2014 - Page 19 of 36 - BusinessWest

Real Estate Transactions

By BusinessWest Staff August 12, 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

1979 Hawley Road
Ashfield, MA 01330
Amount: $320,000
Buyer: Richard Campbell
Seller: Howard Bryant
Date: 07/11/14

510 Old Stage Road
Ashfield, MA 01330
Amount: $156,500
Buyer: Garrett P. Kuta
Seller: L. R. Warriner
Date: 07/07/14

BERNARDSTON

17 Library St.
Bernardston, MA 01337
Amount: $160,000
Buyer: Mary H. Loughlin
Seller: Charles F. Magoon
Date: 07/02/14

BUCKLAND

8 Maynard Hill Road
Buckland, MA 01338
Amount: $224,500
Buyer: Eric D. Leskowitz
Seller: Sean A. Benoit
Date: 07/01/14

58 North St.
Buckland, MA 01338
Amount: $175,000
Buyer: Sherri L. Moffatt
Seller: Snow FT
Date: 06/30/14

CONWAY

356 Ashfield Road
Conway, MA 01341
Amount: $367,000
Buyer: John A. Crosby
Seller: Windswept RT
Date: 06/30/14

234 Mathews Road
Conway, MA 01341
Amount: $231,000
Buyer: Lisa Fortin
Seller: Steven R. Hill
Date: 07/09/14

GILL

18 Hill Dr.
Gill, MA 01354
Amount: $325,000
Buyer: Mark A. Sirum
Seller: Richard A. Regan LT
Date: 06/30/14

8 Meadow St.
Gill, MA 01354
Amount: $219,000
Buyer: Philip Gilfeather-Girton
Seller: Max A. Brody
Date: 07/11/14

GREENFIELD

804 Bernardston Road
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $300,000
Buyer: Benjamin L. Sirum
Seller: Mark A. Sirum
Date: 06/30/14

94 Birch St.
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $128,900
Buyer: Michelle L. Dwyer
Seller: Beverly A. Streeter
Date: 06/30/14

25 Cedar St.
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $127,100
Buyer: GMAC Mortgage LLC
Seller: David Colby
Date: 07/08/14

62 Cleveland St.
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $190,000
Buyer: Gordon Grant
Date: 06/30/14

729 Colrain Road
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $325,000
Buyer: John C. Anderson
Seller: Robert J. Heiss
Date: 07/10/14

295 Country Club Road
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $214,000
Buyer: Becky A. Richotte
Seller: Timothy B. Gerdes
Date: 07/02/14

74 Crescent St.
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $299,000
Buyer: Deborah Keisch
Seller: Allen W. Woods
Date: 06/30/14

3 Earl Ave.
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $157,385
Buyer: Lindsey R. Towne
Seller: Joseph E. Guidaboni
Date: 06/30/14

51 Ferrante Ave.
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $230,000
Buyer: Linda A. Lewandowski
Seller: Mary K. Dillon
Date: 07/01/14

254 High St.
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $175,000
Buyer: Sally D. Wright
Seller: Charles P. Barker
Date: 07/09/14

164 Plain Road
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $135,000
Buyer: Michael Stempel
Seller: Lorene L. Massey
Date: 06/30/14

204 Silver St.
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $200,000
Buyer: John M. Richardson
Seller: Anne M. Knurek
Date: 06/30/14

LEVERETT

18 Montague Road
Leverett, MA 01054
Amount: $320,000
Buyer: Sofia I. Buford
Seller: Jonathan A. Abbott
Date: 06/30/14

360 North Leverett Road
Leverett, MA 01054
Amount: $199,000
Buyer: Ann J. Delano
Date: 07/09/14

LEYDEN

North County Road #2
Leyden, MA 01301
Amount: $138,000
Buyer: Warren E. Facey
Seller: Dennis R. Carpenter
Date: 07/11/14

North County Road #3
Leyden, MA 01301
Amount: $138,000
Buyer: Warren E. Facey
Seller: Dennis R. Carpenter
Date: 07/11/14

MONTAGUE

15 Davis St.
Montague, MA 01301
Amount: $162,000
Buyer: Walter F. Ramsey
Seller: Phyllis T. Boucher
Date: 07/11/14

29 East Taylor Hill Road
Montague, MA 01351
Amount: $276,200
Buyer: Suzanne Webber
Seller: David C. Mankowsky
Date: 07/03/14

8 Grant St.
Montague, MA 01349
Amount: $119,000
Buyer: Chad D. Cocking
Seller: Joshua R. Martin
Date: 07/08/14

258 Greenfield Road
Montague, MA 01349
Amount: $270,000
Buyer: Brian J. Kline
Seller: Lucas, Alfred P., (Estate)
Date: 07/02/14

NORTHFIELD

24 Old Elm Way
Northfield, MA 01360
Amount: $322,177
Buyer: Agnes H. Piscopo FT
Seller: Cersosimo Industries Inc.
Date: 07/11/14

16 Parker Ave.
Northfield, MA 01360
Amount: $200,000
Buyer: Timothy J. Allen
Seller: Donald S. Simms
Date: 07/11/14

ORANGE

52 Mechanic St.
Orange, MA 01364
Amount: $151,119
Buyer: FNMA
Seller: Richard A. Sarganet
Date: 07/09/14

3 Memory Lane
Orange, MA 01364
Amount: $139,000
Buyer: Daniel Stoodley
Seller: David M. Smith
Date: 06/30/14

SHELBURNE

19 Mechanic St.
Shelburne, MA 01370
Amount: $185,000
Buyer: Edith Bingham
Seller: Jean M. Bruffee
Date: 07/03/14

42 South Maple St.
Shelburne, MA 01370
Amount: $249,413
Buyer: Mauricia Alvarez
Seller: Buckland Center Partners 2
Date: 07/02/14

SHUTESBURY

10 Leverett Road
Shutesbury, MA 01072
Amount: $156,000
Buyer: Samuel Tobin
Seller: Diane L. Randall
Date: 07/01/14

185 West Pelham Road
Shutesbury, MA 01072
Amount: $157,000
Seller: Vanessa J. Paulman
Date: 07/07/14

SUNDERLAND

332 South Silver Lane
Sunderland, MA 01375
Amount: $234,000
Buyer: Valley Building Co. Inc.
Seller: Peter J. Rowell
Date: 07/02/14

WHATELY

48 State Road
Whately, MA 01373
Amount: $191,400
Buyer: Justin J. Wentzel
Seller: MHFA
Date: 07/03/14

HAMPDEN COUNTY

AGAWAM

11 Anthony St.
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $180,000
Buyer: Joann Balakier
Seller: Michael Skala
Date: 06/30/14

30 Briarcliff Dr.
Agawam, MA 01030
Amount: $192,000
Buyer: Franklin P. Lary
Seller: William C. Ekstedt
Date: 07/09/14

396 Main St.
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $300,000
Buyer: Trata Inc.
Seller: Walter A. Meissner
Date: 07/01/14

68 Peros Dr.
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $199,900
Buyer: Matthew R. Smith
Seller: Denise A. Moffat
Date: 06/30/14

188 Pineview Circle
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $264,000
Buyer: Sezgin Turan
Seller: Ronald E. Wieners
Date: 06/30/14

4 Pleasant Valley Road
Agawam, MA 01030
Amount: $265,000
Buyer: John K. Casanova
Seller: Hugh K. Martin
Date: 06/30/14

1036 Shoemaker Lane
Agawam, MA 01030
Amount: $212,430
Buyer: FNMA
Seller: Lynne M. Desilets
Date: 06/30/14

23 Walter Way
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $340,000
Buyer: Ruslan Kuzmenko
Seller: Thomas B. Erkfitz
Date: 07/03/14

90 Woodside Dr.
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $177,500
Buyer: Robert F. Biza
Seller: Walter R. Makuch
Date: 07/07/14

BRIMFIELD

160 Warren Road
Brimfield, MA 01010
Amount: $219,000
Buyer: Jeremy P. Hart
Seller: Kurt D. Schumey
Date: 06/30/14

CHESTER

14 East River Road
Chester, MA 01050
Amount: $202,500
Buyer: Laura J. Qualliotine
Seller: Gary R. Clark
Date: 07/07/14

CHICOPEE

123 Bay State Road
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $152,250
Buyer: William Dextradeur
Seller: Ernest B. Guillet
Date: 06/30/14

162 Boulay Circle
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $215,000
Buyer: Francis H. Dixon
Seller: John E. Wells
Date: 07/10/14

169 Boulay Circle
Amount: $190,000
Buyer: Jaron L. Menard
Seller: Marisa A. Beaudry
Date: 07/03/14

16 Debra Dr.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $172,000
Buyer: Sandra J. Murphy
Seller: Robert Sadowski
Date: 07/10/14

161 Grattan St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $119,000
Buyer: Jocelyn Nunez
Seller: Susan Andrukonis
Date: 07/01/14

252 Grove St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $193,500
Buyer: Celina M. Correa
Seller: Kim R. Soukup
Date: 07/01/14

80 Hilton St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $194,900
Buyer: Larry S. Kelly
Seller: Katsiaryna Desyatnikov
Date: 06/30/14

4 Julia Ave.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $195,000
Buyer: Cynthia A. Scott
Seller: Michael K. Guyott
Date: 07/01/14

51 Keddy Blvd.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $153,000
Buyer: Timothy D. Skwira
Seller: Donald K. Howe
Date: 07/03/14

26 Lorraine St.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $180,000
Buyer: Fernando Ramirez
Seller: Paul R. Gallagher
Date: 07/10/14

299 Mandalay Road
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $170,000
Buyer: Jose A. Rivera
Seller: Robert P. Maciolek
Date: 06/30/14

133 Ondrick Dr.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $213,500
Buyer: John V. Ferraro
Seller: Jerzy Marszalek
Date: 06/30/14

26 Pleasant St.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $165,000
Buyer: Morgan T. Healy
Seller: Nicholas M. Simonich
Date: 07/02/14

95 Quartus St.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $215,000
Buyer: Linda S. Chartier
Seller: Phillip A. Dudas
Date: 07/10/14

83 Robak Dr.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $185,000
Buyer: Steven J. Malke
Seller: Fontaine, James N., (Estate)
Date: 06/30/14

36 Schorr St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $125,000
Buyer: Dennis J. Stoltz
Seller: Briana L. Cloutier
Date: 07/02/14

111 Sherman Ave.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $172,900
Buyer: Carlos J. Aguasvivas
Seller: Jeffrey A. Godere
Date: 07/10/14

78 Woodlawn St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $170,000
Buyer: Blanca Rodriguez
Seller: Ruth E. Rybak
Date: 07/02/14

EAST LONGMEADOW

24 Crescent Hill
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $300,000
Buyer: Michael R. Sacenti
Seller: John Demarche
Date: 07/09/14

15 Franconia Circle
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $247,500
Buyer: Scott J. Pevay
Seller: Donna A. Pevay
Date: 06/30/14

56 Gates Ave.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $165,000
Buyer: Lori A. Kyle
Seller: M&D Ventures LLC
Date: 06/30/14

333 Kibbe Road
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $185,000
Buyer: Matthew A. Fioretti
Seller: Weyner, Harry C., (Estate)
Date: 07/03/14

35 Linden Ave.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $177,000
Buyer: Nicole Bongiorni
Seller: Newhouse, Albert H. Jr., (Estate)
Date: 07/01/14

84 Meadow Road
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $255,000
Buyer: Brent P. Noyes
Seller: Lois L. Grigely
Date: 06/30/14

59 Oak Brook Dr.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $260,000
Buyer: Yvonne Diaz
Seller: Diane L. McIntosh
Date: 07/11/14

155 Patterson Ave.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $290,000
Buyer: Angelo A. Gomez
Seller: Darrel W. Grant
Date: 07/07/14

88-90 Prospect St.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $190,000
Buyer: Erica Serrazina
Seller: Over Bars LLC
Date: 07/08/14

40 Rankin Ave.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $210,000
Buyer: Steven L. Pratte
Seller: Ann H. Ferri-Majewski
Date: 07/11/14

23 Rogers Road
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $199,900
Buyer: Jeffrey Brennan
Seller: Jessie A. Giorgini
Date: 06/30/14

HAMPDEN

66 Allen Crest St.
Hampden, MA 01036
Amount: $250,000
Buyer: Christine M. Burnett
Seller: Heather A. Sutherland
Date: 06/30/14

455 Glendale Road
Hampden, MA 01036
Amount: $320,000
Buyer: Salvatore Santaniello
Seller: Dobles, David A., (Estate)
Date: 07/03/14

622 Main St.
Hampden, MA 01036
Amount: $159,900
Buyer: Maureen K. Liquori
Seller: Michael A. Hatch
Date: 07/01/14

13 Mashapaug Road
Holland, MA 01521
Amount: $185,000
Buyer: Christopher V. Flarida
Seller: Jennafer J. Bishop
Date: 07/11/14

31 Wilbraham Road
Hampden, MA 01036
Amount: $172,000
Buyer: Jason B. Roath
Seller: Alvin E. Thorn
Date: 07/02/14

HOLLAND

17 Lakeridge Dr.
Holland, MA 01521
Amount: $157,000
Buyer: Lauren E. Barker
Seller: Frank P. Dodd
Date: 06/30/14

29 Old Acres Road
Holland, MA 01521
Amount: $183,000
Buyer: Matt R. Farraher
Seller: Raoul G. Ricard
Date: 06/30/14

South Wales Road #7
Holland, MA 01521
Amount: $119,000
Buyer: Norcross Wildlife Foundation
Seller: Craig L. Howlett
Date: 07/02/14

HOLYOKE

162-164 Allyn St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $160,000
Buyer: Sokham Sing
Seller: Dina Sing
Date: 07/11/14

82 Beacon Ave.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $161,000
Buyer: Ismael Vazquez
Seller: Anna J. Klein
Date: 07/01/14

16 Carol Lane
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $220,000
Buyer: John Grossman
Seller: James C. Morrissey
Date: 06/30/14

83 Evergreen Dr.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $200,000
Buyer: Robert R. O’Connell
Seller: John Brunelle
Date: 06/30/14

218 Hampden St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $975,000
Buyer: Chestnut Park Apts. LLC
Seller: Weld Partners 2 LLC
Date: 07/01/14

598 Hampden St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $200,000
Buyer: Holyoke 1 LLC
Seller: Kelley R. Brown
Date: 07/01/14

164 Madison Ave.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $241,500
Buyer: Brian J. Dickey
Seller: Frederick P. Barrett RET
Date: 06/30/14

10 North Bridge St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $180,000
Buyer: Antonio Dibenedetto
Seller: William R. Weber
Date: 07/10/14

2117-2119 Northampton St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $160,000
Buyer: Todd Alvarez
Seller: Enola Nelson
Date: 07/09/14

73-75 Pearl St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $140,000
Buyer: Deutsche Bank
Seller: Ellis M. Oquendo
Date: 06/30/14

293-297 Pleasant St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $209,200
Buyer: Stephen J. Parmenter
Seller: Curtis J. Ziemba
Date: 07/01/14

446 Pleasant St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $139,900
Buyer: Nathan S. Murphy
Seller: Jean Hanus
Date: 06/30/14

15 Prew Ave.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $153,820
Buyer: Beneficial Mass. Inc.
Seller: Gladys E. Cruz
Date: 06/30/14

346 Race St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $200,000
Buyer: Ralph Thompson
Seller: Vladimir Gelfand
Date: 06/30/14

40 Sycamore St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $135,000
Buyer: Wilfredo Cabrera
Seller: Jane D. Sullivan
Date: 06/30/14

LONGMEADOW

141 Avondale Road
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $324,900
Buyer: Michael J. Madsen
Seller: Sharon A. Lowery
Date: 07/11/14

202 Captain Road
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $339,900
Buyer: Stephen Hindley
Seller: Brad L. Albert
Date: 07/08/14

939 Converse St.
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $360,000
Buyer: Timothy S. Fallon
Seller: Jeffrey Kuselias
Date: 07/11/14

26 Edward Circle
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $350,000
Buyer: Daniel J. Dunaisky
Seller: Richard N. Rerra
Date: 07/02/14

468 Frank Smith Road
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $274,000
Buyer: Ember M. Johnson
Seller: Edward E. Comini
Date: 07/10/14

44 Kenmore Dr.
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $249,900
Buyer: Marissa A. Komack
Seller: Timothy S. Fallon
Date: 07/11/14

15 Parkside St.
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $325,000
Buyer: Vincent M. Maniaci
Seller: Lisa M. Duclos
Date: 06/30/14

42 Primrose Dr.
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $345,000
Buyer: Lan T. Lai
Seller: Wei Fu
Date: 07/01/14

108 Redfern Dr.
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $295,000
Buyer: Inna Stein
Seller: Aldo Rubinaccio
Date: 06/30/14

24 Shady Knoll Dr.
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $225,000
Buyer: Tracey M. Millet
Seller: Patrick J. O’Donnell
Date: 07/11/14

22 Villa St.
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $247,000
Buyer: Susan M. Collins
Seller: William E. Collins
Date: 06/30/14

LUDLOW

14 Adams St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $173,000
Buyer: James E. Grummell
Seller: Daniel J. Manewich
Date: 07/11/14

46 Americo St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $310,000
Seller: George E. Burtch
Date: 07/11/14

15 Armand St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $258,000
Buyer: Roxanne Wood
Seller: Patrick R. Ferris
Date: 07/07/14

181 Center St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $138,000
Buyer: Jose L. Pederneira
Seller: Antonio Ferreira
Date: 06/30/14

1224-1226 Center St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $281,000
Buyer: Emilio E. Santos
Seller: Placido Teixeira
Date: 07/11/14

42 Highland Ave.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $152,000
Buyer: Haiyan Breto
Seller: Albino Meireles

Olivia Circle
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $124,000
Buyer: Mathew J. Pereira
Seller: Rosewood Meadows Inc.
Date: 07/01/14

10 Reynolds St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $230,000
Buyer: Ellen M. Pichey
Seller: Atwater Investors Inc.
Date: 07/03/14

407 State St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $211,000
Buyer: Jonathan Pio
Seller: Thompson, Robert J., (Estate)
Date: 07/03/14

385 Westerly Circle
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $412,500
Buyer: Alexander H. Degobbi
Seller: Paulo R. Dias
Date: 06/30/14

36 Wilson St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $130,000
Buyer: I Buysellhomes LLC
Seller: Marth E. LLC
Date: 07/11/14

309 Winsor St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $185,000
Buyer: Steve J. McDaniel
Seller: Keith S. Nogueira
Date: 07/01/14

MONSON

202 Silver St.
Monson, MA 01057
Amount: $222,000
Buyer: John W. Tarbell
Seller: Amanda C. Patenaude
Date: 06/30/14

MONTGOMERY

42 New State Road
Montgomery, MA 01085
Amount: $170,000
Buyer: Brandon R. Laliberte
Seller: David G. Brill
Date: 07/11/14

83 Thomas Road
Montgomery, MA 01050
Amount: $261,500
Buyer: Samuel E. Southard
Seller: Susan M. Beckwith
Date: 07/01/14

RUSSELL

1500 General Knox Road
Russell, MA 01071
Amount: $360,000
Buyer: CSB Service Corp.
Seller: Jane Noweill
Date: 06/30/14

SPRINGFIELD

139 Abbott St.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $125,000
Buyer: Joseph A. Pietrocola
Seller: Chad A. Kuzontkoski
Date: 07/01/14

320 Arnold Ave.
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $199,000
Buyer: Joey Inidad
Seller: Hector Laureano
Date: 07/01/14

111-113 Audubon St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $116,000
Buyer: Peter H. Appleby
Seller: Jaime L. Portier
Date: 07/07/14

22 Beaudry St.
Springfield, MA 01151
Amount: $119,530
Buyer: FNMA
Seller: Shavarsh Manoogian
Date: 07/08/14

60 Belmont Ave.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $150,000
Buyer: Bechara M. Rouhana
Seller: Russell A. Thompson
Date: 06/30/14

