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SPRINGFIELD — BusinessWest is looking for nominees for its fourth Continued Excellence Award, and will accept nominations through Monday, May 14. The winner of the award will be unveiled at the magazine’s 40 Under Forty gala on Thursday, June 21.

Three years ago, BusinessWest inaugurated the award to recognize past 40 Under Forty honorees who had significantly built on their achievements since they were honored. The first two winners 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 were originally named to the 40 Under Forty class of 2008. Last year, the judges chose two winners: Scott Foster, an attorney with Bulkley, Richardson and Gelinas (40 Under Forty class of 2011); and Nicole Griffin, owner of Griffin Staffing Network (class of 2014).

“So many 40 Under Forty honorees have refused to rest on their laurels,” said Kate Campiti, associate publisher of BusinessWest. “Once again, we want to honor those who continue to build upon their strong records of service in business, within the community, and as regional leaders.”

Candidates must hail from 40 Under Forty classes prior to the year of the award — in this case, classes 2007-17 — and will be judged on qualities including outstanding leadership, dedicated community involvement, professional achievement, and ability to inspire. The award’s presenting sponsor is Northwestern Mutual.

The nomination form is available at businesswest.com/40-under-forty-continued-excellence-award. For your convenience, a list of the past 11 40 Under Forty classes may be found at businesswest.com/40-under-forty/40-under-forty-past-honorees.

Daily News

SOUTH HADLEY — Saskia Coté says she joined the Heart-repreneur Circle Director team because she knows business owners are going to need a lot more support to be successful with the big transitions on the horizon.

“I have always been a heart-centered business owner; that’s why I am so excited to be a part of the new success movement for businesses,” Coté said. “This is the way of the future — helping others, helping the earth and community, and helping businesses profit.”

Terri Levine, founder of Heart-repreneur Circles, opened a chapter in New England with Coté as the circle director and to help successful business owners become part of a local circle to gain more customers, make more money, and have more personal freedom. According to Levine, “no business owner can survive the massive changes upon them without having the guidance of a supportive and like-minded team of business owners advancing their business and personal success.”

Local business owners are invited to a free Heart-repreneur Circle preview meeting on Wednesday, April 25 at the Willits-Hallowell Center, Mount Holyoke College, 26 Park St., South Hadley. Participants should plan to arrive at 8 a.m., and the meeting runs from 8:30 to 10 a.m. To register, click here.

Ongoing meetings will be held on the second Tuesday of each month, starting May 8, also at the Willits-Hallowell Center, from 8:30 to 10 a.m. To register, click here.

Employment Sections

Leg Up on Life

Michaela Lopez and Danielle Stewart

Michaela Lopez and Danielle Stewart examine a specimen during their internship at Mercy Medical Center’s Pathology Lab.

It’s hardly news that far fewer teenagers work during the summer than they did decades ago, for many reasons. Those who do want to work are often happy to nail down a steady paycheck, while others gain something more — a career-oriented summer job that comes with training, mentorship, and connections. That’s the goal of a state-funded program that will send 900 area teens into the workforce this summer, but its administrators say that number isn’t nearly enough.

Joe Shibley recalls when he was a teenager, washing dishes and weeding for a little extra money, and thinks the young people who come to work for him each summer have it a lot better.

“When I was a kid, I would have loved a job like this,” said Shibley, president of Pilgrim Candle in Westfield, who will participate for the fifth time this year in the regional summer-jobs program administered by the Regional Employment Board of Hampden County (REB).

Previous participants have worked on a historic-renovation project in one of the company’s buildings, a landscaping project that took up most of one summer, and various warehousing tasks, not to mention mixing, pouring, and labeling candles.

“They learn how the process goes, from raw materials to finished goods out on shelves,” he continued. “We’ve trained these young adults to weigh the wax, mix in the colors, pour the products, and wick the candles, start to finish. We’re not building computers, but it’s still a process, and you still have to put out a good product.”

The REB initiative, funded with $1.2 million from the state’s YouthWorks program, will give about 900 young people — ages 14 to 21, but mostly 16 to 18 — the opportunity to work at private-sector businesses and community organizations for six weeks this summer, earning minimum wage. Now in its 12th year, the program also provides 15 hours of workplace-readiness skills and safety training.

“We’re trying to have the youth working in the kind of jobs that could be the start of a career pathway,” said Kathryn Kirby, REB’s manager of Youth Employment and Workforce Programs. “We focus on making sure summer employment will be a quality work experience where they develop skills to lead them to self-sufficiency.”

That includes a wide range of job sites, from day-care centers and summer camps to corporate offices and nonprofits; from landscaping companies and media outlets to, well, a candle manufacturer.

“We’re looking for all kinds of employers to step up and help out a young person. It can’t be any job — it has to be position where the young person is supervised, in a safe working environment, Cruise went on, adding that the 15 hours of training delves into the soft skills employers are looking for, like communication and team-building, and that will help the participants be successful in future workplace environments.

Most of the businesses taking part — at no cost to their own bottom line, thanks to the YouthWorks funds — are in the private sector, REB Executive Director David Cruise said. “We’re not opposed to working with municipalities and nonprofits, but we’re more involved in the private-sector companies, because we think the career pathways are a little clearer.”

Kathryn Kirby says the summer jobs offered through REB and YouthWorks

Kathryn Kirby says the summer jobs offered through REB and YouthWorks are the kinds of opportunities that could be the start of a career pathway.

And make no mistake — these teens are, indeed, getting an up-close look at potential careers, not just summer jobs.

Where Are the Jobs?

For example, Mercy Medical Center took on eight teenage interns last summer who had trained as peer advocates during the school year at Martin Luther King Jr. Family Services, part of Trinity Health’s Transforming Communities Initiative (TCI).

Ten more from the MLK program will follow this summer, in addition to several coming over as part of the REB program, said Maggie Whitten, TCI program director in the hospital’s Community Health Department.

“They worked in a variety of departments based on their interests and which departments had the greatest availability for interns,” she said of last year’s crop, with the assignments ranging from the Hearing Center to Nursing Education; from the Sister Caritas Cancer Center to Marketing.

The jobs weren’t trivial; in the Pathology Lab, Danielle Stewart and Michaela Lopez attended medical lectures, processed samples, and were given homework each night. The experience was so impactful that one of them decided not to pursue a culinary degree in college and instead is looking into nursing school.

“They all had these interests to begin with, so they were good matches, but their mentors helped them identify what they needed to know to pursue it further,” Whitten said, adding that the summer-jobs program also gave these teens the kind of foot-in-the-door internship often reserved for relatives of employees.

“It also exposes them to careers they may not even know about,” she went on. “When most young people think about a hospital, they think of nurses and doctors, and they don’t realize there are hundreds of jobs here.”

Giving kids exposure to career pathways is one of the REB program’s strong suits, but, in reality, far fewer teenagers are working paid jobs during the summer. According to Census data, the percentage of 16- to 19- year-olds who were employed each July remained relatively stable, around 55% throughout the ’70s, ’80s, and ’90s. By the mid-2010s, fewer than 35% were.

Part of the change is a shift in demographics in some jobs. Again, according to Census data, in 1992 the median age of a food-service worker was 26, and only 21.5% were older than 40. Currently, the median age is 28, and about 27% are over 40.

According to a report in the Atlantic, the rise of low-skill immigration in the last few decades has created more competition for the sort of jobs that teenagers used to do, like grocery-store cashiers, restaurant servers, and retail salespeople. At the same time, older Americans are staying in the workforce longer than ever, and many of them wind down their careers in the kind of jobs teenagers used to grab during the summer.

Another factor, however, speaks to teenagers getting serious about their future career, just in a different way. The percentage of 16- to-19-year-olds enrolled in summer school — not remedial work, but extra, often college-preparatory work — has tripled in the last 20 years, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Whatever the reasons for the decline in youth employment, teenagers who do want to work over the summer often struggle to find jobs; even rarer are the kind of jobs that make them think about their future, rather than just doing busywork between paychecks.

“It has always been our feeling that college kids need this experience as well,” Cruise said, “but for a high-school student, this exposure may be the thing that inspires them to continue their education. Maybe they wouldn’t sense that as clearly if they didn’t have this opportunity.”

In some cases, Kirby said, the teenagers make such a strong impression over the six weeks that the employer wants to bring them back the following summer, or even part-time during the school year.

“That’s why we say to these young people, ‘when you get this opportunity, you really have to seize it. If you do a good job, the employer may hire you, and you’ll have permanent employment and a job to go to after school.”

Just as valuable is the mentoring that the employers in the REB program are asked to provide, Cruise added.

“They might talk about a potential career path with that company, or encourage them to go on to school if that’s what’s required in order to be hired on a full-time basis,” he explained. “This summer job might potentially be that job that triggers where their educational pathway goes. It can have an impact on far beyond the six weeks they’ll be working with them.”

Two-way Street

Conversely, the participating employers say they gain, something, too, in the energy, perspective, and skills (often technological) that young people bring to the table.

Plus, Cruise said, “it really does add value because they can do things that may have fallen to another employee — like filing and basic computer work — so that other employee can make better use of his or her time.”

He admitted, as Whitten noted, that summer openings for young people at various companies are often filled by employees’ sons, daughters, nieces and nephews. But there’s value in that, too, because if the experience opens employers’ eyes to the value of hiring young people, maybe they’ll be willing to look outside for more such help.

In Shibley’s case, he’s interested in what his yearly cohort thinks about potential new products, knowing their age group will eventually be his customers. “Their tastes help us in developing some of the fragrances — what trendy things they would like instead of the traditional country fragrances. Tastes are constantly changing.”

Managing teenagers — both through YouthWorks and another program through which young people with Down syndrome and other special needs work at Pilgrim Candle — has also spurred changes in operations.

Jerry Moore III, another of Mercy Medical Center’s summer interns, leads U.S. Sen. Ed Markey on a tour of the hospital.

Jerry Moore III, another of Mercy Medical Center’s summer interns, leads U.S. Sen. Ed Markey on a tour of the hospital.

“It’s kind of opened up our eyes about how we could streamline some of our processes and make it simpler for some of the workers,” he said. “And it’s been really gratifying to see these kids develop and learn some skills, especially kids with special needs. It’s been a good experience, and I would definitely recommend it to other companies.”

Kirby hopes testimonies like that persuade more employers to get involved in the summer-jobs program, or, better yet, consider hiring young people on their own.

“We definitely need more support,” he said. “We have thousands of applicants, and 900 kids will be the lucky ones to secure work through this program. The rest are left to fend for themselves and find a job on their own.”

Cruise said teenagers who work during the summer reap benefits beyond pay, job skills, and career readiness. “I think the program plays a significant role in increasing young people’s self-confidence and self-esteem. That’s a critical part of the outcome they get from this experience. Over time, it’s good for kids, good for families, and hopefully good for the communities they live in.”

Kirby agreed. “Some are so shy when they come in, but they just blossom under the program. That happens a lot,” she said. “It’s an opportunity to learn about themselves, to be mentored and build skills, and to network in the community and build relationships.”

Relationships that, in many cases, will become the first step toward a career that lasts well beyond the summer.

Joseph Bednar can be reached at [email protected]

Environment and Engineering Sections

Fueling Interest

Jim Cayon

Jim Cayon

Jim Cayon says he’s looking for an opportunity. A chance. A break. An open door.

He probably used all those words and phrases as he talked with BusinessWest about relatively new and occasionally misperceived products and his ongoing quest to prove that they work, can save users money and substantially reduce pollution. To do that, he needs an opportunity to demonstrate all his technology could do for them.

The company is called Environmental Engines, and it offers motor oils with a 30,000-mile lifespan, Cayon claims, as well as advanced protection technology (APT), a synthetic metal treatment that’s been proven to substantially decrease friction. The result is a reduction in damaging harmonics and wear on the engine as well as transmissions, which improves performance and fuel efficiency while significantly lowering carbon emissions.

It can do this, he said, for cars, trucks, motorcycles, buses, boats, you name it.

Cayon, who handles the Northeast sales region for the Nevada-based company and was an exhibitor at last fall’s Western Mass. Business and Innovation Expo, told BusinessWest that he’s been approaching various businesses and municipalities to consider his oils and treatments as a solution in further reducing maintenance costs and emissions. (The lubricants alone reduce related expenses and dirty-oil waste by two-thirds or more, he claims).

And for the most part, he’s still looking for an entity to take that chance.

And he understands, generally, why that is.

Many businesses with fleets, not to mention and municipalities are loyal to the products they’re already using — and are contractually obligated in some cases — and these factors make it difficult to avail themselves of such opportunities, said Cayon, based in Easthampton.

“It’s human nature to resist change, yet on the other hand, there is some preconception about what the Environmental Engines products are or aren’t,” he explained.

“They’ve already made up their minds,” he went on, adding that the motor oil industry isn’t easy to break into because of brand loyalty and long-standing relationships. “In many cases, they think they know what is — they think it’s that thing they’ve heard or read about that doesn’t work — and so they don’t even want to consider trying it.”

Cayon doesn’t give up easily, and he’s working hard to make it as simple as possible for those he’s talking with to put the company’s products to work. And he brings with him what he considers some very compelling arguments, not just about the APT ceramic protection and motor oils, but also about how they would fit in nicely with many companies’ ongoing efforts — and missions — to become more ‘green’ and Earth-friendly, but also more bottom-line conscious.

At present, Cayon has been focusing much of his time and energy on getting the ear of area municipalities, many of which are actively engaged in efforts to become ‘green’ and energy efficient, and not just because it’s the right thing to do. There are frequently considerable cost benefits to doing so as well.

Cayon noted that the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission has, among its many goals, a desire to reduce carbon emissions in this by 80% by 2050. And then he threw out another number that should get someone’s attention.

“If everyone in this half of the state were to use our on-time engine treatment, in terms of cars, light trucks, and motorcycles, we’re talking about the elimination of up to 1.5 billion pounds of regional vehicle emissions every year,” he told BusinessWest. “The impact is profound if I get to that level, but …”

He didn’t finish, but made it clear that he would like to start with at least one city, town, or large business fleet and expand from there.

He has extended invitations to every community in Berkshire, Franklin, and Hampshire counties, with Hampden and most of Worcester County to follow.

What he’s sending them is a fairly comprehensive explanation of how APT ceramic protection works, and how it could change the equation for the municipality in question.

Here is how it works. APT is a nanotechnology that permanently embeds into the metal parts within an engine to form what Cayon called a “microceramic seal” on all metal parts within an engine. Indeed, these treatments can be applied not only to engines and transmissions, but hydraulic systems, fuel pumps and injectors, drive trains, air conditioning systems, power steering systems, and more.

Elaborating, Cayon said APT molecules are able to penetrate sludge and residual buildup on surfaces without the use of solvents. It forms a ceramic shield that protects the engine from heat, allowing for exceptionally high temperatures without any damage and metal wear. Once bonded, the surface is smooth with fewer pores for particulates to latch onto, said Cayon, therefore repelling potential carbon buildup back into the lubricant stream, where it is cleaned by vehicles’ inline or bypass filtration system.

“The two major benefits are emissions reduction and better engine responsiveness — which is going to be correlated somewhat with fuel efficiency,” he explained. “And the responsiveness factor is important; if you have vehicles you’re relying on like ambulances, fire trucks and police cruisers, for example … those are vehicles that need to be performing at a very high level.”

That’s the message Cayon is trying to convey to potential clients of all kinds in both the private and public sectors. There are many challenges to getting that message across, but he’s going to keep trying, because if they do listen, they will likely be compelled to respond to what they hear.

Like he said, he’s looking for a chance, an opportunity to become the solution for companies looking to reduce their carbon footprint as well as motor oil costs. But the real opportunity could come to those who open their doors to it.

 

Environment and Engineering Sections

Turning the Page

Bruce Coombs’ office is filled with conversation pieces from the past.

Bruce Coombs’ office is filled with conversation pieces from the past.

The word ‘ephemeral’ means lasting for a short time, which is odd, considering one definition of ‘ephemera’ — and how long some of it has been kicking around.

“Ephemera is old paper — it could be postcards, newspapers, old magazines, sheet music, World War I and World War II posters, movie posters, Civil War correspondence, trading cards,” said Bruce Coombs, owner of both Heritage Surveys and Heritage Books.

The Southampton-based surveying firm, which has been working with developers, architects, and engineers, has been around since 1977 — so it’s anything but ephemeral — while the book business, spawned from a need by Coombs to house his massive collection of used books and memorabilia, is a more recent entity.

“Most of the people who work in this business do it part time,” he said of the bookstore, which has both a physical location, a stone’s throw north on Route 10 at the former Southampton Library, and a robust online presence at heritagebks.com. “I’ve gotten to the age where I’m buying less and selling more.”

Coombs didn’t start his career in either land surveying or old books. He enrolled in the forestry program at Paul Smith’s College in New York, but went to work for the U.S. Postal Service in Long Island shortly after.

Occasionally, he’d visit his sister in the Pioneer Valley, and he liked the area, so eventually he procured a transfer to the Amherst Post Office and enrolled at UMass. Soon after, in the early 1970s, he started working at Huntley Associates, a Northampton-based surveying company. After advancing in that firm and managing one of its offices, he decided to open his own company, and Heritage was born in 1976.

He worked out of a small office on Route 10 in Southampton until 1985, when he outgrew the space and purchased a 13-acre property about a mile south on College Highway. The idea was to grow slowly and steadily, and to focus on surveying rather than engineering. By doing so, he continued, he found that other engineering firms were willing to hire Heritage to conduct surveying for their projects.

“There are engineering firms we’ve worked with for many years; we’ve worked with some engineers for as much as 30 years,” he said. “A lot of engineering firms don’t have a survey contingent, and they like the work we do, so they’re ongoing clients; there are several in Western Mass., and Eastern and Central Mass. as well.”

While he intended to concentrate on surveying rather than engineering, he went on, “in order to do surveying successfully, to be the best at it, you need to do some engineering, and you need to be knowledgable about a lot of other professions, including the legal profession, planning and zoning, and landscape architecture.”

The firm’s growing reputation won jobs at Westover Air Reserve Base, Westfield-Barnes Municipal Airport, Baystate Medical Center’s Hospital of the Future expansion, the Basketball Hall of Fame, and work for the Springfield Redevelopment Authority at myriad sites.

Coombs has been in the business long enough to see surveyors transition from steel tape to electronic total stations, which allow the operator to control the instrument from a distance via remote control, to GPS units that connect to satellites — progress that has reduced crews on a project from three or four to one or two.

Booking Jobs

At the same time, Coombs was collecting old books — lots of them, to the point where he opened a shop, Heritage Books, in the same building that houses Heritage Surveys.

Actually, he collects both books and ephemera — again, a catch-all term for all sorts of printed, often collectible materials. Eventually, his collection and bookstore were outgrowing their space.

The answer to this problem came in the form of the former Southampton Library, which was built in 1904. When the property went up for sale, he put in a bid, purchased the building, and gradually began moving most of the books to the new site. At the same time, he undertook a major renovation and expansion of the Heritage Surveys property.

Today, Coombs’ office is still strewn with shelves and drawers filled with books, ephemera, and other items, including his own great-grandfather’s handwritten Civil War record, as well as numerous plaques, busts, and other images of Presidents Lincoln and Washington, who were, he likes to point out, both surveyors.

“I like things that are nostalgic, graphical, colorful,” he said, holding up, as one example, well-preserved sheet music (“New York and Coney Island Cycle March Two-step,” by E.T. Paull) adorned with colorful illustrations of the historic fairgrounds in the 1890s.

Perhaps the most striking collectible sits on a table in the library: a large ferris wheel — with a working motor and lights — made in the 1930s from about 200,000 medical applicator sticks; he discovered the damaged relic, and some accompanying model circus wagons, and had them all restored for display in the bookstore.

This emphasis on the past is accessible in a thoroughly modern way, a website that links to several e-commerce outlets for Coombs’ collection, including eBay, Biblio, Alibris, and Amazon. Some 30,000 books and other items are searchable online. For the rest, buyers have to visit the old library.

That they can find so much online, though, is a major change in the way used-book dealers operate, connecting hundreds of thousands of people in the U.S. and overseas, he noted. “Sales of books and ephemera have gone over to the Internet, and it certainly has changed things.”

Coombs is making some changes as well, mainly to downsize his collection. For 18 years, he’d maintained a 520-square-foot storage unit in the Eastworks basement up the road in Easthampton, with shelves reaching eight feet tall, loaded with books. The rental probably cost him close to $40,000 over that time, yet the materials in it weren’t nearly that valuable, so he eventually moved everything out.

“We took 350 boxes to the Salvation Army in Westfield, and kept some things and blended them into our collection,” he said, noting that he still has plenty of overflow inventory in a six-car garage, but may gradually empty that as well.

“People ask when I’ll retire,” he said with a laugh, “but when you run two businesses — the survey business and a book business — it’s difficult to retire.”

Thus, the next chapter in an intriguing dual career begins.

Joseph Bednar can be reached at [email protected]

Environment and Engineering Sections

Making Waves

Stanley Kowalski III, co-founder, chairman, and CEO of FloDesign Sonics.

Stanley Kowalski III, co-founder, chairman, and CEO of FloDesign Sonics.

The “filterless filter company,” as FloDesign Sonics dubs itself, was launched in 2010 in an effort to separate contaminants — particularly anthrax — from the water supply.

There’s nothing trivial about that goal, but the company’s co-founder and CEO, Stanley Kowalski III, and his team have only been thinking bigger ever since.

“We don’t like mediocre challenges; we take on pretty big issues, and we back it with the best thought leaders in this space,” he told BusinessWest. “We’ve targeted some of the biggest things mankind could be working on, and it gets people motivated on a different level. You don’t have to yell at people … they’re independently driven because every day, they’re working on something exceptionally meaningful. It’s a mission-based company — and we always like to focus the mission on something that’s pretty grand.”

These days, that ‘something grand’ is cell and gene therapy, an existing technology with promise for batting cancer and other diseases, but which is prohibitively expensive — much too costly, in fact, to be available to the masses.

Kowalski believes FloDesign Sonics’ patented, signature process — which captures, separates, and concentrates particles in fluids through the use of acoustic waves — could eventually bring those costs down. And the 32 people working at the company’s Wilbraham headquarters — geneticists, bioengineers, and biochemists among them — are motivated to make that a reality.

“We’re the ‘filterless filter company,’ but we’re also doing cell handling, so just calling it a filter company doesn’t give it credit,” he said. “Right now we’re in the life-sciences industry, where handling of cells is the next frontier of medicine — personalized medicine, cell and gene therapy, where you use your body’s cells to fight things like cancer, grow organs, or restore organs that are damaged.”

We’re living, he continued, in a time of renaissance in medicine, when scientists are learning how to harness the body’s ability to regenerate and repair itself and fight diseases in new ways.

“And there’s nothing more important, I think, that mankind could be working on right now than this,” he went on. “I tell my staff, if Edison or Tesla were alive today, I’m convinced this is what they’d be working on. I really believe that.”

Going with the Flow

To understand what FloDesign Sonics — an offshoot of FloDesign Inc., which was founded in 1990 and has since spawned several spinoff companies — has accomplished, it’s helpful to go back to 2010, when engineer Bart Lipkens received a grant from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to figure out how to rid reservoirs of anthrax, which was, at that time, a major concern in Washington.

During a process of trial and error, Lipkens’ team at the newly established FloDesign Sonics — including Kowalski, Louis Masi, and Walter Presz — discovered that acoustics could play a vital role in detection.

Kowalski has often explained it by picturing sound waves as an invisible force field that can be used to manipulate and hold things in space. In a chamber filled with fluid, if a consistent flow of sound waves is generated through it, then living cells or debris are introduced into the wave, they will be held there by the invisible force field, and the cells will be gently pushed together and form clumps. When they get big enough, they either fall out of the solution due to gravity or rise to the top due to buoyancy — hence, the ‘filterless filter’ description.

One early assignment came from the National Science Foundation, which issued a challenge — and a series of grant phases — in 2012 to find a way to separate oil and gas contaminants from water. The key, Kowalski told BusinessWest, was to create a process that cost less than the value of the oil being extracted from the water — and let capitalism take over. In 2016, representatives from the company participated in the White House Water Summit to discuss its considerable progress.

The grant, Lipkens said at the event, “resulted in a technology that provides a green, sustainable, and environmentally friendly oil-water separation system for the oil and gas industry.”

Later in 2012, FloDesign Sonics tested a prototype for a life-sciences application that involves harvesting and filtering cells derived from the ovaries of Chinese hamsters that are used to make injectable monoclonal antibody drugs, which are being used to fight cancer, diabetes, and other illnesses. A grant from the National Institute for Health followed in 2014, along with a challenge to devise a better way of filtering blood during bypass surgery.

From left, some the FloDesign Sonics leadership team: Walter Presz, co-founder and senior fellow of fluid dynamics; Richard Grant, chief product officer; and Stanley Kowalski III, co-founder, chairman, and CEO.

From left, some the FloDesign Sonics leadership team: Walter Presz, co-founder and senior fellow of fluid dynamics; Richard Grant, chief product officer; and Stanley Kowalski III, co-founder, chairman, and CEO.

Creating a way to bring cell and gene therapy essentially to the hospital bedside — not unlike dialysis — is an altogether different challenge, however, a holy grail of sorts in the oncology world.

“With all the tools available today, we really need a paradigm shift,” Kowalski said. “Manipulating cells and bringing either a particle or a virus or a genetic payload to these cells is what cell and gene therapy is all about — holding them, washing them, cleaning them, sorting them, separating them, finding that needle in a haystack of cells in your body that have the propensity to repair, restore, rebuild, and make you who you are all over again. That’s what our quest is.

“There’s so much can be done, and it really does rival the Henry Ford challenge, because right now, cell and gene therapy is only available for the few, and it’s exceptionally expensive — off-the-charts expensive, maybe $500,000 per patient, on the low end.”

