September 23, 2014 - BusinessWest

Bear Necessities

By BusinessWest Staff September 23, 2014

Cover Story

Ted Hebert Sets His Own Standard of Success

Ted Hebert walks through his store, hugging customers he knows, slapping them on the back, making recommendations, and bending over happily to pat dogs that people bring inside with them.

His positive attitude and the relaxed atmosphere that emanates throughout Teddy Bear Pools & Spas in Chicopee belies the fact that the pool and spa business is down 70% from the peak it reached between 2004 and 2005.

But Hebert has weathered worse storms, and his love for people and reputation for customer service have allowed him not only to survive when his competitors went under, but ultimately thrive during the course of his 39 years in business.

None of that has come easily. Hebert enjoyed unprecedented highs but also suffered devastating blows as his business grew from the carport of his parents’ home to the position it holds today as one of the leading pool and spa businesses in the Northeast. Still, “to me, success is not what you have; it’s about what you give back to the community,” he said. “It includes respect, which is something you can’t buy, and my goal is to make this a better world than it was when I came into it.”

Hebert’s business history is peppered with philanthropic endeavors, and he and his wife, Barbara, have served on the boards of countless charities and made an untold number of generous donations, which include the gift of a kangaroo to the Zoo at Forest Park in Springfield. They sponsor hundreds of youth and adult sports teams, and have also sponsored events ranging from the Paws Golf Tournament for the MSPCA of Western Mass. to the Shriners Chowder Bowl, which they supported for 15 years, to the local chapter of the Make-A-Wish Foundation. The couple has volunteered all over the world, and Hebert has been feted with many awards for his altruism, including the prestigious Paul Harris Fellowship for distinguished community service, which he received in 2008 from the Rotary Club of West Springfield.

He takes pride in the fact that the majority of his employees have been with him for more than three decades, his salespeople close 75% of their sales, and factory representatives come from as far away as California to learn from his business.

Ted Hebert doesn’t do much advertising, but his community activity — occasionally involving his store’s mascot — is its own form of marketing.

But he has always set the bar high, and Hebert’s concern for his customers extends to the products that line the shelves at Teddy Bear Pools and Spas. The majority carry his private label and were created decades ago when he discovered the industry was reducing the quality of chemicals needed to maintain the chemistry of the water in pools and spas.

“I have some medical background, so I understood what was taking place in terms of the chemistry,” he said, adding that he hired a company to make products to his specifications, with ingredients that were better than what he could purchase and resell.

This concern for other people and their lives, which extends to their pets, was learned at his mother’s knee and highlighted by an incident that took place during his childhood.

Christmas was approaching, and although Hebert and his siblings were excited about the holiday, any hopes of finding toys beneath the tree were dashed when their mother told them money was tight and she could not afford to buy them much.

But when the doorbell rang a few moments later and a woman asked her to donate a dollar for flowers for a sick neighbor, Billie Hebert hurried to her desk and painstakingly counted out pennies and nickels until she had enough to satisfy the request.

“When I asked her why she did it, she told me, ‘it’s more important to use the money to help others than to buy toys with it,’” Hebert recalled. “She ingrained the belief in me at a young age that it was important to do what you can to make the world a better place.”

Since that time, it has been a guiding principle in his life, and to that end, he had a bench in his backyard emblazoned with the words, “make the world a bit better or more beautiful because you have lived in it.”

“It sits by our pond,” Barbara said, “and the words are something he has always lived by.”

Getting Ahead

Hebert was a lonely child, as his mother worked two jobs to make ends meet, and his father was rarely home. He also had a stuttering problem and suffered from low self-esteem. “But I always had an innate ambition to work,” he said, adding that, by the time he was 9 or 10, he was mowing lawns, shoveling driveways, washing windows, devliering newspapers, selling Christmas cards from a catalogue door to door, and collecting old newspapers and bottles to exchange for cash.

Giving back to others is important to Ted and Barbara Hebert, as this bench at their home reminds them.

He was hired as a busboy at age 14, and during his high-school years, he worked every night from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. as a dishwasher at New Bay Diner in Springfield. “I spent more time working than I did at school,” he said, noting that he took a second job during his senior year, working around the clock from Friday night to Sunday night at the Oaks Inn.

The course of his life changed when his mother purchased an above-ground pool for a Fourth of July party. The people who were supposed to install it didn’t show up, and when Hebert’s uncle volunteered to do the job, he decided to help.

They had to visit the pool store to get some missing parts, and he saw a young man cleaning a pool there and working in the display lot. “I thought it looked like a cool job,” Hebert said.

So he had his mother drive him to the store, where, much to his surprise, he was hired to fill a temporary slot, which led to a permanent position. The following summer, Hebert began installing above-ground pools with several different subcontractors, and after he got his driver’s license, he and his best friend decided to become their own subcontractors.

“I realized I could make more money that way, so we loaded shovels and rakes into my Corvette and went to work, digging by hand,” Hebert recalled.

His career soared after he began installing in-ground pools. “I fell into it,” he told BusinessWest, explaining a woman insisted he do the job for her even though he had no experience, so he tried and met with success. “By the time I was 21, I had five or six guys working for me and was subcontracting the heavy-duty equipment we needed.”

But prior to that, after graduating from high school, Hebert attended classes at Holyoke Community College. At first, his grades were poor, as he was working so many hours, but after three semesters he switched to Springfield Technical Community College, where his grade point average improved, then went on to Worcester State College, where he finally earned high grades.

Hebert wanted to become a doctor, but didn’t have the money for medical school. In 1975, after 14 rejection slips from schools he hoped to attend, he made the decision to start his own pool company from the carport of his parents’ home. It was the right thing to do, Hebert said, as his mother had suffered a mild aneurysm, and he wanted to stay home and care for her.

Although the original moniker he chose for his business was Custom Pools by Ted, his mother suggested he use his childhood nickname of ‘Teddy Bear’ given to him during a visit to his grandmother in Canada, which was a play on the French pronunciation of Ted Hebert.

“I thought the name Teddy Bear Pools was stupid,” he said, but conceded to her suggestion after he thought about it and realized everyone likes teddy bears.

By 1976, Teddy Bear Pools had grown enough to allow Hebert to rent a former car-wash bay on Memorial Drive in Chicopee and turn it into a storefront. When the property was foreclosed upon three years later, he purchased what he describes as “a beat-up car dealership in a completely dilapidated, 4,000-square-foot building on East Street in Chicopee.”

The property contained an old garage and was owned by the Partyka family. “I was blessed, as interest rates were 18%, but because they liked the idea of my business, they offered me financing at 10%,” he said.

In the early years, he did his bookkeeping himself, and the business grew steadily. Despite its success, however, Hebert suffered terribly years later when some of his employees betrayed him and mismanaged his business. The first event occurred in 1986 when an audit undercovered $1.2 million of money and goods not accounted for, and the second took place while he was on his honeymoon in 1987. When he returned, he found an additional $200,000 of money and goods missing.

“I had no business background and a great faith in people,” he told BusinessWest. “I was very naïve and learned the hard way. For many years I was consumed by hurt and pain, and my business completely controlled my life. But I finally realized that money and materials could be replaced. I have survived two mismanagements, paid off $1.45 million in debt, and never went bankrupt.”

He also refused to allow the pain of betrayal to destroy his belief in others. “The reason I survived and have done so well is because of the people who stood by my side. They were my rock.”

Innovative Measures

Today, Hebert’s retail operations are housed in an 18,000-square-foot complex of buildings in Chicopee, backed by a 38,000-square-foot warehouse in South Hadley which serves as the center for his service and installation operations. “We can service and repair up to 10 spas at a time,” he said, adding they are sent from as far away as the mid-Atlantic states, and he received a great deal of work after Hurricane Katrina.

The company also installs several hundred new pool liners each year, opens 1,300 pools each spring, and closes about 1,600 pools in the fall, which equates to roughly 40 a day.

“The business we do is not normal. We are very, very unusual,” Hebert said, adding that the store has five laboratories where pool and spa water can be analyzed and tested at no charge to the customer.

The Teddy Bear name is well-known in the community, and in the last few years, Hebert has done little in the way of formal advertising. Instead, the Teddy Bear Pools name is emblazoned on the uniform shirts he provides for sports teams. Meanwhile, he has sponsored many racecar teams and owns a Volkswagen ‘Bear Bug,’ emblazoned with his company’s mascot, and a Smart Car known as ‘Smart Bear’; both are a hit at parades and other events. In addition, he was the first local business owner to have a hot-air balloon with his company name on it.

These measures, along with his charitable work, have morphed into an indirect advertising and branding campaign. “I love helping kids and adults in any way that I can,” he told BusinessWest, noting that his work on the boards of nonprofit organizations, such as the Rotary Club, where he was named a Paul Harris Fellow for his generous contributions to society, helped spread the word about his business.

“My wife has also been very instrumental and has done a lot for local charities. She left her job after we married to help me, and we do everything together,” he said.

The business also expanded due to Hebert’s commitment to his customers, which led him to implement innovative ideas. For example, when he realized people often forgot the initial instructions they were given about how to maintain a new pool, he hired a production company and made a video that explained everything pool owners needed to know, from how to change, operate, and clean filters to how to vacuum a pool, winterize it in the fall, then reopen it again in the spring. It can be viewed at no charge on the Teddy Bear website at www.teddybearpools.com.

Then, in 2009, when pool manufacturers Esther Williams and Johnny Weissmuller went out of business, Hebert launched a company to make replacement parts for those brands to make sure his customers had everything they needed if a problem occurred. Teddy Bear is also one of the only companies in the Northeast that repairs automatic electric pool vacuums. “People sold them, but no one wanted to fix them,” he said, adding that he regards his customers as family, and didn’t want them to encounter insurmountable obstacles with the products they purchased.

As a result of these measures, the company soon achieved national and international recognition. Teddy Bear Pools carries Hot Springs spas and is rated 22nd out of 700 dealers in the world who sell its products. “We have had people come here from the factory in California to see how we operate,” Hebert said, “and we were one of the first companies inducted into the Aqua Hall of Fame.”

Above and Beyond

Hebert’s success led him to become a motivational speaker at national conferences in his industry, and he created eight three-hour seminars on topics that range from branding to team building to “How to Survive the Economy, the Weather, and Your Employees.”

However, he says he values the people who work for him and prides himself on the benefits he offers his 85 employees — a number that expands during the summer season.

“I consider them part of my family and believe I have been successful because I care about people, quality, and value,” he said. “We are fair in price, and I take advantage of every opportunity I have to help the community. But you are only as good as your employees, and the people who work for me are my greatest asset.”

Although no one can predict the future, Hebert says he will never retire. “I keep getting new ideas. I don’t know where they come from, but the work I do is fun and gives me a reason to get up in the morning. Every season is a new adventure, and I have been blessed to have the foresight to look ahead and see where the business is going,” he said. “But I never want to forget where I came from, and for the past 15 years, I have called customers personally to thank them for their business.”

Thus, Hebert’s reputation and business continue to grow, while he and Barbara remain committed to using their time and talent to do what matters most to them — which is, “to make the world a better place to live in,” he said.

And to swim in, of course.

Real Estate Transactions

By BusinessWest Staff September 23, 2014

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

ASHFIELD

1280 Hawley Road
Ashfield, MA 01330
Amount: $265,000
Buyer: Cari Pazmino
Seller: Bickford, George F., (Estate)
Date: 08/13/14

349 Norton Hill Road
Ashfield, MA 01330
Amount: $261,000
Buyer: Sarah C. Spademan
Seller: Fitzgerald INT
Date: 08/15/14

BERNARDSTON

25 Shedd Road
Bernardston, MA 01337
Amount: $150,000
Buyer: Florence Savings Bank
Seller: John Meisner
Date: 08/12/14

BUCKLAND

63 Conway St.
Buckland, MA 01338
Amount: $175,000
Buyer: Eric J. Miller
Seller: Cynthia M. Jarvis
Date: 08/22/14

73 North St.
Buckland, MA 01338
Amount: $150,000
Buyer: Christopher E. Lannon
Seller: Keith A. Sumner
Date: 08/15/14

CHARLEMONT

2129 Route 2
Charlemont, MA 01339
Amount: $220,000
Buyer: Lawrence R. Bruffee
Seller: J. G. Wilson
Date: 08/15/14

COLRAIN

236 Ed Clark Road
Colrain, MA 01340
Amount: $223,000
Buyer: Barrett G. Martin
Seller: Eileen E. Folan RET
Date: 08/15/14

DEERFIELD

61 Eastern Ave.
Deerfield, MA 01373
Amount: $218,000
Buyer: Lucas E. Eriksen
Seller: Kuzdeba, Marie J., (Estate)
Date: 08/12/14

108 Lee Road
Deerfield, MA 01373
Amount: $196,000
Buyer: David F. Brown
Seller: Lois M. Brown
Date: 08/11/14

54 Sawmill Plain Road
Deerfield, MA 01373
Amount: $340,000
Buyer: Franklin S. Schwerin
Seller: Brian C. Lenarczyk
Date: 08/22/14

ERVING

2 Central St.
Erving, MA 01344
Amount: $154,650
Buyer: Lance R. Bugbee
Seller: Allen L. Constantine
Date: 08/13/14

3 Northfield Road
Erving, MA 01344
Amount: $163,900
Buyer: Joseph E. Guidaboni
Seller: Paul A. Cichanowicz
Date: 08/22/14

14 Wells St.
Erving, MA 01344
Amount: $175,000
Buyer: Neil E. Jordan
Seller: Black, Edward R., (Estate)
Date: 08/14/14

GILL

4 Main Road
Gill, MA 01354
Amount: $380,000
Buyer: Schecterle Properties LLC
Seller: 4-6 Main Road RT LLC
Date: 08/19/14

GREENFIELD

23 Farren St.
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $200,000
Buyer: Tyler J. Clark
Seller: Bruce Bergstrom
Date: 08/14/14

4 Holland Ave.
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $223,000
Buyer: Kelly C. Popoff
Seller: William F. Klein
Date: 08/14/14

70 Lovers Lane
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $338,000
Buyer: Karissa A. Johnson
Seller: Richard R. Thompson
Date: 08/11/14

5 Marshall St.
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $136,000
Buyer: Karen M. White
Seller: Travis Sinclair
Date: 08/15/14

9 Silver Crest Lane #9
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $258,900
Buyer: George D. Mislak
Seller: Country Club Road LLC
Date: 08/21/14

HAWLEY

324 East Hawley Road
Hawley, MA 01339
Amount: $180,000
Buyer: Drew M. Harrison
Seller: Paula Wilson
Date: 08/12/14

LEVERETT

1 Depot Road
Leverett, MA 01054
Amount: $167,000
Buyer: Peter Laznicka
Seller: Margaret M. Marshall
Date: 08/15/14

8 North Leverett Road
Leverett, MA 01054
Amount: $440,000
Buyer: Mayumi K. Fraser
Seller: Robert A. Lowry
Date: 08/15/14

MONTAGUE

14 Bulkley St.
Montague, MA 01376
Amount: $165,000
Buyer: Travis J. Sinclair
Seller: Joseph A. Bastarache
Date: 08/15/14

23 Coolidge Ave.
Montague, MA 01376
Amount: $166,000
Buyer: Kelly R. Renaud
Seller: Eric J. Miller
Date: 08/22/14

18 High St.
Montague, MA 01344
Amount: $289,337
Buyer: FNMA
Seller: Nathan G. Peterson
Date: 08/15/14

102 Millers Falls Road
Montague, MA 01376
Amount: $160,900
Buyer: Ted Armen
Seller: Raymond D. Kingsbury
Date: 08/21/14

6 Park St.
Montague, MA 01349
Amount: $159,000
Buyer: Lillian J. Moss
Seller: Eileen T. Terrill
Date: 08/15/14

44 Vladish Ave.
Montague, MA 01376
Amount: $228,900
Buyer: Joshua R. Martin
Seller: Edward F. Wilcox
Date: 08/15/14

16 Winthrop St.
Montague, MA 01349
Amount: $175,000
Buyer: Joseph Lapinski
Seller: George C. Caisse
Date: 08/15/14

NEW SALEM

60 Stone Hill Road
New Salem, MA 01355
Amount: $260,863
Buyer: FNMA
Seller: John F. Pelletier
Date: 08/15/14

NORTHFIELD

40 Pine St.
Northfield, MA 01360
Amount: $220,000
Buyer: Jenifer McCaskey
Seller: Northfield Mt. Hermon School
Date: 08/22/14

ORANGE

310 Holtshire Road
Orange, MA 01364
Amount: $189,000
Buyer: Susan Fried
Seller: Nancy B. Hamel
Date: 08/15/14

2 Packard Road
Orange, MA 01364
Amount: $280,000
Buyer: CIL Realty of Massachusetts
Seller: Eric Kosciusko
Date: 08/14/14

225 South Main St.
Orange, MA 01364
Amount: $135,000
Buyer: Sarah M. Higgins
Seller: Brian J. Spear
Date: 08/19/14

49 Warwick Road
Orange, MA 01364
Amount: $210,000
Buyer: Julie M. Lemay
Seller: Paul A. Larocque
Date: 08/22/14

SHELBURNE

14 High St.
Shelburne, MA 01370
Amount: $170,000
Buyer: Thomas E. Kuklinski
Seller: Margaret S. Jones RET
Date: 08/13/14

40 Reynolds Road
Shelburne, MA 01370
Amount: $243,900
Buyer: Julie Kingsbury
Seller: George D. Mislak
Date: 08/21/14

WHATELY

117 River Road
Whately, MA 01093
Amount: $341,000
Buyer: Andrew J. Pickert
Seller: James M. Rigali
Date: 08/15/14

HAMPDEN COUNTY

AGAWAM

98 Barbara Lane
Agawam, MA 01030
Amount: $246,370
Buyer: Sistiano A. Liebro
Seller: John J. Cope
Date: 08/22/14

55 Christopher Lane
Agawam, MA 01030
Amount: $310,000
Buyer: Wayne M. Barbour
Seller: Anthony J. Ieraci
Date: 08/13/14

41 Debra Lane
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $214,575
Buyer: Gary T. Stone
Seller: Marjorie Hibbert
Date: 08/12/14

19 Family Lane
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $349,900
Buyer: Paul M. Cooney
Seller: Ernest L. Doucette
Date: 08/22/14

79 Forest Ridge Lane
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $320,000
Buyer: Karen A. Garvey
Seller: Marcia J. Hill
Date: 08/22/14

27 Mallard Circle
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $269,900
Buyer: Elias Sanabria
Seller: William T. Reid
Date: 08/15/14

278 North West St.
Agawam, MA 01030
Amount: $522,000
Buyer: Derrick M. Turnbull
Seller: Robert P. Brown
Date: 08/15/14

9 Parkedge Dr.
Agawam, MA 01030
Amount: $202,000
Buyer: Joseph O. Levesque
Seller: Charles H. Stowers
Date: 08/22/14

17 Ruth Ave.
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $186,000
Buyer: Rebecca Budreau
Seller: Paul M. Cooney
Date: 08/22/14

109 South Park Terrace
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $199,999
Buyer: Alan R. Duprey
Seller: Carl M. Wiley
Date: 08/22/14

490 Southwick St.
Agawam, MA 01030
Amount: $180,500
Buyer: James G. Devoe
Seller: Eleanor R. Stepanik
Date: 08/20/14

5 Squire Lane
Agawam, MA 01030
Amount: $265,000
Buyer: Karen Crevier-Estes
Seller: William P. Talty
Date: 08/15/14

BRIMFIELD

22 Dearth Hill Road
Brimfield, MA 01010
Amount: $185,000
Buyer: Tracey Lemieux
Seller: Jason Czech
Date: 08/11/14

15 Lyman Barnes Road
Brimfield, MA 01010
Amount: $206,000
Buyer: Joshua Bartlett
Seller: Garrett S. Beyor
Date: 08/12/14

7 Oakwood Road
Brimfield, MA 01010
Amount: $188,000
Buyer: Peter J. Szarlan
Seller: Tracey L. Wiley
Date: 08/14/14

CHESTER

117 Bromley Road
Chester, MA 01050
Amount: $147,500
Buyer: Matthew J. Couture
Seller: Nancy A. Meacham
Date: 08/15/14

CHICOPEE

85 Alfred St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $195,200
Buyer: Jennifer L. McKinney
Seller: Eric P. Estes
Date: 08/15/14

160 Artisan St.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $146,000
Buyer: Vasilii Tsyganenko
Seller: Scott R. Kreitler
Date: 08/14/14

22 Burton St.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $125,000
Buyer: Peter S. Ellis
Seller: Michele M. Michaelis
Date: 08/22/14

989 Chicopee St.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $120,500
Buyer: Paul M. Berneche
Seller: Eda Olivieri
Date: 08/19/14

16 Crestwood St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $195,000
Buyer: Donna M. Cerez
Seller: Paula A. Bak
Date: 08/15/14

141 Cyran St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $174,900
Buyer: Eric R. Larose
Seller: Nostin, Irene M., (Estate)
Date: 08/15/14

69 Felix St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $225,000
Buyer: Elizabeth J. Delmonte
Seller: N Riley Construction Inc.
Date: 08/15/14

1111 Grattan St.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $1,694,700
Buyer: Solenis LLC
Seller: Hercules Inc.
Date: 08/14/14

68 Hampshire St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $148,000
Buyer: Jonathan G. Rosario
Seller: David R. Beaulieu
Date: 08/13/14

29 Jeanette Dr.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $170,000
Buyer: Karen J. Bizon
Seller: Frances L. Alix
Date: 08/22/14

13 Laramee St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $137,554
Buyer: Megan E. Haas
Seller: Mindy L. Goulet
Date: 08/14/14

56 Laramee St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $134,000
Buyer: Todd A. Langevin
Seller: Sharyn A. Laterza
Date: 08/11/14

92 Mary St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $160,000
Buyer: Renee M. Bouchard
Seller: Bailly, Denise, (Estate)
Date: 08/18/14

128 Monroe St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $154,000
Buyer: Romeo Olivieri
Seller: Paul S. Kapinos
Date: 08/19/14

62 Montgomery St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $210,000
Buyer: Mya K. LLC
Seller: Deborah Slate
Date: 08/22/14

65 Mount Vernon Road
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $240,000
Buyer: David C. Labrie
Seller: Walter R. Welch
Date: 08/15/14

92 Oakridge St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $188,900
Buyer: Ronald J. Orzechowski
Seller: Frances A. Cabrera
Date: 08/15/14

20 Peace St.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $276,000
Buyer: Adam M. Burek
Seller: Michael E. Dziok
Date: 08/13/14

71 Raylo St.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $220,000
Buyer: John F. Tenczar
Seller: Bette J. Lord-Hess
Date: 08/15/14

60 Roy St.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $125,000
Buyer: Naila Akram
Seller: Margaret A. Morin
Date: 08/13/14

1611 Westover Road
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $225,000
Buyer: Frances A. Cabrera
Seller: Agapi Salloum
Date: 08/15/14

31 White St.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $179,000
Buyer: Dennis C. Vandal
Seller: James A. Ginnetti
Date: 08/13/14

EAST LONGMEADOW

25 Capri Dr.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $575,000
Buyer: Eric M. John
Seller: Kent Pecoy & Sons Construction
Date: 08/15/14

220 Chestnut St.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $190,000
Buyer: Jennifer M. Lyons
Seller: Bednarz, Henry J., (Estate)
Date: 08/12/14

20 Country Club Dr.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $490,000
Buyer: Debra Kelly-Hayes
Seller: Michael S. Shea
Date: 08/21/14

47 Evergreen Dr.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $424,900
Buyer: Adam J. Fisher
Seller: Raymond F. Wheeler
Date: 08/21/14

32 Frankwyn St.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $307,500
Buyer: Patricia A. Kelly
Seller: Adam J. Fisher
Date: 08/21/14

235 Kibbe Road
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $370,000
Buyer: Jonathan D. Varnet
Seller: Moltenbrey Builders LLC
Date: 08/19/14

127 Pembroke Terrace
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $555,000
Buyer: Michael F. Presnal
Seller: Dan Roulier & Associates
Date: 08/18/14

34 Westernview Circle
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $180,000
Buyer: Paul S. Dunkerley
Seller: Louise R. Hayes
Date: 08/15/14

110 Westwood Ave.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $213,000
Buyer: Sanessa K. Cortina
Seller: Twinbrook Associates LLC
Date: 08/13/14

GRANVILLE

310 Main Road
Granville, MA 01034
Amount: $157,500
Buyer: Cynthia E. Ashley
Seller: Linda B. Kirsche
Date: 08/22/14

272 Silver St.
Granville, MA 01034
Amount: $135,000
Buyer: Travis A. Gaffey
Seller: Linda Mihlek
Date: 08/15/14

HAMPDEN

160 Glendale Road
Hampden, MA 01036
Amount: $362,000
Buyer: Hugh C. Scott
Seller: Denis R. Desrosiers
Date: 08/22/14

401 North Road
Hampden, MA 01036
Amount: $359,000
Buyer: Stephen P. McMahon
Seller: William H. Leslie
Date: 08/15/14

47 Woodland Dr.
Hampden, MA 01036
Amount: $172,000
Buyer: Shawn A. Teece
Seller: Dean J. Ethier
Date: 08/13/14

HOLYOKE

22 Coit St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $194,900
Buyer: Carol A. Soltys
Seller: Aaron J. Stone
Date: 08/11/14

