combines colorful artwork with alliteration to teach the alphabet.

“There will be a giant gorilla eating gorgeous green grapes in a glass house,” he said, adding that he enjoys these assignments because they give him perspective on the challenge and bring him even more into the process of crafting solutions.


The Last Word
Moriarty recently appeared before the school board, complete with several new members, including one occupying the at-large seat he relinquished last month, and informed it that Holyoke was to be recognized nationally as a “pacesetting community” by the Campaign for Grade Level Reading, an honor resulting in large part from his many efforts.

While obviously proud of this accomplishment, Moriarty made it abundantly clear that his goal is to one day break much better and far more important news — that Holyoke is making clear progress toward meeting those ambitious goals for reading proficiency.

He’s not sure when he’ll be able to do that, but he suspects that it won’t be long — if this community remains committed to early literacy and to all the hard work that is involved with moving Holyoke from the very bottom of the charts to somewhere near the top.

If that happens, then Moriarty will know what it feels like to be a farmer with a bumper crop.

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

Class of 2014 Difference Makers

Teacher, Roger L. Putnam Vocational Technical Academy, and Founder, Youth Social Educational Training (YSET) Academy

This Educator Has Been a Driving Force in the Lives of Young People

Paula Moore

Paula Moore
Photo by Denise Smith

Paula Moore had officially made up her mind.

She was not going to jeopardize her credit, or her livelihood, for that matter, to purchase a home for the after-school program she started in Springfield in 2003 to help keep young people off the streets, out of trouble, and on a better path to gainful employment.

For several years, the historic South Congregational Church in the Maple Heights neighborhood had provided her with space, free of charge, to operate this initiative that she would eventually call the Youth Social Educational Training Academy, or YSET, as it’s commonly known, and give it what Moore called “legitimacy.” However, by 2009, there were so many kids involved, church leaders told her she would have to take the program elsewhere.

But there was no convenient ‘elsewhere,’ and Moore, while committed to the endeavor, its mission, and the young people it served, simply wasn’t going to commit her own money to buy a building for a program that generated no revenue.

Eventually, though, she said she felt “forced” to change her mind, and told BusinessWest there were many reasons she uses that particular word when she recounts this critical chapter in YSET’s history.

For starters, she said young people involved in the program just didn’t want to give it up after the church told organizers to move on. “Teenagers kept calling me … they wanted to come to my house, they wanted to meet at the mall, they just wanted to always be together,” Moore, a teacher of English and special education at Springfield’s Roger L. Putnam Vocational Technical Academy, explained. “And it was just exhausting.”

Meanwhile, her efforts to convince city officials to give her space — somewhere, anywhere — met with only frustration. “I couldn’t even get an old crack house for a dollar,” she recalled.

But maybe the biggest reason for the change of heart was that she started seeing some bad things happen to people because the group wasn’t together. And there was one individual, one case, that stood out in her mind.

“One of my young people had gotten arrested for robbing the Domino’s delivery guy at gunpoint,” she told BusinessWest. “He said he didn’t do it, but he went to jail, and this was at a time when he was asking, ‘when are we going to get together?’ ‘When are we going to have dinner, Miss Paula?’ I remember I was just trying to put him off.

The former School Street School

The former School Street School, a reclamation project in every sense of that phrase, is now home to YSET Academy.

“And then, it was like, ‘OK, I have to do something,’” she went on, fast-forwarding the story to the point where she arrived at the downtown Springfield offices of NUVO Bank looking to secure a mortgage on the long-vacant, century-old School Street School building, which was a reclamation project in every way imaginable, but also her best option.

Dale Janes, president of the bank and the officer who would eventually handle this application, remembers two things about Moore — her smile and her determination.

“What’s so impressive about her is that she did this on her own,” he said. “She took on the risk of borrowing money for that building because she believes so much in her program. We felt that she not only qualified on a credit basis, but her enthusiasm around what she was doing was simply infectious.”

As it turned out, getting the mortgage would be exponentially easier than making the former school ready for prime time. What followed was two years of hard work during which Moore would get to know those in Springfield’s Building Department on a first-name basis, take out loans from her credit union to finance portions of the multi-faceted restoration project, become the quintessential do-it-yourselfer, and essentially beg, barter, and negotiate with countless contractors to get the doors open (more on all that later).

What exists at that location now is still very much a work in progress, what Moore calls a “mini-vocational school,” a place where young teenagers can learn everything from culinary arts to karate; from dance (which Moore teaches herself) to drama, all in what she calls a “place of refuge.”

There is also a preschool, one of two revenue streams (a few churches also lease out some space), and opportunities for many young people to grow through jobs as junior staffers.
More than 2,000 young people have participated in the program since it was launched, and that number should rise considerably over the next several years, said Moore, adding that her not-so-long-term goal — she doesn’t know how long it will take to meet it — is to make YSET considerably more self-sustaining, financially and otherwise, which would enable her to get some of her life back. Indeed, she not only oversees the operation and sets the tone, but also drives the van to collect students for the after-school programs and picks up supplies on an almost daily basis.

When that self-sufficiency arrives is anyone’s guess, but for now, Moore is, for the most part, at least, enjoying the ride, both literally and figuratively, and making a difference in every sense of that phrase.

Steering Kids Straight
Moore was behind the wheel of the van for one of several meetings with BusinessWest for this article. Her schedule is packed — she’s at Putnam starting at 7 a.m. and usually involved with YSET in some capacity until 10 p.m. most weekdays — so for this interview, as with many aspects of her life, work, and life’s work, she was multi-tasking.

“The total focus was to get students off the street,” she said while explaining the genesis of YSET and also maneuvering the ramp to access the South End Bridge. “The 12- and 13-year-olds up to 18-year-olds … they didn’t have a place to go to. A lot of the programs in this area are geared toward children who are under 13. I saw that it was important to give those older kids a place to come to, and as the need presented itself and more and more people came, I worked with other people to figure out how to accommodate the needs of all these teenagers. And over the past 11 years, it’s just grown into a school.”

Backing up a bit — with her story, not the van — Moore said she was substitute teaching in Springfield at the time she conceptualized her after-school program. She had been teaching at Charter Oak Preparatory Academy in Connecticut, but it closed its doors, and she found some work in the city where she grew up and attended both Cathedral High School and Western New England College, and is now pursuing a doctorate at American International College.

“I just saw students who were hanging out after school,” she explained, noting that some were in gangs, but most were students at Springfield high schools who were trying to avoid trouble, not cause it. “And this wonderful church, South Congregational Church, opened its doors free of charge to the young people I invited to meet with me on Monday nights. Some kids were out doing mischief, and I thought it would be good to help them get on the straight and narrow, and the church allowed me to do that with countless young people.”

Paula Moore wears many hats at YSET Academy

Paula Moore wears many hats at YSET Academy, from administrator to dance teacher to van driver, a role she took on to help keep costs down.

In the beginning, the program was mostly about getting kids off the streets and helping them with the many aspects of becoming employable and then getting employed.

“At first, we were doing résumés and eating pizza,” she explained. “And kids kept coming. When you feed kids, for free, they’ll come back, and they did, in droves.”

Eventually, these young people started articulating wants and needs that were later translated into the full slate of developmental workshops and summer learning programs at the academy.

You could call all this a labor of love, but Moore said YSET was never her life’s ambition, or dream — she saves those terms for when she talks about teaching. Instead, both the program and its new home came about out of necessity and frustration. “This isn’t something I always wanted to do,” she said.

But within a few years of starting YSET, Moore was putting about 40 hours a week into the initiative and digging septic tanks for builder Dan Roulier, whom she described as a friend and mentor, to help make all the ends meet.

“He told me I was crazy working all those hours at YSET and that I had to get back into teaching,” she said, adding that she took that advice and eventually landed at Putnam. “This type of work takes a lot out of you, but it’s so rewarding, it doesn’t feel like work. I was working 40 hours a week at this and didn’t really realize that I didn’t have time for anything else.”

By 2009, when the number of program participants had become too large for the church to handle comfortably, officials there gave Moore six months to find a new home for the initiative. She remembers that her initial reaction was that she had done her “good deed” for six years and it was time to essentially shut things down.

“I’ll never forget the time I tried to say, ‘hey, we had a good run, the church wants to do some other things with its facility, so we’re not going to be meeting here anymore — but you guys have enough knowledge to move forward,’” she recalled. “Then one of the girls said, ‘what, we can’t come here anymore?’

“That’s when people started calling me and coming over to my house, and I knew I just had to find a place for them to go,” she went on, adding that she was further inspired by that incident involving the pizza-delivery person. After a lengthy and unsuccessful search for a small home in which to relocate YSET, the School Street property presented itself, and she eventually found herself in Janes’s office at NUVO.

The rest, you might say, is history in the making.

Turn Signals
Moore doesn’t have any ‘before’ pictures of YSET’s headquarters facility.

She said taking them was too depressing an exercise, so she didn’t bother. And she doesn’t really care to be reminded of what it looked like then.

Indeed, looking back on those days is a painful exercise, although the rehab effort was in many ways a rewarding and educational experience.

Indeed, she said she watched a number of home-improvement videos, became proficient at a number of skills she never imagined she would, and, perhaps most importantly, honed the fine arts of partnership building and negotiation.

With the former, she said she managed to create sponsor relationships with several area banks, the Regional Employment Board of Hampden County, and even Bob’s Discount Furniture. As for the latter, well, as one example, she pointed to the parking lot she just eased the van into.

Original estimates to pave a large portion of the property were $90,000, she said, adding that she quickly reduced the scope of the project by half, and then, over the course of several months, whittled the price of the work from $45,000 to roughly $8,000.

“I just kept going back and going back, trying to get that price down,” she said. Through a variety of tactics — from bartering to doing some of the work herself — she managed to get roughly $100,000 work of renovations for a fraction of that amount.

“I dealt with every kind of contractor — plumbers, electricians, carpenters, roofers, lead abatement people — and bartered and bartered with all of them,” she told BusinessWest. “I’ve written business plans for companies so they would give me work there. There were a lot of different negotiations I went through, on top of learning how to do some of their work; I’ve even torn down walls with their crew.”

These days, Moore is focused much more on what goes on inside the building, everything from shaping programs and schedules to training staff.

The after-school component of the academy now boasts developmental workshops in everything from “math adventures” to résumé and cover-letter writing; dance, drama, and theater to “reading exploration”;  video production to fitness.

There is also a summer camp that provides a host of activities, including fishing, hiking, swimming, and paddleboating, but also learning opportunities through the study of marine life, exploring the ecosystem, and water testing.

The lessons are interactive, hands-on, and project-based, said Moore, adding that they help explain the academy’s motto — “learn more to earn more” — and its mission to help young people not only get off the streets, but start on a path to employment. And there have been a number of success stories.

Na’kyia Slater is still in the process of scripting one of them.

Now 24, she started attending those Monday sessions at South Congregational Church a decade ago after Moore, or Miss Paula, as staffers and young people call her, spoke at her church.

“It gave us something to look forward to, and it helped keep teens off the streets,” she said of the program, adding that, through Moore’s help, she was able to secure several summer jobs through her high-school years.

Today, she’s a preschool teacher at YSET, a development she likened to “coming home.”

“It’s great working here; I love it,” she told BusinessWest. “It’s a great environment, and you can see that you’re making a difference in people’s lives.”

Moving forward, Moore said there are many things on her to-do list to secure long-term stability and growth for YSET. She would like a larger board of directors, for example, and hopefully one that includes bankers and accountants that could help bring more order to the agency’s finances. Securing additional revenue sources is another priority, she said, as is some long-term strategic planning.

And then, there are those efforts to make the organization more self-sufficient, in every sense of that phrase. Elaborating, she said she wants the agency to grow up, mature, and be able to stand on its own — much like the young people YSET serves.

“I’d like to be able to step back and not be needed so much,” she said of her immediate goal. “You want your child to be able to grow up in such a fashion that he or she can survive on their own, and that’s where I’m at with YSET — I want it to survive on its own, and it’s getting there; it’s getting its legs underneath it.”

On the Right Road
Returning to the saga of that individual sent away for allegedly robbing a pizza-delivery person, Moore said he recently got out of prison.

“I picked him up and took him to get some clothes,” she recalled. “And I told him not to go back to those kids he was hanging around with or go back to the things he was doing.”

Apparently, he is not heeding that advice.

He didn’t go to a job interview Moore set up for him, and sources tell her that he is, in fact, hanging out with those she instructed him to avoid.

“When I see him, I’m going to wring his neck,” she said with a voice that embodied that sense of dedication and enthusiasm that so impressed Dale Janes and everyone else who has encountered Miss Paula.

She has no intention of giving up on that young man — and that’s just one of many reasons why she’s worthy of the title Difference Maker.

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

Class of 2014 Difference Makers
Their Investments in the Lives of Children Are Paying Huge Dividends

Al Zippin, left, past potentate, and current Potentate William Faust.

Al Zippin, left, past potentate, and current Potentate William Faust.
Photo by Denise Smith

Howard Newman was relating the story of how he and his wife, Cindy, ultimately decided to adopt a 2-year-old Russian boy suffering from what’s known as ‘limb deficiency’ — the child was born missing part of his thigh bone and fibula, and had a foot where his short leg ended.

He started by recalling what he could of a conversation the couple had with an orthopedic specialist practicing not far from where they lived in the Albany, N.Y. area. Essentially, the Newmans were looking for insight into what this boy was up against, what care he would need, and what kind of life he could expect.

And the doctor answering their questions wasn’t exactly filling them with hope and optimism.

“He tried to discourage us from doing this,” Howard recalled. “He said that a boy like this may never walk. He was giving us all the negatives, saying things like ‘think about having to carry a 20-year-old up and down steps.’”

But the Newmans were not to be easily deterred. They had the same discussion with more specialists, and eventually gained enough confidence to buy two plane tickets to Russia — and three for the ride home.

When they picked up the child, they had a talk with the Russian doctor administering the physical that was required to complete paperwork for the American embassy. He had what amounted to a question wrapped in the form of a plea.

“He said, ‘you are taking him to Shriners, aren’t you?’” said Howard.

To make a long story somewhat shorter, they did. Specifically, they took him to the Shriners Hospital for Children on Carew Street in Springfield, and they’ve been bringing him back periodically for more than 16 years.

His care there started with the amputation of his foot, leaving young Isaac in a body cast for six weeks. He was then fitted for a prosthetic leg, the first of several he’s needed over the years.

“As I grow, I need new legs,” said Isaac, adding that there were years when he went through two.

As he talked with BusinessWest on a cold Friday morning in late January, he was at the hospital to be fitted for the latest of these prosthetic limbs, all provided free of charge.

“I’ve pretty much stopped growing now — they’re replacing this one because it’s faded,” said Isaac, who walks with a slight limp and can run with his fellow classmates during gym class.

He leads what Dr. David Drvaric, who performed the amputation surgery and has cared for Isaac since he first arrived at the hospital, called a normal life. “He just has to put his leg on every day.”

