June 2017 - Page 3 of 4

Raipher, P.C. Continues to Build a Record of Success

By BusinessWest Staff June 13, 2017

Winning Attitude

Raipher Pellegrino

Its marketing materials are emblazoned with the phrase ‘for the win.’ But at Raipher, P.C. — the law firm Raipher Pellegrino founded in 1994 and put on the map with a series of high-profile victories — the end result is only part of a successful case. Just as important, Pellegrino notes, is helping clients, who are often suffering through the worst crisis of their lives, navigate the legal system and get back to some semblance of normalcy. That, in itself, he says, is also a win.

Raipher Pellegrino may be best-known for winning a handful of high-profile court cases. There was his defense in 2002 of a man accused of breaking into a UMass dorm room with attempt to rape, arguing — successfully — that the defendant was sleepwalking. Then, as a plaintiff’s attorney, he secured a $6 million settlement for the family of a woman killed when a Big Dig tunnel collapsed on her car in 2006.

Such cases may not represent the day-to-day work of Pellegrino and his team of attorneys at Raipher, P.C. in Springfield, but they did help raise his profile, which is why he works on cases for clients nationally.

“It’s a matter of being able to prove results year in and year out, on complex, oftentimes high-profile cases, which can be more difficult to handle because you’re worried about not just the legal aspect, but the public-relations aspect of the case,” Pellegrino told BusinessWest.

Perhaps most recognized as a personal-injury firm, Raipher also focuses on criminal defense, family law, and general business law, from commercial transactions to business litigation and everything in between. Pellegrino also has a special interest in charter schools, a model he supports, and has represented them in matters ranging from financing to litigation.

When he launched his firm in 1994, “the original concept was personal injury and criminal litigation, but not so much on the transactional side. We’ve evolved since then,” he said, noting that the firm currently boasts 12 attorneys.

In any case, success isn’t measured only in decisions and settlements, he explained, but in meeting the myriad needs of clients who are often dealing with life-changing situations.

“When someone is in a circumstance where they need a lawyer, it’s a moment of anxiety. Our goal here is that they should feel less anxious after they contact us,” said Sean O’Connor, who joined the firm 18 months ago in a management capacity, overseeing the case loads of each attorney and handling marketing and other non-legal aspects of the business, in an effort to modernize the practice.

SEE: List of Law Firms

“We go up against some of the largest forms in the U.S. and the world, with over 1,000 attorneys,” Pellegrino added. “They’ll attempt to bury you with process, putting five or six lawyers on the case and sending documents 24/7. The modernization of the practice on the intellectual side and also in workflow is important; it allows us to take on large firms from right here in Western Mass.”

For this issue’s focus on law, BusinessWest sat down for a candid chat with Pellegrino and O’Connor about how they take on those challenges — and why the process of resolving each case is as important as the end result.

Sean O’Connor says much of the firm’s business comes from client referrals, which he considers “a real compliment to an attorney.”

Sweet Relief

Personal injury is a broad field in itself, encompassing car accidents, product liability, medical malpractice, slip-and-fall injuries, and workplace injuries, just to name a few. Pellegrino cited a recent, complex case with multiple defendants, in which the plaintiff was killed in a manufacturing plant.

“We brought suit against the company that designed the machine and the employer, and we were able to settle that for several million dollars despite having serious legal obstacles which could have precluded an award to the plaintiff,” Pellegrino said, including a state workers’ compensation statute that throws up barriers to suing employers. “We were able to navigate around those issues and resolve that case.”

The defendant was a Boston-based company, and his sole heir lived in Puerto Rico, but despite the presence of many large personal-injury firms in the Boston area, the plaintiff sought out Raipher, an example of the firm’s reputation for handling difficult cases — work that begins with the first meeting with the client.

“We don’t try to sell the firm; we try to educate people. We believe education is the building block of what we do,” he explained, likening it to a different kind of major life event. “If you’re going in for surgery and have no concept what the surgery is about, what the process is, it can be frightening to go through it because of the fear of the unknown. Well, nobody prepares for an accident; you don’t wake up and say, ‘I might have an accident today.’ But if you have a law firm in mind, and you know they’ve been through it time and time again, and they can walk you through the process, it takes some of the fear away.”

The firm uses the motto ‘for the win,’ but Raipher Pellegrino emphasizes that the process of finding relief, restitution, or justice is as important as the end result.

And monetary restitution isn’t the sole goal, he added. “We also want to let them get on with their lives. They may be out of work, have loss of income, physical pain; that’s what they should be focused on, getting better and back to life as quickly as they can. We routinely tell clients, ‘let us do our job and make your life easier.’ And if we can make the process more understandable, that’s part of our job — not just getting a monetary settlement.”

Pellegrino said his firm has built its client base organically. “We have generational clients, we’ve been referred by clients’ family and friends, and we’ve had referrals from attorneys, not just in Western Mass., but around the country. I’ve had jurors hire me.”

That makes sense, he added, since jurors have a front-row seat to how an attorney works. If one is impressed and, down the road, has a need for a lawyer, they’ll remember what they saw in court. “That feels good, when people appreciate you and want to hire you. We take pride in our work and in delivering a good product.”

Added O’Connor, “the greatest complement we get here is client referrals. Raipher has clients he’s known for 20 years who still refer people to us. That’s a real compliment to an attorney, to have the confidence of past and current clients.”

To earn that confidence, Pellegrino said, his team is dedicated to staying educated on all facets of the law they handle. “A doctor doesn’t stop reading about new surgeries. We’re constantly adapting to changes in the law, whether regulatory or statutory.”

When asked whether the regulatory landscape has become more burdensome over the past decade or so, he said many lawyers would say yes. “And that certainly requires a broader spectrum of knowledge to litigate a claim.”

But some changes have been beneficial for attorneys, he added. For instance, only recently have lawyers in Massachusetts been allowed to ask potential jurors specific questions during the voir dire process, allowing them to dig into biases — whether conscious or subconscious — and establish their best opportunity to ensure a level playing field. In addition, lawyers can now demand a specific award amount at trial, which can make it easier to demonstrate the value of an injury, loss, and suffering to a jury.

And jurors take these matters seriously, Pellegrino said, noting that, while people often feel hesitant when summoned to jury duty, once they’re empaneled, they tend to embrace their responsibility. In fact, he noted, jurors are often frustrated they can’t get more information, though there are good reasons behind the rules for which pieces of evidence can be entered into the record and which can’t.

He recalled one criminal-defense case that fell apart for the prosecution during cross-examination and was quickly settled. “The jury waited for me outside the court to talk to me; they wanted to ask about more underlying facts of the case. It shows how they’re engaged, and they take it seriously.”

For the Win

Pellegrino certainly takes his work seriously, even though personal-injury law often suffers from negative perceptions in society.

“The only way our society knows how to compensate someone for a civil loss is monetarily,” he said. “One of the best mediators in the country likes to ask, ‘if I could give you your leg back or offer you $100 million, which would you take?’ Inevitably, the person says, ‘I’d want my leg back.’ So it’s clear no amount of money can adequately compensate for your leg.”

I tell everyone, ‘don’t go into the practice of law for money. It serves society in many ways, and if you put your heart and soul into it, it’s one of the most gratifying professions you can have.”

As a result, he went on, it can be difficult to put the value of a death, injury, or physical loss in financial terms. “It’s constantly evolving, and so many factors go into it. In every case, those factors change. There are different ways to value it and monetize it. It’s not simply, someone gets in an accident and makes a demand, and you give them that money. It’s far more complex.”

O’Connor said he often finds himself explaining this concept at dinner parties. “People often don’t want to bring a lawsuit because there’s a stigma. But there is literally no other way to compensate you for someone else’s wrong. It’s not your stigma. Someone else’s negligence caused you harm. So the stigma is unfortunate.”

But Pellegrino sees the value of his work in the lives of his clients, and doesn’t worry about public perception.

“I tell everyone, ‘don’t go into the practice of law for money,’” he told BusinessWest. “It serves society in many ways, and if you put your heart and soul into it, it’s one of the most gratifying professions you can have.”

The emotions cut deep in both wins and losses, he added. In the Big Dig case, he recalled being happy for the plaintiff, who wouldn’t get his wife back, but could at least move on with his life having received some compensation and an assurance that it wouldn’t happen to someone else.

Then, in a criminal-defense case, “you can lose the case, and the client is going away to be incarcerated for 10 years, and they’re thanking you and hugging you and telling you how appreciative they are of your effort,” he said. “That’s an odd feeling. But at the end of the day, you’re not going to win every case, but if you put your heart and soul into it, the client knows that. They know you can’t guarantee an outcome.”

O’Connor agreed, adding, “you feel like you disappointed them, even though they’re clearly expressing gratitude. Clients can tell whether you’re phoning it in or doing the best you can for them.”

Still, every lawyer wants to win — which is why Raipher, P.C. uses the phrase ‘for the win’ in its marketing materials.

“I tell people, ‘you almost have to hate losing more than you like winning,’” Pellegrino said. “And if I lose, I’ve got to know that I did everything I could for the client.”

Joseph Bednar can be reached at [email protected]

The Legal Issues Surrounding This Exploding Housing Market

By BusinessWest Staff June 13, 2017

Law Sections

Tiny Homes, Big Questions

By Jeffrey L. Adams

Jeffrey Adams

Tiny homes are efficient, cost-effective, and environmentally friendly. Generally speaking, tiny homes are defined as residential dwelling units measuring 400 square feet or smaller. As a result of their benefits, tiny homes are soaring in popularity both locally and nationally.

With a blossoming tiny-house market, however, comes increasing uncertainty due to the vast landscape of complicated legal issues facing prospective owners of such homes. This article is not designed to be an exhaustive list of every imaginable legal issue facing a prospective tiny-home owner. As outlined below, there are a wide array of potential issues facing the building or purchasing of a tiny home. Some of those issues may apply to the building of a tiny home, some to the purchasing of a tiny home, and many others to both construction and sale.

The first concern prospective tiny-home owners must contemplate is whether the purchase and sale of their tiny home is governed by common contract law or the Uniform Commercial Code. Tiny homes are commonly built on either a foundation or a trailer. This distinction dictates which law applies. Article two of the Uniform Commercial Code governs the sale of “goods” that includes “all things … which are movable at the time of identification to the contract of sale.” Accordingly, if your tiny home is built on a trailer, it is “movable” at the time of identification of the contract and governed by the Uniform Commercial Code. Any tiny home, however, built on a foundation will be governed by common contract law, similar to most residential homes. It is imperative to determine which law applies prior to entering into a contract to ensure a smooth purchase or sale of your tiny home.

The next issue for prospective owners is whether the land on which you intend to place your tiny home is zoned for such use. Massachusetts General Laws c. 40A permits local governments to enact zoning ordinances and bylaws which regulate how landowners may use their lands. Currently, Nantucket is the only municipality in the Commonwealth that has permitted tiny homes to be placed legally on land that already includes one residential dwelling. Unfortunately, most municipalities are likely to restrict residentially zoned plots to one dwelling, which will present significant legal issues for tiny-home owners seeking to place their homes legally.

One way tiny-home owners nationally are trying to circumvent such zoning restrictions is through a request to their local government permitting a tiny home as an accessory dwelling unit (ADU). This is a clever mechanism that permits a second dwelling on a zoned plot; however, municipalities tend to enact such bylaws only where the second dwelling is attached to the primary residence. The legislative purpose of permitting ADUs is to create a cost-effective alternative for the elderly. Therefore, many municipalities may be hesitant to allow tiny homes as ADUs where such homes are not connected to the principal residence.

In addition to the Zoning Act, tiny-home owners must be cognizant of the building code, which regulates how one may build their tiny home. See 780 Code Mass. Regs 1.00, et. seq., and model regulations cited. The building code is enforced by the state, and any local zoning ordinance or bylaw may not interfere with the implementation of the building code.

The building code poses yet another challenge for prospective owners. The state requires that the code govern the building of any residential dwelling used for the permanent provisions of living, sleeping, eating, cooking, and sanitation. Accordingly, prospective owners, especially those building their own home, must comply with the building code.

Finally, prospective owners must adhere to the Department of Public Health’s regulations regarding dwellings that are fit for human habitation. See 105 Code Mass. Regs. 410.000, et. seq. For example, the regulations require that every dwelling unit must contain at least 150 square feet of floor space for one occupant, and 100 square feet of floor space for each additional occupant. These numbers may be difficult to achieve for prospective owners, especially families with the intent of going tiny.

The laws and regulations governing tiny homes, as currently constituted, were written and implemented by principally considering the purchase and sale of residential dwellings that were affixed to a foundation and were large enough to comply with all of the state’s building and health requirements. Tiny homes pose a challenge, not only to the prospective owners of such homes, but also to our local and state governments.

Ultimately, a primary tiny-home market will erupt once a secondary market forms for such homes; however, this impending growth will not occur if our local and state governments do not adapt. Perhaps the proper method to govern tiny homes is by subjecting such homes to the same laws and regulations in place for recreational vehicles and mobile homes, rather than creating a new, complicated framework of laws specifically designed for tiny homes.

One thing is certain: tiny homes present enormous potential rewards for sustainable, economic living that can help ease the dearth for affordable housing. The question remains: will our laws dictate such an outcome?

Jeffrey L. Adams is an associate with Robinson Donovan, P.C., where he concentrates his practice on litigation; (413) 732-2301; [email protected]

Recent Decision Reinforces Personal Liability in Employment Law

By BusinessWest Staff June 13, 2017

Law Sections

Taking It Personally

By John S. Gannon, Esq.

John S. Gannon

As a management-side employment attorney, I know how frustrating it is for businesses to be sued by current or former employees. Employers who have been through the litigation process know it’s a stressful, time-consuming exercise that often requires their managers or supervisors to be deposed or called as a witness at trial.

Unfortunately, being a witness is not the worst outcome for managers and supervisors who get dragged into employment litigation. Many state and federal employment laws provide a path for litigious employees to individually sue their managers or supervisors, while at the same time suing the employer as a completely separate entity. These laws can put managers and supervisors in the dreadful position of having to personally defend themselves in a lawsuit, while exposing their personal assets (home, car, bank accounts, etc.) to risk if the plaintiff is successful. It also means having to pay defense costs and attorney’s fees regardless of how the case turns out. A recent Massachusetts federal court decision highlights the relative ease of bringing an individual liability claim against a supervisor in an employment lawsuit.

Elliott Eichenholz worked for Brink’s Inc. His supervisor was Gordon Campbell. According to Eichenholz, while he was out on a disability leave, Campbell issued him a performance-improvement plan (PIP) letter addressing Eichenholz’s performance deficiencies. The PIP letter also contained various demands Eichenholz would need to meet within a prescribed time frame.

Eichenholz returned to work about two months later. Upon his return, Campbell e-mailed Eichenholz, stating that he needed to develop a plan to address the issues raised in the PIP letter now that he was back to work.

From my perspective, Campbell’s approach appeared reasonable enough, but Eichenholz did not see it that way. He resigned a few days later and subsequently filed a lawsuit claiming that Brinks and Campbell discriminated and retaliated against him in violation of a host of federal and state employment laws, including the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and the Massachusetts Fair Employment Practices Law, which prohibits discrimination in employment (Chapter 151B). In his complaint, Eichenholz claimed he needed to resign “in order to ensure that he was no longer subjected to unlawful harassment, no longer subjected to a hostile work environment, and no longer in the precarious position that Campbell’s continuous violations and discriminatory behavior had caused.”

Campbell moved to dismiss the charges against him, raising two principal arguments. First, he argued the FMLA claim should be dismissed because that law does not allow for individual liability. Second, he contended Chapter 151B warranted dismissal because Eichenholz did not follow the proper procedural channels before filing that claim.

The court rejected both arguments. Although the FMLA does not expressly allow for individual liability against supervisors, courts have ruled that similar federal laws — including the Fair Labor Standards Act — permit personal liability against supervisors. This was enough to convince this court that FMLA liability could flow to Campbell. Also, because Campbell was on notice of the potential Chapter 151B claim early on, he could not rely on technical procedural errors to defeat the individual liability claim.

Because the Massachusetts anti-discrimination statute (Chapter 151B) allows for individual liability, supervisors can be personally sued in almost any lawsuit that alleges a violation of state anti-discrimination law. In addition, state and federal wage-payment laws, including the federal Fair Labor Standards Act and the Massachusetts Wage Act, can trigger individual unpaid-wage liability for certain executives, officers, and even managers within the organization.

In light of this vast potential for supervisor liability claims, we recommend litigation-avoidance training for managers and supervisors as a way to mitigate risk. Effective training is probably the single best way to combat individual liability exposure, as it puts managers and supervisors on notice of this very real threat. Training programs also highlight tips and strategies that managers and supervisors can use to avoid litigation crosshairs and keep the company out of expensive lawsuits.

If your manager or supervisor is sued individually, it may also be (somewhat) comforting to know that individual liability claims are often a strategic move meant to make the case more difficult to defend. It is rare — but not unheard of — that a manager or supervisor is left paying damages associated with an adverse judgment, rather than the business. Even so, adequate training can help prevent employment claims before litigation is filed, which is a win-win situation for both the supervisor and the company.

John S. Gannon is an associate attorney with Skoler, Abbott & Presser, P.C., a management-side labor and employment firm with offices in Springfield and Worcester.

West Central Family and Counseling Launches Cancer Program

By BusinessWest Staff June 13, 2017

Health Care Sections

After the Diagnosis

Jo-Anne Gaughan-Cabral says a cancer diagnosis affects not only the patient, but his or her family and caregivers, and West Central’s cancer-informed program addresses the needs of all these parties.

As a provider of psychotherapy services for patients of all types, the therapists at West Central Family and Counseling observed a striking trend, said Jo-Anne Gaughan-Cabral.

“We noticed, from referrals coming into the clinic, that a growing number of people had been treated in the past, or were currently being treated, for various cancer diagnoses,” said Gaughan-Cabral, clinic supervisor and clinical lead of what is being called the facility’s Cancer Informed Therapy Program. “Although we were already treating the mental-health needs of these people, we decided to develop a more specialized cancer-focused therapy, and we set out to train a group of people to work with patients with cancer.”

West Central Family and Counseling’s (WCFC) new mental-health treatment program is targeted specifically for not just cancer patients, but their families, caregivers, and loved ones.

“The goal of the program is to provide patients and their families cancer-informed therapy. We can accomplish this in the clinic and as a home-based support when it seems needed,” said Gaughan-Cabral. “Clients and family members who are affected by a cancer diagnosis will benefit from this program.”

The effort represents a response of sorts to a 2006 Institute of Medicine report recommending that every cancer patient receive a cancer-survivorship care plan.

“We’re the psychotherapy component for people dealing with depression, anxiety, body-image issues, and needing cognitive behavioral therapy from managing the side effects of chemotherapy, such as nausea,” Gaughan-Cabral said. “We’ve been able to coordinate with other programs like Survivorship Journeys and therapy groups, as well as mentors, people who’ve already had the diagnosis and can walk other people through it. We’re basically trying to treat all the needs of the patient — and their family — as they deal with the negative feelings associated with grief and loss, change in roles, and other issues.”

In the midst of treatment, they’re not feeling well, and they may not feel like talking to someone, but once they’re on the other side, they realize life has changed so much, so we try to pick up with them on whatever they need.”

Those issues certainly affect a patient’s loved ones, as all parties struggle with unfamiliar roles, she added, whether that’s parents caring for sick children or grown children managing a cancer journey for their elderly parents. In any case, a cancer diagnosis can be a challenging experience for all, and many clients have reported feelings of anxiety and depression along with grief, stress, episodes of confusion, and acute or reoccurring trauma, she explained.

The team of cancer-focused therapists at WCFC, who undergo a six-month training to be part of the program, work to help patients process the emotional issues that surface during this time, and, if necessary, provide consultation to those providing their medical treatment at local cancer-treatment centers.

Gaughan-Cabral added that, while patients currently undergoing treatment for cancer will be well-represented in the program, most of the participants will likely be survivors who are past their initial treatment. “In the midst of treatment, they’re not feeling well, and they may not feel like talking to someone, but once they’re on the other side, they realize life has changed so much, so we try to pick up with them on whatever they need.”

Those needs are myriad, she said. “How do I go back to work? How do I resume an intimate relationship with my spouse? How do I get back to an active life? Having faced this life-or-death situation, you’re changed by that, and you need new strategies to deal with your world.”

Common Concerns

According to the American Psychiatric Assoc. (APA), general emotional distress, poor coping strategies, and psychiatric disorders such as anxiety and depression are common in cancer patients — perhaps 25% to 30% of them. Depression can not only negatively impact cancer patients’ quality of life, but can reduce their chances of survival, just as it can in heart-disease patients, Dr. David Spiegel, associate chair of Psychiatry at Stanford University and a psycho-oncologist, told Psychiatric News, an APA publication.

Yet, effective treatment of depression may increase the chances of survival. A study conducted by Spiegel and his colleagues in 2010 found that a decrease in depression symptoms was associated with longer survival in metastatic breast-cancer patients. Research during the past decade has also shown that various psychotherapies developed for cancer patients can improve patients’ quality of life, the APA reported.

The fact that more people are surviving cancer diagnoses makes WCFC’s cancer program even more relevant, said Gaughan-Cabral, who noted that referrals come in from hospitals, community-based programs, and simple word of mouth.

To better communicate how the program can help a wide range of cancer patients, survivors, and caregivers, West Central recently hosted an open house for cancer-treatment professionals interested in learning more about the new program, with the hope they would be willing to refer their patients.

“We wanted people who treat cancer — social workers, oncology units, therapists — to see our clinic and come meet with our staff, and make a personal connection,” said Joshua Frank, WCFC’s recruitment and marketing manager.

In addition to the therapeutic services offered on site, outreach and home-based support appointments are available when needed, Gaughan-Cabral said. “For those not able to get to the clinic for the support they need — for example, if they can’t drive — we go out to be with them. That’s one of our strong suits.”

Beyond its new cancer-focused program, West Central provides psychotherapy services to children, adolescents, adults, and elders with a wide range of behavioral-health issues, and also collaborates with schools and community centers to provide additional services, Frank said. But the Cancer Informed Therapy Program is meeting a specific need that isn’t being addressed on a larger scale, Gaughan-Cabral added.

“Feedback so far has been very positive,” she told BusinessWest, adding that the center plans to hire and train more people in this discipline once referrals necessitate a waiting list. “We’ve been so supported by people in the community, and that makes us feel positive about what we’re doing. It’s something that’s really necessary.”

Joseph Bednar can be reached at [email protected]

Innovative Public-health Project Makes Use of ‘Social Investors’

By BusinessWest Staff June 13, 2017

Health Care Sections

Home Is Where the Asthma Is

A

Sarita Hudson says treating asthma patients is a frustrating exercise if they’re just returning to homes filled with environmental triggers.

nyone who has experienced an asthma attack, the chest-tightening, often panicky feeling of not getting enough air into the lungs, knows it’s not a matter to take lightly. Yet, it remains one of the most common medical conditions in Massachusetts, affecting some 10% of Massachusetts residents, according to the state Department of Public Health.

In Springfield, it’s even worse, with rates approaching 18%, making it one of the most asthma-aggravating cities in the U.S.

“Nearly one in five kids in Springfield has asthma, and the rate for adults is almost the same,” said Sarita Hudson, director of Programs and Development for Partners for a Healthier Community (PHC). “And we have health inequities when it comes to asthma — Latinos and the black community are more heavily impacted by asthma and more likely to end up in the hospital and the emergency room.”

This is more than an individual health issue, she noted. When kids miss school days because of asthma, their absenteeism can lead to poor academic performance. When parents have to stay home with them, they miss work, with all the financial implications that entails. Multiplied over hundreds of homes, that’s a region-wide economic and quality-of-life impact.

The region’s air quality is a factor, but so are its aging homes, Hudson noted.

“Springfield has old housing stock — more than 86% of the homes were built before 1978, and 40% were built before 1940,” she said, adding that elements of these homes, ranging from mold and moisture to rodents and poor ventilation, can trigger or exacerbate asthma attacks.

For the past decade-plus, the Pioneer Valley Asthma Coalition, a program of PHC, has worked with families to educate them about asthma triggers in the home, and has gone into schools to push environmental changes, like greener cleaning supplies.

“This is a nationally proven best practice,” she said. “The CDC recommends education around these problems with the goal of reducing ER and hospital visits. The problem is, for some of those kids, you can make behavioral changes — take care to keep pets out of the bedroom, wash bed covers — but there’s still a hole in the roof causing mold, or a pest problem. Or there are ventilation issues; they’re not getting good air supply. It’s a structural problem. So you can educate them, treat them, help them, but they’re going back to an unhealthy home.”

That’s about to change for hundreds of Springfield-area residents who will soon take part in a program, first modeled in Baltimore by the Green & Healthy Homes Initiative, that pays for home improvements specifically related to asthma control — mold and moisture remediation, pest control, ventilation and air quality, removal of carpeting that harbors dust and other allergens — with the goal of keeping asthma sufferers out of the hospital.

“The Pioneer Valley Asthma Coalition has looked at ways people are impacted by asthma, looked at ways we can reduce hospitalization and healthcare, reduce impacts on families, and keep people healthy,” Hudson said. “We’ve done work around outdoor and indoor air quality and worked with the school district here. Now we want to work on the homes.”

Risk and Reward

The intriguing aspect of the project, known as Pay for Success, is how it’s funded. Calling the model a “social-impact bond,” Hudson said private investors will pay the up-front costs to perform interventions for 600 families — 200 families a year over three years. Revitalize CDC and the Springfield Office of Housing are among the partners which will oversee the home improvements.

“If we show impact — if we do what we say we’re going to do, which is reduce healthcare utilization and healthcare costs and keep people healthier — the investors are paid back by the healthcare system: Health New England, the state Medicaid office, Mass Health,” she explained, noting that financing details are still being worked out. If it works, it’s a way for investors with a bent toward social good to earn a return — Hudson said between 3% and 7% is the goal — on their investment in a total stranger’s home and health.

It’s an innovative example of the intersection between clinical care and community-based care, said Frank Robinson, vice president of Community Relations and Public Health for Baystate Health, one of the program partners. “On the community side, we want to work outside the four walls of the hospital, to do what is necessary to make sure the patient doesn’t come back in. So how do we change our policies to support this prevention work?”

Frank Robinson calls Pay for Success an innovative example of the intersection between clinical and community-based care.

Jackie Spain, medical director for Medicaid at Health New England, another project partner, said Pay for Success deals with key housing issues that aren’t usually addressed in the healthcare arena. “The nice thing about this initiative is it finds a way to address those issues up front. It’s hard to get payers, like Health New England and others, interested in paying for housing renovations up front, for a lot of reasons; the savings are likely longer-term, and people change health insurance frequently.”

The downside, she said, is that it’s still unclear how to determine how much someone’s healthcare costs have decreased due directly to the housing improvements. Also, in a world where provider contracts often include shared savings, all providers expect a piece of that savings — so who determines what piece is carved out for the social investor, and when will they be paid?

Those details are still being worked out, Robinson said, but an external evaluation program will address those issues by comparing the families that receive interventions with those that don’t, so the partners will be better able to document where the intervention made a difference.

Spain did note that asthma is an ideal condition around which to launch a program like this because the cost savings can be recorded in the short term, as a patient might go to the emergency room at any time. With something like diabetes — which may result in blindness, amputations, or renal failure — the most significant costs won’t appear for years, maybe decades.

Just Breathe

Pay for Success is certainly not an end-all to the problem of asthma. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends a number of interventions families can implement with little cost to reduce the risk and severity of asthma, from banning smoking in the home to reducing exposure to dust mites.

For the latter, allergy-proof encasings are available to cover pillows and mattresses, and all bedding should be washed in hot water every week or two. Stuffed toys should be removed from the bedroom, which should be vacuumed and dusted regularly. Dehumidifiers and HEPA filters help as well, although these are a bit more expensive, and pets can easily be barred from the bedroom, which, through all these suggestions, can be turned into a safety zone against asthma triggers.