69-71 Bliss St.
Springfield, MA 01105
Amount: $885,000
Buyer: Blue Tarp Redevelopment LLC
Seller: Josephine Calvanese
Date: 07/03/14

437 Boston Road
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $490,000
Buyer: Boston Road BLD LLC
Seller: Cumberland Farms Inc.
Date: 07/10/14

Brookdale Dr.
Springfield, MA 01101
Amount: $1,800,000
Buyer: SFG Capital Partners 2
Seller: Berkshire Brookdale LLC
Date: 07/08/14

27 Campechi St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $123,900
Buyer: Martha E. Thompson
Seller: Janet S. Rowe
Date: 07/03/14

56 Cara Lane
Springfield, MA 01028
Amount: $235,100
Buyer: Trevor J. Doyle
Seller: Joseph Q. Lee
Date: 06/30/14

162 Chalmers St.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $185,000
Buyer: Narayan Adhikari
Seller: Jennifer L. Thomas
Date: 07/02/14

595 Cooley St.
Springfield, MA 01128
Amount: $190,000
Buyer: Govinda Adhikari
Seller: Roland F. Berthiaume
Date: 06/30/14

141 Donbray Road
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $122,000
Buyer: Michele J. Connors
Seller: Kenneth F. Mayberry
Date: 07/01/14

176 Draper St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $119,000
Buyer: Aaron P. Murray
Seller: Eliseo G. Cruz
Date: 07/11/14

48 Drexel St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $118,900
Buyer: Richardo James
Seller: Arthur A. Ferrara
Date: 07/02/14

80 East Allen Ridge Road
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $175,000
Buyer: Carlos H. Vazquez
Seller: Michael J. Madsen
Date: 07/11/14

173 Ellsworth Ave.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $138,100
Buyer: Brian E. Chicoine
Seller: Agnes E. Kenyon
Date: 07/10/14

90-92 Elmore Ave.
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $166,500
Buyer: Michael R. Bleau
Seller: Michael Torcia
Date: 06/30/14

31 Hazen St.
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $182,400
Buyer: Brian T. Doak
Seller: Marjorie G. Nothacker
Date: 07/03/14

79 Fox Hill Road
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $195,000
Buyer: John N. Lawrie
Seller: John Olszewski
Date: 07/07/14

54-56 Home St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $225,000
Buyer: Ednaliz Cruz
Seller: Ela Tsikhotskaya
Date: 07/11/14

62 Inglewood Ave.
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $175,000
Buyer: Rachel A. Donermeyer
Seller: Theresa M. Strong
Date: 07/07/14

64 Jefferson Ave.
Springfield, MA 01107
Amount: $134,000
Buyer: Antonio Zayas
Seller: Juan A. Zayas
Date: 07/10/14

51 Kimberly Ave.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $122,000
Buyer: Stephanie B. Le
Seller: Serguei Bondarenko
Date: 07/09/14

318-1/2 Main St.
Springfield, MA 01105
Amount: $120,000
Buyer: Edyta Halastra
Seller: Genowefa Wojcik
Date: 07/07/14

54 Melba St.
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $148,500
Buyer: Desiree S. Spencer
Seller: Brent P. Noyes
Date: 06/30/14

22 Montclair St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $134,000
Buyer: Omar V. Vazquez-Ramirez
Seller: Arthur D. Lafleur
Date: 07/02/14

379 Newhouse St.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $119,900
Buyer: Maria E. Tavernier
Seller: Robert J. Flannery
Date: 07/11/14

85 Peekskill Ave.
Springfield, MA 01129
Amount: $240,000
Buyer: Khuong Q. Pham
Seller: Gianna G. Nguyen
Date: 06/30/14

47 Ravenwood St.
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $165,000
Buyer: Tri Nguyen
Seller: Alexandra Sternal
Date: 06/30/14

13-15 Thames St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $165,000
Buyer: Jose R. Francisco
Seller: Zouheir S. Elbakri
Date: 06/30/14

64 Treetop Ave.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $133,000
Buyer: Mental Health Association
Seller: Angela Cosenzi
Date: 07/11/14

57 Westminster St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $142,510
Buyer: FNMA
Seller: Caroline E. Cunningham
Date: 07/01/14

2-4 Wilmont St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $140,000
Buyer: Trang Nguyen
Seller: Dany H. Nguyen
Date: 07/11/14

SOUTHWICK

21 Congamond Road
Southwick, MA 01077
Amount: $184,900
Buyer: Patricia Pollicina
Seller: Jillian Cote
Date: 06/30/14

95 Congamond Road
Southwick, MA 01077
Amount: $170,000
Buyer: Kimberly J. Bombard
Seller: Marc A. Pereira
Date: 07/09/14

7 Coyote Glen
Southwick, MA 01077
Amount: $485,000
Buyer: Yuri Murzin
Seller: Steven M. Cournoyer
Date: 07/11/14

14 Crystal Dr.
Southwick, MA 01077
Amount: $297,000
Buyer: Donald J. Cote
Seller: John M. Mickalay
Date: 06/30/14

12 Evergreen St.
Southwick, MA 01077
Amount: $440,000
Buyer: Marcia Roy
Seller: Ricky Wylot
Date: 07/03/14

27 George Loomis Road
Southwick, MA 01077
Amount: $209,000
Buyer: Scott A. Spear
Seller: William Pieczarka
Date: 07/11/14

140 Mort Vining Road
Southwick, MA 01077
Amount: $379,000
Buyer: Janet G. Vincent
Seller: B&B Construction Inc.
Date: 07/03/14

181-A South Longyard Road
Southwick, MA 01077
Amount: $288,000
Buyer: Vicheth Hong
Seller: Kenneth J. Florek
Date: 07/11/14

17 Sheep Pasture Road
Southwick, MA 01077
Amount: $158,000
Buyer: Cheryl M. Lachance
Seller: William M. Lakota
Date: 07/11/14

10 Tree Top Lane
Southwick, MA 01077
Amount: $299,900
Buyer: Corey S. Daugherty
Seller: Stephen G. Krayski
Date: 07/10/14

62 Vining Hill Road
Southwick, MA 01077
Amount: $230,000
Buyer: Kevin A. Augustino
Seller: Russell S. Waters
Date: 07/01/14

7 Whalley Way
Southwick, MA 01077
Amount: $125,000
Buyer: Vincent J. Pallotta
Seller: Margaret Corsino
Date: 07/11/14

WALES

105 Stafford Road
Wales, MA 01081
Amount: $188,000
Buyer: Ryan K. Kress
Seller: James E. Nanstad
Date: 07/03/14

WESTFIELD

61 Apple Orchard Heights
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $274,500
Buyer: Russell L. Ramah
Seller: William Dow
Date: 07/08/14

14 Belvedere Gardens
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $245,000
Buyer: Anatoliy Lavrenchuk
Seller: Vladimir Molokvas
Date: 07/10/14

7 Charles St.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $150,000
Buyer: Craigen Laiho
Seller: Mary P. Allen
Date: 07/03/14

15 Christopher Dr.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $324,900
Buyer: Michael F. Gorman
Seller: Robert B. Collins
Date: 06/30/14

40 Christopher Dr.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $285,000
Buyer: Meghan E. Woering
Seller: Kevin R. Pelletier
Date: 07/11/14

22 Cleveland Ave.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $159,900
Buyer: Mikhail Krikunov
Seller: Robert A. Rising
Date: 07/09/14

22 Dry Bridge Road
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $145,000
Buyer: James Walsh
Seller: Russell W. Duval
Date: 07/01/14

1840 East Mountain Road
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $232,000
Buyer: Paul P. Wellspeak
Seller: Michael F. Gorman
Date: 06/30/14

126 Glenwood Dr.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $318,000
Buyer: Leonardo F. Andrade
Seller: Jane F. Haq
Date: 07/09/14

143 Holyoke Road
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $169,000
Buyer: Felipe N. Pantoja
Seller: Gayle Begley
Date: 06/30/14

4 Linda Dr.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $217,813
Buyer: Midfirst Bank
Seller: Cindy L. Locklear
Date: 06/30/14

88 Lockhouse Road
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $292,000
Buyer: Jonathan J. Tooker
Seller: C&M Builders LLC
Date: 06/30/14

6 Lozier Ave.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $119,000
Buyer: Bank New York
Seller: Anthony J. Roncalli
Date: 07/11/14

18-1/2 Malone Ave.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $155,000
Buyer: Joseph F. Beaton
Seller: Corey S. Daugherty
Date: 07/09/14

35 Miller St.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $160,250
Buyer: Heather M. Rienti
Seller: Lisa C. Krause
Date: 07/01/14

61 Montgomery St.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $124,900
Buyer: Wesley Pomeroy
Seller: Burlingame, Carol, (Estate)
Date: 07/11/14

51 Radisson Lane
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $409,500
Buyer: Stephanie L. Martell
Seller: John J. Mulhall
Date: 07/09/14

7 Smith Ave.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $160,000
Buyer: Erin K. Ramos
Seller: William E. Dupont
Date: 07/08/14

34 South Broad St.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $845,000
Buyer: Commercial Distributing Co. Inc.
Seller: South Broad St. Realty LLC
Date: 06/30/14

419 Springdale Road
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $278,999
Buyer: Syed Haq
Seller: Joseph C. Sampson
Date: 07/09/14

39 Susan Dr.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $212,000
Buyer: Boniface Pedanou
Seller: Laurine M. Ferrarini
Date: 06/30/14

199 Susan Dr.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $215,000
Buyer: US Bank
Seller: Greta M. Redzko
Date: 07/07/14

WILBRAHAM

14 Brainard Road
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $175,000
Buyer: Jerry Ortiz
Seller: MHFA
Date: 07/02/14

73 Cherry Dr. #73
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $309,900
Buyer: Estelle E. Nietupski
Seller: 2301 Boston Road LLC
Date: 06/30/14

3 Old Coach Road
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $231,000
Buyer: Steven C. Moriarty
Seller: Robert S. Forsman
Date: 07/11/14

1 Opal St.
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $140,000
Buyer: Jacob R. Motyl
Seller: Phyllis Sakowski
Date: 06/30/14

23 3 Rivers Road
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $187,500
Buyer: Valerie Cross
Seller: Lisa M. Tinnirella
Date: 07/07/14

44 Springfield St.
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $206,000
Buyer: Alessandra E. Mele
Seller: Scott J. Pevay
Date: 06/30/14

11 Valley View Dr.
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $615,000
Buyer: Antonio E. Dossantos
Seller: James C. Peters
Date: 06/30/14

WEST SPRINGFIELD

1156 Amostown Road
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $200,000
Buyer: Marie T. Nadeau
Seller: Robert M. Gamelli
Date: 07/11/14

25 Chapin St.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $172,000
Buyer: Jash B. Baniya
Seller: Devins, Dorothy S., (Estate)
Date: 07/02/14

25 Circle Dr.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $167,867
Buyer: FHLM
Seller: Jane E. Dumas
Date: 07/10/14

114 City View Ave.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $157,000
Buyer: Matthew J. Nash
Seller: Robert W. Briggs
Date: 06/30/14

66 Clarence St.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $127,500
Buyer: Tommy Seidell
Seller: Salvatore, Evelyn B., (Estate)
Date: 07/01/14

283 Elm St.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $239,000
Buyer: Aimeng Li
Seller: Sylvia A. Hunter
Date: 06/30/14

30 Morton St.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $185,000
Buyer: Jay M. Bushey
Seller: Clinton S. Corbin
Date: 06/30/14

28-30 Moseley Ave.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $189,000
Buyer: Ishora Adhikari
Seller: Joseph T. Alouise
Date: 07/01/14

117 Park Ave.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $1,580,000
Buyer: Coyote Realty LLC
Seller: C&GC Realty LLC
Date: 07/01/14

178 Rogers Ave.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $369,900
Buyer: Robert A. Bishop
Seller: David W. Holt
Date: 07/11/14

85 Wistaria St.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $130,000
Buyer: Amy E. Phillips
Seller: Joan M. Murphy
Date: 07/03/14

HAMPSHIRE COUNTY

AMHERST

14 Greenwich Road
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $220,000
Buyer: Dusko Cejic
Seller: Monica G. Robelotto
Date: 06/30/14

34 Jenks St.
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $272,000
Buyer: Ayumi Parsons
Seller: Thomas R. Knight
Date: 07/01/14

174 Lincoln Ave.
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $540,000
Buyer: Katherine S. Newman
Seller: Thomas L. Dumm RET
Date: 07/11/14

18 Merrick Circle
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $286,500
Buyer: William T. O’Connell
Seller: Scott, Virginia P., (Estate)
Date: 07/11/14

14 Overlook Dr.
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $373,000
Buyer: Paul M. Collins
Seller: Carl A. Ditkoff
Date: 06/30/14

36 Ridgecrest Road
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $365,000
Buyer: William S. Greene
Seller: Philippe A. Meyer
Date: 07/10/14

12 Sand Hill Road
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $245,500
Buyer: Kathleen A. Bailer
Seller: Aaron L. Buford
Date: 06/30/14

98 Spring St.
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $739,000
Buyer: Peter D. Jacoby
Seller: 98 Spring Street LLC
Date: 06/30/14

45 Station Road
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $324,000
Buyer: Eric N. Wolpin
Seller: Christopher J. Hurn
Date: 06/30/14

BELCHERTOWN

131 Barton Ave.
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $280,000
Buyer: Orelio D. Manduley
Seller: Eugene D. Robinson
Date: 07/01/14

Batchelor St. #10
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $290,000
Buyer: Kestrel Land Trust
Seller: FMJ Realty LLC
Date: 06/30/14

Batchelor St. #13
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $290,000
Buyer: Kestrel Land Trust
Seller: FMJ Realty LLC
Date: 06/30/14

21 Bay Path Road
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $245,000
Buyer: Richard A. Helm
Seller: Tilman Lukas
Date: 06/30/14

23 Brenda Lane
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $240,000
Buyer: Ibrahim Deme
Seller: Leonard R. Breaulieu
Date: 06/30/14

8 Cadwell Lane
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $238,000
Buyer: Tenzin Tsewang
Seller: Leonard G. Desrochers
Date: 07/09/14

14 Dana Hill
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $230,000
Buyer: Carolina L. Rothkegel
Seller: Jonathan J. Crosby
Date: 06/30/14

10 Eastview Dr.
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $245,000
Buyer: James D. Adams
Seller: Leja, Ruth E., (Estate)
Date: 07/09/14

343 Federal St.
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $175,000
Seller: Suzanne F. Laverdiere
Date: 07/11/14

572 Federal St.
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $169,000
Buyer: Davin T. O’Neill
Seller: Thomas H. O’Neill
Date: 07/02/14

72 Granby Road
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $370,000
Buyer: Jonathan R. Brach
Seller: Dahila Development Ltd
Date: 06/30/14

100 Metacomet St.
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $224,636
Buyer: FHLM
Seller: Michael J. Forgue
Date: 07/09/14

41 Spring Hill Road
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $375,000
Buyer: John C. Pearson
Seller: Raymond R. Phaneuf
Date: 07/10/14

333 Stebbins St.
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $345,000
Buyer: Joseph Ting
Seller: Kevin J. Pacunas
Date: 07/11/14

CHESTERFIELD

101 Old Chesterfield Road
Chesterfield, MA 01096
Amount: $265,000
Buyer: Mican J. Blondeau
Seller: John P. Corey
Date: 06/30/14

EASTHAMPTON

47 Bryan Ave.
Easthampton, MA 01027
Amount: $262,000
Buyer: Amy E. Quinlan
Seller: Matthew Carrasquillo
Date: 07/10/14

16-18 Knipfer Ave.
Easthampton, MA 01027
Amount: $232,400
Buyer: Lisa A. Collette
Seller: Kevin C. Netto
Date: 07/01/14

65 Northampton St.
Easthampton, MA 01027
Amount: $242,500
Buyer: Andrew R. Tilbe
Seller: Jay F. Oueliette
Date: 06/30/14

8 Old Stagecoach Road
Easthampton, MA 01027
Amount: $160,000
Buyer: Paul E. Pelletier
Seller: Gerald R. Lapointe
Date: 07/02/14

1 Ranch Ave.
Easthampton, MA 01027
Amount: $232,000
Buyer: Bryan J. Graham
Seller: Marc Labrecque
Date: 06/30/14

27 Treehouse Circle
Easthampton, MA 01027
Amount: $289,635
Buyer: James R. Jackson
Seller: EH Homeownership LLC
Date: 06/30/14

GRANBY

276 Batchelor St.
Granby, MA 01033
Amount: $240,000
Buyer: Phillip A. Senecal
Seller: 274 Batchelor Street RT
Date: 07/03/14

193 East St.
Granby, MA 01033
Amount: $165,000
Buyer: Westover Metropolitan Development Corp.
Seller: Shirley G. Warren
Date: 07/10/14

88 Ferry Hill Road
Granby, MA 01033
Amount: $270,000
Buyer: Arleen A. Sassi
Seller: Bombardier RT
Date: 07/11/14

143 Kendall St.
Granby, MA 01033
Amount: $152,000
Buyer: Andrew Mailloux
Seller: Rebecca Savage
Date: 06/30/14

HADLEY

2 Aloha Dr.
Hadley, MA 01035
Amount: $359,900
Buyer: Deepu A. Thomas
Seller: J. S. Payne
Date: 07/08/14

95 Huntington Road
Hadley, MA 01035
Amount: $344,900
Buyer: Barbara P. Goldstein TR
Seller: Sandra G. Knightly
Date: 07/03/14

122 Mount Warner Road
Hadley, MA 01035
Amount: $284,000
Buyer: Frederick H. Pratt
Seller: Thomas M. Leshey
Date: 07/01/14

20 Woodlawn Road
Hadley, MA 01035
Amount: $255,000
Buyer: Keith W. Shannon
Seller: Kathleen Zerneri
Date: 07/01/14

HATFIELD

14 Circle Dr.
Hatfield, MA 01038
Amount: $285,000
Buyer: Travis J. Yagodzinski
Seller: Mooney, Ann K., (Estate)
Date: 07/02/14

74 Dwight St.
Hatfield, MA 01038
Amount: $177,500
Buyer: Gerald J. Gower
Seller: Flynn FT
Date: 06/30/14

161 North Hatfield Road
Hatfield, MA 01038
Amount: $240,000
Buyer: Jillian N. Minor
Seller: Keith W. Chirgwin
Date: 07/01/14

5 The Jog
Hatfield, MA 01038
Amount: $550,000
Buyer: John F. Langhans
Seller: Thomas A. Michel
Date: 07/07/14

7 Upper Farms Road
Hatfield, MA 01038
Amount: $350,000
Buyer: Matthew Marchand
Seller: Andrea J. Herring
Date: 07/07/14

HUNTINGTON

83 Thomas Road
Huntington, MA 01050
Amount: $261,500
Buyer: Samuel E. Southard
Seller: Susan M. Beckwith
Date: 07/01/14

MIDDLEFIELD

150 Skyline Trail
Middlefield, MA 01243
Amount: $119,000
Buyer: Michael Hussey
Seller: John H. Smith-Jones
Date: 07/01/14

NORTHAMPTON

133 Barrett St.
Northampton, MA 01060
Amount: $235,000
Buyer: Fidel U. Hidalgo
Seller: Samuel J. Locono
Date: 07/03/14

340 Bridge Road
Northampton, MA 01062
Amount: $435,600
Buyer: Paul M. Collins
Seller: Carl A. Ditkoff
Date: 07/03/14

153 Elm St.
Northampton, MA 01060
Amount: $678,510
Buyer: Apple & Elm LLC
Seller: Carol K. Melin
Date: 06/30/14

234 Elm St.
Northampton, MA 01060
Amount: $612,500
Buyer: Ronald Fontanetta
Seller: Jane A. Raye
Date: 07/02/14

35 Harrison Ave.
Northampton, MA 01060
Amount: $717,000
Buyer: Melissa Difatta
Seller: Mordechai Kamel
Date: 07/01/14

5 Hillcrest Dr.
Northampton, MA 01062
Amount: $400,000
Buyer: Philipp G. Galaski
Seller: Martha A. Ackelsberg
Date: 06/30/14