25 Edward Dr.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $170,000
Buyer: Taryn E. Athas
Seller: Karen J. Griffin
Date: 08/21/14

38 Erie Ave.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $200,000
Buyer: Kimberly Moorehead
Seller: Linda Pelc
Date: 08/18/14

798 Homestead Ave.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $172,000
Buyer: Alyse M. Anderson
Seller: Robert D. Clark
Date: 08/20/14

35 Longfellow Road
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $450,000
Buyer: Lynn A. Schwartz
Seller: Robert J. Liptak
Date: 08/15/14

73 Lynch Dr.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $162,000
Buyer: David Estabrook
Seller: Matthew S. Riel
Date: 08/21/14

11 Mountain View Dr.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $475,000
Buyer: Stella E. Xanthakos
Seller: Mary C. Tarail
Date: 08/20/14

54 North Bridge St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $120,000
Buyer: Jeremiah Barrett
Seller: Daniel S. Colon
Date: 08/20/14

132 Pearl St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $187,000
Buyer: Walter R. Clune
Seller: Carol A. McGrady
Date: 08/22/14

320 Pleasant St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $135,000
Buyer: Timothy E. Petrowicz
Seller: F. S. Hemmingsen
Date: 08/15/14

93 Queen St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $185,000
Buyer: Joshua C. Cordeira
Seller: Brittnie Aiello
Date: 08/14/14

LONGMEADOW

22 Cheshire Dr.
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $460,100
Buyer: Oren Brody
Seller: Lisa H. Katz
Date: 08/20/14

87 Forest Glen Road
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $310,000
Buyer: Good Rock LLC
Seller: Kevin M. McCarthy
Date: 08/22/14

407 Frank Smith Road
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $275,000
Buyer: Glenn Calvanese
Seller: Frederick Lak
Date: 08/21/14

117 Hazardville Road
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $179,900
Buyer: James Burns
Seller: FNMA
Date: 08/14/14

53 Inverness Lane
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $375,000
Buyer: Heather A. Burton
Seller: Laurie Horowitz
Date: 08/13/14

237 Kenmore Dr.
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $277,000
Buyer: Jamie C. Mackie
Seller: Richard A. Falzone
Date: 08/15/14

181 Magnolia Circle
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $413,400
Buyer: Aimee L. Leonard
Seller: Luayne Schwartz
Date: 08/12/14

441 Maple Road
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $206,000
Buyer: Jeffrey Lagasse
Seller: Glenn Calvanese
Date: 08/21/14

132 Massachusetts Ave.
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $173,500
Buyer: Arie S. Mobley
Seller: Barbara A. Peck
Date: 08/12/14

99 Merriweather Dr.
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $299,900
Buyer: DBR NT
Seller: Fafard, Therese A., (Estate)
Date: 08/12/14

105 Northfield Road
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $570,000
Buyer: Mark J. Viviano
Seller: Lynn A. Schwartz
Date: 08/22/14

627 Pinewood Dr.
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $632,000
Buyer: Laki Rousou
Seller: Benjamin W. Silver
Date: 08/15/14

12 Primrose Dr.
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $339,000
Buyer: Haifeng Ge
Seller: Owen J. Moriarty
Date: 08/18/14

140 Quinnehtuk Road
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $415,000
Buyer: Heesung Moon
Seller: Fredi A. Goldman
Date: 08/20/14

38 Twin Brook Circle
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $665,000
Buyer: Paul T. Lameka
Seller: Jill A. Fields
Date: 08/15/14

62 Woodsley Road
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $845,000
Buyer: 76 Duxbury Lane LLC
Seller: Todd Adelson
Date: 08/13/14

LUDLOW

247 Cady St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $229,000
Buyer: Lusitania Realty LLC
Seller: Bozek Realty Inc.
Date: 08/14/14

1380 Center St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $250,000
Buyer: Eric E. Chamberlin
Seller: Pauline M. Ryba
Date: 08/14/14

142 Chapin St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $200,000
Buyer: Jose Alves
Seller: Stanley Pyzocha
Date: 08/13/14

74 Chapin St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $254,900
Buyer: Daniel J. Hague
Seller: Maria D. Martins
Date: 08/15/14

71 Haviland St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $180,000
Buyer: Maria D. Martins
Seller: Julio Dasilva
Date: 08/15/14

Parker Lane #6
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $129,900
Buyer: Tuukakorp LLC
Seller: Whitetail Wreks LLC
Date: 08/14/14

36 Posner Circle
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $200,000
Buyer: Nicklaus Kalish
Seller: Daniel J. Hague
Date: 08/15/14

146 Prospect Gardens
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $290,000
Buyer: David L. Bernard
Seller: New England Development LLC
Date: 08/22/14

302 Ventura St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $305,000
Buyer: Stephen G. Witkowsky
Seller: Nancy A. Domenichelli
Date: 08/15/14

360 Winsor St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $181,000
Buyer: Caitlin M. Clark
Seller: Jennifer E. Bastos
Date: 08/15/14

MONSON

38 Circle Dr.
Monson, MA 01057
Amount: $294,340
Buyer: Remo J. Pizzichemi
Seller: Joan E. Lotze
Date: 08/22/14

286 Hovey Road
Monson, MA 01057
Amount: $250,000
Buyer: Edwin Escoto
Seller: Barbara Godfrey
Date: 08/13/14

194 Silver St.
Monson, MA 01057
Amount: $229,500
Buyer: FHLM
Seller: Chad D. Atwell
Date: 08/19/14

7 Valley View Heights
Monson, MA 01057
Amount: $161,500
Buyer: William Brown
Seller: Jeffrey K. Walker
Date: 08/14/14

187 Wilbraham Road
Monson, MA 01057
Amount: $170,000
Buyer: Polish National Credit Union
Seller: Zyta K. Szczepanski
Date: 08/19/14

64 Woodhill Road
Monson, MA 01057
Amount: $469,500
Buyer: William A. McLellan
Seller: Sarnelli, Joseph, (Estate)
Date: 08/15/14

19 Zuell Road
Monson, MA 01057
Amount: $249,900
Buyer: Matthew T. Gendron
Seller: David G. Gamblin
Date: 08/15/14

PALMER

11 Country Lane
Palmer, MA 01069
Amount: $240,000
Buyer: Normand P. Roy
Seller: John P. Boucher
Date: 08/15/14

13-19 Lariviere Ave.
Palmer, MA 01080
Amount: $191,000
Buyer: Gregory J. Fedora
Seller: Michael P. Fitzgerald
Date: 08/22/14

1569-1571 North Main St.
Palmer, MA 01069
Amount: $500,000
Buyer: O’Reilly Auto Enterprises
Seller: Colonial Pacific Leasing
Date: 08/21/14

17-23 North St.
Palmer, MA 01080
Amount: $140,000
Buyer: John R. Sullivan
Seller: Estelle E. Nietupski
Date: 08/15/14

2021 Overlook Dr.
Palmer, MA 01080
Amount: $170,000
Buyer: Nathan R. Lafleche
Seller: Charter, Maria F., (Estate)
Date: 08/14/14

136 Peterson Road
Palmer, MA 01069
Amount: $201,500
Buyer: John P. Boucher
Seller: Thomas K. Pajak
Date: 08/15/14

119 State St.
Palmer, MA 01069
Amount: $145,000
Buyer: David G. Lane
Seller: Edward H. Boron
Date: 08/15/14

9 Whalen St.
Palmer, MA 01069
Amount: $220,000
Buyer: Michael Donaghy
Seller: Roger A. Iversen
Date: 08/22/14

21-A Wilbraham St.
Palmer, MA 01069
Amount: $958,000
Buyer: Ham 4 Realty LLC
Seller: Edward R. Greenbaum
Date: 08/14/14

SOUTHWICK

197 Granville Road
Southwick, MA 01077
Amount: $173,000
Buyer: Maksym Pichnyi
Seller: Carol A. Hadley
Date: 08/22/14

23 Lexington Circle
Southwick, MA 01077
Amount: $447,000
Buyer: Thomas M. Zywiak
Seller: Philip R. Smith
Date: 08/22/14

169 Vining Hill Road
Southwick, MA 01077
Amount: $400,000
Buyer: Matthew A. Gaugh
Seller: Eric A. Swensen
Date: 08/20/14

SPRINGFIELD

29 Benz St.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $149,000
Buyer: Amy E. Anderson
Seller: Andrew J. Reed
Date: 08/22/14

55 Blaine St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $129,900
Buyer: Joseph M. Santaniello
Seller: Michael A. Torcia
Date: 08/15/14

100 Briggs St.
Springfield, MA 01151
Amount: $190,000
Buyer: Euphrasia E. Ihesiaba
Seller: Josue Gomes
Date: 08/15/14

127 Carnavon Circle
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $185,000
Buyer: Monica E. Fraser
Seller: Anthony T. Willis
Date: 08/22/14

138-140 Carver St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $115,000
Buyer: Modesto Nunez
Seller: Edith M. Brown
Date: 08/22/14

204 Chapin Terrace
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $120,000
Buyer: Harry E. Torres
Seller: Devon Boreland
Date: 08/19/14

127 Connecticut Ave.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $125,000
Buyer: Bachir Boublenza
Seller: Laura M. Pashko
Date: 08/15/14

63 Eckington St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $132,900
Buyer: Peta-Gaye Y. Ewans-Porter
Seller: Irene C. Hyszczak
Date: 08/15/14

217 Ellsworth Ave.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $158,000
Buyer: Brent E. Anderson
Seller: Sean C. O’Connor
Date: 08/22/14

35 Fern St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $139,700
Buyer: Chari Darjee
Seller: Thanh V. Pham
Date: 08/22/14

149 Fernbank Road
Springfield, MA 01129
Amount: $115,000
Buyer: Rafael A. Bones
Seller: FNMA
Date: 08/21/14

30 Garland St.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $169,900
Buyer: Hieu T. Nguyen
Seller: Mario R. Arena
Date: 08/18/14

45 Georgetown St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $120,000
Buyer: Angel Camacho
Seller: Campagnari Construction LLC
Date: 08/12/14

325 Gillette Ave.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $179,000
Buyer: Eurico F. Ferreira
Seller: Richard M. Dansereau
Date: 08/14/14

121-123 Governor St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $154,002
Buyer: Nationstar Mortgage LLC
Seller: Juan P. Hernandez
Date: 08/12/14

48 Grandview St.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $146,000
Buyer: Nancy A. Domenichelli
Seller: Arlene F. Howe
Date: 08/15/14

142 Melha Ave.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $115,000
Buyer: Anatoliy Shumskiy
Seller: Marie Kirk
Date: 08/22/14

146 Melha Ave.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $118,500
Buyer: George E. Dechert
Seller: Marie Kirk
Date: 08/12/14

31-33 Milford St.
Springfield, MA 01107
Amount: $138,416
Buyer: FNMA
Seller: Hernan Serna
Date: 08/13/14

342 North Loomis St.
Southwick, MA 01077
Amount: $255,000
Buyer: Paul R. Breveleri
Seller: David L. Richter
Date: 08/15/14

12 Olive St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $156,359
Buyer: FNMA
Seller: Tammy Gibson
Date: 08/19/14

98 Pennsylvania Ave.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $136,110
Buyer: Gary J. Torres
Seller: Andrea J. Nolan
Date: 08/15/14

398 Plumtree Road
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $137,600
Buyer: Marsha M. Brennan
Seller: Nicholas M. Pelletier
Date: 08/18/14

291 Saint James Ave.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $149,442
Buyer: FNMA
Seller: Deborah A. Pace
Date: 08/15/14

983 Sumner Ave.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $150,000
Buyer: Ryan V. Nguyen
Seller: Global Homes Properties LLC
Date: 08/19/14

27-29 Waterford Circle
Springfield, MA 01129
Amount: $170,000
Buyer: Willie B. Cuffie
Seller: Emmanuel Yeboah
Date: 08/20/14

130 Woodcrest Road
Springfield, MA 01129
Amount: $148,000
Buyer: Joshua J. Mastey
Seller: Lincoln S. Flagg
Date: 08/20/14

WESTFIELD

29 Coleman Ave.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $197,000
Buyer: Commercial Distributing
Seller: Paula C. Perkins
Date: 08/11/14

65 Janis Road
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $312,000
Buyer: Adam D. Ripka
Seller: Wendy B. Krusiewski
Date: 08/21/14

34 Loring Lane
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $179,900
Buyer: Dean G. Varelas
Seller: Nancy B. Stolpinski
Date: 08/14/14

110 Main St.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $216,000
Buyer: Gina S. Panzieri
Seller: Angela M. Rizzolo
Date: 08/19/14

252 Munger Hill Road
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $415,000
Buyer: Philip R. Smith
Seller: George M. Catuogno
Date: 08/22/14

52 Park Circle
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $178,000
Buyer: Wilfrid J. Bourque
Seller: Cordonier, Charles E., (Estate)
Date: 08/14/14

26 Saint Dennis St.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $152,900
Buyer: Karey A. Mulvenna
Seller: Andrew Alamed
Date: 08/18/14

68 Scenic Road
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $347,500
Buyer: Andrea J. Nolan
Seller: Maureen M. Speight
Date: 08/15/14

251 Steiger Dr.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $270,000
Buyer: Richard D. Frost
Seller: George E. Mortimer
Date: 08/13/14

196 Tannery Road
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $193,000
Seller: Carolyn L. Dewey
Date: 08/15/14

WILBRAHAM

10 Blueberry Hill Road
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $358,000
Buyer: Michael A. Teixeira
Seller: Stacia M. O’Connor
Date: 08/15/14

20 Ely Road
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $121,000
Buyer: Vincent M. Decesare
Seller: Richard P. Benton
Date: 08/14/14

9 Highmoor Dr.
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $271,033
Buyer: Erica L. Sabia
Seller: Michael P. Sawkiewicz
Date: 08/15/14

2 Hunting Lane
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $185,000
Buyer: Paul J. Mei
Seller: Michelle A. Yacovone
Date: 08/19/14

481 Main St.
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $458,500
Buyer: Sherie A. Schaefer
Seller: Mark J. Viviano
Date: 08/22/14

WEST SPRINGFIELD

539 Birnie Ave.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $150,000
Buyer: Cedar Investment Group LLC
Seller: Sliwoski, Lillian E., (Estate)
Date: 08/14/14

190 Chilson Road
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $232,500
Buyer: Michael A. Beiermeister
Seller: Claire A. Leveillee
Date: 08/22/14

81 Cornflower Dr.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $175,000
Buyer: William M. Walsh
Seller: Raymond P. Ziemba
Date: 08/15/14

145 Dewey St.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $283,000
Buyer: Robert J. Link
Seller: Jonathan R. Jaffe
Date: 08/15/14

25 Galaska Dr.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $282,900
Buyer: Navid Obahi
Seller: Oksana Villeneuve
Date: 08/15/14

146 Hampden St.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $172,500
Buyer: Kostantinos Tsavidis
Seller: John C. Bellos
Date: 08/13/14

267 Hillcrest Ave.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $162,000
Buyer: Sarah R. Chereski
Seller: Michael A. Alfano
Date: 08/19/14

26 Lewis Ave.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $230,000
Buyer: William E. Zing
Seller: Nikolay Lapin
Date: 08/20/14

26 Lotus Ave.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $199,900
Buyer: Christopher L. Wapner
Seller: Michael Beiermeister
Date: 08/22/14

Mulcahy Dr.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $150,000
Buyer: Timothy J. Bolduc
Seller: Francis Wheeler Construction
Date: 08/15/14

85 Poplar Ave.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $215,000
Buyer: David R. Beaulieu
Seller: Holly A. Boutot
Date: 08/22/14

72 Roseland Ave.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $199,900
Buyer: Bhakta Khadka
Seller: Luke D. Consolini
Date: 08/15/14

78 Woodmont St.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $164,000
Buyer: Susan P. Kleciak
Seller: Katherine K. Wilson
Date: 08/14/14

HAMPSHIRE COUNTY

AMHERST

12 Fisher St.
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $204,000
Buyer: Gregory R. Haughton
Seller: Davis, Ingrid, (Estate)
Date: 08/20/14

42 Glendale Road
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $276,000
Buyer: Yong Q. Li
Seller: Brian S. Fraser
Date: 08/14/14

97 Glendale Road
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $200,000
Buyer: Peter J. Neville
Seller: Christina G. Salgo
Date: 08/11/14

27 Kendrick Place
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $225,000
Buyer: Marjorie Alt
Seller: Amherst Housing Authority
Date: 08/11/14

65 Morgan Circle
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $354,900
Buyer: George R. Collison
Seller: Peggy Cole
Date: 08/15/14

107 Pine St.
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $215,000
Buyer: Hannah Moushabeck
Seller: Edna O. Ball
Date: 08/22/14

15 South Mount Holyoke Dr.
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $360,000
Buyer: Curtis W. Ogden
Seller: Mehr RT
Date: 08/19/14

288 Shays St.
Amherst, MA 01002
Buyer: Cory M. Baxter
Seller: Farquhar, Oswald C., (Estate)
Date: 08/20/14

18 Whippletree Lane
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $327,500
Buyer: Hannah L. Coler
Seller: Susan L. O’Connor
Date: 08/22/14

BELCHERTOWN

241 Bardwell St.
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $140,000
Buyer: Loni G. Wenzel
Seller: Deborah L. Wenzel
Date: 08/22/14

311 Bardwell St.
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $160,000
Buyer: Loni G. Wenzel
Seller: Deborah L. Wenzel
Date: 08/22/14

160 Chauncey Walker St.
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $192,000
Seller: Gina S. Panzieri
Date: 08/13/14

10 Doe Hollow
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $280,000
Buyer: Michael R. Bolduc
Seller: David C. Thibodeau IRT
Date: 08/18/14

157 Federal St.
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $267,000
Buyer: Greeley A. Kyle
Seller: Peter Halpern
Date: 08/15/14

317 Gold St.
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $480,000
Buyer: Bruce H. Geisler
Seller: Robert Arnhold
Date: 08/15/14

74 Goodell St.
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $272,900
Buyer: Renee M. Sylvestre
Seller: Jeffrey R. Germaine
Date: 08/15/14

220 Michael Sears Road
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $232,500
Buyer: Daniel Alpiarca
Seller: Alan R. Duprey
Date: 08/22/14

273 Ware Road
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $225,000
Buyer: Lisa Lariviere
Seller: Michael C. Bonafini
Date: 08/15/14

CHESTERFIELD

17 Don Emerson Road
Chesterfield, MA 01012
Amount: $350,000
Buyer: Eileen L. Flug
Seller: Sue A. Heffernan
Date: 08/15/14

EASTHAMPTON

21 Button Road
Easthampton, MA 01027
Amount: $330,600
Buyer: Peter P. Hamelin
Seller: EH Homeownership LLC
Date: 08/22/14

47 Cottage St.
Easthampton, MA 01027
Amount: $220,000
Buyer: Harnish Patel
Seller: Leo C. Bolduc
Date: 08/12/14

346 East St.
Easthampton, MA 01027
Amount: $200,000
Buyer: Katherine E. Buckley
Seller: Linda M. Nolet
Date: 08/21/14

2-4 Federal St.
Easthampton, MA 01027
Amount: $228,000
Buyer: Stephen J. Fleury
Seller: Robert H. & B. M. Laprade TR
Date: 08/20/14

117 Ferry St.
Easthampton, MA 01027
Amount: $170,000
Buyer: Brie A. Beaudry
Seller: Adams, Eileen C., (Estate)
Date: 08/22/14

2 Grandview Lane
Easthampton, MA 01027
Amount: $237,000
Buyer: Nancy R. Bradbury
Seller: Jill T. Rubin
Date: 08/15/14

8 Gross Lane
Easthampton, MA 01027
Amount: $273,500
Buyer: Eric Day
Seller: Christopher Yurko
Date: 08/22/14

329 Main St.
Easthampton, MA 01027
Amount: $215,000
Buyer: Onewest Bank
Seller: Nedo P. Mecchi
Date: 08/15/14

N/A
Easthampton, MA 01027
Amount: $238,500
Buyer: Scott J. Cavanaugh
Seller: Eve S. Eichwald
Date: 08/12/14

113 Northampton St.
Easthampton, MA 01027
Amount: $900,000
Buyer: FPS Associates LLP
Seller: FPS Inc.
Date: 08/20/14

120 Strong St.
Easthampton, MA 01027
Amount: $190,000
Buyer: Jessica M. Lacroix
Seller: Scott Krawczyk
Date: 08/18/14

GRANBY

122 Carver St.
Granby, MA 01033
Amount: $145,810
Buyer: US Bank
Seller: Helen Tucker
Date: 08/11/14

195 East St.
Granby, MA 01033
Amount: $155,000
Buyer: Westover Metropolitan Development Corp.
Seller: Ronald J. Orzechowski
Date: 08/14/14

12 Hubbard Dr.
Granby, MA 01033
Amount: $209,900
Buyer: Shauna Rohan
Seller: John S. Somers
Date: 08/18/14

HADLEY

43 East St.
Hadley, MA 01035
Amount: $465,000
Buyer: Tamara L. Pascoe
Seller: David W. Windoloski
Date: 08/22/14

28 Meadowbrook Dr.
Hadley, MA 01035
Amount: $255,000
Buyer: John E. Reale
Seller: Catherine D. Fair
Date: 08/12/14

161 Rocky Hill Road
Hadley, MA 01035
Amount: $151,000
Buyer: Alan S. Hilaire
Seller: Martha M. Little
Date: 08/11/14

8 Sunrise Dr.
Hadley, MA 01035
Amount: $387,900
Buyer: Erica Lorentz
Seller: William J. Mastroianni
Date: 08/11/14

HUNTINGTON

31 Basket St.
Huntington, MA 01050
Amount: $160,000
Buyer: Keith Richardson
Seller: Robert Holmes
Date: 08/15/14

NORTHAMPTON

5 Edwards Square
Northampton, MA 01060
Amount: $424,000
Buyer: Iyko L. Day
Seller: Timothy J. Jacobs
Date: 08/14/14

41 Emerson Way
Northampton, MA 01062
Amount: $528,400
Buyer: Ellen R. Solomon
Seller: Rosemund LLC
Date: 08/15/14

45 Fort Hill Terrace
Northampton, MA 01060
Amount: $355,000
Buyer: 45 Fort Hill Terrace LLC
Seller: Jenny Jelliffe
Date: 08/15/14

104 Jackson St.
Northampton, MA 01060
Amount: $550,000
Buyer: Charles A. Dumont
Seller: David M. Serlin
Date: 08/15/14

13 Laurel Park
Northampton, MA 01060
Amount: $233,500
Buyer: Elizabeth I. McCormick
Seller: Positive Spaces Architect
Date: 08/11/14

31 Lilly St.
Northampton, MA 01062
Amount: $315,000
Buyer: Macgregor J. Thomson
Seller: R. McClellan Sciarra LT
Date: 08/14/14

135 N Main St.
Northampton, MA 01062
Amount: $305,000
Buyer: Simon D. Halliday
Seller: Jarrett J. Krosoczka
Date: 08/12/14

140 North Main St.
Northampton, MA 01062
Amount: $339,000
Buyer: Kenneth J. Reade
Seller: James R. Witmer
Date: 08/15/14

10 Park St.
Northampton, MA 01062
Amount: $725,000
Buyer: David M. Serlin
Seller: Frederick U. Fierst
Date: 08/15/14

141 South Main St.
Northampton, MA 01062
Amount: $374,000
Buyer: Terry L. Blanchard
Seller: Michael D. Connery
Date: 08/15/14

55 Stone Ridge Road
Northampton, MA 01062
Amount: $489,000
Buyer: Jarrett J. Krosoczka
Seller: Lawrence D. Meinert
Date: 08/12/14

63 Vernon St.
Northampton, MA 01060
Amount: $415,000
Buyer: Sophy Burnham
Seller: 63 Vernon Street NT
Date: 08/21/14

58 Woodland Dr.
Northampton, MA 01062
Amount: $457,000
Buyer: David C. Deswert
Seller: W. J. Fallows
Date: 08/22/14

SOUTH HADLEY

504 Amherst Road
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $200,783
Buyer: FNMA
Seller: Reza Bartegar
Date: 08/19/14

46 East Red Bridge Lane
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $410,000
Buyer: Michael E. Tarail
Seller: David W. Scruggs
Date: 08/20/14

44 Pine St.
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $340,000
Buyer: Leo Correia
Seller: William A. McClellan
Date: 08/15/14

20 Smith St.
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $125,500
Buyer: Corrina Wcislo
Seller: Margaret A. Hogan
Date: 08/15/14

11 Spring Meadows
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $430,000
Buyer: Christine A. Phillips
Seller: Laurie J. Anastasia
Date: 08/22/14

SOUTHAMPTON

4 Brittney Lane
Southampton, MA 01073
Amount: $535,000
Buyer: Jesse Cleland
Seller: William J. Skorupski
Date: 08/13/14

14 Duggan Lane
Southampton, MA 01073
Amount: $218,700
Buyer: Christina M. Clark
Seller: Mary E. Nied
Date: 08/19/14

10 Helen Dr.
Southampton, MA 01073
Amount: $160,900
Buyer: Carla R. Mcavoy
Seller: Godard, Esther M., (Estate)
Date: 08/11/14

23 Noreen Dr.
Southampton, MA 01073
Amount: $160,000
Buyer: Sarah H. Lavertue
Seller: Johnson, Raymond I., (Estate)
Date: 08/15/14

62 Pleasant St.
Southampton, MA 01073
Amount: $130,000
Buyer: Michael E. Lemoine
Seller: Grzegorz Robak
Date: 08/15/14

WARE

20 Bellevue Ave.
Ware, MA 01082
Amount: $118,000
Buyer: Amy E. Kern
Seller: Christopher R. Reynolds
Date: 08/14/14

150 Gilbertville Road
Ware, MA 01082
Amount: $182,000
Buyer: Antonio Fernandes
Seller: Maureen Chrabascz
Date: 08/18/14

5 Pearl St.
Ware, MA 01082
Amount: $125,000
Buyer: Jessica R. Bolduc
Seller: Krol, Gloria, (Estate)
Date: 08/14/14

WILLIAMSBURG

78 South St.
Williamsburg, MA 01096
Amount: $200,000
Buyer: Lowell Brook
Seller: Jonathan D. Hoyt
Date: 08/21/14

Bankruptcies

By BusinessWest Staff September 23, 2014

Bankruptcies Departments

The following bankruptcy petitions were recently filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court. Readers should confirm all information with the court.