But other interventions, from extermination services for persistent pest problems to mold remediation; from carpet removal to fixing leaky roofs and plumbing, can be out of reach of low-income families, and that’s where the Pay for Success program promises to make a difference. Once the financial details are finalized and investors lined up, the partners plan to contact the first cohort of beneficiaries. Additional project funding will be provided by the White House’s Social Innovation Fund, with technical assistance from the Green & Healthy Homes Initiative.

“We know the number of people who need help, we have a model deemed to be feasible now, and we’re at the point of starting,” Hudson said. “We’re excited about this partnership; we’ve been working on it more than a year.”

Robinson agreed. “We’re hoping this is a way of getting ahead of the curve and improving how we deliver care,” he told BusinessWest, adding that he hopes to see strong evidence that will make such interventional programs routine, not just a one-off. “It’s an exception to how healthcare currently conducts itself, with some of the risk contracting, but it’s a different way of looking at social determinants and not just medical procedures.”

And if more Springfield-area families find some relief from their asthma, plenty of regional healthcare stakeholders will be breathing a bit easier. u

Joseph Bednar can be reached at

[email protected]

NetLogix Aims to Reduce Stress, Keep Clients Focused on Growth

By BusinessWest Staff June 13, 2017

Sections Technology

Human Touch

NetLogix President Marco Liquori

Information-technology solutions providers can easily get lost in a maze of technical jargon, but that’s the last thing Marco Liquori wants to throw at customers. Instead, the technicians at his 13-year-old company, NetLogix, are trained to communicate clearly with clients about their network needs — and then meet those needs, in the background, so businesses can focus on growth, not computer issues. A recent customer-satisfaction report suggests the Westfield-based firm is doing something right.

When Marco Liquori talks about how his IT company, NetLogix, sets itself apart, he doesn’t go right into technical jargon. In fact, he tries to avoid it.

“We have some business savvy; we’re a small business ourselves,” he told BusinessWest. “We take that knowledge to our clients, and, when we do talk to them, it’s not geek-speak, but business recommendations in plain English.”

That’s actually one of the points on a list he’s prepared called “10 Things We Do Better.” Some of them — delving into areas like network security, budgeting for IT services, and the difference between proactive maintenance and reactive response — get into the nitty-gritty of NetLogix’s services, but many are common-sense goals that wouldn’t be out of place in companies in myriad industries.

Take phone calls, for instance. “We answer our phones live and respond quickly,” he said, noting that callers will always get a human being, not a recording or voice mail, and those calls are followed up by a technician within the hour — actually, the average is 12 minutes.

Those touches are part of the reason why a third-party monitoring system, SmileBack, which tracks customer satisfaction for companies, reported that NetLogix scored a 99.4% favorable rating from clients in 2016 — the highest customer-satisfaction score it recorded last year.

“That’s unheard-of in our industry; our competitors are unable to say that,” Liquori said. But it’s not a surprise, he added; it’s a goal the company works toward. “Our techs are incentivized to get high satisfaction scores; they’re compensated not on billable hours, but on efficiency and customer satisfaction.”

Of course, part of achieving high satisfaction scores is actually getting the job done, and this is where a shift in the company’s strategy several years ago has paid dividends and grown the Westfield-based firm — which Liquori describes as a network-management, cloud, and systems-technology integrator providing end-to-end solutions for clients — to a 12-employee operation, and why his plans to keep expanding the company look promising indeed.

Entrepreneurial Itch

Liquori had worked for several other computer and IT companies — “value-added resellers was what we called them back in the day” — but business wasn’t great in the years following the dot-com bust. In 2004, the firm he was working for decided to take his business in a different direction, focusing more on application development. In the transition, Liquori decided to set out on his own — even in that tough economic climate.

“I was on my own for a year, but we grew, slowly and steadily, and we’ve been growing ever since,” he told BusinessWest. “We were originally a break-fix service — when people had issues, they would call us, and we’d go out and fix them.”

During that time, he was developing a book of business focusing on a handful of industries in which NetLogix still specializes today, including insurance agencies, law firms, medical and dental practices, and professional services like accounting firms. But the business model needed tweaking.

We try to understand each client’s business need for technology and address it. We help them overcome challenges they may have with some new technology or new processes.”

“It was a more reactive model. As an issue occurred, we’d go out and fix the problem, and we’d bill for the time we worked,” he explained. “Over the past few years, we transitioned to a managed-services model that’s more proactive in nature. We’re constantly monitoring every system out there for our clients.”

That encompases everything from preventing cyberattacks and monitoring for malicious activity to installing Windows and third-party application updates to managing firewalls and developing disaster-recovery strategies.

“We try to understand each client’s business need for technology and address it,” he said. “We help them overcome challenges they may have with some new technology or new processes.”

Under the old system, the more hours NetLogix’s technicians worked, the more money the company made. But a managed-services model is a win-win for both sides on multiple levels, he explained. “With this, the overall objective is to make IT spending predictable for the client, which helps them them budget accurately. They pay a fee for unlimited support.”

That’s an advantage over many companies that hold fast to a more reactive model, he said, adding that clients like knowing exactly what they’ll be spending — no surprises — and can focus their energies outside the IT realm, on growing the core functions of their business.

In fact, the fixed price, all-inclusive support plan includes a commitment to resolve any issues that arise in an expeditious manner. Since everything is included in one price, Liquori explained, NetLogix is highly motivated to use its time wisely and bring each situation to a successful completion — and clients aren’t nickel-and-dimed just at the time they need the most help.

“Our goal is to resolve issues as quickly as possible, and make sure their computers are back up fully and functioning normally as soon as possible,” he said.

But he kept coming back to the firm’s security-first approach. NetLogix’s first task is to evaluate a client’s network and explain any potential risks and exposures, and recommend adjustments to protect the network and client data — which is of massive importance for companies that store patient records or financial information, for example.

“With our full suite of multi-layered security in place, none of our clients were affected by the WannaCry ransomware attack — or any other ransomware,” Liquori said, referring to last month’s worldwide attack targeting computers running the Microsoft Windows operating system, encrypting data and demanding ransom payments to free it. Within a day of the attack, more than 230,000 computers in 150 countries were affected.

“We keep all our engineers constantly trained in the latest technology that’s out there, and constantly go to security seminars and network-security training events,” he went on. “Security is the biggest thing, and we stay on top of it.”

Growth Pattern

At the heart of NetLogix’s services, though, is its strategic IT planning. Liquori said he considers himself a strategic partner with clients, listening first and offering solutions second.

“I really enjoy a challenging technical issue and being able to provide a solution that meets a business objective and saves the customer money by improving efficiencies and improving security,” he told BusinessWest. “Customers may be losing sleep over these things. I enjoy the fact that we can take that burden off them so they can focus on their business.”

Liquori said he’s certainly looking to grow beyond 12 employees, and geography isn’t the barrier it used to be in the IT world. “Most of what we do is remote, so we can work in almost any geographic area,” he explained, adding that the firm covers most of the Northeast. But face time is important, too.

“For our managed-services clients, we will engage with them proactively — quarterly or semiannually, depending on the size of the organization. We will sit with the business owner or office manager for strategic IT planning. We’ll talk about areas where they’re weak or vulnerable, get those adjusted and up to speed. It may be making sure they have a backup recovery solution, or a computer may be out of date, so we plan together for updating their computers to help them stay atop the curve.”

And sleep better at night.

Joseph Bednar can be reached at [email protected]

Court Dockets

By BusinessWest Staff June 13, 2017

Court Dockets Departments

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

FRANKLIN SUPERIOR COURT

Alayna Macleay v. Franklin Eye Care Associates, LLC d/b/a Eye & Lasik Center
Allegation: Employment discrimination: $35,000
Filed: 5/18/17

HAMPDEN DISTRICT COURT

QualServ Corp. v. Euro Restaurant Group I, LLC d/b/a Wayback Burgers
Allegation: Money owed for goods sold and delivered: $24,813.15
Filed: 5/9/17

Sherri-Ann Wajda p/p/a Zachary McLeish v. First Student Inc. and Viviana Velazquez
Allegation: Negligent operation of a school bus causing injury to passenger: $3,616.40
Filed: 5/9/17

Kennely Curran v. Vehicle Transport, LLC d/b/a Borgatti Auto, et al
Allegation: Unfair and deceptive acts and practices in sale of used car: $5,000+
Filed: 5/1017

HAMPDEN SUPERIOR COURT

Hoskin & Muir Inc., d/b/a Cardinal Shower v. Scott Bauer d/b/a B & B Glass & Mirror
Allegation: Money owed for goods sold and delivered: $65,119.07
Filed: 5/10/17

Louise D. Hannum v. Tzay J. Chiu, M.D.; John P. Frangie, M.D.; the Cataract & Laser Center West, LLC; and D & G Associates Inc.
Allegation: Medical malpractice
Filed: 5/11/17

Ruben Lagares v. Agri-Mark Inc. and Liberty Mutual Insurance Co.
Allegation: Negligence causing injury: $195,530.92
Filed: 5/12/17

James L. Craig and Christine L. Craig v. Tzay J. Chiu, M.D.; John P. Frangie, M.D.; the Cataract & Laser Center West, LLC; and D & G Associates Inc.
Allegation: Medical malpractice
Filed: 5/15/17

HAMPSHIRE SUPERIOR COURT

Complete Restoration Solutions Inc. v. Historic Round Hill Summit, LLC
Allegation: Money owed for services, labor, and materials: $633,447.63
Filed: 5/4/17

Bercume Construction, LLC v. SVE Associates, et al
Allegation: Breach of coverage, breach of express warranties, breach of implied warranties, negligence: $34,718
Filed: 5/5/17

Latisha Ealy v. Town of Easthampton
Allegation: Negligence; defective stove provided by Easthampton Housing Authority caught fire, causing permanent scarring and emotional distress: $50,000
Filed: 5/5/17

Mitchell A. Schilling v. Dr. Allison J. Bell, Psy.D.
Allegation: Negligence, malpractice: $875,000
Filed: 5/19/17

VVM Accelerator Awards Boost Startups in More Ways Than One

By BusinessWest Staff June 13, 2017

Entrepreneurship Sections

Sweet Smell of Success

The winners of Valley Venture Mentors’ Accelerator Awards, who split $150,000 in grant money to further their nascient businesses.

Valley Venture Mentors’ third annual Accelerator program may have been capped by the grants given to a dozen of its participants at a recent awards ceremony, but participants say the rewards of the program go far beyond dollars, encompassing everything from intensive business training and expert advice to exposure in the marketplace and critical networking. These entrepreneurs’ ideas are often potentially world-changing; VVM’s goal is to help turn that potential into reality.

By Kathleen Mellen

Ronny Priefer’s niece Ava was just 18 months old when she was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, and almost died from diabetic ketoacidosis. If an alert aunt, who was babysitting, hadn’t noticed the telltale sweet smell of her niece’s breath (caused by a build-up of ketones), the toddler might have been in serious trouble.

“She realized something was wrong and took her to the hospital,” Priefer said, referring to the quick-thinking aunt. “If she hadn’t, the doctors think she probably would have died within hours.”

Ava’s story is not uncommon. Every year, more than 150,000 children in the U.S. are diagnosed with type 1 diabetes; roughly one in four aren’t diagnosed until they develop diabetic ketoacidosis, which occurs when the body cannot use glucose as a fuel source because there is no insulin, or not enough insulin. When that happens, the body breaks down fat for fuel instead, which leads to a build up of ketones, which, in turn, causes the sweet-smelling breath.

Like others with type 1 diabetes, Ava, now 6, must monitor her blood glucose by pricking her finger six to nine times a day, every day, for the rest of her life. Those finger pricks and the associated pain, Priefer says, can cause compliance problems, and “low compliance rates correlate to higher diabetic complications.”

All of which got Priefer, a chemist, to thinking: since the initial indicator of the little girl’s disease was sweet-smelling breath, why not find a way to use the breath as a way to monitor diabetes?

Priefer, 42, a professor of Medicinal Chemistry in the College of Pharmacy at Western New England University, is the co-founder and chief scientific officer of a business startup in Springfield called New England Breath Technologies, which has, indeed, developed a way to measure blood glucose using a person’s breath.

“It’s 100% pain-free,” he said. “This is my way to help the diabetic community.”

Priefer and his business partners, Judi Grupp, the company’s CEO, and Michael Rust, a co-founder and chief technology officer, got a leg up in their efforts on May 25 when they were awarded $25,000 at Valley Venture Mentors’ (VVM) annual Accelerator Awards banquet. The group will use the money to run a clinical trial this summer.

Holding their check for $25,000 are New England Breath Technology’s Ronny Priefer and Judi Grupp, with, from left, Jay Leonard, VVM board treasurer; Katie Allan Zobel, president and CEO, Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts; Dennis Duquette, head of Community Responsibility, MassMutual, and Scott Foster, VVM board chairman.

The company is just one of a dozen that walked away with a share of $150,000 in prize money at the awards banquet held at the MassMutual Center in Springfield. The other finalists were Genoverde Biosciences Inc. in Amherst ($25,000), MEANS Database in Washington, D.C. ($22,500), Ernest Pharmaceuticals in Hadley ($12,500), M1 Tapes in Haydenville ($12,500), Lumme Inc. in Amherst ($10,000), Streamliners in Hampden ($10,000), Kwema in Miami, Fla. ($10,000), Nonspec in Carlisle (7,500), RecordME in Torrington, Conn. ($5,000), Barakat Bundle in Cambridge ($5,000), and ProjectMQ in Pooler, Ga. ($5,000).

They’ll all put the money to good use, but the true wealth they received was, perhaps, less tangible.

The companies participated in VVM’s annual, four-month-long Accelerator boot camp, now in its third year, which is designed to prepare high-potential startups for serious growth. As participants, they received intensive training and critical support from experts, investors, and collaborative peers; marketing exposure and public-relations promotion; and the chance to build a network of peers, potential advisors, and investors.

“We create career learning,” VVM CEO Liz Roberts said. “Usually people come to us with some proprietary experience or knowledge, who found a way, or think they have a better way, to solve a problem for a lot of people. They come here looking for the missing pieces.”

Priefer said he’d heard about the VVM Accelerator program and thought it would be beneficial for both the refinement of the business and networking — and he was right. “We not only gained the financial reward, but we were able to refine our business pitch, and make some solid connections for potential future investments.”

Addressing Addiction

Akshaya Shanmugam, 29, was born and raised in India, where access to healthcare, she said, is “a privilege that not many people enjoy.” She hopes to change that.

“My goal in life is to address the challenges of healthcare that the developed and developing worlds face,” said Shanmugam, who received a doctorate in electrical and computer engineering from UMass Amherst, and is an expert in the design of portable health monitoring, data analytics, and testing and validation.

She’s starting her quest with what she says is one of the most neglected diseases, addiction — specifically, smoking addiction.

Shanmugam is the program manager of Lumme Inc., a new business in Amherst that is developing technology to help people effectively quit smoking, by using what she calls “the ubiquitous power of smartphones.”

Lumme’s patented platform combines machine learning and wearable devices to automatically track activities and the context surrounding each activity. Based on that data, the platform can deliver personalized strategies on how to improve overall health. The group is also exploring the capability of using the platform to aid in the treatment of eating and obesity disorders, as well as alcohol addition.

Akshaya Shanmugam (right) and Abhinav Parate from Lumme Inc., which won $10,000 at the awards ceremony.

“Any role I can play in bringing this technology to the masses and to make a difference in the world is meaningful to me,” she said. “All the rich data that we can provide surrounding human behavior can help shift the focus from treatment to prevention of diseases.”

Shanmugam and her teammates — company CEO Christopher Salthouse; President Deepak Ganesan; Abhinav Parate, head of research and development; Sherry McKee, a behavior-change expert — received an award of $10,000 at the banquet, money that will help the fledgling company launch its pilot program. But the most beneficial part of the experience, she added, was the networking she and her team members were able to do.

“We had the opportunity to meet so many personally and professionally accomplished individuals,” she said. “These were top people in their fields who we wouldn’t have had the opportunity to meet otherwise.”

To be eligible to participate in the Accelerator program, a company must have earned less than $250,000 in revenue in the last 12 calendar months, but must also “think big,” Roberts said. “We aren’t here to support people who want to open a dry-cleaning business; there’s a lot of small-business support out there. We’re looking for people who, for example, want to create a franchise of dry-cleaning stores. You have to have ambition to scale. We are creating high-capacity, high-growth companies.”

This year’s winners were selected from a cohort of 36 teams who participated in the boot camp, which runs each year from January to May. They, in turn, were selected from more than 200 applicants. While 60% to 70% of all participating startups come from within a two-hour drive of Springfield, others come from around the world, including as far away as Ghana and the United Kingdom.

“We want Western Massachusetts to be the next startup region,” Roberts said. “The way business works now, it’s global, and it’s international. If you want to be a place of innovation, and you want to draw and retain people to this area, that’s a really key thing.”

At the close of the boot camp, the 36 startups self-selected 12 finalists following a high-stakes pitch contest. On May 25, 15 judges (angel investors and venture capitalists from Western Mass., Boston, New York, Washington, D.C., and as far away as Atlanta), were each allotted $10,000 to ‘invest’ in the companies; they heard the finalists’ pitches, interviewed them, looked at their product demos, and independently determined the amount each company would be awarded.

“This is not a consensus piece,” Roberts said. “It’s actually how investing works in real life.”

VVM receives funding for this and other programs from MassMutual, MassDevelopment, the Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts, the Irene E. and George A. Davis Foundation, and the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative, among other sponsors.

Big Picture

The folks at Valley Venture Mentors say they believe in setting big goals. Through its mentorship programs and its Accelerator Awards, VVM aims to create nothing short of an entrepreneurial renaissance in Western Mass. by building what Roberts calls an ecosystem, in which startup businesses can grow and flourish, both locally and globally.

“When Valley Venture Mentors was founded in 2011, there weren’t the entrepreneurship programs in colleges that there are now, and there certainly wasn’t the support of an ecosystem,” Roberts said. “It’s hard to get started on your own, in isolation. They don’t know what they don’t know before they come in — how to find your customers, who your customers are. Do you have the presentation model? Do you actually have a flawed business model? Through the process of this program, we help them with all that.”

The proof the companies’ success, Roberts says, is in the pudding. In 2016, VVM startups created $7.9 million in earnings and attracted $11.3 million in outside funding — everything from angel and venture-capital investments to prestigious federal research grants. VVM startups supported 227 full-time and 613 part-time and contract jobs, in addition to spending $2.45 million on service providers outside payroll.

It’s worth noting, Roberts says, that VVM’s startups are also diverse. While 63% of the companies in this year’s cohort were women-led, and more than 50% were led by people of color, the numbers for similar programs are much lower, nationally (23% led by women and 20% led by people of color), according the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, which supports women and minority entrepreneurs.

“There’s something about the way we’re doing this — it’s on nights and weekends, we provide childcare, we do a founder-blind application process — that’s really different,” Roberts told BusinessWest. “I think it’s something that’s specific to Western Massachusetts, that is human-friendly. They can succeed here.”

With the aid of VVM’s Accelerator program, they’re gaining the resources to do just that — with rewards that go far beyond a dollar sign.

Stroke Is a Common Killer of Women — but Doesn’t Have to Be

By BusinessWest Staff June 13, 2017

Business of Aging Sections

A Matter of Time

Dr. Rajiv Padmanabhan says the initial 911 call triggers a chain of events at the hospital that ensures everyone is in place to treat a stroke quickly when the patient arrives.

Everyone knows women who are fiercely independent and used to doing everything for themselves. Getting to the hospital after a stroke — or, more likely, getting a friend or loved one there — shouldn’t fall into that category.

“We stress to stroke patients that we want them to come to the hospital quickly,” said Patti Henault, coordinator of Stroke Programs at Mercy Medical Center. “Every minute someone is having a large stroke is a minute that is wasted, and a little part of your brain is going to be damaged. Basically, the quicker you get treatment, the better the outcome usually is. But to arrive as fast as possible, you should call EMS. People think an ambulance takes longer, but the thing is, EMS lets us know they’re coming, so we can get everything in place. That helps a lot.”

Once the patient calls 911, she explained, the ambulance crew is in contact with the hospital, so doctors and CT-scan technicians are in place the moment of arrival. “The first diagnostic test for stroke is do a CT scan, so we know what’s going on inside the brain,” Henault said. “It’s a quick test, but the faster we can do it, the faster we can know whether it’s something we can treat.”

Dr. Rajiv Padmanabhan, a neurologist with Baystate Health, said the system has an algorithm — a chain of command, if you will — for stroke response, and it begins with the EMS team.

“When they call into the hospital, we are on standby, with the CT scan and neurology team and the emergency room; we’re all aware that a patient with a stroke is coming on the ambulance,” he told BusinessWest. “The 911 call triggers the whole thing. They go straight to the CT scan, and we also look at pictures of the arteries.

“The most important lesson is to get them treated fast,” he went on. “Every minute, 1.9 million neurons are lost in the brain. The sooner we treat them, the better chance we have of getting blood supplied back to the brain, which is what we aim for. Once the patient calls 911, the likelihood of a good outcome increases. It sets up a chain of command, which notifies techs, the lab, pharmacy, and the ER. It triggers a chain of events that leads to faster delivery of care. 911 makes a difference.”

According to the American Stroke Assoc., stroke is the third-leading cause of death for women and the fifth-leading cause of death for men; each year, 55,000 more women have a stroke than men. And because women live longer on average than men, strokes often have a more negative impact on their lives. In fact, women are more likely than men to live alone when they have a stroke; require the services of a long-term healthcare facility after a stroke; and have a worse recovery overall.

But with proper management of risk factors, and a quick response when an event occurs, women, as well as men, have a better chance of decreasing mortality rates from stroke and boosting quality of life.

On the Clock

Once a stroke patient arrives at Mercy, Henault said, a consultation is conducted with a neurologist from Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston through that institution’s stroke telemedicine program. “They can see the patient, give directions, answer patient questions, they can even zoom close up on eyes and check the pupils. It’s pretty amazing. They can give us advice on how to treat the patient.”

Patti Henault says many risk factors for stroke — like high blood pressure, obesity, and smoking — are manageable with lifestyle choices.

Mercy began using the Mass General service in January 2016 because they are always ready to consult. “The neurologists in our area are often with patients, and it’s difficult to stop what they’re doing. We decided we’d get quicker service with telemedicine. And it really has made an impact.”

About 85% of all strokes are ischemic, caused by a clot, while the rest are hemorrhagic strokes, which are treated differently. In the case of an ischemic stroke, the first line line of defense is the blood-thinning agent tPA (tissue plasminogen activator), known colloquially as a ‘clot buster.’

“If there is a problem like a clot blocking an artery or arteries are very narrowed because of artherosclerosis, we might be able to resume blood flow to the brain,” Henault said. “The idea is, if we can resume blood flow to the brain, the brain cells stop dying because they’re getting the nutrients and oxygen they need.”

For patients that require a more dramatic intervention than a clot buster, a cutting-edge device in use at Baystate known as the ‘stentriever’ can actually be inserted into the artery to remove the clot.

“We’ve incorporated that as part of the protocol,” Padmanabhan said. “We want to make sure we have the right tools, state-of-the-art tools, to respond 24/7/365 and get all patients to the right treatment immediately.”

He added that doctors are waiting on trials and studies examining whether such interventions may be employed more than seven hours after a stroke, which is considered the current limit. (Clot busters like tPA are typically administered no more than four and a half hours out). “Expanding the window might capture more big strokes before disability and death. We won’t get them all, but we can decrease mortality.”

The best medicine, of course, is not to have a stroke at all, and fortunately, most risk factors are lifestyle-related and can be managed in most people.

“High blood pressure is huge one,” Henault said. “A lot of people think high blood pressure is kind of harmless, but it’s insidious because it does damage to blood vessels every day, and if you have high blood pressure, it’s constantly wearing down the side of the blood vessel, and one crack can develop a blood clot because the body is trying to fix it.”

Other risk factors, she went on, include being overweight, lack of physical activity, and behaviors like smoking, excessive drinking, and drug abuse. “Our younger stroke victims, especially, tend to have some high-risk behavior such as that.”

Some stroke risks require medical intervention, such as atrial fibrillation, or irregular heartbeat, which increases an individual’s chance of developing blood clots. Many with this condition take blood thinners on a regular basis.

“The most important risk factors are hypertension, diabetes, high cholesterol, and obviously smoking,” Padmanabhan said. “Quitting smoking and controlling sugars are important for treating blood pressure. Sleep apnea also has a correlation, so if you feel foggy and tired all the time, check it out and make sure it’s treated. You don’t have to be obese or have a metabolic syndrome to have sleep apnea.”

Although it sounds simple, he added, regular doctor visits can go a long way toward preventing strokes, as will following the American Heart Assoc. guidelines to engage in 20 minutes of moderate exercise five times a week. “The important thing is knowing your numbers. You won’t get to your goals in a day.”

For recovering stroke patients without these risk factors, Padmanabhan said, Baystate’s stroke clinics in Springfield and Greenfield conduct diagnostic cardiac testing to try to determine a cause. But there’s no one way to rehab from a stroke, Henault added.

“No two people are the same. Every section of the brain controls different things, so everyone’s treatment after a stroke is different. Younger brains tend to recover more quickly.”

Different for Women

Each year, according to the American Stroke Assoc., stroke kills twice as many women as breast cancer. But the public tends to be less knowledgeable about the risk factors and don’t perceive themselves at risk for stroke.

In addition to the general risk factors like family history, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, smoking, lack of exercise, and being overweight, women face some unique risk factors, including:

• Taking birth control pills. The greatest concern about using oral contraceptives is for women with additional risk factors, such as age, cigarette smoking, high blood pressure, or diabetes;

• Being pregnant. Stroke risk increases during a normal pregnancy due to natural changes in the body such as increased blood pressure and stress on the heart;

• Using hormone-replacement therapy, a combined hormone therapy of progestin and estrogen, to relieve menopausal symptoms; and

• Suffering from migraine headaches with aura. Migraines can increase a woman’s stroke risk two and a half times, and most people in the U.S. who suffer migraines are women.

Women may also report symptoms that are different from common stroke symptoms. These can include loss of consciousness or fainting; general weakness; difficulty or shortness of breath; confusion, unresponsiveness, or disorientation; sudden behavioral change; agitation; hallucinations; nausea or vomiting; pain; seizures; and hiccups. Because these are not typically recognized as stroke symptoms, treatment is often delayed.

Henault said men and women should at least know the FAST symptoms. That’s an acronym stroke-care professionals use to help people recognize the signs of a stroke. The letters stand for facial drooping, arm weakness, speech difficulties, and time — which is of the essence, so call 911 immediately.

“It sounds silly,” she said, “but little kids understand that, and sometimes they end up calling 911.”

It could be the most critical call they ever make, because it launches a chain of events at the hospital designed to save lives — and, more often than ever, does just that.

Joseph Bednar can be reached at [email protected]

Home Care Has Become a Critical Key to Living Independently

By BusinessWest Staff June 13, 2017

Business of Aging Sections

Aging in Place

Suzanne McElroy says it’s important to match a family with the right caregiver to ensure there’s a comfort level on both sides.

As the Baby Boom generation continues to advance into the golden years, the demand for home care continues to rise, as families embrace a model that keeps seniors stay in their homes while helping them with everyday needs. That means the need for qualified caregivers is rising, too — and it’s not always easy to find them.

Home care is a far cry from, say, plumbing, Suzanne McElroy says. Sure, both careers require specialized skills, but not a lot of plumbers are turned away because they just don’t … feel right.

“I’ve often tried to compare this to other industries, and you can’t,” said McElroy, owner of Home Instead Senior Care in Springfield. “A plumber can come in and fix your pipes, and you don’t have to worry about what they look like or smell like, or how they talk; they just come in and fix your pipes. But I’ve had caregivers rejected for silly things, like a tattoo in the wrong place, or things I’m not legally able to consider, like age, race, or religion.”

