Home 2018 April (Page 4)

Month: April 2018

A New Springfield: Behind the Numbers

By
Opinion

Editorial

Since Kevin Kennedy took over as Springfield’s chief Development officer in 2011, he has staged annual “economic-development updates,” as he calls them, in conjunction with the Springfield Regional Chamber of Commerce. The latest one, as you likely know, was staged late last month.

These sessions are, quite obviously, very positive in tone — and there is a discernable cheerleading quality to the proceedings. Some have said this exercise is more of a pep rally than it is an update.

Whatever. The bottom line in this case is the bottom line, as in the total amount of public and private investment in the city since the June 2011 tornado. And that number is now $3.76 billion, which is impressive no matter how you slice it.

It is that large, and that impressive, because of a confluence of eight- and even nine-figure projects that are truly generational in size and scope. These include the $950 million MGM project, certainly, but also the $250 million I-91 viaduct project, and the Union Station renovation initiative and the CRRC railcar factory in East Springfield, both nearly $100 million projects.

But maybe the most impressive thing about that investment total is how much it has grown since last year — more than $450 million, a number that includes large projects announced by MassMutual ($50 million in Springfield, $300 million statewide), Big Y ($35 million), among others.

But what’s more impressive, in our view, are all the smaller but still very significant six- and seven-figure projects that contribute meaningfully to that investment total but also to something even more important — that non-qualitative measure known as momentum.

That list of smaller projects is large and includes everything from the new Dr. Seuss Museum and planned expansion of the Basketball Hall of Fame to new solar-energy plants; from Stearns Square renovation efforts to the restoration of Pynchon Park; from a host of infrastructure projects to a new library in East Forest Park; from the purchase of the old Willys facility in the so-called ‘blast zone’ to the new branch of the UMass Medical School.

It all adds up, and, as we said, not just to a big number that planning officials can toss out at their annual gathering. It also adds to all-important momentum and the sense that Springfield is putting its recent past behind it.

And those numbers do something else, too. They corroborate and validate a broad economic-development strategy — one that uses public investment in everything from transportation to infrastructure; from park projects (like Pynchon Park) to development and cultural districts to generate private investment.

Moving forward, it’s highly improbable that the city will see that investment total increase by nearly a half-billion dollars, although that’s certainly possible.

Smaller increases are far more likely moving forward, and the key is to keep them coming. Now that the city has laid the track, if you will, a phrase Kennedy himself likes to use, the challenge (actually the mandate) is to keep traffic moving on those tracks.

That’s why plans for an aggressive marketing plan are so important. There were a few hundred people at CityStage to hear the economic-development update. A much larger audience needs to hear all they heard — about new building projects, employers choosing to come here, school dropout rates falling, and a city enjoying a huge comeback.

The headlines about this latest update were all about the numbers — or that one big number, $3.76 billion. And that’s understandable. As we said, it’s impressive.

More impressive, though, it’s what’s behind those numbers — a solid strategy that is working.

Home Values Drive Economy in Longmeadow

By
Community Spotlight Features

Community Spotlight

Stephen Crane says keeping Longmeadow’s residential property values up is key — moreso than in most towns — to generating the revenue to fund municipal projects.

Stephen Crane says keeping Longmeadow’s residential property values up is key — moreso than in most towns — to generating the revenue to fund municipal projects.

In a town where more than 95% of all property is residential, economic development isn’t about attracting a flood of new businesses to town — if only because there’s nowhere to put them. So Longmeadow takes a different tack.

“Our single biggest economic-development activity is the sale of single-family homes,” Town Manager Stephen Crane told BusinessWest. “So what actions can we take in the town government to sustain those sales and make Longmeadow a desirable community to live in? Foremost among those activities is maintaining our world-class school district, but there are other quality-of-life areas that demand and receive our attention.”

In simple terms, he explained, in a community so heavily weighted toward housing, the ability to provide a high level of services depends on property values.

“If property values go up, it relieves a lot of pressure. So, how do we keep property values going up?” he said, noting that, for starters, Longmeadow officials are looking to coordinate a “real-estate summit” with local agents to talk about quality-of-life matters, school issues, and anything else they see driving — or holding back — home sales.

“There are different things we can do,” he continued. “We can’t roll out large-scale economic projects, so our efforts are really micro-efforts, and there are many of them. Combined, they make a difference, though, individually, they look like pretty small things. If we do as many of them as we can, they can have a meaningful impact on the community.”

One example of that deals with foreclosed and vacant property registrations, Crane explained. “We had noticed an uptick in foreclosed and vacant homes that were causing blighting conditions on some of our residential streets, so a few years ago, we instituted a requirement that foreclosed properties be registered with the Building Department — and then we subsequently added vacant properties to the bylaw because certain homes were vacant but not yet foreclosed.”

This gave the Building Department a point of contact to ensure that such properties are being maintained, rather than having to chase down banks and management companies, he noted. “That has greatly accelerated our ability to get in touch with someone to get the blighting condition cured.”

In addition, the modest registration fee has generated revenue for the town. “It’s not a huge deal,” he said, “but if you have one of those properties next to you, it’s a big deal to you. That’s one example of how we try to sustain quality of life and the aesthetics of the community with the limited resources we have.”

Healthy Activity

That’s not to say the commercial market hasn’t been active. Fresh on the heels of a 21,000-square-foot expansion of the Longmeadow Shops last year, a memory-care facility is planned on the site of a former synagogue on Williams Street, and the former Brewer-Young Mansion is being converted to professional offices.

The Baystate Health & Wellness Center will open on Dwight Street, at the East Longmeadow line, this summer.

The Baystate Health & Wellness Center will open on Dwight Street, at the East Longmeadow line, this summer.

“They’re in the planning and design phase that will turn a single-family home into a non-residential asset,” Crane said, noting that such projects are taxable, easing the tax burden on homeowners.

Perhaps most significantly, the $11 million, 54,000-square-foot Baystate Health & Wellness Center — which will share a campus on the East Longmeadow line with a rebuilt nursing home on the site of the East Longmeadow Skilled Nursing Center — is starting to go up.

The Baystate project’s impact is twofold, Crane said, the first being convenience for town residents. “My guess is, if they’re able to go to that office for an appointment instead of going to Baystate Medical Center in Springfield, that’s a significant savings of time.”

For the municipal government, however, it will result in significant infrastructure upgrades along the Dwight Street corridor, including street and sewer upgrades, new sidewalks and bike lanes, and improved traffic-light coordination across the town line.

“Dwight Road is a regionally significant traffic corridor,” he noted, “and when this project came up, the towns of Longmeadow and East Longmeadow worked together, with both the developer of the medical office building and the current owner of the nursing home, so the two separate projects were approached as a campus, like no town line existed.”

The project encompasses three intersections on Dwight Road — two in Longmeadow and one in East Longmeadow. Through an intermunicipal agreement, Longmeadow is managing the entire project, and East Longmeadow is receiving contributions from the nursing-home developer, which will pass through to Longmeadow to offset the cost of the street improvements.

“We get efficiencies of scale in both towns, and the traffic signal upgrades can be integrated so the corridor can have much better synchronization of signals and traffic flow,” Crane explained. “The quality-of-life amenity will be the installation of both sidewalks and bike lanes that currently do not exist.

“It’s going to be a busy summer of construction,” he added, “which is good.”

On the municipal side, the Longmeadow Department of Public Works is breaking ground this summer on a new, $20 million facility on the site of a former tennis club on Dwight Road. The town has also been investigating the possibility of building a new, combined middle school.

Longmeadow at a glance

Year Incorporated: 1783
Population: 15,784
Area: 9.7 square miles
County: Hampden
Residential Tax Rate: $24.34
Commercial Tax Rate: $24.34
Median Household Income: $109,586
Median Family Income: $115,578
Type of Government: Open Town Meeting; Town Manager; Board of Selectmen
Largest Employers: Bay Path University; JGS Lifecare; Glenmeadow
* Latest information available

Meanwhile, the town has been working for several years on a solution to the outdated senior center currently housed in a former elementary school at Greenwood Park. At the May 8 town meeting, residents will vote on whether to authorize a debt-exclusion vote for a new senior center in the amount of $14 million. If approved, the project would be voted on at the annual town election on June 12.

Better Together

Another way Longmeadow seeks to fund services is through regionalization, Crane told BusinessWest. One example is the two-town regional emergency communications center, or RCC, that Longmeadow is establishing with Chicopee, housed in that city’s Police Department and operated by an independent district called WESTCOMM.

“That regional RCC will enable communities that participate in the district to offer residents a higher level of service for the same or less cost,” he explained.

Town leaders are also working on establishing or joining a regional health district, of which there are currently 16 across Massachusetts. The Board of Health now provides all services required by statute, but Crane believes those services could be regionalized to create an economy of scale for the communities. “We are going to analyze existing districts to see if forming our own or joining an existing one will allow us to provide the same high level of service, but at a reduced cost.”

Atop all these ideas, however, lingers the all-important reality that home values are critical to keeping Longmeadow running, so every decision is made at least partly with an eye toward making sure, when a family moves out of town, there is demand from families who want to move in.

At least the town won’t be dealing with unexpected rising costs from the school system, Crane noted, as the children-per-household rate has been on the decline.

“When looking at projected enrollment — which the school department looks at regularly — it’s either flat or a downward trend,” he said. “Maintaining class sizes the way they are is sustainable, so I personally don’t fear skyrocketing education costs as a result of an influx of new schoolchildren. The data in that regard is pretty solid and has been for a number of years.”

There are two sides to that coin, however. The town’s buildout rate is above 90%, and close to 95% for housing, he noted, “so when we want to do a project like a new DPW or a new middle school or a new senior center, that burden is going to be shared by a finite number of properties.

“We have about 5,800 households, and it’s unlikely we’ll ever be in a place where we have 7,800 households,” he went on. “So that 5,800 properties, plus the commercial properties, have to support the town, which is why we work every day to make sure our tax dollars go as far as they possibly can. For us, it’s a simple question of balancing the efficiency and quality of services.”

Joseph Bednar can be reached at [email protected]

Innovative Care Partners Aims to Better Integrate Health Services

By
Features

Coming Together

Dan Quinn

Dan Quinn says Innovative Care Partners will put a hard focus on care coordination, an identified key to bringing down the cost of healthcare and improving population health.

The healthcare landscape is changing in dramatic fashion, with a movement toward population health and providers being paid to keep people healthy rather than strictly for treating them when they’re sick. There are many intriguing manifestations of this shift, and one that bears watching is a new venture involving three area providers — the Center for Human Development, ServiceNet, and the Gandara Mental Health Center — with a name that speaks volumes about just how it will operate: Integrated Care Partners.

The title on Dan Quinn’s business card speaks volumes not only about his new role, but also about changing attitudes and new and powerful forces within the broad realm of healthcare.

By and large, ‘vice president of Health Care Integration’ is a title you probably wouldn’t have seen 20 years ago, or even 10 years ago, in most settings. But you do today, and that’s because, while it has always been a goal to coordinate and integrate care offered by various providers, the motivation to do so has never been greater.

Indeed, as the costs of healthcare rise and awareness increases about the so-called social determinants of health and their impact on the overall health and well-being of not only individuals and families but entire communities, the importance of integration has become increasingly apparent. And individual states are becoming proactive in efforts to better coordinate care provided to individuals, improve communication between those providing that care, and reduce, among other things, expensive visits to the emergency room.

Which … brings us back to Quinn’s business card and the rest of the words printed on it. He takes on the role of vice president of Health Care Integration for a new entity called Innovative Care Partners, LLC (ICP). This is a partnership between three area providers: the Center for Human Development (CHD), the Gandara Mental Health Center, and ServiceNet Inc., and it will link primary care, behavioral-health services, and social determinants of health such as poverty, inadequate housing, and poor diet.

ICP will provide care-coordination services in Western Mass. through something known as the Community Partnership program, which is designed to provide accessible and effective coordination of care for people in the under-age-65 MassHealth population who have a history of costly claims, poorly integrated care, or (and usually) both.

These community partners — there will be roughly a dozen operating across the state — will deliver these services to accountable-care organizations (ACOs), which are groups of doctors, hospitals, and other healthcare providers that come together voluntarily to give coordinated care to patients with commercial, Medicare, and Medicaid health plans.

“Care coordination is a mechanism though which teams of professionals work together to ensure that a patient’s overall health needs are being met, and that the right care is being delivered in the right place at the right time and by the right person,” said Quinn. “Through care coordination, patient outcomes improve, and costs decrease.”

Quinn estimates there are roughly 13,000 individuals for whom ICP will provide care-integration services. That’s a large number, and the goal, obviously, is to bring it down over time. And that’s not just the goal. Indeed, ICP’s success in bringing down the cost of healthcare and improving outcomes for those it serves will serve as the basis for how ACOs and the partners in ICP are reimbursed by the state.

“These programs will be measured from a lot of different perspectives,” said Jim Goodwin, president and CEO of CHD. “They have to bring costs down, they have to maintain high-quality services, and they have to maintain high satisfaction rates among recipients.”

Jim Goodwin

Jim Goodwin says Innovative Care Partners will go a long way toward tearing down the silos that have, historically, limited the efficiency of healthcare providers.

In short, the partners in ICP and the ACO it serves will be sharing an escalating amount of risk as they enter a new and intriguing age in healthcare — one in which providers will be paid not on the old fee-for-service model, but on how well they care for the population they serve.

As they talked about ICP and the motivations for creating it, Quinn made early and frequent use of the word ‘silos.’

For too long, individual providers have remained in their silos, not effectively communicating with, or coordinating care with, those in the silos around them also serving individuals in that MassHealth population described earlier.

The Community Partnership program and joint ventures like ICP were designed, in essence, to tear down those silos, they told BusinessWest.

Here’s how the program works. Each of the individuals to be served by ICP will be assigned a care coordinator, said Quinn, adding that hiring is ongoing, and roughly 30 coordinators will be hired and in place by this spring.

These coordinators will do just what that title suggests — they will coordinate the care for their clients and address some of those social determinants of health, such as transportation and access to providers, as we’ll see later.

For this issue, BusinessWest takes an in-depth look at ICP, how it came to be, its goals moving forward, how it intends to meet them, and the importance of all this to ongoing efforts to reduce the cost of healthcare and make it more efficient.

Care Package

Quinn brings a diverse résumé to his role with ICP, one he believes will prove invaluable as he goes about trying to meet the aggressive goals set for this ambitious undertaking.

Most recently, he served as Western Regional director for Beacon Health Options in Springfield, where he focused on network management and healthcare integration. Prior to that, at Beacon Health Options in Connecticut, he was the director of Behavioral Health Home, where he collaborated with the state of Connecticut Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services, implementing a cutting-edge population-health program advanced through the Affordable Health Act.

A licensed independent clinical social worker, Quinn earned his bachelor’s degree at Boston University, his master’s in social work from Simmons College School of Social Work, and his MBA from Western New England University.

Through those various roles, Quinn said he has come to understand the importance of integration, the need to tear down those silos he described earlier, and the motivation for initiatives like ICP.

The initiative is part of a broader, nationwide effort to reform Medicaid, said Goodwin, and the thrust of a state proposal that won $52 billion in federal funding over the next five years in the form of a Section 1115 Medicaid waiver.

And it can be summed in those two words ‘care’ and ‘coordination.’

“The federal government didn’t buy more counseling or more therapy or more psychiatry, it bought care coordination,” Goodwin explained. “One of the reasons why costs are so high is that the service system is siloed out — you have people showing up in emergency rooms, often many, many times, and their needs are more related to mental-health issues than they are medical issues, and vice versa, or social-welfare issues — they have no housing, no money, no food.

“They show up in emergency rooms with chest pain, this gets evaluated, and it runs up costs,” he went on. “The idea is that care coordination will sort of intervene on all that; these high users of medical services will be identified, and community partners will do assessments and develop a coordinated plan for providing services in a more integrated way.”

CHD could have applied to be a partner itself, said Goodwin, noting that its broad range of services certainly qualifies it to do so. But the theory concerning strength in numbers, as well as a desire to serve a broader region, meaning all of Western Mass., inspired a partnership, in the form of an LLC, between CHD, Gandara, and ServiceNet.

CHD, founded in 1972, provides behavioral health and human services to more than 25,000 children, adolescents, adults, and families.