With more than 250 patents filed in the past decade and more than 50 granted, FloDesign Sonics continues to take steps toward using acoustic filtering to bring down the cost of activating cells and “turning them into the warriors they can be to go compete against cancers,” as Kowalski put it.

Meanwhile, FloDesign Sonics is looking to transform the biopharmaceutical process as well. Many of today’s pharmaceuticals are produced by culturing cells that produce therapeutic proteins or monoclonal antibodies. After the proteins or antibodies are produced, it’s necessary to gently remove the cultured cells as part of the purification process. Current technology requires the use of either a filter, which must be flushed or replaced, or a centrifuge, which requires careful cleaning between each use.

The FloDesign solution permits both cell clarification and perfusion without the need for consumable filters or complex centrifuges. This technology was exclusively licensed to Pall Life Sciences for commercialization and launched in 2016.

Drowning in Opportunity

While medical applications for acoustic filtering may be making the most waves (pun intended) at the moment, they’re far from the only ones.

“One of our board members likes to call it ‘drowning in opportunity’ because every time you turn around, there’s someone else to draw you in,” Kowalski said. “There are industrial applications, food and beverage applications, water purification. People need clean water; it’s still considered one of the major hurdles of mankind.”

Still, he added, “we are maintaining focus around cell and gene therapy until we get these drug costs down.”

That focus on solutions has driven FloDesign since 1990, when Presz created the company while he was an Engineering professor at Western New England College so he could give his students an opportunity to put theory into practice.

FloDesign Sonics is just one of several spinoff companies that have come out of that original entity. Others include FloDesign Wind Turbine, which was founded in 2008, and FloDesign Water Turbine, which was established in 2009. The common thread is that all have something to do with fluid dynamics and acoustic solutions.

Since its founding in 2010, FloDesign has raised $44 million in venture capital and grants from bodies like the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health. Its board includes a number of significant lights in the life-sciences world, including Jim Waters and Doug Berthiaume, the founder and former CEO, respectively, of Milford-based Waters Corp., which Berthiaume grew to $2.2 billion in revenue before retiring in November.

They’re drawn, Kowalski said, by the idea that the acoustic-filtering technology pioneered by FloDesign Sonics can change people’s lives. “We believe that, and it’s already happening,” he added.

“Every time there’s a hurdle that mankind hits, we always find a way around it, and we solve problems. We’re very good at that,” he went on. “I think we’re right at that threshold where we’ve had enough of cancer. It’s time to figure this thing out. And the engine behind this is acoustics.”

Joseph Bednar can be reached at [email protected]

Employment Sections

Character-building Exercises

By Henry DeVries

A tough challenge for many executives is convincing top talent to join their company. A second challenge is training newcomers to understand the company’s core values.

To become better at hiring and training, it pays to know how humans are hardwired for stories. If you want prospective employees to think it over, give them lots of facts and figures. If you want them to decide to join your company for the right reasons, then tell them the right story.

Now, any executive can easily use proven techniques of telling a great story employed by Hollywood, Madison Avenue, and Wall Street by employing six simple steps to storytelling to attract the right candidates and properly train them in your company culture.

These stories must be true case studies, but told in a certain way. The process starts with understanding your core values.

Core Values Are Key

Top candidates don’t want to work just anywhere. They want an organization where they align with the core values.

Every business has core values, although some have not formally stated what they are. Basically, core values are the guiding principles that drive and organization’s conduct both internally with employees and externally with customers. Here are a few examples of core values of small to medium-sized businesses:

• We go the extra mile for customers;

• We do whatever it takes to get the job done;

• We value integrity, which means doing what we say we are going to do;

• We are honest and transparent with employees and customers; and

• We value quality as job number one.

The list of possibilities is mighty long. Core values are a decision that company leaders make. But just naming a core value is not enough.

The Core-value Storytelling Formula

For every core value, the company should capture a true story of that core value in action. Here is a quick overview of the core-value storytelling formula:

One: Start with a main character. Every story starts with the name of a character who wants something. This is your client. Make your main characters likable so the listeners will root for them. To make them likable, describe some of their good qualities or attributes. Generally, three attributes work best: “Marie was smart, tough, and fair” or “John was hardworking, caring, and passionate.” For privacy reasons, you do not need to use their real names (“this is a true story, but the names have been changed to protect confidentiality.”)

Two: Have a nemesis character. Stories need conflict to be interesting. What person, institution, or condition stands in the character’s way? The villain in the story might be a challenge in the business environment, such as the recession of 2008 or the Affordable Care Act (the government is always a classic nemesis character).

Three: Bring in a mentor character. Heroes need help on their journey. They need to work with a wise person. This is where you come in. Be the voice of wisdom and experience. The hero does not succeed alone; they succeed because of the help you provided.

Four: Know what story you are telling. Human brains are programmed to relate to one of eight great meta-stories. These are: monster, underdog, comedy, tragedy, mystery, quest, rebirth, and escape. If the story is about overcoming a huge problem, that is a monster-problem story. If the company was like a David that overcame an industry Goliath, that is an underdog story.

Five: Have the hero succeed. Typically, the main character needs to succeed, with one exception: tragedy. The tragic story is told as a cautionary tale — great for teaching lessons, but not great for attracting clients. Have the hero go from mess to success (it was a struggle, and they couldn’t have done it without you).

Six: Give the listeners the moral of the story, which is the core value. Take a cue from Aesop, the man who gave us fables like “The Tortoise and the Hare” (the moral: slow and steady wins the race). Don’t count on the listeners to get the message. The storyteller’s final job is to tell them what the story means.

Six Ways to Put Stories into Action

After you build an inventory of stories that demonstrate your core values in action, you are then ready to deploy the stories. In storytelling, context is everything. You should never randomly tell stories, but instead use stories at the right strategic times.

Here are six perfect opportunities to persuade with a story:

• During a job interview. No, don’t start the interview telling stories. However, once the candidate has shared about themselves, then the interviewer can share stories about the core values of the organization.

• During a training class. Core values should be taught during training. First, state the core value and then explain what that means. For them to really get the point, tell a story about that core value in action.

• At weekly staff meetings. One executive boasted that his organization had 22 core values, and they were on posters throughout the office. Asked if he had any stories to illustrate, a little red-faced, he said “no.” Now, every week at staff meeting, they tell a story to illustrate one of the 22 core values.

• At company-wide meetings. Is it time to assemble all the troops? Maybe for a change in direction or for recognition? This is a perfect time for core-value selling.

• On the company website. Promote core-value stories on your website to detail for clients and potential clients the power of story.

• In company brochures and collateral material. Since stories connect on an emotional level, doesn’t it make sense to put them down in writing?

Storytelling helps persuade on an emotional level. Maybe that is why so many Fortune 500 companies are honing in on storytelling techniques and imparting that wisdom on their sales and business-development professionals to tell relatable stories that will convince prospects.

Henry DeVries, CEO of Indie Books International, works with consultants to attract high-paying clients by marketing with a book and speech. As a professional speaker, he teaches sales and business-development professionals how to build an inventory of persuasive stories. He is the author of “Marketing with a Book” and “Persuade with a Story!”; www.indiebooksintl.com

Health Care Sections

Seeing the Light

Dr. David Momnie tests a young patient’s vision.

Dr. David Momnie tests a young patient’s vision.

Dr. David Momnie was on a plane recently, sitting near a woman who dialed up a movie on her phone and stared at the screen for two hours. He doesn’t recall her looking up until it was over.

“That’s not good,” he said, but it’s far from rare. In fact, close-up viewing of electronic screens, whether to examine data on a computer at work or to watch YouTube videos or play mobile games on a smartphone, has become such common practice that the eye-care community is increasingly citing the trend to explain a troubling rise in myopia.

About 40% of the population is nearsighted, a problem that often develops in adulthood, but for children and teenagers, the number in the U.S. is more than 30% and increasing, while in Singapore, South Korea, and China, the myopia rate across all age groups is approaching 90% in some urban areas.

“It’s a huge problem, and in Asian countries, it’s a growing concern,” said Momnie, president of Chicopee Eye Care. “It’s a global phenomenon. But where is it coming from?”

Part of the issue is, and always has been, genetic, he explained — nearsighted parents pass on a predisposition to the condition to their children. “But that doesn’t explain the rapid increase in the past 30 years. It’s increased so rapidly that it’s got to be about more than genetics.”

Increasingly, doctors are saying the screen culture bears some blame.

“Kids are looking at computers at a very early age — iPhones, iPads, and computers — more and more,” he told BusinessWest. “When I was a kid, when we were in the car, we played the license-plate game. Now, kids are on their phones or watching a movie on long trips. They’re getting three, four, five hours a day, or even more, of intense, concentrated near-point work, staring at a small screen eight inches away.”

Myopia, or nearsightedness, is a vision condition in which people can see close objects clearly, but objects farther away appear blurred. For example, people with myopia can have difficulty clearly seeing a movie or TV screen across a room, or the whiteboard in school.

According to the American Optometric Assoc. (AOA), people who have jobs or frequently engage in activities that require looking at something close up for long periods of time are at more of a risk of developing myopia. One such activity is screen time. Some people have even reported experiencing what is called ‘pseudo-myopia’ from staring at a computer or phone screen for too long. In short, they will develop all the effects of myopia, but for a short amount of time. As for permanent myopia, the only way to correct it is with glasses, contacts, or eye surgery.

A team from the University of Utah recently examined myopia’s rising tide and also pointed a finger at screens. They noted that, in 1984, 15% of children had access to a computer at home. Now, more than 80% of households in the U.S. have one, and most families have smartphones as well. While these technologies have various uses, from entertainment to education, they note, they also raise questions regarding proper usage and boundaries for children.

“There’s a lot more to this — pardon the pun — than meets the eye,” said Dr. Steven Squillace, an optometrist who practices at Somers Vision Clinic. He specializes in children and adults with eye-muscle and focusing problems, and has studied at length the effects of computers on the eyes.

“One of the hardest things in medicine is to make people make lifestyle changes, whether it’s smoking or high blood pressure or weight loss — or the amount of time they spend on devices like cell phones, tablets, or even laptop or desktop computers,” Squillace said. “With the evolution of the work world, more people have jobs that require employees to be on these devices, and the blue light emitted from the devices can be harmful.”

Doctors can do only so much, he added. Bifocals with blue filters and anti-glare properties filter off some of the blue light, “but it can still potentially damage the anatomy in the eye lens and macula over time.”

Close View of the Facts

While the exact cause of myopia is unknown, the genetic component is well-known. In fact, Momnie said, nearsightedness is the result of a complicated interaction between genetic predisposition and environmental exposures.

But those exposures can be significant. He cited a 1983 study on military recruits in Holland — well before computers and other devices were a ubiquitous part of life. But this study suggested the potential damage of long-term, close-up viewing of, well, anything. Specifically, 2% of recruits who came from a farming background were nearsighted, 15% with a merchant background had myopia, and 32% of those with advanced education suffered from the condition.

“So we know that people who do a lot of near-point work have a higher incidence of nearsightedness than people who work outdoors in construction, farming, and other activities,” he added.

In a more recent study, researchers in Italy recruited 320 3- to 10-year-olds and tracked how long the children spent in front of screens each day. They found that kids who spent more than 30 minutes a day playing video games were more likely than the others to suffer from headaches, eyelid tics, double vision, and dizziness, while 90% of the frequent video-game players had refractive vision problems such as myopia or farsightedness, particularly in their dominant eyes, compared with only half of the less-frequent players.

The World Health Organization predicts that, if current trends continue, half the world’s population will be myopic by 2050, and one-fifth of those will be at a significantly increased risk of blindness. And the WHO isn’t alone in its worry. “The AOA has long been concerned about the increased incidence of myopia and the impact of the increased visual stress caused by digital eye strain,” said Andrea Thau, the AOA’s immediate past president.

Dr. Steven Squillace has long been concerned about the effects of close viewing and ‘blue light’ from electronic devices.

Dr. Steven Squillace has long been concerned about the effects of close viewing and ‘blue light’ from electronic devices.

The AOA strongly encourages children to participate in outdoor activities and to follow the 20-20-20 rule: for every 20 minutes of reading, computer, or close work, take a 20-second rest break by looking at things at least 20 feet away. Thau, who has a primary-care practice with special emphasis on children’s vision and vision therapy in Manhattan, advises that doctors of optometry encourage young patients to engage in eye-hand coordination activities and to play sports and other outdoor activities.

Momnie agrees with the 20-20-20 philosophy. “It just refocuses the eyes, and it’s a reminder that prolonged staring at a short distance is a strain on the eyes.”

The AOA issued several other tips on screen use to protect eyesight. First, the user should be in a comfortable position when using a computer or any digital screen, sitting up straight with a flat back and forearms resting comfortably on the desk or table. The screen should be held away from the face and viewed at a slight downward angle. Other light sources should be minimized, to avoid glare on the computer screen, which can cause extra strain on the eyes. And users should consciously blink often, because staring at any light source can cause eyes to dry up faster and actually inhibit the urge to blink. If dry eyes are a particular problem, eye drops may be used periodically.

Another area of concern for the ADA is addictive screen use. The organization advises parents to establish clear rules when it comes to video-game use in particular, including both time limits and conditions such as being able to play only after all homework is completed. And it’s not just eyesight at risk; a recent German study suggests that overuse of electronic media by children is reducing their overall sleep quality.

“So, how do we stop it?” Momnie asked, before suggesting that a lifestyle that gets kids back outside could be a good start. “Studies have shown that being outdoors two hours a day causes a significant reduction in nearsightedness. In Singapore, they’re redesigning classrooms to let more light in, and making more time for outdoor recess.”

However, many American school districts, especially in the middle- and high-school years, are now requiring students to complete and submit their homework digitally, perhaps increasing their susceptibility to early-onset myopia.

Whatever the reason, the condition’s increasing prevalence among children could contribute to learning deficiencies as they struggle in school but don’t know why. “Eighty percent of learning is visual,” he said, “and they may not know they’re nearsighted.”

Digital Breaks

As for adults, Momnie went on, two decades ago, most people staring at a computer screen for eight hours were in financial services — such as banking and accounting — and perhaps customer service. Today, more and more jobs have fallen under the umbrella of heavy screen time.

Squillace said many employers, as an ergonomic measure, are encouraging employees to take ‘digital breaks’ by simply looking away from the screen for a half-hour, perhaps getting up to grab a cup of water and look out the window.

“There’s some value in that, not having the eye engaged for hours on end. You really need to take those visual breaks,” he told BusinessWest. “When we talk about limiting activity, it’s more managing it, taking those breaks, and mixing it up. Get off the screen and do some pencil-and-paper tasks. Do some math homework on traditional paper instead of working on a computer.”

At the very least, adults can set an example for their children in the way they handle their own screen time, Momnie said. And it’s OK to be firm.

“Parents can say, ‘you’re allowed one hour a day, and then you have to spend an hour or two outdoors.’ Kick them outdoors during the weekends, and they probably shouldn’t play on their devices during the evening. And for kids under 2, don’t even let them near one of these things. Even a video game on TV is better than looking at an iPhone or iPad.”

After all, he said, parenthood is a benevolent dictatorship, not a democracy.

“Computers aren’t going away, and trying to keep kids off computers isn’t easy to do,” he said. But preventing myopia — or at least pushing it well into the distance — makes the effort worthwhile.

Joseph Bednar can be reached at [email protected]

Health Care Sections

Sound Reasoning

Susan Bankoski Chunyk

Susan Bankoski Chunyk, here displaying a hearing aid, says new research provides some compelling reasons why individuals should not wait to do something about suspected hearing loss.

Susan Bankoski Chunyk has been quoting the same statistic for years now — because the numbers, to her consistent dismay, haven’t changed appreciably.

The average delay from when someone notices a hearing loss to when that same individual decides to actually do something about it is five to seven years, Bankoski Chunyk, a doctor of audiology practicing in East Longmeadow, told BusinessWest.

The basic reason why hasn’t changed, either. There is a serious stigma attached to hearing aids, she explained, adding that these ever-improving devices have always been associated with age and weakness.

“I’ve had people in their 80s and 90s tell me, ‘I don’t want to look old; those are for old people,’” she said when asked if this stigma was alive and well in the 21st century, noting that such sentiments should certainly answer that question.

What has changed in recent years, however, she went on, are some of the arguments for not waiting five to seven years and instead doing something as soon as hearing loss is noted.

Before, the basic arguments involved quality of life as it related to hearing, both for those suffering the hearing loss and the loved ones and friends coping with it. By way of explanation, Bankoski Chunyk, the region’s first doctor of audiology (more on that later), said she would often quote the line on a bumper sticker used by one of the hearing-aid manufacturers in some of its promotional material, especially as those devices became smaller and less obtrusive: “your hearing aid is less obvious than your hearing loss.”

But in recent years, research has provided Bankoski Chunyk and others like her with more powerful arguments, ones that she believes are already changing some attitudes when it comes to hearing health.

Indeed, numerous studies have linked hearing loss to dementia, depression (especially in women), isolation, loneliness, anxiety, insecurity, paranoia, poor self-esteem, and increased safety risk.

“There’s been a connection established between untreated hearing loss and earlier onset of dementia,” she explained. “The research is going on in multiple sites around the world, and I’m not saying there’s a cause and effect between hearing loss and dementia, but people who have hearing loss and don’t do anything about it are at increased risk of dementia.”

Bankoski Chunyk uses the information from such studies for what has always been a very important part of her practice and is now even more so — education, about everything from the health risks from hearing loss to what causes that condition, meaning everything from diabetes to smoking to noise exposure.

There are many misperceptions about hearing health and hearing loss, as well as that troubling stigma about hearing aids, she said. Overall, there is a general lack of urgency when it comes to hearing and its importance to one’s overall health and well-being, she told BusinessWest, adding that this is true not only for individuals with possible hearing loss, but also their primary-care physicians and the insurance companies that don’t cover hearing aids.

In many cases, hearing loss is often seen as part of the normal aging process, a nuisance rather than a health condition — something to be ignored rather than dealt with directly.

She draws a direct comparison to eye care. “Just because hearing declines with age for some people doesn’t mean it should be ignored,” she explained. “Vision changes are not ignored, even though they are common with age.”

Susan Bankoski Chunyk says that, unfortunately, many misperceptions about hearing health and hearing loss remain

Susan Bankoski Chunyk says that, unfortunately, many misperceptions about hearing health and hearing loss remain, as well as a troubling stigma about hearing aids.

Presenting such arguments and, more importantly, treating those who choose to do something about their hearing loss — hopefully not after five to seven years of waiting for it to get worse — has become a rewarding career choice for Bankoski Chunyk on a number of levels.

More than 30 years after first entering the field, she said she gains great satisfaction from changing someone’s life by enabling them to hear more clearly.

“When a person does come in, they usually kick themselves for waiting so long,” she said. “I love to make people’s lives easier, but I can only do it if they’ll let me.”

For this issue, BusinessWest talked at length with Bankoski Chunyk about her practice and her career, but mostly about some of that recent research she quoted, information she hopes will help change the dynamic when it comes to how people think about their hearing and how it relates to their overall health.

In other words, and as they say in this business, people should take a good listen.

A Positive Tone

Bankoski Chunyk said she first became intrigued by the broad field of audiology when she developed an interest in sign language when she was in high school.

“I got one of those cards with the manual alphabet on it and taught myself how to do all the letters of the sign-language alphabet while on a field trip one day in school, and I was hooked into the whole alternative way of communicating,” she explained, adding that audiology became a career focus in a roundabout way.

Indeed, she enrolled at the University of Connecticut (she’s a native of the Nutmeg State), intending to major in communication disorders with the goal of becoming a speech- language pathologist.

“I’d never heard of audiology before,” she recalled. “But once I started taking the coursework in audiology, I decided that’s where my heart belonged. And I got to combine the sign language for communication with profoundly deaf people with audiology, which covers the whole range of hearing loss.”

Back then, one needed a master’s degree to practice, but, like many professions within healthcare, audiology now requires practitioners to have a doctorate, said Bankoski Chunyk, adding that she earned hers online in 2004 (those who entered the field before the change were not grandfathered in) and thus became the first doctor of audiology in the region.

Her original plan was to get some experience in private practice and then go back to her native Middletown, Conn. and start her own practice there. However, while getting that experience with one of the first audiologists to start her own practice in this region, Kay Gillispie, she became attached to the region and a growing patient base.

The two operated a two-office practice for many years, with Gillispie working in the West Springfield location, and Bankoski Chunyk staffing the East Longmeadow facility. After Gillispie retired, the West Springfield office closed, and Bankoski Chunyk continued practicing in East Longmeadow, where she works with an associate, Jennifer Lundgren Garcia, also a doctor of audiology.

The two perform diagnostic evaluations on adults, fit patients with hearing aids when needed (and do the important follow-up work), and refer patients to specialists when other medical issues present themselves.

Over the years, Bankoski Chunyk said she has seen a great deal of change come to the science — and the business — of audiology.

With the former, she said she’s witnessed profound improvements in hearing-aid technology and ways to fit patients with them and then test and adjust to maximize outcomes.

And with that, she gestured to the something she called real-ear measurement equipment.

“This allows us to measure the sound in an individual’s ear canal without hearing aids in and then with hearing aids in,” she explained, “so that we can make sure that, for soft, medium, and loud sounds coming in, the device is doing the appropriate amount — not overemphasizing, but providing as much benefit as possible.

“By using this, we have a more objective measure than what we used to have,” she went on, adding this advancement, which came to the industry in the mid-’90s, is one of many that enable audiologists to bring real improvement in hearing, and thus quality of life, to patients.

As for the business side of the equation, Bankoski Chunyk said she’s seen it evolve and hearing aids become a commodity of sorts, now available at Costco and Walmart and on Amazon, and perhaps soon to be available over the counter in the same way that prescription eyeglasses are.

And this is where she draws an important distinction between the hearing-instrument specialists working in the Costco Hearing Aid Center and those who have ‘doctor of audiology’ written on their business card.

“A hearing aid is not a retail product; it’s a healthcare product — the FDA classifies them that way,” she explained. “And with hearing aids, there is a lot of review and adjustment and more review to make sure that the results they get are optimized.”

Volume Business

What’s of more importance to Bankoski Chunyk, however, is what hasn’t changed in this field of healthcare, especially that aforementioned lack of urgency and that alarming statistic concerning how long people wait before they call to do something about suspected, or even verified, hearing loss.

“Even physicians will think of hearing loss as ‘oh, you’re getting older, you’re going to have hearing loss,’” she told BusinessWest. “They’ll say, ‘you’ve got normal hearing for your age.’ We cringe when we hear that because there’s no such thing as ‘normal hearing for your age’; you either have normal hearing, or you have a hearing loss, no matter how old you are, and it should be treated.”

She has many concerns in this regard, including the commoditization of hearing aids and the fact that someone will soon be able to buy such equipment over the counter — with potentially serious consequences.

“People might go [buy over the counter] thinking that’s equivalent to what we have, which it won’t be; it won’t be nearly as sophisticated as what we have to offer,” she explained. “And then they’ll have a bad experience, throw it in the drawer, and say, ‘hearing aids don’t work,’ and then reset the clock and wait another five to seven years.”

Of more concern, however, is the recent research showing that those who wait those five to seven years, or longer, are not just missing lines from their favorite TV shows or asking family and friends to repeat themselves because they can’t hear them; they’re inviting other, potential serious health problems.

Indeed, Bankoski Chunyk cited one study showing that people with untreated mild hearing loss had twice the risk of dementia, while those with moderate loss had three times the risk, and those with severe loss had five times the risk of dementia.

“But the people in that study who used hearing aids had no greater risk than people who didn’t have hearing loss,” she went on. “We’re not saying that hearing loss causes dementia; we’re saying that use of hearing aids might help to postpone it, hopefully.”

Bankoski Chunyk said there are many conditions now linked to dementia, and the many reports can lead to confusion and frustration. But when it comes to hearing loss, the link to dementia makes sense.

“It’s been proven that lack of socialization is a big factor in cognitive decline,” she explained. “So we know that what happens with people who have hearing loss — because they’re not wearing hearing aids or they’re not fitted properly — is that they start to retract into themselves and they stop being social, they stop going to parties, they stop going to religious services, they don’t go to the movies, they don’t go out anymore. And that turns into depression, loneliness, anxiety, even to the point of paranoia.

“Gratefully, all this is making some people take things a little more seriously now because everyone is worried about winding up with dementia,” she continued, adding that the hope is that ‘some’ will become ‘most.’

Hearing Is Believing

Returning to the subject of that stigma surrounding hearing aids, Bankoski Chunyk said there used to be a stigma concerning eyeglasses.

“Years ago, glasses were a big deal; they used to call people ‘four-eyes,’” she recalled. “Now, people wear glasses as a fashion statement, and they have multiple pairs in different colors. It’s now cool to wear glasses.”

Hearing aids … not so much. And that picture is not likely to change anytime soon, although the technology continues to get smaller and even less noticeable than one’s hearing loss.

While she isn’t holding out hope that hearing aids can become a fashion statement, Bankoski Chunyk does have hope that more people will hear that message about hearing care equating to healthcare.

And not only hear it, but listen, and then act accordingly.

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

Cover Story Sections Women in Businesss

Sharing the Gold

Kacey Bellamy

Kacey Bellamy

Kacey Bellamy’s pursuit of a gold medal took her and her teammates to Vancouver, Sochi, and finally PyeongChang, where the team triumphed over Canada, the country that had beaten them at the two previous stops. It was a long, hard journey, said the Westfield resident, who has been very much in demand since returning from South Korea, and one packed with lessons for school children and adults alike about never giving up on one’s goals and dreams.

Kacey Bellamy says she never had many doubts about the validity of that old saying about how the color of the Olympic medal really — really — matters.