Howard Newman said Isaac’s experiences with Shriners went a long way toward convincing he and Cindy to adopt another Russian child with similar problems, a girl named Chloe. She is also a regular visitor at the hospital, and, like her brother, has gone through a number of prosthetic limbs.

Isaac Newman, seen here with his father, Howard

Isaac Newman, seen here with his father, Howard, has been coming to the Shriners Hospital for Children in Springfield for more than 16 years.

It isn’t written down anywhere, but it is the unofficial mission of the Melha Shrine Temple, based on Longhill Street in Springfield, to help script more success stories like those involving Isaac and Chloe.

The Melha Shriners, like other temples across the U.S. and around the world, raise money to fund the 22 Shriners Childrens Hospitals in this country and now also Canada and Mexico. But equally important, they work tirelessly to raise awareness of these facilities and the critical, compassionate work that goes on at each one, while also dispelling the misperceptions that exist concerning them.

And there are many, said Chuck Walczak, administrator for both the Springfield hospital and another facility in Erie, Pa., starting with the commonly held belief that the hospitals care only for the children of Shriners, or that there are other limitations on who receives services. There’s also the notion that, because the care provided is free — although the hospitals will now ask patients’ families to use their insurance, if they have it — it is not of the highest quality. Even physicians practicing behind the former Iron Curtain know that’s not the case.

“Unfortunately, we’re a best-kept secret, and that’s not what we want to be,” said Walzcak, who credited the Melha temple with excellent, and ongoing, work to help rid the facility of that distinction.

And as the Shriners carry out that important work, they do it with a distinctive style and attitude, if you will — one focused on fun. The most visible manifestations of this are the annual Shrine Circus at the Big E and the ever-present clown unit, but those qualities permeate each of the 14 units, from bands to the many motorized vehicles, and each parade they appear at.

Al Zippin, long-time member of the Melha Temple, past potentate, and unofficial historian, summed it all up nicely.

“As Shriners, we’re investing in the future, and the reason I say that is our investment is in children — if we improve the quality of their lives, the future gets brighter for everyone,” he said, striking at the heart of the reason why the Melha group has been chosen as a Difference Maker for 2014.

Fun — with a Purpose
As he talked with BusinessWest at the Shriners facility, one of the many mansions on Longhill Street that have been retrofitted for other purposes, Zippin said the Melha Temple is now 115 years old.

It boasts members from across Western Mass., from the New York border to Worcester, and also from Northern Conn. There are roughly 1,400 members now, down from about 3,500 three decades ago, and perhaps 5,000 in the ’60s, he noted, adding that, like many fraternal organizations and service clubs, the Shriners are challenged with the task of convincing members of the younger generations to make the requisite commitments of time and energy to the organization.

But while smaller in size, the Melha Temple remains very active and quite impactful, said Zippin, who used that term to describe everything from the many forms of support given to all Shriners hospitals, and especially the Springfield facility, to participation in events and the staging of the circus, to the way in which this organization inspires its members to continually find ways to give back to the community.

“Once you get a taste of this,” he said, deploying that word to describe all of the above, “you don’t restrict yourself to the Shriners.

“That’s what happened to me,” he went on, adding that he became involved with groups and causes ranging from the Children’s Study Home to the Greater Springfield Convention & Visitors Bureau. “Masonry’s lessons lead you down that path — being aware of the needs of other people, being tolerant of others, and maintaining values and standards.”
There are 14 units within the Melha Temple, including the clowns (some of whom will make more than 100 appearances a year); a number of bands, including the popular Highlanders (bagpipers), a military band, a drum corps, an oriental band, and others; a host of motorized teams; and other units assigned specific projects. One orchestrates the circus, for example, while another, the so-called Directors Staff, offers tours of the Springfield hospital each weekend.

The performing units take part in a number of parades, including the Holyoke St. Patrick’s Day Parade, the July 4 event in East Longmeadow, and many others, said current Potentate William Faust, adding that the latest addition to the calendar is one in Winchendon.

There are also a number of events, such as the Chowder Bowl Football Classic involving local high-school stars, the annual Springfield Carnival, the temple’s annual game dinner, and others, all of which are designed for family involvement.

And that’s especially true of the annual Shrine Circus at the Big E.

The four-day spectacle, which debuted in the ’30s and has now continued for 60 consecutive years, draws thousands of attendees annually, said Zippin, and boasts a number of ongoing traditions.

Chief among them is the so-called Community Services Show, the Friday-afternoon performance, for which the Shriners donate all 4,700 tickets to area human-services agencies that work with children.

The Shriner clowns

The Shriner clowns have historically been one of the most visible manifestations of the Melha Temple’s huge presence in the community.

Zippin noted that he’s now seen three generations of the same family grow up with the event — and often come back together each May.

“People ask me what I do at the circus,” he said. “I tell them by the time it starts, my work is essentially over, so what I do is walk around and just look at the generations, the families, just having a great time; it’s incredibly rewarding.”

But while the circus and the parades bring revenue to the Melha Temple and, in turn, its units entertain and inspire people of all ages, such community outreach is undertaken for one reason — to bring important exposure to the Shriners’ philanthropy, its children’s hospitals.

“I’m a nut about exposure and PR, and I look at the circus and the parades as ways to simply remind people we’re here and that we have a great purpose,” said Zippin. “People will say, ‘boy, you have a lot of fun,’ and we can have fun because we look at the hospital up on Carew Street, and we know why we’re here.”

This mindset applies to the circus as well, even though the proceeds from those shows go toward operating the temple and the Longhill Street facility, not the hospital.

“The more visible we can be, the more we can bring the hospital story out to everybody,” he told BusinessWest. “And we need to keep doing that, and the circus really puts us in the public eye.”

Faust agreed. “Each year, the potentate has to come up with a slogan for the year,” he said. “My slogan is ‘Melha Shriners: having fun and helping kids,’ and that really says it all. We go out there and have fun at all our events, but it’s fun with a purpose.”

Care Package
When asked to put the Shriners — meaning the organization and its mission — into perspective, Zippin relayed a sentiment he’s probably expressed hundreds of times and in front of all kinds of audiences.

“When we have people who are thinking of becoming Shriners or who just recently joined, I always say to them, ‘how many organizations do you know where you can go in, and simply by being a member and paying your dues, you can have an impact on a child’s life — indirectly, but an impact?’” he said, while shifting the conversation about the organization back to where he thought it belonged: the hospitals.

There are 22 of them, 19 in the U.S. The operation in Springfield, one of two in Massachusetts, was originally opened in 1925. That hospital was replaced by the current facility on Carew Street in 1990. There are three major components to the Springfield facility:

• The Orthotics and Prosthetics Department, which custom-designs prosthetic adoption devices;
• The Motion Analysis Laboratory, which is involved in the study and application of biomechanics and gait analysis, including the use of a 3-D body scanner to measure body shape; and
• The Cleft Lip and Palate Clinic, which follows 360 patients through treatment options for cleft lip and palate repair.

Overall, the Springfield hospital, one of several that focus on muscular-skeletal disorders, has 12,000 active patients, who can receive care there until they are 21. They are treated for everything from chest-wall deformities to hip disorders; knock knees to limb deficiency; scoliosis and other spine deformities to spina bifida. As with both Isaac and Chloe Newman, patients are offered care over a number of years, said Walczak.

One ongoing challenge for the hospital, as he mentioned, is creating awareness of its presence, specialties, track record, and policies for admitting anyone whose condition meets its scope of services, free of charge.

“We’re narrowly scoped, but steeped in our expertise — we’re a specialty hospital,” he explained. “We don’t have the same resources and market identity as larger facilities.”
There is a new national marketing slogan — “Love to the Rescue” — that has been created to help brand and promote the hospitals as a group, he went on, “but within each of our markets, it’s very difficult to get the word out in a way that reaches everyone the way we would like.

“We don’t put a lot of money in our marketing budgets — we try to put every dollar toward patient care,” he continued, adding that this is why the multi-faceted support of the many Shrine temples, and especially Melha, is so critical to the hospital’s success moving forward.

The statue outside the Shriners Hospital

The statue outside the Shriners Hospital in Springfield pays homage to the Shriners and their work with children.

Shriners serve the facility in a number of ways, Walczak said — everything from those aforementioned tours to serving as volunteer drivers to pick up and drop off patients, to serving on the hospital’s board of governors.

“It’s a very collaborative relationship,” he said of the temple and the hospital, adding that tours are just one example of this phenomenon, but an important one because they usually bring out the passion the organization has for the hospital.

“We have a contingent of gentlemen who know this place inside and out, and they love to come here on weekends, nights, whenever, and show off this facility,” he said. “The gentlemen of Melha and the other shrines are so proud of these places; I’ve seen them come into this place crying because they’re just so proud of it. The passion, the loyalty, and the intensity is like something I’ve never seen in any place I’ve been in.”

Life and Limb

Isaac Newman will be graduating from high school next year.

That orthopedic specialist in Albany with whom his parents-to-be consulted all those years ago could not have been more wrong about his fate and the quality of life he would enjoy. And the same is true for his sister.

As Dr. Drvaric noted, Issac’s is a normal existence, apart from having to put his leg on every day. He and his family owe that to the Shriners around the world, and especially those at the Melha Temple, who have made the children’s hospitals their philanthropy — and their reason for being.

And for that, all those who have served the organization are worthy to be called Difference Makers.

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

Class of 2014 Difference Makers

Executive Director of the Springfield Chapter of Rebuilding Together

This Administrator Is Certainly a Momentum Builder
Collen Lovelace

Colleen Loveless

The large whiteboards in the conference room/kitchen of the Springfield office of Rebuilding Together are mostly clear at the moment.

The period from the holidays through the first few weeks of the new year are comparatively quiet at this agency — which touts itself as the “nation’s leading nonprofit working to preserve affordable homeownership and revitalize communities” — so there are only a handful of jobs, or projects, listed on the boards.

But that will change soon, said Colleen Loveless, executive director of the Springfield office, which is ramping up for what she expects will be another huge year. And as the calendar inches closer to the last Saturday in April, or National Rebuilding Day, as it’s called, those boards will be filled from top to bottom with projects, sponsoring groups, volunteer units, and other pertinent information.

It was that way last year, when the agency marked the occasion with a tightly coordinated campaign, aided by an army of 1,000 volunteers and 70 sponsors and donors, that changed the face of Tyler Street in Springfield’s Old Hill neighborhood. This ‘cluster rebuild’ — also called a Green-N-Fit project because of its focus on ‘green’-related initiatives such as converting heating systems from oil to natural gas — featured efforts to renovate, repair, and refurbish 25 homes on that street, most all of which were close to a century old, tired, and energy-inefficient.

The rebuild brought a new look to Tyler Street, but also new enthusiasm, new hope, and some unexpected consequences.

“One positive outcome from last year that we hadn’t anticipated was that neighbors who didn’t really know each other — everyone kind of sticks to themselves — did get to know each other,” she said. “And they’re now looking out for each other; there’s much more of a sense of community.”

The crowded whiteboards in the conference room have become one indicator of what Loveless has accomplished since she became the first executive director of this office more than four years ago and promptly began taking it to another, much higher level. But there are many others.

The Rebuilding Together brand

The Rebuilding Together brand, not to mention its reach, have been taken to a new level under the leadership of Colleen Loveless.

Most are to be found in the office’s front lobby. There hang collections of photographs chronicling last April’s cluster rebuild, as well as a recent project to rehab a transitional facility for 12 homeless veterans on Maple Court, and another to repair and refurbish 25 homes damaged by the June 2011 tornado that tore a path of destruction through the city. There’s also a shot of Loveless being presented with the Booze Allen Hamilton Management Excellence Award in 2012 as the top affiliate among the more than 200 chapters nationwide.

Beyond the photos, though, there are numbers, and many of them, to quantify what Loveless has accomplished in her tenure. She has grown the affiliate from being the 149th largest of the agency’s chapters to the 18th largest, and from nine home projects and a $130,000 budget to a high of 71 rebuilds (in 2012) and a $612,000 budget. Using a formula of leveraging an additional $4 in monetary and in-kind donations for every dollar spent, that adds up to an annual investment of more than $3 million in Springfield’s housing stock, which has made the City of Homes more deserving of that historic moniker.

But if current events and those of the recent past have prompted generous amounts of optimism, enthusiasm, and energy, one could make a strong case that the future looks even brighter.

Indeed, Loveless and her staff are putting the finishing touches on an ambitious strategic plan for the organization. It has a long name — ‘Rebuilding Together: Green-N-Fit 10 in 10; Maximizing Cluster Builds to Benefit the Old Hill Neighborhood, the State Street Corridor, and the City of Springfield’ — but a broad, yet simple, objective.

This endeavor will continue the work started last April for the next nine years, revitalizing contiguous blocks from Tyler Street to Hickory Street (see map, page A12) thus changing the look — and, in many ways, the fate — of what is statistically one of the poorest neighborhoods in the country.

Green-N-Fit 10 in 10

This map shows the battle plan for Green-N-Fit 10 in 10, which will change the face of several blocks within the Old Hill neighborhood.

While building on the impressive set of numbers compiled in her first four years at the helm of the agency, Loveless has some other work to do in the months and weeks to come, especially in the realm of awareness and telling the nonprofit’s story.

Indeed, there are many who are not aware of what Rebuilding Together does, how, or why, she noted, and there is also considerable confusion with regard to other agencies with like-sounding names — DevelopSpringfield and Rebuilding Springfield are just a few — and other nonprofits with housing-related missions, such as HAPHousing and Habitat for Humanity.

“Our brand is resonating, but we have to work harder to get the word out. We don’t build new houses, and we don’t do extreme makeovers,” she said, referencing the missions of other nonprofits (or TV networks). “Our goal is to preserve existing home ownership and help people stay in their homes.”

And because of the effective manner in which she has articulated, communicated, broadened, and carried out that mission, Loveless is clearly worthy of the designation Difference Maker.

Board Meetings
Photographs of the massive National Rebuilding Day effort last April certainly help tell the story of how this agency has evolved and grown over the past several years, and changed the landscape in Springfield — figuratively and quite literally — in the process.

One aerial shot (see below) conveys the scope of the effort, the high level of coordination, and the large amounts of energy, camaraderie, and good will that were generated by convening so many volunteers and supporting businesses to bring new life to one small but significant corner of the city.

“It was truly a community effort — many different groups and individuals were involved with making it all happen,” said Loveless, who spent much of the day choreographing the production, which was compared by many to a movie set because of the sheer volume of people, not to mention the drama that was unfolding, on site.

It was a world — or several worlds, to be more accurate — apart from what the local affiliate of Rebuilding Together was doing back in the early ’90s, when the national agency was called Christmas in April.

That’s because it only did projects on that one day each April, said Loveless, adding that the organization was launched locally by three banks — SIS (now TD Bank), Hampden Bank, and BayBank Valley — and had no paid staff, just a volunteer board that would work on perhaps a half-dozen houses a year, focusing on painting, landscaping, and other small projects.