Gandara, meanwhile, was established in 1977 to provide outpatient mental-health and substance-abuse services to what has historically been an underserved Hispanic community in Western Mass. Overall, it provides care to more than 13,000 people in more than 40 sites throughout the state, including outpatient clients, recovery support centers, housing services, adolescent group homes, residential recovery programs, and other outreach services. Gandara is also the state’s Hispanic Specialized Service Agency (S-CSA), a program that serves approximately 2,500 children each year.

Founded in 1965, ServiceNet Inc. is a behavioral-health and human-services agency that provides evidence-based treatments and supports more than 12,000 individuals each year who are living with mental illness, developmental disabilities, autism, brain injury, homelessness, and/or addiction issues. Programs include five outpatient clinics, a variety of outreach services, and more than 60 residential programs.

Henry East-Trou, exective director of the Gandara Center, said the Hispanic population is well-represented within MassHealth, and therefore the agency saw participation in ICP as a way to better serve this constituency.

He told BusinessWest that the program will change the equation by providing a higher level of connectivity between the client, his or her primary-care provider, and the providers of other healthcare services.

“The big piece in all this is the care coordination,” he said. “It will enable us to identify an individual that is in MassHealth, reach out, and create a partnership with the primary-care provider. The system forces us to connect with primary care and to be informing the primary-care provider of what’s is happening in that person’s life.”

Systemic Change

Overall, ICP will deliver a wide range of services to its ACO clients, including:

• Person-centered care planning focused on achieving improved health outcomes;

• Provision of wrap-around social services that address the social determinants of health, such as poverty, poor housing, poor nutrition, unemployment, social isolation, family stress, and trauma;

• Individualized care management to assure follow-up and follow-through in care planning and delivery, including home visits and transportation, when necessary;

• Cultural and linguistic competence that result in enhanced patient engagement and satisfaction; and

• A 24-hour availability of wrap-around services aimed at reducing avoidable emergency-department utilization and hospitalization, and quickly defusing crisis situations.

To better explain how the concept will work, Quinn offered a hypothetical — only there are many individuals in this region who fit this profile.

In this scenario, the client has diabetes as well as some behavioral-health issues, said Quinn, and is also being impacted negatively by several of those social determinants of health.

“Right now, that person goes to various providers and receives care for their conditions,” he explained. “What frequently happens with people who become quite expensive with these things is that they may forget appointments, they may forget to refill prescriptions; because of their socio-economic status, they may be homeless, they may very unstable housing, they may have poor access to transportation to get to their appointments or to get their pharmacy.

“They have all kinds of problems, so they don’t access care appropriately,” he went on. “In an emergency, they’ll go to the hospital and get admitted for something that could have been prevented; they’ll go to the ED for something that could have been prevented. So they’re overly expensive.”

Starting June 1, this same individual will be the client of a care coordinator, he continued, adding that this individual will be in communication with both the client and those providing him or her care.

And through these conversations, the care coordinator will learn if an appointment has been missed, why, and take steps to reduce such occurrences, and thus also reduce both the number of visits to the ED and the cost of providing care to this individual.

“We’ll monitor them and get them the care they need in a timely way,” Quinn told BusinessWest, “so they don’t get into the medical crises that create admissions; we’ll prevent the emergency-department visits that are more expensive. And we’ll improve their health overall.”

This brings him back to that new model of how providers and ACOs will be paid and the risks being taken on by all the partners in this initiative.

“You’ll be given an amount of money per month and an amount of money per year,” he explained. “And if you exceed it, you absorb the loss; if you don’t exceed it, you can keep the savings. Now, instead of the incentive being to do more, the incentive is to do less. But you also have to meet a whole host of quality measures.”

Bottom Line

It all sounds good in theory, said those we spoke with, but in a handful of states where ACOs and community care partners have been put in place, it works in reality, too.

And the expectation is that it will work in Massachusetts and its four western counties as well, because the theory is sound.

Again, it comes back to those two words — care coordination. The more of it there is, the better this region’s ability to bring down the cost of care while also improving overall population health.

As noted at the top, this is a profound change for both the industry and the region. It’s a noble experiment, and it will get underway on June 1.

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

Real Estate Transactions

By
Departments Real Estate

The following real estate transactions (latest available) were compiled by Banker & Tradesman and are published as they were received. Only transactions exceeding $115,000 are listed. Buyer and seller fields contain only the first name listed on the deed.

FRANKLIN COUNTY

CHARLEMONT

336 Legate Hill Road
Charlemont, MA 01339
Amount: $177,500
Buyer: Tucker J. Mientka
Seller: Rockwell J. Lively
Date: 03/01/18

COLRAIN

261 Greenfield Road
Colrain, MA 01340
Amount: $170,000
Buyer: Lisa M. Bottego
Seller: Suzanne R. Warsaw
Date: 03/05/18

DEERFIELD

23 Lee Road
Deerfield, MA 01373
Amount: $260,336
Buyer: US Bank
Seller: Nancy J. Hayes
Date: 03/09/18

5 Memorial St.
Deerfield, MA 01342
Amount: $1,000,000
Buyer: Andrew Shilling
Seller: Robert Hale
Date: 03/02/18

73 Sugarloaf St.
Deerfield, MA 01373
Amount: $259,900
Buyer: Carol J. Gritz
Seller: Carol J. Gritz
Date: 03/02/18

Sugarloaf St. (off)
Deerfield, MA 01342
Amount: $390,000
Buyer: Ragus LLC
Seller: Carol J. Gritz
Date: 03/02/18

GREENFIELD

109-113 School St.
Greenfield, MA 01301
Amount: $352,000
Buyer: Noyes Properties LLC
Seller: DCTL LLC
Date: 03/01/18

LEVERETT

91 Long Hill Road
Leverett, MA 01054
Amount: $359,900
Buyer: Gordon Kramer
Seller: Christopher J. Kusek
Date: 02/28/18

15 Number 6 Road
Leverett, MA 01054
Amount: $335,000
Buyer: Jeremiah R. Berlin
Seller: Melanie Fletcher-Howell
Date: 03/08/18

7 Old Long Plain Road
Leverett, MA 01054
Amount: $219,900
Buyer: Ashley Winn
Seller: Diane E. Bella
Date: 02/28/18

LEYDEN

161 Eden Trail
Leyden, MA 01337
Amount: $360,000
Buyer: Peter B. Koppenheffer
Seller: Frederick D. Mesloh
Date: 03/02/18

MONTAGUE

7 Coolidge Ave.
Montague, MA 01376
Amount: $170,500
Buyer: Tracy M. Warner
Seller: Belinda Poirier
Date: 03/09/18

22 G St.
Montague, MA 01376
Amount: $115,000
Buyer: Jade Gonzales
Seller: William Perry
Date: 03/09/18

34 Park St.
Montague, MA 01349
Amount: $170,000
Buyer: Mary Siano
Seller: William R. Travis
Date: 02/28/18

2 Prospect St.
Montague, MA 01349
Amount: $150,000
Buyer: Pamela B. Kennedy
Seller: Epis Missions Of Western Mass.
Date: 02/28/18

NEW SALEM

264 Wendell Road
New Salem, MA 01355
Amount: $326,000
Buyer: Elizabeth R. Goddard
Seller: Byron C. Masi
Date: 02/28/18

NORTHFIELD

198 Birnam Road
Northfield, MA 01360
Amount: $270,000
Buyer: Guy E. Gilbert
Seller: Paul W. Prest
Date: 03/09/18

61 East St.
Northfield, MA 01360
Amount: $237,500
Buyer: Denise A. Paquin
Seller: Lippack, S. Hope, (Estate)
Date: 02/26/18

638 South Mountain Road
Northfield, MA 01360
Amount: $335,000
Buyer: Emory K. Kristof
Seller: Stephen M. Cordery
Date: 03/01/18

ORANGE

131 Mechanic St.
Orange, MA 01364
Amount: $167,900
Buyer: Thomas M. Boudreau
Seller: Kathleen J. Johnson
Date: 03/02/18

310 Walnut Hill Road
Orange, MA 01364
Amount: $125,000
Buyer: KDMK LLC
Seller: North Quabbin Brook RT
Date: 03/02/18

SHUTESBURY

309 Locks Pond Road
Shutesbury, MA 01072
Amount: $117,000
Buyer: Amanda D. Shaulis
Seller: Cabral RT
Date: 03/02/18

SUNDERLAND

500 Hadley Road
Sunderland, MA 01375
Amount: $270,000
Buyer: Dale Brown
Seller: Baoshan Xing
Date: 03/02/18

HAMPDEN COUNTY

AGAWAM

106 Channell Dr.
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $177,000
Buyer: Brian J. Perreault
Seller: Jamie N Mercadante
Date: 03/01/18

37 Charter Oak Dr.
Agawam, MA 01030
Amount: $282,000
Buyer: Joshua Merritt
Seller: Vitaliy V. Gladysh
Date: 02/28/18

30 Deering St.
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $253,000
Buyer: Sean Collins
Seller: Christine R. Morris
Date: 02/28/18

7 Jasmine Lane
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $123,000
Buyer: Joseph Cardaropoli
Seller: Kot, Vadim, (Estate)
Date: 03/09/18

26 Jasmine Lane
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $398,000
Buyer: Richard W. Fearn
Seller: Joseph Kot
Date: 02/28/18

15 King St.
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $115,000
Buyer: Michael Delaney
Seller: Linda S. Carestia
Date: 03/07/18

12 Lenox St.
Agawam, MA 01030
Amount: $170,000
Buyer: NSP Residential LLC
Seller: James M. Lewis
Date: 02/27/18

803 North Westfield St.
Agawam, MA 01030
Amount: $165,000
Buyer: Vladimir Sidorovnin
Seller: John D. West
Date: 03/09/18

16 Norris St.
Agawam, MA 01030
Amount: $208,900
Buyer: Melissa Noonan
Seller: MS Homes LLC
Date: 02/26/18

79 Poinsetta St.
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $222,000
Buyer: Daniel Geiger
Seller: Denise A. Browne
Date: 03/09/18

89 River Road
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $115,000
Buyer: Don Donahue
Seller: Deutsche Bank
Date: 03/08/18

117 Reed St.
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $252,000
Buyer: Joshua Meskill
Seller: William A. Garvin
Date: 02/26/18

639 Shoemaker Lane
Agawam, MA 01030
Amount: $150,000
Buyer: Vitale Braxtanov
Seller: US Bank
Date: 02/26/18

479 Southwick St.
Agawam, MA 01030
Amount: $222,588
Buyer: V. Mortgage REO 3 LLC
Seller: Lucia Liquori
Date: 03/08/18

18-20 Summer St.
Agawam, MA 01001
Amount: $240,000
Buyer: 716 Spring Valley LLC
Seller: Barbara Wojciechowski
Date: 03/01/18

BLANDFORD

5 Glasgow Road
Blandford, MA 01008
Amount: $141,000
Buyer: Jose O. Deleon-Gonzalez
Seller: Daniel J. Gelina
Date: 03/05/18

4 Huntington Road
Blandford, MA 01008
Amount: $147,000
Buyer: Dale M. Weaver
Seller: Citizens Bank
Date: 02/28/18

BRIMFIELD

91 Oakwood Road
Brimfield, MA 01010
Amount: $160,000
Buyer: Matthew R. Vilandre
Seller: Michael R. Partlow
Date: 02/28/18

128 Old Palmer Road
Brimfield, MA 01010
Amount: $129,900
Buyer: Christopher S. Elmore
Seller: Lester A. Barton
Date: 03/05/18

155 Old Palmer Road
Brimfield, MA 01010
Amount: $207,000
Buyer: Kristy L. Kearns
Seller: Shaun T. Cadoret
Date: 02/26/18

CHICOPEE

145 Beauregard Terrace
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $124,000
Buyer: Erudite RT
Seller: Wells Fargo Bank
Date: 02/28/18

4 Burton St.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $388,000
Buyer: PPK LLC
Seller: Legacy Realty Associates
Date: 03/01/18

50 Carlton Ave.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $185,400
Buyer: Anna S. Vlas
Seller: Edward S. Bury
Date: 02/28/18

5 Cox St.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $130,000
Buyer: Luis A. Valdez
Seller: Margaret E. Beaupre
Date: 03/09/18

19 Czepiel St.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $190,000
Buyer: Emily V. Trigilio
Seller: Frank Niemiec
Date: 03/02/18

62 Davenport St.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $157,000
Buyer: Jessica Sanabria
Seller: Daniel E. Sliwa
Date: 02/28/18

23 Edward St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $124,900
Buyer: Catherine Lafortune
Seller: PP&R Properties LLC
Date: 03/01/18

70 Fletcher Circle
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $300,000
Buyer: Desmond Farrell
Seller: Paul D. Menard
Date: 03/02/18

40 Fuller St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $187,000
Buyer: Donald J. Ruscoe
Seller: M&G Property Group LLC
Date: 02/28/18

27 Grant St.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $185,000
Buyer: Lori Beaudry
Seller: Rivest, Marguerite M., (Estate)
Date: 02/27/18

88 Marcelle St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $130,000
Buyer: Elias R. Navarro
Seller: Gene A. Stelzer
Date: 03/01/18

19 Marlborough St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $202,000
Buyer: Nicole Ladeau
Seller: Phyllis J. Settembro
Date: 02/28/18

107 South St.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $216,000
Buyer: Lori A. Germain
Seller: G&D Property Management
Date: 02/26/18

23 Nora St.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $215,000
Buyer: Kellie M. McLaughlin
Seller: Christian Kosinski
Date: 03/06/18

25 Ohio Ave.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Amount: $190,000
Buyer: Jessica L. Braman
Seller: James A. Maynard
Date: 03/09/18

135 Stebbins St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $120,400
Buyer: Adam J. Chapdelaine
Seller: Donald R. Chapdelaine
Date: 03/05/18

75 Valier Ave.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $140,000
Buyer: Paul R. Turgeon
Seller: Mary Gay
Date: 03/06/18

1640 Westover Road
Chicopee, MA 01020
Amount: $143,000
Buyer: Anthony R. Witman
Seller: Witman Properties Inc.
Date: 03/01/18

EAST LONGMEADOW

61 Colony Dr.
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $422,500
Buyer: Talal Mhanna
Seller: Oak Ridge Custom Home Builders
Date: 02/28/18

Peachtree Road #13
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $135,000
Buyer: Cumberland Blues RT
Seller: Donna M. Cabot
Date: 03/05/18

353 Pease Road
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $319,900
Buyer: Bryant Biccum
Seller: Donna V. Wheeler
Date: 03/08/18

29 Rural Lane
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $175,000
Buyer: 88 Casino Terrace LLC
Seller: Worthington, Martha E., (Estate)
Date: 03/08/18

54 Rural Lane
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $120,000
Buyer: Adam M. Overlock
Seller: Ross W. Overlock
Date: 02/27/18

84 South Brook Road
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $460,000
Buyer: Spurgeon Wamala
Seller: Constant Ogutt
Date: 03/01/18

20 Speight Arden
East Longmeadow, MA 01028
Amount: $286,000
Buyer: Leanna C. Daniele
Seller: Old Coach Properties LLC
Date: 03/08/18

HAMPDEN

342 Allen St.
Hampden, MA 01036
Amount: $223,000
Buyer: Eric J. Morin
Seller: Donna Ainsworth
Date: 03/08/18

36 Hickory Lane
Hampden, MA 01036
Amount: $210,000
Buyer: Lauren N Brodeur
Seller: Jodi A. Brodeur
Date: 03/05/18

413 Main St.
Hampden, MA 01036
Amount: $190,000
Buyer: James C. Stephens
Seller: Bradley S. Culhane
Date: 03/07/18

27 Meadow Brook Lane
Hampden, MA 01036
Amount: $191,000
Buyer: Matthew J. Lynch
Seller: Mars Real Properties Inc.
Date: 02/27/18

HOLLAND

184 Mashapaug Road
Holland, MA 01521
Amount: $258,000
Buyer: Scott M. Jacobs
Seller: Edwin H. Bartolomei
Date: 02/28/18

HOLYOKE

1 Court Plaza
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $250,000
Buyer: Holyoke Community Media
Seller: Holyoke Economic Development
Date: 03/06/18

834 Homestead Ave.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $227,000
Buyer: Clara S. Shoemaker
Seller: Revampit LLC
Date: 03/01/18