And now, she doesn’t have any at all.

“It’s a totally different realm when you win gold,” said Bellamy, who had captured silver twice before as a member of the U.S. women’s hockey team before that squad broke through in PyeongChang in February. “It’s like everyone wants you to share it with them, and … it does things for you.”

Like bring an invitation to Wrestlemania 34 your way. Yes, Wrestlemania.

Indeed, as she talked with BusinessWest, Bellamy was fresh off her return flight from New Orleans. The night before, at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome, she took in the 34-match card and watched, among other things, the team of Ronda Rousey and Kurt Angle force Stephanie McMahon and Triple H into submission. Bellamy sat in the second row with her brother, Robbie, and some of her Olympic teammates, and loved every minute of the show.

“It was awesome,” she said, noting that, while the hockey players were mostly spectators, they were interviewed during the show. “We used to watch wrestling as kids all the time — it was a pretty important thing for our family, and my brother got to come with us.”

But a seat just outside the squared circle was just the latest stopping point for Bellamy and her teammates on what has been a real whirlwind of activity since getting back in this time zone.

There have been appearances on the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon and Ellen DeGeneres’s program. At opening day at Fenway Park earlier this month, she was one of seven Olympians with New England ties to throw out ceremonial first pitches. As exciting as that toss was, meeting David Ortiz was even more so.

There have been visits and puck drops at several National Hockey League games, including tilts hosted by the Boston Bruins, New York Rangers, and Tampa Bay Lightning. Bellamy received the Bold Woman Award at the Bay Path Women’s Leadership Conference on April 6, and last week gave a quick talk and handed out the honors at Westfield Bank’s Top Performers awards presentation.

And that’s obviously just a partial list of what has kept Bellamy busy the past month and half.

But she was quick to point out that, while the 586-gram gold medal she won has, indeed, opened some doors, she didn’t persevere through a decade of intense training and overcome some deep setbacks to shake hands with Big Papi, see the Undertaker from a few feet away, and hang out in Jimmy Kimmel’s green room.

No, winning the gold medal was always the goal, personally and professionally, she told BusinessWest, and one can’t — or shouldn’t — ever give up on their goals.

That’s the message she’s been leaving with the people she’s spoken before since she’s come back from PyeongChang. Actually, she delivered that same lesson long before she left for South Korea.

You just don’t give up on your dreams and your goals. The biggest thing for me is having a dream and then setting small goals personally to achieve that and working as hard as you can, day in and day out, to achieve those goals.”

That’s because it was this mindset that got her there. It’s what convinced her to put aside thoughts of retirement from the Olympics after a second straight — and even more devastating — loss to Canada in the gold-medal game at Sochi in 2014.

“You just don’t give up on your dreams and your goals,” she said. “The biggest thing for me is having a dream and then setting small goals personally to achieve that and working as hard as you can, day in and day out, to achieve those goals.

“Every school I go to, I try to tell that to the young kids,” she went on. “Because I think it’s important to have a dream at that age, no matter what it is. But it’s also important that you don’t just have a huge dream — you have to set small goals and work on them every day.”

With the gold medal now in her pocket — or around her neck; that’s where it usually resides — Bellamy has other goals to pursue. She wants to stay in hockey as long as she can and in as many ways as she can — as a player, a coach (she’s already done some of that), and perhaps as a broadcaster. Meanwhile, she wants to go on telling her story and stressing the lessons to be taken from it.

And that’s just what we’ll do here. Indeed, for this issue and its focus on women in business, BusinessWest talked with someone in an unusual line of work, but one with a message that applies to everyone who laces them up — in any setting.

Stranglehold on Determination

$577.

That’s what a gold medal from PyeongChang is worth — literally speaking. You can go on the Internet and look it up (we did).

That’s less than most people might think, and it’s because a gold medal doesn’t actually have that much gold in it — just 6 grams, actually; the rest is sterling silver. For the record, a silver medal is worth about $320, and a bronze medal … yikes, only $3.50. (It’s amazing what you can learn on the Internet.)

But that isn’t what most are thinking about when they ask, ‘what is a gold medal worth?’ No, they’re thinking about maybe six- or even seven-figure endorsement deals, a face on a Wheaties box, job opportunities, business opportunities, money, fame, all that.

For the most part, Bellamy is neither thinking about nor expecting much, if any, of that. She has a few endorsements — with Westfield Bank (she’s the institution’s main pitch person, if you will), the hockey equipment maker Bauer, and a nutrition company — and can’t say if there may be more coming her way. She doesn’t even have an agent.

Kacey Bellamy shares a moment — and her gold medal — with William Wagner, chief Business Development officer for Westfield Bank, at the institution’s Top Performer event earlier this month.

Kacey Bellamy shares a moment — and her gold medal — with William Wagner, chief Business Development officer for Westfield Bank, at the institution’s Top Performer event earlier this month.

As for other opportunities that might come her way from winning gold instead of silver? She’s not sure there will be anything that could be put in the category of lucrative.

But as she talked about these matters, she offered her own two cents on the worth of not only the gold medal but the others she competed for: Priceless.

That might sound like the one-word refrain from a credit-card commercial she doesn’t appear in, but Bellamy says that’s how she feels — about the medal itself but also the experience, meaning the years of hard work, the ups and downs, and the satisfaction that comes from never giving up on the ultimate goal and finally achieving it.

“I don’t look at the gold medal as a money maker,” she told BusinessWest. “I look at it from what it means to me — the relationships that I make, the people I’ve met, and, most importantly, the journey and what I’ve learned from it.”

This is what she talks about when she tells her story to young people and even those who aren’t so young. And if you haven’t heard it (OK, you probably have), it’s a really good one.

And she usually starts telling it by referencing what was obviously the low point in her life — getting cut from the first national team she tried out for.

“I used that as my motivation moving forward,” she said, offering her experience as an example of how others should deal with the adversity that life will inevitably throw at everyone.

“I didn’t point any fingers, and I didn’t blame anyone but me. I e-mailed the coach who cut me and asked what I could do to improve my game and about the things I needed to do,” she went on. “And I used that experience to motivate me and try to be better in every aspect of my game. And, knock on wood, that was the last team I was cut from.”

Net Results

Four years later, in 2010, she was part of the team that lost to Canada in the gold-medal game, 2-0. Just 22 at the time, Bellamy was excited merely to be representing her country and taking part in the Olympics. Still, the runner-up finish left a mark — as well as determination not to be standing on the lower podium and listening to another country’s national anthem four years later.

Such a mindset was positive in many respects, she went on, but in some ways, the focus became the goal (the gold medal) and not what it might take to reach it, which is where it should have been. And this is another lesson she imparts on her audiences of school children and businesspeople alike.

“The next four years after that, we were just focused on winning, but really the focus was on not losing,” she explained. “It was more ‘we don’t want to have another silver medal … we don’t want to have another silver medal.’

“I think we looked a little too far ahead,” she went on. “And that was kind of how that gold-medal game in Sochi ended; we were up 2-0 with three minutes left. They scored, and then they tied it up with a minute left, and then they won in overtime. I think it was the small details and the mental aspect of the game that we had to work on.”

Over the next four years, the team did what she called a “360 with our program,” learned from what went wrong at Sochi, and focused inward — just as she did when she was cut from her first national squad — with the goal of getting better.

“We just tried to get 1% better every day — in training, on the ice, and in mental skills,” she went on. “We were very prepared going into PyeongChang, and as a team, we always felt the positive vibe about the gold medal around our necks, and never thought, ‘what if we lose … what if we lose.’”

There is a virtual gold mine of lessons from the U.S. team’s Olympic experiences that can be applied to school, the workplace, and life itself, and Bellamy says she’s more than happy to share them, just as she shares her gold medal with those she meets in her travels.

Especially that notion of focusing on yourself, or your team, with the mindset that, if you strive to continuously improve and meet that goal, the larger goal will likely take care of itself.

“In the past, we always thought about the Canadian team and always tried to think about how we can be better than them,” she told BusinessWest. “But these past four years, we’ve just been focused on our team and us, and what we can do better.”

And then, there are those lessons concerning teamwork and how to flourish as a team.

Bellamy said that, while those who compete as individuals — from wrestlers to tennis players to golfers — sometimes get more attention and more hype, especially when they’re the best at what they do, she has always preferred the team setting.

“The reason I play is because it’s a team sport,” she said of her decisions to keep playing and return to the Olympics a third time. “You’re doing what you love to do with your sisters and your best friends, and you get to share that. And this is what makes it so special.”

Again, more lessons for the workplace.

Dream Job

As for what happens next … well, Bellamy wouldn’t rule out anything, including a fourth Olympics.

She is determined to help women’s hockey grow and thrive, and play as long as she can; she is currently playing professionally for the Boston Pride of the National Women’s Hockey League, but has also patrolled the blue line in the rival Canadian Women’s Hockey League, and suggests that maybe the sport would be best served by a merger of the two organizations.

Meanwhile, she’d like to do more coaching, especially at the high-school level, where she would be developing young talent and helping girls on and off the ice.

“You can’t play hockey forever, but you can grow the game forever,” she explained. “And I would definitely like to stay involved in the sport itself, whether that means playing or coaching.”

For now and for the short term, though, she’ll mostly be sharing her gold medal — something she really enjoys, especially if she’s doing it at Wrestlemania.

But while doing that, she’s also sharing her story — one that’s not about hockey or gold medals, but rather about dreams and goals, and how one should never let go of either.

She and her sisters, her best friends, never did, and the experience has provided her with a lifetime of memories and invaluable lessons to impart upon others. And all that is the very best answer to the question, ‘what’s a gold medal worth?’

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

Columns Sections

The CEO and Reputation

By John Garvey

John Garvey

John Garvey

“It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you’ll do things differently.”

Warren Buffett’s advice on protecting the most valuable commodity an individual or organization possesses is spot on. In business, however, it helps to know what ‘do things differently’ means, in advance of the next crisis.

As a business leader, what not to do is well-known. If you are unsure, just Google ‘Travis Kalanick’ or ‘Oscar Munoz’ and the word ‘crisis.’ Don’t be those guys. Essentially, they and most business leaders get in trouble or impact negatively on their organization’s reputation by not thinking enough about reputation — their company’s and even their own.

Reputation is not only worth worrying about, it should be regarded as a market advantage.

Reputation is your sustainable differentiator. It’s why a lot of customers come to your door, why influencers send you referrals, and perhaps why parents tell their children to do business with you. Most businesses invest quite heavily in enhancing their reputation, an effort that conveys to their audience, “we are here to help you with our products and services.”

Anything that threatens or damages that message is a reputational threat. It’s that simple.

The complicated part of reputation management is that threats have changed and responses have not. Today’s threats are fueled by algorithms. You’d recognize those computer programs as the Internet, primarily search engines like Google, and social media. Algorithms add fire to smoke, and that fire spreads quick across audiences and sometimes into traditional media. Then your phone rings.

The typical response is to answer it, and here is where the CEO is most often thrown under the bus, or better put, steps out in front of it. The CEO answers the call, makes the statement quickly to put out the fire, and days later is apologizing for that quick response. Don’t be that CEO.

Recently, when Facebook faced a crisis because of a data breach, Mark Zuckerberg did not pick up the phone. Instead, the organization met behind closed doors and went to work on the problem. The fire grew hot in the interim, but when he finally did talk, he apologized and suggested that the organization would do better. The crisis is not over of course, but Facebook took proactive steps to manage it — rather than be managed by it.

Knowing what causes threats is a good place to start the process of protecting your organization’s reputation. Threats sometimes come from national issues that have nothing to do with your individual company but are, instead, targeting your industry. Similarly, local issues that you may have a loose tie to, e.g., one of your customers did something wrong, also can be a source of threat.

Social media, where haters go to hate, often is where micro-threats eat away at your reputation like termites. Customers, former employees, or anyone with a grudge can become the troll that chips away on the reputation that you have worked so hard to enhance. Just about anything you do in a community can have negative consequences, e.g., that new office that you opened or a merger that you recently completed.

So, now that you are thinking about threats to your reputation, let’s move on to the doing. First, don’t jump out in front of the bus. Just don’t. Think baseball: the CEO is the closer, maybe the reliever at times — not the starting pitcher. CEOs get in trouble when they push aside professional staff or are encouraged by the same to jump into the fray early. Build crisis resilience every day. That is your job.

Have you set your north star, meaning the values that your organization stands for? Does everyone, including your executive staff, board of directors, and customer-facing associates, know what those values are and how they are turned into action? They all should, because they are your first line of reputational defense.

You should develop a crisis-management plan. It doesn’t have to be a big plan, but it should define potential threats and determine who is responsible for managing them (including the starting pitcher). You also always want to buy time to prepare, know any interview questions in advance, and contemplate the mediums where your message will be carried.

If it is a TV interview, you will want to contemplate the setting for that interview. If it is a print interview, you will want to provide photo images (of yourself, perhaps) and helpful images like infographics. You also want to outline your options: respond, avoid, or divert.

Back to a few more do’s and don’ts: If and when you do get called in front of the microphone, stick to the script. If your thought is from your heart, leave it there. This is about your organizational values — the ones you have worked so hard to instill (your north star). That should be reflected in the message and should be in your head, not your heart.

Here is something to think about: don’t immediately consider posting your message on social media. The trolls will eat you alive. Conversely, traditional media will do a better job of getting your message right.

Finally, harking back to the famous line from Hill Street Blues, “be safe out there” — it’s a dangerous world, and CEOs need to treat it as such. Unfortunately, it is a fact of life — your life — that some crisis or even everyday business could provoke someone to confront you or even do you harm.

John Garvey is founder of GCAI Digital Marketing and PR. He has more than three decades of public-relations experience. He holds a certificate in reputation management from the Public Relations Society of America. He was also a keynote presenter on “Managing the Media and Your Reputation in a Crisis” at the Massachusetts Bankers Assoc. 2017 Executive Officers Conference.

Building Permits Departments

The following building permits were issued during the month of March 2018.

AGAWAM

Ellendave, LLC
151-155 Springfield St.
$4,868 — Wall sign and standing sign for MassConn Training Center

H & A Realty, LLC
343 North Westfield St.
$2,709.38 — Two illuminated wall signs for No Limit Convenience Store

LRB Realty Trust, LLC
1804 Main St.
$30,000 — Install three new antennas

Oak Ridge Golf Club Inc.
850 South Westfield St.
$33,862 — Add two new antennas to existing tower for Agawam Police Department

CHICOPEE

First Bible Church
50 Broadway
$585,035 — Rebuild stage on second floor, open areas on first floor to add beam and posts, gut and remodel four rooms on first floor

Michael Fregeau
26 Belcher St.
$6,000 — Install vinyl siding, repair section of existing siding

Meadow Chicopee 425-521, LLC
425 Meadow St.
$261,428.58 — Pallet rack installation

Pride Stores
167 Chicopee St.
$14,200 — Make modifications to install new kitchen hood, fryolator, and flat-top grill

Pride Stores
27 Montgomery St.
$2,800 — Install new kitchen fire-suppression system

DEERFIELD

Polish Club
46 South Main St.
$7,000 — Replacement windows

WT Terminal
901 River Road
$940,000 — Above-ground tank

WT Terminal
901 River Road
$42,300 — Workshop foundation and prefabricated steel building

WT Terminal
901 River Road
$40,200 — Workshop foundation and building

EASTHAMPTON

City of Easthampton
50 Payson Ave.
$2,100 — Open wall area and install second doorway to existing office

EAST LONGMEADOW

East Longmeadow Skilled Nursing
305 Maple St.
$22,716,624 — Construct new building

East Longmeadow Skilled Nursing
305 Maple St.
$24,000 — Temporary trailer

East Longmeadow Wellness Center
250 North Main St.
$242,000 — Commercial fit-out

Lucky Nails
68 Center Square
$3,000 — Sign

Suddekor
82 Deer Park Dr.
$45,000 — Concrete pad

GREENFIELD

One Arch Place Inc.
1 Arch St.
$13,000 — Construct two offices for Genoa Pharmacy

Sandri Energy
400 Chapman St.
$160,000 — Install bulk propane storage tank and footings

Chris Singley
217 Main St.
$29,000 — Roofing

Town of Greenfield
298 Federal St.
$60,000 — Roofing

Western Massachusetts Electric Co.
36 Log Plain Road
$2,300,543 — Construct solar-power-generating facility

HADLEY

ENZ, LLC
207 Russell St.
$124,700 — Build out tenant space for nail salon

ENZ, LLC
207 Russell St.
$109,300 — Build out tenant space for Miracle Ear

Gibbs Oil Co., LP
110 Russell St.
$38,750 — Convert former Dunkin’ Donuts area into food-service use

Parmar and Sons Inc.
37 Russell St.
$3,600 — Sign

Gary Pelissier
1 Russell St.
$795,000 — Construct boat storage for Smith College attached to marina office space

Target Corp.
369 Russell St.
$436,767 — Accessories and apparel sales department fixtures, wall finishes, and lighting updates; addition of new Starbucks

LONGMEADOW

GPT Longmeadow, LLC
688 Bliss Road
$125,000 — Construct new storefront for Baystate Urgent Care

Town of Longmeadow
735 Longmeadow St.
$169,780 — Replace retaining wall and railings

LUDLOW

Colvest Group
451 Center St.
$200,000 — Retaining wall

Crown Castle Towers
34 Carmelinas Circle
$15,000 — Cell tower alterations

NORTHAMPTON

100 Main St. Florence, LLC
100 Main St.
$25,975 — Roofing

Chamisa Corp.
25 Main St.
$28,500 — Construct a drywall hoist way prior to installation of hydraulic elevator to replace antique elevator

Colvest Northampton, LLC
303 King St.
$34,000 — Demolition of former concrete batch plant building and associated machinery

Colvest Northampton, LLC
303 King St.
$10,000 — Demolish former storage building

New England Treatment Access
118 Conz St.
$9,000 — Illuminated wall sign

Trident Realty Corp.
6 Crafts Ave.
$2,000 — Non-illuminated projecting sign

PALMER

New England Recreation & Health, LLC
8 Chamber Road
$8,000 — Demolish interior partitions to prepare for building renovations

SPRINGFIELD

1060 Main Street Irrevocable Trust
1070 Main St.
$14,000 — Remove non-load-bearing partition wall at Red Rose

American International College
1000 State St.
$2,221,000 — Erect dormitory

City of Springfield
36 Court St.
$4,500 — Alter office space for Procurement Department on third floor of City Hall

MassMutual
1500 State St.
$291,000 — Alter tenant space on 21st floor for Hampden County District Attorney’s Office

MassMutual
1500 State St.
$119,200 — Alter tenant space on 18th floor for State Police

Mercy Medical Center
271 Carew St.
$877,227 — Alterations to operating rooms

Joe Pellegrino
395 Liberty St.
$311,000 — Alter tenant space on first floor for BHN Care Management

Krishnakant Swadia
471 Cooley St.
$48,358 — Alter interior and install siding for Big Y Express gas station

WESTFIELD

John Kurtz, Margaret Kurtz
627 Southampton Road
$596,674 — Construct new building for Dollar General

Stephen Poteat, Opal Poteat
40 Montgomery St.
$13,000 — Roofing

WEST SPRINGFIELD

DDR Corp.
935 Riverdale St.
$25,000 — Verizon Wireless to install communications equipment on rooftop, including antennas and remote radio heads

Robin C. Taylor, LLC
54 Myron St.
$92,500 — New windows and doors, new siding, handicap parking, and relocate sign at Pioneer Valley Hobbies

WILBRAHAM

O Ice, LLC
1855 Boston Road
$4,500 — Replace sign

Town of Wilbraham
859 Stony Hill Road
$40,000 — Reconfigure bar area, remove cabinets, change doorways

Daily News

SPRINGFIELD — The Springfield College Department of Sport Management and Recreation, in collaboration with the Special Olympics of Massachusetts, will host a volleyball tournament at Blake Arena and the Field House inside the Wellness and Recreation Complex on Sunday, April 22, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Springfield College President Mary-Beth Cooper will help welcome the participants during the opening ceremony.

The event is in its seventh year, with a new class of graduate students in the sport management program handling the operations in conjunction with Jon Scully, the sports manager for Special Olympics Massachusetts.

More than 30 teams and 400 participants from throughout New England will take part in this tournament, marking the seventh consecutive year the Department of Sport Management and Recreation will partner with the Special Olympics of Massachusetts to host this event on campus.

Celebrating its 50th anniversary, the Special Olympics provides year-round sports training, athletic competition, and other health-related programming to 12,168 children and adults with and without intellectual disabilities. Special Olympics athletes are given continuing opportunities to develop physical fitness, demonstrate courage, experience joy, and participate in a sharing of gifts, skills, and friendship with their families, other Special Olympics Athletes, and the community.

If you have a disability and require a reasonable accommodation to fully participate in this event, call the Department of Sport Management and Recreation at (413) 748-3693 to discuss your accessibility needs. Springfield College is a smoke- and tobacco-free campus.

Opinion

Editorial

There’s a new pastime in the City of Homes these days — watching the South End of the city become transformed before our eyes as the $950 million MGM Springfield takes shape.

It’s hard to take your eyes off it, really, and the scene changes almost every week and certainly every month. Those working in the office towers with windows facing south — especially those in the upper floors — have it better than the rest of us, obviously, but even the views from ground level are captivating.

As intriguing as this development is to watch, there’s another one to keep your eye on, at least figuratively, because it’s happening roughly 100 miles away in the city of Everett.

This would be Wynn Development’s $2.5 billion casino also starting to take shape. The story there, though, is whether that ‘Wynn’ name will actually appear on the tinted glass hotel tower (odds are it certainly won’t), and if not, what name will.

In case you missed it, Steve Wynn is the now former CEO of Wynn Resorts. He stepped down amid sexual harassment allegations and sold all his stock in the company. That development is bad enough for the company, but it seems that there may be other shoes still to drop — including speculation that such claims of harassment were dismissed or ignored by leaders at the company.

A state investigation is pending, and there is already speculation that Wynn Resorts may not wait for that probe to play itself out before attempting to sell the Everett casino to another player within the industry.

And it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out what the most logical candidate would be — MGM Resorts. In fact, the Boston Globe reported recently that MGM has approached Wynn officials about buying not only the Everett casino but the entire company.

Like we said, this is a development worth watching, and for many reasons.

The most obvious is that state law does not allow a casino company to own two licenses in the Commonwealth. So that might put MGM in a position where it may be deciding between a Springfield casino and a Boston casino.

Logic dictates that the one in Boston, further from the Connecticut casinos and closer to larger population centers, would be the more lucrative option for the casino giant.

Mayor Domenic Sarno told the Boston Globe that he is confident that the city has “protections” in its agreement with MGM, but that he didn’t want to speculate on what the company might do.

Let’s hope these protections are real and substantial, because while what’s being built in Springfield’s South End is impressive it’s the name behind it that is far more so.

Yes, another casino operator could acquire the Springfield property and operate it in an effective profitable fashion. But the city would likely lose something real and substantial if there was another name over the door to the property.

All of this is speculation, of course, but ever since Steve Wynn got caught up in the #MeToo movement, there has been no shortage of that in the Bay State. And there will be more of it in the weeks and months to come.

Like we said, this development, like the construction in the South End, bears watching.

Features

Addressing a ‘New Norm’

Amy Cuddy

Amy Cuddy addresses the audience of more than 1,400 people at Bay Path University’s Women’s Leadership Conference.

“We’re starting to see civility as a luxury.” That was how social psychologist, author, and educator Amy Cuddy described a changed landscape that has perpetuated a culture of adult bullying, not just on social media but offline as well. As she talked about this subject at Bay Path University’s recent Women’s Leadership Conference, she was speaking from experience — she has been savaged on social media as her research on the broad subject of ‘power posing’ has come into question and doubt. But she said she now has plenty of company, and the trend is disturbing on many levels.

At the point in her talk when the subject turned to the now-famous “Fearless Girl” statue on Wall Street, Amy Cuddy’s voice started to crack slightly.

It wouldn’t be the last time, either, but we’ll get back to that later.

The images of the statue — and there were many in Cuddy’s presentation that kicked off Bay Path University’s annual Women’s Leadership Conference on April 6 — were poignant on many levels. On the surface, they brought a new dimension to Cuddy’s comments — not to mention her substantial volume of research — on the subject of body language (non-verbal communication) and, more specifically, the effects of ‘power posing.’

Indeed, Cuddy became famous in her field, social psychology, for a 2010 study that found that such posing — raising one’s arms above one’s head as a triumphant athlete might, or assuming the ‘Wonder Woman hands on hip look,’ for example — not only elicited feelings of power from those who did so, but they also raised testosterone levels and lowered stress levels as well.

As she placed images of women and especially young girls replicating the “Fearless Girl” stance on the massive screens in the exhibition hall at the MassMutual Center, Cuddy talked about how striking that defiant, ‘staring-down-the-charging-bull’ pose and others designed to convey confidence but not arrogance, can change the course of everything from an upcoming job interview to a career to a life.

But Cuddy has given that talk countless times before. It’s the one where she suggests that going into a bathroom stall prior to an interview or important meeting and power posing might better prepare the individual for what will come next — a talk that has elicited cheers as well as tears.

On this stage and on this morning, however, Cuddy would delve into some new material. And she admitted afterward that it took 18 months, by her estimates, to work up the courage to do so.

“I’ve been avoiding talking about it publicly because when you call out your bullies you’re likely to experience backlash, because they hate that,” said Cuddy as she referenced what has happened to her over the past several years as the results of that 2010 study came under withering public scrutiny and she suffered often very personal attacks on social media. “I’m still terrified.”

Cuddy told her audience that what’s transpired is not a case of a researcher and rising star within the field of social psychology having skin too thin to handle what has become a changed landscape when it comes to challenges to research and published papers. And it’s not an effort to deflect attention away from mounting evidence that there are no hormonal effects from power posing.

