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Year: 2016

Company Notebook

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AIC Named Among Fastest-growing Colleges

SPRINGFIELD — The Chronicle of Higher Education named American International College (AIC) one of the fastest-growing colleges in the U.S. for the fifth time. Among private, nonprofit master’s institutions, AIC placed among the top 20 colleges and universities in the country, ranking 16th, with a nearly 124% growth rate. AIC is the only Massachusetts college or university to place in this category and outpaced the national average growth rate of 21.7% by more than 100%. AIC has more than doubled its enrollment over a 10-year span, 2004-2014. In a categorical comparison to other colleges and universities in Massachusetts, Bay Path University ranked 17th among private baccalaureate institutions with an 82.6% growth rate, and Elms College ranked 18th in the same category with a growth rate of 78.3%. “We believe that a college education is more than academic and intellectual growth,” said AIC President Vince Maniaci. “At AIC, we are committed to the personal, spiritual, and professional development of our students. We identify trends and explore and develop programs that will provide our students with a foundation upon which they can build to reach their full potential. This is a competitive and rapidly changing world. We make every effort to help our students compete successfully in that environment and are proud to be recognized for our efforts.” Data collected for the Chronicle of Higher Education was based on fall enrollments of full-time and part-time students and included all U.S. degree-granting programs with a minimum 500-student enrollment in 2004.

 

Magazine Names Westside Finishing Among Top Shops

HOLYOKE — Westside Finishing has been named one of the best finishing shops in North America, according to an industry benchmarking survey conducted by Products Finishing magazine, a trade publication that has covered the industry since 1938. The magazine conducted an extensive benchmarking survey that analyzed hundreds of finishing companies in several different areas, including current finishing technology, finishing practices and performances, business strategies and performances, and training and human resources. Only the top 50 shops were given the honor of being a Products Finishing ‘Top Shop’ based on a scoring matrix in those four criteria. “Westside Finishing has established itself as one of the best finishing operations in the industry,” said Tim Pennington, editor of Products Finishing magazine. “The criteria we used was very stringent, and only the top finishing shops that excelled in all four areas made the list. Westside Finishing is in rare air when it comes to finishing operations.” Brian Bell, owner and president of Westside Finishing, said he is “extremely excited and pleased to be named one of Products Finishing magazine’s Top Shops for the second year. Our employees and management team have worked very hard to be the best in the industry, and to provide our customers with quality service.”

 

Skoler, Abbott & Presser Earns Tier 1 Ranking

SPRINGFIELD — Skoler, Abbott & Presser, P.C. announced it has once again received a Tier 1 ranking in five different practice areas for the Springfield metropolitan area by The Best Lawyers in America. The firm was recognized for its excellence in arbitration, employment law in management, labor law in management, labor and employment litigation, and mediation. Notably, all of these practice areas received Tier 1 rankings, signifying a score within a certain percentage of the highest-scoring firms in the metropolitan area. “We do our best every day to present our clients with legal advice that reflects an understanding of each of their unique businesses,” said Partner Timothy Murphy. “I think the firm’s high degree of expertise and proficiency is demonstrated in our continued ranking as a Tier 1 law firm by Best Lawyers.” Attaining a Tier 1 ranking in so many different practice areas marks a strong combination of quality law practice and expansive legal experience, and reflects one of the highest levels of respect within the legal community, he added. The rankings are based on an evaluation process that includes both client and lawyer evaluations, peer reviews from leading attorneys in specified practice areas, and final reviews from law firms as part of the formal review process and selection. To be eligible for the rankings, a law firm must have at least one lawyer who is included in Best Lawyers in that particular practice area and metropolitan area. Best Lawyers is the oldest peer-review publication in the legal profession. A listing in Best Lawyers is widely regarded by both clients and legal professionals as a significant honor conferred on a lawyer by his or her peers. The Best Lawyers lists of outstanding attorneys are compiled by conducting comprehensive peer-review surveys in which tens of thousands of leading lawyers confidentially evaluate their professional peers.

 

Springfield Museums Wins Grant to Restore Windows

SPRINGFIELD — The Springfield Museums have been awarded a Museums for America grant of $106,592 from the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) to restore and stabilize 20 Tiffany stained-glass windows at the George Walter Vincent Smith Art Museum. These grants are awarded through competitive peer review and require at least a 100% match by the applicant. The program is an essential component of the institute’s goal of sustaining cultural heritage. The 20 Tiffany stained-glass windows are original to the main façade of the historic George Walter Vincent Smith Art Museum, which opened in 1896. The windows have deteriorated because of age, city pollution, and the harsh New England weather. This project includes a provision to protect the windows and their restoration through the addition of exterior tempered glass. The restoration of the Tiffany stained-glass windows will reintegrate these important decorative features with the building as well as greatly increase the effectiveness of the museum’s environmental control system. “These windows are rare and highly significant,” said Kay Simpson, president of the Springfield Museums. “They are the only Tiffany stained-glass windows in existence that were specifically commissioned for an American art museum, and they are a critical element of the overall design of the 1896 museum building. We are grateful to the IMLS for providing us with funding to stabilize and preserve these important stained-glass treasures for future generations.”

 

Elms College Doctor of Nursing Practice Program Earns Accreditation

CHICOPEE — The School of Nursing at Elms College has received accreditation from the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE) for its doctor of nursing practice (DNP) program. CCNE accreditation is a nongovernmental peer-review process that operates in accordance with nationally recognized standards established for the practice of accreditation in the U.S. “The DNP program was a vision and a dream for Elms School of Nursing and our community partners,” said Kathleen Scoble, dean of the School of Nursing at Elms. The DNP degree is a clinical practice doctorate in an advanced specialty of nursing practice for the role of nurse practitioner. DNP graduates from Elms are eligible to sit for advanced certification and licensure in one of two specialty tracks: family nurse practitioner or adult-gerontology acute-care nurse practitioner. Most local programs educate advanced-practice nurses (APRNs) at the master’s level, but — in accordance with the American Assoc. of Colleges of Nursing’s evolutionary position to move the level of preparation necessary for APRN roles from the master’s degree to the doctorate level — Elms College has implemented the clinical doctorate to prepare NPs with the highest level of scientific knowledge and practice expertise. The college has partnered with Baystate Medical System and Berkshire Health Systems, who fund cohorts of nurses to fill critical roles in their organizations now and into the future.

Smartphone Apps Help Users Manage, Improve Their Lives

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Sections Technology

Something for Everyone

Smartphones rule the world — or, at least, their users’ lives — but they wouldn’t be of much use without apps. And those apps are legion, appealing to individuals’ desire to manage everything from finances to fitness, to continually learn new things and find new ways to have fun. Here’s a roundup of some of the most popular and well-reviewed apps available today.

Say you want to more effectively manage your finances. Or get in shape. Or brush up on your math skills. Or just relax and have a good time.

As the old iPhone commercials used to say, there’s an app for that. Many, many more than one, actually. And they’re usually free, and available on both the iOS and Android platforms.

For this year’s roundup of what’s hot in technology, BusinessWest checks in on what the tech press is saying about some of the most popular smartphone apps.

Financial App-raisals

personal-capitalFor starters, smartphones have put a world of personal finance in people’s hands. For example, Personal Capital offers simple charts and graphs of the user’s income, spending, and investment performance so they can easily monitor their finances.

“Track your investments by account, asset class, or individual security, see how your portfolio compares to major indices, and find the exact percentage of each asset class that’s in your portfolio,” Investopedia explains. “A 401(k) fee analyzer and mutual-fund fee calculator show if you’re paying too much in fees. The Investment Checkup feature analyzes your portfolio and shows how much you stand to gain with a few changes.”

mintBusiness Insider reports that Intuit’s Mint gives users a real-time look into all their finances, from bank accounts and credit cards to student loans and 401(k) accounts. “It automatically tracks your spending, categorizes it, and alerts you when/if you approach your budget limit. You can even ask for custom savings tips within the app,” the publication notes. “Everything is shown in simple, intuitive graphs and charts, making it one of the most popular personal-finance apps in the world.”

goodbudgetMeanwhile, Business Insider also recommends GoodBudget, an app that brings the envelope-budgeting method into the smartphone. Users create ‘envelopes’ for each of their budget categories, such as groceries, transportation, and shopping, and pre-determine how much they want to allocate in each envelope. They can then record and track how much they’re spending from each envelope. “It may not be as sophisticated as some of the other apps, but Goodbudget offers a simple way to stick to your budget and keep your spending really disciplined.”

prosper-dailyWhat about financial security? Investopedia recommends Prosper Daily, a personal-finance security service that tracks spending and protects credit cards from fraud and errors. Users can quickly view balances and recurring charges across all their credit and debit cards.

“Prosper Daily creates an alert if a suspicious charge is posted to your account, allows you to report the charge and/or contact the merchant, and will help you get your money back from fraudulent, erroneous, or unfair charges,” the publication notes. “Data-breach alerts let you know when a data breach has occurred at a place where you’ve shopped.”

Healthy App-roach

What if physical wellness tops one’s priority list. No fear — there are countless apps for that, too, teaching users how to shop, all the facts on what they’re eating, how to exercise, and how to stay committed to better habits.

myfitnesspalOne of the most popular nutrition apps is MyFitnessPal, which offers a wealth of tools for tracking what and how much the user eats, and how many calories they burn through activity, explains PC Magazine. “Of all the calorie counters I’ve used, MyFitnessPal is by far the easiest one to manage, and it comes with the largest database of foods and drinks. With the MyFitnessPal app, you can fastidiously watch what you eat 24/7, no matter where you are.”

The app’s database of more than 6 million foods makes it easy to track a diet, or the lack of one, added the online magazine Greatist. “Whether you’re trying to lose weight or put on muscle, the app helps determine the best things to eat and meet your goals.”

nike-training-clubBut nutrition is only part of the story when it comes to fitness — exercise is the other key discipline. But where to start? One possibility is the Nike+ Training Club, which takes the concept to the next level, offering more than 100 workouts to choose from. Users can also opt for a customized, full-body, four-week plan. “A trainer leads you through the routines, plus you get instructional video clips of the moves,” notes Fitness magazine. “Don’t like burpees? The updated app lets you swap drills you hate for ones you love.”

strava-running-and-cycling-gpsFor those who prefer being outdoors to get in shape, Strava Running and Cycling GPS monitors running or cycling routes via GPS, notes Digital Trends. “It also gamifies your cardio workout and pairs with leaderboards, achievements, and challenges, bringing a competitive spirit to your routine.”

jefitFor a more comprehensive training assistant, Men’s Fitness recommends Jefit, which creates personalized workout routines by tracking and analyzing the user’s workout progress and diligently recording weight, reps, and time.

“Its data-heavy approach will appeal to stat nerds and workout obsessives alike. Jefit also packs the most robust library of exercises and maneuvers,” the magazine notes, including how-to videos with more than 1,300 exercises making up scores of workouts. The free version is limited, with some bare-bones workout routines and basic activity logs, while paid options are ad-free and unlock more features.

App-lied Learning

khan-academyCountless popular apps focus on education and learning for all ages. For kids, the Children’s MD blog recommends Khan Academy, which collaborates with the U.S. Department of Education and myriad public and private educational institutions to provide a free, world-class education for anyone.

“It’s incredibly easy to use, there are no ads, and it’s appropriate for any school-aged child that knows how to read,” the blog reports, noting that Khan Academy started as a math-learning site but has expanded to many other subjects, from art history to economics. “My kids will spend hours looking at computer-science projects that other kids have shared and incorporating ideas into their own programs. The Khan platform combines educational videos with practice problems and project assignments.”

photomathMeanwhile, Photomath focuses on, well, math, and does it well, Digital Trends reports. “For high-school students who just need a bit more guidance on how to isolate ‘x’ in their algebra homework, Photomath is essentially your math buddy that can instantly solve and explain every answer. Simply snap a photo of the question (you can also write or type), and the app will break down the solution into separate steps with helpful play-by-play, so that you can apply the same principles to the rest of your homework.”

duolingoFor language learning, Children’s MD recommends Duolingo, which provides interactive foreign-language education in 15 languages so far. It’s appropriate for both kids and adults, and one independent study found that a person with no knowledge of Spanish would need about 34 hours with Duolingo to cover the material in the first college semester of Spanish classes.

“It’s simple, user-friendly, and never boring,” the blog notes. “Install the app on your phone and get your language lessons done while you are on the elevator or waiting in line.”

nasa-appLearning means expanding one’s horizons, of course, and where better to do that than the NASA App, which aggregates a wide range of NASA content. “Space enthusiasts and curious minds will love how it packs a wealth of news stories, features, images, video, and information about the space agency’s activities into this one mobile app,” PC Magazine reports.

App-ealing Entertainment

spotifyLet’s face it, though — smartphone users want apps that are just plain fun as well. For music enthusiasts, it’s hard to go wrong with Spotify. Wired notes that users can access a huge catalog of music for a small monthly fee, creating their own playlists or enjoying the app’s curated stations.

Seven years after its debut, Mashable adds, “Spotify has tons of competition in the online streaming space, but the app continues to be one of the best ways to listen to music and podcasts on demand and on the go.”

espn-score-centerSports fans might dig ESPN Score Center, which allows users to check game progress from more sports than most other apps, PC Magazine reports, including baseball, basketball, football, soccer, ice hockey, cricket, rugby, and more.

big-ovenFor those whose idea of fun is improving their cooking skills, plenty of apps do the job. Digital Trends recommends two. Big Oven features more than 250,000 recipes, and provides grocery lists based on them, lets users add your own, and import recipes from friends. “If you like (or want to like) to cook, start with Big Oven.”

yummlyBut the publication also raves about Yummly, which offers access to thousands of unique recipes. “On top of recipe and grocery-list functionality, Yummly takes user preferences into account to provide recipe recommendations, for when you just can’t decide what to eat.”

action-movie-fxFinally, if the kitchen doesn’t provide enough action and adventure, Mashable recommends downloading Action Movie, the brainchild of Star Wars and Star Trek director J.J. Abrams. The app allows anyone with an iPhone introduce movie-level special effects to their short videos.

“Not only is it incredibly easy to use and completely addictive, it’s a huge crowd pleaser,” the site notes. “Filming a Thanksgiving dinner where a virtual car can unexpectedly crash across the dinner table is guaranteed to inspire roaring laughter. Action Movie is free, but smartly uses in-app purchases to sell you additional effects, all as good as the originals. It’s the rare app that has few competitors and has maintained a high level of quality.”

Joseph Bednar can be reached at [email protected]

Giombetti Associates Welcomes Thom Fox as Chief People Officer

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Daily News

HAMPDEN — Giombetti Associates recently welcomed Thom Fox as its new chief people officer. Since 2013, Fox has managed a strategic consultancy focused on revenue and profitability solutions through the discovery of what customers want and don’t want. With a command of the fact-finding process and mastery of asking deeper-level, thought-provoking questions, he worked with stakeholders to build strategies yielding a larger likelihood of success. These solutions earned his clients a tremendous amount of personal and professional growth.

Prior to founding his consultancy, Thom served for 18 years at a social enterprise, helping to build the organization from a startup into a national brand producing an excess of $50 million in annual revenues. He served in a variety of roles, including education coordinator, marketing director, community outreach director, author and subject-matter expert, spokesperson, and strategist.

Fox’s advice has been featured in media outlets such as Forbes, MarketWatch, the Huffington Post, Fox Business, and others. He is also an award-winning philanthropist, volunteering as a board member for Suit Up Springfield, and supporting the business community as a facilitator for Valley Venture Mentors, producer and host of The Engine on NewsRadio 560 WHYN, and a member of the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission’s Plan for Progress Committee.

Throughout his career, Fox has built partnerships and relationships, engaged people in taking an active participation in their own growth and development, and coached entrepreneurs and community leaders to embrace change. Working in these collaborative settings, he experienced the toll that failure (and success) plays in a team dynamic. These experiences ignited a passion within him to motivate people to move in the same direction, believing that, if they do, they can reach any destination they choose.

These experiences also instilled within him the desire to help people, teams, and organizations reach their full potential — a natural fit with the core beliefs at Giombetti Associates. Fox will be charged with continuously improving the design and content of various team-building and leadership-development offerings. He will help deliver and facilitate team-building initiatives, learning workshops, and coaching to individuals and executives alike. He will also support Giombetti’s effort to solve one of its clients’ ongoing challenges: finding good people. He will help ensure that clients have enhanced access to high-performing individuals and innovative leadership training.

As an entrepreneur and consultant, Fox understands the challenges of starting and scaling a business. His time in corporate America also exposed him to the damages created by telling people what they want to hear. He has worked with Silicon Valley-based ventures, mom-and-pop startups, and established businesses on their way to becoming multi-million-dollar ventures. Throughout it all, he has maintained the philosophy that people are transformed through lovingly critical feedback and supportive services empowering them with the ability to become the best version of themselves.

Giombetti Associates is a leadership institute providing pre-employment assessment, leadership training and development, team building, talent sourcing and acquisition, conflict resolution, strategic business coaching, M&A consulting, and a few other areas of expertise, with personality and behavior serving as the foundation to all of them.

UMass Rising Campaign Raises $379 Million for Flagship Campus

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Daily News

AMHERST — The University of Massachusetts Amherst Foundation announced that the UMass Rising Campaign, the largest philanthropic campaign in the history of Massachusetts public higher education, has raised $379 million for the Commonwealth’s flagship campus, significantly surpassing the $300 million goal that had been set at the campaign’s outset.

The significant infusion of private resources from the campaign, including $108 million raised for the university’s permanent endowment, will have far-reaching effects and reflects the growing importance of philanthropy in fueling the university’s strategic priorities. More than 103,000 donors contributed to the campaign. The five largest gifts in university history were received during this campaign.