29 Joanne Dr.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $239,100
Buyer: FNMA
Seller: Michelle A. Beswick
Date: 03/06/18

254-256 Maple St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $225,000
Buyer: Bex LLC
Seller: Michael F. Tierney
Date: 03/05/18

1212 Northampton St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $340,000
Buyer: Martha L. Brown
Seller: Mikhail Korolev
Date: 03/01/18

37 Sherwood Terrace
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $180,000
Buyer: Danielle T. Belliveau
Seller: Michael J. Goss
Date: 02/28/18

35 Valley Heights
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $203,000
Buyer: Keyla G. Centeno
Seller: Michael J. Hearn
Date: 03/09/18

80-82 Westfield Road
Holyoke, MA 01040
Amount: $210,000
Buyer: Jeffrey C. Stone
Seller: Michael J. Murray
Date: 03/09/18

LONGMEADOW

128 Blueberry Hill Road
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $515,000
Buyer: Joel A. Arnold
Seller: Allan W. Blair
Date: 02/27/18

33 Crest Ave.
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $205,000
Buyer: Shyel RT
Seller: Wendell W. Ritchie
Date: 03/02/18

29 Dartmouth Road
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $490,000
Buyer: Peter Olesen
Seller: Sasi Penukonda
Date: 03/02/18

67 Elmwood Ave.
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $229,900
Buyer: Elizabeth Vasiliades
Seller: Donald T. Ferris
Date: 03/01/18

493 Maple Road
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $194,900
Buyer: Tiara L. Warren
Seller: Eugene Adamz
Date: 02/26/18

112 Pinewood Dr.
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Amount: $385,000
Buyer: Alan Caplan
Seller: Muriel Dane
Date: 02/27/18

LUDLOW

1062 Center St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $244,900
Buyer: Kevin J. Moyer-Wilkes
Seller: Kristen N Deslauriers
Date: 02/28/18

31 Colonial Dr.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $279,900
Buyer: Daniel R. Kinne
Seller: Desforges, Sylvia, (Estate)
Date: 02/28/18

44 Crest St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $157,600
Buyer: Gina M. Marsan
Seller: Dean A. Moorhouse
Date: 02/26/18

257 East St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $250,000
Buyer: Jorge S. Laires
Seller: Jack Nuno
Date: 03/09/18

54 Elm St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $181,000
Buyer: Matthew J. Hilario
Seller: MYA Realty LLC
Date: 02/26/18

55 Haviland St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $197,500
Buyer: Minh H. Nguyen
Seller: Joanne Mei
Date: 03/09/18

15 Paulding Road
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $206,000
Buyer: Martin J. Gray
Seller: Marie A. Marx
Date: 02/28/18

15 Philip St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $211,500
Buyer: Sandra Auld
Seller: Michael E. Pietras
Date: 02/28/18

25 Simonds St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $219,000
Buyer: Lynsey A. Burns
Seller: Robert B. Roccanti
Date: 03/07/18

99 Skyridge St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $147,400
Buyer: Joshua Duquette
Seller: Maria E. DosSantos
Date: 02/27/18

7 Ventura St.
Ludlow, MA 01056
Amount: $120,000
Buyer: David A. Lord
Seller: Donn A. Lord
Date: 03/06/18

MONSON

3 Highland Ave.
Monson, MA 01057
Amount: $152,000
Buyer: Timothy Lomme
Seller: Ross Pelletier
Date: 02/28/18

257 Hovey Road
Monson, MA 01057
Amount: $150,000
Buyer: John C. Durham
Seller: Jeremy D. Durham
Date: 02/27/18

269 Wales Road
Monson, MA 01057
Amount: $200,000
Buyer: Jeremy D. Durham
Seller: Cynthia D. Durham
Date: 02/27/18

PALMER

143 Breckenridge St.
Palmer, MA 01069
Amount: $217,500
Buyer: Eleanor C. Karbon
Seller: Jeffrey D. Staiti
Date: 03/02/18

3109-3111 Main St.
Palmer, MA 01069
Amount: $176,505
Buyer: First Guaranty Mortgage
Seller: Curtiss A. Brouthers
Date: 03/05/18

RUSSELL

581 Huntington Road
Russell, MA 01071
Amount: $255,000
Buyer: Christopher R. Liberty
Seller: Elizabeth Massa
Date: 02/28/18

SOUTHWICK

445 College Hwy.
Southwick, MA 01077
Amount: $360,000
Buyer: Eugene J. Whitehead
Seller: Todd Doiron
Date: 03/08/18

17 Congamond Road
Southwick, MA 01077
Amount: $184,600
Buyer: FNMA
Seller: Elwyn M. Savage
Date: 03/05/18

139 Feeding Hills Road
Southwick, MA 01077
Amount: $150,000
Buyer: Wilmington Savings
Seller: Candice D. Ruccio
Date: 03/02/18

11 Meadow Lane
Southwick, MA 01077
Amount: $135,000
Buyer: David Broderick
Seller: John A. Jeneral
Date: 03/09/18

SPRINGFIELD

384 Abbott St.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $167,000
Buyer: Luke M. Hollwedel
Seller: Paul J. Sears
Date: 02/28/18

110 Avocado St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $340,000
Buyer: JVLV Realty LLC
Seller: C&S Wholesale Grocers Inc.
Date: 03/06/18

1122 Bay St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $325,000
Buyer: Marigold Realty LLC
Seller: Markdon Realty LLC
Date: 03/09/18

1540 Bay St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $190,000
Buyer: Carmen Rivera
Seller: Hedge Hog Industries Corp.
Date: 03/07/18

1546 Bay St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $180,000
Buyer: Lina M. Correa
Seller: Hedge Hog Industries Corp.
Date: 03/08/18

97 Bridle Path Road
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $206,000
Buyer: Christopher J. Buckley
Seller: Helen C. Garde
Date: 02/28/18

43 Burton St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $170,900
Buyer: Francisco Rodriguez
Seller: Global Homes Properties
Date: 02/26/18

97 Carol Ann St.
Springfield, MA 01128
Amount: $188,000
Buyer: Ryan J. Wilkie
Seller: Calabrese, Cipriano F., (Estate)
Date: 02/26/18

25 Carlisle St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $193,000
Buyer: Frank C. Salas
Seller: Lisa Millett
Date: 03/09/18

672 Chestnut St.
Springfield, MA 01107
Amount: $330,000
Buyer: S&C Homebuyers LLC
Seller: Yellowbrick Property LLC
Date: 03/01/18

98-100 Clantoy St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $167,500
Buyer: William Howell
Seller: David B. Dussault
Date: 02/28/18

48 Clement St.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $125,000
Buyer: Barry J. Cook
Seller: Hue V. Vu
Date: 03/06/18

78 Coral Road
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $140,000
Buyer: Joshua M. Gibbs
Seller: Melvin Sanchez
Date: 02/27/18

102-104 Draper St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $132,500
Buyer: Zen D. Vo
Seller: Tinh Ngo
Date: 02/28/18

150 Drexel St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $166,000
Buyer: James L. Hernandez
Seller: Zin Property Solutions
Date: 02/27/18

61 Dwight Road
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $164,000
Buyer: Shronda N Payne
Seller: Stephanie F. Wilson
Date: 02/28/18

35 Glendell Terrace
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $165,000
Buyer: Sandra I. Velez
Seller: C. Rodriguez-Gonzalez
Date: 03/09/18

37 Homestead Ave.
Springfield, MA 01151
Amount: $184,500
Buyer: FNMA
Seller: Albert Frigugliett
Date: 03/05/18

110 Ithaca St.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $241,000
Buyer: Christina M. Leipchack
Seller: Bynum, Michael J., (Estate)
Date: 03/09/18

67 Kane St.
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $148,000
Buyer: Evelyn Onwona
Seller: Michele A. Labelle
Date: 02/27/18

30 Kimberly Ave.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $140,000
Buyer: Smash Brothers RT
Seller: MYA Realty LLC
Date: 03/02/18

25 Laurence St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $249,900
Buyer: Leo R. Best
Seller: Nu Way Homes Inc.
Date: 03/01/18

403-405 Main St.
Springfield, MA 01151
Amount: $425,000
Buyer: Mister Mister LLC
Seller: Eleanor M. Desautels
Date: 02/28/18

409 Main St.
Springfield, MA 01151
Amount: $425,000
Buyer: Mister Mister LLC
Seller: Eleanor M. Desautels
Date: 02/28/18

29 Mattoon St.
Springfield, MA 01105
Amount: $207,000
Buyer: Paul Bromwich
Seller: Erica I. Walch
Date: 03/02/18

80 Merrill Road
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $119,000
Buyer: Daniel F. Lantigua
Seller: Gary M. Hullihen
Date: 02/27/18

56-58 Narragansett St.
Springfield, MA 01107
Amount: $173,000
Buyer: Ninoshka Pineda
Seller: Bakr, Huriya M., (Estate)
Date: 03/09/18

763 Newbury St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $165,056
Buyer: US Bank
Seller: Gerard Lacasse
Date: 03/05/18

114 Newhouse St.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $116,500
Buyer: Melissa L. Hamelin
Seller: Robert P. Oyler
Date: 02/26/18

140 Odion St.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $144,900
Buyer: Bianca M. Dellacroce
Seller: Linda T. Lafratta
Date: 03/09/18

1847 Parker St.
Springfield, MA 01128
Amount: $205,000
Buyer: Tyeka Robinson
Seller: Richard Chang
Date: 02/27/18

304 Peekskill Ave.
Springfield, MA 01129
Amount: $189,900
Buyer: Edward Sawyer
Seller: Jamie Dupell
Date: 02/28/18

9 Pelham St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $165,000
Buyer: NSP Residential LLC
Seller: Alita M. Love
Date: 02/27/18

90 Perkins St.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $173,600
Buyer: Keith J. Clark
Seller: Jared T. Larkin
Date: 02/27/18

128 Phoenix Terrace
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $123,100
Buyer: Abdulkareem Abdulkareem
Seller: Suellen R. Thornhill
Date: 03/01/18

68 Pine Acre Road
Springfield, MA 01129
Amount: $195,000
Buyer: Eavon K. Vaughan
Seller: Earl V. Watson
Date: 02/28/18

60 Powell Ave.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $126,372
Buyer: FNMA
Seller: Jean D. Moore
Date: 03/01/18

16 Prentice St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $127,000
Buyer: Elvin A. Rivera-Cardona
Seller: Roland R. Prairie
Date: 02/28/18

222 Prentice St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $155,000
Buyer: April Meunier
Seller: Christopher Petropoulos
Date: 03/02/18

41 Queensbury Dr.
Springfield, MA 01129
Amount: $165,000
Buyer: Nicole Milanes
Seller: Josephine Stabilo
Date: 03/09/18

260 Ramblewood Dr.
Springfield, MA 01118
Amount: $205,000
Buyer: Shenae Levester
Seller: Melro Associates Inc.
Date: 02/28/18

10-12 Ranney St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $120,000
Buyer: Willie Davey
Seller: Aubin, Roland F., (Estate)
Date: 03/08/18

4 Rogers Ave.
Springfield, MA 01151
Amount: $425,000
Buyer: Mister Mister LLC
Seller: Eleanor M. Desautels
Date: 02/28/18

6 Rogers Ave.
Springfield, MA 01151
Amount: $425,000
Buyer: Mister Mister LLC
Seller: Eleanor M. Desautels
Date: 02/28/18

840 Roosevelt Ave.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $130,000
Buyer: Ramon Baez
Seller: Della Ripa Real Estate
Date: 03/09/18

120 Savoy Ave.
Springfield, MA 01104
Amount: $115,190
Buyer: Willie L. Gainey
Seller: Ruz M. Martir
Date: 02/26/18

12-14 Standish St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $172,000
Buyer: Sharleen Gonzalez
Seller: Michael A. Cotugno
Date: 03/09/18

376-378 Sumner Ave.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $188,000
Buyer: Kerube Farhadi
Seller: Hector R. Rodriguez
Date: 02/28/18

37 Tiffany St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $185,537
Buyer: US Bank
Seller: Danilo O. Feliciano
Date: 02/27/18

90-92 West Alvord St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Amount: $225,000
Buyer: Sabrinna C. Marshall
Seller: Tascon Homes LLC
Date: 03/07/18

119-121 Wellington St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Amount: $128,000
Buyer: 196-198 Bowdoin St. Realty
Seller: Peter Stathakis
Date: 03/09/18

819 Worthington St.
Springfield, MA 01105
Amount: $156,000
Buyer: Birhane H. Haile
Seller: Sargoon Hawil
Date: 03/02/18

43 Wrentham Road
Springfield, MA 01119
Amount: $126,000
Buyer: Jesus Sanchez
Seller: Rex Ramos
Date: 02/28/18

WESTFIELD

11 Cherry St.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $135,000
Buyer: Vadim Plotnikov
Seller: James W. Kaleta
Date: 03/06/18

21 Frederick St.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $127,200
Buyer: Park River Properties LLC
Seller: Frank J. Wojtowicz
Date: 03/01/18

35 High Meadow Dr.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $270,000
Buyer: Regina Corey
Seller: Karen K. Moriarty
Date: 03/09/18

19 Jefferson St.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $162,500
Buyer: Angelo Liquori
Seller: John W. Cody
Date: 02/26/18

479 Montgomery Road
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $350,000
Buyer: Viktor Levkha
Seller: Victor Podolyanchuk
Date: 03/01/18

470 Southampton Road
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $275,000
Buyer: TNT General Contracting
Seller: Tina Stevens
Date: 03/01/18

468 Western Ave.
Westfield, MA 01085
Amount: $390,000
Buyer: John L. Fisher
Seller: Panagiotis Economopoulos
Date: 02/27/18

WILBRAHAM

902 Glendale Road
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $189,000
Buyer: Nauset Properties LP
Seller: Judith Rickson
Date: 03/01/18

4 Rice Dr.
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Amount: $295,000
Buyer: Heath D. Fortenberry
Seller: Lyle F. Feinberg
Date: 02/27/18

WEST SPRINGFIELD

1228 Amostown Road
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $285,000
Buyer: Dhan Biswa
Seller: Inna Gargun
Date: 02/28/18

112 Baldwin St.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $275,000
Buyer: Woodcliff Properties LLC
Seller: Ralph E. Dowers
Date: 03/02/18

878 Dewey St.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $320,000
Buyer: Christopher J. Carlisle
Seller: Deis, Lloyd A., (Estate)
Date: 02/26/18

Saint Andrews Way #2
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $339,900
Buyer: Deborah G. Briancesco
Seller: Country Club Partners LLC
Date: 02/26/18

50 Van Horn St.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Amount: $210,000
Buyer: Nicholas A. Paier
Seller: Timothy W. Riley
Date: 02/28/18

HAMPSHIRE COUNTY

AMHERST

80 Columbia Dr.
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $236,000
Buyer: Maria T. Cruz
Seller: Eduardo Landaverde
Date: 03/08/18

109 Fearing St.
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $405,000
Buyer: Weibin Zhang
Seller: Westort, Young K., (Estate)
Date: 03/09/18

943 South East St.
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $375,000
Buyer: Edgardo J. Rothkegel
Seller: David L. Smith
Date: 02/28/18

87 Stony Hill Road
Amherst, MA 01002
Amount: $295,000
Buyer: Danielle Kadinoff
Seller: Eric M. Cave
Date: 03/06/18

BELCHERTOWN

103 Bardwell St.
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $340,000
Buyer: John J. Goodwin
Seller: Richard G. Catellier
Date: 02/28/18

141 Franklin St.
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $159,500
Buyer: Adam G. Orszak
Seller: Jacob I. Wheeler
Date: 02/26/18

36 Magnolia Lane
Belchertown, MA 01007
Amount: $480,000
Buyer: Zhijun Wang
Seller: J. N Duquette & Son Construction
Date: 03/02/18

CHESTERFIELD

574 Main Road
Chesterfield, MA 01012
Amount: $295,000
Buyer: Cody Rida
Seller: Kevin L. Kukucka
Date: 02/28/18

EASTHAMPTON

110 Everett St.
Easthampton, MA 01027
Amount: $115,791
Buyer: David J. Ciak
Seller: Margaret A. Papalegis
Date: 02/27/18

45 Cherry St.
Easthampton, MA 01027
Amount: $327,500
Buyer: Katherine L. Bergren
Seller: Norwich Properties LLC
Date: 03/08/18