Instead, it’s adult bullying in its purest form and an example of what’s going on in many fields and society in general. And those sentiments are backed up by these comments given by one of Cuddy’s peers to the New York Times for a piece published last fall titled “When the Revolution Came for Amy Cuddy.”

“Amy has been the target of mockery and meanness on Facebook, on Twitter, and blog posts,” Jay Van Bavel, a social psychologist from New York University told the Times. “I feel like, wow, I have never seen that in science … I’ve never seen public humiliation like that.”

The low point, Cuddy said, came when a blogger whom she described as her “main bully” goaded her collaborator on the 2010 study into publicly distancing herself from their work.

“That’s one of the most effective bully moves — to get the people closest to you to turn on you — and that’s when I felt hopeless,” she told BusinessWest after her talk, adding that she no longer has such feelings and is in a better place overall because of a solid support network but also a deep belief in her work and her message.

“I talk often about believing in yourself and buying your own story — and I do,” she said. “I fully, 100% believe in my message, and that kept me afloat.”

And this brings us back to “Fearless Girl,” which is power posing personified. Only Cuddy calls it the “Brave Girl, because no one is fearless.”

And bravery is certainly one of the traits she said will be needed to stem a tide of uncivility and bullying on the Internet and in society in general, and change what has become in many ways a new norm — subject matter that constitutes the main thrust of Cuddy’s latest book, Bullies, Bystanders, and Bravehearts due out in 2020.

“Bravery is not glorious,” she said when asked how society might change the norm. “The first step is recognizing that bravery is not just running into a burning building to save lives; bravery often involves standing up to people in these social situations and putting your own relationships at risk.”

For this issue, BusinessWest took in Cuddy’s presentation and then talked with her about adult bullying and how the current landscape might be changed.

Bully Pulpit

It wasn’t long after the 2010 study on power posing was published that Cuddy started achieving something approaching rock-star status in the field of social psychology, which doesn’t have many of those.

The study was published in the prestigious journal Psychological Science and covered by a host of national news outlets, including the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Economist, the Guardian, Wired, Fast Company, and others.

In 2012, she gave a TED talk, “Your Body Language Shapes Who You Are,” that has been viewed more than 40 million times and is the second-most-viewed TED talk of all time. She was awarded a faculty position at Harvard, and there were countless appearances on television and lucrative speaking appearances around the globe. Her first book, Presence: Bringing Your Boldest Self to Your Biggest Challenges, became a New York Times, Washington Post, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, Publisher’s Weekly, and Globe and Mail bestseller.

And then?

Let’s just say that Cuddy became — and probably because of all that fame and everything that came with it — perhaps the most visible target within what’s been called a methodological-reform movement and replication crisis that has shaken up the field as it has raised questions about the reliability of vast amounts of research within the broad realm of social psychology.

Amy Cuddy, center, with Bay Path University President Carol Leary, left, and Bay Path student Kaitlyn Leibowitz

Amy Cuddy, center, with Bay Path University President Carol Leary, left, and Bay Path student Kaitlyn Leibowitz, Cuddy’s assistant for the day.

To make a rather long story somewhat short, the 2010 study on power posing came under intense scrutiny, and its results, specifically those related to hormonal, or ‘downsteam’ effects — evidence that such posing increased testosterone levels and reduced cortisol levels (which are associated with stress) — could not be replicated in many cases.

Cuddy eventually became a punching bag for a number of influential bloggers, including Andrew Gelman, a professor of Statistics and Political Science at Columbia. While Cuddy certainly wasn’t the only researcher to come under scrutiny, she became almost an obsession for him.

Gelman would eventually post a challenge to Dana Carney, Cuddy’s collaborator in the 2010 study, asking her, “when people screw up or cheat in their research, what do their collaborators say?”

Carney would respond, a day or so later, with a post to her website that said, among other things, “I do not believe that power-pose effects are real” and “I discourage others from studying power poses.”

This was that low point Cuddy described earlier, but overall, she endured more than two years of unrelenting scrutiny and criticism that significantly impacted her health — her weight dropped to 100 pounds at one point — and prompted her at times to stop taking phone calls and move almost completely offline.

Things became so bad that Cuddy, who suffered a traumatic brain injury in a car accident the summer after her sophomore year in college and wasn’t able to return to school until four years after that mishap, told the audience of more than 1,400 people that she would rather go through that experience again than be subjected to what she went through between 2015 and 2017, and is still experiencing today on some levels.

As she stood on that stage at the MassMutual Center, Cuddy made it clear that she stands by her work on the subject of power posing and reiterated that she doesn’t have any real problem with people questioning or trying to replicate her research.

But she does have a problem with bullying, which is the only way she can describe what she’s been subjected to. And she has taken her own experiences and extrapolated them out over society in general. This new course of study, if you will, led to the book Bullies, Bystanders, and Bravehearts, three constituencies she described in great detail for her audience as part of a call to arms of sorts on the subject of adult bullying.

Taking a Stand

As she talked about her experiences and adult bullying in general, and became emotional at times as she did so, Cuddy, who never identified anyone by name, put up on screen the one- sentence reply that the blogger Gelman gave the New York Times reporter who wrote the aforementioned piece on Cuddy when she asked if Gelman would consider meeting with Cuddy to hash out their differences: “I don’t like interpersonal conflict.”

And she left it there for a while to let it sink in as she intimated that such sentiments are just one of many factors contributing to an environment that is fast becoming untenable and is ruining lives.

“Sticks and stones … we can survive that,” she told her audience. “Name calling in this domain, among adults — we can’t. It’s killing people; it’s leading to all kinds of problems.

“We’re starting to see civility as a luxury,” she went on. “And that means we’re in trouble. We’re seeing this in social media, but what’s happening is that this same social media behavior is being played out offline as well, because it’s become normalized to talk to each other with disgust and contempt and moral outrage.

“It’s so common that now we think that’s the norm,” she continued. “We think it’s OK to treat people that way. And by directing all of our anxieties about bullying to our kids, we avoid talking about the elephant in the room, which is bullying among adults. We are getting it wrong.”

In an interview after her presentation, Cuddy acknowledgd that adult bullying is certainly nothing new — “we’ve been shunning people for thousands of years” — but social media has changed the landscape and perpetuated the practice.

“Social media has given us the perception that bullying is normative,” she explained, “because everyone can see all these interactions, and because bullies are louder and more prolific than non-bullies. They are highly motivated by their sense of outrage and by their sense of resentment.”

Elaborating, she said that, while researchers have not yet been able to put a number to it, anecdotal evidence on moral-outrage triggers suggests that social media has brought out bullying in more people because of the way it makes such behavior appear normal and, in many respects, accepted.

“Our behavior is largely based on what we perceive other people to be doing — it’s based on social norms,” she told BusinessWest. “When you see the Internet littered with this kind of bullying trash, you begin to believe that this is normal behavior, and you start to behave in a way that’s similar.”

She’s not sure when it all started, but she said things turned sharply south just over a decade ago, and the first real wave came in the form of a tsunami crashing down on women in the IT field.

“And it was absolutely brutal,” she noted. “Women left the field because they were receiving death and rape threats all the time. It started there because tech people knew how to use the Internet, so they weaponized it pretty quickly, and I think they were very effective at doing that.

“If that had not happened, I’m not sure we’d be where we are,” she went on. “People started following that; it became a model of how you can bully someone into submission or exile, and it was nasty, and it was effective.”

How can society stop this trend of bullying people into submission?

Perhaps the most important step is for bystanders to become bravehearts and stand up to the bullies, she said, straining to hold back tears as she talked about how the social-psychology community, her peers, essentially stood and watched as she was pilloried on social media, mostly, if not entirely, out of fear that the same would happen to them.

“What hurt me the most was the inaction of bystanders,” she told her audience, stopping for a minute to gather herself. “This was a community I loved; I got e-mails all the time from people saying, ‘I’m really sorry about what’s happening to you — I wish I could do something, but I don’t want them to attack me.’

“Don’t ever say that to someone who’s being bullied,” she went on. “It’s not supportive, and it was horrifying and chilling to see people on the sidelines watching this happen and shutting up and doing nothing. I became the butt of jokes — there was an April Fools Day joke about me that circulated like crazy — and people were talking about me like I wasn’t human. It was vicious and relentless.”

Perhaps even more chilling is that this is happening to growing numbers of people, said Cuddy, adding that, as she researched the subject, she became increasingly alarmed at just how common it was.

Progress will come only when the bystanders find the courage to get off the sidelines, hold bullies accountable, and eventually change the norm.

Posing a Question

Cuddy has reached a point where she has altered her thinking on the hormonal effects of power posing. Those sentiments came after several studies failed to replicate the results of the 2010 study.

But she is still a firm believer in power posing and its ability to positively influence moods and emotions. That was obvious from her comments to those in attendance at the women’s conference.

Also obvious are her views on adult bullying, society’s new norm, and what it means moving forward.

She suspects that maybe the worst is over for her, although what has happened will leave a lasting mark. Meanwhile, she suspects that the bullies will simply move on to a new target, which is equally distressing.

As she wrapped up her talk at the women’s conference, she put on the screen that famous quote from the poet Maya Angelou: “Stand up straight and realize who you are, that you tower over your circumstances.”

She didn’t put it there as an endorsement for power posing. Instead, it was meant to encourage the bystanders, get them off the sidelines, and stare down the bullies.

And that’s another reason the “Fearless Girl” statue carries such importance and poignancy in this presentation.

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

Departments People on the Move

Meyers Brothers Kalicka, P.C. announced the promotions of Chelsea Cox, Lyudmila Renkas, Joseph LeMay, Dan Eger, and Francine Murphy.

Chelsea Cox

Chelsea Cox

Cox began as an intern at MBK in 2015 and became a full-time associate the following year. In her new position as senior associate in the Accounting and Audit Department, her primary focus is on nonprofit and commercial audits and employee-benefit plans. She is a member of the Massachusetts Society of Certified Public Accountants and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.

Lyudmila Renkas

Lyudmila Renkas

Over the past two years at MBK, Renkas has served as an associate accountant in the Audit and Accounting department at MBK. Having recently completed her MSA, she will turn her attention to new responsibilities as a senior associate. In her new role, she will be responsible for planning and leading client audit engagements, internal control evaluations, and pension audits. In addition, she prepares individual, partnership, and corporate tax returns for clients in the real-estate, construction, healthcare, and nonprofit industries.

Joseph LeMay

Joseph LeMay

Lemay joined MBK in January of 2015 as an associate. In his new role as senior associate, his responsibilities consist of being the lead accountant on review and compilation-level engagements, staff training, and tax-planning strategy for clients in the manufacturing, healthcare, hospitality, and distribution industries. He obtained his CPA license in 2017 and is a member of the Massachusetts Society of Certified Public Accountants and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.

Dan Eger

Dan Eger

Eger, who has been with MBK since 2005, has been promoted to senior associate. He focuses on preparing federal and state income-tax forms for corporations, individuals, and nonprofits. He has more than 12 years of tax experience and brings a wealth of knowledge to his role. In addition to serving as a tax preparer, he has developed an expertise in the firm’s specialized tax software, servicing as a resource to the entire Tax Department.

Francine Murphy

Francine Murphy

Murphy, who has served as a paraprofessional in MBK’s Accounting Department since 2013, has been promoted to tax associate. In that new role, her responsibilities include preparing federal and state income-tax forms for corporations, individuals, and nonprofits; preparing city and town tax filings; preparing annual reports; and responding to IRS notices.

•••••

Sofia Nardi

Sofia Nardi

CLICK Workspace, a co-working space located in downtown Northampton, announced the hiring of Sofia Nardi as a new member advocate. Nardi is a recent graduate of Bay Path University, where she double-majored in small business development and marketing, graduating summa cum laude. At CLICK, she manages all administrative functions, including financial accounting, office operations, purchasing, and troubleshooting routine problems with equipment and maintenance. Serving as the first point of contact for all inquiries and visitors, she aims to ensure a welcoming environment. As the member advocate, Nardi manages all communications within the organization and beyond. This includes maintaining website infrastructure, curating monthly e-mail newsletter content, managing the social-media presence of the organization, and actively marketing the firm in the immediate community and beyond.

•••••

Geraldine de Berly

Geraldine de Berly

Geraldine de Berly has been named vice president of Academic Affairs and chief academic officer at Springfield Technical Community College (STCC), President John Cook announced. De Berly’s hiring comes after an extensive search and comprehensive vetting process. Currently vice provost for Continuing and Professional Education at UMass Amherst, de Berly begins her new position at STCC on May 1. De Berly, who holds a Ph.D. in education administration, has worked in higher education for more than three decades, in both faculty and administrative roles. At New Mexico State University, she was an associate English as a second language professor, as well as director of the Center for Intensive Training in English. She also worked for 18 years at Syracuse University, University College, including serving as associate dean for Academic Affairs and senior associate dean. University College offers degree, certificate, and non-credit courses and serves as the gateway across Syracuse University for part-time students. As vice provost at UMass Amherst, de Berly managed a budget with more than $50 million in revenue. During her time, enrollment expanded 6% to exceed 31,000 students. Since 2016, six new programs were launched under her leadership. Born in Cuba, de Berly is fluent in four languages. She began her higher-education journey at Miami Dade Junior College. She went on to earn her bachelor’s degree from Stanford University, a master’s from the University of Essex (England), and her Ph.D. in education administration from New Mexico State University.

•••••

Jesus “Laz” Montano

Jesus “Laz” Montano

Underscoring the importance it places on comprehensive, robust information security and risk-management capabilities, MassMutual named long-time information-technology executive Jesus “Laz” Montano its new head of Enterprise Information Risk Management (EIRM) and chief information security officer. In his new role, Montano will work closely with the company’s executive leadership team, directing a holistic risk-management approach across the company, including managing operational and cybersecurity risks, ensuring all regulatory and compliance requirements are met, and overseeing the safeguarding of MassMutual’s information assets. Montano joins MassMutual from Voya Financial, where he served as chief information security officer for the past four years, responsible for providing leadership, management, and strategy for all aspects of the company’s technology risk and information security. He has also held technology security leadership roles at OpenSky, MetLife, the Travelers Companies, and Lucent Technologies. A graduate of Charter Oak College, Montano earned his MBA in business and technology from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He is also a certified information security manager, certified in the governance of enterprise IT, and serves as a National Technology Security Council board member.

•••••

Elyssa Morgan

Elyssa Morgan

Julie Duffé

Julie Duffé

Florence Bank announced that Elyssa Morgan and Julie Duffé were recently selected as recipients of its President’s Award for 2018. The President’s Award was established by the bank in 1995, affording employees the annual opportunity to nominate their peers for an honor that recognizes outstanding performance, customer service, and overall contribution to Florence Bank. Both Morgan and Duffé were nominated by numerous colleagues. Morgan is the deposit operations manager at the main headquarters in Florence and has worked at the bank for seven years. She holds an associate’s degree in business administration from Bay Path University. Duffé, a customer service representative in Florence Bank’s main office, has been with the bank for seven years. She is a Springfield Technical Community College graduate and holds an associate’s degree in business administration and finance. In addition, she is also certified as an individual retirement account specialist through Ascensus.

•••••

Karrah Smith, owner of Something to Talk About Boutique, was recently named Business Owner of the Year by the Assoc. of Black Business Professionals, and was awarded a certificate by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in Boston last month. Smith, a 24-year-old Springfield native, received her associates degree in criminal justice from Holyoke Community College. However, her passion for fashion took center stage in 2015 when her beloved older cousin, Diane Evans, original owner and founder of Something to Talk About Boutique, passed away from pancreatic cancer, leaving the store, located on the street level of Tower Square, to Smith and her mother, Stephanie. Smith has given back to the community in multiple ways, including donating proceeds from fashion shows to local charities. She also works with other young women, giving them pointers on how to run a business.

•••••

Chris Hakala

Chris Hakala

Springfield College named Chris Hakala director of the Center for Excellence in Teaching, Learning, and Scholarship. The newly created academic-affairs position was developed through the college’s strategic planning process, and the center strives to foster intellectual engagement across the curriculum through evidence-based programs and services that increases collaboration, communication, and community to promote the enhancement of student learning. Hakala brings more than 20 years of experience as a faculty member at various institutions in higher education. Most recently, he served as executive director for the Center for Teaching and Learning at Quinnipiac University. Before joining Quinnipiac, he taught psychology at the University of New Hampshire, Gettysburg College, Lycoming College, American International College, and Western New England University, where he served as director of the Center for Teaching and Learning from 2009 to 2014. Hakala earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Castleton State College, and his master’s degree and Ph.D. in psychology from the University of New Hampshire.

•••••

Nicholas Grimaldi

Nicholas Grimaldi

Nicholas Grimaldi has become a partner at Fierst, Kane & Bloomberg, LLP, while Peter Lane has been named of counsel in the law firm. Grimaldi joined the firm in 2014 and has more than 18 years of experience as a lawyer. His practice will continue to focus on representing individuals, businesses, and financial institutions in corporate transactions, real estate and secured lending, entertainment and interactive media law, creditor’s rights, and commercial matters. He is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin at Madison and the Boston University School of Law. Lane has 10 years of experience representing individuals and businesses in civil and criminal litigation, including commercial litigation, landlord-tenant law, criminal defense, and civil rights. He is a graduate of Fordham University and Brooklyn Law School.

•••••

Kayla Drinkwine

Kayla Drinkwine

Kayla Drinkwine has rejoined Phillips Insurance Agency Inc. as a commercial lines account manager. She started in 2012 with Phillips Insurance and left earlier this year for an opportunity at another agency. She will be responsible for managing the insurance programs of businesses throughout New England. Drinkwine has her CRIS (construction risk and insurance specialist) and CISR (certified insurance service representative) designations and is a licensed Massachusetts insurance broker.

•••••

River Valley Counseling Center (RVCC) promoted Michael Chunyk to the position of site manager at its newest location at Liberty Commons on 2 Mechanic St. in Easthampton. Chunyk obtained his master of social work degree from Springfield College School of Social Work. He has been practicing at RVCC for the last three years as a licensed therapist specializing in working with men who have experienced emotional trauma and addressing symptoms that arise from post-traumatic stress disorder, such as anger issues, depression, and relationship difficulties. He is also a 2018 recipient of the UMass Community Salute Plaque for his dedicated commitment and humanitarian spirit, which has made a positive impact in Western Mass. communities. As the former executive director of Lorraine’s Soup Kitchen and Pantry in Chicopee, he brings many years of organizational leadership to River Valley’s Easthampton team. Alexa Mignano has also joined the RVCC team in Easthampton as coordinator of School-Based Mental Health Counseling and works as a child-focused therapist. She received her master’s degree from from Springfield College and has been working at RVCC as a therapist in the Holyoke Public Schools for more than seven years. She specializes in treating trauma, adjustment problems, anxiety, self-regulation difficulties, disruptive behavior, and other challenges. Her goal is to help children engage their mind and body throughout the therapeutic process as they work towards healing; this includes play therapy, movement-based interventions, cognitive-behavioral therapy, and parenting support. She also provides training and consultation to schools in implementing trauma-informed practices.

DBA Certificates Departments

The following business certificates and trade names were issued or renewed during the months of March 2018.

AMHERST

Amherst Auto Express
118 South East St.
Amher Mikhchi

Amherst Martial Arts
48 North Pleasant St.
Annie Schwarz

The Athena Initiative
226 Pine St.
Julia Khan

Custom Events
330 Pine St.
Koren Berrio

Ichiban Asian Bistro
104-106 North Pleasant St.
Zhao Liu Wang

Jake’s at the Mill
68 Cowls Road
Jake’s Eggs Inc.

Merchants Bancard Services, LLC
20 Arbor Way
Ronald Cooper

Ray Radigan Illustration
495 West St., Unit 2A
Ray Radigan

BELCHERTOWN

A.W.S. Designs
8 Diane Dr., #3
Andrew Serra

Chet and Son Painting
99B Hamilton St.
Robb Kapinos

Guest House Educational Services
7 Ledgewood Circle
Saki Santorelli

Heavenshopeunveiled.com
281 Chauncey Walker St., #540L
Kerry Lebrun

CHICOPEE

FitChics Unleashed
711 James St.
Jessalyn Franceschina

Hashbury Headshop East Street
151 East St.
Frank Cincotta

J.L. Bruso Electrical Services
135 Davenport St.
Jerome Bruso

Purpose Built Motorcycles, LLC
63 Britton St.
John Freeman Jr.

Ripple Innovation
39 Bell St.
Robert Fitzgerald III

Surf-n-Degs
345 Chicopee St.
Keith Czeswiec

Wink Lash Boutique
51 Cabot St.
Xiomara Marrero, Luis Marrero

DEERFIELD

Bittersweet Bakery & Café, LLC
470 Greenfield Road
Laura Newton

EASTHAMPTON

Al Sanchez Construction
286 Main St.
Albert Sanchez

Dinner by Kids
11 Fairfield Ave.
Shelly Greenstein

Ora Care
116 Pleasant St.
Violet Hall, Mark Hall

Shift Healing Arts
152 Northampton St.
Samantha Tanguay

EAST LONGMEADOW

Hit Harder Fitness, LLC
632 North Main St.
Kimberly Ewing

Kloee, LLC
270 Benton Dr.
David Thor

Making Waves
143 Shaker St.
Maureen Dempsey

Maureen’s Sweet Shoppe
6 Center Square
Maureen Dempsey

HADLEY

Bottom-Line Body Work
8 River Dr.
Saskia Cote

Hadley Design Works
15 Sunrise Dr.
Patrick Hayes

Hill Resource and Design
15 Cold Spring Lane
Christopher Hill

T. Kicza Plumbing & Heating
7 Mount Warner Road
Timothy Kicza

HOLYOKE

Bourque Landscape Construction
1280 Dwight St.
Christopher Bourque

City Shoes Plus
347 High St.
Roberto Rivera

Coamo Fashion
343 High St.
Alberto Berrios

Friends of the Holyoke Council on Aging
291 Pine St.
Mary Contois

Julio Auto Repair
775 High St.
Julio Quinones, Luis Ruiz

The Parlorfaded Co., LLC
230 Sargeant St.
Jose Dones, Antonia Santiago

Rachel Chaput Photography
496 Whitney Ave.
Rachel Chaput-Merriam

R.M. Painting
97 Martin St.
Laura Matta

Shake Shake Cup
50 Holyoke St.
Jennifermae Chui, Hoi Kwan Chui-Zhao

Sol Caribe Restaurant
351 High St.
Jacqueline Sanchez

Union Property Management Co.
64 West Glen St.
Cliff Laraway

LUDLOW

CTS Citywide Towing
125 Carmelinas Circle
Charles Thans III

Deb’s
300 West Ave.
Deborah Peterson

Iron Duke Brewing, LLC
100 State St., Suite 122
Michael Marcoux, Nicholas Morin

Moonlight Café
7-389 East St.
Ten-90 Inc.

O’Keefe’s Farm and Nursery
1084 Center St.
Ryan O’Keefe

Salon Accents
247 East St.
Leslie Morrow, Lisa Taylor

NORTHAMPTON

Angelo’s Barber Shop
2 Conz St.
AnnMarie LaBonte

Ann Xtra Hand
33 Roe Ave.
Patricia Rick

Belcher Woodworking
625 Spring St., Apt. 2
Adam Belcher

Bidwell Advisors
19 Forbes Ave.
Dennis Bidwell

Clea L. Paz-Rivera
261b Riverside Dr.
Clea L. Paz-Rivera

East Coast Closing
90 Conz St.
Gary Bowen

Leading the Way Doggie Daycare
18 Chestnut St.
Melissa Mehlman

Northampton Concrete
400 Westhampton Road
Stephen Calcagnino

Northampton Pottery
102 Main St.
Kristin O’Neill

Port
202 Main St.
Benjamin Glushien

S & S Infinite Mobile Inc.
90 King St., Unit 1
Zainab Mirzale

To the Moon and Back
50 Williams St.
Jordan Reed

PALMER

Marlene’s Beauty Salon
1461 North Main St.
Jean Ciukaj

Pioneer Valley Weddings
3205 Main St.
Abaigeal Duda

Wintergreen Inc.
3014 Pine St.
Anne Bernardin

SPRINGFIELD

Alex Drywall
100 Champlain Ave.
Barbara Lewko

Allgreen Pest Control
26 Lockwood Ave.
Daniel Morin

B.E. Corp.
358 Page Blvd.
Judit Duran

Batteries Plus Bulbs
1300B Boston Road
Batteries Plus, LLC

Beyond Glamorous
524 Main St.
Latisha Smith

City Jake’s Café
1573 Main St.
Ronald Crochetiere

D & E Painting
295 Main St.
Daniel Black

De Jeri
1655 Boston Road
Desiree Parker

Dragun League Inc.
194 Overlook Dr.
Michael Jones

Family Home Improvement
11 Brigham St.
Kevin Torres

Italiapino Property Management
12 Filmer St.
Hazzel Di’Dio

J.E. Construction
54 Montgomery St.
Jason Enos

Jenna Lynn Photography
45 Lyndale St.
Jenna Whalen

Lulu’s Transport
47 Brittery St.
Luz Morales

Merrill’s Superette
60-62 High St.
Shazia Nizam

Midas
1160 Boston Road
Paulina Anderson

McClain Trucking
244 Sumner Ave.
Tyrone McClain

New Day Spa
803 Belmont Ave.
Li Ma

Nine Iron Auto Transport
35 Bryant St.
James Smith

Santiago Towing
193 Taylor St.
Jose Santiago

Smoke n Vape Shop
117 State St.
Riswan Raufdeen

Starbucks Monarch Place
1 Monarch Place
Columbus Hotel Management

Tejada Diaz Market
693 State St.
Martin Tejada

True Clean Express
72 Melha Ave.
Edgardo Garcia

Unique Property Services
93 Hancock St.
Ivonnett Guzman

WESTFIELD

Broadbrook Landscap & Irrigation
546 Southampton Road
John Muller

Holly’s Hair
45 Meadow St.
Holly Curtiss

Instrument Technology Inc.
33 Airport Road
Transom Scopes Inc.