“Through the success of UMass Rising, we will support our faculty and students while creating a world-class environment,” said UMass Amherst Chancellor Kumble Subbaswamy. “We will build on our new culture of philanthropy and inspire the next generation to come forward in continued support of the university. We will seize this moment in our history and ensure our ongoing momentum. I extend my sincere thanks to everyone who made UMass Rising such a historic success.”

The campaign, which began in 2010, entered its public phase on April 29, 2013 with $183 million raised. In 2015, the university announced that the $300 million mark had been surpassed more than a year ahead of schedule. The campaign officially closed June 30, 2016. Campaign leadership included co-chairs Douglas Berthiaume, David Fubini, and Robert Epstein; and UMass Amherst Foundation Board President Richard Kelleher.

“The UMass Rising Campaign has fortified the university’s fundamental commitment to providing access to an excellent education in the Commonwealth,” said Michael Leto, vice chancellor of Dvelopment and Alumni Relations and executive director of the UMass Amherst Foundation. “There is much more we can and will do to fuel the work of the flagship campus as a leader in public higher education. For the benefit of our students and everyone we serve, we look forward to keeping the momentum going in the years ahead.”

The UMass Rising Campaign attracted close to 44,000 new donors to the university, including many parents of UMass Amherst students. The university raised $164 million for academic and research programs, which is $67 million more than the goal. In addition, more than 24 new permanent professorships were established to recruit and retain faculty leaders at the flagship campus. Gifts from current and past faculty and staff totaled $10.7 million.

UMass Rising was a comprehensive campaign benefiting students, faculty, academic and research programs across campus, as well as university facilities and infrastructure. Among the highlights of the campaign was Douglas and Diana Berthiaume’s outright gift of $10 million in 2014 to create the Berthiaume Center for Entrepreneurship. Located in the Isenberg School of Management, the Berthiaume Center serves as a campus-wide incubator for collaboration leading to economic development.

The $5 million bequest from Pamela and Robert Jacobs in 2015 was the largest gift ever for the College of Humanities and Fine Arts. The gift will create the Pamela M. and Robert D. Jacobs Chair in Judaic and Near Eastern Studies and support programming for the Institute for Holocaust, Genocide and Memory Studies, as well as for UMass Hillel.

Other programs that received far-reaching campaign gifts included the Psychology of Peace and Violence Program in the College of Natural Sciences; data sciences and cybersecurity in the College of Information and Computer Sciences; the Honors-to-Honors scholarship program supporting top community-college students attending the Commonwealth Honors College; and a new home for the department of Economics in the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences – Crotty Hall, funded with a $10 million anonymous gift to the department of Economics.

Picture This

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Departments Picture This

Email ‘Picture This’ photos with a caption and contact information to [email protected]

Super 60

Super 60

More than 500 guests gathered at Chez Josef in Agawam on Oct. 28 for the Super 60 awards luncheon, presented by the Springfield Regional Chamber to honor the region’s fastest-growing privately owned companies. This year’s top honoree in the Total Revenue category was Stavros Center for Independent Living Inc. in Amherst, while the top honoree in Revenue Growth was Lavishlyhip, LLC in Feeding Hills. The event’s keynote speaker was Tree House Brewing co-founder Dean Rohan.

 

Justin Pelis, board treasurer of Stavros Center for Independent Living

From left, Justin Pelis, board treasurer of Stavros Center for Independent Living; Ashley Allen, vice president of Sales and Marketing for Health New England; Nancy Bazanchuk, board vice president of Stavros; and John Patrick, president and CEO of Farmington Bank

 

Bill Grinnell, president of Webber

Bill Grinnell, president of Webber and Grinnell Insurance (left), and Richard Venne, CEO and president of Community Enterprises

From left, Allen; Jay Ray, president of Detector Technology Inc.; and Patrick

From left, Allen; Jay Ray, president of Detector Technology Inc.; and Patrick

Incorporations

By
Departments Incorporations

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

ADAMS

Adams Arts Advisory Board Inc., 3 Myrtle St. Apt. A10, Adams, MA 01220. Francie Riley, same. An association of artists and individuals interested in advancing the arts in the town of Adams, Mass. by providing support and advice to art related community projects, such as the development and production of public art pieces.

BELCHERTOWN

Baby Mine Rescue Inc., 466 Warren Wright Road, Belchertown, MA 01007. Jennifer Franz, same. Non-profit organization rescuing local and out of state dogs and puppies.

HADLEY

355 Russell St Hadley 01035 Inc., 355 Russell St., Hadley, Ma 01035. Dharmindar Sinha, 39-40 30th St., Long Island City, NY 11101. Retail Tech.

LEEDS

Barn Removal Services Inc., 45 Reservoir Road, Leeds, MA 01056. Henry J. Souza, same. Barn and structure wood repurposing.

NORTHAMPTON

Autism Behavioral & Learning Experience Inc., 351 Pleasant St. Suite B126, Northampton, MA 01060. Gary Ferrigno, 36 Ridgeway Dr., Feedings Hills, MA 01030. Applied behavior analysis.

SPRINGFIELD

Abarham Inc., 47 Wilcox St., Springfield, MA 01105. Anthony Abraham, same. Consulting.

Anabelle Inc., 517 Newbury St., Springfield, MA 01104. Matthew Drenen, same. Landscaping services.

WEST SPRINGFIELD

Action Carpet & Cleaning Inc., 90 Churchill Road, West Springfield, MA 01089. Kevin G Blake, 87 Mountain Road, East Hartland, CT 06027. Carpet installation and cleaning.

American Way Transport Inc., 425 Union St., Level D, Suite 7, West Springfield, MA 01089. Bahtiyar Agayev, 77 Glendale Road, Agawam, MA 01001. Trucking.

WESTHAMPTON

Arriving Safe Inc., 163 Main Road, Westhampton, MA 01027. Barbara Ann Nichols, same. Educating women using actionable strategies, and self-defense techniques.

Agenda

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Agenda Departments

‘Diversify Your Workforce’

Nov. 17: The Western Mass. Employment Collaborative (WMEC) will present a breakfast event called “Diversify Your Workforce” from 9 to 11 a.m., preceded by breakfast and networking at 8:30 a.m. at the Delaney House in Holyoke. WMEC partners work toward the common goal of increasing employment opportunities for individuals with disabilities. WMEC works across all disabilities and represents hundreds of job seekers who have the skills, commitment, and desire to enter the workforce and contribute positively to a local employer. To that end, it is partnering with the Mass. Down Syndrome Congress and its “Find Your Next Star” campaign. Attendees of the Nov. 17 event will learn ways to grow their business and meet their hiring needs. To register, visit www.mdsc.kintera.org/dywwest.

Art & Leisure Auction

Nov. 18: Combining the celebration of creativity with the generosity of giving, the United Way of Franklin County is holding its 17th annual Art & Leisure Auction beginning at 6:30 p.m. at the Greenfield Community College Dinning Commons. Thanks to the generous support of local artists, businesses, and individuals, this year’s auction will feature more than 200 items, including Springfield Thunderbirds tickets; two $1,000 Southwest Airlines gift certificates; a one-week stay in Stowe, Vt.; a day trip for two to Martha’s Vineyard by private airplane; a season pass to Silverthorne Theater; gift certificates from numerous area business; handcrafted works of art; framed prints, paintings, and photographs; Tom White Pottery, fabric arts; and jewelry. Featuring state Rep. Paul Mark as guest auctioneer, the event will feature leisure items and gifts from the Pioneer Valley and beyond for live and silent auctions. The United Way Art & Leisure Auction is presented by Baystate Franklin Medical Center, Greenfield Savings Bank, Steve Lewis Subaru, WAHI/Bear Country, and the Recorder. The event will benefit the United Way of Franklin County and its 27 partner agencies. Hors d’oeuvres and refreshments are included included in the cost of admission, which is $20 per person in advance or $25 at the door. To purchase advance tickets, visit www.uw-fc.org, e-mail [email protected], or call (413) 772-2168.

International Survivors of Suicide Loss Day

Nov. 19: The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP), the nation’s largest suicide-prevention organization, is hosting more than 350 International Survivors of Suicide Loss Day events worldwide on Saturday, Nov. 19. Survivor Day allows people affected by suicide loss to gather around the world at events in their local communities to find comfort and gain understanding. Locally, the Western Mass. chapter of AFSP will host a Survivor Day event at Westfield State University from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. All Survivor Day gatherings will include a screening of Life Journeys: Reclaiming Life after Loss, a new, AFSP-produced Survivor Day documentary that traces the grief and healing journey that follows a suicide loss over time. Additional programming at the Westfield State event will include presentations by loss survivors and mental-health professionals, as well as small-group discussions. For those who can’t attend, AFSP will also host a 90-minute online program that will include a film screening of Life Journeys, a post-screening discussion on coping with a suicide loss, and a Q&A session with online viewers. “After I lost my younger brother Raymond to suicide, I felt so alone and guilty about his death. But attending a Survivor Day event allowed me to connect with others who had lost a person close to them, and made me realize I wasn’t alone — that others understood my grief. It was incredibly healing,” said Renae Carapella-Johnson, who lost her younger brother, Raymond Carapella, to suicide in 2005. For more information about Survivor Day events, visit afsp.org. To register for the Survivor Day event at Westfield State University, contact Heather White, area director for the Western Mass. chapter of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, at (413) 387-3770 or [email protected].

Joseph D. Freeman Bowl-a-Thon

Nov. 19: The Joseph D. Freedman Bowl-a-Thon will present its fifth annual event to benefit Camphill Village in Copake, N.Y. The event will be held from 12:30 to 3:30 p.m. at Chicopee AMF Lanes. Last year, more than 250 attended the event, and since its inaugural in 2011, the event has raised more than $220,000 for Camphill, which is a residential village where 95 special-needs residents reside. No one has ever been charged a fee to live at the Village, nor has anyone ever been turned away for lack of funds. To learn more about the event, visit www.camphillvillage.org/bowlathon.

Girls on the Run 5k

Nov. 20: Girls on the Run Western Massachusetts will Host its Girls on the Run 5k starting at 10 a.m. at the Smith College athletic fields. The event is open to the public. The run, organizers say, is about the joy of empowering girls in grades 3-8 and celebrating their incredible achievements over the 20-session, 10-week program season of Girls on the Run Western Massachusetts. Twenty-four schools from all four Western Mass. counties coming together with their families and friends to run and celebrate their achievements. There will also be family-friendly activities and a fun warmuup. More than 250 volunteers will be running with the girls as running buddies, while numerous community members and another 85 volunteers will help organize and run the race. To volunteer or to participate in the run, visit www.girlsontherunwesternma.org, or register the day of the run starting at 8 a.m. Sponsors incude Cooley Dickinson Medical Group Women’s Health, HUB International, Holyoke Gas and Electric, Children’s Heart Center, RunReg, Holyoke Medical Center, Spoleto Restaurant, Palmer Paving, River Valley Counseling Center, and Northampton Pediatric Dentistry.

Lighting Ceremony for Trees of Love & Thanksgiving

Nov. 20: The trees in the Healing Garden at Cooley Dickinson Hospital will again be aglow this late fall and winter with lights remembering and honoring friends, family, and neighbors. Through a donation of $15 or more per individual, community members can designate a light in memory or in honor of a loved one in the annual Trees of Love & Thanksgiving. Proceeds from this annual fund-raising initiative support the purchase of equipment that enhances patient care at Cooley Dickinson. Funds raised through 2016 Trees of Love will help furnish two pediatric rooms in the hospital’s Emergency Department with murals, distraction carts, a monitoring system, and child-appropriate equipment. In addition, funds will again provide infant car beds, which are critical to ensuring the safe transport of underweight babies. This year’s fund-raising goal is $15,000. Previous Trees of Love campaigns have supported an infusion bay in the Mass General Cancer Center at Cooley Dickinson Hospital, and 3D mammography, which provides earlier detection of breast cancer. A lighting ceremony will be held Sunday, Nov. 20 at 4:30 p.m. in the Healing Garden. A reception will follow in the Kittredge Surgery Center waiting area located at the north entrance. Light refreshments will be served as the Horse Mountain Jazz Band performs. Those wishing to donate can pick up a form at the Cooley Dickinson Hospital Coffee Shop or download the form. In addition to lights on the trees in the Healing Garden, names of those being honored and remembered are posted in the corridor adjacent to the Hospital’s main lobby, in the Chapel, and at the north entrance. Trees of Love & Thanksgiving is a project of the Friends of Cooley Dickinson, formerly the Cooley Dickinson Hospital Auxiliary, and Cooley Dickinson’s Pastoral Care Department.

Conference Gives Young Entrepreneurs Resources, Inspiration

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Entrepreneurship Sections

Feats of Innovation

From left, Tatum Fahs and Jonathan Major of Bay Path University and Emmett DuPont

From left, Tatum Fahs and Jonathan Major of Bay Path University and Emmett DuPont of Hampshire College took the top three spots at the conference’s ‘idea jam,’ which featured more than 400 participants.

As the founder of FEAT Socks, Parker Burr sells hundreds of thousands of socks worldwide, and expects to top $2 million in sales next year. But one of his fondest memories is selling his cozy footwear, one pair at a time, from behind a table at an Amherst bus stop.

“The key is to go out and sell something,” he told an audience of young entrepreneurs this month at the 12th annual Grinspoon, Garvey & Young Entrepreneurship Conference. “Everyone wants to know how to get from zero to a hundred million dollars. But don’t be afraid of humble beginnings, because those are the best. Selling at a bus stop, to me, that was the most exciting time. So slow down, just sell one, then worry about selling two, then keep going.”

More than 400 students from 14 area colleges attended the event at the MassMutual Center, which included hands-on workshops and exhibits, networking, and what was billed as the world’s largest ‘idea jam,’ where participants pitched their entrepreneurial ideas to their peers in a bracket format, with votes determining who advanced to the next round, and the next, and so on.

Once the field was whittled down to the final 10, those students gave one-minute elevator pitches to the full assembly from the main stage, before Burr’s keynote address. Afterward, the top three vote-getters delivered final pitches. In the last round of voting, Jonathan Major of Bay Path University earned top honors — and a $100 check — for his product, which uses a car adapter to keep food warm on the go; he is working on adding keep-cold capabilities as well.

The other two finalists, nabbing $25 each, were Tatum Fahs of Bay Path, who conceptualized an infant stroller that allows for ‘tummy time’; and Emmett DuPont of Hampshire College, whose idea provides housing supports for transgender youth, a population with a lower life expectancy than most demographics due to drug addiction, suicide, and hate crimes, all of which are exacerbated by alienation from families.

Everyone wants to know how to get from zero to a hundred million dollars. But don’t be afraid of humble beginnings, because those are the best.”

“We’re always so impressed with the diversity and sheer number of students who come to downtown Springfield to attend this conference,” said Cari Carpenter, director of entrepreneurship initiatives at the Harold Grinspoon Charitable Initiative, which organizes the event along with the 14 colleges. “It really gives them validation that there’s a community of people supporting them, and it gives them some tools.”

For example, the day included breakout sessions on topics like “Pitch Like an Entrepreneurial Pro” and “Social Entrepreneurship Opportunity and Impact.”

“They were able to learn strategies for doing good pitches and other kinds of things about entrepreneurship,” Carpenter told BusinessWest. “It’s a goal of the conference to get people to network and meet each other, and really educate these students.”

No Magic Wand

The Entrepreneurship Conference is held annually with the goal of inspiring, motivating, and supporting college students who seek to turn ideas into businesses. Birton Cowden, who helped organize the idea jam, sees myriad benefits in such events.

“We do a lot of these kinds of things on campus,” said Cowden, associate director of the Berthiaume Center for Entrepreneurship at UMass Amherst. “We’ve done idea jams with 70 to 100 people. Here, we had to recraft it for 400 people; that’s why we did the bracketed system.

“There are a lot of stakeholders who feel this is important,” he went on, “starting with the students, who come together and find a community of other people like them. They say, ‘I thought I was crazy, but these are my people.’ Everyone always says they’re energized and encouraged to actually do something with that idea. It gives them confidence.”

At the same time, however, they understand that a new enterprise takes work and commitment, Cowden told BusinessWest. “They learn, ‘people like me are nothing special. There’s no pixie dust here — just things I can do.’”

Burr attested to that fact in his address, which tracked the evolution of FEAT Socks from a small enterprise, selling a few dozen pairs of socks on the UMass Amherst campus as recently as 2014, into a lifestyle brand with a worldwide reach, producing and selling wool socks, dress socks, athletic socks, and more. Most recently, the company signed Massachusetts native and Olympic gold medalist Aly Raisman, and launched her line. Ever-nimble, FEAT just released a limited-edition pair for Cubs fans, with one foot sporting ‘1908’ and other ‘2016.’

“The company has just skyrocketed,” said Burr, whose enterprise is now based in California. “We’re just now becoming true sock people and sock experts, after we sold so many. All this has taught me that you don’t have to know everything; you don’t have to be an expert at anything in order to start building something great. If I had waited until I felt I was a sock expert, I would never have been able to get where I am. I just started. That was the important thing.”

Students at the conference — which included American International College, Amherst College, Bay Path University, Elms College, Greenfield Community College, Hampshire College, Holyoke Community College, Mount Holyoke College, Smith College, Springfield College, Springfield Technical Community College, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Western New England University, and Westfield State University — no doubt took that message to heart as they returned to campus to decide how to proceed with their own big ideas.