Paul Hillsburg, owner and president of Amada Senior Care in West Springfield — who left financial services for a career in this fast-growing field — has observed similar difficulties matching caregivers to families, starting with his own life.

“I saw the challenges we had with my mom in finding qualified caregivers,” he said, noting that she utilized home care in the early stages of her dementia. “My dad fired the first seven. I realized that was an important part of providing care in the home — the personalities need to match. So we take a personalized care approach.”

After all, McElroy said, she has to consider things from the family’s perspective, and why they need a certain comfort level with someone who will be spending lots of time in the home. “It’s not like fixing pipes and leaving; they’re going to be staying and sitting with your mom.”

SEE: List of Home Care Options

The problem, both she and Hillsburg, noted, is that the challenge of making those matches, plus the surge of Baby Boomers into their senior years — around 10,000 are turning 65 every day, on average — are ratcheting up the pressure on home-care agencies to find and retain talent.

“More and more people want to stay at home, and hospitals are actually suggesting home care during discharge,” Hillsburg said. “People want to age in place, to be at home, where their family can come and visit, and where they feel more comfortable.”

Home-care services run the gamut from companionship and household help to assistance with ambulation and medical needs, and the popularity of this option continues to grow, creating worries that demand will eventually outstrip the number of qualified caregivers. That means competition among agencies, which are bringing myriad tools to bear with the goal of helping seniors live as independently as possible.

The Right Choice?

McElroy, who has lectured many times on the topic of choosing a senior housing plan, outlined several considerations that families must discuss, including:

• Physical needs, including activities of daily living — from shopping, cleaning, cooking, and pet care to more intensive help with bathing, ambulating, and eating — and medical needs, which could arise from a sudden condition, such as a heart attack or stroke, or a more gradual condition that slowly needs more care, such as Alzheimer’s disease.

• Home maintenance. “If you’re living alone, your current home may become too difficult or too expensive to maintain,” she noted. “You may have health problems that make it hard to manage tasks such as housework and yard maintenance that you once took for granted.”

• Social and emotional needs. As people age, their social networks may change, with family and long-time friends no longer close by, and neighbors moving away or passing on. At the same time, they may no longer be able to drive and have no access to public transportation. The desire to be around a community of friends and take part in social activities may be paramount.

• Financial needs. “Modifying your home and long-term care can both be expensive, so balancing the care you need with where you want to live requires careful evaluation of your budget.”

The answers to these questions may very well point to assisted living as a better option than home care, but others may be able to age in place, accessing home-care services to better manage activities of daily living, while still enjoying the comfort and security of a residence they have lived in for years or decades.

Aging in place is a less effective senior-housing option once your mobility is limited. Being unable to leave your home frequently and socialize with others can lead to isolation, loneliness, and depression. So, even if you select to age in place today, it’s important to have a plan for the future when your needs may change and staying at home may no longer be the best option.”

“You may also be able to make home repairs or modifications to make your life easier and safer, such as installing a wheelchair ramp, bathtub railings, or emergency response system,” McElroy said.

Home care is a good option, then, for people who can access transportation; live in a safe neighborhood and in a home that can be modified to reflect changing physical needs; don’t have an overwhelming burden of home or yard maintenance; have physical or medical needs that don’t require a high or specialized level of care; and, perhaps most important, have a network of nearby family, friends, or neighbors.

“Aging in place is a less effective senior-housing option once your mobility is limited,” she added. “Being unable to leave your home frequently and socialize with others can lead to isolation, loneliness, and depression. So, even if you select to age in place today, it’s important to have a plan for the future when your needs may change and staying at home may no longer be the best option.”

Individuals and families who do choose home care, Hillsburg said, still have to overcome that initial reluctance to invite a stranger into their home.

“When I meet clients, I do my own personal assessment, trying to link their personalities with the personality of the caregiver,” he explained. “And when the caregiver goes to the family’s home for the first time, I meet them there and introduce them to the family, make sure there’s a comfort level there.”

Hillsburg said his company, part of a national network of Amada franchises, also performs extensive background screening — credit history, DMV records, criminal records, sex-offender registries — to ensure client safety, and also assists people trying to figure out how to pay for care, whether that’s a long-term care policy, veterans’ benefits, reverse mortgages, even life-insurance policies that can be sold back, swapping death benefits for current care.

Paul Hillsburg says the biggest challenge for home-care companies is finding and retaining quality caregivers in an increasingly competitive arena.

But to build a team of reliable caregivers at a time when the competition for talent is becoming fiercer by the month, a company has to make sure they’re paid well and happy in their jobs, he told BusinessWest.

“It’s a very, very competitive field. The biggest challenge going forward is going to be finding and retaining good, quality caregivers. That’s why we provide 20 hours of free training, or more, if they want it, to all our caregivers, and we pay them while they’re in that training,” he explained. “They want to be treated like a person and respected.”

Cost is still a major consideration for families, McElroy said, especially when agencies have to pay their caregivers competitively. While lower-income services are available through Medicaid and MassHealth, home care still isn’t within reach of everyone who needs it. “That’s only going to change in importance when enough people feel this pain, or the right people feel this pain.”

High-tech, High-touch

At the same time, Hillsburg said, home care continues to absorb technological advances that make it easier for families and companies to assess results, from an online portal Amada offers called Transparent — which allows families to see which duties a caregiver has performed — to a GPS system that lets the company know whether caregivers show up at the right place and time.

Meanwhile, the company’s Discharge Admissions Reduction Team (DART) works with care managers to negotiate transitions between hospital and home care with the goal of reducing hospital readmissions.

“The need for care is going to continue to increase for the next 30 years before we hit the end of the Baby Boom generation,” Hillsburg said by way of explaining the ways companies are honing their services to meet the needs of this population.

Still, at the end of the day, McElroy said, families are most concerned with whether the caregiver increased their loved one’s quality of life. She recalled one client who requested someone versed in quilting, to help her thread needles and otherwise allow her to continue enjoying her favorite pastime.

“That’s the heart of what we’re doing. Yes, we’re helping them out of bed and into the shower, but if we can help someone live the live they want, that’s what’s driving the spirit of our business,” she explained. “It’s hospitality; it’s customer service. You have to love what you’re doing. You have to love the mission and love the work.”

After all, “whenever I have someone raving about a caregiver, it’s not because they came in for a few hours and got the job done; it’s because they made a difference in someone’s life,” McElroy said. “They can be doing the grossest thing ever, but when they leave, if the person takes their hand and says, ‘I don’t know what I would do without you,’ they’re flying. They can’t wait to go back.”

Joseph Bednar can be reached at [email protected]

It’s Getting Hot in Here

By BusinessWest Staff June 13, 2017

Opinion

Opinion

By Associated Industries of Massachusetts

With summer approaching, employers should again turn their attention to managing work in the summer heat.

Although Massachusetts has guidelines on what it means to be too cold in the workplace, it does not define what is too hot. Employers are left to their own common sense and experience to determine what to do during the dog days.

According to the National Weather Service, heat is the number-one weather-related killer of people in the U.S. More people die per year from heat-related illness than from tornadoes, hurricanes, floods, and lightning combined. Heat waves occur across the U.S., but are often predicted in advance. Staying abreast of this information from the National Weather Service will allow you the opportunity to plan for the impact within your organization.

If you have a workplace that is open to the weather, such as a loading dock, a warehouse, a construction site, an outdoor deck or patio for food service, or even an outdoor exercise area or some other non-air-conditioned site, you need to watch for heat disorders.

Heat disorders generally come from the inability of the body to remove heat by sweating, or from too much sweating. When heat gain exceeds what the body can deal with, or when the body cannot compensate for fluids and salt lost through perspiration, the body’s inner core temperature begins to rise, and heat-related illness may develop.

Heat stroke is the most serious form of heat-related illness. It happens when the body becomes unable to regulate its core temperature. Sweating stops, and the body can no longer rid itself of excess heat. Signs include confusion; loss of consciousness; hot, dry skin; and seizures. Heat stroke is a medical emergency that may result in death. Call 911 immediately.

If heat stroke happens, the following steps may save a life: place the worker in a shady, cool area; loosen clothing; remove outer clothing; fan air on the worker; place cold packs in the armpits; wet the worker with cool water; apply ice packs, cool compresses, or ice if available; provide fluids (preferably water) as soon as possible; and stay with the worker until help arrives.

Other heat-related conditions that can affect workers include heat exhaustion, heat cramps, and heat rash.

No matter the situation, encourage your employees to adopt some of the following health tips to manage the heat. Education, planning, and reacting to the conditions will assure safety during the hot events of summer.

• Allow your employees to slow down. If possible, limit strenuous activities to the coolest time of the day, perhaps first thing in the morning or when the sun is not directly on your work site. Consider extending break periods or adding a break period to ease the heat risk during certain days.

• Dress appropriately for summer. Lightweight, light-colored clothing reflects heat and sunlight, and helps your body maintain normal temperatures.

• Encourage employees to drink plenty of water or other non-alcohol fluids even if they may not feel thirsty — their body needs water to keep cool. Consider purchasing bottles of water and sports drinks for the team to ensure hydration.

• Allow employees to spend as much time as possible in air-conditioned places. If the workplace doesn’t allow for AC, consider fans to keep the air circulating, and encourage employees to work in the shade if possible.

• Remind your employees that diet matters. The heavier the meal, the more a body works to digest it and the greater the water loss, causing a greater risk of heat problems.

Finally, make sure your employees watch out for one another. If they recognize a co-worker suffering with the heat, depending on the symptoms, urge them call 911, their supervisor, or human resources to get help.

Giving Big Ideas a Boost

By BusinessWest Staff June 13, 2017

Opinion

Editorial

The best ideas are often born of need, and Ronny’s Priefer’s big idea is exhibit A.

As the story on page 24 relates, Priefer’s niece was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at only 18 months old. Today, the now-6-year-old is one of tens of thousands of people pricking their fingers almost 10 times a day to monitor blood glucose — a task so onerous to many that compliance issues are common, often leading to diabetic complications.

So Priefer, a chemist, has developed a way to measure blood glucose using a person’s breath. For that idea and the startup, New England Breath Technologies, he and his team are building around it, Valley Venture Mentors awarded them $25,000 — the top prize — at the third annual Accelerator Awards. They and 11 other startups shared $150,000 in seed money to further their missions.

A quick look at the first two big winners tells a similar story of need meeting inspiration — and recording serious success.

In 2015, VVM tagged Jessica Dupuis with the top prize at the inaugural Accelerator Awards for Olive Natural Beauty, a company she launched after becoming disenchanted with the unregulated, unhealthy chemicals in the cosmetics she was selling for a Boston apothecary. She banked on women wanting a quality, natural alternative, and she was right; by the end of 2015, she had generated $250,000 in revenue and is being honored as a member of BusinessWest’s 40 Under Forty Class of 2017 on June 22 at the Log Cabin in Holyoke.

Last year, VVM chose Marcelia Muehlke for its top prize. She started her company, Celia Grace, when she discovered a lack of fair-trade wedding dresses. So she traveled to Asia and set up a supply chain to create high-quality garments her clients could feel good about. Today, she provides good-paying jobs for women in Cambodia while selling dresses around the world.

Another 2017 award recipient is Akshata Shanmugam, whose startup, Lumme Inc., is developing technology to help people quit smoking using mobile and wearable devices.

The common thread is unmistakable — identify a problem, or marketplace need, develop a solution, and launch a company. And because it’s highly unlikely humans will run out of problems to solve, there will always be a place for entrepreneurs to step into the gap with big ideas.

What VVM is doing, not only through the awards but with the Accelerator itself, is arming big thinkers locally with the tools, expertise, training, and strategies — and funding, of course — to turn their ideas into success stories, and, by extension, to seed the growing entrepreneurial landscape in Western Mass.

It’s a model worth celebrating, and repeating nationally, because even the best ideas need a boost.

Here Are the Nominees for the 2017 Continued Excellence Award

By BusinessWest Staff June 13, 2017

Features

Sensational Six

When gathering her thoughts on this year’s six nominees for the Continued Excellence Award, Susan Jaye-Kaplan summoned none other than Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

“I believe Dr. King once said, ‘we’ll judge people based on what they do, rather than what they look like,’” said Jaye-Kaplan, co-founder and president of Link to Libraries and one of three judges for BusinessWest’s third annual award program honoring extremely high achievers in the region. “The talent, commitment, and caring of all the nominees makes one proud to be in this community, where, for many of our citizens, giving is a moral responsibility.”

BusinessWest launched the Continued Excellence Award in 2015 to recognize past 40 Under Forty honorees who have built on the business success and civic commitment that initially earned them that honor. The first two winners of the award were Delcie Bean, president of Paragus Strategic IT, and Dr. Jonathan Bayuk, president of Allergy and Immunology Associates of Western Mass. and chief of Allergy and Immunology at Baystate Medical Center. Both had been named to the 40 Under Forty class of 2008.

The winner of the third annual award will be announced at this year’s 40 Under Forty gala, slated for June 22 at the Log Cabin Banquet & Meeting House in Holyoke.

The six finalists, as determined by scores submitted by three judges — Jaye-Kaplan; Dana Barrows, Estate & Business Planning specialist with Northwestern Mutual; and Bill Grinnell, president of Webber & Grinnell insurance — are, in alphabetical order:

Michael Fenton

Michael Fenton

When Fenton was named to the 40 Under Forty in 2012, he was serving his second term on Springfield’s City Council and preparing to graduate from law school. He was also a trustee at his alma mater, Cathedral High School, where he dedicated countless hours to help rebuild the school following the 2011 tornado.

Today, Fenton is City Council president and an associate at Shatz, Schwartz & Fentin, P.C., practicing in the areas of business planning, commercial real estate, estate planning, and elder law. He received an ‘Excellence in the Law’ honor from Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly and was named a Super Lawyers Rising Star in 2014. Meanwhile, in the community, he is a founding member of Suit Up Springfield, director and clerk at Save Cathedral High School Inc., a corporator with Mason Wright Foundation, a volunteer teacher at Junior Achievement, a member of the East Springfield and Hungry Hill neighborhood councils, and an advisory board member at Roca Inc., which helps high-risk young people transform their lives.

Jeff Fialky

Jeff Fialky

A member of the 40 Under Forty Class of 2008, Fialky was recognized an an associate attorney at Bacon Wilson in Springfield and for his volunteer work with numerous area organizations. He has since added a number of lines to that résumé. For starters, in 2012, he was named a partner at Bacon Wilson, and is active in leadership capacities with the firm. But he has also become a leader within the Greater Springfield business community.

Former president of the Young Professional Society of Greater Springfield, Fialky currently serves as chair of the Springfield Chamber of Commerce, and is also on the board of trustees of the Springfield Museums, where he chairs the membership and development committee and is the incoming vice treasurer. He has also served on boards and committees such as the Jewish Federation of Pioneer Valley, Leadership Pioneer Valley, DiverseCity OnBoard, the YMCA, and the Pioneer Valley chapter of the American Red Cross.

Scott Foster

Scott Foster

In 2011, Foster, an attorney with Bulkley, Richardson and Gelinas, was honored as a 40 Under Forty member not only for his work with that firm, where he specializes in general corporate, business, and finance matters, but for his chairmanship of the Forest Park Zoological Society, his work with the Family Business Center at UMass Amherst and the university’s Entrepreneurship Initiative, and his then-recent efforts to co-found Valley Venture Mentors (VVM), a nonprofit organization that connects talented Pioneer Valley entrepreneurs with mentors in the business community.

While his leadership roles at work and on civic boards have expanded in the past six years, Foster’s most significant achievement since then may be the growth of VVM from an all-volunteer organization to a nationally recognized entrepreneurship engine with an annual budget of $1.2 million, six full-time employees, and a track record of helping seed the Pioneer Valley with a culture of successful startups. He spends hundreds of hours each year improving the environment for entrepreneurs, who in turn are helping to lift an entire region.

Nicole Griffin

Nicole Griffin

Griffin spent 12 years in the insurance industry before launching her own business, Griffin Staffing Network, in 2010. Her work there, helping teens and adults acquire job-related skills and find temporary and permanent employment, earned her 40 Under Forty recognition in 2014, as did her generosity with her time and resources, from founding Springfield Mustard Seed, in response to clients who wanted to become entrepreneurs, to her involvement with a host of community-focused organizations.

Over the past year, Griffin has mentored young mothers through the Square One mentorship program and the New England Farm Workers Council’s teen-mom program, as well as leveraging the skills of her staff to provide recruiting opportunities and career guidance to current and graduating students at area colleges and universities. She was also recognized with the Community Builder Award from the Urban League for helping meet employment needs in Springfield. Meanwhile, she has ramped up her mentorship efforts for young entrepreneurs, chaired a Women’s Leadership Council event that raised $15,000, and lent her support to events benefiting Revitalize CDC.

Amanda Huston Garcia

Amanda Huston Garcia

When she was named to the 40 Under Forty class of 2010, Huston Garcia was vice president of operations for Junior Achievement (JA) of Western Mass. Meanwhile, she was active in myriad community organizations, including various chambers of commerce, the Young Professional Society of Greater Springfield, and various boards at Elms College and Springfield High School of Science and Technology.

In 2011, she left her position with JA — but still plays numerous roles in the organization — and became a full-time professor at Elms, where her passion for teaching young people about entrepreneurship and financial literacy remains strong. In addition to helping create the Elms MBA program (and serving as its interim director for a time), she developed a partnership between Elms and JA, recruiting more than 60 college students each year to teach JA programs. She also forged a classroom partnership between Elms and Putnam Vocational Technical Academy and is working on a program to help Putnam students earn college credits. She also introduced Elms accounting students to a national business-ethics debate competition, where they finished first in the region twice.

Meghan Rothschild

Meghan Rothschild

Rothschild, then development and marketing manager for the Food Bank of Western Mass., was named to the 40 Under Forty class of 2011 mainly for her tireless work in melanoma awareness. A survivor herself, she began organizing local events to raise funds for the fight against this common killer, and launched a website, SurvivingSkin.org, and TV show, Skin Talk, that brought wider attention to her work.

Since then, Rothschild has stayed busy, transitioning from a board seat with the Melanoma Foundation of New England to a job as marking and PR manager, where she’s the face of the organization’s “Your Skin Is In” campaign. She has testified in Boston and Washington, D.C. in support of laws restricting tanning beds. Meanwhile, she hosts a community talk show on 94.3 FM, and co-founded chikmedia, a marketing firm that specializes in nonprofits and fund-raisers — all while supporting a raft of area nonprofit organizations. Most recently, she joined the board of the Zoo at Forest Park, donating her time to its marketing and PR initiatives, and participated in events benefiting the Holyoke Children’s Museum, Junior Achievement, and a host of other groups.

About the Judges

Dana Barrows

Dana Barrows began his association with Northwestern Mutual while a full-time law student at Western New England School of Law. He has used his law background to help clients address a wide range of personal, business, and estate-planning needs, often working closely with their other professional advisors. He has developed a financial-services practice in the areas of estate and business planning. He specializes in working with high-net-worth individuals and owners of closely held businesses in the areas of business continuity and estate planning. Barrows also serves on a variety of professional and community boards and is very active within the Northwestern Mutual’s Financial Representative Assoc.

Bill Grinnell

As president of Webber and Grinnell Insurance, Bill Grinnell oversees a company with 30 employees serving 5,000 clients. Currently vice president of the board of River Valley Investments, he has also served as board co-chair of the United Way Campaign from 2013 to 2015, Northampton Planning Board member from 2014 to 2016, trustee at the Academy at Charlemont from 2009 to 2012, board chair at Hampshire Regional YMCA from 2009 to 2010, vice president and board member at Riverside Industries, board member of the Employers Assoc. of the NorthEast, and board member of the Northampton Chamber of Commerce. His agency also supports countless nonprofits in the region.

Susan Jaye-Kaplan

Susan Jaye-Kaplan is not just the co-founder of Link to Libraries — an organization whose mission is to collect and distribute books to public elementary schools and nonprofit organizations in Western Mass. and Connecticut — but also founded Go FIT Inc. and the Pioneer Valley Women’s Running Club. Her many accolades from regional and national organizations — far too many to list here — include being named a BusinessWest Difference Maker in 2009, the program’s inaugural year. She is a member of the Women’s Sports Foundation and a requested speaker at conferences and universities throughout the area. She works part-time as a consultant for the Donahue Institute at UMass Boston.

“It is inspiring to have had the privilege to read about the varied accomplishments of the nominees presented,” Jaye-Kaplan said regarding the judges’ challenge of considering dozens of Continued Excellence Award applications and trying to determine which to nominate this year — and, in the coming weeks, which to name the winner for 2017. “I can see these young people are responsible to the communities in which they live and work, the environment, and to the bigger community as well. It is an honor to see this in our community.”

Ludlow Builds Off Mill Project’s Momentum

By BusinessWest Staff June 13, 2017

Community Spotlight Features

Community Spotlight

Doug Stefancik says Ludlow’s status as a safe, clean, middle-income community makes it an attractive spot to live or do business.

When it comes to economic development in Ludlow, the sprawling project known as Ludlow Mills has been the lead story for several years. But it’s far from the only story, Douglas Stefancik said.

“We do need economic development, and we take it seriously,” said Ludlow’s town planner. “We look to businesses for tax revenue and jobs. And anytime we can get a new business in town, it enhances the entire area.”

A good deal of that movement has occurred at Ludlow Mills since Westmass Area Development Corp. purchased the site six years ago. Since that time, it has attracted $127 million in public and private investment.

The State Street property encompass a sprawling complex of more than 60 buildings set on 170 acres, and Westmass predicts that, over the next 15 years, more than 2,000 new jobs will be created and retained there, and more than $300 million will be spent in private investments.

The majority of buildings that make up the heart of Ludlow Mills were built between the 1870s and 1920s by Ludlow Manufacturing and Sales Co. From the 1860s through the 1970s, it made cloth, rope, and twine out of Indian-grown jute, flax, and hemp, employing about 4,000 people in its heyday.

Today, the complex is a growing mixed-use complex and home to many small businesses, including Iron Duke Brewery, which opened in a 3,000-square-foot space in December 2014, including a taproom that draws big crowds to the site.

But the jewel so far is HealthSouth Rehabilitation Hospital of Western Massachusetts, which opened a $28 million acute-care facility on the grounds four years ago, marking the beginning of the revitalization of the largest brownfield mill-redevelopment project in New England, and keeping 75 to 100 jobs in Ludlow.

On the heels of that project, WinnDevelopment, which specializes in housing and mill redevelopment, is in the final stages of a $24.5 million adaptive reuse of Mill 10 that will include 75 apartments for seniors, most subsidized but a few market-rate. Winn is also working on a $60 million conversion of Mill 8, which features the town’s iconic clock tower to a mixed-use complex of market-rate apartments with commercial, retail, and office space on the first floor.

“Winn has been first-class professionals all the way,” Stefancik said. “We’re excited about what they’ve done with Mill 10 and what we expect them to do with Mill 8.

“We’re also finishing up a riverwalk project, with public-safety improvements, lighting, trash receptacles, historical and interpretive signage, and benches,” he went on, describing a project that has drawn well over $1 million in funding to date. “Having walked it a few times, it’s fantastic. Overall, we continue to see the evolution down there. It’s a 20-year project, and we’ll continue to see development happen in phases.”

On the Rise

Nearby, the East Street corridor has been attracting more small restaurants, mom-and-pop shops, and convenience stores. Long a fertile ground for insurance agencies, banks, hair salons, bakeries, and other small businesses, “there’s a good, healthy mix there,” Stefancik said. “We just had a lady open a cupcake bakery down in that area, and someone is looking to open a yogurt shop. We continually have interest in the storefront businesses down there.”

He said business activity has been healthy, with 33 changes of occupancy in 2016, following 37 in 2015. “We see a good amount of businesses coming in,” he noted, before taking a stab at explaining why.

“I think we’re a classic middle-income community that’s safe and clean,” he said, adding, “the process for going through permitting is simple. The permitting on the mill site is more of an expedited permit, and we have similar processes and procedures for other types of businesses.”

That’s true, he said, for both a change in ownership in a small, storefront business or a new build from the ground up. “The Planning Board has been good about working with developers to make sure the plans are as close to approvable as possible when they come before them. And I don’t think our rules and regulations make people jump through hoops; I think they’re straightforward and fair.”

Stefancik said Ludlow also approves many special permits for home-based businesses, 18 last year. “These can be anything from a landscaper to someone doing an Internet business.”

WinnDevelopment plans to turn Mill 8 at the Ludlow Mills into a bustling mixed-use complex.

But they’re less visible than storefront businesses that continue to proliferate, such as recent East Street additions like Corner Café, BlueWater Sushi, Casa Pizzeria, Family Pawn, and Treasures of the World.

Meanwhile, the Planning Board recently approved the town’s third solar array, a 1.8-MW installation owned by Eversource on Chapin Street. That joins a town-owned, 2.6-MW photovoltaic system on a capped landfill on Holyoke Street, and a privately owned, 3.8-MW installation on Center Street.

Residential development has been steady as well, with a 13-lot subdivision on Maria’s Way, a 20-lot project on Cislak Drive, and a 35-lot subdivision at Parker Lane Extension. Meanwhile, HAPHousing is planning a 40-unit affordable-housing project on Fuller Street that has run into neighborhood opposition, but is moving through the approval process.

Out and About

Recreation is typically the third pillar of a healthy community, and Ludlow planners have their eyes on a few projects, like a dog park at Camp White on the north side of town.

“The dog park committee has finalized a design for the plan with Berkshire Design Group,” Stefancik said. “It’s one of these amenities that people in town have been asking for. So we researched our area, and Camp White allows passive recreation. A lot of other parks in town are filled to capacity with sports fields, so it’s hard to fit something like that in. For a dog park, we’re looking at one or two acres, if not more.”

The town also continues to look for open space to develop a new complex of sports fields, and is exploring the construction of a new elementary school to replace Chapin Street Elementary and also possibly Veterans Park School. For the older set, a committee is studying the potential for a brand-new senior center or retrofitting the existing center on Chestnut Street.

Finally, Ludlow officials are finalizing the design of a reconstruction of Route 21, Center Street, though the center of town, from Beachside Drive to Sewall Street. “There will be a turning lane in the middle, and pedestrian improvement, with sidewalks where there are none now,” he said. “The end result will be a big improvement to that area.”

Improvement is the name of the game for the Planning Department in any town, and Stefancik says Ludlow has plenty of reason for optimism.

“A lot of good things are going on,” he told BusinessWest. “We’re excited about the momentum, especially with the Ludlow Mills project and the impact that will have on the whole community.”

Joseph Bednar can be reached at [email protected]

Ludlow at a glance

Year Incorporated: 1774
Population: 21,103 (2010)
Area: 28.2 square miles
County: Hampden
Residential Tax Rate: $18.13
Commercial Tax Rate: $18.13
Median Household Income: $53,244
MEDIAN FAMILY Income: $67,797
Type of Government: Town Council; Representative Town Meeting
Largest Employers: Hampden County House of Correction; Massachusetts Air National Guard; Kleeberg Sheet Metal Inc.; R&C Floral Inc.
* Latest information available

Museum Dedicated to All Things Seuss Opens Its Doors

By BusinessWest Staff June 13, 2017

Cover Story

A World of Imagination

By Kathleen Mellen

It’s called the Amazing World of Dr. Seuss, and that pretty much says it all. One of Springfield’s favorite sons, the good doctor actually created dozens of amazing worlds through his timeless books. The museum that opened on June 3 pays tribute to many of them, but also to the city that inspired Theodor Geisel to dream, create, and delight generations of children and adults.

There’s so much to tell, and so much to see,
Put your thinking cap on and let yourself be.
Amazed by the world of the good Dr. Seuss,
Keep your eyelids up, and your brainy cells loose.

From murals to statues to wordplay and more,
There are things to delight, and stories galore.
His table, his Emmys, and his bright pencils, too,
Are there to peruse in displays just for you.