Players Edge
99 Springfield Road
Brian Alves

Roy’s Custom Carpentry
15 Victoria Circle
Roy Ripley

Whip City Tai Chi
102 Putnam Dr.
Leonard Burlingame Jr.

WEST SPRINGFIELD

Baystate Hearing Aids
425 Union St.
Jeffrey Halls

Beauty Nail Care & Nail Supply
366 Memorial Ave.
Long Hai Ly

C.JO.ART
324 Lancaster Ave.
Carly Haaga

Fireside Designs
1769 Riverdale St.
P & P Marketing Inc.

First & Last Impressions
110 High Meadow Dr.
Irene Dejackome

Hydrodog
640 Elm St.
Joseph Maple Jr.

Marilyn’s Sweet Delights
46 Lotus St.
Marilyn’s Sweet Delights

Nailtique Spa
1817 Riverdale St.
Nghia Nguyen

On the Level Floor Covering & Home Improvements
142 Nelson St.
Mike Blanchard

Quality Aesthetics Dental
203 Circuit Ave.
Sardor Usmonov

Real Estate Careers Institute
776 Westfield St.
Patrick Nolan

Siciliano Salon
1362 Westfield St.
Michael Siciliano, Brenda Siciliano

T.W. Ross Property Services, LLC
368 Hillcrest Ave.
Terry Ross

WILBRAHAM

Cleanicity Housekeeping
4 Evengeline Dr.
Lisa Payson

Ruth’s Pie
31 Ruth Dr.
April Beston

Threaded Genes
463 Springfield St.
Amanda Stawas, Sandra Sweeney, Deborah Burke, Marissa Burke

Sections Women in Businesss

Teachable Moments

Nicole Griffin

Nicole Griffin says her company’s new name, ManeHire, is meant to evoke the lion-like qualities of strength, courage, and resilience.

A job seeker came to see Nicole Griffin recently after making a careless mistake — one he didn’t even recognize at the time.

The mistake was leaving a temporary position at a large, well-known firm two weeks before his contract was up because he didn’t like the environment and the job wasn’t quite what he thought it would be.

“I said, ‘you kind of ruined all the work you did there for several months by leaving before your assignment ended,’” said Griffin, president of the employment firm she launched in 2013 as Griffin Staffing Network. “That was a teachable moment. I said, ‘you have to make the most of your opportunities. Now you’ve closed your door for a reference. Plus, while you’re there, you’re supposed to network.’”

He quickly realized he’d burned a bridge he was two weeks away from crossing, and he regretted the decision. But he learned from it, and was planning on interviewing for a similar position the day after Griffin sat down with BusinessWest to talk about her company’s client-focused model, its growth over the past five years, and a recent rebranding with a new name, ManeHire.

“It’s nice to have a company in your name — it’s easy for people to recognize who you are when they walk through the door — but I want to let my employees who work internally shine,” she said. “I don’t want the whole focus of the company to be about me, so I’m taking me out of the name and highlighting all the talent we have.”

With physical offices in East Longmeadow, Springfield, and Windsor, Conn. — and a reach well beyond the region — Griffin wanted a new name that evoked lion imagery, for a reason. “I like the lion — it represents strength and courage and resilience, and those are some of the key components you need when you’re looking for employment.”

Griffin put all three attributes to work when building her career. While working at MassMutual as a financial underwriter — providing analysis, sales, and marketing for the company’s products — she became a certified interviewer and started a small nonprofit on the side, called the ABCs of Interviewing. There, she consulted with other nonprofits, companies, and individuals, helping them with interviewing skills.

While volunteering at a MassMutual Community Responsibility event at Western New England University, helping high-school students through a Junior Achievement employment-awareness program, she was struck by some teenagers’ total lack of understanding of how to act and even dress in a job-interview situation, and that soon became a passion for helping people position themselves for employment — a passion she exercised when she left MassMutual to open Griffin Staffing Network.

As the CEO of an agency for temporary, permanent, direct-hire, temp-to-hire, and executive-level positions — placing people in administrative, medical, financial, professional-services, hospitality, insurance, and information-technology jobs — she strives to understand the big picture in the regional employment landscape, while recognizing it’s made up of many small pieces.

“It’s still the same soft skills — showing up to work, the little stuff. Some people don’t realize the value in those things,” she said, again evoking the individual who walked away from his contract, and other, equally cavalier decisions people make.

“Some people don’t realize the weight that has — decisions made in the moment that have a lasting impact,” she said, such as taking time off with no warning on multiple occasions. “There’s a process. You don’t just call out an hour before you’re due to work. You have to be very mindful of the decisions you make.”

Through her work helping client employers find talent, she’s also helping job seekers not only access those jobs, but learn the skills necessary to keep them. In so doing, she knows she’s helping to change lives.

“We impact the family unit,” she said. “Of course, when you offer someone a position, it has an immediate impact on them, but it also impacts the whole family. It’s generational.”

Course Correction

An MP in the Army National Guard in her early 20s, Griffin originally thought her future was in correctional or police work, and she was offered a third-shift job at Hampden County Jail in Ludlow, where her father worked as a correctional officer.

But she wasn’t crazy about the work, as it turned out, or the hours. A friend at MassMutual offered to put in a good word for her there, but warned that’s all she could do — the rest was up to Griffin.

She admitted she wasn’t qualified, but made enough of an impression to get a job offer.

“I learned the value of having someone else speak for you, and how impactful that is,” she told BusinessWest. “And that’s what I want to do for other people. I want to help them find opportunities that may not be reachable by themselves.”

And that’s what she does — but securing an interview is a far cry from nailing down a good job. “You have to do the work. And if you do get a position, you have to maintain it.”

To help people do that, Griffin originally conducted free weekly workshops for applicants to hone their skills on the interview process, proper dress for an interview, business etiquette, and other soft skills. Today, instead of classes and workshops, that training is built into the application process for each job seeker who walks in the door.

“In the interview, we talk about your skill set, but also how we can mentor you. I tell my staff, ‘stop for a moment and really dig into why they left their last place of employment. What is the teachable moment in there for them?’”

Some applicants have walked out of those meetings in tears, shocked at what they didn’t know. “Some are just thankful — ‘no one’s ever told me that; no one’s ever corrected my résumé to tell me about the mistakes are making and why I’m going to all these places and not being selected.’”

Sometimes those tears are necessary, she went on. “I think honesty is key. You have to be honest with people and speak their language.”

Still, while the soft-skills gaps Griffin encounters aren’t surprising, they can be troublesome. Moreso are applicants she encounters who lack even the basics of financial literacy — who don’t know how a checking account works, or wonder why that account shows just a tiny balance after a direct deposit on payday, only to be told by the bank that the account had been $500 in the red. She recalled one woman who brought in her mother so these concepts could be explained to both of them.

“Financial literacy is passed down from generation to generation. It’s real for people. Things we take for granted, they honestly do not know,” she said. “We can make an impact by finding gainful employment for you, but if you’re not understanding how that money works…”

She trailed off, knowing there’s no good conclusion for that sentence — except to keep doing the work she’s doing, helping people gain the skills, knowledge, and wisdom they need to secure and keep good jobs.

“At the end of the day, we want you to be gainfully employed, whether through Griffin Staffing or another employer. We mean that, because it impacts the community.”

Better Days

That community is living through a historically solid economy right now, Griffin said, with Springfield the beneficiary of a string of good news, from MGM Springfield’s opening later this year to CRRC ramping up production of rail cars; from MassMutual and Big Y bringing new jobs to the City of Homes to a wave of entrepreneurial energy in the form of scores of successful startups — hers included.

“It’s a really exciting time for both employers and employees,” she said. “It’s one of those times when the opportunities are there; you have to seize the moment. I’m excited to say I’m from the city of Springfield.”

For those still in the job market, however, it can still be a challenge to find well-paying, satisfying work. A relationship-focused business model, one that digs deep to make the best matches, is appreciated by employer clients who have stuck with Griffin from when she first opened.

“We’re very client- and applicant-focused. Relationships are huge for me,” she said. “Someone may have the hard skills and soft skills, but do they fit into the culture of the company? We look at an applicant as a whole instead of just as a skill set.”

That’s a lesson she learned from MassMutual, when she was hired not necessarily for her raw skills — what they saw on her résumé — but what she brought to the table as a whole person. And it worked out; she was promoted four times.

In seeking to understand the whole person in today’s applicants, she’s come to recognize that young people value flexibility in a work situation as much as — or more than — the salary, which is useful for employers (at nonprofits, for instance) who can’t pay as much as they’d like. In short, today’s young job seekers will often sacrifice in the pay department to gain work-life balance. They also want a clear picture of where they’ll be in a few years, and how they will fit into a company culture, add value, and grow.

When the unemployment rate is low, she added, employers obviously find it more difficult to secure workers with the skill sets they need. “So what we’re doing is going after passive candidates — someone who’s currently employed but may be open to new opportunities.”

Over the years, Griffin has leveraged the skills of her staff to provide recruiting opportunities and career guidance to current and graduating students at area colleges and universities, was recognized with the Community Builder Award from the Urban League for helping meet employment needs in Springfield, and was named to the BusinessWest 40 Under Forty class of 2014 — and then won the magazine’s Continuing Excellence Award last year.

She also serves on the boards of YWCA of Western Massachusetts and the Regional Employment Board of Hampden County, and partners each year with the New England Farm Workers Council to hire a summer job applicant. “It’s very important that we give back to the community because we live here too, and our children are growing up here.”

That’s why she sees her work as making the community a better place to live, one job at a time. She’s especially gratified at the success stories that advance far beyond entry level, like a marketing intern who advanced to an executive role in an insurance company, and someone who went from working in a local warehouse to managing it.

“That’s so cool. That’s what empowers me, to see people grow in their positions. That’s so exciting,” Griffin said. “I love what I do. I don’t feel like I work. I get to get up and do what I love every single day. And I want people to wake up feeling the same way I do.”

Joseph Bednar can be reached at [email protected]

Community Spotlight Features

Community Spotlight

Deerfield boasts drawing cards like Mount Sugarloaf

While Deerfield boasts drawing cards like Mount Sugarloaf (seen here), Yankee Candle, and others, officials there say this community is much more than a tourist town.

Wendy Foxmyn acknowleged that, when pressed to describe Deerfield with a word or two, most responders would say ‘tourist town,’ or something to that effect.

And, sounding somewhat like the Seinfeld characters in that infamous episode, she said there’s nothing particularly wrong with that.

But she quickly, and repeatedly, stressed that this community that is home to Yankee Candle’s flagship store — one of the most visited attractions in New England — as well as Mount Sugarloaf, Historic Deerfield, and the Magic Wings Butterfly Conservancy and Garden wants to diversify and broaden its commercial portfolio.

“We consider ourselves be more than a tourist town — much more,” said Foxmyn, who has served several area communities in the town administrator role, including Deerfield for the past two years. She noted that the town’s location, roughly halfway between Northampton and Greenfield, could make it ideal as a home from which a business or nonprofit could effectively serve both Hampshire and Franklin counties, something many are trying to do at a time of consolidation.

“We’re becoming more of a hub — a central Hampshire-Franklin hub,” she explained. “I’ve been getting calls from service agencies and others who serve both counties who would like to find a central place because they’ve lost funding or anticipate losing funding.”

Meanwhile, Deerfield, population 5,400 or so, wants to take far more advantage of that bevy of tourist attractions than it has historically, said Foxmyn, noting that, far too often, cars and buses filled with those buying candles and admiring butterflies get back in their vehicles and simply return home.

“We want them to look left and look right,” said Foxmyn, referring specifically to Routes 5 and 10, just two of the major thoroughfares the town is blessed with, with Routes 91 and 116 being the others. “We want them to stay and take in more of Deerfield.”

For this to become reality, the town must give visitors more reasons to look left and right, she acknowledged, adding that, while there is a new restaurant, Gianni Fig’s Ristorante, and a new Cumberland Farms in South Deerfield, more development is desired and needed to both broaden the tax base and lengthen the average stay of those coming to Deerfield for an afternoon.

“We’d like to develop more businesses that would be attractive to the people who come here,” she explained. “Maybe places for them to eat after they’ve gone to Historic Deerfield or they’ve hiked up Mount Sugarloaf or gone to Yankee Candle.”

But town leaders know that to attract new businesses — in hospitality and other sectors as well — they need to make their downtown area more inviting and pedestrian-friendly, and they are eyeing a host of improvements in the Elm Street corridor, the main commercial area in South Deerfield.

Planned improvements include work on sidewalks, lights, and perhaps storefront improvements, and the town is exploring avenues for funding such work.

Selectman Trevor McDaniel, a traveling salesman (windows) by trade, told BusinessWest that his work takes him to communities across the region, many of which have made significant investments in their downtowns, and with recognizable results when it comes to those public expenditures spurring private investments and new business ventures.

He believes the same can happen in Deerfield.

“I travel all over Western Mass. … you go to Pittsfield, the streets look great, Great Barrington, everything’s redone, Lenox is really nice,” he said. “A lot of communities have done extensive work to their downtowns — they’ve put in new brick, some granite, planters, new lighting and light poles, and new cement sidewalks, and it looks fantastic. And then businesses freshen up the front of their building.”

For this, the latest installment in its Community Spotlight series, BusinessWest looks at how a community known for its butterflies, candles, and arrowheads will look to expand that profile and create new ways for people to describe it.

View to the Future

While Deerfield, as noted, is well-known as the home of Yankee Candle, which has both its manufacturing facilities and flagship store within the town and is therefore a very large employer, it has historically been dominated by small businesses.

And they come across a host of sectors — tourism, obviously, but also agriculture, healthcare, retail, manufacturing, and nonprofits.

The goal moving forward, as Foxmyn mentioned, is to simply broaden the portfolio. And the town has many assets to work with as it goes about that task, everything from that attractive location and presence on major highways to a uniform tax rate (several neighboring communities have a higher tax rate for businesses).

The assignment, simply, is to take full advantage of those assets and create still more of them.

Deerfield at a Glance

Year Incorporated: 1677
Population: 5,400
Area: 33.4 square miles
County: Franklin
Residential and commercial Tax Rate: $16.57 (Deerfield), $18.24 (South Deerfield)
Median Household Income: $74,853
Median Family Income: $83,859
Type of Government: Open Town Meeting
Largest Employers: Yankee Candle Co., Pelican Products Inc.
* Latest information available

The town’s location, as well as easy access to highways and ample farmland with space for greenhouses, could make it a potential landing spot for marijuana cultivation and/or retail ventures, for example, said Foxmyn, adding that the town, which has placed zoning restrictions on such businesses, has already fielded some inquiries and will carefully consider any that come its way.

“They are knocking on our doors — the industry is swarming us,” she told BusinessWest. “And they’re approaching people locally to get them involved, whether they’re farmers or people who have buildings that might become a retail site.”

Meanwhile, there have been some momentum-building endeavors over the past several months, with several projects in various stages of development.

A machining company, Dumont, will be relocating into the former Oxford Pickle complex, acquired by the town several years ago, joining New England Natural Bakers and a granola-making outfit on that parcel.

On the retail side, both Foxmyn and McDaniel mentioned Gianni Figs, located on the site of the former Sienna restaurant, which gives the community an intriguing dining attraction after the closing of Chandler’s restaurant on the Yankee Candle campus.

The Cumberland Farms is another important addition; plans are advancing for a small market to replace Savage’s, a small market that operated for decades; a bakery/café is going in the old Savage’s site; and an international market is being opened, among other retail developments.

Meanwhile, on the residential side, a large condominium project is now underway. Called the Condominiums at Sugarloaf because it will be built at the base of the mountain, it will have 70 units, presenting more options for those mulling Deerfield as an attractive place to live, including those working at the nearby Five Colleges.

On the municipal side, plans are emerging for a new senior center, said Foxmyn and McDaniel, noting a replacement is needed for an aging, largely inadequate facility. A church that closed several years ago has been donated to the town, and it may become the focus of efforts to create a new senior center.

But perhaps the most significant development involves plans for comprehensive improvements to improve South Deerfield Center, an initiative that has been long discussed, again with that goal of attracting both more tourism- and hospitality-related ventures and service businesses that would serve both the town and the larger region — and keeping tourists in town for a longer stay, spreading the wealth, if you will.

“With all that traffic that comes to Yankee Candle, and now they’ll be filling up at Cumberland Farms — they’ll pull out onto Elm Street and look left or right,” said McDaniel, imaging a scenario from down the road, literally as well as figuratively. “We want them to take that look and say, ‘what’s downtown? Let’s go take a look.’”

There are other items on what could be called a ‘wish list,’ said McDaniel, including much-needed improvements to the town’s sewer system, built in the ’70s and currently serving only a small percentage of the population, but finding the funding for such an endeavor will be a real challenge.

“We’re in the midst of trying to figure out what’s needed, how much it’s going to cost, and who’s going to pay for it,” he explained. “That’s a big topic we’ve been studying for the past 16 months or so; it’s hard to figure out what to do. There’s not a big base of users, and there’s huge expense involved.”

Scents and Sensibility

The more immediate goal is to undertake those improvements to Elm Street and, hopefully see those public investments inspire private investments in the form of new businesses and additional residential projects.

As Foxmyn noted, Deerfield has the location — and the potential — to become an important hub serving two neighboring but very different counties.

This community is already much more than a tourist town, she explained, but it wants to make that abundantly clear to everyone who might come for a visit.

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

Company Notebook Departments

Blue Sox to Host 2018 NECBL All-Star Game

HOLYOKE — The Valley Blue Sox announced they will play host to the 2018 New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL) All-Star Game this summer on Sunday, July 29 at Mackenzie Stadium in Holyoke. The league’s showcase event will be the third major NECBL event hosted by the Blue Sox in the past five years. The team last hosted the NECBL All-Star Game in 2014 and hosted the NECBL Championship Series this past August, winning their its NECBL championship in franchise history. The Blue Sox finished first in the NECBL in attendance for the second consecutive season and ranked ninth among all summer collegiate teams, outdrawing 204 affiliated minor-league and independent teams. The event will be sponsored by Trinity Health Of New England and Mercy Medical Center.

MGM Springfield Adds More Than 1,000 Jobs to Employment Website

SPRINGFIELD — MGM Springfield recently announced it added 75 new postings representing more than 1,000 jobs to the resort’s website. There are about 2,400 open positions for hire today at MGM Springfield. This is the largest employment posting by the new resort, and one of the single largest hiring efforts in Springfield history. MGM Springfield will employ 3,000 employees when the $960 million luxury resort opens later this year in downtown Springfield. The expanded list includes job descriptions for new career opportunities not previously posted by the resort. Most of the new opportunities are in the food and beverage area, including cooks and servers. The entire list now includes a diverse array of jobs, including locksmiths, electronics technicians, carpenters, and painters. Many postings represent positions not traditionally associated with the casino industry, ranging from human resources and retail management to conference services. A full list of jobs and detailed descriptions is available at www.mgmspringfield.com/careers. The majority of jobs will be full-time positions with benefits. MGM Springfield established a goal to hire 35% of its workforce from the city of Springfield and 90% from a combination of Springfield and the region. For additional information about the available career opportunities at MGM Springfield, go online or visit MGM Springfield’s Career Center located at 1259 East Columbus Ave., third floor. The Career Center is open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and 1 to 7 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays. During those hours, an MGM representative may be reached at (413) 273-5052.

PV Squared Joins Effort to Create Affordable Net-zero-energy Homes

GREENFIELD — PV Squared employees and students from Franklin County Technical School recently worked together to install a solar system on a Pioneer Valley Habitat for Humanity home in Greenfield. This hands-on experience is essential for Franklin County Technical School students enrolled in the electrician program. With installers and licensed electricians from PV Squared acting as mentors, this project was both a learning experience for the students and an opportunity to create high-quality housing for a low-income family. PV Squared has been partnering with Pioneer Valley Habitat for Humanity since 2010 to help make solar energy more accessible to lower-income households in the community. To date, it has worked with Pioneer Valley Habitat for Humanity on eight projects in Franklin and Hampshire counties, specifically in the towns of Easthampton, Turners Falls, Amherst, Northampton, and Greenfield. All these solar PV projects have been completed through grant funding or through the donation of products and services by PV Squared at no cost to the homeowner. Each system was designed with net-zero-energy potential, which means that, depending on the energy use of the household, each homeowner could be meeting all of their energy needs with the solar array.

Pioneer Valley Credit Union Donates $25,000 to Elder-care Unit

SPRINGFIELD — Pioneer Valley Credit Union (PVCU), a not-for-profit financial institution, recently donated $25,000 to the new Acute Care for Elders (ACE) Unit at Baystate Medical Center in Springfield. Seniors are the fastest-growing group in the U.S. population, and their health is declining. The elderly are three times likely to be hospitalized from chronic diseases. Many hospitals across the country haven’t prepared to treat the number of growing elderly patients nearing end of life. With that in mind, Baystate Medical Center created an acute-care unit specifically for treating the growing number of elderly patients. Since 2014, the program has cared for more than 500 senior patients.

Be Vital Wellness Opens Second Clinic in Wilbraham

WILBRAHAM — Stephanie Nascimento and Jeanette Wilburn, owners of Be Vital Wellness, LLC, recently expanded their weight-loss practice opening a second clinic in Wilbraham. Located at 2121 Boston Road, Unit N, in Wilbraham, the team specializes in medically derived weight-loss programs, weight-loss coaching, detox and cleansing, as well as various wellness services. In October 2011, Nascimento, a registered nurse, and Wilburn, a doctor of chiropractic, partnered in search of a business that promoted overall wellness and weight loss. After much research, they selected the Ideal Protein Protocol, a medically derived weight-loss method developed and refined for more than 20 years. They tested the program themselves and successfully lost a combined 30 pounds. Their weight loss inspired them to open their first clinic in Amherst; that clinic is now located in Hadley.

Daily News

SPRINGFIELD — Pioneer Valley Credit Union announced the recipients of its 2018 college scholarship program. Each year, PVCU selects four students to receive a $1,000 scholarship to help with college expenses; over the years, it has awarded $70,000 in all. The 2018 recipients were honored at the credit union’s 95th annual meeting on April 2. The scholarships are named in honor of board of directors members who have dedicated their time and service to Pioneer Valley Credit Union and to the credit-union movement.

The 2018 recipients are a group of young adults who have proven themselves in the classroom, on the athletic fields, and in various activities and clubs. Miya Walto of Smith Academy received the Maurice O’Shea Scholarship, John Fiester of Monson High School received the Richard Borden Memorial Scholarship, Janiya Dixon of Longmeadow High School received the Ignatius Collura Scholarship, and Fiona Cioch of Westfield High School received the Ted Klekotka Memorial Scholarship.

“These amazing young adults are the future, and we are excited to invest in their education,” said Anabela Grenier, Pioneer Valley Credit Union president and CEO. “On behalf of the Pioneer Valley Credit Union board of directors and staff, I would like to congratulate all of our 2018 college scholarship recipients and wish them continued success.”

Briefcase Departments

Employer Confidence Falls Slightly in March

BOSTON — The Associated Industries of Massachusetts (AIM) Business Confidence Index (BCI) declined a point to 63.5 in March, retreating from a 17-year high in February. The BCI has gained 1.1 points during the past 12 months and remains comfortably within the optimistic range. But virtually every element of the March confidence survey lost ground, led by a 1.7-point drop in the U.S. Index of national business conditions. Several employers blamed the Trump administration’s decision to level tariffs on steel, aluminum, and other products for their uncertain outlook.

Pioneer Valley Receives Grant to Pursue Healthcare Access Solutions

SPRINGFIELD — The Pioneer Valley Planning Commission (PVPC) announced that it, in partnership with the Pioneer Valley Transit Authority (PVTA), has been selected as one of seven regions in the country by the National Center for Mobility Management to develop and test ways to increase community members’ access to healthcare services. Through this grant, the project team will be looking at barriers that patients face when trying to access healthcare for chronic conditions or sudden, non-emergency health needs. With missed appointment rates of up to 25% at some healthcare facilities, this project seeks to improve patient health outcomes, improve cost efficiency for healthcare providers, and optimize transportation systems for non-emergency healthcare. The project team, which includes representatives from PVTA, PVPC, Baystate Medical Center, Health New England, Stavros, Greater Springfield Senior Services, and the New North Citizens Council, represents a variety of stakeholders and perspectives to address this issue. The ultimate goal of this project, slated to conclude in October 2018, is to come up with a ‘pitch’ for a solution to the problem of missed appointments. In order to develop its pitch, the project team is going to host a series of focus groups, conduct surveys, and do on-site observations with the people involved in the medical scheduling and transportation process.

Single-family Home Sales in Valley Soar in February

SPRINGFIELD — Single-family home sales rose by 27.4% in the Pioneer Valley in February compared to the same time last year, posting big gains in all three counties, while the median price rose 8.3% to $194,900, according to the Realtor Assoc. of Pioneer Valley. In Franklin County, sales were up 36.4%, while the median price shot up by 45.8% from a year earlier. In Hampden County, sales were up 23.6%, while the median price was up 7.9%. In Hampshire County, sales rose by 27.7% from February 2017, while the median price was up 16.8%.