60 Line St.
Easthampton, MA 01027
Amount: $197,000
Buyer: Kevin F. Marsh
Seller: Michael A. Splaine
Date: 03/05/18

72 Mount Tom Ave.
Easthampton, MA 01027
Amount: $160,000
Buyer: Brooke Matuszko
Seller: Patrici Laprade-Pasquini
Date: 02/28/18

GOSHEN

17 South Main St.
Goshen, MA 01032
Amount: $155,500
Buyer: Michael J. Baines
Seller: Ralmon J. Black
Date: 02/28/18

GRANBY

233 Chicopee St.
Granby, MA 01033
Amount: $291,784
Buyer: FNMA
Seller: Susan J. Gilpatrick
Date: 02/28/18

146 Harris St.
Granby, MA 01033
Amount: $380,000
Buyer: Kathryn L. Skarbez
Seller: Daniel R. Bernashe
Date: 02/28/18

HADLEY

Grand Oak Farm Road
Hadley, MA 01035
Amount: $140,000
Buyer: Rosemund LLC
Seller: Deborah M. Mokrzecki
Date: 03/09/18

438 River Dr.
Hadley, MA 01035
Amount: $220,000
Buyer: Gerald T. Devine
Seller: Lyndell D. Nuttelman
Date: 02/28/18

River Dr.
Hadley, MA 01035
Amount: $125,000
Buyer: John H. Kokoski
Seller: Niedbala, Julianna, (Estate)
Date: 03/01/18

HATFIELD

138 Elm St.
Hatfield, MA 01038
Amount: $240,000
Buyer: Catherine M. Hebert
Seller: Donald E. Acus
Date: 02/28/18

30 North Hatfield Road
Hatfield, MA 01038
Amount: $200,000
Buyer: Richard Geidel
Seller: Margaret R. Hancock
Date: 03/09/18

4 Primrose Path
Hatfield, MA 01038
Amount: $330,000
Buyer: Judith A. Strong
Seller: Christine Y. Doty
Date: 02/27/18

HUNTINGTON

23 Goss Hill Road
Huntington, MA 01050
Amount: $172,500
Buyer: John J. Montesi
Seller: Paul T. Laurie
Date: 02/26/18

48 Worthington Road
Huntington, MA 01050
Amount: $175,700
Buyer: Andrew B. McCaul
Seller: Jack E. McCaul
Date: 03/09/18

NORTHAMPTON

384 Bridge Road
Northampton, MA 01062
Amount: $237,900
Buyer: Martha A. Pomputius
Seller: Thomas E. Dawson-Greene
Date: 03/09/18

10 Bright St.
Northampton, MA 01060
Amount: $320,000
Buyer: 10 Bright LLC
Seller: Ksieniewicz, John W., (Estate)
Date: 02/28/18

227 Emerson Way
Northampton, MA 01062
Amount: $205,000
Buyer: Michael W. Miller
Seller: Emerson Way LLC
Date: 03/07/18

237 Emerson Way
Northampton, MA 01062
Amount: $575,000
Buyer: Peter S. Fliss
Seller: Rosemund LLC
Date: 03/06/18

19 Ladyslipper Lane
Northampton, MA 01062
Amount: $245,000
Buyer: Michael G. Reagan
Seller: Wells Fargo Bank
Date: 03/02/18

1 Lovefield St.
Northampton, MA 01027
Amount: $287,000
Buyer: Robert G. Barber
Seller: Jesse Camp
Date: 03/09/18

53 Maple Ridge Road
Northampton, MA 01062
Amount: $525,000
Buyer: Kelsy Traeger-Sinelnikov
Seller: Mary E. McGuire
Date: 03/01/18

36 Meadow St.
Northampton, MA 01062
Amount: $330,000
Buyer: Alexandra J. Carlson
Seller: Linda M. Didonna
Date: 02/28/18

159 Pine St.
Northampton, MA 01062
Amount: $495,000
Buyer: Durai Rajasekar
Seller: Elizabeth Duca
Date: 02/28/18

83 Pomeroy Terrace
Northampton, MA 01060
Amount: $658,000
Buyer: Deborah M. Henson
Seller: Roger W. Salloom
Date: 02/27/18

21 Reservoir Road
Northampton, MA 01053
Amount: $245,000
Buyer: Tim Seney Contracting Inc.
Seller: Rocco Lapaire
Date: 03/01/18

36 Ward Ave.
Northampton, MA 01060
Amount: $750,000
Buyer: Seth Atkinson
Seller: Harvey M. Lederman
Date: 02/28/18

SOUTH HADLEY

76 Fairview St.
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $229,000
Buyer: Tera E. Bagg
Seller: Kathleen M. Dion
Date: 03/02/18

3 Frederick Place
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $189,500
Buyer: Anthony R. Gomez
Seller: Michael E. Greaney
Date: 03/09/18

47 Hadley St.
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $375,000
Buyer: Bryan J. Sverchek
Seller: Veronique C. Blanchard
Date: 03/09/18

55 Laurie Ave.
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $195,000
Buyer: Justin A. Mayotte
Seller: Michael G. Pare
Date: 03/07/18

23 Pine St.
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $280,000
Buyer: Rachel E. Leach
Seller: Paul L. Ribeiro
Date: 02/28/18

10 Sycamore Knolls
South Hadley, MA 01075
Amount: $360,000
Buyer: Lori T. Fischetti
Seller: Jennifer L. Lachapelle
Date: 03/02/18

SOUTHAMPTON

College Hwy.
Southampton, MA 01073
Amount: $1,200,000
Buyer: Eugene R. Labrie
Seller: Denise D. Wayne
Date: 03/01/18

College Hwy.
Southampton, MA 01073
Amount: $1,200,000
Buyer: Eugene R. Labrie
Seller: Denise D. Wayne
Date: 03/09/18

135 Fomer Road
Southampton, MA 01073
Amount: $250,000
Buyer: Nicholas Shea
Seller: Patrick J. Day
Date: 03/09/18

WARE

9-17 Canal St.
Ware, MA 01082
Amount: $175,000
Buyer: Jeffrey VonDauber
Seller: Canal Street RT
Date: 02/28/18

138 Church St.
Ware, MA 01082
Amount: $187,549
Buyer: Craig S. Dumont
Seller: Pierre Durand
Date: 02/27/18

4 Coldbrook Dr.
Ware, MA 01082
Amount: $297,500
Buyer: Christopher S. Romani
Seller: Emmett Rooney
Date: 02/27/18

2 High Meadow Lane
Ware, MA 01082
Amount: $218,000
Buyer: Michele Moorhouse
Seller: Luwanda M. Cheney
Date: 03/08/18

4 Longview Ave.
Ware, MA 01082
Amount: $120,000
Buyer: Nicorn LLC
Seller: Ruby Realty LLC
Date: 03/07/18

42 Morse Ave.
Ware, MA 01082
Amount: $154,000
Buyer: Tiffany M. Desrosiers
Seller: Michele L. Moorhouse
Date: 03/06/18

158 North St.
Ware, MA 01082
Amount: $145,000
Buyer: Sheila J. Pratt
Seller: Lisa Terry-Jakshtis
Date: 02/28/18

WILLIAMSBURG

52 Hyde Hill Road
Williamsburg, MA 01096
Amount: $250,000
Buyer: Caleb Carriere
Seller: Doranda G. Carriere
Date: 03/09/18

Bankruptcies

By
Bankruptcies Departments

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

Bonnivier, Chris O.
13 Beech St.
Adams, MA 01220
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 01/25/18

Bonnivier, Linda J.
a/k/a Rancourt, Linda J.
13 Beech St.
Adams, MA 01220
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 01/25/18

Bridges, Antwain L.
367 Orange St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 01/25/18

Briggs, Thomas Edward
107 Red Fox Dr.
Feeding Hills, MA 01030
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 01/29/18

Burgos, Andrew
Burgos, Gwendolyn
38 Littleton St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Chapter: 13
Filing Date: 01/17/18

Casey, Daniel
Casey, Linda
37 Dana St.
Westfield, MA 01085
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 01/19/18

Chistolini, Karen R.
52 Weston St.
Wilbraham, MA 01095
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 01/19/18

Claudio, Joselito
303 Maple St., Apt. 327
Springfield, MA 01105
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 01/24/18

Clifford, Amanda M.
27 Janelle Dr.
Westfield, MA 01085
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 01/26/18

Craig, Andreas
21 Hillmont St.
Springfield, MA 01109
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 01/19/18

Curran, Linda M.
51 Louise St.
Springfield, MA 01118
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 01/24/18

Davis, Robert W.
44 Stagecoach Road
Amherst, MA 01002
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 01/29/18

Deida, Aida
67 Haumont Terrace
Springfield, MA 01104
Chapter: 13
Filing Date: 01/24/18

Diane’s Home Day Care
Johnson, Diane E.
42 Bliss St.
Florence, MA 01062
Chapter: 13
Filing Date: 01/25/18

Farley, Deborah L.
177 Marion St., Ext. 2
Chicopee, MA 01013
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 01/29/18

Frieri, Gino S.
PO Box 2331
Pittsfield, MA 01202
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 01/26/18

Gonzales, Antonio
181 Main St.
Westfield, MA 01085
Chapter: 13
Filing Date: 01/29/18

Gorham, Evelyn
11 Marble St., Apt 522
Worcester, MA 01603
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 01/29/18

Graves, Scott D.
Graves, Jennifer J.
23 Hollywood St.
South Hadley, MA 01075
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 01/31/18

Guba, Eric C.
186 Conway St.
Greenfield, MA 01301
Chapter: 13
Filing Date: 01/17/18

Isernhagen, Denise J.
35 Pomeroy St.
Easthampton, MA 01027
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 01/23/18

Jackson, Yvette
a/k/a Morales, Yvette
a/k/a Rosario, Yvette
31 Davis St.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 01/22/18

Landry, Linda A.
29-31 Bloomfield St.
Springfield, MA 01108
Chapter: 13
Filing Date: 01/22/18

Leger, Karen E,
48 Scantic Road
Hampden, MA 01036
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 01/17/18

Ogg, Norman
Ogg, Sheila
147 LaBelle Dr.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 01/26/18

Ortiz, Maribel
101 Saint Kolbe Dr.
Holyoke, MA 01040
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 01/24/18

Persson, Mark A.
5 King St.
Royalston, MA 01368
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 01/21/18

Pybas, Charles E.
345 Sturbridge Road
Brimfield, MA 01010
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 01/24/18

Restoration Specialties
Eaton, Alice Knox
Eaton, Wendell Scott
74 Williston Ave.
Easthampton, MA 01027
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 01/19/18

Rodgers, Martin D.
13 Magnolia Terrace
South Hadley, MA 01075
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 01/29/18

Rogowski, Theresa A.
14 Austin St.
Barre, MA 01005
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 01/23/18

Rubin, Bonnie D.
4 Laura Ave., Apt. 2
Easthampton, MA 01027
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 01/24/18

Sanchez, Jose Daniel
3 Hill Ave.
West Springfield, MA 01089
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 01/19/18

Shoefly Shoe Salons, LLC
Clark, William T.
4 Shepards Hollow
Leeds, MA 01053
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 01/23/18

Spafford, Amanda J.
a/k/a Lengieza, Amanda J.
30 Olivine St.
Chicopee, MA 01013
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 01/18/18

Staley, Lisa M.
a/k/a Wallace, Lisa M.
60 King St.
Pittsfield, MA 01201
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 01/17/18

Stepus, Tatyana
76 Chateaugay St.
Chicopee, MA 01020
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 01/23/18

Thomas, Cynthia D.
120- 122 Fargo St.
Springfield, MA 01119
Chapter: 13
Filing Date: 01/23/18

Thompson, George E.
50 Melville St.
Springfield, MA 01104
Chapter: 13
Filing Date: 01/29/18

Tremblay, Doreen E.
1209 Brimfield Road
Brimfield, MA 01010
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 01/24/18

Valle Vale International
Valle-Martinez, Ana M.
91 Elmore Ave.
Springfield, MA 01119
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 01/25/18

Vazquez-Velez, Argelis Joel
238 Cottage St.
Athol, MA 01331
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 01/31/18

Vieu, Keith R.
Vieu, Carla L.
25 Pebblemill Road
Springfield, MA 01118
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 01/23/18

Walter, Peter Vincent
140 Hutchinson Lane
Cheshire, MA 01225
Chapter: 13
Filing Date: 01/22/18

Williams, Tamara A.
145 Sumner Ave., Apt. 8
Springfield, MA 01108
Chapter: 7
Filing Date: 01/22/18

Winiarski, John A.
Winiarski, Debora M.
22 Lord Terrace North
Chicopee, MA 01020
Chapter: 13
Filing Date: 01/30/18

Blue Sox to Host 2018 NECBL All-Star Game

By
Daily News

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.

“It’s a big deal for us to land the All-Star Game for our fans,” said Blue Sox General Manager Hunter Golden. “Getting to host the game the second time in five years is humbling, but we also feel it’s a reflection of the product we’ve put on the field, the atmosphere we’ve created at the stadium, and the community’s outstanding support of our organization. Our fans show up and are enthusiastic. We were awarded the game so soon after hosting it last time because they earned it.”

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.

“Guys who play in this All-Star Game are guys you see on TV in a few years,” Golden noted. “Stephen Strasburg, Trey Mancini, Joe Nathan, Andre Ethier — it’s those kinds of guys. So it’s a tremendous opportunity for people who are passionate about the game to see what’s coming next.”

The event will be sponsored by Trinity Health Of New England and Mercy Medical Center.

“Our community has a very deep connection to baseball, to the Blue Sox, and to Western Massachusetts,” said Greater Holyoke Chamber of Commerce President Kathleen Anderson. “There’s a lot of civic pride here in Holyoke, so for the Blue Sox to deliver this type of event for the city is great for our area, and the economic impact it will have is significant.”

STCC Names Geraldine de Berly Vice President of Academic Affairs

By
Daily News

SPRINGFIELD — 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. Continuing and Professional Education supported more than 1,800 online courses. Since 2016, six new programs were launched under her leadership.

“Dr. de Berly brings a unique and entrepreneurial outlook to STCC,” Cook said. “In particular, her talents with program development that address community needs speak directly to our mission as a community college.”

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.

MassMutual Names Laz Montano to Security, Risk-management Role

By
Daily News

SPRINGFIELD — 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. Montano reports to Mark Roellig, MassMutual’s chief technology and administration 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.

“Laz brings to MassMutual both demonstrated expertise and a deep business insight, built on nearly 30 years of technology and cybersecurity experience, and we look forward to his contributions as part of our unwavering commitment to best-in-class EIRM practices,” said Roellig. “Importantly, Laz is also a tremendous advocate of fostering diversity and inclusion, a basic tenet of our organization.”

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.

PNCU Schedules Reopening Celebration at Front Street Location

By
Daily News

CHICOPEE — Renovations of Polish National Credit Union’s 923 Front St. office in Chicopee are complete, and a reopening celebration is scheduled for Wednesday, April 25. The public is invited.

The event will begin promptly at 11 a.m. with an introduction from PNCU President Jim Kelly and Chicopee Mayor Richard Kos, followed by the official ribbon cutting. Celebratory events will include music, prize drawings, Bernat’s Food Truck, and more. Prizes will also be awarded in exchange for book donations to the Chicopee Mobile Library.

Picture This

By
Departments Picture This

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

 

Celebrate Springfield

DevelopSpringfield hosted its seventh annual Celebrate Springfield Dinner on March 21 at the MassMutual Center. Nick Fyntrilakis, DevelopSpringfield’s chairman, shared a presentation on highlights of DevelopSpringfield’s first 10 years. Proceeds will support DevelopSpringfield’s redevelopment initiatives, projects, and programs.