It’s all on view now, in a museum, brand-new,
For kids of all ages, and, yes, parents, too.
It’s right here in Springfield, a real downtown treat,
And to think you can see it on old Edwards Street!

Eight years ago, the president of Springfield Museums, Kay Simpson, had the germ of an idea: Why not create a permanent, indoor display featuring the work of the wildly popular Dr. Seuss, author of 44 children’s books that have sold hundreds of millions of copies, and have been translated into more than 20 languages?

After all, the Museums already unveiled an outdoor exhibit in 2002, the Dr. Seuss National Memorial Sculpture Garden, to honor the Springfield native, whose real name was Theodor Seuss Geisel. The sculptures — created by Seuss’ stepdaughter, Lark Grey Dimond-Cates — proved to be so popular, Simpson said, that they helped put the Museums on the map; all of a sudden, there were cars in the parking lot from states across the U.S.

“That was really exciting,” she recalled. “It increased our visitation and changed the demographics. It made us a national attraction.”

As popular as the sculpture garden proved to be, however, 80% of the visitors surveyed indicated they’d like to see an indoor exhibit as well, Simpson said. And she agreed.

Kay Simpson says the Dr. Seuss sculpture garden raised the profile of the Springfield Museums nationally, and a full museum dedicated to all things Geisel was the next logical step.

“We began our thinking about creating a museum based on the response we got from the sculpture garden,” Simpson told BusinessWest just days before the June 3 opening of the Amazing World of Dr. Seuss, as workers put the finishing touches on the museum — painting walls, waxing floors, and mounting displays. “People loved the sculptures, but everyone wanted an indoor museum experience.”

So, after eight years of planning, refurbishing the former Connecticut Valley Historical Museum (its holdings were moved to the Lyman and Merrie Wood Museum of Springfield History, also part of the Springfield Museums), fund-raising to the tune of nearly $7 million, and collaborating with Dr. Seuss Enterprises, artists, educators, and members of the Seuss family, the Amazing World of Dr. Seuss opened this month as a three-story, permanent homage to one of Springfield’s icons.

The museum was funded through contributions from area investors, including MassMutual, the Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts, and the Irene E. and George A. Davis Foundation, as well as through a capital campaign. To date, the museum has raised $6.5 million of its $7 million goal. It was designed by artist John Simpson, Kay’s husband, who teaches art at the Commonwealth Honors College at UMass Amherst.

The first floor uses colorful, three-dimensional displays with interactive components to explore Geisel’s childhood in Springfield, as well as the characters and stories that sprang from his imagination.

Museum planners envisioned an educational experience populated with Dr. Seuss’ most famous characters.

The second floor features the collections of Geisel’s stepdaughters, Leagrey Dimond and Lake Grey Dimond-Cates, and Ted Owens, Geisel’s grandnephew, and is curated by the family members under the guidance of Springfield Museums Vice President Heather Haskell, and curatorial staff.

On the lower level is “Cat’s Corner,” a Dr. Seuss-themed educational space for ongoing art and literacy activities, overseen by a full-time Seuss educator.

In short, the world’s only museum dedicated to the life and work of Dr. Seuss is packed with wonders to discover.

Oh, the places he’d go! At life he was winning.
His birthplace in Springfield was just the beginning.
There were points to be scored. There were games to be won.
And now he’s our fair city’s favorite son.

Theodor Seuss Geisel was born in 1904 on Howard Street in Springfield’s South End, the grandson of Theodor Geisel, a German immigrant who owned Springfield Brewing Co., and his wife, Christine, and George and Margaretha Seuss, also immigrants from Germany, who ran a bakery on Howard Street, where Ted’s mother, Henrietta, worked.

Ted’s father, Theodor Robert Geisel, was the superintendent of Forest Park, including the zoo, and when Ted was 2, the family moved to a three-story house at 74 Fairfield St. in the Forest Park neighborhood; he lived there until 1921, when he left to attend Dartmouth College.

“We were interested, from the beginning, in really telling the Springfield story. Ted Geisel grew up in this city, spent his boyhood here. That was something Springfield could be proud of.”

The young Geisel visited the zoo often, sometimes bringing along a sketchbook in which to draw fantastical versions of the animals he saw there (his sister Marnie teased her brother because his animal drawings had “mismatched features and were curiously exaggerated,” according to the museum’s website), some of which might well have inspired the illustrations in his 1950 book If I Ran the Zoo.

“We were interested, from the beginning, in really telling the Springfield story,” Simpson said. “Ted Geisel grew up in this city, spent his boyhood here. That was something Springfield could be proud of.”

Indeed, many of the exhibits refer to what Simpson calls “the Springfield Cycle” — books that were inspired by the sights and sounds of the city. Geisel’s first children’s book, And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street (1937), is based on a real street in Springfield: beer trucks used to barrel along it on their way to his grandfather’s brewery. The heavily traveled road was part of Ted’s stomping grounds, Simpson said, and might have inspired the young dreamer to imagine the likes of a “gold and blue chariot … rumbling like thunder down Mulberry Street.”

Geisel was also inspired by some of the more dramatic buildings in Springfield, like the Howard Street Armory, which resembles a castle, and the Barney Mausoleum in Forest Park, replete with its sphinxes and winding staircases, both of which show up in fantastical form in books like The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins (1938).

“He said that growing up in Springfield had an imprint on him and his creative imagination,” Simpson said. “He drew his impressions from growing up in a city with a lot of industrial buildings, and Victorian and post-Victorian monuments.”

If the sun starts to shine, or rain’s on the way,
The brand-new museum’s a good place to play.
It’s great to be there. You will like it a lot,
If the outside is cold, or exceedingly hot.

With its vibrant primary colors and murals depicting scenes from And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street and The Cat in the Hat, the entryway sets the stage for this museum about all things Seuss. There to greet visitors just inside the front door is a life-size policeman from Mulberry Street, uniformed in bright blue, sitting astride his motorcycle, perhaps modeled on Springfield’s own Indian brand. Emblazoned on his cap are the words “Police 304, Springfield, Massachusetts.”

Kids are invited to crawl aboard. In fact, every Seussian structure in the museum, like the seven-humped Wump of Gump from 1960’s One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish, for example, was fabricated by Symmetry International Inc. in Rhode Island, using a special foam that has been treated for strength and resilience, and is virtually indestructible. “Kids can touch them all,” said museum spokeswoman Karen Fisk. “We can just wash them at the end of the day.”

Other first-floor exhibits include Young Ted in Springfield, which features a replica of the author’s childhood home, where visitors can use a touchscreen to “draw” on the bedroom wall, as Ted famously did as a child. In the Seuss Bakery, tiny visitors can pretend to bake their own pies; at McElligot’s Pool, inspired by the 1947 book by that name, they can play a digital fishing game; and in the Moose Juice and Goose Juice Factory, with its whimsical piping and artisan glasswork, they’ll explore gears and gadgets. In a replica of the Forest Park Zoo, children are invited to construct their own fantastical creatures using Lego blocks, as Seuss’ characters from the fictional McGrew Zoo peek at them from the windows.

The sculptures inside the museum are crafted from a virtually indestructible foam substance, so kids can feel free to handle and climb on them.

Also on the first floor is Readingville, devoted to developing reading skills through rhyming, the alphabet, and story games.

“We really tie the museum to literacy,” Simpson said. “Readingville is an homage to all those books he wrote that were about getting kids excited to read. Starting with The Cat in the Hat, he’s using limited vocabulary, rhymes. He’s connecting letters and words with illustrations in a way that helps kids to understand the association between pictures and the words and letters. He’s making reading fun; that’s really what it’s all about.”

From the inception, Simpson said, the museum has worked closely on the content and design of the reading-related exhibits with the Davis Foundation, whose “Read! Reading Success by 4th Grade” initiative promotes literacy in schools in Hampden County, as well as with reading specialists from Springfield schools and experts from Square One, which provides early-childhood education and support services in Springfield and Holyoke.

“We feel that’s especially important for the city of Springfield, where children have a demonstrated challenge with reading,” she said. “We want to help kids overcome that struggle and to become proficient readers, because it’s so important for them in terms of their own achievement, and for the future of Springfield.”

Related exhibits include the museum’s ABC Wall, an interactive, larger-than-life version of Dr. Seuss’s ABC (1963); when children touch a letter, they will hear its phonetic sound, and related artwork from the book will appear on the wall. In Green Eggs and Ham WordPlay, children enter the railroad cave from Green Eggs and Ham (1960) to find word-game stations, based on the rhyming vocabulary of the story. (Think: “I do not like them in a house. I do not like them with a mouse. I do not like them here or there. I do not like them anywhere.”)

Treasures await on the second floor as well, where memorabilia, gifted to the museum by Geisel’s stepdaughters and grandnephew, are on display, including items that have never been displayed publicly, like the quirky, illustrated notes Geisel wrote to his stepdaughters, whom he nicknamed Snunny and La Groo.

Visitors can imagine the beloved author at work in his studio, recreated here with his drawing table and chair, and the red rotary telephone he used to talk daily to his publisher, Random House, in New York City.

“We even have colored pencils he actually used,” Simpson said. “When I walk in here, it sends a shiver down my spine.”

Next door, guests will see living-room furniture from Geisel’s home in La Jolla, California, where he lived for many years until his death in 1991. Displayed alongside a collection of his books and fanciful hats are his two Emmy Awards (for Halloween Is Grinch Night in 1978 and The Grinch Grinches the Cat in the Hat in 1982) — just a couple of the many honors bestowed upon him, including a Pulitzer Prize in 1984 for his lifetime contribution to children’s literature.

Don’t sit in the house and do nothing at all.
It’s open in winter, spring, summer, and fall.
So pack up the kids if it’s rainy or sunny.
To the museum you’ll go, for fun that is funny!

Springfield’s leaders welcomed the opening of the Amazing World of Dr. Seuss with much fanfare. On May 30, Mayor Domenic Sarno read a proclamation on the steps of City Hall, declaring it Dr. Seuss Week, and the museum’s opening was heralded with a parade, called Cavalcade of Conveyances, down Mulberry Street.

Now open to the public, the museum is part of the seven-acre Springfield Museums complex at 21 Edwards St. in Springfield, which also includes the George Walter Vincent Smith Art Museum, the Springfield Science Museum, the Michele and Donald D’Amour Museum of Fine Arts, the Lyman and Merrie Wood Museum of Springfield History, and the Dr. Seuss National Memorial Sculpture Garden. One admission offers visitors access to all the sites. The cost is $25 for adults, $16.50 for students and seniors, $13 for ages 3 to 17, and free for children under 3.

“As a museum, we want to celebrate the artistic and literary achievements of Theodor Geisel, but we really want people to come and have a great time,” Simpson said. “It’s a joy to share all of this with our visitors.”

Building Permits

By BusinessWest Staff June 13, 2017

Building Permits Departments

The following building permits were issued during the month of May 2017.

AGAWAM

BMA Realty, LLC
11 Ramah Circle North
$19,000 — Re-roof building

FRP Holdings Agawam, LLC
7-19 Springfield St.
$49,064 — Re-roof half of Friendly’s and re-roof 180’ canopy

Springfield Water & Sewer Commission
190 M St.
$90,500 — Re-roof building

Town of Agawam
36 Main St.
$156,822 — Re-roof Town Hall

Town of Agawam
1347 Main St.
$23,300 — Re-roof maintenance building

AMHERST

Amherst-Pelham Regional School District
21 Mattoon St.
$359,450 — Remove and replace gym floor, basketball equipment, bleachers, and divider curtain at Amherst-Pelham Regional High School

The Common School
521 South Pleasant St.
$3,970 — Install new rubber roof on library

Grandonico Properties, LLC
23 North Pleasant St.
$2,400 — Install sign cabinet above restaurant doorway

Hampshire College
West Street
$60,000 — Interior renovation of portion of first floor of Johnson Library to create Knowledge Commons

CHICOPEE

E & R Realty
749 Meadow St.
$6,487.23 — Add eight horn strobes and one pull station to existing fire system

Elms College
291 Springfield St.
$92,700 — Re-roof building

Elms College
291 Springfield St.
$685,205 — Construct new offices on second floor of library building

Elms College
291 Springfield St.
$465,550 — Install new paneling and flooring in chapel of Berchmans Hall

UH Storage Ltd.
499 Montgomery St.
$56,950 — Re-roof building

DEERFIELD

University of Massachusetts
148 River Road
$7,960 — Re-roof tobacco barn

EASTHAMPTON

Interland Real Estate, LLC
180 Pleasant St.
$30,000 — Interior build-out for new office space

KC Tactical, LLC
412 Main St.
$926,586 — Interior build-out for offices and bathrooms

Keystone Enterprises
122 Pleasant St.
$34,222 — Interior build-out

EAST LONGMEADOW

Excel Dryer
357 Chestnut St.
$104,250 — Roofing

Power Clean Fitness
45 Baldwin St.
$4,760 — Security and fire alarm

GREENFIELD

Center for Human Development
102 Main St.
$3,159,000 — Remodel interior to create integrated healthcare facility with experior facade upgrade to front of building and small addition at existing loading dock

Rosenberg Property, LLC
311 Wells St.
$35,000 — Extend sprinkler system

TCB Leyden Woods Limited Partnership
Leyden Road
$3,400 — Install ADA swing door

HADLEY

Pizza Hut of America
424 Russell St.
$1,169,366 — Construct a new urgent-care facility

Thayercare Inc.
49 Middle St.
$500 — Install ductwork from two kitchen exhaust hoods vented outdoors

LONGMEADOW

GPT Longmeadow, LLC
714 Bliss Road
$234,547 — Alterations to interior for new bakery

Longmeadow Mall, LP
791 Williams St.
$5,430 — Re-roof canopy only at White Hut/Longmeadow Kitchen

PALMER

Camp Ramah of New England
39 Bennett St.
$2,000 — Repair floor

Palmer DG, LLC
2 Breckenridge St.
$457,273 — Build new Dollar General store

SOUTH HADLEY

AT&T Mobility
8 Industrial Dr.
$5,000 — Add three new remote radios to AT&T shelter

Berkshire Hills Music
48 Woodbridge St.
$3,750 — Install fire-suppression system

Loomis Village Inc.
246 North Main St.
$299,760 — Renovate Gardenside Pavilion

Mount Holyoke College
College Street
$13,300 — Renovate existing space into three baths and storage room

SOUTHWICK

Crestview Construction
25 Industrial Road
$50,000 — New storage building

Grist Mill Plaza
604-610 College Highway
$13,000 — Replace pillars

King Brothers Decorating Center
617 College Highway
$11,500 — Replace windows, repair porch

SPRINGFIELD

Amerco Real Estate
88 Birnie Ave.
$8,000 — Remove office partitions, ceiling tiles, floor and wall coverings

CBRE
1341 Main St.
$75,000 — Convert existing space into new AMT vestibule for Bank of America

City of Springfield
1550 Main St.
$29,994 — New office dividing wall to make two spaces, plumbing and electrical work

Gardening the Community
200-206 Walnut St.
$190,000 — Erect a wood-frame farm-stand structure

Joanny Quezada
453 Belmont Ave.
$1,200 — Replace vinyl siding

Springfield College
263 Alden St.
$20,000 — Divide room into three offices in Alumni Hall, new acoustical ceilings, HVAC and electrical work

WEST SPRINGFIELD

66 West Springfield Realty, LLC
885 Riverdale St.
$4,266,000 — Construct 121-room hotel

180 Daggett Dr., LLC
180 Daggett Dr.
$100,000 — Facade alterations to existing building for conversion to multi-tenant property

EPT Nineteen Inc.
864 Riverdale St.
$1,800,000 — Renovate interior of cinema complex

Polonez Parcel Service
100 Doty Circle
$24,250 — Re-roof building

Eugene Rozenberg
758 Westfield St.
$29,500 — Re-roof building

WILBRAHAM

Northeast Auto
2423 Boston Road
$2,400 — New signvvv

UMass Awards $735,000 in Science and Technology Grants

By BusinessWest Staff June 13, 2017

Sections Technology

Banking on Breakthroughs

Three UMass Amherst campus research initiatives are among nine projects across the five-campus system that are sharing $735,000 in grants from the President’s Science & Technology (S&T) Initiatives Fund.

Announced by UMass President Marty Meehan, the projects showcase a range of cutting-edge faculty research being conducted across the UMass system, from enhancing clean-energy technologies to developing materials that can autonomously release drugs and precisely target tumors.

The Amherst campus projects include:

• The Center for Autonomous Chemistry, an initiative with UMass Lowell and UMass Medical School, and led by chemistry professor S. Thayumanvanan. The project will develop the molecular design fundamentals for autonomous chemical systems, inspired by the immune system. Fully developed, this will form the basis to develop materials that can autonomously release drugs in response to a specific trigger and precisely target tumors. The grant of $140,000 will be used to facilitate one or more proposed projects to federal research agencies.

• The UMass Unmanned Aerial System Research and Education Collaborative (UASREC), led by Michael Knodler of the UMass Transportation Center. A collaboration with UMass Dartmouth, UASREC is established to advance unmanned aerial systems, also known as drones, to advance interdisciplinary and collaborative research and education. With research already funded through the state Department of Transportation, $100,000 in S&T funds will help position UASREC to become the New England Transportation Center and develop other proposals to federal funding agencies.

• The Center for Smart and Connected Society (CS2), a project with UMass Medical School, is being led by Prashant Shenoy in Computer Science at UMass Amherst and David McManus in Cardiovascular Medicine at UMass Medical Center. The project, as part of the creation of the new interdisciplinary CS2, will focus on the advancement and application of smart and connected technologies. The smart-application domains include smart health and smart living, smart buildings and energy, smart and autonomous vehicles, and smart agriculture. The one-year, $25,000 S&T grant will advance the planning for CS2 and coordination with the medical school’s Center for Data Driven Discovery and HealthCare, which also received an S&T award.

Amherst campus researchers are also involved in another of the funded projects, the UMass MOVEment Research Center, which will explore the mechanics of movement and muscle function. Led by Matthew Gage of the UMass Lowell Chemistry department, the researchers will use the $25,000 grant to plan for a UMass system-wide research center for movement mechanics, focused on understanding movement in the aging population. Faculty from Lowell, Amherst, and the medical school will explore how to combine existing research strengths at all three campuses into a comprehensive program designed to approach research questions in the biomechanics of aging from a molecular to an organismal level.

“These funds empower our faculty, strengthen our research enterprise, and spur breakthroughs that boost the economy and improve lives,” Meehan said. “I’m proud to support our faculty while advancing our critical mission as a world-class public research university.”

Now in its 14th year, the S&T fund accelerates research activity across all five campuses, drives partnerships with state industry, and positions researchers to attract larger investments from external sources to expand the scope of their projects.

Since 2004, the fund has awarded nearly $12 million to faculty, helping to generate additional funding of more than $240 million in areas such as medical devices, nano-manufacturing, clinical and translational science, bio-manufacturing, data science, robotics, and personalized cancer therapy.

S&T awards have also helped to establish important research and development centers across the state, including the Center for Hierarchical Nanomanufacturing at UMass Amherst, the Center for Personalized Cancer Therapy at UMass Boston, the Center for Scientific Computing and Data Visualization Research at UMass Dartmouth, the Massachusetts Medical Device Development Center and New England Robotics and Validation & Experimentation Center at UMass Lowell, and the UMass Center for Clinical and Translational Science at UMass Medical Center.

“Since 2004, these grants have generated a tremendous return on investment to our campuses and to the Commonwealth, strengthening our engagement in key areas, including the life sciences, data science, climate science, and advanced manufacturing,” Meehan said. “This program underscores how critical a strong public research university is to the future of the state.”

The President’s Science and Technology Initiatives Fund is one of three sources of support that help advance the work of faculty members, along with the Creative Economy Initiatives Fund and the Technology Development Fund. u

Women’s Health Associates Forges Proactive Partnerships

By BusinessWest Staff June 13, 2017

Health Care Sections

Holistic Approach

Dr. Lydia Lormand says an annual gynecological exam plays an important role in a woman’s healthcare regimen.

Women’s health is almost as broad a category as healthcare itself, and the practitioners at Women’s Health Associates in Westfield understand this. Although they focus on obstetrics and gynecology, their holistic approach to patients considers their entire wellness profile, and helps them take steps to stay healthy in all facets of life.

By Kathleen Mitchell

Every day, Dr. Robert Wool spends time educating patients on disease prevention and how to stay healthy.

Although the founder of Women’s Health Associates in Westfield and his fellow practitioners focus on obstetrics and gynecology, their approach is holistic, and they teach patients what they need to know or do to avoid problems in the future.

“Women’s health doesn’t just mean a gynecological exam,” said Dr. Lydia Lormand. “It covers a wide range of topics that include birth control, hormones, post-menopausal management, and taking care of yourself.”

She noted that Pap smears are not needed annually, but yearly exams are important because they can uncover abnormalities such as cervical polyps or masses a woman may have that aren’t symptomatic.

Wool agreed, and said the practice takes a proactive stance toward health.

“Education can prevent so many things, including pregnancy,” he told BusinessWest, noting there have never been more options for contraception, yet 50% of pregnancies in the U.S. aren’t planned. Meanwhile, the incidence of conditions such as osteoporosis can be reduced by diet, exercise, and proper care.

“More than a third of women who break a hip after age 75 aren’t alive a year later,” he continued, adding that older women cherish their independence, which they often lose after a hip fracture.

Women’s Health Associates was founded in 1988, and today its practitioners include Wool, Lormand, Dr. Jacqueline Kates, and three nurse midwives. They have served generations of women in the same families, and the relationships they have forged are invaluable not only in terms of establishing a comfort level, but because knowledge about their psychosocial support systems can be critical.

Wool recently had four generations of women from one family in his office, and with the exception of the new baby girl he had delivered, they were all his patients.

Dr. Robert Wool has seen generations of women from the same family and delivered thousands of babies since Women’s Health Associates opened in 1988.

“Knowing the type of support a woman has during pregnancy is important, especially when a teen is pregnant,” Wool said, noting that, if he knows the parents of a pregnant teen are not inclined to help, he can access services from local agencies to ensure the woman is able to comply with her doctor’s advice.

Indeed, trust is a critical component of the practice’s success, and patients talk to the providers about problems such as urinary incontinence or painful sex that they don’t discuss with friends, family members, or other doctors because the topics can be embarrassing.

“The information allows us to find solutions to make their lives better,” Wool said.

Lormand noted that a woman in her 20s recently told her she was in a relationship but wasn’t having sex because she didn’t have a strong sex drive. But she soon confessed that the real reason was because it was painful, which resulted in a resolution of the problem.

“We are still a mom-and-pop shop,” Wool said, adding that this small size allows them to get to know patients on a personal level.

For this issue, BusinessWest examines the history of Women’s Health Associates, what makes the practice unique, and how its scope has changed over the last three decades.

Continuity of Care

Wool was hired by Noble Hospital in 1988 as a salaried employee to staff its newly created practice, Women’s Health Associates, that the facility decided to establish within the confines of the hospital.

“There was only one obstetrical/gynecological practice in Westfield, and it had closed a year before I was hired. One physician had retired, a second left to do a fellowship, and the remaining two moved,” he said, adding that he was given two exam rooms, a nurse, and a secretary.

About two years later, Dr. James Wang was hired to help Wool, and within a few years they purchased the practice and moved to their current location in the Pioneer Valley Professional Center at 65 Springfield St. in Westfield.

The change in location proved beneficial as it put them closer to the hospitals where they were delivering babies: Baystate Medical Center in Springfield, Providence Hospital in Holyoke, then Mercy Medical Center after Providence closed its obstetrics department in 1994.

Today, all of their patients in labor are delivered at Baystate, and they work in conjunction with the hospital’s faculty and resident obstetrics/gynecological practices.

Midwives were added to the staff at Women’s Healthcare Associates after Wool began collaborating in 1992 with Holyoke Midwives, and they taught him techniques that proved helpful to his patients.

“Birthing is a pretty natural process, and in the majority of cases no interventions are needed,” he said, noting that the midwives showed him that if a doctor is patient and allows nature to take its course, most babies can be delivered naturally without having to resort to a cesarean section.

But even though labor and delivery haven’t changed much, the way medicine is delivered has undergone dramatic shifts in the past three decades, and Wool says what sets Women’s Health Associates apart from similar obstetrical/gynecological groups is its size.

For example, during the final weeks of a woman’s pregnancy, she sees all three doctors, so when labor begins, they are familiar with her health and ability to cope with stress.

Lormand noted that, at 1:30 a.m. the night before she spoke with BusinessWest, she received a call that a patient was in labor, and for her and other doctors, knowing a patient’s anxiety level as well as any underlying problems is far more helpful than reading a chart or being told about them.

In contrast, a woman who is a patient in a large medical practice might have her baby delivered by a physician she hasn’t met, then see a different doctor the following day in the hospital because having a large number of doctors on staff means they only have to work assigned hours.

Physicians in large practices also tend to move frequently, which can affect what a patient is willing to talk about. This is important because honesty is critical to providing care, and Wool says it is a cornerstone of the practice, but has to be reciprocal.

“If you tell a woman a procedure won’t hurt and it does, she will never tell you anything personal again,” he said, noting that they prepare patients when they know something will be uncomfortable.

Knowledge and education are critical because many people believe things that aren’t true. For example, Wool received a flood of calls from patients in 2001 after the Women’s Health Initiative published a study that said hormone-replacement therapy was dangerous.

He told the BusinessWest that the study was flawed, and the results were eventually debunked, but the initial findings made national news and did irreparable damage.

Wool said the average age of menopause is 51 ½, and hormone therapy offers invaluable benefits because life expectancy has increased by several decades over the past two or three centuries.

“Some women have menopausal symptoms in their 60s and 70s, and women who are not on hormones develop osteoporosis at a much faster rate,” he said, noting that some researchers believe hormone-replacement therapy improves cardiac health.

Indeed, a study on monkeys whose ovaries had been removed and were fed a high-fat, high-sugar diet all developed heart disease, while monkeys in another group who ate the same diet and also had their ovaries removed, but received estrogen, never had a problem. But Wool noted the therapy needs to begin right after menopause rather than a few years later, and unfortunately, many women shy away from it due to misinformation.

Still, any treatment depends on a number of factors and needs to be discussed with a woman’s healthcare provider. But because osteoporosis is so common after menopause, Women’s Health Associates has developed a strong program to prevent it that includes the ability to do bone-density testing in its offices.

Satisfying Outcomes

The practitioners at Women’s Health Associates have always taken a proactive stance when it comes to educating patients. But they also do routine obstetrical and gynecological care, treat minor and acute problems, diagnose cancer, and work closely with specialists at Baystate Medical Center.

“It’s a real privilege to be able to treat patients over their lifetime,” Wool said, adding that he has delivered thousands of babies and enjoys seeing generations of women from the same families.

Although he and his peers perform different types of surgery and perform many tasks each day at work, he says there is no greater joy in life than delivering a baby and laying it on a mother’s chest.

It’s part of the life cycle and a very important time in a woman’s life, but only one facet of the continuum of care that Women’s Health Associates has provided and will continue to offer patients for generations to come.

United Way of Hampshire County Announces Interim Director

By BusinessWest Staff June 13, 2017

Daily News

NORTHAMPTON — United Way of Hampshire County (UWHC) announced the appointment of Renee Moss as interim executive director. Moss replaces Jim Ayres, who resigned his position as executive director to serve as president and CEO of United Way of Pioneer Valley.

Julie Cowan, UWHC board chair, announced that Moss will serve as interim executive director while the board conducts a search to permanently fill the position. Moss, a UWHC board member, recently retired as longtime executive director of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Hampshire County.

“Renee is well-respected in the community and will bring strong leadership skills to our United Way as we make the transition to a new director. We are grateful that she is willing to give her time and talents to United Way just as she was starting her retirement,” said Cowan.