Chamber Board Votes to Endorse Pledge Against Human Trafficking

SPRINGFIELD — The Springfield Regional Chamber board of directors voted unanimously to publicly endorse the Western Massachusetts Businesses Against Human Trafficking Pledge and encourage members of the chamber to take the pledge. Convened by MGM Springfield, the chamber joined a coalition of businesses and organizations in 2017 to support the work already being conducted by law enforcement, community organizations, and faith-based groups across the region and to lend its assistance to help eliminate the scourge of human trafficking. Since then, the chamber has formalized its support by endorsing a pledge to increase awareness of and protect against human trafficking in its places of business, and to collaborate broadly across the community and region to address the issue. Coalition members include MGM Springfield, Peter Pan Bus Lines, the Springfield Regional Chamber, East of the River Five Town Chamber, the Greater Springfield Convention and Visitors Bureau, the Springfield Redevelopment Authority (owner of Union Station), Sheraton Springfield, and Springfield/Worcester Hilton Garden Inns.

Amherst Chamber Moves to Volunteer Management

AMHERST — The Amherst Area Chamber of Commerce will transition to an all-volunteer team structure for several months in order to better serve its members and leverage its robust network of volunteers. Peter Vickery, president of the chamber’s board of directors, said the change will also help the membership-based organization dedicate more resources to member-to-member services, networking, and advocacy. As part of the transition, interim Executive Director Jerry Guidera will step down from his organizational support role. The chamber will maintain a presence at the Visitor Information Center in downtown Amherst, co-located with the Amherst Business Improvement District.

Bankruptcies Departments

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

Anderson-Brown, Connie J.
82 Spear Road
Springfield, MA 01119
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/09/18

Bachand, Richard Brandon
39 Westernview Circle
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/09/18

Basile, Gerald P.
150 Pearl St.
South Hadley, MA 01075
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/09/18

Bolat, Nurettin
155 River St. #J6
West Springfield, MA 01089
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/15/18

Bosinger, Robert O.
6 Phelps Ave.
Westfield, MA 01085
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/12/18

Burnias, Manuel C.
11 Flynt Ave.
Monson, MA 01057
Chapter: 13
Filing Date: 03/12/18

Campofredano, Donald Scott
Campofredano, Kimberly Viola
25 Elizabeth St.
Feeding Hills, MA 01030
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/09/18

Closser, Joshua R.
214 Pheland Ave.
Springfield, MA 01109
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/15/18

Frechette, Christina
14 Lauren Lane
Sturbridge, MA 01518
Chapter: 13
Filing Date: 03/05/18

Groot, William E.
17 Glenwood Ave.
Northampton, MA 01060
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/02/18

Harman, Neil Irwin
P.O. Box 2241
Westfield, MA 01086
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/05/18

LaFleche, Wayne A.
LaFleche, Linda Ann
22 Woodlawn St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Chapter: 13
Filing Date: 03/14/18

Maloney, Mary C.
42 Berkshire Road
Becket, MA 01223
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/12/18

Manzueta, Evelyn A.
98 Northumberland St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/07/18

Nadeau, Mary E.
713 Britton St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Chapter: 13
Filing Date: 03/05/18

Neveu, Brian F.
Neveu, Rebecca M.
34 Maple Crest Circle
Holyoke, MA 01040
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/06/18

Nieves, Nilda
71 State St., Suite 2
Northampton, MA 01060
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/14/18

Orcutt, Cynthia
a/k/a Geiring, Cynthia
134 College Highway
Southampton, MA 01073
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/13/18

Pagan, Saby K.
151 Dickinson St.
1st Floor
Springfield, MA 01108
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/06/18

Pagnoni, Julie D.
71 Shaw Park Ave.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/08/18

Papoutsakis, LaKisha Madora
a/k/a Carpenter, LaKisha Madora
8 Glynn Farms Dr.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Chapter: 13
Filing Date: 03/14/18

Pouliot, Dean Edward
22 Rosedell Dr.
Westfield, MA 01085
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/13/18

Renzi, James V.
50 Easton Ave.
Pittsfield, MA 01201
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/09/18

Safarik, William H.
25 Quaboag Valley Co-Op.
Palmer, MA 01069
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/07/18

Salazar, Mercedes
130 Malden St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Chapter: 13
Filing Date: 03/08/18

Sfakios, Amy V.
236 Vining Hill Road
Southwick, MA 01077
Chapter: 13
Filing Date: 03/02/18

Shattuck, Sean C.
21 Old Jarvis Ave.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/05/18

Smith, Eric R.
1205 New Braintree Road
Oakham, MA 01068
Chapter: 13
Filing Date: 03/14/18

Torres, Luis A.
151 Dickinson St., 1st Fl.
Springfield, MA 01108
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/06/18

Vezina, Jeremiah E.
78 Hill St.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 03/02/18

Departments Picture This

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

Be Curious

More than 1,400 men and women ventured to the MassMutual Center in Springfield on April 6 for Bay Path University’s annual Women’s Leadership Conference. The theme of the day-long conference was “Be Curious,” and the event featured two keynote speakers — social psychologist and author Amy Cuddy, and writer, producer, and actress Lena Waithe — as well as a number of focus sessions with topics ranging from “Curiosity at the Core: Cultivating Innovation” to “Reality-based Leadership: Ditching the Drama” and a women leaders panel.

Waithe, right, answers questions from Bay Path President Carol Leary

Waithe, right, answers questions from Bay Path President Carol Leary


From left, women leaders panel members

From left, women leaders panel members Kirk Arnold, a technology executive, Nancy Shendell-Falik, president of Baystate Medical Center, and Lisa Tanzer, president of Life Is Good, with moderator Yvette Frisby


attendees check in for the conference

Attendees check in for the conference


Guests listen at one of the focus sessions

Guests listen at one of the focus sessions




Transcultural Lessons

Puerto Rican author Esmeralda Santiago recently addressed a standing-room-only crowd at Holyoke Community College’s Leslie Phillips Theater, many clutching copies of her 1994 memoir, “When I Was Puerto Rican,” to be signed. Santiago grew up in Puerto Rico in a one-room shack with a dirt floor and tin roof, the eldest of 11 children. Her family moved to Brooklyn when she was 13. In her talk, titled “Writing a Life: A Transcultural Journey,” she described how she learned English from children’s books in the Brooklyn public library, and attended New York’s famous High School of Performing Arts and Manhattan Community College before transferring to Harvard University. She also talked about teachers and mentors and how meaningful they were to her as she adapted to life in the continental U.S.

Puerto Rican author Esmeralda Santiago

Puerto Rican author Esmeralda Santiago


copies of her 1994 memoir, “When I Was Puerto Rican,” to be signed

Copies of her 1994 memoir, “When I Was Puerto Rican,” to be signed

 

Chamber Corners Departments

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

• April 18: Good News Business Salute, 7:30-9 a.m., hosted by Berkshire Hills Country Club, 500 Benedict Road, Pittsfield. Join us for our morning breakfast, where we will honor members and announce the winner of this year’s Esther Quinn Award. Cost: $35-$45. Register online at www.1berkshire.com.

• April 26: Creative Resources Conference, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., hosted by Stationery Factory, 63 Flansburg Ave., Dalton. The format has three tracts, with a total of nine workshops for creatives, entrepreneurs, and small businesses. More information to come. Register online at www.1berkshire.com.

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

• April 26: Margarita Madness, 5:30-7:30 p.m., hosted by Lord Jeffery Inn, 30 Boltwood Ave., Amherst. Come taste margaritas and vote for your favorite. There will also be delicious dishes from participating restaurants and dozens of great raffle prizes. Cost: $30 pre-registered, $40 at the door. Register online at www.amherstarea.com.

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

• April 20: Monthly Breakfast Series, 7:30-9 a.m., hosted by Greenfield High School, 21 Barr Ave., Greenfield. Full breakfast will be served during the program, which will feature an Entrepreneur of the Year panel. Sponsored by Franklin County Community Development Corp. and the Franklin Hampshire Regional Employment Board. Cost: $13 for members; $16 for non-members. Register at franklincc.org or by e-mailing [email protected].

• April 26: Business After Hours, 5-7 p.m., hosted by Hawks and Reed Performing Arts Center, 289 Main St., Greenfield. Networking event with special guest Sue Dahling Sullivan from Massachusetts ArtWeek. Come kick off the debut of ArtWeek in Western Mass. Refreshments and cash bar will be available. Cost: $10. Register at franklincc.org or by e-mailing [email protected].

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

• April 19: Business After Hours: A Salute to the ’70s Disco Party, 4:30-6:30 p.m., hosted by Ohana School of Performing Arts. Cost: $10 for members, $15 for non-members. Sign up online at chicopeechamber.org/events.

• April 24: B2B Speed Networking, 8-9 a.m., hosted by Chicopee Boys and Girls Club. For more information, visit chicopeechamber.org/events.

• April 25: Salute Breakfast at the Moose Family Center: “Easy, Cost-neutral Sustainability for Businesses,” 7:15-9 a.m. Chief Greeter: Phil Norman, CISA. Keynote: Center for EcoTechnology. Sponsored by United Personnel, Westfield Bank, Holyoke Medical Center, Polish National Credit Union, Gaudreau Group, Sunshine Village, Spherion Staffing Services, and PeoplesBank. Cost: $23 for members, $28 for non-members. Sign up online at chicopeechamber.org/events.

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

• April 18: Chamber After Hours, 5-7 p.m., sponsored and hosted by Fairfield Inn & Suites, 229 Whiting Farms Road, Holyoke. Meet up with your friends and business associates for a little networking. Cost: $10 for members, $15 for non-members. Feel free to bring a door prize. Sign up online at holyokechamber.com.

• April 20: Economic Development Breakfast, 7:30-9 a.m., hosted by Holyoke Community College, Kittredge Center, PeoplesBank Conference Room. Learn from EMPATH about how to break the cycle of poverty and utilize the bridge to self-sufficiency theory to approach economic mobility. EMPATH helps low-income people achieve long-term economic mobility, and has developed a holistic approach to mentoring. Event emcees are Mary Coleman, EMPATH; Dr. Christina Royal, Holyoke Community College; and Kathleen Anderson, Greater Holyoke Chamber of Commerce. Cost: $25 for members, $30 for non-members and walk-in guests.

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

• April 24: Home & Business Community Marketplace & Tabletop Event, 4:30-7 p.m., hosted by the Ranch Golf Club, 65 Sunnyside Road, Southwick. An opportunity to market and sell your products and services to area residents and businesses. Sip and shop your way through the marketplace with a beer and wine tasting, live music, and a chance to vote for your favorite nosh at the food court. Cost: $50 for vendor rental space (table not included; bring your own, six feet or less with tablecloth), $75 for vendor table (includes six-foot table; bring your own tablecloth). Attendance is free to the public. For more information, contact Southwick Economic Development at (413) 304-6100.

SOUTH HADLEY & GRANBY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
www.shgchamber.com
(413) 532-6451

• April 19: Business After 5, 4:30-6:30 p.m., hosted by Ohana School of Performing Arts, 470 Newton St., South Hadley. Sponsored by Berkshire Hills Music Academy. This Everything 70’s Disco Party is a networking event for members and friends of the chamber. We are joining with the Greater Chicopee Chamber of Commerce on this event, so there will be many new business colleagues to meet and greet over the three floors of studio space. The event will feature music, food, beverages, and dancing. Cost: $10 for members, $15 for non-members. For further information and to register, visit www.shgchamber.com or call the chamber office at (413) 532-6451.

• April 22: Mohegan Sun bus trip, 9:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Proceeds support the chamber’s scholarship fund and its two community Councils on Aging. There are bonuses on food and other pluses included in the cost. Bus departs from and returns to the former Big Y parking lot at 501 Newton St. Cost: $35. For further information and to register, visit www.shgchamber.com or call the chamber office at (413) 532-6451.

• April 24: An Educational Breakfast: “Cybersecurity: What We All Need to Know,” 7:30-9 a.m., hosted by PeoplesBank and Loomis Village, 20 Bayon St., South Hadley. We will learn how cybersecurity impacts our own lives, both personally and professionally. The presentation will be led by Joseph Zazzaro, senior vice president, Information Technology, and David Thibault, first vice president, Commercial Banking at PeoplesBank. Cost: $10 for members, $15 for non-members. For further information and to register, visit www.shgchamber.com or call the chamber office at (413) 532-6451.

SPRINGFIELD REGIONAL CHAMBER
www.springfieldregionalchamber.com
(413) 787-1555

• April 25: Beacon Hill Summit, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., day-long trip to the State House to meet legislators. Cost: $180 for members, $225 general admission, which includes transportation, lunch, and reception. To make a reservation, visit www.springfieldregionalchamber.com, e-mail [email protected], or call (413) 755-1310.

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

• April 26: Coffee with Agawam Mayor Sapelli, 8:30-10 a.m., hosted by Agawam Senior Center Coffee Shop, 954 Main St., Agawam. Join us for a cup of coffee and a town update from Mayor Bill Sapelli. Questions and answers will immediately follow. For more information, contact the chamber office at (413) 426-3880 or [email protected].

YOUNG PROFESSIONAL SOCIETY OF GREATER SPRINGFIELD
springfieldyps.com

• April 19: YPS Third Thursday: “Career Development & Networking,” 5-7 p.m., hosted by Lattitude Restaurant, 1338 Memorial Ave., West Springfield. Cost: free for YPS members, $10 for non-members.

Daily News

PITTSFIELD — Berkshire Bank announced that it received the 2017 Communitas Award for Leadership in Community Service & Corporate Social Responsibility. The Communitas Awards, administered by the Assoc. of Marketing and Communication Professionals, recognize businesses that give of themselves and their resources to their communities.

Nominees were evaluated on the extent and effectiveness of their efforts, with winners selected for specific programs involving volunteerism, philanthropy, and sustainable business practices. Some businesses, such as Berkshire Bank, were also recognized with Leadership awards because of their excellence in multiple programs.

The award recognized Berkshire Bank’s comprehensive corporate social-responsibility activities, including volunteer, philanthropy, and sustainability efforts, as well as responsiveness to community needs through products, services, and engagement activities. Annually, Berkshire Bank and the Berkshire Bank Foundation provide more than $2 million in financial contributions as well as scholarships to high-school seniors. In addition to financial support, the XTEAM, the bank’s employee volunteer program, provides employees with paid time off to volunteer during regular business hours.

Daily News

SPRINGFIELD — Pathlight, a provider of services for residential and community services for people with intellectual disabilities, has named Andrew Caires its chief financial officer and vice president of Administration, effective April 9.

“I am thrilled that Andy has joined the organization” Executive Director Ruth Banta said. “His financial skills, human-services experience, and compassion will help Pathlight continue to advance its mission.”

Caires has significant experience in human services. He was the financial director for Hawthorn Services for 15 years. When Hawthorne merged with the Center for Human Development, he became CHD’s director of Fiscal Services. Most recently, he was the controller for the Williston Northampton School.

“I am happy to join an innovative and energized organization with a distinguished history of having a positive impact on the intellectual-disability community,” he said.

Caires has a bachelor’s degree in business administration/accounting from Western New England University and an MBA from UMass Amherst. He has maintained his certified public accountant (CPA) designation.

Pathlight has been providing programs and services to people with developmental disabilities since 1952. Its programs include residential homes, supports for independent living, family-based living, recreation, enrichment, employment supports, family resources, autism supports, and more.

Departments Incorporations

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

AMHERST

Democracy Action Inc., 48 North Pleasant St., Suite 304, Amherst, MA 01002. Ben Clements, 256 Park St., Newton, MA 02458. Work to advocate progressive stances on civil rights and liberties, social and economic justice, sensible foreign policy, and sustainable environmental policy.

CHICOPEE

Czar Industries Inc., 1981 Memorial Dr., #256, Chicopee, MA 01020. Curtis P. Duval, Same. Metal door manufacturing.

HOLYOKE

Casa De Restauracion Nuevo Pacto, 384 High St., Third Floor, Holyoke, MA 01040. Luz Merari Torres, 26 Tracy St., Springfield, MA 01104. Restaurant.

PALMER

Aquatic Avengers Inc., 45 French Dr., Palmer, MA 01069. Corey Lomas, Same. Swim coaching.

PITTSFIELD

Bill White Insurance Agency Inc., 82 Wendell Ave., Suite 100, Pittsfield, MA 01201. William White, 710 Rimpau Ave., Suite 203, Corona, CA92879. Insurance producer.

SPRINGFIELD

Colby’s Path to The Cure; Hope. Love. Cure. Inc., 35 Palm St., Springfield, MA 01108. Colette Proctor, 33 Palm St., Springfield, MA 01108. Raising awareness and supporting research to cure synovial sarcoma.

Crowned with Excellence Inc., 1655 Main St., Suite 302, Springfield, MA 01103. Merlly D. Ortiz, 52 Casino Ave., Chicopee, MA 01013. To foster a holistic approach of healing, transformation and empowerment of woman. Crowned with excellence believes through empowerment by education, integrating wellness to the body, mind and spirit.

WEST SPRINGFIELD

Aroma One Inc., 935 Riverdale St., Suite F105-107, West Springfield, MA 01089. Xian-Ming Zheng, same. Restaurant.

Buscoe Inc., 425 Union St., West Springfield, MA 01089. Elmo Coe, Same. Bus transportation.

Carolina Express Tours Inc., 425 Union St., West Springfield, MA 01089. Rheuben Herbert, same. Charter bus company.

Chrzan Founder Holdings Inc., 143 Doty Circle, West Springfield, MA 01089. Jan Chrzan, Same. Shipping and Delivery Service.

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.

CHICOPEE DISTRICT COURT
Michael Elbery v. Frazier Auto Service Inc.
Allegation: Multiple incidents of damage to truck: $1,600
Filed: 2/8/18

Dianna Eaglen v. Cedar Auto Sales, LLC
Allegation: Breach of warranty, misrepresentation, and unjust enrichment: $10,000
Filed: 3/8/18

HAMPDEN DISTRICT COURT
Michael Bessey v. Wal-Mart Stores East, LP and Alan Siok d/b/a Siok & Son Excavation
Allegation: Negligence; slip and fall causing injury: $3,846
Filed: 3/9/18

Tayvion Harris by his mother and next friend, Christy Cussion, and Chrissy Cussion individually v. John Doe and R.C. Jackson Transportation Co., LLC
Allegation: Negligence; while being transported from daycare, plaintiff came out of his booster seat and fell out passenger door of moving vehicle, causing injury: $2,590.24
Filed: 3/14/18

Hop River Concrete Inc. v. CFI Design Management Inc. and 295 Burnett Road, LLC
Allegation: Money owed for services provided: $21,102.06
Filed: 3/16/18

Perkins Paper, LLC v. Gigi’s Pizzeria, LLC and Jacob A. Decesare
Allegation: Money owed for goods sold and delivered: $4,338.32
Filed: 3/16/18

Jessica Aitken v. 342 Inc., Thomas P. Murphy, and Daniel v. Dineen
Allegation: Failure to pay wages owed, failure to pay minimum wage, and unlawful withholding of tips: $25,000
Filed: 3/19/18

HAMPDEN SUPERIOR COURT
Donna McAdam v. Pyramid Management Group, LLC
Allegation: Negligence; slip and fall causing injury: $43,517.94
Filed: 3/5/18

Christopher Richard v. G4S Secure Integration, LLC; Adesta, LLC; and John Doe as agent/manager
Allegation: Failure to pay prevailing wages, failure to pay overtime wages, fraud and misrepresentation, fraudulent concealment: $100,000
Filed: 3/6/18

Shamar Goldsberry and Patricia Goldsberry v. Northern Heights, LP
Allegation: Negligence; slip and fall causing injury: $59,358.61
Filed: 3/8/18

Rebecca Garcia v. Neighborhood Homes, LP
Allegation: Negligence; slip and fall causing injury: $8,803.15
Filed: 3/8/18

Donna Bourget v. Tri-State CDL Training Center Inc.
Allegation: Negligence; slip and fall causing injury: $52,418
Filed: 3/8/18

Elizabeth Pezzote-McMahon v. Stop and Shop
Allegation: Negligence; slip and fall causing injury: $5,350.07
Filed: 3/9/18

Richard Thompson and Donna Thompson v. Sturdy Home Improvement Inc.
Allegation: Breach of contract, negligent infliction of emotional distress: $125,000
Filed: 3/13/18

HAMPSHIRE DISTRICT COURT
Broadcast Music Inc. v. Cutting Edge Broadcasting Inc. d/b/a WEIB-FM
Allegation: Money owed for services provided: $7,682.66
Filed: 3/9/18

HAMPSHIRE SUPERIOR COURT
Kimberly Cobb and Brian Cobb v. Valley Stump Grinding, LLC
Allegation: Negligence, slip and fall causing injury: $592,935.83
Filed: 3/21/18

Lisa Jacobs v. Sunrise Senior Living Services Inc., Sunrise Senior Living Management Inc., Felipe Miestre, Larry Steinhauser, Sarah Laidlaw, Tiffany Gullette, and Ginger Arsenault
Allegation: Defamation: $10,000,000
Filed: 3/23/18

PALMER DISTRICT COURT
Arbella Insurance Group a/s/o Benito Rocca v. Hydro-Pro Irrigation Inc.
Allegation: Defendant caused water damage to plaintiff’s property by negligently servicing sprinkler system: $11,487.46
Filed: 3/12/18

Agenda Departments

‘Protecting Your Assets’ Panel

April 18: Springfield Partners for Community Action Inc. will host “Protecting Your Assets Part III” starting at 6 p.m. at Springfield Central Library, 220 State St. The event is in recognition of National Financial Literacy Month and is free and open to the public. Call (413) 263-6500 to reserve a seat. This year’s panelists include Julius Lewis of the Metrocom Group and the Lewis and Marrow Financial Hour, which airs Wednesdays on STCC radio; and attorney Sara Miller, who specializes in elder law and estate planning. New this year is attorney Martin O’Connor, an authority on tax issues and who helps low-income, non-English-speaking taxpayers understand their rights and responsibilities as taxpayers.

Caritas Gala

April 21: Plans are underway for Mercy Medical Center’s second annual Caritas Gala at the MassMutual Center in Springfield. The gala, with its Motown-inspired theme “Reach Out,” will raise funds to support Mercy Behavioral Health Care and the Mercy Emergency Department’s Opioid Community Outreach for education, intervention, and treatment. The Caritas Gala will begin at 6:30 p.m. with a cocktail reception, live entertainment from the band Motor City Magic, and a silent auction. Dinner will be served at 8 p.m., following by a live auction and dancing until midnight with music from the band Radiance. For more information or to purchase tickets to the Caritas Gala, visit www.mercycares.com/caritas-gala.

Mayors’ Economic Forum

April 26: “Mayors Meet Millennials” is the title of the 2018 New England Knowledge Corridor Mayors’ Economic Forum at Goodwin College in East Hartford, Conn. The program begins with coffee and conversation from 7:30 to 8:30 a.m., followed by the conference program from 8:30 to 11 a.m. Participating mayors include Domenic Sarno (Springfield), Richard Kos (Chicopee), Marcia Leclerc (East Hartford), Erin Stewart (New Britain), and Luke Bronin (Hartford). Registration options and more information will be available soon.

BFAIR Annual Meeting

April 27: Berkshire Family & Individual Resources Inc. (BFAIR) will host its annual meeting at Berkshire Hills Country Club, 500 Benedict Road, Pittsfield. The breakfast, set to begin at 7:30 a.m., will include the presentation of several awards for employee recognition, as well as the recognition of the community partner of the year, Richard Alcombright, former mayor of North Adams, longtime advocate for people with disabilities, and currently serving as vice president, Local Business & Customer Relations manager at MountainOne. Additionally, the chairman of the board will offer remarks on the organization’s continued expansion throughout the Berkshires and into Hampden and Hampshire counties. This year’s keynote address will be delivered by Chris May, an advocate and photographer with Down syndrome. This event is sponsored by Greylock Federal Credit Union. The cost is $10 per person. To attend the annual meeting, RSVP by Friday, April 20 to Carol Fox at (413) 664-9382, ext. 40, or [email protected], or online at www.bfair.org.

Document Shred Day

April 28: Kelley & Malmborg Investment Consulting Group announced it will host a document shred day event on Saturday, April 28 at 9 a.m. at the Northampton Senior Center, 67 Conz St. The event, co-hosted by Valley Green Shredding, is open to the public, with all proceeds going to the Northampton Senior Center. Shredding will be offered on a first-come, first-served basis until the truck is full or 11 a.m., whichever comes first. A maximum of three boxes per car will be accepted, with a $5 minimum donation. No household items, electronics, metal clips, or rubberbands will be accepted.

Financial-industry Forum

May 3: Training and Workforce Options (TWO), a partnership between Holyoke Community College and Springfield Technical Community College (STCC), will host an employer-engagement forum focused on the financial-services industry from 8 to 10 a.m. at STCC’s Scibelli Hall, Rooms 701 and 702. The forum will provide financial professionals with information on workforce-development training opportunities and related services offered by experienced trainers from HCC and STCC. TWO representatives also will discuss how regional businesses can secure Massachusetts Workforce Training Fund Grants to enhance training efforts for their workers. The forum is geared toward financial professionals and their businesses, with the goal of gathering input about workforce-development needs. The event is free, and refreshments will be provided. The deadline to register is April 27. To register, visit www.eventbrite.com and search ‘STCC.’

Community Shredding Day

May 11: The Hampden County Bar Assoc. is partnering with Pro-Shred Security and Century Investment Co. to hold a community shredding day from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Century Shopping Center, 219 Memorial Ave., West Springfield (to the right of Bob’s Discount Furniture). Shredding protects private information, and recycling helps the environment. This event is free and open to the public (four-box limit), with a donation of a non-perishable food item for a local food pantry.

Excel Skill Training

May 14-18: Tech Foundry will offer a four-day Excel skill training the week of May 14-18 (every day but May 16) from 9 a.m. to noon at 1391 Main St., ninth floor, Springfield. Because its first Excel class offered to area companies and their employees was such a success, Tech Foundry is eager to meet the Excel needs of more area employers and their employees. The class will cover advanced formulas; tables and formatting; conditional formatting; advanced charting; pivot tables and pivot reporting; VBA and macros; using Excel productively; data tables, simulations, and Solver; Excel integration; and optimizing Excel. The cost per student is $750. To register, e-mail [email protected]. Employers with fewer than 100 employees are eligible for a 50% tuition reimbursement from Commonwealth Corp.