Adams, Jr., Omar S.
71 Jamaica St.
Springfield, MA 01119
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 08/25/14

Baral, Susan B.
16 Lamplighter Lane
Springfield, MA 01119
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 08/27/14

Bennett, Kelly A.
65 Lincoln St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 08/28/14

Blake, Jessica K.
a/k/a Wyman, Jessica K.
218 Spring St.
Athol, MA 01331
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 08/30/14

Blanchard, Sabrina L.
89 Columbus Ave.
Greenfield,, MA 01301
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 08/21/14

Breejen, Donna M.
a/k/a Breejenanespinosa, Donna
a/k/a Espinosa, Donna M.
115 Westfield Road
Holyoke, MA 01040
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 8/29/2014

MacLeod, Danyelle J.
a/k/a Devino, Danyelle J.
10 Bonneville Ave.
Greenfield, MA 01301
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 08/29/14

Brockney, Walter B.
140 Spring St.
Athol, MA 01331
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 08/30/14

Cabana, Norman Harvey
Cabana, Jean Elizabeth
131 Strong St.
Easthampton, MA 01027
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 08/20/14

Cummings, Steven B.
186 Main St., # 2
Athol, MA 01331
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 08/30/14

Cutler, Daniel Phillip
174 Westfield Ave.
Springfield, MA 01109
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 08/27/14

Donicz, Grant J.
Donicz, Nancy E.
43 Gilman St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 08/29/14

Elman, Christine M.
334 Linden St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Chapter: 13
Filing Date: 08/28/14

Fitzgerald, Kathleen B.
75 Brookline Ave.
Westfield, MA 01085
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 08/27/14

Grout, Kelly Christopher
Grout, Cathy Lyn
P.O. Box 1433
Ware, MA 01082
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 08/29/14

Joubert, Grace M.
124 Boulay Circle
Chicopee, MA 01020
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 08/29/14

Lagoy, Stephanie Lynn
a/k/a Lagoy-Stowell, Stephanie Lynn
3 King St.
Hatfield, MA 01038
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 08/20/14

Martins, John F.
21 Brimfield St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 08/19/14

Maynard, Stephen W.
Maynard, Jason P.
10 Phillips St.
Greenfield, MA 01301
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 08/20/14

McMahon, Lorraine Susan
25 Michel St.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 08/19/14

Nye, John M.
Nye, Judy A.
1661 White Pond Road
Athol, MA 01331
Chapter: 13
Filing Date: 08/20/14

Parks Rogaleski, Barrett Matthew
Rogaleski, Pamela Anne
8 Maple St.
Hatfield, MA 01038
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 08/21/14

Perkins, Lee R.
91 Smith St., Apt. #7
Greenfield, MA 01301
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 08/21/14

Perwak, Nancy C.
330 Colrain Road
Greenfield, MA 01301
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 08/20/14

Platanitis, John S.
58 Greenwood Terrace
Chicopee, MA 01022
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 08/27/14

Quinn, James M.
Quinn, Renita
1038 Reed St.
Warren, MA 01083
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 08/24/14

Rathburn, Rosemary L.
118 Laurel St., Apt. 1
Athol, MA 01331
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 08/30/14

Richter, Martin Chase
Richter, Arlene Frances
55 Pleasant St., Unit 7
Granby, MA 01033
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 08/27/14

Rickson, Thomas M.
Rickson, Donna L.
282 Parkerview St.
Springfield, MA 01129
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 08/29/14

Rucci, Cynthia L.
58 Grinnel St.
Greenfield, MA 01301
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 08/20/14

Santanello, Michael A.
Santanello, Jamie A.
12 Moore St.
Agawam, MA 01001
Chapter: 13
Filing Date: 08/19/14

Schabacker, Dawn K.
233 River Dr.
Hadley, MA 01035
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 08/27/14

Schatz, Audrey Eve
4 Pleasant Court
Great Barrington, MA 01230
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 08/29/14

Stadnicki, John J.
Stadnicki, Janica L.
112 Ashgrove St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 08/29/14

Venne, Jacqui R.
a/k/a Desforges, Jacqui R.
a/k/a LeBer, Jacqui R.
31 Colonial Dr.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Chapter: 13
Filing Date: 08/23/14

Vernoneau, Thomas A.
Veroneau, Mari R.
6 Main St.
Wales, MA 01081
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 08/29/14

Vinci, Chester P.
Vinci, Deborah A.
419 Southwick Road, Unit P64
Westfield, MA 01085
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 08/29/14

Wainwright, Jason R.
Wainwright, Sandra D.
a/k/a Masse, Sandra D.
18 Bayne St.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 08/27/14

Whitney, Linda B.
P.O. Box 378
Sunderland, MA 01375
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 08/29/14

Zielenski, Jeffrey F.
360 West Housatonic St.
Pittsfield, MA 01201
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 08/28/14

Doing Business as Certificates

By BusinessWest Staff September 23, 2014

DBA Certificates Departments

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

AGAWAM

China Star Restaurant
382 Main St.
Yuan Zheng

Gaudino’s
28 Ramah Circle
Charles Gaudino

Rioni Tile & Hardwood
67 Clematis Road
Dominic Rioni

Royal Air
46 Suffield St.
Svetlana Archoulik

CHICOPEE

A Silver Key
61 Cabot St.
Christopher Plewa

Airbag Reset Service
10 Center St.
Max Matsuk

G & M Cleaning Services
160 South St.
Maria Siguera

Harmony Property Management
90 Sheridan St.
Dorenda Taft

Thermocrete Chimney Services
46 Joy St.
Marsha Burek

GREENFIELD

Baystate Medical Practices Inc.
28 Sanderson St.
Douglas Muehlberg

Beck’s Automotive
144 Shelburne Road
Lancelot Beck

Ema’s Country Organic Soap
57 Allen St.
Elise Ainsworth

Hess
245 Federal St.
Andrew Bernstein

Mira Reiki Healing
28 Federal St.
Emma Donoghue

Nancy’s Cosmetology
1070 Bernardston Road
Nancy Steiner

The Bean Cake Co.
329 Wells St.
Francis Mozea Jr.

PALMER

Les’s Auto Center Inc.
1575 North Main St.
Les Skowyra

Roberts & Sons Printing
1415 Main St.
Jeffrey Roberts

Sew Bizzie Quilting
4109 Main St.
Diana Doane

SPRINGFIELD

Adam’s New Age Construction
101 Samuel St.
Adam Bousquet

Angels at Heart Daycare
28 Blake Hill St.
Angela S. Chest

Baystate Children’s Hospital
759 Chestnut St.
Mark Tolosky

BTTR Booths
80 Teakwood Road
Jakub Lakomski

Campus Convenience
463 State St.
Jason L. Ocasio

Chicos Towing & Auto Repair
1095 State St.
Ceceilio Rivera

Cranio and Massage Center
8 Woodstock St.
Gina Welch

CT’s Towing & Auto Repair
466 Main St.
Christine Noel

Don Rico’s Café & Bakery
684 Belmont Ave.
Martha Terrero

Ensena Corp.
1242 Main St.
Hector Fearfield

Fresh Market and Denim
427 State St.
Marcus Navarro

Game World
2475 Main St.
Hoa K. Tran

Higuey Mini Market
298 Hancock St.
Luis J. Pena

Hubble Bubble Hookah
51 Hastings St.
Joshua J. Mastey

Ken Martin HVAC
282 Main St.
Hugh K. Martin

M & R Express Delivery
199 Fernbank Road
Marilu Rios

M. Glushien Electrical
113 Wheeler Ave.
Jay Glushien

Macy’s Retail Holdings
1655 Boston Road
Stephen O’Bryan

Midtown Barber
976 Main St.
Jesse Michael

WESTFIELD

Adams Power Services Inc.
55 Westfield Industrial Park Road
Adams Power Services, Inc.

Family Medicine Associates
75 Springfield Road
Pioneer Valley Medical Center, LLC

Honeyland Farms
4 Russell Road
ADN, Inc.

Karlie’s Kloset
11 Railroad Ave.
Karlie’s Kloset

Kathy’s Nails
85 Main St.
Suong T. Vuong

Noble Express Care
57 Union St.
Westfield Medical Corp.

Incorporations

By BusinessWest Staff September 23, 2014

Departments Incorporations

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

AMHERST

Living Arts Farm, Inc., 45 Schoolhouse Road, Amherst, MA 01002. Alisande Cummingham Sweney, same. Provide educational programs on sustainable agriculture, gardening, optimal health, the natural world, and the arts.

GRANBY

Munsing Ridge Inc., 118 Munsing Ridge, Granby, MA 01033. Thomas R. Hill, same. Tavern.

GREENFIELD

Meadows Café & Golf Center Inc., 398 Deerfield St., Greenfield, MA 01301. Constant S. Poholek Jr., 30 Washington St., Attleboro, MA 02703. Golf center with café.

LUDLOW

Leary Masonry Solutions Inc., 31 Armand St., Ludlow, MA 01056. Martin D. Leary, same. Masonry, landscaping.

Limelight City Café, Inc., 893 Center St., Ludlow, MA 01056. John R. Pereira, same. Restaurant/bar.

Moreau Masonry Inc., 215 Holyoke St., Ludlow, MA 01056. Wendy Moreau, same.

NORTHAMPTON

Northampton Jewelers Inc., 104 Main St., Unit C, Northampton, MA 01060. Kendall Nicole Knapik, 76 Vernon St., Northampton, MA 01060. Light manufacturing and selling of jewelry/art.

One Bar & Grill Inc., 1 Pearl St., Northampton, MA 01060. Matthew Gibbs, 21 Viola St., Springfield, MA 01109. Restaurant/bar.

OTIS

Mass Media Marketing Inc., 138 Gibbs Road, Otis, MA 01253. Stephen Graves, same. Advertising agency.

SOUTH HADLEY

Nick Gardner Inc., 399 Newton St., South Hadley, MA 01075. Nicholas Gardner, same. Mechanical services.

SPRINGFIELD

Open House Evangelistic Outreach Industry, 22 Maryland St., Springfield, MA 01108. Everton Francis, same. To preach the gospel of God and the bible.

Nevadarcy Red Telecom (NRT) Copy & Secretarial Inc., 661 Main St., Suite 1A, West Springfield, MA 01089. David H. Lim, same. Network telecommunications, mobile network, secretarial, fax service, photo copying.

WESTFIELD

Michael’s Auto Transportation Inc., 93 South Maple St., Apt. 20, Westfield, MA 01085. Sergh Bonchukov, same. Trucking.

WEST SPRINGFIELD

Multicultural Resource Center of Massachusetts, Inc., 425 Union St., West Springfield, MA 01089. Polina Bodner, same. Providing assistance to immigrants and refugees as they integrate into American society.

Briefcase

By BusinessWest Staff September 23, 2014

Briefcase Departments

Baystate Celebrates Acquisition of Wing
PALMER — Team members and leaders from Baystate Health and Baystate Wing Hospital joined elected officials and members of the Palmer community Friday to celebrate Wing’s official entry into the Baystate Health community. Wing formally became part of Baystate Health at midnight on Monday, September 1. “Our community hospitals enable us to provide the right care, in the right place, at the right time for thousands of patients and their families,” said Dr. Mark Keroack, president and CEO of Baystate Health. “We expect the addition of Baystate Wing Hospital to have a major positive impact on quality, access, and affordability of healthcare in Western Massachusetts, and on our ability to continue to provide outstanding, high-value care for our patients close to where they live. Bringing two organizations together is a major undertaking, and doing it well requires vast amounts of teamwork and planning. Over the last several months, I have witnessed the outstanding commitment and expertise of both Wing and Baystate Health team members, who are driven by the common desire to ensure a smooth transition for patients and families. I thank all who have contributed their energy and expertise to this transition. We’re proud to bring Wing into our organization, and we’re grateful to be welcomed so warmly into the Palmer community.” Dr. Charles Cavagnaro III, president and CEO of Wing for the past 15 years and newly appointed president of Baystate Health’s Eastern Region, saluted his team’s grace in dealing with the change in ownership. “I’m so encouraged and so heartened by the way my colleagues at Wing have greeted this change with enthusiasm, open-mindedness, optimism, and hope — and by the way Baystate has eased the transition and greeted us with open arms. This new partnership has us well-positioned to meet the challenges of fulfilling our mission in a turbulent time in healthcare. It will take hard work, open minds, partnership, and commitment. And I believe our future is very bright.” Baystate Health’s Eastern Region encompasses Baystate Mary Lane Hospital in Ware, Baystate Wing Hospital, and its affiliated medical centers. Collaborations between Baystate Mary Lane and Baystate Wing will be a key element of improving the delivery of care in the region, said Keroack. “We are committed to the success of Baystate Mary Lane and Baystate Wing, and are eager to explore innovative ways of working together that also provide new and exciting opportunities for physicians and all Baystate team members in the region.” Baystate Wing Hospital is the third community hospital to join Baystate Health. Baystate Mary Lane Hospital became part of the health system in 1991, after Baystate Franklin Medical Center in Greenfield in 1986. Baystate Health acquired Wing Memorial Hospital from UMass Memorial Health Care, based in Worcester. The two health systems continue a collaborative relationship announced in September 2013. Baystate Wing Hospital has been serving patients in the Palmer, Quaboag Hills, and Pioneer Valley region since 1913. The 74-bed hospital and its five community medical centers in Belchertown, Ludlow, Monson, Palmer, and Wilbraham offer emergency, diagnostic, medical, surgical, and psychiatric services as well as outpatient services provided by more than 50 medical staff and 165 registered nurses. Baystate Wing Hospital’s network also includes the Griswold Behavioral Health Center and the Wing VNA and Hospice. Baystate Wing is fully accredited by the Joint Commission and is designated a Primary Stroke Service hospital by the Mass. Department of Public Health. It was also recently recognized by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services as one of model hospitals promoting health and improving quality of life. Together, the hospital and its community medical centers are focused on high-quality, patient-centered care delivered by physicians specializing in 45 medical disciplines, including adult family medicine, internal medicine, geriatric medicine, ob/gyn, and pediatric medicine.

Business Growth Center Expands Programming
SPRINGFIELD — The Business Growth Center at Springfield Technology Park has received a grant from the Massachusetts Growth Capital Corporation (MGCC) to help underserved or disadvantaged business owners in the Pioneer Valley grow, or stabilize, their enterprises. The funds will enable the center to continue its Stronger Businesses Program, starting Oct. 7, and supplement funding for its staff. This is the second time the Business Growth Center has received this MGCC grant for the Stronger Businesses Program, which focuses on businesses with fewer than 20 employees. An assistant program manager will also be added to the center’s staff to support its Growth Advisory Program and seminars. The grant is part of the MGCC’s 2015 Small Business Assistance Grants Program, which is designed to complement and enhance the traditional public and private small-business assistance network. The Business Growth Center is one of 30 organizations statewide to receive 25 grants, and the only one in Hampden or Hampshire county to receive funding from the MGCC. “Businesses with fewer than 20 employees dominate the Pioneer Valley,” said Marla Michel, the Business Growth Center’s director. “They will benefit from this support, as it allows us to re-offer a proven business-growth workshop and build our capacity for other growth programs.” The Stronger Businesses Program is an eight-session, in-depth offering for motivated leaders of for-profit and nonprofit businesses aiming to strengthen their organizations and accelerate growth through better decision making, new-product introductions, and more efficient operations. The program starts on Oct. 7 and, after a five-week ‘homework’ period, runs from Nov. 12 to Dec. 23. Business owners can bring an associate at no additional charge to help absorb what they learn more effectively. Discounts are available to members of all the regional chambers of commerce and the Western Mass. chapter of the National Machine and Tooling Assoc., as well as clients of the Business Growth Center’s service providers: the Massachusetts Small Business Development Center Network, the New England Business Associates Business Development Center, and SCORE. Participants in last year’s program reported increased business stabilization or growth as a result of the program. “If I hadn’t taken this class, my company wouldn’t have been in as upward a position as it is,” said Kristin Maier, program participant and president of Peerless Precision Inc. in Westfield. Added Leslie Belay, senior program manager at MGCC, “we are pleased to have the Business Growth Center as one of our grantees in Western Mass. Their Stronger Businesses Program is compelling and will assist small-business owners in expanding their products and services to meet new growth opportunities in the Pioneer Valley.” Registration is open for the Stronger Businesses Program and available on the center’s website.

Women’s Fund Announces $240,000 in Grant Awards
EASTHAMPTON — The Women’s Fund of Western Mass. announced a total of $240,000 in grant commitments in Berkshire, Franklin, Hamden, and Hampshire counties. Working within its focus areas of educational access and success, economic justice, and safety and freedom from violence, partners in these communities will each receive $60,000 over three years to deploy innovative programs that will help shift the landscape for women and girls. Among the grantees, Berkshire United Way will spearhead a coalition effort titled Face the Facts Teen Pregnancy Prevention Coalition; in Franklin County, Greenfield Community College will launch the Franklin County Women’s GARDEN Project Collaborative; in Hampden County, the Prison Birth Project will continue its social- and reproductive-justice efforts for incarcerated and post-incarcerated mothers; and in Hampshire County, funding will go to the Treehouse Foundation’s project titled Re-envisioning Foster Care Together. “We have incredible partnerships with our grantees,” said Elizabeth Barajas-Román, who joined the Women’s Fund as its new CEO earlier this month. “By investing in these organizations, the fund is deepening our impact and strengthening our reach.” In addition to the financial award, the Women’s Fund is investing an additional $12,000 into the partnership by giving each organization the opportunity to select two of their staff, constituents, or board members as participants of the Women’s Fund’s Leadership Institute for Political and Public Impact (LIPPI). LIPPI, a program of the Women’s Fund, has equipped 200 women from across the four western counties to become civic leaders in their communities; impact policy on the local, state, and national levels; and seek and retain elected positions. Collectively, these four grantees will help leverage the Women’s Fund’s impact on the lives of women and girls in Western Mass. The Women’s Fund will also continue to convene skill-building sessions and support the programming of organizations that work on issues that impact women and girls. The Women’s Fund advances social-change philanthropy to create economic and social equality for women and girls in Western Mass. through grant-making and strategic initiatives. Since 1997, the WFWM has awarded more than $2 million in grants to more than 100 programs in the four counties of Western Mass. The WFWM is building its capacity to be the go-to organization for all issues related to improving the lives of women and girls.

State Touts Web Portal for Municipal Grants
BOSTON — Gov. Deval Patrick’s administration has unveiled a new web portal for cities and towns to easily identify grant opportunities that could benefit their communities. The Municipal Grant Finder (mass.gov/municipalgrants) is a one-stop web shop for local officials and residents to learn about grant opportunities across state government, regardless of which state agency manages a grant program. “Through the new Municipal Grant Finder, the Patrick administration is continuing its commitment to provide resources to help our municipal partners deliver core services to their communities,” said Secretary of Administration and Finance Glen Shor. The web portal will highlight what resources exist and where to find them, as management of these grants and resources is decentralized among a multitude of state government agencies. The Municipal Grant Finder will help them navigate state government by succinctly profiling more than 60 funding and support opportunities for cities and towns. Working together, the Patrick administration and the Commonwealth’s municipalities have already achieved real, meaningful savings and structural changes to keep costs down so municipalities can make the necessary investments in community services that keep them thriving. Municipal healthcare reform is providing significant and immediate savings to cities and towns, and 257 communities and school districts across Massachusetts have already collectively saved more than $247 million in health-insurance premiums over the past three years as a result of the landmark municipal healthcare reform law signed by Patrick in July 2011.

Company Notebook

By BusinessWest Staff September 23, 2014

Company Notebook Departments

Holyoke Mall Announces ‘Magical Night of Giving’
HOLYOKE — Holyoke Mall at Ingleside will be hosting its ninth annual “Magical Night of Giving” event to help local nonprofit groups and schools raise funds for their organizations. The event will be held on Sunday, Nov. 23 from 6 to 9:30 p.m., with the orientation and ticket-distribution session held on Wednesday, Sept. 24 at 5:30 p.m. The orientation will be held at Holyoke Mall’s Guest Services Center, located on the lower level in Sears Court. The “Magical Night of Giving” is a simple and effective way for nonprofit groups and schools to raise funds for their organization. Holyoke Mall at Ingleside covers all overhead expenses, and the charity keeps 100% of each $5 admission ticket sold. The event works as follows:
• Holyoke Mall at Ingleside will print admission tickets. These tickets will be available for nonprofit groups to pick up and sell beginning Sept. 24.
• Prior to November’s event, organizations will sell these admission tickets for $5 each and keep all money earned from the sale of these tickets.
• For anyone not purchasing tickets in advance, admission tickets will also be sold the evening of the event at all mall entrances by some of the participating organizations.
• Participating Holyoke Mall at Ingleside retailers will offer special discounts that are exclusive to the “Magical Night of Giving.” The ticket is the only means to receive these special discounts between 6 and 9:30 p.m. on Nov. 23.
• Admission tickets sold also act as a raffle ticket. Prizes will be awarded, including a $1,000 Holyoke Mall gift card. The raffle drawing will begin at 8:30 p.m. the evening of the event.
Said Holyoke Mall General Manager Bill Rogalski, “this event helps to raise approximately $50,000 each year between the various organizations involved. Holyoke Mall is providing the tools for the groups to hold their own fund-raiser. It’s a simple way for nonprofit groups and area schools to raise much-needed funding for their organizations.” To reserve tickets for pickup on Sept. 24, contact Simone Enright at (413) 536-1441 or [email protected] by Friday, Sept. 19. Anyone unable to pick up tickets on Sept. 24 may make arrangements with Enright to pick them up at a later date. Call Holyoke Mall’s Marketing department at (413) 536-1441 with any questions.

Webber & Grinnell Named to Circle of Excellence
NORTHAMPTON — Webber and Grinnell Insurance Agency has been inducted into the Plymouth Rock Assurance and Bunker Hill Insurance 2014 Circle of Excellence, recognizing outstanding professionalism, financial performance, and commitment to customer service by independent insurance agents during 2013. Selected from a pool of more than 400 independent agents across Massachusetts, Webber & Grinnell was one of 25 agents to receive this honor. “The Circle of Excellence is our premiere recognition and rewards program reserved for our top independent agents,” said Chris Olie, president of Plymouth Rock Assurance and chairman of Bunker Hill Insurance.“These agents are key parts of Plymouth Rock and Bunker Hill’s success. They have each worked hard to build their businesses while also providing excellent service and trusting advice to their customers.” Webber & Grinnell is one of the largest insurance agencies in Western Mass. The agency currently serves more than 5,000 automobile and homeowner policyholders, and insures nearly 900 businesses throughout the region. “As an independent agent, our goal is to provide expert service tailored to the specific needs of each client we serve,” said Bill Grinnell, president of Webber & Grinnell. “It’s always rewarding to be recognized for our hard work and dedication, and we’re grateful to receive this honor from Plymouth Rock and Bunker Hill.” Plymouth Rock and Bunker Hill are leading automobile- and home-insurance carriers serving Massachusetts. As a member of the Circle of Excellence, Webber & Grinnell will receive marketing support funds, education and training, and other initiatives designed to promote sustained success. The agency will be honored at a fall retreat.