Added Kate Glynn, UWHC board vice chair, “Renee brings impressive experience to the interim director role at UWHC, where she will work with the staff and board on a number of fronts, including the search for a permanent executive. The board of directors is extremely excited to have someone with such a strong nonprofit background and so well-known in the community.”

According to Cowan, “Renee was willing to step forward and serve in this capacity. She has been a tremendous board member and volunteer. Our organization is very fortunate to have her step in at this critical time as we prepare for the 2018 Community Campaign.”

Moss said she was approached by some United Way officers to see if she would be interested, and she was. “United Way is a great organization, and I’m looking forward to working with the incredible staff.”

Moss was with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Hampshire County for 32 years. Her passion for community collaboration and creating new partnerships is what she enjoyed most about leading that organization. Before moving to Amherst in 1985, Moss taught in the New York City public schools for 10 years.

Moss will assume the executive director position on June 26 and is expected to stay until Sept. 22.

Bay Path’s Carol Leary Meets with Homeland Security Leaders

By BusinessWest Staff June 13, 2017

Daily News

LONGMEADOW — Bay Path University President Carol Leary recently traveled to Washington, D.C. to meet with members of the Homeland Security Academic Advisory Council (HSAAC) and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) leadership.

The HSAAC provides advice and recommendations to the Secretary of Homeland Security and its leadership on matters related to homeland security and the academic community. Since its formation, the HSAAC has delivered more than 120 recommendations resulting in new and expanded programs, resources, and initiatives to support the academic community.

“I am excited to see that the department is focused on engaging with colleges and universities across the nation,” Leary said. “I am proud to be a member of the Homeland Security Academic Advisory Council, which has been an invaluable asset to the Department.”

During the meeting, the HSAAC Academic Subcommittee on Countering Violent Extremism presented its report to council members. The report offered a number of recommendations for department consideration that were established through a joint effort of academic leaders and subject-matter experts.

DHS leadership also outlined the 2017 National Seminar and Tabletop Exercise (NTTX) event, which will take place Oct. 10-11 at the University of Utah. The two-day event will include workshop sessions, a tabletop exercise, and an after-action review session on preparing participants to respond to a campus emergency. This year’s tabletop event will focus on a failure in campus infrastructure caused by cyberattack. This recurring NTTX series is part of the DHS Campus Resilience Program. The program engages colleges and universities in an effort to foster resilience and bolster campus emergency-preparedness efforts.

Following the meeting, Deputy Secretary for Homeland Security Elaine Duke met with HSAAC members for an informational session on the department’s key priorities and challenges.

Smith, Watson & Co., LLP to Open Additional Office in Pittsfield

By BusinessWest Staff June 13, 2017

Daily News

PITTSFIELD — Smith, Watson & Co., LLP, with offices in Great Barrington, North Adams, and Lakeville, Conn., is expanding by adding a Central Berkshire County presence. The new office, at 7 North St. in Pittsfield, will open its doors in July.

“Our top priority has always been to meet the needs of our clients,” said Bryon Sherman, managing partner. Sherman, along with fellow CPAs Robin Markey, Kim Whalen, and Colin Smith, are partners in the firm. The firm will continue to serve its clients from its other three offices.

Smith Watson is a full-service accounting firm licensed in multiple states offering a broad range of tax, accounting, and consulting services. Smith Watson’s staff of 19 professionals, including seven CPAs, will expand to include several more senior accountants.

Picture This

By BusinessWest Staff June 13, 2017

Departments Picture This

Email ‘Picture This’ photos with a caption and contact information to [email protected]
A photo essay of recent business events in Western Massachusetts June 13, 2017

Links to the Community

Link to Libraries recently celebrated two local business partnerships. At top, Douglas Theobald (center) and Christopher Walker (left) from Moriarty & Primack, P.C. visited Bowe Elementary School in Chicopee, where they are sponsoring the school students and library as part of the Link to Libraries Business Book Link program for three years. The purpose of the program and sponsorship is to enhance the school library and to give new books to children in the school for them to build home libraries. Below, attorney Stephen Krevalin recently sponsored a field trip to the Basketball Hall of Fame for a grade 4 reading class from Walsh Elementary School in Springfield. They were treated to lunch, a scavenger hunt, new books, T-shirts, and a story hour as part of the sponsored trip, which is part of the Link to Libraries and Basketball Hall of Fame program offered to area schools and nonprofit organizations.

Service Above Self

The Rotary Club of Springfield gave away $6,000 in service grants at its 102nd anniversary at the Fort Restaurant in Springfield on May 11. The Springfield Rescue Mission, Stone Soul Inc., New England Public Radio (NEPR), the Gray House, Springfield Museums, and Dakin Humane Society each received $1,000. In addition, the Club presented Paul Harris Fellowship Awards to Peter Lappin, former director of the Western Mass. Office of Economic Development, and Springfield Rotarian Jack Toner. Pictured from left: Sarah Gogal, project coordinator for the Amazing World of Dr. Seuss Museum at the Springfield Museums; Alicia Garcia, chairperson for the Rotary Club of Springfield Service Fund; Stacey Price, director of Development and Marketing at Dakin Humane Society; Lamont Clemons, vice president of the Rotary Club of Springfield; Laurie Rosner, president of the Rotary Club of Springfield; Greg Clark, stewardship officer for the Springfield Rescue Mission; Karon Tyler, board president at Stone Soul Inc.; Carlos McBride, director of the NEPR Media Lab; and Kathleen Lingenburg, board president of the Gray House.

Nearing the Finish Line

As part of a multi-year capital improvement project, Thornes Marketplace has spent roughly $500,000 to make the eclectic and historically relevant downtown shopping center more accessible to people with physical disabilities. “We’re nearing the finish line,” said Thornes owner and property manager Richard Madowitz. “We were interested in updating and modernizing and, where feasible, making the building compliant to the extent physically possible. We’re very pleased with the improvements and the increased opportunities it will afford members of the public.” Renovations include the remodeling of several bathrooms, which are now fully handicapped-accessible; the addition of oak handrails along the walls of the grand staircases; and, in partnership with Herrell’s Ice Cream, the replacement of a staircase with a ramp, making the ice-cream parlor accessible from within Thornes for the first time in its nearly 40-year history. Pictured at top: Herrell’s President Judy Herrell stands on the new ramp. At bottom: Madowitz; Thornes Marketing Manager Jody Doele, and Thornes Facilities Manager Jon McGee sit on the stairs beneath the newly installed supplementary handrail.

Springfield Regional Chamber to Hold Barbecue at the Boathouse

By BusinessWest Staff June 13, 2017

Daily News

SPRINGFIELD — The Springfield Regional Chamber will hold a barbecue on Wednesday, June 14 at the Boathouse, Pioneer Valley Riverfront Club, 121 West St., Springfield.

The after-hours networking event, slated for 5 to 7 p.m., is sponsored by Florence Bank and the Republican. Business and community leaders will gather to network, facilitate business connections and relationships, and enjoy entertainment from local guitarist and vocalist Aidan O’Brien.

Agenda

By BusinessWest Staff June 13, 2017

Agenda Departments

Old Post Road Orchestra Concert

June 16: Shriners Hospitals for Children – Springfield will host the Old Post Road Orchestra for a summer concert on the hospital’s front lawn from 7 to 9 p.m. The music is inspired by composers from New England. This event is free of charge, and light refreshments will be available for purchase. Attendees should bring their own lawn chairs. No alcohol, smoking, or pets will be permitted.

Bike to the Future Motorcycle Ride

June 17: Best known for special events involving tea, white gloves, dresses, fancy hats, and horse races, Square One is moving toward leather, helmets, and motorcycles for its next big fund-raising event. Hosted by the Springfield chapter of the Buffalo Soldiers Motorcycle Club, the Bike to the Future Motorcycle Ride will begin at Square One’s offices on Main Street in Springfield. All riders are encouraged to participate with a donation of $20 per rider and $5 per passenger. Registration is currently open at www.startatsquareone.org. Proceeds from the ride will benefit the children and families of Square One. The ride is sponsored by Alekman DiTusa Attorneys at Law, Harley Davidson of Southampton, National Ambulance, Interstate Towing, and Haymond Law. Sponsorship opportunities are still available. “We couldn’t be more excited to be working with the Buffalo Soldiers on this very exciting opportunity,” said Kristine Allard, chief Development & Communications officer for Square One. “This event has enabled us to introduce Square One’s critical work to new partners who will help us continue to advance our cause.” Check-in will begin at 8:30 a.m., and the ride will start at 10 a.m. The 90-minute ride will wind through Springfield, Chicopee, and Holyoke and finish at 11:30 a.m. in Court Square in Springfield. An after-ride celebration will be held, including lunch and dessert provided by Frankie & Johnnie’s, as well as music and prizes. Children and families are encouraged to participate in the celebration. Tickets for the party are available for $12 per person.

Estate-planning Discussion

June 21: Attorney Michael Gove of Gove Law Office will offer an informative discussion about key issues that are important to understand when planning for the future or for the care of an aging loved one. The session will take place at Christopher Heights Assisted Living Community at 6 p.m. Gove will review various documents, such as healthcare proxy, trusts, power of attorney, last will and testament, declaration of homestead, and medical orders for life-sustaining treatment. Those in attendance should gain a better understanding of when and if these documents are necessary to complete. The event is free and open to the public. Light refreshments will be provided, and tours of the assisted-living community will be available after the program. Seating is limited, and reservations are requested by June 16 by calling (413) 584-0701 or e-mailing [email protected]. Parking is available on Village Hill Road, Moser Street, and in the Christopher Heights parking lot on the corner of Moser Street and Musante Drive.

40 Under Forty

June 22: The 11th annual 40 Under Forty award program, staged by BusinessWest, will be held at the Log Cabin Banquet & Meeting House in Holyoke, honoring 40 of the region’s rising stars under 40 years old. An independent panel of judges has chosen the winners, and their stories are told in the April 17 issue and at BusinessWest.com. The event is sponsored by Northwestern Mutual (presenting sponsor), PeoplesBank (presenting sponsor), Moriarty & Primack, Health New England, the Gaudreau Group, the Isenberg School of Management at UMass Amherst, Six-Point Creative Works, Renew.Calm, Baystate Health, and the Young Professional Society of Greater Springfield. The event is sold out.

BFAIR Walk for Independence

June 24: Berkshire Family & Individual Resources (BFAIR) announced its second annual Walk for Independence. Last year, the inaugural walk along the Ashuwillticook Rail Trail saw participation of nearly 100 walkers of all ability levels, with this year already set to exceed that number. A stroll to Cheshire and back (with or any distance in between), the walk will be a fund-raising event in which BFAIR participants, community members, and sponsors can get involved in through sponsored walking, lunch, bucket raffles, and entertainment. Starting and finishing at the Adams Visitors Center, the walk is a day of fun and helps BFAIR share its mission to enrich the lives of people of all ages and abilities by providing positive life experiences and advocacy through distinctive, individualized, quality services. As a local nonprofit, BFAIR relies on public funds to provide critically needed residential, vocational, habilitative, and clinical services for adults, adolescents, and children with developmental disabilities, autism, and acquired brain injury, as well as home-care services for the elderly. The registration fee for the walk is $25 for adults and $12.50 for children 10 and younger. Registration includes a picnic lunch and ball-cap giveaway. Interested walkers can register online at thedriven.net/bfairwalk, by calling (413) 664-9382 ext. 40, e-mailing [email protected], or visiting www.bfair.org. In addition to registering, walkers may seek individual sponsors by asking family and friends to support their walk. Donations are accepted via thedriven.net/bfairwalk, or donation envelopes can be provided for walkers. Corporate sponsorships are available for the trail, mile, bronze, silver, and gold levels, ranging from $100 to $2,500, respectively. Interested businesses should contact Jennifer Civello at [email protected] for more information. Current gold-level walk sponsors include Greylock Federal Credit Union, MountainOne, and the Print Shop Williamstown.

Nomination Deadline for Healthcare Heroes

June 29: Healthcare Heroes, an exciting recognition program involving the Western Mass. healthcare sector, was launched this spring by BusinessWest and Healthcare News. Sponsored by American International College, Bay Path University, Elms College, and Renew.Calm, with additional sponsorships available, the program was created to shed a bright light on the outstanding work being done across the broad spectrum of health and wellness services, and the institutions and individuals providing that care. Nominations are now being sought — and will be accepted until June 29 — in the following categories: Patient/Resident/Client Care Provider; Innovation in Health/Wellness; Community Health; Emerging Leader; Collaboration in Health/Wellness; Health/Wellness Administration/Administrator; and Lifetime Achievement. The nominations will be scored by a panel of judges to be announced in the coming weeks. The winners will be chosen in July and profiled in the September issue of BusinessWest. The guidelines to consider when nominating individuals, groups, or institutions in these various categories are available HERE.

Movie Premiere

June 29: The Basketball Hall of Fame will turn Columbus Avenue into Hollywood Boulevard for a premiere of Grey Lady, a new film by Springfield resident John Shea. Shea will be present at 6 p.m. for a benefit cocktail party before the audience moves into the theater at 6:45 p.m. He will also host an exclusive party after the film, and will take questions from the audience. Shea wrote and directed the film, and also plays a small role as an island police chief. Tickets to the benefit are $100, and proceeds will go to Gray House, the Bing Arts Center, and the Community Foundation’s Dr. John V. Shea Scholarship Fund. Party entertainment will be provided by the Eric Bascom Trio.“The reason I’m doing this is to return as much as I can to the town where I grew up,” said Shea, who calls Los Angeles home today. Tickets are available online at the Bing Arts Center at www.bingartscenter.org. For mail orders, send a check to Keith Sikes, 61 Texel Dr., Springfield, MA 01108. Checks should be made out to the Bing Arts Center. The Bing Arts Center box office will also be open Thursday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Brightside Golf Classic

July 24: More than 200 golfers are expected to participate in the 37th annual Brightside Golf Classic at Springfield Country Club in West Springfield. “This event raises funds to continue Brightside’s mission to support our community’s most vulnerable children and their families,” said Allison Gearing-Kalill, vice president of Fund Development for Mercy Medical Center and its affiliated services. Two tee times are available. Breakfast and registration for the morning session begins at 7 a.m. with a shotgun start at 8 a.m. Lunch and registration for the second session will begin at 11:30 a.m. with a 12:30 p.m. shotgun start. The evening reception will be held immediately following the tournament from 5 to 8 p.m. Prices include green fees, golf cart, breakfast or lunch, a gift and swag bag, and reception featuring cocktails, food stations, auction, networking, and live entertainment. On-course food and beverages will be provided by event sponsors throughout the day. Golfers will also be eligible for a chance to win prizes and participate in raffles during the day. The 2017 Golf Classic chairs are Hank Downey, vice president and Commercial Loan officer, Florence Savings Bank; John Kendzierski, president, Professional Drywall Construction Inc.; Matthew Sosik, president and CEO, Easthampton Savings Bank; and William Wagner, Chief Business Development officer and vice chairman of the board, Westfield Bank. Brightside for Families and Children provides in-home counseling and family support to more than 650 children and their families throughout Western Mass. Services include resource coordination, parenting-skills development, behavioral-technique instruction, community-support programs, and other programs tailored to prevent hospitalization from occurring. Specialized assessments such as neuropsychological evaluations and testing are also available. For more information on sponsorships, donations, and attending the event, contact Gearing-Kalill at (413) 748-9986 or [email protected]. Information is also available at www.mercycares.com/brightside-golf-classic.

Chamber Corners: Upcoming Events

By BusinessWest Staff June 13, 2017

Chamber Corners Departments

1BERKSHIRE
www.1berkshire.com
(413) 499-1600

• July 19: Chamber Nite, 5-7 p.m., hosted by United Cerebral Palsy.

• July 25: Entrepreneurial Meet Up, 5-7 p.m., hosted by Shire Breu-Hous.

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

• June 17: Third annual Champions of Chicopee 5K and 2-mile walk, starting at the Portuguese American Club, 149 Exchange St., Chicopee. Registration is at 7:45 a.m., and race begins at 9:30 a.m. Cost: $25 per runner/walker, $15 for kids 12 and under. Each participant receives a T-shirt (if registered by June 3) and lunch at the Munich Haus. Part of the proceeds will benefit the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) in memory of Nathan Dumas of Lucky Design + Media. Sponsored by Munich Haus, PeoplesBank, Holyoke Medical Center, Polish National Credit Union, Westfield Bank, First American Insurance Agency Inc., Insurance Center of New England, and MedExpress Urgent Care.

• June 21: Salute Breakfast, 7:15-9 a.m., hosted by Munich Haus Restaurant, 13 Center St., Chicopee. Cost: $23 for members, $28 for non-members.

• June 29: Business After Hours, 4:30-6:30 p.m., hosted by Valley Blue Sox, Mackenzie Stadium, Holyoke. Game time: 6:35 p.m. Cost: $10 for members, $15 for non-members.

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

• June 28: Speaker Breakfast: “Why Ping-pong Tables Do Not Define Your Business Culture,” 7:30-9 a.m., hosted by Williston Northampton School, 19 Payson Ave., Easthampton. Featured guest speaker: Tim Retting of Cincinnati-based InTrust. Sponsored by BusinessWest, Easthampton Savings Bank, Finck & Perras Insurance Agency Inc., Innovative Business Systems Inc., United Personnel, and Williston Northampton School. Cost: $25 for members, $30 for non-members.

• July 13: Networking by Night featuring the Oxbow Water Ski Team, 5-7 p.m., hosted by Oxbow Marina, Old Springfield Road, Northampton. Sponsored by BusinessWest, Fleury’s Outdoor Equipment Inc., and American Boat Restoration. Cost: $10 for members, $15 for non-members.

• July 28: The Chamber Island Golf Tournament, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., hosted by Southampton Country Club, 329 College Highway, Southampton. Sponsored by BankESB, Polish National Credit Union, Finck & Perras Insurance Agency Inc., Taylor Real Estate, Westfield Bank, Applied Mortgage, Green Earth Energy Photovoltaic, and Richards Fuel & Heating Inc. Registration and breakfast at 9 a.m., shotgun start at 10 a.m., Fun Island Feast to end the day. Breakfast and dinner catered by Myers Catering. Come in your best island attire. Cost: $135 per golfer, $540 for a team. Visit www.easthamptonchamber.org for additional information.

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

• June 14: Greater Holyoke Chamber of Commerce Year in Review and Award Winner Announcements, 7:30-9 a.m., hosted by Wyckoff Country Club, 233 Easthampton Road, Holyoke. Sponsored by the Greater Holyoke Chamber of Commerce Corporate Leaders. Networking, buffet, and announcement of 2017 Business Person of the Year and the Fifield Volunteer Award winners. Cost: $35. The public is invited to attend. Visit holyokechamber.com to register

• June 21: Chamber After Hours, 5-7 p.m., sponsored and hosted by Slainte Restaurant, 80 Jarvis Ave., Holyoke. Mix and mingle with your friends and colleagues at this casual networking event. Refreshments will be available. Cost: $10 for members, $15 for non-members. Sign up at holyokechamber.com.

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

• June 23: “Microsoft Excel: Tips, Tricks & Shortcuts,” 9-11 a.m., at the Northampton Chamber of Commerce, 99 Pleasant St., Northampton. Presented by Pioneer Training. Pre-registration is required; space is limited. To register, visit [email protected]. Cost: $35 for members, $45 for non-members.

• July 12: Arrive@5, 5-7p.m., hosted by Three Sisters Sanctuary, 188A Cape St., Goshen. Sponsored by BusinessWest and People’s United Bank. Special guests: Franklin County Chamber of Commerce, Hilltown CDC, and Shelburne Falls Area Business Assoc. Cost: $10 for members.

• Sept. 13: Arrive@5, 5-7 p.m., hosted by Family Legacy Partners, 48 Round Hill Road, Suite 2, Northampton. Sponsored by Coldwell Banker Upton-Massamont Realtors. Cost: $10 for members.

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

• June 14: June After 5 Connection, 5-7 p.m., hosted by Westfield Bank, 462 College Highway, Southwick. Our kickoff to summer is a celebration with a cookout. Refreshments will be served. There will be a 50/50 Raffle to benefit the chamber’s CSF – Dollars for Scholars fund. Bring your business cards and make connections. Cost: Free for members, $10 for non-members (cash or credit paid at the door). Online registration is available at www.westfieldbiz.org. For more information, call Pam at the chamber at (413) 568-1618.

SPRINGFIELD REGIONAL CHAMBER
www.springfieldregionalchamber.com
(413) 755-1310

• June 14: After 5 on the Riverfront, 5-7 p.m., hosted by Pioneer Valley Riverfront Club, North Riverfront Park, 121 West St., Springfield. Cost: $5 for members, $10 for non-members.

• July 20: Annual Golf Tournament, 11 a.m., hosted by Crestview Country Club, 281 Shoemaker Lane, Agawam. Registration and practice greens open at 11 a.m., followed by lunch and a shotgun start at 12:30 p.m. The day concludes with a reception, buffet dinner, and awards ceremony. Cost: $600 per foursome, $150 for individual golfers.
Sponsorship opportunities are available. Register online for events at www.springfieldregionalchamber.com or e-mail [email protected] for more information.

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

• June 15: Annual Meeting and Business Grant Drawing, 7-9 a.m., hosted by Chez Josef, Agawam. The event will kick off with the welcoming of new Chairman Frank Palange and the incoming WRC board of directors. Two $500 business grants will be drawn the morning of the event. Guest speaker will be Drew Crandall. Cost: $35 for members, $45 for non-members. For more information and for tickets to this event, call the chamber office at (413) 426-3880 or e-mail [email protected].

YOUNG PROFESSIONAL SOCIETY OF GREATER SPRINGFIELD
springfieldyps.com

• June 15: Ninth annual Great Golf Escape, hosted by the Ranch Golf Club. Cost: $95, including lunch and dinner. Registration begins at 10:30 a.m., shotgun start at noon.

• July 20: July Third Thursday, 5-7 p.m., hosted by Dockside Restaurant at Brunelle’s Marina, 1 Alvord St., South Hadley, in partnership with Northampton Area Young Professionals and Young Professionals of Amherst.

People on the Move

By BusinessWest Staff June 13, 2017

Departments People on the Move

Jane Albert

Jane Albert has been promoted to the position of senior vice president for Marketing, Communications & External Relations at Baystate Health. She will report to Dr. Mark Keroack, president and CEO of Baystate Health, and serve as a member of the president’s cabinet. She will oversee the functions of marketing and digital strategy, government and public relations, community relations and public health, communications, and philanthropy. “Jane has been a trusted Baystate Health leader for 15 years in roles that have progressively increased in responsibility and scope. She has a breadth and depth of career experiences and skills that make her ideal for this senior leadership role,” Keroack said. When she joined Baystate Health as manager of Medical Practices Marketing, she presented the first marketing plan to integrate two legacy medical groups to become one organization as Baystate Medical Practices. She then served as manager of Corporate Marketing, overseeing Baystate Health’s marketing efforts, loyalty programs, and events, and developing marketing priorities based on the strategic objectives of the organization. Albert was promoted to director of Public Affairs & Internal Communications, developing metrics for the measurement of media activities while strategically building the community presence of Baystate Health and its entities. She then returned to Baystate Medical Practices, successfully launching the organization’s first physician referral office. Over the last four years, Albert has served as vice president of Philanthropy for Baystate Health and executive director of the Baystate Health Foundation. Among her accomplishments, she led the transformation of the foundation to diversify philanthropic support in alignment with a newly developed strategic plan and recently oversaw the completion of a $5 million capital campaign for the new surgical center at Baystate Franklin Medical Center in Greenfield. “In all of her roles, Jane has helped advance the work of her teams by developing priorities that align with the mission and strategic objectives of the organization. She is a positive ambassador for our health system and has always been a driving force behind providing honest, timely communications to our constituents,” Keroack said. “She is an incredible contributor to Baystate Health on many fronts, and her energy, enthusiasm, and affection for our organization will serve her well in her new role.” Before joining Baystate Health, Albert served as vice president of Advancement and Marketing at Western New England College, with responsibility for national and regional marketing efforts and philanthropic efforts focused on engaging alumni, businesses, and foundations in support of the university. She holds an MBA from Babson College and a BBA in accounting from UMass Amherst. Active in the community, she has held leadership positions on many boards, including Spirit of Springfield, the National Conference for Community and Justice, the Jewish Community Center, Rotary Club, and chambers of commerce. She has been recognized as Woman of the Year by the Springfield Women’s Commission and as a Paul Harris Fellow by Rotary Club International.

•••••

Lee Bank recently announced the promotion of three leaders within the company and the addition of a mortgage officer to support its continued growth in 2017.

Susie Brown

Susie Brown has been named to the position of senior vice president, Human Resources and Administration. She has been employed at Lee Bank for more than 37 years and has worked in many areas of the bank, including operations, human resources, building and maintenance, security, and administration. She will continue to oversee human resources, administration and security, and management of board meetings and governance processes for Lee Bank and its holding company, Berkshire Financial Services;

Paula Gangell-Miller

Paula Gangell-Miller has been named to the position of vice president, Community Banking – Retail Operations. She joined Lee Bank 29 years ago and has been involved in many facets of the bank throughout the years, having held positions as teller, operations supervisor, community banker, branch manager, and area manager, in addition to her new role;

Paula Lewis

Paula Lewis has been named to the position of first vice president, Retail Lending. She joined Lee Bank in 2012 as vice president of Mortgage Loan Operations. In her new position, she will oversee residential lending and will sit on Lee Bank’s ALCO committee as well as its executive loan committee; and

Kathy Kelly

Kathy Kelly has joined Lee Bank as a mortgage officer in its Pittsfield office. Kelly has been a mortgage professional for most of her banking career, with First Agricultural Bank, Legacy Banks, and most recently Berkshire Bank.

“I am pleased to announce these well-deserved promotions and to welcome Kathy Kelly to the Lee Bank team,” said President Chuck Leach. “I’m confident that Kathy will not only mesh with but also enhance our culture just as Susie Brown, Paula Lewis, and Paula Gangell-Miller have for many, many years. Lee Bank is very fortunate to have an extremely valuable culture of loyal, dedicated employees who are not only outstanding contributors in the workplace, focused on continued excellence in serving our customers, but also to our Berkshire community.”

•••••

Ellen Freyman, attorney and shareholder with Shatz, Schwartz and Fentin, P.C., was recently recognized by the National Conference for Community and Justice (NCCJ) for her significant contributions to the local community. NCCJ was founded in 1927 in response to religious divides in the country at the time. The goal of the organization and its prominent founders — including social activist Jane Addams and U.S. Supreme Court Justice Charles Evans Hughes — was to bring together diverse populations to combat social injustice, a mission perpetuated to this day. Freyman concentrates her practice in all aspects of commercial real estate: acquisitions and sales, development, leasing, and financing. She has an extensive land-use practice that includes zoning, subdivision, project permitting, and environmental matters. She is a graduate of the Western New England University School of Law (1988) and Pennsylvania State University (1977). One of the most highly awarded attorneys within the Pioneer Valley, she has been recognized or awarded by BusinessWest magazine (Difference Maker, 2010), the Professional Women’s Chamber (Woman of the Year, 2012); Advertising Club of Western Massachusetts (Pynchon Award, 2012); Springfield Leadership Institute (Community Service Award, 2011); Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly (Top Women of Law Award, 2010); and Reminder Publications (Hometown Hero Award, 2010).

•••••

Victoria Owen

Victoria Owen has joined United Personnel as the organization’s newest business development representative, as the company expands its team to better serve area businesses. Owen, former owner of Owen Employee Benefit Strategies LLC and past director of Employee Benefits at Northwestern Mutual, brings a wealth of knowledge about business operations and human-resources priorities to her current role at United Personnel. She leverages more than 20 years of industry expertise in employee benefits, strategic planning, and business development to support clients and candidates throughout Western Mass. Owen received her bachelor’s degree from Northeastern University, serves on the board of directors of the Home Builders and Remodelers Assoc. of Western Mass., and is committed to building meaningful relationships within the business community.