NAMI Walkathon

May 20: The National Alliance on Mental Illness of Western Massachusetts will be holding its 18th annual walkathon, “A Journey of Hope and Recovery,” at Stanley Park’s Beveridge Pavilion Annex in Westfield from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. The walk is suitable for all ages and will directly benefit the continuing efforts of NAMI – Western Mass. to help improve the lives of individuals living with mental illness and their families. Among the festivities will be guest speakers, entertainment, refreshments, and raffles. For further information, call (413) 786-9139 or visit www.namiwm.org/events for entry and sponsorship forms. Volunteers are needed.

‘Thrive After 55’ Wellness Fair

June 15: State Sen. Eric Lesser and Health New England announced that they will host the second annual “Thrive After 55” Wellness Fair from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Springfield College’s Blake Athletic Complex, located at 263 Alden St., Springfield. The fair is free and open to the public. With more than 40 local organizations ranging from health and fitness to nutrition to elder law, the event will connect residents of the First Hampden & Hampshire District with information and resources to help them thrive. The free program includes a boxed lunch, educational seminars, hundreds of raffle prizes, and access to information and experts to talk to. To RSVP, call (413) 526-6501 or visit www.senatorlesser.com/thrive.

40 Under Forty Gala

June 21: BusinessWest’s 12th annual 40 Under Forty Gala is a celebration of 40 young business and civic leaders in Western Mass. The lavish cocktail party, to be held starting at 5:30 p.m. at the Log Cabin in Holyoke, will feature butlered hors d’oeuvres, food stations, and entertainment — and, of course, the presentation of the class of 2018, which will be unveiled in the April 30 issue of BusinessWest. The 40 Under Forty sponsors include PeoplesBank (presenting sponsor), Northwestern Mutual (presenting sponsor), Isenberg School of Management, the MP Group, Mercedes-Benz of Springfield, Health New England, Development Associates, Renew.Calm, and YPS of Greater Springfield (partner). Tickets will go on sale soon at $75 per person (tables of 10 available), and the event always sells out quickly. For more information, call (413) 781-8600, ext. 100, or e-mail [email protected]. Also at the gala, the fourth Continued Excellence Award honoree will be announced. Nominations will be received at businesswest.com/40-under-forty-continued-excellence-award until May 14. Candidates must hail from 40 Under Forty classes prior to the year of the award — in this case, classes 2007-17 — and will be judged on qualities including outstanding leadership, dedicated community involvement, professional achievement, and ability to inspire. The award’s presenting sponsor is Northwestern Mutual.

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

BERNARDSTON

155 Bald Mountain Road
Bernardston, MA 01337
Amount: $215,000
Buyer: James R. Ballard
Seller: Robert R. Raymond
Date: 03/23/18

BUCKLAND

44 Ashfield Road
Buckland, MA 01338
Amount: $268,000
Buyer: Robert G. Bartlett RET
Seller: Mary M. Bartlett TR
Date: 03/23/18

CONWAY

370 South Shirkshire Road
Conway, MA 01341
Amount: $255,000
Buyer: Raymond R. Atherton
Seller: Kurkulonis, Florence R., (Estate)
Date: 03/23/18

13 West Parsons Dr.
Conway, MA 01341
Amount: $191,000
Buyer: DKMA Consulting LLC
Seller: Wilmington Savings
Date: 03/16/18

DEERFIELD

27 Stillwater Road
Deerfield, MA 01373
Amount: $375,000
Buyer: Nancy I. King
Seller: Douglas G. Thacker
Date: 03/16/18

ERVING

17 Forest St.
Erving, MA 01344
Amount: $175,000
Buyer: Daniel J. Petrowicz
Seller: Dale J. Mathey
Date: 03/16/18

GILL

23 Oak St.
Gill, MA 01354
Amount: $131,200
Buyer: Citimortgage Inc.
Seller: Jeremy R. Wolfram
Date: 03/23/18

147 West Gill Road
Gill, MA 01354
Amount: $325,000
Buyer: Christopher M. Lapointe
Seller: Eleanor E. Underwood INT
Date: 03/23/18

GREENFIELD

224 Conway St.
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $151,000
Buyer: Deutsche Bank
Seller: Paul Weeden
Date: 03/20/18

30 Grinnell St.
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $278,000
Buyer: James Delorenzo
Seller: Melodie L. Goodwin
Date: 03/19/18

14 Haywood St.
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $211,000
Buyer: Ellis F. Taylor
Seller: Jerry C. Burgess
Date: 03/15/18

4 Plantation Circle
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $190,000
Buyer: Haley Connelley
Seller: Kimberly N. Nelson
Date: 03/14/18

119 Shelburne Road
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $158,000
Buyer: Matthew McCarthy
Seller: Matthew D. Parody
Date: 03/14/18

NORTHFIELD

136 Main St.
Northfield, MA 01360
Amount: $235,000
Buyer: Martin Witte
Seller: Greenfield Pilgrim 2 LLC
Date: 03/14/18

33 Strowbridge Road
Northfield, MA 01360
Amount: $230,000
Buyer: Charlene James
Seller: Donald R. Morin
Date: 03/12/18

ORANGE

80 East Road
Orange, MA 01364
Amount: $279,900
Buyer: Jason P. Vautour
Seller: Andrei Agapov
Date: 03/16/18

237 Magoon Road
Orange, MA 01364
Amount: $230,000
Buyer: Matthew R. Teto
Seller: Peter D. Whitmore
Date: 03/16/18

46 New Athol Road
Orange, MA 01364
Amount: $158,000
Buyer: Jason Farinoli
Seller: Claire A. Marcoux
Date: 03/15/18

726 South Main St.
Orange, MA 01364
Amount: $263,348
Buyer: HSBC Bank
Seller: Robert O. Hager
Date: 03/19/18

ROWE

122 Davenport Road
Rowe, MA 01367
Amount: $130,000
Buyer: Jessica C. Albrecht
Seller: Wendy A. Van-Kn
Date: 03/23/18

SHUTESBURY

508 Pratt Corner Road
Shutesbury, MA 01072
Amount: $289,900
Buyer: Nathan A. Schnarr
Seller: Carolyn C. Peelle
Date: 03/16/18

WARWICK

11 Orange Road
Warwick, MA 01378
Amount: $200,000
Buyer: Connor Anthony
Seller: Christopher E. Ryan
Date: 03/23/18

WHATELY

36 Poplar Hill Road
Whately, MA 01093
Amount: $365,000
Buyer: Nathaniel F. Anable RET
Seller: Allen Warner
Date: 03/19/18

HAMPDEN COUNTY

AGAWAM

52 Clematis Road
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $208,000
Buyer: Rositsa S. Botusheva
Seller: Jaime M. O’Connor
Date: 03/19/18

54 Dartmouth St.
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $146,780
Buyer: Bank Of America
Seller: Craig S. Skorupski
Date: 03/21/18

34 Day St.
Agawam, MA 01030
Amount: $200,000
Buyer: Venhar Nuhiu
Seller: Vignato, Carla E., (Estate)
Date: 03/12/18

252 Line St.
Agawam, MA 01030
Amount: $160,000
Buyer: Campagnari Construction
Seller: Provost, Lillian L., (Estate)
Date: 03/23/18

263 Meadow St.
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $130,000
Buyer: Michael Longhi
Seller: Mark C. Modzeleski
Date: 03/21/18

13 Parkview Dr.
Agawam, MA 01030
Amount: $128,166
Buyer: Michael W. Briggs
Seller: Deborah J. Briggs
Date: 03/22/18

143 Red Fox Dr.
Agawam, MA 01030
Amount: $245,000
Buyer: Philip J. Dubois
Seller: Jennifer L. Dubois
Date: 03/23/18

259 Silver St.
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $268,700
Buyer: Alan B. Lockery
Seller: James A. Argiro
Date: 03/21/18

215 Valley Brook Road
Agawam, MA 01030
Amount: $300,000
Buyer: Ahmet Cayan
Seller: Gayle A. Lombardini
Date: 03/15/18

BRIMFIELD

17 Old East Brimfield Road
Brimfield, MA 01010
Amount: $168,000
Buyer: Austin J. McIlveen
Seller: Jean M. Sullivan
Date: 03/15/18

183 Old Sturbridge Road
Brimfield, MA 01010
Amount: $318,000
Buyer: Frederick A. Potenti
Seller: Shawn E. Ryan
Date: 03/19/18

120 Tower Hill Road
Brimfield, MA 01010
Amount: $500,000
Buyer: Genise Jackson
Seller: Joanne M. Stuart
Date: 03/19/18

71 Tower Hill Road
Brimfield, MA 01010
Amount: $212,500
Buyer: Margaret Bresnahan
Seller: Erika Matos
Date: 03/23/18

138 Warren Road
Brimfield, MA 01010
Amount: $252,500
Buyer: Kristen M. Tirado
Seller: Jeremy J. Beu
Date: 03/16/18

CHESTER

475 Route 20
Chester, MA 01011
Amount: $325,000
Buyer: 475 Huntington Road Land TR
Seller: Joseph A. Kurtz
Date: 03/19/18

CHICOPEE

17 Artisan St.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $132,020
Buyer: Pennymac Loan Services
Seller: Fabiana Joseph
Date: 03/21/18

41 Beaumont Ave.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $163,000
Buyer: Kimberly Nogueras
Seller: Catherine M. Scribner
Date: 03/14/18

665 Burnett Road
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $212,500
Buyer: Mathew R. Burke
Seller: Viktor Moshkovskiy
Date: 03/22/18

250 Casey Dr.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $195,000
Buyer: Brandon O. Smith
Seller: April Y. Cloutier
Date: 03/14/18

14 Como Dr.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $225,000
Buyer: Raymond P. Arsenault
Seller: Candice S. Stefanelli
Date: 03/16/18

25 Fanwood Ave.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $159,900
Buyer: Travis R. Lelievre
Seller: Charmian M. Gibbs
Date: 03/21/18

11 Garrity St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $167,900
Buyer: Charlene Anderson
Seller: Steven A. Masse
Date: 03/20/18

133 Grattan St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $180,000
Buyer: Zachary R. Snyder
Seller: Margaret B. Hamel
Date: 03/23/18

113 Joy St.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $230,000
Buyer: Kevin T. Cabral
Seller: Michael L. Belisle
Date: 03/23/18

248 McCarthy Ave.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $226,000
Buyer: Kathleen M. Ludwig
Seller: Barbara A. Pare
Date: 03/22/18

904 Meadow St.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $232,200
Buyer: 904 Meadow Street LLC
Seller: Gail A. Collins
Date: 03/20/18

137 Muzzy St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $198,000
Buyer: Eduard A. Yanyuk
Seller: Rudolph Martinez
Date: 03/16/18

47 Oakridge St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $235,000
Buyer: Marilyn Harris
Seller: Maria Lee
Date: 03/14/18

61 Simonich Circle
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $153,190
Buyer: Hector J. Centeno
Seller: FNMA
Date: 03/12/18

68 Wheatland Ave.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $135,000
Buyer: Jan Poplawski
Seller: Elena Filatov
Date: 03/14/18

14 Wiley Ave.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $132,500
Buyer: Timothy D. Zantrofski
Seller: Warren C. Marriott
Date: 03/15/18

53 William St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $205,000
Buyer: James Clark
Seller: Richard G. Brisebois
Date: 03/22/18

21 Woodland Ave.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $159,000
Buyer: Gnobo Gnopo
Seller: Daniel M. Laduke
Date: 03/16/18

EAST LONGMEADOW

12 Cross Meadow Road
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $435,000
Buyer: Wallace A. Hurd
Seller: Steven N. Kravitz
Date: 03/15/18

17 Ericka Circle
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $435,000
Buyer: Jeremy J. Sullivan
Seller: Senecal, Barbara J., (Estate)
Date: 03/22/18

7 Taylor St.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $330,000
Buyer: Gregory A. Vatrano
Seller: Nu-Way Homes Inc.
Date: 03/12/18

GRANVILLE

154 South Lane
Granville, MA 01034
Amount: $215,000
Buyer: Lloyd R. Adkins
Seller: Printice Roberts-Toler
Date: 03/20/18

HAMPDEN

54 Ames Road
Hampden, MA 01036
Amount: $160,000
Buyer: Sawx Holdings LLC
Seller: Marth-E LLC
Date: 03/16/18

270 Wilbraham Road
Hampden, MA 01036
Amount: $177,500
Buyer: Martin Nachtigal
Seller: David W. Rackliffe
Date: 03/22/18

HOLLAND

9-11 Brimfield Road
Holland, MA 01521
Amount: $219,000
Buyer: Evelyn Bernier
Seller: Margaret L. Bresnahan
Date: 03/23/18

2 Collette Dr.
Holland, MA 01521
Amount: $448,000
Buyer: Jason J. Maccione
Seller: David Hemsworth
Date: 03/15/18

28 Craig Road
Holland, MA 01521
Amount: $125,000
Buyer: Jean M. Sullivan
Seller: Mark R. Allen
Date: 03/21/18

6 Park Road
Holland, MA 01521
Amount: $116,000
Buyer: Richard G. Johnson
Seller: Cheryl A. Farraher
Date: 03/12/18

HOLYOKE

94 Apremont Hwy.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $126,000
Buyer: River Valley Renovations
Seller: Mildred E. Odabashian
Date: 03/14/18

20-22 Gates St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $190,000
Buyer: Sasha M. Rodriguez
Seller: Jose M. Reyes
Date: 03/12/18

480 Hampden St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $650,000
Buyer: Allyn Enterprises LLC
Seller: O’Connell Properties Inc.
Date: 03/23/18

86 Knollwood Circle
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $270,000
Buyer: Andrey V. Okhrimenko
Seller: Martin W. Flynn
Date: 03/15/18

60 Longwood Ave.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $167,900
Buyer: Kelvin Lugo
Seller: Carey, Joanne M., (Estate)
Date: 03/16/18

74-76 Newton St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $125,000
Buyer: Boston Home Invest LLC
Seller: Yvon L. Leduc
Date: 03/15/18

473-489 Pleasant St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $225,000
Buyer: Quabbin ACM LLC
Seller: Holyoke Economic Development
Date: 03/15/18

489 Pleasant St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $525,000
Buyer: Salmar Realty LLC
Seller: Quabbin ACM LLC
Date: 03/15/18

495 Pleasant St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $225,000
Buyer: Quabbin ACM LLC
Seller: Holyoke Economic Development
Date: 03/15/18

145 West Meadowview Road
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $235,000
Buyer: Marcianna M. Caplis
Seller: Grace, Mollie J., (Estate)
Date: 03/20/18

LONGMEADOW

77 Colton Place
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $180,000
Buyer: Richard J. Corsi
Seller: Tracy J. Shanahan
Date: 03/12/18

128 Converse St.
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $167,310
Buyer: Moustafa I. Tahoun
Seller: Deutsche Bank
Date: 03/23/18

756 Longmeadow St.
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $331,500
Buyer: Jonathan Jordan
Seller: Gregory E. Blackman
Date: 03/16/18

LUDLOW

264 Alden St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $123,500
Buyer: Gina Mawyer
Seller: Wilmington Savings
Date: 03/20/18

27 Chapin Circle
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $224,900
Buyer: Dylan J. Sawabi
Seller: Michael F. Housden
Date: 03/23/18

794 Chapin St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $120,000
Buyer: Gary E. Zukowski
Seller: FNMA
Date: 03/16/18

43 Hampden St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $154,900
Buyer: Garrett J. Davis
Seller: Nicholas S. Bennet
Date: 03/16/18

42 Oak Knoll Circle
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $205,000
Buyer: Rosalee J. Peterson
Seller: Raymond M. Lynch
Date: 03/22/18

120 Piney Lane
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $281,500
Buyer: Robert M. Pafumi
Seller: Granger, Joseph R., (Estate)
Date: 03/19/18

116 River St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $140,000
Buyer: Steven J. McDaniel
Seller: Marie A. Bellisario
Date: 03/19/18

49 Warwick Dr.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $212,000
Buyer: Daniel Marinello
Seller: Ambrose, Sophie C., (Estate)
Date: 03/20/18

MONSON

23 Country Club Hts.
Monson, MA 01057
Amount: $200,000
Buyer: FNMA
Seller: Rita M. Schneider
Date: 03/21/18

57 High St.
Monson, MA 01057
Amount: $173,000
Buyer: William R. Bozenhard
Seller: Edward Coloske
Date: 03/16/18

374 Main St.
Monson, MA 01057
Amount: $300,000
Buyer: Michael D. Menard
Seller: Sandra F. Adams
Date: 03/15/18

20 Old Stagecoach Dr.
Monson, MA 01057
Amount: $327,000
Buyer: Gerardo Zayas
Seller: Jeffrey D. Walsh
Date: 03/12/18

PALMER

10 Christine St.
Palmer, MA 01069
Amount: $180,000
Buyer: Edward W. Stachowicz
Seller: Rainelle R. Chaisson
Date: 03/22/18

124 Flynt St.
Palmer, MA 01069
Amount: $172,500
Buyer: Daniel P. Belanger
Seller: Wendy R. Johnson
Date: 03/20/18

373 Rondeau St.
Palmer, MA 01069
Amount: $290,000
Buyer: Louis G. Beaudoin
Seller: Mark Godin
Date: 03/20/18

9 Sasur St.
Palmer, MA 01080
Amount: $125,000
Buyer: North Brookfield Savings Bank
Seller: Debra A. Geoffrion
Date: 03/23/18

SPRINGFIELD

77 Alwin Place
Springfield, MA 01128
Amount: $390,000
Buyer: Antonio A. Lewis
Seller: Grahams Construction Inc.
Date: 03/14/18

85 Amos Dr.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $202,000
Buyer: Patrick P. Rodgers
Seller: Meera Adhikari
Date: 03/16/18

298-302 Belmont Ave.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $340,000
Buyer: Aquarius Real Estate LLC
Seller: Michael Zheng
Date: 03/16/18

59 Belvidere St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $162,000
Buyer: Lisandra Zeno
Seller: Lisa Santaniello
Date: 03/15/18

142 Bridle Path Road
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $155,321
Buyer: US Bank
Seller: Peter J. Brady
Date: 03/20/18

60 Burton St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $148,572
Buyer: Deutsche Bank
Seller: Hazel Harvey
Date: 03/19/18

29 Carlton St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $153,500
Buyer: Alejandro Ruiz
Seller: Marilyn Harris
Date: 03/14/18

120 Central St.
Springfield, MA 01105
Amount: $1,610,000
Buyer: Central St. Holdings LLC
Seller: Masswest FTP LLC
Date: 03/16/18

28-30 Cherrelyn St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $135,000
Buyer: US Bank
Seller: Denny Arroyo
Date: 03/19/18

64 Coleman St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $155,000
Buyer: Chansamone K. Keoveunexay
Seller: Kathleen Strader
Date: 03/16/18

602-604 Dickinson St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $150,000
Buyer: Maria Rosario-Torres
Seller: Wilmington Savings
Date: 03/16/18

71 Dorset St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $160,000
Buyer: Victoria Sheppard
Seller: Amanda R. Trelease
Date: 03/23/18

98-100 Draper St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $116,500
Buyer: Junior Properties LLC
Seller: Wells Fargo Bank
Date: 03/22/18

733 East Columbus Ave.
Springfield, MA 01105
Amount: $650,000
Buyer: Bar South Land Holdings
Seller: Leonard E. Belcher Inc.
Date: 03/14/18

167 Ellsworth Ave.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $255,000
Buyer: Dave Biswa
Seller: Kristen M. Tirado
Date: 03/16/18

103 Federal St.
Springfield, MA 01105
Amount: $1,250,000
Buyer: Federal St. Holdings LLC
Seller: Masswest Trust Inc.
Date: 03/16/18

66-68 Fort Pleasant Ave.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $1,610,000
Buyer: Central St. Holdings LLC
Seller: Masswest FTP LLC
Date: 03/16/18

59 Garcia St.
Springfield, MA 01129
Amount: $162,900
Buyer: Kamari Williams
Seller: Adib Sayegh
Date: 03/23/18

90 Gardens Dr.
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $255,104
Buyer: US Bank
Seller: Francis Doyle
Date: 03/15/18

36 Graham St.
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $130,000
Buyer: Roger A. Lasky
Seller: Paul T. Sawyer
Date: 03/23/18

114 Huron St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $146,000
Buyer: Marie I. Colon
Seller: Vivian Pabon
Date: 03/23/18

50-52 Kensington Ave.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $169,050
Buyer: V&A Realty LLC
Seller: Springfield City Code
Date: 03/16/18

166 Kimberly Ave.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $158,000
Buyer: Stephanie Rougellis
Seller: David W. Edwards
Date: 03/14/18

26 Kittrell St.
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $226,000
Buyer: David Sherman
Seller: Ziohomz & Properties Inc.
Date: 03/16/18

21 Laurence St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $263,000
Buyer: Anderson Marti
Seller: Nu-Way Homes Inc.
Date: 03/23/18

695-697 Liberty St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $160,000
Buyer: Salmar Realty LLC
Seller: Marc R. Lamoureux
Date: 03/20/18

705 Liberty St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $160,000
Buyer: Salmar Realty LLC
Seller: Marc R. Lamoureux
Date: 03/20/18

221 Main St.
Springfield, MA 01105
Amount: $137,500
Buyer: Greater New Life Christ
Seller: Roman Catholic Bishop Of Springfield
Date: 03/22/18

43 Mandalay Road
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $195,000
Buyer: Sabrina N. Darby-Hayes
Seller: Judy Bergdoll
Date: 03/16/18

35 Matthew St.
Springfield, MA 01128
Amount: $190,000
Buyer: Priscilla Lopez
Seller: Lorna M. Lewis
Date: 03/14/18

5 Mattoon St.
Springfield, MA 01105
Amount: $200,000
Buyer: SASA LLC
Seller: Steven C. Miller
Date: 03/14/18

56-58 Maynard St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $185,000
Buyer: Annakay S. Smith
Seller: AAD LLC
Date: 03/14/18

52 Merrimac Ave.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $129,900
Buyer: Bryce Y. Lupien
Seller: Reginald Green
Date: 03/23/18

28 Moore St.
Springfield, MA 01107
Amount: $152,000
Buyer: Yelitza M. Fernandez
Seller: Cruz Rosario
Date: 03/15/18

160 Moss Road
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $130,000
Buyer: Tamara Carr
Seller: Ward Benson
Date: 03/15/18

324 Naismith St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $171,000
Buyer: Linda N. Clemons
Seller: USA HUD
Date: 03/23/18

77 Parkside St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $165,000
Buyer: Ana Jalowski
Seller: Amat Victoria Curam LLC
Date: 03/14/18

90 Pheasant Dr.
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $215,000
Buyer: Adib J. Sayegh
Seller: Florentino Colon
Date: 03/23/18

85-91 Putnam Circle
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $175,000
Buyer: Hedge Hog Industries Corp.
Seller: Antonio M. Francisco
Date: 03/21/18

159-161 Quincy St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $167,000
Buyer: Seyedmohammad Mavadati
Seller: Cesario M. Ferreira
Date: 03/20/18

109 Ravenwood St.
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $149,500
Buyer: Fernando S. Alves
Seller: Rosa R. Santos
Date: 03/16/18

78-80 Rittenhouse Terrace
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $186,225
Buyer: Michael Santos-Lopez
Seller: Carlos J. Aguasvivas
Date: 03/14/18

406 Saint James Ave.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $170,000
Buyer: Kedean K. Hines
Seller: JJS Capital Investment
Date: 03/20/18

50 Saint Lawrence Ave.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $143,000
Buyer: Nehal Parekh
Seller: S&C Homebuyers LLC
Date: 03/21/18

49 School St.
Springfield, MA 01105
Amount: $2,100,000
Buyer: School St Holdings LLC
Seller: Masswest Properties Inc.
Date: 03/16/18

17 Spruceland Ave.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $210,000
Buyer: Hector M. Cruz
Seller: Michael J. Fleming
Date: 03/23/18

27 Surrey Road
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $151,000
Buyer: Hamid Boutouil
Seller: Stephanie L. Sule
Date: 03/21/18

76 Surrey Road
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $140,000
Buyer: Patrick J. Sullivan
Seller: Samantha E. Stevens
Date: 03/19/18

88 Surrey Road
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $155,000
Buyer: Jeffrey S. Darragh
Seller: Luz Lazala
Date: 03/23/18

14 Van Horn Place
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $125,000
Buyer: Faustino B. Garcia
Seller: Ana Z. Jerez
Date: 03/16/18

26 Warner St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $200,000
Buyer: Greenfield Development
Seller: Zhengs 168 Group LLC
Date: 03/16/18

46 Wellesley St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $171,000
Buyer: Tanya M. Morales
Seller: Joseph Wanyama
Date: 03/22/18

173 Westminster St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $184,250
Buyer: AAD LLC
Seller: AAD LLC
Date: 03/15/18

164 Winton St.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $156,000
Buyer: Tuan Dao
Seller: Christopher E. Rosso
Date: 03/15/18

SOUTHWICK

Gableview #15
Southwick, MA 01077
Amount: $127,000
Buyer: Anthony Wheeler
Seller: Laplante Construction Inc.
Date: 03/22/18

5 Gillette Ave.
Southwick, MA 01077
Amount: $240,000
Buyer: Danielle B. Sullivan
Seller: Albert C. Distefano
Date: 03/15/18

Hudson Dr.
Southwick, MA 01077
Amount: $270,000
Buyer: Local 98 Engineers TR
Seller: Lane Construction Corp.
Date: 03/16/18