From left, Liz O’Gilvie of the Springfield Food Policy Council; Jay Ash, Massachusetts Secretary of Housing and Economic Development; and Laura Masulis of MassDevelopment

From left, Liz O’Gilvie of the Springfield Food Policy Council; Jay Ash, Massachusetts Secretary of Housing and Economic Development; and Laura Masulis of MassDevelopment

From left, Bob Bolduc, founder of Pride Stores, and Joan Kagan, president and CEO of Square One, received the Partners in Progress Award

From left, Bob Bolduc, founder of Pride Stores, and Joan Kagan, president and CEO of Square One, received the Partners in Progress Award, while Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno (represented by Sarno’s Chief of Staff Denise Jordan) received the first-ever Cornerstone Award. The awards recognized the honorees for their efforts to create a strong community and their commitment to economic development and revitalization in Springfield.

Will of the People

Florence Bank recently presented $100,000 in awards ranging from $500 to $5,000 to 57 area nonprofits through its 16th annual Customers’ Choice Community Grants Program during an event at the Garden House at Look Memorial Park. The funds will support libraries, schools, police, fire departments, hospitals and hospices, and other organizations that benefit people of all ages, as well as animals and the environment. The bank reached the $1.05 million mark in terms of grants made over nearly two decades to 144 community nonprofits. (Photos by Evan Fogarty)

Niki Lankowski and Michael Skillicorn of Grow Food Northampton celebrate the receipt of their Customers’ Choice Community Grant.

Niki Lankowski and Michael Skillicorn of Grow Food Northampton celebrate the receipt of their Customers’ Choice Community Grant.

Florence Bank President and CEO John Heaps Jr., right, shakes hands with Carmine DiCenso, executive director of Dakin Humane Society, the top program recipient with a $5,000 award.

Florence Bank President and CEO John Heaps Jr., right, shakes hands with Carmine DiCenso, executive director of Dakin Humane Society, the top program recipient with a $5,000 award.

Court Dockets

By
Court Dockets Departments

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

FRANKLIN SUPERIOR COURT

Joanne Gahrmann v. Magic Wings Inc.

Allegation: Negligence; slip and fall causing injury

Filed: 1/29/18

Margaret Q. Babbitt v. the J.N. Phillips Co., LLC d/b/a JN Phillips Auto Glass, et al

Allegation: Negligence; plaintiff was exposed to and inhaled glass dust and fragments left in car after windshield replacement, causing injury: $2,781.22

Filed: 2/15/18

HAMPDEN DISTRICT COURT

Miguel Lopez v. Seniority Social Adult Day Care Inc. and Susan A. Shapiro

Allegation: Negligent maintenance of property; slip and fall causing injury: $5,523

Filed: 2/12/18

Breckwood Realty, LLC v. One Rate Wireless, LLC, DIGICOMMA Inc., and DIGICOMCT Inc.

Allegation: Breach of lease agreement: $11,123.81

Filed: 3/2/18

HAMPDEN SUPERIOR COURT

Pride Convenience Inc. v. Fletcher Donuts, LLC

Allegation: Breach of contract: $25,000+

Filed: 2/20/18

Julianne Dandy v. The Skin & Body Boudoir, LLC

Allegation: Negligence causing injury; breach of implied and express warranties: $154,489.80

Filed: 2/21/18

John P. Rydzak Sr. v. B.E. Donuts d/b/a Dunkin’ Donuts

Allegation: Negligence; slip and fall causing injury: $60,520

Filed: 2/22/18

Ronald Jackson v. Way Finders Inc.

Allegation: Negligence; slip and fall causing injury: $11,500

Filed: 2/23/18

Elena Ocasio v. Marino Realty Corp. and E and J’s Landscaping Service, LLC

Allegation: Negligence; slip and fall causing injury: $100,000

Filed: 2/26/18

Lisandra Virella, personal representative of the estate of Emmanuel Virella v. Kimberly Rutherford, M.D. and Ear, Nose and Throat Surgeons of Western New England, LLC

Allegation: Medical malpractice: $25,000+

Filed: 2/26/18

Matthew Brennan v. Pioneer Valley Condominium Assoc.

Allegation: Negligence, breach of implied warranty of habitability; slip and fall causing injury: $51,920.11

Filed: 2/27/18

Donna Bourget v. Tri State CDL Training

Allegation: Negligence; slip and fall causing injury: $34,325.18

Filed: 3/6/18

HAMPSHIRE DISTRICT COURT

Interland Real Estate, LLC v. Urban Power USA Inc. and Mark Maynard

Allegation: Unpaid rent, use, and occupancy; damages to property: $22,471.04

Filed: 2/21/18

Charles Hopkins v. Jones Group Realtors; Gerald Jones, broker; and Micki Anderson, agent

Allegation: Breach of fiduciary duty of confidentiality; defendents negligently maintained personal and confidential information, allowing unknown others to defraud plaintiff: $15,000

Filed: 3/2/18

HAMPSHIRE SUPERIOR COURT

Brenda Liimatainen v. Nancy A. Balin, M.D.

Allegation: Medical malpractice: $75,000

Filed: 2/22/18

Denise Wickland v. Kristen Kelly, M.D.

Allegation: Medical malpractice: $30,000

Filed: 2/27/18

Agenda

By
Agenda Departments

Women’s Leadership Conference

April 6: Lena Waithe, the actor, producer, and writer who, in 2017, became the first African-American woman to win an Emmy Award for comedy writing, will be interviewed during Bay Path University’s 23rd annual Women’s Leadership Conference (WLC). The one-day event has become the region’s prime women’s leadership event for professional networking and enrichment. Waithe first made headlines in front of the camera as Denise in the critically acclaimed Netflix series Master of None. She co-wrote the “Thanksgiving” episode, for which she won the Emmy for Best Writing in a Comedy Series. As a writer, she is the creator and executive producer of The Chi, a coming-of-age story that follows six interrelated characters in Chicago’s South Side. As a producer, her credits include the upcoming film Step Sisters. She was also a producer on the Sundance darling Dear White People and Tiffany Johnson’s short film Ladylike, which can be found on YouTube. Delivering the WLC’s morning keynote address will be noted social psychologist Amy Cuddy, who teaches at Harvard Business School and is a New York Times bestselling author. Focusing on the power of nonverbal behavior, prejudice, and stereotyping and how people can affect their thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, Cuddy teaches thousands of people how to become more present, influential, and satisfied in their professional and personal lives. Keynote speakers will share their perspectives on this year’s conference theme, “Be Curious,” motivating and inspiring attendees to engage curiosity in their daily lives. Nancy Shendell-Falik, Lisa Tanzer, and Kirk Arnold, regional leaders in the fields of healthcare, retail, and technology, will discuss the obstacles they’ve overcome during a lunchtime panel with a moderator and an opportunity for audience questions. Additionally, breakout sessions will be led by Stephen Brand, executive director of Global Learning & Development, Strategic Alliances at Bay Path; Cy Wakeman, president and founder of Reality-Based Leadership; Dr. Tasha Eurich, organizational psychologist, blogger, and New York Times bestselling author; and Linda Galindo, renowned speaker, author, and educator on organizational and individual accountability. Bay Path University’s Women’s Leadership Conference has garnered more than 22,000 attendees and featured more than 150 prominent speakers throughout its history. For further information on the conference and to register, visit www.baypathconference.com.

Alzheimer’s Benefit Gala

April 7: The Pioneer Valley Friends of Alzheimer’s Assoc. will hold its fourth annual Alzheimer’s Benefit Gala at the Log Cabin in Holyoke starting at 5:30 p.m. The festivities will include live entertainment, food, and raffles. Entertainment will include the Blend, Richie Mitnick and Friends, and Now’s the Time Jazz Sextet. Ashley Kohl will serve as the evening’s host. The event will feature the sale of artwork created by residents of assisted-living and skilled-nursing communities located throughout Western Mass. This part of the program — “Painting the Face on Alzheimer’s” — will include art that was created using the ‘memories method,’ which focuses on the process of creating by encouraging self-expression through art among those facing dementia. This year, Seymour Frankel will receive the Distinguished Fundraiser Award for his fundraising efforts for the last 23 years in support of the Walk to End Alzheimer’s. For many years, he has been the largest donor to support the walk. The evening’s proceeds will fund various educational programs for the local Alzheimer’s Assoc. chapter, the Walk to End Alzheimer’s, and referral services for families who have loved ones with the disease. Tickets are $50 per person or $475 for a table of 10. For online ticket orders, visit www. eventbrite.com. Tickets may also be purchased by contacting Claudette Smart at (413) 636-5462 or [email protected]. Make checks payable to PVFAA (Pioneer Valley Friends of Alzheimer’s Assoc.) at P.O. Box 164, Agawam, MA 01001.

Valley Community Development Celebrates 30 Years

April 12: In honor of its 30-year anniversary, Valley Community Development will hold a celebration at Hadley Farms Meeting House, and Executive Director Joanne Campbell announced that the organization’s $400,000 anniversary fundraising goal has been met, including $32,000 raised from first-time donors to the nonprofit. Campbell said the celebration is one new way to educate community members about the nonprofit’s mission to empower people with low and moderate incomes to manage and improve the quality of their lives through the development of affordable housing, economic opportunity, and small-business development. The event is open to the public and will kick off with a cocktail reception from 6 to 7 p.m. Dinner and the keynote speaker, Charles Blow, an op-ed columnist for the New York Times, will follow from 7 to 9 p.m. Tickets cost $125 and are available online by visiting valleycdc.com. Blow writes about politics, public opinion, and social justice. He is a CNN commentator and was a Presidential Visiting Professor at Yale University last year. He is also the author of the best-selling memoir Fire Shut Up in My Bones, which tells his story of growing up in the Deep South with a fiercely driven mother and four brothers, and his escape after a trauma. At the celebratory event, Blow will speak on the general theme of social justice. “It will be very timely and appropriate for the work we’re doing right now,” said Campbell. “Valley Community Development is involved in navigating the crisis in housing and serving people with very low incomes. We collaborate with regional and local organizations to work on these local issues.”

‘Protecting Your Assets’

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. “I am sure there will be something for everyone, along with great information sharing,” said Paul Bailey, executive director at Springfield Partners.

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. Dr. Mohamed and Kimberly Hamdani, along with Paul and Anna Mancinone, are honorary chairpersons for the Caritas Gala. Longtime supporters of Mercy Medical Center, Dr. Hamdani has served as chairman of Surgery, chairman of Credentials, and president of the medical staff at Mercy, and Paul Mancinone serves on the board for Trinity Health Of New England. 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. Preregistration is required by Friday, March 23. 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.

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. Hundreds of workers in the Pioneer Valley alone use Excel on a daily basis, yet only a small fraction have the training and skill needed to maximize job success and productivity. 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.

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. Also, the fourth Continued Excellence Award honoree will be announced. The 40 Under Forty sponsors include PeoplesBank (presenting sponsor), Northwestern Mutual (presenting sponsor), Isenberg School of Management, Health New England, the MP Group, Mercedes-Benz of Springfield, Renew.Calm, and partner YPS of Greater Springfield. 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].

Chamber Corners: Upcoming Events

By
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 3: Chamber Seminar: “Pay Equity,” presented by Employers Assoc. of the NorthEast, 9-11 a.m, hosted by La Quinta Inn & Suites. Sponsored by Westfield Bank. Cost: $20 for members, $25 for non-members. Sign up online at chicopeechamber.org/events.

• April 11: Multi-chamber Table Top Expo: “A Taste of Commerce,” 4:30-7 p.m., hosted by Bartley Center at Holyoke Community College. Table fee of $150 includes table, two entrance passes, a light supper, and parking. Admission: free with pre-registration only, $15 at the door. Sign up at chicopeechamber.org/events.

• 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 EASTHAMPTON CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

www.easthamptonchamber.org

(413) 527-9414

• April 4: Networking by Night, 5-7 p.m., hosted by Suite3 in the Mill 180 Building, 180 Pleasant St., Easthampton. Sponsored by Suite3. Take your connection building to the next level when we partner with the Greater Northampton Chamber of Commerce on this Networking by Night event. Cost: $10 for members, $15 for future members. For more information, visit www.easthamptonchamber.org or call the chamber office at (413) 527-9414.

• April 11: Multi-chamber Table Top Expo: “A Taste of Commerce,” 4:30-7 p.m., hosted by Bartley Center at Holyoke Community College. Friends and colleagues can come together for new networking opportunities and new features such as Made in Mass., Minute Clinic, and Food for Thought. Admission: free with online registration, $15 at the door. Table space is still available. For more information, visit www.easthamptonchamber.org or call the chamber office at (413) 527-9414.

• May 10: Networking by Night, 5-7 p.m., hosted by Amy’s Place, 80 Cottage St., Easthampton. Sponsored by bankESB. There will be food and door prizes. Cost: $10 for members, $15 for non-members. For more information, visit www.easthamptonchamber.org or call the chamber office at (413) 527-9414.

GREATER HOLYOKE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

www.holyokechamber.com

(413) 534-3376

• April 4: Women in Leadership Series, 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., hosted by HCC Culinary Arts Institute, 164 Race St., Holyoke. Join us April through July to learn from area CEOs while networking with your peers from the region. An elegant lunch prepared by students from the Holyoke Community College Culinary Arts program will provide the setting, which will create the opportunity for a meaningful dialogue on some key leadership issues for those building their careers. Each month your table will join one of the region’s leading CEOs.

• April 11: Multi-chamber Table Top Expo: “A Taste of Commerce,” 4:30-7 p.m., hosted by Bartley Center at Holyoke Community College. Presented by the Greater Holyoke, Greater Chicopee, Greater Easthampton, Greater Northampton, South Hadley/Granby, and Quaboag Hills chambers of commerce. Vendor tables cost $150. Admission: no charge with advance registration, $15 at the door. This event sells out. Call (413) 534-3376 or your local chamber to reserve a table.

• 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 backed by the latest brain science that busts through silos and combats chronic stress. 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 NORTHAMPTON CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

www.explorenorthampton.com

(413) 584-1900

• April 4: April Arrive @ 5, 5-7 p.m., hosted by Suite3 in the Mill 180 Building, 180 Pleasant St., Easthampton. Sponsored by Applied Mortgage, H&R Block, and MassDevelopment. A networking event. Cost: $10 for members.

• April 11: Protecting Your Data from Security Risks, 9-11 a.m., hosted by Northampton Chamber of Commerce, 99 Pleasant St., Northampton. Presented by Pioneer Training. CyberSafe is a two-hour workshop for non-technical users that focuses on using technology without compromising personal or organizational security. Students will learn the skills they need to protect digital data on computers, networks, mobile devices, and the Internet. They will learn how to identify many of the common risks involved in using technology, such as phishing, spoofing, malware, and social engineering, and then learn how to protect themselves and their organizations from those risks. Pre-registration is required, and space is limited. Cost: $25 for members, $35 for non-members. To register, visit goo.gl/forms/pX8YUuC25YdMsLjD2.

• April 11: Multi-chamber Table Top Expo: “A Taste of Commerce,” 4:30-7 p.m., hosted by Bartley Center at Holyoke Community College. A networking event. Cost: $150 for a table for members, $225 for a table for non-members, $10 walk-in fee for members.

• May 4: Annual Spring Swizzle, 6:30-10:30 p.m., hosted by Eastside Grill, 19 Strong Ave., Northampton. A networking event. Cost: $75; $100 for two. Purchase tickets at www.chamberspringswizzle.com.

• May 9: May Arrive @ 5, 5-7 p.m., host to be announced. Sponsored by Northeast Solar and the Lusteg Wealth Management Group – Merrill Lynch. A networking event. Cost: $10 for members.

• May 17: Workshop: “Microsoft Excel Tips, Tricks & Shortcuts,” 9-11 a.m., hosted by Greater Northampton Chamber of Commerce, 99 Pleasant St., Northampton. Presented by Pioneer Training. This workshop will present our favorite tips, tricks, and shortcuts we have collected and developed over 20 years of teaching and using Microsoft Excel. Topics will include shortcuts for selecting ranges, using autofill to create a series of dates or numbers, setting the print area, using page-break preview, adding headers and footers, and using page-layout view. You’ll learn how to group spreadsheets in the same workbook in order to type or format more than one sheet at the same time, as well as how to create 3D formulas that calculate across several spreadsheets in the same workbook. Participants are encouraged to bring laptops and follow along with the instructor, but this is not required. Cost: $35 for members, $45 for non-members. Pre-registration required at goo.gl/forms/pX8YUuC25YdMsLjD2.