•••••

Sunshine Village announced several personnel changes as the organization continues to grow its programming footprint in the area.

Jenny Galat was promoted to program manager of the new Litwin Center Day Habilitation Program. Since 2013, Galat has worked for the organization as a developmental specialist, case manager, and program supervisor. She holds a bachelor’s degree in sociology with a concentration in social work from Saint Anselm’s College. When it opens this summer, she will oversee the new program’s focus on innovative day services for adults aged 18-32 years old;

Nichole Chilson came on board as human resource generalist to assist with employee benefits, safety and health protocol compliance, and employee-relations initiatives. Chilson brings more than 25 years of human-resources and customer-service experience. She holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology with a minor in criminal justice from Western New England University; and

Amie Miarecki was named director of community relations. She brings 15 years of experience working in health and human services, including marketing, community relations, and resource development. She will promote Sunshine Village’s mission to help everyone shine by engaging with community partners and employers. Miarecki holds a master’s degree in corporate and organizational communication with a specialization in leadership from Northeastern University and a bachelor’s degree in psychology with a minor in sociology from UMass Amherst.

•••••

Maria Mitchell, a graduate of Springfield Technical Community College’s newly accredited Health Information Technology program, is the first person from STCC to receive the MaHIMA Student Achievement award. The Massachusetts Health Information Management Assoc. (MaHIMA) offers the award to an outstanding student from any accredited health-information technology or health-information management program. STCC’s program received accreditation in December, making a graduate of the program eligible for the first time this year. Mitchell received a certificate of achievement and one-year membership to the national American Health Information Management Assoc. (AHIMA), free full-day registration for MaHIMA’s fall and winter meetings, and free MaHIMA webinars for one year. She is seeking a position as a health-information technician or coding specialist and hopes to eventually return to school and earn her bachelor’s degree. Graduates of STCC’s Health Information Technology program receive associate degrees. The program prepares students for certification and practice as registered health-information technicians, who typically work with patient medical records at healthcare facilities. Technicians focus in areas beyond coding, including data analytics, compliance, and more.

•••••

Duncan Mellor

The American Lighthouse Foundation (ALF) honored Tighe & Bond’s Duncan Mellor with its 2017 Distinguished Lighthouse Community Service Award at its annual gala at the Nonatum Resort in Kennebunkport, Maine on May 7. Every year, the organization honors one person who has contributed significantly to ALF’s mission. Since 2011, Mellor has donated his engineering and waterfront expertise to upgrade the Whaleback Lighthouse in Kittery, Maine. This three-phase project included designing repairs for two granite breakwaters and a new docking system with walkways that achieved federal government approval and met ALF’s goals for public access and safety. “This is a well-deserved honor for Duncan — and just one example of his exceptional expertise and commitment to our coastlines and waterfronts,” said Tighe & Bond President and CEO David Pinsky. Mellor leads Tighe & Bond’s coastal engineering services with more than 30 years of experience in the profession. Clients throughout New England know him well for his role in complex coastal projects and solving all types of shoreline and waterfront challenges. Mellor has also overseen unique projects that have required highly creative solutions, such as tidal turbines, offshore structures, and lighthouses. A licensed engineer in New Hampshire and Maine, Mellor has a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering and master’s degree in Ocean Engineering, both from the University of New Hampshire.

Doing Business As Certificates

By BusinessWest Staff June 13, 2017

DBA Certificates Departments

The following business certificates and trade names were issued or renewed during the month of May 2017.

AMHERST

Blade Logic
10 Gatehouse Road
Old School, LLC

Eco Tech Management
463 West St.
Haim Gunner

Electrolysis by Athena & Lorraine
48N Pleasant St.
Lorraine Barbieri

Old School Productions
10 Gatehouse Road
Old School, LLC

Paciulli Consulting
141 Columbia Dr.
Melissa Paciulli

Passport Press
257 Shutesbury Road
Lisa Lieberman

CHICOPEE

Gallagher’s Olde Fashioned Service Inc.
1095 Chicopee St.
Robert Galica

Paper City Art Kids
89 Front St., Apt. 15
Natasha Ortiz

RJ’s Outdoor Power Inc.
460 New Ludlow Road
Robert Jennings, Judith Jennings

Speedy Garage Door Services
50 Austin St.
Michael Barrasso

DEERFIELD

Au Bon Pain
16 Yankee Candle Way
ABP Corp.

HELD Doula Services
11 Juniper Dr.
Virginia Nowakoski

Johnson Farm
42 Hoosac Road
Edward Johnson

EASTHAMPTON

Bulldog Transport and Recycling
21 Wright St.
David Meunier

Edward Jones Investments
180 Pleasant St.
Michael Markiewicz

Lucky Nails
30 Cottage St.
Thom Lieu

Public Health Masters Collaborative
9 Taft Ave.
Paul McNeil

Valley Paddler
52 Williston Ave.
Katie MacCallum, Melanie Salvaggio

EAST LONGMEADOW

Ludlow Carpet & Upholstery Cleaning
141 Allen St.
Donald Marchand

Peoples Skin Care / Peoples Massage
145 Shaker Road
Stephanie Barry

Pyncheon House
41 Hampden Road
John Thurner

GREENFIELD

Antique Revival
322 Deerfield St.
Eric Webster

Main Street Bar & Grille
94 Main St.
Christina Guevin-Gurney

Meadow Green Nail Center
5 Park St.
Patricia Semb

Mighty Clean Mutt
52 French King Highway
Megan Edson

MinuteClinic Diagnostic of Massachusetts, LLC
137 Federal St.
Kimberley DeSousa

Naps Auto Sales and Service Inc.
151 Federal St.
Walter Williams

New Fortune Restaurant
249 Mohawk Trail
Wah Seng Inc.

Planet Gas
109 Mohawk Trail
Goe Greige, Melissa Holzhauer

Real Pickles Cooperative Inc.
311 Wells St.
Tamara McKerchie

Terrazza
244 Country Club Road
Abaz Cecunjanin

Tognarelli Heating & Cooling
85 Pierce St.
Kristie Tognarelli

HOLYOKE

Classic Custom Muffler
54 Commercial St.
Anatoliy Purshaga

Jessie’s Home Improvement
303 High St.
Efrain Vasquez Jr.

Juan Deli Mini Market
551 South Bridge St.
Juan Perez

Karaoke Social Club Inc.
54 Adams St.
Candy Villaronga

Kebab House
50 Holyoke St.
Seymur Musayev

Nick’s Nest
1597 Northampton St.
Jennifer Cheateauneuf

Shahan, LLC
46 Franklin St.
Muhammad Khawaja

Springdale Grocery
845 Main St.
Diomedes Chavez

Star Dancers’ Unity
1719 Northampton St.
Alexcelin Saldana

LUDLOW

Budget Pest Solutions/Construction
264 Moody St.
John Boudreau

Performance Rehabilitation of Western New England, LLC
483 Holyoke St.
Robert McDonnell, Dylan Bates, Robert McKenzie

Tony Nails
263 East St.
Anh Giang Tran

NORTHAMPTON

Abba Motors
30 Norrth Maple St.
Stephen Brackett

Cricket Wireless
90 King St.
Evan Morowitz

Cry, Cry, Cry
9½ Market St., Suite 3A
Lucy Kaplansky, Richard Shindell, Dorothy Williams

H2O Consulting
27 Winter St., #2
Alec Bernstein

Hair, Etc.
52 Conz St., #8
Rebecca Brooks, Robin LaFleur

Kelly’s Nails
13 Bridge St.
Thiet Thanh Son

Kristy’s Nails
137C Damon Road
Hang Tngoc Le

Lia Toyota of Northampton
280 King St.
Michael Lia

Trump Dharma Dream
82 Stone Ridge Dr.
Randy Kaplan

PALMER

Blue Star Farmers Market
3090 Palmer St.
Cassandra Weglarz

JDC Pest Control
41 Mt. Dumplin Road
James Chadwick

Paramount Pizza
1620 North Main St.
Ali Boluk

Premier Communications
11 Hobbs St.
Robert Lucier

Quick Flow Drain & Sewer
2028 Pleasant St.
Rehman Chaudhray

SOUTHWICK

Donald’s Devil Dogs
38 Congamond Road
Donald Elton

Southwoods Magazine & Signs
610 College Highway
Carole Caron

SPRINGFIELD

10th Planet Jiu Jitsu
321 Albany St.
Pioneer Valley Jiu Jitsu

ARM Carpentry Co.
137 Webber St.
Richard Ottani

ATS Landscaping
34 Berkley St.
Andre Blanton

Achievement Network Ltd.
1 Federal St.
Natasha Williams

Boyd’s Bistro
91 Wilbraham Ave.
Boyd Paul

Bytes Knight Technology
68 Cleveland St.
Irma Alvarado

Clean Rite Janitorial
229 St. James Blvd.
David Douglas

Jean Sylvia’s Hair Salon
17 Lombard St.
Jean Bussolari

Joseph Anthony Handyman
2358 Wilbraham Road
Joseph Monzillo

Kims Jewelry Inc.
1624 Main St.
Donghee Kim

Mike Williams Management
20 Maple St.
Michael Williams Jr.

Painting Beyond
118 Catalpa Terrace
Jeancarlo Marchese

Persona
174 Massachusetts Ave.
Khaifani Forbes

Phil’s Remodeling
40 Noel St.
Philbert O’Brien

SHE Studios
101 Beacon Circle
Amelia Adams

Severino Construction Services
175 Walnut St.
Luis Roberto-Severino

Trendz Unlimited
258 Gilbert Ave.
Latrenda McMillian

Trumpf Medical
120 Carando Dr.
Hill-Rom Co. Inc.

WEST SPRINGFIELD

Brian’s Drywall Co.
41 Sprague St.
Brian Klein

Choice Consultants, LLC
4 Shady Brook
Karen Sikora-Bernard

Davis Chiropractic
900 Elm St.
Marjorie Davis

Dirk Kidwell, Electrician
100 Front St.
Dirk Kidwell

GBS Brows & Skincare
1313 Riverdale St.
Pramod Sarraf

Hair and Nail Co.
1346 Elm St.
Maria Sepulveda

Maids Made Affordable
24 Hampden St.
Christina LaRosa

Main Auto Sales
842 Main St.
William Matte

Needham Electric Supply Co.
91 Union St.
John O’Connell

Omega Cleaners of West Springfield
1238 Riverdale St.
Joo Lee

Randstad
1111 Elm St.
Ranstad Professionals

Toomey-O’Brien Funeral Home
1043 Westfield St.
Francis O’Brien

WESTFIELD

Full Plate Fitness
88 Notre Dame St.
Steven Czerniejewski

JP’s Totally Baked Goods
18 School St.
Patricia Patridge

J.S. Smith & Assoc., Law Offices
166 Elm St.
Jeffrey Smith

Marisol Franco Realty Group
72 Mill St.
Marisol Franco

Millie’s Kitchen Deli & Pizza
1029 North Road
MKDP Inc.

WILBRAHAM

All American Gymnastic Academy Inc.
65 Post Office Park
Joseph Saimeri

Cuddles Pet Sitting
586 Main St.
Sonya Flynn

The Lawn Ranger
11 Railroad Ave.
Kris Breudy

Metallurgical Perspectives
4 Meetinghouse Lane
James Grochmal

NEPM – A Division of AM-DA Inc.
15 Main St.
Amy Smith

Seyler Retrieval
278 Mountain Road
John Seyler

Wilbraham Candle
38 Manchonis Road
Deana Gore

Bankruptcies

By BusinessWest Staff June 13, 2017

Bankruptcies Departments

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

Allen, Ernest
Harvey-Freeman, Lisa M.
53 Tilton St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 05/12/17

Ansah, Mensah K.
Ansah, Alberta
21 Ryan Circle
Springfield, MA 01118
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 05/11/17

Bajrami, Adem
57 Russell St.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 05/12/17

Bates, Donna L.
110 Somers Road #N205
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 04/28/17

Bile, Emmanuel Toffe
a/k/a Emmanuel, Bile Toffe
Bile, Hortense Yvonne
a/k/a Malan, Hortense Yvonne
9 Garfield Ave.
Pittsfield, MA 01201
Chapter: 13
Filing Date: 05/08/17

Blakes, Calvin D.
1026 Carew St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 05/04/17

Bonenfant, Matthew L.
13A Chestnut St.
Westfield, MA 01085
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 05/10/17

Briggs, Angela M.
140 Hermitage Dr.
Springfield, MA 01129
Chapter: 13
Filing Date: 05/01/17

Calabrese, Joseph T.
8 Powder Mill Road
Southwick, MA 01077
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 05/08/17

Ceccarini, Debra A.
47 Howard St.
Agawam, MA 01001
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 04/29/17

Chretien, Paula
49 Ely Ave.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Chapter: 13
Filing Date: 05/05/17

Chudy, Lynn A.
1246 Calkins Road
Palmer, MA 01069
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 05/05/17

Class, Emanuel
127 Slater Ave.
Springfield, MA 01119
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 05/12/17

Colon, Luz Daisy
1279 Dwight St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 05/05/17

Crafts, Kelly L.
P.O. Box 935
Bondsville, MA 01009
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 04/29/17

Cupillo, David
75 Thomas St.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Chapter: 13
Filing Date: 05/10/17

Demetropoulos, Erik J.
Demetropoulos, Stacie A.
378 N Brookfield Road
Barre, MA 01005
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 04/29/17

Dombrowski, Christopher A.
71 Bartlett Ave.
Pittsfield, MA 01201
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 05/02/17

Ely, James O.
1020 Park Hill Road
Northampton, MA 01060
Chapter: 13
Filing Date: 05/09/17

Farrington Contracting
Farrington, Mark Joseph
378 West Main St.
North Adams, MA 01247
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 05/01/17

Gauvin, Michael R.
136 Main Road
Westhampton, MA 01027
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 05/10/17

Hoar, Kathryn
49 Howard St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Chapter: 13
Filing Date: 05/08/17

Hunter, Allison
150 Gilbertville Road
Ware, MA 01082
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 05/08/17

Jasienowski, Judith A.
15 G St., Apt. 1
Turners Falls, MA 01376-1006
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 05/08/17

Johnson, Lorenda Paulette
37 Rosevelt Ave.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 05/04/17

Jourdain, Kyle Matthew
Jourdain, Kimberly Marie
a/k/a Lanty, Kimberly Marie
19 Knollwood Circle
Holyoke, MA 01040
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 05/11/17

Kotarski, Sarah
a/k/a McCaul, Sarah
24 Twiss St.
Westfield, MA 01085
Chapter: 13
Filing Date: 05/03/17

L & L Wheel Repair
Provost, Alphonse L.
Lisa Provost cleaning
Provost, Lisa F.
32 Lazarz St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 05/04/17

Lind, Michael A.
29 Main Blvd.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 05/01/17

Lopes, Marco R.
Lopes, Elisabete M.
a/k/a Magalhaes, Elisabete
5 Maynard Road
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 05/08/17

Marchese, Yelena P.
a/k/a Romashka, Yelena
259 Millers Falls Road, Lot 7
Turners Falls, MA 01376
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 05/08/17

Molina, Alberto L.
Molina, Vanessa F.
a/k/a Rodriguez, Vanessa
29 Farnsworth St.
Springfield, MA 01107
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 04/29/17

Morais, Antonio V.
a/k/a Morais, Tony
117 Woodland Circle
Ludlow, MA 01056
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 05/03/17

Morin, Steven J.
88 Cora Ave.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Chapter: 13
Filing Date: 05/08/17

Neylon, Melissa J.
794 Chapin St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 05/01/17

Neylon, William M.
465 Old Field Road
Chicopee, MA 01013
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 05/01/17

O’Neill, Steven E.
16 Miner St.
North Adams, MA 01247
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 05/02/17

Parent, Patricia
123 Strong St.
Easthampton, MA 01027
Chapter: 13
Filing Date: 05/12/17

Parkins, Daniel T.
a/k/a Story, Daniel Thomas
32 West Union St.
Pittsfield, MA 01202
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 04/30/17

Pope, Tonya Ann
a/k/a Stanko, Tonya A.
37 Lathrop St.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 05/01/17

Quintin, Jesse M.
319 North Main St.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 04/28/17

Quiterio, Rafael L.
a/k/a Quiterio, Ralph
32 Northwood Circle
Ludlow, MA 01056
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 05/03/17

Rivera, Josephine
11 Center St., Apt. 1
Holyoke, MA 01040
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 05/12/17

Sanchez, Iberika Lee
a/k/a Rodriguez, Iberika Sanchez
87 Fern St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 04/30/17

Santiago, William
82 Alderman St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 05/12/17

Schultski, Edward L.
166 Beekman Dr.
Agawam, MA 01001
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 05/12/17

Sigall, Edward J.
15 Holmeswood Terrace
Lenox, MA 01240
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 05/10/17

Soja, Catherine F.
54 D Paul Revere Dr.
Feeding Hills, MA 01030
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 04/30/17

Vieira, Mary C.
a/k/a McCann, Mary C.
185 North St.
Feeding Hills, MA 01030
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 04/29/17

Wallace, John A.
33 Broad St. #2
Westfield, MA 01085
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 05/04/17

Incorporations

By BusinessWest Staff June 13, 2017

Departments Incorporations

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

AGAWAM

Blanchard Landscaping Inc., 31 Simpson Circle, Agawam, MA 01001. David Blanchard, same. Landscaping and snow and ice removal.

BELCHERTOWN

Center for Martial Arts & Fitness Inc., 450 North Washington St., Belchertown, MA 01007. Kenneth Goodrich, same. Engage in the practice of martial-arts fitness and training and training for students of all ages and abilities.

CHESHIRE

C. Walsh Builders Inc., 1245 West Mountain Road, Cheshire, MA 01225. Christopher Walsh, same. General contractor, construction services.

CHICOPEE

Complete Cleaning Solutions Inc., 111 Artisan St., Chicopee, MA 01013. Joanna Giec, same. Cleaning services.

GREAT BARRINGTON

Berkshire Working Dog Club Inc., 18 Phillips Road, Great Barrington, MA 01230. Kandace Jacopino, same. Nonprofit social club for friends to gather and train their dogs.

HADLEY

Berk Chiropractic and Sports Care, P.C., 234 Russell St., Hadley MA 01035. Dr. Eli Zachary Berk, same. Chiropractic care.

Communication Therapy Associates Inc., 2 Bay Road, Suite 202, Hadley, MA 01035. Marcil Boucher, 194 Lathrop St., South Hadley, MA 01075. Speech and language therapy.

NORTHAMPTON

Circles for Jewish Living Inc., 2 Highland Ave., Northampton, MA 01060. Alison Morse, same. Nonprofit designed to build community through educational and cultural programs based in Jewish values, welcoming people of all backgrounds, and to further its educational mission.

PITTSFIELD

Berkshire M Eateries Inc., 10 Wendell Ave. Ext., Suite 4, Pittsfield, MA 01201. Mark Martin, 24 Greenings Ave., Pittsfield, MA 01201. Restaurant.

Christ’s Church Inc., 340 West St., Apt. 105, Pittsfield, MA 01201. Stacia Wright, same. Church.

SPRINGFIELD

Consolidated Waste Services Inc., 15 Signal Hill Circle, Springfield, MA 01118. Pasquale D’Arco, same. Waste-management services.

WARE

Chantel Bleau Accounting Services Inc., 228 West St., Ware, MA 01082. Chantel Bleau, 42 Coffey Hill Road, Ware, MA 01082. Accounting, tax preparation, and payroll preparation.

Real Estate Transactions

By BusinessWest Staff June 13, 2017

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

1266 Bug Hill Road
Ashfield, MA 01330
Amount: $302,500
Buyer: Drew N. Pantermehl
Seller: Gilbert & D. Roberts IRT
Date: 05/05/17

CHARLEMONT

48 Main St.
Charlemont, MA 01339
Amount: $325,000
Buyer: Berkshire Rafting LLC
Seller: William J. Schaefer
Date: 05/04/17

COLRAIN

Foundry Village Road
Colrain, MA 01340
Amount: $280,000
Buyer: Hartshorn Family LLC
Seller: Call INT
Date: 05/05/17

295 Jacksonville Road
Colrain, MA 01340
Amount: $147,392
Buyer: Greenfield Savings Bank
Seller: Heidi M. Wellman
Date: 05/01/17

York Road
Colrain, MA 01340
Amount: $280,000
Buyer: Hartshorn Family LLC
Seller: Call INT
Date: 05/05/17

CONWAY

3102 Shelburne Falls Road
Conway, MA 01341
Amount: $288,000
Buyer: Jennifer Menendez
Seller: John A. Siano
Date: 05/12/17

DEERFIELD

110 North Main St.
Deerfield, MA 01373
Amount: $340,000
Buyer: Samantha Colarusso
Seller: Sarah A. Lusardi
Date: 05/08/17

40 Thayer St.
Deerfield, MA 01373
Amount: $159,000
Buyer: Erica L. Francks
Seller: Elizabeth Clarke
Date: 05/05/17

GILL

276 Mountain Road
Gill, MA 01354
Amount: $405,000
Buyer: Sarah R. Watsky
Seller: Thomas E. Dorsey
Date: 05/05/17

GREENFIELD

53-55 Conway St.
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $141,000
Buyer: Heather Greene
Seller: George E. Miller
Date: 05/04/17

23 Graves Road
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $264,900
Buyer: Scott A. Briere
Seller: Christopher L. Gagnon
Date: 05/05/17

12 Holland Ave.
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $154,000
Buyer: FNMA
Seller: Lillian H. Winseck
Date: 05/12/17

28-B Old Albany Road
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $159,900
Buyer: Alexander M. Gilbert
Seller: David T. Damery
Date: 05/01/17

65 Shattuck St.
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $130,000
Buyer: Barbara Hadden
Seller: Edmond F. Byrne
Date: 05/08/17

100 Silver St.
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $255,000
Buyer: Katherine Buttolph
Seller: Debra J. Dehoyos
Date: 05/01/17

22 Sunrise Ave.
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $237,000
Buyer: Kristyn E. Bates
Seller: Jay A. Brooks
Date: 05/11/17

LEVERETT

73 Long Plain Road
Leverett, MA 01054
Amount: $310,000
Buyer: Susan D. Montgomery
Seller: Christian Friedrick
Date: 05/12/17

MONTAGUE

172 Meadow Road
Montague, MA 01351
Amount: $455,000
Buyer: Mount Grace Farm LLC
Seller: 172 Meadow Road NT
Date: 05/01/17

184 Meadow Road
Montague, MA 01351
Amount: $455,000
Buyer: Mount Grace Farm LLC
Seller: 172 Meadow Road NT
Date: 05/01/17

16 North St.
Montague, MA 01351
Amount: $235,000
Buyer: Terry Gaberson
Seller: Judith Ingham
Date: 05/12/17

30 Stevens St.
Montague, MA 01301
Amount: $214,000
Buyer: John T. McGuigan
Seller: Jean G. Donovan
Date: 05/05/17

NORTHFIELD

1 Capt. Beers Plain Road
Northfield, MA 01360
Amount: $230,000
Buyer: Brian A. Vanguilder
Seller: Jeffrey N. Kratz
Date: 05/05/17

11 Lyman Road
Northfield, MA 01360
Amount: $125,000
Buyer: Gregory S. Hale
Seller: Wilmington Savings
Date: 05/05/17

109 Main St.
Northfield, MA 01360
Amount: $425,000
Buyer: Dorothy Koda
Seller: Michael L. Dibari
Date: 05/08/17

882 Old Wendell Road
Northfield, MA 01360
Amount: $230,000
Buyer: Philip J. Calabria
Seller: Eleanor J. Goodman
Date: 05/02/17

ORANGE

76 Brookside Road
Orange, MA 01364
Amount: $161,500
Buyer: Jason W. Hubbard
Seller: Ryan D. Prentiss
Date: 05/12/17

15 Cloukey Ave.
Orange, MA 01364
Amount: $165,000
Buyer: US Bank
Seller: Scott C. Muth
Date: 05/08/17

SHUTESBURY

58 Old Egypt Road
Shutesbury, MA 01072
Amount: $240,000
Buyer: Caleb G. Truesdell
Seller: Adam C. Drollett
Date: 05/01/17

SUNDERLAND

410 Hadley Road
Sunderland, MA 01375
Amount: $315,000
Buyer: Paul B. Stewart
Seller: David J. Cary
Date: 05/05/17

WHATELY

66 Long Plain Road
Whately, MA 01093
Amount: $275,000
Buyer: Michael T. Palmer
Seller: Sarah Eddy
Date: 05/08/17

Route 5
Whately, MA 01093
Amount: $220,000
Buyer: Pre-Cast Properties LLC
Seller: Robert T. Bartlett
Date: 05/09/17

Route 8
Whately, MA 01093
Amount: $220,000
Buyer: Pre-Cast Properties LLC
Seller: Robert T. Bartlett
Date: 05/09/17

82 State Road
Whately, MA 01373
Amount: $220,000
Buyer: Pre-Cast Properties LLC
Seller: Robert T. Bartlett
Date: 05/09/17

State Road
Whately, MA 01093
Amount: $220,000
Buyer: Pre-Cast Properties LLC
Seller: Robert T. Bartlett
Date: 05/09/17

52 Webber Road
Whately, MA 01093
Amount: $270,000
Buyer: Mary StGermain
Seller: Rachel L. Lawrence IRT
Date: 05/02/17

HAMPDEN COUNTY

AGAWAM

401 Garden St.
Agawam, MA 01030
Amount: $268,000
Buyer: Hamid Palo
Seller: Ashley M. Graveline
Date: 05/10/17

414 Pine St.
Agawam, MA 01030
Amount: $215,000
Buyer: Timothy M. Rivers
Seller: Donna Dragan
Date: 05/01/17

37 Porter Dr.
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $146,000
Buyer: Christine M. Morgan
Seller: Lisa M. Daniels
Date: 05/12/17

BLANDFORD

7 Sunset Road
Blandford, MA 01008
Amount: $162,250
Buyer: George N. Cyr
Seller: Janice Cardona
Date: 05/05/17

BLANDFORD

14 Beulah Land Road
Blandford, MA 01008
Amount: $371,000
Buyer: Matthew J. Jones
Seller: Frank Z. Wronski
Date: 05/10/17

CHICOPEE

69 Allen St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $142,000
Buyer: Anna Daymon
Seller: Cynthia Zack
Date: 05/05/17

233 Blanchard St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $165,000
Buyer: MTGLQ Investors LP
Seller: Dawn M. Sanders
Date: 05/09/17

196 Chicopee St.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $145,935
Buyer: FNMA
Seller: Marlene Spillane
Date: 05/08/17

63 Britton St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $204,000
Buyer: John E. Freeman
Seller: Glen P. Lesiege
Date: 05/01/17

609 Chicopee St.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $169,000
Buyer: Kash Reddy LLC
Seller: White Birch Garden Apartments
Date: 05/05/17

138 Cochran St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $125,000
Buyer: Wells Fargo Bank
Seller: Nelson Vega
Date: 05/02/17

72 Haven Ave.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $178,000
Buyer: Rozlyn Sellez
Seller: Fournier, Harvey L., (Estate)
Date: 05/09/17

10 Highland Ave.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $139,000
Buyer: William F. Pauze
Seller: Lisa M. Boutin
Date: 05/11/17

38 Keddy Blvd.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $115,000
Buyer: Kelsey K. Davey
Seller: USA HUD
Date: 05/09/17

42 Lemay St.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $155,000
Buyer: Rafael J. Sierra
Seller: Vladimir Shevchenko
Date: 05/12/17

13 Madison St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $215,000
Buyer: Yasir Allami
Seller: Anne Circosta
Date: 05/12/17

609 McKinstry Ave.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $187,500
Buyer: Peter J. Martin
Seller: William E. Martin
Date: 05/11/17

440 Memorial Dr.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $3,900,000
Buyer: Chicopee Hospitality LLC
Seller: Chunida Inc.
Date: 05/02/17