“Work hard. Do something,” Burr concluded. “Throw yourself into every situation possible, and let serendipity take over.”

Joseph Bednar can be reached at [email protected]

Baystate Phishing Attack Serves as Wake-up Call for Companies

By
Sections Technology

Won’t Get Fooled Again?

The trouble with a phishing scam, Brendan Monahan says, is that only one person in an organization has to fall for it to put information at risk.

Or, in Baystate Health’s case, five.

“There is constantly a threat to businesses — including ours; we’re no different — from outside phishing attacks,” said Monahan, manager of Public Affairs, in the wake of a phishing attack in August that exposed the personal data of thousands of patients. “They’re often internationally based and geared toward handing over the keys to the kingdom to a hacker who, from what we understand from most experts, is looking for some financial gain out of it.”

That doesn’t seem to have occurred in this case, Baystate officials say, but the incident, which was made public late last month, is serious enough to trigger a re-examination of the system’s security protocols — and to serve as a warning to other employers in the region, both large and small.

Specifially, on Aug. 22, Baystate learned that a phishing e-mail had been sent to numerous Baystate employees that, if opened, allowed hackers to access those employees’ e-mail accounts.

Phishing is an electronic attempt to obtain sensitive information, such as passwords and credit-card information, by masquerading as a trustworthy source. Phishing e-mails may contain links to a site infected with malware, or directly load a program onto a computer that makes it contents accessible to the scammer. The Baystate scam e-mail was designed to look exactly like an internal memo to employees.

eric brown

eric brown

The best defense is to have a written information-security policy in place. Part of that is training in security awareness for employees. That way, employees can’t say, ‘I didn’t know,’ or ‘I don’t understand.’ That’s where the data risk is. It’s not from the outside; it’s from the inside, with mistakes, careless errors made by employees.”

Baystate’s investigation determined that five employees responded to the phishing e-mail, allowing the hackers to gain access to those employees’ e-mail accounts. Some of the e-mails in those accounts included patient information, including names and dates of birth, diagnoses and treatments received, medical record numbers, and, in some instances, health-insurance identification numbers. However, the e-mails did not contain Social Security numbers, credit-card numbers, or other financial information commonly used by scammers and identity thieves to enrich themselves.

“The [phishing] e-mail contained information that would be described as mimicking or mocking an internal Baystate Health HR memo. Five employees clicked on that e-mail, that immediately compromised their Outlook e-mail accounts into the hands of the perpetrator,” Monahan told BusinessWest. “Our computer research firm found exactly what was in the e-mails and what could have been looked at.”

The fact that no financial data was compromised may be small comfort for affected patients, that fact may mean the scammers have no real use for the information, and left it alone when they discovered they couldn’t profit. But that remains to be seen.

“In this case, there was no financial gain to be had from the patient information,” Monahan said. “That’s why we don’t know whether they went through the documents, but they could have.”

Still, he added, “while we have no evidence that any patient information has been taken or misused, we want to assure our patients that we take this incident very seriously.”

Next Steps

Upon discovering the breach, Baystate immediately took steps to secure the e-mail accounts and began an investigation, and also reported the incident to law enforcement.

But finding out what happened and trying to identify the perpetrators is only one step in the process of responding to the incident, Monahan said. Topping that list is ensuring — or at least trying to ensure — that such an incident won’t be repeated, and that begins with employee education and training regarding phishing e-mails and other scams.

“That was already going on beforehand, and I would say it’s being ramped up,” he explained, noting that employees can click a button at the top of any e-mail if they suspect it comes from a suspicious source, and someone from Baystate’s IT staff will come and determine if it’s dangerous or not. “We try and help them, to train them not to click on a suspicious e-mail, what a phishing attack looks like, and how to recognize it when it comes about.”

Frank Vincentelli

frank vincentelli

Unfortunately, they’re always a step ahead, and for those of us in the security industry, to prevent their success, we have to figure out what they’re doing. But if you present a soft, open belly, they’re going to dive right in.”

 

Frank Vincentelli, chief technology officer at Integrated IT Solutions in Westfield, and Eric Brown, the company’s vice president of Security Services, recently spoke about data security in the business world at the Western Mass. Business Expo, and discussed at length the critical role each employee plays in keeping a company safe.

“The best defense is to have a written information-security policy in place,” Brown said. “Part of that is training in security awareness for employees. That way, employees can’t say, ‘I didn’t know,’ or ‘I don’t understand.’ That’s where the data risk is. It’s not from the outside; it’s from the inside, with mistakes, careless errors made by employees.”

Vincentelli noted that a computer without access to the Internet or e-mail is generally safe, but not particularly useful, so businesses must strike a balance between safety and usability. “The very fact that you have access to these resources is giving the attackers a way into your system and your information.”

The entire security chain, in other words, is only as strong as its weakest link.

“Each individual user is an active part in the overall security strategy of the company,” he went on. “I’m sure all of us can think of a person in we work with who’s not necessarily technologically sophisticated, a person who usually gets a virus or is hit with CryptoLocker three or four times a year. That person is the best level of protection your organization has.”

Training every employee then, is critical, but companies must still maintain a robust firewall infrastructure, complete with early-detection capabilities to identify breaches when they occur. Still, Vincentelli said, “the most important component is the individual user.”

On Guard

Phishing scams are, unfortunately, more common in the healthcare realm than some might suspect. In recent years alone, according to data-risk consulting firm IDT911, a server operating under contract for DeKalb Health Medical Group in Indiana experienced a cyberattack that compromised more than 1,300 patient-information records; Baylor Regional Medical Center in Texas was hacked after doctors responded to phishing e-mails, exposing the patient information contained in their inboxes, including names, addresses, dates of birth, and even Social Security numbers; and Franciscan Health System in Washington was hacked in a phishing scheme that affected potentially 12,000 patients.

Norton, the developer of Internet security software, recommends several steps to avoid becoming the victim of phishing at work, including being wary of e-mails asking for confidential information; watching out for generic-looking requests for information, as fraudulent phishing e-mails are usually not personalized; and avoiding using links in an e-mail to connect to a website, instead opening a new browser window and typing the URL directly into the address bar.

“This is constantly a threat that we have to be wary of as employees, in part because we have a confidentiality policy and handle health information and other protected information,” Monahan told BusinessWest. “We have to be good stewards of that. There needs to be a sense of vigilance, and we have to enforce it. With almost 13,000 people who work here, there’s no one piece of software that will block this particular type of attack. It comes down to workforce training.”

The attacks can be subtle, and often play on human psychology — including people’s natural curiosity. Brown asked his audience at the Expo what they would do if they found a USB stick on the ground before answering his own question.

“Obviously, if you find a USB stick and don’t know who the owner is, you don’t want to touch it,” he said. “That is one way people get malware infections. If I wanted to infect a company, I’d take 30 USB sticks, put a virus on them, and toss them in a parking lot. I guarantee a half-dozen people would pick them up and stick them in their computers.”

Vincentelli called cybersecurity a cat-and-mouse affair, adding that “I’m not sure who’s who.” But it’s clear that hackers are constantly honing techniques to exploit security weaknesses, and when the target develops a defense, the hackers create a better weapon.

“Unfortunately, they’re always a step ahead, and for those of us in the security industry, to prevent their success, we have to figure out what they’re doing,” he said. “But if you present a soft, open belly, they’re going to dive right in.”

Baystate mailed letters to people who may have been affected on Oct. 21, who were directed to call a phone number staffed by an outside contractor hired by Baystate to walk patients through the process of learning if they had been victimized, Monahan said. In the meantime, the health system vowed to raise their level of awareness of threats that continue to evolve in sophistication.

“There are a million cyberthreats out there in the world, and this is one of them,” he said. “We are constantly working to train our workforce to recognize these threats and stay ahead of them — because the threat is always changing.”

Joseph Bednar can be reached at [email protected]

Chamber Corners: Upcoming Events

By
Chamber Corners Departments

FRANKLIN COUNTY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

www.franklincc.org
(413) 773-5463

• Nov. 18: November Chamber Breakfast with John B. Jurst, 7:30-9 a.m., at Greenfield Country Club, 171 Country Club Road, Greenfield. The speaker will be John Hurst, president of RAM, the Retailers Assoc. of Massachusetts. RAM is a trade association that represents some 3,200 retail stores by advocating for them in this changing retail climate. RAM voices concerns about potential legislation, labor laws and rights, compensation, loss prevention, and other factors related to retailing, whether a megastore or the mom-and-pop shop downtown. What is the future of retailing? This discussion is a timely one just before holiday shopping begins. Cost: $13 for members, $16 for non-members. Register at www.franklincc.org or by calling (413) 773-5463.

• Dec. 16: Annual Holiday Breakfast, 7:30-9 a.m., at Deerfield Academy, 7 Boyden Lane, Deerfield. A bountiful buffet will be presented by the Academy chefs. The program will be sponsored by the Recorder, and tributes will be offered to the recipient of its Citizen of the Year award. A selection committee pores over the many nominations that are received and makes the difficult choice just prior to the event. Awardees are recognized for their volunteer work in their community, as well as many acts of kindness during their lives. There are also gift bags for those attending. Register early at www.franklincc.org or by calling (413) 773-5463.

 

GREATER CHICOPEE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

www.chicopeechamber.org
(413) 594-2101

• Nov. 16: Salute Breakfast, 7:15-9 a.m., hosted by Collegian Court restaurant, 89 Park St., Chicopee. Cost: $23 for members, $28 for non-members.

 

GREATER EASTHAMPTON CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

www.easthamptonchamber.org
(413) 527-9414

• Dec. 2: Greater Easthampton Chamber of Commerce SnowBall, 6 p.m., hosted by Garden House at Look Park. This holiday celebration begins at 6 p.m. with a cocktail hour, followed by dinner at 7 p.m. served by Myer’s Catering, and the evening ends with dancing to live music by Maxxtone. Cost: $75 per person. Reservation deadline is Nov. 23. For more information or to register, visit www.easthamptonchamber.org or call the Greater Easthampton Chamber at (413) 527-9414.

 

GREATER HOLYOKE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

www.holyokechamber.com
(413) 534-3376

• Nov. 18: Chamber After Hours, 5-7 p.m., hosted by Homewood Suites. The Greater Holyoke Chamber of Commerce Ambassadors will be collecting lightly worn, professional shoes for Dress for Success and men’s apparel for Suit Up Springfield. A representative from Dress for Success will be on hand to answer any questions. Suit Up Springfield helps provide professional attire to young men in the Greater Springfield area, and allows continued building of professional development and mentorship programs. Plenty of freezable baked sweet breads will be on hand to purchase in time for the holidays. Cost: $10 for members, $15 for non-members and at the door. No invoicing under $20. Call the chamber at (413) 534-3376 if you would like to bring a door prize or if you would like a marketing table for $25. Sign up online at holyokechamber.com.

 

GREATER WESTFIELD CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

www.westfieldbiz.org
(413) 568-1618

• Nov. 16: 56th annual Meeting and Awards Dinner, 5:30 p.m., at East Mountain Country Club, 1458 East Mountain Road, Westfield. Congratulations to 2016 award winners: Firtion Adams, 2016 Business of the Year; Westfield Technical Academy, 2016 Nonprofit Business of the Year; and George’s Jewelers Inc., 2016 Lifetime Achievement Award. The event sponsor is Staples, and the registration table sponsor is the Gaudreau Group. Cost: $50 for chamber members, $60 for general admission.

 

SPRINGFIELD REGIONAL CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

www.myonlinechamber.com
(413) 787-1555

• Nov. 15:  Pastries, Politics and Policy, 8-9 a.m., at the TD Bank Conference Center, 1441 Main St., Springfield. The program will be “What’s Driving the Cost of Healthcare,” with Eric Linzer from the Mass. Assoc. of Health Plans. Reservations are $15 for members in advance ($20 at the door), or $25 for general admission in advance ($30 at door). Reservations may be made online at www.springfieldregionalchamber.com.

• Nov. 15: Springfield Regional Chamber Speed Networking, 7:15-9 a.m., location to be determined. Cost: $20 for members in advance ($25 at the door), $30 for general admission. Reservations may be made online at www.springfieldregionalchamber.com.

• Nov. 17: Springfield Regional Chamber Government Reception 2016, 5-7 p.m., at the Carriage House, Storrowton Tavern, 1305 Memorial Ave., West Springfield. An evening of informal conversation with local and state leaders. Reservations are $50 for members in advance ($60 at door), $75 for general admission. Reservations may be made online at www.springfieldregionalchamber.com.

• Nov. 22: City of Springfield Economic Development Presentation, in partnership with the Springfield Regional Chamber, 4 p.m., at CityStage, One Columbus Center, Springfield. The theme is “Springfield — Rising to New Heights.” Complimentary admission. Reservations may be made online at www.springfieldregionalchamber.com.

• Nov. 29: Springfield Regional Chamber Speed Networking, 7:15-9 a.m., at the Colony Club, 1500 Main St., Springfield. Cost: $20 for members in advance ($25 at the door), $30 for general admission ($35 at the door). Reservations may be made online at www.springfieldregionalchamber.com.

 

WEST OF THE RIVER CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

www.ourwrc.com
(413) 426-3880

• Nov. 15: Coffee with Mayor Reichelt, 8-9:30 a.m., at the West Springfield Public Library Community Room, Park Street, West Springfield. Join us for a cup of coffee and a town update from Mayor Will Reichelt. Questions and answers will immediately follow. For more information, contact the chamber office at (413) 426-3880, or e-mail [email protected].

Briefcase

By
Briefcase Departments

Employer Confidence Strengthens in October

BOSTON — Confidence among Massachusetts employers rose for a second consecutive month during October, bolstered by a surprising improvement in the outlook among manufacturers and the continued strong performance of the state economy. The Associated Industries of Massachusetts (AIM) Business Confidence Index rose 0.3 points to 56.2 last month, 0.6 points higher than in October 2015. The increase was driven by a 2.6-point jump in the manufacturing index, which has lagged overall confidence readings for the past 18 months as companies struggled with economic weakness in Europe, China, and other key export markets. The increase came as the Massachusetts unemployment rate fell to 3.6%, its lowest rate since the dot-com boom of 2001. The AIM Index, based on a survey of Massachusetts employers, has appeared monthly since July 1991. It is calculated on a 100-point scale, with 50 as neutral; a reading above 50 is positive, while below 50 is negative. The Index reached its historic high of 68.5 on two occasions in 1997-98, and its all-time low of 33.3 in February 2009. It has remained above 50 since October 2013. Almost all of the sub-indices based on selected questions or categories of employer were up in October. The Massachusetts Index, assessing business conditions within the Commonwealth, gained 0.9 points to 57.9, leaving it a healthy 3.8 points ahead of the same time last year. The U.S. Index of national business conditions remained unchanged at 49.2, 1.7 points lower than its level of October 2015. Employers have been more optimistic about the Massachusetts economy than about the national economy for 78 consecutive months. The Current Index, which assesses overall business conditions at the time of the survey, increased slightly to 56, while the Future Index, measuring expectations for six months out, rose 0.3 points to 56.3. The future view is virtually the same as it was a year ago. The three sub-indices bearing on survey respondents’ own operations also strengthened. The Company Index, reflecting overall business conditions, rose 0.2 points to 57.9, while the Employment Index surged 0.9 points to 55.4. The Sales Index lost ground, however, falling 1.2 points during October and 3.9 points during the previous 12 months.

Building Permits

By
Building Permits Departments

The following building permits were issued during the month of October 2016.

Chicopee

A. Crane Realty Inc.
619 Grattan St.
$18,000 — Remodeling of existing third-floor apartment

Burnett Road LLC
295 Burnett Road
$500,000 — Demolition of vacant motel

The Kendall Apartments LLC
2 Springfield St.
$3,132,313 — Renovate existing 39-unit SRO into 41 studio apartments

Greenfield

9 Mill St.
9 Mill St.
$3,700 — Pull back rubber, remove insulation, rebuild overhang duplicating existing details, new insulation, metal flashing, adhere rubber to new insulation

Cherry Run Realty LLC
487-489 Bernardston Road
$3,000 — Renovate existing space, remove walls and door

Greenfield Church of Christ
341 Conway St.
$325 — Construct overhang to protect newly installed door

Middle Franklin Development Group LLC
329 Conway St.
$602,000 — Renovate wing of first floor into family practice suite

Middle Franklin Development Group LLC
329 Conway St.
$3,175 — Relocate sprinklers to match new floor plan

Springfield

700 Sumner Ave. Enterprises Inc.
694-696 Sumner Ave.
$16,000 — Redo roof on rear of building; strip and reshingle

Basser-Kaufman
510 Parker St.
$22,000 — Subdivide existing building by adding a partition

Eversource Energy
300 Cadwell Dr.
$30,000 — Install additional smoke and heat detectors, pull stations, and notification appliances to existing fire-alarm system

Freedom Credit Union
77 Boylston St.
$60,000 — Roofing and insulation

Park East Cooperative Corp.
1042 Allen St.
$25,201.93 — Remove all old windows and install replacement windows

Stop & Shop Supermarket Co., LLC
1522 Boston Road
$451,000 — Fit-up of existing space including minor partition change, finishes, electrical distribution, minor plumbing changes, and minor HVAC modifications

Tinkham Management
66 Industry Ave.
$131,250 — Roofing and insulation

WD 2025 Roosevelt LLC
2025 Roosevelt Ave.
$7,000 — Shed construction

BLAAST to Discuss Marijuana Legalization Nov. 16

By
Daily News

AMHERST — Massachusetts voters have just legalized marijuana. The Business Leadership for Amherst Area Strategies (BLAAST) group is working to determine some of the likely effects in the Amherst area. In other words, what should business owners expect in terms of economic impact, public health, and public safety?