As the nonprofit expanded into a year-round initiative, a name change was obviously necessary, she went on, and Rebuilding Together, which accurately and succinctly sums things up, was chosen.

It was in 2009, she said, that the board decided that the Springfield affiliate needed to respond to consistently growing need within the community and expand its mission and scope. Demographics played a big part in that decision, she told BusinessWest, adding that the population of Springfield, as in all cities, was aging, and individuals were finding it more difficult to remain in their homes and keep them properly maintained.

“Many of these people had lived in their homes for dozens of years, decades and decades,” she said. “Now, they’re on Social Security, and they want to stay in their home. So we would build them a handicap ramp or fix their leaking roof.

“The board saw this growing demand and decided it was time to open an office, hire staff, and make it a year-round program to serve more people in need,” she went on, adding that the opportunity to manage that office appealed to her, professionally and otherwise.

At the time, Loveless was operating her own category-management company, called Popmax (short for point-of-purchase maximization) International, which she launched 15 years earlier, while also venturing into commercial real estate with a small portfolio of rental properties. She also built her own home.

“I really enjoyed what I was doing, and it was a successful business, but I was looking for something different,” she said. “And this was a good match for me, because I could use my marketing, sales, and business skills; after all, a nonprofit is a business as well. I love doing this more than running my own business, and not many people can say that.”

Loveless first set up shop in the Scibelli Enterprise Center (now the Business Growth Center) in the Technology Park at Springfield Technical Community College, but quickly outgrew that space and moved into the Colonial Block on Main Street in Springfield, just a block or so from where the tornado tore through the South End on that fateful June day.

Bringing It Home
Over the past few years, Loveless has expanded the agency in a number of ways, from the number of projects to the types of endeavors to the work done on the houses chosen as projects.

“When it was an all-volunteer organization, it was just painting and landscaping,” she explained. “Now, we’ll do anything to a house — mold issues, pest control, lead abatement, roofs, energy-efficiency … anything that focuses on safety, health, and the well-being of the owner.”

She related the story of one individual who pressed the agency for a fence, something that would ordinarily fall outside its purview because it doesn’t meet those criteria listed above.

“He said, ‘those crackheads are cutting through my backyard, and I really don’t feel safe; I really want a fence so I can lock up the gate and they can’t cut through,’” she recalled. “It was a safety issue, and our mission statement says ‘a safe and healthy home for everyone,’ so we did it.”

Funding from the agency comes from a number of sources, said Loveless, listing national retailers such as Sears and Home Depot, which target funds for specific constituencies, as well as regional and national foundations, corporations such as MassMutual and Columbia Gas, and a number of area banks.

Meanwhile, volunteers come from all corners of the community, she said, adding that individuals and groups have found the work rewarding because they can not only see where their money, time, and energy is going, but they meet the people they’re assisting and see how they’re making a difference.

“You’re transforming someone’s life,” she said. “And that’s the best feeling at the end of the day.”

The budget for the local affiliate has swelled in recent years simply because the need has grown, and for reasons ranging from weather calamities to a still-lingering recession that has kept many out of work, to the simple graying of America, she said, adding quickly that, while the agency has broadened its reach, it can serve only a fraction of those who qualify and request assistance.

“That’s the hardest part of this job,” she said of the decisions about which projects to undertake, a process that involves matching requests with funding, available volunteers, and other tangibles. “There has been such a huge need, and the economy has made it worse for families with children and people who have been out of work.”

Therefore, the agency works diligently to allocate its resources in ways that will maximize their impact and improve quality of life for those who are served.

Tyler Street

Many have compared the scene at last April’s cluster rebuild on Tyler Street to a movie set.

Tornado victims comprise a constituency that clearly falls into that category, she said, adding that the agency responded to obvious need with a project that repaired and rehabbed 25 homes across the damaged sections of the city in five days.

But there are other, usually smaller examples of how Rebuilding Together is putting resources to work in different and far-reaching ways, everything from work to renovate a playground at a Square One facility to that aforementioned project at the facility for homeless veterans.

“We did extensive work inside and out — we invested $150,000 in that one house,” she explained, adding that the project was funded in part by a grant from Sears and its Heroes at Home program, which assists veterans. “We had volunteers from Westover and Barnes … there wasn’t a part of that house that we didn’t touch. We put in new floors, paint, a new roof, a new kitchen and baths, carpeting, curtains. At the end of the day, Bob’s Discount Furniture brought in all new furniture.

“It was incredibly rewarding to see the veterans come in at the end of the day and see that transformation,” she went on. “Moments like that make this the best job in the world.”

And it is with the goal of maximizing resources that the agency focused all of its National Rebuilding Day efforts on one street last April, and also why the plan for the next decade is to continue focusing on the Old Hill neighborhood, even while there are many areas of the city that need assistance.

“To really, truly revitalize a city, you have to take it block by block,” she told BusinessWest. “Yes, it’s house by house, but to have a large, profound, sustainable impact, it has to be block by block.”

“We’re going to go block by block for the next 10 years,” she continued. “And we believe it will have a profound impact on the Old Hill neighborhood.”

The next block will be Pendleton Street, she said, adding that she expects that the agency will be able to duplicate the intensity — and the results — recorded last year, in large part because of the momentum generated that day and the positive energy created by a collaborative effort that involved church groups, several businesses, the roughly 100 people involved with the Western New England College football team, and especially the people who live on Tyler Street.

Finishing Touches
After Pendleton Street, moving southwest, Green-N-Fit 10 in 10 will focus its resources and energy on Pickett Place, King Street, Lebanon Place, Nelson Avenue, Prince Street, Merrick Avenue, Lebanon Street, Monson Avenue, Green Place, Greene Street, Alden Street, Manhattan Street, Searle Place, Marshall Street, Crosby Street, Walnut Street, Melrose Street, Hickory Street, and Eastern Avenue, said Loveless, conceding that, to those not from Springfield, those are merely words on a map.

But to the families who live on those streets, it’s home, and it’s been their home for more than 20 years, on average. And they want it to be home for many years to come.
Helping them accomplish that goal has been Rebuilding Together’s ongoing mission. It’s a broader, more impactful mission now, and because of that, this agency, and especially its first executive director, are truly Difference Makers.

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

Agenda Departments

YMCA Annual Dinner
Feb. 12: Community members will gather at Mill 1 at Open Square for the Greater Holyoke YMCA’s 2014 Annual Dinner. The dinner celebrates and honors those who give unselfish gifts of time and energy to the community. This year’s Louis F. Oldershaw Community Service Award recipient is Attorney Mark Beauregard. The Oldershaw Award is given to an individual who has made significant volunteer contributions to the community and emulates a high standard of excellence in his or her life, professional achievements, and community service. The Y will also recognize the generous volunteer contributions of Joanne and Scott Harper of South Hadley, recipients of the Y’s 2014 Distinguished Service Award. The Harpers have volunteered with the Y’s Viking Swim Team for many years and have been instrumental in the team’s success. The Annual Dinner is $40 per person. Those interested in attending may either call the Y to register at (413) 534-5631, ext. 126, or visit the Y’s website at www.holyokeymca.org to register and pay in advance.

ACCGS Outlook Luncheon
Feb. 24: Join the Affiliated Chambers of Commerce of Greater Springfield for the region’s largest legislative event, discussing the most pressing local, regional, and federal issues of the day. The luncheon is slated for 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the MassMutual Center. The keynote speaker is Ed Henry, White House correspondent for Fox News. Presented by Health New England and sponsored by Eastern States Exposition, MassMutual Financial Group, PeoplesBank, United Personnel, Western Massachusetts Electric Co., Chicopee Savings Bank, and Verizon, as well as reception sponsors Comcast, the Sisters of Providence Health System, and the Republican, Outlook typically attracts more than 700 guests. Area elected officials will also be in attendance to participate in this discussion of front-burner issues. Tickets are $50 for ACCGS members and $70 for general admission. Reserved tables of 10 are available. Reservations must be made in writing and in advance by Feb. 14. Reservations may be made online at www.myonlinechamber.com, by e-mailing Cecile Larose at [email protected], or by faxing a reservation request to (413) 755-1322.

Dark Dining Room House Concert Series
March 1, April 5, May 3: This winter and spring, Dark Dining Room brings the warmth and coziness of your living room to the grandeur of Wistariahurst. Concert curators Matthew Larsen and Greg Saulmon will serve up several courses of local and national musicians over the first Saturdays of March through May. While no dinner will be served, there will be light refreshments provided by Tony Jones Catering, as well as a cash bar. Doors open at 7 p.m. for all shows. Reservations are suggested. Tickets cost $18 ($15 for members) and can be purchased online at wistariahurst.org or by calling the museum at (413) 322-5660. The March 1 concert features Heather Maloney, who boasts influences and roots in adventurous folk. Rosary Beard, whose intricately intertwined acoustic guitars skate a thin line between melancholy reflection and uplifting release, will open the show. On April 5, Dark Dining Room introduces Colorway, a power trio fronted by Western Mass. native F. Alex Johnson. Introspective songsmith and acoustic guitarist Mark Schwaber opens the show. The final concert on May 3 features acoustic guitarist David Berkeley, a Santa Fe-based troubadour who brings his version of Americana to the stage. Matthew Larsen and the Documents open the show with introspective piano pop layered with careful instrumentation and thoughtful harmonies. For more information about the Dark Dining Room House Concert Series, go to darkdiningroom.com. This program is supported in part by a grant from the Holyoke Cultural Council, a local agency which is supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council.

Difference Makers 2014
March 20: The sixth annual Difference Makers award program, staged by BusinessWest, will be held at the Log Cabin Banquet & Meeting House, honoring the five individuals and organizations featured in the special section of this issue. More details on the event will be published in upcoming issues of the magazine, but tickets cost $60, and tables of 10 are available. Difference Makers is a program, launched in 2009, that recognizes groups and individuals that are, as the name suggests, making a difference in this region. Event sponsors include Baystate Medical Center, Health New England, First American Insurance, Meyers Brothers Kalicka, Northwestern Mutual, Royal LLP, Sarat Ford, and Six-Point Creative. For more information, call (413) 781-8600.

Departments People on the Move

Christopher Marini

Christopher Marini

Theresa Glod

Theresa Glod

Teresa Perkins

Teresa Perkins

Meyers Brothers Kalicka, P.C. recently hired two new Associates, Christopher Marini and Theresa Glod, and announced the promotion of Teresa Perkins. Marini and Glod will work closely with clients in the firm’s Accounting and Auditing department.  Before coming to MBK, Marini interned for two years at Pignatare and Sagan, LLC, Certified Public Accountants, and earned a BBA from UMass Isenberg School and Commonwealth Honors College. He is currently pursuing his MSA at UConn, and is a member of the Mass. Society of CPAs. Glod worked previously at PricewaterhouseCoopers in New York City, and holds a BBA in Accounting and an MS in Accounting from Western New England University. She is currently sitting for her CPA exam.  Perkins was promoted to Senior Associate in the Audit and Accounting division; she was previously a Staff Audit Associate and, before coming to MBK, was a staff accountant at Big Y Foods. Perkins is a graduate of Western New England University, earning a bachelor’s degree in 2006 and an MS in Accounting in 2009. She is currently studying for the CPA exams.
•••••
Lori Gazzillo

Lori Gazzillo

Berkshire Bank recently announced that Lori Gazzillo has been promoted to Vice President and Director of the Berkshire Bank Foundation. Gazzillo will oversee the bank’s two foundations, one of which provides grants to nonprofit organizations in the communities served by Berkshire Bank, and the other in which the foundation administers the bank’s extensive employee volunteer program and scholarship program. Gazzillo has served for the past year as the foundation’s Assistant Director and assumed the key leadership role with the retirement of Peter Lafayette as former director after eight years of service on Dec. 31, 2013. Lafayette will continue in an advisory capacity. Gazzillo joined Berkshire Bank in July 2011 from Legacy Banks after Berkshire Bank and Legacy merged. While at Legacy, she served as Vice President of Community Relations. Prior to her banking career, Gazzillo worked for nine years at Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA), overseeing the institution’s public relations. Currently she serves on the Berkshire Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors, Multicultural BRIDGE, and Berkshire Business and Professional Women. She holds a BA in Journalism from Keene State College and a M.Ed. from MCLA.
•••••
The Westfield-based engineering firm Tighe & Bond recently promoted five employees who have demonstrated exceptional performance, client service, and leadership. Three of the five have been promoted to Associate within the firm’s stock ownership program; they are:
Briony Angus

Briony Angus

• Briony Angus, AICP, a project manager who joined Tighe & Bond’s Westfield office in 2008. Angus is an environmental and land-use planner with 15 years of experience managing development projects that require approvals from local, state, and federal regulatory agencies. A certified land-use planner, Angus is a member of the American Planning Assoc., and Chair of the Amherst Conservation Commission. Angus has a BA from McGill University and a MA in Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning from Tufts University;



Susan Guswa

Susan Guswa

Susan Guswa, P.E, a senior engineer who joined Tighe & Bond’s Westfield office in 2003. She has more than 18 years of experience, serves as a project manager and design engineer for major wastewater upgrades throughout New England, and is Tighe & Bond’s Wastewater Technical Practice Group Leader. Guswa holds a BS in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Duke University and a MS in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Stanford University. She is a member of the Water Environment Federation and the New England Water Environment Assoc., and



David Popielarczyk

David Popielarczyk

David Popielarczyk, P.E., a senior engineer who joined Tighe & Bond’s Westfield office in 1986, and has more than 27 years of experience in the planning, evaluation, design, and construction management of water resources and wastewater projects. Popielarczyk received his BS in Civil Engineering from the University of Hartford, and a MS in Environmental Engineering from UMass Amherst.  He is a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers, the New England Water Works Assoc., the New England Water Environment Assoc., and the Water Environment Federation.
Also promoted into the stock ownership program were:
• Gary Roberts, an environmental scientist in the firm’s Westfield office; and
• Joseph Persechino, P.E., LEEP AP, a project manager in the firm’s Portsmouth, N.H. office.
•••••
The Springfield-based regional law firm of Bacon Wilson, P.C. announced the following:
Benjamin Coyle

Benjamin Coyle

Benjamin Coyle has been named a shareholder. He is a member of the firm’s business and corporate, estate planning and elder, litigation, municipal departments, and is a five-time recipient of the SuperLawyers Rising Stars distinction and a board member of the Western Mass. Council of the Boy Scouts of America. Coyle earned his J.D. from Western New England University School of Law and his B.S.B.A. from Western New England University.






Adam Basch

Adam Basch

Adam Basch has been named a shareholder of the firm. He is a member of the litigation department, practices in the areas of construction litigation, personal injury, general litigation, and commercial litigation. He is the former secretary of the Hampden County Bar Association, a six-time recipient of the SuperLawyers Rising Stars distinction, and serves as a member of the Wilbraham Planning Board and the United Way Allocation Committee. He teaches litigation and business law at Bay Path College and is the author of numerous construction and general litigation articles. Basch earned his J.D. from Western New England University School of Law and his B.A. from Union College.