623 Kennedy Road
Northampton, MA 01053
Amount: $393,500
Buyer: Brian Eastwood
Seller: Elizabeth A. Fogle
Date: 06/30/14

295 Locust St.
Northampton, MA 01062
Amount: $269,000
Buyer: Wadim Timakov
Seller: Joseph Timakov
Date: 06/30/14

83 Massasoit St.
Northampton, MA 01060
Amount: $725,000
Buyer: David H. Brewster
Seller: Jordi Herold
Date: 06/30/14

285 North King St.
Northampton, MA 01060
Amount: $287,100
Buyer: Red Barn Realty LLC
Seller: Marion Dulong FT
Date: 06/30/14

33 Pine Brook Curve
Northampton, MA 01060
Amount: $226,900
Buyer: Eson Lor
Seller: Lima Funding TR
Date: 07/11/14

793 Ryan Road
Northampton, MA 01062
Amount: $192,500
Buyer: William A. Pitrat
Seller: Liliya Kulyak
Date: 07/02/14

38 Walnut St.
Northampton, MA 01060
Amount: $340,500
Buyer: YON LLC
Seller: Brian J. Dickey
Date: 06/30/14

PELHAM

55 Arnold Road
Pelham, MA 01002
Amount: $351,150
Buyer: Charles V. Grybko
Seller: Arnold Road NT
Date: 06/30/14

SOUTH HADLEY

73 Fairview St.
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $120,500
Buyer: Scott Family Properties LLC
Seller: Michael F. Walsh
Date: 07/08/14

134 Main St.
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $250,000
Buyer: Brian J. Lachapelle
Seller: Glenn R. Hanson
Date: 07/11/14

12 Midway St.
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $181,900
Buyer: Donald W. Lever
Seller: Amy L. Fay
Date: 07/11/14

37 River Road
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $186,000
Buyer: Brent M. Robinson
Seller: Alice M. Jessup
Date: 07/01/14

40 Roosevelt Ave.
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $165,000
Buyer: Thomas M. Avigliano
Seller: Janice Bell
Date: 07/11/14

7 Susan Ave.
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $165,000
Buyer: Melissa Wanat
Seller: James P. Miller
Date: 07/03/14

SOUTHAMPTON

13 Belanger Road
Southampton, MA 01073
Amount: $195,075
Buyer: Richard L. Talbot
Seller: Elizabeth C. Heck
Date: 07/01/14

78 White Loaf Road
Southampton, MA 01073
Amount: $260,000
Buyer: Elizabeth S. Zuckerman
Seller: Morgan L. Jones
Date: 06/30/14

WARE

4 Briar Circle
Ware, MA 01082
Amount: $239,900
Buyer: John P. Daniele
Seller: David A. Park
Date: 07/10/14

11 Dugan Road
Ware, MA 01082
Amount: $144,000
Buyer: Roseann Cooke
Seller: Richard S. Rucki
Date: 06/30/14

WESTHAMPTON

60 Pine Island Lake
Westhampton, MA 01027
Amount: $590,000
Buyer: Jonathan E. Moskin
Seller: Rachel E. Merrell
Date: 07/02/14

14 Shaw Road
Westhampton, MA 01027
Amount: $220,000
Buyer: Pandora C. Redwin
Seller: Andrew M. Warner
Date: 07/01/14

WILLIAMSBURG

22 Fort Hill Road
Williamsburg, MA 01039
Amount: $412,500
Buyer: Margaret L. Pryor
Seller: Sarah J. Peterson
Date: 07/08/14

WORTHINGTON

76 Radiker Road
Worthington, MA 01098
Amount: $167,500
Buyer: Donald R. Chase
Seller: FNMA
Date: 07/03/14

Building Permits

By BusinessWest Staff August 12, 2014

Building Permits Departments

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

AGAWAM

American Tower Corporation
1804 Main St.
$15,000 — New tower for existing array

Joseph Walz
332 Suffield St.
$300,000 — Construct addition to existing building

Mass Vet Cardiology
305 Suffield St.
$10,500 — Exterior renovations

AMHERST

Left Hand Holding Company
893 Belchertown Road
$11,000 — Renovations

LUDLOW

West Street Realty Trust
399 West St.
$157,000 – New storage building

NORTHAMPTON

518 Pleasant Street, LLC
518 Pleasant St.
$5,000 — Construct partitions for conference room

GE Healthcare
22 Industrial Dr.
$50,000 — New roofing system

The Brush Works, LLC
221 Pine St.
$9,000 – Replace three antenna panels

Smith College
4 Tyler Dr.
$50,000 — Interior renovation at Bass Hall

St. Joseph’s Episcopal Church
48 Elm St.
$15,000 — Replace antenna and existing equipment

PALMER

Camp Ramah of New England Inc.
39 Bennett St.
$3,000 — Install metal vent/chimney

Camp Ramah of New England, Inc.
39 Bennett St.
$5,000 — Alterations for staff housing

SOUTH HADLEY

Mount Holyoke College
50 College St.
$95,000 — Renovations

Town of South Hadley
267 Granby Road
$21,391,000 — Construction of a new elementary school

Town of South Hadley
123 Willimansett St.
$3,000 — New roof

SOUTHWICK

Westfield River Brewing Company
707 College Highway
$5,000 — Remodel

SPRINGFIELD

Academy Hill School
1190 Liberty St.
$12,000 — Re-roof

American International College
144 Wilbraham Road
$155,000 — Interior renovations at Mallory Hall

Balise Automotive Realty, LP
440 Hall of Fame Ave.
$61,000 — Exterior facelift

Boston Medical
1350 Main St.
$32,000 — Create a break area

New Jerusalem Church
697 Union St.
$75,000 — Interior and exterior repairs

Smith & Wesson
2100 Roosevelt Ave.
$441,000 — New roofing system

Western New England University
1215 Wilbraham Road
$76,000 — New roofing system

WESTFIELD

Engineers Realty Corporation
53 Southampton Road
$95,000 – Commercial renovations

Russell Fox
4 Russell Road
$3,000 — Alterations

WEST SPRINGFIELD

380 Union Street Properties, LLC
380 Union St.
$18,000 — Upgrade antenna panels

James Blair
380 Union St.
$275,000 — Renovate 3,000 square feet of space

Mike Kravitz
30 Capital Dr.
$20,000 — Interior renovations

Maximum Potential

By BusinessWest Staff August 12, 2014

Employment Sections

Sunshine Village Provides Opportunities for Clients, Solutions for Employers

Gina Golash Kos says Sunshine Village has made a significant difference in the lives of individuals with disabilities.

Gina Golash Kos says Sunshine Village gives people with disabilities the opportunity to fulfill their potential, become independent, and learn valuable work skills.

“People’s lives are better today because of a dream conceived by a small group of parents in 1967 who wanted to create a warm, welcoming organization to help their children and other people with disabilities,” said Kos, the agency’s executive director. “That dream was and is Sunshine Village, and today the organization helps people find employment, make friends, and do things they never thought they could.”

The agency serves 400 adults age 22 and older, and has formed close ties with many local businesses that augment their employee base with trained workers who are available on a temporary, seasonal, or permanent basis.

“It’s a win-win situation because people with disabilities get the opportunity to work and businesses get great employees who show up on time and do the job correctly,” Kos told BusinessWest.

She added that using Sunshine Village as a subcontractor is cost-effective because it pays for traditional employee-related benefits and its employees are prescreened, trained, and overseen by a supervisor who accompanies them to the worksite each day.

“We typically meet with the employer, tour their operation, talk to them about the work they need done, and help them determine how we can help them save time and money through group or individual placements, before we assign people to a job,” Kos said.

Last November, Callaway Golf Balls Operations Inc. in Chicopee hired a six-person team from Sunshine Village to help fulfill a number of orders. “We put them on the assembly line and also had them label and unpack golf balls,” said Georgia London, Callaway’s maintenance, repair, and operating buyer and parts-crib supervisor. “They were here for six months, and we grew to love them. They showed up every day smiling, ready for the next challenge, and their smiles never diminished, no matter what we asked them to do. I was impressed and amazed by how conscientious they were and by their focus on quality. It was an excellent situation, and as soon as business picks up, we will hire them again.”

Kos said people who work for Sunshine Village are happy to be given the opportunity to earn a paycheck. Although some might not be able to meet the demands of a workplace on their own, the supervision they receive allows them to be successful.

“The workers we place are proud to do jobs that others might find repetitive or boring,” Kos said. “So many people with disabilities want to work and have the chance to prove themselves, and with our support, they are able to meet employers’ expectations and often exceed them.”

For this issue and its focus on employment, BusinessWest takes an in-depth look at Sunshine Village and its strong track record of providing opportunities for its clients and solutions for area employers.

Work in Progress

The village became a reality 47 years ago, thanks to the efforts of a group of parents whose children had disabilities. Under the direction of P. Joseph Casey of Chicopee, they procured 13 acres of donated land and built their program.

“They started with a nursery school and playground,” Kos said, adding that Sunshine Village soon grew to include three large buildings and a ballfield. “Over time, it went from a grassroots organization led by parents to a well-respected, sophisticated organization led by a board of directors.”

Sunshine employees (from left) Colleen Brosnan, Jonathan Gelula, and Richard Klisiewicz say their training center prepares people to work in industrial and commercial settings.

The agency employs more than 200 staff members, and its annual operating budget exceeds $10 million, which comes from federal and state money, boosted by private funding and proceeds from an annual fund-raising golf tournament.

Services provided by clients range from packaging to document preparation, catalog assembly, custom display assembly, box folding, labeling, collating, shrink-wrapping, clamshell and blister packaging, liquid pouring, and more.

Many begin their careers by working in the Employment Services Division’s integrated training center on the Chicopee campus, which prepares individuals to work in industrial and commercial settings.

“It’s a hub where we help people find jobs,” Kos said, adding that individuals with and without disabilities are trained alongside each other and fulfill orders that companies outsource to the facility.

The jobs can range from redoing work that was done incorrectly, such as removing inappropriate stickers and replacing them with the right ones, or removing products from boxes that were packed incorrectly, then repacking them. “We support a lot of manufacturers,” she added.

Sunshine Village also has a federal contract, and its employees maintain and clean all of the buildings and hangars at Westover Air Reserve Base. In addition, some perform other janitorial work, such as dusting, vacuuming, and emptying wastebaskets at local companies.

In addition, Sunshine Village opened a Community Based Day Service last month to allow individuals to find their own jobs while enhancing their professional skills through internships and volunteer opportunities, while enjoying an array of social and recreational activities.

Kos says the unpaid internships give people the opportunity to experience different types of jobs and work environments. “It’s important because some individuals are not sure what they would like to do,” she explained. “They may enjoy sitting and working quietly or prefer a fast-paced environment with a lot of other people around them.”

The volunteer work is also helpful. “Our clients have helped local churches with cleaning and spent time in local food pantries, at the Chicopee Public Library, and in the Thomas J. O’Connor Animal Control and Adoption Center,” Kos said. “Volunteering is a great way for people to get ready for their first job and give back to the community.” She added that groups planning nonprofit events are invited to call Sunshine Village if they need volunteers.

Expanded Horizons

In addition to its Employment Services Division, Sunshine Village offers a Day Habilitation Services Program, which runs year-round and helps people acquire the skills they need to become productive members of their communities. It is a medically based model with offerings tailored to meet each individual’s strengths and needs.

“Physical, speech, and occupational therapies are incorporated into music, culinary, art, and sport therapy programs,” Kos said. “People might work on gross motor skills in music therapy or fine motor skills in art therapy. Music therapy helps them communicate and express themselves while they have fun and socialize with others. They also learn to prepare food in our culinary program and participate in yoga and tae kwon do classes in our sports program. We focus on developing functional life skills, improving coping strategies, and increasing independence.” Adaptive devices and equipment are also used to maximize each person’s potential.

Jonathan Scytkowksi and Samuel Whittle fill out job applications with help from Miguel Colon.

These programs are conducted at a variety of locations. In addition to providing services at Sunshine Village’s main campus on Litwin Lane in Chicopee, the agency also operates community-based sites in Three Rivers, Westfield, Springfield, and Chicopee Falls, said Kos, adding that the organization receives a great deal of support from the community.

The golf tournament, for example, allows the agency to pay for improvements to its buildings, new technology, and holiday parties, as well as adaptive equipment and extra supplies, she noted.

Meanwhile, the Chicopee Elder Council 69 of the Knights of Columbus and Fairview Council #4044 have made generous donations to the agency, and many businesses provide ongoing support. “We are very fortunate to have so many people helping us,” Kos said.

As a result, Sunshine Village’s programs continue to grow. “We’re developing a day program specifically designed to meet the needs of people with autism-spectrum disorders,” she noted. “We want to help them live independent lives by promoting social and daily living skills and improving communication.”

The program is still in the planning stages, but the demand for it is clear. “Autism is a growing problem, and during the last year we have talked with our funding sources, local sources, and parents to determine the types of services that are needed,” Kos said.

People employed by Sunshine Village are proud that, since 1968, all of the organization’s programs have received the highest level of accreditation by the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities. “And the most recent accreditation, which was highly complimentary, was completed in April,” Kos told BusinessWest.

Bright Prospects

Sunshine Village has made a significant difference in the lives of individuals with disabilities.

“Everything we do, which includes the people participating in services, our experienced and caring employees, our innovative programs, and our effective outcomes, is a realization of our founders’ dream,” Kos said.

“We serve so many people who are truly happy, and we are proud of our history and what we achieve day by day,” she went on. “Our partnerships are growing and will continue to expand, which allows us to help people find jobs while providing employers with good employees. So we are confident about the future of our organization, because our success is sustained by compassion and enthusiasm and realized through strategic planning and effective leadership.”

People On the Move

By BusinessWest Staff August 12, 2014

Departments People on the Move

Freedom Credit Union announced the promotion of three officers within the credit union and the appointment of a new Mortgage Loan Originator.

Karen Chauvin Katsanos

• Karen Chauvin Katsanos has been promoted to Vice President of Human Resources at FCU. She will continue to manage the human resource and training activities for the credit union, which employs a staff of 130. Katsanos joined the credit union in 2012 and has 20 years of HR experience in several industries, including healthcare and manufacturing. She has held a number of senior-management positions throughout her career. Katsanos earned her bachelor’s degree from the UMass Amherst and has earned two master’s degrees — one in psychology from Westfield State College and the other in business administration from Western New England College. She holds an SPHR designation that she earned from the Human Resource Certification Institute. She is a board member for the Human Resource Management Assoc. of Western New England and the Ronald McDonald House of Springfield.

Cheryl Podgorski

• Cheryl Podgorski has been promoted to Vice President of Operations. She joined the credit union in 2012 and has more than 26 years of operations experience in both the banking and credit-union industries, holding several senior-management positions throughout her career. In addition to her responsibilities in the credit union’s Operations Department, Podgorski has been managing Freedom’s Loan Servicing Department for the past year. She earned her master’s degree in business administration from Western New England College and holds a Six Sigma Green Belt certification. She is a past certified treasury professional through the Assoc. for Financial Professionals.

Lisa Astley

• Lisa Astley has been promoted to Branch Officer of Freedom’s Ludlow Branch. In her new position, she oversees the financial and lending operations of the branch, develops new business opportunities with individuals and businesses, and promotes financial literacy at area schools. Astley has been employed at Freedom for five years and has 12 years of experience in the banking and financial-services industries. Prior to joining Freedom, she was customer-service supervisor at Randall’s Farm in Ludlow for 15 years. Astley is currently working toward a financial services degree with the Center For Financial Training.

Antonio Sanches

• Antonio Sanches has joined Freedom as a Mortgage Loan Originator and is responsible for real-estate origination throughout Hampden and Hampshire counties. As he helps expand Freedom’s mortgage services to its members in Hampden and Hampshire counties, he will offer his expertise in conventional, FHA, MassHousing, Massachusetts Housing Partnership’s One Mortgage, and USDA loans. He has 10 years of experience in the finance industry, including expertise in residential mortgage origination, first-time home-buyer assistance, and secondary market sales. Most recently, he was assistant vice president at Florence Savings Bank. Currently, Sanches is president of the Rotary Club of Ludlow and a corporator at the Randall Ludlow Boys and Girls Club. In June, he was named “Affiliate of the Year” by the Realtor Assoc. of Pioneer Valley. Sanches is working at the Freedom branch on Center Street in Ludlow.
•••••

Maria Koutroubila

FieldEddy Insurance announced that Maria Koutroubila has joined the firm as a personal-lines account manager. She brings more than 10 years of insurance-related experience to the position, and is a member of the National Alliance, holding the CISR designation and working toward CISR Elite designation. Koutroubila will be responsible for educating and ensuring that clients have the proper insurance coverage. As part of the personal-lines team, she will work to implement daily operations and ensure that that standard working procedures, key performance indicators, and other account metrics are achieved on a regular basis.
•••••
Berkshire Bank announced that Thaddeus Welch III has been hired as Portfolio Research Analyst and Trader, joining its Wealth Management team. In this position, Welch will be responsible for managing all trading activities and performing fundamental, economic, and sector research to assist in generating overall investment strategies. In addition, Welch will work with clients to customize their portfolios for appropriate risk-reward allocations and to achieve their long-term goals. His areas of specialization are trading, equity research, and portfolio management. Welch will be working out of Berkshire Wealth Management’s office at 25 Main St. in Lenox. Previously, Welch worked for Spinnaker Trust in Portland, Maine, where he was a member of the investment committee. He received his bachelor’s degree in Economics from Bowdoin College and is a CFA level II candidate.
•••••
The Massachusetts Nonprofit Network (MNN), the statewide organization that unites and strengthens the nonprofit sector through advocacy, public awareness, and capacity building, announced that it has appointed James Ayres, CEO and Executive Director of United Way of Hampshire County, to its board of directors. “We are honored to welcome Jim Ayres, whose passion and considerable experience at the community and state level will help strengthen our state’s vast nonprofit sector,” said Rick Jakious, CEO of the Massachusetts Nonprofit Network. “MNN’s board of directors reflects the rich geographical and organizational diversity of the state’s nonprofit sector and is the voice of a strong, united nonprofit sector in Massachusetts.” Said Ayres, “the Massachusetts Nonprofit Network is an invaluable organization for promoting public policy, support, and public understanding of the not-for-profit sector. A vibrant and well-equipped nonprofit sector, in turn, profoundly impacts quality of life thoughout theCommonwealth. I’m excited to join the MNN board and to work with other statewide leaders to shape the direction of the organization.” Prior to his role at United Way of Hampshire County, Ayres served for 12 years as executive director of the Northampton-based Center for New Americans, an education and resource center for immigrants, refugees, and other limited-English speakers in Western Mass. In these roles, he has worked extensively with local and state governments, community coalitions, workforce boards, and NGOs to develop policy and programming. Ayres holds master’s degrees from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and the Isenberg School of Management at UMass Amherst.

Chamber Corners: Upcoming Events

By BusinessWest Staff August 12, 2014

Chamber Corners Departments

AFFILIATED CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE OF GREATER SPRINGFIELD
www.myonlinechamber.com
(413) 787-1555

• Sept. 3: ACCGS Business@Breakfast, 7:15-9 a.m., at the Sheraton Springfield, One Monarch Place, Springfield. “Keeping All the Balls in the Air” with Rob Peck, Zestworks. Tickets are $20 for members ($25 walk-in) and $30 for general admission.
• Sept. 10: ERC5/ACCGS Millfest After 5, 5 p.m. to dusk, at Ludlow Mills, 100 State St., Ludlow. Music, great food, lots of fun, and networking. Tickets are $15 for members, $25 for general admission. Proceeds benefit the ERC5 Scholarship Fund.