• June 6: June Arrive @ 5, 5-7 p.m., hosted by Glendale Ridge Vineyard, 155 Glendale Road, Southampton. Sponsored by Northeast Solar, MassDevelopment, and Kuhn Riddle Architects. A networking event. Cost: $10 for members.

• June 21: Workshop: “Microsoft Word: Advanced Tips, Tricks & Shortcuts,” 9-11 a.m., hosted by Greater Northampton Chamber of Commerce, 99 Pleasant St., Northampton. Presented by Pioneer Training. This workshop will go beyond the basics and explore some of Word’s more advanced features. You’ll learn how to use Word styles to make global changes to a document quickly and easily. The class will also cover working with templates to automate document creation. You’ll learn to use several of Word’s features for working with longer documents — adding a table of contents, inserting section breaks, inserting headers and footers, and inserting and modifying page numbers. Cost: $35 for members, $45 for non-members. Space is limited, and pre-registration is required at goo.gl/forms/pX8YUuC25YdMsLjD2.

GREATER WESTFIELD CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

www.westfieldbiz.org

(413) 568-1618

• April 2: April Mayor’s Coffee Hour, 8-9 a.m., hosted by the Arbors, 40 Court St., Westfield. Join us for our monthly Mayor’s Coffee Hour with Westfield Mayor Brian Sullivan. Event is free and open to the public. Register online at www.westfieldbiz.org so we may give our host a proper count. For more information, call Pam at the chamber at (413) 568-1618.

• April 11: WE2BA High School Career Fair, 7:45-11:30 a.m., hosted by Westfield State University at the Woodward Center, 395 Western Ave., Westfield. Don’t miss the chance to help shape our future through workforce development in our community. Join us to help inspire Westfield High School and Westfield Technical Academy students with career exploration. More than 400 students will be in attendance. We are looking for 75 vendors to participate. The vendor tables are free. Register online at www.westfieldbiz.org. For more information, call Pam at the chamber at (413) 568-1618.

• April 9: April After 5 Connection, 5-7 p.m., hosted by Betts Plumbing & Heating Supply Inc., 14 Coleman Ave., Westfield. Refreshments will be served. A 50/50 raffle will benefit the chamber scholarship fund. Bring your business cards and make connections. Cost: free for members, $10 for non-members (cash or credit paid at the door). Register online at www.westfieldbiz.org. For more information, call Pam at the chamber at (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 11: Multi-chamber Table Top Expo: “A Taste of Commerce,” 4:30-7 p.m., hosted by Bartley Center at Holyoke Community College. This business networking and marketing event, now in its 24th year, will provide business professionals and entrepreneurs an opportunity to promote their businesses — to “strut their stuff.” Tables are available for $150. Admission is free if you pre-register with the chamber or $15 at the door. Whether you plan to be a participating vendor or want to simply attend, go to www.shgchamber.com for more information or to register, or call (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 4: Business@Breakfast, 7:15-9 a.m, hosted by Delaney House, One Country Club Road, Holyoke. Featuring the Mayor’s Forum with Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno, West Springfield Mayor William Reichelt, and newly elected Easthampton Mayor Nicole LaChapelle, who will be interviewed by Western Mass News anchor Dave Madsen. Cost: $25 for members in advance ($30 at the door), $35 general admission ($40 at the door). To make a reservation, visit www.springfieldregionalchamber.com, e-mail [email protected], or call (413) 755-1310.

• April 5: Leadership Institute Graduation, 6 p.m., hosted by Springfield Sheraton, One Monarch Place, Springfield. Cost: $40 for members. To make a reservation, visit www.springfieldregionalchamber.com, e-mail [email protected], or call (413) 755-1310.

• 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 THE RIVER CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

www.ourwrc.com

(413) 426-3880

• April 4: Wicked Wednesday, 5-7 p.m., hosted by CHD Cancer House of Hope, West Springfield. Wicked Wednesdays are monthly social events, hosted by various businesses and restaurants, that bring members and non-members together to network in a laid-back atmosphere. For more information about this event, contact the chamber office at (413) 426-3880, or register online at www.westoftheriverchamber.com.

• April 12: Networking Lunch, noon to 1:30 p.m., hosted by Lattitude, West Springfield. Must be a member or guest of a member to attend. Enjoy a sit-down lunch while networking with fellow chamber members. Each attendee will get a chance to offer a brief sales pitch. The only cost to attend is the cost of lunch. Attendees will order off the menu and pay separately that day. We cannot invoice you for these events. Register online at www.westoftheriverchamber.com.

• 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.

Doing Business as Certificates

By
DBA Certificates Departments

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

AMHERST

DeJong Consulting
81 Pine Grove
Christine DeJong

Ichiban Asian Bistro
106 North Pleasant St.
Chuan Jiao Bistro Inc., Zhao Liu Wang

MyEyeDr.
22 University Dr.
MyEyeDr. Optometry of Massachusetts, P.C.

Yiddish Book Center
1021 West St.
Susan Bronson

BELCHERTOWN

People’s Massage
442 State St.
Mary Hurley

Perfect Arrangements
39 Federal St.
David Paul, Barbara Paul

Seven One Nine
37 Fuller St.
Thomas Cooke

Taubman Tech Consulting
33 Two Ponds Road
Alexander Taubman

ZK Construction
82 South Liberty St.
Zbigbiew Krotki

CHICOPEE

Adams Co.
1033 Chicopee St.
Robert Adams

Alex’s Home Improvement
21 Firest St.
Aleksandr Pereoala

Belladonna Boutique
342 Front St.
Jasmine Santiago

Bruscoe Construction
98 Mount Vernon Road
Jared Bruscoe

D.S. Home Improvements
89 Northwood St.
Dustin Stewart

Gothique
108 Greenpoint Circle
David Collier

J.C. Construction Services
45 Ellerton St.
Juan Carlos Garcia Cortez

Mias y Hermanos
61 Davis Road
Wandy Feliz-Suriel

Peter Boutin Audio Consultants
211 Fuller Road
Peter Boutin

Wil’s Top Quality Carpet and Upholstery Cleaning Services
274 Carew St.
Wilkid Valcinord

DEERFIELD

40 Conway St., LLC
40 Conway St.
Francis Naida

Ciesluk’s Market
55C North Main St.
Nicole Ciesluk

EASTHAMPTON

Aaron’s Paradise Transportation
1 Lovefield St.
Scott Belleniore, Elizabeth Dube

Ana Knil
116 Pleasant St., Suite 055
Sasanqua Link

Go with the Float, LLC
122 Pleasant St.
Stephen Bryla

Jodoin Home Improvement
15 Jones Dr.
Mark Jodoin

To Dye For, LLC
66 Northampton St.
Alicia Duprey

WT Moore Solutions
45 Maple St.
William Moore

EAST LONGMEADOW

Ascent Laser Aesthetics, LLC
250 North Main St.
Kevin Coughlin

Irina’s
100 Shaker Road
Vladimir Kulenok

Johnson Boys Landscaping
2 Peachtree Road
Robert Johnson

Metamotive Product Development
17 Donamore Lane
Hubert Pfabe

S & P Appraisals
40 Villanova St.
Susan Cunningham

GREENFIELD

Aladdin Food Management Services, LLC
1 College Dr.
Divina Grayson

All About the Promo
13 Cedar St.
Susan Brulotte, John Michelson

Baystate Tax Service
14 Miles St.
Richard L. Holbrook III Associates Inc.

Bonnie B’s Country Kitchen
204 Main St.
Bonnie Brown

Carolyn’s Hair
54 School St.
Carolyn Murray

Community911 Training Inc.
38 Haywood St.
Community911 Training Inc.

CSR Painting Services
28 Pond St.
Colby Roche

Deeply Discounted
51 Phyllis Lane
Dan Tutelya, Yauneni Berun

K Salon
18 Miles St.
Kristina Bergeron

Mattress Outlet
142 Main St.
Harry Foster

MyEyeDr.
489 Bernardston Road
MyEyeDr. Optometry of Massachusetts, P.C.

New England Camper Repair
1399 Bernardston Road
Jeffrey Ennis

Pack the Stilettos Travel Agency
178 Fairview St.
Amy Patt

Semaski Financial
58 Highland Ave.
Jason Semaski

Surviving Addiction Group of Narcotics Anonymous
68 Federal St.
Michael Rosa

LUDLOW

Ray Haluch Inc.
1014 Center St.
Raymond Haluch, Joanne Martins

NORTHAMPTON

Cohn Financial
27 Fort St.
Catherine Smith

Curran and Keegan Financial
48 Round Hill Road, Suite 2
Karen Curran, Molly Keegan

Greg Smith Home Repair
134 Crescent St.
Gregory Smith

Ibby & Eric Photography
351 Pleasant St.
Eric Rzegocki

José Bou Catering Service
261 Florence Road
José Bou

Larian Products
16 Market St.
Paul Ricard

Lucky’s Tattoo and Piercing
37 Main St.
Isaac Torrin

Natasha Campbell Multicultural Clinical Services
16 Center St.
Natasha Campbell

Reconnection Wellness
13 Old South St.
Kathryn Barvainis

Top Shelf Bars
13 Rust Ave.
Nicholas Paine

PALMER

Signature Masonry Inc.
1371 Main St.
David Lane, Edward Libera III

SpudSlingers
175 Summer St.
Mary Shirzadi

SOUTHWICK

Pathways to Healing by Aimee
617 College Highway
Aimee Sawyer

Sunset Ridge Farm
108 Coes Hill Road
Joshua Pilling

SPRINGFIELD

Baystate Hospice
50 Maple St.
Baystate Visiting Nurse Assoc. & Hospice

C & B Landscaping
54 Fallston St.
C & B Snow Removal

CT Truck
59 Lansing Place
Chuong Truong

D’Angelo Grilled Sandwiches
1465 Boston Road
Donald Obitz

Elusive Ryderz
174 Berkshire Ave.
Robert Ruiz

Henry’s Jewelry Store
208 Main St.
Barbara Kamuda

Home Like Management
199 Dickinson St.
Anthony Cardaropoli

Horizon
34 Goodwin St.
Glenroy Bristol

Housemaster
112 Washington Road
Roger Peterson

Innovate413
1350 Main St.
Samalid Hogan

Nails by Tia Lynn
535 Main St.
Tia Fortier

Namco Pools Inc.
1500 Boston Road
William Rauch

New England Motor Cars
720 Berkshire Ave.
Mohammad Burhan

Northgate Dental Center
1985 Main St.
Kavitha Sathya

Parkerview Services Inc.
11 Washington Road
Roger Peterson

The Pocketbookman
618 Belmont Ave.
Byron Brown

Roger’s Electric
11 Perkins St.
Roger Fahringer

Shanndolls Boutique
72 Humbert St.
Shannan Swinton

Sherman Landscaping
111 Alden St.
Devon Sherman

Spiritual Growth Reminder
77 Carver St.
Judith Rady

TTBB & Styles
477 Boston Road
Shawntay Badger

Wallace Trucking
155 Jasper St.
Devon Wallace

Wheeler’s Convenience
597 Dickinson St.
Faiz Rabbani

WARE

Davi Nails & Spa
352 Palmer Road
Linh Le

Needles & Pins
52A Main St.
Joanna Przypek

WESTFIELD

D’Angelo Grilled Sandwiches
291 East Main St.
Landd Corp.

GDM Aircraft
111 Airport Road
Michelle Zemba

Greylock Insurance Agency
30 Court St.
Greylock Financial & Insurance

Lecrenski Bros. Inc.
14 Delmont Ave.
Lecrenski Bros. Inc.

McLellan Machine Co.
571 Southampton Road
Jonathan McLellan

Sweet Aleksandr
177 Meadow St.
Aleksandr Chernov

Wise Vapors
30 Main St.
Wise Vapors

WEST SPRINGFIELD

Commercial Truck Tire Center
1264 Union St.
Holyoke Tire & Auto

D’Angelo Grilled Sandwiches
1067 Riverdale St.
Landd Corp.

KPC Enterprises
35 Lower Beverly Hills
Pedro Cuello

Scuderi Group Inc.
1111 Elm St.
Salvatore Scuderi

Shangri-La Grocery
753 Union St.
Chitra Rai

Soap by Susan
89 Brookline Ave.
Susan McCarthy

Therafeet
1680 Riverdale St.
Therapeutic Feet Inc.

United Landscaping
96 Southworth St.
Andrei Dobrin

West Side Tire & Auto Service
930 Memorial Ave.
Holyoke Tire & Auto

WILBRAHAM

Bright Wolf
57 High Pine Circle
Joseph Valickus

Caban’s Heating
27 Stony Hill Road
Felix Caban

Grace & Impact
17 Pearl Lane
Lynne Britton

J. Thouin Events
5 Sunset Rock Road
Jessica Thouin

Jones Home Improvement
20 Red Bridge Road
Robert Jones

The Skin Studio
2341 Boston Road, Suite 306
Maegen Arroyo

Total Landscape Construction
9 Hickory Hill Dr.
Marc Bessette

Western Mass Prowash, LLC
1003 Stony Hill Road
Steven Croteau

Incorporations

By
Departments Incorporations

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

Agawam

Agawam Dogworks Inc., 860 Suffield St., Agawam, MA 01001. Susan Lamoureux, 76 Tannery Road, Southwick, MA 01077. Dog grooming, care and supplies.

Andy Express Inc., 55 Spring St., Agawam, MA 01001. Andrei Matveev, same. Trucking.

Amherst

WMass Hky Inc., 16 Foxglove Lane, Amherst, MA 01002. Barbara Weinberg, same. Field hockey camps and clinics.

Amherst Family Chiropractic PC, 228 Triangle St., Amherst, MA 01002. Robert Lee Kane, same. Professional chiropractic services.

Chicopee

100 Century Inc., 1057 Montgomery St., Chicopee, MA01013. Amir Paracha, 10 Oakley Dr., South Hadley, MA 01075. Own manage commercial property.

75 Century Inc., 1057 Montgomery St., Chicopee, MA 01013. Amir Paracha, 10 Oakley Dr., South Hadley, MA 01075. Ownership of gas stations, smokeshops and stores.

Dalton

Ace of Seasons Inc., 105 Pine St., Dalton, MA 01226. Adam Demarsh, same. Remodeling and construction.

Feeding Hills

Worldboycotts.Org Inc., 99 Hope Farms Dr., Feeding Hills, MA 01030. Jack Elliot Yasgar, same. Helps organize boycotts enabling people to effect change when there are actions which are discouraging our freedoms.

Pelham

Wolaver Inc., 7 South Valley Road, Pelham, MA 01002. Matthew Wolaver, same. Interactive design, the production for commercial and creative appliances.

Springfield

Simply6ix, 51 Merwin St., Springfield, MA 01107. Sheila Marie Barnes, same. Purpose of the organization is to encourage and inspire single mothers to live life to their fullest potential by providing tools and resources including, but not limited to educational, spiritual, financial, emotional and physical components to achieve our goal.

A & R Distributors Inc., 435 Springfield St., Springfield, MA 01107. Rached Elzinji, 78 Cunningham St., Springfield, MA 01107. General merchandise and tobacco.