Come find out Wednesday, Nov. 16 as Amherst-based attorney Peter Vickery moderates a conversation among panelists and business owners on this important topic from 8:30 to 9:30 a.m. at the Pacific Lodge, Main Street, Amherst. Panelists currently scheduled include Amherst Police Chief Scott Livingstone and Paul McNeil of the Opioid Task Force.

The forum is the second event in a joint project of the Amherst Area Chamber of Commerce and the Amherst Business Improvement District that discusses pressing public-policy issues affecting businesses, both in downtown Amherst and the wider Amherst area. Coffee will be provided. The public is welcome, but seating is limited.

Court Dockets

By
Court Dockets Departments

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

 

Hampden Superior Court

Ryan Close, p/p/a Christina Benson v. Dyanne Tappin, MD et al
Allegation: Medical malpractice: $25,000+
Filed: 10/13/16

Kocayne Givner v. J. Savage Inc., Jay Savage, and Gabriela Alcantara Pohis
Allegation: Monies owed for services, labor, and materials: $44,416.67
Filed: 10/13/16

Valerie Carter-Stone, personal representative of the estate of Alfred Carter v. Marc Norris, MD
Allegation: Medical malpractice: $25,000+
Filed: 10/17/16

Jessica Blanchard v. Teavana Corp. and Peter King
Allegation: Employment discrimination: $25,000+
Filed: 10/20/16

 

Hampshire Superior Court

David A. Woods v. Aquadro & Cerruti Inc. and Daniel O’Connell’s Sons Inc.
Allegation: Negligence on construction job site causing personal injury requiring 10 months of treatment: $92,630.28
Filed: 10/17/16

DLW Realty, LLC v. O’Leary Group Inc., MetLife Insurance Co. of Connecticut d/b/a Travelers Insurance Co.
Allegation: Contract dispute: $31,100.68
Filed: 10/17/16

 

Franklin Superior Court

Jerome Willard a/k/a Decorator’s Workroom v. Molly Aitken
Allegation: Monies owed for renovations and improvements to defendant’s property: $72,013.06
Filed: 9/21/16

Paulette Leukhardt v. Amherst College Corp. and Board of Trustees
Allegation: Employment discrimination: $105,209
Filed: 9/26/16

 

Palmer District Court

Perkins Paper LLC v. Malaru LLC d/b/a Blackjack Bar & Grill and Mark Laramee
Allegation: Monies owed for goods sold and delivered: $9,930.78
Filed: 10/5/16

Real Estate Transactions

By
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

Bug Hill Road
Ashfield, MA 01330
Amount: $120,000
Buyer: Kathleen B. Kerivan
Seller: Diana B. Taylor
Date: 10/13/16

904 Cape St.
Ashfield, MA 01330
Amount: $240,000
Buyer: Suzanne M. Smith
Seller: Curtis E. Pichette
Date: 10/04/16

1216 Conway Road
Ashfield, MA 01330
Amount: $125,000
Buyer: Double Edge Theatre Productions
Seller: Jean V. Keyes
Date: 10/14/16

BERNARDSTON

71 Martindale Road
Bernardston, MA 01337
Amount: $238,000
Buyer: David H. Brothers
Seller: Laura J. Sibilia
Date: 10/07/16

161 Martindale Road
Bernardston, MA 01337
Amount: $185,000
Buyer: Ronald C. Fountain
Seller: Patch IRT
Date: 10/11/16

56 West Mountain Road
Bernardston, MA 01337
Amount: $244,000
Buyer: Christopher Zukowski
Seller: Peter F. Bagley
Date: 10/03/16

BUCKLAND

7 Mary Lyon Road
Buckland, MA 01338
Amount: $381,600
Buyer: Efrem Marder
Seller: Madeleine B. Provost
Date: 10/12/16

COLRAIN

54 Foundry Village Road
Colrain, MA 01340
Amount: $155,000
Buyer: Christopher L. Norwood
Seller: Marjorie P. Dumas IRT
Date: 10/13/16

DEERFIELD

7 Hillcrest Ave.
Deerfield, MA 01373
Amount: $370,000
Buyer: Jeffery W. Edwards
Seller: Ewen, Harold I., (Estate)
Date: 10/12/16

4 Lee Road
Deerfield, MA 01373
Amount: $356,000
Buyer: Douglas J. Belanger
Seller: Todd P. McCoy
Date: 10/06/16

ERVING

2 Ridge Road
Erving, MA 01344
Amount: $175,500
Buyer: Daniel J. Sargent
Seller: Robert W. Landers
Date: 10/14/16

GREENFIELD

12 Champney Road
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $120,329
Buyer: Citifinancial Servicing
Seller: Steven Gary
Date: 10/03/16

12 Coolidge Ave.
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $134,675
Buyer: Susan A. Gamelin
Seller: Hertsch IRT
Date: 10/14/16

17 East Cleveland St.
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $169,900
Buyer: Trevor Berman
Seller: J. J Smith Properties LLC
Date: 10/07/16

14-16 Garfield St.
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $206,000
Buyer: Philip E. Pittelli
Seller: Yves R. Marceau
Date: 10/03/16

69 Haywood St.
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $203,500
Buyer: Bonnie L. Wilson
Seller: Emily S. Conlon
Date: 10/07/16

8 Linden Ave.
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $500,000
Buyer: Shri Maruti Ganesh LLC
Seller: Ioanis Dimitriou
Date: 10/04/16

59 Madison Circle
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $175,000
Buyer: Laura Mackay
Seller: Kells, Alice M., (Estate)
Date: 10/12/16

196 Silver St.
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $184,000
Buyer: Jeremy S. McCloud
Seller: Jeannie M. Ostroskey
Date: 10/03/16

19 Smith St.
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $172,500
Buyer: Matthew T. Cavanaugh
Seller: Lisa A. Morrison
Date: 10/14/16

83 West St.
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $157,000
Buyer: Michele R. Lafleur
Seller: Elizabeth M. Gadwa
Date: 10/14/16

HAWLEY

270 East Hawley Road
Hawley, MA 01339
Amount: $257,000
Buyer: Shawn R. Billings
Seller: James M. McGrath
Date: 10/14/16

LEVERETT

1 Rattlesnake Gutter Road
Leverett, MA 01054
Amount: $225,000
Buyer: Diana Balmonte
Seller: Ralph W. Tiner
Date: 10/14/16

LEYDEN

155 Frizzell Hill Road
Leyden, MA 01337
Amount: $242,000
Buyer: Patricia A. Crapo
Seller: Carol L. Lutz RET
Date: 10/05/16

MONTAGUE

37 Davis St.
Montague, MA 01376
Amount: $125,000
Buyer: US Bank
Seller: Beth L. Perkins
Date: 10/06/16

39 Millers Falls Road
Montague, MA 01376
Amount: $166,000
Buyer: Joshua P. Colwell
Seller: Mary J. Prasol
Date: 10/14/16

16 Sunderland Road
Montague, MA 01351
Amount: $340,000
Buyer: Michael M. Nelson
Seller: Henry Komosa
Date: 10/11/16

NEW SALEM

137 South Main St.
New Salem, MA 01355
Amount: $136,000
Buyer: Jeffrey W. Reynolds
Seller: Joan Dickson
Date: 10/07/16

ORANGE

1 Charles St.
Orange, MA 01364
Amount: $135,000
Buyer: Robert A. Kilian
Seller: 1 Charles Street TR
Date: 10/14/16

36 Cherry St.
Orange, MA 01364
Amount: $142,000
Buyer: Bonnie J. Madore
Seller: Westvue NPL T 2
Date: 10/06/16

44 Dexter St.
Orange, MA 01364
Amount: $142,000
Buyer: Donna L. Northrup
Seller: Nicholas J. Chandler
Date: 10/07/16

60 Fountain St.
Orange, MA 01364
Amount: $116,000
Buyer: Robert L. Hughes
Seller: Rose M. Squire
Date: 10/07/16

558 South Main St.
Orange, MA 01364
Amount: $189,900
Buyer: Michael J. Traylor
Seller: FHLM
Date: 10/11/16

SHUTESBURY

118 Leonard Road
Shutesbury, MA 01072
Amount: $227,000
Buyer: Margaret G. Turgeon
Seller: Laurie E. Rabut
Date: 10/14/16

503 Montague Road
Shutesbury, MA 01072
Amount: $346,400
Buyer: Anders Johansson
Seller: David H. Jean
Date: 10/14/16

20 Schoolhouse Road
Shutesbury, MA 01072
Amount: $237,500
Buyer: Rachael L. Moran
Seller: John B. Wielgus
Date: 10/14/16

SUNDERLAND

19 Pine Court
Sunderland, MA 01375
Amount: $345,000
Buyer: Sungwook Wi
Seller: Nhiem H. Nguyen
Date: 10/13/16

WARWICK

344 Old Winchester Road
Warwick, MA 01378
Amount: $180,000
Buyer: Nathan K. Swartz
Seller: Hometown Bank
Date: 10/07/16

WENDELL

191 Thompson Road
Wendell, MA 01379
Amount: $565,000
Buyer: Jamiel E. Poindexter
Seller: Pamela A. Richardson RET
Date: 10/05/16

HAMPDEN COUNTY

AGAWAM

83 Clover Hill Dr.
Agawam, MA 01030
Amount: $283,000
Buyer: Michael L. Fields
Seller: Marjorie A. Crowley
Date: 10/03/16

234 Corey St.
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $367,000
Buyer: US Bank
Seller: Mark Romeo
Date: 10/12/16

73-75 Kanawha Ave.
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $189,000
Buyer: US Bank
Seller: Anton V. Shabayev
Date: 10/03/16

439 Meadow St.
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $251,000
Buyer: Jason J. Votzakis
Seller: Jason Eisenbeiser
Date: 10/14/16

31 Ottawa St.
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $226,000
Buyer: Daniel L. O’Connor
Seller: Stephen P. Brouillette
Date: 10/14/16

70-72 Sunnyslope Ave.
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $216,000
Buyer: Lloyd C. Sutton
Seller: Martin J. Feid
Date: 10/14/16

6 Vassar Road
Agawam, MA 01030
Amount: $277,500
Buyer: Domenick J. Pisano
Seller: Edward J. Smith
Date: 10/12/16

4 Washington Ave. Ext.
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $349,000
Buyer: 4 Washington Street LLC
Seller: Holyoke Credit Union
Date: 10/14/16

100 Zachary Lane
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $290,000
Buyer: Christopher Tedone
Seller: Dean M. Vecchiarelli
Date: 10/13/16

BLANDFORD

63 Chester Road
Blandford, MA 01008
Amount: $164,500
Buyer: Delaney Noe
Seller: Maureen A. Dion
Date: 10/14/16

BRIMFIELD

45 Apple Road
Brimfield, MA 01010
Amount: $242,000
Buyer: Morgan Keating
Seller: Betsy L. Shelton
Date: 10/14/16

CHESTER

13 School St.
Chester, MA 01011
Amount: $115,000
Buyer: Michael Daley
Seller: John P. Collins
Date: 10/14/16

CHICOPEE

79 Asselin St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $165,000
Buyer: Felicia Colcombe
Seller: Pamela K. Balch
Date: 10/03/16

30 Buckley Blvd.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $425,000
Buyer: Buckley Property Investment
Seller: John W. Dietel
Date: 10/14/16

595 Chicopee St.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $181,000
Buyer: Freddie Vazquez
Seller: DB Properties LLC
Date: 10/14/16

278 East Main St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $157,500
Buyer: Richard D. Tomolillo
Seller: Alan R. Dusseault
Date: 10/07/16

11 Greenleaf St.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $180,000
Buyer: Jennifer M. Orne
Seller: Timothy J. Haas
Date: 10/07/16

40 High St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $700,000
Buyer: 40-42 High Street RT
Seller: Double D. Investments LLC
Date: 10/03/16

42 High St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $700,000
Buyer: 40-42 High Street RT
Seller: Double D. Investments LLC
Date: 10/03/16

10 Lord Ter. S
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $415,000
Buyer: Kim M. Schmidt
Seller: Christopher T. Lalli
Date: 10/14/16

19 Magnolia Ter.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $165,000
Buyer: Keith F. Ellsworth
Seller: Freeman B. Knowlton
Date: 10/04/16

192 Mountainview St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $335,000
Buyer: Edward L. Mari
Seller: Kenneth R. Tellier
Date: 10/03/16

32 Nassau St.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $274,600
Buyer: Suzana C. Ortiz
Seller: Richard Harty
Date: 10/04/16

64 Rzasa Dr.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $176,000
Buyer: John & Maria Marques IRT
Seller: Riverbend 2 Properties
Date: 10/14/16

1679 Westover Road
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $130,000
Buyer: Kristie Bosworth
Seller: Leland F. Gould
Date: 10/07/16

96 Woodcrest Dr.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $150,000
Buyer: Alexander Dumais
Seller: Alan J. Dumais
Date: 10/14/16

35 Woodland Ave.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $125,000
Buyer: David P. Depalo
Seller: V. Jean Parker-Schmieding
Date: 10/13/16

EAST LONGMEADOW

100 Bent Tree Dr.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $410,000
Buyer: David Casali
Seller: Chabilal Neergheen
Date: 10/05/16

41 Cedar Hill Road
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $170,000
Buyer: Sarah K. Andrew
Seller: Nancy A. Ward
Date: 10/12/16

51 Dawes St.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $307,000
Buyer: Chelan D. Brown
Seller: Anthony R. King
Date: 10/14/16

18 Fairview St.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $116,000
Buyer: Rachel Spirito
Seller: FNMA
Date: 10/04/16

321 Parker St.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $224,900
Buyer: Kristin T. Preye
Seller: Joseph P. Saimeri
Date: 10/06/16

741 Parker St.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $31,320,000
Buyer: Longmeadow MA Senior Property LLC
Seller: Elm Care Group LP
Date: 10/14/16

Parker St.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $280,000
Buyer: Longmeadow MA Senior Land
Seller: Elm Care Group LP
Date: 10/14/16

57 Pease Road
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $135,000
Buyer: Joseph Coughlin
Seller: Linda A. Coughlin
Date: 10/13/16

33 Rogers Road
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $219,000
Buyer: Jean A. Medrek
Seller: Loretta H. Potter
Date: 10/12/16

22 Savoy Ave.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $187,500
Buyer: Lauren McDonough
Seller: Michele L. Lincoln
Date: 10/13/16

HAMPDEN

10 Mountainview Dr.
Hampden, MA 01036
Amount: $190,000
Buyer: Amy M. Bohan
Seller: Casey A. Scholtz
Date: 10/12/16

37 Woodland Dr.
Hampden, MA 01036
Amount: $191,500
Buyer: Joanna Santaniello
Seller: Joseph B. Sullivan
Date: 10/03/16

HOLLAND

46 Island Road
Holland, MA 01521
Amount: $245,000
Buyer: James M. Butler
Seller: Michael S. Ouellet
Date: 10/03/16

8 Lee Ave.
Holland, MA 01521
Amount: $136,450
Buyer: Walter L. McCarthy
Seller: Frank Albarella
Date: 10/07/16

28 Sandy Beach Road
Holland, MA 01521
Amount: $209,000
Buyer: Gordon J. Brookes
Seller: Richard E. Lach
Date: 10/14/16

6 Vinton Way
Holland, MA 01521
Amount: $138,000
Buyer: Michael Hahon
Seller: Rita A. Mahon
Date: 10/14/16

HOLYOKE

88-90 Beacon Ave.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $137,500
Buyer: Deutsche Bank
Seller: Debra L. Dominguez
Date: 10/13/16

108 Chapin St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $165,000
Buyer: Damaris Jimenez
Seller: Jodine Powers
Date: 10/13/16

235 Hillside Ave.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $184,400
Buyer: Corrina M. Riley
Seller: Cardinal Home Investors
Date: 10/14/16

20 Hitchcock St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $183,900
Buyer: Kristen J. Davis
Seller: James C. Wooller
Date: 10/11/16

161 Michigan Ave.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $173,000
Buyer: Stephanie Joyce
Seller: Szymonik, John F., (Estate)
Date: 10/04/16

321 Walnut St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $160,000
Buyer: Joanna M. Lima
Seller: Carmen L. Gonzalez
Date: 10/14/16

LONGMEADOW

41 Belleclaire Ave.
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $299,000
Buyer: Kelly M. Keating
Seller: Nancy Paquette
Date: 10/07/16

387 Maple Road
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $305,900
Buyer: Sharai A. Brown
Seller: Lori-Anne Nadeau
Date: 10/07/16

LUDLOW

Autumn Ridge Road #39
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $131,500
Buyer: Thomas A. Wood
Seller: Whitetail Wreks LLC
Date: 10/04/16

24 Edison Dr.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $190,000
Buyer: Bedros Tavil-Shatelyan
Seller: Amy E. Peck
Date: 10/14/16

50 King St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $218,000
Buyer: John P. Santo
Seller: Ian Premo
Date: 10/11/16

44 Warsaw Ave.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $236,000
Buyer: Donna Martines
Seller: Barbara Pyers
Date: 10/05/16