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

• August 27: 48th Annual Community Breakfast, 7:30-9 a.m. in the Student Union Ballroom on the UMass Amherst campus. The annual Community Breakfast signals the start of the academic year and is an opportunity to meet newcomers to the community; see old friends, neighbors, and colleagues; and talk about the year ahead. All are welcome at this buffet breakfast and gathering of area business owners, legislators, mayors, Select Board representatives, and members of the academic and business communities. Tickets: $8 in advance or $10 at the door. For more information, call (413) 577-1101 or e-mail [email protected].

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

• Aug. 21: Member Workshop, 9-11 a.m., hosted by La Quinta Inn & Suites, 100 Congress St. in Springfield. Sponsored by First American Insurance Agency. “You’re Social. Now What? Is It Working?” This workshop will give you a closer look at the popular social-media channels — Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and Google+. We’ll show you the benefits of using each, how other organizations are marketing with them, and some dos and don’ts of each channel. You’ll also get tips on how to tell if your social media activity is working. Free to members.
• August 21: Mornings with the Mayor, 8-9 a.m., at the American Red Cross Blood Donor Center, 3500 Main St., Springfield. Coffee and light breakfast refreshments will be served, while Mayor Richard Kos provides updates and news about what’s happening in Chicopee. Feel free to submit any questions, concerns, or ideas for discussion by Aug. 18 to chamber President Eileen Drumm at [email protected]. This event is for Greater Chicopee Chamber members only and is free, but registration is required so the host business knows how many will be attending.
• Sept. 10: CEO Luncheon at the Munich Haus Restaurant. Registration at 11:45, lunch at noon. Network and hear from Eric Lapointe, executive vice president of the Springfield Falcons, who recently joined the organization and oversees all revenue-generating functions of the team. His most recent position was with the NHL’s Florida Panthers as director of Premium Seating, where his primary responsibilities included managing the senior-level sales and service team, developing and executing premium selling strategies, and driving revenue. He comes to Springfield with a career that includes managerial and sales responsibilities with the NFL’s Cleveland Browns and Miami Dolphins and the NBA’s Miami Heat. Lapointe’s extensive sports-business experience includes working under some of the most influential figures in professional sports, including Mike Holmgren, Bill Parcells, and Pat Riley. He is a graduate of UMass Amherst with a bachelor’s degree in sport management, and received a master’s degree in management from Cambridge College. Tickets: $25 for members, $30 general admission.

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

• Aug. 14: Networking by Night Business Card Exchange, 5-7 p.m., hosted by Freedom Credit Union and Wireless Zone of Easthampton, 422 Main St., Easthampton. Sponsorship opportunities available for this event. Door prizes, hors d’ouevres, host beer and wine. Tickets: $5 for members, $15 for future members. RSVP requested at (413) 527-9414.

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

• Aug. 13: Networking Across the River, 5:30-7:30 p.m., hosted and sponsored by Brunelle’s Marina, 1 Alvord St., South Hadley. Join an evening of networking with the Greater Holyoke and South Hadley/Granby Chambers of Commerce as we cruise along the Connecticut River on the Lady Bea. Tickets are $20 for members. Seats are limited. To sign up, call the chamber office at (413) 534-3376 or register online at www.holyokechamber.com.
• Aug. 20: Chamber Summer Business Breakfast, 7:30-9 a.m., hosted by Yankee Pedlar, 1866 Northampton St., Holyoke. Sponsored by Lyon & Fitzpatrick, LLC Tickets: $20 for members and advance reservations, and $30 for non-members and at the door. Price includes a hot buffet.
• Sept. 10: Legislative Coffee Hour, 7:45-9 a.m., at Slainte Restaurant, 80 Jarvis Ave, Holyoke, featuring guest speakers Mayor Alex Morse, City Council President Kevin Jourdain, and City Treasurer Jon Lumbra. Join us for coffee and conversation, where members of the community have a chance to ask questions regarding issues facing Western Mass. and the Greater Holyoke area. Tickets: $18 members; $25 at the door and for non-members.

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

• Sept. 10: Northampton Chamber Monthly Arrive @5, 5-7 p.m. Arrive when you can, stay as long as you can. A casual mix and mingle with your colleagues and friends. Sponsors: Greenfield Savings Bank, Hathaway Farms, and United Personnel. Tickets are $10 for members, $15 for non-members.
• Sept. 11: 2014 Workshop: “Introduction to Google Docs,” 9-11 a.m. at Pioneer Training, 139B Damon Road, Northampton. The class includes an introductory section on Google Drive, the online storage location for Google Docs. Participants will learn how to set up a local Google Drive folder, which automatically synchronizes with Google Drive on the web. Learn to create new documents in the Google Docs format, as well as how to convert Word documents to the Google Docs format. The class will focus on basic formatting and editing techniques in Google Docs, but will also cover best practices for using Google Docs. Learn the difference between viewing and editing, and how to set permission levels for collaborators. Also learn simple tips that will help users avoid accidentally overwriting data or publishing confidential data. Pre-registration are required, and space is limited. Tickets are $20 for members, $25 for non-members. To register for the event, e-mail [email protected].

NORTHAMPTON AREA YOUNG PROFESSIONALS & YOUNG PROFESSIONAL SOCIETY OF GREATER SPRINGFIELD

• August 14: August Joint Networking Social with NAYP & YPS, 5 p.m. at Slainte restaurant in Holyoke. RSVP on Facebook. Featured nonprofit: Amherst Ballet, which is is dedicated to quality dance education. It strives to inspire a diverse community of dancers toward artistic excellence and a lifelong enthusiasm and appreciation for dance, and seeks to bring enrichment through educational programming, performance, and collaboration.

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

• Sept. 17: PWC Headline Luncheon, 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Yankee Pedlar, 1866 Northampton St., Holyoke. The speaker will be Jane Iredale, president and founder of Jane Iredale Skin Care. Tickets are $25 for members, $35 general admission.

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

• Aug. 18: Annual Golf Tournament, at the Ranch Golf Course, Southwick. Registration is at 11:30 a.m., with lunch at noon and a shotgun start at 1 p.m. Cost: $125 for golf and dinner. For more information or for tickets, contact the chamber office at (413) 426-3880 or e-mail [email protected].

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

• Sept. 3: Wicked Wednesday, 5-7 p.m., at E.B’s Restaurant, 385 Walnut St Ext., Agawam.
• Sept. 8: Open House, 4-7 p.m. The Greater Westfield Chamber of Commerce is pleased to announce its new office at 16 North Elm St. in Westfield. Please join us for an open house.
• Sept. 17: Networking Lunch, noon to 1:30 p.m. at Kaptain Jimmy’s, 916 Suffield St, Agawam. Network with fellow chamber members over lunch. Each member will get approximately one minute to offer a brief pitch about their company. E-mail [email protected] to register.

Center of Attention

By BusinessWest Staff August 12, 2014

Cover Story

UMass Facility in Springfield Set to Open Its Doors

Director of Operations William Dávila

William Dávila wasn’t looking to leave Springfield’s Gandara Center. In fact, he was quite happy in his role as director of Outpatient Services for the facility, which provides mental-health, substance-abuse, and preventive services for children, adults, and families across Western Mass.

But when he was informed that UMass Amherst was looking for someone to manage the center it was building within Tower Square in downtown Springfield, he saw an opportunity he couldn’t resist.

“I’m a UMass graduate and a Springfield kid,” he said with a voice that expressed pride in both those pieces of information. “When this came to my attention, I couldn’t pass it up. I’m a big fan of UMass, and the idea of bringing the quality education that UMass offers to Springfield, where I know it’s needed and where I know folks in my community are looking for opportunities, really intrigued me.”

Dávila, a member of BusinessWest’s 40 Under Forty class of 2013, eventually prevailed in an extensive search for the center’s director of Operations, and is now in a highly visible position with a clearly stated but multi-faceted job description — to make the broad vision for the UMass Center at Springfield become reality.

And that vision goes well beyond the actual 26,000-square-foot facility, which makes extensive use of glass and prompted Dávila to wear out the phrase ‘state of the art’ as he described it. Indeed, there are expectations that the center will be a catalyst for change and help bring a renewed sense of vibrancy downtown. In short, this is being viewed as an economic-development initiative as much as it is an educational facility.

And it will likely be both, said Dávila, adding quickly that, for now, the task at hand is to get the doors opened as scheduled on Sept. 2. All appears to be on track, he said while offering a tour of the facility — something he’s done quite often over the past several weeks — adding that UMass has moved quickly and purposefully in building the center, which will open less than 10 months after it was announced at an elaborate press conference at Tower Square.

More than 30 traditional and online courses will be offered through the center this fall, with titles ranging from “Gambling, the Hidden Addiction,” part of the curriculum for the Addiction Counselor Education program at UMass Boston, to “Introduction to Urban Education,” one of the offerings for Education students at UMass Amherst, to “Advanced Pathophysiology,” part of the Nursing program at UMass Amherst.

Dávila expects between 200 and 300 students, faculty, and staff to take part in programs at the center. In time, he believes, those numbers will escalate as people come to understand all that the facility has to offer and realize what an attractive learning environment has been created.

“This space is just very conducive to a good academic experience,” he explained. “We think that if people give us a chance, if they look at what we’re offering, they’ll be interested in being a part of it.”

For this issue, BusinessWest goes behind the scenes at the emerging UMass Center at Springfield to gain some perspective on the operation as well as the hopes and expectations of the individual chosen to manage it.

Course of Action

When asked when he started in his new position, Dávila had to think for a few minutes, and eventually had to summon his phone to pinpoint the date.

“It’s been a really hectic start,” he said with a laugh while discovering that his first day was July 7. “There’s been a lot happening here.”

By that, he meant everything from the work to build out the space, some of which looks out on Main Street, to meetings with a host of constituencies, including UMass Amherst Chancellor Kumble Subbaswamy, Springfield officials, and members of the business community, to giving those aforementioned tours, which are more detailed now than they were a few weeks ago because there is much more to see.

An architect’s rendering of the main entrance to the UMass Center at Springfield.

Several large classrooms, which can accommodate more than 30 students, are taking shape, as are two patient-simulation areas that will be used for nursing courses and other healthcare offerings and are expected to be among the main draws at the center. Meanwhile, two large student lounges, each making extensive use of natural light through huge windows, are receiving their final touches, as is the welcome center.

“It’s fascinating to see it all come together,” said Dávila, who brings a diverse background to his latest assignment, with a résumé that features work in higher education, social services, and nonprofits.

One of his first professional stops was with Project Hope of Merrimack Valley Catholic Charities, which he served as program director. That was followed by two assignments in higher education — first as assistant director of Graduate Admissions at Lesley University in Boston and then as coordinator of Personal & Academic Support Programs at Boston University.

He then switched gears and became Metro Boston regional manager for the Devereux Foundation, a national behavioral healthcare provider. That was followed by a stint as West Roxbury program manager for the MENTOR Network and then a five-year stop as deputy director of the Children’s Study Home in Springfield, before coming to the Gandara Center in 2011.

Dávila will put experiences at those various stops to good use while meeting what he said is an intriguing job description for the UMass Center’s director of operations.

“It’s kind of interesting — the job description is a combination of a community-relations person, an operations person, and some admissions as well,” he explained. “It’s a combination of all those things. I’ll be functioning as a recruiter, but I’ll definitely be looking for opportunities to connect prospective students with some of our different departments and making sure that I’m creating some opportunities for us to reach out to students.

“This is like coming back home for me,” he continued, referencing his work in higher education. “And one of the reasons why I thought it was a good match for me personally is because what they were looking for was not just someone to come in and say, ‘we’re opening our doors, and we’re offering these courses,’ because that’s a two-dimensional approach. What got me excited about this is that we’re trying to make sure that we demonstrate that we’re committed to the region.”

In the short term, as he said, the primary assignment is to coordinate a smooth launch for the center, which will be a closely watched initiative given the lofty expectations and the considerable hype that accompanied the university’s long-discussed plans to heighten its presence in Springfield exponentially.

Long-term, though, he said he will be tasked with gauging and then meeting community needs.

“We’ll need to make sure that we understand what the community is looking for in terms of educational programs,” he explained, “and that we are, to the greatest extent possible, offering those here locally.”

Class Action

A new sign on the east side of Tower Square announces the arrival of UMass.

The lineup of graduate and undergraduate courses for this fall was assembled in response to stated community needs, Dávila went on, adding that the offerings cover a number of degree programs, from nursing and addiction treatment to education and business. There are also a few classes offered through the school’s University Without Walls program for non-traditional students, many of whom are already in the workforce, as well as some non-credit training programs.

There will be a number of offerings in education, including “The Work of the Middle and High School Teacher” and “Adolescent Growth and Development,” he noted, as well as several classes offered through the Isenberg School of Management’s MBA program, including “Financial and Managerial Accounting” and “Leadership and Organizational Behavior.”

The biggest block of classes, however, is in nursing. Overall, there will be eight offerings, including “Pathophysiology” and “Advanced Pathophysiology,” “Community Focus in Nursing,” and “Cultural Diversity in Health and Illness,” he said, adding that the state-of-the-art simulation areas make the Springfield center a unique learning facility.

And its location should be an asset, not a hindrance, he went on, noting that, while downtown Springfield presents some challenges, the center offers 24/7 security, plenty of attached parking, the latest educational technology, a unique space, and scheduling that is conducive to working professionals as well as traditional students.

Making prospective students aware of all this is one of the more critical aspects of that aforementioned job description, said Dávila, adding that he and others are getting the word out through traditional advertising, social media, and networking. These efforts have yielded enrollment figures that are solid and consistent with unofficial goals.

But numbers, while important, are not the primary objective at this early stage, he went on, noting that more critical is the work to lay a solid foundation and then build on it through efforts to collaborate with other schools and the community at large to ensure that the center becomes what it was a designed to be — a multi-faceted resource.

He acknowledged that there are those at Greater Springfield-based colleges and universities who might consider the UMass center to be competition for them, but added that, thus far, other schools are indicating a desire to partner with the facility, not reject or fear it.

“I’ve been approached by other institutions about working together,” he told BusinessWest. “I’m sure there are some folks who are looking at us as competition, but others see that there are opportunities here; we can do degree programs, we can do transfer programs … there are opportunities here to do different things, and I know the faculty that’s already associated with us has expressed interest in that.

“I’m very excited about what’s happening here,” he went on. “We’ve got a great team coming together; we’ve got a lot of opportunities coming ahead. I think something like this gets people’s creativity going. People are thinking about doing new things, and they’re interested in doing some collaborations that maybe they haven’t thought about in the past. And we’re open to it.”

Grade Expectations

When asked how success would be measured at UMass Center Springfield, Dávila said the answer to that query will change over time.

“The first measure of success is going to be about satisfaction with the facility — that’s number one,” he said. “How do people feel coming in here? Do they feel they’re getting what they need? Are students satisfied with the facilities and resources?”

After that, success will be a function of connecting students to the courses, he went on, emphasizing that, while enrollment numbers are not critical at this stage, they will become paramount in the years to come as the center seeks to continually grow its operations.

But, overall, success will be measured by how well the center can connect with the community and become a vital resource, he said, noting that this first year will be an important one for not just establishing a presence, but making sure that presence is felt.

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

Coming to Terms

By BusinessWest Staff August 12, 2014

Law Sections

EEOC Issues Enforcement Guidance on Pregnancy Discrimination Act

By SUSAN G. FENTIN, Esq.

Employers’ obligations under the Pregnancy Discrimination Act made news in July when the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued new enforcement guidance on the Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA). This announcement from the EEOC follows the U.S. Supreme Court’s July 1 decision agreeing to hear Young v. UPS, a case that arises out of an employer’s decisions regarding a pregnant employee who was unable to perform the essential functions of her position.

Susan G. Fentin

The PDA was enacted to extend the protections of Title VII to encompass pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions, considering discrimination based on those circumstances to be a form of sex discrimination in violation of Title VII. The issue in the Young case involves a UPS policy that limits light-duty assignments to individuals with work-related injuries or those who are considered disabled under the ADA. UPS denied a light-duty assignment to Ms. Young because her lifting restrictions were not work-related and she was not considered disabled under the ADA, with the result that she was forced to take unpaid leave from her job.

Her suit against UPS was dismissed on the grounds that a pregnant worker with a temporary lifting restriction isn’t “similar in her ability or inability to work” to the other types of employees for whom UPS willingly provided light duty. UPS successfully argued that its policy is “pregnancy blind” and therefore not discriminatory. The Appeals Court decision dismissing the case was appealed to the Supreme Court, which has accepted the case for its 2014-15 term.

Significantly, the new enforcement guidance specifically covers the issue pending before the court: whether a pregnant employee is entitled to light duty if her employer would grant a light-duty assignment to other workers who are subject to the same work restrictions.

The EEOC Guidance

Although the EEOC’s PDA enforcement guidance does not have the force of law, it’s generally considered persuasive by the federal courts. So the provisions of this new guidance are significant for employers who are considering their obligations to their pregnant workers. Much of the guidance restates an employer’s existing obligations to its pregnant employees:

• The PDA and Title VII protect women who are currently or have been pregnant, could potentially or are trying to become pregnant, and medical conditions that result from pregnancy;

• Employers may not make decisions about pregnant employees based on stereotypes, assumptions, or fears that a pregnant worker could harm herself or her baby by continuing to work;

• Employees who are breastfeeding are also considered protected under Title VII;

• Employers may not discriminate against employees who have had or are contemplating an abortion; and

• Employers are cautioned against making employment decisions based on a woman’s potential caregiving responsibilities.

Potentially Problematic Provisions

However, some of the provisions of the new guidance could be potentially problematic for employers. The guidance states that even a seemingly neutral policy, such as a weight-lifting requirement, could have a disproportionate impact on pregnant women.

Although such cases generally require statistically significant data, the guidance suggests that such evidence might not be required if all or substantially all pregnant women would be negatively affected by the policy. To defend such a claim, an employer must be able to show that the requirement is “necessary to safe and efficient job performance,” and even then, an employer can still be held liable if there is a less discriminatory alternative, but the employer refuses to implement it.

Similarly, a company policy, such as the UPS policy in Young, can be considered a violation of the PDA if it denies light duty or other accommodations to pregnant women while granting those benefits to other employees with similar restrictions. The guidance specifically states that that a pregnant worker with a work restriction who is denied light duty can establish a case of discrimination by identifying any other employee, including employees injured on the job and/or covered by the ADA, who is similar in his or her ability or inability to work and who was accommodated or granted light-duty work. In this section of the guidance, the EEOC specifically rejected the idea that an employer does not have to provide light duty for a pregnant worker if it has a policy that limits light duty to workers injured on the job and/or to employees with disabilities under the ADA.

In addition, the new guidance states that a policy that restricts sick leave might also have a disparate impact on pregnant women, citing examples where a 10-day ceiling on sick leave and a policy denying sick leave during the first year of employment have been found to disparately impact pregnant women. The guidance also underscores the impact of the 2008 amendments to the ADA, noting that, while pregnancy itself is not a disability, pregnancy-related impairments may be disabilities under the new version of that statute.

Of course, this is not news to Massachusetts employers, who have long been required to consider pregnancy-related conditions as disabilities under state law. And the guidance specifically states that an employer’s health-insurance plan must cover “prescription contraceptives on the same basis as prescription drugs, devices, and services that are used to prevent the occurrence of medical conditions other than pregnancy,” although the EEOC concedes that it does not address whether an employer may maintain a religious exemption from this requirement, as dictated in the Supreme Court’s recent Hobby Lobby decision.

The new enforcement guidance is available at www.eeoc.gov/laws/guidance/pregnancy_guidance.cfm. The EEOC has also published a fact sheet for small employers at www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/publications/pregnancy_factsheet.cfm.

Bottom Line

Employers should exercise caution when making decisions about the ability of pregnant employees to perform the essential functions of their positions. If an employer cannot accommodate any worker with a lifting restriction, regardless of whether or not that employee is female and pregnant, then a claim for failure to accommodate or pregnancy discrimination will not likely be successful.

But employers who limit their light-duty policies to those with work-related injuries should be careful about denying a light-duty position to a pregnant worker with work restrictions. And Massachusetts employers should continue to engage in the interactive process with their pregnant workers to determine whether there are any accommodations that would allow a pregnant worker with a restriction to perform the essential functions of her job.

