Day: January 18, 2019

SPRINGFIELD — Moments before he cut the celebratory ribbon marking the opening of Florence Bank’s second Hampden County branch on Wednesday, president and CEO John Heaps Jr. announced the bank’s support for several community projects.

This spring, in collaboration with the city of Springfield and the Basketball Hall of Fame, the bank will provide $15,000 to refurbish a basketball court at Greenleaf Community Center, and it is also contributing $25,000 to a $2 million campaign to build a library and community learning center in East Forest Park.

“We’re here,” Heaps said at the ribbon-cutting ceremony at the newest branch at 1444 Allen St. “We’re going to be a major player in the community. We love being here in Springfield.”

About 50 people attended the event at the branch, including bank employees, board members and corporators, as well as community leaders such as Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno; Kevin Kennedy, Springfield’s chief Development officer; state Rep. Angelo Puppulo; and city councilors Kateri Walsh and Jesse Lederman.

Also in attendance were businesspeople with a role in the opening, from the former land owners to the architects, engineers, site planners, and the furniture supplier.

Branch manager Nikki Gleason, a Springfield native and active volunteer, said she is excited to have the branch up and running. She introduced her staff team, including Candice Somar, assistant branch manager; Bianca Hyde, customer service representative (CSR)/teller operations manager; Mario Nascimento, CSR/senior teller; Magdalis (Maggie) Sierra, CSR/senior teller; and Carolyn Ware, Community Relations director.

“The staff we have here is incredible,” Heaps said. “They all came from other banks, so they know the value of working for a local bank.”

The Allen Street branch has a contemporary, open floor plan with two teller pods and innovative technology for quick cash handling. The location also features a drive-up ATM with SMART technology for easy depositing and a comfortable waiting area inside with a coffee bar and free wi-fi.

Sarno thanked Florence Bank and its staff for its commitment to Springfield and for the philanthropic measures — with the basketball court and library — that it is already putting in place.

“Your heart has always been in the city of Springfield,” Sarno told Heaps, who lives in Longmeadow and grew up in the Allen Street neighborhood of Springfield. “Your board, your whole staff team — I thank you all for your continued belief in the city of Springfield. You give back to customers and to the community. Your expansion here sends a resounding message that it’s good to do business in the city of Springfield.”

In August 2017, Florence Bank opened its first branch in Hampden County at 1010 Union St. in West Springfield. “We will be opening several other branches in this area in the coming years,” Heaps said. “We’re excited to be expanding here.”

Florence Bank has nearly 3,900 customers living in Hampden County, including 762 business customers, 373 of whom are located in Springfield.

SPRINGFIELD — The Community Bank N.A. Springfield branch celebrated its grand reopening on Thursday with a ribbon-cutting ceremony. Local dignitaries, customers, community members, and Community Bank N.A. team members gathered to celebrate the completion of the branch’s renovations. Located within Tower Square, the renovated branch will offer Springfield customers enhanced and expanded services, including a 24-hour ATM and a night drop.

“We were thrilled to celebrate the Springfield branch reopening today with community leaders and members,” Community Bank N.A. CEO Mark Tryniski said. “The updates to this branch will offer customers increased convenience and access to bank services. We look forward to continuing to serve the banking needs of the Springfield community.”

At the celebration, Community Bank N.A. leaders also announced the results of a community vote between three nonprofits to receive a portion of the bank’s $12,500 commitment to give back to the Springfield area. Springfield Boys & Girls Club received the majority of the community vote and was presented with a $7,500 donation. Big Brothers Big Sisters of Hampden County and YMCA of Greater Springfield each received a $2,500 donation.

“Congratulations and thank you, Community Bank N.A., for your continued belief and investment in our Springfield,” said Mayor Domenic Sarno, who was in attendance to mark the occasion.

The Community Bank N.A. Springfield branch began renovations in early October 2018 to add convenient features for customers. The branch will house nine team members and offer customers a wide range of services, including checking and savings accounts, commercial business, and mortgages.

SPRINGFIELD ­— Garvey Communication Associates Inc. (GCAi), the most experienced independent Google Partner in the Springfield area, announced the 2019 certifications for its Google Ads strategists. Mary Shea, vice president of Digital Strategy, and James Garvey, digital marketing analyst, collectively have passed the Search, Display, Mobile, and Video exams certifying their advanced expertise in creating, managing, measuring, and optimizing these specific Google Ads products. The two GCAi marketing technologists also meet with a dedicated Google Ads representative every month to review and further increase the performance of client campaigns.

GCAi earned its Google Partner Agency designation more than five years ago. Partner status requires that GCAi associates pass Google Ads certifications, that the agency meets the spend requirements across its managed accounts, and that it demonstrate performance by delivering strong client and company growth.

Shea works out of GCAi’s downtown Springfield headquarters at Tower Square. Garvey works out of GCAi’s newest office at WeWork’s Pacific Design Center in West Hollywood, Calif.

HOLYOKE — Holyoke Community College (HCC) hired Laura Lefebvre as its new director of Public Safety. Lefebvre, a seasoned investigator, has more than 30 years of law-enforcement experience, most recently as senior sergeant in the campus police department at Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA) in North Adams. She is the first woman to serve as chief of police at HCC.

“I’m not unaccustomed to being the first woman,” said Lefebvre. “There’s a lot of firsts under my belt.”

Lefebvre, 56, got her start with the Hialeah Police Department in Dade County, Fla. She began as a patrol officer in 1986, then one of only four women in the 450-person department. She worked in the juvenile sexual battery unit investigating child-abuse cases before becoming the first woman assigned to the robbery division. She later moved into homicide as a detective during the era captured in the TV series Miami Vice.

“We didn’t drive great sports cars, and we didn’t dress really well, but that was the time,” she said. “Miami was crazy and fast. The drug trade was high. There were a lot of homicides.”

One of her most memorable cases was captured on an episode of the true-crime documentary series Forensic Files called “Tourist Trap” (season 8, episode 6), where Lefebvre used bite-mark evidence to help convict a man who had carjacked and robbed two German tourists at Miami International Airport, one of a rash of such crimes at the time.

Lefebvre retired from the Hialeah Police Department in 1999 and then moved to Western Mass. with her husband, Gary, also a retired police officer, and two small children, Spencer and Emily, now adults. 

She then spent a few years as an officer with the Hadley Police Department and a police lieutenant at Westfield State University. Before going to MCLA, where she was the first woman sergeant, she worked for 11 years as a fraud investigator for the National Insurance Crime Bureau and the insurance giant Unum.

Throughout her career, Lefebvre has been a field-training officer, teaching at police academies in Florida, Massachusetts, New York, and Vermont. She holds a bachelor’s degree from MCLA in interdisciplinary studies in business and sociology and will complete her master’s degree in education at MCLA this May. 

“I’m a big advocate of professional development,” she said. “We should be learning constantly. I’m a lifelong learner. Everybody should be.”