450 Memorial Dr.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $3,900,000
Buyer: Chicopee Hospitality LLC
Seller: Chunida Inc.
Date: 05/02/17

331 Montgomery St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $278,000
Buyer: Radoslaw Bralski
Seller: Michael R. Ostrowski
Date: 05/12/17

32 Morris St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $185,500
Buyer: Shelby A. Seymour
Seller: Christopher R. Brown
Date: 05/05/17

21 Oliver St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $208,000
Buyer: Elizabeth R. Gaspari
Seller: Sara A. Shewchuk
Date: 05/01/17

24 Shaw Park Ave.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $275,000
Buyer: Shah MA Realty LLC
Seller: Bernashe Realty Inc.
Date: 05/04/17

95 West St.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $1,566,800
Buyer: PMG SLB 1 LLC
Seller: Leonard E. Belcher Inc.
Date: 05/12/17

113 Wheatland Ave.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $164,000
Buyer: Wells Fargo Bank
Seller: Roger S. Bouffard
Date: 05/10/17

32 White Birch Ave.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $168,900
Buyer: Koehler FT
Seller: Kyle I. Dieters
Date: 05/09/17

EAST LONGMEADOW

228 Braeburn Road
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $254,900
Buyer: Daniel Misco
Seller: David Kucharczyk
Date: 05/12/17

223 Hampden Road
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $268,900
Buyer: Thomas J. Menard
Seller: Richard E. Baker
Date: 05/03/17

190 Mapleshade Ave.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $167,000
Buyer: John Sheehan
Seller: Dennis A. Matulewicz
Date: 05/05/17

12 Marci Ave.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $410,000
Buyer: Richard E. Baker
Seller: Adam L. Oliveri
Date: 05/03/17

105 Melwood Ave.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $280,000
Buyer: Janessa M. Torres
Seller: Thomas J. Mazza
Date: 05/01/17

273 Millbrook Dr.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $450,000
Buyer: Danielle Fafard
Seller: Anthony F. Desimone
Date: 05/03/17

21 Redstone Dr.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $273,900
Buyer: Vincent S. Pafumi
Seller: AEM Property Investment
Date: 05/05/17

15 Rogers Road
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $221,000
Buyer: Robert M. Shoen
Seller: Bickleyhelen, J., (Estate)
Date: 05/05/17

84 South Brook Road
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $460,000
Buyer: Constant Ogutt
Seller: Mohammed I. Ahmed
Date: 05/12/17

Silver Fox Lane
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $125,000
Buyer: John F. Cassidy
Seller: C&M Builders LLC
Date: 05/10/17

197 Tanglewood Dr.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $400,000
Buyer: Natalee Shea
Seller: Bryan M. Blair
Date: 05/12/17

44 Worthy Ave.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $280,000
Buyer: Nicholas Gioiosi
Seller: Launa Wentworth
Date: 05/10/17

GRANVILLE

10 Crest Lane
Granville, MA 01034
Amount: $254,000
Buyer: Matthew A. Bowen
Seller: Brian J. Ingledue
Date: 05/01/17

HAMPDEN

171 Ames Road
Hampden, MA 01036
Amount: $170,000
Buyer: Frederick A. Warren
Seller: Goodwin, Shirley A., (Estate)
Date: 05/12/17

172 Ames Road
Hampden, MA 01036
Amount: $350,000
Buyer: Keith L. Pixley
Seller: Dorothy F. Neff
Date: 05/01/17

9 Brookside Dr.
Hampden, MA 01036
Amount: $210,000
Buyer: Joseph Lafleur
Seller: PD Developments LLC
Date: 05/03/17

HOLLAND

19 Williams Lane
Holland, MA 01521
Amount: $260,000
Buyer: Barry Price
Seller: Joan A. Dusoe
Date: 05/08/17

HOLYOKE

133-135 Beech St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $140,000
Buyer: 133-135 Beech St. Assocs.
Seller: Brennan Properties LLC
Date: 05/03/17

42 Bray Park Dr.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $117,000
Buyer: Property Keys LLC
Seller: CIT Bank
Date: 05/04/17

123-125 Cabot St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $440,000
Buyer: Hilda Marina Real Estate
Seller: Louis J. Luchini
Date: 05/01/17

78 Elmwood Ave.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $160,000
Buyer: Erin L. Hederson
Seller: John J. Griffin
Date: 05/02/17

77 Fairmont St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $166,500
Buyer: C. O. Martinez-Santos
Seller: Daniel P. Christian
Date: 05/12/17

143 Jackson St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $159,900
Buyer: Maxwell Perez
Seller: Roseleen Dupre
Date: 05/05/17

225 Mountain View Dr.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $345,000
Buyer: Murray T. Smith
Seller: Robert K. Berger
Date: 05/08/17

408 Rock Valley Road
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $140,000
Buyer: Gary Godbout
Seller: Cerruti, Jessie, (Estate)
Date: 05/03/17

243-245 Sargeant St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $255,000
Buyer: Jennifer E. Adams
Seller: Linda M. Beauregard
Date: 05/08/17

135 Sheehan Dr.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $189,900
Buyer: Christopher R. Brown
Seller: Derek R. Martinelli
Date: 05/05/17

496 Whitney Ave.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $196,000
Buyer: K&I Realty LLC
Seller: John Conner
Date: 05/02/17

LONGMEADOW

275 Chestnut St.
Longmeadow, MA 01104
Amount: $1,566,800
Buyer: PMG SLB 1 LLC
Seller: Leonard E. Belcher Inc.
Date: 05/12/17

155 Deepwoods Dr.
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $320,000
Buyer: Konrad S. Karolczuk
Seller: Gail Peck
Date: 05/12/17

106 Inverness Lane
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $190,000
Buyer: Thomas Anthony
Seller: Steven Weiss Bankruptcy TR
Date: 05/05/17

70 Longmeadow St.
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $250,000
Buyer: Sianshu Tczin
Seller: Katherine Brush
Date: 05/01/17

455 Maple Road
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $215,000
Buyer: Cabot P. Raymond
Seller: Michelle A. Garvey
Date: 05/01/17

58 Meadowbrook Road
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $415,000
Buyer: Bryan R. Picard
Seller: Malina T. Yotova
Date: 05/03/17

227 Shaker Road
Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $1,566,800
Buyer: PMG SLB 1 LLC
Seller: Leonard E. Belcher Inc.
Date: 05/12/17

130 Westmoreland Ave.
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $285,000
Buyer: Trevor P. Dorian
Seller: Jacqueline E. Seabury
Date: 05/02/17

LUDLOW

251-253 Cady St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $302,500
Buyer: Brett M. Merrill
Seller: Meftune Cetin
Date: 05/10/17

27 Elm St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $128,000
Buyer: Nerman Hodzic
Seller: Garcez, Alcide Leitao, (Estate)
Date: 05/01/17

69 John St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $170,000
Buyer: Michael Lentowski
Seller: Josephine T. Lentowski
Date: 05/01/17

15 Loopley St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $147,000
Buyer: Kimberly A. Vigneault
Seller: Sorcinelli, Helen A., (Estate)
Date: 05/12/17

109 Pine Knoll Dr.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $252,500
Buyer: Nelson Z. Tereso
Seller: Kelly Smith
Date: 05/11/17

268 Sewall St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $210,000
Buyer: Lisa A. Pio
Seller: Cmaro Properties LLC
Date: 05/01/17

MONSON

2 Bethany Road
Monson, MA 01057
Amount: $198,000
Buyer: Craig R. Harper
Seller: Brad M. Richardson
Date: 05/01/17

11 Bridge St.
Monson, MA 01057
Amount: $172,000
Buyer: Peter Welch
Seller: Henry L. Padden
Date: 05/04/17

24 Butler Road
Monson, MA 01057
Amount: $245,900
Buyer: David S. Bracetti
Seller: Terence G. Lewis
Date: 05/08/17

2 Palmer Road
Monson, MA 01057
Amount: $165,000
Buyer: Matthew Rourke
Seller: Greater Springfield Habitat for Humanity
Date: 05/01/17

PALMER

3005-3007 Hill St.
Palmer, MA 01069
Amount: $182,500
Buyer: Kyle North
Seller: JNB Property Investment
Date: 05/08/17

21 Oakland St.
Palmer, MA 01069
Amount: $173,784
Buyer: FNMA
Seller: Kellie L. Gallo
Date: 05/11/17

180 Thompson St.
Palmer, MA 01069
Amount: $275,000
Buyer: Warren R. Thompson
Seller: Gordon H. Christiansen
Date: 05/05/17

1040 Wilson St.
Palmer, MA 01069
Amount: $171,000
Buyer: Carlos R. Furtado
Seller: Deborah K. Smola
Date: 05/05/17

RUSSELL

345 Dickinson Hill Road
Russell, MA 01071
Amount: $265,100
Buyer: FNMA
Seller: Zinaida Sidorenko
Date: 05/12/17

81 River St.
Russell, MA 01071
Amount: $157,000
Buyer: Sean P. O’Connell
Seller: Heather Washington
Date: 05/12/17

SOUTHWICK

42 Deer Run
Southwick, MA 01077
Amount: $437,000
Buyer: Jason M. Pajak
Seller: Mahyar Assadi
Date: 05/10/17

14 Hunters Ridge Circle
Southwick, MA 01077
Amount: $349,900
Buyer: Deborah Malita
Seller: Leaman C. Martin
Date: 05/01/17

3 Nicholson Hill Road
Southwick, MA 01077
Amount: $329,900
Buyer: Michael B. Desrochers
Seller: Ronald B. Danforth
Date: 05/01/17

137 North Longyard Road
Southwick, MA 01077
Amount: $337,000
Buyer: Paul Moran
Seller: Jason M. Pajak
Date: 05/10/17

382 North Loomis St.
Southwick, MA 01077
Amount: $196,000
Buyer: Erica L. Paton
Seller: Meares, Corinne J., (Estate)
Date: 05/12/17

3 South Longyard Road
Southwick, MA 01077
Amount: $227,500
Buyer: Timothy J. Baker
Seller: Mikaela M. Spence
Date: 05/01/17

21 South Loomis St.
Southwick, MA 01077
Amount: $266,000
Buyer: Christopher D. Harris
Seller: Erica L. Burns
Date: 05/05/17

7 Secluded Ridge
Southwick, MA 01077
Amount: $355,000
Buyer: Paul M. Kowal
Seller: Parchinskiy, Andrey, (Estate)
Date: 05/05/17

8 Tree Top Lane
Southwick, MA 01077
Amount: $319,900
Buyer: Darin E. Burniske
Seller: Christopher J. Pratt
Date: 05/04/17

11 Wood St.
Southwick, MA 01077
Amount: $140,000
Buyer: William J. Dougherty
Seller: William G. Dougherty
Date: 05/12/17

SPRINGFIELD

35 Acrebrook Road
Springfield, MA 01129
Amount: $131,500
Buyer: Jenna M. McCarthy
Seller: Maria Yacovone
Date: 05/02/17

772 Allen St.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $166,000
Buyer: Seth Dupuis
Seller: Shalisa Keyes
Date: 05/01/17

116 Atherton St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $140,000
Buyer: Deutsche Bank
Seller: Jayne A. Leigh
Date: 05/12/17

65 Bangor St.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $164,000
Buyer: US Bank
Seller: Ian McCollum
Date: 05/02/17

1487 Bay St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $410,451
Buyer: PMG New Jersey 2 LLC
Seller: Leonard E. Belcher Inc.
Date: 05/12/17

938-940 Belmont Ave.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $410,451
Buyer: PMG New Jersey 2 LLC
Seller: Leonard E. Belcher Inc.
Date: 05/12/17

82-84 Benton St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $163,000
Buyer: Joshua Rosemond
Seller: Anita Smith-Christopher
Date: 05/12/17

135 Breckwood Blvd.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $118,000
Buyer: Jalissa Alicea
Seller: Michael P. Pelletier
Date: 05/05/17

91-93 Brunswick St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $136,000
Buyer: Kenny Nguyen
Seller: Doris F. Peltier
Date: 05/05/17

11 Bushwick Place
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $134,900
Buyer: Nathaniel L. Johnson
Seller: James W. Fiore
Date: 05/12/17

107 Catalpa Terrace
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $135,000
Buyer: Nicolas E. Castano
Seller: Dennis Bertelli
Date: 05/12/17

53 Chauncey Dr.
Springfield, MA 01129
Amount: $180,000
Buyer: Carmelinda M. Menas
Seller: Jennifer Baribeau

115 Cherokee Dr.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $132,500
Buyer: North Harlow 4 LLC
Seller: AJN Rentals LLC
Date: 05/04/17

76 Clayton St.
Springfield, MA 01107
Amount: $124,900
Buyer: Rosa L. Garcia
Seller: R2R LLC
Date: 05/08/17

118-120 Commonwealth Ave.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $180,000
Buyer: Melanie Shepard-Skutnik
Seller: R2R LLC
Date: 05/02/17

91 Dewitt St.
Springfield, MA 01129
Amount: $125,000
Buyer: Luz M. Cotto
Seller: Mary Dillon
Date: 05/11/17

134 Draper St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $130,000
Buyer: Alexandr Carapunarli
Seller: Paul A. Moran
Date: 05/10/17

244 Draper St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $118,089
Buyer: Bank New York Mellon
Seller: Angel G. Sostre
Date: 05/05/17

73 Emerald Road
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $135,000
Buyer: Alec Bewsee
Seller: Plumtree Associates Inc.
Date: 05/05/17

108 Fenwick St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $170,000
Buyer: Albert J. Sanchez
Seller: Clinton R. Stonacek
Date: 05/05/17

463 Gifford St.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $136,000
Buyer: Elizabeth Mortenson
Seller: Kimberley A. Breil
Date: 05/09/17

67 Grover St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $135,000
Buyer: Imus N. Lytle
Seller: Rayan Abdulbaki
Date: 05/04/17

14 Hartwick St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $142,000
Buyer: Robert N. Sullivan
Seller: Stephanie Cisler
Date: 05/05/17

132 Jasper St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $120,157
Buyer: US Bank
Seller: Lilliam Lopez
Date: 05/05/17

190 Laconia St.
Springfield, MA 01129
Amount: $175,000
Buyer: Bretta Construction LLC
Seller: Robert Stabach
Date: 05/01/17

19 Madison Ave.
Springfield, MA 01105
Amount: $165,000
Buyer: Robert A. Wood
Seller: Naefia Padi
Date: 05/03/17

38 Maebeth St.
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $119,900
Buyer: Quashawn Branch
Seller: Justin A. Casey
Date: 05/11/17

31 Mazarin St.
Springfield, MA 01151
Amount: $120,000
Buyer: Adam L. Grandchamp
Seller: Kevin S. McNamara
Date: 05/05/17

297 Memorial Ave.
Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $1,637,000
Buyer: Laura Coudrey MDPC
Seller: GF Enterprise 2 LLC
Date: 05/05/17

221 Naismith St.
Springfield, MA 01101
Amount: $320,000
Buyer: Tommy Son
Seller: Bretta Construction LLC
Date: 05/08/17

31 Newhall St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $120,700
Buyer: Jessica C. Williams
Seller: Janet E. Hicks
Date: 05/12/17

79 Oak St.
Springfield, MA 01151
Amount: $180,000
Buyer: Jesus M. Roman-Diaz
Seller: Firmino A. Sousa
Date: 05/11/17

105 Old Brook Road
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $128,000
Buyer: FNMA
Seller: Richard A. Bruso
Date: 05/12/17

60 Oregon St.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $138,561
Buyer: Wilmington Savings
Seller: S. G. Meyer-Pistorious
Date: 05/08/17

139 Overlook Dr.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $125,000
Buyer: Anthony J. McDowell
Seller: James J. Orciari
Date: 05/05/17

72 Parkerview St.
Springfield, MA 01129
Amount: $155,000
Buyer: Miguel Rodriguez
Seller: McM Capital Partners LLP
Date: 05/04/17

174 Patricia Circle
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $179,000
Buyer: Brenda I. Heap
Seller: Lisa A. Pio
Date: 05/01/17

370 Pine St.
Springfield, MA 01105
Amount: $3,300,000
Buyer: Friends Veritas Preparatr
Seller: Maraline Development Corp.
Date: 05/03/17

31 Plumtree Circle
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $155,000
Buyer: Rebecca A. Silloway
Seller: TRB Properties LLC
Date: 05/05/17

82 Prospect St.
Springfield, MA 01107
Amount: $155,000
Buyer: Martin Severino
Seller: Maximino Navarro
Date: 05/01/17

1412 Roosevelt Ave.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $134,500
Buyer: Vanessa M. Marrero
Seller: DellaRipa Real Estate LLC
Date: 05/12/17

66 Silas St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $135,000
Buyer: Patrick D. Moreau
Seller: Daniel Rimondi
Date: 05/02/17

28 Silvia St.
Springfield, MA 01101
Amount: $285,000
Buyer: Leon L. Edwards
Seller: Bretta Construction LLC
Date: 05/08/17

32 Stony Brook Road
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $165,000
Buyer: Joshua Fuller
Seller: Melinda Montgomery
Date: 05/05/17

25 Stuart St.
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $195,000
Buyer: Geneva L. Santiago
Seller: Donald R. Baillargeon
Date: 05/05/17

34 Tyrone St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $140,000
Buyer: Jessenia Perez
Seller: Margaret M. Odea
Date: 05/10/17

18 Wayside St.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $138,000
Buyer: Alexander O. Berthiaume
Seller: Florence A. Hutchinson
Date: 05/12/17

55 Winthrop St.
Springfield, MA 01105
Amount: $154,000
Buyer: Peter Lang
Seller: Bacem I. Awkal
Date: 05/11/17

148 Wollaston St. #70
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $255,000
Buyer: Deandre S. Haughton
Seller: James Moylan
Date: 05/01/17

178 Wollaston St.
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $219,000
Buyer: Bonnie Brooks
Seller: Tony Yousef
Date: 05/09/17

7-9 Woodmont St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $149,900
Buyer: Carmen M. Rodriguez
Seller: Hussein Mourad
Date: 05/08/17

28 Wrenwood St.
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $148,000
Buyer: James H. Brown
Seller: James H. Brown
Date: 05/08/17

WALES

23 Reed Hill Road
Wales, MA 01081
Amount: $199,900
Buyer: Karen L. Dematos
Seller: Steven M. Little
Date: 05/12/17

139 Union Road
Wales, MA 01081
Amount: $141,250
Buyer: Tamara E. Gething
Seller: Alan Gamsby
Date: 05/05/17

WEST SPRINGFIELD

672 Amostown Road
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $210,000
Buyer: Colin S. Ryan
Seller: Mario F. Ronghi
Date: 05/01/17

59 Ashley St.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $141,000
Buyer: Gianna R. Russo
Seller: Asad Mahmood
Date: 05/04/17

64 Bosworth St.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $145,000
Buyer: CNF Realty LLC
Seller: CGS Realty LLC
Date: 05/01/17

734 Dewey St.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $200,000
Buyer: Michael J. Mitchell
Seller: Robert A. Olszewski
Date: 05/01/17

135 Garden St.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $670,000
Buyer: B&B Properties LLC
Seller: Marvin V. Larivee
Date: 05/05/17

518 Memorial Ave.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $6,629,307
Buyer: CH Realty 7&CG Mact Bird
Seller: F. L. Roberts & Co. Inc.
Date: 05/10/17

217-219 New Bridge St.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $6,629,307
Buyer: CH Realty 7&CG Mact Bird
Seller: F. L. Roberts & Co. Inc.
Date: 05/10/17

27 Oakland St.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $178,000
Buyer: Michelle A. Mirti
Seller: Edward E. Shibley
Date: 05/12/17

314 Rogers Ave.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $230,245
Buyer: V. Mortgage REO 2 LLC
Seller: Marcus D. Lynch
Date: 05/02/17

128 Silver St.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $191,000
Buyer: Kaitlin E. Cote
Seller: Aleksey G. Kamyshin
Date: 05/11/17

148 Van Horn St.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $189,900
Buyer: Mandy L. Velozo
Seller: Darleen Dubiel
Date: 05/11/17

2610 Westfield St.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $250,800
Buyer: Daniel P. Taibbi
Seller: Daniel D. Roy
Date: 05/08/17

4 Worthy Ave.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $187,500
Buyer: Omar Matrood-Al Juboori
Seller: Sarah A. Ornelas
Date: 05/12/17

WESTFIELD

57 Crane Ave.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $215,000
Buyer: Talia Scalise
Seller: Darin E. Burniske
Date: 05/04/17

23 High St.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $128,000
Buyer: John A. Devine
Seller: Wells Fargo Bank
Date: 05/05/17

26 Laflin St.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $130,000
Buyer: Wilmington Savings
Seller: Edward J. Forsell
Date: 05/10/17

439 North Elm St.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $1,566,800
Buyer: PMG SLB 1 LLC
Seller: Leonard E. Belcher Inc.
Date: 05/12/17

7 Princeton St.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $176,000
Buyer: Sergio E. Adon
Seller: Adrienne W. Lacey
Date: 05/01/17

6 West Glen Dr.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $253,000
Buyer: Joel S. Christofori
Seller: Darlene A. Grady
Date: 05/11/17

6 Wintergreen Lane
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $305,000
Buyer: Tyler W. Humphrey
Seller: Patrick S. Sullivan
Date: 05/05/17

117 Yeoman Ave.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $177,000
Buyer: Deutsche Bank
Seller: Kelly J. Pitoniak
Date: 05/10/17

WILBRAHAM

8 Becker St.
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $273,000
Buyer: Louis Pepe
Seller: James Gianfelice
Date: 05/05/17

46 Monson Road
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $288,000
Buyer: Keith Polci
Seller: Nancy S. Porter
Date: 05/01/17

6 Poplar Dr.
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $160,000
Buyer: Peter J. Andrusko
Seller: Judy A. Donofrio
Date: 05/05/17

11 Southwood Road
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $399,900
Buyer: David J. O’Brien
Seller: Francesca Lynch
Date: 05/05/17

HAMPSHIRE COUNTY

AMHERST

158 Flat Hills Road
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $414,000
Buyer: Kristina Stinson
Seller: Jonathan P. Goldman
Date: 05/01/17

94 Flat Hills Road
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $427,500
Buyer: Robert M. Churchill
Seller: Julia C. Frankel
Date: 05/04/17

45-47 Hallock St.
Amherst, MA 01002
Buyer: Historic Renovations
Seller: William A. Miller
Date: 05/09/17

112 High Point Dr.
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $284,000
Buyer: Abdourahmane Sarr
Seller: Ting FT
Date: 05/12/17

111 Logtown Road
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $176,500
Buyer: John B. Gulbrandsen
Seller: Wells Fargo Bank
Date: 05/04/17

212 North East St.
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $315,000
Buyer: Brian J. Berling
Seller: Brenda L. Flanigan
Date: 05/08/17

17 Palley Village Place
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $420,000
Buyer: Phillip G. Hu
Seller: Mark C. Prince
Date: 05/03/17

850 South East St.
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $368,000
Buyer: Jamie Snyder-Fair
Seller: Todd M. Dunford
Date: 05/11/17

368 Shays St.
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $555,000
Buyer: Todd M. Dunford
Seller: Frederick Myers
Date: 05/11/17

40 Sheerman Lane
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $276,000
Buyer: Mingxu You
Seller: Patrick V. Taylor
Date: 05/08/17

BELCHERTOWN

505 Allen Road
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $249,900
Buyer: Stephanie A. Cole
Seller: John B. Gulbrandsen
Date: 05/05/17

80 Bardwell St.
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $300,000
Buyer: John P. Sullivan
Seller: Gary G. Decoteau
Date: 05/12/17

419 North Liberty St.
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $220,000
Buyer: Ronald E. Bernash
Seller: Brian M. Beauchemin
Date: 05/04/17

584 North Liberty St.
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $120,000
Buyer: Mark A. Fitzherbert
Seller: Deborah L. Wenzel
Date: 05/02/17

2 Overlook Dr.
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $406,500
Buyer: Jacob A. Hulseberg
Seller: Peter A. Roberts
Date: 05/01/17

44 Park St.
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $357,344
Buyer: Alexander G. Alvarado
Seller: John C. Workman
Date: 05/01/17

10 Pine Brook Dr.
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $240,707
Buyer: Luso FCU
Seller: David T. Scott
Date: 05/02/17

251 Stebbins St.
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $385,000
Buyer: Kelly Coxe
Seller: Bruce J. Lawler
Date: 05/01/17

EASTHAMPTON

11 Gula Dr.
Easthampton, MA 01027
Amount: $167,440
Buyer: James G. Perrault
Seller: USA HUD
Date: 05/12/17

60-62 Main St.
Easthampton, MA 01027
Amount: $395,000
Buyer: 60-62 Main Street LLC
Seller: Galaxy Design LLC
Date: 05/02/17

14 Matthew Dr.
Easthampton, MA 01027
Amount: $231,000
Buyer: Robert C. Fedor
Seller: USA HUD
Date: 05/12/17

60-62 Parsons St.
Easthampton, MA 01027
Amount: $234,780
Buyer: Joshua A. Staples
Seller: Susan Montgomery
Date: 05/12/17

75 Phelps St.
Easthampton, MA 01027
Amount: $249,900
Buyer: Stephen Croft
Seller: Paul M. Kowal
Date: 05/05/17

Pomeroy St. #6
Easthampton, MA 01027
Amount: $125,000
Buyer: David A. Hardy Contractor
Seller: Cykowski RET
Date: 05/05/17

35 Union St.
Easthampton, MA 01027
Amount: $282,500
Buyer: HKL FT
Seller: Gary R. Campbell
Date: 05/03/17

76 West St.
Easthampton, MA 01027
Amount: $218,500
Buyer: Jamie A. Prevedel-Bowen
Seller: Ann E. Favorite-Lynch
Date: 05/12/17

GRANBY

104 Amherst St.
Granby, MA 01033
Amount: $435,000
Buyer: Harvey I. Lijek
Seller: Joseph F. McDowell
Date: 05/05/17

HUNTINGTON

127 Pond Brook Road
Huntington, MA 01050
Amount: $198,000
Buyer: Thomas A. Palavra
Seller: Patricia M. Arel
Date: 05/03/17

MIDDLEFIELD

Ryan Road (SS)
Middlefield, MA 01243
Amount: $325,000
Buyer: Nature Conservation Non Profit
Seller: Kushi Management LLC
Date: 05/05/17

NORTHAMPTON

20 Bates St.
Northampton, MA 01060
Amount: $260,000
Buyer: Alexia Manin
Seller: Henre J. Andosca
Date: 05/03/17

197 Bridge Road
Northampton, MA 01062
Amount: $230,000
Buyer: Kerry M. Smith
Seller: Raymond L. Cashman
Date: 05/09/17

53 Clark Ave.
Northampton, MA 01060
Amount: $190,500
Buyer: Nancy Taylor-Roberts
Seller: John W. Nietupski
Date: 05/01/17

155 Grove St.
Northampton, MA 01060
Amount: $202,200
Buyer: April L. Cannon
Seller: Gold, William A., (Estate)
Date: 05/10/17

18 Hampden St.
Northampton, MA 01060
Amount: $332,500
Buyer: Katharine Arata
Seller: Jean Barr-Stevens
Date: 05/02/17

10 Ladyslipper Lane
Northampton, MA 01062
Amount: $175,000
Buyer: Deborah A. Sherr
Seller: Richard Sherr
Date: 05/04/17

47 Ladyslipper Lane
Northampton, MA 01062
Amount: $530,000
Buyer: Matthew J. Wool
Seller: Phillip S. Kick
Date: 05/10/17

116 North Maple St.
Northampton, MA 01062
Amount: $370,000
Buyer: Sarah Lusardi
Seller: Donna Morrison
Date: 05/08/17

57 Woodland Dr.
Northampton, MA 01062
Amount: $620,000
Buyer: April M. Igneri
Seller: Noah J. Epstein
Date: 05/08/17

PLAINFIELD

7 Bluff St.
Plainfield, MA 01070
Amount: $395,675
Buyer: Judith M. Cole
Seller: Robert A. Corash RET
Date: 05/11/17

SOUTH HADLEY

64 Brigham Road
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $118,000
Buyer: Stephen A. Foster
Seller: Wojcik, Stanley J., (Estate)
Date: 05/09/17

15 Carlton St.
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $133,000
Buyer: Scott M. StPierre
Seller: James L. Mytkowicz
Date: 05/08/17

45 Fairview St.
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $206,000
Buyer: Christopher M. Bassett
Seller: Joel C. Bertles
Date: 05/02/17

12 Hadley St.
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $220,000
Buyer: Ann M. Morin
Seller: Pettengill FT
Date: 05/09/17

11 Valley View Dr.
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $489,900
Buyer: Conrad A. Marvin
Seller: Jill A. Mazurowski
Date: 05/05/17

WARE

68 Dugan Road
Ware, MA 01082
Amount: $274,900
Buyer: Lee P. Haywood
Seller: Christine Pilch-Mancini
Date: 05/01/17

216 Greenwich Road
Ware, MA 01082
Amount: $217,000
Buyer: Thomas J. Fischer
Seller: Scott Slattery
Date: 05/10/17

5 High St.
Amount: $157,000
Buyer: Robert N. Dookhran
Seller: Jonathon J. Becker
Date: 05/12/17

21 Laurel Dr.
Ware, MA 01082
Amount: $155,000
Buyer: William Munsell
Seller: Leslie L. Wallace
Date: 05/01/17

WILLIAMSBURG

5 Goshen Road
Williamsburg, MA 01096
Amount: $342,595
Buyer: Jae J. Casella
Seller: Peter F. Lafogg
Date: 05/12/17

WORTHINGTON

24 Williamsburg Road
Worthington, MA 01098
Amount: $150,000
Buyer: Laurel F. Bean
Seller: Christina M. Guinasso
Date: 05/10/17

Briefcase

By BusinessWest Staff June 13, 2017

Briefcase Departments

Unemployment Down Across Most of Massachusetts in April

BOSTON — Local unemployment rates decreased in 13 labor-market areas, increased in three areas, and remained the same in eight areas in the state during the month of April, the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development reported. Compared to April 2016, the rates were down in nine labor-market areas, increased in 10 areas, and remained the same in five areas. All 15 areas for which job estimates are published recorded seasonal job gains in April. The largest gains occurred in the Boston-Cambridge-Newton, Springfield, Barnstable, Worcester, and Framingham areas. From April 2016 to April 2017, 12 of the 15 areas added jobs, with the largest percentage gains in the New Bedford, Barnstable, Haverhill-Newburyport-Amesbury, Brockton-Bridgewater-Easton, and Boston-Cambridge-Newton areas. In order to compare the statewide rate to local unemployment rates, the Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates the statewide unadjusted unemployment rate for April was 3.8%. Last week, the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development reported the statewide seasonally adjusted unemployment rate increased to 3.9% in the month of April. The statewide seasonally adjusted jobs estimate showed a 3,900 job gain in April, and an over-the-year gain of 58,600 jobs. The unadjusted unemployment rates and job estimates for the labor market areas reflect seasonal fluctuations and therefore may show different levels and trends than the statewide seasonally adjusted estimates. The estimates for labor force, unemployment rates, and jobs for Massachusetts are based on different statistical methodology specified by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Single-family Home Sales in Pioneer Valley Up in April

SPRINGFIELD — Single-family home sales were up 2.3% in the Pioneer Valley in April compared to the same time last year, while the median price fell 0.2% to $194,000, according to the Realtor Assoc. of Pioneer Valley. In Franklin County, sales were down 5.7%, while the median price fell 11.3% from a year earlier. In Hampden County, sales were up 6.7%, while the median price was down 1.3%. And in Hampshire County, sales fell 5.1% from March 2016, while the median price was up 7.9%.