Freedom Credit Union Touts New Logo, Website
SPRINGFIELD — Freedom Credit Union recently unveiled its updated look with a new logo and a redesigned website. At the same time, the credit union launched its presence on social media with new Facebook and LinkedIn pages. “This rebrand is an effort for us to freshen up our image and present a more contemporary look and design across all parts of the credit union, from our website and in-branch messaging to our advertising and promotional materials,” said Barry Crosby, president and CEO. The new logo incorporates the outline of a bell, which represents the credit union’s founding as the Western Massachusetts Telephone Workers Credit Union in 1922. The new website features a more modern design with enhanced navigation and organization. Most of the information is organized within four areas — personal banking, business banking, member tools, and ‘about us’ — and the new rates page is arranged in tabs so that all credit-union rates can be accessed on one page. “Our new website also makes it very convenient for our members to apply for a mortgage or consumer loan online,” said Jeffrey Smith, Freedom’s vice president and chief lending officer. “Members can even get pre-qualified for a mortgage on our website in just a few minutes.” Members can apply for any type of consumer loan online — mortgages, home-equity loans, auto loans, personal loans, home-improvement loans, education loans, and more. On social media, Freedom has attracted hundreds of ‘likes’ on its Facebook page and numerous followers on its LinkedIn page. To access Freedom’s social-media sites, go to www.freedom.coop and click on the logos at the top of the page. Membership at Freedom is available to include anyone who lives, works, or attends a college or university in Hampden, Hampshire, Franklin, or Berkshire county. The organization boasts nine branches throughout the Pioneer Valley in Ludlow, Chicopee, Feeding Hills, Sixteen Acres, Springfield, Easthampton, Northampton, Greenfield, and Turners Falls. A tenth branch is slated to open in September at the Roger L. Putnam Technical Academy in Springfield.

Bauzá & Associates Joins Worldwide Partners
ENFIELD, Conn. — Worldwide Partners Inc. (WPI) has added another partner to the world’s 8th-largest full-service ad-agency network and the world’s largest network of independent ad agencies, according to Al Moffatt, president and CEO of Worldwide Partners, headquartered in Denver. Bauzá & Associates, headquartered in Enfield, Conn., specializes in multicultural marketing and is headed by principal and CEO Héctor Bauzá. Founded in 2003, the agency became an LLC in Massachusetts in 2005 and has a roster of clients including the Connecticut Housing Finance Authority, Harvard Street Neighborhood Health Center of Dorchester, and the Connecticut Lottery. “What makes us attractive to clients worldwide is that we’re comprised of innovative, progressive agencies across a full range of disciplines and industries,” Moffatt said. “We’re a collaborative, bottom-up network whereby the partner agencies own us rather than us owning them. We provide the resources and the global outreach to help our partners achieve greater profits and revenue while the partner agencies work together to build each other’s business and service clients locally, regionally, and internationally. We’re an efficient, international network that is built to succeed in today’s highly competitive and fragmented marketing environment. Each partner is hand-selected for its progressive and innovative approach. In short, we have the critical mass and skills of the agency conglomerates coupled with the flexibility of the independents. We’re very happy to have Bauzá & Associates join us.” Added Bauzá, “we are honored to be a part of WPI’s tremendously successful network of independent agencies. As a smaller agency, the added muscle from WPI will help to increase the size of the projects Bauzá & Associates will compete for and expand this agency’s reach to regional, national, and global markets.” Worldwide Partners Inc., which celebrated its 75th anniversary in 2013, has more than 20 network-wide regional and international clients, including Wal-Mart Centroamerica, Caterpillar, Saudi Arabian Airlines, Group Santander, MINI, Western Digital, California Tourism, and Novartis.

Dadanco Opens New Facility in Westfield
WESTFIELD — Dadanco, a manufacturer of commercial hydronic-based heating and cooling products, including active chilled beams, induction units, and induction diffusers, announced the grand opening of its Luxton-Reed Center, with an open house to be held on Sept. 12, from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. The Luxton-Reed Center is aptly named after two industry pioneers for heating and cooling technologies: professor Russell Luxton of Australia, the co-founder of Dadanco, and John Reed of Westfield, the founder of several hydronic heating companies, including Sterling Residential & Commercial Hydronics, which are divisions of Mestek Inc., the largest manufacturer of finned-tube baseboard radiation in North America. The Luxton-Reed Center (LRC) is a unique facility focused on research and development and specific high-efficiency equipment testing utilizing a thermal-scenario test chamber which accurately measures air and water flow, temperature, and capacities. The test chamber is highly configurable and can simulate actual real-life application conditions. Alongside the LRC corporate offices are several live-fire training and showcase spaces. Each space meticulously represents an actual real-world installation, including a hotel suite, hospital room, and laboratory. The hotel suite is one of the most technically complex demonstration spaces in the LRC facility, as the room features a thermal wall with glass façade which simulates outside conditions and three different types of hydronic cooling solutions, so guests get to compare and contrast without leaving the room. LRC’s main mechanical room is host to multiple high-efficiency products produced by other Westfield-based Mestek companies, including condensing cast-iron boilers from Advanced Thermal Hydronics, flexible small-duct air distribution, and reverse-cycle chiller systems by SpacePak, direct outside air systems by Applied Air, hydronic fan coils by Airtherm, and integrated control systems by HeatNet. The facility is a fully operational showroom and research center for high-efficiency indoor comfort equipment and integrated control platforms. Every room, including the offices, the classroom/training room, the videoconferencing room, and the kitchen/break room, houses various mediums of high-efficiency air-distribution equipment.

People on the Move

By BusinessWest Staff September 23, 2014

Departments People on the Move

Maria Burke

JERICHO, the Bureau for Exceptional Children & Adults, has announced the appointment of Maria Burke as Associate Director. JERICHO is well-known for its programs and services, begun by Fr. Robert Wagner and continued by Sr. Joan Magnani, emphasizing inclusion for all people with disabilities in Western Mass. over the past 44 years. “I am delighted that Maria has been named associate director,” said Magnani. “Working with her allows us to move forward with new strategic-planning efforts focused on how we can best serve the families and individuals living with disabilities, as well as the professional agencies and staff who care for these people in Western Mass.” Burke brings expertise in many areas of nonprofit management and a substantial fund-raising history in the region, as well as a strong personal focus on the needs and challenges facing many families and individuals living with disabilities. “I look forward to continuing this important work,” she said, “as well as expanding our reach with new partnerships, training, and networking opportunities to serve the many families who face difficulties and challenges. It will be wonderful to include new people and provide services that make life at least a bit easier for all families and providers serving the disabled.”
•••••
The Professional Women’s Chamber, a division of the Affiliated Chambers of Commerce of Greater Springfield, recently honored Carol Campbell, president of Chicopee Industrial Contractors, as its 2014 Woman of the Year. The annual Woman of the Year Banquet was held at the Castle of Knights in Chicopee. The award is presented to a woman in the Greater Springfield area who exemplifies outstanding leadership, professional accomplishment, and service to the community. The Professional Women’s Chamber promotes the status of women professionals, working to empower career-oriented women through participation in leadership, education, and networking opportunities, and striving to strengthen the positive impact of women in the business community and on the economy.
•••••

Michael Gove

Attorney Michael Gove, of Gove Law Office LLC in Northampton, recently announced that he has purchased a law practice in Ludlow and will open a second office in that community, his hometown. Gove’s 10-year-old practice concentrates on business and corporate law, real-estate transactions, and estate planning. On Sept. 2, Gove assumed ownership of Thompson & Bell of Ludlow, the business formerly operated by the late James “Jason” Thompson and his associate, Gregory Bell. Bell and Gove will work together to cover the Ludlow and Northampton offices; in addition, the Ludlow office will also handle bankruptcy and personal-injury law. Gove earned his law degree from Boston College School of Law in 2004, after graduating cum laude from UMass Amherst in 2001 with a bachelor’s degree in political science. He is a member of the Massachusetts Bar Assoc., the Hampden County Bar Assoc., the Hampshire County Bar Assoc., the Connecticut Bar Assoc., the Young Professional Society of Greater Springfield, and the Northampton Assoc. of Young Professionals. Gove has also served on many area nonprofit boards and presently serves as a corporator of the Horace Smith Fund, which grants scholarships for Hampden County residents pursuing a college or graduate education. He also volunteers for Cooley Dickinson Hospital and serves on the board of Best Buddies of Western Massachusetts. In 2012 and 2013, Gove was selected as a Massachusetts Rising Star by Super Lawyers, a designation earned by no more than 2.5% of lawyers in Massachusetts. Bell is a 1983 graduate of Western New England College School of Law. He concentrates in residential and commercial real estate, consumer bankruptcy, probate administration, and personal-injury law.
•••••
Dr. Thomas Cleary Sr. was recently recognized as a William McKenna Volunteer Hero by the Mass. Dental Society (MDS), a statewide organization serving nearly 5,000 member dentists. He was acknowledged by his peers for substantial contributions to organized dentistry at both the state and local district levels. Cleary is currently a member of the MDS Council on Dental Care and Benefits, and has served as a volunteer coordinator for the Yankee Dental Congress, New England’s largest dental meeting. Within the Valley District Dental Society, he has been chair of Dental Connections, an educational program for dental auxiliaries; co-chair of the education committee; and a member of the executive committee. He is also past president of the Hampshire Dental Society. Cleary is a graduate of Tufts University School of Dental Medicine (TUSDM). In addition to maintaining a dental practice in Easthampton, he is an assistant professor of operative and prosthetic dentistry at TUSDM. Several years ago, he was a member of a group of TUSDM faculty who went on a fact-finding trip to Cuba, and this summer he took part in a service mission to the Dominican Republic organized by students. He established his general dentistry practice in Easthampton in 1974. His son, Dr. Thomas M. Cleary Jr., joined him in 2008. The Volunteer Hero award is given in memory of the late Dr. William McKenna, who was a driving force behind the development of the Yankee Dental Congress and considered by many to have been a model of volunteerism within the MDS.
•••••

Craig Johnsen

Loomis Communities announced the appointment of Craig Johnsen as Administrator at Loomis Lakeside at Reeds Landing. In this role, Johnsen is responsible for administering and overseeing the day-to-day operation of the retirement community in Springfield, as well as serving as a member of the Loomis Communities Senior Leadership Team. Johnsen is a licensed nursing-home administrator with more than 30 years working with older adults. Prior to joining Loomis Communities, he served as executive director of Eastview at Middlebury in Middlebury, Vt. He holds a bachelor’s degree in long-term-care administration and has completed a graduate fellowship in strategic and financial planning with Leading Age and Strategic Perspectives in Nonprofit Management at Harvard University. Loomis Lakeside at Reeds Landing offers independent-living cottages and apartments, assisted living, skilled nursing care, medical offices, and primary-care physician services, all under one roof.
•••••
Leadership Pioneer Valley (LPV) announced that Dawn Leaks has joined the LPV team in the newly created position of Program Manager. In this role, Leaks will be responsible for managing LPV’s signature 10-month regional leadership development program and helping recruit future participants. Leaks is a certified coach and speaker and adjunct professor of Business at Bay Path University. She joins Leadership Pioneer Valley after nearly five years in communications and development at the American Red Cross Pioneer Valley Chapter. As director of communications, she was responsible for public affairs, media relations, social media, and marketing communications. In previous roles, she worked as recruiter for a mid-size public school system and an account executive for MassLive.com. She is an active member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc. and has served on several boards of local organizations, including Next Level Development for Women of Color and Dress for Success of Western Mass. She is an active board member at the New England Public Radio Foundation Inc.
•••••

Christopher Marini

Meyers Brothers Kalicka, P.C. announced the appointment of Christopher Marini to the board of trustees for the Springfield Symphony Orchestra. In addition to serving on the board, Marini will also be serving on the audience development and education committee. Marini has been an audit associate with the firm for just over one year, specializing in nonprofits and HUD, reviews and compilations, and income-tax returns for individuals, nonprofits, corporations, and partnerships. Before coming to MBK, he worked for two years at a local public accounting firm. Marini earned a BBA from the UMass Amherst Isenberg School of Management and Commonwealth Honors College. He is currently pursuing his MSA at UConn. He is a member of the Beta Gamma Sigma International Business Honor Society and the Massachusetts Society of CPAs.
•••••
The Springfield Falcons announced that Andy Zilch will join the organization as the team’s play-by-play broadcaster and Manager of Broadcasting. Zilch comes to the Falcons after spending two seasons with the Greenville Road Warriors of the East Coast Hockey League. While being the voice of the team, he also oversaw media relations and served as an account executive. The St. Louis native generated several corporate partnerships and was strongly involved in the community. The majority of his donated time was spent assisting the local children’s hockey program. Prior to his time with the Road Warriors, Zilch served two years in the National Hockey League as a broadcast intern with the St. Louis Blues. He also spent time with the National Football League’s St. Louis Rams on the team’s radio network. A 2009 graduate of Lindenwood University in Missouri, Zilch entered broadcasting as the play-by-play broadcaster for the men’s hockey team on KCLC, the student radio station. He has a bachelor’s degree in mass communications with an emphasis on radio and television.
•••••
Main Street Hospitality Group (MSHG) announced that Adam Brassard has been appointed to the position of Executive Chef of the Williams Inn. His responsibilities include all kitchen operations and menu development. Brassard’s appointment marks his return to the Williams Inn. In 2007, he began his professional culinary career as the Williams Inn sous chef. From there, he joined the Red Lion Inn as sous chef under the leadership of Red Lion Inn Executive Chef and MSHG Vice President of Food and Beverage Operations Brian Alberg. Brassard began his career as an intern in the McCann Technical High School Culinary Arts department and went on to graduate from the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, N.Y., in 2007. Brassard has participated in numerous farm-to-table events and food and wine festivals throughout the Berkshires, Boston, and New York. Brassard also works with the Railroad Street Youth Project, demonstrating culinary techniques to young adults; is on the advisory board of the Culinary Arts department at McCann Technical High School; and takes part in judging projects for Skills USA, a competition among technical high schools. Brassard has cooked at the renowned James Beard House in New York City, working alongside Alberg.

Chamber Corners: Upcoming Events

By BusinessWest Staff September 23, 2014

Court Dockets Departments

ACCGS
www.myonlinechamber.com
(413) 787-1555

• Sept. 23: ACCGS Pastries, Politics & Policy, 8-9 a.m. An informal roundtable discussion, designed for political and policy junkies. Cost: $15 for members, $25 for general admission, which includes continental breakfast. Reservations may be made online at www.myonlinechamber.com.
• Sept. 30: Rake in the Business Table Top Showcase, 4:30-7 p.m. Hosted by Castle of Knights, 1599 Memorial Dr., Chicopee. Presented by the Affiliated Chambers of Commerce of Greater Springfield and the Greater Chicopee, Holyoke, and Westfield chambers of commerce. Network with more than 100 vendors. Cost: $5 in advance, $10 at the door. Reservations may be made online at www.myonlinechamber.com.
• Oct. 1: ACCGS Business@Breakfast, 7:15-9 a.m. Hosted by Twin Hills Country Club, 700 Wolf Swamp Road, Longmeadow. Cost: $20 for members in advance, $25 for members at the door, $30 for general admission. Reservations may be made online at www.myonlinechamber.com.
• Oct. 3: ERC5 Golf Classic. Registration, 11 a.m.; lunch, 11:30 a.m.; shotgun start, 12:30 p.m. Wilbraham Country Club, 859 Stony Hill Road, Wilbraham. Cost: $500 per foursome. Proceeds benefit the Minnechaug Regional High School Youth Entrepreneurial Scholars Program and the ERC5 Scholarship Fund. Reservations may be made online www.myonlinechamber.com.
• Oct. 8: ACCGS Lunch ‘n’ Learn, 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., Lattitude Restaurant, 1388 Memorial Ave., West Springfield. Liz Provo, authorized local representative for Constant Contact, will present “Social Media for Small Business Success.” Cost: $25 for members, $35 for general admission. Reservations may be made online at www.myonlinechamber.com.
• Oct. 29: ACCGS Western Mass. Business Expo Breakfast, 7:15-9 a.m., MassMutual Center, 1277 Main St., Springfield. Keynote speaker: Gov. Deval Patrick. Cost: $25 in advance, $30 at the door. Reservations may be made online at www.myonlinechamber.com.
• Oct. 29: PWC Western Mass. Business Expo Headline Luncheon, 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., MassMutual Center, 1277 Main St., Springfield. Keynote speaker: Patricia Diaz Dennis, retired senior vice president and assistant general counsel for AT&T. Cost: $40. Reservations may be made online at www.myonlinechamber.com.

AMHERST AREA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
www.amherstarea.com
(413) 253-0700

• Oct. 1: Chamber Ribbon Cutting Ceremony, 5-6 p.m., hosted by Unitarian Universalist Society of America, 121 North Pleasant St., Amherst. Rededication of the Tiffany stained-glass window. Light hors d’oeuvres and refreshments. Event is free and open to the public.
• Oct. 2: 2014 Annual Awards Dinner, 5:30-9 p.m. (after-party to follow). Hosted by Hadley Farms Meeting House, 41 Russell St., Hadley. Join us in honoring the Rotary Club of Amherst, Stephanie O’Keeffe, and Tony Maroulis. Emceed by Monte Belmonte, 93.9 The River. Tickets are $75 per person or $700 for a table of 10. For more information, call Tammy-Lynn at (413) 253-0700 or e-mail [email protected].
• Oct. 9: Chamber Brown Bag, 12:30-2 p.m. Hosted by the Jones Library (Woodbury Room). Topic: “The Entrepreneurial Equation.” This event will give you ideas for putting banking, retirement, and insurance tools to work so you can help build and protect your business according to your short-and long-term goals. Presenter: Tom McRae, Edward Jones. Event is free and open to the public. Bring a lunch.
• Oct. 9: Chamber Ribbon Cutting Ceremony, 12:30-1 p.m., at Downtown Mindfulness, 67 North Pleasant St., Amherst. Join us in welcoming Downtown Mindfulness to the Amherst area. Light hors d’oeuvres and refreshments will be served. Event is free and open to the public.
• Oct. 24: Legislative Breakfast, 7:15-9 a.m. Hosted by the Lord Jeffery Inn, 30 Boltwood Ave., Amherst. This is your chance to rub elbows with Amherst-area elected officials. Cost: $15 for chamber members, $20 for non-members. To RSVP, call Tammy-Lynn at (413) 253-0700 or e-mail [email protected].

FRANKLIN COUNTY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
www.franklincc.org
(413) 773-5463

• Sept. 26: Chamber Breakfast Series, 7:30-9 a.m., hosted by Franklin County Tech School, Turners Falls. Special presentation on United Way program. Cost: $13 for members, $15 for non-members. Contact the chamber at (413) 773-5463 to reserve your tickets.

GREATER CHICOPEE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
www.chicopeechamber.org
(413) 594-2101

• Sept. 30: Table Top Expo & Business Networking Event, 4:30-7 p.m., Hosted by: Castle of Knights, 1599 Memorial Dr., Chicopee. Presented by the Greater Chicopee, Holyoke, and Westfield chambers of commerce and ACCGS. Cost: $5 pre-registered, $10 at the door. Register online at www.chicopeechamber.org.
• Oct. 9: Taking Care of Business, Workshop #3, “Human Resources: Best Practices for Small Businesses,” 9-11 a.m. Hosted by Hampton Inn, 600 Memorial Dr., Chicopee. Learn about recruitment and hiring, employee benefits and labor laws, and unemployment Insurance. Presenter: Employers Assoc. of the NorthEast. Cost: $20 for members, $30 for non-members.
• Oct. 15: Salute Breakfast, 7:15-9 a.m. Hosted by the Log Cabin Banquet & Meeting House, 500 Easthampton Road, Holyoke. Cost: $20 for members, $26 for non-members.
• Oct. 23: Auction/Beer & Wine Tasting, 6-9 p.m., Delaney House, 3 Country Club Road, Holyoke. The public is welcome to attend and enjoy tastings from Kappy’s Liquors and Williams Distributing Corp., and delicious gourmet food by the Delaney House. Take some photos in the complimentary photo booth and bid on auction items such as gift baskets and gift certificates to area restaurants.
• Oct. 30: Taking Care of Business, Workshop #4: “How to Retain Your Top Talent,” 9-11 a.m. Hosted by Hampton Inn, 600 Memorial Dr., Chicopee. Learn about recruitment and turnover costs, production loss, and retraining. Presenter: James Percy, Willard Financial Group, LLC. Cost: $20 for members, $30 for non-members.

GREATER EASTHAMPTON CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
www.easthamptonchamber.org
(413) 527-9414

• Oct. 9: Networking by Night Business Card Exchange, 5-7 p.m., hosted and co-sponsored by Eastworks & Riff’s Joint, 116 Pleasant St., Easthampton. Door prizes, hors d’ouevres, beer and wine. Cost: $5 for members, $15 for future members. RSVP requested.
• Oct. 20: Celebrity Bartenders Night, 6-9 p.m., at Opa-Opa Steakhouse & Brewery, 169 College Highway, Southampton. Join us for a night of fun with local celebrities mixing drinks. Let us know if you are interested in bartending! Cash bar, raffles, and fun. Tips and donations benefit the chamber’s downtown Holiday Lighting Fund. Admission: free.
• Oct. 23: Workforce Training Speaker Breakfast, part of the chamber’s Speaker Series 2014. Hosted by Southampton Country Club, 329 College Highway, Southampton. Come and learn about available state funding for employee training and technical assistance for any size business. Cost: $15 for chamber members, $20 for non-members. Call the chamber to sign up. Seating is limited.

GREATER HOLYOKE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
www.holycham.com
(413) 534-3376

• Sept. 30: Table Top Showcase, 4:30-7 p.m., hosted by Chicopee Castle of Knights. Four area chambers — Greater Holyoke, Greater Chicopee, Greater Westfield, and the ACCGS — are getting together to present a table top mini-trade show. Tables cost $125. Visitor cost is $10 in advance, $15 at the door. Call (413) 534-3376 to secure a table, or sign up online at holyokechamber.com.
• Oct. 3: Manufacturing Business Breakfast, 8-10 a.m. (7:45 a.m. registration), PeoplesBank Conference Room, Kittredge Center, Holyoke Community College. Join us for a continental breakfast and networking opportunity to celebrate manufacturing. Guests include Eric Nakajima, assistant secretary of Housing and Economic Development; David Gadaire of CareerPoint, Jeffrey Hayden of Holyoke Community College, and state Rep. Aaron Vega. Cost: $10, which includes a continental breakfast. Call (413) 534-3376 to sign up, or visit holyokechamber.com.
• Oct. 7, 21: Nov. 5: Ask a Chamber Expert Series: “How to Start and Maintain Your Own Business.” Get your business on the right track and join us for this member-taught, 10-class workshop series. Workshop schedule: Oct. 7, “Creating a Business Plan”; Oct. 21, “Learning the Law”; Nov. 5, “Insurance.” All workshops are held from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Holyoke Chamber of Commerce at 177 High St., and include light refreshments. Cost: $20 per session for members, or $175 for 10 classes. To sign up, call the chamber at (413) 534-3376 or visit holyokechamber.com.
• Oct. 8: Autumn Business Breakfast, 7:30-9 a.m., at the Log Cabin. Sponsored by the Republican and Holyoke Medical Center. Recognition of new members and business milestones, and networking breakfast meeting. Cost: $22 for members in advance, $28 for non-members and at the door. For reservations, call the chamber at (413) 534-3376.
• Oct. 15: Chamber After Hours, 5-7 p.m., hosted by Westfield Bank, 1642 Northampton St., Holyoke. Business networking event to take place under the tent. Food, networking, 50/50 raffle, and door prizes. Cost: $10 for members, $15 for the public. To sign up, call the chamber at (413) 534-3376 or visit holyokechamber.com.

GREATER NORTHAMPTON CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
www.explorenorthampton.com
(413) 584-1900

• Oct. 1: Annual Open House, 5-7 p.m., hosted by the Greater Northampton Chamber of Commerce, 99 Pleasant St., Northampton. Cost: $10 for members, $15 for non-members.
• Oct. 8: “Make the Web Work for You,” 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Hosted by Greenfield Savings Bank, Community Room, 325 King St., Northampton. Presented by Tina Stevens of Stevens 470. Cost: $20 for members, $25 for non-members. RSVP required; space limited.
• Oct. 10: “Tips, Tricks, & Shortcuts,” 9-11 a.m., hosted by the Greater Northampton Chamber of Commerce, 99 Pleasant St., Northampton. Sponsosr: Pioneer Training. Special guest: Don Lesser. This workshop contains a variety of quick tips and tricks in Microsoft Word that will save you hours of time. Cost: $20 for members, $25 for non-members. RSVP; space limited.