Attorney Susan G. Fentin is a partner at Springfield-based Skoler, Abbott & Presser. Her practice concentrates on labor and employment counseling, advising large and small employers on their responsibilities and obligations under state and federal employment laws, and representing employers before state and federal agencies and in court. She speaks frequently to employer groups, conducts training on avoiding problems in employment law, and teaches master classes on both the FMLA and ADA; (413) 737-4753; [email protected]

Filling the Holes in Medicare

By BusinessWest Staff August 12, 2014

Law Sections

Coverage May Be Unjustly Denied in Many Circumstances

By ANN I. WEBER, Esq. and MICHAEL A. FENTON, Esq.

Ann I. Weber

Michael A. Fenton

Millions of seniors rely upon Medicare and supplemental Medigap policies to pay for hospital and skilled-nursing care, but many find out at the worst possible time that a big bill is due.

In particular, coverage may be unjustly denied when 1) a patient is admitted to a hospital under ‘observation status’ rather than as an inpatient, 2) a skilled-nursing-care facility declares that a patient has plateaued, or 3) a hospital stay exceeds 90 days for the same illness. If you or a loved one run into this type of problem, here is what you need to know.

Observation Status

Medicare Part A covers hospital inpatient stays for 60 days and skilled-nursing-home care for the first 20 days, but only if you are discharged from a hospital after admission as an inpatient for three days. If you are admitted under observation status, you are billed as an outpatient under Medicare Part B. Although Part B may cover most of your expenses in the hospital, patients who are discharged to a nursing home without the requisite three days as an inpatient will not be covered for their nursing-home stay.

Many hospitals have increasingly admitted patients under observation status for longer stays, even though the Medicare policy manual specifies 24 hours as a benchmark. Observation status has been extended to cover multi-day stays at the hospital with tests and procedures. If this happens to you, when you are discharged to a skilled-nursing home, you will be responsible for the cost of such care, frequently running at more than $400 per day.

Here’s what you can do:

• Be sure you have a healthcare proxy granting a trusted person access to your medical records and the authority to make medical decisions if you cannot do so;

• Find out your status;

• If you are classified as admitted under observation status and you believe that is incorrect, try to get your status changed by asking for a review or, if possible, a consultation with your community physician;

• If you are unsuccessful and able to safely return home, ask your hospital or community physician to order home care for you. This care will be covered by Medicare; and

• If you need skilled-nursing-home care, you will be responsible for paying privately, but, provided you have been hospitalized for at least three nights, you should initiate Medicare appeals relative to both the hospital and nursing-home stays. These appeals have been successful for people in this circumstance. Note that there is currently a federal case on appeal regarding notice and review procedures for patients placed on observation status to help prevent abuse.

Plateaued Patients

Medicare has long had a practice of denying coverage to patients in skilled-nursing homes who are not improving and have been deemed ‘plateaued.’ This is in spite of the fact that this ‘improvement standard’ does not appear anywhere in Medicare regulations or policies and is expressly contradicted, in the federal regulations, at 42 CFR 409.32(c), which states that “a patient may need skilled services to prevent further deterioration or to preserve current capabilities.” The improvement-standard policy has resulted in the denial of coverage for numerous patients with chronic conditions such as Parkinson’s, multiple sclerosis, arthritis, diabetes, and more.

Now, under the settlement agreement in a Vermont district-court class-action case, Jimmo v. Sebelius, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services has agreed to revise all publications and guidelines to explain that coverage will be provided to individuals who need skilled care to prevent or slow further deterioration. Nevertheless, some facilities are still using this criteria to move a patient to custodial nursing-home services, which are not covered at all by Medicare or Medigap policies.

Lifetime Days

For a hospital stay, Medicare will cover only the first 90 days for the same spell of illness under Medicare Part A. For days 1-60, you are billed a deductible, and for days 61-90, you are billed an additional co-pay. For the 91st day and beyond, you will be covered only if you have lifetime reserve days available (you get 60 lifetime reserve days that can be used at any time you go beyond the 90-day threshold).

Medicare is no help to patients who have exhausted their days during a hospital stay. This is why many people invest in a Medigap policy. These policies cover the deductibles and co-insurance payments. Also, under Section 8.B(3) of the NAIC Model Standards for Regulation of Medicare Supplemental Insurance, Medigap policies are required to provide patients with an additional 365 lifetime reserve days for hospital care.

Medigap policies cover only Medicare-approved expenses, and Medicare will deny your claim if lifetime reserved days are available but remain unused. Providers have been known to have faulty data when it comes to knowing the exact number of lifetime reserve days that remain for a particular patient. In this environment, lifetime reserve days are not always utilized properly, resulting in unjustly denied claims.

Conclusion

Should you or a loved one get a large or unexpected summary notice due to issues with any of the matters addressed in this article, a written notice containing the reasons for termination of Medicare coverage should be requested.

An appeal might be necessary. You may want to contact a knowledgeable attorney for assistance in the appeal.

Attorney Ann I. Weber is a partner with the Springfield-based law firm Shatz, Schwartz and Fentin, P.C., and concentrates her practice in the areas of estate-tax planning, estate administration, probate, and elder law. She has a particular interest in creative estate planning for authors, artists, farmers, and landowners. She has recently been named one of the “Top Fifty Women Lawyers in New England” by Super Lawyer magazine and is a frequent author and speaker on issues regarding estate planning; (413) 737-1131; www.ssfpc.com. Attorney Michael A. Fenton is an associate with Shatz, Schwartz and Fentin, P.C. He concentrates his practice in the areas of business law, real-estate development, and estate planning. He has served on the Springfield City Council since 2010; (413) 737-1131; www.ssfpc.com

Legal Landmines

By BusinessWest Staff August 12, 2014

Law Sections

Questions Can Cause Problems During Fitness-for-duty Exams

By CHANNEZ M. ROGERS, Esq.

Employers, beware of the questions you ask your employees during their annual fitness-for-duty examinations. All-too-familiar questions regarding family medical history and past trips to the hospital may run afoul of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 (GINA) when posed by employers on questionnaires meant to determine whether employees can do their jobs.

Channez M. Rogers

“Have you or any of your family members had any of the following medical conditions?” This is a routine question we all answer at the doctor’s office without hesitation. However, for employers, this question in the context of an employee’s annual fitness-for-duty exam can be a minefield.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has found seemingly routine questions requesting family medical history, as part of an employer’s fitness-for-duty exam, violate the ADA and GINA.

GINA prohibits employers with 15 or more employees from using genetic information to make employment decisions, in order to protect an employee from adverse employment action because an employer thinks the employee is at an increased risk for developing a disease. Therefore, inquiries regarding family history used for the purpose of discovering an employee’s likelihood of having a certain disease or disorder violate GINA.

Likewise, the ADA prohibits employers with 15 or more employees from discriminating against employees based on a disability. Typically, the ADA does not allow for disability-related inquiries or medical examinations for current employees unless the employee has made the employer aware of a disability and requests an accommodation, or if the employer has noticed a change in the employee’s performance that makes him question the employee’s ability to do his job.

So, when may an employer ask health-related questions without violating the ADA or GINA?

Like GINA, the ADA carves out an exception for fitness-for-duty exams for employees in fields affecting public safety. Employers may require employees to submit to an annual fitness-for-duty exam in order to assess whether they are able to perform the essential functions of their jobs as long as there is a legitimate business reason for the inquiry. The purpose of the exam must be to gauge whether an employee is physically able to do his or her job or if the employee will pose a direct threat to safety due to a medical condition. The types of questions and the scope of the medical exam must be job-related and consistent with business necessity.

Appropriate Question Content

The EEOC found that the question regarding family history did not align with the ADA’s requirement that disability-related inquiries be narrowly tailored to address specific, job-related concerns. After all, the employee’s health matters, not her family’s. The question above was too broadly stated and required employees to reveal much more information than is necessary to address their ability to do their job.

Another question the EEOC cautioned employers against asking was whether an employee had been hospitalized overnight for any reason in the past five years. Such a question requires an employee to list any number of ailments or injuries that would require hospitalization, but may have nothing to do with the employee’s ability to do the job now. Additionally, requiring a five-year medical history across the board for employees asks them to reveal information about conditions that may not even affect their ability to work anymore.

A question regarding whether an employee has seen a doctor in the last year for anything other than a routine checkup also violates the ADA in that it is too general and does not address a specific, job-related concern. Instead, such an inquiry requires an employee to reveal private information about a medical condition that may be completely unrelated to the employee’s work, which should not be used to assess the employee’s ability to perform.

Even if no adverse action is taken against an employee, employers should beware of information they receive from a fitness-for-duty examination that might open the door to an obligation to engage in a conversation with the employee to determine whether or not he or she is entitled to a reasonable accommodation to aid in job performance (the interactive process). Absent a showing of undue hardship, which is very rare, an employer is required to provide a reasonable accommodation to an employee with an impairment who has requested and needs one.

Finally, employers should be aware that, if an employee is terminated based on information disclosed in response to a question on the fitness-for-duty form, the employee would likely fall under the protection of the ADA. As a result, the employer would be required to show that the employee could not perform the job’s essential functions or, where the concern is safety, that the employee would pose a “direct threat.”

In light of the EEOC’s explicit warnings regarding medical history and disability-related inquiries, employers would do well to tread lightly when asking questions that may be deemed too broad during their fitness-for-duty exams. When drafting questionnaires for fitness-for-duty exams, employers should carefully consider the employees’ job descriptions, pose only questions specifically related to the abilities required to successfully complete the work, and consult employment counsel with any questions.

Employers should specify on the forms for medical examination that they are only looking for certain information and request medical professionals do not provide anything beyond what is asked. This may ensure employers do not inadvertently receive too much information from third-party medical providers.

Finally, employers should make sure their managers and supervisors are up-to-date with their training to ensure that the interactive process is followed when necessary, and that no medical information is being used inappropriately.

Channez M. Rogers, Esq. is an attorney at Royal LLP, a woman-owned, SOMWBA-certified, boutique, management-side labor and employment law firm; (413) 586-2288; [email protected]

Coping with a New Reality

By BusinessWest Staff August 12, 2014

Law Sections

WNEU, Like All Law Schools, Is Adjusting to Lower Enrollment

Eric Gouvin says WNEU Law, like any business weathering a storm, is focused on both increasing revenues and reducing expenses.

Eric Gouvin says there is ongoing discussion and debate within higher education about why enrollment is down at law schools across the nation.

But there is no debating that this decline is real and quite dramatic — some observers are even speculating that some institutions may not survive it — and that there is little to suggest that things are going to improve significantly any time soon, said Gouvin, dean of the Western New England University School of Law.

“It’s all across the country, a national trend, and while people have different perspectives on what’s happening and why it’s happening, no one can deny that it is happening,” he told BusinessWest. “There are fewer people going to law school — it’s as simple as that.”

Nationally, first-year enrollment for the fall of 2013 fell 11% from the previous year, and 24% over the past three years, according the American Bar Assoc., and, overall, law-school enrollment is at its lowest level (39,675 for 2013-14) since the late ’70s. At WNEU, first-year enrollment in the day (full-time) program has fallen from 133 in 2009 to a projected 95 for this fall, a 28% decline.

But that fall number actually represents an increase from a year ago, when only 85 people entered the program.

“We exceeded our expectations for this fall — we budgeted for fewer than 85,” said Gouvin, crediting “talented admissions people” and apparently attractive pricing and programs (more on those variables later) for the slight surge in the numbers for this fall. But sharp enrollment declines from the days before the Great Recession are real, and most analysts expect them to continue, he went on, adding that WNEU, like most other schools, is adjusting to what some are calling a new reality.

Overall, the law school is doing what businesses do when they face fiscal adversity, said Gouvin, and that is creating ways to both enhance revenues and cut expenses without impacting quality. The school is trimming staff through attrition — several faculty members have retired, and more are expected to do so over the next few years — while also adding new programs, some of them to attract students who aren’t necessarily looking to pursue a career practicing law. Such initiatives include a master of laws and letters (LLM) degree in estate planning and elder law, introduced in 2004, and other programs.

“That’s a supplemental source of income for us,” he said of the LLM offering, adding that the school will roll out a similar program for non-lawyers in 2015.

“This is for accountants, financial planners, and insurance professionals who need to deal with a lot of heavy-duty legal issues around planning for clients, but don’t want to spend three or four years getting a JD, and don’t need to,” he explained. “They just need some working knowledge of those technical provisions that will allow them to work better with counsel, and that’s why we think this will be an attractive offering.”

What’s more, the school is taking steps to make itself more competitive when it comes to attracting those who are willing to go to law school. These include freezing tuition for the next three years and becoming more aggressive and imaginative with scholarships and other forms of aid.

“We need more revenue, obviously, but increasing tuition for the JD (juris doctor) program is a non-starter — there’s a lot of price sensitivity right now,” Gouvin explained. “One of the things applicants focus on is affordability and a cost-benefit analysis. So we have frozen tuition for the next few years and are using that as a tool so students can look at us and say, ‘I know what I’m getting into here — I’m not going to be surprised by a tuition jump in the second or third year.’”

For this issue and its focus on law, BusinessWest talked with Gouvin about the decline in law-school enrollment, — and how WNEU is responding to what has become a considerable challenge for institutions across the country.

Making a Case

Gouvin said that, overall, many people in academia are uncomfortable with the notion of talking about higher education as a business and discussing matters within the framework of the law of supply and demand.

But for administrators at the nation’s law schools, there is no real choice in the matter. The decline in enrollment is that severe, and the outlook for the immediate future calls for little change in the forecast.

As Gouvin mentioned, there is some debate about why this happening, with theories including the recent troubles law-school graduates have had finding work amid an economic recovery that has been less than robust in many parts of the country, as well as an unwillingness among larger numbers of young people to take on the massive amounts of debt that most law-school students incur, given the uneasiness in the job market.

While the talk and speculation continue about why law schools are facing what many are now describing as a crisis, much of the discussion has shifted to what schools are doing in response.

Indeed, steps taken by various institutions have included everything from freezing tuition to offering buyouts to faculty and staff to creating more programs to people who won’t ever practice law, but may well need some of the skill sets lawyers possess. At New England Law School in Boston, the dean took a voluntary 25% pay cut to help balance the books.

At WNEU, said Gouvin, the broad goals are to trim expenses without impacting the overall quality of the program, become a more efficient operation, and make the school as competitive as possible in what has become a more intense battle for top students.

The school already has some competitive edges, said the dean, adding that the task at hand is to take full advantage of them.

One such advantage is price.

“Our tuition is $39,400, and while that sounds like a lot of money, when you compare it to other law schools, it’s a bargain,” he said. “Among private institutions, we’re very low.”

Another edge, says Gouvin, is simple geography. Western New England is the only accredited law school in the Commonwealth west of Greater Boston, he noted, adding that this uniqueness provides opportunities in the form of internships and clerkships in area courts and with judges assigned to courts in this region. Meanwhile, the rural location is attractive to those who don’t want to go to school in a big city and have no intention of working in one.

“We have a monopoly on really great placement with judges and agencies,” he said. “In addition, we have some great clinical programs that provide hands-on experience.

“A lot of the people who come here don’t want to be in a big city,” he went on. “Many of our students are from small and medium-sized cities, and they intend to go back to those communities to practice law.”

Still another advantage for the school is its programming, which Gouvin believes is more experiential in nature than what many competitors are offering.

“Addressing what lawyers do in real life is high on our list,” he told BusinessWest, “and we’re hoping that program offerings, together with an attractive price, make a good case for us.”

While working to increase revenues, the school is also focused on the other side of the equation — expenses, said Gouvin, adding that WNEU has become more efficient out of both desire and necessity.

“No one loves to see a downturn, but they often make you focus on things that maybe you took for granted,” he explained. “You look at things and ask yourself, ‘can we do that differently and better?’ And there have been several instances where we could.”

As examples, he listed merging some operations, such as the library and alumni services, with the university, and other steps that help avoid duplication of efforts.

“We have people in the law who are now what I would call utility players,” he noted. “They don’t say, ‘I do this, and this is all I do’; now it’s ‘I do whatever needs to be done to move the ball ahead.’”

Final Arguments

Gouvin said much of the conjecture regarding the decline in law-school enrollment concerns whether this all temporary, and if so, how temporary.

“That’s the million-dollar question,” he said, adding quickly that no one really knows the answer. Variables include everything from how much more the economy will rebound to when the Baby Boom-age (and older) attorneys will retire en masse (many have put retirement on hold because of the economy), and much more work traditionally handled by attorneys will instead be undertaken by paralegals and others without law degrees — an ongoing trend that has many in the industry concerned about job security.

While watching all these factors play out, law-school administrators have little choice but to adjust to a changing landscape and not merely hope that conditions will improve.

As Gouvin said, they have to make their case — and make it a compelling one.

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

Firm Resolve

By BusinessWest Staff August 12, 2014

Law Sections

Robinson Donovan Is in a Growth Mode

Jeff Roberts, managing partner with Robinson Donovan, P.C.

Jeff Roberts, managing partner with Robinson Donovan, P.C.[/caption]For Jim Martin, understanding where Robinson Donovan, P.C. is headed requires an appreciation of the past.

“I always think it’s illustrative, when we talk about Robinson Donovan, to acknowledge our historical connections,” he said of the Springfield-based law firm that will mark its 150th anniversary in 2016. “We trace our roots back to Gov. George Robinson, and we’re the longest continuing law firm in the Pioneer Valley — perhaps in the state.”

Martin, a partner at the firm, said the late Milton Donovan — one of the founders of the practice long known as Robinson Donovan Madden & Barry — always stressed client service, and that’s what the six current partners and nine associates continue to emphasize today. “We feel we’re able to deliver high-quality legal services in an effective manner.”

According to Jeffrey Roberts, the longest-tenured partner at Robinson Donovan, building that reputation has been a multi-generational effort.

“When I started here, there were six or seven lawyers,” he told BusinessWest. “But even at that size, I never had the impression that the firm was being run by a few owners doing it for themselves, who didn’t care to leave anything behind. And today, I think all the partners want this firm to keep going after they’re gone.

“That’s why we keep hiring, why we made the decision to remodel the place,” he said of the firm’s offices high in Tower Square. “We’re looking for people to come here in the early stage of their career and stay here, stay in the community. And it’s working. It’s enjoyable to see everyone working as a team here and growing. Even through the recent recession, we’ve been in the game the whole time and expanding again.”

A general-practice firm, Robinson Donovan specializes in a number of legal niches, including corporate and business law, commercial real estate, estate planning and administration, divorce and family law, employment law, and litigation. After a period of rapid contraction last decade — more than 30 lawyers worked there as recently as 15 years ago — business is growing in virtually all those specialties, Roberts said, and the practice is on the rise again, hiring five attorneys over the past five years.

“With employment-law work, we’re talking about all types of employment-law issues — harassment, wrongful termination, age discrimination, all kinds of discrimination claims, and counseling employers,” Roberts explained. “Another area that’s been really active for us has been family-law work — divorce and domestic relations.

“We continue to have a lot of demand,” he said, “so we’ll likely keep hiring. But we try to be careful in how we grow, so we don’t grow just for the sake of growing. We want to keep our level of service up, keep our expertise up, while bringing in more people. We’re pretty confident, notwithstanding swings in the economy, that we’ll keep growing.”

For this issue’s focus on law, BusinessWest sits down with several attorneys with Robinson Donovan to talk about why this firm with an extensive history is anticipating a bright future.

Raising the Bar

Roberts was quick to note that the firm’s recent hires have spanned most of its specialties.

“It’s interesting to note, when you look at the people we’ve hired, they work in general litigation, trusts and estates, corporate transaction law, labor and employment, domestic relations. In each one of those areas, the partners and lawyers say there’s more work coming in, and we need to hire more people. That’s a good indication where the key practice areas are in Western Mass.”

He and Martin said Robinson Donovan has been quick to assimilate fast-growing subspecialties into its roster of services. Take, for example, the growth of solar projects and other installations involving ‘green’ forms of energy production — projects that require legal services to navigate a host of real-estate, zoning, and regulatory issues.