MONSON

24 Beebe Road
Monson, MA 01057
Amount: $178,000
Buyer: Dawn M. Conklin
Seller: Tamara L. Deiter
Date: 10/07/16

158 Bumstead Road
Monson, MA 01057
Amount: $171,000
Buyer: Nicholas F. Degon
Seller: FNMA
Date: 10/11/16

51 Butler Road
Monson, MA 01057
Amount: $210,000
Buyer: Todd R. Huhtanen
Seller: Linda A. Lacombe
Date: 10/14/16

11 Homer Dr.
Monson, MA 01057
Amount: $183,125
Buyer: Nancy S. Parmele
Seller: Bryan V. Moller
Date: 10/12/16

9 Mechanic St.
Monson, MA 01057
Amount: $239,900
Buyer: Christopher D. Morey
Seller: Lyn Desrochers
Date: 10/07/16

MONTGOMERY

10 Sunset Lane
Montgomery, MA 01085
Amount: $224,900
Buyer: Colin J. Monkiewicz
Seller: Richard M. Couture
Date: 10/07/16

PALMER

37-39 Belchertown St.
Palmer, MA 01080
Amount: $276,774
Buyer: Lasalle Bank
Seller: Brian A. Sampson
Date: 10/14/16

62 Cabot St.
Palmer, MA 01069
Amount: $168,000
Buyer: Stephen Denham
Seller: Mary J. Joyal
Date: 10/03/16

29 Olney Road
Palmer, MA 01069
Amount: $160,000
Buyer: Tamara A. Soares
Seller: Carter, Elizabeth I., (Estate)
Date: 10/03/16

15 Pearl St.
Palmer, MA 01069
Amount: $119,900
Buyer: Ronald J. Guertin
Seller: William R. Midwood
Date: 10/14/16

66 Water St.
Palmer, MA 01069
Amount: $125,000
Buyer: Ronald Emery
Seller: Timothy M. Haley
Date: 10/05/16

RUSSELL

690 Blandford Road
Russell, MA 01071
Amount: $120,000
Buyer: Joseph A. Veale
Seller: Louis C. Lancie
Date: 10/06/16

303 South Quarter Road
Russell, MA 01071
Amount: $220,800
Buyer: Banc America Funding Trust
Seller: H. Spielmann-Bergamini
Date: 10/12/16

SPRINGFIELD

322 Abbott St.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $156,000
Buyer: Joanna King
Seller: Kathleen M. Rodd
Date: 10/14/16

92 Agnes St.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $125,000
Buyer: Katherine P. Wrona
Seller: Jennifer A. Bodge
Date: 10/14/16

50 Arliss St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $168,500
Buyer: David R. Sabbides
Seller: Michele Bertone
Date: 10/07/16

356-364 Belmont Ave.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $1,536,000
Buyer: 356-364 Belmont LLC
Seller: Glenshane 1 LLC
Date: 10/07/16

523 Belmont Ave.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $280,000
Buyer: Minh Tai Inc.
Seller: SCS Realty Corp. Inc.
Date: 10/05/16

11 Bessemer St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $155,000
Buyer: Jacqueline Ponce
Seller: Gerald F. Lavalley
Date: 10/14/16

95 Birchland Ave.
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $143,000
Buyer: Joanne K. Gilmour
Seller: Gregory J. Heffernan
Date: 10/03/16

1333 Boston Road
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $685,000
Buyer: Basile Properties LLC
Seller: Salvatore A. Scibelli
Date: 10/14/16

75 Burnside Ter.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $137,000
Buyer: Ruth N. Restivo
Seller: Michelle R. Camano
Date: 10/05/16

Carver St.
Springfield, MA 01101
Amount: $115,000
Buyer: Orlando R. Hernandez
Seller: FNMA
Date: 10/03/16

147 Carver St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $134,567
Buyer: Carmen J. Molina-Figueroa
Seller: Timothy Nguyen
Date: 10/12/16

388 Central St.
Springfield, MA 01105
Amount: $144,000
Buyer: Kim L. Wallace
Seller: North End Housing Initiative
Date: 10/11/16

116 Chalmers St.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $174,900
Buyer: Pamela J. Elliott
Seller: Jacob B. Schmitt
Date: 10/04/16

73 Davis St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $128,900
Buyer: Dominic J. Bernard
Seller: Louis M. Bourget
Date: 10/06/16

64 Duryea St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $127,000
Buyer: Armando Lopez
Seller: Barbara A. Meehan
Date: 10/14/16

20 Emeline Court
Springfield, MA 01128
Amount: $252,000
Buyer: Tianya Zhou
Seller: Edmund R. Towles
Date: 10/07/16

25-27 Firglade Ave.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $175,000
Buyer: Dirlei Fontes
Seller: Christopher R. Kane
Date: 10/05/16

134 Fountain St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $119,000
Buyer: HSBC Bank
Seller: Nicole M. Choiniere
Date: 10/11/16

56 Gates Ave.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $231,000
Buyer: Lien K. Pham
Seller: Chi C. Wong
Date: 10/06/16

936-942 Grayson Dr.
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $14,000,000
Buyer: CSL Springfield MA LLC
Seller: American Masters Village
Date: 10/04/16

26 Greene St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $122,000
Buyer: Luis Otero
Seller: Gilberto Gonzalez
Date: 10/13/16

170 Harkness Ave.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $185,000
Buyer: Victoria Badillo
Seller: Ryan E. Werth
Date: 10/07/16

22 Hazen St.
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $173,000
Buyer: Zhongwei Shi
Seller: Estelle Bazos
Date: 10/07/16

43 Hebron St.
Springfield, MA 01107
Amount: $138,900
Buyer: Yolanda Santiago
Seller: Hedge Hog Industries Corp.
Date: 10/03/16

22 Holly Court
Springfield, MA 01151
Amount: $151,500
Buyer: Joshua Carney
Seller: Bryan, John R., (Estate)
Date: 10/06/16

50 Ingersoll Grove
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $225,000
Buyer: Jeannie M. Ostroskey
Seller: Laura Roy
Date: 10/06/16

118 Lumae St.
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $163,000
Buyer: Josheehan S. Ware
Seller: Joseph J. Giguere
Date: 10/14/16

139 Maebeth St.
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $118,000
Buyer: Deutsche Bank
Seller: Henry Cordeiro
Date: 10/12/16

31 Maple St.
Springfield, MA 01001
Amount: $2,660,000
Buyer: TEMA LLC
Seller: Chateau Assoc. Springfield
Date: 10/03/16

28 Martin St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $130,000
Buyer: Amy M. Bartley
Seller: Michael Bavaro
Date: 10/14/16

29 Mary Coburn Road
Springfield, MA 01129
Amount: $124,800
Buyer: Wells Fargo Bank
Seller: Demetrios P. Tjimis
Date: 10/06/16

332 Naismith St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $195,000
Buyer: Braj Chhetri
Seller: Emily M. Wechter
Date: 10/05/16

747 North Branch Pkwy.
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $132,135
Buyer: Bank New York Mellon
Seller: James A. Meaux
Date: 10/11/16

24-26 Norfolk St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $178,000
Buyer: Yusef B. Id-Deen
Seller: Grant Durtschi
Date: 10/11/16

36 Paramount St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $117,000
Buyer: Wells Fargo Bank
Seller: Peter Lavigne
Date: 10/13/16

77 Phillips Ave.
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $118,000
Buyer: Deutsche Bank
Seller: Christopher A. Gamble
Date: 10/14/16

1373 Plumtree Road
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $185,500
Buyer: Farman Elahi
Seller: US Bank
Date: 10/05/16

25 Portland St.
Springfield, MA 01107
Amount: $129,900
Buyer: Gerald A. Mckoy
Seller: Greg Dewberry
Date: 10/14/16

75 Powell Ave.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $134,900
Buyer: John C. Keefe
Seller: Sarah L. Fairbanks
Date: 10/11/16

67 Regal St.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $139,900
Buyer: Liam D. Hogan
Seller: Michael R. Harris
Date: 10/07/16

Saint Lawrence Ave.
Springfield, MA 01101
Amount: $191,000
Buyer: D. C. Pichardo-Derodriguez
Seller: Vernice J. Christian
Date: 10/06/16

559 State St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $1,335,000
Buyer: Newport 555 State St. LLC
Seller: JPMT Realty LLC
Date: 10/04/16

340 Taylor St.
Springfield, MA 01105
Amount: $3,295,000
Buyer: Springfield SS LLC
Seller: 9 Iron LLC
Date: 10/06/16

Taylor St.
Springfield, MA 01101
Amount: $3,295,000
Buyer: Springfield SS LLC
Seller: 9 Iron LLC
Date: 10/06/16

5-15 Temple St.
Springfield, MA 01105
Amount: $2,660,000
Buyer: TEMA LLC
Seller: Chateau Assoc. Springfield
Date: 10/03/16

73 Upton St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $127,500
Buyer: Pedro Mattey
Seller: Stephanie C. Joyce
Date: 10/04/16

88 Washburn St.
Springfield, MA 01107
Amount: $137,500
Buyer: Nicholas G. Newsome
Seller: Cruz Rosario
Date: 10/12/16

29 Wells St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $280,000
Buyer: Bertrand Sims
Seller: Bretta Construction LLC
Date: 10/06/16

93 West Broad St.
Springfield, MA 01105
Amount: $1,250,000
Buyer: F. L. Roberts & Co. Inc.
Seller: Steven M. Roberts
Date: 10/14/16

270 White St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $118,450
Buyer: Wilmington TR
Seller: Donald Ingram
Date: 10/03/16

SOUTHWICK

Gableview #12
Southwick, MA 01077
Amount: $145,000
Buyer: Robert T. Clayton
Seller: Laplante Construction Inc.
Date: 10/14/16

24 Shore Road
Southwick, MA 01077
Amount: $243,526
Buyer: Sheri L. Gentile
Seller: Beverly J. Gentile
Date: 10/06/16

WALES

15 Grove Point Road
Wales, MA 01081
Amount: $275,000
Buyer: Diane L. Blais
Seller: Wickers, Laraine S., (Estate)
Date: 10/12/16

WESTFIELD

798 Airport Industrial Park
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $335,000
Buyer: Oleksak RET
Seller: Whip City Investments LLC
Date: 10/04/16

41 Aldrich Dr.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $170,000
Buyer: Andrew J. Cassells
Seller: Irene M. Marsh
Date: 10/04/16

48 Bailey Dr.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $367,500
Buyer: Baron Maruca
Seller: Johnathan J. Timek
Date: 10/14/16

208 Belanger Road
Westfield, MA 01073
Amount: $175,000
Buyer: Sean M. Henry
Seller: Harold A. Demers
Date: 10/11/16

11 Brookline Ave.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $175,000
Buyer: Ronald C. Perrott
Seller: Mark E. Deacon
Date: 10/12/16

8 Cherry St.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $175,000
Buyer: Deutsche Bank
Seller: Leo J. Boucher
Date: 10/03/16

108 Court St.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $249,000
Buyer: Juan A. Roman
Seller: Marcia J. Orlandi
Date: 10/07/16

131 Dartmouth St.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $150,000
Buyer: Camptillo Realty LLC
Seller: Todd C. Roselli
Date: 10/13/16

54 Day Ave.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $200,000
Buyer: Jason J. Schrecke
Seller: John R. Schrecke
Date: 10/05/16

1497 East Mountain Road
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $300,000
Buyer: Samuel J. O’Connor
Seller: Martin Rodgers
Date: 10/12/16

131 Hillcrest Circle
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $415,000
Buyer: Timothy J. Chrystal
Seller: David K. Miller
Date: 10/07/16

20 Miller St.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $200,000
Buyer: Nataliya A. Vdovichenko
Seller: Aleksandr Vdovichenko
Date: 10/03/16

18 Overlook Dr.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $325,000
Buyer: Kelly M. Oliver
Seller: Francis A. Friguglietti
Date: 10/07/16

30 Schumann Dr.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $246,000
Buyer: HSBC Bank
Seller: George A. Plante
Date: 10/13/16

17 Stephen Lane
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $199,000
Buyer: Mary E. Cotnoir
Seller: Mary E. Cotnoir
Date: 10/13/16

97 Union St.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $178,000
Buyer: Jason T. Grunwald
Seller: Charles E. Copson
Date: 10/06/16

9 West School St.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $155,000
Buyer: Deutsche Bank
Seller: Arlene F. Miacola
Date: 10/11/16

64 Woodside Ter.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $120,000
Buyer: Marth E. LLC
Seller: Terry A. Andras
Date: 10/11/16

WILBRAHAM

2350 Boston Road
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $4,500,000
Buyer: Prime Group Wilbraham LLC
Seller: Baystate Self Storage Wilbraham
Date: 10/14/16

2424 Boston Road
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $225,000
Buyer: Zander Hersman LLC
Seller: Robert H. Rowe
Date: 10/14/16

3233 Boston Road
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $192,000
Buyer: Craig Holmes
Seller: Hedge Hog Industries Corp.
Date: 10/11/16

24 Red Bridge Road
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $319,900
Buyer: Christopher N. Russell
Seller: Michael Ferranti
Date: 10/04/16

237 Springfield St.
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $303,000
Buyer: Andrew J. Harrington
Seller: Walter J. Grono
Date: 10/07/16

6 Scenic Dr.
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $314,000
Buyer: Robert G. Considine
Seller: Timothy J. Nelen
Date: 10/14/16

997 Tinkham Road
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $126,450
Buyer: Deutsche Bank
Seller: Charles B. Thompson
Date: 10/03/16

WEST SPRINGFIELD

60 Almon Ave.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $195,000
Buyer: Evan D. Culver
Seller: Alan C. Spencer
Date: 10/11/16

76 Armstrong St.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $146,404
Buyer: Wells Fargo Bank
Seller: Francesco M. Giordano
Date: 10/04/16

52 Clyde Ave.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $180,900
Buyer: Gregory J. Heffernan
Seller: William J. Langlands
Date: 10/03/16

76 Cornflower Dr.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $245,000
Buyer: Charles Denard-Robinson
Seller: Monica Hall
Date: 10/13/16

19 East School St.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $115,000
Buyer: Jose E. Acevedo
Seller: Michael Werman
Date: 10/11/16

183 Falmouth Road
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $290,000
Buyer: Allen C. Keough
Seller: Matthew A. Hamilton
Date: 10/03/16

45 Fox St.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $147,000
Buyer: FNMA
Seller: Muriel J. Morin
Date: 10/06/16

113 Massasoit Ave.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $220,000
Buyer: Nathanael Perez
Seller: Mark J. Rodgers
Date: 10/14/16

501 Memorial Ave.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $2,157,000
Buyer: AF West Springfield MA
Seller: James P. Demetri
Date: 10/06/16

87 Mulcahy Dr.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $505,500
Buyer: Mark J. Rodgers
Seller: Francis Wheeler Construction
Date: 10/07/16

170 Norman St.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $125,000
Buyer: C&L LLC
Seller: Center Line Industries
Date: 10/06/16

Sawmill Road
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $263,000
Buyer: Javier Ocampo
Seller: FNMA
Date: 10/06/16

72 Upper Beverly Hills
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $229,900
Buyer: Donald J. Finamore
Seller: Allen C. Keough
Date: 10/03/16

185 Wolcott Ave.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $140,000
Buyer: William E. Sullivan
Seller: Kathleen M. Vetal
Date: 10/14/16

HAMPSHIRE COUNTY

AMHERST

797 East Pleasant St.
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $610,000
Buyer: Jianhan Chen
Seller: Joyce M. Gooden
Date: 10/03/16

44 Western Lane
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $385,000
Buyer: Sharon S. Kimball
Seller: Erik K. Kjeldsen
Date: 10/07/16

40 Woodlot Road
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $430,000
Buyer: Jason Kamilar
Seller: Denise M. Emmons-Andler
Date: 10/12/16

BELCHERTOWN

256 Cold Spring Road
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $300,000
Buyer: Jonathan G. Martins
Seller: Theresa A. Przybylowicz
Date: 10/14/16

332 Cold Spring Road
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $290,000
Buyer: Susan Hibbard
Seller: Holly F. Clements
Date: 10/07/16

19 Deer Run
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $400,000
Buyer: Christopher D. Carlson
Seller: Paul R. Kucinski
Date: 10/04/16

700 Franklin St.
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $265,000
Buyer: Todd A. Bucklin
Seller: Tianyi Zhou
Date: 10/07/16

139 Kennedy Road
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $272,000
Buyer: Jennifer L. Cote
Seller: Elizabeth Cassidy
Date: 10/14/16

250 Mill Valley Road
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $150,000
Buyer: David A. Pepin
Seller: FHLM
Date: 10/14/16

71 North St.
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $125,600
Buyer: Bank New York
Seller: Thomas R. Hourihan
Date: 10/07/16

236 North Liberty St.
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $254,000
Buyer: Michael E. Neiford
Seller: Charles E. Cavagnaro
Date: 10/06/16

CHESTERFIELD

238 Bryant St.
Chesterfield, MA 01012
Amount: $130,500
Buyer: Peter G. Smith
Seller: Robert Palmer
Date: 10/04/16

EASTHAMPTON

2 Division St.
Easthampton, MA 01027
Amount: $205,000
Buyer: Anthony J. Dedrick
Seller: Shirley J. Smith
Date: 10/14/16

117 Maple St.
Easthampton, MA 01027
Amount: $299,500
Buyer: Frederick Hanselman
Seller: David M. Biron
Date: 10/12/16

25 Mutter St.
Easthampton, MA 01027
Amount: $225,000
Buyer: Padraic M. Shaughnessy
Seller: Barbara A. Kugler
Date: 10/12/16

9 Wilton Road
Easthampton, MA 01027
Amount: $160,000
Buyer: Crossroads Prop Investors
Seller: Bank Of New York Mellon
Date: 10/13/16