Briefcase Departments

Community Partnerships Created to Promote Health
BOSTON — Gov. Deval Patrick’s administration recently announced more than $40 million in grants to nine community-based partnerships — including networks in Holyoke and Pittsfield — to help fight chronic illness and improve health outcomes while reducing healthcare costs. Part of the Prevention and Wellness Trust Fund, this first-in-the-nation effort is part of a $60 million grant over four years created by the Legislature and administered by the Department of Public Health (DPH). “In Massachusetts, we believe that healthcare is a public good, and every resident deserves access to affordable, quality care. These grants will help us reach that goal by funding the intervention strategies proven to work,” Patrick said. The fund supports community-based partnerships in achieving measurable health goals through research-based interventions. Working together, municipalities, healthcare systems, community organizations, businesses, regional planning organizations, and schools design community-specific programs addressing issues such as hypertension, smoking, falls prevention among older adults, and pediatric asthma. As a condition of funding, each partnership must achieve specified health and cost-saving benchmarks on at least two of the four health issues prioritized by the trust. “As a registered nurse, I’ve seen the power of prevention in improving health outcomes, and the importance of local partnerships in driving change at the community level,” said DPH Commissioner Cheryl Bartlett. “These Prevention and Wellness Trust Fund grants will promote both of these worthy objectives in cities and towns across the Commonwealth.”  Funded partnerships will work to reduce rates of the most prevalent and preventable health conditions, advance healthy behaviors, increase the adoption of workplace wellness or health-management programs, and address health disparities. Each of the nine grantees will receive up to $250,000 for the first phase of their work. As grantees demonstrate their readiness to implement interventions in community and clinical settings, they will receive additional funding between $900,000 and $1.5 million for each of the next three years. The amount each partnership receives depends upon population covered and the number of conditions addressed. The two local coordinating organizations are Berkshire Medical Center (partnering with Berkshire County Boards of Health, Berkshire United Way, Berkshire Regional Planning Commission, Berkshire Public Health Alliance, Fairview Hospital, North Adams Regional Hospital, North Berkshire Community Coalition, and Tri-town Health Department District); and Holyoke Health Center (partnering with the city of Holyoke, Greater Holyoke YMCA, Holyoke Medical Center, River Valley Counseling Center, and Western Mass Physician Associates). For more information on the Prevention and Wellness Trust Fund, visit mass.gov/pwtf.

Markey, Warren Press for Release of Heating Assistance
WASHINGTON — With millions of families facing harsh weather and economic conditions and nearly $490 million still remaining this year for the nation’s low-income heating-assistance program following recent passage of the omnibus spending bill, U.S. Sens. Edward Markey and Elizabeth Warren called on the Obama administration to immediately distribute those energy assistance benefits to Massachusetts residents. In a letter sent to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, the senators argue that budgetary certitude created by passing the 2014 appropriations bill allows the department to immediately distribute the almost $490 million remaining in the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP). Temperatures have fallen in recent weeks to dangerous levels, but home heating prices have risen more than forecast. “A combination of frigid temperatures and higher than anticipated energy prices is creating a dire situation for many New England households,” according to the letter. “Releasing the nearly $490 million in remaining LIHEAP funds for this year as soon as possible is imperative to ensure that families who have already been stretched to the limit by these cuts can continue to pay their heating bills. We urge HHS to immediately release Massachusetts’ share of all remaining heating-assistance funds for the current year.” LIHEAP funding has also been cut by about one-third over the last four years, leading to a reduction in benefits and the number of families receiving assistance in many states. Markey and others have called for a restoration of full funding for the LIHEAP program to $5.1 billion per year.

Massachusetts Adds 10,300 Jobs in December; State’s GDP on Rise
BOSTON — The Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development (EOLWD) recently reported that the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ (BLS) preliminary estimates show that Massachusetts added 10,300 jobs in December, and the total unemployment rate was 7.0%. Over the year, the unemployment rate was up 0.3% from the December 2012 rate of 6.7%. The private sector added 10,400 jobs in December as professional, scientific, and business services; trade, transportation, and utilities; leisure and hospitality; financial activities; and other services all added jobs. Over the year (December 2012 to December 2013), Massachusetts added 55,500 jobs in total, 54,500 of which were in the private sector. The December 2013 estimates show 3,237,600 Massachusetts residents were employed and 243,800 were unemployed, for a total labor force of 3,481,300. The December labor force decreased by 1,900 from 3,483,200 in November 2013, as 100 more residents were employed and 1,900 fewer residents were unemployed over the month. The labor force was an estimated 500 below the 3,481,800 December 2012 estimate, with 10,600 fewer residents employed and 10,300 more residents unemployed. Meanwhile, Massachusetts real gross domestic product grew at an estimated annual rate of 5.5% in the fourth quarter of 2013, according to the MassBenchmarks Current Economic Index. MassBenchmarks is the journal of the Massachusetts economy published by the UMass Donahue Institute based in Hadley in collaboration with the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. It reports that the state’s economy is growing faster than the nation’s as a whole. The U.S. Department of Commerce reports national real gross domestic product grew at an annual rate of 3.2% during the same period. In 2013, state economic growth outpaced that of the nation in three of four quarters, according to the report. “The Massachusetts economy appears to be benefiting from improving conditions in national and international economies, and by increasingly confident households who are demonstrating a willingness to spend,” writes Alan Clayton-Matthews, MassBenchmarks senior contributing editor and associate professor of economics and public policy at Northeastern University.

Company Notebook Departments

Paragus IT Sets Up Shop Temporarily in Springfield
SPRINGFIELD — The staff of Paragus IT is currently operating out of an office at Harrison Place in downtown Springfield while waiting for a new, state-of-the-art headquarters to be built in Hadley. “It’s great to be part of the vibrant business culture downtown,” said Paragus CEO Delcie Bean. “Many of our clients
and friends are here, and we’re always looking to connect and network with other area businesses.” Paragus brings a staff of more than 35 technicians and business professionals into the downtown economy, and takes on new hires every six to eight weeks.  For the past two years, the company was were named in Inc.’s annual ranking of the 5,000 fastest-growing businesses. With a 546% growth rate since 2008, Paragus is the second-fastest-growing outsourced IT firm in New England. After eight years at its Russell Street headquarters in Hadley, Paragus will be moving to a new commercial office building, also in Hadley, later this year. The new space is 8,000 square feet, nearly four times the size of the former location. Bean has indicated that, if things go well downtown, he may consider maintaining a permanent satellite office there.

North Brookfield Savings Bank Named a Preferred Lender by SBA
NORTH BROOKFIELD — North Brookfield Savings Bank (NBSB) has been awarded status as a Preferred Lender for the Small Business Administration (SBA), which can mean faster loan approval for customers.
“To be awarded the SBA’s Preferred Lender status is a privilege, and we are proud to recognize North Brookfield Savings Bank for their lending performance and reputation,” said Massachusetts SBA Director Robert Nelson. “We look forward to working more closely with them and their customers now and in the years ahead.” As a member of the SBA’s Preferred Lender Program, NBSB has the authority to issue an SBA-guaranteed loan without prior SBA review and approval. Membership in the program is given only to financial institutions that have a proven capability and commitment to small-business lending, and strict adherence to SBA guidelines. “The SBA Preferred Lending designation gives us the ability to streamline our commercial-loan process, which in turn will allow us to approve and close SBA loans more efficiently,” said Anthony Piermarini, senior vice president and senior commercial loan officer. “We are proud of our membership in the Preferred Lender Program. The NBSB Commercial Lending team has worked diligently to provide loans to businesses in our community, and achieving this status demonstrates our commitment to small-business lending and our business community.” Rick Egan, NBSB vice president and commercial loan officer, will serve as the bank’s SBA loan specialist.

Departments Incorporations

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

BELCHERTOWN

Krunali Inc., 134 South St., Belchertown, MA 01007. Hemant Kumar Patel, same. Recycling services.

EAST LONGMEADOW

Lingualinks International Online Inc., 117 Millbrook Dr., East Longmeadow, MA 01028. Katherine Delaney Chung, same. Internet-based program designed to teach world cultures and languages to children around the world.

GRANVILLE

Little Birch Inc., 33 South Lane, Granville, MA 01034. Susan L. Brzoska, same. Acquire, buy, own, maintain, lease, rent and sell real property.

MONSON

Metamorphosis Place Inc., 23 Munn Road, Monson, MA 01057. Judy A. Van De Geer, same. Non-profit organization designed to assist people to grow in mind, body and spirit.

NORTH ADAMS

Northern Berkshire Interfaith Action Initiative Inc., 43 Eagle St., North Adams, MA 01247. Food pantry.

NORTHAMPTON

Infusion Institute Inc., 40 Fort St., Apt. 1, Northampton, MA 01060. Dennis George Lomax, same. Non-profit organization designed exclusively for educational purposes.

Inner Imager Productions Inc., 45 Olander Dr., Northampton, MA 01060. Peter Halperin, same. Multi-media entertainment business consultants.

Lange Chiropractic Inc., 300 Pleasant St., Suite 2, Northampton, MA 01060. Kimberly A. Lange, 7 Pheasant Lane, South Hadley, MA 01075. Chiropractic office.

Laurie E. Herzog, PH.D., P.C., 155 Main St., Northampton, MA 01060. Laurie E. Herzog, 367 Prospect St., Northampton, MA 01060. Clinical social work services.

PITTSFIELD

M & T Auto Sales Inc., 376 Tyler St., Pittsfield, MA 01201. Taylor Barlett,
56 Barlett Ave., Pittsfield, MA 01201. Auto sales.

Mickle Electric Inc., 489 Dalton Ave., Pittsfield, MA 01201. Patrick W.
Mickle, 6 Park Dr., Lanesboro, MA 01237. Master electrician.

WEST SPRINGFIELD

It’s West Springfield Inc., 10 Central St., Ste 20, West Springfield, MA 01089. Roberta Page, 117 Upper Beverly Hills, West Springfield, MA 01090-0423. Non-profit organization designed to plan, encourage, support, establish and promote community activities and events.

J Shea Enterprises Inc., 95 Poplar Ave, West Springfield, MA 01089. James Shea, same. Barber shop.

JX2 Productions Inc., 80 Windsor St., Suite C, West Springfield, MA 01089. Event production services. Andrew P. Jensen, same.

Raising Hope Together Inc., 61 Upper Church St., West Springfield, MA 01089. Emil Farjo, 323 Rogers Ave., West Springfield, MA 01089. Established to provide for the needs of West Springfield residents who are affected by natural or man-made disasters.

WESTFIELD

Ray of Hope International Church, 15 Summer St., first Floor, Westfield, MA 01085-3104. Parlad Gurung, same. Church.

SPRINGFIELD

La Minita De Kelsey Inc., 84 Woodside Terrace, Springfield, MA 01108.
Eugenio Valdez, same. Grocery market.

Minot Peak Management Inc., 14 Larkspur St., Springfield, MA 01108.
Jennifer P. Metsch, same. Real estate acquisition, ownership, leasing and management.

Money Squared Inc., 97 Florence St, Apt. 2, Springfield, MA 01105. Daniel C. Becker, same. Manufacturing of digital currency.

Ramani Inc., 1534 State St., Springfield, MA 01109. Kiesha R. Edmondson, 206 Miller Way, Windsor, CT 06095. Restaurant and bar.

Rexco Inc., 1082 Page Boulevard, Springfield, MA 01104. Holly E. Ferris, same. Ownership and operation of a property.

DBA Certificates Departments

The following Business Certificates and Trade Names were issued or renewed during the month of January 2014.

AGAWAM

Kondreanu Family Promoter
19 Harding St.
G & D Kondreanu

S & H Daily Music
124 Main St.
Maria Duducal

Trend Sound Promoter
33 Valley St.
Vyacheslav Sholopa

CHICOPEE

Chicopee Urgent Care
1505 Memorial Dr.
Ahmed Elmogy

Concierge Enterprise
92 Stonina Dr.
Felix Maldonado

Lamode
619 McKinstry Ave.
Joslie Otero

GREENFIELD

Adam & Eve
18 Main St.
Scott McGregor

Alan’s Auto
10 Montague City Road
Alan Owseichik

Currie’s Lawn Care
104 High St.
Michael Currie

Extreme Styles
395 Federal St.
Linda Peters

Fitz, Vogt, & Associates
1 College Dr.
Mark Fortino

Hillside Woodworking
1173 Bernardston Road
Robert Callahan

New England Camper Repair
1399 Bernardston Road
Jeffrey Ennis

Prospective Planning
3 Grinnell St.
Wendy Marsden

HOLYOKE

City Pizza, LLC
420 High St.
Adam Kaplan

Coamo Fashion
343 High St.
Alberto Berrios

Westfield Wealth Management & Insurance Group
330 Whitney Ave.
Sean A. Torres

PALMER

2000 Food and Fuel
1239 Park St.
Muhammad Waseen

Chmura’s Bakery
1240 Park St.
Rocky Salundor

Cutting Corner Inc.
1372 Main St.
Carol Henriques

Des Woodworking
1132 Thorndike St.
Dustin Smith

Healing Hands for Body & Mind
54 South St.
Patricia Wheelock

SPRINGFIELD

Bay Street Bottles
836 Bay St.
Khanh H. Nguyen

Baystate Builders
44 Bither St.
Gino Decesare

Beyond Shoes & Accessories
10 Kendall St.
Vito C. Resto

Big Daddy Boomerangs
88 Coral Road
Jeffrey N. LeBeau

Bosslife Inc.
2383 Main St.
Rafael Nazario

CCNE
27 Carver St.
Monica J. Caldwell

Concentra Advanced
140 Carando Dr.
Joan O. Lenahan

Fragrant Elegance
13 Lawn St.
Malachi Tresch

Holyoke Nail II
471 Boston Road
Tho H. Nguyen

J. Horne Photography
143 Main St.
Jesse E. Horne

J.J. Knox Food Market
17 Knox St.
Jabir Khan

Jay Harland Corporation
504 St. James Ave.
Richard M. Black

Knots Indeed
63 Lakevilla Ave.
Rita F. Bartholomew

Lizet Land Photography
219 Gifford St.
Lizet Land

M.S.M. Enterprises Inc.
766 Liberty St.
Mark Flagg

WESTFIELD

Alla’s
3 Scarfo Dr.
Alla Y. Khivuk

Cadence Aerospace
35 Turnpike Industrial Road
Larry Resnik

EMN
19 Oakdale St.
Nadia Mocan

Genkas Trend Sound
33 Buschmann Ave.
Gennadiy Laba

KG Heating & Air Conditioning
44 Forest Ave.
Kenneth Garrett

iLab Trend Sound Promoter
30 Buschmann Ave.
Inna Laba

J. Shea Enterprises
243 Elm St.
J. Shea Enterprises

Lurii Covileac
21 Parkside Ave.
Lurii Covileac

Valentin Trend Sound
77 George St.
Valentin Bidyuk

WEST SPRINGFIELD

Akim Construction
455 Union St.
Timofiy Akimov

Bel-Air Inn
387 Riverdale St.
Richard Harty

Boosted Shades
193 Cayenne St.
Devan C. French

Bueno Y Sano
935 Riverdale St.
Robert A. Lowry

China Bodywork Center
2009 Riverdale St.
Xiuping Gao

Epco NBF Group
10 Central St.
James Marcus

La Prestiges Salon and Spa
553 Union St.
Tatyana Gitsman

Larry’s Painting
79 Lathrop St.
Lawrence P. Kelly

Make it Yours
237 Morton St.
Valentina Shyshla

Supreme Brass and Aluminum
210 Windsor St.
Domenico R. Rettura

YNS International
1521 Westfield St.
Yegor Stefanstsev

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

4 Industrial Dr. East
Deerfield, MA 01373
Amount: $1,200,000
Buyer: Pro PEL East LLC
Seller: Bryson Realty Corp.
Date: 12/30/13