Associate Mike Simolo, right, says younger attorneys at Robinson Donovan benefit from a culture of mentorship promoted by Jim Martin, left, and the other partners.

“Every time you pick up the paper, there’s something new with these projects,” Roberts said. “We’ve become involved in these opportunities to the point where one of our younger lawyers, Nick Lata, is extremely knowledgable about them.

“We now have a considerable amount of expertise in solar work,” he continued. “There aren’t too many wind farms around, but Jim started representing a company putting up windmills. As you do these projects, you learn a lot, acquire a lot of expertise. We’re excited about that.”

Martin, an expert in transactions who is also a leading automotive franchise attorney, said the transfer of closely held businesses is another fast-growing field. “People would be very surprised how difficult it is to effectuate a smooth transition of a family business from one generation to the next. It’s fraught with variables and rarely as smooth as the owners or their successors would like it to be.”

Nancy Frankel Pelletier, a partner who specializes in litigation, also has plenty on her plate these days, including municipal issues ranging from zoning to civil rights. “It’s a substantial amount of work. The law is very broad, but the aspect of litigation is somewhat specialized. You need someone experienced in the courtroom, and we are.”

One growth area in litigation involves dissolving business partnerships in which only one partner wants to walk away. “In these cases, no one really thought about what would happen if they didn’t want to stay together anymore; they didn’t create an agreement that didn’t allow for someone to walk away. I’ve seen a spike in people trying to get out of those arrangements.”

Jeff Trapani, another associate who works in litigation, noted that cost factors tend to drive trends, which is why alternative dispute resolution and arbitration continue to rise in popularity.

Meanwhile, Roberts noted that estate planning has taken on new importance at a time when Baby Boomers are aging and estate-tax rules have drastically changed, with exemptions rising from $1 million in 2000 to $5.5 million today.

All these factors, he said, contribute to a fertile environment in which a law firm can thrive and expand its reach — and he expects Robinson Donovan to continue to do just that.

The Next Generation

Martin said this growth is possible because the firm has long emphasized a culture of mentoring, with senior partners, influenced by those who came before, constantly training the younger generation, including tax-law specialist Lata, estate-planning specialist Michael Simolo, and family-law specialist Katherine McCarthy. “We continue to build a foundation of new talent, which we’re proud of.”

Simolo, for one, appreciates that culture. “It’s comforting to me to know I’ve got help available to me from both the partners and associates and the paralegals, if I need to turn to someone with an issue.”

Gesturing to Roberts and Martin, he noted, “there’s probably 65 years worth of legal experience sitting at this table, and it’s nice to be able to draw on that both in terms of not only getting the work done in a professional manner, but also client development. The culture here is to be applauded. Frankly, I feel totally comfortable going to any one of the partners with a question — ‘want to grab lunch? I’ve got an issue I want to talk over.’ That kind of thing happens here all the time. It’s very collegial, very team-oriented. For me, that’s one of the real pluses.”

It’s also a practical matter, Roberts said, to make sure all attorneys are up to speed.

“We’re big enough that we can take on big projects. On the other hand, we’re not too big. Clients want effiency, they want service, and when things go awry, they want someone to talk to,” he explained. “We’re well-positioned to do that. When we get young lawyers in, we get them involved right away in things that the other lawyers are doing. We don’t hide them for five years; we get them directly involved with clients. It gives a lot of depth to the practice. I’m on vacation, they know who to call. If somebody’s in a meeting or out of the office for two days, there’s always somebody they can call.”

Martin also praised the firm’s paralegal staff, many of whom have been at Robinson Donovan for many years. “We work as a team here, and we draw on their areas of training and deliver services in an efficient way, which is important to us.”

Attorneys Jeff Trapani and Nancy Frankel Pelletier say their litigation work has become more complex in recent years.

The firm has also built strong bonds in the community, with partners and associates serving on the boards of dozens of area nonprofits.

“It’s hard to do because everyone is so busy at work,” Roberts said, before emphasizing that such efforts are more than worth the time and energy. “I don’t think we’re any different than any other law firm. It’s hard to have a family, do all your work, and stay involved in the community. When somebody is able to do that, it really reflects some strong character. And we really like to see it.”

Looking Up

Robinson Donovan has come a long way since its early days, when it was best known for George Robinson’s successful defense of Lizzie Borden on double murder charges in 1892. These days, Martin noted, the firm is being recognized in a host of ways, such as the citations many of its attorneys have received from organizations like Best Lawyers, Super Lawyers, and Martindale-Hubbell. Simolo expects more of the same in the future.

“I think they’ve made some great hires since I’ve been here,” he said. “It’s encouraging to me to see the partners investing in the future of the firm.

“They’re very pragmatic and results-oriented in helping people solve issues,” Simolo continued. “They do that very well, as a result of having decades of experience. And it works out very well for the client.”

“We’re very results-oriented,” Frankel Pelletier agreed. “People don’t always perceive it this way, but we’re problem solvers. That’s what we do.”

Joseph Bednar can be reached at [email protected]

Opinion

By BusinessWest Staff August 12, 2014

Opinion

Five Principles for an Open Internet

By ANDREW LIPPMAN

In the past few months, the open Internet has been everywhere from Comedy Central to the Harvard Law Review. Why? Because the U.S. government is at a crossroads in deciding how Americans will access it. The FCC solicited comments from the public, and more than 1 million people responded. But getting this one right doesn’t have to be complicated.

The FCC was created in 1934 to ensure that citizens throughout the country had access to affordable telephone service. We need a similar mandate today for Internet access. Here are five principles that can help us reach this goal.

Principle 1: It’s about more than money. A common metric used to measure the success of the Internet has been the number of commercial successes it has enabled. But a far better measure is the number of attempts at innovation it has allowed. Sure, there are the Ubers and Googles and Facebooks that have made many billionaires. But more important is the vastly reduced barrier to simply trying a new idea. This low barrier is a far better measure of an entrepreneurial society. Attempts are a proxy for opportunity, and while many of these do not explosively succeed, the people who make the attempts are invariably better off for it, as is society at large. Let’s drop the economic argument that success is the only metric and place appropriate value on the social goal of giving everyone a chance. After all, opportunity is the American way.

Principle 2: The Internet is a learning engine. We spend endless energy considering how to reform schools to make an educated populace, but the Internet has done this by creeping through the back door. There are two essential aspects of learning where the Internet succeeds and traditional educational institutions fail. First, it builds an accessible reference that creates communities of knowledge, and second, it establishes a forum where people can experiment, debug, and contribute. Both are essential, but only the first is measurable. Open courseware, the open-source programming movement, and Wikipedia are wonderful examples; they have transformed learning from memorization to access and participation. The results are clear.

The second aspect, however, is less obvious. In the 1960s, Seymour Papert invented Logo as a way for kids to learn mathematical principles through creation rather than rote. Modern iterations stress everything from creating animated stories to learning programming. More generally, the reduced barrier to trying a new idea transforms society, but it also is now affecting everything from technical learning to creative expression.

Principle 3: Symmetry is the norm. The Internet transforms us from passive consumers to active participants. The technologically enforced distinction between those who make bits and those who consume them has been eliminated. That separation is a holdover from the ancient past of mass media — think bloggers versus couch potatoes. At the MIT Media Lab, for example, students can pop up a server at the drop of a hat and publish a website, an application, or a new e-commerce experiment overnight. Can’t we make sure that everyone everywhere has the same chance?

Principle 4: Give me at least a bitway. Open Internet access has to be a simple duty of any owner of an information/communications franchise. The idea that someone can rent our airwaves and then privatize all the information that flows through them is abhorrent. Would we allow anyone to rent a public street and then charge us for its use? Of course they can provide specialized services such as movies, sports, and shopping, and of course they can profit from them. But it has to be done on top of a robust infrastructure that is open to all. This is a civic responsibility.

Principle 5: Don’t throttle the open Internet. The basic infrastructure for an open Internet cannot be diminished in favor of those higher-profit services. A way to think about this is that there are public roads and toll roads that can exist side by side. But we have to make sure that every improvement made to the toll road is matched by an equal improvement to the free road. Otherwise, if you can’t pay the toll, you’re out of luck — and at the mercy of potentially narrow interests.

None of these ideas are revolutionary. But all too often, they create a polarized debate about regulation versus corporate freedom. And that misses the point. The current laws also don’t help. They are garbled and were written before the patterns of use and technologies of access had matured to where they are today. Using these principles as a guide, we can achieve an open Internet — without bitterness or legal wrangling.

Andrew Lippman is a senior research scientist and associate director at MIT’s Media Lab. This article first appeared in the Boston Globe.

Editorial

By BusinessWest Staff August 12, 2014

Opinion

UMass Center Is Yet Another Puzzle Piece

It was with considerable fanfare that Gov. Deval Patrick, UMass administrators, and Springfield city officials announced last fall that the university would be greatly expanding its presence in downtown Springfield with a 26,000-square-foot learning center to be built in Tower Square (see related story, page 6).

And there will be much more hype roughly a month from now when most of the same people — plus many others, we’re sure — will gather to mark the opening of that gleaming facility, less than a year after it was announced.

Indeed, expectations are high when it comes to this center and its potential impact on Springfield and especially its central business district. Maybe too high.

For years now, city officials have been urging the university, one of this region’s largest employers and arguably the economic engine with the greatest horsepower, to takes its brand and influence to downtown Springfield. The school has responded with a number of smaller-scale initiatives, involving everything from the arts to precision manufacturing to relocation of the university’s Design Center into a building in Court Square.

The facility now known as the UMass Center at Springfield represents a far more significant investment in terms of dollars — the cost of this complex is more than $5 million — and commitment to the city. And as it prepares to open its doors to students on Sept. 2, with more than 30 classes covering a host of subjects, there is a great deal of hope and anticipation when it comes to what the center will mean for the city.

It is expected to provide a huge shot in the arm for Tower Square, which, as everyone knows, has a first floor defined largely by empty storefronts and sparse foot traffic. The UMass Center, which may have 200 to 300 students taking classes there this fall, could help re-energize the once-thriving retail center.

The facility is also expected to provide a spark for downtown, in terms of that aforementioned foot traffic, but also psychologically. After all, if UMass Amherst is willing to make that kind of investment in Springfield’s central business district, then things must be getting better. Right?

As we said, maybe the expectations are a little too high.

Overall, we believe that William Dávila, the recently named director of operations, has the right perspective as this highly anticipated experiment gets underway.

Rather than focus on enrollment numbers for this fall — which appear solid, by the way — Dávila and his staff seem more concerned with getting this facility off to a good start and making sure that the students coming there have a good experience.

This is important, because no one really knows if people will want to come to downtown Springfield for classes, given the city’s lingering image problem and perceptions regarding safety. Other schools, most notably Western New England University, have created satellite facilities downtown, only to see them fail.

If these first students at the UMass Center come away satisfied with their experience, it will be that much easier to sell the facility — and Springfield itself — to others down the road.

Meanwhile, this first year is a time to build partnerships and foster collaborative efforts that will make the UMass Center much more than a place to take classes. It can — and needs to be — a community resource.

There is now a large UMass sign on the east side of Tower Square. It proclaims the arrival of the university and the start of what could be an exciting new era downtown.

Let’s hope it’s a sign of progress and a sign that better times lie ahead.

Communty Spotlight: Westfield

By BusinessWest Staff August 12, 2014

Community Spotlight Features

New Developments Send Westfield’s Spirits Soaring

Kate Phelon says a host of new restaurants and other new businesses are bringing a renewed sense of vibrancy to Westfield’s downtown area.

This summer, Westfield was ranked as a “City on the Rise” and one of the “Best Cities to Live in Massachusetts” on different websites. Officials are pleased by the accolades, and believe they reflect a number of dramatic changes that are attracting people to its shops, restaurants, and year-round events.

“It’s an exciting time for us due to new developments at the airport and the continued growth and revitalization of our downtown,” said Peter Miller, the city’s director of Community Development, who noted everything from a number of new restaurants in the central business district to a growth spurt at the municipal airport in the city’s north end.

The $80 million Great River Bridge project is finally complete, and Miller said it is significant because people avoided coming to the city for years because of the traffic congestion.

“Westfield had developed a reputation for being a traffic nightmare,” he said. “But we finally have a pattern that flows and is aesthetically pleasing. We’ve restriped and fully reconstructed our roads, we have new plantings and new sidewalks, and have renovated four parks. We also made a commitment to use the Park Square Green as a gathering space. It is the focal point of the city, and we are working to develop programs and community-based activities that will be held there throughout the year.”

Westfield-Barnes Regional Airport is also experiencing growth, and Miller said a $21 million resurfacing project of the 9,000-foot runway is complete. It was paid for by a partnership between the city, the state Aeronautics Commission, and the federal government.

In addition, Gulfstream Aerospace Corp., a unit of Virginia-based General Dynamics, has completed a $23 million expansion, which led to the creation of more than 100 new jobs. The Westfield location has also been chosen to service the new Gulfstream G650 aircraft, a twin-engine, $100 million corporate jet.

“When the company decided to expand, Westfield was one of four airports across the nation they looked at. It’s impressive that Barnes was chosen, and it put Westfield on the map for people who use corporate aircraft,” said Kate Phelon, executive director of the Greater Westfield Chamber of Commerce, as she explained that the area’s skilled workforce was a critical factor in the decision.

However, Miller said there are a number of other things that made the airport attractive. He cited its modern terminal, which was constructed in 2006, as well as the availability of 24/7 runway access and fire service, made possible through a partnership with the 104th Fighter Wing of the Massachusetts Air National Guard at Barnes.

“We’ve learned through this expansion that we can really position ourselves as a hub for aircraft maintenance and specialized services,” said Miller. “We’ve been building toward this for the last decade, but in the past we didn’t have the facilities to accommodate it. The runway and new terminal were the game changers.”

The change has sparked growth, and several developers and fixed-base operators have been expanding to accommodate the increase in traffic. “Rectrix and Whip City Aviation are also in the process of evaluating and expanding their hangar space,” Miller said.

In addition, Papp’s Bar & Grill opened at the airport several months ago. “It’s very unique and has an observation deck bar. We think it will attract more people to the airport and make them aware of how much activity is generated there,” he noted.

The city is also developing a new program at Westfield Vocational Technical High School that will train students for careers in aviation.

Phelon said a representative from Gulfstream is on the high school’s advisory board and has been instrumental in the creation of the program, which is important, because there are not enough skilled workers to fill available positions at Gulfstream.

“We’re still trying to identify a facility to house the program at the airport, but hope to launch it in the fall of 2015,” she explained. “It will be the third of its kind in the Northeast and will give students another choice of careers in a growing industry where they can get a job that pays well after graduating from high school.”

Takeoff Mode

The city’s downtown also boasts a number of new attractions, and the Hangar Pub & Grill, which opened during the first week in June, is thriving. “It has a great atmosphere and is a place where families and students can come together and enjoy themselves,” Miller said, adding that Westfield is its second location; the first is on University Drive at UMass Amherst.

Phelon also believes the restaurant will result in an increase in foot traffic downtown. “The Hangar is a well-known name, and we see it as a magnet that will drive traffic to our downtown and help other new businesses. It is so popular that some nights there is a line of people waiting outside the door.”

Other new, popular eateries include Wings Over Westfield, which opened in the former School Street Bistro building; Two Rivers Burrito Co.; and Clemenza’s Brick Oven Pizza.

However, there is still room for growth, and Miller said the city is hoping to attract other restaurateurs to the city. “The Hangar has demonstrated that there is an audience for new eateries.”

In addition, city officials are focused on filling empty commercial space that includes a full block on Elm Street. “We’re focusing on attracting investors from the region because they understand our market and culture,” Miller said.

Another development, finally coming to fruition after more than a decade of work, is the extension of the Columbia Greenway rail trail. “Westfield is the northern terminus of the trail, and this summer it will be extended into our downtown,” Miller said. “We’re looking forward to it, as we believe it will introduce an entirely new population to our shops, businesses, and restaurants.”

Phelon agreed. “Rail trails have become so popular that we believe it will inspire entrepreneurs and further economic development,” she said.

Other news includes a groundbreaking ceremony this month for a new, $7 million, 22,000-square-foot senior center being built on Noble Street, which will serve thousands of residents. It is expected to be completed next summer.

The city’s marketing tagline is “Business Focused, Community Driven,” while the chamber’s is “The Power of Community,” and Miller said the concept of community is something city officials take very seriously.

“We’re very fortunate to have a diverse group of people working toward the goal of creating a place where community matters, neighbors engage with each other, and people know each other,” he said.

Phelon concurred and said the chamber is using all its resources to promote activities and events that bring people together.

“We’re the only chamber of commerce in the area that hosts free, monthly coffee hours with the mayor,” she said, “which is a great opportunity for people to learn about what is going on in the city.”

Although the Westfield Business Improvement District dissolved earlier this summer, Miller said, “our message to businesses and the public is that the city and chamber stand committed to continuing the progress made in the past seven years. We will continue to raise the bar, and the social, community aspect of our city is being fostered through festivals, new restaurants, Westfield State University, and the efforts of our chamber.”

Two MusicFest concerts staged this summer each attracted more than 1,000 people, and local restaurants took advantage of available vendor space during the concerts, which created a festive atmosphere in the city.

Upcoming events include a MusicFest featuring a Beatles tribute band on Aug. 21, a fall street festival called Megaplanetpalooza on Sept. 20, a Haunted Chocolate Walk on Oct. 25, and a Lantern Light Parade Nov. 29, as well as an expansive, city-wide event titled “The Universe According to Josh Simpson,” which is ongoing through October and includes exhibitions of the glass blower’s work in galleries, banks, and restaurants, as well as demonstrations, a film series, lectures, raffles, and children’s activities.

Phelon said these events and others, such as Small Business Saturday, are advertised on the chamber’s website, through mailings, and in its newsletter. “We want to do all we can to support businesses and entrepreneurs who have taken a chance on our downtown.”

A partnership between the city and community radio station WSKB 89.5, which is operated by Westfield State University, kicked off in June and also serves to publicize local events.

“A different personality hosts the show every weekday between 6 and 8 a.m.,” Miller said. Officials from the city’s nonprofit organizations take to the air on Mondays and Tuesdays, Mayor Daniel Knapik is the host on Wednesdays and Fridays, and Patrick Berry from Westfield News Group is the featured guest on Thursdays.

“It’s a great way to learn about what’s going on in the community and gives people another way to interact,” Miller said. “The university approached us with the idea, and we were more than pleased to use the station to promote local events.”

Plane Speaking

Officials say Westfield is accomplishing its goal of becoming a vibrant community.

“There’s a synergy happening among the people who live and work here,” said Phelon. “Plus, Westfield is the only community in Massachusetts whose population has grown in every census conducted over the past 60 years. We’re also the largest city before you get to the hilltowns, and it may inspire growth when people come here, eat in our restaurants, and attend our events. We’re very proud of how our city looks, and with the upgraded traffic flow, it’s a great place to visit.”

Miller agreed. “We have a lot more to offer now,” he said, “than we ever had before.”