Briefcase

By
Briefcase Departments

Local River Advocates Join
National Trend with EPA Lawsuit
GREENFIELD — Last fall, the Connecticut River Conservancy (CRC) joined the Massachusetts Rivers Alliance and eight other watershed groups from across Massachusetts to file suit against the EPA and Administrator Scott Pruitt in Boston’s federal district court. Their request of the court is simple: reject EPA’s one-year delay in implementing Massachusetts’ new stormwater permit because stormwater is one of the greatest threats to clean water in Massachusetts. This lawsuit is part of a growing national trend in suing the EPA in order to protect the environment. The CRC argues that Pruitt and the EPA have been hastily rolling back environmental regulations, but mistakes have been made in their haste and disregard for legal process, such as failing to hold required public comment periods or provide rationale for a repeal or delay. Now, environmental groups across the nation are going to court and using these mistakes to successfully halt environmental rollbacks. For example, the courts have prevented the suspension of rules to curb methane emissions and the delay of tougher standards on air pollutants and lead in paint. River advocates fear the updated stormwater permit could be delayed much longer than one year. “We think the EPA’s legal case is fundamentally flawed,” said Andrew Fisk, executive director of the Connecticut River Conservancy. “Pruitt and the EPA have asked for this delay while permit appeals are being decided, but then in the same breath also asked the court to delay judicial review of the appeals. It is clear that EPA is looking at every maneuver they can find to stop doing the right thing for the public’s water.” The river groups are represented by Kevin Cassidy of Earthrise Law Center and Access to Justice Fellow Irene Freidel. Of particular concern is the public-health issue of harmful bacteria flowing to rivers when it rains. About one in five water samples collected by CRC and partners in 2017 from the Connecticut River and tributaries in Massachusetts showed bacteria levels too high for recreation (swimming and/or boating). “Delaying the implementation of this updated permit puts our rivers and our water at risk, which also put our citizens and local economies that use and rely on our rivers at risk,” Fisk continued. “The EPA is charged with implementing the Clean Water Act for the benefit of the public, yet it did not weigh the public’s interest when it slammed the brakes on the MS4 Permit.” That permit regulates stormwater pollution under the federal Clean Water Act. The current MS4 permit was issued in 2003 and was set to expire on May 1, 2008. Instead, it has been administratively continued and remains in effect. A multi-year, multi-stakeholder process for updating the expired permit began in 2008. In April 2016, the EPA issued the updated MS4 permit after many rounds of public comment. The updated permit was set to go into effect on July 1, 2017 but was abruptly delayed by Pruitt and the EPA just two days before that date. The delay will cause existing stormwater projects to move forward with outdated stormwater controls, forcing costly upgrades in the future rather than the lower-cost option of adding updated controls at the time of construction, river advocates say. The delay also ignores the time and money invested by cities and towns that have already implemented new stormwater protection measures in preparation for the new permit to take effect last July. Stormwater is generated from rain and snowmelt that does not soak into the ground. Instead, it flows over land or impervious surfaces, such as paved streets and driveways, parking lots, and building rooftops into storm drains. During heavy rains, stormwater can flow directly into rivers. Common pollutants in stormwater runoff include antifreeze, detergents, fertilizers, gasoline, household chemicals, oil and grease, paints, pesticides, harmful bacteria, road salt, trash such as plastics and cigarette butts, ammonia, solvents, and fecal matter from pets, farm animals, and wildlife.

Creative Community Fellows
Accepting New England Applications
ALEXANDRIA, Va. — National Arts Strategies (NAS) announced that applications for the Creative Community Fellows program are now open to those living and working in the New England region. NAS is looking for artists, community organizers, administrators, and entrepreneurs who are driving positive change through arts and culture in their communities. Applications are due Sunday, April 22. Creative Community Fellows brings together a group of 25 creative change makers across New England. Fellows will jump-start the program by living and learning together in Vermont for one week in an incubator-like environment, building their skills in strategy, leadership, and design thinking. Over the course of five months, they will take monthly online courses in topic areas such as community development, finding capital and support, budgeting, and more. Together, they will share updates on their projects and meet with leaders in the field who will serve as mentors. Fellows are curious, open, collaborative, and interested in learning new skills and sharing their expertise. They are already doing this work and looking to create and even greater impact. The Barr Foundation has brought this program to New England in order to support creative leaders in the region. Thanks to its support, participation in this program is completely underwritten. “Arts and creativity can play a vital role in engaging communities to spark positive change. It’s our privilege to partner with National Arts Strategies to network and support the development of New England change agents who are artists and leaders across sectors,” said San San Wong, director of Arts & Creativity at the Barr Foundation.

Massachusetts Adds
13,700 Jobs in February
BOSTON — The state’s total unemployment rate remained at 3.5% in February, the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development announced. The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ (BLS) preliminary job estimates indicate Massachusetts added 13,700 jobs in February. Over the month, the private sector added 13,100 jobs as gains occurred in education and health services; construction; trade, transportation, and utilities; professional, scientific, and business services; other services; and financial activities. The jobs level remained unchanged in leisure and hospitality. From February 2017 to February 2018, BLS estimates Massachusetts has added 39,100 jobs. The February unemployment rate was six-tenths of a percentage point lower than the national rate of 4.1% reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Labor and Workforce Development Secretary Rosalin Acosta noted that “2017 was the first time since 2000 in which the monthly unemployment rate remained below 4% for the entire year in the Commonwealth. Our low unemployment rate, coupled with over-the-year job and labor-force gains, all point towards the continued strength of the Massachusetts economy.” The labor force increased by 10,000 from 3,659,600 in January, as 9,500 more residents were employed and 500 more residents were unemployed over the month. Over the year, the state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate decreased four-tenths of a percentage point from 3.9% in February 2017. The state’s labor-force participation rate — the total number of residents 16 or older who worked or were unemployed and actively sought work in the last four weeks — is up one-tenth of a percentage point at 65.4%. The labor-force participation rate over the year has decreased by two-tenths of a percentage point compared to February 2017. The largest private-sector percentage job gains over the year were in construction; leisure and hospitality; professional, scientific, and business services; and other services. The Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development also announced that, compared to February 2017, unemployment rates dropped in 22 labor-market areas, increased in one, and remained the same in one labor-market area. Twelve of the 15 areas for which job estimates are published added jobs from February 2017 to February 2018, with the largest percentage gains in the Haverhill-Newburyport-Amesbury, Brockton-Bridgewater-Easton, Leominster-Gardner, and Lynn-Saugus-Marblehead areas.

Company Notebook

By
Company Notebook Departments

HUB International Acquires Assets of Leitao Insurance

EAST LONGMEADOW — HUB International Limited, a leading global insurance brokerage, announced it has acquired the assets of Leitao Insurance Inc. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. Located in Ludlow, Leitao is a multi-line insurance brokerage firm providing products in personal and commercial lines. The Leitao agency will join HUB New England with other local HUB offices in Ludlow (formerly Your Choice), South Hadley, Monson, and East Longmeadow.

CRRC MA Facility Wins Engineering Award

SPRINGFIELD — The CRRC MA rail-car manufacturing facility at the former Westinghouse site was honored as the state’s outstanding engineering achievement of the year by the American Council of Engineering Companies of Massachusetts. Plaza Construction, which served as the design-build contractor for the property, accepted the award at a ceremony Wednesday. The $95 million project, spanning more than 204,000 square feet — not including the 2,240-foot test track — is the largest industrial investment in Greater Springfield in generations. The Chinese-owned company will start building new cars for the MBTA Orange Line in April, and for the Red Line later this year. In 2014, CRRC received a $566 million contract from the MBTA to build 152 Orange Line cars and 252 Red Line cars at the Page Boulevard site. Two years later, the state ordered an additional 120 Red Line cars at a cost of $277 million, with production set to begin in 2022.

Hofbrauhaus Closing Doors After 83 Years in Business

WEST SPRINGFIELD — Hofbrauhaus owners Joe and Liz Stevens will close its doors for good on April 1, the couple announced on Facebook on Wednesday. “It is official — as of Easter Sunday, April 1, 2018 (and no, this isn’t an April Fool’s joke), the Hofbrauhaus will be closing its doors for good,” they wrote. “We thank everyone for their patronage and support over the years, but we are ready to move on and make some big, wonderful, exciting, and maybe a little scary changes in our lives.’” Hofbrauhaus, the German restaurant that became one of the region’s most iconic eateries, first opened its doors in 1935.

United Bank Joins Connecticut Trolley Museum as Corporate Sponsor

EAST WINDSOR, Conn. — The Connecticut Trolley Museum announced that United Bank has joined the museum as a corporate sponsor. The museum started its corporate sponsor program in 2016, and since then a number of area businesses have joined the museum to support its mission “to provide a historically accurate educational experience of the trolley era through the interpretation, preservation, restoration, and operation of an electric railway.” As its newest corporate sponsor, United Bank joins Sophia’s Restaurant, USA Hauling, Windsor Federal Savings, Collins Pipe and Supply, Simsbury Bank, Connecticut Lighting Centers, Get Listed Realty, and Allstate in support of the museum. The Connecticut Trolley Museum is located off of Route 140 in East Windsor, off exit 45 of Interstate 91. Businesses with an interest in becoming corporate sponsors may contact the museum at (860) 627-6540 or [email protected].

Ohana School of Performing Arts Supports Square One

SPRINGFIELD — The Square One family continues to expand, thanks to its latest partnership with Ohana School of Performing Arts. Ohana owner Ashley Kohl and her team are volunteering monthly to visit preschoolers at the Square One Tommie Johnson Child & Family Center in Springfield. All 150 children will receive lessons in creative movement and dance. “Studies have long pointed to the physical benefits of dance when it comes to keeping children fit and working to combat childhood obesity,” said Kristine Allard, chief development and communications officer for Square One. “More recent research also points to the benefits of dance from the standpoint of emotional, social, and cognitive development, which is a critical component of our work at Square One.” The volunteer support comes in conjunction with Ohana’s recent gift of $1,000 to support Square One’s work with children and families.

Thornes Marketplace to Renovate Front Entrance

NORTHAMPTON — Thornes Marketplace will begin a major renovation of its front entrance on Main Street the first week in April to make practical improvements as well as aesthetic ones that are historically accurate. Richard Madowitz, Thornes owner and property manager, stressed that work on the entryway — one of the last phases of a multi-year capital-improvement project — will be conducted from 9:30 p.m. to 7:30 a.m. The front entrance will remain open daily during regular business hours. After the project gets underway, Madowitz noted, visitors with questions or concerns can send feedback to [email protected]. Photographs will be available on Thornes’ Facebook page, and news and updates will appear at thornesmarketplace.com. Over the past 10 years, Thornes Marketplace has undertaken a series of major renovations to improve and enhance the eclectic shopping center. Thornes has partnered with Keiter Builders Inc. and Emily Estes of Estes Architecture and Design for the renovations to the entranceway. McGee said the practical goal of the project is to improve accessibility and make the entrance more user-friendly by replacing the 30-year-old wooden doors with wider doors equipped with modern power operators compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Aesthetic improvements will include a raised, coffered ceiling; new, custom-stained oak doors; dramatic chandelier lighting; and new floor tiling. The Florence Bank ATM enclosure will also be renovated to fit the period.

Indian Motorcycle to Open Apparel Store at MGM

SPRINGFIELD — Indian Motorcycle, the Springfield-based pioneer of the American motorcycle industry, will debut the brand’s first-ever apparel store as an anchor tenant of MGM Springfield’s retail collection. The flagship location will open its doors at the MGM property later this year. The Indian Motorcycle store will offer items from the brand’s casual apparel line, the Indian Motorcycle 1901 Fashion Collection. This road-ready collection features graphic tees, sweatshirts, hoodies, and jackets inspired by Indian Motorcycle’s rich heritage. Indian Motorcycle jewelry and accessories also will be available for purchase. Mirroring the aesthetic of the store’s product lines, the space will feature an industrial-yet-modern vibe with exposed, vaulted ceilings and concrete and wood elements. Paying homage to its long-standing roots in the heart of Springfield, the location will open onto to the resort’s plaza.

AIC Joins Hispanic Assoc. of Colleges and Universities

SPRINGFIELD — American International College (AIC) joined the Hispanic Assoc. of Colleges and Universities (HACU) as an associate member. HACU was established in 1986 with a founding membership of eighteen institutions. It now represents more than 470 colleges and universities committed to Hispanic higher-education success in the U.S., Puerto Rico, Latin America, and Spain. While member institutions in the U.S. represent only 13% of all higher-education institutions nationwide, together these colleges and universities are home to two-thirds of all Hispanic college students. HACU’s commitment to Hispanic achievement in education ranges from kindergarten through graduate school and into the work force of tomorrow. Key among the organization’s goals is to improve access to and quality of post-secondary educational opportunities for Hispanic students.

Viridi International Resorts Acquires El Silencio Lodge and Spa in Costa Rica

SAN JOSE, Costa Rica — Viridi International Resorts SRL, a new upstart in the ultra-luxury boutique hotel and spa space, announced the acquisition of El Silencio Lodge and Spa from Grupo Isilita, San Jose, Costa Rica. El Silencio Lodge is a luxury eco-tourist resort located in the high-altitude cloud forest just one hour from San Jose in Bajos del Toro. El Silencio was recently voted the No. 2 Top Resort in Central America by Condé Nast Reader’s Choice Awards. El Silencio Lodge offers one of the best lodging and dining experiences in Costa Rica. The property’s 16 intimate casitas and six two-bedroom villas offers visitors a one-of-a-kind refuge from a busy world. The resort’s detached suites offer a private viewing deck of the surrounding cloud forest with traditional rocking chairs, and a private heated outdoor Jacuzzi. Viridi plans to add additional rooms and suites in the months and years ahead. The hotel’s Las Ventanas Restaurant offers traditional Costa Rican dishes in addition to an eclectic assortment of entrees and appetizers with organic farm-to-table produce and fresh fish from two on-site fish farms. Guests can actively participate in the culinary experience by fishing for rainbow trout (Costa Rican salmon), picking vegetables, collecting free-range chicken eggs, or venturing out to a community market before enjoying a fun-filled interactive cooking session with the resort’s head chef. A second on-site restaurant, Hierbabuena, is open weekends during high season and offers a more casual menu for family gatherings. Onsite activities at El Silencio include horseback riding, ziplining, waterfall repelling, fishing, yoga, and more than two miles of hiking trails, all located on 500 acres of a pristine Costa Rican cloud forest with three breathtaking waterfalls, including one nearly 200 feet tall, all flanked by two national parks to ensure a quiet and serene experience. The resort’s open space Esencia Spa offers a full array of rejuvenating treatments using indigenous Costa Rican rainforest oils and minerals. Viridi International Resorts SRL was founded by Boston-area media entrepreneur John Gormally with the goal of building a small to medium-sized luxury boutique hotel/spa group with properties throughout Central and South America, the Caribbean, and other highly sought-after destination spots across the globe. Akoya Hospitality LLC, New York, N.Y. acted as advisor to buyer. Resort Capital Partners of Charlotte, N.C. acted as advisor to the seller. The sale price was not disclosed.

People on the Move

By
Departments People on the Move
Erin Couture

Erin Couture

Florence Bank named Erin Couture its Community Support Award winner for 2018. The award was established by the bank in 1997 to recognize employees who are active participants in community events and donate their personal and professional time to local not-for-profit organizations. Each year, the award recipient has the opportunity to select a not-for-profit organization of his or her choice, and the bank makes a donation to that organization. At Couture’s recommendation, Florence Bank will make a donation to Big Brothers Big Sisters of Hampshire County, for which Couture serves as president on its advisory board. Couture, vice president of commercial loans and a commercial lender, joined Florence Bank in November 2011. She holds a bachelor’s degree in finance from UMass Amherst and an MBA from Western New England University. Couture is actively involved with the Northampton Chamber of Commerce as a finance committee member and is also the committee chair at the W.E. Norris School in Southampton. Couture is an award recipient of BusinessWest’s 40 Under Forty. “Erin is the ideal choice for the Community Support Award,” said John Heaps Jr., president and CEO of Florence Bank. “Her positive energy, commitment to numerous local nonprofit organizations, and dedication to helping those in need within our community is exemplary.”

•••••

Samuel Headley

Samuel Headley

Springfield College has selected Professor Samuel Headley of the School of Health, Physical Education, and Recreation in the department of Exercise Science as its inaugural recipient of the Karpovich Chair for Wellness at Springfield College. This award honors and supports Headley’s record of scholarship and innovation in exercise science. It is a competitive, three-year, honorary appointment that promotes interdisciplinary research across health-science fields through the testing of ideas and the creation of new initiatives and practices that have the potential to be brought to scale and lead to a sustainable avenue of scholarship that would be competitive for future external funding. The new chair will pursue collaborative and interdisciplinary scholarship in the area of wellness. Graduates from the class of 1954 established an endowment in honor of their 50th reunion to recognize Peter Karpovich, a member of the Springfield College faculty from 1927 until 1969. He was a founder the American College of Sports Medicine and is widely considered the father of exercise physiology in the U.S., having published more than 130 journal articles in the field. A professor of exercise physiology, Headley joined Springfield College in 1992 as an assistant professor, receiving promotion to associate professor in 1997 and to professor in 2003. He is a fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine and a registered clinical exercise physiologist. He has served as a principal investigator or co-investigator on numerous grants and contracts, including a major award from the National Institutes of Health and, most recently, a contract with Relypsa Inc. to examine nutritional, behavioral, pharmaceutical, and counseling interventions with patients suffering from chronic kidney disease. As the first Karpovich Chair awardee, Headley will lead a nationwide team of 12 scholars and researchers to delve into the potential interactions of prebiotic supplementation and moderate aerobic exercise training on critical health concerns of chronic kidney-disease patients, ranging from inflammatory responses that predispose kidney patients to premature death due to cardiovascular disease to psychological markers of health and well-being. “Our group is excited for this opportunity to test our hypotheses because we believe our work has the potential to positively impact upon the lives of patients who have chronic kidney disease,” Headley explained. “The study that we have proposed is the result of the collaborative efforts of members of our research team.” The Karpovich chair comes with a commitment of $40,000 annually over three years to support the project.