GOSHEN

45 Aberdeen Road
Goshen, MA 01032
Amount: $118,000
Buyer: Robert E. Barber
Seller: Herbert W. Ezold
Date: 10/11/16

GRANBY

86 West St.
Granby, MA 01033
Amount: $262,000
Buyer: Denise J. Fedele
Seller: Coderre Development Inc.
Date: 10/05/16

HADLEY

4 Maegans Way
Hadley, MA 01035
Amount: $250,000
Buyer: Richard M. Diruzza
Seller: Gwen A. Quinlan
Date: 10/12/16

26 Stockwell Road
Hadley, MA 01035
Amount: $354,000
Buyer: Andrew Vinard
Seller: Mark Acton
Date: 10/06/16

HATFIELD

Molloy Ave.
Hatfield, MA 01038
Amount: $250,000
Buyer: Harlow Builders
Seller: Molloy, Edward D., (Estate)
Date: 10/07/16

4 Porter Ave.
Hatfield, MA 01038
Amount: $195,000
Buyer: Holland Hoagland
Seller: Travis J. Kowalski
Date: 10/06/16

HUNTINGTON

41 Allen Coit Road
Huntington, MA 01050
Amount: $260,000
Buyer: Andrew M. Dunn
Seller: Adam Platt
Date: 10/11/16

15 Rockybrook Dr.
Huntington, MA 01050
Amount: $132,000
Buyer: 15 Rockybrook Dr. Land Trust
Seller: Kenneth E. Rachmaciej
Date: 10/03/16

59 Searle Road
Huntington, MA 01050
Amount: $251,500
Buyer: David L. St.Germain
Seller: Robert S. Baker
Date: 10/14/16

NORTHAMPTON

10 Beaver Brook Loop
Northampton, MA 01060
Amount: $152,000
Buyer: Christopher W. Steed
Seller: Beaver Brook NT
Date: 10/05/16

399 Elm St.
Northampton, MA 01060
Amount: $339,000
Buyer: Jeffrey S. Balboni
Seller: Susan F. Rice
Date: 10/14/16

24 Fort St.
Northampton, MA 01060
Amount: $288,000
Buyer: Pooja G. Rangan
Seller: Michael J. Ahearn
Date: 10/14/16

33 Orchard St.
Northampton, MA 01060
Amount: $256,000
Buyer: Alexandra M. Diamond
Seller: Robert J. Lefebvre
Date: 10/14/16

17 Stoddard St.
Northampton, MA 01060
Amount: $482,500
Buyer: Jeffrey S. Saltzman
Seller: Jacob H. Schauer
Date: 10/14/16

17 Warren St.
Northampton, MA 01062
Amount: $340,000
Buyer: Richard Parr
Seller: Romney B. Biddulph
Date: 10/11/16

138 West St.
Northampton, MA 01060
Amount: $275,000
Buyer: Safe Journeys LLC
Seller: Gerard R. Wallace RET
Date: 10/07/16

1089 Westhampton Road
Northampton, MA 01062
Amount: $150,000
Buyer: Bonnie S. Gordon
Seller: TJDL Development LLC
Date: 10/04/16

SOUTH HADLEY

86 Alvord St.
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $324,900
Buyer: James Jolley
Seller: Jack Plotnikiewicz
Date: 10/04/16

55 Judd Ave.
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $195,000
Buyer: Kaylan Vazquez
Seller: Rosemary Reardon
Date: 10/06/16

15 Lyman St.
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $125,000
Buyer: Robert L. Scribner
Seller: Christine A. Howard
Date: 10/14/16

13 Magnolia Ter.
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $358,500
Buyer: Martin D. Rodgers
Seller: Donna M. Theroux
Date: 10/12/16

60 Park Ave.
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $392,500
Buyer: CIL Realty Of Mass Inc.
Seller: Christine M. Roy
Date: 10/05/16

121 Sunset Ave.
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $262,000
Buyer: Margaret Stebbins
Seller: Melissa M. Boucher
Date: 10/14/16

SOUTHAMPTON

Gunn Road #A
Southampton, MA 01073
Amount: $141,000
Buyer: Andrew D. Endris
Seller: John A. Piparas
Date: 10/06/16

40 Gunn Road Ext.
Southampton, MA 01073
Amount: $240,000
Buyer: Christopher S. Laptew
Seller: Thomas M. Garvey
Date: 10/03/16

5 Madeline Way
Southampton, MA 01073
Amount: $130,000
Buyer: Thomas J. Hogan
Seller: Connecticut River Valley Development
Date: 10/07/16

165 Pomeroy Meadow Road
Southampton, MA 01073
Amount: $348,000
Buyer: Nathan R. Bush
Seller: Lorena V. Valente
Date: 10/05/16

WARE

188 Old Belchertown Road
Ware, MA 01082
Amount: $252,500
Buyer: William Midwood
Seller: Laurie E. Edwards
Date: 10/12/16

2-4 Towne St.
Ware, MA 01082
Amount: $147,400
Buyer: Stephen R. Chiacchia
Seller: Frederick Hagman
Date: 10/11/16

104 West St.
Ware, MA 01082
Amount: $7,651,236
Buyer: Jayne E. Sears-Renfer
Seller: HJN Hotels Corp.
Date: 10/14/16

4 Williston Dr.
Ware, MA 01082
Amount: $284,900
Buyer: Keith D. Brecher
Seller: Samantha C. Clay
Date: 10/04/16

WILLIAMSBURG

45 Briar Hill Road
Williamsburg, MA 01096
Amount: $347,000
Buyer: Angelina M. Altobellis
Seller: Noel J. Botfield
Date: 10/11/16

2 Deer Haven Dr.
Williamsburg, MA 01039
Amount: $581,000
Buyer: Jacob H. Schauer
Seller: Katharine B. Cowperthwait
Date: 10/06/16

18 Eastern Ave.
Williamsburg, MA 01096
Amount: $595,000
Buyer: Lawrence L. Lashway
Seller: Gerald D. Lashway
Date: 10/03/16

People on the Move

By
Departments People on the Move
Melyssa Brown

Melyssa Brown

Meyers Brothers Kalicka, P.C. (MBK) announced that Melyssa Brown, CPA, MBA, has been accepted into the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) Leadership Academy. She was previously honored with a Women to Watch Emerging Leader Award from the Massachusetts Society of CPAs. Brown’s induction into the Leadership Academy took place over the course of a four-day program held earlier this month in Durham, N.C. The prestigious invitation-only program featured interactive dialogue with the profession’s top leaders designed to build on the foundational knowledge perspective of each individual. Attendees were immersed in experiential exercises and self-examination of leadership and how a new strategic vision will positively impact their personal life, career path, and the CPA profession. “We’re very proud of Melyssa’s achievement,” said MBK partner James Barrett. “It’s not her first honor, and it certainly won’t be her last. She started here as an entry-level staff member and quickly went on to become the youngest senior manager in the firm’s history. We look forward to more amazing things from her.” Brown received her bachelor in accountancy degree from Elms College and her MBA in accounting from the Isenberg School of Management at UMass Amherst. She is vice president of the Girls Inc. board of directors and is active in the UMass Family Business Center and the Young Professional Society of Greater Springfield. She was also a BusinessWest 40 Under Forty honoree in 2013.

•••••

Baystate Health has appointed Ben Craft to the new position of Senior Director of Government and Public Affairs. Craft, who has served as the organization’s director of Public Affairs since 2012, is assuming the additional responsibility of government affairs to support Baystate’s needs for strong connections with local, state, and federal government amid continuing rapid change in the healthcare environment. Craft returned home to Western Mass. to join Baystate in 2008, having worked previously at the United Nations and the Wall Street Journal in New York City. His work at the UN included communications and policy advocacy with government, nonprofit, and civil-society partners. He will report to Jennifer Endicott, Baystate’s chief strategy officer and senior vice president of Strategy and External Relations. “With his deep understanding of the challenges facing healthcare providers today and a strong network of relationships in the community and across Baystate Health, Ben is well-positioned to serve as point person for our local, state, and federal government partners,” said Endicott. “He is committed to finding ways to improve the dialogue between our dedicated elected officials and Baystate Health, the largest provider of safety-net services and largest private employer in Western Massachusetts. Ben’s previous experience, particularly at the UN, will be invaluable in achieving this goal.” Craft grew up in East Longmeadow and is a 1996 graduate of UMass Amherst.

•••••

Three new board members have been elected to the Bay Path University board of trustees. Mary Bushnell, Martin Caine, and Andrew Davis will each serve a three-year term which began in June.
• Bushnell is a 1974 graduate of Bay Path. She and her husband, David, have been generous donors to the university for 30 years, with their philanthropy having a particular focus on student scholarship. In 2005, she served as co-chair to kick off the Carol A. Leary Endowed Scholarship Fund for First Generation Students. Their support of Bay Path’s “Charting New Paths” campaign was instrumental in launching the American Women’s College, Bay Path’s online degree-completion program. Currently, their support involves providing funds to underwrite a data-based campus study being done to determine which in-school factors contribute to Bay Path graduates’ personal, professional, and/or family success upon graduation. She has served on many boards for the past 30 years, recently completing her tenure of eight years on the board of the Overlook Foundation, which raises funds for the Overlook Medical Center in Summit, N.J.;
• Caine is a principal at Wolf & Company, P.C. in Springfield. He has more than 25 years of experience as a certified public accountant, providing audit and advisory services to business owners, executives, and boards of directors. His advisory services include consulting on internal control compliance, acquisitions and divestitures, due diligence, and compensation matters. His industry experience encompasses financial institutions, manufacturing and distribution, and not-for-profit entities. Caine is a frequent speaker on financial topics, particularly in his areas of expertise, accounting and auditing. He is a 1986 graduate of Western New England College and is a CPA in both Massachusetts and Connecticut. He is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the Massachusetts Society of Certified Public Accountants, and serves on the board of advisors at Valley Venture Mentors Inc.; and
• Davis is president and managing partner of Chestnut Realty Management, LLC in Springfield. He is responsible for the underwriting and financing of new transactions for the firm’s investment strategies. Prior to forming Chestnut Realty Partners, Davis spent three years with Wallace Capital, managing underwriting in its Florida office and originating bridge real-estate loans; six years at PVI Capital, LLC, a private commercial lender specializing in short-term bridge financing; and five years managing residential acquisitions for GFI Partners, a production builder and real-estate development company. A 2001 graduate of St. Michael’s College, he is a former board member of HAPHousing and serves as chapter forum officer for the Young Presidents’ Organization.

•••••

Berkshire Bank announced the following:
• Gregory Lindenmuth has joined Berkshire as executive vice president, chief risk officer, reporting to the bank’s president, Richard Marotta. Lindenmuth joins Berkshire Bank from the FDIC, where he worked for 24 years, most recently as a senior risk examiner for the Division of Risk Management Supervision. Through this position, he has gained expert understanding of capital markets, including investments, derivatives, securitizations, market risk, liquidity/funds management, and mortgage banking. He also excels in modeling profit plans, establishing budgets, and setting strategic objectives. In his new role, he will lead the loan workout, credit, and enterprise risk management teams. Lindenmuth holds a bachelor’s degree in operations management from the Plattsburgh State University of New York and an MBA in corporate finance from Clarkson University. With the FDIC, he was a capital markets, mortgage banking, and fraud specialist and a member of the National Examination Procedures Committee. He also co-developed and co-presented the FDIC’s technical-assistance videos on interest-rate risk and has been an active speaker at New England Directors’ Colleges;
• Mike Ferry has been promoted to the position of Senior Vice President, Commercial Regional President, for Berkshire County and Vermont. Ferry brings more than 37 years of industry experience, 30 of which have been spent with Berkshire Bank. Leading the Berkshire and Vermont regions for the bank since 2012, his primary focus is commercial lending and ancillary products and services. He also serves as president of the Berkshire Bank Foundation. Ferry holds a bachelor’s degre from Saint Michaels College in Colchester, Vt. Dedicated to his community, he is currently a board member and Treasurer for Berkshire County ARC, board president of the Berkshire Housing Development Corporation & Berkshire Housing Services Inc., board member and chair of the finance committee for Berkshire United Way, committee member for the Dalton Development and Industrial Commission and a volunteer coach with the Special Olympics Massachusetts; and
• Jim Hickson has rejoined the bank as SVP Commercial Regional President for the Pioneer Valley and Connecticut markets. In his new role, he will focus on growing the commercial-lending business, as well as expanding relationships with products and services offered through the bank’s other business lines, including wealth management, private banking, insurance, and retail banking. Hickson brings to the bank more than 26 years of financial experience. His previous roles include commercial banking team leader for People’s United Bank and SVP ABL relationship manager at Berkshire Bank, and he also held positions within TD Bank, KPMG Consulting, and Fleet Capital. Hickson holds a bachelor’s degree from Boston College and an MBA from Boston University. He is board chair and president of the board of directors for Common Capital, a board member for New England Certified Development Corp., and serves on Wilbraham Friends of Recreation.

•••••

Bacon Wilson announced that five attorneys have been named to the 2016 Massachusetts Super Lawyers list of top attorneys in the Commonwealth, and three have been named to the 2016 Massachusetts Rising Stars list. Both rosters appear in New England Super Lawyers magazine. Only 5% of New England’s lawyers are Super Lawyers, with attorneys selected for background, professional experience, achievement, and peer recognition. The following Bacon Wilson attorneys were honored for 2016:
• Gary Fialky – Business/Corporate, Banking, Real Estate;
• Michael Katz – Business/Corporate, Business Bankruptcy, Consumer Bankruptcy;
• Paul Rothschild – General Litigation, Employment and Labor, Personal Injury;
• Hyman Darling – Estate Planning & Probate, Elder Law, Tax; and
• Gina Barry – Estate Planning and Probate, Elder Law, Residential Real Estate.
Rising Stars are under 40 years of age, or have been practicing law for less than 10 years. Fewer than 2.5% of New England lawyers are named as Rising Stars, including the following Bacon Wilson attorneys for 2016:
• Adam Basch – Construction Litigation, Business Litigation, Personal Injury;
• Benjamin Coyle – Business/Corporate; State, Local, and Municipal; Estate and Trust Litigation; and
• Thomas Reidy – Land Use/Zoning.

•••••

Jennifer Halloran

Jennifer Halloran

Bolstering its commitment to reach consumers on their terms, Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. has appointed longtime financial-services branding and marketing executive Jennifer Halloran as head of Brand and Advertising. Halloran, who is based in Boston and reports to MassMutual Chief Customer Experience Officer Gareth Ross, will oversee the collaborative development and implementation of the company’s initiatives in brand marketing, community responsibility, digital content, and social engagement. She will also be responsible for managing the deployment of the MassMutual brand strategy throughout all channels, as well as in the company’s community-engagement efforts. “We are excited to have someone with Jennifer’s track record of experience in the financial-services industry and business acumen on board to further enable us to drive the MassMutual brand in a way that is consistent with our strategy, and create a consistent experience within the marketplace and with our customers,” said Ross. “Her experience, creativity, and passion for collaboration — underscored by her successes throughout her two-decade career — will be invaluable as we move forward as a company.” Halloran was most recently with Fidelity Investments, where she spent a total of eight years in a variety of leadership roles in marketing, communications, and branding. These responsibilities included managing and executing the redesign of web, digital, and content programs for Fidelity’s Innovation Lab, as well as many other cross-channel digital customer-experience programs. She also held various marketing, communications, and brand-strategy positions with both Mobiquity Inc. and Putnam Investments. She began her career in 1996 with integrated advertising agency Digitas (now DigitasLBi). A graduate of Boston College with a bachelor’s degree in economics and political science, Halloran earned her MBA in marketing/marketing management from Babson College’s Franklin W. Olin Graduate School of Business.

•••••

Amy Royal

Amy Royal

Royal, P.C., a woman-owned, boutique, management-side labor and employment law firm, announced that Amy Royal, principal and founding partner of the firm, has been honored with selection as one of New England’s Super Lawyers and has been included in the 2016 issue of New England Super Lawyers magazine. Super Lawyers consists of attorneys throughout New England who are nominated by their peers as outstanding lawyers; the nomination then goes through an extensive selection process. With more than 16 years of experience, Royal has successfully defended employers in both federal and state courts as well as before administrative agencies in a variety of areas of employment law, including employment discrimination and sexual harassment, unfair competition, breach of contract and wrongful discharge claims, workers’ compensation, and Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), and Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) violations, with a special emphasis in wage-and-hour class actions. Royal regularly advises non-union clients on maintaining a union-free workplace and performs other preventive work such as wage-and-hour law compliance, record-keeping audits, drafting of employee manuals and affirmative-action plans, and management training. In addition, she assists unionized clients during contract negotiations, at arbitrations, and with respect to employee grievances and unfair-labor-practices charges. Royal’s accolades also include Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly’s 2012 Top Women of Law award recognizing her as a top female lawyer in Massachusetts, as well as BusinessWest’s prestigious 40 Under Forty award, recognizing her for outstanding leadership in the Pioneer Valley business community.