GREENFIELD

95 Country Club Road
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $144,000
Buyer: Alex L. Kapitan
Seller: Barry E. Richer
Date: 01/10/14

58 Freeman Dr.
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $630,000
Buyer: PRB LLC
Seller: Freehigh LLC
Date: 12/30/13

65 Harrison Ave.
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $167,000
Buyer: Clark S. Mitchell RET
Seller: Birute A. Hanley
Date: 12/30/13

29 Norwood St.
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $161,000
Buyer: Stuart P. Dusenberry
Seller: Erin J. Baldwin
Date: 12/31/13

MONTAGUE

61 4th St.
Montague, MA 01376
Amount: $165,800
Buyer: Bayview Loan Servicing LLC
Seller: Matthew L. Robinson
Date: 01/09/14

161 Industrial Blvd.
Montague, MA 01376
Amount: $675,000
Buyer: Deerfield Valley Realty
Seller: Turbosteam LLC
Date: 01/10/14

4 Old Sunderland Road
Montague, MA 01351
Amount: $212,000
Buyer: David E. Reilly
Seller: Diane L. Andersen
Date: 01/07/14

NORTHFIELD

177 Main St.
Northfield, MA 01360
Amount: $210,000
Buyer: Norman A. Miller
Seller: David A. Bonnett
Date: 01/09/14

181 School St.
Northfield, MA 01360
Amount: $486,720
Buyer: Edward H. Foster
Seller: Ross W. Smythe
Date: 01/06/14

SUNDERLAND

Bull Hill Road
Sunderland, MA 01375
Amount: $165,000
Buyer: Delta Sand & Gravel Inc.
Seller: Stanton F. Brown
Date: 01/10/14

260 North Main St.
Sunderland, MA 01375
Amount: $219,000
Buyer: Travis J. Lamothe
Seller: David G. Goodrich
Date: 12/30/13

50 South Silver Lane
Sunderland, MA 01375
Amount: $185,000
Buyer: Jason W. Shea
Seller: Marion C. Markwell
Date: 01/10/14

HAMPDEN COUNTY

AGAWAM

228 Adams St.
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $370,000
Buyer: William D. Corbin
Seller: Patricia Greene
Date: 01/08/14

404 Adams St.
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $248,000
Buyer: Douglas E. Glenn
Seller: George F. Hagan
Date: 01/06/14

50 Herbert P. Almgren Dr.
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $2,000,000
Buyer: Sound Seal Inc.
Seller: F2B LLC
Date: 01/10/14

39 Ottawa St.
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $155,000
Buyer: Benjamin P. Avery
Seller: Theodore F. Waterman
Date: 12/30/13

BLANDFORD

34 Nye Brook Road
Blandford, MA 01008
Amount: $150,000
Buyer: Erica E. Slayton
Seller: Josephine J. Taudel
Date: 01/08/14

BRIMFIELD

109 East Brimfield Holland
Brimfield, MA 01010
Amount: $180,000
Buyer: Leanne M. Russo
Seller: Brian Jolin
Date: 01/02/14

CHICOPEE

187 East Main St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $175,000
Buyer: Hoda M. Hamdan
Seller: Abbas M. Hamdan
Date: 01/08/14

200 Exchange St.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $252,000
Buyer: Peoples United Bank
Seller: Gene J. Demski
Date: 01/06/14

Frontenac St. #5
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $162,500
Buyer: Tiffanie C. Weaver
Seller: Edward C. Brunelle
Date: 01/10/14

88 McDonald Dr.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $300,000
Buyer: Robert J. Lafrance
Seller: James C. Leonard
Date: 01/07/14

89 Oakwood St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $189,000
Buyer: Paul M. Stawasz
Seller: Joshua Kusnierz
Date: 12/30/13

518 Pendleton Ave.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $185,000
Buyer: Christopher P. Zukowski
Seller: Waycon Inc.
Date: 01/07/14

781 Pendleton Ave.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $152,500
Buyer: Douglas J. Karbouski
Seller: Bernard F. Deorocki
Date: 12/31/13

788 Sheridan St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $800,000
Buyer: Timdee Rainey Investment LLC
Seller: John M. Bardzik
Date: 01/02/14

10 Union St.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $122,000
Buyer: Liam P. Reynolds
Seller: Christine Sullivan
Date: 01/06/14

18 Walnut St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $115,000
Buyer: David Matias
Seller: Kevin Clement
Date: 01/09/14

EAST LONGMEADOW

1 Apple Blossom Lane
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $250,000
Buyer: Joseph Chapdelaine & Sons
Seller: East Longmeadow Group Investment
Date: 12/30/13

38 Hillside Dr.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $205,000
Buyer: Megan E. Bobianski
Seller: Kevin H. Morris
Date: 12/30/13

27 Skyline Dr.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $409,000
Buyer: Teresa P. Demange
Seller: MC AC MC LLC
Date: 12/31/13

HAMPDEN

19 Fairfield Mannor
Hampden, MA 01036
Amount: $200,000
Buyer: Raymond C. Ung
Seller: Robert H. Sabbides
Date: 01/06/14

59 Meadow Brook Lane
Hampden, MA 01036
Amount: $156,000
Buyer: George A. Romano
Seller: Dieckmeyer, Hazel R., (Estate)
Date: 01/10/14

HOLYOKE

7 Franklin St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $160,000
Buyer: 7 Franklin Street RT
Seller: Bayview Loan Servicing LLC
Date: 12/30/13

25 Grandview Ave.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $170,000
Buyer: Diane L. Garvey
Seller: Judith A. Saraceno
Date: 01/06/14

1114 Hampden St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $155,000
Buyer: Michael B. Tetreault
Seller: Vision Capital LLC
Date: 01/10/14

810 Homestead Ave.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $125,000
Buyer: Andrea White
Seller: FNMA
Date: 01/10/14

11 Linden St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $139,000
Seller: Robert S. Killin
Date: 01/06/14

57 Longfellow Road
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $312,500
Buyer: Joseph P. Dutsar
Seller: Rhoades, Warren A., (Estate)
Date: 01/10/14

52 Suffolk St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $308,000
Buyer: Whiting Building LLC
Seller: Suffolk Realty Assocs.
Date: 01/08/14

56 Suffolk St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $308,000
Buyer: Whiting Building LLC
Seller: Suffolk Realty Assocs.
Date: 01/08/14

LONGMEADOW

116 Benedict Terrace
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $319,000
Buyer: Ean James
Seller: Jerome E. Noonan
Date: 01/06/14

609 Laurel St.
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $284,000
Buyer: Jon Leander
Seller: Lawrence R. Fitzgerald
Date: 12/30/13

1142 Longmeadow St.
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $213,000
Buyer: Dominick C. Braiotta
Seller: James B. Bright
Date: 12/30/13

LUDLOW

30 Brunelle St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $125,000
Buyer: Terri L. Jurkowski
Seller: Kevin Jurkowski
Date: 12/30/13

345 Holyoke St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $217,500
Buyer: So Cool Realty LLC
Seller: Joseph R. Malvinni
Date: 01/06/14

57 Kirkland Ave.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $124,000
Buyer: Deutsche Bank
Seller: Mark A. Fernandes
Date: 01/09/14

190 Moody St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $940,500
Buyer: Croteau Realty LLC
Seller: Gary A. Barber
Date: 01/06/14

Rosewood Dr. #15
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $120,000
Buyer: Thomas J. Jendrysik
Seller: Rosewood Meadows Inc.
Date: 01/06/14

MONSON

39 Crest Road
Monson, MA 01057
Amount: $163,900
Buyer: Joel A. Zera
Seller: WKB RT
Date: 01/10/14

PALMER

15 Alden St.
Palmer, MA 01069
Amount: $234,703
Buyer: PNC Bank
Seller: Lisandro Padua
Date: 01/09/14

298 Emery St.
Palmer, MA 01069
Amount: $281,000
Buyer: Kevin F. Joyce
Seller: Richard F. Kelleher
Date: 12/31/13

65 Robinson Road
Palmer, MA 01069
Amount: $115,000
Buyer: Carolyn I. Baldyga
Seller: Bradley, Patricia A., (Estate)
Date: 01/06/14

164 Stimson St.
Palmer, MA 01069
Amount: $221,000
Buyer: Scott A. Tourville
Seller: Edward Czech
Date: 12/30/13

SPRINGFIELD

25 Amore Road
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $129,000
Buyer: Robert Murphy
Seller: James W. Fiore
Date: 12/31/13

44 Burns Ave.
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $169,493
Buyer: MHFA
Seller: Gisele C. Nascimento
Date: 12/30/13

131 Clement St.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $119,900
Buyer: Bao Vu
Seller: Thanh Nguyen
Date: 12/31/13

17 Dana St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $130,000
Buyer: Awilda McKinney
Seller: Michael P. Lavin
Date: 12/31/13

48 Donbray Road
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $185,091
Buyer: FNMA
Seller: Julianne L. Proulx
Date: 12/31/13

43 Eckington St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $166,500
Buyer: Kenneth D. Lafleche
Seller: Wilbraham Builders Inc.
Date: 12/30/13

40 Ellery St.
Springfield, MA 01129
Amount: $160,000
Buyer: Jose A. Lopez
Seller: Michael Lasorsa
Date: 12/30/13

120 Entrybrook Dr.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $164,900
Buyer: Rebecca A. Cabana
Seller: Jeffrey Schneider
Date: 01/10/14

30 Firglade Ave.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $122,000
Buyer: Mildred J. Horensky
Seller: Paula M. Young
Date: 12/31/13

111 Goodwin St.
Springfield, MA 01151
Amount: $118,000
Buyer: Talisha M. Moore
Seller: Irene Makuch
Date: 01/06/14

71 Hadley St.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $177,000
Buyer: Israel Lagos
Seller: Francesco A. Carrano
Date: 01/06/14

355 Maple St.
Springfield, MA 01105
Amount: $127,000
Buyer: Mark R. Clink
Seller: Gary S. Watson
Date: 01/10/14

80 Norman St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $132,000
Buyer: Brian Phillips
Seller: Sapphire Property Development
Date: 01/09/14

10 Old Brook Road
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $159,900
Buyer: Alexander Hamilton
Seller: Cedar Investment Group LLC
Date: 01/06/14

264 Island Pond Road
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $185,500
Buyer: Amanda A. Sullivan
Seller: Gary G. Decoteau
Date: 12/31/13

146 Kensington Ave.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $218,000
Buyer: Mister Mister LLC
Seller: Raul G. Fraga
Date: 12/31/13

35 Lenox St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $124,900
Buyer: Luis M. Torres
Seller: Marta Leander
Date: 12/30/13

1078 Liberty St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $130,800
Buyer: Nadine I. Allen
Seller: Carlos Rodriguez
Date: 12/31/13

22 Marchioness Road
Springfield, MA 01129
Amount: $164,000
Buyer: Michael Montanez
Seller: William J. Musiak
Date: 12/31/13

340 Oak St.
Springfield, MA 01151
Amount: $130,000
Buyer: Greater New Life Christ
Seller: Brenda E. Reyes
Date: 12/30/13

36 Oak St.
Springfield, MA 01151
Amount: $140,000
Buyer: Develop Springfield Corp.
Seller: Wayne Street LLC
Date: 12/31/13

29 Pelham St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $144,000
Buyer: Christopher D. Martinez
Seller: JNB Property Investment Inc.
Date: 12/31/13

94 Rochford Circle
Springfield, MA 01128
Amount: $150,000
Buyer: John R. Barbieri
Seller: Suzanne E. Clewes
Date: 01/09/14

1566 State St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $230,000
Buyer: 1566 State Street LLC
Seller: New HB Acquisition
Date: 12/31/13

80 Tamarack Dr.
Springfield, MA 01129
Amount: $169,000
Buyer: Lindsay B. Hackett
Seller: Keith B. Lee
Date: 12/31/13

100 Tilton St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $149,950
Buyer: Carlos J. Santini
Seller: Ivette Martinez
Date: 12/31/13

2132 Wilbraham Road
Springfield, MA 01129
Amount: $145,000
Buyer: RHL Properties LLC
Seller: Kenneth C. Wood
Date: 12/30/13

103 William St.
Springfield, MA 01105
Amount: $259,000
Buyer: Roman Catholic Bishop of Springfield
Seller: Louis F. Bonavita
Date: 12/30/13

167 Wrentham Road
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $145,000
Buyer: Van H. Nguyen
Seller: USA HUD
Date: 12/31/13

SOUTHWICK

78 Davis Road
Southwick, MA 01077
Amount: $263,000
Buyer: Jonathan A. Letourneau
Seller: Sanford, Dexter E., (Estate)
Date: 12/30/13

7 Deer Run
Southwick, MA 01077
Amount: $246,000
Buyer: Nadia Grushetskiy
Seller: FNMA
Date: 01/10/14

17 Fernwood Road
Southwick, MA 01077
Amount: $154,900
Buyer: Robert W. Ziemba
Seller: Marjorie J. Arnold
Date: 01/08/14

42 Granville Road
Southwick, MA 01077
Amount: $180,000
Buyer: Michael R. Burns
Seller: Italia M. Cecchini
Date: 12/31/13

16 Lakeview St.
Southwick, MA 01077
Amount: $190,000
Buyer: CRA Holdings Inc.
Seller: JRSR Associates LLC
Date: 12/31/13

43 Lexington Circle
Southwick, MA 01077
Amount: $430,000
Buyer: Peter E. Flynn
Seller: William F. Borecki
Date: 01/06/14

WESTFIELD

128 Crane Ave.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $282,000
Buyer: Corey J. Hinckley
Seller: Edwin D. Bishop
Date: 01/07/14

11 Crescent Circle
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $299,500
Buyer: Sean P. Young
Seller: James P. Pashko
Date: 12/31/13