•••••

Ariel Rothstein Clemmer

Ariel Rothstein Clemmer

The Hampden County Bar Assoc. (HCBA) announced the hiring of attorney Ariel Rothstein Clemmer as pro bono director. In this newly created role, funded by a grant from MassMutual, Clemmer will help elevate the HCBA Legal Clinic’s operations to better serve the increasing unrepresented population in Hampden County. Clemmer will manage existing pro bono programs, develop new pro bono opportunities, increase volunteer activity, partner with local businesses and organizations on new initiatives, and ensure that pro bono activity under the auspices of the Legal Clinic meets the highest standards of excellence and professionalism. A 2010 graduate of Harvard Law School, Clemmer recently relocated from New York City to the Pioneer Valley. She started her career as a public defender at Bronx Defenders, where she represented indigent clients charged with misdemeanor and felony crimes. She then worked for the firm Weil, Gotshal & Manges, LLP, defending clients against security class actions and other complex financial matters, while continuing to develop her pro bono practice litigating matrimonial, civil, and criminal cases. In 2014, Clemmer was selected by the partners at Weil to participate in a pro bono externship at Legal Services of New York City (LSNYC). She excelled there, which led to her being named one of the “Top 30 Pro Bono Attorneys of 2014” by LSNYC. Immediately prior to accepting her role as pro bono director at HCBA, she worked as a matrimonial and family-law associate with a boutique Manhattan firm, Donohoe Talbert, LLP. She also served as an active member of LSNYC’s Pro Bono Associate Advisory Board. “Ariel had a distinguished career that demonstrates her commitment to public-interest initiatives,” said HCBA President Wm. Travaun Bailey. “In a nutshell, she is just the perfect person for the job, and we are excited to have her.”

•••••

Jessica Wheeler

Jessica Wheeler

Jessica Wheeler recently joined Bulkley Richardson as a litigation associate. Wheeler’s prior experience as a senior associate at a New York firm equipped her with hands-on experience, including assistance with oral arguments, motions to dismiss and for summary judgement, class actions, SEC investigations, testimony preparation, discovery, and trial preparation. She was also part of a team that successfully represented a wrongfully convicted former inmate, leading to a $7.5 million settlement. Wheeler received a bachelor’s degree, cum laude, from Yale University in 2004 and a juris doctor from New York University School of Law in 2011, where she served as articles editor of the New York University Law Review. She was an Arthur Garfield Hays Civil Liberties Fellow and earned scholarships, including the Dean’s Scholarship, based on academic achievement. While attending law school, Wheeler demonstrated her commitment to the legal community by taking on advocacy roles as an intern at several organizations, including the Legal Aid Society’s Juvenile Rights Practice, the American Civil Liberties Union’s Speech Privacy and Technology Project, and the Urban Justice Center’s Peter Cicchino Youth Project. Prior to law school, she was a paralegal for child-advocacy organization Children’s Rights.

•••••

John Glenn

John Glenn

Skoler, Abbott & Presser, P.C. announced that attorney John Glenn, senior counsel, retired on March 1 after a long and industrious legal career. “Over the years, John’s wisdom, dedication, and friendship have made a lasting impact on every one of us here at Skoler Abbott,” said attorney Timothy Murphy, a partner at the firm. “His work has been invaluable in labor relations with his common sense and problem-solving approach. I speak for our clients as well as our team when I say we deeply appreciate and will miss John and his contributions.” Over a career that spanned nearly 40 years, Glenn specialized in representing management in labor-relations matters. His practice focused on assisting clients in developing positive relationships with their workforces to decrease the likelihood of unionization. He has extensive experience working with employers during union campaigns, negotiating collective bargaining agreements, and representing employers at arbitration hearings before the National Labor Relations Board and at state and federal agencies. Prior to joining Skoler, Abbott & Presser, Glenn was employed by the National Labor Relations Board in Cincinnati. He has also served as an adjunct professor of Labor Law at Western New England College School of Law. For many years, he has been included in Best Lawyers in America and has been named a Super Lawyer by Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly, which recognizes the top 5% of the lawyers in specific practice areas in the Commonwealth. Outside of his legal practice, Glenn often worked with young men recently released from prison to assist them with acquiring life and academic skills to enhance their employment opportunities. He now looks forward to spending more time playing tennis, watching college basketball, and continuing to take challenging biking and hiking trips throughout the country and around the world.

•••••

Nicole Bambury

Nicole Bambury

Tru by Hilton Chicopee Springfield named Nicole Bambury general manager. She will be in charge of directing all aspects of hotel operations, including guest services and satisfaction, hotel administration, and overseeing marketing efforts. Bambury has 13 years of experience in the hospitality industry and was most recently general manager at Days Inn Chicopee, where she oversaw all responsibilities of a 100-room hotel and 30 employees. Her work experience also includes management positions at Hampton Inn by Hilton Chicopee as well as guest service at Hampton Inn by Hilton Bangor in Maine. Tru by Hilton Chicopee Springfield is expected to open this spring. The hotel is owned by Chicopee Hospitality, LLC and managed by BK Investments.

Berkshire Bank announced that Scott Pasquale has returned to Berkshire Bank as first vice president, senior commercial relationship manager. In his new position, Pasquale will be responsible for originating and managing commercial and industrial loans and building client deposit relationships in the Pioneer Valley and Western Mass. region, continuing Berkshire’s momentum. Pasquale brings more than 30 years of experience to his new role, including his previous work with Berkshire in 2013 as part of its commercial-lending team. Most recently, he held the role of first vice president, Commercial Loans at Country Bank, where he held a leadership role managing the Worcester commercial-lending team and portfolio totaling over $250 million, while creating and executing its small-business underwriting policy. “We’re excited to have Scott rejoin the commercial team in the Pioneer Valley. He brings a wealth of lending experience to a very talented group as we continue our momentum and expand our business,” said Jim Hickson, senior vice president, commercial regional president. “Scott will draw upon his industry experience developing and servicing middle-market commercial-lending opportunities and expanding relationships with private banking, wealth management, and insurance products.” Pasquale earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from the College of Wooster. Active in the community, he serves as a board member of the Western Massachusetts Chapter of the National Tooling and Machining Assoc., a board member of Springfield Technical Community College Foundation, and co-chair of the annual goods-and-services auction for the Western Massachusetts Council of the Boy Scouts of America.

•••••

Maria Teal

Maria Teal

Tony Volpe

Tony Volpe

HUB International New England, LLC, a division of HUB International Limited, recently announced that Maria Teal has joined the agency as an account manager for Personal Lines in the South Hadley office, and Tony Volpe has also come on board as an account executive in the Commercial Lines department. Teal holds her certified insurance service representatives (CISR) and vertified professional in personal lines (CPPL) designations and has been in the insurance industry for 18 years. She will specialize in personal coverages including home, auto, renters, and umbrella insurance. Volpe has more than 17 years of experience and has been recognized as an award-winning account executive. He is an eight-time Presidential Club winner “for distinguished performance in achieving overall production and profitability goals.” He has succeeded in meeting and exceeding company goals and sales profitability, and previously worked at Zurich Insurance, Allstate Insurance, Connecticut Casualty Company, and Insure.net. Volpe holds his property, casualty, life, and accident/health licenses in Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, and Rhode Island. At HUB, he will specialize in all types of auto-dealership and garage insurance liability products and more, and will focus in the Connecticut area.

•••••

The Insurance Center of New England (ICNE) announced the continued expansion of its Group Benefits team with the addition of Valerie Francis, a 15-year insurance-industry veteran and group-benefits specialist. As account executive at ICNE, Francis will have multiple responsibilities, including helping business clients strategize employee-benefits programs at annual renewal time and throughout the year. “One of my most important roles will be supporting business owners and human-resource managers as they try to manage the costs of their benefits solutions, whether it be for their health, vision, dental, voluntary benefits, group life, or any other benefits solutions,” she said. Additionally, she will be responsible for helping ICNE bring in new business clients, particularly those who are looking for an insurance partner that takes a customized and strategic team approach to benefits planning and renewal negotiations with carriers. In 2003, Francis began her career in insurance at Aetna in Springfield, where she served as a customer-service representative (CSR) trainer in the benefits group and focused on educating her CSRs on how to explain benefits to employees. After seven years as a trainer, she transitioned to the group benefits team at Health New England in Springfield, where she was promoted to a supervisory role and eventually moved into the sales department. By the time she left Health New England to start her career at ICNE, she was supporting more than 600 accounts and employers of all sizes and from a wide variety of industries. “Through my other insurance jobs, I had had the pleasure of working with members of ICNE’s group benefits team, and I was always highly impressed with how they responded to requests and how they demonstrated true care and concern for every single person they came in contact with. I could not be more thrilled about having the opportunity to now work with these talented professionals to help our clients with all of their group-benefits needs.”

•••••

Christine Roukey joined the Realtor Assoc. of Pioneer Valley as Marketing and Communications director. She is responsible for member and public communications, including the digital and print brand. Roukey joins the association from the Massachusetts Mutual Financial Group, where she was a sales support consultant for nine years, working closely with the assistant vice president of Recognition & Conferences. She was responsible for the communication and promotion of company annual sales campaigns, including creative, communications, electronic, and printed materials, and distribution of awards and rewards. Previously, she served as director of Communications and Marketing for the Satellite Agency Network Group. Roukey holds a bachelor’s degree in communications and business administration from Granite State College and an associate degree in mass communications from the University of Hartford. She earned the professional certified marketer (PCM) digital marketing designation from the American Marketing Assoc.

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

By
Daily News

SPRINGFIELD — MGM Springfield announced it has 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.

“Opportunities at an MGM resort are endless,” MGM Springfield President and COO Michael Mathis said. “We know Western Massachusetts has been waiting patiently for the chance to pursue these careers. The time is now. We look forward to meeting many passionate, enthusiastic people interested in bringing MGM Springfield to life.”

Since it announced its desire to develop in Springfield in 2012, MGM has partnered with more than 25 local community organizations to offer workforce training and educational opportunities to prepare the workforce. These efforts included sponsoring the Holyoke Community College Culinary Arts Center, training table-games dealers at the Massachusetts Casino Career Training Institute, developing a hospitality pre-apprenticeship program with Cambridge College, and holding information sessions and career readiness workshops throughout the region.

While all MGM Springfield employees will undergo some level of background check, recent regulation updates allow greater eligibility for applicants interested in many of these newly posted positions.

Massachusetts Gaming Law requires that employees working in certain casino job categories be registered or licensed by the Massachusetts Gaming Commission (MGC) before they can begin work. Once hired, employees who must register will be directed to MGM Springfield’s Career Center, where MGC staff will be available to assist with the employee-licensing process.

In February, the MGC updated regulations to eliminate the registration requirement for certain service positions. This update removed the automatic hiring disqualification for past indiscretions, thus allowing more individuals opportunity to apply for careers such as front-desk representative, cook, kitchen steward, sous chef, and banquet manager.

The resort will invest, directly and indirectly, approximately $100 million in annual payroll and offer a comprehensive package of pay and benefits with average salaries of more than $40,000. 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.

Elms College President to Speak at Instant Issues Event on April 12

By
Daily News

SPRINGFIELD — The World Affairs Council of Western Massachusetts will present Elms College President Harry Dumay at an Instant Issues Brown Bag Lunch event on higher education, immigration, and the public good on Thursday, April 12 at noon in the Community Room of One Financial Plaza, 1350 Main St., Springfield.

The program is open to the public. The cost with a box lunch — tuna, turkey, roast beef, or vegetarian sandwich — is $20 for council members and $25 for non-members. The cost for members without a lunch is $5 for members and $10 for non-members. The RSVP deadline is Tuesday, April 10. Register by calling (413) 733-0110 or visiting www.worldaffairscouncil.com.

The U.S. has benefited greatly from an international flow of paying college students, talented graduate students, and expert post-doctoral fellows, teachers, and researchers. Immigration policies that seem to make the U.S. unwelcoming to foreign groups threaten that contribution of higher education to the public good. Colleges and universities are assessing how they can respond both on and across their campuses.

A native of Haiti, Dumay has served in higher-education finance and administration at senior and executive levels for nearly two decades. Before joining Elms, he served for five years as senior vice president for Finance and chief financial officer for St. Anselm College in Manchester, N.H. He is currently a commissioner of the New England Assoc. of Schools and Colleges Commission on Institutions of Higher Education, a board member of the Boston Foundation’s Haiti Development Institute, and a member of the board of directors and finance committee of the Catholic Medical Center in Manchester, N.H. He is also board founder and chair for a small nonprofit dedicated to development projects in Haiti.

The Instant Issues Series is sponsored by Wilbraham & Monson Academy and Sir Speedy. The World Affairs Council is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization established in Springfield in 1926 to promote civil discussion of foreign policy based “on information, not prejudice or propaganda.”

Kelley & Malmborg to Host Document Shred Day on April 28

By
Daily News

SPRINGFIELD — 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.

Revitalize CDC to Kick Off Annual #GreenNFit Neighborhood Rebuild

By
Daily News

SPRINGFIELD — Revitalize CDC will kick off its annual #GreenNFit Neighborhood Rebuild Month with a press conference on Wednesday, April 4 at 10 a.m. at the home of Elsa Gordon, 64 Manhattan St., Springfield.

Elsa, 89, and her late husband purchased their home in 2000. Since his death in 2008, she has tried to maintain her home as best as she can on a limited income. Originally from Jamaica, she has physical disabilities and finds it difficult to walk at times. She is the mother of three grown children who live outside of the area. During her younger years, she worked as a seamstress and a beautician. She said she would like to go to work and is looking into employement at MGM Springfield.

Her home has been broken into three times because it has several broken windows in the basement. Shingles are falling off her poorly installed roof. She does not have hand railing on the front, back, and side steps. Her steps are in serious need of repair.

Revitalize CDC is working to help raise funds and recruit skilled volunteers to work on Elsa’s home during #GreenNFit month along with another 11 homes. Two of the 11 homes are owned by Vietnam-era military veterans. The goal is to work on dozens of homes on 10 contiguous blocks in the Old Hill Neighborhood each year. This initiative will ultimately rebuild almost 300 homes, clean up vacant lots, improve neighborhood playgrounds, and create community gardens.

Revitalize CDC focuses on making meaningful improvements on homes to help reduce energy use; save money; and create a safe, healthy, and sustainable living environment for residents and the community. Improvements include installing or retrofitting HVAC systems to allow for oil-to-natural-gas heat and solar conversions; new roofs; energy-efficient windows, doors, and appliances; water-saving plumbing fixtures; electrical upgrades; mold remediation, lead abatement, and pest control; interior and exterior painting; and modifying homes for aging or disabled homeowners, such as building exterior access ramps.

Each year, more than 1,000 volunteers from Maine to Virginia work alongside residents of Springfield, the Old Hill Neighborhood, and the targeted block. Families who benefited from past GreenNFit events — on Tyler Street, Pendleton Avenue, King Street, Lebanon Street, Greene Street, Alden Street, and now Manhattan Street — volunteer to help their neighbors on the next block.

Amherst Chamber Adopts Volunteer Management Structure

By
Daily News

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. “This transition is designed to take advantage of the chamber’s greatest resource — our members. They’re already in charge of all of our events; now our member-volunteers will also help with administration and operations.”

As part of the transition, interim Executive Director Jerry Guidera will step down from his organizational support role.

“We would like to thank Jerry for twice stepping in to help us through management transitions, ably filling in when the chamber needed his support,” Vickery said. “He did an outstanding job, and we are genuinely grateful.”

The chamber will maintain a presence at the Visitor Information Center in downtown Amherst, co-located with the Amherst Business Improvement District.

News

Contact

Advertise

Events