Bankruptcies

By
Bankruptcies Departments

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

Atmaca, Mehmet Mustafa
Atmaca, Nil
21 Pine St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 10/01/16

Bamber, Julie A.
5A Pine Hill Dr.
Palmer, MA 01069
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 10/03/16

Connery, David John
PO Box 223
Southampton, MA 01073
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 10/13/16

Desautels, Deborah L.
1113 Burts Pit Road
Florence, MA 01062
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 10/11/16

Diodati, Dawn-Marie
28 Phillip Ave
Westfield, MA 01085
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 09/30/16

Dyer, Gary Wayne
Dyer, Lori Ann
218 East St.
Easthampton, MA 01027
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 10/14/16

Errichetto, Darlene R.
76 Hickingbotham Road
Peru, MA 01235
Chapter: 13
Filing Date: 10/13/16

Gauthier, Richard
Gauthier, Mary A.
127 North St.
Ware, MA 01082
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 10/07/16

Gould, Jeffrey Michael
Gould, Danielle Marie
a/k/a Pearce, Danielle M.
230 Ely Ave.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 10/11/16

Gromosky, Jillian J
68 Jim Ash Road
Palmer, MA 01069
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 10/03/16

Hickey, Kara Anne
246 Conway St., Apt. 2
Greenfield, MA 01301
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 10/11/16

Holmes, Angela L.
332 Parker St.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 10/14/16

Lewkowicz, Ann-Marie
55 Sodom St.
Granville, MA 01034
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 10/06/16

Lynch, Jane E.
150 Federal St.
Florence, MA 01062
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 10/12/16

McCaughey, Belinda Z.
25 Bayne St.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 10/14/16

Olson, Eric W.
Olson, Jane
98 Pheasant Hill Dr.
Feeding Hills, MA 01030
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 10/03/16

Ozuna-Nunez, Sarah E.
171 Arnold Ave
Springfield, MA 01119
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 10/13/16

Pafumi, Michael J.
155 Kibbe Road
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 10/14/16

Smith, Jennifer L.
714 Barker Road
Pittsfield, MA 01201
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 10/04/16

St.Germain, Martin 0.
70-72 West Main St.
Ware, MA 01082
Chapter: 13
Filing Date: 10/05/16

Tix and More LLC
Ticket Knight
Knight’s Ticket Service LLC
Knight, Michael Alan
Knight, Jennefer Madeleine
162 Huckle Hill Road
Bernardston, MA 01337
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 10/11/16

Transcend Carriers, Inc.
TCI Enterprises, LLC
Jordan, James Fraser
Jordan, Susan Walsh
86 Whately Road
South Deerfield, MA 01373
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 10/13/16

Fall Feastival Raises More Than $50,000 for Habitat for Humanity

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Daily News

WEST SPRINGFIELD — Greater Springfield Habitat for Humanity’s (GSHFH) 16th annual Fall Feastival on Nov. 3 raised more than $50,000 to support the organization’s work.

The event was hosted at Twin Hills Country Club in Longmeadow. Hundreds from the community gathered alongside more than 30 sponsors, making it one of the most successful events in Habitat’s history. Eventgoers enjoyed food from a dozen local restaurants, raffles, silent and live auctions, and a touching speech from a long-time Habitat family.

“We’re thrilled with the turnout and participation by so many members of our community,” said Jennifer Schimmel, executive director. “This is a testimony to how much our community cares about meeting needs right here at home. We want to extend a sincere and heartfelt ‘thank you’ to everyone who participated.”

Since its founding in 1987, Greater Springfield Habitat for Humanity has helped more than 60 local families, and 90 international families, realize their dream of safe, decent, and affordable home ownership.

“Every one of our partnering organizations and community friends who work tirelessly to keep our communities vital and strong are truly appreciated,” Schimmel said.

Culture & Cocktails to Showcase Museum’s Gingerbread Exhibit

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Daily News

SPRINGFIELD — The Springfield Museums’ Culture & Cocktails series continues with an evening titled “Gingerbread, Magic, and Merriment” on Thursday, Dec. 8 from 5 to 8 p.m. at the Springfield Science Museum. Guests are invited to escape into a sugary and magical world while enjoying festive cocktails, holiday entertainment, planetarium shows, and viewings of the entries in this year’s “Holiday Magic” gingerbread exhibit.

The Museum Store will also be open, with museum members entitled to take 20% off their entire purchase (10% off for non-members), with free gift wrapping for all shoppers. The event is sponsored by the Springfield Symphony Orchestra.

Catering at all Culture & Cocktails events is provided by Log Rolling Catering, and hors d’oeuvres and other treats are included with admission, as well as a cash bar. Admission is $5 for members and $15 for non-members (attendees must be 21 years of age or older). Reservations are recommended. To reserve tickets, visit springfieldmuseums.org or call (413) 263-6800, ext. 379.

Culture & Cocktails programs are after-5 events held at one of the four museums on the Quadrangle campus. Each event’s theme is inspired by the Springfield Museums’ extensive collections, special exhibits, and holiday celebrations. The series continues with “Indulgence: An Evening of Wine and Chocolate” at the D’Amour Museum of Fine Arts on Thursday, Feb. 2, 2017.

Berkshire Bank Foundation Supports Community Development Corp.

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Daily News

PITTSFIELD — The Berkshire Bank Foundation has made a $10,000 donation to the Community Development Corp. (CDC) of South Berkshire in support of the nonprofit’s work in providing affordable housing at 100 Bridge St., Great Barrington. The grant will support the construction of 45 new, safe, highly energy-efficient apartments in the center of town for generations to come, enabling residents to walk to work, shopping, and the adjoining 1.5 acres of public park along the Housatonic River.

By utilizing Massachusetts Community Investment Tax Credits, Berkshire Bank Foundation will receive a 50% cash refund ($5,000) from the Commonwealth, enabling it to double its philanthropic impact in the region. This leverage of philanthropic support is available to individuals, businesses, and nonprofit organizations making donations in support of the CDC’s work.

The Berkshire Bank Foundation’s charitable work aligns directly with the CDC’s work focusing on serving the community. “We look for programs that don’t simply address the issues but create real change. Education and community/economic development are two of our foundation’s focus areas, as is serving the needs of low-income individuals,” said foundation Vice President and Director Lori Gazzillo. “The CDC’s work resonates with the foundation’s goals, as does their patient persistence in continuing the long-term work to provide more homes for families and elders and jobs for our communities.”

CDC Executive Director Timothy Geller expressed his gratitude for the bank’s continued support of the CDC’s affordable-housing work. “Access to affordable housing affects every aspect of our communities by improving the financial stability of families, providing schoolchildren a safe and stable environment, providing employee housing for businesses, and enabling our youth to be able to live and work here.”

Author Eileen Markey to Launch Book at Irish Cultural Center

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Daily News

WEST SPRINGFIELD — Springfield native and investigative journalist Eileen Markey will read from and discuss her new book, A Radical Faith: The Assassination of Sr. Maura on Saturday, Nov. 26 at 2 p.m. at the Irish Cultural Center of Western New England’s new center at 429 Morgan Road in West Springfield. The public is welcome to attend this free event.

Markey’s book focuses on the life of Maryknoll Sister Maura Clarke, one of four American women — three of them Roman Catholic nuns — who were brutally murdered in El Salvador in December 1980. News of the killing shocked the American public and set off a decade of debate over Cold War policy in Latin America. But as Congress held hearings; the State Department, CIA, and FBI traded memos; and supporters held emotional memorial services, the women themselves became symbols, shorn of context and background: hapless victims.

Drawing on interviews with Clarke’s family and the people she loved and worked with, her letters, and still heavily redacted government documents, Markey followed the trail of her life through four countries. Working in poor communities transformed Clarke from an obedient and rule-bound young woman into a provocative critic of authority who pushed the boundaries of what it meant to be faithful to religious conviction — even if it meant challenging the CIA-backed regimes terrorizing the poor of Latin America.

In examining the forces that shaped Clarke’s life, Markey was able to look closely at the inheritance of Irish nationalism, the immigrant experience in New York, the Cold War, the adaptations of the Catholic Church at Vatican II, and the social and political movements that convulsed Central America in the 1970s and 1980s. Her story continues to be relevant as the crimes of the 1980s in Central America begin to be prosecuted, the fallout of those wars continue to reverberate in current immigration patterns, as Americans continue to grapple with the role of faith in public life and negotiate a world of distraction and fear.

Community Resources for People with Autism Changes Its Name

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Daily News

EASTHAMPTON — Community Resources for People with Autism announced it has changed its name to Autism Connections, effective Nov. 14. The new name better reflects the mission of the 27-year-old autism center, Director Karen Serra said.

Autism Connections was founded in 1989 by parents of children with autism and has served thousands of local families as they navigate the sometimes-complicated world of autism.

Autism Connections is staffed by autism professionals and works closely with family members to provide a wide variety of services through autism centers in Easthampton and Pittsfield, as well as family and individual supports through referrals by the Department of Developmental Services. It offers trainings, support groups, family activities, and ongoing collaboration with local organizations. In addition, Autism Connections provides direct services to families and people with autism, including educational advocacy, behavior supports, and more.

“Autism Connections is a name that truly reflects all we do,” said Serra. “We help hundreds of families calling into the center; we offer social-skills training groups, support groups, intensive case management; we organize family fun community events, and so much more.”

Autism Connections is a program of Pathlight, a social-services organization based in Springfield that is a leader in services for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities in Western Mass.

Ed and Ellen Noonan to Lead Capital Campaign for Baystate Wing ED

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Daily News

PALMER — Baystate Wing Hospital announced that Ed and Ellen Noonan will serve as co-chairs for the Baystate Wing Emergency Department Campaign. The goal of the project, which is scheduled to begin construction in 2017, will rightsize the Emergency Department at the Palmer campus to better serve current patient demands.

The husband-and-wife team, well-known local residents and noted business and community leaders, have agreed to lead the fund-raising efforts as campaign co-chairs. Ed Noonan, a Baystate Health trustee, is owner of Noonan Energy, a fifth-generation business and family-owned company with a 125-year reputation in heating services. He has also served as a longtime member of the Baystate Wing Hospital board of directors. Ellen Noonan, who served as vice president for Educational Enterprise and executive director for Extended Campus Programs at American International College in Springfield, also co-chairs the Patient and Family Advisory Council for both the Baystate Mary Lane and Baystate Wing campuses.

The Emergency Department expansion project includes 18 private exam rooms, fast-track rooms for patients with minor injuries or illnesses, a dedicated space for behavioral-health patients and caregivers, and a private triage and consultation room. A specialized isolation room for highly contagious patients and a decontamination room for hazardous-materials exposure treatment are also among the rooms slated for construction. A more streamlined check-in process and private discharge areas will provide seamless patient care with reduced wait times.

“I’ve used the Baystate Wing Hospital Emergency Department and understand, first-hand, how important emergency care is to our community,” Ed Noonan said. “I’m proud to help lead this campaign to ensure that our community has access to the latest life-saving treatments for many years to come, but this project can’t happen without community support.”

Michael Moran, president and chief administrative officer for Baystate Health’s Eastern Region, which includes Baystate Wing Hospital and the Baystate Mary Lane Outpatient Center, called the project an exciting one for the region. “We are grateful to Ed and Ellen for leading this effort and for their continued generous support. We are focused on providing excellent patient experience, so we’re delighted to make this investment to better serve our patients. The project fulfills a critical need for additional treatment beds and will improve the environment in which we treat the more than 24,000 patients who visit us each year for emergency care.”

Added Ellen Noonan, “every dollar given to this campaign will stay right here in our community providing the best emergency care possible for our families, friends, neighbors, and our children and grandchildren.”

The campaign’s fund-raising goal is $2.8 million. The overall cost of building and equipping the new emergency department at Baystate Wing Hospital is $17.2 million, with Baystate Health committing funding through capital investment and bonds.

“We are privileged to have the leadership and support of Ed and Ellen Noonan to lead this important capital campaign for Baystate Wing Hospital,” said Jane Albert, vice president of Philanthropy, Baystate Health, and executive director of Baystate Health Foundation. “We truly appreciate their commitment and recognition of the importance of philanthropic support to helping keep care local and serve the needs of our communities.”

As lead volunteers for the campaign, the Noonans will be meeting with friends and neighbors throughout the area to share information and raise people’s awareness about services now available at Baystate Wing Hospital as well as plans for the hospital’s future.

SRC Breakfast to Focus on Generational Differences in the Workplace

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Daily News

SPRINGFIELD — Generational differences in the workplace will be the focus of discussion at the Springfield Regional Chamber December Business@Breakfast on Wednesday, Dec. 7 from 7:15 to 9 a.m. at the Log Cabin, 500 Easthampton Road, Holyoke, sponsored by United Personnel.

Human Resources Management Assoc. of Western New England (HRMA) members Myra Quick, Pam Thornton, and Dave O’Brien will engage in a panel discussion moderated by HRMA member Allison Ebner on the differences between generations, the challenges posed by having multiple generations in the workplace, how to integrate these generations, and the positive impacts each generation has on the workplace. The panel will also discuss how to adjust recruiting practices and onboarding processes to adapt to each generation and what steps employers can take to keep each generation of employees engaged and productive.

The breakfast will also recognize the law firm Robinson Donovan on its 150th year in business as well as Collins Electric Co. on its 110th anniversary.

Reservations are $22.50 for Springfield Regional Chamber members in advance ($25 at the door) and $30 for general admission in advance ($35 at the door). Reservations can be made in advance online at www.springfieldregionalchamber.com or by e-mailing [email protected].

Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation Announces Regional Grants

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Daily News

SHEFFIELD — Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation’s HousingUs initiative today announced over $30,000 in grants to five lead organizations to plan and convene outreach activities that bring residents together to explore the interrelated issues of affordable housing, economic development, and town-center vitality. The awards follow a request for proposals announced in mid-July that has resulted in at least one funded project in each of the four counties Berkshire Taconic serves.

“Affordable housing and economic development are mutually reinforcing elements of a healthy community and pressing issues for our region,” said David Rich, chair of the HousingUs advisory board and a Berkshire Taconic board member. “With these grants, HousingUs aims to inspire innovative thinking and cross-sector collaboration that can lead to sustainable solutions for our towns.”

Locally, one of the grants was an $8,000 award to Berkshire Regional Planning Commission in Pittsfield to host a day-long housing institute for municipal leaders, advocates, and developers. Modeled on a successful annual event run by the statewide agency Massachusetts Housing Partnership (MHP), the program will feature planning, financing, and development consultants and technical-training breakout sessions. Project partners in addition to MHP are the Community Development Corporation of South Berkshire, Construct, Age Friendly Berkshires, and the towns of Great Barrington and Lenox.

The other four grants included $3,600 to the Housing Committee of Hillsdale, N.Y., $6,400 to Hudson River Housing in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., $5,000 to Philmont Beautification Inc. in Philmont, N.Y., and $8,000 to the Salisbury Affordable Housing Commission in Salisbury, Conn.

Established in 2000, HousingUs is a collaborative effort of nonprofit organizations and community leaders to promote broad-based affordable-housing options in towns throughout the northwest corner of Connecticut, Dutchess and Columbia counties in New York, and Berkshire County in Massachusetts. Governed by an advisory board of local community representatives, HousingUs is one of several leadership initiatives that receive annual investments from Berkshire Taconic beyond its regular grant-making initiatives.

“The future of our towns depends on the availability of affordable housing, good jobs, and a range of opportunities to meaningfully engage in community life,” said Peter Taylor, president of Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation. “We believe the solutions are at hand, so we are eager to gather experts, leaders, and residents in every county we serve to find and achieve them together.”

Wistariahurst to Host Nutcracker and Sweets Dec. 16-18

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Daily News

HOLYOKE — One of Holyoke’s most beloved holiday traditions will return next month as the Massachusetts Academy of Ballet presents Nutcracker & Sweets at Wistariahurst. This unique, historical interpretation of Tchaikovsky’s classic ballet is presented through narration and dance in the historic setting of Wistariahurst, thanks to the support of Holyoke Gas & Electric.

Student dancers will perform the magical story with a local historical twist and lively choreography, in eight performances on Friday, Dec. 16 at 4 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.; Saturday, Dec. 17 at 11:30 a.m., 2 p.m., and 4:30 p.m.; and Sunday, Dec. 18 at 11:30 a.m., 2 p.m., and 4:30 p.m.

Seating is limited, and advance ticket purchases are required. Tickets are available online at www.wistariahurst.org, and can also be purchased in person at the Wistariahurst visitor’s center, Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Seated tickets are available for $15. Children under 4 are permitted on laps at no additional charge (one child per adult). Standing-room-only tickets are available for $12.

Massachusetts Academy of Ballet is a training school for students interested in pursuing a career in classical ballet. The academy also has a program for non-professional students and adults seeking ballet training and artistic education. The classes at the Massachusetts Academy of Ballet emphasize classical ballet technique, musicality, artistry, and creativity.

Springfield Regional Chamber Speed Networking Returns Nov. 29

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Daily News

SPRINGFIELD — The Springfield Regional Chamber will hold its ever-popular Speed Networking event on Tuesday, Nov. 29 from 7:30 to 9 a.m. at the Colony Club, 1500 Main St., Springfield. The event provides attendees with a quick and entertaining opportunity to introduce themselves and pitch their company to the other attendees.

The core concept to speed networking is the ‘elevator speech,’ a short summary of an individual, business, organization, product, or service — a summary that a person could deliver in the time span of a short elevator ride. Attendees will be divided into two groups, seated across from each other. Each group member will have 60 seconds to give his or her elevator speech to the person seated directly across from them. Once each member has given their elevator speech, they will change seats, and the process will begin again with a new partner. The round-robin format of networking will continue until the event is over.

The event will begin with registration and continental breakfast at 7:30 a.m. To accommodate the event, no admittance will be allowed after 7:55 a.m. The cost is $20 in advance for members ($25 at the door), or $30 for general admission ($35 at the door). Reservations must be made online and in advance at www.springfieldregionalchamber.com or by contacting [email protected].

Timm Marini Named President of Personal Lines at HUB New England

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Daily News

EAST LONGMEADOW — HUB International New England, a division of HUB International Limited, announced that, effective Dec. 1, Timm Marini, will lead the Personal Lines Division for HUB International New England. This is in addition to his responsibilities of overseeing the Western Mass. offices and serving on HUB’s executive management team.