3 Crown St.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $180,000
Buyer: Richard E. Clark
Seller: Edward W. Laudato
Date: 12/30/13

26 Denise Dr.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $175,000
Buyer: Marat Mkrtchian
Seller: Beatrice R. Mazut
Date: 01/06/14

163 Elizabeth Ave.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $230,000
Buyer: Ralph E. Thresher
Seller: James M. Spavins
Date: 12/31/13

79 Glenwood Dr.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $285,000
Buyer: Mohammed Najeeb
Seller: Lynn M. Poulin
Date: 01/09/14

29 Heritage Lane
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $376,500
Buyer: Leigh A. King
Seller: Vincenzo Tirone

708 North Road
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $215,000
Buyer: Michael J. Szewczhynski
Seller: Robert J. Lafrance
Date: 01/07/14

730 North Road
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $221,000
Buyer: Viktor Shokov
Seller: FNMA
Date: 12/31/13

333 Paper Mill Road
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $218,000
Buyer: Ivy A. Beltrandi
Seller: Lynn D. Hastings
Date: 01/10/14

4 Putnam Dr.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $135,000
Buyer: Leonard J. Latshaw
Seller: Marthajane Peck
Date: 12/30/13

5 Reservoir Ave.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $155,000
Buyer: Robert Norton
Seller: Jennifer M. Simmons
Date: 12/30/13

124 Sunset Dr.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $192,000
Buyer: Jeffrey M. Collingwood
Seller: Morris, Vernon H., (Estate)
Date: 12/30/13

5 Whispering Wind Road
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $420,000
Buyer: James P. Pashko
Seller: Peter J. Luksas
Date: 12/31/13

WILBRAHAM

31 Brooklawn Road
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $210,000
Buyer: Anita E. Richard
Seller: FHLM
Date: 12/30/13

5 Brookmont Dr.
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $165,000
Buyer: Edward C. Hough
Seller: Whitney E. Harris
Date: 01/06/14

5 Danforth Farms Road
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $765,000
Buyer: Jennifer A. Thorn
Seller: Lise M. Boilard
Date: 01/09/14

17 Danforth Farms Road
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $750,000
Buyer: Nick V. Hastain
Seller: James M. Parrish
Date: 01/09/14

400 Main St.
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $490,000
Buyer: Elizabeth Pacosa-McEvoy
Seller: E. A. Pacosa McEvoy RET
Date: 01/06/14

33 Mountainbrook Road
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $282,000
Buyer: Kevin H. Morris
Seller: Carol Forward
Date: 12/30/13

18 Wandering Meadows
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $440,000
Buyer: Hampden Bank
Seller: Linda R. Lata
Date: 01/02/14

6 Woodland Road
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $200,000
Buyer: Christopher Ryan
Seller: Martha A. Lyman
Date: 01/09/14

WEST SPRINGFIELD

56 Hillside Ave.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $225,000
Buyer: Muzaffar Taksilov
Seller: Kevin J. Longo
Date: 12/30/13

24 Larivee Lane
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $147,500
Buyer: Stanislav L. Nester
Seller: Brian F. Gendreau
Date: 12/30/13

194 Morton St.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $142,500
Buyer: Emilio E. Olivo
Seller: Wright, Leon A., (Estate)
Date: 12/31/13

134 New Bridge St.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $175,000
Buyer: Shakhmardan Shakirov
Seller: Viktor Shokov
Date: 12/31/13

334 Park St.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $120,000
Buyer: B&G Automotive Services
Seller: Sandri Realty Inc.
Date: 01/10/14

1267 Riverdale St.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $1,000,000
Buyer: 1267 Riverdale Street LLC
Seller: Pride Convenience Inc.
Date: 12/30/13

142 Southworth St.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Buyer: Shawn J. Smith
Seller: Ann M. Lollio
Date: 01/10/14

29 Webster Ave.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $156,058
Buyer: Timothy V. Flouton
Seller: Ivonne Ortiz
Date: 12/31/13

36 Worthen St.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $115,000
Buyer: Duc Truong
Seller: Chapman, Justine J., (Estate)
Date: 12/31/13

HAMPSHIRE COUNTY

AMHERST

Lindenridge Road
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $190,000
Buyer: Yuriy Brun
Seller: Tofino Associates LLC
Date: 01/06/14

22 Nutting Ave.
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $481,700
Buyer: Worcester Campus Corp.
Seller: Richard D. Waskiewicz RET
Date: 12/30/13

28 Nutting Ave.
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $481,700
Buyer: Worcester Campus Corp.
Seller: Richard D. Waskiewicz RET
Date: 12/30/13

65 Pine St.
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $251,500
Buyer: Susanne M. Michel
Seller: Laura B. Robinson
Date: 12/30/13

BELCHERTOWN

609 Federal St.
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $177,000
Buyer: Eileen R. Welly
Seller: Nancy J. Putnam
Date: 12/31/13

30 Metacomet St.
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $195,000
Buyer: James A. Thiemann
Seller: Keith R. Michel
Date: 12/30/13

17 Moss Lane
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $187,285
Buyer: FNMA
Seller: Garry L. Young
Date: 01/10/14

45 West St.
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $320,000
Buyer: John P. Budz
Seller: David J. Jagodowski
Date: 01/02/14

CHESTERFIELD

202 South St.
Chesterfield, MA 01012
Amount: $209,000
Buyer: Brett A. Carpowits
Seller: John B. Roberts
Date: 01/08/14

EASTHAMPTON

166 Line St.
Easthampton, MA 01027
Amount: $150,000
Buyer: Revampit LLC
Seller: Anne-Marie T. Rivest
Date: 01/10/14

4 Mckinley Ave.
Easthampton, MA 01027
Amount: $300,000
Buyer: Thomas M. Garvey
Seller: David Garstka Builders
Date: 01/08/14

9 Summer St.
Easthampton, MA 01027
Amount: $160,000
Buyer: Thomas W. Brown
Seller: Easthampton Savings Bank
Date: 12/31/13

11 Summer St.
Easthampton, MA 01027
Amount: $160,000
Buyer: Thomas W. Brown
Seller: Easthampton Savings Bank
Date: 12/31/13

GRANBY

235 Carver St.
Granby, MA 01033
Amount: $354,000
Buyer: Joseph E. Clark
Seller: Howard B. McCready
Date: 12/31/13

HADLEY

3 Aqua Vitae Road
Hadley, MA 01035
Amount: $180,000
Buyer: Perrin Hendrick
Seller: Lesko, Stanley H., (Estate)
Date: 12/30/13

12 Highland Circle
Hadley, MA 01035
Amount: $247,000
Buyer: Colleen A. Coughlin
Seller: Thomas, Vernon, (Estate)
Date: 01/10/14

251 Russell St.
Hadley, MA 01035
Amount: $440,000
Buyer: Modestow LLC
Seller: Gush Realty LLC
Date: 12/30/13

424 Russell St.
Hadley, MA 01035
Amount: $750,000
Buyer: Pizza Hut of America Inc.
Seller: Alan 2 LLC
Date: 01/07/14

HATFIELD

104 Pantry Road
Hatfield, MA 01088
Amount: $356,000
Buyer: Eliza R. Fischer
Seller: Norma R. Adler
Date: 01/10/14

NORTHAMPTON

9 Bancroft Road
Northampton, MA 01060
Amount: $385,000
Buyer: Aaron Knapp
Seller: Standick TR
Date: 01/09/14

14 Brierwood Dr.
Northampton, MA 01062
Amount: $245,000
Buyer: Anna A. Pertzoff
Seller: Bruce D. Sylvia
Date: 01/06/14

44 Cherry St.
Northampton, MA 01060
Amount: $318,750
Buyer: Chelsea S. Kline
Seller: Margot F. Zalkind
Date: 12/31/13

131 Chestnut St.
Northampton, MA 01062
Amount: $300,000
Buyer: Jonathan R. Sass
Seller: Anna A. Pertzoff
Date: 01/06/14

10 Ford Xing
Northampton, MA 01060
Amount: $617,671
Buyer: Estate Kokosadze
Seller: Wright Builders Inc.
Date: 12/31/13

107 Franklin St.
Northampton, MA 01060
Amount: $360,000
Buyer: Mark W. Erba
Seller: Sven Huggins
Date: 01/06/14

16 Garfield Ave.
Northampton, MA 01062
Amount: $226,000
Buyer: Katherine J. McCusker
Seller: Connor FT
Date: 01/10/14

34 Hastings Heights
Northampton, MA 01062
Amount: $225,000
Buyer: Richard M. Quackenbush
Seller: Cynthia R. Stone
Date: 01/08/14

23 Hayes Ave.
Northampton, MA 01060
Amount: $204,000
Buyer: Lisa E. Orenstein
Seller: Michael W. Hogan
Date: 01/08/14

268 Prospect St.
Northampton, MA 01060
Amount: $490,000
Seller: Nathaniel Y. Arai
Date: 01/10/14

278 Riverside Dr.
Northampton, MA 01062
Amount: $270,000
Buyer: Stephanie A. Smith
Seller: Karen A. Sanguinet
Date: 01/06/14

11 School St.
Northampton, MA 01060
Amount: $205,000
Buyer: 11 School Street LLC
Seller: John P. Mistark
Date: 01/09/14

63 Sheffield Lane
Northampton, MA 01062
Amount: $405,000
Buyer: Lisa Chodos
Seller: Jonathan R. Sass
Date: 01/08/14

PELHAM

12 Shutesbury Road
Pelham, MA 01002
Amount: $194,732
Buyer: Wells Fargo Bank
Seller: Phyllis E. Aldrich
Date: 01/08/14

SOUTH HADLEY

8 Berwyn St.
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $290,000
Buyer: Joshua R. Gelinas
Seller: Dean T. Sudyka
Date: 01/08/14

68 Columbia St.
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $126,000
Buyer: MERS
Seller: USA VA
Date: 01/06/14

14 Hadley St.
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $270,000
Buyer: Walter J. Selkirk
Seller: Sandra L. Selkirk
Date: 01/07/14

47 Mountain View St.
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $171,000
Buyer: Patrick Moynahan
Seller: Sal J. Canata
Date: 12/31/13

N/A
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $205,000
Buyer: Gurbinder Singh
Seller: Joshua R. Gelinas
Date: 01/08/14

12 Spring St.
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $210,000
Buyer: Dean T. Sudyka
Seller: Frank Bogdanovich
Date: 01/09/14

3 Wilson St.
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $165,000
Buyer: Meghan A. Campbell
Seller: Jean B. Campbell
Date: 12/31/13

SOUTHAMPTON

186 County Road
Southampton, MA 01073
Amount: $199,900
Buyer: Dennis P. Camolli-Simmons
Seller: Cheryl A. Bissonnette
Date: 12/30/13

38 Gunn Road Ext.
Southampton, MA 01073
Amount: $135,000
Buyer: Harold R. Gilbert
Seller: Murphy, Helen J., (Estate)
Date: 01/08/14

26 Katelyn Way
Southampton, MA 01073
Amount: $455,000
Buyer: Leonard Goldberg
Seller: Linda E. Hiesiger
Date: 12/30/13

196 Pomeroy Meadow Road
Southampton, MA 01073
Amount: $250,000
Buyer: Gregory R. Muttelman
Seller: Angela Barbar
Date: 12/31/13

WARE

96 Coffey Hill Road
Ware, MA 01082
Amount: $250,000
Buyer: Joshua A. Kusnierz
Seller: Anita E. Richard
Date: 12/30/13

152 North St.
Ware, MA 01082
Amount: $178,000
Buyer: Joseph Lanouette
Seller: Paul J. Beauregard
Date: 01/10/14

Building Permits Departments

The following building permits were issued during the month of January 2014.

AGAWAM

Dragon Paradise, LLC
90 Merrill Road
$37,500 — Build snack bar and interior renovations

Six Flags New England
1623 Main St.
$10,000 — Frame new building

CHICOPEE

JMDH Realty of Chicopee
132 First Ave.
$206,000 — Interior renovation

South Hadley Realty Trust
45-48 Dakota Ave.
$11,000 — Strip and re-roof

The Westmoreland Company
170 Lonczak Dr.
$2,640,000 — Office and warehouse addition to existing building

GREENFIELD

Center for Human Development
140 Montague City Road
$284,000 — Renovate building

Christopher Ethier
76 Hope St.
$10,000 — Rebuild roof over stairway

Girls and Boys Club
35 Pierce St.
$3,000 — Replace front door

Sander Greenfield LLC
367 Federal St.
$7,000 — Install fire alarm system

PALMER

AAH Corporation
1559 North Main St.
$12,000 — New roof

Maple Leaf Distribution Services
14 Third St.
$7,000 — Install concrete pad for a generator

SOUTH HADLEY

Mount Holyoke College
50 College St.
$22,000 — New ceilings in Clapp Hall

SPRINGFIELD

Armory Plaza
405 Armory St.
$15,000 — Split existing space into two

Colvest Springfield, LLC
1259 East Columbus Ave.
$15,000 — Interior renovations

DERF Realty
190 Carando Dr.
$600,000 — Renovations to expand police lab

WMECO
282 Cottage St.
$1,950,000 – A 12,980-square-foot solar module installation supported on a ground mount

WESTFIELD

BDMG, LLC
1134 Southampton Road
$570,000 — Construction of a new convenience store

Savage Arms Inc.
100 Springdale Road
$262,000 — Renovations for new offices

WEST SPRINGFIELD

Angelica Properties, LLC
646 Westfield St.
$8,000 — Renovate residential housing

Quality Inn
1150 Riverdale St.
$38,000 — Renovations on third floor

Departments Picture This

Send photos with a caption and contact information to:  ‘Picture This’ c/o BusinessWest Magazine, 1441 Main Street, Springfield, MA 01103 or to [email protected]


Meat and Greet

LuxeNEWLuxeBarLuxeRibbonCuttingThe former Springfield Visitors Center has been transformed into a meeting place for those who enjoy lavish burgers with ‘bling’ toppings and a bar menu that’s as extensive as the build-your-own food menu. The new, 186-seat Luxe Burger Bar, in its second month of business on the Connecticut Riverfront’s Hall of Fame Avenue, recently celebrated a formal ribbon cutting with representatives of Rhode Island-based Chow Fun Restaurant Group, which operates the original Luxe restaurant in Providence. From a top left: partners Richard Bready, CEO, Chow Fun Restaurant Group; Raipher Pellegrino, developer; and John Elkhay, restaurateur and senior food designer. The interior of the redesigned burger restaurant. Taking part in the ribbon-cutting ceremony are, from left, Bready; Kathleen Pellegrino, general contractor; Brian Conners, Springfield deputy director of Economic Development; Pellegrino; Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno; Elkhay; Orlando Ramos, city councilor; and state Sen. James Welch.