8 Junction Station Road #8
Southwick, MA 01077
Amount: $365,000
Buyer: Gayle A. Lombardini
Seller: 20 Depot Square LLC
Date: 03/15/18

85 North Longyard Road
Southwick, MA 01077
Amount: $200,000
Buyer: William A. Brown
Seller: Cheryl B. Taylor
Date: 03/16/18

23 Pine Knoll
Southwick, MA 01077
Amount: $369,900
Buyer: Brian R. Pray
Seller: Lilia Mereshko
Date: 03/16/18

282 South Loomis St.
Southwick, MA 01077
Amount: $126,000
Buyer: Vanessa Filiault
Seller: Deutsche Bank
Date: 03/16/18

WEST SPRINGFIELD

27-33 Bradford Dr.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $2,600,000
Buyer: Homelike Management LLC
Seller: Home-Like Apartments Inc.
Date: 03/15/18

27 Brookside Dr.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $146,000
Buyer: CIG 2 LLC
Seller: Slowick, John R., (Estate)
Date: 03/23/18

71 Cayenne St.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $124,900
Buyer: Murad Drifish
Seller: Bayview Loan Servicing
Date: 03/12/18

24 Craig Dr.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $5,400,000
Buyer: Homelike Management LLC
Seller: Home-Like Apartments Inc.
Date: 03/15/18

1126 Elm St.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $250,000
Buyer: 1126 LLC
Seller: Morgan Group LLC
Date: 03/15/18

22 Garden St.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $195,000
Buyer: Chap & Lane LLC
Seller: Laura A. Martin
Date: 03/15/18

79 Grove St.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $255,000
Buyer: Natasha Rodriguez
Seller: Justin M. Grenon
Date: 03/22/18

29 Monastery Ave.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $219,900
Buyer: Daniel Barci
Seller: Alan J. Hitchcock
Date: 03/15/18

41 Old Westfield Road
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $357,500
Buyer: Tony Vo
Seller: Valery Shvetsov
Date: 03/23/18

127 Pine St.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $115,000
Buyer: Junior Properties LLC
Seller: Patrice A. Curtis
Date: 03/16/18

1285 Riverdale St.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $800,000
Buyer: 1285 Riverdale Street LLC
Seller: Richard Gorecki
Date: 03/12/18

WESTFIELD

65 Butternut Road
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $300,000
Buyer: Andrey Krasun
Seller: Joseph J. Zelez
Date: 03/12/18

14 Day Ave.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $230,000
Buyer: Michael F. Tierney
Seller: Joseph G. Flahive
Date: 03/22/18

63 Gloria Dr.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $419,900
Buyer: Corey J. Mackey
Seller: Jason S. Steele
Date: 03/23/18

24 Joyce Dr.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $203,000
Buyer: Garett Parker
Seller: Ruben Gomez
Date: 03/23/18

18 King St.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $230,000
Buyer: Leonid V. Semenov
Seller: Oleg Rebenko
Date: 03/15/18

4 Linda Dr.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $296,000
Buyer: Justin M. Grenon
Seller: Patriot Living LLC
Date: 03/22/18

362 Montgomery Road
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $310,000
Buyer: James T. Antil
Seller: Eileen M. Scully
Date: 03/21/18

130 Park Dr.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $288,000
Buyer: Kathryn M. Chicorka
Seller: Edwin S. Pemberton
Date: 03/14/18

229 Pontoosic Road
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $575,000
Buyer: Richard Mahan
Seller: Mark G. Mastroianni
Date: 03/23/18

120 Sandy Hill Road
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $174,900
Buyer: Joseph Lemay
Seller: Andrew T. Mcalary
Date: 03/22/18

157 Shaker Road
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $180,000
Buyer: Edward B. Lenza
Seller: Cincotta, Florence, (Estate)
Date: 03/16/18

16 Victoria Circle
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $481,408
Buyer: US Bank
Seller: James F. Boudreau
Date: 03/14/18

254 Western Ave.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $250,000
Buyer: Michele Miller
Seller: Frederick J. Wilkins
Date: 03/16/18

154 Yeoman Ave.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $193,000
Buyer: Michael A. Hotham
Seller: Michael P. O’Connell
Date: 03/12/18

WILBRAHAM

7 Lance Lane
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $225,000
Buyer: Vincent L. Michaud
Seller: Gloria B. Pires
Date: 03/16/18

8 Southwood Road
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $360,000
Buyer: Timothy P. Alben
Seller: William R. Withington
Date: 03/12/18

652 Springfield St.
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $149,000
Buyer: Nancy Chapdelaine
Seller: Alan K. Karplus
Date: 03/12/18

HAMPSHIRE COUNTY

AMHERST

197 Amity St.
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $645,000
Buyer: Noah C. Elkin
Seller: John Steven Judge TR
Date: 03/16/18

16 Eames Ave.
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $440,000
Buyer: Thomas R. Dunlap
Seller: 220 North East Street LLC
Date: 03/19/18

92-94 High St.
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $368,000
Buyer: Nathan K. Salwen
Seller: Ciba LLC
Date: 03/20/18

1174 Bay Road
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $308,500
Buyer: Nora Grais-Clements
Seller: Lucas F. Chaufournier
Date: 03/15/18

44 Hitching Post Road
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $345,000
Buyer: Christopher M. Rose
Seller: Bettina K. Maki
Date: 03/15/18

487 Main St.
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $280,000
Buyer: Historic Renovations
Seller: Abramson, Charles E., (Estate)
Date: 03/20/18

427 Old Farm Road
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $386,500
Buyer: Anna Liu
Seller: Olmedo A. Gomez
Date: 03/22/18

26 Valley Lane
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $206,500
Buyer: KTS Partners LLC
Seller: Killan, Eleanor, (Estate)
Date: 03/16/18

BELCHERTOWN

21 Catherine Dr.
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $475,000
Buyer: Center For Human Development
Seller: Shelterwood Management
Date: 03/20/18

570 Franklin St.
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $125,000
Buyer: Btown Project LLC
Seller: Raymond P. Lagrant
Date: 03/14/18

211 Michael Sears Road
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $275,000
Buyer: Roger Crochetiere
Seller: Mark P. Brownell
Date: 03/12/18

188 North St.
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $280,000
Buyer: Sean Hayward
Seller: David S. Scott
Date: 03/23/18

EASTHAMPTON

5 Ely Ave.
Easthampton, MA 01027
Amount: $225,000
Buyer: Judith H. March
Seller: Charles A. Elfman
Date: 03/22/18

9 Florence Road
Easthampton, MA 01027
Amount: $175,000
Buyer: Nicholas D. Duprey
Seller: Peters, Gus, (Estate)
Date: 03/20/18

11 Knight Ave.
Easthampton, MA 01027
Amount: $208,780
Buyer: Wilmington Savings
Seller: Kristen L. Shrout
Date: 03/12/18

20 Melinda Lane
Easthampton, MA 01027
Amount: $160,000
Buyer: New England Remodeling
Seller: FNMA
Date: 03/21/18

11 Stone Path Lane
Easthampton, MA 01027
Amount: $229,000
Buyer: Barbara A. Yanke
Seller: Gary R. Campbell
Date: 03/16/18

GRANBY

274 Batchelor St.
Granby, MA 01033
Amount: $369,900
Buyer: Matthew Johnson
Seller: Daniel M. Kane
Date: 03/23/18

251 Carver St.
Granby, MA 01033
Amount: $420,000
Buyer: Michael L. Belisle
Seller: Richard J. Mahan
Date: 03/23/18

26 Cold Hill Dr.
Granby, MA 01033
Amount: $140,000
Buyer: Ralph H. Hedrick
Seller: Christine D. Anop
Date: 03/19/18

HADLEY

51 Rocky Hill Road
Hadley, MA 01035
Amount: $355,000
Buyer: Khursheed Karim
Seller: David Lavalle
Date: 03/15/18

HATFIELD

68 Linseed Road
Hatfield, MA 01088
Amount: $285,000
Buyer: Curtis T. Panlilio
Seller: John A. Jackowski
Date: 03/16/18

NORTHAMPTON

9 Beaver Brook Loop #9
Northampton, MA 01053
Amount: $160,000
Buyer: Constantine Y. Voyevidka
Seller: Beaver Brook NT
Date: 03/12/18

157 Bridge St.
Northampton, MA 01060
Amount: $343,750
Buyer: Louise J. Caputo
Seller: Vincent L. Michaud
Date: 03/14/18

15 Cedar St.
Northampton, MA 01060
Amount: $383,500
Buyer: Jane G. Rothberg
Seller: Micala Sidore
Date: 03/12/18

26 Golden Dr.
Northampton, MA 01062
Amount: $244,000
Buyer: Elle VanCott
Seller: Kolodzinski, Edwin A., (Estate)
Date: 03/16/18

534 North King St.
Northampton, MA 01060
Amount: $254,000
Buyer: Richard Rodriguez
Seller: Anthony G. Nardone
Date: 03/21/18

Rocky Hill Road
Northampton, MA 01060
Amount: $270,000
Buyer: Rene Theberge
Seller: Kyle J. Scott
Date: 03/15/18

508 Sylvester Road
Northampton, MA 01062
Amount: $350,750
Buyer: Zachary J. Swan
Seller: Christine Barbuto
Date: 03/20/18

211 Westhampton Road
Northampton, MA 01062
Amount: $239,150
Buyer: Katherine M. Downs 2016 TR
Seller: Sharon E. Fagan
Date: 03/16/18

PELHAM

7 Country Lane
Pelham, MA 01002
Amount: $270,000
Buyer: Mary Moore-Cathcart
Seller: Sally F. Goldin
Date: 03/15/18

SOUTH HADLEY

19 Bunker Hill
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $160,000
Buyer: David L. Brunelle
Seller: Barbara D. Schwartz
Date: 03/15/18

49 Noel St.
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $289,000
Buyer: Olmedo A. Gomez
Seller: Gilroy Property Renewal
Date: 03/22/18

7 Warner St.
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $285,000
Buyer: Garrett J. Moulton
Seller: Steven K. Eckman
Date: 03/22/18

5 Wellesley Circle
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $257,500
Buyer: Joel J. Marchand
Seller: Pearl A. Rogers
Date: 03/12/18

SOUTHAMPTON

66 Line St.
Southampton, MA 01073
Amount: $265,000
Buyer: Brandon R. Laliberte
Seller: Amanda M. St.Laurence
Date: 03/23/18

WARE

Berkshire Dr.
Ware, MA 01082
Amount: $287,000
Buyer: Brian P. Abrams
Seller: Harold O. Graves 2000 RET
Date: 03/16/18

122 Greenwich Plains Road
Ware, MA 01082
Amount: $162,500
Buyer: Stephen R. Krupa
Seller: Krupa, Colleen M., (Estate)
Date: 03/19/18

60-62 Pleasant St.
Ware, MA 01082
Amount: $135,000
Buyer: Melanie C. Dodge
Seller: Shane E. Ryan
Date: 03/15/18

14 Shady Path
Ware, MA 01082
Amount: $235,000
Buyer: Dale W. Schleis
Seller: A. Joseph Harnois
Date: 03/15/18

Opinion

Opinion

By Brad McDougall

The Massachusetts Legislature recently passed a criminal-justice reform bill that narrows the ability of employers to research the criminal records of job applicants, but also provides legal protection from negligent-hiring claims to companies that are unable to view a sealed criminal record.

The state Senate and House of Representatives both passed the measure with overwhelming majorities. Gov. Charlie Baker must now decide to sign or veto it.

Inclusion of the negligent-hiring provision grew out of discussions brokered by Associated Industries of Massachusetts (AIM) last summer between sponsors of the bill and employers who rely upon criminal background checks through the state Criminal Offender Records Information (CORI) system. The provision protects employers that conduct background checks and end up hiring individuals with criminal records that are sealed, expunged, or no longer available to employers.

Among its key elements, the reform bill:

• Accelerates the ability of offenders to seal records from 10 years to seven years for felonies and from five years to three years for misdemeanors;

• Raises the threshold that defines felony larceny from $250 to $1200, thus classifying more cases as misdemeanors that can be quickly sealed or expunged;

• Assures that cases dismissed before arraignment do not appear on criminal records;

• Assures that youthful-offender cases tried in juvenile court are treated as juvenile instead of adult CORI;

• Allows expungement of non-serious cases up to age 21 (both juveniles and young adults); and

• Prevents employers from inquiring about sealed or expunged cases.

Organizations that serve vulnerable populations, such as school systems or nursing homes, would continue to have broader access to criminal records.

Brad McDougall is vice president of Government Affairs for Associated Industries of Massachusetts.

Daily News

REVERE – Continuing its commitment to working with communities and local partners to prevent and prepare for climate change, the Baker-Polito Administration today announced $5 million in supplemental funding for the Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness (MVP) Program.

The grant and designation program, which was created last year as part of Gov. Baker’s Executive Order 569, provides communities with funding, technical support, climate change data and planning tools to identify hazards, develop strategies to improve resilience, and implement priority actions to adapt to climate change.

Baker recently filed legislation that would put the MVP Program into law, as well as authorize more than $1.4 billion in capital allocations for investments in safeguarding residents, municipalities and businesses from the impacts of climate change, protecting environmental resources, and investing in communities.

To further assist communities in planning for climate change impacts, the Baker-Polito Administration has also launched a new website, resilient MA Climate Clearinghouse,which will provide communities access to the best science and data on expected climate change impacts, information on planning and actions communities can deploy to build resiliency and avoid loss, and links to important grant programs and technical assistance.

The site, which was built with data developed through a partnership between EEA, the Northeast Climate Center at UMass-Amherst and the Northeast States for Coordinated Air Use Management, provides access to statewide climate change projections showing how temperature, precipitation and sea level rise will change through the end of the century, which any user can overlay with other data of interest, including information on emergency facilities, infrastructure and natural resources.

“The Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness program and our new Climate Clearinghouse website are a vital part of our administration’s efforts to further reduce greenhouse gas emissions and safeguard residents, municipalities and businesses from the impacts of climate change,” said Gov. Baker. “These resources will ensure all Massachusetts communities have access to the best data and planning tools to make scientifically-sound and cost-effective decisions as they work to prepare for the challenges ahead.”

Through the MVP Program, municipalities work through a community-based workshop process to identify key climate-related hazards, vulnerabilities and strengths, develop adaptation actions, and prioritize next steps. Results of the workshops and planning efforts are then used to inform existing local plans, grant applications, budgets, and policies. Upon successful completion of the program, municipalities are designated as a “Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness (MVP) Program Community,” and are eligible for follow-up grant funding and other opportunities. There are currently 74 MVP communities across the state, representing over 20% of the state’s municipalities.

“The changing climate will have significant impacts from the hills of the Berkshires to the Cape and Islands, so we encourage all communities in every corner of the state to apply for the MVP program,” said Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Matthew Beaton. “The Climate Clearinghouse website will also provide an incrediblyimportant tool to help our state and local officials understand how the climate is projected to change over the next century and what risks different part of the state will be dealing with, and allow us to better work with cities and towns, local agencies, organizations, and institutions across the state to plan and adapt for the future.”

Daily News

WESTFIELD — Eight Westfield State University students traveled to the annual Sigma Tau Delta Convention, held recently in Cincinnati.

Accompanied by English Professors Glen Brewster, Ph.D., and Elizabeth Strr Ph.D., were Jamie Boucher of East Bridgewater, Elizabeth LBruna of Enfield, Ashley Linnehan of Merrimac, Christine Luongo of Marshfield, Katie Morris of Avon, Elizabeth Potter of Warren, Morgan Stabile of Westfield, and Lilly Whalen of Plymouth.

Sigma Tau Delta is the English Honor Society that strives to recognize excellence in all areas of English language and literature studies, encourage further achievement in these areas, provide cultural stimulation on college campuses, and foster all aspects of the disciplines of English, including literature, language, and writing.

Every spring, Sigma Tau Delta holds its annual international convention, an event that allows members and sponsors from all over to share experiences and expertise, be recognized for their achievements, and participate in the official proceedings of the Society. The convention also provides opportunities to discover new ideas in English and English-related disciplines, while engaging with speakers, presenters, and texts.

Everyone that submits to present entered in a contest for best paper of their respective categories. Potter was awarded first place for Creative Non-Fiction and in this year’s elections, and Linnehan was elected as associate student representative for the Eastern Region.

WSU’s chapter of STD has been helping students attend this annual convention for over 15 years. Students who attend the convention are members of the honor society, which requires them to have taken at least two classes in English beyond their first-year writing courses. In those classes, students must have at least a 3.0 and should be in the top 35 percent of their class.

Daily News

WESTBOROUGH  Columbia Gas of Massachusetts, a subsidiary of NiSource Inc., last week filed a petition with the Mass. Department of Public Utilities (DPU) to increase annual revenues by $24.1 million, representing a 3.9% increase in current operating revenues.

If approved by the DPU, the change would impact the annual gas bill for a typical residential heating customer by an average of $4.95 per month, or 3.6%.  The revised rates take effect March 1, 2019.  In the first year after the rates take effect, the $9.1 million refund due to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act will reduce the customer bill impact to an average of $2.80 per month, or 2%.

The request addresses increases in operating and maintenance costs incurred to comply with increasingly stringent federal and state regulatory mandates and capital costs incurred to upgrade gas infrastructure since the last time Columbia Gas changed its rates in 2016.  The DPU decision is expected by Feb. 28, 2019, with rates taking effect March 1, 2019.

The Columbia Gas request is reduced by the impact of the federal Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which became effective on Jan. 1, 2018. The request includes a proposal for a refund to customers of $9.1 million, beginning on the effective date of the revised rates, related to the benefit of the tax cut as of Jan. 1, 2018. This $9.1 million refund will partially offset the $24.1 million increase in the first year the revised rates are in effect.

The Columbia Gas request for additional revenues conforms to the standard process through which a regulated utility seeks upgrades to its operating platform for the long-term benefit of customers, the company said in a prepared statement announcing the request. The Columbia Gas modernization efforts focus on eliminating the greatest areas of risk on its distribution system, including continuing efforts to build an organization to oversee the replacement of aging infrastructure. These efforts are designed to optimize the efficient distribution of gas and enhance quality assurance.

Replacing leak-prone infrastructure is a leading priority. However, it will take a number of years to eliminate the aging pipe from the gas distribution system, the company said. In view of this, the regulatory landscape is moving to a period of more stringent regulation, operations and maintenance activities, and active enforcement to assure the integrity of the distribution system through continuous improvement activities. “Our core business is to build and maintain the infrastructure necessary to deliver natural gas in a safe, reliable and cost-efficient manner to our 321,000 customers in the 65 cities and towns we serve,” said Steve Bryant, President and Chief Operating Officer of Columbia Gas of Massachusetts. “Columbia Gas has responded diligently to directives from the Mass. Department of Public Utilities Pipeline Engineering and Safety Division and lessons learned from historical operations. We have made organizational and work practice changes to meet this important public safety challenge and our continuous improvement efforts have involved every aspect of the Company’s operations.

“These changes involve more work, and therefore, more labor and labor-related costs, including ongoing comprehensive employee training,” he went on. “A new state-of-the-art training facility built in Shrewsbury ensures that our workforce is obtaining the skills and capabilities necessary to achieve full compliance with pipeline safety regulations while executing best practices. To accommodate the resources needed to carry out the increasing volumes of construction activity, we are positioning a new Construction facility in Wrentham to house construction resources, designed with features that optimize operating safety for employees and outside service contractors.”

The filing marks the beginning of the public process of rate setting for a utility, as required by the DPU.  Evidentiary hearings on the filing will be held within the next several months.

Daily News

SPRINGFIELD — The Women’s Fund of Western Massachusetts (WFWM) will host its annual Women Lead Change: A Celebration of the Leadership Institute for Political and Public Impact (LIPPI) Class of 2018 on June 4 at the Log Cabin in Holyoke.

The event features a keynote address by Northampton Police Chief Jody Kasper. The Women’s Fund will present Kasper with the ‘She Changes the World’ award, honoring her exceptional contributions for leading not only her local department, but also leading on a national level with regard to transparent data, hiring practices, and other local initiatives that have shaped community policing for the better.

More than 300 guests are expected at the annual celebration of graduates of the Women’s Fund LIPPI program, the only leadership program of its kind in the Commonwealth. The event recognizes the accomplishments of the 31 graduates of the LIPPI Class of 2018, who have participated in 11 educational sessions over nine months designed to address the shortage of women stepping into public leadership. LIPPI gives women tools and confidence to become more involved civic leaders and to impact policy on the local, state, and national levels. Proceeds for this annual event empower the Women’s Fund’s mission.

“We’re thrilled to host our distinguished awardee and celebrate 31 highly-qualified women into the growing ranks of LIPPI alumnae across the Commonwealth,” said Donna Haghighat, WFWM CEO. “We’re excited to spotlight Chief Kasper as a leader who is breaking barriers and who serves as a great role model for other women and girls. Chief Kasper credits her own participation in the LIPPI program for giving her the confidence to raise her hand and step into her leadership role.”

LIPPI graduates range in age from 18 to over 60 and represent a wide spectrum of backgrounds and ethnic groups. They originate from cities and towns across Massachusetts, from the Berkshires to the Boston area. LIPPI alumnae form a strong cohort of women who support one other when they run for office, meet with policy makers, form coalitions, and lead get-out-the-vote efforts.

Kasper was born and raised in Western Mass. She attended Mohawk Trail Regional High School, Greenfield Community College, and Westfield State University. At Westfield she earned a master’s degree in criminal justice and a second master’s degree in Public Administration.

She began her career with the Northampton Police Department in 1998 as a patrol officer. She was part of the Bike Patrol Unit, was a Field Training Officer, a detective, a sergeant, a lieutenant, the detective lieutenant, the captain of Operations, and was appointed as chief in June 2015.

Daily News

SPRINGFIELD — CHI Insurance Agency Inc. announced the opening of an additional office location in downtown Springfield. The office, located at 1684 Main St., is the former Joseph Chernaik Insurance Agency. The Springfield location is the fourth CHI office, with other locations in Holyoke, Westfield, and South Hadley.

Auto insurance will continue to be offered, and additional insurance products have been added and are available out of 1684 Main St. In addition to new staff and updated systems, customers now have the opportunity to purchase coverages for home, business, life, and specialty lines.

All locations are bilingual and offer complete insurance products. CHI services clients throughout the Pioneer Valley with all of their insurance needs, and represents most major insurance carriers.

Daily News

AMHERST — On Friday, April 20, the Family Business Center of Pioneer Valley will offer a workshop led by Paul Silva, co-founder of Valley Venture Mentors and founder of Launch 413 and Lean Innovation Institute. The topic is “How to Get Back That Startup Feeling That Is So Easily Lost, Once You’re Up and Running, and Managing More Than Leading.” Participants will emerge from this session with an urgency to get back to their roots. Attendance will be limited to 20 to ensure intimacy and interactivity.

Next, 11 Valley entrepreneurs will present “Short Stories That Show How Passion Is at the Heart of Why They Do Business” during the Tuesday, April 24 dinner forum of the Family Business Center. Using a method called Pecha Kucha, each speaker will have six minutes and 40 seconds to show 20 images, for 20 seconds each, to tell their tale. The center invites business owners to attend the dinner forum, and to consider joining for their ongoing education by experts and peers.

For more education about either event or the center itself, contact Ira Bryck at (413) 835-0810 or [email protected].

Daily News

HOLYOKE — Homework House will present its third annual Adult Spelling Bee today, April 12, at 5:30 p.m. at Gateway City Arts, 92 Race St., Holyoke. The community event supports the work of Homework House, whose mission is to provide individualized tutoring and mentoring to Holyoke children who need help reaching their grade-level requirements in math and reading.

Emceed by state Rep. Aaron Vega, the spelling bee will feature 34 teams representing many sectors of the greater Holyoke community, including the PeoplesBee’ers from PeoplesBank and the Knowledgeably Buzzed of the Holyoke School Committee. Celebrity judges, including Sheriff Nick Cocchi, Holyoke City Councilor Nelson Roman, and Homework House parent Natasha Rivera, will be tasked with making sure that the teams are spelling their words correctly. This year’s event is underwritten with the support of PeoplesBank.

Teams are encouraged to come up with creative names and dress up in costumes, and the winning team will receive a trophy. Tickets can be purchased online for $25 at www.homeworkhousebee.com or for $30 at the door.

Daily News

BOSTON — Gov. Charlie Baker announced Patrick Carnevale as director of the Governor’s Western Mass. Office in Springfield. Carnevale brings almost 20 years of experience in public service and will be the administration’s primary liaison between Western Mass. constituents and communities.

“Our Springfield office serves as an important connector to support our constituents, local leaders, and municipalities in Western Massachusetts,” Baker said. “With almost two decades of public service and his role in overseeing emergency management for Western Massachusetts, Patrick is uniquely qualified to lead the office, and we are proud to welcome him to our team.”

Added Carnevale, “the communities and people of Western Massachusetts have much to offer the Commonwealth, and I am pleased to contribute to furthering the administration’s important work in the region.”

With 18 years of public service in the Commonwealth, Carnevale has spent much of his career in emergency-preparedness response and recovery. He most recently served as regional manager for the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency (MEMA), where he was responsible for emergency management in Central and Western Mass. Since 2002, he has held multiple roles in the State Emergency Operations Center, responding to natural disasters, developing and implementing municipal preparedness plans, allocating state and federal funding and grants, and improving emergency management in 161 communities.

Carnevale graduated with a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts in North Adams and received his MBA from Western New England University. He also attended the National Preparedness Leadership Initiative and the National Preparedness Leadership in Homeland Security at Harvard University. He holds 14 certificates relating to emergency-preparedness disaster management from the Emergency Management Institute, the National Hurricane Center, and MEMA.