Marini will lead the Personal Lines teams, which consist of close to 150 employees in more than 20 offices located throughout Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine, and Rhode Island. His areas of focus will be developing and implementing sales and marketing strategies that result in value and pricing options while always meeting the underlying goal of “delighting the customer.”

“Developing an exceptional team is imperative in this fast-paced, technology-driven industry,” said Charles Brophy, CEO and Regional President, Eastern Region of HUB International New England. “The first person that came to mind for this position, without a doubt, was Timm Marini. His vision, leadership abilities, skillful thinking, discipline, and tact for customer service will be a great benefit for HUB New England as we continue to grow and expand into new markets.”

HUB New England was built through partnerships with long-standing, local brokerages housing years of experience in consulting on property and casualty insurance, personal insurance, and employee-benefits programs for New England businesses and individuals. As a full-service brokerage, HUB New England has access to the resources of a large, international company with local service and expertise.

Westfield on the Weekends Presents Agawam Paranormal on Nov. 16

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Daily News

WESTFIELD — Westfield on the Weekends (WOW) will present Rob Goff Sr., founder, director, and lead investigator with Agawam Paranormal, for an otherworldly presentation on Wednesday, Nov. 16 at the Westfield Senior Center, 45 Noble St. Doors open at 6 p.m., and the presentation, which is free and open to the public, will begin promptly at 6:30 p.m.

The 90-minute presentation will highlight three local paranormal investigations and include the history of each location, highlights of the investigation, and evidence uncovered during the investigation. The audience will also learn about the technical side of paranormal investigations, including the use of special equipment and investigative photography and video technology.

“WOW brings the community together through interesting and unique presentations and performances. The presentation by Rob and Agawam Paranormal is something completely new, and we’re really looking forward to it,” said Amy Tosi, programming chair. “Not only is Rob putting on this presentation for free, he’s also donated two spaces on an upcoming investigation for a raffle to benefit Westfield on Weekends. For someone interested in the paranormal, it will be the experience of a lifetime.”

The winner of the raffle will participate (with a friend) in an active investigation. Raffle tickets cost $5 each and may be purchased the night of the event. Light refreshments will be provided by Storied Adventures Travel.

Salvation Army Holyoke Corps Launches Red Kettle Campaign

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Daily News

HOLYOKE — The Salvation Army Holyoke Corps will kick off its annual Red Kettle Campaign on Friday, Nov. 11 at noon on the upper level of Holyoke Mall, near Sears.

The campaign supports vital programming and services for children, seniors, and families, and this year’s goal is $90,000. All funds raised in the red kettles stay in the local community to provide much-needed services year-round.

Greater Holyoke Chamber to Network for a Cause Nov. 16

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Daily News

HOLYOKE — The Greater Holyoke Chamber of Commerce will hold its monthly networking event on Wednesday, Nov. 16 from 5 to 7 p.m. at Homewood Suites by Hilton on 375 Whitney Ave. in Holyoke.

The Holyoke Chamber is hosting a shoe drive at the event to provide Dress for Success Western Massachusetts clients with gently used or new shoes. Handbags, jewelry, and scarves to accessorize interview suits and dresses are also welcome. Donations will help empower area women and inspire them to take charge of their lives. Bring your business cards, bring your gently worn shoes (secured by a rubber band) and accessories, and browse the Ambassadors bake sale for freshly baked sweet breads and plan to make some new friends.

Admission is $10 for members in advance and $15 for non-member guests and at the door. To reserve a spot, call the Greater Holyoke Chamber of Commerce at (413) 534-3376 or register online at holyokechamber.com.

OMG RhinoBond System Leaving Tracks in Europe

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Daily News

AGAWAM — OMG’s RhinoBond System, the leading induction-based technology for installing single-ply roofing systems, has left marks across Europe with more than 125 completed projects and many more in the pipeline. Collectively, these projects represent more than 300,000 square meters (3.2 million square feet) of single-ply roofing.

“In last two years, the RhinoBond System has really started to take off across Europe, as more roofing contractors have seen the simplicity, labor savings, and superior roof-performance benefits that the system can offer,” said Web Shaffer, vice president of marketing for OMG Roofing Products. “We have completed projects across Europe, and we are expanding to new countries in the region, most recently into Southeast Europe.”

RhinoBond is an innovative method for installing thermoplastic and now also clean EPDM membrane. The system consists of a stand-up induction welding tool and magnetic cooling clamps. Contractors install roofing insulation using fasteners and specially coated plates designed specifically for the type of membrane being installed — PVC, TPO, or Clean EPDM. Each plate is then bonded to the roof membrane installed over the top with the RhinoBond plate welding tool. The result is a roofing system that can provide enhanced wind performance with fewer fasteners, fewer membrane seams, and no penetrations of the new membrane.

DiGrigoli Salon Promotes Kim Lavallee, Carrie Muller

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Daily News

WEST SPRINGFIELD — DiGrigoli Salon announced that Kim Lavallee has been promoted from master stylist to elite stylist, and Carrie Muller has been promoted from junior stylist to senior stylist. Both are alumni of the DiGrigoli School of Cosmetology.

Lavallee joined the DiGrigoli Salon artistic team in June 2011 and has made major strides in her career since then. In addition to doing hair, Kim is also a skilled makeup artist, both in cosmetic and special effects, and is often featured on WWLP-22News and Mass Appeal showcasing her talents.

Muller started with DiGrigoli Salon this past February and has already been promoted twice. As the salon manager, she has many responsibilities, but she remains eager to learn and grow artistically as a stylist. This dedication has resulted in a strong clientele base and a continual refinement of her skills.

DiGrigoli Salon, located at 1578 Riverdale St. in West Springfield, is owned by Paul DiGrigoli and has been offering professional beauty services to the public since 1987.

Workshop on Nov. 29 to Address Workplace Violence

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Daily News

CHICOPEE — On Tuesday, Nov. 29, HRMA of Western New England will present a half-day symposium on both prevention and operational strategies for handling an incident of workplace violence at a school or business.

This session is geared towards both human resources and operations professionals and will feature specific topics such as “Lockdown vs. Evacuation,” “It All Comes Down to Policy,” The Office Is High Ground,” “Fear: Is It Good or Bad?” and much more. This course will also provide all attendees with a base mindset and thought process that will keep them as safe while they are away from work as much as it does while they are at work.

This event runs from noon to 4 p.m., with a buffet lunch included. Tickets cost $75. For more information, contact Allison Ebner at (413) 789-6400 or [email protected], or visit hrmawne.shrm.org.

Susan Jaye-Kaplan to be Honored at Service Above Self Luncheon

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Daily News

SPRINGFIELD — The Basketball Hall of Fame and the Rotary Club of Springfield have announced the honorees for the seventh annual Basketball Hall of Fame / Springfield Rotary Service Above Self Luncheon: local honoree Susan Jaye-Kaplan and national honoree Spencer Haywood.

The event will be held at the Basketball Hall of Fame’s Center Court on Friday, Nov. 18 at noon. Since 2010, these annual awards have highlighted some of the remarkable individuals in the local community and the larger family of basketball who live out the motto of Rotary International, “Service Above Self.”

Locally, there are few individuals more engaged in their community than Jaye-Kaplan, the founder of Pioneer Valley Women’s Running Club, founder of Go FIT Inc., and co-founder of Link to Libraries Inc., organization whose mission is to collect and distribute books to public elementary schools and nonprofit organizations in Western Mass. and Connecticut. She is also the co-founder of Women’s Leadership Network as well as an advisory board member and fund-raiser for Square One.

Jaye-Kaplan has received one of the nation’s Daily Point of Light Awards, the President’s Citation Award at Western New England College, the Elms College Step Forward/Step Ahead Woman of Vision Award, the Reminder Publications Hometown Hero Award, the Massachusetts Commission on the Status of Women Unsung Heroines Award, the New England Patriot’s International Charitable Foundation Community MVP Award (the only person to receive this award twice), the Girl Scouts of Pioneer Valley Women of Distinction Award, and the Pynchon Award for Community Service. She was also chosen one of BusinessWest magazine’s Difference Makers in 2009.

Haywood had a truly historic basketball career, scoring more than 17,000 points and grabbing nearly 8,700 rebounds in the NBA and ABA. He won a gold medal with the 1968 U.S. Olympic team in Mexico City and had his number retired by the Seattle Supersonics. Haywood is best remembered, however, for his landmark Supreme Court case which allowed players to enter the NBA on a hardship basis, forever changing the face of the professional game.

A gifted speaker noted for his countless hours of community service and outreach, Haywood has followed his election to the Hall of Fame in 2015 with national appearances on behalf of the Hall speaking to thousands of young people about overcoming obstacles, facing life challenges, and dealing positively with life issues. From migrant working families in Immokalee, Fla. to urban teens in Phoenix, Ariz. to an appearance at Springfield’s Commerce High, he brings his generous spirit, honesty, and sincerity to audiences both young and old. From his childhood in a cotton field in Mississippi to the heights of basketball success, his story transcends the traditional sports pages with a message of hope while living the creed of “Service Above Self.”

The luncheon will once again serve as precursor to a basketball event in downtown Springfield. On Sunday, Nov. 27, the MassMutual Center plays host to an action-packed day of college basketball when eight top Division 1 women’s teams compete in the 2016 Women’s Holiday Showcase. Louisville (third-ranked nationally) will meet second-ranked South Carolina in the day’s featured matchup at 1 p.m.

Tickets and sponsorship opportunities for the luncheon are still available. Individual tickets cost $60. For more information on sponsorships or to purchase tickets, contact Paul Lambert at the Basketball Hall of Fame at (413) 231-5502 or [email protected].

Student-owned Startup Launches Kickstarter Campaign

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Daily News

SPRINGFIELD — AnyCafé, a Springfield startup company formed at Western New England University by five students, has launched a Kickstarter campaign to help raise funds through pre-sales of its product. The startup company grew out of a program sponsored by Valley Venture Mentors.

AnyCafé has developed a coffee mug that will conveniently brew coffee inside the mug anytime, anywhere. The user can add cold or hot water, and use a K-Cup coffee insert. The mug operates using batteries, a wall plug, or a car-charging adapter. A patent is pending on the AnyCafé Travel Brewer.

The student developers include engineering seniors Logan Carlson from Horseheads, N.Y., Chris Urciuoli from Victor, N.Y., and Ryan Noon from Kutztown, Pa.; Evan Choquette, a computer science major from Rocky Hill, Conn.; and Michael Belinski, a marketing major from Quinebaug, Conn.

The Kickstarter campaign will run through Tuesday, Dec. 13, and will allow consumers to purchase the mug for a discounted price. To visit the AnyCafé Kickstarter campaign, click here.

AnyCafé is also sponsoring a unique holiday tree display at the annual Festival of Trees in Tower Square in downtown Springfield from Nov. 25 through Dec. 11.

Berkshire Bank Foundation Awards Nearly $60,000 to 13 Nonprofits

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Daily News

PITTSFIELD — Berkshire Bank Foundation announced it awarded $59,500 in grants and pledges to 13 nonprofit organizations in the Pioneer Valley region during its third-quarter grants cycle.

The funding supported a variety of organizations, including the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts in Hatfield, to support its door-to-door meal-delivery program; Square One in Springfield, to support its early-education classrooms; Tech Foundry in Springfield, to support its job-training programs; and Revitalize Community Development Corp. in Springfield, to support its Veterans Build initiatives.

“We are thrilled to have the opportunity to provide this level of support to these important nonprofits,” said Lori Gazzillo, director of Berkshire Bank Foundation. “We are proud to partner with these great organizations as we work together to strengthen our communities.”

Boys and Girls Club Family Center Hosts Thanksgiving Dinner Nov. 20

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Daily News

SPRINGFIELD — The Boys and Girls Club Family Center at 100 Acorn St. in Springfield will open its doors to members of the community for Thanksgiving dinner on Sunday, Nov. 20 from 2 to 6 p.m. This event is co-sponsored by the Springfield Youth Collaboration (MLK Family Services, Dunbar YMCA, and South End Community Center).

In his first year as the Family Center’s new executive director, Keshawn Dodds is happy to be able to reach out to residents in the city and from various neighborhoods in Mason Square who may not be able to enjoy the holiday for a variety of reasons.

Local organizations have joined the effort in support of the community. The Food Bank of Western Massachusetts has provided a grant to assist with the purchase of healthy side dishes, while bankESB has provided funds for food and will also have several volunteers at the dinner. Farm Credit East is working with farmers to donate produce as well. American International College (AIC) is dishing up the trimmings, donating macaroni and cheese, sweet potatoes, and rice pilaf.

“Working closely with the Springfield Youth Collaboration, we understand that there are people in our community who struggle to make ends meet every day or who live alone and feel they have little to celebrate,” said Dodds, an AIC alumnus. “Our neighbors are family, and we need to be present for them. We are grateful for the positive response from the organizations asked to help. Their generosity and concern for those who may not have the financial means or emotional support that many of us may take for granted has helped make this event possible.”

The Family Center anticipates serving approximately 200 guests. The event is free and open to the public. No reservations are needed.

Two Organizations Receive 2016 Employer of Choice Recognition

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Daily News

AGAWAM — Two Massachusetts organizations were recognized as Employer of Choice Award recipients by the Employers Assoc. of the NorthEast (EANE): Shriners Hospitals for Children – Springfield and Venture Community Services of Sturbridge. The awards were given at EANE’s Employment Law and HR Practices Conference luncheon at the Springfield Marriott on Nov. 3.

Employer of Choice Awards recognize companies and organizations for developing workplaces that value employees, foster engagement, invest in training, and reward performance. Past winners view the award as a cornerstone of their company credentials and often highlight the award in recruiting and retention, grants and funding applications, and business development. All winners receive a professional, customized video that spotlights the company’s achievements.

“We received a wealth of great applicants. Regardless of size, the best organizations are measuring employee engagement in some way and using that data to make a difference in a manner they can afford,” said Meredith Wise, president of EANE. “From cool communications tactics leveraging mobile apps to innovative green initiatives to company-paid time off for community service, the array of engagement tools is always inspiring.”

Shriners Hospitals for Children – Springfield is a unique pediatric specialty, research, and teaching hospital providing orthopedic, rheumatology, and cleft lip and palate care using the latest innovations in diagnosis and treatment. The hospital is designed exclusively for children, offering a full range of inpatient and outpatient services under one roof, so children can receive family-centered care and treatment. It treats thousands of children locally and internationally each year regardless of the family’s ability to pay.

Venture Community Services is a not-for-profit human-service agency that provides support to individuals facing diverse challenges through a compassionate and dedicated workforce using innovative practices that encourage independence, empowerment, and opportunity. Its clinical programs include adult foster care, autism support, community day programs, community residences, shared living, supported employment, transportation services, and youth and family support.

Employers from Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island who have been in business for at least three years and have a minimum of 25 employees are eligible to participate. Both the company size and its resources are considered in the screening and selection process. Entrants are judged in areas including company culture, training and development, communication, recognition and reward, and work-life balance.

Marijuana Legalization Ahead, Charter Schools Lag in Poll

By
Daily News

SPRINGFIELD — Sixty-one percent of likely voters say they support legalizing marijuana for use by adults ages 21 and older, while 34% say they oppose the plan, and 4% are undecided, according to the latest survey from the Western New England University Polling Institute.

The telephone survey of 417 likely voters, conducted Oct. 23 through Nov. 2, found that support for marijuana legalization has risen by nine points over the past month, while opposition has dropped by eight points. Likely voters favored legalization by a margin of 52% to 42% in a Polling Institute survey conducted Sept. 24 through Oct. 3.

Marijuana legalization is one of four statewide ballot questions that voters will consider on Tuesday. The Polling Institute also found in its latest survey that:

• 52% of likely voters said they oppose lifting the cap on charter schools in Massachusetts, while 39% support the proposal, and 8% are undecided.

• 65% of likely voters said they support a proposed ban on the confinement of hens, calves, and pigs in ways that prevent them from lying down, standing up, fully extending their limits, or turning around freely. Twenty-five percent of likely voters oppose the restrictions, and 9% are undecided.

• 50 percent of likely voters oppose allowing the state to license a second slots parlor in Massachusetts, while 32% said they support the plan, and 17% said they are undecided.

Tim Vercellotti, director of the Polling Institute and a professor of Political Science at Western New England University, said the large percentage of voters who said they were undecided about licensing a second slots parlor in the state was unusual so close to Election Day.

“Our interviewers reported many instances in which survey respondents simply did not understand the term ‘slots parlor’ in the question,” Vercellotti said. “The ballot that voters will view on Tuesday has a lengthy explanation of the term, and the actual results of the ballot question could be very different from what we are seeing in our survey.”

In the race for the presidency, the Polling Institute found that Democrat Hillary Clinton is maintaining a sizable lead over Republican Donald Trump, 56% to 26%, with 8% of likely voters saying they support Libertarian Gary Johnson and 3% backing Jill Stein, the Green-Rainbow Party nominee. The results reflected little change from the last Polling Institute survey conducted Sept. 24 through Oct. 3, in which Clinton led Trump by a margin of 58% to 26% among likely voters.

Looking past the election, more than half of likely voters — 54% — said they were very or somewhat confident that the country would unite behind the winner of the presidential election. But partisan differences also emerged in the responses to the question. Sixty-five percent of Democrats said they were very or somewhat confident, compared to 49% of Republican likely voters. Forty-three percent of likely voters said they were not very confident or not at all confident that the country would unite behind the winner, a sentiment voiced by 33% of Democrats and 49% of Republicans.

“Voters are slightly more confident than not that the country will unite behind the winner, but there is some disagreement depending on your partisanship and the candidate that you support,” Vercellotti said.