GREATER WESTFIELD CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
www.westfieldbiz.org
(413) 568-1618

• Sept. 30: 17th Annual Table Top Showcase, 4:30-7 p.m., hosted by Castle of Knights, Chicopee. Opportunities include sponsorships and exhibitor tables. Cost: $5 in advance through chamber, $10 at the door. For more information, call Pam at the chamber office, (413) 568-1618.
• Oct. 6: Mayor’s Coffee Hour, 8-9 a.m., hosted by Tekoa Country Club, Westfield. Join Mayor Dan Knapik for an informal talk on Westfield. Free and open to the public, but call Pam at the chamber to register, (413) 568-1618.
• Oct. 8: After 5 Connection, 5-7 p.m., hosted by East Mountain Country Club, Westfield. Great connection opportunities, including speed connecting. Complimentary hors d’oeuvres, cash bar. Walk-ins welcome. Cost: $10 for members, $15 for non-members (cash at the door). To register, call Pam at the chamber at (413) 568-1618.
• Oct. 14: Lunch & Lecture Series #3, 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., hosted by Noble Hospital, Conference Room A, Westfield. Topic: “Retirement & Investments for Business.” Presented by Tim Flynn of Edward Jones Investments. Cost: free to chamber members, $25 for non-members. For more information, call Pam at the chamber office, (413) 568-1618.
• Oct. 20: Speaker Series (2 of 3), “Common and Costly Employment-law Mistakes Made by Small Businesses,” 8-9:15 a.m., presented by Royal, LLC. Hosted by Genesis Spiritual Life & Conference Center, Westfield. Cost: free to chamber members, $25 for non-members. For more information, call Pam at the chamber office, (413) 568-1618.

PROFESSIONAL WOMEN’S CHAMBER
www.professionalwomenschamber.com
(413) 755-1310

• Sept. 24: PWC Headline Luncheon, 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., hosted by Yankee Pedlar Inn, 1866 Northampton St., Holyoke. Keynote speaker: Jane Iredale, founder, president, and CEO of Iredale Mineral Cosmetics. Cost: $25 for PWC members, $35 for general admission. Reservations may be made online at www.myonlinechamber.com.
• Oct. 14: PWC Ladies Night, 5-7 p.m. Complimentary wine, refreshments, and networking. Reservations are complimentary but suggested, by contacting Dawn Creighton at [email protected] or (413) 530-0545.

WEST OF THE RIVER CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
www.ourwrc.com
(413) 426-3880

• Oct. 1: Wicked Wednesday, 5-7 p.m., hosted by Westfield Bank, Agawam. Cost: free for chamber members, $10 at the door for non-members. Event is open to the public. Wicked Wednesdays are monthly social events, hosted by various businesses and restaurants, that bring members and non-members together to network in a laid-back atmosphere. For more information, contact the chamber office at (413) 426-3880 or [email protected].
• Oct. 2: West Springfield Candidates Forum, 6-8 p.m., hosted by West Springfield Town Hall, 26 Central St. For the first half of this state representatives debate, questions will be solicited in advance from WRC members and the general public. The second half of the debate will be performed in the Lincoln-Douglas format, where candidates will have the opportunity to pose questions to each other.
• Oct. 9: Agawam Candidates Forum, 6-9 p.m., hosted by Roberta G. Doering School, 68 Main St., Agawam. For the first half of this state representatives / state Senate debate, questions will be solicited in advance from WRC members and the general public. The second half of the debate will be performed in the Lincoln-Douglas format, where candidates will have the opportunity to pose questions to each other.
• Oct. 15: Networking Lunch, noon to 1:30 p.m., hosted by Crestview Country Club, Agawam. Enjoy a sit-down lunch while networking with fellow chamber members. Each attendee will get a chance to offer a brief sales pitch. You must be a member or guest of a member to attend. The only cost to attend is the cost of lunch. Attendees will order off the menu and pay separately that day. We cannot invoice you for these events. For more information, contact the chamber office at (413) 426-3880 or email [email protected].
• Oct. 16: Breakfast Meeting, 7-9 a.m., hosted by Lattitude, West Springfield. The featured emcee is political consultant Anthony Signoli, speaking on the potential casino and how it may affect local business and the general public. Cost: $25 for chamber members, $30 for non-members. For more information, contact the chamber office at (413) 426-3880 or email [email protected].

Agenda

By BusinessWest Staff September 23, 2014

Agenda Departments

Craft Brewer Lecture
Sept. 25: Dan Kenary, co-founder and president of Harpoon Brewery, will speak about the history and success of New England’s largest craft brewery at Old Sturbridge Village (OSV). His appearance is part of the village’s continuing OSV Overseers’ Distinguished Speaker Series. Kenary, a Worcester native, will host a fun-filled evening of beer tasting paired with food samples and will share the story of Harpoon’s success. Doors open at 6 p.m., a cash bar is available, and Kenary’s program will begin at 7 p.m. In his talk, “How Passion, Continuous Improvement, and Grassroots Marketing Have Made Harpoon Brewery the Largest Craft Brewer in New England,” Kenary will recount how Harpoon introduced fresh, local craft beer to Boston in 1986, becoming the first brewery to commercially brew and bottle beer in Boston in more than 25 years. “The big beer companies are like factories. What craft beer has done is to bring some local flavors,” he noted. “I’m bullish on better beer. We don’t believe in making beer we don’t like.” Tickets are $45 per person, $40 for Old Sturbridge Village members. Attendees must be at least 21 years old. Seating is limited, and pre-registration is required. The event is sponsored by Spencer Bank. For more information, visit www.osv.org or call (800) 733-1830. Old Sturbridge Village celebrates New England life in the 1830s and is one of the largest living-history museums in the country. The museum is open daily from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. OSV offers free parking and a free return visit within 10 days. Admission is $24, or $22 for seniors; $8 for children ages 3-17, and free to children 2 and under.

Great River Challenge
Sept. 28: The only town in Massachusetts located on both sides of the fourth-largest river in the U.S., Northfield will be the scene of the first annual Great River Challenge Triathlon. The event will begin at Northfield Mountain Recreation and Environmental Center’s riverfront park and extensive trail system located on Route 63. Classified as a ‘non-traditional’ triathlon because it involves paddling rather than swimming, the Great River Challenge will be the first event of its kind in the Upper Pioneer Valley to use the broad Connecticut River. The Northfield Mountain recreational facility offers a number of advantages for racers and spectators, including a comfortable lodge, convenient parking, and a food-vendor area, amenities that most other race locations lack. The race features a canoe/kayak/SUP leg, a trail run, and an off-road mountain-bike leg on scenic Northfield Mountain. The paddle leg will be a mass start from the center’s riverfront park, paddling out and back and around Captain Kidd’s Island over 5.2 miles. The running leg is a challenging 3.5 miles of single-track trails and groomed trails, followed by a 6.5-mile mountain-bike ride on mixed single-track and open trails. Individuals and two-, three-, and four-person teams are welcome, and there is a junior division. Registrations start at $65 for individuals, with discounts for teams and half price for junior competitors (age 20 and under), plus a small sign-up fee at runsignup.com. Detailed information about the race, pre-registration and on-site registration, and pre-race activities can be found at www.greatriverchallenge.com. Organizer David Thomas — an athlete, coach, and owner of Stellar Kayaks in Northfield — expects 150 racers and 500 spectators at the first of what he hopes will be an annual event. “We are excited to launch this event in Northfield, showcasing the unusual beauty and abundant natural features we have here, from the river to the surrounding mountains,” he said. Proceeds from the event will support Northfield Kiwanis programs for children and needy families and visitor programs produced by the Northfield Area Tourism Assoc.

ACCGS Breakfast
Oct. 1: Menck Windows Chairman Bodo Liesenfeld will be the keynote speaker at the Affiliated Chambers of Commerce of Greater Springfield’s October Business@Breakfast at 7:15 a.m. at Twin Hills Country Club, 700 Wolf Swamp Road, Longmeadow. The event will be hosted by WGBY Director of Public Affairs Jim Madigan and sponsored by United Personnel. Liesenfeld will present “Looking from the Outside In,” and discuss the benefits and strengths the region has to offer businesses interested in locating and relocating to Western Mass. Menck Windows, a joint venture of Menck USA Inc. and Menck Fenster GmbH, of Hamburg, Germany, a 130-year-old, fourth-generation business that provides custom windows and doors in Europe, the Far East, and the U.S., recently opened the doors to its first U.S. manufacturing operation here in Western Mass. Liesenfeld is managing partner of Liesenfeld International GmbH, a private investment enterprise. For nearly 30 years, he was CEO and chairman of German-based Rohde & Liesenfeld, an international air and sea freight-forwarding group with global presence. He is the honorary representative of the city of Hamburg to the Northeast region of the U.S. and serves as chairman of the German Latin America Business Assoc. Since making his home in Boston in mid-2009, he became a fellow at Harvard’s Weatherhead Center for International Affairs and chairman of the advisory board of the Berklee Global Jazz Institute. He is chairman of the board of the Latin America Business Assoc. and a board member of the Hamburg Chamber of Commerce, among other board positions in the U.S., Germany, and Latin America. Reservations are $20 in advance for ACCGS members ($25 for member walk-in registration) and $30 for general admission. Reservations are suggested and can be made online at www.myonlinechamber.com.

Amherst Area Chamber Annual Awards Dinner
Oct. 2: The Amherst Area Chamber of Commerce announced the upcoming Farm to Table Annual Awards Dinner, to be held Oct. 2 at Hadley Farms Meeting House in Hadley. The dinner, a yearly celebration that is a highlight of area businesses’ community social calendar, is expected to sell out. This year’s award winners reflect a celebration and acknowledgement of a number of community partners and leaders. The “A+” Award Winners include the Rotary Club of Amherst, which will receive the chamber’s Community Service Award, recognizing the many contributions that this group of volunteers has made to the Amherst area, in addition to its work dedicated to the global eradication of polio; Stephanie O’Keeffe, who will receive the chamber’s Legacy Award, a celebration of what this individual has accomplished, specifically in her role on the Amherst Select Board; and Tony Maroulis, former executive director of the organization, who will receive the chamber’s Most Valuable Player award for all of his hard work elevating the chamber’s stature and involvement in the community. “It was a daunting task to sift through the nominations for this year’s batch of award winners, because as there are so many individuals and organizations in this community worthy of recognition,” said Don Courtemanche, Amherst Area Chamber of Commerce executive director. “We feel that the recipients that we have selected represent the best, the brightest, and the most outstanding of the terrific partners that the chamber is fortunate to be associated with.” Tickets for the dinner will be available Sept. 2. Reservations for the dinner or for the program book may be made by contacting the chamber at (413) 253-0700.

Stroke Lecture at CDH
Oct. 2: Stroke is a major cause of death and disability in the U.S. Stroke occurs when a blood vessel that brings blood and oxygen to the brain gets blocked or ruptures. When this happens, brain cells don’t get the blood they need, and deprived of oxygen, nerve cells can stop working and die within minutes. In “Stroke Prevention and Treatment,” a Cooley Dickinson/Massachusetts General Hospital lecture, stroke neurologist Dr. Scott Silverman will discuss ways to reduce the risk of stroke and how to recognize stroke warning signs. He will also discuss treatments for stroke. Community members are invited to attend the lecture, from 6 to 7 p.m. in the Dakin Conference Room at Cooley Dickinson Hospital. Silverman is an instructor of neurology at Harvard Medical School and an assistant in neurology at Massachusetts General Hospital, where he works on the stroke service. He received his undergraduate degree in neuroscience from Bowdoin College, and received his medical degree and completed his neurology residency at UMass Medical School. He then completed a fellowship in vascular and critical-care neurology at Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Silverman is board-certified in neurology, vascular neurology, and neurocritical care, and is director of Outpatient Stroke Services at Mass General. He has a strong interest in medical education and is currently the director of the Partners Vascular Neurology Fellowship. Silverman’s research and clinical interests are in ischemic stroke, specifically intracranial atherosclerotic disease and stroke in the young. Also participating in the lecture will be Dr. Tor Krogius, an emergency department physician at Cooley Dickinson and medical director of the Cooley Dickinson Hospital Stroke Program, as well as the telemedicine programs for stroke, neurology, and burn. He earned his medical degree at McGill University Faculty of Medicine and completed his internship and residency training at Baystate Medical Center.

BMLH Tag Sale and Electronics Recycling Day
Oct. 17: Recent building renovations and office upgrades at Baystate Mary Lane Hospital have resulted in a quantity of usedchairs, tables, desks, file cabinets, and other office equipment. As a result, a tag sale will be held from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the parking lot near the back of the Medical Office Building, off Marjorie Street. Combined with the tag sale, the hospital will also sponsor a community-wide recycling event. Old and/or non-working electrical devices such as radios, air-conditioning units, toasters, phones, light fixtures, etc. will be collected at no cost,with the exception of TVs and CRTs, for which there will be an $8 fee. The community recycling event will also take place in the parking lot near the back of the Medical Office Building. All items collected will be trucked away to a recycling center shortly after the event. All proceeds will benefit community-benefit programs sponsored by the hospital. For more information, contact Ryan Moore at (413) 967-2140.

Western Mass. Business Expo
Oct. 29: The fourth annual Western Mass. Business Expo will be presented by BusinessWest at the MassMutual Center in Springfield. The event is a business-to-business show featuring more than 150 booths, seminars, breakfast and lunch events, Show Floor Theater presentations, and a day-capping Expo Social. Details about events, programs, and featured speakers will be printed in future issues of BusinessWest. Comcast Business will again be Presenting Sponsor, while the social will be sponsored by Northwestern Mutual and MGM Springfield. Silver Sponsors are Health New England, DIF Design, Johnson & Hill Staffing, and MassMutual Financial Group. Education sponsor is the Isenberg School of Management at UMass Amherst. Additional sponsorship opportunities are available. In 2013, more than 2,200 business professionals attended the expo, and between 2,500 and 3,000 are expected in 2014. For more information on sponsorships or booth purchase, call (413) 781-8600 or visit www.wmbexpo.com.

Court Dockets

By BusinessWest Staff September 23, 2014

Court Dockets Departments

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

FRANKLIN SUPERIOR COURT
Gregory J. Caulto and Jonathan David Lavietes v. John W. Dewitt and Lisa Paterno Dewitt d/b/a JW Dewitt Business Communications
Allegation: Breach of contract and non-payment of services rendered: $57,421
Filed: 8/4/14

HAMPDEN SUPERIOR COURT
Axia Insurance Co. v. Kenneth Hark and LJM Insurance Agency Inc.
Allegation: Breach of contract, breach of duty, conversion, unjust enrichment: $250,000
Filed: 7/18/14

Joseph Miller v. People’s Savings Bank
Allegation: Breach of fiduciary duty, unjust enrichment, conversion: $35,000
Filed: 7/23/14

NUVO Bank and Trust Co. v. RIG Rest, LLC f/k/a Airedock Systems, LLC and Paul Gelinas
Allegation: Breach of contract on commercial promissory note: $209,759.63
Filed: 8/13/14

HOLYOKE DISTRICT COURT
Mountainview Landscapes and Lawncare v. Bassette Printers, LLC and Bassette Realty, LLC
Allegation: Non-payment of services rendered for winter upkeep of property: $6,121
Filed: 7/28/14

PALMER DISTRICT COURT
Gregorio Santiago v. The Hanover Insurance Co.
Allegation: Failure to effectuate a prompt, fair, and equitable settlement: $21,745.44
Filed: 7/21/14

SPRINGFIELD DISTRICT COURT
Comcast Spotlight Inc. v. Centaurian Dental Inc. d/b/a Columbia Family Dental
Allegation: Non-payment of advertising services rendered: $14,904.75
Filed: 7/25/14

Freedom Credit Union v. Theresa A. Welch and Michael Welch d/b/a Floral Dynamics
Allegation: Non-payment of promissory note: $11,727.54
Filed: 7/25/14

Liberty Mutual Insurance Co. v. Sambrico, LLC d/b/a Vista Home Improvement
Allegation: Non-payment of workers’ compensation policy: $23,453.23
Filed: 8/6/14

Liberty Mutual Insurance Co. v. Milford Hardwood Floors Inc.
Allegation: Non-payment of workers’ compensation policy: $12,141.27
Filed: 8/6/14

Springfield Plumbing Supply Co. Inc. v. Michael J. Swayger d/b/a Swayger Plumbing
Allegation: Non-payment of goods sold and delivered: $10,674.37
Filed: 7/23/14

U. S. Foods Inc. v. MGB Inc. d/b/a Electric Café and Margaret Buxold
Allegation: Non-payment of goods sold and delivered: $9,137.30
Filed: 7/28/14

Picture This

By BusinessWest Staff September 23, 2014

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]

Taking Flight

Leaders from Baystate Health and Baystate Wing Hospital joined elected officials and members of the Palmer community recently to celebrate Wing’s official entry into the Baystate Health community. Top: Dr. Mark Keroack, president and CEO of Baystate Health, helps Dr. Charles Cavagnaro III, president of Baystate’s Eastern Region, put on his official Baystate Health badge. Middle: Katherine Coolidge, chair of the Baystate Wing board of trustees, left, talks with Dr. Grace Makari-Judson, chair of the Baystate Health Breast Network, during the ceremony. Baystate Wing Hospital is the third community hospital to join Baystate Health following Baystate Franklin Medical Center in Greenfield in 1986 and Baystate Mary Lane Hospital in Ware in 1991.

Taking Flight

Leaders from Baystate Health and Baystate Wing Hospital joined elected officials and members of the Palmer community recently to celebrate Wing’s official entry into the Baystate Health community (see item, page 66). Above: Dr. Mark Keroack, president and CEO of Baystate Health, helps Dr. Charles Cavagnaro III, president of Baystate’s Eastern Region, put on his official Baystate Health badge. Top left: Katherine Coolidge, chair of the Baystate Wing board of trustees, left, talks with Dr. Grace Makari-Judson, chair of the Baystate Health Breast Network, during the ceremony. Baystate Wing Hospital is the third community hospital to join Baystate Health following Baystate Franklin Medical Center in Greenfield in 1986 and Baystate Mary Lane Hospital in Ware in 1991.

Allpax Gasket Cutter Systems Now Offers Complete Product Line

By BusinessWest Staff September 23, 2014

Daily News

CHICOPEE — Allpax Gasket Cutter Systems, a division of Guardair Corp., announced a new, expanded line of extension-style gasket cutters, replacement parts, and accessories, including Zimmerman Spearhead brand-compatible products.

Allpax has broadened its extension-style gasket-cutter line beyond traditional brass (heavy-duty) models and now offers cutters featuring aluminum (medium-duty), plastic (light-duty), and phenolic (compact) construction. All kits include new, non-slip, self-healing cutting boards. Punch offerings have expanded beyond hollow punches to include arch, power, and dovetail types. Packing hooks are now available in 14 convenient sizes.

“Our newly expanded Allpax product line fills a void in the market to help end users meet their gasket-cutting needs through one manufacturer,” said Thomas Tremblay, president of Guardair Corp. “As part of the expansion, we have also upgraded our website, www.allpaxcorp.com, to include product specifications, how-to videos, and the ability to make purchases quickly and easily.”

Allpax Gasket Cutter Systems, founded in 1927, was incorporated into Guardair Corp. in 1999. In 2012, the assets of Allen Gasket Cutting Machine Co. were also acquired, adding rotary-style gasket cutters to the Allpax product line. Today, Allpax is the world’s largest manufacturer of gasket cutters, punches, and accessories used in the fabrication of flange gaskets. Allpax products are sold through a national and international network of more than 1,200 industrial MRO (maintenance, repair, and operations) dealers and distributors. End users can also order product direct through the Allpax website. For more information, visit www.allpaxcorp.com.

Seven Robinson Donovan Attorneys Named to ‘Best Lawyers’

By BusinessWest Staff September 23, 2014

Daily News

SPRINGFIELD — Robinson Donovan, P.C. announced that seven of its attorneys will be included in the 2015 edition of the prestigious national guide Best Lawyers in America.

Robinson Donovan attorneys were included in a number of categories, with three lawyers earning additional Lawyer of the Year recognition for their practice area. Only one lawyer in each practice area in each community is eligible to be named Lawyer of the Year. The Robinson Donovan honorees include:

• Richard Gaberman: corporate law; real estate law, commercial; tax certiorari; tax law; trusts and estates (23rd consecutive year); Lawyer of the Year, real-estate law. Also previous Lawyer of the Year award for trusts and estates

• James Martin: franchise law, automobile dealerships; real-estate law, franchise

• Jeffrey McCormick: personal-injury litigation, automobile collision; catastrophic injury; civil litigation; ethics and professional responsibility; insurance; medical malpractice; premises liability; professional malpractice

• Carla Newton: family law; Lawyer of the Year, family law

• Nancy Frankel Pelletier: personal-injury law, defendants (10th consecutive year)

• Patricia Rapinchuk: employment law, management; litigation, labor and employment; Lawyer of the Year, employment law, management

• Jeffrey Roberts: corporate law; trusts and estates; also previous Lawyer of the Year award for trusts and estates

For more than 30 years, Best Lawyers has been regarded, by both the legal profession and the public, as the definitive guide to legal excellence in the U.S. The 2015 volume of Best Lawyers, the 21st edition, is based on a rigorous evaluation process that included thousands of clients, highly skilled lawyers, and law-firm representatives.

Fourteen Bulkley Richardson Attorneys Selected as ‘Best Lawyers’

By BusinessWest Staff September 23, 2014

Daily News

SPRINGFIELD — Fourteen lawyers from Bulkley Richardson were recently selected by their peers for inclusion in Best Lawyers in America 2015. Bulkley Richardson had the most honorees of any law firm in Springfield, with 12 of its 14 selected lawyers based in its Springfield office.

Two of the firm’s honorees were also named Springfield “Lawyer of the Year” in specific practice areas. William Hart Jr. was so honored in the category of trusts and estates, and John Pucci for criminal defense, white-collar. He was also recognized in the area of criminal defense, non-white-collar. The following Bulkley Richardson lawyers were also selected for the 2015 edition of Best Lawyers:

• Peter Barry: construction law

• Michael Burke: medical-malpractice law (defendants); personal-injury litigation (defendants)

• Mark Cress: bankruptcy and creditor/debtor rights; insolvency and reorganization law; corporate law

• Francis Dibble Jr.: bet-the-company litigation; commercial litigation; litigation (anti-trust, labor and employment, securities)

• Daniel Finnegan: administrative/regulatory law; litigation (construction)

• Robert Gelinas: personal-injury litigation (defendants)

• Kevin Maynard: commercial litigation; litigation (banking and finance, construction)

• David Parke: corporate law

• Melinda Phelps: medical-malpractice law (defendants); personal-injury litigation (defendants)

• Donn Randall: commercial litigation

• Ellen Randle: family law

• Ronald Weiss: corporate law; mergers and acquisitions law; tax law

Since it was first published in 1983, Best Lawyers has become universally regarded as a definitive guide to legal excellence. Because it is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey in which more than 52,000 leading attorneys cast almost 5.5 million votes on the legal abilities of other lawyers in their practice areas, and because lawyers are not required or allowed to pay a fee to be listed, inclusion in Best Lawyers is considered a singular honor. Corporate Counsel magazine has called Best Lawyers “the most respected referral list of attorneys in practice.”

Building Permits

By BusinessWest Staff September 23, 2014

Building Permits Departments

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

AMHERST

RGC, LLC
652 Southeast St.
$490,000 — New single family home

CHICOPEE

Graud Air Corp.
47 Veterans Dr.
$80,000 — Renovations to existing office

Jimmy Li
1995 Memorial Dr.
$60,000 — Interior remodel

GREENFIELD

Alliance Church
385 Chapman St.
$9,400 — Remove old ceiling

Brycar, LLC
191 Shelburne Road
$117,000 — Interior renovations

HD Development of Maryland
258 Mohawk Trail
$42,500 — Renovate interior for hibachi/sushi restaurant

Sandra Koblinski
8 Pierce St.
$6,000 — Install vinyl siding

Scott Akers
368 Federal St.
$12,000 — Interior renovations for new Dominos

Steven Schechterle
402 Federal St.
$11,000 — New roof

The Street Lumber Corp.
64 Newton St.
$8,000 — Alterations for bathroom

LUDLOW

Chemi-Graphics Inc.
340 State St.
$32,500 — New roof

SPRINGFIELD

Albany Road – Springfield Plaza, LLC
1371 Liberty St.
$87,900 — Renovations at restaurant

Springfield Housing Authority
52-62 Trafton Road
$43,000 — Window replacement at Forest Park Elderly Housing

WESTFIELD

Hampden Village Realty Inc.
138 Root St.
$13,000 — New entry and bathroom alterations

Savage Arms Inc.
100 Springdale Road
$3,000 — Construct break room

Young Men’s Christian Assoc.
370 Northwest St.
$11,500 — Re-roof

For Sale, for Lease

By BusinessWest Staff September 23, 2014

Commercial Real Estate Sections

A listing of available commercial properties

Click here to download the PDF

Big Picture

By BusinessWest Staff September 23, 2014

Commercial Real Estate Sections

Art and Commerce Intersect at Thriving 1350 Main Street

Evan Plotkin says 1350 Main Street, with its robust leasing activity and artsy “vibe,” is a microcosm of what could happen across downtown Springfield.