Westfield at a glance

Year Incorporated: 1669
Population: 41,094 (2010) 
Area: 47.3 square miles 
County: Hampden 
Residential Tax Rate: $18.18 
Commercial Tax Rate: $33.84
Median Household Income: $57,018 (2010) 
Family Household Income: $55,327 (2010) 
Type of government: Mayor, City Council
Largest Employers: Westfield State University, Noble Hospital, Savage Arms Inc., Mestek Inc., National Envelope
* Latest information available

Fallon Leads GCAi Effort To Become A Certified Google Partner

By BusinessWest Staff August 11, 2014

Daily News

SPRINGFIELD — Google has awarded Garvey Communication Associates Inc. (GCAi) with a Google Partner designation, a unique certification that designates a company as an experienced and trusted online advertising expert. Under the direction of Media Director Mary Fallon, the agency has built up a team of Google AdWords qualified individuals and achieved its partner designation through “demonstrated expertise, experience, and a measurably high level of customer satisfaction,” the Google description of partner qualifications. “Online advertising is very complicated and constantly evolving,” said Fallon, an individually qualified Google AdWords planner. “The Google AdWords network provides access to incredibly powerful online advertising tools and platforms. We spend the time getting certified each year as well as building and managing campaigns so our clients don’t have to. They just receive highly measurable results.” GCAi AdWords planners must pass certification exams each year and in several different categories. Those rigorous standards ensure that the agency continues to build high quality campaigns and apply best practices as quickly as they develop. The agency has recently run successful campaigns for financial institutions and colleges. “All of the social media marketing and online advertising platforms we use, including Google, are constantly in flux,” noted Fallon. “It’s important that we stay up to date with every algorithm tweak, system upgrade, and protocol change. Therefore the learning process never truly ends.” Fallon is a Cum Laude graduate of the Isenberg School of Management at UMass Amherst. She serves on the board of directors for The Advertising Club of Western Massachusetts and helps mentor startups for MassChallenge in Boston.  GCAi is an innovative digital marketing agency that uses SEO PR, online advertising, social media marketing, e-mail marketing, and online reputation management to generate results for its clients.

Caring Health Center Expands

By BusinessWest Staff August 11, 2014

Daily News

SPRINGFIELD — The Caring Health Center (CHC) has opened a satellite medical facility at 860 Boston Road. The CHC is utilizing a $650,000 Health Resources and Services Administration federal grant to expand medical treatment for residents in the northeast section of the city. The Pine Point and Indian Orchard areas have long been sited as communities in need of health care services, Caring Health is responding to the need. The Pine Point neighborhood council has had the creation of a local health center as a priority on their agenda for several years. The Caring Health Center will provide adult medicine, pediatric medicine, women, infants and children (WIC) program, with a planned expansion of dental and behavioral health programs added in the following year. “This is going to have a very positive effect on health care in the city, “ said Tania Barber, president and CEO of Caring Health Center. “Area residents who formerly had to travel, often by public transportation to our South End or Forest Park locations will be able to receive the care they need closer to home.” The Caring Health Center’s main facility is located at 1049 Main St., Springfield. An $18 million renovation project with the dedication of the Richard E. Neal Complex is planned for Sept. 22.

Brewer Joins Burke Chevrolet Sales Staff

By BusinessWest Staff August 11, 2014

Daily News

NORTHAMPTON — Burke Chevrolet announced that Ryan Brewer has joined the staff as a sales associate. “When we switched to Chevrolet from GMC last year, we expanded the number of vehicle models to include a full range of cars trucks, SUVs and the hybrid electric VOLT,” said Mike Oleksak, sales manager of Burke Chevrolet. “Ryan’s position is part of our expansion.” Brewer is a native of Chicopee and has worked in automotive sales for more than 20 years. Burke Chevrolet is a local, family-owned and operated dealership. The Burke family has been operating local car and truck dealerships since 1970. Burke Chevrolet is located at 200 North King St., Northampton.

Ride Like an Animal Poker Run to Benefit TJO Shelter Animals

By BusinessWest Staff August 8, 2014

Daily News

SPRINGFIELD — Motorcycle and sports-bike enthusiasts from around the region are gearing up for this year’s Ride Like an Animal (RLAA) Poker Run and Party on Aug. 23, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. The event raises funds to benefit homeless animals sheltered at Thomas J. O’Connor Animal Control and Adoption Center (TJO).

“This will be the sixth year for Ride Like an Animal, and the event just keeps growing,” said Thomas J. O’Connor Foundation Development Director Melinda Thomas, adding that last year’s event drew 300 participants and raised $15,000. “What makes this event different from other runs is the presence of animals, on bikes and off. Last year, there were lots of dogs participating in the ride — pomeranians, poodles, terriers, and all kinds of mixes. Some ride in sidecars, some in customized handlebar seats, others in snuggle sacks — many with goggles. It is really something to see.” In addition, since the ride begins at TJO Adoption Center, participants can meet shelter animals up for adoption and TJO alumni, many decked out in riding gear.

Registration begins at 9 a.m. at the TJO Adoption Center, 627 Cottage St., Springfield. Riders will leave with a police escort from the shelter and travel to the first stop, Atkins Farm in Amherst. The second stop will be Southampton Harley Davidson, and the ride ends at American Legion Post #338, 46 Powder Mill Road in Southwick, with a party that features live music by Rock 201, a barbecue, and raffles.

Thomas emphasized that it’s not necessary to travel the route or even have a motorcycle to participate in the event. “Lots of people come just for the after-party to socialize and support the shelter through raffles.” Tickets to the after-party cost $15 and can be purchased online or at the door. All registration and raffle funds directly support animals being sheltered.

“About 90% of what we raise from RLAA pays for medical treatments for sick and injured animals that our animal control officers bring in. The other 10% pays for supplies like cat and dog toys and treats,” said Thomas. “Lately, we have been taking in a lot of locally abandoned dogs and cats with major problems like broken bones, severe matting, and eye and mouth infections, so RLAA comes at a time that will truly make a difference to these needy animals.”

Tickets for Ride Like an Animal cost $25 for adult drivers, $20 for adult passengers, and $15 for passengers ages 12-17. Those who register online at www.tjofoundation.org before Aug. 15 will get a free RLAA T-shirt and gift. There is no rain date. Major sponsors for this year’s event include Southampton Harley Davidson, Hampden Bank, Teddy Bear Pools & Spas, and VCA Shaker Road Animal Hospital. Contact Thomas at (413) 533-4817 or [email protected] for more information about Ride Like an Animal. Questions about ride route and conditions can be directed to Jason Moyer at (413) 679-1196.

Facebook Executive to Keynote Bay Path Cybersecurity Summit

By BusinessWest Staff August 8, 2014

Daily News

LONGMEADOW — Jennifer Lesser Henley, director of Security Operations for the social-media giant Facebook, will be the keynote speaker at Bay Path University’s second annual Cybersecurity Summit, “Security: Changing the Game,” on Sept. 5 in the Blake Student Commons. Breakfast begins at 7:30 a.m., with the lecture immediately following at 8 a.m.

The conference will address security in the world of social media and how everyone plays a role in keeping people safe and making the Internet a more secure place — and, particularly, how Facebook, the acknowledged game changer in social media, is approaching the new world of cybersecurity. Lesser Henley will also share how she has risen to the top and has become a leader in the cybersecurity profession.

With more than 15 years of industry experience, she is responsible for organizational management, road map and budget for her team, along with program management for major initiatives within Facebook and for the community. Lesser Henley also coordinates awareness campaigns, most notably Facebook’s popular “Hacktober” events for National Cybersecurity Awareness Month in October.

Larry Snyder, who leads Bay Path’s Cybersecurity Management program, noted that, “in a world where information can be increasingly compromised over the Internet, the perspective from Facebook will be particularly valuable to attendees of the conference.”

The summit is presented by Bay Path’s Master of Science in Cybersecurity Management program, which was launched last October as the first of its kind in New England. The summit is free to attend and open to the public. To attend in person or virtually, register at graduate.baypath.edu. For more information, contact Ann Cantin at [email protected].

Elizabeth Barajas-Román Named CEO of Women’s Fund

By BusinessWest Staff August 8, 2014

Daily News

EASTHAMPTON — The Women’s Fund of Western Massachusetts (WFWM) has named Elizabeth Barajas-Román the foundation’s new CEO.

Barajas-Román has been a leader in progressive movements, including advocating at the national level for the health and rights of immigrant women and their families. Most recently she was a manager at the Pew Charitable Trusts, where she directed a portfolio of partners that campaigned for state and federal policy change to improve government performance on issues that impact children’s health. Barajas-Román brings a background in impactful philanthropy, data-driven strategy design, fund-raising through philanthropic partnerships, and creating coalitions and mobilizing partners.

“We are very excited to have Elizabeth as the new head of the Women’s Fund,” said Michelle Theroux, chair of the WFWM board of directors. “Her experience, nationally as well as locally, provides a unique perspective for the fund as we continue to grow and bring attention to the issues surrounding women, girls, and our community.”

Previously, as the director of policy at National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health (NLIRH), Barajas-Román directed the organization’s Washington, D.C.-based office, where she was instrumental in expanding the visibility of NLIRH on the national stage. Barajas-Román was frequently invited to be a voice in national policy discussions in the media, at the White House, on Capitol Hill, and in target states. In addition, Barajas-Román’s leadership has been recognized by several national fellowships, including the Center for Progressive Leadership Executive Fellowship, the Rockwood Leadership Institute, and an appointment to the American Public Health Assoc. Committee on Women’s Rights.

“I’m thrilled to be leading this dynamic public foundation at such an important time,” said Barajas-Román. “Women are at the center of every issue impacting families today: healthcare, equal pay and economic security, safety and freedom from violence. A Women’s Fund is able to highlight these issues, aggregate resources, and collaborate with existing community organizations to develop impactful, sustainable solutions.”

Barajas-Román’s background also includes positions as a journalist, researcher, and director of policy and operations at a primary-care clinic for uninsured youth in Boston. She is a certified project-management professional, is a graduate of Oberlin College, and received her master’s degree in international policy from Harvard University.

The Women’s Fund of Western Massachusetts 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 101 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. Most recently, the foundation did this this by creating the Leadership Institute for Political and Public Impact (LIPPI), which has equipped 140 women from across the four western counties to become civic leaders in their communities; to impact policy on the local, state, and national levels; and to seek and retain elected positions.

Attorney General Files Suit Against Evan Dobelle

By BusinessWest Staff August 8, 2014

Daily News

WESTFIELD — Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley filed a lawsuit against former Westfield State University President Evan Dobelle on Thursday, alleging that he improperly spent nearly $100,000 in university resources on personal expenses.

Filed in Suffolk Superior Court, the suit alleges that Dobelle, who resigned his position in November 2013 amid searing controversy about his lavish spending, filed false reports to Westfield State to justify $59,000 in personal expenses and $39,000 in personal travel. The suit said Dobelle claimed to be attending conferences, raising money, or doing other university business when he was primarily there on personal business.

“We allege the former president of the university blatently misued public funds for trips that were nothing but week-long vacations with family and friends,” said Coakley in a statement. “This pattern of inappropriate spending of state funds is unacceptable, as leaders of public schools should be enforcing their policies instead of knowingly violating them for their own personal benefit.”

Kim Goulette Takes Helm at Red Cross Pioneer Valley Chapter

By BusinessWest Staff August 7, 2014

Daily News

SPRINGFIELD — The American Red Cross of Massachusetts announced the selection of Kim Goulette as the new executive director of the Pioneer Valley Chapter. With more than 20 years of experience in nonprofit administration, she replaces Rick Lee, who retired on Aug. 6 after 30 years of service to the Red Cross. Goulette began her new role on Aug. 4.

“I am thrilled to welcome Kim to the American Red Cross of Massachusetts,” said Ralph Boyd, Red Cross of Massachusetts CEO. “Kim is a successful administrator with a strong skill set in growth management, and I am confident that her steady leadership and excitement for the work of the Red Cross will effect a seamless transition and guarantee the continued success of the Pioneer Valley Chapter in delivering essential services to the community.”

Added Sarah Corrigan, Red Cross Pioneer Valley Chapter board chair, “as we open this new chapter in the life of the organization, we are certain that Kim is the right person to lead us forward. Kim has a proven ability to create clarity, drive growth, and deliver results, and her passion for helping others will ensure that the Pioneer Valley Chapter continues to save and impact lives here in our local community.”

In her new position, Goulette will provide leadership to the local volunteers and paid employees who serve the residents of the Pioneer Valley with life-saving programs and services. “I am honored to be selected for this key role with an amazing organization,” she said. “I look forward to working with the dedicated volunteers, employees, board members, community partners, and donors to strengthen our communities and help people in need.”

Goulette most recently served as executive director of Lorraine’s Soup Kitchen and Pantry Inc. in Chicopee, where she managed day-to-day operations and worked with board members and committees to raise funds to support the work of the organization. Previously, she served as director of Employment and Community Based Day Services at Aditus in East Longmeadow, as well as regional director of the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Massachusetts.

Goulette earned her bachelor’s degree from Franklin Pierce College in New Hampshire and serves as a Chicopee Rotarian, a member of the Chicopee Chamber of Commerce, and a board member and services committee chair at the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts.

Jeffrey LaValley Joins Greater Springfield Habitat for Humanity

By BusinessWest Staff August 7, 2014

Daily News

SPRINGFIELD — Jeffrey LaValley was recently appointed community outreach manager at Greater Springfield Habitat for Humanity.

LaValley’s primary responsibility is the development and execution of strategies to increase awareness and financial support of the affiliate’s mission. LaValley will play a pivotal role in implanting the organization’s capacity-building efforts, specifically the 30 in 3 campaign, the affiliate’s vision to serve 30 families in three years. He also will oversee Habitat’s annual resource-development plan, including outreach efforts to foster a positive identity for the affiliate in the community.

Most recently, LaValley served as executive director and director of sales and marketing for Shaker Farm Farms Country Club in Westfield. Previously, he served as associate director of donor relations for Shriners Hospital for Children in Springfield. Prior to that, he was the community-development coordinator at Noble Hospital in Westfield and director of alumni and parent relations at Keene State College in New Hampshire.

LaValley received a bachelor’s degree in journalism/public affairs and a master of education in curriculum and instruction from Keene State College. He also earned a certificate in fund-raising from UMass Amherst. With nearly 20 years of experience working in higher education and healthcare settings, LaValley brings a great depth of experience to Habitat for Humanity, including a background in public relations, marketing, event and program management, as well as knowledge of annual fund and major-gift strategies, volunteer management and board development, and strategic planning.

Greater Springfield Habitat for Humanity is a housing ministry dedicated to strengthening communities by empowering low-income families to change their lives and the lives of future generations through home ownership and home-preservation opportunities. This is accomplished by working in partnership with diverse people, from all walks of life, to build and repair simple, decent, affordable housing. Greater Springfield Habitat for Humanity has helped 58 local families (54 with home ownership and four with home preservation), as well as over 90 international families, realize their dream of home ownership over the past 27 years.

Fallon Health Appoints  Jack Dill to Board of Directors

By BusinessWest Staff August 7, 2014

Daily News

WORCESTER — Fallon Health, a nationally recognized healthcare-services organization, announced the appointment of B. John “Jack” Dill to its board of directors.

Dill is president and CEO of Colebrook Realty Services Inc., a privately owned, full-service commercial real-estate firm headquartered in Springfield. Dill oversees commercial real-estate development, management, finance, brokerage, and consulting. Prior to this role, Dill was executive vice president of SIS Bancorp and SIS Bank (now TD Bank).

Dill holds a Counselors of Real Estate designation and is a fellow of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors. He is a founding director of the Massachusetts Housing Investment Corp. (MHIC), a nonprofit equity investor/financer of affordable housing, among other services. To date, MHIC has placed in excess of $1 billion in qualified developments.

Dill is currently chairman of the Board of Springfield School Volunteers Inc., a member of Springfield Business Leaders for Education, and director of the Springfield Education Fund. Additionally, he is the current campaign chair of WFCR New England Public Radio’s 50th Anniversary Capital Campaign. He has held leadership roles on the boards of many organizations, including Baystate Health System and Baystate Medical Center, Mercy Medical Center, Counselors of Real Estate, Western Mass. Life Care Corp., WGBY public television, and American International College. An alumnus of Williams College, Dill pursued a P.M.D. at Harvard Business School and attended the School of Mortgage Banking at Northwestern University.

United Financial Shareholders Approve Executive Compensation

By BusinessWest Staff August 7, 2014

Daily News

GLASTONBURY — United Financial Bancorp Inc., the holding company for United Bank, announced that an overwhelming majority of its shareholders voted in favor of key proposals presented at its 2014 annual meeting held on Aug. 5, including the executive compensation plan and the re-election of three key United Financial Board members.

The proposal to ratify its executive-compensation plan, or say-on-pay, received 93% of the vote by shareholders. The company’s executive-compensation plan is market-based, tied to performance and aligned with shareholders’ interests. They also voted overwhelmingly (94%) to re-elect three members of the board of directors to four-year terms: William Crawford IV, CEO of United Financial Bancorp Inc. and United Bank; Michael Crowley; and Raymond Lefurge Jr., vice chairman of the board.

Since the proposals required only 50% of shares outstanding to vote in favor of the proposals to pass, both vote counts underscored the tremendous support shareholders have in the company, its leadership team, and bank employees. In addition to executive compensation and re-election of board members, a proposal to approve the appointment of Wolf & Co., P.C. as United’s independent auditor received 98% shareholder approval.

SCORE Celebrates 50 Years of Helping Small Businesses Succeed

By BusinessWest Staff August 7, 2014

Daily News

SPRINGFIELD — SCORE, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to assisting emerging and existing small businesses to succeed by providing free counseling, low-cost workshops, and other resources, is celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2014.

SCORE is a resource partner of the U.S. Small Business Administration. Currently there are approximately 13,000 volunteers providing these services. The Western Mass. chapter, based in Springfield, with branches throughout the region, has been serving local communities since 1970 and has helped thousands of small businesses from their initial development stages through continued assistance during their business life cycle. More than 25 certified SCORE mentors provide this local benefit to an area from the Pioneer Valley through the Berkshires.

To commemorate this 50-year anniversary, the local chapter is hosting a free networking event for both existing clients and anyone who might be in need of business counseling. The event will be held on Aug. 27 from 6 to 8 p.m. at Shaker Farms Country Club in Westfield. This is a free event, and complimentary hors d’oeuvres will be provided, along with a cash bar. Pre-registration is required due to space limitations. To register, visit www.westernmassachusetts.score.org.

Roundtable Seminar Slated on Affordable Care Act

By BusinessWest Staff August 6, 2014

Daily News

NORTHAMPTON — With changes coming to the Affordable Care Act in 2015, business owners and managers need to ensure that their companies are up to speed on the newest developments, including the employer mandate, which will go into effect next year.

On Sept. 11, attorney Channez Rogers, an associate with the Northampton-based firm Royal LLP, will lead a roundtable-style seminar where she will provide practical pointers to assist attendees with helping their organizations stay current with the latest Obamacare provisions. Rogers will cover topics such as what to include in a comprehensive package, who is subject to the employer mandate and how to comply, and penalties for non-compliance.

The seminar will be staged at Royal LLP’s offices, at 270 Pleasant St. in Northampton, from 8 to 9 a.m. The cost is $30 per person, and advance registration and payment are required. Seating will be limited. Contact Ann-Marie Marcil at (413) 586-2288 or e-mail [email protected] to register or if you have any questions about this seminar.

Elizabeth Hart Named to Gray House Board

By BusinessWest Staff August 6, 2014

Daily News

SPRINGFIELD — The Gray House inducted Elizabeth Hart to a three-year term on its board of directors at a recent board meeting.

Hart has been a cash-management associate at PeoplesBank since 2012. She was previously a neuroscience Ph.D. student at the University of Colorado at Denver. She left to pursue a career that enabled her to balance work with volunteerism. She earned her bachelor’s degree from Simmons College in Boston.

The Gray House is a small, neighborhood human-service agency located at 22 Sheldon St. in the North End of Springfield. Its mission is to help its neighbors facing hardships to meet their immediate and transitional needs by providing food, clothing, and educational services in a safe, positive environment.

UMass Amherst Ranked Second-best in Campus Food

By BusinessWest Staff August 6, 2014

Daily News

AMHERST — The UMass Amherst Dining Services, profiled in a cover piece in BusinessWest in May, has moved up one notch in the ranking of campus food nationwide, according to the Princeton Review. UMass, which had ranked third in the publication’s three previous compilations, came in behind only Virginia Tech in the 2015 edition of “The Best 379 Colleges,” which was released Monday.

“We’re thrilled with the ranking,” said Ken Toong, executive director of Auxiliary Enterprises at UMass, in a prepared statement. “Thanks to the support of our students — they are the best customers in the world. We love them, and they are the cheerleaders of our program.”