Local Land Trust Offers New License Plate

AGAWAM — The Massachusetts Chapter of the Sportsmen’s National Land Trust (SNLT) is collecting pre-orders for a new Massachusetts license plate which it plans to have released later this year. The SNLT is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit based in Agawam, founded in 2003 to help conserve natural resources and wildlife habitat across the state. Proceeds from the plate will be used to acquire, maintain, and improve open land strictly within Massachusetts, which will be available to the public forever. The all-volunteer land trust has created a special plate with a deer-buck image created by local wildlife artist Ed Snyder. A limited number of low-number original issue plates are still available at the land trust website at www.snltmassachusetts.org, but quantities are limited. Further information about the SNLT can be found at the website as well.

AMA Study: Practice Owners No Longer Physician Majority

CHICAGO — Less than half of patient-care physicians had an ownership stake in their medical practice, according to a newly updated study on physician-practice arrangements by the American Medical Assoc. (AMA). This marks the first time physician-practice owners fell below a majority of the nation’s patient-care physicians since the AMA began documenting practice-arrangement trends. The share of patient-care physicians with ownership stakes in a medical practice declined 6% to 47.1% in 2016 from 53.2% in 2012. In contrast, the share of patient-care physicians with employed positions increased about 5% to 47.1% in 2016 from 41.8% in 2012. As a result, there were equal shares of physician employees and physician practice owners in 2016, while 5.9% of patient-care physicians were independent contractors. The preference of younger physicians toward employed positions has had a prominent impact. Nearly two-thirds (65.1%) of physicians under age 40 were employees in 2016, compared to 51.3% in 2012. The share of employees among physicians age 40 and older also increased between 2012 and 2016, but at a more modest pace than younger physicians. “Patients benefit when physicians practice in settings they find professionally and personally rewarding, and the AMA strongly supports a physician’s right to practice in the setting of their choice,” said AMA President Dr. Andrew Gurman. “The AMA is committed to helping physicians navigate their practice options and offers innovative strategies and resources to ensure physicians in all practice sizes and setting can thrive in the changing health environment.”

Company Notebook

By BusinessWest Staff June 13, 2017

Company Notebook Departments

Berkshire Bank to Move HQ to Boston, Acquire Commerce Bank

PITTSFIELD — Berkshire Hills Bancorp, parent of Berkshire Bank, announced today that it plans to relocate its corporate headquarters to Boston later this year, a move to support the bank’s continued strategic growth throughout the Northeast. The company also announced a definitive agreement to acquire Commerce Bancshares Corp. and its subsidiary, Commerce Bank, in Worcester, adding 16 new branches in Eastern Mass. and a well-established commercial team to capitalize on growth opportunities and further solidify its regional presence. The combined institution will be the largest regional bank in Massachusetts and the first regional bank headquartered in Boston in decades. “Locating our corporate headquarters in Boston will not take us away from our roots in Berkshire County; we remain committed to all of our employees, customers, and communities,” said Michael Daly, CEO of Berkshire Bank. “Boston will offer our senior executives connectivity with government leaders, regulators, and decision makers, and provide the ability to attract broader workforce talent as the bank continues to grow. With the addition of the Commerce team, we will be able to leverage the strengths of both banks and capitalize on growth opportunities in the attractive, high-growth Eastern Massachusetts markets. This is not only important to Boston, but to all our local markets, to be the first regional bank with a Boston headquarters in decades.” The proposed acquisition provides significant scale in Eastern Mass. The combined franchise will operate its corporate headquarters, four branches, and three lending offices in Greater Boston, and an additional 15 branches in and around Worcester, with $3 billion in loans and $2 billion in deposits. On completion of the deal, Berkshire Bank will have 113 branches serving customers across the Northeast. Berkshire is committed to growing its operating model, levering its platforms such as the MyBanker concierge banking service, and expects commercial, wealth-management, and private-banking businesses to be focuses of its strategy in Greater Boston. Berkshire Bank’s operational center will remain in downtown Pittsfield, and the relocation will not have any impact on its employees. Additionally, its current regional hubs serving markets in New York’s Capital and Central regions, the Hartford/Springfield region, Southern Vermont, as well as operations around Princeton, N.J., will continue to be significant contributors. “Relocating our corporate headquarters to Boston’s financial district is a well-timed move that will make us stronger by driving value and adding jobs that will benefit our employees and customers across our footprint,” said Sean Gray, chief operating officer. “As a successful regional bank, having our headquarters in a strong hub for the financial-services industry provides economic value and takes advantage of the largest New England market to fuel growth and increase our ability capitalize on our investment in all of our communities.”

UMass Center to Offer Spanish Course for Healthcare Professionals

SPRINGFIELD — A new course coming this fall to the UMass Center at Springfield will help healthcare professionals enhance their language skills. “Spanish for Healthcare Professions” will be offered at the center beginning in September. “We have a significant Latino population in Western Massachusetts, and it’s essential that healthcare professionals be able to communicate with these residents,” said Daniel Montagna, director of Operations at the UMass Center. “Through a collaboration with the UMass Amherst Spanish and Portuguese program, we’re hoping to offer this as well as other healthcare and business language courses at the center in the future.” The course is designed to meet the needs of healthcare professionals who wish to increase fluency in Spanish through written and oral practices. The class is aimed at students with an intermediate level of Spanish (the equivalent of four or five semesters of college Spanish or of four years of high-school Spanish). Heritage speakers who can communicate in Spanish but want to develop a knowledge of the professional terminology of the health professions may also benefit from the class.

Ludlow Community Center/Randall Boys & Girls Club Wins Award

LUDLOW — The Ludlow Community Center/Randall Boys & Girls Club was recently presented with Boys & Girls Clubs of America’s prestigious MAC (Marketing and Communications) Award for Advertising at the National Conference in Dallas. Boys & Girls Clubs of America’s MAC Awards recognize Boys & Girls Clubs that have demonstrated significant achievements in the field of marketing and communications. The Ludlow Community Center/Randall Boys & Girls Club was selected among thousands of clubs across the country for implementing the best marketing strategy for advertising. The club’s board of directors was actively engaged in developing and updating the club’s marketing and advertising materials since 2016. Board members were supported in the process by several entities, including Envisions Marketing, Off the Tusk, Ludlow Cable Access TV, and volunteers who served on the club’s marketing & communications, auction, and Fall Fest committees. The board of directors actively engaged these partners to develop and update the club’s website, Facebook page, and annual report, and create new videos, mission boards, and marketing materials. The goal was to produce quality marketing materials consistent with a theme that would be used going forward in all print, marketing, and social-media materials used by the club, including special events, the annual auction, and Fall Fest. Throughout the process, the focus was that these marketing materials center on the youth the club helps on a daily basis and its impact on them and their families.

Tru by Hilton Breaks Ground in Chicopee

CHICOPEE — Hilton recently broke ground on a new Tru by Hilton property located in Chicopee. The celebration marked the first groundbreaking of the company’s Tru by Hilton in Massachusetts. Attendees, numbering about 150, included a roster of dignitaries and executives who were instrumental in pushing the project forward, including state Sen. James Welch; state Reps. Michael Finn, Joseph Wagner, and Angelo Puppolo; and Chicopee Mayor Richard Kos. The 108-room, four-story hotel is located at 440 Memorial Dr. and is owned by BK Investments. It is expected to be completed in May 2018. “Tru is a game-changing brand, as evidenced by its statement-making entrance to the midscale category and now the Chicopee market,” said Alexandra Jaritz, global head of Tru by Hilton. “We know the brand will have broad appeal to Springfield-area travelers who span generations but share a similar ‘zest for life’ mindset. At its core, Tru is value-engineered to provide guests with a contemporary, consistent, and fresh experience in an affordable way, while at the same time being operationally efficient to our owners.” Added owner and developer Hershal Patel, “today’s groundbreaking in Chicopee demonstrates Hilton’s commitment to this new brand and, importantly, its owners. Tru fills a void in the midscale category, and we’re delighted to bring this exciting new Hilton brand to life. It will add to the offerings in Chicopee and provide a new option for travelers who believe that being cost-conscious and having a great stay don’t have to be mutually exclusive.” This project will mark BK Investments’ third project in Chicopee, following the 90-room Hampton Inn and the 115-room Residence Inn Chicopee.

Bacon Wilson Opens New Northampton Office

NORTHAMPTON — Bacon Wilson announced the opening of a new facility at 57 Center St. in downtown Northampton. On May 24, the firm welcomed clients, neighbors, and friends to a grand-opening reception. Also present was Northampton Mayor David Narkewicz, who officiated at a ribbon-cutting ceremony. Bacon Wilson’s newly renovated, state-of-the-art office space at 57 Center St. features several striking design elements, including lots of natural light, an enclosed interior courtyard, and soaring ceilings. The main conference room has been christened the Fogel Room, in tribute to former partner Bruce Fogel, who passed away last year. Bacon Wilson has had a long-time presence in Hampshire County. The firm’s first Northampton office space opened in 2001, and expanded significantly with the 2005 acquisition of Morse & Sacks. In 2006, a merge with Monsein & MacConnell brought Bacon Wilson to the Amherst community. Earlier this year, the firm added another new location, on Russell Street in Hadley. The current move to 57 Center St. brings Bacon Wilson even closer to the heart of downtown Northampton, and reaffirms the firm’s commitment to the local Northampton community, and to the entire Pioneer Valley.

Mary Ann’s Dance and More to Relocate

EASTHAMPTON — Mary Ann’s Dance and More, a local dance apparel store, announced it will move to its new home on Route 10 in Easthampton on July 1. Mary Ann’s Dance and More will move to 396 Main St., the former home of Fit Body. The location offers easier parking, a more friendly shopping experience, better accessibility, and the ability to host more in-store events. Open since 2007, Mary Ann’s Dance and More offers customers dance supplies, including apparel and accessories, as well as novelty and gift items. An active business in the community, the store is recognized as a consistent sponsor of various local organizations. It was featured in Dance Retailer News as a “Retailer Spotlight,” twice on Mass Appeal on WWLP, and most recently in “Lifestyle/Balance Act” in Retail Minded.

Springfield College Career Center Wins Award

SPRINGFIELD — The Springfield College Career Center has been named the winner of the 2017 Innovation in Program Development Award by the Eastern Assoc. of Colleges and Employers (EACE). Springfield College was chosen for its Peer Referral Program, which rewards students who are engaged with the Career Center, for serving as brand ambassadors and referring their peers. “I am exceptionally proud of the Springfield College Career Center for receiving this well-deserved recognition by EACE,” said Shannon Finning, Springfield College’s vice president for Student Affairs. “While our staff have always done and continue to do exceptional work with students who find their way to the Career Center, I am most proud of the fact that Career Center staff members are now engaging undergraduate student leaders as peer career mentors. The Peer Referral Program emerged from the partnership between our student leaders and the Career Center staff.” Finning noted that 150 new students were referred to the center this year, and now these students will also refer their peers. “I am excited by the continued innovation and evolution in the Career Center and know we will continue to well-serve our students, employers, faculty, alumni, and partners better each and every year by staying so closely connected and attuned to our student body.” By capitalizing on the idea that word of mouth and viral marketing are the best strategy for reaching this underserved demographic, the program accomplished its goals through an approach that includes utilizing two students as paid peer career ambassadors to hype services and events, rewarding engaged students for referring their friends and classmates, facilitating a raffle for first-time users, launching a T-shirt campaign, and implementing a Refer-a-Peer Day event. “We credit our wonderfully engaged Springfield College students for partaking in this exciting career-development initiative and for making the Peer Referral Program the great success it has become,” said Career Center Interim Director Scott Dranka. “From the launch of the Peer Referral program this semester, the Career Center counselors have been afforded the opportunity to work alongside newly referred students on their career-related endeavors.”

United Launches Flights from Bradley to San Francisco

By BusinessWest Staff June 12, 2017

Daily News

WINDSOR LOCKS, Conn. — United Airlines’ inaugural flight from Bradley International Airport to San Francisco International Airport (SFO) took flight last week, marking the beginning of the seasonal service.

“Bradley International Airport is a critical piece of Connecticut’s transportation infrastructure. Every day, more and more businesses and residents are turning to the airport as their first choice for air travel,” Gov. Dannel Malloy said. “The addition of this new, direct route to San Francisco increases options for people in the region to get to where they need to go.”

Added Aileen Moriarty, United’s manager of Connecticut sales, “United is proud to offer Hartford’s only direct flight to Northern California. Hartford customers will now have more access on mainline aircraft to California, and 14 destinations in Asia and across the Pacific via SFO, United’s gateway to the Pacific.”

The service utilizes an Airbus 319 with 128 seats and will run through September 4. The outbound flight leaves Bradley at 6:25 a.m. (ET), with an arrival at SFO at 9:50 a.m. (PT). The inbound flight departs SFO at 10:45 p.m. (PT), with an arrival at BDL at 7:06 a.m. (ET) the following day. Customers can book these tickets at www.united.com.

“We have been prioritizing the expansion of West Coast service at Bradley,” Connecticut Airport Authority Executive Director Kevin Dillon said. “We are pleased to strengthen our partnership with United by adding service to San Francisco, and we are confident that our passengers will appreciate this new route and the various amenities that we have recently added at the airport.”

The San Francisco route is United’s sixth non-stop destination out of Bradley. Other routes include Chicago, Denver, Houston, Newark, and Washington D.C.

LUSO Federal Credit Union Earns Designation of Savings Excellence

By BusinessWest Staff June 12, 2017

Daily News

LUDLOW — LUSO Federal Credit Union, a financial cooperative locally owned and operated by its members since 1971, recently received the Designation of Savings Excellence from America Saves for the third consecutive year. This award recognizes the achievements of the top-performing credit unions that surpass the expectations of their members, the public, and the financial experts at America Saves.

“Words can’t express how happy and excited we are to be in this position for the third year in a row,” says Jennifer Calheno, president and CEO of LUSO Federal Credit Union. “To be given this designation time and time again is a true testament to the tremendous hard work and dedication our employees put into their livelihoods every day. This was truly a team effort.”

The Designation of Savings Excellence recognizes and honors the hard work and integrity of credit unions that are able to successfully achieve their goals of compelling people from low- to medium-income households to open and contribute to a wealth-building account. LUSO Federal Credit Union has consistently hit its mark and, in the process, helped members learn the value of personal savings and garner the skills and confidence to make smart financial decisions.

“America Saves Week has presented us with the perfect opportunity to educate our distinguished members and pass along sound money-saving and spending advice,” Calheno said. “One of the main reasons we’re able to keep helping our members achieve their financial goals is because of the efforts put forth by this important event. We encourage our members to set their financial goals in stone and share them on social media and our website so they can get a concrete sense of what they’re striving for and how they can accomplish those goals effectively.”

America Saves Week, a campaign run by America Saves, aims to help people understand and come to terms with their current financial standings, reduce debt, and increase saving capabilities by teaching people to spend within their means.

Holyoke Medical Center Offers Preview Events for New ED

By BusinessWest Staff June 12, 2017

Daily News

HOLYOKE — Holyoke Medical Center (HMC) will open its new, $25.3 million Emergency Department early next month. The hospital has scheduled multiple events allowing employees, dignitaries, donors, and community members a chance to tour the facility before it opens.

“For the past 18 months, we have been building the Emergency Department our community deserves. Now that the construction is complete, we are happy to invite the community to take a tour of the facility before it opens through a variety of events,” said Spiros Hatiras, president and CEO of Holyoke Medical Center and Valley Health Systems.

On Monday, June 19 at 10:30 a.m., an official ribbon-cutting ceremony will be held. The event will include many state and local officials, donors, and employees.

On Tuesday, June 27 from 5 to 7 p.m., the hospital will host a regional after-5 event in collaboration with the Greater Holyoke, Greater Chicopee, South Hadley and Granby, and West of the River chambers of commerce.

Finally, on Saturday, July 1 from noon to 2 p.m., the hospital will host a free community celebration and cookout. This will be an opportunity for families to come and tour the new Emergency Department. In addition to the tour, hamburgers, hot dogs, watermelon, and ice cream will be provided.

The new Emergency Department is a 20,750-square-foot facility featuring a new Crisis Center for Behavioral Health Services, 40 treatment areas, multi-patient trauma rooms, advanced life-saving equipment, and a patient-navigation service. Once open, HMC will be able to treat patients in a more efficient and private way.

The second floor of the building will house the new offices of Gastroenterology, General Surgery, and the Weight Management program.

The Holyoke Medical Center capital campaign supporting the ER project has reached $2 million of the $3 million goal. Anyone interested in helping with the campaign is invited to call the hospital’s Development Department at (413) 534-2579.

Horace Smith Fund Awards $216,000 to Area Students

By BusinessWest Staff June 12, 2017

Daily News

SPRINGFIELD — On Thursday, June 15, the Horace Smith Fund will hold its 118th corporators’ meeting and scholarship awards ceremony at the Carriage House at Storrowton Tavern in West Springfield for recipients, their parents and school counselors, and corporators.

Wayne Webster, chair of the board of trustees, announced that there will be 18 scholarship recipients and three fellowship recipients this year. “Providing that students maintain at least a B average in college, each scholarship provides a total of $10,000 over four years, and each fellowship provides $12,000 over three years. Therefore, the Horace Smith Fund is happy to be able to grant a total award of $216,000 to area students this year.”

The Horace Smith Fund was established in 1899 by its namesake philanthropist, said Teresa Regina, chair of the scholarship committee. “He and Daniel Wesson were the founders of Smith & Wesson, located in Springfield. Mr. Smith’s will provided that the residual of his estate, after several bequests to relatives and institutions, was to be used for public purposes at the discretion of his executors. They decided that it should be used to help deserving students finance their education.”

The scholarships and fellowships are named for Walter S. Barr, a West Springfield businessman, whose widow left the bulk of the family estate to the Horace Smith Fund in 1950. Recipients must be residents of Hampden County. The keynote speaker at the ceremony will be Ryan Migeed of Springfield, a 2015 graduate of American University and past recipient of the Walter S. Barr Scholarship.

This year’s scholarship recipients include Thomas Hendrickson, Agawam High School; Aqsa Maham and Willard McKinstry, Chicopee Comprehensive High School; Xavier Farrell, High School of Science & Technology; Jordan Kei-Rahn, Longmeadow High School; Ashley Gurney, Minnechaug Regional High School; Timothy Canning, Palmer High School; Richard Nguyen, Roger L. Putnam Vocational-Technical Academy; Padraig Smith, Saint Mary High School; David Giang, Kiara Mickens, and Brendan Truong, Springfield Central High School; Ilona Znackharchuk, Westfield High School; Lindsay Gearty, West Springfield High School; Ngan Tran, Springfield Central High School, Bay Path University; Parris Porter, SABIS, Hampshire College; Amelia Vega, Holyoke High School, UMass Amherst; and Kevin Pelletier, Chicopee Comprehensive High School, Westfield State University.

The three fellowship recipients are graduates of the following high schools and colleges: Melanie Gomes, Chicopee High School, Brandeis University; John-Marc Austin, Austin Family Homeschool, Elms College; and Alexander Smith, Minnechaug Regional High School, UMass Amherst.

Students were selected on a variety of criteria, including their test scores, class rank, extracurricular activities, and a personal, written account of why the student feels deserving of financial assistance. Applications for next year’s awards will be available September 15 at www.horacesmithfund.org or by calling (413) 739-4222.

Teens Learn Stress Relief in Summer Program at Bay Path

By BusinessWest Staff June 9, 2017

Daily News

LONGMEADOW — Bay Path University’s Occupational Therapy program will host Chillin’ Out, a summer day program for girls and boys entering grades 6 to 11, the week of June 26-30. The program is designed to guide youth in nurturing body, mind, and soul to foster a sense of mindfulness and self-care.

Now in its third year, Chillin’ Out is specifically designed to guide middle- and high-school students toward enhanced ability to deal with the pressures that American teens face today. Participants will spend five days away from the stress of the school year while learning to navigate the years ahead with more personal well-being and success.

Run by graduate occupational-therapy students, activities include yoga, journaling, creative arts, hiking and more, to help teens develop tools for managing anxiety, the most prevalent mental-health condition among adolescents. “Chillin’ Out” also encourages participants to improve time management and allows them to participate in team-building adventures, nature experiences, and hands-on activities to bolster creativity and self-empowerment.

For more information on the program, e-mail Camp Director Kim Henrichon at [email protected] or click here.

Chillin’ Out is sponsored in part by BusinessWest. To learn more about sponsorship opportunities for Bay Path’s summer programs and make a contribution, e-mail Michelle Mirti at [email protected].

Junior League to Host Third Annual Beer and Wine Tasting June 11

By BusinessWest Staff June 9, 2017

Daily News

HOLYOKE — The Junior League of Greater Springfield’s (JLGS) third annual Beer and Wine Tasting fund-raising event will take place this Sunday, June 11, from 3 to 6 p.m. at the Holyoke Canoe Club. Proceeds from the event will support the Junior League’s scholarship fund. Every year, the Junior League awards a scholarship to a graduating high-school female who has exhibited exemplary leadership and community service.

This year, the event will include a silent auction, live music by Berkshire Hill Music Academy, and hors d’oeuvres by Log Rolling Catering. Vendors include Abandoned Building Brewery, Great Awakening Beer Co., White Lion Brewing Company, Barefoot Wines, Straight Six, Arcpoint Brewing, Fitvine Wine, Williams Distributing Co., Brewmaster Jack, Humboldt Imports, East of the River, Ninety Plus Cellars, and more.

“There are many young women who demonstrate strong leadership skills and dedication to volunteerism,” said Sharon Baldwin, president of the Junior League of Greater Springfield. “We are proud to recognize one of them with a scholarship, and this event ensures that we can continue to support young female leaders for years to come.”

The event is open to the public and sponsored by Commonwealth Packaging Corp. of Chicopee, O’Donald Law Offices, and Moriarty & Wilson, P.C. Tickets can be purchased through the Junior League of Greater Springfield’s website (www.jlgs.org) for $30.

“This event will help highlight the vitally important work the Junior League of Greater Springfield provides to the local community as well as reward a graduating high-school female for her hard work and service,” Baldwin said.

Conn. Airport Authority Begins Roadway Reconstruction at Bradley

By BusinessWest Staff June 9, 2017

Daily News

WINDSOR LOCKS, Conn. — The Connecticut Airport Authority is beginning the reconstruction and realignment of the main Bradley International Airport entrance roadway at Route 20 and Schoephoester Road.

The work will involve the realignment of Schoephoester Road along with a portion of the airport’s lower roadway system, as well as the construction of a modern roundabout. The project will provide a new entrance to the airport from Route 20 and open up a 19-acre site for the future development of Bradley’s ground transportation center.

The construction will not interrupt access to the airport from the Route 20 connector. However, there may be slight delays due to the shifting and reduction of lanes. Construction signs and variable message boards are present along the roadway to alert motorists of any changes in traffic patterns.

The project will consist of six phases of work and is scheduled to be completed by the fall of 2018. Regular updates will be provided to the public during this time period.

“This project begins our preparations for the development of our new, state-of-the-art ground transportation center,” said Kevin Dillon, executive director of the Connecticut Airport Authority. “We anticipate minimal impact to our passengers; however, it is important for them to be aware of the construction.”

For more information about this project, visit www.flybdl.org/about/construction.

Community Foundation to Host Estate-planning Luncheon Seminar

By BusinessWest Staff June 9, 2017

Daily News

SPRINGFIELD — Professional advisors are invited to an exclusive estate-planning luncheon seminar with nationally recognized speaker Conrad Teitell on Thursday, June 22 from noon to 2 p.m. at Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts, 333 Bridge St., Springfield.

Financial advisors, attorneys, CPAs, and philanthropy professionals are invited to hear Teitell break down the charitable-giving process so they can help their clients. Named one of the “Best Lawyers in America,” Teitell is known for his ability to translate complicated law into English everyone can understand.

The seminar is co-sponsored by Western New England University and is designed to qualify for two CLE, CPE credits. A certificate of attendance will be provided.

Seats are limited. The cost is $75. For registration information, call Development Director Jenny Papageorge at (413) 417-6383.

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