There’s an art and science to marketing commercial real estate. In some cases, lots of art.

Take 1350 Main Street, or One Financial Plaza, in downtown Springfield, which was recently branded the MassLive Building after its newest tenant, which is leasing 11,000 square feet of space and paying for the right to emblazon the tower with its logo. MassLive is among several companies and colleges that have recently forged deals at 1350 Main, drawn by its location, its noteworthy art galleries (more on that later), and what Evan Plotkin describes as a palpable “vibe” at the site.

“One of the fascinating things about this building is that it represents, in my mind, a microcosm of an economic-development concept that is arts-driven,” said Plotkin, president of NAI Plotkin, which co-owns the property. “When we acquired this property in 2007, the storefronts [on the first floor] were empty. We made major improvements in the plaza, including bringing the fountain back, putting in benches, and creating an environment conducive to gathering.”

That’s quite a contrast to seven years ago. When NAI Plotkin invested in 1350 Main, occupancy was 34%, the café now in the lobby was just a dark space, and there wasn’t much reason anyone would want to be on the property if they didn’t work in the tower, he said. “Most companies we approached said there was not enough foot traffic, and they would not be willing to make an investment.”

But some of the more recent tenants — like the Baystate Innovation Center, which will move in around Nov. 1; Bay Path University, which leased space last year; 180 Fitness, which opened its doors on Jan. 1; and MassLive — say that’s changed dramatically.

“What I’m hearing over and over again is that what we’ve done here is build a community in this building,” Plotkin said. “That happens because we’re getting people out of their offices, and they’re able to interact with each other, and that’s how innovation happens. That’s why the Innovation Center, of all the places they could have gone, wanted to be here, because they felt it was right for innovators because of the vibe this place gives off.”

That vibe includes a unique collection of paintings, sculptures, and other works of art assembled by John Simpson, manager of the Hampden Gallery at UMass Amherst and an art professor in the Commonwealth Honors College at the university. He has been working with Plotkin over the past few years to bring art to 1350 Main, from the impressive ninth-floor art gallery to the myriad paintings decorating the lobby.

Plotkin has also revitalized the outdoor pavilion, not only with those aforementioned tables and fountain, but with regular music events. The Palazzo Café, opened in 2007, remains busy, and 180 Fitness has not only thrived in its new space, but is attracting people who have no other connection to the tower.

“We’re talking about marketing their membership to the new market-rate housing developments coming to downtown,” Plotkin said. “I’ve offered these types of opportunities so we can start connecting the dots downtown. We need to stop building silos and start looking beyond the walls where we live and work and realize we have this incredible, walkable city.”

And that, he told BusinessWest, is the real story of the newly christened MassLive Building — not the success of the tower itself, which has more than doubled occupancy in the past seven years, to 79%, but how it models the kind of vibrancy he envisions for the entire downtown area.

Framing the Issue

Plotkin placed 1350 Main in the context of a recently released report detailing a potential innovation district centered around Worthington Street and Stearns Square. “There are major improvements being proposed in that study that will ultimately attract restaurants and other retail to that dining district. That’s what we did here by improving the outdoor community space and creating vibrancy here.”

John Simpson, who curates the art at 1350 Main Street, has also painted a series of murals, like this one of B.B. King, on the walls of nearby 31 Elm St., bordering Court Square.

That included offering an extremely attractive rate to the Palazzo Café. “Someone had to prime the pump. We had to do something to increase the vibrancy in the area, knowing that a retailer was reluctant to take that kind of risk. A small business can’t afford to take the risk if there isn’t foot traffic. It’s incumbent upon private business and, I think, the public sector as well, to create an environment where people want to gather.”

It’s clearly working. “We’re getting companies — large, established companies — renewing their leases now, even when they have term left. They’re seeing the demand for the building and understanding that, as vacancy goes down and demand increases, rates usually go up.”

As for MassLive, “we’re happy to be identified with them. It’s a very positive organization, and it says a lot that the company wants to grow in Springfield. They can go anywhere they want, but their commitment to Springfield is important.”

Although it’s significant for the building’s branding, the MassLive lease is just one more in a string of deals, including Thing5’s occupancy of the entire sixth floor in 2012. “In the last three years, in a declining market, we’ve leased 90,000 square feet of space,” Plotkin said. “So I look at this as a microcosm of what is possible.”

He looks specifically to Stearns Square, a gathering place that the city is looking at as a linchpin of its innovation district. “The fountain hasn’t worked in 15 years, and the turf has been worn away by concerts, with no restoration to it. You have vacant properties all around.”

It will take investment — both from the city and private developers — to change the aesthetics and provide incentives to attract retailers and restaurants, and hopefully housing will follow, he explained. “There has to be that initial investment by the property owners and the city to make the infrastructure improvement.”

Simpson will continue his mural project and liven up this alleyway connecting Elm Street and State Street.

That will require the participation of organizations like the Springfield Business Improvement District, the Convention and Visitors Bureau, the mayor’s office, and other stakeholders, working together to promote the cultural assets of the city and continue developing the market-rate housing necessary to drive more retail, dining, and other business. “That’s what’s going to make site selectors look at downtown as a cool, vibrant place,” Plotkin said.

“It helps to have the other dynamics going on,” he continued, “with Union Station up there, the possibility of MGM coming in, and the sale of Morgan Square to a company that’s investing in market-rate housing. We have UMass downtown, Bay Path College, Cambridge College, NPR — all these companies and schools down here. Now you need to create an urban theme park — an urban campus, in the colleges’ case — where students and faculty leave their buildings. That’s a huge customer base, and they feel trapped in their buildings. We need to get them out.”

In other words, create foot traffic.

“To create an urban theme park, where you can access your cultural assets, you have to deal with people’s fear,” he continued. “But the more you engage people in walking, the more foot traffic you have, the less people are concerned about crime. You have fear when you have no people around, when you have vacant storefronts. People don’t want to walk on a block where they don’t see anyone.”

Art of the Deal

Plotkin and Simpson believe that art installations can go a long way toward creating an atmosphere where people want to be outside.

“John and I have been collaborating on public art for almost as long as I’ve been here, and it’s been a wonderful thing,” Plotkin said. “Even people who are not art aficionados can’t help but be taken by the beauty of our lobby and the paintings there. Then, when we take them up to the ninth floor, the incredible gallery up there, and they see the different conference rooms and a fitness center on the other side of the hall, people talk about mind, body, and spirit all here on one floor.”

The floor has become a popular spot for business meetings and school tours, but in 2007, it was considered a liability.

“That was a dark floor with a former call center and a cafeteria,” Plotkin said. “I was told by the appraiser, when I bought the building, that they deducted value from the ninth floor because of the cafeteria; the way it was laid out, it would cost so much to restore it to office use.”

Instead, he continued, “we have turned that space in to this beautiful asset which, if nothing else, has brought people here who would otherwise never see the building. We’ve created this vibe and this word of mouth about the building being such a cool place. Nobody has anything like this downtown. But I remind people that we’re trying to do this all over the downtown.”

Take neighboring Court Square, for example. During the Jazz & Roots Festival held there last month — an event that drew several thousand music lovers — Simpson painted a series of murals of musical icons on the black panels covering the darkened storefronts of 31 Elm St., a project that’s far from complete.

“Not a day goes by that people don’t thank us for doing it,” Simpson said of the public art displays he’s helped bring to 1350 Main and downtown in general. “A woman just told me it makes her day.”

It’s just one way the downtown can distinguish itself as a place people want to live, work, and shop, Plotkin said, noting that Springfield’s location at the center of the Knowledge Corridor, at the crossroads of Interstates 90 and 91, already make it an intriguing location for site selectors.

“But if we don’t have a city that people want to work in, if they say, ‘look, I don’t want to move to Springfield because I’m afraid there’s nothing to do,’ or any number of other reasons, that needs to change.

“The walkability of the city is what we have going for us, but we have blockages,” he added. “I use the analogy of a heart that’s pumping; if you have blocked arteries, you have extremities that aren’t getting oxygen. I would say that’s an example of what’s happening in many pockets of the city. It takes four and a half minutes to walk from here to the riverfront, but nobody talks about that; no one thinks of going there. We need to bring back these linkages and create walkability. If you don’t have walkability, people feel isolated.”

On the Horizon

Plotkin continues to work to fill that remaining 21% of the MassLive Building. For instance, he’s been talking to a video-game company interested in space. “They’re impressed with 1350 Main Street and the murals and sculptures all over.”

And he’s confident that the city and its developers will continue to work together in a holistic way to create the environment — the vibe — needed to keep drawing businesses and jobs downtown.

As one example, he cited MassMutual’s recent $5 million investment in the Springfield Venture Fund — an attempt to cultivate high-potential startups in the City of Homes — as an example of a proactive effort to keep talent local and stimulate the economy. “But that alone won’t do the trick. We need to create an environment downtown where people want to go. I’m seeing a huge uptick in rents. It’s working at 1350 Main, and it will work in other places. It’s not that complex — in fact, it’s very simple.

“At the end of the day,” he added, “we’re trying to get students who are graduating from the colleges up and down the Knowledge Corridor to say, ‘why not Springfield?’ By attracting retail, restaurants, coffee shops, we will generate the foot traffic to support other businesses. And it just builds on itself.”

Plotkin said he’s consulted with other property owners on how to bring art into their buildings, yet some people have wondered why he’d help rival real-estate owners accomplish something that already distinguishes his own tower.

“But it’s not about having exclusivity in having good taste in art; it’s about putting a mirror up and saying, ‘look, you can do this too,’” he said. “I hope other businesses downtown do this; imitation is the best form of flattery. Let’s talk about it so we’re not just an island here all by ourselves. We’re connected.”

Joseph Bednar can be reached at [email protected]

Community Spotlight: South Hadley

By BusinessWest Staff September 23, 2014

Community Spotlight Features

South Hadley Leaders Seek Rebirth of the Falls

Michael Sullivan says the Falls offers opportunities for investors, business owners, and developers.

Two years ago, South Hadley won a Communities by Design award from the American Institute of Architects, or AIA. In addition to the accolades, it earned town leaders a visit from a sustainable-design assessment team, which created a revitalization plan for the Falls section of town.

The committee that crafted the winning proposal is called the Rise of the Falls Facilitation Group, and part of its work involves implementing recommendations put forth in the report.

It has been updated with new ideas and adjustments, but the vision of a rebirth of the industrial neighborhood, which had fallen into a state of disinvestment, has become a focus for town officials.

“The Falls was once the center of life and commerce in South Hadley, and we want to restore that vibrancy today,” said John Hine, chair of the Board of Selectmen.

Frank DeToma agreed. “The Falls has enormous potential, and a lot of people are working to move the area toward that goal,” said the board’s vice chair.

The South Hadley Falls Neighborhood Assoc., which was formed two years ago in response to a recommendation by the AIA, has taken a proactive approach to improvement. It publishes a monthly newsletter, continuously lobbies the Select Board to take action that will help that section of town, and has created events that have brought thousands of people to the area.

Its efforts have been supplemented by the Rise of the Falls group, which is working to create a historic district in the neighborhood. Other initiatives are being undertaken by the four-month-old South Hadley Redevelopment Authority, which has been tasked with improving economic conditions in the Falls. The group has chosen a consultant to write a redevelopment plan, which it needs to move forward, and was in negotiations with the firm when BusinessWest went to press.

However, over the past year, these endeavors received a major boost from a number of noteworthy projects. A new library has been built at the corner of Main and Canal streets on a formerly vacant lot, and is slated to open this fall. Its brick façade is reminiscent of the industrial history of the Falls, and the public spaces inside have beautiful views of the Connecticut River.

The library is situated above a new, $12 million park slated to open this month. It is set on the banks of the river and overlooks the Holyoke Dam.

John Hine, left, and Frank DeToma hope the vibrant neighborhood that once existed in the Falls can be revived to meet 21st-century standards.

Work on the park began in April when the Texon factory building, which was an eyesore that had been vacant for 20 years, was torn down. “It was a very complicated demolition,” DeToma said.

But it is complete, and the park, which features a lookout platform, will be handicap-accessible and enhanced by attractive landscaping and plantings that will be installed in October.

Town officials don’t plan to hold a grand opening ceremony until next May, because the park must remain closed from Nov. 1 to April 1 due to a mandate by the Army Corps of Engineers. “But we will have limited access for special viewings if the conditions are right,” said Town Administrator Mike Sullivan. He explained that the park is being built by Holyoke Gas & Electric as remuneration to the town for using its half of the river, which came about through an agreement with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

In addition to the breathtaking lookout platform, the park will feature walking areas and a quarter-mile pathway that will begin at the Vietnam Memorial Bridge.

“It is very much in keeping with the master plan of trying to link the village common with the Falls through a series of bike paths and walkways, and we are hoping that, in the future, this path can be linked to the beachgrounds below,” said Sullivan, adding that the town is working with the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission to create a comprehensive plan for a bicycle and pedestrian pathway.

“It’s all part of our efforts to redevelop the Falls,” DeToma said.

Innovative Measures

Work by the South Hadley Falls Neighborhood Assoc. is ongoing because it wants people to see what the Falls has to offer. The association has organized many activities, including a block party, a fall cleanup day, a tag sale, a winter luminary, and other social events.

The Falls Fest music festival, held at Beachgrounds Park in July, attracted more than 6,000 visitors, and Sullivan says the area has the potential to become a center for the arts.

“Many people don’t realize what a beautiful piece of earth it is,” he said. “It’s important for visitors to come here because there’s a rule of thumb that, if people visit a place eight times in a year who have not visited before, they are five times more likely to consider it as a place to live and establish a business.”

Other efforts to bring people to the Falls are being undertaken by the Rise of the Falls group. A few months ago, it met with representatives from the Bike/Walk Group, the Tree Committee, the Falls Neighborhood Assoc., and the Board of Health to discuss how to create a map that would showcase the walkability of the neighborhood. The meeting was fruitful, and maps will soon be published that will outline four self-guided walking loops.

Housing plays a vital role in revitalization, and officials are looking at opportunities to create a variety of new units. A property at 1 Canal St. owned by the town is large enough to house 14 units. “We think it would be an ideal place for commuter housing,” Sullivan said.

He explained that this type of housing, typically made up of apartments that contain 400 to 600 square feet, appeals to young people who are living at home but want to live independently while paying off student loans. “It’s an interesting new phenomenon and would be a way of putting more wallets in the Falls,” he said.

A developer wants to build three duplex homes very close together on Ludlow Street, and the former Carew Street School building, owned by Lake Star Development, could also be turned into housing. In addition, the town is working with the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission and the Department of Housing to create a 40R district that would increase the amount of land zoned for dense housing.

Currently, the Falls contains many two- and three-family homes. However, a number of owners had stopped renting their apartments, so last year the town held a symposium to educate them on best practices to attract good tenants.

“It was well-attended, and I think it made a difference,” Sullivan said. “If we can increase the number of people in the Falls, there will be a tipping point that makes it worthwhile for people to invest in small businesses, such as barbershops, dry cleaners, and the traditional services needed in a small village.”

Zoning changes may be needed, but the infrastructure is in place, and several initiatives are in the works, including an application for a grant that would make housing-rehabilitation funds available to qualified Falls homeowners.

The vision of recreating a walkable village will also be boosted, Sullivan said, when Amtrak’s Vermonter passenger train begins running from Springfield to St. Albans, Vt., because people from the Falls will be able to walk to the Holyoke station and go to New York or Montreal.

Another bonus is the fact that the Falls has a number of very successful restaurants, which officials say are an important part of creating a walkable, vibrant neighborhood.

“There is El Guanaco, the Vietnamese restaurant Sok’s, and Ebenezer’s, which has typical pub fare,” said DeToma. “Plus, The Egg & I and the Ruse are South Hadley institutions.”

Hine agreed. “The village has good bones. We just need to add meat and muscles to the skeleton that is there,” he said.

That will happen when new businesses make their home in the area. However, interest in the neighborhood is already beginning to rise. The new Patriot Care Corp. medical-marijuana cultivation center will create 30 jobs, and town officials have been working with other companies considering the location, Sullivan said.

Seemingly unlimited opportunity exists in a five-building complex on Gaylord Street that was once a bustling mill. “It has 270,000 square feet of unoccupied space, and some of it is in move-in condition; it would be ideal for a small manufacturer who needed 20,000 to 30,000 square feet,” Sullivan said, adding that Lake Star Development, which owns the property, is willing to subdivide it.

“We believe the complex is also an ideal area for startups or venture capitalists. One section contains 159,000 square feet that is wide-open space and could be converted to a research facility,” Sullivan said, adding that E Ink moved into a 45,000-square-foot space in a building there three years ago.

Potential also exists in the former library on 27 Bardwell St., and DeToma said residents have suggested ideas for the structure that range from a bed and breakfast to an art gallery.

Efforts are also being made to address neglected properties, and although Sullivan said some owners are less than cooperative, town officials believe their efforts will yield positive results.

“In the short term, it’s very painful as people shake their fists and call us names, but the reality is that, long term, it will result in a better appearance and draw more people who are willing to make investments,” he told BusinessWest.

Far-reaching Vision

Sullivan said South Hadley is using many tools to encourage investors, residents, and visitors to view the Falls as a great place to live and work.

“Everything we’re trying to do is inherently contained within the name of the committee, the Rise of the Falls,” he said. “And the area has so much to offer — riverfront property, a very affordable tax rate, and the influence of colleges and urban centers like Chicopee and Holyoke.”

DeToma agreed. “The Falls is getting lots of attention, and it’s going to pay off soon.”

South Hadley at a glance

Year Incorporated: 1775
Population: 17,514 (2010)
Area: 18.4 square miles
County: Hampden
Residential Tax Rate: $18.65 or $19.21
Commercial Tax Rate: $18.65 or $19.21
Median Household Income: $46,678 (2010)
Family Household Income: $58,693 (2010)
Type of government: Town Meeting; Board of Selectmen
Largest Employers: Mount Holyoke College, Loomis Communities, E Ink

Latest information available

Editorial

By BusinessWest Staff September 23, 2014

Opinion

Shedding Some Light on Downtown Plans

Just about every plan to revitalize downtown Springfield boils down to chicken-and-egg scenarios.

More and better retail, dining, and entertainment options will attract more market-rate housing … and vice versa. More feet on the street will bring about a stronger feeling of public safety … and vice versa. Keeping young talent in the region will cultivate more entrepreneurship and jobs … and vice versa.

That’s why plans to improve downtown are smartly focusing on all of the above, in the hope that each success generates another. The recent report outlining a potential ‘innovation district’ is a good example, calling on the city to improve infrastructure and create a more business- and tourist-friendly environment in the neighborhoods around the current club district.

It’s also why the Springfield Business Improvement District and DevelopSpringfield announced a plan last week to illuminate eight downtown buildings under a $400,000 architectural-lighting program. The project is intended to both highlight the area’s unique architecture and create a feeling of safety that will draw more people onto the streets, thus creating a demand for more shopping and dining options, which will draw even more people, which will further bolster that feeling of security. It all fits together as part of a targeted strategy to improve quality of life in the City of Homes.

Evan Plotkin is a believer in the feet-on-the-street approach to enhanced public safety. In this issue (see page 49), he talks about how art, music, and a bustling café have made 1350 Main Street a place people want to be, which has dramatically increased occupancy rates.

He believes this success represents a microcosm of what Springfield can achieve, and argues that any targeted effort to make downtown more appealing — with art, music, lighting, enhanced walkability, incentives for retailers and restaurants, etc. — will bring more people outside, which will catch the attention of more businesses, which will set up shop and draw more people downtown. After all, he told BusinessWest, people don’t feel afraid in a crowd, but most are reluctant to walk down a darkened city street alone.

Time will tell whether all Springfield’s improvement efforts will bear fruit, but city leaders have to be encouraged by the number of businesses and colleges (including UMass, Bay Path College, and Cambridge College) that have recently established a presence in the downtown towers, and other efforts — such as MassMutual’s $5 million commitment to the Springfield Venture Fund — to keep talent local and generate jobs. Each positive step is further evidence that the city doesn’t need a casino to spring fully to life, although it’s our position that a gaming resort will certainly help.

No, there’s no one solution that will boost the city’s fortunes, and, like we said, many of its current dilemmas are of the chicken-and-egg variety. But it’s equally true that each new downtown lease signed, each market-rate housing development in the works, and each new building façade improved is lighting the way, literally and figuratively, to a healthier Springfield.

Opinion

By BusinessWest Staff September 23, 2014

Opinion

Baseball, Youth, and Smokeless Tobacco

By RICHARD PIETERS, M.D. and ANTHONY GIAMBERARDINO, D.M.D.

The headlines first came with baseball Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn. His all-too-early death at 54 was attributed to the long-term use of smokeless tobacco. Now it’s former Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling, who revealed on Aug. 20 that he was diagnosed in February with mouth cancer. “I do believe without a doubt, unquestionably,” said Schilling when making his condition public, “that chewing [tobacco] is what gave me cancer … I did it for 30 years. It was an addictive habit.” His physician agreed.

Many of us who grew up with the game are used to seeing players chewing tobacco, but a new generation of children watching in the stands and on television may be seeing smokeless tobacco used for the first time. They are the ones most influenced by what baseball players do both on and off the field. And that behavior by professional athletes can be more powerful in shaping behavior than any advertising campaign by the tobacco industry.

Although cigarette smoking in the U.S. continues to decline, a report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) indicates that the use of smokeless tobacco has held steady over the past nine years. CDC says 14.7% of high-school boys, and 8.8% of all high-school students, reported using smokeless products in 2013.

The CDC further states that smokeless tobacco contains 28 carcinogens, which can cause gum disease, stained teeth and tongue, a dulled sense of taste and smell, slow healing after a tooth extraction, and, worst of all, oral cancer.

Smokeless tobacco is not harmless. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, it delivers more nicotine than cigarettes and stays in the bloodstream longer. Clearly, tobacco use is both a serious medical problem and an oral-health problem.

In a letter to baseball commissioner Bud Selig following the death of Tony Gwynn, nine leading healthcare organizations, including the American Medical Assoc. and the American Dental Assoc., stated that “use of smokeless tobacco endangers the health of major-league ballplayers. It also sets a terrible example for the millions of young people who watch baseball at the ballpark or on TV and often see players and managers using tobacco.”

Oral cancer continues to be a serious problem in the U.S. More than 30,000 new cases are diagnosed each year, and the five-year survival rate is only around 50%. While a batting average of .500 would be considered outstanding in baseball, 50/50 odds aren’t very good in the game of life.

The connection between oral health and overall health is well-documented. What happens in the mouth can affect the entire body. Physicians are now being trained to examine the mouth and work with dentists to make patients more aware of the importance of oral health as it affects their overall health and well-being.

Programs such as the Mass. Dental Society’s Connect the Dots, in which physicians and dentists work together in the community, and the Mass. Medical Society’s establishment of a Committee on Oral Health mark the beginning of a growing relationship between physicians and dentists to promote oral health in the Commonwealth.

But oral cancer isn’t the only health risk from smokeless tobacco. Users have an increased risk of heart disease, high blood pressure, heart attacks, and strokes. Many health issues are preventable, especially those related to tobacco use. The medical and dental professions can play a key role by providing education and screening for oral cancer.

Major-league baseball players have an important opportunity to contribute to this educational process by aiding in prevention efforts, particularly aimed at impressionable young people. For the past four years, the Mass. Dental Society, in partnership with NESN and the Boston Red Sox, has produced TV campaigns on the dangers of smokeless tobacco.

The Mass. Medical Society and the Mass. Dental Society are committed to reducing tobacco use in all its forms and welcome the continued participation of the Red Sox and all of major-league baseball. In 2014, chewing tobacco continues to be as much a symbol of baseball as the actual action on the field.

For the health of our children, shouldn’t this image of our national pastime now be considered past its time? The cases of Tony Gwynn and Curt Schilling should serve as a warning to us all.

Dr. Richard Pieters, a radiation oncologist at UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester, is president of the Mass. Medical Society. Dr. Anthony Giamberardino practices general dentistry in Medford and is president of the Mass. Dental Society.

Across the Generations

By BusinessWest Staff September 23, 2014

Banking and Financial Services Sections

Greenfield Savings Bank Emphasizes Community Ties

Greenfield Savings Bank President Rebecca Caplice

Rebecca Caplice laughed when asked whether Greenfield Savings Bank had seen growth of its online and mobile services among younger customers.

“You’d be surprised at the acceptance across the board,” said Caplice, the bank’s president. “My father is 87 years old, and he’s on Facebook and Twitter every day. It’s really not just young people asking for these things; we are all attached to those mobile devices. I can hardly remember what it was like when someone in a group of people had a question, and no one knew the answer. Now we just look it up.”