Business Confidence Index Climbs in July

By BusinessWest Staff August 6, 2014

Daily News

BOSTON — The Associated Industries of Massachusetts (AIM) Business Confidence Index showed further strength in July, adding 2.5 points to 56.2.

“Business confidence in Massachusetts, after sliding into the neutral range for more than a year, has climbed back to within a point of its post-recession high of 57.1 in April 2012,” said Raymond Torto, chair of AIM’s Board of Economic Advisors (BEA) and lecturer at the Harvard Graduate School of Design.

The index was up 3.7 points compared to July 2013. Last year, Torto noted, uncertainty arising from political deadlock in Washington and the threat of financial crisis in Europe, plus fiscal drag from tax increases and unsteady economic growth in the U.S. and globally, held down confidence.

“However, this year, we have seen rising business confidence and, not coincidentally, more robust job creation,” he went on. “The biggest year-to-year gainers among our sub-indices are those tracking general business conditions in the state and nation, which appears to reflect a growing sense among employers that they are operating in something like a normal economy.”

AIM’s Business Confidence Index has been issued monthly since July 1991 under the oversight of the Board of Economic Advisors. Presented on a 100-point scale on which 50 is neutral, its historical high was 68.5, attained in 1997 and 1998; its all-time low was 33.3 in February 2009. All but one of the sub-indices based on selected questions or respondent characteristics were up from June to July, and all were above their levels of a year before.

The Current Index, tracking employers’ assessment of existing business conditions, added three points from June to 55.8, while the Future Index, measuring expectations for the next six months, rose two points to 56.6.

“Since its stumble in the first quarter, the economy has rebounded well, and employment has been trending up,” remarked BEA member Michael Tyler, chief investment officer at Eastern Bank Wealth Management. “It is gratifying to see more people returning to the workforce and finding jobs. If this trend continues to gain momentum, the Federal Reserve will need to rein in overly optimistic expectations by raising interest rates sometime next year.”

The U.S. Index of business conditions prevailing nationally rose 3.7 points in July to 51.9, and the Massachusetts Index of conditions within the Commonwealth gained 4.9 to 55.8. Compared to last July, these sub-indices were up 5.9 and 6.4, respectively.

“The state indicator is higher and has risen more, but was at this level as recently as April 2012,” said Tyler. “The U.S. Index, by contrast, has not been this high since August 2007, or above 50 since October 2007, before the recession. The national economy faced something of a stress test in the first quarter of this year, and passed it.”

The Company Index, which measures survey respondents’ overall confidence in the situations of their own operations, rose 1.5 points in July to 58.0. The Employment Index added 1.4 points to 56.0, and the Sales Index edged up three-tenths to 57.9. Each was up between two and three points on the year.

“Many Massachusetts employers added staff in the first half of the year, with additions outweighing reductions by almost three to one (34% to 12%), and expectations for the next six months are similar,” said Sara Johnson, senior research director of Global Economics at IHS Global Insight, a BEA member. “Greater confidence in the stability of the economy is at last making employers more willing to hire.”

Confidence was up in July among manufacturers (+5.1 to 56.6) and off slightly among other employers (-0.8 to 56.0). There was a similar small difference in confidence levels between employers outside Greater Boston (56.6, +3.8) and those within the metropolitan area (56.0, +1.8). Large employers were somewhat more confident than small ones, but all size groupings were on the positive side.

“We have been seeing greater consistency in our survey responses across sector, geography, and size for several months, and that continued in July,” Johnson noted. “In Massachusetts, as in the country as a whole, some regions and industries came back from the recession much more quickly than others, but as time goes on, the differences are evening out, or at least becoming less stark.”

Mass. Medical Society Offers Information  on Advance Care Planning

By BusinessWest Staff August 5, 2014

Daily News

WALTHAM — The Mass. Medical Society is offering free information on advance care planning, the term that describes the planning people are encouraged to do as their health becomes more complicated and as they approach the end of life.

“Planning Ahead: What Are Your Choices?” is a publication produced by physicians of the society’s Committee on Geriatric Medicine and is designed to create awareness about the need for end-of-life planning and provide resources for patients to plan appropriately. It is available online at www.massmed.org/advancecareplanning.

“While a physician’s first duty to patients is to promote wellness and cure and heal,” said Dr. Eric Reines, committee chair and a geriatrician with Element Care in Lynn, “we must acknowledge that death will come, and physicians are increasingly recognizing the value of advance care planning. By creating more awareness and understanding, we hope people will take that important first step in starting a conversation that many people find difficult to begin or avoid entirely.”

The pamphlet, appropriate for everyone over age 18, briefly covers topics such as the healthcare proxy, a document indicating who can make healthcare decisions for someone who is unable to do so, and the MOLST (medical orders for life-sustaining treatment) form, which outlines a person’s preferences for medical care and treatments in the last year of life. Also included is a short description of palliative care, specialized medical attention for those with serious health problems. The brochure is rich with additional resources, as it lists 14 websites, covering various aspects of advance care planning, palliative care, and hospice care.

Kimball Farms Earns Fourth Deficiency-free Survey

By BusinessWest Staff August 5, 2014

Daily News

LENOX — After the state Department of Public Health completed its annual survey at Kimball Farms Nursing Care Center, it issued a report that is rare in Massachusetts: deficiency-free, for the fourth time in recent history.

A deficiency-free result in the state’s rigorous annual examination is one of the top indications of excellence for nursing facilities. Nursing facilities are thoroughly surveyed and rated on core criteria, including quality care, safety, administration, food service, nursing care, and patient rights. The unannounced inspections by representatives from the DPH are conducted annually, nine to 15 months following the prior survey. This evaluation, conducted by a team consisting of at least one registered nurse and social worker, includes a review of residents’ and patients’ clinical records, a tour of the facility, and interviews with residents, patients, family members, and staff members.

This honor is the most recent in a series of outstanding accomplishments by Kimball Farms that includes the Gold – Excellence in Quality National Quality Award, presented by the American Health Care Assoc. and National Center for Assisted Living, based on the criteria of the Baldrige Performance Excellence Program. Other recent accolades include designation as a five-star organization by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and scores in the top 1% in the nation for customer and workforce satisfaction, as measured by My InnerView and National Research Corp.

“Our Kimball Farms team members dedicate themselves daily to excellence and compassion, and to improving the quality of life for our residents,” said Administrator Bill Kittler. “Our teamwork supports the highest degree of service and care for our residents. It is an honor to have the Department of Public Health recognize the staff for their efforts and acknowledge their hard work and commitment.”

Kimball Farms Nursing Care Center, a member of Berkshire Healthcare, specializes in short-term rehabilitation, long-term care, skilled nursing, and respite care. For more information, visit www.kimballfarms.org.

Gray House Announces Urgent Need at Food Pantry

By BusinessWest Staff August 5, 2014

Daily News

SPRINGFIELD — Shelves at the Gray House Food Pantry are getting very bare, according to Dena Calvanese, executive director.

“As quickly as food gets put on the shelves, it gets distributed to families in need. It’s a struggle to keep up,” said Calvanese. “Summertime is a slow time for donations, but the need still exists. Hunger doesn’t take a summer vacation.”  

The Gray House is primarily looking for pantry staples such as beans, tuna or canned chicken, peanut butter, soup, pasta, sauce, cereal, canned fruit, and boxed milk. It would also welcome any fresh produce that people have from their gardens. 

The Gray House is a small, neighborhood human-service agency located at 22 Sheldon St. in the North End of Springfield. Its mission is to help its neighbors facing hardships to meet their immediate and transitional needs by providing food, clothing, and educational services in a safe, positive environment in the North End.

The food pantry provides emergency food to nearly 8,000 people a year, most of them families with children. Donations can be dropped off on Mondays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. or by appointment by calling (413) 734-6696. For more information about the Gray House, visit www.grayhouse.org, or call Calvanese at (413) 734-6696.

Baystate Ob/Gyn Earns Sixth Consecutive Accreditation

By BusinessWest Staff August 5, 2014

Daily News

SPRINGFIELD — The physicians of Baystate Ob/Gyn Group Inc. announced that it has been awarded its sixth consecutive accreditation by the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine. A practice must reapply for accreditation every three years.

Baystate Ob/Gyn Group achieved this recognition by meeting rigorous voluntary guidelines set by the diagnostic-ultrasound profession. During the accreditation process, all facets of the ultrasound department were assessed, including the training and qualifications of physicians and sonographers, ultrasound equipment maintenance, documentation and record-keeping practices, quality-assurance methods, as well as the thoroughness, technical quality, and interpretation of the sonograms the practice performs.

“AIUM accreditation is an important indication of our commitment to providing comprehensive, high-quality healthcare that is accessible and convenient for the patient,” said Dr. Charlene Case, director of the Ultrasound Department at Baystate Ob/Gyn Group. “When necessary, our state-of-the-art ultrasound technology provides us with detailed images right in our own office that we can use as a component in the care of our patients. This technology, including 3-D and 4-D capabilities, is an irreplaceable clinical tool for our practitioners.”

Ludlow Mills Riverwalk Project Moves Forward

By BusinessWest Staff August 5, 2014

Daily News

LUDLOW — The Westmass Area Development Corp. has announced that it is seeking bids for phase one of the Riverwalk project, part of the approved Ludlow Mills Preservation and Redevelopment Master Plan, and has advertised for bids from contractors. Bids will be opened on Aug. 21, with construction expected to begin in the fall.

The Riverwalk is one of the early commitments that Westmass made to the town of Ludlow and its residents, and is being funded through a partnership between HealthSouth and Westmass. The Riverwalk will offer public space for foot traffic and passive recreation, opening up the Chicopee River to Ludlow Mills businesses and residents of Ludlow. This phase of the project will start near Center Street, just east of the town common, run along the river toward the new HealthSouth Hospital, and then return through the proposed future park and reconnect with the recently installed municipal sidewalk system on State Street. This initial phase of construction is expected to cost more than $500,000.

“The solicitation of bids to construct the Ludlow Mills Riverwalk represents another important development as the project begins to realize its potential as a significant mixed-use economic resource for Ludlow and for all of Western Mass.,” said Kenn Delude, president and CEO of Westmass. He noted that the Ludlow Mills project would not have been possible without the support of the Western Mass. legislative delegation, particularly the efforts of state Rep. Tom Petrolati and state Sen. Gail Candaras.

Together, the proposed Riverwalk and future public park will cover approximately 52 acres, or roughly one-third of the Ludlow Mills project site. Westmass intends to convey that entire area to the town so that it will remain in public use. These open spaces and recreational areas are intended to integrate the Ludlow Mills project into the neighborhood and community, said Delude, and also support the many existing and new businesses that are attracted by the vibrancy of the Ludlow Mills.

Redevelopment of the Ludlow Mills complex over the next 15 to 20 years will create and retain more than 2,000 jobs and stimulate up to $300 million in private investment, he said, adding that the initiative is a mixed-use project with a primary focus on commercial and industrial development.

Massachusetts Life Sciences Center Seeks to Fund Projects

By BusinessWest Staff August 4, 2014

Daily News

WALTHAM — The Massachusetts Life Sciences Center announced the launch of the fourth round of an open solicitation for life-sciences-related capital projects. The solicitation covers capital projects for academic/research institutions (including two- and four-year colleges), business incubators, and other not-for-profit organizations in the Commonwealth.

The Massachusetts Life Sciences Center will invest in high-potential economic-development projects across the state that promise to create jobs and make a significant contribution to the state’s life-sciences ecosystem. The MLSC has allocated up to $35 million in capital dollars for this solicitation.

The Massachusetts Life Sciences Center will manage the capital program solicitation through a two-phased approach. In phase one, applicants will submit a short, online application and one-page summary of the proposed project. Applicants selected for phase two will be asked to submit a full proposal for evaluation. For-profit organizations, municipalities, and other governmental entities are not eligible for capital funding through this solicitation. Applications must be submitted online, and more information about the program may be accessed via the MLSC’s website.

“The Life Sciences Center has invested or committed over $370 million, literally from Cape Cod to the Berkshires, in support of life-sciences capital projects,” said Susan Windham-Bannister, president and CEO of the MLSC. “Through these investments, we are creating unique resources to strengthen our life-sciences ecosystem, expand our workforce, create new jobs, and cement Massachusetts’ position as the global leader in life sciences. We look forward to receiving additional innovative proposals through this year’s solicitation.”

Main Street Hospitality Group Announces Leadership Team

By BusinessWest Staff August 4, 2014

Daily News

STOCKBRIDGE — Main Street Hospitality Group has announced several appointments to its leadership team. The company, formed in January 2014, owns and operates out of the Red Lion Inn in Stockbridge. The group also manages the Porches Inn at MASS MoCA in North Adams, the Williams Inn in Williamstown, and a new, 45-room property, Hotel on North, in Pittsfield, which is planned to open in 2015.

“We are very excited to offer our talented staff expanded leadership opportunities,” said Nancy Fitzpatrick, Main Street Hospitality Group owner and chairman. “This lays the groundwork for an exciting period of growth for our company.”

• In January, as part of the group’s founding, Sarah Eustis was named CEO. Part-owner of Main Street Hospitality Group, she joined the Red Lion Inn in 2012 to build strategic growth for the company. As Fitzpatrick’s stepdaughter, she continues the Fitzpatrick family ownership.

• Bruce Finn was named chief operating officer. In 2003, he came on as general manager of the Red Lion Inn and the Porches Inn at MASS MoCA. He is responsible for all property operations and implementation of strategies and services.

• Andre Huppe has been named chief financial officer. He joined the Red Lion Inn in 2010 and continues to oversee all accounting and fiscal activity.

• Brian Alberg has been named vice president of food and beverage operations. He will retain his role as executive chef at the Red Lion Inn. He joined the Red Lion Inn in 2004 and is a leader in the sustainable-food culture in the Berkshires and Hudson Valley.

• Brian Butterworth has been named vice president of sales. He joined the Red Lion Inn in 2002 and continues his leadership role in the tourism industry and the community.

• Michele Kotek has been named vice president of lodging operations. She will retain her role as innkeeper of the Red Lion Inn. Michele joined the Red Lion Inn 1998, sits on the board of the Berkshire Visitor’s Bureau, and is president of the Stockbridge Chamber of Commerce.

• Anne Curtin-Nardi has been named vice president of human resources. She joined the Red Lion Inn in 2006. Prior to that, she worked at Country Curtains for 22 years in a variety of roles, including overseeing compensation and benefits, human resources, and training.

• Stephanie Gravalese-Wood has been named director of marketing and communications. She joined the Red Lion Inn in 2011 and was recently appointed to the Tourism Commission for the city of Pittsfield.

• Bonita Wilson has taken on the role of training coordinator. In addition to her responsibilities as executive administrator, she is responsible for all aspects of ongoing hospitality training at the properties.

• Carla Child has been named project manager. She joined the Red Lion Inn in 1990 and will play a key role in the design development of new properties. She will retain her role as philanthropy coordinator.

“It is exciting to pursue our vision of developing independent and unique properties within the Berkshire region and beyond,” Eustis said. “We have a talented team with deep roots and experience in hospitality, and we are poised for growth.”

Main Street Hospitality Group has also launched a new website, designed by Moho Designs of Great Barrington. For more information, visit www.mainstreethospitalitygroup.com.

Baystate Mary Lane Seeks Community Health Initiative Proposals

By BusinessWest Staff August 4, 2014

Daily News

WARE — Baystate Mary Lane Hospital (BMLH) has released a request for proposals (RFP) for community health initiatives from area not-for-profit organizations that can offer innovative approaches to addressing unmet health needs in the Quaboag Hills Region of Hampshire, Hampden, and Worcester counties.

The hospital’s Community Benefit Advisory Council, which includes area educators, health and human-service providers, and others who are actively engaged in community health-improvement efforts, worked together with hospital staff to prioritize unmet health needs identified in the hospital’s community health needs assessment that was completed in the spring of 2013. BMLH has approved up to $50,000 of these funds to be awarded in 2014 for the purpose of addressing priority health needs.

A total of $150,000 in funding, to be spent over three to five years, for BMLH community health initiatives was made available by Baystate Medical Center (BMC) as part of the state Department of Public Health’s determination-of-need process related to capital expenditures for BMC’s new Emergency Department in Springfield.

To qualify, grant proposals must address one of the following BMLH priority health needs: diet and exercise-related diseases and mortality; high rates of alcohol, tobacco, and drug use; or lack of access to mental-health services and poor mental-health status. The deadline for grant proposals is Tuesday, Sept. 30. Selected grantees will be notified no later than Wednesday, Oct. 22.

An informational session will be held in the Main Conference Room at BMLH on Friday, Sept. 5 beginning at 9:30 a.m. For more information or for an application package, contact Kimberly Duquette at [email protected], or call (413) 967-2179.

North Adams Commons Receives National Award for Quality Care

By BusinessWest Staff August 4, 2014

Daily News

NORTH ADAMS — The American Health Care Assoc. and the National Center for Assisted Living (AHCA/NCAL) recently announced the selection of North Adams Commons Nursing & Rehabilitation Center as a 2014 recipient of the Silver Achievement in Quality award for its outstanding performance in the healthcare profession. North Adams Commons was the only organization in Massachusetts to win the Silver Award this year, and one of only 77 facilities nationwide.

The competitive award program highlights select centers across the nation that serve as models of excellence in providing high-quality long-term care. Implemented by AHCA/NCAL in 1996, the National Quality Award Program is centered on the core values and criteria of the Baldrige Performance Excellence Program, which assists providers of long-term and post-acute-care services in achieving their performance excellence goals.

“I am proud that North Adams Commons is standing among the ranks of other centers that are delivering quality care,” said Mark Parkinson, president and CEO of AHCA/NCAL. “Our profession is stronger through the work and dedication of these centers.”

The program has three levels: Bronze, Silver, and Gold. Facilities begin the quality-improvement process at the Bronze level and must receive an award at each level before proceeding to the next.

“We are proud to have received the Silver Award, and we’re pleased that an independent panel of examiners saw the high value we place on quality care and service excellence,” said Robert Post, administrator at North Adams Commons. “Our focus at North Adams Commons has always been on people. We want to continue to evolve our quality care and service to even greater heights.”

As a recipient of the Silver Achievement in Quality award, North Adams Commons has demonstrated systematic advancements in quality, plans for continual improvement, and sustainable organizational goals. The award will be presented to North Adams Commons during AHCA/NCAL’s 65th annual convention and exposition in October in Washington, D.C.

IG Report: Dobelle ‘Violated the Public’s Trust’

By BusinessWest Staff August 1, 2014

Daily News

WESTFIELD — A long-awaited report from the state inspector general’s office claims that former Westfield State University President Evan Dobelle improperly used hundreds of thousands of dollars from school accounts to pay for personal expenses, including a number of trips, and then covered these actions by filing false reports.

“Dobelle knowingly disregarded university policies, misled the WSU Board of Trustees, abused his authority, and exploited public funds for personal benefit, Inspector General Glenn Cunha wrote in his scathing, 60-page report, released Thursday. “Dobelle’s self-characterization as a ‘visionary’ does not absolve him from the obligation to follow the rules. … Dobelle violated the public trust.”

The report detailed dozens of incidents where Dobelle charged personal expenses to university credit cards, including more than $63,000 for 17 trips to San Francisco where, he told school officials, he was meeting potential donors and tech-sector business executives. However, the IG’s report found he was mostly attending social events. Dobelle resigned from the university in November 2013 amid a firestorm of criticism concerning his lavish spending.

On Friday, the Boston Globe reported that Cunha’s report raises the prospect that Dobelle could face criminal investigation. The paper quotes a spokesperson for Attorney General Martha Coakley saying “this report raises serious concerns and allegations about the use of Westfield State resources by its former president. We have been conducting our own investigation into this matter and anticipate additional action soon.”

In a prepared statement, WSU Interim President Elizabeth Hall Preston said, “while this has been a difficult period for all of us, the faculty and staff at the university have persevered and focused on the work of providing our students with an outstanding education. We approach the start of our new academic year with a sense of excitement and new momentum.”