Top two photos courtesy of Atwater Studios

Autos Sections
TommyCar Auto Group Expands with Two New Dealerships

Carla Cosenzi

Carla Cosenzi says new, state-of-the-art showrooms and large service bays await customers at the Country Hyundai and Northampton VW dealerships.

Carla Cosenzi is all about numbers … and customers.
The numbers come in the form of monthly markdown specials, which attract customers … and more customers mean growth. A trip down Northampton’s King Street is proof of the significant growth that Cosenzi and her brother, Tommy Cosenzi — president and vice president, respectively, of TommyCar Auto Group — have experienced since formally taking the reins of the company when their father, Thomas E. Cosenzi, succumbed to brain cancer in 2009.
Reflecting that growth are $13 million and 36,000 square feet of new commercial construction on King Street in Northampton, for two brand new state-of-the-art dealerships: one for the former Northampton Volkswagen, which TommyCar purchased and moved from Damon Road, and the other for Country Hyundai, recently relocated from Greenfield. They join two other dealerships in the family chain, Country Nissan on Route 9 in Hadley and Patriot Buick GMC in Charlton.
Carla, who has long been the face of all the TommyCar brands, uses numbers to her advantage in her quirky, sometimes edgy, always model-specific TV, radio, and Internet commercials. She’s currently promoting the move of Country Hyundai to its 347 King St. address with a deal for a brand-new Hyundai Accent for only $11,347 — the 347 a reminder of the new address — and spicing up the offer with 0% down, no trade required.
Proclaiming that “our move is done and it’s time for fun,” Cosenzi, her brother, and the TommyCar team — which has grown by 30 more employees between the two new showrooms and expanded services bays — officially opened the doors on Jan. 13, with Northampton Volkswagen expected to open Feb. 14, followed by a month-long grand-opening celebration starting March 1 for both new showrooms.
The barrage of advertising that has already begun will make clever use of wordplay and specific car-sale numbers, all to grab viewers’ and listeners’ attention, Cosenzi said — a function of the TommyCar business plan that has served it well, even through the toughest of times.
“You saw a lot of people in the [automobile] industry completely cut back advertising, where we stayed aggressive to that,” she said. “We stayed very true to our beliefs, our own business plan, and kept our name out there, and I think that helped us.”
With Carla handling spokesperson duties and the customer sales side, and Tommy working as the automobile buyer, they’re forecasting 2014 to be the best year since 2006. For this issue’s focus on auto sales, BusinessWest visited the Cosenzi team’s brand-new Hyundai and VW dealerships in Northampton to see what state-of-the-art looks like when coupled with the team’s focus on customer service — and a few unique new perks.

Road Trip
While some industries — including auto sales — struggled with ups and downs between 2009 and 2013, Cosenzi said unrelenting advertising and partnerships with strong manufacturers helped TommyCar weather the tough times, but a physical move in 2007 of the Nissan store from Greenfield to Hadley, followed by the 2012 acquisition of Northampton Volkswagen, really made a difference. But the process to acquire the VW dealership was one neither sibling expected to be so comprehensive.
Cosenzi told BusinessWest that she and her brother understand the Western Mass. market and believed in the VW brand, so they attempted to purchase the struggling dealership from the owners. When that didn’t work out, they reached out to Volkswagen to secure the franchise. Under the microscope for more than six months — including a thorough dissection of all their books — they were finally offered a visit to the New Jersey headquarters of VW, where they were interviewed.
“There were a lot of people in this area that wanted that franchise, so we were competing with local dealers,” Cosenzi added.  “And I have to say, they believed in our enthusiasm, in Tommy and I as a team, and what we foresaw for growth of that franchise in this market.”
Just two years later, Cosenzi said, Volkswagen management is “ecstatic” with VW’s growth under the TommyCar name. Part of the promise in that interview process was that TommyCar would not only exceed sales goals, but build a brand-new facility. To accomplish that, they purchased the five-acre Kollmorgen property for $1.8 million — $2.2 million less than the asking price, due to demolition and possible remediation needs.
“We knew it was the right property for us, but it doesn’t support just one manufacturer, so we spoke with Hyundai, because our dealership was in Greenfield. They also believed in our business plan and agreed in letting us move,” she said.
The move of the Nissan store from Greenfield to Hadley in 2007 wasn’t difficult for the siblings because Hyundai remained, but moving Hyundai to Northampton this year was bittersweet, Cosenzi said. “We’ve had a presence in Greenfield since my grandfather [Thomas A. Cosenzi] was there, long before I ever got into the business. But the opportunity for us to build this type of facility on King Street was too great,” she explained, adding that it fell into their five-year growth plan.
Abatement of asbestos and PCBs on the former defense manufacturer’s site set the complex construction project back just a few weeks.
“You don’t realize how much work it is, especially when you’re as involved as Tommy and I are,” Cosenzi recalled. “We wanted to make this building really efficient, customer-friendly, and a great work environment for our employees, so we paid attention to every single detail.”
The service areas in both dealerships expanded significantly, and the typical comfortable couches and large-screen TV in most dealerships are present in both lounges, along with free coffee and light snacks, and they’ve also added ‘Internet bars’ for customers who want to work or surf as they wait.
Meanwhile, close proximity to the amenities of Northampton is another way the Hyundai, Volkswagen, and nearby Nissan dealerships benefit customers.
For instance, Cosenzi noted, the Norwottuck Rail Trail bike path passes directly in back of the Hadley Nissan dealership and very near the King Street stores, so the auto group installed bike racks and will offer free bicycles for pleasure riding during the warmer months while customers are waiting for service. In addition, a year-round shuttle service between the three stores will transport those same customers to Northampton’s highly regarded restaurants; later, a call or text will let them know their vehicle is ready, followed by a shuttle pickup.
“We spend all this money on advertising to get customers to come through the door,” she said. “Now we need to treat them right and take care of them — not only when they buy the car, but when they service it. It’s a life cycle.”

Dealer Incentives
The two new brands on King Street, Cosenzi said, are helping transform the stretch into an ‘auto row’ that now includes five large, competing dealerships. But “competition is great for us,” she added.
As she was speaking with BusinessWest, a gong echoed through the brand-new building to signal another happy customer. “Someone sold a car,” Cosenzi said, smiling, just as a customer looked suddenly surprised to see her behind the counter — which is typical.
“People are shocked when they come in and I’m standing there,” she said, laughing. “It’s what sets us apart from a lot of our competitors. We have really aggressive advertising, and when the customers come in the dealership, the owners are approachable.”
For those who are new to Cosenzi’s style of advertising, the ‘I’m teasing’ wink, the metaphors regarding topical news, and the smart use of social media and contests to involve customers have produced a legion of new fans, many of whom competed in a popular jingle contest a few years ago, and, more recently, a commercial contest that garnered each winner a new car.
“Sometimes, I think advertising is taking over my life,” she said as she slumped her head into her hands — especially since manufacturers don’t announce each month’s incentives, rebates, and other programs until the first of the month. Then the rush is on to get scripts written — sometimes based on the season, current news, or whatever’s in Cosenzi’s head at the time — and get into the studio to record the ads and disseminate them to local TV and radio stations. The publication goal is always the fifth of the month, or the first weekend.
“A lot of other dealers will be out there just branding themselves with a generic message and leave the message on for two or three months, and you’ll see their prices aren’t as aggressive as ours because they don’t update them every month,” she explained. “But we go in every single month with a fresh idea and fresh prices on a specific car.”
While other dealerships might scoff at the price customers say they’ve heard Northampton Volkswagen advertise, claiming TommyCar will never honor that price, Cosenzi and her team do. She knows her advertising push for a certain Volkswagen model helps other Volkswagen dealers — a fact she confirms in shared monthly reports — but said her dealership definitely shows the largest spike in sales for that model. It’s a good feeling, but short-lived.
“We work so hard all month, and then you’re cut off, and you start back at zero the next month; it’s a constant struggle, and it rules my life,” she said. To be successful in auto sales today, she went on, her team has to understand customer service — and the rise of the online shopper who often knows the exact price a dealer paid for a car. “So it all goes back to customer service, because we all pretty much have the same cars.”

Gearing Up
Investment in customer service and giving back to each dealership’s local community is all part of the TommyCar business plan. Annually, TommyCar Auto Group holds the Thomas E. Cosenzi “Driving for the Cure” charity golf tournament, now in its fifth year, which helps to underwrite brain-tumor research at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in their father’s name, and has raised more than $400,000 since 2009.
The Cosenzi family also gives to many other charitable and civic organizations, and for the past three years, it has aided talented numerous high-school seniors with the $1,000 Tom Cosenzi Scholarship.
Considering all of that, Cosenzi is satisfied with where she and her brother have taken the TommyCar business.
“We’re not looking to be a mega dealer and grow too fast and lose what we have now,” she said as she gestured to her sparkling new surroundings. “This is our growth.”

Elizabeth Taras can be reached at [email protected]

Autos Sections
Auto Dealers Expect Sales to Accelerate in 2014

By MICHAEL REARDON
CarSalesDPartWith the recession in the rear-view mirror, the automobile industry is poised for another successful year fueled by a stronger economy and high demand.
While sales and leasing were strong last year, 2014 is predicted to be even more robust, according to local auto dealers and industry analysts. The good news for buyers is that they are still clearly in the driver’s seat.
“This will be a great year to be a consumer,” Mike Balise, vice president of Balise Auto Group, told BusinessWest. “There’s a real battle for market share. The price of cars will go down this year. The interest rate is the only area that will make things more expensive, but probably not this year.”
According to Don Pion, owner of Bob Pion Buick GMC in Chicopee, January is traditionally a slow month at his dealership because of the wintry weather, holiday credit-card bills arriving in the mail, and people curtailing their shopping. This year was different, though.
“Our numbers in January of this year were substantially ahead of January 2013,” Pion said. “From everything I see, 2014 will be a very good year for the auto industry. Last year was the first real strong year we had in a number of years; it was a good year for the auto industry in general, and 2014 will be better.”
Indeed, industry analysts J.D. Power’s Power Information Network and LMC Automotive teamed up on a study which predicted that new-vehicle sales would rise 3% in January 2014. The joint study stated that consumers purchased 847,000 new vehicles last month, the most January sales since 2004. According to the J.D. Power and LMC Automotive forecast, consumers are spending an average of $29,500 on new cars and trucks, approximately $300 more per vehicle compared with the same time period last year.
Based on January sales, analysts believe the coming year will be strong. LMC Automotive is predicting 16.2 million light-vehicle units will be sold in the U.S. in 2014, an increase of 600,000 vehicles over 2013, and the most overall since 2007. More than 85 million vehicles were sold worldwide last year, with Toyota taking the lead.

Chip Gengras (right, with shop foreman Alan Riccardone)

Chip Gengras (right, with shop foreman Alan Riccardone) says the recession hit every car dealer, but he expects sales at BMW of West Springfield to surge this year.

The average age of cars on the road is 13 years, as consumers largely stopped buying new cars when the recession hit. Local auto dealers believe 2014 will be the year when buyers open their wallets and replace their older models.
“There’s a little bit of a pent-up demand,” said Rob Pion, Don’s son and the dealership’s service manager. “For awhile, people were not buying vehicles. They were waiting for the economy to turn around. Sales this year will be somewhat based on need.”
Chip Gengras, president of Gengras Motor Cars, is so confident in the strength of the auto industry that he is setting a sales-increase goal at his BMW of West Springfield dealership higher than the one set by BMW of North America.
“BMW sold 309,000 units in the United States last year,” Gengras said. “The U.S sales increase goal for this year is 10%. Our goal is a 15% increase in sales.”
This is quite a contrast to where Gengras started when he bought BMW of West Springfield in August 2008, two weeks before the banking collapse ushered in the economy-crushing Great Recession.
“The recession impacted every car buyer and dealer,” he said. “People who bought BMWs stopped. People held onto their cars longer.”
Analysts predict new-car sales will rise 5% in 2014, but Balise believes sales in the Northeast will go up about 1% or 2%.
“North America is still the world’s biggest new-car market,” he said. “You will see growth this year.”
On Jan. 12, Jim Lentz, CEO of Toyota North America, told the Society of Automotive Analysts Automotive Outlook Conference in Detroit that the industry will begin a  “leveling off” period in sales, but an increasingly stronger economy will make 2014 another great year for the auto industry.

Buy the Buy
Balise, Don Pion, and Gengras are all owners of long-established area car dealerships and have weathered many ups and downs. Balise’s grandfather, Paul, started the family’s first dealership in 1919 in Hatfield. The business then moved to Front Street in Chicopee, where it was called Balise Motor Sales. Balise Chevrolet opened in Springfield, across the street from its current location, in the 1930s.
Today, Balise Auto Group sells a variety of domestic and foreign vehicles at more than 20 locations in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, and employs 1,050 people.

Mike Balise

Mike Balise says a heated battle for market share makes this a good year to be a car buyer.

Don’s father, Bob, started Bob Pion Buick GMC in June 1977 on Front Street in Chicopee in what was formerly Charapek Pontiac. The business added GMC to its line in 1990 and Buick in 1995. Bob Pion Buick GMC moved to its present location at 333 Memorial Dr. in Chicopee in 1991.
Today, Gengras Motor Cars is operated by Chip and his brother Jonathan. The company was launched in Hartford as a Lincoln dealership in 1937 by their grandfather, E. Clayton Gengras. E. Clayton (Skip) Gengras Jr. took over the business in the early 1970s.
The company currently boasts seven dealerships that sell a variety of domestic and foreign vehicles, and has 350 employees.
All three of the local auto dealers are confident that used-car sales are also slated to remain strong this year, although it is harder to find quality pre-owned vehicles. Don Pion said he has seen significant growth in the sales of certified used cars. Certified used-car features such as maintenance packages and extended warranties offer the customer a level of comfort that the vehicle is of good quality and will be well taken care of.
“It’s a nice product to offer customers with a lot of protection for them,” Pion said. The challenge with used cars is availability. Nice used cars are at a premium now.”
Gengras agreed, saying that reconditioned, certified vehicles that meet the manufacturers’ standards will be attractive to buyers looking for quality at lower prices.
However, while “leasing will stay hot and is a great value,” Balise said, finding an inexpensive used car “is almost impossible.”
Leasing became popular during the recession when people who would normally buy a new car instead opted to lease for a lower price. This trend is also expected to remain popular this year, as leasing options continue to remain affordable.
These days, customers can get a one-price lease package that not only includes the vehicle, but also features like OnStar and maintenance and service. Because leasing is affordable and is for a finite period of time, it is a good way for dealers to showcase an automobile and for consumers to drive something out of the ordinary.
“Leasing entices people to try the product,” said Pion, noting that Bob Pion Buick GMC averages about 50 units of sales and leases per month, and roughly half of those are leased.
Gengras said the numbers are about the same at his dealership.
“It gives you the opportunity to take advantage of cars that maintain their value,” he said. “You’re getting more vehicle for less money.”
Several trends have emerged in the auto industry over the past few years, and many will continue in 2014. Among them is a movement toward more and more people going online, not just to research different cars they might be interested in purchasing, but to visit a dealership website and select a vehicle, figure out payments, choose accessories, and more. “Customers have more power than ever to make these choices,” Balise said.
The car-buying experience is going mobile in another way, as customers are increasingly using their smartphones to do their shopping.
“It used to be people used their desktop computers; now it’s more mobile,” Gengras said. “Texting is starting to become prevalent; it’s the easiest way to get in touch with customers. But I can’t imagine a day when people won’t come into the showroom. Buying a car is such an emotional and significant purchase. People want to come in and feel the acceleration, feel the leather, hear the stereo.”
Another trend Pion has witnessed is customers who are willing to move to a smaller vehicle than in the past, but are not willing to sacrifice luxury. Manufacturers have responded.
“Over the past two or three years, things have been trending that way,” he explained. “You see a high level of content and luxury in smaller packages today.”
Rob Pion (right, with Evan Stoddard, business manager, and Joe Soucy, sales manager)

Rob Pion (right, with Evan Stoddard, business manager, and Joe Soucy, sales manager) says Bob Pion Buick GMC is seeing some pent-up demand.