In other words, Caplice said, banks had better offer robust options in electronic banking if they want to attract new customers — of all generations, not just Millennials. It’s one of many ways the banking world has evolved, and continues to do so.

“We have all kinds of ways to access your banking services. And we’re seeing growth in those electronic channels,” she told BusinessWest — but that growth has not come at the expense of branch traffic. “You read the industry press and see all these articles — ‘the branch bank is dead.’ But in our experience, our branch traffic hasn’t declined, even as other types of traffic have increased. We’re seeing people use several channels interchangeably, depending on what they’re doing.

“Sometimes a single transaction might use more than one channel; they might start someplace and end up somewhere else. That has been a real change,” she added. “Take mortgage applications, for example. More than half of our mortgage applications use an online channel to do part of the process electronically; then they’ll come in. I guess that speaks to people wanting to do things on their time, not the bank’s time.”

If there’s any difference between older and younger customers when it comes to technology, it’s not comfort with the tools, but with security fears.

“That’s where the separation occurs,” Caplice said. “It’s not the technology that’s frightening, but the younger people have less of a concern about security and privacy. I guess being brought up in a world where technology is all around you gives you a certain comfort level with that. I think those of us who have been on the planet a little longer don’t have that ease of comfort.”

Making Change

Caplice has seen plenty of change in the banking industry since arriving at GSB in 1991, and even since taking the reins as president in 2007. But her 23-year arc at the bank has also given her some deep roots in Franklin County, where the bank enjoys a 50% market share in savings deposits and is also the county’s number-one lender.

But GSB — which, along with Greenfield Cooperative Bank, is one of only two institutions located in Greenfield 20 years ago that are still around today — has expanded gradually over the years. It merged in 1967 with the Crocker Institution for Savings in Turners Falls, making that office its first branch outside of Greenfield, and added another branch in South Deerfield in 1972.

Additions during Caplice’s time at the bank include branches in Shelburne Falls and Conway; the opening of the Amherst Financial Center in 2002, marking the bank’s first physical presence in Hampshire County; and the recent opening of its first Hampshire County branch, in Northampton.

Greenfield Savings Bank has been a fixture in its namesake town for 145 years.

“When we made that next step into Hampshire County, it was almost like we were following a growing customer base there — Franklin County customers work there and said, ‘boy, I wish I had a branch in Northampton.’ So we saw an opportunity there, even though we’re still the dominant player here. You can’t take your eyes off that; you have to look outside your boundaries.”

As the region gains more distance from the Great Recession — although the economy can hardly be described as booming — commercial loan volume is up at GSB as well. “We’ve seen a lot of growth in commercial loans in the last four or five years. Ask any banker, and they’ll tell you the same thing.”

Rising demand for commercial loans runs the gamut, she said, including a manufacturing base in Franklin County that has suffered in recent years but is slowly gaining steam. “This region has a history and legacy of skilled blue-collar workers, and as those workers have transitioned into more precision machining, those industries have been doing very well.”

Meanwhile, the bank has differentiated itself in the market with unique products, like its trust business, which GSB started to cultivate during the 1990s when other banks with strong trust divisions, particularly Bank of New England and Shawmut Bank, left the Franklin County landscape. It now offers the region’s only in-house trust and investment department — a business most small banks don’t normally delve into.

“These are really high-touch banking services; we can manage people’s money, pay their bills, take care of their property, or take care of their estate. Sometimes a trust is set up for a child with special needs. It’s all kinds of high-touch financial management,” Caplice said. “And there is no bank in the Valley that has a locally controlled trust department. We’re at about $200 million under management, which gets us to a size that is respectable in the industry.”

It’s an interesting time for investment services in general, she added, especially with the massive wealth transfer from the GI Generation to their Boomer children. “The Baby Boomers’ parents are dying, so we’re seeing this transfer.

“There’s also a shift in what people’s goals are financially,” she continued, particularly at the other end of the generational spectrum, with the Millennials, and their relationship with banking institutions.

“In community banks, we’ve always emphasized our role in the community — that’s important,” Caplice said. “And we’ve got this generation that’s eventually going to be in charge, and they care deeply about causes. Yes, they want to earn money on their investments, but they also ask, ‘what are your values, and are those values the same as my values?’ I think that was not so much the case in other generations. It will be interesting to see how that impacts our business.”

Local Flavor

With a 145-year history in Greenfield, GSB has certainly cultivated strong bonds with the towns it calls home.

For example, about five years ago, the bank partnered with institutions ranging from the Economic Development Council of Western Mass. to Greenfield Community College in spearheading a project to revitalize a series of downtown buildings. The development model brought together several property owners, representing more than a dozen buildings, who used tax-credit financing, facilitated by GSB, to fund renovations of the vacant sites.

“Taking on those projects individually wouldn’t have been cost-effective, but the project resulted in the renovation of those buildings in the core of the downtown,” Caplice said.

Before that, almost a decade ago, the bank launched an initiative called ‘civic action accounts,’ by which GSB donates money to school districts and other organizations based on how often customers use their debit cards.

Meanwhile, bank employees regularly set out to perform random acts of kindness. “I think that’s one thing that makes this place special,” Caplice said. “Each branch office plans its own events, and for the most part, they have nothing to do with banking. Maybe they’ll go up and down the street putting money in everyone’s meters, or wash every car that comes through the lot, to handing out free ice cream in Dixie cups. If you go to work proud of what’s going on in the organization and you’re having a good time, I think that resonates with customers, even though the activity itself has nothing to do with the business.”

Caplice was quick to add that Greenfield Savings Bank employees sit on many nonprofit boards, and the bank offers resources to various causes, but the smaller acts of kindness are often what customers, and prospective customers, notice. It’s part of a culture at the bank that the Massachusetts Chamber of Commerce honored several years ago with its Employer of Choice Award.

“If we create an atmosphere where the people who work here want to come to work, because they have fun and are permitted to do things they know change people’s lives, that attitude is infectious. You can feel it when you walk into a place,” she said. “We pay a lot of attention to culture; we think that’s really critical.”

After all, even in today’s fast-paced, high-tech banking landscape, there’s still room for kindness — and maybe a little ice cream.

Joseph Bednar can be reached at [email protected]

Throwing Out a Lifeline

By BusinessWest Staff September 23, 2014

Banking and Financial Services Sections

There’s Still Time for Homeowners to Take Advantage of HARP

Mel Watt has been on a campaign.

Watt, director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, has been reaching out to the public all summer to let people know about the Home Affordable Refinance Program, or HARP, a five-year-old program to help homeowners who are underwater on their mortgages refinance to a lower interest rate.

“We know that there are hundreds of thousands of borrowers who can still benefit from HARP and are essentially leaving money on the table by not taking advantage of the program,” Watt said. “By engaging directly with local community leaders, faith-based organizations, local elected officials, and lenders, our goal is to leverage these trusted sources to reach as many borrowers as we can.”

Watt may be understating the potential untapped market for HARP loans, said Bob Michel, senior vice president at Hampden Bank. Well over 3 million Americans have taken advantage of HARP since it was created in the wake of the housing-market crash of 2008 and 2009, but some banking analysts say there could be just as many homeowners still eligible to apply.

“Basically, the HARP program was designed for borrowers who had kept their mortgage current, yet they were underwater or didn’t have sufficient equity to finance at today’s low interest rates,” Michel told BusinessWest. “The government tried a number of different modification programs, but most of those were designed for people who had become delinquent. They finally recognized that people who had done the right thing, who had maintained their payment schedule as well as they possibly could, would benefit from taking advantage of low interest rates. We’ve seen people lower their interest rates by 2%, 3%, or more with this program.”

Yet, Watt told HousingWire magazine that a combination of factors, including fear, is keeping others away.

“HARP is designed to reward those borrowers who are the most committed in this country. This is not a scam,” he said. However, “as it stands now, people don’t trust their lenders, and it’s creating uncertainty.

“Today,” he added, “there’s just a lot of people — and no one pays enough attention to it — who got burned.”

HARP is a means to relieve some of that sting, Michel said, as long as people take advantage of the program before it expires at the end of 2015.

Underwater Rescue

The bursting of the housing bubble in 2008 put millions of American homeowners in a serious predicament. Inventories soared nationwide, and home prices plummeted, and many recent homebuyers saw the value of their homes drop below the balance of their mortgages.

Interest rates declined soon after, but these underwater homeowners were prevented from taking advantage of lower rates through refinancing, since banks traditionally require a loan-to-value ratio of 80% or less to qualify for refinancing without private mortgage insurance.

FHFA and the U.S. Treasury Department introduced HARP in early 2009 as part of the Making Home Affordable program. HARP is one of the only refinance programs that allows borrowers with little or no equity to take advantage of low interest rates and other refinancing benefits. To be eligible, homeowners must meet the following criteria:

• Their loan must be owned or guaranteed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac;
• Their mortgage must have been originated on or before May 31, 2009;
• Their current loan-to-value ratio must be greater than 80%; and
• They must be current on their mortgage payments, with no late payments in the last six months and no more than one late payment in the last 12 months.

“The basic HARP program will easily go up to 125% of the market value of the home, so you can be underwater — and there are provisions that go beyond that on a case-by-case basis,” Michel said. “You still have to have an adequate credit rating and the ability to pay. But these are people who have been paying all along, so they’ve already demonstrated an ability to pay. The vast majority of HARP borrowers who applied with us have been able to be approved.”

The savings, nationally, have been dramatic. Tracy Hagen Mooney, senior vice president at Freddie Mac, said homeowners who refinanced through HARP during the first quarter of 2013 saved an average of $4,300 in interest payments over the first 12 months.

Interest rates have risen since then to between 4% and 5%, and Mooney, like most analysts, doesn’t expect them to return to 2012 and 2013 levels. “However, mortgage interest rates are still comparatively low. Looking back to the mid-2000s, the average 30-year fixed interest rate was around 6%,” she writes. “Given that nearly half of the 30-year fixed-rate mortgages owned or guaranteed by Freddie Mac or Fannie Mae have rates of 5% or greater, lots of homeowners stand to benefit from acting now.”

That’s the word Watt is trying to spread. “We know that there are hundreds of thousands of borrowers who can still benefit from Home Affordable Refinance Program and are essentially leaving money on the table by not taking advantage of the program,” he said.

Bottom Line

That’s Michel’s concern, too.

“I know there are a number of people out there that could still benefit from this program but are not taking advantage of it,” he told BusinessWest, adding that the bank has tried to reach out to them through direct mail and advertising campaigns. “We’re still in a time of historically low interest rates, but I think the growing consensus is that these rates are not going to last a whole lot longer. I think we’re on the verge, sometime in the next six to 12 months, of seeing interest rates rise.”

In other words, there’s still time for underwater borrowers to swim to shore — the sooner, the better.

Joseph Bednar can be reached at [email protected]

The IRS and Form 1099-K

By BusinessWest Staff September 23, 2014

Banking and Financial Services Sections

Government Secrecy on Cash and Credit Transactions Is Troubling

By PAUL MANCINONE

Back in May 2013, our firm wrote an article for Accounting Today, “Taxing Times for the Restaurant Industry.” We followed that up with another, “Taxing Times Two for the Restaurant Industry,” which was published last month. Most recently, the Kiplinger Tax Letter contacted us, and we shaped the 1099-K paragraphs published in the Aug. 29 issue of its biweekly Tax Letter. These articles focused on the use of Form 1099-K, the IRS-mandated procedure for reports issued by credit-card companies to taxpayers that accept credit cards for payment, which we’ll attempt to summarize herein.

While the articles were focused on the restaurant industry, an area where we do a lot of representation work, the issue is not at all exclusive to any particular industry, although the IRS and the Massachusetts Department of Revenue (DOR) do target restaurants heavily. This trend involves any retail enterprise that collects its revenues in both cash and credit-card transactions. Any small business that accepts cash and credit cards as payment is a potential target.

If you aren’t familiar with Form 1099-K, you should be. According to the IRS, “the 1099-K is an IRS information return for reporting certain payment transactions to improve voluntary tax compliance.” That’s for sure! The IRS has a mechanism to compare Form 1099-K to gross receipts reported on a tax return, which is then used to create audit leads.

As an example, let’s again look at the restaurant industry. Let’s say there are two restaurants, located in the same geographic area, both with $1 million in gross receipts. Restaurant 1 has 75% in credit-card sales, while Restaurant 2 has 95% in credit-card sales. The IRS and the state DOR can now very easily see that Restaurant 1 does 25% of its sales in cash, and Restaurant 2 does only 5% of its sales in cash. No need to guess which restaurant here is the audit lead — it’s Restaurant 2.

This type of analysis is happening right now, to all types of closely held retail enterprises, such as hair salons, restaurants, hardware stores, jewelers, ski shops, grocery stores, you name it. The IRS is compiling the data it receives from tax returns from these various industries, obtaining an acceptable ‘range,’ and using the data to compare with retail establishments that appear to be reporting less than what the IRS believes to be their fair share of cash sales, and going after them.

But what is a reasonable percentage of credit-card sales for a particular industry? If an auditor says, “your client’s credit-card-to-gross-receipts percentage is too high,” i.e., meaning not enough cash reporting, that is based on what authority? I would suggest that the 1980s are long past, and plastic here to stay. Everyone reading this knows the prevalent use of credit cards, even at low-price-point establishments like the local donut shop, where cash was king just 10 years ago. Yet, this is an audit approach used by the IRS and the DOR. Even worse, tax representatives, as well as all the targeted industries, are fighting with one hand tied behind their backs, and here’s why.

We submitted a Freedom of Information Act request to the IRS, specifically requesting research data related to credit-card-to-gross-receipts percentage as it relates to the restaurant industry, preferably allocated by region, if at all possible. Oh, we got an answer, all right. Our “request was denied for law-enforcement purposes.” So not only is the IRS targeting closely held retail establishments, using this 1099-K analysis as its tool, but it’s not going to share the results of its studies, which, by the way, were gathered from tax returns of U.S. taxpayers.

I believe this was very unfortunate, but not much of a surprise. The IRS is a little weak in public opinion right about now, and not exactly transparent. But this secrecy is shortsighted. Taxation in the U.S. is getting increasingly voluntary as the IRS gets its funding scrutinized (and diminished) in the wake of the Lois Lerner fiasco. One would think that releasing this data would be a wonderful aid. At least then it would get a dialogue going between accountant and business owner.

Maybe there are valid explanations for a high credit-card percentage. And if there isn’t a good explanation, having access to this ‘secret IRS data’ may raise revenues for the U.S. Treasury, as errant retail establishments can pay more attention to their income reporting (i.e. self-audit). The IRS refusing to reveal this data does nothing to help the voluntary compliance that is unquestionably more necessary with the IRS’s limited resources.

Maybe a business has been subject to theft — less cash. Perhaps it’s in a business area with patrons using credit cards almost exclusively — less cash. There are myriad explanations to address a variance. But there is no way to know if there is a variance if the IRS is not forthcoming with benchmark data.

I believe that this type of information will eventually be released via litigation. It seems to me that, at a tax-court adjudication level, if a taxing authority uses a credit-card-to-gross-receipts test as part of its analysis, that data will need to be produced at the litigation level and subject to review by the opposing side.

For retail establishments that find my thoughts a potential concern, I would urge them to get into contact with their trade associations to request this information and publish it for its members. From my experience, no one has as of yet. It is as important, if not more so, than the other multitude of trends these associations release — the vast majority of which are interesting, but much less relevant to income taxes.

We also urge the IRS to reconsider its poor decision to refrain from releasing this data, gathered from taxpayers, for the benefit of taxpayers.

Paul L. Mancinone is president of Paul L. Mancinone Co., P.C. in Springfield; (413) 301-8201.

Capital Gains

By BusinessWest Staff September 23, 2014

Banking and Financial Services Sections

A chart of banks in Western Mass.

Click here to download the PDF

By All Accounts

By BusinessWest Staff September 23, 2014

Banking and Financial Services Sections

A chart of area credit unions

Click here to download the PDF

Branching Out

By BusinessWest Staff September 23, 2014

Construction Sections

Lull in New-home Construction Leads Builders to Diversify

Several months ago, Jos. Chapdelaine & Sons broke ground on the first new subdivision the company has built since 1998. The site has 10 lots, but, in keeping with a changing trend, the homes that will be built on Pondview Drive in East Longmeadow are expected to be much smaller than the McMansion-style structures people clamored for a decade ago.

“Initially, we were apprehensive about the project, as we were not sure what the economy was doing,” R.J. Chapdelaine, the company’s president. “But we have already sold two houses and have a list of seven additional people who are interested. In the last two years, we have definitely seen an increase in business, which is refreshing.”

Todd Cellura agrees. “Things are definitely getting better. Every year, it seems like there is more activity, and there is a lot more interest in new homes than there was in the past,” said the president of Sovereign Builders in Westhampton.

Still, most local companies have put up only one or two houses in the last two years, so although the market is showing signs of improvement, the majority of local builders no longer depend on new-home sales as their primary source of income.

More specifically, when the economy crashed in 2008 and the housing market collapsed, they were forced to diversify into different aspects of their business. Since that time, many have come to rely on additions, renovations, and commercial and institutional work as their primary source of income. And although work has been steady for the past few years, margins are tighter, and bidding is more competitive than ever.

R.J. Chapdelaine stands outside the entrance of a new subdivision his company is building in East Longmeadow.

“Before 2007, our primary market was new mid- to high-end homes built on raw land we purchased and developed,” Cellura said. “But things changed dramatically when the banking crisis hit, and when the market for new homes all but disappeared, we transitioned into commercial work, which has become our main staple.”

Jerry Bolduc’s business also underwent significant change. Prior to the economic downturn, he built several custom homes in the $700,000 to $1 million range each year, along with a few spec houses, which are homes built prior to finding a buyer.

“The years between 1995 and 2005 were really great,” said the owner and president of Bolduc Construction in Ludlow. “But when the bubble started twisting, I began doing a lot more remodeling and additions and more commercial work. A lot of other homebuilders did the same thing, although some specialized in one market.”

Today, one of Bolduc’s specialties is power washing and removing black algae from homes, which is something he never dreamed of doing when the economy was flush. In 2010, he started a second business called Pro Aqua Clean, which has snowballed into a significant source of income (more about that later), although he is still in the construction industry. “I went from building million-dollar custom homes to cleaning them. But I am also saving them,” he said, as he spoke about homes where algae had eaten through the roof and gotten into the attic.

Tomlinson Builders in Greenfield, a third-generation family business, also switched its focus from the custom and spec homes that had been its signature offering to additions and renovations. In fact, when the banking crisis hit, Tomlinson had to call a complete halt to a project. The company had purchased a parcel of land in 2007 in Hadley and planned to develop it, but by 2008, it became clear that it was too risky to build. So the build was tabled, and although Tomlinson held onto the lots, it finally put them up for sale last year.

“We have really had to change. Prior to the crash, we did some large-scale renovations and built 2,800- to 6,500-square-foot homes, and now we are doing 700-square-foot additions. But it has been a little easier for us to weather the storm, as we are a small company,” said owner Tyler Tomlinson, adding he has done a lot of work for local banks, along with a variety of commercial jobs throughout the state. But the majority of the company’s income is dependent on home remodeling.

Although Chapdelaine is putting up a new subdivision, its work has been split between home building and home renovations since the ’60s, when the company was forced to diversify due to an economic downturn.

However, builders agree that past recessions were short-lived occurrences. “But this has been a very long and involved process, and as times became more lean, we had to work smarter and get more in tune with the economy and what people want,” Chapdelaine said. “But the outlook seems to have gotten more positive in the past few years, and we are hoping the calls and influx of work we are getting is something that has some legs, some momentum, and will keep things moving along.”

Paradigm Shift

Mark Ludwell, executive vice president of Wright Builders in Northampton, said the company hasn’t seen a dramatic change in its volume of work, but it has more of a backlog than it enjoyed over the past four or five years.

“People are planning ahead in terms of projects and life decisions, and there has been an upswing in the last year or two,” Ludwell said. “But everyone took a big hit when the economy soured, and we were no exception, even though our business has been based on multiple disciplines for 20 years.

Jerry Bolduc says many people are remodeling their kitchens and baths or putting on additions, which has helped builders stay busy.

“We have always had multiple legs on our stool, which is not by accident, and we have been doing work for colleges for more than 25 years, along with work for the medical community,” he added, citing a number of recent projects, including the majority of residences built at Village Hill on the grounds of the former Northampton State Hospital. “Diversification helped us, but we have had our struggles, and our goal today is movement toward more commercial and institutional work.”

Local construction companies say they have continued building new homes, although most have averaged only one or two a year since the recession began.

However, the majority are smaller than they were in the past, and energy efficiency has become a top priority in every arena. “People don’t want to maintain large homes and are learning to live with less space. But they want their homes be much more energy-efficient,” Cellura said, adding that he recently built a new house in Williamsburg that costs only $1,000 a year to heat.

Tomlinson agreed. “The cost of heating and cooling a home is driving the trend toward smaller homes. People are thinking more long-term than they did before and feel their money is better spent on insulation and air sealing as opposed to crown molding and fancy refrigerators,” he said, adding that his company built one new home last year, which was under 2,000 square feet.

Baby Boomers have had a role in the downsizing trend, as approximately 35% of new homes built today are purchased by empty nesters. “They are building ‘forever homes’ that are their final destination,” Cellura said. “The last two I have built and a new home I am about to start are for empty nesters, and each one was a downsize.”

Chapdelaine said he expects the majority of homes in the new subdivision to be about 2,300 square feet, but the company will build 1,800-square-foot structures if people want them. “Baby Boomers seem to want to downsize, and we are seeing clients move from homes that ranged between 3,500 to 4,000 square feet to homes in the 2,000- to 2,200-square-foot range. They want first-floor master bedrooms with an overall reduction in size.”

The company has also heard from people who have purchased small houses, but want to upgrade them with new windows, front entryways, kitchens, and baths, which Chapdelaine says can be cost-effective if they are on streets with larger, more updated homes. “We are starting to get a lot of phone calls for remodeling that range from the whole house to kitchens and bathrooms. The economy slowed the process, but the trend has been fairly steady for the last two years.”

Bolduc expects the demand for renovations to continue. “Business has been steady for the last four or five years, even during the winter, due to remodeling and additions,” he said. “And as long as interest rates stay low, people will continue to refinance their homes and spend money on them.”

Builders agree that the economy will continue to play a significant role in the amount and type of business they do, but they say return on investment impacts homeowners’ decisions. “Clients are staying away from trends, as they don’t want to date their house,” Chapdelaine said. “During the boom, homeowners did whatever they wanted. But today, budgets are tighter than they used to be. People want to increase the resale value of their homes, but also want to enjoy what the remodeling or addition will add to their lives.”

Different Tacks

Wright Builders was one of the few companies that continued to build homes when the market dried up. However, the majority were at Village Hill in Northampton, which is an ongoing project. “It made quite a difference, but it hasn’t been an easy road,” Ludwell said, adding that the property is controlled by the state, so the parcels were subject to publication of requests for proposals from builders. “While we have always been competitive, things got even more competitive.”

Bolduc’s new venture began after tornadoes struck Western Mass. in June 2011, and he started getting requests to power-wash people’s homes and remove windswept debris. The jobs were a far cry from the custom home building that had been his mainstay since 1980, and he was less than enthusiastic about the work, but he soon discovered a type of black stain on the northern side of homes that was difficult to remove.

Although many people thought the stains were from trees, Bolduc discovered it was a type of black algae that arrives as spores or clumps of cells. If they land on the north side of a roof, where there isn’t much sun and moisture is plentiful, the algae begins to multiply. It also feeds on the powdered limestone filler often added to the liquid asphalt in shingles during the production process.

After experimenting, Bolduc found an environmentally friendly chemical that would remove the algae, which he applied before power-washing and allowed him to remove stains that people had never been able to get rid of.

As word spread about his service, he got so many referrals, he put a truck on the road and opened a business called Pro Aqua Wash.

The enterprise has surpassed anything he could have imagined, and this summer business was so brisk that he employed five people. However, Bolduc has not lost his love for building and told BusinessWest that he still does his share of home renovations. “We often get requests to expand kitchens as well as create open floor plans in homes, which can mean knocking down walls and even additions. And I also do some light commercial work.”

Cellura performs all types of work, but takes real pride in doing modern European design renovations, a minimalist trend becoming popular in metropolitan areas. “It’s almost stark in design, but it’s stunning how striking it is,” he said.

Overall, local builders are glad to see the economy improving. But diversification has become the new norm, and there are no signs of that changing.

Although Chapdelaine is building a new subdivision, other builders don’t feel the time is right. “There are some towns where building lots still sell, but it’s a much greater gamble today,” Cellura said. “So we will remain conservative until there is more activity.”

Tomlinson has similar feelings. The company had a profitable year and is building an estate with a two-bedroom guesthouse, which will be done in phases. “But the housing market hasn’t completely turned around, and buying land and developing it has become very costly, due to changes in regulations and the fact that towns and cities are trying to preserve it, so we are a lot more conservative than we used to be when it comes to doing anything of size, like a subdivision,” he said. “We don’t feel things will ever go back to the way they were before the housing crash.”

But business is steady for those nimble enough to find it, and builders have learned to compensate and sniff out new ways to make money, even though profit margins are tighter.

“When the economy soured, we learned to work harder and smarter, and we made adjustments,” Ludwell said. “We keep reaching out, moving forward, and refocusing. And it’s worked out.”

Construction Veteran

By BusinessWest Staff September 23, 2014

Construction Sections

Brian Gibbons Transitions from Military to Successful Building Career

By KEVIN FLANDERS

Brian Gibbons is gratified that his growing construction company does plenty of work that benefits fellow veterans.

Brian Gibbons is not your typical entrepreneur, nor did he follow the conventional routes to becoming a business owner. But success, his staff has learned, isn’t contingent upon adhering to a specific formula. It’s all about being creative and making the most of every opportunity.

Gibbons, president of Springfield-based Brican Inc., opened his construction business in 2007 after a 24-year career as a Seabee engineer in the U.S. Navy Reserve. Utilizing the Service-disabled Veteran-owned Business Program of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), he was able to get his business off the ground at a time when the economic climate was about to become much more challenging. Looking back now, he knows he couldn’t have done it without assistance from the program instituted by the SBA in 2003 to help veteran-owned businesses succeed.

“In my case, it [the SBA program] did exactly what it is intended to do,” said Gibbons, who joined the Navy Reserve following his freshman year in college. “I never would have been a business owner without that program.”

Seven years later, Brican is thriving at the corner of State and Dwight streets, specializing in commercial, industrial, and institutional building systems. Its staff of just over 20 is expected to grow, and its project list continues to expand each year. Well-versed in federal contracts, the majority of the company’s projects have been completed for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), with the average job coming in between $2 million and $5 million.

“We have had projects throughout the East, from Ohio up to Maine,” Gibbons said. “We are always checking on different opportunities and bidding them.”

Veterans Helping Veterans

Gibbons, who took an early interest in construction as a teenager cleaning up job sites for his neighbor during high-school summer vacations, never imagined what doors the Navy Reserve would open for him. The experiences accrued during his nearly quarter-century tenure have helped him long after his transition back to civilian life, and he is always eager to take on projects that assist others who served their nation.

As a veteran-owned business, Gibbons isn’t surprised that the VA is Brican’s best client, as the agency routinely sets aside projects to be bid exclusively by small firms led by vets. But for Gibbons, construction for the VA is about far more than erecting structures — it’s about making a difference in the lives of those who served. As such, Gibbons says his most rewarding project to date was the construction of a building for the Northampton VA Medical Center’s acute psychiatric ward. Completed in 2013, the prototype project set new standards for the construction of such facilities, specifically those designed to prevent suicide and injury, with specialists from throughout the nation traveling to Northampton to offer input.

“In the past, they often used many of the techniques you see in prisons, but lately they have realized that the people in these facilities are sick, not prisoners,” Gibbons said. “We approached the job very empathetically. The goal was to help the VA come up with ideas to minimize the dangers to patients and staff. As a veteran, it’s always rewarding to work on projects that help other veterans.”

Brican has also immersed itself in the energy side of construction over the last few years, recently taking on several boiler-plant safety projects. Ground was broken on one such job last month, a combined heat and power plant at a VA-owned facility in Newington, Conn, which Gibbons expects to be finished by the end of next year.

New Growth

While statistics are always valuable, a quick glimpse at the whiteboard in Brican’s conference room sufficiently indicates the direction of the business. Filled from end to end with project information, the board keeps Gibbons’s bustling staff constantly updated on what needs to be done. And they certainly prefer to be busy, especially in an industry that has seen its share of challenges statewide in recent years.

But no matter how one looks at it — project totals, staff size, buildings acquired — Brican is a rapidly expanding company, its reputation building along with its structures. Whenever a project is erased from the whiteboard upon completion, another one quickly replaces it.

Gibbons hopes that his staff, which currently includes about 20 people, will grow to nearly 30 as more work comes in from the private end of the construction spectrum. “Our largest job so far was just under $16 million, and we are definitely looking to increase our work on the private side,” he added.

General contractors go only as far as their staffs take them, though, which is yet another reason for Brican’s success. Gibbons said each of his project managers handles up to three projects at a time — including Gibbons himself, who has focused on everything from management to estimating. He wears many hats as the owner of a small business, but he has also been impressed by his employees’ ability to multitask and split time between multiple projects.

In particular, Gibbons praised engineer Mike Belanger, who brings more than 20 years of experience to Brican, as well as project manager Todd Spooner and his 30-year career in the industry.

But along with more projects comes a need for more employees who can handle an array of assignments, a need Gibbons recognizes. “As we continue to grow, we will probably hire another project manager who can assist with estimating.”

Of course, as a military veteran who takes pride in his years of service and how they helped prepare him for life as a small-business owner, Gibbons is always on the lookout for veterans searching for work. His staff already includes a few vets, and he enjoys providing them with opportunities following their service. As veterans conclude their service in the Middle East, SBA officials have attempted to open as many avenues as possible for job creation and entrepreneurship. One such avenue is the Service-disabled Veteran-owned Business Program that Gibbons qualified for, and now he’s completing the cycle by hiring veterans.

“I try to give as much preference as possible to veterans,” he told BusinessWest. “I am always looking for good people to work here.”

Next-door Options

Brican is also expanding from an acquisition perspective. In March, Gibbons purchased the building adjacent to his State Street office at a tax title auction. He is keeping his options open for the purpose of the 1890s-era building, but he mentioned several possibilities, including using it for additional office space.

“We have done a lot of work to clean it up; it was a real mess before,” he said. “I think it would make a great office for a contractor, and I would love to see it rehabbed. There are a lot of opportunities we are considering right now for the building.”

Gibbons said he likely won’t make a final decision on the building until he learns whether or not the nearby MGM casino project will proceed, a development that would create jobs and drive up demand for rental spaces throughout Springfield and neighboring towns. If the right opportunity were to present itself, a rental or lease situation might prove to be the most beneficial purpose for the building, but no decisions have been made yet.

In addition to the State Street acquisition, Gibbons has a full plate, with 18 active projects and expected staff increases. It’s all part of leading a small business on the rise, a business built by a veteran whose employees and clients are also veterans. But while Brican specializes in federal contracts and institutional construction, what sets it apart from other businesses, he said, is its ability to handle private construction as well.

“We have a great staff,” he said. “Everyone comes from a different background in terms of experiences and education levels, and we work well together as a team.”

From the Ground Up

By BusinessWest Staff September 23, 2014

Construction Sections

A chart of the region’s general contractors

Click here to download the PDF

Future Stars

By BusinessWest Staff September 23, 2014

Autos Sections

John Robison’s Auto-repair School Helps ‘Different’ Students Succeed

Growing up in the 1960s, a victim of abuse at home and an inability to fit in socially at school, John Robison had every reason to worry that he wouldn’t find success in life.

Yet, he did. Diagnosed as an adult with Asperger’s syndrome, which finally began to explain why he was different, Robison is the author of three bestselling books, a former electrical engineer who pioneered several innovations in the world of rock music, and currently the owner of J.E. Robison Service, a sprawling auto-repair and restoration complex on Page Boulevard in Springfield.

And now, by partnering with a special-education high school on the TCS Automotive Program — a vocational training center based at his workplace — he’s helping teenagers with the same challenges he faced gain the skills and confidence they need to succeed in the auto-repair field.

It’s a unique endeavor, but Robison has never been one to do things in the traditional way.

“I was always into cars and electronics,” he said of a set of interests that bordered on obsession in his younger years — a common trait among people with Asperger’s. “When I dropped out of high school, I taught myself about electrical engineering and found success as the American engineer for Pink Floyd. Then, a lot of big bands in the ’70s used our sound equipment. I’m best known for the work we did for KISS, engineering all their special-effects instruments” — such as custom guitars equipped with fiery smoke bombs.

After that, he got a job as an engineering manager in the corporate world, but disliked the experience. “I really didn’t understand the dynamics of the company. I decided, rather than be somewhere I didn’t really know what was going on and didn’t feel I fit in, I’d start a business of my own,” he said.

“The other skill I felt I had was fixing cars,” Robison continued. “But I wanted to fix cars that people cared about, thinking that somebody who’s a real car enthusiast would be interested in dealing with someone like me who had a real love of machinery, and that proved to be correct.”

His business — which specializes in repairs of luxury European models such as Rolls-Royces, Porsches, and Land Rovers — began as a part-time activity in South Hadley 30 years ago, and has since evolved into an extensive restoration and repair complex boasting 30 service bays, making it the largest independent garage complex west of Boston. And, unlike the service facilities of large area auto dealers, he said, he’s eschewed the sales side, which would only distract him from his mission of “fixing things.”

Some things don’t need fixing, of course, and today, thankfully, people tend to be much more aware of children on the autism spectrum, unlike Robison’s parents, who toted him to several mental-health professionals who labeled him lazy, angry, or even socially deviant, and said he might have to be institutionalized if his inappropriate behavior continued.

Just because the medical community and parents understand autism and Asperger’s much better today, however, doesn’t mean their challenges aren’t daunting. But Robison knows they can make their way in the world — after all, he’s exhibit A — and his new training school is demonstrating how.

Doing Things Differently

Robison has gained a much higher profile through his three books: Look Me in the Eye, which chronicles his life growing up; Be Different, which is filled with practical advice for “Aspergians, Misfits, Families and Teachers”; and Raising Cubby, a memoir of his unconventional relationship with his son, who also was born with Asperger’s.

And with that higher profile has come a greater sense of responsibility.

John Robison’s sprawling car-restoration complex in Springfield boasts 30 service bays across a number of buildings, along with space for the training school.

“Ever since my first book, Look Me in the Eye, was published, people have come here to see what we do, and they’ve asked for years about apprenticing autistic family members in the automotive trade,” he explained. “I’ve always tried to do things to help the community. Before I knew about my own autism, I worked with abused kids at places like Brightside and the jail because I grew up in an abusive environment; I would have been a kid taken by Social Services had I grown up today and not in the ’60s. So I’ve always felt an affinity for young people with challenges.”

Learning that autism was the root of his social challenges was a breakthrough, and he’s since considered how he could blend his career with a mission to help kids in similar circumstances. The answer came through a partnership with the Northeast Center for Youth and Families, which maintains a high school in Easthampton for teenagers with developmental challenges.

Specifically, the school, which serves students from all over Western Mass., opened the first high-school program licensed by the Massachusetts Department of Special Education that teaches young people the auto-repair trade in a location where the work actually happens. Students alternate spending a week at the high school, then a week at J.E. Robison, throughout the year.

“As revolutionary as that seems, that’s really how humanity learned all throughout history; they learned trades at the side of a master,” Robison said. “Whether that meant assisting a priest in his duties, clerking for a lawyer, or helping a blacksmith, they learned the trade at the side of a person who did it. We’ve lost sight of that and now teach in a vacuum, in this artificial high-school culture of bullying and things don’t happen in real life. One of our goals is to fundamentally change that.”

Of course, the students still must complete their regular course of high-school study, Robison said as he walked BusinessWest through a small building set aside for the TCS Automotive Program, where students use cutting-edge equipment — much of it donated by Bosch Auto Parts — to work on cars, also mostly donated. In a small classroom, an instructor uses a white board to teach the business side of the auto-repair industry. A full-time special-ed assistant, a school psychologist, and school nurse also staff the program.

“This is the vocational part of the campus. These students will be in academic classes back at the main campus next week, and another shift will be here next week,” Robison explained. “Our students have to meet all the regular Massachusetts requirements for graduation from high school; this is not a program where they learn skills instead of high school — they’re learning a trade in addition to meeting high-school requirements. So it’s a harder program. Interestingly, students in this program are progressing faster than similar students in conventional vocational programs.”

It’s also a more intensive education than a traditional high school, with student-teacher ratios as low as 3-to-1 or even 2-to-1 at times. Robison often takes the students on “rounds” through the facility, much like medical students make the rounds in hospitals. But more often, they’re learning by doing.

It’s not a program for any teenager interested in cars, however. “We are a licensed special-education high school, so you have to have an IEP [individual education plan] in Massachusetts, which qualifies you for special-education services. Parents talk to the school district, talk to our admissions staff, and make sure the students are a fit for our program. We take the people we feel will be successful,” he explained, adding that the program is funded 80% by the state and 20% by each student’s local school district.

“We’re closely overseen by the state,” he added. “In fact, we’re probably more closely supervised than the public schools, which are mostly funded by local tax revenue.”

Available to All

Robison stressed that he wanted to create a program that operates in the public special-ed realm, not a private school.

“It was very important for me to work with public-school students. I didn’t want to create an elite program for wealthy kids; I wanted a program where any kid who needs services, who qualifies, could attend,” he said. “It’s entirely funded by the state Department of Special Education and local school districts. That’s really important. I want to deliver an educational model the public can benefit from, not just those who can afford private-school tuition.”

The school isn’t only for teens on the autism spectrum, however. Massachusetts offers special-education services to children on the basis of problems they have in school, as opposed to a medical diagnosis, he explained. “If you can’t organize yourself to do assignments in class, it might be due to a cognitive challenge, it might be autism, it might be ADHD, they might come from an environment that’s traumatic. Any of these underlying causes might add up to not being able to do tasks in school. We take kids who cannot succeed in a regular school and who are not violent.”

It’s actually discriminatory, he said, to position a school as one that specifically teaches students with autism how to act. “What we can say is, ‘you had a problem in school with completing your assignments; you’ve been sent to the office 10 times for what the teacher described as defiant behavior. You’ve got a problem. We help young people organize their thoughts and help them succeed better. We think we can help you.’ We’re not telling you that you’re marginal, defective, or broken. Whatever the issue, you have these challenges in school, and we have a program we believe can help you.”

Despite the way society has become aware of autism over the past decades, Robison told BusinessWest, stereotypes remain. “But we have a complex where we show our students, and show everyone who supports them, that people who are different can be the stars.

“We are one of the largest service complexes in Massachusetts, and we embrace diversity, and I think many people come to us for that reason,” he continued. “Sure, some people come to us to get their car serviced and know nothing except that we provide service and they want to get their oil changed or their brakes done. But we also have people come in here who want to be associated with people who have a social mission in addition to a commercial mission.”

He’d like to see these students’ interest in cars become not just a mission, but a career opportunity.

“People often have a vision of children who are different and wonder if they can ever grow up and support themselves,” he said. “Our commercial operations here are not subsidized by taxpayers in any way. We are very successful competing in the free market. We have cars here from Montana, Ontario, Virginia, Pennsylvania. Those cars are here because of our reputation, and it started with my fixation on cars and machines, which was characterized as a disability when I was a little boy. We’re kind of the embodiment of the idea that the traits that make a child seem disabled can make a technologist a star.”

If other teenagers in the program find similarly satisfying careers — whether as technicians or working on the retail side of auto repair — then the effort to open TCS will have been well worth it.

“We tell them, ‘this is the stuff you’re going to need to get hired,’” Robison said. “Nobody’s forced to be in this program; they’re here because they want to learn how to do this.

“We have to have teaching strategies to work with autistic people, work with victims of child abuse. But these are also people who just love cars,” he added. “So I see myself in many of these young people, and I’m very proud we’ve been able to make the school come true here.”

Joseph Bednar can be reached at [email protected]

Negligible Negotiations

By BusinessWest Staff September 23, 2014

Autos Sections

Information Technology Changes the Way Vehicles Are Sold

Sara Holmes says leasing vehicles comprises half the new-car business at Lia Toyota Scion of Wilbraham.

Sara Holmes says the way new cars are sold has changed dramatically in the last decade, largely due to the Internet, which allows people to compare and contrast the price of vehicles.

“Ten years ago, when people came into a showroom, the starting place for negotiations was the window sticker, and the whole process could take several hours. Today, an entire negotiation can be completed in about 20 minutes because people know what they want and how they want to pay for it,” said Holmes, general manager of Lia Toyota Scion of Wilbraham, adding that 80% of sales there are Internet-driven.

Howard Sackaroff agrees. “Years ago, most new-car sales were almost impulse buys. But today, people plan for a purchase and do a lot of research before they even visit a dealer,” said the general manager of Curry Honda and Curry Nissan in Chicopee. “They check safety, fuel economy, and reliability, and sites such as Edmunds or Kelley Blue Book not only provide them with invoices and suggest the amount they should expect to pay, they also give them the value of their trade-in. So by the time consumers show up, they have already made a decision, which makes the process much smoother.”

The trend is reflected at other local dealerships, including Bertera Subaru in West Springfield, where General Sales Manager Mark Noel said the majority of people who visit are ready to make a purchase. “They come to the showroom prepared to buy, as opposed to beginning a search,” he said.

Although customers who have never driven a Subaru may return more than once, he added, “they have already shopped at home, decided what best suits their needs, and gotten the pricing out of the way so the process is a lot shorter and less contentious than it used to be.”

Since price ultimately attracts business, aggressive online marketing programs have become a necessity for dealers. There are many different approaches, such as one used by Curry, where people can choose a specific car, then hit a button on a website to reserve it.

“When that happens, they receive a return e-mail with the lowest possible price,” Sackaroff said. “It lists the features and benefits of the vehicle they have chosen, but they also receive five alternative choices that are similar to the vehicle with their lowest price. It takes negotiation out of the equation.”

He noted that he sets prices weekly or bimonthly based on supply and demand, but admits a small bit of “wiggle room” can remain, and on occasion the price is reduced in the showroom by $50 or $100 — “but that’s it.”

Howard Sackaroff says style changes in new cars typically take place every four to six years.

Noel agrees. “Dealers have always had to be competitive, but competition has increased due to the Internet,” he said. “So, once a person locates the lowest price online, it is really the best price out there. All that is left is negotiating the cost of service plans and the person’s trade-in.”

In fact, Joe Soucy calls the Internet “the equalizer.”

“Manufacturers have bridged the pricing gap between brands, and the days of negotiating a price that is thousands of dollars less than the starting point are gone,” said Soucy, general sales manager for Bob Pion Buick GMC in Chicopee. “Today, people search to find who has the vehicle with the equipment they want at the price they want to pay, and any negotiations that do take place are usually in hundreds of dollars.”

But price isn’t the only consideration. Service also plays into the equation, so local dealers do everything possible to cater to their clients.

“Several weeks ago, a customer was dissatisfied with a new car that developed a transmission problem two weeks after he bought it. In the old days, it would have been repaired under the warranty, but I gave him a new car,” Sackaroff said, adding, “we maintain an advantage based on our reputation and on referrals, so we always try to do the right thing.”

Sales managers concur that excellent customer service is more important than ever before, especially since people who have a bad experience can document it on sites such as Angie’s List and Google, where it can be read by millions of viewers.

“For us,” Holmes said, “it’s about keeping people happy at the end of the day.”

Unrealistic Expectations

Although dealers typically make less than $1,000 on a new car, people still enter showrooms who haven’t done any research, don’t believe how small the profit margin is, and become skeptical when they are told there is no room to negotiate.

“We showed a customer a factory invoice yesterday, but he thought it was phony,” Sackaroff said. “So the salesman had to go online and show him the price of cars on Edmunds.”

Noel has had similar experiences. “People don’t always believe the dealer. But showing them a trusted third-party source makes it so much easier,” he agreed.

According to Soucy, one of the things some customers fail to take into account is that destination prices and preparation work are not included in the invoice. “For example, truck steps are installed upon arrival, and the price of a vehicle can differ according to trim levels. But in some instances, people need to shop at other dealers to find they have reached the end of the negotiating road. “

Joe Soucy said customers have a tendency to overstate the value of their trade-in vehicles.

There is room for negotiation, however, when it comes the buyer’s trade-in. Still, dealers say many people are unrealistic. “Some look up what the vehicle would sell for in the retail market as opposed to its trade-in price. And people tend to believe the information they have gathered themselves as opposed to what a dealer tells them,” Noel said.

Holmes agrees. “There are tools online that allow people to play appraiser, and when they get here, they have decided what their car is worth,” she said, adding that emotional attachments can play into the equation. “I have had customers who have named their car. They think, because they love it, it has to be worth more than we tell them.”

Soucy said people also often overestimate their vehicle’s condition. “Everyone thinks their car is in great condition, and that’s what they check off when they visit an Internet pricing site.”

Value also depends on the amount of work a car, SUV, or truck will need before it can be resold. In order for a vehicle to be certified, it must meet stringent requirements, which can include new tires and brakes, in addition to things such as an oil change. “We spend $1,500 on average to certify a car, even if it is very clean when we get it,” Sackaroff said.

Soucy said every discount possible is included in an online price, and the margin of profit is lower on entry-level vehicles than on high-end models. He explained that discounts are what the dealer is allowed to chop off of the manufacturer’s suggested retail price — a figure that is generally lower on cars than on trucks — while rebates are determined by the manufacturer.

“If a model is being closed out, the rebates are usually higher,” he explained. “However, many factors play into discounts and manufacturers’ rebates. And although deals in auto sales are a preconceived notion, people have the belief that a holiday or the end of the year is when they will get the best deal. But that may or may not be true.”

Sackaroff agrees, noting that there is often only $50 to $100 difference in the price, and there may not be much difference in the vehicle other than the model year. “When I was a kid, new cars were always styled differently. But today, styling changes only take place every four to six years.”

In other words, Noel said, “no one has any idea what a manufacturer will offer in six months, so now is always the best time to buy a car.”

Special Conditions

People can save several thousand dollars by purchasing dealer demos, which typically have been driven only 5,000 to 6,000 miles and are registered as new cars with full warranties. “They are generally good buys, as we depreciate their price. Plus, we see many people with Hondas and Nissans that have more than 150,000 miles on them, so an extra 6,000 miles doesn’t make much of a difference when they turn them in,” Sackaroff explained.

Holmes agrees. “Demos are discounted below invoice by $500 to $2,000, depending on how popular the car is,” she said, adding that special pricing is also often available to new college graduates and people serving in the military. “Manufacturers are helping young people get started, so college graduates don’t usually need a co-signer.”

Leasing is another option — one that’s becoming more popular, said Holmes, noting that about half of Lia Toyota Scion’s new cars are leased. “Today, most people are budget-conscious, and leasing helps keep payments low,” she added, explaining that new cars offer the latest safety features along with free maintenance, which typically includes oil changes and tire rotations. In addition, a variety of mileage plans can be factored into the price. “But if you drive 30,000 miles a year, a lease may not be the best option.”

However, Soucy thinks leasing is the best way for most people to acquire a new vehicle. “You are only accountable for payments during the lease period, and the bank takes all of the risk,” he said, recalling that, when gas prices skyrocketed, people who leased could walk away from vehicles that got low mileage. “And if the manufacturer stops making the model, the person who leases it is not responsible for the fact that it is worth less when the lease ends. We sign zero-down leases every day.”

All that said, the Internet remains the most significant reason why the car-buying experience has changed, and local dealers told BusinessWest it has been been a boon to business. “It has expanded our market and allowed us to see more people. We have sold cars to people in Florida, Washington, and California,” Noel said, explaining that most people who travel great distances do so because they want a specific used vehicle, as opposed to a new one.

But showroom managers agree that a dealer’s customer-service reputation can be the deciding factor in where people purchase a vehicle. “People want to buy from salespeople who are knowledgeable and who they feel they can trust,” Holmes said. “It’s all about trust, and when the process is easy, buyers are happier, and we are happier too.”

Sackaroff concurs. “The changes in negotiation have made life easier for me and for my salespeople,” he said. “But you still have to earn your business, and we have earned the trust of the community and the families in it.”

Lots of Options

By BusinessWest Staff September 23, 2014

Autos Sections

A chart of area auto dealers

Click here to download the PDF

STCC Names Collins Dean of Academic Advising and Student Success

By BusinessWest Staff September 23, 2014

Daily News

SPRINGFIELD — Kamari Collins was recently appointed to the position of dean of academic advising and student success at Springfield Technical Community College by the STCC board of trustees after serving as the college’s director of academic advising since 2011.

Collins began his employment with the college in 2007 as an academic counselor. Prior to his employment with STCC, he served as the director of youth and education programs at the Urban League of Springfield for several years.

“I’m excited to take on this new role as the dean of academic advising and student success and look forward to continuing to serve our students and the campus community. It’s truly an honor and a privilege to face this new challenge in my career,” said Collins. “I take pride in working with my colleagues to implement college initiatives, programs, and activities that support student success. College can often be difficult to navigate, and it is our goal in the academic advising department to help put students on the right educational path.”

Collins earned both his bachelor’s degree and his master’s degree with a concentration in organizational management and leadership from Springfield College. He was named one of BusinessWest magazine’s 40 Under Forty in 2009 and currently serves as a board member of the Children’s Study Home and Urban League of Springfield Inc. and the Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts education committee.