Fuel economy is an ongoing priority that has become deeply rooted in the car-buying experience. While hybrid vehicles have become very popular, electric cars have not caught on.
“Electric cars are less popular because there are certain limitations to those vehicles that technology has not solved yet,” Balise said. “Performance is great, but length of travel and how long it takes to charge electric vehicles are an issue.”
Active safety features are constantly improving, as manufacturers are now including items that stop the vehicle when it is in danger of crashing into the car in front of it, or side-hazard-monitoring systems that lets the driver know when a vehicle is in his blind spot.
And customer service has become a major selling point for car dealers over the past few years. Customers have myriad ways of finding information about vehicles, so auto dealers must offer them a great experience when they come through the door, from attractive showrooms that offer amenities like wi-fi to extended hours for sales and service departments, to servicing cars quickly.
An example is BMW Genius, a program that includes highly informed client advisors that provide information about the products in a no-pressure way, especially high-tech features, Gengras said.
“We want to be friendly, efficient, and informative. We’re respectful of people’s time. We’re customizing the experience around what the customers want more today than ever before.”
Since vehicles are much more sophisticated these days, Balise noted, it is incumbent on dealers to make sure their employees in all departments are highly trained and up to date on the latest technology.

Drive Time
In the end, it all comes down to the quality of the cars in the showroom or on the lot, said those we spoke with. In this highly competitive environment, dealers cannot lure customers onto their lots and close a deal unless their manufacturers produce highly desirable vehicles.
“The most important thing is the product; the second-most important thing is customer service,” Pion said.
With those two elements of the equation standard, dealers are expecting 2014 to be another banner year.

Class of 2014 Difference Makers
From the Beginning, This Nonprofit Has Been a Neighborhood Enterprise

Gray House Executive Director Dena Calvanese.

Gray House Executive Director Dena Calvanese.

The Gray House turns 30 this year.

The specific anniversary date comes sometime in October, said Dena Calvanese, the long-time director of the facility (yes, a house painted gray) on Sheldon Street in Springfield’s North End, who admitted that she didn’t know it offhand.

Nor did she or Mike Walsh, chairman of the agency’s board of directors, know what the organization might do to mark the occasion, or when.

“There has been some talk, but nothing much, really,” said Walsh, adding quickly that, while this unique nonprofit agency is quite proud of its history and its heritage — there are several pictures of the founders and their early work to renovate the home covering one wall of the front hallway — there are far more pressing matters to attend to than planning round-number celebrations.

Indeed, the cold, harsh winter of 2013-14 is impacting many area residents — especially those living at or below the poverty line — and, therefore, several of the individual programs at the Gray House. And it is forcing the staff to be diligent and imaginative in crafting responses.

Indeed, the extreme cold has prompted a continuous run on warm clothing in the facility’s thrift shop. There, clients can fill a large plastic bag for the suggested contribution of $3 (if they have it), said Calvanese, adding that the agency has struggled to keep an adequate supply of coats, hats, gloves, mittens, sweaters, and sweatshirts.

“This is the emptiest I’ve ever seen our store,” she said, adding that, in addition to the cold, there have been many fires this winter that have left victims tasked with rebuilding wardrobes, and some home-heating allotments have been reduced. “We typically struggle to keep up with sorting our donations — we can’t sort fast enough because we get so much — but we’re really at a low this year.”

Meanwhile, in the facility’s food pantry, there’s a similar story.

Cuts to the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) that took effect last fall have left many families running out of food long before they run out of month.

“A family of four receiving food stamps was cut $36 a month,” said Calvanese. “For a lot of folks, that doesn’t sound like much, but $36 a month, when you’re shopping economically on a low-income budget, amounts to almost a full week’s worth of food; that’s a drastic reduction.”

The Gray House is responding to these developments with everything from urgent calls to its many community partners, including churches, colleges, and other nonprofits, for donations of warm clothing, to efforts to fill in some of what Calvanese called “nutritional gaps,” especially with regard to foods rich in protein, created by the cuts to the SNAP program.

These are examples of how the agency stays attuned to the many, and frequently changing, needs within the community, and adjusts, often on the fly.

Gray House

Restoration of the old Victorian that became the Gray House, and the successful operation of the nonprofit agency that took that name, have both been community undertakings.

It has been this way since the mid-’80s, roughly two years after five members of the Sisters of St. Joseph — two of whom still live on the property — made the high bid of $500 for a run-down Victorian that had a tree growing through one of its 17 rooms.

What’s taken root in its place is a small but far-reaching nonprofit agency that started as what one founder called a “neighborhood enterprise” and has morphed into a regional phenomenon, one that epitomizes the phrase Difference Maker.

It does so with programs ranging from the food pantry and thrift shop — which serve 8,000 to 10,000 people each year — to community education programs involving hundreds of adults annually, to the Kids Club, which provides a host of after-school activities, most all of which come complete with learning opportunities.

These programs are run by the agency’s small staff, but they are made possible by a large army of volunteers, whose ranks include everything from college and high-school students to retired school teachers, as well as a number of partnerships with area schools and colleges, churches, and other nonprofits, and an active board of directors.

Together, these constituencies have helped the Gray House take its mission well beyond the North End, to all areas of Springfield and bordering communities.

As it recognizes the Gray House as a Difference Maker, BusinessWest takes a look back at how it all started, before returning quickly to the present to examine how this agency continues to carry out that broad mission.

Making Their Bid
Sr. Cathy Homrok described herself as the “realist,” and the woman sitting across the kitchen table from her, Sr. Jane Morrissey, as the “visionary.”

Those are the terms that have been consistently attached to these co-founders of the Gray House over the past 32 years or so as stories are recounted about how the property at 22 Sheldon St. was acquired, and how the nonprofit agency named after it came to be.

“She [Morrissey] just kept saying, ‘we should do something with that house,’” Homrok, who joined the Sisters of St. Joseph in 1959, recalled. “And I was the voice of reason. I kept saying things like, ‘what are we going to do with that house?’ ‘Where are we going to get the money?’ ‘We don’t know anything about renovating houses’ And ‘it’s a nice dream, but how can we do it?’”

‘That house’ was, at the time, a 110-year-old Victorian that was at least mostly gray — Morrissey remembers it being two-toned — and had been abandoned since a fire broke out in 1976 in the second-floor apartment that she and Homrok now occupy. Morrissey used to walk by the home every day while she and other members of the Sisters of St. Joseph lived in an apartment building just a few hundred feet or so down Sheldon Street, and she had a good view of it out her bedroom window after they moved to Huntington Street, one block to the north.

Sr. Cathy Homrok, left, the ‘realist,’ and Sr. Jane Morrissey

Sr. Cathy Homrok, left, the ‘realist,’ and Sr. Jane Morrissey, the ‘visionary,’ are two of the founders of the Gray House, and still live on the second floor.

Discussions about doing something with the house eventually turned to opportunistic action. Most efforts at reflection are focused on the auction, which occurred one cold day in January 1982, but Morrissey, who joined the order in 1963, said the ball started rolling months before.

Indeed, she recalls that the six founders — there were three other Sisters of St. Joseph, Kathleen O’Connor, Joan Roche, and Eileen Witkop, as well as Julie James, a layperson — created the nonprofit agency The Gray House Inc. well before the auction. In fact, Morrissey had applied to the Community Foundation for a grant to rehabilitate the property and create programming before the group had assumed ownership.

They didn’t get the grant, but did get some sage advice from Robert Van Wart, director of the foundation.

“He told us we were overreaching in what we asked for, considering that it was a request from a nonprofit that was named after a house we didn’t own,” said Morrissey with a laugh, adding that this oversight, if it could be called that, was corrected at the auction.

She recalls that there were initially a number of bidders at the site that day, but the herd thinned considerably, and almost completely, when her brother, an attorney who was on hand to assist however he could, approached some of the rivals and informed them that they would be competing with a group of nuns bent on community activism.

“I think they were members of the legal community representing property owners,” Morrissey said of the rival bidders. “My brother said something to one of them, and that person said something to another person, and they all got in the cars and drove away; we were the only ones left.”

There’s a picture hanging in the front hallway that captures the moment just after the sisters prevailed at the auction. Several of the founders are beaming and rejoicing in their triumph. But in reality, they had a much more difficult fight ahead, because the house was in terrible condition, and resources to complete Morrissey’s dream were scarce.

But the project soon became what Homrok called a “neighborhood enterprise.” The owner of a nearby lumberyard who was also in the construction industry pledged both supplies and technical support. Meanwhile, Kathleen O’Connor’s father, also in construction, lent his assistance, as did others from across the North End of the city. A former colleague of the sisters from their years teaching at Elms College helped with fund-raising. Even neighborhood children pitched in and helped with painting and other tasks.

“It was great to see the community come together and help us get off the ground,” said Morrissey. “Sometimes, walking down Main Street, you’ll bump into someone who helped, and they’ll say, ‘remember me? I lived across the street from the Gray House.’”

As the work to rehab the Gray House went on, so, too did the task of finalizing a mission statement and creating programs.

“Having lived in that neighborhood, we knew well what the needs were — food, clothing, and education,” said Homrok, adding that, beyond those basic necessities, some people simply needed a place where they could find peace and support. The Gray House has become all that.

Life Lessons
Just as creating this sanctuary was a neighborhood, or community, enterprise, the task of carrying out its mission has become much the same thing, said all those who spoke with BusinessWest.

This became evident as the two sisters provided a quick tour of the first-floor operations on a busy Tuesday morning.

Indeed, there were several volunteers, most of them retired individuals, working with people of various ages and many different nationalities as part of the Gray House’s Community Education Support Program, otherwise known as CESP.

Under the direction of Glenn Yarnell, the program offers English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) services, basic skills (reading, writing, and math) tutoring, and English conversation classes.

Michael Walsh

Michael Walsh, chairman of the board at the Gray House, says the nonprofit has always been responsive to changing needs within the community.

There are 75 adult learners enrolled at any given time, said Calvanese, adding that the program has grown to include literacy development for resettled refugees, and has become an important addition to region-wide efforts to help individuals break through the barriers to employment and inclusion in the community.

“About 85% of our learners are doing English as a second language, but quite a few are doing English and literacy simultaneously,” she explained. “That’s because they grew up speaking another language, but didn’t have access to education in that language. So not only do they not know English, but they’ve never held a pencil before.”

Many of the participants are refugees, said Calvanese, listing Somalia, Burundi, Myanmar, and Iraq as just some of the countries of origin. Meanwhile, the adult leaders run the gamut, education-wise, with many having no formal schooling whatsoever, while others have advanced degrees but need to learn English.

Tutoring comes in one-to-one form or in small groups so people can learn at their own pace, she went on, adding that the ethnic and cultural diversity in the learning areas gives the Gray House a unique look and feel.

“It’s incredible to see the diversity we have and also have people be at peace with each other,” she said, adding that participants probably speak 20 different languages. “We may have people from two different African nations who were at war with one another not long ago. They come here, and they get along, and we have Muslims sitting beside Christians; it’s really beautiful to see the diversity at the house and have it be so peaceful.”

The Kids Club, meanwhile, provides after-school activities for two hours, Monday through Thursday, for students in grades 2 through 6, many of whom stay with the program for several years. There are 16 participants, signed up on a first-come, first-served basis, who have what amounts to a daily regimen carefully designed by the staff.

It starts with a snack and continues with 45 minutes for homework and other school-related work, with a heavy accent on reading, but also flash cards, creative writing, and educational games. There is then activity time, which always includes a learning component.

“Somers Academy donated some pumpkins for the kids to paint,” said Calvanese, providing an example of how it all works. “But before we let them paint them, we had them measure their circumference, height, and weight, and make charts to see which team had the biggest pumpkin. And then they got to paint.

“What we know about poverty is that a big reason why people end up in that state is a lack of education, so we really push that with our kids,” she went on. “And what we try to do with our activities is sneak in education in a fun way so they start to realize that learning can be fun.”

And while there is consistency to all programming at the Gray House, there is also much-needed flexibility, because the community is constantly evolving, said Calvanese, and so are its needs.

“Every time there are changes in the community, we try to adjust to meet them,” she told BusinessWest. “It never gets too stagnant around here, because as different populations come in, we’re adjusting.”

Home — Safe
Today, the Gray House, as reconstructed, is showing many signs of its age. The distinctive turret is deteriorating, said Calvanese. Meanwhile, the porch and chimney need help, and the flooring in the bathroom is in need of replacing.

Doing some quick math in her head, she said that maybe $75,000 worth of work is needed — and soon.

But like the 30th-anniversary celebration, these repairs and upkeep projects are going to have to wait, she told BusinessWest, because there are simply more important things to do with available time and resources.

The work will eventually have to be done, said Walsh, adding quickly that, while the facility’s board has thought about the high cost of operating in this rambling Victorian — and also about possibly moving someplace more modern and practical — those thoughts have been fleeting.

After all, the Gray House (or Casa Gris in Spanish) is more than a name on a nonprofit organization. It’s a place, a landmark, and a refuge of sorts in what remains, statistically, one of the poorest neighborhoods, if not the poorest, in the Commonwealth.

Returning to the subject of that 30th anniversary of the Gray House, Walsh said the agency actually just finished celebrating its 25th last fall.

“We don’t do big celebrations, just long ones,” he joked, noting that the organization had four of the surviving founders on hand for the dedication of a remembrance garden on the property, complete with a patio and bricks commissioned to honor founders and donors. It was three years in the making, he said, adding, again, that there is nothing yet in the works for the 30th, although something will probably come together. “We may try to do something appropriate in the fall, mostly to honor our founders and take a moment to reflect on what they’ve done.”

In the meantime, he and Calvanese said the very best way to celebrate is to simply find ways to do more to help a huge constituency in need.

That’s been the real mission since those sisters prevailed in that auction on Sheldon Street.

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